Cui Bono?
The Ship had a bath.
And I`m not talking about a bathroom: I mean a real bath with multiple pools with warm or cold water and golden clad walls imitating arched architecture to give the room even more depth than it already had. Sinking back down into the water and immersing my hair under it for a moment as I hold my breath, it seemed I shouldn`t be surprised: Goa'uld's were creatures of comfort and a bath was not only comfortable, but also a luxury in an environment that lacked water for everyone else. Pushing my back through the surface of the water once more, I took a few calming breaths as I leaned up and steadied my head with one hand, closing my eyes as I tried to suppress the hammering headache raging in my head.
The evening with the resident Naval-Quartermaster Fark Natas had been enlightening, but if I could turn the time back for a few hours, I would try to stop myself from asking, why or rather how getting drunk worked as Goa'uld. It would be prudent to say that I wasn`t a fan of drinking before my surprising rebirth as an alien parasite and I still wasn`t really any good at holding the drinks…but at the same time Natas had shown a cheery excitement as soon as he had found out, that I hadn`t been drunk before yet and…well: it was hard to politely say no to some bottles he opened for that occasion and which were older than my grandfather in some cases. So we tried one vintage and then another, then one from a colder planet…one from a warmer planet, before finally topping that with some kind of rice spirit he got from the planet we are currently destined to travel to.
It`s enough to say, that I now know how to stop myself -my Goa'uld self that is- from cleansing the alcohol out of a hosts body as poison, which in and alone for itself has already been strange enough, but I also got to try out becoming sober again in a matter of minutes. That was quite possible, when trying to do so, but Natas was quite insistent that doing that right after the party would be a terrible waste of wine and after a look at bottles I did have to agree: even their crystal glass make, was more expensive than a small house on most worlds. As such the effect had been undiminished on me and my recall of the rest of the night was foggy…I`m quite sure than one of the Muses helped me back into my bed that night and that she stayed at my side during my sleep, till she helped me out of my bed, clothes and into the bath this morning.
Right now I simply leaned my head back and rested it against the border of the pool, soaking in the warm water as I reached to the side and pulled forward a little tablet one of the muses had left behind: a small collection of lotions and even soap spread out on it. Taking one of the small ceramic jars -better not to ask just where Fark finagled it from- I flicked the clasp on its top open and poured some of its content onto my palms, before starting to brush it over and into my hair. With a small sigh, I felt it clinging to the skin on my back; far longer than I had tended to keep it in my previous life and quite a bit longer than my host seemed to have preferred. Truthfully: it was getting annoyingly long and I had already played with the thought of cutting it shorter once or twice but…the black hair framing this strange face that looked back at me in the mirror, was one of the few features that were the same between my old and my new appearance.
Letting my hair go once again, I instead rubbed some of the lotion onto my shoulders and my lips tugged upwards ever so softly: if there was one good thing about this assignment, it would be the lack of weather inside of the carefully balanced ecosphere that made the ship habitable. Actually: I wouldn`t call it "carefully" balanced, after all: the water system of a Ha`tak wasn`t built to be as effective as possible – it also had to factor in the social standing of the crew and passengers- instead the distribution and re-using of the water was favouring the Goa'uld in the centre of the ship. Looking back -something that can take quite a while with a Goa'ulds memory- it`s actually quite surprising that the ship design of my race are truly our own design, even if derived from the Ancients.
Ducking down and submerging my head under the water once more, I relaxed as I got to enjoy the warmth surrounding me and let my thoughts wander once more: just how far was the Ha`tak a representation of Goa'uld society in miniature?
In the inhabited golden tetrahedron that was the core of the vessel, the whole hierarchy of the Goa'uld society was represented: In the middle of it was the Pel`tak –the Bridge- with the ornamented throne of the trierarchus and the console that was able to steer the ship: the court and centre of its life. Above it -in the tip of the Pyramid- were the quarters of the Ships captain and his officers, lifted -even geographically- over the rest of the crew, just like a Lord and his Lieutenants would be on a planet. Below them were the quarters I and the other Goa'uld, who were here as passengers and guests would be using, but this could also vary as being given a room above the bridge`s floor would show your importance (or the favour of the captain), while being given a room on the same floor as the guests, would be a slight towards a Goa'uld officer of the ship – most likely the reason why Fark was all alone a few doors further on this level.
Also in the centre of the pyramid and the furthest away from the exterior hull as possible, was the engine room and for the most part everyone was content with ignoring it and its contents: automatization was great, or?
Shielding the vital parts -and the people who thought themselves vital- to the functioning of the ship, were the barracks and quarters of the Jaffa -which also served as last ditch armour- and formed a clear boundary outwards, only broken by different hallways leading inwards and the ring systems that littered the body of the ship. The rest of the ship was divided between the bays for the different vessels a Ha'tak could transport in itself and the large cargo bays, in which good and humans were transported. Whatever space remained was filled with dozens of other functions, some tending to be more mundane like kitchens and armouries, while others formed the arcane net of subsystems and secondary control stations that were to be used in the case of an emergency or battle.
As I said: an Ha'tak, can be seen as a miniature social system, one that was shaped akin to the palace culture on planets and reinforcing itself thanks to the way it's build up. A typical phenomenon in Goa'uld society and one of those he hardest to break if I should eventually strife to do so...will I?
Childishly leaning down and pursing my lips before blowing some air into the water to create small little bubbles, I let out a small chuckle but stopped immediately as I heard the door opening behind me. Stiffening a little and leaning further into the water: submerging everything beneath my shoulders in the warm bath -it might not have been my body to begin with, but I sure wouldn't just let everyone peek at it, no matter how fashionable metal bikinis and silk currently are for female Goa'uld close to Apophis-. Gesturing towards the edge of the bath with one wet hand, showering the stone with small droplets of water, I said with controlled calmness to whichever of the muses had entered:
"Please put it down here...", whatever she was carrying, maybe a towel? "...I will call you, when I have finished my bath and am in need of your services. "
Thinking, that I had successfully send her out, before she could "help" me or do whatever Fark wanted her to do with me, as a trick for his own amusement. A small glace into my memory had shown: with both of us on the ship and me responsible for the supplies of the legion, I could strife to be his equal. Too bad, that this would involve trying to go over him at whatever chance possible to get better deals in a bid to marginalise his influence. With his centuries of experience, that didn't seem like something I could off, especially with him knowing all the suppliers in the territory of Apophis, as long as they had been on their positions for a decade or two. Warm water did seem to make me whimsy, but as long as his way of showing his superior station to me didn't escalate past a few pranks? I would simply think of myself as lucky for heaving a superior, whose tendency for backstabbing was appeased by a few practical pranks. In hindsight I'm quite sure that leading me through the process of enabling myself to be intoxicated was simply one of them.
Faintly aware, that the door hadn't opened and closed more again, I shifted lightly and pushed myself upwards to look behind me, even ad I began to speak with some annoyance:
"Haven't you heard me? Why are you still..."
My words died in my throat as I looked at the person who had brought me the towels -at least that part of my assumptions were right- the small and darkly tanned face of Var'tac was looking back at me, a slight flush visible at the little openings his stiff collar left and my ward was doing his best to look as calmly at me as possible. Which in turn only drove home, that I was standing with only some water clinging to my skin...and quickly lowered myself into the pool once more, giving him a small glare and hissing with golden eyes:
"What are you doing here? Hasn't Lateus send you home yesterday?"
The boy flinched slightly, clutching the small basket, he was carrying in his arms tightly and shook his head quickly, as he lowered it and replied:
"He did not Lady Anai…he contacted my parents and told them, that I was to accompany you on your travel: after all my place as your ward would be at your side…and as you didn`t call for any of your other servants at least I should follow you."
My mood, after having just improved thanks to the soothing bath, was plummeting once more at the mention of Lateus: I wasn`t going to dissolve into tears once more, but I was still forming fists with my hands as I thought of him. Was I supposed to be thankful for him sending Var'tac with me, or should I be angry as he deemed be servantless enough to send the boy, but not enough to follow me himself. But what the boy said sounded perfectly right for the way Lateus would see things...it wouldn't be fair to hold this against him... Fair: hah!
"Go to my room and wait there for me."
I commanded curtly and the young Jaffa quickly bowed before hurrying out of the room, leaving me to pushing myself out of the warm water and wrapping the towel around me. As I started to dry myself -and I have to say you only start to miss your fluffy towel, when you don't have it anymore- my eyes darted to the "bathrobe" laid out for me. I was always someone more inclined to showering than bathing, but as that didn't seem opulent enough for the Goa'uld -you can't make a massive golden shower after all- I did have to bath to clean myself and with that came the need to wear a bathrobe. I really should have taken the seamstress with me, even if you shouldn't bring more than two servants onboard. With a sigh I grasped the offending clothing peace and wrapped it around myself, the cloth snugly fitting and light enough to make me feel as if I wasn't wearing anything, to bad this also came with the fabric being in a soft nearly transparent blue that showcased your body instead of hiding it... Just how much of Goa'uld fashion was styled like this should make you guess a thing or two in regards to their view of or rather on their bodies.
Still; some robes were better than no clothes and were easily bound around my waist with a belt from the same material, before I started to head out of the bathroom. As the door towards the hallway opened, I was glad that shivering was one of the bodily functions a symbiont had no problem suppressing, the cool temperature of the hallway would have left me a less than divine image otherwise. Turning left towards my quarters I nearly ran into Var'tac, whose hands were still clinging to the basket as he looked around nervously: who wouldn't? At his age a Jaffa usually hadn't seen much more than the surrounsinf villages and maybe the central place in their region, but here he was: having travelled half across his homeplanet and now he was hovering above it, on the first step of a journey that would take him far away from his family and home. I had to remind myself: Goa'uld don't hug.
But they grab hair, so I slightly lend forward to ruffle through his hair, smirking at his perplexed expression, I quickly schooled my features again and gestured down the hallway, starting to walk as soon as he gave me a nod of understanding. At least I was alone right now, not only is unisex a good way to describe the Goa'uld take on dedicated sanitary rooms, but I also wasn't sure if I had been able to master the art of walking around majestetically in nothing more than a bathrobe and on bare soles.
"Are you afraid?"
The question made the boys face scrunch up for a moment...at least till he schooled his face into a brave expression once more and shook his head, replying simply:
"A Jaffa does not know fear."
An adorable sentiment, so utterly wrong and right at the same time. But subjecting young boys to Socrates usually didn't help much, so I simply continued on to my quarters, the door opening as we stepped closer and letting us in. Compared to my quarters on the planet, it was smaller, but on a space going vessel which only had so much space it was one of the respectable ones. A large bed, with a wooden block to put under your head when resting, and my own pillow on top of it were filling most of the room, whose bright golden walls were already starting to hurt my eyes, while a table for me to worn on and a few racks for scrolls were taking the rest of the place available. Var'tac was already moving to the back, were a slimmer door opened to a closet, in which not only my luggage and clothing were stored, but also a small bed for a servant or in this case: my ward. With his back turned towards me, I unceremoniously dropped onto the mattress as I didn't need to keep up appearances for him anymore...not that I did have much time to do so anyway. The reason for this was lying on the table: sparkling with gold on its Sigel, the scroll pompously announced the upcoming arrival of Lord Tihrak, chosen commander of the Tihrak Legion -a number system was deemed too lifeless, a name after region was hard as some legions put up multiple legions and naming the unit you are commanding after yourself was totally in line with the usual Goa`uld flattered of themselves-, Warden of Keassor and victor of Al`ein; at least those were the highlights.
The sounds coming from the neighbouring room were telling that the boy was busy unlocking and opening the few chests that carried my belongings and gathering one of the outfits or rather costumes that I had to wear. Pushing some of the damp hair behind my ear, I rolled over before swinging myself out of the bed once more, leaving its comfort behind as I stepped towards my working place and rolled a few scrolls open, staring at the numbers:
"Four thousand Jaffa, eight Maniples and one room for each of them, washing rooms and other facilities are grouped per maniple and four supply stations are spread out in the lower Area between them; each of them responsible for two of the room complexes and interconnected with rings towards the central depot, which in turn has its own central position, with minor rooms grouped around it to hold different kind of spoilable foodstuff, food stock etc."
Normally a legion like this wouldn`t have been recruited right of the same area and be put under one commander's orders, who would then choose his cronies to take command of the smaller formations. Splitting the Maniples each into a room and sharing minor supply depots between two of them was usually made to make it easier to hold apart which supplies went into which direction and into whose pocket. But when a legion was truly unified, it made the whole thing a minor pain for the one organizing all of it…and as I was the one responsible for it, it fell on me to count and guess just how much grain and flesh we would need per day, per room and per Jaffa (so one could later simply calculate what the daily need was, by taking this number per the number of living Jaffa). Farmers with iron tools would grew the grain, which would be taken upwards onto our ship by freighters or ring-teleporters, before strong muscled Jaffa carried the grain off into depots and each morning they had to use hand driven mills to get the grain small enough to make a porridge or paste out of it. Jaffa were thankfully rather hard to poison and after a small inspection of the supplies we had already been given, I was quite sure that the pure variety of cheese the ship had stored, would have seriously hampered any human army thanks to the different ways they were made and matured.
On a ship the meals were the dreariest ones: at least for Jaffa: you could neither warm them as a fire would put unnecessary strain on the life-systems -expectations could of course be made if one of us ever got the fancy of a barbecue party- nor was much living livestock available as no one wanted to deal with the pure amount of shit a herd or two could put out. Meanwhile I had a fridge somewhere in the depot reserved just for me -or so Fark had told me- and could store whatever exotic things I found on a planet to either eat it myself, trade it to one of the other officers or use it to bribe someone whose good will would be important to me.
With each day's ration being roughly a little less than a kilogram, or three bronze weights of Ra, of grain with additional things added depending on our overall situation and the last planet we visited, we would need 12.000 Bronze weights of grain per day, which would mean 720.000 weights for two months, with at least half the number being used for the amount of two thousand slaves we were planning to take along for various purposes. Outside of the ship, smaller vessels were flying up and down or simply forming a line of ring transports, that allowed to quickly shift the grain up and down, while modified Al`kesh were being flown towards our hull and docked with the ships own silo`s, pumping the grain inside of them, while other Jaffa had to somehow secure the hundreds of amphora of cheap wine that resembled vinegar more closely than anything else. Thankfully this all fell under Fark`s administrative chores and this left me with a pleasant little trip downstairs to inspect the arrangements that had been made for the Jaffa that were going to have to bunk in this ship for at least a week or two.
Putting my scrolls to the side once more -together with the list that said how many foodstuffs would have to be given to the different supplies for each day and who was going to be supposed to get them from the depot and of course who was responsible for checking that everything was arriving downstairs and nothing disappeared on the way to our warrior- I turned to see Var`tac returning with my clothes, spreading them out on the bed and making sure that none of them was going to get wrinkles, while spreading some scented water onto them and then bowing towards me, before standing next to it with his hands in his lap and a making a rather good impression of my last assistant…curse him and that blasted planet. With a sigh I moved over to the bed and then looked at the boy, raising an eyebrow….at which point he started to fidget lightly but didn`t react until I made a light gesture towards his small room/my wardrobe, giving me some privacy as I pulled the dress on, reaching for the comb and starting to straighten my hair a little before starting to add my only vestige of Goa`uld fashion sense: silky ribbons that I brushed into my hair as I set it out in a long braid and which were not interwoven in it and weighted on both sides with small golden and silver pieces, making small clinking sounds with my every step as I finally slipped into a pair of comfortable sandals and let out a small whistle. It was hardly divine, but in my opinion it was still a better choice than raising my Goa`uld voice till I cried for Var`tac straight through a wall and a door: even my small doubts of this being more fitting to call a dog then a child, had subsided after a while. As he trotted out of his chamber once more and gave my dress a small glance, before looking down at the floor again, I reflected that it was quite strange: being able to whistle was indeed one of the changes that had struck out a little bit more to me, as I never did or could do it in my former life…I just hoped I wasn`t going to do it at every chance I got now: I might get through with it as I was a goddess, but getting labelled eccentric by other Goa`uld? That might be even more embarrassing than the barely disguised tries of my superiors to call me stupid.
Walking towards the door with the smaller steps sounding behind me, I sighed once more and stepped onto the corridor, turning towards the next ring transport and softly repeating my question from before:
"Are you afraid?"
My voice echoed through the empty corridor as we traversed it, Var`tac at my side and his face once more shifting into the grimace of a young boy trying to keep a straight face and a brave façade because he didn`t want to disappoint…his goddess. Shacking my head lightly I turned to him once more, putting my voice down and asking:
"Did you visit your parents before Lateus send you up to me?"
The tightening of his lips and the small shake together with the look in his eyes made me want to strangle the older Jaffa…but that wouldn`t help now and Var`tac was barely older than my cousins son…and far less whiny thankfully. A small smile tugged on my lips, making quickly hide it even as I wanted to simply reach out and ruffle his hair and say him that everyone was going to be good again. Instead I only nodded lightly and continued to stride further with my hands on my back:
"You are going to write them a letter…with three copies: you can train your writing and we can give them to someone before the ships takes off in three days: I expect your glyphs to be better this time Var`tac."
A small bow once more was my only answer together with some mumbled thanks and I wondered if I had left the boy alone with Lateus for too long or if this was his way of falling back onto familiar and safe patterns. Compared to the way I had been fussing over his collar only a few days ago, skirting the behaviour that was appropriate for my role, and watched him help with the bakery…he could as well have been lying face first on the floor in prayer this far apart were we now.
The ring teleporter elected a small gasp of surprise from him and even to me it was quite amazing to move the distances inside of the ship effortlessly and without using any time. Compared to the officer quarters I had been before the hallway before us was blank and featureless: smooth walls with only the occasional history were lining our walk as we headed towards the first room. Stopping before it, I instead moved to the side, slipping into another smaller hallway, that as leading towards another door, behind which the depot for the third and fourth maniple lay. Opening it, I already found myself greeted by rows upon rows of amphora resting in wooden holdings, while grain piled up till to the roof, the sacks emitting an earthy scent that was reminding me of the fields I had measured back on the planet and from the way Var`tac was trembling…he remembered it too. Before I knew it, I had taken a seat on one of the grain sacks that were just about the right height, stretching out my legs and giving him a small glance as I gestured toward another sack opposite of mine, my voice echoing in the empty room and my hand running over a counter that usually served to shield the Jaffa scribe giving out the rations from the men.
"Sit."
The boy`s eyes went up to mine and then at the sack again and with another small sigh, I toned down my voice and gave it a more…human infliction, trying to smile ever so weakly:
"Sit down Var`tac, I think we need to talk about this."
With his features showing surprise for a moment, before he lowered his head and slumped onto the sack, for once seeming more like a sulky child than…whatever else he usually was: a mini servant? Tilting my head to the side, I closed my eyes before crossing my arms and asking softly: "What did Lateus tell you?"
"That…that you had been given an audience by Lord Zipacna and the Highest Scribe of Lord Apophis himself…and that were chosen to accompany the warriors of our home to the stars to reclaim our Lords just heritage."
A dry laugh slipped of my lips and Var`tac only looked up confused, as he didn`t see the source of my amusement. I simply couldn`t decide if the old Jaffa had used Var`tacs youth to make him believe the "official" interpretation of the events, or if he himself had believed this fully. If it was the former my temptation of shoving him around with a hand device had become more attractive once again…but in the latter case? Pity might be the only thing you could show someone this thoroughly loyal then. Seeing Var`tac hesitate I shook my head to dispel his worry and gestured for him to carry on, which he did with a more halting voice:
"He told me that your star was rising as bright as the twin suns of our home and that Lord Apophis himself did show interest in you…he said that I couldn`t wish for a better mistress and that I would bring my family honour by following you…that it was important for you to have someone with you when going to war and…"
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then show a brief glance of loathing…directed at no one else but him, before he continued to speak in a firmer voice:
"…and that I should be ready to defend you with my life, as would be my duty as the single Jaffa sworn to you on this ship.", hastily he added: "Not that I can call myself a warrior yet, I haven`t taken part in a campaign yet…but…I would be ready to do everything in my power to serve and protect you Lady Anai."
Was that delusion…or experience speaking out of the words that Var`tac was repeating? How should I feel that Lateus seemed to have feed the boy a story that seemed at the same time heroic and promising for him and his family…while swearing the boy in the "protect me" and I was quite sure that I could imagine just what kind of protection he was intended to be…
"I commend you Var`tac and I`m glad to retain your services…I would have preferred to do so with the knowledge of your family and their blessing, but if you feel this…strongly about it, letters will have to suffocate for now."
Standing up and brushing the dust of my dress, I walked towards the door and looked over my shoulder, my voice once more deepening as I saw the light smile, pride shining in his eyes: I called him nonetheless, my voice once more regaining its haughty tone:
"Come Var`tac, we need to count the amount of blankets and personal store room set aside for each warrior."
This wasn`t what I had in mind when I pulled him down for a more personal talk and keeping him on board wasn`t what I wanted either…but I had changed my decision for his sake: he would be broken if I decided to leave him on Chulak now, especially after everything Lateus had filled into his head and if I send him back now -most likely after the old Jaffa had told everyone about how I had chosen Var`tac to accompany me and how his family should feel honoured- this would only come back as a negative mark on him and his whole family. At least that was what I was thinking…or telling myself: just why…why couldn`t I shake of the feeling that I was doing this more for myself than for him?