"Will it work?"

Sam looked at the small group of people standing around her and the Wraith dart and gave them a nod that looked far more confident than she actually felt.

"Yes."

"You think."

Jack hadn't been fooled at all – but there was no reason he would have been. He knew Sam better than any of them.

She nodded again.

"It should. Doctor Weir and Daniel have translated everything, and the telemetry worked with all the darts that we have in the parking lot. There's no reason to believe it won't work with the rest of the Wraith ships."

"It will," Daniel said, just as confidently. "The big thing now will be to see if they fall for it."

They were three days into the plan, and they were ready to send off the message to the Wraith that a feeding ground had been found. A very special feeding ground that might end up leading to even more just like it – if they all came and helped subdue the population. A population of large people – humanoids, but extraordinary life forms with a life force that was more potent than any they'd seen before. Come and help, but make sure you don't jump the gun and warn the population of the danger they were in.

The Wraith would fall for it, Daniel and Elizabeth knew. They'd explored their language and in doing so had learned more about the species than anyone save Carson Beckett – who knew far more about their physiology than anyone. The Wraith weren't going to expect a trap. No one would even dream of trying to lure them to a planet, they would be sure, because they were well aware that they were the prominent predator in the universe. Did a mouse ask the cat to come to the lair? It was the same thing.

And Daniel and Elizabeth knew that it was that very arrogance that was going to be their downfall.

"Light it up," Jack ordered, nodding to Sam.

She went into the dart, and toggled a couple of switches. A moment later the machinery whirred to life, and the fake scouting report was uploaded into the dart's mainframe. Once complete, it wouldn't take long for it to be sent to its hive ship – and then sent off to the other hive ships. After double-checking that it had been accepted, Sam climbed out of the dart and rejoined the others. There were some notable absences in the group; Rodney McKay and Carson Beckett were off talking to a couple of pilots who had been volunteered for Mok gathering, and Colonel Mitchell hadn't come out of the main cavern in three days. Not surprising anyone who knew just how complicated the device was that she and Talon were working on.

"Did it work?" Teyla asked. The Athosian was standing next to Teal'c, who hadn't been far from her any chance they'd had to be together, Carter had noticed. Although she definitely hadn't asked the Jaffa about it. Teal'c's love life was none of her business!

Sam nodded.

"We'll keep an eye on the Wraith and make sure they change their direction sometime soon."

"And if they don't fall for it?" Teyla asked.

"Then we abort the plan," Jack said. "And we get the Jaffa, the Athosians, and as many of Kale's people that want to come and get them all back to the relative safety of our own system, and blow Atlantis – and the rest of the planet, too, maybe."

They'd worry about that when it came to it. Sam had told him that they'd know in only a couple of days if the Wraith were going to fall for their plan or not. He would wait that long.

"So what do we do now?" Weir asked.

"We wait," Daniel answered.

Of course, Sam wasn't going to just stand around waiting. She was going to work under the assumption that the Wraith were going to fall for their plan, and she was going to start rigging up the shield dropping device. At the same time, Rodney McKay was supposed to be finished with the Mok in the next day or so – it was taking longer than he'd expected it to; Carson Beckett had wanted to double and triple check that the Mok would be safe in their computerized stasis, even though Rodney had assured him they'd be fine.

Sam could understand why Dr. Beckett was being careful. Aside from the fact that he was – as far as she could tell – a thorough and meticulous man, he was also dealing with a creature that was not only extinct everywhere else, but was also near and dear to Colonel Mitchell. Who Sam knew Carson Beckett was head over heels for.

At any rate, when they finished transporting the Mok, Rodney McKay was going to start rigging the explosions in the hot room, which was a room that led off from the main cavern and seemed to be the closest that they'd get to the volcanic activity of the planet. While they wouldn't actually put the explosives in place – Rodney was a scientist, not a demolition man – he'd set up the crystals for the most potent explosion. And Sam had been doing some calculations. It was going to be huge.

"I'd better get back to that shield device," Sam said to the others. Standing around wasn't going to get anything done, and the dart didn't need her help to send off its message. By now it was probably already on the way.

They nodded, and dispersed, taking her statement as a dismissal – more or less – and Jack fell into step beside her as they all walked back towards the bolthole that she'd parked the dart outside of. Not the same one that the Jaffa 'settlers' were living by, though.

"Do you really think it'll work?" he asked her softly, his hand reaching for hers since there wasn't anyone behind them to see the gesture of affection. Not that there was really anyone around who could call him on it, but Jack was of a mind that you lead by example, and if he and Carter kept their relationship to themselves, the others who may or may not have paired up – and O'Neill knew there were a few couples by now – would follow their example and do the same.

She took his hand, leaning against him slightly as they walked into the dim lava tube.

"I think it will, yes. The Wraith are far to arrogant and greedy to pass up a chance at something like the Jaffa."

He nodded, and let it drop. If she were that certain, then he'd be certain, too. They walked the rest of the way in silence, although neither of them made a move to let go of the other's hand.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Got a sec?"

Mitchell looked up from the diagram she had drawn on a huge sheet of paper and placed on the floor. Jack had seen it a couple of times, and knew it that the calculations and complicated equations that were scribbled all over it were the points that were going to make it possible for her to turn whatever frame she ended up making into an actual Stargate. Something he never would have been able to imagine, if not for the fact that he'd already seen it work once and knew it could again. Sitting beside that was a cup that had been filled with coffee, he was certain.

"Sure, Jack. What's up?"

She didn't get off the floor, where she'd been calculating something, but she did lean back away from her paper, silently telling him that he had her full attention. Jack thought she looked tired, but not as tired as Carter had looked before he'd sent her off to sleep on one of the cots they'd put in the lava tube that led to the hot room. Of course, Melony had Talon to keep her alert, ad Jack wondered how long she could go without sleep and remain able to function.

"I thought I'd let you know that Carter sent off the message to the Wraith about an hour ago."

Melony nodded.

"That's good to know. Did she happen to say how long it'd take for us to know if they were going to fall for it?"

"A couple of days."

"Great. Thanks, Jack."

"You doing okay?"

"Yeah."

"Anything I can do to help?"

She grinned. They both knew that he wasn't going to be much help to her.

"I've got it, thanks."

"How about a refill?"

"Generals don't fetch coffee for Colonels."

"They can sometimes."

It wouldn't be the first time, after all.

"Then, yes, I'd appreciate it."