Chapter Fifty Eight: Plans and Preparations
"How can it be Lilah doing all this? She's back on Earth isn't she?" asked Wesley.
"Is she?" asked Cordelia. "How do we know that? Magic brought us here. She has magic users working for her at Wolfram and Hart. She could have got here the same way."
"We don't know for sure she's still on Earth. But we're cut off here with the Gates not working and everything. If Lilah's got anything to do with that I don't think she'd cut herself off at the same time," said Wesley. "Lilah's not one to put herself in any sort of danger if she can avoid it. She'll be back on Earth pulling the strings."
"I'm just saying this whole business has got Lilah Morgan and Wolfram and Hart all over it," said Cordelia. "Who else would want to maroon us all on another world? Who else would set up all sorts of traps and dangers to keep us busy? We know Wolfram and Hart are active on this world. And how did the Goa'uld find out about magic portals and all that if not from Wolfram and Hart?"
"From what little Tara had time to say to me I think Lilah's still back on Earth," said Willow. "She can't be in two places at once."
"Can't she?" asked Gwen. "Maybe she's got her own private Gate or portal somewhere and she's keeping it open somehow. I thought anything was possible with magic."
"Not quite anything," said Willow. "Magic has rules like anything else. If we can't use magic to make a portal back to Earth then her people must be having just as much trouble."
"But you guys haven't tried to open up a portal lately have you?" said Gwen. "It might not be as hard as you think."
"That's something we'll find out when we're ready to leave," said Willow. "No point in making a major effort until then. It'll just be a waste of energy."
"Wesley has studied the way magic works longer than anybody else here," said Cordelia turning to him. "If you wanted to be in two places at once, on two worlds at once, how would you do it?"
"There might be a way," said Wesley thoughtfully. "The first thing I'd need would be a surrogate."
"A surrogate?" asked Gwen. "What's that?"
"It's a who rather than a what," said Wesley. "Magically speaking it's somebody who can be primed to take on the personality and knowledge of another. Somebody who would not necessarily know what they were doing but who at certain moments would carry out the intentions of the original person. Maybe somebody who has worked with Lilah and Wolfram and Hart in the past."
With one accord everybody turned and looked suspiciously at Eve.
"Wrong!" said Eve. "Totally wrong! I'm not Lilah Morgan. I'm not even a pretend Lilah Morgan. You guys will never give it up will you? No matter how much I help you, you still try to blame me for every thing you don't understand."
"There's somebody else here who was working magic long before Wesley Oh-So-Nice was even born," said Anya, annoyed to have been overlooked. "If you think all magic is bound by rules then you know nothing. All you need to remember is the greater the power the fewer the rules. If Wolfram and Hart really want to do something, like destroy the world or even the universe then there are no rules. It just depends on whether they have the power."
"I'm not sure that's right," began Willow.
"How about we get back to thinking about Lilah Morgan and Eve," interrupted Cordelia. "Even if she's not Lilah by another name she's been in the right place at the right time. She could have opened this Hellmouth and shut down the Stargates. There have been a few times when none of us were with her. She had the opportunity."
"Did I? And exactly how could I have opened a Hellmouth?" asked Eve. "Do you think it's in the Wolfram and Hart how-to-do book? Chapter One: How to open a Hellmouth. Chapter Two: How to take over the world. Chapter Three: How to destroy the Universe. Oh yeah, opening a Hellmouth. Who couldn't do that? And if it's so easy why couldn't one of you have done it? Why couldn't Cordy have done it? Or black magic Willow? Or any one of a half hundred witches on this world, most of whom you've never even met."
"Maybe you didn't know what you were doing?" suggested Gwen. "You don't know what Lilah might have done to you while you were still at Wolfram and Hart. You might have done it but not remember what you did?"
"What about this amulet then?" asked Eve holding out the amulet that she still wore on a chain around her neck. "Wouldn't this have been compromised? It's still working isn't it? It's still protecting me from being taken over by somebody else?"
Eve's last question was directed to Willow who focused her attention on the amulet which she had made herself with Tara's help.
"Yes it is. That rules out any involuntary actions but it doesn't mean you haven't been working against us of your own free will," said Willow. "You might not be Lilah's surrogate but that doesn't mean you're not acting as her agent."
"Well, well, well," said Eve with a sudden change of tone. "All the time I've been with you people I've done nothing against you. I've done nothing to help your enemies and everything to help you but you still don't trust me. Thanks very much."
"It's not that we don't trust you..." began Wesley.
"Oh no," said Cordelia. "It's exactly that we don't trust you."
To the surprise of everybody else Eve's face now broke out in a wide smile. "I don't have time for any more games with you people. At least you've started to work out that you've got a problem. You've come up with pretty well all the wrong answers but hey, keep trying. You might get there eventually. I'll see you around, maybe."
And with that, to the surprise of everybody present, Eve disappeared, in fact she orbed away. It wasn't quite the same as when Tara or one of the other Whitelighters orbed but it was similar enough to make them all think.
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As Sam Carter entered the Kallistien Witch HQ she was depressed and lost in thought. She was going to have to tell Daniel and Teal'c what had happened to Jack and she was working out the best way to break it to them. Just come right out with it she told herself. What else could she do?
She could hardly believe he was gone, after all they had been through together. Sam was aware that the sense of loss had not yet really hit her, maybe because she hadn't seen a body and some part of her still thought Jack was alive and well somewhere out there as he always had been before.
Busy, got to keep busy thought Sam. If I let this get to me now I won't be of any use to anybody. There are people depending on me to get them home. They'll be time to deal with this once we're back home. But of course things won't be as simple as that she thought. They never were.
Still lost in thought as she walked up the stairs Sam turned and started up the next flight and nearly walked into a man coming the other way. The man dodged aside at the last moment.
"Hey Sam," said Daniel. "Remember me?"
Sam looked up in surprise. She was pleased to see Daniel at last and forced a smile. She gathered herself to give him the bad news. If Teal'c wasn't in the building she would have to contact him when she reached the SG Communication Center upstairs so that she could tell him about what had happened.
"Daniel, I've got something to tell you..." she began only to be interrupted by Daniel.
"Whatever it is perhaps you could wait and tell Jack at the same time," said Daniel. "That way you only have to go through it once."
"Jack? Jack's alive? He's here? How?" asked a puzzled and delighted Sam. This time her smile wasn't forced.
"Yup he's alive. He spoke to the people at our main base but you'd already left," said Daniel.
"Wait a minute. Did the self-destruct on the ship work? Is that why Jack made it? Is the ship still likely to hit? Although by now..." said a still puzzled Sam.
"Yes, the ship was destroyed, it blew up. It's not going to hit the city. As for how Jack got here, don't bother to work it out logically," said Daniel. "This time it seems we really do have somebody up there looking out for us, a real honest to goodness guardian angel. Or at least Jack does."
"OK Daniel, just explain what happened and please leave out all the mystical bits," said Sam.
"I'm not sure I can. Anyway it's Jack's story, well Jack and Tara. He'll explain it to you when you see him," replied Daniel.
"Tara? So that's how he got out. Tara orbed in and grabbed him," said Sam.
"That's right but there's still a mystery about it," said Daniel. "Tara says she only usually hears a call for help from one of the witches she deals with."
"Jack's a witch?" said Sam.
"No, that's not it, or not according to Tara," said Daniel. "And Jack didn't call for help, not in the way witches do anyway. He was surprised to see her."
"I'll bet he was. So if she didn't hear a call for help how did she know he needed help? How did she know where he was? I don't suppose it was all a coincidence and she was just orbing up there for some other reason?" asked Sam.
"No it wasn't that. As you know Tara's been on the ship before so she could orb up there. But she thinks the local 'Powers That Be' took a hand and sent her a message that she was needed," said Daniel.
"The 'Powers That Be?' The powers that be what?" asked Sam.
Daniel shrugged: "I have no idea," he said. "You'll have to talk to Tara about that. Anyway Tara just got back from Earth..."
"The Gates?" asked Sam. "Do you mean they're working now?"
"Afraid not. They're still out of commission," said Daniel. "She came back some other way. Something of a long way round from what I can gather. Which I won't tell you about unless you change your mind about the mystical bits. But she thinks she knows why the Gates aren't working."
"In that case I need to talk to her as soon as I can," said Sam. "Maybe it's something I can fix. But before I do that you've got to tell me everything that happened on your trip to the past."
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"Tell me about it. I know the feeling. You want to go out and slay something, anything," said Connor.
Buffy looked at Connor and nodded. "Things are always much simpler when you can solve all your problems with a sword or a short wooden stick," she said. "Yeah, I could do with cutting a few heads off right now."
The problem at issue was getting Dawn back. After the return of Tara who had explained the current situation Buffy had changed her mind about going to the new Hellmouth. All sorts of problems were now receiving attention and there was at least the beginning of a plan for dealing with the Goa'uld and restoring the Stargates to working order. But as yet nobody had any idea of how to get Dawn back or even to find out exactly where or when she had gone.
"But it was never like that was it?" said Xander. "The slayer I remember always dealt with the big issues by using her intelligence, not by just charging in and killing."
"Slaying!" said Buffy. "Slaying! I don't kill people, I slay vampires and demons. There's a difference. And yes, we always had a plan. Well we usually had a plan. Well sometimes we had a plan but the slaying always helped. If you see anything slayworthy let me know."
"Let's examine the problem from the beginning," said Giles. "Perhaps that will help us to work out a solution."
"It'll also help us understand everything that's happening," said Angel. "Things have become rather hectic since Tara appeared with Jack."
"OK first point. Where is everybody and what are they doing right now?" asked Buffy. "This place suddenly looks almost empty with just us here."
"The Halliwells have gone to talk to the local witches to show them how to do the anti-Goa'uld spell after we've left," said Giles. "Now that Tara's explained how the spell will isolate Kallistien again the Halliwells can't do it themselves without being trapped here by their own magic and the power of the Key. They're hoping the massed power of the Kallistien witches will be at least as strong as the Power of Three."
"Faith and Drusilla have taken Lissie to a military base a few miles away so that she can do whatever it is she needs to do with the Key without interference from all the magic around here," said Xander. "When she's ready the Kallistien witches will join her and do the spell from there."
"Jack and Daniel are rounding up their people ready to leave before the spell is done," said Angel. "They should be able to do that pretty quickly by using the Goa'uld transport rings. They're also calling in the crews of the shuttles they've still got up in space. They're going to get all their people to the on-planet Stargate. If we still can't get it to work we move onto plan B."
"And everybody else is at the hotel watching that local Hellmouth," said Giles.
"Oh and I think Tara's orbing around all over the place making sure everybody knows what's going on," said Angel.
"While we're left sitting here wondering what to do," said Connor.
"We're here trying to work out how to get Dawn back," said Buffy. "And as far as I'm concerned that's the most important job of all."
"Wait a minute, what exactly is Plan B? Suppose the Gate still won't work. What happens next? asked Xander. "It's all very well asking the Kallistians to do the 'get-rid-of-the-Goa'uld' spell after we've gone but we're still here and we can't be sure we'll be able to leave."
"Yes, I think I missed that bit as well," said Buffy.
"Well although it's very difficult it does still seem possible to open magic portals if you have enough magic power," said Giles.
"Yes, Willow and Phoebe did get us off that other Goa'uld ship," said Buffy. "But that was only a short hop compared to getting us all the way back home."
"As I understand it, if the Gate remains off line, the plan is that when everybody is ready to go, all our witches: Willow, Tara, Cordy, Anya, the Halliwells, everybody, will work together to try to open up a portal back to Earth," said Giles. "Between them they might just be able to do it."
"And if the magic doesn't work properly and all that wonderful magic power can't get through?" asked Conner sourly, as usual not convinced of the wisdom of relying on magic.
"Then it's plan C I guess and we'll have a fun filled trip back through a gazillion different hell dimensions, going back the way Tara came," said Xander. "That should make you happy. Plenty of demons and things to kill."
"OK, back to the original point. How do we get Dawn back?" asked Buffy.
"Not just how but when do we get Dawn back?" replied Giles. "If we succeed in bringing Dawn back now it might bounce Lissie straight back to where she came from. Without Lissie here to activate and control the Key the Kallistien witches won't be able to do the anti-Goa'uld spell."
"But if Dawn comes back here after the spell is done she'll be stuck here and won't be able to get home," said Connor. "It won't matter if she comes back on her own or if she's brought back by the local witches, she still won't be able to leave this world."
"If that happens then I'll be stuck here with her," said Buffy. "I'm not leaving without Dawn."
"And if Dawn finds her own way back to Earth with you stuck here?" asked Giles.
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The stopping of the force pulling the Goa'uld spaceships back towards the planet was sudden and complete. One moment the fleet was straining its engines in an unsuccessful effort to resist the power acting on the ships and the next those same engines, with no force to pull against, were propelling the fleet at high speed in the opposite direction away from the planet.
After waiting awhile to see if the force would start up again Apophis ordered his fleet to halt while he considered his options. At the same time he ordered a check on the Stargates to see if they were now working. This check showed that all of the gates were still non functional. Apophis now called a meeting of his most senior advisors.
To start with Apophis kept his own counsel. He decided not to reveal his own thoughts until the end of the meeting. He did not want to be told what his advisors thought he wanted to hear. He wanted their analysis of what was happening and what to do next.
The majority opinion was that Apophis should cut his losses and leave the system. Get out while the going was good and while he still had his fleet. There were still captive magic users aboard the flagship and they would prove to be a long term asset, so the expedition was not a complete loss. In the long term Apophis would be stronger.
The second most popular view was exactly the opposite. To leave now would be to retreat. There was no way this could be concealed from other Goa'uld lords who would be encouraged to attack Apophis in the belief that he had been weakened. It might even prompt an alliance of jackals seeking to dismember Apophis's empire. There were a lot of other Goa'uld with a score to settle against Apophis and they might see this as their best chance.
This minority view proposed that Apophis should continue on towards the planet and complete the conquest of it. If there was any reactivation of whatever it was that had been pulling in the fleet all ships should fire off their missiles towards the point of origin of the force in the capital city in order to destroy it and make sure it could not be used again. Yes, the Tau'ri had captured a Goa'uld ship to use against them but it could not stop the entire fleet.
Apophis's temperament was strongly against any retreat, something which all his advisors were well aware of. The fact that so many of them had proposed just that gave Apophis pause. Some of his people were clearly rattled by what they did not understand, by magic. Perhaps he should after all retreat and have his people study this business of magic before risking any further confrontation with it?
No! Apophis decided emphatically. This was his opportunity. Go forward or go back, retreat and crumble or attack and triumph. That was the way the universe worked. That was how he had reached his present position of power. A world of magic users was too great a prize to give up on now.
Anyway his enemies the Tau'ri were present on the world. They had formed an alliance with the Kallistien witches and now had the assistance of many powerful magic users. If he just left the planet behind he would allow his enemies to consolidate their position. By the time he next faced them they would be even more formidable than they were now. They would certainly publicise their success in driving his fleet away.
Apophis gave his orders. The fleet was to advance on the planet. The planet was to be subdued and all resistance destroyed. If there was any resumption of the force drawing his ships down to the planet every ship was to fire off its full supply of missiles at the origin of the force. Otherwise ground forces should be directed towards the point of origin in order to investigate it and see if it could be captured and used by Apophis himself.
There was one exception to the orders given by Apophis. His own flagship would remain in its present distant location to allow him to observe what happened. Just in case things went wrong the flagship would be ready to leave the area at a moment's notice carrying Apophis and all of the captive magic users away to Apophis's home planet.