Garibaldi gasped as the hood was pulled off his head. He was confused and he was in a great deal of pain. Covered in his own blood , the human was shaking. The bad feeling he had earlier had just gotten much worse. He wasn't sure what had happened to the others.
"Who are you?" asked a voice.
Garibaldi couldn't see who was talking to him. There was a bright light shining in eyes and his vision was blurring. Annoyed by lack of response the voice angrily asked its' question again.
"Who are you?" the voice asked for a second time.
" Michael Garibaldi of the space station Babylon 5," he responded.
"Mr. Garibaldi, do you know why you are here?" the voice asked.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Do you remember what happened before we brought you here?"
"Vaguely."
"What do you remember?"
"Leaving the station with my unit, entering the jump gate, a bright light and then pain."
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
There was silence for a moment. It was as though his questioner was unsure of what to ask next, after not receiving the answers he wanted. A door opened behind him and he heard footsteps.
"Well, Mr. Garibaldi, I believe that you are lying, at least in part. We do have ways to get the information we need out of you. Take him away," said the voice callously.
The hood was placed over his head once more and he was taken out of the room. He was stripped, and hosed down with scalding water. His wounds throbbed as he flinched away from the water. He still couldn't see anything or anyone. He was dressed and lead down a hallway ,his head still covered with the hood and his hands cuffed in front of him. The guards stopped and he heard one of them unlock a door. The cuffs were removed and so was the hood. Garibaldi was pushed forward into a cold cell . The door was locked behind him. As he listened to the guards leave ,the human struggled to his feet , walked to the bed and curled up on it.
The now President John Sheridan, Commander Jeff Sinclair and Lt. Commander Susan Inovanva listened in shock to the report the fighter pilot gave them. After a massive tremor had rocked the station, Sheridan had ordered a small group of fighters to check on Garibaldi and his men. The report that the squad leader gave them was not good. Of the five fighters that had remained behind to investigate ,four had been badly damaged with their pilots dead and Garibaldi and his fighter missing. There was no sign of the man after five hours of searching.
The expression of horror on Sinclair's face was enough to let the others now that he was afraid for his friend. With everything that had been going on, as the civil war had just ended and they knew that ,as president of the new Interstellar Alliance, Sheridan would be leaving soon, Garibaldi was all the more important to helping Babylon 5. There was also the fact that Garibaldi was well respected and loved by his friends and comrades there, as well as by many others. Sinclair sank down into the nearest chair.
Sheridan began giving orders to start a search party. Garibaldi was his friend too, and the best Chief of Security one could find .
"Don't worry ,Jeff. We'll find him," Sheridan reassured his comrade.
"I'm going out there. Mike's my best friend and he needs me."
"I figured you'd say that."
The news of Garibaldi's disappearance had spread quickly around Babylon 5. When Lennier told them , Delann choked on her drink while Talia and Catherine gaped at him. Talia's face drained of its' color. Catherine griped her hand. Catherine, Delann and Lennier were among the few who knew about Talia and Garibaldi's unique relationship. The two danced around their attraction to each other , neither denying it entirely nor accepting it completely. It had made for an unusual friendship. While Talia tried to control her tears, Vir informed G'Kar and Londo about what had happened. The two ambassadors had been arguing once again , but Vir's information stopped them cold.
"Missing? What do you mean missing?" Londo asked.
"I mean the 1st search party only found four ships and they couldn't find Mr. Garibaldi's ship. It's like he vanished," the Centauri explained.
"Are they organizing anymore search parties?" G'Kar asked.
Although neither of them got along with Garibaldi , both ambassadors respected the human for his talents. As the younger Centauri nodded, G'Kar and Londo went to speak to Sheridan. They needed to know if they could help.
As his face was plunged into the scalding water ,Garibaldi wondered how he'd gotten into this and why. Once the guard pulled his head out of the water , the human gasped for air.
"I shall ask you again , Mr. Garibaldi. What do you know of the pilot you rescued?" asked the voice.
"I told you already. I can't remember what happened after-"
Before Garibaldi could finish , his face was plunged into a second bowl of water, ice cold. He had been asked the same questions over and over again. They pulled his head out of the water again. He still could not see his tormentors. The man who questioned him didn't sound like someone from any race familiar to him. The dunking continued for several hours before Garibaldi was returned to his cell. He was freezing , having been soaked through .
He shivered as he peeled of his soaked clothes and he began to wring them out over the cell's sink. He didn't know what they'd done with his uniform and what he had wasn't much. Two blue shirts , two pairs of blue pants and four pairs of underwear. Garibaldi changed into dry clothes after he placed his wet things in a spot where they would dry. He laid down on his bed , in an effort to get some rest . They'd probably torture him more. His stomach growled angrily. Garibaldi groaned in anguish. He felt absolutely wretched. He curled up into a ball to warm himself up.
A clanging startled him to full wakefulness. A small panel had been opened at the bottom of the cell door. A small tray of food was pushed through the opening and the panel slid closed. Garibaldi devoured the food. He sat on the floor next to his bed and let his head lay on the thin mattress. He was worn beyond comprehension. He let his mind drift to his friends on Babylon 5. He knew that Sinclair wouldn't rest until Garibaldi had been found. The human doubted his friends would find him. He didn't even know where he was. He slept for an hour or so , until the torturers came back for him.
This time it was a different torture. Every time he failed to answer a question or if he didn't answer like they wanted him to , the human received an electric shock. Garibaldi tried to insist that he blacked out after the flash of light and that he couldn't remember anything between the time he entered the jump gate and the flash. They insisted he was lying to protect the pilot they were looking for. The shocks got stronger as the hours passed.
"I told you. I don't know anything," the human moaned, trying to make them understand.
"You're not telling us the truth , Mr. Garibaldi," said his primary tormenter.
" I am telling the truth . Please , believe me."
A door opened somewhere in the darkness. Footsteps approached hurriedly.
" General Tolar, his Majesty wishes to speak to you," said a new voice.
"Very well. Take over here. Ask different questions. The usual ones aren't getting answered properly," said Tolar.
"What questions would you like me to ask ,sir?"
"How about questions about……Babylon 5 and those who are there," Tolar answered.
General Tolar. Garibaldi now knew the name of his primary tormentor. He would never forget that name.
"So, tell me about the Babylon 5 space station," the new voice said.
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Review please!!!! I beg you.