Here's chapter 4. Sorry it took so long, still, please read it and please review! :) Oh, and maybe a little late: merry christmas to everyone!

Chapter 4 - Blow up

"Marcus?"

It was a rhetorical question of course. But she actually didn't know what else to say. There was no codex of how to behave in such moments. Never had she experienced such a rush of feelings: surprise, guilt, anger, happiness, shame, relief, pain, joy; all emotions that she so carefully had suppressed during the past years where there now. It was surreal and real and she just hoped he would have anything to say so she didn't have to.

"The one and only!" He smiled reassuringly. "I'm sorry you found out this way. You probably thought I was the killer, huh?"

"Yeah, well I wouldn't have thought that if you hadn't run away all of a sudden. Why did you do that anyway, you stupid-!?" First now she seemed to notice that she actually still was lying on top of him and a little embarrassed she slid off him. He didn't seem to care.

"Sorry, Susan. I guess I got scared. I really didn't notice that you had followed me until you called out and I just freaked. I-I wanted make you find out in a different way."

"Find out what? You are supposed to be dead! I don't understand. How.?"

"Actually - I don't know either. All Stephen told me is that he had taken me - the frozen me - along to Minbar. Obviously he spent his entire free time finding a cure - a way to get me back. And somehow I guess he did. He showed me some diagrams and stuff but - hey - as I told him - I am a Ranger and not a doctor for a reason. But if you like I'm sure Stephen will be more than happy to explain."

"So it really is you?"

She knew that she should doubt it, be skeptical and rational in that calm way that had led her to her career, and remember that nothing ever came as easy and without complications as she might want it. But she also knew that although probably - with her luck - hell was about to break loose so or so, she could ponder about it on the bonfire and not now.

"Yep, back from the dead as they say."

"How long?"

"A couple of days."

She looked at him distrustfully.

"All right a, couple of weeks. Two months. But I got released a couple of days ago. You know, the legs and muscles and stuff. I had to regenerate."

"Why has no one informed me?"

"Only Stephen knew until yesterday. He told the President - can you believe that he really got to be President? - well, he told Sheridan. I didn't want people to see me the way I was when I first woke up, not anyone."

Susan noticed that there was more that he wasn't telling. But since she pretty much could figure out that whatever it was, it would take this little chat way further than she was ready for, she didn't dig deeper on the subject. How, why, where and when seemed to cover a good, solid and not too painful conversation.

"So you're back. And the first thing you do out of Medlab is to get yourself in trouble."

"Please don't tell anyone that I sneaked on the ship. At least not until we're on Earth. I think Stephen really would be mad at me, but I couldn't just sit on my buttocks and do nothing while everybody gets to play."

"We are not playing - we are going to Earth and you have no idea - never mind."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter - it's not your problem, anyway."

The "try me" would have come but didn't.

Instead they were interrupted by a Minbari voice hectically repeating something over the speaker.

"They want to evacuate the ship!" Marcus exclaimed.

"I understood that one, thank you. I don't need a translator."

"Oh? Sorry, milady."

"You'd better be. But let's discuss this later, shall we? Come on."

***

There was as little evidence for a bomb on the White Star as there had been that there was an assassin on the ship in the first place. Still the rumors and speculations had evolved and become an entire species of itself on the usually very controlled bridge. Everything just seemed to fit so well into the imaginary grid that John had constructed. So naturally he was to be expected to be very happy as his theories were to be confirmed - only he wasn't as Michael took his eyes from the console and directed them towards the President.

"We've got a problem, sir."

"Yes?"

"Someone has tampered with the life pods. The airlocks won't open; we can't get anyone off the ship."

"Just great. How is that possible?"

"The codes have been changed."

"Well, then crack them!"

"I'm already trying, but it's a 48-digit number, it'll take a while."

"Good. Why the hell is it so hot in here?" It always had been a little warm and moist on White Stars, mainly because the Minbari felt more comfortable that way, but in the last hours the heat had become rather sauna-like and Sheridan the feeling of being soaked in sweat didn't improve his already cranky state of mind. At first he thought it was the stress but now he was just sick of it.

"Whoever turned up the heat better lower it now or he'll see me boil!"

"Sir" A rather timid-looking Minbari raised his voice reluctantly. "There isn't much to do about the heat. Several of the systems for life-support are malfunctioning."

"What? And you say that now?"

"I am sorry, sir, but the problem was impossible to detect until now."

"I don't understand. How is that possible?"

"Well, I wouldn't have noticed it either if I hadn't been searching for errors. It seems as if someone has been redirecting 85% of the power to the ventilation systems and the thermostat."

"Why would anyone want to do that?"

"I am not sure, sir. It might be an accident, although it seems unlikely. But maybe, if the person responsible knows much about White Stars, he might want to create an overload without us noticing it too soon. And as soon as the system collapses this will generate an energy overflow that eventually will destroy the core. It is a technical problem that has been noticed some times now, but since it takes a lot to create a distortion like that-"

"What are you trying to say?" Garibaldi interrupted impatiently while staring at his monitor.

"The core is very sensitive to rapid changes and sooner or later it will collapse and - well."

"So there is a bomb - although quite a strange one, I have to say."

"That's not important now. Important is: how can we stop it?"

"That is impossible, I'm afraid. All we can do is to gain some time by redirecting the power manually down on engineering and balance it out that way." If the poor man had been able to melt into his console and disappear from this world he gladly would have done it. Instead he wondered why he ever left his home to tell these two very intimidating humans things like these.

"Great. How much time will that get us?"

"I don't know, sir, maybe an hour, maybe less."

"Garibaldi?"

"Hey! I'm doing my best here, don't stress me!"

"Alright call engineering."

The young technician gave Sheridan a puzzled look.

"There are no people in engineering on a White Star, sir. It is fully automatic." he added with an unmistaken pride.

"Oh, well, so that's why everything is working so excellent, isn't it? 'Balance' and all. This makes you miss the good old war cruisers. " Garibaldi muttered behind his screen.

"Then who's in the neighborhood?" John felt lost and confused as the heat hindered him from thinking straight.

"All personnel that are not on the bridge are clinging on the airlocks, it'll probably take ten minutes for any of them to get to engineering, as it would for any of us."

"By the way where is Captain Ivanova?" Nathan suddenly asked. Everybody had forgotten about him during the confusion but now that he mentioned Susan John found it strange that she wasn't on the bridge yet."

"Sheridan to Ivanova."

"Ivanova here."

"Where are you?"

"On deck 12, we're on our way to you."

"We?"

"Later."

"Engineering is on deck 11, she would be there in a minute," the young technician suggested.

"No way, that's too dangerous!" Nathan protested. Although he didn't exactly know what it was that had to be done, he was sure he didn't want Susan to be the one doing it.

"What is too dangerous?" Susan asked over the communicator.

John thought for a second.

"Look, we need you to go to engineering and redirect the power. That should buy Garibaldi time to crack the code. Then we need you to run straight to the life-pods. There might not be much time for you to get out of here, before the whole thing blows up. Forlian here will brief you." He nodded at the mouse-faced technician.

"Yes, sir."

"And if she doesn't make it?" Nathan had watched this all with growing worry and the way things now made him very unsettled. To think that he was the reason to all of this, that he risked the lives of so many others, including Susan's, by surviving the first attack made him almost wish he hadn't.

"She'll make it."

***

"So, what do we do?"

"I am going to deck 12 - you are going to the life pods on deck 5."

"I'm coming with you."

"No. And don't start a discussion now, there really is no time." She started hurry towards the elevators.

"No discussion, I'm coming along, you might need some help."

"I'm not going to let you get yourself into trouble again, do you hear me?"

"No trouble - help." With these words he entered the elevator along with her. "Deck 12, please.

***

With Forlians help, Susan, found it quite easy to manage the energy of a White Star, even if she wasn't a technician. Still, forty-five minutes had passed and she was getting more and more nervous as even her unskilled eye could make out that it was only a matter of minutes until there was nothing anyone could do about their situation.

"Nothing from Garibaldi yet? Marcus asked as if he'd read her thoughts.

"You would have heard it, too, wouldn't you?"

There was a slightly embarrassing pause and both stared frantically on their screens hoping that the other one didn't know what they both were thinking about.

"Susan. In case we don't get out of here, and right now it doesn't look so good, I just-I just wanted to tell you, th-"

"We will get out of here! There is nothing more to say!"

"Ivanova?" It was John's voice.

"Yes?"

"Michael cracked the code, we're running for the airlocks now, and I suggest you do the same."

"Ok. We'll give you a minute or two to make sure you'll make it, then we'll go." No second too soon, she thought. "Not more than that, alright? You have to get out, too. Be careful. Good luck." John knew that she did the thing any good captain would do, still he didn't like it.

"Ivanova out."

***

"Susan, we can't take it anymore, we've got to go!"

Only a few minutes had passed, still it had become unbearably hot in Engineering.

"Ok, they should have made it by now. Let's go." They ran for the elevators and as they reached deck 5 the floor started shaking, while white flashes came out of some of the consoles along the corridors.

"In here!" Marcus screamed trying to make himself heard above the noises of things falling, items crashing, the alarm whining, and a dozen of bits and pieces making sounds he didn't even want to know about. He saw Susan behind him, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along to the life pods, knowing he just had to make it.

***

Nathan looked out of the small window towards the White Star, that got smaller and smaller the further away the life pod got. He knew it would have been impossible to see with just the eye if there was something leaving the ship, still he had to keep searching.

"Would you please try to hail them again, Mr. President?"

"I just did, Mr. Gray. But they still have got time."

It was as if the ship just had waited for these words to be said as a small explosion lit up the vast nothing, followed soon by another and another until they had swallowed almost the entire ship. A final blast ended the fireworks as the entire White Star was shattered in millions of small pieces. It was gone.

Stunned they all stared at the remains. "Any luck hailing them, Michael?"

"No response. I'm sorry, John. I don't think she made it." Sorry for this chapter, I know it wasn't so good, and I am sorry, too, for all these technical terms I probably have misused. I probably made a thousand mistakes there, but hey, it's fiction! Anyway, as I said, any comments, thoughts, ideas, criticism, ponderings, suggestions - all in all any review - are more than longed for!;)