A Place to Call Home
By Terri Osborne
terri@terriosborne.com
Part 6
All Babylon 5 characters and settings belong to JMS, Warner Brothers, TNT and anyone else with legitimate legal claim. No infringement of copyright is intended by this work. Only a few select characters are mine, and should the Great Maker need them, or anyone similar to them, I can probably be bought off with a story credit. ;-)
Even though this covers the same time period and the same major event, no infringement upon J. Gregory Keyes' novels is intended. Though, I will draw upon them for some background information.
Content Warning: [AC] [AL]
Anything encased in * these * is telepathic speech.
A note from the author: This story centers around three characters, Susan Ivanova, Alina Minette (yes, she's baaaack) and, to a certain extent, Lyta Alexander. To the I&M'ers out there, stay tuned, my friends. For the spoiler-allergic, provided you haven't read it already, I would recommend waiting to read Only Those Whose Lives Are Brief. In an intentional Babylon Squared/WWE homage, the flipside of at least one scene in Brief will show up here.
Since I'm not sure of everyone's schedules, I'll include this potential spoiler warning: I'm a continuity junkie, so this includes events through Season 5, as well as things that were revealed in the closing credits of Sleeping in Light. (If you've seen it, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, that's okay, it's not quite that obvious.) Background information on the Psi Corps comes from the Keyes novels. Set in the same potential future as Only Those Whose Lives Are Brief. Considering that this covers the time frame of late 2263 - early 2265, I suppose everything is a potential spoiler (though, it would be one INCREDIBLY lucky guess).
And thanks to Sarah, Sharon and Keith, my eagle-eyed beta readers! Virtual boxes of Godivas to all of you!
Now that I've probably confused the daylights out of you, how about we fix that?
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March 24, 2264
"It's a dead-end,
John. All I know is that from here Liana Stewart went to B5. There's no sign of where Lyta
went. It's like her ship just disappeared."
The familiar face on Susan's
vidscreen frowned. "I don't know, Susan. Zack was sure he could trust this
Stewart?"
"This is Zack, John. If
he trusts the information, I trust it."
"Problem is it doesn't
work with the latest reports out of Mars."
"Those haven't made it
here, yet," Susan said. "What's the story?'
The smile that spread across
Interstellar Alliance President John Sheridan's face was the same paternal smile she'd
seen from him over and over in the years since their first meeting on Io. This time,
however, she was beginning to see how much his new job was wearing on him. He looked about
ten years older than the last time she'd seen him, the day she'd left Babylon Five.
"Well, it's no surprise you haven't heard about this one yet," he said.
"The only reason I know is because Tessa Halloran just sent me a copy of the
communique. Anyway, Mars is saying that they know who's behind Remember Byron now, and
it's not Lyta."
Susan could not hide her
surprise at that. "Wait a second. How often does a resistance movement have a
coup?"
"Well, this one did. From
the report I got, the new leader is a woman named Alina Minette. Ever heard of her?"
Susan reached for her coffee,
racking her brain for the name and coming up empty. "No. I take it they tried Psi
Corps?"
John raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, and this is where it gets interesting. Psi Corps is saying that they don't have
a record of an Alina Minette ever being in their ranks. They believe she's a normal."
"What? What in the hell
is a normal doing leading a telepath resistance?"
"That's the sixty-four
thousand credit question."
"How long ago did she
come into power?"
"Not long. Two, maybe
three weeks."
Susan took a long sip from the
mug. "They could be lying."
"It's possible. But how
could they have known these reports would get into our hands?"
"They're telepaths,"
Susan scoffed. "You know Bester as well as I do. What are the odds that he's the only
demon in the bunch? I wouldn't be surprised if he had telepaths eavesdropping on the Mars
government. Hell, didn't Garibaldi try a similar trick with Byron's people right after the
Alliance was formed?"
The irritation that appeared
on her old friend's face told her everything. "He wanted to. They really ended up
doing it themselves, but you're right."
"I'm always right,
John," Susan quipped. "You should know that by now. Has the Alliance taken a
formal stance on this yet?"
He shook his head. "Too
many of the ambassadors remember what Byron's people did back when we were on B5. It's
been everything Delenn and I can do to keep them from putting together a lynch mob."
"Now you know how the
other half lives," Susan said. "Clark must have thought the same thing about
us."
"Maybe, but at least
Luchenko isn't mounting a full-scale propaganda war against them."
Susan sipped her coffee.
"She can't. If she does, she risks alienating what's left of the Corps. If popular
opinion turns against them, the whole operation's screwed. The last thing she needs
is the normal population getting involved."
"And I thought being
Alliance President was bad enough."
This time, it was her turn to
smile. "No, on Minbar you just get to baby-sit a bunch of overgrown spoiled children
all day. At least you've got practice. Speaking of which, how's David?'
Sheridan laughed. "Holy
terror, as always. What really scares me is that he hasn't hit the so-called 'terrible
twos' yet."
"Now you know why I'm never
having kids," she said.
"Never say never, Susan.
Anyway," Sheridan said, leaning back in his chair, "what's your plan?"
Susan studied the swirling
coffee in her mug. "The trail on Lyta runs out here at Daltron Seven, but she did
approach this Liana Stewart about joining the resistance. Granted, that was about a month
ago now, but if Stewart decides to join, she'll have to be able to meet up with Lyta
somewhere. I'm thinking it's high time I met Liana Stewart."
John nodded. "Sounds like
a good idea. Have you reported any of this to Major Ryan yet?"
"Everything except what
had to do with Marcus."
"Sounds good," he
said. "Look, if you need any help-"
"I'll be knocking on the
front door of Alliance HQ. Thanks." She was just about to sign off when an idea
struck. "Wait a minute, John."
"Yes, Susan?'
"Did Halloran send you a
picture of this Alina Minette?"
He shook his head. "Not a
picture. Nobody's seen her long enough to take a picture. Best they could do was a
composite drawing."
"Can I see it?"
"Sure," he said,
reaching for something off to his side. After a brief second of fidgeting, he turned back
to the screen. "It's on its way to you now. That all you need?"
As soon as the download was
complete, Susan called the picture up on an adjacent screen. She fought to keep her
reaction out of her expression. "For now, John. Thanks, I owe you one."
"Anytime, Susan."
John Sheridan's face
disappeared from the monitor. Once the subsequent Interstellar Alliance logo also faded,
Susan's fingers flew over the touch screen. She called up a photograph from the file Zack
had sent. It was a securecam shot taken during Stewart's visit to the station
approximately three weeks before. She left the picture up, staring at the two images.
"I'll be damned,"
she whispered.
She quickly dismissed the
images, tapping her link in the process. "Mister O'Connell, get me Captain Lochley on
Babylon Five."
Within seconds, Elizabeth
Lochley's face appeared on her vidscreen. "Yes, Captain?"
"Sorry to disturb
you," Susan began, "but Zack sent me a file on a visitor you had about three
weeks ago. A woman named Liana Stewart. I need to track this woman down. Did she file a
flight plan when she left?"
Lochley checked another
monitor. "Yes. According to this she was headed for Minbar, then Mars."
"Mars?"
Lochley nodded.
"Garibaldi moved to Mars,
right?"
"Yes," Lochley
sighed. Susan could see relief in the woman's eyes. "He hasn't come back here for
months."
Susan smiled. What better
place to wage a war against Psi Corps than from their own backyard? It was absolutely
brilliant. Earthgov would never go up against a corporation like Edgars-Garibaldi
Industries without concrete proof of Michael's involvement. Knowing him, they would never
get it. If Lyta really was on Mars, Susan would wager an entire year's pay that Michael
Garibaldi knew where. With Lyta would have to come Alina Minette and the rest of the
movement. "Thank you very much, Captain. Sorry if I disturbed you."
Lochley shook her head.
"Not a problem. If you need anything else-"
"Just call. Sorry, I've
been hearing that a lot lately. Valkyrie out."
Switching off the vidscreen,
she tapped her link again. "Captain to the Bridge. Set course for Mars, best possible
speed. And O'Connell, get me a secure line to Edgars-Garibaldi Industries. I want to talk
to Michael Garibaldi."
[End part 6 of ?]