Here's the next installment!
CHAPTER FOUR
The Excalibur was docked outside of Babylon 5, floating in space. It made Gideon think about the stories of King Arthur. The Round Table in the conference room reminded him of the Knights of the Round Table. The legendary sword that made Arthur king sworn by oath to protect the country and rise it to victory. Sometimes, he just felt like Arthur.
"Captain." Ah, it was only Dureena.
Gideon wearily turned around. How long has it been? Twenty minutes? Thirty minutes? He turned around to see Dureena with the data crystal he had assigned for her to read back at the Excalibur. He frowned slightly as he asked, "You're done already, Dureena?"
She was taken aback. "Of course I'm done. Three hours of work."
He was surprised; three hours he had been busy on the station repairs? He had already called back to Interstellar Alliance headquarters on Minbar to tell President Sheridan about the crisis. Then he was hailed by three Warlock-class starships to come and help repair the damage to the entire station. It was then followed by a communique from Matheson and then a casualties report before finally repairing the computer systems himself. Three hours?
Dureena, a bit shaking about his depht of thought, proceeded to showing him what she learned. The inserted the data crystal in a feeder and watched the list of computer systems go on screen. Then, there was a video footage of the entire incident. "This surveilliance camera started the minute the Drakh entered into normal space, Captain."
Gideon watched with tired eyes. Lochley was on command deck minding her own consols. It must've been her from the long red hair to the stiff Earthforce uniform. Yes, that was her. But Gideon could tell through the uniform, she was gaunt. Really gaunt. Something must've came up as well. Officers walking here and there and everywhere. Where was her first officer? Then he remembered; shore leave.
Something happened. It must have been the jump point. "I'm picking up an energy surge from the jump point," an ensign called from his station. "It's massive...more than one vessel. They're not responding to our hails...I can't get a clear picture but..."
He was interrupted by blue light; the jump point. Lochley jerked her head up to the window and he could tell she wasn't pleased as her fingers began to prance at the consols quickly. "Damn!" he heard her curse out loud. "That is one hell of a huge drakh fleet." The officers were astonished. She turned her head. "Red alert! Battlestations!"
He watched as the picture began to become really bad as the station was hit with alot of force. The lights went down and it was now darker. The emergancy klaxon was shrilling like an annoying kid. "Status!" he heard Lochley demand out loud. He didn't hear the reply, but by the looks of it, it wasn't good.
After some really bad moments with the audio, he managed to hear Lochley order, "Ensign! Start relaying an automatic distress beacon!" After a muffled reply from the ensign, she began to program the distress beacon. After its launch, then it went black. Gideon slammed a bony fist onto the consol. Dureena frowned slightly. "That's all that was recorded."
"Dammit," Gideon muttered beneath his breath. "Bad timing."
"I'm sorry, Captain," she apoligized even though there was no need to. "That was a pretty bad timing. The computer reported that there was some sort of a power failure. But that wasn't what the sensor memory grid recalled." She accessed a few buttons, since when did she know how to use them?, and opened up another file. A series of numbers. She pointed at one. "This was the time the surveillence camera started up," she explained. "And this was when the grid came down. Now, that may sound possible, but the computer says it isn't."
"Are you telling me someone deliberately pulled the system down?"
"The computer states it is," Dureena replied, clicking on another folder. A series of numbers lined with the other folder. But it was screwed up as far asGideon could tell. "The sensors of the computer monitored any personnel coming through and from ever consol throughout the entire battle. Something didn't add up." She magnified a series of numbers. "This states that before the camera came down, there was a five minute hole punch. Someone had caused the fuses to burn out, under command certification."
"Command certification?" Gideon repeated hollowly. "That can't be right... considered the crew died, the monitor would have been savaged out to see what happened. Why would anyone of the command crew want to cut the play off by a couple of minutes?"
"I don't know," she replied. "But that's not all. The computer states that someone also did some sort of computer diagnostics during the blasted attack; it was relayed down somewhere in the gray section of the entire station. The computer can't pinpoint its exact location due to the fact that there was a battle going on."
"I want the names of the entire crew that was present on C&C at the time the Drakh started showing up," he ordered. "Damn, I don't like the sound of this one bit. If we have a troublemaker on board, I'd like to know before we get blown out into spacedust."
Dureena rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Yes sir."
Once she had left, Gideon averted his eyes back to the stars of the Observation deck. The glass was a bit charred from some energy beam as the floor was uneven and rusty. The stars floated in the blackness of space, full of adventure, full of unknown secrets. Back then, Gideon apprriciated the challenge. But over the years, after death and tragedy, he also discovered that it was a cold, uninviting and calculating kind of place. What secrets lie beyond the rim? No one knew.
The computer readout stated that there was a call coming in from Minbar. The Interstellar Alliance Headquarters. Gideon gulped and recieved the transmission. A bearded face, brown. Warm but defiant eyes flashed. Civilian uniform. The one who had led through the Shadow war and won. The one who rebelled against President Clark and won. The one who helped form the Interstellar Alliance and was now the president. It was none other than Sheridan. "Captain Gideon."
He tilted his head with respect. "President."
"I have hailed the three warlock ships," he told Gideon. "They will be arriving through the jump point in approximately three hours. The Scutum, the Pavo and the Corona Borealis are their names and they will be docking with supplies and cargo and well as more maintenence to fix up the mess those blasted drakh has caused yet again." He paused, calming down. "This is the fifth time this has happened and I'm getting sick of it. It's as if they want to start another war. They could've done this six years ago!"
"Maybe they were waiting for the moment of vunerability," Gideon suggested. "Now that Earth has been quarantined with the plague and almost the entire Joint Chiefs are stranded behind Earth Dome, they have a chance to strike back at us for what happened almost then years ago."
"I wish we were able to fix this all up years ago," Sheridan admitted. "But it's too late now. God knows where else they want to pollute this wrecked plague of theirs. We have very little to give, but we're willing to help each other. Hopefully they will find no trouble in their path here. I have stated that you will brief the three captains on this matter and their part in them."
"Yes sir," Gideon replied, before frowning a little. "Brief them what?"
"Well," the president stated. "I haven't exactly filled them in. I do not know the full situation and rather you tend to them of what the station needs. Once Captain Lochley is up and about, I'm sure she'll decide to help. But once this is over, you'll have, and I mean you'll have, to get a move on it. We only have less than four years now to find that damned cure." He paused. "It wasn't easy to find this out all along. The last two years are hell to me, both personally and politically. It wasn't easy to get the captain of the Corona Borealis to come to your aid."
"Who is the captain, sir?" he asked.
"Captain Susan Ivanova," he replied after a moment of silence. "She has served under me back at Io and again at Babylon 5.She was suppose to run B5 once I began my presidency, but she apparently requested for a transfer. I don't blame her for not coming, but she's all I can spare. Don't mind her if she gets to stubborn on you, Gideon."
"Yes sir." For a while, they just stared at each other. Gideon find it hard to believe that this man he was talking to was Lochley's ex-husband. Hard to believe that he was talking to a war hero of the Earth-Minbari war. Hard to believe that he saved the galaxy from the Shadows and the mysterious Vorlons. Hard to believe that he renegaded against Clark and won. Hard to believe that he rose in power to become the President, to forge the peace of the Interstellar Alliance. He'd be damned.
He saw that Sheridan was beginning to squirm. "How is Lochley?" he quivered.
Gideon found himself gulping down a lump down his throat. "Her condition was pretty bad when we found her," he replied dryly. "But she's getting better. And more sarcastic by the minute."
He watched Sheridan grin. "That sounds more like her." He then straightened his posture at the sight of his own adolescent-type of thoughts and told him in his usual crisp and cool way, "Keep me updated on the current situation aboard the station. That will be all, Captain Gideon." He then blinked off.
Gideon stared at the black screen for a moment. He was left pretty off for a moment. He thought of Captain Lochley for a brief moment; she couldn't have shut off the entire surveillence camera. If only he had came sooner and realized this type of situation. This was going to be rough, and he knew it. He could feel it in his bones as he shuddered at the thought.He was going to have to play it hard. "Computer, open surveillence camera 0-5-7 segment of drakh attack."
"File opened," the computer replied dutifully, as usual.
"Computer, play file."
The segment of the battle. The ugly feature that the drakh had came in. The ugly announcement of the evacuation. Lochley speaking to the ensign and to the distress call. He watched at the moment Lochley had finished the distress call. It was dark, but he made out a face wearing an Earthforce uniform. He couldn't tell if it was a man or woman, but he knew it was from the consol from the side of the burnt out system, keying something, then turning back to the camera before it shot out. The pieces were ripped off here and there, but he noticed that the the uniform had one strip on the shoulders; he or she was a lieutenant.
Gideon turned to one of the earthforce officers from his ship, who had came down to begin repairments; actually, to oversee it since Matheson was out trying to hunt down the escape pods. There was his office, a dark-skinned man whom was down by the navigations array consol, overseeing the latin maintience officer who was trying to fix the entire thing. In front of him lay his work; wires, some charred and some just entangled like a nest. "Lieutenant Hovan."
The dark man strode over with all the power in it. He tilted his head with respect, nothing more. Great; at this rate, Gideon would be pampered with all the formality without meaning it. How much will he put up to this? "Yes sir!" was all he heard from most of the crew; no meaning, no certain respect for who he was, just the damned position.
"Lieutenant," he said stiffly, less formal and more hardened with no welcome "I want you to compile for me the names of all the officers that were present during the battle in C&C."
The man frowned but tipped his head anyway and spun off.
"I hate that," he snarled under his breath but turned back to the stars. The Excalibur was out, floating in the vastness of space. The light, the hope. He hated this more than ever; why was all the pressure on him? The job, the name, gosh, there was even a weekly update on their current duties.
"Computer, put on ISN."
"Acknowledged."
The screen flickered on to a woman on the screen. "It is time for the babylon 5 update," the reporter said in her professional voice. "We have updated information that the famous station has just been attacked by some Drakh attack vessels. No word on how many crewmen have died, the status of the station itself and whoever survived it. The vessel Excalibur has saved the station from destruction and has sent word to military vessels to redevouz for repairment. We have also a video clip from Minbar on the President's thoughts of the situation."
A tall, imposing figure. Slight frown, defiant eyes, brown hair pulled back from his face with a beard. Sheridan. "I feel devastated over the recent attack from the Drakh. We understand the hatred they feel towards the station, the station I commanded for four years, and these assults on our territory has increased. First the plague on Earth and now we're on a verge of war. it's insane..."
The reporter was back. "No word yet on the casualties, but our prayers are to the families whose sons and daughters are posted on the station," she continued. "The Excalibur is still sailing the stars for a cure, but will be slightly delayed for the fact that the station is being repaired..."
"Computer, off."
Suddenly, a loud crash rocked the floor beneath them. Gideon slid, his hands outstretched to grab the edge of the consol. "What the hell---?" was what came out of his lips the minute the entire station straightened.
A screen flickered open. It was Max. "Captain," he said in a hurried voice, "we've just picked up an energy spike at brown fourteen. Same remnants as we found a short while ago throughout the station." His brows knitted tightly. "I think the station is being hijacked."
"Oh, great," he muttered angrily, "just what we need."
The doors plowed open to C&C and in came a limping Lochley. Her hair was down and she was in half a uniform, blue trousers and a white plaid top. It was topped by a black vest with her Earthforce insignia. Her hair was down and she was limping to the consols.
"Look into the matter," Gideon ordered quickly, "I'll talk to you later. Gideon out." He pressed a button to end the transmission when he jumped to interject from Lochley's out-reached hand. "What are you doing up and about?" he inquired suspiciously. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Oh, hell, Gideon," she spat. "What's the point of being in bed when you can't relax? I've been watching the ceiling for hours thinking how my precious station is doing. I'm restless. If it means getting up and about with only half my wounds healed, then so be it."
"Captain---"
"Please," she insisted. "I know this station. There's a bunch of terrorists on board, if that's what you're thinking about these small explosions here and there. They've been here before the Drakh attacked. We were about to resolve the problem when, you know---"
Another explosion rocked the station.
"Another explosion on brown sector twenty!" one reported.
"Power shortage to blue level!"
Lochley turned to Gideon. "You'll need my help," she insisted. "I know what they're doing." She looked up with a stir of defiance at the starship captain with a certain earnesty in her eyes.
He didn't have to think. He already knew. "Let's go!" he told her.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Excalibur was docked outside of Babylon 5, floating in space. It made Gideon think about the stories of King Arthur. The Round Table in the conference room reminded him of the Knights of the Round Table. The legendary sword that made Arthur king sworn by oath to protect the country and rise it to victory. Sometimes, he just felt like Arthur.
"Captain." Ah, it was only Dureena.
Gideon wearily turned around. How long has it been? Twenty minutes? Thirty minutes? He turned around to see Dureena with the data crystal he had assigned for her to read back at the Excalibur. He frowned slightly as he asked, "You're done already, Dureena?"
She was taken aback. "Of course I'm done. Three hours of work."
He was surprised; three hours he had been busy on the station repairs? He had already called back to Interstellar Alliance headquarters on Minbar to tell President Sheridan about the crisis. Then he was hailed by three Warlock-class starships to come and help repair the damage to the entire station. It was then followed by a communique from Matheson and then a casualties report before finally repairing the computer systems himself. Three hours?
Dureena, a bit shaking about his depht of thought, proceeded to showing him what she learned. The inserted the data crystal in a feeder and watched the list of computer systems go on screen. Then, there was a video footage of the entire incident. "This surveilliance camera started the minute the Drakh entered into normal space, Captain."
Gideon watched with tired eyes. Lochley was on command deck minding her own consols. It must've been her from the long red hair to the stiff Earthforce uniform. Yes, that was her. But Gideon could tell through the uniform, she was gaunt. Really gaunt. Something must've came up as well. Officers walking here and there and everywhere. Where was her first officer? Then he remembered; shore leave.
Something happened. It must have been the jump point. "I'm picking up an energy surge from the jump point," an ensign called from his station. "It's massive...more than one vessel. They're not responding to our hails...I can't get a clear picture but..."
He was interrupted by blue light; the jump point. Lochley jerked her head up to the window and he could tell she wasn't pleased as her fingers began to prance at the consols quickly. "Damn!" he heard her curse out loud. "That is one hell of a huge drakh fleet." The officers were astonished. She turned her head. "Red alert! Battlestations!"
He watched as the picture began to become really bad as the station was hit with alot of force. The lights went down and it was now darker. The emergancy klaxon was shrilling like an annoying kid. "Status!" he heard Lochley demand out loud. He didn't hear the reply, but by the looks of it, it wasn't good.
After some really bad moments with the audio, he managed to hear Lochley order, "Ensign! Start relaying an automatic distress beacon!" After a muffled reply from the ensign, she began to program the distress beacon. After its launch, then it went black. Gideon slammed a bony fist onto the consol. Dureena frowned slightly. "That's all that was recorded."
"Dammit," Gideon muttered beneath his breath. "Bad timing."
"I'm sorry, Captain," she apoligized even though there was no need to. "That was a pretty bad timing. The computer reported that there was some sort of a power failure. But that wasn't what the sensor memory grid recalled." She accessed a few buttons, since when did she know how to use them?, and opened up another file. A series of numbers. She pointed at one. "This was the time the surveillence camera started up," she explained. "And this was when the grid came down. Now, that may sound possible, but the computer says it isn't."
"Are you telling me someone deliberately pulled the system down?"
"The computer states it is," Dureena replied, clicking on another folder. A series of numbers lined with the other folder. But it was screwed up as far asGideon could tell. "The sensors of the computer monitored any personnel coming through and from ever consol throughout the entire battle. Something didn't add up." She magnified a series of numbers. "This states that before the camera came down, there was a five minute hole punch. Someone had caused the fuses to burn out, under command certification."
"Command certification?" Gideon repeated hollowly. "That can't be right... considered the crew died, the monitor would have been savaged out to see what happened. Why would anyone of the command crew want to cut the play off by a couple of minutes?"
"I don't know," she replied. "But that's not all. The computer states that someone also did some sort of computer diagnostics during the blasted attack; it was relayed down somewhere in the gray section of the entire station. The computer can't pinpoint its exact location due to the fact that there was a battle going on."
"I want the names of the entire crew that was present on C&C at the time the Drakh started showing up," he ordered. "Damn, I don't like the sound of this one bit. If we have a troublemaker on board, I'd like to know before we get blown out into spacedust."
Dureena rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Yes sir."
Once she had left, Gideon averted his eyes back to the stars of the Observation deck. The glass was a bit charred from some energy beam as the floor was uneven and rusty. The stars floated in the blackness of space, full of adventure, full of unknown secrets. Back then, Gideon apprriciated the challenge. But over the years, after death and tragedy, he also discovered that it was a cold, uninviting and calculating kind of place. What secrets lie beyond the rim? No one knew.
The computer readout stated that there was a call coming in from Minbar. The Interstellar Alliance Headquarters. Gideon gulped and recieved the transmission. A bearded face, brown. Warm but defiant eyes flashed. Civilian uniform. The one who had led through the Shadow war and won. The one who rebelled against President Clark and won. The one who helped form the Interstellar Alliance and was now the president. It was none other than Sheridan. "Captain Gideon."
He tilted his head with respect. "President."
"I have hailed the three warlock ships," he told Gideon. "They will be arriving through the jump point in approximately three hours. The Scutum, the Pavo and the Corona Borealis are their names and they will be docking with supplies and cargo and well as more maintenence to fix up the mess those blasted drakh has caused yet again." He paused, calming down. "This is the fifth time this has happened and I'm getting sick of it. It's as if they want to start another war. They could've done this six years ago!"
"Maybe they were waiting for the moment of vunerability," Gideon suggested. "Now that Earth has been quarantined with the plague and almost the entire Joint Chiefs are stranded behind Earth Dome, they have a chance to strike back at us for what happened almost then years ago."
"I wish we were able to fix this all up years ago," Sheridan admitted. "But it's too late now. God knows where else they want to pollute this wrecked plague of theirs. We have very little to give, but we're willing to help each other. Hopefully they will find no trouble in their path here. I have stated that you will brief the three captains on this matter and their part in them."
"Yes sir," Gideon replied, before frowning a little. "Brief them what?"
"Well," the president stated. "I haven't exactly filled them in. I do not know the full situation and rather you tend to them of what the station needs. Once Captain Lochley is up and about, I'm sure she'll decide to help. But once this is over, you'll have, and I mean you'll have, to get a move on it. We only have less than four years now to find that damned cure." He paused. "It wasn't easy to find this out all along. The last two years are hell to me, both personally and politically. It wasn't easy to get the captain of the Corona Borealis to come to your aid."
"Who is the captain, sir?" he asked.
"Captain Susan Ivanova," he replied after a moment of silence. "She has served under me back at Io and again at Babylon 5.She was suppose to run B5 once I began my presidency, but she apparently requested for a transfer. I don't blame her for not coming, but she's all I can spare. Don't mind her if she gets to stubborn on you, Gideon."
"Yes sir." For a while, they just stared at each other. Gideon find it hard to believe that this man he was talking to was Lochley's ex-husband. Hard to believe that he was talking to a war hero of the Earth-Minbari war. Hard to believe that he saved the galaxy from the Shadows and the mysterious Vorlons. Hard to believe that he renegaded against Clark and won. Hard to believe that he rose in power to become the President, to forge the peace of the Interstellar Alliance. He'd be damned.
He saw that Sheridan was beginning to squirm. "How is Lochley?" he quivered.
Gideon found himself gulping down a lump down his throat. "Her condition was pretty bad when we found her," he replied dryly. "But she's getting better. And more sarcastic by the minute."
He watched Sheridan grin. "That sounds more like her." He then straightened his posture at the sight of his own adolescent-type of thoughts and told him in his usual crisp and cool way, "Keep me updated on the current situation aboard the station. That will be all, Captain Gideon." He then blinked off.
Gideon stared at the black screen for a moment. He was left pretty off for a moment. He thought of Captain Lochley for a brief moment; she couldn't have shut off the entire surveillence camera. If only he had came sooner and realized this type of situation. This was going to be rough, and he knew it. He could feel it in his bones as he shuddered at the thought.He was going to have to play it hard. "Computer, open surveillence camera 0-5-7 segment of drakh attack."
"File opened," the computer replied dutifully, as usual.
"Computer, play file."
The segment of the battle. The ugly feature that the drakh had came in. The ugly announcement of the evacuation. Lochley speaking to the ensign and to the distress call. He watched at the moment Lochley had finished the distress call. It was dark, but he made out a face wearing an Earthforce uniform. He couldn't tell if it was a man or woman, but he knew it was from the consol from the side of the burnt out system, keying something, then turning back to the camera before it shot out. The pieces were ripped off here and there, but he noticed that the the uniform had one strip on the shoulders; he or she was a lieutenant.
Gideon turned to one of the earthforce officers from his ship, who had came down to begin repairments; actually, to oversee it since Matheson was out trying to hunt down the escape pods. There was his office, a dark-skinned man whom was down by the navigations array consol, overseeing the latin maintience officer who was trying to fix the entire thing. In front of him lay his work; wires, some charred and some just entangled like a nest. "Lieutenant Hovan."
The dark man strode over with all the power in it. He tilted his head with respect, nothing more. Great; at this rate, Gideon would be pampered with all the formality without meaning it. How much will he put up to this? "Yes sir!" was all he heard from most of the crew; no meaning, no certain respect for who he was, just the damned position.
"Lieutenant," he said stiffly, less formal and more hardened with no welcome "I want you to compile for me the names of all the officers that were present during the battle in C&C."
The man frowned but tipped his head anyway and spun off.
"I hate that," he snarled under his breath but turned back to the stars. The Excalibur was out, floating in the vastness of space. The light, the hope. He hated this more than ever; why was all the pressure on him? The job, the name, gosh, there was even a weekly update on their current duties.
"Computer, put on ISN."
"Acknowledged."
The screen flickered on to a woman on the screen. "It is time for the babylon 5 update," the reporter said in her professional voice. "We have updated information that the famous station has just been attacked by some Drakh attack vessels. No word on how many crewmen have died, the status of the station itself and whoever survived it. The vessel Excalibur has saved the station from destruction and has sent word to military vessels to redevouz for repairment. We have also a video clip from Minbar on the President's thoughts of the situation."
A tall, imposing figure. Slight frown, defiant eyes, brown hair pulled back from his face with a beard. Sheridan. "I feel devastated over the recent attack from the Drakh. We understand the hatred they feel towards the station, the station I commanded for four years, and these assults on our territory has increased. First the plague on Earth and now we're on a verge of war. it's insane..."
The reporter was back. "No word yet on the casualties, but our prayers are to the families whose sons and daughters are posted on the station," she continued. "The Excalibur is still sailing the stars for a cure, but will be slightly delayed for the fact that the station is being repaired..."
"Computer, off."
Suddenly, a loud crash rocked the floor beneath them. Gideon slid, his hands outstretched to grab the edge of the consol. "What the hell---?" was what came out of his lips the minute the entire station straightened.
A screen flickered open. It was Max. "Captain," he said in a hurried voice, "we've just picked up an energy spike at brown fourteen. Same remnants as we found a short while ago throughout the station." His brows knitted tightly. "I think the station is being hijacked."
"Oh, great," he muttered angrily, "just what we need."
The doors plowed open to C&C and in came a limping Lochley. Her hair was down and she was in half a uniform, blue trousers and a white plaid top. It was topped by a black vest with her Earthforce insignia. Her hair was down and she was limping to the consols.
"Look into the matter," Gideon ordered quickly, "I'll talk to you later. Gideon out." He pressed a button to end the transmission when he jumped to interject from Lochley's out-reached hand. "What are you doing up and about?" he inquired suspiciously. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Oh, hell, Gideon," she spat. "What's the point of being in bed when you can't relax? I've been watching the ceiling for hours thinking how my precious station is doing. I'm restless. If it means getting up and about with only half my wounds healed, then so be it."
"Captain---"
"Please," she insisted. "I know this station. There's a bunch of terrorists on board, if that's what you're thinking about these small explosions here and there. They've been here before the Drakh attacked. We were about to resolve the problem when, you know---"
Another explosion rocked the station.
"Another explosion on brown sector twenty!" one reported.
"Power shortage to blue level!"
Lochley turned to Gideon. "You'll need my help," she insisted. "I know what they're doing." She looked up with a stir of defiance at the starship captain with a certain earnesty in her eyes.
He didn't have to think. He already knew. "Let's go!" he told her.