AN: This chapter is somewhat of an experiment; I've been requested to write more 'episode' chapters. I've thought about this before, but this intermediate arc is a good time to do it. It is structured therefore as a one of the episodes, with a briefing, arrival to the planet and so on. Let me know how this goes.
FF specific note: Something's wigged with the site, fail to check the subreddit at your peril.
-x-
"And as you'll see in your packs we've recovered many of Vulcan's addresses. Rather lucky we didn't hit it during the bombardment or attack actually."
Durov leafed through his material, he'd read it at the start of the briefing and nothing in particular stood out to him.
Abramovich leant forward, "I'm sorry Comrade-Doctor, from where did you recover this?"
The General had been spending a lot of time in Moscow recently so Durov had been flitting between Castrum and Vulcan's palace-ship, monitoring the construction of their first off world base, but also fulfilling various administrative work including approving new teams after their losses during the most recent mission. Abramovich had taken Konovalov along and now the Captain was working confidentially under Minister Vasilovsky to locate the missing artefacts. Moscow had been most concerned by the report, and Abramovich had had to reassure them that all would be well.
They hoped it would be at least.
"From the raised dais in front of the palace General sir." Replied Igor.
"And why isn't it just on the metal tablets like the other things?"
Igor grimaced. "Well… We don't really know."
"An archaeologist's answer!" crowed Basin, who was sitting at the end of the table. He'd been attending more of the briefings and assisting Durov in his various tasks. They'd fallen entirely back into their old rapport and Durov smiled at him.
"My theory is that Vulcan arrived and immediately wrote down everything he could on the nearest available surface. That surface was these standing stones. This was before his production facilities were set up and he still thought he needed to remember the material. We've seen it before. Ra's cartouche on Abydos is carved in stone, it displays the great breadth of his domain and so on. I don't think that's the case here, but we do know the Goa'uld have a very specific aesthetic. Vulcan's palace was much the same as the Abydosian temple."
Igor fell silent and regarded Abramovich as he looked at the papers. Eventually the General looked up and nodded. The Doctor cleared his throat and continued, "Anyway General, we've got some descriptions here about a number of sites, for the most part we don't know what they mean, look here at 43 and 28, neither of those addresses appear on the Abydos cartouche, nor do they have any notational symbols like the rest. That might not be unusual, for example we know that Vulcan's writings here are about 3000 years later than the Abydosian cartouche, so perhaps new planets were integrated or discovered and given new addresses, but the really interesting things are the addresses with notes. Some symbols I don't know, and I'll have to consult outside my field, perhaps they're Indian or American gods' addresses, but these ones here I know."
The Private showing the slides changed the display at Igor's motion.
"Look here," Igor continue, "These three addresses are all marked with this symbol, which indicates a storm or thunder. Perhaps this is a marker for a powerful enemy goa'uld, or merely the mark of Zeus or a storm god. It might also be that the storm symbol has some meaning we don't know. Think about how we use crossed rifles or swords to indicate a battlefield on a map."
Igor motioned again and the slide changed, "And these two, they're represented alongside the glyph for a storeroom or depot."
The Doctor continued, explaining the other records he'd gained from Vulcan's base and their possible meanings. Durov nodded along, quite interested in the presentation, despite it taking some time.
"I think we should visit those storage worlds at some point sir. Perhaps first." Durov told Abramovich.
"Less chance of danger. I'd rather not walk into a storm god's temple." Said Basin in agreement.
"I agree." Said Abramovich, "Doctor, do any of these storage sites appear on the cartouche?"
"Yes the first, although there its marked with a symbol which denotes beginning, dawn, origin, and we don't know what it means."
Abramovich nodded, "Alright. We'll see when you get there. Who will you take?" he asked turning to Durov.
"Igor of course. Chaya to examine any alien technology we find from a scientific perspective… It's a pity Dimitri and Ilya are still on Elysium." He turned to Chaya who'd been along to discuss the material analysis on a few of the stones.
"You don't need them. They're good soldiers but we have plenty of them. Take Corporal Mikhailov and A-2."
'A' stood for Auxiliary. To more quickly and effectively fill their losses (as well as expand the Program) Abramovich had agreed with Durov to use some of the Regimental troops. Ordinarily they would only support the elite SG teams, but in this case Durov had suggested an intermediate qualification, soldiers of intelligence, but not enough seniority for SG placement. This had been somewhat of a problem previously as almost all the teams had been made up of officers or senior enlisted men, which made the Program rather top heavy. This way they would integrate the best of the Regimentals and fill out supporting teams. Corporal Mikhailov for example had lost his whole team in battle and had been attached to A-2 to advise them in support of various SG teams.
Durov nodded, "That's fine. Basin, want to come along?"
Basin shook his head, "Take Kuznetsov." He said, referring to one of his subordinate political officers. "If there are more of Vulcan's slaves there he can take care of them while you're busy."
Durov nodded, this was actually quite a good example of a new structure they were considering. Theoretically SG-1 could handle battle, scientific examination, diplomacy or command of local troops, however in practice this spread them thin. If they took A-2 and Commissar Kuznetsov along it would be of great assistance and would allow SG-1 to continue the mission without having to marshal slaves or defend the Stargate from attack.
"Alright then." Abramovich said, "Go get ready. Vladimir, stay behind will you."
The others trooped out, Chaya flashing him a secret smile as she passed.
"Sir?" Durov asked when they were all gone. "Are you going to be here when I get back? It might take a while if there is more there than we thought."
"I will be yes, I just wanted to establish our operational tempo." Said Abramovich, "Now." He continued, "Vladimir, you're an excellent soldier-"
"Thank you sir!"
"But! But, that doesn't necessarily matter..."
Durov frowned. "I am aware of that sir. And I'm aware Moscow is looking for results."
Abramovich fell silent for a moment, considering. "Hm." He said, "Very well, perhaps you do have some idea. As we're increasing the number of missions you're going on I just want you to be aware of how important the work of this Program is. Your actions as the leader of our premier team our there in space have the ability to liberate or doom all humanity. Either you acquire technology to protect the Union and allow us to liberate all the slaves of the Goa'uld, or… or you misstep and create enemies far more powerful than we could possibly imagine."
Durov regarded his superior with all the seriousness he was due.
"But realise that we're already changing things." Abramovich continued. "While I was in Moscow I was advising some foreign officers on supply routes through Manchuria."
Durov have him a look. He knew Abramovich had served in the East, but for him to be consulted on affairs in Manchuria now it sounded like there was something going on there. Had the success of the Program in acquiring a safe haven through the Stargate led to different, bolder decisions at the highest levels of the Union? It was certainly possible.
"I understand sir." He said gravely.
After that he left and as he went to the Embarkation Room and they waited for their slot in the dialling program Durov thought about it some more. They had indeed provided a almost unassailable fortress located hundreds of thousands of kilometres away from the Anglo-Americans… But there had also been the atomic experiments.
Almost two years ago now Durov had joined the Program and on his first mission he'd led men to secure themselves some naquadah. As they'd further explored the galaxy this naquadah had found its way to a technical institute and eventually to the secret nuclear program. The mineral wasn't named, and in true Soviet fashion any questions about where it had come from, or what it was called other than 'Sample 7' had been met with silence. However recently they had tested the first Naquadah enhanced nuclear device had been dramatically more powerful than expected. Durov and SG-1, as well as a few officers from Minister Vasilevsky's office had come to a desert planet they'd found and had marked out as a testing ground. The stony sand of the desert had provided an excellent ground for a runway and Durov had observed a large bomber take of and drop their latest nuclear bomb about a hundred miles away. It had seemed quite large, though, to be honest Durov had thought it would be more impressive.
What had been more concerning was the scientists who immediately began to talk, going in all directions to take readings of distance, time and various other scientific measurements. What had caused them all concern, even Durov after he found out that the actual size of the explosion, not just his perception of it, was that their naquadah enhanced device was almost ten times the power of the bombs the Americans had dropped on Japan only two years before. Durov and two of the scientists had immediately gone back through the Stargate to report, and General Abramovich had phoned Moscow directly to let them know.
Though the nuclear device had apparently been adapted from American designs, one of the scientists, Sarkolov, Sakharov, or something similar (Durov couldn't remember) had explained to the Colonel that it had had to be modified to accommodate the inclusion of the naquadah. Supposedly this was a good thing as they didn't have as much uranium fuel as they wanted, and the naqudah was heavier, which the scientist had described as a good thing. The zeal with which he spoke of his work was somewhat concerning to Durov, and Sakharov had launched into a longer monologue, little of which Durov understood. Later on though, Sergeant Lavrentiev, their new plasmatics specialist had explained it to the Colonel with a metaphor. Essentially the naquadah they'd recovered from the Abydosian mine had been like crude oil. Technically one could use it for fuel, or in this case explode it, but actually it was necessary to refine it first, so it could be used in something like a petrol engine. This also meant though that their need for naquadah was even more apparent, which led to their current mission.
"Activation!" shouted the technical officer in charge of the dialling sequence.
The blue energy of the Stargate shot out like a stone hitting a pool of water.
The robotic probe went forward, monitored from a station to the side of the Stargate.
"Atmospheric and temperature readings normal sir." Announced the technician, "All readings good."
"SG-1! A-2! Move out!" Durov ordered, and he strode forward followed by his team.
The flashes of light that always accompanied 'gate travel were brief as always, and they stepped out to a temperate setting, stony ground but a variety of trees and bushes. In front of them Durov saw the forest becoming thicker, but behind he saw only small shrubs and a few low hills.
"Alright." He said, "A-2, you're here. Send the probe back for analysis and secure the Stargate."
"I'd like to get a man up on one of those hills sir." Said A-2's captain.
"It's that or climb a tree." Durov agree with a smile and started walking away.
"Doesn't look much like a depot." Muttered Chaya behind him.
"We'll see." Durov replied.
And they did, or rather, they didn't because they found nothing for most of the morning. A-2 radioed in and reported that they thought someone was watching them from the trees, but after calling in more Regimentals from the Base Durov decided they were reasonably secure and continued his investigation.
They stopped to eat by a large lake. The forest had turned to almost mangroves, and Igor said it looked tidal, judging by the beach they saw. Nevertheless, they'd found almost nothing of significance, apart from a few tracks that were too old to tell whether they were animal or person. The water was fresh, and Durov went to refresh himself, kneeling by the water and refilling his canteen.
"Sir!"
Durov turned, hand going to his pistol.
A sudden roar came from behind him and they all sprang up, food abandoned and hands on weapons. An Unas was standing, waving a bone club and shouting in their rough language, gesticulating at Durov.
The Colonel stood slowly, canteen abandoned, but his pistol still not drawn. "Slowly everyone…" he said, "But shoot him if he does charge."
The Unas roared again, jumping over a little ditch and waving his club again. He, for Durov suspected it was a he, came closer to the Russian, moving sideways toward the water so that Durov had to move away to match him.
Oddly, the alien didn't actually seem hostile. Durov had shot plenty of them during the attack on Vulcan's base. In the first battle the Unas had been fighting intelligently, dodging and even seizing the weapons of the soldiers and using them as clubs. Later though, they'd been driven mad by Vulcan's wave generator. This Unas though was almost posturing… Perhaps he was.
Durov stood up, taking his hand off the pistol. "Weapons down." He said.
He saw hesitance out of the corner of his eye, but they did as he said.
The Unas regarded him with beady eyes, but it did lower its club somewhat.
Durov took a step toward the water, and the Unas made to move again.
"He's protecting the water." Igor said from the side.
"Yes thank you Igor. I realised that."
They stood silently for a few moments. Durov had prepared for this though.
"Keka Onac."
The Unas reacted instantly. He was so surprised he dropped his club. Then, beckoning the Colonel forward, he went to the water and knelt with his face nearby as he imitated drinking. However, he never opened his mouth.
Durov saw something in the water and made to move, but before he could the Unas' hand darted into the water and seized one of the Goa'uld parasites.
Durov swore and scrambled backwards. There were shouts of alarm behind him as the others rushed forward. To their disgust the Unas proceeded to rip into the creature, biting off its head with a single bite. He offered the rest to Durov, declined with a platitude.
The Colonel regarded his alien companion carefully. Based on the likelihood that the Unas of Elysium weren't actually from there but were transplanted by Vulcan as slaves like the humans were Durov had learnt some of the Unas' language. 'Ivan' had been of great help. Perhaps he could act as a liaison…
"Comrade-Colonel?" asked Commissar Kuznetsov. "He's got a necklace to prevent the Goa'uld from infesting him when he drinks."
Durov looked. Indeed, the Unas was wearing a set of bones around the back of his neck, almost exactly around where Gaius now had a scar when Vulcan had taken him as a host.
"It's not just an ornament. It's a defence. But their language is the same even after thousands of years…" Igor murmured. "I wonder how much they know?"
Durov thought for a moment. Then he went to the radio. "A-2, this is SG-1. Come in."
"A-2 here."
"Contact the SGC, I want the biologicals team here, as well as Ivan."
There was a brief pause. "Confirm? Who's Ivan sir?"
Of course the Regimentals wouldn't necessarily know who the Unas was. Durov explained it briefly.
"Finally, by my command authority, no outward travel from this planet until further notice. All travellers and cargo to be screened for Goa'uld infestation when coming from this planet, to either Elysium base or the SGC. Reinforce your position with men from either base before we get back, and when we do you'll take us into custody for the same inspection."
"Confirmed, no outbound travel. What's this all about sir? Should I advise Command of another base?"
"Negative," replied Durov, aware his team were watching him, "But the water here is teaming with Goa'uld. Make sure the biologicals team has some nets and protective equipment, we'll want samples."