The Alternates

It seemed as though in every reality Samantha Carter was able to work miracles just in the nick of time and this one was no different. Teal'c and Daniel had retreated back into the ship as a small army of Jaffa was bearing down on them.

"Sam?" cried Daniel slapping the rear door shut.

"Ah ha!" she yelled as something sparked. "Okay, try it now."

"Jack go!" Daniel yelled running to the front of the ship. The Colonel was ready at the helm and they shot up into the air.

"Don't push it too hard," Sam said walking up and looking over their shoulders. "There's barely enough power to run the engines and keep the cloak working. I'm just glad that the time device hasn't overloaded. I disconnected it, but one short and the whole thing could feedback and explode."

"What?" Jack and Daniel asked at the same time.

"Well I didn't have time to fix it," she said wringing her hands. The two men exchanged an uneasy look. "I'm sure it'll be fine though, as long as no one shoots us," she said, trying to alleviate their concern.

"Yeah, sure," Jack said, not sounding convinced at all. "So where should I be taking this ship Doctor?"

"Ah, just follow the Nile," Daniel said. "Once you start seeing trees, just pick a spot to park it. There should be fewer patrols the further south we go so hopefully less of a chance of them coming across us. How long will it take to fix the ship Sam?"

"Few days maybe. I just hope there are enough components salvageable enough to get the engine running back at full power. Otherwise I don't think there's any way we'll be able to lift the gate."

"Great, so as long as the ship doesn't explode, the bad guys don't find us, and we're able to completely repair the ship we're all set! Who thought this plan was a good idea again?" The retired Colonel grumbled.

The landscape soon started looking remarkably more green, and Jack found a suitable copse of trees to set the ship deftly into.

"Okay then campers," he said, shutting down the engines and turning around in his seat. "What now?" They all looked at Daniel expectantly.

"What is everyone looking at me for?" He asked.

"Well we don't really know what we're doing." Sam answered. "I hadn't even heard of the Stargate until a few weeks ago, much less had any idea that aliens, spaceships, alternate realities and time travel were actually real and possible. I mean theoretically yes, and I always sort of hoped..." Jack cut her off by clearing his throat loudly. "Sorry," she continued. "But we barely know each other, and you've been doing this for years Daniel, plus you're the leader of this whole rebellion thing!"

Daniel sighed and rubbed his forehead with one finger. "I share that responsibility with Katep," he said. "And you're not actually my team so I'm not looking to become the leader of whatever this is," he said, indicating the group by circling his finger.

"We know that Daniel, and you don't have to be the leader," Sam said placatingly, "but you know the area, the people and the language."

"Fine," Daniel said, sighing again. "Teal'c, why don't you and Jack go do some recon, I assume you both know how to do that?"

"Indeed Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"Great, you two can share military tactics while you're at it and Sam and I can set up shop here." As the two men walked out of the ship they heard Jack say to the former Jaffa, "so Teal'c, what do you know about hockey?"

Sam had been examining the readouts on the control panel when Daniel called from the back of the ship. "Hey Sam, could you come look at this for a minute?"

"Sure," she said standing up swaying slightly, then sitting back down hard.

Daniel appeared at her side. "You okay Sam?" he asked

"Yeah, just a head rush, I'll be fine in a second."

"Hey Sam, when was the last time you slept?" he asked, voicing a suspicion.

"Uh, Earth I think. Before we left for Chulak," she amended seeing his face.

"Okay, well you need some sleep."

"No, no, I'm fine," she said, waving him off. "It's only been…" she counted in her head, scrunching up her nose.

"Yeah, I know that look. Go lay down for a little while. My Sam was just as bad about never sleeping. To be fair though, neither was I. We'd stay up all night together working. Jack would be furious at us." He rolled his eyes at the memory.

"Well she was a Colonel and a scientist, no wonder why she never had time to sleep. Everything I've heard about her sounds incredible." Sam said.

"She was. She was brilliant and kind and stubborn as hell. Kinda like you," Daniel replied.

"Ho no." Sam said, giving a short laugh. "I haven't done anything remarkable like her."

Daniel was silent for a moment. "You're actually the third Samantha Carter I've met from an alternate reality. Well fourth if you include her android copy. But all of them have been remarkable in some way. Including you. You convinced Teal'c to betray Apophis and figured out how to work an incredibly advanced ship."

"Thanks Daniel," she said smiling.

"Of course there was the fifth version if you count her replicator copy who was hell bent on universal domination and wiping out all life in the galaxy."

"The what?" she said, jaw dropping open.

"Never mind," said Daniel, "long story. Get some sleep. We're safe for now and we should be able to manage without you for a few hours."

"Hey Daniel?" She asked as he was walking away.

"Yeah," he said turning back around.

"We're you and her ever um.." she trailed off. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry."

"It's okay, but uh no. We weren't. I don't think we ever even considered each other that way. We were just really, really good friends. And she was... well let's just say you're probably more like her than you realize." He gave her a meaningful look and turned to leave again.