Chapter Ten: Outer Space
Despite Jenny's promise to report back every half hour, two hours passed with no sign of her. In view of the big explosion that had closely followed Jenny's departure Wesley and Eve had begun to worry about her. There had been a number of lesser explosions following on from the first.
A debate started on whether to stay put for a while longer or whether to go looking for Jenny. Eve favoured the former, Wesley the latter. Suddenly the debate was ended by Jenny's return as she orbed in right next to them.
"Sorry about that," she apologised, "but I was sidetracked."
"Sidetracked?" asked Wesley. "You mean the big explosion?"
"In a way," replied Jenny. "By the injuries caused by the explosions."
Jenny explained that the explosions were caused by an attack from the air by the two aircraft that had passed overhead. The attack was on a unit of cavalry up ahead of them in the forest.
"Cavalry and aircraft," said Eve. "That's sounds like a mismatch."
"You'd think so," said Jenny. "But the two aircraft were destroyed. The cavalry had a lot of casualties though. I've been helping with the casualties."
"So you don't just heal mystic injuries then," said Wesley.
"So long as I'm not too obvious I can do a lot of healing," said Jenny. "All whitelighters do."
"How do you know you haven't healed some of our enemies?" asked Eve.
"They're human, they have souls, that's all I need to know," said Jenny. "As for whose side they're on that's a separate matter."
Jenny went on to explain that it wasn't the cavalry who had destroyed the aircraft, but the two witches travelling with them. The witches had been able to interfere with the weapons of the aircraft which had finally been blown up by their own bombs.
"So there's a war going on," said Wesley. "Local forces on horseback but with witches. Invaders with aircraft."
"How do you know it's not the other way round?" asked Eve. "How do you know the cavalry are locals?"
"Would you use cavalry to invade a country with its own air force?" asked Wesley.
"Yes, the cavalry and the witches are locals," confirmed Jenny. "That was clear from what I heard. The enemy come from another world."
"Since Giles was brought here by a magic portal these witches must be our main suspects for the kidnappers," said Wesley.
"Do you mean those witches?" asked Eve causing the others to turn around. Two women had just appeared and were stood some twenty yards away looking at them.
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Jack watched the arrival of the Replicators through his binoculars from his position lying in the long grass at the top of a distant hillside. He watched as the Replicators swarmed out of their spaceship and beat a path straight towards the local Stargate.
According to the Halliwells they had done some mumbo jumbo to stop the Replicators from seeing them in their present position but Jack had given orders that everybody was still to remain out of sight and as quiet as possible. Jack and the rest of SG-1 keep their guns ready for immediate use. Prue and Phoebe were with SG-1. SG-12 were also ready to act if necessary from their position on the next hilltop with Piper and Paige.
The Replicator swarm, like a column of migrating ants, now reached the Stargate and began swarming over it and over the Dial Home Device. As Jack concentrated on what the Replicators were doing he heard a hiss of in-taken breath from Sam lying next to him.
Jack turned to see that Sam had her glasses on the Replicator spaceship so he directed his attention in that direction as well. What Sam had seen were two men who had walked out of the Replicator spaceship and were now walking down the landing ramp.
"Who are they?" whispered Jack to Sam.
Sam shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "They don't seem to be in any danger from the Replicators," she replied quietly and indeed all the Replicators were ignoring them.
Meanwhile the two men continued on their way and arrived at the Stargate. One saw the SG-12 radio and picked it up. The other began examining the DHD.
"This is crazy," said Daniel. "If we hadn't left the details of our Gate Address plus the radio set to transmit the ID they wouldn't have been able to attack the SGC."
"They'd probably have turned up there anyway," said Sam. "They might have found out a lot from SG-12, even if they only had their dead bodies."
"And they might have gone to many other places before arriving at the SGC," said Teal'c. "We would not then have this opportunity of stopping the Replicators now before they spread to many other places."
"Oh," said Sam sounding worried. "I've suddenly realised something. We might have made it too easy for them. They might get to the SGC too quickly, before Phoebe and the others arrive. By saving SG-12 we might have messed things up."
"Don't worry about it," said Phoebe. "Even if the details are different we'll still stop the attack on the SGC. I was sent a vision of the Replicator attack before I arrived there. Anyway we wouldn't be here if we weren't meant to stop them," said Phoebe.
"So what are you saying," said Sam. "Somebody or something intervened and that's why you're here, why we're here?"
"Something sent me my vision," said Phoebe, "some higher power."
Suddenly Phoebe jerked her head back. ""Wow!" she muttered.
"What did you see Phoebe?" asked Prue who could see that Phoebe had had another one of her visions.
"Well whoever sends those visions, they can still reach me here," said Phoebe quietly.
"Maybe nobody sends them," said Sam. "Have you ever thought it might just be you, just your psychic gift? There's no need to posit an unknown higher power."
"Actually we have good reason..." began Prue.
"Can we postpone the philosophy debate to another time," said Jack. "Did you see something useful?"
"Yes," said Phoebe. "Those two men. They're not men at all. They're just another sort of Replicator. We mustn't fight them, not here, because if we do we'll lose."
"What do you mean?" asked Jack.
"They're like walking bombs," said Phoebe. "If they feel threatened they'll just explode. They can put themselves back together again afterwards. We can't."
"Can't your sister just freeze them?" asked Daniel.
"Yes, but not forever," said Phoebe. "That's part of what I just saw. As soon as Piper tries to destroy them or the freeze wears off they explode. A pretty big explosion as well."
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At last the Stargate closed down. The witches at the other end back on Earth, the Charmed sisters themselves in fact, had just destroyed the Replicators invading the SGC and had now broken the connection. Now SG-1 launched their attack on the Replicator spaceship.
SG-1 stormed up the ramp which was still down. They were accompanied by Paige Matthews and they were heading for the control room. They were taking a big chance because nobody knew whether there were any more regular Replicators, or any more 'human bomb' Replicators still aboard.
The attack was part of Jack's plan and the intention was to take control of the spaceship as a way of luring the Replicators away from the Stargate. It was hoped that the 'human' Replicators would hesitate to use their explosive option aboard their own ship as it might strand them on the planet, at least temporarily.
Stranding the Replicators on the planet by attacking and destroying both the spaceship and the Stargate had been discussed but rejected. For one thing, as Daniel pointed out, it was quite possible that there was a human population on the planet. The road leading away from the Stargate presumably led somewhere. Stranding Replicators on the planet would probably doom any humans living there.
The other point against stranding was that it would probably only be temporary because the Replicators, given enough time, would doubtless be able to build a replacement. Once free they would undoubtedly start searching for another Stargate.
The other option rejected was to have Piper freeze the Replicators and then clear out of the area, letting them explode and destroy the Stargate themselves. This of course might strand everybody on the planet so another solution had been decided upon. In any event Phoebe had argued against it.
"I was sent that warning to make sure we didn't do something like that," she insisted.
"It's also possible the explosive option is something of a seeding device," said Sam. "A way that the Replicators can scatter pieces of Replicator far and wide. Pieces which then, well, replicate."
Whilst SG-1 and Paige went aboard the spaceship the job of the remaining three sisters was to use a power of three spell to permanently disable the Stargate if things went wrong on the ship so that the Replicators would be unable to use the Gate. SG-12 would if necessary protect the sisters from attack whilst they were doing their magic and would use their explosives to destroy the Stargate altogether if there was no other option.
The number of actual Replicators was now much reduced because of the number that had gone through the Stargate and the fact that in their current rural location there were no immediately available materials for making others.
Normally high tech artefacts like the Stargate and the Dial Home Device would be converted into more Replicators. However just as with the Spaceship the Replicators had so far preserved them in order to help their long term goal of maximising their spread through the galaxy. Either that or there was something about the Ancient Technology that resisted the Replicators.
The Replicators that were left now became aware of the SG-1 attack and began to stream towards the spaceship. The two 'human' Replicators remained at the Stargate studying the Dial Home Device.
For a few minutes it seemed that the 'human' Replicators would not be diverted. Then the engines on the spaceship started up. The 'human' Replicators now stopped what they were doing and raced towards the spaceship.
The spaceship had not been wholly free of Replicators but they were not very thick on the ground. The guns of SG-1 were able to deal with them as they swept through the ship on the way to the control room.
SG-1 reached the control room without difficulty and without seeing any other 'human' Replicators. The control room was clear of Replicators. The spaceship was clearly not originally made for Replicators because there were seats, human type seats, in the control room. Jack and Sam immediately sat down and began familiarising themselves with the controls.
Daniel and Teal'c stood on guard at the doorway to the control room firing at those Replicators that appeared in the corridor leading to the room. They would have closed and if possible sealed the doors but there were no doors. There clearly had been doors but presumably they had been cannibalised by the Replicators.
"Stand back!" said Paige to Daniel and Teal'c and as they did so she immediately began chanting:
"Block this door
Make it right
Close the entrance
Seal it tight"
Abruptly there was a door blocking the entrance to the room. A magical door that no amount of chewing by the Replicators would tear down or break through.
"Wow!" said Daniel. "That was, well, magical."
"Indeed," said Teal'c.
Jack looked round. "You got the door shut, good." He then went back to the task in hand.
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"It doesn't mean she's dead," said Cordelia. "The Goa'uld have got their own witches now. They're probably using them to shield their bases the same way the Kallistien witches do. That's most likely why we can't get a read on where she is."
"OK," said Faith. "I'll buy that. Anyway Buffy's pretty hard to kill, well kill permanently. If the Golds have swallowed her I bet she gives them indigestion. So what's the latest on the war?"
"It seems like Apophis has withdrawn from the planet," said Cordelia. "Although the witches think he's left some agents behind and maybe a secret base or two."
"So they think he'll be back then," asked Faith. "What about the golden duck?"
"The witches want to concentrate on getting rid of Marduk before Apophis gets back," explained Cordelia.
"Did they get any information out of those prisoners they took?" asked Faith.
"Oh yeah," answered Cordelia. "It doesn't look good. Apophis has only used a few of his forces so far. If he wants to he can send a whole fleet of spaceships. In the past when he has been unable to control a planet he's used his fleet to destroy it from space."
"If these Golds are so powerful how come the Kallistians managed to get rid of them before?" asked Faith.
Cordelia shrugged. "Maybe they weren't so powerful then," she replied. "Anyway I..."
Cordelia broke off what she was saying to stare vacantly into space for a few moments.
"What?" asked Faith. "Was that one of your visions?"
"Oh yeah," said Cordelia coming back to herself. "We need to move, move quickly."
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Once SG-12 had radioed that all of the Replicators were aboard, especially the 'human' Replicators, Jack and Sam took off. The controls were not completely unfamiliar to them so their mastery of the spaceship was adequate for the journey they had in mind.
The Replicators, regular and human, wasted some time in trying to get past Paige's door before trying other methods so Jack and Sam were able to get the ship into space and set it on course for its destination without interference. They were then able to turn to help the others.
Paige was busy casting another spell.
"What's she doing now?" whispered Jack.
"I mentioned that the Replicators would try to cut off air and pressure to this room in order to disable us," said Teal'c. "Paige is trying to cast a spell to allow us to carry on breathing if that happens."
"Ah!" said Daniel, "won't be long now. I just saw a Replicator go past the window. They're on the outside of the ship. They'll be cutting their way inside in a few minutes."
A few minutes later the Replicators did indeed start to enter the room from several points at once. All four members of SG-1 blasted away at the Replicators through the holes that had been cut into the spaceship.
By concentrating fire on the holes SG-1 were not only able to break up the Replicators but also prevent them from reforming as the broken pieces were swept off into space and left behind by the speed of the ship. After about ten minutes the attack ceased.
"Well that was unexpectedly easy," said Jack. "Guess we surprised them."
"Yes," said Sam. "They probably expected us to suffocate by now so they only sent out a few Replicators. We can expect a lot more next time."
"You think there'll be more of them crawling around out there then?" asked Paige.
"Oh yes," replied Sam. "In a very few minutes from now."
"I'll try one more spell then," said Paige. "After that it'll all be up to you guys because I'll be pretty well pooped, well apart from the big orb getaway."
Paige now put her hand on the outside wall of the spaceship and began chanting again:
"Into space
Let them fall
Let them hold on
Not at all"
Immediately Replicators began flying past the window having been dislodged from the outside hull of the ship. This continued for a while before new Replicators stopped going outside.
"Do you ever wonder how we managed in the days before we had witches along?" asked Daniel.
"It no longer seems to be a mystery as to how the Kallistians were able to overthrow the Goa'uld," said Teal'c.
"I wonder if witches had anything to do with overthrowing the Goa'uld back on Earth," said Sam.
"Who are the Goa'uld?" asked Paige.
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Lord Shumi was probably the most arrogant individual Giles had ever met. That, thought Giles was a remarkable conclusion for anybody who had had dealings with the old Watchers Council.
From what Giles could gather Lord Shumi had until recently been a quiet academically minded individual even though he was probably the most powerful male magic user on the planet. That had all changed recently and now Lord Shumi was the leader of an underground movement aimed at overthrowing the power of the witches.
Demonic possession, wondered Giles. When an individual changed so much and then embarked on a programme of dominance some sort of demonic possession was sometimes behind it.
A powerful mage like Lord Shumi was just the sort of person that a demon would aim to possess. If Shumi's studies had been in demonology and something had gone wrong that would explain his sudden change of character and his sudden new ability to dominate and lead. Giles's own experiences told him only to well how such things could happen.
Since meeting with Lord Shumi Giles had tried to keep out of his way as much as possible, in case Shumi became aware that Giles was not under the same control as the others. However Lord Shumi's plans were now maturing and clearly he intended to make a move soon.
Giles and the other Earth magic users it seemed were to be used in a mass assassination plot against the leading Kallistien witches. Giles and the others had been given a Kallistien Grimoire or spell book. Their job was to produce and maintain a fog during a forthcoming summit meeting of the leading witches. This spell was to be aimed at fogging both the mind and the vision. Under its cover Lord Shumi and his followers would aim to kill the witches, or at least as many witches as they could.
Even as the plan was being explained to him Giles realised that something was wrong, very wrong. There was no way that Shumi could be unaware of the very limited magic ability amongst the three men from Earth. To expect them to cast a spell that would have the desired affect in disabling a group of powerful witches was ridiculous. Something else was going on.
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"The sooner we try it, the better chance we have of taking them by surprise," said Willow. "The longer we take, the more suspicious they'll be that something is wrong at this end."
"OK," said Angel, "But that Gate can be connected to any number of other worlds. From what those guys said when you questioned them you can dial up another world if you have the code but when the Gate is powered up just about anybody can dial up here and come visit us. Do we want that?"
"It would mean having to have a strong team down here in the basement pretty well permanently," said Gunn. "Strong enough to deal with whatever comes through the Gate the next time it opens."
"He's right," agreed Tara. "Because whoever stays on this side of the Gate has to leave it powered up so everybody can get back home but the next people to come through could be, well anybody."
"Including Marduk's mighty big army," said Xander. "With a lot more of those Jaffa."
"Couldn't we set a time for when we open it," suggested Dawn. "That way we can cut down on the risk."
"Time doesn't always go at the same speed on other worlds," said Angel. "I should know."
"And who knows what might happen on the other side," said Kennedy. "We might have to get out in a hurry."
"So you're saying whoever stays here has to be on guard 24/7 in case some sort of invasion army decides to stop by," said Anya. "Why don't we just blow this thing up and forget it?"
"And leave Buffy stranded? I don't think so," said Willow. "Anyway it's not as bad as all that," said Willow. "For one thing we've got this Stargate inside slayer HQ Sunnydale so no weapons will work here. For another, we are the people who defeated the Hordes of Hell so a little thing like dealing with an off world invasion shouldn't be so difficult."
"But we had all those other slayers then," said Amy. "As well as Buffy, Faith, Cordy and the charmed sisters."
"Why don't we contact the Halliwell sisters now?" suggested Gwen. "If they were here they'd be able to deal with just about anything that came through."
Willow glanced at Tara questioningly.
"I'm sure they'd help if they could," said Tara. "But they have responsibilities of their own. I don't see that they would be able to just sit here watching the Gate. They could be called away at any time and where would we be then?"
"So we've got to think of something else then," said Willow. "I've got an idea."