EXT. OLD NAGADA – DAY
Leaving the depths of the ruins, the Terrans start off on the long trek for the pyramid. As O’Neal and his men begin their march, Daniel lingers a moment, taking a look back. Standing there behind him, Skarra and his friends behind her, is Sha’ure. Eyes of intense blue meeting eyes of richest brown, a subliminal connection is made, and in an instant they share a realization – a realization that in another place, under other circumstances, they could have shared a life together.
KAWALSKY: C’mon, Jackson.
With that, the spell is broken. Turning his back to Sha’ure, Daniel leaves for the open ocean of sand.
DESERT – MONTAGE
For the next several hours, the colonel, lieutenant colonel, senior airman, and Egyptologist trudge through the desert, passing over and under dunes until they finally come to the road, unaware that Skarra, Nabeh, and the rest of their small band are following along behind them at a respectable distance.
EXT. LADY OF SLAUGHTER – DAY
Emerging from the open desert, they finally come to the end of the road. In wait for them is a most unwelcome surprise. Past the twin obelisks, past the entrance ramp, the pyramid of red granite all but hidden beneath its awesome bulk, is the Lady of Slaughter. With the three suns low in the eastern sky, the entire front face of the bronze-panelled craft has been cast in shadow, lending it an air of quiet, foreboding menace.
BROWN: Looks like somebody was home after all.
KAWALSKY: What the hell is that?
DANIEL: It’s a spaceship. (takes notice of the others’ skeptical stares) Well, maybe not a spaceship, but some sort of flying machine. It was on the ruin walls.
Silently, O’Neal cocks his P90. Taking off in a low sprint, he makes a dash for the pyramid. Arming his own weapon, Kawalsky follows after the colonel, covering him.
BROWN: (hands Daniel an M9) Here. You might need this.
Daniel takes the pistol, and he and Brown take off in a run, joining the colonel and lieutenant colonel as they sprint up the stone entrance ramp into the pyramid.
Still on their trail, the Nagadan kids follow them up to the pyramid.
INT. PYRAMID/ENTRANCE HALL – DAY
As Kawalsky and Brown take up guard positions behind the forward columns, O’Neal moves deeper into the chamber, where he finds the spent ammo casings lying in the dust on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly spots movement – a vaguely humanoid figure moving from behind one column to another. Taking hold of Daniel and dragging them both over to a column, the colonel takes cover behind it.
EXT. LADY OF SLAUGHTER – DAY
Climbing up a shelf of sand which had accumulated against the base of the pyramid during the sandstorm, Skarra and his friends peer in through the slot-like windows into the entrance hall.
INT. PYRAMID/ENTRANCE HALL – DAY
Hearing the approaching steps of an enemy, Brown braces himself against his column, collecting his resolve and his nerves, before leaping out into the open. Standing out there before him, energy rifle in hand and eyes glowing blue-green within the sockets of a falconesque head, is the dreadful form of a Haru Guard; lower in rank than Sihathor, this Haru Guard is armoured in bronze crystal rather than the green-black variety.
Bringing his gun to bear, Brown pulls back the trigger, emptying a full round into the bronze monster. Unharmed, the Haru Guard brings up its energy rifle and Brown goes down, the weapon’s electrical beam sending him sprawling.
CUT TO
O’Neal as he sees Kawalsky, who has been grappling with another bronze Haru Guard, lifted off his feet and thrown back into a wall, knocking the big man out cold.
As the Haru Guard who dispensed with Brown appears, aiming its rifle in Daniel’s direction, the colonel automatically leaps into action.
O’NEAL: Look out!
Taking Daniel by the collar, the colonel pulls him out of the way just in time to avoid being struck down by the blue-green beam. Swiveling his gun into position, O’Neal returns fire, then he pulls the Egyptologist alongside him in a mad dash for the stargate chamber.
DANIEL: Where are we going?!
O’Neal has no time to answer. He and Daniel duck inside the antechamber, avoiding another energy beam blast.
INT. PYRAMID/STARGATE CHAMBER – DAY
Bounding down the ramp, the colonel looses his hold on the scholar’s collar, dauntless as he crosses through the antechamber into the gate chamber directly to the FRED.
DANIEL: Why are we going to the stargate? We can’t leave without the others.
O’NEAL: Stay right here and shoot anything that comes down that ramp.
DANIEL: What are you doing?
O’NEAL: Just cover me.
Opening the FRED’s secret compartment, O’Neal takes a look inside. It’s completely empty; the bomb isn’t there.
DANIEL: (crosses over to O’Neal) What is it? What’re you looking for?
O’NEAL: (stoney) It’s gone.
At that very moment, the circular recess in the ceiling of the antechamber opens up, the inner disc splitting apart into eight separate sections which draw inward, revealing an inner compartment which casts a column of bright white light down upon the floor with a corresponding mechanical HUM. Twisting around, Daniel brings his pistol up as ten black stone rings drop down from the opening. Piling up, one stacked atop the other, they form an iridescent black column. A stream of silver energy passes down through the rings – the surplus light escaping through the gaps between the rings and bringing brief, intense illumination to the chamber – and a black shape takes form within them. The process complete, the rings ascend back into their compartment and the recess closes once more.
Standing where empty space had been only moments before, green-black armour glistening in the scant light of the stargate chamber, is the form of the Haru Guard Sihathor.
Daniel keeps his gun trained on Sihathor, ready but apprehensive to open fire on this dark god, when the other two falcon-headed warriors finally enter the gate chamber and take position behind their leader, bringing their weapons to bear.
O’NEAL: Put it down, Jackson.
Almost as if to punctuate the colonel’s request, Sihathor unholsters his own energy rifle and levels it at Daniel.
Conceding defeat, Daniel finally lowers the pistol.
INT. LADY OF SLAUGHTER/BRIDGE – DAY
With a flash of silver light, Daniel and O’Neal materialize aboard the Lady of Slaughter with their Haru Guard escort. Unlike the ring transporter down in the pyramid, this transporter utilizes only five rings, all of which are stored in a compartment under the floor rather than in the ceiling, indicating perhaps that it is a newer, more advanced model.
Once the black rings have slipped down into the floor, the five figures find themselves standing on a raised, circular platform. Leading away from the platform is a low, narrow catwalk which crosses the length of the chamber, connecting to the command section at the front of the bridge. Barking a deep, mechanically filtered command, Sihathor prods the two Earthlings with the barrels of his rifle. Getting the message, they step off the platform onto the catwalk.
Crossing the catwalk, Sihathor and his two subordinates behind them, the colonel and the doctor are taken clear across to the front of the bridge. At the command deck wait three figures: a PAIR OF FEMALE UBASTE GUARDS, armed with long copper-plated sceptres, who stand in guard at either side of a SEKHMET GUARD, who is seated upon the throne-like captain’s chair. Unlike the Haru Guards, the cat-headed Ubaste Guards are not garbed in full body armour; from the shoulders down, they are garbed in white linen tunics and kilts, their exposed arms, legs, and midriffs hard with lean muscle. In contrast, the Sekhmet Guard is fully enclosed in armour of iridescent silver, a midnight blue cloak clasped about her shoulders, the eyes in her lioness’ head alive with yellow flame.
Making a harsh proclamation in his tongue, Sihathor knocks Daniel’s and O’Neal’s legs out from under them, forcing them to kneel before the silver entity before them. The Earthmen’s eyes riveted upon her, the Sekhmet Guard raises a single hand, issuing an order to her underlings. Sensing something of import in her unintelligible words, Daniel begins to scrutinize his captors, waiting for whatever is now about to transpire.
One by one, the helms of the animal-headed guards dissolve. Breaking apart into disparate segments, the helms collapse in on themselves, shrinking down and retracting until the skullcapped heads of human beings are fully revealed. Like the Nagadans, each of the guards are of Hamitic and Nubian extraction, and they are all – to differing extent – physically attractive; Sihathor, in particular, bears an aquiline nose and strong chin which lends him a striking, regal air. Their eyes, though, are hard and cold – harsh and unfeeling.
Turning their attentions to the Sekhmet Guard, the Earthlings watch as her mask then disintegrates into the collar around her neck. The Sekhmet Guard is, to put it unflatteringly, an unspeakable beauty. Her skin, without blemish or flaw, is the rich brown of darkest chocolate; her lips, sensuous in their fullness, are painted a deep black; her dark eyes, accented with red eyeliner, are fierce and hungry – the eyes of a lioness on the prowl. The face of their mistress bared to them, the Haru Guards kneel, getting down on one knee in reverence before her.
SEKHMET GUARD: (in High Kemetic, subtitled) You have come here to destroy us.
With a gesture, the Sekhmet Guard summons two man servants. Carrying an ornate tray between them, the two slender, scantily clad man-children cross over to the space between their mistress and the captives, setting the tray down on the floor there before speedily departing. Situated upon the tray is O’Neal’s bomb.
DANIEL: (alarmed) What is that? (turns to O’Neal) That’s a bomb, isn’t it? That’s what you were looking for. (beat) What the hell were you thinking? What’d you come here for?
O’Neal doesn’t say anything. Instead, he turns on Sihathor and strikes, punching the Haru Guard in his now-unshielded kisser. Wresting the energy rifle out of the senseless Haru Guard’s limp fingers, the colonel turns on the other two Haru Guards, takes aim, and squeezes the handgrip twice in rapid succession. Instead of releasing beams of blue-green electrical energy from the secondary barrel, this time the weapon discharges bolts of concentrated orange plasma from the primary barrel; with a pair of strong CHOOMS, the plasma bolts bore through both their heads, bursting them like overripe melons in a microwave.
The bridge then erupts into chaos. As O’Neal spins back around, opening fire on one of the two Ubaste Guards, the other springs into action; levelling her sceptre in the colonel’s direction, she slides her hand along the underside of the instrument; in automatic response, the pod-like head of the staff splits open, crackling with energy.
DANIEL: (leaping between the Ubaste Guard and O’Neal) Wait! Stop! No! No --!
A plasma bolt springs from the woman warrior’s staff weapon, punching through Daniel’s gut and driving him into the floor with enough kinetic force to halt a charging rhino.
Daniel’s body sprawled out twisted and lifeless, the colonel sets his sights on the Sekhmet Guard. Eyes burning with challenge, she rises from her seat and spreads her arms apart, providing the Terran a clear kill shot. O’Neal takes it, squeezing the handgrip to unload yet another devastating plasma bolt. This time, however, the bolt is stopped dead-cold as it meets an invisible protective force field enveloping her body, disincorporating and dissipating completely without leaving a single mark on her or her suit of armour.
Before O’Neal can try squeezing off another shot, Sihathor – recovered from the blow which felled him – comes up behind the colonel and brings his armoured elbow down between the Earthling’s vulnerable shoulder blades, rendering him unconscious with a single blow.
Just as the large Haru Guard gets ready to deliver the out-cold colonel a serious beating, the Sekhmet Guard orders him back. Deferring to her command, he takes a step back, bowing in supplication. Leaving her throne, she crosses over to O’Neal. Looking him over, she then goes to Daniel. Bending low, she turns him over; that is when she sees the gold pendant, the Eye of Atum itself looking back up at her.