8 The Ham Sandwich

Aboard the Excalibur - Captain Gideon's Quarters

"I'll give you a choice- choking to death on a ham sandwich or breaking your neck from slipping in the shower," Fed offered as he played with the top card of the deck in his hands.

Gideon analyzed the man in front of him. The technomage seemed more fool than anything. Although a threatening one. Galen had called him friend. Gideon doubted he would be so off. A bluff. Match the bet then. Show his strength. He pulled out the PPG he had on his lap and placed it on the spades Fed had dealt. With his finger on the trigger it pointed toward Fed's chest. The draw didn't seem to get a reaction out of him, still the same smile. Gideon waited silently, guessing Fed would break first.

The smile reversed. Fed broke first. "You think that would stop me?" Fed snapped his fingers as if he had a sudden idea. "Or maybe you think Galen will see and save you… You do know Galen spies on you all the time right? There is a probe right there." He pointed to the center of the ceiling next to the cabin's brightest light fixture. "Lucky for me Galen is using probes built by my old teacher. I know exactly how to make it look like you are taking a well deserved nap." A prick of irritation at the games technomages loved to play stung Gideon. Most likely his quarters weren't the only place Galen spied on. No wonder he always seemed to know what was going on. Gideon made a mental note to have security scan every surface of the ship.

Fed's attempt to manipulate Gideon's feelings, to sow mistrust of Galen did not escape his notice either. Gideon refused to take the bait. "It's how he shows his love." A smile flickered across Fed's face as he nodded his head in agreement. Flexing his jaw muscle, Gideon moved the game along. "Honestly, I don't care for either of your options. I'd rather have the truth. You can start by telling me what these Spades," Gideon tapped the each card in turn, "are doing on Mars."

Fed simply answered, "No."

Only one option left. Gideon called Fed's bluff. "Then I guess I'll take the sandwich option. The ham onboard is almost palatable."

They studied each other until suddenly Fed flashed a conciliatory smile. "How did you know I was bluffing?"

"After two years of traveling with Galen, I've had too much experience with how technomages operate. You guys love making a scene when you're not hiding from everyone."

Fed looked disappointed. "I should have thought of that."

Gideon explained further, "Galen has lied to me, withheld vital information, hijacked my ship. Hell, he's even knocked me out twice so he could do what he wanted. But, the truth about him is when push comes to shove he always does what he thinks is right, and anyone he considers a friend is the same way. Galen told me you were his friend. Of course, if he was wrong ... " Gideon pulled the PPG back toward himself and eased his finger off the trigger.

"That was careless of Galen, although it sounds like he's made our Order very proud while serving you. By the way you might want to check the charge before putting that away." For someone who just lost a game, Gideon reflected, Fed sounded too pleased. Frowning, he checked the power pack on his PPG. No lights- dead. He threw it back onto the table in disgust with himself for not checking the obvious before relying on it for defense.

"The ones under your pillow and in your sock drawer are also discharged." Fed beamed at the captain. Even though he just lost his hand, Gideon saw the mage would keep playing.

Gideon tapped the cards in front of him. "Start talking," he ordered Fed.

Fed started, "So … what do you want Captain?" Fed caught himself, laughed once, and clarified, "I mean what do you hope to find on Mars?"

"You want to know what I want. I want justice for my dead shipmates. I want to go public with what really happened to the Cerberus and expose the parts of EarthForce that are involved. For that I need irrefutable evidence. But I'm not going to throw anyone else under a bus to get it. If you really need Galen that badly, look I'll meet you half way. Stop with the technomage bullshit. Tell me what you know and I'll do my best to help you."

To Gideon, Fed's face shifted through a lot of different emotions. Compared to Galen's steady presence, this guy acted like puzzle pieces tumbling out of a box. If he could keep him talking he'd be able to grab enough pieces to build a picture of what was happening on Mars. So if he had to, he could go alone.

An offer flowed out of Fed. "Justice of a sort I can do, but leave Galen out of it."

"Why?" snapped Gideon.

"This isn't his fight Captain, this is yours. You have no idea what you're dragging him into."

Unmoved Gideon said, "Galen can take care of himself. Besides, aren't you doing the same thing to him." Gideon tapped the Queen of Hearts on the table between them.

Fed touched his cheek as if Gideon had just smacked him. "I'm asking to borrow a cup of his sugar, but you're asking him to cater your blood wedding."

The hard edged analogy made Gideon snap to attention. Something bad was happening on Mars. He leaned forward, elbows on the table. This one knew a lot. Gideon's gut told him to dig. "Look, Galen's made Mars his ..."

Fed talked over Gideon, "Fight?! Not exactly. He's only involved because of you. And he's a hero, who follows the hero's code- no sex, no drugs, no wine, no women, no relief, just a relentless, obsessive focus on doing good. If he were a machine I wouldn't worry, but he's not. He's going to make mistakes. People always do when they are stretched thin and stressed. And Galen is never not stressed and you are stretching him thin. Galen only joined you to help find the cure not to go to Mars."

The words rang true to Gideon. His guilt reared up inside. The lingering guilt that he lived after everyone died on the Cerberus and now guilt over dragging Galen off on his own private quest. He stared at the cards in front of him. There were 4 spades- the King, Queen, Jack and Two. That must mean four technomages were currently on Mars. He wondered if the Galen, the Ace, knew. Considering how hard Fed pushed Gideon to not tell, probably not, which meant there was more to learn. "What did you mean you could give me justice of a sort?"

"No. Not until you promise me you will not involve Galen further, nor say anything to anyone about our conversation."

Now that he had been fed some information he wanted more. Gideon doubled down. "I'll keep what you say here in confidence."

Fed let out a big breath. "We're going to shut down the facility that made the ship you are investigating."

"What do you mean shut down?"

With puffed out cheeks, Fed blew out the word. "POOF."

Gideon shook his head in disbelief. "That would kill hundreds of people."

"We've made certain only the cabal, those in charge of the various little black projects and some guards will be present, when it all goes. They are the ones responsible for creating the shadow hybrid vessel that destroyed the Cerberus and the cover-up that followed."

"I want them to be tried in court not killed," Gideon argued.

Fed shook his head no. "It is the only reliable way to stop them."

Understanding dawned on Gideon. "That's why you don't want Galen to know."

Fed's lips thinned out in annoyance. "The people in charge are not boy scouts. They don't spend there weekends reading to orphans and ladling soup at the local homeless shelter. They are complete sociopaths and are up to their necks in assassinations and other unmentionable things. I can give you all sorts of evidence, including vids but none of it would be admissible to a court of law. Not that it matters. The cabal…they're not the sort you can arrest and bring to trial. They slip between your fingers like water. They kill anyone and everyone who might betray them or sniffs around too close. They would sooner kill you or their own members then let you have your public accounting. I think you know that already, from your dealings with them."

Stunned, Gideon asked, "How do you know … ?" Fed flicks his wrist at the screen. Gideon's personal log, began to play in the middle of a sentence …

… Galen managed to fly the thing. That's how we escaped Scorpio 772A. We were like bats out of hell. He could control it perfectly. When I asked how, he said he freed it and it wanted to leave. When I demanded we take it back to earth, he knocked me out, again. When I woke up. I found Galen had deleted all my vids of the hyrid and my conversation with Remil. He gave some excuses- he's not prepared, that it'd make me a target too soon. Bullshit. All this time … all his tricks … It was all from the Shadows. I confronted him about what Remil told me. He didn't deny it. He just stood there like a statue. That must be why he could control the hybrid. I can't trust him anymore. Not until he lets me in. I threw him off the ship and told him not to come back unless he had a cure in hand…

With a whistle, Fed said, "Wooh, heavy stuff. Of course you guys must have kissed and made up since he's here."

So much for support's assurances that his private logs were uncrackable. Gideon gave Fed a hard look wondering if he acted the fool to throw others off, to make them underesimate him. With Remil it was easy to see something ugly motivated him when he offered to bring him in to, maybe the cabal this Fed described. But what motivated this Fed in front of him to do all this, he could not be sure. He glanced at the Queen of Hearts. That was part of of it. But it seemed deeper, he spoke of Galen with real respect, like all this was about doing Galen some huge favor.

Gideon kept digging. "Funny that suddenly you want to help. Galen said the rest of you did nothing during the last war, and you didn't want him to do a thing about the plague."

With his fingers, Fed combed his hair, practically pulling on it. Gideon figured he hadn't prepared for this argument. Fed said, "Plenty of us cared a lot but we had our own fires to put out. I think I got the piece that will sway you. The plague was given to the Drakh by humans."

"What?" said Gideon completely caught off guard.

"Oh don't get me wrong. It was created by the Shadows originally but it was actually found inside a buried Shadow vessel on Mars decades ago by EarthForce. Special Weapons hid it. Eventually, the Shadows came looking for it, the cabal I mentioned, struck a deal with them. They provided the Shadows with whatever they wanted in exchange for …support. They were allowed to keep the virus. They've been creating their own strains tailored to kill every major species, including humans, but this is key, they've been sitting on a cure all along. Your entire mission has been a fool's errand. And they will probably be unhappy that you managed to do the impossible. Our Order is slowly returning to our place in the galaxy. I'm inviting you to join us. Do we have a deal?"

Stunned, Gideon leant back in his chair. Considering how hard Galen worked to get the cure they carried, he must not have known. Instead of answering, he countered with another question. "Why doesn't Galen know about this?"

Fed tugged on his hair in frustration. "Galen is … not a good team player. Stop avoiding the decision and answer me."

This confirmed what he knew, that Galen was on the outs with his own people. It made sense that they would leave him out of the loop. The unfortunate truth Gideon had to acknowledge was this conversation revealed in a few minutes more information than Galen, Remil or anyone had shared with him in two years. That disturbed him more than he cared to admit. He threw his last chip on the table. "All I have is your word. I need to see real proof before I agree to violence as the answer."

"Fair enough. But don't say I didn't warn you. You met a Colonel Remil right?"

Gideon's stomach twisted. "Yes, he's the one who tried to recruit me." A flash and they were no longer in Gideon's cabin but witnesses hovering in a corner of a large cargo airlock…

Two marines stood in the sealed airlock blocking most of the view of a cage. One soldier crouched down and poked awake the Minbari in a cage. The alien lept for the marine and rattled the bars when he missed.

"Fucking bonehead doesn't know when he's dead." The corporal and sergeant laughed together.

They both snapped to attention when the airlock hissed open. "Atten-hut!" yelled the sergeant as a Colonel marched in. Remil.

"At ease." He handed each ground pounder a vile. The Minbari prisoner stopped shaking his cage.

The two marines hesitated.

"Steady as she goes gentleman. I'm not going to let my men take risks I'm not willing to share." The marines injected themselves in the neck. The Colonel cracked open a canister. He planted it by the cage. A hissing steam came out of it. The Minbari backed into the corner but there was no possible escape. It started with convulsions, and ended with blood pouring out of his mouth.

The corporal and sergeant high-fived each other, as loud hissing recycled the air. A small woman in a lab coat came in, unlocked the cage, and examined the Minbari. The woman's head sagged a bit, before she climbed to her feet and looked at the Colonel. "Dead."

"Good. Thank you Professor."

…Gideon blinked to find himself back in his quarters.

Fed asked, "Enough? Or are you going to sit there while I show you vid after vid of how the Special Weapons Division has been spending your tax dollars."

A mixture of horror, hatred and resolve mingled in his chest. Gideon thought about the thousands of people who had already died from the secondary effects of the plague. They had to be stopped. Fed held out his hand across the table. At first Gideon didn't understand, then it dawned on him Fed wanted to shake hands, to seal the deal. He stared at Fed's hand, and the cards under it. Fed had compared himself to the King of Hearts. Add the King of Spades, that's a pair of kings, and that beats an Ace.

A small part of him apologized to Galen as he grasped Fed's hand, "I'm in, how will this work."

"Just go to MarsPort. You will be contacted. You will know it's them because they will use my name. About what you will say to Galen."

Gideon held up a hand to stop him. "I can tell you right now Galen would never believe me suddenly wanting to take a vacation even if I was at death's door. He knows me too well."

"How about a leave of absence because of an illness or death in the family? Your great aunt Cornelia always seems to be teetering on the edge."

"How did you?," Gideon stopped himself, of course he's also read his private messages. "I'm only close to my Mom and she better continue to remain healthy," Gideon warned him.

Fed snapped his fingers. "I got it. You talk to the Captain of Babylon 5 a lot. She invited you to visit her after you return for a private celebration. You should accept. Galen gets uncomfortable with any conversation involving relationships."

Gideon shook his head no. "Here's an idea, I tell him the truth that I don't need him."

Fed laughed. "Good one Captain. No. Keep it simple- a core of truth and the lies hidden in the details."

Great. Now he was mixed up in technomage scheming. This didn't feel clean, but he knew the answer to give Fed, "Then, I'm going to tell him we talked, and I thought that he should go on your rescue mission. I will accept Elizabeth's invitation. All true. But I'll go Mars before going to her."

"Perfect," said Fed.

"I think I will need about a year of R&R after all of this is finished." Gideon rubbed his tired eyes.

Like he had just eaten a big fatty meal, Fed stretched out with a broad toothy grin. "If he pushes you, this is how you can lie to a technomage…"

Gideon studied the cards as Fed prattled on about focusing only on strong emotions, like rage and lust. He hadn't noticed but Fed had slipped the King of Clubs under the King of Spades. For the first time he noticed all the spades on the table as a whole- the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Two formed an wrap-around straight flush. Now that would be a great hand in any wild-card poker game. He looked up at the King of Hearts with a twang of regret. The technomages would do better working together than apart. Well, he thought, a pair of Kings will just have to do.

Recreation Room 1- Aboard the Excalibur Dec 23, 2269

Dureena intercepted Dr Sarah Chanmbers at the doorway to the celebration. Her hand rested on the small triangular blade on her belt. It's warmth comforted her.

"Sarah! You finally made it out of Medlab."

Sarah smiled and confided in Dureena, "Galen worked through the night and helped me finish modifying the controller to work on your people's genome. It's all done self-replicating. Whenever you're ready I can give it to you."

"Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

They walked over to the makeshift bar for Sarah to order. A plastic cup of some sort of wine plopped down in front of the women. Dureena would not have touched it, but the doctor took it up drank deeply.

Dureena smiled slightly. Her people had a chance, thanks to Sarah. No, this was all Galen's doing, her inner desires pointed out to her.

She shook off the image of Galen in her mind, to ssay, "Max arranged for a transport to take me to Theta 49 from Earth. I'll come get it before then."

"What's between you and Max?"

Dureena made an annoyed sound, pulled out a tiny two edged blade from a hidden pocket and began twirling it absent mindedly disemboweling the air. "I saved his life voluntarily. So I would say we're almost friends. He's made it clear that he finds me acceptable company now and he's not nearly as much of a ... "

"Self-centered son of a bitch that we thought he was."

"Yes. He is an excellent dancer, that helps."

"I thought for a while that you and Galen were … getting closer."

Dureena doled out her response with slashes to the air. She stopped moving and got her anger under control. She had thought so to. "No, you are wrong," and so was I, "He won't tell me the truth about anything. It's better if I just focus on helping my people."

"Well, good luck," said Sarah sipping her wine slowly now.

Leaning in close to the doctor, Dureena asked, "Max told me there was another technomage aboard. Is it true?"

Swallowing her wine, Sarah frowned and smiled at the same time, "He arrived injured. Calls himself Fed. He's flamboyant, suave and he seems to enjoy being naked. He wanted something from Galen. But he looked very disappointed when Galen left Medlab."

"He can join the club. Do you think this Fed would speak to me?"

"If you can find him, oh yes. I got the impression that all you'd have to do is bat your eyes at him."

"I'm not familiar with that human idiom."

"Ah, you know ... act sexually interested."

Dureena let out a slight grunt and took a harder stab at the bar top. Sarah pointed to the doorway nearly spilling her wine.

"That's him!" Dureena traced Fed's easy stroll into the recreation room. He headed straight for the end of the bar not far from them.

The women listened in as the acting bartender approached him, "What'll you have?"

"Grenadine, light rum, club soda with a twist of lime."

The bartender stared at him and said, "I don't have any of that, madam."

Fed smiled, "Then how about a little visit from Uncle Jack?" An unlabeled plastic jug with a dirty glass landed in front of him. Fed filled it to the brim, and closed his eyes.

"Are you sure he's a technomage?" asked Dureena.

"I know right, he looks more like a gay pirate but he had the same internal implants as Galen."

Max Eilerson walked past Sarah and grabbed Dureena by the elbow. With a datapad out of his pocket, he tugged her along, talking fast. "Let's go talk to him, maybe he'll tell us what the symbols mean."

They stopped behind Fed. He didn't react to the tapping of their toes, nor clearing of throats. Dureena lost patience and reached for him.

Fed twirled around and pointed at Dureena, "If you're Beauty (he bowed his head to Dureena), then you must be the Beast (he pointed at Max). How can I help you? Nice sword by the way."

"It's why we've come to see you," said Dureena.

Max began, "Dureena, Galen and I found it. These symbols appeared suspended in the air when we got near it. Galen clearly knew what it meant but he won't tell us."

Max offered Fed his datapad. Fed looked at it as if Max had just offered him a plate of writhing insects. Fed brushed it back at Max.

"I am a representative of IPX, and I can offer you a substantial commission if you can tell us what it says or anything about this sword that proves useful."

Fed began to snicker.

Irritated Max said, "Did I say something funny? Judging by the state of your clothes you could use the money."

Fed stopped snickering and examined himself. He looked squarely at Max. "I see your point." Fed pointed at the ceiling. Dureena and Max followed his gesture, but they saw nothing. When they looked back down, his clothes had become pristine, even changing color to a burnt orange, the trim now blue silk. "I was laughing because your offer was like … my right hand giving my left hand a credit chit. Now if you could offer me a whole new hand." Fed waved at Max with his left gloved hand.

Max bargained, "Is there anything I can give you in return for information?"

His eyebrows danced as Fed examined Dureena up and down. "Yes, you can go away and leave Dureena Nafeel and I alone."

"Go ahead Max, I'll let you know if he says anything useful, which I doubt." Throwing a dirty look at Fed, Max complied.

Without waiting for a yes, Fed took her hand and tried to lead her to the dance floor. "How about a dance first?"

Feeling the weight of every dagger she had concealed on her body, Dureena wondered how many she could stick in this technomage before he could stop her. She settled for a simple, "No," and took control of her hand back.

Unbothered Fed let go. "This ship is full of tough nuts. You know he likes you," Fed pointed after Max, who had returned to studying his datapad. Dureena thumbed the edge of her triangle blade, "but you obviously don't like him that way. Your heart belongs to another, eh?"

Dureena stopped him, "What is wrong with you? I come here seeking information and all you do is go on about unimportant things."

Shaking his head no, Fed said, "That's where you're wrong. Love is the most important thing in the universe. If we have it, we are happy, can do anything and endure everything. Without it, we suffer. Take Galen for example …" Dureena sucked in a sudden breath. Noticing immediately, Fed stopped mid sentence and simply ended with an, Oh. As Fed studied her with a sort of dawning relief, Dureena wanted to run and hide. But she needed answers. Focusing on her subject, she gripped the leather strip she had wrapped around one edge to make a handle.

She closed her eyes and offered, "I can not offer you money or anything of value for your information. All I have is myself. Tell me what you know about it and I will be grateful and dance with you." She looked away to fight the instinct to stab him.

Silence filled the air between them. Looking back at Fed, Dureena felt as if she was looking at a new person. The coy flirting look had vanished. His narrowed eyes glistened, withdrawn behind sadness directed at her. "No that would be the last thing I want. You were a slave weren't you?" He whispered the last part.

Dureena couldn't speak from the rage. Fed reached out and moved the concealing leather strips wrapped about her wrist. His touch, halfway between a lover's and a mother's, revealed the healed scars where her owners had chained her so they could do what they wanted.

Fed downed the glass of Uncle Jack. "I didn't realize soon enough. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have played with you."

The shock of his apology snapped Dureena out of her rage. Not quite calm, Dureena said, "You can't have it."

"I never said I wanted it. It suits you." Fed refilled his glass.

"Galen did and he wouldn't tell me why or what is special about it. He was quite insulting when I wouldn't give it to him. He said a 'backwater savage has no business with it's like.' Then he tried to take it from me. But I couldn't let him have it, it feels like it has always belonged to me."

"Galen said that? You must have caught him on an off day. Then again, he never was very good with people. May I see it?" asked Fed with his hand out.

Dureena stood still.

"Please? I promise to give it back."

"What do you want in return?" asked Dureena.

"Nothing. I'm making up for Galen's rudeness."

Dureena handed him the blade and Fed gently placed it in the crook of his left arm. He stared at it for a minute then closed his eyes and began to run his right hand around and around the perimeter of it.

"I can see why Galen was interested in this. It's full of nano-circuitry. It's very old, first one's level. I don't know which one. These things can be dangerous. It's … dormant I think. That's probably why Galen wanted it. That is all I can tell you about it."

Dureena said, "That's it? I thought technomages knew about everything."

Fed smiled wistfully, "No, we just like to give that impression. You will have to find your answer from Galen, maybe if you ask him again …"

"No." She held out her hand, silently asking for it back.

With Fed still holding the sword, Dureena could see him considering whether to give it back to her. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. Then he did it again. Anger began to build in Dureena again. He shoved it back at her.

"The symbols," Fed waved his hand and the symbols appeared between them. "I was never diligent with my ancient runic studies, that was more Galen's thing. But this last rune I definitely recognize. It means extinction. You'll have to ask Galen to reconsider and tell you the rest. Say what are you doing after we reach Earth?"

"I will be hurrying to Theta 49 to cure what's left of my people of the plague. Interestingly I thought my people extinct until recently. If you are about to ask me to accompany you the answer is no."

"That's too bad because I think Galen will be coming with me." His words lingered in her mind as she walked away.

###

The self-rebuke came like a wave pulling Fed down into himself, Idiot is too kind a word for me, hitting on a slave who spent how many years getting… He never could say that last word. It filled him with too much fury. Instead thoughts of his early apprenticeship with Hera flowed. She never sheltered him from the ugliness of life. Not when she dragged him through slums where he learned exactly what happened to young attractive slaves, and not when it came time to decide what to do about what they saw. All the years in hiding, he had not forgotten that lesson. Fed loved and loathed their field trips, as she called them. Loved the freedom, the raw excitement, loathed the parade of wretchedness. Herazade would pull him along like the ghost of Christmas future, except he was more like Bob Cratchit. Fed remembered his first real field trip with Hera on Proxima, so many years before his initiation…

Herazade lead Fed back to her vast office. With the lights on full, the clash of colors of the tapestries on the walls with the geometric patterned carpets welcomed them. Herazade hurried for the red couch by her desk. Much slower, Fed closed the door behind them. As she crossed the room, her illusions peeled off her like sheets of paper floating off in the wind. Her coiffed hair and makeup went first, replaced by plain chin length black hair and wrinkles. The bright blue new saree became a well worn, neck to ankle one piece jumpsuit with silver woven into it. Her sandals vanished and she made the last few steps bare footed before dropping onto the overstuffed red couch with a sigh. With her head back, eyes closed, she propped her feet up on the companion ottoman

"Get me a glass of wine. Syrah." She always asked for the same thing when she got home. This time Fed had not met her at the door, he had gone with her. He didn't obey. Instead Fed planted himself on the ottoman facing her.

"Why did you take me with you?"

"Since you're old enough to question me constantly about everything, I thought you're old enough to see what all the grueling training is for."

"You said it'd be educational, that was … horrible."

Her irritated grunt led to her head rising and fixing him with a stare."Bad things happen all the time Fed. We just happen to witness it tonight."

"So you knew that was going on?"

"No, I did not anticipate that. Now get my wine." She pointed to the old wooden bar that stretched to the ceiling.

"What are you going to do to the man in your trunk?" Fed asked as he went to find the requested bottle. He filled a glass to the brim and sipped down the top inch.

"Have you been doing that every time!" Fed didn't answer her. "Pour another glass and do not put your mouth on it this time." Fed brought the two glasses offering her the untouched one. "Oh for God's sake Fed, you're 14, I'm not going to let you have that much." She took his glass and threw it in the air, where it vanished with fiery smoke. Fed dropped back on the ottoman.

"Why aren't you answering me Hera?"

"What would you do?" She stared at him through the glass. The red tint made her face look bloody to Fed.

"That chained up narn girl looked younger than me and he was…" Fed couldn't finish the sentence then either.

"Brutally raping are the words you are looking for," she said plainly.

"Ya I think if you hadn't stopped me, I would've … cut his throat already."

"Many would argue that is more immoral. That would make you worse than him." Her glass, half full now, rotated back and forth by her fingers on the stem.

"I don't care. Are you going to give him to the police? Please don't Hera. He'll get away with it if you do. They always do."

This time she smiled at him through a clear, empty glass.

"Tonight's lesson was supposed to be about how I conduct my charity work. I think instead it will be about how to dump a man in the dead sea with a millstone around his neck. And then maybe more about how to dispose of bodies in general." Fed smiled as she patted him on the head.

"Is the girl going to be alright?"

"Can anyone be, after that? The shelter will give her a chance to heal, but emotional scars are hard to fix. I'm not sorry I took you. But I won't force you to go again…"

Fed interrupted her, "No I want to go. I think I finally get it."

…Dureena was not that girl, but this galaxy had too many like her. Every part of him wanted to go after Dureena, to kneel before her, and offer her, he wasn't sure what. Money? No. He supposed- anything she wanted to make up for what the universe had put her through. His instincts said, she wants Galen. Hum, that he might be able to do. That fell in his area of expertise, perhaps his only one, considering how hard things went with Gideon. If Hera found out about that, she'd be furious at him for revealing so much to an outsider. Lucky she wasn't around.

His smile returned as he turned back to the bar, took a large gulp of his drink and re-started his electron incantation. His mind travelled to Mars to find his target again. The militant impatience pulled him to the right place. In the spell he imposed a simplified empty version of the Excalibur bar. Fed injected his self image and invited his target to join. "Sorry about that. The women here just can't keep their hands off of me."

The tall muscular man, cradling a giant rifle, analyzed Fed. In fatigues and with his short blonde hair spiked straight up, he looked like he belonged in some sort of private army. The pseudo-soldier answered, "It must be difficult being you."

Fed held up a silencing hand and said, "I have the patience of a saint and if that fails, I have the stamina of a …"

Tzakizak interrupted him, "Cut the crap Fed. What do you want?"

"You know how you're always asking Hera for more help? I got you something nice." Fed injected an image of Gideon standing next to the pair of them.

Tzak couldn't hide the shock on his face. "Isn't that the captain of the Excalibur? What are you doing with him?" He shouldered his rifle to indicate Gideon. "Aren't you supposed to be on Vorlon trying to crack it open like a pinata?!"

"Things got complicated. I needed Galen. I tracked him to the Excalibur. And it's a good thing I came. They're headed to Mars. Gideon and Galen were going to have a staycation there with every day's itinerary being investigate a certain cabal we both know well. I cut a deal with Gideon to break up their bromantic honeymoon. You need to wedge Gideon into our plans somehow."

As Tzak's stunned mouth fell open, furious words launched themselves toward Fed, "If only I would reach through this incantation to strangle you." Tzak vibrated red-faced and with balled fists.

"Calm down. I got everything under control and worked out. I think I can peel Galen away, but not Gideon. He's going and he's getting himself involved. You can dovetail him into our plan or you can hand the cabal another weapon."

"I could just let the cabal kill him for snooping?"

"Colonel Remil tried to recruit him. They see him as a potential ally."

Tzak grunted. "Can he be trusted?"

"He'll never side with them. He wants justice for the Cerberus, but I think I talked him down to revenge."

"What does he know?"

"Not too much I hope. How to contact you. Nothing about the heist. I see why Galen is fascinated by him, he's very perceptive and a gambler. He was a tough nut to crack. Be careful."

"Does Herazade know about this?"

Fed shook his head no.

"Manipulating Galen and you're leaving Hera clueless… I'm starting to warm to your ill-conceived plan." Tzak tapped the magazine of his rifle in thought and talked to himself, "Worst case then he'll be another able body I can throw at the cabal's versions of us."

Fed snapped at him, "I'm handing you a valuable ally not a tool!" Fed could feel Tzak's pleasure at getting under his skin. He took a deep breath and refocused. "How many agents do they have now?"

"They've decanted more, nearly a hundred now, but none of them can hold a candle to us except for the few that are also telepaths." Tzak went quiet.

Fed tapped his boot until he lost his patience. "Well?!"

"I'll take him. And I'll try to keep him in working order as long as it doesn't jeopardize our mission. I can't make promises, even with Gideon, we're out numbered 5 to 100."

"4 to 100, Vergil can't fight for shit."

Tzak rolled his eyes at Fed's correction. "He doesn't need to. The plan can remain the same, Vergil will escort the professor and her baby-seeder. Sidjak, Ak-sana, I, and now Gideon will deal with the cabal and their ill-bred imitations. We've had complications as well. We're going to have to move up the heist. The Professor just told us that the cabal is meeting earlier then expected and it looks like they are prepping the prime seeder for moving. Something has happened. She claimed to not know what."

Worried Fed asked, "Can you get everything set in time?"

"We've been ready for a while."

"Good. I think I know the reason for the cabal's change in plans. The Excalibur is rushing a cure for the plague to Mars."

Tzakizak shook his head knowingly. "Galen must have pulled another miraculous rabbit out of his hat and once again it jeopardizes the future of the Order."

"This is a good thing Tzak. We have no idea where they stashed the human cure and people are already dying in droves."

"We'll see in a few days. If Galen shows up on Mars. I will kill him." Tzak stroked his rifle.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen."

"So then you have a backup plan in case Galen sees through your manipulations."

Of course, Fed didn't and Tzak saw that. "You must be so lost without Hera pulling your strings."

"Ya, I'm pretty much winging it." The incantation shifted, replaced by the blackness of deep space. A hint of monsters- giants, dragons, leviathans circled about just out of sight in the darkness. Fed stood chest to chest, eye to eye with the older technomage. "If you so much as hurt a hair on his head, I'm drop kicking you into the nearest supernova."

The response was not what Fed hoped it would be. A harsh laugh reverberated from Tzak at Fed. "Galen doesn't have a hair on his head. And if he makes it here, it will be over your dead body. So I have nothing to fear from you Federico. Now, tell me more about Gideon."

"Don't worry you'll love him. He pulled a PPG on me."

Over their shared link Fed delivered all the files he collected on Gideon from the Excalibur systems- his service record, his official ship's and private logs. The easy agreement from Tzak, compared to Gideon, had not surprised Fed. He knew Tzak would love to play soldier with a real live one. Still a cold feeling enveloped Fed's chest. Maybe the Circle's made a mistake. Maybe they're underestimating the cabal's strength or cunning. What if their inside-man, woman he corrected himself, the Professor, was setting them up. What if the universe is directing Galen to Mars for a reason and what if everything will fall apart when Fed pulls him away? Fed shook himself out of his doubts. No it was too late. Except he should have a backup plan. Dureena's face popped to mind. If she mattered to him, she might work to fill that role.

They wrapped up the exchange of information. When he ended the spell, Fed dropped his head to the bar top and rested his forehead on the uncomfortable cold metal surface. It felt good to be done and to just relax. To think of nothing, like he used to do for hours when he was young.

A message appeared in Fed's mind from Galen.

/What are you doing?/

Fed almost jumped out of his seat. He stopped the bartender as he sauntered by with a big platter.

"I'm going to need one of those," Fed pulled off the top ham sandwich.