Chapter Text
Being this close to a secret military compound didn't sit well with her, but all the Scoobies had agreed that she was the better option. If she got caught, she had full immunity and a lot of other legal mumbo jumbo, so they couldn't hold her. If they tried, Giles and the Council lawyers would cause trouble.
They'd been hearing about a super secret military program operating out of the Cheyenne Military Complex in Colorado Springs for a few years. A program that the government poured a lot of money into, one that spent a lot of the electricity in the State, and had a revolving door of military and scientists with a disturbing death toll for being inside the U.S. Despite this, no one seemed to know what they were doing, only that it was approved at the highest level.
So, being the curious people they were, they decided someone needed to have a look-see and figure out what the grunts were up to and if it needed to be stomped on. They'd done it before on other bases, but for the most part had merely had a look around, and then left without anyone the wiser.
All active military bases were well guarded, but this one had a lot more people in uniform hanging around. While no one had been willing to tell them anything about what was going on on this particular base, someone had informed them that there was an escape hatch hidden in the bushes not too far from the main entrance, and that was where she was headed.
Buffy looked around carefully, all of her senses fully extended, before she carefully made her way through the trees and other greenery blocking her path, while conveniently also ensuring that the guards further down were less likely to spot her. The access shaft was larger than she had expected, but the actual cover was more narrow.
There were no locks or access pads in sight, which she supposed made a kind of sense. This wasn't something people used if they had time for that.
Buffy opened it carefully and leaned it all the way back so she could climb in. Once she was about halfway into the opening, she took the hatch and closed it as she descended. To her surprise, it left her in complete darkness. That part hadn't been mentioned; if it had, she would've brought a flashlight.
The ladder was vertical and, according to their source, she would have to climb all the way down to Level 28 before reaching the very bottom of the shaft. Climbing down 28 floors took its sweet time, but she finally reached the bottom. A quick search with her hands feeling against the wall for a handle or the outer edges of a door took about 20 seconds. Only to realize it was locked from the other side.
"Of course, it's locked," Buffy mumbled almost inaudibly to herself. "It's here to allow people to escape, not for random people and Slayers to break in." Then she spent a few minutes listening for anyone in what she presumed to be a hallway. Two people walked by slowly discussing gold and snakes in a very serious tone. They were afraid of gold snakes? Weird. They were followed shortly after by three people who seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. Then, when it had been silent for a full minute, she laid both hands on the door in front of her and pushed until the lock snapped and the door swung open.
Buffy walked out and caught the door before it could crash into the wall and inform anyone nearby that something was going on. At the same time, she gave the corridor a quick survey. There was nothing of interest and no one in sight.
They hadn't been able to figure out what the dress code was, so she had opted for office casual: black pants, a dark blue blouse, and a black leather jacket since she didn't know how dirty the climb down would be. And sensible shoes, because climbing down 28 stories was not something she wanted to do in high heels. Also, high heels were a bad idea if she needed to hightail it out of there.
Deciding the coast was clear, she began walking. Willow had instructed her to walk with a purpose, as if she was supposed to be there. If someone asked, she had a ready-made excuse for her presence since she still wasn't so good with the lying.
Drab corridor, drab corridor, a group of soldier boys she gave a polite smile as she passed them, a dark-haired geek who didn't notice her at all as he was engrossed in a stack of papers, and then she came to a door that wouldn't open. It was unmarked and unremarkable, so she decided to keep going.
Then she walked up a short flight of stairs and came into what looked like an important room. The only person in there was a man in a casual uniform who was too busy typing something to notice her. He was seated in front of a row of computers, but that wasn't the interesting part. Nope. There was a huge window, and beyond that was a large room, and the centerpiece was a huge ring.
Huge as in all of the Scoobies could probably walk through it side by side and still not touch the outer edges of the thingy. The last thing she wanted was for this man to look up, so she moved her hands slowly as she picked up the small digital camera she had brought with her and took a series of pictures, while making certain to get several good ones of the important-looking circle.
That had been Dawn's idea; she had also been the one to turn off the flash. Because, duh.
On the opposite side of the small room was a staircase, and that piqued her curiosity. Unfortunately, she didn't think the military man was unobservant enough for her to sneak up there. She could also hear voices coming from up there, and it sounded like a briefing.
The rest of the place hadn't been nearly as interesting, but she had taken other pictures as well. The ring was odd, and it prickled her memory in a way that meant something; she just couldn't grasp what.
Before she had a chance to make up her mind, the briefing upstairs ended, and she could hear them making their way down. Looking around the small room, she carefully moved herself between some large computer thingys, and stood still.
A portly bald man with stars on his shoulders came first, followed by a middle-aged man in green BDU's, then a tall black man that pinged on her Slay-dar, a short-haired blonde woman, and a man with light brown hair and glasses.
The last four kept walking, but the General remained. 15 minutes later, they came out in the room below with the giant ring. All four of them were dressed for a mission, weapons included. Buffy frowned. What?
"Dial the Gate!" The General gave the order calmly, and it didn't ease her confusion at all. Down below, the large outer ring began spinning, and one by one lights around the edge of the ring lit up.
Beside the General, the man from before said, "Chevron seven encoded."
Her view was partially obscured, but it appeared as if a water-like puddle shot out from the ring and then bounced back and settled. The military people had a short conversation that ended with the higher-ranking one saying 'Godspeed' before the four people below walked into the water or whatever it was and disappeared. Shortly after, she heard a snap, and the 'water' disappeared as well.
There were no signs of the four people in the other room. The General exchanged a few words with the man at the computer, and then returned upstairs. What had just happened? From their very serious conversation, it had sounded as if they were going to another planet.
This was definitely something the Scoobies needed to know about.
Listening carefully, she snuck out of the control room and returned to the corridor with the door to the hatch. She had a story to tell, and it was a good but confusing one.