Stargate: SG-1
Title: One More Day
Author: Jeremy Scott
All rights reserved to their respective owners,
Entertain purposes only.

Chapter 1

    It was a typical day in the SGC. Major Sam Carter was in her lab working on an experiment in Naquadah, looking to find expanded uses for the mineral. Teal'c was in process of Kelnorim to allow his symbiote time to replenish the brave Jaffa warrior. Dr. Daniel Jackson as always was underneath a sea of papers trying to translate more languages and text from planets SG-1 had visited. However Colonel Jack O'Neill wasn't enjoying the time to himself. Instead he stood in the office of Major General George Hammond. The two of them in discussion about the next mission he wanted to send the team on.

    "Col, planet P4X-355 seems over run with Jaffa. The telemetry shows that they're after some sort of artifact not too far away from the Gate."

"Great, so we get to see old stuff and fight the Jaffa."

    "Col O'Neill, the Pentagon right now is in debate whether or not the Stargate program has caused more problems than it has solved and if it's worth the billions it takes to run this facility without the retrieval of anything."

    "That's not true sir, we've brought back plenty, diseases mostly. Teal'c, he came through the gate where we didn't have him before we left. And Zats sir; Zats are good."

    Gen. Hammond tried to keep a straight face, but he smiled slightly and
then regained his normal straight-forward composure. "Col I want you to go and assess the situation. If the Goa'uld want it, there's a problem."

    "Yes, sir. When's the full briefing?"

    "At 10:00. I'll expect SG-1 ready for a briefing."

    Jack stood to attention when he was dismissed and walked out casually. Going to each of his team he told them the full scoop he got and to be ready for the morning‘s activities. Each had their own set of questions, basically if they had any idea what sort of technology it could be. Jack's only answer was: `an alien glowy thingy.' Each accepted the answer that Jack didn't know and went  about their business.

    The next morning at 10:00 SG-1 was in the briefing room with new telemetry reports. Hammond had authorized a UAV scan to assess what it was that the Jaffa were interested in. They saw a large gun type weapon and a rather interesting control panel. The Jaffa had started to charge the gun and then a sudden burst of energy from a Staff weapon destroyed the UAV.

    "I don't need to tell you the ramifications we'd suffer if the Goa'uld got the chance to build on of those and came to Earth," Hammond started.

    Carter interjected, "It reminds me of the weapon we saw on planet 636 sir. Its construction is similar and if that's the case, it far in advance of anything the Goa'uld have and would give them that much more of an advantage."

    Jack spoke next, "That's correct sir. Carter's ascended boyfriend told her so."

    "Enough Col. If you're right Major Carter then it's imperative to do one of two things. Get the technology or destroy it so it doesn't fall into Goa'uld hands permanently."

    Daniel looked at some of the closer inscriptions. "And we probably better hurry…if I'm reading this right of course."

    "What is it Dr. Jackson?"

    "Well as I can't read the entire inscription I can't be for sure, but it seems this particular gun was built to be fired at the sun."

    "Daniel, that would destroy the planet," Carter shot back.

    "Yes…but maybe that was the point. I mean there are cultures out there that believe if they have to die, they'd rather do it taking the life of the enemy versus capture."

    "SG-1 you have a go. You leave in 30 minutes. Get your gear ready and report to the Gateroom."

    "Yes, sir," they all said.

    They all started to walk towards the armory and Daniel caught up with Teal'c.

    "Have you ever seen anything like that?"

    "Indeed I have not Daniel Jackson. The Goa'uld have nothing like it in their possession."

    "Well…yes, I knew that. But I was curious if they had ever run into tech like it before."

    "The Goa'uld have been to millions of worlds Daniel Jackson, it is always possible that they have "

    Daniel got an almost defeated look on his face as he decided that any other questions would likely be pointless, "Thanks Teal'c."

    "You are welcome Daniel Jackson."

    With the team geared and ready to go they got to the Gate room and prepared to disembark.

    "SG-1 stand by," they heard from the control room. They stood there and the chevron countdown commenced. Finally they heard "Chevron seven locked and engaged." A sudden ‘WHOOSH’ came and a brilliant ball of energy shot out from the Stargate. When it stabilized the team got onto the platform.

    "Good luck SG-1," said Hammond.

    They got to the other side of the gate and as soon as they hit the dirt the firefight started. Jaffa were firing left and right trying to kill them.

    "Dammit! Head to the trees and stay there!" O'Neill barked. He ran to south of the gate and started trying to identify where the cover fire was coming from. It seemed to be concentrated to the front of the gate and not an entire perimeter around it. He clicked
on his comm.: "Teal'c?"

    "Yes O'Neill, I am here."

    "I need you to swing to the East, I'm going to go around the other side to meet in the middle. Carter, Daniel, you give cover fire."

    They agreed and they started to follow their orders. Teal'c took off coming across the first wave of Jaffa. He saw the marks on their head that saw them to be Sokar's men. He raised his eyebrow in some amazement and started to fire his Zat into the crowd. Moving position slightly each time he fired so that he didn't give them an easy target to hit he cleared 3 of them and started to run further in.

O'Neill's run was just as strenuous. He too got a look at the Jaffa and they bore the mark of Apophis. He just shook his head.

"For crying out loud, does he ever STAY dead?" He said quietly to himself. He started to fire into them with his P-90 and they started to fire back, but the fast nature of his weapon vs. theStaff weapon was good enough to kill them all without a problem. However, the gunshots tipped of the other guards that they were in the area. Several others started to come into their range. O'Neill started to take off in a hurry as he and Teal'c finally met in the middle.

"This is not going well O'Neill."

"Gee, ya think? I personally thought that we might have the upper hand.”

"We do not O'Neill."

In a moments notice they heard a voice say `Jaffa, Kree!' and knew that they were about to get more company than they could handle. O'Neill gave coordinates to the team who met not too far from the gate. They stood there and watched the Jaffa investigate their last
position.

"Any suggestions people?" O'Neill asked looking at his team with a bit of wishful hope in his voice.

"We might try to sneak around to the weapon, if we blow it up it'll give them something to aim at while we run to the gate," Daniel said.

"Any other suggestions that doesn't involve blowing up that beautiful honkin' space gun people?"

"Daniel's right, sir. We haven't a clue how many Jaffa are on this planet, and we have no way to know if we'll be able to stop them. The device is under their control, and if they take it when we had a chance to stop it we could be responsible for the deaths of billions."

"Carter, is there some sort of moral compass that guides you or are you just trying to make my head hurt on purpose?"

"Sorry, sir. I just don't think that the device is worth the lives of the billions that will die by the Goa'uld's hands if we allow it to stand."

"I concur O'Neill, Major Carter speaks with wisdom."

"Crap, in all of the military outfits I end up with McCoy, Spock, and Scotty mixed between the three of you. Okay, fine, we blow it. We'd better cut around the woods. We've got about a 4 click hike going that way."

They started to get underway and after about 2 hours they get to the gun, which still looked to be charging. There were 4 Jaffa guarding it, and 2 that were behind the controls.

"We can take them Carter, we might be able to get that gun."

"Sir, just one word of caution, it only takes one to fire it."

"Would you be optimistic just once?"

"I am being optimistic Col. I just see this in terms of what might happen if we're not careful."

Jack shook his head and got his P-90 ready. He signaled the others he was going to go around the device and start the commotion and the rest were going to start firing at them as soon as they had their backs turned. He crept over to the other side of the gun and he
fired into them wounding one of the guards. The others turned and started to fire in his general direction. The others started to fire and before the last Jaffa fell he hit the control panel on the device. They ran to the device and Carter looked it over.

"Sir, as far as I can tell the Jaffa just locked the mechanism into place. It's going to fire and I don't think there's a think we can do to stop it."

"Are you going to try?"

"I'm going to give it my best, sir."

Sam worked with all she had to try and get the device to shut off. They stood there until they heard the clanking and clacking of Jaffa soldiers coming to the device.

"Sir, it's not going to work. Our best option is to run to the gate and activate it. The build up will fire but if we push it we'll make it to the gate just in time to race the beam to get home before it blows the sun from the sky."

Daniel read the glyphs and shook his head. "This device has some other purpose for the sun, but I don't know what it is. Someone scratched out the rest of the inscription, but the gist of it is that the hand of God would stretch out and sweep them away to a better place."

"Yes Daniel, the better place is probably their version of Heaven, and I don't think I want to follow, do you?"

"No…but then again it doesn't say heaven, it just says a better place."

"Yes Daniel, much like that place where the hamsters go when they die. Parents tell their kids that they went to a "better place." No thank you. I suggest we run the same way we came until it's cleared of Jaffa then go straight to the gate."

They took off again, this time picking up the pace. By luck they'd missed the Jaffa patrols, but the fates switched against them when they got to the DHD. Carter started to dial home when the remaining patrol caught back up with them.

"Sho'vah!" Yelled one of the Jaffa to Teal'c as he fired at him with his Staff Weapon. Teal'c ducked and rolled firing his Zat at the Jaffa. The Gate started to get bogged down with the fight and they knew they were going nowhere. Jack and Carter fired in widespread and the warriors hoping if nothing else to severely injure them enough to escape. Then the ground started to rumble.

"What the hell was that Carter?"

"I think it's the device sir, it's about to fire."

"Crap! SG-1 GET TO THE GATE NOW!!!"

They started slowly moving back when the air started to charge and a brilliant yellow beam fired towards the sun. Everyone looked up. Jack pushed his team and they started to run for the gate. The Jaffa started again to fire as the team finally jumped through the gate. In moments they all disappeared into the event horizon..

The Stargate brilliantly flashed forward and SG-1 was flung from it. Jack, following up the rear, was the last to appear and he looked up to see P4X-355.

"What the hell is this?" He asked in an almost shocked state. He looked around to find that there were no Jaffa, the tree line as beautiful as it was when they first appeared and the weapon still standing as proudly as when the photos were taken of it. Though Col. O'Neill wasn't the only one that felt a bit of confusion.

"Sir," Carter broke the silence, "we're back on 355."

"I noticed that Carter, any reason WHY we're back here and not in the Gateroom?"

"The beam from the gun must've affected the Stargate and flung us back here, or otherwise a planet just like it. But we dialed home, we should be there sir."

Daniel looked at the gun. "Well, maybe I can get a better look at the script on it…I mean if you wanna know what just happened."

"Yes, knowing. Knowing is good," Jack interceded.

The team moved toward the weapon, realizing that it's relative distance to the gate was the same as it was before. So if it were another planet this device was key to moving them back and forth farther in distance than ever they'd gone. They reached the weapon very cautiously making sure that there were no Jaffa around. They then made their way to the panels and Daniel started to read. He thumped his upper lip with his finger, looking to be in deep thought deciphering the symbols in front of him. Carter was examining the control panel while Jack and Teal'c stood watch. They stood there for an hour as Carter and Daniel did their work.

Finally Jack's impatience got the best of him. "Have you two found anything yet? I mean I'd like to believe that we're not…stuck here!"

"Good news is that the missing piece is here."

"Great! What did it do?"

"That's the bad news Jack, it's pretty vague."

"Damn aliens. We come all this way and they decide to be vague."

"What it says here is that when trouble is near the people will signal the sleeping Sun God who will catch them as they go towards him and deposit them elsewhere."
"Meaning…."

"Meaning that these people fire the beam into the sun, and go through the Stargate. From there they're deposited somewhere out of danger."

"Well, you coulda just said."

"That's it then," Carter's eyes gleamed with understanding. "The Gate didn't fling us to another world, it flung us through time."

Daniel looked over the glyphs and looked back to Carter. "Of course, it makes sense, they'd go where the attack wasn't and rebuild. But who built it in the first place?"

"Last time we ran into something like it we came across someone Ascended. He had built it and was banished to watch over the planet forever. Then eventually helped to destroy it."

"So it could be one of the Ascended."

"There's a distinct possibility, but the one that did it is probably out of favor with the rest."

Jack stepped in-between them. "Not to break up this little conference, but I don't care if it was built by Tonka. How does it work? I want to get home."

Carter started to tap on the panel looking for any indications on how it worked. Daniel helped her with the translations and he looked back up at O'Neill. "I don't think we're going anywhere Jack, at least not for awhile." "He's right sir, according to the diagnostic I've read we're going to need a power crystal. Now the good news is that there might be one on the planet, the bad news is that there's no way to tell if the harmonics of the crystal will work for our purposes."

"So what do we need then Carter?"

"Well sir, we're going to need to go to Earth and see if we can find a replacement source for this crystal."

"They don't have anything here that can do it? I mean we've never had to before."

"Before we were on a Goa'uld mothership or someplace that there was readied back ups. The problem sir is that I don't know when we are."

"Crap, so we have no way of knowing if we're going to get back to Earth, and even if we do we need to find a crystal with the ability to do what we need to with it."

"Essentially, sir. And then there's a matter of getting our hands on a calibrator to make sure. I'm going to see if the machine will calibrate it or not, but if it does we could run into some heavy problems."

"What's the worst case scenario if we don't get the calibrator?"

"Two separate scenarios sir. One is that the machine just doesn't work, that's what we'd hope for in this case. The other is possibly sending the sun into nova and wiping out the planet because the beam was too strong."

"That would suck."

"Yes sir."

"Now the next question is what kind of crystal do you need? I mean I'm going to assume that it's a common sort of crystal."

"Yes sir, I need a diamond, unprocessed at that. And hope it works."

"Carter, I don't know if you're aware of this, but raw diamonds aren't exactly easy to come across. I suggest that one of you goes and looks for it while another sees if we can figure out how to use this thing."

"Sir, we're going to try to find some. But even if we find something to fit, the deal is still down to calibration."

"So you need to stay here while two of us look for this machine. Which means Daniel and I go look for your gizmo while you and Teal'c stay here and get this thing off the ground."

Daniel raised his head a bit in agreement, his face wrought with utter lack of want to venture anywhere other than their current location. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what condition Earth is in right now."

Jack seeing the look just stared at the team. "Good, so let's go see if we're gonna have an SGC to talk to."

Daniel and Jack started their walk back to the gate, both keeping pretty quiet on the way there. Daniel walked up to the DHD and looked at it for a second. Jack stared at the gate and then back to Daniel when the flash of the Event Horizon didn't shoot towards them.

"Are we confused how to press buttons?"

"No, just wondering where we'll end up is all."

"We're not going to find out until you dial us home, now are we?" Daniel agreed with a slight nod and started to dial Earth. Soon the Event Horizon shot forward and the beautiful site of the shimmering pool stood before them.

"This is Col. Jack O'Neill to Gen. Hammond, come in." The radio stayed silent. "This is Col. Jack O'Neill to anyone at Stargate Command, please respond." He finally gave up and looked back at Daniel who at that point looked at the pool for the first time in a long time as a truly alien thing. "Well, looks like we go walking."

They stepped through the gate and got to the other side and slipped quickly on the ice in front of them. They ended up in a frozen cavern and Jack looked back and he just shook his head. "Aw crap. Again with Antarctica? Can this day get any worse?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact it can Jack…um…we have to dig out the DHD or otherwise get a power source capable of getting back to the planet, and that's after we cross the frozen wastes twice. Hopefully not freezing ourselves to death in either attempt."

"You know, I'm going to teach all of you to have an optimistic outlook on things. If it kills me, I will make you look at the bright side just once. But we'll talk about that more later, right now we need to climb outta here and back towards civilization."

"Whatever you say Jack."

The two put on some emergency wear, which consisted of a heavier shirt, and pair of climbing gloves. They then trekked around the crevasse until they came to a fisher that would allow them to escape. They looked into the frozen wastes of the Antarctic and looked at one another. Then started to move forward. Jack and Daniel huddled together as best they could, knowing that they had to find someway of getting warmer clothes or go back to the gate and attempt to dial out to the planet again. They were out in the cold a total of 20 minutes when they saw a group come towards them. A group of scientists setting up a station to watch the Aurora Borealis were hard at work in their temporary housings when Jack and Daniel stumbled in. The leader of the group was a tall, dark, and very beautiful woman. She stared the two of them down.

"Who are you?" She snapped out looking at the two intruders.

"My name is…Donovan, Dean Donovan. And this is Willy." Jack replied.

"What are you doing here Mr. Donovan?"

"Well, that's long and complicated. But suffice to ask, do you have a way out of here back to the States?"

"You tell me your story, and I might consider it." Jack smiled and looked at Daniel.

"We were on an expedition to the pole and our team abandoned us up here. It was horrible. They took most of our clothes and everything."

"Oh my God, are you two okay?"

"Well, no…not really. I mean we're up here and we've got all sorts of problems, we don't even know how long we've been stuck up here."

"Well if it helps, it's March 13th."

"That's good, March 13th. We've only been missing…2 days."

"It's a miracle you two survived."

"We hugged…a lot."

She stared at the both of them, looking like she wanted to laugh. She managed to suppress the urge and she told them to wait there while she talked to her colleagues. She allowed them to take a seat and they looked at one another wrapped in a thermal blanket, drinking nice hot chocolate. Daniel looked around the place and saw the calendar and then to Jack who was more caught up in looking at some of the different pieces of equipment.

"We're not too far away from our own time." O'Neill looked up at the calendar.

"1995, it's just a little over a year until the first Stargate mission. Which means that we're lucky we dialed the beta gate instead, and it also means if Carter looks to get in touch with us we're in deep trouble."

"Why's that?"

"Well, as I recall, you had to translate the coverstones to get it to work in the first place? I imagine a whirling vortex of energy shooting out is going to make them a bit on the suspicious side."

"Possibly, but how do we know that that's not the reason they started to really give the gate credence to be worked with more heavily?  I mean if it is that the gate activated and they saw the magnitude and power of it, it might've given them reason to call me and the Air Force the need to call you."

"Yeah…well…I could be right ya know?"

"Yes, you could be. But we have to think that there's a possibility that because we are here now, that this might've all happened before. Which means it could be the reason why our careers took such a drastic turn."
"Meaning that you think because we're here that somehow they know to choose us from the line up of several that could go."

"It's a distinct possibility. I mean I know why I got chosen, but it could be because we did something to effect the changes."

"Daniel, would you shut up? My head hurts, and since we don't have a Delorean and Michael J. Fox to try and work this out we're going to have to just play it by ear. No over analyzing it."

The two remained silent and Jack went into deep thought. He looked at his feet and his mind went straight to his son Charlie. He could get a chance to see his son just once more before the accident that would take him away forever. He then started to give thought to what Daniel had said about changing the past for the sake of the future. He wondered if they truly did affect the time stream to get themselves the position in the Stargate program. If that were the case, he continued to think, would saving his son make much of a difference? He looked back at Daniel and sat there pondering to himself just how much he wanted his son back, and how much different his life would be. Before long the scientist that talked with them walked in.

She smiled heavily at them. "Well Mr. Donovan, you've got a ride to the States. We'll take you to an airstrip and you can head out from there. Your ride leaves to California in an hour, better hurry."

"Thanks, Ms…"

"Dr. Wiseman. Dr. Jane Wiseman to be exact."

"We'll remember you."

"Thank you, I hope you do." The two ran out of the tent and went straight to a snow shuttle. Dr. Wiseman watched the two go out of earshot and she picked up a radio.

 "Dr. Wiseman to Col. Mayborne."

"Mayborne here."

"I'm sending you a couple of people. They came straight out of the area we picked up the seismic activity at."

"Very good Dr., we'll make sure they have a lovely stay, courtesy of the NID."

Teal'c and Carter moved through the wooded areas looking for any signs of caves. Carter wanted to find the caves badly enough, but moreover she wanted to find food and water. The supplies were likely to dwindle, and not knowing when Col. O'Neill and Daniel would be back made it that much more imperative. Teal'c took everything in his stride. He searched high and wide for the caves and for other rations he knew they'd need. His eyes ever remained sharp for any sort of animal life that could lead them to sources of food and water. The walk was long and very tedious looking for something they may or may not find. In a moments notice Teal'c stopped and was very still.

"Teal'c? What's wrong?" Carter asked.

"There is something watching us."

Her voice lowered very quickly, "Do you know where it's at?"

"I do not. It's now been alerted to our presence. We must make haste Major Carter."

The two of them started to walk quickly and decisively, Carter didn't like the idea of being stalked, although she knew that no one ever really does. In a moments notice, even at their quickened pace Teal'c pushed Carter to the ground and raised his Staff Weapon. There they saw a man standing over them with his hands raised and a frightened look upon his face.

"Please, don't harm me!!! I was merely trying to see who you were!" He started to cry.

"It's alright Teal'c, I'm Major Samantha Carter United States Air Force, this is Teal'c."

"I am Morana, I am of the Can'al."

"The Can'al? You are but legend."

"We are more than just legend friend, we are truly real."

"Can you explain that one to me Teal'c?"

"The race was a group of scientists, their ways made a huge civilization, which destroyed all of the plant life. Eventually it looked to be a danger to them so legend tells they constructed a device that would allow them to undo their mistakes. Many claimed that the Can'al died while reverting their planet back to beauty, others state that the were taken elsewhere to pay for the sins of their arrogance."

"We merely returned the planet back to nature and started to work with nature for our advances."

"Bottom line here is that you created a time machine of sorts to go back and stop your eventual destruction."

"Yes, but let us go and talk about this at our village. It is but a couple of miles by your reckoning."

"You know of Earth culture then?"

"We do, we have studied Terrans many of time."

Teal'c looked at Major Carter and raised an eyebrow. She gave him a look of some unease, but it seemed as if their choices were limited. So they again started to walk and this time to the village. Though there were a lot of questions on Carter's mind.

"So what did Apophis know of these Can'al?"

"He too knew of the legends. It was one of many planets he wanted to conquer. We never found it however."

 "Why not?"

"Such gate coordinates were not in Apophis' knowledge. The Goa'uld never visited this planet before, or at least none that ever came back. The Can'al possessed such advancements in their weaponry that it would make any Goa'uld powerful to have it in his cache."

Morana turned around. "It would have done Apophis little good to have found the weapon, it never would've operated for him."

"But it did for other Jaffa."

"What? How were they able to work the device?"

"Not to put too fine a point on this, but it wasn't the most complex piece of machinery I've ever witnessed. The control panel to it was relatively simple to figure out, especially since the language is based on an Earth dialect."

"We'd never considered that before. Did you stop these Jaffa from using the device?"

"No, we however escaped through the Stargate about the time the beam hit the sun."

"I see our ruse did little good."

"Ruse?"

"Yes, we placed down in the writings on the device that the Sun God would carry his children to a safe place and exact revenge upon their enemies."

"We understood it as far as the traveling to the Sun God, but that's about as far as it went."

 "What time are you from?"

 "We are from the year 2001."

"The future, it makes sense now. You followed our people here. There must've enough density in the crystal for one more flare. Albeit we have been here for 2 years now."

"The Jaffa could never find you this way, when attack is imminent you travel through time to escape them."

"How do you know when you'll end up? I mean you could throw yourself to the end of the universe."

"We control the solar bursts. A light to medium strength beam to put us at least 200 years in either direction of the time stream is safe enough."

 "A heavy beam is too erratic and would end up with another problem on top of that wouldn't it? The crystal would shatter and the beam would be entirely too strong. It would supernova the sun."

"Correct Major Carter. While we have planned contingencies for that, there are malfunctions to consider, and even tampering."

 "I assume you mean tampering from the inside."

 "If you mean my people, then yes."

A silence came over the three of them. Teal'c and Carter knew in their minds that if there was a threat of tampering from within that their safety could be in jeopardy. Again, that was nothing new to the two of them. However, since Col. O'Neill and Daniel were somewhere on Earth, they were all they had.

They arrived at the village and several people dressed in similar robes to Morana came walking up. Carter looked them over and all of them had a weird smile on their faces, almost like they expected to see them.

"Welcome to Can'al, I am Tor'ena leader of our people."

 "This is Major Samantha Carter and Teal'c, they come here from Terra."

"Terra? Interesting. But surely your Jaffa companion didn't originate their."

"Indeed I did not. I come from Chulak, and was First Prime to the dead false god, Apophis."

"Truly remarkable. Come and enjoy our hospitality, we have much to talk about."

"Actually, as much as it might interest us in doing so, we need to get back to the device. Two of our friends are on Earth trying to find a replacement crystal for the burnt out one so we can go back to our own time."

"You are not of this era?"

"We are not. We discovered the Jaffa on your world and it was abandoned of human life, they fired your time device we barely escaped through the Chaappa'ai."

"You're angry my friend, please calm yourself, we are no enemies."

"I am not angry, I am however in need of Kelnorim. Major Carter is in need of food and water. And our group collectively is in need of a crystal capable of sending us back home. We would appreciate your cooperation in this matter."

"You speak your mind Jaffa, I like that."

"Then allow me to speak it once more, the time to move is now. As soon as we have the materials necessary to the task we need to find our friends and then return ourselves to where we belong."

 Carter raised her voice to match Teal'c's. "What year is this by your reckoning?"

"This is the year 1995, by your reckoning Major Carter."

Carter nodded her head slowly. "If we could get those supplies we'd be grateful. Then when Col. O'Neill gets back we'd be more than glad to talk to him about our future trade."

"Thank you Major. We will get these things for you, but as to the crystal. We can send you to a place to get one."

"Thank you Tor'ena, we appreciate your understanding."

"Of course. We always like to help fellow travelers." Over the next hour the Can'al had food and lots of water brought to Carter and Teal'c. Both graciously accepted it as they looked over a map handed to them. They saw such names as `Lake of Harmony' and `Forest of Enlightenment.' The caves they looked for weren't too far from where they were, however it was a call of getting there and back before the rest of the team showed back up.

The two SG-1 members looked at each. Carter's face was less that thrilled with everything, a gut instinct that something was wrong, and Teal'c's stone face was as hard as ever. After they'd given themselves a bit of a chance to recuperate they made their thanks and started for the caves. Tor'ena walked up to Morana.

"Do you trust them?"

"I trust no one that is not Can'al."

"Why did you allow me to send them to the caves?"

"Because they won't expect us to attack. They think us to be mere meager scientists."

"HA HA HA!!! Then they are fools." The two laughed and plotted, but in the back a woman listened closely to the conversation.

Her sad and drawn face only seemed to become longer when she heard them. She and a few others of the Can'al believed that the people could be great, and though they were assured that there were good and just people amongst them, the leaders were less then scrupulous. Her name was Tal'nia; she was the daughter of the inventor that created the Time Dialer. She looked at her people and she knew that her father's invention could be perverted and these men were likely to be the start of the cancer. If they were to get any pertinent information from these strangers then they could likely start a conquest of planets. Since taking power they'd gained so much knowledge of Terra to begin with since their findings of old archives throughout time. But with these two here, what could they learn? And would it lead them to being worse that the Goa'uld. Tal'nia thought to herself for a moment. She knew what had to be done. She had to go and stop whatever harm was going to befall these two, and get them home before they were killed.

"I know you not strangers, but your very lives are not only in great danger. Your world's life hangs with it."

Jack and Daniel were escorted into Washington D.C. after the plane had landed; this was a little less than comfortable for either of them. Daniel frequently had a concerned look on his face, but said not a word to anyone during their flight back from the airstrip near Antarctica. Jack on the other hand was busy thinking on other matters. Right now an opportunity presented itself. He knew that he could go and save his son before the tragic accident that took his life. He wanted to go and spend time with his son, and if that were impossible at least leave a note that would tell himself not to leave the gun where Charlie could get his hands on it. When their plane first landed everything was okay. Jack politely told them that they appreciated it and they'd get where they needed to be, only to find that 2 men with guns decided that they needed to go for a ride. Of course Daniel and O'Neill agreed to this reluctantly.

Jack's only words to the matter: "So much for the milk of human kindness." The car ride was equally as quiet, but in the last few moment Jack knew where he was going and looked at Daniel. Daniel stared back and Jack with a questioning look on his face.

"So what does the NID want with us? I distinctly remember paying my tab at the bar before I went to the Antarctic."

"Shut up!"

"You know…we're not resisting here. And I don't think you could shoot us right now either. Your boss would be pretty mad." Daniel interjected.

"The two of you are in serious trouble. Col. Mayborne wants you two in irons and I plan on delivering you, but I never promised alive."

"You know what's good for agitation? Sleep!" Jack hit the guard with the gun square in the jaw with his elbow. The car now was careening out of control, but Jack soon took it over and started to regain it. Daniel hit his guard with some force, but not enough to do the same job O'Neill had done.

"Dammit Daniel, would you clock him already? He's got a gun!" Daniel head butted him in the nose and after a bone-curdling crack the guard slumped in his seat. He then took the key to the cuffs he was wearing out of the pocket of the agent and unlocked himself. Doing the same for Jack they soon pulled over in a bad neighborhood and dropped off their captors after wiping them clean of all their weapons and equipment, and then took off again in their car.

"Well this wasn't the good time I was hoping for."

"Jack, shut up please. This has got to be the worst day we've ever had. And I have a headache from hitting that guy."

"Talk to me about bad days when you're on an Asgard ship full of Replicators about to slam into the planet pal."

"What I'm saying is I'd rather be in the SGC, eating the food in the cafeteria, and listening to Sam talk about her breakthroughs in Naquadah enhanced generators."

"We'll make it back home soon, we just need to find this unprocessed diamond. Now the question is where do we find an unprocessed diamond?"

"We could go to any science museum and try their first."

"Rob a museum?"

"No, we just explain to them that we need the diamond and offer them some money for it."

"Rob a museum?"

"Jack, it's not robbery, I have 60 dollars in my pocket right now, and I know you have a few on you."

"Not the poker winnings, I'm keeping it for posterity, Makepeace lost to me on a pair of 2's."

"C'mon, we're going to need the diamond and the calibrator. A museum is likely to have both."

"Or we could buy a calibrator, couldn't we?"

"Where do you suggest we buy a calibrator?"

"Radio Shack?"

"Serious conversations and you, I can't seem to ever put that in the same sentence unless something terrible has happened."

"Daniel, first off I don't want to be in Washington. This isn't a good place for us, considering our time traveling, and regular exploits in this town. Secondly, right now I imagine a calibrator is a calibrator. I don't know, but an electronics store is the first place I'd look, and if not there, possibly we could go to a museum and asked where they got theirs. But we'd better do all this quick. We still have a long way to go to get back to the Antarctic to get through the gate. And if possible I'd like to screw up the NID's little operation up there before we did. But we're going to have to find some vehicle to do it with, because this one's likely to be followed if we keep it too much longer."

"Thank you. Was that so hard?"

"Not really, but it's a matter of want. Now if you insist upon a museum I know one we could go to that might have just what we want. It's a matter of getting a plane or car to get there."

"Since that was bound to come up, where do you plan on getting one?"

"I don't have a clue, but I've got part of my paycheck with me, so we might get a used one pretty easily."

"Well that being the case don't you think a plane would be easier?"

"Shut up."
Daniel smiled knowing that he'd nailed Jack. He sat back while O'Neill took the first exit out of town and into anything that looked like the country. After wiping down the vehicle they pushed into a ditch and started their walk back to D.C. It wasn't the first choice for either of them to go back there, even for the airport, but it seemed that there wasn't too much in the way of options either.

They walked for 3 hours to get to the airport. Jack kept his eye out for anyone NID, and even took the regard to change into something a bit more civilian when they came across some clothes hung out on a line to dry. Daniel raised his eyebrows at the choices Jack had grabbed, it made them look a little like lumberjacks.

 "Don't worry, I saw this on Star Trek once."

 "Yes, and as I recall in that episode they were caught by a policeman."

"Optimistic Daniel, optimistic!"

"Right…"

They finally made it to the airport. Jack looked around and sure enough the place was crawling with NID agents. "Aw Crap. I shoulda known to take Greyhound."

"What are we going to do now? We try to board a plane we're going to get made."

"We're going to have to find someway of getting to Minnesota, we're out of options other than a plane. The drive would take us hours to do, and we've both had little time to sleep. So we're going to have to risk this one."

"Whatever you say Jack."

They started walking casually through the airport. Daniel's heart raced every time they came near an agent. He gasped just slightly knowing that getting caught was merely a hand's grip away. Jack made it up to the ticket booth and looked into a smiling lady's face.

"What are you're prices for two tickets to Minnesota?"

"Um…do you really want to argue the point of price?"

"I'm a bargain shopper, so shut up."

"We don't have anything for Minnesota at the moment, sir, but there are a couple of last minute cancellations to Minnesota with another airline. If you hurry they can get you there. It's only 60 per person."

"Hey that works for me. Let's go Danny, no time to waste."
Jack grabbed Daniel and started to walk fast. He could see two NID agents looking around the terminal, and then the two that were driving them to HQ showed up. One had a bandaged nose, the other a purple jaw.

"Looks like Barney showed up, c'mon Daniel, the less time we waste the better off we are."

"So Replicators did you say? Is this still not as bad as that time?"

"Fireball speeding down with a ship full of self-replicating bugs vs. outwitting the NID…hmm…nope this is still better."

 Daniel shook his head keeping pace with the Colonel. They made it across the terminal and they made it to the desk. In no time their seats were booked and the NID agents made their mark. The two agents that were chasing them started to pound the floor hard and Daniel was about in shock. He knew that in no time the NID would be trying to figure out who they were really, and what they were trying to accomplish in the Antarctic. Jack looked and saw a security guard. He ran to him and quickly, with Daniel in tow.

"Hey, Mr. Officer."

 "May I help you?"

 "You sure can, you see those two coming running at us? They've got fake badges and are carrying guns. They were trying to talk people into going with them earlier. You might wanna stop `em before they do kidnap someone."

"YOU TWO STOP RIGHT THERE!!!" The security guard yelled, running towards them with gun drawn. Even as the two started to pull their badges he insisted on telling them to hit the floor and radioed for back up. Jack smiled and waved to the two of them even when other NID operatives came to try and stop two of their own from being arrested.

"Plane's about to leave Jack, we'd better be on it."

"Daniel my boy, that's the best sense I've heard all day." The two of them got on the plane and it pulled out. Jack and Daniel found a couple of vacant seats close to one another and started to write and pass notes. Found it might be simpler than telling everyone their plans.

"Why Minnesota?" Daniel wrote.

"Because I know the area, and we might be able to get the supplies from a museum I know."

"Well, that's a good thing I will admit, but isn't that where your wife and son live?"
"Yes, and I'm busy doing other things so I can't possibly run into myself."

"Jack, what are you planning?"

"Nothing, I'm merely wanting to get the stuff and go."

Daniel looked across to Jack and gave him a look of disbelief. Jack's looked back and the expression in his eyes gave a definite `What?' To that Daniel wrote back to him.

"You're wanting to go and see your son, aren't you?"

 "So what if I am? It's one of the last chances that I'll have ever to see him."

"Jack, there's all sorts of reasons I can give you not to do this."

"And I'm not interested in hearing one of them, so I suppose that stops it."

Daniel threw down his pen and looked at Jack whispering. "It's irresponsible Jack, you could screw things up. I mean already we've done a good job of making a mess of things. We're just lucky they don't have a record of what we look like other than the human brain."

"Daniel, I'm gonna get some rest. When I wake up, I'm going to pretend that you're not lecturing me. And I want to look into reality to find I'm right. I'm going to go and see him. I want to. I have a right to as his father."

 "I didn't say you didn't have rights as a father, but there are some temptations too great, and it risks making a mess out of what we know to be history."

"Go to sleep Daniel, the discussion is over. Period."

Daniel sat back in his chair, disgusted that his words were tossed aside like so much trash. He thought to himself how much he wished that Sam and Teal'c were here to voice their reasons to him. Though Teal'c understood the need for a father to see his son, he also knew that there was a delicate balance to be held. Daniel truly felt alone now. It was a matter of if the NID didn't catch them; Jack could screw up history himself. Neither possibility pleased him. He thought long and hard about it and eventually drifted to sleep fearing there trip had truly been for the worst.

Sam and Teal'c made their way to the Lake of Harmony and just started on their trek to the Forest of Enlightenment. They stared into the woods and you could feel the energy pouring from there.

"It is as alive as any being we've encountered Major Carter," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, I have to admit that it does have a real charm to it, but it also creeps me out a bit too." Carter started to shake her head. She felt like there was something not right about the Can'al but couldn't put her finger on it. They were hospitable, and even quite friendly with all they did, but it looked to be a mask more than genuine.

"You are bothered by the Can'al?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"I too felt less than comforted by their offers of help."

"As well you should," A voice came from the trees. As it resonated Tal'nia walked out into the light and stared at Major Carter and Teal'c. "For the Can'al are not as they once were. The scientists gave way to other ambitions. And those ambitions gave way to evil. And now they look for things of power so they can conquest a new world, so that they may have raw materials to work from."

Teal'c pointed his Staff Weapon at Tal'nia. "And why is it that we should trust you?"

"You have no reason to trust me, but I come to you in faith. There is much of the Can'al you do not know. Come with me. I shall take you to the cave, but be prepared to defend yourselves. Morana and Tor'ena plan to attack you as you go in. They will soon send their assassins."

They started to move at a heavy pace through the forest, zig zagging around so as to not make an easy target. Carter and Teal'c kept to each other's backs pretty heavily and both kept a watchful eye on Tal'nia.

"So why are you helping us?" Carter asked her.

"Tor'ena. My father built the Time Dialer, it was meant to use so that the scientists would understand what it is they did to the planet and to gain histories long since gone to the people. In theory it was sound, but not for the unscrupulous ones. Tor'ena saw power, and the ability to change things. My father warned against it, as it might destroy our ancestors and eventually destroy us with it."

"Your father seemed to have thought about time travel an awful lot. But how is it that they discovered time travel in the first place? I mean it's fine that they built the device for it, but what started it?"

 "Our people were studying the Chaappa'ai when we discovered some sort of coordinate to another world. At that point we witnessed a great solar flare from the sun as our traveler went through. Then a mere moment later it reactivated and stepped through was the traveler. He had aged a bit, but wiser and with knowledge of such matters. He came across the future and saw the technological wonders and after much study he found the cause of his arrival there in the future. He started construction of the Time Dialer there apparently which sent him home and then modified the design and built it here when he got back."

"So your father traveled through time before the device. But he changed the future because of this. If they didn't have the device before hand that means that they didn't know what they were doing with time travel. Just knew the basics like we did and he purposefully built something there to send himself back. So what was to happen with your people was irrevocably changed the first time, I can just imagine what the unscrupulous do with it."

"I am ashamed to admit it, but I agree. The device has potential, but it was foolish to assume that by having it we weren't going to open a gate to our own demise."

"Your people could conceivably still cause death and destruction. There are many Goa'uld out there that would want such a device. And if they ever used it they could not only use the power as a weapon to destroy worlds, but also travel back in time to them and proclaim their Godhood before anyone could dispute it."

Tal'nia just bowed her head. All of this had occurred to her before, but it was the magnitude of being told by strangers that hit. The untold possibilities of evil were endless. She knew that her people needed to be stopped more than ever. It was just a matter of find a way to do that. Soon they arrived at the cave and they went in. The magnificence of the diamonds was showing through the cave like the magnificent geode that it was. Teal'c looked around with some interest, and Carter started doing analysis as to what crystal would be best. Tal'nia on the other hand knew what she was looking for. She took out something the size of a pen and a small light beam cut one of the diamonds off. She walked up to Major Carter.

"This one will be sufficient."

"Yeah, and enough to make Elizabeth Taylor jealous."

"Elizabeth Taylor?"

"Don't ask, I just think my unit commander's sense of humor has rubbed off a bit."

Teal' c looked behind him a bit and he looked towards Tal'nia and Sam. "It is time for us to start concealing ourselves."

 "They're here already?"

"It would appear so."

They ran to the recedes of the cave and crouched. It didn't let them have too much cover, but it did give them enough to fire upon their quarry. Teal'c leveled the Staff Weapon and two men walked in. In their hands were knives. They flipped a switch and a hum started. One touched the blade to a crystal and it shattered. Carter looked to Tal'nia. Teal'c remained at his post, unshaken by what he witnessed. But he could almost feel the pulse of the blade as it touched another crystal.

The assassins walked toward them. Ever closer they got they touched their blades to the walls and allowed several rocks and more crystals to shatter. Before long Carter couldn't allow it to happen again and fired with her P-90. In moments the two tried to scramble. Teal'c raised his staff weapon.

 "TEAL'C NO!!!" Carter shouted then started to fire at the two. The both escaped but wounded severely. When they were again alone Teal'c walked to Sam and Tal'nia with a questioning look upon his face.

 "Why did you stop me from firing Major Carter?"

 "Diamond dust. If you'd fired the energy might've toasted all of us. We had to go with the P-90, but don't worry Teal'c. You'll probably get your chance to take care of more of them soon."

 They got out of the cave and started into the forest. Teal'c eyes remained focused on the landscape. He was looking for any sign that they might reappear. Carter did the same and Tal'nia merely guided them through the woods.

"What were those weapons they were using Tal'nia?" Carter asked?

"Vibe-blades. A nasty way to die. They were designed to rend wild creatures with thick hides so that we might have food and necessary materials for medicines. When the blade hits them the vibrations start to shake it apart."

"That's grizzly."

Tal'nia merely nodded. "Especially on the use of a human being."

Carter just shook her head and kept moving. Before too long Teal'c stopped. He looked around the forest and he dropped and fired a Staff blast into the trees. From a short distance they could hear the crack of a tree and it falling toward them. Several individuals started to run from the woods screaming. All of them brandished the same knives that the two before had. Carter opened fire and they just stopped. Teal'c pointed his Staff Weapon.

Teal'c stared hard into the eyes of one of their ranks. He seemed to be leading the attack. He saw the eyes of contempt. "You wish to speak words of disdain, you should do it now. You stand as if you were a warrior, present your declaration of defiance."

"You stranger will give us what we want, and then we will release you of your bonds."

"We have no bonds to you, and I doubt you could do such an act. You are of high science, and though it apparently has not killed you of some primal instinct, you are no warrior. Ask yourself if you are truly prepared to die, for I have no qualm of delivering you to the hands of your Gods if you so want. Are you prepared to send me to mine?"

The leader looked Teal'c through and through. He stared into the eyes of the Jaffa warrior. Teal'c remained as stone, never once blinking, or moving. The man's eyes widened. He realized just how serious Teal'c was, and it scared him. "You truly would kill me wouldn't you? Are you so barbaric?"

"Should you ask that question? What right do you have? You stand there with a weapon such as that. Something so horrific as to rip asunder not only flesh but to have it explode under disruption? Who truly is the barbarian now?"

The man's eyes flared. "I AM A CAN'AL! SCIENCE IS MY GOD AND TEACHER, YOU ARE MERELY A JAFFA!!!"

"And yet somehow I have shaken the foundations of your thinking to make you irrational. You have given up the logic of your science for animal hatred."

The leader charged him and Teal'c merely side stepped. Hitting him in the back with his staff. The man fell face first into the leaves and dirt and got up. Teal'c stood posed with his staff in hand. When the leader got up he turned back towards Teal'c with his Vibe- blade raised to come down across his opponents chest. Teal'c used the other end of his staff weapon to hit this brash man's jaw. There was a crack, and blood poured from his cheek.

He got back up and got into a crouched position and looked to hit him again with the knife. Teal'c waited. The knife was swung and Teal'c grabbed his arm and a bone-chilling snap was heard throughout the ranks. The man screamed in agony.

Teal'c grabbed the vibrating weapon and pointed the tip at his enemy's throat. "Do you yield? Or do you wish death? If you yield, you are truly without honor, and must fight to regain it. Death is the only option to keep your honor before entering the halls of your Science God. What do you choose?"

The man's tears of pain thickened with fear. He stared at Teal'c and just became increasingly terrified. "Don't kill me, please! I don't wish to die!"

"Yet you are willing to kill another? And your brethren stand by watching their one fighter fall to a barbarian. Do you have a right to live under such hypocrisy? You have chosen the path of the dishonored. Let me hear your name so that I might tell of your disgraceful fall at my hands. The hands of the barbarian."
 "Relna. My name is Relna. Please, don't kill me!!! I beg of you!!!"

Teal'c lowered the blade and turned it off, sheathing it in his own pocket and he tossed Relna to his comrades. He stared at them all with confidence and with power over their weakened bravery. "Hear me now Can'al! Your people have done you a great disservice. Your leaders have allowed you to fight to conquer others when the path you should choose is of knowledge, understanding, and peace. They would have you strip us of knowledge and then kill us. You too would die eventually at their hands, for if knowledge is power then why should they wish to share it with the likes of you. You are assassins. The first rule of assassination is to kill the assassin. You wish to fight, so I will lead you into a battle that will give you the chance to see what it is that a warrior does. When it is over, you will be changed, and when you have been changed you will wish to go back to your normal lives. You cannot turn back now, for your decisions were made to kill, the question is whom will you battle to the death? Will it be we who have bested you? Or will it be those who have tricked you? Make your decision now, for the time to strike is now!"

They all looked at one another. They were confused, but they listened to what the considered the lower words of this man, and in those words they found a great wisdom and all dropped to one knee. Tal'nia watched in amazement how this man turned the tide of their executioners into a small force. She knew that most couldn't fight back, but the corrupted leaders would try.

Carter took Teal'c aside. "That's some speech you gave to them."

"It was necessary to our task. We will not make it to our time without the aid of the people. Their people however have been corrupted. It is time that they fought for their own good, someone had to ignite the flame of rebellion for them to do it though."

"Well, it wasn't what I had in mind, but if it'll help to stop them from trying to take over time, I'm all for it."

 They gathered their motley group of around 16 people. And they started to march towards the Can'al village. Teal'c stood in front with Major Carter. Sam's thoughts drifted a bit, she wondered how Daniel and Jack were doing. She truly hoped that wherever they ended up, they at least were having an easier time than she and Teal'c were. She looked at Teal'c whose eyes were staring straight ahead and then turned back to the view in front of her. Her face started to become more determined when she thought of the Can'al's objectives. Take over planets and their resources, they truly were worse than the Goa'uld. She marched forward, and in her mind the mantra ran: The Can'al must be stopped.

Jack and Daniel landed in Minnesota. Jack looked a little rested and ready to go, however the same couldn't be said for Daniel. On the 4-hour flight Daniel could do nothing but think of Jack's intent to see his son. He knew that he wanted to see Charlie, but truthfully all Daniel really cared about was getting back to Sam and Teal'c. He wondered if Jack had completely forgotten about them. It would be the first time ever, Jack wasn't known for leaving a man behind. In this case though, Daniel wondered if the man that Jack was considering on saving was more a boy.

They got onto a bus and headed downtown to the Museum. Both of them kept quiet from one another the entire time. Jack didn't want to hear Daniel's repetitious `you're changing history' speech, and Daniel didn't want to hear `I know what I'm doing, so leave me alone'. It seemed the two were at odds more than normal.

As they pulled up to the museum, both got out with some relief that this might just end here. Get in, get out, and get back. Or at least that was Daniel's thoughts. Jack's thoughts were: `We get the diamond, we get the calibrator, I go see Charlie.'

"You think they have what we're looking for here?" Daniel broke Jack's train of thought.

"Museum right? Well, that's a museum. And I do know that they study that sort of stuff here. I've come here often enough."

"Jack O'Neill in a museum. There's just something incredibly wrong with the universe when I say that." Jack shot Daniel a dirty look and they went in.

They started to look around, noticing several mineral specimens. Daniel started to get excited, however he had also thought about the size of diamond they need. It made him less excited, but still, if there were ever a chance. Jack went to the back of the museum and looked for the curator. He found her standing there looking over a sample of amethyst with great pride.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I was wondering if you could help us?" Daniel asked her.

"Certainly…wait, I recognize your face. Aren't you Dr. Daniel Jackson?"

"No, I'm," he looked back at Jack "Willy…Willy Donovan."

"I'm sorry Mr. Donovan, you resemble Dr. Jackson quite a bit. One would've almost thought you to be his brother."

 "I get that a lot actually. But I'm interested in mineral studies and was wondering if you knew where I could get a large, unprocessed diamond from."

"Well, large…that's a difficult thing to say, but unprocessed we can do. What size were you looking for."

"Something in a quarter inch diameter, and about 10 to 12 inches long." She laughed.

"You're joking right? If they found something like that it probably went to a place where it'll be polished and cut for purposes of jewelry."

"I thought maybe you might have gotten your hands on something like that. I mean diamonds are of scientific interest."

 "Yes, they are. And they've also done a lot of work with them in such things as laser science, not to mention other properties in which the diamond is known for. You'd have to go to MIT ever to get one, and I don't think you'd get passed the front desk. And those few museums that have something like that wouldn't sell it for the world. There's too much to be studied there."

 "Well… how about a calibrator?"

"A calibrator is easier to come by, we've just got in some new ones and were about to auction off the old, we can give you one of the old ones for $100."

Daniel looked at Jack. Jack looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You gonna pay the lady Willy?"

"Dean, you have poker winnings you've been holding onto for a couple of years now. Part with them in a good cause."

"I will get you back for this Willy."

"I have no doubt about that."

 Jack handed her the 100-dollar bill and she went and got the calibrator for him. They looked it over, and were happy that it was capable of field research. So such a unit would run on a battery pack. They walked out and stood there on the street.

"What are we going to do about the diamond Jack?"

"I haven't a clue. More than likely we're not going to find one, and we just don't have time to look for others, we're going to have to hope Carter and Teal'c found one. We've got the calibrator, so we're good. Now I've got business to take care of."

"You're still going through with this?"

"I thought we established that this conversation was over on the plane."

"You did, I didn't."

"So let me clear it up for you, I going to see my son. Okay? That's final." Jack took off and hailed a cab. The cab pulled up and Jack got into it ordering the address to go to. Daniel just barely got into the cab before it started to move. He looked at Jack and tried to give him the expression of disapproval and some understanding.

"You're not going to let this go are you?"

"No Jack, I'm not. This isn't a good idea, and I know deep in my heart of hearts that you know it too."

"Let me explain something to you then Daniel. My son was killed, and everyone has used his memory to do whatever possible to either hurt me or communicate with me. I'm sick and tired of it. This is the one shot I've got. I can possibly change what happened even, not have to lose my son."

"Sam's better at explaining this than I am, but let me give you my thoughts on this. Let's say that you do get this off the ground and you save him. Then what? Can we use the thing to send Sam back so her Mother won't die in that car accident, how about Teal'c? We can send him to stop Cronus from murdering his father. How about me Jack? Can you send me back to knock my parents out of the way before they're killed under that display? You think you're the only one who's suffered the loss? I think it's something we've all shared in one respect or another, a loss that pushed us forward. Just this one time though it's holding you back. Are you forgetting that Sam and Teal'c need us right now? They're stuck in alien territory, and we need to travel to the Antarctic to ever get back. And we need find a way to melt enough ice to get to the DHD so we can dial out. Or manually dial it so we can get through since we know it's got power to it. But in either case I can't do that alone. You've gotta make your choice Jack, do you go for the long shot, or do you do the sensible thing?"

Jack stared at Daniel for a second and then leaned back. He kept his mouth shut for the remainder of the cab ride. Eventually the cab stopped and dropped the two off. The cab driver took the money and looked up at Jack with a questioning expression. "Say Mac, what were you talkin' about? You ain't about to cause trouble are ya?"

"No, we were rehearsing for a play. We're doing a sort of Back to the Future, but more of a drama."

The cab driver just giggled and shook his head. He took off in his cab and Jack started to walk. Daniel ran behind him and kept staring towards the front. Daniel kept up behind and kept thinking of ways to stop his companion. He kept begging for a solution to the problem. He thought of knocking Jack out, but then he'd have to drag him around. This was a time where Teal'c and Sam would've been great to have around. Of course he thought of that a lot ever since he arrived on Earth.

They walked for about a mile and Jack stood outside of a school building. He looked at the clock on the school and it was almost time for school to let out. "There's time to walk away now Jack. We don't have to do this."

"You don't have to do this Daniel, I do."

 "No, you don't. You want to. And in the meantime I want you to think about what you might be changing. If you save Charlie, you're family dynamic might change. That means you might not get picked for the Stargate program because you've got more to lose. Dammit Jack, the SGC needs you, and more importantly SG-1 needs you. What happened or what will happen makes you the individual you are. It was a defining moment. You shatter that then everything gets shattered with it. Teal'c will never join the team, Abydos might be destroyed, and the Goa'uld might have attacked before we had any way to stop them."

The school bell rung and the classes poured out. Jack and Daniel stood in an alleyway across from the school and watched the kids run out and start to get on buses and head for home. After a small time Charlie walked out of the building. He was smiling and talking with friends, enjoying life in general. Jack stood there and looked at him. He started to take a step forward towards him and just stopped. He stared at his son from the distance and a tear ran down his cheek. His expression never changing, the tears flowed. He could see his son, almost touch him, and could if he just stepped a bit farther. He didn't know what to do. In his head he could hear Daniel's words. About what he'd change, about how he got the chance to save who was important to him, but the team he called family never would. He turned around and stared at Daniel.

"Let's go back to the gate. We can't do anything else here. We'll have to hope Carter and Teal'c found something to use for a crystal." Daniel put his hand on Jack's shoulder trying to reassure his friend that he did the right thing. Jack quickly jerked back and started walking.

"Daniel, do me a big favor and don't talk to me or touch me. Matter of fact when we get home if you could go to Hell I'd be really happy." Daniel lowered his head and started to walk with Jack.

He shook his head, understanding that Jack lost the one moment that he wanted more than anything else. He tried to comfort the thought that Jack was reacting to the loss yet again, but his words did sting.

The two made it to the airport and they got onboard another flight taking them to South America.   From there they got themselves on a boat headed to the Antarctic. However it wasn't without its problems.

 Jack looked at the captain of the boat and started wondering how it got to be so easy getting onboard. The captain started to act suspicious and kept coming on and off deck every few minutes. Jack decided to follow him.

"No, these are the same guys you described. They're trying to head back there, probably got some sorta dig."

"Keep us informed, Mayborne out." Jack swung and hit the man in the back of the head knocking him out. He then tied him up and started to steer the boat towards the coast. He ran back out and grabbed Daniel.

 "We might have company when we get off the boat. Take all the gear you can. I'm gonna get this thing tied up somewhere and we're going to have to avoid the NID, and close the hole up a bit so that they don't find the gate."

"What about when Sam has to get out when you two first come here?"

"How do we know she didn't have to dig it out because of what we did? I mean I was pretty badly injured after all!"

"Good point."

The two grabbed the gear and Jack knocked the Captain's lights out one more time. After docking the boat on a piece of shoreline he then picked up the radio.

 "Mayday, mayday there's a white ship marked the Davenport adrift off of the coast, there seems to be a fight underway onboard, someone looks to be hijacking it. Request someone gets back up out there ASAP."

Jack pulled Daniel off the boat with him and started to make his way into the Antarctic cold. Daniel shook his head at the plan. He knew the NID weren't going to allow the two of them to take the boat, and more than likely there would be a few agents on the way there, but nothing they couldn't deal with. They made a run for it, knowing the gate wasn't too far away. They caught a lucky break not to run into anyone, and were able to find the crevasse to the gate rather easily thanks to the equipment they left. They both chalked their easy escape to the fact that the wastelands were pretty big, and those that did see them might not think too much of it.

Jack looked back towards the wastelands and shook his head. He went and retrieved their stuff and set a few charges. It was enough to cause snow to puff up and to pack down into the hole. Daniel and he got to the gate and looked at it. They were able to break off enough ice to dial the gate in manually. From there the brilliant flash occurred and they were about to step through. "Jack, don't you think that was a bit too easy?"

"Yeah, but now we can be an unsolved mystery. I always wanted Robert Stack to talk about me." Jack sneered at Daniel.

They looked at one another, Jack still filled with pain and anger in his eyes towards Daniel. Daniel tried to give him a look of understanding and that he was willing to try and help him with his grief. Jack didn't care, as far as he was concerned, the only reason he was working with Daniel at all is because it was a necessary evil. With that they jumped through the gate and went back to 355.

The gate flashed open. Jack and Daniel walked out of it and looked around the place. There were several people guarding the gate entrance.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Halt stranger, you are under the imprisonment of the Can'al!"

"Really…and I suppose you'll want us to put down our weapons and come quietly too?" The Can'al looked at one another rather confused as to why this man seemed to be brushing off their superiority. They switched on their Vibe-blades pointed them at Daniel and Jack.

 "WHOA!!! HEY! You wanna point that screwed up Norelco somewhere else?"

"You are under our capture, you will come with us or suffer death."

"Now that's where you're wrong, ya see, I don't suffer death. I'm allergic, ask anyone." Jack fired his P-90 and the guards scattered. He stopped and looked around for any of them and the two ran towards the woods. He started doing recon to see if he could find any signs of them near their location.

"I really hate this planet."

"What are the chances they've captured and killed Sam and Teal'c?"

"I highly doubt that. These guys aren't the sharpest sticks. I doubt they could fight a glee club to a stand still." Jack picked up his radio.

 "Carter, Teal'c respond."

"Carter here sir."

"What's up with the Panama people?"

"Their people designed what they call the Time Dialer sir. Right now they're looking for a way to get their hands on us so they can find out more about Earth."

 "I take it they're planning a bit of a conquest?"

"Their leaders are sir. Teal'c and I are heading into the Can'al village to stop them now. We've got several Can'al on our side."

"Give me the coordinates of this city Carter, we'll meet you there."

"Yes, sir. It's good to have you back sir."

"Yeah, just get the coordinates to me."

"We've got a war going on?" Daniel asked in a puzzled fashion.

"Ya see, they got to do something interesting, I got stuck with Major Morality."

"Major Morality?"

"No way you're getting higher rank than I am."

The two waited and started receiving the coordinates and they made for the village.

***********************************

Carter and Teal'c took up post at the edge of the woods where they could see the village perfectly. They saw several individuals moving around, but all of them looked not to be doing anything on the offensive. Teal'c pulled one of the Can'al down to him.

"Are there any others meant to attack us if we enter the city?"

"There are some guarding the Chaappa'ai, but I believe Tor'ena would've set some patrols in the surrounding woods to make sure that they weren't so easily surprised."

"Do you have any projectile weapons?"

"We have a few, but mostly they are outlawed. The leaders felt that if we were to kill something doing it face to face would be best so we know the true nature of killing."

"There is a lesson in that, however in this case we should expect them to be armed. What are these projectile weapons?"

"They are sun darts. It fires darts with a laser point to them. Nasty piece of work on our parts, the beam cuts through things and the dart being weighted with drag down, making an incision like cut."

Carter looked at them with disgusted concern. "Your people truly are disturbed. That's a torture weapon."

"As a matter of fact it was designed for that purpose. Just in case we ever captured a Jaffa or Goa'uld, we'd have the means to extract information."

"You would not have any means to extract information. Most Jaffa will welcome death over dishonor. And a captured Goa'uld would abandon his host to take another."

"Your words are of no comfort Teal'c."

"They are not meant to be. When one decides that their path must involve torture, one has made the decision to face consequences that he has or has not made himself ready for."

In the trees they saw a stirring. There was a click over the radio indicating that O'Neill and Daniel were in place. Teal'c looked back at the Can'al. "Here is the time of the struggle, there will be those of you who may fall in combat, and some may fell others. Remember this day that no matter the outcome, you have fought to regain that which you have lost, your honor."

Most looked at him with a basic understanding, but a few couldn't keep their eyes off of the village. The stirring in their souls said that what was to come was their own fault. Had they chosen to tell Tor'ena that they were no killers, but scientists they wouldn't be here.  Now there were planning on pitting themselves against their people. Carter tried reassuring them that this was a common feeling when someone's not used to battle. They merely nodded with half-hearted smiles. Teal'c stood firm as stone. He started looking through the ranks and split them up evenly between Carter and himself.

"My team will head east of the village yours will head west Major Carter. We will try to take out their defenses. O'Neill and Daniel Jackson will give us cover fire."

"Carter to Col. O'Neill."

"O'Neill here."

 "We're about to start our run. You and Daniel need to present cover fire for when we flush out our problem children."

 "Got it."

"Carter out."

*************************************************************

Jack looked back at Daniel. "I still give orders in this outfit right?"

"You're the man Jack."

"Yes, yes I am."

The two took point and before too long the familiar sounds of a Staff Weapon and a P-90 filled the air. There were people in the village screaming they were under siege. Jack fired his P-90 and a red burst came from the direction he fired. He smelled burning wood and the distinct sound of a tree being cut.

"Carter, what the hell are they shooting?!"

"Laser Darts sir. Be careful."

"Thanks for the heads up!" He moved further up the brush and found one of the guys firing the darts. A random succession of them came screaming over his head. Jack looked up and fired, killing the man. The dart gun fell to the ground and rolled. He took out his Zat and fired it three times until the weapon disappeared. He figured he'd have his chance to get another one.

 Daniel took off with his .45 in hand. He went into the village and started pulling away people that got hit with the darts. Most were bloody messes. Several of them looked up at him. One not but two steps away from death's door spoke to Daniel. He questioned why this had to happen. Daniel could offer no answer, as he slipped off to sleep Daniel merely held the dying man's hand. He looked up and there were fires all over the village, dying people. And then Teal'c appeared out of the trees. He fired at an armed man and of course he fell under the blast of the Staff Weapon. He looked to see a bullet riddled Morana. He saw O'Neill charge through trying to reach him.

"Teal'c what the hell is going on here? We leave for a couple of days and you find a way to start a war?"

"These people fight for a freedom from tyranny. We have merely took up their cause because our lives were threatened too."

"Well as long as you had a reason." Teal'c looked down at Morana whose expression was that of shock. He looked around the village like a sentinel. By this point the enemy had thrown down their weapons.

"TOR'ENA!!! COME AND FACE ME!" A laser dart came screaming from one of the buildings.

 "You and your infernal people! You've ruined everything!" O'Neill dropped to the ground and signaled Teal'c. He was going to circle around the building. He took off to the woods and Teal'c shut down his radio. "Carter, come in."

"Carter here. You and Daniel take up point around the south and east points, I'm taking north."

"Yes sir." Both Carter and Daniel ran and made their way to position behind other buildings. O'Neill let out a flare and Teal'c turned his radio back on. He pointed his staff weapon and a dart fired one more time. Teal'c dropped and rolled quickly getting a gash put across his chest by the dart. Then a hail of bullet fire started. The moment seemed to slow itself down. In moments the wall collapsed and Tor'ena fell down. He crawled to where his weapon lay and he picked it up. He pointed it at Teal'c and tried squeezing the trigger. Teal'c got out of the way and grabbed the weapon from the dying leader's hand.

"The reckoning of your people has done this to you. Your plans of conquest have been your undoing, and even now at the doors of your Gods you still do not see it. Your people will survive Tor'ena, and I hope with the freedom from your plans they will live and prosper where you would hinder them."

Tal'nia looked at her dying leader and just bowed her head. She looked back to SG-1 and gave her appreciation. "You have no idea what you've done for us this day."

"Well, we like to think it was nothing." Jack said.

"It was indeed something. Our people already see the path in which Tor'ena and Morana had planned for us. And there are whispers that they are glad it ended this way and not in our total annihilation."

"Well, let's see here. We've got our calibrator and no crystal, so we'd best find one."

"Uh, sir…," Carter pulled out the diamond.

"Then I think it's about time we went home don't you?"

"Will you not stay for a celebration?"

"No, no. Our job is a thankless one, we're all in it for the exploration, not the parties." Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c looked at him. Jack looked with a weird expression on his face.

"What?"

Daniel and Sam smiled to one another and shook their heads, Teal'c merely raised his eyebrow and walked away. Jack followed them.

 "Let's go home people."

"Jack, are we okay?" Daniel asked.

"No, and I don't expect we will be for awhile. Let's just get home, and we'll talk about it more later."

Carter looked at Daniel with concern.

"You two have a rough time?"

Daniel looked at the ground ahead of him with a downhearted look. "You don't know the half of it."

The End