“Well, they are who they say they are. I don’t know how, but they are.”
They were all sitting in the briefing room, Dr. Lam telling them what she had found. “The older boy, Jacob, has DNA in common with Gen. O’Neill and Col. Carter, enough that he’s irrefutably their son. He also has traces of naquadah in his blood, which also helps prove that he is Col. Carter’s son.”
“But that would mean that naquadah is passed from parent to child,” Sam said, intrigued.
“At least from mother to child, yes,” said Dr. Lam. “Anyway, he also has the ATA gene which again, helps confirm his identity. The younger boy, Bra’tac, has DNA in common with Teal’c, unfortunately I don’t know who the boy’s mother was, so it’s a little tricky proving definitively if he’s Teal’c’s son, it could just be that the two have similar DNA, but I’m going to go ahead and assume that he is in fact telling the truth. Both of the boys are in excellent health, beyond excellent even. Jacob is as fit as if he was a Jaffa, and Bra’tac shows no sign of ever having a symbiote in him. I would place Jacob at about 18 and Bra’tac at 16.”
“And the girl?” Landry asked.
Lam smiled. “The girl is amazing.”
“I mean is she truly Dr. Jackson’s daughter.”
“With results like hers, all of her DNA could be saying she wasn’t and I’d still believe she was his kid.”
“Um…hi,” Daniel said, leaning forward and lacing his fingers together. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“She’s on a whole different evolutionary level. She practically an Ancient.”
There was a stunned silence. Everyone turned in Daniel’s direction, but he was just as confused. “Well, don’t look at me. Like I have any clue as to how that happened.”
“Well Dr. Jackson, it’s actually quite simple. When you came back from your time as an ascended being your physical make-up was slightly altered. Not enough to cause any alarm, but enough that you weren’t quite who you used to be. Because of that the girl is…unbelievable. And yet, I suspect some kind of outside intervention, I don’t think she would have progressed this far without help. Also, she too has naquadah in her blood, confirming that she is Vala’s daughter. I’d place her at about 23, and clearly the leader of their little party. The boys wouldn’t do anything down there unless she approved it first.”
Jack scoffed.
“You have something you’d like to add, Jack?” Landry asked.
“Nope. Just wondering what bizarro universe they come from if my kid is taking orders from Daniel’s.”
“Jack, now really isn’t the time,” Daniel said.
“You’re just saying that ‘cause you know I’m right.”
“General?” Daniel turned to Landry.
“He’s right Jack, let’s try to focus on what’s at hand.”
“Whatever.”
“Is that all Carolyn?” Landry asked.
“Yes. Now if you aren’t planning on doing anything else I think you should talk to them. Kara hasn’t said anything, but I can tell she’s anxious, and a little on edge.”
“All right, send them up.”
Dr. Lam nodded and left the room. They waited, and after several minutes the kids were escorted in by two marines. Kara sank regally into a chair at the end of the table, the boys taking up position behind her.
“Um…you can sit down boys,” said Jack.
“We would prefer to stand,” said Jacob.
“Indeed,” Bra’tac added.
Jack smiled. “Spitting image of you, eh T?”
Teal’c gave Jack his usual stoic stare. “So it would seem O’Neill.”
“So, would you mind telling us how you are who you are?” asked Landry.
Kara smiled, and they noted that it was a very similar smile to Vala’s. “You must know that this is equally as awkward for us as it is for you. You are not the people that we left behind, and some of you…well, I’m getting ahead of myself.”
“So, you’re not from the future?” Sam asked.
“No. But that doesn’t mean that time travel wasn’t involved here.”
“So, you’re from the past?”
She laughed. “Not exactly that either. I left my world through our gate and instantly came here, without going forward or backward. The time travel in this story is yours.”
“This is the part where you tell us what’s going on right?”
“You can’t bully me, Jack,” she said. “I’m used to your impatience.”
“I was just commenting on the fact that your presentation skills are remarkably like your father’s.” He shot Daniel an amused look.
“Well, I wouldn’t know. Anyway, it’s rather a long story, so, you should get comfortable.”
There was some squeaking as they all readjusted their positions.
“Ok, shoot,” said Cam.
“Today is what?” she asked.
They all looked at her in confusion.
“That’s not a trick question, people. I really am asking. What’s the date?”
“Oh,” said Sam with a laugh. “It’s October 5th.”
Kara smiled. “Ok then. My story, or rather your story, began a week from now on your mission to P3C-295. It was just a standard mission, but things didn’t go quite right.”
“Clearly,” mumbled Cam.
“And you’re what? Here to warn us not to go on the mission?” asked Daniel.
Kara shook her head. “Quite the contrary. I’m here to tell you what went wrong, and to prevent it from happening when you go to 295 this time.”
The blast doors opened and General Landry came in. SG-1 stopped with their feet on the ramp.
“What’s up, sir?” asked Carter.
“I’m afraid Colonel Mitchell will be sitting this one out. Something’s come up.”
“Sir?”
“It’s best if we discuss this in my office, son.”
“Yes sir.” With one last glance at this team, Cam took off his vest and left the gate room.
“General O’Neill will be joining you instead,” said Landry as Jack came into the room. “He wanted one more trip through the gate.”
Sam shot Jack a questioning look, but he ignored it.
“You look good in your old stuff, Jack.”
“Why thank you Daniel. But it’s not complete without…” he pulled his cap out of his pocket and put it onto his head.
“Nice, sir,” said Sam with a smile.
“Very strapping,” said Vala.
“Indeed.”
Jack laughed. “You guys suck at sucking up.” He looked at the gate. “Well, shall we?”
They stepped through the event horizon and zipped thousands of light-years across the galaxy in the blink of an eye. They came out at the other end a little faster than they had entered, stumbling over their own feet.
“Now I know I’ve been gone a while, but that didn’t seem right,” said Jack, looking around.
“It wasn’t,” said Sam. “I want to check the…” she trailed off.
“Carter? Check the what?”
“The DHD, sir. But it’s not here.”
“What?”
“Look around, it’s not here.”
They all did a sweep of the room they were in, and came up empty.
“Can’t we dial manually?” asked Vala.
“Not without a power source,” said Sam, looking concerned. “I don’t understand. We didn’t notice anything on the MALP. We should have picked up on the absence of a DHD.”
“Well, we didn’t Carter. So what now?”
Sam sighed. “Well, we wait for the SGC to dial in when we’re overdue. Then we ask them to bring through a naquadah generator, and we’ll be able to dial home.”
“And in the meantime?”
“We do what we came here to do, Jack,” said Daniel.
“All right. Meet and greet. Let’s move out. Teal’c, Daniel, you’re with me. Carter, Vala, you stay here and watch the gate.”
“Yes sir,” said Sam without further thought. But Vala heaved a sigh, accompanied by a pout. Daniel smiled at her lovingly.
“Daniel, I can’t stay here, I’ll go insane. You know I don’t deal well with doing nothing.”
“You’ll be fine. I know you’ll think of something to keep yourself occupied. You always do.” He gave her a quick kiss and then left with Jack and Teal’c.
“She’s…an interesting person,” Jack said after several moments.
Daniel glared at him.
“What? I’m not saying anything bad about her. I think she balances you out well.”
“Indeed,” said Teal’c. “You are well matched.”
“Can we please talk about something other than my love life?” Daniel pleaded. “How about yours, Jack?”
“What about it?”
“Was there more to this little visit than another trip through the gate?”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“Oh come on, Jack. How long are the two of you going to keep doing this? I mean, she left Pete almost three years ago, and you responded by moving to the other side of the country."
“I got a promotion, Daniel.”
“How terribly convenient.”
“Daniel, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Fine.”
“Oh, look, signs of civilization.”
There was smoke ahead of them. Dropping their conversation they altered their course to head towards it. What they found was not what they were expecting. The people seemed to be Nomadic, as their dwellings clearly weren’t permanent. And they had clearly never seen outsiders before.
“Um, hello,” Daniel said to the cowering group of people. “My name is Daniel Jackson. This is Jack O’Neill, and Teal’c. We’re friends; we don’t want to hurt you.”
A man stepped timidly away from his fellows and towards Dr. Jackson. “I am Praesul,” he said. “Are you one of the forefathers?”
“No. No, we’re from Earth. Who are the forefathers?”
“They are those from whom we come. They built the great ring and instructed us to serve and await their return. I am the Keeper of the Knowledge; have you come to claim it?”
“Daniel, what is he talking about?” asked Jack.
“I think he’s talking about the Ancients. The Alterans?” he asked Praesul, who nodded eagerly. Daniel gave a little laugh. “Jack, these people are descended from the Ancients.”