Isara. Urvashi.
She dove into one of the ship's secluded chambers, untouched by other guests. Even the Jaffa, whose presence here was rapidly fading, were unaware of its existence. Within, as if in a stone bed, rested Egeria. She was the embodiment of slowness, a monstrous sac bulging with the anticipation of new life, of the coming birth. No, her appearance was far from graceful, but Szarekh saw in her a spark of hope, a flame capable of resurrecting his kind. Isara, though she shared this vision, harbored a seed of doubt in her soul, like a moth flickering to a flame.
The Queen, seeing her, spoke through the speaker, like an echo of distant worlds.
"I'll hand you a holographic keyboard and monitor. Please don't try to use my body as a host—it's impolite, to say the least."
Egeria merely shook her head in response. Isara, reverently, as if lifting the lid on a secret, opened the container and set up the glowing interface pyramid.
"Are you comfortable?"
"Yes," the Queen typed, deftly turning her head like a conductor directing an invisible orchestra.
"Okay. I am Isara, Szarekh's wife. I am not a Goa'uld. I am the ruler of the planet Urvashi, or at least I was until he took it over. Our world is rich in naquadah, but 500 years ago, the Goa'uld who ruled here abandoned us to fight a rival. We sealed the gate, having lived free of Goa'uld oppression for half a millennium. And then, a year ago, Szarekh's ship appeared. Our world is a forgotten corner of the galaxy, far from Goa'uld dominion. It took Szarekh two years to get here using the Cheops hyperdrive, while modern models would have done it much faster. As soon as he gained power, he began reforming the planet. However, the ideas were his, and the execution was mine. He is a poor administrator, but a sharp mind. We've formed an alliance: I persuade my people to mine naquadah, offering them labor-saving technologies in exchange. To avoid rebellion, we married. Szarekh is Ra's son, but paradoxically, he shares your position, Egeria, regarding the Goa'uld's future. Taking advantage of the planet's remote location, he's accumulating resources for the coming battle. Unfortunately, we don't know where the Tok'ra are to hand you over to them. So, for now, you're stuck with us. Szarekh sent me to speak with you while he... amuses himself with Asgard."
The Queen's whole being expressed surprise, and as soon as Isara finished, she asked, like an echo of ancient tales:
"Asgard?"
"Yes. Szarekh traded the Gate Builder device for the coordinates to Shakran's worlds. You see, that insignificant Goa'uld, Shakran, deprived of mind, was attacking Ra's domains, including Pangar. I assume he was destroyed without Ra's involvement, as the Goa'uld haven't visited the planet you were on for three hundred years. Szarekh began disappearing with the captain of the Asgardian ship, Brunhilde. So, after he evacuated you, he never reappeared."
"Are the Asgard collaborating with the Goa'uld?"
"With one—yes, with Szareh. We took two hundred of your children. Now they're splashing in the pool on one of the decks. Are they self-aware?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Szarekh has the Jaffa, and when their larvae mature, they can be implanted into them. But that's not the point right now. We need to find you a host. Any preferences? Forgive me for not offering myself—the very concept seems somewhat… alien to me. Not to mention, I have no desire to become an incubator for larvae."
"I'm not offended," Egeria replied, like a whisper on the wind.
"We have access to technological worlds, one of which has reached the level of intelligent atomic energy, where universal education, including for women, is thriving. I'll have to have a detailed conversation with you, as we have a limited number of attempts. You were the ruler of your domain under Ra; you understand how suspicious the Jaffa are. Szarekh has kept them busy training them to keep them out of his affairs. So describe your potential host as precisely as possible."
"She should be between 20 and 30 years old," Egeria typed. "It has to do with reproduction. Reviving the reproductive system in an elderly woman is very difficult."
"Okay, that's taken into account," Isara said, jotting down a few notes in her notebook. "Does education level matter? Psychological type? Religious or atheistic? We need a fairly precise description to reduce the shock of implantation. However, how Sareh knows this is beyond me."
"How old is Sareh?"
"Five, I think," Isara answered, as if from a distant past.
"So young, and he challenges Ra."
"More likely, he's so young and managed to survive. After your rebellion, the queens were put under strict control, as were their offspring. The larvae of different queens are raised together, and if one queen produces a creature with genetic abnormalities, it is immediately devoured by the others. Szarekh is a lucky one."
"You are loyal to him."
"My planet only recently survived a terrible epidemic; many died. He promised to improve medicine, and he kept his word—providing knowledge and medicine. A Teltak flies to the terminally ill with a sarcophagus. And he's not cruel by nature. Even where firmness is required, he remains more of a scholar, a teacher. Yes, I like him, but it's not a girlish crush on a pretty face, considering he's a snake, just like you. The thing is, when the Jaffa isn't around, Szarekh can help a servant's daughter with her homework, and the girl doesn't even realize she's being helped by a phaeron. His concern for people is astounding, but it's second only to his diplomatic stupidity. You knew he stunned the archaeologists when he first arrived on Pangar, captured the planet, took you, and then ordered me to deal with it so he could add the planet to his realm."
"Fool," was Egeria's brief resolution.
"Exactly! I had to give some artifacts to archaeologists and offer to conduct a couple of excavations on other worlds. And introduce them to the archaeology of other civilizations. But that's my problem. So what about the carrier?"
"Calm. Methodical. Emotional control."
"I understand. It makes sense. When you rebuild the Tok'ra, you'll need someone to complement it. It feels like I'm Szarekh's host: calm and methodical, handling all the paperwork."
"He was lucky. But he was wise to leave you autonomy. No Goa'uld would do that."
"I think so too. So far, I've advised him not to provoke other civilizations, even by stunning them. However, while he's busy, he's been looking for you, because you're the key to maintaining peace in the galaxy. He plans, like every Goa'uld, to destroy all his rivals. But to avoid creating a power vacuum that could be filled by anyone, control of Goa'uld technology must be seized by the Tok'ra. Frankly, he seems to be interested in power as a tool, not an end in itself. He'd be better off in some lab. By the time you triumph over the Goa'uld, I'll already be dead. So everything will be yours. He said you failed to accumulate resources two thousand years ago, which is why you lost, so the Tok'ra became agents within the Goa'uld system of power. Well, Urvashi is very far from Goa'uld territory. The Asgards will soon provide us with the Hassan station and five Hattaks, so a start has been made."
"Asgard???" Egeria was so shocked that she almost hissed as she asked this question.
"I'm telling you, Sareh has a very good relationship with them."
"Giving the ships to the Goa'uld is more than just good relations," Egeria typed.
"You just don't know what he did to achieve it. Once the context is there, everything will become clear."
After a moment's pause, Isara continued:
"Well, let's continue."
But Egeria couldn't continue. She was so shocked that for several minutes she simply didn't react to external stimuli. Isara understood her state. The Asgard had always been enemies of the Goa'uld, and Szarekh had accomplished a truly titanic feat in winning their favor. Isara remembered him appearing in their abode, his eyes dancing with madness and delight. "I have saved tens of billions," he proclaimed. By betraying his entire race, he saved those who would have been absorbed by the replicators. Then she realized that she would never find a better man in her life. Even if he wasn't quite human. If at first it was just a "cold war," over time she was able to understand him. A man who turned against his entire race for the ideals he served.
If at first he was merely a conqueror sent by a ruler to fulfill a mission, over time she saw this being's true nature—an idealist who defied his very race. On Earth, there is a legend of Prometheus, a Titan who could not bear to see human suffering and stole the sacred fire from his brethren so that humanity could evolve. The Titan paid for this with an eternity of torment, his liver devoured by an eagle. Szarekh theorized that Prometheus was a Goa'uld who shared ideals similar to those of the Tok'ra.
And he carried not fire, but perhaps Goa'uld knowledge, for which he was punished. Eternal suffering is a cycle of murder and resurrection in a sarcophagus. For Isara, Szarekh was Prometheus. In a single year, her planet had developed in ways other civilizations had not developed in centuries. From the era of Ancient Egypt, they had moved into the age of machines. Szarekh always knew she was plotting against him, and he didn't care. Not because he believed in his own power, but because he believed in hers. He didn't care whether he led the Huttak fleet against the Goa'uld or whether she did. The main thing was that the fleet existed and destroyed the Empire. Despite all his faults, Szarekh is a good man, worthy of the deepest respect. Therefore, Isara had long since softened her attitude towards him. Perhaps, in some twisted sense, their relationship could be called love.