Thanks for all of your very kind words... and for those who are wondering, Mac will be coming in in the next couple of chapters, so hang tight!
"Well, hello Carter. Fancy meeting you here," a voice grinned from behind her.
"Hello sir." She spun to find a young person standing in front of her. She did a double take and then realized who exactly it was.
"Yes, what a fancy Carter." Sam spun back around and found another Jack leaning over the DHD, grinning evilly. Sam pleaded Daniel to save her silently. She noticed that Daniel had a slight smile on his face as he sauntered up to the group.
Sam sighed in exasperation. "Oh God! I'm stuck on a planet with two them!" Daniel's grin opened wider. Teal'c even allowed a small smile of his own. The two Jacks smiled at each other.
"So Carter… what's this about my heater?" Jack said, deliberately hitting a symbol as he got off the DHD. Sam smiled at his attempts of dialing home early.
"Sir, the so-called heater is a nuclear weapon and who knows what else it's capable of. Hammond did say that intel reported it as alien."
"We have reason to believe that the rogue NID is trying to use this device to their advantage O'Neill."
Hawke was getting kind of pissed out not being treated the way he was supposed to be treated, as the leader of SG-1. So he coughed politely into his fist. The team spun to face him, slightly annoyed, but soon realized what the glare on his face meant. At least Sam and Jack had the decency to look away. Daniel and Teal'c were caught up in their own little world.
"Sorry sir," Carter managed as an awkward apology. Hawke pointedly stared at his elder, knowing full well that Jack O'Neill would never apologize to him. O'Neill did move aside to allow a small opening for Hawke to be further integrated into the circle.
They all shuffled uncomfortably until Hawke brought up the subject again cheerfully and as full of sarcasm as always.
"Sooo… the heater is an alien nuke. What the hell would an alien want with a nuke that's somewhat like our own?"
"He's got a good point Carter; why not make your own kind of nuke if you're an alien?" Sam shrugged nonchalantly.
"Honestly I don't know, but we need to inform Hammond." Daniel looked up at the rapidly setting sun; apparently days here were a bit shorter than Earth days.
"Uh guys, it's getting late, so either we call Hammond in the morning, dial in now and sleep here, or just go home."
"Well, we're not due for another…" O'Neill paused as he looked at his watch. "6 hours. So I guess we dial it up, tell him, and see what he wants us to do. Agreed?"
The leader watched as his whole team agreed to this action by nodding their heads… or bowing them, as it was in Teal'c's case. With the familiar sounds of a dialing gate in place, SG-1 sat by to deliver their message. The M.A.L.P. sent through by Hammond earlier that week came to full power again as it readily consumed the urgent delivery.
"Sir, Carter thinks that this heater of ours might actually be a nuke. She mentioned something about atoms splitting and making fission – which apparently makes A-bombs." Off camera, Jack Hawke saw Carter's rather impressed face. He smiled at her awed expression.
"I didn't know you actually listened," she grinned back at the young colonel.
"Yeah, we have our charms occasionally." A bemused grin lit up Daniel's face as well as Sam's at the mere thought. Jack heard them discussing this, turned, and scowled at them both. Hammond suppressed a chuckle.
"Colonel?"
"Ah Carter and Hawke are making fun of me…err, us? Sir."
"Right… I'll get this information to the president immediately and I'll see you back here at ten-hundred hours tomorrow morning. SGC out." With that the gate shut down with its familiar and possibly comforting /shooowip/.
"Well campers, I guess we'd better get some sleep. Ain't that right Sir Hawke?" Jack played sarcastically. He'd put on a slightly southern accent to complete the deal.
"Yes siree, Sir O'Neill. Them doggies won't last 'til sundown." The Jacks looked each other in the eye and turned towards Daniel.
"Which, directly translated, means: drum-roll please…" O'Neill flourished his arm out towards his friend, who was completely caught off guard. Hawke continued the drum-roll.
"Wha? Oh… get to bed now or else?" he attempted to translate Jackian without much success.
"Close enough Danny boy, close enough. Now get to bed… or else!" the younger mock ordered. Sam and Daniel straightened to a ramrod position and saluted.
"SIR YES SIR!" they shouted. Although Daniel lacked the finesse of an officer, he'd been around enough saluting people to last him a lifetime on how to salute. Teal'c just smirked from his position on the sideline.
"That's better kids," O'Neill smiled.
The team, without any help, hit the ground as soon as the bedrolls were spread. It wasn't that the walking had been strenuous or anything, but a Stargate trip just took a lot out of you sometimes. You'd think they'd got used to it by now, but this was one of the rare times where gate travel just pooped them out. For now, the nuke could wait.