Past and Present
The Games We Play
Chapter 5
By: Tracy Reager
I don't own any of the characters. Minor spoilers for the Centauri books.
Trace work up the next morning to a message flashing on his vid screen. "Play message." Nothing happened. He said it again, louder this time. Still nothing happened and the beeping got louder. Trace gave up talking to the computer and walked over to it, manually trying to playback the message. The computer didn't respond. After a few minutes Trace used his wrist link to call maintenance since the computer wouldn't do anything he asked it too.
"Yes, it would be nice if you come up here now, this could be important!" After being assured by the worker, Trace went to get dressed. In ten minutes the man arrived and looked at the computer. He told it to play the message and it played.
"Trace I just wanted to let you know that you won't have to do double duty today, our other pilot is feeling better. That's all." The message blinked off. Trace looked at it dumbfounded.
"So what was the problem?" The maintenance man was a little annoyed that he ran up here for nothing.
"I don't know it wasn't responding to me, I don't know what's wrong with it." He couldn't get over what happened. The man left his quarters and went back to eating his breakfast. In the meantime, another message popped up on the screen. "Play message." Nothing happened. Trace tried changing his voice, but nothing worked. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?" He picked up a shoe and threw it at the screen. It blinked off, then a few seconds later two red eyes appeared on the screen. "What the..." Suddenly it all made sense. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the flight deck. When he got there, he looked around, but didn't find what he was looking for. Where is that stupid pest?! He continued to look for Galen's flyer, but didn't see it anywhere. He stormed back to his room.
*****************
Dureena never laughed so hard in her life. The prank really wasn't that funny, but watching Galen torment Trace was great entertainment. "So, do you really think that one prank is going to stop him?" She asked trying to control her laughter.
"Oh, I'm not done yet." He replied with an evil grin.
"What are you going to do next?"
"I don't know. I guess you'll have to wait and see."
After a few minutes, Dureena decided to ask Galen the question that's been bothering her all morning. "So why are we going to Centauri Prime?"
"What do you mean we? You're staying on my ship, the Centauri aren't very friendly towards outsiders. I am going to meet some people." Galen replied calmly.
"I didn't agree to go on this trip just to sit in a ship! I wanted to get away from the Excalibur!"
"Dureena, we are away from the Excalibur."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Well if you're that unhappy about it, I can always turn around and you can spend the day on Mars with Trace." There was a little edge in his voice. He knew she wouldn't chose going back. Dureena didn't say anything, just sat down in the chair next to Galen. "I won't be gone long. No more than two hours, I just have to talk to someone."
"Then why can't I come with you?"
"Because, it's dangerous. I'm not going to best part of town. I don't want to worry about you."
"Worry about me?" She hissed at him. "Dammit Galen, I'm a thief! I think I know more about danger than you do! I can take care of myself!"
"I don't doubt you abilities, you just don't know what lurks beneath the surface on that planet."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I can't tell you. I promised the person I'm meeting with that I wouldn't tell anyone." Galen glanced at Dureena, she still looked mad. "Look, I don't like anymore than you do. If it was up to me, I would've told Gideon by now, and he could've told President Sheridan."
"What's down there?"
"Your worst nightmare."
"Wait let me guess, the Shadows never really went away, and now they're hiding miles beneath the surface just waiting for us." Dureena was very annoyed now. "How's that?"
"Pretty close." He smiled and laughed at her. "Ok, I'm willing to compromise just this once. Will you stay here if I let you see what I'm seeing? You can watch what's going on."
"Not really, I'd rather be there. I don't think I've ever been to Centauri Prime before." She sat down, trying to control her temper. "If this great danger is really there, then how come you're not worried about it?"
"Who ever said I wasn't worried?" He was trying to think of a way to get off this topic. He really didn't want to argue with her, this day was supposed to be a pleasant one. "I just have the ability to detect any danger and then avoid it."
"Show me how then." Dureena retorted in a no-nonsense tone.
"It's not that easy. You need to be a technomage to do it." He paused in thought. "Or a Vorlon, they could probably do it too."
"That's not funny."
"You're right it's not funny, which is why you are staying on my ship out of danger."
"Aren't you worried about you're safety?"
"I can protect myself." Galen was getting angry. He had been looking forward to spending time with Dureena, and all they were doing was yelling at each other.
"Well if you can protect yourself, then you can protect me too." Dureena smiled. She was going to go with him one way or another.
"No, you are not going with, I'll let you watch that's it!" Galen was getting angry. Couldn't she see that she wasn't going to get her way? Galen laughed. He motioned for Dureena to look at the screen; Trace was going to see Gideon about his little problem.
"Captain, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Better make it quick, I'm in a hurry." Matthew had a feeling Trace was going to stop by this morning. Something about what Galen said the night before, he just wasn't sure what was going to be the problem.
"Have you seen Dureena today? Wait, nevermind, did you see Galen at all?" Trace was annoyed.
"Lt. Matheson told me Dureena left with Galen around 0600 hours this morning, why? Is there something I should know about?"
"How close does he have to be to do his little tricks?"
Gideon was starting to get the picture. "I don't know, he isn't very forthcoming with information about himself. What happened that you're so curious?"
"My computer was acting strange this morning."
"That's it?" Gideon could barely contain his laughter. "You think Galen caused you're computer to act up? Have you been drinking? "What makes you think he did anything, it's not like you tried to kill him or anything, right?"
Trace's face went pale, "No nothing like that. I just.....uh....need more sleep." He quickly ran from the command deck. As soon as he was gone Gideon started to laugh so hard he could barely stand. "I needed that." He said when he stopped. "As you were." He noticed most of the staff was giving him funny looks.
In the hallway Trace was furious. How the hell did he find out? I'm going to kill Galen! He stormed down to the flight deck, and got into his shuttle. He took it down to Mars and started searching every spaceport for his flyer.
John walked into the conference room to meet Gideon. "Why does Trace want to kill Galen?"
"I thought you didn't scan anyone?"
"I don't, he was just thinking, very loudly. I couldn't help but pick it up."
"Yesterday, Trace did something to Dureena and Galen. Apparently it didn't turn out the way Trace had planned and Galen found out. He told me last night that he could handle it, so I let him." Gideon explained, while trying to read some paperwork.
"Are you serious? You're letting him do that?"
"Why not? Besides anything Galen can come up with is probably worse than me reprimanding him. Hopefully it will sink in."
**************
Dureena and Galen were in hysterics. "I guess you're pretty good company Galen, you've made me laugh two days in a row!"
"Me too." He put his arm around her and to his surprise she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled, and wished he wasn't so close to Centauri Prime, he wanted to stay like this forever.
*********************
As Trace searched all over Mars, Galen cloaked his ship and entered the atmosphere of Centauri Prime.
The Games We Play
Chapter 5
By: Tracy Reager
I don't own any of the characters. Minor spoilers for the Centauri books.
Trace work up the next morning to a message flashing on his vid screen. "Play message." Nothing happened. He said it again, louder this time. Still nothing happened and the beeping got louder. Trace gave up talking to the computer and walked over to it, manually trying to playback the message. The computer didn't respond. After a few minutes Trace used his wrist link to call maintenance since the computer wouldn't do anything he asked it too.
"Yes, it would be nice if you come up here now, this could be important!" After being assured by the worker, Trace went to get dressed. In ten minutes the man arrived and looked at the computer. He told it to play the message and it played.
"Trace I just wanted to let you know that you won't have to do double duty today, our other pilot is feeling better. That's all." The message blinked off. Trace looked at it dumbfounded.
"So what was the problem?" The maintenance man was a little annoyed that he ran up here for nothing.
"I don't know it wasn't responding to me, I don't know what's wrong with it." He couldn't get over what happened. The man left his quarters and went back to eating his breakfast. In the meantime, another message popped up on the screen. "Play message." Nothing happened. Trace tried changing his voice, but nothing worked. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?" He picked up a shoe and threw it at the screen. It blinked off, then a few seconds later two red eyes appeared on the screen. "What the..." Suddenly it all made sense. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the flight deck. When he got there, he looked around, but didn't find what he was looking for. Where is that stupid pest?! He continued to look for Galen's flyer, but didn't see it anywhere. He stormed back to his room.
*****************
Dureena never laughed so hard in her life. The prank really wasn't that funny, but watching Galen torment Trace was great entertainment. "So, do you really think that one prank is going to stop him?" She asked trying to control her laughter.
"Oh, I'm not done yet." He replied with an evil grin.
"What are you going to do next?"
"I don't know. I guess you'll have to wait and see."
After a few minutes, Dureena decided to ask Galen the question that's been bothering her all morning. "So why are we going to Centauri Prime?"
"What do you mean we? You're staying on my ship, the Centauri aren't very friendly towards outsiders. I am going to meet some people." Galen replied calmly.
"I didn't agree to go on this trip just to sit in a ship! I wanted to get away from the Excalibur!"
"Dureena, we are away from the Excalibur."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Well if you're that unhappy about it, I can always turn around and you can spend the day on Mars with Trace." There was a little edge in his voice. He knew she wouldn't chose going back. Dureena didn't say anything, just sat down in the chair next to Galen. "I won't be gone long. No more than two hours, I just have to talk to someone."
"Then why can't I come with you?"
"Because, it's dangerous. I'm not going to best part of town. I don't want to worry about you."
"Worry about me?" She hissed at him. "Dammit Galen, I'm a thief! I think I know more about danger than you do! I can take care of myself!"
"I don't doubt you abilities, you just don't know what lurks beneath the surface on that planet."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I can't tell you. I promised the person I'm meeting with that I wouldn't tell anyone." Galen glanced at Dureena, she still looked mad. "Look, I don't like anymore than you do. If it was up to me, I would've told Gideon by now, and he could've told President Sheridan."
"What's down there?"
"Your worst nightmare."
"Wait let me guess, the Shadows never really went away, and now they're hiding miles beneath the surface just waiting for us." Dureena was very annoyed now. "How's that?"
"Pretty close." He smiled and laughed at her. "Ok, I'm willing to compromise just this once. Will you stay here if I let you see what I'm seeing? You can watch what's going on."
"Not really, I'd rather be there. I don't think I've ever been to Centauri Prime before." She sat down, trying to control her temper. "If this great danger is really there, then how come you're not worried about it?"
"Who ever said I wasn't worried?" He was trying to think of a way to get off this topic. He really didn't want to argue with her, this day was supposed to be a pleasant one. "I just have the ability to detect any danger and then avoid it."
"Show me how then." Dureena retorted in a no-nonsense tone.
"It's not that easy. You need to be a technomage to do it." He paused in thought. "Or a Vorlon, they could probably do it too."
"That's not funny."
"You're right it's not funny, which is why you are staying on my ship out of danger."
"Aren't you worried about you're safety?"
"I can protect myself." Galen was getting angry. He had been looking forward to spending time with Dureena, and all they were doing was yelling at each other.
"Well if you can protect yourself, then you can protect me too." Dureena smiled. She was going to go with him one way or another.
"No, you are not going with, I'll let you watch that's it!" Galen was getting angry. Couldn't she see that she wasn't going to get her way? Galen laughed. He motioned for Dureena to look at the screen; Trace was going to see Gideon about his little problem.
"Captain, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Better make it quick, I'm in a hurry." Matthew had a feeling Trace was going to stop by this morning. Something about what Galen said the night before, he just wasn't sure what was going to be the problem.
"Have you seen Dureena today? Wait, nevermind, did you see Galen at all?" Trace was annoyed.
"Lt. Matheson told me Dureena left with Galen around 0600 hours this morning, why? Is there something I should know about?"
"How close does he have to be to do his little tricks?"
Gideon was starting to get the picture. "I don't know, he isn't very forthcoming with information about himself. What happened that you're so curious?"
"My computer was acting strange this morning."
"That's it?" Gideon could barely contain his laughter. "You think Galen caused you're computer to act up? Have you been drinking? "What makes you think he did anything, it's not like you tried to kill him or anything, right?"
Trace's face went pale, "No nothing like that. I just.....uh....need more sleep." He quickly ran from the command deck. As soon as he was gone Gideon started to laugh so hard he could barely stand. "I needed that." He said when he stopped. "As you were." He noticed most of the staff was giving him funny looks.
In the hallway Trace was furious. How the hell did he find out? I'm going to kill Galen! He stormed down to the flight deck, and got into his shuttle. He took it down to Mars and started searching every spaceport for his flyer.
John walked into the conference room to meet Gideon. "Why does Trace want to kill Galen?"
"I thought you didn't scan anyone?"
"I don't, he was just thinking, very loudly. I couldn't help but pick it up."
"Yesterday, Trace did something to Dureena and Galen. Apparently it didn't turn out the way Trace had planned and Galen found out. He told me last night that he could handle it, so I let him." Gideon explained, while trying to read some paperwork.
"Are you serious? You're letting him do that?"
"Why not? Besides anything Galen can come up with is probably worse than me reprimanding him. Hopefully it will sink in."
**************
Dureena and Galen were in hysterics. "I guess you're pretty good company Galen, you've made me laugh two days in a row!"
"Me too." He put his arm around her and to his surprise she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled, and wished he wasn't so close to Centauri Prime, he wanted to stay like this forever.
*********************
As Trace searched all over Mars, Galen cloaked his ship and entered the atmosphere of Centauri Prime.