Stargate Hastings

Chapter Five: Countdown to departure

The next week was a very eventful one. He had accepted Rachael's offer of a meal and had found himself eating at her cottage every evening for the rest of that week. Her son Tom had not been there to share the food with them and would return late each evening. She had told him, that his uncle had him on some special secret assignment. That he wasn't even allowed to tell her about. Everything was secrets and lies with this place anyway. So when he had not seen him around the grounds, he thought nothing of it.

With her father there during the meals they shared each evening and with the sexual tension dampened down because of that fact, they had a chance to actually get to know each other, even become friends. He had thought about pursuing a romantic relationship with her but decided against it. He was going to another world soon and the pore girl had already had one man leave for war on her, never to return. But their friendship had been a pleasant surprise, a welcome one. That was until that week ended and he was told who his team was going to consist of.

The old man he had no objection to, he had spoken to him at great length, while he gave him the grand tour of the underground facility. Where he had been introduced officially to the men and women that made up both the scientific and military sides of the operation. The two did work together but the military knew when to stay out of the scientists way and visa versa. It was a very well run but relaxed operation, maybe a little too relaxed for his liking.

He had learned that the Stargate and the Staircase, were actually facing in opposite directions. When he was taken down into what was referred to as the Gate room, he saw the doors to the tunnel that the gate arrived into the facility through. Robert explained that the tunnel is over two miles long, with the same guns as the ones looking down on the Stargate placed every two hundred yards. There were also ambush points where men could wait, ready to overwhelm the enemy and that at the other end of it was a village. It was there, that all of the people who were a part of the programme lived and that tunnel was being guarded by the men who dug up the gate and transported it back to England, alongside the Hastings families men.

The pedestal that activated the Stargate, was in a room built from granite stone, that was on the same level as the gate itself but could only be reached, from two levels below the one they were on now. Robert had told him, that it was to ensure that any alien threat that came through the gate would not be able to gain a beachhead or escape, before the contingency plans his family had built into the facility over two centuries ago, could be enacted. That room also housed the mechanism, that would set those plans into action.

Robert had told him that if they were ever enacted, the entire room would collapse into itself, along with a third of the tunnel leading to the outside. Leaving the mansion above, completely intact. The tunnel could then be cleared and rebuilt and in time the gate room as well or they could just leave it buried, depending on the situation. The gate room was actually a second room built inside another one and was designed to negate the tremors, that the Stargate caused on activation. They knew this because of the people who had, had the vision, to not bury the pedestal when they had buried the Stargate and then to pass that knowledge on to others. So that one day the descendants of the slaves taken from Earth, could be reunited with their brethren.

The underground facility itself was even bigger than it's above ground counterpart and he also learned that there were other smaller facilities dotted around the estate that were used for the research and development, of the families technology. During the time he had spent with the old man, he found him to be a person he could work with.

Then his so called friend, who Jim was more and more beginning to think was the one who had been killed and replaced. Informed him who the other two members of his team were. The woman he may have been able to be convinced of but the child! No he had served with boys too young to die before and if he had the final say on who went and who did not. He had told him, that there was not a snowflakes chance in hell he was taking a woman and a child with him.

So he had refused and spent the following two weeks trying to find two people who could fill the roles, that they would have. It turned out that not only was Rachael Hawthorne, as skilled with a blade as any man he had ever met. She also knew more about the Stargate and any knowledge they had about the aliens, than any other living person on the planet.

Her grandfather had died, making her father the unofficial head of the family. So when she had lost her husband and cut herself off from the world, he decided to bring her in on the secret. She had known about it longer even, than her cousin had. There were many people who could fill the scientific and archaeological side of the mission but none were combat capable and would only be a liability in the field.

The boys role could be filled by anyone and although he was impressed with the demonstration he had been given, a full grown man could do the same job and have a lot more experience of doing it. The problem he had was denying the logic of their inclusion. They would seem like any normal family with a woman and child along with them, even the old man would add to the illusion. If they did enter a combat situation, their mission would be a failure anyway.

The boy was very good at his job as well. He had been following Jim whenever he was outside the mansion, on the grounds of the estate and had even hidden in his home, when he had been eating meals at the cottage. Reporting every word that he had said, to his uncle each evening. Telling him everywhere he would go and quite a lot of what he had spoken about with the people he met also. Jim had not spotted him once and was genuinely impressed with the youngster but doing that in a place he was born and raised and doing it in a foreign land, were two very different things.

Since that day he had, had to find another sparring partner and the open invitation to her home had been rescinded. He had five days left to find replacements and it was only his stubbornness that had stopped him from giving in and accepting their involvement. The truth was though he had no choice but to give in. He had five days until they left, those people would need time to prepare and five days was definitely not long enough.

So he had gone to Richard and told him that he would accept the team he had originally been given. Only to be told, that his cousin had not spoken to him and had refused any requests for her to come to the mansion. She was still talking to his betrothed, due to the wedding preparations and she had informed her, that she wanted nothing more to do with the Stargate or that man ever again. Richard had joked that she was probably talking about himself but they both knew who she had meant.

He found himself walking up to the front door of her cottage, ready to plead for her to re-join the team, in time to prepare for their departure. He knocked on the door and when she opened it, he was expecting the woman to be dressed, in the same way she had been the previous times he had seen her. With clothes though tailored to fit her womanly curves, they were most definitely in the style of those usually worn by a man.

Instead she was wearing what must have been the dress, that she would be attending the wedding in. Her brown hair while normally tied in a neat bun, was now flowing down her shoulders. "I told you, that you aint welcome here, what do you want? As you can see I am very busy". She indicated the dress she was wearing.

"I wanted to talk about the mission. I can return later, you are obviously otherwise engaged". He gave a short bow and turned to leave.

"The one that there's not a snowflakes chance in hell, you would allow me to join you on, that mission?". She asked, the sarcasm plain to hear in her voice.

He did not turn back round at first but he did answer her. "Yes that's the one. I have missed your cooking, we can discuss it over supper this evening". He then turned back to her and added "The dress suits you by the way". He heard the door slam behind him, as he walked off with a smile on his face.

He spent the rest of the day with his new sparring partner Jacob. When he sparred against him, he did choose the Sabre, the man was huge. He had learned from him, that he was being prepared for command of one of the teams. If travel to other worlds, besides the one that his son had informed them of in his report, was called Abydos, was viable. Like Richard and his cousin, his nephew had also been trained by Robert Parker in hand to hand combat and weaponry. The man was a fine teacher. Jacob while still losing more engagements than he won. Did not have the advantage of distraction, that Rachael had, had over him but would still hold his own. It was Jim who would have to result to tricks to win, when they would spar and he was improving with every session.

As they were finishing their workout and nearing the end of their warm down exercises. A familiar voice was heard from the direction of the doorway. "I'm surprised you did not replace me with young Jacob here but then, he would stick out like a saw thumb".

Jim looked in the direction the voice was coming from and the woman he remembered was stood their and not the very lovely but definitely uncomfortable looking woman, he had seen earlier at her front door. "He doesn't cheat, like some I could mention". Jim said accusingly.

"I do not cheat". She replied defiantly. Jacob who was still doing his stretches, lost balance as he let out a laugh. "And what is so funny about that.". She asked him.

Sat down on the floor, still laughing to himself, he replied "You have been cheating against me since my sixteenth year, auntie Rachael".

"Yes I have but when your opponent is half as tall again as you are and weighs twice as much. It is less cheating, more strategy".

Jacob stood up and said "I will be on duty soon, so I will take my leave". He then turned to Rachael and added "It is still cheating". Then turned to leave.

Before he reached the door Jim said to him. "It was a very good session today Jacob, thank you". Jacob nodded his head in acknowledgement, then left the gymnasium.

Rachael took one of the seats that were against the wall closest to where Jim was finishing his own stretching exercises and asked "So what did you want to talk about and before you answer, know that there are very real, very sharp blades in this room. Because if you ask me to recommend someone to take MY position... well let's just say there will not be any more of your progeny, walking this world or any other world, understood?".

He laughed "No, I am sure I have read the files of all the people qualified, none are more so than yourself".

"So?". She asked.

"So, you're back on the team". He replied.

"And my son?".

He could not believe she would want her son to come on the mission and had hoped she would agree, that leaving him behind would be for the best. "I was hoping that we would be in agreement on the boy?".

"The only reason I agreed in the first place was if he came along. My father his going, I am going, I will not leave my son here alone and if you give him a chance, he will not let you down".

Jim got up off of the floor and grabbed a chair from across the room, after he placed it facing hers he said "I have no doubt the boy would be fine but what if we can not find a way home. He would be stranded on a world, where he would be a slave. Do you really want that life for him?".

"Do you really think either myself or my father would allow him to go, if your son hasn't found a way home by the time we make the connection again? ".

"If he had found a way home, don't you think he would be here by now?".

Rachael started shaking her head "As my cousin told you nothing about the mission?". She asked.

"That is more my fault than his. He was going to tell me all about it, after he introduced me to my team and I've been too busy trying to find someone to replace you, to follow up on it. He did tell me a rough outline but obviously not everything and to be honest. He has changed a great deal, from the man I once knew".

She could see in his face, that the change in her cousin from the honourable man he once was, to the scheming, manipulative one he was now, was having an effect on their friendship. So decided to help her cousin out, for the first time since he had returned a cripple. "He as his reasons for why he does the things he does now. I know what he did was wrong but your son was the most qualified man for the job and he did volunteer". She smiled before saying "He was bouncing off the walls waiting for the day we opened the gateway for the first time and his mission would begin. Richard kept telling him that there was a chance it would not work or if it did, there was a chance he could die the moment he stepped through the other side but he didn't care".

"You got to know him well then?". He asked her, wanting to hear about what his son was doing since last he saw him. Donald had been transferred back to England, three years after he had first arrived in India. His mother had also told him in her letters, that Donald had lied about his age when he had signed up, claiming to be seventeen instead of the fourteen years old, he actually was. He looked as old as he claimed and they rarely ever checked. Once they had another fool to fight their wars for them, they were not going to let a little thing like details get in the way. It was also the reason he hadn't suspected he was his son, even though he did have the same name as is dead friend.

"Yes he was quite taken with me, I let him down gently of course. Anyway I was telling you about the mission. If on the day we are scheduled to leave, your son has not found a way to return home, the mission will be scratched and the decision will be yours, if you intend to go to be with your son". What he was hearing, allayed some of the fears he was having and the view he had of his friend was changing slightly.

He had avoided Richard since he refused to take Rachael and her son with them and had made excuses that he was too busy going over the archives when he sent someone for him. Which wasn't a lie he had spent a lot of time down there, he just wasn't being ordered around by him. It seemed to Jim that his friend could use someone around him, who wouldn't just jump when he said so. "That does sound like him. He was always calm during or after a battle but he was jumpy whenever we would be preparing to go into territory, that we expected to receive trouble from the locals. He had an eye for the ladies as well".

"Yes I heard he had tried his luck with a few of the other girls around here. Will my son be allowed to come with us or not? I will not be, if he is not". She said making it clear she would not budge.

He did not want the death of a young boy on his conscience but he was skilled enough at being hidden and he was sure his grandfather would have taught him enough to stop him doing anything stupid. "Yes, he can come but make it crystal clear to him. That if he is given an order, he will follow it, no questions, no childish tantrums or I'll march him back to the gate and throw him back through it".

She had a grin spread across her face as she said "He follows orders just fine, it's his mother you should worry about".

They met up again later at her home for a meal he had genuinely been looking forward to, the woman could cook but also for the company. Tom was there instead of hiding away and her father as well, so they started talking about the upcoming journey through the gate and what would be each persons role. Over the next few days while not preparing for the wedding, they covered everything they needed to prepare for the mission. Tom had been growing close to him, even asking his mother if Jim was going to be his new dad. They had both quickly denied that was going to be the case, maybe a little too quickly. Jim didn't want to think about that, the last thing they needed was to make going to another world, any more complicated than it already was going to be.

He had spent the night before the wedding with his old friend. Richard had not wanted a proper stag do, he had not drank alcohol since he had been in the chair. He had said that it would be a slippery slope for a man in his condition. He had insisted James drink though and as it was his night he had dutifully drank freely, although it had never taken much to convince him to drink before anyway. James had told him that he didn't like the man he had become, with Richard saying that he had a world to protect and liberate and because of that, he could not take the chance that people could say no. Once the programme was in full swing his methods would change but for now the world needed someone strong enough to do what was needed.

Richard had in turn tried to get his friend to open up about his time in Afghanistan, Richard himself had heard some horror stories of entire patrols found mutilated and put on display in an attempt by the enemy to sow fear in the invaders ranks. They could never beat the tribes that lived in the hills, because they had no idea how many of them there really were or where they even were. The only thing he had gotten from his friend, was that he never wanted to relive it again.

On the day of the wedding, both James and Rachael avoided as much of it, that they weren't actually a part of as possible and used the excuse of their departure the next day, to leave as early as possible. As they were leaving, the now Lady Katelyn Hastings turned to her husband and asked "Do you think something is happening between those two?". She already knew the answer to her question. Rachael was her best friend and had spoken about her feelings toward her new husbands best friend at length, during the two weeks she had spent hating the man.

She had constantly gone through his faults, listing them one by one each time his name would be bought up. Something that was usually done by Rachael herself but it was when she had told her that he had accepted her for the mission, that she revealed her true feelings for him. She still hadn't come out and told her she was attracted to or developing feelings for the man but it was a best friends job to know these things. Richard turned to her and replied "It is about time, I was beginning to think they would both die alone".

The smile on her husbands face told her all she needed to know. "You really have become a devious swine, haven't you?".

"I gave you the chance to run, it is your own fault you didn't take it Mrs Hastings". He thought about his Cousin, no Sister and his best friend and hoped they could find happiness together and enjoy it while they could, because if everything goes to plan, they would find their lives in danger many more times in the years to come and as Richard Hastings knew better than anyone, eventually all men must face their fate. He just hoped that when he left this world or plain of existence, they would both have someone, like he had.