"Attention this shuttle has now arrived at research station Neptune-Beta. We are waiting for the atmosphere and pressure to be restored and then you will be free to disembark. I trust you had a good flight."

Susan yawned, ignoring the pilot's voice. She had travelled on enough shuttles in her time with Earthforce to be familiar with the routine by now. Undoing the tight restraints that had held her fast in her seat throughout the long trip, she rose and stretched to get any kinks out of her body. Then she smoothed down her uniform, and ran a brush quickly through her hair trying to make herself somewhat presentable for the party she knew would be awaiting her. She felt surprisingly good, the short rest on the trip restoring her somewhat, although she doubted that it had driven away all the effect of the sleep deprivation she had suffered recently.

Standing near the shuttle door, Susan realised that this was a decisive moment in her life. As soon as she walked out the door, she would be beginning a new chapter in her life. Behind her was Babylon 5, the war, Marcus, and ahead was a fresh start with a new ship with a new crew. It wouldn't be the same as serving on Babylon 5, a warship was very different from a large space station, even if it was one of the largest ever built and carried a crew of well over a thousand. Besides, this was only meant to be a shakedown cruise, a quick jaunt around the colonies to iron out any problems with the new vessels before Earthforce began full production, she probably wouldn't even see any action.

The green light over the shuttle hatch came on and Susan reached down and twisted the lever on the inside of the hatch, forcing it open. It slid away to the side with a hiss and she quickly walked down the stairs and onto the metal floor of the docking bay. Across from her a small group of men and woman, some in Earthforce uniforms, some in the white coats of the research division, were walking steadily towards her. Slinging her small travel bag over her shoulder, she marched off to meet them, her face an impassive mask of determination.

Whatever she might be feeling inside Susan had learned many years ago never to show anyone what she was really feeling. She tried to always appears strong and determined to others, and always finish the job, no matter what she really felt inside. It was part of what made her such a good officer; she had the ability to tune out other distractions and concentrate just on her job, forgetting about everything else. This was what she did now not wanting to give anyone the impression she was weak and not suited for the captaincy of Earthforce's new flagship.

The group from the station met her half way across the docking bay, lead by a short, overweight, dark-skinned man in the uniform of an Earthforce Admiral. She gave a short and sharp salute as she pulled up next to him and then shook the hand he offered her.

"Captain Ivanova," the Admiral said with a broad smile. "Welcome to Neptune-Beta. I am Admiral Kiernan, in command of this station and much of the work that goes on here, or at least that's what I tell myself. If you have time, perhaps you would care to meet the rest of my staff before I get someone to show you to your quarters. Some of them will be serving with you on the Rasputin."

Susan nodded her ascent, as the Admiral knew she would and he quickly introduced the rest of his staff one by one.

"This is Dr. Nathan Kozlowski, head of research," he said, indicating a short, thin man who looked about sixty and had a large number of papers and charts clutched under his arm, one of which he was reading intently. So intense was his study of the document he did not even seem to be aware of either officer's presence.

"No doubt he will want to talk with you later about your new command." At this, the doctor looked up from the document he had been reading and started to speak, but the Admiral had already whisked Susan away and down the line of Earthforce officials, introducing them one after the other. Dr Kozlowski closed his mouth again and looked glum for a moment before noticing something interesting on the paper he was holding and went back to his reading.

"And finally, we have Lt. Commander Philip Moore who will be serving as your chief engineer on the Rasputin. He was involved with this project since we began construction of the prototype Warlock and will be joining you for this shake-down cruise."

Susan shook the hands of the tall, well-muscled, dark-skinned engineer, most likely a Polynesian by birth, and took the time to appraise him carefully, as he was the first of her command crew she had met. Phillip Moore was not what she had expected of an engineer. Built more like an athlete than a man who spent all his time working on a starship engines, his tall well-muscled frame towered above the other officers and engineers gathered to meet her. The engineer smiled under her appraising gaze. "I look forward to working with you, Captain," he said. "The Rasputin is one hell of a ship, I'm sure you'll like her as much as I do."

"I hope I do," Susan replied, before moving to join Admiral Kiernan who was waiting by the pressure doors leading into the station proper.

She could feel the eyes of several of those she had just meet boring into her back as she walked away, and quickened her place slightly. Reaching the Admiral's side she asked him, "Where are the rest of my command staff, haven't they arrived yet?"

"Yes they have arrived," the Admiral replied, placing his hand on the control that operated the pressure doors, and then standing back as the massive doors slid open with a low hissing sound. "Most are already aboard the Rasputin. There has been a minor problem with one of the systems that they are busy working to fix that before the commissioning ceremony tomorrow."

"What sort of problem," Susan asked. "Nothing serious I hope."

Kiernan shook his head. "I don't think so, but Doctor Kozlowski would know more about that than me, he is in charge of the technical side of the things. I just sign the authorisation papers and greet all the dignitaries. Speaking of which, I have to go and meet with the ISN crew our new president has allowed on board, they seem very interested in this new vessel, or perhaps just in its captain?" He turned and eyed her carefully with a questioning expression on his face. When she did not respond, he shrugged and said, "I will meet you later in the officers mess for dinner. Philip and Nathan can give you a short tour of our facilities if you like, and show you to your quarters."

"Then I will see you tonight Admiral," Susan said with another salute. The Admiral returned her salute and spinning round on his well-polished boots, marched off up the corridor leading towards the command section of station. Most of his staff left with him and Susan was soon left in the company of just Nathan Kozlowski and Philip Moore. Looking at the doctor, who was still busy reading his reports she asked, "So Doctor, what is the delay with my vessel. I had thought most of my new crew would be here to meet me."

The doctor's eyes slowly crept up from the paper he was reading and were captured by her cool, steady gaze as she looked toward him and waited for an answer. He shuffled his papers, and looking a little embarrassed for a moment. "Um, nothing important, Captain, we are just experiencing a… um… a minor technical hitch with the artificial gravity at the moment, nothing that won't be fixed by tomorrow of course. It does mean, however, that no one can go aboard or leave the Rasputin for the moment. Well... not without a lot of trouble anyway, as we had to…"

"Artificial gravity?" Susan looked a little amazing, for as far as she had known Earth did not yet possess a functioning artificial gravity system. "I wasn't aware the Warlock class vessels had artificial gravity."

"Well it doesn't at the moment," Philip Moore said with a light, teasing laugh, interrupting the doctor's explanation. "That is the problem."

"It does actually," Kozlowski said, his voice rising slightly in response to the engineers prodding. "There are just some minor issues with some of the more complex systems. There is nothing wrong that we can not fix, but until the system is repaired the ship can not get under way."

Philip laughed again. "Right, whatever you say doctor. If you ask me the whole system is faulty. When we first tested it, not only did it take up nearly the entire output of four fusion reactors, that's four by the way, each larger and far more advanced than the old Omega reactors, but we couldn't fire any the ships primary guns without crashing the whole systems."

Susan looked slightly concerned at this, and Kozlowski quickly rushed to assure her. "Don't worry captain, we have since added two new experimental gravitic-enhanced reactors, dedicated to supporting the artificial gravity, as well as providing backup power support to the rest of the ship's system."

Philip snorted at this. "Of course, it wasn't until the Minbari came through with the technical specs for their artificial gravity systems that we were able to build them. Originally we were going to mount solar panels aft of the missile pylons for additional power."

The doctor looked indignant at this. "They would have worked, my biosilicate design was nearly one hundred percent efficient. With two additional standard reactors, the solar panels and the advanced storage cells, we could have had a functioning AG system without any assistance from the Minbari."

"On paper, Nathan, we never fully tested your designs. I still have reservations about the power load from AG while in combat, the continual drain from sustained weapons fire could caused an overload."

The doctor was just about to answer again when Susan spoke up, wanting to end the argument before it went on for too long. Obviously, this was something the two men argued about often, but it was giving her a headache. "Enough, all I want to know is when I can go aboard, when can I meet my crew, and when the ship will be operational."

Philip and Nathan looked at each other and the doctor consulted some notes for a minute before answering. "Um, well you could go aboard now, but there won't be much in the way of gravity until we replace the damaged coils on deck nine and ten and reboot the system. Then, we still have that water leakage problem on deck eight, so it would be best to stay here for now. The AG system should be up and running again sometime tonight... with any luck, and that should enable us to fix most of the other problems. It was only a short in one of the less important circuits so that will be repaired and replaced in a few hours. Then we have to check the rest of the circuits and you will be able to board after the commissioning ceremony tomorrow morning. We can finish reinforcing the water tanks later, I'm sure the seals won't break again."

"Don't worry Captain," Philip cut in. "I won't let him start pulling it all apart again like he did last month. I know they have had you waiting on Station Prime for nearly a month now, so if it can be ready in time it will be."

Susan nodded and asked, "that's something to look forward too at least, but where will I be staying for the night."

Philip smiled, "there has been a room put aside for you in the habitat ring. Right next to the ISN quarters."

Susan groaned, "Please tell me you are joking."

"I am afraid not captain, it was the only room available. If it makes you feel any better I can order security to ensure their doors are locked at night. That way they can't get out and start running around wreaking things." Philip's tone was only half teasing as he said this.

"That might be best," Susan said with a faint smile.

"Yes, I imagine that you must be getting quite sick of them by now."

Susan nodded and was about to reply when she noticed something through the large windows that looked out over the construction yards. As the station rotated, a massive ship was just coming into view. "It that her," she asked, slightly in awe of what she saw.

"Yep, that's the Rasputin all right, quite a beauty isn't she." Philip walked over to the window to look out at the silver and grey-hulled vessel sitting idle in the construction dock, the occasional blue spark from a welder showing where a construction crew was still working on the hull.

The doctor also walked over to join the other two, his papers forgotten for the moment as he looked in admiration at his creation. "The best ship in the fleet, more powerful that any other vessel in space now that the Vorlon's are gone."

Susan looked at him. "You can't be serious, what about the Minbari or the Centauri vessels. No Earthforce ship has ever been able to stand up against them."

The doctor looked out at his creation with a smug grin, before turning to Susan to answer her question. "Well this one can. It is designed to take a beating and keep on fighting, and if that gun hits a Minbari vessel then they will die just the same as any other ship."

Susan followed his arm and saw what the doctor was pointing out to her. Slung underneath the front of the ship was that largest gun she had seen on a warship, a huge weapon of destruction unlike any she had ever seen before. "What the hell is that?"

Philip laughed, "that captain is the heavy particle cannon. It is the pride and joy of the researchers out here on Neptune-Beta, the single most powerful starship-mounted weapon ever built by the Earth Alliance. Even the weapons on the old Earth defence grid wouldn't have been a match for this baby. It can cut through almost anything, and as far as we know there is no defence against it."

"It works similar to some of the Minbari weapons," Nathan Kozlowski added. "It fires a steam of charged particles across space and the beam can be used to slice an enemy vessel up, rather than just blow up sections like the plasma weapons."

Susan appeared suitably impressed, but somewhere in the back of her mind she felt niggling sensation that she had seen something very similar to what they were describing not so long ago. Before she could examine the ship further though, the station rotation took it away from the construction docks and the Rasputin was gone from view. She thought about waiting around until the station rotated again, but noticed that her guides were ready to move on.

"Come on, we might as well get going," Philip was saying. "You quarters for the night are off in this direction and you had best get settled if you are going to be on time to meet the admiral for dinner. He always has an early meal."

"Lead on then, now that you mention it I am feeling a little hungry." Susan smiled as she said that, but realised that she was hungry and wondered when she had last sat down for a proper meal. She thought about it for a moment and could not remember the last time. The past few months had been nothing more than quickly grabbed snacks or meals in her quarters, she had never had the time to sit down and eat with the rest of the crew, or at one of Babylon 5's various restaurants.

"Don't worry Captain," Doctor Kozlowski chuckled. "The admiral will give you a good feed, as you might have noticed he does like the odd snack."

By now, Susan and her companions had reached the entrance to one of the long passageways that crossed the open space between the various rotating sections of the space station. The passages between the various sections of the research station were in zero-g so a quick shuttle had been built to transport those who wished to travel between each section. The station itself was divided into five sections, docking, research, construction, habitat and command. Each section was linked by long glass corridors, down which the shuttles ran. Pressing the door control, Phillip stepped into the shuttle and waited until Susan and Nathan had joined him before operating the control that started the small shuttle towards the habitat section of the station.

Susan could see the whole station through the glass-like corridor as the shuttle hurtled down it towards the next section. She could also see her ship, and behind it another two vessels, one under construction and the third, covered with a dark, mottled hull, a hull-type that she recognised only too well. She could not help but shiver at the sight of the Warlock, remembering again the sight of the modified Earth destroyers leaping from hyperspace all around her and the deaths of those on the other White Star's and then finally the collision and the blackness that followed.

Philip noted her looking at the Warlock and the way she reacted, but did not say anything. Unlike most of those working on the station, he knew that she had lead the White Star's that had destroyed the modified Omega's, vessels that had been modified here at Neptune-Beta. It was still a bit of a sore point with some of the researchers here, and he did not want to remind the doctor about it. They had been his babies after all.

Susan was not willing to let it pass so easily though and as soon as their shuttle had reached the habitat section and they were under the effects of a normal gravity again she asked, "What was that second vessel we passed just then?"

Dr. Kozlowski looked at her. "What vessel? Do you mean the Warlock?"

"Yes. I want to know why it's here. Don't you realise that it is using Shadow technology."

"Shadow Technology?" the doctor looked at her, a quizzical expression on his face.

"Yes, the hull, it is the same as the advanced-tech Omega destroyers Clark used in the war."

The doctor looked confused for a moment, and then with a look of dawning comprehension he added. "Oh you mean the biosilicate armour on the hull. Yes, we did use that to modify some of the older destroyers last year. The armour proved quite effective during testing, although some people did have a somewhat adverse reaction to the initial design for some reason. They said they found it somewhat disconcerting to be near. So we had to alter the hull of the production models."

Susan almost sighed in relief, but instead just nodded. "Good, I don't think I would want to be on a vessel like that one. Anything related to the Shadows still scares the hell out of me."

The doctor was about to open his mouth and tell her something, but Philip slapped his large hand across it, before Kozlowski could speak. He did not want to upset the captain, not now anyway. She would have to learn later that the Rasputin had the same hull as the Warlock, it just had another layer of more standard hull material across the surface, hiding the semi-organic biosilicate hull beneath.

Susan shuddered at the thought of the Shadow vessels, the way they had screamed in her mind as they had passed. She hadn't told anyone yet, but she had been more effected by them than the others. She, as a latent telepath had picked up more intensely the thoughts of pain, anger, and horror that had come from the ships, but without training to use her abilities had been unable to block them out like Lyta and the other telepaths that they had used during the war. She had felt the full force of the screams and the thoughts of what she had felt and heard still haunted her crowded nightmares.

Philip and Kozlowski were waiting for her, the engineer's face showing his concern. Silently she cursed herself for showing her fear and straightened up. "Which way to this room you were talking about," she asked the engineer, trying to look calm and collected, and brush aside her reaction to the sight of the Warlock.

"This way," Philip answered, pointing down a corridor. "There aren't many others around at the moment, but most of the station crew will be down here later. The doctor and I have to be return to the construction dock though; we still have some repairs to complete. I believe that the Admiral sent someone to unload your possessions and put them aboard the Rasputin."

"Good," Susan said as she walked steadily down the corridor, her irrational fear at the sight of the Warlock now gone.

"Oh and that reminds me, a package arrived for you from Babylon 5 last week. I think it is in your quarters here on the station."

Susan looked confused. "A package. I wasn't expecting anything. I took everything I cared about with me when I left."

Philip shrugged. "All I know is that it arrived last week, addressed for you, from President Sheridan I think."

Susan was even more confused now, but hid it with a nod, as if to show the engineer that his explanation had made everything clear. She followed the two men down a corridor before Philip halted outside a door, sliding a card into the lock to open it. Inside was a basic room, with little more than a bunk, shower cubicle, and some other basic furnishings. Sitting on the floor was a large plastic packing container, the package that Philip had mentioned.

The engineer handed her the card he had used to open the door. "Well here you go captain, dinner is in about an hours time. We are fairly informal when off duty around here so you don't need to wear your uniform. The computer can direct you if you need to find the way around, or you just ask one of the crew. I have to return to the Rasputin, but will see you tomorrow morning at the ceremony."

Susan nodded and said, "thanks for showing me around Lt. Commander."

The tall engineer just smiled again, flashing his white teeth. "No trouble at all Captain, we are shipmates now after all, and we all have to get along if we are going to be serving together. Come on Nathan, lets get going, we have work to do."

The doctor was again busy with his reports, so Philip grabbed him by the arm. Startled he dropped a couple of papers and Susan bent down to pick them up. "Thank you captain," he said as she handed them back to him. "I am sure you will enjoy serving on my ship, it is after all the best in the fleet, all the latest upgrades, all the latest improvements. There is nothing we have left out, it is not like that old station you have been on for the last few years."

"I am sure I will doctor," she said, slightly annoyed at the way he had dismissed Babylon 5. After all to her is hadn't been some old station, but her home. "But for now I need a shower, something to eat, and a good nights sleep. I will see you later." With that she turned towards the computer and said, "close." With barely a sound, the door to the room shut and left her alone again, at least for a little while.

A sonic shower was never the same as a real hot water one, but on a starship or space station, it was usually the best one could expect. They felt similar, but Susan had grown used to her shower on Babylon 5, one of the few on the station that had been allowed to use real water. Only the senior officers quarters, and the ambassadors had running water, and it was one of the things that she was really going to miss about Babylon 5. It had been her one luxury that she would allow herself everyday, well that and the coffee that she had grown herself in the botanical gardens. She knew that it was unlikely that she would feel warm water against her skin again for some time, as on a starship water was even rarer than on a station like Neptune-Beta, or Babylon 5.

Stepping out of a sonic shower was never the same either. When she had finished showering back on Babylon 5 she could always look forward to drying herself with the soft Centauri towels she had received from Londo Mollari as a birthday present the first year she had been there, but with a sonic shower she was already dry so all she could do was get dressed. It was not the same, but she would have to get used to it. At least she felt clean now. A sonic shower did clean you as thoroughly as a real shower at least, although they had always seemed to leave her feeling cold when she got out.

At least her room was nice and warm. The first thing she had done had been to turn up the temperature a few extra degrees, giving the room a much more cosy feel than it had before. This station, like all of those built since the Minbari war, allowed each room to maintain a separate temperature, instead of the single constant temperature that the older stations maintained. She had also dimmed the lights a little, trying to make it feel a bit more like her quarters back on Babylon 5. Susan knew she would only be here for one night, but she was determined to get as much out of it as possible as it was unlikely that she could expect much in the way of luxuries once she was on board the warship.

She say down on the bunk and ran her brush through her hair, trying to work out some of the tangles that had gathered there over the past few weeks. During her time on Station Prime she had not really been concerned about her appearance and now her hair really needed some work. As she was sitting there she noticed the plastic crate that her guide had pointed out earlier, the one from John. Putting down her brush, she knelt down beside it, curious to see what was inside.

Sitting on top was a data crystal, which had probably been delivered at the same time, so she picked that up and slid it into the viewer.

The wall mounted screen showed the B5 logo for a moment before clearing into the smiling face of John Sheridan, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Susan, I hope this finds you well and happy. A few of us back here decided to put this package together for you, just so you could have a few things to remind you of happier times. I know you left with so little, so we decided to send you a few items that we thought you might need. I know there probably won't be much room on your new ship, but I think you be able to squeeze this crate in as well. I hope you enjoy everything we sent, Lennier and Garibaldi spent a while putting it together. Anyway, I don't have much time so I guess I will look forward to seeing you when you come to visit. Just don't leave it too long, we want to at least hear from you sometime Susan."

The short message ended and Susan frowning, wondering just what was in the package. For a moment, she contemplated opening it later when she was on the Rasputin, but finally she didn't want to wait any longer. Quickly undoing the seal of the packing case and lifted the lid to expose its contents. She gave a slight gasp at what she saw, a collection of beautiful Minbari cloth covering the upper layer of the crate. She quickly pulled them out and ran the soft cloth along her cheek, enjoying the smoothness, and silky feel she had always enjoyed. There were several items of clothing, all for off-duty wear, and a long gown, similar to the ones Delenn often wore. The Minbari seemed to have rituals for everything, even designing clothes and for them to send her so many beautiful garments showed how highly they valued her.

Underneath the gown however was even more. Several bottles of Centauri wine, probably from Londo or Vir. All had been stamped with the logo of house Mollari, and were similar to those she had seen Londo drinking in his quarters whenever she had gone to visited. Next to that was a pile of Narn cookware, and a carved spice rack, made from what looked like bloodwood. Obviously G'Kar didn't want to be outdone by the Centauri so had spent her an even more expensive gift. Then there was a pile of data crystals, featuring some of her favourite music, probably from Stephen. Finally, there was a pair of Daffy Duck boxer shorts, and a small collection of data crystals with titles that made her blush. There she realised were from Garibaldi, recognising his perverse sense of humour. Well, at least he was back to normal now.

Susan realised that John must have organised all of her friends on Babylon 5 to send something to remind her both of them and the station that had been her home for so long. She couldn't help but cry at his thoughtfulness, hugging the Minbari gown to her chest as tears ran down her cheeks. Even though she had left them behind, they still thought of her, still cared enough about her to send her such beautiful gifts. For a moment, she felt intensely homesick, wishing that she were back on Babylon 5 with Garibaldi, Sheridan, and the rest. The feeling passed though as she remembered Marcus, Babylon 5 would never feel the same without him, and every time she went into the war room, or Medlab, or the hundreds of other places she had seen him then she would be reminded of him, and would feel his loss again.

Sniffing she wiped away the tears and checking the clock on the vid screen realised that she was going to be late for dinner unless she got moving. She considered what to wear, Philip had said that it was informal, but she didn't really have anything but her uniform. Then she remembered what she was holding and smiled at the thought of her walking into the officer's mess dressed in Minbari clothing. She decided that it probably wouldn't be the best idea and repacked everything Sheridan has sent her and resealed the crate, before struggling back into her Earthforce uniform.

It proved to be the best choice as the Admiral and several other officers were also dressed in their uniforms, despite what Philip had said earlier. She wondered for a moment if her new chief engineer hadn't been trying to play some sort of joke on her, but then Admiral Kiernan was motioning for her toward his table and she soon found herself sitting beside him, facing a group of civilians, all wearing ISN press badges. Inwardly she groaned at the sight, although knowing that they were probably here to cover the launch of the new destroyer, after all it was not every day that Earthforce launched a completely new class of vessel. She could not help but feel that they were here because of her though.

For the moment, they seemed more interested in their meals, as did everyone on the table. A steward soon arrived with her meal, a concoction of chicken and what looked like mango slices. Chicken wasn't her favourite, but she did like tropical fruit. Tucking in she was soon enjoying one of the first proper meals she had eaten in a long time.

The Admiral seemed to be enjoying his meal as well, judging by the amount on his plate. Wiping his mouth on a napkin he turned to her and asked, "So Captain Ivanova, what do you think of the Rasputin. I gather you got a bit of a look at her earlier."

At his words, she could have sworn that the entire ISN crew suddenly perked up and looked in her direction, and she could almost see their hands reaching for notepads and recording devices that they probably had hidden beneath the table, ready to catch anything she said. Then again, she just might be a little paranoid as well. "Very impressive Admiral, I am certainly looking forward to serving on her."

"Indeed, she is the finest vessel in the fleet Captain, and you are very lucky to get her."

"I thought so as well Admiral," Susan agreed, again wondering why exactly she had been offered the command, especially after all she had fought on the other side during the war.

"Yes, well it seemed that Earthdome was most impressed with the way that you have handled yourself recently and wanted to see what you could do with a command of your own. Besides it seems that you are something of a celebrity these days, even more so than Sheridan." The Admiral turned and stared at the ISN crew, who looked slightly guilty for a moment before appearing to focus their attention on their meals, and the plates of dessert that were just being bought to the table from the kitchen.

The Admiral picked up his and then, motioning Susan to do the same, stood and walked over to the large window that looked out into space. She followed and they sat down in at an empty table looking out at the vast bulk of Neptune as it slowly appeared to drift by the window, although it was actually the station that was moving, not he planet. "I was actually in favour of you taking this command, Susan, and that is mainly why you were offered it. Before Clark, you were always one the most dedicated and loyal of our younger officers and I hope this is still so."

"Of course Admiral, I have always been loyal to Earth."

Admiral Kiernan nodded. "Yes I know you have, as were all of those who fought, no matter what side they were on. It was Clark and those who worked with him we should have been concern with all along. When his researchers arrived here with shuttle loads of alien artefacts, I knew there was something wrong. He spent so much time talking about the Alien influence on earth, yet here we were deciphering artefacts from worlds I didn't even know existed."

"The Shadows," Susan said grimly.

"Shadows? I don't think I ever heard about them. Is that where the artefacts came from?"

Susan nodded, and Kiernan could see a slight look of apprehension, or even fear on her face, a look she quickly hid. "We fought against them, while all the while Clark was working with them, trying to harness their technology for his own purposes."

"Then that was what was going on," Kiernan said, everything now becoming clear to him. "We heard stories of course, about a war among the alien world, but never had any of the details. Out here we were pretty much kept in the dark about what was going on, with only ISN and what they wanted us to know getting through. All I knew was that ship loads of researchers were coming and going, and then after Kozlowski deciphered how to grow more of that biosilicate or what ever he calls it we were asked to refit a fleet of destroyers."

"Yes I know," Susan said, thinking back on the battle she had fought against the modified Omega's. "I fought against them in the war."

"And destroyed them as well," Kiernan said. "That was partly why I wanted you to command the Rasputin. You had the most experience with these ships, and the Warlock class vessels still use a lot of this alien technology, as well as some we developed ourselves from a captured Minbari fighter left over from the Earth-Minbari war, one that we never returned to the Minbari."

Susan looked surprised as he said this. "I though only the Warlock used the Shadow technology, Dr Kozlowski said something about the Rasputin's hull being altered."

Kiernan nodded again. "Yes a conventional outer layer was added after they found people didn't like looking at the Warlock's hull, something about it giving them nightmares. But the original hull is still there, beneath the surface."

Susan shivered again at the thought of it. Kiernan noticed this and quickly spoke to reassure her. "I wouldn't worry though we have made a lot of changes since the Omega modifications. I don't understand the science behind it, but the biosilicate has been modified to grow more regular, less organic, it used to develop growths, spikes I guess you could call them. Everything has been harnessed and is kept under control now, much like any other piece of Earth technology. I guess it is like anything that joins Earthforce, we soon straighten it out."

Smiling faintly at the Admiral's attempted joke, Susan felt a little better, but she knew she was not looking forward to serving on the ship quite as much now. Her mind was filled with thoughts of the screams of the Shadows and their weapons slicing into everything they hit. "I hope you are right Admiral," she said. "The Shadows were an evil race, and their weapons and technology was just like them. You didn't see their planet killer, and what it did to worlds."

The Admiral turned away from the window. "Well I don't think you have too much to worry about. Kozlowski is a genius, if a little absent minded. The other researchers they sent us just tried to modify our vessels to fit the technology, and you saw the results. Kozlowski though modified the technology to fit our vessels and altered it considerably. I have been on board the Rasputin several times, as have your crew and I haven't noticed the same feeling I felt when I was on those Omega's yet."

"Good," Susan said with some considerable relief. She had fought against the modified Omega destroyers, and they had been tough, but she had not intention of serving on one of them. The Rasputin had looked normal enough when she had glimpsed it earlier, but she knew that such appearances often covered up surprises below the surface. She was also curious about her crew. Apart from Philip Moore, the engineer she had yet to meet any of them. She asked the Admiral about this.

Admiral Kiernan was busy eyeing the untouched meal sitting in front of Dr Kozlowski and a little distracted, so her question caught him a little off guard. "Hmm, what was that, the crew. Well they are a good enough bunch, most have been appointed by Earth Central so I don't really know them that well. Some of the engineering crew are from this station though, and they are all good men and woman. As for the others well I can't really tell you anything about them. You will meet them all tomorrow at the ceremony though."

Susan looked a little disappointed. She would have liked to get to know everyone a little before the set off, as she knew that once the ship was commissioned she was expected to fly her out of the dock, although where exactly she had not been told yet. She decided that it might be time to get some rest, for some reason what the Admiral had told her about the destroyer had filled her with apprehension. "Well I had best be getting some sleep then Admiral, I want to be fresh for tomorrow."

"Good idea, would you like me to show you back to your quarters Captain?"

Susan smiled and as graciously as possible turned down his offer and then extracted herself from the room, getting away before the reporters from ISN could corner her with yet more questions. Almost running down the corridor, she returned to her room and after pausing only to take off her jacket before lying down on her bunk.

She felt incredibly tired, despite the nap she had on the shuttle earlier that day. She had thought that she would have been able to move into her quarters on the destroyer that day, but that had not proven possible, and then had come the revelation that the hull had been based on the Shadow vessels. She knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but she should have known that Earthforce wouldn't give up the technology they had gained from the Shadows so easily, despite the fact that they were Clark's allies. Now she was going to be stuck on a vessel using this technology for several months at least.

She knew she was stuck, trapped by her guilt and job. She couldn't go back to Babylon 5, and there was nothing left for her on Earth will all of her family now dead, and here she was, stuck on a ship that she knew she was going to hate. Susan sobbed softly into her pillow as she drifted off to sleep and into the arms of the nightmares, the same ones she had suffered from every night for the past two years.

Soon she was moaning and twisting on the bed as they took hold and she again saw her friends die again and again in her dreams, with the screams of the Shadow vessels cutting into her mind. This time though it was her in control of the Shadow vessel, it was her doing the killing, and there was nothing she could do to stop herself.