Chapter Thirty-Four part 2

The third hour:

Once inside the spacious Ready room, the Captains and Officers unknowingly participated in a sort of staring contest. Admiral Janeway was immediately stuck by the similarity between herself and Rachel Garret in both looks and overall attitude. Captain Garrett was one of those famous Captains whose ships had been lost to history and myth. No one in the Federation had really discovered what happened to the Enterprise-C afterits contact with the Klingon colony. Its remains had never been found and other than the few static-filled communications about a Romulan attack, few actual details had ever been discovered. The truth wasn't reveled until Captain Picard-her Picard- had been introduced to Sela. Her Picard almost didn't go through with the meeting until Guinan urged him to do so. That woman carried a lot of influence with Picard and that in itself was intriguing. Kathryn intended to investigate that relationship, if and when she had the opportunity. And since Guinan was here she would talk to her.

As for Rachel Garrett, she had warmed to the Admiral very quickly which was interesting. It seemed as for some reason she considered Voyager a lifeline of sorts, something she explained to the Admiral later. There existed a fundamental commonality between them that could not be denied. Both women had been isolated for long periods of time and their meetings here in this other universe, although brief would last both of them a lifetime. They would discover that the two of them had more in common than they knew.

Janeway now directed her attention at another familiar face. Captain Sisko seemed a definite mix from what she remembered of him and this incarnation facing her. He was apparently happy yet at the same time, disturbed to see her and the crew. It was as if he saw them as a transition from- or maybe to- another life. This Sisko was a bit more hard-core, standing there in his old-style uniform. When she asked him why he was wearing it, the quick explanation made sense, the name change as well, to 'Ambassador'.

Now Kathryn Janeway studied this younger Picard with undisguised interest as the somewhat stiff man sat down in preparation for the talks. The command presence he carried permeated his being. There was very little in the way of casualness emanating from him. Many people unfamiliar with the man would have seen a cold, calculating, strong and hardened person waiting for the proverbial bottom to drop out; but she could see the fear of this entire situation being kept tightly in check. He was so much like her Picard, but tempered by some kind of hardness that she couldn't yet identify. His reaction to Commander Worf had been surprising; his hatred of the Klingon obvious. And there was something else…

Her mind drifted back to Rachel. Captain Garret's body language was-interesting. There were signals, subtle ones emanating between Picard and Janeway. Could there be a history between them, perhaps? She wouldn't have been surprised. In fact, she was a bit envious. How wonderful it would have been to have the company of another ship in the delta quadrant for those seven years. Jean-Luc wouldn't have been the worst traveling companion she could have imagined navigating through the Delta quadrant.

-

"Captains, this is the first of several meetings that I look forward to having with you all," Janeway said. "Let me first start by listening to your story once more. For obvious reasons, I haven't had much time to really talk and go through your logs in detail. But I do want to know what you know first, before I fill you in on all of the sorted details."

"I'll start," Garrett said which surprised Janeway somewhat.

The Admiral was somewhat astounded that Garrett was lead command here. For the next half hour Garrett explained the circumstances that pulled her ship into the future Federation timeline and then into this alternate, alien universe. "It was our intention to go back and re-engage the Romulans but, when both of our ships entered the temporal anomaly, we ended up here in this universe," she finished.

"So, Captain Picard, it was your intention to take the Enterprise-D back in time in order to prevent the Klingon conflict, knowing that your presence would pollute the timeline in the same way that Garrett's ship did with the future?"

"It was a calculated risk in order to prevent the war with the Klingon Empire," he bristled. "If the war could have been prevented, it was my intention to make sure it was. The Federation was on the brink of losing the war to the Klingons. That could not be allowed to happen."

She could see that some unknown Admiral second-guessing his actions irritated Picard. "Captain Picard as you know, your ship and Captain Garrett's Enterprise being deposited into this quantum universe was a direct result of a temporal incident caused by beings attempting to destroy Humanity specifically and the Federation in general. The timeline that was created when the Enterprise-C came through the temporal anomaly was corrected for in my timeline. But because of the anomaly and the temporal war, you were created. I was told that in the instant you chose to help the Ambassador, there were an infinite number of possibilities that were generated within a very unstable universe that was at the edge of self destruction. The correct decision was to send Garrett's crew back to certain death against the Romulans and that would have healed the rift thereby correcting the timeline. However that decision was not made and Tasha Yar was sent back with the remains of Garrett's crew. They were captured and the Enterprise-C was destroyed. Tasha survived, was imprisoned and subsequently produced a child, Sela."

"The blond Romulan." Picard looked as if he had been slapped in the face. Garrett was in contrast looking very grim. The resemblance between Tasha and Sela was uncanny.

"Garrett was killed before the Enterprise-C could return to their proper time by an attack from a bird-of –prey," she said with more than a trace of sympathy. And this time she saw Garrett's involuntary intake of breath, while Picard turned more stone-faced than ever. Neither liked the idea of Rachel's death. "Enterprise –D was destroyed while protecting the Ambassador," she continued. "That timeline was terminated and the original re-established. But the decision itself and the fact that Tasha returned with the Enterprise-C created multiple possibilities in an already volatile temporal continuum. As you surmised, your being here was not an accident. The creators of that temporal portal wanted to make sure that the Enterprise-C could not return to its original time and place, so the portal was sabotaged. If you had gone back it would have either destroyed your ship or you would have been forever lost in temporal limbo. This didn't happen because beings called the Q saved you and it was they who are partially responsible for your presence here. The temporal cold war as we're calling it created fractures that the Q corrected, all but two. You're one of the 'possibilities that they couldn't catch in time. If Q had caught it in time then you would have remained a possibility, not a reality."

"So everything that Ben told us was true," Picard murmured sourly. "I've met this Q-in my dreams," he added belatedly. Even now that sounded silly. "He said we could get back to our own universe."

"No, there is no way back for you," Janeway answered him. "As I've said before, your being here is a result of a temporal cold war going on by many factions intent on either dominating or destroying Humankind and this galaxy. The failsafe was triggered when both of your ships went through the anomaly. Q stopped the failsafe from imploding but you were flung elsewhere and in order to save you, Q as in Quinn, sent you here. But the price is high. You're in lockout. If you return you will cease to exist."

"Q said that we could return," Picard stated. He was holding on to that position and he was being adamant about it.

Janeway opened her mouth, and then closed it again. That was a contradiction of everything he had told her. "No," Janeway countered. "He would have never said that." She was thinking hard now. Her curiosity was peeked. "You said that you saw him in a dream? What did he look like?"

Picard described the entity he'd seen. Janeway was taken aback but her suspicions were correct. Q would have never told Picard anything like that.

"You've described a creature called Iblis. He is an enemy of the Q and of all life not under his control, in general. If you could describe evil as a physical entity, one of those descriptions would characterize Iblis."

"The only reason why Voyager is here in the first place is because of Q. He feels partially responsible for your mishaps here and the problems occurring right now. In the normal timeline for this reality, the Sinhindrea were stopped before they could escape into this universe. That hasn't happened in this timeline because of your presence."

"The ripple effect in action," Sisko surmised.

"Exactly. Some species called the Vorlons created a gateway which allowed them to come through to this universe. That's how we entered this universe. They originate from our universe and sooner or later they will come in conflict with the Federation and we will have to be ready if we're to survive."

"But what of the Federation?" Garrett asked. "In Picard's time, the Klingons were winning. We understand that it's different from what we knew but how different is it?"

"The Federation survives. I know you haven't had that much time to go over our logs, but the details and history are all there. But before I continue, what year would this be to you?"

"We contacted the Enterprise-C in 2366," Picard answered. "Our passage between the universes took two years, although only two hours had passed for the crew. We've been here for a year."

"To us, it is the year is now 2379."

Sisko simply shook his head. They'd been lost ten years. All of this confirmed what he had been told earlier.

"The Federation has survived, but we've had to fight for its survival," Chakotay solemnly added. And that has changed the face of the federation. We've been attacked by the Borg who almost assimilated Earth. We lost thirty-nine starships and over eleven thousand people at the battle of Wolf 359 in our first battle with them. The Marquis conflict that almost split Starfleet happened when the Federation gave away Federation planets to the Cardassians in order to maintain peace with them." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Admiral lower her head slightly. But she said nothing. "That indirectly started a small war with the Klingon Empire. What wasn't common knowledge was that this war was instigated by a government called the Dominion. The Dominion war was the last bloodiest war we've had. The Romulans, the Klingons and the Federation found a common enemy in them and we fought them. But many of our worlds were caught up in the fighting. Betazed was temporarily occupied by the Jem'hadar soldiers of the Dominion. We barely won that war. But we came out stronger. Then the Cylons came and we once again were in a war. Everyone's in it. The Cardassians and the Dominion are fighting against them. The Romulans have lost both of their home worlds. The Gorn Emporium was coming into it against the Cylons. It's everyone against them and the Borg are waiting in the wings to sweep up whatever's left. This is a war of extermination. If the Cylons win, there will be no one left alive in the Alpha and Beta quadrants."

"If this conflict is as serious as you say it is, then why are you even come here?" Picard demanded to know.

"Because it was the price we have to pay in order to help put an end to that war," Janeway answered. "We were 'informed' about the threat of the Sinhindrea and we needed a threat assessment despite our ongoing conflict. There is also the fact that the Cylons are after something and they've made a deal with the Borg to get it. A robotic race in league with a cybernetic collective will very well end life everywhere as we know it. You've read the reports of your counterpart concerning the Borg and what was done to him and that's only the beginning. Tell me, have you ever heard of V'ger?"

The fourth hour:

It has been said that working at Babylon Five was like living in Chicago and predicting the weather; if you didn't like it, wait a little while because it was sure to change. That proverb had crossed Susan's mind while she wondered why Voyager's shuttle had transported a single person to the station. She guessed that they didn't know that B5 personnel were aware of their transporters. Amazingly, Kosh was there to meet the occupant. That was strange. And Kosh seemed extremely respectful to the Humanoid looking alien passenger. Of course Susan assumed that these little snatches of life had to be bad.

That was when Russian fatalism kicked in. The Shadows demanded to come over to B5 as soon as possible. Things were going from bad to worse. Here she was inviting Shadows and that creep Morden, back onto Babylon Five. But instead of being accompanied by one or two ships like before, this time they came with an entire fleet. Weren't they supposed to have run away somewhere to the Rim or something? No-they had to come back and grace B5 with another visit. Personally, she wanted to shoot the first thing that exited that hideous shuttle now landing in bay three. It was the Shadows who had poisoned Earth via the Drakh. The Drakh may have attacked Earth but they were servants of Shadows and everyone knew it. Michael and his security team were waiting along with her for the visitors to enter the station. Everyone else in the area had fled or been evacuated. Who said that the rumor mill wasn't working these days?

The door opened and the immaculately dressed, ever-smiling Morden stepped through, flanked by four of the Shadows. The sight of those deadly insectoid-like aliens moving towards her sent a chill throughout her body as she struggled to speak. She tried to avoid being too close to them because if she did they would learn her name; her true spiritual name ripped from her soul that she wasn't sure she had. They seem to delight in fading in an out of view of their guards. And there was something else. They exuded a malevolence that contaminated everything around them. But as much as she wanted to, she couldn't quite look at them that way anymore, not since she had been told of the genetic manipulation done by the Vorlons. So far only a few people knew of the truth, something that was discovered when Dr. Crusher had examined an injured Kosh on the Enterprise. There had been no reason why Stephen had seen only beauty whereas she had seen undisguised horror beneath the Vorlons' protective suit. It was more than a simple lack of appreciation. Because of that clue, the discovery of their genetic alterations had been discovered two months later. Such a profound discovery of this magnitude had to be kept secret from everyone else. But keeping it irked and terrified her. What would the Vorlons do if they found out their secret had been discovered?

"Hello, Lieutenant Commander Ivanova," Morden said. He smiled as he spoke to her but it never extended to his eyes, as per usual. "I expected Commander Sheridan to meet us."

"He's busy preparing for the meeting," she answered him. "I'm surprised you came back. I thought you were gone for good, off to the Rim somewhere to breed little Mordens or something."

"Things have a way of changing," the man casually responded "The universe is a strange place, full of strife and conflict, with twists and changes that confound even the greatest of the old races. For example, the Sinhindrea could have been dealt with, but once more the people in this station managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. We are here to address this oversight."

"What are you talking about?"

"In due time, Susan. In due time."

"It's Lieutenant Commander Ivanova to you," she growled.

"Of course, if that's what you want," he smirked. "Lieutenant Commander Ivanova."

That came out as a threat if there ever was one. Susan really wanted to wipe that smile off of his face, preferably by jamming one of those phaser pistols set at maximum up his nose and pulling the trigger for a few seconds. "If you and your-associates follow Mister Garibaldi, our Security Chief will take you to your quarters until everyone can be assembled."

"That would be satisfactory." The smile disappeared and his entire persona even the light around him darkened. "But time is limited and my associates are anxious to get this settled." Without another word he turned and left followed by those things he called associates.

Her heart was racing and she was glad that they had moved on. Their very presence made her want to kill them, or barring that, run and hide in nearest available corner. Thinking about it she realized that it had to be a pre-conditioned response. Was that another programmed genetic response?

"I hate this job," she muttered to no one in particular. Relieved to be free and away from those creatures she headed towards the lifts. The door opened and Ambassadors Kosh and Guinan were inside. It was as if they knew she would be there at that exact instant.

Oh-oh.

Entering the lift, she turned to face the doors, not wanting to look at the two of them. "I suppose you know that the Shadows are here."

A musical tone accompanied a soft word. "Yes."

"It's bad for everyone. But it seems like all they want to do is talk."

"For now," Guinan said guardedly. "But you're going to have to be prepared for a lot worse, Susan."

Now she turned to face them. "What do you mean worse?"

"The Vorlon fleet is coming here to B5," Guinan answered her. "They'll be here within two Earth hours."

"Oh, God! They're not about to start shooting at each other, are they?" That very thought horrified her.

"No," Kosh said. "But they will decide. Prepare yourself."

"Susan, these are the remains of three fleets just returning from deep space missions. They didn't leave for the Rim like the others and Kosh convinced them to at least discuss the issue since it's the Vorlons who gave the Sinhindrea access here in the first place. But as far as Vorlons go, they're less enlightened than Kosh is these days."

"Impertinent creature," the Vorlon hissed.

"That's what my seventh husband said to me a few hundred years back," she countered sweetly, silently mocking him as his iris narrowed in amusement.

Susan looked at them amazed while they conversed with an intimacy that she thought was impossible with Vorlons. "We're going to need everyone's help. I hope that they will listen."

"Lorien will mediate," Kosh said softly. "When the time comes."

The way Kosh had spoken that name sent shivers down her spine. His voice screamed respect and the alien didn't look all that imposing. "And who is this Lorien?" asked Susan.

"The First."

"The first what?"

"The First One," he answered.

"As in a First One?" she gasped.

"No," Kosh answered. "He is the First."

-

TBC in 34 part C. As you can see, this is a long section. For fun you might want to do a comparison between this story and 'ATV' concerning the Minbari and the changes are coming. Please enjoy. Comments are welcomed as well as critiques.