Susan yawned as she picked up her cup of coffee and breakfast from the dining room and headed back to her office. Commander Petrov and Lieutenant-Commander Schmitt were both already present and waiting for her. Susan was expecting them, having called a meeting for this morning, but hadn't wanted to miss out on her breakfast. Eying the plate on the tray, she was a little suspicious of what looked like scrambled eggs. It was supposed to be made from some local lizard egg that President Mitrovic had sent a number of up to each of the destroyers in appreciation of their efforts in defending Proxima.
"Is this stuff edible?" she asked Petrov as she took a seat at her desk, placing her tray in front of her.
"Very tasty actually Captain," he replied. "I thought it was anyway. I know the rest of the crew were looking around for more as well. After all, it is rare that we get fresh food on a warship."
Susan didn't look convinced. In her mind eggs came from chickens, not strange alien lizards, especially if they were anything like the lizards she had seen yesterday. Despite her misgivings though, she still took a small bite and to her surprise found that the Commander was not wrong in his judgement and the scrambled eggs were very good idea, a little peculiar in taste, but not unpleasant at all. Certainly, it was better than the usual slop they served in the dining room.
"Well what is on the agenda today?" Susan asked, putting down her fork for a moment.
Petrov looked through a list on his data pad. "Well we have to get to work on repairing the fighters that were damaged yesterday. We also have to organise where to put the five new pilots that transferred over from the Odysseus. As you know, their flight deck badly damaged, so the twenty fighters that survived the battle will be spread around to replace losses on other ships, including our own. Then someone needs to write letters to the families of those who died."
"I will take care of that Captain," Alister Schmitt spoke up from his seat near the door. "They were my pilots after all."
"Thank you Mr. Schmitt," Susan nodded in thanks. She was about to turn back to Petrov when her link beeped. "What is it," she asked.
"President Mitrovic on the com from Proxima Captain," the voice at the other end replied.
"Oh ok. Put him through to my office then."
"Yes Captain."
The screen of her computer blinked with an incoming message, which she immediately accepted. The normal display was then quickly replaced by the round face of the President, still looking as nervous and worried as he had the previous night.
"Captain Ivanova," he said. "I just though you would like to know that we have found the fighter you shot down. One of the crawlers from the dome made it there early this morning and are already on their way back to Gorbachev."
Susan look pleased, if a little surprised that nothing had eaten it during the night. Joe, the mechanic who had given her a lift into Gorbachev the previous night had spent the whole journey informing her about the nature of the dangerous wildlife of Proxima. "Is it still intact," she asked.
"Yes it is. The owners of the crawler also reported that it was a drone fighter after all." He paused for a moment, looking unsure of what to say next. "Anyway I just though you would want to know Captain," he continued.
"Thank you Mr. President," Susan replied. "I will send Dr. Kozlowski down to help your technicians pull it apart. I for one am certainly looking forward to what is inside that thing." Mitrovic nodded and shut off the link from his end. Susan turned back to the two officers sitting opposite her. "Well what do you think of that?" she asked.
"There is no way those things are drones," Alister said firmly. "They were fighting almost as well as our own fighters."
"I would have to agree," Susan said, taking a sip of her drink before continuing. "That one I chased down over the desert certainly did not fight like a machine, and I haven't heard of any computer system that could duplicate what a fighter pilot goes through in battle yet."
"Neither have I," Alister agreed. "Otherwise we would all be using robot fighters instead of risking their pilot's lives. The Narn, Minbari, and even the Centauri all use live pilots. If none of them have been able to come up with a suitable system to run a fighter by now then I don't see why one should appear suddenly now."
"It could be some new system," Petrov offered. "Something a new alien race has come up with."
"From what I saw the ships looked Earth made," Susan said with a frown. "I guess we will have to wait and see what they come up with when they pull the fighter apart. Which reminds me, I should go and tell Dr. Kozlowski that he is needed."
"Do you want me to do that Captain," Petrov offered.
"No I will take care of it," She replied. "Both of you have other things to work on this morning. One last thing, try to ensure that no one else knows about Kozlowski examining the fighter, just in case. I know we can't rely on the civilians on Proxima to keep it quiet for long, but I would like to give the doctor a chance to see what he can find before the press and everyone else moves in."
"Yes Captain," Petrov said, getting to his feet. "With your permission I will get back to work."
Susan waved for him to depart. After a quick salute, Lieutenant-Commander Schmitt also followed the Commander out of the room. She leaned back against her chair and picked up the plate of eggs again. Taking another forkful, she decided that the lizard eggs were rather nice indeed. Organising Kozlowski trip down to Proxima would have to wait until after breakfast.
This was the first time Susan had been anywhere near Kozlowski's quarters, in fact only the third time she had been down to engineering since she had been on board the Rasputin. The still brand new warship was as clean in engineering as it was everywhere else, but somehow Dr. Kozlowski's quarters seemed to defy the trend. Even outside there were piles of junk, mainly empty crates and other packaging by the looks of it. Susan shook her head; amazed that one person could cause so much disruption, and raised her hand to knock on the door.
After knocking Susan had to wait nearly a full minute for the door to open, all the while the sounds of frantic movement came from within, along with the occasional bang or crash. Eventually though the door was opened, just wide enough to allow the balding head of Nathan Kozlowski to be poked out to see who was knocking.
"Captain," he said spying her standing calmly across the hallway from his door. "I didn't expect to see you down here, do come in."
With that invitation, the doctor opened the door wide enough to allow her entry into his quarters. She accepted and walked into something that reminded her vaguely of a cross between a storeroom and a junkyard. A fish tank with a slightly overweight, goldfish was perched precariously on one rickety looking shelf, right next to what appeared to be a small mobile fusion reactor, something the doctor certainly should not have lying around his room. In the centre of all this chaos was a large wooden desk, looking quite out of place among the collection of hi-tech parts that was piled high on the shelves.
Eyeing the desk, Susan noticed that It had been badly damaged quite recently, with a large burn mark across half its surface, and several more scars and blemishes. There was also an object sitting on the centre of the desk that had been covered up with a rag, and she noticed two packing crates on the far side of the room the doctor had covered up with what appeared to be a blanket from his bed. Although she was suspicious of just what sort of experiments Kozlowski was carrying out in his quarters, Susan waited until the doctor was seated before informing him of the reason of her visit. "As I said last night doctor I have a job for you this morning." After he nodded, remembering their brief conversation in the government building on Proxima she continued. "The authorities on Proxima have just dragged in that fighter I shot down over the desert, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going down and helping them out while they try and find out where it came from, and what makes it tick."
"Not at all captain," Kozlowski replied, quickly gathering together a small pile of tools from one of the covered crates and shoving them into a large leather bag he pulled out down from one of the shelves.
"Good," Susan said. "But remember you are going to be working for the Proxima authorities."
"Of course," he replied, ushering Susan out of the door and shutting it behind them. "I wouldn't dream of usurping their authority."
Susan nodded, somewhat assured that he understood the situation. "Then you had better get moving. I have a shuttle being prepared. Remember to call back as soon as you find anything interesting."
As soon as Susan had dismissed him, the doctor headed off down the hallway towards the shuttle bay. He had only gone about ten metres though when he turned back and called out to her. "I have that information you asked for Captain. I will give it too you when I get back." Then he was gone again, hurrying off down the corridor towards the nearest lift.
Susan stared after him, wondering what information he was talking about this time. She certainly hadn't remembered asking any research to be done, and if she couldn't remember it then it didn't happen. Shrugging she dismissed the whole thing as just another of Dr. Kozlowski's eccentricities, and reminded herself how glad she was that he was going to off the ship for the next day or so.
Anderson watched carefully as the doctor and two crewmen walked past him. After a quick surface scan of their minds to make certain they were not looking for him, and another check to ensure no one was looking in his direction, he slipped into his shuttle. Secure inside his shuttle, he tapped into the Rasputin's communications system once more and opened a channel to the city of Xanthe Terra on Mars. As soon as the connection was made he typed in the code that bypassed the security systems on Mars and connected him directly to the apartment of Harvey Kiel.
The Psi-Cop's tired face soon confronted him, and he realised that it must still be night on Mars. "Sorry to wake you Sir," Anderson apologised. "I have just finished going over the final report of the attack."
"Did it go as well as the carrier captain reported?" Kiel asked, the tiredness disappearing from his face, replaced instead with intense interest.
"I think you will be pleased with the results, Sir. Twenty-eight Earthforce fighters destroyed, as well as severe damage to one of the Omega destroyers. Given that the test only used such a small force compared to what we have planned for the final weapon it was a resounding success."
Kiel nodded, pleased. "That is good news, much more than we expected for a first test. Did any of our fighters survive?"
"Not that I am aware of. One hundred and twenty nine were reported destroyed by my sensors, while the last one I believe crashed into the desert on Proxima somewhere."
"Intact?" Kiel asked his voice still calm, but even without being able to hear his thoughts, Anderson knew his superior was worried.
"I don't believe so sir. I haven't heard anything about a captured fighter on the reports I have read so far. I believe that it was destroyed by a Earthforce fighter that followed it down, interestingly it was Captain Ivanova who was piloting that particular fighter."
"Well if there is nothing left to do there I want you at A3 as soon as possible, the builders want to analyse your data as soon as possible so the software can be updated in time for the second test."
"Very good sir," Anderson said. "I will give my excuses to Captain Ivanova and leave as soon as I can." He paused for a moment as he considered something. "One last thing sir, I was wondering if it would be alright to bring my assistant along. She is working out better than I thought and she may prove useful for us later on. Her telekinetic abilities are quite powerful from what she has been showing me, and she could be useful as a bodyguard in the future."
Kiel considered his request for a moment before shaking his head. "No, leave her on the Rasputin. The fewer people who know about this the better. Besides, I am not sure if she can be trusted with all the details of the plan."
"As you wish sir," Anderson said. "I will see you in a few days then."
Kiel nodded, closing down the link from his end. Anderson sighed, it would have been nice to keep Ms. Winters as his assistant, but Kiel was right. After all, she could be a plant sent by Bester or one of the other high-ranking telepaths. Whatever they had done to her during her time in the research division, there was now no way to scan the woman's mind deeply, most unusual considering she was only a P5.
Still Anderson smiled to himself as he realised that although he wouldn't have Ms. Winter's services, Ivanova would. Given the way the Captain had reacted to her presence so far, he almost wished he were sticking around to see what happened. Of course, if he did then he would have to miss the next test, and there was no way he wanted to do that, it should prove to be quite spectacular indeed.
As soon as the image of his assistant had faded from the screen Harvey Kiel got to his feet and turned around, facing the other communication system in his room. As before he switched it on by pressing the organic protrusion jutting out near the bottom, waiting only moments before the hologram of his alien ally appeared in the room.
"It is done?" the creature asked, again its voice whispered to him.
"It is," Kiel said with a low bow. "And it was even more successful that we could have hoped. The fighters were destroyed, but they damaged one Earthforce destroyer and destroyed many of the enemy's fighters."
"The Entire are pleased with this report," was the reply.
Kiel couldn't tell exactly what emotions the creature felt, its head and most of its body still covered by the same dark cloak it had worn every time he had seen it. "What will be out next move," he asked, a little impatiently.
The alien did not even have to pause for thought before replying. "Come at once to the building site. We must be ready to proceed with the next test soon, before our enemies learn of our plans. Bring the data from the first test so we can adjust the programs on the fighters."
It is already on the way," Kiel cut in. "My assistant is bringing it to you personally as soon as he leaves Proxima."
"Good," the alien replied. "You must also come soon. You must be on the weapon when we are ready to test it."
Kiel nodded. "I would not want to miss that test," he said. "I will organise a shuttle to take myself and the rest of the team here on Mars to A3 before the end of the week."
"That is already done," was the swift reply. "You leave in ten of your Earth hours time. Be ready then."
"But..." he stuttered out.
"No argument," the alien ordered, it's voice rising slightly. "Be ready to depart then."
"I will," Kiel said, bowing again so his ally could not see the hatred that was plainly visible in his eyes. When he looked up the alien was gone, having shut off his transmitter before Kiel could argue again. The Psi-Cop was visibly annoyed at the development, especially considering the way the alien had ordered him about. After all, he had been one of President Clark's chief advisers. He had helped run the Clark administration, and was not some lackey to be ordered around by an alien, especially as he was supposed to be the creature's ally, not its servant.
Slamming his hand down on the control that shut off the transmitter, he hurried out of the room to pack. Ten hours was not a long time, and he did not want to leave anything behind that might be useful during the battles that were to come or anything that might allow his enemies here on Mars to trace his journey. The thought of the plan soon bought a smile to his face as he imagined Sheridan and his allies begging to surrender to him. In his mind, he could already see the day when the entire galaxy bowed to him. Then he wouldn't need any alien allies any more, and they, like the rest of his opponents, would be suffering most tragic accidents.
Alfred Bester looked out over the barren landscape of Mars from the large glass window in his office. Outwardly, he looked calm, as if contemplating what he was viewing, but inside his head, his mind was always busy. Right now he was scanning the surface thoughts of everyone within range of his office, not that he suspected them of anything, but rather just because he could. It was a good way of checking up on those who worked under him, making sure they were using their time for the benefit of the Corp.
Already he had discovered two telepaths in a closet who certainly were not busy working in the best interests of Psi-Corp, but disciplining them could wait until later. Right now, the person he had been waiting for had just entered the building. A P12 like him, she was his current aide, and together they looked after almost all of Psi-Corp's current activities on Mars. Bester felt the urgency in her mind, and recognised that she had something important to report. In the interest of saving time, he sent a quick message telepathically. 'Come to my office as soon as possible Ms. Chang.'
The other Psi-Cop's mind registered surprise as Bester's thoughts broke through the blocks she had painstakingly erected to prevent others scanning her. A normal telepath, even a P12 would not have been able get through so easily, but then very little Bester did was ever ordinary. Sarah Chang's surprise did not last long though, and she sent a quick response saying she was on her way, and sure enough a little more than a minute later the door opened and the attractive Asian woman walked into the office. As she arrived, Bester took his seat behind the large wooden desk.
Bester waved in the direction of the padded seat in front of his desk. 'Sit down Ms. Chang,' he ordered. She quickly complied and once she was comfortable he asked, 'what brings you here today. I was quite surprise when you sent word that you wished to meet, especially since I thought you were busy with the operation we set up to watch the renegade Kiel and his associates.'
She nodded. 'That is why I am here Sir. Kiel is gone.'
Bester remained calm, but inside she could feel anger rising. 'Where has he gone?' he asked.
'I do not know Sir. He left this afternoon with several bags. I had a team sweep his apartment afterwards and they were unable to find anything, even his communications system was clean.'
Bester leaned back and looked straight at Sarah. She squirmed uncomfortably in his gaze, and knew that despite her rating she would not be able to stop him scanning her if he really wanted to, and she knew from past experience that deep scans hurt. He didn't though, and instead he just stared at her for a few minutes before replying, again telepathically. 'How did he leave? Was it a private shuttle, or a commercial transport.'
'Private shuttle Sir,' she replied. 'It was an unmarked shuttle with no registration or ident code. It landed at the Dome, he and several others unknown to me boarded and then it took off again. We were unable to track it any further though.'
'Why was that,' Bester asked, cutting off her narrative.
'I do not know, Sir. For some reason the shuttle did not show up on our scanners. Unfortunately, we didn't have our own shuttle within range, so he managed to escape. One member of my team suggested it may have had a stealth system running.'
Bester thought for a moment, while Sarah sat and watched with her green eyes trained firmly on the Psi-Cop. She knew that if she tried hard enough she would just be able to hear what he was thinking, but with all the rumours she had heard about Bester, she knew she didn't really want to see exactly what was going on inside his head right now. Instead, she concentrated on her own thoughts, thinking about anything but her boss.
Eventually Bester replied. 'What about his lieutenant, Anderson I believe his name is, was he among those who boarded this shuttle?'
'He left Mars several days ago, and is currently assigned to the EAS Rasputin as a military observer. He did visit Kiel several times before he left though. We were unable to bug Kiel's apartment to record any conversations, but anyway it is likely that they spoke telepathically.'
Bester leant back in his chair again and looked contemplative. 'The Rasputin, that is the new Warlock destroyer under the command of Captain Ivanova isn't it?' he asked.
Sarah nodded. 'Yes that is correct sir. It was commissioned only a few days ago and is currently assigned to protect the Proxima system. Mr. Anderson has been assigned to the ship during its test phase. I believe he assignment is to examine crew reactions to the new vessel, fairly standard sort of stuff.'
Bester stood up and walked to the window, looking out over the rough surface of mars for several seconds before replying. 'What is he doing there. Kiel has no operatives on Proxima, at least none that I know of. Why would his lieutenant be there?"
'I do not know Sir. Anderson took an assistant with him as well, a Ms. Winters.'
Bester spun around and stared at his aide. 'Talia Winters?' he asked.
'I believe that was her full name,' Sarah replied. 'She is a P5, who was attached to our research division here on Mars until just recently. The telekinesis department I believe.'
Bester didn't reply, but a slow smile spread across his face. A little concerned, especially seeing how rare it was to see the Psi-Cop to smile, Sarah sent a quick question into his mind. 'Would you like me to authorise an agent be sent to see what he is up to?'
'There is no need,' was Bester's telepathic reply. 'One of my deep cover agents is already aboard the Rasputin. I will contact her and get her to watch Anderson and Ms. Winters closely.'
'I see Sir,' Sarah said, a little annoyed with herself for not checking first. 'What is it you would like me to do then?'
'Travel back to Xanthe Terra and see if you can't find out what has happened to Kiel. I know that two of his agents have died in the past few days, so maybe there is an assassin after him. Find out for sure, and don't return until you have discovered his location.'
'Yes Sir,' was his aide's enthusiastic reply. As soon as she had left the room, Bester returned to his contemplation. Something was definitely happening, and what's more, it was happening right under his nose, which was not a pleasing thought. Mars had always been Bester's domain and now the renegade Kiel was interfering with the normal running of that domain. Unfortunately, Kiel still had enough support within Psi-Corp that Bester couldn't move against him openly without jeopardising his own position and standing. He had been one of those who opposed the Psi-Corp's continued protection of Kiel and his co-conspirators, knowing that it was unlikely that the renegades had given up their plans. It was not that Bester didn't have the same plans; it was just that unlike Kiel, he had always favoured more peaceful means. It led to less mess in the end.
Still little could be done about Kiel as long as he was still getting strong support from the Psi-Corp leadership. In fact, he almost hoped that an assassin had killed Kiel, and by doing do conveniently swept the whole, sorry affair under the table, but that would probably be too much to hope for. Making a mental note to contact his agent on the Rasputin tonight, Bester resumed his seat and got back down to work. These days there always seemed to be work for a Psi-Cop to do.
The afternoon had been slow for Susan as she had gone about the normal activities of a destroyer captain, which from her limited experience seemed mainly to involve sitting around on the bridge while various members of the crew bought her decisions they probably could have made just as well themselves. Perhaps it was just the anticipation of learning what the technicians and scientists busy pulling apart the small fighter in a hanger near Gorbachev Dome would find that was making her feel this way, but for some reason Susan felt bored.
On Babylon 5, she had never been bored, although there had been moments when she had wished for just such a day as this, time to herself when she could just sit and contemplate the universe. Unfortunately, the universe she had to contemplate had grown a lot less friendly over the past few months and Susan ached for something to keep her busy. She wanted something to take her mind off the thoughts that filled her head every time that she was left alone.
Instead, apart from a couple of short meetings in the morning the only important thing she had been asked to do was to look over the letters Lieutenant-Commander Schmitt had written to the families of those killed in the battle. After adding her own brief comments she had passed back the data pad and been left to wonder exactly who or what had been responsible for their deaths. There had been no reason, at least that she could see, for the raider's attack. They had achieved little damage, unless their only aim was to kill Earthforce pilots, and gained no booty from the attack.
Sighing, she leant back as far as her chair could go and watched the stars slowly rotate above her on the holographic display. She didn't find any answers there but at least it was relaxing, so relaxing in fact that she didn't notice the telepath Anderson until he was standing right next to her. Straightening up, although still trying to keep as comfortable as possible Susan looked over at Anderson with a frown, hoping to encourage him to leave.
When he didn't move she sighed and asked, "what do you want Mr. Anderson."
"I just came to inform you Captain that I am needed urgently back on Mars."
"What for," she asked suspiciously, hoping that it had nothing to do with her.
"There has been an accident at one of our bases," he informed her. "I am afraid a good friend of mine has been badly injured and I would like to be by her side to make sure she recovers."
Susan almost felt genuine sympathy for the telepath then. Despite what she might think about the Psi-Corp, she didn't actually hate telepaths. In fact, recent relationships with two telepaths in particular had certainly not been ones of hatred. She had even grown to love Talia over time, and despite Lyta's involvement in what had happened to Talia she had eventually forgiven the redheaded woman. She could never like Lyta, but at least had grown to tolerate her… eventually. Susan didn't really even know Anderson, and despite the fact she still wouldn't trust him any more than other telepaths loyal to Psi-Corp she didn't hate him.
"I am sorry to hear that Mr. Anderson," she said. "Will you be gone long?"
"I do not know Captain," he replied. "I may be gone for several weeks."
"I am sure we will miss you," Susan said, although in her heart she knew she for one would not. She mightn't hate the telepath, but that didn't mean she wanted him around any more than any other telepath. "And your assistant, Ms. Winters? Will she be travelling with you?"
"No, there is no need for her to go as well. She will remain and continue the work I had started. After all, our mission was initially to test how everyone on board the Rasputin was coping with the new vessel and that job hasn't even been started. She can carry it out just as well as I can, at least until I get back."
Susan wasn't sure if she was pleased or upset about that news. Certainly, she wanted to see more of Talia. However, it was the old Talia she wanted to see, not the creature that Psi-Corp had put inside Talia's mind. Still, despite what everyone else, including Talia herself, had said over the years, Susan couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, there was still a part of the old Talia left, and if she walked away this time then she would definitely never see her again.
She was about to reply to Anderson when the voice of the communication officer, Lieutenant Heneker, cut into their conversation. "Captain I have Dr. Kozlowski on the link for you," the lieutenant said.
"Put him through," Susan said at once, her mind quickly focusing back onto the battle of yesterday, and her eagerness for news. As soon as the connection was made she asked, "what news doctor?"
Kozlowski voice sounded a little faint, which probably meant he was a greater than normal distance from the link. "I have found something very interesting Captain, very interesting indeed. I think you should come and see at once."
"I will be right there doctor," Susan said, closing down the link to Proxima. She turned around to make her excuses to Anderson, but the telepath had already vanished. Susan barely even noticed, instead she leapt up from her seat and left the bridge, hurrying towards the shuttle bay.
It was around midday over Gorbachev Dome by the time Susan's landed at the nearby shuttle port. As she walked across toward the hanger where the doctor and the other technicians had been assigned space for their work, she looked around at the warm landscape of Proxima, for the first time seeing it during the day. Everyone other time she landed, it had been nearing sunset, the sun had just dipped below the horizon, or the ground was flying past too fast for her to see it properly, so this was something of a new experience for her.
During the day, it was a completely different world than the night. For one thing, it was a lot warmer, so much so that Susan felt herself begin to sweat, not as bad as she had in her flight suit though. The sun beat down through the thin atmosphere, which although it was thick enough to provide oxygen to the people of the colony it lacked much in the way of moisture, and that meant no clouds for the sun to hide behind. In short, it was a perfect desert climate, no rain and hot sunny days followed by cold, almost freezing nights.
Right now, all Susan wanted to do was get out of the sun before it cooked her. Walking quickly, she crossed the short distance from her shuttle to the hanger where the crashed fighter was being examined. Two other atmospheric shuttles sat near the entrance, resting on the hard surface of the landing strip. She didn't know what material the landing strip was made of, but it certainly seemed to reflect the sunlight, making conditions even more unpleasant.
Inside the hanger though, it was a completely different environment. Two large fans built into the ceiling sucked away the hot air, while beneath the surface of the floor cooling units replaced the hot air with cold, leaving the whole building cool and refreshing.
At least that was the idea. Susan immediately noticed the difference in temperature, but she also quickly noticed the slightly sickly smell of some unknown chemical. The smell of burnt rubber, and charred electronics soon followed, all contributing to a stench that left Susan feeling a little woozy. She was not the only one effected either. Close to the door, where the smell was weakest, Susan noticed that a small collection of technicians had gathered around a table playing a game of cards.
For a moment Susan was about to walk over and ask them what was going on, but then she spotted the crashed fighter, it's pieces scattered across the floor of the hanger. Piles of electronics were heaped up on tables around it, and Susan could just faintly hear the sounds of two people talking from somewhere beneath the fighter. On one table, a burner had been set up underneath a metal container and it was from this area that the acrid chemical smell was coming. Gritting her teeth, and trying to shut down her sense of smell, she strode across towards the fighter.
As she drew closer she recognised the sound of Dr. Kozlowski's voice coming from somewhere inside the gutted fighter, along with the voice of another man she didn't recognise. "Dr. Kozlowski," she called out. There was no answer, but a few seconds later a blackened chunk of metal came flying out from underneath the fighter and landed near her feet, making her jump aside in a hurry. "Dr. Kozlowski," she called again, this time much louder, and a lot more annoyed.
Two heads popped up out from underneath the fighter. One was Kozlowski's head while the other was hidden behind a bushy beard that hid the face almost completely. "Captain," the doctor said, seeing her waiting impatiently near the front of the fighter. "Wait there I will be right with you." Then both the heads retreated beneath the fighter once again.
Sure enough nearly two minutes later he climbed out of the fighter's innards and walked over to where the Captain waited. Before he opened his mouth to speak though, he suddenly sniffed, as if noticing the chemical smell in the air for the first time. Looking over at the table where the burner was set up, the doctor let out a gasp and hurried over to switch off the energy to the burner, and slam a lid down on the container. After burning a finger on the hot metal container, he left it alone to cool down and made his way back to Susan's side, sucking on the burnt finger.
"Was that important," she asked, indicating the container, still hanging above the now silent burner.
"Just an experiment," Kozlowski replied. "We wanted to see to test the melting point of some of the material used for the fighter's circuits. I forgot it was running though so it has been ruined now and we will have to start all over again."
"Well next time I suggest you do it outside doctor," Susan said, waving her hand in front of her face to indicate the still lingering stench that hung in the air, although it was slowly being swept away by the fans that whirred high above them. "Now what was it that was so important that you had to call me down here?"
The doctor pointed towards one of the tables that were stacked high with electronic circuit boards that had been pulled out of the fighter. "Over here Captain," he said. "We managed to find out how this thing runs."
He quickly led the way across to the table and pulled out a large chunk of circuit board, covered with a mass of chips, all arranged around what looked like a large data crystal. "This is the heart of the whole system," he informed her, handing the slightly burnt circuits over to Susan. "It is an AI system as we thought, but it is a lot better than anything that I have ever seen before." He pointed to the large crystal. "That is a Centauri-made data crystal, you can tell because it is much more angular that the Minbari ones most races use. It holds the key to the whole operation."
"Why is that," Susan asked. "I thought a data crystal only held data, hence the name."
Kozlowski nodded. "Essentially that is true, Captain. However, they can also store computer programs, even the operating systems for semi-AI hardware, anything that requires a store of data to operate may make use of a data crystal. Although this particular one has only data stored, it is the type of data though that is important. That crystal, at least from what I have been able to decipher so far, has been programmed with the fighting styles of over a thousand different human and alien pilots. In a combat situation, the fighter's AI operating system not only uses these tactics to fight with, but can also use the data to combat a number of classic enemy tactics. It really is a very ingenious system."
"And this makes it fight nearly as well as a human pilot?" queried Susan, the scepticism plainly evident in her voice.
"That is correct captain, well that and the program itself. Unfortunately, most of the program was wiped when the plasma bolt from your fighter tore through the central computer. That has prevented us from deciphering most of the system, but based on what we have recovered we have managed to work out how we think it might have worked. Given time, say maybe three months or so we might even be able to recover the rest of the system and rebuild the whole fighter."
"That is all very well doctor," Susan said. "But I am less concerned about how it works, and more in who it works for. Have you managed to find anything out about that? Do you know which race built it yet?"
"Oh that was easy Captain," Kozlowski said with a laugh, dragging her over to another pile of ruined circuits. He pointed towards an emblem carved into one of the circuits. "There, do you see that?" When she nodded, he continued. "That is the symbol of Mircotel. They make the electronics for almost all of Earth's ships. I recognised that circuit almost immediately. It is one of a batch of experimental control circuits we were offered as part of the Mircotel bid for the Warlock class."
"Does that mean the fighter was made by humans?" Susan asked.
"Most definitely, although how they got their hands on this system I do not know. As I said, it was part of the Microtel bid for the warlock project and when they failed to convince us their system was suitable, everything related to the project was supposed to be scrapped."
"Well someone obviously rescued it from the scrap heap," Susan said. "Is there any way you can discover who built the rest of the fighter?"
Kozlowski shook his head. "Not really Captain. I mean all the circuits are obviously made by Microtel, but then so are the circuits on almost every Earthforce vessel, civilian transport, and even raider craft. In fact, as far as I know the Warlock class are the first vessels in a long, long time to be built using completely original dedicated control circuits."
"Why is that," Susan asked.
"Well the system they put forward had too many flaws and bugs, and it didn't match what we wanted for the Warlocks. I had a team of programmers and designers design a completely new computer system for the project, one that could handle the load the new technology we were using. The Microtel circuits just didn't match the technology. You must have noticed the difference between the systems on the Rasputin, and those on other ships you have served on."
Susan nodded. "I did notice that they were a lot less intuitive. The message system isn't voice controlled for example."
"That right Captain," Kozlowski said, pleased. "But beneath that the computers are now running considerable faster. We just couldn't risk using the system Microtel offered us with the split second energy transfer decision needed on the Warlock destroyers, otherwise you could end up not having enough energy to maintain all the necessary systems. It would take me a long time to explain all the details, but rest assured the system we have now is at least twice as fast, and maybe ten times more efficient that the one we were originally offered."
"Well I am certainly pleased to hear that doctor," Susan said turning back to look at the fighter. "Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything about the stealth system, or maybe the engines?"
The doctor looked over at the fighter. "Well the stealth system is actually a jammer that effects Earthforce tracking systems. It isn't that complex a system, but it does mean that whoever built this fighter had significant access to Earthforce technical data. I would think that with some basic tweaking of the Starfury scanners the stealth system could be rendered useless. The engines though are another matter all together."
"How so," Susan queried.
"Well I have never seen anything like them. They are definitely alien, although which race I don't know. I have seen Narn, Centauri, and Minbari engines before and these are nothing like any of them. If I was asked to make a comparison with what I knew I would say it is a bit like the Minbari system, a gravitic drive of some kind is my best guess."
"So you think it was built by an alien race then?"
The doctor thought about this question for a moment. "No," he said finally. "I wouldn't say that. Although the engines are unfamiliar, some of the parts look similar to those tooled by companies working on our own ships, and the materials used in their construction are definitely the same. However, their design is certainly not human. It will take use some time to decipher their function, or until we are able to copy them."
"And their weapons?" Susan asked, noticing that the two powerful cannon that had protruded from the front of the fighter were now missing.
Kozlowski led her across to another table where the two cannon were laid out side by side. One had been disassembled and its parts lay scattered across the table. Even to Susan's untrained eye, it looked faintly familiar. "Standard Starfury parts," the doctor told her. "They have been modified slightly to fire a pulse of energy that has a shorter range, but has a greater area of effect. Despite the alterations, they are not a lot better than what our current model fighters use, and are certainly no match for the weapons systems on the Rasputin."
Susan thought about what she had seen for a moment before asking Kozlowski a final question. "What do you think about the fighter as a whole then doctor," she asked. "Is it a real danger? I mean we did lose a lot of our own fighters out there yesterday."
Kozlowski considered her question for a few seconds, slowly tossing the central coil from the cannon from one hand to the other while he thought. "Well I don't really know a lot about fighters Captain," he finally said, and then before she could respond continued, "However given the general abilities of this craft, assuming everything we have uncovered here is correct and there are no hidden systems that we haven't found yet, then I would say that they are dangerous only in large numbers. One on one, a Starfury is more manoeuvrable and has around the same amount of firepower. Also, as you said before, no AI can be a match a living mind, although this system does come close. Two of these fighters up against a single Starfury would be enough to swing the odds in their favour though."
"Unfortunately whoever is making these things seems to want to use them in large numbers," Susan replied. "I am going to have to make a report to Earthforce over this incident, is there anything else that you can tell me?"
"Only that we were extremely lucky to get hold over even this damaged fighter," Kozlowski replied.
"Why is that?"
The doctor pointed towards a large bulky shape sitting on a table near the back of the fighter. "That is the fusion reactor," he informed her. "It was rigged with an explosive charge that was supposed to detonate whenever the system detected it was too damaged to continue flying, or whenever the computer core shuts down. Your shot was in just the right place to take out enough of the computer core to deactivate its flight and fight circuits, but not enough for the explosive charge to register that the entire computer core had been destroyed. Anywhere either side of where you hit it and we would only have a few pieces of wreckage to look at now."
"So you mean that whoever made these fighter did not want them falling into our hands?"
"That's right Captain," Kozlowski replied. Then he looked up at her with a smile on his face. "Interesting fact isn't it."
Susan nodded slowly, turning around to look at the crashed fighter. "Very interesting doctor," she said slowly. "Very interesting indeed."