Chapter 15
Susan pulled herself back up into her chair, her vision still blurred from the blinding flash that had filled every screen on the bridge. The flash from the explosion had been followed soon afterwards by a jarring collision and everyone on the bridge, and she imagined across the whole ship, had been thrown clear of their seats and was now lying scattered across the floor. Still, they were alive, which meant they could still do their jobs. Now securely back on the command chair, Susan rubbed her eyes in an attempt to recover her lost vision. She hoped it was only temporary.
The faint hissing sound of the bridge doors opening drew Susan's attention away the temporary loss of vision, as the doors were supposed to remain closed at all times during battle in case of a hull breach across the hall. Glancing in that direction, with eyes that were only just beginning to see objects again, Susan saw two blurry shapes slowly making their way towards her, one black and the other sort of greenish.
She closed her eyes and blinked a couple of time, letting a few tears wash her eyes. That seemed to do the trick, and it seemed the after effects of the explosion were finally began to fade. Although Susan was still seeing spots in front of her eyes, she could make out the form of Sarah Chang walking towards her. The Psi-Cop looked a little worse for wear, with a red smear of blood across her forehead where she must have bumped her head against something hard. 'Couldn't happen to a nicer person,' Susan thought as she watched the telepath trying to make her way across the deck.
Walking slowly along behind Sarah and looking amused by the whole situation was Talia. The blonde telepath looked completely unfazed by what had just happened and the sight of her was enough for Susan to start straightening her hair. She had braided it tightly this morning but sometime during the battle, her hair had come loose and it was all over the place. After failing totally in her attempts to restore some order to her unruly hair, Susan left it as it was and turned her attention instead to the painful feeling in her bottom lip, which had begun to throb.
A gentle tap on the sore lip with her index finger left behind a sharp stinging feeling in her lip and spots of blood on her finger. She looked around for a mirror or something reflective so she could determine how bad the damage was. There weren't any mirrored surfaces on the bridge, except the dark glass of the computer consoles, and there wasn't enough light right now to see anything in them. It was at that moment that she realised that the holographic display that spanned the entire ceiling of the bridge was not functioning and the bridge was lit only by dim emergency lighting.
Ignoring the two telepaths, and the problems they probably bought with them, Susan looked around for a crewmember to help remedy the situation, or at least give her a report on the condition of her command. Spotting Lieutenant Heneker crawling out from under a console, one that was showering sparks all much the forward part of the bridge; she hurried down the stairs to assist. Seeing no one else that appeared capably of helping, she grabbed the extinguisher that was mounted beneath the console. Pointing in the general direction of the damaged console, she pulled the lever and sprayed the burning console with white, misty foam until the fire was gone. Then Susan helped the red headed lieutenant to her feet and over to her station.
"Captain," Chang began, supporting herself against the railing around the command station.
"Not now, Ms. Chang," Susan cut her off. "I have more important problems right now. Lend a hand, stand there and be quiet, or get off my bridge, those are your options."
"But..."
Susan turned on the telepath. "I said not now! If you continue to interrupt me, I will have security escort you off the bridge and into the brig." As if illustrate her point two green uniformed marines stepped through the partially open bridge doors. Susan didn't know where they had came from, or why they were on the bridge, but it seemed to do the trick, keeping the telepath quiet and letting her get on with her job.
Sarah didn't look happy, but nodded anyway, realising that, while Susan probably wouldn't carry out her threat, upsetting the captain would not get her what she wanted. Instead, she glanced around the bridge trying to work out what had happened. When she had gone to bed late last night, everything had been quiet and peaceful but now it looked like the Rasputin had been through a major battle. She wondered why she hadn't been informed and realised that if it hadn't been for the sudden bump that threw her against the wall of the hallway as she was coming from her quarters, she wouldn't have known anything was wrong at all.
Susan didn't have time to explain the events of the last half hour to the telepath. She had other concerns and right now, she needed to know what was going on. Working quickly with Lieutenant Heneker, she managed to bring the warship's communication console back online. Unfortunately, it was blaring all channels at once, and it was impossible to sort out anything from that, so she left the lieutenant to work on it and made her way back up to the command station.
"Now, do you mind telling what the hell is going on, Captain?" the Psi-Cop asked her and she took her seat.
Susan looked at her. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I would have thought it was fairly obvious. We just collided with something. And as all the systems seem to be down, it must have been something big."
"What? An asteroid or something like that?"
A flicker of a frown crossed Susan's face before she realised the telepath really didn't have a clue what was going on. "No, part of Mr. Anderson's warship. Hopefully the rest of it was destroyed, but I won't know for sure until we get sensors back on-line."
"Full communications have been restored, Captain," came the call from her communications officer.
"At last," Susan said, clenching her fist in triumph. She tapped her link to open a channel to the rest of the ship. "This is the Captain, we need maintenance and medical personal on the bridge and damage reports to the X/O at once. I repeat, send maintenance and medical personal to the bridge and damage reports to the executive officer."
The link was silent for a moment and then a voice replied. "Understood Captain, a team is on their way up."
"Make it quick," Susan said to the voice at the other end. In truth, she was just pleased that anyone had answered at all. The force of the collision had almost knocked her unconscious for a moment, and she hated to think what it had done to the rest of the ship. However, now they had communications operating throughout the ship she hoped that someone would be able to get the primary computer systems back online.
"Message from engineering, Captain," Lieutenant Heneker called out.
"Put it through," Susan replied.
The voice of the chief engineer, Philip Moore, filled the bridge; although with most of the screens still down there was no picture. "Engineering to Captain Ivanova, are you receiving?"
Susan pressed a button on the console in front of her. "Ivanova here."
When Moore's voice returned it had a note of relief echoing through it. He didn't make any mention of his feelings though, just reported on the situation. "We are on emergency power only at the moment," he said. "Main power should be back online in around two minutes and most of the systems should also return at that time."
"What happened Mr. Moore?"
"Energy wave from the explosion Captain," he replied. "We also collided with something, although I am not sure what without the damage control systems. The EMP was too strong, and it cut right through the shielding and flashed most of our systems. They are designed to withstand this sort of thing though, so they should return to normal operation in a few minutes."
"Good," Susan said. "Get back to it then. Report if you find out anything else."
"Um, Captain," Chang called out again, trying to catch Susan's attention.
Susan just frowned at her, before turning back to speak to Commander Petrov. He wasn't there though and she found herself looking around frantically to find out what had happened to her executive officer. Looking over the railing into the rear section of the bridge, she spotted him lying on the floor clutching his injured arm. He must have been thrown there when the collision occurred.
"Are you all right Commander," she asked, continuing to ignore the annoyed looking Psi-Cop standing next to her.
He blinked a couple of time and then looked up at her. "I think so, Captain," he said slowly. "My arm hurts, but apart from that I don't seem to be too injured."
"Wait there anyway," Susan told him. "There is a medical team on their way up here." As if in response to her words three crewmen clad in the bluish-grey of the medical staff arrived on the bridge. "Down there," she said to them, pointing down towards the rear section of the bridge. They had been about to come to her assistance, but there were others on the bridge that needed attention a lot more than she did. Then, seeing the Psi-cop still waiting, Susan tugged the jacket on her uniform straight and went over to see what it was that Chang wanted.
"Can I help you, Ms. Chang," she asked.
"Yes you can, Captain," the Psi-Cop said in a tone that was less than civil after being ignored by Susan for so long. "I am still waiting to learn what exactly is going on. When I went to bed we were still on route to Proxima, so you might imagine it came as a bit of a surprise when I suddenly found myself being thrown across the hallway as I was walking to the dining room."
"Didn't anyone tell you we had arrived at Proxima?" Susan asked, remembering that she had been too busy since arriving in the system to inform the two telepaths anything. She had, however, broadcast a ship-wide message before the battle had begun, ordering everyone to their battle stations. She had even repeated it three times, so if Chang hadn't heard it, then she must have been still sound asleep. "I guess you shouldn't sleep in so long then Ms. Chang. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a ship to run."
"No, I won't excuse you," Sarah said angrily. "You said Kiel's ship was out there and I want to know what is happening."
Susan looked at her sharply. "Kiel? Who is he? I said that Mr. Anderson's warship is out there, and if you want to know what is going on then I suggest you go over there." Susan pointed in the direction of the bridge doors. "And wait until main power comes back online. Until then, I know little more than you do. Unless there is something you haven't been telling me, Ms. Chang."
The telepath's eyes narrowed for a moment and seemed about to continue arguing, but finally she nodded and walked slowly over to the location that Susan had indicated. Talia didn't follow, instead leaned back against the railing, watching the bridge crew trying to restore some order to their systems.
"You too," Susan said when she noticed Talia still standing behind her. The blonde telepath didn't move, instead just stood there, smiling faintly and twirling the collar of her jacket around one finger. Susan sighed in annoyance and turned back to her work. Of course, there wasn't actually a lot of work for her to right now with all the bridge systems, except for communications, still inoperative.
While she sat there waiting for engineering to restore power, Susan found herself growing increasingly self-conscious of Talia's scrutiny. She realised that was probably what the personality inhabiting Talia's mind wanted. For some reason the artificial personality seemed to like nothing more than manipulating other people, just for her own perverted amusement. The real Talia was the complete opposite, at least what Susan remembered of her.
Then, just as she was about to tell Talia to leave again, the voice of Philip Moore returned. "Main power coming online now, Captain."
There was a flash and all the lights went dead. For a moment, Susan thought something had gone wrong, but then the lights returned, along with the holographic screen and all of the other ship systems. Well, not quite all, as the long-range sensors were still down, the console that controlled those systems was the one that had been burning earlier. The bridge crew let out a short cheer to celebrate the good work of the Rasputin's engineers, a cheer that died quickly when they saw the devastation that was all around them.
All manner of debris, from tiny flakes of metal to giant, kilometre long pylons, spun slowly in space around them. Somehow, the Rasputin was untouched by all but the smallest particles of the debris cloud. Of the enemy vessel there was no sign, but then none of the other Earthforce vessels could be seen either. There did not seem to be any fighting still going on, at least not that Susan could see.
Noticing that some of the larger chunks of debris were coming closer, Susan looked down at the helmsman and called out, "Ensign Marino, can you move us clear please." There was no response, so Susan tried again, this time louder. When the helmsman didn't respond again she looked at Lieutenant Heneker. "See if he is all right can you, Lieutenant," she asked the communications officer.
"Yes Captain," Heneker replied leaping out of her seat and shaking the helmsman by the shoulder.
This time he responded and after opening his eyes, he looked over at her. "Are you here as well, Teri?" he asked. When she pointed back behind him, he looked back and saw Captain Ivanova staring at him. "Sorry Captain, he replied. "I thought I was dead there for a moment."
"Well you will be if you don't move us away from this debris, Ensign."
"Working on it right now, Captain," Marino replied, unclenching his hands from around the armrests on his chair and getting to work at the controls. He had been the only one of the bridge crew to see what had happened after the explosion. When the main gun had fired, his eyes had been on his controls and so he avoided most of the flash. Then, when he had looked up, all he saw was a massive metal pylon, nearly as big as the Rasputin itself, coming straight for him. He quickly pressed whatever controls he had within reach and held on as tightly as he could as the Rasputin had moved up, and away from the incoming object.
Although he didn't know it now, he had been solely responsible for saving all one thousand, three hundred and sixty two lives on board, with the exception of one of the maintenance staff who had cracked his skull open on a packing crate in the shuttle bay. Right now though, all he was concerned about was the laughter ringing in his ears as the bridge crew let out their amusement at his comment about being dead.
Even Susan smiled slightly, but she grew serious again as the warship's powerful engines came online and it headed away from the wreckage of the enemy vessel. It was good that the crew had something to laugh at, even if it was only the laughter of those happy to have survived. Somehow, her plan had worked, the enemy vessel was gone and Proxima was safe. Most amazing of all, the Rasputin had survived. She looked heavenward for a moment and muttered a quick prayer of thanks to whoever was listening.
"Captain," Commander Petrov's voice called out, cutting into her moment of reflection. "I think you should see this."
She turned around to look at the Commander. "What is it n... oh hell."
While the view in front of the Rasputin was of nothing but debris, behind it was another matter all together. Somehow, they had managed to make it past the command section of the enemy ship, which like the Rasputin was still intact. Behind them, about ten kilometres astern, was the vast bulk of the enemy vessel, and its escorting cloud of fighters. There was no sign of the Earthforce destroyers.
"Damn, it survived," she said, slamming her fist down on the hard armrest of her chair, then shaking it in pain and realising that smashing your hand into solid wood isn't a good idea. "Is it still operational," she asked the Commander.
Petrov turned to the crewman standing next to him, who shook his head. "Not at the moment, Captain," the crewman said. "In fact, none of the enemy fighters appears to be moving either."
Susan wondered if that meant that they had been destroyed in the explosion, or if they, like the Rasputin, had just been temporarily disabled. The answer to her question came soon after when lights began to shine along the hull of the enemy vessel and, with a burst of its thrusters, it began to move slowly away from the Rasputin, continuing its journey towards Proxima. Then all the drifting fighters powered up and began to cluster around the wounded vessel, obviously in a defensive posture.
"Damn," she said again. She was about to order the Rasputin to come about when she felt a strange tingle in her mind. It was if a distant tune was being played, and somehow she knew what it was. Susan turned around towards the bridge doors, watching as Sarah Chang walked slowly towards the command station, although she wasn't looking were she was going, instead focusing intently on the enemy vessel. Susan knew exactly what the Psi-Cop was doing. Sarah was reaching out with her powerful mind, looking for signs of other telepaths on the enemy ship.
"Sit still please, Sir," Anderson said to Kiel as he tried to tie the bandage around his superior's injured head. Kiel had thrown himself at the controls in an attempt to stop the mass driver firing and had only ended up with a gash on his skull for the trouble. "There, it is done," Anderson muttered as he went back to patching up his own wounds.
"Fighters have formed up into in defensive positions, Commander," one of the bridge crew called out. "Any new orders, Sir?"
"Not yet crewman," Kiel replied, feeling the bandage on his head to ensure it was in place. "First, we need to find out what other damage has been done."
The former Psi-Cop still acted as calm as ever, but inside he was seething with rage. Anderson had not done him the discourtesy of pointing out that he had told Kiel this might happen, but that did not stop him from remonstrating with his own inner voice. He knew now he should have waited until all the Earthforce destroyers had been taken out, but he had been too eager for conquest, too eager to win the victory quickly and show he was a power to be reckoned with.
Now the mass driver, the weapon that he was relying on to do the most damage was gone, and he was left vulnerable. "Damage report," he shouted at one of the crew.
The crewman quickly hurried to fulfil his tasks, looking down at the computer and reading off the list of damaged systems. "Mass driver has been des..."
"I can see that you idiot," Kiel shouted, pointing to the display screen, where it was plainly evident that the forward six kilometres of the warship was no longer there. It was somewhere behind them, scattered across space. With any luck, the remains of the Rasputin were somewhere out there as well. Its destruction would be a small ray of sunlight in an otherwise very black day indeed. "Concentrate on the other systems," he told the crewman, his voice dropping a little as he calmed down.
"Sorry Sir," the crewman replied. "Main power is back up, but only operating at fifty percent. Fighter command was up, but when the main power switched on it shorted out. Unfortunately, we won't be able to give new orders to the fighters until the computers are repaired."
"How long?" Kiel asked him, aware that the fighters were the Enlightener's main line of defence.
"Repair crews are on the way. They have given me an estimate of about two hours. However, the fighters were given the command to return to base and take up defensive positions before we lost the computer. That should keep us intact and protected until the repairs to the main computer are completed."
"Good," Kiel said with a nod of pleasure. At least now, he knew that the enemy vessels, if any were still intact, would be unable to press home the advantage they currently had and destroy his ship before it could regain full power. "Anything else."
"Jump engines are also down, but repair crews estimate about two or three hours and they will have them running again. The rest of the ship's system survived the explosion intact. Artificial gravity was maintained in most sectors, and the reports of injury are slight. It appears that they only took out the mass driver. The rest of the ship is intact.
"Sir," Anderson called out, attacking Kiel's attention. "I recommend that we consider withdrawing from battle as soon as we are able to jump. Those fighters unable to dock with us can jump to Hyperspace with us, they would have enough fuel to make it to a safe system outside Earth Alliance space."
"On the eve of my victory," Kiel said. "No Mr. Anderson, we will not run. Certainly, we have lost the mass driver, but we still have thousands of fighters left. We can destroy the few Earthforce ships that might remain and then take out Proxima before they can stop us. Then we can still move on to Earth. It will not be as easy, but still very possible." He turned to the crewman at the damage control computer. "How many fighters did we lose?"
The crewman looked down at the screen in front of him again, this time taking nearly a minute before he came up with an answer. "Just under five hundred, Sir. Most were engaged with the Earth fleet and were able to avoid the blast."
"See," Kiel said, turning back to Anderson. "That still leaves us with around nine and a half thousand fighters, more than enough to destroy anything Earthforce sends... Wait a minute, someone is trying to scan us."
"I feel it too, Sir," Anderson said, turning around to face the back of the bridge. "It is coming from somewhere behind us."
"Helmsman," Kiel shouted. "Show us a rear view."
The crewman nodded and switched the display on the viewscreen to see what was out behind the warship. There, rising out of the cloud of debris like a silver angel, everyone on the deck could see the Rasputin. From this distance, it was almost impossible to see minor damage along the destroyer's hull, and to Kiel, it looked like it was still intact and able to fight.
"Damn," he snarled, pounding his fist into his palm. "That bitch survived. Order all fighters to attack at once."
"They can't be moved until the computer is fixed, Sir," Anderson reminded him.
"Then get the bloody thing fixed," Kiel raged. "I want all repair crews working on the computer repairs and then I want that ship." He stabbed a finger towards the retreating Rasputin, "Destroyed." Then Kiel suddenly paused and the angry light in his eyes went cold. "No wait, I don't want it destroyed. I want it disabled. I want Ivanova to beg for mercy and then I want her here, so I can tear her mind to shreds personally. Now get to work."
As the crew of the Enlightener hurried to carry out their commander's orders, neither telepath on the bridge noticed that the scanning attempt had stopped, they had other things to worry about now.
Talia laughed and clapped loudly as Susan hit the Psi-Cop with her fist. "Bravo, Captain," she cried out. "I have wanted to do that ever since she came on board."
Susan looked back at the blonde telepath, who was sitting on the railing behind the command station and letting her legs dangle over the side. "You're next," she promised Talia, before turning back to the Psi-Cop, who was sitting on the floor with a shocked look on her face. "Don't you realise what you have done," she said harshly, pointing towards the enemy ship in the distance. "They probably know we are here now."
"Sorry Captain," Sarah managed to blurt you, rubbing her jaw where the Captain had hit her. "I apologise, I should have realised."
"Yes, you should," Susan agreed. She turned to the two marines. "You two," she said, indicating with her finger for them to come towards her. "Take these two civilians and escort them off the bridge. I don't want to see them back here again until I give them permission to enter. Take them to their quarters or somewhere they will be out of the way."
"Yes, Sir!" the two soldiers chanted at once. Then they roughly grabbed the two telepaths by their arms and guided them out of the room.
"I will see you later then, Captain," Talia called out as she left. For some reason, Susan had the distinct impression the telepath was mocking her. Just before she left, Talia stopped and looked back with a smile covering her face. "Oh, and don't worry, Captain, I won't tell anyone."
"Care to tell me what that was all about, Captain?" Petrov asked as he came over to her side, his arm now tightly bandaged and suspended in a sling.
Susan felt an icy chill running down her spine. She thought that knew exactly what Talia had been talking about, as it took a telepath to find another telepath, and Talia must have been scanning her when she had detected Sarah's scan. Then Susan stopped, realising that she hadn't felt anyone scanning her. Even a surface scan she would have been able to detect. A wave of relief washed through her as she realised what Talia had been hinting at.
"I have something of a history with Ms. Winters, Commander," she told him, deciding that was probably the best explanation to put Petrov's mind at rest. "It is not something I want to discuss right now."
"Of course, Captain," he replied. "But I was actually asking why you hit Ms. Chang."
"Oh that," Susan said. "She was telepathically scanning the enemy vessel. There is at least one telepath on that vessel and I had to stop her before she alerted them to our presence."
"I see," Petrov said with a nod. "Well, in that case, I have to agree with your actions and will say so if the Psi-Cop makes an official complaint against you." He paused and looked at the other ship, before a sudden thought struck and he looked back at Susan with a puzzled frown. "How did you know she was scanning the enemy vessel?"
Susan felt cold and, while trying to look calm, searched for something to say, only to aware that the eyes of most of the bridge crew were probably all focused on her right now. "On Babylon 5 I got to have a lot of experience with telepaths and one of them told me a little about how their powers work. I recognised the same look in Ms Chang's eyes just now and knew what she was trying to do."
Petrov nodded and then asked in an almost teasing tone, "I thought you didn't like telepaths Captain."
"I don't," Susan replied. "But there are exceptions to every rule." She turned to look at the bridge doors.
"Ah," was all Petrov said, remembering her admission just a minute ago about having a history with Ms. Winters. He realised that she must have been the telepath on Babylon 5 that the Captain was talking about.
"Damage report in, Captain," one of the crew said, breaking up any further awkward moments and preventing any further questions from Commander Petrov, pleasing Susan no end.
"Lets have it," Susan said, walking away from the Commander, and leaning over the railing to look down on the crewman who had spoken.
He nodded and began reading from the list on his screen. "It isn't too bad captain. We have power to half of the crew quarters, there is a hull breach on deck 2, and several of the auxiliary computer systems have shorted out. Main power, the majority of our weapons platforms, sensors, communications, and guidance are all operating in the green."
"Lets take a look at the hull breach," Susan said, thinking it sounded like the most serious problem right now. Although she was ever aware of the threat the enemy vessel might still pose, Susan needed to know if her vessel was still up to the fight that might resume at any time.
The crewman nodded and changed the display so that it showed the bottom of the ship instead of the normal view. There was a jagged dark tear along a section of the ship and it was possible to see a thin trail of glistening particles flowing out behind the ship. Whatever had caused that tear must have also been responsible for the knocking everyone out of their seats.
"What is that," Susan asked, pointing towards the particles leaking out of the damaged hull.
"Looks like water or something similar," Petrov said, joining her at the railing. He suddenly slapped his hand against his forehead. "Wait a minute... Deck 2, that is water recycling I think, as well as storage."
"Well, there goes my hot shower then," Susan said with an amused smile, recognising the problem wasn't likely to be a major one in the short term. "At least that deck wouldn't have been occupied." She turned back to the crewman. "That reminds me. Why did artificial gravity remain on when we had been damaged? Doesn't that system chew up a hell of a lot of power. I would have thought that it would have been the first system to go down."
The crewman shrugged. "I don't know, Captain. You would have to ask engineering that."
"I will," Susan replied. "Now, you said some of the computer systems had shorted out. Which ones specifically."
"Umm," the crewman said as he searched for the information. "Here we go... Looks like it was mainly minor systems, some of the holographic systems down in the recreation room, a couple of the doors. Wait..." He looked up. "It looks like the main gun is also down Captain."
Susan spun around and pressed the button of her computer console that would connect her with Lieutenant-Commander Dreyer, who, if she remembered correctly, had last been heard of inside the main gun's control room. "Lt. Commander Dreyer, are you there."
A burst of static followed her question and then a weak sounding voice answered. "Still here Captain... Just anyway."
"Good to hear that Lt. Commander," she said, relieved that he had survived. "What happened down there?"
"Well we fired like you asked, then everything went black. Half the systems down here are little more that charred hulks. The tech guys are going to need to do a thorough overhaul before this baby fires again." He paused and the asked, "did we get it, Captain?"
"You certainly did, Lt. Commander," Susan replied. "Right down the middle as we planned."
"Good," Dreyer said. "Well, if it is alright with you Captain, I will head up to the flight deck and see if I can't get a bead on what's happening from up there. I am not sure how long the oxygen is going to hold out down here, the filters are fried as well."
"Link in when you are safe," Susan said. "There is still plenty out there for you to shoot at."
"Sounds like fun, Captain," was the gunnery commanders last words before Susan shut off the link.
"Well, that is a bit of a problem," Petrov said. "Without the main gun we can't do a lot against that thing." He pointed at the still massive shape of the enemy vessel on the screen. "We do still have the secondary weapons, but they are only a little more powerful that the main guns on the other destroyers. They also lack the range. We could use our missiles silos, but…"
"Speaking of other destroyers," Susan said, pointing to a spot on the screen. "Zoom in on that area."
The crew hurried to fulfil her commands and soon the screen was showing the battered shapes of six Omega destroyers, and a hundred or so Starfuries milling about. One of the Earthforce vessels was burning badly and even as they watched, an explosion tore through its engineering section. The destroyer still seemed to be operating though, if only barely. As Susan watched she realised that considering the damage the destroyer had taken it was nothing less that a miracle it was still there at all.
"Lieutenant Heneker, see if you can raise them on the link," Susan called to the communications officer.
"Too much interference Captain," the lieutenant replied. "Probably the same thing that effected us, we must have come online again a lot faster than them."
"Keep trying, I want to speak to the other captains before we make our next move, even if it is only to let them know we are still alive. That explosion seems to have knocked out every electrical system nearby, I only hope the Starfury pilots made it through alive."
"They seem to be still operating," Petrov said, pointing out the fact that the Earthforce fighters still seemed to be under their pilot's control.
"That's good, Commander," Susan said. "We still have a lot of our boys and girls out there."
Petrov nodded in agreement and, before he could say anything else, a noisy disturbance crashed its way onto the deck. Both he and Susan turned around and stared in amazement as a wild looking Dr. Kozlowski easily sidestepped the two marines, who had just returned from escorting the telepaths back to their quarters, and hurried onto the bridge. "Captain Ivanova," he said, spying her standing behind Petrov. "Just the person I wanted to see."
Susan wasn't sure she could say the same. The doctor looked like he had just gone ten rounds with an angry Narn. His glasses appeared to be have been broken, and then stuck back together with tape, while a dirty, blood-stained bandage was wrapped around his right hand. The doctor's few remaining strands of hair appeared to be sticking out at right angles, while his normally spotless white coat was stained with a variety of substances, including what looked like blood.
"Dr. Kozlowski," Susan said, trying to avoid smiling at the doctor's slightly comical expression. "Are you here to tell us why the artificial gravity remained on when all the other systems didn't?"
Kozlowski pulled up suddenly, looking extremely puzzled by her question, before responding. "That was because I designed the emergency system to automatically shift energy from storage into artificial gravity in the case of any power loss. It is to stop injuries to the crew in the event of the a power failure in the reactors." He paused and tried to pat down his hair, which refused to obey him, and after every pass of his hand, it sprang back up again. One of the bridge crew laughed, but soon stopped when Susan stared at her.
"So why are you here then doctor," Petrov asked.
The doctor looked confused for a moment, then a flame seemed to ignite in his eyes and he pulled out a notebook that he had stashed under his arm. "I was on the flight deck," he told them. "I was watching the fighters and then when the power came back on I noticed that the enemy fighters were not moving."
"Yes we saw that to," Susan informed him. "Because of the explosion I suspect."
Kozlowski shook his head. "No Captain it wasn't. Those fighters are the same as the one I examined on Proxima and it was shielded against most forms of electromagnetic radiation, as is the Rasputin."
"Why were we effected then," Susan asked.
"Well, that was because we were so close, as was the enemy carrier, so it should have suffered a similar disruption to its systems. In addition, the amount of energy put out by the blast was very powerful. Most of those fighters were too distant to catch the worst of the blast, and the energy that did get through to them was not enough to knock them out for long. I estimate that their systems would have come back online in half the time of ours."
Susan frowned, a puzzled look on her face. "Why were they affected then?"
Kozlowski smiled. "Because they were not receiving any instructions from the enemy vessel," he replied, before standing and looking smug while everyone tried to work out what that meant.
Finally understanding dawned on the faces of those listening to him. "Which means they depend on instructions from their carrier so they can operate."
"Exactly, Captain," Kozlowski said, now smiling broadly. "I also watched what happened when the enemy ship's power came on. The fighter started up about thirty seconds later and all returned to protect the enemy vessel and then made no further move. They could have destroyed us and the other destroyers ten times over by now, but they haven't moved from their positions."
"Why is that," Petrov asked, looking at the thousands of enemy fighters, which were slowly orbiting their command vessel.
Kozlowski shrugged. "I am not sure yet, but I have a theory. Assuming their ship uses mostly Earth technology, then their systems would have come online in much the same way as ours."
"Which means what exactly," Susan asked, still looking confused.
"Well as soon as the power came online the residual energy from the explosion, which would have been trapped in electrical system, caused a spike throughout the entire system. That would likely have shorted out half their computers. Our shielding should be better, so only a couple of systems appear to have been affected, mainly those on the lower decks. The systems down there seemed to have caught more of the blast than the systems on the upper decks."
"So they don't have any control over their fighters at the moment then," Susan asked, possibilities springing into her mind, along with some hope.
"That depends on what orders were given before their computers went down. I would say they probably gave them an order to protect the warship, although it may just have been a return to base command. If it was just a return command, then we can destroy them one by one, without them even shooting back. If it was a protection order, then we will have a much bigger problem."
"Can their computers be repaired?" Susan asked, joining Petrov in looking at the enemy vessels.
Kozlowski nodded. "Yes, they can. I would estimate about three or four hours repair time, but it depends on how many men they have working on it, and how badly damaged it was. If it is only a minor problem then they could be back online in as little as one minute from now, but if they have to replace a good number of circuits then it could take as long as half a day."
"Either way it doesn't help us much. If we try to attack, those fighters could still destroy us."
"Yes, Captain," Kozlowski agreed. "Unless of course you destroy their computer system, then they can't do anything at all. While they have autonomous software to control them in combat, those fighters still depends on signals from their carrier's computers to give them new commands, otherwise they just continue to follow the last order they were given."
"Does that mean we need to get aboard that vessel?" Susan asked.
"There is no way of doing that though," Petrov said. "Any shuttle that was sent could be cut apart by those fighter."
As he spoke a single Starfury could be seen approaching the enemy command vessel, probably sent on a scouting mission by whoever was commanding the fighter squadrons now. Before it could get within range of the carrier, twenty of the tiny fighters that were protecting the enemy vessel broke ranks and blasted the Starfury. Fortunately, the Earthforce pilot was able to dodge in time, and he quickly scurried back to his comrades, while the enemy ships also returned to their positions.
"I guess that answers that question," Susan said, slowly tapping her hand against her leg in annoyance as she watched the brief battle. "A shuttle is never going to make it past that sort of protection."
"Captain," Lieutenant Heneker called out. "I have Captain James of the Apollo on the link."
"Put him through," Susan replied, turning back to her console. The link from the Apollo flickered and crackled, but she was just able to make out the older Captain. "Captain James," she said. "What is your situation?"
"Not good Captain," James replied, indicating the burning console behind him. "We have taken several severe hits to engineering, and although we still have some power, most of the weapons are down."
"Can you manoeuvre?"
James looked over at one of his crew, which one, Susan could not see over the link. Obviously, whatever answer he received was positive because, when he turned back to her, he nodded. "Yes we still have our thrusters, as well as one of our main engines that is online," he informed her. "That is enough to move us around a little, but not much more. Engineering is working on restoring the rest of our systems."
"And the rest of the fleet?" Susan asked.
"Not good," James replied. "Most of the other vessels have taken damage as well, and we won't be able to take much more of a battering before we are out of this fight for good."
Susan nodded, her mind working as quickly as possible to try to come up with a new plan to deal with the enemy warship. She knew that unless the enemy fighters were destroyed or disabled they would eventually overwhelm the remaining Earthforce defenders. She had a couple of ideas, but nothing concrete yet.
"Do you have any orders, Captain?" James asked, reminding Susan that with the Vice-Admiral missing in action she was now in charge.
She nodded as the inkling of an idea began to come together. "All destroyers except the Rasputin are going to retreat to Proxima III and prepare to defend the colony. While all fighters are to proceed immediately to our position."
"Understood," the other captain said with a sharp salute. "I have just received word that the fighters from Proxima have finally arrived. Do I send them along with the rest?"
"Good," Susan said. "I was wondering when they were going to arrive. We are going to need every fighter we can get our hands on." It was a fair distance from the planet below to the region of space around the jumpgate so it had taken the twelve thunderbolts considerable time to arrive. While they wouldn't appear to make a great difference against huge number of enemy fighters, to the depleted Earthforce ranks they were a big boost.
"I will send them along then," James promised. "Apollo out."
"You have a plan, Captain," Petrov asked. On the screen he could see the Earthforce fleet breaking up, the destroyers retreating while the fighters taking a wide arch around the enemy vessels, heading towards the Rasputin's position. If the enemy commander noticed what was going on, he gave no sign, instead the massive warship just sat there, not even one of its fighters moving from its position.
"Not yet," Susan replied, also watching the movement on the display. "I have an idea, but I would hardly call it a plan yet." She looked around her as if searching for someone. "What happened to Dr. Kozlowski?" she asked. "He was here just a few seconds ago."
"Over here Captain," the doctor called out from the front section of the bridge where he had been chatting with the repair crew working on the sensor console. "Is there something you wanted?"
"What do you know about that troop transport down in the rear shuttle bay?"
"The Akira?" Kozlowski asked with a surprised grin. "Well, I designed most if it actually. It was sort of a pet project of mine, something to pass the time when I wasn't working on the Warlock."
"Does it work?" Susan asked cautiously.
Kozlowski looked shocked that she could even ask such a question. "Of course," he replied, sounding a little hurt. "I don't design vessels that don't work. It is a perfectly functional troop transport with a class c biosilicate armoured hull and upgraded particle beam cannons." He paused for a second and looked faintly embarrassed. "Unfortunately, I am not a skilled pilot, so it hasn't actually been tested yet."
"What are you thinking, Captain?" Petrov asked.
Susan turned around and pointed at the fighters protecting the damaged enemy warship. "A shuttle is not going to be able to make it past those fighters, but an armed troop transport just might. If we use our own fighters to clear a path and then punch through the gap with the troop transport we might be able to get a force onto that warship."
"And then take out their computer system from the inside," Petrov finished for her.
"That's right," Susan said, pleased that her executive officer had picked up the plan so quickly. "Of course it is only an idea and the transport could be destroyed before it even makes it anywhere near the enemy vessel."
"It shouldn't be, Captain," Kozlowski said, coming back up to the command station. "Its hull is made of the same material as the Rasputin's, so it should be able to absorb most of the energy fired at it. I even included weapons, so you can fire back at anyone attacking. Of course, they haven't been tested yet either. Um… I should point out that it hasn't yet been approved by Earthforce for use."
"It sounds like our best chance though," Susan said. Actually she would have preferred to use anything but the evil looking vessel sitting below in the second shuttle bay, but she didn't have much choice. A normal shuttle would be shot to pieces in a matter of seconds, while the transport, which looked very similar to miniature Shadow battle cruiser, would probably survive a lot longer. It was still a long shot, but everything else she had tried so far had paid off. She hoped that this plan would as well.
Susan reached down and tapped a control on the console. The voice of Major Logan answered. "Major," she said. "I want you to round up your marines and meet me in the shuttle bay as quickly as possible. I need as many men as you can find and authorise distribution of high-energy weapons as well. It looks like we may have a little job for you."
"Yes, Captain," the Major replied, and nobody listening could miss the excitement in her voice.
Susan shut down the link and headed for the door. The commanding bark of Commander Petrov's voice stopped her cold. "Just where do you think you are going, Captain?" he asked. He already knew exactly what she intended to do, and didn't approve one bit.
"Down to the shuttle bay," she replied a little curtly, not appreciating her movements being question by her X/O. "Someone needs to fly that thing, and with all the fighter pilots somewhere out there I am the most experienced pilot left on board."
"The place of a captain is on the bridge," Petrov argued. "You can't just jump into every dangerous situation that comes along. Let someone else fly the transport. We still have all our designated shuttle pilots on board."
"They don't have any combat experience though, do they Commander." Susan turned to resume her journey towards the shuttle bay, the argument over as far as she was concerned.
"That doesn't matter, Captain," Petrov said as she walked towards the door leading off the bridge. "This is your command and as the current commander of this battle group, you have to remain here and direct the action. If you fly this transport over there, it is likely you will die. As your executive officer, I have to advise strongly against this course of action. The Rasputin is the only intact warship left in the combat zone and it needs its captain."
Susan stopped again and turned around, walking back to Petrov. "I am leaving you in command," she told him. "You can take over here while I am gone, that is your job, after all. If the captain is away or incapacitated, you are supposed to take command. Right now I want you to look after things here, while I try and end this battle before we all die."
"What do you want me do then, Captain," Petrov asked, giving up the attempt to stop Susan risking her life.
Susan paused and looked up at the holographic display. She pointed to the cluster of enemy fighters. "Do you see those ships, Commander?"
"Of course, Captain."
"If they move, shoot them."
"Is that all, Captain?" Petrov asked as she walked away towards the bridge doors.
"That's it, Commander," Susan replied, pausing only briefly at the doors. "If those fighters move, that means the enemy has control of them again and they will be coming after all the surviving Earthforce vessels, including this one. So if they move out of a defensive position, then do all you can to destroy them before they can attack Proxima." She looked down at Dr. Kozlowski. "Doctor, you had better come with me. I may need you to explain to me how to operate the transport's controls."
"Quite probably, Captain," Kozlowski replied, quickly gathering up his notebook, glasses, and a bulky package Susan hadn't noticed before and follower her out the door.
Behind them Petrov made his way over to the command chair and took his seat. His arm ached horribly, but his thoughts were troubling him more. His job was to try to keep everyone alive, and as far as he was concerned, this plan of the Captain's was nothing short of suicide. Of course, she was right though, if they didn't attempt a strike on the enemy vessel, then the Rasputin would be destroyed once the repairs on the enemy vessel were complete. He wasn't sure an assault with the Rasputin's marines was the best way to go though. Still he wasn't about to try to change the Captain's mind now. She had shown, quite plainly, her determination to try to make this work.
It took Susan a little less than three minutes to make it down to the shuttle bay, but already Major Logan had the marines assembled. They were a diverse bunch, not exactly what Susan would have expected from Earthforce troops. Instead of lining up in regular rows, they were scattered across the entire bay, busily polishing their rifles, and sharpening knives. Spotting the Major on the far side of the bay, speaking to her second in command, Susan headed towards her.
As she passed one group of marines, she noticed them removing several large cylindrical shapes from a crate. The soldier in charge, a tall, muscular corporal with a bandanna wrapped around his head, nodded a greeting as she passed. Susan didn't return the gesture though, instead looking in surprise at the weapons they were unpacking. When she had said she authorised the use of high-energy weapons, she had meant explosives for blowing up the enemy computers, not heavy anti-armour cannons. Still she wasn't about to complain, they might need that kind of firepower.
"Captain Ivanova," Lily called out loudly, spying Susan approaching. "I nearly have everything ready. All you need to do is show us the target and then we will take it out for you."
That comment bought a round of cheers from the marines, and even a faint smile from Susan. "We have to get there yet, Major," she said, reaching the side of her security officer. "It looks like our only chance to end this without a lot more deaths is to take out the main computer on the enemy vessel. I would prefer to do this with the Rasputin's guns, but the only weapon powerful enough to cut through their hull has been disabled, so that means we are going to have to do it the hard way."
"That is what we are here for, Captain," Lily said with a smile. "Whenever someone has something difficult they want done, they send for the Earthforce marines." Then she grew a little more serious. "I would like to know how we are going to get across to the enemy warship though, Captain. Last I looked, there were still a lot of enemy fighters out there."
Susan nodded, "True, Major. However, I think I might have a way of breaking through the defensive ring of fighters."
"Not in one of those shuttle I hope," Lily said, staring at the nearest shuttle with immediate dislike. She didn't like the sound of taking a flimsy shuttle into a battle zone.
"No, Major," Susan replied, glancing at the large airlock situated at the back of the shuttle bay. She shuddered involuntarily at the thought of what sat in the aft shuttle bay. She could still hear the screams of Shadow vessels echoing in her mind, and although this vessel was silent, the memories it bought back were not.
"Oh, that black thing," Lily said. "What exactly is that?"
Kozlowski stepped up and said proudly, "It is a new model troop transport that I have designed to compliment the Warlock class."
"I see," Lily said cautiously. "I don't like using untried technology. I knew someone, a very good friend of mine, who worked in research. He was given a new weapon to try; something that all the scientists said would work fine. Of course, it didn't and it blew up in his face. How do we know this ship won't do the same? It has been sitting back there ever since I came on board, and so far, I haven't seen it being used."
"That is because there hasn't been need for it yet," Kozlowski replied, a little annoyed that the Major would question the quality of his work. "Anyway, it is based on the same technology as the warlock destroyers. I haven't heard any complaints about the Rasputin yet."
"And right now we don't have any other choice, Major," Susan cut in, knowing they had very little time, and certainly none to spare for arguments. "If we don't make an attempt now, while the enemy's computers are down, then we will be dead either way."
"In that case, if you order it, we are ready," Lily replied. She turned towards her second. "Lieutenant, get everyone packed up and ready to go." She turned back to Susan. "I assume you want to leave as soon as possible, Captain."
Susan nodded. "Yes, Major. I don't know how much of a window we have, but I would assume that it isn't going to be long."
"In that case I will speed things up a little," Lily said. She turned around to look over the shuttle bay. "All right everyone," she shouted. "The Captain here has a job for us to do. We have to take out the enemy vessel from the inside, and as quickly as possible. I want all teams to form up at once and follow Lieutenant Harris' into the aft shuttle bay. So grab your guns and lets get moving."
"Yes, Sir!" came the reply from the assembled marines. The shuttle bay then erupted into activity as weapons were slung over shoulders and packs, loaded with explosives and other equipment, were given a final check. Lieutenant Harris gave a quick salute to his commander and hurried off to organise the loading of the transport.
"That should do it, Captain," Lily said with a smile. Then she bowed her head and swept her hand in the direction of the airlock. "Shall we go," she asked, inviting Susan to lead the way.
Susan nodded and started walking toward the airlock, Major Logan and Dr. Kozlowski in tow. Before she could reach the airlock, the lift doors opened and the two telepaths stepped off. As soon as Sarah Chang saw the Captain she hurried over, a frown on her face.
"Captain Ivanova," she said in an annoyed voice. "Why didn't you inform me you were going to try board the enemy warship?"
"Because I didn't think I needed to inform you of every move I made," Susan replied, not slowing down.
"You are going to need me, Captain," Sarah replied, as she hustled to keep up with Susan.
Susan almost laughed. "And why exactly would I need you for anything, Ms. Chang?"
"Because there are telepaths on that vessel," Chang replied. "If you go over there those telepaths will stop your little invasion dead. You are going to need me. I am a P12, a Psi-Cop, and therefore powerful enough to stop the rogues on that ship from harming you or these soldiers. Face facts Captain, you are going to need me, whether you like it or not."
With a loud hissing sound, the airlock into the aft shuttle bay opened slowly. Susan and those with her stepped inside. "She has a point, Captain," Major Logan said softly to Susan as they waited for the second set of doors to open.
"Very well, Ms. Chang," Susan said. "You can come along, but your assistant stays here. This is a military operation and therefore civilians are not welcome." Actually, Susan's reason for not wanting Talia along were a lot more personal that just obeying the rules. In truth, she didn't want Talia anywhere near harm, the thought of the beautiful blonde telepath lying injured or dead not something she wanted to contemplate.
"I will need her along as well, Captain," Sarah insisted. "She has skills I need to make use of."
The second set of doors slid open exposing the aft shuttle bay and its cargo. The glistening black transport was almost invisible in the dim light, but for some reason it was impossible to miss. It seemed to lurk, rather that rest in the shuttle bay, a dark presence that caused a cold shiver to run down the spines of most who saw it. All except Dr. Kozlowski who hurried forward to see his ship, almost as if it was some long lost pet.
"Well Captain?" Sarah pressed, not willing to give up until she had the answer she wanted. "Can my assistant come along?"
Susan turned and looked at Talia, who smiled sweetly back. For some reason that smile only reminded her how different this woman was from the Talia she had known and loved. Back on Babylon 5 Talia had never seemed to really smile very often, and even when she did, it was twinged by a sadness that Susan had found so attractive.
Susan sighed, knowing that if she disagreed, the Psi-Cop was only going to continue the argument. She didn't want Talia along, but didn't have time to argue. "All right," Susan said at last. "She can come along. However, both of you are going to sit quietly on the way there and then do exactly you are told."
"Thank you, Captain," the Psi-Cop said, although there was nothing genuine in her thanks. Instead, her voice sounded almost triumphant, as if she had just won a great victory.
Susan watched the telepaths walking away, over to where the marines were gathering to board the transport. She wondered if she had made a mistake, after all, telepaths always seemed to stick together and it was possible that Chang was actually working for Anderson, or whoever was on that warship. For all she knew the whole thing could just be a Psi-Corps plan to take over the Earth Alliance.
Dr. Kozlowski hurried back to her side. "Everything appears to be operational, Captain," he said. "We can leave as soon as everyone is on board."
Susan nodded. She turned to Major Logan, who was still looking at the troop transport with some suspicion. "Major," she said. "You can get your troops on board, while I will go and see if I can't work out how to fly this thing." After Lily had nodded her understanding, and walked over to pass on the orders to her marines, Susan turned back to Kozlowski. "Doctor, you can wait here."
"But, Captain," he cried. "You can't leave me behind. This will be the maiden flight, and I want to be on board."
"It is going to be dangerous," Susan argued. "I already have enough civilians on board as it is, without you as well. After all, there is no guarantee that any of us are going to survive."
"That's not important," Kozlowski said. "I have to come, I am the only one who knows what all the controls do. I might not know how to pilot this ship, but there are several new systems I installed that have never been used before."
Susan held up her hands to stop his arguments. "All right doctor," she said. "You can come along, but only if it's understood that you are to stay out of the fighting and remain with the transport."
"Don't worry about me, Captain," Kozlowski replied with a grin, patting the package he still had tucked under one arm. "I know how to take care of myself."
Susan had already turned away and was walking towards the transport, so she didn't notice the doctor's package, instead assuming he meant that he was going to follow her orders. "Good," she replied. "Now, perhaps you can tell us how to get into this thing." She reached up with her hand to touch the hull of the transport.
"No!" Kozlowski shouted, batting her hand away. "Don't touch the hull." he looked around at the marines. "No one is to touch the outer hull, unless you are wearing gloves. If you do, it will drain the life energy out of your body. This is only a test vessel, we didn't have time to cover the hull properly." He walked over to a small control panel mounted on the exterior hull, and after pressing a button, stepped back.
The entire side of the transport began to drop down, creating a metal ramp up into the interior of the transport. To Susan's surprise, the inside looked much the same as every other shuttle or transport she had even been in, and all trace of the Shadow technology vanished. With Kozlowski at her side, she walked up the ramp and into the vessel.
Rows of seats were arranged in a semi-circular pattern along the walls, with a sunken area in the centre for cargo. "Where does the pilot go?" she asked the doctor.
"This way Captain," he replied pointing towards a pressure door on the far side of the chamber.
Susan nodded and followed him, while behind her Major Logan set about finding seats for all her troops, as well as the two telepaths. The pressure door opened into long passage, which had five other doors leading off it. Kozlowski pointed to the far door, and Susan opened it, peering into a small cockpit, where two tall seats faced a wide array of consoles and screens.
"That is the pilot's seat," Kozlowski said, pointing towards the right hand seat. "And the other is the co-pilot's." He sat down in that seat, placing his package carefully down next to him. Of course I can't actually act as your co-pilot, however we should be fine for a short trip."
"What about in a battle?" she asked. "Can the pilot control this transport without any assistance?"
"Of course, the co-pilot is only here to assist."
Major Logan chose that time to poke her head through the door into the cockpit. "Everyone is settled, Captain," she said. "We have also found the turret weapons, so we can shoot back if anything takes a shot at us."
"Good work, Major," Susan replied. "Close the entry ramp and take your seat." Lily nodded and went back down the corridor, closing the door into the cockpit behind her. Susan turned to Kozlowski. "I assume there is a some way of getting from this transport into the enemy ship?"
"Of course, Captain," Kozlowski said with a snort, as if the very idea of not including a boarding clamp was a basic mistake. "We have a laser cutter linked to a magnetic boarding clamp. All you need to do is slide up alongside the enemy vessel and press that button." He pointed to a small button on the co-pilot's console. "Actually I can take care of that if you like, you can concentrate on flying."
"Good," Susan replied. She tapped her link. "Bridge, we are ready to launch. Activate the outer airlock and then, after we are free, get whoever is in change of our fighters on the link." Susan didn't know who was still alive out there. She hoped it was Alister Schmitt; she had grown quite fond of the square-jawed flight commander.
"Yes, Captain," Petrov's voice said over the link.
A loud clang sounded from below as Susan strapped herself into the pilot's chair and indicated for Kozlowski to do the same. At least the controls were a little familiar and not totally alien, as she had expected after viewing the transport from the outside. In fact, they were very similar to the controls of a standard atmospheric shuttle, with the addition of some new systems she didn't recognise.
The transport shuddered slightly as four large clamps descended from the ceiling and attached to the transport's hull, lifting it off the deck. Through the two small windows in the cockpit Susan could see a flashing light on the wall of the shuttle bay changing from amber to red and then the floor slid away, exposing the transport to space. Finally, the docking clamps released and the transport dropped away slowly. There was little gravity in the shuttle bay now that the doors to space were open, but a quick firing of the transports upper thrusters and it was clear.
Her hands on the controls, Susan soon found that, although it might look like a Shadow vessel, the transport handled a little like a standard shuttle. It was somewhat smoother though, and she discovered that it answered her commands a lot quicker. As she flew closely along the hull her link beeped, it was Commander Petrov calling to say that Lt. Commander Schmitt was now ready for her orders.