The gate closed behind us, and the small chamber in the pyramid filled with a multitude of crates transported via antigravity platforms. Now I faced a rather interesting quest: reassembling the Teltak I'd disassembled myself. Ten Jaffa were assigned to assist me.
We were on Abydos. I'd already opened the gate to this planet several times, sending drones to check when night fell. Assembling a spaceship at night wasn't the best idea, but that way no one would notice our actions. We'd have to build the ship under cover, using lamps. Unlike Jackson, I have scanning equipment that will help me find all the voids.
I have no intention of touching the vault containing the Eye of Ra. Firstly, I have a survival instinct. Secondly, if Ra learns of his hiding place being looted, he will be furious. Since no Goa'uld has ever used this weapon, the Eye is forbidden. If such technology is stolen from Ra, he will launch a full-scale search.
If there's a spy among my entourage, they'll be able to track the time I leave through the gate and break into the vault. The consequences will be fatal. Furthermore, Ra will no longer consider Abydos a safe place, and this will impact future events. Later, I'll be able to claim the Eye of Osiris and the Eye of Marduk—two of the five possible artifacts. After Ra's death, there will be three of the five, making it ideal for a flagship.
I couldn't create antigravity drones like Anubis's—the system is difficult to miniaturize. However, I do have quadcopters. I sent them through the gate and held them open with a radio signal to survey the area. The Jaffa began assembling the teltak according to the instructions, and I began searching for the gate's address.
The Cartouche Chamber was located beneath the pyramid. The scanners quickly located it. In ten minutes, I received thousands of addresses known to Ra at the time of the temple's construction. It's worth considering that there could be billions of gate address combinations, although no more than 100,000–300,000 are operational. This demonstrates the scale of the achievements of the Ancients—the most powerful people in the galaxy.
"Sir," said the Jaffa leading me and examining everything through his night vision goggles.
"We've found what we need."
I turned on the flashlight, and the camera on my helmet began recording every address. A special program saved every written word into a separate file.
"Now we'll assemble the Teltak and fly to a planet with the necessary resources. Abydos is the closest suitable point."
By local sunrise, we'll already be in hyperspace. An added bonus was that I found the address of the Earth Gate.
"Sir, do you understand this language?" the Jaffa asked about the radio transmission from Earth.
"Yes, I know this language. This planet has long served as a source of slaves for the System Lords, but we are not here for slaves."
I headed to Antarctica, where the ship's sensors could locate the gate. Next, I needed a permanent base for transporting supplies, preferably close to major transportation routes—New York, for example. The temple in Mexico, where Hathor is kept, was also suitable for temporary accommodation.
It was 1947. Helping in World War II was no longer possible. I had 50 years before Ra's death. The first priority was to find allies on Earth capable of acting autonomously. The best place to look was among wealthy individuals in the United States who could provide the necessary supplies.
"Jaffa Kree!" All my soldiers had already changed into warm clothing, as the temperature had dropped to -40°C. Even supersoldiers couldn't handle frostbite. I was dressed in furs taken from Urvashi, as creating warm clothing wasn't my top priority.
Several of my men went with me, while the rest waited. Using the naquadah detector and scanners as our guide, we headed toward the cave where O'Neill and Carter had been when they were thrown out of the gate by the redirection.
I had to clear the space with staves and plasma weapons. Initially, I planned to use the Teltak's cannons to destroy the entire cavern, but first I had to retrieve the most fragile piece of equipment—the dial device. The gate was in no danger, even if hundreds of tons of ice fell on it. Later, I planned to use tractor beams to excavate the site, extract the gate, and attach it to the Teltak with magnetic grips. Although this would create significant overload and make high speeds unavailable, transport to Mexico was still possible.
The sarcophagus contained sufficient naquadah, and the specific energy frequency allowed it to be detected by low-altitude scanners. However, it was best to conduct the operation at night to minimize potential clashes with local residents.
We descended through the tunnel created by the kavush, using ropes several times.
"Sir, we have found the dialing device," the Jaffa reported.
"Dig it out and carry it out," I ordered. The Jaffa pulled out picks and began extracting important equipment. I used the antigravity sled to evacuate the typesetter.
An hour later, we were already in the Teltak, finishing shelling the cave. I don't know how the SGC managed to extract the gate in Antarctica—they probably used heavy-duty cranes. But I had few options. Using the Teltak-mounted cannons, I collapsed the cave roof. It took some time.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the Vault's knowledge, otherwise I could have turned the rings into Asgard beam weapons and easily melted the ice. But I had no access to the Ancients' knowledge. The most I could do was install special beacons for future searches for the "dead seals." Ayana was unlikely to be more than 20 kilometers from the gate. With enough people and equipment, a full-scale search could be organized.
It was lucky it was the polar day and not the polar night. Removing the gate during a blizzard would have been extremely difficult, even for us, technologically enhanced supersoldiers.
The ice excavation took several days. The Teltak needed time to heat up, as its reactor couldn't simultaneously maintain a normal internal temperature and operate the tractor beam. I left part of the Jaffa in Antarctica—in a tent, of course, with warm clothing and heating elements.
I needed to pinpoint the coordinates of the temple where Hathor was kept, and also find the temple near which Osiris abandoned his ship. If there were any reports of UFOs over Mexico and Egypt on the local news, it would be me. Around this time, the Asgard were supposed to have left their bodies in Roswell. I saw no sign of their presence and did not violate Asgard law. As long as neutrality existed between the Empire and the Asgard, we did not interfere in the affairs of the Protected Planets, and they did not kill Goa'uld without cause. Although I was only a minor pawn, my death could go unnoticed. The main thing was that the Asgard did not think so.