THOSE WHO STAND-BOOK II
Chapter 14
"The Meeting Place, part 2"
Babylon Five:
"So everything's set. The upgrades are working out nicely. We leave in nine hours," Rachel said as she sipped her coffee. For a moment she savored its taste, closing her eyes to better absorb the subtle flavors exploring her mouth. "I will need to talk to this Captain Clark in detail. As you know, our dealings with EarthForce haven't been that great."
"No," Jean-Luc agreed, amused at the understatement. "I just hope that this isn't the calm before the storm."
In the past few months, the Enterprise-C, an Ambassador class starship, had underwent small but significant modifications such as upgrading the bussard collectors, increasing their efficiency by almost twelve percent. The new sensor's package increased the range and sensitivity by over twenty-five percent. And the newer impulse engines increased thrust and agility by almost twenty five percent over the original design. The Enterprise-C was one of the few Ambassador class ships that didn't undergo the Yamaguchi refit and as such, was slower at impulse that her later built sisters. The newer warp core design specifically for the Ambassador was nixed for the time being since no wanted to in the middle of that kind of procedure if hostilities broke out. So for now, The Ambassador was stronger than she ever had been but still not quite up to Picard's wishes. Hopefully those changes would come in the future.
The silence stretched around them as each enjoyed one another's company. Through the window, both watched as the jumpgate opened allowing an EA ship to enter the mysteries of jump space.
"It never ceases to amaze me."
"You mean," she questioned, waving her hands to indicate everything that had happen to them and their crew, "all of this?"
"Yes," he whispered. "I have not let myself see the totality of it all. Another universe," he whispered again. "A universe in which we are the interlopers, watching a parallel Earth moving in directions that we would have never imagined. Sometimes, when I'm in my room, I think upon all of this and the conflicts, all the sadness that has occurred here and I ask myself, how is it possible? But then, I remember where it was that we came from. I revisit the horrors that I've seen and I shiver and I once more come to the realization that we're no better off, than they are. That fact of the matter is that they may be in far better shape than our universe. Despite our advances, they have a life here that speaks of an energy that our Federation is losing. Rachel, the war was destroying us. When I look at you, I see glimpses what we could have aspired to and what we have lost because of the war."
Not for the first time Garrett could see the pain and the loneliness in his face. It was a tired face, the kind of look that spoke of determination for a hopeless cause. "Then why haven't you talked about this before? You should have let me in."
He didn't respond to that. It was as if he couldn't. But finally something changed and he seemed to somehow relax somewhat. "Rachel, I'm glad you're here with me," he admitted. "I'm glad that you an your crew survived to join us in this remarkable journey."
"My crew and I should have died twenty-two years ago," she said. "The war should have never happened and our interference with this reality should have never occurred." She sighed softly as she sipped the last of her coffee. "But I am glad to be alive, even if I am a fragment."
"You believed him."
"I believe I do," she confessed. "I wouldn't so far as to call us fragments however. We're separates."
"In what way?" Picard asked.
"Do you remember in the early days when Kirk had the transporter incident and was split into two distinct parts?"
"I vaguely remember the history and the events. But I do see where you are going with this. Which one was the real Kirk? The answer is…"
"Both of them," she finished. "Just as we are."
"I keep telling myself that."
Yes there was pain in his voice. Raw pain, the type a man has when he's lost his only child. "We are alive. Besides, if we weren't then the aliens wouldn't have come back for Ben. But that is besides the point isn't it."
"What do you mean?" Picard asked tightly.
"You are frightened, Jean-Luc," Rachel answered. "I can see in your eyes. You've put up a brave front, but sometimes, when you're trying to relax, you let your guard down, just for a second."
"Rachel…"
"I understand what you fear," she said. "I feel the same way," she said. And as she did so, Rachel let him see the same weight, the same misery that tormented her as well. "Sometimes, in the dark, I feel like I might go mad. My crew is lost. Our crews are lost and we, as Captains feel responsible."
"Because we are."
"But we will go on," she continued. "In this universe or the next. And we will do this together. Like you said, I'm glad that you and Sisko are with me and mine."
"Enough of this self-pity." He got up, straightened his uniform and became the Captain of the Enterprise again.
Rachel laughed.
"And?" he asked. He was smiling himself.
"Why is it that Enterprise Captains have to go through so much trouble?"
"That's because we both know that the words Enterprise, responsibility and trouble, go hand-in-hand," he answered without skipping a beat.
"I'm glad you're here with me also, Captain Picard, master of the Enterprise-D. I believe we should have tea and coffee more often."
"Most certainly, Captain Garret of the Enterprise-C. " His voice took on a more sober tone. "Whatever comes; our life is here."
"Until we find out otherwise," she answered.
"Until we discover otherwise," he responded. "The future awaits."
"Speaking of which." She got up, kissed his cheek. "Now it's time for some girl talk."
Rachel left his Ready-room happier than she'd been in a long time.
***
Lieutenant Corwin frowned the EAS Nimrod battle group exited the jumpgate with a small vessel in tow. At first, it he thought it was Vree, however a quick inspection revealed it to be something else entirely different. A moment later, the strange ship was released and he was hailed.
"This is Captain Daniel Schall of the EAS Nimrod requesting a meeting with Captain Sheridan. For reasons that will become apparent, we are requesting asylum and respectfully ask that we join the forces of the resistance in your request to liberate Earth from the Clark regime."
The Lieutenant almost smiled. The man had to have practiced that little speech for a little while. He had heard of this particular Captain whose reputation had preceded him. From all reports, he was a good commander, but he had all the imagination of a brick. The man was as conservative and loyal as they came, which begged the question as to why he was here at Babylon Five requesting asylum. "Remain where you are Nimrod. Please identify unknown vessel."
"That's what we're here to talk about," Captain Schall answered and Corwin could see that the man was nervous. I prefer to speak to Sheridan as soon as possible."
He received another incoming call, this time from the unknown ship. "I'm Captain John Adams of the United Planet Cruiser C-57-D. I want to speak to whoever is in charge of this space station."
The Sandy-haired man had spoken in English, but he had never heard of that designation before."
"United Planet Cruiser? I don't recognize your ship and it doesn't conform to anything in our database. Where are you from?"
"Well," he fumbled. "It's rather hard to explain, but we're not from around here."
"We have a visual on screen one, Lieutenant, sir." The woman's face drained as she saw the crewmembers of the tiny vessel. "Ah, Sir?"
"Oh, God!" he whispered. His mouth hung open and it took a little effort to close it. Was that a robot at the helm? It looked like one and as far as he knew, humans had never developed that technology. Here we go again. "Captain Sheridan will be with you in a few moments."
***
John Adams had to appreciate the irony of the situation. He had no intentions of coming to this place and that was exactly where he wound up. The Nimrod was indeed intimidating and big enough carry his ship, but he had no desire to dock inside and place himself at the mercy of these strangers so as a compromise, he accepted the tow. Hyperspace was indeed a revelation to him and the crew. This form of travel was much faster than his ship's top speed. However, their sublight speeds were far below anything that would be accepted by the United Planet's starcraft engineering. Artificial gravity mechanics was unknown to these people. Throughout the entire, trip, he and his crew took readings and it was quickly determined that his ship's hyperspace drive would thrive in jumpspace. With a little work, they could exceed anything currently imagined by this–and his-Earth.
As with so many visitors who came to this station, he was awed by the design of the station. He was also stunned that they had no artificial gravity system. They were obviously advanced in some areas but lacking in others. But the sheer numbers and variation of the ships moving and stationed around it gave him a measure of comfort. One of his crewmembers saw the Yeager parked next to, what must have been its bigger brother and sister. The design was different but unmistakable. Beside them were a multitude of warships and dozens of cargo ships and vessels representing many, many races of alien species.
They're beautiful," Altaria said. She had never stopped gazing at the view-screen since they entered Babylon Five's airspace. Cookie, the ship's cook and now junior engineer since he had to pull double duty, stood next to her, gaping.
"Which one?" he asked.
"All of them," came the answer.
"Ain't it the truth? I have never so many different kinds of ships in my life at one place, not even over Earth. Our Earth, I mean," Qualified the young man. "Do you think we'll ever get back?"
"I don't know, Cookie. I don't know."
***
Epsilon:
Draal's full attention had been focused on the 'Dum star system, when he received the call from the Enterprise-D. He was slightly perturbed at being pulled away from his work, especially when things were so serious that he couldn't afford to waste much time dealing with these frequent distractions. It was wonderful that there were workers and others that continually maintained the 'Great Machine', therefore allowing him to concentrate on the wonders of the universe. On the other hand, he had made somewhat of an error in allowing those annoying telepaths onto the planet. As a whole, they were a rather nice sort even if they were human. But there were a few that he didn't dare trust. Because of his connection to the 'Great Machine', he was now telepathic also, the result of his mind being expanded to accommodate the needs of the massive machine itself. And he 'listened to the leaders of the Psi-Corps, sometimes in fascination, sometimes in repugnance, to the drabble that they fed to their underlings. The human named Alfred Bester was the loudest and the most rude. In fact, that was his main mission. But he wasn't the most dangerous, not by far. While he remained boisterous, the few others that escaped Clark's purge, hid behind his enormous shadow to do their work behind the scenes. Several times he caught them trying to telepathically link themselves to his machine and several times he had ejected them most forcefully. But they never seemed to get the hint, until he threatened to remove them all to the polar-regions. There, the accommodations were less pleasant.
"Please be brief, Captain Picard."
"I am sorry to disturb you, but I would like to see Mr. Bester at the earliest opportunity. And tell him I insist."
"Rest assured that I will," Draal answered. "Captain," he continued far more soberly. "They know I have been watching. They have begun to telepathically jam my intrusions.
"How are the Shadows faring?"
"I am unsure," he confessed. "But the battle continues throughout the entire solar system. Sheridan must hurry and I have told him so."
"Thank you, Draal."
***
As per usual, his holographic image suddenly appearing from nowhere came as somewhat of a shock. "Alfred Bester. Captain Picard would have words with you. For some reason he is not happy," said Draal in his most sober tone.
Bester was irritated at being summoned by a mundane especially since he had no choice in the matter. "What does he want?" the man snapped. "Hasn't he done enough to me?" he asked, motioning at the remains of his nine hundred or so, members of the Psi-Corps huddled together inside makeshift housing units inside a dead world. He felt a little better than a slave subject to the whims of anyone who happened to be around. Truthfully, he was torn between the urge to run and hide from Picard and the need to see Deanna once more. He longed for her but the bond had been purged on he side. His wasn't and it felt like a constant fire in his brain.
"Tell him I'm busy and I'll have to get back to him later, at a more convenient time."
"Too late, " the Minbari holograph droned. "I have given him your coordinates. Don't move," he added swiftly. "If you step out of range, I cannot assure you that every piece of you will arrive safely."
Bester's cheeks reddened. The Minbari was clearly enjoying his fear. But he didn't dare move and a moment later, after cursing Picard to the high heavens, he faded from the world.
***
Captain Adams, Altaria, his future wife and two members of his crew, and Robby walked down the stairs to meet with the delegates of the station. This station was different from anything he'd seen before. The Earth stations he knew were smaller, but didn't have a need to rotate to simulate gravity. He seriously thought about bringing his hand blaster despite the request that no weapons were allowed but opted to bring Robby instead. Mobius' little invention was powerful enough to defend them from almost any attack and he was the personification of decorum. Plus, he was a wonderful intimidation factor.
There was the man called Captain Sheridan and the female alien called Delenn standing very close next to him. There was also Captain Schall, another woman in a red and black uniform-a human- and two security guards. They looked friendly enough even if the smiles seemed a little forced. Robby was doing his job. Introductions lasted for five minutes.
"May I ask?" Sheridan was clearly stunned and amazed at the robot standing in front of him. "That is a robot."
"Yes, it is."
The robot turned his head to face Captain Sheridan. And it bowed slightly. "I am monitored to respond to the name Robby."
"Hello," the human woman said. "I'm Captain Rachel Garret of the Federation Starship Ambassador. It took everything Rachel had not to pull out her tricorder and scan the thing.
Adams froze. The uniform seemed identical to he other ship's crew. "You're with a Captain Sasko?"
"Sisko. Yes. Did he explain the situation with you?"
"We didn't quite believe him," Adams said somewhat sheepishly. "But I'm revising my opinion of him."
"He'll be so glad to hear that," Rachel responded dryly And to her satisfaction he flushed. "What's done is done. Robby, I have someone you simply must meet when you have the time."
"I will be delighted, Captain Rachel."
"I know this must be hard," Delenn said. "But now that you are here, we will do everything we can to get you home, if it is at all possible. Understand that there are complications."
***
Sitting alone, Anne Sheridan was not pleased at the way things had turned out. She believed that she might actually be making a small amount of headway with John. But every time she got close to him, Michael Garibaldi ran interference. He ran so much interference, that she thought about having him killed just to get a little peace and time alone with John. Delenn was gone, dealing with her own matters of state. But now, curse her, she was back. The Drazi were fighting the Centauri, Earth was fighting the Centauri and the Drakh, the Minbari were fighting the Drakh and eventually would turn on the Centauri. The Federation ships were mistrusted by just about everybody, making everything an absolute mess; the purposes of the Shadow war come to fruitation. John was hardheaded, however she was his wife and that accounted for a lot. He barely smiled at her and it was obvious that he didn't trust her for an instant, however, sometimes she actually got through to him. When she did her own heart lit up for a brief second. Why, she wasn't sure. There was this flash of feeling for him, but it was as though it came from another person and not herself. And whenever that flash did occur, psychic barriers, implanted into her by the Shadows, had ruthlessly put it down into the depths of her altered mind.
But then something happened. The rumors abound concerning Z'ha'dum. There was a battle going on there and try as they might, they couldn't keep the rumors from spreading like wildfire on Babylon Five. As for herself, she couldn't believe that anything could resist the amassed might of the Shadows, but if it were true then her mission had changed. Her priority was to protect her benefactors. She needed to return to her home.
"Hello, Mrs. Sheridan," a soft voice made of steel said from behind her. Startled, she turned and immediately suppressed a groan. It was the one person she had went out of her way to avoid. And she had company.
"Ambassador Guinan," she responded as coldly as possible. Hopefully it would make her go away. But of course, luck wasn't with her today, which proved itself when the purple-clad woman with the strange eyes sat down, almost pinning her down in her seat. She was sure that this Guinan wasn't a telepath, but she acted like it and man sitting next to her wasn't what he seemed either. Whatever they were, they were definite threats and in her mind no better than Vorlons whose very name invoked curses.
"We have to talk," Guinan said. "There are things stirring that you can provide clarity."
There was something about this woman that made her want to flee from her presence. "I don't have to say anything to you, Ambassador," she answered defensively.
"You're a pawn to the ones called Shadows. You're trying to distract John from doing what he has to. And you have no idea why."
"Despite Delenn's presence, I am John's wife and any relationship I do or do not have with him in none of your business. But for your information, I am doing what I think is best for all concerned. Now if you will excuse me..."
Guinan didn't move. "The Shadow world has been attacked. The fighting is raging over two entire solar systems and it seems that the Shadows are losing. Right now there is a debate raging. Half want Z'ha'dum destroyed and the other half are trying to decide if they are worth helping because of this new menace. Your voice added to the debates could tip the scales."
Anne's heart skipped a beat. "Z'ha'dum is too strong," she said viciously. "Not even the Vorlons could defeat them and without the Vorlons, this place will never survive. John is going up against thousands of years of cultural isolation across a hundred alien worlds. There is no way this coalition he's trying to put together would work. And even if it did, the Shadows would destroy anything that could come up against them-including your cute little ships out there and the end would be the same. John is a fool for trying to make this work."
"Then, it take it, that you still love John," the man said. He was intensely interested in her answer.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Galen and Guinan is my date for tonight. Do you love him?" he repeated.
She hated this bald-headed man also. In many ways he acted too much like Michael.
"I'm learning to love him," she truthfully answered.
"Then Mrs. Sheridan, what do you want?"
She laughed long and hard. "I want what's best for my people," she finally answered.
"Wrong answer," Guinan countered. "The correct answer is that you have no idea what you want. You're incapable of answering that question. You don't even know who you are."
"I beg your pardon," a very angry Anne hissed.
"The Shadows and Vorlons have one thing in common. They both use the lesser races like tools. They care very little for anything that is outside the sphere of influence. They altered you and used you. Yet all you can think of is how to protect them. And you don't even know why."
"They can take care of themselves. John is mine, not Delenn's. She knows this. And you do, too. This alliance is wrong and I will get him to see this no matter what type of interference is thrown against me."
Squeezing by the two of them, she got up and quickly left, her bodyguards hastily trailing behind.
***
"It is as I said, Ambassador. She has been touched by Shadow and she will never be the same. My scans conclude that her brain has been altered. There is no hope for her. "
You are such a pessimist," Guinan responded quickly. "Why is that? In fact, why are you even here? I thought you left for parts unknown."
Yes, he thought. She knows a lot more than she's telling. "I came back," he smirked. Then he grew somber. "You recognized me, even with my safeguards. That's something few people could ever do. At first, I thought you were one of us. But you weren't and that intrigued me. I decided to find out and the more I learned the less I knew."
"So you came back because of me?" she blushed. "I'm touched; I really am. But I don't believe you."
"You are a part of the reason." He cocked his head. "However there was another reason. I feel as though I will be needed in the coming times. My brethren have left because of the rising storm. They have no wish to become involved with the war with the Shadows. Our secrets could be compromised and in the wrong hands the chaos would magnify. But things have changed. The circle is different." He smiled devilishly at the way her face responded to that comment. "Your presence and now the presence of the others have changed history as it was meant to be. I want to make a difference."
"And find out a little about our technology." He smiled but she waved him off. "That's not important. However I hope you don't resort to bugging our rooms anymore. I WILL know and we'll lose this wonderful friendship we're developing." Moving closer to him, she said, "there is a plague loose in this universe."
"One of many."
"But this is the worst. Soon there will be no place to hide. Your people already know this."
"That is why I am here-to evaluate the threat and see what we can do to help prevent the slaughter. The Shadows were a threat, but we understood them. Now these new creatures are something worse. There seems to be little hope of resistance with this group of bickering politicians here."
"Pessimist," Guinan repeated.
"If you have lived as long as I have, Guinan, you would be also."
"When I was married to my nineteenth husband, three hundred years ago, he said the same thing. Of course I didn't agree with him. But my twenty-third was different. He was ever the optimist." Here eyes sparkled with amusement. "Close your mouth Galen."
"Who are you?"
"Simply a woman from another universe, as you well know." Now her eyes danced as she took in his full measure. It wasn't common knowledge, but she was fully convinced that was he was aware of where they came from. "Now, let's have dinner. I am starved and you're buying. But remember, just because you're buying doesn't mean I'm easy. I'm pickier now. Twenty-three was my limit."
Not known for being at a loss for words, it took him a second or two to answer. "I wouldn't dream of it, Madam," he said, bowing deeply. In his hands appeared credits.
"Good for you and cute trick by the way," she said. "One day, I'll show you one of mine."