Within 24 hours she had her answer.

She was sitting in her office, sorting through some paperwork and talking to John at the same time.

"So how was your trip?" He asked. "Get everything sorted?"

Sam frowned but didn't take her eyes off of the page in front of her. "Uh-hu." They both knew she wasn't really paying attention.

"So... the President is some sort of relative?"

Sam suddenly looked up from the pile of papers in her hand. Before she had left, she had given John some spiel about a family emergency back on Earth. Arriving back at the SGC after her trip to DC, she had unwillingly bumped into Daniel and Cam. Her excuse for why she hadn't mentioned her visit, an impromptu meeting with the President, hadn't really been a lie either.

She was stupid to think that the team members at the SGC wouldn't talk to the team members at Atlantis.

Sam dropped her pen onto the file in front of her and sighed. "I did have some family matters to attend to," She said, "But yes, I also had a meeting with the President."

"About that artefact we found?"

"No... Well not exactly..."

John watched as Sam tilted her head and screwed up her nose – a habit he was beginning to recognise and fully interpret. "You know what it does, don't you?"

"No," Sam shook her head, "Actually I don't." They looked each other in the eye for a moment. "Isn't that what I ordered Rodney to do? Work out what it does?"

A split second passed before John nodded his head. "I guess..."

Sam sighed again. She knew John wouldn't be satisfied with the scraps she was feeding him.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the klaxon went off and Chuck's voice could be heard loudly over the speakers. "Unscheduled off world activation!"

Sam was on her feet in seconds, joining John as they jogged from her office to the control room. "IDC?"

"It's the midway station, Ma'am."

She nodded her head at Chuck, "Open it up."

"Colonel Carter," Came Doctor Lee's Voice, "I'm sending someone through upon the request of the President."

"The President?" John's voice diverted Sam's gaze, and the voice transmission cut out before she could even form a response.

The shield deactivated and Sam glanced down at the gate room. Within seconds a figure stepped through.

Sam was grinning even before he caught her eye, and before she was aware of what she was doing, her legs had begun sweeping her down the stairs.

She came to a stop a few feet before him, John hot on her heels. A grin was still plastered on her face and she held a burning question in her eyes.

"Seeing as the current threat to Earth is in the Pegasus galaxy, the President thought a more 'hands on' approach with regards to Homeworld Security, might be necessary..." Jack removed his hat and ran his fingers over the rim, the rest of his dress blues sitting crisply on his toned frame. He raised his eyebrows at her and she felt herself visibly relax. "He's requested that I remain here and observe for a week or so...."

Sam couldn't help it. A somewhat nervous laugh escaped her lips. "You're kidding?" She asked, her own eyebrows rising.

Jack simply grinned at her. "Nope!"

John shifted uncomfortably beside her. "Er... does this have something to do with the ancient artefacts we found?"

Jack spared a glance at Sam before answering John's question, "Actually, yes it does..."

Sam raised an eyebrow in Jack's direction, astutely ignoring the other man's gaze.

"The President thinks I might be able to help..." Jack waved a hand in the air, "Figure out what it is that they do exactly..."

"I see..." John narrowed his eyes at them both, clearly not 'seeing' it at all. Sam simply shrugged at him, before glancing over at Jack, one eyebrow raised, one lopsided smile on her lips.

"Carter?"

"General?"

"You gonna give a guy a tour, or what?"

The smile on her face grew, and she took a step forwards. "Thought you'd never ask..."