"Seriously?" Rodney scowled out the porthole of Cassandra for a moment before turning back to Ian. "Two weeks, the most brilliant military minds in the world, and this is the best idea we could come up with?"
"It's a good plan, Rodney," the New Yorker told him.
"If he shows."
"He'll show. Goa'uld are nothing if not predictable. The message Jacob sent will get him to the ambush site."
"Him and a million Jaffa."
Ian snorted.
"He doesn't have a million Jaffa. Best guess is there's several hundred – and there's no way they'll all be there. Probably he'll bring a couple ships – and none of them will be a match for anything Cassandra can throw at them."
"You hope."
"Frenush is a minor system lord, Dr. McKay," a voice said from the doorway. "He doesn't have the resources to build a fleet – much less a single ship as formidable as Cassie."
The two men turned and Ian gave a nod of welcome to Jennifer Hailey, Cassandra's commanding officer. Her normally stern features softened when she returned that nod with a slight smile, but she was all business again when she sat down in the chair next to McKay's.
"You don't know that for sure, though, do you?" Rodney challenged.
"Yes, we do. Jacob Carter double checked for us."
McKay scowled and looked over at Ian.
"When did I miss that?"
"Final briefing," Ian told him. "You were too busy gathering your 'munchies for the road'."
"You said you didn't need me."
"We didn't. But that was when it was brought up."
The same time Shawn Adams had tried – again – to be included in the mission. And had once more been told he wasn't going to go. That had been a bit of an argument, but Jack had been the one with the final say and Shawn had been reminded that he'd given an oath to follow orders and that those were his orders. There had been some serious scowling after that, but no outright mutiny.
McKay sniffed, mollified, and then turned to Hailey.
"How long until we get there, Colonel?"
"About half an hour. Are you guys ready?"
Ian nodded.
"We got everything ready before we left Earth, but I'll want to check the Gateship before we leave – just to make sure nothing was damaged."
"I figured you would." She looked at the meal they were finishing. "By the time you're done, we should be at the separation point."
"We'll be ready whenever you give the word," Ian promised.
"Sounds good."
The New Yorker turned his attention back to McKay, clearly waiting for him to continue complaining about the plan, but Rodney just grumbled and picked up his fork. There was no sense complaining now; things were set in motion and one way or the other, they'd see how well the plan worked within the next couple of hours.
They'd sent an obscure message to Frenush – via one of Jacob Carter's operatives – telling him of a power supply that could make him one of the foremost powers amongst the Goa'uld. For the right price, of course. They preyed on the minor system lord's desire for power and status, but they knew that they couldn't make it sound too good to be true and perhaps set off warning bells in the Goa'uld's head, so the message had stated a ridiculously high price for that power source and the demand that Frenush only bring one body guard with him – of his choice. It was the proper demands for the role Ian was going to be playing; the role of a less than savory individual who would sell anything to the person with the most money to offer.
The response hadn't been immediate, but it'd been prompt, and had enough counter-demands in it that they were fairly certain that Frenush was going to come to their little meeting.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Even though Cassandra wasn't a very big ship as far as spacecraft go, the Gateship felt positively cramped in comparison a half an hour later. Cassandra had been brought out of FFTS drive and with very little fuss Ian and McKay had donned space suits and waited at the small airlock while the clamps that held the Gateship in place at the belly of the small ship were released. Ian shot a line over to the Gateship, tethering the ships together once more, while Rodney opened the rear hatch. It would vent all air inside to space, but it wouldn't take long for the Gateship to replenish its air supply, and they'd keep the suits on until it did.
"Everything looks good here, Ian," Rodney reported as they were checking through the systems a short time later.
Ian agreed; he'd designed Cassandra to be able to tote a Gateship – just because you never knew when you might need one – but this was the first time they'd actually used the clamps and he had to admit he was pretty pleased by how smooth it had gone.
"Systems are all in order, too, Rodney," he replied, looking up from the diagnostic he was running. "No sprung seams?"
McKay rolled his eyes.
"There aren't any seams to spring."
Ian toggled the communications lever.
"Cassandra, this is Gateship 3. We're cleared system checks and ready to begin."
Both McKay and Brooks recognized the person who replied as Hailey's communications officer.
"Received, Gateship 3. We will keep frequencies open to monitor your progress. Good luck."
"Thanks. Gateship 3 out."
Ian turned the ship toward Cassandra, and they watched as the ship engaged her cloak, vanishing in front of them. Then Ian triggered their own cloak and put his hand on their thrusters.
"Here we go."
"Did I mention this is a crazy plan?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you did."
"Did I mention you look like that captain from Firefly?"
Ian looked down at the outfit he'd changed into once they'd gotten out of the spacesuits and had to admit that he did. Complete with his Glock in its holster on his hip – and not a military holster.
"You don't look much like that mechanic…" he pointed out, gesturing to the outfit McKay had dressed in. It was fairly close to Ian's, but designed to look a little less clean and well kept. He was playing the role of a lackey, after all.
Rodney sniffed.
"I'm cuter than her."
They looked at each other, snickered, and both were grinning as Ian started the Gateship toward the rendezvous spot, Cassandra a silent but protective presence behind them.