Author's note:
The following story is a collaboration between wesleyehowell and compbrain1720.
It will be a three arc story, possibly four. The first part is "The Birth of Iconia"
Due to the Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey nature of this story, things can and will seem hard to follow and sometimes even downright contradictory. This is perfectly normal. If you read through to the end, however, things will become clear.
This is an alternate reality as there are several changes to canon in both stories.
In this story Jack and Samantha Carter are siblings.
The Eureka timeline as seen in the show starts in 2004, instead of 2006 when the show started on the air.
Things different in this universe are:
Janet Fraser did not die (this will be explained later)
Aiden Ford was not fed on (for the same reason as Janet Fraser surviving)
Prometheus was not destroyed due to GD upgrades to its equipment
General Hammond did not die (GD's medical science prevents this)
During the battle over Asura, lots of equipment was harvested by beaming, rather than let it be destroyed.
The fatal error in the Asgard cloning technique never arose.
We prefer to think that "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" never happened.
We don't own any of the franchises used in this story. We are just fans.
Chapter 1
"Ally? Where are my jogging shorts?" Jack Carter was throwing things this way and that, searching the freshly washed laundry for his elusive jogging shorts.
"In the laundry…. basket," his wife, Allison, finished weakly as she walked into the room. "Do you have to sack and pillage while you're searching?" she asked, picking up a pair of pants that had been thrown carelessly onto the bed.
Jack was frantically searching, still. "I just need to get going, if I'm gonna get my exercise in this morning," he said as he flung some of her unmentionables aside.
Allison saw a glint of the fabric he was looking for, and grabbed it before it was re-buried. She held it up. "Jack."
"I need to clear my head, so I'm fresh before I get there, you know?
"Jack." A bit louder this time.
"This is kinda going to be a blending of two parts of my life, and I'd like to show up with a clear head. I wish you could go jogging with me, though." He stopped and looked at his wife, who was still holding up the prize. "Is there another basket some…" He finally saw what she had in her hand. "You found them."
"Yes, Jack. That's what I've been trying to tell you." She handed them to him. "You're right. You do need to clear your head."
He reached for the shorts, but she held them behind her back until he kissed her. "I wish I could go jogging with you too."
"After the baby," he said, grinning.
She nodded, and smiled back. "After the baby."
Jack's Jog...
Jack had been jogging for about twenty minutes, trying to clear his head. Recently, he had been on edge, feeling that if he looked quickly enough, in a certain direction, that he would see someone standing there, watching. He knew that this was ridiculous, but he just couldn't shake the feeling.
He finally realized that he wasn't going to be able to clear his head until got himself thinking about something else. To that end, he started thinking about the people he was going to be meeting with and how they had changed his life.
One of them was his sister, Samantha. They were twins, although she was 3 hours older than he was. She had been a stabilizing influence in his life and she was also a genius. She was every bit as smart as anybody that he worked with in Eureka.
Next was Jack O'Neill, a very good friend. O'Neill had recruited Jack to work for the SGC several years before at the behest of Sam. Sam and Jack's father, Jacob, had been very close to death at the time, but had become a Tok'Ra and the merging with the symbiont had saved his life. Sam had gone to O'Neill, and pointed out that Jack was a US Marshal. As such he would be invaluable to the SGC. Jack had a way with people. He even had a tendency to play himself as being considerably less intelligent than he actually was. As a US Marshal, he could be a liaison to the American public for anything having to do with the Stargate.
Jack had been given security clearance higher than anything he'd ever imagined. He had even gone through the Stargate on more than one occasion. Jack received regular security updates from the SGC. He read them, and although Nathan Stark would never have believed it, he even understood most of the words. He had proved himself useful to the SGC on numerous occasions, and in fact, anything having to do with technology garnered through the Stargate that would affect the American Public at large, had to be cleared through Jack Carter. What cemented his relationship with the SGC, however, was when he discovered what Eva Thorne was actually doing.
Jack knew about tretonin and he knew how invaluable someone like Eva Thorne, who aged extremely slowly, would be to Stargate Command. But his morals would not allow him to simply turn her over to them. Instead, he spoke to her about it without giving away any classified details, and convinced her that it would be in her best interest to meet with them.
General Mansfield, the idiot in charge of Eureka at the time, was furious with Jack, because he wanted to arrest Eva Thorne for making him look like a fool. He tried to remove Jack from his position as Sheriff of Eureka, and in fact, Jack went along with him, knowing full well that O'Neill could countermand Mansfield's orders at any time, and probably would. O'Neill was about to do just that, until Henry Deacon, newly elected mayor of Eureka, discovered a loophole allowing Jack to keep his job. It was infinitely preferable that things be done this way rather than Mansfield, and more importantly, the people of Eureka, finding out that the General had no jurisdiction over Jack. In reality, Jack answered to only two people: O'Neill, and the President of the United States. Consequently, if the SGC wanted to have Jack in Eureka, Jack was in Eureka. It really made little difference what Mansfield, or even Henry Deacon, wanted.
The difference between the two generals was striking. Mansfield would look at a battlefield and see acceptable losses, targets, and assets. O'Neill would look at the battlefield and see people. Mansfield commanded soldiers while O'Neill led people. Jack understood this. In fact, it had infuriated him when recently a loss of sixteen people had been equated to a B plus. He could just imagine O'Neill's reaction to that.
Another of Jack's friends in the SGC, was Teal'c. Teal'c was a Jaffa. He was human, but not born on Earth. Sometimes, his behavior would baffle Jack. But behind everything Teal'c did, Jack saw a fierce loyalty and unwavering devotion. He knew that Teal'c was just as good a warrior, and just as formidable an opponent, as his friend, Jo Lupo.
Then there was Daniel Jackson. Daniel was just as much of an egghead as anybody in Eureka. But his field of interest was archaeology and ancient languages. Daniel was a civilian, but in effect, special forces trained. In his own way, he had become just as formidable as Teal'c.
Jack turned towards home, and his thoughts turned back to Eureka. Now that Eureka was private, things could change. In fact, it was inevitable that they do, but Jack had a suspicion that things would be changing for the better.
At Global Dynamics...
Jack and Allison Carter walked into the conference room. Henry Deacon was already there with his wife Grace, and across the table from him was Douglas Fargo. They all appeared to be somewhat apprehensive. Today they would be learning what direction Global Dynamics would be taking. The town of Eureka had recently been purchased by Trevor Grant or, as he liked to call himself now, Trent Rockwell. But the simple fact of the matter was, there was no operating capital. Global dynamics needed a serious infusion of funds, without them it would be closed just as surely as if the military had never sold it.
All four of them greeted each other, with attention being given to the fact that Douglas Fargo had been gone for several weeks. They sat down at the table just in time to stand up again as Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter, Teal'c, and Daniel Jackson, entered the room.
O'Neill shook hands all around, then sat down and stared off into the corner of the room. He really liked all these people and he wanted things to work out to everyone's benefit. But, O'Neill only knew one of the new owners of Global. He knew what the owners had in mind, but it could be very hard getting things done with the new system that was being set into place. One of the owners was O'Neill's best friend, Daniel Jackson. Daniel had inherited all of Catherine Langford's considerable wealth when she passed away, and he had used that to help Dr. Trent Rockwell purchase Eureka and Global Dynamics. Two other people had also used their personal funds in purchasing the town and facilities. They were Alec Colson, with whom O'Neill's previous dealings had all been less than positive, and Eva Thorne, with whom he had had limited dealings during her time at the SGC.
O'Neill understood that Rockwell had 51% interest, followed by Colson with 19%, then Jackson and Thorne each having 15% ownership. However, O'Neill also knew that Jackson, Thorne, and Colson had all agreed to provide capital on the condition that an oversight committee be established to approve any and all weapon's research that might be done at Global. Rockwell had agreed, and this is what concerned O'Neill. With such a committee, it might be complicated getting the things needed for Earth's defense. And the defense of Earth was what O'Neill was concerned with. As the head of Earth's defense, he knew that Eureka was the best thing Earth had going for it in this respect. His problem was that he didn't know who had been selected for the Eureka Weapons Oversight Committee. Anyone might have been, and if the wrong people were on the committee, home world security would be in trouble. Jackson had told O'Neill not to worry about it, but sometimes Jackson erred on the side of caution where defense was concerned.
While O'Neill was mulling over all of this, two more GD people entered the room: GD's head of Security, Jo Lupo, and the head of section five, Zane Donovan. O'Neill knew that the two were a couple, and honestly, that was fine with him. The closer the friendships with coworkers, the better they tended to work with each other. That is not to say that people who are romantically involved won't find each other a distraction in crunch time. But they can just as easily be a motivation for each other to get things done.
O'Neill looked at the group then at Jackson. "Daniel? Where are they?"
"They'll be here, Jack. Not everyone runs on military time you know. Sometimes people just like to be fashionably late. I've even known you to be that way yourself. Remember the importance of a certain crossword puzzle? "
O'Neill glowered at Jackson. "That's different, Daniel. I wasn't the one that had to wait then."
Just then, a group of people entered the conference room. "Hi everyone. Sorry we're late," Trent Rockwell said as he strode in. He glanced around the room. "It looks like everyone is here, so why don't we get started."
O'Neill's mouth dropped open as he saw the group entering the room. After Rockwell were the other three owners of Eureka. But the group following were all known to him. As they sat down, Jackson took the lead and introduced everyone. "I'm sure that all of the Stargate team knows each of the members of the oversight committee. But for those of you in Eureka who don't know all of them, I'll make the introductions. This is Air Force Lieutenant General George Hammond, retired. He's the chairman of the Eureka Weapons Oversight Committee, or "EWOC" for short. Air Force Major General Henry "Hank" Landry, retired. Former IOA member Richard Woolsey, and current Mayor of Atlantis. No, I'm not kidding. Air Force Captain Janet Fraser MD, retired, and I believe you all know, Dr. Zoe Carter."
At Jackson's introduction, Zoe grinned and waved her hand at her friends and family seated around the room. "Hi," she said brightly.
Jack Carter, for his part, stammered, "Zoe… how… when… wha…?! "
His wife rescued him. "Zoe! It's great to see you!"
Woolsey, the single member of the team who hadn't met Jack Carter at one time or other looked questioningly at Zoe. She caught the look and explained. "Sheriff Carter is my Dad."
Dr. Donovan asked Woolsey with a slight smirk, "Mayor of Atlantis?"
Woolsey nodded and said, "We'll come back to that in a little bit."
Hammond leaned close to O'Neill, and in a stage whisper said to him, "I hope Daniel doesn't use as many big words as he usually does, otherwise we'll be here forever." Sam stifled a laugh, Teal'c smiled (for him) broadly, and O'Neill simply nodded gravely.
"I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson. I'm here to tell you about some things which you have all been granted clearance to hear. General Johnathan O'Neill, or Jack as he is known, is head of Home world Defense. That title is granted by the Pentagon, but it is recognized by almost every government on Earth.
"I am going to show you a few videos to bring you up to speed on Stargate Command. I know some of you already have knowledge of the SGC, but not all of you do. For those of you not in the know, General O'Neill and the White House have granted each person in this room clearance to hear anything and everything known about the Stargate and offworld activities. First, however, General Samantha Carter would like to say a few things.
Sam stood up and walked to the front of the room. "Thank you, Daniel. For the past several years, Global Dynamics, specifically your section five, has been given certain … artifacts from offworld … and told to figure out how they work. One of the things the SGC has always liked about the way GD has done this, is that you have always built a comparable device with earth based technology. We have found that this inevitably makes a much more stable device than one based on alien technology. Our goal in coming here and giving you clearance to know about the SGC is to facilitate this relationship. Basically, if you know why you are researching something, it will help you design better tools for their purposes." She looked at General O'Neill, then at Jackson. "I'm going to turn this over to Dr. Jackson's computer now, and he can show you the videos he needs to. Thank you."
Sam left the podium, and Jackson pressed a button, dimming the lights, and starting a video playing. The videos took quite some time, but they told the group what they needed about the SGC and the fighting that had been going on with the Goa'uld.
Jackson stood and went to the center of the table. He waved his hand over it, and a simulation of the Earth appeared above it. He brought his hands together above the table in a slow clapping gesture, and the earth shrunk and the stars of the Milky Way flew into focus and suddenly the entire galaxy seemed to be floating above the table.
"We could very soon be having some serious problems on our Earth. Over the past few years, we have been, unknown to the populace at large, at war with a group of superbeings known as 'the Ori'. They are what we call, 'ascended beings', which basically means they have no need for physical bodies. They demand and receive worship from their followers, as if they were gods." He waved his right hand, and a section of the galaxy turned red. "This is the portion of our galaxy that the Ori currently control. This is not hugely significant, but their rate of expansion is." Again, Jackson moved a hand, and a small light blinked brightly on the far side of the galaxy from the red part. "This is Earth. We project that the Ori could be here, at Earth, in five years. The Ori's model for subjugation of a planet is, attack, decimate, enslave, and brainwash into submission. Once the population of a planet starts worshiping the Ori, the Ori start to draw additional strength from this worship. This additional strength will be used to subjugate another planet, and another and another, until there is no one left to oppose them. Their ultimate goal is to develop enough strength to take on the Ancients, who are superbeings like themselves, but far more numerous."
"If they don't have corporeal bodies, how do we fight them?" Henry asked.
Sam decided to answer Henry's question. "We don't have to fight the Ori themselves. They are being kept at bay by the Ancients. We just need to keep their 'missionaries' from converting more people. That keeps the energy transfer of worship from becoming more powerful."
Jack nodded. "And by keeping the energy transfer lower, the demon people aren't able to beat the Ancients."
Jo seemed incensed. "So we're just going to let these 'Ancients' fight our war for us?"
Hammond spoke up. "It's not our war, Miss Lupo. Besides; there's really not a lot we can do to fight the Ori. Like Henry said, how can we fight someone who doesn't need a physical body and is beyond our ability to interact with them?"
Jo nodded, but was still frustrated. "I'm sorry, General. I'm not used to sitting back and letting others fight for me."
"I understand completely, however, keep in mind that we're not sitting back and doing nothing. We are actively fighting on another front."
At that, Jo nodded and seemed somewhat appeased.
Rockwell looked at Henry, and at some barely noticeable sign from him, asked "So what can GD do for you, General O'Neill?"
"We need big honkin space guns and big honkin space ships."
Jack looked at Allison and exclaimed, "See! That's why I like O'Neill. He speaks English, not Science!"
Allison shook her head fondly, and turned to Sam. "Can we get a translation for those who don't speak 'Jack'?"
"You see how I have always been able to understand the General so easily. I grew up with his twin." Sam told her.
"Yeah. Dad always talks like that." Zoe nodded.
"I think what the General was trying to say is that we need to expand Earth's fleet," Daniel interjected. "What would be nice is if we could bring the Stargate to GD, but I don't think the Air Force would allow it."
"Why not?" Henry asked. "Just bring it here."
Jackson smiled and shook his head. "It doesn't work that way, Henry. They're kinda possessive about their gate."
"But it's not 'their' gate," Henry said. He looked at Daniel closely and saw the baffled look on his face. "You mean to tell me that you don't know?"
"Uh…. Know what?" Jackson asked.
"The gate was leased to the Air Force by Catherine Langford. Upon her death, the lease was over. Her will stated that you inherited all of the artifacts owned by her, whether in a museum or not. That included the Stargate, Daniel. It's not the Air Force's gate. It's yours." Henry saw that the group around the table seemed skeptical. "We have a copy of her will in a safe deposit box at the Bank of Eureka. She spoke to me about leaving things to you, Daniel, because she thought you would be able to make sure people used the gate for more scientific uses than the military would."
Hammond stared incredulously at Henry. Then, slowly he started to smile. "Really!" He said. "Well doesn't that just about beat all."
Samantha Carter looked at Jackson with a huge grin on her face. "Tell them you want it back, Daniel.