Riding east with Jenny and Michael O'Neill read and reread the note and all it said was
"Help them, George" and three dates and times: Aug. 10, 9:15 a.m., Aug. 11, 6:03 p.m.,
and Jan. 1, 1:43 a.m. He knew or rather felt in his gut this had something to do with the
Stargate but it was Carter who figured it out with these skimpy clues.
The next week was hectic with driving just about nonstop to get to the east coast, in order to verify Carter's idea that the dates and times noted were for the occurrence of solar flares and if indeed they again travel through time. Sam and Daniel visited Catherine and were told the location of the Stargate. Jack and Teal'c, at the first date and time listed, observed a solar flare through the telescope of a small observatory, verifying Carter's theory. The only thing left to do was to get to the armory in D.C. at the right time, locate the Stargate and provide it with enough power – no pressure here, and all this while keeping Michael and Jenny in the dark.
The bus trip to Washington was somewhat tense, O'Neill checking and rechecking the note and his watch, Carter calculating the amount of power and the probable sources available to them, Teal'c dozing in O'Neill's usual spot and Daniel making idle conversation while trying not to slip up by saying anything that might change Michael or Jenny's life. Everything was actually going well until the tire blew.
On I-95 outside of Wilmington they got a flat. No big deal, change it and off they go, plenty of time to spare. Only the spare was threadbare and flat as well. They were miles from a service station and no one stopped to help, no state troopers cruised by and cell phones hadn't been invented yet. They tried everything including putting Carter on the side of the road with her thumb out. If O'Neill's stream of curses could have reinflated the tire they would have had no problem, except maybe over inflation. They managed to get a lift to a service station. The tire was repaired but try as they might there was no way they could make it in time. Even if they risked a speeding ticket the old bus would not cooperate. They just cleared Baltimore when the window of opportunity slammed shut. The atmosphere on the bus changed from extreme anxiety to despair laced with generous amounts of anger and a liberal dose of diesel fumes.
The next week was hectic with driving just about nonstop to get to the east coast, in order to verify Carter's idea that the dates and times noted were for the occurrence of solar flares and if indeed they again travel through time. Sam and Daniel visited Catherine and were told the location of the Stargate. Jack and Teal'c, at the first date and time listed, observed a solar flare through the telescope of a small observatory, verifying Carter's theory. The only thing left to do was to get to the armory in D.C. at the right time, locate the Stargate and provide it with enough power – no pressure here, and all this while keeping Michael and Jenny in the dark.
The bus trip to Washington was somewhat tense, O'Neill checking and rechecking the note and his watch, Carter calculating the amount of power and the probable sources available to them, Teal'c dozing in O'Neill's usual spot and Daniel making idle conversation while trying not to slip up by saying anything that might change Michael or Jenny's life. Everything was actually going well until the tire blew.
On I-95 outside of Wilmington they got a flat. No big deal, change it and off they go, plenty of time to spare. Only the spare was threadbare and flat as well. They were miles from a service station and no one stopped to help, no state troopers cruised by and cell phones hadn't been invented yet. They tried everything including putting Carter on the side of the road with her thumb out. If O'Neill's stream of curses could have reinflated the tire they would have had no problem, except maybe over inflation. They managed to get a lift to a service station. The tire was repaired but try as they might there was no way they could make it in time. Even if they risked a speeding ticket the old bus would not cooperate. They just cleared Baltimore when the window of opportunity slammed shut. The atmosphere on the bus changed from extreme anxiety to despair laced with generous amounts of anger and a liberal dose of diesel fumes.