Disclaimer: Please see chapter one for full disclaimer.
Another Trip into Wonderland
Chapter Seven
Samantha let out a cry of surprise as the men entered the lab carrying her crying son. Holding out her arms, she gratefully accepting the squirming little boy from her husband as her eyes held so many unasked questions.
"Simmons came through the gate with Jayden" he replied to her unspoken question. "He said the Alpha site has been destroyed by Osiris and the Jaffa are coming through the gate as we speak. We need to find a way out of here now!" he finished as he searched through the duffel bag for more weapons.
"But Jack," Samantha began as she watched her husband revert to 'full General mode' "Where are we supposed to go? We can't go to the surface because of the toxins. And knowing Osiris, the Jaffa have orders to destroy the mountain."
"Carter, Daniel" the Colonel called to his team who were looking on in shock at the sudden turn of events. "Is that doohickey ready to go?"
"Yes sir but Daniel thinks that it's capable of more than just travel to alternate realities," Sam answered as she made her way to the device and began adjusting the controls on the outer casing.
"In English Major," Jack said hurriedly as he and Teal'c assumed defensive positions on either side of the doorway.
"Well, he thinks it's capable of…"
"Time travel Jack," Daniel interrupted Sam as she began to relay his findings to the Colonel. "I finished translating the writings on the outer casing with the help of one of the texts that I, he, I mean Doctor Jackson of this reality had, and this device is amazing. It can actually take a person back to the exact same place in time as well as to another reality" he finished excitedly.
"Could you take us back to before this whole Goa'uld mess began?" the General questioned.
All eyes in the room suddenly turned to Daniel in anticipation of his answer. The room became quiet and even Jayden seemed to realize the importance of Daniel's next words.
"It's possible," Daniel said slowly, rubbing his hand across his chin in a gesture of heavy contemplation. "Given a little bit of time I think we could program the machine to send you back before the Goa'uld attack began on Earth. But Jack, I need to go back over the translations to be sure. I'm going to need time to…."
"Danny Boy, time is the one thing we don't have. Can you do it or not?" the General practically shouted in frustration.
"Not with absolute certainty. If I don't go back over the translations, I could make a mistake in programming the coordinates and who knows where we would end up. Or even when we would end up…" the young man finished as he looked apologetically back and forth between the General and Samantha. "I just can't be sure yet."
"Daniel," the Colonel began as he realized they were running out of time, "Can you get us back to our own reality?"
"Yes. Sam just finished setting the coordinates, but what about them?" he asked pointing to the General and his family. "They can't stay here and if they come with us then they're risking Entropic Cascade failure by staying in our reality."
"They could come back here" Jack replied quietly.
"Sir," Sam began as she saw the look of confusion which crossed Daniel's face upon hearing the Colonel's words, "If they're right about Osiris's intentions then there won't be a 'here' for them to come back to."
"I realize that Carter. Look, Daniel said that device is capable of traveling not only to alternate realities but through time as well. Right?" Jack asked, looking at his 2IC expectantly.
"Yes, sir" she replied.
"Well then, we take them back to our reality, let Osiris do whatever it is she, I mean he, is going to do here and then we use that thingy to go back in our own reality to a time before this would have happened in this reality and zap them back here. Once we bring them back here we return to our own reality and then back to our own time." Stopping for a moment he looked up to see not only Sam but also everyone else staring at him. "What?" he asked in typical Jack O'Neill fashion.
"That might work" Samantha said. "If you brought us back here before any of this happened we could take the information that we've already gathered and plan a line of defense."
"No Goa'uld attack?" the General asked questioningly.
"Well, we probably couldn't prevent that but we could alert the Asgard and attempt to stop the mother ship from reaching Earth in the first place. We could also try to develop an antidote just in case we can't stop them in time." Samantha answered.
"No destruction of Earth, no annihilation of the Alpha site and no end of humanity" Daniel mused thoughtfully.
"And we would still have copies of the research in case the Goa'uld in our reality try anything similar," Sam said.
"Well campers, what are we waiting for?" the Colonel asked. "Carter, Daniel, get your stuff. General, Samantha, grab whatever you're going to need when you get back. Teal'c, it's time to go."
"But what about Simmons?" Samantha asked looking down the hall. "Why isn't he here yet?"
Walking over to his wife, the Colonel sadly shook his head. "Samantha, he didn't make it. He died in the gate room."
Grasping Jayden a little more tightly she allowed a small sob to escape before gathering her research. The loss of Simmons was another tragedy on an impossibly long list of good men and women that had been lost to the Goa'uld. An entire planet full of men, women and children but, if they played their cards right, they would be able to go back and perhaps change all of that. Looking down at her sleeping child she silently vowed they would change the events of the last three months. She owed it to him and everyone else who had fought so hard.
Suddenly, they heard a commotion at the far end of the hallway and then the inevitable footsteps of the approaching Jaffa. Grabbing the duffels of supplies, Jack motioned for everyone to stand together while Sam picked up the device. Just as the first Jaffa reached the lab and began firing his staff weapon, Sam pressed a sequence of buttons and SG-1, along with the last remnants of humanity from this alternate reality, were swathed in a pinkish light and disappeared before the very stunned Jaffa's eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The pinkish glow of the alien device diminished as quickly as it had appeared. This time there was no ear shattering, unconscious rendering sound emitted from the device, merely a very disoriented group of people left standing in the middle of Sam's lab.
"Well, I guess we fixed the problem" Daniel said, pointing to the device.
"Indeed. We did not lose consciousness this time" Teal'c added as he took in the familiar surroundings of Sam's lab.
"Wow" Samantha said as she allowed her gaze to travel around the room she was now standing in. "That's amazing," she added, checking Jayden for any indications of side effects from the journey to the new reality. Finding no ill effects, she began examining several experiments in various states of completion.
"Scientists" the General said to Jack in a teasing tone of voice as he noticed his wife's interest in the objects on the counters. "It doesn't matter what reality they come from, they're all the same."
"Tell me about it" the Colonel muttered.
"Sir," Sam said coming to stand directly in front of the Colonel. "I think we may have a problem," she continued indicating the alien device. "A portion of that last staff blast hit the edge of the device just before we dematerialized. I'll need to study it to be sure there wasn't any damage before we attempt to use it again."
"First we'll take our friends to meet General Hammond and debrief and then you can examine that thing for as long as you want" the Colonel replied.
"Well actually sir," Sam returned "I'll have to make it fairly quick. I don't think we'll have more than 24 hours at best before the entropic cascade failure begins."
"Sheesh Carter, it was just a figure of speech," the colonel said in an exasperated tone of voice. Shaking his head, he continued "You can start on it immediately after the debriefing ok? And then, I'm going to get that lunch we missed. Or should I say dinner?"
"Yes sir," she answered looking up as the base alarms began to sound.
"Unscheduled off-world activation."
"Now what?" the colonel muttered exiting the lab and heading toward the gate room.
The gate room was a picture of organized chaos as the klaxons sounded throughout the room. Soldiers rushed through the massive door from all directions and took their places on either side of the debarkation ramp, guns trained on whoever or whatever might step through the gate.
Meanwhile, SG-1 and company hurried to the control room in time to hear General Hammond ask, "Sergeant, do we have confirmation on who is attempting to come through the gate yet?"
"Not yet sir but… Wait a minute; we're receiving an IDC signal now. It's SG-7 sir," the Sergeant stated confirming the code displayed on the console before him. "They're under attack."
"Open the iris Sergeant" the General ordered "and get a medical team down there in case they've sustained injuries."
"I thought they weren't due back for several more days?" Daniel asked.
"They aren't Dr. Jackson. SG-7 is on a research mission to study the ruins found on P3X 881. According to our preliminary reconnaissance, the planet wasn't inhabited" the General stated.
"Here we go again," Jack muttered, remembering the last supposedly uninhabited planet SG-1 had encountered. 'That mission ended with a trek across the universe and some bad reminders of Goa'uld hospitality courtesy of Osiris and her merry men' he thought sourly.
All eyes turned toward the Gate as four figures came hurling through its' shimmering waves followed by some poorly aimed staff weapon blasts.
"Close the iris" the General said to the Sergeant. Activating the intercom, he ordered the troops in the gate room to stand down. Upon hearing the General's words, the troops guarding the gate lowered their weapons and stood at ease while several medics rushed forward to assist SG-7.
"They look alright but let's make sure" the General stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Turning to face Jack he noticed General O'Neill, Samantha and Jayden for the first time. "Colonel, care to explain what's going on here?" he asked with apparent confusion as he wondered what SG-1 had managed to stumble into this time.
"Certainly sir." Seeing his commanding officer's confusion, a small smile tugged at the corners of Jack's mouth. 'Yep, now the fun part really begins' he thought to himself as he envisioned Hammond's reaction to the 'nowhere-but-a-sci-fi novel' story that would soon unfold. 'And they all thought my fish story was unbelievable' he grinned, remembering the slightly exaggerated tales of his fishing exploits at his cabin on the lake.
"Colonel, I want you to accompany SG-1 and our guests to the debriefing room," the General ordered. "I'm going to check on the status of SG-7 and then I'll join you."
"Yes sir" Jack answered as the General made his way out of the control room. "This ought to be fun," he muttered to no one in particular as he escorted the group to the nearby conference room.
TBC