Chapter 6.01 - Stargate

I woke up with strange feeling. I was curled up in a confined leather bag, surrounded by slime. The bag was obviously alive because I heard a heartbeat and breathing. I myself was either a worm or a snake. That was another discovery. I did not panic, but focused on gathering information about my new body. Surprisingly, I easily discovered what I was .

Well, you can congratulate me. I was a Goa’uld, an intelligent worm that captures people's bodies. And I was in the Stargate universe on the planet Chulak. My father was Apophis. It was the genetic memory inherited from him that I was now reading. This memory only had Information relating to the greatness of the race of the Goa’uld and the basic control principles of a technology inherited from the Ancients.

I was in the stomach of one of the Jaffa - the elite warriors of Apophis. Judging by the shreds of my memory, my prepared fate was to be dinner. As far as I remembered from this show, the Goa’ulds raised their descendants, and then ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner in order to gain certain substances they needed for eternal life. So I had to quickly consider the question of choosing a host, because my body was almost ready to leave the Jaffa’s abdominal pouch .

So I started an examination of my abilities. Magic and chakra were present, and even seemed to work. But, I had zero control over them, so they were basically useless. Symbiote was pretty emaciated, but with enough workable strength . My telekinesis would no longer lift megatons of cargo, but for an ordinary person, even armed with a gun, my abilities would be enough. Moreover, the symbiote retained all its skills and abilities, so now I had a good chance to take control of the Jaffa's consciousness and make him find me a host.

I spread the symbiote’s tentacles and searched my surroundings with them. My carrier slept on a bed in some shabby hut. People were near, but not in my room. The conditions were perfect suitable to conduct a few experiments on the submission of another's consciousness. As it turned out, it was pretty easy to take control of someone else's consciousness. This seemed to be a completely natural function of my body, and the symbiote was only a signal translator to the brain.

I got out of bed, looked around and began to dress. The ceremonial dress was well appropriate with my clothing taste. At the same time, I looked through the Jaffa’s consciousness in search of information about potential hosts. Jaffa was human in past But goa’ulds changed something in their biochemistry, so that the worm could grow in their bodies inside a special bag inside the abdomen, into which they entered through the navel. When Goa’ulds grow up enough, they must leave the Jaffa’s pouch and find a normal human as a host.

Information about a suitable body was found pretty quickly. Apophis was looking for a host for his future queen, so one of the halls of the palace was filled with a crowd of suitable people. Once again, I checked the appearance of my Jaffa, picked up a plasma-shooting spear and went straight to the palace. There I walked through the corridors and went out to the hall I needed, which contained a crowd of humans, and came face-to-face with Teal’c, the First Prime of Apophis.

“Apophis ordered me to bring him one of the vessels.” I retold the “order” of the leader of Goa’ulds.

“Why didn't he order me personally?” Teal’c was surprised.

“You can ask him about it when the order is executed.”

My argument did not invite further discussion, so Teal’c stepped aside and gave a sign to open the grille blocking the entrance to the hall. I went into the room, looking at it with Jaffa's eyes and and scanning crowd with symbiote’s tentacles. Pretty soon, I discovered three “main characters”. There was a female Air Force Captain from Earth, the wife of Daniel Jackson from Abydos-- I did not remember her name -- and Skaara, a boy from the same planet. The first was the only blonde in camouflage, the second I found out by the her black hair and pretty face, and the third was standing next to the second, protecting her with his frail body.

I was not going to interfere in the plot of this story, and therefore focused on the others. There were both men and women. Dressed in different clothes, differing in appearance and behavior, they created the feeling of a circus.

The choice of host was not an easy task. It was a matter of genetics. The Goa’uld could subjugate any person, but the body of the host could suit it , or could reject it, forcing it to waste its efforts on restructuring the host. In addition, I was not fully grown, so the quality of the first host was even more important.

Using my instincts and the indications of the symbiote, I found the only option that suited me. Alas, it was a woman. For me, a “sex change” was a bit of a psychological inconvenience, but I could change the host in the future, returning to the issue with more detail.

“You, come here!” I grabbed the hand of a girl of twenty, of a rather ugly appearance. She naturally began to resist and yell something. “On your knees!”

I hit my victim's legs with telekinesis, and she fell to her knees, the pouch directly in front of her face. Of course, the Jaffa’s armor was still between the girl and me, but it did not become an obstacle. Telekinesis easily broke through chain mail and a steel plate. I slipped out of the Jaffa’s stomach and rushed toward the victim's face, piercing the flesh of her neck. The Jaffa covered me with his corpse, the other servants of Apophis discovering what happened only when their comrade fell unconscious, and a characteristic wound became visible on the neck of my host. They started to run and try to catch me.

“Hands off your God!” I announced with a roaring voice and flashing eyes.

The other Jaffa stared at me in shock, giving me the opportunity to stand. All these cheap tricks of voice and eyes were sewn into the fabric of my genetic memory at the deepest level. This was how the Goa’uld let their subjects know who they should worship. The gods fought with the gods, and people did not dare to intervene, figuring out the relationship between themselves.

“I must take you to Apophis,” Teal’c told me. By the expression of his face it was clear that he preferred to see all gods in the tomb - me especially.

“Lead,” I graciously agreed. “Jaffa, Cree!”

I did not know what this "Cree" meant, but the Goa’uld asserted dominance in their speech through the word. Perhaps it was just a curse. Like "fucking Jaffa."

Before the eyes of the all-powerful Apophis, I appeared in half an hour. His divine mercy deigned to rest, so I had to wait for him to dress and appear to me in all his glory. Apophis entered the hall and stared at me with a searching glance. We exchanged with sparkling eyes, after which he spoke:

“Leave us.” Jaffa and other servants immediately swept out of the room and closed the door behind them. “How dare you take a host without my order?” He turned to me.

“I'm a Goa’uld. My mission is to rule mortals. Even you can't forbid me that. I am Imhotep, the god of knowledge and architecture.”.Since we were using Egyptian mythology here, I decided to take the name of a man who lived in Egypt, and was later exalted to the level of God. “I recognize your authority, Apophis, but only as long as it meets my goals.”

“Is that so? And what do you want?” Interest flashed in Apophis’s eyes.

“I need a ha’tak and a squad of Jaffa. After that, I will go on a conquest of other worlds and will rule them on your behalf. Your power over the galaxy will increase, and after a while, I will be ready to provide troops for your army.”

“If I do not agree?”

“Then I will have to overthrow you and take your place.” I flashed my eyes and stared at my ancestor in challenge.

From the outside, it probably looked like empty bravado. Apophis was all decorated with trinkets, of which many were combat and defensive artifacts, whereas I was almost naked, as ‘to frighten a hedgehog with bare ass’. But in reality, I was ready to destroy the snake in the head of Apophis’s host with telekinesis. Whatever the technique of the Ancients, it did not protect against telekinesis of symbiote.

Apophis liked my behavior. I was, in his eyes, a typical Goa’uld - evil, overbearing scum who wanted fame and only recognized power. The tentacles of the symbiote could not penetrate the thoughts of the snake, but they conveyed to me the emotions of the wearer, whose consciousness was subordinated to the Goa’uld.

“Good. I just have one ha'tak that needs a captain. It is an old ship. I have already built a new ha’tak to replace it three times, but it is still flying. I will give this ship to you, but first you must prove that you are worthy of this honor.”

“What do I need to do?”

“I learned that in one of the worlds, the ship of Asgard was destroyed . It is a small shuttle, but it keeps the secrets of the technology of this race. Bring me a navigation computer from this ship, and I will give you a ha'tak and a hundred Jaffa in addition.”

“I smell some kind of deception.” I expressed my doubts. “If everything was so simple, you would have taken this computer by yourself.”

“Yes, this place is notorious. There is a device of the Ancients that grants wishes. But in most cases, it does not fulfill desires, but kills those who come close to it. This is what happened with the Asgard. But I'm sure you can do it. After all, you are the god of knowledge.” There was a sneer in his voice. From the point of view of the Goa’uld, being a god of knowledge was only a little more honorable than being a god of toilets.

“Of course I can handle it. I will need a squad of two dozen Jaffa.”

“Well, my son, Suref will tell you all the details.” Apophis flashed his eyes and left the room.

The Suref he mentioned was one of the trusted Jaffa in charge of all sorts of technical questions. My previous host knew him, so at least I could recognize him by sight when I was surrounded by Jaffa and other servants.

The subsequent events of the evening happened quickly. I was dressed in colorful clothes, given the local analogue of a pistol, provided an address for opening the stargate, and supplied with a dozen Jaffa who were deemed traitors on previous missions. In general, everything corresponded to the proverb ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’. Similar circumstances indicated that I was already written off as fodder, but I had a different opinion on this matter.

I could escape from Chulak in the body of a Jaffa and find a host on one of the planets, but then I would turn out to be just a runaway worm, without access to any technology. Moreover, these “wild” Goa’ulds would be hunted by their more successful counterparts and get destroyed as soon as possible. Now I had a chance to take not the last place in the hierarchy of power of the System Lords, plus a ship and some freedom of action. And the assignment I received immediately provoked thoughts of a ‘Deus Ex Machina’, of which the Being had alerted me. Of course, this Deus Ex Machina looked more like a mousetrap or even a bear trap, but in my opinion, the chances were good for me.

Having passed through the gate, I studied the symbols on the dial, remembering the address of Chulak and other planets from which visitors came. The gate addressing system in this world was more in keeping with the canon of the Stargate Atlantis series. There were always the same char combinations on the typesetters, and one combination always opened the portal to the same destination. The only exception was the "last character" of the address, which was different on every planet. But this character was always on the dial and in the gate ring at the same place, so it was only a design choice .

Remembering the addresses used, I looked around at my surroundings . It was a desert world, where the vegetation merely consisted of withered tufts of grass. Although, of course, it would be foolish to speak for the whole world based on the characteristics of the area where the gates were installed. Perhaps there were jungles, swamps, or polar caps of ice, but in this place there was only a dry, hilly desert, without even signs of river channels.

In the distance, a dilapidated building of enormous size was visible. It was difficult to say how it used to be, but the bluish color of this man-made mountain was very different from the yellow-gray surroundings. I gave the command to move in the direction of the building, and at the same time while walking, I began to recall what they had told me about this place.

About a kilometer from the building, there was an area, where people and even the Goa’ulds began to hallucinate . If the victim was seduced by one of these images, or turned back, then they would immediately be destroyed by the pulse weapon of the Ancients, towering on the roof of the building. The only chance to survive was to reach the building, enter inside the main hall and once there make a wish that was not too difficult to fulfill. Approximately one in a hundred succeeded, and if he survived, would be given the opportunity to leave the vicinity of the building. All the others died from various causes, after which their corpses were teleported from the hall to the outside.

I stopped at the top of a hill a kilometer and a half away from the building. Apparently, I was not the only intelligent person to have come here, for this place showed numerous traces of the presence of intelligent beings. I even found a half-rotten hut made of sticks and animal skins, and a kind of throne of stones. Having taken a strategic position on the throne, I chose one of the suicide from my Jaffa.

“Jaffa, listen to me, Cree. Now you, Cree, go to this building, go inside through the main entrance, and then come back. In your mind’s eye you will see different images , promising the fulfillment of all sorts of desires, Cree. You must, Cree, give up all those desires, Cree. Remember only me, Cree, and serving me, Cree. I am Imhotep, the god of knowledge and architecture. Serving me, Cree, should be your only desire, Cree. Only in this way, Cree, can you survive this test, Cree. Go Cree. Jaffa, Cree!”. Very strange, I have used word “Cree” very much, apparently my snake body loves to say it.

The Jaffa looked at me with a dumb look, then tightened his hold on the spear and walked away to carry out my order. In the meantime, I followed his consciousness with the help of my symbiote, which stuck a tentacle directly into his brain. While the subject went forward, I focused on exploring the Asgard ship. The ship was in a building almost at the very border of a my symbiote’s ability. From my side it seemed to be whole, but from the side of the citadel there was a hole a half meter wide in it. Inside, I found a mutilated alien corpse.

I would try to pull out the spare parts I needed with telekinesis, but at that distance it was too weak to lift an object weighing more than a couple of kilograms. Therefore, I had to ‘strain my brain’ in an attempt to come up with another way. Time was plentiful , so I plunged into the study of the ship’s device

At a certain point, it became clear that my Jaffa had begun to encounter glitches. This was not a dramatic change. Rather, the usual background thoughts gradually intensified, and now it became clear that this state was not normal. The source of the glitches was in the building. It was some kind of hypno-emitter. I slightly helped the test subject so that he could resist visions that promised a life of paradise far from the Goa’uld. But by the time he entered the building, my assistance had disappeared, because the symbiote’s tentacles could no longer reach him.

Half an hour later in the doorway appeared a figure of a man who staggered in our direction. It soon became clear that this was my subordinate, who had lost almost all clothing and weapons. When he got to us, I sat on the throne and with disgust looked at the former Jaffa. While he was in the building, the Goa’uld was removed and the pouch where he lived was extracted . But the unknown “benefactor” did not take care to return the Jaffa’s immune system to the human norm, so a slow and painful death awaited this loser.

“Looks like you dreamed of breaking free from the power of the gods. Well, I will provide you with freedom. I will throw you into the wild world, where you will live out the miserable existence of a peasant for the rest of your days.” I needed to maintain the image of a typical Goa’uld, otherwise the Jaffa themselves would not have understood me. “Your faith in me was not strong enough, and here is the result.”

Nine other Jaffa looked at their former comrade with disdain. Peasants in this wild feudal society occupied the lowest level of the social pyramid.

I rose from my throne and went to the building of the Ancients. As always, I had to do everything myself. For a start, I erected defenses around my mind that completely shielded all attempts to influence me or to read my thoughts. This was a time ‘to cheat’ with the powers of a symbiote. I walked slowly, with dignity, so I had plenty of time to explore the ship in question. The navigation computer turned out to be a quick-change unit, so I was able to pull it out quite easily.

Having answered this question, I turned to the study of the Ancient’s pulse gun, which stood on the roof of the building and continued to aim at me as I walked. If something went wrong, I could break the gun and go back without risking being roasted with high-temperature plasma.

When I reached the entrance, I found a short corridor leading to a large hall. The interior of the hall showed a striking contrast with the exterior of the building. Everything was clean, whole, there was not a single speck of dust or scratches. Numerous lamps gave off a pleasant white light. The walls, floor and ceiling were decorated with geometric patterns with some mathematical pattern. At least they looked deliberate and the mathematical proportions were visually pleasing.

“For what purpose did you visit this place?” There was a dissatisfied male voice. The source of the sound was a pair of speakers, slyly hidden behind a series of wall panels.

“I am Imhotep, the god of knowledge and architecture. What is your name?”

“I am the great and all-powerful ruler of the universe, the god of gods, the keeper of the heritage of the Ancients, the executor of desires. What do you wish, mortal?”

“Who are you in general? Who in life? What are you doing? What is your function?”

This conversation increasingly reminded me of the communication of the blind with the deaf. But, it seems, I asked the right question. Judging by the insides of the building, there were no living things here. I was dealing with some kind of artificial intelligence.

“I ... provide visitors ... storage with a friendly interface,” revealed a voice with obvious hesitations.

“I'm looking for knowledge of the Ancients.” It look like this AI was something like a librarian.

“What kind of knowledge do you need, worm?” Something of friendliness in this interface showed for a bit. Or did the AI mean my real body? “You do not belong to those who are allowed access to the wisdom of the Ancients. Ask too much and I will destroy you.”

And here, it seemed, was the answer to the question of why the majority of visitors to this place died.

“I want to learn to speak and read in the language of the Ancients.” I made my bet.

The answer was silence, which a female voice interrupted after a dozen seconds.

“Teach him language.”

It looked like there was another virtual person.

“I obey.” A second voice answered, carefully suppressing the anger bursting out.

I partially removed the mental shield, and a wide flow of information poured into the brain of my host. It seemed that the unknown "friendly interface" decided to execute the order word to word. On the other hand, I was not ready to allow some kind of AI to rape my mind. It would be easier for me later to extract the knowledge of the language from the brain of the host, even if it would take more than a year.

After a couple of minutes, the abuse of the my human host’s brain was over, and I heard the parting words.

“Get out of here, ugly creature.”

“It seems your friendly interface is not so friendly after all.” I expressed my dissatisfaction, after which I turned and walked away.

“Thank you for your feedback. We will consider your opinion. Looking forward to seeing you again.” A pleasant female voice answered.

I left the artificial intelligence to deal with each other, and went away from the building so that my path followed the length of the ship. My host’s head was splitting from pain, so I harnessed the symbiote for its treatment. When I got to the ship, I climbed inside, and quickly pulled out the Asgard’s computer; it was about the size of a liter Coca-Cola bottle. After I got what I needed, I walked along, trying to get out of the Ancients weapon’s range as quickly as possible.

The Jaffa greeted me with eyes filled with true faith. Together we reached the gate, where I sent the future peasant to one of the random addresses of a planet not ruled by Apophis stored in the memory of the DHD. For myself and my companions, I opened the way to one of the planets under Apophis’s dominion, where we could rest for a while. I urgently needed to take care of the health of my host. Writing data to the brain was clearly designed for the brain of the Ancient One, so the human body suffered it with difficulty.

We settled in the “guest house” in the village near the gate. There I sat to meditate, ordering the Jaffa to guard me and the Asgard instrument. I was able to return to the normal perception of reality only after three days. I no longer risked losing the newly-received source knowledge of the Ancients. But there were still losses. The soul of my host did not withstand the experienced pain and choosed to part with its physical sheath, that is, to die. I had to urgently take over the functions of maintaining life in the body and, most importantly, mental activity in the brain.

In a sense, now it was my body. But I didn’t merge with her, planning to change the body in the future. I did not want to stay in the female body. And well, if it were the body of a beautiful woman, things might have been different, but the girl was scary as death. So I did not see the point in saving this vessel.

Having washed and had breakfast, I headed for the Stargate. On Chulak, I was met with vanity and Jaffa squads guarding the gates. After a rapid exchange of information, I gathered that Earth’s SG-1 team had invaded the planet, resulting in Teal’c’s betrayal of his master. Apophis had flown from here to his main planet, where his fleet was located.

I did not know the address of that particular planet. In my memory were the addresses of secondary planets, like the one from which I had just come, but Apophis did not trust the most important information to his offspring. Naturally, no one was going to give me this address ... not until I presented the Asgard’s device. One of the Jaffa, eager after being shown the device, had made an attempt to take the artifact from me on the pretext of transferring it to Apophis. I simply killed him for his insolence. I don't let any type of stupid minions to command to me.

Finally, the Jaffa contacted their god and I got the go-ahead to go to him. As a result, I, the nine of “my” Jaffa and three dozen other Jaffa passed through the gate to another planet. Then we had to take the big shuttle that took us to Apophis’s Ha’tak. He received me right away. It looked like he was very interested in my device.

“Apophis, I have executed your order. To prove my strength, I brought you a navigation computer from the Asgard ship. Now, I expect you to complete your part of the deal and give me the ha'tak.”

The conversation took place in a large gathering of people, and I tried to reduce the chances that my father would take his words back.

“Bring me the artifact,” commanded Apophis.

One of his Jaffa came up to me and took the loot. As soon as it fell into the hands of Apophis, he began to scan it with a device strapped to his left hand.

“Yes, this is exactly what I need. Thank you.” I skeptically raised an eyebrow. Did a goa’uld thank me? Seriously? “As for the ship you spoke of, I have already appointed a commander there.” But now everything had become clear. It was a way to say: you can forget my thanks and piss off.

“Are your words worth nothing?” I turned to Apophis, who was already assembled to leave. “I will help you to save your face. I agree to call the commander of this ha'tak to a duel to win my right to command it .”

“Are you so confident in your abilities?” Apophis asked, slightly interested.

“I easily dealt with the Ancients who were guarding the Asgard ship, what can a little god do to me? Especially one who got his first ha'tak? I'll turn him into dust.”

“Good. I give my permission to this duel. Follow me.”

I went after Apophis. We passed several corridors and entered a room that could be called a treasury. The room contained not only Goa’uld artifacts. However, there was enough piles gold and jewels in their composition. The Goa’uld in this regard reminded me of gypsies. Their sense of beauty entailed a heap of gold and precious stones combined into an ugly and conspicuous shape. Their design made my perfectionist side bleed internally.

“Hold on, this weapon will help you in the battle.” Apophis handed me a golden "glove", which should be worn on the left hand,similar to his. “Additionally, you can choose two more items in this treasury. Appreciate my kindness, son.”

“I am grateful to you, father.” I waved, looking at the artifacts and scanning them with my symbiote.

The Goa’uld possessed a weak ability to influence consciousness on the world around them. And all these artifacts required the presence of such abilities for their work. However, I replaced this effect with the tentacles of my symbiote. It was much easier.

From the variety of all the pieces, I chose a personal shield generator to protect me against energy attacks and something like glasses or a visor containing a telepathically-controlled computer. The last item was clearly converted from a device of the Ancients. I put all three artifacts on me and turned to Apophis.

“I'm ready for a duel,” I announced proudly.

“Why do you need this glasses?” Apophis was surprised. I found this artifact in the most distant and dusty corner, so it seemed he did not even know that there was such a thing.

“This is a device for storing knowledge. As a god of knowledge, it is absolutely necessary for me.”

“Ah, I see.” In the voice of the Goa’uld there was disappointment. “Come.” We left the treasury and walked along the intricate corridors of the spacecraft. “You should know the rules of the duel. You are forbidden to kill your opponent. The winner of the duel takes all the property of the loser. Only artifacts granted by me are allowed to be used. There should be no other weapons in the arena. Is this clear?”

“Yes, father. Believe in my strength. No enemy can stand against me.”

As we walked, I investigated the “glove” issued to me. Since Apophis had presented it to me, I suspected some sort of setup. And for sure, this artifact was defective. It had many functions, but in combat, only something like a telekinetic push and a paralyzing beam were available. Outwardly, everything looked fine, but If I tried to use these functions, there would be an overload of the crystal, and the weapon would not work.

I determined this by using the diagnostic functions of the visor. I began to like the “visor” more and more. I did not complain about the defective item. Anyway, I was not going to use the glove in battle. I had a symbiote, and if I wanted, I could turn any opponent into a bloody pulp in less than a second.

We went into a room with a teleportation device and transported to another ship. Here I immediately noted the antiquity of the design. It was difficult to say what exactly created such an impression, but the premises instilled a sense of belonging to some secret knowledge on a universal scale. Most likely, it was in the patterns covering the walls, and the combination of silver and gold metals, in contrast to Apophis’s gaudy, solid gold ship.

Then we proceeded to the cabin of the ha’tak, where there was ... Skaara. I still remembered this petty runt.

“Klorel.” Apophis welcomed my opponent.

“Greetings, father.” My brother bowed his head.

“You must pass the test. Fight your brother and prove that you are worthy of being my heir. His name is Imhotep. If you lose the duel, then this ship will belong to him.”

“I won't let you down, father.”

“Get ready for battle. In two hours your duel will take place. I will be watching here, from the side of my ha’tak.”

At this Apophis turned and left, leaving us viciously looking at each other. Looked like dad had decided to furnish his beloved son with artifacts from the treasury. Klorel had a whole arsenal of combat and defense artifacts, and not one of them was defective.

Once again I glanced over to my opponent and left the cockpit. Not far from here was a guest room, where I headed. There I spent two hours tasting the set of poisons that the slaves brought me, the antidotes to which I easily found using Panacea’s power. It seemed that Klorel had decided that the rules of the fight were not for him. Or was it usual for the Goa’uld to poison each other? Almost every dish I was served contained a poison of a new type. None of them were fatal, but every one could cause enough problems to influence the outcome of the duel.

The duel was to be held in the Gate’s hall. There, inside the Stargate ring, a holographic device was already hanging, transmitting a view of Apophis’s head. All extra boxes and equipment were removed, leaving an empty room. The Jaffa guards left us, closing the door behind them. Only the "gods" could watch the duel. Mere mortals should not see the moment of their masters' weakness.

“Are you ready?” On the face of Apophis was a characteristic mocking smile.

“Yes, father.” Klorel nodded, his eyes glowing.

“This duel will be just one more step on my way to exaltation,” I replied. There was no point for me to flash my eyes, because they were hiding behind the visor. Apparently, because of this, this device was not popular.

“Yes, begin the fight,” announced Apophis in the spirit of Mortal Kombat.

“When I ...” Klorel tried to say something, but my telekinetic impulse knocked all the air out of him and put his back against the wall. Simultaneously with the push, I threw my right hand forward, although the glove was on the left.

“When you are what?” I asked, once again traumatizing the wall with the body of the Goa’uld. He tried to resist, but did not succeed. I simply did not let him protect himself or use any of his devices. “I'll give you one piece of advice, from brother to brother.” Simultaneously with my instructions, I repeatedly hit my enemy against the wall, traces of blood already staining his skin and clothes. “Instead of chatting during the battle, it is better to focus on the enemy. You were too arrogant and did not even attempt to defend yourself. You are not worthy to be my rival. I am Imhotep - the God of Knowledge. And as you can see, knowledge is power.”

I threw aside Skaara’s squashed carcass and turned to the gate.

“Apophis, I won this duel. Now this ship belongs to me. I will send Klorel to you through the gate after I heal him in the sarcophagus. And now I need to refurbish my ship. The next time you hear about me, your chest will be bursting with a sense of pride for what you sired . Goodbye.”

“Wait. How did you beat him?” my dear father asked, shocked.

“What are you talking about? It was the magic of the Goa’uld. I am God! My power is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.”

“This is the device of the Ancients,” Apophis surmised. “You found it in that temple and hid it from me.”

In response, I just mockingly laughed and turned off the communication device, not letting Apophis utter another word.

After that, I went to the cockpit, levitating behind me the unconscious body of Skaara and his master, Klorel. There was a healing sarcophagus in the control room, where I unloaded this body, divesting it of all technical devices. Next, I activated the ship’s control system. It looked like a regular red crystal. But in reality it was a telepathic interface granting me control over all the systems of the ship.

I did not yet try to understand the details, but made the order to begin the ascent into orbit, turn on the shields and block the transport rings. The ship vibrated, buzzed and shook, and then with some effort pulled away from the ground and soared into the sky. Apophis did not open fire on me, as he did not even chase me, though there were several attempts to activate the transport ring.

I freely went into orbit, after which I gave the command to turn on the hyperdrive. One of the planets of the neighboring System Lord Baal was our destination. The ship buzzed even more. Instead of entering hyperspace, it began to tremble more and more. Finally, when I began to think that the ha'tak would explode or fall apart, it moved into hyperspace. Something was clearly wrong with this ship.

Having estimated my current speed, I found out that I had to fly for at least three days. So for a start, I focused on diagnosing the technical condition of the ship. After reviewing these self-diagnostic systems, I did not believe the report and decided to examine the ship with my own eyes.

Going down the stairs to the technical rooms and going around them, I realized the bitter truth. When Apophis said that ‘he built three ships to replace this’, he meant that, after dismantling this ship, he had managed to build three others. In fact, all I had was a ship hull, living quarters, two guns and a reactor powering the whole thing. The computer showed that there were no maneuvering engines, no hyperdrive, or even a shield generator in this hunk of junk. It was miracle that we were even able to rise into the air and fly away.

In order to figure out what was going on, it was necessary to investigate all the technical aspects of the ship, which was best done on the surface of the planet, and not during the flight. Furthermore, these circumstances required a review of my plans. Previously, I was going to fly to one of Baal’s planets and rob a couple of mines of Naquadah. But considering the current state of the ship, I was not sure that I would be able to go to hyperspace at all the second time.

I started looking for a new destination in the ship’s planet database. An hour later, I had selected one. It was a "landless" planet with a dry climate. There were a couple of Naquadah deposits, but they were very poor concentration, so their development was considered unprofitable. Also, there was a Stargate on the planet, but it was located too far from both deposits. In general, I was sure that if I settled there, no one would miss me for the next thousand years.

The planet was located in the opposite direction of my travel, so I had to manually input the course change calculation into the computer program. Periodically, with a few slight maneuvers, I was able to change my destination, although the computer tried to convince me that this was impossible. Stupid technique of stupid Goa'uld.

After the ship set on the right course, I went to check the crew. A little more than a hundred Jaffa armed with the latest technology, that is, spears, were under my command. At least these spears could shoot. In the hangar there was a shuttle tel’tak and a multi-functional bomber alkesh. Also in the warehouse was food stock for a couple of months. In general, you can live, but not for long.