Chapter Sixty Two: A Little Clearer
Everything in the SGC was unusually quiet. Well not so unusual really because it was some time since the Stargate had been working. General Hammond had made sure that a proper level of alert was maintained but the usual hustle and bustle of SG teams coming and going had come to a halt. The SG teams which had been on Earth when the shutdown came were mostly off base at the moment and so were a lot of the back up staff.
The General had taken the opportunity to catch up on his paper work but even that was now up to date. It was too early to have heard back from the space ships which had been sent out to re-establish contact with the offworld bases. That left General Hammond only one thing in his in-tray: worry.
Not for the first time he told himself there was no point in worrying about those who were stranded off world like SG-1. Nobody would yet be desperate for supplies on the uninhabited worlds. And as for SG-1, well he'd been through similar uncertainties many times before and they had always come through. No, his worries were all back here on Earth.
The General had already heard the first whispers of what would eventually become a chorus of shouts if things didn't change: What was the point of sinking so much money and resources into a project which no longer worked? Hammond's main problems were, as so often before, all domestic and political. Of course they came from the usual sources.
Stage two would soon start. There would be 'suggestions' that the current SG command had messed things up in some way and a change of regime would 'sort things out' and provide a 'new direction'. That was the traditional military and political way of doing things anyway.
If the Army or in this case the Air Force lost a battle they usually sacked the General in charge. It might be the General's fault, it might not, but hey, it'll make everybody feel better. It'll make everybody think something is being done, rather like appointing a new coach at a football team. The new appointee might be better, or he might not. But everybody would have to watch their backs for a while, especially as a new chief would bring in quite a few of his own people.
At that moment Hammond's musing was interrupted by the phone on his desk ringing. It was Sergeant Davis. The General listened to the message before replying: "In the Gate Room...? You've called Doctor Frasier...? OK, I'll see her in the Infirmary."
The General put the phone down and left the room. He actually arrived in the Infirmary before the doctor but she was there a few moments later along with a stretcher team who had care of an unconscious woman. They placed the woman onto a bed and the General waited until the doctor carried out her examination.
The call from Sergeant Davis had informed the General of the sudden appearance of the woman in the Gate Room. No sooner had she materialised than she had collapsed before uttering a word. Finally the doctor walked over to the General to report.
"She just materialised in the Gate room," said Frasier. "She didn't come through the Gate, she just appeared in the room from nowhere. I'm afraid she's not carrying any ID."
"That's alright, I know who she is," said Hammond. "Or rather I know where she comes from. I've met her before but I don't remember her name. We should have her on record somewhere because she visited the SGC a few days ago."
"So she's not from off world?" asked Frasier. "She does seem to be completely human."
"No, she's not from off world," said Hammond. "She's one of the people I saw when I was in Sunnydale. One of the people who have the other Stargate in their house. Is she going to be alright?"
"So far I can't find anything wrong with her," said Frasier. "I have to do some more tests. But if I had to guess I'd say she's just exhausted. I suppose teleportation takes it out of you."
"How long before she wakes up?" asked Hammond.
"It could be several hours, maybe even a couple of days," said Fraiser. "Unless we're dealing with some sort of magic affect in which case your guess is as good as mine."
"Keep me informed," ordered Hammond. "I need to contact our people in Sunnydale."
General Hammond turned to go and do just that but as he did so the alarm sounded followed by the familiar announcement: "Unscheduled Offworld Activation!" Somebody had found a way to get the Stargate to work.
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Nobody had any idea what had happened, not Lissie, not the other Dawn look-alikes and certainly not anybody else. The best anybody could come up with was the Key was acting very strangely and presumably had something to do with what was going on. So far as anybody could tell only those who were Keepers of the Key had been affected.
But then Prue had had a thought: "This can't be a co-incidence," she said. "Tara has told us the universe or rather the Multiverse, is being bent out of shape at the moment. This marvellous Key is independent of time and space so it must be linked to the Multiverse in some way. I bet the Key is misbehaving because of what's happening to the universe as a whole. The Multiverse isn't working properly so the Key's not working properly either."
"So until we get home and straighten everything out, things won't get back to normal," said Phoebe. "Well that figures. All we've got to do then is put all the universes back into their proper shapes. Why do they always give us the easy jobs?"
"I think something else is going on," said Faith who was standing next to the sisters, like them watching the rather animated discussion going on between the Dawn look-alikes. "Whatever Tara thinks I can't believe what we did back in Sunnydale a few months ago is behind all this. Come on, think about it. Hellmouths have been opening and closing for a long time. Why should one Hellmouth in one little town on one small planet in one of many universes cause everything to go kablooey?"
"One little pressure valve seizing up can cause a whole engine or a whole ship to blow up," said Drusilla. "Maybe that's what's happening now."
"Maybe," said Faith, still not convinced. "Or maybe there are some terrorists out there somewhere who are making it look like that. Maybe Wolfram and Hart or a few of their friends are playing us. It wouldn't be the first time."
"But Tara said her elders had checked it out," said Phoebe.
"Hah, you've been watching too many old movies," said Faith. "The good guys aren't always smarter than the bad guys. Not in real life. Anyway you know more about those guys upstairs than I do. Do they always get it right?"
Prue and Phoebe exchanged glances.
"Not every time no," said Prue.
"So there may be more going on than even they know about," said Faith. "And anyway if the elders are some sort of angel what about fallen angels? Don't those guys sometimes change sides? Trust nobody, that's my motto, not even if they've got wings."
"You might be right but whatever happens we've got to leave soon anyway," said Prue. "If the Key is malfunctioning I don't think there's anything we can do about it here. If Lissie doesn't understand it, and she comes from a long line of keepers, what chance have we got of figuring it out before we have to leave? And if everything's connected then the sooner we get back home and sort things out there the sooner things will return to normal everywhere."
The discussion between Lissie and the other Dawn look-alikes was now becoming even more animated. Several were trying to speak at the same time and there was a lot of arm waving going on. Clearly they had not yet reached an agreement about what to do next. The Key itself was no longer visible. The green glow had quickly faded soon after the Earth women had entered the room. It had reappeared once a short time later when yet another Keeper had materialised but it had then faded again.
At that moment Paige orbed into the room. She wasn't alone. She had brought a Kallistien witch with her. "Time to go," she announced. "We've just run out of time."
"So we just leave them to get on with it?" asked Faith.
"It's their planet," said Phoebe shrugging. "When they all get together they've probably got more magic power that we do."
"Ninnay here will be the liaison between the Keepers and the Kallistian Central Coven," said Paige. "She'll keep an eye on things here. But we've got to go."
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In the end it all happened in a rush. Sam finally succeeded in dialling up a connection to the SGC Stargate. At first she had insisted on trying to recalibrate the Stargate settings without any magical assistance from Tara. But after several failed attempts she had to concede that she was just guessing as to the right settings and time was moving on. She therefore agreed that Tara should carry out a good luck spell before she tried again.
Thus it was that Sam's next attempt, the successful attempt, to recalibrate and then dial home, was carried out while she, Tara and the Stargate were contained within one of Tara's magic circles and after a really very simply good luck incantation.
If Sam had not witnessed the all too real impact of magic spells before she would have put the whole thing down to chance and not believed that Tara's spell had played any part. After all SG-1 had beaten the odds any number of times in the past. But, she conceded to herself, maybe this time they wouldn't have made it without the magical help.
Sam was unsure as to how long the connection would last. If the universe continued to distort, the connection could be broken at any moment. Yes, she would then try to get another connection but by her calculations there would come a point, sooner or later, when the distortion was so bad the Gate network would simply no longer work at all. The physical universe in which the Gate network was situated, would have changed too much.
Sam had explained all this to Jack, Tara and Daniel as she worked: "As soon as I get a connection, if I get a connection, everybody has to go through as quickly as they can. This might be a one shot deal so anybody who misses out might be stuck here permanently. You've got to round everybody up and get them here now."
Ideally everybody would have been at the Gate ready to go through it as soon as it was open. But that's not the way things worked out. People were still scattered all over. Most of the SGC people were present but Teal'c and the shuttle crews were still on their way. Sam could have delayed what she was doing until everybody was present but that would risk not ever being able to get a connection at all. Jack had agreed that she should press ahead. Better that somebody gets away than nobody does they had reasoned.
As the wave of the wormhole washed out from the Gate Jack sent the SG-1 ID signal to the SGC to make sure that the iris was opened. Meanwhile Tara had already orbed away to help round up everybody. Fortunately she arrived at the hotel Hellmouth just after Paige arrived so she was able to get Paige's help in orbing everybody to the Gate. From then on everybody had been quickly gathered up by the Whitelighters shuttling to and from the Gate to get everyone there with the least possible delay.
Jack sent Daniel through first together with the SGC personnel gathered at the Gate. As others arrived they were sent through with Jack and Sam staying until the end. Willow too insisted on remaining behind until Tara had completed her part of the in-gathering. Together they joined Jack and Sam as the last group to enter the Gate.
The SG people left their communications equipment behind for the Kallistians to use. The officer commanding the Kallistien unit that had been detailed to guard the Gate watched the final group of Earth people leave following which the connection was broken. In all it had taken just over a half hour. The officer now radioed a message through to the Witch HQ informing them that all of the Earth people had left. The only thing now stopping the Kallistians from carrying out the Goa'uld expulsion spell was the go ahead from the Keepers that they could activate the Key appropriately.
A figure in the darkness of a nearby alleyway had also watched the entire departure process. When the exodus was complete and the wormhole connection had closed the woman turned away, unconcerned about the darkness and walked slowly away deep in thought.
"I wouldn't if I were you," said a female voice from behind her.
Glory turned to see that she had once again been joined by her look-alike. She smiled. "I thought you were me?" she asked.
The other Glory smiled back with exactly the same smile. "Not exactly," said the other Glory. "There are a multitude of us in different parts of the Multiverse but we're all a little different."
"So how different are you?" asked the first Glory. "And why shouldn't I take this Gate? I think it'll be very useful."
"It won't work back in your world," said the other Glory. "It's been tried. The Stargates never work in a Hell Dimension. And if you're planning on staying here you might as well leave it where it is."
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The latest tremor was the strongest so far and for the first time pieces of furniture toppled over. But there was no visible damage to the building itself. In the road outside the Sunnydale Slayer HQ the damage was more dramatic as a line of cracks opened up all along the street and an old tree on the corner crashed to the ground.
Back inside the building Lilah used the latest bout of shaking to push her agenda: "Now will you believe me?" she asked. "We're running out of time. You've got to let my people in here to help open up the new Hellmouth. Much more of this and we'll all be dead."
Lilah had come to the Slayer HQ after the start of the latest series of quakes. She had explained that her people were all ready. What was needed was for the Whitelighters and others in the Slayer HQ to join in the ritual for opening the Hellmouth. Now was the time she insisted.
"Let's get one thing straight," said Gunn. "We don't trust you. We'll never trust you. You've done something with Amy. She should have been back long before now. And you've blocked off the town from all contact with the outside world."
"I haven't done anything with Amy," protested Lilah. I would have done she thought but I can't find her. "And I haven't cut contact with the outside world. That's just part of the set up for what we've got to do. It's part of what's happening, not something that I've done. I wouldn't know how to stop Whitelighters doing whatever it is they do."
The second protest was a lie. Lilah's people and her allies had indeed isolated the town, but Gunn and the others didn't need to know that. Both sides needed to have representatives take part in the Hellmouth opening ritual if it was going to work properly. But keeping the present occupants of the HQ from receiving any magical or other help would allow Lilah and her people to take the lead and keep the upper hand. Yes, the Hellmouth would be opened either way but what came next was even more important.
"You don't think I'm causing these quakes as well do you?" continued Lilah sarcastically. If I could do something like that I wouldn't have had so much trouble dealing with you people the past few years."
"Go and get your people," said Fred. "While you're doing that we'll decide whether to let you in. But don't even think of forcing your way in. You wouldn't make it. This place has got protections you couldn't even imagine and Willow would love for someone to try them out."
She's got to take that seriously thought Fred. Everybody knows how powerful Willow is. Anyway if half of what Willow said about the magical defences is true we don't have to worry about them breaking in.
Gunn showed Lilah out of the door and watched her walk down the path before closing the door and returning to the others in the main lounge.
"I vote we don't let them in," said Gunn. "Not even if this place falls down on our heads."
"Which it might do any time now," said Lorne as yet another quake, this one a minor one, rumbled around them.
"Nothing comes free," said Wood. "Every time one of those quakes hits there are people out there dying and if they keep getting bigger there will be a lot of deaths. Even if we do nothing we're playing God with peoples lives. I don't think we should do that."
Leo and Jenny were still present in the HQ. When Amy did not return they had tried to orb out to find her only to find that something was blocking their orbing. But they quite deliberately took no part in the debate over what to do. That had to be a decision made by mortals. And as the discussion went on it soon became clear what they would reluctantly decide.
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Dawn's reception in her new location was much less friendly that after her first 'jump'. She now found herself locked up in the local jail due to the insistence of the young man that Dawn had done something to his girlfriend.
Dawn's attempt to explain what had happened was doomed from the start since she really had no idea what was going on herself. She just succeeded in convincing the local constables that she was trying to hide something, so in the time tested manner of law enforcement officials everywhere they had locked her up until somebody could sort things out.
At the moment Dawn was stood at the back of the cell, looking out the window through the bars at the moonlight streaming down from the moons above. Some of the local insect life in the grass and trees outside was clicking furiously away but it seemed to be perfectly normal for the time and place since it didn't bother any of the locals.
"I'm Vala. Who are you and why are you in here?" asked the other woman sharing the cell with her. The black haired woman was aged perhaps in her late twenties and was wearing a long mainly dark blue dress. She was sat on the only chair in the room and seemed to be totally relaxed. It was the first word either woman had uttered since Dawn had been shown into the cell a few minutes before.
Dawn turned and looked at the woman. "I'm Dawn. It's all a mistake," she said. "I haven't done anything. I'm just lost and a long way from home." As she spoke Dawn wondered if the woman was really another prisoner or whether she was a police officer who was there to question her. "Who are you and why are you here?"
"I'm Vala. I'm like you. I'm a stranger around here. You may have noticed these people don't like strangers," said Vala, intentionally not answering the second question. "You can't be further from home than I am. Not unless you're one of those people who came through the Stargate before it stopped working."
"The Stargate!" said Dawn. "You know about the Stargate? So you know all about the Goa'uld and all that?" Have I returned to where I started wondered Dawn. Am I back in present day Kallistien?
"Everybody on this planet knows about the Stargate," said the woman. "But you're the first person I've met who knows anything about the Goa'uld."
"On this planet?" said Dawn. "You mean you come from another planet? So do I. I did come through the Stargate, or a Stargate. But what do you mean about the Goa'uld? They've been trying to conquer this planet. You must know that."
"Not this planet," said Vala. "You're getting your planets mixed up. The Goa'uld have been to a lot of places but as far as I can tell nobody around here knows anything about them."
So I'm still in the past thought Dawn. But wait a minute if I'm still in the past how come the Stargate's working or was working before it stopped? They didn't know anything about the Stargate in the last place. But I can't be in the future, I can't believe they'd have forgotten about the Goa'uld. Could I be in the past but not so far in the past or something?
So how does everybody know about the Stargate?" asked Dawn. "When did they get it working? And why has it stopped?"
"I don't know," said Vala. "Like I said I'm a stranger here myself. I don't know how long it's been working nor why it's stopped. I suppose people know about it from the radio or the newspapers. That's how they get most of their news around here."
"But the Kallistians don't have radio, or they didn't until recently when people from my planet brought some equipment with them to help fight the Goa'uld," said Dawn.
"And your planet is?" asked Vala.
"Earth," said Dawn. "When I came to Kallistien it was being attacked by the Goa'uld."
"Earth was destroyed by the Goa'uld two years ago," said Vala. "But they've never attacked Kallistien."
"That's ridiculous," said Dawn after a shocked pause. "How do you know that? That can't be true." Have I travelled into the future she wondered. Can I go back and change things for the better?
"I know because I used to be a Goa'uld," said Vala. "Or rather I used to have one inside me."