The atmosphere in the briefing room was filled with excitement, at least on the part of the Tau'ri, as Teal'c was his usual stoic self. Jack, on the other hand, couldn't help but get caught up in it. Daniel had continued his presentation showing them other examples and evidence of his theory that the people of the Lost Colony had indeed been stolen by the Goa'ulds.
"I would like to go back to P4X-903 to see if we can find more evidence as to what happened to them once they arrived on that planet," Daniel continued. "The MALP showed no signs of civilization and we didn't encounter anyone while we were there, which leads me to believe that something happened to them. They may have died out, or rebelled or moved on, but it's still worth a trip to find out."
"What good would it do?" Jack asked. "It's not like you could go out and tell the world of this find. No one believed you when you were spouting off about spaceships landing on pyramids. I'd have a hard time keeping you out of the nuthouse for sure if you went out talking about aliens abducting a whole colony. And Daniel, I don't ever want to have to visit you in a nuthouse again, you hear me?" he added, remembering a visit to a mental ward where Daniel was curled up in the corner of a padded room talking about seeing ghosts and visitors from other galaxies. No one should ever have to watch one of their best friends go insane.
"Yeah," Daniel said, his eyes taking on a faraway look. "But think about it Jack," he continued after shaking off his memories, "we could finally solve one of Earth's mysteries. And who knows, the world may be told of the Goa'ulds sometime in the future and this information would become invaluable to historians."
"This would also give us the opportunity to discover how a civilization very much like our own has developed technologically and culturally," said Carter, staring at Jack with a determined look. She was gearing up for a fight, Jack noticed with a smirk. He briefly wondered if he should give both Daniel and Carter a run for their money, making them work for his approval on a project he had already decided to give a green light to. It would be interesting to see how far they would go to win him over.
He kept his silence though, as he looked at each of his friends in turn. Daniel was about to jump out of his skin, his agitation and anxiety apparent in his posture. Carter sat forward, trying to look nonchalant even as she was silently pleading with him. Teal'c sat in his chair, his hands folded on the table, giving Jack a huge grin. The old Jaffa already knew the answer and was enjoying the show.
"Well, I guess that wraps it up then," Jack told them, grinning at Teal'c. "If you guys think of anything else you need to tell me, you know where to find me."
"Wait a minute," Daniel growled. "Aren't you even going to consider it? We have to go back there. Aren't you even just a little curious to find out how far these people have come?"
"Daniel…." Jack began.
"We have an obligation to find out everything we can from the cultures we find on other planets," Daniel continued. "Who knows what kinds of technologies they may have developed. We owe it to ourselves to find those people."
"I agree," Jack said. "I'm sure you'll…."
Daniel was on a roll though, and showed no signs of stopping. "The samples brought back by SG-8 showed traces… of…. Wait a minute. You agree?" Daniel asked. "Does this mean we have a go?
"Yes," Jack said with an innocent look on his face as he stood up to leave. "Didn't I tell you this already?"
Jack hated paperwork. Hated it with a passion, yet here he was again plowing through a mountain of it. Day in and day out, paper and ink melding together until his eyes blurred. He had a hard time concentrating on what he was reading when most of the paperwork consisted of requisitions for everything from oranges to missiles. Requisitions usually required him to make decisions as to whether the facility really needed those items and whether he could squeeze the money out of an already tightened budget. Requisitions had become the bane of his professional life and he wished he could just toss them all in a bucket filled with hot coals. It would keep him warm in the winter, he thought bemusedly.
For the most part he usually bypassed the requisitions to read the mission reports he'd received from various members of SGC teams. Now those things held his interest. He may not be able to go out there and fight the Goa'uld personally, but he could read about the adventures of his cohorts and use what he learned from those reports to Earth's advantage.
He was immersed in one of those reports when a knock on the door interrupted his reading. He looked up to see Carter at the door and he nodded at her saying, "Come in Carter. Have a seat."
"I have some information on that matter we discussed last night sir," she said, as she sat down in a chair facing him. "You weren't kidding when you said he looked like you."
"And?" he prompted, wondering about the wicked grin she was giving him.
"Well, from what I could gather in such a short period of time," she began, "it appears that Angus MacGyver was raised in Mission City, Minnesota by his parents, James and Ellen MacGyver. His father and maternal grandmother were killed in an automobile accident when he was twelve and he was subsequently raised by his mother and her father. He went on to study physics at Western Tech and earned a degree in 1973..."
"Physics?" Jack interrupted with a grimace. "A scientist! Well, that proves it. He's no relation to me."
"Yes sir," Carter grinned before continuing with her findings. "He's not your typical run of the mill scientist though. After graduation, he worked at several odd jobs, including working with bomb specialists before joining the Department of External Services in 1979…"
"Bombs? You mean like the ones that go kaboom? He must like to live dangerously, ya think? Maybe he is related to me after all," Jack mused.
"Yes sir," Carter said again before continuing her report. "He worked there for seven years, then moved to the Phoenix Foundation to work as a Special Field Agent."
"Finding people and other objects," Jack said grimly. He was starting to think that this was all a hoax. Special Field Agent sounded like Mac was a spy or something. What were the odds that a twin brother he had never known, had fallen into the same kind of work that he did. Pretty good, he thought, as he tried to grasp the information Carter was feeding him.
"I'm sure there was more to it than that," Carter replied, "but I haven't had enough time to really find out what he did for that organization. The weird thing about his record is that he is known for being an anti-gun advocate. He never used a gun or any other kind of weapon the whole time he was employed by the DXS or the Phoenix Foundation. From what I could find out, he got out of situations with his wits and ingenuity."
"Well, if he is known for his wits and ingenuity, he really must be my twin brother," Jack said smugly before sending her a half grin. She smiled back at him, causing him to stare at her for a few seconds. "Mac told me that he's retired," he continued as he brought himself back to reality. "What's he up to lately?"
"From what I could determine, he retired 15 years ago to travel around on motorcycles with his son, Sean Malloy, only to settle down a few years later when he married Melanie Summerfield…"
"The shrew," Jack added with conviction.
"Sir?"
"Just kidding Carter. I've met her and although she seems to be a really nice person, she could rival any General in the United States military," he said as he rolled his eyes. "Did you say he has a son named Sean?"
"Yes sir. Apparently he didn't even know his son existed until they met while MacGyver was on a job in 1991. I think that finding his son after all those years may have been a reason for him to retire, as he left the Phoenix Foundation shortly after they met."
"A long lost son and now a long lost brother. What is up with that guy?" Jack wondered aloud.
"Are you sure he's your brother?" Carter asked with some trepidation.
"I have to admit that I don't know what to believe," Jack replied with a sigh. "This could all be a trick for nefarious purposes, but deep down, I just have this feeling… Oh forget it," he said, shaking his head and looking away. He'd almost laid open his soul to her and he really didn't think he was ready to do something like that. Instead he got up from his chair to pace as he thought about the brother he never knew he had. It was eerie how their lives were similar. They'd both ended up in dangerous jobs, only to retire at a young age. Jack got pulled back in, but Mac was living the grand life… or was he?
"What does he do nowadays?" Jack asked, his curiosity piqued.
"He has a part-time job with a local organization that works with children and occasionally does freelance work for a law firm out of Washington, D.C.," Carter replied. "Um… sir? I'm still looking into his childhood and his birth, but from what I have gathered so far, he was born in Mission City, Minnesota. Aren't you from Chicago?"
"Yep. Can't get around that, can we? I would think that his parents would have mentioned something to him about a twin they had given up at birth, don't you?" he asked as his gaze drifted past her to see himself as a little boy staring up at his father with love and admiration. His father. The man who had taught him the fine art of fishing, how to catch a fast ball and to change the oil in a '57 Chevy. The same man who had turned on his own son in his grief and chose his second wife over him.
Jack put a stop to his memories and brought his attention back to the present and to Carter, who was looking at him with concern.
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked, her worry for him clear in her expression. "You took off for a minute there," she added with a small smile.
"Just remembering," he told her with a grin. "What's your theory on all this, Colonel?"
"Theory sir?" she asked, then continued when he nodded at her. "I suppose he could be your twin, I mean he does look like you," she said as she gave him a secret smile. "I have pictures if you are interested sir."
"I know what I look like Carter," Jack said watching her warily. He did not like that grin she had on her face.
She didn't seem to be paying any attention to him as she reached into the folder, searching for the pictures. "Ah, here they are," she said as she pulled out a stack of photographs. "Lord, General sir, I'll bet you had to run from the girls when you were younger." She handed him the photographs, then pointed at the one on top. "Check out the hair," she said as she giggled.
"They let him work as a spy looking like that?" Jack asked in surprise. "I suppose it made it easier to blend in with the younger crowd," he ventured, as he went on to look at the rest of the pictures. "My CO would have had a fit if I so much as thought of letting my hair grow out like that," he added as he tilted his head to look at a picture sideways.
"Lieutenant Powers wanted me to print out a picture for her to take home with her," Carter said, grinning like a fool. "She had stopped by my lab to get my signature on a report and happened to notice the picture on my monitor. Don't worry sir, I told her it was a picture of some cult leader and that I was helping Daniel with his research," she hastily added. "But I had to insist that she leave without the picture, she was pretty adamant. As she put it, he was 'one hot babe'."
Jack stopped looking through the pictures to stare at her with raised eyebrows. She blushed slightly before telling him, "Her words sir, not mine. Although I do have to admit that I agree with her," she added quietly, as she looked into his eyes.
Jack was at a loss for words. He continued to stare at her, wondering why she did this to him - throwing out off-hand compliments at him, knowing he was totally vulnerable around her. He turned his attention back to the pictures he held in his hand in an effort to gather his wits about him, finally looking up at her with a grin. "His hair is as short as mine is now. Somewhere along the way he must have decided that long hair was out. On the bright side, I guess I can stop wondering what I would look like with long hair, not that I ever did, mind you." He held up one of the pictures next to his face so that she could make a comparison. "What do you think, should I let my hair grow out?"
"And have half the women on the base chasing after you?" Carter teased. "Although I've heard many of them bemoan the fact that you are in their chain of command. The civilian women, on the other hand…"
"What about you?" Jack interrupted, hoping for some revenge.
She stared at him for a moment, debating on what she should say, finally deciding on changing the subject. "When does SG-1 leave for P4X-903?"
"You're on tomorrow's schedule," he replied, giving her a wide smile.
"Thank you sir," she said, giving him a wary look. She laid the report she had compiled on his desk and stood up to leave. "I'll leave this here with you. In the meantime, I'll do a little more digging into the events surrounding his birth to see if I can come up with anything that will help."
"Sounds like a plan," he told her. "And Carter… Thanks. I really appreciate your help on this matter."
"You're welcome sir. I just hope I get to meet this guy one day," she said as she walked to the door. "Uh sir?" she added after a slight hesitation. "I've been known to bemoan the fact that you're my commanding officer, as well." She grinned at him as she walked out the door, and Jack realized that she had gotten the last word in again. His glare turned to a grin and he found himself chuckling as he sat down in his chair to read the report she had prepared for him.
