Lightning

Part X

"Alright," Jeff interrupted again, "Now that everyone and everything's been introduced – let's continue. As John said before this whole introduction-thing started, we've been working on figuring out how to get you guys back home again. I'm sorry to say that there's no way we can get you back by Earth's resources – however, we skimmed to a few pages of information Virgil and John managed do decipher…"

"You cracked the SGC-computers," Sam exclaimed again, "I-I- this is great! You guys have the most advanced technology I've seen in years!"

"That's probably because we're from the past, Sam," Daniel answered, "Everything new to us is probably old to them."

"Oh, right."

"Anyway," Jeff continued, "Virgil and John managed to decipher that you've made contact with several alien species, am I correct?"

"Yes, and?"

"We were wondering if any of these… species would be willing to send you back to the past, assuming at least one has the technology to?"

Sam's eyes grew wide (she was having the time of her life, here in the future), "Of course! Why couldn't we have thought of that before? You say you have this space station, right?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued, "If we can somehow reproduce the same signal we usually use to contact, you know, others, we can boost it and send it through the galaxy, hoping that, for example, the Tollan or maybe the Asguard pick it up!"

"I wouldn't count on the Tollan," Jack said, with a hint of sarcasm, "They weren't so eager on sharing their technology in the past, so I doubt it's changed in the future."

"But surely the Asguard would be willing to help us?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, probably," Sam replied, "But bear in mind that the Asguard live in another galaxy. It's gonna take a whole lot of power to boost the signal that much."

Jack just shrugged, "Unless the Asguard has receivers that strong we don't need to boost the signal that much."

"Yeah, true…"

"Look," Scott suddenly interrupted, getting tired of the constant arguing of the visitors, "We don't know until we try, right? Dad?"

Jeff nodded, exactly knowing what his eldest son was up to, "Start working on it, boys."

"So…" Scott said, about two hours later, "Ready for the tour?"

Daniel and Jack looked at each other and nodded almost simultaneously. Sam was currently working on the… signal-booster-thing, together with – Alan? Gordon? No, John. Damn, Jack thought, Jeff has way too many sons.

"Always," Daniel replied, "So, what's up first?"

"The main hangar," Scott casually replied, as they descended some stairs, "It's where Thunderbird Two is parked."

"Thunderbird Two…"

"The rescue freighter. She's quite impressive, but you can't compare her with One."

"That's because you pilot One," retorted Alan with a smirk on his face, "Personally, I think Two is a fine craft. Granted, she's not so fast, but she comes in quite handy from time to time."

"And who asked you to tag along?" Scott replied.

"No one. I just wanted to make sure you didn't say something incredibly stupid about Three."

"Oh, Alan," Scott said mockingly, "How can you say such a thing. I would never…"

"Drop it, Scott," Alan answered, "The innocent routine doesn't fit you."

"Oh, and like it does to you."

"Yes!"

"Wow," Daniel suddenly said in awe, looking up at Thunderbird Two – as the four men had reached the main hangar, "It's so…"

"Big? Green?" Jack said with a smirk, "It's cool, though."

Scott smiled. "I'm sure Virgil would love to hear that."

"Virgil? Isn't that the guy up in Thunderbird Five?"

"Yeah, true," Scott answered, "But it's usually John who's up there. He's got a real knack for anything to do with stars and stuff. Virgil's the pilot of Two, Gordon and Alan take terms in Three and Four, and One's mine."

"So… what are all those… things standing around Thunderbird Two?" Jack asked, his hands already aching to fly the big, green craft.

"Well, on the left you've got the Thunderizer – comes in handy when you want to blast your way through a wall or a titanium door, or something like that. Next to the Thunderizer is the Firefly. We use it mostly for making our way through a fire, as the name says. And the third is the Mole, my personal favorite," Alan said with a smirk, "And just as a mole, it digs its way under the ground. Mostly used when we've got to rescue people trapped in a basement or…"

"Something like that," Jack finished. "Cool."

Next was Thunderbird One's hangar – and Jack was practically drooling all over the craft.

"Holy Mother of Jesus," he whispered, "I've never seen anything like this… she must be a real beauty to fly in…"

"She is," Scott said with a smile, "Say, Jack… you'd like to try?"

"What?" Jack exclaimed, not sure he'd heard that last part right, "You'd let me fly a Thunderbird?"

"Well, I'll be sitting next to you, of course, in case anything goes wrong…"

Jack 'hmmpff-ed' at that.

"… and Dr Jackson is also welcome to tag along, if you want, that is."

"And just how fast does that thing go?"

"Fifteen thousandkilometers per hour."

"No, thank you, I think I'll just pass. Why don't you and Jack have some fun, I think I'll check on Sam."

"You do just that," Jack said to Daniel, eyes still on Thunderbird One, "You do that, yeah."

"So, Dr Jackson," Alan spoke up, as he and Daniel were making their way back to the manor, "Enjoy your stay yet?"

"Well, I can't complain," the archeologist began, "But still, it's weird. Being in the future and all that kind of crazy stuff."

Alan smiled. "We're working on it. You said you wanted to check on your friend… Miss Carter, was it?"

"Yeah, Sam. Although I have no idea where she is right now."

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say she's with John, Brains and Fermat down under."

"See! You keep saying that, 'down under', and I still haven't got a clue what it means."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Alan apologized, "It's sort of a Tracy-lingo. Basically, it means the lab. That's where Brains keeps all the cool stuff."

"Cool stuff?" Daniel asked bewildered.

"Oh, you know – high-tech, multi-functional tools and gadgets, that stuff."

"I wanna bet Sam's in heaven…"

Alan raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that… Sam, or captain Carter is kind of a technology-addict." Daniel explained.

"Hmm…"

"What hmm…? Good hmm, or bad hmm?"

"Actually, I don't know whether it's good or bad," Alan tried to explain as he lead his companion to Brains' lab, "You see, I really don't mind you seeing all the Thunderbirds, and all our advanced technology… but doesn't that quite screw with the timeline? After all, once you're back in the past, you'll still have the knowledge of the future. And by knowing of the future, you'll risk altering the timeline… And frankly, I'd rather not see that happen."

At that, Daniel had to blink twice. At first sight, Alan appeared to be the… squirt of the family – his Pokémon-PJ's didn't help him with that – but SG-1's resident archeologist realized that there was more about Alan that met the eye. In fact, all of Jeff Tracy's son seemed to have that rather odd 'aura', if you could call it that… The Tracy brothers were all humble, brave, and probably from time to time heroic, and while they remained just a bunch of crazy adolescents on the surface, Daniel couldn't help but get the feeling that there were some damn good people on the inside. He didn't know any other way to describe it… and hell, maybe he was getting way to involved in this case – was it a case? – but the Tracy family had something mysterious about them. The archeologist couldn't help but suppress a laugh – he was a doctor of Archeology, not Philosophy, but the case – if it was a case in the first place, withan emphasison if– was soon forgotten as he and Alan arrived 'down under'.

In the middle of the magnificent room there were four people – or rather three adults and a kid – working on – what looked like – a very, very, veryfucked upvacuum cleaner. There was no other way to say it.

"It looks like a vacuum cleaner," Alan said, as if he had read Daniel's mind.

John turned around, and gave his little brother a heartwarming smile. "Yeah, I guess it does, doesn't it? But it's not a vacuum cleaner, I can assure you. I think we're almost done…"

"So… when are we gonna use it?"

"I'd say tomorrow… morning or afternoon. Something like that. Sam, Brains and I have to double check everything before we turn it on. See, it has to be connected with the power core of Thunderbird Five… and I really don't want a system overload. That would be a…"

"Disaster?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Meanwhile, Scott and Jack had finished their flight – Scott nearly had to drag Jack out of the plane.

"Wow, that was really… cool."

"Glad you thought so."

"Just out of curiosity," Jack suddenly asked, "Judging your flying skills… were you the Tracy brother who earned…"

"… the Medal of Honor?" Scott finished Jack's phrase with a smile, "So you've heard the story, huh?" As Jack and Daniel nodded, he continued, "Yeah, that was me alright. Joined the army for a couple of years before I 'retired'. No one understood why, especially not since I said I'd go and work for my dad's business, fly private jets. They all thought I was crazy, giving up F-16's for some slow civvy planes."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Jack sighed, "When I first joined the Stargate-program, I had to tell everyone I joined Deep Space Radar Telemetry…"

"DSRT? No kiddin'! Were there actually people who bought that one?"

"A few," Jack answered, but then added with a grin, "Never spoke to them again, after that."

Scott smiled. "By the way, you don't fly that bad either."

Jack couldn't help it but grin. "Thanks."

The rest of the day went by very quickly. Since Onaha and Tin-Tin were not due back until tomorrow, the Tracy's had to cook something for their selves – it was quickly decided that they'd put some pizzas in the microwave. After diner, the majority of the crowd settled in the living room, watching Gordon's favorite movie: Independence Day. Jeff and Jack, however, retreated in Jeff's office.

"So…" Jack begun.

"So…" Jeff returned with a smile. "Never thought we'd see each other again, Jack… and certainly not in a situation like this."

"No, that's true," Jack answered, "If you'd told me all those years ago, that one day I'd be traveling all over the galaxy, I would have laughed. If you'd told me that I'd accidentally end up in the future, meet up with an old pal, who happens to have become a very successful aerospace developer and one of the most influential people in the entire world plus the head of a covert, independent rescue organization with the most advanced technology I've seen in years – excluding Alien technology of course – I'd probably have thought you were crazy."

"Yeah, it's kind of weird sometimes, that it's all happening to me. But then again, I have no regrets. I have enjoyed every single moment of what I have done in the past, even the hard ones – because I know now they were necessary in order to achieve what I have now achieved. Don't you ever dare to forget that, Jack – you are who you want to be. And don't you dare to give up, Jack. Never give up."

"Not if it's up to me," Jack replied the words Jeff had said twice, so many years ago. But they both knew it. This time, it was just not for one day. They'd be friends forever.