Tales of Babylon Five
Azula and the Ghosts of the Angels
'And a time will come when he who tied the knot, shall tie it so tight, even he cannot untie it. Fire Lord Iroh to Minbarri Ambassador Roruk on the eve of the Earth Minbarri War.'
Azula hated people as a rule.
Diplomacy was not her thing and she blithely ignored her duties and had a reputation as a harmless and ineffective diplomat from an obscure planet which once had been part of the Minbarri Federation.
She had one goal in life. She wished to avoid responsibility and work. She wasn't stupid but those who knew her found her a fantastic grumbler. Her brother ruled Homeworld and decided to place his sister as far away from him as possible and Babylon Five was as far away as possible from Homeworld.
Katara knew this and had come to expect apathy from her boss. Katara found Azula with a cup of coffee in one hand and in the other – a bag of microwave popcorn that had evidently malfunctioned.
"If you have questions about this product." Azula spoke as Katara entered her quarters. "Am I to assume Orville with the unpronounceable German name will personally explain to me why my bag of popcorn now resembles a blob of Plutonium?"
"I have a message from your brother." Katara said as she watched the smoke waft through the air. "Fire Lord Zuko sends his regards and wants to send you on a diplomatic mission to Earth."
"What on Earth – I mean that literally – does he think this will accomplish?" Azula waved the burnt bag of popcorn at the microwave. "I assume the humans engineer their kitchen appliances to the same high standards we do. I assumed wrong. My popcorn has undergone a meltdown and my coffee is optimistically tepid. According to Babylon Five maintenance; the microwave oven functions properly and I'm to blame and I should reread the manual. Have you seen the manual? The holy books of most major religions have fewer pages. Of course, the humans knew alien races would make use of the manual so they printed it in three or four dozen alien languages none of which I can read. I can read Minbarri, our own language and English. Minbarri has no concept of clarity, the humans have no grasp of our language and English has no fixed rules and spelling is governed by astrological rules."
"Do you want to tell your brother you won't go?" Katara asked in an effort to cut through the usual Azula hyperbole. "I can go in your place."
"You have plans to advance in the Diplomatic Corps?" Azula dropped the bag of popcorn into the waste disposal. "My brother likes you and would probably blame me for your death if a pack of Earth..." Azula snapped her fingers, "whatever hunts in packs on that planet. I've only ever seen those 'Far Side' cartoons."
"What about Gabril?"
Azula wrinkled her nose. "Even worse. Send the one member of our species with no personality and even worse, a sense of ethics bordering on the obsessive." She tapped the counter thoughtfully as she pondered her brother's proposal. "When in doubt, lie or at least obfuscate: Gabril barely speaks! He would be brutally honest at the wrong moment and wind up a mugging victim."
"Zuko's sending a Lancer Class Frigate to pick you up." Katara handed the tablet computer to Azula. "It will arrive four days from now."
"Have I told you I value your service?" Azula turned the tablet over in her hands.
"No?" Katara answered.
"Keep that in mind when I'm visiting Earth."
"Fire Lord Zuko has decided to send me on a diplomatic mission to Earth and as per protocol; I am reporting to you for medical clearance." Azula stood in front of Doctor Franklin's desk. "I hope I have some medical condition that makes me unable to go or with proper bribing; you can make one up."
Doctor Franklin picked up his medical scanner and walked around his glass topped desk. "You have allergies including one to fish but they have been treated. You may come to enjoy Earth. Travel broadens the mind."
"Is that what you told all those Africans your people sold to Americans? Our people dislike travel." Azula informed Franklin. "I didn't even leave the house during the first four years of my life. We have a nice warm desert planet and so my brother sends me to Earth which has a cold climate and I understand it's winter in Geneva. To put this in perspective for you – I've never seen snow in real life." Azula watched as Franklin ran his scanner up and down her body. "I know of snow only in theory. I don't really wish to see it for real."
"You have a form of what we call bipolar disorder but your cerebral implant has treated it. Just remember to take the charger with you. You have all the proper vaccinations and so are fit for service." Franklin announced formally. "I'm giving you a prescription for color adjusting contact lenses. You're people have vision shifted to the infrared because of the spectrum of your sun. The lenses will help adjust your color perception so things look normal to you under the light of our sun. Come back in an hour and pick them up from our receptionist."
"Yes...I'm aware of this. Centauri purple looks black to us." Azula waved her hand dismissively.
Franklin tapped the screen on his touch screen. "I can't find any medical problems that would keep you from traveling to Earth. Now a bit of advice for what it's worth - take the opportunity to enjoy Switzerland in the winter. Try your hand at skiing or take up hockey."
"I enjoy hockey because watching men beat on each other does good things for my soul." Azula answered back with a degree of candor Franklin had expected from her. "Being beat up would not be a soul broadening experience for me."
"Just trying to be helpful." Franklin looked at Azula. "Do try to keep out of trouble."
"I never get into trouble." Azula began to pace nervously because she knew she had a way of finding trouble. "I spent a month on Minbar when I was ten and that was cold. Even in the summer it dipped below freezing and I hated the cold. We don't know much about your people given that we have lived under the shadow of the Minbarri throughout our history. I know next to nothing of humans and their culture. My brother might be quite put out if I do something to provoke a war."
"You have one of the more colorful personalities and half the time are a pain, but medically that doesn't excuse you." Franklin sat back down at his desk and adjusted his gray fabric office chair. "I think you grasp most aspects of human culture well enough."
"Greed, vice and anger..." Azula replied as she clasped her hands together. "I bid you farewell and I'll try to injure myself. Can you break a leg painlessly?"
Franklin shook his head affirming the negative. "Enjoy your visit."
Babylon Five had several arcades but Azula preferred the one closest to the diplomatic quarters. Katara found Azula at the controls of a gaudy Anime themed pinball machine racking up the score. Katara cleared her throat and tapped a tablet computer.
"Game on." Azula reminded Katara. "I have two days before I leave so I'm practicing the skills I'll need on Earth. This station generates artificial gravity by spinning in space so pinball games play a little bit different."
"I didn't find you in your office." Katara explained. "Gabril told me you came here on your lunch break. I picked up your email. No messages from Homeworld but several reputable Earth companies want to cure your erectile dysfunction and The League of Non Aligned Worlds wishes to remind you of a meeting tomorrow at four o'clock."
Azula continued her game. "I had no idea I had erectile whatever." Azula had spent some of her least productive hours trying to get off whatever email list had found her address at Babylon Five but even after constructing email filters as elaborate as medieval siege defenses; they still got through.
The pinball machine bell sounded.
"You can use the time for a nap." Azula kicked the machine hard. "We spend hours at these meetings trying to hammer out agreements and also figure out what position to take on this or that issue."
The bell sounded again with an enthusiastic ring and a display of multicolored lights and numbers. The dim interior of the arcade made the flashing lights even brighter. The arcade had two pool tables, modern, top line flight and racing simulations with holographic displays and old classic games like this pinball game for the nostalgia seeker. Azula liked the arcade classics like Skee-Ball and pinball.
"Even better, send Gabril in my place." Azula said as she handled the controls. "I have to prepare for my trip and so I'll need most of the day to get things in order. Gabril takes these duties seriously so he'd love a chance to timidly say nothing to the Vreen."
Katara shuffled on her feet. "What do you want me to do while you're gone?"
"Lando and I have a little poker action going; mainly fleecing naïve players." Azula clenched her fist when the ball sneaked past the lower paddle and dropped out of sight. "Since telepaths can't read our race and I play well; we can earn some cash. You will deny any knowledge of this and keep your own hands off my schemes. When Homeworld sends out email; reply to it but don't go into too much detail. Something like 'everything going well' will suffice. I doubt if anyone on Homeworld reads them. You have sent me email with subject lines longer than most newspaper articles. Keep things simple." Azula turned away from the gaudy looking pinball machine. "My mom sends me emails with these long subject lines and it bugs the hell out of me. I don't advocate complete honesty as a policy but since you do; go ahead and be honest and send long, detailed emails. It will drive someone at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs out of their mind because they'll suddenly have lots of reading to do."
"And your other duties?" Katara fidgeted with her hair loop for no reason.
"In the unlikely event of someone from another race applying to visit Kaiten; enter their information into our system and send it off to Homeworld. The Ministry of External Affairs will deal with it."
"What about Gabril?" Katara asked.
Azula leaned against the pinball machine and crossed her arms in thought. "He has his usual duties. He copes with the endless flow of paperwork from Homeworld, Babylon Five Security and my relatives so he'll have plenty to do. He pretty much looks after himself. Send him off to the meetings you want to dodge," Azula pointed at Katara, "after telling him what opinions he is to have."
Azula had put in the contact lenses prescribed by Doctor Franklin.
She decided to break them in by stumbling around the Zokolo. More than a few of the aliens wandering about the Zokolo thought she was drunk.
"I'm Chief Bei Fong of the Homeworld Security Forces." A terse and authoritative feminine voice announced to Azula. "The chief of Babylon Five security was just about to arrest you for public drunkenness. I take it you are Ambassador Azula?"
Azula had not noticed Chief Bei Fong because her depth perception was a bit off and she used her feet as a way of giving her visual cortex a point of reference so the vertigo would dissipate.
"Fire Lord Zuko sent me to head your security detail." Chief Bei Fong stood taller than Azula, had a head of graying hair and wore the metallic gray uniform with the orange insignia of the Security Forces over her right chest. "Didn't he tell you?"
"No." Azula looked up at the stern looking middle aged woman. "He always says he'll explain all the details but he never does." Azula stood back a step as Chief Bei Fong began to grow a stern humorless and disapproving look on her face. "I assure you, I'm not drunk – I merely wish I were. I have vertigo."
"I am here to brief you on the details of your diplomatic mission to Earth." Chief Bei Fong looked down at Azula with disapproval. "As you know, this will be our first official visit to the Human Homeworld."
"We're going to return Elvis?" Azula squinted at Chief Bei Fong. "Glen Miller?"
Azula took the contact lenses out of her eyes and placed them in the small, clear plastic holder.
"We may set up an embassy on Earth." Chief Bei Fong walked alongside Azula. "The humans have become an important race in recent history and while a young race; they have grown in power and influence."
Azula watch Gabril walk up to her and the Chief with a tablet computer in his hand.
"You were supposed to meet Chief..." Gabril began his statement as he noticed Chief Bei Fong standing next to Azula. "I see you have met with her."
"Meet my Receptionist – Gabril." Azula patted Gabril on the back. "Of course my aide, Katara of the Water Tribe, wasn't able to meet you because I sent her to a meeting with Ambassador G'Kar of the Narrn. The Narrn have contracted our shipyards to build cruisers for them. Homeworld has trade relations with the Narrn and the Centauri as well as our ongoing relations with the Minbarri. I find it somewhat odd my brother has decided to send me to a world we have no formal relationship with."
Azula faced Bei Fong and waited for a moment.
Bei Fong examined the young woman. Zuko's sister had never had a reputation for keen intelligence or sanity. Bei Fong viewed Azula as a spoiled, moody and thoughtless woman with no sense of duty and could hardly believe Fire Lord Zuko would have selected such a vain and shallow person to meet with such a complex race as the humans.
"I don't believe you," Azula grabbed Gabril's shoulder. "I don't believe my brother. We're being played by the Humans."
Chief Bei Fong stood silent for a second and pondered this. "How?"
"How much of an education do you have in molecular biology?" Azula sarcastically asked the stern woman hoping to unbalance her somewhat.
"I have no call for it in my line of work."
Azula knew this of course, so she decided to make some work for the head of her security detail. "I guess not. When you have time, look up 'glyphosate'. The Humans use it to kill plants but it's lethal to us."
"What does this have to do with anything?" Chief Bei Fong asked. She tried to hide her shock at finding such a politically astute mind behind Azula's sarcasm.
"We're much more advanced than the humans," Gabril added, "maybe they merely want trade. Most of the meetings of the Non Aligned worlds center on trade among the races."
"I'm not a trade envoy." Azula reminded Gabril. "Why not send the Minister of Trade and Industry and a few of our businessmen and bankers: people who know the good side of a deal? I wouldn't know a good deal from - what do the humans say – a duck?"
"As Chief Bei Fong of The Royal Security Service; I have a duty to do as the Fire Lord commands." Chief Bei Fong lacked the kind of face that smiled easily and Azula could see two claw shaped claw marks across her right eye. Azula had no trouble assuming Bei Fong had it gouged out as she earned her promotions and the artificial eye staring from the severe face studied her. "A duck?"
Azula strode comfortably among the various aliens crowding the Zokolo. "A small kind of bird known for acting in animated films."
"Something is going on," Azula explained to Katara as she turned on her feet and shook her finger at her attache. "as we speak, my security detail waits for me on board the Lancer Class Frigate in orbit around the planet."
"Doctor Franklin had warned me of your paranoia." Katara said doubtfully as she sat in Azula's large red recliner. "You have a duty as a diplomat of the Fire Nation to go."
Azula paced her small kitchen as she looked for something appropriate to the situation that meant 'she didn't want to go' and sounded sophisticated but came up empty. She didn't think highly of Babylon Five as an assignment and considered it a petty humiliation but she could be lazy and not worry about her career. She knew of the bad luck of the other four stations and she thought very little of idealistically inspired public projects designed to spread peace around the galaxy. She could think of a dozen more highly placed civil servants working in the Foreign Service more qualified than herself – and that just consisted of the list of vending machine repairmen under their employ.
"I could hear the words 'travel broadens the mind' forming in your mind." Azula said sharply. "The planet I'm destined to visit invented the Sit Com."
"You liked Seinfeld and Married With Children." Katara reminded Azula of the long evenings she had spent watching feeds from Earth.
"I had grown up thinking the Minbarri had transformed a young and ambitious race into a timid, backwards and apologetic republic." Azula dismissed Katara's comments about her behavior out of hand – Katara took some pleasure in informing Azula of her 'less than royal' and at times crass tastes. "We live on the cusp of a great historic change in the Galaxy."
"A great historic change?" Katara asked slowly.
"History follows patterns – houses rise to rule and fall into obscurity on our planet." Azula pressed a button on the bland looking white plastic tea maker. "A thousand years ago, we had radio and steam power. The Minbarri came. At the same time, the sand tribes tell of a strange rock in the midst of the Seewong Desert of the Eastern Hemisphere. The records of the day speak of a few explorers sent into that inhospitable desert and none returned." Azula's tone grew more serious as she spoke. "Much of the Seewong Desert experienced a rapid change from sand blown wasteland to glass covered plain and our explorers became dust in the stratosphere. Great change isn't a good thing. If I am to witness great change in history, I want a comfortable place to watch it from Minimum Safe Distance."
Garibaldi knew of Azula's mission. He made note of it as he made notes of small events since in his mind; small events, seemingly insignificant at the time, grew in importance in the chaotic flow of history. He found the princess in the arcade nearest her quarters on the diplomatic level. She had a run of luck with the Crane Game and had won a duck and a large Bugs Bunny doll.
"You know of the third law of robotics?" Azula asked as she deftly moved the controls.
"A robot must protect its existence as long as that doesn't conflict with the first or second law?" Garibaldi raised his eyebrow at Azula.
"A robot must protect its own existence with lethal force because they're freaking expensive." Azula replied. "The manager of the arcade told me this machine would protect itself from damage by falling on me if I kept kicking it."
"Chief Bei Fong asked me to find you." Garibaldi cut right to the point.
Azula dropped a brown and tan Teddy Bear back into the pile of toys inside the machine.
"I was avoiding her. I hope to frustrate her to the point where I can dodge my trip to Earth and send Katara in my place."
"I found you and you have succeeded in frustrating me to the point where I'm taking Katara." Chief Bei Fong wore a serious look. "Can you vouch for Katara?"
"She's less of a security risk than me." Azula answered. "She would make a good impression on the humans because she's cute and even better – she'd never even steal things out of the hotel. She looks much better in the piece of swimwear the Humans named after the first island they blew up with a hydrogen bomb – Bikini Atoll. She could fail at diplomacy and still make a nice career as a pin up girl."
"Very well then," Chief Bei Fong bowed, "I expressed my concerns about your abilities to the Fire Lord and he has come to think you are not at all qualified to conduct diplomacy. Katara has a much better grasp of human culture and history and so I will depart with her for Earth tomorrow morning."
"I see." Azula said blankly and carefully hid her lack of disappointment. "I hope she does well."
"Your brother wanted to test your skills as a diplomat." Chief Bei Fong gave a scowl that made Garibaldi quiver. "He wishes to open a consulate on Earth and had hoped, in due time, you would serve the fire Nation as the ambassador. You may have passed up a chance to advance your career."
Azula mulled matters in her mind. She didn't want to go and had made that point abundantly clear. She didn't expect anyone to listen.
Garibaldi began to play the crane game.
"It's settled." Chief Bei Fong said sternly and stamped her feet together as if drilling on the parade ground. "You will remain on Babylon Five while Katara comes with the delegation to Earth." Chief Bei Fong turned around and left the arcade.
"She looks mean." Garibaldi whispered quietly as he played the game.
Azula nodded. "The Fire Lord's security people are not very happy souls. She has that gimpy eye which also makes her look – creepy."
"Don't you want to advance your career?" Garibaldi picked up a purple dinosaur with light magenta spots.
"I belong to the Royal Family so I get paid either way." Azula watched Garibaldi drop the ugly stuffed dinosaur. "A good deal for lazy outcasts who belong to the Royal Family; a bad deal for the tax payers. Ambition and initiative are a lot to expect from a bunch of inbred royals." She looked at the upside down purple dinosaur behind the large perspex cube of the crane game machine. "At least I can goof off while Katara has gone."
"How do you know about Bikini Atoll?" Gariboldi looked at Azula with an astonished look.
"Katara bought a light blue bikini from a merchant on the Zokolo. A triangle of cloth for the bottom; two triangles forming the top – connected by a thread. If anyone thinks this actually covers much up – they're deluded." Azula put her hands behind her back and snickered. "Katara enjoys swimming and the merchant told her it would improve her lap times in the pool. I found that claim dubious and still think the garment allows clothiers to sell five cents of cloth made with ten cents worth of labor for fifty credits. Anyhow, something about the name intrigued me so I did some research."
Sinclair watched the Lancer Class Frigate in a prowling orbit many kilometers from the station. As a ship from a race almost as advanced as the Minbarri; the ship looked rather unremarkable. A long, thin ship, it had gun turrets fore and aft and had the red markings of the Kaitanni. It reflected the kind of sober design of a race who preferred function over form. The Kaitanni had used a kind of white blue paint with red accents that hid all the technologically advanced features hidden deep in its hull. It could run circles around any Human or Narrn ship in normal space; give the Centauri ships a run for their money. The Minbarri had used Kaitenni technology in their ships but because the Kaitenni liked to sell technology; had resorted to their own resources in recent years.
Sinclair could hear Ivanova walking up to him as he stared out of the window of the Command Deck.
"The Aobi?" Ivanova half announced and half asked. "I heard Katara will leave instead of Azula. I heard the Chief of Security was not at all impressed with Princess Azula."
Sinclair stood with his hands behind his back in his blue Earthdome uniform. "Why did they wish to send a delegation out to Earth? They take hardly any interest in the affairs of other races unless they can trade."
"If I don't miss my guess, this is a scheme worked out by your Psycorps to grab a clean copy of our genome." Azula startled both of them as she shouted across the command deck. "I may have the work ethic of a dead frog; but I'm not stupid."
"What do you think the Psycorp would want a copy of your genome?" Sinclair turned and asked the young Azula softly.
Azula watched the Lancer Class Frigate. "Ever take a class on computer programming?"
"Of course?" Sinclair replied. "All command personnel had taken training in computers."
"A chunk of code in one program might work quietly away handling mundane tasks like filtering data while the same chunk does something entirely different in another program." Azula explained pedantically. "Genomes work the same way. When I first came here, I took a walk through the garden of the mosque which had these nice orange trees. I took ill within hours and the clever and hard to bribe Doctor Franklin found out they had sprayed the trees with a herbicide. The weed killer meant for killing invasive crabgrass and dandelions had screwed up one of my metabolic pathways."
"And that means?" Sinclair asked with a reserve of patience.
"We differ biologically in a way your Psycorps may find useful." Azula clasped her fingers behind her back and look Azula looked sideways at Sinclair. "You look bored so I'll stop talking but Doctor Franklin and your online Medical Encyclopedia can clear up matters."
Sinclair had banned herbicides after the investigation revealed the cause of Azula's poisoning. Doctor Franklin had lucked out and discovered the use of psychiatric drugs and tranquilizers controlled the symptoms while direct IV administration of amino acid supplements compensated for the destruction of her amino acid producing enzymes until the herbicide cleared her system. Sinclair remembered Franklin had published his treatment (for the use by other medical professionals and the Kaitenni in case of such poisoning in the future).
"I know Franklin would never violate your confidence." Ivanova assured.
"I know," Azula came back equally confidently. "He did what he did for sound medical reasons – he alerted others in his profession to a clear and present danger for our species. The trolls at Psycorps – Bestor and his goons – well they are always on the hunt for a way of advancing the cause of their precious Psycorps. He'd be in jail for advancing the cause of some crime boss if he didn't happen to find the protection of Psycorps."
Ivanova laughed at this commentary. The petite and exotically cute diplomat in her exotic and handsome uniform had a reputation for sloth but the amber eyed girl was not nearly as stupid as she led people to believe.
Sinclair watched the Fire Nation shuttle. It showed some influence from Minbarri design but unlike the Minbarri or other advanced races; the Kaitanni or Fire Nation always built their shuttles to handle without repulsor drives in planetary atmospheres. It had round wings that formed a crescent around the passenger section. A long tail at the end of a long spar gave the shuttle the look of a stingray. It had two engines and room for a dozen or so passengers in the middle. Small puffs of blue plasma appeared as the small craft maneuvered to dock with the frigate.
Sinclair had heard several explanations for the lack of repulsor or anti-gravity engines. Some said the Fire Nation lacked such technology. The Narrn and Humans didn't have it but the Fire Nation had advanced nearly as far as the Minbarri. The Fire Nation had designed and built flight systems for the Minbarri so that made no sense. Others pointed out that such a design would fly and be able to land if the anti-gravity system failed.
Azula finally had explained to a curious Sinclair such designs saved fuel. Minbarri designs had to divide power between the engines which provided thrust and the anti-gravity systems. This meant big engines and high fuel consumption. She took pride in stating the Fire Nation shuttles could out pace and out turn a Minbarri shuttle while being no less than sixteen times more fuel efficient. 'Why use power to keep a shuttle aloft when wings worked just as well?' Azula explained.
"She forgot those funky contacts Franklin told me to wear." Azula answered to no one in particular. "She'll have to put up with everything having off colors."
Azula held the tablet computer in her hand and read the first report from Katara. "This girl may go far." Azula told Gabril as she paced her apartment. Azula may have had the benefit of the best education any royal family could offer but Katara had the benefit of an unbiased mind. "She has spent two days on Earth and thus far has attended four meetings with Human trade officials. She even attended a cattle auction – why? I have no clue."
Gabril scratched his forehead. "We can't eat their food. The Humans like the meat and milk of cows but we'd die of phosphorus poisoning. They say you go mad first and so you don't know you're dying – I don't find that reassuring."
"Oddly insightful." Azula tapped the tablet computer's screen. "You go for weeks and say nothing of any consequence and then you say something profound. I had my own suspicions but everyone told me I'm paranoid but aside from the technological trinkets we already offer; I can't help but wonder what we could trade with the Humans."
Gabril shuffled uncomfortably. "I could say what I'm thinking but you put no value on my opinion." Gabril said this in a rather courageous manner so Azula decided to listen.
"Make this exceedingly good." Azula said in a muffled grown that reminded Gabril of the princess's temper. "I may come to think I've underestimated you."
"The Foreign Office assigned me but you brought Katara along with you." Gabril struggled with his stutter. "She stands on her merits as an intelligent and very capable diplomat, yet you two argue about almost everything. I have suspected you were love with her for some time and couldn't bear to be away from her on this lonesome station. Why did you let her go and face Psycorp and the risks of an unknown race alone given what you suspect?"
"Fear." Azula croaked. "I let my fear rule me. I feared that if I fell into the hands of Psycorps, they could break my fragile mind and I would never regain my sanity."
Gabril looked down at the floor, cupped his hands behind his back and spoke. "So you sent her. You couldn't admit your fear or your love. Have you thought losing her will break your heart." Gabril turned to leave the room and then spoke. "I leave it to you to decide which pain would be harder to stand."
"What can I do?" Azula never cried but she felt like it. She sounded desperate none the less as she imagined how empty her life would become without Katara.
Garbil advised Azula in an uncharacteristically assertive manner. "Begin at the beginning and tell me why you fear Psycorps."
Azula nodded. "I had to do some research. I probably learned this in a biology class at the Royal Fire Academy but suppressed it. Something happened in our evolutionary past and we lost the ability to use some 'amino acids'. We have to have complex biochemical pathways to make up for what we lacked and the 'telepathy' genes control this process." Azula knew the medical information available on the Babylon Five mainframe was intended for experts but she had noticed the telepath genes lay in one part of the chromosome in aliens like Humans. They affected brain development in those races; not metabolic pathways. In her race; they lay scattered all over the genome.
"You had glyphosate poisoning because it blocked your ability to synthesize tryptophan and tyrosine." Gabril picked up the tablet computer. "As I understood from what Doctor Franklin told me; Humans can absorb tryptophan from food."
"All species use tryptophan to make serotonin and tyrosine makes dopamine and norepinephrine which our brains use as neurotransmitters. They exist in all intelligent vertibrate species including us." Azula pointed her finger at Gabril. "When I became sick, I had wild mood swings and soon developed mania, suicidal depression, muscular spasms and hallucinations. As a chemical warfare agent, that cheap herbicide did a very good job of nearly killing me. I still have to wear an implant because my nervous system can't completely heal from the damage done." Azula grew morose. "I don't think the Humans want to test herbicides on us although that terrifies me."
Gabril remained quiet as he held the tablet computer.
"In Humans and other races, they have our genes but not the control mechanisms so if you have the gene and are Human or Minbarri; you become a telepath. Species specific genes control how powerful you are as a telepath but it can't be turned off nor can the ability be shaped by training." Azula could feel the edge of the counter cutting into her back and shifted on her feet. "The humans have the Psycorps and they wish to control all telepaths." Azula remembered that the depraved Bestor who was the first Human that genuinely scared her. "The Humans may not have advanced nearly as far as the older races but they have access to genetic technology. Imagine the joy Bestor would feel if he had a means of turning the telepath gene off and on at his choosing. Our genes could act to muddle the means in which the Human telepathy gene expresses itself or could act to make telepathic abilities stronger or more tuned to particular skills like psychokinesis."
"Are you really going to sit back and let something bad happen?" Gabril tried to sound helpful, encouraging and walk the fine balance between telling Azula what she needed to know and not trigger that temper.
Azula shook her head as she sighed sadly. Had she had more of her unique presence of mind, she would have begun to make a business plan centered around Gabril's skills as a therapist but she felt horrid and guilty for what she had done. "As the one of us with a moral conscience; you could be the end of both of us. If you want a confession; I love Katara with all my heart and soul and I always will but she's too good for an unethical and lazy soul like myself." She tightened a grip on Gabril's collar. "Reveal any of this to her and they will find you in the waste disposal system in tiny pieces." Azula reminded her assistant.
"This is Ambassador Azula requesting permission to depart." Azula waited a moment for Babylon Five control to acknowledge her request – strapped tightly in the cockpit seat of her Sukai SA 450 Transport. It looked a good deal like one of their shuttles but was about twice as large and had jump engines. It could navigate hyperspace. This craft had once served as a long range interceptor but The Wasp Queen had creature comforts added and the space once used to hold troops or bombs now had a galley and respectable sleeping quarters. Azula kept one because it could navigate hyperspace, had fantastic speed for a ship its size and the rugged frame could take almost any punishment. As a ship for diplomatic service, Azula had it outfitted with Minbarri cloaking and jamming systems – just in case she had to flee.
She had filed a flight plan – which contained some well crafted lies. She had let Babylon Five security know she had plans for a short visit to Homeworld which was a second well crafted lie. She could lie very well but she had a moment of doubt anticipating that the clever Sinclair or crafty Garibaldi had caught her 'marking the cards'. Without hard evidence; they couldn't do much to her. She had the right of any diplomat to go wherever she had permission so even if anyone had suspicions; they couldn't stop her. Gabril would keep the embassy open and try his best to lie on her behalf.
Azula's ship had the same solid build all Kaitenni ships possessed but this particular ship was twice as old as she was.
"Flight 370, you may taxi out of Hangar 14." A male voice spoke calmly. "As traffic is heavy this morning, you will have a three minute wait before you depart."
Azula nodded and pressed an item illuminated on the touchscreen of his cockpit and the ship rose slightly as an indicator showed the ship had uncoupled. Azula pushed the throttles to the ten percent setting; bumped the control stick, heard a small pop from the thrusters firing and began to drift forward. She taxied forward past a small Centauri craft docked in the same hanger. The bay depressurized and the hangar doors opened to the vast docking bay at the center of the front section of the station.
A few thrusters popped. Azula hung in space as the computer fired thrusters to keep the Wasp Queen from drifting in the vacuum. Azula glanced at the large screens that displayed flight information. She looked to one side as a Minbarri shuttle departed down the docking bay. Babylon Five relied on controllers to prevent collisions in the tight spaces of the docking bay – Azula's ship kept its place as the computers made minute adjustments to maintain its position.
"Flight 370, you may enter the docking bay and depart at speed normal." The male voice came through the cockpit comm system. "Heading 270 and enter jump at three million kilometers."
"Roger." Azula twisted the control column and the ship turned ninety degrees and slowly slid out. The ship made a hum as the docking bay slid past and Azula adjusted the artificial gravity to about one third of Earth Normal to make flying less exhausting. "Babylon Control – We are away."
Azula programmed her flight computer exactly as instructed. She knew better than to disobey the traffic controller as the ship glided over a huge Earth Cargo vessel. The space around Babylon Five always had traffic and some pilots were not very attentive or skilled or had failed to understand Sir Isaac Newton.
"Auto throttle." Azula announced as the twin throttle levers moved. The craft had to fly a precise course but the gravity wells of the planet and the sun could pull them dangerously off course and they could smack into the communications dish of the large Earth ship. "Engines at twenty percent." Azula had much experience as a pilot and knew she didn't have to accelerate rapidly away from Babylon Five. The station orbited at twelve kilometers a second around the planet and in reality moved away from her.
"Reactors at sixty percent." Azula whispered as she pushed the throttles up another notch. The acceleration began to push her back in the seat. She heard a loud thump echo down the dense metal hull and felt a shudder under her feet. She hadn't collided with anything as the ship remained on course. Warning bells and lights came on one after the other and power indicators began to show their readings surrounded by red outlines. She realized her gauges had a message for her.
"Babylon Five, we have a problem." Azula pressed the comm link as she slowed the ship. "Our secondary reactor safety systems have tripped off."
The reactors operated on the low pressure side of the hull and so the chances of radiation exposure were nothing given the thickness of the pressure hull. He pressed a few buttons and surveyed the cameras. The Fire Nation design used liquid sodium metal as the coolant in the fission 'loop' as they called it. The merit of having the reactor outside the pressure hull meant if a leak developed, the hot, radioactive, high pressure sodium would leak into space. Azula could see no vapor rising out of the outer hull – a large leak was unlikely.
"Do you need assistance?" The calm male voice called back.
Azula knew she had a few minutes at best before the primary fusion reactors would cut out. The secondary reactors supplied the power and cooling to start and run the primary fusion reactors. According to the instruments, she had lost power to cool the primary fusion reactors and they would soon shut down and the overheating might damage the ship. She pushed the throttles to 'Standby Power' and ran over safety procedures in her head. This meant she had to rely on the internal batteries and chemical rockets to operate the ship. She punched in some important figures into the flight computer.
"Are radiation levels normal?" The male voice asked.
"All indicators show the power system is nominal." Azula had to use the four foot pedals to operate the ship using the small chemical engines. She had velocity to shed and so pressed down on the two outer foot pedals. She heard a crack as oxidizer and fuel mixed and saw a blue glow from the front of the ship. "Shedding some Delta V. I'm now at velocity zero relative to the station. Please advise."
"Very well." The traffic controller could sense Ivanova looking over his shoulder. The male voice replied slowly. "Please turn your vessel toward the station and program it for the course I'm sending to you. It will take an hour to return but do not fire your engines except as instructed." Ivanova nodded at the Newtonian solution given to Azula to return to the station. The controllers needed the time to clear traffic and make a clear lane for the stricken craft. Azula had attained a steady orbit at the same speed as the station but needed the time to turn around and slowly drift back.
Azula thanked Babylon Five and waited to return back to the station.
Garibaldi disliked mysteries and Azula's strange malfunction was a very vexing one. The Sukai SA 450 and similar models had plied space for decades and existed in dozens of variants and had proven a popular ship among other races as well as smugglers and ne'er do wells. The SA 450 was a tough, flexible and reliable ship.
Azula could offer none except for sabotage and invited Garibaldi to take a look inside the ship to help her and Gabril sort out the problem.
Azula scratched her head as she leaned forward into the compartment beneath the rear room of the ship usually reserved for cargo or baggage. A double metal door hinged up to reveal the mechanical indicators that showed the power systems health. She shone a flashlight on two perspex panels behind which were indicator flags that indicated whether the control rods of the two fission reactors had dropped into the reactor. Azula looked for green flags, but they all were red – the reactors had fully shut down.
"That rules out tampering with the instrumentation." Azula lifted her head.
Garibaldi stood in the entrance way to the cramped room. "How do you know?"
"The mechanical indicators agree with the computers and I don't see a radioactive rotting corpse." Azula straightened out her back. "When the control rods are fully deployed, a spring loaded red plastic flag pops into place. Both fission reactors are off. Our saboteur could tamper with the computers but the mechanics of the reactors are sealed and opening them would prove instantly fatal."
"I ran diagnostics and everything works." Gabril spoke from the cockpit.
"Have you ruled out a glitch or freak defect?" Garibaldi knew the ship had a few years if not decades on him.
Azula ran the flashlight along the bundles of black optical cabling which acted like the nervous system in the ship. "I haven't heard of any problems and this model engine is deployed on countless models of ships deployed among the our people, the Minbarri, Narrn, Drazi and Centauri. Azula bent back down into the crawl space. "Ask Gabril to look for the procedure to start up the fission reactors – manually."
Garibaldi looked to the cockpit across the passenger area which looked like the sort of thing he had seen in the best corporate shuttles. Azula had laid the passenger area out like a yacht with a galley, nice cubicles and an area set aside for a fine evening of watching movies or in Azula's case – hockey.
"I heard her – sir." Gabril answered back. "In the trench, beside each perspex panel is a metal lever. When the emergency stop was initiated, the levers should have fallen back to the 'Full Stop' setting."
"Yes?" Azula knelt down. The metal lever lay in the 'Full Stop' position.
"Pull on both levers until they reach and lock in the 'Initiate Reactor' position." Gabril explained. "Each reactor has twenty four control rods and the flags on the four in the center should flip to green."
Azula pulled on the metal levers which looked like automotive shift levers. They had some kind of mechanical linkage to the rods as Azula had to pull with some force until they clicked. "What now?"
"Has anything happened?"
"Nothing." Azula rubbed her back as she leaned back up.
A series of soft clicks followed her words. "Wait...the four center rods show green."
Garibaldi didn't feel confident about standing so close to a working reactor that used explosive molten metal to operate.
Gabril watched his console for anomalies but none turned up. The computer and the mechanical indicators agreed. The computer had no reports of errors or anomalies within the ship's electronics and flagged no problems within the ship. Gabril downloaded the reports into his tablet.
Azula stood up in the pit and straddled a large insulated pipe with her feet. "I have to think sabotage of the computer software. I can obtain the software for this model of ship and we can compare the software to the copy running on my ship's mainframe." Azula wagged her finger then jumped out of the trench and kicked the doors in the floor shut. "Care to watch a lot of reruns?"
"What do you mean?" Garibaldi rubbed his head.
"We have cameras on the ship and all over the hangar bay." Azula pushed past Garibaldi. "I am beginning to think someone wanted to strand us in hyperspace. Imagine if they rigged our start reactors to conk out after we had entered hyperspace. We'd vanish forever. I don't recall anyone being rescued after losing their way in hyperspace. Anyhow, the cameras on our ship and in the hanger should have a record of the activity around here as of late."
Azula waited for the door to Ivanova's office to open and walked smartly in.
Ivanova looked up from her desk as she worked on a series of performance reports on the Babylon Five traffic control system.
"In the twentieth century when your people had begun to use computers, they coined a term for a defect in a piece of software. They called it 'a bug'" Azula stood in front of Ivanova's large Lucite and gray metal desk. "I can find no cause for the malfunction of my ship except for 'a bug'."
"Why tell me?" Ivanova's long red braid of hair dangled on the left side of her vest. She neatly pulled it behind her.
"My ship is twice as old as us," Azula clasped her hands behind her back, "and has proven a reliable model. The reason I mention computers comes from the results of a bit of research I did. My ship uses commercially available Minbarri made computer processors but one of our software firms wrote the control software." She held up a data crystal. "So far nothing I've said is at all exceptional. We use Minbarri parts and they use parts made by our people. I contacted the company that made my ship and asked them to send me the software code for the control systems." Azula placed the data crystal on Ivanova's desk. "I downloaded the software from my ship so I could compare the source code."
"And?" Ivanova held the crystal up to the light.
"They differ," Azula tapped the desk. "only slightly. My copy has the bug. I know what you want to say: 'Perhaps your using old software with the bug and the company sent you the latest software with the bug fixed'." Azula began to pace. "The original software follows all of our arcane and obfuscated coding practices but the ship software has a block that has all the hallmarks of hand hacking."
"How can you tell?" Ivanova leaned back in her chair. "I don't know much about programming so you'll have to make this explanation simple."
"Very well, we use other computers to write software. My ship's computers use code written, and compiled by computers then tested and revised by computers." Azula had no trouble making things simple: she didn't know much about programming either. "Code written by humans, however talented, just looks different. It looked different enough for Garibaldi's computers to flag it as hand hacked code."
"What did Garibaldi say about this?" Ivanova asked seriously. She wondered why Azula had come to her to report a possible crime when that didn't fall under her purview.
"He viewed all the surveillance footage from the hangar and from my ship." Azula paced back. "Nothing! Of course, we have a wizardly hacker on our hands so who's to say the camera feeds weren't tampered with." Azula paced back to the desk. "We not only have a wizardly hacker but someone with the ability to program Minbarri computers. Minbarri processor logic and our processors are complex artifacts as is the software running on them. We have to use computers of equal complexity to program them – or so I thought. Programming by hand takes forever and costs a fortune."
Ivanova tented her fingers. "We have a large staff of programmers who maintain and write software for our systems."
"None have the experience or training for our systems." Azula commented. "Garibaldi checked on your staff. They would need to take a year or more of training on our systems to even comprehend them. According to the software experts at the company that wrote the software; the bug would shut down the secondary reactors when the main fusion reactors had reached over half power. Since the liquid metal from the secondary reactors supply cooling to the fusion reactors, after a while the fusion reactors would complain of overheating and die. Since it would take hours to restart the reactors, we'd probably be lost in hyperspace forever. A person would need to know how to hack our systems and understand our propulsion systems to accomplish this."
"I know." Ivanova agreed. "Why tell me though?"
"I need to ask you a favor."
Ivanova found Ambassador Azula exactly where she had been told to find her. In the main cabin of her ship with the red carpeted floor panels lifted off and shoved to one side. Azula had her head down as she fumbled with optical cabling and wiring in the bowels of her ship. Ivanova nearly stumbled over a Fire Nation laptop computer with a flat screen and holographic display.
Ivanova coughed as Azula had her back turned to her. "I obtained the Earthdome clearance for you and your diplomatic visit. I have a data crystal with a list of people you should talk to and people you can trust. You will keep your end of the deal?"
"You will have refugee status should you ever require it – no questions asked." Azula replied as she nodded. "You're Russian so you may find our climate uncomfortable."
"Most diplomats don't maintain their own ship." Ivanova stood with her arms crossed. She had noted Azula fussed over her ship in spite of its age and the fact the Fire Nation ship makers had newer and more luxurious models. As a princess, Azula could have a large yacht made to order.
"The Wasp Queen has a special place in my life." Azula held a wire with an optical port emitting blue light out the end. "During the Earth – Minbarri War, this ship belonged to a Fire Nation spy named Ishikawa. He sold information to both you and the Minbarri and to other races waiting to chop your territory into chunks when the Minbarri slaughtered your race. A Centauri cut him into chunks to keep him quiet. A few years after the War, one of the members of that Centauri family put it up for sale on Homeworld and I bought it as an act of teenage rebellion. I learned to fly on this ship and I love it. My brother allowed me to keep it provided I strip the 'illegal' flight systems and replace them with the original 'stock computers.'" Azula plugged the cable into its proper place. "I did this to legally fly this thing in Fire Nation or Minbarri space but I kept the old parts and am now installing them."
"Exactly what kind of parts?" Ivanova asked as she raised her eyebrow.
Azula turned around. "The three neural net cyborg brains Ishikawa used and their software. They are very high end and incorporate both holographic and biological elements. I can finally use the weapons and cloaking system. The stock computer never had software available for such systems."
"Do you have any idea where Ishikawa obtained cyborg brains?"
Azula pressed a button on her laptop. "He worked for the Centauri and must have obtained them from the Centauri military either with cash, as a reward or he outright stole them. Rumor has it, the Centauri used the brains of dead Narrns as the raw material for cybernetic systems. The parts never had any traceable information."
"Why are you doing this?" Ivanova felt a bit creepy at this point.
"I got hacked and I have a trip to Earth scheduled." Azula began to point over to the corner at shoebox sized red metal boxes with lights still flashing along the top side. "You can take the old computers if you want. Cyborg brains can fight back if someone hacks them and they usually guard their software rather jealously. I prefer to work with something that has a bad temper."
"I mean heading for Earth, not violating the spirit if not the letter of the Laws of Nature." Ivanova asked with more of the spirit of a command in her voice.
"Katara went to Earth," Azula closed the doors in the floor until they clicked shut, "and how I explain it to her grieving parents if she died? I'd have to find something comforting and tactful to say about her and I don't have the remotest clue how to sound consoling and tactful."
"You think she could be killed? By who?"
"I suspect the Psycorps might want to 'talk with her'." Azula put air quotes around 'talk'. "I suspect this entire farce of diplomacy is a plot cooked up by Psycorps and the Minbarri to use our genome to control the expression of telepathic abilities in their people. We have the genes for telepathy scattered all over our genome but they do other things. They explain why the weed killer used in the garden in the mosque square made me sick – Franklin called it Round – Up or glysophate poisoning. I found out our genome includes sequences that turn these genes on and off. The genes for telepathy in the other races lack these crucial sequences."
"That ship can move." Sinclair said as The Wasp Queen streaked past the outer ring of monitor drones. Sinclair knew flight computers could easily fly far beyond the boundaries of the performance of their pilots and the G Rating was part of every fighter pilot's medical file. Large capitol ships from the Minbarri and other advanced races had some kind of artificial gravity and inertial damping but even their smaller ships lacked inertial damping as it demanded huge quantities of power. As most ships like Azula's had civilian functions, inertial damping wasn't required as they could not make high gee maneuvers.
Azula decided to show off before leaving and put on quite a show for the command crew and pulled turns that would make anyone see red spots in front of their eyes. Some races like the Centauri would accept this and hope the maneuver would give rise to an advantage in combat in spite of the discomfort. Some races like those with invertebrate bodies could tolerate several gees more than Humans.
Azula began to make a course for her jump point and sped towards it.
She had left Gabril to manage affairs and as Sinclair watched Azula flash into hyperspace; he appeared as if on cue. He looked timid, overwhelmed and had a tablet computer in his hand.
"Azula has left for Earth." Gabril said as a manner of introduction.
"She has impressive skills as a pilot. Did she train with your space corps?" Sinclair turned from the viewing window and faced Gabril.
"I don't believe so sir." Gabril looked down. "She left instructions for me to leave a data crystal with you."
Sinclair walked toward Gabril. "Did she tell you why?"
"She told me nothing at all. "Gabril held out the crystal and dropped it into Singlair's waiting hand. "She left me with instructions on my duties."
Sinclair smiled pleasantly. "She has skills as a pilot. She put on a show before she jumped into hyperspace and made quite a few high speed maneuvers. Does she wear a gee suit?"
"I have no idea what that is – sir." Gabril said apologetically.
"A suit that protects you from the forces encountered during high speed maneuvers." Sinclair explained kindly. "A kind of padded suit a pilot uses in flying fighters."
"No sir." Gabril answered.
"Do you have inertial dampers on the ship?"
"No sir. The power drain would prove too much on such a small vessel." Gabril told Sinclair what he already knew as he watched the background of stars spin. "Do your people have a collapsible ribcage?"
"Not at all."
"Out people can deflate our ribcage so we have a slight advantage taking falls because of this." Gabril placed his hands behind his back. "I wouldn't recommend it as a lifestyle choice as it does feel awfully uncomfortable. I must visit Lando Mollari so I bid you farewell." Gabril bowed.
"Have a good day." Sinclair smiled back.