The members of SG-1, General Hammond, and Dr. Fraiser sat around the table in the briefing 
room. "Well," Fraiser started, "He isn't a Gou'ald. But he isn't human either.....not 
exactly."

"Then what is he?" the general queried.

"As near as I can tell, sir, he's a Haup'Taur."

That got the instant attention of everyone in the room. Carter was the first to speak up. 
"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm not sure. But his DNA is very similar to what Nirrti's virus was rewriting 
Cassie's into. The only difference is that his appears to be stable."

"So," O'Neill asked flippantly, "he can do...what? Throw chess pieces and round and slam 
doors with his mind?"

"I can't tell until he's awake. I would guess, though, that he's more powerful than the 
mutants Nirrti created in her more recent experiments."

"Could there be a link between this man and Nirrti?" Teal'c asked.

"Of course we can't know that, but it seems like a safe assumption."

The general leaned forward and folded his hands together on the table. "Until we know for 
sure, I want him under armed guard at all times."

Just then, the intercom rang. Hammond answered it. "Yes?....Thank you." He hung up the phone. 
"It appears we may get a few answers. He's awake."

The whole group, led by Dr. Fraiser, went down to the infirmary. When they got there, they 
discovered the man, sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes closed and hands on his knees. They 
watched in amazement as his wounds closed before their eyes. A nervous private had a M16 
aimed at the man's head. He opened his eyes and took in the surroundings, resting briefly on 
the private. "Sorry about that, but I can't risk you getting an itchy trigger finger and 
shooting me."

Hammond, a confused expression on his face asked, "Sorry about what?"

The stranger looked at him. "I paralyzed him. Don't worry, it's not permanent. He'll be good 
as new in a few minutes."

O'Neill cocked his head to the side and walked over to the private. He started waving his 
hand in front of the man's face.

Hammond looked from the soldier to the man. "You know, some would consider that an act of 
aggression."

"Yes, General Hammond, some would. But from the emotions I'm picking up from the rest of you, 
I guessing you're more interested in answers. He, on the other hand, was about to freak out."

"How did you know my name?"

O'Neill turned and looked at him. "Yeah, how did you know his name?" The others looked at him 
and he shrugged.

"I read his mind while I was paralyzing him to get the names of everyone in here. I don't 
normally like doing that sort of thing, but given the circumstances, it seemed a good idea. 
My name is Rafgar, and I'm no threat to you."

"Rafgar, I wish we could take your word on that. However, we have suspicions that you may be 
linked to an enemy of ours named Nirrti."

"Never heard of him."

"Her," O'Neill cut in. "Nirrti's a her."

"Ok, in that case, I've never heard of her. Is she a master psychic to?"

"She is not." Teal'c answered. "She is a Gou'ald."

"Ok, what's a Gou'ald?"

"They are false gods, parasites that take control of human hosts and use their technology to 
force others to worship them and do their bidding."

"Sounds like the sort of creature I usually end up pissing off."

Daniel stepped forward. "So, um, where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Originally, a planet called Rifts Earth, but I've been dimension hopping for a long time. 
That rift I jumped through to get here took me out the sixth 'hell' that I've inadvertently 
visited.

"I'm sorry, but did you say dimension hopping?" Carter asked. "Do you have a device that 
allows you to travel to other dimensions?"

"No, I'm afraid not. I'm not that technologically adept. I have to wait for a rift and jump 
through."

"But that's impossible." Carter cut in. "You're talking about a rip between dimensions 
occurring randomly. That simply doesn't happen."

Rafgar smirked. "Obviously there's not much magic energy in this dimension. Which reminds me, 
where am I?"

Hammond spoke up. "You are on Earth."

"There may be some similarities to your Rifts Earth here." Daniel provided. "We're in a nation 
called the United States. Ring any bells?"

"United States? That was a nation before the coming of the rifts, but if you've got a rift 
generator and no magic energy, I doubt this is much like Rifts Earth."

"I'm sorry," Carter said, "but.....magic energy? There's no such thing."

Rafgar sighed. "Major Carter, don't assume that just because magic is nonexistent here that 
it doesn't exist elsewhere. Before the coming of the rifts, people on my world didn't believe 
in magic either. The apocalypse proved them wrong. Terribly wrong."

"Do you know anything of our current situation?" Hammond interrupted.

"Only that you've got some sort of rift generator in there that saved my butt, and that you 
probably haven't been experimenting with it for long or you wouldn't have opened a rift into 
hell. Why?"

"It's not a rift generator. What it did there...well, it shouldn't have been able to do that. 
It's called a stargate. It opens wormholes to other stargates that we use to travel." Carter, 
clearly not certain what to make of Rafgar's story, informed him. "Right now, one of our 
enemies is trying to batter down our defenses with a particle beam and attack us."

"Let me guess. Nirrti?"

"No. A Gou'ald named Crynth."

"Then I'm confused. Why would you think I'm linked to Nirrti?"

Teal'c spoke up. "She is the only one we know of who is attempting to engineer Haup'Taur."

"And a Haup'Taur is...what exactly?"

"Um, that," Daniel answered, "Would be what we think you are. Basically, a human with psychic 
powers."

"You know," O'Neill put in, "guys who move stuff around by thinking about it."

"Oh...well, I hate to disappoint you, but I wasn't engineered. I was born naturally. 
Psychics, or Haup'Taur, or anything else you want to call me aren't that uncommon where I'm 
from. So, these Gou'ald, you say they take control of people and force others to do their 
bidding? Kind of like slavers?"

"That is correct," Teal'c answered, "but they are far worse than any mere slavers you are 
likely to have encountered."

"I wouldn't bet on that if I were you."

Teal'c cocked his head to the side. "I and all my people were once enslaved by them. Many of 
us still are, believing that they are true gods, when in fact they are mere pretenders. To 
keep us in bondage, they altered our bodies so that we can not survive without them."

"Sounds like the Sploogorth." Rafgar hopped to his feet. "If your enemies are slavers, than 
you've got an ally here. What can I do to help?"

"I'm sorry Rafgar," Hammond said, "but until we know more about you, I can't allow you to do 
anything but stay here under guard. We simply can't risk you betraying us if you're anywhere 
near as powerful as you seem to be."

"I am, and I understand. Hell, I've been in similar circumstances myself."

"I'm glad you understand. Would you mind if Dr. Fraiser gave you a thorough exam?"

"Not at all."