The Halls of Osiris

Part 3:

The man's eyes drifted shut and Apollo climbed to his feet and moved closer. His cellmate wasn't looking so good. His breathing was off and a light sheen of perspiration covered his face. He had seemed aware enough when Apollo had arrived but then his attention had drifted; for a micron Apollo actually thought he had fallen asleep.

Just as the warrior reached out to touch him, his fellow prisoner woke with a startled, half-choked cry. Apollo froze. For a micron the blue eyes searched his face, then relaxed with recognition.

He spoke again in a wistful tone.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're trying to say."

The man smiled and laughed softly, almost as if he had understood Apollo's response. He raised one manacled hand and, pressing his open hand to his chest, said, "Daniel."

At Apollo's frown, he tapped his index finger against his chest for emphasis and repeated the word slowly.

"Daniel. Daniel Jackson."

He watched Apollo expectantly.

Apollo repeated the first word cautiously, unsure of how to respond other than the show that he was trying.

His cellmate sighed and nodded. "Yes. Daniel," he said pressing his hand to his own chest once again. Then he reached out to Apollo and gently pressed his index finger to his chest with a questioning look.

"Oh. Oh, I see." The warrior almost laughed aloud. He pressed his own hand to his chest. "Apollo. Strike Captain Apollo of the Colonial Battlestar Galactica."

~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel blinked at the quick delivery, before singling out the repeated word. "Apollo."

The prisoner nodded and Daniel sighed again.

"Well, that's a start, I guess." He reached up to rub at his eyes. "Apollo. Nice name. Means---what does it mean? Never mind--- it's got history anyway. Greek god of prophecy, healing and the light of the sun."

Come on, Jackson. Pull yourself together. This is your thing, first contacts, new languages. Get it together, already.

If only his head would stop pounding.

"So, Apollo. I don't suppose you've got a bottle of Tylenol on you?" He smiled at Apollo's puzzled expression. "No? Didn't think so, but it never hurts to ask. How about a hacksaw?"

Ok, Daniel, ok. You're rambling again. The idea is to get him to talk.

"Come on, Apollo. Talk to me." He studied the other man carefully. "Did you come here through the Stargate? The Chappa'ai?"

~~~~~~~~~

"Chappa'ai?" The Gate to the Heavens?

At least that was the traslation Adama had given him when he had come across the word ---when--- yahren ago. It was mentioned in the Book of the Word, near the beginning of the Great Journey of the Tribes.

And it was that the children of Ra turned against him, and cast him and his family out of the Gate to the Heavens. And they tore down the Gate to the Heavens and buried it deep, that they might never again gain admittance therefrom.

Adama had claimed that this part of the legend was more myth than history, perhaps a stylized retelling of some forgotten cultural or religious change, used by later generations as an explanation for the necessity for travel by ship. Apollo could think of no possible reason for that word to emerge in this context.

Daniel seemed pleased that he had recognized the word. He leaned forward nodding and traced a large circle in the air with his hands.

"Chappa'ai."

Apollo shook his head for a moment in confusion before he realized what Daniel was describing.

The monument. A huge upright stone circle in the middle of the clearing where he and Bojay had landed to investigate a strange energy reading.

The two warriors had only just arrived; Bojay had remained with the Vipers, relaying their position to Core Command. Apollo had walked ahead and so had been closest to the thing when it --- errupted.

Errupted was the only word Apollo could think of to describe it. The inner ring had begun to move, seemingly of its own accord, as Apollo approached it, the triangular pieces on the outer ring glowing brightly even in the light of that planet's mid-day. He had barely begun to move away when a massive plasma field had shot out of the center, only to snap back into place creating the illusion of a surface that rippled like water.

Apollo had turned to call to Bojay when the armored warriors had stepped out of the plasma field. Now he was here, and he hadn't seen Bojay since. He could only hope that the warrior had escaped.

Daniel was calling that monument the Chappa'ai, the Gate to the Heavens. . .

~~~~~~~~

Daniel leaned closer, studying the intent expression on the young soldier's angular face and wishing again that he hadn't lost his glasses. He supposed that he should be glad that he hadn't spent enough time in the sarcophagus to correct his vision, maybe the withdrawal wouldn't be so bad this time.

Right, Daniel, tell yourself another one.

He was sure the man had understood the Goa'uld word--- it was fairly common among the human populations of the galaxy, even when the culture's root language was not related to ancient Egyptian. Apollo's spoken language seemed to have more in common with ancient Greek, what little he had heard of it, anyway. Not enough really to be certain.

"Apollo."

Green eyes met his instantly.

"Let's try another one. Where are you from?"

Confused silence.

He tried it in Greek, illiciting a slight frown. He began using variations on the same theme until he hit on another vaguely familiar word, the word for hearth. He backtracked to pyr --- fire--- and worked forward from there.

It became easier once Apollo realized what exactly Daniel was trying to do. He began using simple sentences, paying careful attention to proper grammar and syntax, avoiding slang or idioms. After just a few centari, Apollo was surprised to find that Daniel had developed a rudimentary understanding of basic spoken Caprican, enough to make himself understood at least. The effort had cost the other man dearly, though.

It was only after Daniel had collapsed into an exhausted sleep that Apollo had had a chance to examine the emblem on the shoulder of his uniform. The central figure was a stylized pyramid surmounted by a small disk --- the Kobolian symbol for Earth.