STARGATE SG-1

EPISODE 21

Teaser

"And woe to the unbelievers and to those who would harbor them in their breast! They are like a disease among you, spreading their heresy, infecting your thoughts, turning your minds from the true path of salvation. They are an abomination. Worthy of neither your compassion nor your pity, for they have been offered the way of their redemption and yet they have cast it aside with both hands. Who but the most unworthy cannot but see the glory of Origin? Who but the most ill-begotten cannot embrace the salvation Origin brings? Who but those who care not for their future can deny the path to ascension that Origin offers?"

Murmurs of agreement arose from the two hundred beings who sprawled in prostration at the feet of the prior. He gazed over the crowd with satisfaction. There was not an unbeliever among them. They had embraced Origin cycles ago; these were the truly faithful. He could feel the power of their belief channeling through him to the Ori. It was an honor and a privilege to be such a vessel.

But not all were of the same mind. Beside him, on the dais, there was doubt. More than doubt. Downright rejection. Unbelief. Disdain, even. It flowed against the current of faith the others sent through him. It…tarnished it, in some way. Which was why he was here in the first place.

"And if those who defy the path of salvation care not for their fate, then why should you? Send them now to their everlasting doom. Let others who would think that there is another way to salvation see the fate of those who fail to have their eyes opened by the Ori. Let those who do not believe demonstrate to the uncertain the futility of their doubts. Origin is the one, the only, the true path to eternal salvation."

Cries of assent arose from the crowd and the prior smiled benignly. Yes. They were ready. Usually the newly converted supported him out of fear; but these, ah, these were firmly rooted in their belief. He could feel their anger at the heretics. He drew energy from their desire to send the unbelievers to their eternal damnation. They were ready to witness the punishment the troublemakers had so justly earned. His chest swelled with the blood-lust of the crowd. Oh yes. It was time.

"Hallowed are the Ori!" he intoned in his deepest and most sonorous voice.

"Hallowed are the Ori!" the crowd answered in unison.

On their knees, hands bound tightly behind their back, the three heretics looked over the crowd who had just pronounced their death sentence. The one nearest to the prior gave a slight grimace before muttering under his breath.

"Oh crap," said Jack O'Neill with a weary sigh. Next to him, Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson silently agreed.