Finally a new chapter. I'm sorry you all had to wait so long for it. In response to your wonderful reviews… Shay is sixteen and a little young for Daniel. I did that on purpose because my romance is worse than my witty sarcasm and I wanted to remove the temptation. Trust me, I thought about that long and hard. I will try to post more frequently but don't count on it.

Please keep in mind that this is a mystery and I will be dropping clues along the way. You are welcome to email me if you have a guess and just can't wait to find out if you are right or not. I will answer you to the best of my knowledge. (Even I don't have it all figured out yet!) You all have the big questions already. 'Who is the boss' and 'How does Shay know about SG1'

Also, if you think of anything you think Jack (or any of the characters) should have said or you thought they were going to say but didn't, please let me know. I would really like to get it right. Please feel free to email me if your thoughts run too long for the review page. My email is pokey1984@yahoo.com

P. S. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story. I love to hear from you even if you just think I'm long-winded and boring so please continue the feedback.

So, without further stalling or pointless drivel…

Chapter 5

The next morning the team arrived early so they could compare notes before Shay was up and about. Jack was sitting in one corner of the conference room drinking coffee from a travel mug. Daniel was puzzling over a print out from Shay's records and Teal'c was waiting quietly at the table. Sam was the first to speak from her place at the front of the room. "So what did you learn?"

"Not much. At least, not much of any real value." Daniel said dropping his papers to the table in frustration. "I know Shay has visited at least one hundred and seven planets but I don't know anything specific about her 'boss'. There is probably more info in those missing files but…" Daniel trailed off helplessly.

"Can someone tell me why exactly we are bothering with this?" The colonel asked.

"We are trying to find out if this 'boss' of Shay's can help us fight off the Gua'ould." Daniel said tolerantly.

"Well why don't we just ask her?" Jack asked

"She doesn't know anything about her 'boss'."

"Then why are we doing this?" Jack asked again.

"We are hoping that Shay knows something she doesn't know she knows." Sam answered just as tolerantly as Daniel had.

"My question is, if she doesn't know she knows what ever we are looking for, why hide some of her files from us?" Daniel asked rhetorically.

"Perhaps Shay Morgan has more than one secret." Teal'c said.

An hour later Sam and Daniel were in the mess hall with Shay who was eating breakfast. "I looked over those files you gave me yesterday." Daniel said.

Shay looked up from her cereal and swallowed. "Yeah? What did you think?"

"I thought they were very interesting. I was wondering about the ones that you left out when you copied them."

"What about them?"

"Well, why did you leave them out?"

"I didn't want you to see them." Shay answered between mouthfuls. Daniel sputtered slightly at that answer.

"What was in them that you didn't want us to know? Generally speaking, of course," Sam tried asking the questions for a while since Daniel seemed to be at a loss.

"Stuff" Shay had finished her cereal and was working on a muffin.

"What was the 'stuff' about?" Sam tried again.

"Other planets."

"Why would you want to hid information from us if it was just about 'other planets'?" Sam wasn't going to give up easily.

"Because it might be bad for you to know about those planets." Sam was slightly startled that Shay seemed to be giving up so easily. "If you knew about them you might know why I know about you and I don't know if that would hurt you all or not. I like you, I wouldn't want to take that chance." Shay had said more than she intended to but it felt good to finally tell the truth, even if it was only part of the truth. She looked at her two friends, her eyes pleading with them to leave it be for now. Sam and Daniel caught the look and were too startled at it and her frank admissions to speak. The pause was short but it gave Shay a chance to turn the conversation the direction she wanted it to go.

"So what did you thing of my seventy-third planet?"

"The one where you met the 'mermaids'?"

"Yeah, that's the one. How did you like it?"

"Well I think I would have been bored silly there since you can't build much under the water. There really wouldn't be much use for an archeologist there. Plus I don't swim very well and since the planet seems to be mostly water…'

Sam Saw that they would be in this conversation for a while and that she wasn't likely to get anything more from Shay. Sam decided to go to her workshop. She had an idea she wanted to put on paper.

* * *

"So here's the plan," Sam had the entire team in an empty lab and was explaining her idea. "First, Shay will get out her laptop and ask her 'boss' for something. Then we watch and record how the object arrives. That should tell up something about the level of technology he is using. Once we know that we will have a better idea what we are dealing with and we may even be able to duplicate the technology or trace it back to the 'boss'." Sam had set up a variety of sensors and cameras all around the room. "Most of this equipment was developed for use with the Stargate. It should give us a lot of data to work with."

"So why are we here?" Jack asked

"In case I need the back up if something goes wrong or if this 'boss' guy gets angry. Any other questions?"

"What should I ask for?" Shay was opening her computer.

"Something of a specific weight and mass that we can measure later. If it could be all one type of material that would help."

"How about a two pound block of iron?"

"That would be fabulous. Why iron?"

"Iron was the currency of choice on the planet I found you all on." Shay was already typing her request into her journal. "What now?" Shay asked closing the laptop.

Nearly and hour later…

"Carter, I think you forgot to take something into consideration when you started this little experiment." Jack said from the floor where he had been laying and staring at the ceiling for the last forty minutes.

"What would that be, sir" Sam looked up from had been tweaking her instruments.

"How boring this would be to the rest of us!" At this Sam finally registered the other occupants of the room. Jack was lying on his back staring at the ceiling. Daniel had leaned against a wall and apparently fallen asleep while Shay had her laptop out again and was attempting to teach Teal'c computer solitaire.

"I told you it sometimes took as much as an hour to get stuff" Shay looked up at Sam who gave them all a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, Sir."

Jack and Shay both got up at the same time.

"Just remember to bring a deck of cards or something next time… Whoa! Look out there!" While Jack was talking Shay had begun to walk across the room and just as she had passed in front of Jack a large block of metal appeared out of nowhere directly in front of her and about six feet up in the air. Unfortunately that space was also directly in front of the colonel. Shay jumped back just in time to avoid getting her toe smashed. Jack felt the air whoosh past his face as the block barely missed his nose

"Thank you sooo much!" Shay said to the empty air just above her head. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Sorry about that Jack, I usually make sure no one stands in front of me."

"Hey that's all right, I was getting bored anyway. Please tell me you got that, Carter."

"Yes Sir." Sam went to her monitor to see what the sensors had recorded. "Wow, that's interesting."

"What do you see?" Shay asked, going to Sam's side to see what the monitor showed. "Ah, yes, lots of numbers and some squiggly lines. Very good. What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure." Carter was scrolling the monitor screen and smiling faintly. "I've seen this type of data before though."

"Where?"

"It looks like a cross between the readings I took off the Stargate and something else… I'm not quite sure what though.

"Are you telling me that this 'boss' of Shay's is using a Stargate?" Jack asked.

"Well not a Stargate exactly. Obviously you can't make wormholes open using a Stargate without actually having a Stargate to open them in. But a wormhole is definitely being used. There is also something vaguely familiar about the rest of it too. I just can't place it."

"I'm sorry, I can't help you there," Shay told Sam. "I don't know about wormholes or anything. That's your job, you're the rocket scientist."

Sam had already become engrossed in the data. She was trying to compare it to anything else in her database. "Keep me informed when you find anything Carter." Jack told her "I'm going to get some lunch. Do you want me to bring you anything?" There was no response. "Carter?" Jack stepped closer and said very close to her ear. "Carter!"

"Sir!" Sam jumped and looked around.

"I'm going to get some lunch, do you want anything?"

"No thank you. I'll keep you informed, you go ahead."

Jack smiled and turned away. "Anyone else up for some lunch?"

Daniel stood and held out a hand to help Shay up. "I'm in, are you coming Shay?"

"Sounds great!"

Sam found them all leaving the mess hall over an hour later. She had a pencil behind her ear she was slightly out of breath. "I'm glad I caught you, I figured it out!"

"Figured out what Sam?" Daniel asked while Jack steadied her with one hand.

"Where I saw those readings before. They're the same ones I got off the Quantum Mirror!"

"The Quantum Mirror? The alternate universe thingumy?" Jack's expression was puzzled.

"That makes sense." Shay said thoughtfully, managing to surprise everyone.

"How do you know about the…" Jack started to ask and was cut off by Shay.

"It's part of that thing I can't tell you. But I do know about the Quantum Mirror and I know about Sam's double coming out of it and all of that."

"That's classified, you know that right?" Jack said raising one eyebrow slightly.

"Yes, I know that."

Jack shrugged. "Okay."

"Sir, we should probably tell General Hammond what we know." Carter said "He asked to be kept informed."

"Well let's go then."

Their meeting with the General was uneventful and SG1 left with instructions to keep researching and to report to him when they learned something. "You all need some R&R time anyway and since none of you seem capable of a vacation, a little desk work should be the next best thing. Oh and Major Carter…" General Hammond called as they turned to leave.

"Yes Sir?"

"You are under orders to leave your lab by 2100 hours every day until further notice, understood?"

"Yes Sir." Sam replied slightly disappointed. As they left, General Hammond allowed a satisfied smile to cross his face.

On their way out of the General's office the group started to make plans for the rest of their day. "If you're willing, I'd like you to help me with an experiment this afternoon Shay?" Carter asked hopefully.

"Okay."

Jack saw his opportunity to get Sam away from work and was careful not to let his excitement show on his face. "And this evening you all can come to my house for dinner. I have this grill I have been wanting to use for a while now..." Jack trailed off, looking at everyone expectantly.

Daniel and Teal'c looked at each other but Sam spoke first. "I don't know, I have a lot off work to do."

Jack didn't let his disappointment show but Daniel understood Jack perfectly and wasn't going to let him give up that easily. "Remember what General Hammond said? We're supposed to take it easy."

Shay, of course, knew what was going on and wasn't about to make Daniel do all the work. "I would really like to have a barbecue tonight too Sam, and they aren't much fun unless you have enough people there."

Sam was not easily persuaded but was finally convinced when Teal'c spoke up. "I too would enjoy a barbecue, Major Carter. I have never been to one before."

Sam finally caved. "All right I'll come. But only if I can bring the potato salad."