Definitely no bad guys and, even better, he could see their gear dumped in a heap against the far wall. He let out a short sigh of relief and poked his head back out to summon Carter. Her weapon was aimed right at his head and he held up a hand in mock surrender. “Easy,” he murmured, although he didn’t blame her for twitchy reflexes.
Her expression was taut as she lowered her weapon. “Sorry sir.”
He waved her apology away. “Come on,” he said, and headed back inside. “You’re gonna love this.”
There was so much stuff in the lab he couldn’t really take it all in, and as Carter followed him inside her eyes went wide. “Oh, wow.”
“I knew you’d say that.”
Jack covered the door, while Carter went over and collected her weapons and the rest of her kit. “Sir,” she said, while she pulled on her tac vest, “I know we’re just here for our stuff, but it’s possible we could find something even more useful…”
“Such as a way to open the Stargate?”
“Maybe.” She flashed him a quick smile. “I won’t know unless I look.”
“You’ve got five minutes,” he said, resisting a smile of his own.
“Yes sir.” Jamming the alien weapon into her belt, she got down to work.
One shoulder wedged against the doorway, Jack stood watch while Carter poked about in the lab. After a couple of minutes, he saw Teal’c peer cautiously around the end of the corridor. Jack lifted his hand in greeting as the others approached. “Hunter was right,” he said. “All our gear’s in here.”
“Well that’s lucky,” Daniel said, sounding dubious. “Why does it make me feel like something’s about to go horribly wrong?”
“Bitter experience?”
“Yep, that’ll be it.”
Hunter shook his head. “You can’t be dawdling here,” he said, glancing nervously back down the corridor. “Ain’t safe.”
“Here,” Jack said, offering Hunter the Amam’s weapon. “Take this. It’ll make you feel better.”
“O’Neill?” The slight question in Teal’c’s voice was enough to suggest disapproval.
Jack shot him a look. “My enemy’s enemy, Teal’c.” He turned back to Hunter, layering his words with a tone of command. “He’s not gonna hand us over to the zombies.”
Hunter glanced down at the weapon, then up at Jack before he reached out and took it. “You can trust me.”
For now, maybe. But he couldn’t keep his gaze from the symbol Hunter wore on his forehead and all he said was, “Cover the corridor while I get my gear.” He didn’t have to ask Teal’c to stay with him.
While they took position at the door, Jack followed Daniel into the lab and retrieved his vest and weapons, leaving his pack until they were about to move out. He was relieved to see that nothing had been tampered with and he felt a hell of a lot better being properly armed again.
“Wow,” Daniel said as he shrugged on his tac vest, “this place is amazing.”
“Reminds me of your office,” Jack said, glancing around the cluttered space. “Full of junk.”
“Or fascinating artifacts and highly advanced alien technology?” Daniel suggested absently, his attention already caught by something he’d seen.
In the center of the lab was a bank of consoles where Carter stood gazing at something with her usual intent focus. Around the edges of the room, on a kind of work bench, there were numerous gizmos and gadgets, some of which were taken apart. Most looked as bizarre and creepy as the rest of the ship, but a few were more familiar and some were definitely Goa’uld. He spotted a disassembled zat on the far end of the bench and reached out to pick it up, turning it over in his hands.
“Daniel?” Carter said, glancing up from the console. “Do you recognize this language? At least, I’m assuming it’s a language…”
Daniel was on the other side of the lab, but he headed gamely over to where Carter stood and peered at the screen. “Oh, it’s definitely a language,” he said with sudden interest. “Okay, wow, this is fascinating.”
“It is?”
“Ah, yes. Yes, very.”
As Daniel bent closer to the screen, Jack glanced down at the zat in his hands. It looked beyond repair, at least beyond his skill, and he dumped it on the bench and headed back to the door. “Teal’c,” he said, “go get your stuff.”
Back braced against the doorframe, he kept one eye on the corridor and one on Hunter. “You’ve been here before?” Jack guessed.