Tate is able to receive the radio message from Naseem and relays the information to Gavan.

"Naseem picked up a ring gate network off to the side of the pyramid. Any chance there's a ring controller in that console down there?"

In reply to Tate Ames (msg # 439):

     Kaspar walks back into the structure atop the ziggurat, holding up the radio he'd gone outside with.

     "No signal down into the ziggurat once I stepped outside." Kaspar says, walking over to the hole in the floor and bringing up the radio.

     "Gorski to Gavan.  I've returned to the edge of the pit.  I received no signal from you once I moved out to the edge of the pyramid.  Repeating: no signal from you.  Did you receive anything from me?  Over."

     Having overheard Naseem mention the discovery of a Ring Network, as he returned, Kaspar looks over at her,

     "There's a Ring back down on the ground..." Kaspar grimaces, "Well of course that's where it would be!  Cholera!"

     "Okay ..." Kaspar looks from Naseem to Sarah, and asks them both, "Do we call Tate and Gavan back up here, then all of us go look for that Ring?  Or do we wait on checking that Ring, and we all go down to join Tate and Gavan, down there...?" Kaspar points down the shaft.

     "I am unwilling to consider splitting up the team.  So, thoughts?  Suggestions?"

"Umm but haven't you already split the team by sending Gavan and Ames?" Lucky pointed out, then could not help a slight smirk, but quickly collected himself, "Wasn't planning on being a smart ass, but... yeah, sorry sir. I'll go help secure the ring area." ".

While waiting for the radio test, Gavan examined the wall first, and then turned his attention to the console.

Ring gates were not a technology that the Tolan had ever developed. It was almost like they had a blind spot towards them, but, then again, they hadn't really encountered the Goa'uld on other worlds, certainly not where they had strongholds. And just as they didn't share their technology with other species, so too had the Asgard not shared their transporter technology. At any rate, as far as Gavan knew, the Council had never asked.

Since encountering the Tau'ri, however, the Tolan had learned a lot more about the Goa'uld. He'd found it amusingly astounding that not only did the Goa'uld--the System Lords, at least--think the Tau'ri were a threat but that the Tau'ri really were taking the war to the Goa'uld.

This far into the pyramid, the material it was made of was blocking radio transmissions, so he didn't hear anything that Kaspar was transmitting. And vice versa. Tate relayed the info. He couldn't really tell what the material was; it looked like stone but was probably some sort of concrete. He suspected it absorbed radio waves and who knew what else.

"Looking over the panel now," he radioed back to Tate. "Not sure I'd recognize a ring system anyway. It's looking like the control system for the pyramid. It's not working, though."

      "Well, technically ... yes, I suppose that's what I did." Kaspar responds,

     "But I was thinking of it more as a 'sending them out to scout ahead', rather than an actual separation of our forces.  However, if all of us, up here, were to go all the way back down to ground level looking for a Ring entrance, while those two stayed where they are, or -- Holy Mother forbid! -- they started wandering around inside the pyramid, looking to join up with us once we'd ringed inside..."

     "Well ... that's what I meant by splitting up the Team, Lucky.  I don't want any of us too far away from each other that it would be difficult to come to one another's aid, should there be need."

In reply to Kaspar Radoslaw Gorski (msg # 443):

     "So, we'll all regroup," Kaspar adds, "And then, together, we'll all go back down to the ground and search for the Ring that Major Ansari and Hecate have detected."

     Kaspar looks down the shaft and frowns,

     "Now ... if I were a pessimistic Russian, I'd be thinking that we'll climb all the way back down to the ground, only to find that the Ring Transporter is too broken to use..."

     Kaspar looks up and grins at everyone,

     "But in Poland, hope springs eternal!"

     Kaspar turns and calls out, down the shaft,

     "Staff Sergeant Ames?  Did you hear the order for yourself and Gavan to rejoin the main group?  Tate?  You still down there?"

"Copy that, Major," Tate replies.

"You want us to exit the pyramid and regroup with you, or wait to see if you find a way in?"

"Gavan seems to think there's a problem with the computer here in the pyramid, so there's no way we can activate it. But Naseem has a controller that should still be able to operate it. Unless, as you said, it's broken."

"I can use the rings and see where they go. Quick trip for recon or, if you'd prefer to send a drone instead, get one ready and I'll send it through."

In reply to Naseem Ansari--Hecate (msg # 446):

     Kaspar thinks for a moment, then shakes his head in the negative,

     "The Ring you've detected, Naseem, is down on the ground." Kaspar explains, "And while a Ring Transporter could move us to anywhere inside the pyramid, there is no guarantee that we would arrive anywhere close to Tate and Gavan."

     "As I said, I am wary of getting this Team separated and unable to provide support for each other.  We already know that Gavan's phase device works, so I'd prefer that we regroup using it, before we start using the Ring--assuming we even can use it."

     Kaspar turns to the shaft,

     "Tate--I want you to rejoin with Gavan, then both of you exit the pyramid the same way that you got in.  Once outside, climb down to the ground.  We'll go back down from here the same way we got up.  We will all then regroup down on the ground to search for the Ring."

     "Oh, and Tate..." Kaspar adds, "I'm sure that he has already done this--but, when you join him, please confirm with Gavan that he's recorded his scans of the computer, or whatever it is.  He and Freyda can go over that data, while the rest of us are searching."

     "Alright, everyone, let's get moving.  Tate!  We'll see you and Gavan down on the ground!  Be careful!"

Gavan and Tate phase back out of the pyramid and climb back down the side to the ground while the others climb back down to the ground as well. Both groups make their way around the base of the pyramid to the area where Naseem indicated there was some sort of ring transporter system.

Once there, she easily determines that it is similar in design to that which was up on the lunar base. She also detects that it is not connected to the moonbase system. In fact, it probably doesn't have the range, though she's not sure if that's a limit caused by insufficient power or one that was imposed on it by the Alterans. She is also able to determine that it has only four possible destinations, which she estimates are the four internal levels of the pyramid. None of them go to the top.

After Naseem passes on what she discovered, Sarah considers the information for a moment.

"So, we can get to any level within the pyramid," she asks Naseem, "but can we go between levels once inside? Or do we have to come back out here and then transport to a different level?"

"We've encountered this problem before with the Alteran's automated computer systems. Seems like the one thing they couldn't foresee was their own disagreement among themselves. As sophisticated and enduring as their computers are, they can't foresee extreme problems. The one system we'd investigated had been sabotaged from within by a Gou'ald attack."

"We have yet to learn what caused this computer to fail, though I suppose it's always possible that there was a built-in tipping point. Once that point was reached, either these inhabitants would take the next step and become like Asherrrra's people or else the experiment was deemed a failure because they didn't take that next step and was then shut down."

"Those seem like sound theories, Sarah," Tate says, "but it could be something we haven't thought about."

"How about it, Naseem? Does your wrist thingie let you control this ring system? Will it work inside?"

"I am guessing that the main controls are on the lowest level," Gavan suggests. "Once we find those controls, we might be able to restart the computer. That should give us some answers."

"Until we encountered the ring network on the moonbase, I wasn't aware that the rings could be so versatile and so controlled. I think that's because we've only encountered Goa'uld versions that they scavenged from Ancient sites. They didn't know the rings could do those things either."

In reply to Gavan (msg # 451):

     Kaspar thinks on it for a few moments, then nods.

     "Okay, we'll begin by going with Gavan's suggestion that we might find a control center on the lower level.  Even if we don't find any such room, we might still locate a power generator.  Either one would be good."

     Kaspar looks around at the ground,

     "If we're certain that the transport rings are here..." Kaspar points at the ground, "Let's clear them off before we try to activate the system.  I want know ahead of time if these rings are big enough to move all of us, and our gear, at one time -- or if we'll need to make a couple transits."

     "Naseem...?  Just confirming that you and Hecate are confident you can send us to the lower destination...?"

"I can get us somewhere but I don't know exactly which ones go where. There is one on the ground level which I suggest we recon with a drone before we go through," Naseem replied.

'Any ideas?' She asked Hecate.

"The nature of this ring system would seem to indicate that you can tell where one destination is in relation to the others just by the energy level, since it will require slightly more energy to send someone to a higher level," Hecate answers even though the voice is coming from the same body.

"If one destination is at ground level, then observation from above should have given an estimation of how far down the lowest level they could see was. Does that correspond with ground level?"

"If it does, then it should be safe to transport to the lowest level."

"The size of this ring would only be safe for four people. I expect only two Alterans ever used it at the same time. They did not work well in groups."

"Yes, our observations both from above and from below indicated that the lowest observable level was at ground level," Gavan confirmed.

"I suspect, however, that there is at least one level below that where the power source is, as well as the infrastructure to maintain the pyramid in a working status. It does not sound like the rings were meant to send anyone down to that level, though."

"So, either there's another ring system or else there is a physical means of access from the lower level."

In reply to Gavan (msg # 455):

     "Maybe that shaft we saw up top goes down to a level below the ground?" Kaspar responded to Gavan.

     "Okay, let's follow Major Ansari's suggestion--somebody prep a drone." Kaspar adds, "So, Naseem--will your kara kesh be able to activate the ring transporter from outside the rings?  I only ask because all the reports I read at SGC reported the kara kesh was used from inside the rings.  I didn't know they worked from outside them."

     "But--I wonder--even if you can activate the transporter, here, and send the drone into the pyramid, will your kara kesh then be able to remotely activate the rings and recall the drone, from all the way out here?"

     "Wait!  We couldn't get a radio signal through the material of the pyramid, when we tried before--how will we receive video from the drone, then?"

"Yes, the only way we were able to receive a radio signal from inside is if one of us was at the opening," Gavan responds. "The central shaft only went down to the ground level. Although... I wouldn't be surprised if there was a separate dedicated ring gate at the bottom of the shaft. Other than that, getting to the pyramid's infrastructure below that is anyone's guess."

"You were able to determine the elevation of the rings, but could you also tell where the horizontal destinations were, Naseem?" Gavan asked the Human/Tok'ra.

Naseem under Hecate's guidance is easily able to detect the horizontal destinations of the ring transporter.

Like the one up on the moon, it's a closed system. As long as one of the rings is within the 'network', it's easy to determine its direction. The Goa'uld never seem to have encountered such a set up before which is why they didn't know it was possible.

Having found the moon one and figured out how to operate it made this one easy.

"So, once inside, you'll be able to use the rings to take us to any level, right?" Sarah confirmed with Naseem.

"Next question is: what level do we want to start on? Does your device indicate how many levels there are?"

"For instance, there must be a level or two or three that holds the infrastructure. Can we get to it with your device or is that going to require an alternate method? Can you detect a second ring system? No, I guess you can't or else you would have told us."

"Could there be one that you couldn't detect? I'm just asking. We seem to be delving into previously unknown tech here."

"Uhhh, right. What she said," Tate adds. "Although I thought that's what I said."

"So, okay, maybe not exactly that way, but still..."

"So, what's the plan, Major? Are we all going?"

Quiet, and staying back out of the way, Lucky let out a sigh before breaking his silence, "Ames, you really want to twiddle your thumbs out here while everyone else goes in? Even I don't want to do that."

"Not if I can help it," Tate replies, "but maybe the Major feels someone needs to keep watch."

"I don't think any of those creatures we've seen can activate this ring system, but they could swarm up the pyramid and drop down through the top to attack us... especially if they thought we were violating their sacred shrine or something."

In reply to Tate Ames (msg # 462):

     Scratching his chin (which is starting to show needing a shave) as he considers the options, Kaspar finally says,

     "Okay, let's try this ... we grab one of those small drones we have, turn on all its lights and start the camera to record ... then we put it on the ring platform and send it inside.  Thirty seconds later we use the Rings to call it back out here and see what it recorded."

     "That gives us a heads up on where we'd be going, as well as confirming that we can get back out here, if we need to."

     "Tate, Lucky -- prep a drone.  Naseem, as soon as it's ready, send the drone in.  If you can get any kind of indication of what the location you're sending it to is, then send it either to someplace close to a control center, or maybe an engineering section.  If you're not getting target data that specific as to destination, then just send it to the most central location you are detecting."

     "Alright, let's do this."