"So what do you have, Colonel?" Mitchell asked as she entered the larger of the two briefing rooms that the Atlanteans used for mission reports. With the amount of people that would be in on things, they'd want as much room a possible, and several extra chairs had been brought in and placed in front of a plain white wall that would be used as a screen for any slides or video that the scientists would be using to brief them on what plans they had so far.
Sam smiled.
"I think we came up with a way to get the Mok of Talonopolis – and we might also have figured out a way to move all the Jaffa when the time comes for them to escape."
"Really?"
Mitchell didn't bother to hide her surprise – her very pleased surprise.
Don't count on it, Talon told her.
He would wait and make sure of things before he counted on anything just yet – although he liked and admired Samantha Carter enough to be pretty sure that she wasn't going to say she had an idea without being onto something at least – and they could always build on whatever she had if it wasn't enough.
"I think," Sam tempered, unwilling to say for certain that it was definitely the plan they'd end up with. "Doctor McKay agrees with me that it's a possibility."
The Doctor in question entered the room just then, looking smug and very pleased with himself.
Why does that expression annoy me so much?
Probably because it's on him.
"Ah, you're here," McKay headed for Melony, who was standing between Sam and Jack, waiting for the others to join them. "Did Samantha tell you about the discovery we made?"
Melony shook her head.
"Not yet."
"We can wait until everyone's here," Jack said. "That way we don't have to go over it more that once."
McKay looked just a little disappointed, but he nodded, looking around the room.
"Are the Jaffa coming?"
"Not all of them."
He looked like he was going to make a comment – and Melony knew that it was going to be something sarcastic – but just then there was a commotion at the entrance to the room and Tao entered with Teal'c, the two First Primes flanked by three other Jaffa. All in full armor and looking around suspiciously. Whatever Rodney was going to say died before anything escaped, and he paled just a little, moving slightly to get out of the way.
Melony felt a snicker from Talon, but she didn't say anything or make any sign of her own amusement. She now had an anti-sarcasm tool at her disposal – although intimidating Rodney really wasn't very nice, when he was trying just as hard as everyone else to come up with solutions.
Spoilsport"What do the Jaffa know about the Wraith, Melony?" Jack asked.
"Everything I do – more or less. I didn't want to have to brief them here, so I made sure Tao knew what I did and had the information he needed to let them know what they were facing."
"So we won't need to catch them up on things…" Sam said, nodding her approval.
"No."
The Jaffa nodded a greeting to her – although they didn't interrupt because she was speaking, and followed Teal'c and Tao over to the chairs waiting for them. A moment later Daniel entered the room with Sheppard and Teyla, and Carson followed close behind, smiling a greeting to Melony, but going over and sitting down next to Lieutenant Ford, who had found a seat beside Tao.
"Are we ready?" Sam asked the room in general.
There were assorted nods, and Melony and Jack went over and sat down, handing the floor over to McKay and Carter.
Sam gave everyone a cursory nod by way of greeting, and then cleared her throat.
"When I spoke with Major Sheppard about the attack the Wraith launched on the Athosians, he told me something that didn't seem to make any sense – although it was verified by Teyla, and Lieutenant Ford and several others who witnessed it."
"What's that?" Mitchell asked, curiously.
"When the Wraith attacked, they started beaming up people – for lack of a better word. The thing is, the only ships they had were the ships that are called darts." And Sam showed a slide of one of the darts for the Jaffa – in case they hadn't seen one.
"Yeah," Sheppard said.
Sam looked at him.
"How many people would you say one ship beamed up?"
He shrugged.
"Several – four or five at least."
"There were more than that," Teyla said. She had been pale from being so close to the Jaffa – and their symbiotes, obviously – but she was more interested in what was being said. "I would say eight or more."
Sam nodded and looked at the slide on the wall.
"I've been inside a dart. There isn't enough room for three people – let alone eight. And certainly not if they're prisoners who aren't cooperating."
Several people in the room stared at her, and then looked at the dart on the wall. Of course it wasn't big enough. They couldn't believe they hadn't questioned that themselves.
"So… how did they get all the people in their ships?" Sheppard asked.
"It's simple," Sam said, smiling. "When they beamed them up into their ships, they never rematerialized them."
"What?"
She smiled.
"They hold them in their computer… in whatever little fragments their technology puts them in, and don't reanimate them until they reach their hive ship where-"
"Are you sure about that?" O'Neill asked, curiously. "It sounds pretty risky…"
"I'm positive, Jack." In her enthusiasm for the subject at hand she forgot that they were Colonel and General just then, but no one mentioned it. "It's perfectly safe, too, because the Wraith wouldn't dare risk the health of their potential food source. The humans have to arrive alive and well – and they did when the Athosians were captured. And we know how they did it – which controls they used – and we can do it, too."
"For the Mok?" Carson asked.
Sam nodded.
"And for the rest of the plan as well – if the Jaffa are willing to be subjected to the beam…"