It was amazing just how exhausting life could be, even when you weren't constantly partaking in life and death situations.

It had been a little over a month since Xander, the rest of SG-1, and General Hammond had their 'meeting' with The President; and true to his word, neither the NID nor any other alphabet agency had tried to get their paws on him. The Tok'ra had come and gone, that little episode was thankfully over.

While he was somewhat pleased that the Asgard seemed extremely pleased with whatever readings they had gotten off of his DNA, he couldn't help feeling some dread at just what sort of tests they were going to run. The thought of the obligatory 'alien anal probe' would keep him up at nights, and he had Jack to thank for that smart-assed offhand comment. Though, unlike the Tok'ra, or more precisely, Anise, the Asgard seemed to present a calm and likeable front. Jack had almost made it seem as though Thor was more of a friend than simply an ally. In the end, he just hoped he'd be able to help further reduce the Asgard's problem of cloning degradation.

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Having Janet and Sam be the only two people in charge of the tests to be run on him seemed to be a great idea at the time. They had quickly sought out specialists to assist them in their tests, but those two would be in charge of any tests that would actually be run. Xander had been especially glad that he had final veto right on any test he didn't want to have conducted on himself.

He should have known from O'Neill's secretive smirk, but those two were out to kill him with all of these tests. He supposed he should be paying closer attention, but after having this done so many times that even the frantic exclamations of 'this can't be possible' coming from the specialists were starting to loose the amusement they once held. Though still, it may be prudent to find out what had this doctor so 'up in arms.'

"I'm not quite sure what this could mean." Dr. Newman seemed to be in deep thought as he, once again, went over the readouts that held the results of scans and tests related to his higher brain functions. "Believe it or not, some aspects of these results are quite normal, but more for an infant than for a man of his age."

Xander was somewhat relieved to find that he wasn't the only one to look confused. Though the specialist looked like a kid in a candy shop, or Daniel with a new artifact.

Janet's eyes suddenly lit up similarly to Dr. Newman's.

"Are you suggesting what I believe you're suggesting?" Dr. Newman waved for her to continue. Turning to look directly at Xander, she did just that. "When a child is very young, even in its infant stage, their ability to gather and retain information is actually quite impressive." She cogitated for a moment. "Think of how a child can learn to speak whatever language their parent speaks. They simply hear the repetition of those around them, and are able to speak shortly thereafter."

"So, what does that mean for Xander?"

Xander nodded to Sam. "Yea, so now I'll be able to read and write in other languages?"

Dr. Newman shook his head. "I doubt so, but I really can't say. Even a child who can speak English may not know how to read or write in the same language. Though learning to do so may be somewhat easier for you. It's hard to tell how a mature mind would assimilate the information different from a child. I do, however, believe that if you were to listen to people speaking a foreign language, you would be able to comprehend just what they are saying much quicker than you normally would. But again, I truly have no basis for a good comparison."

Xander just shrugged, unconcerned. He figured this would just mean more tests, though this time it would be with Daniel, the master of many languages. He just shook his head and allowed himself to drift off as the doctors in the room continued their conversation.

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"Hey, Ancient One, you ready to leave this place?"

Xander couldn't suppress the smile that filtered across his face. Jack had been calling him the 'Ancient One' ever since Daniel had deciphered what the writings from the planet had entailed, and just what had been done to him.

It had been over a month now, and Xander was almost at the end of his rope. He had needed to get out of there, and it seemed as though his prayers were finally being answered.

Being called into Hammond's office was nothing new anymore, though when he got there and saw Jack smiling at him, he knew this was going to be something different than 'business as usual.' He still smiled at the memory of the conversation.

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"Son, Area 51 has not been having much luck with their efforts to find the out the capabilities of the ancient's ship you piloted into the SGC." Xander was surprised; he hadn't heard anything about the progress related to that particular ship. "After being contacted by a potential ally, we have suddenly found ourselves presented with a situation to not only learn the ship's maneuvering capabilities, but, to an extent, its defensive and offensive capabilities as well."

Xander looked between Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond. "I'm not sure if I follow you, Sir."

"How familiar are you with past missions undertaken by SG-1?"

Xander shrugged. "Well, there are quite a few of them, but they made for good reading."

Hammond nodded, he could sympathize. "We had a visitor just a few days ago. An alien named Warrick. SG-1 first encountered him when he had been forced to crash his ship which was transporting prisoners."

Xander's eyes lit up in recognition. "You mean the Seberus, Sir?"

Hammond nodded. "That would be the one. He arrived a few days ago with a proposition. It seems that there is an important race involving space ships that he is heavily invested in. He has agreed to allow us the chance to study his ion propulsion based engine as payment for one of our naquedah reactors."

Xander smiled and nodded, hoping that SG-1 was going to be allowed to watch this space race. God, it would be great to get off of the base for just a little while. What he wasn't expecting was what The General told him next.

"After further negotiations, it was agreed that we would give him a generator for the chance to study his engine, and in addition to that, we could take our ship to his planet, Hebridan, and allow us the use of a 'training track' to test the capabilities of our ship."

Xander's eyes lit up as he realized where this might be going. "And just what did you need from me, Sir?"

Xander glanced at Jack, noticing the definite smirk that was almost a smile, as Hammond answered. "A pilot, of course."

Xander almost whooped in joy. He was about to fly a space ship on a racetrack. How many times had he fantasized about this?

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All right, Gate Ship 1, take it nice and easy.

Xander smiled as Jack's voice came over the communications link.

"Understood, Sir."

Just remember, while you're working up there; I'll be relaxing down here enjoying the exciting negotiations taking place…down here.

Xander let out a brief chuckle at the sour tone O'Neill had used. He wasn't too pleased that there wouldn't be anyone accompanying him as he tested the ship. But more to the point, he had really been looking forward to being in the passenger's seat. Now the colonel was stuck doing what he loved best, being diplomatic. Xander couldn't help shuddering.

Carter was on the planet, working with Warrick as she also studied his advanced engines. Daniel was going to accompany O'Neill on the diplomatic aspect of this trip while Teal'c, with the assistance of Warrick's brother, Eamon, would help Xander run this little gauntlet, and let him know what to expect.

He was pulled from the combination of his reverie, and taking in the outside environment of stars, planets, and what looked like small satellites and buoys, by Eamon's voice.

Are you reading me, human?

Xander smiled. "Loud and clear."

Yes, well this first part of the trek will deal with the defensive capabilities of your ship. I have control of the defensive probes and will continue to increase the aggressiveness until I am told to do otherwise.

"Understood, please hold for confirmation of shield activation"

To begin, none of the techs could find any signs of this ship having the capabilities of forming a defensive shield. Some had talked about reverting the energy used to cloak the ship into a viable energy field, but the point was shown to be moot when the Asgard offered to give the ship an Asgard shielding and teleportation for all of the help that Xander had provided.

Xander simply put out a mental command for the shield to activate, and, to his astonishment, a small representation of the gate-ship was displayed enveloped in an oval of energy. With a smile, he re-opened communications.

"Shields are up and running, ready to initiate phase one." As an afterthought, he added, "Please be gentle."

This was only his second time through the gate. He was well aware of the new pool circulating the SGC about just what the results would be from this mission, and just how much time in the infirmary he would need. There was even a rumor that The President was participating once again. Call him an optimist, but Xander had put $100 on him being hospitalized for only a week.

Small yellow dots seemed to shoot out from multiple satellite looking contraptions. As time went on, the yellow bursts shot forth more rapidly as the darkness of the color became intense. After a few minutes of bombardment to such a degree that he was only seeing yellow and the discoloration of his shield, the bombardment stopped.

Your shields are second to none. We may wish to further our negotiations for such technology.

There was clear awe in Eamon's voice. Not that Xander could blame him. If his guess was right, he'd just been hit by the best the Hebridans had to offer, and there had basically been little to no strain on the Asgard shields.

The next stage of this trek will test the speed your engines are capable of achieving. This will take you back towards the planet; your traffic lane is a straight shot, which should result in optimal speed. Good Luck

Xander relayed his thanks as he brought the ship into position. Facing the ship in the opposite direction, he had to squint as his front portal adjusted itself to the light produced from Hebridan's massive sun.

As the tint darkened to a more tolerable level, Xander sent out a mental command for the ship to proceed at the highest velocity possible. His eyes widened as the ship began to veer off the course laid in and head on a vector not quite parallel to the planet.

Gate-ship, Xander, you are veering off course. Please adjust your heading; you are approaching the planets atmosphere

The communications began to show static in spots as Xander tried to relay mental commands for the ship to go on course.

Gate-ship The sound of static disturbed the frantic communication. You must…..I repeat you must….

Xander was going frantic. He had just lost communication with the planet but even worse than that, he was currently moving at speeds in far excess than he believed possible. It was almost as though the planets own gravity was slinging him along, increasing his speed far beyond what his own engines were capable of. All of this, however, flew right out the window, as the display on his view screen changed.

A representation of his ship was shown, and not far off, just between his current position and the planet's sun, a shape was beginning to form. It was cone shaped and seemed to suck into itself. His ship was currently being pulled towards said phenomenon and nothing he did seemed to correct his current path.

At first he had thought, knowing his luck, that he was heading towards some sort of black hole, but once it became visible to him, he realized just how wrong he was. That wasn't a black hole.

It was a wormhole. And not one that was stable, from the looks of it. Not that he was an expert or anything.

Cursing in any and every language that Daniel had been trying to impart on him in the past few weeks, Xander attempted to get himself away from the wobbling opening, but to no avail.

"Ah crap!"

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Down on the planet, Eamon's frantic calls quickly grabbed the attention of both Carter and Warrick. With a gentle hand on Teal'c's shoulder, the large jaffa moved to the side so that Major Carter could take a place next to the reading that Eamon was receiving.

"He veered off course. He seems to be skimming our atmosphere. He is moving at incredible velocities, more so than I would have ever though possible. But he could quickly wind up in a traffic lane of another ship. He must get his ship back on course."

No matter what they did to adjust their communications, they simply couldn't get their signal through. The ship was moving too damned fast, and the disturbance in the atmosphere was making communication damn neared impossible.

Eamon glanced back at his brother. "You know, Warrick, once we get him back down on the planet, the information from this flight may just give us the advantage we need to win the Loop of Kon Garat."

Warrick simply nodded his agreement as he looked over the extremely impressive speed the small ship was currently going, and still accelerating.

"What is that?"

All eyes snapped to Sam as she quickly began to type in commands into the console she was sitting in front of. A small section of their view screen changed to show the distortion in space and time.

"Gravimetric readings, an electromagnetic shockwave; oh my god, this could conceivably be the beginnings of a wormhole."

Teal'c and Sam shared a look at her statement. Without hesitation, Teal'c activated his radio and called for O'Neill and Dr. Jackson to quickly join them.

By the time Jack and Daniel arrived in the room, an accompaniment of Hebridan's behind them, it was all over. There was no longer any sign of the wormhole, and even worse, there was no sign of Xander and the Gate-Ship.

"What's up campers?" Call him a pessimist, but Jack was getting a really bad feeling from the looks his teammates were sending him. "Oh, for cryin' out loud, what happened?"