Author's Note: A friend asked me to write a story exploring the failed rebellion attempt made by SG-1 when they were trapped in time in the Moebius episodes. To fit into canon, the story has to have a tragic ending, and I was not at all keen on the idea…however (big sigh) I eventually succumbed to her pleas—sorry, if you are like me and like stories with happy endings.

Disclaimer: Purely for fan purposes; no copyright infringement intended.

Trapped in Time

She'd known from the moment the mission had begun it was a mistake. Before even. Time travel was a horrible disaster waiting to happen. It was a given that anytime you resorted to it, you were making a mistake...a big one. That was why she'd insisted they not even consider using the TimeShip when they'd first brought it home. So why had she agreed to this insane mission when Daniel suggested going back to Giza? Had the hope of finding a working ZPM really been enough to blind her to the dangers? She could still hear the general's astonished, "You're onboard with this?" and she knew her willingness to consider it had largely made the decision for him. He'd trusted her, and she'd brought him 5,000 years into the past and stranded him without any hope of escape or rescue.

Worse, in his opinion, was the fact she wouldn't allow him to do one thing about it. She could feel the anger and frustration radiating from him as he stomped off through the desert sand. With resigned sighs, she, Daniel, and Teal'c dragged behind him in the hot sun. She'd begun the mission with great reservations about his ability to keep quiet and let events unfold without interference, and now that the mission stretched on until their deaths...she thought the odds of the future surviving with them mucking around in the past were astronomical to say the least. Maybe, and she hated that maybe, the Russians were right: cyanide, never leave home without it. But, that wasn't the way it worked at the SGC, and there was no way she could imagine any of them deciding it was the better course.

"So, Carter," he snapped over his shoulder at her, anger making his voice too quiet and brittle, "who's to say we didn't already jump those Jaffa and take back our ship?"

"Sir," she sighed. They'd already discussed and shouted and yelled their way through all of her arguments, fears, and warnings, and they hadn't even made it back to the camp yet. How could she possibly hope to keep him from wearing down her resistance through the next...what, he was closer to fifty than not so-30 to 40 years?

"Don't, Sir, me," he snarled back. "We could be in one of those time loop thingies. You know when we went back to 1969, if Hammond hadn't already lived it once, we'd never have gotten home. Well, maybe the same sort of thing is working here."

"We can't take that chance, Sir!"

"Why not? I'm telling you, you can't guarantee things won't change for the better if they change at all-you don't know squat!" he accused her in frustration. Raising his voice ever higher and continuing to glare at her wasn't changing anything, but that didn't stop him.

"No, Sir, I don't! But, are you really willing to take that chance? Do you really think what we want is so important we can risk everyone and everything we know to get it?"

He huffed at her, but what could he say? They'd spent years proving they believed the exact opposite of that, putting aside their personal concerns and desires in order to serve Earth, risking their lives for everyone and everything they knew. He whipped back around without answering.

It was Teal'c who broke the silence. "The GateShip will not always be so heavily guarded...it is possible, if we are patient, a time may come when we can safely recover it."

"That would be nice," Daniel said. Jack didn't bother to reply. There was nothing Daniel could say that would wipe away the predicament they found themselves in or make up for the fact it had been his idea to come here in the first place. Besides, even though Jack knew Daniel shared Sam's concerns for the future, he also knew this was a dream come true for the archeologist. He might wish it hadn't come at the expense of his friends, but he'd relish every minute of it.

"At least," Daniel said with relief, "the mission isn't a total loss. We can bury the ZPM where we know it will be found in the future. Even if we never make it back, at least Earth will benefit from it."

"Sure," Sam said, and Jack could clearly hear the defeat in her voice, "assuming we don't do anything back here which will cataclysmically affect something back there."

Jack ignored them both and instead snarled at Teal'c, "Time, always time...seems we have plenty of time to wait. And wait. And wait..." They'd been together so long he didn't need to see them to know his teammates were rolling their eyes at his back. If they thought that would faze him, they were wrong.

"Well, in the meantime," Sam said, "we've got to agree on what to do to minimize our influence on events and people."

"No, we don't have to agree on anything, Colonel!" Jack said, pulling rank. 'They' wouldn't be deciding anything; he would. They were a military unit in enemy territory not a group on vacation. "I'll make the decisions from here on! We are not moving out to the middle of the desert and avoiding contact for the rest of our lives...it just won't work." She shut her eyes against his ranting and acknowledged his reprimand and order with a nod of her head. He ignored the angry tears in her eyes.

He also ignored the fact he was the one who had given the mission a 'go'. She was receiving the brunt of his frustration and anger, but they both knew he was the one who deserved it. He'd let his desire to get away from his responsibilities and duties at the SGC make the decision for him. Yes, a ZPM was an acceptable risk, but it wasn't one he would have taken if things hadn't been pressing in on him quite so hard. Not the job itself. Things at the SGC had probably never looked quite as rosy as they did right now with the System Lords in chaos and Anubis gone for good. Other things...well, one other thing in particular. One decision he hadn't wanted to face and had, or doubtlessly would, manage to screw up history to avoid only to find himself staring into its blue eyes anyway. Blue eyes that were as out of place here as his P-90.

As though their position wasn't precarious enough, she and Daniel advertised the fact they didn't belong here every time they opened their eyes. How long before Ra and his forces discovered them? And what chance did they stand when he did? For all his bluster, he was well aware Carter was right. They couldn't chance messing things up for the folks back home. But, he couldn't, none of them could, sit back and let the others be taken. If it came down to it, he knew he'd fight for them and risk the timeline. He'd been so ready to take out the creep in the temple for threatening a stranger; there wasn't a chance he wouldn't do it if it was one of his people on the other end of a staff weapon.

And what about Teal'c? Did she really think they'd be able to sit around and watch him die when his tretonin supply ran out...just how much of it did she think he carried with him anyway? As the man who ordered him on and off the field, he knew: exactly three-months' worth. The 'they' who decided these things had felt two weeks was more than enough for any mission, but he'd insisted on 12 instead. As they'd proved more than once before, there were just too many ways to get lost and still return from a mission to lay Teal'c's life on the line for a bit more room in his pack. He'd pushed for and gotten the extra supplies, but what were those extra 10 weeks when this mission would be measured not in days or weeks, but years and decades? He threw another glare back over his shoulder at her. She was worried about stepping on a bug, no way would she go along with 'appropriating' a symbiote from one of Ra's boys. Not even for Teal'c.

He turned back to the front and knew there wasn't going to be an easy solution to their problems. First things first then. Priorities: food and shelter. The group they'd camped with the night before had already offered them a place in their camp for as long as they stayed. However, after the poor reception their offering had earned, their stay probably wouldn't be long. Hopefully at least a day or two, but then they'd be on their own. Unless he convinced them to take his team with them. They were all healthy and strong and surely would have plenty to offer in exchange for their keep.

"Daniel, what's your take on Katep's group? Will they take us with them when they move on?"

"They seem friendly enough, Jack...we could make ourselves useful. I think they'd take us in, but I really would like to stick around here a while. I've just begun to take notes on-"

"Daniel!" Jack cut in, "This is not a research trip! I'd like some distance between us and Ra. The more chances we have to run into him and his Jaffa, the more chances we'll have to ruin everything."

"Sorry, Jack, you're right."

"You'll talk to them then, see what you can arrange?"

"Yeah, sure. Then we need to get the ZPM hidden where it can be found."

"Right," Jack agreed.

Daniel had no trouble acquiring them a spot in Katep's little tribe of nomads: there was safety in numbers. In the small tent they were given, they made plans for burying the ZPM. Daniel decided it wouldn't do to just leave it. They had to explain their predicament and then, just in case they'd changed things, they had to explain how things were supposed to be. Then he decided, over Sam's protests, they should explain how others could come back from the future and try to undo the mess they'd made of the past. Jack thought they might have been there recording for the intervening 5,000 years, but, fortunately, the camera batteries finally died.

With relief, Jack asked, "So how far is this tomb we're raiding?"

It wasn't far, and Daniel had no problem directing them to the spot of the future dig. One nice thing about getting stranded in Ancient Egypt...there were plenty of landmarks available to mark their way. From the cover of nearby sand dunes they were able to see it was unguarded except by the want-to-be Sphinx at its entrance. The Sphinx didn't cause them any trouble. The ZPM was safely tucked away, and the mission was as over as it was ever going to get.