Sam and Daniel took many more turnings than Jack and Teal'c, and found out much more about the Labyrinth they were in. They came to Ornate bedchambers, which sometimes gave them a mysterious compulsion to lay down and take a rest. They found massive feasts laid out for no one, but were not foolish enough to eat. They even found an armoury, with swords, shields, halberds and other similar weapons.
"Sam, I think this may have actually been a city of some ancient culture, and Atum just moved in and took it over. I think he just changed this place to suit the new purpose. I mean, think about it, construction on this scale would be a massive undertaking, and we haven't even seen one Jaffa loyal to him." Daniel analyzed as he looked at the rooms they passed walking down the hall.
"It would certainly suit the Goa'uld, taking what isn't theirs and seizing control of it." Sam agreed. She could almost see how the place could have once been beautiful, with some proper lighting and some warmer furnishings, she began to practically see the former residents going about their lives here.
"Come in Major Carter." Jack spoke over the radio.
"Yes sir?" Sam asked.
"By my watch about forty-eight minutes have passed, so I was wondering how the heck we use these techno-baubles to travel back in time if it became apparent that we are about to be immolated." Jack asked the high-tech expert of SG-1.
"Well, as far as I can tell sir, they're a fairly simple device. All they have is one big button in the centre, and I'd imagine that you just hit that. Keep in mind that they only supposedly work shortly before the end. I tried to open mine up to see how it works, but it was no good sir. The things are made out of naqahdah and at least two other elements we haven't encountered before." Sam responded to her commander.
"Great, I think I can handle pushing a button, how about you Teal'c?" Jack quipped.
"I am most proficient in the pressing of buttons, O'Neill" Carter heard Teal'c say in the background over the radio. She shook her head at the antics of those two. Here they were in God only knew what sort of danger, and they were still cracking jokes. She envied how they never lost their calm.
They made their way past a few nondescript rooms until one caught Daniel's eye. He spotted a room with more ancient hieroglyphs all over the walls, and wandered in. "Daniel, don't you remember the trouble we caused last time by going into one of these rooms?" Carter asked.
They went into the room nonetheless, and were more than a little disturbed by the bloody altar in the middle. "This place must've been used for ritual sacrifice..." Daniel quietly thought out loud.
"Great, Daniel, can we leave now?" Carter urged. Unfortunately for them, once again a massive metal gate slammed down blocking the way they came in, which was the only exit from the room. "Just great! See where your curiousity has gotten us?" She yelled angrily at Daniel. "There's no way out! We're stuck!"
"No, I don't think so..." Daniel pondered, "This is a game. He could just slam those doors shut whenever, or kill us at almost any turn. For it to be fun there has to be some way we can get out alive." Daniel saw into the nature of their situation. This Goa'uld sure had a perverse way of getting his kicks, but it worked to their advantage. They just might be able to find the loophole that he had put in and escape.
"Well, get started translating those walls then, I'll take a look for any hidden switches in this miserable darkness." Sam swept the light from her P90 around the room in a slow, searching arch.
Daniel began to translate out loud: "'We were a happy people. We came to this land in the time of our long-gone ancestors, and were prosperous. All were equal and all understood each other, until the Destroyer came. He could not be touched by our mightiest fighters or by the magic-lore of our elders. He tore down the Halls Of Worship, where we paid homage to our God. He replaced it with this dank chamber, where he demanded ritual sacrifice. No party may ever leave this room until one of their number has been put to a barbaric death on the altar.'" Daniel did not like the situation. Carter would no doubt just go right ahead and sacrifice him, presuming that he would somehow be miraculously resurrected. Some people just didn't understand how stressful it was to die all the time.
After about five minutes of pondering their situation and coming to no conclusions, a low hiss announced that the room was filling with a thick, green gas. "Uh-oh, Sam...I think we may be running out of time here. It's you or me, one of us can still get out alive." Daniel prepared himself for the worse.
"No!" Sam cried, "I think I've got it! If I can somehow go into a memory-trance and bring up the thoughts of Jolinar, we may be able to trick it! All it needs is a death, Jolinar's death might cut it!"
"Great! But how on earth are we supposed to put you into a trance?" Daniel was getting hectic as the gas began to curl up his leg.
"Hypnotize me or something!" Sam yelled at him.
"You don't even believe in that stuff!" Daniel shouted.
"Daniel, there's no time to argue, I don't even care that you haven't the slightest idea about how to hypnotize people!." Sam shouted right back at him.
Daniel tried waving his pocket watch around, saying the word "Sleepy" in more tones of voice than he could count and whatever else came to mind, but it was no good. The smoke was at their knees...