Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
The years had passed so rapidly, Susan thought tiredly. She had just eased herself out of bed and had felt the cold of the floor in her rooms in the Ranger compound on Mimbar. She had been the vice president and Entil'zah for ten years now. She looked into the mirror, at least she didn't look older, her hair was as chestnut colored as ever, her skin as tight. Her figure was slim, with nothing but perfectly toned muscle on her elegant bone frame. Stephen said she was too thin, underweight. He fussed too much. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt hungry, or interested in food. She was forty five years old, but she still looked thirty. She didn't feel thirty this morning. Or forty five for that matter. Her bones felt old. She had been in the military for nearly thirty years now. She had spent years fighting these wars. These last ten years she had spent most of her time with her fleet, fighting, gathering intelligence, supplies, alliances, planning the next battle, building up her forces. It was rare that she was on Mimbar.
Her rooms were simple yet elegant. The drapes were partially drawn over her windows. It was just moments before sunrise and the light was beautiful. It was nice to wake up to the light of dawn she thought. She made up the bed and began to stretch herself slowly, readying herself for a long day. She washed and dressed in the now familiar black skirt, black turtle neck and long black cloak, fastened the dennbok and pin in place and made up her hair in a bun as always.
She was on Mimbar for a meeting of the war council. In the last decade they had destroyed most of the dark alliance. They were pushed back to their base near the Rim. Although they knew that the dark forces could never be destroyed, if this battle went well, they would never be a serious or unmanageable threat for many years. She had arrived late and had not seen anyone yet, all of whom were already there, waiting for her to make the long trip from the Rim.
She went out into the garden to walk about a bit, marveling as she always did the beauty of the planet. Space was always her love. However, her years of fighting and grief had given her a serenity which could appreciate things such as quite moments among plant life. She wasn't expecting anyone to be up yet. John she knew, in the years since he had left Earthforce had allowed his habits to become more and more leisurely. He kept a beard, had put on weight and she knew slept in as late as he could. Michael and Stephen were the same. Delenn, if she did rise early, would stay with John and David. David, was a teenager and so would sleep the day away if allowed. The rest she wasn't that close with.
This battle was especially important to her. Sixteen of John's twenty years were up. She didn't want him to die, still fighting the Allies of the Shadows. She wanted him to have a few years with his son and wife. David was only fourteen, he would barely be eighteen when his father died. It wasn't fair, Susan thought. She knew that eighteen was an adult. She had joined Earthforce when she was younger. She had graduated early. Her mother had home schooled her so when she died, Susan at ten, was at an eighth grade level. She finished the four years left in three, graduating at thirteen. She had even gone to college, majoring in business like her father wanted her to and minoring in art like she wanted to. It had been her dream to open an art gallery. She felt art spoke to her in a way no one could. She had art books filled with sketches and paintings that her college teacher had told her would sell. The war and Ganya's death had changed that. She had joined Earthforce just after her sixteenth birthday. By eighteen she had graduated from academy and held the rank of Ensign. Still that wasn't an adult she thought. It was too young to lose your father.
She heard footsteps and a figure approaching. She rose and shook her dennbok open on pure instinct, positioning herself for battle. Instead, of battle, laughter filled her ears and the friendly form of her oldest friend met her eyes. As she stood down he swept her in a hug. She had not seen him in person in over a year. He was the diplomat, the politician, she was the warrior, in these days, she was too needed else where to be much help in the daily functions of the alliance. They chatted as friends will all the way to his and Delenn's home.
They seated themselves at the kitchen table. John poured them both a cup of coffee. He was at ease in the kitchen, and she smiled to see how domesticated he was. It was early morning now. The sun was up, and it was so quiet, the perfect moment to have alone with a friend. " It is good to see you again," he told her, smiling deeply in his boyish way.
" Good to see you too, it has been a while."
' I can't remember the last time we had a moment alone to talk."
Susan hummed in response and took a sip of her coffee. John continued. " Things aren't going as well as they were when this war started ten years ago."
" What do you mean ? The battles are going well, we are winning. We are taking minimal casualties and increasing our forces ten fold. Our technology and power are both advancing."
" The post Shadow war alliances, which united us all are dividing. There are no open hostilities yet, but distrust and such are increasing in the non align worlds. We cannot count on them to come together if we need them."
" The planet is closest to Mimbari Space, will the Gray Council help?"
" According to Delenn it is unlikely. You know Delenn has gone back to being Satai." At her nod he continued. " As the majority vote is held by worker caste, it is unlikely. Worker caste wants peace at any cost."
" Sometimes peace is just another word for surrender."
" I know." Both were silent a moment, contemplating her words. " What then?" she demanded tiredly.
" I don't know. We will figure something out. It is not fair to you that you are the one on the line all the time. I should be there."
" No, you have a wife and child. So does Michael and Stephen is in a serious relationship. On top of which he is not a tactician but probably the most senior expert in exobiology and head of the Alliance medical department. None of you can be spared if anything happens."
" Neither can you. When will you get that into your head. Marcus didn't give you his life so you could adopt a death wish, though even before I wondered. You should have settled down years ago. Yes this work is important. But we should all share the risk."
" There is no one else I would have wanted to be with. And quite frankly I have nothing else to be doing. I don't even know what I am going to do when this is over. "
" Marcus said you told him you wanted to travel after the war with the Shadows and Clarke. Don't you want to do that?"
" That was a long time ago."
" You should. You need a vacation. I checked the records, you haven't had a day off that was not medical related that whole time you have been vice president, in the years before that when you were captain, on Babylon 5, that is twenty years. In fact, I don't think you have had a day off since you joined Earth force. Since you were teenager."
She hummed to show that he was correct. " Before Babylon I didn't really need it, I was young, after the wars I didn't want it, too much time to think and now there is so much to do. But I was thinking I would like to go back to Russia, I still haven't visited Papa's grave. Our house in Saint Petersburg and the summer cottage in the North are maintained by some service so I would like to stay there a few days. Maybe even go to Arisia and see the colony. I heard it has rebuilt."
" It has been. Some of the Rangers have gone there as a sort of pilgrimage. In memory of Marcus and William."
The conversation shifted back to the war. Slowly, each of the war council made his or her way down stairs. The final battle would take place near the allies home world. The planet was heavily mined, much like Episilon 3. Unlike Epsilion, there was no Draal to help them. Susan had been gathering intelligence on this and was able to predict where the mines were most likely situated. Her plan, to take fury like ships and have them drop the initial bombs, to disable them before the rest of the fleet opened fire. With the rest of the council, the wrinkles were smoothed out of the plan.
It took a week for them gather the everyone. Finally, the plan was made to split the fleet. Half of it would be in Susan's control and would be in charge of destroying the planet. The other half would be in John's control and would fight the enemy ships. The two fleets met in hyperspace and together jumped into normal space.
As John's fleet started defending Susan's fleet and taking down the ships that fired. Susan herself had been in a fury and as John's fleet began to take care of the enemy ships, she along with 30 or so of her pilots launched the furies and in the formation she commanded swooped down to the planet. She knew where the mines where and what their range was so she and her pilots avoided them, going down together and firing at once rising from the planet. The explosion caused something to hit her fury, knocking it off course. Luckily she was able to regain control and quickly return to the ships with her pilots, none of whom were hit. The collision had caused her arm to break, but that was nothing serious she thought. The whole way back to the ship, and then the whole way to the bridge she gave orders before rushing into the bridge to see the battle from the windows and order a 90 second continuous firing of the planet by her 50 ships.
At the same time, John and his fleet had eliminated half of the 40 ships of the enemy, the rest they were now crashing into the smoking planet. It was probably the most intensive 90 seconds of battle ever. In those seconds the remaining ships were forced to crash, and the planet was left as nothing more then a pile of smoking rock. As John's voice came over the communications system, declaring it a victory. She eased herself into the captain's chair, resting her broken arm on the arm rest, her head leaning back and her eyes closed in a rare moment of relief
Author's note: Sorry this has taken so long. I am a high school senior this year and it is crazy right now, I have so much to do. Any way, I know that the stuff about her background is unlikely but that is the way I want it. I am thinking one more chapter. Please read and review and let me know what you think.