Chapter 26

Major John Sheppard turned out to be every bit of the overconfident, cocky pilot that his record indicated. Needless to say, he reminded Fred of himself and Fred decided he wanted him on his team. Within short time Major Sheppard was brought into the SGC and debriefed about the Gate. He then was debriefed about Fred and his daughter and soon discovered that the eighteen year old "kid" pilot was anything but.

Upon being debriefed about the events of 1935, Major Sheppard sat in the briefing room and noted, "I got my ass handed to me by an eighty-eight year old lady!"

Sam laughed, "You did!"

Hammond sat at the head of the table with SG-1 and the newly formed SG-2. He told the Major, "You were not only shown up by a senior citizen but with an obsolete vintage plane."

Sam added, "A plane that, the senior citizen in question, restored herself on her free time after school."

"How did she get to be a cadet if she's eighty-eight?" he wondered.

"Physically she's eighteen," Sam reminded him. "We had to give her and Fred both new identification cards and new dates of birth or it would look rather funny. Colonel Jackson is technically over one hundred years old and flew in World War One."

Fred sat arms crossed and told him, "I help develop what you now call the Air Force. Back then it was a rag-tag group of fliers. We were seen as an auxiliary corps. The Brass didn't think much of it to be honest. They thought more pilots would die than survive and they didn't think planes could get as advanced as they are here. Guys like me thought otherwise."

Sheppard stated, "Thank god for guys like you. Or we wouldn't have an Air Force."

Fred snorted, "If it weren't for guys like me they would still be using horses. Tanks were seen as a boondoggle too."

Daniel mentioned, "Tyrannical leaders usually like to keep technology at a minimum. The Goa'uld keep the advanced technology and use it to enslave the Jaffa and humans. Men like Fred prevent that from happening by ensuring you have the ability to fight on their terms."

Sheppard held up a hand and conceded, "I admit…I really under estimated you and your daughter. So, did I make the cut for racing too?"

Fred noted, "Actually you did. But your first priority is the SGC. Racing comes second." He then let out a sigh. "How did Landry get to be my replacement?" he asked off hand. "I'm still wrapping my head around this?"

Sam shrugged, "He seems like a nice guy and Jackie likes him."

Jack stated, "Hank is a nice guy. I've known him a long time. He's a family man and career officer. I think the Brass knows what Jackie can do. If you are her C.O. that could be seen as a conflict of interest and she would have to be removed from racing. And I think they want her front and center."

Daniel asked, "Why?"

"Thank about it," he told his friend. "She was a Tok'ra operative for sixty-five years. She flew in the thirties as an air racer working for Army Intel. Satellites are great but sometimes you need a real operative on the ground."

Daniel gasped, "You don't think they are resurrecting Fred's old spy network?"

"What makes you think it ever went away?" he shrugged.

Fred noted, "That makes sense. They would have to move me out of the way and put in this nice fatherly figure, someone who would be good on camera. There's a lot of publicity involved. It creates a cover and allows access to areas we normally would not. We use academics in the name of 'research' all the time."

Daniel stuttered shocked, "Wwwhat?"

"The best way to get access to spy on a government, institute or person is to be invited in," he admitted. "Did you think all those Egyptian digs were actual digs? Like a University is really going to spend that kind of money digging up old bones on theories that could be crap? Heck no! We funnel money to the universities to act a as cover for our operatives." Fred explained.

Daniel asked, "What were they looking for when Langford found the Gate?"

He shrugged, "I have no idea but I can tell you one thing. The dig wasn't the primary reason for being there."

"Is that why you have such a bias against academics?" wondered Daniel.

"Catching on," he smirked.

Dr. Weir sat baffled, "Well maybe that's the way it was in your time, Colonel but today academia is not used as a cover for spies…" she then tailed as she thought about the notion. "Or I don't think it is…"

Fred stated, "Sister…You have no idea!"

Janet came to her aid, "I highly doubt there are spies in a college setting. Universities are places of higher education."

Fred disagreed and stated, "The smelly kid trying to get you to make the bomb is your operative."

"Okay Mulder," huffed Daniel. "Let's get put the spy stuff aside, shall we?"

"Mulder?" he asked baffled.

Jack stated, "TV show. You might like that one."

Hammond spoke up, "Dr. Jackson is right. We need to stay on track here. Now, what's the latest on Anubis?"

Sam replied, "The Tok'ra have nothing. Apparently when we exposed Jackie they lost their primary operative and intel dried up."

"We need to know what he is up to," Hammond insisted.

"Jackie's been ousted." Sam replied with a shrug.

Daniel asked, "What about that thief who knew Kaamelot was going to be attacked? Vala!"

"We can try to contact her," she stated. "She worked for Jackie as an operative."

"Maybe Jackie can help us contact her," Daniel suggested.

"Good idea," Hammond agreed. "I'll have her come in today and assist us in trying to find her."

Hours Later

Jon came back to the SGC after tending to the birds off world. Much to his surprise Jackie was in the SGC as well. He found her in the commissary with Sam as they had lunch.

"Hey," he smiled and sat down beside his girlfriend. "How did the test flight go?"

"Went good," she grinned. "How was your morning?"

"I cleaned bird crap out of cages," he miffed. So far it seemed that his girlfriend was living a very exciting life while he got the dirty work. To him Dee was right; Jackie did have an exciting life.

Sam asked, "Why do you have to do that? Have some enlisted do it."

Jon shook his head, "No...In order to bond with the birds you have to be a caretaker. It's part of the bonding process with the animal."

"Oh," she agreed. "I see."

Jackie looked over at him, "Sometimes I wish I had your job."

He cocked an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Your job is so much more exciting," she told him. "You get work with falcons and hawks do all this neat stuff with them. I get do routine flights and school is, frankly really boring." Her eyes lit up, "Working with wild birds is so neat. I always loved birds and wildlife. I used to spend all day hunting and it didn't bother me at all."

It soon became apparent to Jon that to Jackie his life was exciting. She loved wildlife and the idea of working with falcons and other birds of prey was far more interesting to her. "Too bad we can't switch," he stated. "Sometimes I get a little bored to be honest."

"I would love to switch jobs," she admitted. "I could spend all day in the woods and be perfectly happy."

Sam laughed, "Grass is always greener on the other side of the pasture."

Jon smirked, "Yeah, because that's where all the crap is."

"You were just telling me how you spent all morning cleaning out cages, Jon." she reminded him.

"As I said, I know crap!" he stated.

Sam chuckled, "That you do. After lunch can you help me move some things in the storage room? With the pregnancy I can't lift anything real heavy."

"Sure," he nodded.

"I'll give ya a hand," Jackie offered. "I can't do anything until they track down Vala."

"Sounds good," Sam agreed.

After Lunch

Sam led her two helpers into the dimly storage room. She noted, "I have to move these boxes onto that pallet. I got some enlisted to bring a pallet jack and move it out to a larger storage room for me later today."

Jon started as he lifted, "These are heavy." He placed the first box on the pallet.

Jackie placed the next box and Sam picked up the lighter boxes. Within short time they were nearly done when they came across the last box. It wasn't heavy but it was very long and difficult to handle.

Jon grabbed the end, "Get that side Jackie."

She complained as Sam directed them from the side. "That should go right on top."

As they walked the long box closer to the pallet the bottom of the box gave way and the oblong silver device fell to the cement floor. Upon hitting the floor a bright light erupted from both ends aimed directly at Jackie and Jon. The light soon faded and Jon stood holding the empty box by the end and looking at himself.

"What just happened?" he asked.

Jackie stood on the other end looked and at herself as well, "I don't know."

Sam stood to the side, "Are you two okay?"

"No Carter…We're not!" Jon spoke but it was Jackie's body that answered.

Sam cocked an eyebrow and looked at Jackie's body, "Jon?"

He nodded, "Yup."

She looked at Jon's body and asked, "Jackie?"

She nodded, "Yes! What happened? Why am I looking at myself?"

"Oh no," she shook her head. "You're in Jon's body and he's in yours."

"What?" she asked. "Can we fix this?"

"Place that box down," she told them and went to the device. "Oh," she shook her head. "It's broken. I'll have to fix it to switch you back."

Jon, "How long will that be?"

"I don't know," Sam admitted.

Jon suggested, "We'll just tell everyone we switched…"

"We can't!" Jackie huffed. "You have to be me and I have to be you until Sam can fix it."

"Why?" he wondered.

"Because Landry just recruited me for Military Intelligence," she winced in confession.

He rolled her eyes, "Tell him you can't do it."

"In exchange I get a Lockheed Electra and a chance to find out what happened to Millie," she gulped. "This is my only chance to find out what happened to her. I can't back out. And school…You have to go in my place."

Sam looked at Jon's body and spoke to Jackie, "So your father was right. Intelligence is up to something."

"Of course they are," she shrugged. "When are they not?"

She sighed, "I will notify Hammond and have him keep it quiet until I can fix it."

Jon looked down at the body, "Carter…I have the body of an eighteen year old girl right now. Fix this fast!"

"It will take time," she told him. She gathered the broken device and placed it on the nearby shelf. "I have to bring this back to my lab and work on it."

"The sooner the better," Jon complained.