Sam exited Richard Dean Anderson’s trailer. She was wearing her cap and had turned up the collar of her BDU. She went to look at the schedule on the other trailer’s door. There was a window in which to execute their plan in about 20 minutes. She checked her watch and frowned, then headed for the studios.
She would try to gather some information while waiting for Amanda Tapping to go back to her trailer.
Fortunately, the set was in darkness, so it was easy to hide in the shadows of the various equipment there. She spotted her counterpart talking to this world’s version of Daniel.
She watched mesmerized. If she didn’t know she was not in her universe, she’d jump for joy at hearing Daniel rattle off historical blabber. She had to admit that whoever wrote their dialogues was pretty accurate. She frowned upon hearing herself talk. Her character was in charge, and the guy playing Teal'c was not bald, as he had been on the show that they had glimpsed earlier on TV. She was referring to “General O'Neill,” so obviously they were shooting episodes in sync with her own time line. This was utterly disquieting.
The same man who had been on the set when they first arrived here shouted “cut,” signaling the end of the take. She figured he was surely the director.
A smaller, slightly bald man wearing glasses stood up from his director’s chair and moved next to the first.
Several other people talked to them, including the actors, and after a while, Martin Wood was left alone to talk to the technicians. The actor playing Daniel gave his glasses to a prop guy on the set, while chatting excitedly with the actor playing Teal'c. She could hear part of their dialogue… strange to hear the deep baritone of the Jaffa talking common Americanisms and contractions.
Finally, she saw herself, or rather her image in that world, exiting the set. She followed her stealthily, making sure the other woman was leaving the place. When she saw her disappear through the door leading outside, she retraced her steps, almost bumping into Daniel and Teal'c… the actors playing Daniel and Teal'c, she chastised herself.
They just smiled at her, minding their own business, on their way to exiting the building as well.
She gave them an embarrassed smile. “I forgot something on the set…” she said apologetically by means of explanation.
Avoiding other contacts as much as she could, she reached the now almost deserted set. ‘Crap!’ she thought. ‘No one’s here now…’ She spotted a technician changing scenery panels and decided to chance it.
“Hey,” she asked the man, smiling.
“Can I do something for you, Amanda?” he replied amiably.
“Yes, I need to ask the bosses about something, and I was wondering if you knew where they are?”
“Well, Brad is on the Atlantis set, I guess, and Robert should be in his office…” he replied, pushing the panel into its new spot.
“Okay, thanks a lot!” she beamed. Now if only she could find the way to the offices…
She exited the set and rounded the building; the location of the offices was probably indicated somewhere…
Indeed, a large sign bearing a map of the studios was posted at the end of the large parking lot into which she had wandered. She quickly reached the panel and located the Stargate SG-1 offices…
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Jack was beginning to worry, but worse than that, he was really, really getting bored watching TV while waiting for her. This world was just like theirs in terms of the quality of its TV programs — or lack thereof. Even he could answer most of the riddles on the local Jeopardy, and he was so not into soaps. He had tried channel surfing a bit, but the occasional hockey/baseball match he encountered really didn’t hold his interest… Not really a surprise since he knew Carter was out there without him watching her six –and how did he like that!– and she really could get into a lot of trouble.
He stopped pacing the small space and flopped down onto the small couch. Even Carter didn’t know how they’d manage to pull this one out. He knew without a doubt that their situation was really serious this time. Basically, they had to start making a living here as soon as possible or they would end up merely surviving and increasing the risk of drawing attention to themselves. His old special forces training had kicked in, and she had seemed to acknowledge the urgency of their physical and material situation. She was probably already wracking her brain to find a means to get them out of there, but she had already admitted defeat, and Carter was not one to do that easily.
Rushed footsteps on the side of the trailer interrupted his musings. The door opened slowly and she entered.
He came to his feet in an instant. “Well?” he asked.
“I got CAD 20,000,” she said, a bit out of breath.
“That’s what she’s getting a month?!” he asked, bewildered.
“A week…” she replied.
He collapsed back down on the couch.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, taking a seat herself. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw what the accountant had written on the check. I almost betrayed myself when I reminded him I only needed the advance for a week.”
“God! When you think we’re risking our necks every day for what we’re getting paid! This is…”
“This is Hollywood, Sir… Or their version of it, at least,” she interrupted.
“Okay, well, that’s our luck, anyway. CAD 20,000 should help us get the basics…”
“These are Canadian dollars, Sir, and if the exchange rate is like it is in our world, it should go down to approximately $18,000.”
“Still good…” He paused. “Carter, we might be on the move quite often…” he resumed in a serious tone.
“I know, Sir,” she replied, her eyes meeting his for an instant.
He gave her a half smile, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder for a brief moment. “We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow, for better or for worse…” he concluded.
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The night sky was slowly being replaced by the whiteness of dawn. Sam quickly entered the trailer with a set of clothes hanging from her arm.
“Sir?” she asked softly.
“In here, Carter,” came his muffled voice as he donned a large sweatshirt. “Boy! Either this guy has a taste for large clothes, or he’s fatter than I am! I look like a complete clown!”
She couldn’t prevent the small giggle that escaped her throat as she saw his attire.
“What did you get?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I borrowed her clothes, too,” she said, showing the bundle she had carried in.
“The sooner we get new ones for us, the better. I understand his need for privacy, if that’s what he’s getting at wearing these clothes,” he said, gesturing at the too large jeans and top; “but quite frankly, I’d be more comfortable in dress blues, and that’s saying a lot!” he concluded, slightly aggravated.
“I’ll go change, Sir, then we’ll head out. If we want to get a ride downtown, it might take us some time, and I don’t think you’d want to stop a bus, on the highway this time, Sir,” she smirked, clearly stressing the reference to their trip in the past.
“Carter?” he warned jokingly.
She went to change quickly and joined him as he was cleaning the last remnants of their stay in the trailer.
“You took care of the fingerprints in her trailer?” he asked.
“No need to, Sir… We probably have the same… We probably messed around a lot more in this trailer. Did you check that everything was back in order?”
“The best I could. We didn’t use the sheets, so I remade the bed completely, and I emptied the trash into a container outside. Aside from his clothes, nothing should look amiss…
“You think we should leave a note? I mean about the clothes?”
“Negative, Carter. We’ll return them as soon as we can, and that’s enough. You got everything printed out?”
“Yes.”
“So, let’s recap a little. We go downtown and cash the check, then we go to a motel for a while and do some research to decide where we go next…”
“Whatever we decide, I think it’s better if we end up in a small or rural state in the US, Sir. For one thing, we’re more familiar with the American territory, even in this world, and second, I created American ID’s. Even if the controls are tight at the frontier, with what I got us, we should get in without too much trouble,” she affirmed.
“That will have to do, Carter,” he smiled. “And don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll sort it out,” he added with a meaningful look.
“I know, Sir. The question is, will they be able to do anything about it, and if they do, when?” she replied.
“Well, like I said, Carter, we got in, there’s got to be a way to get out…” he said with force.
She smiled. “Yes, Sir.” She opened the door of the trailer. “Shall we?”
“After you, Colonel…”
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They managed to pass the entrance guard without too much trouble: Sam talked to him as Jack snuck behind; then they started hitchhiking in the hopes of reaching the center of Vancouver.
Surprisingly to them, the first driver that came by was willing to take them “even to the moon!”
They understood the reason soon enough…
“My daughter won’t believe I had Amanda Tapping/Lt. Colonel Sam Carter in my car!” the man said enthusiastically. “And when I tell my wife MacGyver/Jack O'Neill was sitting right next to me, she’ll have a fit!”
Jack frowned.
“Oh, Amanda –I can call you Amanda, right? You wouldn’t mind signing me an autograph?” the man said, trying to reach for a piece of paper in the glove compartment while still driving.
“Hey!” Jack said, grabbing the steering wheel as the car lurched to the right.
“Sorry,” the man blushed. “You’ll sign it too, right?” he grinned at Jack, giving the crumpled piece of paper to Sam.
She took it cautiously: it looked like a candy bar wrapper.
“Oh, I don’t have a pen! Would you mind checking in there, Richard?” the man added, gesturing for Jack to check the side compartments.
Reluctantly, Jack fished inside the door compartment and finally extracted a sticky pencil that he gave to Sam.
At a loss, Sam asked. “Er, what should I write?”
“Oh! Er, ‘to Sonia, Sam and Jack forever,’ and you’ll both sign? My daughter’s nuts with the Sam and Jack dynamic. You’re doing great, you know? The attraction is there; we can feel it, but always on the edge of the razor, huh? Mustn’t be too hard to play, seeing as you both have a great chemistry in real life… I mean I’m not suggesting anything or whatever… I know you both have your personal lives packed, and I’m… I’m rambling, and I really, really shouldn’t talk to you about that, I’m sorry,” he apologized. “But really, when I saw you both hitchhiking on the side of the road, I couldn’t believe my luck… Oh, Richard, I know you travel a lot, aren’t the trips too tiring? I’m a huge fan of Stargate, you know! Have you heard of Gateworld? That’s where fans fish for the most detailed and recent information, you know… it’s a great source…” the man continued blabbering for long minutes, not paying attention to the pained faces of his passengers until they finally reached a busy street downtown, where Jack urged him to stop.
“Look, pal, this is very entertaining, but the place we need to go is not far from here,” he said, putting his hand on the man’s arm gently.
“Oh, okay,” the man said apologetically. “I know I’m babbling; it’s just… we’re all huge fans of the show, the whole family watches…”
Jack forced a smile. “That’s nice, thanks…” he said, reaching for the door handle.
“We’ll go by foot from here, thanks,” Sam added as she opened her door in turn.
“You can call me anytime if you need a ride! I’ll be happy to oblige! I’m Paul, by the way. I live just outside Vancouver in a nice suburb. I know you’re very busy, but if you ever have a few minutes, please come by and visit!” he finally concluded, giving them a business card.
Jack and Sam forced smiles for Paul as he started the car down the road again. Jack suddenly waved frantically for him to look at the road instead of them as Paul barely avoided a nasty accident.
“You think our insurance would work here, Carter?” Jack murmured as he watched the car pick up speed, glad he was still in one piece and not in that car anymore.
“Well, apparently we’re huge hits here!” Sam snorted.
“Jack and Sam forever?” he smirked.
“Kind of uncomfortable, Sir,” she said, embarrassed.
A shadow briefly passed over his face before he resumed. “Okay, now what?”
“I figure we try the first bank we come across?” she suggested, shrugging.
“I’ll wait for you outside, then. I wouldn’t want our counterparts to experience more gossip than they must usually get because of our little stunt here…
They started walking down the street until they reached a shopping area and spotted a bank.
Sam entered as Jack waited outside with their few belongings: i.e. mainly their BDUs and what they had kept from the set. He wandered by the various shops there, trying to gather information while Sam tried to get them some cash from the paycheck.
Fifteen minutes turned to thirty, then to forty five. Jack started worrying until he finally saw Sam come out of the bank with a smile on her face.
“So?” he simply asked.
“Mission accomplished, Sir,” she said with a smile. “I think we should go somewhere private, Sir,” she concluded with an uneasy smile.
“Gotcha… motel?”
“That would be nice, Sir,” she nodded.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]