Earth. August 1947. New York.
Despite the discomfort of the crowds, I had to go with the flow. Having seized the property and frozen Hathor, I acquired an invisibility device – an indispensable tool for special operations. While I don't consider myself an expert, infiltrating the building by landing on the roof seemed straightforward. If I encountered the guards, I could deliver a stunning blow. Now I had to immerse myself in the city's atmosphere, assess the situation, and find potential allies. I needed someone with serious resources, but not from the criminal underworld – they were too unreliable. Money was essential, lots of it; and not old money, so as not to attract undue attention. I had already managed to visit the US Patent and Trademark Office and run a scan. Using their patents without paying royalties, although unpleasant, was necessary.
Making wholesale purchases or finding Set, let alone Osiris and Isis, on my own would be extremely difficult. My goal in New York is to scan the ocean floor at night, looking for sunken ships. I need a canopic jar containing two Goa'uld, but organizing an expedition without knowing the ships' exact locations is an impossible task. And then there's the madman with the naquadah bomb and the Sekhmet canopic jar. Finding the latter is a whole other headache, as the bomb is sealed to avoid scanning. That's the whole point of it. I hope that idiot doesn't dare activate it, or else some city will disappear, triggering World War III.
Dollars aren't a problem. I can print as many as I want. The equipment of a space civilization is undoubtedly superior to Earth's technology in 1947. Any counterfeit can be produced, the main thing is a variety of series. These bills, being indistinguishable from genuine ones, will allow me to spend them completely freely. That's why I immediately acquired a large library of several hundred books, ordering delivery to the address of my rented apartment. Luckily, forging documents was easy for me; the only snag was the black-and-white photograph. I had to go and have my passport photo taken, after which I produced a high-quality counterfeit.
Using publicly available data, I had to compile a list of the richest people in the United States to find a suitable candidate. Rockefeller was obviously out of the question—a shark like him could easily swallow anyone, given his colossal resources. However, I wouldn't have to limit myself to the United States. According to my information, Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat illegally arrested in Budapest by the NKVD, is currently being held in Lubyanka. I only know about him because he was a "Righteous Among the Nations" who saved 100,000 Jews by convincing German generals not to send Hungarian Jews to death camps and by issuing them Swedish passports. Not to mention that the Wallenbergs are a powerful dynasty in Sweden; it seemed that in the 1970s, 40% of the Swedish workforce worked for their businesses. Of course, Raoul was a diplomat, not a businessman, but I imagine he had a stake in the family business. However, to free him, I "only" would have to storm Lubyanka. I don't think it will be very difficult. It's unlikely that the entire family will be able to cooperate, but it's entirely possible to get him specifically involved. However, it would cause a huge scandal: the USSR held a Swedish diplomat in custody without charges, thereby violating the immunity of diplomatic personnel, and also concealed the arrest from the Swedish government. However, after his release, he could indeed become an influential figure in Swedish politics. His usefulness would be primarily diplomatic, which is also valuable – he could more quickly establish contacts with the right people.
True, I'll have to take all the prisoners. I'll land the Nazi war criminals in the American occupation zone, notifying the military commandant's office. It will be especially amusing to watch the USSR realize that all these prisoners escaped from Lubyanka. I think Stalin will shoot everyone there—there's a certain karmic justice in that: the jailers will sit in the same cells they guarded, and their colleagues will beat them, forcing them to reveal how they helped the prisoners escape. And then, most likely, they'll all be shot. I could also deliver a Soviet NKVD general, for example, to the Americans, but that would be overkill. The miraculous rescue of a couple of Swedes is one thing; there will be diplomatic tension, but it won't change the course of history. But delivering a high-ranking NKVD officer to the United States would change history too much. So there's no point in interfering too deeply. I can't accidentally break history. I just need to accumulate enough resources for various projects. If Earth's history breaks, a wide variety of consequences could arise, at the very least, I'll have to kill Ra myself. The only information I have for his assassination is that he'll arrive on Abydos in 1996 with a small force, a hundred men at most. I'm keeping this in mind in case of active intervention in the USSR regarding the post-war repressions. I could cause them problems by extracting political prisoners. So, maybe they'll just execute all the NKVD officers, or even the MGB? However, there's no point in feeling sorry for them.
In addition to all the shopping, I also picked up some cookery books because, oh my god, after two years in Cheops, where I had to ration food rigorously, I wanted to eat properly. For the first couple of days, I just went to the usual eateries and ate, occasionally stopping at restaurants. Perhaps I went a bit overboard. But, after all, I have to allow myself some joy sometimes.
"Report to everyone that we're ready," I ordered, hovering literally twenty kilometers above the Lubyanka building.
- Black squad, ready. - Red squad, ready. - Gray squad, ready.
Once all the units reported in, even though I personally supervised one of them as a pilot, the operation wasn't Jaffa-style—that is, with an emphasis on secrecy. But they were well-trained to fight in cramped conditions. The minimum objective was to find Raoul Wallenberg and his driver. If we could do everything quickly and there was time to carry out the operation quietly, we could create an airlift, evacuating all the prisoners. Even if there were Nazi officers there, transporting them to the Americans would be enough. And that would allay the MGB's suspicions. Otherwise, my future ally would be in trouble, and Stalin wouldn't stop until he learned how he escaped. The USSR can be remarkably persistent.
The operation wasn't very complicated. Land on the building's roof at 2:00 AM, exit the teltaks, breach the roof entrances, and descend below. Take the high floors, where there likely won't be any personnel, and if there is, stun them with stun grenades. Then take up positions on the stairwells, ready to storm when the EMP goes off. Use night vision goggles to conduct a quick assault. Descend to the prison level, find Raul and his driver (I provided the photos), and then navigate the situation. If loud noises are heard, like gunfire or panic, grab those two and leave. If all is quiet, we can linger for a while.
Throwing the Teltak down, I carefully landed it on the roof. Second ship, we activated the scanners to determine the number of living beings.
"Do you even sleep?" I asked irritably, seeing a thousand checkmarks. Even considering there were a couple hundred prisoners, that meant there were 800 workers here even at night. There really weren't that many people on the upper floors; the bulk of the staff was downstairs. There were 100 people on the top three floors. Sixty were sitting in offices, and the rest were standing in the hallways—presumably secretaries or guards.
Invisibility is a great help—it always helps. On the other hand, most of the people here survived the war, except for those on the highest floors, so they could have participated in combat and have heightened instincts. So it's better to use the technological advantage. I ordered all the Jaffa to remain until I cleared the top floors of the building. They had already breached the entrances and were ready to move. I was being led by radio. Speaking of radio communications, the Lubyanka communications and cryptography center was operating around the clock. I think after discovering the attack on their security center, they'll think their codes have been cracked. I don't envy anyone here.
I entered one of the offices, where there should have been five people. Most likely, some kind of meeting was going on. I quickly stunned the secretary, who almost fell, creating a huge noise. I had to hold him back. I threw a stun grenade into the office and heard chairs fall. The soldiers reacted to the cylindrical object flying into the room, but the stun field did its job. Entering the office, I saw bodies lying all over the place. I aimed the tape device at their heads, then activated the stun system to prolong the incapacitation. I left them lying there, taking their weapons. Then I found the keys and locked just two doors. This took some time; it was too tedious.
"Sir, there are no unstunned people left on this floor," said the Jaffa coordinating the attack.
I dragged the duty officer on duty on the floor into one of the restrooms. He had a large ring of keys. This is becoming increasingly difficult. Especially considering the entire cache of weapons I've acquired. I'm sure those I knocked out were not insignificant; their personal weapons must be valuable. And how much more valuable they will be once they're executed. I could even create a museum of my own operations later. Wouldn't it be too much if I stripped them all naked? So that they could be displayed on mannequins in a museum of my own operations.