As the Altimah headed back towards back towards Sunnydale, Major Carter decided she needed more information.
"In the stories, a piece of wood can stop a vampire. How?"
"The creature that animates a dead body uses a combination of psychic energy and the energy of its home dimension, which leaks from the rifts, to form a protective shield around itself. Earth's energy and the energy of that dimension, are almost diametrically opposite of each other. It needs that protective shield to protect itself, reinforced by the psychic shield, from Earth's energy. Naturally occurring things can penetrate the shield. Metal can too, but it's harder. Fire is an energy in and of itself and can as well, which is where sunlight comes in. Their home dimension has no sun. So even a brief exposure to a sun, can set them on fire. Since the creature can't survive without its meat suit, it dies."
"Damn, it makes sense." Daniel said. "And they can live for centuries?"
"They may be functionally immortal. We don't know because we make sure none survive long enough to find out. They're just too dangerous. They need negative psychic energy to sustain themselves and living blood to sustain the body. While we've encountered some that are at least a couple of centuries old, we've only encountered two older then a thousand years. The creature modifies the body to make it sturdier, stronger and consequently so it needs less energy, its need for that energy makes it vulnerable after all. The older they get, the harder they are to destroy. Add in the fact that they can mimic human behavior because they have access to the memories of the human its animating and you've got a very deadly foe. It's only the fact that they don't want to decimate their food supply that keeps them keeping their own numbers in check, that means they're not overrunning us."
"And there are other creatures that come from this dimension as well?" Daniel questioned.
"Yes, several hundred different kinds have been documented, some only once, others in greater numbers. 95% of them think humans make tasty treats in one form or another. Vampires feed on blood, others like the skin or the bones or the brain."
"No wonder they're called demons."
"Well, that's because of our influence. Alterans named them daemona, which simply means beings from another dimension. Add a type name to the daemona part and you've got a description that narrows down which one specifically we're talking about." Corda told them.
"But not everything we've encountered comes from that other dimension. We know of at least one species that was labeled demons by humans that are actually aliens, we think their ancestors got stranded on Earth at some point and they eventually forgot where they came from. That particular race, about the worst you can say about them, is that they give the Irish a bad name. They settled in Ireland at some point, when not even they're sure. But they need alcohol as a digestive aid, so they consume it with everything they eat, which is regular human food. They have a threat display, but if you leave them alone, they'll you leave alone. Corda and I didn't recognize their race, but that's not surprising. When our ancestors left this galaxy a million years ago, there were thousands of races. Some hostile, most not."
"We haven't encountered anywhere near those kinds of numbers." Major Carter said. "We know the Gou'ald destroy any race they consider capable of rivaling them. They may well have wiped them out."
"And it seems they did it using technology they reverse engineered from what we left behind. The ring transporters, for instance, we invented those." Alexander said quietly. "So much for the hope that leaving it intact would possibly allow it to be used for good."
"Well, we're going to use it to protect ourselves and others, so that's a good, right?" Daniel offered hopefully.
"Yes, it is. We'll be arriving in about a minute. We'll decloak just before we enter the hanger bay. Watch the display above me." Alexander said to them. The display shifted to show the area they were approaching. It was forested, they could see the ocean a few miles away and a semi desert area on the other side. A large metal structure could be seen as they approached.
"No human life signs closer then twenty miles, outside of three in the hanger." Corda reported. "Signaling the awning to retract, now." They watched the metal structure open up and the hanger bay doors could be seen. As they approached, the doors opened as well. "Dropping cloak, now." Corda informed them. Alexander settled the Altimah down into the hanger bay and the doors closed above them. "Hanger bay doors closed and awning back in to cover mode. Safely back home." Corda said with a smile.
Alexander disengaged his mind from the Altimah computer. "Come and meet some of our friends. They were monitoring the battle via a cloaked satellite we have in orbit. It helps us keep an eye out for trouble."
"Like the asteroid and the Gou'ald ships." Major Carter said.
"Yes."
"You've already met Giles." Alexander said, once they were inside. "The lovely dark haired lady is his girlfriend, Jenny Calendar, computer teacher at Sunnydale High School and the little blond is Buffy Summers. If you question the name, remember this is California. The culture here is very different then anywhere else."
"My brother lives in San Diego. I'm well aware." Major Carter said with a smile.
"Jenny, Buffy, this is Major Samantha Carter, U. S. Air Force and Dr. Jackson, multiple PHD's. We're going to prove demons exist to them. They deal with aliens, trust me, they can handle it."
"Johnathan, we got a call from Faith while you were out." Jenny said. "She wanted to thank you for tracking down her sister, Hope. Unfortunately, Hope's in a bad situation, so she and Gunn are on their way here from L. A., they're hoping we can help resolve it."
"I didn't know Faith had a sister." Alexander said.
"Well, she has only mentioned her a couple of times." Johnathan said. "So it's not surprising you didn't know."