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 Training With SG-1

Chapter 7

"Should we alert the others to what we’ve found?" Nyan asked. The narrow passage had turned ninety degrees.

"Good idea," Sam nodded. She keyed the radio on her shoulder. "General?"

Casey rubbed her stomach, where a large, cold knot of fear was now lodging. "Stud Muffin?" she said into her own radio.

Nyan tried calling Teal’c. Static was the result each time.

"Okay, let’s not panic. There must be something nearby that’s blocking our signals," Sam said, trying to sound calmer than she felt.

"They could have stumbled onto something that’s blocking them," Casey pointed out.

"It doesn’t matter, either way. We have to find our way out of this if we’re going to have any chance of finding them," Sam pointed out.

They hadn’t gone more than a few steps when they were offered a choice…move straight ahead, or turn left.

Casey pulled her lip between her teeth. There was something so familiar about this whole thing…

Sam was contemplating the same thought. There was a familiar feel to their predicament.

"Maze!"

"It’s a maze!"

The women spoke at the same time.

Nyan was familiar with the concept of mazes. In fact, he enjoyed the books he could purchase that held dozens of mazes to be solved. Being in a life-sized maze was not something he’d ever wanted to do, although Detrick had often told him of the fun of the cornfield mazes he’d navigated as a child.

"Okay, what’s the best way to work through a maze?" Casey asked.

"We should continue to go in one direction," Sam said. "Even if it feels as if we’re going in circles. We’ll keep going straight."

The three moved forward. Their observers watched worriedly.

After fifteen minutes, the maze corridor turned abruptly to the left. A wall slid into place behind them, cutting off any chance of retracing their steps to the first turn off. "Guess we’ll go this way," Sam said, just a bit irritably.

"Is it just me, or is this thing getting more narrow?"

"It’s not you," Nyan replied, his shoulders in contact with the walls on both sides of him.

"This is not amusing," Casey complained.

"Not even a little bit," Sam allowed.

When it appeared there was a lit doorway to their right, just ahead, the three sighed in relief.

Sam started to turn, shocked when an arm reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back. "What the-"

"Look," Casey hissed, pointing at the floor.

On the other side of the doorway was a wide pit. Casey pulled a water bottle from her pack, then dropped it into the gaping hole. It was several seconds before a faint splash was heard.

Pale, Sam backed into the wall behind her. "Oh, god," she groaned shakily. "That could have been…" She turned to Casey. "Thank you."

"Any time, girlfriend," Casey said softly.

"Allow me to take point," Nyan said quietly. "The two of your are far too valuable to the SGC to lose."

"Nyan-" Sam started.

The Bedrosian smiled. "Besides, I need the experience, right?"

Casey frowned. But Nyan was correct. The entire point of the mission was to help him learn what he needed to do when he was assigned to an SG team. Taking point was part of that lesson. "Okay, you win…for now. I’ll take point in a bit."

Convinced that he could protect the women he was with, Nyan slipped in front of Sam. He raised his P90, aiming the scope light down the passage. "Well, here goes."

"Keep an eye on the floor as well," Sam warned, her voice still a bit shaky.

Jack had both hands on the window in front of him, shouting…telling Sam to step back. He nearly dropped to his knees when he saw an arm reach out and snatch her back, preventing her from taking her next step, one that could have had dire consequences. "Pay attention, Sam!" he shouted.

Daniel closed his eyes and murmured a prayer of thanksgiving. Sam had come within one step and a few seconds of being separated further from her team, and none of them had any idea how deep the pit was, or where it would ultimately lead.

Teal’c was frowning, watching as his teammates continued their journey through the maze. It was certain that they would have to pass the blades that continued to swing from the ceiling. He was even able to see the mechanisms from which the blades hung. If he could only get one of the windows open, they could fire upon those boxes and halt the dangerous blades. He continued to search for a way to open the windows that wouldn’t result in glass raining down into the maze, and onto the unsuspecting victims trapped within its twists and turns.

"One way mirrors," Jack mumbled.

"What?" Daniel asked, his eyes never leaving his wife as she walked behind Nyan.

"I’m guessing that they see a solid ceiling above them," Jack said. "Or they’d be trying to figure out a way to get above that thing."

"Okay, sounds reasonable," Daniel agreed.

"But we can see everything…the ceiling is clear glass to us."

"Obviously."

"Think there’s anyway to bring a piece of ceiling down, so they can crawl out?" Jack asked.

"Without hurting them? Maybe. But then what? Where would they go? We’re at least two levels above them, or we wouldn’t be able to see the entire thing like this. Even if they could see us, how would they get up here?" Daniel’s voice was soft. He was as desperate to save Casey as Jack was to rescue Sam. But they had to be careful in what they did, or risk making the situation for their wives even worse.

Jack’s shoulders slumped. "I hate this. Think we can find a way to get down there to them? We know what the maze looks like from up here…"

"Did not Samantha Carter say that a wall had closed behind them, shortly before they found themselves in the maze?" Teal’c queried.

"Yeah, she did," Jack admitted.

"Then our chances of finding the corridor she was in are slim," the Jaffa concluded.

"I hate this," Jack repeated. He didn’t shrug off the comforting hand of his best friend when Daniel reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

"There’s a doorway to the right, or we can turn left and follow the passage," Nyan announced.

"If we follow the passage, that will lead us back the way we came, right?" Casey asked.

"I think so, yeah," Sam responded.

Three scope lights moved around the doorway, floor to ceiling, and around as much as possible. There was nothing to see, just the same faded, floral wall paper. Nyan took a deep breath, and stepped into the adjoining corridor. As soon as all three were standing together, a hidden door dropped from the ceiling, slamming into place.

"Nothing like being herded," Sam grumped.

"Moo fucking moo," Casey sulked. Her frown deepened. "Miss Eloise said we’re going to have to think, to get out of this. I don’t think just deciding which way to go was what she was talking about."

Sam adjusted her grip on her P90. "Traps?"

"That would be my guess."

"What kind of traps?" Nyan asked nervously, his eyes moving continually as he took one hesitant step after another, leading them ever forward.

"No clue," Casey admitted.

"We’re in no rush," Sam said softly. "We move slowly, and pay attention to everything."

Daniel ran his hand over his face. It was torture to stand and watch his wife as she moved ever closer to those damned, swinging blades. Teal’c had already noted that it was the only path that didn’t dead-end, at least as far as he could see. The archaeologist turned away from the window for just a moment, needing to take a deep breath and gain control over his raging emotions. "Oh, fuck."

"What?" Jack asked, his gaze never wavering from the blonde head of his wife.

"We’re as stuck up here as they are down there," Daniel complained.

Both Jack and Teal’c turned away from the windows. Where the opening had been for the stairs they had traversed to reach this observation room, was now a wall. A portrait was hanging on the wall.

"That is just…that’s crazy!" Jack whispered.

Daniel was examining the painting as well. There was no doubt that the three men staring helplessly out of the windows in the painting were depictions of the three of them. "I’m not even going to ask how the hell that could have happened."

"Paint’s not even dry," Jack noted, touching one corner of the painting, the dark pigment stuck to his skin.

"It sort of looks like a photo that someone has added pigment to," Daniel pondered aloud.

"Is that possible? Take a photo and then paint it?"

The archaeologist shrugged. "I’m sure a computer could be programmed to add paint to certain areas of a photograph."

"It could?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Couldn’t it?" Daniel countered.

Now it was Jack who shrugged. "Beats me. Sam is the computer expert of the team."

"It’s freaky," Daniel sighed.

"Someone is observing us," Teal’c surmised.

"So it would seem," Daniel nodded. "The question is, why? What’s this all about, anyway? All of the traps and disappearing doors and walls that just suddenly appear…why?"

"Who knows why the Goa’uld do anything?" Jack asked.

"I don’t think the Goa’uld built this place…or had anything to do with it," Daniel replied. "This is far too…complex. There are dangers, but if you’re paying attention, nothing is going to kill us here."

"We hope," Jack snarled. "Sam almost fell into that hole…who knows how far down it goes, or what’s in it, or where she’d wind up if she did survive the fall."

"They won’t make that mistake again," Daniel insisted. "They’re moving slower, they’re watching for any hidden traps."

"Indeed," Teal’c agreed. "Samantha Carter and Casey Jackson are intelligent women. Nyan is also a man who thinks carefully about his situation. They will make their way through this maze, and to the other side."

"Which, if you’ve noticed, we can’t see," Jack pointed out.

"Right now, there’s not much we can do. I want to watch to make sure Casey gets out of that thing. Then…" Daniel sighed. "Then we’ll figure out how to get our asses out of here."

The three men hurried back to the windows, to observe the maze below, and the three who were as trapped within it as any rats in a laboratory test.

Nyan stopped. There was a doorway in front of them and one to the left. A closed door was to their right. "Well, what do we do?" he asked quietly.

Casey slid up beside him, peeked around the doorway to the left of them. Even when shining her scope light down what had to be a corridor, she couldn’t see anything. "There’s no way we could walk down there…we wouldn’t be able to see anything around us. In this place, that’s not a good thing."

"Closed doors make me nervous," Sam admitted. "I’ve already ‘ridden’ one room, I really don’t want to repeat the experience."

"Yeah, especially if we just wind up back at the beginning of this whole thing," Casey concurred.

"Then we go forward," Nyan said, bravely stepping through the doorway. He wouldn’t say a word about the fact that Sam and Casey crowded behind him, nearly pushing him off his feet.

"Do you hear that?" Sam asked, after a few minutes of walking.

Casey tilted her head. "Sounds like…like ‘swishing’."

"I hear it, too," Nyan said.

"Oh, I so hate this place. I never want to see another castle as long as I live, once we get out of this here," Casey declared.

"I hear ya," Sam agreed.

The corridor made a ninety-degree turn. When all three were standing together, lights somewhere above them began to glow.

"Oh, shit!" Casey breathed.

In front of them, the shiny metal reflecting the lights that had suddenly come on, were three wide, tall blades. Which were swinging from rods connected to the ceiling they could barely see above them. The blades were swinging independently of each other, and didn’t appear to have any specific rhythm or timing.

"How in the hell do we get passed that?" Sam asked hoarsely.

"I don’t know," Nyan admitted. His eyes were as wide, his face as pale as those of his companions.

Casey put down her pack, dug through it, and pulled out her trusty roll of duct tape.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"Gonna see if those things are really as sharp as they look." Casey took a strip of the shiny gray tape, then walked slowly toward the closest blade. She knelt down, took a deep breath, then held the tape beneath the blade, waiting for it to swing back. When it did, the sticky tape was sliced neatly into two pieces. "Yep, sharp," she gulped.

"We’re going to turn around," Sam said. "We’ll open that door and take our chances-"

"Good idea," Casey agreed.

They’d not take more than half a dozen steps before the sound of a wall dropping into place echoed around them.

Casey fought back tears of panic. "I so friggin’ hate this place!" she hissed.

"Me, too, girlfriend," Sam whispered. "Me, too."

The two women stared at the blades that prevented them from moving forward. "They’re too damned low to try to crawl under,’ Sam sighed.

"Yeah, I noticed." Casey pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Nyan was studying the blades as they swung back and forth. "I might be wrong…but I think we can move past those blades, one at a time, if we’re fast. It looks as if there’s enough room for us to stand together on the other side of the first blade."

Sam studied the blades as well. Counted in her head several times. "You’re right. One side of the corridor, just enough to slip past, is ‘open’ for about three seconds."

"I’ll go first," Nyan offered.

Casey grabbed his arm. "Please, be careful."

Nyan smiled, and patted her hand. "I will be."

"They’re trying to figure it out," Jack murmured, watching his wife and two friends as they stood on the wrong side of those damned swinging blades.

"Look!" Teal’c said, just as Nyan dashed forward.

Daniel couldn’t help but smile when Casey and Sam began to clap and cheer. He held his breath as Casey went next, waiting two full swings before darting forward, then standing close to Nyan.

"Okay, Colonel, take your time, count it out," Jack whispered.

Sam made it past the first blade. The three in the maze hugged briefly, then carefully made their way past the remaining blades, taking their time, counting carefully…Sam appeared to be using the stopwatch feature on her wristwatch.

"Yes!" Jack crowed when all three were safely past the blades. He turned and gave Daniel a firm hug. "They’re safe!"

"For now," Daniel replied. "There’s still that fire to get past."

Jack deflated slightly. "True. But they figured that trap out. Didn’t take ‘em long, either!"

"They are indeed intelligent," Teal’c nodded.

Casey wiped her hand across her forehead. She was warm, but more from the adrenaline rush of making it past those very sharp blades than the actual temperature. "I suppose we should keep moving. I doubt if standing here will help us."

"Probably not," Sam agreed.

The seer huffed a sigh, then looked toward the ceiling. "Just once, couldn’t you help out? One little ‘magic miracle’? Can’t you just zap us to where Daniel, Jack, and Teal’c are? Just once? I mean, for chrissakes, we’ve done everything you’ve wanted us to do, and a couple of times we almost didn’t make it out of the messes you tossed us into!"

Sam chuckled. "Think it will work?"

"Probably not," Casey grumped. "But I figured asking couldn’t hurt."

Daniel laughed softly. "I don’t know what she said, but she was aiming at the ‘Big Boys’. I think those higher-level beings had better be careful. They’re going to piss that little blonde off one too many times, and she’s going to look for them, find them, and give them a piece of her mind."

Jack grinned. "Yeah, she’s a hellcat when she’s pissed off. Kinda makes you wonder how ‘wise’ the Big Boys really are, taking the risks they are."

"I have no doubt that Casey Jackson would enlist the aid of the Seventh Level being from Annika’s reality," Teal’c mused.

"And I have no doubt that Oakey would be more than happy to help her," Daniel replied.

"Indeed."

"Oakey…there’s someone…is a Seventh Level being a ‘someone’? Anyway, haven’t thought about Her in a while," Jack said.

"I know Oakey stayed nearby for a few days after Cam was killed. I felt her presence a few times, and I know Casey talked to her at least three times."

"You would think we should be more freaked out about knowing god…or a god…or whatever," Jack said, watching as his wife and her companions continued through the maze. Hoping against hope that they could find a way to avoid that corridor filled with flames.

"At this point in my life, I don’t think much can freak me out," Daniel admitted.

"Yeah, going through a wormhole every day and running into the situations we do sort makes the whole thing just another day at the office," Jack said.

"Just as long as we don’t get jaded," Daniel quipped.

"Us? Jaded? Won’t happen," Jack declared.

"I hope not," Daniel murmured.

"O’Neil, Daniel Jackson." Teal’c’s voice was strained.

The men looked toward the window once again. Their wives were being herded toward the corridor that was still spurting flames.

"Oh, god," Daniel gasped, when a wall slammed down behind the three trapped teammates. The surprise…and fear…was plain to see in the expressions on their faces.

"Okay…so we keep moving forward," Sam said, trying to keep her voice calm. The wall behind them had dropped so suddenly they had all been startled.

"Do you smell that?" Casey asked, sniffing the air around them.

Nyan frowned. "That’s a chemical smell."

Sam sniffed as well. "I know that smell…I just can’t think of the name of it."

Casey shifted her pack. It was one thing to run into barriers and tests they could see. Fighting a smell? That would be difficult. "Should we be concerned about this?"

"I don’t know," Sam admitted. She heaved a sigh. "If we’re ever going to get out of this maze, I guess we should keep moving."

"When we get home, I’m getting into my bathtub, turning on the jets, and I’m not moving for hours. Maybe even days," Casey declared.

"I hear ya, girlfriend."

Nyan leaned against the wall. "I’m getting tired, too."

"Let’s get through this damned maze," Sam said. "Then we’ll rest."

"They’re getting tired," Jack observed.

"Yeah," Daniel agreed. "In this instance, that could be deadly."

"There have been numerous times on various missions where we were forced to continue pushing forward, in spite of our fatigue," Teal’c said. "Samantha Carter, Casey Jackson, and Nyan of Bedrosia will emerge from this test unscathed."

Jack glanced at the tall Jaffa. The calm confidence in the large man’s voice was comforting. "True."

"They’re getting closer," Daniel said. His heart was pounding against his ribs. He’d continued to try contacting his wife with the radio on his shoulder, hoping that whatever was preventing them from communicating was gone…to no avail.

"Keep your wits about you, Colonel," Jack muttered under his breath. "Take your time and work out the best solution."

"That smells like smoke," Sam said, sniffing slightly.

"Not a campfire type," Casey noted.

"I still smell chemicals," Nyan added.

Sam paused. Being caught in a maze that was on fire was not a good idea. "Maybe we should move a little faster."

Casey pulled her lip between her teeth. "I dunno, Sam…if we trip something, we might not have enough time to react…or get out of the way, or whatever."

"Being caught here if the place is on fire isn’t an option," Sam insisted.

"Perhaps Casey can see if we’re in danger?" Nyan suggested shyly.

The colonel smiled. "Good thinking, Nyan."

The Bedrosian smiled in return, then waited expectantly.

Stepping closer to Sam, Casey shouldered her weapon. "Maybe Miss Eloise can help me again…if she can see this place for herself, she can tell me what she sees."

"Here’s hoping," Sam said softly. She pulled Casey into her embrace.

Closing her eyes, Casey raced to the meadow where she met with her spirit guide.

"Miss Eloise!"

"Well," Casey said, as soon as she’d opened her eyes and stepped away from Sam, "there’s a fire. The place isn’t on fire, and according to Miss Eloise, it’s part of a test."

Sam rolled her eyes. "That’s just great."

"Miss Eloise said two things that I think are important," Casey continued. "We shouldn’t doubt ourselves. We’ve done pretty well so far…we can do what we need to do. And…we can’t let fear make our decisions for us."

Nyan frowned. "That’s…obscure."

"Maybe," Casey agreed. "I have the feeling we’ll understand what she means soon enough."

"Well, at least we know we’re not in danger of having the place burn down around us, taking us with it," Sam sighed.

"We’re still going to be dealing with fire."

Sam looked at Casey. "You’re sure?"

"As much as I can be. It’s not like a fireplace or a fire pit, I asked. But it is a test," Casey said.

"Oy," Sam grumped. She ignored the grin that lit on Casey’s face.

"I don’t know about the two of you, but I’m tired," Nyan said. "Maybe we should get this over before we’re too fatigued to be able to think clearly."

Sam nodded, and readjusted the pack on her back. "Good point. Let’s do this. With luck, there won’t be any other ‘tests’ we’ll have to deal with."

"Fingers crossed," Casey agreed.

Daniel frowned, watching as Sam held his wife while she did a search. Or at least, he assumed that’s what she was doing. The idea of anyone other than himself helping Casey put a lump in the pit of his stomach.

"Good," Jack murmured. "They’re using every weapon and device available to them. Casey will give them an idea of what they’re facing."

"Maybe not," Daniel replied. "She doesn’t always get all the details. If she spoke to Miss Eloise…" His voice trailed off.

"If she spoke to Miss Eloise…what?" Jack asked.

"She wasn’t…gone…long enough to have played ‘twenty questions’. So, there’s no way that Miss Eloise could have told her anything. No details anyway."

"But just an idea of what they’re facing might help them," Jack insisted.

"Absolutely it will," Daniel agreed. He frowned slightly. "I wonder…all three of them seem to keep sniffing the air. Do you think they can smell the fire?"

"Probably," Jack allowed.

"It’s possible they were worried about the whole maze being on fire. Casey might have been seeking information about their safety."

Jack nodded. "That makes sense."

"Indeed," Teal’c said.

The three men turned their attention back to the maze below them.

The corridor seemed longer than any of the others. The dim lights made it impossible to see the end, their scope lights were little help. They were almost on the sudden turn before they saw it.

"Hey, at least we get a choice this time," Casey said. "Left or right?"

"Well, we’ve been going left, I think we should keep doing so," Sam replied.

"I agree," Nyan said.

"Left it is." Casey, who had taken lead, took a wary step toward the left, her scope light sweeping the floor in front of her. The light from Sam and Nyan’s scope lights offered enough to see in front of her.

Sam took a deep breath. "It smells smokier here."

"We’re getting closer," Casey replied.

"So," Nyan said conversationally, scanning the walls with his scope light, "what do you suppose this ‘fire test’ will be?"

"No clue," Casey admitted. "But whatever it is, it will be nasty, ugly, and probably lead to something even worse."

"Worse?" Nyan squeaked. "Like what?"

Casey shrugged. "Oh, a pit of vipers that we’ll have to get across. Or a pool of acid we’ll have to get across, or a slick stone wall we’ll have to climb, or-"

"That’s not very comforting," Nyan said, interrupting the seer and her recitation of the possible horrors ahead of them.

Sam chuckled loudly.

"But if we expect the very worst, we won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen," Casey pointed out.

"Rather twisted logic," Nyan said.

"Twisted or not, it’s still logic," Casey grinned. Her grin faded. "Another turn. This could be it, guys."

"Understood," Sam answered softly.

"Oh, god," Daniel muttered, watching as his wife turned the corner into the corridor where bursts of fire made it impassable.

Jack swallowed. His body twitched with the need to be with his wife, and the two…in his mind…most vulnerable members of his team – a slender seer with no military training, and an alien without any SGC experience.

Just as the corridor where the swinging blades had been, this corridor was fully illuminated. Casey dropped to her knees. "Oh, goddess."

Sam leaned against the wall. "How are we supposed to get past that?"

"Impossible," Nyan sighed.

Casey dropped to her ass, pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. She rested her chin on her knee. "I don’t know what to do," she whispered.

Sam slid down the wall, mirroring Casey’s pose. Nyan settled beside her.

"It’s okay, Casey, we don’t expect you to have all the answers," Sam said comfortingly. The seer nodded, but the tears in her eyes were obvious. While being a colonel in the United States Air Force had its share of responsibility, Sam once again marveled at the weight that her best friend carried on slender shoulders. Often, the weight was made heavier by Casey’s own desire to see more, do more. This is one of those times, Sam thought. She absently reached out and rubbed her hand over Casey’s shoulder. The younger woman looked over at her and offered a weak smile.

The bursts of fire came from both sides of the wall. So far, Casey could count twelve of what looked like simple pipes. There were six of the damned things on each side of the corridor, in an alternating pattern. It didn’t look as if there were more than a few inches between the flames. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for the bursts that exploded into the corridor.

They watched. Counted. Waited. Counted again. They were facing the impossible.

"So far, at least seven of those things go off each time, and always in groups of three and four," Sam sighed.

"Which means there is absolutely no way to zip past one, then wait to zip past the next one," Casey said.

"There has to be a way," Sam insisted. "We just need to think about this."

Casey continued to watch the flames. She turned her head sideways. Then she stretched out on her stomach.

"Getting comfy?" Sam asked, only somewhat amused. She frowned slightly when Nyan stretched out beside the seer. ‘You, too?"

The Bedrosian shook his head. "Look," he said.

Sam stretched out beside her companions.

"What the hell?" Jack grumbled, watching as the three in the maze stretched out. They had been sitting and staring at the flames for nearly ten minutes, by his watch.

"Perhaps they are too weary to continue," Teal’c said, frowning.

"I don’t think that’s it," Daniel replied.

"Do you think it’s possible?" Casey asked.

"We’d have to take our packs off, and push them in front of us," Sam said

"The fire is going to be directly above us," Nyan added. "It’s going to be hot…very hot."

Sam nodded. "We’re going to have to keep as low as possible. It will help us if we take off our shirts. Just wearing our tee shirts might help."

Casey nodded, and began unbuttoning her shirt. She noticed Nyan hesitate. "If we get overheated, we could pass out. Passed out could get us killed."

"But the extra clothe could offer protection to our skin," the Bedrosian pointed out.

"True," Sam admitted. "But burns are easier to treat than death."

Nyan nodded. He took off his camouflage shirt, and as Sam and Casey had done, shoved it into his pack.

"I’ll go first," Nyan offered.

"Nyan-" Sam started.

"Colonel Carter, I’d rather get through it, than think about it," the Bedrosian admitted.

Sam sighed. She looked at the pack she had dropped to the floor beside her. Leaving them would make the crawl beneath all those flames easier. But should there be another ‘test’, they might need something that one of them was carrying. If, god forbid, one of them was burned while trying to work through this particular nightmare, the med kits in all three packs would be needed. "Okay. Put your pack on the floor, push it in front of you. Stay low, and move as steadily as you can."

Nyan nodded his understanding. He rose to his feet, walked to where the first of the flames began. He dropped the pack to the floor, then knelt behind it. He glanced over his shoulder and gave the two women a thumbs up. He jumped slightly when the flame blasted directly in front of him. Shaking, trying not to let his fear show, he stretched out once again. Moving slowing, he inched the pack forward. He turned his head, his cheek grazing the scorched wood of the floor. Making himself as flat as possible, he contemplated how best to move. Then decided to push himself with his toes. His heels, he figured, would be no higher than the rest of his body.

Sam and Casey had reached out to one another, watching helplessly as the flames roared off and on above the vulnerable man. When he was far enough into the trap, Casey took a deep breath.

"Ready?" Sam asked.

"Nope. But let’s get this over with," Casey replied, her voice quaking slightly.

Daniel, Jack, and Teal’c watched helplessly. They weren’t even aware of the fact that their hands were pressed against the glass in front of them. Watching the three prepare to do what seemed the only option…crawling beneath those jets of fire…had them all shaking with fear.

"Heat’s going to be bad," Jack said softly. "Air quality probably won’t be so good, either."

"How far to you think that is?" Daniel asked. His heart was in his throat as he watched his wife’s slender body move beneath those damnable flames.

"Forty-five, maybe fifty feet," Jack replied.

It could have been a mile, it looked so far, Daniel thought. Move it, babe. You have to get out of there. Nice and easy…but move it!

It was difficult to breath. Between the heat…which was damned near unbearable...the awful chemical smell, and what seemed to be a lack of oxygen had her gasping for breath. Sweat poured down her face, she could feel it pooling in the small of her back. Casey closed her eyes for a second, after a drop of sweat had dripped into her eye, stinging like crazy. It felt as if they had been crawling through this particular hell forever. If I ever get out of here, I’m never stepping foot into another castle as long as I live! When she felt Sam’s pack hit her boot, Casey eased herself forward.

Daring to look up, she noted that Nyan had managed to make it to what appeared to be the middle of the horizontal tongues of fire. It also felt as if it were getting hotter. Get moving, girl. Be scared later.

Slowly, inch by inch, the three teammates managed to move forward. The roar given off by each burst of flame seemed louder, as if the fires were protesting their progress.

After what seemed an eternity, and had actually been the better part of thirty minutes, Nyan reached the other side of the trap. He remained low until he was certain he could roll over and look behind him without risking being burned. Casey was a good fifteen feet behind him, Sam was right behind her. He rose to his knees, gulping in fresh air, not even aware of the slight breeze that blew over him.

Daniel hissed a sigh of relief when Casey was clear of the flames. He worried for a moment when she rolled to her back, and seemed to remain motionless. Smiled when she rolled to her side, a look of absolute triumph on her face.

"Come on, Sam," Jack murmured encouragingly. "Just a few more feet."

"Once again our teammates have proven their ability to overcome the odds," Teal’c said.

Daniel chuckled quietly at the pride in the Jaffa’s voice.

"Ya know, Nyan isn’t a large man," Jack noted.

"So?" Daniel asked.

"I just wonder…do you think we could have made it through that?"

Daniel studied the corridor. "I don’t know."

"I mean, those flames were right above them," Jack continued.

"Perhaps we were separated from our companions for a reason," Teal’c offered.

"And now we get to go through our own maze?" That thought scared the hell out of Daniel.

"I sure as hell hope not!" Jack declared.

"Perhaps our test was to endure the pain…the fear…of watching our teammates in such dire circumstances," Teal’c said.

Jack looked back down at the three who remained on the floor of the corridor. He could see that they were all three still panting and they were probably tired as hell. But for the moment, they were safe. "If you’re right, Teal’c, it’s a cruel damned test."

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