After losing contact with Hill, the colonial marines led by Sergeant Aegeus Deorsa systematically took control of the apparently abandoned station. Deorsa had his troops secure all key areas, such as the Command Center, the reactor room and the hangar deck. Sheba Cain and her squadron landed in the station's large hangar bay and she assigned two pilots to fly CAP and five others to stand by on alert with their vipers ready to launch at a moment's notice. With Hill missing, she was now in command of the station until Commander Crichton sent a permanent crew.
"The station shows signs of habitation by at least one individual, however we did not encounter any booby traps", the marine sergeant reported.
"What was Captain Hill's last known location before you lost contact?" Sheba asked. She was glad that the station was secured, but her biggest concern was Tom Hill. Sheba was in love with Hill and she still felt she owed him for saving her life on Carillon a couple of years ago.
"His team must have been only a few hundred feet away from their entry point..." the Sergeant started when he got interrupted by the crackling of his com unit and the voice of a private.
"Sir, we caught two aliens trying to break into the armory on level 3", the private reported.
"Put them in the brig. I will question them later. We've got people MIA." Sergeant Deorsa responded.
"Sir, one of the alien says they needed to get guns to bail out some humans who got captured by a Vogon, the private continued.
"What in Hades is a Vogon?" Deorsa asked. "Hold on, I'll be on my way.
The sergeant rushed down to level 3, followed by Captain Sheba Cain.
"Did he have blue eyes?" Sheba asked the worm aliens, while Sergeant Deorsa was putting a team of marines together for a rescue.
"Yes", the worm responded.
"And his hair had the color of sand?" Sheba continued asking.
"Yes, and he was wearing the same kind of uniform as Private Babyface and the rest of your soldiers. That Vogon had him and a human woman tied up, in the cargo bay a few decks down, and was reading some really awful poetry to them."
The private, who had been called 'Babyface', glared at the worm, then suddenly noticed that his pack of cigarettes and his lighter were no longer in his pockets. To his embarrassment, he also noticed that the second worm alien was leaning against the bulkhead and smoked what was obviously one of his cigarettes.
Sheba was relieved that Tom was still alive. She could hear Sergeant Deorsa giving orders to his marines further down the hallway.
"We've got a job to do, boys and girls. Let's get geared up!"
The marines quickly reached the enormous cargo bay and quietly took cover behind one of the large shipping containers. Jeltz was loudly reading his Vogon poetry to his two prisoners, who were squirming in their metal contraptions. Jeltz had his back to the container and his voice echoed in the cargo bay. One of the marines peeked out behind the container and quickly tossed a flash bang grenade. Wearing protective gear and being covered by the large container, the marines were not affected by the light and the noise of the explosion. They rushed toward Jeltz as soon as the grenade had detonated.
Lacking any form of combat training and only lightly armed with a PPG pistol, Protestnik Vogon Jeltz was easily overpowered by the team of five well-armed colonial marines, who had been trained in Peacekeeper military tactics by Aeryn Sun. The flash bang grenade had the same effects on the Vogon as it had on humans. Blinded, disoriented and with a loud ringing in his ears he had dropped the PPG and did not resist when the marines tied his hands together behind his back.
Sheba Cain and the two worm aliens entered the cargo bay and freed Captain Hill from the contraption he was in. Gail Golden was immediately identified as a Model Six humanoid Cylon and taken to the brig along Jeltz by the marines.
Commander John Crichton had been pacing impatiently in the Pacifica's CIC, when the communications officer finally relayed an incoming call from the captured space station.
"Pacifica actual, this is Babylon 4"
"Go ahead, Babylon 4. Sitrep."
"Sir, we have captured the station and one Cylon heavy raider intact. We also managed to take two prisoners." Hill reported.
"Casualties?" Crichton asked.
"We lost one raptor and two vipers", Hill answered.
Over the next few days personnel and equipment was transferred via raptors and shuttles from Moya and the Pacifica to Babylon 4. Civilians from the fleet were to follow shortly. In the meantime, Commander Crichton had read the reports that both Hill and Cain had submitted to him. What he read puzzled him. The station had obviously been built by an organization called the Earth Alliance. However, Earth could not have developed interstellar travel and formed an alliance as a unified government in the few years since he had last talked to his father. Then the next report came in, this time from a team of computer specialists that he had sent to search the station's computer for any useful data. And now it became clear that the station had been built in the future, in the year 2254 to be specific, according to station logs that had been accessed by the team. Crichton was sure the team would overlook something of interest. He decided he needed to visit the station himself.
When Crichton arrived on Babylon 4's landing deck via raptor, he was greeted by Starbuck, whom he had assigned as the station's CAG, while Sheba was to resume her duties as CAG of the Pacifica.
"It looks like those Earth Alliance folks have left the station in a hurry. We even found two of their birds. They had been partially disassembled, probably for maintenance", she told Crichton excitedly as they walked through the corridors.
"After what I've seen so far, this Earth Alliance got about forty or fifty years on us. I'll have Chief Spencer check them out." Crichton replied.
"I wonder if it's possible to put them back together. If they're really fifty years ahead, we could have a nasty surprise for the frakking toasters", Starbuck mused, dying to be the first to fly one of those fighters.
The worm aliens had meanwhile moved into their new quarters aboard Babylon 4. Captain Hill had given them a coffee machine from one of the officers' quarters as a reward for their efforts. The two worms who had helped rescue him from Jeltz proudly showed off the coffee machine to the other worms, which had come over from Moya.
John Crichton had gotten lost aboard the unfamiliar station. When he walked down the corridor, he found Thomas Hill and Sheba Cain, who were both off duty, leaning against a bulkhead and kissing passionately.
"Good evening, Sir", both said with embarrassment written all over their faces and saluted.
"As you were, Captains", Crichton responded with a grin, returning the salute.
Both officers continued making out with even more passion as Crichton turned around the corner.