Halls of Osiris
Part 9:
P9J-332
O'Neill landed
lightly on his feet, grateful that the 'Gate had chosen to allow his team to
arrive gracefully, and vertically, on this particular occasion. Although there
was truly nothing like the thrill of being spat head- first and flailing into
the unknown, he preferred to make a more dignified first impression when
greeting the representatives of new cultures. Especially when said first
impression was being made at gun- point.
Motioning for the
others to remain still, O'Neill surveyed the clearing around the Stargate. The
welcoming party had chosen to greet them from behind a series of hastily
improvised barricades, weapons aimed and ready.
With a sound like
rushing water, the wormhole closed behind the team.
Fighting his own
natural impulses, O'Neill held his weapon down and indicated that the rest of
his team should do the same. Silence
stretched out for a long moment while each team assessed the other.
Carter tapped his
shoulder, nodding towards the bank of monitoring equipment. Something else was
beyond that, a cordoned- off patch of scorched earth containing what looked
suspiciously like part of an aircraft fuselage.
"Bryant." O'Neill
motioned and the captain stepped forward cautiously. The colonel indicated the
group surrounding the gate. "You're on."
"I
think we should wait for them to make the first move, sir. Da—Dr. Jackson
always says that we should allow the natives to feel like they are in control
of the encounter."
"He
does?" He glanced back at Carter who nodded to confirm Bryant's statement.
"That's not what he does. He just
walks right up and starts talking."
"I
think he means it as a general rule of thumb for first contact, sir. Daniel tends to rely on his own instincts in
the field," Carter answered softly.
"
'Do as I say, not as I do,' huh?"
"Something
like that, sir," she agreed.
Across
the clearing, another hastily whispered conference drew to a close, and the
sandy- haired young man from the video feed approached the group slowly. He
paused a moment, looking the group over with a practiced eye, then holstered
his weapon and concentrated on a smaller device. The men and women behind him
shifted, obviously uncomfortable.
*********
Starbuck
lifted the languatron a bit to make sure it picked up his voice. He hoped he
didn't look as nervous as he felt. Putting away the pistol had left him feeling a bit exposed, but he
couldn't have juggled both the weapon and the translator at the same time.
Judging from the stance of the group in front of him, he thought the translator
might be more useful at the moment.
Casting
his eyes over the group once more, the warrior made an educated guess and
addressed the eldest of the three men, who stared back at him with a blank
expression.
First
impression, don't play pyramid with this man. His straight face is better than
mine.
"Hello.
I'm Lieutenant Starbuck of the battlestar Galactica." He fought the urge to cringe. The sentence
sounded stilted, wooden, but what do you say when you're meeting a new race?
Especially one that had just materialized out of thin air, despite appearing to
be as human as he was.
The
languatron beeped and squawked out a brief line of gibberish.
*********
O'Neill
stared at the smaller man, then down at the device as it turned loose with a
spate of pure nonsense. He turned to the captain at his side.
"Bryant?"
he prompted.
"Ah,
I think that was supposed to be a translation of whatever he said. A few of the
words were intelligible."
"Right.
If you say so." O'Neill's skepticism was almost palpable.
"Sir,
we haven't been here long. They can't have had a very large sample to work
with, and computers do a lousy job of translating even when the language is
known. Maybe if we gave them a larger sample to work with. . ."
"You
mean, walk right up and start talking."
Bryant
allowed himself a small grin. "Something like that, sir." He glanced back and Major Carter caught his
eye, offering silent encouragement.
The
colonel grunted softly. "Alright, Captain. Do your thing." He shifted slightly
to one side, moving to cover Bryant's right flank as the linguist stepped
forward.
**********
The
languatron's computer beeped and whirred throughout the conversation between
the newcomers, processing the new sample. With any luck, it would be able to
work out what they were saying before long. At the moment, only a few words
were coming out as something he could understand.
The
younger of the two dark men stepped forward and the older man moved aside to
take up a protective stance nearby. The blonde woman stayed where she was,
slightly behind and to the left, and the largest man stepped up to cover the
young man's other flank.
Starbuck
stiffened slightly at the change in positions, but the movement was protective,
not aggressive, and no weapons were drawn, although they were obviously ready.
He willed himself to stay calm as the man approached.
Bryant
held his hands out before him, turning them from palm to back and to palm
again, showing that he held no hidden weapon, then touched his open palm to his
chest.
"My
name is Captain Thomas Bryant. I am here representing Stargate Command. We want
to be friends. What is your name?"
He
held his breath waiting for the man to respond. This was almost always a tricky
moment, the one when the person approached decided whether to talk, attack or
simply run away. Somehow, the third
option didn't seem likely in this case.
The
young man frowned at the machine and made a frustrated sound. Apparently the
thing was doing no better translating Bryant's words than it had his own.
The
colonel shifted impatiently behind him.
"Listen,"
Bryant said softly, catching the man's attention. "Let's talk together, you and me. We'll let the machine catch up
later, alright?" He kept his voice open
and friendly, studying the man's expression as he spoke. His tone seemed to be
communicating, if not his words. He pressed his hand to his chest again.
"Bryant."
"We
don't have much time, Captain," O'Neill called out.
The
captain suppressed a sigh and turned slightly to address his superior. "Yes,
sir. I know. I'm working as fast as I can, but it's going to take a little
time. I'm sorry, sir."
"Well,
speed it up, Captain."
"O'Neill,"
Teal'c rumbled mildly. "Perhaps if Captain Bryant were free to work without
interruption, his progress would be more satisfactory."
Bryant
barely hid his shock. One simply didn't – remonstrate – one's CO, at least not
in his part of the Air Force. He tried not to stare when SG-1's leader subsided
with only a venomous glare at Teal'c. He looked quickly between the two men;
Teal'c raised an eyebrow at him, and the colonel waved a hand irritably.
*********
Starbuck
watched the exchange between the three men in fascination. The woman behind
Bryant – yes, he had finally caught on to that part of the conversation – was
unsuccessfully hiding an amused smirk. Bryant simply looked confused when he
turned back.
The
lieutenant couldn't blame him, especially since the languatron was doing a much
better job of translating what they were saying, and he had understood most of
what had been said in the last few minutes.
Bryant
took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak again, when Starbuck cut him
off, "Ah, Bryant, is it? Yes. I think
the languatron has worked out enough of your language for us to be able to
communicate. Am I right?"
Bryant
blinked and then smiled. "Yes, it has.
Some words are still off, but I can understand enough to follow what you're
saying." He turned back to address the
older man. "Colonel? I think we're in the clear here. Their computer seems to
be doing its job now."
"Good.
I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill. This is Major Carter, Teal'c, and you've met Captain
Bryant." The tall man indicated each of
the others in turn.
Starbuck
nodded. "I'm Lieutenant Starbuck of the Battlestar Galactica. Now that we're all understanding each other, Colonel,
maybe you can tell me what you people did to our patrol."
O'Neill
raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"
Bryant
spoke up as Starbuck frowned at the languatron, not quite getting the idiom,
"What Colonel O'Neill means is that we don't know anything about your patrol.
What happened to it?"
"We've
got one pilot injured and another missing. And it happened right after someone
came through your – whatever this is!"
Carter
stepped forward. "It's called a Stargate. You said these men were pilots on
patrol?"
"That's
what I said, lady."
"What
kind of patrol?"
"They
were on a long-range advance patrol, checking out the system before our base
ship entered it."
"Then
you aren't native to this planet?"
Starbuck
frowned. "No. As far as we can tell there are no natives."
"Colonel,
that would explain why the Tok'ra told us this planet was uninhabited. They had
no way of knowing that these people would be here."
"Wonderful.
Alright. Folks, it's been nice chatting with you, but we've got some business
to discuss with some people who will be here shortly, so if you don't mind
clearing the area for a while, we'll get on with our business and then you can
get on with yours."
"Sir."
O'Neill
hated it when Carter used that tone of voice. It was almost as bad as Teal'c's
eyebrow. He sighed and waited for the inevitable.
"If
these people are missing a pilot from one of their patrols, I think we really
should find out more."
"Like
what, Carter?"
"Like,
what makes them think it has anything to do with the Stargate." She turned and addressed the last part of
the sentence to Starbuck.
The
warrior glared at O'Neill and answered, "The sensor logs from the first Viper.
They show a power surge and life- sign readings right before all Hades broke
loose. The readings are identical to the ones taken when the four of you
arrived."
Teal'c's
deep voice replied, "There are many races who use the Stargate for travel. Not
all are friendly to humans."
"And
you guys just happen to be the friendly sort?" Starbuck snorted.
"We
started out that way," O'Neill growled. "But we're getting more hostile as you
speak."
"Lieutenant,---"
"Carter. We don't have time for this.
We've got people waiting."
"I
know, sir, but—"
Dr.
Pallas' voice cut across the exchange, silencing everyone. "Lieutenant
Starbuck, there's another power build up starting."
"What
did she say?" O'Neill snapped.
Before
Starbuck could answer, the inner wheel of the Stargate began to turn.
"Sir,
we need to move."
"Crap!
You heard the major."
Bryant
hurried alongside Starbuck as they moved out of range of the plasma wave. He
was beginning to miss Major Kolvachek's even-tempered patience. How Daniel ever
managed to do his job as well as he did with Colonel O'Neill's constant
prodding was beyond him. "Please don't be alarmed. Colonel O'Neill was telling
you the truth about our meeting someone here. This should be the party we're
waiting for."
Starbuck
scowled and shouted at his men to hold their positions as the Stargate's
wormhole was established. He turned
back in time to see a lone figure emerge.
O'Neill
grinned. "Jacob. New look?"
"It's
what all the megalomaniacal dictators' toadies are wearing this season,
Jack." Jacob turned to survey the crowd
around the gate casually. "New playmates? I don't think we've been introduced."
O'Neill
turned to Starbuck with a glacial smile. "They were just leaving."
The
warrior returned the smile with interest. "Like Hades."
"Let
me guess. You've lost one of your number." Jacob nodded when the young man
stiffened. "Thought so. Colonel, I need
to speak to you for a moment."
Carter
watched as the two men walked a short distance from the rest of the group, then
turned to the fuming warrior. "Lieutenant? Could I see those sensor logs you
mentioned?"
Starbuck
glared at the woman for a micron before asking sarcastically, "Why? Your
Colonel O'Neill doesn't seem very interested in our little problems."
Carter
grimaced ruefully. "I know. He's – irritable – right now. But I'd really like
to see those logs, if you don't mind. We might be able to help you out." She shrugged. "It can't hurt."
Starbuck
sighed and ran a nervous hand through his hair. He was sorely tempted to deny
the request just for spite, but knew it would be counter productive at this
point. Whether or not these people knew
what had happened to Apollo, they were the only lead he had at the moment; he
couldn't afford to dismiss them out of hand the way O'Neill seemed determined
to do with him. And the pretty major was certainly easier to deal with than her
commander.
"Alright.
Dr. Pallas, would you mind showing Major Carter what we've got?"
*********
O'Neill
glanced about to make certain they could not overheard by any of Starbuck's
men.
"What's
going on, Jacob?"
"I
know where he is."
"Who?
Daniel? That's why we're here."
"No,
Jack. Their missing man, Captain Apollo."
O'Neill
groaned. "No. Don't tell me."
"He's
holding down a corner of the same damned cell as Dr. Jackson."
*********
"What
do you think, Teal'c?" Carter crouched
back on her heels at the edge of the burn site and squinted up at the Jaffa.
"It
is impossible to tell what kind of weapon destroyed this vessel. The damage is
too extensive."
"I
agree, it looks like whatever it was must have ruptured one of the fuel tanks.
Dr. Pallas tells me the fuel these fighters use is extremely volatile. But
judging by the audio recording from the second vessel. . ."
Teal'c
inclined his head gravely. "It sounded like the firing of a Jaffa staff
weapon."
"Yeah.
To me, too." She stood up slowly,
dusting her hands against the fabric of her BDUs. "I'd better go talk to the
colonel."
"Talk
to the colonel about what, Major?" The man in question sauntered up to the edge
of the site and winced a little at the sight of the wreckage within.
"Teal'c
and I are fairly sure that this damage was caused by a staff weapon, sir."
O'Neill
nodded. "Thought it might have been."
The
major stared at her CO in surprise, then suspicion. "How would you know that,
sir?"
He
grimaced and glanced around. "Where's Sparkle—whatever?"
"Starbuck,"
Carter corrected automatically. "He said something about making a report to his
superiors. What made you think this might have been caused by Goa'uld weaponry
before Teal'c and I confirmed it?"
"I
told him, Sammy," Jacob answered. Anything more he might have added was cut off
by the grinding sound of the Stargate.
O'Neill
shot the Tok'ra agent an inquiring glance, as the missing lieutenant joined
their group. "Expecting someone?"
Jacob
shook his head slowly. "No -- you?"
The
colonel swung around to Starbuck. "Tell your people to take cover."
"Why?"
he asked suspiciously.
"Just
do it!"
With
a rush, the wormhole snapped into place.
