Author's notes: Well this one has been a long time coming. And finally it is here. It's not the chapter I had in mind but that has been true for several chapters. I would like to thank the folks at Alpha Clan Elite writers for giving suggestions, the reviewers for caring enough to keep asking when I would finally get off my lazy ahem and get that chapter done and my betareaders for swiftly responding once I got it finished.

I don't think my future updates will take this long, but I make no promises. This story will get finished, I don't care how long it takes.

Now on with the story!

The Squalls of life

'It takes a real storm in the average person's life to make him realize how much worrying he has done over the squalls.'
-Bruce Barton

USS Phoenix, Sickbay
Captain Thalev briskly entered the room barely stopping to greet. "You had some news on our patient, Doctor?"

"Yes," Mallen responded. "I patched him up but there were some anomalies I thought you should be aware of before you talk to him."

Thalev kept silent and only looked inquisitive. He knew Mallen was competent but also had a penchant for gossiping. Part of that meant she had the somewhat annoying habit of using dramatic pauses in her verbal reports. Luckily, she didn't wait too long. She was just too excited about what she had found.

"I found a large number of cyber-organic implants riddled throughout his body. Some of them are holographic projectors, simpler but also smaller then any we have. But I haven't been able to identify what most of them do yet, although I do think he used a few of them to pilot his ship. But that isn't the real kicker, you see I am certain they are based on Shadow technology!"

Thalev's antennae rose up at hearing that. "That means our guest could be a security risk. Lieutenant Summers has been notified I take it?"

"Oh yes, I gave her a heads up the moment I found them."

VVV

Galen awoke by opening one bleary eye first. His right eye, which stared up at an odd ceiling that was emitting light. Not so much to blind him but he blinked nonetheless before bolting upright with both eyes opening wide in surprise as he couldn't access his abilities. He couldn't even sense his ship.

But that reaction caused some disorientation, which was why he didn't notice immediately that he wasn't alone in the room. But when he saw the alien woman from the corner of his left eye he turned his head to regard her fully while sweeping the room with his eyes. There were three people with him and only the one standing at the door was human, he was also armed.

He recognized the uniforms and as he recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness he arrived at the conclusion that the Federationists must have yanked him out of his ship as it was breaking up. It was an impressive enough a feat even if his pinnace wasn't exactly in top condition at the time. He had done his utmost to throw off everybody's sensors and he knew a little bit about how the Federation's teleporter worked. Enough to know how accurate a scan they would need to pull it off. So now he knew why he couldn't sense his ship anymore, but that didn't explain why the rest of his abilities were gone. None of his implants seemed to be working.

Could they have been damaged in the moments that his ship was falling apart around him, right before they had plucked him out of it? Or was it a side effect of their transporter? These thoughts raced through his mind in the blink of an eye and then he calmed himself. Even without the implants he still had his knowledge to give him an edge.

"Tell me Captain, do all your guests get such a warm reception?" He looked pointedly at the armed guard when he spoke that last bit.

"Only those who may pose a security risk, such as yourself, mister…?"

Galen smiled a little, "Call me Galen, just Galen. And how could I possibly pose any danger to you or your ship, Captain…?"

Thalev's antennae came a little closer together as he replied affably, "I am Captain Thalev and this is Doctor Mallen. As for the reason you may pose a security risk is the fact that we found the cybernetic implants in your body. By themselves, those wouldn't be a cause for alarm. But the fact that they are clearly of Shadow origin and the fact that we found you in their home system leads us to the possibility you are an ally of them. And the Shadows aren't exactly friendly with us."

'So they were responsible for deactivating them. Then it was unlikely that they would reactivate themselves later on, he had to rely solely on his wits for the time being.' But Thalev wasn't finished.

"However, what little information we have of your organization told us you all had left this region to escape the conflict brewing between the Shadows and the Vorlons. Coupled with the fact that you obviously recognized our uniforms and rank insignia leads me to conclude you were sent back to investigate our arrival here and after the latest developments, the appearance of these Builders. How am I doing so far, Galen?"

'A little too well, Captain.' Galen thought, although he had only himself to blame. Appearing sage-like and knowledgeable came so natural that he hadn't thought of playing dumb. 'Oh well, water under the bridge.' "You are correct, for the most part. But my journey to Z'Ha'Dum was, I am afraid, done on my own discretion and I do not think my superiors will be happy about the fact that it cost me my ship."

Thalev smiled. "I can imagine they wouldn't. At the moment we are on our way back to Babylon 5, till then we will treat you as a guest. I do however have a request."

"And that would be?"

"Well, we haven't been able to observe the battle raging at Z'Ha'Dum for long. But I believe you have and any information you could share would help us out immensely." He raised his hand to forestall any argument although Galen hadn't opened his mouth yet. "I know your ship and all the sensor data it carried were destroyed. But we know your mind was connected to the ship and I'm betting you're carrying the important stuff in your head."

The most amazing thing was that Galen wasn't that surprised they had already determined the function of at least some of his implants. His previous encounters with Federation sensors had given him a healthy respect for their abilities. "I did learn a few things about these Builders, although far less then I would have liked. But with my implants inoperable I can't be of much help."

"Ah" was all Thalev said for a moment. "The problem, Galen, I have with your organization is that you didn't warn the other races of what the Vorlons and the Shadows were up to. Something you obviously were aware of, hence your flight to parts unknown. I do not condemn you for running away, but I do frown upon an organization that didn't even bother to warn anybody of what was coming."

"And do you think anybody would have listened?" Galen interjected. "We made something of a show of our departure and were not shy about voicing our reasons for it. So you see, we did actually warn them and it didn't change anything. Captain, even if you do not trust me I must implore you to reactivate my implants. Even if your method of deactivating them didn't damage them, without power they will wither and replacing them would be impossible."

Thalev looked over to Mallen. "Is that true Doctor?"

She rubbed her chin, contemplating what she knew and what it implicated. "Perhaps. I couldn't be selective so I deactivated whatever maintained the cybernetics along with everything else. Coupled with the fact that all specimens of Shadow technology I have encountered so far are at least semi-organic I would say it is likely that a prolonged period of dormancy would affect the implants adversely."

"And Mister Galen's comment about them being irreplaceable confirms a suspicion I had." After which she fell silent. Thalev held back a sigh and instead asked her to continue. "I would have found evidence of the surgery if that were the method used to get them integrated into his body. But since I didn't find any evidence for it, they must have been grown inside of him instead."

"Very well." And Thalev turned his gaze to Galen again. "I will let the Doctor reactivate those implants again if you agree to wear a device that will monitor them and promise not to make use of them during your stay on board this ship unless asked to do so."

"I can agree to those terms, Captain." Thalev nodded and motioned to the doctor to proceed. She grabbed a small device from a tray and then moved towards him. He was startled somewhat when a force field deactivated between them. He hadn't even realized it was there. As Mallen placed it on the right side of his neck he turned to the Captain. "So, where do I sign up for a tour of this ship?"

VVV

"So the technomage has agreed to provide us with some of the information he has gathered but so far most of it only confirms our own, far shorter readings." Thalev concluded. Gathered in the Ready Room were the various ambassadors with the exception of ambassador Kani who refused to come out even now.

"Have your analysis of their shielding technology yielded any new facts?" Kalika, the Abbai ambassador, asked.

Thalev nodded," A few interesting tidbits have come to light." He manipulated a control and a holographic schematic appeared above the table depicting the smallest type of the Builder's warships. "As you can see, the shield is not a bubble but follows the contours of the ship. The reason for that is that they don't have a complete shield system."

"How do you mean, complete?" Neroon asked.

Thalev rallied his thoughts before speaking. "Our own shielding system as well as that of the Abbai," and that produced an uncomfortable look from Kalika but Thalev ignored it, "form a complete bubble around the ship. Oh, we ourselves do use several shield generators to protect different sections but they overlap so if one fails others can step in. Not so with these Builders, they seem to be using a central generator, which then feeds the energy to several projectors. These shield projectors project a flat field of a certain size and in such a position that they fit almost seamlessly together.

"The drawbacks of this setup are numerous. The gaps in the shield are too small for any weapon to punch through but explosions can damage the shield if the ship is facing it at the wrong angle. And it also seems that they can't recharge the shields when they are active, which means they are not so resilient during sustained engagements."

"Unfortunately, it seems these Builders have based their tactics on attrition." Neroon supplied. "And these shields of theirs will allow their ships to survive long enough to take out any single opponent, I have seen how effective their weapons are."

"But they would first have to hit your ships." Vir pointed out. Neroon turned his gaze upon the Centauri. "If they can't get a lock," Vir went on a bit nervously, "they can't hit you and the shields don't make them invulnerable. Not that I am saying you should come to the rescue of the Shadows, or share your stealth technology with the rest of us but..." And then he petered out.

Neroon's reply, however, was courteous. "The real problem is that our stealth is not as impervious as we once believed," and he looked at Captain Thalev now. "You mentioned that the scanners of the Builders are based on the same principles as your own. How good are they?"

"Unsophisticated compared to our own," Thalev answered. "Their subspace scanner works somewhat similar to early radar, it sends out a 'ping' in subspace and the return signals are then used to reconstruct an image of local space. But these 'pings' have a very low frequency, about one a minute. We believe they compensate for this by sharing their data. Each ship is linked with every other ship, which makes them great at fleet maneuvers. But even with those drawbacks, they will have no problem with targeting Minbari ships."

Neroon nodded to himself, apparently expecting the answer. He stared intently upon the hologram, seemingly looking beyond it into a universe only he could see. An unpleasant universe. They needed something to even the odds, and right now the only likely source was four small starships. And Neroon knew that the Starfleet captain knew it too.

VVV

After the retreat from Z'ha'dum, the mood in the bar had dwindled significantly. The events there had managed to put a damper even on the Starfleet personnel. These new aliens were attacking a race that was old by anyone's standards and they were winning. The question was would they continue their aggression or stop when they destroyed the aliens on Z'ha'dum? Carter was now convinced that Lefcourt's original assurance that Earth Alliance could stay out of this fight was incorrect. But Samantha wasn't sure if her superiors would share her assessment.

Every single ambassador and the Starfleeters onboard were concerned about the war and apparently with good reason. She was far more afraid that these Builders would continue their assault and eventually attack Earth than any Federation invasion her superiors had been planning against when she left Earth. She was becoming increasingly sceptical about the latter threat. She had already sent a brief report with her own impressions of these Builders to General Lefcourt but a detailed report couldn't be sent over a Federation transmitter.

So in an attempt to distract herself, she continued with the other part of her mission. This ship and its technologies were utterly fascinating and every little gadget pulled her in like a moth to a flame. The food processors were stunning in and on themselves and she found herself ordering small foodstuffs simply to see the replicator, as they called it, operate. The cloaking field used by this ship was nothing short of magic, making the ship not only invisible but immaterial as well. And its crew as well, more specifically Commander Data, offered a bonanza of technological breakthroughs if only she could take a peek behind the curtain. The android was a magnificent creation and literally demanded to be studied by the best of the best.

Its motor functions alone were more advanced than anything Earth Alliance could develop in the next hundred or more years and yet the Federation wouldn't even study it properly. She had said so much to Data and his reply had been flustering, commenting that creating a race of androids like him and then treating them like simple automatons was simply the reinstitution of slavery. He had told her that with a hint of anger in his voice but he gave her his arguments for that position with his normal calm voice. Even now, she couldn't actually counter his arguments without descending into the assertion that some people were intrinsically less then others. A view others might be comfortable with, but not her.

These people were really different, something that may have been obvious but it kept surprising her. She just hadn't expected such alienness from fellow humans. The door opened and Commander Data entered. He proceeded to order a drink and then headed towards her and sat down.

"I believe, Commander that we had not completed our conversation," he said politely after which he took a sip of his drink.

"Er, no," she replied. "We hadn't." But she forgot what she wanted to say when his face crunched up after his sip and asked instead, "Ordered the wrong drink?"

"No, this had been recommended by Captain Thalev. He assured me this was the vilest concoction known to the Andorian race. I concur." And he proceeded to take another gulp from it, actually shivering this time.

Carter didn't know how to look. "Then why are you drinking it?"

"Because I," and Data paused for a moment as he looked for the right word, "appreciate the sensation of tasting something awful as much as something which is tasty. To me, both have equal value because the very ability to decide if something tastes bad or not is so new to me."

Carter nodded, faintly understanding what he was saying but having no idea how to respond. So instead, she changed the subject. "Actually I had a different question," she started carefully. "How did you people ever come up with the idea of a real-space FTL-drive?" she asked. She was certain now that the General's warning had been unnecessary, these people just didn't operate like that. If she asked them something and they didn't want to tell her the answer they simply told her so.

"In our universe, warp drive is the common means to travel. There are a few races that do use other means, the Iconians for example used gateways to instantaneously travel from one place to another. Those are the exception however and most races tend to develop warp propulsion on their own."

"But that's impossible." It should be anyway, she couldn't come up with any race that had developed jumpgates on their own. Except for the Vorlons, but even with them she wasn't so certain.

"Apparently not, Colonel Carter."

"Alright, then when did humanity develop this warp drive?"

"On Earth Zefram Cochrane developed the warp drive several years after World War III. Because of the devastation that war had wrought, Cochrane had a very limited infrastructure on which to rely on. He designed and built the ship mostly by himself, although assisted in the latter task by several others. The Phoenix, as he christened the ship was a converted Titan V ICBM and he had to use the warhead to power the warp drive. Still, he surpassed the warp barrier on April 5, 2063."

"You're telling me that in your reality, humanity achieved faster-then-light travel not by some second Manhatten Project but a group of civilians. Did they build it in their shed or something?"

"Actually, they used an abandoned missile silo for its construction. But why are you so surprised, the principles behind the warp drive are not that complicated and were already theorized about in the late 20th century."

"Really? By whom?"

"I am sorry Colonel Carter," Data said. "But I do not believe it would be in Starfleet's best interest if I pointed Earth Alliance to where the idea of the warp drive came from."

"But I know that the Federation has shared some of its technology with the Minbari as well as Captain Sheridan and his renegades."

"Yes, but they are not EarthForce, an organization that not only has reacted with hostility towards us but has shown questionable judgement in other matters as well."

"But we need this information," she protested. "Earth has many enemies and you were created by Humans. There must be something in you that can help you understand what we've gone through."

"I can relate to you quite well, Colonel. But I will not divulge any information that will give Earth Alliance an advantage."

"But you gave others enough information and technology to change the balance of power in our region of space."

"Not true," he countered. "The Minbari were already recognized as the greatest power in this region and in any case, we merely loaned them some equipment. Equipment they may try to copy, but they will have to do so without our aid. And as for Babylon 5, we merely provided them with the tools they needed to have a chance against a common enemy, the Shadows."

"Then you are condemning Humanity to slavery."

"No, we are not."

"You may not be able to see it," Carter pressed on. "But one day it will. We are not your enemies."

"And yet your leadership seems determined to cast the Federation in that role. But why do you automatically assume that the only relation between sentient species must that be of master and slave?"

Carter looked perplexed. "Because that seems to be how every race thinks."

"'Nothing is easy to the unwilling', Thomas Fuller. If you know that it is wrong then why participate in such behavior? In my own universe humanity learned from its past and helped found the Federation. Your own history only diverges somewhat in the 21st century, yet here you are. Still making the same mistakes humanity made back in the 20th century."

Carter stood up, her face unreadable. "I should let you not enjoy your drink in peace. I have…some thinking to do. Goodbye, Commander."

Deep Space Babylon, Conference Room 8
Commander Iceren was standing next to the wall-mounted display showing a map of local space. Captain Turol had just taken a seat a long with the last of the other officers that had been invited to this meeting. Iceren didn't waste time on pleasantries, "The analysis you are about to see hasn't been seen by anyone but me and my staff, not even Captain Walker has been informed of our conclusions." The last words were accompanied by a nod to the aforementioned officer. " As you know, Captain Walker tasked me with analyzing the impact this new race would have on the strategic situation based on their known and conjectured capabilities and intentions. The results are not encouraging."

Nobody interrupted him, they all knew things were not good. What they didn't know was how bad things were going to be. Iceren continued, "I should note that at this time, we don't know for certain what their long term goals are. Or even if they have them, this could simply be about punishing the Vorlons and Shadows for what they did to them."

"But you don't believe that," Santowitz concluded.

"No, sir, I don't. What they did to Pretal IV shows they are not strictly focussed on these First Ones. As far as we can tell, the inhabitants posed no threat so it does lend credence to Miss Alexander's claim that their agenda is to commit mass genocide. In any case, in our analysis we assumed the worst, that Miss Alexander's information concerning the Builders' intentions is completely accurate. Based on that we have come up with several scenarios, not all of which are likely to happen."

"The first scenario, the one that offers the greatest chance of victory is if the Vorlons ask for help from us and the other races within the next seven days. Combined, the Vorlons and the other, so-called Younger, races possess enough ships to stop the Builder fleet."

"But that is not likely to happen," Walker said. "How long will the Vorlons be able to hold out without outside help?"

"We can't say for certain. It is believed that Vorlon territory is vast, far larger than the Shadows' holdings."

"I am hearing a 'but', Commander." Boris remarked.

Iceren nodded. "While it may be larger, Vorlon military assets must be about equal to those of the Shadows. Otherwise their war would have been concluded long ago, I believe that only a few planets are inhabited and that many of the systems they claim are not developed in any way."

"Makes sense, so how long would you bet those suits will last Commander?"

"Two weeks," Iceren supplied without hesitation. "If I have to be more precise I would say twelve days after the Builders take out Z'Ha'Dum."

"But the Shadows lasted longer," Yatoshi noted. Santowitz answered before Iceren could, he had nodded to himself when Iceren had given his answer. Apparently he had expected such an answer. "Yep, but those shady characters faced a Builder fleet that was fighting on two fronts. But once the Shadows are gone the Vorlons will get the Builders' undivided attention and the Vorlons themselves must have lost a few ships already by now."

Yatoshi nodded. "And that is why you said the Vorlons needed to ask for help within the next seven days, isn't it Commander." Yatoshi now reasoned. "Beyond that time, the ships just can't be gathered fast enough in sufficient numbers to make a difference."

"Yes, it's a simple matter of logistics. Of course the Builders themselves will have to regroup too but since we don't know how fast their method of FTL travel is, I can't say how much extra time that might buy. In any case, like Captain Walker we have judged this scenario unlikely to happen which means that it is just the Younger races and us that will have to face them.

"We can't predict with any certainty what the Builders will do after they have taken out the Vorlons, but we can rule out random attacks. So far their attacks clearly show that they are following a systematic strategy based on slow and coherent advances, a steamroller approach instead of a blitzkrieg one."

Santowitz grumbled a bit at that, expecting your enemy to keep up a certain pattern was dangerous. Even more so, when you knew so little about how he thought in the first place. But without any way of detecting these Builders before they attacked they would still have the element of surprise even if their objectives were predictable.

Iceren continued, "Assuming this, we believe that the Builders have two courses of actions open to them that are equally attractive. To them anyway. The first one, the one I personally believe they will follow, is based on the observation that they went for the most powerful race first. If that holds true then the Minbari will be their first target. Either them or us but our limited numbers as well as the fact that Minbari territory lies adjacent to the Vorlon Empire would make them the more attractive target. And once the Minbari are gone, I am afraid we will not be able to stop the Builders.

"Both the Centauri and the EA are severely weakened and just don't have the numbers anymore to give the Builders pause. The LONAW is too divided. Captain Sheridan has managed to unite them against the Shadows and the Vorlons but he leans heavily on Minbari support to give the League its backbone. Without that, the various governments will never give him enough ships to make an effective fleet and taken separately, none of the nations that make up the League have enough defenses to stop a Builder fleet."

There was a brief silence as the various officers considered the picture Iceren had painted. Personally, Walker thought that Sheridan might still manage to pull the squabbling races together even with the Minbari gone. But he knew the combat effectiveness of the various fleets and didn't think that would be enough. The technological gap was just too great. "And the second path, Commander?" Walker inquired.

"As I said, the Builders operate on a systematic strategy of slow and coherent advances. This seems to be adapted from when they still used jump engines. They also seem to have a penchant for rational frontlines. They have been following the hyperspace lanes in their advance and if it is these tendencies that hold true, the Centauri and Earth Alliance will be the next targets." He pressed a button and the display changed to show the situation once the Vorlons and the Shadows were defeated.

"As you can see, they will have a pretty big frontline to worry about with three major powers located near them. Two of them don't have the military power to concern them at the moment, but their industrial base is still intact so that can change. If the Builders follow this line of thought then they will mop up the Centauri and the EA next, while they are still weakened. And because of their actions in the last few years, neither can expect much support from the other races."

Captain Tuvol now asked a question. "And how will the fall of those nations affect the chances of the others?"

"Negatively, although nothing like the fall of the Minbari would. We have looked at the possibility that either may join forces with the other races against these Builders but the only way we see that happening is if the Builders attack. And by that time it is too late, both races just don't have enough territory to delay the Builders long enough for any substantial aid to arrive."

"And where are we in your analysis, Commander?" Commander L'Rrran intoned.

Iceren looked a bit saddened as he answered, "I am afraid that while we do have the most powerful ships in the region, we don't have enough of them to affect the strategic situation significantly. In my analysis, we are alas only a footnote." Commander Iceren's answer produced a variety of reactions, from Walker's suddenly pensive face to Santowitz's glare at the bulkhead. Most of them already knew that, but being told that was another matter. It was Walker that first spoke up above the hushed voices of the individual conversations that had sprung up. "Thank you Commander, but now that we know what happens if we continue with our current policy I think it is time we consider some alternatives."

"You propose we share some of our weapons technology with the local governments," Turol surmised.

"Got it in one." He looked everyone in the eyes as he spoke. "You all heard Iceren, given the current strategical and political situation nobody is going to survive this. Of course we can't provide them with our latest weapons and defensive systems. Putting aside the dangerous situation that would create in the long run, it would take them years to retool their shipyards." The engineering officers nodded at that. "Years we don't have."

Thalev now cut in. "You want to provide them with the same technology we gave Sheridan to fight the Shadows. But even then it would still take," And he now directed his attention to Commander Iceren, "what, weeks, months?"

Iceren raised his white eyebrows in thought, then looked over to one of the officers. "It would vary, some of the star nations are pretty advanced and could make the transition in weeks. But yes, many would take months to integrate the new technologies into their industry."

Walker now had a little smile on his face, Santowitz spotted it and suddenly he saw where Peter was going with this. He spoke up. "And then there is the problem of what they would do with that technology once these Builders have been beaten. Their past doesn't suggest they will handle them with restraint." Walker nodded, but Santowitz wasn't finished. "You're going to twist their arm."

Captain Turol's left eyebrow rose up. "Twist their arm, Captain?" Everybody else looked amazed at Santowitz, then transferred that look to Walker. "Oh, I wouldn't call it twisting their arm," he responded. Santowitz gave a humored snort.

"I just," Peter continued, "think we could use this offer to promote some cooperation between the various races as well as ensuring that the adverse effects of my proposal are kept to a minimum."

"I think you better let Sheridan relay the offer, because if it comes from us directly they will smell the trap and might just become stubborn just to show how independent they are."

Walker thought about that. "You might be right. What exactly did you have in mind?"

But before the planning could go any further, lieutenant Yatoshi advanced his own question. "Captain, are we not in danger of breaching the Prime Directive with this proposal?"

Surprisingly it was Captain Turol that answered. "If we follow that line of logic, we already have been in breach of the Prime Directive. Need I remind you that we supplied Babylon 5 with some of these technologies already." Her next words were as much for her fellow captains as for the other officers in the room. "When we made the decision to dispense some of our technology to others in this universe we set a precedent. None here question the logic behind Captain Walker's proposal, it is therefore illogical to reject it to follow a rule we already established as being subject to exceptions."

She concluded, "But proper procedures should be maintained. Would all those in favor of the proposal to dispense limited technical aid speak out." Only the Captains and their first officers had an actual say in this, a Starfleet ship isn't a democracy after all. They all voted for the proposal after which they began hammering out how exactly they would go about it.

But they soon agreed that they needed Captain's Sheridan input for that and so the gathered officers were dismissed. But before the Captains could leave, Captain Walker spoke up again. "Captains, if you could remain seated for a minute longer. There is something else we need to consider."

TBC