Chapter 47: Reunions
Reviewers:
Silvanas: I'm glad you're happy. I hope you like this chapter.
Lennox: Thanks. Probably good since it has void shields and other Imperium tech. When the big battles start I'll probably have the wormhole reopen so the main Imperial fleets can come through. Thanks for the compliments.
The BEE: I already said I'm keeping anime out of this story. Sorry.
Oblivionknight7: Yes.
BGTom: Possibly. They'll have to capture the Imperial wormhole. If they do that the Emperor will know the Death star's coming and mobilize everything the Imperium has. Terra is the Imperium capital after all. 360 thousand ships might not do it, but what about 2 MILLION! Or more, and the Emperor's flagship with its huge main cannon that collapsed the eye of Terror? Plus the power of psykers. Are you sure you want Vader on the Death Star. The Emperor and the Apex twins will probably board it and confront him. Can Vader prevail?
Sean: Thanks, I'm glad you like it. I see, maybe I'll use those shipyards. For the Imperium!
A few days after the battle with the Shadows, Sheridan was testing out one of the Blaze class interceptors that were going to replace B5's Starfuries. One of West's best pilots was flying beside him.
"So how do you like it?' The pilot asked.
"It's incredible! I never imagined any ship could go this fast," Sheridan replied. The Blaze was three times as fast as a Starfury and far more maneuverable. The weapons were amazing. The Blaze was armed with three pulse phasers and possessed Void shielding. Sheridan had gone through dozens of maneuvers that a Starfury would never have been able to do.
They were in the middle of doing an atmosphere run when Sheridan received a message from Babylon 5.
"Captain we're receiving a distress call. It's got an Earth Force signature. Should we send some ships to investigate?" Ivonova asked.
"No, we're already out here. We'll check it out," Sheridan replied. "You copy that Blaze two?"
"Copy Captain. I'm right behind you."
A single Starfury floated in space. Normally it would be no great concern, but this Starfury was black, with the Greek letter Omega on its hull.
"Psi-core," Sheridan whispered. "Blaze two, follow me and come around behind the fighter," he ordered.
On board the Black Omega, Bester watched the two fighters come closer. They were broadcasting B5 I.D. codes, but he'd never seen fighters like those before.
"Black Omega to fighters. I come in peace."
"Identify yourself." Sheridan demanded.
"Oh come Captain. Don't you recognize my voice?"
"Bester?" Sheridan asked.
"Very good Captain. Now, I hear you but, I can't see you."
"I noticed the Black Omega insignia on your Starfury. Black Omegas are only piloted by members of Psi-Corp. I also know you need line of sight to scan someone, so I took precautions."
"Well Captain, I can see you're still as sharp as ever."
"You know Bester, Babylon 5 has broken away from Earth. We no longer have any ties to Earth or to the Psi-Corps. Now I am sitting on top of three brand new pulse phaser emitters. What's to stop me from blowing you out of the stars right now?"
"Curiosity. You'd like to know what brought me out here. Take me to the station and I'll tell you. I promise you won't be disappointed."
Sheridan thought for a moment. If Bester found out about the Alliance it could be trouble. On the other hand he'd already seen the fighters, and something important had to be going on to bring him out here.
"Blaze two, form up behind Omega Starfury. We'll escort it to the station."
While they were escorting Bester, Sheridan contacted West.
"West here Captain," the Commodore replied a moment later.
"Commodore, a Psi Cop named Bester is currently en route to the station."
"So you'd like my people to stay out of his way. Seer Clethis could simply prevent him from scanning anyone."
"Yes, but I want to keep your people a secret for as long as we can."
"As you wish Captain," West sad before cutting the transmission.
When the fighters returned to B5, Bester was taken to quarters while Sheridan went to talk with the other members of the command staff. Naturally, they were nervous.
"What if he scans us and finds out about the Alliance?" Ivonova asked.
"Then we'll just keep him here, but I think that for once he's actually not out for our hides," Sheridan said. "Ivonova, I want you to go and talk to him."
"What? Why me? You know I can't block a scan."
"No, but you told me you can sense instantly if anyone's scanning you. If he doesn't scan you then we'll know we can trust him. For now at least."
"And if he does we throw him in the brig?" Sheridan nodded. "For how long?"
"Until we run out of food or he dies of old age. Which ever comes first." Susan actually smiled a bit.
Bester had been waiting in his room for over an hour. He knew no one here trusted him. He couldn't blame them. No one truly appreciated the things the psi-corps did for them. Suddenly the door opened and Commander Ivonova entered. He considered scanning her but decided against it. He needed them this time.
"I was expecting Captain Sheridan," he said.
"He sent me," Ivonova replied. She clearly didn't enjoy being within a light-year of Bester, never mind the same room. "So why are you here?"
"Straight to the point. I like that. Well, I recently got word of your war against, what do oyu call them, Shadows? Well they've started gotten a foothold on Earth as well. President Clark's not calling the shots. There are others whispering in his ear."
"And this has what to do with us?"
"I recently learned that a transport carrying weapons supplies will be passing through Sector 500 in a little while. Would you like to strike a blow against them Commander?" Bester knew she wanted to do something, he'd just given her a target. She left the room to speak with the others.
"Did he scan you?" Sheridan asked when Ivonova came back. She shook her head. "So, what does he want then?"
"Apparently the Shadows are influencing Clark back home. Bester learned there's going to be a freighter parsing through Sector 500 in about a day, carrying weapons components. He thinks we can hit it and capture it."
"Get Bester in here. I want to hear what he has to say myself," Sheridan said. A minute later Bester entered, smoothing a wrinkle out of his black uniform. "So, what do oyu know about this freighter?" Sheridan asked.
"All I know is that it's carry weapons and is being escorted by approximately half a dozen enemy fighters. If we can capture it we can deprive the enemy of some of their weapons."
"So now that we know this, why do we need you?" Garibaldi asked.
"Locating a ship that small in hyperspace is extremely difficult. You could search for days and not find it. Unless of course, you just happen to have a telepath rated P12, trained in that sort of thing. Psi Cops can detect ships by homing in on the thought waves of the people on board. Somehow Hyperspace amplifies the signal considerably."
"And how come I've heard of this little ability?" Sheridan asked.
"We kept it to ourselves," Bester said, a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "If others knew they might start putting telepaths on the font lines. We're not expendable. Mundanes are.
"That would be us," Garibaldi said.
"Correct Mr. Garibaldi. So Captain, do we stay, or do we go?"
It was decided. They would take the White Star and capture the freighter. Bester would accompany them, even though everyone agreed that if he tried anything they'd throw him out an airlock. Sheridan also asked Commodore West to have the Shadow standing by case they ran into trouble.
It was a few hours into the mission. Bester was walking around examining the bridge stations.
"Try not to drool on the controls," Sheridan mumbled.
"You say something Captain?" Bester asked.
"Me no. Just burped," Sheridan replied.
"Not picking anything up on the scanners," Lennier reported. Bester had taken the Captain's chair.
"Mr. Bester." Sheridan said.
"Captain Sheridan."
"Get the hell out of my chair." Bester complied.
"They're close, I can feel them. Thirty degrees to port."
"Captain?" Lennier asked.
"Thirty degrees to port," Sheridan replied. A minute later Lennier spoke up.
"Reading something dead ahead. It's a freighter. Reading six Shadow fighters flying escort."
"That's them," Bester said.
The Shadow fighters came hard and fast, but the White Star was quicker. Its Fusion Blasters cut through the enemy fighters in short order.
"Where's the freighter?" Sheridan asked.
"Making a run for it," Lennier replied.
"Can we capture it?' Sheridan asked. Lennier gave a lengthy explanation that was basically yes. "A simple yes on no would have sufficed Mr. Lennier. Grab it." Tractor beams shot from the White Star and pulled the freighter up lose to the hull.
"We have it."
"Are you sure you don't know what's on that ship, Mr. Bester?" Sheridan asked.
"Weapons supplies. That's what I was told," he said, but there was something in his voice.
Dr. Franklin met Sheridan at the docking area.
"Welcome back Captain. What's that?" He asked as a gurney was wheeled out.
"The pilot of the transport ship," he said, lifting the sheet and revealing a gruesome sight. "Best guess it took its own life rather than be captured."
"I'll do a full autopsy; never know when we might see something like this again."
"Captain," Ivonova said. "We just finished cutting through into the cargo section."
"Was Bester right? Were there weapons aboard?" Sheridan asked.
"That depends on how you define weapons," she replied. A container was being brought through and Susan removed the sheet, revealing a man whose face was a mask of agony. Sheridan saw a logo on the side.
"Psi-Core. These are telepaths!"
"We found nearly a hundred of them in sleeper tubes. From the looks on some of their faces I don't think they went voluntarily."
A few minutes later Bester, Sheridan and Ivonova were gathered in Sheridan's office.
"You knew there were telepaths and you didn't tell us! Why?"
"You and your people aren't exactly sympathetic to the Core. So when I found out the cargo were members of the core I decided to keep it a secret."
"I'm just curious how a bunch of unconscious telepaths could be considered components of a weapons system!" Suddenly Sheridan's Link beeped. "Sheridan go."
"Captain I think you should get down to Med Lab," Franklin said. "There's something here I think you should see."
When Sheridan Ivonova and Bester arrived at Med Lab1 it was dark, with emergency lights and electrical discharges providing the only light. Slowly they crept inside, and then they saw it. A woman, with some kind of implants attached to her head was surrounded by wiring and metal. Bester looked astonished.
"What is it?" Sheridan asked. The woman seemed to notice them.
"Help me Alfred, please. Make it stop talking in my mind." She said, looking Bester in the eye.
"It's going to be all right," Bester said as he slowly walked forward. The woman seemed to calm down, then suddenly she screamed and shot a blast of lightning at Bester. He barely ducked it time.
"Hey," Sheridan said, getting an idea. He grabbed Bester's Psi-Corps badge and hurled it out. The woman fired at it again.
"The machine tells us to destroy. The sign hurts us. We cannot hear the machine. Please, make it stop talking to me," the woman said.
"It's all right. We can help," Franklin said, getting close enough to inject her with a sedative. She slumped over.
"She called you by name," Sheridan said to Bester. "Do you two know each other?"
"Her name's Carol. The one bright point in my life. She's my lover," Bester said. "And she's carrying my child. Please, if there's anything you can do for her," Bester said. For once he actually looked sincere.
"I don't know yet," Franklin said. "The technology she's been implanted with is beyond anything I've ever seen. Captain?" He asked. Sheridan knew what he was talking about. West's people might be able to help.
"Bester, we may be able to help her," Sheridan said. Bester looked up.
"Really?"
"But we'll need something from you in return."
"I'll do anything."
"Ok, first you have to promise to keep what you're about to see and hear a complete secret." Sheridan said.
"I promise," Bester said. Sheridan tapped his comm. badge.
"Sheridan to West. Would you and a medical team please come to Med Lab 1."
"Of course Captain. Stand by."
"Who was that?" Bester asked. Then West and several doctors materialized in the room. The Doctors began examining Carol.
"What do you think?" Sheridan asked.
"She's been implanted with some sort of cyber interface. Extremely sophisticated. We should be able to remove htem, but we'll need Seer Clethis's help to reverse the damage that's been done to her mind," one of the doctors said.
"So oyu can restore her to what she was?" Bester asked, actually smiling.
"We should."
"Now for your part of the bargin," Sheridan said. "I want you to do what you can to start building support for us against Clark. For a telepath it shouldn't be too hard."
"I'll do what I can," Bester said. "I'll be back in six weeks. If Carol is back to normal I'll continue to help you. If she isn't, I'll do everything in my power to make sure all of your lives end slowly and painfully. Do you accept my terms?"
"We do," West answered. "I promise that when you come back Carol will be just as you knew her."
"Thank you," Bester said, then turned and left. The doctors took Carol to the Imperial Medical station.
Sheridan walked into his quarters and collapsed into his chair. This day had taken a lot out of his. His chime sounded.
"Open," he called, his eyes nearly clsed. Then they snapped open.
"Hello John," Anna Sheridan said, a smile on her face. Sheridan nerly fainted.
"How is this possible. You died."
"No, I just went away fro a while. Now I'm back, and there's something I need you to help me with."
"What is it?" Sheridan asked, still in a daze. His wife, who he'd thought dead for years, was standing right in front of him.
"I need you to ome with me."
"Come with you where?" Shridan asked.
"A world called Za'ha'dum," Anna said.
John knew of that world.G'kar had told everyone before that Za'ha'dum was the homeworld of the Shadows.
"But that's the Shadow homeworld," Sheridan said.
"Yes, the Shadow leaders want to meet with you. They just want to talk."
Suddenly West and Seer Clethis beamed in.
"Don't listen to her," Clethis said. "This is not the Anna Sheridan you once knew. She is a servent of hte Shadows now."
"She is trying take you to Za'ha'dum to force you to serve the Shadows as well," West said.
"Is this true Anna?" Sheridan asked. Anna looked angry.
"Who are you?"
"We are Sheridan's new allies. Captain, if you will allow us, we can attempt to save Anna just as we're doing for Carol."
"Stay out of this! This is between me and my husband!" Anna cried. Sheridan nodded. He knew that Seer Clethis must be telling the truth. He had read her mind and seen her true thoughts.
Clethis sensed no Shadow creatures around Ann so he meerly put her to sleep and she collapsed into John's arms.
"We'll take her to our medical facility. You can visit her whenever you wish," West said.
"Thank you. Thank you so much," Sheridan said. Wen the three others were gone, Sheridan satbakc in his chair. He still couldn't belive Anna was alive. He knew that if West hadn't come he would have gone with Anna and something terrible could have happened. He only hoped that West and his people could help Anna.
Mr. Mordon punched a wall in frustation. He had thought Anna could have brought Sheridan over to their side, but now she was in the custody of West and his people. Now his associetes would have to stage a major attack and destroy West, or else he and his allies could eventually bring an end to all the chaos in hte galaxy.
"It's time to move on to the next phase of the plan," he said.
How was that? Now Bester's on the good side and Anna will soon be back to the woman John once knew. But will Mordon and the Shadows destroy everything West is trying to build. Find out soon. Next chapter we're going back to the 40k galaxy, where the final battle against Tzeench will begin. Stay tuned to Center of the Webs. See you then, and don't forget to revew!
ENTILZA