The briefing room suddenly echoed with a silence rarely heard in the noisy base, as everyone present tried to absorb what the young man had said.

Words that each one thought they never would have heard. Words that they thought could not possibly be true.

General Hammond allowed himself a slight smile at the look of shock on the faces of his leading team.

"Wha... what in the world..." Sam stammered uncharacteristically, her mind whirling around frantically. " I mean, how did you ever find us? How did you know who we are? Sir." she said to General Hammond, panic-stricken all of a sudden. " Sir, we didn't say anything, General. Not a word. I swear! We were very careful!"

" I know that, Major, " General Hammond said calmly. " I have been in communication with Mr. Jones here for several weeks now, since he contacted me initially. I have since, because of circumstances, had to contact the President in order to get top level security clearance for him to be here. This has been done, and it's all right, people. We have made an exception, and Mr. Jones knows all about our Stargate program, and the solar flare that sent you back in time."

"What happened to your parents?", Jack burst out. " I always wondered about them, I just couldn't seem to find out..."

"Please, call me Matthew, " the young man said easily, his dark eyes glancing from one to the other around the table. Teal'c appeared to be his usual unpenetrable self, but Daniel sat pale and silent, rubbing his fingers absentmindly together, as if in deep thought.

" I know that you have a lot of questions, and I will be happy to answer them all. I think I should tell you first off how I found you. I was researching for universities which specialized in astrophysics which I am interested in, when I came across Major Carter's name and picture as the leader in the field today, " he said, with a brief smile and glance at Sam.

"I recognized her name from hearing about it so often from my mother. She was always talking about those days you spent together, they were very meaningful to her. When I showed her the picture she recognized you right away, and she was so stunned, I think, that somehow you existed. I think she had thought that it had been something that could never be proved, that you had all been there, and to find you just like that… after so many years…", he trailed away softly, at the look on Sam's face, still in shock, but trying to absorb all this. Underneath it was the memory which tugged at her like a forgotten scent, and a lump surprisingly rose in Sam's throat as she remembered the dark brown eyes and sweet smile of the young woman that she had so briefly known. Those eyes had been wistful too, yet steady and knowing, and seeing Matthew here made her realize without a doubt that he was her son, that it was like seeing the person she remembered appear before her.

" I contacted the Air Force, and they set me up with General Hammond. That was a few weeks ago, now, and I met him to discuss all this. "

"It was a bit of a shock, as you can imagine, " he went on as General Hammond chuckled.

"But he pulled some strings and got me in to the mountain here, where I have been getting acquainted with your program and the simply incredible work you all do."

"So I think that maybe, "he said with a glace at the General, " we should try to simplify matters by just letting Mom tell you her own story, though her writing. I think if I read it aloud it would be faster than giving it to you individually, though of course, if any message is meant for any one person alone, I will show it to that person in confidence. Is that acceptable? "

The room was quiet for a few minutes, then everyone nodded silently. Sam seemed to have lost the ability for speech, and for once even Jack felt no humor in the situation.

Everyone settled back in their chairs. feeling like somehow what they would hear in the next few hours was going to change their lives. They had gone on so many missions together, met so many people from different worlds, and yet somehow each sensed that hearing of this mission from long ago would be different. That somehow life would not be the same, but whether the change was for good or bad, things would be altered.

Forever.

The briefing room and the military surroundings seemed to somehow fade away for them all, as the sounds and scent of those long-ago, almost forgotten days came to the foreground of their memories. They once again felt the warm summer air of 1969, when Jenny's brown eyes seemed to smile at them in the room through those of her son as he opened her journal.

" Dear Diary…"