The Birth of Iconia

Chapter 1

He finally realized that he wasn't going to be able to clear his head until got himself thinking about something else. To that end, he started thinking about the people he was going to be meeting with and how they had changed his life.

One of them was his sister, Samantha. They were twins, although she was 3 hours older than he was. She had been a stabilizing influence in his life and she was also a genius. She was every bit as smart as anybody that he worked with in Eureka.

Next was Jack O'Neill, a very good friend. O'Neill had recruited Jack to work for the SGC several years before at the behest of Sam. Sam and Jack's father, Jacob, had been very close to death at the time, but had become a Tok'Ra and the merging with the symbiont had saved his life. Sam had gone to O'Neill, and pointed out that Jack was a US Marshal. As such he would be invaluable to the SGC. Jack had a way with people. He even had a tendency to play himself as being considerably less intelligent than he actually was. As a US Marshal, he could be a liaison to the American public for anything having to do with the Stargate.

Jack had been given security clearance higher than anything he'd ever imagined. He had even gone through the Stargate on more than one occasion. Jack received regular security updates from the SGC. He read them, and although Nathan Stark would never have believed it, he even understood most of the words. He had proved himself useful to the SGC on numerous occasions, and in fact, anything having to do with technology garnered through the Stargate that would affect the American Public at large, had to be cleared through Jack Carter. What cemented his relationship with the SGC, however, was when he discovered what Eva Thorne was actually doing.

Jack knew about tretonin and he knew how invaluable someone like Eva Thorne, who aged extremely slowly, would be to Stargate Command. But his morals would not allow him to simply turn her over to them. Instead, he spoke to her about it without giving away any classified details, and convinced her that it would be in her best interest to meet with them.

General Mansfield, the idiot in charge of Eureka at the time, was furious with Jack, because he wanted to arrest Eva Thorne for making him look like a fool. He tried to remove Jack from his position as Sheriff of Eureka, and in fact, Jack went along with him, knowing full well that O'Neill could countermand Mansfield's orders at any time, and probably would. O'Neill was about to do just that, until Henry Deacon, newly elected mayor of Eureka, discovered a loophole allowing Jack to keep his job. It was infinitely preferable that things be done this way rather than Mansfield, and more importantly, the people of Eureka, finding out that the General had no jurisdiction over Jack. In reality, Jack answered to only two people: O'Neill, and the President of the United States. Consequently, if the SGC wanted to have Jack in Eureka, Jack was in Eureka. It really made little difference what Mansfield, or even Henry Deacon, wanted.

The difference between the two generals was striking. Mansfield would look at a battlefield and see acceptable losses, targets, and assets. O'Neill would look at the battlefield and see people. Mansfield commanded soldiers while O'Neill led people. Jack understood this. In fact, it had infuriated him when recently a loss of sixteen people had been equated to a B plus. He could just imagine O'Neill's reaction to that.

Another of Jack's friends in the SGC, was Teal'c. Teal'c was a Jaffa. He was human, but not born on Earth. Sometimes, his behavior would baffle Jack. But behind everything Teal'c did, Jack saw a fierce loyalty and unwavering devotion. He knew that Teal'c was just as good a warrior, and just as formidable an opponent, as his friend, Jo Lupo.

Then there was Daniel Jackson. Daniel was just as much of an egghead as anybody in Eureka. But his field of interest was archaeology and ancient languages. Daniel was a civilian, but in effect, special forces trained. In his own way, he had become just as formidable as Teal'c.