Chapter 1

Meet the Family

Jack O'Neill walked down the long corridor to the principal's office, his footsteps echoing in the empty hallway, his black sneakers squeaking. He muttered under his breath, "For cryin' out loud!"

Jack knocked on the door of the office and heard the voice inside say, "Enter."

The principal, Eugene Nelson, had sorrowful eyes as he asked, "Why? Why did you have to break the rules again when you know you can't afford the consequences? Jack, because you keep breaking the rules, this time by getting into another fight, I have no choice… but to expel you."

"But"-

"Collect your things and be on your way."

With downcast eyes Jack went to do what he was told. He felt like a kid again- he was a kid again thanks to the mischievous Asgard Loki.

Jack had been adopted by Maria Burney and now, therefore, had a brother, Jeff, the same age as he was physically. Mentally, though, Jack was much older, because he still retained the memories of the older, non-clone, Colonel Jack O'Neill.

He gathered his belongings and walked out of the front doors of Mountain Springs High School. He said goodbye to his new school and walked down the cool gray concrete sidewalk toward his new neighborhood. He passed some yellow-leafed and red-leafed trees and some deep green bushes with purple flowers sprouting out at random on his way and noticed there was a lot of traffic today.

When he got to his neighborhood, he found his house in the small cluster of houses and used his key to get inside. He tried to slip, unnoticed, past his new mother, whom he still thought of as Maria, but their cat, Jitter Bug, alerted her to his presence.

"Jack," said Mrs. Burney, "is that you?" She saw it was and anxiously asked, "What are you doing home so early?"

Jack had never been much of a liar, though, he did lie on occasion. He just liked being sarcastic. He decided to tell her the truth, even though he knew he would get in trouble.

She silently stood there and listened while he talked, not speaking until he had uttered the last word. Then, finally, she said, "Jack, what am I going to do with you?"

As she stood there with a look of contemplation on her face, the phone rang. Mrs. Burney picked it up, not saying anything other than an occasional "yes" or "mm-hmm" and one overly enthusiastic, "of course!" Finally, she put the phone back on its wall cradle and looked at Jack.

"That was Mr. Ulmund," she said, "He's having a special party tonight at his house next door to celebrate what would have been his 7th anniversary. He asked if I would pick up the cake for him and I said I'd be happy to. You, however, are grounded for…," she stood there thinking, "I'll decide how long when I get back, but you're not going to the party tonight."

Jack stared at her with a blank look on his face then asked, "There's going to be cake?"

Ignoring his question, she said, "The party begins at seven o'clock and I'm going straight there from the bakery to help him set up." Jack glanced at the digital clock on the wall. It said 2:04 pm. "Jeff is supposed to be home around four o'clock." Mrs. Burney continued, "Tell him about the party, he's allowed to come."

With that, she went out the door, got in her black Hyundai Santa Fe, and sped off to accomplish her errand. As she was pulling out, Jack got a good look at the license plate which said, TU1YYO.

Jack went to the pantry and got some cat food. He took Jitter Bug's empty food dish and filled it. Next, he filled the empty milk bowl with milk, then he put them both back. He put away the cat food and went to the couch. He curled up into a comfortable position and closed his eyes. Two minutes later, he was sawing logs…

**********

Jack awoke and heard keys in the front door and the creaking of it opening. He glanced at a nearby clock, this one analog, which said 4:07. Jeff walked into the room and asked where Mrs. Burney was. Jack explained about the party and the cake and everything. "She's probably already at Mr. Ulmund's house."

Jon Ulmund was their next door neighbor, in his early thirties, with blonde hair. Jeff, on the other hand was 15 and the same height as Jack. Same dark brown hair color too. Many people mistook Jack and Jeff for twins.

The phone rang again and Jeff went to answer it.

Jack flipped on the television in search of something to watch. After cycling through a series of cartoons, dramas, comedies and other genres he wasn't interested in, he finally landed on the news.

Dread gripped Jack. The TV showed a picture of a black, Hyundai Santa Fe. Actually, the TV showed the remains of a black, Hyundai Santa Fe. The picture zoomed in and Jack saw the license plate. It had a bunch of holes in it so he could only see some of the characters.

The first character was partly obscured, but he could tell it was a T. The second and third characters were simply not there. The remaining characters were YYO.

Jeff walked in and said, "That was Mr. Ulmund. He said mom hasn't gotten there yet and asked where she was, I told him I'd get back to him-" Jeff stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the TV. A look of horror crossed his face.

Mrs. Burney's car was in ruins. Mrs. Burney… was dead.