Chapter 2

Cheyenne Mountain Complex - Colorado - September 4th, 1999

"You are dropping your shoulder again, Xander Harris; that leaves you open to attack." Xander straightened himself then fell back into position this time making sure to keep his shoulder up. Across from him Teal'c stood in a similar fashion, his face neutral. It had been almost a month since the Jaffa had first started training him in the art of Lok'nel and although he hadn't been a particularly quick study he more than made up for it with his work ethic. Xander practiced at least two hours every day, more when he could find the time. Although with his rather hectic schedule it wasn't easy.

Since joining the SGC nearly two months ago Xander had been constantly busy. The first couple of weeks were filled with nothing but briefings; some led by himself and some by either Daniel, or Major Carter. Xander had given them detailed information on vampires, mystical knowledge, the Hellmouth itself, as many demons as he could remember from countless research sessions and of course the history and lore of the Slayer. Daniel was the most interested about the Slayer and turned up a few days later with an armload of books each with at least one vague reference. He told Xander that he had simply chalked them up to local superstition until now. In turn he himself was given the rundown on the Stargate, the SGC, the Asgard, the Tok'ra and the Goa'uld. He was amazed to discover that as much as he knew about things that went on in the world that no one else noticed, there were things perhaps even more fantastic. And now he was in the thick of it.

After everyone was filled in on all the pertinent information it was announced that Xander's appointment to the Stargate program had been approved and that he was to immediately begin training and establishment. As it turned out "establishment" meant setting him up with the things he needed to perform his job of being the SGC's resident occult expert. With Daniel's help he managed to track down and acquire some of the more common reference books on demons and vampires as well as a few unique volumes that he knew Giles would just about wet himself over. This however created a new problem since one, or two of the most important works were written in languages other than English. So now in addition to training with Teal'c and researching what he could about possible origins of vampires off-world, Xander was also being tutored by Daniel on ancient languages. Lastly it was decided that Xander needed to be trained in the military aspects of working at the SGC. That task fell to Colonel O'Neill himself, but as he soon found out very little training in that area was needed at all. Xander seemed to have an innate knowledge of military protocols and procedures and he displayed an uncanny ability with the full range of firearms used by off-world teams. Jack was beside himself when Xander explained to him the events of Halloween almost two years before. After that it was decided that training would concentrate on alien weapons and technology.

Everyone was amazed at the dedication that the young man put towards all of his endeavors and they were equally impressed with the progress he was making; including Xander himself. Back in Sunnydale he had always been the joker, the normal one, the one who always had to be protected. He had been relegated to nothing more than an extra pair of eyes during research sessions and of course the ever-faithful doughnut boy. No one had ever taken the time to show him anything, or teach him. Giles had never though to educate him in ancient languages so he could be more of a help with researching. Buffy had never shown him how to fight, or even how to defend himself against the inevitable vampire attacks. Certainly Willow had never included him in her budding study of witchcraft. The more he thought about it the more it seemed like each of his friends had their own little niche in the group and none of them wanted to share their particular talents. As a result Xander had fallen by the wayside in a way. He wasn't bitter towards them though… well not much. He understood the reasons behind their attitudes, but he certainly didn't agree with them. Now though with a new group of peers and mentors Xander flourished and all it had taken were people who took the time to take an interest in him and help him.

He shook these thoughts from his head as he and Teal'c circled each other. He took a moment and let his mind clear. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and let the calm wash over him. Then he opened them again and saw nothing but an opponent who had to be defeated. He felt the hard floor beneath the balls of his feet as he shifted from one to the other, always moving, always looking for an opportunity. He could feel this heart pounding in his chest, his muscles tense and ready, breathing in steady, deep intervals. He was ready. His eyes never left the target and just as he was getting ready to hit first he saw the other man's shoulder tense; a sign that he was about to strike. Xander readied himself and as he expected Teal'c threw a fake with his right and then came around with his left - only to be blocked by Xander's forearm. Then reaching over he took hold of the arm, feeling the sweat coating the dark skin and the hard muscle below, and turning used his momentum to heave the larger man away from him. Seeing that his opponent was now off balance Xander moved in closer landing a series of punches to his midsection. Teal'c stumbled backwards and Xander went down for a leg sweep to bring him down. At the last second he saw his mistake. With his heart pounding in his ears he watched helpless as the other man reached over him grabbing his own arm. He could feel himself being lifted off the floor and for one moment he was weightless, before he came crashing to the floor. He hadn't been paying enough attention. He thought that the Jaffa had been stumbling, when in fact he had been planting himself for the flip.

Xander groaned and sat up. Teal'c stood across the mat from him, his face still impassive, but the young man swore he saw the ghost of a smile flicker across his face for an instant and then it was gone. "You have improved a great deal, Xander Harris. But your focus is still not as it should be." The man threw him a towel. "Meditate on that point before our next training session." Xander grinned as he got up off the floor and followed Teal'c out of the training room.


Cheyenne Mountain Complex - Colorado - November 15th, 1999

The members of SG-1 and Xander sat around the conference table waiting for General Hammond to arrive and start the briefing. For the life of him Xander couldn't figure out why he had been summoned to this meeting. As far as he could tell it was a mission briefing for Colonel O'Neill's team and there was no reason why he should be here for that. He was anxious to get back to his pseudo library and continue his research. He had found an obscure prophecy that might deal with demons from other worlds, but he had to complete the translation before he could tell if it meant other physical worlds, or other dimensions. Just as he was about to go back to consulting his notes the General strode in and took his seat before any of them could get up. "My apologies, everyone, but I had one important bit of business to complete." The others all looked around at each other puzzled, except for Jack. Obviously something was going on. "Before we begin there is one matter I have to attend to," he looked over towards Xander. "Now usually this would be done in a more official setting with all the proper officers in attendance, however time is short and these are not your usual circumstances. Mr. Harris would you please stand at attention." Although confused Xander did as he was asked and noticed that the rest of the room did as well. He turned back as the General continued to speak. "Due to the unique nature of your area of expertise and your obvious knowledge and adeptness of military procedures it would be rather difficult to list you officially as a civilian consultant, like Doctor Jackson." Hammond removed something from his pocket and handed it to Jack as he went on. "Therefore it has been decided and approved by the United States Air Force, myself as the commander of this facility and by Colonel O'Neill that you are to be given a field commission of Second Lieutenant and assigned as the fifth member of SG-1."

Xander was shocked to say the least. He had been accepted here, respected for his own unique skills, nurtured and mentored and now he had been placed in a position of responsibility. No more standing on the sidelines. No more being told to stay out of things for his own safety. No more being the Zeppo. He almost didn't notice as Jack approached him and pinned his bar on each of his shoulders. Once that was done after a slap on the back from the Colonel and congratulations from the rest of the team the briefing began.

"Lieutenant Harris' commission comes at this particular time, not by chance, but because he will be vital to SG-1's next mission. You will be going back to P3X-273 to investigate more thoroughly in light of the appearance of our uninvited guest several months ago. I have been informed by my superiors that any creatures of other-natural origin that we encounter from this time on will be referred to, in official channels, as Hostile Sub-Terrestrials, or HST's for short.

"Now since you have all already reviewed the reports on the previous mission we need not cover that ground again. So this briefing is to get you acquainted with your new adversary as well as the new additions to your standard off-world equipment." The General then turned the meeting over to Xander. He explained how the planet was the perfect place for a vampire, since it only received two hours of sunlight a day and still remained at a moderate temperature because of an unknown type of rock in the planet's crust that retained the heat of the sun. Next he moved on to the most common and effective ways to kill a vampire. Stake through the heart, exposure to sunlight, fire and decapitation. "Although," he pointed out, "in this case sunlight will pretty much be a non-factor." Lastly he went through, in detail, the rundown of their current weaponry, its effects on vampires and the new additions to their regular arsenal. "First of all our guns are going to be very little help. Bullets won't kill vamps, but they will hurt them. Your best bet is to shoot them in the leg, knee, or head. That will slow them down and maybe even incapacitate them so you can either kill them, or get past them. After that we have the zat guns, which again will only incapacitate a vampire. With any living creature one shot stuns, two shots kill and three shots disintegrates, however since a vampire is already dead all the zat will do is send a shock of electricity through it. In order to take it down it will need to be hit by several, simultaneous blasts. The staff weapon is the most effective tool we currently have at our disposal. It releases a large focused energy blast that will have the same result as, say, throwing a fireball at a vamp. It will burn it up and turn it to dust.

"Now on to our new toys." Xander grinned and opened a case on the table that contained several items. "Here is your garden variety stake," here he held up a piece of lathed wood that had been sharpened to a point at one end. "You thrust the stake into the vampire's heart, pointy end first, and that is that. Simple. Straightforward. Effective. It will take some time and practice to become proficient in hitting the heart with the first blow. Next, vials of holy water. These will merely burn a vampire, but they work well as a distraction, or a way to frighten off a more cowardly enemy. Also some light-weight, collapsible crossbows with a quiver of bolts that will now be attached to the standard packs. These will only be issued to those that feel comfortable with them. Lastly the standard tact-lights on our firearms have been replaced with UV lights. In theory this should have the same effect on vampires that sunlight does, but it is untested so this will be the trial run." With a few other minor points Xander concluded his portion of the briefing and took his seat again. After the standard warnings and reminders of protocol the new SG-1 was dismissed and left to prepare.


Cheyenne Mountain Complex - Colorado - November 16th, 1999

There was something to be said for being fully prepared when facing a new experience. However, as Xander had learned in the past, sometimes being prepared just wasn't enough. This was one of those cases. He stood between Jack and Daniel at the bottom of the ramp that led up to the event horizon of the Stargate. On the Colonel's other side stood Carter and Teal'c. He waited, trying to contain his excitement and his trepidation, as the seconds ticked down and the chevrons locked into place one by one. Finally he heard Davis' voice call out over the speakers, "Chevron seven, locked," and there in front of him he beheld the most amazing sight he had ever seen. The wormhole congealed into being and sent a blast of cloud-like energy surging outward from the gate for a moment and then it was drawn back in like an elastic band that had been stretched too far and then released. Xander stared transfixed at the shimmering pool that now filled the stone circle that was the gate. It seemed to move within its confines, like ripples on a pond and all Xander could do was stare at it in wonder.

"C'mon kid, let's get this show on the road." Jack clapped him on the back and started moving forward up the ramp with the rest of the team. Xander watched as his new teammates disappeared through the gate and then he stepped through after them.


Chapter 3

Planet P3X-273 - Earth Date: November 17th, 1999

He remembered thinking, in the split-second between entering the gate on Earth and exiting on the other side of the galaxy, that he now knew what infinity must look like. Now, as he sat crouched next to a large rock formation, Xander wished that he had simply never gotten out of bed. It had been raining since the moment they had arrived on the planet and they still had an hour or so until the sun rose for its measly forty-eight hour appearance. They had set out immediately, but soon found it rough going through the dense forest; hindered by the darkness and the sodden, swamp-like ground. Jack made the decision to stop and wait until sunrise so they could at least get their bearings. In an effort to stay dry and ease some the dampness Carter set about making a fire and in no time the five of them were gathered around a good-sized blaze. Not five minutes later, out of the corner of his eye, Xander saw a shape moving in the trees. "Look's like we've got company." he muttered just loud enough for the others to hear. They all gripped their weapons a little tighter and looked around, trying to peer through the gloom.

"I see nothing Xander Harris." Teal'c announced after sweeping his gaze around their campsite. Xander waited, tensed and ready, listening for the tell-tale sign.

"Trust me, they're out there… I can practically smell them."

"So you can… uh… smell vampires-"

"Daniel." Jack said sternly, cutting the other man off.

"Oh, of course." Daniel realized. "Figure of speech." The team sat in silence, their weapons at the ready, but still nothing happened. Then in the blink of an eye they were set upon by half a dozen vampires and chaos ensued. Jack and Carter fell back on their training and immediately began to fire at the oncoming enemies. As Xander had told them their bullets had little effect and the vamps kept coming. Daniel and Teal'c in the meantime were fairing slightly better. The Jaffa managed to dispatch two of the creatures with blasts from his staff weapon, while Daniel picked off one with a crossbow. That still left three of them and they could hear more coming through the woods. In one of his rare instances of quick thinking while under pressure, Xander grabbed a nearby branch and thrust it into the fire. When he was satisfied that it was burning well enough on its own he pulled it out and brandished it at the remaining vampires. At the sight of the flaming weapon they let out an inhuman shriek and started backing away. Pressing his advantage, Xander went after them and managed to set two of them on fire. The rest of the team watched as the figures were consumed by flame and then turned to dust. The one vampire that was left retreated into the woods in search of re-enforcements. The others breathed a sigh of relief, but there was no time to rest and Xander quickly assessed the situation. "We need to kill that fire. That's what attracted them in the first place. They saw the fire and figured anything that needed to start one would make a good meal." Carter and Daniel immediately began to smother the campfire while Xander continued. "We need to move on, now. That one that got away he knows where we are and he'll bring others. We can't risk lighting another fire so we need to find some kind of shelter to use while we wait for sunrise." Jack and Teal'c grabbed their gear and as soon as the fire was nothing more than smouldering embers they all began to trek through the trees in search of someplace to take refuge from the elements.

And now they sat hunkered down next to a large rock formation as dawn just began to creep across the sky. "Alright," said Jack, standing up. "Let's get moving." As they went along Xander couldn't help but wonder if they were, in fact, on another planet. It sure looked a lot like Earth to him. Trees, rocks, rain, vampires. There was nothing here that they didn't have in Sunnydale. As they went along Jack took point with Carter behind him followed by Xander and Daniel while Teal'c guarded the rear. As the sun finally broke through the clouds they were finally treated with a better picture of the planet they were on. At the moment they were moving though a dense forest of what looked a lot like pine trees. The ground was rocky, but covered by a bed of dead needles that made for easier walking and the sky above the trees that they glimpsed every now and then was a bright blue with the occasional cloud. Yep, thought Xander, seems just like home to me. Then they walked out of the forest. Well, we don't have one of those at home. Xander stared up at the large stone and metal structure that lay about seventy feet from the tree line. It wasn't that it was particularly large, or made out of a kind of foreign material, but the design was definitely not one that he had ever seen before. The building was about the size of an airplane hangar and rounded at the edges with various squared turrets and metal antennas protruding from its sides and top; in addition it was surrounded by a tall fence. There were no windows that he could see and he was unsure if the structure was one storey or more.

"Does that look out of place to anyone else?" Jack asked.

"It does look like a variation on a Goa'uld design, Sir." Carter replied.

"Then let's say we investigate carefully." The team crept up on the structure, making sure to sweep the clearing thoroughly as they went until they made it to the perimeter. The fence was composed of metal posts set at about half dozen yard intervals with sets of large cables that ran between them. To Xander it looked very much like the electric fences he'd seen while watching Jurassic Park with Jessie and Willow. "Looks like these were put here to keep the vamps out." he observed. The Colonel nodded and motioned for them to fan out, which they did following separate paths around the barrier until they met up again at the gate. Unlike the fence itself the gate looked to be in severe disrepair.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Jack muttered.

"Why would anyone go to the trouble of putting up what appears to be an electrified fence if they were just going to let the main entrance fall to pieces?" Carter puzzled and turned to her teammates. Daniel looked just a befuddled as she was and Jack and Xander were trading shrugs when Teal'c spoke up.

"Perhaps because this facility has not been in use for some time." The rest nodded and then cautiously stepped through the crack between the gate's doors. They made their way up to a door and after a quick check went inside the structure. The only light they were greeted with was daylight that filtered in though previously unseen windows built into the roof and equipped with thick steel bars. The layer of dust that covered everything in the large room went a long way to confirming Teal'c's conclusion about the building being abandoned. They explored, moving past large, shadowy pieces of equipment and banks of what Carter identified as Goa'uld computer mainframes that were all inactive. After a quick survey the team gathered in the centre of the room to figure out what to do next. "Okay kids this is what it looks like. It looks like we've found some kind of abandoned Goa'uld base. Let's scout around and see what we can find out. Carter I want you to stay here and try to get these computers up and running. Daniel and Teal'c I want you to search the entire ground floor and report back to me if you find anything of interest. Harris you and I are gonna check out the second floor." Jack motioned upward with his hand towards the metal catwalk that stretched the entire length of room. The teams split up and went to work.

Jack and Xander ascended the metal staircase saying nothing, keeping their senses sharp for any sign of trouble. Just because the building looked deserted didn't mean that it was. There may not have been a Goa'uld in residence for a while, but vampires had a tendency to move in to abandoned buildings and infest them. Kind of like cockroaches, Xander thought. The catwalk appeared to be just that, a catwalk. It extended over the entire room, although for what purpose neither of the men could guess. There was nothing mounted on it and none of the offshoots led to other rooms. As they continued to explore the Colonel suddenly spoke. "That was good work back at camp." Xander was stunned and said nothing so Jack continued. "It was quick thinking going after them with the fire. I know that Carter and I didn't help matters much, but it's going to take some time to get used to an enemy we can't shoot." he grinned wryly. Finally able to find his voice Xander replied,

"Thank you, Sir." The older man nodded and then spoke again.

"I was also impressed with how you took charge once it was over. You knew the situation and we didn't, so you immediately made sure that the threat would be lessened and got your team to safety. That's a valuable skill, kid. Each one of us has our own area of expertise on this team. When it comes to science we listen to Carter, with languages and that stuff we listen to Daniel and when it comes to the Goa'uld and the Jaffa we listen to Teal'c. Now when it comes to anything… otherworldly we'll listen to you. Just don't forget who's in command. In any situation my word overrules everyone, got it?" Xander nodded and the two continued along in silence. Verbal silence anyways. Inside Xander's head his thoughts were going a mile a minute and most of them were throwing a party. The times were few and far between when he was ever acknowledged for his contributions to anything and now here he was on his first mission and he was receiving praise from his commanding officer. If his pride swelled anymore he was sure that something inside him was going to burst. He snuck a look at the man walking next to him. Of all the members of SG-1 Jack O'Neill had been the hardest one for him to read. He got along with Daniel from the get go since both of them were not military types and they had bonded over volumes of demon lore. Teal'c was pretty much an open book. What you saw was what you got. Major Carter reminded him very much of Willow. They both had a love of all things technical and seemed to share a tendency to babble on about things no one else quite understood. With O'Neill however he wasn't able to glean much of anything at all. He was a career military man and that was his life, aside from the occasional fishing trip. He didn't seem to have many interests outside of the SGC, but then he was very closed off and Xander suspected that there was much more about him than meets the eye.

Surprisingly enough Jack felt the same way about Xander. The young man had shared very little about his life in California with any of them. They knew that he had faced vampires and demons in his hometown, but where that was and the circumstances behind those encounters remained a mystery. Based on his familiarity with the subject of the so-called Slayer, Jack concluded that Xander must have had some dealings with at least one of them possibly more. His curiosity got the better of him and he was about to ask Xander about his past when Carter shouted up from the ground below them.

"Sir! I've got the computers up and running!" By the time Jack and Xander had reached the rest of the team Carter had already compiled some preliminary data. "It was Nirrti, Sir."

"For cryin' out loud, not her again!"

"I'm afraid so, Sir. This was a laboratory of hers. It looks like she was experimenting on the vampires."

"To what end?" Teal'c asked looking around.

"We won't know that until we get some of these data crystals back to the SGC so I can extract the information they're holding." Jack tugged on the brim of his cap and slung his MP-5 around to his back.

"You heard her folks! Grab some crystals and let's go home."


Cheyenne Mountain Complex - Colorado - November 19th, 1999

Once again the members of SG-1 and General Hammond sat around the large conference table in the briefing room. It had taken two days, but Sam with Daniel's help, had finally managed to download and translate the most relevant of Nirrti's lab notes and experiments. Carter laid it all out for them. "We know that the Goa'uld abducted humans from Earth hundreds of years ago to use as slaves on other worlds. It seems that they also took a number of vampires as well. This was done completely by mistake; the Goa'uld thought they were normal human beings and only later did they discover their mistake. Nirrti herself discovered two, or three vampires and brought them to P3X-273 because of its unique habitat. Once there she began to experiment on them by using selective breeding and even some minor gene re-sequencing. Then she bred them." Carter paused as the horror of what had actually been done settled over the group. "She managed to breed out their more human qualities until all that was left was nothing more than an animal in a human body. Then she sent some of her creations through the Stargate to different worlds so she could observe the results of introducing them into other situations and environments. Eventually she abandoned the project after some of the other System Lords found out about it and feared that she would use these monsters against them."

"So a vampire could kill a Goa'uld?" General Hammond asked.

"Theoretically yes sir, much in the same way that our weapons can kill them if they're taken by surprise." After a moment Xander spoke up in cold voice.

"So a vampire could turn a Goa'uld." Carter simply nodded. The room grew oppressively silent then as everyone contemplated what this meant.

"People it looks like we have a new enemy on our hands." the General stated. "One that could pop up at any time on any world we visit. We need to be ready and we need to come up with a plan in case Lieutenant Harris' suggestion ever becomes a reality." With that they were all dismissed and as they walked down the corridor from the briefing room Jack muttered loudly enough to be heard by anyone nearby, "Great, a Goa'uld who's also a vampire. That's just what we need."

To Be Continued...