Mitchell frowned, but Sam didn't think it was the frown of someone who was ready to object to the plan immediately. Instead it was a curious frown – speculative.
"Have you tested this?" Mitchell asked. "On people, I mean?"
Sam shook her head.
"Not yet, Colonel. I thought we'd try it on something a little less vulnerable, first – like plants or something – but I haven't had a chance to learn to fly one of the dart, and we don't have one here."
"Which means we test it at Talonopolis," Jack said. "On something other than a Mok or a Jaffa."
She nodded. This would also give her the opportunity to learn to fly one of the darts – because she and McKay were the only two who knew how to use the technology of the Wraith, and Rodney had already admitted that he wasn't all that great at flying the Jumpers and had no intention of trying to learn a dart unless he had to. The darts were smaller and faster, and he was a scientist not a pilot.
Sam, on the other hand, was both – and she really wanted to give the darts a whack. She had no doubt that she could easily learn to fly them – especially since Jack was at least as good an instructor as any of her original flight instructors had been. And she knew that they'd need as many dart pilots as they could get for the plan she was formulating already to succeed.
"As soon as possible."
"How long will we be able to keep the Mok in this suspended animation?" Mitchell asked, curiously. "What's the safety net?"
Sam shook her head.
"As near as we can tell, the answer to that question is days – maybe even months. Although I would be nervous actually taking that long to reanimate anything – especially the Jaffa."
"No," Mitchell said, looking over at the Jaffa in the room. "We'd want them back immediately."
"So the plan would be to swoop in and use the darts to beam all the Jaffa off the planet before the Wraith came?" Jack asked.
"No. We have to keep them there until the last possible minute – so the Wraith don't become suspicious and leave before we can blow the planet."
"Then what's the plan?" Melony asked.
"That depends on you," Sam said. "You and Talon, to be exact."
"Oh?"
"You said you were going to bring in all the technology off Fuglier…"
"As much as I could… yes."
"Did you bring that device that you and Daniel used to escape through when you ambushed the system lords?"
Melony frowned.
"Yes. But it'd take forever to get two hundred and fifty Jaffa through that device – they could only go two wide at the most."
"We don't need to get the Jaffa through it one at a time," Sam said. "All we'd need is to be able to fit a dart – or five or six – through it."
"You're talking about beaming the Jaffa onto the darts and then flying the darts through the device?" Jack asked.
"I'm sorry," Sheppard said, raising a hand. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about. What device?"
Sam started to speak up, but Rodney beat her to it.
"Colonel Mitchell and Talon have a device – a very cool device, I might add – that acts exactly like a Stargate – only it's not as large, it's highly portable, and it can't be overridden by anyone dialing in, because it's only one-way."
"It's dangerous, though…" Melony said. "Daniel and I came through that thing at terrific speeds – and we almost died."
"That's because you hit concrete," Sam said. "Well, Daniel did, anyways. You hit a couple of tables. If we set the exit at someplace above the city, no matter how high, or how fast the darts come through, the pilots should be able to regain control of them before they crash into anything. They're very maneuverable, after all – right?"
"Yes." Jack answered.
"But they won't fit through the portal…" Mitchell said.
"Not as it is right now," Sam agreed. "But you can change the portal, can't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Right now it's a door, right?"
"Yes."
"Make it something a bit bigger. Something big enough for a dart to fit through."
It's not impossible…Mitchell scowled, and Talon sent her a wave of amusement.
Don't be like that, Hot Shot. It's not as hard as it sounds. And she's right – the darts could handle the stress a lot better than you or Daniel did
Sam – and everyone else in the room – watched Melony, knowing by the way she seemed a little distracted that she must have been discussing things with Talon. Of course, to the Jaffa it was the other way around – Talon was discussing things with his host. Either way, they all watched, waiting.
Melony sighed.
"It's not impossible," she finally said. There was a collective sigh of relief in the room. "It's not easy, either," she said. "And I want to see this beam thing work before I even try it."
Sam nodded.
"We can do that. Kale and several of the Light Ones are searching Talonopolis as we speak, looking for any herds – or flocks or groups, whatever they're called – that we might not know about."
"I was wondering where he was…" Sheppard said.
Melony had been wondering the same thing.
"It was decided that we wouldn't have a lot of Light Ones here on Atlantis just now," Weir said, casting a sidelong glance at the Jaffa. One that Melony noticed – but not everyone did.
Probably just as well, Talon said, with a purely mental snicker. With all the pheromones they give off, the last thing we need is three hundred horny Jaffa running around.
Well… yeah, there was that.
Melony managed to keep her expression completely neutral, however, since she didn't think the Jaffa needed to know that.
"Let's go check out this beam thing," she said. "Then I want to hear how you're planning on carrying out the rest of the plan…"