Author's Note: For some reason the website wouldn't let me update for ages. Don't know why, but its finally working so here's the next bit:
Teal'c and Jacob walked out of the elevator together and walked towards the SGC car park.
"So, I take it this trip's legit?"
"Indeed. O'Neill believed it may be necessary to assist Daniel Jackson with the care of Matthew and Rachael Carter."
"That bored, huh?"
"While the gate is not functioning there is little for me to do here and I have no means of visiting my family and friends off world."
"You got a car round here somewhere?"
Teal'c stopped beside an almost-new Honda.
"Nice! Mind if I take her for a spin?"
"I believe it would be safest if I were to drive, Jacob Carter. If we were to be stopped by an officer of the highway patrol they may ask you some awkward questions."
"I don't always speed, Teal'c. I'm sure Sam was exaggerating."
"She has mentioned several times that all your life you have been frequently late and as a result you have formed many habits where you involuntarily forgo safest driving practice."
Jacob sighed and relented. It was not worth his while arguing, but a large part of him had a problem with being accused of bad driving by a jaffa…especially when his Tok'ra symbiote silently sided with the opposition. He tried to push away the bad mood he felt taking over him by concentrating on the hope of seeing his grandchildren. Stuck on Earth he might be, but he was going to make the most of it. He got into the passenger seat of the car.
"Please fasten your seatbelt Jacob Carter."
Reluctantly, he fastened his seat belt – although the human part of him hardly felt it was necessary given the snail's pace that Teal'c insisted on driving at. Besides, Jacob thought, he and Semlac drove ships at hyper speed all the time and they had never needed a seatbelt then. Selmac however insisted on pointing out to him that in space there were no ships driving at hyperspeed right beside you in the opposite direction, and if there were you would probably go straight through them, literally. Jacob ignored him.
"Can't you speed it up a bit, big guy."
"I am driving within the speed limit."
Jacob sighed.
"So, how's Sam been. I haven't seen her much."
"She is well."
Jacob looked out the window to think. There must be something they could talk about.
"Daniel said something about a new Star Wars Movie?"
Meanwhile at Jack's House...
"Cheese? You're kidding me!" Daniel asked Matt.
Rachael stuck her head round the kitchen doorway. Daniel and Matt hadn't quite made it out into the garden, but the two of them were firmly stuck in their own little science world. She figured it was pretty safe to do what she liked.
Meanwhile in the kitchen Matt continued his explanation.
"The clever bit is that microwaves and light waves travel at the same speed cause they're both on the same spectrum so if you can work out the speed of microwaves using a microwave oven you're also calculating the speed of light."
"But cheese?"
"I'll have to take the oven apart a bit, but I'm sure Mister Jack won't mind. What you do is you take out the glass plate and you unscrew the bit on the bottom that makes the glass plate spin – when you put food in a microwave the food cooks where the radiation is most concentrated, that is where the waves cross. When the food moves round it cooks all over but if you take out this bit it doesn't. Now lay the slices of cheese across the plate in a line of diameter and put the plate back in the oven and switch it on. Now that the cheese is stationary it will only cook at the two points where the microwaves cross." After a while a smell of cooking cheese started to emerge from the microwave. "See?" Matt said, opening the door. "The cheese is cooked here and here. If we measure the distance between these two points and note the time it took for the cheese to cook we can put it into an equation."
"Velocity equals distance over time!" Daniel exclaimed
Matt grinned at him and started to scribble.
"I did listen in some of my science classes – I didn't spend the whole time dreaming about Egypt…just most of it." Daniel said, waiting for Matt to finish his calculations.
"There!" Matt stood back, black lines underlining the equation answer. See? The speed of the microwaves which is also-"
"The speed of light! Wow!"
"Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah. Got any more."
Matt grinned again.
"Definitely. Ever built a radio before? Then I'll show you this really cool thing with custard powder!"
Rachael crept away from the kitchen to the phone in the hall. She picked it up and made her way to Matt's room. Her room was ok but she preferred Matt's room – it was more homely, like it was really a kid's room. The thing that bothered Rachael was why there was that if Jack really had a son like Matt had told her he did, why didn't Jack's son live with him? Nevermind – at the moment it was just a good place to call her mom from. Having grabbed the phone in the hall she dialled the number of her mom's mobile phone and waited for her to answer.
"Hello?"
"Mom! Its Rachael!"
"Hey Rach, how are you today? Sorry I haven't called."
"That's ok mom. I miss you but I know grandpa's not very well."
"Yeah. I miss you too. Grandpa said to say 'hello' and that you'd probably grown a good three inches since he saw you last."
"Really?"
"That's what he said. So, how is Colorado? Are you having fun staying with Aunt Sam?"
"She works a lot, Mom. And actually we're not staying with Aunt Sam…well we are, but we're not staying at Aunt Sam's house we're staying with Aunt Sam at Mister Jack's house cause Mister Jack said Aunt Sam's house was too small but cause we're all here there's no room for Mister Jack so Mister Jack is staying at Aunt Sam's house."
"Who is 'Mister Jack' pumpkin?"
"Don't call me 'pumpkin' mom. My name is Rachael!"
"Sorry sweetie."
"Mom! What if someone heard?!"
Rachael heard her mom laugh and frowned.
"So, Mister Jack?" Her mom asked again.
"Mister Jack's real name is General O'Neill but he won't let us call him that. He is Aunt Sam's boss – the one Grandpa Jacob talks about."
"So you're calling from his house?"
"Yeah."
"Can I talk to him?"
"He's at work. His friend Daniel is looking after us. 'Doctor Daniel Jackson' – he's an Archie Logogist."
"A what?!"
"An Archie Logogist!"
"I think you mean 'archaeologist' dear."
"Well that's what he says but I don't believe him. He says its all about old stuff but Uncle Daniel isn't old at all..."
(Back with Teal'c and Jacob)
"..And so Anakin Skywalker becomes obsessed with the dark side of The Force."
A ringing noise interrupted Teal'c's tirade, creating a welcome interruption for Jacob.
"Please excuse me Jacob Carter." Teal'c put on his hands free headset and answered his cell phone. "Hello."
"Teal'c, its Davis. We need you here…urgently."
"It cannot wait?"
"I'd say not."
"Can General O'Neill and Colonel Carter not provide assistance?"
"Actually they're a bit…busy….right now. 'Incapacitated.'"
Teal'c thought he heard a vague giggling noise.
"I will be there presently."
"And sir? Its probably best if you don't bring General Carter down here with you."
Teal'c hung up.
"What's he saying, Teal'c?" Jacob asked.
"We must return to base."
"But we're only ten minutes from Jack's house!"
"They have requested my assistance and I must give it."
"Has something happened?"
"I do not know. We must wait and see."
Davis put down the red phone and wandered out of the general's office through the briefing room to the window overlooking the gate room. General O'Neill and Colonel Carter were currently rolling on the floor, crying with laughter muttering something about 'sticky tape' and 'beer' and 'Daniel's glasses'. The sooner Teal'c got here the better.
Author's Note: All reviews are very much appreciated, even if i'm mean and don't reply, and for those of you who are interested the cheese thing i learnt in my high school science class.