Chapter 2

Just as Olivia plopped down on the couch after returning home from dinner she got a phone call on her cell phone. She looked at the watch and cell phone combination device on her wrist as it buzzed with the notification. It was her mother! She waved her finger over the glass and before her a small hologram of a much older Samantha Carter's head and shoulders appeared.

Sam looked excited when she beamed, "How did your first day go, honey?"

"My car battery died but I was able to start it with the power bank that you gave me," she informed.

"That power bank will fully charge that battery." Sam assured. "So, how was your first day?" she asked again.

"I got your old office." she smirked. "Uncle John is my CO and Kyle is what's left of SG-1. They are winding down the program, Mom. The base will be closed."

"I figured as much but as long as they leave the Gate the timeline will be okay." she informed.

"Why do we need to leave the Stargate?" Olivia wondered.

"When your father, I and our SG-1 went through the Gate we hit a wormhole early on in the program. It sent us to 1969 and General Hammond helped us return home. But we didn't make it the first time. We overshot the destination and ended up decades in the future. Probably another 30 years from now. Cassie was there to meet us and send us back. She was an old woman. I almost didn't recognize her. The Gate has to stay in the SGC so we can keep the timeline and Cassie will be there to send us back."

She cocked her eyebrow, "Did Cassie fill ya in on what the future is like?"

"No," she shook her head. "But she was able to dial the Gate with a controller the size of a piece of jewelry. She knew not to tell us any details."

"Ah," she gave a nod.

Sam stated, "Long day, huh!"

She yawned and nodded, "Yup! I'm working on old artifacts that you placed in storage for further study and was never touched."

Sam rolled her eyes, "Oh lord! I know a lot of it was never followed up on after we brought Atlantis back to Earth. Everyone concentrated on the city at that point."

"I figured." she agreed with a nod.

"Did you eat dinner?" Sam asked worried for her only child.

She nodded and yawned again, "Uncle John and I got tacos."

"I'm glad he's there with you. Him and Rodney both kind of adopted you as their own niece." she recalled.

"I could use Uncle Rodney's help getting through all the artifacts if he wants to come out of retirement." she suggested.

"I'll drop him a line." she agreed. "I can see you're tired. You get a good night's sleep."

"How's dad?" she asked.

"He's in bed sleeping." she informed. "The doctor changed his medication a bit and he's feeling better now. He got that new scooter you sent this morning. He loves it! He's driving all over the city with it. It gets him out of the apartment more often. He will go in for knee surgery next week and he will need it when he recovers. I just hope he doesn't run over Daniel with it in the meantime."

"Good," she gave a hard nod and then yawned again.

"I'll let ya go now," Sam told her. "Love you, honey."

"Love ya too, Mom." she replied right before the call ended.

She placed her arms down and closed her eyes. She thought of the story her mother told. "Boy if it was me they met in the future I would have blabbed like no tomorrow just to see the look on mom's face."

Next Day

Olivia was on a mission! She was going to kick the caffeine habit she developed in the Academy and stop drinking so much coffee. Thus, she switched to black tea. She wasn't ready just yet to give up on that ever so needed stimulant. She walked into the lab with a hot mug of tea and placed it on the table by the artifact. She then booted up the nearby computer system and was getting the day prepared. She retrieved Sam's hand written notes and started to read over the paper. As she read she grabbed her mug of tea and took a sip. She went to place the mug down while still reading and misjudged the table top. The mug slipped and fell from her hand. As it fell hot tea spilled onto the artifact's internal computer system that was attached by cables and cords to the lab's computers. The mug then hit the floor and broke.

"Ah' for crying out loud," she miffed to herself. She found herself in a big mess. She went for the paper towels to clean up the spilled tea hoping she didn't damage the artifact. As she began to clean the tea up she touched the artifact and it initiated a blue glow from the inner workings. "Oh crap!" she winced figuring she should have been more careful. "What the hell? Am I jinxed or something?" she picked up the broken mug and went to the computer to shut down the artifact but it would not respond to any commands. She winced, "This isn't good!"

Olivia spent hours trying to get the artifact to shut down but to no avail. It was if it had a mind of its own. The tea damaged some of the inner workings of the device and made inter-phasing nearly impossible.

Kyle stepped into the lab to retrieve Olivia for lunch. He spoke rather peppy, "Hey Livy! Ready for lunch?" he noticed the blue light coming from the artifact. "Is that supposed to be doing that?" he asked pointing.

"No," she shook her head still trying to get some control via the computer.

He stepped closer, "Everything okay?" he asked her for he could tell she was stressed.

She confessed, "I spilled some hot tea this morning and some of got into this thing. It activated and I can't get it to shut down."

"Anything I can do to help?" he offered concerned.

"No," she shook her head still kicking herself for spilling the tea in the first place.

He suggested, "How about you give your mom a call. I'm sure she can help ya."

Olivia grew tired of living in her mother's shadow. It seemed to her that whenever she found herself in a mess her mother came and fixed it. She was determined to fix this problem on her own. "I've got it!" she sounded.

"But your mom is the leading expert on Ancient tech." he reminded her.

She sternly announced, "I don't need her to bail me out every time there is a little hiccup. I can do this!"

He understood Olivia wanted to take care of the issue herself but he feared she was over her head. "Okay but if you need to then please call her."

"I will," she assured him not believing her own words. She continued to work, "I'm gonna have to skip lunch for now." she stated determined to get the device under control without her mother's help.

"Okay," he gave a heavy sigh and then walked out of the lab shaking his head.

As Olivia worked, suddenly a much younger version of her mother appeared on the other side of the table. She held a rank of major and glanced up. She blinked and cocked her head unsure what had happened.

Olivia assumed it was her mind playing tricks on her and she was hallucinating. She insisted, "I can do this on my own!" Suddenly the younger version of Sam disappeared and Olivia figured it was just her imagination. "I can do this without running to my mother." she determined.

Year 2000

Newly promoted Major Samantha Carter had been working on yet another artifact that was brought back from off world. She had yet to determine what it was but it suddenly activated before her. She looked up and there stood a young Captain who said the oddest thing to her.

"I can do this on my own!" she declared and then disappeared and the artifact shut down.

Sam rubbed her face and eyes wondering if she was seeing things. She double checked her readings and got no indication that the artifact ever started. "I need a break," she figured. She then grabbed her empty mug, "I'll go get some tea." she told herself.

Year 2030

Olivia shook herself and figured she needed a break after her hallucination. She took her mug that she glued the handle back onto and left to get a fresh cup of tea. As she walked down the hallway towards the commissary she spied what looked much like a man who materialized from thin air before her. She recognized him from a picture. He looked like the late General George Hammond.

General George Hammond was making his way towards Sam's lab when suddenly he felt a shift in the air. It was like the air was electric. Before him a young captain that he never saw before was walking towards him with a confused and concerned expression. As he came closer to her he greeted, "Captain." His noticed her name badge was O'Neill and he didn't recall a Captain O'Neill. He also noticed the battle dress uniform's pockets were more of an angle and not as bulky compared to standard issue.

She stopped and felt her forehead. She asked, "General Hammond?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I don't recall seeing you before Captain."

"Um," she wasn't sure what she should do. She then spied General John Sheppard turn the corner up ahead and start down the same hallway. She wondered if she was hallucinating and figured now would be a good time to find out. "General!" she called out a bit concerned.

As John Sheppard got closer his eyes settled on a man who he had not seen in decades. His mouth dropped, "General Hammond!"

George turned and looked at him, "Who are you?" he asked.

John looked to Olivia, "What happened?"

"The artifact I'm working on activated and I can't get it to shut down. I think it's affecting the base but I'm not sure what it's doing yet." she explained as she figured she was not hallucinating. "Somehow it brought General Hammond here…I think…" she winced fearing she would need her mother to fix the mess.

"What in tarnation is going on?" Hammond asked confused.

Sheppard asked, "What year is it for you, General?"

"It's the year 2000." he told him.

"That was thirty years ago." he explained. "It's 2030 and you traveled through time. I'm General John Sheppard and I'm the Commanding Officer of Star Gate Command. We will find a way to get you back, sir." he assured him. He asked Olivia, "Maybe we should call your mom."

"I can do this on my own." she stated determined.

"But she's an expert in Ancient tech, Livy!" he disagreed but sympathized for it was hard having Samantha Carter's reputation proceeding everything Olivia did.

General Hammond asked, "Who is her mother?" The only person he could think of that could help was Samantha Carter and he was thinking of requesting her.

"Sam Carter," John announced with a smirk.

General Hammond looked back to Olivia, "Samantha Carter is your mother?"

She nodded, "Yup."

"Your last name is O'Neill." he countered. "Who is your father?"

"Jack O'Neill," she told him.

He gasped, "Your parents are Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neill!"

She nodded, "It sucks for me too."

John stated, "You have twenty-four hours, Livy. If you can't get General Hammond back and that device shut down I'm calling in Sam."

"Okay!" she snorted feeling pressured, "I can do this on my own. You don't have to call my mother."