Chapter 11: Lie to Me

Nov. 3rd, 1997

In Space – 7:00 AM

Willow piloted a Raptor. Since the reveal of the Stargate program and how SG-1 had arrived on the Ha'tak that Cordelia and her Centurians had found them on. She had been searching for a Stargate floating in space. She had been told that because of the Naquadah that made up the Stargate that there was a possibility that the gate that was on the destroyed Ha'tak had survived. While there was another Gate onboard their captured Ha'tak, they wanted the other. The one on the captured Ha'tak was beamed off the Ha'tak by the Enterprise and down to Hapes. The one that Willow was looking for was going to the Cylons. They figured that if the Hybrid could figure out how it worked they might able to use it to gate to a planet from orbit as well as give Hapes a gate address that did not utilize Earth's.

Suddenly Willow heard a ping come from the DRADIS. She looked over at the monitor and smiled. There it was, it had survived. She piloted the Raptor to the Gate as it floated in space and attached a tow cable to it and then towed it to Hapes.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy flew a second Raptor inspecting the Valkyrie. She sighed as she saw the damage the Goa'uld weapons had done. She would have to ask her mother if there was something the Edenians could do about building them a repair facility.

Stargate Command – 8:00 AM

"General," came Walter's voice from the intercom.

"Yes, Sergeant," Hammond said.

"We found traces of someone trying to hack into government databases looking for Princess Summers. They looked for her school records as well as physical address."

"Do we have any idea who hacked in?" Hammond asked.

"According to the ISP information, Mark Fordham. Records show that Mark Fordham is a captain in the U.S. Army. Records show he was recently transferred to Sunnydale, California where he was assigned to the Army's recruitment center there. Records show he also has one son, Billy. Major Carter believes it may have actually been Billy Fordham who hacked in."

"Sir," Sam said. "Billy Fordham until two months ago was a straight A student with a genius level IQ. He had been approached by one of the leading software companies in the country to come work for them after he graduated. Hacking into a government database would be easy for him."

"Also, sir," Walter said. "It appears that he and Princess Summers were classmates in Los Angeles."

Hammond sighed. "Okay, get me Princess Summers on the phone."

Onboard the Basestar – Same Time

Cordelia walked into the CIC of the Basestar and approached the Hybrid. "We beamed over the Stargate from the captured Goa'uld vessel. The Centurians are trying to find a way to hook it up to the Basestar's systems. The plan is to see if you could interface with it to access it for a possible list of Gate addresses."

"Given time, yes," the Hybrid said. "Has the the second Stargate from the destroyed Goa'uld vessel been found?"

"Yes," Cordelia said with a nod. "And the the device that controls the Stargate was beamed down to Hapes to be hooked up to that Stargate."

"Is there no way to access the list of gate addresses from the device?"

Cordelia sighed. "We can use it to dial an address, yes. But that is the only interface to the actual computer inside the Stargate itself. The technology is different and we have no way of directly accessing it that we have found so far."

"How do the Earth people communicate with their Stargate?"

"They do not have the dialing device. From what I was told, their computer sends out an energy pulse that tells it to dial a certain address. And there are reciprocal energy pulses that let them know when something might be wrong."

"So there may be energy pulses that the Stargate sends back," the Hybrid said. "Interesting. We need to talk to one of the people that made their Stargate work."

"Agreed," Cordelia said.

Stargate Command – 8:15 AM

Hammond explained to Joyce about the potential security breach by Billy Fordham.

"Billy Fordham, you're sure?"

"That is what Sergeant Harriman and Captain Carter believes," Hammond said. "You recognize the name?"

"He went to school with Buffy and Dawn in L.A. Buffy, if I remember right, had a crush on him in the fifth grade."

"Alright," Hammond said. "I will leave this to your discretion."

Basestar – Same Time

Willow walked into the CIC of the Cylon Basestar and moved next to Cordelia. "Any luck?"

"Not yet," Cordelia said. She turned to look at Willow. "We need to get Major Carter up here to talk with the Hybrid about the Stargate."

"I'll go see her, after school," Willow said with a nod.

"I forgot about school," Cordelia said as she followed Dawn out of CIC.

Sunnydale High School – 9:00 AM

Giles walked toward the library with Jenny as the two of them talked.

"It's a secret," Jenny said as she looked at Giles. Despite what had happened with Marie she had wanted to try and resume her relationship with Giles. She had to see if she still held feelings for him.

"What kind of secret?" Giles asked.

"The kind that's secret. You know, where I don't tell you what it is," Jenny replied.

"But I just think it's customary, if two people are going out on an evening," he said, "for the both of them to know where they're going."

"Oh, come on! Where's your sense of adventure?" Jenny asked.

"Have we not had enough of that over the weekend?" Giles returned.

"We have, but there are plenty of other adventures to be had, including the one tonight," she replied.

"But, I" Giles said, "how will I know what to wear?"

Jenny looked over Giles and his tweed jacket. "Do you own anything else?"

"Yes," Giles said, "but I don't think we want to bring that out before Joyce, Buffy, Cordelia and I go before the United Nations."

"You are right there," Jenny said. "About tonight, though, you're just gonna have to trust me, Rupert."

"All right. I put myself in your hands," Giles said.

Jenny smiled. "Now that sounds like fun," she said as Buffy walked up to them.

"Hey guys," Buffy said.

"I gotta take off," Jenny said, "tonight, 7:30. Right?"

Giles nodded as he watched Jenny watch off. Then he turned and looked at Buffy.

"I need to talk to you," Buffy said. "Commanding Officer to Commanding Officer."

Giles nodded and motioned towards the library. They walked through the doors a second later. "What is it, Buffy?"

"While I was checking out the damage the Goa'uld caused to the Valkyrie. Mom got a call from General Hammond. An old friend of mine from Los Angeles hacked into government databases looking for me."

"This could be a problem," Giles said.

"I know," Buffy said. "His name is Billy Fordham. He got his information so he could be coming here. I don't really expect much but its better to be safe than sorry."

"Agreed," Giles said. He pulled out his communicator and flipped it open. "Giles to Calendar."

"Calendar, here, Rupert."

"Would you use the computer and check school records to find a student named Billy Fordham," Giles said.

"Give me a moment." They could hear the clacking of keys on a keyboard before Jenny's voice came back over the communicator. "There is no one by that name enrolled, Rupert."

"Thank you, Jenny," Giles said as he put away his communicator. "It's possible he hasn't arrived. You know what he looks like so keep an eye out."

"I will," Buffy said. She walked out of the library and headed for her first class of the day. Unbeknownst to her she was being followed.

"Summers? Is that you?"

Buffy spun at the sound of her name and saw Billy Fordham standing a few feet away. "Ford?" she said. "Come with me."

"Why?" Ford asked. "What's going on?"

"Just come with me," Buffy said and led Ford back to the library.

"This him I take it?" Giles asked as Buffy nodded. "Mister Fordham, I am Rupert Giles. Would you please have a seat."

"What is going on?" Ford asked.

"Have a seat, Ford," Buffy ordered and Ford sat down. "Are you aware how much trouble your in?"

"What are you talking about?" Ford asked.

"Hacking into government databases looking for me," Buffy said.

"Buffy's files are classified which means you would likely be looking at several years in prison, if you were an adult," Giles said. "As a minor you will spend the rest of your teenage years in juvenile detension."

"Why?" Ford asked as he looked towards Buffy. "Is this because of the Slayer?"

Buffy and Giles' eyes went wide.

"You know about the Slayer?" Buffy asked.

Ford nodded. "I found out right before you got booted out of Hemery."

Buffy sighed. "It is and isn't because of the Slayer," she said. "Ford, the first question we have for you is why are you here?"

"My dad got transferred," Ford said. "He's been assigned to be a recruiter for the U.S. Army."

"And why are you looking for me?" Buffy asked.

"I really don't think you'd understand," Ford said.

"Well that defense won't save you," Buffy said.

Ford smiled. "I'm gonna be one of them."

"One of them," Giles said as his eyes widened. "You want to become a vampire?"

Ford nodded. "I'm going to."

"Vampires are kind of picky about who they change," Buffy said and then her eyes widened. "You were gonna offer them a trade."

"I don't think I want to talk anymore," Ford said.

Buffy got up in Ford's face. "Well, I still feel kind of chatty. You were gonna give them me."

Ford nodded. "Yes."

"What we're you going to do?" Giles asked. "Lure Buffy into an out of the way building, leave her there for them to find?"

"Something like that," Ford said.

"You had to know I'd figure it out, Ford," Buffy said.

Ford smiled. "Actually, I was counting on it."

"So you were going to hand me to them and then you were going to be made into a vampire. Why?" Buffy asked.

"I'm dying, Summers," Ford said. "I look good, don't I? Let me tell you something. I got maybe six months left and by then what they bury won't even look like me. It'll be bald and shriveled and it'll smell bad. Not human. I don't want to go out that way." He sighed. "There is a nest of tumors liquefying my brain."

"I'm sorry," Buffy said as she hugged her best friend. "That's why your dad got transferred to Sunnydale. He put in for it so he could spend more time with you."

"Yeah," Ford said with a sigh.

"Giles, I think we have a way of saving Ford, don't you?" Buffy said as she looked at her fellow commanding officer.

"Yes, Buffy, you are correct," Giles agreed as he pulled out his communicator and flipped it open. "Giles to Enterprise. Three to beam up. Energize!"

Giles, Ford and Buffy disappeared in a transporter beam.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

McCoy ran his medical scanner over Ford and then looked at Giles and Buffy with a frown.

"Well, Bones," Giles said.

"He does have a nest of tumors, Jim," McCoy said. Unlike some of the other senior staff he still had trouble with the fact that Giles wasn't in reality Jim Kirk. His brain said they were the same person even though he knew they weren't. "The procedure during this time period would have given Mr. Fordham a limited chance for survival and even then he likely would still die. Thankfully I'm a doctor with access to Federation medical databases. I can remove the tumor and there be no lasting repercussions. He would live out the rest of his life perfectly fine."

"You hear that, Ford?" Buffy asked as she smiled.

"I do," Ford said. "What do I have to do to have this miracle performed?"

"Nothing," Giles said. "That said I would be amiss if I didn't suggest your considering once you finish high school joining Starfleet."

"I would like that," Ford said as he smiled, "sir." He looked at McCoy. "Thank you, Dr. McCoy. I assume you know …"

"That in this reality that I am fictional, yes," McCoy said.

"I watched the reruns of The Original Series growing up. Before the tumor I had thought about becoming a doctor after watching you," Ford said.

"Well you still can," Buffy suggested. "Maybe the good Doctor might even be willing to help you along in that direction."