Alphabet Soup

Hammond leaned slightly forward, fascination warring with horror.

"This Gamekeeper pretended to be me?" he repeated.

"He drew his material directly from our minds, sir," Captain Carter explained.

"Well, my mind. And Daniel's," Colonel O'Neill qualified. His brows were locked in a tight scowl. "He got everything right, from the SFs to all those little... doohickeys in the infirmary."

"The visual simulation was impeccable," Teal'c said calmly, his clasped hands resting on the briefing room table. "There was nothing to indicate that we were not actually back at the SGC."

Hammond let out a slow breath. He made a mental note to discuss the ramifications of security breaches with the colonel at a later time - possibly over a clandestine glass of whiskey, considering O'Neill's obvious fury at the invasion of his privacy. For now, though, he wanted to know how his people had escaped such an insidious trap.

"So the Gamekeeper masqueraded as me," he said again. It was appallingly irresistible to imagine the Gamekeeper rummaging through SG-1's brains and imprinting on his own image as the perfect foil. "What made you realize that you were still on the planet?"

They all blinked at him for a moment.

"Well, it was obvious, sir," Carter said.

"Once he actually opened his mouth, it was all over, really," O'Neill added dismissively.

Hammond frowned. "I don't understand."

Doctor Jackson, whose own struggle to clamp down on his anger had kept him silent until now, looked up from his prolonged study of the table surface. "He didn't show any concern for our safety, sir," he explained in a low, soft voice. "We knew it couldn't possibly be you."

It was Hammond's turn to blink. He sat back in his chair, looking at each of the four members of SG-1 in turn. Even Teal'c was nodding in agreement, although his nod was infinitely more stately and regal than the others.

A slow smile spread across his face, to match the warm glow he felt within his heart.

He always cared for his people, for the men and women under his command.

It was good to know that they knew it, too.