A few days after her first glimpse at the data crystals she had gotten from President Sheridan, Katie sat in a café at the Zocalo. This time she could take in all the scents, colours and voices around her. She had never seen a place stranger than this. She could see a Drazi trader offering some statues and chandeliers to a Brakiri customer who didn't seem to be so delighted by the price expectations. At least, that was what Katie assumed from watching the scenery.
As she had not gotten in contact with Aliens before, she couldn't distinguish a quarrel from a negotiation between members of different species just from watching them. She felt sure that this would be a problem for her if she wanted to stay on Babylon 5 and more directly stay out of trouble. The young journalist sighed and wanted to concentrate on the huge pile of work ahead and in front of her. Next to her cup of tea she had piled up notepads, antique paper notebooks and some schemes she was working on. She had looked through so much data without real organizing that she had to go back for each bit of information she had scribbled down on random pieces of paper within the last two months. That was at least her intention until she got interrupted in her thoughts.
"Hello Miss Anderson." Katie looked up at the person who had called for her.
"Oh hello, Commander Corwin, how are you." She answered politely inwardly cursing the young officer for destroying her peaceful working atmosphere.
"Thanks, I'm fine. To be honest, it almost gets boring out here right now. It's as calm and peaceful like it hasn't been for ages. What about you?"
"Well, I was trying to get some work done. But this place is somewhat distracting. You were absolutely right. The Zocalo is overwhelming."
Corwin looked around and watched the same scenery like Katie did before. The Drazi and the Brakiri were still indulged in their deep discussion. Corwin glanced back at the journalist. "You know, I always ask myself whether or not I'm misinterpreting this whole thing. After all these years, I still can't tell you from a distance what these guys are up to. Are they arguing, are they negotiating or are they simply telling mean jokes about our uniforms?"
Katie smiled at this comment. "Perhaps this place isn't too strange after all. At least some of the humans can be understood."
"Well, you said, you were trying to get some work done. I don't want to detain you from doing your job." Corwin already wanted to leave, but Katie said "No, it's okay. I have a very nice publisher who doesn't threaten me with a deadline so far. It would be nice if you could just stay here for a while and tell me some things."
Corwin sat down next to Katie and looked at her curiously. "What do you want me to tell you? I know that you're a journalist and doing some sort of story about the civil war. But I don't think I have anything of interest to tell you."
"You shouldn't be too sure of that, Mr. Corwin." Katie answered with a smile. "Everyone on this station has a story. It's not always the hero in the shining armour whose story is of interest. Sometimes the bystanders or the people in the background have things to tell that are far more fascinating and interesting than anyone would guess."
"I never thought of it like that. But I'm sure you have a lot of stories to tell"
"I'm not the one to tell stories but to collect them. My life isn't so interesting. The stories of all of you here on Babylon 5 are far more fascinating than anything I could ever come up with." Katie replied shyly. She thought about the things she experienced in the recent years and added slowly and thoughtfully "A lot of things have happened. Not only here in the middle of everything, but also back at home on Earth. We all underwent some grave changes and had some really tough months, but even though I still think your stories must be a little more exciting and important than the things an innocent student can tell about her time at a university."
Katie closed her old block of notes firmly and forced a smile to the young officer on the opposite side of the table. "What was it like to break away from Earth? You must have been quite young those days."
Corwin leant back in his chair as if reconsidering those days in 2260, when Babylon 5 declared its independence from Earth. "I was really young and didn't see the big picture. I had been promoted to Lieutenant in early 2260 and had become a real part of the staff. They started to really notice me and my work. But still they didn't let me become a part of the group."
"To whom do you refer by "they"?" Katie asked and activated her voice recorder. "I hope this is okay with you?"
"Oh, it's all right and "they" were Captain Sheridan, Commander Susan Ivanova and Security Chief Garibaldi." Corwin answered a little tenser than before. "I'm sorry Miss Anderson, but I'm not really used to being interviewed. This whole thing is a little strange to me."
"Oh, don't care about the recorder. No one will hear it. I just don't like to take notes during a conversation. Like this, I feel more honest. I won't change what you want to say by taking wrong notes." Katie tried to assure the officer. "What did you actually feel when you got to know you were independent from Earth. You served EarthForce those days and from one day to the other your superiors had decided not to do so anymore."
"They were really fair to all of us." Corwin replied seriously. "The captain went to C&C, which is Command and Control, and informed us about the break away from Earth. He let us decide whether or not we wanted to continue our work. He knew about the consequences and let us decide on our own."
"What made you stay?"
"I don't really know. Maybe I was up to an adventure, maybe I believed Captain Sheridan. It is hard to say. Today I know it was correct to stay. Clark produced a horrible mess on Earth – but that particular day I didn't know. It was much later when the Captain informed us about the details he and his men knew before what the common crew had not known."
"So you felt more loyal towards your Captain than towards your government?"
"Well, you have to respond to the Chain of Command. And normally you don't question your superior. If this superior carries the name Susan Ivanova you better not do this anyways. But aside from this, I trusted Sheridan and his decisions and the ones of his staff without a doubt." Lt. Commander Corwin took a sip from the water a waitress had brought to the table some moments earlier. He usually only drank water when he came to this café while in uniform. That is how the waitress had brought the drink even without asking.
"It seems like they know you quite well here." commented Katie with a smile.
"Well, I've lived here for quite some time now. I really like this place. Aside from the "Fresh Air" this is the nicest place for dining out or just relaxing after your shift in C&C. And "Fresh Air" is a bit too exclusive to visit frequently."
"I heard someone mention that place. Sounds like a great restaurant if you want to enjoy yourself. Have you ever been there?"
"Once or twice, I almost invited Commander Ivanova to go there with me."
"How can you invite someone "almost"?"
"After my promotion to Lieutenant, the Commander wanted to get to know to me – as she phrased it – on a more personal basis. I misunderstood this as a date and wanted to impress her. But in the end she invited me to her quarters and more or less only wanted to know my opinion about obeying to orders and questioning the Chain of Command. That particular moment I was really confused, but today I know that she only wanted to know whether I was trustworthy or not."
"Sounds like Susan Ivanova is a very impressive person."
"She is. It's really a pity that she left the station after the war. Not that I want to complain about Captain Lochley, but Captain Lochley simply can't understand what a time we went through. She will always be the Commander who arrived after or phase of independence. Aside from that Commander Ivanova had a killing sense of humour."
"I get the impression you had a little crush on her." Katie teased the officer and took her cup. Taking a sip Katie grimaced when tasting the fake coffee. "Do you really call this coffee?"
"Well, Commander Ivanova grew some coffee on the station. It was illegal, of course. But it was the only coffee on Babylon 5 that you could actually drink. And of course I had no crush on my superior officer. I only respected and still respect her a lot. She set an example that I considered to be very good."
"Sorry, Commander, I didn't want to offend you with my teasing. It sounded a bit more than professional when you said it but then I never had a mentor, let alone one to inspire such loyalty." Katie being a journalist normally didn't apologize for a faux pas like this. "I guess I have to get going. I want to do some research with the help of my computer. I will see you around, I guess."
Katie grabbed her notes and switched off her recorder. She threw some credits on the table to pay both for her and Corwin's drink and started to walk away. Having almost left the café she noticed Corwin following her. "If you ever want to have a real cup of coffee, I'd be pleased to invite you."
"You also grow coffee plants on B5?" Katie asked curiously. A wide grin spread on Corwin's face. He leaned down to Katie and answered in a low and conspiratorial voice "I didn't plant them; Commander Ivanova passed them on to me when she left the station."
"That means you don't commit the crime yourself. But I'll come back to you on this offer." Katie left the Zocalo with a happy and very content smile. At this moment she wasn't only happy about the progress in her work.
A few hours later the young journalist skipped through her voice records. She looked for a particular one that she had recorded shortly before coming to Babylon 5. Having found the file she instructed the computer to open it.
Voice record n°21. Date: September, 17th 2265
"You know why I wanted to talk to you, Dr. Franklin?"
"Oh, yes. I read your request and I have to admit that I'm really delighted. There are only very few people who care about the people in the background. Normally they only look for the heroes in shining armours."
"I want to be honest, doctor. I don't only do this out of sheer generosity. I also have a personal interest in this issue. Mr. Cole was a distant relative of me. I hope you can accept that I don't only want to know about him for professional reasons but also because he was an estranged part of my family."
"I prefer answering your questions because of your personal interest. I know you are a scribe, but if you just wanted to write about my friend for money, I really doubt that you would get an honest answer from me. By the way, I already have checked your profile. You really are a relative of Marcus. Before you feel obliged to ask where I got your profile from. Your editor in chief sent me your data some days ago."
"Thank you Dr. Franklin. As there are no more doubts concerning my intents I would like to start the interview."
"Okay, what do you want to know?"
"Were you close friends with Marcus?"
"You could say so. I mean, he wasn't someone to become friends with easily."
"How was that so?"
"He was very different from what I was used to in people. He was a very spiritual and intellectual guy. He quoted ancient Earth literature – preferably Old English all the time to underline his points. He hardly ever told you directly his opinion but rather quoted from highly sophisticated literature. Perhaps this had something to do with his opinion about his place in the universe. He looked for someone bigger and more important to use as reference. It was nothing you could deal with easily, to be honest. I hardly ever knew the books he referred to in his little speeches. I'm not so much into literature and his educated manners sometimes annoyed me. It made me feel quite dumb next to him."
"This doesn't sound like a basis for a friendship to me."
"Well, Marcus was very clever in theory and he had only the best intentions. But he did so many silly things. He kind of needed someone to watch over him, someone who could at least try to stop him before he could do another risky stunt that would endanger his health or even his life."
"So he was a philosopher with the tendency to get into trouble."
"Exactly, and this was unnerving. But the worst he became was when he started ranting about Susan."
"Was she his girlfriend?"
"I wish it had come so far. He was passionately in love with her. Susan Ivanova was the Second in Command on Babylon 5 and I guess Marcus was in love with her from the very first moment on when he came to the station."
"Is she the very Susan Ivanova whose life he saved? Didn't he die because of a crazy stunt he therefore committed?"
"Yes she is. But if you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about this particular topic."
"Alright. Then tell me something about what kind of adventure you got into with him."
"We often worked together when some of the lurkers in Downbelow got into trouble. I guess Marcus and I were pretty much the only people who cared for their wellbeing."
"Excuse me, what are lurkers? And what is Downbelow?"
"B5 is divided in different parts. There are the military, diplomatic and business sectors. Other parts include maintenance and all this stuff you need to keep such a big tin can working. Downbelow is the part that wasn't really needed but was built. Lurkers are the people living in this part of B5. Most of them come there to seek for a second chance, a new life. But a lot of them fail. "
"This doesn't sound like the greatest achievement in modern society to me."
"No it doesn't. And we all should be ashamed for this lack in interest and compassion."
"Well, you indicated that not everyone had to be ashamed."
"No, Marcus cared a lot for them. He had a lot of contacts in Downbelow to gather information. And spending a lot of time there he also made friends with quite a number of lurkers. Whenever anyone of the crew said something less tolerant about the inhabitants of Downbelow he or she could be sure to be lectured by Marcus. He was very protective over his friends. He could argue for ages about something he felt was correct or important. He was a very honourable man. In fact, I guess this is how I saw the typical English knight of the medieval you hear about in tales and legends."
"I thought you didn't care about literature."
"Well I didn't care those days. But Marcus recommended me some very interesting books and now, having only memories of him and the good old days, I tend to follow his recommendation. Sometimes it is as If he speaks through the lines of these ancient books."
"He must have been quite a wise guy."
"No he wasn't. As I told you before, he was clever even intellectual. But he definitely wasn't wise. He was foolish and didn't care for his own wellbeing. In fact, he gave too much and never asked for anything in return. He never wanted anything for himself. My mom once told me you could divide mankind into two parts, those who give and those who take. Marcus was definitely a person who only gives things to others. Perhaps he even gave too much, way too much."
"What do you mean "he gave too much"?"
"He very often risked his life in order to save others. That's how his own life ended. He already lived this way before the end. But it was so tragic and hurting."
"But isn't this how we define heroes and martyrs?"
"That's just words. He left so many tasks unfinished, so many words unsaid."
"But the Rangers live to serve others, don't they?"
"That's true. But what he left unfinished was his personal life. The things he should have said but never dared to do so."
"How did you learn about his death?"
"I found his dead body lying in B5"s medlab 1. If I had been back faster on the station I could have saved him. Just 5 minutes, it was no more than 5 minutes that I was too late. I would have been able to rescue him."
"How exactly would you have been able to rescue him?"
"You're a very good journalist, Miss Anderson. You've almost got me there to really tell you all about this incident. But I can't tell you about it. Please respect it. I will just tell you so much. He spared his life in order to save Susan Ivanova's. He succeeded. She lives. But there is so much pain. Marcus was a very good man, honourable and compassionate. He was my friend. One of the best friends one can ever meet. It still hurts a lot to think of him and his death. But some things simply can't be changed."
"So there is no more you want to tell me about this issue?"
"So far I don't think I'll be of much more help. But if you want to contact me again, don't hesitate to do so."
"Thank you, Doctor. I'll take you up on your offer."
End of record
Katie reconsidered the words of Corwin and Doctor Franklin. She wanted to know more about Susan Ivanova and her connection to Marcus. What was it that caused Marcus' death? Did he really spare his life in order to save Susan Ivanova? If it was so, what could probably make him do such a thing? And why didn't anyone want to talk about the affair? Katie was sure to be the one to reveal the secret behind the mysterious words of Stephen Franklin. And she also wanted to have a real cup of coffee, again.
tbc
Author's note: This was the longest chapter so far, and I'm proud of it :-) The next one is halfway done and will probably be online within a week (can't promise anything..I have an exam due next week and so far studying goes well)
To my wonderful beta readers LaDiNi and FonduedJicama: Thank you both very much. You helped me a lot to scratch out the nasty little mistakes.
Bud: I know, the first three chapters were quite short, but I really hope you like this one…it was 7 pages on MS Word.
samcarter 2: Thanks for the compliment and thanks for adding me to you favourite's list (this is really great for my ego) :-)
HilaryWeston: I tend to respond to advice given to me. But I also feel better about the earlier chapters right now. I just have to keep in mind to stay tuned to the surroundings. Concerning Marcus' log entries I think I will concentrate on the Ivanova incidents, as they are promising more fun than the other things. But I want to use at least one of the "difficult" personal logs in a later chapter.
DsignG4:(Did you notice the change;-))To be honest, I was mistaken to be British when I talked to Americans and and the other way round while talking to British. It was a funny experience to explain them I was neither from the UK nor from the US. But I guess you spotted my weak point in writing. This is truly something I have to work on. I normally write things down that come to my mind and it depends whether I just read a British or American book and what kind of DVD I watched before. Delenn is one of the most difficult characters to write (that's why you won't see much of her in my story :-) ) The second remark: Marcus' records are audio only. I guess I missed to tell this before. But all of the records that Katie uses are audio only. I will put this in my next chapter. I pictured the whole thing to work just like my own voice recorder…which is of course audio only. Oh and please update your story soon. I really want to know where you will go with it.
Anyone who knows or even speaks British English (perhaps a native speaker), please contact me (e-mail address as seen in my profile). I want to improve my story and my language skills. And I really don't want to use my Harry Potter books as the source of common British English talks.