"As a junior lord of the Goa'uld Empire, Szarekh of the House of Ra, I request that my protest regarding the unauthorized creation of a human enclave be recorded," I said with a forced seriousness. Isara, standing next to me, gave me a look of disbelief, as if asking, "Are you serious?" and even Thor bowed his head in bewilderment. "Thor, of course, I won't inform anyone about the Svorians, but formalities must be observed. After all, I caught you violating the treaty. This could have been handled much more discreetly, since this address was in the Archive of Ra on Abydos."
"This planet was far from Goa'uld-controlled lands and lacked naquadah. I considered that sufficient protection," Thor admitted. "I simply flew here, made a few statements explaining the entire situation with their religion, mentioning that I'd left the Svorians to their own devices most of the time, and had only visited the planet a couple of times over the millennia. Of course, various cults arose, proclaiming the need to kill Thor, as he was to blame for all the Svorians' troubles. And this lasted for almost 700 years of religious wars. Humans fought, humans profited, and an alien was blamed for everything. Typical humanity! I'm sure they'll declare Thor to be to blame for the Vikings' crimes, and not that a special climate zone with a lack of pastureland created a unique cultural environment that allowed for survival only through raids. And it was a profitable social mechanism for getting rid of hungry mouths. I haven't yet thoroughly studied the history of the Svorians, but I'm sure they killed each other largely because of the financial flows associated with the peasants."
"So, I believe Szarekh wants to leave this planet alone and establish only trade relations with it, but at the same time use the current situation as an excuse to conclude another deal," Isara explained.
"He started doing that a lot," Thor replied.
"It's all because you're too lazy to search through every known address in the galaxy. That's what research is. Heck, even the Goa'uld had the address of the Ancient Vault!"
"So, what deal do you want to make this time?" Thor asked.
"Let's go over the sore points. Svorin is a developed planet—look, they send people into space and so on. This planet is evidence of your foul play with the Empire. We all know you can't honor the treaty because of the replicators. Even if you hand over your Svorin defense technology—and I'm sure you're not crazy—it will only exacerbate the evidence of your foul play. Svorin might not be targeted, but other treaty planets are quite likely to be. Besides, if the Svorians begin to roam the galaxy freely, they could be captured by the Goa'uld, and then we'll be back to the beginning of my proposal."
"That's true."
"Sarekh wants to lease his name to the Svorians. Provide them with the technology to build the Goa'uld's orbital defenses, including Hasar Station."
"Which we gave him," Thor seemed impressed.
"If any Goa'uld discovers the planet, orbital defenses and Hasar Station will signal to them that they should flee. My name is not the most famous among the Goa'uld, but the House of Ra is influential. The planet's government will claim to serve me."
"What if Ra discovers the planet?" Thor asked.
"This will be a challenge, but if the Svorians strengthen their planet, they will be able to establish a triple defense network. I will grant them access to planets with naquadah in exchange for a percentage of the output. But with you, I will agree to complete non-interference in the affairs of this planet, beyond economic relations. For you, this will be a symbolic price. In the end, everyone will be happy: the theoretical chance of undermining the Treaty will be eliminated, the Svorians will receive protection, and a million miners will give me 30% of their naquadah output. Furthermore, I will gain a trading partner and a range of technologies from you."
"What technologies are we talking about?" Thor asked.
"I think you know that every technology has its limits. Flight, for example: initially, it's propeller-driven aircraft, but at certain speeds, propellers become uneconomical, and jet propulsion takes over, which in turn gives way to inertialess engines. I need the end of traditional agriculture, the technology for producing artificial meat, proteins, sugars, and fats."
Thor blinked.
"Technology like this only exists with a teleporter."
"Thor, for heaven's sake, these technologies existed without teleportation! In those same bioreactors," I tried to remember. "I think in 2021, Earth managed to extract sugars from carbon dioxide, the Finns managed to extract proteins in 2017, and there were numerous startups producing artificial meat. Yes, I know you'll have to delve into your historical records from a century ago, but this is a common humanitarian technology."
"You are right, Sarykh, this is really just a humanitarian technology."
I just smiled. Thor was wrong. This wasn't just a humanitarian technology. The Jaffa, for example, consumed twice as much food as humans, and armies had to grow proportionately to the ability to supply the unproductive sector with resources, including food. With the assembly-line production of armor or clothing, food became the stumbling block to expanding a feudal-style army. At the same time, installing similar installations on landing ships solved the supply logistics problem. In a feudal society, 90% of the population was made up of peasants. By providing them with supplies, some planets, like Sarehan, could be reoriented toward industrial production. Elsewhere, the transition was supposed to be more gradual: first, people would move to cities, and then agriculture would gradually disappear and be replaced by industrial bioreactors.
"Just out of curiosity," I continued. "Could the deal include ectopic pregnancy technology, from cells to a fully developed fetus?"
Thor bowed his head.
"This is clearly military technology."
"No," I answered falsely. "Just imagine: women won't risk their health by carrying a child. You combine two genetic materials, and in nine months you come back for the finished product."
"And you don't use this technology to take genetic samples from the Jaffa and increase your army tenfold?" Thor asked.
"Of course I will! Thor, I'm a Goa'uld!"
"No".
"Come on, Thor, you're just saving me time. I'll get it done anyway."
"Then these will be only your achievements."
"Besides, you're thinking small. I'd increase my army tenfold every ten years."
"Are you sure you'll need 17 billion Jaffa in 50 years?" Thor asked. I paused and considered his conclusions. Indeed, it worked out roughly like that.
"17 billion 500 million," even I laughed at the absurdity of that figure. "Why would I need 17 and a half billion Jaffa? But this technology also has great humanitarian applications."
"I'm sure it is."
Isara laughed.
"Thor, you are simply amazing."
"Thank you, Phaetarkh Isara," Thor replied. "May I ask if your relationship with the younger Lord Szarekh is genuine or a cover?"
"We're actually sincere, though we weren't initially," Isara admitted. "An alien arrives, armored warriors drag me into the throne room, and then he threatens my people with consequences if I don't obey. Then I realized he's not such a bad snake."
"I am the best snake, I am even better than the Tok'ra."
"It's true that he has moments when he can't stop praising himself."
"Only on good days. This is a good day. A successful trade deal, two successful trade deals. Why shouldn't I be happy?" I pulled my wife closer.
"Nothing is finished yet, you're in too much of a hurry," Isara replied.
— Should I open the wine?
"In the end, I'll need to discuss everything with Sigurd and sign a multitude of treaties: the opening of joint embassies, the exchange of cultural heritage, trade agreements, and so on. With such a planet, I think I'll be able to increase the economic growth of Urvashi and other planets."
"They're already quite revealing, Isara. Without you, I would have been devoured long ago."
"That's true," Thor agreed. "Your knowledge of economics and politics is, even in my opinion, poor."
"Says the Fleet Commander of a civilization who, without a Goa'uld, couldn't think of shooting robotic spiders with a machine gun," I retorted.
Thor had no arguments for this.