Disclaimer: See Prologue.
A/N: The President will make no more personal appearances in this story (I think). He may be around later for some official functions, but I haven't got that far yet. There are a few other crises to deal with first. You know how things go. Life just can't go smoothly! (big evil grin)
I can't believe how many reviews there are! I looked this morning and the counter said 97! That is just so cool! I want to thank everyone, even those who had to gripe at me!
To kagome-chan: I swear I wrote this chapter three days ago. Are you psychic or something?
Enjoy!
CHAPTER 8
As the next year began, Tac'an hid her birthday, as every time she had celebrated it since she was called as the Slayer something bad had happened. Superstitious, perhaps, but she thought it paid to be cautious.
Early in February of 2005, a new break-in class, which is what Feretti had taken to calling Tac'an's class in hand-to-hand techniques, was ready to begin and SG-1 had been pulled off active duty for the week so that she could teach it. She was looking over the class with Jack and Feretti just before going in and her eyes landed on one man in particular. Her jaw nearly hit the floor as she recognized him. Xander! "Feretti, what's the public file say about that last one on the left?"
He flipped through the pages. "Alexander Harris, Airman 1st Class. Several commendations, experienced in leadership situations."
She just shook her head. "Graduated Sunnydale Highschool, Sunnydale, California, Class of 1999." She grinned. "Do yourself a favor, Feretti. Don't bet against him."
Knowing that there was no way she could have seen the file from where she was standing, Feretti was about to ask her how she knew that, but as she went into the training room, Jack remembered. "She once called Daniel 'Xander in a nerd costume.'" It's someone from her past's double. Like she said, don't bet against him." Still, this was interesting in the extreme. What were the chances?
Tac'an was introduced as a civilian instructor to the class by Jack, and then the Colonel left the room to watch with everyone else who was betting on the first class of the season. She walked to the middle of the row of soldiers. "First, let me say welcome. You've already signed those nifty little papers that say you won't talk to the press about what you learn here, so I don't have to tell you that. What I'm here to tell you is whatever you've faced on this planet, you ain't seen nothin' yet. I'm here to show you some of what you're going to face out there."
One of the soldiers popped off immediately. "Yeah, and what can you teach us, alien fashion tips?"
The Xander double rolled his eyes and whispered, "Idiot," under his breath."
Glad that she had been right about this version of her old friend, Tac'an approached her heckler. "Well, Airman Cole, if that was what you were here for, I most certainly could. But you're here to learn how to fight the most dangerous enemy that this planet has ever faced. And let me assure you, if you don't pay attention here, you will regret it. Now since you seem so sure of your self, why don't you tell us why you seem to think this class is such a waste of your time."
Cole raised an eyebrow at her. What can a little girl like you teach seasoned soldiers about fighting ma'am?"
She grinned, then came at him. Harris, who had been watching her closely, got out of her way in time to avoid being accidentally pummeled. Tac'an was on Cole so quickly that he didn't even put up a defense. She had him in a sleeper hold within seconds. "First, I think I can teach you to never underestimate your opponent. Second, I can teach you to assume nothing." She held him tightly as he struggled, continuing to speak over his thrashing. "Third, I can teach you that size, gender and hair color have nothing to do with a fighter's competence. And fourth, once you've taken your head out of your ass, I can teach you how to defend yourself against the Jaffa, which are the Goa'uld's primary fighters, because I've been fighting them for most of my life. There's nothing more dangerous than a religious fanatic, and that's what most Jaffa are unless they have joined the rebellion. And there's no way to tell if that's the case so you have to assume that's not the case. Now, Airman, are you ready to learn what I'm here to teach you?"
Slightly strangled, Cole said, "Yes." Tac'an released him, flipping backwards to stand up in a ready position in case Cole's head was thicker than usual. But Cole showed some sense and just rubbed his neck. She turned to Harris. "Why did you move?"
Harris smirked. "I had a friend in highschool who runs a major software company now. She was always such a shy girl, 'til she found a really great guy. He gave her some confidence and when people underestimated her after that she always made them regret it. The skills that make her such a great programmer also make her a spectacular hacker, and she could do some nasty things to people's personal finances. Totally reversible, of course, but after that, they usually got the point. Bottom line, the Air Force is not stupid. Someone who looks like you do would not be in this position if they were not very scary."
She grinned at him. "Smart man. What's your friend's name?" As if she didn't know. It could only be Willow.
"Willow Ozborne, CEO of Hecate Software Productions."
Tac'an nodded, carefully hiding her reactions. Willow had married Oz. And from the name of the company, she was a witch in this universe as she was in the last. Just how strong were the mystical forces of this universe?
"Major Carter, I just don't know how this hacker could be getting past all of our safe guards to access the mainframes. None of the regular passwords were used. It was a back door that the original programmer left in the system. Only the programmer could have had it."
Tac'an was in the lab because she wanted Sam to help her go over some of the training schedules to make sure they didn't cause any scheduling conflicts, and Harris had followed her, since he was trying to get her to teach him some of her more advanced techniques before the rest of the class. He had proved particularly adept at this style of fighting, for some reason and he was eager to learn. He saw the screen that Major Carter's lab tech was fussing over. His eyes narrowed. "Major Carter?"
"Yes Airman?"
"Um, who did the programming on these systems?"
Sam looked at him with a questioning gaze. "Hecate Software. Why?" Tac'an turned around and stood in the doorway, facing away from Harris so he wouldn't see her trying desperately not to laugh.
"Damned girl! Not you, ma'am. Can I borrow your phone?" Sam handed him the cordless receiver, her curiosity peaked. He dialed an eleven-digit number and waited for the other end to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Willow, are you trying to get arrested?"
"Xander!? Where are you calling from?"
"Yes, Xander. And I'm calling from the room where the computers you're trying to hack into are sitting."
"Uh oh."
"Yeah, Willow. Hacking computers belonging to the Air Force is not smart, my friend, and I know you're a smart girl. You've got to stop checking on me like this! It's going to get us both into trouble!"
"But I worry about you! You never tell me where you are!"
"I don't tell you where I go because it's usually so classified no one can go to the bathroom without authorization! I know you worry, but you've got to trust me, Will. I know what I'm doing, and I'm very careful. Now, I'm giving them Oz's firewall code."
"But..."
"No, Will. You have to stop. You're in serious trouble here. You can probably expect someone to pay you a visit soon. Good bye, Willow." He hung up.
Sam just stared at him for a moment. "I take it your friend likes to keep tabs on you?"
"Yeah, and she's too damned good with computers. Her husband gave me a kill code to put into any firewall system to keep her out. She likes secrets too much to give this place away, so there isn't really anything to worry about with her. Oz tries to look over her shoulder and keep her out of places she shouldn't be, but he has to sleep some time." He sighed. "Change the password on the firewall to 'frogs'."
"Frogs?"
"Yeah, she has a fear of frogs."
"She's probably going to get in trouble over this."
"Yeah, I know."
Curious, Tac'an asked, "How did you know it was her?"
He pointed to the screen that was displaying what Willow had been trying to hack. "The codes form a picture if you stand back far enough to see it, one of the symbols used in Wiccan ceremonies. She puts magic into every program she writes, including her back doors, which she leaves as a precaution in every one of them. This one just means 'opening'. She's a Wicca, and whether or not you believe the magic is real, she's probably worked some pretty strong spells into these systems to protect them."
The tech frowned. "If this stuff is supposed to work so well, then why didn't it keep out that one virus? The one that tried to shut down the entire SGC? The sentient one?"
Sam shook her head in bewilderment. "We got these systems upgraded by Hecate Software after that incident, because of it in fact."
Tac'an just chuckled. Never let Willow into a place that you don't want her to be able to get back into.
Willow and Daniel Ozborne, the leaders of one of the top security software companies in the industry, sat in the debriefing room, waiting patiently, if nervously, for someone to arrive. They were both surprised when Xander came into the room first, but he was quickly followed by two other Air Force officers, a Major and a General. Willow shrunk even further into her chair.
Xander stayed at attention until the General said, "At ease, Airman."
Willow said, "He didn't get into any trouble, did he?"
Hammond's hard face softened just a little. "No, Mrs. Ozborne. Airman Harris is not being blamed for this incident. He is in fact being credited with stopping it before it had gone too far. You did not, in fact, breach any top secret files, which is why we're having this conversation here instead of a holding cell."
Xander said, "Request permission to speak freely, sir."
"Granted."
He rounded on Willow. "What the hell were you thinking!? Hacking NORAD must be the stupidest, most brilliant thing you've ever done!"
Willow perked up a bit. "Stupidest and most brilliant?"
The Major, Carter by her name tag answered her. "Because of your actions, we've realized that we need a strong programmer on base to prevent this kind of occurence. You're the best in the business, and Airman Harris assures us that the only reason you did it in the first place was concern for his well being. Given the condition that you stay out of any other government systems and that both you and your husband sign nondisclosure agreements stating that you will not reveal to anyone what you see on this base or in its computers, I've been authorized to hire you as a civilian consultant to this base."
Willow's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Really?"
LONDON, ENGLAND, BRITISH MUSEUM...
Rupert Giles was in a panic. The robbery had been well planned and executed. The thieves had known exactly what they wanted and where it was stored, and they had gotten in and out of the museum within minutes. The three artifacts they had stolen were not worth much, a couple thousand pounds all told. There were far more expensive, more easily accessed items in the museum. But what they had taken, if combined with knowledge and will, could bring about an age of unparalleled darkness over the Earth.
With trembling fingers, he dialed the number of Hecate Software in America. One of the most powerful witches in centuries, whom he'd had the pleasure of instructing in history once upon a time at Oxford, was Willow Ozborne, and she was going to be needed to help stop this from coming. God help them all if it wasn't enough.
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