Chapter 17

The Last Supper Before Armageddon


Babylon 5

February 18, 2271

7:30am

Captain William T. Riker and his wife, Deanna Troi, were walking down the Zocolo with their guide, Dan Tanner, towards the Fresh Aire restaurant, when he noticed that Tanner had turned his face towards someone sitting at a small cafe, drinking coffee. "Data, what's the matter," he asked.

"Not here.," Tanner said with all seriousness, "I'll get breakfast sent up to us in the presidential suite. The president needs to know about this right away."

Hollifield was surprised that his morning breakfast briefing with Dan Tanner had turned into a foursome, but he was even more surprised as to why Dan Tanner had brought them up here. While Riker and Troi ate breakfast, Hollifield and Tanner huddled in the bedroom.

"You sure its him? I've not felt his presence at all since he got here.," Hollifield said.

"It's possible that he's taking sleepers to hide himself from you. He knows that you are powerful enough to deal with him, so he probably thinks stealth would help him better than just coming out in full force."

"Yeah, but how stupid can he be? I mean, I've got more than enough reason to shove him out of an airlock and let him suck vacuum, but Garibaldi and Ivanova have much more reason to do the honors than I do, and they're both here for the meeting. And you know Sheridan wouldn't shed a tear to see him executed, so either Al Bester has lost his any common sense he ever had, or he's got at least one ace up his sleeve."

Tanner nodded and said, "What worries me is that he might try to do something with Commander Troi. She's just an empath, not even a P1..."

"Like Ivanova, although I'm beginning to suspect that her abilities are increasing.", Hollifield said.

Tanner nodded again and continued, "Good point, but he knows that he can't make a move against Ivanova. However, he might want to make a move against Troi and use her for some purpose."

"Why would that not surprise me, coming from him? Ever since the Psi Corps was dissolved, he's been on the run and I know Garibaldi has been sending people to take him out, or to grab him so he can off him himself. Hell, I've even leaked any info I came across to them so that he could get him without EarthGov getting it's hand muddied by this."

"What should we do?"

"I'll have them accompany us to the War Room. He won't try anything with my personal guard around, and he surely wouldn't with me around. Let's go tell them about the plan.," Hollifield said, and the two exited the bedroom and sat themselves down at the table.

Riker wiped his mouth with his napkin, then asked Hollifield, "Anything wrong?"

"Yeah, we've got a problem, and it has to do with your wife. Let me explain...," replied Hollifield, and he told them what he had in mind.

War Room

Babylon 5

9am

Picard was standing by the large map of the galaxy, studying it intensely to see the differences between the one he came from and the one he was in right now. His mind still couldn't wrap itself around the fact that he was in a different universe, in a different time, where all the rules were different. He knew of what the Legendora had in mind, but he still couldn't believe that it was all happening.

"Something the matter, Captain," asked Delenn, who had walked beside him.

Picard turned and said, "Just studying the map and thinking about things. I have to admit that I am having trouble with understanding all of this."

Delenn smiled and said, "Captain, you are certainly not in the minority in that thinking. I sometimes think the universe..." She was interrupted by her husband, John Sheridan, who rushed into the room. He said simply, "Valen and Sisko are back, along with the others. We've got a problem."

Thirty minutes later, Odo was sitting in the War Room, being examined by Dr. Julian Bashir, as well as Dr. Stephen Franklin, who was now the president's personal physician. Bashir and Franklin conferred for a moment to compare results, and then addressed the others, "Well, he's suffering from effects from exposure to vacuum, but otherwise he's physically fine. I can't say much for the mental side."

General Kira Nurys was beside Odo now, with an arm over his shoulder and a worried look on her face. She couldn't believe the news of the Founders' Homeworld being destroyed, but thanked the Prophets that he had somehow survived. But her heart broke when she saw his mental state, and she wanted to find the bastards who did this and rip them apart with her bare hands.

"So, it looks like we have to change plans now.," said Derek Wildstar, "If the Ragendora are attacking openly in your universe, Picard, we need to go after them there."

Hollifield interrupted, "That maybe what they want us to do. It's important to remember that this may be a way for them to bait us into doing something they want us to do."

Nurys stood up and asked, "But what if there next move is to go after my homeworld, Bajor? Should we not go there?"

Sheridan said, "It's possible, but, then again, maybe their next target is this station, or Wildstar's Earth, or Picard's Earth. We need to find out what they are up to and where and when they plan to strike again."

Stephen Ashcroft stood up and said, "If I had to take a guess, it would be that their next target would be Bajor, because of its proximity to the wormhole. If we were voting on this, then my vote would be to proceed to Bajor."

They discussed the matter for a couple of hours and finally came to the consensus that they should send some of their forces into the wormhole, but not all. "It's settled. Enterprise, Hercules, and Defiant III will go back into the rift with the Yamato, Freedom, Excalibur and half of the Whitestars we have on hand. Liberty, Wildstar, and the other half will be on stand by here if they are needed. I'm appointing Major Ivanova to head the fleet from one of the Whitestars, and since we'll need a telepath, I'll go along.," said Hollifield.

Sheridan drummed his fingers on the table, thinking for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure that's wise?"

Hollifield replied, "I'm willing to take that risk. And to be sure that I have a chance to come back, I'm going to be on the Hercules so that I have a fighting chance of getting back. Besides, the Ragendora may guess that I'm coming on the trip and target the Earthforce ships just to get at me."

Riker nodded, "It'll be an honor to have you aboard, Mr. President."

The meeting continued for a while, then broke up after another couple of hours of planning. Once it adjourned, he motioned to Garibaldi to join him over to the side.

"What's up, "said Garibaldi.

"He's here.," Hollifield simply said.

"Get out! How could he come on board without security knowing,"Garibaldi exclaimed in a hushed voice.

"I don't know, but Dan Tanner got a positive ID on him in the Zocolo. That's why he's not here, because he's gone to find him. Since he is who he is, and since Bester isn't a telekinetic like me, he's the one person who can get him and not be affected by Bester's abilities."

"So, if he catches him, will you throw him out of the nearest airlock or will you let me do it," asked Garibaldi coldly.

Hollifield shrugged, "You're not the only person he's wronged, Michael. No, we'll have a trial for him on Earth, because we have to let the process work out on its own. Lord knows we've got more than enough evidence to convict him a zillion times over. I'll be sure that the right judge gets appointed to the case, and when the sentencing comes down, I'll be sure that it's the death penalty. And, rest assured,
you'll be the one who presses the button when the time comes."

Garibaldi nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. President.," and walked off.

Presidential Suite

Babylon 5

10pm

Hollifield had Hudson snuck up to his quarters again, and they had dinner together, followed by some making out on the couch and them making love in bed. They were cuddled side-by-side in the bed, beginning to fall asleep.

Hudson asked him before he closed his eyes and went to sleep, "Garrison, why aren't you going to be on my ship?"

"Because Ivanova tells me that people are whispering about us, and we're not ready to go public with this yet. And I want to be sure that if a certain someone were to manage to sneak on board the Hercules, there is someone there to deal with him."

She nodded then kissed him on his shoulder, "Ok. Just needed to hear it from you to be sure."

Hollifield stroked her hair and kissed her on the lips again, then said, "If I had my way, my dear, I would be on that bridge beside you and die by your side if fate were against us."

A tear came to her eye, and she kissed him hard. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "I love you!"

She replied, "I love you too!"

They began to make love again, but then the comm system indicated a message was coming in for him. He sighed and told her, "Duty calls"
with a lot of regret in his voice. He got up off the bed and spoke to the comm system computer, "Computer, receive message, audio only."

"Sir, this is Ivanova. We just picked up a distress call from a station called Deep Space Nine. They are under attack from a force called the Jem'Hadar. Picard and Sisko said we should scramble and head out now."

Hollifield looked over at his lover, and saw she was already scrambling into her uniform. He turned back to the system and said, "We'll be right there!"

Deep Space 9

August 11, 2377

12 noon

It was sheer luck that a fleet of Federation Starships was gathered at Deep Space Nine when the attack came, along with two squadrons Klingon Birds of Prey. Federation Ambassador Worf was in Ops on the station, speaking with Lieutenant Commander Fuziyaki when the wormhole opened and the first Dominion ships came through. They turned towards the station and began to fire!

Worf smiled, not knowing why his former crewmates and friends were at presently, but thinking that the Jem'Hadar were responsible somehow. "And so it begins...," he murmured as he took command of the station to help in the fight. "BATTLE STATIONS," he yelled out, and the crew responded.

Chancellor Martog and Emperor Kah'less came out of the elevator and walked briskly to Worf's side, "What is it, Worf?"

Worf told them of the situation and Martog nodded his head, saying simply, "Then today is a good day to die, and we will be sure that it is a very bad day for the Jem'Hadar!"