Chapter 85: Educational Issues Part 4

Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

There wasn't much positive about visiting the United States' northernmost base. Thule Air Force Base was located in northern Greenland, on the west coast of the island, in the middle of ice and snow and frozen seas. The closest village was dozens of miles away. Most airmen considered being posted there as a punishment.

Jack O'Neill didn't know who had chosen the location to house their Goa'uld prisoners, but it must have been someone really, really concerned about a snake escaping from prison and hiding amongst the population. Of course, Jack couldn't fault them for being cautious, but still… a glance at the landscape made him have flashbacks to the cave in Antarctica where he and Carter had almost frozen to death.

"At least we can scratch Antarctica from the itinerary for the rest of the visit," he muttered as they stepped out of the shuttle and into the new shuttle hangar they had built with the new prison section here. "This should be close enough for Frosta."

"What did you say, Jack?" Daniel asked as he pulled on the cowl of his jacket, even though they were inside a hangar and not on the airstrip outside. Then again, it was still damn cold - they were just closing the doors again.

"Nothing." Jack gritted his teeth, then raised his voice. "Welcome to Thule Air Force Base! Now our newest prison camp!"

"This is horrible! How can people live here?"

"I can't feel any plants around - except for some lichens, and they are always weird."

"I think housing prisoners here is violating their rights."

"Their rights? What about our rights! We have to visit them here!"

"Catra!"

"This is a transparent attempt to discourage us from talking to the population! That you were going as far as to move helpless prisoners to such a location is a disgrace! And why aren't you magically heating this place up?"

"Frosta! What are you doing?"

"This is great! It feels like home!"

Jack turned away from smiling overly sweetly at the Bee Princess and spotted Frosta walking straight to the shrinking opening of the hangar doors, arms spread and beaming as if Disneyland was outside. Obviously, Greenland in the middle of winter was close enough to her own kingdom.

And, equally obvious, the cold wasn't bothering her - she skipped outside just before the doors closed.

"Hey! Wait!"

"Someone get her before she freezes!"

Oh. Some of the airmen stationed here must not have read the briefing about their visitors. Jack raised his arm and stopped them from opening the doors again. "Don't worry about her - she controls the cold."

"What? Sir!" They belatedly saluted him.

"Frosta will be fine," Glimmer told them. "Ice is her element." She was shivering a little, Jack noted.

"Would be great if she could control the cold instead of the ice," Catra commented.

"That's not how elemental powers work," Glimmer shot back.

"I know. But that's how they should work." Catra grinned.

With the doors closed, it was getting warmer - the curtain of hot air that was supposed to keep the cold out when the doors were open wasn't working as well as it should, in Jack's opinion. This was a hangar in Greenland, not a mall in New York. Maybe he should ask Carter for a better system, in case they had to visit this base again… No, that would be irresponsible. And Carter would tell him so.

The airmen looked sceptical. One of them peered through the small windows in the hangar door, then recoiled. "Holy shit! She's surfing on ice - on ice waves!"

"What?"

Of course, now everyone had to take a look. Jack sighed and clapped his hands together. "So, while Miss Ice Princess is playing with the snow outside, how about we go and visit the snakes held here? The sooner we start, the sooner we're done and can leave for somewhere warmer!"

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Catra agreed. Her tail was twitching.

"We really should have taken our spacesuits," Bow said.

"Not everyone has a spacesuit," Mermista pointed out.

"What? You should have said something. Entrapta made suits for everyone. Well, everyone in the Alliance," Scorpia said.

"Well, she never told us. And how would she have gotten our measurements?" Mermista asked.

"Ah… we had your measurements in our database." Scorpia scratched the back of her head, and her stinger twitched. "Apparently, Double Trouble is really thorough when preparing to impersonate someone."

"You have our measurements?"

"What? When did they take them?"

"I don't know."

"We need better information security. No Horde spy should have gotten that intel."

"Double Trouble wasn't a Horde Spy but in it for themselves," Catra retorted.

"No other spies should have gotten this information either."

Jack pressed his lips together so he wouldn't make a joke about their weight to the airmen. At least, most of the men were now staring at the princesses inside the hangar and not crowding the small window to the outside.

"What the… the airstrip is now covered in frozen waves of ice!"

Jack had spoken too soon. "Don't worry, she'll clean that up," he told the men.

He hoped he wasn't wrong. If they had to clean up that maze of ice waves and ramps by themselves… Jack was really glad shuttles didn't need an airstrip and could take off vertically, or they would be stuck here for a while. Oh.

Bending down, he whispered: "Someone needs to tell Frosta to clean the airstrip once she's done. Before Her Honeyness thinks this is a plot to keep them here."

Glimmer sighed as she nodded.

"I'm really sorry," Adora added with a grimace.

Catra scoffed. "Whatever. Let's go talk to the snakes."

This base was… well, Adora couldn't say it was horrible. It was built nicely - at least the part they were visiting. That one was brand-new. She didn't see any sign of the wear and tear you got after a garrison had been quartered there for a few years. No odd smells, either. And it looked quite comfortable - Stargate Command style, not Hordak's Horde style. Or Horde Prime's.

But it was located at what Jack called the end of the world, as close to the North Pole as it could get, or so she had heard. And it had been in use for decades, as part of their early warning system or something, in the Cold War between the United States and Russia. To be stuck here for months or years… She shuddered. She would wish that on no one. Well, maybe on Frosta - the princess apparently loved it here, from what Adora had seen before that had left the hangar. The outside had been covered in ice structures by then.

"This is a new prison. You built a special prison for your enemies?" Sweet Bee asked.

"Yes. Our normal prisons were not really set up for Goa'uld," Jack told her.

"You treat them like a princess," Peekablue added before his eyes lost focus - he was using his magic again.

"Well, you could say that!" Jack laughed, then blinked and seemed surprised.

Adora didn't quite understand what he found funny - you had to take special precautions when dealing with captured princesses. They had taught that to every Horde soldier. And the Alliance knew that as well - it was obvious, after all.

Catra snorted at Jack - Adora would have to ask her what was funny. After this, though - they had just reached another checkpoint with a closed door. A closed airlock, if that was the same type as the one they had gone through at the top.

It was. And there were lots of sensors that Adora could spot - probably Sam and Entrapta's work.

"Even if the Goa'uld managed to escape, we could find them with the scanner," Catra commented as they stepped through the airlock. "There was no need to move them to the end of the world."

"But if they escaped in a more populated area, they could do a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people before we could recapture them," Bow pointed out.

"They could have found a warmer place, at least," Catra retorted.

"Well, apparently, someone thought the cold would be an added deterrent against the Goa'uld." Jack shrugged. "They probably didn't get that they aren't actual reptiles which would be bothered by the cold."

"I think everyone would be bothered by the cold here," Glimmer said.

"Except for our snow princess," Catra added with another snort. "I'd say she has ice water for blood, but she's too hotheaded for that."

Adora frowned at her. You didn't talk about your friends like that. She knew better than to say anything, though - Catra would make a remark about not being friends with Frosta. And vice versa. Well, that might change. Someday.

"Good security in any case," Netossa said, nodding appreciatively.

"It certainly emphasises how worried you are about your prisoners," Sweet Bee… kinda agreed? But she was smiling in a slightly mocking way, Adora noticed. Another barb, then. Or an insinuation.

Adora was really tired of this kind of talk. It reminded her a bit too much of how Shadow Weaver had liked to twist words.

"That's because we are," Jack told her. "They can take over your body, turning you into a prisoner in your own mind."

Spinnerella shuddered, and Adora saw Netossa hug her.

She glanced at Catra, but her lover didn't show any reaction at the - probably accidental - reminder of how Horde Prime had controlled her. She was remembering it, though - Adora knew that.

She grabbed Catra's hand to gently squeeze it and frowned at Jack, but he was already approaching the next, and hopefully last checkpoint before the actual cell area.

Five minutes later - and one comment from Catra about the time it would take if they had to reach the prisoners in a hurry, and another from Glimmer about how she would be able to bypass all checkpoints, which left Jack grimacing and the guards staring - they were finally in front of the cells - or habitats - of Seth and Osiris. And a few more behind them - the place was set up to hold a lot of them, Adora realised. Well, that was just thinking ahead.

"Hello!" she said, waving at the transparent windows.

"So, these are Goa'uld?" Sweet Bee leaned forward to peer at the two prisoners, who seemed to ignore her. "Are they well?"

They looked, well, healthy, as far as Adora could tell, and the habitats looked nice, but she had expected them to react at once to their arrival, and the two Goa'uld didn't do that. Were they affected this badly by the lack of a sapient host? That would be… a big problem. They couldn't provide them with hosts, that would be cruel to the hosts, but leaving them like this would also be cruel.

Catra, though, scoffed. "They're just playing for sympathy."

"Yeah. Don't let them fool you," Jack added.

"Of course, you'd say that." Sweet Bee sniffed. "Can they hear us?"

If they couldn't, Adora would have looked very foolish for talking to them.

"Yes. They just don't want to talk, it seems." Jack shrugged.

But then Seth moved towards the tiny keyboard in his cell, and as soon as he had started moving, Osiris moved to his own. Both typed quickly, and synthetic voices rang out simultaneously.

"Greetings." "I greet you, visitors."

Adora expected them to glare at each other, but they kept talking - at the same time.

"You aren't Tau'ri." "What brings you to my humble abode?"

"Please, don't talk at the same time; it's hard to understand you," Adora said, raising her hand.

"Yes. Stay silent while your betters talk!" Seth told Osiris.

"Why would they talk to a traitorous piece of filth like you? You have proven time and again that you cannot be trusted!"

"You, who tried to usurp Ra's power with your wife, accuse me of being a traitor?"

"I did not spend thousands of years amongst the Tau'ri, founding cults and then enticing my followers into suicide once I grew tired of them."

"You didn't because you were imprisoned for your betrayal."

"A betrayal you set up - only to double-cross us! Only a fool would trust a single word of yours after this!"

"You would have betrayed me in a heartbeat, brother!"

"No! I trusted you!"

"Trusted me to be betrayed! You think I wasn't aware that you were willing to stab me in the back on your wife's orders?"

Adora saw Jack push a few buttons on the keyboard on the wall next to the cells, and the synthetic voices of the two Goa'uld grew dimmer.

"I've also muted us. I am kind of curious how long it will take them to notice," he told them with a grin.

"They are brothers?" Sweet Bee asked.

"Yep. That's your typical wholesome Goa'uld family. Backstabbing, bickering and bitching all day long."

Sweet Bee eyed the two Goa'uld. "They are thousands of years old?"

"Yep."

"Yet, they bicker like children." She shook her head.

"Don't be fooled by their antics - they have oppressed and murdered countless people," Daniel cut in. "You cannot underestimate them."

"They loathe each other, yet you have placed them in cells next to each other?" Sweet Bee shook her head. "That seems cruel."

"Well… isolating them would be cruel as well." Jack shrugged. "Can't win here. And they can mute each other and turn the cell windows opaque, so it's not as if they're forced to talk or even see each other."

"And they might let slip important information while they bicker," Peekablue said.

Jack nodded, and his grin widened a bit. "Mostly historical information - they have been stuck on Earth one way or the other for the last few thousand years - but it helps piecing together how the snakes think."

"The Goa'uld rulers have been in power for a very long time," Daniel added. "And as you can see, they carry grudges."

Sweet Bee frowned, but Adora couldn't tell if she was annoyed at the Goa'uld, Adora and her friends, or herself. "We still want to talk to them."

"Be our guest," Jack told her, spreading his hands. "Once they stop bickering, they will probably be ready to talk. But I'd suggest talking to each one separately."

"Of course." Sweet Bee scoffed. "It's clear that they cannot stand each other, so trying to talk to them together would not serve our needs. Now, who is the higher-ranked?"

"Higher-ranked?" Jack blinked.

"It would be a fauxpas if we talked to the lower ranked of the two first," Sweet Bee explained.

"And that would be inconceivable, right?" Jack asked.

His sarcasm was quite obvious, and Sweet Bee glared at him. "The proper forms have to be observed. Especially if you have someone at your mercy. How could you trust someone who only shows respect when forced to?"

Jack narrowed his eyes at the princess, but Adora couldn't help but agree - a bit, at least. And many of her friends seemed to agree as well.

"We don't really follow the whole 'nobles are better than peasants' on Earth. Everyone's equal," Jack told Sweet Bee.

Sweet Bee scoffed in return. "That you elect your leaders does not change the fact that you have leaders who command and others who follow. Like you have officers leading soldiers."

"Uh, that's not exactly the point," Daniel spoke up. "In those cases, it's about the position - tied to the position."

"And their current position is 'prisoners'," Jack said.

"And yet, they were rulers both. That demands respect," Sweet Bee retorted.

"Respect has to be earned," Jack shot back.

"And they were toppled by their own," Catra added with a shrug. "They weren't princesses when we captured them but fugitives. Osiris technically was a prisoner already."

"That doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated without respect," Sweet Bee spat with a glare.

"We do that," Adora spoke up. "They are people, like us. And we do our best to treat them in a respectful manner." She was pretty sure they did, and the United States would know better than to abuse prisoners, but she might have to check that after this.

"We are not going to treat them like the gods they claim to be. They are false gods." Teal'c inclined his head.

"Yeah. We're not going to worship them and stuff," Jack said, showing his teeth in a grin. "But feel free to do so if you want."

Sweet Bee scoffed once more. "I shall address them as fits a captured leader. But, again: Who amongst them is the higher-ranked?"

"Uh…" Daniel grimaced. "That's actually a good question. Osiris's power seemed to have been tied to Isis as much or more than to his own achievements, but he was the first Pharaoh, or so our sources claim, while we are a bit at a loss about the exact status of Seth - he was subordinate to Ra, that much we know, but whether he was of a higher rank than Osiris remains in doubt." He cocked his head. "I don't think we actually looked into this, and I think we should since it might grant us more insight into Goa'uld society."

Sweet Bee blinked. "So, you don't know."

"Yes." Daniel smiled at her.

Catra snickered, and Adora had to suppress a chuckle herself at the way Sweet Bee flushed with annoyance.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"...and so, the bacteria have an effect on the immune system, but it's an indirect effect. We need a more direct effect. Although if we supplemented the immune system through that method and then increased that effect, we might be able to replace a non-functional immune system."

Samantha Carter nodded - Entrapta's reasoning seemed sound. Even though, she noted for herself with some amusement, it might actually validate all those 'boosts your immune system' ads certain companies put out for their latest overpriced placebo line. Still… "Yes, that might work," she said. "But we might have to run this past Dr Fraiser. She's the medical expert on the base." And Sam's friend had the most experience with alien biology of all the medical professionals on Earth, something that a lot of experts were still struggling with. Very much like Sam's situation, actually.

"OK! Let's go!" Entrapta jumped up from her seat, her hair sweeping up her presentation materials and recorder. Emily, standing behind her, beeped. "Oh, yes, you can stop that, Emily!"

The holoprojection in the centre of the lab vanished.

Sam realised that Entrapta was about to head to the infirmary. "Ah… I think it would be better if we ask Janet to meet us here," she said. "We wouldn't want to disturb her work."

"Oh?" Entrapta stopped halfway to the door, and Emily also came to a halt a yard behind her. "But she's got all the special gear in her lab, right?"

Of course, Sam's friend wanted to start experimenting right away. She should have realised that. Sam smiled. "We're still in the planning stage. We need to prepare any experiments properly, I think, and then set up a proper lab for it. Janet's infirmary is meant to treat people." Even though they also had had to deal with other emergencies there from time to time. Of course, that fell under treating people as well if you wanted to be technical.

"Ah." Entrapta blinked, then nodded. Her hair, tools still held in tendrils, bopped, and she turned around. "So… let's call her!"

Sam smiled and reached for her phone.

Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

Catra was growing less fond of this stupid ice base - and the memories of that stupid mission in the war that they brought - with every minute she had to watch Sweet Bee make a fool of herself. "Why do you care about the ranks of the prisoners? They're both former System Lords or whatever, and now they're prisoners. Anything beyond that is stupid. Just pick one and talk to them!" she snapped.

"It's not stupid!" the moron insisted with a glare that was probably meant to be scathing but only made her look more stupid to someone who had faced Shadow Weaver and Hordak at their worst. "There are forms to be observed. Not that you would be familiar with that concept!"

Catra scoffed in return. She was familiar with all the princess stuff and rules - from preparing for the Princess Prom, and just hanging out with Adora, of course - but she didn't care for it. But, speaking of… "Just use the rules of the Princess Prom to determine who you talk to first." She managed not to add 'moron', but it was a close call.

"That doesn't apply here!" Sweet Bee retorted. "We're visitors, not their guests! And they're prisoners, not hosts! This isn't like Princess Prom at all!"

Catra bared her fangs in a grin. "Then it's simple, as representative of our hosts, Jack can decide who you will see first."

O'Neill shot her a glare, but she ignored him. He had brought them here, so he could sort this out! And it wasn't as if talking to Osiris or Seth first would make any difference, in Catra's opinion. Both would do their best to lie in an attempt to turn them.

"Yes," Glimmer was quick to agree - probably as tired of this shit as Catra. "Just pick one. Sweet Bee can blame you if one of the Goa'uld complains. You don't mind that, do you?"

Judging by O'Neill's grin, he loved getting blamed by the Goa'uld for anything that annoyed or hurt them. "Alright. So, let's talk to Seth first."

"Why Seth?" Sweet Bee immediately asked.

"He's got the shorter name," O'Neill told her with a serious expression.

Sweet Bee blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it and frowned. But, for a change, she didn't complain. "Very well," she said, sounding very put on.

Catra refrained from offering a high-five to O'Neill.

The two prisoners had stopped arguing halfway into the princess's tantrum and had watched them intently, which was a change from their earlier behaviour. Catra wondered how well they were holding together without a sapient host, but asking now would set off Sweet Bee again.

"Greetings, Lord Seth," the moron in question began after O'Neill had pushed a few buttons and nodded. "I am Princess Sweet Bee of Etheria. This is Prince Peekablue. We would like to ask you a few questions about the Goa'uld. This isn't an interrogation, though; we are merely curious about your society." She bowed, if not terribly deep. "And we aren't members of the Princess Alliance so we have no quarrel with you."

Peekablue bowed with a bit more flair, but the way he wasn't really focused on anything ruined the effect.

"Greetings, Princess. Prince." Seth didn't bow, but as a snake, that would have looked weird anyway. "You are not members of the Alliance, but you are with them?"

"We're on a diplomatic visit to Earth representing a coalition of independent realms on Etheria," Sweet Bee told him.

Catra could see the snake perk up at that. Like an instructor spotting a cadet about to screw up.

This was going to go great, she thought with a scoff.

"...so, you see, I was not involved with this war - I was stranded on Earth thousands of years ago, before any of the countries waging war today existed, and did my best to live my life without being noticed by the local rulers."

Jack O'Neill rolled his eyes at Seth's lies and spoke up before Sweet Bee could comment: "That's what you call creating suicide cults all over the place?"

"Suicide cults?" the princess asked, turning to glance at Jack. "What do you mean?"

"He recruited people to worship him and then had them kill themselves when he tired of them," Jack explained. Had she missed the barb from Osiris earlier?

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but, essentially, that's correct," Daniel added.

"I was worshipped as a god, and when I had to go into hiding after the authorities started oppressing my faith, my followers, unwilling to live without me, decided to kill themselves. And they were facing torture and death at the hands of the human rulers anyway since they had forsaken their fake religion in favour of following me," Seth retorted. "Instead of being burned alive, they decided to end their lives on their terms."

"Humans kill those who don't follow your religion?" Sweet Bee gasped.

"No!" Jack snapped. Of course, she would focus on that, and not on the fact that Seth had driven his worshippers to suicide!

"Well, several countries still have the death penalty for apostasy," Daniel unhelpfully pointed out. "Although that hasn't been the case in Western, I mean, Alliance countries, for a long time."

"I have heard about your zealots and how they wish to murder us for living our lives differently." Sweet Bee nodded.

"Oh, yes," Seth chimed in again. "They are very intolerant of other religions - a natural reaction, of course, when their god doesn't exist."

"Says the parasite posing as a god," Jack shot back.

"Of course, someone who believes that there is only one god - and a god who is conveniently intangible and only acts through his worshippers at that - would disparage other religions." Seth's synthetic voice was far too smooth for Jack's taste. He had to talk to Carter about that. "You call me a false god, yet I provided for my faithful. I gave them guidance, sharing my wisdom with my chosen ones, healing them in need and offering a safe home for those who wished to live a life different from that mandated by those zealots."

Between advertising and Cold War propaganda, Jack had heard a lot of bullshit, but this took the cake. "You used technology and lies to fool gullible people into worshipping you as a god!"

"You are a false god tricking the Tau'ri," Teal'c added. "And you abandoned your faithful as soon as it became convenient."

"And yet, I offered more than your god ever did, Colonel O'Neill," Seth said. "Which is why, as soon as you noticed me, you stormed my home, killed my followers and captured me even though I had never done anything to hurt your country. So much for the freedom of religion that you tout so often."

Was the snake seriously claiming that his freedom of religion had been violated?

Daniel spoke up before Jack found the right words to react. "Well, while, technically, your followers' freedom of religion was violated, you also committed several crimes. Even leaving aside the fact that you enslaved your host…"

"My followers willingly embraced my gifts!" Seth cut in.

Daniel ignored it and continued: "...you also gathered illegal weapons and used violence and illegal drugs to control your followers. And I am sure you violated zoning laws with your construction."

Jack blinked, then snorted at the last line. If Daniel tried, he could snark with the best of them.

And Sweet Bee seemed, at last, reconsidering her sympathy for the poor captured false god. "You used drugs on your people?"

"Mind control drugs," Glimmer added.

"That is how the false gods operate - they use all manner of tricks to deceive, control and enslave their victims," Teal'c said. "And those they cannot control or enslave, they kill."

"One of them has enslaved Sha're, my wife." Daniel glared at Seth. "They took over her body as their own."

"I had nothing to do with that. In my time, being chosen as a host for your god was a great honour," the snake lied. "And if we are criticising manipulative practises, what about threatening people with eternal torment if they do not follow your god? Or putting those who refuse to convert to the sword? I have seen countless atrocities committed in the name of gods, yet not once I saw any of those gods actually appear. You call me a false god, but you worship an imaginary god!"

Someone had a grudge against Christianity. "If someone appeared claiming to be God and trying to prove it through trickery, we'd call them false as well," Jack told him.

"So, the only god you accept is one who never appears. As I have said before, that is very convenient for you." The snake turned its ugly head and looked at Adora. "Do you call her a fake goddess as well?"

"I'm no goddess!" Adora snapped at once.

"And yet, you are worshipped as a goddess. And after you saved your faithful, you continued to provide them with guidance and healing, generously sharing your divine gifts," Seth told her.

Jack gritted his teeth. Seth must have picked up quite a lot from TV before they captured him.

"That doesn't make me a goddess!"

"Goddess, princess… those are mere semantics," Seth said. "We are leaders with wisdom and powers beyond our followers'. Call it divine right or noblesse oblige, but do we not have a duty to provide for those bereft of our gifts?"

And Sweet Bee nodded. "Of course! A ruler is supposed to protect, help and lead her people! That is why we have our powers!"

"But we shouldn't be worshipped as gods!" Adora spat.

"So much for freedom of religion." The snake managed to even sound smug through the computer.

Jack clenched his teeth. This wasn't going according to plan.

"If there was such a duty, then you failed it every time you abandoned your cults. Leaders worthy of that position do not sacrifice their followers to save themselves." Teal'c slowly inclined his head.

And Sweet Bee blinked.

"Yes!" Adora nodded emphatically. Teal'c had cut to the heart of the matter. "If Seth were a princess, he'd have abandoned his kingdom as soon as an enemy showed up that looked dangerous," she told Sweet Bee. The other princess had to see that!

"Ugh." Mermista scoffed.

Adora winced - her friend would have some words about people abandoning their princess and kingdom, but, fortunately, Mermista wasn't voicing them. Adora really should have thought about her phrasing.

"It's worse than that," Catra cut in. "Seth here used his followers' deaths to hide his own disappearance. Once his followers were dead, he could kill his host, take a new one, and disappear - with everyone involved dead, no one would look for him." She bared her fangs. "Killing everyone was the plan from the start."

"Yeah, like a parasite, he sucked his followers dry, and when they were no longer useful to him, he killed them without another thought," Jack added. "That's how the Go'auld are."

"That's a gross misrepresentation!" Seth protested. "When I was openly worshipped, before Osiris and his wife tried to topple Ra and I was caught between them, my faithful were cared for! If not for the Tau'ri hunting down all those who didn't follow their religion, my community would have endured without any trouble!"

Daniel scoffed - it was weird to see him sneer like that, Adora realised. "You would have killed them anyway since you were hiding from Ra as well, and having a lasting cult would have exposed you."

Perfuma gasped in the background.

"No! The fault lies with the intolerant and violent Tau'ri!" Seth snapped.

He didn't sound so smooth and persuasive any more, Adora noticed. He sounded desperate.

And Sweet Bee had realised that as well. The princess frowned as she addressed him. "Did you try to save your followers?"

"Of course! I tried everything - they only chose death when there was no way out anymore!"

"That's a lie!" Daniel snapped. "We've looked into the records of your cults and their ends - they weren't hunted by the authorities - in almost all cases, they were discovered after your followers had killed themselves!"

"And they didn't choose anything," Glimmer chimed in with a scowl. "You used drugs on them to control their minds."

"Yes! We have the records for that as well." Daniel nodded.

For a second, Seth didn't say anything - Adora could see him twist. Then his synthetic voice rang out again. "Those records are false! They're trying to frame me so they can fool you," he told Sweet Bee.

But the princess shook her head. "Why didn't you claim that from the beginning? Or when those drugs were mentioned the first time?"

Seth once more hesitated to answer.

Sweet Bee nodded. "I don't think you can be trusted, Lord Seth." She turned to Jack. "I would like to speak to Lord Osiris now."

"Wait! This is a plot! You can't trust…"

Jack pushed a button, and Seth's voice was cut off in the middle of his sentence.

Adora suppressed a sigh. That had been tiring. At least Sweet Bee was as critical towards Seth's claims as she was towards the Alliance. And Seth hadn't had good arguments for his lies. She could only hope Osiris wasn't going to do any better.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"...and that's why we wanted to ask you about this," Samantha Carter finished her explanation, Entrapta nodding along.

"I see." Janet nodded as well and shifted on her seat in their lab. "You want to use genetic engineering to… create a symbiotic strain of bacteria to boost or replace a failing immune system."

"Exactly!" Entrapta beamed at her. "And we need your help to do that properly. Without accidentally creating a bioweapon. Or a sapient species that needs human guts to survive."

Janet's smile grew more than a little forced. "I think I can help you avoid either outcome," she said.

Sam didn't miss the glance her friend shot at her and winced a little. In hindsight, their explanation sounded a bit… well, it might leave the wrong impression. Even though Sam couldn't honestly exclude both possible results that Entrapta had mentioned. Not when magic and Ancient technology were involved.

Janet sighed and went on. "But I don't think I can offer a lot of help with your actual project. I am a doctor, not a geneticist."

That would have earned her a Star Trek joke if the Colonel was here, Sam knew.

Entrapta was still beaming at Janet. "Oh, don't worry about that! We've got so many ideas to test, one of them should work out! And we've got the First Ones research data to use as well - they knew a lot about creating new species, you know!"

"I see." The narrowed glance at Sam intensified.

Sam winced again and hoped she wasn't blushing. There was no reason to be embarrassed, anyway - testing multiple approaches was how you did research as a scientist. Well, one of the ways you did research. Even if it did sound a bit like what a mad scientist in a B-movie would say.

At least the Colonel wasn't here. He'd have a field day teasing Sam about this.

Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, Earth, January 22nd, 1999

"So, you have seen through Seth's pathetic lies."

Catra sighed. Loudly, not softly. Adora shot her a glance, but she ignored it. Osiris went straight to gloating about his brother's failure, and that wasn't… well, Catra knew how stupid it was to focus on beating your rival when you should be focusing on actually achieving your objectives. Knew it very, very well from personal experience. Painful experience.

"Yes, Lord Osiris," Sweet Bee replied. "And now I would like to hear what you have to say."

At least the princess didn't apologise for not talking to this snake first.

"About Seth? Or about my current, unjustified predicament?"

"About you and your peers, the other System Lords." Sweet Bee inclined her head.

Catra narrowed her eyes for a moment. If this were someone else, Catra would consider that a smart attempt to get intel. But since it was Sweet Bee… She glanced at Peekablue, but the prince was still doing his 'obviously using my farsight power' thing and staring at a corner of the room. If he started drooling, someone would have to get a picture.

"Well, technically, I was stripped of my position by Ra after Seth manipulated me and my beloved wife into opposing him," Osiris replied.

"But you did try to depose him, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Isis…" Osiris sighed, a bit overly dramatic, in Catra's opinion. "My beloved was always ambitious, and I believed she would be a better ruler than Ra - an opinion, I think, that history vindicated."

Sweet Bee slowly nodded but didn't seem to agree.

"Well, getting pushed off Earth by a bronze-age revolution isn't exactly a feather in old Ra's cap," O'Neill commented.

"Isis warned him not to underestimate Earth's magic," Osiris said. "But, as he was wont to do, he ignored her advice."

Now that was interesting.

"Earth's magic?" Daniel spoke up. "What do you know about it?"

"I was there when it grew from primitive rituals into sophisticated spellcraft." Osiris sounded smug even in the bot voice he was using. Catra wondered how Entrapta and Sam had managed that.

"And all under your nose?" O'Neill shook his head.

"Isis was a patron of magic. Under her guidance, her faithful advanced by leaps and bounds."

"And she was guiding them despite not being able to use magic herself?" Glimmer scoffed. "Or was she just trying to find a way to use a sorceress as a host without losing access to their magic?"

Osiris hesitated a moment. "Can you fault her for that? This power, so versatile, so… close, yet out of our reach. Who would, in our place, not have attempted to secure it for themselves?"

That sounded honest, in Catra's opinion. And quite understandable, from a certain point of view. But, she added to herself with a smirk, to some, it sounded quite bad…

"Magic is a talent you're born with. A gift as well as an obligation," Sweet Bee said. With a frown, she added: "It's not something you can take for yourself as if it were a mere physical good."

"Yeah," O'Neill chimed in with a smug grin. "How could it be proof of your divine right to rule if everyone could just grab it as well?"

"There is a difference between magic powers and the talent for sorcery, Colonel O'Neill," Sweet Bee retorted. "Casting spells does not make you a princess."

Catra snorted, softly, at the scowl that briefly appeared on O'Neill's face. Sweet Bee might not have been aware of his talent for sorcery or how he loathed it, but she had certainly hit him in an uncomfortable spot.

"Yeah, yeah. Those Ancients certainly knew how to pick the leaders for their experimental subjects." O'Neill shot back.

"The same people who built a network of Stargates linking the galaxy's worlds, millions of years ago? As far as endorsement of our rule is concerned, I could think of far worse choices."

Before O'Neill could go on about democracy again, Osiris cut in: "Indeed. And the Goa'uld inherited their works - the Stargates and their technology. To take care of the galaxy in their place."

"To enslave and oppress people, you mean," Glimmer corrected him. "It was all for your own power, not for your subjects' welfare."

"Even a god's power is limited - if not by their resources, then by their peers. Isis and I did what we could, and if not for Seth and Ra, we would have done far more." He sighed. "But we were betrayed and defeated, then imprisoned in stasis jars - separated from each other. When I woke up, it was to the devastating news that my beloved had died when her pod had failed."

"You have my condolences," Sweet Bee told him. "So, you were a prisoner for all this time?"

"When my body was sealed away, Ra was the ruler of the Goa'uld Empire, and his seat was on Earth. To find out that he was dead, and that Earth was fighting the Empire, was another shock." Osiris sighed again. "Unfortunately, the Tau'ri count me as their enemy even though not even once did I fight them."

"You only oppressed and enslaved our ancestors," Daniel said.

"If left to their own devices, they would have fought each other - as your history after the rebellion showed." Osiris shook his head, which looked weird for a snake. "And it was a different time. Every Lord was sometimes forced to use harsh measures for the greater good. Back then, few Tau'ri had the necessary knowledge and wisdom to understand leadership. Isis and I planned to change that. We meant to educate our faithful so they would grow in wisdom, could be trusted to lead their own. But, as you know, it was not to be. Our plans, our goals, were foiled by treachery."

"Why would you plan to abolish your own rule?" Sweet Bee asked. "If you're the most capable ruler, why should you step down? That makes no sense."

Osiris seemed surprised. Had he expected a princess to support democracy? Catra snorted again.

He recovered quickly, though. "Of course not. But even a wise ruler requires skilled help. Administrators. Guards. Servants."

"Slaves," Daniel added with a scoff. "No matter their titles, they were slaves to your whims."

"What was the alternative? No Tau'ri, back in my time, could have been truly free. They were at the mercy of the weather. Or anyone more powerful than them. That was how things were: The strong ruled, and the weak obeyed. And have things truly changed?"

"Yeah, we have those things called 'rights' now," O'Neill snapped.

"You enslaved your faithful?" Sweet Bee sounded shocked.

"That's a matter of definitions," Osiris replied quickly. "And, ultimately, a meaningless label. If you are not the most powerful, then you are bound to obey someone else, and does it then matter whether you are called a slave or a subordinate? You obey either way."

Sweet Bee scowled at the Goa'uld. "Being more powerful does not give you the right to force your will on others! The very reason we are here is because we do not obey the Alliance's decrees!"

Catra grinned as she saw the Goa'uld recoil once he realised his mistake. He really put his foot in it there.