Sam blinked rapidly, trying to force her eyes to adjust faster to the bright lights of the elaborate hallway in the Goa'uld mothership. Pandora and herself were being lead towards an intricately patterned door about 50 metres ahead. Sam hadn't heard a peep from Pandora, who was still under the effects of the drug induced into her system. Unlike Sam, she was blissfully unaware of what was going on. The Goa'uld hadn't spoken a word either, which made Sam a little uncomfortable. Usually, the Goa'uld would make a point of telling SG-1 how much they would suffer for their insolence, how much they'd enjoy the whole ordeal and yadda yadda. Somehow something just felt out of place, and Sam didn't have long to find out what.
Reaching the door, the Goa'uld let go of Pandora (who wasn't about to go anywhere) to key in the sequence of symbols needed to open the door. Sam watched him, taking down a mental note of the combination. The door slowly started to open, revealing a huge, lavishly decorated room before them. As military training had instructed, Sam flicked her eyes across the entire room, looking for any obvious points of escape. Just as she had expected, she didn't find anything useful. The room's only entry and exit point was the door they had just come through. The rest of the room was decorated in flowing red curtains, cushions, golden chairs and tables, burning incense, and was lit by huge candelabras in every corner. The floor was made of tiles; turquoise and black in colour. The walls bore huge scenes of Ancient Egyptian battles and hieroglyphs, and the ceiling was painted a rich dark blue and was dotted with stars representing the constellations. In the centre of the room stood two huge columns, painted in the same fashion as the walls. Sam was impressed. The place didn't look Goa'uld. If anything, she felt as though she had just stepped into one of the Great Pyramids of Egypt. She had to admit it was beautiful.
"Welcome Pandora of Elysium and... Major Samantha Carter of the Tau'ri."
That hadn't come from the Goa'uld who was leading her into the centre of the room... Sam furrowed her brow and looked around the room. From behind one of the pillars emerged a dark shape. Deliberately tapping his feet on the cold tiles as he walked, the hooded, unnamed Goa'uld made his way slowly towards Sam and Pandora.
"I trust my servant was quite civil with you... as he was instructed"
Servant? Sam flicked her eyes between both Goa'ulds.
"You may release them A'pis."
Sam felt the grip on her arm disappear and turned slightly to watch their captor leave the room as silently as he had entered it. Sam composed herself enough to question the new face before her.
"Who are you?"
In response, the Goa'uld reached up and removed his hood in one swift movement. Standing all-too-proudly, his head cocked to one side, the Goa'uld waited for Sam to say something else.
Typically cliché.
Instead, she just stood there defiantly, earning herself a bemused smile from the Goa'uld.
"I see we do not enjoy the game of name guessing. I am Ptah, your God. I bid you both welcome, you in particular Major Carter."
Sam wasn't surprised. She'd learnt to anticipate twists and turns when it came to dealing with the Goa'uld. To cover his own ass, Ptah must have sent his servant A'pis down to Elysium to act on his behalf. The people on the planet had most likely never seen Ptah in the flesh. Sam scoffed inwardly; Ptah didn't even have the nerve to face the people he'd been harvesting on for so long.
"Oh please, spare me the 'I am your God' crap. If you know anything at all about me you'd know how I feel about the you and the rest of your race."
"Yes, I have heard that the people of the Tau'ri have chosen the path of blasphemy. I however, am not swayed by it. To be perfectly honest with you Samantha Carter, I have chosen the rule of one world, Elysium, over the rest of the Galaxy. Unlike the other System Lords, I do not feel the need to... travel abroad. I am perfectly content."
"I find that hard to believe. You're telling me that you're not interested in ruling the Galaxy?" Sam let out a sick chuckle of amusement at the thought. "What, you're content with having just one planet worship you as a God?"
Ptah turned his head to one side, and, with his hands clasped behind him, he began to pace.
"True, there are other worlds in which I have my interest. I have captured many a spy from these worlds, and have tortured them for information. Aren't you interested in how I came to know of your existence?"
Sam opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
"I will tell you. I have had my sights on three other worlds. I have sent my servants out to scout these worlds, and on each occasion they have returned with prisoners... and valuable information. Two of these worlds are rather primitive and have no knowledge of the Goa'uld or of the Tau'ri. As is stands, they do not even know of the existence of the Stargate. The third however, was more promising, and I know you and SG-1 have been there. You call them the Sycthians. They were most helpful and provided me with a box..."
Ptah walked over to a small table to his left and picked something up, bringing it into Sam's line of sight. It was the box full of information about Earth (history, allies, enemies, and photos - including pictures of each member of SG-1) that the SGC gave to the Sycthians once it was established that they had a new ally. Or so they thought. The Scythians were so delighted that SG-1 could help them with their power supply problem that they swore never to hand over any information about Earth - even under pain of death. Jack, Daniel, Teal'c, Sam and General Hammond had trusted them. Now, Sam realised that their newest ally had betrayed them.
Sam was livid, "How did you get that?"
"As I said, my scouts serve me well. I procured this from a Scythian man who was willing to bargain for his life."
Ptah tapped on the lid of the box and began to pace again.
"And it is from this small box, that I learnt about SG-1's existence. You are known as the Tau'ri and you come from a planet called Earth. I am fascinated. But I am fascinated more with you. Your expert knowledge of ancient technology and of the Stargate have me intrigued alone, but I am also intrigued by your beauty."
Sam glared at Ptah, her blue eyes cold and piercing, "If you think I'm going to help you with anything then you're very wrong. I'd rather die than help you."
The Goa'uld sighed, "You have a long time to rethink that statement. But for know, I think you need to be properly attired and Pandora here needs to be healed."
"So you can trade her?"
"Precisely. I believe Lord Yu is interested in her."
Sam glanced at Pandora who was still standing next to her, as quiet as a mouse. Unable to speak or move, the only sign of life that told Sam just how terrified the poor girl was, was a single tear running down her pale cheek.