Wednesday, May 12
Reality L583

The three women had exchanged the results of their experiments, discussed future plans and then separated again. Jack was praying that they'd come up with something soon. He'd known his Daniel too long not to recognize the maniacally optimistic mood that this one was in as desperation. He didn't want to show his hosts how anxious he really was, and Jack couldn't blame him.

Rothman brought him work and reference materials, and Jack provided him with a human being to bounce his emotional ping-pong balls off of. He had a feeling that this being the third alternate reality since he'd been abducted from his own was making the poor man feel very dislocated. He'd been in three universes now where there were people and places that were familiar but not.

Teal'c was having his own emotional reactions that were causing him to be more distant from this Daniel, which left Jack as the person holding the bag, mostly alone. Hammond came by regularly, as his duties permitted, but his response to the new situation had been to find someone else to handle Jack's daily duties rather than detailing someone else to the Daniel watch. Jack had left this Daniel with Rothman long enough to let Hammond know that he thought the archeologist was on an emotional precipice and why, and the general had agreed that Jack needed to be with him pretty much all the time.

Oddly enough, Daniel hadn't objected to Jack hanging around on a consistent basis, which confirmed his own belief that the man was feeling the need for constant support.

There was a light tapping on the door, then it opened quietly. Daniel was asleep at the moment and didn't wake up as the general stepped inside. "I thought you should know, I sent Carter home. She hasn't been getting enough sleep, and Fraiser informed me that she wasn't going to unless she was removed from the base."

Jack nodded. "Makes sense. Any news?"

"Nothing so far, but I'm not surprised. We'll just have to give it a little more time." He glanced over at the sleeping archeologist. "How's he holding up?"

"As well as can be expected under the circumstances," Jack said. "Poor man."

Hammond nodded. "Is there anything else the two of you need?"

"More for him to do?" Jack suggested. "He needs something to keep his mind of things, and something that's not obviously make work. He needs to feel like he's doing something valuable."

"I'll see what I can find," Hammond said.

"Thanks, sir," Jack said.

"Now, you need to get rest, too. That's why we brought a cot in here."

"Are you ordering me to go to bed, sir?" Jack asked.

"I am, colonel," Hammond replied with a faint grin. "Any objections?"

"No sir, just checking."

"Good night, Jack."

Jack nodded and went to lay down on the cot. He took one last look at the Daniel on the bed, then rolled over and went to sleep, trying not to wonder what might be going on with his own Daniel.

Thursday, May 13

Jack was reading through one of SG-3's reports, analyzing their discoveries for possible military applications. The visiting Daniel was translating some kind of text, Jack didn't know anything about it except that there were some lives riding on the solution.

Rothman came in with a stack of books and an offer of assistance that was gladly taken up by Daniel. Jack said, "I'll be back in a couple of hours, okay?"

"Sure, Jack," Daniel said. "You need to get out of here more. Go, don't come back for awhile."

Jack smiled. He must be feeling better if he was getting that variety of pushy. "Okay, I know when I'm not wanted."

He left and went to get cleaned up. Heading to his office, he sorted through his e-mails and the notes on what had been taken care of for him. There were a few things he needed to discuss with Hammond where Daniel couldn't hear him, so he got up and started towards the door. The phone rang just as his hand hit the knob, and he turned back.

"O'Neill."

"Sir!" It was Carter, sounding excited. His heart picked up the pace a little in response. "Sir, I think we've found it! Don't tell Daniel in case I'm wrong, but come here! Now! Sir!" The phone crashed down, and he was out the door after hanging up his own receiver.

He and Hammond arrived at the same moment, and Teal'c was a moment after them. All three Carters were present. Their Carter stepped forward. "Okay, sirs, we think we've found the right method. It's like punching a tiny pinhole through the energy barriers that separate the realities."

"You're punching a hole in the universe?!" Jack exclaimed incredulously. "Maybe I'm off base here, but isn't that bad?"

"Well, technically, yes, sir," Carter said uncertainly.

"And we're okay with this?" he asked.

"It's hard to explain, sir," kid-Sam said. "We got some technical help from Lya, so we don't altogether understand it ourselves. Basically, the hole is only open for 1.738 nanoseconds, then closes behind you."

"So it's safe?"

"Yes, sir," two of them answered at once.

"Just curious, was it your Lya or our Lya?"

"Ours," Carter said. "So, now we think we can go there, but we don't know who to send to go talk to those folks."

"I'm thinking that I'm a poor choice," Samantha said. "After all, they've had the double whammy of having their Daniel taken and having a Daniel . . . um . . . well, die in their arms, all because of my reality. I think it needs to be someone from here."

"I'll go," Jack said instantly.

"I do not think that O'Neill should go," Teal'c said, and Jack turned to him in astonishment. "It was an O'Neill who robbed them of their Daniel. They will be suspicious of any O'Neill who shows up."

"And they might shoot first and ask questions later," Samantha said, giving him a sympathetic look. "Most of the realities were pretty unwelcoming to me and Maybourne, and neither of us was known to be involved in the kidnappings."

To Jack's dismay, Hammond was nodding. "I'm forced to agree, colonel. I think sending you would be a poor choice indeed."

"Then who do you want to send?"

"I think I should go," Carter said. "Teal'c could be misinterpreted as well, but I don't see how they could suspect me of anything too underhanded."

Jack wanted to object, but he couldn't come up with a rational reason to do so. "Fine. But I don't want you gone more than fifteen minutes the first time."

"That seems reasonable," Hammond said, giving him a dry look. "How does this work, ladies?"

The explanation went over his head. All Jack could think was that he was now running the risk of losing both of the science twins, which made him very nervous. The key part of the explanation that sank into his mind was that they had two devices, so if Carter went and didn't come back in fifteen minutes, they would be able to follow her. Apparently all that was needed was part of the material of a mirror, and that they had from fragments that had blown through into Samantha's reality when the original mirror was destroyed.

They gave Carter ten feet of clearance and then she smiled and pressed the button, vanishing from sight.

Reality G298

Sam was a lot more nervous about this trip than she had let on. If she'd seemed even slightly uncertain about it, she was sure that the colonel would have tried to pull the plug, and she didn't want to delay it another second.

The world seemed to shake and shimmy around her for a moment, then she found herself staring at . . . herself . . . on the other end of the same lab she'd been in before.

The other Carter looked up and her eyes widened. Then she slammed her hand down on a button beside her work station. Before the klaxon really had a chance to register in her mind, Sam recognized the gesture and raised her hands above her head scant seconds before the guards came pouring into the room with their weapons on all trained on her.

The Captain Carter walked forward and said, "Who are you and where are you from?"

"My name is Captain Samantha Carter," Sam said, "and I'm from the same reality the Daniel that I think you rescued is from."

The other Carter blinked a few times. "The Daniel that you think we rescued?" she asked.

Sam nodded. "Did you rescue a Daniel from the reality that was stealing them? One who died abruptly?" The other woman's eyes widened but she didn't speak. "And . . ." Sam glanced at the guards. "I have a question I'd rather not ask aloud."

"You do?" Sam found herself thinking of the other woman as 'Pinhole Carter' after the method she had pioneered for transdimensional travel.

"I do," Sam said.

"There's paper in that drawer to your left, and there might be a pencil."

Sam opened the drawer and pulled out the paper and the pencil, then wrote quickly, "Is your Colonel O'Neill sleeping with your Dr. Jackson?" She dropped the pencil back into the drawer, folded the paper twice then pushed it as far as she could reach up the length of the table without moving further towards her counterpart, and, incidentally, the muzzles of those guns. Then she took a step back.

Pinhole Sam picked up the paper and read it quickly, her eyes widening, then darting to Sam's face. "Yes. How did you know?"

"We have him in our reality," she said. "Your Daniel, I mean. Or at least I assume he's your Daniel. I mean, I'd rather not think that this was all happening in another collection of realities, though statistically, by the theory of alternate realities, it's actually pretty likely that it is."

Pinhole Sam nodded. "But let's not go there. It's only asking for trouble."

"Right. So, we've got your Daniel, and you've got ours and we want to switch." Sam bit her lip. "He is . . . alive . . . isn't he?"

"He is," Pinhole Sam said. "He's not in any condition to travel right now, though."

"What's wrong with him?" Sam asked anxiously. She glanced at her watch. Seven minutes to go.

"Is there a time frame on your visit?"

"There is," Sam said. "Fifteen minutes, and I only have seven left. They didn't want to take any chances, and if I don't come back, they'll send someone else. We managed to make two of the devices."

"Two? How long have you been working on them?"

"Look, I need to know why Daniel's not able to travel, so I can go home and explain why I'm not coming back with him."

"Captain, what's going –" Hammond stared at Sam, eyes wide. "Who is she?"

"According to her, she belongs to the Daniel we rescued."

"Do you believe her?"

"I do, sir," Pinhole Sam said. "And she . . . she says she has our Daniel in her reality. They want to make a swap."

Sam interrupted. "I have about five more minutes. Should I go back and tell them I need more time, or are you going to explain what's wrong with Daniel?"

"Maybe you should go back," Hammond said. "Is that possible?"

Sam nodded. "I'll be back shortly." She pressed the button on her wrist and the world went crazy for a moment again. Then she was looking at the people in her own reality. "Carter!" O'Neill exclaimed. "Was it not the right place?"

"It seems to be the right place, but I didn't have time to get all the information I needed. There was a fair amount of establishing who I am and why I was there."

"Right," the general said. "So do you need to go back?"

"Yes, with a bit more time, please."

"I'll give you an hour," Hammond said. "Then we'll come after you."

"An hour?" Colonel O'Neill objected. "Maybe she shouldn't go alone."

"I'll be fine, sir," she said. "I've spoken to their Sam and their Hammond. I don't think there's any danger."

"Very well, captain, I trust your judgment," the general said. "An hour."

"Thank you, sir," she said. She pressed the button again and when she was back in the other reality, there were only four guards in the room and their weapons were put away.

"Welcome back, captain," pinhole-Hammond said, and Sam smiled at him, unsure of whether or not she should salute. After a second, she decided against it. They weren't technically in the same service.

"Let me explain what's happened to your Daniel as I take you to see him," pinhole-Sam said.

Sam walked up beside her, and pinhole-Hammond and the guards stayed with them. "You know about the bomb, I'm guessing from things that your Daniel has said."

"Yes," Sam said, her voice going hard as she thought about that hideous thing. "What about it?"

"Janet . . . Dr. Fraiser . . . found that it had left shrapnel in his chest. See, the sarcophagus just heals around foreign matter, so the shards were still there, and given their location, they threatened his heart and lungs."

"And?"

"And so she operated on him to remove them, and unfortunately, one of them was already too near his heart. She inadvertently nicked the muscle. We had to put him back in the sarcophagus, so he's undergoing treatment to ameliorate the withdrawal symptoms."

Sam blinked. "How long will that take, and is it safe on a mental level to be in the sarcophagus twice so close together?"

"Actually, we've found that sedation as soon as the sarcophagus opens dampens the mental reaction, and Janet's put together a treatment that greatly reduces the duration and severity of the withdrawal symptoms."

"Really?" Sam shook her head. "And he's . . . he's in that stage right now?"

"Yes." Pinhole-Sam opened the door to the infirmary. "He's in the back here, let me show you."

Sam walked into the back part of the infirmary where she saw a Colonel O'Neill keeping vigil beside the bed. She approached the bed on the other side and stared down at him. It was impossible to tell for sure with him asleep, but she thought it really was her Daniel.

"You're his Carter?" pinhole-Jack asked. She nodded. "And you have our Daniel?"

"We do," she said. "He's in excellent health according to Janet, and he's very eager to get back home again." She grimaced. "We weren't sure this would work right, so we didn't tell him about it."

"So, did he get left with you?" Hammond asked.

"No," Sam said. "Actually, he was left in the reality of the man who was left with us when our d . . ." She looked down at the bed. "When Daniel was taken." She reached down and smoothed his hair back from his forehead. "When . . ." She blinked. "Oh, you don't know."

"Know what?"

"In the other reality, the one that did the stealing, everything's changed. Hammond's dead, and their Jack is catatonic. I gather Colonel Makepeace is in charge, and they've abandoned the insanity. Their Carter, Lt. Carter, has been going to all the realities Daniels were stolen from and trying to get them set right again. The Daniel we had has been sent back home, which is why your Daniel is with us. He didn't think he could cope with watching everyone there be reunited when he couldn't go home."

Pinhole-Jack looked deeply distressed. "Can you send him here?"

"That's certainly our intention," she said. "How soon will our Daniel be ready to travel?"

"I'll have to defer to Dr. Fraiser on that point, pinhole-Hammond said. "Just a moment." He stepped out of the room.

Sam sat down on the edge of the bed and looked worriedly into Daniel's face. He seemed completely restful, but she remembered all too well what he'd been like under the influence of that sarcophagus Shyla had addicted him to. "He's going to come out of this himself, right?" she asked.

Pinhole-Jack reached out and squeezed her shoulder, which startled Sam. There was never any physical contact between her and the colonel at home. Nothing but the bare minimum required for their jobs. "He'll be himself, don't worry. Probably not until early on Saturday, but he will be himself again."

"That's good to know," she said.

"You might want to let your Hammond know that he's easily freaked out by any strong emotion from our Hammond. It might be different with his own, but I don't know . . . this was pretty strong stuff."

"Not to you, but to Hammond?" she asked. He nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Lt. Carter practically freezes if our Hammond so much as looks serious."

"Really?" Pinhole-Jack grimaced. "Well, Daniel . . . your Daniel . . . seems to be having some heavy duty emotional issues. I guess he's been suppressing everything pretty hard for the last month or so. Now it's all coming out unpredictably. And he keeps demanding to go back, in part because you knew where he was there and in part because he doesn't want them to take another Daniel. Is that a concern anymore?"

"They have given up Daniel-napping altogether now," Sam said.

"That's good," pinhole-Jack said. "You'll have to tell him that very firmly and often. He's worried about all of them."

"That's Daniel for you," she said.

Dr. Fraiser came in and Sam looked up at her. It was very odd to see her with blond highlights. "When can he travel?" She looked down at Daniel. "The earliest would be tomorrow. He still has about six more hours of treatment, and I want to make sure he's completely stabilized before I let anyone move him."

"So tomorrow," Sam said. "And what treatment would he need on our end?"

"Well, he'll need to be sedated through at least eight o'clock Saturday morning. Assuming we release him tomorrow, I'll send sufficient doses of the correct sedative to keep him out that long, and probably a couple extra just in case. He'll probably start surfacing a bit tomorrow afternoon, but the withdrawals won't completely stop until approximately twenty-four hours after the treatment ends."

"I see," Sam said. "Dr. Fraiser . . . our Dr. Fraiser, will want to know everything she can in advance."

"I foresaw that," pinhole-Janet said. "Here." She held out a slim file. "Here is everything I know about his condition, including what he told me happened in the other reality. This will at least give her a baseline to start from in considering his treatment. I've also included details about my treatment for sarcophagus addiction, so she'll know what to expect."

"That's great," Sam said, taking the file. "Really great. Thanks." She looked down at Daniel, then glanced at her watch. "And I have to be heading back soon or they'll get worried."

"Come back tomorrow around noon," pinhole-Janet said. "We should be ready for you by then."

"And he won't be awake at any time between now and then?"

Pinhole-Janet shook her head. "He'll sleep through until late afternoon tomorrow at the earliest. Just come back tomorrow with our Daniel."

"Sure, that . . . that sounds great. I just hate leaving him here."

"I promise you, he's in good hands," the doctor said.

Sam nodded and said, "Well, then, I'll see you all tomorrow at noon. In your lab?" she asked.

"Sure," pinhole-Sam said.

"I'll need to bring someone along to carry him," she said. "I can't both carry him and work the device."

"I quite understand. We'll expect you, our Daniel Jackson and some third person to help you with your Daniel."

"Thank you, sir," Sam said. She stepped back before anyone could state an objection to that being Colonel O'Neill, being certain within her own mind that he would never consent to it being anyone else. Pressing the button, she endured the slight nausea induced by the image shifting, then blinked as she realized that she might have been better served by going back to the lab before shifting locations.

Reality L583

Fortunately, the only person with her in this back room of the infirmary was a nurse who just stared at her wildly for a second and then said, "So are you testing some new technology, Captain Carter?"

"Yes, Lt. Jorgenson. I need a phone." She headed to the one in Janet's office, shutting the door behind her and calling her own lab.

"O'Neill," the colonel said, sounding testy.

"Sir, this is Captain Carter. I'm back, but I came back into the infirmary. I'll be there in just a minute."

"Is Daniel with you? I'll be –"

"No, sir. I'll explain when I get there."

Janet came into the office looking mildly affronted. She shut the door. "Sam, I wouldn't have thought you'd use the infirmary as a testing ground for –"

"I didn't think, Janet, I'm sorry. I just saw Daniel. Our Daniel."

"What?" All the irritation dropped out of her expression. "Is he here?"

"No, that's why I appeared out of nowhere. I was in the reality where he is."

Janet's eyebrows raised. "In the infirmary?" she asked with some alarm.

Sam nodded. "Come on, I have to explain it all to Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond, and this is some information for you." She held out the file. Janet took it and they left the infirmary quickly, Sam guiding her towards the lab.

"Is he all right?"

"He will be. Right now . . . well, I'm sure it's all in the file, and I don't want to say it wrong and freak you out."

"Right," Janet said, sounding dubious, but she just followed her down to the lab.

Her colonel was waiting in the doorway when she got there. "Well, Carter, why no Daniel?"

"It's hard to explain, sir. He's not well enough to travel."

His eyebrows lowered dangerously, but the general spoke before he could. "Why not? Has he been injured in some way?"

Sam's eyes darted to Samantha, and the other woman paled slightly, obviously waiting for some blow to fall. Sam cleared her throat. "They had to do surgery, sir. The sarc healed him around the shrapnel left by the bomb. Now he's recovering from sarcophagus withdrawals again because –"

"What in the world!?" They all turned at the sudden cry from Janet, who was reading through the file Sam had given her. She looked up to see all of them staring at her, seeming a little discomfited by the trio of Sams in particular. "I'm sorry. I just . . . the things she's giving him to combat the withdrawal symptoms are . . . unorthodox to say the least."

"I did see him, though," Sam said. "He was unconscious, but he seemed fine."

"Yes, it mentions heavy sedation until withdrawals have stopped." Janet still seemed a little dubious as she studied the file.

"So, when do we get him back?" Colonel O'Neill demanded.

"They said I should come back tomorrow at noon with their Daniel and someone capable of carrying our Daniel."

Two voices spoke in unison.

"That would be me."

"I will go."

Colonel O'Neill glared at Teal'c. "No, I got it," he said.

Sam didn't think it was the greatest idea, but she also didn't particularly want to be the one to say it. The other two Sams looked at her with wide eyes. Teal'c opened his mouth to respond, but subsided gratefully when Janet spoke. "Colonel O'Neill," she said, "you have bad knees."

He turned on the doctor, glaring. "I can carry someone if I have to," he declared.

Sam was amused to see that, despite the vast difference in their heights, he totally failed to loom over her. In fact, she seemed almost to loom over him. "Yes, you can," Janet said. "But in this case you don't have to, so you shouldn't." The colonel spluttered helplessly for a moment as Janet turned to the general. "I recommend that Teal'c be sent, sir," she said.

"But – general?" He sounded almost pleading.

The general kept a somber expression and nodded to Janet. "I will, of course, take your recommendation, Dr. Fraiser." The colonel opened his mouth to protest. "Colonel O'Neill, my decision has been made."

The smug look on Teal'c's face wasn't helping the colonel's mood any, so Sam stepped forward. "Well, none of this would have been possible without your help, ladies," she said. "And I'm sure you want to be getting back to your own realities."

"Yes," kid-Sam said, smiling. "I'm glad everything's working out so well." Samantha just smiled shyly, and Sam thought she needed some serious assertiveness training.

Hammond turned. "I agree. I would like to express my appreciation for all the help you have provided, lieutenant, captain. You have made this process considerably easier."

"Well, sir," Samantha said, "I'm only making up in a small way for the crimes perpetrated against you by my people. No thanks are necessary."

Kid-Sam shrugged. "You're welcome," she said. "You'd have done the same for us. And thanks again for taking such good care of our Daniel. He's doing great, and the kids were thrilled to see him."

"That's terrific," the colonel said. "Say hi for us, would you?"

"Sure," kid-Sam said. She fiddled with her controller, getting the mirror activated and set to the appropriate reality. "Well, um . . . bye! We'll be in touch to see how everything turns out."

"Bye," Sam said. They exchanged a quick hug and then Kid-Sam left through the mirror. A moment later it winked out.

Samantha cleared her throat. "Would you tell your Daniel, from me, that he made a big difference in our reality? Things are getting better by leaps and bounds, and it's partly because of the influence he had on me and on the guards that he spoke with and the people who observed him. I mean, all of the Daniels had impact, but yours made the biggest impression, I think."

"You want us to tell him that?" the colonel said incredulously.

Samantha blinked, and Sam could tell that he'd lost her. She wondered how long it had been since her Colonel O'Neill had joked that way with her. "Well, I asked you to, didn't I?" she said.

"He has a big enough head as it is," the colonel replied.

Her eyes snapped. "That man has been through hell," she said, her voice sounding like ground glass. "You don't give him –" Her eyes widened and she flushed scarlet. "I'm sorry . . ."

Sam turned to her colonel to see how he was going to respond. "Hey – I –" he started, seeming floored by her reaction. "Sorry. I was just joking. We'll tell him."

"Good," she said. "I'd better go. I . . . visiting hours start in about fifteen minutes."

Sam walked forward. "Your Jack?" Samantha nodded. Sam gave her a tight hug. "It will be okay," she said, hoping she was right.

Samantha smiled at her, then activated the mirror. "I'll come back the day after tomorrow if that's okay, to see how Daniel is."

Sam glanced back towards General Hammond, who nodded. She smiled at Samantha. "Sure," she said.

Samantha tuned to the right reality, then turned back to Sam. "Take care of your father," she said, then touched the surface and was gone. Sam blinked at the figure retreating in the mirror before the reflective surface winked out.

"So, does that file tell you anything else about Dr. Jackson's condition, doctor?" asked General Hammond. Jack turned instantly to the doctor, eager to know if there was anything more. He was finding it difficult to contain his frustration and his fury that not only was Daniel not back yet, but he wasn't even going to be permitted to retrieve him.

Fraiser looked up from the pages that were written in close, nearly illegible handwriting. Though since it was hers, in a sense, maybe that wasn't a problem. Jack shook his head. "Currently he's undergoing sarcophagus withdrawals," the doctor said, "but he should be over them sometime late tomorrow or early Saturday morning. Other than that, he's in perfect health, because he came out of the sarcophagus on Tuesday."

"Perfect physical health," Jack said. "What about mental?"

"According to their Dr. Fraiser," Carter said, "sedating them instantly when they come out of the sarcophagus avoids most of the mental difficulties."

"Well, I certainly hope so," Jack said. "I don't want him to decide to shoot me again."

"That's just fussy, sir," Carter said, twinkling.

"Anything else we should know?"

"Well, he's going to come out of this sometime Saturday morning not having moved significantly since Tuesday, so he'll be stiff and somewhat woozy. There are also some notes here about possible PTSD."

"Ya think!" Jack exclaimed.

"Actually, the other Jack mentioned something more specific," Carter said. "Remember how the married Daniel would react to you initially, sir?" she asked Jack. Jack nodded. "Well, apparently our Daniel isn't having that much trouble with the Jack in the alternate reality he's in now. He's having trouble with the Hammond there."

"Is the Hammond there misbehaving in some way?" Jack asked.

"No sir," Carter said, sounding puzzled. "Not as far as I know. I got the impression that Daniel's just having trouble because he's a Hammond and most of what happened to him came from a Hammond."

"That makes me sound like a dinner entree," the general said dryly. Carter blinked and started to babble an apology, but Hammond waved her silent. "So I gather that I'll need to be careful in my behavior around Dr. Jackson."

"At least at first," Fraiser said. "We'll want to help him work through that if it becomes an issue. So, that's all I've got. Dr. Jackson's coming back tomorrow, I need to get an infirmary bed set up for him a little out of the way of the main traffic, since I have a feeling he's going to have someone visiting him around the clock until he's released. I'm going to follow my counterpart's instructions concerning his care unless I see a pressing reason not to, so don't ask me to wake him early, colonel."

Jack glared at her. "As if I would do that," he said. "You're the doctor, you know what's best."

Fraiser gave him a suspicious look. "I'm going to remind you that you said that later."

"Said what?" Jack asked, and Fraiser rolled her eyes with amusement.

"So, let's get things ready for Dr. Jackson's return, people," Hammond said. "O'Neill, I'm going to ask you to tell the other Daniel that he's going home tomorrow."

"Of course, sir," Jack said. He glanced at his watch. He'd been gone for almost two hours. That was probably okay, but he'd better get back and check up on the pair of them. "If you'll all excuse me . . ." He paused as he turned towards the door. "You know, we thanked both the others, but I do have to say, good work, Carter. Really good work." She smiled broadly, and Jack left to impart good news.