Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do

By: Shadow Chaser

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn't get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.

Category: Action Adventure, Drama, H/C

Pairing: Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.

Notes: This is a Akiesios-heavy chapter and will answer a lot of questions you, the readers, may have had. However, if you notice the above "category" this story falls in…it looks like the end may be in sight, but just not quite yet… I also have the whole Furling society planned out already before writing this fanfic. It's quite…complex. I've also stuck with the fan name of "Marcus" for Lorne instead of the supposed "Eric" Lorne. Until I get proof otherwise, I'm sticking with Marcus for now.

Also, as of this chapter, I have never seen most of Season 4 and any of Season 5 due to my anger at what had happened to a couple of characters by the end of Season 3. Please see my livejournal for my little rant if you want. This is subjected to change…

Story:

Chapter 6 – Opposition

Akiesios left the underground compound with a purpose, his loping strides purposeful and his grip sure on his za'kutus. His diminutive height allowed him to blend better with the woods of the planet of Acheron. He was shorter than most of his species, the reason being most obvious when one put into consideration his lineage, but right now, it helped him blend in and avoid detection as he made his way towards where he knew the nearest clearing beyond the village was.

He occasionally stopped, crouching in the bushes as the patrols Taethos had set up walked around. He knew he could walk uncontested by the guards, but he also did not want anyone asking him unnecessary questions or even following him for what he was going to do. He had little allies in this den of Hades, but he would not risk them just yet. Not until he was sure about a few things and until he could make contact.

Finally, he reached the clearing after forty-five minutes of clearing through the brush and woods. There were no patrols this far out as far as he knew, but he wouldn't take the chance and crept out slowly, his weapon held ready to fire. He slowly stepped towards the middle of the clearing, his senses on alert. Taking deep breaths, he tried to smell where he thought it was, catching little faint odors of a long-forgotten metallic tang.

He held the za'kutus out in front of him and after a few minutes of cautious searching, was rewarded when his weapon encountered something seemingly invisible in the middle of the clearing. He immediately pressed upon where his za'kutus was resisting and felt the cool metal of the transport he knew Sheppard and his men had arrived in. He couldn't be too sure of his findings, but it did partially confirm to him that these people had found the lost city of the Alin'thus and perhaps had the genetic code necessary to operate its machinery.

He felt his way along the metallic feel of the ship before finding what felt like the control panel and touched a button. A musical chime of sorts sounded and Akiesios grinned as the door to the alin'raer opened up with barely a sound. He looked quickly around and his senses did not pick up anyone nearby, but he couldn't be too sure and quickly slipped in his claws tapping against its metallic floors as he raced to the cockpit and looked at the numerous symbols and buttons on its control panel.

Due to his upbringing, he had learned the languages and symbols of the others of the Great Alliance, but having not used it such a long, long time, he wracked his brain for the correct symbol to retract the landing platform of the small ship. After a few minutes, he finally noticed that there was a button that had a symbol indicating the ramp and frowned. It wasn't written in the Alin'thus' language, but rather had a slightly crude drawing…

Akiesios pressed the button and was pleasantly rewarded with the landing platform closing quietly behind him. He glanced back and then looked back down at the crudely drawn symbol. He had not said it, but apparently the humans Taethos had captured were far more resourceful than anyone gave them credit for. A sigh escaped between his teeth and he brushed his sensory whiskers before sitting down in the pilot's chair, trying to review what he had learned all those thousands of years ago about the Alin'thus and their ships.

He stared at the symbols for a few minutes before shaking his head and wished he had a manual of sorts to figure out what was what. He was not a pilot, but he knew what the basic controls looked like. However…he vaguely recognized a particular symbol and pressed it, hoping that it wasn't going to fire a weapon or something. Instead, a bluish holographic screen popped up on his forward display and he blinked as he sat back, seeing a map of the area he was in before the map zoomed out to the whole planet.

Akiesios murmured a quiet word of surprise, before something caught his eye. Just barely within the orbit of the planet was a blinking dot. He touched the hologram lightly and it zoomed in on the dot before the distinct pop and a small hiss of static filled the cockpit.

He looked around wondering what it was until a faint tinned voice filled the cockpit. "-repeat this is Colonel Steven Caldwell of the Daedalus, Colonel Sheppard do you read?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard is currently...indisposed," he replied out loud, "I am called Akiesios of the Klisan'thus."

Silence greeted him and he briefly wondered if the connection had been cut before another crackle and the voice of Colonel Caldwell returned. "I presume Taethos is with you?"

"He is not," Akiesios replied, "I have found the alin'raer of my own accord. Your men and women have provided me with intriguing information-"

"If they've been harmed-"

"They have not. I have attended to them and at the moment they are resting in their cells," the corner of his lips and whiskers twitched in morbid amusement. Caldwell was very protective of his men and women and he did not blame the military man. He suspected that he was their leader, but then again, who was Taethos to talk to this Dr. Weir, who held the same rank as Dr. McKay and a few of the other seemingly non-military personnel of the humans that had arrived on Acheron.

Could a civilian be in charge of these humans and supersede this military man's orders? Another thing for certain was that this blinking red dot above the planet was most definitely a ship of sorts. He had a feeling that it wasn't like the alin'raer he was sitting in, which meant that these humans with similar projectile weaponry to the Genii were far more advanced than any other species he knew of that existed within this galaxy save for the Asurans.

They also carried the genetic makeup of the Alin'thus, otherwise how would they be able to pilot the alin'raer anywhere? His suspicion about these group of humans had started a pit of worry and of apprehension in his stomach. Taethos was making a big mistake, he knew that for sure, by holding Major Lorne and his men, by torturing Colonel Sheppard. But he could not for the life of him figure out why Taethos would keep all of them...unless...

The pit of worry exploded into dread in his stomach as he realized why Taethos insisted on keeping the humans and why he was insistent on negotiating with Dr. Weir.

"Colonel Caldwell, I need to talk to the Dr. Weir that Taethos has been negotiating with," he said, trying to keep his voice calm, but he knew he had let some of his urgency color his words.

"Would it be easier to go with your leader to talk to her?" he heard the ironic anger in Caldwell's tone and he growled in frustration. The man did not get it! He could not risk his position.

"It is imperative I talk with this Dr. Weir without any interference or knowledge by Taethos," he hoped that his currently transmission was not being recorded by anyone nearby, otherwise, the words he said could've seriously compromised him.

The silence on the other end stretched for a few minutes before Caldwell's voice returned, albeit reluctantly. "All right then..."

"I will await another one of your...ships to pick me up at this location," he prepared to press a few more buttons to transmit his position when Caldwell interrupted him.

"That won't be necessary," he said, "just step outside and we will beam you aboard."

"Beam?" Akiesios blinked in surprise. These humans were definitely far more advanced than anyone else. Perhaps they were Asurans in disguise? But even that wouldn't make sense as Taethos would have surely gotten rid of them as fast as possible if that had been discovered. He would not have gone to the great lengths to establish trade relations with these people.

There was no answer and he suspected that this time the connection had been cut and reluctantly got up and headed to the back. He opened the landing ramp and stepped out, closing it behind him as the alin'raer disappeared into its camouflage once more. His senses still on alert, he couldn't see, smell, nor hear anyone nearby...

And just as suddenly his vision was replaced by a cool metallic grey-blue vision of beams, angles, and the potent smell of oils and metals. But there was more than that as he saw multiple guns pointed at him and he raised his hands slightly, the universal gesture of surrender.

The room they left him in was sparse, with only a table and two chairs. However, it did provide a spectacular view of the space and the orbiting planet of Acheron. Akiesios had craned his neck from one side to the other, trying to get a good look at the warship he had been transported to in space. The beaming technology...it felt very similar to the ones the Serin'thus used on their ships the last time he had ridden in one, which was at least a couple of thousand years ago.

The soldiers had disarmed him and he had been waiting for about twenty minutes before the door opened once more and in stepped a man dressed in a green uniform with [CALDWELL] written on a tag of sorts. This had to be the Colonel Caldwell he was talking to before he was beamed up aboard his ship. "Your ship is impressive," he started with what he hoped was a compliment, "I did not know that your kind have advance so much since the settlement of the lost city of Lantis."

"How do you-"

"I questioned your men," he replied quickly before realizing that it was the wrong thing to say and held up a hand, "they were somewhat forthcoming about the information, and I have not harmed them, but I did find out some curious things about your race."

"Such as?" Caldwell crossed his arms skeptically.

"That your kind has beaten the Goa'uld, and they only exist in one part of the universe, a part of the galaxy to which the Alin'thus were originally from before they came here and retreated back after their defeat by the hands of the Wraith. With your kind occupying Atlantis, this can only mean you are the Tau'ri, the second-born children of the Alin'thus," he hoped his hypothesis was correct based on the information he had gathered and extrapolated.

"The Ancients," Caldwell replied.

"Alterans," he breathed a quick mental sigh of relief, his hypothesis was correct. These were the children of the Alin'thus that they were dealing with. But that also meant his own mission had gotten a lot harder.

"How do we know you're not lying?" the Colonel looked at him shrewdly. "For all I know, you could have already killed Colonel Sheppard and the other men that were captured by Taethos."

Akiesios opened his mouth to reply when a gentle knock to the door stopped him and both turned to see it open and his jaw dropped a few centimeters at the person who walked through. It couldn't be...

"Because, Colonel, he is known to me, and I know he is sincere in his word," Hermiod stepped in, his light spindly feet barely making any sound on the metal deck.

"Hermiod," for a few seconds he forgot how to breathe, but seeing his long forgotten and very old friend walk in was like a heaven-send.

"Hello Akiesios," the cantankerous Serin'thus, or Asgard as they were known in the Tau'ri and Alin'thus tongue, replied congenially before blinking his bulbous black eyes once at Colonel Caldwell, "this, Colonel, is a Furling."

"Klisan'thus," Akiesios muttered absently, having spent so much time amongst his own kind that he had almost forgotten the name the other races gave to his kind back in the days of the Great Alliance. It was before the other races, besides the Alterans, had discovered that they possessed an alternate more human looking form. They had been so proud back then too, constantly staying in their natural state instead of conforming to all the humanoid forms the other races were using. It was only after the start of the Alliance that each Furling had designed their own humanoid form. Even now, with the rare birth of a new member of their long-lived race they did not really go through the initiation rite of choosing a human form to show others.

"I can see that, but what I don't know is how you two know each other," Caldwell sounded shocked, but did not show it on his face. Akiesios knew he had the makings of a very good commander and was probably one of the reasons why he was captain of this space-faring warship.

Hermiod looked at him curiously and though it was hard to read any emotions in the Serin-no, he knew he should use Asgard- in the Asgard's faces, he had plenty of experience reading the alien's expressions, having spent so much time on a previous mission with him long ago. Akiesios took a deep breath and let it out slowly before pinning Caldwell with a look, "Please do not be alarmed, Colonel. I will explain in a moment."

"What-"

When a Klisan'thus shapeshifted to their human form, it was usually a moderately fast process. However, one could speed it up or slow it down depending on the circumstances. Speeding it up however was highly unnatural and injury would normally occur within the organs as they rearranged themselves. But he decided to take it slowly as not to startle the Colonel into calling his soldiers in once more. He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling his furs shrink into his body, replaced by the cool soft skin of a human's then the warm comforts of the skin-tight body armor that all of them were required to wear once they had first shifted into their human forms for the first time.

He could feel his organs shift within his body, his breath coming in short. A moment of panic filled him as he couldn't draw enough breath, and he shuddered a bit in fear, but forced himself to continue on. He had not shapeshifted to his human form in such a long time that the initial panic at feeling his organs change and shift to sustain him in this new form was jarring. It was due to Taethos' insistence that only he and his select group of men and women would be able to switch to their human forms to greet visitors from the chapp'ai.

Finally he felt the last of his transformation finish and opened his eyes, immediately seeing his vision dim to human standards. The only thing he couldn't figure out was how humans or rather any of the species the Alin'thus, or even the Alin'thus themselves could see with such poor vision. Hell even the Asgard had bigger, bulbous eyes that were able to see the different ranges of vision, ultraviolet, and even into the infrared without any problems.

Caldwell looked a little different now, but his face was still with shock. Akiesios bowed slightly, making his bow a bit deeper to cover his stumble as his mind fought to control his human form. "Colonel Caldwell, I am Arileon Apollo of the Agentus."

"A-Arileon? Agentus? But you said you were-"

"Ah," Apollo realized he had not explained the significance of the different forms, "forgive me. We Kli-err...we Furlings have different names for our two different forms. In our natural state, we refer to ourselves with our proper names. In human forms, we find that it is easier for the Alin-the Alterans to pronounce a variation of our names in their tongue. My human form is called Apollo. You may refer to me as such."

"Apollo, as in the Greek God Apollo," Caldwell looked miffed.

"Yes," Apollo was a bit confused to the Colonel's expression until he realized that not one of the Tau'ri or anyone had known that they were the original progenitor of that sort of mythology.

"I presume Arileon is some kind of title?"

"It is your equivalent of...perhaps a Major? I do not know your military command structure too well," he admitted, "members of the Agentus only answer to the High Council on missions deemed the highest security risks to our people and our efforts in the war we are fighting."

"War?" the balding Colonel asked.

"Against the Wraith and the Asurans," Apollo saw the spark of recognition in the Colonel's eyes.

"And how why am I not surprised?" the Colonel replied acerbically, "you could have gotten that information from our people down there."

Apollo sighed; he thought he had gotten through to the Colonel, but it really seemed that the man was quite stubborn and paranoid to a point. The second-born children of the Alterans were definitely more...unique...than he had thought. "I could have," he rubbed the bridge of his nose resisting the urge to look even more unprofessional in front of this man. Contrary to what some of his own people thought, he did have a sense of decorum when it came to military affairs. "But what I am telling you amounts to treason within my own people and especially within the Agentus."

"Apollo, are you sure that is wise-"

He smiled congenially at his old friend, "If you are here Hermiod, it means that these people are the Tau'ri, and it means that I must do everything within my power to make sure that the Alterans' second-born come to no harm by Taethos' hand." He turned to Caldwell and straightened himself a bit, "I have a proposal to give to you and to your leader, Dr. Weir."

"And it is?"

"I will destroy the Wraith'gul if you will help me kill Taethos."

Elizabeth frowned slightly, "What kind of proposal?" Part of her was still dealing with the aftermath of what Taethos said and so she did not really trust the Furling speaking to her. But she could see Caldwell behind him, looking none too happy, and briefly wondered if the Daedalus had been compromised during the time she was talking with Taethos and Kolya.

Apparently the Furling called Akiesios picked up on her thoughts, "I am alone Doctor, and Colonel Caldwell has kindly allowed Hermiod and I to adjust the settings of this ship to transmit to you through video."

"Really?" she blinked in surprised. Hermiod allowing someone to tamper with parts of the ship?

"Please, Doctor, I mean you and your people no harm, unlike Taethos," the Furling sounded hesitant and she immediately picked up on that.

"Why should we trust you? Taethos has threatened the welfare of my men if we were to interfere with his plans. How do we know you're telling the truth and none of my men are hurt?"

"Because I am the base's physician and I have treated all of your men, except for the ones who had died in the initial firefight and when Colonel Sheppard assaulted the base."

"And Sheppard?" Elizabeth managed to keep her voice steady.

"Alive," was the short reply, "as is the Satedan. The rest of the men on the assault team, I am regretful to say, did not survive."

Elizabeth nodded, remembering the stark image of seeing all four bodies of the Marines that had accompanied John and Ronon coming back. Two of them were headless, their heads rolling in as an afterthought before the shield was raised once more. "What about Major Lorne and his teams?"

"They are alive. However, I believe a couple of your scientists perished in the immediate ambush. An Athosian woman was with them, along with a rather hyperactive scientist."

That meant that Rodney and Teyla were also alive and the tightness she had been feeling in her chest eased ever so slightly at the good news. "Thank you," she replied quietly.

He gave a curt nod before glancing behind him before straightening himself started to...change. It happened quickly, but Elizabeth saw his feline features disappear before a very handsome blue-eyed man stood before them, dressed in tight black matte body armor. She heard gasps behind her as the rest of the personnel in the control room stared at the video feed and even she was shocked at what had happened.

"I believe," the voice had lost its gutteral feline quality and instead sounded more cultured and there was an accent in it that Elizabeth thought was British, "we can finally talk face to face, Dr. Weir."

"How..."

"The Klisan'thus, or Furlings in the language of the Alterans and Tau'ri, are shapeshifters. We took on a humanoid form long ago when we were drafting the terms of the Great Alliance believing that it would help the others recognize facial gestures more easily and be able to trust us. I am extending this trust to you, Dr. Weir, and to the members of your expedition."

"But Taethos-"

"Is abusing such power," the Furling replied sharply, "to deceive someone without the knowledge of our abilities is one of the sacraments my people hold dear." He paused for a second, clearly trying to calm himself, "We have also given our human forms an alteration of our natural names so it would fall easier on the language of your people, thus extending the trust. You may call me Apollo if you wish."

Elizabeth blinked in surprise. Compared to Taethos' scathing tone regarding the role in waking the Wraith, this Furling was actually being civil. "What is your proposal then, Apollo?"

"I will destroy the Wraith'gul if you help me kill Taethos," he looked at her levelly.

"But Taethos can detect any form of travel, especially the Daedalus' approach to the planet," she pointed out.

"Yes he can," Apollo nodded, "but I can get to the control room where the sensors are and turn it all off, thus giving Colonel Caldwell another chance to beam his men on the ground. Judging by Taethos' eagerness, I suspect he will move soon."

"You haven't heard?" she was still skeptical that Apollo would be working against Taethos. It was too close to be a coincidence. "Taethos plans to invade the Genii homeworld within the next couple of hours."

Apollo frowned, "Then he is moving faster than I had anticipated. I will have to contact the Agentus for reinforcements of my own."

"Pardon?"

He gave her a small smile, "The Agentus reports to the High Council, our governing body and to them alone. I am an Arileon, a middling rank, perhaps like your Major in the military sense. My mission has been to infiltrate the traitor Taethos' group and to dispose of him when the timing was right. My plans have been accelerated when I discovered that your people are of the Tau'ri and at least one from Colonel Sheppard's assault force possesses the genetic makeup of the Alterans. I fear that perhaps the others Taethos had kept alive also possess that gene."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked, puzzled before Radek spoke up behind her.

"The Wraith'gul," he muttered a string of curses in Czech, "it needs an Ancient to activate it, or at least someone with the gene to use it, right?"

"Yes," Apollo tilted his head trying to see Radek who stepped up next to Elizabeth and the handsome man nodded, "Your colleague is correct in that assumption. My proposal is simple. Since you have told me that Taethos will be invading the Genii homeworld soon, he will be distracted. In that time between the invasion and securing the chapp'ai, I will shut down the sensors, allowing the Daedalus to come closer and beam down the necessary soldiers to help secure the base. I am uploading the plans to the compound. While that is happening, I will free your men and make my way to the Wraith'gul to destroy it."

"Can it be destroyed? I've always thought that the stuff the Ancients left behind was almost indestructible," Radek pushed his glasses worriedly up his nose.

"It is neither my wish nor the desire of the Agentus or High Council to destroy one of the greatest weapons we have against the Wraith, but at this moment we do not have a choice."

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked, puzzled.

"Because the with an open wormhole to the Genii homeworld, Taethos will use the Wraith'gul to surely destroy not only the Genii who oppose Acastus Kolya, but also to destroy the Furlings."

Major Marcus Lorne resisted the urge to peer over McKay's shoulder at the man's scribbling and calculations he was making on his tablet PC. It was one of the objects that they had been attempting to conceal from the Klisan'thus ever since Taethos' shapeshifting creatures had thrown the good doctor into the cell. The original attempt to build something akin to a bomb to get themselves out of here required cannibalizing McKay's tablet, but Lorne had stopped that, knowing that whatever information the astrophysicist had stuck in the tablet would be pretty useful in the long run. Plus he would never hear the end of the whining from the man if they did such a thing. And he did not need another headache right now.

But he was still curious as to what McKay was frantically scribbling on the tablet that made him so worried. "Any luck Doc?" he asked quietly, kneeling down next to him. It had been at least an hour since Kolya had taken Lieutenant Wescott away and while he had no doubt what was the fate of the young L-T, he still wished there was something he could have done.

He knew Sheppard would have done something, the man was better at thinking on his feet than he was. He refused to let the guilt of watching his own men and women die under his command when he couldn't do shit about it. There would be time for guilt later...right now, he had to focus on what they had. And what they had was one Dr. Rodney McKay scribbling and frowning.

"McKay?" he asked again after he didn't get a reply.

"Working," the man muttered annoyed.

"On what?" if there was one thing Lorne knew he was good at was wheedling and annoying the heck out of McKay. Even he knew his CO did not have that infinite of patience to get McKay to reveal his information without usually shouting at him or threatening him with bodily harm of lemons or impending death.

He kept his face neutral as McKay glared at him before pointing to his notes, "The weapon, Wraith'gul, whatever they call it. The weapon that'll end up killing all of us, thus preventing the Wraith from ever feeding in this galaxy ever again and have them die of starvation. I'm translating as much as I can."

"And?" he prompted.

McKay rolled his eyes, "Well since we're all going to die horrible deaths in any case, I would like to at least see if we can use this to plan our escape, right?"

"Either case?" Teyla scooted over from where she sat and even Ronon was listening with an interested ear from his position by the door of the cell, watching for any approaching Klisan'thus or Genii.

"The weapon, it's attuned to the Ancients DNA, which means, the Ancients built it – languages around it not withstanding, but to activate it, you apparently need the ATA gene."

"So how come you said you couldn't activate it, I thought you had the gene therapy," Lorne was a bit confused.

"I was getting to that," McKay said shortly, "it looks like the Ancients attuned it so someone with a natural gene would be able to mess with it. I didn't notice it at first, but Dr. Hendrisk has a pretty mild version of the ATA gene, from what I read on her file. It looked like it activated for her, until I was able to get a better reading of the weapon."

"So this weapon, only activates for those who have the natural gene instead of the artificial therapy?" Teyla tried to put it into a coherent thought.

"Seems so," McKay looked a bit distressed about it, "looks like the Ancients may have been messing with gene therapy themselves, which would explain why some of the people in this galaxy can use Ancient technology, but I guess they wanted to make sure that only they would be able to use the weapon."

Lorne had grown quiet during the exchange, his thoughts racing. Ever since he and his original team had been caught by Cowen and the Genii over a year ago, Dr. Weir had made a few changes to the roster so that every off-world team did not have more than one or two people with the Ancient gene. Ironically, Captain Pearson was a member of his original team and had the Ancient gene. However, it was through the gene therapy so the Pearson did not have to worry about anything thankfully. He himself though...

"Major, what about you and Captain Pearson?" Teyla had an uncanny knack of picking out the right questions along people's line of thinking.

"Therapy," Quinn Pearson called out from where he was sitting, trying to work with Lieutenant Brown on something else that could become an explosive or hell even a corrosive to break the bars.

Teyla nodded mostly to herself before looking at him and he kept his expression as still as possible. "Natural," he replied.

"Oh," McKay made a small noise before glancing down at his tablet and tapping a few more buttons.

Lorne looked at the scientist mildly. He would have expected a much harsher reaction from the man, give the fact that he was always so pent up with emotion and stress. This lack of reaction caught him off guard. "Oh?" he asked, curious.

McKay huffed and gave him a very annoyed look, "What do you want me to say? Congratulations, you may be able to kill us all?!"

Lorne's gut reaction was to shoot back with a rude remark of his own, but instead, he kept his temper and instead said, "Thank you, which button do I press?"

"Ha, ha, very funny," the astrophysicist replied before glancing down at his tablet, "let's just hope that these guys don't figure it out."

"They've been here for a while; you think maybe they would know?" Ronon spoke up quietly.

"I don't know, I've been-"

"It would seem so," Teyla overrode whatever snide remark McKay was about to give to Ronon, thus keeping the peace between the two, "Taethos, shapeshifting or not, looked like he had an established community here. And if the stories they have been telling us about the Wraith'gul are true, then it would seem that he knows more about the weapon than we suspect."

"And that it needs an Alteran to activate the weapon," a soft, yet melodically cultured voice with an accent that sounded faintly like British spoke up from the other side of the cells and everyone turned to see a man dressed in the grey-uniform staring at them.

Even Ronon looked surprised, backing slightly away from the bars, having not even heard him come in. "Where the hell did you come from?" the Satedan demanded.

"You may call me Apollo," the man introduced himself, "or, you may better know me as Akiesios."