504 The Fifth Man
Sam couldn't believe how she acted in the gate room. She remembered the feelings coursing through her, she can still feel the need, the urgency. They were all ready to go back, weren't they? All of them ready to disobey orders, disobey Hammond to his face. All of them refused to relinquish their weapons, ready to face down their own men to get back to the Colonel and the other guy, Tyler. Or was it just her?
Carter's overwhelming need to go back and save O'Neill was visceral. She wondered if it was the undercurrents of the Thera and Jonah's affair still coursing through her system or was it something else?
It was only the members of SG-1 who remembered Tyler. Hammond said there was never a Tyler assigned to the SGC. Had they returned to the wrong time line or and alternate universe? It didn't seem possible for them to have completely different memories. And Sam had to remain out of trouble. She needed the freedom to resolve the problem of the mysterious Lt. Tyler. This was the only way to return to the Colonel. Sam hacked into the system and it affirmed that Tyler did not exist. It wasn't the SGC that had a problem - it was SG-1's problem.
Colonel Simmons made his way to the SGC in order to investigate a security breach, Sam's hack. There he was again. Not a month ago he destroyed her home looking for a being that only wanted to connect and protect. Simmons bred distrust within the entire base. And now he was here to undermine Hammond's position and those of SG-1 and, perhaps, put in jeopardy Jack O'Neill's life. He interviewed the present members of SG-1 charging them with incident of their past, most of which they had no control over. They, as well as the entire command, had enemies within the government wishing to take control of or shut down the SGC. Both possibilities were incomprehensible to Hammond, Carter, Daniel and Teal'c. O'Neill would have blown a gasket. Sam wondered if Simmons was dragging out his investigation thus stranding O'Neill with minimal supplies and surrounded by a contingent of Jaffa, insuring O'Neill's death.
Janet Fraiser came to the rescue, finding the powdery residue on Teal'c clothing and testing it on herself for its effect. She remembered Tyler.
Meanwhile Colonel O'Neill was busy protecting the wounded Tyler, finding water, keeping watch and awaiting reinforcements. On little to no sleep he dug in their position, planting C-4 and hand grenade linked to trip wires.
Tyler could not understand this man who carried him to safety and would probably die fighting to protect him. He told the truth and showed O'Neill his true form. He was a Reole, a species who relied on their chameleon like attributes for protection rather than technology. O'Neill chose to remain and protect him. Overwhelmed by Jaffa, Jack had his hands up in surrender, facing death, a charged staff weapon aimed at him. SG-1 arrived in the nick of time to save his life.
The planet was still crawling with Jaffa and this time Tyler took his life in his hands to allow SG-1 to escape. They, true to form, saved the alien and hopefully made an ally of his race.
When he returned to the SGC Hammond took Jack into his office. "I don't think this Simmons is in it for the military or for Earth for that matter. I think he's the kind of person that's only in it for himself. And we had better all be wary of him."
They may have made a new friend off world but here on Earth, within the Air Force and their own government, they had a powerful enemy.