Stargate Aschen

Chapter 2 - Crossroads

“Samantha!”

Sam’s head snapped up. She could barely make out the hands on the clock in the darkness of the room lit only by the computer screen. She quickly closed out the programs she had open. It hadn’t taken Minny long to clean the bed sheets today.

“Sam?” The housekeeper’s voice drifted from upstairs.

“Down here.” Sam entered the computer shutdown command and got up from the chair. It was only a matter of seconds before their housekeeper would peek down the round staircase and inevitably deduce what she’d been doing. Her footsteps hurried across the main library room above.

“Are you accessing the computer again?” The reproach in her ex-nanny’s voice vaguely brought Sam back to her childhood days. She winced. Why on Earth did this damn system have to take so long? “You know your father’s opinion about unauthorized computer accesses.”

Oh yes, she knew. Sam hurried to pick up the books she’d collected earlier and rushed to the staircase. Not a moment too late. She smiled innocently at Minny, who was just starting down the stairs.

“My father has strong opinions about a lot of things I do.” She passed by the older woman and placed the heavy books on the table in front of a bookshelf to put them back in where they belonged. “Mainly because he thinks I can’t do anything without his guidance.” After every book was back on the shelf, she turned around and lifted her chin. “That doesn’t mean I’m not more than capable, though.”

“I really wish you hadn’t inherited your father’s stubbornness.” The old housekeeper shook her head. Sam rolled her eyes and walked towards the door to the hallway, and Minny’s footsteps scurried behind her. “You know it’s dangerous to access the system without authorization.”

“That’s only if you don’t know what you’re doing.” Sam made her way backwards along the small corridor that led to the entrance foyer and her study rooms. “I cracked the algorithm behind the Aschen’s access codes months ago. When I access their system now, it looks as though I’m a shadow. You wouldn’t get suspicious of your own shadow, would you?”

The nanny shook her head with a melodramatic sigh. “You’re much too reckless. And too smart for your own good if you ask me.”

“Some people need to be more reckless. My father’s been working for the ministry his entire life, and yet he doesn’t dare question their methods.” Sam blew a strand of long blonde hair out of her face. “Sometimes I wish he wasn’t such an ass-kissing—“

“Watch your mouth, young lady!” The housekeeper’s eyes hardened and Sam winced. Minny didn’t get angry very often, but when she did, one had to be careful. “Your father sacrificed a lot to provide you and your brothers with the best education and every opportunity in life. Without the money he earns in the ministry’s service, you wouldn’t have been able to get the books or the teachers you need for studying. Never forget that.”

“Yeah.” Sam scoffed. “And what am I ever going to use that education for? They don’t allow humans, especially women, to work in the sciences. Sometimes I wish he hadn’t paid for all those expensive teachers, I wouldn’t be aware of what I can’t have. The best I can hope for is to spend my life tending a farm or improving crop machines in the neighborhood.” She dropped her arms in frustration. “But not that I know my own potential, I know that I have something to contribute. I want to go through the Stargate.”

“Samantha Carter, don’t be ridiculous. They don’t allow human research teams to travel to the Aschen home world.”

Damn it, how could she be the only one who wanted this? The big circular portal located at the center of Powhatan City had fascinated her ever since she’d understood its purpose. A gateway to another planet, thousands of light-years away. So far, it wasn’t visible to the naked eye in the night sky. If only she were allowed to step through it. If only she weren’t born human.