'Nothing happened.' Mitchell said looking round at the empty chamber.

'I don't understand.' Sam rubbed her brow. 'That should have worked.' She tapped an instruction into the computer and gestured at the monitor. 'It did work. The previous entries aren't in the buffer anymore?'

'But where are they?' Daniel asked.

There was a movement by the doorway and the Jaffa High Council entered along with a number of guards. They all took a moment to stare at the chamber before their attention fell on the group of Tau'ri around the console and Teal'c who stood in front of them.

Byn'c's lips firmed. 'Your time is up, Teal'c.'

'Stand aside.' Cral'k snarled. 'We are here to destroy the device.'

Sam walked around the device to stand next to Teal'c. 'Destroying this console will not disable the security system that it controls.'

'You were not given permission to speak, woman.' Cral'k's dark, angry eyes fell on her.

Sam's eyebrows shot up. 'Woman?'

'You will speak with respect to Colonel Carter.' Teal'c said forcefully. 'She is a sister of my house.'

'And besides you should listen to her.' Daniel said. 'She's telling you the truth.'

'I would hear her speak.' The female Council member from a group of female warrior Jaffa snapped at Cral'k.

'As would I.' Another more mature male added.

'Look, we believe this console is one of several that used to exist in the city to access a central computer system that helped monitor all of the city's defences and environmental controls.' Sam explained. 'When the first Jaffa entered this structure, it triggered an automated defence system. Now until the automated system is shut down completely, there's a possibility that your people could continue to…disappear.'

'How do you propose we shut it down?' The female Jaffa asked.

'The only way to do that would be to find the power source and disconnect it.' Sam said.

'I have often observed that it is wise to heed Colonel Carter's advice in these matters.' Teal'c said supportively.

'Can you do this?' Byn'c asked. 'Can you locate the power source?'

'I've taken some initial readings, and yes, I think I can locate it.' Sam agreed.

'They haven't been able to bring our people back, why should we believe they can do this?' Cral'k argued.

'Actually, I think you're wrong about that.' Daniel said. 'I think we did bring your people back.'

'Daniel?' Sam asked nervously.

'You said it yourself, Sam. It should have worked and the entries are no longer there.'

'But…'

'We didn't reset location parameters so we were wrong on where they were going to reappear.' Daniel gestured. 'Think about it. Why would they reappear in this chamber when we didn't tell the system to bring them here and that's not where they disappeared from?'

'The old area of the city.' Teal'c deduced.

'We should check the…' Daniel began.

'Go.' Sam said motioning for the two of them to leave. Teal'c marched through the Council members to the doorway, Daniel followed after him.

The Council indicated for a proportion of the guards to go with them on the search for the missing Jaffa and when they had left, their attention fell on Sam.

She cleared her throat nervously. 'About the power source?'

The Council looked at each other.

'Very well,' said Byn'c, 'you may find the power source and remove it.'

'I cannot believe we are listening to this Tau'ri female.' Cral'k said. 'All she wants is the power source for herself.'

'I promise I will handover the power source to the Council personally.' Sam said firmly.

'It is agreed.' Another member of the Council noted and swept out.

'Thank you.' Sam said to the disappearing group.

'It is we who should thank you.' The female Jaffa bowed her head and left the chamber.

Sam glanced over at Mitchell.

'Can you find the power source?' He asked.

'Sure.' Sam said pinning a smile on her face. 'Why not?' She rubbed the back of her neck.

'You should take a break.' Mitchell said noticing how tired she looked. She hadn't rested, he realised. She'd ordered him to, and Daniel, but she'd continued working.

'I will.' Sam said. 'I want to pinpoint these power readings first. Can you guard the entrance and wait for Teal'c and Daniel, let them know what's happened when they get back?'

'Yes, ma'am.' Mitchell smiled and tipped his baseball cap at her. He glanced back before he left the chamber and shook his head at the sight of her already immersed in her calculations. He headed through the dark passageway almost completely familiar with its twists and turns before he took position at the entrance way. The other Jaffa who had been guarding the entrance were no longer there; they had probably gone to search the old city with the others, Mitchell mused. The last of the light outside was fading and Mitchell peered into the gloom, scanning the area.

His blue eyes caught on the figure of Cral'k talking with two Jaffa animatedly near to the path back to the Stargate. He frowned. The young male Jaffa worried him, not because of the dislike in his eyes but mainly because of the way he had looked at Sam. He'd seen that look before on men who had no respect for women. He relaxed a little when they turned and walked away.

It could have been considered to be a boring duty, standing and keeping watch as Sam worked inside but Mitchell was content even as the seconds turned into minutes and the minutes to an hour. He was breathing the air of another planet; its warm breeze brushing over his face and through his hair. This was what he had worked for through months of physiotherapy and training; to be part of the Stargate programme and, more than that, to join the elite SG1 team. He truly didn't care if Sam ordered him to do nothing more than carry her bags, he thought with a wry smile. A movement by the pathway caught his attention and he stared into the darkness to see three figures approaching.

Great, he thought, Cral'k and his two goons were back. He tensed, his hand sliding to the trigger on the P90 he carried as the three Jaffa started to walk towards him. His other hand reached for his radio.

'Colonel, we got some trouble out here. Three Jaffa. I suggest we call Jackson for some back-up.' Mitchell said.

There was a pause before she replied, her voice calm and controlled. 'Copy that.'

The Jaffa were almost right up to him before Mitchell shifted so he was directly in the entrance way; his P90 braced and pointed.

'Hello, boys.' He greeted them with a mock cheeriness. 'Out for an evening stroll?'

'You have no rights here, Tau'ri.' Cral'k said. 'Move aside.'

'I don't think so.' Mitchell said.

They all stared at each other.

Cral'k began to smile.

Mitchell watched him puzzled. He saw the hand movement of the Jaffa on his left too late, barely saw the gleam of the zat and the bright flash of blue as its electrical charge hit him. He was already too much in pain to feel the blow as his head was cracked onto the rock behind him by the Jaffa on his right and he was unconscious when he hit the ground.

'Mitchell?' Sam tried to raise him again. 'Cameron?' She frowned. OK, she could understand not being able to reach Daniel. It was likely he was out of range or the rock around her was distorting the signal but Mitchell should have responded. Her ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching in the passageway.

She reviewed her situation. Mitchell was likely injured or dead; she was trapped in the chamber with a P90, a knife and her 9mm. There were three of them and one of her. She hit the light symbol and the room went dark. Her knowledge of the chamber was the only advantage she had. She dived down behind another console to the one she had been working at and aimed the P90 at the doorway.

When the shadows appeared, she didn't hesitate; she squeezed the trigger. The bright flash of the spitting bullets streamed across the chamber. One of the targets went down as the other two dived for cover. She put down the P90 silently as she changed position and switched to her 9mm.

'Hiding will only make this worse for you.' Cral'k's voice sent a shiver down her spine. 'If you reveal yourself, I will be kind.'

Sam knew better than to respond. She took shallow even breaths, and waited. They were circling the room like sharks. She could see them moving towards the faint glow of her laptop monitor. One of them knelt down and placed something on the base of the console. A bomb, she realised. They were going to blow it up. She aimed her gun and fired, once, twice; the body jerked and fell to the side. She immediately made to move but Cral'k was on her in a heartbeat. He smashed his hand across her face and his arms banded around hers to render her immobile; his hand slapped over her mouth as he grabbed her.

'There you are.' His breath was hot at her neck and she reacted with all the basic and advanced training at her disposal slamming her head into his face behind her. She heard the grunt and, as his hold momentarily lessened, she stamped hard down on his foot. She gained more freedom; her elbow went into his stomach and she lurched away from him. He tackled her and they went sprawling across the floor of the chamber, one of her ankles twisting badly beneath her. She cracked her forehead on the floor but fought the impending darkness to kick out. Her boot caught him across the jaw and she crawled further away from him; reached for her knife. When he came at her again, she thrust it between his ribs with a desperate cry. He staggered away from her and ran out.

Dizziness threatened again but the nagging voice in her head told her she had to get up; she had a man down. Mitchell, she had to check on Mitchell. She blinked past the blurred vision and tried to sit up. Her head swam. The rush of nausea had her turning her head to the side to vomit violently. Her body shivered as the retching stopped. She moved slowly. Her ankle was throbbing; sprained rather than broken, she thought, but she wouldn't be able to walk on it. She probably had concussion from the head injury.

The flickering lights on the base of the console caught her attention and she crawled over to it. The bomb was of Goa'uld design; very nasty and probably naquadah enhanced. It was going to make a hell of an explosion and she had no time to get out or disarm it, she realised, seeing how many of the sectioned panels were already alight. She could barely walk and she would be lucky if she made it half-way down the passage when it blew and even then…what if Cral'k was waiting at the entrance? Physically, she wasn't up to another fight. She reached for her laptop and Daniel's notebook before she crawled around the other side of the console away from the stirring Jaffa she had shot. She knew she only had moments as she hastily reset the parameters again for the security transportation device. She just hoped her plan to transport out of the chamber worked; without Daniel she couldn't double check her entries. She grabbed her backpack and stuffed the notebook inside. She kept hold of the laptop and said a prayer as she hit the enter key.

There was a flash of green light.

Sam reintegrated in mid-air, flew through it for a moment at speed before her body hit the immovable object of a console; she literally bounced off it and onto a set of stairs at its side, where she tumbled downwards before coming to rest in a heap at the bottom. She dimly realised she was clutching her laptop.

OK, she thought tiredly, that had hurt. She tried to move and cried out as a fiery pain shot up her arm and into her shoulder. She panted. OK, the arm holding the laptop was broken. She gritted her teeth and sat up, almost blacked out with the pain and took a deep breath. She slowly swivelled and braced her good leg before reaching up with her good arm to wrench her whole body upwards. Her vision swam but she was upright. She looked around her.

The location she had entered had been the coordinates of the power source she tracked just before Mitchell's radio message. At least, she hoped they were. Finding the location parameters and changing them had been a little touch and go. Her Ancient was a little rusty. The same dim lighting that had filled the old chamber when they had activated the lights was already on in the room she had transported to. So at least she wasn't in the dark, she mused. The room was large and it was a hexagon with a split level. She focused on the level she'd fallen onto. She couldn't imagine making it up a flight of stairs with her injuries. Her eyes fell on the metal chair in the centre of the room; the same chair that existed in Antarctica. She limped over and lowered herself gingerly into it. She didn't have the gene and it didn't activate when she sat down and dumped her backpack by its side.

She'd rest, just for a moment, she told herself tiredly. Then she'd work out a way to get out and back to Mitchell, check he was OK and she needed to investigate the ZPM. There had been something off in the energy readings that suggested it wasn't actually a ZPM but what else could it be? She slipped into unconsciousness; her arm still wrapped around her laptop.