Disclaimer in chapter 1

2

Jack paced the briefing room, checking his watch, noticing it had only been about twenty seconds since the last time he'd looked. How long did it take for Fraiser to determine Carter was in one piece? He supposed the whole time difference thing was holding things up. Scrubbing both hands through his hair, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Just because they couldn't agree on how much time had passed, there still could be a reasonable explanation. She'd probably got bumped on the head and was disoriented. Probably.

Daniel entered the room, taking a moment to look up from his papers. His gaze landed on the top of Jack's head, cluing him into his hair's disarray. Hastily, Jack tried to calm his disheveled coiffure.

"Any word about when we can get this show on the road?"

"Janet said it would be about a half hour," Daniel muttered, gaze refocused on the folders in his hands.

"Kinda seems like the magic number," Jack quipped as he resumed his pacing.

"Huh?"

"How long Carter was gone," Jack clarified, realizing his words weren't making it all the way into Daniel's conscious thoughts. Teal'c entered, nodded towards him, then took a seat next to Daniel.

Jack took a seat across from Teal'c, trying to hold his hands steady, but it wasn't long before the pen and pad at his place were being fiddled with. Teal'c stared at him, shifting his gaze to Jack's fingers, giving him the "eyebrow."

General Hammond arrived next. "Sorry I'm late, people," he said, setting down a mug of coffee along with his folders. When his hands were free, he motioned Jack back down from his attempt to stand.

"Major Carter is still in the infirmary?" he asked, taking a seat at the head of the table.

"Apparently so," Jack answered, steepling his fingers over the yellow legal pad, tapping his thumbs together. The tension in the room was escalating the longer Carter took. "Perhaps we should postpone this until tomorrow?" Jack suggested, squirming in his seat.

Hammond closed his eyes then opened them slowly. "I know you've got plans, Colonel, but since there was an incident involving one of your people missing for a time, this briefing can't wait."

"Yes, sir," Jack sighed, staring down at his hands. His other fingers had joined in the tapping, and when he noticed Hammond, Teal'c and even Daniel watching his motions, he made a concerted effort to wind his fingers together and still them. What the hell was taking so long?

Now he was starting to worry. Sam usually breezed through her post-missions and was the one waiting for the rest of them to be cleared. Maybe he'd been a little too hasty in his assumption she was all right. She'd reminded him as they'd strode up the ramp, the electrical storms on P4X-399 were freakishly unpredictable. She'd given him a "worst case scenario" of someone traveling between 'gates if lightening struck, and the outcome wasn't all that bad-the matter stream would be re-directed to another 'gate. So, he'd been forewarned. There hadn't been anything to get excited about, right?

Jack looked up as the door to the conference room opened, and he couldn't help the finally that popped into his mind. His relief quickly dissipated, however, when he got a look at Carter. She was paler than he'd ever seen her, and she looked shell-shocked, her large eyes seeming even bigger in her drawn face. Janet followed her, and Jack was surprised to see her helping Sam to a seat, in her usual spot, next to him.

"Sorry to hold everyone up," Sam said quietly, looking at the general then moving her gaze around the room. When Sam got to him, she brushed her glance over him so quickly that if he'd blinked, he would have missed it.

He wasn't the only one to notice, which started him feeling self-conscious. Daniel raised his eyebrows at him as the archaeologist glanced between Sam and himself. Jack gave him what he hoped was a reproving look and he must have understood, since Daniel suddenly found his paperwork very interesting.

General Hammond cleared his throat, bringing the room to order. "Even though there seems to be some disagreement about the time Major Carter was gone, let's start with your mission to P4X-399."

"I'm sorry, sir," Sam addressed Hammond, "But I don't have my copies."

Pushing the papers in her direction, Jack tried to smile. "No problem, Carter. Why don't you take mine? You know I never read them anyway." She accepted the sheets, managing a small smile that was practically a grimace. Stretching her fingers to the edge of the papers, Sam made sure she didn't come in contact with him. Either Hammond was oblivious, or he was purposely ignoring the Major's behavior.

"Colonel, what happened when you arrived on '399?"

Jack thought for a moment. It had only been that morning they'd embarked to the planet, but it felt like days. "Well, we'd started for the ruins, but as Carter had warned, an electrical storm swept in probably about ten minutes after our arrival." He looked over at her for confirmation, but instead of a bobbing head, he got a wrinkled brow.

"Sir, I never said anything to you about electrical storms. In fact, I was quite surprised when it showed up so suddenly."

"Carter, you stood on the ramp and told me it was more than likely we'd hit some electrical interference."

"No, sir," she said, turning to face him. "I didn't know about any electrical storms, otherwise I would have recommended we do more studies before we went to '399. I know Daniel was anxious to examine the ruins, but I would have advised caution."

"In the pre-mission briefing, you mentioned the storms, but you didn't seem overly concerned. You did give me some 'if worst comes to worst' speech right before we stepped through the 'gate, though."

"No, sir," she repeated, shaking her head. "I never spoke to you on the ramp. I was looking forward to seeing the ruins Daniel had described, so I was as impatient to go as he was."

"Colonel, Major," Hammond interrupted, "There seems to be a discrepancy in your recollections. Now, I was at the briefing with you yesterday, and Major, you did report electrical activity on '399. While I couldn't hear your conversation, I did see you stop on the ramp and say something to Colonel O'Neill prior to disembarking."

"This doesn't make any sense," Sam muttered, looking at the table.

"Ya think?"

Sam looked up sharply, narrowing her eyes. "I know it's been awhile, but I remember the details of that mission. It's not like I haven't been over and over it in my mind."

"Carter, it was this morning! I know you wouldn't forget those details in that amount of time!"

Sam was on her feet, staring him down. "It was eleven and a half months ago! And I didn't know anything about electrical storms!"

"Major Carter!" Hammond snapped, "take your seat!"

Sam looked at the general, contrite. "I'm sorry, sir," she said, sitting back down. Glancing at Jack she added a quick, "Sir." His nod was nearly imperceptible, but he knew she'd seen it.

What was up with her? She'd been acting weird from the moment he'd seen her on the ramp. What could have happened to her in thirty-five minutes? He would've suspected she'd been taken over by a Goa'uld if she hadn't come straight from her physical.

"General, Colonel, if I may?" Janet spoke up. "Perhaps we need to skip to Major Carter's post-mission examination for an explanation."

"Is there something wrong?" Hammond asked.

"Not physically, no." Janet looked over at Sam. "I think the Major can better answer that question." All eyes turned to Sam, and it wasn't until she got a reassuring nod from the doctor she spoke up.

Sam's hands were folded on top of the table's glossy surface, clenched so tight her knuckles were white. "We seem to have a difference of opinion on the time I've been gone," she said, eyes downcast. "You all say I was gone about a half an hour. I know I've been gone for nearly a year."

"Carter, I. . ."

"Please, sir, let me finish." She inhaled, darting a glance in his direction then looking away again. "Daniel was correct in the 'gate room when he said the Stargate had been struck by lightening as I stepped through it. Somehow the matter stream had been jumped to the next nearest 'gate, but I was the only one there. The only thing I can figure out is the rest of you entered late enough that the wormhole had re-connected to Earth, bringing you home."

Sam licked her lips, reaching for her water. "While searching for you, I encountered an energy field which at the time struck me as curious, but not potentially hazardous. Turns out it wasn't as benign as I thought. Since I couldn't see it, I didn't realize I'd become enveloped in the field until some type of surge knocked me to the ground."

"And that's when you hit your head and you thought a year had passed," Jack interjected.

"Colonel," Hammond scolded. "Continue, Major." Sam took another drink of water, still focused on the table top.

"I realized I'd been out for some time, and since I hadn't found anyone, or you hadn't found me, I thought I should try to dial Earth. When I stepped out of the Stargate, I knew something wasn't right. First of all, there was no control room, and there was a DHD."

"So you misdialed," Daniel concluded.

"No, I had the right address, just not the right street, as it were." Sam waited a moment. "I was in an alternate universe."

"Oh, come on, Carter! Really? That's what you're going with? An alternate universe? Isn't that getting to be a bit cliche'?"

Again Sam's eyes narrowed at him. "Cliche' or not, it's what happened. Sir."

"Jack, look at her!" Daniel said. "When we left this morning, her hair was short. It couldn't have grown that much while she was gone."

For the first time, Jack realized what it was that was different about her, other than the whole skittishness. Her hair was pulled back into a short pony tail so it wasn't immediately obvious it had grown. But Daniel was right-it wouldn't have changed that much in a matter of a few hours.

"So maybe she isn't our Carter. If we're going to buy into the whole alternate universe thing, lets go all the way. Maybe she's another Doctor Carter posing as our Sam."

"I can practically guarantee she's our Samantha Carter, right down to the protein marker in her blood," Janet informed them. "Now I suppose it is possible she's from a universe different from ours, but she would have had to have been taken over by Jolinar or some other symbiote in her universe for her blood to be identical."

"I'm not an imposter," Sam spoke up. "But I don't understand how we're remembering events differently," she said, looking over at Jack. "Unless I still haven't made it back to my reality." She looked even more distraught at that possibility.

"What if Sam getting separated from us was the splintering point?" Daniel asked.

"I do not understand this 'splintering point' to which you refer," Teal'c stated.

"The theory is that different actions, decisions, cause the creation of different universes," Sam started to explain. "For example, because I entered the Stargate when the lightening struck, the universe I had been inhabiting had been destroyed, and I entered a new one. Somewhere there's a universe were I didn't enter the Stargate, and events have progressed in a different direction."

Jack rubbed his temples, hoping to dispel his budding headache. "Oh, yeah. She's our Carter all right."

"But if that's the case," Daniel said, "you shouldn't have been able to return to 'our' timeline because it would no longer exist. We would have continued on in one direction and you in another."

"I think that's actually what's happening!" Sam cried, eagerly leaning towards Daniel. "It makes perfect sense!"

Jack wasn't getting it, but that was nothing new. At least Carter's face had gained some color, he thought. "Want to explain it to the rest of the class?"

Sam turned to him, eyes bright. "You're remembering events from your timeline, and I'm remembering them from mine. Because of the divergence, there's been a stumble, a hick-up if you will. It's like a rock in a stream," she said at his continued confusion. "Water flows on either side of the rock and joins up again once it's past the obstacle."

Jack squinted. "So now we're all in the same boat?" Sam gave him a big grin, the first warmth she'd exhibited towards him.

"Major," Hammond said, drawing her attention. "You claim to have been to another universe, and while that could be one possible explanation for the differing viewpoints, it doesn't address how you went to another reality and how you got back. Especially since the quantum mirror here has been destroyed."

"Well, sir, that's a pretty tall order," she smiled, but since she'd made peace in her own mind, Sam's energy seemed to increase tenfold. "I guess the first place to start is when I landed on the unknown planet."

Sam told again of the discovery of the energy field and her subsequent loss of consciousness, which Jack was following, to some degree. It was her next assumption that had his mind spinning again.

"I've had a lot of time to think about it," she said, looking at everyone. "My theory is there are natural 'rips' or 'overlaps' between universes. Perhaps they're always all around us but all the requirements, are not met. I'm guessing everything that happened to me on that planet was a fluke, but you add them all up and it was possible for me to move from one universe to another."

"Kind of like a combination lock," Daniel supplied. "Everything lines up and it opens."

"Exactly!"

Jack got the analogy, but still wasn't tracking. "So why didn't you just come back the way you came?"

Turning to face him, Sam was in total geek mode, and at the first signs of techno-babble, he started to zone out.

". . .So, you see, it wasn't possible to just reverse the process."

Jack blinked, realizing he'd missed her entire explanation. "Right," he answered, hoping it was ambiguous enough to cover his inattentiveness.

"I've also had another thought on how the quantum mirrors were formed," she added.

"Just one?" Jack quipped.

Hammond released a small sigh. "Colonel." Sam didn't seem to be the least distracted by his sarcasm and prattled on with her theory.

"I think based on the tests we made prior to the mirror's destruction, we can all agree the Ancients were the makers of the device." Sam looked around the room and everyone seemed to be in agreement with her. "So what if they were aware of these natural occurring overlaps? What if they decided to make a device that was capable of traveling from one universe to the next?"

"It is conceivable," Teal'c said.

"Even if they could," Daniel said, "why would they?"

"Same reason they had to build the Stargates," Sam answered, "to get from one place to another by the quickest means possible."

"But what advantage is there to go from one reality to another?" Daniel persisted.

Jack exchanged a glance with Sam who seemed stumped for once. "I'm not certain. Maybe they used them like you did-see what our fate could be and try to do something about it in our universe. We may never know what the mirrors were intended for. My point is, I think they got the idea from observing the phenomenon of the energy fields."

General Hammond was bobbing his head. Jack wasn't sure if their leader understood all the implications or was simply agreeing with the spin Carter had put on the situation. "I'm still confused, Major. We destroyed the mirror in this universe, so I'm not sure how you were able to return."

Sam gave him an ironic grin. "I was a bit concerned about that myself, sir. When Colonel Jackson took me to P3R-233. . ."

Daniel's eyebrows shot up. "Colonel Jackson?"

Jack's reaction was equally incredulous. "Daniel was in the military?" They exchanged surprised looks, then turned in unison to stare at Sam. "Lucy, you have a lot of 'splaining to do!"

Sam held up her hand for them to be quiet. "I'll tell you about the differences in a moment. General, in answer to your question, I wasn't sure there would be anothermirror in this universe, but I had to try. I couldn't stay where I was." Again she raised her hand, forestalling Jack's questions. "I was hoping since there were two 'gates on Earth, the possibility of a second mirror in this universe also existed."

"It would appear you were fortunate in your search," Teal'c said. "Where did you find the second device?"

"Do you remember our mission to P4X-347?" she asked.

"Isn't that when we went to the Goa'uld pleasure palace? Daniel asked.

"Well, addictive light wasn't the only thing the Goa'uld indulged in. Turns out they had a mirror as well."

Jack looked at his team mates. "We were on that damn planet for weeks with nothing to do but explore. How come we never came across this other mirror?"

"It was in a subterranean room," Sam said, locking her gaze with his. "The only way in or out were transport rings, and they were connected to another part of the palace I hadn't recalled seeing."

"So you made it out of the palace back to the Stargate," Hammond surmised. "But according to the 'gate logs, you didn't come from P4X-347. According to our information, the incoming wormhole was from '399."

"I didn't? But I don't know how that's possible. . . . Unless. . . ."

"Unless, what, Carter?" Sam grabbed Jack's pad of paper and the pen from his hand and began scribbling formulas, continuing onto the next page.

Tapping the pen against her lips, she shrugged then looked up at him. "I think this might be where our 'hick-up' rejoined." She slid the pad back to him, but all he saw were mathematical formulae that caused his infant headache to suddenly become full grown.

Sam glanced over at Hammond, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't have an explanation for it."

Hammond's smile was indulgent. "That's quite all right, Major. I don't think we need to know the actual mechanics." Sam's brow continued to be scrunched, unwilling to let go.

"You said you had to leave the universe you ended up in?" Jack queried.

Sam looked at him, her eyes suddenly emotional before she looked down again. "I didn't have a choice. Kinsey was going to put me away. He would have used me to get at the people I lo. . .cared about. I couldn't let that happen."

Jack was about to question her further when Hammond interjected, "Perhaps you should start with what happened when you came through the 'gate and realized you were on a different version of Earth."

"Yes, sir." It took a moment before she organized her thoughts and began. Sam outlined her actions while Jack surreptitiously glanced at his watch. No way he seeing the Simpsons, he thought. It wasn't that he didn't want to hear what had happened to Carter and how she'd survived, it was the way she kept glancing his way and quickly averting her eyes. Something had happened she didn't want to talk about, and he had the feeling it had something to do with him.

She'd mentioned having run into a Jack O'Neill at a grocery store in Denver, but that was all she said. She seemed quite happy to to into detail how Daniel was an Army colonel and Ferretti, Kawalsky and Janet comprised SG-1. The differences between the SGCs, the jobs they had that were just slightly off. Hammond in charge of Homeworld Security, her father in charge of the Stargate Coalition. Unless he asked her specific questions, Sam seemed unwilling to volunteer any information having to do with his doppleganger.

Something was up, but he wasn't going to push her. Not yet, at least. He'd worked with Carter for years and if she wasn't ready to talk, she wouldn't. Besides, he was still itching to get cut loose and if he asked her to elaborate, they'd be here all night.

As if they'd come to the same conclusion at the same time, General Hammond began to wrap up the briefing. "Major, I'm sure there's more to your tale, but I think we've hit the high points. It's getting late. Unless there's anything you feel is pertinent. . . .?"

"No, sir," she said, quickly glancing at Jack then turning her attention back to the general. "It'll all be in my report."

"Very good," Hammond announced, climbing to his feet. "Get some rest people. This has been one for the books." Everyone in the room was nodding, gathering their papers.

"You sure you're okay with all this, Carter?" Jack asked.

"Fine, sir," she said, again casting him a quick glance that told Jack she was anything but fine. If he was honest, Jack was relieved Sam hadn't opted to talk. They both sucked at it, especially with each other.

"Ah, okay. See you tomorrow then?"

"Yes, sir." Her smile was forced but he let it slide, quickly leaving before Sam could change her mind.