Hayes frowned, looking over at Hammond.
"What's he talking about, George? Is he okay?"
Sam had stood up and walked over to stand beside Ian.
"What's under the ice, Ian?" she asked, suddenly worried that the Ancient's download was finally doing to Ian what it had done to Jack.
When he turned to her, though, his eyes weren't as distant as Jack's had been. Instead, they suddenly lit up.
"Son of a bitch! It's a weapon, Sam. Holy shit…" he turned and looked at the map again, running his hand along the smooth surface. "I need charts…"
"What the hell is he-?"
"What kind of charts?" Daniel asked, interrupting Hayes and standing up quickly.
"Latitude and longitude… some kind of GPS grid, too."
He didn't turn from the map, but they all heard him quite clearly.
"Doctor Jackson…" Hammond said, gesturing for the door.
Daniel was already on his way, though. He vanished out the door, and everyone else turned to Ian.
"What kind of weapon, Ian?" Jack asked, suddenly excited. If it was enough to animate Ian like this, then it had to be something special, right?
"An Ancient one, Jack," Ian answered.
"If it's old how is it going to be any use to us?" Hayes asked, still somewhat miffed at the irregular behavior of the junior-most officer in the room.
"Not old, Mr. President," Hammond said. "Ancient. From the people who built the Stargates."
"What?" Now Hayes was interested. "How does he know where to find an alien weapon?"
"It's a long story," Hammond answered. "But-"
He was interrupted by the return of Daniel, who was now carrying several transparent charts in his hands.
"They didn't have one to go over that map," he said, setting another map down on the table in front of Ian's empty space. "We'll have to use this one…"
Ian nodded, and moved over to stand by the table, his eyes on the map Daniel had brought, but now they were once more distant as well, as if he was figuring something out, or concentrating on something that only he knew.
He threw the transparency with the longitude grid on it over the map, straightening them both so they matched, and then started tracking his finger along an obscure section of nothingness in Antarctica while everyone else in the room crowded around him to look.
"That's all glacier…" Daniel mused as he watched.
"Glacier that's been there for millions of years," Sam added, frowning. "It makes sense – if there's a weapon under it – since the Ancients haven't been around for at least that long, but how are we supposed to get to it?"
"And does it still work?" Jack asked, watching just as intently as the others.
"There…" Ian said, pointing his finger to a spot finally. He held it there with one hand, and moved the GPS grid over both of the other papers. "That's the location."
"How much does a glacier grow in a year?" Jack asked.
Everyone in the room looked at Daniel, who shrugged.
"It depends on several variables; weather patterns, global warming or freezing, the amount-"
"How much, Daniel?" Jack interrupted.
"The ice there could be two miles thick – maybe even more."
Jack looked at Ian.
"You're sure about this?"
"Yeah." Certain that the position had been written down, Ian sat down in his chair, rubbing his eyes to try to make them stop aching. "The Ancients had an outpost here. They were prepared to defend it if they were attacked… the weapon should still be there."
"Should be?" McKay echoed. He'd been quiet up until then, but now he couldn't help but speak up.
Ian scowled.
"It's a potent weapon, Doctor. If someone had wandered by and picked it up, they'd be in control of this whole area – and I don't see aliens running the show, do you? Besides, they couldn't do anything with it, anyways. Only the Ancients could use it – and as far as I know it's dead."
"Dead?"
"The Ancients took the power source with them when they abandoned this area…" Ian said, the information suddenly in his brain where only yesterday it hadn't been. "They didn't want to chance someone stumbling onto it."
"Why didn't they disassemble it?" Daniel asked, fascinated.
"Because they always meant to come back…"
"If they took the power source, then it's of no use to us," McKay said. "I'm pretty certain it's not going to run on D batteries."
"I have the power source."
"What? Where?"
Ian rubbed his head again.
"I can't believe I never realized what it was. I always thought that it was a-"
"Ian…" Sam was watching him with a concerned frown. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." He sat up a little more and looked at the others. "This weapon can drive back the Goa'uld – and anyone else we don't want around, for that matter. You just need to figure out a way to get to it."
"How do we get through two miles of ice?" Hammond asked.
"Maybe Thor can think of something," Jack said.
"Or the Tok'ra…" Ian added.
"We can't use the Tok'ra," Daniel said. "Not without knowing for certain whether Jacob is really carrying Selmac around, or if he's been taken over by another Goa'uld…"
"I might have a way to find out," Ian told them. "I need to get home."
Jack frowned, but Sam stood up, hopeful.
"I'll go with you."
He nodded, and looked at Hammond as if making sure it was okay with the general. Hammond nodded, and made a motion with his hand excusing the two of them.
"We'll talk to Thor – and start getting an expedition together to go look for this weapon."
"Don't forget, George," Hayes said, standing up as well and just a little caught up in the excitement of the new discovery. "We have diplomats making a landing in only a couple of hours. What are we going to tell them?"
Hammond gave a slight shrug.
"Hopefully we'll have good news for them by the time they land."
It was about time they found some good news, after all. All they'd had recently was a lot of bad.