Lightning

Part II

"Tracy Island to Thunderbird 5. What have you got, John?"

John sighed. "Unfortunately, not much – yet. The stuff about that mountain is so highly classified that our computer's having a hard time cracking theirs."

"But?"

"I'll crack it eventually. Don't know how long it'll take though. My guess… a few more hours and I'll have it done."

"FAB, John. Tracy Island ou-"

"Oh – wait a minute, dad." John said with a deep frown on his face. "I think you might want to take a look at this. I'll put it through to your screen, hold on…"

As the screen turned from John's face to real-time heat sensor image of the mountain's environment, Jeff's face became pale white when he saw three red dots coming out of the mountain – there was still something going on there. "I'll send someone immediately, John. And keep a close eye on them."

"FAB, dad. Thunderbird 5 out."

After Jeff had turned the monitor off, he immediately grabbed the intercom. "Scott, my office. Now."

"Yes!" Jack exclaimed. "Finally, light!"

"Well, it was about time we saw some." Daniel said, while leaning to some rocks. "After half an hour in that damn elevator shaft I was beginning to think we'd never get out of there. Whose brilliant idea was it to climb up that thing in the first place?"

Sam grinned. "If I remember correctly, it was Jack's. But look at the bright side of things – we finally made it."

Jack nodded in agreement, while taking a look at their environment. "Just take a look at this, guys. It's exactly the mountain, only-"

"-like no one's been here in years." Daniel added. "Any idea what happened?"

"Eh…" Sam started, but hesitated to continue. "Well, basing on what I'm seeing right now, and what I saw back down there… I'm thinking time-travel."

"What?" Jack nearly shouted. "As in the whole 'temporary prime directive'-deal? 'Cause, you know, just watching that show always gave me a pretty big headache."

"I know, sir… but it's the only thing I can think of. Why else would the SGC be abandoned? I mean, we've only been gone for what – half an hour? And besides, Albert Einstein proved-"

"-that he was a great man, and I'm sure it's all very fascinating, Carter – but right now, it's a bit of our problem," Jack answered. "So folks, what are our options?"

For a moment, there was an awful silence, and Daniel shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Carter?"

"Sir… I think we should get help from the outside. Right now, I'm a bit puzzled about how to- wait a second…"

"Speak, Carter. Please?" Jack asked, willing to accept any option, as long as it could help them back to 1999.

"Well, since this gate is useless – no power to initiate it again… that doesn't mean that the second gate is too. And if we figure out what caused us to jump through time, we can travel back to another planet and try to accomplish the same thing that caused us to end up here instead of '99."

"But?" Jack asked, knowing that there also was a downside to the whole plan.

Carter sighed. "We still gonna need help from the outside. I can't just use any random computer to crack the NID computers, assuming the NID still has the 'old' records of the SGC…"

"I'll take that bet." Jack muttered under his breath.

"… it requires a very powerful computer to hack into those computers and locate the second Stargate. And besides, we don't know for sure that the second Stargate is still up and runnin'. For all we know, it could be… I don't know, at the bottom of the ocean or something."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I hope not. Anyway, how are we gonna do all that? I mean, we're still in our military outfit, and it's not like people are willing to help a bunch of army men claiming to come from the past."

"Unless of course, we're that far into the future that mankind is used to travel through time," Daniel said, surprised by his own sudden knowledge. "Sam?" he asked, hoping that for once, he had something about the whole technology-deal right.

"Eh…" Carter hesitated. "I don't think so…" As the archeologist sighed, she continued. "… basing on the disintegration of the metal… I'd say ten to fifteen years. Maybe twenty. And mankind couldn't have developed technology like that in such a short time."

At that, Jack had to laugh a little. "Well, basing on what I have seen these last few years, I wouldn't be al that surprised if they had. So, what do we do next?" He asked, looking from the archeologist to his second in command. "Well, on your feet! We're gonna have to start somewhere if we want this ingenious plan to work…"

"Wow." Scott said, still slightly overwhelmed by what his father just told him. "So, you want me and Alan go check on some people who just happen to mysteriously appear out of a mountain? I'm sorry to say this, dad… but doesn't that seem a little inappropriate for International Rescue to handle?"

"No, it doesn't. Scott, if the rumors are true, there could be something inside that mountain, very possibly a big threat to humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. And as far as we know, the only three people alive and well-aware of what the hell is down there, are out here, on this planet, somewhere. We need to find them for someone else does – I'm sure you know who I mean…"

Scott nodded. Yeah, he knew that man far too well for his own good.

"… because if they are taken, God knows what they'll do with that thing down there…" Jeff's voice faded away, but Scott knew all too well what the consequences could be.

No, of course Scott would never refuse a mission. No, it was just that he had a bad feeling about this one. It wasn't the fact that Alan had to accompany him on this 'trip' – despite Scott knew that Alan was a hazard with most machines, it was something else that bothered him…

Jeff noticed the worried look on his eldest son's face. "What's up, Scott?"

The son in question just shrugged. "Oh, nothing I guess… it's just – I've got a bad feeling about this mission," he sighed. "But it's probably just paranoia or something."

"Look…" Jeff tried to reassure his son. "It's probably because this mission isn't like any of your others. But I'm sure everything will go just fine. Gordon and Virgil are both ready for some action – you just have to scream and they'll be there. John and I are both keeping a very close eye on you, there's nothing you have to worry about."

Scott sighed. The speech his father just gave, remembered him about the moment, a few years ago, when he was just about to go on his very first solo mission – his dad had said the exact same things. And just as his father had promised him before take-off, everything had gone as it was supposed to.

"And besides," Jeff added with a smirk. "You've always got Alan to rely on."

Scott smiled. "I know. But… not that I mind him going with me, dad… but why Alan? Gordo and Virg both have a lot more experience in missions like these."

"Ah, but that's the catch." his father answered.

The pilot of Thunderbird 1 had to sigh again. There always was a catch.

"No uniforms for you this time. I want you to park her in forest next to the mountain, and try to locate and follow those people. I hope that I'll have Lady P standing ready by that time, so that she can take them… some place safe."

"But why Alan?"

"Well, I figured you and Alan resemble the most… and by looking at the way you two treat each other, I'm sure no one can blow you cover when acting as two normal brothers on a small vacation. Got it?" As Scott nodded, he continued. "Where's Alan anyway?"

Scott smirked. "Oh, I'm sure he and Tin-Tin are…" But when he looked at the face of dad, he quickly added: "… swimming or something."

"Well, get him here," Jeff said. "The sooner you leave, the better. I don't know how long John can keep them in visual range."

"FAB, dad." Scott said, before he went searching for his younger brother.

SG-1's translator and archeologist sighed. His boots weren't made for walking, that much was for sure. "You know, this officially sucks. How long have we been walking? Two hours? Three? I knew the Cheyenne mountain wasn't anywhere in the vicinity of a populated area, but by car it never looked this far!"

"Come on, Daniel." Jack said to his fellow team member. "I know it sucks, but it's not that far anymore. Right, Carter?"

Sam nodded. "I agree. I think – fifteen minutes, maybe more, maybe less. But it certainly isn't that far anymore."

"See, Daniel? You heard Sam – let's move out, people. Again."

A loud siren could be heard all over western Tracy Island, signaling that Thunderbird 1 was about to take off. Three people – Jeff, Virgil and Gordon – had assembled in IR's control room, watching the high-speed craft take off in the direction of Colorado.

"Status, Thunderbird 1?" Jeff asked from the control room.

"All systems green, ETA 22 minutes." Alan answered.

"FAB, Thunderbird 1," Jeff said, still proud to see his youngest son's face on one of IR's vehicles. "What about you, John?" he said, switching channels to the massive communications satellite. But as soon as he saw the face of his second eldest son, he knew it – bad news.

"To make a long story short – it doesn't look very good for Scott and Alan. There's a big storm coming their way, unleashing it's thunder and lightning on the area around the mountain and a nearby city, Colorado Springs, in about fifty minutes. Second, the three people you asked me to watch over are about to enter a highly populated area. Once they do so, I'm afraid it'll be harder to track them down. So, my advice to Scott and Alan is to get there as soon as possible, before the storm breaks loose, and before I lose our mystery guests."

"FAB, John," Jeff said. "Alan, Scott – did you copy that?"

"Loud and clear, dad," Alan replied. "Our ETA is now 19 minutes, so that gives us either half an hour to a - search those people, b – find cover, or c – wait."

"I agree with Alan," Scott joined the conversation. "This situation doesn't look good, dad. John's about to lose those people out of sight, and there is no way we can find them in half an hour."

Jeff sighed, and switched once again back to Thunderbird 5. "John?"

"I think it's best to let them decide for themselves… but maybe you want to take a look at this first. I'll send it through."

Once again, Jeff's face turned pale white as he watched the information that now filled the screen of his computer. "Where did you find this stuff?"

"Well, the computer's far from finishing cracking the highly classified stuff – the only thing I managed to decrypt yet is a complete personnel list from the so-called 'infirmary'. Beats me why they needed an infirmary in an underground facility, but… I don't know."

"FAB, John, we'll keep in touch." Jeff switched back to the screen that viewed Thunderbird 1's cockpit. "Alan, Scott, I'll get back to you two as soon as possible. Right now, I have some other things to take care of…"

"FAB, dad. Thunderbird 1 out."

As Jeff turned the computer off, he turned around and saw the faces of two of his other sons, both very confused. "What was that all about, dad?" Virgil asked.

"To be honest – I have no idea. But what I do know, is that I've got some things to ask Brains…"

The sight of a populated area had never looked as good as it did at the moment SG-1, or at least three members of SG-1, stood at the edge of Colorado Springs.

"And now what?" Jack asked. "We can't go our own homes, and it's not like these people here are going to invite three people in, all dressed up in combat gear, who also happen to look like bunch of mine-workers thanks to that lovely climb up in the elevator shaft."

"I confess," Daniel suddenly said, showing his wallet.

"We love you, don't we Sam?" Jack said, while kissing Daniel's wallet.

Sam grinned. "We sure do." She grabbed the wallet out her CO's hands and looked at the amount of money in it. "Let's see… oh, that'll do. We gotta buy some clothes, bags, food and a place to sleep, unless you prefer the streets."

"We don't," Jack said quickly. "But… bags?"

"Well sir, I don't think people are going to appreciate us carrying weapons on the street scene, unless it's the fashion item nowadays, but I doubt that… and I don't feel like leaving my weapons behind."

"Good thinking, Carter. You do the shopping, we'll wait here."

"Yes, sir… but why?"

"Well, someone's gotta keep an eye on the weapons that you leave behind, 'cause the shop owner is so not gonna appreciate guns in his shop."

"True sir, but-"

"And besides – men don't like shopping."