A perplex Major General Landry was peering at Jack, in the SGC's isolation room. The man looked like the Landry Jack knew, except this one had a moustache. Carter was standing on his left. Both were in the tiger grey BDU, minus the cap. The patch on Carter's right arm indicated she was part of SG-1. Jack was seated at the table at the center of the room. He could see the bay window above and in front of him. Landry had ordered two airmen to watch the room with their MP9 from both sides of the entrance.
Carter had brought O'Neill to Cheyenne Mountain. The man looked much better with shorter hair and free from the beard. Nothing new to him as he looked exactly like this when all this mess started. He had exchanged his clothes for the tiger BDU. Carter seemed to appreciate this version. She was no longer looking at O'Neill with a stiff face or in an indifferent way, even if she was always showing a very serious attitude.
Hank beckoned Sam to the bay window for a private chat. The two turned their back to Jack and Hank started the chat, low.
"This situation is atypical, Colonel Carter."
"But not impossible, sir. We've been through this a few years ago."
"Are you sure it's safe to have him here?" Landry queried after glimpsing Jack.
The lieutenant colonel furtively looked at Jack, and answered to Landry, "I think we'd rather have him here than outside, repeating what he said to God knows who, sir.". Carter paused. Then, she softly confessed, "Plus, he's a veteran. I couldn't leave him over there, sir."
Landry glimpsed Jack again. He realized that his subordinate was right. Being himself a military person, he couldn't leave a comrade in a miserable situation. He nodded. Then, other questions for Carter came out, "I'm still perturbed... Why and how did this Jack O'Neill land in this area in Los Angeles? And where's the Jack O'Neill from our reality?"
Carter frowned and swallowed. She stared at Landry for a moment, searching for a theory. She eventually admitted, "I can't explain yet, sir. Maybe it does have something to do with the planet he mentioned. About our Jack O'Neill, I ordered our people in Los Angeles to contact us if they have any lead."
Landry approved Carter's initiative by a nod. Although they were speaking low, O'Neill could hear their discussion. He got a little pissed to be ignored.
"Hey, you know I can hear you, don't you?" he said, tilting his head and waving.
The officers turned around to face Jack again, a little ashamed to be caught red-handed.
Jack asked, "So, what's next?"
Carter glanced at her superior.
The man with the moustache thought, then, answered, "We'll investigate your intel, Colonel O'Neill. If the information you provided to us is confirmed, I'll see what I can do about your request with General Maybourne."
"General Maybourne?" Jack blurted out, confused. "Harry Maybourne?" Jack precised, to be sure they were talking about the same man.
Landry confirmed, "Indeed. He's the head of Earth Commmand."
The revelation took O'Neill's breath away. He guessed that Earth Command was an important organization. Maybe something similar to his Homeworld Command? Anyway, hearing in the same sentence general, Maybourne, and head was something... King in O'Neill's reality, general in another... The dude would always find his way to be successful... No need to tell the part of this story to his Maybourne if they happened to cross paths again...
As Jack didn't add any other comment about Maybourne, the general with the moustache continued what he was saying before, "In the meantime, Colonel O'Neill, you'll remain our guest and collaborate with Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson. They have plenty of questions for you."
O'Neill nodded in silence. He couldn't expect better, as he knew that Landry had to be precautious and that he couldn't make promises too early. Jack would have done the same. He hoped that this Air Force, well, the Harry Maybourne in this universe in particular, wouldn't try to fool him. In this case, Jack would be really stuck. For the moment, his situation wasn't bad either. He was still alive, not in jail, and he was going to spend time with Sam and Daniel.
Speaking of Daniel, the archeologist appeared, holding an object in his hands. Jack turned and had a shock.
The Daniel Jackson here was quite different from his.
This Daniel didn't notice Jack's presence, too focused on not making the item fall, and directly spoke to Hank, "You asked for me, General Landry?"
Jack was so stunned by this Daniel's physical appearance that he dropped, "Daniel?", in a high-pitched voice.
The archeologist finally paid attention to the guest. "Colonel O'Neill?" he exclaimed, as stunned as Jack.
"You recognize me?" O'Neill asked, pointing at himself and surprised.
"I do. You look better than the last time we met." Daniel responded, less stunned and actually pleased to see Jack.
"So, we went to Abydos together?"
Daniel frowned, caught off guard by this question. "Of course we did... Sorry to be rude, but what are you doing here? Last time, you said..."
Jackson stopped. Jack felt that Daniel didn't finish because the revelation may provoke an embarrassing situation, or Daniel wanted to keep it private. The civilian chose to glance at Hank and Sam instead. He was lost. Landry looked at Sam and tilted his head, meaning he was inviting her to introduce the situation.
Sam looked at Daniel and started, "When I was in Los Angeles to examine an abandoned Tel'tak, this person - Sam gestured to Jack - came to ask for my help. This Colonel O'Neill claims he's coming from an alternate reality and for some reason, he ended up in ours. In his reality, the Goa'uld tried to attack Earth a couple of times. During one attempt, they could reach Earth, but SG-1 and the Prometheus could defeat them before they could land on Earth, thanks to an Ancient weapon hidden in Antarctica."
Daniel glanced at Jack. Probably more confused than he already was.
Sam resumed when Daniel's look crossed hers again, "We called you, Doctor Jackson, because Colonel O'Neill explained that the Ancient weapon in Antarctica could be turned on with a power source called ZPM. The description of this energy supplier looks like the item you found on P5D-560. That's why we asked you to bring it here."
Sam pointed out the item in Daniel's hands. It was a ZPM. There was no doubt. Jack noticed it the moment Daniel entered the room. He didn't observe it very much since then, and even less during Sam's summary because a detail hit him.
Sam called the archeologist "Doctor Jackson".
Not Daniel, as Jack was used to. Jack had seen the man for a minute, but he could tell by the way Daniel and Sam were interacting that these two weren't close in this universe. This would explain Daniel's look and the fact there was no sign indicating he was part of a SG team.
Daniel Jackson was dressed in civilian clothing. A dark grey tweed suit and a white shirt. A black bow tie around his neck. Circular glasses. Thick hair due to a big layer of gel. Daniel looked like a university professor coming from the fifties, even before the fifties... However, that wasn't the most perturbing. This Daniel, by his attitude, looked less self-confident than the man Jack knew. This Daniel was the opposite of Sam. The lady was rigid, as thick as some guys Jack had known when he was in the special operations forces, even if he could sense a glimmer of kindness in her since they left Los Angeles.
Carter looked at O'Neill and pointed out the device brought by Jackson. "Is this what you call ZPM?"
"That's it." Jack confirmed with a nod.
Daniel and Sam looked at Landry, waiting for his instructions. The general ended the suspense:
"Colonel O'Neill, you'll start with Colonel Carter. I hope you don't mind spending hours talking about science, because Colonel Carter is our expert."
Carter rolled her eyes and tilted her head, embarrassed to be complimented.
"Oh yes, she is. She's even the best!" Jack confirmed with a smile, staring at Sam.
The lady offered her first smile to Jack since Los Angeles, albeit she was still embarrassed by all these compliments. Jack melt. Although this Sam wasn't his, it would always be a delight to see a Samantha Carter smile. Besides, right now, this Sam's smile was helping him cling to the hope that he would find a way out and see his Sam's smile again.
Contrary to the guest who was inwardly enjoying this moment, Daniel Jackson and Hank Landry were surprised, even shocked, to see that Sam Carter was smiling.
xxxxx
NB: To the guest who commented chapter 22: I love your theories ;)