Chapter Seven

Jack checked his watch and sighed. It was 4 AM SGC time. Heaven only knew what the local time was, but considering when the sun had set, he decided it was close enough. Normally he wouldn't expect everyone to be awake and marching at that hour, but everyone was up and, as far as he was concerned, marching away from the device was the best thing to do just then, even if certain scientific-minded members of his team weren't aware of it.

He turned to Daniel. "Provided we get your books, how long will it take to make sense of this?"

Daniel did his usual hemming and hawing. "Hours? Days? Weeks? Until I get a better idea of what I'm working with, I can't give you an answer, Jack."

"Ball park, Daniel." Jack wondered with well practiced patience, if Daniel would ever recognize the pattern and eventually learn to give him an answer the first time he asked the question.

Daniel gave his usual frustrated sigh, indicating that he did recognize the pattern and was wondering if Jack would ever stop asking him impossible questions. "I need a few hours and the reference materials to give you a ball park, Jack."

"Then get out the camera and get all the details you'll need. We are not coming back here until we know which buttons to press in which order to fix Carter. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Daniel immediately started filming the device with Teal'c assistance holding the flashlights. While they were working, Jack went about disarming both Carters. Neither one was happy about it, but he decided it was necessary until he was sure they weren't going to hurt each other or themselves. He inspected the cuts on their hands as well, judging them both to be superficial.

When he glanced back, he saw that Daniel had finished with the camera. He was holding a sheet of paper and a pencil and appeared mere milliseconds away from making physical contact with the machine from hell. "Daniel! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm making a rubbing of this section in case there is some significance in the placement of the raised characters."

"And what if the significance is that's how you make a second Daniel?"

Daniel, whose irritation from not being allowed to study the device first only worsened with lack of sleep, took Carter 1's lead and glared at Jack. "Maybe then we can make a copy of all of us so the copies can keep each other company while the real ones can ascertain the purpose of this piece of technology."

Jack was irritated himself and was only spurred on by Daniel's flippant comment. "Or?"

"Or maybe the copy of me can tell which Sam is real."

Jack squatted down until he was face to face with Daniel, ignoring the way his knees protested the move. "What if it doesn't actually produce a copy, Danny?"

Daniel contemplated Jack for a second. Then he slowly contemplated each of the Carters in turn. When he finally faced Jack again, he smiled patiently. "Well, unless Sam's twin has been hanging out on this planet for a while, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to pretend she's really Sam, then the machine does make copies, exactly like you told us."

Jack smiled back, with his own patient grin back in place. "When have I ever been right?" He waited while Daniel floundered for an answer. "You know Carter as well as I do, right?" He continued when Daniel nodded. "Does either one of these women actually seem like Carter to you?"

Daniel looked at the Carters again, pondering both the irritated glare of Carter 1 and the crushed expression of Carter 2. "Um, no, not really."

Carter 2, devastated by the revelations of both Jack and Daniel, grabbed Teal'c's arm. "You know it's really me, right?"

Annoyed, Teal'c pulled his arm free of her grasp. "Although each of them behaves in a somewhat characteristic manner for Major Carter, I do not believe either of them possesses all of her qualities."

Daniel suddenly turned several shades of green. "So maybe the machine creates clones but in so doing destroys the original?"

Jack shook his head, refusing to hear it. "Let's hope not." Feeling guilty, he glanced up at the Carters. Carter 1 still looked angry. He looked at Carter 2, who still appeared stunned by the news that none of the guys believed her. Her chin was trembling. He knew he should say something; it was his fault for voicing his concern.

Carter 1 beat him to it. "Oh, will you knock it off?"

Luckily, irritation clouded Carter 2's hurt feelings. "No one likes you, so shut up."

Carter 1 laughed. "I don't care if they like me as long as they listen to me." She glanced at Jack and smirked. "Besides, Colonel O'Neill likes me just fine."

"Yeah, well, Jack likes me better!" Carter 2's choice of names for Jack caught everyone's attention except for the Carters.

"You're a whiny, crybaby. He doesn't like you. He's just afraid you'll start crying again." She turned to look at Jack. "Sir, you can't seriously think she's anything like me."

Sadly, as much as he had been pulling for Carter 2, Carter 1's statement struck a chord with him. Instead of answering her, he shrugged at Daniel.

Carter 2 didn't seem affected by her double's words, but Jack had a feeling she'd feel differently once she had a chance to mull them over. "You're a bitch."

"And you're weak."

Daniel leaned over, trying to keep the Carters from noticing him. "Jack, she's pretty hard on herself, isn't she?"

Jack shook his head. "No, she's not hard on herself. She's really, really mean." He was glad he'd disarmed them.

He stood up slowly and took a deep breath, knowing he was the only one who stood a chance of making peace and that was only because he was Carter's CO. "Carters! Cut the crap." He moved between them, mentally preparing himself to stop being nice. The novelty had worn off and the duplicates were getting on his last nerve. "This is not a democracy. I'm calling the shots. Carters, I don't want to hear another word from either of you unless it has some useful purpose. Calling each other names doesn't count." He snarled at Carter 1, before feeling guilty for seeming to come down harder on her. "Glaring and crying aren't particularly productive either, so I expect that to stop as well." Both women accepted the admonishment without comment. He leaned down, pulling plastic ties from his pack. Then he pointed at Carter 1. "Teal'c, you're responsible for that one." He handed Teal'c one of the ties. "If she gives you any trouble, restrain her." He was really hoping it wouldn't come to that because he wasn't honestly sure he could stand by and watch that happen.

Carter 1 was steaming. Jack had never, ever seen her so angry. He had a feeling that, once this dilemma was attended to, he'd be groveling for the rest of his natural life, plus a few visits to the sarcophagus to make up for suggesting such a thing. True to her nature, though, she quickly covered the dismay on her face. Accepting her silence as acquiescence, he turned to Carter 2. "The same goes for you."

She nodded, every bit as angry as Carter 1. However, she hid it just as quickly. "That won't be necessary, sir."

"Good, I hope not." He turned to Daniel. "Let's go. You're taking point."

Perhaps it was the surprise at Jack's sudden, uncharacteristic anger with his friends or perhaps it was the complete lack of any valid disputes of his reasoning, but the team, plus one, complied. Daniel led the group. He was followed by Teal'c, who was keeping a cautious, distrustful eye on Carter 1. Jack brought up the rear with Carter 2 at his side. He was watching her, but he was pretty certain she wasn't about to try anything. He'd made Carter 1 Teal'c's responsibility because he deemed her the more likely to cause trouble and Jack knew he'd never in a million years find the strength within himself to physically restrain Carter, even if she wasn't really Carter.

He did worry about the damage the whole situation would end up causing Carter in case he was wrong and one of them was really her. It would probably take years for her to forgive him for threatening her with the ties and he was willing to bet Teal'c and Daniel weren't going to get off any easier since they hadn't objected. The three of them had admitted to not trusting either one of them. He knew that had to hurt. He could only hope that Carter, the real one, would understand.

As they walked, Jack tried to figure it out. Despite his argument to Daniel and Teal'c, one of them had to be Carter. Carter, the real one, wasn't as hard as Carter 1, but she wasn't as soft as Carter 2. Carter was always a major first, as Carter 1 seemed to be, while Carter 2 never would have survived the Air Force Academy. Of course, Carter wasn't a robot and she wasn't mean - Jack was well aware of the strong feelings she occasionally let bubble to the surface - the same ones that Carter 2 had revealed to him with her tears when they were alone.

The first rays of the sun began to appear along the horizon, giving Jack the irrational idea that things were going to get better. He snuck a peak at Carter 2, who true to her word, hadn't uttered a peep or moved one step away from his side. She was staring at the horizon, a soft smile lighting on her lips. Jack couldn't help himself; he never got the opportunity to see Carter when she wasn't in military mode. He smiled at her, nudging her gently with his elbow.

She turned quickly toward him, obviously expecting a reprimand or an order. When she realized neither was forthcoming, she smiled at him and playfully nudged him back.

And once again, Jack was faced with a painful realization, one that squeezed the air right out of his lungs. He never got to see Carter out of military mode. He never got to just smile at her without her questioning his motives. He never had the luxury of just being with her.

Because Carter was his second in command. Because they were a military unit. Because they never spent time together outside of work.

His smile faded as his eyes shifted to Carter 1. She was ten feet in front of him, keeping perfect step with Teal'c, right on Daniel's heels. She'd been the one to pick up the single pack. She'd been the one willing to injure herself without hesitation to prove that she was human. She was the one who was entirely focused on working with Daniel to get rid of the duplicate. She was stubborn, strong, and accepted his orders without question. She had to be the real one.