Chapter 1
1980
In a warehouse the Stargate stood in a large crate simply waiting for the future. Without warning a wormhole established that blew off the sides of the crate and shattered the wood. Through the event horizon a figure emerged and fell hard onto the cement floor beneath. She wore green BDU's but had no rank insignia. Her blonde hair was cut short and powdered with dust and dirt. Her face was covered in grey dust and caked on blood stream down one cheek. Her uniform was also dirty and torn. She appeared to have been through a battle. Guards ran into see the disturbance and found her sitting on the floor with a defeated look upon her face.
She raised her hands and simply stated, "Don't shoot. I'm unarmed."
The guard demanded, "Who are you?"
"My name is Dr. Samantha Carter. I need to speak to General Hammond of your SGC." she told them hands raised.
"Who?" the guard huffed.
She then asked, "What year is it?"
"It's nineteen eighty." he barked. "What kind of question is that?"
She exhaled deep and shook her head, "I went too far back."
A short time later she found herself sitting in a secure room upon being given a clean blue jumpsuit, a shower and some food. Into the room a tall clean shaven, dark haired man dressed in a blue uniform and sporting a General's rank walked in to see her.
"Dr. Carter?" he asked upon taking a seat across from her.
She smiled slightly, "Sir."
"I'm General Howard. You claim you are from another reality?" he asked.
"I am," she nodded. "I came to your reality once before but that hasn't happened yet. It won't happen for some time." she tried to explained.
He stated, "I was told you claim that you came here through the ring, from another reality and from a future time. Your version of earth was invaded by killer machines. Is that correct?"
"It is General," she gave a nod. "The entire galaxy fell. There isn't anything left. Going back is a death sentence."
"I see." he stated. "We don't have the ability to use that ring. Sending you back is not an option."
"I can't help you start it up. It would mess up your reality and your future." she explained. "I'm stuck here and I have nowhere to go."
The General removed a piece of paper from his pocket and slid it over to her, "Your new life!"
She took the paper read it off. "Lieutenant Stephanie Converse?"
He shrugged, "I thought you would to keep your initials the same."
"I appreciate that," she gave a nod. "What do you plan on doing with me?"
"I'm not doing anything with you. You are a refugee if what you said is true and you need a new life. I'm offering you a commission in the Air Force and you can take any additional education you wish. I'm giving you a clean slate. And I don't want you any where's near that thing you came here from…Lieutenant Converse."
"You mean start a new life and new career?" she asked.
"As long as you are not near that ring." he nodded. "It's too much of a risk."
She admitted, "I always wanted to learn music." She cocked her head and smiled, "I never had to time to learn to play an instrument. I think that would be a nice thing to do." For Dr. Carter after witnessing the destruction of her planet the last thing she wanted to witness was another world be destroyed. She figured the less she was involved in the scientific field the better for everyone.
"Music lessons it is!" he agreed. "Steph!"
She smiled, "Stevie! I like Stevie better."
"Stevie," he agreed to the new name.
One Year Later
Dr. Samantha Carter has immersed herself in her new life and new career. She completed her master's degree for music in one year which dubbed her to be a musical genius. She quickly mastered twelve instruments and enrolled in a pilot program for music therapy for injured military men. She knew that as long as she stayed as far away from the Stargate as possible this world would be safe and not suffer the same fate as hers.
Captain Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill had returned stateside after his tour of duty in Iraq upon sustaining a serious head injury. He spent most of his recovery in physical and occupational therapy to regain the use of his legs. The military started a new therapy program based on music to help those with serious injuries recover. Jack was never expected to make a full recovery and frankly he wasn't sure if he would ever walk again. The injury left him with a steel plate in his skull and many, many physical and emotional issues.
Jack was brought by wheelchair to his next therapy session. He was dressed in a light blue robe and wore white pajamas underneath with brown slippers. His hair was slowly growing back after being shaved off for the operation he endured. A large scare ran down the side and back of his head just under the soft brown hair. He gave a heavy sigh for he made little progress and figured his life was virtually over. He was single, in his twenties and already in a wheelchair. His large brown chocolate eyes landed on the new therapist as she walked into the room with a guitar case in hand. She was tall and athletic. She wore military dress blues with slacks and a rank of second class lieutenant. She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes and smiled cheerfully at him.
"Captain O'Neill!" she grinned. "I'm your music therapist, Stephanie Converse. You can call me 'Stevie.'"
Jack gazed upon her pretty face. She was the most beautiful music therapist he ever seen. He tried to speak, "Sssttt…"
"Stevie," she then grabbed her guitar from the case and took a seat across from him.
He watched as she tuned the guitar and then started to strum a few cords.
She then sang a popular song by Patsy Cline but in an upbeat tone, "Crazy…I'm crazy for feeling so lonely. Crazy, crazy feeling so blue." She then ad-libbed the song, "I'm Stevie! Stevie is feeling so blue."
Jack let out a little laugh as found her bubbly, funny and aspiring as she kidded about herself in the song.
She paused, "Now you have to sing with me." She strummed, "Stevie!"
Jack managed to sing the name, "Stevie." It wasn't perfect but much to his amazement he actually spoke. He didn't think he ever would be able to speak again. The music seemed to work like magic and got his speech to appear once more.
"See," she cheered. "You can do it!"
He nodded enthused ready to try more.
"Let's do some more." she suggested.
He nodded eagerly and motioned a wave, "Pppp."
"Play?" she asked.
He nodded eager to get back his voice.
Months Later
With intense therapy Jack O'Neill made a remarkable recovery that the military doctors didn't think he could. Not only did he regain the ability to walk but his speech as well. He impressed the officers above him and they took notice of his comeback. He remained on the base to endure more training for Special Forces and continued to see his music therapist in his free time as a budding romance grew.
With the remarkable recovery that Jack made the military wanted to know if there could be other applications for the music. They wanted a weapon and had Dr. Carter aka Lt. Converse transferred with Jack to the new project to explore the possibilities of sound weapons and applications.
As Dr. Carter began to realize the government wanted to find a way to employ popular music against a civilian population, she grew more concerned about the ethics of the program. Her consciousness was pushing her to resign her commission but her heart was with that young captain that never was supposed to walk again. The project was named "Project Moonbeam" and it was to determine if music could be used against a population to control crowds, riots or even move a population in accepting new ideas.
Jack's commanding officer was a tough as nails colonel named Colonel James Bausch. The colonel was a tall man with dark hair and a thin mustache. His eyes were gray and steely. His concern was with the project and nothing more. He wanted results! He wanted a new weapon in the arsenal.
Jack was called into the commander's office on base. He stood in dress blues before his commander. His hair had grown in and the scare had faded. Colonel Bausch stood across from Jack and before his highly organized desk in his dress blues scowling.
"What the hell do you think you are doing, Captain?" he huffed.
A bit ruffled Jack replied, "I don't follow, sir."
He shook his finger at him, "You are heading straight for a court martial and a dishonorable discharge. You are fraternizing with an officer directly under your command." He then picked up a manila file folder from the desk and shook it before Jack's face. "I read your file, Captain. You have potential for a hell of a career. But you are about to throw it all away for some hot blonde."
Jack slowly closed his eyes and gulped in fear.
Colonel Bausch continued, "Let me give you some advice. Never throw your life away for a good fuck. That's what hookers are for."
"It's more than that," Jack started. He shook in fear of his future as he tried to explain it was not just physical but rather emotional. He was in love and couldn't help but dream of a future and a family.
The colonel mocked, "Oh…Do you love her, Captain? Ain't that sweet! But if you are gonna have a career in my Air Force you better start acting more like an officer and less like a teenage boy with a crush. I don't care who is fucking Lt. Converse as long as it's not you. Man-to-man, you have balls kid. I mean real big balls and we need men like you. You have the potential to make General someday. Heck, you could be the Chief of Staff or work in the Pentagon. You could have your own command. But if you continue to fuck that lieutenant you are not gonna see any of that."
"Sir…" Jack tried to explain he had plans to propose.
The colonel wouldn't hear of it, "Stop fucking her! She's not worth it."
"But sir…" he tried again.
"Dismissed Captain!" he huffed.
Jack gulped, "Yes sir." He turned and slowly left the office wondering if perhaps he should resign his commission and simply marry her. He could get a job piloting aircraft for commercial airliners. He didn't have to have a career in the military. He could do anything.
He made his way back to his base provided small home and found Dr. Carter was waiting. He walked inside the single level small ranch home. It wasn't very big but did provide enough room for a small family. He found her sitting in her dress blues on the stained brown sofa he got from a local garage sale. The sunlight softened her hair as she sat near the window with a distant look upon her face. He smiled, "Hey!"
The corner of her mouth tugged up as she softly replied, "Hey."
He took a seat and wrapped his arms around her as she slid into his embrace. He gently pushed back her hair and kissed her forehead, "What ya thinking about?"
"The project." she admitted. Dr. Carter knew she was onto a new technology that could help defeat highly advanced enemies but she feared what Colonel Bausch would do with it and who he would deploy it against.
"It bothers ya." he gathered.
"I have master's degree in music. Music is my life, Jack! What they want to do isn't right. Music is powerful. It can heal or it can harm. The results from experiments are pretty scary for someone like me." She couldn't tell him the true potential of the program due to her scientific background being expunged from her records.
Jack sighed and admitted, "The experiments are pretty scary."
"It's not right." she concluded.
He dug into his pants pocket and gripped the ring he purchased days prior in his hand. He wanted to plan out his proposal. He wanted to surprise her with dinner and a romantic evening. But with the words of his commander echoing in his mind he decided he needed to speed up his plans. He gently placed the ring on her finger.
She looked at what he had done. Gasping she looked upon his face unsure what to say.
"How about it?" he asked.
"I love you." she cried and kissed his lips.
"I love you too." Jack told her excited. It was a yes! An affirmation that they were going to have a long life together. Once they were engaged the commander could not accuse him of screwing around anymore.
Next Day
Dr. Samantha Carter aka Lt. Stephanie Converse, walked into the commander's office with a disturbed look upon her face. She held a report in her hand as she confronted him. "Sir!" she stated alarmed.
"Converse." he replied not even looking up. He held much contempt for her and that shined though in his actions.
"I cannot be a part of this weapons system you are developing. You are talking about using music to brainwash people…" she started.
He looked up at her, "I don't care what you want. You have a job to do so do it, Lieutenant."
"This is unethical," she determined.
"War is not ethical." he told her.
"I can't be a part of this." she insisted. "I want a transfer."
"Denied." he stated. He knew he needed her to finish the project but his dislike for her on a personal level prevented him from logical thinking. He wasn't sure why he didn't like her. She was simply odd to him.
"I want out," she stood her ground.
He sneered, "The only way you are getting off this project is if you quit your commission, Lieutenant." He didn't think much of the statement and assumed she would simply back down.
She glared at him, "As of right now I official resign my commission."
He made a face, "Really! What are you gonna do? Teach little kids to play piano? You know as well as I do you won't be any rock star. The project will ensure only our people get to be professionals." His eyes then caught a glimpse of the ring. He reached up and grabbed her hand, "Who gave you that? O'Neill!"
"We're engaged." she admitted.
He chuckled, "No you're not! I don't want him any where's near the likes of you. O'Neill is going places. You on the other hand should have stayed in the V.A. You are going to give that pretty ring back to him and call it off."
"You can't tell me what to do!" she huffed.
He smirked, "Oh' yes I can. You see it's well documented that O'Neill and you are having an affair. That's a court martial for both of you. If you don't do what I say, I will bring you both up on charges."
"I just resigned." she reminded him.
"Then I will charge, O'Neill." he threatened.
"That's blackmail." she gasped.
"Welcome to the real world." he shrugged it off.
She snorted, "You are such and asshole!" She then promptly turn and marched out of the office.
The commander simply nodded, "Sometimes you have to be one."
Later That Evening
Jack returned home from work and found no one was waiting for him. He closed the door behind him and went to the phone sitting near the living room. He found a note and the ring. His eyes scanned the words as he picked up the paper and the ring.
"Jack, I can't marry you. I will always love you but I can't marry you. I have resigned my commission and I am now leaving. Don't try to find me. I will be on the road fulfilling my dream and playing my music. It's better this way. Love you always, Stevie."
He gently sat down staring at the note and holding the ring. His dream of a family had been shattered. Depressed he just sat and stared at the gemstone with a growing distaste for military brass brewing in his mouth for though she never said, he knew his commander was somehow behind it.
Meanwhile
Dr. Samantha Carter placed the files that she had stolen from the project onto the fire. She was now on the road and camping for the evening. She then took a swig of beer. She placed the bottle down on the camp site picnic table and dug another piece of paper out of her jeans pocket. She read off the words once more. "Pregnancy test was positive." She was forced to leave her baby's father and future husband to prevent the government from making a horrid weapon. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. She had no idea where she was going to go. She heard music coming from the next camp over. They weren't too bad so she decided to grab her guitar and wander over. She found a small VW bus and a group of hippies sitting around the campfire. She smiled as they played. One of the band members waved to her and she waved back. She walked closer carrying her guitar case.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked them.
A man with long dark hair and a thick mustache spoke, "The more the merrier. I'm Hank. This is my band….Ground Floor."
"Nice to meet you all." she replied with a smile.
"You play guitar!" Hank gathered.
"Some." she nodded taking a seat. She felt safe in the company of other people.
"Play anything else?" he wondered.
"Piano, bass, drums…" she started to rattle off.
He held up a hand, "How many instruments do you play woman?"
"Twelve!" she cheered rather proud of her recent accomplishment.
The band all traded glances.
Hank stated, "You're hired!"