Thirteen

Chapter Three:

Don't Frak With Ivanova!

When Commander Bill Adama dreamed of the first encounter with those from the lost thirteenth colony of Earth, he had a surprisingly idealistic vision of how it would go. When the president of the Earth Alliance's shuttle landed in the starboard flight bay of the Colonial Battlestar Pegasus, he knew it was going to be far different from what he had hoped the event would be.

He had sent two Vipers and a Raptor to bring back his men, Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol and Electronic Countermeasures Officer Karl "Helo" Agathon, who had been sentenced to execution for the death of Lieutenant Thorne, a Cylon interrogator who had allegedly attempted to rape the Cylon prisoner known as Sharon Valerii. He had failed when Tyrol and Helo had stormed the cell and thrown Thorne off of her, only to have his head slam into the side of the cell by accident and snap his neck, killing him instantly.

Just before the battlestars' Vipers exchanged fire, the EAS Independence jumped in and sent out a broadband transmission over the Colonial communication channels that Kara "Starbuck" Thrace had given the crew of the Earth Alliance vessel. It was EA President Garrison Hollifield who had made the contact:

This is Garrison Hollifield of the Earth Alliance to Colonial Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus. You are engaging in unauthorized military activities in Earth Alliance territory, and you are hereby ordered to cease and desist activities immediately. If you fail to do so, we shall open fire to disarm and disable your fighters and your ships. You have one Earth minute to respond.

At that moment, the Warlock-class destroyers Titans and Paladin jumped into normal space as well, along with several Whitestars. The Minbari and Centauri vessels stayed behind at Hollifield's request in hyperspace. They were along for the trip back to Earth for the first state visit of new Interstellar Alliance president Delenn. Vir Cotto had wanted to come along after the inauguration to Earth to make a more "unofficial" visit for reasons of his own, and, being the Centauri Emperor, his forces could only obey his command.

Adama's Mark II Vipers and Raptors pulled back and returned to Galactica, but Admiral Nelena Cain's Mark VII Vipers' turned towards the oncoming Starfury Thunderbolts and prepared to fire. On board the Pegasus, Cain was starting to come unglued, and Colonel Jack Fisk had to act fast to convince her to stand down. After a tense moment, Cain realized she had no choice and stood down, but not before one of her Vipers opened up on one of the Thunderbolts, damaging it but not harming the pilot.

An enraged President Hollifield demanded to speak to the commanding officer of the Pegasus as well as Commander Adama and the command staff from the Galactica immediately aboard Cain's ship, and took to an atmospheric shuttle to travel over there. Accompanying him were the now-former ISA president John Sheridan, Michael Garibaldi, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Susan Ivanova, Doctor Stephen Franklin, as well as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.

Ivanova's fists were clenched with rage at what Cain's pilots had done. "I want answers, dammit, and she'd better give them, or else…" Ivanova pounded a fist on her thigh and let out a furious breath.

Starbuck made an observation, "General, I think you'll find Admiral Cain to be a real bitch."

Sheridan snorted and said, "Wait until she meets Ivanova, then we'll see who the biggest bitch is!"

Ivanova looked at her former commanding officer and glared at him, replying, "Damn straight we will!"

Colonel Saul Tigh stood between his CO, Commander Adama, and Colonial President Laura Roslin, and barely could contain his giddiness at seeing Admiral Cain being brought down a peg by those people from Earth. He whispered into Adama's ear without turning his head, "She's really screwed her pooch now. Wonder what they'll say to her?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it isn't going to be pretty." Adama replied, then he turned to watch the gangway lower itself down from the EA shuttle. Gasps and whispers filled the massive hanger deck, but Adama remained calm. Cain may have blundered, but he felt that he, along with Roslin, could salvage the situation.

The first off the shuttle were what looked to be presidential bodyguards, and Adama squinted his eyes and focused hard when he saw what they were wearing. It looked to be very similar to the usual civilian business suits, except the lapels were different and there were no neckties.

The next person off was a broad shouldered man of his own age, with black hair and clad in a sharp looking navy blue suit similar to the black ones the bodyguards wore. The next two were a taller man with gray hair and beard, walking beside a shorter balding man, who looked around like he was trying to take everything in. Following them, to Adama's surprise, was Starbuck, who was alongside a slightly taller woman who looked to be in her fifties and had the hardest, coldest look he ever saw on an officer.

Hollifield, Sheridan, Garibaldi, and Starbuck came to a stop roughly ten meters beyond the gangway, but Ivanova strode past them and yelled out, "ADMIRAL CAIN!" so loud that it made even him shudder with its sheer anger.

Cain stepped forward and identified herself, asking sarcastically, "And who might you be? I don't…"

Ivanova stepped right in front of her and met her almost nose-to-nose, yelling right in her face. "What the hell is wrong with you? One of your fighters fired on one of mine, and I should have damn well splashed that son of a bitch! You'd better explain yourself!"

Cain was defiant. "Who the hell are you? I don't appreciate being yelled at on my own ship…"

Ivanova cut her off again. "General Susan Ivanova. Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Earthforce. Otherwise known as the Head Bitch In Charge. Now you'd better explain yourself, or I'll have three regiments of Earthforce Marines come on board this ship and start cutting it up for scrap metal."

Starbuck whispered to Garibaldi, "Is she always like this when she's pissed?"

Garibaldi quipped, "Not all the time. You should see her when she's really pissed!"

Starbuck smiled and said, "I like her style!" and hit the smile as she watched Ivanova face off with Cain.

Adama's first instinct told him to step up and defend his superior officer, but this was one of those times when he ignored it. Cain got herself into this mess, he thought, now let her get herself out.

Cain avoided the heated gaze of Ivanova, who was locked in on her face. "I thought you were the Cylons for a moment there. I…I didn't know what else to do."

Ivanova wasn't going to let her off that easy. "Well, here's a new bulletin for you: we're not fragging Cylons! Why didn't you wait to get a positive identification of our ships?"

Cain began to shake, as if she was about to explode. No one moved to stop her or Ivanova, because they clearly didn't know what would happen if they did. Adama and Tigh didn't because they knew that they were probably next, and Roslin didn't because she was afraid that the Earth woman would snap off her head, which was something considering that the Colonial president only had one month to live.

Suddenly, Cain pulled out her gun and pointed it right in the face of Ivanova, who didn't flinch. "Walk away! Damn you, get off my ship!" Cain yelled.

Sheridan said, "Uh oh!" softly, and Garibaldi went to reach for his phased plazer gun that he hid inside his jacket, only to be stopped by Hollifield. "Let me handle this Michael!" said the Earth Alliance president, who focused his gaze upon the admiral.

Starbuck didn't know what was going on, and asked the president, "What are you doing, sir?"

"Making sure she doesn't pull that trigger." Hollifield said as he squinted his eyes and focused.

Cain was shaking, and her finger was vibrating on the trigger. Tears came to her eyes, and, to the shock of everyone there, she collapsed onto the deck, dropping the pistol beside her and breaking down. "I can't take it anymore! I can't!" Cain cried out.

Ivanova went from being a royal bitch to being a sympathetic figure in almost an instant. Others tried to huddle around her, but she shooed them off, saying, "Give her air!" To Cain, she said, "Whatever it is, it'll be ok!" as she hugged the admiral and gently helped her up to her feet.

Doctor Ishmael Astor examined the admiral thoroughly for the first time since the attacks on the Twelve Colonies and saw what no one on the Pegasus could see before then: Cain was suffering from a severe case of post-traumatic stress syndrome. "She needs rest. Time to recover. We ALL need time to recover. The stress levels of the crew are off the charts!"

Adama, Roslin, and Tigh stood in the infirmary with Sheridan, Garibaldi, Ivanova, and Starbuck, along with Doctor Cottle from the Galactica and Colonel Fisk. Cain had been sedated and was lying in bed with an IV running to her right arm.

Doctor Cottle concurred, saying, "If we could just find a safe harbor…"

Tigh snorted, "Where the hell are we going to find a place like that?"

Sheridan thought about it for moment and said, "I know just the place."

About an hour later, they were assembled aboard the Independence for a meeting. "So what is this place? You said the name was…Babylon 9?" asked Roslin.

Sheridan corrected her, "Babylon 5, not 9. I used to command the station years ago. It would be the perfect place to harbor your ships, providing that President Hollifield agrees."

"I think we could do it. I'd have to talk to Admiral David Rissen about this. He commands the station now, and he's an old friend of mine, so he should be up for something like this. Getting supplies there shouldn't be a problem, and there's plenty of room for the surviving humans on board." Hollifield said.

"Yeah, considering you've been fighting to keep it open for years. Ever since the Interstellar Alliance was formed and based on the Minbari homeworld, the station's become redundant. Good thing you did, because we can use it right now." Garibaldi added.

Adama looked at Garibaldi and asked, "Minbari homeworld? I thought you said you were from Earth?"

Hollifield answered, "We are. Well, Garibaldi's from Mars, but Mars is..well, nevermind. I take it that you've never had first contact with an extraterrestrial species before?"

Adama replied, "You're it!"

Sheridan said, "Well then, you're in for a surprise. Because there's more than one race in this universe than humans."

Adama looked at Roslin and Tigh, who both had perplexed expressions on their faces, then he said, "When can we meet one?"

"As a matter of fact, you can meet two of them." Sheridan said, and he pressed a button on the panel on the table, activating a communications link. "Sheridan to bridge. Please ask Delenn and Emperor Vir Cotto to join us."

Several minutes later, they all stood up around the table as the doors opened. To Adama's surprise, his heart was thudding in his chest. He hadn't felt like this since he met Caroline Adama, his former wife, for the first time. Tigh was just as nervous as well, and Adama could tell that Roslin had butterflies in her stomach too.

Through the doors walked a woman with long hair, black with some gray in it. She would have looked human, except for the bone crest sticking out if her head like a reversed tiara. The other man was clad in all white, and his hair stood uplifted like a crown. Delenn bowed before the Colonials, fingers together and steepled in the traditional Minbari greeting, saying, "On behalf of the Interstellar Alliance, I welcome you."

Before Emperor Vir Cotto could introduce himself, Tigh couldn't help but say, "I'll be damned!"