AN: You know those stories that are supposed to be short and funny and then are suddenly neither? Yeah. I knew I should have done hop-scotch

........................

Tomorrow

Mission Report: Temporary SGC, Major Griff reporting.

It has been ninety-nine days since we first failed to make contact with Earth. Colonel O'Neill once told me that on Endora, they mourn their lost for a hundred days, and then they go on with their lives. Tomorrow, General Carter will lower the flags to half-mast, and when we put them up again, this will no longer be a temporary command, it will be the SGC. He and Selmak will stay for as long as they can while we reorganize and meet with our allies.

Our science team was unable to determine which of Captain Abernathy's original theories were correct, even with help from both the Asgard and the Tok'ra. The Asgard ships were no more able to scan Earth than the Tok'ra were, though they too detected the sub-space field. Given that we never established a wormhole to Earth, my 2IC has reluctantly concluded that his second hypothesis is the more likely to be true. Tomorrow, our scientists will program the computer to dial Earth every night at midnight and spend the rest of their time developing and implementing a dialing schedule for the addresses on Dr. Jackson's cartouche. We will resume our explorations, even if they will be scaled back significantly.

There are 257 humans at the Alpha-site, and 139 more on the Beta-site and at various colony installations. The other SG commanders and I have drawn up plans for survival, putting base personnel on agricultural rotations. Tomorrow, we will rebuild our civilization.

........................

"Latin?" burst out Jacob Carter.

"That is correct, General Carter." Teal'c said calmly. "Colonel O'Neill and I were required to remember the translation so we could re-teach Daniel Jackson every loop."

"After we finished convincing them we weren't crazy." Jack O'Neill cut in. "Which took more time than you'd think."

"Dad, you said you were in orbit around Earth but couldn't see it?" Sam asked, sounding intrigued.

"Several times," Jacob answered. "Even more, we launched at least five probes, both Tok'ra and Asgard, and they just went sailing through."

"Wow. I wonder what would have happened if we'd tried to leave the planet by shuttle."

"Carter?"

"Think about it, sir. We could have broken out." She paused. "Or possibly run into the sub-space equivalent of a brick wall."

"We're getting a bit far afield here, people." Hammond broke in. "Jacob, what happened in the rest of the universe while we were looping?"

"Nothing too cataclysmic." Jacob said lightly. "Major Griff took command of our temporary command post at the Alpha-site, and I advised him. He kept detailed reports."

[Hmph.]

[Not while I'm in a meeting please, dear.]

"Anyway, we tried to reach Earth for ninety-nine days," Jacob continued. "I don't think Abernathy slept more than ten hours a week, but even with the Tok'ra and Asgard helping, the science teams came up empty."

"Science wasn't really what got us out of this one." Daniel said, a slight smile on his face.

"It's all in the report, but Abernathy had two theories, and though he couldn't prove it, we were leaning towards the one where there had been a horrible incident of some kind and you were all dead." Jacob sighed. "I'm sorry, but our plan for Day 100 involved your memorial service and a whole slew of field promotions."

"Why is it always a hundred days?" Jack asked. "Why is it never, you know, ninety-seven?"

"It seemed like a good number, sir." Major Griff said, a bit stiffly.

"If you'd gone with ninety-seven, you'd be a Lieutenant-Colonel by now."

"Colonel, actually. We were sort of in need of ranking officers." Jacob said, smiling unabashedly.

[Humans!]

[Hey, you missed us as much as we did.]

[Blending really does not do well with your grammar, does it?]

"I think we'll want to take some of Major Griff's plans for the Alpha-site under consideration," Hammond was saying. "An emergency evac-team could survive on MREs for a while, but we did have agricultural potential in mind when we selected the site."

"And all off-world humans should be given some planet-side leave." Jacob said. "It's been a hectic few months."

"Agreed. I'll make the arrangements." Hammond stood up. "Dismissed."

SG-1, Major Griff and Jacob Carter filed out of the briefing room, already talking amicably amongst themselves. Sam and her father lagged behind, as Jack badgered Griff with questions about how he'd spent the time.

"Does the commissary serve pancakes at this hour?" Selmak inquired politely of his host's daughter.

"I'm not sure," Sam admitted. "But they should have some waffles left over from breakfast. Have you tried those?"

"My primary reason for consuming pancakes is the tradition of lacing them with maple syrup."

"Well then you're in luck," Sam smiled. "We put maple syrup on waffles too."

[You'll rot our teeth.]

[Be quiet.]

"Actually," Sam went on, unaware of her father's plight, "You can also put maple syrup on French toast. My brother used to put it on his bacon and sausages, but I think that's gross. Of course, when I was little, I used to drink it straight, so I shouldn't talk."

[Sam!]

[She cannot hear you.]

"Have you ever tried maple taffy? Or maple sugar?"

"No, Major Carter, I have not." Selmak said sedately. "But I look forward to trying them all."

[At once?]

[I doubt the commissary serves all the foods your daughter has just mentioned.]

[Thank heavens for small mercies. Mind if I have a chat with her?]

[Knock yourself out.]

[I think we need to get you away from these humans and back to the nice, boring Tok'ra. You're obviously being poorly influenced.]

[Just talk to your daughter.]

Jacob realized Sam was looking at him oddly.

"Selmak?" she inquired.

"No, it's me," her father replied. "Come on. Lets go get something to eat. I gather Selmak wants waffles and I haven't had Froot Loops in months."

Jacob never found out why his daughter had laughed so uproariously at his off handed remark, but since he had spent the last ninety-nine days wondering if he would ever hear her laugh again, he decided he could cope with a few jokes he didn't get.

........................

AN: I've been wondering for a while now what MRE stood for. I thought it would be along the lines of "Military Ration….something". Turns out, it's "Meals, Ready to Eat."

I got about half way through the conversation at the end before I remembered that Daniel had been eating waffles, and then I realized I had the perfect ending. I love it when my fluke decisions come back like this!

What did you think?