Chapter One. First Blush.

Colonel Cameron Mitchell sighed heavily as the locals gathered around the gate, staring at his team as though they were gods... Again. They seemed to be the more primitive type, so Mitchell couldn't blame their stupidity entirely. The villagers were almost equal in men and women, all young and in the prime of their lives. Which was a clue in itself, but Cameron decided that it was likely they were workers of the wheat fields nearby.

One of them stepped forward, a woman, wringing her hands and staring at the ground. "Why have you chosen to travel by Stargate? Sirs," she added as though she wasn't sure whether or not to use the title.

"Um..." Daniel started, "it's our only way to travel this far?"

There was a ripple of laughter that went through the crowd and the woman backed up, hiding her smile.

"I told you they weren't the Vampires!" One of the men said loudly.

"Vampires?" Sam repeated, alarm bells going off for all them. The team shared a look before turning to the crowd again.

"Just who is it you are all waiting for?"

The villagers hushed suddenly at her question and the woman was pushed forward again.

"How can you not know the Vampires?"

Before anyone could speak further, an enormous spacecraft landed next to the Stargate. What appeared to be the cargo hold popped open and a thirty-something man leapt off the ship, gracefully landing on the ground. The man had short black hair that fell into his eyes, of which he wore very Earth-looking eyeglasses. If that wasn't strange, his clothes were entirely black and red. He spotted SG-1 immediately, but paid attention to the villagers first. They had crowded around him as though he were some sort of superstar.

"Well, boys and girls," he purred to them, "so many of you for only a few kits of medicine?"

"We volunteered, sir," a few said together.

The man laughed and gestured for them to go onto the ship. As the villagers boarded, he moved to the team with a serious look.

"You're SG-1, aren't you?"

They hesitantly nodded. The man gave them a bright smile and stuck his hand out. "I'm Xanthus. Welcome to the little paradise of Kuran."

All of them stared at his hand like it was poison.

"Who are you? And how do you know about us?" Carter asked suspiciously.

Xanthus took back his hand and sighed. "Come, it would best be explained by the Queen."

SG-1 found themselves shuffled into the cargo hold with the rest of the villagers and in for a longer ride than they had intended. After about fifteen minutes of not getting any information from the surprisingly cheerful villagers, Xanthus made an appearance. He walked to the centre of room with a small box, which he opened as soon as he set it on the ground.

"Because there are more than those we already selected, I will have to test all of you again. Please come up one at time."

It seemed the strangest ritual; a villager would approach Xanthus, he examined them by walking around them, and then the next would come. It was finished quite quickly for so many people and Xanthus never once touched the open box.

"What about the strangers?" one of villagers asked.

Xanthus' eyes unerringly found theirs and he smiled. "They are not for trade, Justina."

When they arrived on the Vampire planet, SG-1 was at their wits end trying to figure out whether the Vampires the villagers talked about so excitedly were evil tyrants, benevolent false gods, or simply merchants. It was tough call.

The cargo hold opened and sunlight poured in, blinding everyone for a moment. The villagers got off in an orderly fashion, scattering themselves among the people already there. The team stepped off the ship to find themselves in the outskirts of what appeared to be a castle city. Expansive fields spread out before them and a huge castle loomed over it all.

"This place is big," Mitchell stated, a nudge drawing his awed gaze to Xanthus. The man was holding a thirteen-year-old boy in his arms and they were kissing as though sex in public wasn't a problem. Only, it didn't make sense because it was boy far too young to know such things. Right?

As the SG team stared in shock, the couple slowed down and Xanthus approached them with the boy still in his arms. He gave them all a happy smile and gestured for them to follow him.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" the boy purred to Xanthus, his bright blue eyes looking at the team as if they were mice he was the cat.

The man shot the same look over his shoulder and shook his head. "In the Queen's audience."

Thoroughly freaked out, the SG team soon arrived at the throne room, where a very beautiful, very pale woman sat. She wore the same colours as Xanthus, her dress shimmering both. The stark contrast gave her skin an eerie glow. Her long black hair was tied back into a simple bun. She stood once they gathered before her, the silence stretching as she walked around each of them.

Teal'c was last and she touched his chin, as though looking for something in his lack of expression.

"You're one them," she stated, her tone giving nothing away. "I am glad to see there is still hope for the humans under their rule."

She went back to her throne and finally introduced herself. "I am Queen of the Vampires on this planet. This," she indicated Xanthus, "is our most skilled Healer. Alexis is the Head of our military. We, are the Vampires, just as your Earth lore describes."

"Isn't that a bad thing? Garlic, crosses, and all?" Mitchell asked, confused.

"What kind of Vampires?" Carter asked the more prudent question.

The Queen frowned, as though she were trying to remember some distant memory. "We do not kill when we feed," she began, listing each trait with a finger, "crosses and garlic have no effect, we must feed at least once a month, but it is possible for us to go without for an unpredictable amount of time... Have I missed anything?"

"Yeah." Cam rested his hands on his P90 and cocked his hip, "how 'bout why an Earth myth is on another planet?"

"It's entirely possible-" Daniel started, only to be quieted by a glare from Mitchell.

The Queen smiled sweetly at Jackson and dipped her head. "It is indeed. But your Colonel is right, all the Vampires here originated from Earth. It was a very long time ago, I can hardly remember... It was a dispute of population control and our war was breaking out into human settlements. I decided it was best that we leave, since we had the technology. It was easier once we moved to a whole new planet, we were able to build our own society."

Daniel whistled.

"No, you can't stay here," Cameron snapped at the archeologist.

"But they would know so much of our history that's been lost!"

"I don't care, we have to back to the SGC first."

Daniel pouted.

"Speaking of which," Carter started.

"Do you have a Stargate?" Teal'c finished for her.

The Queen sighed and gestured towards Xanthus. "Take them back, I will visit their... Command station soon enough."