Chapter Eight
"Within striking distance"
Onboard the Earth Alliance transport ship, General Brindley was still livid at being dismissed so curtly. He was also angry at Christov's apparent misreading of the two Federation Captains so completely. As a whole, they had learned very little. Threats seemed meaningless when he couldn't back them up and even the Psi-Corps agent had been next to useless. The woman lieutenant Deanna Troi had almost mesmerized the man. He couldn't read her but had kept trying almost to the exclusion to all else. They had seen almost nothing of the internal structure or workings of the ship other than the fact that it was filled with unknown aliens and had a good internal elevator system.
-And some seriously frightening technology.
President Clarke's Cabinet had given him a directive and he had failed. It wasn't good that an officer hand-picked by the President couldn't fulfill this diplomatic mission. Too many good officers had rebelled in the first place and the others who wavered in their duty might see this as an erosion of the Presidency. And he wouldn't have that.
Nursing a drink, he sat down next to Christov, whose ever-present smile was now missing. "You pushed too hard," Brindley snapped at the man. "The hard-line approach was a disaster with these people. Didn't you realize that with Commander Riker's attitude staring you in the face?"
"I was following standard procedure," he responded glumly. "Intimidation usually works. It's the alpha male syndrome so to speak." The somber expression he wore masked the true hatred of the depth of his failure. The bulldog, the taking control I-am-superior-approach had worked on any number of individuals and usually brought about at least some concessions, but not here-not with these people. "They are supremely confident of their capabilities."
"Overconfidence. That will be their undoing," Brindley agreed speaking more to himself than his colleague. "The reports are starting to come in. And President Clarke has discreetly informed the other governments to back off. Dealing with these ships will be an internal Earth Gov matter. The Centauri however, might give us a little trouble. They want to find out what's in those ships pretty badly and may or may not try to obtain it by force of arms."
"Then why don't we let them? Soften those ships up a little then we can come in? It would save us a lot of grief."
Brindley forcefully shook his head. "No. If they defeat those ships, then the technology will fall into their hands and I don't trust them as far as I can kick them. They've been in too many disagreements with their neighbors already. With that technological boost, they'll be worse than ever and we wouldn't be able to withstand shielded Centauri warships if their aspirations are directed towards Earth. I don't imagine that many other races would be delighted about that either."
"But even the Minbari have grudgingly agreed," he continued. "Right now, it all depends on Delenn, but my sources indicate that her position may not be as strong as it seems."
The white-haired Christov fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair. It was clear that he did not want to bring up the subject but it was equally clear that it was necessary. "How did they produce the tea and water pitcher?" He shivered slightly as memory pulled him back to the computerized-thing. "Was that real or some type of elaborate trick?"
Brindley said nothing. If it were real, then what they observed was nothing less than energy itself converted into matter. That incredible device had been used as a subtle form of intimidation. And it had worked quite well. It couldn't have possibly been real, but on the other hand-
He had read the other reports that were beginning to filter in also. There was the energy-spewing rifle that disintegrated, actually disintegrated no less, a portion of an armored breeching pod, the force fields that blocked open space, the artificial gravity on these ships that they themselves had experienced; these were facts. Then there were as the ships weaponry, described by the survivors reports as an energy weapon able to gut the Rochester and the Lenmark, a type of beam that was neither laser nor particle, but some type of unknown phased energy. And then there was the obliteration of the Pournelle by the missiles whose warheads were not nuclear but some type of controlled anti-matter weapon. The protection shield on the Enterprise had reportedly withstood twin five-megaton nuclear strikes, without apparent damage. This was incontrovertible evidence of completely alien devices controlled by Humans. If the organization called Starfleet existed, he had no doubt that a small number of their ships could easily overrun Earth's defenses, unless they understood who and what they were fighting. The Vorlons, the Minbari, and those other abominations would be mote points.
As a veteran of the Minbari war, the threat of alien domination was a fear both he and Clarke shared. The aliens around them were too powerful, too much a threat. Mankind needed to grow and expand, peacefully of course but on its own terms. Man needed the protection and those ships posed a perfect example as to why Earth needed to stand united. Mars, Proxima III, the Orion colonies and even Babylon Five are part of the united front. Couldn't Sheridan and the others see the danger posed by these unknown creatures?
"United we stand, divided we fall," he whispered. He turned to Christov. "We can't allow them to separate us. Clarke was correct. No matter the breaking of eggs, we need to show a strong front now. If nothing else we've seen or heard today, Picard and Garret demonstrated the dark powers we will face in the future. The Minbari taught us that but we've forgotten, allowed them to dictate terms to us with Babylon Five. Delenn influences Sheridan and thru him and others like him they attempt to influence us. I won't have it. The full blockade begins now. Nothing comes in or out of B5 space."
"We can't control all of them," Christov protested.
"We can control the Earth contingents and we can politically influence most of the others to some extent." His eyes closed to mere slits. "We'll starve them out. Let the pirates bleed them to death. And at a time of our choosing, those ships will be under our control. We'll make sure that no one will benefit from their existence and if it starts a war in the future so be it. At least we will have an understanding and counter against them."
I am curious about learning a little more about the Federation relations with the Vulcans," Captain Sheridan mentioned. "How did you start this relationship? And more importantly, how did it survive? "Captain, how many years did you have to develop such an organization?"
Picard and company left the transporter room and headed towards the bridge. "Like any good marriage the honeymoon was great. However, as two people discover that they're now stuck together, the relationship was a bit strained. But we managed and built something that we could be proud of, even after the war."
No wonder Stephen was over here every chance he got Sheridan thought. It was amazing here; even the medical section was remarkable. The doctor, Doctor Crusher, seemed every bit as professional as Stephen. And it was true; Hiroshi was there. She looked fairly well, considering what Stephen had told him of her injuries.
"Captain Hiroshi?" Sheridan and Ivanova hadn't known her personally, but they did remember her sacrifice. She had some bruising on her face and arms but otherwise seemed well on the road to recovery. She still had a little trouble breathing so her medical regimen demanded a slightly higher oxygen mixture inside the medical shield.
"Captain Sheridan." She was smiling now. "I am so glad to meet you in person. How is the station? Have they attempted anything else yet?"
"No," he responded, sitting in the chair provided for him. "Not yet, not directly. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thank you," she answered, taking a deeper than normal breath occasionally. "The facilities are amazing here. I have to thank Captain Picard again for the help he has given me and my people, although he still won't tell me how he managed to get us off my ship."
He wanted to know the answer to that question himself. "Exactly what have they told you?"
"Not as much as I would like. I know I am onboard a ship that contains a mixture of races I have never seen before and I know that their medical technology is very advanced and they have artificial gravity and great food, but other than that…"
Doctor Crusher pulled out her ever-present combat medical tricorder unit and scanned her patient once more. "We haven't told her too much. She's undergone a series of operations. She'll need time to recover some more and the lung regeneration meds regimen will be completed in another two days. Then she can transfer to B5, if she wishes." Picard had given her permission to speak of their medical technology. Dr. Franklin will continue the treatments as necessary. She had already given him several of the combat med-units, a combination tricorder, dermal regenerator and bone-tissue fuser, for analysis and use. As a single unit the instrument performed okay, however the instruments dedicated for specific usage were far more efficient. The B5 techs could manufacture their own as they got a working understanding of the technology. "By the way our gravity is generated from our gravity generators. Many years ago though, we used something called gravity plating."
"Well," he said, interrupting a conversation he had every intention of continuing in the very near future, "all I can say is that they come a very distant part of the galaxy, as you can see and they've help us out quite a lot. I suspect that they'll be staying for a little while or until they figure out a way to get home."
"What about the resistance?"
"Clarke has everything pretty well locked up. Most of our comrades are free and avoiding capture so far, but essentially we are on our own. Clarke is hunting them though. The good thing is that the Minbari are helping to protect the station, at least for now. But we are experiencing an embargo by Earth Gov, which will probably get much worse. And there have been reports of pirates attacking freighters and passenger ships near local jump gates. So life's been pretty busy for us. However," he added. "The good thing is that we have plenty of room and work at Babylon Five. There is a place for you and your people on B5 when you're ready."
His hand-com beeped and he sighed. "Captain Sheridan," he said quickly. "What's going on?"
"Sir," came the response. "We have an emergency request for assistance from a Brakiri transport five hours from the nearest jumpgate. They're on route here but are being chased down by unknown hostiles, presumed to be pirates. They are requesting assistance."
The entire hospital wing heard the audio transmission. The Captain of the transport was desperate and asking from B5 post haste.
"This is the third time in as many days," the commander snapped. "Each time, we've been too late."
"Maybe not this time," Picard said.
Even now Susan was moving and speaking into her own comm-link. "Prepare my Star fury and be prepared to move out. I'll be back in ten minutes. We leave in twenty." She and an accompanying security guard, leading they way, were already running towards the shuttle bay.
"We would like to assist you," Garrett said.
"Can your ship be ready?" Sheridan wanted to know as he followed both Captains out of medical bay towards some unknown destination. "We'll take all the help we can get."
"We'll be ready when you are," she said as they entered a small room that contained a woman in front of a medium-sized computer console. Sheridan noticed that the room had a platform with eight circular disc in an octagon shaped formation. All in all, it looked rather bizarre. The room's existence made no sense.
"Captain Picard," the intercom said while Sheridan was still trying to figure out the room. "The Babylon Five shuttle has left."
"Acknowledged."
Without preamble, Sheridan watched Garrett step onto one of the pads. She turned around and faced him and smiled slightly.
"We'll talk later," She said as she tapped her comlink. "Ambassador. One to beam over." She received an acknowledgement from her ship. She looked at the Ensign manning the transporter controls. "Energize."
Sheridan could have sworn that the captain had just winked at him. But now, he looked on in rapped awe as the woman faded away in a blur of bluish-white light. What just happened? In an instant he knew. These people had some type of matter transit device! To simply move by changing someone into energy and reconstructing them somewhere else was mind numbing. But it did explain their replicator technology. This was that taken to its logical conclusion.
"My God," was all he could think of to say. "That was how you saved Hiroshi and her crew…"
"Yes," Picard answered watching the Babylon Five Captain closely. "As you can see we do have some trade possibilities."
"I believe you do. We need to talk about that. Normally I would leave this to Susan but I do believe I can start. What are you interested in trading?"
"The first thing that comes to mind," Picard admitted, "is second-generation gravity plating. The second is an industrial replicator and power supply. It will be able to manufacture just about anything you can think of. It will help you on your way to becoming completely self-sufficient. In return for data on your hyperspace technology we will give you the schematics and theory on warp travel. In return for this we ask that you give us a small area to work on non-hazardous experiments concerning hyperspace, which we believe may offer us a way home. Any and all data would automatically be shared and your scientists can work with us to ensure equitable trade. We will follow all guidelines on environmental heath and safety and we will contribute to the protection of this station as you deem fit."
Sheridan shook his head. This felt like the biggest gold mine ever and it had just fallen into his lap. Already small changes were occurring as the Federation visitors paid in gold and some extremely precious metal currency called gold-pressed latinum. Already its value was apparent as storeowners tried to obtain as much of it as they could. It helped the stations solvency. They might just survive this whole ordeal after all. Hopefully it wouldn't bite him in the future.
Captain Garrett materialized in the Ambassador's transporter room one where her second-in-command met her. "We have an away mission, Castillo," she preempted. The B5 fighters are about to go on a rescue mission and we're accompanying them."
"The ship is ready," he responded as they entered to lift. "Bridge."
"Are they using their jump gate?" he asked.
"Yes, and it will be a great opportunity to gather data on the phenomenon, so make sure the science teams are ready."
Both officers entered the bridge and the crew snapped to attention. That was a tradition onboard her ship. After that, the ever-present music was back on. In fact, the only time it was off was during potential combat situations, such as now. "Time to turn it off," she said slowly.
"Aye, sir."
The music disappeared. She could feel the ships systems powering up. Everything showed green. Now all they had to do was wait.
Commander Susan Ivanova's Star Fury dropped from its birth hitting open space in less than a second. The single man fighter was highly maneuverable, fast and built for high stress combat missions. Behind her six more of her teammates formed up behind her. Some of them were new and with that revelation there was a stab of hurt. Normally there was a complement of forty-eight Star Furies on the station, but since the recent hostilities they now had fifty-two. Therefore four were always out on patrol. Several of her people had been killed less than ten days earlier and she was never one who could fully ignore the hurt of her losses. But duty was duty, and she was resigned to it. It was the Russian blood in her she mused.
"Okay we're going to have company with us," she said into her communicator. See that big white ship following us? They're giving us backup." Her teammates were close enough for her to see them turn to watch the white cruiser mimic their actions at a discreet distance. She smiled as it held their attention longer than it should have. This was their first time seeing the starship's unique lines up close. Even the thrusters seemed bizarre. If they thought that was strange, then it was good that they hadn't had the ten-cent tour. She punched in the code for jumpgate activation and prepared herself for the sudden acceleration into hyperspace.
Each time she experienced this in a Fury, she never lost the sheer wonder of it all. As she entered the gate's threshold, she felt the pull of another existence and then the stars were gone, replaced by a bluish swirl of light. In here, space or hyperspace, was compressed allowing you to get to places faster because everything was closer. It allowed you to move faster than the speed of light in non-normal space. It also changed color depending on which direction one looked. The major drawback was that there was nothing to landmark for navigation, and the possibility of being permanently lost all too real. If a ship did not have its own jump engines, it could not exit hyperspace on its own without the use of a jumpgate. So to prevent this disastrous problem, a series of marker-buoys were placed in strategic areas, to mark position and direction towards available jumpgates.
She checked her instrumentation to make sure the Ambassador was behind them. She had a comm link to the starship. What amazed her-again-was that a ship that size didn't have jump engines of its own. Exactly what did warp drive do?
Two hours later, the team exited hyperspace via the same gate the Brakiri were attempting to get to.
"If these are the same pirates who attack earlier then they won't leave much evidence or anybody alive to identify them. We're still just over two hours away so let's move it." Quickly, from years of experience, she calculated the best possible trajectory as to where the freighter would be and vectored in that direction. Changing the comm frequency she attempted to contact the besieged ship. "Brakiri vessel, this is the B5 squadron. Stay on you present vector. Hold on. We're on our way," she said over her comms.
The response signal was full of static. "Please hurry," a voice screamed. "They have hit us twice and our port engine is down. We cannot outrun them. It is at least twenty attack vessels and they are after the Quantium forty ore we are carrying."
"We're on our way," Susan tersely responded. "Hold on." The ore was used in the production of jump gates and as such very valuable. Quickly she did the calculations. It would take one and a half hours at maximum burn. They were not going to make it in time-again. She and the others kicked in their thruster's full throttle just as the Ambassador overtook them. For a second it actually frightened her at the ease in which the ship moved.
She smarted slightly as Garrett signaled her. She was in concentration mode and really didn't like to be bothered during those times by unnecessary questions, but she forced herself to tolerated it in this case.
"What is it?" Darn it! That came out harsher than she intended.
"Our sensors have locked onto the vessel. There are two hundred seventy lifeforms onboard, multiple causalities and the port engine has been shut down. Hull integrity is down by forty percent. They're being attacked by eighteen small, single seat fighters. There's also another larger ship some distance behind them, but closing fast."
Susan sighed once more. Their scans must be pretty powerful to get such detail from this distance. Typically the news was always bad and getting worse. The odds were bad but with the Ambassador they had an edge…if they got there in time.
"Commander," the Captain continued. "We can give you a ride. I can have my ship tractor you to them much quicker, if you wish."
She didn't even think twice. "Thanks, we can use all the extra time we can get"
"Hold on and enjoy the ride," Garrett said.
Susan quickly informed the others as the Federation vessel eased to within less than five hundred meters of her formation. There was a small jolt as their tractor beams locked onto her Star Furies and tucked them neatly underneath the saucer section. A couple moments later, she was surprised as she felt gravity inside her ship. Some sort of field must be surrounding their ships she surmised. Nice.
"Your ships are surrounded by a gravity/inertia field so you'll be protected," Garret said. "We'll be there in twenty seconds."
Twenty seconds! her mind screamed. Their warp engines must have pinpoint jump capability. Why then didn't they use it instead of going through the jump gate? Before she could even finish her thought the stars around her began to move faster and faster, almost becoming streaks. She thought she saw a comet go by but it was to fleeting for her eyes to confirm whether it was real or simply her imagination. The speed was incredible, but she felt no g forces, nothing, and still the gravity in her ship felt Earth standard. She did notice that her crewmates were unusually quiet. As for herself, she did manage to utter a question. "How fast?"
"One quarter light speed," Castillo replied. "Any faster and we'd overshot our target."
Overshoot? In normal space? "Time distortion?"
"Not a problem," Garrett answered. "Exiting…now."
One moment there was nothing but the streaking of countless stars in front of her and the next instant, she was less than a six hundred kilometers from the firefight. Weightlessness re-established itself, as did inertia as she was released from whatever forces had held them.
She grimaced as she quickly surveyed the damaged Brakiri vessel listing because of the continuous firing by the pirate fighters. Her team immediately moved into formation and attacked the nearest fighters blowing them into pieces before they could react. The sudden presence of the large unidentified ship and the Star Furies had completely surprised them. Ivanova's people got in the first strike, each one taking out their acquired targets. But now it was a little more than two-to-one and the pirates were regrouping quickly.
Susan glanced quickly at the starship as the Ambassador moved off slightly and accelerated towards the pirate mothership quickly moving in on their position. Before she disappeared from sight, action from three enemy vessels died as pinpoint phaser shots disabled them.
The pirate mothership, seeing the white alien homing in on them at extreme speed fired an impressive array of weapons systems at it. The alien ship never blinked, and the pirate commander ordered a fast retreat. A jump point began forming generated by the vessel. The commander hated to leave his people and such valuable treasure, but it was either that or be caught. Quickly his vessel turned and raced for the jump point, all the while firing missiles at the unknown vessel in an effort to slow it down.
The alien vessel returned fire and the pirate vessel's jump engines ceased to function. The jump point opening faded away, closing their escape route. Then the ship fired again and the weapon systems were destroyed. The ship fired once more, hitting engineering, and the pirate vessel was marooned in space, helpless.
They received a one-word transmission from the alien ship.
"Stay."
With the loss of ten fighters and the mothership, the pirates didn't have a chance and they knew it. They surrendered even as the Ambassador moved in on them from the rear.
An hour later, the Brakiri vessel was repaired enough to continue its journey to Babylon Five. The prisoners were transferred to the Ambassador's detention area and the mother ship's logs downloaded for further evaluation. That little job had been performed by Commander Sisko, even before the mother ship's crew had a chance to destroy the evidence. Finally there was the decision to tow the ship to B5.
The Brakiri vessel entered the jump gate about ten minutes in front of their escort. Suddenly the gate activated once more before the B5 team could enter. Two Omega-class EAS warships and over sixty Thunderbolt-class Star Furies exited and immediately vectored in and locked onto the B5 Furies and the Ambassador.
"Red alert," Castillo ordered as the enemy Earth warships vectored towards them at attack speed.
Federation shields glowed brightly as the two heavy warships fired simultaneously at the Ambassador, which had extended its shields around the B5 Furies. They hadn't asked for identification or surrender, they simply fired every particle-energy weapon they had. They clearly understood who and what the Federation ship and B5ers were. Their orders were crystal clear. Bring them down as fast as possible.
"Commander Ivanova," Castillo said. "Shut down you systems. We're transporting you to our ship's shuttle bay."
"Roger that," Susan confirmed. She had no idea what she meant by 'transporting' but it was clear that her people needed to get to the back of the Ambassador's hanger bay. Those defense fields were the only thing that separated her and her crew from obliteration. It was an amazing device, a form of protection that she would definitely inquire about as soon as possible.
As she and her teammates reached the rear of the cruiser, she felt a tingling sensation, and for a moment, existence had no meaning. Then she and her ships were nestled in the shuttle bay. It took everything she had not to throw up inside her helmet, as she knew from the sounds that two others had. It was just like the food replicators taken to its logical extreme. She sincerely hoped that she was still herself and not some perfect copy that'd never know the difference. She was too shocked to be angry at the experience.
Already the Ambassador was backing up at maximum speed, shields deflecting full-powered blasts from heavy particle-lasers and cannons from both of the Omega-class destroyers, which were matching the starship's increased speed.
"Shields are down to sixty percent," Sisko announced. Commander Ivanova had just reached the bridge still in a state of mild shock.
"Welcome to the Bridge, Commander," the Captain said.
"Quite an interesting way to travel," she managed to blurt out. The ship rocked again, even through the shielding. That gave her a small measure of almost sadistic comfort. At least these people weren't invincible. But this really was a bad time to learn about it.
"Is our prize secured?"
"Yes, sir," Sisko answered, "but not for long. They're specifically targeting the vessel."
"Captain, shields at fifty percent."
Those ships were capable of matching or even exceeding the starship's sub-light speeds. They set this up she realized with a start. "Susan I believe Earth Force is behind the pirate attacks in the first place. They were hoping for something like this to happen. Probably not us specifically but we just happened to come along for the ride. The fact that they're coming in so hard means that they had information that we were here."
"They want you specifically now." The Commander was silent for a moment as she took that in. It was entirely possible. They probably were hoping for a surprise attack. But with only two warships they would not have had the firepower. Why had they attacked without backup?
"I agree."
First officer Castillo ordered the jettison of their prize. Immediately it was destroyed by Fury fire. The unhampered Ambassador was going evasive now, slowing outrunning the less maneuverable Omegas when another jump point formed starboard side. Two more of the large battleships emerged less than thirty thousand kilometers and closed in on the Ambassador, attempting to box her in.
Four to one again," Rachel muttered. She went blank for a moment.
"Captain!"
The prodding by Sisko and Castillo prompted her from her lethargy. Now, she was angry. "Never again," she snarled. "We could run," she said to Susan and the crew. "But, we won't."
Her ship shook under the bombardment of the four ships. She ordered emergency evasive as the first two Omegas-class battleships fired as salvo of nuclear weapons directly at the ship.
They had made a mistake Rachel surmised coldly. "Enough. Lock on to the lead ship," she ordered. "I mean the bridge specifically."
They had assumed that because her ship was smaller than the Enterprise-D, that it was an easier target. But this ship is a battleship, one generation removed she reminded herself viciously. That's why the Romulans had attacker her en mass and still she had managed to hurt at least two of them.
Sisko said nothing, his face betrayed nothing as he keyed in the target. "Locked on to the bridge."
The ship rumbled as the nuclear payloads, having missed their targets exploded producing shock waves that buffeted the starship.
"Open a channel."
"Channel opened."
Captain Garrett said one word. "Stop."
The Omegas fired as second salvo of nuclear missiles as the second two EAS ships came into firing range. Shields were at fifteen percent now and several conduits had blown. She hadn't wanted this fight but she was never one to run away from one either.
"Fine," she said. "Mr. Sisko, fire phasers, full power."
The linear-array type eleven phasers slammed into the bridge section of the closest battleship, vaporizing the bridge and eviscerating the front third of the doomed vessel. Photon torpedoes blew one of the secondary vessels to pieces. Its sister vessel immediately went from offensive to evasive, retreating to a distance of more than a half light second before phaser beams lashed out almost completely crippling the fleeing ship in the process.
Garret was in a fury now, her thoughts recalling another one-sided battle. This was the second time she had come to the aid of someone and been attacked because of it. No more she swore. She ordered the Ambassador to head directly for the last, undamaged vessel, its shields swatting the small single fighters out the way with impunity.
The last remaining undamaged EAS warship had turned to run. It was firing every nuclear missile that remained at the starship even as it opened a jump point in its attempt to escape. The Ambassador's phasers destroyed the majority of the projectiles and launched three photon torpedoes that intercepted the warship just as it entered the distortion field.
On the bridge, the Ambassador's crew saw the rear of the warship burst into small particles as the first of three torpedoes hit and the anti-matter warheads blew. The point closed, just as sensors detected the shockwave signaling the ship's death. There was wreckage everywhere and several of the enemy Star Furies had sustained significant damage.
For their sake Garrett hoped that the surviving battleship wouldn't be foolish enough to come after them. "Plot a course to B5, and engage warp six."
The Ambassador reversed its trajectory, rotated on its z-axis and jumped to warp six again stunning Susan. She determined that she would never be stunned by these people again. A small hint of grim amusement flushed her face as she imagined how the crew of the surviving Omega would react to what just happened. At the same time she was appalled by the destruction she'd just witnessed. But she suppressed it before it could take over. It was going to get a lot worse before it got better. There were Shadows in the winds.
The stars were streaking passed at unimagined speed. This was nothing like hyperspace.
"How fast are we traveling?"
"Three hundred ninety two times light speed," Sisko answered. "But what you see on the screen is simply a computerized representation of what's really out there. We will be at B5 in a half an hour."
"Not bad for a non-hyperspace jump." She wanted to ask how fast this ship could travel but she refrained from the asking. That would come in the future. She had enough to think about now. The Earth Alliance almost had them. The embargo would now tighten, she realized. Just and other problem to deal with, she thought. But right now, she simply relaxed a little and enjoyed the ride-as much as she could.
Captain Sheridan watched as the Ambassador warped into Babylon Five space a full hour before the Brakiri vessel transitioned its jump gate. Even before she arrived the combined crews had heard the scathing fury of Earth Govs ISN version of the events that had just taken place.
"Four EAS warships were ruthlessly and brutally attacked by elements of the Babylon Five and the renegade Federation deserters near the Brakiri Jump gate four, this evening," the reported began. "The surprise attack resulted in the loss of two Omega class warships, the Cheyenne and Midland, with the loss of all hands onboard, another ship was rendered completely inoperable with over two thirds of the crew lost and the other severely damaged with significant loss of life. As shown in these images brought to us by the survivors of the sneak attack, we can clearly see the alien renegade vessel firing its deadly missiles at two EAS ships who were not even aware that the pirate ship was in the area."
The image showed several photon torpedoes impacting the area around two EAS ships, causing the breakup of one and that shockwave literally knocking the other from its established trajectory. The phaser barrage was shown next hitting the escaping Omega-class warship squarely amidships.
"The Captain responsible for such a loss of life has been identified as Captain Rachel Garrett of the Federation starship Ambassador, an organization devoted to conflict and conquest of their section of the galaxy. She and Captain Picard of the Enterprise and her co-partner in crime have associated themselves with Captain John Sheridan and his rebellious officers who currently hold Babylon Five hostage." The view screen switched to show Captains Picard, Garrett, and Sheridan together forming some type of unholy triumvirate. An ESA officer identified to the public as General Brindley appeared next to explain the situation to the viewers. To the audience, he appeared deep in thought.
Captain Drake was right the General contemplated harshly. No less than eight heavy ships attacking either ship would guarantee success; probably another four should be added to make sure. And that's only if they achieve first strike.
He began speaking softly into the camera. "Recently I had a meeting with Captain Sheridan to try to find a peaceful solution to the escalating situation. Picard and Garrett were very belligerent and refused to negotiate. They even condoned the illegal use of their personal telepaths during the meetings. There was no regulation and their blatant use of them frankly astonished me. My staff and I were shown the door after the negotiations broke down. I was concerned for my staff and myself as we left. With their attitudes, I wasn't sure if they would have blown up my shuttle or not."
"In retrospect, I feel sorry for Sheridan," he continued. "He looked so confused, almost as though he was drugged. He wasn't receptive to anything we had to say. I truly believe that he is under some type of influence, alien or not, I cannot say. But he is no longer the man we once knew…"
"As for the so-called Federation ships, I suspect that they are a vanguard for a potential invasion of this section of space."
Brindley and quite a few officers have had reviewed the video logs in detail-which were sent priority transmit by the surviving Omega ESA- and grimaced at the god-awful range of the ship's energy weapons. The effective kill range had to be close to one light second. Between that, that cursed defensive shielding and those long-ranged missiles, Earth forces couldn't touch them. Something had to be done about those shields. That was a priority now.
Then there was the ship's speed. It didn't use jumptech but something else entirely as the distortion blast indicated, when it entered faster than light propulsion. And there was an even more disturbing point, the telepath, before he was shut down by that woman, kept 'overhearing' the phrase 'alternate universe'. It was amazing, he thought, what one could identify in an hour. "President Clarke was correct in his assessment of the dangers of alien influences. We must be ever more diligent."
The woman reporter turned to face the camera directly. "Thank you, sir," she said as he moved off. "In a statement earlier, President Morgan Clarke expressed his personal and profound sorrow of the loss of so many brave men and women."
The image switched to show President Clarke, a balding, seemingly stressed man in his early fifties looking more somber than Humanly possible. "This is a day I prayed would never happen," he started. "Alien forces and influences had wantonly and without provocation attacked and destroyed our ships and thousands of loyal, dedicated men and woman. They have declared war on the people of Earth in a manner not unlike the time the then United States was pulled into war by elements of the Japanese Empire over three hundred years ago. And I say this as the President of that great country-to the enemies of the planet Earth. You have awakened a sleeping giant!"
Sheridan looked on in disgust. Delenn, next to him listening placed her hands in his. It was amazingly comforting.
"He didn't even get the quote right," John murmured bitterly.
President Clarke shivered inside his office, not from the chill in the air but from anger and fear. The loss of several more ships and the continual humiliation of his people's inability to exterminate Sheridan and the rest made him feel as though he had lost control in the eyes of the people. That was unacceptable. He had fought, lied and killed for this power. Even ex-president (and now dead) Santiago hadn't stopped him from obtaining it. He would never lose control. He'd promise himself that he'd kill everyone before he'd relinquish control to anyone.
Elements of Psi-Corps supported him, but he couldn't trust the telepaths either. They had their own agenda. However, there was someone who could help him savage the situation. He activated his private, secured line. "I want to speak to Mr. Morden," he said. He waited patiently-for as long as it would take to talk to him.
"B'Elanna moved into her own quarters today," Benjamin Sisko said as he took a sip of coffee. Rachel had invited him in to talk shop instead had wound up doing most of the talking. She should have gone to Picard and she almost did several times, but in the end she chose to speak to him. The comradely rapport that had developed between the two of them these past few weeks had turned into a sounding board for her. And he was more than content to listen.
"Good. I'm glad she's calmed down. It was amazing how much distrust she had against us considering that she's half Human.
"Humans who for the most part abandoned her. She's barely an adult." He took another sip. "What choice did she have?"
"Her temperament is worse than Worf's," she answered. "But Counselor Troi seems to be getting thru to her."
"I believe that it's because they have something in common."
"That they both have mixed heritages?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "And a common bond to Humanity. Deanna and from what I understand her sister, responded well to their heritage because both parents were there and they were accepted into the community. B'Elanna on the other hand grew up fighting everybody, believing that neither side would accept her. And of course she was stuck on the Klingon home world and you know what that was like."
"How did we get to this point?" she exclaimed.
"War. Here, there, it's basically the same everywhere we go. The reasons boil down to lust for power or the need for survival," he said. "Someone once told me that war stood for We Are Right."
The Captain stretched then moved her head from side to side. "All of my professional life, I have followed the intent of the prime directive. I have always been primarily an explorer. I love it. There's so much out here to see and experience, whether we're in this in our universe or not." She looked thoughtfully, reflecting on the recent events in her life. "I've taken more life in the last few weeks that I could have possibly imagined. Romulans, Humans; there have been so, so many.
Rachel started whispering softly now and her eyes glazed slightly. "When they attacked, I faded for a second. I was back fighting the Romulans. But my heart I knew it was different. They attacked us because they assumed that we were the weaker of the two. I wanted to make it clear that we weren't. I tried to be merciful in not firing on them at first. That was my first mistake." Her concentration returned to Ben. "My second was not wiping them all out. I want them to understand without a shadow of doubt that to mess with my ship is to invite death. My blood lust was up. I was afraid for my ship and my crew. Is this the result of living with the threat of constant war? Am I to become someone who is willing to kill thousands by uttering a simple word?"
"You gave the order. I pressed the buttons," Ben said. "I am beginning to believe that you are the embodiment of what is good in our Federation. But you're not from my reality, Rachel. You and your original crew haven't had to live in the terror years of war and the fear of losing your loved ones at some weapon's whim. But there is the moral choice here. You did what was necessary. The question is 'can you live with those choices'?"
The woman straightened up. "I'm a starship Captain. It's my job to make the hard choices." Then she looked at him and added: "But it is good to have that support when those choices come to the fore." She laughed a little lightening the tension. "I think I'll have Worf and B'Elanna tour the station with me tomorrow."
"With how much security?" he asked with some amusement.
"Just you and possibly Deanna." She laughed at the look Ben gave her.
"You really are insane, ah, Captain."
"I'm a Captain of an Enterprise, Commander," she laughed. "We're all crazy, even Picard. Check our histories. From Archer to him," she said pointing towards the Enterprise-D. We all make the difficult choices."
"Red alert! Captain to the Bridge"
Both ran into the bridge. "Report!"
"B5 just went on alert. Enterprise shields just activated and she's powering up. "I…no!"
On the view-screen as haggard face appeared. "We ask Babylon Five for asylum against our enemies, the Federation," the Klingon said moments after his ship de-cloaked.