Sam, Daniel and General Hammond are walking through the corridors of the SGC.
"Security teams have swept the base three times in the last six hours, inside and out. They found nothing. I think it's safe to assume that he's no longer here," Hammond said.
"Well, Jack knows the SGC as well as anyone. If he wanted a way out, I'm sure he'd find one," Sam said.
"There's been no sign of Charlie either. I think it's safe to say that wherever they are they're together," Daniel said.
Hammond sighed, "Well, I've notified State and local authorities. With any luck they'll find them soon."
Janet walked up from behind, "Sir…there's something you all need to see."
Janet led them into the infirmary and over to a computer where Jacob sat.
"Selmak has had a chance to digest some of the DNA test results we've been collecting and it seems Colonel O'Neill's condition isn't what we first thought," Janet said.
"He isn't dying?" Sam asked.
"He is dying, but we think we know the cause. When we first compared Colonel O'Neill's DNA samples to the ones we had on file, the match was almost perfect."
"Almost," Daniel said, "you said there was a tiny abnormality."
"That's right," Janet replied. "Selmak thinks he knows why."
"This is not Colonel O'Neill," Selmak explained.
"But…" Sam started.
"He's a clone," Janet replied.
"I see. Keep me informed," Hammond spoke into the phone before hanging up and looking over at SG-1 minus Jack that had just walked into his office, "No word yet on…what exactly do we call him at this point?"
When no one else came up with an answer Sam replied, "Duplicate O'Neill?"
"Sir, we think we might have a clearer idea of what might be going on," Daniel Said.
"Please, enlighten me," Hammond replied.
"We know the Asgard clone themselves," Teal'c said.
"Their very existence depends on their ability to clone their bodies and then transfer their consciousness from one to the next," Daniel explained.
"But they suffer from grave medical conditions due to thousands of years of cloning," Sam added.
"Which will ultimately lead to the fall of their civilization if they can't solve the problem of diminishing return in their cloning technology," Daniel said.
"What does this have to do with Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond asked.
"We had all the abductees DNA that Teal'c and I interviewed scanned for the same abnormalities as … duplicate O'Neill. AS far as we can tell, none of them are clones," Daniel said.
"Which means?" Hammond asked.
"Well, in all likelihood, the Asgard responsible, took the original people and replaced them with duplicates so as not to arouse suspicion," Sam said.
"They studied the original for a period of time before they switched them back," Daniel added.
"You think whoever took the real Colonel O'Neill is going to return him?" Hammond asked.
"It's all we've got, Sir. We're hoping the fact that Colonel O'Neill's clone didn't fully mature is a mistake," Sam replied.
"What makes you think that?" Hammond asked.
"The previous actions of the Asgard responsible indicate his desire to remain covert," Teal'c said.
"Jack's clone's condition is a dead giveaway," Daniel said.
"So it's a good bet that the Asgard doesn't even know there's a problem or else he would have tried to fix it," Sam said.
"Well, they'll figure it out when they try to switch him back," Hammond said.
"If they try to switch," Sam replied.
"Are you saying if we don't track down the young duplicate, we might not get the real Colonel O'Neill back?" Hammond asked.
"Well, no, we're sure the Asgard would be able to find him, if he wants. That's not the real issue," Sam said.
"We wish to apprehend the Asgard responsible," Teal'c said.
"Intercepting the next switch may be our only shot," Daniel said.
The buzzing of the phone interrupts them.
The General pushes a button on the phone, "Hammond."
"General Hammond, Sir… I have a Lt. Colonel Beck from the 10th Air Base Wing at the Air Force Academy on the line for you. He says it has to do with Colonel O'Neill."
"Patch him through."
"Yes, Sir."
Charlie followed his father at a distance throughout the night. He overheard the conversation with Lt. Colonel Beck in front of the liquor store and was even close enough to hear what river the person at the bait shop had recommended. Several times he had been so close to walking up to his father and demanding what the hell he was thinking, but he had decided to let the Colonel calm down a little first.
Charlie had followed his father into a wooded area, smirking at the fact his father still didn't realize he was being tailed. He let Jack settle down on a boulder and get a line in the water before he decided it was now or never.
Charlie started forward closing the distance while keeping his eyes trained on Jack watching for the first hint that his father had detected him. With perfect timing, Charlie spoke just as Jack realized he wasn't alone.
"Catch anything yet?"
"Nope," Jack replied looking over to watch Charlie approach.
Charlie sat down on a nearby boulder, "Dad I--"
"Don't," Jack exploded jumping to his feet. "Just, don't call me that Charlie. Hell, I look like I could be your brother. It's weird."
Charlie stood to better glare at him, "But you're not my brother, dad. You are my father no matter what you look like."
They stood there glaring at each other when suddenly they both tensed.
"Unless you brought beer that's close enough," Jack called out.
"Colonel, we need you to come back with us," Sam yelled down after dismissing the guards.
"Something's wrong," Charlie whispered.
"Ya think," Jack, snapped at Charlie before shouting, "How'd you find us?
"I'm serious Dad, she called you Colonel," Charlie replied.
"A Lt. Colonel Beck called General Hammond and placed you in the area," Daniel shouted back.
"She calls me Colonel all the time Charlie," Jack whispered.
"A man from whom you recently bought bait said he recommended this river," Teal'c added.
"You're dying so she comes out here with armed guards, calls you Colonel and orders you back to base. She knows you dad, she would have asked, maybe begged, but ordered? Doesn't seem right to me," Charlie said.
"Tell Jacob thanks for trying but I'm not interested in the deep-freeze deal," Jack called out.
"Look we're not here to take you to the Tok'ra. There may not be much time," Daniel replied.
"Never is, is there?"
"Okay, well," Daniel sighs, "There's no easy way to tell you this so…Sam's gunna come right out and say it."
Sam glared at Daniel before speaking, "Well, sir…as you know, the Asgard depend on cloning technology--"
Jack cut her off, "Oh for crying out loud…"
Sam closes her eyes, dreading the job of telling him even more bad news…so Teal'c steps up.
"You have been cloned, O'Neill"
"What!?" Jack and Charlie demanded whipping around to face them.
"We think the Asgard took the real you and made a copy. An unstable one, at that," Daniel said.
"The real me?"Jack asked.
"Yeah…the original. That's not your real anything. I'm…I'm sorry," Daniel replied.
"Where's the original?" Jack asked.
"Well, that's what we hope to find out, but we need your help," Sam replied.
Hammond didn't like the tension in his briefing room, unfortunately he couldn't think of anything to end it.
Daniel, Sam and Teal'c sat around one side of the conference table while Jack's clone and Charlie sat around the other. It was the glares Charlie was shooting across the table that made the room a very uncomfortable place to be.
"We calculated approximately a seven day gap between abductions which puts us at tonight," Daniel said doing a good job at ignoring Charlie's glares.
"This plan sucks. Look, I know you don't think I am … who I am… but, as far as I'm concerned, I am… who… I am," Jack's clone said.
"The switch is the only chance we have of capturing whoever's behind this," Sam said.
"What about the fact that this body is dying? I mean, has anyone even thought about that for a second?" When no one speaks up Jack's clone continues, "Oh … I see. You don't care as long as you get the original back."
With that said, the tension in the room reached the breaking point. In a flash, Charlie launched out of his chair. Before anyone could respond, he had Jack's clone out of his chair and pinned to the wall. Within seconds, everyone was out of their chairs and the General was ordering Charlie to release Jack's clone and to sit down.
"I'm sorry General, but no. Dad you stay," Charlie said as he turned to look at the three other members of SG1, "You three sit!"
While Hammond wasn't happy with the turn of events, he nodded at SG1 his agreement for them to sit before he himself took his own seat.
As they sat Charlie turned back to look his father's clone in the eye, "As far as I'm concerned you are …who … you are. I told you already you're my father no matter what you look like so now I'm adding, no matter how many times you've been Xeroxed copied, is that clear?" With that said Charlie let Jack's clone go and turned back the rest of SG1, "And in case you've all forgotten to me you're all duplicates! None of you are the originals, but I'll be damned if I'd just let one of you die!"
"We just … we don't know what else to do for him," Sam replied not meeting Charlie's eyes.
"Perhaps the Asgard responsible can fix the mistake," Teal'c said.
"Give Dad a Zat and we'll make sure he doesn't have a choice," Charlie said with an evil smirk.
"I'd prefer a 9-mil to get it out of the sucker," Jack replied.
"We don't know who or what we might be facing yet," Daniel said.
"Exactly why you can't just use me as bait and hang me out to dry. You're never going to intercept one of those Asgard beams. The only chance you have of capturing this guy is me," Jack looked over at General Hammond who had been listening intently, "Come on…"
"A Zat gun," Hammond replied.
Both Jack's Clone and Charlie relaxed slightly, "Thank you, Sir."
Jack's clone stretched out across his bed while he leafed through a magazine silently grumbling over the fact that this wasn't technically his bed anymore. Already bored with the magazine he grabbed the radio from the bedside table.
"Carter, you still got your ears on?"
Sam and Charlie were standing with Daniel and Teal'c on their porch, "Yes, Sir."
"Daniel, Charlie, Teal'c?" Jack asked.
"There right here, Sir," Sam replied.
"Everything seems to be normal, O'Neill," Teal'c keyed his own radio.
"Yeah? Not to me," Jack replied.
"You wanna go over the instructions I gave you again?" Sam asked
"Don't worry, Carter, I'm sure I'll figure it out--" Jack was cut off as the Asgard beam took him.
Charlie, Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c took off at a run towards the house when they saw the flash of light from the bedroom window. The four of them were halfway there when another flash of light, this one right on top of them lit up the lawn.