Well, here's a nice surprise or two in a nice long chapter for ya'll. I hope you like it:) Please let me know what you think. I can't wait to hear from you. Thanks so much!
Chapter 44
Jack heard Daniel snort. "Yourself?"
"Well, sort of, yeah."
There was a pause. "Wait a minute…You don't mean…?"
"That's exactly what I mean," Jack chuckled, glancing back at the computer screen in front of him in his office at home. He couldn't quite believe it himself.
"Really? The clone you sent you an e-mail?"
"Yep. Apparently he's recently become a believer, and wanted to check up on us. Maybe he's kinda of a different person now, but he still remembers the six or seven years with you, Sam, and Teal'c just like I do. It makes sense he's be worried about you…and I guess me to some extent." Jack smirked to himself. "Though it does seem that it's more about you guys. Typical."
It was another moment before Daniel spoke again. "Well…huh…wow. So uh, how's he doing?"
"Wouldn't know. He didn't say much. He gave me an IM address and says he has a webcam, and also a cell phone number in case I 'think it's too weird talking face to face after all this time' or something like that. What the heck. I'll just use the webcam thing. We've got one. Besides, I'm curious if he's aging the same rate I did."
"He was supposed to grow up normally from where he was."
"Well, yeah, but he's what, 21 now? I wanna know if he looks exactly the same I did. So I have weird curiosities. So shoot me."
Daniel laughed. "Whatever, Jack. Just let me know how he is once you find out."
"I'll give him your number."
"Sure."
Jack paused. "So…how are you doing?"
A sigh. "We did this a few hours ago, Jack. I'm fine."
"Maybe so, but as I heard it, if it weren't for Vala, you'd be dead," he pointed out. "That's enough to make a guy worry."
"I'm fine, Jack. How's everything over there? We were a little more focused on what happened here and I forgot to ask."
"Ah, we're good. You know Gavin's just over two; Sara and I are re-learning what 'terrible twos' is all about. He's a good kid, but gets into everything. It doesn't help that he's cooped up several stories off the ground in this apartment most of the time. Sara's at the park with him now. We've gotta get him out when we can."
"You're not worried about the horses at the moment?"
Jack shrugged. "I figure we'll have at least some warning of when they'll be here, not to mention that we don't really have to worry about them in the first place."
"Yeah, I guess so. Just be careful."
"Aren't I always?" he scoffed.
As they'd talked previously, the phone conversation didn't last much longer. Jack hung up the cordless phone and turned back to his computer, shaking his head again at the e-mail staring at him. It took a few minutes, but finally he started to sign into the IM program his other self was using--the same one he himself had used since the technology had premiered. He hardly ever did use it, but he had an account, in case it was needed for something. Now was one of those times.
But before he could even finish logging it, something caught the corner of his eye. Jack frowned and glanced out the one window in the office, but he couldn't tell what he was seeing. With a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, he jumped up and hurried out into the living room with it's floor-to ceiling windows. He quickly found the shape in the distance and focused on it.
It was coming closer.
It was undulating, writhing, growing bigger by the second. At one point it popped out of existence and reappeared a nano-second later much closer. It was then that he could make out individual shapes within the larger, dark mass.
It was the horses.
Jack's eyes widened, and seconds later his cell phone rang. He yanked it out of his pocket, hoping it was Sara, and flipped it open.
It was David Hassid, instead. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"If you're talking about a mass of huge spiritual horse coming straight at New Babylon, then yeah."
"Me too. Where are Sara and Gavin?"
"In the park…" Jack frowned.
David sighed. "I know we've heard that we can't be hurt by these plagues, but it might be smart to get them home as quickly as possible."
"I would agree. Where are the others?"
"Annie's here with me. Mac and Abdullah aren't back yet; they're flying Leon and company heading to a meeting with one of the sub-potentates."
Jack was already at the door. He grabbed his jacket and headed out. "Should we worry about them? Being in the air?"
"Unfortunately, I'm not really sure."
The elevator was taking too long. "Well, most of my people were in an underground military base when the horses attacked there, and they still got in. I have a feeling they can go just about anywhere they want."
"I should have guessed that," David agreed. "Both pilots are believers, so they shouldn't be in danger of crashing, but I would still start praying if I were you."
The elevator finally opened, and Jack ran out the front door of the building to his truck. Usually they walked to places as close as the park, but he wanted to get there a lot faster than that; the horses were much closer now. "Will do--on the run. I'm going to get Sara and Gavin right now."
"Good. Keep me posted. I'll be here. But I should go now. Apparently I'm needed here by some rather upset officials."
Jack snorted. "Have fun with that. Later."
In a little over a minute he was at the park, and he behind him he could see the horses bearing down at the city. There was already smoke rising from the far side. He also saw Sara discretely trying to get Gavin off of the playground equipment. He walked over as quickly as he could while still appearing to be acting normal, and pulled his son off the bars.
"Come on, buddy. Playtime's over."
Gavin squirmed in his arms. "I want play more."
"Jack! Thank goodness," Sara sighed quietly in relief.
Jack swung the boy up on his shoulders. "Why don't we go play a game at home?"
"No work?" Gavin asked, leaning curiously over his head as he was carried back to the truck.
"No, I don't have any work to do right now."
Sara pulled him down when they got to the truck, and strapped him into his seat before getting in beside him in the back. Jack jumped in the driver's seat and pulled out--to be greeted with the sight of the horses rampaging the streets just a block or so away, between them and their apartment.
"How did that happen?" Sara voiced incredulously
"Crap…they move fast. They don't have to move in a straight line. They can jump and go other places and….stuff. I don't know."
She gripped the edge of his seat from behind. "What are we going to do now?"
It was now that others in the park were beginning to notice the smoke rising from nearby, as well as the fires, and probably the smell of the sulfer.
And they were panicking.
Jack glanced back at the suddenly frightened small crowd in the park, and the semi-chaos in front of them. Home was just a little over a mile away, and supposedly they couldn't be hurt by these plagues…
"We're going through. Hold on. Things might get rough."
And he floored it before any of the other citizens fleeing into their vehicles could cut him off. Sara gripped his seat harder as she was flung back.
"Jack!"
They had barely gone half a mile before suddenly the smoke was too black and thick to see anything at all but the ghostly shapes of the huge horses running through it, snorting out more. They could hear the screams of dying people. Jack slowed the truck to a stop quickly. After jerking forward from the stop, Sara pulled Gavin from his car seat and held him tight in her lap, covering his ears.
Jack glanced back at them worriedly. "Just hold on…it'll clear."
But it didn't. They sat for five minutes, but the smoke remained as thick as it had been since they'd stop. He had to remind himself that it wasn't normal smoke. But it still made him restless. He knew where the road was, and where home was…he could still get them home, without risking a crash. He started to press the gas pedal, ever so gently.
Sara noticed immediately "Jack, what are you doing?" she snapped.
"I'm getting us home."
"But--"
"Sara, just trust me."
She stopped talking, but looked at him in the rearview mirror anxiously. Jack inched forward, taking advantage of what little visibility there was. Things went much smoothly than he'd hoped, except for the not being able to see much part, and the visibility improved some. Gaining confidence, he picked up speed.
"Stop!"
Jack jerked, and stopped. "What the--?"
"Veer left."
He looked to his right, and there was a man in a white robe sitting in the passenger's seat next to him. "Yah! What--?!"
"Jack, what wrong??" Sara asked worriedly. Gavin was squirming as if he sensed something, but she wouldn't let go of him.
Jack looked from the man, to his wife, to the man, to his wife. "There's a--don't you see…?"
She frowned. "See what?"
He looked at the man again, who was looking at him with what almost seemed like a small smile. Was it? "You don't see anybody else in here?"
"No…are you all right, Jack?"
He swallowed. "Uh….yeah. I'm fine." He looked at the man again, questioning.
"Only you can see and hear me right now, but that is the way it must be. Now veer left. Sharply at first"
"But there's only one turn between home and the park, and we already took it. There's no turn here."
"Jack?"
"I know, Jack O'Neill. But you must veer left."
"But I'll run into the buildings!"
"Oh ye of little faith. Can you not trust a message from your Lord?"
Jack blinked in shock. "Uhm…okay…but why is He telling me to swing left? What does He have to do with my driving? Is something going on here I don't know about?"
The angel--and he was pretty sure it was an angel now--actually smiled this time. "There are always things of which you are not aware."
"Oh…kay."
Sara was getting impatient. "Jack! Who are you talking to?"
He looked back at her. "A little hard to explain, sweetheart. Just hold on, ok?"
She looked at him strangely, but something made her listen to him. She just sat back and waited.
"You must start driving again, and you must veer left."
Jack sighed and gripped the steering wheel again. "Okay…if you say so. Okay… God wants me to swing left. So I'll swing left." In the rearview mirror, he saw that Gavin had wiggled free of his mother's grip enough to turn around, and he was staring forward wide-eyed.
He veered left sharply, but carefully, half expecting to slam into a wall at any moment, but he soon discovered that he'd been in an intersection. There were no buildings immediately around them. He straightened out and kept going, wondering what that had been all about. But when he turned to the angel, the passenger's seat was empty.
Jack heaved a sigh, and minutes later he pulled into their apartment building's parking lot. Neither Sara nor Gavin had said a word the rest of the way here. They seemed to have realized who jack had been talking to. They climbed out silently after him, and together they glanced back the way they had come. The smoke was clearing.
And he saw a building that had collapsed right into the middle of the intersection.
He had picked up speed considerably just before being stopped--just before getting to where that collapsed building was.
Sara stared where he was looking, standing as close as it seemed she could. "That building…if you had kept going at that speed, we would have run right into it. It would have at least killed you for sure," she breathed.
"Daniel always did tell me I drove too fast a lot," Jack swallowed.
He'd wondered why the Lord would send an angel over something so seemingly inconsequential. Now he understood that it hadn't been inconsequential at all.
By the time the horses left New Babylon, dozens were dead--not as bad a death toll or damage report as other places, but bad enough. It was already being reported that hundreds of thousands were dead worldwide. And it wasn't even over.
Inside the safety of their apartment, Jack switched on the television to see what the latest GC lie about the origins of these events was. Instead, he heard that Nicolae Carpathia himself would soon be appearing to address the world via, TV, radio, and internet. Quickly, he called Daniel back so he could infirm everyone in Colorado, and sat down with Sara to see what the Antichrist had to say.
Vala was, indeed, back soon, in time to be there when Jack called again. When Daniel hung up, she turned on the television. As they sat together waiting for Carpathia to come on, Carolyn burst in with her father in tow.
"We heard Carpathia was going to be on TV trying to explain this or something."
"You heard right," Vala nodded.
Daniel smirked. "He's going to try." He and Vala pulled up their legs so there was more room to sit on the bed, incase the couch wasn't close enough for them. They chose the couch anyway, but in the end, the space was needed when Sam, Siler, and Reynolds straggled in a few minutes later. Daniel took the opportunity of them all together to let them know about Jack hearing from his clone. All were rather surprised, but just as he had, wanted to know more as soon as he got anymore news.
They didn't have to wait much longer for the Potentate himself. Carpathia looked out at the audience solemnly, putting on his usual mask of actually caring, and began to assure the horrified populace.
"The situation will soon be under control. We have mobilized every resource. Meanwhile, I ask citizens of the Global Community to report suspicious activity, particularly the manufacture or transport of noxious agents. Sadly, we have reason to believe that this massacre of innocent lives in being perpetrated by religious dissidents to whom we have extended every courtesy. Though they cross us at every turn, we have defended their right to dissent. Yet they continue to see the Global Community as an enemy. They feel they have a right to maintain an intolerant, close-minded cult that excludes anyone who disagrees."
(All monologue from the television taken directly from Carpathia TV speech from "Assassins", the sixth book in the Left Behind novel series by Jerry B Jenkins and Tim LaHaye.)
Vala snorted disdainfully. "Oh, great. Now we're a close-minded cult. What next?"
"Anything he wants to make the rest of the world believe we are," Daniel sighed, shaking his head.
Carpathia continued. "You have the right to live healthy, peaceful, and free. While I shall remain always a pacifist, I pledge to rid the world of this cult, beginning with the Jerusalem Twosome, who even now express no remorse about the widespread loss of life that had resulted from this attack." Apparently that was his new name for the two witnesses at the Wailing Wall.
Sam shook her head. "I have a feeling we're all going to have to pray for forgiveness for being happy when this guy gets killed--even if it's not permanent the first time."
Daniel, Vala, Reynolds, Siler, and Carolyn all echoed her sentiments. General landry glanced at them all for a moment, seeming to agree as well, before turning back to the TV as Carpathia turned on a screen which showed the current footage from the Wailing Wall, where Eli and Moishe were calling out in unison. Their words were also scrolled across the screen.
Woe to the enemies of the most high God! Woes to the cowards who shake their fist at their creator and are now forced to flee his wrath! We beseech you, snakes and vipers, to see even this plague as more than a judgment! Yea, it is yet another attempt to reach you by a loving God who has run out of patience. There is no more time to woo you. You must hearken to his call, see that it is he who loves you. Turn to the God of your fathers while there is still time. For the day will come when time shall be no more!"
Carpathia came back into view and switched off the screen again.
"The day will come, my friends, when these two shall no longer disseminate their venom. They shall no longer turn water to blood, hold back rain from the clouds, send plagues to the Holy Land and the rest of the globe. I upheld my end of the bargain negotiated with them months ago, allowing certain dissidents to go unpunished. Here is my reward. Here is how we are repaid for our largesse."
But, of course, there had never really been a bargain. During the cold, dark judgment months ago, Carpathia had allowed the dissidents to go free, and travel freely for a time, while simply assuming that the witnesses would comply with what he asked for in return--that they stop what they were doing.
And the Potentate was still talking. "But the gift train stops here, loyal citizens. Your patience and steadfastness shall be recompensed. The day will yet come when we live as one world, one faith, one family of man. We shall live in a utopia of peace and harmony with no more war, no more bloodshed, no more death. In the meantime, please accept my deepest personal condolences over the loss of your loved ones. They shall not have died in vain. Continue to trust in the ideals of the Global Community, in the tenets of peace, and in the genius of an all-inclusive faith that welcomes the devout of any religion, even that of those who now oppose us.
"Just four months from now we shall celebrate in the very city where the preachers now taunt and warn us. We shall applaud their demise and revel in a future without disease and suffering and death. Keep the faith, and look forward to that day. And until I address you again, thank you for your loyal support of the Global Community."
"You're welcome," Reynolds smirked, as Vala turned off the television again.
Siler looked a little confused. "What did he mean about four months from now? What happens then?"
Landry sat forward. "Haven't you heard about the big Global Community Gala in Jerusalem? It's right at the midpoint of this Tribulation we're in, if I'm right. Not that I'm an expert after one day or anything."
"Ohhh….that thing. Right. I've heard it mentioned here and there, but there aren't a lot of details out yet, so I forgot for a while there."
Carolyn's eyes rolled as she stood. "Is remembering some big Carpathia thing really all that important?"
"It might be. Remember when it is," Sam pointed out.
"Will we still be here then?" Landry asked. He'd been filled in on the plan.
Daniel sat up, carefully. "We're not sure. Probably. The Antichrist's mark isn't supposed to come into play until after the midpoint, so we'll have a little time before we need to get out. We just have to watch and be careful. But it'll be easier now, since you're with us, and we don't have to find an excuse to use the 'gate quickly to alert the Tok'ra that they need to come."
Landry looked at him. "But now that I'm in the loop, do you need them to bring ships at all? I could order the 'gate to be opened for us all to leave."
"True, but the families of all SGC personnel who are believers are also coming, and we wouldn't be able to explain bringing them all here quickly enough for us to get out before we were stopped by The Powers That Be, unfortunately."
"Well, that's true…I forgot that part."
"It's all right sir. It was a good thought," Reynolds shrugged.
Later that night, Jack got another shot at the computer. He put Gavin down to sleep, kissed Sara goodnight, and told her he had some work to do. Then he retreated to his home office, closing the door behind him and discretely locking it. He brought up the instant messaging program again, and signed it successfully this time. Amazingly, the one person he was looking for was online.
A window popped up before he could even click on the name, with the typed words: Took you long enough.
Jack typed back, raising an eyebrow. Hey, those horse things just attacked New Babylon, and I happen to live there. I was a little busy, thank you very much.
Yeah, I know, came the answer. I live here too.
What???
If you're gonna act like that, at least turn on the webcam so we can actually talk.
Fine, but we've gotta keep it down. Don't wanna wake the wife and kid--they don't know about any of this stuff to do with the 'gate and all.
Wife and kid???
Like you said, turn on the webcam.
Jack plugged in a headset to minimize the noise, and a moment later another window popped up with a video display showing a face he remembered well enough.
It was him at 21, wearing a Peacekeeper's fatigues, and sitting in front of the background of the living room of an apartment much like his own, but smaller.
"Hey," his double smirked snarkily.
Jack's eyebrows went up. "Ah…hi. What's up?"
"Not much. You?"
"Same…except for the whole talking to myself again thing."
"Yeah. There's that."
Jack sat up, almost self-consciously. "Okay, there's one thing we've got to handle first. What do people call you these days? I've got to have some kind of other name or something, because otherwise this is just going to get confusing."
His other self sat up in response. "Fair enough. Jon. That's what I go by. And no 'h', mind you."
"Of course not."
"Anyway, that's what you can call me. Jack all right with you?"
"It's my name, isn't it?"
The other O'Neill…no, Jon….rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So what's this about a wife and son?"
"Ah ah. I asked first. What are you doing in New Babylon?"
Jon looked down at himself. "Isn't it obvious? I'm stationed here."
"More specific, please."
"Fine. I just finished the Air Force Academy at the end of the last school year they managed to finish up--I could have done it a lot sooner, but I decided to stay only one year ahead--and then enlisted in Global Community forces, and became a Peacekeeper--since there aren't a whole lot of other options anymore. At the time, I was beginning to get a little--okay, a lot--disillusioned with Carpathia, but I didn't have a lot of choice. So I just joined, figuring I could do something else later if it didn't work for me. Then I met this little group of guys over here who told me the truth."
"You found more believers in New Babylon?" Jack asked incredulously.
Jon shrugged. "This is more like a suburb, but sure. I did. There's a small underground church over here. If I hadn't found them--or, really, they hadn't found me--I wouldn't be a believer right now. I have been for about a month, and I knew you were here, once I looked you up. As high up as you were, you weren't hard to find. Finally decided I couldn't wait any longer, and e-mailed you."
Jack shook his head. "Huh. And I had no idea. How long have you been stationed here?"
"About six months. So now for the answer to my question. And I'd like to know how Daniel, Carter, and Teal'c are, too, if you don't mind."
He took a deep breath. "Well…first off…I might as well get it out of the way…"
"What?" Jon frowned, obviously worried.
Jack grimaced. "Teal'c's….gone. It was back during the war. I'm sorry."
"What? No….crap…" Jon's head dropped for a moment, and Jack just gave him a moment, feeling some of the pain himself. He still missed his old friend. After a moment, the younger version of himself looked up again, seeming a little shaken. "Let me guess? He went out doing something big and heroic and probably stupid too, huh?"
Jack smiled sadly. "As always."
"Yeah…" Jon sighed. Then he visibly collected himself, and looked straight out again. "So…what about Carter and Daniel?"
"They're fine. They're both married now, too."
Jon managed to chuckled some. "Are you kidding me?"
"Nope. Not a bit."
"Then who…" he trailed off and stared at Jack wide-eyed. "Wait. Did you and Carter--?"
"No," he assured him quickly. "It wasn't me." It was, however, fun to keep him still guessing.
"Then who did you marry? And what about Carter and Daniel? Oh for crying out loud they didn't marry each other, did they?"
Jack couldn't help but burst out laughing, but he quickly quieted himself. "Wow, no, not that," he laughed, still chuckling hard silently.
Jon's arms crossed in annoyance. "Then would you mind telling me what's going on?"
"Sorry…sorry," jack sighed, composing himself. "Sorry. Anyway, I don't think you would know either of their spouses. Daniel married Vala, who's from off-world."
"Of course."
"--And she didn't show up for the first time until a year or so after you uh…left. And Sam--"
"On a first-name basis now, are you?"
"Well hey, we're both married to other people now, so the whole discomfort thing is gone, and besides--In case you haven't noticed, being brothers and sisters in Christ brings people closer to together."
Jon shrugged. "Okay, fine, sorry. Go on. Who'd carter get hitched too?"
"Actually, it's Dockett now. She married the preacher."
"The what?"
"Yeah. The church near the mountain you, me, we…whatever…passed on the way to the mountain every day, was pastured by none other than one Simon Dockett, but he apparently wasn't genuine. He was left behind with the rest of us, and that's the church Sam and Daniel picked when they went looking for answers after the rapture happened and they'd figured out that it wasn't anything else. He was preaching, they both got saved, and anyway eventually she married him, just after the earthquake."
Jon shook his head. "Amazing. And I thought neither one of them would ever get married off. So what about you?"
"Me? Uhm…" And this was where things got uncomfortable again. "I uh…well, things were so different for me after I got saved and all…you should know what it feels like, to be a new man. A lot changed."
"And….?"
"And…I remarried Sara." There wasn't really a better way to say it.
Jon fell silent, and stared at him for a moment. Finally he spoke, quietly. "Huh…really?"
"Yeah. I don't want there to be any hard feelings or anything, so I wasn't gonna lie to you, so…."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. That's fine. I mean…I'm just surprise. Not angry or anything. That would be stupid. I mean, come on, I've got my own girl over here on my side of town. Been going out almost since I got here. She's great, and got saved last week, too. I'm thinking about asking her to marry me after we get outta New Babylon after the mark thing starts and all…" He was speaking quickly, as if just to get it all out, but yet he didn't seem insincere.
Jack grabbed onto the chance to keep conversation going. "A girl? Really? What's she like?"
Jack and Jon talked long into the night, and things smoothed out just fine. They caught up on things that had happened to both of them since they'd last seen each other in front of that high school in Colorado, and they only stopped talking when Sara knocked on the office door, asking when Jack was coming to bed. Thankfully, she hadn't caught any of the conversation, he later discovered to his relief when he climbed into bed to sleep a few minutes later.
"Well, gotta run. The wife calls," Jack smiled, whispering just in case once Sara was gone again.
Jon nodded. "All right. If we can't get together sometimes, then I'll talk to you later. It's been fun," he grinned. "Keep in touch."
"Don't worry; I will now," Jack assured him.
