Chapter 42
"Let's sow some more"
"I agree," Adams had told him. "This discussion must be kept quiet. It will shake the Earth Alliance to its core if it gets out. At worst, it might start another civil war. Mars has been bombed, most of their people lost by the alien attack. And you witnessed what happened to the colonies with Clark in power?"
"Yes, I remember," G'Kar had said.
"The Cooke colony has been all but destroyed and Wolf 359 isn't much better, thanks to EarthForce abusing their own people. With Earth suffering from a plague and the specter of war right on top of us, Proxima wants to declare its complete and utter independence from Earth. Gutsy move. But they can't go it alone. I've been approached by their representatives several times and I am beginning to admit that their offers are very attractive."
"But," G'Kar said slowly, "I long believed that you would be more interested allying yourselves with your fellow Humans in Earth Alliance and the Federation, as well as the Minbari."
"Frankly," the Human Captain had told him, "I don't trust EarthForce and their fascist ways; nor do I trust the Minbari and their arrogant, holier-than-thou attitudes. And I don't really feel comfortable with the Federation, even though I don't have anything against them. They're a little more cosmopolitan than I can feel comfortable with right now. I have no complaints, you understand, but from a sociological point of view, I feel like I'm playing catch-up with them. Their intermingling is the way of the future, but -" he shrugged. "That approach is good for them. For myself and my crew, we're closer to the Earth Humans here and their attitudes. We need to find our own way, choose our own speed to get to where the Feds are right now."
"Interesting that your world and Earth Alliance are so different, but xenophobia remains a common denominator between both your worlds."
"No," Adams had told him. "We're not xenophobic as much as a product of our culture. The Federation people and Earth's history is different than ours. In my reality, the Civil War fought in what was known as America, was won by the Confederacy. Slavery survived another two full generations before it died out and was eventually outlawed. There was no disagreement from anyone by that time that it should be considered a crime against Humanity. But the attitudes and stigma continued long after. In my time all people have the same rights and privileges, but people stay to themselves for the most part. Our people are segregated in military service, since it causes less problems and headaches."
"So Commander Sisko makes you feel uncomfortable?" G'Kar had asked.
"It was a surprise to see Captain Sisko next to Lieutenant Commander Troi," he had admitted. "That was something almost unheard of on a United Planets military vessel. Of course, the people of color on our planet have their own vessels that they command," he added hastily. "But mixing is almost never done."
"Of course," G'kar had said in an oh-so understanding manner. "So you are saying that associating with aliens is less stressful than associating with your fellow Humans of different hues and cultural differences?"
The Captain shrugged. "We still have a lot to learn," Adams had told him. "But then, so does Earth Alliance. They bombed their own people. Proxima suffered as much as Mars had. The entire population nearly starved to death because of the embargo. Hundreds died. EarthForce ships fired at the colony from orbit, destroying factories, food stores and water supplies, trying to force them to submit to the President. The Centauri destroyed the military bases on Proxima and again the people were helpless. They do not trust EarthDome and their policies, even if they've changed. What they want is freedom to determine their own destiny. However, this is the best and worst times to go independent. The Sinhindrea are coming and the colony doesn't believe for a second that Earth would lift a finger to help them, especially if Earth was threatened at the same time. That's why they came to me. The technology on my ship can be easily adapted in order to protect the colony and allow it to be completely independent from Earth."
"But there is a problem," G'Kar had guessed.
"Yes. They are too small and too isolated and under a government that allowed Clark to get away with atrocities. Therefore they are thinking of allying themselves with the Narn. But they needed an edge. That's why they came to me. They want us to become part of a new movement. The equipment and knowledge we have on our ship could make even second-hand shuttles things to be respected. But Proxima is too small to stand alone. My crew equals a total of fourteen people including Robby and Earth Alliance has pressured us one too many times. We can offer you and Proxima our technologies such as energy defensive fields which function on completely different principles as compared to the Federation starship shields. We have hyperspace drive not dependent on jump space. We have weapons, both space-borne and land-based, that your ship's armor could never defend itself against, and that includes the Minbari crystalline armor. We also have Robby and that means that we can offer you and Proxima our synthesizer technology. It's slower than replicators but you can build the prototypes and understand the engineering behind it quickly. Instead of instant foods and materials generated by Starfleet replicators, we can do exactly the same thing for most products, in any shape or color, with a time limit consisting of only a few minutes to a few days. We could eliminate hunger in a matter of months. If your new vessels have Klingon shields and weapons, it could be enough to keep EarthForce off balance for a while until we gear up our own defenses. But we would be equal partners, not some sort of servant protectorate." He looked grim. "There are risks, true."
"Yes, Captain. And they are dangerous risks."
"But the rewards and the opportunity for freedom for both our people would be immense. And in time we could be an effective counterweight to the EA, Fed and Minbari alliance."
"Do you consider them potential enemies?" he had asked. He was curious about the answer.
Adams shook his head. "They are not our enemies, not in the least. I would compare them to competitors, but that isn't a bad thing. History has repeatedly shown that competition is good for the soul. It promotes growth and usually keeps arrogance down to a manageable level. Between the two of us, we could produce advancements and stability throughout the region. We wouldn't isolate ourselves from them and we could set up commerce and tech exchanges. It will be what we choose to make it."
But what if Earth Alliance threatens war?" asked Na'Toth.
"With everything that's going on, it'll take them some time for them to decide what to do and more time to do something about it if they decide to. By then, the price will be too high for them to pay in the long run. With the Narn, Klingons and my additions facing them, I don't believe that they'll take the chance. Besides, the Starfleeters and Minbari might strongly object to that. But only time will tell."
"I will talk to my people," G'Kar said. Amazing, it was as Delenn had said. The Humans had a gift and they were using it now, attempting to build a community; Humans and aliens coming together in ways no other race would have even considered. They were like glue, sticking others together to them whether they agreed to it or not. What could the future bring with these Humans running around everywhere? "This is a very tempting proposal. With Humans associated with all three alliances, theoretically, the threat of war between us would be greatly diminished. The word 'theoretical' is stressed here," he added. "I must talk to my government but I will place as much weight behind it as I can and I suspect they will agree to these terms."
Again, it took only a few hours for the Ka'Rhi to agree. Now the challenge would be to quietly build up Proxima's ground and orbital defenses while keeping Earth Alliance from finding out too soon.
Another Universe:
And The Stars Cry Out For Their Children: And They Are Not
Theimmense battlestar Galactica, under full cloak had taken three days to return to the gateway and President Adama wasn't pleased by what he saw. They had successfully threaded the needle. Now they were parallel to the Sinhindrea fleet. The line of ships stretch over a thousand kilometers in length; all of them waiting in anticipation for the time they could enter the dimensional portal.
From the time the Galactica had left the gate the first time, they had been chased and hunted by two vessels who continued to pick up their trail no matter what evasive tactics the Colonial vessel tried. How these hunters were doing this, most of the crew had no idea, but it was becoming intolerable to Commander Apollo. Two days earlier things came to a head as the trackers jumped them the instant that the warship came out of warp.
The Clovien Mind-hunters' first error was in assuming that the Galactica was unaware of their presence. In the last two thousand years no alien vessel had ever been able to survive dedicated attacks from Clovien hunter teams. The initial attacks from this vessel and those that had transverse the Doorway of Eternity had been on unsuspecting, unprepared Sinhindrea brood ships and cargo vessels. Precious water carriers filled with unhatched younglings had been slaughtered by the grey ships that passed through the gate.
No race designated for death was allowed to kill younglings without suffering the worst of punishments. The Lords of the Dark Cities were to be feared, not to be the ones who were made to be afraid. Although aware of the potential dangers of this unknown race, they were arrogant, assured that their shielding would protect them from any dedicated assault this new enemy could throw at them.
The Galactica was firing back with heavy disruptors and phasers used to kill shielded Extreme-class Cylon Basestars. The unsuspecting Clovien defensive shields were battered down within three seconds. The power-globe from the first Clovien collapsed immediately when disrupters penetrated deep into the core. The explosion was as violent as anything the President and crew had ever seen.
The second Clovien, shields severely weaken by the Galactica's weapons collapsed. The Colonials finished it off using their Aeriana-based lasers. The dual beam weapons, each stronger than the hottest Borg laser, burning at one hundred sixty pulses per second, sliced the offending vessels into pieces less than three centimeters in size. Again the power-core detonated spectacularly, for a moment creating a small star in the heavens. The battlestar departed the area long before more of the Sinhindrea could arrive.
After the successful transition of the I.K.S. Azetbur, Voyager, and the Rantoul to that other quantum universe, the Galactica had retreated, heading back to the region of space that the children had sent them, confident that they could reverse the process, but they never made it. Instead, they turned back.
Deep within the engineering section of the Battlestar Galactica stood a crystal shard the size of three shuttles. The diamond had been discovered by the fleeing Colonials about a year and a half after fleeing from the destroyed Colonial worlds. Located in an asteroid field of a long burnt-out sun, the star crystal was half the size of the Galactica. What was unusual about the crystal was that it glowed, powered by an internal process that the Colonials didn't understand. The crystal fragments pulsed, fluctuations sometimes random and at other times pulsing together in perfect harmony. It appeared they choose their own times, to communicate with each other. Believing that it would be useful for laser weapons research, the Colonials later discovered that the fragments were in fact a single living entity.
In his stateroom, President Adama picked up a small glass of ambrosia resting on the table in front of him. Swirling it back and forth slowly, he stared at the sight of the light brown liquid. The bubbles seeming to appear from nowhere formed at the bottom of the glass and streamed towards the surface of the alcoholic liquid. He tasted it, placed the glass back on the table. He continued reading the report from the Alpha quadrant, and grimaced at the news.
The Cylons had gone on a rampage as their new combat docks had gone online. The Vulcan and Andorian systems were under attack. Bajor and Cardassia had joined forces to defend against heavily increased Cylon attacks all across the sector as they tried to gain access to the wormhole. The Dominion, aware of what was going on, had begun adding their considerable firepower to the aid of Bajor and their former Cardie minion. The reptilian species called the Gorn were now fighting against Cylon incursions into their territories. The Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan remnant were beginning offensive strikes against the Cylon invasion. Non Federation systems and independent systems are banding together to defend against the Cylon Hordes.
When he gathered the few surviving members of the twelve colonies, and fled from Cylon extermination, this fear of the war's expansion to innocents was always in the back of his mind. Fear turned to jubilation when he and his people discovered the Federation. The fear returned when the Cylons were upgraded to become the threat they were now.
In his other hand, he held a tiny shard Aeriana, barely the size of his thumb. Quietly he spoke to it.
It spoke back.
It still awed him that stars were living entities, living in a way no mortal could possibly conceive. They were older than the Beings of Light called the Del Fray, the Metrons, or the Organians. They were as ageless as the Q, if one could believe everything the Q said. And it has decided to speak to him and the others on the ship. It had allowed itself to be used as a weapon. Its self-generating energy matrix magnified Colonial weapons by a factor twenty. The star was wisdom itself, yet it lowered itself to talk to him. Strange, he thought once more. Aeriana chose to speak to him because Q had chosen to speak to him and the crystal decided that he was worth speaking to also. And when it spoke, Adama listened.
"The stars mourn for their children," Aeriana said. The color of the crystal shard changed from dark pink to a bluish hue as it pulsed faster. "I was never charged with life. I heard the others. They talked of the life spots in their charge. To me, it was unimportant. Existing with you – now, I understand."
Adama pursed his lips. "You've used the word charge. What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"We are not the creators of life, young one. Our duty is to provide what is necessary to sustain. In terms you understand, my brothers and sisters have lost their charges. Too many mourn."
"It is because of the Sinhindrea," Adama answered. "They have destroyed countless worlds. And they are still doing it. If my people and others of my kind don't stop them, then they will continue until there is nothing left."
"Through me, that is what my brothers and sisters have said. They want retribution and I will honor that request."
"Through us," Adama finished.
"It is the price," the Aeriana said. "I will help. I wish to see the children and I will explain, so that you and yours are not removed or extinguished when you next meet. My brothers and sisters do not wish what has happened to them happen to our cousins in the other, as you call it, universe. The Q is helping you and so shall I. I will unleash."
--
"President on the bridge."
Commander Apollo and Strike Commander Starbuck came to attention as Adama entered the Bridge. He was ex-president now but to the Galactica he would always be the 'Commander'.
"Have they detected us?"
"No," Starbuck answered. "But they're so fracking telepathic that it's only a matter of time. I'm surprised haven't detected us already."
"I don't think they can anymore, at least not now," Adama mused. "What's the status?"
"They've been taking ranging shots at the mines since we got here," Starbuck said. "They can't get through and it's driving them crazy. Then twenty minutes ago they stopped. And now ten of their warships are lining up for something."
"Full stealth mode. Pull us back," Apollo ordered. "Twenty thousand kilometers."
The Galactica slowly retreated out of the line of fire and incoming freighters lining up behind the Sinhindrea warships. Moments later, the ten ships unleashed a hellish display of firepower directly at the minefield. Thousands of mines erupted and the explosions lasted for at full five minutes. The Sinhindrea continued for another five minutes. Then ten ships, followed by fifty of the freighters and brood carriers rushed the gateway.
They entered and began their transition into the other universe. The last freighter however, erupted in flames and disintegrated as the self replicating mines started to re-establish their control over the gate.
"They've figured the timing out. Guess we'll have to change the configuration," he grinned evilly.
"How long from the time they finished firing to the re-establishment of the mines?" demanded Apollo.
"Fifty-four microns."
Ten more warships followed by freighters and carriers were once more lining up to take a run through the gate and again the warships started taking potshots at the minefield.
"They're running out of time on the other side," Apollo said. "Let's aggravate the situation, shall we?"
Starbuck smiled viciously. "Why not?" he asked coldly. "Prepare missile tubes one through thirty for firing. Use Solonite-Aeriana warheads for tubes one through twenty on all warships. Quantum warheads for tubes twenty-one through thirty on freighters and carriers. Full power all disruptors and lasers canons on targets of opportunity. Helm, be prepared to run."
The bridge crew, focused on their duties, prepared for the oncoming fight.
"Sixty independent vessels have been acquisitioned; passive targeting confirmed."
"Targets of opportunity have been acquired – moving into position and designated one through sixty. No countermeasures detected. They don't know we're here. Threats minimal at this time."
"Prepare communications squirt with latest intel and data from Starfleet and Klingon Intelligence. I will prepare a report to be sent to Janeway and Kagth concerning this situation at the gate. Include all the latest sensor data. Feed signal through the mines to the other side and squirt subspace widest possible signal."
"Yes, Commander."
"How long do you think it'll be before they try it again?"
"Possibly an hour, maybe two. When they do, cut them to pieces."
"With pleasure, Sir."
USS Voyager:
"Babylon Five this is Voyager," Captain Chakotay said. "Permission to leave."
"Permission granted," Susan said. Please use thrusters before going to warp. We have a lot of ships out there and I don't want you running over somebody who can't get out of the way in time. Good luck."
"Thank you, control."
"Oh," Susan added. "Please tell Commander Chakotay, that I hate her new programming upgrades." Then she added, "have any more Borg programs?"
Chakotay smiled as did Admiral Janeway and the others on the bridge.
One eyebrow of Annika Hansen-Chakotay's raised in a very Vulcan-type salute. "There is a Species 8472 program that you might find stimulating."
"I bet," Ivanova said. "I want heavier firepower this time."
"As you wish," Annika said. "If you think it'll help," she half smirked.
Susan matched her smirk with one of her own. "You're clear for warp." She saluted.
With that the communications closed. Chakotay stared at the screen, watching intently as Voyager cleared the last of the dozens of civilian and military ships. To their right, he saw the dozens of workbees and space suited personnel completing work on the right nacelle of the Enterprise-D. The warp core had been replaced and the ship was about fifty percent repaired.
"Navigator, plot a course for Earth, Tom. Warp two."
"Warp two, aye."
Voyager stretched into the infinity of spatial distortion and was gone.
"Go to slipstream at my mark," Chakotay ordered. "Let's take our time."
"Yes, Sir. It'll take a whole fifteen minutes to get to the Earth system."
"Good enough. Doctor, are you listening?"
"Yes, I am, Admiral. I'm ready to deploy the cure."
"Good."
"Entering slipstream – now."
The Galactica:
"It's starting." Strike Commander Starbuck glanced at the chronometer as it counted down to zero. The Sinhindrea were repeating the procedure that they'd used earlier to gain entry through the gate. They were firing wildly destroying mines left and right in random patterns for five minutes. Suddenly the warships concentrated all of their fire in one section in front of the gate and again they continued for five minutes.
"I love consistency," Apollo whispered to his friend. "Ten microns to firing."
"Ready transmission."
"Transmission ready, Commander Apollo."
"Release first safeties."
"First safeties off."
"Release second safeties"
"Second safeties off."
"Multiple target tracks acquisition confirmed. We have blue light on all targets."
The Sinhindrea suddenly stopped firing. That was the signal and the next group of ships began rushing the gate.
It was time. "Decloak and Fire," Commander Apollo ordered. "Transmission on my mark."
The Colonial Battlestar shimmered into full view of the enemy fleet and fired two sets of thirty high powered missiles. Seconds later the Solonite-based missiles underwent a controlled fusion reaction. Three microseconds after that, the one microgram Aeriana crystal embedded in the Solonite warhead activated its own power matrix, boosting the fission reaction by a factor of sixty instead of twenty. Two missiles each exploding with over eight hundred isotones of directed plasma-hot, star-generated energy vaporized all ten of the Sinhindrea warships. Their detonations added to the horror of the Sinhindrea civilians as the fifty closest vessels were hit by either a single Aeriana-enhanced missile or a quantum variation. Four seconds later, three ships remained out of sixty targeted. Those three ships were little more than holed wrecks. Forty more vessels in the immediate area suffered various degrees of structural damage.
'How did that happen!' wondered Starbuck. "Transmit," the Strike Commander ordered. "And reconfigure the mines, random pattern Scorpio-Gemini. All disruptors' fire!"
Heavy disruptor beams targeted and slammed into the shields of the closest heavy Clovien warship rushing towards them. The beams pushed the shields into the red before the vessel shuttered and veered off course. A three microsecond transmission was squirted into the trans-dimensional opening and was relayed by several mines on the other side of the doorway. Those mines also received the new randomization protocols and they swiftly began to readjust their randomized trajectories to keep the Sinhindrea from continuing the same technique the Galactica had observed on their side of the gate.
"Warp six any direction," Apollo commanded. "We've done enough for now. There were at least fifteen heavy destroyers homing in on their position and would be in weapons' range in mere microns. The Galactica's warp drive engines activated and she departed in a blaze of spatial distortion, leaving an infuriated race of ancients confused, afraid, and seething in their rage at a race they barely know but had vowed to destroy at all costs.
Once more the gate was completely cut off to them.
--