Sam bolted upright with a start, senses oddly keen as a result of reincarnation-a-la-sarcophagus. She lay in the middle of Ptah's room; there was no one in sight, no Goa'uld, no burly Jaffa, no…

'Ha, the idiot's left the door open.'

Sam's attention lay fixed on the open door just a stone's throw away. This was her lucky day. Stealing a quick glance around the room to make sure she really was alone, Sam got to her feet, ignoring the pain in her back. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. Lungs burning for air, head screaming in pain- death by asphyxiation… Falling to her knees she willed herself to forget.

'Get it together Major!'

Sam shook her head and pulled air into her lungs in long breaths. Picking herself up, she took a few steps towards the door. She got as far as five paces from her original position when she felt her nose compact with something hard.

Blue light fizzled over her head and dispersed over her like an umbrella. Sam cursed, lashed out at the force shield preventing her escape and seethed. Ptah had a sick sense of humour, if once could even call it that.

Carter took a step back from the shield. Holding out her hand so that her fingers brushed the invisible wall, she walked, tracing the area that confined her. A dome; roughly three metres in diameter, two meters high and with no visible source was the result. She stared at the door in frustration, and then broke into pitiful laughter.

'This is getting old… real fast. I need to get outta here.'

She let herself flop back onto the floor, her nervous laugh turning into shuddering sobs. She didn't know how much more she could take. This was driving her insane. It might have been easier for her had Ptah been demanding for her technical expertise; at the very least she could have pretended to fix his sub-light engines or recalibrate his beaming technology. But being in the position she really was in, there was no room for pretending. Sam lost track of how long she just sat there, staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused. She didn't feel like herself; it was almost like she was having an out of body experience. For a few slow moments she imagined herself elsewhere… anywhere. Even being on that sinking Goa'uld vessel would be better than this. She'd have something to do at the very least… and she'd have the rest of SG-1 backing her up. It still amazed her how Jonas had managed to hold his breath for as long as he claimed.

Smiling slightly at the thought, Sam reined in her emotions. She must have missed dinner reservations; Ptah had left her another platter of unappetising fruit. Sam eyed the plate critically. The sarcophagus had left her without an appetite, but there was nothing else to do, and she really needed something to take her mind off things for a while. Sam slid the plate towards her. Out of the corner of her eye she suddenly spotted something. Pushing the food away from her again, she reached out and ran her hand across the floor. It was perfectly smooth, save for one tiny piece of tiling that was almost completely flush with the other tiles around it. Sam dug her fingernails around the tile and tried to pry it up. The tile was definitely moving, but when the nail on her thumb broke, she opted for something harder. Ptah would just have to make do without another of his pieces of china. Sam broke the plate, hoping that Ptah hadn't heard. She now had some leverage. With a piece of glass wedged into the crack, the tiny tile was no match as it lifted silently from its resting place.

Sam held her breath as she brushed the bits of glass away from her work area. Fog lifting from her mind, she smiled as the light caught glimpses of tiny crystal-like objects beneath the floor. Control crystals! She only had to work out which ones to pull and the shield was history, she hoped. Working quickly, her trained fingers raced over the handful of crystals, rearranging them over and over until she heard a sharp click. Not really the sound she was aiming for.

"Kree!"

Carter froze, a control crystal still in her hand. The guard must have heard the plate smashing after all.

"Okay, you got me. Red handed…"

"Stand."

She got to her feet, her back still facing the guard. She head him grunt in frustration, probably because she was holding something pretty valuable in her hand. The guard moved his staff weapon aside and reached over Sam's shoulder to take the crystal off her.

'Big mistake buddy.'

Catching the Jaffa off guard, Sam grabbed his arm and swung herself around him in an almost cat-like fashion. Snatching the staff weapon, she turned it on him instead. It was his time to Kree, whatever that really meant.

The Jaffa raised his hands in defeat, eyeing the staff weapon. Although it would have felt good to put a hole in his stomach, Sam thought better of it. Keeping the weapon aimed at the man before her she walked behind him. She heard the Jaffa hiss as he realised what she was about to do. In one swift movement Sam brought the butt-end of the staff down on his neck, and he crumpled to the ground.

Sam paused for a short moment to gather her senses. The door was open, the shield was down (although she didn't know if it was because of her or the Jaffa), and she had a weapon. Where was she going to go? The glider bay was an option… if Ptah had one, or even the rings. With some luck they were still over Elysium, maybe she could beam herself back to the planet. It'd have to do for now. She stepped over the body on the floor and stole her way into the corridor.

Stealing her way past many open doors, Sam had no idea where she was headed. She was constantly scanning the walls and flicking her gaze into the open rooms in an attempt to get her bearings, but it was proving harder than she had hoped. Every room was filled with ornaments and incense, with very little or no security. She was getting the feeling that she was on a level that had been sealed off, so there would be no point in locking the doors. Still, she figured that as long as she wasn't going around in circles she was making progress. Just when she thought she was doing well to avoid detection, the unmistakeable sound of heavy armour echoed down the corridor behind her. Jaffa. Sam had only one option; to keep going forward. There were no doors to hide in down this part of the ship, so she really really hoped she wasn't running into Ptah's lab or something equally unproductive.

It was a dead end, one door sat closed in front of her. Sam cursed. She could hear the heavy footsteps of the Jaffa coming down the corridor. There was only a few seconds to make a decision. Sam opted for the door. With a little luck there would be no one inside… okay, she needed a lot of luck.

Opening the door as fast as she could, Sam slipped inside. It was dark, the room smelt of sulphur, and the temperature was a little too hot for comfort. Every now and then, a faint tapping sound could be heard from somewhere within the room. Sam decided to head towards it, staff weapon raised. Coming up behind a stack of crates and peering over she could just make out the shape of a woman. Highlighted red by a furnace, she looked hot and aggravated. Rightly so. She didn't look like she was having much fun. She also didn't look Goa'uld; her ragged clothing gave that away.

Suddenly the woman looked up, and straight at Sam, "Who's there? I can hear you."

Sam figured her cover was blown, and stepped out from behind the crates.

"Who are you?" The woman barked again.

"Shh! It's okay, I'm here to help."

The grey eyed woman shook a finger, "You're not supposed to be in here! Cannot you see that I am busy?"

Sam looked down at her work. Blades?

"You're a blacksmith?"

"Only the best in Elysium."

The woman continued to beat on the long blade before her, ignoring the sparks that were flying into her hair.

"You're not on Elysium anymore…"

The beating stopped, "Are you here to make statements out of the obvious? I know where I am, and I know how to get back."

"To Elysium? How?" Sam stepped closer.

"By reaching my quota! But you are making that an impossible task young lady."

Sam glanced behind the ageing woman. Huge crates were staked in neat rows, all of which bearing Goa'uld symbols.

"You're making blades for Ptah?"

"Are you trying to be funny? Of course I am. Do you see any other power-hungry fool running around asking for ten thousand blades?"

"And uh, how many have you made?"

"Questions, questions! For your information, I am one quarter of the way through. Now please, leave me be."

Sam figured the woman had been couped up for years. Ptah couldn't possibly need ten thousand blades, which lead to the possibility that he was into trafficking weapons to other System Lords as well.

"I can help you get out of here."

"I do not need your help, only your absence."

Sam threw her hands up, "Look, you've been here for years right? If you think Ptah intends on keeping his promise to let you go after you're through here then I feel very sorry for you. It's not going to happen. Now you can come with me and we'll find a way out of here, or you can stay in this room slaving over hot coals and cold metal."

The woman stood and pointed the red-ended blade she was working on at Sam, "How many times do I have to tell you? I am going no where! Now be gone!" No sooner than she had spoken, the woman sat down again and averted her eyes from Sam.

Carter's stomach twisted, 'Crap.'

"Wise words. Perhaps you should take a leaf from Elanora's book Samantha."

Part of her wanted to swing around and turn the staff weapon on the stupid SOB, which would probably work considering how surprised he would be. But she knew that shooting Ptah meant having to deal with his angry hoard of Jaffa as well. Something she didn't intend on trying just yet.

"I was just going for a walk… really." And yet again with the O'Neillism's…

"I'm afraid your walk ends here." Ptah traced the end of a blade between Sam's shoulder blades. "The weapon."

Sam let the staff weapon fall to the floor

Ptah kicked the item away, "You are making it extremely hard for me to continue my research. I do not take pleasure in chasing you around my ship. I also do not appreciate being one Jaffa down. Turn around."

'I killed him?'

Carter turned to face the Goa'uld, the blade now at her throat.

"I think I should show you how to be obedient once more… before I share my research with you. As angry as I am, there are more important things to carry on with, and I believe that I have made significant progress these last few hours."

Sam tilted her head away from the sharp metal, "Good for you."

"Yes. But not so for you." Ptah pulled Sam in front of him and headed her towards the door, "And you, Elanora, had better have today's quota met before you too meet the same fate as my Samantha here…"