About Ten Years Later
Local Summer
Morning
Bastet removes the stopper from the bottle and cautiously sniffs its contents. She
appears pleased with what she smells, but goa'uld aren't particularly expressive… Unless they're angry. She glances at a youth in her retinue, and he takes the bottle from her and pours her a small amount into one of the tasting glasses.
No. He doesn't pour
her a small glass. He's her food tester. He observes it for a moment, takes in the clarity and the scent, and then cautiously tastes it.
"A not-unreasonable precaution, but do you really think it's likely that I'd try something like that?"
She artfully raises her left eyebrow, her eyes glowing white for a moment.
"Some of us are Supreme System Lord Ra's loyal vassals."
It's… Interesting. I can
detect the parasite wound around her spine and plugged into her brain, but… While I'm far from being an expert with the orange light, it… Looks like the desires are coming from the human brain and
not the far smaller brain in the parasite.
"I admit, I let my greed get the better of me. But I will work to regain.. a measure of Lord Ra's faith, however long it takes."
She kept me waiting for three days, not including the time it took for Lord
Neper to pass on the fact that a trade treaty with a goa'uld not sworn to Bastet would require her approval. For an egomaniacal parasite, Neper is actually pretty good company, as the source of his power is the food grown on his bountiful planet and he has a genuine interest in improved farming techniques.
Some of the others have been…
Less helpful.
But if Bastet actually approves this trade treaty, that's her whole sub-empire.
And she can put me in touch with
Kali, who rules an equivalent area. And their capitals are the only places with
any non-'magical' industry at all, and that's what I desperately need to copy.
The weird voice thing takes some getting used to.
"If Supreme System Lord Ra did not kill you, then it must be because he did not want you dead. I would not question his wisdom, though if you had been my tithe-gatherer I would not have been so generous."
I fan open my arms as her food tester nods to her before moving on to the fruit.
"I freely admit to deserving what he did to me. I acted against him without provocation. He honoured me and I spat in his face. It was a most humbling lesson, and one which I will never need repeated."
"So now you have made a new life for yourself… As a merchant."
"I can hardly expect our fellow gods to believe that I've learned my lesson if I'm not prepared to humble myself, can I?"
I've also learned that the jaffa are humans with underdeveloped parasites implanted in a synthetic pouch in their abdomen. Bastet appears to use their women exclusively as her soldiers, though their menfolk have the same modification. I'm not sure what the reason for using female soldiers is; much like unaugmented humans they're weaker and more fragile than their male counterparts. I suppose that it's probably a question of style. And perhaps their parasite allows them to remain fertile for proportionally longer so that their birth rate isn't too badly harmed?
I wait patiently as Bastet and her food taster
slowly work their way around my samples. Her bodyguards remain assiduously po-faced, and the other members of her retinue either hover around awaiting their mistress's pleasure or perform their designated tasks. My
own retinue are either back in the suite I was granted for my stay or just outside; my status as a petitioner is
entirely too low for me to be allowed to have anyone in here, but she didn't actually expect me to set up the display myself.
Eventually she waves her servers off, lounging more languidly on her chaise longue.
"Your meagre wares are of adequate quality."
I nod and smile.
"I am working from a low starting point. It will improve in time."
"I have no need of anything that you have myself, but I will grant you a warrant to trade amongst my inferiors."
"You are most generous. I will not disappoint you, and perhaps in time-."
A functionary
almost bursts into the room, hurrying into Bastet's presence. She glares at him, but he just ducks his head and keeps coming. One of her bodyguards opens the odd claw weapon covering her right hand, but the man just bows to his goddess, walks right up to her-
Eavesdrop.
-and whispers-
"Ra is dead."
-to her. Her eyes widen for a moment, her entire body tensing. I'm too low down the 'god' totem pole to have any direct contact with the Supreme System Lord, but… The goa'uld don't have
children. Between switching hosts and their healing technologies, they aim to live on indefinitely. Valued subordinates are about as close as they get, and while I've heard of a
few who might try and keep Ra's holdings together… They're
not the Supreme System Lord. Like him or hate him, he kept their civilisation more or less together as a unified whole.
If he's
actually dead. Faking his death to see what happens doesn't sound like something someone as concerned for appearances as most goa'uld would do. But maybe he's cut from a different cloth?
Either way, there
shouldn't be any impact on my own planet. We don't have any strategic resources or military power to be worth fighting. At worst I'll have to deal with different goa'uld flying up to the planet, demanding that I swear allegiance and then flying away again. While in
theory I could use that as an opportunity to acquire ships for myself -I've mocked up a capital ship-style shield and breaking through it with a power ring isn't
that difficult- that would probably just make me a target unless I have somewhere to hide them.
Bastet's eyes move to me as her face returns to Resting Smug.
"A matter requires my attention. My seneschal will see you later to inform you of the terms of your warrant of trade."
I bow to just above the right angle.
"I shall look forward to it."
I remain bowed until she makes a dismissive hand motion, and then I turn and stride towards the exit. A couple of male jaffa pull the doors open at my approach, and close it definitively once I'm through. My assistants fall in behind me as I stride back towards my suite.
Techno-primitivism is such a
pain. Goa'uld electronic systems are easy to get into by power ring, but because they're 'magic' most people use spoken or written words instead. Those are
far harder to access without being extremely obvious about it, and I can't afford to make
any goa'uld angry with me in particular.
Still…
Ring.
Passive monitoring.
…certain?
She's using that room's communication system. That room's communication system with its nicely monitorable electromagnetic transmissions.
Ra's ship was overdue to return. Heru'ur dispatched a ship to investigate and began assembling his fleet the moment it returned. I will send a cloaked ship to confirm for myself, but I felt that notifying you should take priority.
No constant grovelling? That's either a human spy that's very close to her, or a lesser goa'uld.
Send the ship. Discover what happened and who did it. And keep watching Heru'ur.
As you command.
I
cause the doors to my suite to open, causing the helmeted jaffa standing guard to start very slightly. I don't look at them as I walk past.
"Pack up, everyone. I want to leave the moment the warrant is in my hand. Things are about to become
turbulent."
