Chapter Thirteen: Through the Gate
To the alarm of the members of SG-1 Paige fainted as she arrived back on the planet with them. She was caught by Teal'c and lowered to the ground. Sam knelt down at her side and examined her.
"I think she's just exhausted," said Sam. "That was a mighty big jump, several million miles."
Paige opened her eyes and took a deep breath. "I didn't think we were going to make it," she said. "When I orb I'm usually there straight away. That just went on and on and on. I thought we were stuck in some sort of limbo. I'm not trying any more outer space orbs. I might never arrive."
"OK," said Jack looking around. "Where is everybody?"
Paige had successfully orbed them back to the planet near to where the Replicator spaceship had taken off. However there was nobody around, no SG-12 and no Halliwell sisters.
Teal'c stayed with Sam and Paige while Jack and Daniel walked over the hill towards the Stargate. As they crested the hill they could see that they had problems beyond the absence of SG-12 and the witches.
"It's gone!" said Daniel who began running over towards where the Gate had been.
Jack followed more slowly. "It's been destroyed," he said. "Blown up." He didn't sound surprised. The evidence of an explosion was clear in the surrounding area. A large crater had taken the place of the Stargate and the DHD. The destruction was complete, leaving no debris scattered around.
"Why?" asked Daniel. "Who would have done it?"
"Larkham I expect," replied Jack. "I ordered her to set charges around the Gate, go through it and destroy it behind her if there was any danger of the Replicators taking control of it again. Looks like there might be more Replicators around." Jack held his gun at the ready and slowly turned around to search the surrounding area but saw no threats.
"So how do we get home?" asked Daniel.
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"OK, it works," said Willow standing up after ending the spell. "That's our standby in an emergency."
Willow's suggestion had been to try to open a magic portal to the world on the other side of the Stargate, that is to the world from where Marduk's Jaffa had travelled to Earth. Willow and Tara, the two witches who would be travelling to the other world, had succeeded in opening such a portal.
The portal had opened in what looked like an empty corridor. Willow and Tara had quickly closed it down before anybody spotted it. They had used the dialling code of the destination provided by the captured technicians as part of the spell to help them correctly identify the other world.
Although the portal could be used to travel to the other world Willow preferred to use the Stargate for the outward journey. "That portal could be quite close to the Stargate or it could be a long way away," she explained. "A world is a big place and we could take months just finding out where Buffy and the others are. On the other side of that Stargate we're almost certain to find somebody who knows where they are."
"But once you're on the other side can't Tara just orb over to wherever they are and pick them up?" Dawn asked.
"I don't think so," Tara replied. "I don't know any reference points on another world. I probably won't be able to do much orbing at all, at least not at first. Orbing's sort of automatic on Earth but I expect it'll be different on another world."
It was agreed that those staying behind would close down the Stargate a few minutes after the others went through. They would stop it functioning by dismantling it if necessary and powering it down. It could not then be used to send unwelcome visitors to Sunnydale and would not therefore have to be permanently guarded.
"If we don't come straight back then close it down," ordered Willow. "If we want you to keep it open one of us will come back straight away."
Those left behind would power the Stargate up again for an hour every day when everybody left behind would be present to guard against unwanted visitors. If those who went to the other world needed to come back via the Stargate they would dial at the appropriate time.
If time was different on the other world or if the travellers simply lost track of time they would keep dialling until they got a connection. In an emergency or otherwise if convenient Willow and Tara would create a portal back to Earth with the help of the Earth dialling code.
The team to go through the Stargate was Willow, Tara, Xander, Angel, Kennedy and Gwen. The plan was for Angel and Xander to be dressed like Jaffa, with fake tattoos and for the women to pretend to be captured witches. This subterfuge was unlikely to last more than a very brief time but would hopefully give them enough of an edge to enable them to surprise the people operating the Gate on the other side.
Not everybody agreed that it was a good idea for Angel to come with them: "We might have to spend time out in the sunshine," pointed out Xander. "Angel can't do that. He could hold us up while we wait for the sun to go down."
"Marduk's base is indoors from what the prisoners say," said Angel. "It's inside his Operating Base Unit whatever that is, so no problem about me being with you there. If I have to stay at the base or come back here afterwards then so be it but I think you'll need me." I certainly think Buffy, Faith and Cordy will need me Angel thought but anyway I'm not staying behind, whatever Xander Harris might think.
"Angel comes with us," said Willow, emphasising her position as leader. She was well aware of Xander's opinion of Angel from way back but her opinion had always been very different. Having Angel along improved their chances of rescuing Buffy and that was that.
"Amy, Anya, Dawn and Gunn will remain on guard here whenever the Gate is powered up," said Willow. "They can shut down the Gate if anybody unwelcome comes through. The stasis spell that we've set up will automatically operate on anybody who comes through without one of our amulets."
"And I can use this piece to stun if there's anyone who isn't affected by the spell," said Gunn holding up one of the captured Zat guns.
"Everybody ready?" asked Willow looking around the assembled group after Angel and Xander finished putting on their Jaffa robes. Everybody agreed. "Then dial up the Gate," she ordered and Dawn began doing just that.
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Buffy knew they couldn't keep this up much longer. Sooner or later somebody would realise that they were not the technicians they were pretending to be. Buffy and Drusilla had been able to find a room with a selection of clothes and had disguised themselves as members of the crew of the space vessel. The occupants of the vessel seemed to come in all shapes and sizes so finding something suitable had not been difficult.
Thankfully there were maps of the various decks at the main intersecting corridors. Although they could not read the writing next to them the diagrams were clear enough for them to orient themselves. The vessel was enormous but at least it was logically laid out.
After some exploring conducted whilst trying to give the impression that they were busy and off somewhere on important business they found their way back to the main communication centre where the ship's Stargate was located.
The communications centre was a large area, like an aircraft hanger which in a way it was because the original purpose of the area was most likely a launch bay for the small alien looking planes that were parked at one end.
At the other end were the Stargate and the ramp leading up to it. In front of the Stargate were various control consoles with about a half dozen technicians. The person in charge of the Gate operation seemed to be a Jaffa seated in a high chair to one side of the technicians.
Also present and of particular interest to Buffy and Drusilla were a group of eight Jaffa guards. They were stood in a group on guard and each of them held upright a long pole weapon of the type already familiar to Buffy. They seemed to be on standby to deal with any unwelcome arrivals through the Stargate.
"And just what exactly are you two doing?" asked a deep voice from behind them. The two women turned around to find that the voice belonged to a tall solid looking Jaffa in a long red robe. "In fact who exactly are you?"
Drusilla responded quickly before the slayer went into fighting mode and attracted unwelcome attention from all sides. She took half a pace forward towards the Jaffa, looked up into his eyes and put her hand on his cheek. "Look into my eyes," she commanded quietly and the Jaffa quietly complied. "You know us," she added in her most seductive manner whilst putting her other hand on his shoulder.
Her influence on the Jaffa was immediate. "I know you," he repeated.
"You know why we're here," Drusilla continued.
"I know why you're here," the Jaffa repeated.
"You need to help us when we need it," said Drusilla.
"I need to help you when you need it," agreed the Jaffa.
"But for the moment you should leave us alone," said Drusilla.
"But for the moment I should leave you alone," said the Jaffa who then turned and walked away.
Buffy gave Drusilla a curious look. "Well who would have guessed, Obi-Wan Drusilla," said Buffy. "Guess that explains a few of the things you did back in Sunnydale," added Buffy bringing a few bitter memories to mind. She forced her mind back to more immediate concerns. "Now what we need to do is find some way to go through that Stargate, go through to the right place that is."
Buffy was interrupted by a loud speaker announcement from one of the technicians. "Connection established. Incoming wormhole." As the technician said this, the fluid type wave surged out from the Stargate and settled back to a flat, watery curtain in the Gate.
"He's coming!" said Drusilla suddenly, grabbing hold of Buffy's arm. "He's coming!"
A fine time for a relapse back to the old insane Drusilla thought Buffy. "Who's coming?" she hissed at Drusilla.
"Angel!" said Drusilla. "It's Angel, he's coming, he's coming now!"
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"I'm afraid there is no civilian transport north at the moment," said Susa. "With this new offensive by Marduk there are no trains or carriages going that way. North leads straight to the front line."
Susa explained that at the time of the current Goa'uld attack there had been a brief interruption in contact with the Kallistien capital. This had been because of a synchronised attack on the capital which had caused the witches there to be otherwise occupied.
Susa explained that the witches had regular contact with their main HQ in their capital city Demantine way to the north. The contact, in a society without radio, was via the witch covens who would send messages to each other.
"Contact has been restored but travel is disrupted," Susa explained. "Marduk holds the southern part of the northern continent and he's also recently taken over some of the northern coastal areas of the southern continent. He's between us and Demantine. We're in the southern continent so you might have to cross the ocean to find your Mr Giles."
"I could orb us back to our entry portal and we could return to Earth," offered Jenny. "Once there we could ask the witches to open another portal to somewhere else on Kallistien."
"That'll all take time," said Eve. "And we might find ourselves worse off than we are now. We might be farther away from Giles and we might end up in the hands of these Goa'uld if we come out in the wrong place."
"I'm not sure it would work anyway," said Wesley. "I don't know if the Devon Coven could open another portal to somewhere else on Kallistien. Logically if they use the same spell it'll open the same portal. Any experimenting might send us to some other world entirely."
"Well there's no air travel here," said Jenny, "except for the Goa'uld. Teleportation all the way to the capital would take a lot more magic power than I've seen here, even if the witches could spare it. Anyway even if we went straight to Demantine we might find we'd gone too far north. We'll just have to sneak through the Goa'uld area."
"I could take you some of the way," offered Susa. "We still have people active in the Goa'uld occupied area. I'm sure they'll help. Anyway I think you'll have to go into the Goa'uld held area to find your Mr Giles. I'm sure it's the Goa'uld who kidnapped him, not any of our witches."
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Wesley, Jenny and Eve made their way to the local Kallistien HQ building and into the large room set aside for the use of the local witches' coven. Waiting inside were six witches: five to send the travellers on their way and Susa who would be travelling some of the way with them.
The four travellers took their place in the circle formed by the five witches. The witches now lit the candles surrounding the circle and then sat down cross-legged on the floor. The burning candles soon provided a pungent smell. Clearly these were not regular candles because as the witches began to chant they each became the source of a dense column of smoke.
Soon everybody in the room was breathing in the smoke but it did not cause any coughing. It did however restrict visibility. Soon the smoke had formed into a thick, opaque wall surrounding the circle. Nothing now was visible to the travellers except each other and the smoke walls on all sides of them including above and below.
Gradually the smoke faded away and the travellers found themselves in a different room altogether, one already occupied by two other people, a man and a woman.
"Is that the usual way you teleport?" asked Wesley. "Because I haven't seen it done that way before." That wasn't the way they teleported back in the forest he thought.
"It depends on the distance and the strength of the witch coven," said Susa. "Anyway doing it this way is safer because their witches will find it harder to detect."
"We're in the small village of Hamindale," continued Susa. "It's not far from the north coast." She now introduced the three Earth people to Jacimo and Illis, the people who were waiting for them.
"This is as far as I can go," said Susa. "I've got to wait here until the coven are ready to take me back. Jacimo and Illis will guide you in whatever direction you need to go."
"Still north I'm afraid," replied Jenny. "But you don't need to wait for the coven. I can take you back straight away."
Jenny orbed back to the HQ building with Susa and then returned. In the meantime Wesley and Eve had been talking to Jacimo and Illis.
"The coast is only a couple of miles north of here," Wesley explained to Jenny. "There's a bay there where we can get a boat to cross the ocean to the northern continent."
"A sailboat!" said Eve. "Steam engines haven't yet reached these parts."
"And how long will all this take?" asked Jenny.
Wesley turned to Jacimo. "About fifteen days," said Jacimo, "if you're good sailors."
"If we're good sailors?" asked Eve. "You mean we've got to do the sailing?"
"We can't spare anybody to go with you," said Illis. "There and back will take at least 30 days, more if the winds are bad."
"I've done a little sailing in the Solent," said Wesley remembering a few boyhood trips and imagining himself as the captain of a small sailing ship.
Eve was unimpressed and looked at Jenny who shrugged.
"I've got a better idea," said Eve turning to Illis. "Where's the nearest Goa'uld base?"
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Expecting some sort of attack by Angel and maybe others, through the Stargate Buffy and Drusilla wandered closer to the Gate. They positioned themselves out of sight behind some parked vehicles. They were still close to the Jaffa who were on guard and the man in charge in his high chair. If an attack did develop they intended being in a position to disrupt any defence.
At first the new arrivals coming through the Stargate looked to be a Jaffa followed by a group of women with another Jaffa at the back. However Buffy quickly began to recognise faces and almost giggled when she realised that Xander was the second 'Jaffa'.
"What's been going on over there!" demanded the Jaffa commander. "Why have you been out of contact? Wait a minute, who are you? You're not..." At that point things began to happen quickly starting with Buffy rushing forward and tipping the commander's chair over and him with it.
Still accelerating and followed closely by Drusilla, Buffy screamed a loud whoop as a distraction and barrelled into the back of the group of Jaffa. She sent two of them flying face down onto the floor at the foot of the ramp leading to the Stargate, losing their staff weapons in the process. The others were sufficiently distracted by the attack that nobody fired before Angel and Kennedy joined Buffy and Drusilla in attacking them.
Both Angel and Drusilla changed to vampire face as they attacked, startling their opponents but neither attempted to use their fangs. They joined the slayers in a fury of kicking and punching, making sure that the Jaffa had no chance to bring their weapons to bear.
Gwen stayed away from the hand to hand fighting and concentrated on sending small electrical bolts into the various technicians and others present, carefully avoiding damaging the equipment. These bolts, together with stun shots by Xander using his Zat gun swiftly disabled all the non-combatants including the fallen commander who was knocked down by a Zat blast from Xander before he could pull out his own gun from his belt.
Willow and Tara took no part in the combat, not even to cast a freeze spell but instead got clear of the Stargate and, hand in hand, stood ready to react to any new threat. At this stage they had decided only to use magic if really needed. Once the fighting was over they would look to disable, but not damage the Stargate.
The Jaffa had no chance. Attacked in front by a slayer and a vampire and in back by another slayer and another vampire they were rapidly dealt with. For a brief moment everything was quiet as Angel gave Buffy a quick hug. Then an alarm began to sound.
"Everybody back through the gate!" ordered Buffy, "before any more Jaffa arrive."
"What about Cordy and Faith?" asked Tara. "We've got to find them."
"They're all right, they're safe," replied Buffy, or they were last I saw them she thought.
"Can't we just leave the building?" asked Angel. "If we move fast, before they can recover? They'll be ready for us if we try to come through the Stargate again later to get Cordy and Faith."
"No need," said Buffy. "There's a better way. Anyway we can't go outside."
"Because the sun's shining out there?" said Xander. I knew it he thought. Angel's going to hold us up.
"Because we're on a space ship," replied Buffy stunning Xander. "And no, we don't have time to find a window and look out," continued Buffy quite correctly reading Xander's mind.
"Everybody back, now!" said Buffy forcefully. But it was too late. The watery curtain on the inside of the Stargate suddenly disappeared. In accordance with the plan, Dawn had now disconnected the Stargate from the other end and would not power it up again until the next day. At that moment a door opened halfway down the long side wall of the hanger area and armed Jaffa began to pour through.