Please, rectify that after you read this chapter. I would greatly appreciate it to hear you enjoyed the story. In fact, I would even appreciate it if you wrote in just to say what you didn't like about the story. So whether you like my story or not, do read and review.
Last but not least I want to thank my betareaders for their work. Now on with the story.
Realizations'Believe me, that was
a happy age, before the days of architects, before the days of
builders.'
- Seneca
USS
Odyssey, Captain Walker's Quarters
They were lying in the
bed, dozing off staring at the wall and beyond. Peter was lying in
Sandra's arms and she was absent-mindedly toying with his hair. It
needed a haircut soon. "Are you nervous at all about tomorrow?"
Peter didn't respond immediately. "Yes, a bit. Never had millions of sentients watching me so I am definitely feeling a bit apprehensive. But it has to be done. It's the best way to get our side of the story out."
"I am betting Ivanova isn't happy about it either," Sandra mused to herself. "She is an EarthForce officer, not a journalist and now you just dumped it on her to do an interview with you. You're not even going to go over the questions with her beforehand."
Peter now sounded puzzled. "But if I already knew the questions before I went in then I could rehearse the answers. That would defeat the purpose of the interview, I could suffice with a statement then."
Sandra looked down upon him, silently shaking her head. "You really are an odd one, you do know that. And I am not just talking about this incident alone. I would be very hard stretched to find a man that had never been intimate at your age."
Peter turned around to look her in the eyes. Smiling he said, "ah but you love me anyway. Besides," he added as he closed the distance between their lips," I haven't heard any complaints yet."
"Well," she intoned mischievously," I do think you could use some training."
"I would be happy to oblige you," Peter said before locking lips with her. Few words were spoken after that.
Babylon 5, Studio of Voice of Resistance
"Welcome
to Voice of Resistance, where the truth is back in business." That
is how Ivanova began the broadcast. "In today's broadcast we're
going to do things a little different than usual because today I have
a guest here in the studio. Starfleet Captain Peter Walker of the USS
Odyssey who will be answering some questions."
The camera zoomed out a little to show Captain Walker sitting on her left, who was clearly somewhat nervous. Ivanova continued, "Now I should warn the viewers that this will be live so if anything goes wrong, you can blame the technicians."
She turned to face Walker and addressed him now. "I suppose the first question should be why you agreed to this?"
"The reasons for wanting this interview are twofold: the immediate reason that prompted us was the fact that our origins were revealed several days ago."
"But rumors about where the Federation is located have been around since your arrival."
"Yes, but now most governments know for a fact where we come from. The need to keep it a secret is therefore gone. And to tie in with our reasons for this interview, we also wanted to counter the lies ISN has been spreading."
"I see. Well then, what is the Federation and where do you come from?"
The Captain collected his thoughts before he answered. "The United Federation of Planets is an interstellar nation compromised out of some 150 members who have banded together under the unifying goals of universal liberty, equality, peaceful coexistence, trade, exploration and mutual defense. The Federation was founded about 200 years ago by Vulcan, Andor, Tellar and Earth. You see, we are from an alternate reality."
"A bold claim, but viewers might want some more proof," Ivanova reacted.
Walker gave her a pointed look. "You mean besides the fact that our crews are compromised, besides us humans, out of a host of races not found anywhere in known space and our wildly disparate technology base?"
Ivanova smiled. "Besides that. For example, how did you first find out that you were in fact in an alternate reality?"
Walker nodded. "Well our first clue was the fact that our star charts suddenly didn't match with what we could see around us. Oh, there was still enough the same to say for certain that this was the Milky Way Galaxy but that was it. There were others but the definitive clue was the quantum resonance signature of surrounding matter. It differed from our own and then we knew we were no longer in our home universe."
Of course Susan had heard all of this already, but others hadn't. "So you found yourself in a strange galaxy, what did you do?"
Walker smiled. "We explored," he simply said. "Of course it wasn't that simple. We tried to find any remains of the anomaly that brought us here but couldn't find anything. When it looked that we would be here for a while, we decided to set a course for the one thing that looked familiar to us."
"Earth," Ivanova concluded.
"The Earth Solar system was identical to the one we had left just a few weeks before then. It even had humans," then Walker's voice became more serious, "but they weren't like the people we knew."
"This was around the time that Clark declared martial law," Susan supplied for the viewer.
"We arrived just in time to see how Earth was turned into a totalitarian state, not afraid to kill its own citizens."
"You are talking about the bombing of the Mars domes?"
"Yes, perhaps you could show the viewers what I am talking about? I believe we have supplied you with the sensor logs."
Ivanova turned now and looked to someone off camera with inquiring eyes. Apparently they could show it because the studio was replaced by the image of two thunderbolts flying low over Martian soil. They could hear a voice, probably belonging to one of the pilots. "Standing by, weapons hot."
He was interrupted by another man pleading, "don't do it. We got women and children down here. Don't do it!"
A third voice could now be heard, it didn't betray any emotions as he sealed those people's fate. "Omega One, you are clear to drop." And with that two missiles streaked out from one of the fighters moving towards one of the glass domes dotting the ground. A large explosion followed as the weapons struck.
Walker spoke up. "Our sensors confirmed later that 11,000 people died. Most due to suffocation as the air was no longer contained within the dome." You could hear that he was still appalled at this.
"And that was what prompted you to come to the defense of Babylon 5?"
"We had practical considerations also, like the fact that this was neutral space. But for me personally I also realized that this station with a quarter of a million sentients would be as vulnerable as those domes. And then there was the goal of the station, the reason it was built. Peaceful coexistence is one of the founding ideals of the Federation as well."
"That doesn't stop you from having heavily armed ships. But you're not here to conquer anything, correct?"
"Ah, no. The Federation only expands through peaceful means like colonization and by accepting new members. So the allegation of ISN that we have cast a hungry eye on the Earth Alliance is ludicrous. In fact, I am afraid that the EA wouldn't be allowed to join even if they applied at the moment. But that would go for most of the nations here."
Susan didn't expect that answer, she was tempted to ask if that included the Minbari. But that would just open up another can of worms so she kept to her prepared questions. "And the other information ISN supposedly dug up on the Federation?"
"Not true of course. How could it be? If they actually had a way to look into another quantum reality I would be rather eager to know how. My crew and I would very much appreciate a way to at least know what is going on back home and let our loved ones know we are still alive.
He paused. "But we do not have some kind of Orwellian thought police, torture chambers and who knows what else has been hidden in the fantasies of the ISN reporters. No, we do not have any organizations or laws for telepaths. The simple fact is, we never assumed that they were a danger to begin with as your government has done. I have seen nothing since our arrival here that would change my mind on this subject."
"And the claims that the Federation is actually ruled by aliens and that the humans in it are a client race, little more then servants?"
Walker laughed. "Not true. In fact, back home the allegations are usually that it is a 'Homo Sapiens only club'. There, they actually worry about the allure of human culture." He shook his head. "So the answer is no, the Federation is a partnership between equals. I know it seems a bit strange for most people around these parts but we honestly can't imagine not living this way. The advantages are so obvious that I sometimes wonder why so few other races try it."
Earth, Earth Dome
"Let Minister Lantz
know I want to talk to him as soon as possible." Clark let go of
the intercom button. He had just finished watching that most
interesting interview with Captain Walker. He had already read
Lefcourt's report on the supposed origins of these Starfleeters,
but the source was questionable. Just who or what that Q thing was
remained a mystery and it could have been a deception.
Then again, this 'interview' could be too. But something told him it wasn't. Them being from another universe would indeed fit nicely with what they did know about them and his own scientists had told him that in theory at least these alternate universes could exist. And if the Starfleeters were really alone out here, without any hope of getting in touch with their government then they were more vulnerable then he thought.
It meant that the plan that the Ministry of Peace had put forward could go ahead after all. He had been skeptical about whether their operative could have been as successful in his recruitment drive as reported but with this news that didn't even matter much anymore. He still had at least 25 Omegas upgraded with Shadow technology ready to strike at his command and one of them was parked right next to that infernal station. Yes, Operation Silent Strike seemed a lot more feasible now.
Alpha
Omega, USS Phoenix
So far they had hidden
themselves in hyperspace, silently observing events from there. But
they had reached the end of what that could do for them, it was time
to sneak into normal space. "Is the probe ready?" Thalev
inquired.
"It is standing by, Captain." Data confirmed. At Thalev's command the Phoenix opened up a jump point and the probe dived into it followed by a cloaked Phoenix. But outside observers saw something else. They saw a Whitestar emerge from a swirling blue vortex that closed behind it. The blue-skinned ship didn't waste much time, after a quick survey of its surroundings it dived back into hyperspace.
"Any signs we were detected Ensign Dean?" There weren't any and the crew could now proceed with the actual task of gathering information. "Alright, Ensign Harris set a course for this asteroid near the fifth planet." The tap Thalev gave on his console sent the necessary coordinates to the Helm allowing Harris to set the correct course. But Thalev wasn't finished with his orders. "Launch the stealth probe, program it to send a narrow band transmission to that asteroid once it reaches its destination."
VVV
Galen was getting tired. He had spent two days now observing the ongoing battle here at Z'Ha'Dum. He had tried to enter Vorlon territory first but that proved impossible. Their borders were still too well guarded so he decided to try his luck here. And it here he did meet success.
The Shadows had been hit hard and in response they had focussed all their attention on this unknown enemy giving Galen the opportunity to slip into the system undetected. He had landed his ship here, on this asteroid that was far enough from the fighting and had used his abilities at illusion to prevent attracting any attention. It worked so far but he would not dare to sleep here, in the lair of the Shadows.
Despite two days of undisturbed observation on the Shadows' enemies they remained an enigma. All that he could say for certain was that none of their crafts seemed to be manned. That and they possessed technology unlike anyone else he had seen or heard about. Energy shields, weapons that disrupted matter itself and a strange form of FTL travel that had nothing to do with hyperspace.
He had considered the possibility they had some relation with the Federation but the differences between those two factions' technologies were as big as the similarities. There was also the question how they communicated. He had detected no tachyon emissions of any kind from them.
The most recent surprise didn't come from them however but from a Whitestar that had briefly entered the system before leaving again. The odd thing was that its tachyon scans hadn't been focussed enough to detect anything. Alas, Galen couldn't dare to scan too thoroughly himself lest he be detected. He turned his attention back to the carnage.
VVV
The Phoenix had arrived at its hiding place, sliding into the rock itself and keeping sensors at a bare minimum. They would let the probe do all the scanning so that if they were detected, it would most likely be the probe. Of course this action had startled his guests as he had neglected to tell them what the phase cloak was capable of. Then his right antenna twitched as he belatedly realized he had just revealed this capability to the EarthForce officer as well.
But the safety of his crew was more important. "Is the probe in position yet?"
"A few more seconds sir," Ensign Dean told him. Seconds seemed an eternity in this situation but finally the probe made contact and now they could see with their own eyes what the Shadows were fighting. The first impression was how massive this battle was as a wide angled shot zoomed in on some of the specks to show in more detail what was going on.
They all watched silently how hundreds of Shadow ships threw themselves at the fight with new ships shimmering into existence every minute. Groups of Drakh, Centauri and other unidentifiable ships fought alongside them although they seemed to be less effective. But they all died, sometimes without even having had the opportunity to fire upon the enemy.
And that enemy had the strangest ships of all. Two types that both consisted out of geometric shapes and they were entering the fight through some kind of energy ribbons. Tears in the fabric of space that shone brightly as the black vessels emerged from them. The most numerous type was a simple design and small. Shaped like an octahedron with a clear crystal on what was apparently its front. An angular energy field encased the entire ship, giving the appearance it had been trapped inside a large red crystal.
Interspaced among them were ships that were ten times as big, consisting out of a rod with four round wings attached to it. It too had four crystals mounted on the wings front and back as well as an energy shield. They went head to head with the Shadow vessels and others, not seeming to care about their own safety.
There Neroon could see how a pack of the smaller ships charged at a battlecrab, firing green glowing beams at the glistening black vessel. The Shadow ship fired its weapon as well and each time it fired one of the small crafts exploded. But they were not ineffective themselves as the beams blasted of chunks of black armor. Not a lot but given that there were more than one ship firing it would soon be enough. Three fighters came up behind the battlecrab to relieve some of the pressure and for several seconds the craft seemed to just ignore them. Then one of the gunboats reacted and quickly fired three short bursts destroying them before they had even managed to score one kill. The battlecrab followed them into oblivion soon thereafter.
Vir saw two battlecrabs ganging up on one of the large ships that had gotten isolated from the rest. They both fired and both failed to do any damage, instead the energy impacted the shield without any visible effect. The return fire speared one battlecrab that exploded into pieces as the finned craft tried to link up again with its brethren. But the other battlecrab was in pursuit and attacked once again, this time penetrating the shield and slicing straight through the armor. Something inside the ship exploded and the resulting explosion hurt friend and foe alike in this close-quarters fight.
Colonel Carter saw a group of Drakh raiders supported by a wing of Sentris go at it with an equal amount of enemy ships in both size and numbers. Bluish-green quantum streams and small purple bolts whizzed by green energy beams as they came to blows. Unfortunately for the Drakh, the enemy's shielding held while their own armor didn't. A series of explosions broke up their formation and the geometrically shaped crafts jumped right in to make use of it. They effortlessly pivoted on one axis while continuing to fly in their previous direction to get the Raiders in their sights.
The Sentris tried desperately to help their allies and were now concentrating their fire on one ship. They finally managed to get past the shield that had suddenly winked out. Their plasma bolts slammed into the armor and holes began to appear but they were alone now. Before a critical hit could be scored the fighters were blasted out of existence after which the ships continued on in search of new targets. Even the still unshielded one although it was falling behind.
And so the battle went on. Here the Shadow allies managed to envelop and destroy a group of octahedrons while there a large enemy ship made mincemeat out of a Shadow scout and a large group of fighters with a quick succession of energy blasts. Ensign Dean's console began beeping. "Captain, sensors are detecting something massive making the transmission into normal space!"
The image on the viewscreen changed and they could now see what it was, a Shadow Planet Killer. A dark cloud that obscured the stars had materialized behind the Shadow fleet and it now moved to cover a part of the battlefield. Allied ships desperately moved out of the way but the enemy kept coming taking advantage of this mad dash to hit the careless ships. Then the cloud obscured their view, but bright explosions could still be seen signaling that ships kept on fighting in there.
More bright explosions followed and then the entire cloud began to light up from the inside. Following that event the cloud began to break up and they could see once more into that area now even more littered with debris. The bridge was silent as they considered the desperation needed to deploy a weapon meant to destroy worlds in a fleet battle.
But apparently the Shadows weren't the only ones with an ace up their sleeves. From three tears a new kind of ship appeared again with a geometric shape. They had the shape of a plus sign with a disc sticking out of the center. The disc was made from a different material than the rest of the ship. The disc was also not as thick as the four beams and each part of the disc had a pyramid shaped crystal. They also had a pulsating, white energy ball in the center and the whole craft was protected by the now familiar energy field.
Their appearance had an affect on the Shadows who began to attack with a new vigor, or perhaps desperation. But they were rebuffed for the moment and the crystals on the three ships began glowing green as if preparing to fire. But instead the energy flowed into the central aperture like water, giving the energy ball a sickly green glow as it began to grow. Then this process stopped too, quickly followed by the release of a bright green energy ball from the center that rapidly expanded once it had left the ship.
This energy ball was now far larger than a battlecrab as it swiftly moved across the battlefield and into the enemy armada. Everything in its path wasn't simply destroyed, it was annihilated. Neither Shadow nor Drakh armor provided the slightest form of protection but the scariest thing was what happened to a battlecrab that had only lost a few spines to the deadly ball.
Grey veins began to crawl from the wounds and the ship itself began shaking like a leaf, clearly in agony. A black blob shaped like a shuttle now left the dying battlecrab. It didn't get far though because it was blown up by an octahedron that had taken advantage of the path cleared by the big ship.
Ambassador Kani was the first to reach a conclusion about what they were seeing. "We are surely done for!" he exclaimed after which he left the bridge. Everyone watched him go, uncertain how serious and sane he was.
The Abbai ambassador however groaned, "Not again." But her eyes as most others were drawn back to the viewscreen where one of the three big ships had been destroyed by a jump point of a Drakh cruiser. Thalev himself refrained himself from asking questions and gave the order to contact Babylon 5.
"Let's just hope the other ambassadors won't share Kani's assessment of the situation," he muttered to himself.
Babylon 5, Conference Room
It
was the same room that they had gathered in about a week ago. Back
then they had decided to send a ship to Z'Ha'Dum and now they
were gathered to see what the Phoenix had found. Seeing what
was going on there in real-time wouldn't have been possible without
the subspace communication network that the Starfleeters had laid.
The same room, almost the same crowd with the exception of a few that
were now on the Phoenix and with the addition of Lyta
Alexander. She was the closest thing to a First Ones expert they had,
hopefully she could identify something.
Lyta was sitting on the right of Susan who in turn sat at Sheridan's right. To his left he had Delenn followed by Captain Walker. They used the central holoprojector again but this time it would project flat screens to show the images the Phoenix sent them. For a moment considered how convoluted it was to use a three dimensional imaging device to produce two dimensional images but he abandoned that line of thinking when the first image appeared.
It was the bridge of the Phoenix with Thalev in the middle and six of the observers standing above and behind him. They stood behind a curved, wooden railing. He mentally shook his head at that little detail. Even with a ship they rushed to build they took time to add luxuries like that. But Sheridan and Ambassador Vrokat didn't fail to notice that the Brakiri observer wasn't present.
"Babylon 5, are you receiving us?" Captain Thalev queried.
"We are receiving you," Sheridan confirmed, "but we can't see Ambassador Kani."
There was a delay for a second, given the fast distances involved he was amazed it was only that but the Starfleeters had actually apologized about it. Apparently they could have made it real time once they had the chance to place more subspace relays. But the reaction he got from Thalev was odd.
"The Ambassador returned to his quarters not long ago," Thalev said. His left antenna twitched barely as he spoke. "He has however seen the first images the probe sent back. Some kind of alien race we have never seen before is beating the Shadows."
"How badly are they loosing, Captain?"
Thalev looked over at Commander Data who answered. "Current projections indicate that the Shadows will loose within the next nine days."
Deafening silence greeted that statement as everybody was aghast at the implications.
"But the most startling information isn't in the imagery," Thalev added. "Peter," and everybody knew he was addressing Captain Walker directly, "they have subspace technology and disruptor-style weaponry."
"You failed to mention that their ships are equipped with energy shields Captain," Neroon informed everyone.
"That is because they aren't based on the same principles of any shielding technology in our database. The same goes for the strange FTL-drive they are using."
"Show us," Sheridan ordered. Thalev nodded and the image of the bridge was replaced by the chaos of the battlefield. They now saw what the people on the Phoenix had seen only half an hour before. Shadow vessels, always held as neigh invincible were now struck down with impunity. That they took many of their opponents down as well wasn't so impressive as they were immediately replaced.
So intent was everyone on what was shown that no one noticed how a dreamy Lyta stood up and rounded the table until she had nearly reached the other side of the table. She had her back to everyone as Captain Walker finally noticed her odd behavior.
"Miss Alexander, is everything alright?"
At first she didn't respond, drawing more attention to herself. Then she turned around. Her eyes were black now as she addressed everyone present. Her voice had changed too; it held a quality of power now. "They have returned," she stated.
Sheridan, as well as most others present, grasped the fact that they weren't talking to Lyta anymore after a moment. "What are you?"
"A race memory. A warning to you should some threats resurface that we stopped long ago. I was triggered by those Builder ships. Those Eyes and Hands."
"What do you know about them? What are they?"
"A mistake, one of many. A punishment for our overconfidence. We," and all present knew she was talking about the Vorlons, "had just taken upon us to guide the younger races when we first came upon them. A race that had a natural affinity for order and a racial hate against chaos. We took them under our wings and taught them all we knew, once they were ready for it," she qualified.
"And when the time came to face the Shadows and their thralls they fought. Time and time again they defeated the forces of chaos. We took it as evidence that we were right and we were so blinded by our success that we never considered their darker side. We didn't heed the warning signs."
"They shunned the organic," she clarified, "seeing it as chaotic and kept using their mechanical ships. But their aversion didn't end there. They began replacing their own body parts with mechanical devices until they found a way to store their minds into computers. But since it made them even fiercer we did not care. Not long after that they suddenly made a leap in their technology."
"They replaced their jump drives for a strange form of FTL travel we had never seen before. Suddenly they possessed the secret to shields and began using an unknown directed-energy weapon. We never learned how exactly this radical change came about, but we soon suffered the consequences. During the last Great War they were out of control, sterilizing entire planets with their Hammers." Captain Walker gave a snort at that little bit of hypocrisy.
"When we told them to stop, they listened but we should have realized that they were deceiving us. A year after the war ended, they attacked everyone. Younger Races and First Ones alike died as the Builders had declared that all life was chaos and as such all life should be destroyed. For the next ten years we fought until finally we had subdued their fleets and lade waste to their planets. Certain that the Builders were no more we took steps to ensure that this would never happen again, but we were wrong."
"What kind of steps?" Walker asked wearily.
Lyta ignored him. "The Builders had planned for their own failure and hidden fleets across space. We stumbled upon one of them before it could be activated and after an extensive search we thought we had destroyed all of them. Two centuries later a fleet we missed was activated. Several races were wiped out before we could intervene. And their legacy now threatens you, for if we cannot stop them than that responsibility falls upon you. They will not cease until all life is gone. Until every sentient, animal, plant and microbe is ash."
That final announcement was made even more dramatic as they suddenly lost the feed from the Phoenix.
Alpha Omega
"Alien underspace
signals have been detected emanating from an object near the combat
area." For a few moments there was silence as the intelligence
analyzed his findings. "Scan results incomplete due to a scattering
field of unknown configuration. One coherent signal is directed to an
asteroid near the fifth planet. Analysis of sensor logs for that area
indicates the asteroid now has several elements not found in nearby
asteroids. Conclusion: a ship is hiding there." It sent the
recommendation to divert a Hand and four Eyes to investigate the
situation. It was approved.
VVV
Galen had closed his eyes just for a second. Just to give them some rest and so he missed the first warning he had been found. A bright tear in space erupted not too far from his hiding place and five ships emerged from it. First the smaller ships followed up by the larger one which fired upon the asteroid immediately. By that time Galen had spotted them though and he was already preparing to leave.
And not a moment too soon as the beam dug into the same crater his ship had occupied only a second before. Apparently he had overstayed his welcome and underestimated their abilities. He concluded it was time to leave and make his report to the Circle. After he had finally done some sleeping. But his pursuers weren't cooperating, somehow they were jamming his jump engines. He couldn't leave!
His craft's sublight drive strained as he put it through a series of wild maneuvers that barely dodged their energy beams. His pinnace had weapons but he doubted he could destroy all of those ships before they got him. Nevertheless, unless something changed very soon he would have to try.
VVV
Thalev's first fear was that these aliens had somehow pierced their cloak when Ensign Dean reported a tear had opened on their starboard. But then he realized something he should have thought of before. So used had he become to the fact that nobody in this universe knew of subspace that he had let the probe use active sensors. He had reasoned that if anybody did find the probe, they would never be able to find out where it sent its data to.
But these aliens were acquainted with subspace and although it was difficult to track a narrow band transmission, it wasn't impossible. His hopes that they thought that he was hiding near the asteroid and not in it were dashed when the big ship fired.
Of course he immediately ordered Harris to get them out of there and to up the sensors from bare minimum. And that is when they had gotten their latest surprise. Apparently it had been a popular rock since another ship took off from the same asteroid. And it was that ship the aliens now followed.
"That's a technomage ship," Vir answered when Thalev asked if the black, triangular vessel could be identified.
Thalev turned around in his seat. "Technomage?" he asked.
"They are a group of people that use technology to create the effect of magic," Vir explained. "I thought they had all left this part of space to get away from the coming war."
"Well apparently one of them came back," Thalev retorted. He was in a quandary. On the one hand he had no idea if these technomages were friendly or not. On the other this particular ship would have observed the proceedings here far longer then they. And it was his actions that had blown the Technomages' cover.
"Captain," Ensign Dean called for his attention, "they are emitting some kind of quantum resonance signal. We can't enter hyperspace and I wager neither can those Technomages." The situation of said technomages was made worse by a glancing hit that shook the small craft.
No more time. "Get us in front of that Technomage ship and standby to decloak. As soon as you have, grab it with the tractor beam and get us out of here. Warp 2. Also tell Transporter Room to get a lock on the people inside, just in case." The ship accelerated from its position to the left and slightly behind the pursuers. The maneuver was made even riskier by the fact that they were still shooting at the black craft.
They just decloaked as the pilot ran out of luck. One beam bit into the right wing of the ship and it began to break apart as another beam hit it. The geometrically shaped ships continued on for two seconds before their weapons began powering up again. Thalev had no intention to wait and see what they would do. "Get us out of here now!"
The ship leaped away before it could be fired upon and only after they had managed to get away did Thalev contact the Transporter operator to see if they actually rescued anybody. "Tranporter Room, please tell me you got them."
"Something interfered with the targeting scanner sir, I only managed to get one and he is badly injured."
TBC