Chapter 19

Netan sat staring at the woman before him. Lost in thought of a time that although it wasn't that long ago, seemed like forever. So enthralled was he by her beauty, which had not aged a day since he had last seen her. So captivated was he by her long flowing dark hair and slightly rosy cheeks that he did not notice when the rings activated behind him. He did not notice the sounds of zat blasts and the screams of his men as they fell dead to the floor. It wasn't until one of his men, barely alive, had staggered forward and fell onto the coffin beside him dead, was he broken from the haze. Taking only seconds to survey his surroundings, he reached for his weapon and turned around. The figure that stood before him was familiar and his presence was not that surprising.

"Ba'al."

"Netan, great leader of the Lucian Alliance, we met again."

Netan's hand held steady, his gaze never wavering from the Goa'uld's face.

"The Lucian Alliance has made quite a name for themselves over the past few years. Considering that you started out as nothing more than a Tok'ra ploy, it's fascinating that you've managed to rise to something significant."

"We we're not a Tok'ra ploy!"

"Oh, where are my manners," Ba'al chided as he began walking closer to Netan. "You were freedom fighters, who banded together to rid your planet from the rule of the Goa'uld Qetesh. And with the guidance of the all mighty Tok'ra warrior, Lucian, you succeeded in doing so. You owe the Tok'ra your freedom."

"I owe the Tok'ra nothing!"

"Sorry," Ba'al said as he feigned remorse. "I forgot that the Tok'ra is a sore subject for you. And for good reason of course. Lucian promised to not only free your planet from Qetesh but to save your wife as well. Then like it is with all Tok'ra, he lied, and as soon as Qetesh was taken care of, he went away without giving you a second thought."

"It is not only the Tok'ra for whom I hold great resentment. You especially, hold the prime of the blame for what happened to her. For it was you who came to my planet and enslaved us. It was you who brought Qetesh and chose Vala as her host. It was -- "

"I who saved her from destruction," Ba'al seethed as he now stood face to face with Netan, whose weapon was still drawn. "For if it were not for me, she would have been assassinated by the System Lords. It was I who saved her life. Who kept her hidden. I am the reason that she lives."

As much as he hated to admit it, Ba'al was the one who saved her. He was the one, who despite being ordered by the other System Lords, chose to save her. To keep her safe. And like it or not, he was the only one who could help him bring her back now. Netan lowered his weapon slowly and turned back to look at his wife.

"For that I am grateful."

Ba'al chuckled softly and continued walking until he stood next to Netan, staring down at the sleeping beauty.

"Would you like to know why I saved her? Would you like to know the truth?

Netan nodded.

"Kebechet, daughter of Anubis, had laid years in stasis after her father was believed dead. Revived by Qetesh, she was implanted into the mind of Aja Mal Doran-An Tal, your wife, and stepsister of Qetesh's host, Vala. Driven insane thru days of torture, Kebechet was the only thing that was holding together Aja's fractured mind. Slowly but surely Aja's insanity began infecting Kebechet and she began to feel affection for her host. The last time a Goa'uld did that was with Osiris and Isis. Both felt affection for their hosts, so much so that they allowed them to conceive a child. Heresies. Who possessed all the power and knowledge of the Goa'uld. He became dangerous and brought the System Lords to their knees. The child was punished and Osiris and Isis banished to Earth. Kebechet began plotting her vengeance against the System Lords for what they did to her host and like Heresies, nearly destroyed us."

"Then why spare her if she was so dangerous? Why not just kill her if she was such a threat?"

Ba'al sighed and walked away from the Netan and over to a nearby console.

"What are you doing?" Netan asked nervously as Ba'al began to push various buttons.

"Why tell you, when I can show you."

Before Netan could respond, the room took on an iridescent green glow. Soon a young woman stood before them. Tall, fair-haired and almost ethereal in her beauty.

"She is not real," Ba'al stated sensing Netan's confusion. "It's a holographic message created by the Ancients. You see, this was once a powerful Ancient outpost. It fell to ruin when the inhabitants fell victim to a plague. In fact, almost every Ancient world had been consumed with illness and death. This woman, the last survivor of the outpost, felt that it was important to leave behind a record of her people. It is incomplete."

Hitting another button on the console the figure before him came to life, and Netan listened intently at the story that she told.

All life began on Altera. How we came to be before that time is not known, for no records exist before then. We were a peaceful people. Curious and strong. As time wore on we set out from Altera to search the many planets in our vast system of stars, hoping to answer the questions of where life as we know it began. Orion, a great scientist, lead a groups of explorers to a planet known only now as The First Planet. When the expedition reached The First Planet they found nothing more than a barren wasteland covered in dark storm clouds. Months passed the mission was deemed to be an utter failure. Before returning to Altera, Orion climbed the highest mountain of The First Planet to take one last look, when something had caught his attention. Running back to his encampment he said that he had made a great discovery. However, before he could utter a word, he was struck down by a bolt of lightning. As the men grieved for Orion, something curious had happened. The dark storm clouds came down from the sky and surrounded Orion. When they had parted he was alive and well. He spoke to his men and told them that the dark clouds were actually living beings and that they had shared with him the revelation of their destinies. He called this revelation Ascension and said that it was the goal of all living things to reach a place where the mind was enlightened and the spirit freed and the body mattered not. He said that these Great Beings, as he called them, had shown him the way of their Great Path and that thru them he had reached Ascension. For three days Orion spoke the great wisdom of Ascension and for those three days his most trusted assistant, Doci, recorded his words. On the third day Orion told his men to return to Altera, that his place was no with the Great Beings of The First Planet and that it was up to them to inform all who could hear them about the mysteries of Ascension. So Doci did as he had asked and returned to Altera and began ---

Netan watched in disbelief as the woman before vanished as the cavern once again grew dark.

"What happened?"

"The Ancient power source that runs this outpost has been severely drained over the years due to neglect. The fact that your wife has been held in stasis has also severely drained its power supply. That's about as much of the message it has the power to play but I have seen it in its entirety and I must say, its one fascinating story."

"I still do not understand."

"A System Lord, wanted by his comrades, once took refuge here. He discovered this hologram and used its secrets to forever escape the hold of his enemies."

It took a moment for Netan to put the pieces together.

"This is how Anubis learned of Ascension?"

"After Anubis reached Ascension, he became privy to all the Ancients knowledge, including the location of The First Planet. He said that it was so far away, that it would take thousands of years to travel there by ship alone and there was no Stargate powerful enough to speed up the journey. He felt that upon reaching The First Planet and coming face to face with Orion himself, that he would learn all the secrets of Ascension and then use that knowledge to create his own army of Ascended beings to take on the Ancients."

"I still don't see how this has anything to do with my wife?"

"Anubis came into contact with Kebechet shortly after she was implanted into your wife's mind. He made her privy to his plans and so much more. Kebechet led me here in the hopes that showing me this information it would cause me to spare her life. She succumbed to her injuries before she could tell me everything and so on her urging, I locked her and your wife in stasis. I planned to one day return and find out the location of The First Planet to use it to Ascend myself and well, finish the plans he started."

"Why didn't you come to retrieve her before now?"

"At first no one knew Anubis had survived and after it was known, I could not trust the information that she gave me. So I managed to convince Anubis that we would make great partners and used our working relationship to gather all of the information I needed to confirm her story."

"Anubis has been dead for months, why did you not come for her then?"

"Because there was something else while I was working with Anubis that caught my attention, something that peaked my curiosity even more thant he location of The First Planet."

"What would that be?" Netan stated, his hands nervously fingering his weapon.

"When I was working with Anubis, it came to my attention that he had some strange obsession with a member of the Tau'ri. Now, I didn't think much of it, until I learned much later that the Replicators found him of interesting as well. After sending spies to Earth to find out what they could, it seems this Tau'ri is interesting in many ways. Shortly before putting her into stasis Kebechet stated that Anubis had used the information he gathered here to learn of a myth regarding a Chosen One and the used the myth in order to convince an Ancient to Ascend him. She knows what the importance of The Chosen One is. She may be the only one living who can tell me the truth."

"And what truth would that be?"

Ba'al walked up next to Netan until he was once again, staring down into the glass coffin.

"The truth about Daniel Jackson."