Chapter 11
…A Thorn in the Ointment…
They continued speaking about swords as they reached the elevators. Jack and Daniel stopped as they noticed Sam and Teal'c waiting for them. The four got into the elevator together.
Jack pressed the button for the sixteenth floor before he turned to the other members of SG1, "So, what did ya find out?"
"There may not be much time left," Sam said with a frown. She did not want to tell him the truth at the moment; she was actually afraid to tell him.
"Yeah, so," Jack said as he looked at the blonde.
"There's no easy way to tell you this, sir," Sam said with a frown as she fidgeted a little bit.
Jack shrugged and shook his head.
"Well, sir, the Asgard…"
"Fer cryin' out loud, Carter!" Jack cut her off impatiently.
Sam's spine stiffened and she stood at attention instinctively.
Teal'c stepped forward, "You have been cloned."
"What?" Jack snapped as he looked at them.
Daniel echoed with his own shocked tone.
"The Asgard took the real you and made a copy," Sam said with a frown, "an unstable one."
"The real me?" Jack asked as he glared at her.
"You are not the real Jack O'Neill," Teal'c said stoically.
"I'm sorry," Sam said.
"Where's the real me?" Jack said as he looked at them then at Daniel.
Daniel looked as shocked as he felt and shrugged at the young man.
"Well, we hope that with your help, we can find out, "Sam said as she fidgeted again.
…Back in the Briefing Room…
"When Teal'c and I did our research," Daniel began as everyone sat around the conference table. "We figured that there was a seven day gap between abductions. That means tonight is the night."
"This plan sucks," the clone said with a frown. "Its gonna fail."
"The switch is the only chance we have in capturing the culprits and finding the original Jack," Sam said.
"What about the fact that I'm dying?" Jack protested. "You don't care as long as you get the original back?"
"It is unknown if we can stop your body from deteriorating without putting you into stasis," Janet said with a frown.
"Maybe whoever's responsible will be able to fix it," Daniel sounded hopeful.
"Fine give me a gun and I'll make him cooperate," Jack said with a frown.
"We don't even know who it is," Daniel said as he looked at the young Jack. As far as he was concerned, he was not going to abandon the young man once they got his friend back.
"Look," Jack said as he looked at Hammond, "You can't just use me as bait and cast me aside like yesterday's garbage. Your only chance of capturing this guy is by using me." He looked at Hammond with pleading eyes.
"A zat," Hammond conceded.
"Thank you, sir," Jack gave a small smile and sat back in his chair.