In the briefing room, Jack sat back in his chair. He appeared exhausted at the latest turn of events. As the emergency lights now began to flicker every so often, he rubbed his face with his hands and groaned aloud. He looked around at the people who were seated at the table. Teal'c, Colonel Reynolds, and Doctor Lee. He exhaled. He would do anything to have his whole team there but, as usual, something else seemed to be afoot. Why he couldn't just have an easy first year in command he could never understand. He thought he had got all of the crap out of the way, paid his karmic dues, with the thousands of crazy events during his tenure as SG-1 lead.

But it looked as though the universe still had it in for him, as though his debt to it was still unpaid. Or maybe it just liked to play with him.

He looked up as the emergency lighting in the briefing room proceeded to flash on and off in some kind of sequence. He noticed that Lee appeared to be writing things down in his notebook and looking at the lights periodically. Well, at least somebody was concentrating.

Jack addressed the group wearily. "So... any ideas? Anything at all?"

Reynolds, SG-3's leader, appeared bemused but not fazed by the lights. He said, "Well, we've been locked out of the main computer system; we're running on emergency lighting – even NORAD's down. Comms are out including the telephone network – we're using radios with variable success. Only two casualties thus far: Sergeant Siler, and Colonel Carter."

Jack nodded slowly and looked towards Lee. He said, "Any idea of how to fix things?"

Lee appeared to squirm a little under Jack's scrutiny; he knew all too well just how impatient the General could be – just how impatient or determined each of the members of SG-1 could be when something was afoot. He knew just as well that if it looked like he didn't have any answers, O'Neill could very much rip him to shreds.

Lee replied, "I have a team working on it." He shrugged, helpless. "We've tried rebooting the SGC systems. Nothing. We've tried contacting..."

Jack cut him off with a wave of his hand. He said, impatiently at first, "You said this thing was like a virus... what are the chances of it spreading into the city?"

Lee sighed, fear evident in his eyes. He said, "General, I couldn't tell you. We have no way of finding out – we can only guess which is not a lot of good right now. We need facts and my team is working on that."

Jack was very tempted to swear but thought better of it. He was a leader. He already had been a leader but he was in charge here. He was 'The Man', and being 'The Man' meant being calm and everything that he hated being. He wanted to be in the thick of it, shooting things, running... but there was nothing to shoot nor to run from. He didn't like being in limbo like this, not knowing. Also, scientists infuriated him.

Teal'c was the only one at the table who didn't appear scared. He did appear mildly concerned which was always a worry to Jack; Teal'c's facial expression was usually his gauge of a situation whenever everyone else had gone mad. If Teal'c was letting on, even if only facially, that he was concerned, then they were screwed.

Or maybe growing his hair out had softened him up.

Teal'c said, "What of the Stargate? We can channel power from the emergency lighting and manually dial the Stargate. Only power sufficient to dial the Stargate is required."

Jack's expression turned from utter tiredness to one of slight hope as he looked from Teal'c to Lee. Lee appeared nervous that, once again, he appeared to be under scrutiny. There was nothing quite like the diverse emergencies at the SGC to put pressure on the scientists. They were usually otherwise ignored.

Lee replied, "The gateroom is still being scrubbed down... and..." He looked up as the emergency lighting continued flashing periodically. "... I don't think the emergency power is reliable somehow."

Jack tried not to sound like a bear with a sore head, but it was very hard. He said carefully, "So, what is that? A 'no'?"

Lee shrugged. "It's a maybe."

"How's Sergeant Siler doing?"

Teal'c replied, "He is well."

Jack continued to appear troubled. He didn't want to be emotionally compromised but he couldn't help it when one of his own was in danger. Teal'c was about to speak, to allay whatever fears or unease the General had when Daniel walked in. The four men looked up at the archaeologist who appeared to have forgotten his glasses, and who, they suspected, may have shed some tears. Jack sighed, inwardly feeling selfish at his worries when his friend was having trouble far closer to home.

Amid a tense silence, Daniel took a seat next to Teal'c but didn't say anything. Teal'c watched over him while the others tried not to make him feel awkward with their scrutiny. Whatever was left of Jack's already scattered focus was now gone as he regarded the man to Teal'c left. Something was up. Oh for cryin' out loud, he knew that taking this damn command had opened some kind of floodgates for trouble.

Jack asked, "How's Carter doing?"

Daniel looked up, straight at Jack but appeared too lost to say anything. Just then, Doctor Brightman walked into the room. Jack mentally swore upon seeing the brown haired acting medical officer of the SGC. This was bad. Although the doctor, in her brief tenure thus far, had rarely broken out into a smile. He sighed silently – the dramas they had had since the start of her employment already hadn't been much to be happy about.

Jack nodded at her and she took the seat to Colonel Reynolds' left so that she was in between Jack at the head of the table, and the leader of SG-3. She was still wearing her white coat and she didn't have any files or paperwork. Jack saw it as a small mercy – it didn't look likely that she was going to drift into long winded explanations.

Jack asked, inwardly – very inwardly – scared, "Well...?"

Brightman appeared slightly tense. She glanced towards Daniel who was now looking down at her hands. She then looked back at Jack. She said, "General, I'm obliged to notify you that Colonel Carter is pregnant."

There was some murmuring amongst Reynolds and Lee. Daniel remained immobile, while Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Jack appeared confused – his old second-in-command was pregnant but Daniel wasn't happy, and the base was going to hell – he wasn't sure how to feel. Jack said cautiously,

"I get the feeling that that's not the whole story, Doctor."

Brightman appeared to be choosing her words carefully, as though she wasn't sure how to say what she had to say. At last, she said, "Sir... the genetic test results came back and only her DNA is present, like it's a clone." She paused. "... and the baby is developing much faster than humanly possible. From talking to the Colonel, conception could only have taken place five hours ago before Doctor Jackson and Teal'c found her in her quarters."

Jack groaned as he sank in his seat. He rubbed his face, and then said, "It never rains but it pours." He took a deep breath and looked at the doctor. He said, "Any idea of how that happened?" He paused, appearing awkward. "... other that, you know, the whole birds and the bees thing."

The doctor replied, looking puzzled, "No Sir. I do not have a viable explanation for the phenomenon under way in the Infirmary. By all rights, the Colonel should not be pregnant – it doesn't make sense."

"Not much about this job makes sense, Doctor."

"There was one thing." The doctor continued, "The Colonel remembers waking up suddenly at around the estimated time of conception: she can't explain it but she says she felt something was 'wrong'."

Jack asked, worried, "Is Carter the only one affected?"

Brightman glanced at Daniel, who hadn't moved. She replied, "Yes, Sir. There are no other cases."

"Then, in your professional opinion, do you think the apparent 'coincidence' of this happening while my base goes to hell is actually not a coincidence and that they're somehow linked?"

Brightman appeared mildly sceptical. "I wouldn't know, Sir. This is way out of my expertise right now."

"You're preaching to the choir, sister."