CHAPTER 11
CHULAK, 19 NOVEMBER 1998, LATER THAT DAY...
Apophis, Supreme System Lord of the Goa'uld, sat upon his golden throne, surrounded and protected by his elite Serpent Guards, awaiting the arrival of the intriguing prisoner captured the day before by his First Prime, Sebe't. Sebe't had sent word from the prison, informing him of the escape attempt made by the prisoner, in which the creature exhibited some very peculiar powers. He scowled. I will know the source of those powers, Apophis thought to himself. And what other unknown powers this creature may possess.
Shortly afterward, the great doors of his immense and opulent audience chamber opened, and Sebe't came in, followed by a large and wary group of Jaffa escorting the prisoner, who was heavily bound in chains to prevent any attempt at escape. Apophis watched as the group traversed the distance between the doors and the dais on which sat his throne, then came to a halt before him.
"Kneel before your god, Prisoner!" Sebe't ordered. Two of the Jaffa grabbed the prisoner and roughly forced him to his knees.
The prisoner looked up, and Apophis could now see his face...vaguely human-like in appearance, but with ridged, mottled skin and a mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth. The creature, he could see, had no hair at all, and wore a black uniform of some kind. The prisoner, in turn, looked up at Apophis, and laughed.
"You say this is your god?" he managed, between guffaws. "He is nothing more than human slime, like yourselves!"
Apophis's eyes glowed reddish gold with rage at this insult. He stood up. "Silence!" he growled, and held up his left hand, on which he wore the Kara Kesh, a gold, forearm-length glove with a red gem in the center of the palm. A fiery, reddish gold beam lanced out of that gem, striking the insolent creature in the forehead. The creature howled in agony.
"Now," Apophis said, "you will pay for your insolence. And then I will know what you know." Apophis, even as he tortured the creature, used the beam to establish a neural interface with the creature's mind. He smiled as he began to assimilate the information there.
Subcommander Kormok had never experienced such agony in his life. It felt like every nerve ending in his body was being bathed in corrosive acid. Yet somehow he knew that, while excruciatingly painful, this particular torture would not be fatal, and could be prolonged almost indefinitely. Fear welled up within him.
Then he felt the human...Kromaggs did not believe in such figments of superstitious nonsense as "gods"...begin to enter his mind. He felt it probing him, stealing his secrets from him. He summoned up all his strength and tried to block the alien intrusion out.
Apophis staggered back, temporarily releasing the creature from the torture beam, as he felt his mind probe forcibly repelled by the creature's mind. What sort of creature are you, who can expel the mind probe of the Kara Kesh, he thought to himself. He looked into the creature's eyes, and he saw that it was smiling at him. Then he felt the creature enter HIS mind.
Kormok smiled at the human as he projected images of the power of the Kromagg Dynasty into its mind. Sweeping vistas of desolated, depopulated worlds, where the Kromaggs had exterminated the human vermin they found there. Images of humans...very much like Apophis himself...in chains, serving as slave labor on Kromagg prison worlds. This will be your fate, Human, he whispered into the other's mind.
Then Apophis reactivated the torture device, and the creature howled again. "No, Kromagg," he said, recovering himself. "It will not."
Apophis saw the confused expression on the face of his First Prime, Sebe't, who stood nearby. He laughed. "The creature has the ability to project his thoughts into the minds of others. He attempted to take control of my mind. He failed."
"Apophis is god!" Sebe't exclaimed. "Truly, you are all-powerful, my lord!"
Apophis smiled. He turned up the intensity of the torture beam and the creature twitched and spasmed with agony so intense it almost couldn't breathe. It gasped for breath, then fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Shall we take this creature for execution now, lord?" Sebe't asked.
Apophis had learned enough, during his own mind probe and during the creature's attempt to seize control of his own mind, to realize that this creature was possessed of some very special gifts. He smiled. No, he had other plans for this creature.
"Have him prepared. I will take him for my host this very day."
Sebe't bowed. "Praise be to Apophis! Blessed be his name! It shall be done, lord!" He barked some quick orders to the other Jaffa, and then accompanied them as they took the creature away to be prepared for the joining. Apophis watched them go.
Yes, he thought to himself. You will make an excellent host. He smiled. And then I will know everything you know, whether you will it nor not.