A Place to Call Home

by Terri Osborne

Susan Ivanova and Lyta Alexander take on the Psi Corps. My take on the Telepath Crisis. (Story is incomplete. Publishers are beginning to be interested in my non-B5 work, so I am not sure when I'm going to get back to this.))

17.

A Place to Call Home
By Terri Osborne
terri@terriosborne.com
Part 17

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.

Spoilers through Season 5 and the Psi Corps novels.

And thanks to Sarah, Sharon and Keith, my eagle-eyed beta readers! Virtual boxes of Godivas to all of you!

----------

April 9, 2264

For the first time in years, Susan Ivanova was terrified.
Doubts flew through her mind as she stepped over the threshold into the small room that Garibaldi had set aside. Once a private medical testing facility, Susan wondered briefly if the mysterious telepath-hating virus had been engineered here. If so, were any of the bugs remaining? Would they find her?
After Vorlons, Shadows and an all-out civil war, would a microscopic, otherwise insignificant little creature be her final destruction?
Why not? Couldn't think of a more Russian ending.
The solid black of the walls did nothing to soothe her anxiety, nor did the bed that sat in the center of the room. The head of the bed was tilted at an angle to the floor, with electrodes of more sizes, shapes and colors than Susan could ever recall seeing in her life dangling all around. Sensors, scanners, equipment she didn't even know names for rested in various areas of the small room.
A shiver ran down her spine at the memories the sight evoked. The last time she had seen so much medical equipment had been on a Minbari cruiser, so close to death that she could taste it, and the sole intent of the equipment to make her final hours comfortable.
Now, however, death was not following her through the door.
No.
Death was something she could handle.
For Susan, doubt was far more powerful a force.
Buck up, Ivanova. Marcus said she was trustworthy. And from what I've read that virus would have killed me by now. As long as Lyta's not around-
"Contact me when you're finished."
Susan's heart leapt into her throat at the commanding sound of Lyta Alexander's voice. The redhead stepped around a large bank of equipment, a smile on her attractive features.
"Susan, right on schedule," the telepath said, her hazel eyes bright. With a gesture toward another large rack, one that looked as if it contained medical scanners, she added, "Alina and Andrew are right back there. If you need me, I'll be back at the camp."
"You're not-?"
Lyta quickly shook her head. "Alina insisted that only the necessary people be around. It'll just be you, Alina and Andrew. I'll check in on you when you get back, if that's all right?"
"Yes," Susan replied around the fear in her throat.
"Good." A smile on her lips, Lyta walked out into the hall.
Susan could feel her presence recede, but once the door closed it was gone.
This room is shielded somehow. I didn't even know that was possible. Wonder if Garibaldi knows about this?
"Hello, Susan."
Alina stepped around the largest bank of equipment, shrugging a white medical coat over her usual clothing. How the thing fit over the woman's seemingly ever-present black vest without looking like a hand-me-down was astonishing. The bulges that riddled the vest were barely noticeable under the white cloth. "If you're ready to begin, please lay on the bed and relax."
"What about-?"
"Andrew? He will remain in the other room until we finish."
Susan stepped toward the inclined surface of the bed. "Does he know about this room?"
"That it's shielded? Yes. Says he discovered that while working on something for Mister Garibaldi a few months ago. We suspect that this is where Edgars did his experiments."
"How did they shield it?"
Alina looked at the dark walls that surrounded them. "No idea. I wasn't even aware that telepathic shielding was possible. All I know is that when the doors are closed I can't send to anyone outside of this room."
Susan's brain stumbled at that point. If Alina couldn't send through these walls, the odds were good that nobody else could, probably not even Lyta.
Hell, odds are good enough I'd stake a month's pay at New Vegas.
Stepping toward the nightmarish contraption that Alina referred to as a bed, Susan forced herself into a sense of calm. What did she have to lose? Minette knew about Marcus. So long as she kept certain thoughts in the background, buried them as deeply as possible, everything would be okay.
I hope.
Leaning back against a surprisingly soft surface, Susan was unable to resist the urge to close her eyes. A quick mental exercise threw thoughts of Marcus, the Valkyrie and Major Ryan into the deepest, most protected area of her mind.
"Susan, are you certain you're ready?"
Moistening her lips, Susan managed to unclench the fist that rested against her leg. "Yes. Just do it."
Sensing movement, she opened her eyes to find Alina standing beside the bed. One look into the telepath's concerned green eyes and all of her worry began to drain away. "Stop that."
"Stop what?" was the innocent reply.
"Whatever you're doing."
Alina's dark brow furrowed. "I'm doing nothing, Susan. I simply asked if you were ready for me to begin."
With a quick nod, Susan forced her eyes to close once again. "Just do it and get it over with."
A hand touched hers, a familiarity in the grasp that she could not quite place.
"Susan," Alina whispered, "you have no reason to be so concerned. I know this isn't something you're looking forward to. You should not feel anything. I promise you that I will be as brief as possible. If you want me to stop, tell me."
If I want you to stop, Minette-
"And nothing I do will harm Marcus. That you can trust."
With a long sigh, Susan asked, "You're sure?"
"Positive."
"What about-?"
"Doctor-patient confidentiality," Alina whispered. "I won't scan you at all. If I do see anything, it goes no further than my own mind, Susan. Not even Lyta is strong enough to scan me."
Susan stared directly into Alina's eyes. "How can you be sure she can't scan you?"
"She tried once, and failed."
The confidence in Minette's voice bolstered Susan's own faith somewhat. "If anything goes past you, so help me-"
"On my honor as a Ranger."
Susan raised one eyebrow. "I thought-"
"Delenn never truly allows anyone to leave, does she? Leave of absence. Technically, I'm still one of them, but only technically. Besides," Alina added, smiling, "that just proves that we all have our secrets. You and Andrew are the only ones who know mine."
But you're not quite the enemy, Susan thought, immediately chastising herself. Wait a minute, if she's trading secrets that Lyta doesn't even know.
Taking a deep breath, Susan leaned back against the inclined bed. "All right."
"Good," Alina replied, reaching toward something behind Susan's head. "Now, let's get to work. I'm going to put these monitors on you. It's nothing to worry about, trust me."
Why? Why do I let myself go along with these things? Susan thought as sensors were pressed onto her forehead.
Alina stepped away for a few seconds, returning with an oddly-shaped crystal. "Hold this."
"What?"
"Hold this crystal. I want you to focus all of your thoughts onto it. Study the shapes, colors, texture, every aspect of its essence."
Not quite certain that she understood the purpose of the exercise, Susan relegated herself to doing as she had been instructed. It was a crystal unlike any she had ever seen before, oblong in shape and large enough to sit comfortably in her cupped hands. Its surface was smooth, with ridges and valleys that gave it a sculpted feeling. The swirls of lavender and pale blue in its depths begged her attention until slowly the world around her narrowed. The remainder of her universe was blackness, her vision and concentration focused solely on the crystal in her hand, the cool stone having surprisingly little weight as she rolled it in her palms.
Marcus probably would have found the exercise more intriguing. He always did seem to enjoy the meditation and intellectual games more than she ever would.
Where did that come from?
Her dreams began to come back to her, walking in the green grasses of Kazan Cathedral, the peaceful tranquility of Menshikov Palace.
The pictures floating through her mind meshed, swirling and resolving into more images than she could count; visiting her brother before he departed on the Lexington during the Earth-Minbari War, talking to her father for the last time, trying desperately to control an Advisory Council meeting. Memory upon disconnected memory drifted to the surface, only to merge with another and fade away.
She was slowly swept away by the images, until they began dissolving into pure colors. Vibrant reds coalesced into incredible violets, blues, greens and oranges. She could recall nebulas that were less spectacular to watch.
Finally, when she thought her stomach couldn't handle any more of the visual assault, it simply stopped. Everything around her was darkness. She could no longer feel the cool crystal that had rested in her hands, nor the soft surface of the bed that had supported her weight.
"Susan?"
She searched the murkiness that surrounded her for the source of the voice, but came up empty.
"Susan Ivanova, can you hear me?"
She attempted to nod, but couldn't feel her head move. "Yes," she whispered.
The darkness began to boil away, until she was back in the reality she remembered. The crystal was still, somehow, in her grasp. "How?"
"Sometimes the senses are affected by that procedure."
Susan turned her head slightly to the left, just in time to watch Alina duck briefly behind a rack of medical equipment. "The crystal."
"Yes, it's a meditation crystal," Alina replied. "It helps the mind focus on one thing, freeing the rest for work that needs to be done."
"No, I -" Susan fumbled to retain her hold on the crystal. She was about to lose it when Alina took it from her hands.
"I see," the telepath said. "You need rest. If you'd like, I can have Andrew check the blocks later."
Susan feebly shook her head. "No, now."
Alina glanced off toward a monitor and gave a quick nod. "Aside from exhausted, how do you feel?"
"Okay, I think," Susan replied, taking a quick mental inventory. "What was all of that?"
The sound of a door closing cut off any reply Alina may have had. "You're ready?" Andrew asked as he stepped into Susan's range of vision.
"Yes," Alina replied, raising one dark eyebrow. "I think our dear Susan believes that if the blocks will hold now, when she can barely defend them, they'll hold when she's fully rested. Correct?"
Susan nodded.
"All right, then," Andrew stated. He stepped up to the side of the bed, and Susan couldn't help but be reminded that he wasn't that much taller than Alina. She could sense the concern in him as he looked down on her and grasped her hand. "If you're sure you're ready, I'll try it."
"Do it," Susan instructed.
She stared into his soft blue eyes for what felt like an eternity, preparing herself for the mental walls that she had worked so hard and for so long to fortify to come crumbling down.
The first tentative probe at her defenses came, but it did not break through.
"Harder," she whispered.
Another probe, this time stronger, failed to breach the walls.
"They won't pull punches, Andrew. You know Bester."
Andrew licked his lips nervously. "A cold, full-blast attempt could kill you."
"Would he care?" Susan asked, one dark eyebrow arching.
"Okay," Andrew replied, leaning hard against the bed. "Here goes."
He stared intently into her eyes, and she could feel the telepathic equivalent of a battering ram begin to attack her defenses. When it was clear that the hard-and-fast technique wasn't going to work, he attempted something more insidious.
She felt a thin, almost serpentine probe begin its work. It caressed the perimeter of her mind, softly searching her defenses for any hole that it could use to break through. Exhausted, she chose not to fight the probe. If Andrew could get through on his own, with no defense from her, the blocks weren't going to hold.
A single bead of sweat trickled down the side of Andrew's nose.
Still, the blocks held.
She looked into his eyes, watching them fill with disbelief. She sensed that he was trying every trick he knew of to get through, could feel the probe changing with every new tactic, still he was getting nowhere.
The blocks were going to hold.
"Enough," Alina finally stated, pulling Andrew away from the bed. "Andrew, did you get anywhere?"
He simply shook his head.
Alina turned toward the bed. "Susan?"
"I wasn't even defending," she replied.
"They're iron-clad," Andrew declared. "If she's not defending at all, those blocks will hold off pretty much everybody."
"I think so," Susan added. "I could feel you trying to get through."
Alina rubbed a hand over Andrew's shoulder. "You go rest." Turning to Susan, she added with a smile, "Now, it's time to teach you how to use these things."

[End Part 17]