Chapter 14

19:38, February 20, 2262.

"Are you sure about this doctor," Susan asked, flicking through the small pile of printouts he had handed her. "This information could just be a red herring to throw us off the track."

"Not with the level of coding that was on it Captain," Kozlowski replied. "I haven't seen anything like that for a long time. However, it was using a standard Microtel system, which is easy enough to get around if you know how."

"And you do?"

Kozlowski nodded, looking extremely pleased with himself. "Indeed Captain. It is what you might call a hobby of mine."

"I am not sure Earth Central would be pleased to learn of your hobby doctor," Susan said with an answering smile. "However, it has helped us out here, so I am sure they will overlook it this time. I am still not exactly sure what all this means though, perhaps you can explain your findings."

Kozlowski hurried over to her side and pointed out the star map he had retrieved. "This shows a list of targets that they intend to hit." He pointed to several markings on the map in order. "You see this is Listening Post Serene, which we already know has been destroyed. And this is Flinn Colony, and then you can see Proxima III and finally Earth itself."

"I know how to read the map doctor," Susan replied. "However what I don't understand is how they intend on doing any damage. Flinn colony was, and probably still is, one of the most secure bases in the entire Alliance. Even the Minbari had trouble there during the war. So how does Anderson, with just one ship, hope to take it on?"

The doctor tugged another large printout from lower down on the pile and showed it to the Captain. "Here, this one shows their vessel. As you can see, it's a lot larger than anything we have encountered before."

Susan took the page and looked at the diagram unconvinced. "Is this all you managed to retrieve Dr. Kozlowski? It is not a lot to go on."

"I agree," Kozlowski said. "However they have already managed to take out one base, that much is already part of the record."

"An undefended base," Susan reminded him.

"Yes, but a well hidden and protected one." He paused and took a closer look at the diagram on the page. "I think what we are dealing with here is some sort of large weapon, possible a mass driver, or something similar."

"A mass driver?" Susan exclaimed in surprise. "We haven't seen any of them in use since the war between the Narn and the Centauri. Are you sure that is what Anderson is using."

The doctor nodded in confirmation. "That would be my guess, a large mass driver used as the main weapon of a warship. If it was large enough, it could do considerable damage."

A frown formed on Susan's brow as she considered his words. "Exactly how large are we talking here doctor?"

Kozlowski shrugged. "I am not sure. The schematics we retrieved are lacking any measurements that might enable us to determine the correct dimensions. At a guess, I would say possible at least four, maybe five kilometres long, although that is only an educated guess. The Centauri mass drivers were considerably smaller, and if the entire ship were devoted to this single weapon then I would imagine that we would be looking at something with the power of maybe five or six of the Centauri models. "

"And the fighters?" Susan queried. "So far all we have seen is a few fighters, although judging by what I have seen around this planet, I am willing to agree that something fairly big has been going on here. However, to build a warship of that size is not what I would have imagined. Out of all the alien races only the Vorlons and Shadows had the resources of inclination to develop vessels larger than those in Earth's fleet, so for Anderson and his megacorp buddies to come up with something like this is almost unbelievable. We are talking about something that is nearly the size of an explorer ship here."

"Yes, it would appear so, Captain. Perhaps that is a little unrealistic to imagine something of this size could have been built here without anyone discovering it before now, but it is still worth checking out, wouldn't you agree."

Susan nodded slowly. "Yes I would doctor." She turned to the communications officer. "Lieutenant, open a channel to Flinn Colony."

"Yes Captain," was the reply and then after nearly a minute, the lieutenant turned back to Susan. "I am sorry Captain, there doesn't seem to be any response."

"How is that possible," Susan replied, a little worried that she might already now the answer. "Try again, and keep trying until you get something or I tell you to stop." She turned around to face Kozlowski again. "Well doctor, it seems that you may be correct. If you are right and they are using a mass driver as a weapon, then that would explain the loss of communications. We should proceed at once to Flinn Colony and find out what exactly is going on there. If they are under attack, they may need our help."

"I would advise against that Captain," Kozlowski said, shaking his head.

Susan frowned, annoyed that the doctor was questioning her judgment. "You would, would you? Why is that Dr. Kozlowski? If the colony is under attack then we should go there at once to see what is going on. If we wait it may be too late. There are people's lives at stake after all, several thousand if I remember correctly."

"It is on the other side of the Earth Alliance, Captain," he reminded her. "I would suggest instead informing Earth Central of our findings while we head back to Proxima. It is, after all, the next planet on the list, and if Flinn Colony has already been hit, we will serve the Alliance better by going on to Proxima III."

Susan considered the suggestion for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Good idea doctor. I will need to contact Earthdome though, and let them know what is going on. Do you mind sticking around and explaining your findings to the Admiral. I am not really up to date on starship construction."

"Of course Captain."

"Good," Susan replied, looking over at the communication's officer who was still trying to raise Flinn Colony. "Lieutenant, open a secure link to Earthdome, Admiral Mellor's office."

"Yes Captain," the young officer replied. "Opening a channel now."

Realising it would take a few minutes for the link to be established, she sat back and skimmed through the printouts the doctor had given her. She had been sceptical at first, not really wanting to believe that a group of companies, even big megacorps like Microtel and the Jupiter Mining Corporation could be responsible for such carnage. However, if the information the doctor had retrieved was correct, then they were planning to kill nearly a million people on Proxima, and at the same time wipe out all their rival companies, most of whom were based in the Proxima system.

Even the Shadows and Vorlons, who had destroyed entire worlds in their war, had done so for a cause, albeit a very perverted one, but this was just for money. Of course, the doctor could still be wrong, Susan wasn't sure that what he had explained was correct. The star maps she had understood, but the rest of the printouts were complete gibberish to her, and out of everyone on board, only Dr. Kozlowski, highly skilled in starship design, had really understood what the information meant. She would just have to trust his judgment, and as she sat there waiting for the link to be established, she suddenly realised exactly how little she knew about the doctor.

Commander Petrov stepped out of the quiet hallway outside the bridge into a madhouse. Everyone seemed to be shouting orders at once and running from one console to another, their arms piled high with data pads, clipboards, and other items. In the centre of this confusion, he could see the captain, currently talking to the Chief Engineer, Philip Moore.

"Can it be done Chief," Susan was asking him.

The tall Polynesian engineer rubbed his jaw as if considering the question. Finally, looking none to convinced, he said, "Perhaps Captain, but the engines have not been tested fully yet. We don't want to put too much strain on them."

"Do it anyway," she replied. "We need as much speed out of this ship as you can muster. I want her back in orbit around Proxima III in less than thirty six hours."

"I will do what I can Captain," Moore replied, before hurrying past Petrov, shaking his head and muttering darkly as he walked.

Petrov followed the engineer with his eyes for a second before looking back to the Captain, who was now noting something down on a data pad one of the bridge crew had passed her. He walked over to her side. "Captain," he demanded. "What the hell is going on around here?"

Susan looked up, a little surprised to see him. "Commander," she said. "There you are, I was about to call you."

"That doesn't explain what is happening here," he said pointedly, looking around at the busy crewmembers.

"Sorry," Susan replied. "I forgot I haven't had time to inform you yet."

"Inform me about what?" Petrov asked, worry lines beginning to form on his forehead.

"We have been ordered back to Proxima... urgently," she told him. "I have just spoken to Admiral Mellor, and he agrees with the information that Dr. Kozlowski has found and has ordered us back to defend Proxima III against a possible attack."

"Another attack?" he asked. "With more fighters?"

Susan shook her head. "No, Commander, if it was just a few more fighters, then there would not be a problem. Based on the evidence Dr. Kozlowski recovered from the communications console on the planet below, he has conceded that there is a risk, or at least a possible risk, of a major assault on the planet, possibly with a new class warship."

"What! By the companies that Major Logan mentioned?" Petrov asked with a disbelieving air about him. "I can't imagine that anything they can come up would pose a threat."

"That is what I thought to start with Commander. But after listening to Kozlowski I thought it best to contact Earthdome, and Admiral Mellor agrees with the doctor, at least enough to order us to return to Proxima. I am just recalling all the fighters and search teams right now. We should be under way in a few minutes."

Petrov nodded, understanding at last why the bridge was so busy. The preparation for a sudden departure must have caught the crew off guard a little, and they were struggling to catch up. There was always a lot to do when preparing to leave orbit, especially when you had to recall fighters and shuttles. "What do you want me to do, Captain," he asked at last, fingering the report he had spent the past hour writing up.

Susan noticed his fidgeting and the report in his hands. "Well the first thing you can do is take that report on Dr. Taylor's murder to Sarah Chang, I think you will find her resting in her quarters. And then you can get back here and assist me."

"Yes Captain," Petrov replied with a smart salute.

"Just a minute Commander," she said, stopping him before he left. "Did you discover who was responsible for the murder?"

"Yes, Captain, it appears very likely that it was Mr. Anderson who was responsible. Doctor Habbib discovered that Taylor was a telepath, so she probably found out what Anderson was up to, and he killed her for it. We found a phial of the poison in his quarters. They are now Ms. Chang's quarters of course, which didn't make it easy to search."

"The doctor was a telepath?" Susan said, her mind reeling in confusion. "How could that be? Only Psi-Corps representatives are supposed to be on board."

Petrov shrugged. "All I know is that her blood has the DNA marker that indicates telepathic potential. It is possible that she didn't know her abilities existed, or she may have been a rogue telepath. Either way, it isn't much use for us now, unless she was an agent of Anderson's."

Susan nodded slowly, indicating that Petrov could leave. Perhaps it was possible that Dr. Taylor was like her, a latent telepath who had managed to hide her abilities, but for some reason Susan didn't believe that. The feeling she had sensed when she had touched the bare arm of the doctor in the lift came back to her. Suddenly it all made sense. She had somehow managed to detect the sense of hatred from the doctor's mind, hatred directed at Susan herself. It had been very strong, and she realised now that the strength was due to the telepathic ability of the doctor's mind. She might not be able to scan normals with any great success, but Susan was beginning to realise that she had no trouble at all sensing a telepath's thoughts when they were that close to her.

She had wondered why the doctor would have cause to hate her, but if she was working for Anderson, then it all made sense, or did it. Susan couldn't think of any reason that Anderson would hate her. He would now, if she had truly discovered his plans, but back then he had not seemed overly concerned with her. If Dr. Taylor was his agent, then that begged the question of why he had killed her. Assuming, then, that she wasn't Anderson's agent, that left only the possibility of the doctor being a rogue telepath, and Susan wasn't entirely convinced that was correct yet either.

She sighed and turned back to her work. Psi-Corps would probably try to take an active role in the investigation now, maybe even Bester himself. At least if Anderson was responsible, that would shift the blame away from her crew and towards someone who was already wanted by Psi-Corps, at least she assumed he was, Susan didn't think even the Psi-Corp would sanction the murder of thousands of innocents, at least not openly. Any further investigation would have to wait though. Right now, she had far more important problems to deal with.

By the time Commander Petrov returned from speaking with the Psi-Cop, the Rasputin was already in Hyperspace, and heading for Proxima III at maximum speed. Dr. Kozlowski had also turned up again, after having headed back to engineering to make minor adjustments to the engines when he had finished explaining his findings to Admiral Mellor. This time he bought with him more pages of data, calculations of some sort, at least that is what they looked like to Susan.

Susan held up her hand to stop him speaking, determined to hear the rest of Petrov's report, no matter how desperate the doctor looked. "Please Continue Commander," she said. "What did Ms. Chang say then?"

"Well, after I handed over the report and told her what it had contained, she looked angry more than anything. It was almost as if she already knew that the doctor was a telepath. She didn't seem surprised that Anderson had been responsible either. I think there may be more going on here than she is telling us."

"I agree Commander," Susan said, her mind working overtime to try to work out what relationship there could have been between the Psi-Cop and the doctor. Certainly, it hadn't taken Chang long after she had disembarked before she found her way to sickbay. That would suggest that she probably already knew Taylor, and then the Psi-Cop had pushed to be included in the investigation, which was even more unusual. A suspicion was beginning to form in Susan's mind, one that she didn't like one little bit. Sometime soon, she was going to have a long talk to Ms. Chang.

"Do you want me to look into it further then, Captain," her executive officer asked.

Susan shook her head. "Not right at the moment," she replied. "We have more important things to deal with right now. This vessel could be going into combat in less than two days time and I want everything to be ready. I am putting you in charge of ensuring that, while I keep and eye on things up here. Coordinate with Lt. Commanders Dreyer and Schmitt, as well as Major Logan, and see if you can't come up with some drills that they can conduct here in Hyperspace. I am not authorising fighter launches though, that is just too risky."

"Yes Captain," Petrov said, looking almost pleased to be given the responsibility. "I will get onto it right away. I assume you would like a report before we arrive at Proxima?"

She nodded. "Yes, Commander, I want to know what we have to work with, just in case. We still don't know what exactly is going on, but if we do have to go into battle, I want this warship to perform better than any other ship in the fleet."

"You can count on me Captain," Petrov replied with another perfect salute.

Susan saluted casually in return, and indicated that he was dismissed. He quickly hurried off the bridge and Susan was left to deal with Dr. Kozlowski was standing eagerly nearby, with another stack of printouts in his hands. Susan briefly wondered why he didn't use data pads like Petrov and most of the other officers; they were a little bit easier to deal with than the piles of paper he kept bringing her. Seeing she was free again, he stepped forward.

"Was is it now, doctor," Susan asked before he could begin to speak. Kozlowski handed her several sheets of paper, all of which were covered with large charts and diagrams. "What exactly is all this?" Susan said, waving the papers around. "I am not sure I understand any of this."

Kozlowski didn't seem fazed by that. "They are my latest calculations, Captain," he told her. "I have spent the last hour working on them."

"And they tell me what exactly?"

"Well after we had finished talking to the Admiral I decided to make some calculations to determine the relative power of the vessel we may be dealing with. After all, if we are going to have to face it in battle, I assumed you would want to be bought up to date on everything there is to know about it."

Now Susan was interested, and she leaned forward so she could hear him better. "That is more like it, doctor," she said. "What can you tell me?"

Kozlowski pulled out the first piece of paper. "Well, as I said early, this is a very large vessel, perhaps larger than anything an Earthforce destroyer has faced before. However, this size means that it is also very slow and cumbersome and, based on the current attacks it has made so far, and the distances between each, I have calculated that it may be another two days before it makes it to Proxima III. I'm assuming that it has been travelling at maximum speed, of course."

"Assuming the map you found is correct," Susan reminded him. "I am still not sure that they would let us get hold of it so quickly."

"Well I did wonder about that too Captain," the doctor said. "After all, the bunker we investigated was originally thought to be a mining communications bunker. I have examined the data I have collected more fully now though, and believe that the bunker may actually have been a major rely station for their communications network between the various stations. I don't know why it was down on the planet, but there were a number of messages stored in its database that had nothing at all to do with mining. Of course, it might also have been malfunctioning and picking up things it wasn't supposed to, but I think it more likely that it was being used to rely communications, possibly over a secure channel."

"Well it is all we have to go on for now," Susan said. "And Admiral Mellor seems to think it is genuine. Of course, he may know something I don't. Although I may be putting too much trust in Earthforce intelligence here."

"Well, I will stand by my information Captain," Kozlowski assured her. "I have checked out the schematics I discovered and after running some models through my computer I've concluded that it is possible that such a ship could be built. There are still a few things I am unsure about, especially the outer hull, but the reactor capacity and general design listed on the schematics matches that of a large Mass Driver, a very large one."

"Well, we will find out soon enough doctor," Susan replied.

Further discussion was cut off by the voice of the communications officer. "Captain, I have a gold channel communication from Admiral Mellor's office in Earthdome," she said.

"Put it through, Lieutenant," Susan said, turning away from Kozlowski to look at the console in front of her and typing in her code to accept the message.

The Earth Alliance logo on the central screen vanished, and it was quickly replaced by the stern face of Admiral Mellor. "Captain," he said grimly. "I have just received word from the vessel we sent to Flinn Colony. What Dr. Kozlowski suspected seems to have come true and the colony has been destroyed."

"Any survivors at all," Susan asked in shock.

The Admiral nodded. "Fortunately yes. Some of the outer mines and two scout parties in crawlers have been located so far. One of the scouts gave a good description of what happened. Based on that description, and the damage that has been done, we have concluded that it is likely that a mass driver or similar weapon was responsible."

He paused for breath, and for the first time Susan could see the strain that he was under showing. The Admiral was, after all, responsible for the protection of the outer colonies. To allow one to be destroyed, along with thousands of colonists, meant that many questions were going to be asked. "What now then, Admiral," she asked.

"We have considered mustering everything we have and sending it to Proxima, but that might just be what this Anderson character wants us to do. We still don't know a lot about his motives, and Psi-Corps hasn't been any help at all. This might all be a trick to make us pull our forces away from Earth and send them off to Proxima. However, we can't afford to leave either system undefended, or Mars for that matter. So that leaves us with too many worlds to defend, and not enough ships to go around."

"You are sending some ships though, aren't you Admiral," Susan asked, but at the same time beginning to wonder if the Rasputin would be the only vessel left to defend an entire planet.

"Of course, Captain," Mellor replied. "The Apollo and Vesta have been recalled from their patrol, along with every other vessel within range. In addition, Vice-Admiral Emmerton is on her way with a small fleet. We don't know how long this enemy vessel is going to take to get to Proxima. For all we know it could already be there, but we are sending all the ships we can spare. We still have thirty destroyers around Earth right now, and another seven at Mars. That will leave Emmerton with at least another seven, depending on how many make it back from patrol in time."

"We will have to make do then Admiral," Susan said. She didn't know if she was relieved or concerned that more destroyers were not being sent to Proxima. If the information Kozlowski had recovered turned out to be a ruse and Anderson was after either Earth or Mars, then the caution shown by Earthforce would prove to be correct. If, however, the target was Proxima after all, and it was left under defended then Earthforce would have more than two million dead on its hands. Assuming that is what Anderson planned on doing and, given the destruction of Flinn Colony, she could easily seeing him proceeding with the slaughter of the people of Proxima.

"One last thing, Captain," Mellor said. "I want you to act as Emmerton's second in command. I know there are other higher ranking officers, but I think your experience might count for more if a battle does start."

"Thank you Admiral," Susan replied, although she was a little surprised that he would give her so much responsibility. After all, it had only been a few months ago that she had been fighting on the other side in a civil war. Still, she wasn't about to turn down his offer because of that. She was willing to forget and forgive if Earthforce was, especially given the responsibility they were giving her now.

"Link in with Vice-Admiral Emmerton as soon as you arrive at Proxima," he told her. "I will contact you again if there is anything important to report. Earthdome out."

As the screen went black, Susan turned away and looked towards the front of the vessel. Ahead she could see nothing except Hyperspace, but somewhere, far in the distance, was the beacon that indicated Proxima's jumpgate. It was at least another day away, and despite the extra energy being pumped into the engines, she was worried that they may not make it there in time. Certainly, if only a few destroyers were going to be made available for the defence of the planet, then the Rasputin had to be there. Its powerful weapons, not to mention the four squadrons of Starfuries, might make all the difference in a battle.

Based on what Kozlowski had told her, they faced a powerful foe, but she doubted that one single vessel, no matter how large, could take on an entire fleet of Earthforce Destroyers. Although, after the things she had seen in the Shadow War, she wouldn't be surprised by anything. After all, those fighters had used an alien propulsion system, and if the warship they were preparing to face was using more alien, possible even Shadow, technology then they might face a more deadly foe than the Admiral and Kozlowski imagined. Those troubling thoughts on her mind, she turned back to her discussion with Dr. Kozlowski, even more eager now to learn anything that could assist them if it came to a fight.

Bester looked tired to Sarah as she made her report. The Psi-Cop had obviously been very busy over the previous two days, probably with the search for Kiel's allies. "Have you discovered anything new Ms. Chang," was Bester's first question as soon as he recognised the caller.

"Quite a bit, Sir," she replied, with an almost smug grin on her face. "I have discovered who killed Dr. Taylor, as well as some of what Kiel appears to be up to."

Bester looked more than a little surprised at the news, and quickly indicated for his assistant to continue with her report. He hadn't expected her to achieve much at all on her mission, and to have results so quickly was certainly a lot more than he had expected.

"It appears that Anderson was responsible for your agent's death," she informed Bester, while at the same time sending him Petrov's report, minus any mention of the Commander's efforts of course. "I asked the new chief medical officer to check for any possible poisons, not just to common ones, and he discovered traces of an obscure Centauri poison in the heart muscle of Dr. Taylor. I remembered the package that Anderson picked up from Mr. Hill and did a search of the quarters he had on the Rasputin, and turned up a phial of the poison. Putting two and two together, it was fairly easy to conclude that Anderson had been responsible."

"Good work Ms. Chang," Bester said. "And what about the matter of Kiel's plans. You said you had information."

Sarah nodded, sending on a second file, this one containing the information Kozlowski had recovered. "I was able to retrieve this information from a bunker on the surface, with the help of one of the Rasputin's crew." She decided not to stretch the truth too far, and give at least a little credit to Kozlowski. She didn't want to give the Rasputin's crew too much credit though, especially after the Captain had sent her down to that hell of a world for the slimmest of reasons. She deserved to get as much out of the whole thing as she could.

Bester stared at the screen in front of him, which currently displayed the diagram of Kiel's warship. "What is this?" he asked.

"I am not exactly sure Sir," Sarah replied. "Earthforce believes that it is some sort of new warship that Kiel and his companions have built. There was also some talk about several of the large megacorporations helping out, although I haven't seen any proof of that yet."

"I have," Bester cut in. "That is what I have been looking into for the past two days. It seems that Anderson has been the recipient of large donations from several of the megacorps, a considerable amount of money indeed."

Sarah nodded. "That could be what was used to fund the building of the warship that is shown in the information I sent you. Earthforce also believes that it has been used against two colonies already, although again I haven't had confirmation of those reports yet." Sarah had not been privy to the discussions between Admiral Mellor and Susan, but had heard some of the crew discussing what was occurring and had filled in the blanks.

Bester frowned. "I always knew he was mad," the Psi-Cop said. "But I didn't think he was that mad. Any idea on where he is going next? I assume that if he has already attacked two colonies, he will not stop there. Kiel never did know when to call it a day."

Sarah thought back to the discussion between the three crewmembers she had stumbled across. "Proxima, I believe, Sir," she said, while at the same time crossing her fingers and hoping like hell she was correct. The crewmembers she had overheard had mentioned both Earth and Proxima, so she was making a guess here.

Bester seemed to accept her guess though, nodding in agreement. "Yes," he said. "That is where I would hit next too. If he does enough damage to Proxima III, he could knock out a lot of competition for the megacorps. I will have to get my agents on Earth to do a little scouting for me, to see exactly what those companies are up to."

"What about me Sir," Sarah asked. "Is there anything else you want me to do now? Or should I leave the ship when we arrive on Proxima and return to Mars?"

Her superior thought for a moment, mulling over the various aspects of what he had just learned before making a decision. "Stick with the Rasputin for now Ms. Chang. I will book passage on the next liner to Proxima, there should be one leaving in a few hours, and meet you there. I shouldn't be longer than a couple of days at the most."

"And if Kiel and this ship of his arrives before you do?"

"Then I want you to assist Ivanova as much as you can in stopping his plans. I might not have much respect for Earthforce or the new president, but I certainly don't want someone like Kiel calling the shots." Bester paused and thought for a moment. "However, I would like him taken alive if possible, there are a lot of questions I would like to ask Mr. Kiel and I am looking forward to asking them."

"I will do my best, Sir," Sarah replied.

"I am sure you will, Ms. Chang," the Psi-Cop replied. "Bester out."

Sarah smiled as the screen went black. She had done well today; managing to elevate herself in Bester's opinion, even if not everything she had given him had been her own work. She was sure Commander Petrov wouldn't mind. After all, he would get the credit from Earthforce, she would get credit from Psi-Corps and as neither organization ever communicated, her duplicity would never be discovered.

Sarah was a very happy woman as she put aside the two data crystals and set off for the dining room. It had been a good day, and despite the rather horrible trip down to the planet, having to endure the heat and radiation, she had come out on top again. All she had to do now was capture Kiel, or rather get Ivanova to capture him, and her future as a Psi-Cop was secure, and all before her twenty first birthday.

Anderson walked carefully onto the bridge of the Enlightener, careful not to disturb Kiel, who was sleeping in his command chair as usual. He failed though, and the former Psi-Cop looked up before he had even made it half way across the room. 'What is it now Darren,' came Kiel's thoughts, a little lighter than usual because the telepath's mind was still half asleep.

'Reports from our agents in Earthdome, Sir,' he replied, telepathically, to keep the few crew on the bridge from hearing.

'What do they say,' Kiel asked, growing more alert now.

'It is a problem, Sir. It seems that Earthforce is sending destroyers to Proxima III. Our agents are not sure, but they believe that it is possible that they are on to us.'

'How many destroyers,' Kiel asked, his mind broadcasting his sudden interest.

'Our agents thinks that it is five at the moment,' Anderson replied. 'Although they also say that the destroyers stationed around Earth have been put on high alert.'

Kiel yawned. 'I don't see the problem. Five destroyers are not enough to shop us now, especially as we designed this vessel to take on the entire fleet if necessary. Our fighter screen will take care of them in a matter on minutes, and if we destroy five now, that means less later when we go to Earth.'

'Yes Sir,' Anderson said. 'This was why I didn't really want to disturb you now. I was just bringing in the report to place on your console so you could review it at your leisure.'

'I see. Well, it is too late now. Give me the report and I will look at it now. You, on the other hand, need some sleep. You have been up too long already. Your mind will not be as alert and strong if you do not get your sleep.'

'Yes Sir,' Anderson said. 'I will go to my quarters at once.'

'Good,' Kiel replied, turning his attention to the report. His mind concentrating on the information on the screen in front of him he missed the strange look that Anderson gave him as his assistant left the bridge. Kiel quickly tired of the report though, realising that it contained little of interest, so he tossed it aside. As he had said to Kiel, even if Earthforce sent their entire fleet, he would still win. It might be one ship against many, but his vessel was stronger and more powerful than anything else in existence was. Its powerful weapons, including several clusters of heavy plasma cannons positioned along the hull, would enable the Enlightener to easily destroy any vessel that survived the fighter attack.

Snuggling back down in his seat he went back to his dreams of the battle that would be fought tomorrow, and after that, to the day when Earth surrendered to him and he would be elected pres... No, wait, Emperor. After all, it would be a new powerful Earth under his rule, and so a new title was needed. 'Yes,' he thought. 'I will like being an emperor.'

08:17, February 22, 2262.

The jumpgate orbiting Proxima III lit up for the third time in as many hours as the Rasputin made its way back into normal space. To the surprise of most of her crew, with the notable exception of Dr. Kozlowski whose faith in his creation remain unshakable, the warship had made a lot better time than even Susan might have hoped for. It had taken just under thirty-three hours for the return trip from Arisia 3, not quite as fast as it would have been in a Whitestar, but still pretty fast when compared to most of Earth's fleet. The same voyage would have taken a civilian vessel perhaps as long as a week. Back in engineering, the Chief Engineer, Philip Moore, was mopping his brow in relief, pleased that nothing had gone wrong with the six huge engines. They were, after all, still untested when it came to exactly how much thrust could be pulled out of them, and he had exceeded the recommend safety limits by at least twenty percent.

They were here now though, and from her position on the bridge, Susan could see the large planet hanging in space, looking almost serene against the darkness of the void. The Rasputin's scanners however had already picked up the familiar shapes of two Omega class destroyers, and one of the old Hyperion class vessels, in orbit around the world. There were no signs of any other military vessels, so Susan assumed that Vice-Admiral Emmerton and her fleet had not yet arrived. Fortunately, neither had the enemy vessel, assuming that it was bound for Proxima and not Earth or one of the smaller colonies.

With Earth's fleet reduced to around sixty capital ships, down from the more than two hundred that had existed before the civil war, few colonies had much in the way of protection right now. Most vessels were in a protective orbit around Earth and Mars, while the rest were either currently on patrol along the Alliance's borders, or on the way to join the small fleet gathering near Proxima. It seemed that not everyone was bound for Proxima though. In the distance, Susan could see the large shapes of three star liners orbiting around the planet. They were probably here to evacuate part of the population in case the destroyers were not enough to hold off any attack.

"Captain, incoming message from Proxima government," the communications officer called out. "It is President Mitrovic."

"Put him through," She replied looking down to her console as the screen there cleared to display the chubby, but not at all cheerful looking, face of the Proxima President. "President Mitrovic," she said crisply "How can I help you."

"Is it true?" he asked in a worried voice. "Earthforce is telling me that it is possible that some sort of warship might be on its way to attack my planet."

"It looks likely," Susan told him, not seeing any reason to cover up what might happen. "However, Earth is sending a fleet, and we should be able to deal with it before it causes any damage to your world."

He looked a little more relieved now, mopping away the sweat that had beaded on his forehead with a bright red handkerchief. "I am happy to hear that Captain. The way Earthforce was talking, it was as if Proxima had already fallen to an enemy attack. They said something about two other colonies already being destroyed."

"Well, I am afraid that part is true, Mr. President," Susan said. "One of Earthforce's deep space listening posts has vanished and Flinn Colony also has been attacked. Details are still sketchy on both attacks though."

The President's worried look returned at the mention of Flinn Colony. "Are you sure Proxima is safe then Captain? Flinn Colony was an old military base, but we have always been a civilian colony. Are our defences secure enough to stand against an attack?"

"That is why we are here," Susan replied. "Earthforce is sending another five or six destroyers as well. That will give us a total of around nine capital ships, plus fighters. That should be enough to stop any single warship quite easily."

Mitrovic didn't look total convinced, but nodded anyway. "I hope you are right Captain. There are two million people down here who will die if you are wrong."

"And there are a lot of good soldiers up here who will be just as dead, Mr. President," Susan reminded him sharply. "I can assure that the only way anything is going to happen to Proxima is if they get past us first."

The President nodded again. "I realise that Captain, the people of Proxima know that you will do everything in your power to stop this. If there is anything I can do to assist, I will. This is, after all, my world and I was elected to serve the people of Proxima. Perhaps I could come aboard your vessel and watch the battle from there."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Susan replied, a little quicker than she intended. In her opinion, there were already too many civilians on board, and although Dr. Kozlowski had finally turned out to a lot more help than hindrance, she certainly didn't want anyone else on board if she could help it. "However, there is something you can do."

"What is that, Captain," Mitrovic said, an eager look crossing his face. Obviously, the thought of having his world, not to mention his position, destroyed was beginning to bring out some of the qualities that had led the people of Proxima to vote for the President in the first place.

"You can send any fighters currently based on the planet to assist the fleet. I assume those twelve thunderbolt Starfuries are still at their base."

Mitrovic nodded. "Yes Captain they are, and their pilots arrived just a couple of days ago from Earth. I will go and speak to the Colonel to ensure that they are in space as soon as possible."

"Thank you," Susan said. "I am sure they will be of great assistance to us."

"They will in the air before the hour is out, Captain," Mitrovic assured her. "I will go and organise it personally."

Susan nodded. "You do that, Mr. President. I will take care of what has to be done up here. Ivanova out."

She quickly shut down the link before Mitrovic could continue. Based on her past experience she knew the President liked to talk, usually about minor, unimportant details, and had she let him he would have probably continued for another half an hour or more. This way she would get those fighters now, and not have to wait. She was sure the president meant well, but he had a way of dragging out any conversation. Susan wondered if that was why he was elected President. After all, as president Mitrovic would have the most contact with Earth now, and the people of Proxima might not want to make things easy for any Earth officials, especially after the way Clark had treated the colony during the war. So they elected the most annoying candidate they could find, just to teach Earthdome a lesson.

Still, she didn't have time to worry about minor matters like that now. Looking up from the screen she turned to Lieutenant Heneker, the young communications officer. "Lieutenant," she said, attracting the red-haired woman's attention.

"Yes Captain," Heneker asked, looking up from her work.

"Get Captain James of the Apollo on the link as soon as you can. There are some things I need to discuss with him."

Heneker nodded and turned to her console, opening a channel to the other destroyer. Susan sat back and waited. If there was going to be a battle, she wanted to know exactly what she had to work with. She was sure that Vice-Admiral Emmerton would have her own ideas, but she wasn't here yet and if the enemy warship showed up before the rest of the fleet arrived, then she was in charge and so she needed to know as much as she could about the other vessels already here, just in case.