Chapter 46

Admiral Douglas's office TCS Mastiff: Admiral Douglas was going over the Alliance treaty that his JAG team had worked out with the EA representatives. He had read the agreement twice now, and he had to admit that Commander Duganerro had done an excellent job. He was glad that the commander was on his side. The agreement stated that the Vega system would belong to the Confederation Corporation, and that it was to be a separate entity from the Earth Alliance. There was also a mutual defense agreement written into the treaty. The treaty also stipulated various other points that the EA had agreed to, specifically the right of patent protection for the Confed Corporation. He was also going over the other ideas and proposals that had been submitted by the other Captains and other crewmembers.

Now he just had to decide on which of the projects that they were going to go after once their colony was up and running. The admiral sat back in his chair, and he remembered the signing ceremony, and the party afterwards. Some of the senior guests had been a little surprised by the fact that Terry had been there, a Petty Officer there among all of the generals and politico's. But she didn't seem to care, and that had made him smile. Now he got up and gathered all of the papers together and placed them in his safe. He then headed to his quarters, and turned in for the night. The next morning, he called the Captains of the ship tenders and the destroyers Tyr and Perseus and the Carrier Manila. When they arrived, he briefed them on the preparations that were going to be needed. They would proceed to the Vega system and start mining the asteroid belt for the materials that were going to be needed to build the colony. He wanted them to get as much of the prefab work done as possible, because the admiral felt that the war with the Minbari would soon be over. Captain Jakoub was placed in overall command of the mission, and the group was scheduled to leave in 12 hours.

Commander Langford's office, TCS Mastiff: Hershell had just finished compiling the data that she was going to present to the Admiral, and she couldn't help but smile a little. She then headed to the admiral's office, and was sent in almost immediately. Admiral Douglas looked up at her and he could see the small smile on her face.

"I take it you have something good to tell me Hershell."

Her smile became broader now, "Oh yes sir."

He looked at her, "Well."

She sat down in the chair by his desk, and pulled out the papers she had with her. She then handed the top set to the Admiral. She waited while he looked at them, and she saw the flash in his eyes.

"Am I reading this right Commander?"

"Yes sir."

"But how?"

Hershell looked at him, "We found something interesting while going over the Minbari ships sir. It seems that their hull plating is actually a form of organically grown crystals. We also found that when a section of the plating is badly damaged, the Minbari engineers use an enzyme to remove the sections. Then they put a new grown section in place, sort of like a skin graft sir." She could see that the admiral was listening intensely, so she continued.

...
"We got the idea to try using the enzyme on the weapon on Mr. Laqua's ship. When we did, the outer skin opened up a bit, and after an hour, it closed up again. But while it was open, we managed to do a rather intensive scan of the weapon."

The admiral looked at her, "Can we duplicate it?"

"Possibly sir, but it's still going to take a few years to study and then develop the weapon technology. We believe that at best, given our current tech abilities, we could design a weapon that is half as powerful as this weapon."

The admiral just sat back now and whistled softly. Now he looked at her, "How large would the weapon be?"

He saw the Commander smile again, "We believe that the weapon could be put on as small a ship as a Saber or a Broadsword sir."

Now the admiral was smiling, "Commander, this project is to be given priority once we have the colony up and running. Until then, no one outside of your tech division is to know about it. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir."

...
Now he relaxed a little, "I take it you have something else to show me."

"Oh yes sir."

She handed him the next set of reports, "We found the Minbari jump drive, and we have begun to compare it to the scans of the EA jump drive on the James Carter. As you can see sir, the Minbari drive is somewhat similar, just smaller."

"How much smaller?"

"About two thirds the size sir, and about 100 percent more efficient."

He saw her hesitate a little, "Well Hershell?"

"Well sir, we believe that we can build a jump drive which is just as efficient as the Minbari drive, but is even smaller sir"

He looked at her, "How much smaller Commander?"

She handed a set of schematics to the admiral, "The jump drive would be about one half the size of an EA jump drive sir."

Now the admiral's eyes lit up, "That would mean that smaller ships could have a jump drive then."

"Yes sir."

...
He looked at her, "Anything else?"

"Yes sir." and she handed him a set of schematics.

"What's this?"

"It's the engine that provides the main source of power on the Minbari ships sir. It seems that they use an artificial singularity to provide power to their ships.

The admiral looked at her, "You mean a black hole?"
"Well not really a black hole sir. As near as we can tell, the Minbari generated singularity is actually a few degrees above being a black hole."

"So exactly what does that mean?"

"Well sir, the singularity is used to convert any form of matter into energy. That means that just about anything can be used for fuel. And there are no toxic byproducts."

"How much energy are you talking about Commander?"

Now he saw her smile again, "Well sir, just plug in say one gram of matter into Einstein's E equals (MxCsquared). The energy output is quite substantial sir."

"But how large is this engine Commander?"

"About two thirds the size of one of our M/AM Engines sir. And the initial start up energy is about only 20 percent of what we have to use sir."

"Well Commander, I want you and your people to work on all three of these projects as soon as the colony is up and running. Again, until then, these projects are eyes only classified."

"Yes sir."

...
Admiral Douglas's office: The admiral felt that the day was going well, he had had the talk with Commander Langford, and the primary group was just about ready to leave for the Vega system. His monitor beeped, and when he answered it, the comm. tech told him that Captain Grove was calling in. Soon he was looking at the captain, "So Jeff, how are things going in the Edding system?"

"Quite well sir, the EAS Firefly has arrived, and they have Captain Jankowski on board."

Both men knew of the demands of the Minbari, and they both knew that the sacrificing of one to save many was not something new to anyone in the military. "I just wish it could be different sir."

"As do I Jeff."

Now the admiral looked at Captain Grove, "Jeff, I want you to sign the treaty on behalf of Confed."

"I would be honored sir."

"So when do you think the signing will take place?"

"I'm not sure sir, maybe a day or two."

"Well keep me informed Jeff."

"Aye aye sir."

...
Beta Durani station: Tech sergeant Meego was trying to enjoy the first hot food he had had in 12 hours. He and a few of the EA techs had been having a problem with the installation of the sensors on one of the EA Cruisers, and this was his first break all day. As he was sipping his drink, a Man and woman came up and sat down next to him. They were dressed in civilian cloths, and when he looked at them, the man smiled at him. "You're one of the crew from the Confederation ships right?"

Sgt. Meego just looked at him and nodded. "That's just what we wanted to know."

Now he felt a gun barrel being pushed against his ribs, and then he heard a strange whirring sound. The woman said softly, "Don't make a scene, and everything will be fine."

Now the man looked at him, and Sgt. Meego saw the man's forehead crimp up. After a few minutes, the man relaxed, a slight look of puzzlement on his face. "I'm not getting anything."

The woman looked at him, "That's impossible. You should be getting something."

Now they looked at each other, and the man thought, "Plan B."

The woman silently nodded, and pushed the gun against Meego's ribs again. "Just get up slowly, and then we will walk out together quietly. Otherwise someone could get hurt."

The three of them got up and quietly left the cafeteria area.

...
Commander Langford's Office: Hershell was just getting ready to go and eat, when she got a call from the lead technician on Beta Durani station. "Hello captain, what can I do for you?"

"Well Commander, you could tell me where Sgt Meego is."

Hershell looked at him, "What do you mean Captain?"

"He went on a break about two hours ago, and he didn't come back. Has he been recalled to your ship?"

"Not as far as I know Captain, let me check into this and I'll get back to you."

Once she had disconnected the call, she called the Tech department and asked if Sgt. Meego had reported back in. They said that he was still on Beta Durani station, and when he had checked in 6 hours ago, he had said that they were having some trouble with the new sensors on one of the EA Cruisers. Now Hershell was getting a little worried, and placed a call to Col. Ellison. "Col. We may have a snatch situation."

Col. Ellison looked at her, "How long ago?"

"Two hours, maybe three."

"Alright Commander I'm on it."

Col. Ellison now typed a command into his computer, and a preset program started. Immediately, a squad of Marines was alerted to proceed to the landing bay, for Op Grab back. Then a second signal was sent to several of the Firekan crewmembers, to report to the landing bay ASAP. Col. Ellison then contacted the Admiral and alerted him. "Sir, we may have a snatch situation. I've already begun SOP protocols."

"Roger that Stanley, you do what you have to. I'll inform General Hague."

"Yes sir."

Now the Admiral placed a call to General Hague and filled him in. "My people will meet your people in the landing bay Admiral. And I'll lock down the station, no ships out without a thorough search."

"Thank you General."
...
The Admiral now made his way to the landing bay, and saw the Marines and the Firekans getting on a shuttle. He walked up to Col. Ellison, who was waiting by the shuttle. "We can handle this sir."

"I know that Col., but I'm going over anyway."

The Col. whistled once, and a marine inside the shuttle tossed him a vest and a pistol belt with a laser pistol on it. "I thought that's what you'd say sir." and he handed them to the Admiral.

The shuttle took off and headed for the Beta Durani station. When they arrived, General Hague, Major Allen and several security personnel in Battle gear met the group. "Admiral Douglas, the station is on lockdown, and the only ships that have left in the last 4 hours have been shuttles to the various fleet ships in the system. But to be safe, I'm having C+C contact the Captains discretely and having them search their ships as well."

The Admiral looked at him, "That may not be necessary General."

Now the admiral took out a radio and called the Mastiff. "This is Admiral Douglas, activate command Zeta four."

The comm. tech on the Mastiff did as ordered, and awaited the result. "Sir, we're showing 6 active signals sir."

"Locations?"

"Five are on various ships in the system, and one on the station sir."

"Give me the location of the one on the station."

"It's hard to pinpoint sir, there seems to be some sort of interference with the signal."

"Alright, we'll take it from here, out."

...
Admiral Douglas looked at the general, "Where do you have the most shielding on the station?"

"What sort of shielding?"

"Something that would interfere with a transmission signal."

The general looked at the Major, "Well Major?"

"Well sir that could be in the reactor area, or possibly in the R+D area sir. Both area's are heavily shielded."

Now Col. Ellison came up to them, "Sir, I recommend we split into two teams. With both the EA people and ours."

"Good idea Stanley."

Now he looked at the General, "Well general, which would you like, the reactor or R+D?"

"I'll take the first team to R+D."

"Alright, I'll take the second team to the reactor area." The two groups quickly split up and began to head in the two different directions.

...
As the Admirals team was nearing the reactor area, the two Firekan crewmembers were beginning to act a little unusual. Major Allen tapped the Admiral on the shoulder, and when he turned his head, the major pointed to the Firekans.

"What's wrong sergeant?"

The crewman looked at him, "Kushor-ngKara sir."

Now he hand signaled the group to stop, and he waved a marine up to him. "Run a scan Corporal."

The corporal took out a hand held scanner and activated it, and he then narrowed the focus of the signal. "About 10 meters ahead sir, also reading at least four other life signs."

"What's up there Major?"

"Well there's a storage room, but it's currently empty. We usually store supplies for the reactor there."

"Any other ways in besides the front door?"

"Yes sir, there's another door from just outside the main reactor area."

Now the Major looked at one of his men, "Miller, take a few men around that way and we'll try and catch them in a crossfire, you've got 5 minutes to get into position. Wait for my signal."

The man nodded, and then he a few of the marines headed back down the hallway to another cross-corridor.

...
Now he looked at the admiral, "My people can access the doors, and then we can rush them."

The admiral thought for a second, "Is there any area where we can access the ventilation in that room?"

The major thought for a few seconds, "Yeah, there's an air duct just over there."

He pointed to a spot on the ceiling. "That leads directly into that room."

Now the admiral went over to the duct and felt the airflow, it was being sucked in from the hallway. Now he smiled, and signaled the two Firekans to come over, "Sergeant, I want you and private Kassam to open that panel, then crawl as close to that room as you can."

The sergeant looked at him, then nodded. "Yes sir."

They quickly had the panel open and Private Kassam was low crawling into the duct, as he was the smaller of the two. Now the rest of the men moved closer to the door, and they waited for a few minutes. They heard something clatter inside the room, and Major Allen signaled the others. He quickly opened the door and the two groups rushed in.

...
Storage room Red 6: The Man and woman arrived with their 'guest', and they proceeded to tie him to a chair. One of the other two men in the room just looked at them, "Why plan B sir."

"We can't get anything from him, so Doc, you'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

The older man nodded, and opened a bag he had with him. He now started to take out various small bottles, and syringes. "These should dope him up for the next six hours."

Sgt Meego looked at them and saw what they were doing, and he started to get a little nervous. But then he remembered the anti-torture techniques he had been taught, and he started to think of when he was a child. When he felt the first shot, he started to hum a song his mother used to sing to him when he was a child. Unfortunately for his captors, he couldn't carry a tune well, and he wasn't singing in Terran standard.

The woman looked at the leader, "What language is that. It doesn't sound like anyone I've ever heard."

He looked at her, "It must be his native language. We'll record it for later analysis, now continue."

Now she moved up next to him and started to gently caress his face. "I need you to answer my questions. I want you to tell me all about your ship."

The sergeant looked up at her, and he saw a beautiful woman through his blurry vision. He now started to talk to her, in Mopani. "Hey your hot. Want to see something the size of a babies arm?" and he tried to wink at her.

...
The woman looked at the leader, "I don't know what he said, but judging by the look he just gave me, it was probably vulgar."

"Continue, and do whatever you have to."

"Yes sir."

For the next two hours, they tried to ask him questions, but he was just answering them with crude suggestions in Mopani. What the four of them didn't know, was that with his metabolism, the drugs they had given him had already worn off. He was looking at the woman, "Hey baby, want to ride the wild pony?"

Now the woman came up to him, and she was looking at him when the room began to swirl. She then grabbed a hold of the chair and slowly sank to her knees. She looked up at him again and then she passed out, her head landing in his crotch. Two of the other men looked at her, and then they also stumbled and passed out. The last man standing looked at him and took out a PPG, "What did you do to them?"

...
Before the sergeant could answer, the two doors opened and several men rushed inside the room. The man opened fire, and the shot hit one of the Marines in the chest. Major Allen shot the man, and he hit him square in the chest. The man was dead before he hit the deck. The action was over in just seconds, and the marines were checking the people out. The Admiral looked at the corporal, "How are they?"

"They're alive sir, just unconscious."

The admiral nodded, "How's Donar?"

"I'm alright sir, but my vest is a mess."

One of the other marines pushed his arm, "Well you should've remembered to duck."

That got a few snickers, and then the admiral got serious. "Alright people secure the prisoners."

Major Allen looked at Sgt Meego, and the way the woman's head was, "Do you two need some privacy?"

There were a few more snickers, but then the marines pulled her off of him and cut Sgt Meego loose. "Are you alright sergeant?"

He looked at the Admiral, "Yes sir. But my head is pounding like I just had some of the Col's homebrew."

The Admiral winced a little, "We'll get you back to the Mastiff and have the doc's check you out."

"Yes sir."

The admiral looked at the air duct, "You can crawl back out private."

From inside they heard an echoed "Yes sir."

The marines then secured all of the kidnappers equipment and had it and them sent to the Mastiff. Major Allen didn't even try to stop them.

...
General Hague's Office one hour later: The general, the admiral, Col Ellison and Major Allen were sitting at the general's desk talking about what had happened. "So how is your man doing?"

"According to Dr. Lloyd, he should be fine in a day or two. The drugs they gave him were a derivative of Pentathol."

"And your prisoners?"

"Still unconscious. And I've given orders for them to be kept that way for now."

Major Allen looked at the Admiral, "Sir, can you tell me just what happened to them?"

Now the Admiral looked at the Col., and then the General. "Can we secure this room General?"

The general nodded and took a device from his desk drawer and turned it on. "Go ahead Admiral."

He turned to the Major, "Do you remember how the sergeant and the private began to act unusual?"

"Yeah, they seemed real nervous all of a sudden."

"Well Major, the Firekans have the ability to sense when a telepath is near. And they also secrete a pheromone that has an adverse affect on telepaths. We had a run in with one of the Psi-corp telepaths a little while ago. That was when we first learned about the pheromone. You can understand why we need to keep this information secret Major."

"Yes sir."

...
Now the general looked at the admiral, "So I take it that the other man wasn't a telepath."

The major looked at him, "No sir, we ID'd him as Louis Sanchez. A two-bit lowlife that's been in and out of our brig a few times in the last 4 months on small charges."

"And the others Major?"

"Nothing yet sir. They didn't have any ID on them, and there has only been one group of teeps here since the Admiral and his people arrived."

Col. Ellison looked at him, "Teeps?"

The major smirked, "Sorry, that's what some people call telepaths."

"So what you're saying is that there has only been one group of telepaths here on the station."

"Yeah, only one group of registered telepaths. But I doubt that these three will show up on any database."

The other three men all nodded, as they were familiar with Black Ops procedures. Now the admiral looked at the Major, "Is the group of telepaths still on the station?"

"No sir, they left yesterday with the Vice- presidents group."

...
The general looked at the admiral, "These three were probably left here to try and get as much information from your people as possible."

"That's what I was thinking general."

"Do you think they'll try again?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out. General, until we can be certain, I'm going to have to limit the number of people that we send to the station. And they will have an escort."

The general nodded, "I understand, my people will help you in any way possible."

"Thank you General."

"I take it that your people want to question the prisoners." The admiral nodded his head. The general looked at him, "Do we want to know how?"

The Col looked at him and slowly shook his head from side to side. Both the General and the Major just silently nodded their heads. Once the Admiral and the Col had left, Major Allen looked at the General. "Sir, you do realize what they're probably going to do to them."

He looked at the Major with cold eyes, "Wouldn't you?"

The Major again just nodded his head.