Chapter 10

High Pitched Whines

"Awake, George Hammond," a voice announced, "We approach the city of New York." Sam blinked her eyes sleepily and lifted her head. When she had first curled up to sleep, she had decided there was another plus to being a kid. It was much easier to find a comfortable way to lie. Now, however, she took it back. Sleeping in a car was uncomfortable no matter what your age, especially when the driver insisted that she wear her seatbelt.

"We there yet?" Mark mumbled sleepily at her side.

"What direction should I proceed to, George Hammond?" the voice asked, and this time Sam recognized it as Teal'c. The repeated use of 'George Hammond' made her sit up, suddenly worried that she was sleeping in the presence of the general, before she woke up enough to remember. Teal'c was talking to her.

"I think they're at a hospital," Sam mumbled, "If you drive up to one, I can use my alien detector and find out if they're there." Then she lay her head back down and closed her eyes. Her head rest moved, then sat up leaving her falling against the seat.

"Is it my turn to drive yet?" Mark asked, rubbing at his eyes.

"You don't get to, you're not old enough," Sam answered into the seat.

"Why not? You got to, and you're younger than me!" Mark answered indignantly.

"I have a driver's license," Sam answered, still a bit muddle-headed from sleep. She knew she was a kid, but at the same time she knew she had a license, and in her half-awake state she couldn't quite figure out how little sense that would make to Mark.

"You do not!" Mark answered, "You just stole Mom's!"

"We are now surrounded by other drivers," Teal'c announced, interrupting their argument, "Would not someone notice if a child were to drive our vehicle, Jacob Hammond?"

"Right, too many people now," Sam mumbled, still speaking into the car seat.

"We approach a hospital, George Hammond," Teal'c announced, and Sam jerked herself upright.

"How'd you know how to find a hospital?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I followed the signs," Teal'c answered and Sam blinked. Of course Teal'c would know how to follow signs; just because he wasn't from Earth didn't make him stupid.

"Right," she said, "I'll get my gun thing." Then she twisted in her seat to reach into the back. A moment later, she had her detecting device in her hands. She turned it on and it began to squeal. Belatedly, she realized she had it pointed towards Teal'c. Realizing that they were stopped, in a parking lot, she got out of the car and walked around to make sure Teal'c wouldn't interfere with the signal and tried again. At least the sudden, high pitched noise had effectively woken her up. Unfortunately, it only took her a moment to figure out that Jack and Daniel weren't at this hospital.

"Hey Teal'c," she said, "Stand behind me while I turn in a circle; let me see if I can at least get a general direction." Teal'c did as she asked, turning with her to avoid being in front of the device while Mark rolled his eyes from the back seat of the car. After turning twice, Sam finally found a direction that seemed to pick up a slight beep. Unfortunately, the road didn't go in that exact direction.

"That way," she said anyway, and Teal'c nodded his head, making note of the direction. As Sam and Teal'c climbed back into the car, Mark stretched.

"Hey," he said, "Are we stopping for breakfast?"

''''''''''''''

"How many days have we been here?" Daniel asked.

"In the hospital?" Jack asked, sitting up slowly and stretching.

"No, I mean, here in 1974," Daniel answered. Jack frowned, trying to do a rough calculation in his head. It felt like months since this whole thing had started, but he knew it hadn't really been that long.

"About a week and a half," Jack finally answered, not entirely sure himself. The last few days had kind of melded together into one long blur.

"Only that?" Daniel asked, sounding surprised, "It feels like at least a month." They were both silent and then Daniel said, "What about Sam and Teal'c?"

"I told you," Jack answered, "They're going to meet us here and then we're going to all get back to Colorado, go through the Stargate, and fix this."

"How does that work?" Daniel asked, "Are we changing history here, or will everything go back to the way it was?"

"Carter said it was like a bubble," Jack answered, as though that should explain everything. Daniel squinted at him.

"Chewing gum bubble or soap bubble?" he finally asked.

"She didn't say," Jack answered, "You know how I hate technobabble."

"Oh well," Daniel said, "So long as we know we're a bubble." Jack grinned, then frowned, turning his head towards the door. What was that weird, high pitched beeping sound?