2
Siberian Stargate Facility
Danyev didn't often resort to the dramatic, pragmatism was more his field, but even he had to admit with no overstatement that he was a changed man, that in the matter of just a few minutes every aspect of his life had changed. He hadn't expected it or gone looking for such a shift in perspective, but now it had happened he couldn't help but feel glad. Looked for or not part of him had wanted something like this, some massive jolt to lift him out of the normal world and into something spectacular. It was beyond his wildest dreams, yet something he longed for. Best of all it had found him.
He closed the door to General Necheyev's office barely containing his delight. The shock was gone and the responsibility had yet to set in, rather it was now euphoria that ruled him and Danyev savoured it. This was an adventure, a chance to do something future generations would look back on and remember. He was a pioneer, and while he didn't know exactly what he was going to be doing he knew even menial jobs had great importance in this scheme.
It was a long four seconds before he noticed he wasn't alone. Standing before him was a uniformed woman, simple forage cap balanced on her tied up blond hair and an unimpressed expression worn on her face. Most notable though were her eyes, a shade of blue so pale in looked like an icy morning.
"Captain?" She enquired.
"Yes, yes Captain Danyev." He picked himself up, trying to look somewhat more professional.
"Lieutenant Anna Necheyeva." She introduced. "And yes, I am related."
"To the General?" Danyev caught the name.
"My Father." She nodded. "If you will follow me we have prepared your quarters." She turned on her heel. "Anytime Comrade."
With no further delay he set off, falling into pace beside the cool looking female. While quite plain her uniform was immaculate and her posture perfect, a fine example of an officer who took pride in her role.
"If I may ask, what is your role on this base Lieutenant?"
"You may ask Comrade Captain, you are a superior officer and an officer of the KGB."
He waited a moment, realising that he did have to actually make it a direct question. He had a definitely feel she was toying with him. Oddly he didn't mind one bit.
"What is your role on this base Lieutenant?"
"I am the gatekeeper." She said with clear pride.
"And what does that involve?"
"I monitor gate activity, schedule activations, change the angle of the gate on its rig as needed, and secure it in case of hostile activation."
"You mean in case an alien tries to walk through here?"
"Correct Captain, the gate is a two way device." She replied. "We cannot prevent them linking to us, but we can prevent them surviving the process."
"How do you manage that?"
"That Comrade I will answer a little later, for now I must show you your room."
They walked across the control room again, Danyev taking back his coat and accoutrements before walking out into the covered facility, Necheyeva not bothering to change her duty uniform.
"Are you not cold Lieutenant?"
"You get used to it." She smiled a little. "And the dormitory is just here, a short walk."
She walked calmly across to another bland grey single level building with tiny slit windows high on the walls and a heavy door at the entrance.
"All these buildings can serve as bunkers or pill boxes." She stated casually. "Just in case we ever have a foot hold situation, that is an alien force breaching the gate."
"Like Ra?"
"Yes." She agreed. "Of course if things go wrong we have Ivan."
"Who's Ivan?"
"The big black cube you passed on the way in." She grinned. "Two hundred and fifty megatons of us having the last word."
He glanced at the gate as he walked across to his new home.
"So that thing survived having a nuclear bomb detonate on top of it?"
"So I am told." Anna nodded. "Though it took ten months to find it again combing through the debris. Quite a surprise for the recovery team."
"So this Naquadah is tough stuff?"
"Gate grade stuff is yes, but we haven't been able to refine any material to that quality yet." She answered. "Though we have discovered a few interesting uses for less refined material. The gate could survive a nuke, yet when we tried to repeat the test with lower grade Naquadah… well the results were rather explosive."
"How explosive?"
"In enhanced the explosion, fed the bomb and massively increased its yield. The observers were lucky to survive. Make no mistake Captain, every aspect of this job is dangerous and holds surprises both pleasant and grim. Even routine work can swiftly turn deadly."
"No such thing as a normal day then?"
She turned and gave him a smile. "Well put Comrade Captain. Step inside."
It was surprise the dormitory doubled as a bunker. Its walls were thick and corridors narrow with ten sets of doors on either side providing accommodation for the inhabitants. Only the most essential staff, those directly involved with gate operations on an intensive basis were assigned rooms within the facility, most support staff lived outside in a facsimile of normal life.
"Here is your room." She opened the third door on the right. "Everything you need is already in there, spare clothes, stocked fridge and cupboards, access to the town entertainment channels. Take a little while to settle in."
It reminded him a lot of a hotel room, not a bad one and quite spacious with cooking facilities, a table to eat at and a writing desk. The couch was the type that unfolded into a bed and his wardrobes were set into the wall. All things considered it was better than he had expected and not much of a step down from his old apartment in central Moscow.
"You'll find a mix of casual clothes and duty uniforms in your wardrobe." Anna listed. "If you don't feel like cooking the mess hall serves food regularly to the off duty staff." She raised a mischievous eyebrow. "You can cook can't you Captain?"
"When I have to." He replied carefully.
"There's also a fire extinguisher next to the cooker, just in case your skills are a little…rusty." Anna beamed.
"Very thoughtful Lieutenant." Danyev winked back.
"Off duty you can explore the town, you may requisition a car fom the motor pool, take a drive, see the sights."
"Such as they are." Danyev shrugged. "Pretty small place."
"You are used to Moscow Comrade, but it is not so bad." Anna returned. "We have a theatre with its own orchestra. We have a cinema, a few restaurants, a fair selection of shops and our own TV station. It is a good place to live."
"How long have you been here?"
"All my life." She answered. "Well, as long as I remember. I was five when my Father was stationed here, and it is all I know."
"I am sorry to hear that."
"No Comrade, don't be sorry." She answered genuinely. "I had a good school, many friends my own age, and now I have a very important job. One I have earned I might add, not simply because of my family connections."
"I do not doubt it Lieutenant." Danyev quickly responded. "I just meant there is so much you haven't seen beyond these walls."
"And so much I have seen that no one outside these walls ever has, perhaps never will." Anna tilted her head. "it is a different world and a different life, but as you will see it leaves little time for dwelling on regrets. It is far too exciting."
So tossed him the keys to the front door.
"Relax a while Comrade, you have four hours until you head out through the gate."
"I will, see what can be…" He paused mid thought, his brain finally clicking. "…What did you say?"
"Colonel Ivanov will be around to pick you up, wear something temperate." She backed out wearing a huge grin. "I'll be ready to open the gate for you Comrade Captain. Four hours."
The time did not go swiftly, Konstantin Danyev, Captain of the KGB, was altogether quite unsure of himself. He was expecting a staged buildup, gradually learning more and more about the workings of the base and the programme before finally leaving Earth. Instead he was about to be thrown in at the deep end and he had absolutely no idea what to expect. Apprehension and fear mixed with intense curiosity and excitement. He dearly wanted to travel through the gate and sample the mysteries beyond, he just wasn't sure he wanted to do it five hours after learning about the damn thing in the first place.
While the gate and the staggering information he learned was naturally present in his mind, he also found his brain devoting a hefty amount of time to Anna Necheyeva which was a distraction he really didn't need right now. Granted she was young and knock out pretty, and she certainly seemed to have a fun side to her personality, but she was also the child of a three time Hero of the Soviet Union, a man who looked like he ate young officers like Danyev for starters before moving onto a main course of broken glass and rusty nails.
Like the gate he thought of her with much the same mix of excitement and fear, which was starting to become a trademark of this place. In the end though he had to put aside his concerns and find some suitable attire, finding the clothes in the wardrobe a perfect fit no doubt thanks to his personal details being transmitted to the base command staff. He dressed in plain military fatigues and waited counting the minutes until that appointed hour arrived. The first knock on the door sounded the instant the small clock on his desk struck the hour.
Danyev opened the door, hoping he looked a lot more composed than he felt, finding Ivanov's broad frame draped in green camouflage waiting for him.
"So you are still here? Good, we were taking bets on whether or not you would just run in the vague direction of Moscow."
"I'm touched."
"You will be glad to know I put ten roubles on you staying. So thank you."
"That much?" Danyev broke a smile. "I commend you on your faith in me Comrade Colonel."
"You are welcome." Ivanov laughed. "So, ready?"
"More or less."
"That is good enough." The officer confirmed. "Come this way, we're going to walk fifty billion miles in about five seconds."
They swiftly walked out of the dormitory, Danyev attempting to match the Colonel's confident stride.
"Little nervous?" He asked back.
Danyev exhaled. "So obvious?"
"It's only to be expected, this is something entirely untried." Ivanov offered supportively. "I can tell you it is the safest way to travel. Little disorientating but you'll get used to it."
They returned to the hazily lit facility, the expansive concrete roof crossed with supports and conduits. Before them the gate itself held upright on two fixed cranes embedded into the ground, draped with wires.
"Where are we going Colonel?"
"Just a short hop to our main listening post, then a little skip to an uninhabited, before a jump back home. Just an hour or two and you need do nothing. This is just to show you what we do, call it a pleasure trip."
Danyev wasn't sure he'd have picked those exact words.
"We have several bases off world, each with different roles." Ivanov stated. "Some purely military, some commercial, some diplomatic."
"We have diplomatic relations with alien races?"
"Quite a few." Ivanov nodded. "Some are quite advanced, a lot of your work will involve…"
He was interrupted by a siren coupled with a grinding noise from the gate.
"Alert, unscheduled activation, alert!"
He recognised Anna's voice over the speakers, prompting the score of soldiers around the dark metal ring to drop what they were doing and assume a defensive posture.
"What is that?" Danyev asked. "Someone coming through?"
"Yes, someone not on the timetable." Ivanov grunted. "Either one of our off world teams in trouble or an alien power. Either way it's usually trouble."
"Clear the gate!" The speakers called again. "Initiating lock down!"
A pair of soldiers quickly ran up and grabbed the metal ramp leading up to the spinning device, grabbing a corner each and dragging it aside. As the did so the two cranes holding the gate tilted forwards, rotating the large alien construct so it faced the ground. Then they simply lowered it to the floor, pushing it flat into an area of crisp sand the gate had been resting above.
"I can see you are going to ask." Ivanov began. "We found out that if you put something in front of the gate, directly in front of it I mean, nothing can come through."
"Like shutting a door?" Danyev asked. "They get trapped on the other side?"
"Sort of." Ivanov confirmed. "Only these connections are one way, they can't go back the way they came and they can't step out on this side."
"Where do they go?"
Ivanov shrugged. "I don't know, lost between worlds forever."
Danyev looked at the gate, the familiar puddle forming but the explosion of energy outwards negated by the ground. The concept frightened him, sounding a lot like limbo.
"What if they are our own people?"
"Then we should be receiving a message anytime now." Ivanov said. "Radio signals can pass through, and so can radiation which is a slight concern."
"Code confirmed. Friendly team inbound." Anna announced. "Standby for contact!"
"That means they're in trouble." Ivanov grimaced. "Defence teams, guns ready! Dimitry, bring Sasha over here!"
One of the T34's with the name 'Sasha' stencilled on the turret revved up in a cloud of black smoke, Ivanov darting forward to observe the preparations. A pair of Dushka heavy machine guns were noisily cocked behind sand bag bunkers as the ring was stood up and the ramp hastily replaced.
"Watch your fire, look for our boys!" Ivanov warned.
As Danyev moved cautiously closer, well aware he was unarmed, the gate suddenly rippled as a bolt of light tore through, soaring across the distance and impacting against the control rooms armoured front. He involuntarily ducked as several more followed it, realising that he was looking at some sort of alien gunfire.
"Steady!" Ivanov reminded. "Wait for the order."
Two men suddenly arrived, both in white combat gear for arctic operations. One was carrying the other on his shoulders, the wounded comrade's white uniform slicked red with blood. At once two of the defence squad ran forward and helped them, pulling the exhausted arrivals away and out of the line of fire. A third man backed through, his rifle smoking as he staggered backwards and then quickly turned and ran.
"Close it! Close it!"
Before anything else could happen two more figures arrived, figures that definitely were not Russian soldiers. They wore chain mail with scaled metal breast plates and greaves covering their shins. In their hands they held long staff weapons with glowing gold tips and upon their foreheads bore tattoos. They appeared human, but even though he had never seen them before Danyev knew they were not of this Earth. He glimpsed them only for a second before the heavy machine guns stuttered to life.
The armour was no match for heavy calibre bullets and both warriors dropped like stones, splashes of blood disappearing as they touched the glowing portal behind. Five more soldiers made it through before the power was cut, each of them running straight into the crossfire from the pair of guns thumping bullets from cover. The final warrior toppled back as the gate closed, the top half of his body vanishing entirely leaving just his lower torso and legs on the ramp which twitched for a moment. Danyev turned away and fought hard not to bring his breakfast back for a second viewing.
"Clear!" Ivanova barked. "Maintenance team, clear these bodies! And bring a bucket and mop!"
The Colonel stepped out of cover, several of the nearby troops overtaking him and rushing up the ramp, prodding the bodies to make sure they were dead. After receiving a point blank barrage from the .50 calibre weapons there was little doubt, but they always had to check. Ivanov made for the last man through the gate who offered a crisp salute.
"Stand easy Major, what happened?"
"We found the enemy target sir, it arrived before we could establish ourselves and they caught us out in the open."
"How many would you say?"
"Over a thousand Jaffa."
Ivanov nodded. "What about the primary target?"
"We confirmed it Colonel." The Major stated. "Both primary and secondary targets are there and will be for at least five days."
"Time enough." Ivanov nodded. "Mikhail?"
"No sir." The Major shook his head. "Not this time."
"You followed protocol?"
"I did, they will not be able to revive his body."
He nodded grimly. "Not an easy task, my condolences Major. He was a good operator."
"His sacrifice will not be in vain, the mission is within our grasp."
"General Konev will be eager to here that. He is in a meeting with General Necheyev, I expect he is waiting for you."
"Then I will go."
He looked across at his wounded team mate, currently being whisked away on a stretcher to the medical facility.
"He'll be fine." Ivanov assured. "Make your report."
He straightened. "At once sir."
"And don't worry Sergei, we'll make sure those snakes pay for Mikhail."
Ivanov turned back too the gate as the clean up crew drabbed away the armoured bodies, catching Danyev from the corner of his eye.
"The enemy Comrade Captain." He announced. "Jaffa Warriors, foot soldiers of the Goa'uld."
"Do they all look like that?" He asked hesitantly.
"The armour? Yes." Ivanov confirmed. "But you saw they had energy weapons too. Pack quite a punch, our body armour can't stop them. Course they can't hit Tsar Bell from three feet away."
They watched one of the bodies being carried past.
"They are fanatical, believe the Goa'uld are their gods." Ivanov said. "Good warriors, poor soldiers. In large numbers or in hand to hand they are a threat. But in a real battle, they are tank fodder. Hey, come look at this."
He paused by the severed lower torso of the last jaffa, Danyev keeping his distance.
"Closer, look."
Danyev leaned in a bit more as Ivanov grabbed something from the disgusting mess the gate and left behind. He detached himself from the gruesome scene as the Colonel picked something soft from the remains and held it up. His revulsion was quickly replaced.
"Bloody…"
"This Captain is a Goa'uld, this little snake thing." He wiggled the dead creature. "This is a little one, they use the Jaffa as walking incubators until they grow up. Then they take a host, grapple onto your brain and fly you like a MIG."
"That is what the General said." Danyev nodded. "Like parasites."
"Exactly, but very long lived thanks to their technology." The Colonel nodded. "The main lords are thousands of years old, very cunning and dangerous foes. This, Comrade, is their true face."
He dropped the symbiot and crushed it under his boot.
"Just to be sure it's dead." He said. "Never turn your back on one, you can kill the carrier but the snake may survive, and then make you its next home."
"And these little things rule the galaxy?"
"Well a big chunk of it using humans kept in ignorance to do it. Compared to us they are pretty rare, but control their populations very effectively, very brutally. Even Stalin could have learned something from these creatures."
"Attention." Anna's voice called out again on loudspeakers. "Scheduled departure underway."
"That's us." Ivanov smiled. "Back on the clock eh?"
he spotted two armed men heading for the gate, one holding an extra set of weapons. He beckoned them over.
"Here Dmitry, right on time."
Danyev stepped aside, allowing the final remains to be hauled away and a bucket of water poured down to wash away the clumpy red coating left behind. He didn't dwell on it.
"We shouldn't need weapons." Ivanov announced, strapping on combat webbing and taking his rifle from the two junior soldiers. "But you never know. We'll get you a side arm when we get back."
Danyev didn't argue, his mind hadn't reached the possibility of getting blown to atoms by alien ray guns yet, it was still concerned with getting dissected by a gate shutting when he was only halfway through.
"How long do they stay open for Colonel?"
"Up to thirty eight minutes." He answered. "They are pretty smart, they don't close until everyone nearby is through. Quite safe."
"Unless we pull the plug ourselves." He mused.
"Yes." Ivanov answered. "And you don't want to back into one, as I said it is only one way travel. We don't know exactly what happens, but you wouldn't survive it."
"No offense Colonel but this is looking more and more dangerous."
"Well who wants to be totally safe?" Ivanov chuckled. "Oh, and don't stand to close when it activates. That big blast of energy? Just erases whatever it touches. I saw someone stand too close once, all we found were his boots and a could of smoking ankles."
"Important safety tip, thank you Colonel."
"Just here to educate and inform." Ivanov laughed.
The gate began to turn, each light activating in sequence as he had seen before, but this time it was activating for him. His tension rose with each passing light, the ease of his comrades not helping.
"The Lieutenant is activating it remotely." Ivanov offered a commentary. "But if we wanted we could use the pedestal over there, same effect."
With a final lock the gate exploded once more, appearing no different to the incoming vortex. He was immensely scared, but couldn't just stand there, not with dozens of soldiers staring at him.
"Go ahead Captain." Ivanov nodded. "One small step for man…"
The KGB officer moved onto the ramp, his mouth dry, his eyes stinging, his heart racing like speeding locomotive. Each step brought it nearer, the event horizon liquid yet seemingly impenetrable. He waited for just a heartbeat on the brink of the aperture, steeling his nerves before closing his eyes, holding his breath, and jumping.
The result was not like jumping into a swimming pool as he expected. Instead he was catapulted through a crescendo of light and reality, a whirling winding tunnel that he barely comprehended, his consciousness refusing hands down to believe any of this. The sensory feast was over before he could savour it and he emerged into sunlight, stumbling as his knees gave way in utter shock. He found himself bent double, panting and chilled to the bone.
"I remember my first time." Ivanov stood beside him utterly casual. "it was disorientating, but we walked right out into a battle with Fascists so we didn't have time to really think about it. I've come to appreciate it since."
He patted Danyev on the back and walked past.
"Take a minute then follow me."
Danyev was on a different world. It was incredible but true. At first it didn't look or feel any different, the area around him was a huge plain covered in tall grass stretching to the horizon with few irregularities. Beside the gate which was identical to the one in Siberia the only structures were half a dozen metal huts topped by tall lattice masts and a handful of dormant jeeps. He gradually noted one or two differences, mainly the richness of the air, before straightening back up and walking to join Ivanov who was sending his two men to a small hut to the right of the compound.
"I'm feeling better." Danyev reported. "Quite an experience."
"Never gets dull." Ivanov replied happily. "This is a genuine alien planet, one of our first discoveries."
"And we have a base here." He noted the Soviet flag flying from a pole, a normal sight but suddenly meaning more than he could put into words.
"A listening post." Ivanov said. "It's quite small but functional, you should see our naval base! Makes Minsk look like a boating lake!"
"We have a naval base?"
"Yes, and ships to park in it. Space ships." The Colonel informed joyously. "Vessels acquired from various sources including five captured Goa'uld motherships. Amazing sight, I will show you one day but first we have a job to do."
The two of them headed for the nearest building and stepped in, revealing several technicians busily monitoring a row of consoles. One of the supervisors rose and offered a salute.
"Welcome back Colonel."
"Thank you Commander, you have the recordings?"
The resident officer handed over a clear sleeve containing a sliver circular disc.
"A compact disc." Ivabov said. "A CD we call them, we borrowed the design from the Japanese. Couple of years everyone will have them." He popped it in his pocket. "Very handy."
Danyev took a look around, recognising most of the equipment as eaves dropping technology. He'd seen plenty of sets like it while training with the KGB and being instructed on intercepting and decrypting enemy radio signals. The set up seemed familiar but with a few additions.
"What are we listening for exactly?"
"Goa'uld transmissions." The Colonel answered. "Turns out they never really heard of encryption, at least not on the scale we use it."
"That's right." The base Commander said. "Our operatives can read them like an open book, though must high level data travels by courier. Hand to hand."
"So we're looking at less vital information." Danyev mused. "Like supply requests? Personnel deployments? Replacements?"
"That sort of thing. Seems unimportant to the Goa'uld but it lets us work out where their strength is. We know all their worlds, we can locate their main industry and strategic targets, we can see where their fleet is."
"They use radio?"
"Subspace radio." The Commander said. "Subspace is a different dimension, it allows signals or ships for that matter to exceed light speed. We're not sure of the physics, but we can largely duplicate the effects and build our own transmitters and receivers."
"And our own ships?"
"Maybe." Ivanov said. "That information is classified way beyond the likes of us."
"Amazing." Danyev grinned in wonder.
"We've learned a lot about the Goa'uld and their current situation." The Commander continued. "There are four main factions that each formed from the break up of Ra's empire. They are all fairly well matched and have been in a sort of cold war for the last twenty years or so. Sometimes they have skirmishes, nothing major though."
"We're going to heat it up a little." Ivanov winked. "Then see what gets knocked down."
"Beside the four main lords are dozens of smaller lords, each with a moderate fleet if at all and usually allied to the nearest major power."
"From fear rather than loyalty." Ivanov added.
"Who are these main lords then?" Danyev wondered. "They pretended to be gods didn't they?"
"That's right, the old ones from ancient myth." Ivanov confirmed. "Right now the big ones are Apophis, Yu, Heru'r and Sokar. They are the most powerful beings in the galaxy with dozens of major worlds, hundreds of smaller settlements and potentially thousands of ships between them."
Danyev shook his head a little. "Steep odds for us."
"Only if we take them head on." The Commander answered. "If they beat each other into the ground and waste those forces on civil wars…"
"Divide and conquer." The KGB agent picked up. "Oldest rule in the book."
"We have a few allies too." Ivanov stated. "Hebridia, Langara, several smaller industrial worlds. We don't see eye to eye on many things but we all agree the Goa'uld are the greatest threat to confront."
"And the Tok'ra." Added the base Commander.
"Oh yeah, them too." Ivanov rolled his eyes. ""They're annoying to deal with. Not quite as bad as the Tollan but almost."
"Who are these people?"
"Ah, in time Captain, it takes a lot of explaining." Ivanov shrugged. "Especially the Tok'ra, and we still have a lot to do."
"You're other package is waiting." The commander said. "You'll want this."
He handed over a key on a long chain.
"Thank you Commander, we'll bring your truck back before heading to Earth."
"Appreciated Colonel, we'll have another CD of intercepts next week ready at the same time."
"Keep up the good work, we'll be back in a few minutes."
Ivanova turned, gesturing for Danyev to follow him. "Another stop yet."
The young man fell into step beside him. "So we are reverse engineering alien technology? These subspace things?"
"We are, slowly and carefully." The Colonel nodded. "We don't want these things to blow up in our faces."
"Like the Naquadah experiment?"
"Yes, exactly like that. Anna tell you?"
Danyev nodded. "We've stolen a lot of technology then?"
"Quite a bit. My favourite device is a Sarcophagus. That is a pretty piece of science, very dangerous though if used incorrectly."
"Why is everything about this job also dangerous if it's done wrong?"
"Sorts out the gene pool." Ivanov replied simply.
"What do these things do?"
"Very clever actually. They are healing devices. Damn good ones, can resore virtually any disease or wound. They can even bring you back to life if you use one quickly enough."
"Wow." Danyev appreciated.
"It is how the Goa'uld live so long." The Colonel answered. "And why we have to be careful on missions. All teams carry thermite grenades, intense burning incendiaries. If a man goes down you put the grenade on his head and pull the pin."
Danyev winced at the thought. "That can't be pretty."
"The idea is to destroy the brain. If we didn't the Goa'uld could take the body, revive the soldier and torture him for information. Maybe even give him a snake in his head and learn all he knows that way."
"They can do that?"
"They can." Ivanov confirmed. "of course so can we, when you meet your KGB superior you'll see that."
"We have a sarcophagus back home?"
"Yes, definitely. One of the first things we took. Stalin claimed it personally and demanded he be put in it to prolong his life. We believe it used to be Hitler's own device."
"But Stalin is dead… isn't he?"
"He is." Ivanov agreed. "When he died for real nobody bothered putting him in it. Thank heaven."
"He kept his secrets well."
"They all did." Ivanov agreed. "Unfortunately these things do have a side effect, at least on humans. They cause psychosis."
"They drive you mad?"
"Exactly. Call it the price of immortality."
Danyev ran the information through his mind, reconciling what he knew of the official history with this new revelation.
"Is that why Stalin turned into a monster?"
"Oh he was always like that." Ivanov chuckled. "But it did make him worse towards the end of his life."
"If Hitler used it first that would explain him too, how he grew more and more paranoid and irrational as the war went on." The KGB man pieced together the puzzle. "Of course losing to us wouldn't have helped."
"I expect not." Ivanov led them between the buildings. "A lot of the stolen technology was hoarded by the old NKVD, Beria's thugs. Seemed pretty obvious to everyone Beria was lining himself up to be the Boss when Stalin fell, most people think Beria offed Stalin in person first chance he got."
"I heard rumours about that in the academy." Danyev nodded.
"Probably true." The Colonel answered. "Beria talked a good game, tried to look like a moderate but anyone who saw the NKVD operating knew damn well the kind of man he was. He was a lot more subtle than Stalin, but just as ruthless and just as murderous to his enemies. On top of that he had his own private army in the NKVD and he was sat on a cache of advanced alien technology. If he established himself we would never get rid of him."
"So Khrushchev moved first."
"And good thing he did. He gathered a group of loyal followers and cornered Beria. General Necheyev tells the story better than I do, back then he had my job commanding day to day operations through the gate. He was one of the first you know, answering directly to Marshal Zhukov. Anyway Khrushchev used the SGC to create a strike team armed with their own recovered alien technology in case Beria resisted."
"Isn't the official story that he went quietly?"
"Officially, yes." Ivanov nodded. "According to the General it was a bitter fight, but they got him in the end. Story goes that they sealed him in his own Sarcophagus but not before dousing him in petrol and throwing in a match. He burned for ten years, his body regenerating even as it charred, never letting him die."
"That's impossible, they'd have to keep topping up the petrol, and they'd need an air supply."
Ivanova glanced at him. "Do I look like a scientist? I'm sure they figured out a way, the people who run those projects are very inventive."
"Of course Colonel."
"The inside is pretty blackened." Ivanov shrugged. "Who knows eh? But I'd have given anything to be part of the team that fought him. Imagine Georgi Zhukov kicking down your door in person and yelling at the top of his lungs 'In the name of the Soviet People you are under arrest you son of a bitch!' gun in hand surrounded by our pioneer SG teams. Great moment."
They stopped outside a small building, the same one Ivanov's two associates had entered earlier.
"We don't use it much, it's safe to use once or twice in emergencies, but no more. The KGB keep it now, use it to help with interrogations. I don't know how, I don't want to know how, but I can guess."
Danyev winced as his mind played through a couple of scenarios too.
"Dmitry!" Ivanov banged on the door. "Time to go, ready?"
The door opened. "All ready sir."
The two soldiers wheeled out a four wheel trolley similar to those on air bases utilised for transporting bombs from the armouries to the various bombers. Resting on it was a box some four feet long and apparently quite heavy. It was plain green with no markings and similar to any number of metal packing crates you would expect to see on a military base.
"Load it on a truck." He ordered. "Come along Captain, time for another ride."
The two soldiers opened the tailgate on a nearby half ton truck and cranked up the trolley, the scissor lift built into the contraption raising the box up to the level of the vehicle and allowing it to be slid in, the rear suspension creaking and dipping a little under the weight. They then dropped the trolley back to its normal height, placed it in the truck and hopped on themselves.
"Here's another new experience for you." Ivanov settled into the driving seat and keyed the ignition, the diesel engine chugging to life.
"We're driving through the gate?" Danyev settled in beside him, not thrilled at the idea.
"Same as walking, but with less effort." The Colonel informed, releasing the clutch and rolling forwards, making for the ring and the stone ramp it was set upon. "You can send anything through the gate, literally anything. Interestingly though it forms a barrier against natural environments. It doesn't let air come through, or even water."
"Clever design feature."
"Very." Ivanov agreed. "Annoying though, we tried to activate a gate under water once, our plan was to establish a connection to a fascist underground base and just flood it. You imagine the water pressure at ten thousand feet below the surface focused through a hole as small as the gate, it would have been fantastic. I've never been more disappointed." He paused the truck at the dialling pedestal. "Dmitry, lock us in."
The soldier dropped over the side and began activating the gate.
"Yes, real pity." Ivanov sighed. "In the end we just dropped it in a volcano, it lasted long enough for molten magma to pour through and do much the same job. Probably worked out better in the end."
"I doubt they were expecting that."
"Would have been nice to see their faces." The Colonel grinned.
With the growingly familiar whoosh Danyev watched the gate establish a connection, the water like effect glimmering, its surface ripples undulating slightly as a breeze played across the gateway.
"Where are going Colonel?"
"Just an uninhabited world, quite pleasant." He released the brake as Dmitry clambered back on board. "Lots of pine trees."
"Pine trees? Actual Pine trees?"
"Don't ask." Ivanov grunted in annoyance. "It hurts my mind to think about how that happened."
The truck banked up the ramp heading for the gate, Danyev forcible calming himself as it grew nearer.
"What's in the back anyway Colonel?" he tilted his head at the box.
"That? It's a fifty gigaton nuke."
"Oh." Danyev said before the implications hit him, his eyes widening in fear. "Oh Sh-"
Once again he was lost for a moment, disorientated and weightless, falling but with no sense of movement until the cold and gravity returned, binding him back to flesh and bone.
"…it! Is that safe?"
"Perfectly safe, see, here we are." Ivanov waved. "You need to relax more Comrade Captain, at least half the time I know what I'm doing."
They rolled down another stone ramp and halted, clearly on another world. Here the sun had just set, a slight red haze on the horizon casting long faint shadows and tingeing the world in rich dark contrasts. It was a truly beautiful sight, but one Danyev was too wound up to truly appreciate.
"We have bombs that powerful? How did that happen?"
"Remember that Naquadah stuff? How it enhanced the power of nuclear weapons?" Ivanov gestured at the bomb. "Now you know by how much."
"But that's insane! You could wipe out a whole country with that!"
"So the theory goes." He shut off the engine. "Dmitry, unload it, let's get this done."
The two soldiers began the process of putting it back on the trolley as Danyev absently followed the Colonel, running the numbers in his head.
"It's ten times more than every nuclear weapon combined! Fifteen times maybe!"
"That's nothing." Ivanov dismissed. "This weapon uses highly refined Naquadah, this is about as powerful as they get, but our researchers are working an a new technology, a more energised form of Naquadah. They believe it will increase the power of our weapons a thousand fold. That'll be pretty to see."
Danyev was having a hard time grasping the magnitude of the power involved. "It's unbelievable!"
"But necessary, we are outnumbered and outgunned, we need these kind of weapons to balance to odds."
"How would we deploy them."
"Funny you mention that Comrade Captain." Ivanov broke a smile. "Let me show you."
The box was loaded onto the trolley and wheeled to the bottom of the ramp, sitting innocuously there with no indication as to its true power.
"We're sending it through the gate." Ivanov announced, inputting a series of symbols on the pedestal and starting the dial out sequence. "Instant long range strike. No warning, no defence."
"Won't they flatten the gate without a correct signal like we do?"
Ivanov laughed. "The Goa'uld never seemed to figure that one out."
The gate splashed open, stabilising quickly.
"Up we go Dmitry."
They pushed the bomb up to the top of the ramp, holding it before the shimmering pool of the wormhole.
"According to our recce teams the world on the other end of this portal is a major ship building planet owned by Heru'r. The gate is about five miles from the main construction centre but with a bomb this big that's not an issue."
He bent down and opened the box revealing a control panel within. Carefully he removed the key given to him by the base commander and slotted it into the bomb, turning it to activate the device.
"Should destroy everything in a few hundred miles." Ivanov informed as he typed in the activation code. "And there's a lot of refined Naquadah in the yards which should help trigger some big secondaries. Ultimately we hope to completely destroy the world as a strategic target, nuke it back to the stone age with one single device."
"Won't Heru'r come for us?" Danyev asked. "This is hard to disguise as anything other than an act of war."
"Very true, but we do have a few things to remember." The Colonel stood. "First the Goa'uld think we are primitives with nowhere near this level of power. Second they are too busy plotting with each other to consider the possibility of us being a threat. Third, and most importantly, this planet is deep within Sokar's territory. By now they should be aware of the gate address and where this package is coming from."
"It'll look like a pre-emptive strike from Sokar." Danyev realised. "Good heavens…"
"Which will confirm Heru'r's paranoia that his rivals are moving on him, triggering an all out war between the two of them, a war that has been brewing for decades."
"They're all eager for a battle, they just never dared start one." The Colonel said. "Here's the excuse. Heru'r hates Sokar, he'll have no trouble accepting this was his doing, we're just giving him a vehicle for his ambitions and resentment."
"Forcing Sokar to hit back."
"And with those two at war it won't take much to tip the others into weighing in either." Ivanov reasoned. "Full scale Goa'uld war, something we've been working to create for a long time. Now we're finally ready."
He rose from the panel and stood behind the bomb.
"Go ahead Comrade, why don't you finish the arming sequence."
Danyev blinked. "Me?"
"Yes, why not?" Ivanov smiled widely. "First push that button, top right."
Hesitantly Danyev knelt down next to the contol panel, acutely aware that this was the most dangerous and deadly instrument ever crafted by the hands of man. He very carefully reached out, his nerves tingling as he rested his index finger on the button and began to apply pressure, sweat beginning to bead on his brow.
"No!" Ivanov shot out a hand. "Not that one!"
Danyev sprang back like an antelope spooked by a lion, his legs catapulting him awkwardly several yards, skidding along with a whelp and falling on his back as he totally lost balance, breathing rapidly as his heart thundered in his ears. Ivanov was also staggering back, but for a different reason.
"Damn me if that wasn't the funniest thing I have ever seen!"
Danyev stopped breathing for a moment. Ivanov was bellowing in laughter, the hard faced man almost in tears.
"It gets them every time!" He spluttered through barked laughter. "Every time!"
Angrily the KGB agent righted himself. "What the hell was that?"
The Colonel forced himself to calm down, with limited success. "It is tradition Comrade, it's your first day in the Command, we have to initiate you. I have to say you were a lot funnier than Vasily! He had no sense of humour."
"So all this was a joke? None of it is real?" Danyev fumed.
"Oh no, it is all real." The Colonel shook his head. "That actually is a giant nuke, speaking of you do actually have to press that button."
"We're about to start a war here!" Danyev growled. "This is hardly the time for jokes Colonel!"
"So the General keeps telling me." Ivanov shrugged. "But what is life without humour?"
Danyev knelt back by the bomb. "Longer."
He pressed the button, illuminating a timer pre set for a ten second count down.
"Alright, now push the red button to start."
"Red button." He exhaled. "Always a red button."
He held his finger over it for a moment, considering the power esting literally at his finger tips. It was so far beyond what he expected, but already this scenario was becoming normal to him. He had taken the leap and accepted the reality of the situation for what it was. He had adapted. By pushing that button it was like something inside also activated, and from then on there was no turning back, not for any of them.
"Done." He stood back, the timer counting down.
"Here it goes." Ivanov took the strain and pushed the trolley through the gate, the bomb disappearing with a ripple in the silver pool. He signalled to Dmitry who hit the large red orb at the top of the pedestal and cut the power, the enigmatic portal flickering away.
"Blas Vidanya." Ivanova announced, then turned back to the truck. "Home time Captain, job well done."
They dialled back to the base and returned to the sunlit listening post, Danyev quiet with his own thoughts as the truck was driven to a stop back where it had come from.
"Colonel, how do we know if it worked?"
"There should be a big change in comms traffic." Ivanova answered. "Lot of places going silent, lot of panic. Probably be a few hours, maybe a day until we know for sure but we just changed the galaxy."
Danyev swallowed back some bile, suddenly wondering how many people had just died because of what he had done. He was massively ashamed it had taken until know for him to understand that.
"You are looking very pale Comrade Captain."
Danyev stepped out of the truck. "I just killed a planet!"
"Well that's an exaggeration Captain, just something the size of a decent country."
Danyev rubbed his eyes, trying to keep his wits and not faint. "What have I done, what have I done?"
"Struck the first blow in Earth's march to victory." Ivanov answered. "You destroyed one of the highest value targets in the galaxy, triggered a war between our worst enemies, detonated more firepower than has ever been released in the history of mankind, and gave me the biggest laugh in years."
The Colonel slapped him on the back in congratulation.
"Not bad for your first day eh Captain? Be hard to find a way to top this tomorrow!"
He grabbed the unsteady KGB officer around the shoulders and steered him towards the gate, Dmitry already dialling home.
"You come to us at the start of a great time, new age for us all Captain and we all have our part to play. No more doubts."
"I think I just killed millions of people…Oh… I'm going to be sick."
"Suck it up Captain, you're a hero!" Ivanov tightened his grip. "They are the enemy, they deserve it."
"I thought we wanted to liberate them?"
"Technicality." Ivanov shrugged. "We need to win first."
"What am I going to say to people when they ask how my first day went?" Danyev panicked slightly. "What do I say to the people who will stare at me in the street for this?"
"Know what I would say to them in your place Comrade Captain?"
"What?"
"Cry some more." Ivanov smiled thinly as he walked through the gate. "Cry some more."