Chapter Four:
Damn, I'm tired. The red haired chick isn't helping any. She keeps shining that light in my eyes and talking to me. I don't understand what she's saying, other than what I presume is my name 'Hahak,' but I do understand the tone. She isn't happy with me. Why she's mad I don't know. But I do know that much.
"Koronaeloo avet oohets ommsle eepuh," she says. Over and over again. The same sounds, the same tone. If I ever learn how to speak whatever language these people use I'm going to thank them, first, and then I'm going to cuss them out. Thoroughly.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm grateful that they got rid of the seizures. Seizures are not fun. Really. But this treating the 'Hahak' like a little kid is getting kind of annoying. At the moment the only one of them that doesn't raise their voice when they're talking to me is the geek 'Dahaniel.' I'm not deaf. I just can't speak whatever freakish language you people are!
Damn. The red head is coming towards me with a needle. I can guess what's in it. I really don't want to go to sleep. I don't care how long I've been awake, I am never going back to sleep.
Uh-uh.
I hop off of the bed and back away as she approaches. She stops, looks at me condescendingly. "Koronaeloon eeduh sleepah," she says. I don't understand it, but I understand that needle. I am not going to sleep.
"No," I say.
It comes out as "Nohah." It's one of the few words that Dahaniel has managed to successfully teach me. It doesn't sound right, but she seems to have gotten the message. She stops, brows furrowing.
"Koronaelwiedo intooo wahantoos leap?" she asks. At least I assume it's a question, sounds like one anyway. I shake my head, back and forth, very emphatically. I don't know what she wants, but I'm not gonna let her stick that thing in me. No way in hell.
"Hahak?" someone says off to my side. I turn, it's the geek.
"Dahaniel," I say, I think he catches the sarcasm in my voice; at least he smiles, a little.
"Oohates ronguh?" he asks, turning to the redhead. I listen, turning as well.
"Eee wahontsleap," she says. "Hietri eyedtu gahive hahemah seahdahtiev bahatuh," she continued.
Dahaniel turned to me. "Hahak?" he asked.
I shake my head. "Nohah," I say, pointing to the needle in the redhead's hand. He waits, silently, for a further explanation, but I can't give him one. Not in any language he'll understand. I continue shaking my head. He continues waiting. Finally I cave in.
"No sleep. Bad dreams," I say, trying to keep it simple. It comes out sounding like "Nohah ahslehap. Buhahduh reems."
The red head wrinkles her forehead. Dahaniel closes his eyes, his lips moving silently. He looks like he's concentrating on something, so I decide to wait. Several minutes later his eyes pop open behind his glasses and he smiles, turning to the redhead.
"Haheezah fahahraihdov nahahitema ars," he says.
The wrinkles on the redhead's forehead disappear, but now she's got this concerned look in her eyes. I can only hope that Dahaniel got the right translation. She turns to me and says, loudly, "Koronaelwahie haroofah ahraihdovoor dahreems?" she asks.
I throw my hands up, turn away, and begin cursing, in whatever fucking language it is that I speak and they don't. "Shit, fuck, damn, damn, damn," I mutter. It sounds like "Shahit fuhahukah, dahamm, dahamm, dahamm." I continue anyway, pacing around my corner of the, wherever the hell I am.
When I look back up the redhead is gone, and Dahaniel is watching me, his eyebrows meeting over his glasses, arms crossed over his chest. "Ahhutuh?" I ask, angrily. His eyebrows jump up, then they settle down to a more natural position.
"Hahak," he says, slowly. "Ooohar duhoo ingvahr rhy guhood."
So now it's my turn to puzzle. It's only fair, I suppose, if he's running around trying to figure out how to communicate with me than I should at least try to return the favor. 'Hahak,' is the easy one, that's what he calls me, so he's addressing me.
'Ooohar.' Let's see. 'Ooo-har.'
"Ooohar?" I parrot. He rubs his eyes under his glasses. "Ooohar?" I repeat, louder. He looks up; he looks even more tired than I am.
"Ooohar Hahak," he says, his voice angry. "Ahieham Dahaniel. Ooohar Hahak." He points at himself and then at me. Then he shakes his head and walks away, to the other side of the room, where the redhead is standing, watching me covertly over the top of a file.
'Ooohar Hakak.' You are Hahak? Hahak. You are, duhoo ingvahr rhy guhood.
'Duhoo.'
This is going to take me a while.
* * *
After a while the Dahaniel and the redhead leave. It was a long time after that, but eventually I gave up on translating the sentence. He could have been telling me that I was scheduled as a human sacrifice. Just then I stopped caring. I was too tired to keep trying. Just staying awake was becoming work.
A lot of work.
As it turned out, too much work.
Lights out, kids.
* * *
The dream came back.
The field, the butterflies rising out of the grass. I raise my gun, I don't expect to actually hurt any great number of them, but the bullets should scare them off. But, before I can get off a shot they swarm me, surrounding me.
One lands on the back of my hand, and I fall to the ground, the grass reaching over my head. They follow me down; landing on every available piece of exposes skin. Wherever they touch me bits of hot iron shoot through my skin. It was like being electrocuted. Low voltage at first, then higher and higher, until every one of my nerves screamed. And through it all, I couldn't make a sound, I was paralyzed, I couldn't call for help.
Then, blackness.
* * *
"Colonel," Captain Carter says as she sits up, very fast. "Why didn't you get me up for guard duty?"
I shrug. "You know me, Captain," I reply. "I probably just forgot."
"That does not seem likely, ColonelO'Neill," Teal'c states from where he's sitting by the fire. Apparently he'd finished his kelnoreem. Ugh. Just the thought of Junior makes my skin crawl.
"Yeah, Jack," the space monkey pipes up, sitting up and blinking as he slips on his glasses. "You're usually a stickler for following the guard duty roster."
I shrug. "What does it matter?" I ask. "We're on a very boring, very uninhabited planet, surrounded by trees and glowing grass, and I'm the Supreme Commander of the Universe. So drop it."
I push myself up off of the ground and start looking around. "Now, whose turn is it to cook breakfast?"
* * *
I struggle up from the bed in a panic, the sheets clinging to me. It seems to startle the blonde sitting in the chair next to me. She looks up from a clipboard, both eyebrows up. "Koronael?" she asks. I stare at her, blinking several times. She's the woman from my dream. Captain Carter.
"Kahrtaer," I say. Then stop, catching her eyes with mine. "Dahaniel."
She stares at me for almost an entire minute, her eyes wide. Then she nods, stands up, and walks out of the room. Please, God, let her have understood me.
A/N: there, happy, you're starting to get a few answers. No, I will not make translating the gibberish easier for you. Yes, I am evil (Cackles evilly). Besides, Jack can't figure out what the heck they're saying, so why should you? Please read and review. Oh, and happy holidays! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Really. Really! I mean it. (
Damn, I'm tired. The red haired chick isn't helping any. She keeps shining that light in my eyes and talking to me. I don't understand what she's saying, other than what I presume is my name 'Hahak,' but I do understand the tone. She isn't happy with me. Why she's mad I don't know. But I do know that much.
"Koronaeloo avet oohets ommsle eepuh," she says. Over and over again. The same sounds, the same tone. If I ever learn how to speak whatever language these people use I'm going to thank them, first, and then I'm going to cuss them out. Thoroughly.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm grateful that they got rid of the seizures. Seizures are not fun. Really. But this treating the 'Hahak' like a little kid is getting kind of annoying. At the moment the only one of them that doesn't raise their voice when they're talking to me is the geek 'Dahaniel.' I'm not deaf. I just can't speak whatever freakish language you people are!
Damn. The red head is coming towards me with a needle. I can guess what's in it. I really don't want to go to sleep. I don't care how long I've been awake, I am never going back to sleep.
Uh-uh.
I hop off of the bed and back away as she approaches. She stops, looks at me condescendingly. "Koronaeloon eeduh sleepah," she says. I don't understand it, but I understand that needle. I am not going to sleep.
"No," I say.
It comes out as "Nohah." It's one of the few words that Dahaniel has managed to successfully teach me. It doesn't sound right, but she seems to have gotten the message. She stops, brows furrowing.
"Koronaelwiedo intooo wahantoos leap?" she asks. At least I assume it's a question, sounds like one anyway. I shake my head, back and forth, very emphatically. I don't know what she wants, but I'm not gonna let her stick that thing in me. No way in hell.
"Hahak?" someone says off to my side. I turn, it's the geek.
"Dahaniel," I say, I think he catches the sarcasm in my voice; at least he smiles, a little.
"Oohates ronguh?" he asks, turning to the redhead. I listen, turning as well.
"Eee wahontsleap," she says. "Hietri eyedtu gahive hahemah seahdahtiev bahatuh," she continued.
Dahaniel turned to me. "Hahak?" he asked.
I shake my head. "Nohah," I say, pointing to the needle in the redhead's hand. He waits, silently, for a further explanation, but I can't give him one. Not in any language he'll understand. I continue shaking my head. He continues waiting. Finally I cave in.
"No sleep. Bad dreams," I say, trying to keep it simple. It comes out sounding like "Nohah ahslehap. Buhahduh reems."
The red head wrinkles her forehead. Dahaniel closes his eyes, his lips moving silently. He looks like he's concentrating on something, so I decide to wait. Several minutes later his eyes pop open behind his glasses and he smiles, turning to the redhead.
"Haheezah fahahraihdov nahahitema ars," he says.
The wrinkles on the redhead's forehead disappear, but now she's got this concerned look in her eyes. I can only hope that Dahaniel got the right translation. She turns to me and says, loudly, "Koronaelwahie haroofah ahraihdovoor dahreems?" she asks.
I throw my hands up, turn away, and begin cursing, in whatever fucking language it is that I speak and they don't. "Shit, fuck, damn, damn, damn," I mutter. It sounds like "Shahit fuhahukah, dahamm, dahamm, dahamm." I continue anyway, pacing around my corner of the, wherever the hell I am.
When I look back up the redhead is gone, and Dahaniel is watching me, his eyebrows meeting over his glasses, arms crossed over his chest. "Ahhutuh?" I ask, angrily. His eyebrows jump up, then they settle down to a more natural position.
"Hahak," he says, slowly. "Ooohar duhoo ingvahr rhy guhood."
So now it's my turn to puzzle. It's only fair, I suppose, if he's running around trying to figure out how to communicate with me than I should at least try to return the favor. 'Hahak,' is the easy one, that's what he calls me, so he's addressing me.
'Ooohar.' Let's see. 'Ooo-har.'
"Ooohar?" I parrot. He rubs his eyes under his glasses. "Ooohar?" I repeat, louder. He looks up; he looks even more tired than I am.
"Ooohar Hahak," he says, his voice angry. "Ahieham Dahaniel. Ooohar Hahak." He points at himself and then at me. Then he shakes his head and walks away, to the other side of the room, where the redhead is standing, watching me covertly over the top of a file.
'Ooohar Hakak.' You are Hahak? Hahak. You are, duhoo ingvahr rhy guhood.
'Duhoo.'
This is going to take me a while.
* * *
After a while the Dahaniel and the redhead leave. It was a long time after that, but eventually I gave up on translating the sentence. He could have been telling me that I was scheduled as a human sacrifice. Just then I stopped caring. I was too tired to keep trying. Just staying awake was becoming work.
A lot of work.
As it turned out, too much work.
Lights out, kids.
* * *
The dream came back.
The field, the butterflies rising out of the grass. I raise my gun, I don't expect to actually hurt any great number of them, but the bullets should scare them off. But, before I can get off a shot they swarm me, surrounding me.
One lands on the back of my hand, and I fall to the ground, the grass reaching over my head. They follow me down; landing on every available piece of exposes skin. Wherever they touch me bits of hot iron shoot through my skin. It was like being electrocuted. Low voltage at first, then higher and higher, until every one of my nerves screamed. And through it all, I couldn't make a sound, I was paralyzed, I couldn't call for help.
Then, blackness.
* * *
"Colonel," Captain Carter says as she sits up, very fast. "Why didn't you get me up for guard duty?"
I shrug. "You know me, Captain," I reply. "I probably just forgot."
"That does not seem likely, ColonelO'Neill," Teal'c states from where he's sitting by the fire. Apparently he'd finished his kelnoreem. Ugh. Just the thought of Junior makes my skin crawl.
"Yeah, Jack," the space monkey pipes up, sitting up and blinking as he slips on his glasses. "You're usually a stickler for following the guard duty roster."
I shrug. "What does it matter?" I ask. "We're on a very boring, very uninhabited planet, surrounded by trees and glowing grass, and I'm the Supreme Commander of the Universe. So drop it."
I push myself up off of the ground and start looking around. "Now, whose turn is it to cook breakfast?"
* * *
I struggle up from the bed in a panic, the sheets clinging to me. It seems to startle the blonde sitting in the chair next to me. She looks up from a clipboard, both eyebrows up. "Koronael?" she asks. I stare at her, blinking several times. She's the woman from my dream. Captain Carter.
"Kahrtaer," I say. Then stop, catching her eyes with mine. "Dahaniel."
She stares at me for almost an entire minute, her eyes wide. Then she nods, stands up, and walks out of the room. Please, God, let her have understood me.
A/N: there, happy, you're starting to get a few answers. No, I will not make translating the gibberish easier for you. Yes, I am evil (Cackles evilly). Besides, Jack can't figure out what the heck they're saying, so why should you? Please read and review. Oh, and happy holidays! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Really. Really! I mean it. (