I remember that rules are written in blood.
"Trust, but verify" is one of them.
To gain a conditional ally, but an ally nonetheless, from the race of the Ancients, familiar with their technologies, language, worldview, and most likely involved in some past projects, is certainly wonderful.
However, Chaya didn't even hint at the reasons that prompted her to intervene in my death process. I believe in compassion, but... Something is very wrong here.
According to her, she remembered coming to Atlantis as an Ascended. And only thanks to this did she manage to start the pumps of the drainage system, which then emptied the city. After which she went to the ZPM room and breathed life back into me.
She transferred me to the infirmary, after which she became human. And prepared theses for herself.
She clearly remembered herself as an Ascended here, on Atlantis. She remembered encountering streams of light in the control room after leaving me under the supervision of medical equipment.
And then a blackout in her memory.
She didn't remember how she ended up near the medical center. In fact, she only came to her senses after I hit my head on the scanner.
Her memory contains everything (or so she thinks) about her past life, up to the moment of encountering the snow-white flash. I think the latter is precisely an Ascended who (or which) deprived her of all privileges. But why did they leave part of the memory related to Atlantis?
Why would an Ancient, especially one under the "pencil" of the Ascended, take such a risk as saving my life? Sar herself shrugged and said she didn't know the reasons for her motives.
As well as everything that happened to her after Ascension. Which means the last ten thousand years are like a fog for her. I hinted as much as I could that the knowledge was probably not destroyed, but blocked, as it was in the series with Dr. Jackson. The Replicators of the Milky Way were able to detect and use it.
And the Ascended of the Milky Way did not intervene to stop them.
The Ascended, in general, behave quite strangely. I've formed the opinion that they are so indifferent to what's happening that, for the most part, they don't even intend to fix anything. Then, after thinking, I figured that in the events I knew, there were quite a few Ancients who disregarded the rules and still helped people. With varying degrees of success.
Orlin, Oma Desala, Merlin, aka Myrddin, aka Moros, Ganos Lal... Not many, of course. It's unknown how many Ascended there are in total to conclude whether these rebels are just a statistical error in what's happening.
During my conversation with Ganos Lal, I almost spoke out about the fact that the Ascended are actually actively intervening in what's happening in the galaxies. Not directly, of course, that's supposedly forbidden for them. But there are exceptions to the rules, so the Ascended try to act through others. They'll drop a useful tablet, leave a knowledge repository, scatter a trail of breadcrumbs in a third place... From the conversation with Lal and Melia, I understood that what is happening has long been calculated and predetermined – after all, they knew about the expedition that never arrived. So they are quite capable of helping their chosen ones.
For example, it seems to me that in the events I knew, the Ascended were actively "rooting" for Earthlings in the person of certain individuals. Whether it was predetermined, or the first team of the Stargate project team earned the respect of the Ancients so much that they decided to find loopholes in their rules, I don't know.
But the fact remains.
As soon as Earthlings found themselves in unimaginable depths of galactic problems, they somehow accidentally found answers to all their questions.
It seems to me that someone is very hypocritical...
Or perhaps I'm just bitter that my agreement with the Ascended is nothing more than their ploy, with which they intended to kill me and prolong the existence of their city. Of course, they could have been trying to eliminate some paradox from my intervention, but...
Something is not right here. I can't recall a single instance where the Ascended acted exclusively against Earthlings. Maybe I'm dramatizing, and what happened is just an adventure that they calculated, like my rescue?
What if somewhere up there, they decided that I wouldn't cope on my own and should be helped. Who is expendable? An exiled Ascended, of course. She, for example, could have been offered to help me get back on my feet in exchange for forgiveness.
Sitting on the floor in one of the distant Ancient laboratories, chewing on a nutritious bar whose taste I no longer even felt, I pondered that I was probably paranoid.
"The Others lie."
Indeed, many things can fall under this definition, in fact. You can understand it however you want. I think that's why the laptop wasn't destroyed by the Ascended – it contains no direct answers or advice.
Only the riddles they love so much.
"There you are," a voice came from the entrance. "I've finished assessing the city's damage. There's a complete list of malfunctions in the control center..."
"How bad is it?" I asked, continuing to look straight ahead.
"The damage is significant, but not critical," Chaya walked closer, but hesitated to sit down. "The hyperdrive is damaged, sublight engines need maintenance and repair, almost forty percent of the premises are underwater and need to be inspected personally, fixing damage on-site. There are wiring breaks, hull depressurization, significant damage in the lower part of the city affecting the functionality of some premises."
"Like the lower jumper hangar?" I asked. I recall from the series that it had problems because it was completely flooded.
"Jump..." The girl frowned. "An interesting name for the small Lantian ships."
"And what did you call them?" I asked.
"Small Lantian ship," the girl shrugged. "Sometimes - 'shuttle'."
"Tasteless," I sighed, nodding towards the horseshoe-shaped console a couple of meters in front of me. On the wall in front of it was a non-standard monitor displaying multiple symbols of the Lantian language.
"Laboratory equipment," she identified immediately. "Judging by the records... Most of what's read relates to human physiology. It's a comparison of evolutionary changes. It seems that this laboratory studied directed genetic mutations."
"As far as I know, they tried to artificially bring humans closer to Ascension here," I said. In the known events, one of the expedition members activated the device. His metabolism increased, as did his hearing and synaptic connections in his brain. After that, he developed telekinetic and telepathic abilities, and the ability to heal by laying hands on the sick. He also became so intelligent that he invented a hyperdrive for the jumper. I don't think I need to repeat that this is not provided in the "standard" configuration.
"Oh," Chaya exclaimed. "I suppose this is one of many laboratories."
"What are you talking about?"
"As far as I know, the Lantians intensely researched the capabilities of their own bodies and tried to understand Ascension from a scientific point of view," Chaya said. "According to rumors, hundreds of research teams worked on this."
"I see," I briefly recounted what I remembered about this device. "You know, I appreciate you explaining everything to me and teaching me the Lantian language, but... You're a scientist, aren't you?"
"All those you called Ancients are scientists in one field or another," Sar said. "I have something too. I think I know what you want."
"And your opinion?"
"I would trust the last entries in the laboratory journal," the Ancient pointed to the monitor. "It states that the chance of a successful mutation is one in a thousand. Oh, I'm sorry, ten thousand."
"And what will happen to those who are not that one in ten thousand?"
"Destruction of cell membranes, decomposition of organs, excessive growth or burnout of nerve tissue, disintegration of brain cells..." the girl listed. "The closest result to Ascension is conversion into photoplasm. With subsequent structural disintegration."
"So, there will be no easy way?"
"Unfortunately," Sar said. "If this machine worked as it should, it's unlikely the Lantians would have gone to Earth, as you say."
"Yes, they would have used it," I agreed. "But, as you understand, I can't bother you for every little thing to figure out what's written on the display..."
"It's not difficult for me to help you, Mikhail," Chaya said, once again emphasizing that we hadn't moved to "you." "After all, that's why I'm here. Besides, I realized how difficult it is for you with the Lantian language."
"Really?" I smirked.
"Yes," she replied, ignoring my sarcasm. "I've reconfigured the central computer so that, where possible, the inscriptions are in your native language."
"This isn't a joke, is it?" I asked.
"No," she replied. "Since I am the only person in the city who can understand the Lantian language, your stay in the city is difficult. I've tried to fix that."
"Hmm... Thank you," I stood up and extended my hand to the girl for a handshake. "You've really done a lot for me. It will be easier now."
"I hope so," she replied. "I must say that many of the city's laboratories are disconnected from the central computer. Like," she gestured around the compartment we were in, "this laboratory, for example. It's impossible to upload updates from the data core to its computer because it's isolated from the others. So it can only be done manually."
"You shouldn't go near this thing," I said, pointing to the exit. "We hardly need mutations that will make us less attractive."
Chaya looked at me intently, but remained silent.
"I've written a program to analyze the source language and translate it into your native one," she said, already in the corridor, on the way to the transporter, taking a familiar handheld device from a small, inconspicuous bag hanging from her belt. "Therefore, I've saved it to your multifunctional scanner. Now, to understand what's written, you just need to connect to the console and run the program – it will automatically translate everything you don't understand. This applies to almost all languages you might encounter. At least all those that were in the Atlantis database."
"Including the dialects of the Ancients?"
"Including them."
"And will it translate from the language of the Wraiths too?"
"That's what I said," Chaya handed me the scanner, which was already familiar. "And yes, the device you barbarically broke, I've also fixed. And returned it to its proper place on the shuttle."
Hmm... It's convenient when you have a living Ancient on your team. I can already assess how useful she is.
However, even if this tangible drop didn't fill the bucket of my trust, I at least appreciated the gesture.
Taking the scanner she had modified for me, I almost whistled – but restrained myself in time. Seriously, the entire interface, console commands, help information, root directory of operating modes – everything is translated into the great and mighty Russian!
How many problems have been solved now! I can't wait to delve into the city's database and study everything there! Time still allowed – less than a day had passed since our excursion.
"You're a miracle!" unable to contain myself, I hugged the girl by the waist, lifted her up, and spun her around. "I don't even know how to thank you!"
"Just putting me down is enough," no emotion was reflected on her face except confusion. It's strange, I know she's not a complete phlegmatic.
"As you wish," I complied with the girl's request. Either she's a prude, or she dislikes my company.
However... Would I be pleased if some Cro-Magnon hugged me?
"It will take time for the program to copy, translate, and parallelize the city's database," Chaya said, smoothing the hem of her dress.
"Sorry, what? You only mentioned translation."
"Exactly," she said. "But your language is not yet developed enough to understand, for example, the laws of hyperspace or the constants that affect time dilation in black holes. Therefore, part of the text will still remain in the Lantian language. In the second version of the database. The original copy will remain in the initial language. It's easier for me to work with it."
"That's... good, of course, but... Do we even have enough free space on the server or wherever the information is stored?" I asked.
"Yes, without a doubt," Chaya replied. "The free volume is sufficient to copy the database several thousand times."
Several.
Thousand.
Times.
Copying a database that is at least several million years old. And it contains all the knowledge of an entire race! Records of species encountered on planets, of the worlds and moons themselves, stars and black holes, of ships and medicines, of... Of everything! And this is only a small part of what's there!
I think it's worth considering organizing the production of new types of information storage devices after contacting Earth. Well, for a dozen or two terabytes. Or even producing the latest computers. However, I don't know if the Ancients' technology can run "Crysis" on ultra-maximum settings. They say that if you do, the universe will collapse...
Okay, that's all for later.
"You've been in the city for less than a day, and you've already written such a complex program?" I clarified.
"I did it in between other work," Chaya said.
"Other work?" I clarified. "You mean assessing the city?"
"I thought I could come up with my own occupation," the Ancient squinted slightly. "I didn't know I was under your command and lived from order to order."
"Of course not," I hurried to correct myself. "It's just... Ahem... I'm certainly not against you doing your own thing..."
"Good," Sar interrupted me, checking her scanner. "When Atlantis lost power, its systems shut down in emergency mode. Turning on the battery led to the restart of all systems in the city."
"All of them?" I asked.
"Absolutely all that can operate without direct operator input," she said. "Various sensors, long-range scanners, subspace transmitter, shuttle recharging, lighting of corridors and rooms in unoccupied parts of the city, power to all laboratories, and so on."
"So the city devours our ZPM's energy with the same appetite as a bull devours slop?" I inquired.
"The analogy is crude, but I think it's accurate," Sar said. "I was able to shut down some systems using the control panels in the control room. Others need to be turned off manually or at distribution panels. However..."
"Right," I nodded. "You know, in the floor in front of the gates, there's some kind of console that can turn off... a lot, if not almost everything."
"Yes, I know what you're talking about," the girl said as we entered the transporter. "But, unfortunately, only pure-blood Lantians can use the emergency shutdown mechanism."
At that moment, I was already pressing a point on the city map.
"Pure-bloods?"
A flash of light illuminated the cabin.
"Yes," the doors opened, and Chaya was the first to step out. "You know that those you call Ancients are not a homogeneous race, don't you?"
"Um... I suspected," I lied without batting an eye. "But it would be better if you refreshed my memory."
Chaya looked at me with suspicion and surprise.
But she did not refuse to satisfy my request.
"When those you know as Ancients came to this galaxy, they populated it with life," she said. "Over time, a large number of human and non-human races appeared. They developed over many years under the protection of the Lantians. Many of them reached such a level of development that the inhabitants of Atlantis paid attention to them and entered into open contact. The peoples exchanged knowledge, conducted trade, and so on. Over time, if developed peoples demonstrated their technical, moral, and spiritual development analogous to that of the Ancients, they accepted them into their society and revealed their secrets to them."
"So these cunning bastards did share knowledge after all!" I said irritably.
"Yes, and very often," Chaya admitted. "For example, I came from the Proculucian people. We weren't technically advanced enough, but at the same time, our spiritual development and thirst for enlightenment impressed the Ancients. Many of my people joined them in recognition of our past merits. But," she grew sad, "most of my people never managed to cross the threshold of low societal development. I'm afraid I'm to blame for that. I loved my people so much that I helped them, built and provided everything they needed. That was my big mistake."
"Because your planet's people got used to getting everything at the first request," I understood. "Why develop when you have everything you need as is?"
"Exactly," Chaya said sadly. "My people valued and still value spiritual development above material. They don't strive for the stars, they aren't impressed by scientific knowledge of the world. I'm afraid I'm the reason why they remain the same."
"Speaking of your people," I remembered. "You defended them from the Wraiths when you were Ascended."
"Probably," Chaya answered distractedly. "I don't remember, forgive me."
"Yes, yes, yes, that's how it was, you can believe me," I said. "It's only thanks to you that your people didn't know the Wraith invasion. But now that you're a mere human, and they are defenseless, we need to think about how to secure them."
"I..." Chaya was flustered. "I didn't think they were still alive... I... I forgot about them..."
A mark of slight panic appeared on the Ancient's face (if she could still be called that).
"I forgot about my people..." she muttered, quickening her pace. "How did this happen?!"
The girl, moving her legs quickly, at some point broke into a run, a turquoise arrow, the color of her dress, rushing towards the control room.
All I could do was run after her.
The fact that she forgot about protecting her people using the powers of the Ascended, of course, was explained by the fact that she had no memories of the last ten thousand years. But... How could she forget that her people were defenseless?
I have a bad feeling, a very bad feeling... Could it be that the Ascended deliberately removed this knowledge from her as punishment or revenge for new disobedience?
I found Chaya near the control panel, dialing an address. Her focused face evoked compassion, so I intercepted her hand before she launched the gate.
"I need to get to the planet!" she said.
"We'll do it together," I explained. "On the 'jumper'. Because, if I remember correctly, the gate to your planet is located in space."
"What?" the Ancient was taken aback. "Who did this and why?!"
So... Life is getting more and more interesting every day.
"Make sure no one but us can pass through the gate into the city," I ordered, heading for the stairs leading to the 'jumper' hangar. "We don't need any unexpected guests while we're gone."
"Give me a few minutes," she said.
Getting into the jumper, I started the ship's engine and waited for Chaya.
Immediately after the deathly pale Ancient (which was very noticeable on her tanned face) dialed the address, I began to descend into the gate hall. I must say, Chaya really didn't disappoint - the virtual screen in front of me was filled with notations in her native language. Yes, the engraving of symbols on the Ancient didn't disappear from the control panel, but mind-controlled operation compensated for this drawback.
As soon as the familiar outline of the "puddle" appeared before my eyes, the ship shot through the gate.
"Commander," the first mate approached Styx just as the Hive Ship began to accelerate for a jump into hyperspace. "That was a risky operation. In the past, no Hive Ship has ever managed to escape from here alive."
"We are not all," Styx cut him off.
He wasn't going to argue with his subordinate.
To at least not acknowledge the fact of a random coincidence. The old ship, damaged in battle, needed repairs - so they had to exit hyperspace earlier than planned.
To Styx's surprise, when the Hive Ship's scanners detected a significant number of life signs on the planet below. The planet was not listed among the allocated territories of other Hives. On the contrary, it had always been avoided due to an unknown energy shield protecting its inhabitants from harvesting.
But nothing happened.
While the "arrows" were harvesting, the damaged hyperdrive repaired itself. As did some of the damage inside the ship. The restored hull integrity and the healed wounds in the hangar pleased him.
But no more than the several thousand people gathered by the "arrow" pilots and brought aboard the ship.
The soldiers who were driving the locals on the surface were bewildered - the people were not afraid of them at all. As if they didn't even know who they were and how dangerous such encounters were.
And so, the sudden attack and harvesting went exceptionally well. And Styx was pleased with how things had turned out.
He not only survived and kept his ship after encountering the Treacherous Blade. But he also found a world near its territory where he could repair the damaged ship and gather people. This amount would be enough for him for a considerable time.
For the first time in many months, his Wraiths would be able to feed to their fullest. And there would even be a considerable reserve for the future.
"We should have left a few families on the planet to breed the herd," the first mate said. "Then we would have had our own territory."
"No," Styx cut him off. "A Hive Ship is easily tracked. I'm sure the Treacherous Blade's ships will be here soon to find out what we were doing here. I don't intend to fight her over a couple of animals."
And he would have had to fight.
As they acquired feeding grounds, the Wraiths were obligated - otherwise they would be considered weak - to drive away the persistent ones from their planets. Not doing so would awaken the interest of others in the reasons for their weakness.
Conflict was not what he needed right now. He should get to his secluded base and bring the Hive to combat readiness. And then, begin hunting the Lantians.
"I think we should study the words of the chief monk about his goddess," the first mate suggested. "She might be real."
"In that case, why didn't she stop us?" Styx asked.
His subordinate had no answer.
"Did you search the planet thoroughly enough?" the Hive Commander asked. "Traces of energy, structures surpassing the level of local inhabitants?"
"Nothing, Commander. Whatever destroyed the Wraiths on this planet before, it's no longer here."
But at least one small Lantian ship had appeared in the galaxy, traveling through the gate. Could this be a coincidence?
Unlikely. He should gather more information about what was happening in the galaxy.
A hyperspace window flared, and the giant organic ship disappeared from the orbit of the planet Proculus.
The search didn't take long. By the end of the next day, we had finished searching Proculus.
And the results were not pleasing.
Already in orbit, it became clear that there were no survivors on Chaya's home planet. Not a single person.
But she insisted on descending and seeing it with her own eyes.
I don't know what she wanted to see, wandering through ruined villages, looking at the destroyed garden next to something resembling a temple... However, from her words, I understood that this was the temple of Atar. She lived here under this name after her Ascension.
The Ancient, who had turned into pure energy, as I recall, took on the human form of the girl Chaya Sar, a servant of Atar, to be able to communicate with the people she protected. Protected...
And what became a temple was originally a house she built for herself and for meetings with her countrymen, passing on to them what they needed. This was the case before her Ascension. This continued even after she returned to the planet and became an outcast.
An interesting story for a novel, but... The ending of this story is too tragic.
"I didn't find a single body," she said quietly when we had searched the last, largest, and closest village to the temple. About a thousand people lived there. According to her, all the inhabitants of this world were calm, trusting, cheerful, kind.
"There was no cruelty or malice in their hearts," Chaya said, pursing her lips.
"I'm afraid the Wraiths didn't care," I said quietly, looking at the destroyed village. "The inhabitants weren't killed. They were taken with them. By force."
This was indicated by the scattered household items, utensils, pieces of torn clothing, and drag marks on the ground around the dwellings. The Wraiths, and I can't find any other reason for the disappearance of Chaya's people, left unprotected, didn't stand on ceremony. They met no resistance, so they took everyone without losing anyone. And without resorting to bombing for intimidation.
"It's my fault!" the Ancient cried out. "If I hadn't become human again, they would have been protected!"
I had nothing to say here.
But a thought kept spinning in my head that everything had happened too smoothly. As soon as Sar disappeared, her people were immediately gathered by the Wraiths. Aren't the glowing ears of the Ascended, who decided to get even with her, sticking out of the situation?
I didn't want to say it out loud, not having any more substantiated evidence than guesses.
For a few minutes, we stood by the 'jumper' while Chaya, with pain on her face, gazed at the destroyed buildings of the settlement. From her characteristically folded hands, I assumed she was praying.
It was quite logical, considering that faith in her as a goddess was strong here. She was probably paying tribute to the people who had died.
"We need to go back," she said. "I've entered our biological signals into the city's energy shield program, so nothing will threaten us when passing through the gate, neither now nor in the future."
Somewhere at the edge of my consciousness, the thought arose that the lady was not from the race of gate builders, so she might have made a mistake. I didn't want to get smeared at the end of the flight, but... I think everything will be fine.
"If you need to be alone, I'll fly to one planet to meet someone," I said, as the 'jumper' was already rising from the atmosphere. Despite the absence of signals around, I continued to maintain cloaking until the zone where it automatically turned off. "Or, if you want, we can talk..."
"Thank you for your concern," Chaya said softly, looking at me. In the time since we had risen from the planet, this was the first time she had taken her eyes off the control panel from the co-pilot's side. "I'm in pain because of my failure, but... Unfortunately, they were doomed from the moment I became human. I don't know why my memories of their vulnerability weren't at the forefront of my attention, but... I also understand that even with the whole of Atlantis, we wouldn't have been able to do anything. Only a day, maybe a little more, has passed since they were gathered. I understood this from the warmth left in the hearths of the houses. Unfortunately, we couldn't have saved even most of them."
Because Atlantis is not "operational" for us yet, and you can't transport many people on jumpers. However, if we had come to our senses immediately, we could have surely taken at least someone out on the jumpers.
But what's done is done.
"We need to return to the command center," Chaya said at the moment the 'jumper' was ascending into Atlantis's hangar. Despite my fears, we survived this flight and didn't crash into the shield at the gate. "Both of us. It won't take long."
"Why?" I asked suspiciously. "What do you want to do, Chaya?"
"I think you have more in common with your countrymen than I do," Sar said. I didn't miss the fact that she had switched to "you" with me. Did the catastrophe on her home planet make her less prim?
However, compared to Ganos Lal and Melia, Chaya was generally a sweetheart. I feel entirely sorry for the girl and her people.
But we couldn't do anything. Even if the Proculucians weren't "drained" by the Wraiths immediately, they are on board a ship. Which one, it remains to be guessed. Yes, there was a possibility that the Wraiths came through the gate, but... It's doubtful.
"With my countrymen?" I was taken aback. "I don't quite understand..."
"I intend to open the gate to Earth," the former Ascended said firmly. "Since I couldn't save my people, maybe I can help yours."
Ah, so that's it...