The pulsar idea I made up as part of the first attempt on my UG dissertation, but unfortunately, it didn't make the second and final attempt.
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Her surroundings glowing a bluish white, she spun around to ascertain where she was but to no avail, seeing nothing but the same colour everywhere and nothing else. She closed her eyes and opened them to find Daniel in front of her, her surroundings now totally black, a soft white glow around the Archaeologist, who looked more or less like the man she had left behind. Smiling in relief, she rushed forward and pulled him into a hug over her bump. He gently rubbed her back, smiling against her hair as he whispered,
"You're not alone, Samantha – you're carrying great power within you, far greater than anything that you have ever witnessed."
Slipping her arms around his neck, she asked, gazing up at him as tears ran down her cheeks, "Will… will I ever see you again?"
Gently caressing her cheek as he smiled down at her, he replied, "Oh, you bet."
She held onto him tighter as her lips sought his, and was met half way by his own. He whispered as they parted,
"I'm a product of a combination of your subconscious mind and the great power that you carry within you."
Her surroundings began to fade, leaving the two of them, and she sniffed back more tears as she rested her head on his shoulder, whispering, "I miss you so much Daniel."
He ran her fingers through her hair, whispering back, "I miss you too."
He vanished beyond her grasp, and she stood alone in the midst of nothing, crying, and she whispered, "Oh Daniel."
Sam woke up with a start in her quarters, the hand that had been smoothing her bump stopping in surprise. She looked towards the owner of the hand and found none other than the alternate timeline Daniel lying next to her, worry in his eyes.
She realised that she really had been crying and she closed her eyes as she whispered, shaken, "He… he was just here."
He held her as close as her swollen abdomen would allow, and said, "Hopefully we'll be able to get the 'gate back online soon and you'll see him for real."
Her eyes still closed, she proceeded to relate her dream to him, and he caressed her jaw, replying, "There's something going on… either that, or you're really stressed."
She couldn't help but smile at that, and doing an impression of Jack, she remarked, gazing at him, "Ya think?!"
He rolled his eyes, retorting, "Fine, one of us had to channel Jack sooner or later."
He continued with a smile, "Come on, I'll help you up."
Suddenly very worried, she said, "I don't know if I can carry these babies to term… I mean, what if the Wraith come again and the babies don't have enough power to fight them?"
Gently pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, he replied, "Oh, I think that the Wraith aren't going to be able to adapt to this particular power in a hurry. You're going to be fine – I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise."
She closed her eyes again, resting her head on his chest as he ran her fingers through her hair, and she asked, "Would it help if I resigned?"
His hand stopped, and he asked slowly, "What do you mean?"
"When I get back home… would it help if I resigned from the SGC?"
His eyes widening in surprise and horror, he replied quickly, "No, God no, Sam… I won't let you do that."
"You know I'd do it."
"I know you would, and I would do the same for you, but we agreed long ago that the galaxies were more important than us."
"But Daniel, there are always going to be intergalactic emergencies and… and disturbances and threats of war…"
He remarked as he smoothed her abdomen, "Would it be better to be oblivious to threats to the Earth? We already know too much about what's out here… there."
He gently forced her to meet his gaze as he continued, "I know what you're thinking, and if I went back to before you left, as much as it would hurt, I wouldn't stop you because I know that this is one of the things that you have been working for. I'm proud of you – you saved everyone's lives."
Despite his brave words, she noticed his eyes brightening with tears, and she whispered, "Oh Daniel… I know how it hurt you when I left Earth… and Cammie told me about… afterwards."
He sighed, replying, "Sam, we've been at the SGC from the very beginning, and we've lost each other several times over the years but we've always found a way to come back to each other."
She smiled through her tears, remarking, "Tell me about it."
He kissed her forehead, and continued, "I miss being on SG-1… when I got promoted, it was meeting after meeting, and watching the rest of you go through the 'gate."
She met his gaze, surprised, and said, "You never said anything."
He shrugged, replying, "Because I figured that I'd have more time for you and the babies… and well, I did after I…"
He met her gaze and asked, "How about if I resigned?"
Shocked, she shook her head, replying, "Nuh-uh, no way, and I'm sure General O'Neill would stop you like he did after Sha're. I'm not letting you do it."
"Well, at this time, Jonas has taken over most of my work and I'm job-sharing the Daddy role with Jack, filling out a lot of paperwork, and helping the Jaffa along, as well as preparing to leave…"
She forcibly sat up, wincing at the strain and she said, her back to him so he wouldn't see her intense anguish, "No way Daniel. You can get your old job back but there is no way that you're resigning from the SGC. I know you'd do it but no way am I letting you."
He sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist as he leant his head on her shoulder, and he said, "You know I'd do it."
"I know… I know, but you're too much of a valuable asset to the mountain. Even though Jonas has taken over your department, who do all the linguists and archaeologists go to when they need help or a second opinion? That's right – you… because no-one, not even Jonas, will ever be able to hold a candle to you."
His gaze fell, embarrassed as he murmured, "Says you…"
She exclaimed, looking at him disbelief, "My God, Daniel, have you not changed over eighteen years?! I'm telling the truth. If the President decided to whittle down the entire mountain to one person, it would be you because… you have a brilliant mind and… you're compassionate. You care about others, you don't prefer violence but you're not afraid to stand up for what you believe in, what you believe to be the right course of action…"
She smiled, continuing with a remark, "Daniel, on second thoughts, don't ever change. This is totally you… God, I miss you."
She gazed down at her large bump as he caressed her shoulder. Suddenly he paused, and she met his gaze, a question in her eyes. He asked,
"Sam? What month is it?"
Bemused, she replied, "January, why?"
As he grew more agitated, he asked, "Day?"
Bemused further, she replied, "13th… what's wrong?"
He smiled, whispering in her ear before kissing it, "Sheppard's going to be a Daddy in two days."
Surprised, she replied, "Wow. My future daughter-in-law…"
When he raised an eyebrow at her, she smiled at him, remarking, "James and her sound like Cam and Vala… they'll get together."
"You know, daughter-in-law sounds odd."
"Oh, tell me about it – it's still odd referring to you as my husband…"
Noticing his odd look, she rolled her eyes and continued, "Daniel, we've not been married a year yet now."
She sighed and continued, "Ok, I guess our real first anniversary was last month, but our one with non-classified photos is not until March 14th."
He kissed her on the cheek, saying with a wistful smile, "Sounds a mouthful."
Grinning as she looked down at her wedding ring, she remarked, "Oh yes, I can imagine making small talk with someone and coming out with all that."
Her smile faded as she continued with a sigh, "I can imagine Daniel's face when he sees me like this."
He hugged her with one arm, replying, "He won't doubt you. Granted, he'll be surprised… but how could he ever be any other kind of mad at you than in love?"
She closed her eyes, remarking with a smile tinged with sadness as she leant into his embrace, "I hope he doesn't miss the birth."
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Very careful to avoid mentioning anything to Sheppard or anyone else about the soon-to-be latest addition to the Sheppard and Weir family trees, Sam sat in her office, her feet propped up to stop her ankles from swelling up as she caught up on paperwork, typing it up and archiving it for a future data stream to Earth.
As she did so, her thoughts drifted to alternative means of contacting Earth should 'gate travel remain impractical in the long term. Their intergalactic ship had been destroyed; the Puddle Jumpers didn't stand a chance unless used for time travel which would cause one heck of a time loop, or further complications should an alternate timeline's team find someway to come home.
She sighed, unable to focus on her primary task, so she wheeled her chair over to a clearer part of her desk and began writing down formulae and drawing diagrams on a pad of paper. Suddenly she smiled and started up her laptop to access her research. Finding what she needed, she pressed the earpiece in her ear and called over the microphone,
"McKay, Radek, get to Liz's office."
She continued smiling down at the pad as Jennifer entered, asking, curious at Sam's expression, "Sam?"
Sam looked up and replied, grinning, "I found a way to contact Earth without the 'gate!"
Surprised, Jennifer asked, taking a seat on the opposite side of the desk, "Really? Wow… so… Jumpers?"
"Nope…wait 'til McKay and Ra…"
McKay and Radek entered the office, both of them looking at Sam with curious expressions. Sam gestured for them to sit, and they did on either side of the linguist, McKay remarking,
"Babies coming yet?"
Sam rolled her eyes as Jennifer and Radek looked on bemused, and she retorted, "McKay, believe me, I wouldn't be smiling if I was going into labour…"
She took a deep breath and said, "Ok… I've found a way to contact Earth without the 'gate."
As Radek looked on intrigued, McKay remarked, "If you so much as say the words 'Puddle Jumper', I'll eat my hat."
"You don't wear a hat…"
Jennifer said, glancing at McKay, "Rod, let Sam finish."
Sam nodded in thanks to the younger woman before saying, her excitement growing once more as she spun her laptop around so the three of them could see the screen, "We could use the pulsar that we've been researching in sector 7-G. All we have to do is work out the calculations and transmit a radio signal to it, taking advantage of its natural rotational properties. The calculations won't be easy but it's doable – we'll have to predict the fluctuations in the magnetic field but if we encrypt the signal, it could be a broadcast like the one we send from the SGC when we want the Tok'ra."
She handed her pad to McKay, and Radek said, hitching his glasses up, looking pensive, "It is possible but radio waves travel at the speed of light and we are thousands of light years away from Earth…"
As McKay raised an eyebrow while he read, Sam replied, "We can use McKay's data stream and work with subatomic particles in conjunction with the moving magnetic field of the pulsar. The particles in Project Achilles were recorded as going several times faster than the speed of light."
McKay replied, still not looking up, "Yes, but the particles were unstable. All Earth will get, if anything, is an unidentifiable radio signal…"
He glanced at Jennifer and added, "Like Boulder FM transmitting white noise several hours straight…"
Sam said, still smiling, "But you didn't have the extra power of a spare ZPM or a lot of Naquadah to hand to alleviate the degenerative effects of not only that but also the results of the Inverse Square Law, where for each time the signal distance is increased, the signal strength decreases by at least a factor of four."
Radek asked, "What if someone else on Earth receives it?"
Sam smiled fondly at Jennifer and said, "I know just the person to produce the cipher. We could use Ancient to encrypt it – the only people who know it are in on the SGC."
McKay said with a sigh, handing the pad to Radek, "Well, it isn't impossible, but pulses will be quicker rather than a single stream. If one doesn't get there, the chances are that the others will."
As the scientists all looked satisfied with themselves, Jennifer raised her hand briefly and said, looking a tad sheepish, "Ah sorry to interrupt but… what's a pulsar?"
To Sam's and Radek's collective surprise, McKay calmly replied, or as calm as was humanly possible for Meredith Rodney McKay, "A pulsar is a natural source of radio emissions in space. They're called pulsars because before we developed sophisticated equipment, the way the radio waves were emitted suggested a pulsing source. In reality, they rotate, spewing out radio waves all over the place."
Jennifer nodded and thanked him as Sam and Radek stared at him in disbelief. McKay looked from Sam to Radek, and asked, confused,
"What?!"
Sam raised her eyebrows briefly and smiled, and Radek, smiling too, said, "We are surprised, Rodney."
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As the scientists got to work on Sam's idea, with help from Cammie and James, Sheppard asked Daniel as they stood near the doorway of the lab, watching them, "Ya think this'll work?"
Daniel, gazing at Sam typing into her laptop as she said something to Cammie and McKay, said as he hugged himself, "Yes. Sam's more brilliant than she gives herself credit for. Jack used to say that her brain should be a national treasure. Plus, you've got four other geniuses in the room."
Sheppard smiled briefly before asking, "So… got any more titbits from the future?"
Daniel replied as he focussed on Sam, "More than you know."
"Gonna share?"
Daniel shook his head and said, "I can't tell you everything."
"Rats… I don't die, do I?!"
Glancing at James writing quickly, Daniel replied, "No."
"Do Elizabeth and I get married?"
"Can't tell you."
"Aw come on – yes, no… it's a simple question."
Daniel focussed his now steely gaze on the Colonel, which startled the man despite all his years of combat training, and said quietly, "It may be simple for you but for me, it's far from it. Just drop it please."
"I bet you told Carter."
"Sam's a scientist plus out of everyone I have ever known, I trust her the most."
"Ah, so you did tell her!"
Daniel rolled his eyes and replied, "She is my wife… even if she technically isn't now. We kept very few secrets from each other during our time together."
Practically dying to ask more, Sheppard swallowed his curiosity down, making a mental note to ask his surrogate niece and nephew later on, and he asked, frowning as he realised something, "If you three don't have the Ancient gene, how did you use the Jumper? Man, I can't believe we forgot to ask that…"
Daniel said as he continued watching the work going on, "We're from the future."
Sheppard couldn't help rolling his eyes as he remarked, "Ah… well, that explains everything."
Daniel retorted, frowning, "So it should."
"Fine."
"Good."
"You keep it to yourself."
"Damn straight I will."
"Good."
"You bet."
Sheppard glanced out the corner of his eye at Daniel, his admiration for the man growing further. He smiled to himself, wondering how many other people he had considered to be 'geeks' were holding out on him.
