Chapter 95

Paradise on the Edge

On board the Freedom

Just inside the Asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars

May 5, 2378

President Garrison Hollifield came onto the bridge and Major Twanissa Hudson came to attention, as did the rest of the crew. "At ease," he ordered, and the crew went back to their duties. He addressed Hudson, "What's the status of Sheridan's fleet?"

"They've taken heavy losses, but Sheridan and the Liberty are still in the fight. Major Ivanova is slightly wounded, but she's still in command. She took some shrapnel in her left shoulder."

"Lemme guess, they had to practically drag her off the bridge."

Hudson nodded, "You know her well, but Sheridan ordered her to medlab and she complied. She's fine now. No major damage."

Hollifield felt an overwhelming sense of relief and it caught him by surprise. "What about the Andromeda?"

Hudson shook her head and said, "They're barely space worthy, but most of the crew is alive. Captain Alex Wildstar has taken her back into Earth orbit with the rest of his fleet. Admiral Avatar has recalled all EDF ships to help bolster Earth's defenses, and Starfleet has agreed with the move."

"Good idea. We'll need those ships if we can't hold them off, and I fear we might not be able to.," replied Hollifield.

"As much as I hate to agree with you, Mr. President, I think you may be right. We'll put up one hell of a fight though!"

"Damn straight we will. One thing I can always count on is Earthforce officers stepping up when things look tough."

All the officers seemed to straighten up in their seat at the compliment, and it heartened him to see them react so well to the pride he had in them. He remembered long ago to the time when he was on The Line, the final battle between the Minbari and Earth. His squadron had been wiped out within seconds, and he was barely able to hold off the Minbari fighters. He spied Jeffery Sinclair's fighter making a suicide run at a huge Minbari cruiser. It was then that Hollifield knew that his life was over, and he wanted to give one last punch to the face of the enemy.

He set course and formed up behind Sinclair's Starfury, intending to take out the main gun port. He then saw a flash of light, and when his vision came back, he saw them towing Sinclair's fighter into their docking bay. His jaw clenched and he put his own fighter on afterburners, intending to keep the Minbari from taking Sinclair hostage. However, his own fighter was hit with the same beam and he soon found himself powerless to stop them from bringing his ship aboard.

What followed was a brutal interrogation, and he steadfastly held his silence despite the torture they inflicted upon him. That all stopped when he watched one of the robed figures hold up a triluminary to Sinclair, and there was an audible gasp from all the aliens in the room at the sight. His telepathy had picked up that something monumental had happened, but what it was, he had no idea.

Others came into the room, and he thanked the God in which he seldom believed in for his ability to learn all the dialects of the Minbari language. He'd asked Mollari for any info on the language back when he was captain of the presidential guard, and the Centauri envoy had given him more than he could have hoped for.

He learned later as they were trying to figure out what to do with him. He had made a bargain: in exchange for his life, he would keep the secret that Jeffery Sinclair was Valen, their prophesized messiah, and would keep an eye on him so that he fulfilled the prophesy that he did not know he was destined to fulfill.

Now, decades later, the universe had been turned upside down, but he was once again on the line, defending Earth. It was his solemn duty, and sacred vow, to honor those who were lost in that battle by heeding the call to serve when Earth was in its direst hour. He read the reports coming in over the shoulder of Major Hudson, and it wasn't looking good.

"They've broken through, sir. Sheridan's fleet is falling back in with us. And sir, we've lost the Enterprise-E.," said one of the techs on the bridge.

He looked at Hudson and they both had the same expression of shock on their face. "Inform Starfleet of the situation, then proceed to the prearranged staging point with the rest of the fleet. I'm going down to contact Sheridan and see what we can do from here.," he told Hudson.

She nodded her head and he left the bridge, heading to his quarters to talk with Sheridan. Sheridan was waiting for him on screen when he entered the room. "Garrison, we've gotten our asses kicked at Saturn. Half my fleet's gone, but we've taken a lot of their sting out of them.They're bringing in reinforcements, and Starfleet just sent word that the planet killer's on the move."

Hollifield let out a long breath, then he said, "How's Ivanova?"

"She's stable. I sent her back to Earth to command one of the Whitestars to give her more time to recoup. She's with Marcus."

He understood why he did it. "Thanks, John."

"They should be together if this is the end. Let's hope it's not."

"Screw hoping, John. I wanna break my foot off in their collective asses. I didn't live this long to surrender hope, and I'm not about to yield to these bastards. If I gotta die beating them, so be it, but I'm not giving up until I breathe my last breath."

Sheridan's back straightened up, and his face lit up at the inspirational outburst. "Damn, Garrison, you really know how to get under somebody's skin!"

He nodded his head, "John, the Minbari didn't come up with the phrase 'Faith manages' just for fun. I think we should keep that in mind."

They spoke briefly after that, then cut the communication. As he was making his way back to the bridge, the ship was shaken by a blast. He raced up to the bridge, managing to maintain his balance as the ship was violently shaken by further blasts from the enemy.

"Report," he yelled out.

"Sir, the enemy has jumped in behind us! We've...," Hudson said before the console she was standing in front of exploded, throwing her into his arms.

"Medic," he yelled out as he stared in horror as his love was bleeding in his arms. He could sense she was still alive and the wounds were survivable. He gave her over to a couple of medics, then said to them, "If we don't make it, stick her in a life pod. Prep as many as you can and prepare to evac the ship if I give the signal."

He could feel the presence of the massive planet killer in his mind before they informed him of it. He gave one simple order. "Tell the fleet to form a flying wedge. We're going in to take that thing out."

The ships in the fleet formed up around the Freedom and they began to move towards the immense Ragendoran planet killer. The enemy saw the maneuver and began to take out the outer ships as fast as they could.

Commander Sean O'Reilly turned back to the president and said, "Looks like they're on to us, sir! Increasing speed to maximum!"

"Good! We'll use the main guns to take out the device. If we can't do that, we'll ram the bastard."

O'Reilly nodded his head and turned back to his station. Hollifield sat and read the tactical display on the new console that had just been installed. His mind was so focused that he didn't even think of what had happened to the previous console, but part of his mind was worried about Hudson. He shook his head and forced his mind to refocus.

Just as they were getting into position to fire the main guns, a Jem'Hadar attack cruiser made a suicide run at the ship, taking out the front of the Freedom. Without it, they could not fire the main guns.

"Damn," Hollifield said as he picked himself off the floor. "O'Reilly, set course for ramming speed!"

All the officers on the bridge looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to their stations. O'Reilly nodded and said, "Aye sir!" Then that's when the injection of tranquilizers hit the president. He never saw it coming, focused as he was. He collapsed into the arms of two med techs, and the commander said, "Place him in the same pod as Hudson, then shoot it out of the ship, along with the others. Get as many people off this ship as you can!"

The tech's dragged the knocked-out president off the bridge, and the commander looked around at his crew. "Continue on course to ram the device," he said, and went back to his station. He took out a picture of his wife, taken at Windsor Castle on their honeymoon not long ago. He put it back in his uniform pocket and helped guide the ship towards its destruction.

Hollifield woke up, not knowing where he was. The first sight he saw was that of Major Susan Ivanova, and the look on her face gave him the news. "The Freedom," he asked.

She choked down a sob and said, "It rammed the planet killer and disabled it, but it's still intact. We've gained a lot of time to set up the final battle around Earth. We've called in all the ships we could, so we're as ready as we ever will be."

He tried to get up, but he was still woozy from the tranquilizer and collapsed back down in the bed. "Hudson," he asked.

Ivanova replied, "She's in med bay, in stable condition. She was in the life pod with you, along with several others. You were the only life pod we could pick up. The enemy took out the others."

He nodded and asked again, "Where are we?"

"Orbiting the moon. You're on board Whitestar 233. Doc says you'll be ok in a few hours, so you should be up and at them when the final battle takes place."

"Yeah.," he said, and then he fell back asleep. Ivanova sighed and left the room, heading back to the bridge. Marcus Cole, splendid as always in his Ranger uniform, saw her come onto the bridge and relinquished the command chair, taking the post of the second on the ship. "How's the president," he asked, with concern in his voice.

"He's ok. Hudson will be ok if we survive this. What's the status of the enemy?"

"They've just crossed into Mars space. Our ships are fighting a delaying action to get the bulk of the fleet in position around Earth, and we've been able to get all available ships we can get."

She tightened her lips and nodded, then said, "It won't be long now."

He looked at her and said, "No, it won't."