Chapter 4. Infiltration Part 2
Jake and Callie posed as a young married couple walking around the plaza guarding the entrance to the pyramid, while Chance, Cam and Vala approached the pyramid unseen.
— Jake...
— Yes, Callie?
— You guys didn't waste any time in the garage, did you?
— What are you talking about?
— Well... I guess you guys kept training.
— Oh, yeah... -Jake felt embarrassed, covering his chest and back with a ratty cape- But it's no big deal: I'm not like Chance.
— I could tell. -this time it was Callie who blushed- Sorry, Jake.
— It's okay, it's okay. -Jake quickly looked around; luckily, they didn't attract attention- I wonder if these people noticed that we don't speak Goa'uld.
— Maybe they see us as foreigners; let's hope so. Wait, did you hear that?
— Yes, I heard it. -Jake looked up- They're transport ships!
Jake and Callie blended in with the crowd as the four ships approached the plaza and hovered over it; unbeknownst to them, Chance, Vala and Cam were about to enter the pyramid when the ships arrived. That was when the smallest of the Swat Kats and the deputy mayor of Megakat City saw the transport rings operate for the first time to drop dozens of people on the ground, kats of all ages and from distant lands dressed in rags and visibly frightened; even more so when the Bast Guards ordered them to march forward to let the other group off, even under threat of being beaten and abused with their staffs, which they did in some cases. In all, nearly two hundred people were "unloaded" from the Goa'uld transport ships.
What left Callie dumbfounded and disillusioned was to see that the people of Zagash not only did nothing for them, but tried to ignore them. Either they didn't want to help them, or else they knew it was futile to resist the will of their gods. Or worse: they were so used to it that they didn't even care.
— Jake! They're going to...!
— I know. There's nothing we can do.
They barely noticed the cart guided by donkeys and covered with tarpaulins that was supposed to transport the weekly mineral quota to the goddess. Suddenly, several hooded young men came out from under the sacks that were supposed to carry ore and began to attack the Bast Guards with simple wooden sticks, knocking down and even killing two of them; the rest of the population was terrified: some fled, others begged the rebels to stop at such blasphemy, and others were able to pray. That distraction served to allow some of the newly arrived slaves to escape, but some were attacked at point-blank range by the Bast Guards, killing several of them.
Jake and Callie felt helpless at being unable to do anything, but were shocked when one of the rebels, a slender young man with blond, striped fur, began attacking the guards with what was clearly a ray gun that was not a Zat. Where did he get it?
The Bast Guards soon regained control, holding back the slaves and searching for the rebels who had managed to escape, leaving two of them dead on the ground and one captured. Jake knew this was a unique opportunity.
— Callie, we've got to find that guy!
— Jake, are you crazy? If the Bast Guards see us helping him, we'll lose the element of surprise!
— But if we lose sight of that guy, we could lose the chance to meet someone who's against Bastet! -Taking advantage of the prevailing confusion, he grabbed Callie by the arm and led her into an alley to hide and turn on his communicator- Colonel Carter, this is Jake: we've spotted some rebels: we're going after him to locate him.
— Be careful, guys.
— Jake, if you manage to talk to him, tell him "Tek'ma'te," which means "I'm a friend." Or turn on the communicator if you have no other choice.
— Roger that, Dr. Jackson.
########
Inside, Chance, Cam and Vala were already entering the pyramid's attached temple when they heard shouting from outside. Although intrigued by the sound, they continued inside until they reached the end of the hallway through which the Swat Kats had come to rescue SG-1: there was the grand staircase leading to some subway level.
— The gate is at the top?
— That's right, Chance. -Cam nodded- If we want to go to Bastet's ship, we'll most likely have to use the rings. And there is a ring platform between the gate and the DHD.
— But wouldn't we have to deactivate the bracelets to use them?
— Yes, and that's why we're going to wait until there are no guards.
— Something tells me that might take a while, Vala.
Cam pointed back, and the three watched as several Bast Guards arrived with tens or hundreds of kat slaves behind them; some were even badly wounded and bleeding. They were clearly heading in the direction of the gate.
— Those people... they look like natives of Tropiconesia.
— Where, big guy?
— A region in the South Sea, riddled with tropical islands.
— Reminds me of Polynesia where I always ask Daniel to take me. -Vala muttered before changing to a more serious tone- Good heavens!
— We'd better go ahead.
Chance merely grunted and cracked his knuckles as he escorted the humans down the stairs, passing through a hypostyle room supported by thick columns covered in hieroglyphs before reaching a small antechamber that led to the portal room.
When Chance crossed the threshold, he was dumbfounded: it was a huge room, and very tall, with thick stone walls with few hieroglyphs and some stone doors leading to other smaller rooms. But the amazing thing was ahead: on one side, the DHD, a kind of curvilinear pedestal with a circular surface with a huge red gem and surrounded by dozens of buttons with strange symbols; a little further on and on a barely elevated platform, there were the deactivated transporter rings... and in front of them, and on a stone staircase guarded by two feline statues, the famous Stargate.
Not even when he went to Sunday service at church with his grandmother as a child did he feel such solemnity as when he saw the gate for the first time: that ring of stone -or metal, since the stone looked like metal, or the other way around- covered with the same symbols as the DHD, was a mechanism so advanced that it escaped his imagination, and at the same time so ancient that it made his own species, the human, and the Goa'uld, look like children at the same time. Hell: it might have been there when the Pastmaster sent them back to the time of the dinosaurs.
And that gate, that Stargate, was placed by the Ancients, that highly advanced civilization, millions of years ago, as part of a network of gates that covered the entire galaxy, and that could also connect to networks in other galaxies!
— Unbelievable...
— It is, isn't it, Stripes?
— Sorry to have your first gate's moment interrupted, T-Bone, but they're coming. -Cam clarified- We need to stay out of their way.
— Roger that, Colonel.
Although they were practically invisible to the others, caution was not in short supply: the three of them hid behind some thick columns near an adjoining room, and with a good view of the gate. The Bast Guards arrived, led by the Bastet's First Prime, and leading the slaves away, who were clearly terrified and nervous.
The First Prime stepped forward to face the slaves heavily guarded by her Jaffa sisters; her gaze was steady and predatory, scanning through the crowd of ragged slaves. Then she approached the visibly frightened crowd and took a little girl by the arm, separating her from her mother, both of them of reddish-brown fur; then she began to say something in a serene but firm voice.
— Vala, what does she say?
— She says that... that little girl has been chosen to be one of Bastet's Children, that she will live in the chambers of the goddess and that she will have many companions to play with.
— What? -Chance exclaimed- What about the mother?
— She says she should be honored that her offspring should have such an honor. -the First Prime spoke again- Now she says the others have been chosen by their goddess to pay tribute to her in a new realm she liberated from Sokar's clutches.
— It must be a planet she took from him. -Cam looked at the girl- I remember something similar mentioned in the mission report to Ra: that girl will be a mere pet for Bastet.
— Damn it.
The First Prime nodded her head and stepped away from the group of slaves with the crying girl in her paw; a Jaffa approached the DHD and began dialing. Chance watched as each time a button was pressed, the inner ring of the gate rotated and one of the chevrons glowed red, reminding him of a rotary phone. Then, when she pressed the seventh button, the Jaffa pressed the big red button, causing the gateway to react: an explosion of energy similar to a kind of geyser came out of the gate and then left a very strange scene. Now the gate, instead of being hollow, had "water" inside it.
Now the entire interior of that sacred chamber was illuminated by a clear glow similar to the reflection of a pool. Cam and Vala were as calm as the Jaffa, but Chance was engrossed, almost mesmerized as he watched the gate activate for the first time, and although somewhat uncomfortable that its appearance was that of water, it was still impressive. He couldn't even imagine what Dr. Jackson felt as he watched it activate for the first time.
If he, being a kat from a technologically developed yet clearly primitive society compared to the Ancients, and moreover, a simple fellow with little interest in science felt this way. how would the primitive kats who possibly saw nothing more advanced than a campfire, stone tools and huts made of wood and coconut leaves feel? Clearly they would be terrified.
Unfortunately, that almost mystical moment before such marvelous technology was overshadowed by the screams of astonishment and terror of the primitive kats as they were forcibly led and pushed, like sheep to the slaughter, by the Bast Guards in the direction of the gate; although the tearful eyes of those kats reflected terror at approaching that strange ring, the Jaffa were undeterred and forced them to march forward by shouting and beating them.
Thus, hundreds of people ended up crossing that wall of water until they disappeared completely and left that sacred chamber totally empty, except for the group of Bast Guards led by their First Prime, and the three intruders. The First Prime gave some orders to the Jaffa and they left the chamber, while she went up to the platform of the rings to be transported to the interior of the pyramid ship.
Chance still could not believe it: hundreds of people were sent to be enslaved to another planet, and it was not the first time. What should have been a device for exploration, trade and diplomacy, the Goa'uld had turned into a symbol of slavery. No wonder SG-1 had told them that so many humans and other peoples in the galaxy feared the gate.
— It's clear. -said Vala- The guards will watch the entrance to the temple from outside: we have the place to ourselves.
— We should get on the ship.
— Before that, I think we should explore, Cam. We might find something interesting. What do you say, Stripey? Stripey?
Chance stood in front of the DHD, staring at it: since he and his human friends were out of phase, he could paw through it without breaking it. He barely felt Vala approaching.
— Are you all right, Chance?
— Those people... they're never coming back, are they?
— No, I'm afraid not.
— What will become of them in our time? All the people they took?
— Possibly... with any luck, their descendants will still be there; or maybe not. I don't want to give you any illusions, but with the System Lords out there, it's hard to know.
— ...
— Maybe, with any luck, we'll find something useful here before we get on the ship. Will you join me?
— Okay.
The exploration was brief, but prolific, thanks to the Sodan bracelets: in addition to finding the ring control panel, they inspected the chambers. One had the trousseau of the priestesses and some sacred objects; another was a treasure chamber with the most beautiful offerings given to Bastet and that Vala resisted taking; another was the "Goddess Chamber", a Goa'uld version of a hotel room with quarters, furniture, bathrooms and instead of a bed, a Sarcophagus that Chance learned what it was for, being astonished.
The last chamber was the one that took the three of them breath away: the room was moderately spacious, with several feline statues attached to the walls, and the symbol of Bastet in gold dominating from the central wall. And in every free corner of the walls were written many Egyptian-style cartouches with characters inside: the symbols of the Stargate; below them, there was Goa'uld writing, possibly the names of the destinations or a brief description. Vala and Cam nodded that this was Bastet's version of the Cartridge Room on Abydos.
— When we get back to our time, Stripey, show this to your Dr. Sinian.
— What is this place?
— This is literally the telephone directory of the Bastet worlds, Chance. -Cam pointed to one of the cartridges- See the symbols? They're gate addresses.
— So each of these are planets? Inhabited by kats? There are hundreds!
— I don't think it's just kats, Rayitas: there could be Sekhmet, Jaffa, humans and who knows what else. But there are bound to be many worlds inhabited by kats in our time.
— Maybe we should get on the ship now, Colonel.
— I agree. Can you go upstairs and make sure no one's around?
— Right away.
Chance quickly went up the stairs and returned a couple of minutes later: there were no guards nearby, so they would hardly hear the rings. Taking advantage of their solitude, the three of them deactivated the Sodan bracelets; Vala ran to the control panel to activate the rings while Cam and Chance stood on the platform.
— Keep limbs and tail inside the rings at all times, big guy. You don't want to get cut.
— Don't worry, Colonel. -Chance nodded, with his Glovatrix armed and a Zat on his right paw- I'm ready.
— Once inside, we must be quick to activate the bracelets again. -Vala spoke before running to the rings- Ready?
— Ready.
In a few seconds, five metallic rings descended from the sky, hovering in the air as they covered them, and a beam of light covered them completely.
Jake was grateful for the hard training he'd had since he was young: first with Chance in high school, then with the Enforcers, and finally as a Swat Kat; thanks to it he was physically fit to be able to track this mysterious guy who was now running - and rightly so - for his life through those dusty back alleys, adobe buildings and the crowd itself. While having Callie might be a hindrance to him, he was handling himself quite well.
The problem was that the guy also seemed to be in good physical condition, as despite being covered by a dark robe, he was surprisingly agile enough to dodge all sorts of obstacles. Jake knew he had to talk to him and find out about his rebellion, and how he got an advanced weapon: at least with him, he would still be alive; not with Bastet.
They were coming into a working class area full of rustic dwellings and craft workshops where the heat and smell were quite strong, and the subject was still running away: seeing how the subject entered an alley, Jake told Callie to give him room; then Jake shot out into the alley and managed to take the subject down, wrestling with him on the ground in the confined space where no one saw them or showed any interest: at most, they thought it a personal fight or an attempted robbery. The subject, who was less strong than he was, but who put up a fight and a resistance, was saying words Jake didn't understand, but which sounded somewhere between defiant to fearful, and all the more so when they both realized the gun had been left exposed on the floor.
He had to calm him down.
— Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you!
— ...
— I'm not your enemy!
— Jake, he's not going to understand you. -said Callie- Tell him what Dr. Jackson said.
— "Tek'ma'te."
— "Tek'ma'te?"
— "Tek'ma'te." -Jake replied, then pointed to Callie- Callie. -Jake pointed to himself- Jake.
— Ka'li... Yeik...
— Yeik. -said the cinnamon-haired young man; then he pointed at the subject-.
— Neshi.
Neshi eyed the two foreigners warily. Who were they? Why were they chasing him? And why were they speaking such a strange language instead of the language of the gods? He could not trust them, but there was something in their eyes that encouraged him to do so: he saw the wheat-haired woman speak with something in her paw, and the brown-furred young man take his weapon, which frightened him. Then this young man, Yeik, approached her, as if in friendship judging by his eyes and conciliatory expression.
Neshi hesitated at first, but then took it carefully and stowed it under his tunic. This Yeik did nothing and remained there, expectant.
— "We are not your enemies; we need your help."
— ...
— Dr. Jackson told you to say something?
— He can speak Goa'uld, and I have a good memory, Jake. May I remind you that I do all the Manx speeches.
— Oh, that's right. -Jake laughed- How useless our mayor is.
— "You're against Bastet, aren't you? You can trust us."
— "Yes."
— He said he's against Bastet, Jake.
— You're good, Callie.
— "We want to meet you, and we want you to tell us what's going on here. Could you show us your house?"
Clearly to Neshi, these people did not speak the language of the false gods; he was even surprised at himself for confessing to these strangers that he was against Bastet. The woman would bring something to his ear and then say the words in their language. He didn't know how, but he was getting help. And this help, would it help them? He was not sure, but he had nothing to lose. And since these people clearly did not understand his language and depended on others, they would have to communicate with signs and basic words. He hoped he wouldn't regret it.
— "Yes." -he stood up, took off his cloak tying it around his waist, and with his paw motioned for them to follow him- "Follow me."
— Neshi wants us to follow him, Callie.
— I'll let Dr. Jackson know.
Neshi led them carefully through the more hidden alleys and streets of the city. Twice they entered a business like a bakery to go through the ovens and cross through a passageway; Neshi talked to the manager and he reluctantly gave them permission: it was implied that these people did not trust Jake and Callie and Neshi was trying to assure them that they could be trusted, something he was not entirely sure of.
Finally, they arrived at a small house on the outskirts of town, old and somewhat worn and with a rickety front porch where Neshi pointed to the door, indicating that it was their home. Callie left the communicator on for Dr. Jackson to hear and translate.
— "This is my home." -said Neshi quietly- "If you learned how to get here, I'll wait for you and your friends until midnight, when there's no one on the streets."
— "We'll be here." -Callie repeated as Jackson said from the communicator- "We promise."
— "I have trusted you. Don't let me down."
Neshi turned away and walked into his house as if it was nothing, being greeted by a slightly portly woman with a baby in her arms: she didn't see either Jake or Callie because they had already ducked into an alleyway before returning to their shelter along with the rest of SG-1.
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As soon as they entered the ship, they activated the Sodan bracelets to become invisible again. Chance couldn't stop being amazed by everything he saw and learned from the Goa'uld: the interior of Bastet's pyramid ship was not only advanced but a representation of the luxury and decadence of his species. There was so much gold and jewels all over the walls and floors that it would make the Metallikats short-circuit just being there for a few seconds.
He immediately followed the Colonel and Vala through the golden corridors of the ship unseen by the Jaffa, past the Sarcophagus room, the Royal Hall with the throne of Bastet, the bridge of the ship or Pel'tak and up to the "kindergarten", where they saw dozens of scantily clad children playing with each other under the watchful eyes of the Bast Guards. Arriving at Bastet's private quarters, and seeing that no one was there, they deactivated the Sodan bracelets. Vala immediately locked the door and then ran to the room's terminal.
— What are you doing?
— I'm deactivating the security systems so they don't know there are intruders, Stripey.
— How do you know so much?
— I remind you that I was a space pirate and raided ships like this one.
— And she hosted the Goa'uld Qetesh.
— WHAAAAT?!
Vala ended up glaring at Cam with her eyes, not only for making Chance look surprised like that, but for telling him her secret while disabling the security. Without further ado, she gave the Swat Kat a rundown of her life and how she was a hostess for five years until she was freed by the Tok'ra. When Chance asked her how it felt to be a host, Vala gave him the horrifying details of being a prisoner of your own body and seeing the atrocities the Goa'uld committed.
If Chance already thought Vala was somewhat odd and eccentric but nice and funny, he now sympathized with her and her past; she was really trying to reform. Then he thought of the hosts who had the Goa'uld for more than five years, if not centuries or entire millennia and how much they must have suffered.
— Vala, did you find anything?
— As a matter of fact, yes: there is an authentic record of Bastet's activities in his empire. At least we can say it's organized.
— Anything on Phellus?
— Just a moment, Stripey.
After pressing a few buttons, the holographic display showed a topographical map with several symbols. Chance identified it immediately.
— It's the map of Phellus!
— Is it just me, or is that map something like the Earth map?
— The circle represents the location of the gate, the pyramids the location of major cities, the ingots the mining facilities, the huts the small settlements, and the little figures...
— Yes?
— Slave harvesting locations.
— There are too many all over the planet: Bastet pulls them from almost every possible region. -Cam looked carefully at the map- I see many smaller settlements, but few larger ones, like the one here.
— That's the Veruchi continent, Colonel. -Chance pointed to the map, next to the circle- There's the gate and a pyramid. That must be Zagash.
— That's right.
— There are some ingots near where Megakat City would be. What do they mine there, Vala?
— It says here crystals and Trinium... Actually, there are a lot of Trinium mines and no Naquadah.
— What is trinium?
— It's a rare gray-colored, brittle-looking mineral that once refined is used to make a light, super-strong metal. -asked Cam- It's good for weapons and alloys for spacecraft.
— Bastet must use it for his Bast Guards, or Maahes' weapons.
— I think your trinium is our agracite. -said Chance, pointing to another spot on the map, a large and mostly tropical continent- -Here, in the center of Wokonda, there are also important agracite mines. And here in the north of Yuronda.
— In fact, according to this... -read Vala- the planet is very rich in trinium.
— That explains why Bastet took this planet: a highly strategic resource and a significant native population to exploit and without fighting Ra for the humans. -Cam then turned his attention to an equatorial island-continent- There I see another pyramid. What's the name of that place?
— That city is called Kali-Dharma. And it seems to be a very important place.
— It's in Bhurakistan! That explains why there are so many Basteists in our time! Vala! Can you find out how long Bastet has been here?
— Just a moment, Stripey.
A few seconds after going through the files, Vala's face darkened.
— She... has been here for five thousand years.
Five thousand years...
FIVE THOUSAND YEARS enslaving the kats with impunity, exporting them to other planets as mere cattle, separating entire families, treating their children as pets while extracting their planet's resources and basking in luxury. Chance, T-Bone... wanted to kill Bastet and then spit in the face of her present followers the truths of their goddess.
But he couldn't: she had to stay alive until the present time. What Chance did know was that he had to find the kats from other worlds by any means necessary.
— You want to kill her, don't you, big guy?
— You have no idea, Colonel. I didn't become a Swat Kat just to keep flying, or for the adrenaline rush: I've wanted to be one of the good guys, to fight crime and injustice since I was a preteen growing up in the slums. These people suffered greatly at the hands of the Goa'uld. You were right to wipe them out.
— I understand. Are you going to be OK?
— Don't worry, I won't lose a screw. I know we can't kill her now, but if we find out what she's planning now...
— I'm on it, Stripey.
Vala kept poking around in the computer, even at the risk of setting off some alarm: she was as interested as Chance was in finding out what Bastet was planning with the people of this world. When she finally found something, she was intrigued and wishing Sam was with them now.
— This is... curious.
— What did you find, Vala?
— It seems that Bastet has been performing autopsies on some of the rebel kats he managed to capture for some time.
— That's unusual. -Cam reflected- What exactly are you looking for?
— Well... I'm no expert, but it seems she discovered some genetic trait in some of those rebels that caught her interest. -Vala kept her eyes on the screen- So much so that she's been surveying the entire planet's population for the past few weeks.
— I'm not the brightest mind... -Chance admitted- but I doubt that rebelliousness is genetic. How can you survey an entire planet anyway?
— The Bast Guards. -said the woman- They are fearsome, but Bastet trained them to be trusted by the population and families as protectors.
— I saw them approach children... -muttered the Swat Kat- Did they...?
— Apparently, she already has a map with marked individuals.
The screen then showed a map of Zagash, with numerous blue dots scattered everywhere; beyond that, there was no more information.
— I think we should get out of here now. There is nothing more we can do.
— Negative, Colonel: there is something else we need to investigate.
— What do you mean, Chance?
— The Tel'tak in the garden: Vala and I saw a few there. We need at least one to bring you and your team back to the present.
— We won't be able to take it now, but we could investigate to do it later. Let's go.
They deactivated the computer, activated the Sodan bracelets and left Bastet's quarters to go directly to the garden after crossing several golden corridors partially lit by torches, which Chance wondered why they were using them on a damn spaceship.
They came to a ring platform that led them to a small pavilion hidden in the gardens; they activated the Sodan bracelets again and stepped outside. The place was both impressive and beautiful, much more so than from the air: there were rectangular ponds covered with water lilies, lotuses and other aquatic plants, stone walkways lined with statues, well-tended shrubs and flowers, fig, sycamore, apple and date palms providing not only some shade, but also fruit, as well as places to frolic in small quiscos and pergolas. The entire garden was bounded by a high, thick stone wall to keep the city and the goddess's enclosure separate.
In a small clearing by a pond, there was a platform where two Tel'tak were stationed ready to fly, and guarded by two Bast Guards.
Now that they knew how to get here, and of the safety of the ships, both Chance and Vala and Cam left the gardens and the Great Pyramid to rejoin their partners.
Once gathered in their little shelter, Jake and Chance put their flight suits back on, Callie her pink suit and shoes, and the eight of them had a little discussion about their findings. The Bastet inspecting the kats was worrisome, the Tel'tak was a medium-term target, but this Neshi guy was intriguing.
— You say he had a weapon?
— A beam weapon, Dr. Jackson. -Jake explained- I had to give it back to him to get him to trust me, but that thing was way more advanced than what Enforcers use in our time.
— How could I have gotten something like that? And from what you say, it's not a Goa'uld weapon.
— It didn't have your aesthetics, Colonel Carter. That thing was even more alien; you may recognise it better.
— We may not have a choice. -Cam commented- Someone who has something they shouldn't have is clearly up to something or knows something they shouldn't have.
— It could be a trap: a way to lure out supposed rebels.
— It is very possible, but I want to believe in him, Teal'c. -Callie nodded- I vote to go see him.
After Callie, everyone, including the Jaffa, agreed to go visit Neshi in the evening hours. With any luck, they might get more than they bargained for.