hathor_girl

"Carter?" Jack asks, when Sam is returned many hours later, looking exhausted and hurt.

"Sam!" Daniel exclaims.

"Unfortunately, Teal'c is telling the truth. Apophis does seem to know at least some of what needs to be done to fix this ship. I tried to trick him when he wanted me to repair the enhanced engines, and he caught me every time." She gently touched her split lip.

"Do you know where we're going and when we'll be there?" Jacob asks.

"Thanks for the concern, dad!" Sam says sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. How are you?" Jacob says, going to her.

"I'm okay. Just a bit sore."

Jacob nods. "Okay. So, what did you learn."

She shakes her head at him, and sighs. She sits down against the wall and closes her eyes for a moment. Then she opens them again and starts speaking. "We're going to Apophis's domain, to his homeplanet. We're currently flying through the outer edges of Bastet's territory."

"Bastet!" Jacob exclaims. "But that should have been days away!"

"Yes. Apophis had managed to fix the engines some before they brought me in, and they made me repair several of the enhancements which have been brought online again. We will arrive on Apophis's homeplanet tomorrow evening, at the current speed."

They had spent the night sleeping as well they could, after eating the sparse food Teal'c had brought them.

Next morning Teal'c and the other Jaffa came and fetched Sam again.

She was gone for a few hours, while her friends worried, unable to do anything else.

Then the door opened, and Sam was thrown into the cell, and the door slammed shut after her.

"Sam!" Jacob exclaims, running to the unconscious form of his daughter.

"Is she alive?" Jack asks.

"Sam!" Daniel exclaims.

"She's alive, but badly injured. Selmak guesses she was thrown some distance with a hand device, and I agree. She was also exposed to the ribbon effect of it." Jacob shows them the angry red mark on Sam's forehead.

"Damn snake!" Jack exclaims. "Why would he do that? Doesn't he need her to fix the ship?"

Sam coughed weakly and her eyes fluttered open. Her cracked lips twisted into a small smile. "I sa... sabotaged it!"

"What?" Jacob asks. "You sabotaged the ship, or what?"

"Yes... I... I learned... they're not... not going to A... Apophis's homeworld. To Rolek. Ship..." She swallows heavily and loses consciousness.

"Carter! What ship? What's with the Rolex?" Jack asks. "Wake up!"

"Let her rest!" Jacob orders. "Rolek is the planet where Apophis was building his new improved mothership. The one you blew up while you wore the Ataneek armbands."

"Oh!" Jack says.

"So Sam found out we were going there, and sabotaged the engines of this ship?" Daniel asks.

"Why would she do that?" Jack frowns. "There's nothing there, are there?"

Jacob nods slowly. "There is. We didn't determine the exact time we had returned to, only that it was about a year ago. Most likely Apophis has refined the analysis and found that we arrived in time for him to stop you guys from blowing up his - past his - new mothership."

"Ah. Well then it makes sense Carter sabotaged the engines," Jack says. "If he'd stopped us destroying that ship then we'd all have been in trouble."

"And you guys would likely have been dead," Jacob says.

Several hours later Teal'c and the other Jaffa arrived and took the still unconscious Sam, and left with her.

"Let's hope they're taking her to a sarc to heal her," Jack offers.

"Probably. There isn't really any other reason." Jacob sighs, relieved. "Apophis must have decided he needs her help to fix the ship again."

"You think we'll arrive in time for Apophis to stop us?" Jack wonders.

"How should I know? I guess we can hope not - it must be close, or Apophis wouldn't have reacted like that," Jacob says, looking worriedly towards the door.

Sam arrives back many hours later, exhausted but no longer injured. Her dad and her friends smile.

"Good to see you, Sammie!" Jacob says.

"You look better, Carter!" Jack says.

"Thanks, sir, physically I am." She sighs. "They healed me so they could force me to work on the engines." She smiles a thin smile. "It won't help them much. Even if I fix the engines as well as I can, they won't do more than 50% of the speed, unless they get me some spare parts I doubt they can get their hands on quickly." Her smile widens.

"Well done, Carter!" Jack grins.

"Uh, so what? It takes us two days instead of one?" Daniel asks. "Does that even make much of a difference?"

Sam nods. "Yeah, I think so, at least Apophis is furious. Anyway, the engines aren't at that point yet." She smiles again. "Even if I do my best, it'll take a couple days, so I'm guessing the new mothership is safely blown up when we arrive."

"That's great, Sam! It also takes away one of the avenues Apophis might have used to convince his past self that he can be trusted and is worth listening to," Jacob says.

"Awesome!" Jack says, sitting down on the bench with a satisfied smile.