We stepped into the ashes of a once-vibrant city, and unlike majestic Camelot, there were no ramparts here. Entry was free, but the silence that gripped the place was more eloquent than any barrier.
"Dead silence..." I said, looking around. "Not a sound of a bird, not a whisper of the wind. The houses, like ancient crypts, are shrouded in oblivion."
"I noticed that too," Brunhilda responded, her voice sounding like a melody breaking through the veil of despondency.
We cautiously entered one of the houses. The remains of people lay in their beds, as if sleeping forever.
"Biothreat," I whispered.
The Asgardian nodded, and we began scanning. In the skulls of the dead, we discovered microscopic remains of something resembling a beetle. Time hadn't been kind to them, but the bio-traces were undeniable.
"You are unprotected," I noted, looking at Brunhilda.
"The field protects," she answered, her gaze calm as the surface of a lake on a windless day.
"Excellent. Summon your ship and run a full scan," I instructed. "And I'll head to the local archives. I hope I find some ancient scrolls there." I allowed myself a bitter smile. "It's a great secret: records, if not guarded, are nothing but dust in the winds of time. Perhaps the rats and other small creatures left this world, falling victim to the same curse. It reminds me of the Life-Eater Virus from Warhammer. My mind may be warped, but I can imagine the Information Agency unleashing this destruction on every planet on the list with Goa'uld. They would, of course, quickly recognize the threat, but the damage would be colossal. And containing an infection that affects creatures in a dormant state—birds, animals—is extremely difficult."
Finding the notes proved surprisingly easy. The final pages of the open book lying on the table told of the tragedy that had occurred. Of the knights searching for Morgana, of her wrath unleashed upon the locals.
"An Ancient One would not have done such a thing," Brunhilda remarked, her voice filled with confidence.
"I'm guessing those idiots from the Round Table brought something here from one of the planets on the list," I replied.
While I was immersed in deciphering ancient texts, Brunnhilde's ship materialized in the sky, and she began a massive bioscan. She soon discovered the culprits—parasites that had destroyed life. Instantly teleporting to the lab, we began our study. The Asgardian woman's analysis revealed that an entire continent had been devastated. Life still lingered on others, but it seemed the birds, those winged messengers of life, could spread the infection across the entire planet. Apparently, their routes were limited, or they simply didn't have time to reach other continents, dying in their sleep.
"I might sound like a fucking Goa'uld, but this is the pinnacle of bioweapons," I said, turning to Brunhilde. "Can you destroy this crap?" I asked. "And, more importantly, find their homeworld and place it under strict quarantine. They may have their fun there, but for the entire galaxy, this is a threat of the highest order. Not for the Goa'uld, but for all humans, and for the Jaffa, too, this is a death sentence. And even though I ask for destruction, images of planting something similar on Jaffa ships and bases pop into my sick mind. For food, for example."
Brunhilde nodded and set to work. Soon, Asgardian biologists arrived, and within an hour, about a hundred representatives of that race had passed through the gate. I was amazed at their efficiency. They quickly teleported to Beleskiner, where, as Brunhilde informed me, they had begun work. Ignoring the bustle, I continued studying the parchments, scanning them into my library and instantly translating them. I knew where Proklarush Taonas was, but I couldn't get there yet.
"Good reaction," I muttered, immersing myself in my reading again. It turned out Merlin had spent some time here, but quickly withdrew his assets and left the planet. Morgana also had a base in the local caves, but they apparently evacuated long ago. If they'd noticed the attack by the unknown melonin-loving bugs... they would have helped.
— The Asgard High Council reacts extremely sharply to biological weapons.
- That's why I like them.
"Are you planning to recolonize this region?" she asked.
- Why not? And you clean up for me. I'm happy.
- You are manipulating Asgard.
"Of course, as if I'm hiding it? We have diplomatic relations, and that means double the set-up and double the benefit. I'm giving something I'll never get, and even if I do, they'll skin me alive for what I might have," I explained. "I'm not a great diplomat, as you can see from Isara's irritation after my negotiations. But I'm an engineer, with the same mindset. In this regard, our views coincide: the Goa'uld will create a scientific team to destroy this creature, and they will succeed. But it will still cause losses. How long does it take for it to kill a person? Two days? Three? Those creatures destroyed this village in two or three attempts. Extremely quickly and efficiently. Asgard cannot ignore the fact that someone has such a weapon. Therefore, they will purge the planet where such a weapon can be obtained. I'm taking advantage of the opportunity. If I used such a weapon, I would be erased. First once, then twice to be sure." So, a few words, and the Asgardians give me an entire planet in an isolated point of the galaxy.
— An extremely rationalistic and balanced approach.
"Changes accumulate slowly and are implemented in leaps and bounds. You helped the Tollans with the planet; they know it was my request. We maintain good trade relations. That alone is a victory. Even as a trading planet, Tollan has potential. No other System Lord has such a potential. It's small, promising, but a victory nonetheless. And I don't need more. Getting four habitable planets—that's promising."
Asgarda nodded, accepting my arguments.
I continued studying the journals, including Merlin's notes, and found references to Atlantis, which I showed to Brunhilde. They already knew I was aware of the Ancients' flying cities.
— If we reason like that, then Hyperborea and Lemuria must have existed. And the fact that Atlantis is mentioned means it existed at least fifteen hundred years ago. And as far as I know, the Ancients retreated from somewhere ten thousand years ago. Some apparently even survived until Rome. Roman legends say that certain Ancients taught them how to build roads. Plato lived in the 5th century BC. And he is the first to provide information about the existence of anything called Atlantis. So, let's apply standard logic: an Ancient who was Ascended makes a reference to Atlantis. The only information about it comes from Plato. Two independent sources confirm its existence. The question is: where? The Ancients built a gateway 60 million years ago and traveled from one galaxy to another. So, after so much time, moving large objects through hyperspace is no problem for them. The idea that the Ancients' city sank somewhere in Earth's oceans due to the gods' wrath is as absurd as Sokar being a benevolent Goa'uld. They're super-technological and super-intelligent. But all around us, there's only limited technology. And it's unclear where the ship Merlin used to transport the inhabitants of Camelot went. Perhaps it's a hidden Ancient base, or perhaps not. But why reference Atlantis? Merlin wasn't writing to us; he was writing to Arthur. Or maybe he was keeping a shared journal for his followers. It could have been the central base for a while, but then he moved to Camelot. There are no references to Atlantis in those records. Is that a miscalculation or carelessness?
— Perhaps he did not consider these notes critical.
"I couldn't find any information on how to get to Atlantis." "Yes, it's pretty simple: find the MNT, dial the address (which I didn't know), dial from Earth, and preferably bring the MNT, so you need two MNTs—one to dial and one to support the city. It's unknown whether there's a second Weir there yet or not."
"That's probably for the best," Brunhilda agreed.
"Okay, now we need to check the two planets and find the possible graves of these Round Morons. They were most likely the ones who brought these creatures through the gate. I'm currently looking for any mention of the knights' deaths. Logically, Gawain should have been the feudal lord of this planet. I could even speculate that they lost Arthur somewhere and couldn't breach Merlin's defenses, after which they began searching for him at his previous bases. The scans didn't find anything? The knights should have been the first to die."
"It all happened one and a half thousand years ago," said Brunhilda.
"Honor and glory to the builders. Swords were status symbols; could they have been buried with the knights? Scan them, please."
She did so and nodded, confirming that such graves did indeed exist. Then she carried them outside—bones clutching swords. Nearby was a variety of goods, mostly armor. Seeing the sword with the address, I picked it up.
"It's laced with naquadah and trinium," I said. "It's Gawain's. We should probably return their bodies to Camelot. I think they'll be pleased."
"It is impossible to determine whether Arthur was here," Brunhilda answered.
"I don't know. Were there any tombstones left where you took them from? Although, they probably put up wooden plaques. A permanent stone stele would take time, which these people didn't have."
— We need to explore the remaining settlements.
"Yes, that's also necessary. I also wonder where Merlin buried his ship, and he definitely has one. He must be having a lot of fun, though. With your knowledge, would you have been able to build a spaceship in the Middle Ages?" I asked Brunhilde. "I probably wouldn't have been able to, there's no welding there."
She thought for a moment.
"I could gather certain resources and skip some stages of technological development. I would need a lot of time, as well as allies among ordinary people."
"It seems like I'm the only one who couldn't have done anything in the Middle Ages. But okay, I'm a stupid Goa'uld. No, actually, in a couple of hundred years I could have taken the Middle Ages into space."
Asgarda simply sighed. She'd classified all the settlements destroyed by the disease, and we were searching through any records. This will take some time. We need to contact Urvashi and warn her.