Chapter 4

Olivia worked tirelessly on the device to attempt to gain control but so far everything she tried failed. The power output levels slowly increased as well as far more frequent connections with the past. As each moment of contact occurred the duration lasted longer and frequency grew closer until the two SGC's merged and remained connected.

Suddenly the base was full with men and women from the past and the original SG-1 found themselves stuck on a base with strangers from the future.

Sam wasn't aware that Captain O'Neill from the future was in fact her daughter. She tried to help her future counterpart every time they connected until finally the connection solidified. In a way Sam was grateful for now she could see what was on the other end of the connection.

She watched as Olivia held up her wrist watch before her face and was checking the time. Sam asked, "How long now?"

"Five minutes." she replied.

Sam walked around the table to Olivia's side. She found the computer screen and began to read off the information. She stated, "We seem to be in some kind of gravitational wave."

"I know," she nodded.

"May I?" Sam motioned towards the keyboard.

"Go ahead." she gave in wishing she could have fixed the issue on her own.

Sam took a seat before the keyboard and typed in a few commands. The results were baffling even to her. "That's odd!" she pondered what they were trapped in. "This wave in circular. It's going around us like a storm. The device is making some kind of gravitational wave that is moving time space around it." She looked at the device at the Sam time as Olivia. Both stood pondering.

Olivia suddenly realized what they were dealing with, "It's warping space and time around us."

Sam agreed, "I know."

"It's an engine." she figured. "It's a warp drive engine!"

Sam cocked her head and looked up over her shoulder at Olivia. She had to agree, "I think you are right. I had activated it to run basic diagnostics and it shut down with no issues. It was then placed in storage and you pulled it out 30 years later and started to run more diagnostics but for some reason it won't shut down and it is out of control. What happened?" she pondered if it had been damaged while in storage.

Jack walked into the lab looking for Sam. He called out, "Carter!" he then spotted the young Captain that as far as he knew was just someone with the same last name. "You figure this whole thing out yet? No can call out! We have no communications! Gate won't dial in or out and right now we have two Generals."

Sam was about to reply when Kyle Mitchell walked in behind Jack. He called, "Livy! You figure this thing out yet?" He then found Colonel Jack O'Neill standing before him with an odd look upon his face. Kyle greeted, "Sir."

Sam stated, "Captain O'Neill and I have figured out some of what is going on but I think it will be best to have a briefing so we don't end up repeating ourselves."

Olivia sat thinking to herself about the spilled tea. She knew she caused the damage but really didn't want to tell anyone fearing she would mocked for yet again her mother had to come a save her from another embarrassment. She hoped they could fix the situation without telling anyone that her clumsiness caused it in the first place. She just stood looking rather meek.

Jack agreed, "Sounds good!" He then looked at Olivia, "We related by any chance, Captain?" He motioned towards her name badge wondering if she was a cousin.

Kyle spouted, "She's your daughter!" He then paused and added, "Sir." He wondered if she should have kept that information from Jack at that point as his face contorted in thought.

"Wait!" Jack looked at the young Captain. "You're my kid?"

She nodded, "Yeah!"

"Who is your mother then?" he wondered for if he had a child there must be a mother.

Sam held up a hand and warned, "Do not tell us that! Anything we learn here could alter the timeline. Our mission is to get control over this device, stop the warping and hopefully we will all return to our correct time."

Olivia debated if she should tell Sam that she is her mother or not. She would love to see the look on her mother's young face yet she already was in so much trouble.

Jack suggested, "Someone can whisper it in my ear. I would like to know that."

Olivia figured she was in enough trouble and stuck with her mother's orders and affirmed, "Timeline!"

Jack looked upon her, "Fine! You don't have to tell me. But I want to get to know you."

"Okay," she agreed and added, "after the briefing."

"Good," he nodded. He looked at Kyle, "Mitchell, huh!"

He replied, "Yes sir."

Sam added, "I went to the Academy with a man named Cameron Mitchell. You reminded me of him a little, Kyle."

"He's my uncle." he told her.

She smiled, "Your uncle is a good man."

"Thank you, ma'am." he replied.

Olivia added, "His uncle was on SG-1 too for a while."

Sam gave a displeased look, "Timeline, Captain! You can't tell us things like that."

"Sorry," she sighed.

"It's okay. I know how easy it is to slip up like that." She then wondered, "Was I still on SG-1 with Cam?" She shook her head and held up the palm of her hand to stop herself, "Don't tell me! I shouldn't know." She stood up from the stool, "Let's get everyone together for the briefing."

Daniel's Office

Dr. Daniel Jackson found his office seemed to be out of order. He found it was rather full with not only his books and research material but boxes stacked high against the wall. He looked about wondering why his office was looking more like a storage room than an office and lab. He grabbed a box and opened the lid. Inside he found old uniforms. He closed it again and found another box that was filled with paper files. He started to thumb through the files and noted the dates, "2020, 2019, 2018, 2017..." he flipped to the back, "2010." He closed the box and opened the yet another box. "2009, 2008..." he flipped to the back, "1999." He pulled the file and found it was a general report of what occurred the previous year written by General Hammond. He looked back at the files and realized, "There is twenty years' worth of information here."

Sam led Jack, Olivia and Kyle to his door. "Daniel!" she called out as they stepped inside. She noticed his office was full. "Um…" she never seen it such a mess before.

"Sam," he looked back at her. "These boxes have old files in them."

Kyle stated, "We use this old office for storage."

"I found last years' report," he mentioned. "I found reports going 20 years into the future."

Sam stated, "We can't read them! Captain O'Neill and I figured out what the artifact is and what it is doing. I'm pulling everyone together for a briefing."

"I'll be right there." he agreed. He looked at Olivia, "O'Neill, huh?"

Jack proudly proclaimed, "She's my future kid."

Daniel wondered, "Then who would be her mother?"

Sam huffed annoyed, "We don't need to know that. It's bad enough Captain Mitchell told Colonel O'Neill in the first place." She marched on, "Come on! I got a briefing to do."

Briefing Room

General George Hammond sat at the opposite end of the table as he let General John Sheppard take control of the briefing. SG-1 with Kyle and Olivia and Janet Frasier took their seats. Daniel looked upon those at the table.

"We're 30 years into the future, right?" Daniel asked.

"Sort of," Sam explained. "We're in more of a time warp though."

"Oh," he gave a nod. "So, is this the same table?" he asked curious.

Jack glanced over the table, "Looks like our table."

John nodded, "We've had the same table for over thirty years."

Olivia figured, "The table is older than me."

"It's a good table," John told her. He looked to Sam, "So…explain time warp to us, Sam."

"I'll try to explain it the best I can with what information we have, General Sheppard." she started. For Sam she never met John Sheppard before and he was a much older man and he out ranked her.

"John," he replied.

"Sir," she state confused.

"We're the same age, Sam. We've known each other for decades. You always call me, John." he explained.

"I just met you today." she rebutted.

John let out a heavy sigh for he forgot what the point of view would be for a much younger Samantha Carter.

Olivia smirked, "Don't feel bad. She has no idea who I am."

Daniel found that to be an odd statement and glanced around the table. He noticed Janet Frasier and General Hammond both went tight-lipped. He figured they knew something about Olivia.

Sam stated, "I'm very much aware that Colonel O'Neill is your father." She then continued, "Captain O'Neill and I figured out what the device is and what it is doing. It's a type of engine that can warp space and time around it. I had it going to run some basic diagnostics and I think it might have gotten damaged while in storage and when Captain O'Neill activated it to run her diagnostics it started running out of control and warping space and time around the SGC. The base is the center of a time warp and that has isolated us so we can't dial out or get any communications from outside the base."

Kyle rebutted, "How could it have been damaged in storage? It was packed real well, in a wooden crate and I helped Livy move it." He feared it was damaged when he and Olivia were moving the device.

"I don't know how it got damaged but the inner control crystals are cracked. I can only assume it was dropped." she figured.

Jack cocked an eyebrow, "Dropped!" It didn't make sense for artifacts were packed to prevent any damage.

Janet agreed, "Doesn't sound like a very sturdy wrap drive engine to me."

Teal'c ageed, "Indeed! Such an engine would require stability."

Sam figured, "It's a prototype. All I can do is assume it was dropped. The crystals are cracked. Few things can crack a crystal. Either it was dropped or exposed to electricity and heat."

Kyle recalled Olivia spilling hot tea and breaking the mug. He asked, "Could a hot liquid that was maybe spilled while it was running do it?"

"Possible," she nodded wondering what he knew.

He looked to Olivia, "You might want to tell them."

Her shoulder's slunk as she let out a deep sigh, "When I was starting to run diagnostics I accidentally activated it and spilled a mug of hot tea that got inside it. I thought I had it cleaned up but I didn't see the crack in the crystal at first."

Sam let out a deep sigh for that event would explain the damage she found.

Jack asked, "How do you spill hot tea on a warp drive engine?"

She rebutted, "I'm an O'Neill! Not only did I get the Ancient gene from you but also the O'Neill clumsy gene."

Daniel had to agree, "You are the only one who breaks things around here, Jack."

He defended, "But I have never broken a warp drive engine!"

General Hammond asked, "Do you have the engine under control?"

Sam shook her head, "We need to repair the broken crystals to get control of it. I don't know how to repair the crystals and to replace them we need to contact the Asgard. Thor could help us fix the engine to get back control."

John sighed, "We lost all the Asgard."

Jack cranked his head, "All the Asgard!"

He nodded, "The Asgard are all gone now."

Olivia countered, "We are in a time warp, General. We can connect to the Asgard of the past and get help. We can adjust the Gate to drill through the warped space and get a team out."

Sam stated, "That will take a tremendous amount of power."

"Use a ZPM," she suggested.

Daniel sighed, "Those are hard to come by."

"We have three on Atlantis." she countered.

"Atlantis?" he asked surprised.

Olivia nodded, "We found it! It's here on Earth. We just need to get out of the base."

Sam warned, "That will be tricky. Time has warped around us in a circle. Stepped through the warp could land you at any point in the last 30 years. We would have to map out the wrap to find the exist points and coming back inside will be just as tricky if possible at all."

John stated, "Start making that map up, Sam. It's our best shot."

General Hammond asked, "What happens if we don't get the engine under control?"

Sam explained, "The time warp can grow beyond the base and eventually engulf the entire planet. Earth could end up leaving our solar system and become a rogue planet."

Olivia nodded, "Earth becomes a space ship."

Kyle smirked, "Space ship Earth! That doesn't sound so bad."

She smirked back, "It will be a rock with no life! We lose orbit, we lose the sun and our atmosphere. You and I will be skeletons on a big rock warping through space."

Daniel winced, "That doesn't sound so good."

Kyle agreed, "Nope."

Sam figured, "We just can't let the warp progress that far. Now, where on Earth is Atlantis?"

"San Francisco Bay," John stated.

"I'll go!" Sam volunteered.

"You can take my car." Olivia offered feeling terrible about the mess she created.

John shook his head, "I need both you and Livy here, Sam."

Jack volunteered, "I'll go!"

"As shall I!" Teal'c also volunteered.

Daniel stated, "I want to see Atlantis."

John looked about the group, "Kyle can escort Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson to Atlantis. You will need Rodney's help to get the ZPM." He looked at Kyle, "I can't get messages out so you will have to hand deliver any messages once you get outside." He looked to Teal'c, "I think I might need you here, Teal'c."

"Very well," The Jaffa agreed.

"Good," he grinned, "least we got a plan."