Miracles do happen

by jo taylor

Marcus, revived by Galen and the crew of the Excalibur, needs all his knowledge to help them find the cure for the Drakh plague.

A challenge set by Babylon 5 Round Robin.

Although this story is not chaptered, each writer's section is clearly marked so you should not get lost. Enjoy.



MIRACLES DO HAPPEN

Part 1 - Sylvia

There was an air of hushed expectancy on board the Excalibur. It seeped through the ship, silent and all pervasive.

Captain Gideon, never a patient man, sat on the bridge, the fingers of one hand drumming a barely heard tattoo on the arm of his chair. Restlessly he shifted position and looked over to his first officer, one brow raised in enquiry.

Matheson shook his head. Gideon sighed, shifted again and let his eyes stray to the viewer and the vista of stars spread out before him. He hated waiting, and especially with something this big. Doctor Franklin's call had set off every suspicious thought in his head. The last time they had met, Earth had taken the rather dubiously moral action of purposefully infecting a civilian with the Drakh plague in order to advance their search for a cure. Gideon wondered what they had in store for him this time, as his thoughts returned to the battle that had ensued after that episode.

His eyes strayed again to Matheson, the question poised on his lips.

"Call coming in, Captain. The shuttle from Babylon 5 is about to clear the jump point."

Both men turned to the viewer, watching the sudden blossom of blue as space tore apart to expel the small vessel that now headed straight for them.

"About time! Bring it on board, and get the cargo down to the isolation bay." Captain Gideon sat a little straighter in his chair. "Set course for Earth."

"What about Galen? He was supposed to meet us here." The first officer's voice was barely heard above the sudden activity on the bridge.

"I'm sure he'll find us." The hint of irony in Matthew Gideon's voice did not go un-noticed by his second in command.

"I'm sure you're right, Sir."

***

Earth. It hung suspended in the pitch black of space like a fabulous jewel. Coming this close, not being able to set foot on its soil, tugged at every member of his crew. Gideon, affected as much as anyone else on the ship, stared down at the heartbreaking sight, trying to keep his face impassive. So many memories. His brother still lived outside of Chicago with his nieces and nephews. He wondered if Jacqueline still had Spike, the dog they had bought together before that horrendous and irreconcilable argument.

"Sir?"

Brought back to the present, Gideon tugged down the jacket of his uniform for the umpteenth time that day and turned to face his XO. "Anything yet?"

"Doctor Franklin is on his way up. Same as before, a cryo tube."

"See to it will you, John. We'll have quite a collection if this carries on. I take it there is no word from Galen?"

"None. But then, you know Galen."

Matthew nodded; yes, he knew the mage. Probably as well as any 'man' did. Of course there was always Dureena. There was something between those two, something that neither one of them acknowledged. She'll get him, he thought. One way or another, she would get him. He had never known anyone as focussed as Dureena Nafeel.

"I'll head down to the medical facility. Call me if anything happens."

***

The transportation tube was empty, and Gideon let himself relax for a few minutes. When the call had come from Earth and his mission had been explained he had, to put it mildly, been put out. A cure for the plague should have been his only concern; the task of glorified carrier did not appeal to him, though the reason for it piqued his curiosity. Franklin had been coy about his cargo, and even less forthcoming when Galen's name came up. Ever suspicious of the Technomage's purposes, he had been reluctant to go any further without a more detailed brief.

The transport slowed, pulling the Captain's attention back to the here and now. A soft swoosh of air and the doors opened - Galen stepped in.

"Hello, Matthew."

"I shouldn't be surprised I suppose. How did you get past our sensors and get on board?"

The mage just looked at him and asked a question of his own. "Is everything here?"

"I'm on my way there now. Franklin is due any moment, and the package from Babylon 5 is stowed away. You know what this is all about?"

"Of course." The mage's enigmatic features remained unreadable.

"Well would you like to share?" Captain Gideon's tone was curt. Secrecy had its place but he didn't like it on his ship.

Galen's sardonic look spoke volumes.

Trying to think of some way to shake the Mage's self possession the Captain asked. "Does Dureena know you are back on board?"

Was it his imagination, or did he see a softening around Galen's eyes, the hint of a smile on the normally stern face?

"She knows," the mage said softly.

***

"This is it?" Galen studied the device, stalking around it like some museum exhibit. His fingers touched the flimsy wires, the odd protuberances as though he expected bits to fall off in his hand.

"Crude, very crude. And this is totally redundant!"

"Yes, but can you figure it out? We had no point of reference for it. It was too dangerous to experiment with." Franklin, locked behind his Perspex wall, watched the mage anxiously.

"I said it was crude, not that I didn't understand how it functions."

"So you can make it work? You know how to reverse the effects?"

Galen's eyes closed briefly and he sighed. "Yes, Matthew. It's really quite elementary. I wouldn't vouch for some of the side effects of what you intend though. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"We need to. He is the only answer." Dr Franklin's quiet tone brought a sombre look to all their faces.

"Very well. But don't hold me responsible if this goes wrong!"

***

Part 2 -Arlene

A beetled scuttled across the orange and brown sand and up to the summit of a granite rock. If insects were capable of conscious thought, he would be wondering what happened to the other creatures that he used to see. No matter, the beetle continued his quest across the sand.

____________________________

"Steven," said Dr. Sarah Chambers, the chief medical officer for the Excalibur, "you can't be serious.

"Dr. Chambers," said Steven, from behind his protective wall, "I have to."

"You don't have to kill yourself, there has to be another way."

"What choice do we have? He knows the answers, at least some of them."

"He's been frozen for years. How can he even know about the Plague?"

"Before the, um, mishap, the Rangers sent him to evacuate a planet that was under attack. Until just recently we didn't know who was attacking this planet. Now we do."

Chambers frowned. "The Drakh?"

Franklin nodded.

"I see."

"Amazing," sighed Dureena, who had been standing in the medlab staring through the glass view port of the cryotube.

"He may be our only hope," said Chambers joining her.

"What's his story?"

"The woman he loved," said Franklin, "was seriously injured in battle and he gave his life to save hers. I promised her that I would try to revive him when the time was right. Now is the right time."

"And they say chivalry is dead," said Max Eilerson, who had just arrived in medlab.

"What are you doing here, Max?" said Chambers.

"I wanted to greet our guest, but I see he's not ready yet."

"Why do I get the idea you know more than you're letting on?"

Eilerson ignored the comment and directed his attention to the device lying on the table. He carefully picked up one of the long silken tendrils and examined it. "There's writing on this device," he said, "do you know what it says?"

Franklin shrugged. "We hoped you could tell us."

"It's written in several different languages, most of them long dead."

"So," said Dureena moving closer to Eilerson, "you're the expert on long dead languages, what does it say?"

"I'm not quite sure. This device is very old; the writing is the ancient form of the languages I am familiar with. I will need to consult my database."

"You're an archaeologist, why can't you figure this out?"

"Dureena, my dear," said Eilerson taking a stance as though he was a professor about to deliver a lecture, "this is a particularly ancient form of the Minbari language. It has not been used in over a million years. Here is what I am hoping is the same thing in a version of the Centauri language that is even older. These next three lines I've never seen before. What I can tell you is that this is a complex and very dangerous device. I believe this writing is a message of warning."

Franklin nodded sadly from his sanctuary. He had experienced the effects of the device first hand and fully understood the dangers involved.

Eilerson snapped around to face Steven. His eyes burned into those of the doctor. "You're not going to use this on him are you?" Max pointed to the cryotube.

Steven Franklin was not a shy man, but something about Max Eilerson made him want to shrink into the woodwork. This was one of those times, he knew his mission was foolhardy, but he also knew it had to be done. He nodded.

Eilerson shook his head. "At least wait until I've finished translating the inscription."

"A little more time shouldn't make that much difference," said Franklin. "Just don't take too long."

Eilerson nodded and retreated from medlab.

"More time," shouted Dureena, "some of us don't have a lot of time to spare."

"If I'm right, Max may come up with the instructions to that thing," said Franklin. "He may be able to prevent another mishap. He may save someone else from a fate like that of Marcus."

Dureena gestured toward the cryotube. "He used that thing without knowing how to operate it?"

Franklin nodded.

"He must have loved her very much."

Franklin's smile was enigmatic.

***

Eilerson bent over his computer, carefully studying the inscriptions from the alien device. He wrote something in his small notebook. "No, no," he mumbled, "that's got to be at'au. But, if it is, then..." He smacked his comm link.

"Captain Gideon, this is Max Eilerson, meet me in medlab as soon as possible."

"I'll be right there," said Gideon over the link.

Moments later Eilerson, Gideon, and the technomage Galen stood around the table in medlab that contained the alien device.

"You can't use it the way you want," said Eilerson more to Franklin than to the others.

"I told them that," said Galen.

"We have to," said Franklin emphatically.

"So, what does the inscription say?" asked Gideon in a lame attempt to change the subject.

"Well," said Eilerson carefully picking up a tendril. "On these are the instructions as to where to connect them for maximum comfort and effectiveness."

Franklin nodded.

"It's the control box, however, that was most interesting. You said that this device was used as a punishment for convicted criminals, right?"

"Yes, I was told that it was used to extract the life energy from criminals in order to heal the sick, eventually all of their life energy would be drained and they would die." Franklin agreed.

Max nodded. "That's one use for this device. But, originally it was intended to give life to clones."

"Who or what provided the life energy in the first place?" asked Franklin.

Eilerson shrugged.

"From the First Ones," said Galen. "Particularly from Lorien. The legend says he gave of his life so that others may live. He and then later the other First Ones shared their energy to create the newer races."

"We really are their children," said Gideon quietly. "But how is this going to help us? We don't have a First One on the Excalibur."

"We do have a virus created by one of the older races," said Franklin stroking his chin, "if we could use an infected donor to revive Marcus, perhaps the device wouldn't kill me, er him."

Galen nodded solemnly. "Matthew, he has a point."

"Yes," said Dr. Chambers, "the virus has it's own energy which might provide enough additional energy to keep Dr. Franklin alive while he revives Marcus."

"Good," said Steven, "let's get started."

***

Part 3 - Brita

Susan woke up from a dream, the same dream she had had every night since Marcus died. In that dream she was walking hand in hand with Marcus through a beautiful valley on Earth, full of nature, sun, and warmth. She felt protected and cherished as she leaned trustingly against him. Then a dark shadowy form materialised between them, a shadow of herself, destroying the feelings of warmth, wanting to be alone, isolated, away from him. She then dreamed again of her near death experience, hearing the words he whispered, "I love you" and wanting to resume her dream of the beauty, sun, and harmony, she struggled to reply to those words, but somehow she couldn't form the words. She normally woke up at that part of the dream. However this time, she managed to reply the words, "I love you too," and the sun seemed to shine again.

It was then the alarm rang. Again, as always, her duties as captain of The Titans destroyer called. Still, as she did every morning after the dream, she'd think of Marcus and what had happened in the past. However this morning the afterthoughts weren't as bad. The dream had turned to something nice. Was that some sort of a sign? A sign of what?Susan thought to herself. Shaking herself, she endeavoured to clear the thoughts from her mind, preparing for the workday ahead.

***

"I'm ready," Steven exclaimed, and allowed Galen to wire him to the device. He felt like he was drifting away, getting weaker. Galen, Dureena, Max, and Dr. Chambers looked amazed as the slight sign of breathing appeared in the Ranger that had been in cryo.

"It seems to be working," Max said, already looking eagerly at the device.

"No, Max, this device will not leave this lab. Have I made myself clear?" Sarah Chambers clarified to the archaeologist that he was not allowed to take this device away to research for IPX and use it for his profit. Max was about to argue that point as a low moan came from the Ranger.

"Stop the energy transference, it seems he's stable. Get Steven out of there." Chambers ordered to Galen who had wired Steven in. He did, and Marcus and Steven were sedated and IV's were set up with medicines to stabilise both of them.

***

Marcus felt weightless, floating through a tunnel. The tunnel of course, had two ends. However, somehow it seemed he was not supposed to go to either end. It was then that he was strongly drawn back...to the end he'd come from. Back to Susan? No, Susan! You will not die, take me, take me!!! he screamed into the void, knowing that if he returned to that end of the tunnel, he would not have saved Susan. However his resistance was fruitless, and he reached that end. When he left the tunnel he saw different faces, no one he recognised, all the faces were unknown to him. Beside him lay Steven, not Susan. Terribly confused and disoriented, he wanted to scream to everyone what was going on, however soon the view faded into total darkness.

After a long time he heard voices again. Somehow he noticed that his eyes were not open. He tried to open them, but they would not open. It took more will to open them, not like when he had been in the tunnel. There he had been weightless, immaterial. Here he was heavy. He slowly opened his eyes. They hurt from the overhead light on him. He finally recognised Steven looking down at him. The others surrounding him were all unknowns.

***

Part 4 - Sylvia

Galen stood back from the two men, the breather Dr Chambers insisted he wear hiding the look of concern that flitted briefly across his face. He had debated long and hard on the wisdom of this action. To deliberately infect someone without his or her knowledge seemed abhorrent, and yet they had only a year left, at best, before the Drakh plague wiped out the human race.

Turning toward the Perspex barrier, his shield glittered faintly, reflecting the harsh lighting in a prism of colour.

"They seem stable. You must come out now, Galen. The breather will only protect you for another ten minutes." Dr Chambers' voice echoed through the com system, sounding tinny and distant.

"My shield is defence enough I assure you."

"Then humour me, okay!"

Galen moved to the dark Ranger's side, letting his curious gaze travel over the slim frame. This man alone could hold the key to the plague's inception -Marcus Cole, the only survivor of the incident on Grantex 3.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes Galen mused. He knew of this Ranger, but had never met him. Alwyn had told him of the encounter on Trena some years previous, when the two of them, Ranger and Mage, had defended a contingent of refugees fleeing from the Chamdian uprising. He had praised the man's courage, and abilities - an unusual accolade from the testy technomage. About to walk away, Galen's arm was suddenly gripped in a tight hold. Glancing down, he saw the Ranger's eyes were now open and focussed on him.

Confusion danced in those glittering eyes, and intelligence warred with fear as the man tried to speak.

"Where the hell am I?"

***

Marcus sat opposite Steven, his body still shivering from its sudden and unexpected thawing. Franklin had explained what they had done, and now he had the strangest sensation that he could feel the tiny nanites racing through his systems, pulling them down one by one. Inevitably his first question had been Susan's survival.

"She made a full recovery. Susan is a Captain now, her own command at last."

"Does she hate me?" Marcus couldn't look at his friend's face, and wasn't sure he really wanted to hear the answer.

"I can't say she was too happy about what you did. For a while I thought I was going to lose her anyway." Dark, sympathetic eyes rested on Marcus' bent head.

"Your sacrifice hurt her more than she thought it possibly could," he said softly.

Marcus looked up quickly, hope and disbelief warring on his expressive face. "She cared?" His voice bordering on joy.

"She cared, my friend. She cares still. Susan applied for a captaincy as soon as she was fit for active duty again. You could see the burn trail as she hightailed it from Babylon 5."

Marcus found himself grinning, and then the truth hit him. So what if she loved him, cared for him he amended. He was infected with a deadly plague, one that would kill him within the year if he couldn't put his knowledge to good use. He would love to see her one last time though. Just to tell her how he felt. He smiled sadly at the absurdity of his wish. Just how convincing could he be through a contamination suit?

***

Captain Gideon's room was crowded. Galen leaned against the wall, his face a closed book; Dureena, never far from his side when he graced the Excalibur, sat opposite his position. Gideon, Eilerson, Dr Chambers and Matheson all sat around the small table their voices raised in argument.

"Enough!" Steven Franklin's voice shouted over them all, the link from Med Lab having been established as soon as he had been raised from the sedation he had been under.

"He understands what has to be done. The only thing now is how to proceed."

Galen muttered under his breath.

"You have something to say, Galen?" Matthew aimed his angry gaze at the dark figure.

"I said, I can't believe you embarked on this without thinking it through! When Franklin got in touch with me and proposed this, I believed he knew what he was doing." Galen snorted his derision. "I have been around you humans far too long, it's affecting my judgement."

"You're being a little harsh," Dureena's cat like eyes met his. "Desperation..."

"You all know what desperation can lead too. Or have you forgotten that graveyard of ships, those takers of innocent lives?" Gideon's lips thinned at the memory, and the words he had uttered then came back to haunt him.

"Do I get a say in all this?" The mild English voice seemed to cut through the tense atmosphere within the room.

"Of course, Marcus. Go ahead." The captain's dark glance dared anyone to interfere.

"Steven has filled me in on what has been happening during my, ah, time out shall we say. There is no need to crucify yourselves over this. I was willing to give my life for mankind, this is no different, just a different challenge than I am used to."

"You'll have to be suited at all times, Marcus. We can't let you out of the contamination suit except when inside the isolation lab." "I understand, Dr Chambers. When do I leave?"

***

Part 5 - Sarah

"So Marcus," Gideon leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his stomach. "Tell us about the attack."

"Late in the Shadow war, the Shadows and their allies started a systematic campaign of destruction, targeting any world that had been influenced by the Vorlons, and destroying it with their death cloud." The Ranger's eyes behind his suit's facemask briefly reflected a shadow of the madness of that time, the despair of those who had tried to save whoever they could, knowing it would never, ever be enough. "On Babylon 5, we tried to do what we could to work out where they would strike next and evacuate people, but it was a desperate struggle. Even with all the Rangers we could muster, we were almost overwhelmed by the task." He paused to take a breath, aware of the keen interest of those around the table.

Despite his casual posture, Gideon's brows were furrowed in concentration. Dureena leaned forward in her chair, rapt with attention. Chambers' face reflected professional empathy, and even Galen's habitual inscrutability seemed tempered by curiosity. Only Eilerson seemed a little inattentive, but Marcus was sure the latter part of his story would capture the archaeologist's imagination.

"We received a distress call from Grantex 3, saying they were under attack by unknown forces. According to Babylon 5's databases, the planet held only a few small civilian settlements, so we could only spare a single White Star to investigate and ferry off as many people as possible. We didn't have the resources for a defence of the planet, and even if we had... ", Marcus' eyes closed momentarily, recalling the horror of the Shadow death cloud, "... there wouldn't have been much we could have done anyway." He looked once again at the faces around him. "Have any of you ever seen what the Shadows can do?"

His eyes met Galen's, and the technomage briefly averted his gaze. Not for the first time since meeting Galen, Marcus wondered briefly how many lives could have been saved with their superior technology. Galen's reaction suggested he knew what the Ranger had been thinking.

"When we reached the planet, we found that the ships attacking it were not what we had been expecting - Shadow battle crabs, or even fighters. They were unknown to us at that time. There were too many to fight, so we stuck to the original plan - a quick pick-up run. We landed near the first main settlement, got everyone on board, and proceeded to the next target. Strangely the Drakh ships - for that's what we now know they were - didn't seem to be interested in attacking us. We couldn't figure out what they were up to, but we didn't have the time to worry about that. Our orders were just to get as many people out of there as possible. It was all going smoothly to plan until we reached the last of their main settlements. Here, the Drakh seemed to be attacking in earnest. During one of their onslaughts, I got separated from the others. I was trying to get back to the ship when a blast from one of the Drakh ships buried me under half a ton of rubble, or so it seemed at the time. I blacked out, and when I awoke - let's just say at first I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, or I was so badly injured I was having hallucinations."

"So, what did you see?" Eilerson demanded when Marcus' dramatic pause had outlived the archaeologist's patience, which wasn't terribly difficult. "I found myself in a small underground chamber," Marcus continued, "being attended to by a creature whose like I'd never seen before. He couldn't seem to communicate with me verbally, although he seemed to understand when I spoke to him in Interlac. I tried to explain about the Drakh attacks. Immediately he became extremely agitated, and took me to a much larger chamber. All around me there were signs of amazingly complex technology, I'd never seen anything quite like it." Gotcha, Marcus though dryly to himself, as Eilerson was now on the edge of his seat, rapt with attention. "In this chamber, there was another of this curious species, and this one was able to speak to me. When I repeated my story about the Drakh, he somehow produced a holographic image of the planet surface above, and asked me if these were the ships I was talking about. He then surprised me by telling me that he thought the Drakh weren't after the colonists after all, they were trying to get their hands on the technology that these creatures guarded. He told me it had been handed down from the First Ones, and they were supposed to make sure that it didn't fall into the wrong hands."

"You mean this planet was basically another Epsilon 3?" Franklin interjected, like Marcus clad in a biosuit.

"Exactly, " Marcus nodded. "And like Epsilon 3, the complex had built-in defence systems. However, they were intended to keep away the likes of humans and Minbari. It was part of the deal that the Shadows and Vorlons were supposed to leave this technology alone until the younger races were ready to learn about it. The Shadows were so desperate to win the war that they had broken the rules and sent the Drakh to recover it. When I told the guardian creatures about the Shadow death cloud, they told me that with the technology within the complex they would be able to create something far more powerful, and they weren't sure that the defence systems would be sophisticated enough to stop them."

"But what does any of this have to do with the plague?" asked Gideon.

Marcus turned to face the captain. "What if they used the technology to create the plague? From what the guardian creatures told me, that would certainly be possible."

Everyone fell silent as they digested the implications of Marcus' statement, until Dr. Chambers spoke up.

"So, what happened to the planet? Do the Drakh control it now?"

"We don't know," Marcus shrugged. "When the guardian creatures realised what was going on, they decided that for the sake of the younger races, they would have to ensure the Drakh couldn't gain control of the complex. They rigged some sort of self-destruct mechanism, which they would trigger once we were off the planet. We got back to the White Star and took off, but unlike when we arrived, this time the Drakh came after us in earnest. We didn't stand a chance against the combined firepower of a fleet of Drakh fighters. The ship was crippled, and we had to eject the lifepods." He paused, finding it difficult to continue. Dureena gave him a sympathetic glance as he struggled for words. "It was awful. They shot the pods out of the sky as if it was target practice. All the colonists, the guardian creatures... they were helpless, and those bastards just killed them like we would swat a fly, every last one. The worst of it was, I had to sit there and watch, there was nothing I could do except wait for them to come after me." He closed his eyes, remembering the feelings of frustration and utter helplessness, the overpowering rage at this senseless slaughter, and the apprehension that he would be next.

"To this day, I don't know why they left me. I was the only survivor out of the entire crew and all the refugees. I was almost out of air when another White Star picked up my distress beacon and rescued me."

"So what happened to the complex? Was it destroyed?" There was a gleam in Eilerson's eye as he posed his question.

"I don't know," Marcus shrugged. "I never found out if the guardians managed to trigger the self-destruct."

"Even if it's still intact," Gideon interjected," Marcus said there were defence systems. From what Stephen has told me about Epsilon 3, we'd be blown out of the sky if we tried to get near the place. So how are we going to salvage the technology to create a cure?"

For the first time since he'd begun his narrative, Marcus smiled. "The senior guardian told me that if I ever came back, the place would 'remember me'." His smile faltered slightly. "He said it was for saving his people."

"You're taking a hell of a risk," Gideon commented wryly.

"That's why I must go down to the planet alone. I can't vouch for anyone else's safety."

***

"Captain, we're ready to jump back to normal space," Matheson called. Gideon stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Is Galen's ship clear?"

"Yes sir. He detached just a few minutes ago."

"Alright, let's do this. Jump, and tell Marcus to stand by."

"Aye sir."

"Oh, and get Eilerson up on the bridge. We may need his help." Gideon gripped the arms of his chair with anticipation as Excalibur opened up a jump gate and emerged into a high orbit around Grantex 3. Alongside him, Matheson worked busily at his station, instructing the helmsman and setting up a long-range sensor sweep. On the large screen, the planet in which they had vested their hopes rotated slowly, occasional dark patches breaking up the yellow-orange of much of its surface. From this high vantage point, it appeared devoid of any seas that Gideon could discern, so utterly unlike Earth. He could make out that the dark patches were mountain ranges, whilst much of the rest of the terrain appeared to be a vast desert.

'Welcome to planet Arizona', Gideon thought to himself.

"Captain, we have completed a full sweep. No hostile vessels detected," Matheson's voice cut into his musings. "Atmosphere appears to be an oxygen/nitrogen mix, should be perfectly breathable. I'm not picking up any significant energy readings, no signs of any settlements or activity."

Hand poised over the communications button on his chair, Gideon reflected for a moment on just what they were about to do. "Marcus," his voice was firm as he pressed the button and spoke. "We're in position."

"Acknowledged," Marcus' voice was tinny over the speaker. "I'm ready to go."

"Best of luck."

"Don't believe in it," the Ranger's voice conveyed amusement. "But I may be tempted to revise my opinion if this works out."

"Open bay doors," Gideon addressed Matheson.

"Bay doors open, captain. There he goes."

Both men watched on the screen as the small shuttle looped away from Excalibur and headed towards the planet's surface.

"Well, here goes nothing," Gideon muttered.

"Only the -" Matheson began, then frowned at his console. "Captain, we have company. Ten ships on an intercept course, profile suggests Drakh cruisers. Where the hell did they come from?"

"No time to worry about that now. Issue a standard call for assistance using Interstellar Alliance codes, and go to red alert." Gideon's jaw clenched.

"We owe these bastards one."

Millions of kilometres anyway, vast distances in planetary terms but small in the context of hyperspace, the Warlock-class destroyer Titans continued along its standard patrol route. Its communications officer frowned as an alert pinged on his board, indicating an incoming signal.

"Captain, I'm receiving a distress call, Interstellar Alliance ultraviolet priority."

Susan Ivanova whirled around in her chair, eyebrows furrowing. "IA Ultraviolet? That means Drakh."

The communications officer nodded. "Origin is the Grantex 3 beacon."

"That's only three beacons from here. Helm, alter course for Grantex 3 beacon, and go to maximum speed."

"Aye sir."

Susan activated the ship's intercom. "All hands, this is the Captain. Battle stations."

***

Part 6 - Sylvia

Two small dots disappeared rapidly toward the planet. Marcus, his shuttle aimed true and fast, headed arrow like toward the orange globe. Shadowing him, the sleek black mage flyer followed in his wake.

"Marcus, I have to shut down communications for a while, we have company up here." Captain Gideon's voice was calm, though Marcus could here the echo of commands flying around the flight deck as trouble headed their way. "We'll resume transmissions when we get rid of our guests. Excalibur out."

The Ranger's hands flew to his console. It went against everything he had been taught and every instinct within him, to let his friends fight alone. Lights appeared on every board, then suddenly nothing. His suited fingers, clumsy within their heavy casing, slid over the console again and a curse sprang to his lips. "Ship, establish contact with the Excalibur."

"I'm sorry Mr Cole, that is not possible." Galen's unemotional voice echoed through the suit's com system.

"Galen! What are you...? No, never mind, my computers are down, I can't re- establish control of the shuttle. The Excalibur is under attack, we need to turn back."

"No."

Frustration raised Marcus' voice to angry levels. "What the hell do you mean, no?!" Stubby digits pressed against the console's unresponsive controls. "Galen!"

"Your mission, 'Ranger' Cole," the Mage stressed the younger mans title, "is to seek a cure for the Plague that is about to wipe out your whole species. The fate of the Excalibur is not your concern, nor is it mine."

"Damn it, Galen, release my ship."

"I hate to repeat myself." Galen's voice went quiet for a few moments, then he continued. "Believe it or not, Cole, the Excalibur is the largest and most powerful ship in the Earth Alliance fleet, and they are quite capable of looking after themselves...Besides which, the cavalry is already on its way. Now, if you'll just sit back for a moment, I'll get us both down safely."

"What about the automatic systems? They'll recognise me, what about your ship."

"You worry too much."

Try as he might, Marcus could not get the Mage to answer any more questions. His open com link hissed with an insolent disregard for his frustration and growing anger. His meeting with Alwyn, years before had, in some measure, prepared him for the selfish and sometimes unpredictable arrogance of the Technomages, but it did little to lessen his current frustration. Marcus flung himself back into the pilot's chair and glared at the view screen that he had turned to show the Mage ship. Beyond that he could make out the huge shape of the Excalibur surrounded by a fleet of vessels, and he ground his teeth in rage.

***

"You've made an enemy there." Dureena stood beside Galen, watching the shuttle as it entered the thin atmosphere around Grantex 3. She had known Galen for three years now, and yet sometimes she felt she did not know him at all. There had been times, as now, when his dedication to the mission had seemed all consuming, to the detriment of his relationship with those around him. And yet she knew that he cared for them, all of them, or he would not be so single minded in his actions.

"He won't be the last, I am sure. And it was a lesson he needed to learn. There is no room for sentimentality on a mission of this magnitude."

"What if the Excalibur falls?" Dureena could not keep the anxiety from her voice. Her friends were on that ship; people who had become more family than companions. They had shared so much on this journey, and yet she understood what Galen was saying. If their sacrifice meant the plague's demise then it had to be.

"As I said, Dureena, help is on its way. Look."

Above them the fabric of space was being torn apart as a jump point opened up close to the Excalibur. A heavy battle cruiser exited the portal, front canons blazing. It blasted one enemy ship to pieces as it headed toward the main conflict; fragments of its victim flying past its battle scarred side.

Galen's ship entered the atmosphere of Grantex 3, following Marcus' unwieldy shuttle toward an opening cut deep into the rocky surface. No weaponry attacked; no sign of life showed on any screen and no response came to his hails. Behind them, one of the attacking ships broke away from it assault on the Excalibur and hastened after the sleek black ship. As it approached the atmosphere, a rocket shot from its hiding place deep within the planet's crust, and blasted the vessel into a million fragments.

***

Marcus' shuttle made a soft landing deep within the planet. Within moments the door had opened, and he took his first steps out into the huge cavern that dwarfed his ship. Galen's flyer came to rest a few metres away from him and the Mage stepped out. Behind him, suited, as was Marcus, Dureena exited the ship and looked around with interest.

"You should be suited, Galen. Though I guess a few stray bugs won't do you any harm!" The ranger's voice was chilly, yet seemed to elicit little response from the mage.

With a careless finger, Galen flicked the shield that surrounded him.

"As you can see, your concern is unwarranted."

"When you two have finished exchanging courtesies, can we get on with this?" Even through the suit, Dureena's body language was expressive.

Against his natural inclination, Marcus knew he had to reserve his hostility for this man, at least for the duration of this task. Later, when, or should he say if, they were successful, it would give him the greatest pleasure to wipe the superiority off Galen's face. He strode off toward the nearest exit, leaving the mage and his companion to follow.

"Why are you pushing him so hard?"

Galen's voice was low, so that it would not reach the subject of their conversation. "Because his fear of this place would be detrimental to the task we have. His anger will hopefully keep his morale high."

"Fear? He doesn't look the sort to carry that kind of baggage." Dureena mused out loud.

Galen paused to look down at his companion. "He didn't tell us all he knows about this place."

"And you know something? You have been here before?"

Galen's lips tightened into a thin line, and he nodded.

***

Gideon sat forward in his chair, issuing a multitude of orders that sent his fighters out into the fray. The huge canons pulsed in response the Drakh attack, inflicting terrible damage to the war ships, and yet they did not give up. Sheer weight of numbers was taking its toll on the structure of the great ship and the spirit of its crew.

Gideon took time out from his battle strategy to ask Matheson, "Did Cole get down to the surface yet?" He had allocated one officer to keep constant track of the Ranger's progress. All this would be for nothing if the automatic defences were still up and running and blew the man from the sky.

"Yes, Captain. Both the shuttle and Galen's flyer have landed."

"What the hell! I thought he'd gone to research...Did Galen make it in one piece?"

"Yes, sir. His flyer got down safely." Even after all they had been through, the Mage still held some surprises for the command staff.

"Damn and blast the man." Gideon's eyes caught his first officers, and he let a twisted grin show briefly. "I guess Marcus will be safer with Galen around than on his own."

"Sir! Incoming ship. It's the Titans, sir. Captain Ivanova hailing."

"Can anyone join the party, Captain?" Ivanova's tight smile held a glint of humour that the com link did little to hide. "I'm afraid I've already taken one, but there are still plenty left for the both of us."

"Welcome, Captain. The more the merrier!" Gideon let himself breathe a little easier as he watched the Titans canons come into play. As though the two had worked together on many missions, the ships manoeuvred around the Drakh in a synchronised dance that was beautiful to watch.

Twenty minutes later, with the remains of six Drakh ships floating about the Excalibur, and the sight of the remaining four's rapid departure in his mind, Captain Gideon welcomed Captain Susan Ivanova on to his ship.

***

Part 7 - Arlene

The mage followed behind the bio-suited Marcus, in silent thought. He remembered the last time he had ventured down this corridor. The last time he saw his friend, a young apprentice mage, not his apprentice, for he was still learning at the time. The two young men were wild, with the exuberance brought on by their new powers. They were warned not to go into the cavern. They did not listen. That's when all Hell broke loose. Galen shook himself mentally to regain his focus as the tiny band of travellers neared the first of the defensive systems. He knew Dureena could go no further, but explaining that would take real magic.

"Dureena," he said quietly, "you're going to have to wait here."

"Why?" she asked, in her most obstinate manner.

That always irked Galen.

"Because," said Marcus turning toward her, "the Planet doesn't know you. It could be dangerous."

"Deadly," said Galen evenly, and without emotion.

Dureena had known Galen long enough to recognise the tone as sincerity. She also knew that he would not put her or any of the people on the Excalibur in danger, if it could be avoided. Marcus, she wasn't sure of. She sighed.

"Okay, I'll, ummm, cover your back from here."

Galen's enigmatic expression changed slightly, the corners of his mouth turned upward in a slight smile, but only for a second. "Yes," he said, "that will be fine."

"Send her back to the ship," demanded Marcus. "You can't leave her here by herself."

Dureena pushed herself to within inches of Marcus, their visors almost touched. She glared through the glass at him. "I can take care of myself," she said.

"It's not you I'm concerned about. It's the Planet, it has ways..." His voice trailed off as he remembered those that had been lost to the Planet's defences.

Galen stepped in. "Dureena is a bright girl. She will be alright."

She frowned at Galen and he nodded slightly. Finally, she gave in and withdrew to a nearby rock, where she would wait for their return.

"She reminds me of someone I knew a long time ago," said Marcus quietly, as he and Galen continued down the corridor.

"Was she headstrong as well?"

"She was stubborn, very stubborn."

"I see," said Galen, nodding his head, "I see."

***

Susan Ivanova looked around the bridge of the Excalibur and raised an eyebrow in approval. "I'm impressed, Captain," she said.

"Thank you, Captain," said Gideon, "I believe we have an acquaintance of yours recovering in our Med lab."

"Yes, I heard that Dr. Franklin was on board. But, what is he recovering from? I wasn't aware he was ill, yet."

"You don't know? I thought they told you?"

"Told me what, Captain?"

Gideon moved close to Ivanova and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. She glared at his hand and he removed it.

"Is there something you would like to tell me?"

"Dr. Franklin used the alien device from Babylon 5, to resurrect a Ranger. . ." Before he could finish his sentence Susan had disappeared from the bridge. "Named Marcus Cole," he finished.

"Do you think she knows him?" asked Matheson, as he watched the doors close. Gideon shrugged.

***

Marcus and Galen walked along the dark corridor in silence for a distance. They moved carefully, so as not to irritate the Planet. Soon lights began to blink in the walls, and a few feet more lights blinked all around them. In the strobe effect from the blinking lights, the two men could see a human skull, cleanly severed from its body, which lay a few feet on down the corridor.

Marcus shivered at the sight.

Galen gently picked up the skull and looked into its face. "Alas, poor Yorik," he said, "I knew him, you know."

Marcus frowned. "We hardly have time for quoting Shakespeare. We have a job to do."

Galen looked pointedly at Marcus. "Yorik was my friend," he said sadly. "We apprenticed together. His dying wish was to always remember him when Hamlet is performed."

Shock crossed Marcus' face. He nodded solemnly, feeling like a real fool. "I'm sorry," he said.

Galen slowly shook his head, as Marcus continued along his way. He carefully returned the skull to its body. "There you go, my friend. Sorry about the name change, but I had to do that. I know you understand."

***

"Steven," Ivanova said firmly though the glass in Med lab, "What were you thinking!"

"Susan?" Dr. Franklin said feebly.

She sighed. "Yes, it's me. Now, will you please tell me what is going on here?"

"We revived Marcus."

She inhaled sharply and sunk into a nearby chair.

"But there's a problem."

She nodded.

"He's infected with the plague and has to stay in a bio-suit."

She drew in a deep breath, barely believing her ears. Her next words came at great emotional expense. "Where is he?"

"He's on the planet, Susan, he thinks he can find a cure for the plague."

"Here?"

Franklin nodded.

"May God have mercy."

Franklin nodded in solemn agreement.

***

Part 8 - Sylvia



Captain Gideon joined the gathering in Med lab. Franklin, his colour seemingly somewhat restored, along with his strength, was pacing slowly up and down his isolation unit.

"... but one of us has to find out what is going on down there!" Ivanova's voice was demanding, as he took a seat.

"No one goes down." Gideon's unrelenting eyes locked with those of the tough Russian captain. "No exceptions. And don't even think about heading off on your own, I'll stop you in a heartbeat."

"Oh, really. Well let me tell you, Captain..."

"Enough, Susan." Franklin leaned his head against the glass as a sudden, and unexpected, wave of nausea swept through him.

"Steven?"

All eyes swept to the busy figure of Dr Chambers, as she read data off her screen.

"Doctor?" Gideon's voice demanded an answer to his unspoken question.

Worried brown eyes lifted to his. "The virus is accelerating through his system. Something must have occurred during the transfer, maybe a backwash of some description? I don't know enough about this machine to even hazard a guess. I don't have Marcus Cole's medical history to view either. He could be carrying some virus that the cryogenic suspension didn't' kill." She let her eyes move to the wilting form behind the Plexiglas screen. "Galen warned there might be side effects."

"Then what about Marcus?" Susan's anxious eyes met the worried look in Dr Chambers', and felt her heart begin to pound uncomfortably.

***

Galen kept one pace behind the ranger as they delved deeper into the tunnel. Around them, the strobe lighting had finally settled into a constant brilliance that threatened to damage his sensitive optic implants. He hated to use his technology here, when he had had no chance to assess the potential danger, but there was no help for it. His eyes shut briefly as he initiated the sequence required for filtering the extreme light; switching from normal to infrared sensors. When he opened them again, he could distinguish much that had been hidden before. Around him, buried deep within the walls, was a mass of wires that glowed with energy. Their image ran ahead of the two men, turning abruptly at the next junction.

Galen pushed the pace a little more, knowing that his presence at the ranger's shoulder was keeping the younger man alert and angry. He had no idea what the effects of using the machine might be; nor what the combination of machine and plague might produce, but he did know, that, for all his apparent calm, the ranger was emotionally in turmoil. How could it be otherwise? For Marcus Cole, what had become everyone's past was only days old. The war, the loss of friends and the possible loss of the woman he loved, must be wreaking havoc.

"We turn left here." His tone brought the Ranger up sharply, and he watched calmly as the dark head swivelled to face him.

"When I was here last time," Marcus began, an edge to his normally pleasant voice, "and the aliens of this planet helped me escape, the route was straight. No bends, no turn lefts, just straight ahead. And that is where I am going."

"It won't get you where we need to be. I too, was here, long ago. My route was anything but straight." Galen watched the green eyes darken. "Within these walls runs the life blood of this facility. I can see it, Cole, can you?"

Marcus bit down on his lip, and barked out a sharp, "No", conceding Galen's advantage. To be truthful, Marcus wasn't sure of his own senses at that moment. Ever since his revival he had felt somehow divorced from everything around him. Even knowing Susan was alive and well, and probably out for his blood, had not shaken the unnatural calm that sat within him. Only the Mage seemed to be able to break that, and release the emotions he knew swirled just out of his reach. And within his body he could feel the subtle destruction of his systems as though it were a living breathing enemy.

"Then shall we go left?"

Marcus turned abruptly, and the two men headed down a side corridor. Ahead of them, the light dimmed to a muted glow. Galen was unaffected by the change, but he noticed that the ranger was slowing down, his footsteps beginning to drag. Galen was about to offer his assistance when, emerging from the dim light, he saw the alien figure approaching them.

Standing no higher that Galen's shoulder, the being was dressed in an odd assortment of clothing that hid his bent figure. Snaggled teeth flashed briefly as the creature bobbed its head.

"You return," it said.

Both men nodded.

***

Dureena watched the two men until they were out of sight. Despite Galen's warning, or perhaps because of it, she had every intention of doing some investigating of her own. A few metres in the opposite direction lay an identical passage. When Galen and Marcus had entered their tunnel, lights had flickered in this one as well. Like a moth to the flame, Dureena headed to the opening. She let her eyes rove around the walls, up to the ceiling then down to the hard earthen floor. She could detect no sensors, no trip wires, nothing that might cause an alarm to go off. Cautiously she took a step into the opening.

She heard, rather than saw, the projectile that sped toward her. Flinging herself backward to the floor of the cavern, she felt the whoosh of air pass dangerously close to her face as the weapon missed her by a fraction. Shuffling back quickly, she cursed her own folly. And then roundly cursed Galen for being right.

The flyer's door stood open, and she returned to its dim interior. Flinging herself into the pilot's chair she let her gaze travel over the console. A light blinked at her, its rhythmic pulse drawing her closer. She looked at it, wondering just how dangerous it might be to touch the thing, and caught herself feeling vaguely guilty for even thinking of using something that belonged to the mage. Curiosity got the better of her, and she pressed the glowing button.

"At a guess you are either bored, or ready for mischief." Galen's image sprang to life in front of her, and she held back a tight, rueful grin.

"My warning was serious. If you are receiving this message, then either you haven't attempted anything foolish yet..." Dureena saw the smile that briefly lit his eyes, and found a smile on her own face. "Or you got out of the way when the defences kicked in. I won't make any guesses."

"You think you know me so well," Dureena murmured.

"I need you to keep track of the ranger and myself," Galen's image continued. "The alien race that ran this machine know me and my kind, they may, or may not, be willing to allow my return. Cole should be safe enough, but he will need someone to pilot him from here if things go badly."

Galen's eyes seemed to bore into her, and she felt her heart skip a beat at the thought of his possible loss. "If I don't make it back, then the flyer will return to the Excalibur on auto pilot, you have only to press this," his insubstantial finger pointed to a spot on the main console, " and my ship will take you back. If you are not on board, my flyer will self- destruct after 24 hours from this message's viewing, or if any one but yourself attempts to use the ship."

The message blinked out of existence, and Dureena felt her anger grow. The mage had ensured that she could not explore on her own behalf, not if she cared at all that the two men returned safely. A viewer had sprung to life on the cessation of Galen's message, on its screen Dureena could see Marcus Cole's bio-suited form as it marched down the corridor. She had to assume that the monitor was attached to Galen somehow. Over the sibilant hum of the flyer she could almost hear the conversation now taking place between the mage and ranger. Noting the angry tones of Cole and the calm, irritating words from Galen.

She leaned forward to try and catch what was being said, then suddenly caught the sound of footsteps muffled by the sandy earth outside the flyer. Too late to order the doors shut, she turned to find herself face to face with an alien whose huge black eyes regarded her unblinkingly.

***

On board the Excalibur, tension was rife. The air in Med lab was thick enough to cut with a knife. Ivanova and Gideon stared at one another, neither willing to give way an inch.

"Captain?" Matheson's voice broke the uneasy silence.

Gideon's eyes never left Susan's face as he replied, "Go ahead."

"Sir, we've analysed the battle as per your request. There is something you ought to see."

"On my way." With a raise brow he asked, "Care to join me, Captain?"

***

"There, look. That Drakh ship was following Galen's flyer. Right on his tail almost. But see that?" Matheson's finger pointed to the tiny blip aiming straight at the graceless bulk of the enemy ship. As they watched, the missile took out the target, leaving nothing but barely discernible debris in its wake.

"I guess they didn't use the self-destruct then." Gideon looked to his first officer, a pensive look on his face. "This effectively cuts them off from any outside help, as we suspected."

"But it ignored both Marcus and Galen. Marcus had reason to suppose he could access the facility unharmed, but Galen didn't mention having been there before."

"I wouldn't put it past him to keep that knowledge from us, you know Galen."

"Just who is this Galen? You keep talking about him, but what is his role in all of this? Is he Earthforce?"

The air in the room seemed to suddenly buzz with emotions in answer to Ivanova's barked question. All eyes came to rest on the Captain of the Excalibur.

With a sigh, Gideon raised his eyes to meet those of Ivanova. "Galen is a Technomage," he began. "One of the few still left who are willing to consort with the lesser races. He has been helping us in the search for a cure."

"A Technomage?" Susan's body stilled, she remembered them from the brief time they spent on board Babylon 5, and felt a shiver run through her. "Do you trust him?"

Again, all eyes seemed to focus on Matthew Gideon, a hushed expectancy in the air. "I do." The tone, unequivocal, definite, seemed to release the tension that had been building.

"You had better be right about him, Captain. If anything happens to Marcus, I'll take it out of Galen's hide."

She didn't hear the inaudible, "You can try," that whispered past his lips.

***

Part 9 - Arlene

Dureena stared at the strange creature that graced the door of the flyer. "Who are you?" she demanded, blankly.

"Zathrus," the creature said.

"Well, Zathrus, you can just run along now. I have to get back to my friends."

"No, no, no, Zathrus must take you for audience."

"Audience with who?"

"With the One."

"I don't need an audience with anyone."

"Not anyone, The One. You must go. If not, Zathrus can't be responsible for you."

"I've survived this long."

Suddenly, the interior of the flyer began to glow, hot. So hot that Dureena could not touch any of the controls and she could barely stand on the floor.

"Nice trick," she said, "but, I'm still not going."

"No one ever listens to Zathrus," said the creature as he retreated from the flyer to stand in the dust of the cavern floor.

A moment later, Dureena sprang from the flyer. "I think I'll take you up on that audience," she said rubbing the soles of her feet.

Zathrus smiled, well, it sort of looked like a smile. "We go to The One," he said.

***

Marcus and Galen stood looking at the strange creature before them. "Zathrus knew you would return," he said to the bio suited Marcus.

Marcus sighed. "As you can see there has been a slight complication."

"Zathrus understand."

"Did the Drakh plague originate here?" asked Galen impatiently.

"Zathrus not know. But maybe Zathrus knows, I will ask him when he returns."

Galen looked at Marcus and shrugged. "I never get a straight answer from these guys and they're virtually everywhere."

"I think they're rather quaint in a simple sort of way."

"You would," snorted Galen, his disdain colouring his words.

***

Zathrus led Dureena down the lighted corridors into the depths of the planet. The multicoloured lights played against the darkness and blinked merrily lighting their way.

"Where are we going?" asked Dureena after they had travelled some distance.

"Around next corner," said Zathrus. "We go around next corner, then we'll be there."

"You said that over an hour ago. I think you're lost."

"Zathrus never lost, confused, but never lost."

"Okay, where are we then?"

"We're here. Zathrus not lost."

Dureena sighed, knowing full well that she had to stick with this funny creature if she had any hopes of ever getting out of there. She would not stand a chance alone; all she could hope was that Marcus and Galen would rescue her. Or at least return her body to the Excalibur. The thought made her shiver; she knew she was going to die, and frankly was surprised that she had lived this long, but she did not want to die here. Not on a strange planet at the hands of a strange creature. She swallowed hard and continued on.

***

Marcus and Galen stood before the Great Machine. Its wires and lights glowing and blinking as it went about the business of caring for the planet.

"Horatio," said Galen.

Marcus looked at him in disgust. "We aren't going to start that again are we?"

"No. Horatio is the caretaker of the Machine, and one of my brethren."

Marcus pointed at the Machine. "There's a technomage in there?"

"Of course."

"I should have guessed."

Within moments Zathrus and Dureena appeared in the Machine Room. "Zathrus," he said.

"Zathrus," nodded the other one.

"Can we get on with this?" said Galen.

Zathrus nodded. "Zathrus," he said, "do you know about the Drakh plague?"

"Ah, nasty stuff," said the other Zathrus, "very nasty."

"Yes, very nasty."

"Don't know about it."

"So why are we here," demanded Dureena.

"Zathrus," said Galen, "is not the only creature here."

"No, there are two Zathri."

"Actually, there are a total of seventeen," said Marcus matter-of-factly.

Dureena glared at him.

Galen gestured toward the Machine. Through the tangle of wires and lights, Dureena could barely make out a figure. As she watched, the wires moved out of the way to reveal a black robed man inside of a form-fitting wall. He was attached to the Machine, but she could tell that he was very much alive.

"It's nice to see you again, Galen," came a voice that boomed through the cavern and seemed to surround them.

"Hello, Horatio," said Galen.

"Why have you returned?"

"We seek wisdom."

"Proceed," said the voice of the Machine.

***

Part 10 - Sarah



"We want to find out how the Drakh created the plague they unleashed on Earth," Marcus interjected, with an angry sidelong glance at Galen. He couldn't understand why he'd been put through the whole circus of reviving him if there had been a technomage in control of the Machine the whole time.

"Ah," the Machine's keeper nodded slightly, the best he could manage with the wires and cables attached to him. "Funnily enough, that's exactly what I'd like to know."

"You don't know?" Dureena glanced from Marcus to Galen in open astonishment. "But, the Machine..."

"I am not the original keeper," Horatio explained. "Marcus was the only survivor of the original Drakh attack on this facility. As Galen said, I am merely a caretaker. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to control all the Machine's functions. Zathrus has been helping me, but the command functions were designed for higher beings than myself. It's been most enlightening, but alas I can't direct the Machine's eye fully. It sees many things, but not all are revealed to me."

"But does the Machine have the answer?" Marcus pressed.

"Almost certainly, but until I can learn to control it, I can't access the information."

Marcus whirled on his heel and paced the cavern, aware of one of the Zathri cautiously following him. He wished he'd witnessed first hand the incident on Epsilon 3, when the original commander of the Babylon 5 station, Jeffrey Sinclair, and Susan Ivanova had discovered another of the Machines. He frowned in thought. Susan had been able to retrieve some vital information from the Epsilon 3 Machine, evidence that President Clark had arranged the death of Luis Santiago. Had it been a coincidence, or had she been able to direct the Machine in some way? If only he could talk to her now. He quickly shut off the familiar tug of yearning that thoughts of Susan evoked. There would be time to think about her later. If he couldn't find some way of beating the plague, she was probably better off if he didn't see her again. There was no point in subjecting her to his death all over again.

No, he berated himself. He mustn't think that way. The plague might not have a name or a face, but it was an enemy like any other, an enemy that had weaknesses, and could eventually be beaten. Hadn't they seen off the Shadows and the Vorlons, despite all their superior technology?

The Vorlons. The thought blazed in his head, lighting a fire of knowledge and hope. He turned back to the downcast faces of his companions.

"Telepath," he said simply. "Maybe a telepath can control it."

"Matheson!" Dureena and Galen exclaimed simultaneously. Immediately, the technomage made a gesture with his fingers. "Matthew, can we borrow Lieutenant Matheson for a while?"

***

On the bridge of the Excalibur, Matthew Gideon straightened abruptly in his chair as Galen's voice sounded sonorously close to his ear. Damn, he hated it when the Technomage did things like that. Why couldn't he just use a link like everyone else?

"What do you want Matheson for?" he asked curiously.

"Marcus has an idea," Galen's voice sounded amused, but patient. "He thinks a telepath might be able to control the Machine at the heart of the planet. We need to access any information the Machine might have about the origin of the plague."

Gideon's sharp hearing picked up a whispered exclamation to his right, and he observed out of the corner of his eye Ivanova's startled reaction. Although he didn't speak Russian, he had a passing familiarity with other Slavic languages, and the tone of her barely voiced utterance strongly suggested a curse of some sort. She quickly regained her poise though, and he wondered both what had surprised her, and why she sought to conceal her reaction. Not for the first time, he speculated on the nature of her relationship with Marcus Cole. There was more going on here than met the eye.

Wrenching his train of thought back to the matter at hand, he considered Galen's suggestion. "How do we know he can get down there safely?" he asked.

"One of my order is in the Machine. He can ensure the Lieutenant gets safe passage."

"I thought he said they couldn't control it," Ivanova interjected. Gideon noted the peculiar intensity of her expression, the brittleness of her voice.

"Zathrus was able to show my colleague some of the machine's functions." Galen's voice betrayed a hint of contempt.

"John?" Gideon turned to his executive officer. "You know what's at stake here, and the risks. I won't order you to go."

The Excalibur's first officer nodded thoughtfully, accepting his captain's concern. "Yes sir, I know the risks, but if they need me, I'm going down there."

"You heard that Galen," Gideon replied. "Sit tight, he's on his way. Try and keep the missiles from flying, I'd really appreciate getting my executive officer back in one piece."

"Acknowledged Matthew. We'll be expecting Lieutenant Matheson shortly."

"Captain Gideon -" Ivanova began, but her voice was abruptly drowned out by the wail of alarms that sounded simultaneously from several stations on the bridge. Matheson frowned as he studied his screens.

"Looks like the Drakh who attacked us earlier invited some of their friends along. I'm reading multiple incoming signals, and they look mean."

"ETA?" Gideon drummed his fingers anxiously on the arm of his chair.

"Less than fifteen minutes."

"That gives you enough time to get below and see what our friends want while we hold the fort up here. I'd like to get the information we need and get out of here, this place seems a bit too popular for my liking."

"But Captain, you'll need me here," Matheson interjected.

"He's right." The mixture of authority and desperation in Ivanova's voice instantly commanded Gideon's attention. "I'll go instead."

"But what about your ship?"

"Commander Berensen is perfectly capable of managing without me."

"But Galen said he needed a telepath. Captain, I can't allow it. It's too dangerous."

"That's my concern not yours. Besides, I've used one of these Machines before. I've got as good a chance as anyone of getting the information we need."

"Look Captain Ivanova, I don't know what's going on here, but I can't allow you to go down there," Gideon rose to his feet. A second later he froze as a PPG was charged and pointed at his head.

"I'm sorry Captain," Ivanova smiled tightly. "I'll explain later, but I really have to go down there. Please, just trust me on this."

Gideon looked warily at the Russian. He didn't know her personally, but he did know her reputation. Scuttlebutt around Earthforce suggested she was not someone he wanted to get on the wrong side of. Besides, if she got herself killed she wasn't his responsibility.

"Okay, okay. You really want to go down there, go. But I'm holding you to that explanation. I'm fed up with feeling everyone else around here knows more than I do."

"Thank you captain." With a nod, Ivanova holstered her PPG and practically ran off the bridge. Matheson merely shrugged in response to Gideon's raised eyebrow.

"Women," Gideon muttered. "Now then Lieutenant, let's see if we can't do something about our visitors. Get me Commander Berensen on the Titans."

***

Part 11 - Sylvia

Horatio moved uncomfortably within the machine's grasp; the dusky lighting reflecting red against his ebony skin. For the last ten years he had been held within its grasp searching, caring, trying to understand its wonderful complexity. The machine was a Technomage's delight. There was so much he could do, and yet so much that lay outside his grasp. His dark eyes rested on Galen's deceptively calm blue gaze and an unspoken communication seemed to fly between them.

Dureena, watching the interplay between the three men, could feel the tension that was gradually building between them. Part of it she understood. Marcus, his sole purpose at that moment in time to find a cure for the Drakh plague, was frustrated. Tension echoed in every line of his body, visible even through the bulk of his suit. It was something she had lived with since this whole debacle began. She empathised, and would have expressed her sympathy if he had been in any mood to accept it. Horatio, clasped in the machine's tendrils, seemed to be fixated on Galen, their eyes locking for a moment, before Horatio's suddenly opened wider as if in surprise. On the sidelines, as though waiting for an explosion to which they would have to pick up the pieces, Zathrus and his brother watched and waited.

"Well?" Galen's voice, cold and demanding seemed to add a notch to the scale of tension. One eyebrow raised in inquiry. His eyes never leaving those of his counterpart.

"Impossible!"

"Are you quite sure, Horatio? After all, you do not have full access to the machine."

"What are you talking about? Is what not possible?" Marcus ceased his perambulations and came to stand next to Galen, moving his gaze between the two men.

They ignored him.

"You're wasting your time." Dureena moved to sit her bulk on the steps leading up to the machine. "Getting blood out of a stone would be easier than getting a Technomage to tell you anything. Believe me, I've tried."

"Well this one is going to tell me," Marcus replied, moving closer still to Galen, one suited hand reaching for the mage's apparently unprotected neck.

Dureena's 'don't' sang out too late. Galen, without even glancing at Marcus, raised his hand, sending a blue flash hurtling into the suit. Dust billowed around the fallen Ranger as he hit dirt cursing. Zathrus and Zathrus ran to his side, clicking in anxiety.

"Not good. No, not good. You mustn't. 'They' won't like it. No. Technomagic not good. No."

Galen spun around to face the two aliens. His flashing gaze seemed to rivet them to the spot. With hands still on Marcus' arms, his body half raised, they looked at him disconcerted.

"Who won't like it?"

Though he had not raised his voice above it's normal pleasant baritone, they suddenly dropped Marcus to the floor, where he lay inert, and with a shared concerned glance they ran off down the nearest tunnel. "Dureena!" he barked, and nodded after their fleeing forms. "Don't worry, I'll be tracking you, but there is something I need to finish here first."

Without a backward glance, Dureena sped into the tunnel, finally having something to do on this mission.

***

Susan could feel the pulse that pounded in her temple, its rhythm matching that of her heart which beat slightly too fast for comfort. Tension sat behind her eyes as she tried to prepare herself for the coming meeting. She had no idea what she would say to him, what she could say to him that would make this any easier. She had dreamed about him often - beautiful dreams that were pure fantasy. Now when she closed her eyes, all she could see was Stephen Franklin pushing the cryo tube into place.

Her last goodbye to Marcus Cole had been private. Two days before she took up her post on the Titans she had finally screwed up the courage to visit the Med lab. It had been three am, all the patients had been fast asleep, only Stephen had been on duty, catching up on the never ending paperwork that swamped his off duty hours. One look at her face had told him what she had come for, and he had wordlessly escorted her to the chamber, releasing the tube and leaving her to say farewell in private. Marcus had looked merely asleep, as though a kiss could wake him from his dreams, like a prince in a fairy tale. And she had had the insane desire to try it.

The planet loomed ahead of her and she brought her wandering thoughts back under control. As the little flyer dove beneath the surface Susan concentrated on getting herself down in one piece.

***

"Hadn't you better see to the Ranger, Galen?"

Horatio, his temporary burst of emotion now under control, seemed determined to shift Galen's focus.

Galen glanced to the still form that lay where Zathrus had dropped it. The blast he had used should have done nothing more than send the Ranger backwards, and he had not landed hard enough to damage either suit or body.

He moved to stand over the recumbent form. Through the Perspex visor Marcus' pale face reflected back the internal lighting. His skin was pallid, and a fine sheen of perspiration beaded his forehead. The mage's slender fingers delved into his capacious pocket, retrieving a small crystal appended on a fine silver chain. Holding it above the suit, he concentrated on the readings.

"I need something from my flyer, I presume I can bring it without interference from your minions." It was not a question, but he waited for Horatio's nod before sending instructions to the sleek machine that housed his secrets. A few minutes later a small black orb flew into the area, landing on Galen's outstretched hand. With a pass, the sphere split apart to reveal a grey tube of indeterminate function.

"Varindan?" Horatio queried.

Galen's head moved in the slightest of acknowledgements. He attached the tube's end to the access port on the suit, releasing the clear gas into the oxygen system.

"He has the plague I presume, but does he know about the Vari virus?"

Galen stood, ignoring the question. When he saw the colour begin to seep back into Marcus' ashened skin, he returned his gaze to that of the man within the machine.

"I am right, am I not, Horatio. Some of the Greys survived? But why did they let you take over the machine?"

From the shadows came a sudden clicking of tongue against palette.

"Zathrus?"

"No not Zathrus. Well, yes, Zathrus, but not..."

Galen's eyes suddenly lost their focus as he heard, or rather felt, Dureena's scream of pain. Through the tracking device he had attached to her clothing, he had seen the approach of the alien being as it lifted the weapon and fired.

"Greys," he hissed savagely. Turning on his heel, ignoring the pleas of Zathrus, he sped down the path Dureena had chosen.

***

Dureena had paused at each turn of the serpentine corridor anxious to keep up with the surprisingly fast aliens, but wary of attack. Each time she slowed, the pound of rapid footsteps drew her forward again. Cursing the bulky suit, she approached the next switchback curve at a run. As Dureena turned the corner, light suddenly blazed all around her, temporarily blinding her vision. The blast rang out in the still air. Slamming into her suit, its power seemed to leach straight through the thick layers until it made contact with her skin. Pain wrenched through her, sending her staggering, a scream of pain flew from her lips as unconsciousness swamped her.

The grey lowered its weapon, the wiry limb shaking from the exertion. Zathrus ran to its side, one sturdy arm going around the creature's emaciated body. With Zathrus on one side, and Zathrus on the other, the alien limped away into the darkness.

***

Galen stormed down the passage Dureena had entered. He had taken barely two steps when a force field suddenly appeared in his way.

"Horatio!" Galen bellowed.

The machine's operator called back, "This is not my doing, Galen. The machine is acting on its own, protecting itself in some way. I can't over- ride it!"

Pale blue eyes hardened to flint as Galen contemplated the shield that stood between him and Dureena's unconscious form. Then his hand moved forward, touching the air, pressing against the active molecules, testing, calculating. With a swift move, his fist drove into the barrier; sparks flew from his fingers, splashing colours against the dull walls. As the wall fell he heard Horatio's sudden cry, the backwash sweeping through him as the machine fought Galen's Technomagic. Satisfaction at the physical act flooded his senses.

The moment his path was clear, Galen surged forward once more, only to find another shield in his way. Again he tested the invisible barrier, and smiled. The frequency had changed but it was still not a problem to him. "I can keep this up all day, you know," he murmured to no one in particular.

Ahead, he could see Dureena's crumpled form. Moving with swift strides he reached her side, kneeling in the red dust beside her. With gentle hands he turned her over, activating the bio suits medical scanner. Although she was still out for the count, her vitals showed that no permanent damage had been done to her neural network. He added her attack to the list of grievances he held against the Greys. 'Yorick's' death had only been the start.

His sensors told him that another flyer had arrived, and was currently settled beside his own sleek machine. Matheson, he knew, could be trusted to wait for instructions. But for now, he had to find out what the machine was trying to protect.

***

Part 12 - Sylvia

Juggling formulae had never been a problem for Galen, and yet this was going to prove tricky, even for his extraordinary talents. He could not leave Dureena where she lay, nor, with the bulk of her suit involved, could he physically carry her back to the cavern where the great machine was housed. For a moment he sifted through computations, finally adapting one to his needs. With a concentrated thought, Dureena's inert form lifted slowly from the dusty ground, hovering a few feet above the surface. As Galen moved back down the corridor, her unconscious form followed, suspended in mid air, held there only by the power of his thoughts.

The first force field he encountered fell at his touch, then the next. All the while the spells he had cast jostled for position in his mind; shield, levitation, motion and force. And above all those rampaging forces, a searing anger at what had happened to the woman he was becoming too attached to for his own good.

***

Zathrus number 6, as yet unseen by the unlikely party of humanoids, stood at his master's right hand side. Zathrus 9, on the other side, still had one hand supportively tucked under a thin grey arm. The being's stick-like fingers moved slowly over the dim lights that flashed briefly on the console in front of him. Looking up, the screen now lit his face with its pale green glow.

***

Galen was at the fourth barrier before he heard a soft moan from behind him. He stopped his forward march and turned back to Dureena, lowering her gently to the ground, then released the spell.

Her head moved slowly side to side, a frown creasing her forehead. Through the Plexiglas of her helmet he could see her try to moisten dry lips with the tip of her tongue.

Pressing the com unit on the front of her suit, Galen spoke softly. "Dureena, can you hear me?"

She moaned louder. On arm raised slightly, her legs tried to move, and suddenly her eyes were open. "What the..."

"Slowly, Dureena." Galen carefully kept his voice neutral as his arm slid under her back and helped her to sit up.

"I feel as though I've been run over. What the hell happened?"

Before he had a chance to answer her, she sat up straighter, moving away from his support, a curse on her lips.

"The little bastard," she hissed. Turning quickly to Galen, she caught her breath on the sudden stab of pain. "Ouch!"

"Why do you never listen to me, Dureena? I did say to take it slowly."

Dureena's eyes narrowed in answer. "Who was that little grey creep who ambushed me. And don't tell me you don't know. I know you know..." She stumbled over the convoluted sentence. Shaking her head as his mouth quirked into a small grin, she continued, "You know what I mean..."

Serious eyes met hers. "Yes, I do. Let's return to the hall and I'll tell you what I can. The ranger is ill and needs to return to the Excalibur as soon as possible. I left him recovering in Horatio's care, but I need to see to him myself." He checked his internal chronometer. "And I only have another six hours before my ship returns on auto-pilot."

Dureena had forgotten Galen's safety measures in all that had been happening. The time had flown by with an almost dream-like quality. Accepting Galen's hand, she stood, happy to have solid ground under her feet instead of her backside. Every part of her ached from the blast the Grey had used on her, and even with Galen's supporting arm around her bulky frame, she felt every step she took on the short walk back to the cavern.

***

Marcus regained consciousness slowly. Fragments of the day's events moved in and out of his thoughts like wispy dreams. He could recall waking in Med Lab on board the Excalibur, and Stephen's brutal explanation of why they had removed him from Cryo. He could hear the arrogant tones of the Technomage who had goaded him throughout this mission. Vaguely he could recall a sudden impact that had sent him flying into the dust - he sighed, and let his eyes drift open.

"Finally, I though you would never come around." A deep bass voice boomed from all sides, or so it seemed to Marcus' fragile mind.

With infinite care, he propped himself up on one shaky arm, then pushed harder, until he was sitting up facing the man who seemed tangled in wire at the heart of the machine.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Marcus' voice sounded loud within his suit, and he winced at the assault on his eardrums.

"You tried to assault a Technomage, not a good idea." Horatio's voice was a little distracted, as though his thoughts were elsewhere.

"The bastard!" Recollection of the encounter suddenly returned to him in all its glory.

"You should rather thank him. Without his help you would now be worm food. The virus you carry can kill within forty eight hours unless treated with the correct serum."

"Virus, what bloody virus? I have the damn Drakh plague."

Chocolate brown eyes lost their remote look for a moment as they locked onto Marcus' confused green.

"At some time in your life you have been exposed to the Vari virus. It can lay dormant for years, decades even, then some trigger sets it off and, without immediate treatment, you can be dead in two days. Galen gave you the anti-virus serum. You owe him your life."

Marcus was never happy with gratitude; it was the least comfortable emotion to carry. And even more so when he had taken an almost instant dislike to his tormentor turned saviour.

Behind him he heard the soft shuffle of feet in the cavern's dust ridden floor. Galen, with Dureena leaning heavily on his arm, was entering the open space. The expression on his face boded ill for any who might want to cross him at that moment, and Marcus, never a fool and yet no angel, was not going to rush into this confrontation. At least, not yet.

***

The Grey waited patiently for the screen to change. After a few minutes the green glow faded, to be replaced with an image sent from many light years away.

"Why?"

"They have returned, Vatok. The Technomage, Humans, Drakh, all are here. The Drakh are being dealt with as we speak, but what of the humans?" The alien's voice raised a pitch, "And what of the Technomage?"

"Remove."

"I can't. There are only two of us left, and the Zathrus'. The machine is trying to stop them, but there is a technomage at its heart. We can't keep the truth from them forever."

The image wavered for a moment, then settled once again.

"Return."

"All of them? Vatok?"

The screen died, and with it the image of a dark green encounter suit that hid the Vorlon from its minions gaze.

***

Susan Ivanova, Captain, latent telepath, and sometimes-romantic fool exited the transport she had piloted from the Excalibur. Guilt wracked her. Her crew, and that of Captain Gideon, was even now fighting for survival above the planet's surface, while she chased down some idiotic dream from her past.

"Get a grip, Susan," she murmured under her breath. "You have to do this, not just for the sake of making it right with Marcus, but to help wipe out the plague. You had to do this. Okay?"

Talking to herself made little difference to the butterflies that were gradually taking over her insides. Fear or anger? She couldn't quite make up her mind. When it came to Marcus, they were two sides of the same coin.

Only one tunnel was lit as she looked around the landing area. Taking it for an invitation, she strode down the tunnel as fast as her bulky suit would allow.

***

Part 13 - Brita

Marcus' heart missed a beat, as he saw Susan enter the cave. Watching their eyes lock, Galen could not miss the incredible sadness, hope, love and attraction between them. He remembered Isabelle; what they had shared was similar to what he saw now. Galen had never told Isabelle that he loved her, nor shown his feelings clearly. But Isabelle had understood that reticence, as he had discovered later in a message she had left for him, the way only she would have left a message - woven into a scarf. What he felt from Susan and Marcus was something similar. They also seemed to have a communication problem, yet he could not tell who the main culprit was.

Marcus looked away from Susan, breaking the contact. He concentrated on the machine, trying to come back to the task ahead. The guardian of the machine left his place, and after Susan was asked if she was ready, he helped her to merge with the machine.

***

The Excalibur continued fighting the Drakh, together with the help of the Titans. Gideon wondered how they were doing down there on the planet? If they would succeed? He hoped they would.

***

The universe opened in front of Susan's eyes. Again she felt that dizzying sensation of falling towards a maelstrom. The guardian steadied her, as Draal had done, until she was able to focus. She searched the swirling darkness to find the plague's point of origin.

"I see a jumpgate...a Shadow jumpgate...to a place somewhere in space...Yes, it is a city, hidden in hyperspace. Concealed in the same way the Vorlon's hid their fleet."

"What do you see there?" the guardian asked.

"It's ...a facility. They are building it..."she answered, gasping.

"Building what?"

"The plague. It's shadowtech. A semi-organic virus...."

"Where is this place? Look for actual co-ordinates." Horatio's voice grew louder.

"Destroyed!" she replied

"Keep on looking. Is there any other place? If not, can you return and recover the data? How did they build the virus? You must be quick, the machine can't operate long without me," he urged.

Susan looked, but it seemed hopeless. She could find no trace of the Shadow tech. The Drakh had rescued, and used, the very last of it. They did not seem to have reproduced it themselves. It seemed likely then, that the Shadows had taken their secret with them beyond the rim.

Susan, growing weary, was about to stop the experiment, and Horatio was moving forward to extract her from the machine, when she suddenly cried out. "Stop. Wait. There...."

"What?" Horatio asked.

"I see a planet. It looks like...." her voice trailed off for a moment. "I've seen pictures of it during the Shadow war. It's a Vorlon colony. Yes, an abandoned Vorlon colony the Shadow planet killers did not destroy."

"What is on this world?"

"Not much. Looks dead...but...." she was quiet. Her audience, scattered about the cave, began to worry.

"Get her out," Marcus finally said. It was the first time he had spoken since Susan had appeared.

As they started to unravel her from its clinging wires, she moaned, "One second."

They waited in tense silence, until the keeper noticed her biological values drop.

"We take her out, now."

Galen reached her first as she fell from the machine's grip, his arms catching her firmly.

"Record what I saw, please," she said faintly, before she slipped into unconsciousness.

"We have to bring her to Med lab." Dureena said.

"No need to worry, she'll be just fine. You all have to return, but we have to organise the next steps without the Drakh noticing what's going on," Horatio said.

The two mages studied the data, amazed at what she had found. Marcus, his eyes locked onto Susan's inanimate form, still pushed closer to see the replay of her discovery.

It seemed that this planet was indeed one of the Vorlon colonies that had conducted experiments to counter Shadow weaponry. They had analysed the plague, and made a sort of anti-serum against it. When Susan's thoughts had been there, she had felt the probe of an alien mind. It was not a Vorlon, nor was it their technology; but maybe a part integrated within a human, as with Lyta.

The mind had eased her pain and fear, and invited her to come to the planet, together with a useful crew. She had wondered what this being could be. Another leftover doomsday weapon? A forgotten Vorlon tech relic? Vorlons were full of surprises. But whatever it was, it was a chance to find or develop a cure against the plague, and they had to get there without the Drakh noticing. That would not be so easy as their ships still surrounded the Excalibur and the Titans.

***

Part 14 - Arlene

Gideon stood at the console on the Excalibur and stared out into space. He watched as the Drakh ships blocked his every move. There were too many of them to fight, and he still had people on the planet. At this moment there was nothing for him to do but wait.

He slammed his fist hard on the console in front of him, causing the entire bridge crew to jump as though they were suddenly awakened.

He shrugged and flopped down in his seat.



Marcus returned to the flyer with Susan. He knew she would be all right, she was always all right. He just could not bring himself to face her, not now, not this way. He was wearing an exposure suit for Heaven's sake. 'I feel like a bloody Vorlon,' he thought, 'how can I let her see me like this?'

"It's too late," Susan said.

Marcus jumped, he did not expect her to speak, let alone answer his thoughts. "I beg your pardon," he squeaked.

"It's too late for us," she repeated.

"What do you mean?"

"You know very well what I mean. You've been exposed to the plague, and you're dying, again."

"I hate to bring this up, but, I was dead..."

"I know that, and I can't bear to lose you again." She glared at him in her truly Russian way. "How can you do this to me?"

He melted, and smiled a soft smile that was also typical of Marcus. "I never meant to hurt you. I never thought I would see you again, at least not this time. But, you're here, and I'm, well, I'm a bloody Vorlon."

Susan smiled and went to him. She hugged him as best she could through the environment suit. "You're the best looking Vorlon I've ever seen!"

He smiled sadly, and returned the hug.



Meanwhile back in the heart of the machine.

"That's an interesting situation," said Horatio as he reattached himself to the guts of the machine.

"I agree," said Galen as he pondered the data that Susan had collected.

"What are you going to do?"

"I think, if we can find this Vorlon colony, then we will be able to find the cure."

"Duh," said Dureena, who had just arrived after delivering Susan to the flyer. "That's the key to this whole thing isn't it."

Galen nodded and was about to say something when Horatio shouted.

"What's the matter my friend?"



"I've got it," Horatio blurted out, "or rather it's got me." He paused. "Yes, I see. No, they're friends. Yes. Okay, very well." He looked directly at Galen.

"I've been in contact with the being that Susan found. It is in danger and needs you to come as quickly as possible."

"We don't even know who or what this creature is," said Dureena, "how can we just go off and rescue it? And from whom?"

"This creature has been hiding from the Drakh for years. Now that it has made contact it is in grave danger, the Drakh are on their way."

"Are you saying this creature has the cure for the plague?"

"No, it IS the cure."

Galen nodded. "Then we must go," he said as he whirled around toward the exit.

Dureena shrugged and followed the mage out of the cavern.

"Hurry my friends," said Horatio, "hurry."

***

Part 15 - Sylvia

Horatio, via his link to the Great Machine, scanned the area around his domain. Many miles above his planet the Excalibur was still struggling valiantly against the massed Drakh forces. The safety of those on the planet, and those above, had once again become his prime concern. The plague, the rescue of the being that had communicated with the human captain, now rested in Galen's hands. But he had kept one piece of knowledge from his brother, knowledge that could easily become the deciding factor in the outcome of his quest. Had he done right? Time would tell, but he hoped Galen would put his personal prejudices aside for the greater good. What he would do when he found out Horatio had lied... The mage turned his focus to the world around him, and set the defences into motion.

***

The Excalibur rocked from another barrage of fire from the Drakh fleet. The superb defensive field was beginning to buckle under the constant pounding it was receiving. The Titans, less well equipped, was on the verge of losing their fight totally.

Matheson, sweat streaming down his face, was doing his best to block the turbulent thoughts that surrounded him. Primary was the powerful anger of Gideon, though the man's face showed only determination. He was a rock for the crew to hold on to, even though the odds were now stacked so heavily against them. Matheson envied the outward calmness of the man even as he tried to emulate it.

Gideon's fingers were white where they gripped the arm of his chair.

"Can we get a message to the machine, Galen, anyone down there?"

"Sorry, sir, the Drakh are blocking all signals."

"Weapons - what do we have left?"

Matheson answered from his position at the console. "Power is going down rapidly. Maybe another ten minutes before we have to get out of here. The Titans..."

"I know, I know." Gideon cut off his first officer, and let his gaze rest on the battle raging outside. His furies were darting in and out of the Drakh fleet, but making little difference to the onslaught that was going on. Another shudder ran through his ship; his lips tightened into an angry line.

"Titans, if you have the power, launch a jump gate and get out of this. We'll cover you best we can. Don't worry about your captain, we'll take care of her. Now get the hell out of here!"

"Captain, look! The planet."

Gideon stared in amazement at the stream of energy that had suddenly burst from the planet's surface. No, not just one, another had sprung into existence beside it, and another, each targeting one of the Drakh ships. Power ebbed from the great war machines as each one succumbed to the force directed against them. One by one, the Drakh ships lost their momentum and began to tumble and drift across the battlefield.

"Captain Ivanova and Marcus Cole are returning to your ship. Both need medical attention." Horatio's voice boomed around the bridge.

"What about Galen, Dureena, what is going on down there?" Gideon was grateful for the machine's intervention, but he hated the lack of information that always occurred when dealing with a mage. And it seemed this one was no different.

"On a mission."

"That's it? That's all you're gonna tell me?"

Silence greeted his question.

"Captain, two ships leaving the atmosphere. Galen's flyer, and our own transport. Sir, they are both leaving the area. I thought..."

"Damn stubborn Russian," Matthew grunted. "Well don't just watch, follow them!"

***

"This is Galen, patch me through to Doctor Chambers."

"Galen, what the hell are you playing at?"

"Not now, Matthew. I need to give instructions to your doctor. At a guess Franklin is in need of my help right now, so be a good fellow and patch me through."

Galen could have sworn he heard the sound of Gideon's teeth grind as he switched him over to Med lab. Quickly he filled in doctor Chambers on the Vari virus that Marcus might have passed to Franklin.

"Can we go now?" Dureena muttered, as he severed the connection.

"Patience, my dear Dureena, is a virtue you should try to acquire," he began, then, "What are they up to? I don't need to baby sit... damn."

"You were saying about patience?" Dureena's grin was aimed to tease the mage.

Angry eyes avoided her own as he punched the controls to send his message. "Cole, I don't need you on this mission. Turn your flyer around and get back to the Excalibur. There is nothing you can do that won't interfere with what needs to be done."

"Sorry, can't do that. It's my mission you see. Can't just go around raising me from the dead, then expect me to sit back while you have all the fun. I'm with you, whether you like it or not!"

Galen didn't miss the hint of savage determination mixed with the light bantering tone.

"Besides, the Excalibur is right behind me."

Galen cursed fluently, and in several different languages, for some moments before opening a channel to both the ships now playing tag with his flyer.

Dureena had been watching him carefully, she always watched him. Eyes drawn to the mage whenever he was around now noticed the almost imperceptible relaxation of his shoulders.

"Very well. But let me warn you, both of you, that should you stand in my way, I will deal with you as I see fit." With a brief thought Galen cut the communication, and ignored the incoming calls from the indignant, and probably angry, men.

"What made you change your mind?"

Galen turned to face her and wondered, not for the first time, when she had become so attuned to him.

"They were going to come anyway," he replied casually.

"But you could have stopped the Ranger," Dureena paused briefly, as though only just realising what she had said, "and the Excalibur?"

Galen kept his own counsel.

***

Three jump points, and some fifteen hours later, the sleek black flyer and its two companions burst into the system shown to Susan Ivanova whilst in the machine.

Galen scanned the area swiftly. His instruments, more sensitive than those available to the Excalibur, picked up no massive energy emissions from any planet, but did detect a faint pulse of power seeping into space from a battered looking moon that orbited a dead planet.

Analysing the data, Galen felt his chest tighten. The signatures were unmistakable. Two very separate and distinct life forms were buried deep within the rocky cover. One, Vorlon, should not be in this galaxy any more. Lorien had taken his children beyond the rim as had been agreed. Why did one still remain, and why here? The other, a Grey, set his blood pounding. First he found them on the planet where so many years ago 'Yorick' had been killed, where Dureena had been attacked, and now here. The Greys had destroyed a small community of Technomages who, shunning the solitary life most mages preferred, had set up a community dedicated to the study of healing as well as knowledge gathering. It had all been lost. The very core of the Technomage beliefs wiped out by a race that was all but extinct, and would be if he had had his way.

"Galen?" Dureena had moved to stand beside the Mage. She had watched in concern as he had drifted out of synch with his surroundings. On one temple, blood pounded visibly through a vein, and his eyes had turned from a pale blue to the colour of a stormy sea. She had seen the mage angered before, but this, this was something different, something personal, and it frightened her.

***

Horatio opened his eyes and looked down at the Grey standing in front of him; the alien supported on each side by Zathrus'.

"Thank you," it said softly. "The need was great."

"Galen was not a good choice for this," Horatio stated. "You know what happened last time your people confronted him."

"He is the only choice, because of that moment in time. And he is powerful, more powerful than he knows."

"And dangerous." Chocolate eyes locked with the Grey's deep black.

"And dangerous," the alien agreed.

***

Part 16 - Redwulf and Sharong

"Marcus, would you do me a favour?" Susan said as she walked up behind him. His nerves immediately went on alert. Susan was never sweet, at least not to him.

Marcus switched the shuttle over to autopilot dreading having to talk to Susan. She was probably going to rip him a new one. He was actually surprised that it had taken her this long. Stalling tactics. That's what he needed right now.

Glancing over at her he realised she had donned her environmental suit.

"Certainly Susan, of course, whatever," he started to babble. "But would you excuse me for a few minutes? I really need to clean myself up." With this comment he started to practically run out of the control centre.

"Thank goodness! I hate to say this but you are sweating so hard under that suit I can smell you," she said to his retreating figure, her smile full of malicious sarcasm.

"Not a problem," Marcus called out, moving away as quickly as he could.

More than a little embarrassed at her comments, he moved quickly to the freshener to clean up himself and the suit.

***

Susan stalked back and forth in the control centre. As she paced her mind was filled with arguments. Head vs. heart, logic vs. love.

He has the plague!

So what? He died to save me! It's really his life anyway.

What about my career? Finally the Captaincy I've wanted. Command of the Titans.

I've lived too long without him. I knew I loved him then and denied those feelings.

So I'm going to throw that all away? Everything I've achieved?

I haven't achieved anything. I'm still alone. Is life worth it at any cost? The constant struggle? It's only love that makes it all bearable. It's in my hands. All I have to do is reach out and take it.

With this thought the figure in control stopped pacing. It was all so obvious. She loved him. No ifs, ands, or buts. He'd saved her once. She was depending on him to save her again. She didn't know how Marcus would do it, but she had complete faith that he would. Susan knew he'd never let her down.

***

Marcus sighed as he enjoyed his vibe shower. Never the same as real water, but he needed this so much he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and it did allow him to escape for the moment. Then he gasped as he heard the door open and some one moving behind him. There was only one other person the ship with him. NO! No, his mind screamed, refusing to believe she would do this, but his senses telling him otherwise as two nude hands slowly caressed his equally nude abdomen.

Spinning around, his worst fears were confirmed as his hands came up to push her back from him and eyes took in the beauty of Susan Ivanova standing proudly before him. "Susan, no! We can't do this! I have the plague," he said with a kind of wild panic.

Smiling softly at him, Susan moved to let gentle lips slowly caressing his shoulder setting his body on fire.

"Then I'll have to trust you to save us all. I know you will. After all, you saved me." Her hands moved lower, causing Marcus to emit a low groan. "Either way, I can't.... won't, let you leave me again," she whispered to him. "Not this time." And Susan began to show Marcus just how much she'd missed him.

He wasn't sure if he'd died from the plague or the pleasure. But he was sure he was in heaven.

***

Dr. Chambers checked and rechecked her information. "Dr. Franklin I have strange news."

He looked at her through the isolab window, "What?" His voice was strained from lack of sleep and recovering from his latest illness.

"You no longer have the plague,"

***

Part 17 - Ceriana

"Ok, the joke is over,"

"This isn't a joke...look."

Dr. Chamber's placed the data crystal in the reader and then sent it into the Med-Lab isochamber. Dr. Franklin moved to the screen and he proceeded to spend the next hour looking through the information.

***

Marcus held Susan close, caressing her body gently and confidently, he had wanted this for so long and now she was here. He could smell her musky scent and he ran his hand through her hair as she ran kisses up and down his neck. This was heaven and she was his angel. It was wrong though, she would be infected, what if he couldn't find a cure fast enough, and he would be the party responsible for bringing her death.

"Stop thinking Marcus and love me..."

Her sultry voice whispered into his ear, it was too much, he pulled her closer than before and crushed her body to his, capturing her lips with his, he was consumed with his long starved passions for this woman. His hands roamed across territory that now would belong to him and it increased his desire even further.

"I do love you Susan...my lovely one..."

A gasp came from her as she spread her fingers through his dark hair and she felt free and loved all at the same time. She never wanted to be apart from Marcus, he was a good and noble man with a deep loyalty that measured to none she had ever known. Their bodies entwined and merged in a heated action of lust and passion, they were one in an instant and as he finally picked her up and took her to the nearby bed they continued to kiss each other.

***

"Dr. Chambers?"

"Yes, Stephen?"

"Are you sure about this data?"

"Absolutely"

Stephen studied the screen carefully, the cellular change that seemed to produce the antibodies had been an after effect of the Life Force machine that had been used by him and John Sheridan to cure Garibaldi and apparently this is what one of the side effects were, it allowed his body to fight off and deplete the plague in his body. If Dr. Chamber's data was true, then the life force machine had done this to him and the thought was, could it work on afflicted people? It had made him effectively 'immune' to the plague, maybe it could, do the same in effected people. There still might be a sliver of hope for everyone. This would have to be researched carefully, he moved over to the com unit.

"Dr. Chambers, I need to talk to you about something."

The attractive doctor came over to the see-through Plexiglas and crossed her arms. "About what?"

"Well, secure the lab first, then I will tell you."

It took her about five minutes and what she was told, after she returned, put her head into a spin. This would have to be handled with the highest level of security and that if the test didn't help, then she would need to keep this machine a guarded secret.

***

Part 18 - Sylvia



Dureena leaned over the console and watched Galen's hands play against the smooth surface. Lines of concentration had erased the anger from his brow, but still the mage seemed preoccupied with memories that did little to please him.

"Care to tell me what we are going into?" She paused for a heartbeat, then two before continuing. "You know, flinging myself headlong into the unknown has never been very popular with me. I can take risks with the best of them, but a good thief always scouts out the area before going in." Still Galen seemed not to hear her. "Of course, if you tell me to I'll take a ppg hit, knife, anything you like, to save you from getting your hands dirty - just tell me where, I'll jump!"

The sarcasm in her tone finally got his attention, drawing his eyes away from images only he could see, and to her face. Stung into a retort, Galen's voice seemed loud in the flyer's confines. "You think I would let you take my place, that I would deliberately put you in harms way? That I would willingly let any friend walk into danger? You believe that of me, Dureena?"

Galen's intense gaze bore into Dureena like laser beams on full power, rooting her to the spot. When his fingers wrapped around her bare arm, emphasising his words, it felt like a vice, so hard did they press into her flesh.

"No, of course not! Galen, you're hurting me!"

His fingers released her quickly, and he turned away, eyes averted from the red marks the pressure of his grip had left.

"Down there," Galen indicated the apparently dead moon, "is one of the race that killed over fifty of my brethren. Technomages who had dedicated their life to the gathering of knowledge designed to heal, to prevent and ultimately to eradicate disease from our galaxy using technomancy. You might think that an impossible task," he turned his head to catch her eye again, then looked quickly away, "but if they were around now, the plague might already have been destroyed. Thanks to the Greys we have lost so much that the peoples of all worlds need."

"Why? Why did they do that?"

For a moment Dureena thought he was going to ignore her again, but then, with each word enunciated with precision as though torn from him, Galen continued.

"Because my brothers would not hand over their data. The virus that was wiping out the Greys was not known to us, they did not believe us when we said that it would take time to find a cure. We took samples, analysed, tested, were half way to the solution when their patience ran out." Anger had crept back into his voice, and tightened the muscles around his eyes and mouth.

Dureena moved around him so that she could see his face, one hand resting lightly on his arm, keeping his eyes on her.

"You said 'us', were you there, Galen?"

Pain clouded his eyes for a moment, then he focussed on her again.

"I had gone to learn what I could from the community. All the mages found time to visit the colony even though their knowledge was shared among us all. I learned a lot from my short visit. I was there when the Greys initially sought our help, and had left the day before to ask the help of the machine on Grantex 3. The Greys found out where I was going, but believed the mages to be asking the machine for help to destroy them, not cure them. They were there ahead of me."

Silence settled in the cabin, and Dureena waited, as she had waited so often, for the mage to speak.

"They had attempted to destroy the machine, but managed only to kill its guardian."

"How did they get through? I thought the planet defended itself?"

"The guardian knew we were coming, listened to the Grey's plea, and foolishly let them through the barriers. He paid for it with his life. On his death, the automatic defences came into play."

In the soft lighting Galen's face seemed harsh, forbidding as history held him captive in its unforgiving grasp. Dureena waited for him to continue, knowing that now he had begun, he would finish his narration.

"Three of us had gone," Galen finally said softly. "Horatio, who now tends the planet, myself and one other. Only two of us survived, and until a few hours ago, I thought no Grey remained alive on Grantex 3."

The desolate moon grew larger as the flyer got closer and closer to its pitted surface.

"Even after that debacle we still searched for their cure, it's not our way to allow others to die when we can save them. Horatio took his place in the machine, it accepted him, and allowed him access to the records we needed and I returned to the colony. What remained of it."

The finality of his tone told Dureena he would say no more on the subject. Truthfully, she hadn't expected to have been told even that much. Galen might seem to be fairly heartless, but she knew better.

***

Long corridors spread like the spokes of a wheel from the central hub, deep beneath the wind scored surface. Down here, no light penetrated, no heat permeated the thick crust, and no oxygen filled the depths save for those elements artificially manufactured by the last two aliens to occupy the facility. Vatok, last of the Vorlon species this side of the rim, nestled within his encounter suit. Built to last a lifetime, it seemed that the suit was aware of his slow slide toward oblivion. Well into his second millennium, Vatok was ancient even for one of his race. He was the first Vorlon, direct descendent from Lorien, yet that once removal meant that his life was not indefinite. He had watched and despaired of the younger races, and those of his own race who no longer held the values his father and siblings held. Like parents the galaxy over, he worried about his own part in their life journey. Could he have done anything to prevent what had happened? The Drakh, distantly related, seemed unstoppable. Their theft of the plague had been beyond his capacity to avoid. Too many of them for his armoury to contend with, their assault had left him alone on this refuge, his sole companion, a grey, also dying.

"He approaches," the small grey creature announced, large eyes fixed on the viewer.

Vatok rested serenely within his suit, giving no reply.

***

"Damn it. Matheson, try Captain Ivanova again, maybe she will answer seeing Galen is feeling uncommunicative!"

"Aye, Captain. Excalibur calling Captain Ivanova, please respond." The young telepath touched the receptor in his ear. "Reply coming in, sir, audio only."

"Is everything okay, Captain Ivanova, you've been awfully quiet over there?"

"Fine thank you, Captain."

Was it Matthew's imagination, or had he heard a husky murmur in the background?

"We seem to be approaching Galen's destination, are you ready to suit up when we get the okay? Heck, even if we don't get the all clear from Galen I think we all want to see just what is down there."

"With you on that one, no reason for the mage to have all the fun!"

With a few more words about how and when, Gideon finally cut the connection with the shuttle. Turning to his second, he raised one eyebrow in subtle query and caught the younger man's quickly hidden smirk. "Yeah, I think you're right, John. This is going to complicate matters. Until we are sure we have a cure for the damn plague, we can't let either Cole or Captain Ivanova off the shuttle!" He sighed, and slid down in his chair, resting his chin on one hand. "Some days, John, it's not good to be the Captain."

***

Marcus pulled Susan back into his arms, letting his lips rest softly on her satin smooth shoulder. He couldn't get enough of her, the silken skin under his finger's soft caress, the sound of her sighing as he explored with ever increasing boldness. His name on her lips as she shuddered to climax under his ministrations, and the feel of her wrapped around him as he lost himself within her heated depths.

Reality was slow to dawn on him. Only when Captain Gideon's words had had time to sink in, did he realise what they had done. By removing his encounter suit he had released the plague into the air filtering system of the shuttle. No matter that Susan had made her own decision to spend the rest of her days with him, he had effectively condemned her to death the moment he had raised his helmet. Ashen, Marcus moved away from Susan's warmth and felt his legs begin to tremble as reaction to his actions set in.

"Hey, I know I'm good, but I ain't that great. Marcus? --- Marcus, what's up?"

By now, Marcus' face was buried in his hands as he alternately cursed and entreated every deity he could think of. Susan's hand's pulling at his, finally brought him back to his senses.

"Oh Valen," he said softly, and explained what he had just realised.

***

Part 19 - Sylvia and Brita



The slight bump as the shuttle settled on the moon's uneven surface barely registered on the Ranger's perceptions.

Marcus held Susan's hand tightly between his own, eyes desperate with the horror of their actions. They had done so much to reach this point, to be within an arm's length of the cure, and they had screwed it up. He had removed his encounter suit and poisoned the air within the shuttle. Were he to open the airlock without warning Galen and Dureena, they too would be infected as the air from his vessel mixed with theirs.

He hated the thought of admitting his guilt to the mage. The man's arrogance already sent his blood pressure soaring, to have to cope with his contempt as well made the blood pound in his head.

"We can't go outside the shuttle. You realise what we have done?" Marcus' voice was anguished as he tried to gather his wits. "Galen might need my help and I can't..."

Susan's finger rested lightly against his lips, staying his words. "We have to tell them something, it doesn't have to be the truth."

Marcus shook his head even as Galen's voice came over the comm.

"Are you staying in there all day, Cole, or are you joining us?"

Susan squeezed Marcus' hand, then answered for him. "There's been an accident here. Marcus' suit leaked into the shuttle's atmosphere, we are both infected."

Static hovered in the air for a moment, then Galen's acerbic voice sounded loudly. "I see. Stay there. Do not, for any reason, open the shuttle. Consider yourselves quarantined until we solve this."

***

Galen shut off the communications with an audible snap, his eyes flinty in the half gloom of his flyer's main cabin.

"Didn't you want to know what sort of an accident?" Dureena enquired, concerned.

Galen's eyes glanced her way. "I know."

"You know what? Come on Galen, this is their lives we are talking about."

To answer her, he passed a hand through the air; motion suddenly filled the space. Marcus was unfastening his encounter suit, heading for the sonic shower, a moment later Susan came into view.

"Hormones, man's greatest enemy. He wasn't thinking - at all. All his training, years of watching for every nuance failed him when he stopped thinking with his head and listened to his heart."

Dureena wasn't sure where Galen's bitterness emanated from, but that he had been hurt at some deep level was now a certainty. For once, she kept her own council, promising herself to tackle him at a more propitious time. Galen, for all his reserve, was occasionally given to talking to her now, something she treasured. Not that she would ever admit that to him.

There was little atmosphere outside the flyer so both suited up; Galen with a reluctance that was most apparent, Dureena with a long-suffering sigh.

Side by side they moved down the long corridors, ahead of them Galen had sent a glowing ball of light to illuminate their way through the pitch darkness. With each step, Galen felt his emotions rise higher and higher. Though it was many years ago, the slaughter of his brothers still lingered in his memory with a clarity that was his curse. Beside him, he could feel Dureena's curiosity growing by the minute. So far she had held her peace, but he knew that wouldn't last. Every one of his senses was at full alert as they progressed deeper into the complex. That this had once been a thriving community was obvious from the ruined buildings all around them. Like the depths of Za'ha'dum, a city had been carved out within the deep rocks, only a fraction of it sitting above the ground. Though it was hidden by the shadows where his light could not reach, he knew the place was vast.

They moved swiftly through wide streets, following the trace that only Galen's technology could detect. One Vorlon, one Grey, hid somewhere below them, in the heart of the city. All around him, Galen could sense armed weaponry. The fact that nothing had so far attacked them left him more than cautious.

The plain grey metal door ahead of them seemed no different than any other they had passed, but Galen was sure that behind it lay his quarry. Motioning Dureena away from the door, he set his staff to scan from floor to ceiling, and all around the door. If this were a trap, he wanted to know about it. That didn't mean he wouldn't walk into it, just that he liked to be forewarned.

Grey suddenly shimmered into nothing and the room beyond was open to their view. Dureena's gasp at the sudden transformation made him all the more aware that she should not be with him. That the dangers he would likely encounter could be more than she could handle. Conscience was not one of his failings, yet he moved forward to shield her from possible attack.

At the far end of the room the Vorlon and his Grey companion waited in silence.

***

"Well?"

"The blood tests are all negative, Captain." Doctor Chambers shook her head in amazement as she checked Doctor Franklin's results again. "The plague has been totally eradicated. The Vari virus that had been transmitted by Marcus Cole also seems to have totally vanished. I don't know how the machine did this, and I am certainly not sure how to duplicate it but...It's the first positive result we have had since the plague infected Earth."

"So, are you going to let me out of here?" Franklin's voice echoed over the internal com system. "It's been forty eight hours since there was any sign of the disease; by any standard that should give me some reprieve. Besides, I think we should get Marcus back up here, check him over too. We shared the exact same symptoms, I want to see if we have the same results."

Captain Gideon looked enquiringly at his chief medical officer. "Don't get me wrong, Doc, but I am not letting him out of there if there is the remotest chance he is still a carrier - no disrespect, Doctor Franklin," he added, to the man pacing up and down within his Perspex cage.

"Let's give it another twenty four hours, just to be on the safe side. If there are no recurrences of either virus then I'd say he's out of danger."

***

"Galen."

The slightly metallic sounding voice emanating from the Vorlon's encounter suit stopped the mage in his tracks. With fingers flexing around his staff, Galen moved forward until he was a mere two feet away from the unlikely pairing.

Galen could feel the trembling in his arm, reaction to the tightness of his grip on the staff's warm metal. Although it had been the Vorlon who had addressed him, he found his eyes drawn to the Grey at its side. Its withered form stood with obvious difficulty, sagging flesh hung from stick- like limbs. The disease that had wiped out its brethren seemed on the point of claiming this one too. The mage could find no pity in his heart for the creature before him. He wanted to tear it apart, make it suffer for the deaths its kind had caused. Holding his anger in tightly he forced his eyes away and to the unreadable mask that covered the Vorlon.

"You know my name, Vorlon. Speak yours so that I may know you."

"You know me, Technomage."

Galen stood eyes wary as he searched his memories. There had been only one encounter that he could recall, and that had been with Kosh many many years before. This Vorlon was not Kosh - of that he was certain.

The Vorlon's iris opened and closed, distracting the mage for a moment. And then he had it. Grantex 3, that fateful excursion to visit the machine. The fighting had been at its peak, one of company was already dead, Galen had been buffeted by the blast that had killed so many that day. Head ringing, vision blurred he had thought the Vorlon a vision caused by his concussion. In his head, he had heard one word - Vatok. At the time he had thought nothing of it, he had just been glad to be alive.

"Vatok?"

With surprising grace, the Vorlon inclined its encounter-suited body.

"Do not judge us harshly, Mage." This from the Grey who, until that moment, had seemed more concerned with staying upright. "Not all my kind were there to kill. A small group of us tried to stop them, and were killed for our troubles. Ten of us survived and took refuge within the machine's labyrinth, supported by Zathrus. I don't know how many of my brethren survived."

"Too many," Galen ground out.

The Grey moved forward, one arm outstretched. A fraction of a second later Dureena had sprung in front of Galen, her knife held at the alien's throat.

"Back off, unless you want me to end you here and now."

Until that moment Galen had been on the verge of letting loose his power, wanting to reduce the Grey to a pile of ashes at his feet. Dureena's slight form was the only thing holding him back. With a though, he conjured the spell required to remove her from his way. Lifting her with ease, he moved her to one side, leaving the path between the two enemies open.

Dureena slipped to the ground as Galen's spell released her too quickly. She saw the build up of energy that surrounded the mage's suit, and flung herself back in front of him, her visor hitting against his as she stumbled unceremoniously into his arms.

"Stop it! Stop right now. Galen, remember why you are here! The cure, Galen. Listen to me..."

He could hear her voice, feel her clumsy grasp on his arms, her eyes, luminous amber in the subdued lighting, seemed to bring him back from the well of anger he was drowning in. Equation after equation circled in his head, until he could feel some semblance of control settle in him, all the while his eyes remained locked on hers, avoiding the Grey in front of him.

"Mage." The Vorlon spoke. "We do not hold the cure to the plague."

That statement dragged Galen's attention back to the encounter-suited alien. Anger rose in him again, swift and deadly.

"Then why did you bring us here? What purpose does this serve Vatok? Your kind is not known for their forthrightness. What do you want from us?"

It was the Grey who answered, its huge black eyes blinking slowly. "You have the answer with you, mage. The cure is within the Ranger. A century ago, when this facility was first brought to life, the Vorlons brought some of my people here to work with them, even as the Shadows took some of us. Each race vied with one another to bring chaos or order to their playing grounds. While the Shadows were developing the plague that the Drakh let loose on your worlds, the Vorlons created a virus that would counteract that deadly disease. Unfortunately their virus was let loose first. There was no cure for the Vari virus. It ran through my people, slowly killing us one by one. Your kind, Mage, refused to help..."

"My brothers did all that they could..." Galen's words checked, even as the Grey's words sunk into his thoughts. The Vari virus was the cure to the plague? Impossible!

"There is a cure for the Vari virus, as you must know. You must have been monitoring our actions, or how else would you know how to reach us, how to bring us here."

For a moment the Grey and the Vorlon seemed to communicate on some unheard level. The Grey nodded once.

"We are in contact with the machine on Grantex 3. Our servant there has passed all that he could to us. Vatok remained behind when his brothers left for the rim for the sole purpose of freeing your people from the plague."

Dureena moved closer to the Grey, until her hooded features were within millimetres of the alien's large head.

"My people are dying and you had the cure all the time! You kept this knowledge secret for all these years so that you could play god with other peoples lives?!"

Galen took a hasty step forward, putting himself between the Vorlon and Dureena's body, initiating a shield around them both. But not quick enough to stop the Vorlon's burst of power searing through his encounter suit to the flesh below. Dureena lashed out with her knife, but Galen's shield worked both ways and her frustrated cry reverberated within the cocoon of his power.

"Hear me, Mage." Vatok's powerful voice echoed in the room, "The ranger holds the key, bring him to us and we will show you how to extract the cure."

Galen's organelles were working rapidly on his seared flesh, but that did little to ease the ache from the burned area. He didn't want to listen to the Vorlon, but in his heart he knew that this could be the only answer to the extinction currently occurring on Earth.

***

"Any joy?" Gideon stood behind the com officer, fingers resting lightly on the chair's back.

"Sorry sir, some thing, or some one, is jamming all signals to the surface. And we lost contact with Galen and Dureena the moment they stepped out of the flyer. Their suits should have been sending back information from them the moment they put them on, but we have nothing."

"What about Cole and Captain Ivanova?"

"Same thing sir. I can detect the shuttle, but nothing else."

Matthew hated this waiting game. If he could, he would have taken a shuttle down himself, but Galen had once again messed with the Excalibur's systems. Everything except the bay doors worked. He could blast the flyer off the face of the moon if he so chose, but Galen had ensured that the only company he would have was that of the Ranger and the Russian Captain.

With a stab of his finger, he opened the link to Med Lab. "Doc, how's our patient?"

"Bearing up, Captain. Still no sign of either virus, blood cell count is back to normal, everything is back to normal. Although his blood pressure is a little high."

Matthew could hear Franklin's terse, 'And so would yours be if you were stuck in here', in the background.

"Actually Captain, I have been doing more tests and I am not sure that the machine had anything to do with the cure."

Gideon sat up straighter in his seat. "Say that again, doctor."

"I've been experimenting with the two virus' taken from the ranger and doctor Franklin, they seem to counteract one another somehow."

The captain's eyes closed slowly as he dragged in a deep steadying breath. "Are you trying to tell me that all this aggravation has been for nothing? That we didn't need to drag Cole out of cryo, that I didn't need to have Galen interfering with my ship, that..." His fist clenched tightly on the arm of his chair as he fought down the surge of annoyance that swamped his senses.

***

Marcus' hands were tangled in Susan's hair as his lips played lightly over her face even as her hands threatened his self-control with their purposeful exploration. If they had to remain here, on this shuttle, then they were going to make the best of the time they had. He had wasted too much time in the past to let this opportunity pass him by. They had done all that they could by warning Galen of their mutual infection; there was nothing more he could do. Susan's mouth left his to trail wetly across his chest, teasing and arousing as she headed lower and lower.

The sudden beep of the com system shattered the moment. Marcus, his head buzzing with the feel and scent of his lover, cursed out loud at the interruption.

Galen's voice sped all thoughts of intimacy fleeing from his mind.

"Ranger, suit up and follow my guide. It seems you are a walking pharmaceutical miracle."

"What about the contamination? I can't just..."

"Cole, don't make me come and get you."

***

By the time Marcus and Susan had followed Galen's ball of light to the room where they waited, some kind of harmony seemed to have been reached between Galen and Vatok at least. His enmity for the Grey was undiminished however.

Marcus walked up beside Galen, eyes curious and concerned at the obvious damage to the suited mage.

"What happened?"

"Don't trouble yourself, ranger." Galen's eyes still rested on the Vorlon. "Vatok, let's hear your solution."

The door behind them reformed, effectively sealing them in with no apparent way of escape. Only Galen's insouciance kept Marcus' from flying at his captors, even though he knew that to tackle a Vorlon was probably useless.

It was Galen, of course, who realised that the atmosphere had been altered within the room. His sensors told him that the oxygen mix now filtering into the room was breathable to all there. Desperate to get the cumbersome suit off, he shrugged himself out of its confines and released the shield that had been holding in what little air had escaped from his reserve pack during the attack.

"What are you doing?" Susan stepped quickly forward. "This could be a trap. I don't trust these two as far as I could throw them." Her scathing glance ran over the two aliens before her.

Dureena, following Galen's lead, slipped off her suit, more concerned with the damage she could see had been done to Galen's shoulder than the possibility of attack.

"You would dead already if that is what they had wanted," she shot at the other woman, before turning her attention to the angry red flesh of the mage's shoulder. He stopped her with a look.

Vatok moved to a bank of machines, now humming busily to itself. Galen rested his fingers on the surface, feeling his way into the programming. Under his touch information flooded his receptors. As he analysed and sorted the data he could hear the murmur of voices behind him. There, that was the formulae for the Vari virus; but this was subtly different to the one that currently infected one in a thousand inhabitants of the galaxy. And there, the plague, ugly and deformed even in its molecular structure.

"How does this help?" he asked quietly. "This is not the virus we know."

"But it is the virus within Marcus Cole." The Grey moved cautiously to the mage's side. "The Vari strain that is within him is the original defence created by the Vorlon's, he was infected with it whilst on Grantex 3. That which was stolen from the Vorlons was a transitory form that had not fully been developed."

"If that is true then he is not the miracle you expect him to be. He has now been infected with the plague. If you are right, Grey, then he is no longer contaminated with either disease."

All eyes turned to the ranger who stood in shock at the sudden revelations. "In Valen's name," he whispered softly.

Susan put a hand on his still suited shoulder. "How can we find out?"

Galen pulled out the crystal he had used before to ascertain Marcus' condition. Carefully he moved it over the Ranger's body, eyes half closed as he concentrated on the readings. From Marcus he moved to Ivanova, again letting his systems analyse the wealth of data streaming into his receptors.

"It's true, there is no sign of disease in either of them."

Vorlon and Grey exchanged looks. "Then he no longer has the cure for my people," the Grey said softly, its body drooping even further.

"Perhaps I do," Galen said quietly. Within him a war had been raging. His enmity for the Greys had not diminished and yet he could not now find it within him to condemn this Grey at least to death. The Varindan gas that had been developed by the mages some ten years ago may work on the dying alien, though it had been designed for humanoid physiology. He moved back to the computer system, fed in the formula for the gas then turned to the Vorlon.

"The antidote my brothers designed is here, use it if you think it will work. I do not vouch for the effects. We will leave now, and you will not stop us...you know that you can not stop me."

Vatok was still for a moment then he inclined his body in acknowledgement, as though sensing the power and the restraint within the mage.

***

The celebrations went on well into the night. Franklin and Chambers had almost jumped on the returning party and had buried themselves in the Med lab to dissect the data Galen had given them. By three in the morning, most of the revellers had given up and gone to bed. Some to sleep off the booze they had consumed, some to write long entries into their logs before falling asleep safe in the knowledge that their mission was finally over.

Marcus and Susan sat quietly in the mess hall. No one else was around, the lights were dimmed and the only sound was that of coffee cups being set down on the table, and the muted voices from outside the room.

"What now, Susan? Do you go back to the Titans?"

"I suppose so, I can't abandon them just yet. What about you, will you come with me?"

Since their return to the Excalibur something had changed between them. The madness that had seemed to consume them on board the shuttle had vanished, instead they were wary around one another as though not sure that any of the intense moments they had shared had been real.

"I'd like to but...Susan, there's something you should know. About the machine and what it has done to me. I know that I am cured of the diseases that infected me but I am on borrowed time here. Stephen lent me some of his life force to bring me round, to perform this one last mission. It's not going to last forever."

He couldn't tell her that even now he felt weary to the bone as though he had been up for five days straight and run a marathon on every one. He and Stephen had had a long talk earlier that day about what was happening to him. It had looked bleak. Unless he got another shot of someone's life force then he would be lucky to be around by the morning. There was only one solution, and that was to be put back into cryo until Stephen could figure out how to revive him safely. They had argued long and hard about Stephen donating more, but Marcus had refused. He had been willing to sacrifice himself for Susan, to give all that he had to the woman that he loved, and he had been given a second chance, time to tell her how he felt. There was nothing more he wanted than to stay by her side, but he would not do it at the expense of someone else's life.

Something of what he was thinking must have shown on his face.

"You're leaving aren't you?" Susan's hand slid over his. "You can't do this to me Marcus. I won't let you leave me, not now."

"I can't stay. I won't take that which isn't mine. It would be wrong, it would be selfish and against everything I hold sacred."

"I can be selfish for the both of us. Marcus, please."

He shook his head, standing quickly. "Don't come with me."

"Marcus!"

He turned to watch her face one last time. "I love you," he whispered softly before running out of the room.

Blank eyes stared at the empty doorway. She couldn't move, couldn't follow him, couldn't be with him ever again.

Elsewhere on the ship, even as one relationship was torn apart another was being forged.

Dureena had refused to leave Galen's flyer, and unless he were willing to forcibly remove her, which he was strangely reluctant to do, he knew she would remain until 'she' decided to go. He had retired to his room to rest and to let his organelles repair the damage to his seared shoulder. Half an hour later, whilst on the verge of sleep, Galen became aware of another presence in his chamber.

The mattress sunk slightly as Dureena sat beside his recumbent form. He felt the soft touch of her fingers across the now healed skin and shivered slightly at the resultant reaction of his body. He had never liked to be touched, avoiding contact with his fellow mages but this was different, so different. Her lips caught him unawares, sending shivers through him and he returned the salute with interest.

***

Matheson, on second watch, sat in the Captain's chair. He was tired, very tired but happily so. Their mission was finally over, all over the ship he could feel the very edges of everyone's euphoria. Against all the rules he let his guard slip for just a fraction, just enough to let that buzz enter his system and replenish his flagging thoughts. His eyebrows rose as his thoughts skimmed over Galen's flyer, and he nodded his agreement with Captain Gideon's remarks, it seemed that Dureena had 'got' the mage after all. Unhappier thoughts filtered through as he picked up on the Med Lab. Franklin had informed them that evening that he would have to return the Ranger to cryo for his own safety. Two separate and yet identical waves of despair reached him, one within the lab one from the corridor outside.

It seems miracles do happen, but not for everyone.

The end.



Sorry about the sad ending folks, but I can't write outside of canon and Marcus had to go back to being an ice-lolly! But just think, what was Susan chatting to his cryo tube about all those years, hum? - Sylvia