Chapter 12

"Disobeying Orders"

Normal space-former Earth Alliance territory in the Cyrus star system:

The war against Humanity was going well. Another Human colony had been consigned to the flames and the few pitiful survivors had fled back to their miserable homeworld. "What little pitiful resistance they had put up was crushed with very few losses to their side. Their warriors were determined and fought hard to protect what was theirs, but still they died.

But something had occurred in the Earther's solar system that blunted this latest victory and that news was indeed disturbing. Another of the Star Rider clan was presumed lost and such losses were becoming intolerable. This war was costing too much.

"All contact with DaggerPoint has been lost, Alyt Sinoval said. "We should have heard from them two days ago."

Shai Alyt Branmer, former high priest and now a blood member of one of the feared Star Riders clan, stood beside Alyt Kalain, Second-in-Command of the Trigati. "Trying to determine whether Mars will remain neutral is a waste of time," he said with contempt. "The decision is already made. They will join their brethren in death."

"I have personally killed thousand of the Humans," Alyt Neroon another of the Star Rider clan of high standing, said with more than a bit of pride. "With respect, is not that mount of blood for you?" He served as aide for Branmer the last fifteen years and held his master in high esteem, but Neroon was getting tired of the war as well. In retrospect he didn't really consider this a war as much as a one sided slaughter. Personally he could have cared less about the Humans, but the war was dragging on and on. It was draining valuable resources that could be used for more important things.

Branmer's face hardened at the mere thought of not finishing this war until completion. "I will not be satisfied until every last Human in this galaxy is nothing but a fading memory," he said. "We will be doing the universe a favor. This discussion has been held before," he continued. "They are nothing but wasted animal flesh. All of us understand the true nature of the Human creatures. They are barbarians of the lowest order."

"That is true," Sinoval answered. "If we were weaker than they, they would continue their savage ways. We all understand this. Neroon," he said turning to the famed Star Rider. "As for my family and clan, I renew our vow, and swear that I will never rest until every last one of them is dead."

"There are those in the council that are considering modifying the course of the war," Neroon said slowly. He was speaking of Delenn and two other members of the Grey Council. All of them were making subtle overtures leaning towards making some sort of peace with the Humans. When Delenn's resolved weakened, then others listened.

"The religious caste has little stomach in these matters,'" Branmer announced. That was one of the reason as to why he became a Star Rider. The Warrior caste had proven time and again that they were strong enough to do what needed to be done for the greater good of the Minbari people. "They serve their purpose well, but this matter should be left primarily to the warrior caste. Because of them we have haven't prosecuted the war as vigorously as we should have. We await the return of the expedition and when our fleet returns, we will finish this once and for all."

Kalain's head dipped slightly. "It was reported that several ships were lost to the Earth Federation."

"But they crippled the Humans there," Neroon countered. "The ones who helped them were punished. The doorway is guarded and they cannot enter," he stated. "For now they are not a threat."

"But this does not answer the primary question," Branmer said. "It was reported that the Humans detonated several nuclear weapons near the Mars belt. And now DaggerPoint is missing."

Kalain shook his head. "Surely the Humans couldn't have succeeded in using that dishonorable trick again. Dokao would have never fallen for it."

"His ship is missing and there has been nothing from his Nials. Everyone was quiet for a moment. "What if the Humans did manage to destroy them?" Neroon asked.

The Earther system is the most fortified position that they have. It is possible that DaggerPoint was lost to them. If that is true, then their punishment will be terrible," Branmer immediately answered. "We will make an example of Mars and do to them what was done to the other Human colony."

"The Earthers will defend that colony."

"No, they will not. The people of Mars are traitors to their own kind. The Earthers will not care." Branmer's eyes speared each one of the members of his clan. "They will all die and when this is over we will return to that other place where the remaining humans are and we will finish it. The Humans misunderstand the point of this most holy war. And I fear that some of our people do as well. We cannot allow that vermin to reproduce and one day come back to sting us."

Sinoval nodded enthusiastically. To him and the others this was the correct course of action to take. They were Star Riders, the most feared and respected of the warrior clans. "Then," said the Captain of the Trigati, "with your permission, I will take three Sharlins and we will find out what has happen to our sister ship. We will then punish those responsible for her death with theirs."

Three days later:

President Elizabeth Levy, watching the latest ICN news report with her advisors and military liaisons, was absolutely furious. Trying to keep such a big secret was tenuous at best, however, bringing it out like this was insane. In fact, she wondered how ICN got so much detail. EarthForce's news team had been up there for the last several days, but her people swore that they were not responsible for this mess. One thing was for sure; she intended to find out. "I want to know how this happened," she had demanded of the Secretary of Defense. Her military liaisons were as angry as she was and some had suggested that ICN be placed under government censure. Unfortunately the damage had been done, as they were now witnessing.

The newsflash from ICN hit the airwaves once more. "...As reported earlier, EarthDome has been contacted by Humanoids originating from a planet other than Earth who have agreed to help us in our war against the Minbari Federation. They look so much like us that even the doctors who examined them had difficulty telling the difference. For all intent and purposes, they are Humans. Because of their unusual similarity to Humans of Earth, it has been alleged that the Minbari, who assumed that they were an unaccounted -for Earth Colony, had mistakenly bombarded their planet. The Minbari attacked the United Federation of Planets and destroy a colony called Regulus. Those people fought back and reportedly several Minbari warships were destroyed in the ensuing conflict. The unidentified source has said that the Minbari have inadvertently started a war with a government whose territory is over six thousand light-years across. Almost seventy-thousand years away."

"Several reliable eyewitnesses who observed the recent destruction of a Minbari warship hiding in the Mars asteroid belt, have supported these findings. The Federation's intelligence allowed EA to successfully engage and destroy the warship and its fighter support with a convincing display of firepower. This marks the first time that EarthForce has directly engaged and survived an offensive assault against one of their vessels. Civilian and military sources have been quick to dispute the arguments, but most have simply said 'no comment'."

"President Levy has not commented however Senator Clark had this to say: 'Things have improved significantly in the last week. We look forward to entering into a new age'. He refused to comment any more. But several other sources have confirmed that there is a small, unknown ship orbiting the planet-as seen here in an image obtained by our high resolution photographers-and several significant defense systems have been implemented in orbit..."

'They even had pictures. Didn't they know better?'

"Clark, you SOB," Levy muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. "I know you did this. When I find proof, I will hang your butt." The others looked at her, shocked. Levy was never known for being outwardly crude to another member of her cabinet.

"We knew it was just a matter of time before the secret came out."

"Yes," Levy said heavily. "But we didn't want it blasted to the heavens," she lamented. "Not like this. The Minbari are going to pick this up and they will come running."

"Maybe it's for the best," one of the senior military officers said. There were those in both the civilian and military branches that wanted the secret to come out, quite a few in fact. The people did need some hope to cling too. "If they attack Excelsior, Then we can really gauge her full capabilities and it might even serve to back the Minbari off. Let them worry about the new players coming to town."

On the other hand," someone else countered, "what if the Excelsior is attacked? Are you saying that we do nothing to see how it responds? What if it's destroyed? They might accelerate their plans with Earth and wipe us out before the Federation gets here."

"Not likely," the Officer Graves said. "If what they've said is true, Earth Alliance is a small nuisance and they're going to have to prepare for an unknown number of enemy ships that can hurt them."

By the way he said that, it seemed that there was some doubt about what they'd been told. "You sound like you don't believe them," Levy said.

"I have seen their technology and I've read their history. But that's all good and well but I would like confirmation before I start trusting in these people," he answered. "Deep down, they're different than we are. Those Humans and aliens mix a little too freely for my taste. I don't know them well enough to trust them. But..."

"Yes, but-" Levy said. "That's exactly the point. You've seen their weapons satellites and what they can do?"

"Wonderful little gadgets," the Graves responded. "Their tracking and targeting is magnificent. The new G.O.D.s we're developing are like the old T-model Fords compared to them. We're rushing the training and a few of our people are efficient enough to start practicing with live targets. Those phasers are really powerful with four times the range of our particle lasers. The Minbari are in for a nasty surprise if they get too close. But, of course, they won't share this technology."

"It makes no difference," the Secretary of Defense said. "Their technology is so different it would take us years to understand and build our own versions and we need these and much more right now. But you do bring up an important point about their truthfulness. We may be dealing with someone worse than the Minbari. There's no way to tell at this point. My gut feelings tell me that they're sincere. But practically speaking, that's not enough."

"That's why the Nova-X is returning with them to their Federation. They've already left to meet the Excelsior at the rendezvous point in thirteen days. They'll remain in hyperspace until the Federation ship arrives. General Leftcourt and the others will determine the truth and we will respond accordingly. They will travel on Excelsior until they meet at point Delta."

"Six thousand light-years wide?" a Senator whispered in awe. "That's rather imaginative."

"And if it's true?"

"Then it will represent a fundamental change at how we view the universe as we know it."

--------
EarthDome:

"Madame President." Sarek bowed slightly. As per usual he portrayed no outward sign of emotion. There was however something in his body language that the President found reassuring. And the presence of the Captain next to him gave the reassurance comfort. Despite the reservations of many in her command staff, she found them trustworthy.

"Ambassador," Levy said, returning the half bow. "Words cannot convey our gratitude for coming to our aid. You've given us hope where there was none. It is my hope that the Federation and the Earth Alliance will have the time and opportunity," she said, stressing the word, "to meet and associate on better terms."

"Despite the rumors that appear to run rampant on your ICN news network and the obvious Human imperfections that had led your people to distrust our way of life, I find that there is hope for your people. I wish that hope not be extinguished."

The President shook her head at the half-insult. These aliens acted so superior-they probably were. She sincerely believed that the Vulcans and Minbari would either love one another or be at one another's throats in the first two minutes of contact. "Do all of your species speak the same way?"

"Directness is the most logical approach where Humans are concerned," he answered. "However, my wife would find my logical approach in this instance most illogical."

'So', she mused. 'They do have a sense of humor'. "What is it like, living with a Human?"

"It is fascinating," he answered after a moment. "I find that my logic is uncertain when it comes to she that is my wife."

'No emotions my foot,' she thought. 'A blind woman could see how much she loves him.' They're not so different after all'. "I hope that I will get a chance to meet her, one day."

Both the President and Vice-President were about to introduce Ambassador Sarek to the new Russian consortium members that had arrived, when Sulu's communications device began to beep. At the same instant, several beepers and comlinks went off as well.

With Vulcan calm, Sarek waited to hear.

The Federation Captain grimaced. "Ambassador, Madame President, a jumpoint activated near the Mars belt. They're here, four Sharlins actively scanning the area."

The President felt a stab of guilt. Although there was little video of the ship itself, undoubtedly they'd seen the ICN broadcasts. Their curiosity had been peaked. Earth Force was on full alert and every ship available was vectoring towards the Minbari."

Sarek turned towards the President. "It appears that our pleasantries has been cut sort by two days," he said. "Do not despair. Survive. Starfleet will come." He bowed once more.

"That is a promise," Sulu added. "Vulcans never lie." He spoke into his communicator. "Two to beam up."

The two Federation representatives disappeared in front the astounded guests as the transporter whisked them away.

------

Captain Sulu, all business, sat in the Captain's chair. "Status."

"The Minbari know were here," Roberts said. "They haven't locked onto us yet but they spent less than ten minutes scanning what remained of the destroyed vessel and started concentrating on earth orbit."

"Are our guests here yet?"

"We've beamed them aboard a few minutes ago."

On cue, General Leftcourt and recently promoted lieutenant Commander Yoriko Taganawa stepped onto the bridge.

"They've seen us."

"Red alert."
-----

Angered but not overly surprised, the Minbari fleet found what little that was left of their sister ship, Dagger Point, still floating in the Mars asteroid belt. There were also Nial remains-the ones the humans hadn't taken as prizes. There were pieces of just one Earther ship in the area, not five or six as per the usual number. There were significant radiation profiles consistent with Human particle beam emissions and nuclear detonations.

In other words the Humans got lucky. Another ship lost; another embarrassment that would be avenged. The loss of Dagger Point would be felt for a long time but there was something else that had caught their attention.

The Minbari had indeed monitored the Earth broadcasts and dismissed most of it as bravado and misdirection, an obvious Human characteristic. Much of the conversations picked up stressed the misery of Humanity as visited upon them by the Minbari. That was meaningless. What was meaningful however was picked up several hours before they reached the Sol system. Their news network spoke of the war with the Human colonists. That was unmistakable. The broadcasts also mentioned that an Earther Federation ship was in the area. As with Dagger Point, the Trigati's sensors had picked a void in orbit around Earth.

"Burn through it," Sinoval ordered.

"Sensors can't penetrate the void, Captain. They're blocking our scans."

He frowned. Very few races could do that and none of them were in this area of space. "Can we get a visual on this void?"

"Yes," responded the Scanner officer Tennon. "That can be done."

The screen filled with an image of alien ship, fairly small orbiting the planet surrounded by several Earth Alliance vessels of different configurations. The design was strange but rather artistic. It seemed the counterpart of the Minbari standard. Where his large and powerful warship mimicked a rather organic design heralding the future as one of the oldest of the younger races; that vessel reveled in geometric basics, small but graceful. The vessel was designed along the lines of basic geometry; circles, rectangles and variations thereof organized in ways that seemed too delicate to even survive the rigors of space travel. Ovals, rectangles and circles were connected in an organized pattern. It was the opposite of Minbari design but no less beautiful and somewhat fragile looking. It would have to be a high-speed blockade-runner of some type. It was too small to have jump engines.

"Beautiful," he whispered. "Can we identify it?"

"Checking now."

"Sir, Captain Batnier wishes to speak to you."

"Have you seen it?" he asked. The Minbari Captain looked perplexed. "It is a very unusual ship."

"Sir," Tennon interrupted. "We cannot identify the ship conclusively. However our databanks have an approximate match of seventy-three percent."

"What race?"

"The configuration resembles that of an Earther Federation ship identified as Enterprise. That image was transmitted from the Tinashi Frigate Dark Sword."

"Is it Enterprise?" he hissed.

"No," was the answer. "But this means that the Earther Federation colonists are in contact with the home world."

"What information do we have on them?"

"Very little," Tennon responded slowly. "Detailed information hasn't been transmitted from the returning fleet. This ship must have arrived before the fleet left, otherwise the beacons would have detected it. It must have been trapped here."

"Or, there is another transit point."

"There is that possibility," Tennon admitted.

The Captain nodded. "We need to find out. This presents us with the possibility of finding out more about this colony and some of their technology."

"There is no colony left, Sir," Tennon corrected.

Sinoval didn't answer immediately. There were too many questions that needed to be answered and those questions needed answering now. What if they had made an error in underestimating this Earth Federation? What if the Humans weren't wiped out by fleet actions? Most likely he was being paranoid, but what if that wasn't the only colony? What if there had been two or three more significant settlements that had been missed?

He studied the image in front of him carefully. There was no denying that there was an artistic flair to it, rather dynamic-beautiful in its own way. Light gray as opposed to dark blues highlighted the fundamental difference between these people and his.

"I want that ship," he ordered. "All Nials are to engage the targeted Earther Federation ship. Blood of Saints will support them. There are too many of their vessels in the area. We cannot stay long. We will engage and capture the Federation vessel. If it resists, we will try to disable it and pick apart whatever is left."

The four Sharlins released their fighters and proceeded to move towards Earth and the horde of EA warships rushing to meet them.

USS Excelsior:

"Break orbit," Captain Sulu ordered. "Move us away from the Minbari force at one eighth impulse."

"Aye, Sir."

"Lieutenant Commander Taganawa," Sulu said. "Do you know the coordinates to the hyperspace conduit?"

"Yes, Captain," she said. "Quickly she gave the coordinates to the navigator. "I don't understand what you want with them. You ships doesn't use jumpspace tech."

"True," he responded. "However, that conduit is known to the Minbari and when we head for it they will assume that that is where we're headed and they will try to stop us form getting there."

The General smiled. "Misdirection."

"Exactly," Sulu responded. "Your Nova-X need time to get to the rendezvous point as do we. I don't want them chasing me there."

General Leftcourt's eyes, glued to the viewscreen watched soberly as almost two-dozen Nial fighters broke and headed for the Excelsior. But what caught his attention was the lack of acceleration as the starship eased from orbit. In fact, he hadn't felt a thing and that was unheard of. Involuntarily, his eyes shifted to Lieutenant Commander Tanagawa standing next to him.

By his side, Yoriko understood exactly what he was feeling. "It does take some getting used to," she whispered. "It feels like we're on a planet's surface. Their technology is why so many of the colonists don't want to come back. They're not at war with everyone. They can travel just about anywhere and they have the opportunity to do just about anything they can imagine. No hunger, no prejudice and the chance to explore. These people take all of this for granted. No wonder they're so different."

"She was correct he mused. The Federation did take their lifestyle for granted. It made him and his people feel like a poor, third world country. They needed to understand these people better if they were to get along, provided they survived this war. His attention was pulled back to the view screen and the Minbari Nials closed in on the fleeing ship. Several of them had taken ranging shots and when Captain Sulu didn't respond, their actions became bolder as they tried to herd the ship towards the incoming Sharlin. When the fighters were close enough-

------

"Target those fighters. One third power."

"Targets locked."

"Fire."

Leftcourt and Yoriko stifled gasps as the Excelsior's phasers eviscerated the closest fighter. The next two were cut in half as clean as a surgeon's blade. Surprised the Nial fighters broke formation. Three more of their numbers were speared by phaser fire. That was enough for them to retreat to the safety of the Sharlin bearing down on the Federation ship. Their stealth hadn't helped them whatsoever.

Shock and anger erupted across the bridge when the first three Nials were destroyed with no more effort than batting away some troubling insect. Sinoval didn't respond. These Earthers had teeth but by their actions, they had signed their deaths. The Blood of Saints was almost in range and Alyt Rannaonn was demanding blood vengeance. Fascinated, Sinoval watched as the two ships began their deadly dance. He didn't spend too much time, as the Earther vessels were too busy getting themselves killed there was only a time for quick glances.

Blood of Saints fired first, its capital beams at full power. Bright, almost blinding, yellow beams slashed out towards the ship. But the enemy ship was now moving even faster, evading the first shots with relative ease. Yellow beams continually passed through the areas where the Earther ship had been only moments earlier. The accursed things moved like a fighter craft controlled by an insane pilot. Sinoval stifled a curse. The targeting computers that served them so well, for so long, were too slow. Evidently, Rannaonn had noticed the same thing and had switched tactics. His ship was now trying to bracket the ship with its main weapons. With all of its insane maneuvering, it couldn't avoid a glancing blow.

Instead of being destroyed outright or at least mortally crippled, the space around the ship glowed eerily; a transparent bubble became visible for an instant. Sinoval went into shock. Only the Vorlons and one other race that he knew of had something like that protecting their ships! Quickly, he ordered the combat group to disengage from the humans and attack the colonial ship.

Blood of Saints had fired another wild burst, but missed. The colonial ship now returned fire for the first time. Flickering beams slammed into the heart of the Sharlin and crystalline armor that had protected the Minbari ships for a thousand years shattered and melted from the fury of the blast. The hellish beams raked the length of the ship, which staggered from the hit. The ship fired again and this time, the bridge section erupted and its crew was exposed to vacuum. Again the vessel fired, its beams eviscerating the engineering section. The quantum singularity, power source of the mighty ship collapsed, and the ship turned into its namesake. More than a thousand Minbari were killed in less than fifteen seconds of fighting.

-----

The crew of the taskforce screamed in collected rage as they rushed to obliterate the Humans who dared to destroy one of theirs. What happen next surprised Sinoval. The ship performed a strange maneuver. It turned slowly presenting its full profile towards his incoming warships, showing off its name, USS Excelsior, for all to see. It was a supremely arrogant move. Then it vectored away at high speed and space around the ship shimmered. It seemed to stretch and then it was gone in a blaze of unknown distortion.

"What direction?" he demanded. That wasn't a jumpoint. It had to be the unknown FTL tech that he had heard about. But how fast was it?

"They seemed to be on a direct course to the hyperspace highway," an enraged subordinate responded. "There's no way to be sure."

That was a guess, true. But it was a good one, Sinoval believed. The alarm would be raised from here to the transit point. Every Minbari warship they could muster would be waiting for the Excelsior. The Earther would never reach home. This he swore.

Captain Tokkal was screaming over the comms. "How dare they run! They are cowards!"

At three to one odds, Sinoval mused, was not a fair fight, but he didn't comment on it. Idly he did wonder if the Captain was human. "No, Tokkal, you are wrong," he answered softly. He had recognized the act for what it was. "That wasn't the actions of a coward. That Captain issued a challenge to us."

There was silence on the other end as the Captain considered what had just been said.

How many of those Federation ships were left? Territory ranging six thousand light-years had to be an exaggeration, didn't it? Could they find another way here?

For his part, if the Excelsior survived, Sinoval and the Trigati would accept the colonial Earther's challenge honorably given and he vowed to kill it. Now there were three ships destined for destruction and two of them were from the Earther Federation. It was good that the colony had been wiped out and he desperately hoped that that was indeed the only one, despite what the newscasts had said. They were too dangerous. His people would have to kill them all.
-----

For the next three days at warp four, the Excelsior headed towards the conduit. Exactly every sixteen hours the starship came out of warp for seven minutes. They did this twice. The Minbari, anticipating their vector tracked the ship along the coordinates. The Sharlins and support craft, waited in hyperspace at the targeted area for the vessel to repeat itself a third time.

It was a wasted operation as the Minbari would later learn. They never saw the Excelsior again.

Captain Sulu sipped his hot steaming tea with satisfaction. Earlier in a briefing, he had informed General Leftcourt and his staff that, as per standard military procedure, he had no intention of allowing the Minbari any idea of the starships maximum speed or where they were heading. He had no intentions of giving them any more information than he wanted them to have. Warp drive was an unknown to them as was the lack of the need to come out of warp to fix their position.

Misdirection-in time of war. Deception-the keys to victory.

Now, Excelsior headed back towards the Coutor system unmolested. Seven days later, with the Nova-X in tow, the Excelsior headed back towards the Alpha quadrant. Upon arriving, they were greeted by the first joint Federation-Klingon assault force.

One look at the Klingon cruisers interspersed with the Flying saucer Federation ships and he broke out with a cold-blooded smile. They were small, but then so was a nest of enraged hornets. Some things you didn't mess with.

"This is the USS Enterprise to USS Excelsior-welcome home."