Disclaimer: The characters of Doctor Who belong to BBC Wales and those of Stargate to MGM but the words are mine.
AU/SG1/DW: The last address of the Stargate opened on a depressing, dim world full with nothing but graves and tombstones where four SG teams already disappeared without a trace. SG1 embarks to locate them only to witness the opening of one tomb that holds the greatest of all secrets in the universe.
The Tomb of the Doctor
Chapter 4
General Jack O'Neill stood all gear up at the ramp leading to the Stargate. Aron of the Hak'tyl arrived just a few hours ago. The two teams were now ready to leave.
"Dial it, Walter." Jack commanded turning to the control level.
The gate's inner circle moved and chevron after chevron lit up. The unstable vortex formed and soon stilled in the puddle shiny light. Jack looked to his left and right. The two teams stood ready. For some it was a thrill to return back here at the SGC and for the others just the usual routine.
"Harry,"
"Jack," Mayborne acknowledged with a nod of his head.
"Well then campers, let's move out." Jack said cheerfully.
"Godspeed, Jack." General Landry said from the control level. "Good luck to all,"
"Keep the cake nice and cold, Hank, I shall be back for it." Jack said and led the teams up the ramp.
General Landry shook slightly his head. The man still thought of nothing else but cake. True there was cake on the menu today and he was surprised Jack did not eat them all. Shaking head again, he watched them go through the gate, which seconds later shut down.
Jack stepped on the other side of the gate. The M.A.L.P. definitely did not do this place justice. It was by far more dismal and depressing than on the direct video feed. Jack looked around and was somewhat relieved their theory was not wrong. The M.A.L.P. was not there and there were no tracks anywhere around the gate.
"Harry?" He said.
"Not here," Jonas Quinn informed.
Jack turned around. Only his team was here – Jonas Quinn, Dr. Sarah Gardener and Master Bra'tac. The latter studied the area with a calm, trained look but it was obvious he didn't like it. Who would, Jack thought. It was a dismal, depressing place. Still, Jack thought, the place itself projected some melancholic beauty. It was hard to miss.
"Well, one theory proven right, for a change," Jack observed.
Sarah did not like this place even one bit but her look fell on the gate itself where she noticed something disturbing. The symbols on it did not match anything she had seen before. It became even more disturbing when she counted the symbols – forty two. She counted them again just to make sure she got it right the first time but there was no mistake.
Jonas Quinn on the other hand had moved to the DHD. There he noticed something impossible odd. So he counted the symbols on it and frowned. How can this be he thought and panic coerced his body. He counted again and unless he made a mistake something was very wrong on this planet.
"Ah, General," He said after he got a grip of himself.
"Jonas?"
"Would you please come here?"
Jack, Bra'tac and Sarah came to him. Jonas pointed at the DHD and said. "There are thirty-nine and a half symbols here that I have never seen before."
"A half?" Jack looked at him strangely but then examined closely the DHD and agreed. One of the symbols there was only half present. "Weird," He said.
"It gets weirder." Sarah added. "There are forty-two symbols on the gate."
"What?" Jonas looked at her confused. So he got on counting the symbols on the gate and reached the same number – forty two. "How did we even connect to it then?"
"I don't know." Sarah shrugged. "I am not an expert on the gate."
"This place is weird." Jack concluded grimly but they could see his eyes lit up with excitement. The thrill of exploration is not something one ever grows out of. "Well, then, let's move out."
"Shouldn't we make contact with the SGC?" Sarah asked.
"Feel free." Jack said.
Sarah did not try though. Jonas was right. The symbols on the DHD did not match anything they had in the database. She also sensed Jack's biting humor and chose not to respond. They left the gate behind and made their way through the mounds of dirt, rock and black bushes, west of the gate.
Colonel Harry Mayborne emerged from the gate. The first thing he noticed was the absence of the team that went through the gate before them. The M.A.L.P. was not there either. So their theory was the correct one. They were now in one of the eleven dimensions.
"Lt. Hailey, dial Stargate Command and tell them we made it through." Mayborne ordered.
"I think we may have a problem with that, sir." Lt. Hailey replied.
"Problem? What problem?" Mayborne said quickly and looked at her expectantly.
"Well, sir, the symbols are different."
"This has never been a problem before." Mayborne replied.
"Well, I think you should take a look then yourself."
Mayborne faced the gate and quickly understood what she meant. Not only the symbols were different but he had never those before at all. He also noticed the strange expression on Major Marks' face.
"Major?"
"This is very weird, sir. The DHD has thirty-nine and a half symbols."
"Come again?" Mayborne asked but then joined Marks at the DHD. He examined the DHD and agreed with his assessment. One symbol was only half present. For some reason, he started counting the symbols on the gate and gaped. "That's impossible." He exclaimed involuntarily.
"Forty-two?" Marks exclaimed having counted them too. "How is that possible? Lieutenant, what do you make of this?"
"I don't know yet, sir," Lt. Hailey replied.
"Weird," Mayborne said. He imagined Jack faced probably the same situation. They had their share of strange things but this planet beat them all. "Alright, Lt, if something on this world is somehow responsible for putting us in different dimension, could it…?"
"If this is the case then yes, sir, it is possible." Lt. Hailey replied.
"That leaves us to find it then." Mayborne concluded. "Aron and I will take point and you two will have our backs. Let's move out."
Mayborne did not see any further reason for them to stay in the area of the gate. Whatever it was the reason for their situation it was definitely not here.
Mayborne and his team took the south path and made their way down a small hill. It was difficult not to notice the countless gravestones. They went as far as the eye could see and in every direction. Amazingly, every gravestone was in a different language and this is what made this place even weirder.
They walked for hours or were it minutes it was difficult to tell as they quickly noticed. Time passed in a different way on this world. Aron with his staff weapon at hand walked just slightly ahead of them making sure the way was clear. He suddenly stooped and gestured the others to do so too.
"What is it?" Mayborne asked and advanced to Aron's place.
"Movement, over there," Aron pointed at one o'clock.
Mayborne squinted eyes. Over one mound, there were figures or shapes moving. He signaled the team to follow him and stooped they approached the closest mound where they hid. From this point, they had a full view of the area in front of them.
The sight was stunning though. Four figures in Victorian long tailcoats carried four other figures that Mayborne first associated with humans and naturally thought of their missing teams but he quickly changed his mind. Two of the figures did not look human. The first figure had a round shape and was slightly taller than a child. The other one while almost twice taller had scales.
"What is that?" Major Marks whispered.
"I have no idea." Mayborne replied. He continued observing the Victorian figures until one turned around. The sudden wave of fear that hit him made him fall on his back. He noticed the others shared his predicament.
The figures were faceless. Well, they did have something that resembled a face – eyes and a sort of mouth one finds in the horror movies. The fear and coldness these figures projected was difficult to resist so they all shivered.
Mayborne had never felt such coldness or fear before. He could barely move or breathe. His eyes still followed the figures that soon disappeared downhill. How long they stayed lying on the ground they did not know but the cold wave slowly dissipated and they could breathe normally again.
"What were those things?" Lt. Hailey asked. Her teammates clearly felt the fear in her voice.
'Nah', Mayborne thought. SGC people were not afraid. Hell, they fought the Replicators, the Goa'uld and the ORI, they were scary and dangerous. A few Victorian screamers were nothing compared to that. Still, he knew he thought this way to cheer himself up. In reality he would definitely say these creatures were by far scarier than any enemy they have ever faced.
He also noticed Aron had gone ahead again. He figured he had gone to see where the scary ones had gone. It was probably not the best of ideas but caution demanded they do it anyway.
"Let's follow Aron." Mayborne said and gathering his strength and courage followed the young Hak'tyl.
Jack advanced slowly around the mound. He saw something from afar and wanted to check it out. Master Bra'tac was on his left holding his staff weapon ready. Jonas and Sarah were slightly behind them.
Reaching the mound, Jack stooped and stood still gesturing his team to lay low. He squinted up front. There was something out there that stunned him a great deal. It was high two maybe three meters and wide no more than a meter and a half.
"What is it?" Jonas Quinn asked.
The other three did not answer as each of them had seen this thing at one point in their lives while Jonas never but that was normal. The thing in question had a lamp or lantern on its top that emitted slow steady pulses of light. Its body was blue.
Jonas squinted and read on its top front the letters. They were not difficult to read as they were in English – Police Box. He found this very weird.
"A police box?" He asked this hoping for some answers.
"In the 1950s around Europe, the police used boxes such as this to hold the detainees." Sarah explained. She of course could not explain the presence of this strange object on this world wherever it was. "Temporarily, of course," She added.
"Bra'tac, have you seen this thing before?" Jack asked as Bra'tac did not seem too surprised to see the object.
Master Bra'tac nodded but still did not answer. For him it was difficult to explain but the impossible object before them was part of many Jaffa legends. They spoke of a powerful being that defied the Gods (the Goa'uld) and laid terrible waste on their domains.
"Bra'tac?" Jack insisted though.
"It belongs to the Fire and Ice demon of the underworld – the Oncoming Storm, the great destroyer feared by all Jaffa. He laid terrible waste on Goa'uld domains. Countless souls Jaffa and Gods alike lost at the whim of the demon." Bra'tac answered with a grim tone.
Jack frowned. He never bothered with superstitious legends as most turned out bogus. He had also never heard Bra'tac so afraid before. And strangely he could see the fear in his friend's eyes. So perhaps, not every legend was bogus.
"Shall we take a closer look?" Of course Jack also believed the best way to lose fear is to face it. The Jaffa did that when they faced their oppressors, the false deities – the Goa'uld. So they left the mound and approached the blue police box.
Strange, Sarah thought. Every detail was on the box was authentic. She tried to pull the door open but it did not bulge. She tried pushing it and still the same outcome. She knocked on the door. It was definitely wood. The door had a lock. She took out her hairpin and tried but nothing happened.
It was then she differentiated the sound coming from around her. It was a hum and oddly enough it came from the police box. How can a box hum? She placed her hand on the door and stood still. She definitely felt it – a slight vibration. What was in there? The box had the dimensions to hold two maybe three people her size.
"General," Jonas called. He stood some distance from them facing a grave stone.
"Yes, Jonas?"
"This one is in English."
"Right," Jack said and read – River Song. Strange name, Jack thought. Was it a river that sings? And he sniggered. He looked down and saw multiple footprints.
Master Bra'tac studied them. He determined one belongs to a young woman, another to a man, and the rest to a group of man with same shoe sizes. Strangely all footprints dead ended right in front of the gravestone.
Sarah circled the police box. The vibration was present on every wall. Just as she appeared from behind she noticed something and wondered how they missed it in the first place. It was impossibly difficult to miss.
"General O'Neill," Sarah called attracting his attention.
"What?"
"Come join me here." She replied and waited for him and the others to come. "No, circle the box from the other side," She instructed.
"Wha…WOW!" Jack exclaimed stunned at the view before his eyes. How did they miss that?
Bra'tac fell on his knees while Jonas found it difficult to close his mouth in awe. How can one miss such a thing? It was huge. It was gigantic. It was monstrously big.
"Man, that's big." Jack said. He also noticed it bore strange resemblance to the one they stood by. "I think we found what we came for."
"How do we get in?" Jonas asked as he snapped out of his stupor.
"I don't know." Jack replied. "Bra'tac, are you alright?"
Master Bra'tac stood still and speechless but not for long. He stood up and walked back to the gravestone marked River Song. There was a reason all footprints ended there. Now, he had a clear thought.
"O'Neill," He called.
Jack came and Bra'tac pointed at the gravestone and the footprints. Jack followed his logic and understood.
"A secret passage, good thinking," Jack said. "Jonas, give us a hand."
They pushed the stone and it bulged though only slightly. They tried again but the damn thing still will not open. Sarah came and pushed them all aside. She thought the answer was simpler as it usually is. She began pressing the letters one by one until an opening appeared.
"It required a woman's touch." She said and smiled to them then got in the hole.
The three men looked at each other and shrugged but followed her down the rabbit hole and into the unknown.
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