Chapter 10

IN THE NORMAL UNIVERSE……………..

"Sir." Carter said.

"Yes." Both Jack and Ford said. They looked at each other, but Carter spoke before they did anything.

"Look, since this is your universe Colonel O'Neill, you will be in charge, okay Ford?" she said giving him a look only woman give.

"Yeah, sure." Ford said putting his hands up. Jack knew that LOOK, his wife had given it to him a few times, ex-wife now. Still irked him how this Ford had his mannerism.

"Anyway Major, what were you going to say?" Jack asked.

"The equipment shows that the solar flare that caused the problem did come from the sun's."

"I hear a but coming." Jack said as she paused.

"I can't predict when they happen. It's random and if we tried to rig up something that would do the job, we could end up anywhere but where we want to go."

"So that it then." Jack asked sarcastically.

"Not unless you have a device that allows travel to happen between universes sir."

Jack smiled brightly as she finished. They look at him not understanding why he laughed as well.

"You find this funny?" Colonel Ford asked offended.

"We have a thingy that does that. Daniel went through it once and well, it's not important right now, the important thing is, is that we have a……mirror that does that." Jack said with a wave of his hand.

Carter looked around, seeing no one around them, "Did you ask him that question?"

"Which question would that be Major?" Jack asked not understanding.

"You know, that personal question, about you past?" Ford whispered.

"Oh that question." Jack said remembering their little conversation. He seemed confused anyway.

"So it's true here too. Except Jack's the guy instead." Carter said as she walked away with a laugh.

"She won't tell anyone?" Jack asked Ford.

"No. She's kept it a secret so far. Though you should have seen the look on her face when she found out I was….you know."

"My Carter would probably freak out." he said after a moment. He sounded like he didn't care in some aspects.

"If you two are finished, we need help getting a few things so we can go back and get that device." Carter said walking up. Jack looked ready to object, but instead helped grab something, along with Ford and they headed back home.

After a short debriefing, Hammond approved the use of the Quantum Mirror and had it taken out of storage on the base. Several guards went with SG-1 as they took it to Gia'as. Before they went though, Daniel and Jack and Teal'c and a few others told them about the incident where an alternate version of Carter and another guy came through the Mirror looking for help. They even showed them what footage they had on tape from when they were there. Daniel told Carter how it worked, and being Carter, she picked it up quickly. Ford on the other hand, was well….like Jack. Completely lost. Except Carter knew they weren't. On the planet, they sent it up near gate and started looking. Carter mentioned it would probably take awhile, so Ford and the Colonel talked fish while the scientist and archeologist kept at it. Teal'c, well……. just kept guard along with the other soldiers. As the day was beginning to end O'Neill phoned home, as he called it, and told them they were going to stay the night and keep trying. Hammond didn't fully like the idea, but agreed to let them.

"Its camp out time." Jack said as he pitched his tent.

Everyone else was pitching their tents as Jack stood up. When he saw that, despite certain things, Ford and Carter sleeping in the same tent, he felt a twinge of jealousy. He shook his head and crawled in his tent. Carter had told another scientist that was relieving them for the night, what to look for and to wake her if they saw anything that looked like what she was trying to find before going to bed.

IN THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE……….

The next day, Ford was awakened by a soldier coming in and shaking him awake.

"Sir, General O'Neill needs you in the briefing room right away." the soldier said.

"Huh? What time is it?"

"0800 sir."

"Morning already? Okay, I'll be right there."

"Yes sir."

After the soldier left Ford got up from his temporary quarters on the base, which were his only quarters since he hadn't actually left the base as of yet to look for a house like everyone else. Hell, he hadn't even left the base period. This was the other universe but he still hadn't looked around for a home in the other universe either. Only off world so far had he been anywhere. After freshening up first, he went to the briefing room. The rest of SG-1 was already there.

"Morning Col…..Ford. Sorry, force of habit." General O'Neill said.

"Morning." Ford said to everyone. He noticed that Jack didn't look happy.

"I have bad news people," General O'Neill said. Ford made a comment under his breath that only Carter caught which in turn made her kick Ford under the table. Ford flinched but didn't look at her. This all happened while O'Neill kept going. "I called the President and he authorized the transfer from AREA 51. Earlier this morning, I got a call saying that the plane was hijacked by an unknown force."

Ford dropped his head forward onto the table, making a loud thunk noise. It caught everyone's attention. He rolled his head back and forth a few times as he spoke, "Please tell me that we have something to go on?"

"We do." Jack said. He sounded like he had a plan.

Ford sat up slowly. From the look on Jack's face, it looked like he did have a plan. "You did something."

"I did do something. We've been having trouble with some thefts in certain secure area's so a very small tracking device was placed on that Mirror. Unfortunately, we can only pinpoint a certain radius of where it is, but not an exact location. It's somewhere in a warehouse on the San Francisco coast. The other problem is the location. There's around a hundred of them, and we can't just send in a platoon or more of men without making ourselves known. Several of these warehouses are being watched by the authorities because of different bust they need or intend to do."

"FBI, CIA, NSA,SFPD…." Ford said as he named a few off. Jack stopped him from going further.

"Them and maybe more. Against my better judgment, I'm sending SG-1 to go and try to retrieve that Mirror. The locale authorities along with several other agencies have been notified of you being sent there to recover a stolen top secret object. The President has personally looked into this matter to make sure they are to corporate with you if the need arises. The National Guard will be on standby if you need them, otherwise you are going to be left completely alone. A personal jet is waiting to take you there as we speak. Grab your gear and get going."

"Why would the President get involved?" Ford asked.

"If whoever took this Mirror manages to activate it and opens it to a universe where the Goa'uld or worse have taken over, then they could come through and take this planet over before we would know it." General O'Neill said.

"Ouch. Point taken." Ford said.

"Dismissed."

They were all piled into a Army Hummer heading for the airport as Carter drove. She drove faster than Ford thought, almost recklessly.

"Ah Carter, the speed limit is…"

"I know the speed limit." she said shutting him up with a glare.

"Okay." Ford said drawing it out slightly.

He sat back in the seat and didn't say another word. Nearly an hour later, they got on the jet plane. It was a standard, two engine near the rear type plane. They didn't talk as the boarded the plane and stored their things. Ford, as usual, thought something seemed funny, but didn't comment. As they took their seats, one of the pilots came out.

"Are you all ready to go?" he asked to no one in particular. It seemed like a general question.

"I am." Teal'c said. Teal'c had put a hat on before they left the Hummer.

"Carter?" Daniel asked.

"Yes Captain. You can take off."

"Yes Major." he said going back up to the cock pit.

They heard the engines power up and soon they were in the air. One of the pilots told them through the intercom that it would take less that two hours till they arrived.

"Have I done something wrong Major?" Ford said leaning over closer.

"Yes." she said with uncertain anger. "No Ford, not really. I was just looking forward to going home and then this happened. I'm used to Jack coming up with a plan of action. I have one, but I don't know how well it will work. Mostly it's because you take charge without thinking about who is really in charge. Part of me let you keep at it because it was working and seemed a good idea. But I'm questioning myself now."

"I've seen how you react to things over the years and how you've dealt with many other problems. You are as great a leader as Jack if not better. I'll try to be more of a follower of orders instead of trying to take charge like I have done. I believe in you so don't doubt yourself. If you need advice or anything, I'm here and so are they. You're not alone." Carter seemed to loosen up and look more relaxed after he got finished.

"You're right. I just need to hear it I guess."

"That's what friends are for."

The rest of the trip was spend in silence. Teal'c was sleeping the entire way, or so it looked. Daniel was reading something on a laptop and Carter looked out the window, occasionally looking around at the team. Ford seemed to be on guard for some reason, Carter thought. After he talked to her, he sat back and kept his eyes on the door to the cockpit as if something bad was going to happen. On touchdown they retrieved their equipment and got into another Army Hummer. The trip to the warehouse district in San Francisco was uneventful and silent. Carter said it was because she wanted to think. No one argued with her so things stayed quite.

The warehouse district was incredible huge. They drove through the gate that fenced in the whole area that was a couple square miles. They parked inside a warehouse that looked to be being rebuilt or in the process of maybe getting repairs. Several holes were in the roof and a few panels here and there were gone from the walls. Carter parked near a wall that was not damaged as bad that would hide the Hummer. After grabbing their equipment out, they pulled out a tarp that looked like it was used for painting, for disguise purposes and covered the Hummer. It almost seemed to blend in with the other supplies that were laying around near them. Panels for the ceiling and walls and other stuff. They hoped no one would see it. As they put on their stuff, a few FBI agents came into the building.

"I'm Agent Percy with the FBI. This is agent Harold and Tom." he said pulling out his badges as did the other two. They had coats on saying FBI on the backs.

"I'm Major Samantha Carter. This is my team. I've been told you're going to be helping us."

Ford glanced at Tom thinking he'd seen him somewhere before, but couldn't place where. He also seemed to have a familiar looking thing poking out of his coat pocket but his hand was covering it enough he couldn't place what it was. Must be someone I saw back home that looks like him. Oh, well.

Something is wrong here.

I know Herc. Give me a moment and I'll get it. Unless you know what it is?

No.

"Yes Major. We have a map of the area here and several warehouses under surveillance. Unfortunately, we don't know if any of them have what your looking for and since there are so many warehouses here, we don't have enough man power to search them all. I can help only so far there."

"That's fine. We can figure things out from here. Just inform your people and the other authorities around not to shoot or bother us. What channels are you using so we know who to call if we need backup?"

As Major Carter and Agent Percy talked, Harold came over to the other three.

"Anything you can tell us that might help."

"It's classified." Daniel said.

Ford was strapping on several clip holders still as he spoke, "Even if we had it here now, you wouldn't think that it was a big deal considering what it looks like. That doesn't mean I'm going to tell you what it is though." he said picking up a high powered, long range sniper rifle he brought along.

"Indeed." Teal'c said.

Major Carter yelled for them to come over and see the map. As they all looked at it, she spoke. She didn't noticed that Ford wasn't among them.

"None of the warehouses that have an underground area are being looked at by the authorities. I believe that whoever has the…..device that were looking for probably has it underground."

"Likely assumption. If I thought it might do something that could attract a lot of attention then I'd hide it below ground in a place like this." Percy said.

"Where did you get this map?" Ford said holding one up as he unrolled it slowly as he looked it over.

He was rolling from top to bottom as he looked. It was a much bigger version of what Percy had laid out for them.

"Where did you get that?" Percy asked. He looked pissed.

"This map shows buildings that are lined with lead." Ford said.

"Let me see that." Carter said.

Agent Percy looked ready to take it from Carter as she took it from Ford. He was really angry. As Carter spread it out they got a better view of how the warehouses looked from a infra-red and x-ray satellite lens from orbit.

"Were you hiding this from us?" she asked quite upset.

Carter had Ford and Daniel help her spread it out. Teal'c stood by in case the agents tried something.

"This will definitely help slim the choices down." Ford said as he pointed things out. "These buildings are lined with lead. Before you ask how I know, I just know. And these buildings go farther underground that the other map shows."

"Again, why didn't you bring this to our attention?" Carter asked. She was starting to look ready to spit nails.

"We were under orders to keep it from you." Harold said. He was starting to fidget, as was the other two agents. Tom had his hand tighten on the object in his pocket.

"Why is that?" Carter asked. Her apparent anger was clouding her ability to see something was amiss.

"We were told by the NSA that this was top secret and that even the President of the United States didn't have enough authority to allow you to see these." Percy said. He had his hands behind his back.

Ford called Daniel over to look at the other map as Carter talked.

"Higher than the President! That's the biggest…" she was interrupted by Daniel.

"You're kidding!" Daniel exclaimed.

"No. If you look at how these warehouses are placed with those colors.."

"Ford?" Carter said.

"Yes Major." Ford said not turning. Daniel did turn but had his hand on his 9mm.

"I'm busy…" Carter started saying when Ford said to Daniel, "Now."

Ford turned around quickly pulling the Desert Eagle and pointing it at Percy. Daniel aimed his at the other two. Teal'c didn't understand what was happening but pulled his zat gun anyway.

"What's going on here?!" Percy asked. He and Harold had their hands on their guns but didn't pull them.

"Ford what the hell..?" Carter was asking.

"They're N.I.D. Drop your weapons. Slowly."

Carter turned to looking back at the agents. She could see that Ford was telling the truth. Tom did look familiar to her now that she looked closer. But Tom wasn't his name, it was something else, but she couldn't remember what. As she went to grab her gun, Percy pulled his and moved forward to grab Carter when he was thrown back into the wall. The other two got their weapons halfway out when they were hit with Teal'c's zat gun.

"You okay Major Carter?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes Teal'c. I'm fine." She had to look around to find Ford. He was looking outside by peaking around the corner.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Ford noticed that the maps were total off on how everything was placed. I was looking over the map as you were talking to Percy then Ford showed me the discrepancies between the two." Daniel said to Carter as Ford walked over looking at the maps again. "He also noticed that Tom was carrying a zat gun in his pocket."

Teal'c had taken the two knocked out agents and tied them up and gagged them, before placing them with Percy, who they bandaged up. Ford had shot him through the shoulder making it pretty much impossible to ever shoot a gun again. He would survive though.

"You're lucky you didn't get close enough to grab her or I would have put a bullet through your head. Now lets see what you were hiding." Ford said to the man he shot before he went over with Teal'c to look over the map. It was so large that it hung over the hood of the Hummer.

"Ford also noticed that their car had a few things in it that you would only find at the SGC or in the hands of the Goa'uld." Daniel was saying as Carter looked over the map as well.

"Such as?"

"This." Ford said as he pulled a zat gun and a Goa'uld hand device from the his pockets. "And there were three unconscious Federal Agents behind a pile of junk outside, minus their coats and badges. When I looked at the map the first time, it looked funny. Closer inspection showed it was a fake so I decided to look in the car they drove up in after seeing one of those guys with a zat gun."

Carter was looking over both the maps as they talked. She instantly started to see the problems between the real map and the fake one.

"Had you not noticed this was fake, we'd be looking in all the wrong places. Several of these buildings are being used for criminal activities. Look at this, this building is a chop shot, these here are drug facilities, something being watched by the FBI and SFPD. We'd be in so much trouble had we entered these places."

Carter shook her head as she thought.

"Since these are lined with lead, one of them has to be where they have the Quantum Mirror." Daniel said pointing at places on the map.

"I have a few idea's but I won't employ them." Ford muttered as he looked at the unconscious agents. "We'll have to search the ones that look to be the best choices. Splitting up is not an idea I fancy, but you're in charge Major so it's up to you."

"What sort of idea did you have in mind Mr. Primus?" Teal'c asked.

He started to open his mouth but instead leaned over and spoke into his ear. Teal'c's eyes actually widened in surprise and he stepped back.

"You have employed this form of interrogation before?" Teal'c asked in surprise.

"Yeah. It worked to. Not damaging, to badly, but totally effective. I only employed in on those who were considered extremely evil according to the United States Government. I actually had a higher rank in the Government than I originally told you Carter. I used to work with NCIS, CIA, and NSA. I got tired of torturing, left and got the job a different job before going to the one I used to have."

"So what did you say to Teal'c?" Daniel asked.

"You don't want to know." Ford said. "Trust me."

"Indeed. I am appalled that that form of torture even exist. The Goa'uld have never even implied such methods of interrogation."

"Yeah, my past is….troubled. Let's not dwell on it."

"Had that NID agent grabbed me would you have shot him in the head like I heard you say?" Carter asked taking Teal'cs word for it and not asking him to tell her.

"Yes. Had Teal'c not shot the others, well….." he said leaving it hanging.

Carter nodded understanding. "Thanks. Not only for that but also seeing that they weren't who they said they were."

"Police and detective training. Don't worry about it. Got a plan yet?" he said getting her back on track.

"We are going to split up. I've made a few modifications to this other map so that you two can look at the ones that might be where the Mirror is while me and Ford look at the rest. Call in every time you enter and leave each building. We can let each other know which ones we've checked out so they can be marked off the maps. Any questions?"

When no one answered, she gave Daniel the map she fixed and told them to move out.

Daniel and Teal'c headed on the right side while Major Carter and Ford took the left side. They only had fifteen warehouse to really look through that were lined with lead. Hopefully they would find the Mirror in one of them. If not they'd have to look in the other hundred plus that had some form of underground beneath them. Most of those that had an underground that weren't lined with lead, didn't seem to have very many people in them. Most appeared to be chop shops. As Carter and Ford headed off slowly, almost crawling, Daniel and Teal'c did the same but a little quicker.

"I suggest we check them out starting here and then here to…well you get the picture." Daniel said.

"Indeed. We must proceed with caution Dr. Jackson." Teal'c said pulling his zat gun.

Daniel had his 9mm and a zat gun as well. Carter took the other one Ford found. Since Teal'c was the only one who had brought one on the trip, the other one they found was an added bonus. Teal'c was allowed to bring a zat since he could snap it in half if they were captured or taken by the authorities if they were dirty or tried something. The first building they were to check out was the fourth building down. Even though there appeared to be no one in the other three, they went slowly anyway. Not a thing was in the first warehouse building. Why it was lined with lead, they couldn't say or see. There was just a large hole in the ground with nothing in it. No hidden door, no hidden floor holes either.

"Must have been something once and now abandoned." Daniel said.

"Indeed."

"Well the next one is several down from here. Let's get going."

They walked down slowly as before. One of the buildings that was being watched by some branch of the government so they had to go around another warehouse to get to their destination. When they got around one of the warehouses they came in contact with several SFPD, SIU, and FBI vehicles.

"Lieutenant I think that those people we were to watch out for are here?" some cop said.

"What? Where?" the Lieutenant asked. When the other officer pointed toward Daniel and Teal'c he turned.

"Who are you and what authority do you have being here?" the Lieutenant said as he walked over to them. He was carrying a M-16 and ready to shoot them if he had to.

"We are here by order of the President of the United States. Weren't you informed that we were coming?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah we were informed. Just making sure it was you. We have photo's of the people were suppose to look out for. Where's the other two?" he asked.

"They're looking in a different area for the stolen property. We split up to cover more ground." Daniel said.

"You must be searching the different warehouses then, is this one of the ones you planned on checking?"

"Yeah. What's in there?"

"Drug bust in progress. An informant inside has told us that everything in there is drug related chemicals. Is the object that was stolen a chemical or chemical container?"

"No it's not. We'll just be on our way and check the other locations. We'll come back by in case if we don't find it in the others." Daniel said.

"Where's the next one your checking?"

"Here." Daniel said showing him the map.

"Luckily it's that building that way. Just head down two, turn and go down three more and you can't miss it." he said pointing away from the warehouse that was being taken.

"Thanks." Daniel said.

Teal'c nodded to the man and they left. Again there was nothing between them and their next building. They got to building easily to see it was locked up with a electronically coded lock. There was no windows either. It was a single door that allowed people to enter and exit. Not a vehicle door like the others had been.

"Teal'c." Daniel said nodding at the door.

Teal'c nodded in understanding and was about to shoot it when the door make a clicking noise.

"Teal'c." he said as he stood next to the side of the door. Teal'c stood on the other side.

"You can come away from the sides of the door. We saw you approach and know why you are here. You may come in." someone said from inside.

They heard footsteps back away. Daniel and Teal'c looked around the corner slowly. Seeing that some security guard was standing there waiting for them to come in they walked in.

"I'm Daniel Jackson and this is Murry."

"Yeah, we know. When I saw you approaching on the camera and your file appeared moments later with a message from the President to help you. I don't know what you're looking for, but look away. All that's in here is FBI files dating back to the Kennedy Administration. Once they're put into computer format, they'll be put somewhere else or burn or something. I don't know, I'm just a security guard. I get paid to follow orders." he said as they walked down a metal hallway that lead to a large cubicle looking place.

Punching a few button on the computer a hidden door opened in the wall. Daniel looked through the door to see shelves upon shelves of massive boxes of files upon files.

"Can you give us a moment?" Daniel said.

"Sure." the guard said sitting down.

Daniel and Teal'c went outside and contacted Carter and informed them what they had managed to find so far. She told them to make a note on the map to check it out again if the other buildings didn't have the Mirror. They signed off and told they guard they may come back later. He shrugged and told them good luck as he led them out.

"Well that turned out to be another bust." Daniel said as they walked away.

Carter watched them go until they disappeared pass a warehouse. Once they were out of sight she looked forward to see Ford was at the end of one of the warehouses looking around the corner.

"How far were you planning on traveling without me?"

"Just here. I was going to give you several more seconds then come get you." he said looking through the scope.

"I thought you liked using hand guns only."

"I actually have a rank, if you want to call it that, of being a dead on shot. If the N.I.D. is behind this, then I want to be able to see them before they see us."

"A pair of high tech binoculars can do that."

Ford turned his head and looked at her embarrassingly. "I actually didn't think of that. I forgot they existed. Besides, this is a quiet rifle."

"You're serious." she said seeing he wasn't joking. She chuckled as he talked.

"Yeah." he said with a shrug. "It happens."

"See anything?"

"Other than a tumbleweed, which I thought was strange, no. It's safe."

"Then lets go."
They checked out four buildings and found absolutely squat. There was nothing at all.

"Well, we know that Teal'c and Daniel are fairing better since they at least found something." Ford said as he stood in the empty warehouse. "From the looks of the floor, they parked some heavy equipment in here. See the scratches in the floor?"

"Yeah." Carter said kneeling down with him. "I can tell some of these scratches were made from metal trends."

"Could be a tank, but the trend looks wrong. Probably construction equipment."

"Maybe."

"Let's hope we don't run into any tanks."

"I agree. It would only make matters worse." she said as they got up to leave.

"Nothing else is here. Where's the next spot?"

Carter pulled the map out and made a mark on the building they were in. "The next one is way over here next to the fence. A straight run would take us about 20 minutes to get there. But since we have to be careful, it could take up to an hour."

"Then we better get moving."

They had walked down past 12 of them so far when Carter said she had to rest a moment.

"Good idea. I'm getting thirsty." he said pulling out his canteen.

"We should have ate before leaving or during the plane ride." she said holding her stomach for a moment.

"I know we have those MRE's but they don't taste very well." Ford said.

"Freeze dried never does." she said taking a drink.

"I brought a few cereal and granola bars just in case……" he said pulling a few out.

"You're a life saver." she said taking two. They ate silently as the sun came around slowly.

Ford looked to see it read 2:32. "Got about five hours of light left. We should get moving."

"Lets go."

Ford stayed in the lead keeping a look out. They were three buildings from it when Ford noticed movement. Carter noticed it to and they both got behind a building.

"You want to look?"

"You check first." she said.

Ford nodded and got on the ground. Peeking around, he messed with the scope until he got the focus right. The warehouse they wanted to get to had a camera above the large doors and a camera above the single door. There were several men walking aback and forth with M16's and a Hummer parked just out of sight. Its back end was showing on the vehicle. Ford told Carter what he saw as he looked around. The men outside had a 9 millimeter strapped to their hips as well. Another Hummer pulled up as its front end came into view. The driver wasn't anyone important, just another soldier with a gun. The passenger though was very familiar.

"Son of a….." Ford started saying but cut himself off. "Sorry Major."

"Forget that. Who is it?"

"That ass Simmons. Just give me the word." Ford said with a hint of hope that she would say yes.

"Considering what he tried to do to me in our universe, I almost want to say yes, but we have to find out why he's here." Carter said. Ford could hear the anger in her voice.

"Only cause you say so, I'm not shooting him. So tempting though." Ford said removing his finger from the trigger. He sat back against the wall with Carter as she thought of a plan.

"If we could get on top……Daniel, Teal'c. Come back."

"Daniel here. Teal'c's looking inside on of the buildings with me. So far nothing. What about you?"

"We found a building with the N.I.D. inside. Simmons is here too."

"Simmons?! What is he doing here?"

"I don't know Daniel. Here's the coordinates to where we are." Carter said as she talked. Ford sniffed the air smelling something.

"That's too familiar."

"What are you talking about?" Carter said as she got finished talking to Daniel.

"That company that we didn't want to see might be nearby."

"What company?" she said looking around.

"Years ago I was able to drive a M1A1 Abrams tank. I'll tell you the full story later, but I can remember the sound of the engine and the smell's surrounding it. The sound isn't there but it certainly smells like one has came through here." he said getting up slowly.

"You think there's a M1A1 Abrams tank around here?" she said sounding like she thought he was going crazy.

"Don't give me that look Carter. I'm being serious. Have you drove one?"

"No."

"Well I have. A lot of fun actually. Let's look just in case."

"We need to look around anyway, so we can keep a lookout for a tank, though I doubt there is one here."

"Is there anymore of those lead lined buildings around that one we were headed for?"

"Two of them." she said pointing at the map.

"What is Daniel and Teal'c doing?"

"I have them checking this building out since it is so close to that one with Simmons. We are going to check this one over here," she said pointing at the other one, "And see what they are doing. If the mirror isn't in either one, then we go in that one." she said pointing at the one they were originally headed for.

"Let go then."

Daniel and Teal'c headed out quickly and headed down to the warehouse Carter told them to go to. They were very far from that particular building and time was not on their side. Teal'c estimated it would take almost and hour to get across the field to Carter's position. That was at running speed. Considering they might have to avoid some places, it was going to take longer.

They managed to get around the other buildings without much trouble or being seen. Ford noticed a open window and glanced in with the scope for his personal cannon.

"What do you see?"

"What don't I see. Everyone must have been outside except the two morons next to the very large and looking to be fully functional Abrams tank."

"Ford, jokes are not something we need right now."

"Here." he said handing the scope to her. She looked through and saw exactly what he said. "I should have brought a crossbow."

When she looked at him strangely.

"It's a quiet weapon too, more quieter."

"We're here to retrieve stolen property, not shoot everyone."

"I know that, but that doesn't mean they won't try to kill us."

"I can't think of any reason why they'd have a tank here, even if it's for protection reasons, it's to loud to hide if they use it." Carter said handing the scope back.

"Not if they have a sound dampener. I assume they exist considering the N.I.D. have stolen things even in our universe that I know I never saw before and you never came across that I ever saw on the TV."

"It's possible."

"I have an idea if we can get their attention."

"What is it?"

Ford told her his idea as he scratched his chin.

"That would provide a great distraction. They'd want to keep from being found or spotted so stopping that would become a priority. Even if they have a sound dampening device, the field can only be so big."

"I'm guessing it extends around in a ten by ten square. A square of warehouses. And that the device is in that main building."

"If there is one, I'd put it there. There's a door down there, but if the other guards down there see us, we're out of luck." she said pointing to a single back door to the warehouse with the tank.

"I've got a better snipping chance in case anything happens so you go first and I'll keep watch. I'll let you know when to stop moving."

Carter nodded and got down as Ford watched around the corner with his scope as she crawled toward the door. One of the guards walked by the warehouse that he was guarding, two warehouses down from them. He didn't even look in their direction and was out of sight within seconds. Once Carter made it to the door, Ford crawled over next while she watched from her binoculars. No one came by.

"That seemed too easy." Ford commented.

"It's a blessing in disguise." she said sarcastically.

"Probably."

They came in slowly, seeing several tables with various objects on them. The two men were both smoking, a joint from the smell of it, Ford commented. They were standing on the right side of the armored vehicle as it faced the wall. They also had their backs to them and making bad jokes. They moved forward slowly stopping in front of what appeared to be a storage shed built into the inner wall. It had a door that locked from the outside by dropping a metal bar across the door. Carter slowly looked around the corner and turned back quickly when they turned to her.

"I think I got spotted." she muttered.

"Great." he muttered back.

"Excuse me." she said a little to loudly.

"Sorry, I think I've been hanging around Jack too long." he said opening the door.

He had set the rifle to the side before lifting the bar. They could hear footsteps approaching and he got in after her and closed the door quickly, and quietly. There were several shelves with many different tools and other mechanical things on them. A sink in the corner that looked like it was shut off sometime ago with one of the hook type faucets. Eight flashlights with those batteries with the springs on top next to them. Some looked bad with acid coming out.

"I could have sworn that I saw a woman." one of them said.

"So did I. A blond that looked really good." the other said.

"We could have real fun…" the other was saying.

Ford growled just enough for Carter to hear. She didn't look to be enjoying what she was hearing either. Ford cocked his gun involuntarily, which they unfortunately heard.

"Great work Ford." she muttered as she elbowed him.

"Sorry. Force of habit." he said back to her as he rubbed his side.

"Did you hear that? It sounded like a gun cocking." one said.

"It's probably a mouse that's inside the shed."

"Then where did this rifle come from?" the other asked.

"Damn." Ford muttered. I left it outside.

Nice work. Let the enemy know you're here.

"Wasn't this bar down?" one said.

"Yeah it was! She must have went in there!" the other said.

"Let's get her!"

One of the guards opened the door to see a man standing in front of a blond woman in a uniform. A large Desert Eagle was in his hand pointed at him. Her gun was also pointed at him. He tried to get his assault rifle up to shoot them but ended up with a hole in the head from Ford and a few in the chest from Carter. The guy behind him saw what happened and reached for his CB unit. Ford saw this and shot it, taking the guys hand off. He screamed but was able to get the door shut and locked. Ford slammed into the door trying to get it open before it was locked, but failed even after a few more kicks.

"Great work! Now we're stuck in here!" Carter yelled as they heard the moaning guy run for help. "Teal'c, Daniel. Come in."

All she got was static as Ford started looking around.

"What are you doing?" she said still trying to get the others. She moved as he told her he needed past.

"I'm getting us out of here. I doubt you will get through to them."

"How are you getting us out? Short of blowing it off, the doors locked from the other side." Carter said.

"I'm doing something I saw MacGyver do once."

"MacGyver?!" Carter exclaimed. "The MacGyver?"

"Yes." he said rummaging.

"You know him?!"

"Yeah. Know him, seen him, talked to him." he said as he grabbed a couple of the undamaged batteries. "Worked with him. Help me here."

"What?!"

"Grab that wire there and cut me off about four or five feet and get me a clear area on that table." he said as he tried to unscrew the hook faucet.

She heard a loud breaking noise as she gave up trying to contact Daniel and Teal'c.. "What was that?"

"That faucet had to be broken off." he said placing the faucet between the batteries. "Where's that wire?"

"What are you making? Wait a minute…..this looks like a…"

"A electro magnet, yes. Now where's that wire?" he said impatiently.

It took her a minute but she had the wire to him. He wrapped it around the batteries springs and then around the faucet head. Then he looked around trying to find a MacGyver favorite.

"Ah, here it is." he said taking some duct tape and wrapping it around the makeshift magnet.

He placed a couple other rolls into his pockets and then placed the magnet against the door and moved slowly until they heard the bar move. Ford showed hard forcing the door open then tossed the magnet away quickly and had the gun out before Carter even got out.

"We need to hurry, we could have N.I.D. all over us in moments." Carter said.

"I don't think anyone knows were here." he said following the blood trail.

Outside the guy he shot had only managed to make it just around the corner and passed out from blood loss against the wall. Ford dragged him back in.

"We need to help this guy."

Carter was almost reluctant but helped stop the bleeding and bandage the damaged wrist.

"Now I get to work while you contact Daniel and Teal'c. Tell them it will be a about one minute."

"One minute to what?" she asked.

"Rewire a Abrams tank."

"What?!"

"Trust me about this. I got to drive one remember." he said picking his rifle back up and going into the tank. This inside looked exactly like is should so he pulled open a panel and started working.

"Daniel, Teal'c. Ford should have the plan going soon." she said as the tank started up suddenly. "That was quick."

"We're here at the other building." Daniel said.

"Are you ready on your side?" she asked.

"Yes Major Carter." Teal'c said over the line.

"Disable it then." she said.

"Already done Major Carter?" Teal'c said.

"He shot it a couple times with a zat and it shorted out everything." Daniel explained.

"That's it. Daniel, Teal'c get out of that building and head somewhere safe. We are going to go around into the back so meet us there. This other tank is headed for the other tank right now." Ford said over the com unit. "If the map they had in the tank is right anyway."

"What?!" the other members of SG-1 said at once.

Ford climbed out of the tank as it started forward. It was increasing speed rapidly as he got off.

"Why did you do that?!" Carter yelled as it plowed through the wall.

"It's a distraction tactic! Now we move around and go in the back of the building while they are dealing with the tank."

She nodded understanding as they watched it go into the other warehouse across from them. There were several soldiers in the building that started running and yelling out different orders as it came at them. Carter and Ford moved out quickly as the guards were distracted.

"How long do we have?" she asked as they moved slowly down the side of a warehouse.

"A long time. I messed with the wiring enough that they won't stop it unless they blow it up, somehow empty the gas tank, or take out a track which would be bad since it would then try to move on the undamaged one."

"So it's just going to keep going?" she asked as they rounded the warehouse.

No one was standing around or even there as they came up on the warehouse they needed. Teal'c and Daniel rounded the corner as the Carter got ready to call them.

"Major Carter. Mr. Primus." Teal'c said as he stood near the door. "The guards are all occupied with the runaway tank. It will crash into the other tank in approximately two minutes."

"A little later than I expected." Ford commented as he pulled his gun. "Idiots left the keys in it to."

"Didn't you have a rifle?" Daniel asked.

"I left it in the tank. It's set up to shoot at the first person who opens the hatch."

"Why?" Daniel said pulling his zat out.

"Why not?" Ford said. "Don't need them using the tank against us."

"Right." Daniel said.

"We go in on three." Carter said making them drop the conversation.

She slowly opened the door and Teal'c took point. Looking inside they saw panic and confusion. No one had any idea what was going on and didn't see the four people moving past the empty Army Hummers. A large structure was built in the middle of the room. From the looks of the design, it was a large elevator that could hold a small delivery truck, like a UPS vehicle. The front was not facing them so they couldn't tell if anyone was guarding it or if it had camera's.

"This is not good." Daniel said.

"Yep. A real challenge." Ford said with a sigh.

"You're happy with this situation?" Carter exclaimed. She kept her voice down though it was apparent she wanted to yell.

"I was being sarcastic." Ford said.

"Indeed." Teal'c said looking over the Hummer's hood.

There looked to be about twenty guards running around as they shouted orders and frantically tried to find out what was up with a runaway tank. As Carter and the others discussed a plan, they heard a loud crunch. From the sounds of the yelling and the crunch noise followed by a explosion. It was easy to tell that the tanks had collided.

"Well, they got the tank stopped." Ford said still looking over the Hummer.

"Ford, eyes and head here." she said smacking his arm. They were all crouched down the Hummer.

"Sorry."

"Now, we need to get behind that building. Since Ford has the sharp shooting skill, he'll be the last one to move. Ford can you make that Hummer drive forward?"

"Not a problem." he said pulling the duct tape from his pocket.

"After he gets back, Daniel will move behind the elevator, then Teal'c, followed by me. Until he gets back we watch his back." she said nodding to Ford to take off. As he moved off and they looked over the hood Daniel asked Carter a question.

"How is it he knows what to do?" Daniel asked.

"He said he learned a few things from MacGyver."

"You don't mean the 'MacGyver'!" he exclaimed in a low voice.

"The same."

"How is it he knows him? I've been trying to find him for years."

"So have I." Carter said. "Ford said he worked with him once."

"Find who?" Ford asked as he came back around.

"That was quick." Carter said.

"Not a problem. They left the keys again. Who were you talking about?"

"MacGyver." Daniel pointed out.

Ford chuckled but didn't elaborate on who he knew it was even though Daniel asked.

"You forgot to make it move." Carter pointed out.

"I'd say…………..about now." he said.

Suddenly the Hummer started and popped into gear. With a small squeal it took off slowly gaining speed. It didn't take long for everyone to see it approaching and get out of the way. Since the doors were locked, the men grabbing the doors that couldn't open pulled them along when they didn't let go. Since they were all armored Hummer's, the attempts they were putting into taking its tires out wasn't working.

"Go." Carter said.

Daniel crouched down and was able to get behind the building with no problems. Teal'c also made it easily. They both had their zat's ready in case anyone came around. As Carter approached though someone did notice.

"FREEZE!!!!!!!!!!"

A guy yelled. About a dozen other guards noticed and took aim as she jumped behind one of the other Hummers.

"Teal'c, Daniel! Stay where you are and only shoot if they come past you. I'll let you know when and where they are." Ford said through the com unit.

He climbed onto the back of the Hummer where a 50.calliber machine gun was. Several of the guards headed for his and Carter's position. Carter told Daniel and Teal'c to wait seeing that it would be easier to take them all out with the zat's. Nine of them passed by Teal'c's and Daniel's position and never saw who shot them. The other guards noticed how they went down and took cover behind a few of the boxes and crates. The rest got in front of the only place left, the elevator. The guards opened fire as Ford removed the heavy machine gun and jumped back behind the Hummer. He crawled around to where Carter was at. Luckily she was small enough that the wheel was protecting her.

"Where…never mind. Why aren't you returning fire?" she asked.

"I don't see you shooting."

"I haven't had the chance to get a position."

"Stay down and trust me." he said pulling his handkerchief out. He waved it above the hood hoping to catch their attention.

"Are we surrendering?" Daniel said over the com.

"No." Carter told him. "Ford's trying something or so he says."

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!!! They're surrendering." Some man yelled.

"Actually we're not! I can't yell above gun fire. We are asking for your surrender!" Ford yelled back.

"OUR SURRENDER! YOU ARE MAD?! MEN OP.."

"I have a 50.calliber machine gun here. The only thing protecting any of you is that elevator. I also have a gun capable of using a variety of different ammo's, such as explosive, hallow point, armor piercing and anti-tank. My friends have PC-90's and zat's. You want to keep living?"

"You can't fire that 50.cal with your bare…" one of the soldiers was saying when Ford got up and sprayed a line across the room.

It didn't hit anyone, but several shots nearly did. A few of the boxes caved in. Carter covered her ears as did several others.

"I won't miss the next time. Besides that, we have better protection from here. Give up yet?"

The guards all looked between each other and then slowly dropped their weapons. Carter got up keeping her weapon on them as they followed Ford's orders. The twenty some guards lined up against the wall slowly. Ford assured them he wouldn't shoot anyone in cold blood, unless he had to.

"You have a choice, help us or be stunned?" Ford said still pointing the heavy machine gun at them.

They either chose to be quiet or said to be stunned. Teal'c, Daniel and Carter all shot them once with the zat's. After they were all stunned, Ford used the duct tape to tie them up. Their feet and hands were wrapped several times over. Ford wrapped a complete strip around their heads to cover their mouths.

"A little over doing it, you think Ford?" Daniel asked.

"No. When we come back up, I don't want anyone trying to stop us."

"Indeed." Teal'c said.

"Hey Ford. Could you have used that weapon," Daniel asked pointing at the fifty cal. "Without the help of your symbiont?"

"No. I would have had to shoot it from the Hummer and hope they didn't hit me first."

"Lets go." Carter said. "Teal'c see about keeping anyone from coming through those doors."

Teal'c looked at the two sliding doors as he thought. As Carter and Ford looked over the elevator.

"Why don't we park the other Hummer's in front of the doors. That should keep anyone out." Daniel suggested.

Teal'c nodded in agreement and they had Ford help them while Carter tried to get the elevator door open. Unfortunately there was a camera watching, or was until Carter gave it a burst of ammo from her PC-90. So far no one had come up. Once they had the doors blocked with several of the Hummers and the door they came in blocked with just one, they proceeded over to help Carter.

"I've tried to get the door to open, but it's sealed tight. I assume that the only way to get in is from someone opening it from below." Carter said as she backed up.

Ford tried shoving his knife into the area between the doors. When he tried to pry them open he broke the knife as Carter told him she had tried the same thing.

"Well that didn't work." he commented tossing the handle aside. "Teal'c help me." he said walking over to the Hummer's.

"What are we doing Mr. Primus?"

"Looking for tools."

Carter and Daniel kept watch on all the doors as Ford and Teal'c rummaged through the Hummers. After a few minutes they came back over with several objects and went back for a few others. A couple of slide under, pump up 5 ton vehicle jacks and one triangle jack. A couple of fire axe's, a box of flares, which Ford pocketed. Two landmines and a box of tools. As they were getting the different things Daniel asked why they didn't try to blow the door.

"It's made of a hard titanium and several inches thick. I doubt that even those tanks could do much but dent it, besides that if we did to much damage to the door we won't be able to get in or down."

"Ah." Daniel said.

"Another MacGyver idea?" Carter asked Ford as he sorted through the stuff.

"Maybe." he said picking up the axe. "Stand back just incase."

With one swing he managed to get it between the doors. Picking up the other one he missed on the first swing and hit the door. The second swing he got it right next to the other axe making the door open enough to get his fingers in. The two broken knife blades feel out.

"Okay…….." he said as he thought. "Got it."

Ford pulled his personal gun out and removed the clip and emptied the chamber. Putting those away he handed the gun to Carter. "Once I have it opened enough stick it between them. Teal'c you pull from the left and Daniel from the right."

Ford got in front of the door as they took positions. He placed his fingers in the small crack and took a breath.

C'mon Hercules, I need some big boost of strength here.

Allow me to take over.

Fords head nodded down as Daniel and Teal'c got into position. When Ford's head came back up his eyes glowed for a brief moment. Carter noticed and had a slight twinge of fear, but didn't let it show. They could hear gears and metal grind as the door slowly opened under their force. As the axes fell Carter shoved the barrel of the gun into opening and started to back away when Hercules and Ford seemed to speak together.

"Get the triangle jack and get it in here and use it."

Carter dropped the gun and grabbed the jack quickly as Ford/Hercules managed to get the door open just over a foot. She placed it in the open area and started turning. It was slow going but the door was opening. Carter stopped turning when the jack fell out since it couldn't go any farther.

"Stand back!" Ford/Hercules said.

They looked at him momentarily before backing off. Just after they backed off, he yelled as the doors let out sparks as they were forced open as if by an explosion. The doors parted quickly with a resounding thud as they were jammed into the walls never to close again. Ford took back over and then just stood there.

"Ford are you alright?" Carter asked.

"I'm fine." he said in a low voice and he started to fall forward when Teal'c caught him.

"Ford what's wrong?" she asked as they helped lay him on the ground.

"Too much too quick. Just give me a minute."

"What happened?" Daniel asked. "I saw your eyes flash."

"I'm not fully blended like Selmak or other Goa'uld. If a Goa'uld tried to take me over, all they'd do is give me their strength but aren't able to take me over. I can give them control any time I want, but I can also take it away. In this case, Hercules is a Tok'ra so he tried to blend me with me and it didn't work out completely. I can keep him alive, and he me, but as for his…strength….I don't have full access to it. I gave him control and he was able to draw a lot out to use it, but it pulled and damaged some of the muscles in my arms." Ford said blinking his eyes like he was trying to wake up. "Strained them to hard."

"How bad?" Carter asked.

"Bad enough that I won't be using my arms for a few hours maybe. Could be longer, could be shorter. Hercules is not sure. Something about me being from another universe causes him troubles with things in me."

"Are you going to be fine here for the moment alone?"

"Yeah. Go. If I need something I can still yell." Ford said glancing at a something on the floor on his left.

They left Ford lying on the floor as the walked into the large elevator. The button panel was covered with a security panel that needed to be opened through the used of a retina scan, security card, and a handprint.

"You've got to be kidding!" Carter said shaking her head at the set up. "Teal'c shoot it."

Teal'c pulled his zat gun out and shot it. Strangely enough the panel shorted out and caught fire. It didn't last long as the slide down panel was able to be pulled up. All the lights were off in the panel but it did help them to know how many floor there were. Twelve floors.

"That's a lot of ground to cover." Daniel said rubbing his chin.

"Indeed."

"Let's first figure out how we get in then we'll go from there." Carter said.

"Maybe there's a maintenance hatch we can get in." Daniel said looking at the ceiling.

They all looked and felt around finally finding a hidden panel. Teal'c was the tallest so he managed to get it off easily. Once it was open, he gave Carter a boost through.

"Everything that you normally find seems to be here. Except the ladder section is built into the wall. We can use it to get down to the lower levels." she said telling Teal'c to let her down. "You and Daniel get up there and I'll be behind you in minute."

Ford was still lying there, with a small grimace on his face.

"How you feeling?"

"Aching but living. I could hear what you were saying in there. Go on without me and I'll try to get to you when I can. Help me into one of those Hummers. I can hide out there till I feel better."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah. I'd be more of a hindrance at this point."

Carter nodded and helped him off the floor. Once he was safely locked into the backseat, she told him to stay down on the seats and keep quiet. He said he'd be fine soon, but not soon enough that they should stay. She mentioned to him where the hidden hatch was and that they were going to close it. Going back over she could almost swear she heard moving gears, but when she began to listen more closely, it went away. Teal'c helped her up and then closed the hatch. She had Teal'c take point as they slowly climbed down the ladder shaft.