I don't own Babylon 5.
X
The Last Best Hope.
Susan's stomach lurched in her chest as the shuttle pilot ferrying her and the other passengers - some civilian, a few military including Susan herself - twisted the ship so it matched the rotational rate of Babylon 5. As she looked out of the tinted window, Susan smiled as she took in the small view of the Babylon station.
It was hard to believe for the last decade, there had been 4 other stations. Three had been destroyed by saboteurs who hadn't wanted Earth to have anything to do with aliens, and privately a part of Susan actually sympathised with their view; the day she and her father had received the news of Ganya's death…
Susan had been heartbroken by her brother's death. That was nothing compared to how Andrei had felt, but Susan and her brother had always been close; the two siblings had been latent telepaths, and their mother had touched their minds on more than one occasion, and she'd idolised her brother for joining EarthForce as a Starfury pilot; in contrast, she had joined as a fully commissioned officer, with ambitions that went above and beyond her father and Ganya.
Ganya had never wanted to be a fully commissioned officer.
While he had always been incredibly good, he had always hated the hot seat and administrative issues that came with it. He preferred flying, and he was good at it. In any case, it gave him the distance he wanted from their father's disapproval. Her father had not been the same after their mother's death when she took her own life following the Psi-Corp's discovery of her telepathy talents, and it made him incredibly protective of his children, but most of his efforts became so stifling that both Ganya and Susan had gone their own way in life. Rabbi Koslov had done his best to mitigate the resulting arguments, which had created a gulf between Andrei and his children, but while their beloved uncle had worked his magic, their father was just totally incapable of realising his children wanted to choose their own lives. Ganya's death gave him the ammo he needed to put pressure on Susan not to join, but it hadn't worked. But some of the things he'd said had struck home, like his genuine fear he could lose her, all she had left, and in those days during the Earth-Minbari war, the fear was very real since the Minbari were blasting their way through Earth space, forcing Earthforce to make the Minbari fight for every square inch.
But if there was one thing she shared with so many people, it was a cautious suspicion of aliens, but a position on the Babylon station, which had miraculously and somehow avoided the destructive and mysterious disappearance of its predecessors, was a major milestone for Susan's career. She hadn't expected the call. She had firmly expected she would be serving on different ships and space stations, maybe something within the Sol system or one of the colonies, so while she appreciated the posting since it would give her experience that would be ultimately beneficial, Susan wasn't sure how she would work with the alien diplomats frequenting the station. She had only encountered a handful of aliens in the last five years, never mind five months, and so Susan was worried and understandably concerned that she would either make a fool out of herself because she had no idea of alien cultural taboos), or she'd say something offensive.
At this point with Ganya's death still fixed in her brain, she felt it was a good fear.
About the only good thing was she would have a chance to meet up and share a quick chat with her old friend, Laurel Takashima and she would be working with Commander Jeffrey Sinclair. The pair of them had met when Sinclair was training fighter pilots during the war, and she'd asked him for advice and help. She'd met Laurel at the Academy when they'd worked hard to graduate to serve during the war, and due to their similar attitudes, they became friendly.
Susan wasn't entirely sure why Laurel was leaving Babylon 5, but she really hoped her old friend got a few good breaks.
When the shuttle docked, she quickly showed her identi-card to the customs control officers, seeing that they were attentive. Good. She was really going to make everyone knuckle down.
"SUSAN!" Susan heard Laurel's voice boom throughout the lounge.
"Laurel!" Susan called back, and the two women hugged. When she pulled back, Susan flinched when she saw an alien that resembled a pale grey octopus thing that looked like it had been hit by a maglev train and then had the misfortune of being run over by a truck.
"Susan, what's wrong?" Laurel asked, slowly following her gaze. She chuckled and turned back to her friend. "Oh, don't worry about them," she chuckled again.
"What was that?" Susan leaned forward to hiss urgently at Laurel.
"Oh them? They are the Pak'Ma'Ra. They're carrion eaters. But don't worry, they don't bother us much," Laurel ignored the disgust on Susan's face and led her away, "anyway, c'mon, I'll get you to your quarters and I'll show you where C in C is, and where the meeting rooms are."
Susan nodded, she had already taken a look at the schematics of Babylon 5 once she had gotten word of her new posting. She'd wanted to be aware of what she was getting herself into, and the last thing she wanted was to get herself lost when she found herself in a spinning space station 5 miles long. Not good on her CV or in her references. "Thanks," she smiled.
But her smile disappeared when she saw another group of aliens.
Laurel stopped when she sensed Susan stop again, but she quickly saw who the aliens were.
Minbari.
"It's alright, Susan," Laurel said softly.
Susan couldn't take her eyes off the Minbari. "The last time I had anything to do with them, I was being shot at," she said bluntly.
"I know," Laurel sighed, reaching out her hand and pulled Susan along. Once they were out of earshot, Laurel spoke as tactfully as she could, "Susan, you'll be working with them a lot, you better be prepared for that."
"I know, after all this station is the last best hope for peace," Susan said with a sigh before she grinned at her friend. "So, what do I need to be aware of, and why are you leaving?"
"I received a new posting to an Explorer ship. It took months for Sinclair to get me one. I became tired of space station duty, and I wanted to see what was out there," Laurel said.
Susan wasn't surprised. Laurel was good at what she did, but she wanted more out of her career. "THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF ALL!" The Earthforce recruitment ads said; Laurel wanted to prove that right, and so would Susan in her own way.