"Ajax, calm down!" Jack grabbed the Elysian man by the shoulders and hauled him back behind the woodpile they were using as shelter. It was the fifth time he had had to do it. Ajax had heard Pandora's ear-piercing cry for help from inside the Temple, and now he was in hysterics.
"O'Neill, just let me go! I'll find the door, I'll save my wife AND your friend! Just let me go!"
"It's not going to work that way Ajax! It's too late. Calm down. We're not out of options just yet."
Ajax slumped his shoulders, letting his chin fall to rest on his chest. He looked terrible. His dark red hair scruffy, his face pale, dark circles under his eyes, and he looked tired, exhausted even. Daniel attempted to offer some comfort.
"Ajax, we're not going to leave your wife in Ptah's hands. Trust us."
"It still makes my heart ache Doctor Jackson. She was my wife..."
"I know how you feel. My wife was taken by the Goa'uld too. I've never given up hope of finding her." Daniel decided not to mention that Sha're was dead, somehow he figured it wasn't going to cheer Ajax up. But he did know how the man felt. The same feeling of helplessness, fear and guilt had worn him down to the point of exhaustion on many occasions. Sometimes it still did.
"I am sorry to hear that." Ajax looked up at Daniel, "And I do trust you. Without you and your friends I wouldn't have the chance to save Pandora, and for that I am grateful. Please, forgive my display of weakness."
"It's not a weakness Ajax. I know you love her. It'll work out just fine."
Just as Daniel finished, Teal'c noticed the transportation rings' familiar beam of light connecting Ptah's ship to the Temple.
"The transportation rings."
Everyone looked up, suddenly realising that they were going to have to come up with a new plan. Finding a way into the Temple now would be useless; Sam and Pandora were no longer on Elysium. Jack ground his teeth in frustration and thought hard. There had to be another way aboard Ptah's ship.
"Ajax, do you know how long Ptah usually stays here after he takes your people?"
"No, this is the first time I have even seen... that." Wide-eyed, he pointed to the dark shape in the sky.
Jack turned to Teal'c, "Any ideas? If Ptah's taking people from here to use as hosts, would he necessarily need all of them? What about trade?"
Teal'c tilted his head to one side, "Are you suggesting that Ptah is providing the other System Lords with hosts?"
"Is that too far fetched?"
Teal'c thought for a while. Remembering the very first time he'd met SG-1. Apophis had gathered a score of women in an attempt to find a queen, and many more people had been taken as the children of the Gods. Before that, Teal'c had witnessed the trading of men, women and children between Apophis and those System Lords that he wished to keep on his side. It was possible that Ptah was providing the Goa'uld with hosts in return for weapons, jaffa or even his life. It all depended where Ptah sat in the ranks.
"No. It is very likely that Ptah has found a means of power, simply by procuring hosts."
"The other System Lords wouldn't destroy him if they knew he was their link to eternal life."
"Indeed."
Jack sat on the information for a moment. Glancing down at his watch, he realised that they were going to need some rest if they were to even attempt a rescue.
"Okay kids, let's find a safe place to camp for the night. We'll talk about this when we're thinking straight."
Jack looked up and glanced around, making sure the coast was clear. He was lucky to notice Telamon and three guards emerging from the Temple. Motioning for the three men behind him to keep low, he watched the four Elysian men as they exchanged a silent goodbye and headed into the heart of the city, blissfully unaware that they were being watched. When Jack was sure they'd finally left, he carefully edged his way out of his hiding place, and motioned for the others to follow. The four men silently made their way back through Elysium, hoping to find the crack in the wall again. Jack was hoping that they could spend the night just outside the wall. He really didn't feel like waking up in another cell. The trip through the city this time was easy; all the lights were out in the houses, and there wasn't a sound to be heard. They found the crack easily, and slipped through, glad to be outside Elysium again.
"We'll make camp here, well sorta. There isn't much to sleep on but..." Jack stared at the ground, "we'll just have to make do."
"I shall take first watch." Ajax smiled sadly at his new friends, "You deserve to rest first."
The Colonel studied Ajax's posture. The man looked positively exhausted, and Jack figured he'd probably fall asleep during his watch.
"And we need you on your feet as our guide in the morning, so you need to get some sleep. I'll take first watch, then Teal'c, Daniel then you."
Reluctantly agreeing, Ajax, Daniel and Teal'c shifted the leaves about on the ground in an effort to create some sort of makeshift sleeping area. Soon after, they were sound asleep, leaving Jack to his thoughts. He really, really hated the idea of Sam being alone on a Goa'uld mother ship with a System Lord he'd never even heard of. He was almost sick to the stomach just with that thought in particular, the fact that Ptah actually wanted Sam specifically made it worse. He knew his 2IC was strong, but past experience made him aware that the Goa'uld were professionals when it came to torture of the physical and emotional kind. And they were experts when it came to breaking one's defensive shield. Jack knew that it'd only be a matter of time before Ptah would get sick of Sam's belligerence, and god knows what he'd do to her after that. He made a silent promise to get her back in record time and he was damned if he was going to let anything stand in his way.
Jack sharply shook his head, trying to get his hazy mind to think of something else for a while. Casting a quick glance over the sleeping men next to him he stretched, ran a hand through his hair and rested his back against the wall. The moment Jack began to loose concentration he decided to let Teal'c take over. He looked at his watch again. He'd been on watch for almost five hours now, Teal'c would have had plenty of time to gain back his strength.
Waking his Jaffa companion up, Jack finally put his busy mind to rest. Teal'c took watch standing just next to the crack in the wall, glad that Jack was going to get a considerable amount of sleep.
At 0800 hours the next morning, Ajax woke the foreign men from their sleep, eager to get a plan of rescue into action.
"O'Neill, it is morning. Have you had a chance to think about a rescue plan?"
"I was asleep Ajax..." Came the Colonel's sleepy reply.
"I understand. I have been thinking though."
"Mmm..." Jack rolled over and slowly got to his feet.
"Perhaps we should turn ourselves in... Rhadamanthus may choose us as the next Significants. That way Ptah-"
"Oh no no no." Wagging a finger at Ajax, Jack gave Daniel a shove in the side, trying to get the archaeologist to get up, "Ajax, we need to think of something that Ptah won't see coming. We can't just knock on his door and offer the guy brownies."
Daniel sat up, fiddling with his glasses. He'd been listening to the conversation, his mind clicking into gear, "Unless we waited for the next visit and manage somehow get aboard his ship? Ptah's got to come back right?"
Ajax glanced at Daniel, a wash of sadness in his eyes.
"The Gods are timely. They come to claim their significants at regular intervals. Rhadamanthus always informs us of their arrival two days before the Gods actually come."
"And just how long is it between these... intervals?" Jack folded his arms over his chest.
"Approximately 28 days."
"Four weeks? No, that's way to long. There's no way I'd leave Carter with a Goa'uld for more than a day let alone four weeks. New plan."
Teal'c spoke up, "Is it not possible to gain the trust of the people by forcing Rhadamanthus to proclaim that the Gods are false?"
"No. If we rebel against him, the gods will come down to bring piece once more. It has happened once in our recorded history. There was an uprising, the people of Elysium were unsettled at the thought of their new ruler being a woman, - I believe her name was Leda - her guards turned against her the day after she was named ruler. They tried to kidnap her and take her away from the city. I remember reading the speech that she gave to the people of Elysium on the day she became ruler, "There is evil afoot and it must be stopped. Elysium is not what it seems". She must have known about our false gods. Never-the-less, some people were with her, some were against her, and in the end the Gods settled the dispute by claiming that she was mentally unstable, choosing Leda as their next significant."
"So they could cover their own asses and replace her right?"
"That is correct. She was taken by the Gods and was replaced by Rhadamanthus' great grandfather. His bloodline has been in power ever since. Leda had been chosen as our ruler as she was the only child born to the rulers at the time. There was no other choice."
Daniel snapped his head around, facing Ajax squarely.
"So you're saying that Rhadamanthus isn't of royal blood. I mean, if the Gods took Leda and replaced her with Rhadamanthus then... then that would have effectively broken the lineage. Think about it."
Ajax stared at Daniel. He wondered why he hadn't thought of this. After all it made perfect sense. Suddenly he was filled with a sense of hope and he grinned widely.
"Then the idea of rebellion is justified! And this is my means of rescuing Pandora! All we have to do is convince the people that Rhadamanthus is not our rightful ruler!"
"And how will this help?" Jack was getting frustrated.
"Uh, I think Ajax is suggesting a way to force Ptah back here before he's due. There's no way he'll just ignore the fact that there's a rebellion. He needs these people." Daniel was starting to think that it wasn't such a bad idea, "Jack, this just might work."
"Yeah, but it's a really, really stupid idea. What happens if it backfires? Hmm? We'll end up slaves to the Goa'uld or dead. Neither of which I'm rather fond of."
"O'Neill, do you have another means of rescue?"
"No Teal'c...Just gimme a moment to think and I might though." After a while, Jack turned to Ajax, "You said something about the Stargate not working earlier, how long until it can be used again?"
"I am uncertain. Why?"
"I'm thinking we head back to the SGC and find another way around this. I'm seeing the current plan as a suicide mission here folks."
"Maybe... but shouldn't we be trying to help these people also?"
A sigh, "Daniel, if you hadn't noticed already my focus isn't on these people's livelihood at the moment. I'm more interested in getting Carter and getting the hell away from this place."
"You mean not to free us?" Ajax's voice cracked slightly.
"Ajax, there's no way four of us can convince a whole planet full of people to switch sides. We need a better plan. If we can neutralise Ptah in the process then that will free your people. It just can't be done right here, right now. The Tok'ra owe us one, so do the Asgard, maybe they can help us out."
"All the while Sam's left with Ptah? Jack, who knows how long it'll take for the Tok'ra or even the Asgard to come to our aid."
"Daniel, I'm sure Jacob won't think twice about kicking some Goa'uld butt. Especially one who has a member of his family captive."
"It might not be that simple-"
"You're saying that staging a rebellion is simple?"
Daniel sighed in defeat, "No... you're right."
"Look, we won't dismiss the whole rebellion thing. With a couple of SG teams watching our six it just might work. I'd just like to try something a little more plausible first. Keep it as a plan B...or possibly C...agreed?"
"Agreed."
Jack sighed, glad that the argument was over for now. Brushing himself down, he started to walk in the general direction of the Stargate. The others followed in silence, still conjuring up their own rescue plans. They all knew that Jack was right, that they needed another plan and at the very least, more backup.