Halls of Osiris

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.