Another Country – 1/5 – Daisy May (2024)

Reading Time: 122 Minutes

Title: Another Country
Author: Daisy May
Fandom: Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis
Genre: Action Adventure, Crossover, Drama, Episode Related, Romance, Time Travel
Relationship(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Other pairings
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Murder (minor character), violence-canon level, character bashing, Discussion-rape
Author Note: My timeline and canon timeline do not match.
Alpha: Ed Ronhia
Word Count: 156,874
Summary: When Jack O’Neill found himself fourteen years in the past, he had to work out why he’d been sent back to this point. The ‘how’ was uncertain, and probably irrelevant, he decided, for the moment at least. Now all he had to do was change the things he thought were important, preferably without killing his Grandad – ‘or was it killing my Granny? For cryin’ out loud, I wish I’d listened better to Carter!’
Artist: Mizu Sage

Something is…off with Jack, Daniel decided, watching from a distance as his friend opened and closed doors in an unused part of Level 18, and made notes in a pocket-size notebook. This isn’t normal behaviour, even for Jack. He sighed and shook his head. Then again, normal doesn’t really apply to Jack, does it? Still, this is a different not-normal to his usual not-normal. And now I sound as crazy as Martin Lloyd, except…he wasn’t crazy in the end, was he?

He took another sip of his coffee and grimaced. How on earth did I let a cup of coffee go cold? That almost never happens. This business with Jack is bothering me more than I thought. Pull yourself together, Jackson! He made his way back to his own lab, aware he had a mission that afternoon with SG-6 to prepare for. Why has no one else seen a difference in Jack? Sam hasn’t, because I asked her, but something’s…not quite right with him, I’m certain. Maybe I should start keeping notes.

Daniel didn’t see Jack again for several days as he had a further two missions with other teams as SG-1 was on stand-down while Jack was lecturing at the Air Force Academy. He enjoyed the odd off-world missions with other teams – there’s a distinct lack of prisons for a start – but much preferred to go with his own team. Still, change and rest, as they say, but hang on…when did Jack volunteer to give a lecture series? Has the world ended, and I didn’t notice?

It was already mid-October when he bumped – quite literally – into Jack again, in the corridor where most of the anthropology, archeology, and linguistic labs were and, for once, it wasn’t his lab Jack was peering into, whilst busily scribbling things in a notebook.

‘Jack?’

‘Daniel.’

‘Jack?’

‘Daniel?’

‘Whatcha doin’? What’s in the notebook?’ Daniel stretched out an arm to take the book, but Jack whipped it out of his reach.’

‘Ah, ah, ah.’

‘Jack.’

‘Don’t have time for all that, Danny,’ Jack told him, slipping the notebook into the leg pocket of his BDUs. ‘Things to do, places to be. You know.’

‘No, I don’t know,’ Daniel said in exasperation, suppressing the desire to stamp his foot. ‘That’s the point. Every time I see you, you’re busy scribbling in that notebook, or poking your nose into something that doesn’t really concern you, and—’

‘Everything that happens on this base concerns me,’ Jack interrupted. ‘I’m second in command. You know that.’

Danial frowned as he regarded his friend. ‘I do know that, but I wasn’t aware you did! And when was the last time you took an interest in what the Anthropology Department does? You don’t even know the names of the anthropologists, apart from me.’

‘Sure I do. There’s you, you’re the boss; and Dr Warner’s your deputy. Dr Kelly’s pretty new. She only graduated a year or so ago, and there’s Dr Corrigan. What I’m not sure of is why we need so many anthropologists, archeologists, and linguists. We have as many of them as we have biologists, you know, and one of them has a duel role with the genetics folk.’ Jack gave him a cheery grin and a nod and strolled off before Daniel could collect himself.

I could’ve sworn he didn’t know the folk I work with. I could have sworn it.

Daniel watched and made his own notes for a further couple of weeks, then decided he needed to confront Jack directly because there was definitely something odd going on.

Jack was…slightly more attentive in meetings, although he’d occasionally catch himself and try to paste on his usual Homer Simpson ‘Mmm, donuts’ face. Why has no one else noticed this?

So here he was, on a cold evening in late October – almost two years into the new millennium, for Netu’s sake! Where did that time go to? – clutching a six-pack of beer, and waiting for Jack to answer his front door which was, unaccountably, locked so Daniel couldn’t walk straight in as he usually did. When did he start locking up? He always said he’d rather the NID not break his door down every time they wanted to plant a few bugs. It came as a shock, then when a hand touched his shoulder, bringing him out of his reverie. ‘Ahh!’

‘Danny? You okay?’ Jack asked, frowning at him.

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,’ Daniel nodded and grinned, holding out the pack of beer. ‘I’m fine, honestly, just, you know, daydreaming, like I do.’

‘In the rain?’ Sceptically.

Daniel touched his cheek, his fingers coming away damp. ‘When did it start raining?’

Jack made no reply, and simply held the door open to allow Daniel to enter and, with some relief, Daniel thrust the beer into his friend’s hands and continued on to the sitting room.

‘I’ll just go get…’ Jack touched his hair, as though rubbing it dry, and disappeared. Daniel heard him drop the beer onto the kitchen table, then continue down the hall to fetch a towel.

Daniel wandered around the familiar room, smiling at the team photograph on the mantlepiece, right next to the one of Charlie, in pride of place. He lightly touched a couple of the items on the shelf, noticing Jack had recently cleaned his grandfather’s medals, then trailed his fingers along the edge of the wood.

Collapsing onto one of the sofas, he swung his feet onto the coffee table as he’d done many times before. I love this house. It feels like home far more than my apartment does. Maybe I should get rid of it since I’m never there. I’d much rather stay on base, so it’s just a storage place, really. It’s not home to me, not like this place is. I guess growing up in a stream of different foster homes does that to you.

He rested his head back and closed his eyes, letting his hands flop to his sides. It even smells like a home: lavender – that’s the furniture polish, and the sandalwood is Jack’s aftershave. Memories of the weeks spent there after his return from Abydos flitted through his mind. Jack dragged me through that time after I lost Sha’re. He was about the only one who really knew how I felt, and being here with him…helped. We’ve both suffered tragedy and come out the other side in pretty much one piece, though I wondered, at times, if I would. Or even if I wanted to.

Shifting slightly to make himself comfortable, Daniel felt the edge of something under the cushions poke his back, and he felt for whatever it was. His fingers found the pointed edge of a small book. A notebook? Jack’s notebook?

Knowing he shouldn’t, but unable to stop himself, Daniel pulled out the same small notebook he’d seen Jack writing in at Stargate Command. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m going to, anyway. Opening the book, he recognised Jack’s sloping, loopy script, and did a double take as he looked at the actual words. What the hell? Words close enough to Latin to be a derivative, yet Daniel was one of the – very – few people on earth to recognise them not as a derivative, but of the source language Latin undoubtedly came from. Is this Ancient?

‘Whatcha doin’, Danny?’

Giving a start at Jack’s voice, Daniel looked up to find Jack leaning against the doorframe, regarding him with a raised eyebrow.

‘These notes are written in Ancient,’ he said, holding up the notebook.

Jack didn’t reply, just tilted his head slightly and raised both eyebrows in enquiry.

‘I didn’t know you knew Ancient.’ What a stupid thing to say.

‘Yeah, you did. You taught it to me. Me and Teal’c.’

‘Oh, yeah, during the time loop thing.’ Get a grip, Jackson! ‘But I, uh, I didn’t teach you this much.’

‘Sure you did. Ancient every day for three months, Danny. Three. Months. I was bound to pick some of it up.’

‘So you write all your notes in Ancient now?’

Holding out a towel, Jack came down the steps into the room and shrugged. ‘It keeps my hand in.’

Daniel rubbed his still damp hair with one hand and looked at the latest page of notes, then shook his head. ‘I didn’t teach you this. This is beyond what I know.’

‘Then I picked it up on off-world missions, or maybe it’s a leftover from the head-grabber thing. Does it really matter? I thought you’d be pleased I do actually listen to you and Carter sometimes.’ From his pocket, Jack produced a couple of the beers Daniel had brought, then sat down opposite his friend and twisted off the cap. ‘Cheers.’ He took a long drink and relaxed back in his chair.

Except, he’s not relaxed at all, though I doubt anyone else would realise that. He’s alert as f*ck, just like he gets right before someone shoots at us, or throws us in a cell, sometimes both at the same time. He’s just missing his P90, except…why would he be so uneasy in his own house?

‘So what are your notes about?’ Daniel asked, turning the pages and recognising several words and phrases now he knew their provenance, along with a few names of scientists at the SGC. ‘Coombes, Felger, Lee, inutilis. Inutilis…Idle? You think Coombes, Felger, and Lee are idle?’

‘Useless,’ Jack corrected. ‘None of the three have produced anything innovative since they’ve been with us. Sure, Lee helps out Carter from time to time, but he does nothing any one of a dozen other scientists could do, and don’t even get me started on Felger. The man’s a jackass: all he ever does is fawn over Carter. “Oh, Major Carter, you’re so clever. I would never have thought of that”.’

Daniel grinned at the high-pitched voice Jack put on for Felger. ‘He is a bit of a fool, but Sam likes him for some reason. Why have you made notes about her department? Have you made notes about mine?’

He flicked through the notebook and, a few pages on, he saw the names Corrigan and Warner. He tried to translate the words around the names, but didn’t recognise any of them, not even anything related to them. ‘Jack, this Ancient is way beyond my knowledge or anything you might have picked up off-world.’ He met Jack’s eyes and focussed on them. ‘What’s really going on?’

‘Nothing’s ‘going on’, Danny,’ Jack said, but he couldn’t – or wouldn’t – meet Daniel’s eyes. ‘I’ve just made a few notes about what happens about the place: who’s pulling their weight and who isn’t, and, let me tell you, those three shrubs of Carter’s do not earn what we pay them. Your department’s okay, but hers is a hot mess. She’s the only one there worth her salt; the others certainly aren’t.’

Daniel stared at him for a while, his intense scrutiny making Jack shift uncomfortably, and, at length, shook his head. ‘No, that’s not it, or at least, not all of it. You’re…different, changed. You’re more serious than you used to be, and there’s less acting the fool than usual.’

‘Gee, thanks for the compliment!’ Jack muttered, looking away.

‘No, come on, admit it. When Sam goes off in her techno-babble, you usually pretend you don’t know what she’s talking about, even though I know you do. You have a masters in Military Sciences and Engineering, and you won an award for Academic Excellence at the Academy. You understand her perfectly well, but you used to pretend you didn’t. Now you…don’t. So what’s changed? Why are you suddenly taking notice of who does what, and how well they do it? Bill Lee’s been with the programme from the start, and Felger and Coombes joined not much later. Why are you looking into the civilians on base?’

‘Because they’re the largest expense the SGC has, apart from our energy bills! It’s my job to make sure we’re getting value for money from them.’

‘And you’ve only just discovered this?’ Daniel shook his head. ‘You’ve been General Hammond’s 2IC for almost four years and you’ve never once bothered yourself with how much the programme costs. I want to know what’s really going on, and don’t tell me nothing. Something has changed with you recently, and pretty soon other folk are going to notice and ask questions as well.’ Daniel folded his arms and sat back, staring at his friend.

Jack stared back at him, unmoving, and for a while, they tried to out-stare each other until Jack huffed. ‘Back off, Danny, just…just leave it alone.’

It was the wrong thing to say, and Jack clearly realised this the moment the words left his mouth, and he sighed and set his bottle on the table between him.

‘So there is something.’ Daniel tried not to smirk, but knew he was unsuccessful. ‘You might as well tell me now. You know I’ll only bug you until you tell me everything, and you also know I won’t let it rest until you do. So…what’s really going on, Jack?’ He knew he’d won when Jack’s shoulders dropped a little and he rubbed his hands across his face.

‘Okay, fine.’ Jack stood and went across to the mantlepiece and picked up one of the objects Daniel had noticed earlier. It lit up as soon as Jack touched it, making Daniel frown in puzzlement. Jack replaced it and returned to his seat, raising his eyebrows at his friend. ‘You must promise me this doesn’t go any further.’

‘Okay,’ Daniel agreed, wondering what on earth it could be that made Jack so serious. ‘I won’t say anything.’

‘No, Danny. Okay isn’t enough. You need to promise me not to repeat any of what I’m about to tell you. My life could depend on it.’

Daniel sat up, immediately understanding the seriousness of the occasion. Jack O’Neill wasn’t the sort to exaggerate in this way. He’d been in too many ‘life dependant’ situations to make light of it. ‘Jack? You’re scaring me now. What’s happened?’

‘I’ve come back in time.’

*****

It said something about their lives that Danny didn’t immediately call for the men in white coats, Jack thought to himself. Daniel said nothing for a while, just stared at him silently, his eyes unfocussed and his body still.

‘You learned Ancient in the future, probably to speak as well as write. Another head-grabber, or did you actually meet some of the Gate Builders themselves?’

‘Both, actually.’

Daniel nodded his head slowly. ‘And the review of the scientists? Were they not here in the future, or…’ His eyes suddenly met Jack’s. ‘You were in charge of the entire base, which is how you know how much everything costs, and you’re looking now to see what economies we can make. Are there financial problems in the future?’

‘Yes, and no. We have a lot of dead wood here, folk who contribute little, while there’re people at Area 51 who would make a valuable contribution to our mission.’

‘And the financial concerns?’

‘We do have financial worries ahead, although I think I might have a plan to help with that, but we do need to make sure everyone here is earning their keep, no matter who they are.’

‘That sounds ominous,’ Daniel said, frowning at him. ‘Like to give me an example?’

‘Most of Carter’s department for a start. There are some excellent scientists at Area 51 mostly sitting on their asses waiting for her to pass on a few doohickeys we’ve found off-world, which she can’t get to work. Few of the scientists at Area 51 have original research they’re working on; it’s mostly dictated by what folk here either can’t or won’t do.’

‘That’s unfair. Some excellent research comes out of Area 51, espec—’

‘I’m not saying they don’t produce anything,’ Jack interrupted. ‘I’m saying they don’t always get the chance to do original research, while some of the people we have here who’re supposed to be doing original research aren’t doing anything much at all. I just can’t understand why Carter keeps some of them here.’

‘Okay, let’s leave that aside for the moment. When did you get back, and from what time in the future? And why have you come back? Was it an accident, like us going back to 1969? Or was it—’

‘Whoa, whoa.’ Jack held up his hands to ward off his friend. ‘Give me a chance to answer a few before you go asking more questions.’

Daniel huffed and sat back, his arms folded again.

‘When I woke up on October 1^st I wasn’t…where I expected to be.’ He grimaced at the memory, and tried to push it aside. If all goes well, it won’t happen that way again. ‘I came back from 2015, and I’m not sure if it was an accident, like us going to 1969, or if someone or something’s sent me back for a reason. I can’t get back to 2015, that’s for sure, especially since…’

‘Since what?’ Daniel demanded, sitting forward, then held up a hand. ‘Sorry, sorry, carry on.’

‘Nothing. Forget I said that. As to why I’ve come back in time – the truth is, I don’t rightly know,’ Jack admitted, scrubbing his hair with his hands. ‘I wasn’t in time to stop 9/11, and even if I had been, I doubt I could’ve done anything about it. The invasion of Afghanistan began the day I returned, so it’s likely something SGC related rather than anything national or international.

‘I began making notes to see if anything stuck out: missions, visits, lectures, the lot. I’ve probably forgotten a few things, but I think I’ve got most of it.’ He took another drink of his beer and cradled the bottle in his hands, moving it from one to another. ‘There’s one event next year which might be the critical one, but I can’t be certain.’ He took a drink of his beer and began picking at the label, subconsciously almost his thoughts elsewhere.

‘D’you want to try telling me?’ Daniel suggested. ‘It might help clear your thoughts a bit.’ Daniel watched him for a moment, then glanced at the mantlepiece and nodded towards it. ‘What’s that gadget? Why did it light up?’

Jack brushed off the final questions with a wave of his hand. ‘I’ll tell you later, it’s not important right now.’ He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘We’ve a few important missions coming up, but nothing which particularly changes anything in the future. The next thing which will affect future events is in mid March, next year. I think that’s the thing, the first thing, that is, I need to change.’

‘Okaaay,’ Daniel said into the silence which followed. ‘What happens? An off-world mission?’

Jack gave him a wry grin. ‘Yes, and no. The inciting incident, as it were, happened off-world when Teal’c stepped into a gate which got hit by a glider.’

‘What!?’

‘He was fine.’ Jack waved a hand. ‘Eventually. He got stuck in the gate-buffers, and it took time and various negotiations to get him out. I can solve that part, no problem. It’s what happened while we tried to solve it. A Dr Rodney McKay, from Area 51, an astrophysicist, was brought in to consult, but, unbeknown to everyone here, there was an ulterior motive for bringing him to the SGC, and…Well. Let’s just say no one came out of the situation smelling of roses.’

Daniel frowned. ‘I remember Rodney McKay. He came here to install the Beta Gate after you beamed our gate onto Thor’s ship when it was overrun by Replicators. He’s a decent guy. Got the gate installed faster than we expected, given Sam was off-world with you. He barely slept while he was here and got the gate up and working in a couple of days. General Hammond certainly appreciated him.’

Jack frowned back at him, his mind ticking over. Was the gate installed as fast as that last time? Is there a last time to my past pre October this year? I thought we were stuck off-world for longer than a couple of days, then again, it was a long time ago for me. But I don’t recall Daniel meeting McKay before Antarctica. He was certainly in Russia when Simmonds brought McKay here, but…maybe he did meet him at some another time.

‘Jack?’ Daniel looked concerned. ‘Is everything okay?’

He paused for a moment before answering. ‘Is there anything else you know about McKay?’

Daniel’s frown deepened. ‘Why? Why is McKay important?’

‘Just answer the damn question, Danny!’

Daniel’s eyebrows were almost blurred with the speed he raised them at his friend’s tone, and he tilted his head to survey him. ‘Oookay, but I don’t know much. He’s the Chief Scientific Officer at Area 51, and he’s been in the programme pretty much since it began, I think. Aaand, that’s about all I do know. Now you tell me why he’s so important, and just what happened!

‘What happened isn’t really important, and I know enough to either avoid it, or solve it if it does happen. No, the critical thing is that McKay pissed off Carter and, because of that, he was sent to Russia to help them build naquadah generators.

‘The point,’ he continued hurriedly as Daniel opened his mouth to ask another question, ‘is McKay becomes very important to the programme in the future, and because he pissed off Carter, he never came to work at the SGC. He could have used the experience of working here, and we could have used his considerable knowledge. But, because of what happened with Carter, no one here liked him – and I include myself – so on the occasions he could have helped us a lot, his input was pretty much ignored.’

‘Which is why you’ve been looking at Coombes, Folger, and Lee, and thinking of swapping them for McKay.’

Jack nodded. ‘Yeah, I want to bring McKay here, and a couple of other scientists from Area 51 who’ll be more use to us than the three amigos, but I’m pretty sure Carter isn’t going to like it and…’

‘And?’

Jack pursed his lips and gazed at the ceiling. ‘Let’s just say Carter and I…we had an…understanding in the future, but it didn’t work out. I’d like to see if it might work for us if we get together a few years sooner.’

‘You and Sam?’ Daniel sat back and folded his arms. ‘Huh.’

‘You don’t think she likes me?’

‘That‘s not the problem. She likes you just fine. Fraternisation, however…’

‘Yeah, fraternisation.’ Jack grimaced. ‘I thought if she was on another team…’

‘She’d still be under your command as you’re Hammond’s second,’ Daniel pointed out. ‘Are you really intending to move her to another team? That’s not going to endear her to you at all. She’ll hate it, especially if you replace her with another scientist, and she’ll hate the scientist concerned even more. I’m not too keen on it either, taking on a gate newby.’

‘We were all gate newbies at one time, and besides, I’m not thinking of replacing her with just McKay. There’s someone else I want to bring in as well. Another vital one.’

‘Scientist?’

Jack shook his head. ‘Officer. Probably the best damn pilot I’ve ever come across. I’d like to get him here and trained up so he’ll…be ready for a senior post when it’s needed. I’d only want to take McKay out when we needed a scientist.’

‘Jack, half the times…no, more than half the times we need Sam’s expertise is when we’re not expecting to.’ Daniel leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. ‘Even when we’ve just gone to meet and greet, we can land in trouble. How many times has she used her knowledge and skills to break us out of prison, or get us out of a sticky situation by hacking a mothership, for example?’

‘Have we ever needed to hack a mothership?’ Jack asked, trying to think back.

‘I was being metaphorical!’ Daniel shook his head. What I’m saying is can we afford to go off-world with a rookie?’

‘That’s my point: we were all rookies to begin with. I want to give both my guys experience of missions going wrong. It’ll stand them in good stead when…when they move on.’

‘Move on to—’

‘Ah, ah, ah.’ Jack held up his hand, palm outwards. ‘I can’t…won’t talk about that just yet.’

‘Fine.’ Daniel sat back again and folded his arms.

‘Are you pouting, Dr Jackson?’

Daniel huffed, then gave a reluctant smile. ‘I might be. Do you know how aggravating it is to discover your best friend has come back in time and he won’t give you all the information you want?’

‘Pretty aggravating I should think, but, Danny, somethings are better left, for a while at least.’

‘Okay, fine.’

It was a different ‘fine’ than the previous one, and Jack nodded in gratitude as Daniel let his arms drop and relaxed into his seat, mirroring Jack’s own position. ‘So, you said Sam was so pissed at McKay she got him sent to Russia to build something or other? What was it?’

‘Naquadah generators. When General Hammond needed someone to help the Russians build naquadah generators, she put him forward even when she knew he’d never even seen a naquadah generator,’

Daniel frowned at him. ‘Then how…What did he do? Read up about it on the plane?’

‘Probably.’ Jack shrugged. ‘I wasn’t on base when it all went down, and you were…elsewhere as well. McKay claimed he was the smartest man on the planet – in the galaxy, even – and if he taught himself how to build a naquadah generator in just a few hours on the flight over there, he probably is.’

‘More like a couple of days. Russia’s a big country,’ Daniel commented. ‘And he stayed with the programme even after that?’

Jack shrugged again. ‘From what I understand, he was under contract to the USAF, despite being Canadian. He certainly stayed with the programme for a further decade or so, then left in protest when…stuff happened.’

‘The stuff you’re not going to tell me about.’

‘Hell, Danny, I can’t! Some bad sh*t went down in the first timeline, and I’m going to avoid it all if I can. It’s just how I’m going to avoid it I can’t quite see, and when to change stuff.’

Daniel leaned forward again, all signs of humour now gone from his face. ‘Jack, you know you can’t tell Sam about any of this?’

‘Why not? Not that I was going to tell her, at least not at first.’

‘You can’t say anything to her at all!’ Daniel said urgently. ‘Don’t you remember how adamant she was about not making changes when we got sent back to 1969?’

Jack frowned. ‘That’s a long time ago for me. I remember her saying we had to destroy our weapons. I never did get a Beretta, which fitted my hand quite as perfectly as—’

‘Jack! Focus! You must not say a word to Sam about this. Understand?’

‘Yeah, okay, don’t get your panties—

‘I’m serious, Jack. Who knows what she’ll do if she knows you’re from the future and have no intention of going back?’

‘Okay, okay. I hear ya.’ Jack held up his hands in surrender. ‘No telling Carter. What about Teal’c?’

‘I don’t think Teal’c would have a problem, if that’s what you mean, but the person I think would be of most use to you is General Hammond.’

‘Really? The General?’

‘He knows time travel is a possibility because he remembered meeting us in 1969.’

Jack considered this and nodded. ‘True, and he’s in the best position to help me make the changes I need to make. Especially when it comes to reassigning folk.’ He met Daniel’s eyes. ‘When should I tell him? D’you think he’s noticed anything odd about me?’

‘No more than usual,’ Daniel replied, and laughed at the expression on Jack’s face. ‘Hey, you being more serious was one of the first things that tipped me off something was different with you, but I spend more time with you than the general does. And by the way, do you get promoted in the future?’

Jack looked away. ‘Yeah.’

‘And?’

He sighed. ‘I was a Lieutenant General when I retired.’

‘You retired? Huh. I thought you’d have to be carried out in a box. How come you retired? If you came back from 2015, you hadn’t quite reached mandatory retirement age. What went wrong?’

Jack stared into the distance. ‘The whole damn planet went to sh*t, that’s what went wrong.’

*****

They decided to invite General Hammond to supper one evening rather than tell him on base.

‘We’re less likely to get interrupted here,’ Daniel pointed out to his friend.

‘Funny thing. I think we’re more likely to get interrupted here,’ Jack responded. ‘I just settle down for the evening and then someone comes knocking at my door and spends the rest of the night here. Did you know it’s 01:30?’

‘What!? It can’t be, I only just…’ Daniel glanced down at his watch and gave a start. ‘How did that happen? I need to get going.’

‘Nah, the spare room’s still made up from when you last stayed over, and you’ve still got clean clothes here. Wouldn’t be the first time we stayed up late talking.’

‘Thanks, Jack.’ Daniel stood and stretched, his back popping as he did so. ‘See you in the morning.’

‘Not if I—’

‘See you first.’

They both grinned at the quip they frequently made to each other, and Daniel rested his hand on Jack’s shoulder as he walked past. Jack remained on the sofa for a while longer and reached for the notebook, which had been his undoing. Am I mad Danny sussed me out? Not really, and I know he’ll keep it all to himself. It’s been helpful to me to talk it through, and I feel much better. I might even get some sleep tonight; God knows I haven’t slept much in the last three weeks.

*****

‘So I didn’t dream it all, then?’ Daniel asked between mouthfuls of buttered toast the following morning – or rather later that same morning.

‘Huh?’

‘You really have come back from 2015?’

Jack scowled at him and jerked his head to one side. Daniel frowned back and shrugged his shoulders. The battle of the eyebrows went on for a few more seconds until Jack sighed, and disappeared into the sitting room, coming back with the object from the mantelpiece, which was glowing in his hands.

‘Can I talk now?’

‘You can now, yeah.’

‘You going to tell me what that thing is, as well?’ Daniel raised his eyebrows and waited, sipping his coffee.

‘It’s a…it cuts out any audio or visual devices that might be around.’

Daniel frowned at him. ‘I thought you did a regular sweep for bugs.’

‘I do, but this is in case I miss any.’ He sighed. ‘Look, we both know there’re folk who’d like nothing better than to make me disappear, and if they had an excuse to chop me up at the same time, they’d do it in a heartbeat.’ He paused for a moment, weighing his words. ‘And it’s only going to get worse as time passes..’

‘What does that mean? You’re talking in riddles.’ Daniel stared at him, but Jack made no reply. Daniel waited for a few seconds, then nodded towards the gadget. ‘Where’d you get that from, and why does it glow? It didn’t glow when I touched it last night.’

Jack hesitated for a moment, running his mind over what Daniel already knew about the Ancients. ‘Ask me in another year or so.’

‘Another year or so? Year? Really?’

‘It could cause problems if you know too much too soon.’ Jack held up his hand as Daniel opened his mouth. ‘Ah, ah, ah. One. Year.’

‘Can you at least tell me where you got it from? You surely didn’t bring it back with you?”

Hesitating again, Jack thought about how to answer. ‘We had it on base, but nobody knew what it was, or how to activate it.’

‘But you did.’

‘For cryin’ out loud, Danny, give it a rest, will ya? And come on, we’re going to be late.’

SG-1 met with General Hammond for a team briefing later that morning regarding an up-coming visit to an ally. It was a perfectly ordinary mission and Jack knew nothing went wrong on it, nor was it likely to, but he was finding it even more difficult to concentrate than usual.

Have I done the right thing in telling Danny? Should I really bring the general into my confidence? And what about Carter? I don’t think my feelings for her have changed, but it’s going to be difficult to have a relationship and keep secrets from her. And yet…I have an opportunity now, to have the relationship I’ve thought about for so long, that I only managed to have with her for a short time in the future.

‘Colonel O’Neill!’

Jack gave a start and focussed on General Hammond, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. From his expression, this wasn’t the first time he’d called for his subordinate’s attention.

‘Yes, sir. I quite agree.’ He waited for a moment to see if he’d got the right phrase, but Hammond simply regarded him for a moment, then nodded and continued the briefing.

Phew! Close call. I need to pay better attention.

When General Hammond concluded the briefing, Jack was swift to follow him out of the room and into his office.

‘Can I help you, Colonel?’

Colonel, not Jack. He’s still a little pissed. ‘Yessir, if you could. I…’ Now he’d begun, Jack couldn’t think how to phrase his invitation to make it less of an order, something he’d struggled with since he’d been back. Transitioning from a Lieutenant General down to a colonel was quite an adjustment to make. Seeing Hammond’s eyes beginning to narrow, Jack got the point. ‘Would you mind coming round to my house tonight for supper? I have…something I need to discuss with you.’

‘Something related to your inattention earlier?’

Crap! ‘Yessir, kinda.’

‘And also related to your recent odd behaviour?’

Double crap! Jack stared at him for a moment, unable to think how to answer without giving too much away in an unsecured area.

‘I’ll take that as a yes, shall I? I like Mongolian Beef, by the way. With extra crispy fried noodles.’

‘Yessir.’

‘Shall we say 19:00?’ When Jack nodded again, a little lost for words, Hammond stared at him for a moment – a long moment. ‘Good. Close the door behind you.’

Jack found himself in the corridor outside Hammond’s office. What the f*ck just happened? George knows? How does George know? sh*t! George knows! Still frowning, he made his way down to Daniel’s office to find Teal’c already there, browsing through an old Atlas where much of the world was still in pink representing the British Empire.

‘You interested in that, T?’ Jack asked, peering over his friend’s shoulder.

‘I find it interesting that areas of Earth have been colonised just as the galaxy has.’

‘Yeah, but we don’t do that anymore.’

‘Jack!’ Daniel looked up from the book he was studying. ‘How can you say that?! What about the Philippines? What about Guam, and Puerto Rico, and all the other Pacific Island we ‘liberated’ during World War II and seemingly ‘forgot’ to hand back? What about Vietnam? That was nothing but an attempt at strengthening American influence in Indochina.’

‘That’s one point of view,’ Jack said carefully. ‘Other points of view do exist.’

‘But Jack—’

‘Danny, let’s not fall out over a war which happened years ago. There’re enough problems in the world without dragging up ancient history to say nothing of problems in the wider galaxy.’

‘But—’

‘Ah!’ Jack held up a finger, and when Daniel opened his mouth again, he wagged it with a further, ‘Ah!’

Daniel huffed. ‘Fine. Have it your way, but Teal’c, you need to know Earth isn’t so very different from the rest of the galaxy. It’s all about areas of influence, and forcing your own views on other people. Earth may not be ruled by quasi-deities, but it’s not for the want of some countries trying.’

‘Fer cryin’ out loud, Danny!’

‘Nope, not going to say anymore.’ Daniel mimed zipping his lips closed while Jack looked up to the ceiling, as if hoping for divine intervention.

‘Did you come here for any particular reason?’ Daniel asked, after a few moments of blesséd silence.

Jack stared at him, then raised his eyebrows in enquiry and mimed zipping his lips. Daniel ignored him. No change there, he sighed, and shook his head. ‘Nah. Just came to say George is coming over for supper tonight.’ He gave Daniel what he hoped was a significant look, but suspected it merely came out as constipated. ‘You wanna join us, T? We’re having Chinese.’

‘I will join you, O’Neill,’ Teal’c said, bowing his head. ‘Will we be watching a film afterwards?’

Jack looked at Daniel, who shrugged. ‘Prob’ly won’t have time for a film, T. We’ve got some…business to discuss. You gonna pick up the usual, Danny? George wants Mongolian Beef with extra noodles.’ At Daniel’s nod, he sketched a salute and, in his own words, skedaddled before Teal’c could ask him any questions. Nope, nope, nope!

*****

Am I being fair to Carter by leaving her out? Jack considered this as he laid out chopsticks and forks on his coffee table later that evening. Danny was right about her views on time travel, though. I knew nothing about the grandfather paradox before Carter lectured us on it. And she was worse when we used the Time-jumper Can I really have a relationship with someone I have to keep secrets from?

He activated his Ancient bug-zapper, and, as an afterthought, added some napkins he found in a kitchen drawer and checked he had enough beer and water chilling in the fridge. Finally, he pulled out the notebook he’d been gradually filling over the past few weeks to ensure he knew what he needed to tell George. Must remember not to call him that, too. I’m just a colonel at present, just a colonel.

Geor—General Hammond arrived at the strike of 19:00 – Jack had expected no less – and he was by the door ready to open it before the general had a chance to knock.

‘Jack,’ George said, holding up a pack of beer.

‘General,’ he replied, accepting the beer. ‘Danny and Teal’c should be—And here they are.’ He inclined his head towards the sitting room and turned back to the door which was already opening to admit Teal’c clutching a large box of cartons, each emitting an enticing aroma of savoury goodness, with Daniel following close behind him.

Silence reigned for the first twenty minutes other than the occasional request for something to be passed over, but finally, all four men sat back, replete.

‘So, Jack,’ the general began. ‘Going to clue me in on all your shiftiness for the past month?’

Jack mouthed the word ‘shiftiness’ to Danny, then nodded at his superior. ‘I am, sir, and I hope you’ll bear with me and not send for the SFs.’

‘Now I’m intrigued, but I promise to hear you out before I do anything.’

‘As will I, O’Neill,’ Teal’c intoned.

‘Well, I guess it all began when I woke up just over three weeks ago…’

The other two men listened without comment until he concluded with his discussion the previous night with Danny, then they all sat in silence to digest Jack’s tale. At length, General Hammond shifted in his seat, which acted as a sign for the others to move again. Teal’c took a drink of his water while Daniel helped himself to more rice. Only Jack remained silent and still, his focus on his superior officer.

‘Fourteen years, you say?’ Hammond asked. ‘Any significant incidents in that time?’

‘Telling them to you would take all evening, and probably most of tomorrow,’ Jack replied with a sigh. ‘I’m hoping a couple of the more extreme ones can be avoided entirely, and I’m not even going to mention them in case someone,’ and here his gaze fell on Daniel, ‘takes it into his head to just take a peak at who or what they are. “I won’t do anything, just look, honest!”,’ he finished in a high-pitched voice.

George nodded, ignoring Daniel’s spluttering. It clearly wasn’t a surprise to him to find Daniel up to his neck in whatever should or shouldn’t have happened. ‘And your point of…departure? What instigated your time travel? I’m assuming it wasn’t a solar flame this time?’

‘No, not a solar flare.’ Jack shook his head. ‘We were invaded by…creatures from another galaxy. These creatures, Wraith, came to cull the planet of humans – they feed on our life force, suck it all out through the chest, leaving just a husk, kinda like a mummified body, behind. Think of what happens when you dehydrate fruit or vegetables.’

Daniel screwed up his face in horror. ‘You didn’t tell me this last night.’

‘I didn’t want to talk about it above once,’ Jack returned, grimacing at the memory. ‘They’re terrifying. I saw a recording of…of one of our people being drained by a Wraith. Gave me nightmares for months afterwards.’

‘Did the man die?’ Hammond asked with a frown. ‘What happened to him?’

‘It’s a long story, and an event I’m also hoping to avoid this time, but he lived. Many thousands, millions, of others didn’t. The Wraith came to this galaxy in the first place because they’d pretty much exhausted their food supply in their own galaxy. I remember being told by…a native of that galaxy that if the Wraith reached Earth, they’d feed on it for a thousand years, and that’s not even taking into account the human populations in the rest of our galaxy.’

‘And the Wraith caused you to come back in time?’ Hammond asked.

‘No—that is, I don’t know,’ Jack said with a frown. ‘The last thing I remember is watching TV at my cabin and seeing bombs falling on towns and cities around the world. I’ve no idea how or who sent me back, or exactly why, for that matter.’

‘And your aim is to avoid us meeting these…creatures?’

‘Cross between a human and an insect, it turns out, and no, we can’t avoid them, but we can, hopefully, prevent them from coming to the Milky Way again.’

‘Can you do that?’ Daniel asked.

‘I…I hope so,’ Jack hedged, ‘or die trying.’ He gave a wry grin. ‘It may well come to that, but that’s what the SGC is for, isn’t it? Protect the gate? That’s what we do.’

Damn the gate! We need to keep Atlantis in Pegasus, but how do I explain that without it taking the whole night! Just go for it, he told himself, and took a deep breath.

‘We had a base of operations in another galaxy – the why’s and wherefores don’t matter for the moment – but politicians got involved.’ He shook his head at the memory. ‘They…divvied up our best defence against the Wraith through a mixture of cowardice and avarice, and shared the tech out amongst the different countries involved like a box of chocolates. Most of the stuff they stole wouldn’t even work for them, and the majority of the people who’d lived on the base and understood her technology refused to help. Some of them fell off the grid entirely.’ He fell silent, remembering his frustration and helplessness as good men and women were kicked to the kerb like trash. Was it any wonder they wouldn’t come back and help?

‘And you want to prevent this from happening again?’ Hammond’s face was as serious as Jack’d ever seen it

He nodded. ‘Ideally, I’d like to prevent the formation of the group of…of scavengers at all.’

‘Why was the group formed in the first place?’ Daniel asked, but Jack could see that wasn’t the question he really wanted to ask. Jack hadn’t missed Danny’s narrowing eyes when he’d used the feminine form to refer to Atlantis, and he suspected this was going to be another late night when his spare room would be occupied.

‘It all came down to money in the end,’ Jack said, trying to avoid telling Hammond he was the cause of the group being formed. ‘The idea was to have other countries help finance the programme in return for access to technology, and as time went on, they wanted more and more of the pie, so to speak.

Hammond grimaced. ‘It’s certainly true the programme is costly, and I’m under constant pressure to account for the expense of it compared to the returns we get in terms of technology. I can quite see how a group with a certain amount of power would scavenge what they could. The NID is proof of that. The problem is, how can we afford the programme without sharing the cost of it around?’

Jack nodded. ‘I do have an idea of how we can fund it, sir, and it’s tied into a couple of other things I want to do.’ He paused, glancing over at his bug-zapper. There was a faint – very faint – buzz in the back of his mind which reassured him the device was activated. ‘Robert Kinsey and the NID will become more and more of a problem as time goes by. To us and the USA, and to Earth and the galaxy as well in the end.’

‘Kinsey’s a legally elected official,’ the general pointed out. ‘I agree, he’s a pain in the ass, but he has a legal obligation, as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to ensure government funds are used in the most appropriate way. That he doesn’t consider the SGC a worthy recipient is neither here nor there. He’s not extending his purview by demanding we provide value for money, the taxpayers’ money.’

‘But you do still have the disc on him from Maybourne, don’t you, sir?’ Daniel asked, leaning forward a little and focussing on the general.

‘I do.’ Hammond inclined his head. ‘However, I prefer not to use it until I have to.’

‘You’ll have to,’ Jack assured him. ‘In the other timeline, he became Vice President.’

*****

After Jack’s bombshell, the four men broke for comfort stops and, in the case of Daniel, more coffee.

‘So, whatcha thinkin’, T?’ Jack asked his friend. ‘Nothing to say about what I’ve told you all?’

‘I have not.’

‘Nothing you want to ask me?’

‘No.’

‘Ho-kaay, then. Good chat.’ Jack patted Teal’c’s arm and went in search of Daniel who had brewed another pot of coffee. ‘Just had a quick – very quick – chat with Teal’c. D’you have anything else to ask me?’ Jack took a cup out of the cupboard and poured himself some fresh coffee. He’d become used to drinking his coffee black in the future and that habit hadn’t changed on his return to the past. Huh. It’s a wonder no one questioned that.

Daniel took a sip from his own cup and regarded his friend. ‘You know I have, but I can wait until we’re alone. I’m staying the night in case you haven’t guessed.’

‘Yeah, thought you would. I really did only want to talk about the Wraith the once, though.’

‘They sound terrifying. Worse than the Goa’uld.’

‘Much worse. The snakeheads only want to enslave us, not eat us.’

‘Is there any more of that coffee, Dr Jackson?’ Hammond asked, entering the kitchen. ‘I have a feeling this debrief might go on for some time.’

As Daniel filled a cup for the general and doctored it to his usual requirements, Jack focussed his attention on his superior.

‘D’you want me to give you all my aims and objectives now, sir, or should I keep some back for later?’

Hammond pondered this for a moment. ‘I think I prefer to have everything on the table now, but I realise that might take too long if you have fifteen years’ worth of information. How about you give me the highlights now, and then we’ll set up a regular briefing.’ He met Jack’s eyes. ‘And I’ll have to approve all your proposed objectives too.’

This made Jack raise his eyebrows. ‘All my objectives?’

‘All of them,’ Hammond confirmed. ‘You might have the benefit of hindsight – or should that be foresight? – but I need to see the wider picture in the here and now. It would be all too easy to make mistakes and enemies needlessly.’

Jack considered this as they gathered back in his sitting room, conceding George might have a point. Knowing how the timeline would end if he did nothing, he was probably too close to it all to see potential pitfalls in his plans. But I’m definitely gonna ruin Kinsey!

‘There are a few folks I want to bring into the SGC,’ Jack began, and noticed Danny was now making notes. ‘I hope you’re the only one who’s gonna be able to read those,’ he said to him pointedly. ‘We can’t take any risks.’

‘I asked Dr Jackson to make notes on my behalf,’ General Hammond explained, raising an eyebrow. ‘I’ll ensure no one else can see them.’ He waited until Jack nodded, then smiled at him. ‘Carry on. You were saying there are some people you want to bring into the programme. Civilian or military?’

‘Both, but the priority, in terms of what’s going to happen soon, is a civilian I want to bring from Area 51, but I’d rather go there to speak to him first.’

‘And what is going to happen soon?’ Hammond gave him such a piercing stare that Jack almost flinched.

How can I explain Rodney McKay and his visit to the SGC without prejudicing people against him?

‘It’s…He’s…There’s going to be a malfunction with the Stargate in the next few months, at least, there won’t be as I’m hoping to change things, although I do have a contingency plan if it does – and when it happened last time we—’

‘Jack!’ Hammond interrupted. ‘You’re not making sense. Is the Stargate is going to malfunction or not?’

‘Not – at least, I hope my changes will prevent it.’

‘Okay. Continue.’

‘Last time we were played by the NID and, quite unfairly, a good man was effectively exiled for merely doing what’d he’d been brought in to do.’ And I let that happen by not asking questions. Jack shook his head slightly. ‘I want to bring him in as soon as possible to avoid the NID’s games, and also because he’s a brilliant man who shouldn’t be closeted away in Nevada. In fact, there are a few scientists at Area 51 who would be better utilised by us at the SGC, and, quite frankly, some of the bozos we do have aren’t worth squat!’

Hammond raised his brows at Jack’s last comment. ‘That’s more Major Carter’s wheelhouse than yours, isn’t it? You’ve always supported her choices in the past.’

Jack winced a little. That was a harsh rebuke coming from George. ‘If I might ask, sir, who is actually the head of the scientists on base? Of all of them, not just a department like Danny’s.’

The general frowned. ‘I’ve never seen the need for an official head as, like I said, Major Carter generally oversees the scientists on base.’

Daniel frowned at this. ‘She doesn’t oversee my department.’

General Hammond shifted slightly, but made no comment.

‘Sir?’ Daniel asked, then huffed. ‘Is she the reason Dr Entwistle was sent to Area 51 even after I requested he came to the SGC?’

‘I wasn’t aware you’d asked for him to come to the SGC, Dr Jackson,’ Hammond said, then looked down at the cup in his hands and sighed. ‘But I admit I tend to accept her suggestions without questioning them, as she has a better knowledge of the science community than I have. That said, she has no official role outside of her own lab.’

‘So the head of the scientists is…’ Jack waited for the answer, since it wasn’t a question he’d ever even considered before. I never needed to know before.

‘We don’t have an official head scientist as such, as Major Carter covers much of the work, although by no means all of it.’ He scowled at something, then gave his head a little shake. ‘Area 51 has a Chief Scientific Officer, however, so perhaps it is something we should consider.’

‘Who’s their CSO?’ Jack asked.

‘A Dr Rodney McKay. I’ve only met him briefly when he came to install the Beta gate when SG-1 was stuck off-world, but I certainly know of him, as he’s worked for the US Government for a number of years. He came onto the payroll of the Air Force, and they subsequently moved him to Area 51 as CSO, despite Major Carter’s objections to his appointment, I should add.’

From Danny’s look of surprise, Jack knew this was news to both of them. ‘Why was that, sir? And does Carter have the authority to question such appointments? ‘

‘She didn’t think he had the breadth of knowledge required for the position, apparently, but her objection was dismissed out of hand since she had neither the experience nor the rank to make such a judgement.’

Jack flinched at the thought of how much Carter would hate that. Ouch!

‘As to Major Carter’s authority over staffing decisions, she has none. I’m happy to receive her recommendations, which I frequently take since, as I said, she has a better knowledge of the science community than I have.’

‘If I may, sir,’ Danny began. ‘Why was he made CSO?’

‘His salary alone makes him senior to the other scientists at Area 51,’ Hammond said bluntly. ‘He’s the highest paid civilian the Air Force employs, possibly the highest paid of all the civilians the military employs. He’s certainly our biggest civilian asset, but then I understand he has several degrees more than anyone else we employ. Apparently, we faced quite a bidding war before he signed with the USAF. To put him in any position other than that of Chief Scientific Officer would have been foolish, although he didn’t accept the actual title of CSO until later on.’

‘And yet he’s still languishing at Area 51 rather than at the SGC, where his talents could be put to better use,’ Jack said carefully. ‘Is that because of Carter as well?’

Hammond looked surprised. ‘I hadn’t really thought about it. As I said, Major Carter generally recommends who we should have at the SGC and who should remain in Nevada, although I have the authority to move personnel should I see fit. Area 51 now comes under the purview of the USAF and, in turn, to the Secretary of the Air Force, whereas I report directly to the President so my authority is greater than theirs, and I’m prepared to use it if I have to.’

‘So if I wanted to bring one or two people here…’ Jack looked at Hammond expectantly.

‘I can certainly arrange it,’ Hammond agreed. ‘Am I to understand you wish to bring Dr McKay to the SGC?’ Jack nodded, and Hammond pursed his lips. ‘And send some of Major Carter’s people to Area 51 in return?’ A further nod. ‘If, and I stress if, I agree to bring Dr McKay to the SGC, he will have to be given the role of Chief Scientific Officer here too, which might cause some ructions.’ He looked squarely at his subordinate. ‘Particularly for you.’

‘Sir?’

‘I’m not a fool, Jack, even if you might think so.’ He ignored Jack’s splutter of outraged denial. ‘I know you have feelings for her, but I also know you would never act inappropriately, so relax. Just, and forgive an old man’s curiosity, were you able to have a relationship with her in the future?’

‘I was, for a while at least, and I’d like to try again, if possible. And, by the way, sir, you’re not old, although you do need to keep an eye on your heart. Get it checked out, sir. Soon.’

*****

Two days later, Jack flew out to Nevada, Daniel at his side, with Carter safely out of the way lecturing at the Air Force Academy for a few days. We’re not sneaking off without her knowledge, Jack kept telling himself. It’s just better she doesn’t know about it. And I really miss my private plane. Really, really miss it.

Colonel Landry, the commander of Area 51, met them from their plane, and Jack tried to hide the dislike he’d carried back in time with him since he’d once considered Hank a friend, and had personally selected him to take over the SGC. And, boy, do I regret that!

‘Hank! How y’a doin, y’old bastard!’

‘Fighting fit, as usual, Jack. Dr Jackson, welcome to Area 51.’

‘Umm, thank you?’ Daniel answered, a little uncertainly.

‘He’s been here loads of times, Hank.’

‘Not under my command. Now.’ He focussed on his erstwhile friend. ‘Why are you here? General Hammond’s admin didn’t give a reason for your visit. Is there a problem?’

And I really miss being the man in charge, as well. No one ever asked awkward questions, or if they did, I could just ignore them. Except Danny, of course. And POTUS.

‘Nah, no problem. We just wanted a chat with one or two of the scientists we might need to consult with over an upcoming project.’

‘And what project is that?’

Stop asking awkward questions, you bastard! ‘Nothing’s been decided as yet, but Dr McKay and Dr Zelenka might be able to help us out. Maybe Dr Kusanagi as well, so I wanted to talk to all three of them.’

‘No problem. I’ll have them paged to come to my office, shall I?’ Hank smiled at him, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Gritting his teeth just a little, Jack returned Landry’s fake smile. ‘Sure, and maybe we could organise some coffee? I know scientists run on the stuff.’ How the f*ck am I going to get rid of the asshole? I certainly don’t want him in my meeting.

Fortunately, Danny came to his rescue. ‘Would you mind taking me to see the progress made on the new ship, sir?’ he asked Landry in his politest tone. ‘I’d like to give General Hammond an update when we return.’

Danny, you rock star! I’d give you a big wet, sloppy kiss if Landick wasn’t standing right there!

Put like that, Landry couldn’t refuse, and as he led them into the main building and towards his office, Jack patted his friend’s shoulder.

‘I owe you,’ he murmured in an undertone.

‘For so much,’ Danny murmured right back.

*****

Jack heard McKay before he saw him, and sighed at the memories he had of the man: loud, obnoxious, and always convinced he was right, although to be fair, he was right almost all the time. And I’m still affected by my memories of him, even now. He tried to remind himself how crucial McKay was to the future of the Programme. Atlantis needs McKay, and so does Sheppard, unless I’ve missed my mark.

In the future, following the IOA’s decision to break up Atlantis rather than allow her to return to Pegasus, McKay had accepted a post at Area 51 alongside his new wife, Dr Jennifer Keller-McKay, but the marriage broke down within a year and McKay disappeared into the private sector where he added considerably to his already healthy bank balance.

And I’m convinced that’s what attracted Keller rather than McKay himself. She offered him her tit* and the white picket fence, and Sheppard was pretty much chained to the SGC and Landick. I do like that name. I must remember to tell Danny.

For the moment, however, Jack plastered on a welcoming face as the three scientists filed into Landry’s office, aware he wasn’t supposed to know any of them, and he just about managed to keep it when he saw how young McKay appeared with a full head of hair. He barely looks old enough to buy a drink! What the hell happened between now and the Atlantis Expedition? The answer hit him like a punch in the gut. Siberia happened.

‘Who are you and where’s Landry?’ McKay demanded upon seeing Jack behind Landry’s desk. ‘Has he been re-assigned?’ All three of the scientists suddenly looked so hopeful, Jack was taken aback.

‘I-I’m Colonel Jack O’Neill, and Lan—Colonel Landry is showing my colleague over the Prometheus at the moment,’ Jack explained, watching their reactions. Disappointment, certainly, and…despair? What the hell’s been happening here?

‘Lucky colleague,’ McKay muttered, collapsing into a chair in front of the desk. ‘I’ve been barred from it since the project began.’

‘I, too,’ Zelenka nodded. ‘I had expected to work on it since many of the designs used are mine.’

What the f*ck? ‘I understood most of the designs were done by Major Carter and Dr Murphy,’ Jack said carefully.

‘Murphy?’ McKay gave a bark of laughter. ‘He couldn’t design a blind alley!’

‘Is that what Carter told you?’ Dr Kusanagi asked, her lip slightly curled. ‘I can’t say I’m surprised. It wouldn’t be the first time Carter’s taken credit for someone else’s work.’

What the actual f*ck? ‘That’s a pretty serious allegation, Dr Kusanagi,’ Jack countered. ‘Do you have any proof of that?’

‘Hang on a minute,’ McKay interrupted, snapping his fingers and speaking over Kusanagi’s reply. ‘Jack O’Neill? You’re the leader of SG1, aren’t you?’ He glanced at Kusanagi, who had lost some of her colour. ‘Zelenka and I will deny anything you report Miko as saying, won’t we, Radek?’

Removing his glasses to clean them, something Jack vaguely recalled as a habit in the future, Zelenka nodded. ‘Ano, ano, samozřejmě.’

Jack sat back, stunned at McKay’s words. ‘Huh?’

‘You heard me,’ McKay snapped. ‘Or…’ His eyes narrowed, and he scowled even more fiercely at Jack. ‘You’re recording all this, aren’t you.’ It wasn’t a question.

‘What?’ Jack demanded, now leaning forward. ‘No, of course I’m not!’ He paused and gazed at them in puzzlement. ‘Does that happen a lot here?’

‘Does what happen?’ McKay asked, his lip curling. ‘Recording meetings, or Carter’s habit of commandeering research when it’s almost complete, and claiming the credit for all of it?’

‘Either. Both!’

McKay tipped back his head a little, chin jutted out. ‘Why should you suddenly care? You never did before.’

His comment struck Jack like a blow to the chin, and he physically recoiled. He had been aware, in the future, that Area 51 wasn’t the happiest place to work; that the civilians there considered themselves the red-headed step-children of the Stargate Programme. And even knowing that, I still did nothing. I thought it was pure jealousy for not being involved in the bigger, more prestigious projects in the Mountain.

And Sam Carter was always the lead scientist on all those projects, even when she couldn’t possibly have had the time to be so involved in every single one of them. No one, not even me, ever thought to question any of it. How could I have missed this?

Taking an immediate decision, he met McKay’s eyes. ‘I want you to write a list of every single project transferred from someone here to C—to the SGC. You have my word that I’ll look into it properly, and not use it as a list of malcontents. General Hammond might not have operational control of Area 51, but he is the head the Stargate Programme as a whole.’ He waited for a moment, half expecting McKay to laugh in his face, but McKay tilted his head to one side, and, much to Jack’s surprise, held a quick conversation with Kusanagi and Zelenka in fluent French.

After a few minutes’ consultation, McKay turned back to him. ‘We agree, but you must swear there’ll be no repercussions on the scientists here. If you go back on our agreement…Well, just remember, I worked for the CIA for several years before coming here, and I wasn’t always in the lab.’

Jack stared at him openmouthed, amazed at McKay’s audacity. ‘Are you threatening me?’ He wasn’t like this before…was he?

‘Threatening you? Of course I’m not threatening you.’ He stared, almost defiantly, at Jack. ‘I was simply stating a verifiable fact.’

Jack couldn’t help but return his stare. I knew he worked for the CIA. Something about a nuclear bomb and a science fair? I was never interested enough to look into details and just accepted what I was told – mostly by Sam Carter. And f*ck, f*ck, f*ck! Doesn’t he have a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering? It’s why he could help that planet in Pegasus with a ship in a volcano, or something like that. Why on earth didn’t I pay better attention? A small voice in his head said, you didn’t care.

Jack closed his eyes and gave a deep sigh. ‘Dr Zelenka,’ he asked in a weary tone, his eyes now wide open. ‘What are your degrees in?’

Zelenka frowned at him. ‘All of them?’

‘How many do you have?’ he asked cautiously.

‘Post-graduate?’

Jack shrugged, then nodded. ‘Okay.’

‘A Masters in Electronic, and also Electrical Engineering, and two PhDs: in Electronic, and Aeronautical Engineering, with a minor in Applied Engineering.’

I’m going to regret asking this, I just know it. ‘Dr McKay?

McKay stared at him for a moment, as though sizing him up. ‘Masters in Physics and Computer Engineering; PhDs in Astrophysics, Mechanical Engineering, and Aeronautical Engineering.’

And there it is. ‘You and Zelenka both have PhDs in Aeronautical Engineering and you’re not working on the new ship? Why?’

It was Radek’s turn to shrug. ‘We do not know. Neither of us are permitted to have anything to do with new ship. Is madness, but they say we are not cleared to visit Area 52.’

Jack noted absently that Zelenka’s English became worse the more agitated he became. I remember that about him, but not much else. ‘Who said you weren’t allowed to have anything to do with new—with the new ship?’

There was no response. ‘Me?’ Jack suggested after a lengthy silence.

McKay’s lip curled again. ‘It was General Hammond, if you must know.’

‘I see. And who told you that?’

Silence, again.

‘Major Carter did.’ Jack answered his own question. f*ck, f*ck, f*ck!

‘To be fair,’ Kusanagi began, ‘she was backed up by Colonel Landry.’

Jack didn’t miss the glares she received from each of her colleagues. Although given the crap Carter and Landry appear to have pulled, I wouldn’t want to hear them being defended either.

‘Why are you here?’ McKay demanded suddenly. ‘Why did you come all the way here just to ask us questions?’

Jack met his gaze, stare for stare. ‘I came to offer the three of you jobs at the SGC. In Colorado,’ he added, and grinned inwardly at their shocked faces.

*****

It wasn’t until they were on the flight back to Peterson AFB later the same evening that Daniel had a chance to question his friend. Any attempts he made before then had been frowned down by Jack.

‘Now can we talk?’ he asked, having checked no one was sitting near enough to them on the small plane to overhear their conversation.

Jack nodded. ‘Okay.’

‘Okay? Is that all you can tell me? Okay?’

‘You didn’t ask me a question, Daniel.’ Jack’s tone was as dry as Egyptian sand.

Daniel looked away for a moment, determined not to snap at his friend, otherwise he’d never get the story. ‘Fine. What happened with McKay and the others?’

A smile hovered on Jack’s lips. ‘Should’ve known you’d start with an easy one.’

‘Well?’ Daniel asked after a few moments. ‘What happened?’

Jack stopped tormenting him and explained what the three scientists had told him.

‘So it’s Sam who’s prevented McKay and Zelenka from working on the new ship?’ Daniel confirmed. ‘Because General Hammond didn’t seem to know anything about them the other night, other than Dr McKay.’

‘It looks like it.’ Jack nodded and sighed. ‘Which now makes me question everything that happened in the last timeline when McKay came to the SGC. Sam claimed not to know him or anything about him, but she obviously did. She’s had interactions with most of the scientists here, unless I’m suddenly in a different universe or dimension.’

I guess it says something about our lives that being in another universe or reality isn’t as implausible as it sounds. He’d had an experience with an alternate reality after he’d accidentally activated a quantum mirror off-world, so the idea Jack had returned to a different past wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. On the other hand…

‘Which is more likely?’ he asked carefully. ‘That you’re in another reality, or that Sam might have been…economical with the truth?’

The expression on Jack’s face gave him his answer.

‘But why would she lie like that?’ Jack demanded, his voice breaking a little.

Daniel winced at both the question and the tone in which it was said. Jack came back ready to make the changes necessary to prevent a world disaster. Surely wanting, having a relationship with someone he’s always been attracted to isn’t too much to ask? To now find out that she’s lied to him, to all of us, must be heartbreaking. ‘I suppose the other question is what she thought she’d gain from it, if anything,’ he said hesitantly.

The skin around Jack’s eyes became tight, and he pressed his lips together, but Daniel wasn’t certain if it was because of his question, or because Jack knew the answer all too well.

*****

‘You okay?’ Daniel asked Jack, poking his head around Jack’s office door to find his friend hard at work on…Huh. Requisition forms, unless I’m mistaken. I wasn’t sure Jack knew what requisition forms were!

‘I’m as okay as I was when you asked me that an hour ago, and the three times you asked it before then,’ Jack said, laying down his pen and frowning at his friend. ‘Is there any reason I shouldn’t be okay?’

Daniel fully entered the room and closed the door behind him. ‘Not really. I just…after Nevada…you know.’

‘No, I really don’t!’ Jack shook his head, and stared at Daniel. ‘Give me a clue, at the very least.’

‘After finding out about Sam and…all that.’

‘All that,’ Jack repeated, and sighed. ‘I’m fine, Danny, really I am. Look, come round tonight and have some supper with me. How’s that sound?’

‘Great. Mind if I bring some books over? There’s a few things I need to read up on, and I’m also trying to make a fairer mission and project assignment.’ He grimaced at the thought. ‘I’m very aware I’m as guilty as Sam at keeping the interesting stuff for myself.

‘No problem. I’ve got reading to do as well since I’m lecturing at the Academy next week.’ Jack co*cked his head to one side and gave a lopsided grin. ‘We could invite Teal’c and make a party of it!’

‘Except Teal’c’s off-world with Bra’tac plotting something or other.’

‘The downfall of another Goa’uld, probably! Which reminds me.’ Jack picked up his pen and made a quick note on a scrap of paper, then looked up at his friend. ‘Anything else you wanted?’

Daniel smile at the dismissal and shook his head. ‘Nope. See you later.’

Thus began a pattern, of sorts. Daniel would drive himself over to Jack’s house for supper, and they’d chat about their day, their work, and bitch about the world in general. They’d always enjoyed the company of the other, even if it was simply to sit and read together in an evening. Few people saw Jack as a studious type – which was exactly how Jack wanted it – but Daniel knew of his current work on military history towards a Masters degree, and also knew of Jack’s intention to follow it with a PhD in the same from the Air University. Neither of them, therefore, had any difficulty in spending several evenings immersed in books and lecture notes.

‘Did you do this last time?’ Daniel asked his friend one evening at the beginning of November.

‘Hmm?’ Jack raised his head from his notes. ‘Sorry?’

‘This.’ Daniel waved a hand to show the paper and book strewn coffee table. ‘Did you work on further education last time?’

‘Some of it.’ Jack picked up his coffee mug and frowned at the cold contents. He raised his eyebrows and nodded to Daniel’s own coffee mug, making Daniel laugh.

‘Have you ever known me to refuse coffee?’

‘Never, in two timelines!’ Jack’s eyes creased at the corners, making Daniel laugh in response, and he followed Jack through to the kitchen and watched as he filled the coffeemaker.

‘I can’t wait for the new coffee machines to be marketed,’ Jack commented, topping up the reservoir.

‘New coffee machines?’ Daniel asked, only just preventing himself from reaching out grabby hands. ‘When and how?’

Jack laughed. ‘In a couple of years, and all you’ll have to do is load a cartridge and press a button. You and Sam bought one for me when I was promoted to Brigadier General. It was sweet, even if it took me months to learn how to use it.’

‘I’ll look forward to it, but you didn’t answer my earlier question.’

‘Which was?’

‘Did you do the War College, and the School of Strategic something or other last time?’

‘War College, yes, as it’s part of my ‘senior officer developmental education’.’ Jack used his hands to make air quotes. ‘I didn’t bother with a PhD, though.’

‘So why do it this time?’ Daniel couldn’t help his curiosity. The question had been bugging him from the moment he learned of Jack’s desire for another degree.

Pausing for a moment to consider this, Jack leaned against the work surface, folded his arms, and crossed his feet. ‘A few reasons, I suppose. Desire to set a good example to the more junior officers; interest in the subject itself; something to keep me busy in the evenings.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘Is that enough?’

‘I was just curious. You never bothered with anything like this before. In our past, that is.’

‘That’s because I never needed to. I never wanted further promotion. Hell, I’ve already tried to retire twice.’

‘Three times if you include the time you retired to trap the rogue NID,’ Daniel reminded him. ‘And what do you mean by ‘developmental education’?’ Daniel repeated Jack’s use of air quotes. ‘What is that?’

By this time, the coffee machine had finished dripping through the filter paper, so Jack grabbed the jug and nodded towards the cupboard which held clean mugs. ‘Grab a couple of those, will ya?’

Daniel ‘grabbed’ two mugs, followed his friend back into the sitting room, and settled himself back down on the sofa. ‘So?’

‘Give me chance!’ Jack poured the coffee and made himself comfortable, then looked across to his friend. ‘All officers have to continue their education – if they expect promotion, that is. Each branch of the services have their own centres of further education. The Air Force has the Air University, which is the umbrella for various schools, including the War College and the Institute of Technology – AFIT.’

Daniel digested this information, then frowned. ‘Has Sam done all the officer courses, then? I don’t remember her ever mentioning anything about them.’

Grimacing, Jack looked down. ‘That’s because she hasn’t. Carter went to AFIT after she graduated from the Academy and got her PhD in Astrophysics, or, actually, Applied Physics, since AFIT doesn’t do a degree in astrophysics. She’s not bothered about any other training since then.’

‘And you don’t like that.’

Jack pursed his lips and met Daniel’s eyes. ‘Let’s just say I’m unhappy about her not being held to the same standards as other officers. It sets a bad example.’

‘But if she’s already got a PhD…’

Jack sat back and sipped his coffee, prompting Daniel to do the same, savouring the bitter taste on his tongue. Jack’s taste in coffee has definitely improved over the years!

‘The additional courses at the Air University aren’t all in the usual college subjects. In fact, most of them aren’t,’ Jack explained. ‘They’ve all got a mixture of critical thinking, command decision making, and general leadership skills embedded in them. Anyone aspiring to higher rank needs those skills.’

‘Skills which Sam hasn’t got.’

Jack shook his head, his lips making a thin line. ‘Aside from the few that were part of her PhD? No, she hasn’t.’

‘Why? And why has no-one ever suggested she do those other courses?’ Daniel didn’t bother waiting for Jack to answer. ‘They have suggested it and she’s ignored them.’

‘That’s not…quite accurate.’ Jack wouldn’t meet his eyes. ‘To date, General Hammond hasn’t pushed the matter, but at some point he’s going to have to explain to the Pentagon why she deserves further promotion above any other O4.’

‘There’s something you’re not telling me,’ Daniel said as Jack still refused to meet his eyes. ‘What is it?’ He waited for a moment, then added; ‘You know I’m going to push you until you do tell me, so save us both the effort and pain and tell me now!’

Jack now raised his eyes to the ceiling and sighed. ‘In the future, I ignored the fact she hadn’t done the requisite courses, and I pushed for her promotions beyond O4. In hindsight, I don’t think that decision served her well, but to be fair, she wasn’t the only one I did it for.’ He now met Daniel’s eyes, and Daniel could see Jack wanted him to understand.

‘Who else did you do it for?’ Daniel asked quietly. ‘The officer you mention before? Will you have to do the same again for him?’

‘No!’ Jack was emphatic. ‘The whole point of getting him to the SGC before…certain things happen is so I can make sure he has the skills, the experience, and the rank to do the job he needs to do in the future.’

‘And that’s something to do with the Wraith?’

‘It’s everything to do with the Wraith.’

*****

November continued with the addition of regular study evenings with Daniel, and a couple of movie nights with Teal’c – but none with Sam Carter, something Daniel was quick to pick up on.

‘Why do you never invite Sam to movie nights like you used to?’ he asked Jack over lunch one day. Teal’c had just left them, promising to bring over beer to go with their pizza and film of choice – even though he didn’t drink it.

Jack tipped his head back and considered the question. There were several answers he could give: Carter didn’t like SciFi; Carter didn’t like westerns; Carter didn’t like action movies; Jack knew she had other arrangements, probably with Janet Fraiser and Cassandra; Carter had other plans; but what they all boiled down to was Jack not wanting Carter in his space while he had unanswered questions.

Was everything McKay and the others said true? Has Carter really kept them away from building the Prometheus? Has she stolen other folks’ work? And the big one, did—do I really not care about the scientists at Area 51?

That was the clincher. McKay’s comment had cut deeply, probably due to its accuracy, and while McKay had referred to the period from the beginning of the Stargate Programme in 1997, to now, Jack recognised its veracity regarding the future as well. I was so sure of myself, of everything I did, but now…

‘—’ack? Jack!’

He gave his head a shake and focussed on Daniel. ‘What?’

The look Danny gave him was a mix of frustration and irritation. ‘If you’d rather I leave you…’

‘No, no. Sorry. I was miles away. What did you say?’

‘I asked why Sam never came to movie nights any more. Do you actually tell her about them?’

‘…Not really?’

‘Jack!’

‘Daniel.’

‘Jack.’

‘Daniel.’

They stared at each other for a moment, neither willing to give way until Daniel sat back with a huff.

‘Is this still about Nevada?’

I can lie, or I can discuss this with Danny like an adult. Lying had its merits, but Jack realised he really needed help to sort out his thoughts. ‘Yes.’

If his friend was taken aback by the frank admission, he hid it well and simply nodded, waiting for Jack to expound on his concerns.

Before he replied, Jack gripped the bug zapper in his pocket and thought on. At once he felt a…Wave? Flow? Some feeling deep inside me, anyway. I just know it’s ‘on’. ‘McKay mailed me a list of projects he and Kusanagi knew had been stolen by Carter,’ Jack admitted in a low voice.

‘He mailed you?’ Daniel look at him in astonishment. ‘Here?’

‘No, to the house. I guess he didn’t want it falling into the wrong hands.’ And that pretty much says it all.

‘If they had proof, why didn’t they take it higher?’

He paused, trying to choose his words carefully, aware they were in a busy public room, even with the bug zapper activated. ‘He didn’t actually say, but he implied they couldn’t be certain anyone would actually do anything about it, and I think they’re worried about any blowback on them, or any of the other scientists. Kusanagi knew exactly what happened to the projects removed from Nevada.’

‘That…doesn’t actually surprise me,’ Daniel said slowly, his forehead creased in thought.

‘Why not?’ Jack frowned at his friend.

‘Well, if anyone knows how to find information others would prefer she didn’t have, it’d be Miko Kusanagi.’

‘Why?’ Jack repeated, straightening in his chair from his usual slouch. ‘Why should she be able to find information she shouldn’t have?’

‘That’s not quite what I said, but the answer’s the same. Miko Kusanagi was a hacker before McKay paid for her to go to college.’

‘The hell she is! How do you–‘

‘Because I asked the question,’ Daniel answered before Jack could even finish his question. ‘Calm down before you give yourself an aneurysm! Apparently McKay came across Miko at DEFCON in 1994. A hacker convention,’ he added at Jack’s puzzled expression. ‘He paid for her to do a PhD in Software Engineering at Northwestern and as soon as he joined Area 51 in 1998, he arranged her employment. That was before he became CSO. He brought in Radek Zelenka after he accepted the post – although he’d been CSO in everything but name since he first joined the programme. He just didn’t want the title and all the admin that goes with it, and I can’t say I blame him. I only have six reviews to do. He has more like 60 now!’

‘How do you know all this?’

‘Because I actually talk to people.’ Daniel grinned at Jack’s frown. ‘You should try it sometime.’

Jack ignored the slur on his character and fixed his friend with a glare. ‘I’m not sure I’d’ve agreed to bring her here if I knew she was a hacker.’

‘Why not? Sam’s hacked computers for us loads of times and you’ve never said anything to her.’

‘That…that’s different.’

‘Why is it different?’ Daniel leaned back in his chair, his lips twitching with humour.

‘Because…I…It just is, okay?’

‘If you say so.’

‘I do say so, and I’m the team leader!’

‘Are you going to stamp your feet as well?’ Daniel asked as he got to his feet, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. ‘So long, team leader. I have work to do!’

*****

One early morning in early December, Carter was waiting for him right by his parking place, and Jack cringed at her set face. Oh crap!

‘You waitin’ for me, Carter?’ he asked in as light a voice as he could manage, certain she must’ve learned about the impending staff relocations, even though they hadn’t yet been announced.

‘Yessir. I want to know why I wasn’t—’

‘Whoa, whoa, slow your roll.’ Jack held out both hands to stop her. ‘It can wait until we’re somewhere with a little more privacy, can’t it?’

Her face said no, but she gave him a single nod. With some effort, Jack noted, and he avoided looking at her until they were safe in his office and he was settled behind his desk. ‘Now, Major Carter, what was so urgent you had to waylay me before I’d even entered the place?’ His use of her title shook her. That much was clear, but she recovered herself pretty quickly.

‘Why wasn’t I consulted over the staff transfers?’

Well, I suppose it’s marginally less aggressive than she was earlier. ‘I wasn’t aware you were involved in command staffing decisions,’ he countered.

‘Well, no, not all of them, but surely the ones which affect my department?’

And here come the ructions George happened to mention.

‘Carter, I know you’re given a lot of rope here, but surely even you realise you can’t challenge decisions made by senior officers.’

If anything, her expression hardened, her lips becoming even thinner than before. ‘General Hammond has always been happy to hear my recommendations.’

‘So why are we having this conversation instead of you and the general?’ Carter didn’t answer and Jack recalled what day it was. Because he’s in DC today. Crap, I’d forgotten. ‘Can’t it wait until he gets back? He’ll only be in Washington for a couple of days.’

‘I was informed you were the one who insisted my people are moved to Area 51 and some of their people come here. Sir,’ she added, almost as an afterthought.

‘And who was your informant?’ Once again she didn’t answer and instead looked down at the carpet. Jack felt his stomach turn to ice. No one else knows about our decision, not even the Pentagon yet. That’s what George has gone to discuss. ‘Carter?’

She frowned at him, then obviously realised she was doing so, and tried to relax her face – which didn’t really change much. ‘I’d rather not say, sir. I don’t want to get anyone else into trouble.’

The only way she can possibly know is if she…I need to speak to Danny!

‘I’m sorry, Major Carter, but you’ll have to take this up with General Hammond when he returns. Now, if you’ll excuse me…’ He looked at her expectantly and waited for her to leave, but she showed no signs of doing so.

‘Sir—’

‘Carter, you can’t sit there all day. I have stuff to do.’

This time she got to her feet, but her dissatisfaction was clear in her body language as she leaned slightly forward, with her eyes narrowed, then turned away with something as close to a swish as Jack had ever seen. He followed her out of his office, which he locked behind him, dropping the key into the leg pocket of his BDUs. It won’t stop anyone determined to get in, but it might slow them down.

They both remained silent as they rode the elevator up to Level 19, where Carter got out, giving him a nod and a muttered ‘sir’ as she left. Jack continued up to the next level and went directly to Daniel’s lab. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, Jack thought absently, then remembered why he needed this talk with Daniel, who, unsurprisingly, had his head buried in a book when Jack entered his lab.

‘Whatcha doin’, Danny?’ Jack asked, more out of habit than genuine enquiry.

‘I thought I might see you in here at some point this morning,’ Daniel commented, removing his glasses and polishing them on his sweater.

‘Why?’

‘Because Sam told me she was going to beard you in your den.’

‘She didn’t even wait for me to get to my den. She bearded me in the parking garage.’

Daniel winced. ‘I’m guessing that didn’t go down too well?’

Jack looked at him, his face deadpan. ‘What do you think?’ He then frowned, realising what Danny had just said. ‘Wait. She told you she wanted to talk to me?’ Without waiting for a response, he continued. ‘When?’

Daniel returned his frown. ‘Why is that relevant?’

‘Damn it, Danny! Answer the question!’

‘Last night, if you must know. She said she’d discovered you wanted to transfer some of her people to Area 51.’

‘And did she tell you how she discovered this?’

Daniel sat back in his chair and gazed at him. ‘I have the feeling ‘she got a memo’ isn’t the answer you’re after.’

Jack sighed and dragged out the armchair Danny kept in his office purely for his use. ‘Danny, no one knows about the transfers. George has gone to the Pentagon to get them approved. No one else has any knowledge of them, other than you and Teal’c, and unless T-man has been running his mouth off in the canteen…’

For a moment, Daniel didn’t move, not even to blink, then he lifted his head and met Jack’s eyes. ‘So if no one else knows, how did Sam find out.’ Again, it wasn’t a question. ‘Do you have any thoughts?’

‘Just one.’ Jack was aware his face was set. It reflected the stone in his belly.

‘She hacked your computer.’

‘Mine, or George’s.’

Silence.

‘What are you going to do?’ Daniel asked at length. ‘And why does General Hammond need to get the transfers approved by the Pentagon? That’s not normal, is it?’

‘They need to be approved because of McKay. You know he’s the Air Force’s biggest asset – the biggest civilian one, at any rate. They need to keep both him and the Canadian government sweet.’

‘Then how did they get away with sending him to Russia last time?’ Daniel asked in a low voice, looking from side to side as though to check no one was listening.

‘By paying him mega, mega bucks. It was ironic, really. The man became a multi-multimillionaire, then moved to another galaxy, where he couldn’t spend a cent of it.’ Jack shook his head in wonderment. It was something he’d never understood. McKay had worked so hard – and argued so much – to be given such a salary. Then he went to live off-world where money was entirely unnecessary.

‘Or the money was never as important as the science or the mission,’ Daniel suggested, making Jack start.

Huh. I never considered that. ‘And as to what I’m going to do, that’s what I’ve come to ask you.’ Jack stared at his friend, angry Carter had broken his trust, and dismayed she wasn’t the person he’d thought she was. A woman of straw? ‘What do you think I should do? Or should I just ignore it? She’s hacked enough computers to get us out of a fix before today. Do I have the right to be angry that she hacked mine or the general’s?’

‘I think the important word there is to get ‘us’ out of a fix,’ Daniel said with a sigh. ‘If she’s done so now, it’s for her benefit alone. Do I think you’re applying double standards? Yes, and no.’

‘Danny, you couldn’t be more ambiguous if you tried!’ Jack got to his feet and began to pace, then realised Danny’s lab was so cluttered there wasn’t much room to pace. Still, he did his best.

‘Okay,’ Daniel suggested, ‘try this. What would you do if I came to you to tell you that…that Dr Corrigan had hacked my computer in order to read a classified document?’

‘I’d fire his ass and tell the SFs to escort him off base after a cavity search,’ Jack replied immediately, then stood still. ‘Oh.’

‘Yes, oh. And if it was…Captain Meyers?’

‘I’d have him in front of a court-martial as soon as I could,’ Jack answered in a flat voice, then sighed. ‘f*ck. It’s barely 10:00 and I already want a drink.’

Daniel gave him what Jack suspected was a sympathetic smile. ‘You order the pizza tonight and I’ll bring the beer?’ Danny offered. ‘I’ll ask Teal’c as well, shall I?’

‘Is he back on base?’

Daniel nodded. ‘Got back last night. He said he informed Master Bra’tac of your time travel, and he took it very well, and saw what an advantage it would give them in building a nation of Free Jaffa. Teal’c and he are working to free the Jaffa of a minor Goa’uld at present. Teal’c didn’t say which one, but apparently it’ll be quite a coup if they succeed.’

Jack nodded and sighed. ‘I might go and let him kick my ass, then. My pain’ll take my mind off everything else. Pizza for 18:30?’

*****

Jack avoided Carter for the next week or so as he was running training exercises at the Academy. In the previous timeline, he’d only given a lecture or run cadet training under extreme ‘persuasion’ from George, but he now understood the benefit of them, particularly the ones to groups of cadets destined for the SGC. Carter had designed the programme, and she’d done an excellent job with it – although it almost caused him physical pain to admit it. Still, the cadets didn’t know, and surely didn’t want to know about his problems with one of his team, and he tried to put it aside as he put the cadets through their paces. He’d found this particular group difficult to work with at first, knowing that unless he made a few changes to the timeline, one of them was destined to die on his first mission off-world with his team. That is not going to happen this time.

By the time the exercises were through, and the obligatory post-mortem on it held, George had issued his orders for the transfer of scientific staff. Daniel had dropped in on him the previous night, ostensibly to drop off a book he’d borrowed – and which Jack couldn’t even remember owning – but really to inform him of the super-hissy-fit Felger had thrown upon learning he was being transferred to Area 51.

‘He picked the wrong person to yell at though, really,’ Daniel told him, laughing at the memory. ‘He stomped, stomped, down to the general’s office and interrupted a conversation he was having with some Air Force muckety-mucks. None of them were pleased, as you can imagine, especially after his rant to General Hammond when he broke down and begged the general on his knees not to send him away from Sam.’

Jack choked on his beer, then managed to ask, ‘How do you know all this?’

Daniel grinned at him. ‘Because Siler just happened to be in the AV room and called me, Sam and Teal’c when Felger left his lab. We watched and heard it all as the general had forgotten to mute the audio recording when he began his phone call, as he should have done. I’m not sure who was most embarrassed in the end: Sam or General Hammond.’

Fortunately, when Jack was laughing so hard, he let go of the beer bottle, it was empty. ‘Tell me, Siler kept a recording.’

Danny grinned again. ‘I couldn’t possibly say, except there might or might not be a video marked ‘Training Exercise 9′ on your desk.’

‘What’s happened to Felger?’

‘Dismissed from the Programme,’ Daniel said baldly. ‘Someone at the Pentagon heard him shouting and pleading, and they checked his personnel record and decided they no longer required his services due to his “unsuitability for work in a pressurised situation”. I believe Sam is trying to find him a job in the private sector, but without a reference from here, and with the work he did with us being classified, I think she’ll struggle.’

Jack nodded. ‘Most likely. He might get a job in a community college, but to be honest, I don’t think he should be inflicted on young minds. The man’s a klutz.’ He got to his feet and went in search of refills for them both, making a mental note to keep a count of how many beers he drank. I’ve been drinking more beer and coffee since Danny’s been coming round more often. We both need to switch to water. ‘How did Coombes and Lee take the news?’ he asked, passing a second bottle to Daniel.

‘Bill Lee took it really well. I think he’ll be much happier at Area 51, to be honest. There’s much less pressure there, plus I believe they have a group who plays the same game as he does.’

‘World of WarCraft,’ Jack supplied without thinking, then winced as he realised what he’d admitted.

‘Yes, but you need to be careful who you say that kind of thing to,’ Daniel warned him. ‘It’s slips like that which could get you into trouble.’

‘I know, I’ll be more careful, but I tend to forget when I’m with just you. You know all about my…travels.’ He cast a glance at the mantelpiece where his bug zapper sat. Maybe I should keep it on as a default. ‘And you’re also the only person I can talk to comfortably, and not just about my…journeys.’ Daniel gave him a puzzled look, and Jack tried to explain it better. ‘Teal’c isn’t exactly one for general conversation, and Carter…Carter brings a whole host of other problems, and…’ He shrugged. ‘That’s it, really. Crap. I have no social life whatsoever, do I?’

Daniel gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘None of us do. I guess it goes with the job. Did you…will you…Is there no one else in your life until your…understanding with Sam?’

For some reason, Daniel wouldn’t meet his eyes.

‘There was a brief fling with someone from one of the alphabet services,’ Jack offered. ‘Very brief. She called it off after Carter came round one day when she was here. Said I had issues I needed to deal with. She was probably right, too. I had a couple of dates over the years, but no serious relationship. I always thought it was Carter for me.’

‘And now?’

‘And now…Now, I’m not so certain. My heart says I still want a relationship with her, but my head…thinks differently.’

‘Because of what you’ve learned?’

Jack considered this. ‘A little, I guess, but it’s made me review everything I know—knew about her, made me examine some of her interactions with both me and with other folk.’

‘And?’

‘And it’s complicated.’

*****

SG-1’s first mission after Christmas was strained – to put it politely, Daniel thought. Sam was still pissed with Jack, while Jack himself blithely ignored her. And that never goes down well with women. Even I know that. For himself, Daniel felt like he was being tugged in two different directions at once, and neither of them was the way he wanted to go. Teal’c, being Teal’c, appeared to ignore all of it, yet Daniel was certain he saw a look of sympathy on his face towards Jack when Sam deliberately ignored one of his orders off-world. Jack, for his part, rose above it, and although he was well within his rights to reprimand her, Daniel was glad he didn’t. There’d be no way back from there.

At the end of January, the day before Drs McKay, Zelenka, and Kusanagi were due to arrive at the SGC, Daniel wandered down to Level 19 to check out the space allocated to the new scientists. He’d intended to inspect it after Lee and Coombes moved out two weeks previously – Felger having been dismissed before Christmas – but had forgotten about it until he noticed the following day’s date circled in his diary. Now he wished he’d come down sooner.

‘Sam!’ Daniel entered her lab, having opened the doors to the labs the new scientists were going to use, and found them strewn with boxes and bits of broken equipment. ‘Why haven’t you sorted out the lab space? I know General Hammond told you to clear them because I was there when he said it! Where on earth are they supposed to work?’

‘They’re having the labs my people were evicted from,’ she said, her careless tone of voice at odds with the sudden flush of her cheeks.

‘But there’s junk everywhere! It looks as though someone’s just dumped a load of…Oh no.’ He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself. ‘Please tell me you didn’t fill them with rubbish on purpose.’

She glared at him. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. And why should I be the one to clear them out? It’s not my job. They’re perfectly capable of doing it for themselves, and if the labs aren’t good enough for them, perhaps they should run back to Nevada. Nobody wants them here in any case!’

Daniel stared at her. ‘Sam! You can’t…It’s…Look, I’ll give you a hand, and I’ll ask Jack to send a few airmen and Marines down to help shift the big stuff. We can get it done in a few hours.’

‘You go ahead if you care that much.’ Sam shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’m not lifting a finger for them. I have other, more important work to do.’

Shaking his head in disbelief, Daniel gazed at her, lost for words at her attitude. ‘Sam, this isn’t like you at all. What’s going on? Do I need to get Janet to check you for a symbiote?’ He gave a slight smile at the notion, but when Sam simply turned away, his smile faded. Crap. Is it possible? He took a step towards the doorway, trying to keep his movements as steady and unthreatening as he could, half expecting his friend to turn around at any moment, her eyes glowing. He was almost to the door when Sam did turn round, her now semi-permanent scowl firmly in place, but with no sign of an inner passenger. Although that doesn’t mean there isn’t one there.

‘Why are you making such a fuss about them, Daniel? I thought you’d be on my side. I’ve lost three of my best people to make room for these…these interlopers!’

‘That’s unfair, Sam. Three scientists, who were precious little use anyway, have been transferred to make way for three who are extremely productive – when they’re allowed to work on projects within their areas of expertise, that is.’

Sam studied him for a moment and Daniel tried to remain immobile under her scrutiny. ‘That was a very pointed comment,’ she said at length. ‘I wasn’t aware you knew any of them.’

‘I don’t, but—’ Daniel bit his tongue to prevent himself from responding further. He didn’t know if Jack was trying to keep their visit to Nevada a secret.

‘But what?’ Sam demanded, her anger now clear in her voice. He watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. ‘If someone’s been spreading rumours or telling lies about me, I need to know, Daniel,’ she said in a much more composed manner. ‘It isn’t fair not to allow me to defend myself.’

A few weeks ago, he’d have told her what Jack had learned, and probably agreed it was baseless tittle-tattle. Now, though…

‘Did you really prevent McKay and Zelenka from working on the new spaceship, despite them both having degrees in Aeronautical Engineering?’

Sam curled her lip. ‘Is that what they told you?’

‘They didn’t tell me anything. I haven’t even met them.’

‘Neither have I and I’ve never spoken to them either. It’s obvious they’re telling lies! How can we trust them if they lie to us like this? And if we can’t trust them, why on earth have they been transferred here and three talented scientists thrown out like garbage?’

‘I doubt you could use the word ‘talented’ in regards to Felger,’ Daniel pointed out. ‘None of his projects ever produced anything useful, and that’s even if they were completed, even I know that. And Coombes did nothing half a dozen other people here can do. Ross Corrigan has a masters in Pure Math, you know, as well as his PhD in anthropology.’

Sam glared at him, her hands on her hips. ‘Do I come into your lab and complain about your department?’

‘I’m not—’

‘Do me the privilege of not coming in here and complaining about mine, then!’

Daniel simply couldn’t help himself. ‘Your department, Sam? I understood Dr McKay is coming here as Chief Scientific Officer with a brief over all the departments, including mine.’

‘Exactly! How is it fair they bring in someone over your head?’

‘I really don’t ca—’ Daniel began, but Sam simply spoke over him.

‘It’s not just unfair, but wrong! The SGC wouldn’t even have a science division if it wasn’t for me!’

‘Sam, that’s hardly—’

‘I’m furious about it.’

Really? I hadn’t noticed.

‘I’ve a good mind to—’

Whatever she had a good mind to do, Daniel could only guess as he heard a familiar voice behind him.

‘I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you, Carter,’ Jack drawled, his tone of voice at odds with his frown and steady gaze.

Sam spun round to look at Jack, then, as he continued to survey her, brought herself to attention. ‘Sir.’

Jack came fully into the lab and pulled out a stool to perch upon, his gaze never wavering. ‘I came up to see if everything was in place for tomorrow,’ he said, his tone casual and conversational. ‘You know, for our new Chief Scientific Officer. Imagine my surprise when I glanced in Folger’s old lab and saw it filled with cartons and bags of garbage.’ He paused and gave her an expectant look. ‘No? Nothing? Hmm. I’d get a squad up from Base Operations, except someone would ask me why they’d been diverted from their allocated work, and there’d be paperwork, and General Hammond would get involved somehow. It’d just be a whole mess.’

Jack’s eyes moved from Sam’s face to Daniel’s, who shifted uncomfortably. This is nothing to do with me. Why am I squirming?

‘Still nothing?’ Jack asked again, pursing his lips. ‘Right, I’d better get on to Base Operations. I wonder who’s Duty Officer today?’

C’mon, Sam, Daniel mentally urged. C’mon.

‘I-I think I have time to see to it,’ Sam finally offered as Jack moved towards the wall-mounted telephone. ‘Sir.’

Attagirl, Sam.

‘Why, thank you, Major Carter. That’s most kind of you.’

Daniel wondered if Jack could possibly inject more sarcasm into his words if he tried.

‘Maybe you could also do something about the terrible smell in the lab set aside for Dr Kusanagi.’ Now there wasn’t even a hint of sarcasm.

‘I, um, I—places to go,’ Daniel blurted, and fled the scene of the—fled the lab as fast as he could.

*****

It took several hours to get the labs ready for their new occupants, and while Carter did help with clearing the space, it wasn’t done with any particular grace. Jack still couldn’t understand where all the crap had come from in the first place, although he had his suspicions.

‘Are these bits from a MALP?’ he asked Carter when they got to work on Coombes’ former lab. ‘I thought Coombes was a mathematician. Why would he have bits of a MALP in here?’

He watched as Carter’s cheeks flushed pink. ‘His principal work was as a mathematician, but he had other degrees as well,’ she explained, somewhat unconvincingly.

Which doesn’t answer my question at all.

Daniel, who’d come to help after an hour or so, stared pointedly at Carter, almost as though he expected her to say something, but she remained silent. Jack shook his head and continued to sort through the boxes of broken technology.

‘Where’s all this stuff come from?’ he asked, frowning at the bunch of twisted electrical wires, and… ‘Well, at least we know what caused the stink in here.’ He tipped the box he was searching through directly into the garbage sack and turned his head aside as the aged remains of a former MRE splatted into the bag, then he frowned. ‘Coombes only left ten days or so ago. This MRE must have been opened weeks ago to turn into this…liquid form.’ He looked up and caught Carter’s eye. ‘I don’t suppose you know anything about this, do you, Major Carter?’

Carter immediately looked away. ‘No, sir.’

Jack watched her for a moment, then shook his head and, as he turned back to the boxes, he saw Daniel watching him. He raised his eyebrows, but Daniel shook his head and made a circular motion with his finger, which Jack took to mean later. He nodded and bent back to his work.

Once his training classes were over, Teal’c also joined them, and with his strength behind them, they quickly moved on to Dr Lee’s former lab, which was to house McKay. This was in the worst mess, although it didn’t have the stench of mouldy meatballs Dr Kusanagi’s new lab did. Jack shook his head at the sheer amount of broken furniture in the room.

‘What the f*ck? How the hell did all this get in here in just a few days?’

‘I believe it would need several men to carry and stack this amount of equipment,’ Teal’c commented. ‘And to build it as high as it is would require the use of stepladders. If we do not take care with the dismantle, it may collapse upon us.’

Just as it might have been planned to do, Jack thought to himself as he studied the…erection. Collapse on one person in particular. ‘A joke’s a joke,’ he said aloud, ‘but this could cause serious injury if it’s not disassembled correctly. It’s like a game of Jackstraws: if we move the wrong bit, it’ll all fall down.’ He turned to look at Carter. ‘Like Teal’c said, it took a lot of people to build this so carefully, and a considerable amount of time. This isn’t just a few boxes of crap dumped somewhere. This is a deliberate attempt to hurt or injure Dr McKay.’

‘Oh, is this going to be his lab? Carter questioned innocently.

Too innocently.

‘You know damn well it is. I was there when General Hammond informed you which lab was to be allocated to McKay.’

‘Actually, sir, the general didn’t specify a particular lab; he simply said the largest was to be McKay’s.’

‘That’s just splitting hairs, Major.’ Jack stared at her, wondering how he missed seeing this side of her last time. Was she always like this and I just ignored it, or have I made things so different simply by coming back in time? ‘I can’t ignore this as a bit of harmless fun.’ He turned to Daniel. ‘Can you go get a camera or your video recorder? I need to get this properly documented. It won’t be too difficult to find out who was involved in building it, and General Hammond may decide to bring official charges against them.’ He watched Carter out of the corner of his eye, but she didn’t so much as twitch. Either she’s a superb actress, or she wasn’t involved. A part of him – a small part – was relieved she wasn’t involved, but a larger, more rational side knew she didn’t have to be directly involved to make it happen. A quiet word here, a promise of help there…

It was late in the evening when they finally got McKay’s lab clear.

‘Did you arrange access to the supercomputer for the new scientists?’ Daniel asked suddenly. ‘I know General Hammond asked you to.’

Now that’s a guilty look.

The arrival of Drs McKay, Zelenka, and Kusanagi was met with considerable disgruntlement from several of the scientists in the Mountain and quite a few of the military members too.

‘I’m pretty sure that Sam’s behind most of it,’ Daniel told Jack over beer one evening a week or so after the new CSO and his team began work at the SGC. ‘Although I don’t have any actual proof.’

‘What’s actually happened that you know is deliberate, and not just some bad-mouthing?’ Jack asked. ‘I haven’t noticed anything, but then, most folk in the mountain behave themselves when I’m around. Something to do with the eagles on my collar, I think.’

Daniel gave him a fond grin. ‘Jack, you never wear your eagles on your collar unless you’re forced to. When was the last time you wore a proper uniform? Outside of lecturing at the Academy,’ he added.

‘I…Huh.’ His friend frowned and took an absent sip of beer as he thought, then pointed a finger at Daniel. ‘When we went to Nevada. I wore my class As then.’

‘So four months ago, right?’

‘Not relevant.’ Jack waved this away with a hand, then paused, his hand still in the air. ‘What were we talking about?’

‘About some low level bullying in the mountain. You wanted some specifics.’ Daniel thought for a moment. ‘A couple of my staff have mentioned some of the enlisted not being as helpful as they usually are. A couple of airmen volunteer in our labs, sometimes. They help with logging off-world finds and general work in the labs. Senior Airman Poole, for example, wants to go to college to get his degree in Anthropology so is happy to help, but Ruth Kelly said he hasn’t been in the lab for a few days, and when she saw him in the mess and asked him if he’d help her with scanning and cataloguing some video footage from M2L 772 – the place where SG-10 found the ruins they believe might be Furling.’

‘They won’t be,’ Jack commented. ‘We’ve never found any trace of the Furlings other than the mention in Heliopolis, and by the Nox and Asgard.’

‘Well, it doesn’t matter because Poole told Ruth that he was sick of doing scut work for her, and the other airmen with him just smirked at her. She said she felt a little frightened with four strapping young men essentially making fun of her.’

Jack crinkled his nose. ‘It’s not bullying if they just smirk at her. I can’t do anything about that, and even if I tried, it’s likely just to get worse for her. If I tried to reprimand anyone who smirks, we’d have the entire base locked up, including you!’

Shaking his head, Daniel tried to explain himself more clearly. ‘I’m not asking you to reprimand them, but it’s an example of the sudden…ill-naturedness of the men on base. Poole got on really well with Ruth prior to the transfer in of McKay and the others from Area 51, but now the entire base seems to—to be angry about everything.’ He ran his hands through his hair. ‘I’m not explaining this very well, but there’s—there’s an undercurrent of general discord. It’s not anything I’ve experienced since foster care, to be honest.’

‘But is there anything concrete for me to do, or even see? Has anyone or anything happened as a result of this ‘anger’?’

A sudden memory struck Daniel, and he pointed his finger at his best friend. ‘McKay’s allergies!’

‘What about his allergies? I seem to recall him being allergic to something or other, but…’

‘Citrus. He has a deathly allergy to citrus – juice, the oil in the skin, everything. I’ve noticed he’s always very careful to check nothing in the mess contains any trace of citrus, and Doctors Kusanagi and Zelenka do the same when they’re with him. Msgt Grimes has begun marking anything containing citrus, but if he’s not on duty, it’s more difficult. I was in the breakfast line behind the three of them a day or so back and when McKay asked the server if there was citrus in anything, the Corporal gave him a nasty grin and said an orange had fallen in the scrambled eggs, and maybe everything else as well. McKay ended up with a packet of cereal he could see was unopened, and he didn’t even bother with coffee, just in case it had been doctored. After they’d moved off to a table, I heard the Corporal say ‘serves him right’ to another of the servers, but it didn’t really register with me at the time. My mind was on something else.’

He watched as Jack sat back on the sofa, and closed and set his books aside. Studying was clearly over for the night.

‘So you think whole thing was set up by someone?’ Jack gazed at him, and there was no sign of levity in his face at all. This was most definitely Colonel Jonathon O’Neill talking to him.

‘I…Yes, I do. I do think it was prearranged. The Corporal was obviously referring to something with his ‘serves him right’ comment. Serves him right for what? And who made the initial allegation that McKay had done something to someone or something?’

‘Do you know the name of this corporal?’

‘Not offhand, no, but it should be easy to find out who was on duty that morning.’

Jack nodded, his mind clearly elsewhere. ‘Okay, I’ll look into it tomorrow. Anything else specific?’

‘Yes, now I come to think of it. Someone has been messing with the staff locker room on Level 18. We’re all civilians on that level, and most folk live off-base, so the lockers are mostly used to store stuff like handbags and rucksacks. I don’t use them as I have my own quarters, but I recall hearing Corrigan and Warner – who both live off-base – saying someone had been in some of the lockers and mixed everyone’s boots up. Corrigan said it took ages to sort them out as most winter boots look the same, unless they were labelled. They treated it as a bit of a joke, but it’s an odd sort of joke to play, isn’t it?’

‘Very odd,’ Jack agreed, his lips set in a hard line. ‘For a start, it means someone unauthorised has been into the locker room, as I can’t imagine a civilian would play such a trick. The locker rooms and lounges on Level 18 and Level 19 are restricted to civilian staff, as is the small canteen on Level 16. It should be easy enough to see who went into those areas, though. We have CCTV on all levels. I’ll look into that as well tomorrow. That it?’

‘For the moment, yes, that’s all that comes to mind specifically, but there’s still this air of…’

‘Of general discord,’ Jack finished for him, nodding. ‘Right. I’ll look into the specifics tomorrow, and I’ll keep my eyes open for anything else out of place. You’re still certain Carter’s behind it all?’

‘No, I’m not at all certain, but someone’s behind it, and she’s the most likely candidate as she’s the one most affected by the recent changes,’ Daniel said, hating his feelings of powerlessness. I’ve been at the SGC for almost six years and I’ve never felt this vulnerable, not even when MacKenzie had me locked away for schizophrenia. We rely on the military to protect us, on and off-world, and while I can take care of myself, many other civilians can’t. Bill Lee would’ve had a breakdown by now if this had happened to him. He could barely speak if there were any soldiers around, let alone them basically harassing him.

The two men sat in silence for a while, but it wasn’t the usual comfortable silence. Both men had troublesome thoughts running through their heads, and when Daniel actually studied Jack, he noticed faint lines around his eyes, and while he no longer had the buzz cut he’d sported on their first trip through the Stargate, his slightly longer hair was now more silver than blond.

He’s getting old. We both are, but Jack is showing it now. Is it because he’s travelled back in time – again! – or did he look this old at this time before?

‘You finished looking?’ Jack asked in an amused tone, and Daniel realised he had been staring at his friend.

‘Sorry, I was just thinking we’re both getting old.’

‘Getting old?’ Jack repeated. ‘I’ve got thirteen years on you! Or maybe it’s twenty-six if you count the back in time bit.’

‘That’s what I was thinking. You look…tired. I wondered how you looked at this point last time, or if the extra worry has aged you.’

‘Daniel, stop talking now before you dig yourself in any deeper! I’m 49, not 99, though I’ll admit I’m tired. It’s probably all the late nights I have when you come round. We drink way too much beer and sleep way too little.’

‘Is that all it really is?’ Daniel asked, and he couldn’t help his concern leaking into his tone.

‘Yes!’

His reply was adamant, but Daniel couldn’t help waiting for something more to be said. It took a minute or two, but eventually Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes.

‘Okay, okay. I am tired, and I mean what I say about beer and sleep. We need to switch to water instead of beer, and get to bed before midnight on a school night. That said…’

He trailed off and Daniel sat motionless, waiting for his friend to arrange his thoughts.

‘Remember last year when Carter and I were suspected of being Zantacs?’

‘Zatarcs,’ Daniel corrected.

‘Yeah, them.’

‘I never was told why they thought you both were, or why you weren’t.’

‘Because it was…private.’ Jack paused and rubbed his eyes again. ‘The thing is, remember when we had those armband thingies that made us strong?’

‘Jack! What’s this about? I remember most things that happened, but you have to be clearer about what you’re trying to say.’

‘They thought we were Zan—Zatarcs because we both lied about what happened on Apophis’s new ship.’

Daniel frowned at him. ‘You lied? What—?’

‘Carter and I…We had a ‘moment’ on the ship, which we didn’t tell anyone about. I didn’t want to leave her after our armbands fell off as I had feelings for her.’

‘That’s not news to me,’ Daniel said. ‘Why—”

‘And she felt the same way.’

‘Oookay. That’s…’ He gazed at the wall above Jack’s head, then looked back at his friend. ‘Did either of you act on those thoughts? Last year, I mean. I know you haven’t…recently.’

‘No, we didn’t, and now I’m beginning to think my feelings for her have changed.’

Daniel raised his eyebrows. ‘Changed? You don’t…’

‘Care for her anymore? I’m not sure. I certainly don’t love her. That’s only something which developed after we got…closer to each other, but with all the stuff that’s come out in the last few months—’

‘Since you came back.’

‘Since I came back,’ Jack agreed, nodding. ‘I’m noticing things I never noticed about her before. It’s like she’s a different person. And not one I particularly like.’

‘Ah. That is a problem.’

‘One of many we—I have,’ Jack agreed, getting to his feet and going out to the kitchen, returning with two bottles of water. ‘Here. We can make a start now.’

Daniel took a long drink and wiped his mouth. ‘What are you going to do about Sam?’

‘I haven’t got a f*cking clue.’

*****

True to his word, Jack made enquiries about the locker room on Level 18 when he arrived at the mountain the following morning. Rather than mess around asking questions, though, he went directly to Master Sergeant Sylvester Siler, the Sovereign of all things technical at the SGC.

‘Do you know what date we need to look for, sir?’ Siler asked, accessing the central data bank from his computer.

‘Sometime since the 1 of Feb, I can’t be more specific than that. Does it help?’

‘It narrows it down. We keep the digital images from the camera feeds for twelve months. I delete relevant footage from the previous year at the start of each month, as we don’t have the capacity to store it for longer. To date, we’ve not needed…Got it!’ he said triumphantly, and turned to Jack, moving slightly so Jack could see the screen. ‘We’ve got six cameras in the corridors of Level 18. It’s not enough to cover all the labs and office spaces, but the civilians get uneasy if they think they’re under constant surveillance.’

Jack down and scooted his chair to the desk. ‘Do the cameras record everything?’

‘Not sure what you mean, sir.’

‘Are they motion sensitive, or are they always on? And is it sight and sound, or just sight?’

‘Sight only in the corridors,’ Siler said, ‘and they’re always on. The files would be too large if we recorded sound as well. Only the embarkation room, control room, and the general’s office record sound as well, and he can silence or cancel the audio at any time.’

Jack nodded. He remembered this from the future, and he also remembered all the times he’d forgotten to cancel the audio recordings when he spoke with the President or other officials. In the end, Siler used to go through the recordings each week and wipe the sensitive audio. The truth was that only Siler and Walter were essential to the running of the Mountain, as much as the scientists and senior officers liked to think they were mission critical.

Meanwhile, Siler was fast forwarding through the recorded images, searching to find movement in them, while Jack watched the screen. There must be a simpler method of storing these images, which would make them more searchable. I’ll put Kusanagi on it. If anyone can come up with a simpler way, she can.

Various scientists and technicians scurried along the corridor at top speed, sometimes pausing to chat to another civilian, then scurrying off again. There were long periods with no movement whatsoever, presumably at night, then there was a sudden…non-movement which made both Jack and Siler blink.

‘What was that?’ Jack demanded, at the same moment as Siler pressed pause, then reversed the images. ‘It looked like that cat in the Matrix. Déjà vu.‘

‘It’s exactly the same,’ Siler muttered. ‘It’s where images have either been added or cut, and not very successfully.’

‘Can you see what should have been there?’

Siler gave him a look. ‘No, sir. I can’t see what should have been there, because it isn’t there.’

Ooops! ‘Can you give me a date and time, at least?’

‘7^th February, sometime between 12:00 and 15:00.’

Lunch time for the geeks. Exactly when the corridor is likely to be empty.

‘Thanks, Siler.’ Jack patted his shoulder. ‘I’m going to ask Dr Kusanagi to look at some other way of storing the images to make it easier to search, if we ever need to.’

‘I’d appreciate that, sir. Thanks.’

‘No problem. I just wish everyone’s problems were as easy to solve.’

Jack jogged back to his new office, a space he’d cleared for himself on Level 24, alongside various storage rooms, where no one would think to look for him. Hopefully, at least. He sat back in his chair and swung his feet up onto the corner of his desk, ready to think the problem through. The glitch in the tape was proof something had been removed or edited. f*ck it. I was hoping not to find anything, not find something missing. Daniel’s right. Someone – or several someones – is deliberately targeting the civilian staff. What the f*ck do I do now?

*****

It didn’t take long for General Hammond to call Jack to his office.

‘Come in and sit down, Colonel.’

Colonel again?

‘I understand we’ve had some disruption within the Mountain. Want to fill me in on it?’

How the hell does he do it? ‘Sir, do you have superpowers, or just well placed spies?’ Jack asked his superior officer as he dropped down into the visitor chair.

‘Why not both?’

‘Will you tell me how to do it when I’m promoted, please? I promise to keep it to myself. Scout’s honour.’

‘You never were a scout, Jack,’ Hammond said, his eyes alight with laughter. ‘As for my superpower, I promise I’ll let you into my secret if you’re promoted.’

‘That hurts, sir.’

‘As you’d say yourself, suck it up, Buttercup. Now, want to tell me about the problems the civilian staff are having with the military?’

‘Not really, sir, if I have a choice.’

‘Then I’ll make it an order.’ Hammond gave him what he possibly thought was an encouraging smile. It wasn’t.

Jack sighed and scrubbed his hands through his hair. ‘It was Daniel who brought it to my attention. We should get him in here as well.’

‘I’ve already had Dr Jackson’s report, thank you.’

Crap! ‘Well, there were two, possibly three definite instances Daniel could give me. The rest was pure speculation.’

‘I am aware. What have you done about the incident in the mess? That, to my mind, is the most serious.’

‘I agree, sir. I’ve spoken to MSgt Grimes, and he’s assured me all wrapped products will be clearly marked if they have citrus, or nuts in them, and that his entire junior staff are currently suffering retraining in their administrative functions. Basically, all shore leave has been cancelled until everyone under the rank of sergeant can quote the food preparation guidelines.’ The corners of Jack’s mouth twitched. ‘Whoever the miscreant was – and I’ve left that up to Jeff Grimes to discover – is going to get hell from his fellow Marines. I doubt we’re going to get any trouble from the kitchens again.’

‘I hope you’re right, Jack. Dr McKay deserves to eat his meals without worrying he might suffer an anaphylactic shock at any point.’

‘Yes, sir, and Jeff Grimes is also going to issue the mess staff with epi-pens, just in case there is an incident. He was furious when he discovered there weren’t any in the first aid kit. Apparently, it’s part of Sergeant Philip’s job – his deputy, you know – to do regular checks on date-sensitive equipment. He certainly won’t make the same mistake again, and, as a precaution, I’ve asked Dr Frasier to triple check all date-sensitive medical equipment in the Mountain.’

‘Good.’ Hammond nodded. ‘We can’t afford to make such mistakes, not when someone’s life depends on it. Dr McKay isn’t the only civilian with severe allergies, either.’

‘No, Daniel also has a nut allergy,’ Jack agreed. ‘To be honest, I’ve been considering banning all nut and nut products from the mess entirely – bar pre packaged items like Snickers. A nut allergy is the most common allergy there is, apparently.’

‘Go ahead and do as you see fit, Jack. You have my support. Now, what about the incident in the locker room on Level 18? What progress has Dr Kusanagi made?’

Jack shook his head in wonderment. ‘Seriously, sir, how do you do it? No one knows I’ve tasked Miko Kusanagi with a review of the security tapes.’

This time it was Hammond who smirked, but remained silent.

‘Miko’s searching for whoever altered the camera feed, but she says they covered their tracks very well indeed, which suggests someone who has an excellent knowledge of computers and computer systems.’

‘And we probably have a dozen or more such specialists, don’t we.’ It wasn’t a question.

‘More than the average military installation, certainly. She doubts she’ll find whoever did it, but she’s ensured there won’t be a repeat. Not without her knowing, at least. It appears there’s some issue over access to the supercomputer, but since I don’t really understand what it does anyway, I can’t be more specific. She says she’s added it to the list to deal with.’

‘And what list is that?’

Jack massaged his temples and sighed. ‘I told her you’d ask me that.’

‘And?’ Hammond raised his brows when Jack didn’t elucidate. ‘Jack?’

He sighed again. ‘This has the makings of a clusterf*ck, to be honest, sir. A great big honking clusterf*ck.’

*****

Events came to a head in the Mountain the following morning. By the time Jack arrived, Carter and McKay had already gone head to head over changes McKay had made to access and permissions to the base supercomputer, and Sam had taken it directly to General Hammond. Per instructions awaiting him at the initial check-in point, Jack made his way down to the briefing room on Level 27. I already have a headache and it’s barely 08:00.

When he entered the briefing room, Carter and the general were sitting silently at the long table. General Hammond was glancing through notes he recognised as the ones Daniel had made a few weeks previously, and although Carter saw him, she refused to meet his eyes. Jack raised an eyebrow as she remained seated. It took a few moments, but she did eventually get to her feet.

‘Sir. I want—’

‘Please take a seat, Colonel,’ Hammond ordered, speaking over her, and Jack slipped into his usual seat on Hammond’s right while Carter sat a few seats down on his left. ‘We apparently have a problem,’ he continued, looking directly at Jack.

‘Indeed, sir?’ Jack reached for the coffeepot on the table in front of the general – out of the reach of Carter, he noticed absently – poured himself a cup and settled back in his seat to await…he wasn’t quite sure what he awaited, but it’s not going to be pretty.

‘Major Carter doesn’t appear to understand that Dr McKay is CSO of the mountain,’ General Hammond informed Jack in a bone-dry tone. ‘Or that she has to abide by whatever decisions he makes.’

‘Sir!’ Sam protested, jutting out her chin ‘I don’t understand why I’ve been removed as CSO.’

‘You never were CSO of any part of the programme, Major Carter.’ The general held up his hand as she opened her mouth to argue. ‘Part of the fault is mine, perhaps, for allowing you to cover parts of the role, but you have never held the post.’

‘But, sir!’

‘Have you ever done the annual reviews of any of the scientists?’ Jack asked calmly.

‘Well, no, but—’

‘Who do you think should do them, then?’

‘I don’t—’

‘Colonel O’Neill and I did them two years ago.’ General Hammond spoke over her, forcing her to shut up. ‘Apart from those of the Anthropology Department, which Dr Jackson does. You said you’d do them last year but didn’t. The ones this year will be the first reviews for two years, meaning reviews of their work and goals never took place for any of the scientific staff.’

‘I’ll do them now, I promise,’ Carter said quickly. ‘If I can have my title back.’

‘Are you actually trying to bargain with me, Major?’ Hammond asked in icy tones. ‘You never had the title of Chief Scientific Officer, and you wouldn’t qualify for it if you happened to be in the running for it.’

‘How can you say—’ Carter began angrily before she pressed her lips together and fell silent. Jack could see her knuckles turning white as she gripped her hands together.

George Hammond cleared his throat and stared at her. ‘You wouldn’t qualify as CSO, Major Carter, as you don’t have the necessary breadth of knowledge. Dr McKay holds doctorates in three different fields, while his deputy, Dr Zelenka, holds them in two. You have a single doctorate.’

‘I might not have the actual pieces of paper, but I certainly have the knowledge and experience to get them if I wanted to,’ Sam retorted in a slightly more polite tone than earlier. ‘Sir.’

‘And yet you refused to consider furthering your education during your own review just a few weeks ago,’ Jack said calmly.

Carter’s cheeks reddened, and she dropped her eyes. ‘I don’t have time to spare, given our mission schedule.’

‘Yet you believe you have the time to give to the post of CSO?’ Hammond shook his head as though he didn’t know what to do with her. I certainly don’t!

‘You could always step back from being on a gate team,’ Jack suggested, giving her a hint of a way out. ‘Then you’d have time for further education and training.’

‘Sir!’ Carter expostulated. ‘I couldn’t—’

‘Then you don’t get to complain when other people have educated themselves,’ Hammond told her. ‘My decision stands, Major Carter. Dr McKay is CSO, and Dr Zelenka is his deputy, and I will support any decisions Dr McKay makes in that capacity, which brings us back to the original reason you came to me, I believe.’

It was clearly an effort for her, but Carter almost managed to regain her usual control. Almost, but not quite.

‘Yes, sir. I want—’

Hammond held up his hand to stop her. ‘I’m still waiting for Dr McKay, Major.’

‘Why—’

‘If your complaint concerns his role, he should to be here to explain his decisions, shouldn’t he?’

If looks could kill…Jack thought, absently. Was she always this belligerent, and I just didn’t notice?

The door to the briefing room opened to admit Drs McKay and Kusanagi, with Walter right behind them bearing a tray loaded with mugs, pastries, and three carafes of coffee. He set a new pot in front of the general, and the other two further down the table. McKay grabbed one of the carafes and poured a cup, swallowing it before Miko Kusanagi had even sat down. He poured a second cup and was about to drink that one too, when Kusanagi fixed him with a gaze through narrowed eyes. She made no sound and simply stared, but after a moment or two McKay set down his own cup, poured a second one and handed it to her.

Are superpowers a new thing around here? Jack mused. I wonder what mine is?

‘Thank you for joining us,’ Hammond said to the two scientists. ‘I wanted to clear up one or two issues which have arisen since you joined us.’

McKay was now on his third cup of coffee, Jack noticed, awed by his capacity for caffeine. He puts even Danny to shame and he would mainline coffee if I let him.

‘Now,’ Hammond began when McKay and Kusanagi had settled. ‘Colonel O’Neill mentioned a ‘list’ to me yesterday, Dr Mckay. Would you like to explain what he meant?’

George already knows, Jack realised with a start. He already knows all of it, and this entire charade is for Carter’s benefit.

‘Certainly, sir,’ McKay replied, looking up from the laptop he’d opened. ‘As soon as my transfer here was confirmed, I began a list of problems and issues that needed looking into as soon as possible, and one of the most glaring problems concerns the supercomputer.’

‘Go on,’ Hammond prompted when McKay paused.

‘Frankly, General, it’s a mess.’

‘Would you care to enlarge on that?’

This time, McKay glanced briefly across to Carter. ‘The permissions for the supercomputer are…’ He sighed. ‘Three of the people who have full access left here a few weeks ago, and there are several names I don’t recognise at all.’

‘But that’s hardly surprising since you haven’t been here before,’ Jack commented, keeping one eye on Carter, whose complexion had paled at McKay’s words.

McKay stared at him. ‘I might never have worked here in person, but I recognise the names of every scientist who does work here.’

‘That’s…dozens of names,’ Jack said, frowning. ‘How—’

‘Of course I know the names of all the people who work for me.’ McKay spoke over him. ‘I make a point of learning them. It’s not difficult.’

‘How can you possibly—’ Carter began, her cheeks now suffused with colour.

‘I have an eidetic memory.’ McKay spoke over her. ‘And Miko’s isn’t far off.’

‘I don’t believe you.’ Carter folded her arms and sat back in her chair, her body language screaming hostility.

‘Your doubt is irrelevant,’ General Hammond snapped, and Carter’s jaw dropped. She’s never been on the receiving end of his annoyance before.

‘—Kay’s ability is well documented,’ Hammond was saying, ‘However, we’re discussing access to the supercomputer.’ He turned to look at Miko Kusanagi. ‘You’re taking over the IT department, I believe, Dr Kusanagi?’

‘She’s taking over IT?’ Carter demanded, sitting forward, her full attention on the general. ‘But she’s—’

‘The most qualified person in the Mountain, although it’s a pretty low bar,’ McKay said, and nodded to Miko, who scowled at him.

‘There are numerous issues with the base supercomputer,’ she began, and Carter’s scowl notched up a megawatt or two, Jack noted, ‘but access and security are the ones which most concern me, concern us,’ she clarified, motioning between herself and McKay. ‘I could give a ten-minute lecture on what it all means, and how and why we’ve changed it, but the bare bones of it come down to two major changes.’

‘Go on,’ Hammond said, ‘although I do require a report on the wider aspects of this.’

‘Copy me in, too.’ Jack waggled his hand at Kusanagi.

‘Full access control is limited to only Dr McKay, as CSO, and myself as System Administrator,’ she continued. ‘Everyone else has the more usual mandatory access control, which is rights based.’

‘And which means?’ Jack prompted.

‘Heads of a department have greater access than the more junior members of the department. So Dr Jackson, for example, can access far more of the supercomputer than Dr Corrigan can.’

‘And why is that necessary?’ Hammond asked, holding up a hand to stop Carter from speaking.

‘It’s called the Principle Of Least Privilege. Users are given only the necessary privilege essential to their function. Dr Corrigan doesn’t need to see the personnel files for the department to do his job, for example, while Dr Jackson needs to see them, and make changes to them.’

‘Go on.’

‘Security is the other critical issue, although the new access controls will help with it. There’s little to no security anywhere on base, which is ridiculous, considering the secrecy behind what happens here, and the number of times the base has been compromised. People are now going to be forced to use login names and passwords, and the central computer will record when and where these log ins take place. There is no reason whatsoever that Dr Zelenka, for example, should be able to access the Infirmary files, say.’

There was a lot not being said here, Jack decided. I’ll look forward to reading the report on all this.

‘We’ve also cut all outside access, which should never have been allowed in the first place. No one should log in from home, or the coffee shop, or wherever.’

Once again, there was a lot not being expounded upon, and Jack stared at McKay until he got a slight, a very slight, nod. To be continued, I believe.

‘Will limiting access to the supercomputer help with our security?’ Hammond asked, looking between the two scientists. ‘Would we, for example, be able to see if someone edited the security feed?’

Jack kept his eye on Carter, sitting opposite him, and while he knew her self-control was generally very good, her cheeks paled a little at this news.

‘Hypothetically, yes,’ McKay answered. ‘But the changes Miko has already made to the central data bank will ensure no edits can be made to the security footage at all, and by limiting access to the supercomputer, we’ll have better control of all computer access in the Mountain.’

‘What about my access?’ Carter demanded, recovering a little. ‘That’s why I called this meeting and I—

‘Major Carter.’ The General silenced her mid-flow.

‘Sir?’

‘I called this meeting when you brought a complaint to me regarding Dr McKay.’

There was what felt like a long pause, but was probably barely seconds.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘I’ve already told you I will support whatever decisions Dr McKay might make. Do I need to repeat myself?’

To his credit, McKay appeared to be as embarrassed as Carter. He stared down at his laptop, immobile, and Jack could see a flush rising on his cheeks.

‘No, sir.’ Carter’s words came out clipped and flat while both her neck and back were stiffened.

‘General?’ Jack spoke before he even realised it. Hammond turned to look at him and raised his eyebrows. Jack took a breath and glanced deliberately at his watch. ‘I believe Dr McKay and Dr Kusanagi have a meeting with Dr Jackson shortly.’ Sorry, Danny, I’ve totally thrown you under the bus.

The words had barely left his mouth before McKay was on his feet, laptop, and carafe of coffee in his hands, with Kusanagi only seconds behind him.

‘Yessir, meeting with Dr Jackson.’ McKay was already at the door. ‘I’ll…later…’ He waved a hand, and the door closed behind Kusanagi. The whole thing had taken less than ten seconds.

The general raised an eyebrow at Jack, and his lips quirked. ‘It’s a good job you remembered the meeting, isn’t it?’

‘Yessir, and now I think about it, I believe I’m also expected.’

‘If only to tell Dr Jackson why his lab has suddenly been invaded,’ Hammond added in a low voice, and shook his head. ‘Off you go, then, Colonel. You’re dismissed.’

‘Thank you, sir.’ Jack was pretty certain he left a trail of flames behind him in his haste to exit the room, and he leaned against the closed door and took a deep breath. That was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had, and I’ve been fighting the Goa’uld for more years than I care to remember.

There was a noticeable easing of tension between civilian and military staff over the following days.

‘Ruth Kelly came in to see me this morning,’ Daniel informed Jack over dinner in the mess one night. They were both staying on base as General Hammond had been called to Washington for a meeting.

‘And?’

‘And she said Senior Airman Poole had come to her to apologise for his behaviour earlier in the month.’

‘Did he say why?’

Daniel shook his head. ‘No, and she didn’t ask him. He took her a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans from The Coffee Lab as an apology, though.’

Jack raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s a very specific apology. I wonder how he knew to buy chocolate covered coffee beans from the most expensive coffee shop in town.’

‘I couldn’t possibly say.’ Daniel didn’t even bother to hide his smirk. ‘He’s also asked her to help him with his application to Pikes Peak State College to study anthropology.’

‘Are you creating an army of minions, by any chance?’ Jack asked, his eyes narrowing.

‘Who’s creating an army of minions?’ Carter set down a tray at their table and looked between them. ‘Can we join you?’

‘We?’ Jack looked around and saw Teal’c coming towards them. ‘Of course.’ He shuffled his chair sideways to make room for Teal’c while Carter sat down next to Daniel.

‘So, are you collecting minions, Daniel?’

He grinned at her. ‘Not me, Ruth Kelly. SA Poole has asked her to help him with an application to college.’

‘Smart man. He’ll have no trouble if he has her recommendation. Is he planning on going local?’

Jack sat back and relaxed as his two geeks swapped suggestions of courses for other enlisted in the SGC. This is what I’ve missed. This exchange of thoughts and ideas. Did I change things so much when I came back in time?

‘I cannot recall when last we ate dinner together as a team,’ Teal’c said in a low voice as he settled in next to O’Neill. ‘It is something I have missed.’

Me too, old friend. Me too.

*****

Thanks to Jack’s adjustments to their mission schedule, SG-1’s next mission would be to Pangar, a full five months before their original visit.

‘I want to make sure Drey’auc doesn’t die,’ he told Hammond and Daniel at their next planning meeting – a now regular bi-weekly meeting on alternate Fridays where Jack laid out his immediate plans to General Hammond, and they discussed the best way to deal with any issues or problems that might arise. ‘I know she and Teal’c are effectively divorced, but her death caused considerable problems between Teal’c and Rya’c, and, quite frankly, Teal’c’s given a lot for this programme and country, and doesn’t deserve for his wife to die if we can avoid it.’

‘I quite agree,’ Hammond nodded. ‘But can you be sure things will happen as they did before? You said the changes you’ve already made are having a knock on effect, and the more time passes, the more things will change.’

‘True,’ Jack nodded. ‘But this was a nice and straightforward mission and even won us some goodwill from the Tok’ra. Not that it lasted long,’ he added sourly. ‘It never does where those f*ckers are concerned.’

‘Jack!’ Daniel exclaimed. ‘They’re our allies and—’

‘S’not much of an alliance when they take, take, take, and never give us anything in return,’ Jack complained, but fell silent when George Hammond raised an eyebrow.

‘I agree we’ve had…occasional difficulties with the Tok’ra, but our alliance with them was sanctioned at the highest level, as you know. POTUS himself has a personal interest in our relationship with the Tok’ra, especially since Jacob Carter agreed to host Selmak. Is there a possibility your…additional knowledge will allow us to strengthen our alliance with them?’

Jack shrugged. ‘Possibly. I don’t recall everything, but they were certainly happy to find out what happened to their Queen, Egeria, even if she died in the end.’

‘Is there some way to maximise that for our benefit?’

Scowling, Jack shook his head. ‘That sounds much too close to ‘diplomacy’.’ He made air-quotes with his fingers. ‘You know that’s not one of my strong points.’

‘You mean you don’t have a diplomatic bone in your body, Jack,’ Daniel told him with a smirk.

‘I never claimed I did, Daniel.’

Hammond rolled his eyes, then sighed. ‘How do you want to play this, Jack? Do you still want to keep this from Carter?’

‘Definitely!’ Daniel answered before Jack could even open his mouth. ‘She mustn’t know Jack’s…travelled.’

‘This will be your first mission where you want to keep the original outcome,’ Hammond commented. ‘Do you think you can manage it with Carter in the dark?’

‘If Carter finds out, she’ll have me thrown in a deep hole so I can’t make any changes,’ Jack replied. ‘While I don’t know exactly what Teal’c and…the other member of SG1 did, I do know what they discovered so I can brief T and Daniel.’

‘Other member?’ Daniel asked, and Jack groaned inwardly. He’d hoped neither Daniel nor Hammond would pick up on that. I’m not sure I’m ready to tell Danny how he died.

‘A story for later.’ Much later.

*****

To Jack’s surprise, the mission to Pangar went off without incident. The Tok’ra were thrilled to have their queen returned to them, and, because of the earlier date, Egeria was still alive when the two Tok’ra returned with her to their current base. Her explanation regarding the flawed gene she’d passed on through her offspring now enabled the creation of a synthetic version of Tretonin, as well as the antidote which would restore the immune systems of, and save, the many Pangarans already taking the drug.

Teal’c, recognising Tretonin as the means of granting the Jaffa freedom from the System Lords, had offered to be a test subject when the synthetic version was perfected: something he hadn’t done in the original timeline.

‘So we have new allies in the Pangarans; a reason for the Tok’ra to be grateful to us; and the means for the Jaffa to break free of the hold the System Lords have over them,’ Hammond summarised at the end of the debriefing. ‘A good day’s work, SG-1. Thank you.’

‘I’ve spoken to Janet,’ Carter said, ‘and she thinks we’ll be able to produce the new drug in the quantities needed for the Jaffa, since they’ll have to take daily doses.’ She grinned happily at Teal’c, who bowed his head to her.

‘My thanks, Major Carter.’

‘Finally, a mission where nothing went wrong,’ Daniel commented, and gave Jack a wink across the table that made him swallow a grin. ‘At long last!’

‘I believe you may have put a jinx upon us, Daniel Jackson,’ Teal’c intoned from his seat beside Jack O’Neill, causing Daniel to snort into his coffee.

It was a good mission, Jack told himself. All his goals had been realised, and his team had worked together seamlessly. Carter had not only behaved herself, but had made one of her astonishing leaps of intuition in realising Egeria had deliberately sabotaged her offspring. Was I wrong about her, or was this a one-off?

He was brought back from his musings by Daniel, now recovered from the coughing fit Teal’c’s words caused.

‘Right. So, where to next?’

*****

Jack was acutely aware the date for Teal’c to become stuck in the gate buffers was imminent. He hoped that by changing the date on which SG-1 went to P3X-116, they would avoid meeting Tanith, and thus prevent him crashing into the DHD when Teal’c fired upon his Al’kesh. Since things didn’t always go as he hoped – or ever in reality – he was determined to get hold of a DHD for the SGC to replace the dialling computer.

Much to Jack’s surprise, however, McKay brought up the issue of a DHD for the Mountain just a few days after the mission to Pangar.

‘Miko and I have had chance to review the programming of the dialling computer,’ he told Jack and General Hammond late one afternoon at a meeting he requested between them, and Miko and himself, ‘and we both feel it’s not fit for purpose.’

Unable to help himself, Jack glanced at General Hammond. He’d suggested exactly the same thing to the general just that morning.

‘Not fit for purpose?’ Hammond repeated. ‘It’s served us well enough until now, Dr McKay. It took over fifteen years to create the dialling system, which allowed us to open a wormhole to Abydos. Why isn’t it good enough now?’

‘Because its coding forces it to ignore hundreds of error messages and safety protocols produced by the gate during the dialling process. Furthermore—’

He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Sam Carter at the door of the briefing room, breathing heavily.

‘Major Carter?’ Hammond frowned at her. ‘Has something happened?’

‘You mean aside from you having a meeting about the dialling computer without me, the person who designed it and got it to work in the first place? I—’

‘Carter!’ Jack snapped. ‘Have you lost your mind? How dare you burst into a private meeting, let alone speak to General Hammond like that!’

‘But, sir—’

‘How did you know about this meeting, in any case?’ Jack regarded her through narrowed eyes.

‘I…I heard someone mention it. I-in the mess hall.’

It was evident she was lying, and Jack glanced at Hammond to see how he wanted to deal with this. George was watching her with a puzzled look on his face which Jack couldn’t help wondering at.

‘You weren’t invited to this meeting, Major Carter, because it has nothing to do with you,’ Hammond told her, ‘and furthermore—’

‘But I designed the dialling comp—’

‘No, you didn’t.’ McKay’s head was tilted to the side. ‘You may have worked upon it, but work began on it when you were still in High School.’

‘And they couldn’t get it to work until I joined Project Giza,’ Carter retorted.

‘Actually, they did.’ Rodney frowned as all eyes turned upon him. ‘Ernest Littlefield? Heliopolis? Come on! You all went there and rescued Littlefield, remember?’

‘Yes, but how do you know about it?’ Carter demanded.

‘I read the mission reports, of course.’ Rodney frowned at the question

Carter’s eyes turned on General Hammond. ‘Is it a good idea to allow a civilian to read our mission reports? Sir,’ she added hastily.

‘Why shouldn’t the Chief Scientific Officer—’ Jack began, only to be cut off by Hammond.

‘That’s none of your business, Major, just as this meeting is none of your business. Now, please leave.’

‘But—’

‘Now, Major!’

Carter glared at him for a moment, then swung on her heel and left the room, closing the door firmly behind her. It wasn’t quite a slam, but it was a close-run thing.

Jack rubbed his eyes. ‘I don’t know what’s got into her, sir. She never used to be like this.’

‘Actually, she was always like this.’ Rodney shrugged when both Jack and the general turned to look at him. ‘She just managed to hide it better from her senior officers. We told you this.’

‘What do you mean?’ Hammond asked with a frown, and he glanced at Jack, who sighed.

‘One or two things came out after I visited Area 51.’

‘What sort of things, Colonel?’

‘The sort I really didn’t expect,’ Jack muttered, and ran his hands over his face. He sat back and gazed at the concrete ceiling. ‘It appears Major Carter was keeping qualified scientists off projects she didn’t want them on and—’

‘Such as?’ Hammond asked.

This time it was McKay and Kusanagi exchanging glances. ‘Both Dr Zelenka and I were prohibited from involvement in the X-303 project,’ McKay explained in a neutral tone, ‘despite the ship being largely of our design. And as far as I’m aware, neither of us is credited with its design either.’

Hammond was staring at McKay, his jaw certainly loose if not actually open. ‘What?!‘ He turned to stare at Jack, who shifted uncomfortably. ‘You knew this?’

‘Only since my visit to Area 51 last November. I’ve since been asking quite a few questions about various projects and—.’

‘And you didn’t think I should be informed?’

From the corner of his eye, Jack saw McKay and Kusanagi exchange worried glances.

‘Should we…?’ McKay pointed towards the door with…

Yep. That’s a hopeful look on his face. Wish I could escape as well.

‘No, Dr McKay. The Colonel and I will finish this discussion later.’ Hammond gave Jack a look which had him squirming like a newly minted butterbar. ‘Now, you were talking about the dialling computer.’

‘I…Yes, sir.’ McKay took a deep breath and glanced down at his laptop. ‘The dialling computer ignores a number of error codes and dialling protocols present in a standard DHD in order to get it to work, including the ones, for example, which would have prevented a wormhole from connecting with the gate on K’Tau rather than passing through the system’s star and creating deposits of heavy metals into their sun. Furthermore, having our own DHD would allow greater research into collecting previous dialling addresses recorded in the DHD crystals.’

‘Previous dialling addresses?’ Jack repeated, sitting up from his slouch. ‘Carter said that wasn’t possible.’

Once again, McKay and Kusanagi exchanged glances.

‘It’s certainly possible,‘ Kusanagi said. ‘In fact, SG-6 downloaded a series of gate addresses from the DHD on P79 54G two years ago. There was no way to determine their dialling order, however, and some of the information was corrupted. The point is, it’s been proved to be possible, but it needs much more work. I would suggest Major Carter dismissed the idea as she either hadn’t thought of it herself or made it work.’

Jack saw a frown appear on the general’s face and shook his head at him. ‘Don’t say it, sir. This is a part of what I discovered in Nevada. I…’ He sighed again. ‘Carter…’ I was never sure if it was her defending the dialling computer, or if she genuinely believed it wasn’t possible in the Milky Way. I had no idea it’d already been done. f*ck!

McKay took a deep breath. ‘What I think Colonel O’Neill is trying to say is that Major Carter has a history of…’

‘Of stealing credit for work she had nothing to do with,’ Kusanagi said bluntly.

‘What?!’ Hammond demanded for the second time. ‘Jack. Tell me…’

‘It’s true, I’m afraid, sir.’ Jack rubbed his temples in an effort to get rid of his sudden headache. ‘It’s why I requested a meeting with you tomorrow morning. I’ve been investigating the claims since Doctors McKay, Zelenka, and Kusanagi first informed me about it last year. It…She…The DOD…

‘Major Carter has a habit of defrauding the scientists at Area 51.’ Kusanagi voiced the words Jack was unable to say.

General Hammond sat back in his chair and scrubbed his face with his hands. ‘I…She…What the hell, Jack?’

‘As far as I can tell, she’s not making any money out of it,’ Jack said hurriedly. ‘She just…’

‘She gets the credit for the work of other people,’ Kusanagi said flatly. ‘It’s still fraud, Colonel O’Neill, only personal rather than financial, as she’s still benefitting from the work of others.’

‘Do you have hard evidence for this, Dr Kusanagi?’ Hammond asked.

She met his gaze unflinchingly. ‘Are you aware of the encryption programme Dr McKay designed when he was nineteen and working for the CIA?’

Hammond inclined his head. ‘I am aware, yes.’

‘Then have you ever asked why, when most of the US alphabet and government agencies use it, the SGC and Area 51 do not?’

‘Scuse me,’ Jack interrupted, raising a hand. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Hammond glanced at Jack, then focussed on McKay. ‘Doctor, if you would?’

McKay shuffled in his seat and glanced down. It was clear to Jack he didn’t want to speak about whatever it was. Finally, still staring down at the table, he cleared his throat. ‘As Miko said, I designed a computer programme to not only encrypt information held and moved around on a single computer but also to check the network to search for any similar information packages within that network – if any of the information had been copied and saved, or sent elsewhere, this programme would find it, who sent it, where to, and when. It was designed as a means to search out, or prevent, political and industrial espionage.’

He lifted his head and focussed on Jack. ‘I won’t bore you with the mechanics of it, but, as Miko said, it’s still being used today by almost every US and Canadian government office, agency, and division, be they military, social, political…’ He shrugged his shoulders and looked down again, a slight flush rising on his cheeks.

He’s totally embarrassed about his…success? Jack told himself. This is completely at odds with the brash, sexist lout I knew before – or rather, I didn’t know him at all! He didn’t even need the money from the Stargate Programme because this encryption programme has to have made him one of the richest men on the planet. Unless…

He held up a hand and waved it to catch Hammond’s attention. ‘Scuse me, again, sir. I have a question.’

Hammond inclined his head, although McKay was still looking down at the table.

‘If this programme is so valuable, why haven’t I ever, A, heard about it before, or B, heard who designed it?’

This last question brought McKay’s head snapping up so fast it must have hurt him.

‘I…’ the general began. ‘I have no idea of the answers to either of those questions,’ he finished, his brows furrowed. ‘Dr McKay?’

And there it is again; that shuffle of unease or discomfort.

‘I…’ McKay cleared his throat again. ‘I asked…After a few years I asked that my name not be associated with the programme any longer as I was uncomfortable with the attention it brought me.’ His head remained up, but he couldn’t focus on anyone or anything, instead, glancing around the room, his discomfiture evident.

This is not the man I thought I knew.

‘As to why the Colonel hasn’t heard of the programme, I couldn’t say,’ McKay finished.

‘Returning to my previous question,’ Kusanagi said into the silence which followed McKay’s answer – and Jack didn’t miss the way her hand briefly covered his – ‘General Hammond. Have you ever questioned why the SGC and Area 51 do not use the McKay Encryption Package?’

‘No, ma’am, I have not,’ Hammond answered grimly. ‘But I do wonder now!’

The look Kusanagi gave him was not quite the approving expression of a satisfied teacher to a pupil, but it was close, Jack decided.

‘Someone or someones in DC refused to have it installed at Area 51 on the grounds it would slow their computers, and thus their researchers, since much of their work is copied and distributed around the base,’ Kusanagi explained. ‘Before the SGC even began its regular use of the Stargate, they also argued it, too, should be exempt.

‘There’s no rational reason for both places to be exempt, even if the argument for Area 51 being exempt was true, which I sincerely doubt. What it does is mask the number of projects Samantha Carter has stolen from other scientists to allow herself, or, perhaps, other people she selected, to claim the credit for. I’d be very interested in seeing a list of the recipients of the work ‘transferred’ from Area 51.’

By now General Hammond’s eyes were narrowed so much his eyes were almost obscured. ‘Why was I never told about this?’ he demanded in icy tones, glancing around the table.

‘I couldn’t say,’ Kusanagi answered coolly, shrugging her shoulders. ‘I wasn’t initially aware you didn’t know why the encryption programme wasn’t in use here.’ She let her sentence fade away and sat back in her chair.

Somewhat reluctantly, Jack held up his hand. ‘Ah, sir?’ Hammond turned to look at him and raised his eyebrows. ‘I, ah, I have a list of the work removed from Area 51, which Dr McKay sent me a few weeks ago.’

Hammond stared at him for a long moment, his face expressionless, and Jack squirmed in his seat. ‘Why did you not bring it to my immediate attention, Colonel?’

Because I didn’t want to believe that of Carter, but I can’t…The hell I can! The hell I will! Jack cleared his throat. ‘I didn’t want to believe Major Carter was capable of such a thing, sir.’

Hammond sat back in his seat, and Jack noticed his posture was ever so slightly more relaxed from two minutes ago. McKay, however…His gaze was fixed on the table and his shoulders were hunched, clear signs of his discomfort. I never knew him at all. Did I listen too much to Carter or…what?

George Hammond stood and walked to the window overlooking the gate room. The gate had dialled a few minutes previously and an SG team was returning from off-world. Jack knew it was SG-10 as Daniel had gone off-world with them, along with Drs Corrigan and Warner, to investigate some ruins possibly linked to the Gate Builders. Jack already knew the mission would be a bust, but hadn’t wanted to spoil Daniel’s excitement.

‘Dr McKay,’ Hammond said, still gazing out of the window. ‘You may go ahead with plans to bring a DHD back to the mountain, but it mustn’t be from a planet where the gate is in use. Go through old mission reports and try to find one on a deserted planet.’

‘We…ahh…that might not be necessary, General,’ McKay said. ‘If you recall, when Colonel Maybourne was using the Beta Gate to steal off-world technology, they had a DHD. The Beta Gate is now here, but not the DHD. If we can find it, there’ll be no need to scavenge one from another planet, although I suggest if we find one that isn’t being used, we grab it as a spare.’

Both the general and Jack frowned at this information.

‘I’d forgotten about the NID using one,’ Jack said, wondering why no one had ever mentioned this before. ‘Has anyone searched for it at Area 51?’

‘I looked for it before we brought the Beta Gate to replace the original one after SG-1 beamed it out to use aboard an Asgard ship,’ Rodney admitted. ‘While the Gate itself was well guarded, there was no sign of the DHD.’

‘If I remember correctly,’ Jack said, slowly, ‘when the NID took the Beta Gate to Utah and we found them with the Touchstone from Medrona, the DHD was in the back of a truck. Daniel jumped into it to try to catch the gate address, or at least some of the symbols, but wasn’t fast enough. We initially brought the gate here, then had it moved back to Area 51 under 24hour guard, but I don’t remember what happened to the DHD.’

‘So it could still be somewhere at Area 51?’ asked Hammond, then turned back to McKay. ‘Have Area 51 searched thoroughly, but go ahead with making a list of available DHDs off-world as well.’

‘And bringing it back here?’ McKay asked, lifting his head to regard Hammond. ‘I think one of us’ – he motioned between himself and Kusanagi – ‘should be on the retrieval team.’

‘I agree, but you’ll need to qualify with a hand-gun at minimum before going off-world.’

‘That’s no problem. I’ve already passed the USMC basic Marksmanship course at Nevada.’

Jack swung around to gaze at him, narrowing his eyes. Could he do that last time? I wasn’t aware of it. In fact, I recall Lorne complaining about McKay on the first off-world mission he went on with AT:1. Why is it different now?

‘You’ll need to pass the course here in the Mountain, but it shouldn’t be a problem for you.’ Hammond gazed at Kusanagi. ‘What about you, Doctor?’

‘My father taught me to shoot at the same time as he taught my brothers,’ she answered. ‘I shouldn’t have any problems.’

‘Good. Let me or Colonel O’Neill know when you’ve passed your test and you’ve picked a list of planets. You’ll likely need more than one. Dismissed.’

Jack watched as the two scientists collected their equipment together and left the room, talking in an undertone to each other. ‘Sir?’

‘This is a mess, Jack. A f*cking mess!’

General Hammond swore! A bad swear! I don’t ever recall him using the f-word before.

Hammond looked around the room and stepped closer to Jack. ‘I’m assuming this is entirely new to you?’ he asked quietly. ‘You said nothing about such a thing happening before.’

‘It’s all totally new, sir. And I have to say, totally unexpected, except…’

‘Except?’

Jack huffed. ‘There were always complaints coming out of Area 51. McKay once called them the red-haired-step-children, but at the time I assumed it was just sour-grapes. All the most important projects have always been kept here. Now, though…’

‘Now it looks as though there’s a great amount of truth to it.’ General Hammond rubbed his hands over his head and sighed. ‘I wanted to retire, you know. Just one last appointment to a project which was winding down, to see me into retirement.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I need a drink, so let’s take this to my office. I have a bottle of whisky that’s calling out to me.’

*****

Jack was deep in uncharted country. He’d always thought he’d had a good relationship with George Hammond, but he’d never known the man kept a bottle of single malt in a locked filing cabinet, along with two crystal glasses. For the first time in…almost twenty years? Twenty. Years? f*ck! he was having a drink with his CO in his office. He has two glasses. Who does he usually drink with?

‘What are we going to do about Major Carter, then, Jack? Can we trust her? Can we afford not to trust her?’

Sipping the heavily peated whisky, Jack allowed the liquid to pool on the back of his tongue, savouring the taste while he considered the problem before them. ‘Samantha Carter is a brilliant woman, there’s no doubt about that, but within the Stargate Programme, which is full of brilliant people, she’s not particularly remarkable.’

He held up his hand as Hammond opened his mouth to object. ‘No, sir. Hear me out, please. She’s come up with many, many last minute Hail Marys and has saved both SG-1 and the planet more times than I can count. But knowing what I now know about the future, she’s done nothing that a few other scientists have also done, particularly Rodney McKay in the future. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a mix of her knowledge and experience, and sheer good luck which has made her so successful, and that, given the same opportunities, other scientists could do exactly the same, and, indeed, do, do exactly the same.’

‘So it’s her circ*mstances which have made her appear so remarkable?’ Hammond asked, topping up his glass and holding the bottle up at Jack.

Jack nodded and held out his tumbler for a refill. ‘Yes, largely, I’d say. She…I…’

‘Spit it out, Jack.’

‘All of Carter’s promotions are – or will be – below the zone. In some cases significantly below.’ He glanced up to find the general watching him carefully.

‘Go on.’

‘I…I just never thought about how her promotions went through so easily.’ He took another sip of his whisky. ‘On paper, Carter wouldn’t be seen as an extraordinary candidate as she’s done no training since her PhD. In fact, Daniel asked me about this recently. I know it’s difficult to hold a proper board regarding SGC promotions, but given what I now know, has this business with McKay’s programme not being used here or at Area 51 played into that somehow? Has no one ever asked why it’s never been used here or at Area 51?’

‘I…’ Hammond rubbed his face again. ‘I’m lost for words. Do you think she’s been instrumental in keeping the programme out to hide her management – or mismanagement – of other scientists’ projects, as Dr Kusanagi suspects?

‘I think so.’ Jack sat forward and rested his glass on the desk. ‘When you think SG-1 were going on two or three missions a week in 1998/99, it doesn’t give a lot of time for her to spend on pure science, not with her other military duties, and the lecturing she does at the Academy. I can’t understand how I never realised she couldn’t possibly be capable of regular off-world missions and a full scientific programme.’

‘Don’t blame yourself, Jack. I didn’t see it either.’ Hammond steepled his fingers. ‘The question is, what to do, now we know?’

‘Hell if I know,’ Jack muttered, wondering how his life had got so complicated. I didn’t ask to be sent back in time, although given a choice between the Wraith and time travel, I may have, but…’We can’t afford not to trust her, but how can we trust her knowing all this?’ He waved a hand in the air. ‘She’s far too valuable to the programme to get rid of her, and she knows far too much.’ Resting his elbows on his thighs, he rubbed his temples.

‘I’m assuming that a possible relationship between the two of you is now off the cards?’ Hammond viewed him with his brow furrowed.

Jack glanced up at his CO. ‘I…Huh.’ I hadn’t joined them dots. ‘I guess it is, sir, although…Sir, you’ve had some experience of time travel. I’d ruled out being sent to an evil-mirror-universe, but now…’

‘Jack?’

‘There are certain…anomalies.’

‘For instance?’

‘For instance, in the other timeline I’m certain McKay didn’t know how to fire a weapon. There was a specific mission report which mentioned his ineptitude with a handgun, and I’m also pretty certain he wasn’t CSO of Area 51.’

‘Then who was?’

Jack shifted in his seat. ‘That’s the problem. I can’t remember. I’m not sure I ever did know.’

‘So it’s possible that he was, and you were simply unaware. I did some research myself on Dr McKay when you first mentioned bringing him here, and he’s an honest-to-goodness genius with an IQ of over 200. In comparison, Major Carter’s IQ was tested at the Air Force Academy at a level of 168, which is still significantly above the norm, but isn’t even close to McKay’s. An IQ such as his coupled with his technical knowledge and experience makes him an obvious choice as CSO of any facility in which he worked.’

Jack frowned at that, but Hammond gave him a wry smile.

‘His encryption programme really was revolutionary, Jack, and was the first of its kind, although I believe IBM had something similar. Theirs, however, was tethered to their own brand and not generally available, whereas Dr McKay’s was. It never crossed my mind to ask why we didn’t use it here, and I’m now kicking myself that I didn’t. I suspect if we asked that question, we’d find someone in DC who kept it from being installed both here and at Area 51, as Dr Kusanagi suspects.’ Hammond paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, and Jack watched him warily, wondering what else was going to come and kick him in the nuts. ‘I have to wonder, now, if Major Carter was involved in the decision not to install it here,’ Hammond finished.

‘If I hadn’t gone to Area 51 with Danny, we may never have known about any of this.’ Jack gave a wry laugh, then scrubbed his face with his hands. ‘I’m not sure if I’m pissed or relieved we do now know. Either way, we have to deal with what’s in front of us.’ He drained his glass of the remaining whisky and shook his head as Hammond held up the bottle with a raised eyebrow. ‘No, sir. I need a clear head to work out what to do now. It’s…There’s…We can’t risk Carter becoming disaffected and agreeing to work with the NID or the Trust.’

‘The Trust?’

‘Ah, crap! I didn’t mean to mention them yet.’ Jack sighed, giving himself a mental head slap. Too much info too early might be a problem. I can’t risk them going underground. He took a deep breath. ‘By the end of the year we’ll learn the NID is relatively clean, but a new player will emerge having swept up various former-NID folk. I don’t want to give too much information, but the new group will have ties to big business and are after purely financial or personal gain. Adrian Conrad, the guy who had Carter kidnapped last year, is a part of it, as is Kinsey – or he will be shortly. We can’t risk Carter throwing in her lot with them, because while she’s maybe not as smart as McKay, she is brilliant, and her ideas have and will save this planet numerous times.

‘I’d already considered moving her to a new gate team so she wouldn’t be under my direct command – and yes, I’m aware she’d still be under my command within the SGC. Danny pointed that out to me. But I also wanted to give some other scientists an opportunity to go off-world, particularly McKay, and I’d rather have him on SG-1 in place of Carter.’

‘And you think a new team will be sufficient to keep her here and away from any…outside temptation?’ Hammond raised his eyebrows. ‘I doubt it very much, but you go ahead if you wish. Where did you want to put her? And you also mentioned bringing in someone else who’ll be important to the programme in the future. What about him? Will you also want him on SG-1?’

‘I thought about Carter leading a scientific team, for a while at least,’ Jack explained. ‘And I want to bring in a Captain Sheppard, a pilot in the big Air Force. I think he’s in Iraq at this point. He’s special ops.’

‘Why him in particular?’

Jack hesitated. ‘It’s way more than this, but he has a rare gene which will become important to the programme, vital even, and he’s also going to disobey his CO’s orders in the next year or so to rescue some of his men. It was a stupid order, and Sheppard should never have been punished for it. He’s a brilliant pilot, probably the best I’ve ever come across, but his career never recovered from the black mark he got, even though he did the right thing.’

‘Sounds a lot like you, Jack. I’m guessing his CO isn’t as long-suffering as me.’ Hammond regarded him, a tolerant smile playing on his face.

Jack jerked back. ‘I…Huh. I hadn’t recognised the similarities between us, but it’s obvious now you’ve pointed it out. It makes getting him to the SGC even more urgent.’

‘He’s that important?’

‘He’s critical to the protection of this planet, and if we can send…If we give him experience of the programme, he’ll be an obvious candidate for future…stuff.’ Saying what I want to say without saying anything is hard!

‘Okay, then.’ Hammond nodded. ‘See about moving Carter to SG-6, and sort out getting a DHD with Doctors McKay and Kusanagi. Do you want me to look for Captain…Shepard? How do you spell that? I don’t want to get the wrong one.’

‘It’s two Ps, and I’ll look for him, if you don’t mind. Someone may notice if a two-star looks for a captain with no ties to the programme.’

‘Then you have a go at looking for Captain Sheppard. With two Ps.’

The damn man is twinkling at me!