AN: Wow. How come I can't write this much for papers? This is the fourth
chapter today, and there's no sign of it stopping any time soon! Which is
good for you, as the reader.
Also, I am really starting to hate that there's two of everything.
* * * * * *
Alternate Thor was every bit as infuriating as his counterpart, so it was a quiet voyage from the mirror's planet to the Beta Site. Jack could not understand why the Asgard hadn't been more helpful, or able to figure out Dr. Carter's device. Sam explained that the Asgard simply do not think the right way, but then she had gone off on some tangent about bad tasting food and something called a kieron, and Jack got well and truly lost. There was just something wrong about the whole idea. It was like everything Jack was expecting ended up being just opposite enough that it threw him horribly. Which, he supposed was why they called it a mirror.
"Hey Carter." He said quietly, so Jacob and Abby would not over hear him.
"Yes sir?"
"Do you find it odd that Teal'c killed Daniel's wife in our reality, and Kawalsky killed mine in this?"
"I beg your pardon sir?"
"I mean friends. Killing wives. It's. . .odd."
"Sir, I think I prefer it when you don't think about these things out loud."
"So you do then, eh?"
"A little. It's kind of unnerving."
"You think you'll be able to finish the weapon?"
"Sir, no one even knows what the weapon is supposed to do. Apparently, Dr. Carter was very good at keeping secrets."
"Must come with the genes."
"I am going to take that as a compliment, because I want this conversation to end."
"Now, now children." Called Abby from across the cargo bay. "Play nice!"
Jacob shot a strange look, first at his wife, and then across the bay, but didn't say anything.
"How is Selmak, dad?" Sam asked, trying to change the subject.
"I am fine, thank you Major Carter."
Abby's eyes grew wide and she drew back from Jacob's body.
"You have nothing to fear from me Abigail Carter. I would not harm one whom my host so loves."
Jacob shook his head. "I'm sorry, that happens sometimes. Selmak likes you. She thinks I have good taste."
Abby smiled faintly. "Well, thank heavens for small blessings."
The doors to the bay slid open and Thor walked into the room.
"We have reached our destination." He announced. "Please, come with me to the transportation device. I will leave you on this planet for three days, and then return to take you home."
"Three days!" Sam exclaimed. "What if I can't. . ."
"If you can't solve it in three days, it won't matter Samantha. The Goa'uld are going to attack the Beta Site."
"What?" said Jacob.
"Now you understand how I feel about the little twists the Tok'ra throw our way sometimes!" Jack interjected.
"Samantha can do it." Abby stated.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, mom, but what if they attack early? Or waylay Thor?"
"I have faith in you Samantha, you will find a way."
"Come on campers." Jack said, hefting his pack up. "We've got three days. Lets not waste them."
He recognized all too well the look Carter shot him as she hoisted her bag up to follow him. He usually saw it before she panicked. Which was traditionally followed by a bolt of lightning that saved their collective behinds. She would get them through, and then he would get them home. That was just the way it worked.
* * * * * *
"I have no idea what I'm doing."
Jack was able to dodge the pen that hurtled past his head thanks to years of government funded training.
"Maybe it isn't that I don't know what I am doing; it's that I don't know what I was doing."
"Do you mean the other Carter?" Jack ventured.
"Yes, sir."
"Oh. Well, um, did you keep notes?"
"I keep notes in my laptop, encrypted, just in case. She doesn't have a laptop, so she must have used something else."
"What would you use if you didn't have a laptop?"
"A notebook?"
"I'm asking the questions, Carter."
"Fine. I'd use a notebook."
"Swell. Now help me find it, would you?"
* * * * * *
"Are they always like that?" Abby asked her not-quite-husband.
"Jacob prefers not to think about it." Selmak replied. "Apparently, there is some sort of rule that prohibits them from getting close. I have noticed that they complement each other extremely well and work with great efficiency."
"What does Jacob think?"
"He wants his daughter to be happy, and he is unsure about how she is going to accomplish that."
"My Samantha was happy. With her Jack. They fought all the time, but only an idiot couldn't tell that they weren't really fighting. They were different and they loved it. Together, they were almost perfect." She sighed. "It's kind of cruel. Fate-wise, I mean."
"Yeah." Said Jacob. "It kind of is."
* * * * * *
The only paper that Dr. Carter had was her diary. Jack immediately refused to read it, saying that Sam was uniquely qualified. Still, Sam felt like she was intruding immensely. Reading one's dead alternate's thought was unsettling.
For the most part, the diary was just a record of her daily routine. Everything except what she was building. But Sam knew she wasn't that easy. Sam knew the clock was ticking. It had taken half a day for her to get frustrated enough with the machine to look for notes, and then two more hours to turn up the notebook. Since then, she'd read until the sun was gone, and Abby had brought her a candle and a plate of MREs, and she was no closer to breaking Dr. Carter's cipher.
"How's it going, Major?" Jack asked, sitting down beside her.
"Nowhere." God, she sounded so defeated.
"You'll find it."
"How do you know that?"
"Because that's what you do. You find things."
"She writes about you a lot."
"Really?"
"She missed you. A lot."
"I know. When we left her she. . ."
"I saw."
"Oh." He was quiet for a minute. "And did you hear what I said afterward?"
"No."
"She said 'You really aren't him.' and I said 'No, I'm not.' and then I left her."
"What are you trying to say, Colonel?"
"I think I'm trying to say that she wasn't you, Carter. You thought similarly, but not the same. Try and think like her."
"How?"
"Well, what was the most important thing to her?"
"You...he was." She paused. And then her eyes widened as it hit her.
Sam grabbed a pen and paper and began to record the dates of the entries that mentioned Jack. She realized that they came in a pattern, and that the numbers looked a lot like frequencies of something. She stood and flew across the room to the machine, laying her hands on it, almost reverently.
"My god." She gasped. "We're a genius."
* * * * * *
AN: Of course I know what the weapon is. Whatever would make you think that I'm stalling? * giggles insanely *
Also, I am really starting to hate that there's two of everything.
* * * * * *
Alternate Thor was every bit as infuriating as his counterpart, so it was a quiet voyage from the mirror's planet to the Beta Site. Jack could not understand why the Asgard hadn't been more helpful, or able to figure out Dr. Carter's device. Sam explained that the Asgard simply do not think the right way, but then she had gone off on some tangent about bad tasting food and something called a kieron, and Jack got well and truly lost. There was just something wrong about the whole idea. It was like everything Jack was expecting ended up being just opposite enough that it threw him horribly. Which, he supposed was why they called it a mirror.
"Hey Carter." He said quietly, so Jacob and Abby would not over hear him.
"Yes sir?"
"Do you find it odd that Teal'c killed Daniel's wife in our reality, and Kawalsky killed mine in this?"
"I beg your pardon sir?"
"I mean friends. Killing wives. It's. . .odd."
"Sir, I think I prefer it when you don't think about these things out loud."
"So you do then, eh?"
"A little. It's kind of unnerving."
"You think you'll be able to finish the weapon?"
"Sir, no one even knows what the weapon is supposed to do. Apparently, Dr. Carter was very good at keeping secrets."
"Must come with the genes."
"I am going to take that as a compliment, because I want this conversation to end."
"Now, now children." Called Abby from across the cargo bay. "Play nice!"
Jacob shot a strange look, first at his wife, and then across the bay, but didn't say anything.
"How is Selmak, dad?" Sam asked, trying to change the subject.
"I am fine, thank you Major Carter."
Abby's eyes grew wide and she drew back from Jacob's body.
"You have nothing to fear from me Abigail Carter. I would not harm one whom my host so loves."
Jacob shook his head. "I'm sorry, that happens sometimes. Selmak likes you. She thinks I have good taste."
Abby smiled faintly. "Well, thank heavens for small blessings."
The doors to the bay slid open and Thor walked into the room.
"We have reached our destination." He announced. "Please, come with me to the transportation device. I will leave you on this planet for three days, and then return to take you home."
"Three days!" Sam exclaimed. "What if I can't. . ."
"If you can't solve it in three days, it won't matter Samantha. The Goa'uld are going to attack the Beta Site."
"What?" said Jacob.
"Now you understand how I feel about the little twists the Tok'ra throw our way sometimes!" Jack interjected.
"Samantha can do it." Abby stated.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, mom, but what if they attack early? Or waylay Thor?"
"I have faith in you Samantha, you will find a way."
"Come on campers." Jack said, hefting his pack up. "We've got three days. Lets not waste them."
He recognized all too well the look Carter shot him as she hoisted her bag up to follow him. He usually saw it before she panicked. Which was traditionally followed by a bolt of lightning that saved their collective behinds. She would get them through, and then he would get them home. That was just the way it worked.
* * * * * *
"I have no idea what I'm doing."
Jack was able to dodge the pen that hurtled past his head thanks to years of government funded training.
"Maybe it isn't that I don't know what I am doing; it's that I don't know what I was doing."
"Do you mean the other Carter?" Jack ventured.
"Yes, sir."
"Oh. Well, um, did you keep notes?"
"I keep notes in my laptop, encrypted, just in case. She doesn't have a laptop, so she must have used something else."
"What would you use if you didn't have a laptop?"
"A notebook?"
"I'm asking the questions, Carter."
"Fine. I'd use a notebook."
"Swell. Now help me find it, would you?"
* * * * * *
"Are they always like that?" Abby asked her not-quite-husband.
"Jacob prefers not to think about it." Selmak replied. "Apparently, there is some sort of rule that prohibits them from getting close. I have noticed that they complement each other extremely well and work with great efficiency."
"What does Jacob think?"
"He wants his daughter to be happy, and he is unsure about how she is going to accomplish that."
"My Samantha was happy. With her Jack. They fought all the time, but only an idiot couldn't tell that they weren't really fighting. They were different and they loved it. Together, they were almost perfect." She sighed. "It's kind of cruel. Fate-wise, I mean."
"Yeah." Said Jacob. "It kind of is."
* * * * * *
The only paper that Dr. Carter had was her diary. Jack immediately refused to read it, saying that Sam was uniquely qualified. Still, Sam felt like she was intruding immensely. Reading one's dead alternate's thought was unsettling.
For the most part, the diary was just a record of her daily routine. Everything except what she was building. But Sam knew she wasn't that easy. Sam knew the clock was ticking. It had taken half a day for her to get frustrated enough with the machine to look for notes, and then two more hours to turn up the notebook. Since then, she'd read until the sun was gone, and Abby had brought her a candle and a plate of MREs, and she was no closer to breaking Dr. Carter's cipher.
"How's it going, Major?" Jack asked, sitting down beside her.
"Nowhere." God, she sounded so defeated.
"You'll find it."
"How do you know that?"
"Because that's what you do. You find things."
"She writes about you a lot."
"Really?"
"She missed you. A lot."
"I know. When we left her she. . ."
"I saw."
"Oh." He was quiet for a minute. "And did you hear what I said afterward?"
"No."
"She said 'You really aren't him.' and I said 'No, I'm not.' and then I left her."
"What are you trying to say, Colonel?"
"I think I'm trying to say that she wasn't you, Carter. You thought similarly, but not the same. Try and think like her."
"How?"
"Well, what was the most important thing to her?"
"You...he was." She paused. And then her eyes widened as it hit her.
Sam grabbed a pen and paper and began to record the dates of the entries that mentioned Jack. She realized that they came in a pattern, and that the numbers looked a lot like frequencies of something. She stood and flew across the room to the machine, laying her hands on it, almost reverently.
"My god." She gasped. "We're a genius."
* * * * * *
AN: Of course I know what the weapon is. Whatever would make you think that I'm stalling? * giggles insanely *