A Place to Call Home
By Terri Osborne
terri@terriosborne.com
Part 8
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?
----------
March 27, 2264
"This morning's supply
line raid was a complete success," Alina announced to the small group assembled at
the conference table. "According to our informant, it's going to take Syria Planum
over a month to rebuild what they lost."
"That's if they rebuild
at all," Keene added. "Knowing them, they might just expand an existing
line."
"Then we'll hit that one,
too," Lyta stated. "If Bester hadn't rebuilt Black Omega, we could do a lot more
damage."
Alina raised a dark eyebrow at
the reference. "Black Omega?"
"Bester's pet starfury
squadron," Garibaldi answered. "They had a little run-in with us a few years
back. Susan's wing was the best. No surprise it took him this long to rebuild it."
"It took that long just
to get replacement 'furies," Keene said. "Earthforce doesn't just hand those
things out, you know."
"Oh, we know,"
Garibaldi said. "Just a damned shame they had to give him 'furies that had
atmospheric capability. Thing is, from what Ivanova said, they weren't based on
Mars."
"She's right. There are
only a few 'furies here. Maybe six, tops."
Alina turned to Keene, a wide
smile on her face. "Why don't we put them next on our hit list?"
"You want to hit a
starfury base?" he asked, stunned. "Are you nuts?"
"How many guards on the
base?"
Keene shook his head.
"You are nuts."
Lyta leaned toward him.
"How many guards?"
"It's smack in the middle
of Syria Planum," he said, running a hand through his sandy hair. "You'll have
to get around the facility's security before you can even get to the 'fury base."
Garibaldi and Lyta exchanged
smiles. "Piece of cake," he said. "Think the four of us should be able to
pull it off?"
Keene stared at the trio as if
they'd all sprouted spare arms. "Four of us, against the whole of the Syria
Planum facility? Provided I bought into this scheme, how exactly did you plan on getting
around the fact that we're at the top of the Corps' most wanted list? They're definitely
going to know what we look like."
The smile faded slightly from
Garibaldi's features. "He's got a point. I'm not exactly the war hero I was the last
time we tried this. Any ideas?"
Alina looked around the table.
"Well, Lyta, Andrew and I could probably put up fairly good telepathic disguises.
Make them think we were someone else."
"Telepathy doesn't work
on securecam," Garibaldi observed.
"Maybe for Andrew," Lyta said with an evil smile. "But, what if the
securecam system had a little . . . technical difficulty?"
Garibaldi shook his head and
widened his grin. "You mean, along the lines of that camera on B5?"
"What camera?" she
asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You really think you can
take out the whole system?"
Lyta gave him a look that
questioned his sanity. "I've taken out far bigger things than a securecam system,
Michael."
"Speaking of which,"
he started. "We need to talk later. About our little deal."
Her expression grew serious.
"Okay," she said with a nod. "After we get through here?"
"Good enough for
me."
"Let's get back to the
subject," Keene interjected. "Garibaldi's not a teep. How do we get him
in?"
Lyta's eyes shot open.
"Grins," she whispered. "Andrew, does the re-education facility there have
the Grins?"
An inspired smile spread
across Keene's features. "Oh, Lyta, you are a genius. Just about everybody there
should be too afraid to stop us."
Alina turned to Garibaldi,
puzzled. "Grins?"
Garibaldi, however, just
shrugged.
"Something from when I
was a kid," Lyta explained. "The Grins were always one of the Corps' little
mysteries. I heard a rumor once that they were teachers, but I don't think anyone ever
knew who they really were. They always wore these masks that usually had these
frightening smiles on them. They only appeared for two reasons, either to give you
presents, or to punish you."
"Usually for
punishment," Keene added. "I only saw them once, and that was enough."
"You're not
kidding," Lyta said.
"Then it should be enough
to throw a scare into any telepath we run across?" Garibaldi asked.
"It's a safe bet,"
Keene said. "I know they'd scare the hell out of me. The thing is, how do we get our
hands on the masks?"
Lyta pursed her lips.
"I've got a contact back in Geneva. Michael, can you help us get a secured message to
her?"
Garibaldi nodded. "I can
have one of my couriers do it."
"Speaking of secured
messages," Alina said. "Any word on those codes for Delenn?"
"Yes," Garibaldi
said, reaching into his jacket pocket. He handed her a small, lavender data crystal.
"She sent me an encrypt program. You rank your own code."
"How goes the plan?"
Lyta asked.
"It doesn't," Alina
answered. "I need to see the research that was done on Minbar before I can even
attempt to figure something out."
"Well, good news,"
Garibaldi said. "Delenn attached it to that program. It's on that crystal."
"All of it?"
"Everything she could
find. She even got into the Warrior Caste data files."
Alina looked down at the small
crystal in her hand, suddenly far more respectful of its contents. "All of this for
one life."
"The right people want
him back," Lyta consoled. "Sometimes, that's all it takes."
"You three aren't the
only ones working on this," Garibaldi corrected. "Delenn said she's got the best
people on Minbar researching it right now. When she told them who it was they were working
for, apparently they were all too happy to oblige."
Alina's eyes widened.
"Really? If this works, he'll be happy to know he was finally a hero for
something."
"Being part of the
galactic equivalent of Romeo and Juliet?" Garibaldi asked.
"It's the stuff legends
are made of, Mister Garibaldi," Alina said. "Now, back to the Syria Planum idea.
What do we look at for a timeline?"
Lyta's eyes narrowed. "If
my connection comes through, we should be able to get the masks in a couple of
weeks."
"And if she
doesn't?" Keene asked.
"We go to Plan B. Get
them from Syria Planum itself."
"But, we don't have any
contacts there," Garibaldi reminded them.
"I've got an idea about
that," Lyta said. "But I have to talk to Susan first."
"Why do I have a feeling
I know what you're thinking?"
The redhead smiled.
"Because you've known me too long, Michael."
"She won't go in
there," he warned.
"I think I can convince
her."
Garibaldi looked disgusted.
"This is Bester, Lyta. He'll scan her as soon as she gets within his line of sight.
I'm not going to let Ivanova anywhere near here until you tell me for sure what you've got
in mind."
Lyta leaned forward.
"Okay. We all know that Bester will scan her. That's a given."
Keene nodded. "Do we know
if she can block a scan?"
"She could block me when
I was still a P5. She may need help to block Bester, though."
Garibaldi shook his head.
"How?"
"Michael," Lyta
began after a deep breath. "What if we used the same trick Bester pulled on you to
help her."
"She'll never let you do
it."
"I think she might. You
see, I know how badly she wants to see him suffer. Beating him at his own game might be
enough."
Garibaldi shook his head.
"She wants him dead."
"Her and half the
planet," Keene remarked. "No, killing him is too quick. This way is better. At
least here we can test the blocks, see if they'll hold off a P12."
"What if they
don't?" Alina asked. "I mean, she can naturally block a P5, but how do you
reinforce blocks against a P12?"
"The fact that she's a
telepath will help," Lyta mused.
Garibaldi's jaw dropped.
"Say what? Hate to break it to you, Lyta, but she's just as normal as I
am."
The redhead simply shook her
head.
"How do you know? Lyta,
I've known her for years. Sure, she hates the Corps, but she is not a
telepath."
"How would you know,
Michael? It's easy to hide it from a normal," Lyta answered. "From what I can
tell, she's still a latent, barely a P1, so she could probably just pick up on emotions
and not thoughts, but that's enough for the Corps."
"You didn't answer my
question. How do you know?"
Lyta looked him straight in
the eyes. "You were there when we found the plant, Michael. Why do you think Susan
was so terrified of my scanning her? Why do you think she was able to block me? To this
day, I haven't met another normal who could block me like she did. She used the same
tricks another telepath would use. I knew about her mother being a telepath, and her
family always stayed one step ahead of the testing. That was all of the convincing I
needed. She was my friend, too, Michael. That's why I didn't tell anyone, either."
Garibaldi looked as if he had
just been stabbed in the back. "You've got circumstantial evidence at best," he
stated. "Marcus had a thing for her. If she was a telepath, why didn't she know about
that?"
"Maybe she chose to
ignore it," Lyta answered. "After all, we were in the middle of two wars.
She was second-in-command of the largest fleet ever assembled, not to mention she still
had to run the station. Do you really think she had the time to deal with anything
else?"
Alina felt a grudging
acceptance flowing from Garibaldi's mind. If Lyta was right, which she didn't doubt,
then the sense of betrayal she had felt from him was perfectly logical.
She hadn't known the man
long, but Alina was sure that secrets were Michael Garibaldi's stock in trade. He seemed
to have a real gift for covert operations, and a complete lack of use for the Psi Corps.
It was the perfect combination for someone in his position.
She had picked up on his
general mistrust of telepaths the second Lyta had introduced them, and it had taken her
rescue of Kelly from the cave-in to gain Garibaldi's trust. The idea that Ivanova had kept
a secret like this from a person like him, well, Alina's respect for the mysterious Susan
Ivanova only went up.
"She was wise to
hide," Alina said.
"Gives you two something
else in common besides a corpse," Garibaldi wisecracked.
"Michael!" Lyta
chastised.
"Well, it's true! First,
if you believe Alina, they were both close to Marcus. That alone makes me question
her sanity. Now they've both hid out from the Corps for twenty years?"
"Fifteen," Alina
corrected.
Garibaldi coldly glared at
her. "Fifteen. Doesn't matter. Either way, you both lied about either who or what you
are. How am I supposed to trust either one of you?"
Lyta opened her mouth to
protest, but Alina stopped her with a hand. "Mister Garibaldi, first of all,
save for the occasional Psi Cop I have encountered over the last two years, I have not
lied to anyone about what I am. You can ask Delenn next time you speak to her. Even the
Rangers know. If she has chosen to tell no one about me, then that is her decision, for
which I am grateful. The fact that I actively chose to live outside of the Corps'
reach is hardly something you can hold against me."
"I know a lot of people
who'd love to hear of a place outside of the reach of the almighty Psi Corps," he
shot back.
"Is Minbar a good place
to start?" she spat, fighting desperately to control her anger. "I give your
friend credit, Mister Garibaldi. I envy her, actually. She was able to remain
hidden among those she knew and loved."
Realization spread across
Garibaldi's features. "Wait a minute. Fifteen years ago? The Minbari? That was-"
"The end of the
Earth-Minbari War, yes."
"You hid out with the
enemy?" he asked, his voice barely making it above a whisper.
"As opposed to becoming a
puppet of the Corps? You know as well as I the purpose the Shadows had for Psi Corps.
Besides," she said, turning her eyes to Lyta, "having us on opposite sides of
the Shadow War would have been quite . . . well, let's just say that I don't want to think
about what might have happened."
From the look on Garibaldi's
face, she surmised that he was doing enough thinking on that subject. She could feel what
little trust he had in her ebbing away. His anger, however, was doing nothing of the sort.
"What about going back home?"
"Arisia? Sorry, the
Shadows took care of it a long time ago."
He shook his head slowly, the
anger not abating at all. Alina could tell he was simply venting his frustration and rage,
which was the only reason she managed to control her own irritation. Of course, the things
she was hearing about this Susan Ivanova were rather enlightening. She hadn't
realized precisely how much they had in common until now.
"Look," Lyta
interrupted, "any personal problems we may have with each other have got to be put
aside." She pulled herself out of the chair, heading to a nearby console.
"Michael, I'm putting a message on this data crystal. It needs to get to Cassandra
Alexander in Geneva. She's got an office in Teeptown."
Michael simply glared icily at
Alina.
Lyta pulled the crystal out of
the reader, handing it to Garibaldi. "You still okay with this, Michael?"
"It'll get there, don't
worry," he said through clenched teeth. Before another word could be spoken, he rose
and nearly flew out of the room.
"I guess the meeting's
over," Lyta stated, seconds before following Garibaldi out the door.
Alina sat silent, capable of
nothing more than staring at the reports in her hand.
"You okay?" Andrew
asked.
Alina's eyes raised to find
him watching her closely. "Yes."
"Now, why don't I believe
that?"
Her only response was the
absent shuffling of flimsies.
"Look, for what it's
worth, he's not always such a jerk."
"I know," she said,
pulling herself out of the chair. "Lyta told me this story about how he bailed her
out after she'd gone rogue the first time. He doesn't hate all telepaths, Andrew, but she
also said he's damned annoying when he's right."
"What?"
Her eyes remained locked on
his through sheer force of will. "Come on. We need to talk."
----------
Lyta stalked out of the
conference room, her prey remaining one step ahead as they made their way through the
underground corridors.
"I know it's a surprise,
but that was totally uncalled for, Michael!"
Garibaldi wheeled around with
far more speed than she had thought him capable. "Surprise? Have you lost your mind?"
"No," the telepath
shot back. "Have you? Alina did not deserve what you gave her in there!
I don't care how mad you are at Susan, you are not taking it out on any of my
people. Got that?"
"Lyta-"
"Don't start,
Michael," she calmly stated. "I don't want to hear it." The anger churned
within her, stirring up things that were far better off left alone. She felt the first
brush of the Vorlon influence against her mind. The anxiety, the rage, it all boiled just
beneath her carefully controlled surface. She was amazed that she had the capacity to keep
it reigned in.
"You don't want to hear
it," he repeated, disgusted. "Lyta, she's in there planning an assault. Are you
sure you want someone like her doing that?"
She could not believe what she
was hearing. "Someone like what Michael? A dirty coward of a teep?"
"I never-"
"Said that? Doesn't
matter. She was a Ranger, and that gives her more practical military experience than
anyone else in this unit. Your personal biases are just that, yours. They don't mean a
damned thing down here."
Garibaldi paced the corridor.
She could sense his temper boiling away just beneath the surface. "If it weren't for
Bester . . . ."
"You wouldn't be
here," she finished. "Yes, I know. Michael, look, I'm sorry you had to find out
about Susan from me. Really. If it's any help, I understand. She was one of the few
people who still treated me like a human being after I started working for Kosh. She still
didn't trust me enough to tell me, and I could have helped her."
The boil was easing down to a
simmer. "So, what do we do when Susan gets here?"
"Leave that to me. What
did you need to talk to me about back there?"
"Our little deal. You've
got your fighting force. The bank accounts are just fine. Hell, I even gave you guys a
base. Now, it's your turn." One finger tapped his right temple. "When do these
come out?"
She watched him for a long
time, thinking it over. The fact that he was so adamant about it finally answered the
question that had been nagging her since setting foot back on Mars. He really hadn't found
another telepath, unless Alina had already declined.
Either way, he still needed
her alive and well. She was confident that she could trust him at her back when the time
came to hit Syria Planum. Maybe they would get lucky and run into Bester during the raid.
Maybe then she would
take out the neural blocks. Garibaldi's rage could definitely be useful.
Her anger had subsided,
receding into the same hold occupied by the last vestige of Vorlon power. "When we
get back from Syria Planum, Michael. I'll take them out then."
"That could be
months!"
"Do I look like a
committee?" she asked, red eyebrows raised. "They'll come out after the
raid."
His expression sank into one
of disgust. "What the hell? I've lived with them this long. Why not make sure
I cover your ass in the hit?"
Lyta patted his upper arm.
"Great minds think alike."
She headed back to the camp,
the weight of Garibaldi's cold stare on her back until she stepped out of sight.
[End part 8 of ?]