Daniel gingerly lifted the hot kettle off the iron rack in the fireplace. He crossed to the elegantly carved table and poured the liquid into the ceramic carafe, carefully holding the ends of his homemade coffee bags. Without access to a coffeemaker, this was about as good as it got. He set the kettle aside and pulled up chair, dunking the bags as he looked around. The guest suite was small but comfortable. There were a number of bedrooms and a shared washroom leading off the common area. That was where Daniel sat, watching his coffee steep.
Normally, he could sleep anywhere, but tonight his body's clock had gotten him up after only a couple of hours. Maybe it was the extended nap earlier. Well, whatever the case, it was a chance to enjoy some peace a few hours before first light. With one last plunge of the bags, he was satisfied with the strength of the coffee. He poured himself a mug and sat, sipping lightly. Daniel sank back into the chair, listening to the crackle of the wood in the fire as it chased away the chill seeping in the windows above.
At his third sip of coffee, he heard a slight ruffling coming from Kyle's room. Jackson wasn't trying to be voyeuristic, but the pattern of soft gasps and groans was familiar in a way he'd rather not think about. He'd spent the better part of the late nineties waking up to the echo of those sounds in his bedroom. With a frown, Daniel got up and pulled a second mug off the mantle, filling it as he sat back down. A moment later, a thump settled to the floor and Kyle staggered out. He stood silhouetted in the dim light for a moment as he leaned against the doorjamb, covered in perspiration, rubbing his face briskly. "Coffee?" Daniel pushed the spare mug across the table.
Kyle nodded and crumpled down opposite him, leaning over his mug with his elbows on the table. "Thanks, Danny."
Daniel winced slightly. Was 'Daniel' really that hard to say? After all, it has the same number of syllables. "Don't mention it. Just… returning the favor," he said with a sweeping gesture.
Kyle chuckled softly. "Yeah. Sorry, about the… name thing. Forgot where I was for a second."
Daniel smiled and hefted his mug. "Don't tell me I actually let you get away with that?"
Kyle sighed and took a drink. "Not really. That's never stopped me, though."
Daniel waited until he'd returned his mug to rest on the table. "So… do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"
Kyle looked up stared back for a moment, before shrugging. "Um… sure."
"What was her name?" Kyle froze, but softened his face. "Widower's intuition."
Kyle quirked up the side of his mouth. "We're not supposed to have this conversation for another year, Daniel. Let's just shelve it for now, okay?"
Daniel nodded reluctantly. "Okay. Sorry…" he shrugged, "I just thought you might want to talk about it."
"S'okay Daniel. I made my peace… heh. Right about now, actually." He rolled his eyes around. "I just don't usually talk about things like that. It's either being too close to Sam in my sleep, or I'm still feeling that little stargate switch-track effect," he said with a wave of his hand. Daniel's brow knit in confusion. Kyle stabbed his thumb back toward her room. "She's not doing so hot right now and when I'm asleep I can't filter her out."
Daniel nodded briskly. "What about the… what did you call it? 'Switch-track effect'?"
Kyle flashed a smile. "The stargate wasn't designed for time travel. The way that it works—putting you in two places at once—people like me don't respond well to that." Daniel's eyes narrowed in slight curiosity. "Um… let me see if I can explain this. It's like looking into a mirror with another one right across from it; you see an infinite number of reflections. It's like feedback."
Daniel blinked and closed one eye in a squint. "Feedback. Like a… power surge?"
"Okay. Most things in physics that strike people as weird: alternate universes, high numbers of dimensions, et cetera, are caused by possible violations of the uncertainty principle. It says that you can't measure two things that are connected perfectly and at the same time. That's because when you measure something, you change it. When you see or hear something, that's a measurement; but it's passive. You saw a visual distortion, when you went through to 1969?"
Daniel nodded. "Yeah, for a minute it looked like we were back in the embarkation room."
"Well, the universe is lazy. To keep your eyes from 'measuring' the gate room in two different times simultaneously, it decided that the easiest way to not break the law was to just not let you see one of them correctly. It could get away with that because your senses are all passive—they can't affect their environment. Mine do. So, to prevent the violation, the universe creates entropy; a lot of entropy." He flicked the side of the table, punctuating the statement.
Daniel brought his eyebrows together. "Well, that can't feel good." Daniel had seen what excess entropy could do to a person when the alternate universe versions of Sam and Kawalski had paid them a visit. Samantha (not their Sam) had gone through entropic cascade tremors until they were able to return her and Kawalski to their proper reality. The tremors had obviously caused her an incredible amount of pain and even made her seem to fade in and out of existence. If he understood what he was saying, this wasn't the same thing but still—the thought made Daniel's stomach turn a little. As he sat thinking about the unpleasantness that the man in front of him had gone through, he realized there had been some changes in him since they first spoke back in the infirmary.
Early on he'd been active, playful. Actually, in a lot of ways, he reminded him of Jack. Now, though, he seemed to be getting progressively sullen as time dragged on. He seemed to be forcing himself to keep most of his conversations with them pretty limited (no real surprise there); but, when he did have a protracted discussion, his eyes crinkled slightly, and the corners of his mouth tugged backward as if he was biting back an emotion. Daniel blinked and peered over his steaming mug. He realized that Kyle hadn't responded to his last statement. Well, given the topic, he couldn't exactly blame him. It would probably be better to change tack. "So, I have to ask—how'd you know to bring me coffee?"
His face lifted into the first genuine smile Daniel had seen since the infirmary back at the SGC. For some reason that seemed like a long time ago. "I don't know, Daniel, it might seriously cut into my petty cash," he said taking a sip of coffee.
Daniel almost laughed aloud at the statement. Instead he leaned against the table and crooked his elbow underneath him and smiled conspiratorially. "Really?"
Kyle tapped his fingers against the finished surface of the table for a moment before chuckling slightly and shrugging. "Oh well, make me work harder," he said as he leaned forward a bit. He swirled the cup slightly and watched the brown beverage steam itself a fraction of a degree cooler. "I've played poker with you. You've got a 'tell'."
"Poker?"
"Every Thursday night for the last five years. When we're all on Earth. Or… together, at least," he said with eyebrows flashed upward.
"We?"
"Nope. Sorry."
Daniel flared his eyebrows in humor. "So. My 'tell'."
Kyle sighed. "When you're done with whatever you're looking at, you close it or put it away slowly. If you plan to keep going, or you need to do something with what you're holding, you slap it down and put it away fast. Last night you slapped your binder closed. I knew that you'd be up for hours looking something up. You do the same thing when you're bluffing."
Daniel blinked for a moment. "I've never thought about that." He lifted his mug and took a pull. "Actually… I think you might be right."
Kyle saluted with his mug before taking a loud sip. "I know I'm right. Its not your only one by the way," he said with a point.
Jackson smiled easily. It had been a long time since he'd felt so completely pegged. "Well, I hate to cut into your petty cash," he said with a slight laugh. Kyle simply shrugged. "But, on the other hand, if you ever need to borrow some my rates are… pretty reasonable." Rand chortled slightly. For a moment, there was a trace of sadness on his face but it was soon gone. Much as he wanted to press the issue, Daniel decided it was probably best to keep his observations to himself. Something was eating at him but there was no way he could put it in context.
"Listen, Daniel."
"Hm?"
"Its nothing personal. But, I've been thinking that I should go on alone tomorrow. You three should head back to the gate and I'll bring anything out that I find."
Daniel squared his shoulders and crossed his arms slowly. "Why do you say that?"
"Sitting there, listening to Kefal," he blew out a stream of air, "it made a few things I knew click into place. I don't think it's a good idea for you to come with me. I'd be saying this even if this were my time." He waved a puff of steam from the carafe as he refilled his mug. "I'm not going to put you through that."
Daniel relaxed slightly. At least it seemed to be concern rather than contempt. "Put me through what, exactly?"
Kyle ran his fingers over his mug, studying Daniel for a moment. "These defenses aren't like anything you've ever seen before. You heard Kefal."
"Well, no one here is goa'uld. Doesn't that mean that nothing will happen?"
Kyle shook his head. "Nope. It just means that it won't work," he waved a finger around, "completely the way it's supposed to."
Daniel tipped his eyebrows together. "Why would the Asgard build something like that?" This rabbit hole just seemed to keep on going. He was hiding something, just not working too hard at it. "This is more than just a communications facility, isn't it?"
He tapped the side of his mug. "I might have left out a tiny little detail." Kyle quirked up one side of his mouth. "You know the Asgard have been involved in the politics of this galaxy for millennia." Daniel nodded. "Well, if you were going to enforce something like the Protected Planets Treaty in another galaxy… wouldn't you need a staging area?"
Daniel pressed his eyes closed. Fabulous. It made perfect sense: Kefal's fanaticism; the hidden planet; the excessive defenses. The Yggdrasil was an Asgard military facility, and they were about to break in. "Where does the Bifrost Bridge come into this?"
"It's the base communications plexus. I wasn't lying about that."
"That doesn't explain why you don't want to take us in with you."
Kyle regarded him carefully for a moment. He began fidgeting with his coffee mug and spinning it slowly around the table using one finger and the handle. "This thing is like a goa'uld memory device except it's a room. It gives a host control gradually by overwhelming the symbiote with the person's shared memories. Bad memories work best they're usually the strongest. I'm going to be giving it plenty to work with and you shouldn't have to deal with what's up here," he said tapping his temple.
Daniel winced slightly and looked Rand over carefully. "Something like a Blood of Sokar experience then?" Kyle wrinkled his brow for a moment before a light popped over his head as he recalled the reference. He nodded. Daniel turned over thoughts in his head. The idea of going through that kind of thing again with others forced to participate wasn't a fun thought. If Kyle knew him half as well as he seemed to, then he had to know that he didn't have a monopoly on less than beautiful memories. Daniel peaked his eyebrows and groaned slightly as he made the connection. "You think it'll go for you because… you're the one hiding something."
"Give the man a stuffed bear," he said raising his mug.
"Well, I'm going to be totally honest with you." Daniel shifted slightly in his chair. "I'm willing to bet you don't read Asgard fluently," Kyle rocked his head slightly, "can't fight off a jaffa detachment single handedly," Kyle winced, "and are good enough at what you do to not turn down Sam's help if you can get it." Kyle scratched his stubble pensively. Daniel stared over the top of his glasses. "You need us. We need you. Obviously the information that got us out here was sent after all this is over, so if it were going to be a problem, we'd know. And besides—we're talking about Jack O'Neill's life here. There's no way we're not going with you. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it."
Kyle stared at his mug, defeated. "I had to try, Danny."
IIIIIII
Morning brought with it storm clouds billowing down the mountains. Sam and Teal'c had risen early, surprised to find Daniel and Kyle already up and dressed, trading small talk. Ayala came in just after sunrise with trays of fruits, meats, bread and several breakfast beverages. She had been surprised to find them all up, but nonetheless, proceeded to set the common table for the meal and throw open the shutters. The high windows allowed the dull, gray light to stream in, coloring the mood appropriately and illuminating the sandy stone and olive-colored wood furniture. Slowly, the group stirred into life.
They each picked at their meals as light spittle of rain decked the windows. Daniel looked up at the panes and groaned. Sam followed his eyes upward and shook her head. "Looks like we'll need to break out the rain gear."
Kyle pushed back from the table and stood up with a large, theatric stretch. "I'll handle it. See you in ten."
"Sure," she nodded back as he pushed out the door. Kyle shuffled down the stairway. After a few false turns, he found his way back to the foyer, where their packs had been brought. He slid to a knee and began rummaging through the packs, breaking out ponchos and then coverings for the packs themselves. Kyle glanced up the way he'd come. Right about now, Daniel should be filling in Sam on the essentials of their little chat. So, in anywhere between two and five minutes she should come charging down the stairs looking for his blood. Well, she'd get over it quickly enough. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time… well, maybe it would actually; it sure wouldn't be the last… well, maybe…
"Is this man you seek to help also hok'tar?" Kefal's voice startled Kyle out of his reverie. He leaned casually on a corner of a pillar, tugging on the sleeves of a dressing gown. "Surely, he must have been a powerful warrior to have defeated Ra. But, is one powerful warrior equal to the price you may pay? The wrath of the Asgard is not to be taken lightly."
Kyle closed one of the snaps of waterproof material around Teal'c's pack. "No. He's not like me. He's way more important."
"He's earned your loyalty. Interesting."
"Not really. Not if you knew Jack O'Neill."
"I cannot dissuade you."
"Nope."
"In that case," Sam came storming down the hallway. She was pink with fury, shaking her head. Kefal smiled slightly, "good fortune to you."
They said their goodbyes and made their way outside the city. The road leading out of the town was slick, slowing their progress. About a kilometer outside of town, Kyle pointed down a worn, dirt turnoff. Sam called a halt and spun him around. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Kyle straightened his back and shifted on the soggy ground, but it was Teal'c who answered.
"Major Carter, this information would have changed nothing; neither our intentions nor our actions." Kyle raised an eyebrow and jerked his head toward Teal'c.
Daniel pulled his glasses off and began drying the lenses. "Besides, Sam—do you honestly think that Doctor Weir would have let us go if she knew we were going to raid an Asgard military outpost?" Kyle pointed to Daniel and nodded vigorously, not breaking eye contact with Carter.
"Trust me Sam, it couldn't have gone down any other way," Kyle intoned as he pulled on his gloves. "I'm sorry to spring this, but you needed to be able to pitch this to Weir with a straight face."
"Fine." Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Sam jammed her cap down and trudged forward through the churned mud. Teal'c watched her recede as she allowed him to take point. She was very obviously tired, worn-down and strident. The last thing she needed at the moment was to be coddled; and she would see this as such. Teal'c knew, though, that she would eventually realize that Captain Rand had concealed a trivial piece of information to ensure that the mission could go forward. At the same time, he had given them what they needed to prepare for the task at hand. For that, he had his respect. Teal'c himself, though, couldn't possibly care less. There were times, however brief, when silence was more powerful than knowledge. The Tau'ri had a saying for this. What was it again? Ah: sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor. Teal'c pondered this as he trudged along the mired path, listening to voices fall behind him.
As Teal'c took the lead, Daniel Jackson sighed internally. His stomach wrenched itself into a slow, twisting knot. Maybe Kyle had been right; maybe they should have gone back to the gate. Was it right to ask someone to let you into their own private hell, no matter what the circumstance? Well, maybe that wasn't completely accurate. Reading between the lines, there wasn't anything private about it: they would see experiences that had been shared; the fact that only one of each pair could remember them notwithstanding. They would just be advancing the timetable a touch. Still… it wasn't like it would be seeing into Jack, Teal'c or Sam's past. They could deal with being in that situation—in fact, they had. This, though—it was like reading a stranger's diary. Something about it just felt inherently wrong.
Moreover, this wasn't some faceless person. He'd risked offending and annoying them to ensure that it would be easier for them to do what they would have done anyway. The important thing, though, what really stuck with Daniel, was that he'd put both his life and dignity at risk for someone else. That was all that Daniel could ever ask or want to know about the man's character. That character, that personality, made this whole idea an intrusion. It also meant, that the mollifying words about affecting the future, had better be correct. In more than one way, they were about to see a lot of things they shouldn't.
Sam brought up the rear, or so she though. The raindrops falling on her hood echoed against the Gore-Tex material of her poncho. The trees were beginning to thin out some, and the occasional clearing and rocky outcropping began to dot the path they were following. She was still seething some, over what Daniel had told her, when she heard a quiet squish off to her rear and left. "Hey, Sam."
She pulled her lips into a thin line and kept her eyes pinned straight ahead. Might as well get this over with. "Colonel—Captain, damn," she stumbled over the words out of irate habit. She was rewarded not with a defensive rebuke, but a soft chuckle.
"Whatever," Kyle sighed.
That got her attention. She knit her eyebrows and looked over her shoulder as she allowed him to catch up. "Are you a colonel?"
"Lieutenant Colonel; United States Air Force. I should have just kept my mouth shut and made everyone's life easier," he said as he locked step with her.
She fixed her gaze ahead once more. "How does that work?"
"Um… think of it sort of like NASA. Different services sponsor nominees to be part of the program. Just because you're an astronaut, you don't stop being whatever you were before you joined. But, if you do it long enough, you stop really thinking of yourself as that other thing. No one's called me by my AF rank since I was a major. To tell the truth, I'm not sure if I even own a set of blues anymore. Not that I ever really wore them."
"Shouldn't you be a full colonel? 'Captain' is an O-6 pay grade."
"My last two promotions were really close together. Air Force chose not to match the last one." He shrugged. "I don't care. Puddle."
Sam looked down and quickly sidestepped a large puddle that Daniel seemed to have found. One of his legs was sodden with muddy water and he muttered a faint curse up ahead. What a mess. "I hope your 'source' is right."
"What 'source'?"
"The one that said you don't have to worry about changing things. I'm more than a little skeptical. I mean… who came up with a theory like that?" Kyle scratched at his chin and glanced around for a moment. Finally he cleared his throat and raised his hand a little off his P90. "You," she asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
"It's just a theory," he opined as he held his hands up defensively. "Small changes don't affect the timeline. Probably."
"So, then who's this source?" She shot him a glare that was somewhere between annoyed and curious.
"You—telling me to go with it!"
"Why—" Sam stopped herself and shook her head for a moment. "I'm not asking for the math, but, how does this work exactly?"
Kyle straightened his cap and sighed. "Okay… an example." He turned his palm up and gestured to her. "You have a time travel experience. Time travel to the past is like a loop. You do things in the past that affect the future and then you go back to the past and so on and so on…" Sam nodded. "What if… instead of taking Hammond's note with you through the gate, you thought the old man was losing it and you tossed it in the trash on the way down to the embarkation room?"
She rocked her head slightly. "Lieutenant Hammond would have never freed us and we would be in prison thirty years in the past."
"Right. Wherever it was they took spies in the sixties; probably somewhere with no room service. But as a lieutenant, Hammond would have seen you and recognized you back at the Pentagon and the others when the SGC started up. He would have done something to try and change your fate."
Sam's eyes darted around. "So… on the next loop through, he recognizes me and he has me do research on using the stargate for time travel. Then he makes sure I take a note through with me."
"Right. The note that time around might not have all the right information. It might take a few loops through to get the message right. But, eventually, you get back to what originally happened. So, either a problem fixes itself or the changes don't matter. Loop complete."
A corner of her mouth pulled up as she nodded, trying to find a flaw in the logic. It wasn't perfect, but it could work—a lot of the time. "So, how small of a change is 'small'?"
He flared his eyebrows. "That's the catch. Like I said, just a theory."
The rain began to blow in fine sheets as the wind shifted. The dampness sprinkled their faces and the wind sloughed off the few pools that had managed to accumulate about them, creating a few random streams and splashes. Sam sighed and let a comfortable silence drop. She let her ice blue eyes search the gray sky ahead, as the number of trees dropped to a few dense stands as they crested a ridge and entered a small caldera, filled with brilliant green grass. The depression was about three kilometers across and was mostly flat with a few rocky outcrops, and a particularly interesting gully across the caldera. By implication, it seemed to be their destination—from here on the path was nearly non-existent. She smiled inwardly, allowing herself a degree of satisfaction. "You know, I sent myself a note." Kyle cocked an eyebrow. "I said you were a brilliant scientist."
Kyle's eyes brightened a bit and he laughed softly. "Aw, now who's the liar? I get a good idea occasionally, but I'm not you." He sighed theatrically and touched two fingers to her elbow. She looked over with a curious expression. "Listen, Sam…" He looked around as he quirked a corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I should have told you everything—about this, if nothing else. I just didn't know if Weir would pull you guys aside and do a private debrief. I had to be sure that you could look her in the eye and convince her. We're lucky to be here at all with the gate officially shut down."
Sam knit her eyebrows. "You didn't know?"
Kyle pulled his mouth tight for a moment. "I never worked for her and I've only met her a couple of times. I only know what I've heard."
Sam turned the thought over in her mind a couple of times before letting out a deep breath, she didn't know she was holding. "It's okay. Apology accepted."
They trudged through the muck for a few minutes, before Sam spoke again. "Do you always call me 'Sam'?"
He looked over his shoulder and paused, looking suspiciously into a stand of trees before continuing. "Um, no. Usually, just off-duty or when the conversation's personal."
Carter bit her lip, pondering for a moment. "And now?"
He smiled slyly. "Keeps me from slipping up on rank again."
Sam blew a puff of air through her cheeks as she looked at the ridges surrounding them. They were nearly at the far gully, and she didn't want any surprises or unwelcome visitors. "You know, Kyle. My note said something else about you," she said as she finished scanning the area.
"Oh? My favorite color or my aversion to snakes?"
Sam chuckled lightly as she sighed. "Neither. It said you were a good friend—like family." She finished her sweep and turned to face him. He was sanding stock-still and shifting uncomfortably. She felt her insides squirm a little at his reaction. "Did I say something wrong?"
He shifted and adjusted his pack slightly. "It's just… I've known you for almost seven years and… you've never… I mean—you've never had to, not with me, but I just… I never thought I'd hear…" His voice trailed off, his hands seeming to communicate their futility in gesture form. He gaped slightly and cleared his throat before continuing on.
Sam pressed her eyes closed a fraction and sighed. "Well, maybe that's something small to change the next time through."
His eyes narrowed. "Samantha," he growled.
It was an icy tone; one that Sam was sure would freeze anyone under his command. With her, though, it seemed to thaw briskly. She just raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, staring him down. His glare eased at the confrontation and he just shook his head with a small smile.
"Sam! Kyle!" Daniel shouted them over to the gully. They crossed the remaining distance at a quick jog. Teal'c was peering around the corner of the formation pensively. No one was in the mood for another ambush. High rock walls on either side, forming a natural channel, surrounded the gully.
Kyle looked up and over. Yep. If someone was going to try and jump them, this would be the place. "I'll take a look." Teal'c inclined his head in assent.
Before Sam could ask what he was going to do, he walked over to the outcropping, crouched slightly and jumped straight up. He landed cleanly on the top of the high rocks, but stumbled slightly as the loose gravel gave under his feet gave way as he moved. He got to the edge and crouched, looking over the area. Only his head was in view by then. "It looks—ah!" The head disappeared. All three pulled their weapons and rounded the corner quickly, using what little cover there was. What they saw was… surprising.
In the middle of the gully, Kyle was sitting in a puddle of dense purple mud, covered from head to toe, with his elbows resting on his knees. Daniel sputtered slightly at the sight as they approached, relaxing as they each found an expression of mirth. Daniel continued to chortle as though he'd sprung a leak. Teal'c was brandishing a small smile and Sam chomped down on her lower lip to keep from laughing. Below the waist he was completely covered and a large glob had landed on his left cheek. He flicked it away and sing-songed, "be, all that you can be…" Sam laughed and stuck out her hand, helping him from the fragrant muck. To keep from laughing, Daniel looked toward the end of the gully and saw a stone archway set into the hillside, emblazoned with runes. They made their way toward the device. "This so wasn't in the brochure," Kyle whined.
Daniel grinned wide. "Oh, quit complaining. You've had worse."
Sam laughed playfully. "There was the time Jack snuck rescue dye into his shower head." She laughed harder, nearly doubling over.
Teal'c's smile deepened. "Indeed. I have never observed a human of that particular color."
"He…" Sam gasped between laughs; "he was blue for a week!"
Daniel laughed and wiped his forehead free of moisture. "I still can't believe Jack actually sent us offworld with him like that."
"I believe that was the point," Teal'c intoned. "It was most… educational to observe him acting as an alien."
Daniel knotted his brow as they stood beneath the arch. "What did he tell those people he was… a Bolian, wasn't it?"
Sam sighed, wiping a tear from her face as she got control of her laughter. "It's a Star Trek alien." She sniffed and took a deep breath. "They're blue."
Daniel's face was nearly red, holding back a tear of his own as he inspected the arch runes. "Well, at least he didn't pretend to be a Smurf." He turned to ask Kyle what to do and just saw him staring at them, open mouthed, pushing his eyes closed.
"Crap." The parts of Rand that weren't covered in mud were sheet-white.
Only then did Daniel realize what had just happened. Before, he could ask what to do, though; a searing white light enveloped them.
