Stargate Aschen

Chapter 1 - Favor

Year 799 – Aschen Colony Earth: Somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere

Jack O’Neill ignored the two drunken men who passed by him and closed the door looking around the foggy bar room. As always, the bar was crowded with a bizarre mixture of cutthroats, criminals and farmers. Gruff looking men threw darts, drank too much and laughed too loud. This wasn’t the place he would have come to had he any other choice.

Too bad, most establishments like these were banned. It was getting harder to find places to meet, at least in the area around Powhatan City, the center of commerce between Earth and the Aschen.

He passed by a pool table and gently nudged a young woman who had stumbled into him out of the way. Once he reached the counter, he placed a few silver coins on the wood and looked at the elderly bartender. The man passed him a mug of beer and nodded toward the back of the room.

Jack turned, and a man ran into him, spilling most of his beer. Great, just what he needed. Ever since the Aschen governor had closed down most of the bars in an effort to limit illegal activities, this place was seriously overcrowded. Time to pick a new meeting spot.

He slid into the shadowy booth at the end of the room and slid onto a bench.

“About time.”

He glared at the man across from him. “Not everyone lives close by, you know.”

“Have you heard about the uprisings in the East?”

Jack took a long gulp of his beer and studied the older man opposite to him. At past eighty, Jacob Carter’s hair bore flecks of gray, his face reflecting the kind of serious relentlessness typical for workers in the Aschen ministry. “I haven’t. Is that why you wanted to meet me?”

“It’s not, actually.” Carter looked down and fiddled with his hands. Jack raised his eyebrows. This was odd. He’d never seen him nervous to the point of being awkward.  “You know I wouldn’t ask you this if I thought there was any other way to resolve the situation.”

“Ask me what?” Jack took another sip of his beer. Over the years, he and Jacob had often worked together, so one asking a favor of the other wasn’t unusual.

“I need you to marry my daughter.”

Jack choked on his beer. “You what?”

“She just had her fertility tests and they came back positive. She’s a gifted one, Jack.” Jacob closed his eyes.

Damn. Jack winced in sympathy, and put down his glass. “Sorry to hear that.” Like Jacob, he could still remember how he’d found out that he was gifted, and the horror that had come with the test results. That still didn’t explain… “How would marrying her solve that problem?”

“I deleted her test results from the system.”

“Damn, Jacob!” Jack shook his head. “That’s a risk and you know it.”

“Well, what was I supposed to do? She’s my daughter.”

“Yeah, well, they’re gonna find out anyway in her follow-ups in a coupla months.” As much as he understood the man’s compassion for his own daughter, in his position Jacob should know better than to take unnecessary risks.

Jacob clenched his beer glass. “Yes, but if she’s already married to a gifted man, I can at least spare her the humiliating experience of the breeding facilities.”

“And you think I’m the best possible choice? I’m not exactly known for winning the husband –of-the-year award.” Jack smiled grimly while he ran one of his hands nervously through his hair. “Besides, she’s quite a bit younger than I am. I could be her father, fer crying out loud.”