Author's notes: These next few chapters are to fill in a few things. I hope you will enjoy them, I know that I did.
Chapter 54
Planet Vega 3, Vega star system: The first few months had been hectic, the battle group had moved to the Vega system, and had even towed the Liandra class ship they had captured. The Admiral had told the general that his R+D people needed to study a few more of the systems on it, and that that would be easier to do if they had the ship with them. Since the other Minbari ships were still in the system, and the Earth force people were still going over those, the Joint Chiefs reluctantly agreed. The first few months in the system, had been used preparing the raw materials that were needed, and then the leveling of the area were they would be building. When the Engineers and construction people arrived from the EA, they were surprised by the amount of work that had already been done.
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For the next several months, the mixed work crews were busy constructing the star port, the various housing, and the business districts. The Confed people did do some of the more secret finishing touches themselves in certain areas. The EA people were more than happy to learn some of the new techniques that the Confed people showed them, and they were also happy to learn about the building materials as well. Some of the Engineers were ecstatic about learning how to make Synthcrete, and Durasteel. Although the materials were similar to what they knew and used, the properties were way beyond what the Engineers were used to. Even the Plassteel the Confed people used was way beyond the stuff the EA used. As the colony was taking shape, the crews began to lay the foundations for the buildings of Daniels University.
----
In just over a years time, the colony was up and running. Many of the crews had been sent planet side to assist in day-to-day operations of the colony, and to begin working on specific tasks. There were also arrivals of colonists from earth as well. They were informed that if they settled there, they would no longer be a part of the Earth Alliance, and they would be citizens of Vega 3. And that they would be bound to the laws and regulations as set in the Planets charter. For most of the colonists, this was not a problem. They looked forward to the challenge of helping to colonize the planet.
----
It was less than half a year since they had arrived in the Vega system, and Anthony Mason had asked to talk to Col Ellison. When they met, he asked the Col if he would help him with a very touchy part of Melissa's therapy.
"What do you need me to do doc?"
"I want you and Melissa to sit down together, and try to work out what happened between you."
"Do you think she's ready for this?"
"She's come a long way Col. But she needs to do this."
He looked at the doc, "If it will help her, sure."
"Thank you Col."
That night Anthony and Melissa were sitting in their quarters. He had her sit on the couch, "Missy, I think it's time."
She looked at him, and for a moment he saw the fear on her face. Then he saw a look of determination come over her. "Alright."
He knelt in front of her and gently took her hand, "You don't need to be afraid, and I'll be there with you."
She smiled at him, and ran her fingers through his hair. "I know that, you're my angel."
Now he put his hand on the small bulge of her abdomen. "And the two of you are mine."
----
The next morning, there was a ring at the door to their quarters. Anthony answered it, and let the Col in. Stanley entered, and looked at him, "Is she ready for this?"
"Yeah, I think she finally is."
Anthony left the front room, and a few moments later he and Melissa came back in. Melissa sat down on the couch, and she motioned for the Col to sit down on it as well. After he sat down, he looked at her. "Mrs. Mason, I'm glad that you've made such a good recovery. I'm just sorry for what happened to you."
She didn't look at him yet, "I know that you only did what you had to Col. And I want you to know that I am sorry that you had to."
Stanley was a little surprised by that statement, and he even more surprised when she reached over and gently took his hand. "I don't know if you and I can ever really be friends, but I want to try."
Despite all of his toughness, the Col found that his eyes were getting a little blurry. He gently squeezed her hand, "I'd like that Melissa."
"Please call me Missy."
"Alright, Missy."
----
Earth Alliance Colony on Proxima 3: While the colony was still being built,Captain Tate had some meetings with a few corporations from earth, and had traveled to Proxima 3 to meet with them. After the meetings, he was checking out the local sights, when a young girl tried to pick his pocket. He had caught her in the act, and just looked at her. She couldn't have been more than 12 years old, "Now why are you trying to rob me girl?"
The girl was trying to struggle free, but his grip was too strong for her to break. "At least tell me your name."
She looked at him, and almost sneered, "Angie."
"Angie what?"
She rolled her eyes up, "Angela Mitchell."
Much to his surprise, she wasn't hollering or trying to raise a racket. "You know I should call the police."
Now he saw fear as she looked at him, "Please mister, I'm sorry. Don't call the police."
He looked at her again, and he could see that the idea of the police frightened her way more than he thought it should have.
----
She had peaked his curiosity now, "And why shouldn't I?"
There were tears starting to well up in her eyes, and she spoke softly. "If you call the police, they'll find out about us."
"And just who is 'us'?"
The tears were flowing freely now, and she sniffled a little, "My family."
Now Leroy knew he was on to something. "And why would that be bad?"
The girl looked at him, and he heard her in his head, "Because we're Teeps."
Leroy nodded his head, "I see. I take it your not part of Psi-corps."
The girl got an angry look in her eyes, "My mom an pop will never go back to them." And she kicked his shin hard. Leroy let out a yelp, and let her go, but she didn't get far. As she turned to run, she ran right into Corporal Donal, the Captain's bodyguard. He quickly grabbed her and held her as Captain Tate limped over.
----
"Young lady, I think I need to talk to your parents. And I mean now."
She could tell by the grip of this guy, that she wasn't getting away. There was also something in the older mans eyes that made her feel she could trust him. "Alright, I'll show ya."
The young lady led them to the poorer side of the colony, and Leroy was very surprised by the conditions here. They were soon standing outside a shack made of various materials. The girl pointed to the makeshift door. Leroy hesitantly knocked on it, and soon a man opened the door. "Can I help you sir?"
Leroy looked at the man, it was apparent that he was thin, and his coloring suggested that he probably hadn't eaten in a while. "Yes sir, do you know this young lady?"
The man saw his daughter, and the grip the other man had on her. He decided to play it cool for now. "Yes sir, she's my little girl."
----
Leroy looked at the man, "Can we step inside I don't think you want this to be heard outside."
The man stepped back from the door, and Leroy and the girl came inside. The man was a little surprised, because the goon had stayed outside. "I'm sorry if my daughter did anything to you sir, and I can assure you she will be severely punished."
The girl looked at her dad and spoke very quietly, "He knows daddy."
The man had a look of fear cross his face, and Leroy saw it. He looked at the man and slowly put up his hand. "Just relax sir, I only want to talk to you."
The man seemed to relax a little, and Leroy looked him in the eye, "Have you heard of the Confederation Corporation?"
The man shook his head. "Well then let me tell you about us, and Division M."
Leroy then spent the next half hour explaining their corporation, and the new 'Mentalist' division. The man was to say the least sceptical. Finally Leroy played a trump card. "Listen, I can see that you haven't eaten in a while, and from the looks of things, you could probably use more than just food. How would you like a job?"
The man blinked, and then looked at Leroy, "What sort of job?"
Leroy looked him directly in the eye; "I want to hire you and your wife as consultants for Division M. Now I won't lie to you. Since we're just starting out, the pay isn't great. But the benefits package is hard to beat."
"What sort of benefits?"
"Well for starters, food, and medical care. Then we can provide you with a place to live, if you don't mind relocating."
"Relocate to where?"
"Vega 3, that's where our headquarters is being built at,"
----
A woman quietly stepped out from the back room, "You said Vega 3?"
Leroy looked at her, "Yes I did, why?"
The man looked at him, "We're trying to get there, to get away from the corps."
Leroy saw that the woman was still nervous, "Listen, I have an idea. I want you to scan me, and see if I'm telling you the truth."
The man looked at him and soon the man started to smile. He looked at the woman, "He telling the truth."
Now Leroy held out his hand, "Do we have a deal?"
The man took his hand and they shook. Now Leroy held his hand out to the woman, and she hesitantly took it and shook it. The girl was smiling now, and then she put her hand on Leroy's and her mom's hands and shook as well. Leroy smiled at her, and then looked at her dad. "When do you think you can be ready to leave?"
He smiled, "In about 2 minutes."
Then he got a strange look on his face. He looked at his wife, and she slowly nodded her head.
----
"Mr. Tate, would you be able to hire other teeps as well?"
Leroy looked at him and nodded, "How many teeps are you talking about?"
"About a dozen and their families."
Leroy thought for a moment, "Well that could be a little tricky, I only have a small ship here with me."
Then he thought for a moment, "But I can have some more ships here in about 8 hours."
The man smiled a little, "I think you should come with me."
As they stepped outside, Leroy told the Corporal to help the two ladies pack, and to take them to his shuttle and wait for him there. Leroy and the man made their way through a maze of small alleys and ramshackle dwellings. Soon they were in a dead end alley. The man stopped and looked at a woman who was sitting in a doorway. She nodded, and then got up and opened the door. The door led into a small warehouse, and Leroy could tell by the smell, that a lot of people lived here. He then heard a voice in the darkness, "Who are you, and why are you here?"
The man spoke now, "This is Mr. Tate, and he's from Vega 3. He has an offer I think you should listen to."
He now looked at Leroy, "Go ahead."
Again Leroy explained about the Confederation Corporation, and the new division M. Soon he felt his head start to ache, and then it stopped.
----
A woman came out of the darkness; she was older, maybe in her 40's. "So why do you really want to help teeps?"
"My boss just wants to give you another choice in how you live your lives."
"And we don't have to scan anybody if we don't want to?"
"That's right, you can work as a secretary, a technician, a teacher, or anything else you want do."
"And if we want to work for ourselves?"
"As long as you pay your taxes, and your yearly fee, that's fine to."
"What if the corps shows up? Are you going to turn us in?"
Leroy looked her dead in the eyes, "As a member of division M, you are also a citizen of Vega 3. We are an independent world, and the Earth Alliance government legally recognizes our Corporation. And according to the telepath laws of the Earth Alliance, a telepath only needs to be registered with a legally recognized entity, in this case, our corporation. Besides, my boss has no real love for the Psi-corps."
The woman smiled now, "When can we leave?"
There were lanterns being lit, and Leroy saw that there were about 40 men, women and children here. "Well, I'll have to contact my boss, but I would say in about 8 or 9 hours."
----
Now Leroy slowly put his hand in his pocket and took out a transmitter. He hit a few buttons, and waited a few seconds. "Is that you Captain?"
"Yes Ensign, I need you to patch a signal to the Admiral."
"Hold one sir."
After a few minutes, the Admiral was on the line. "Go ahead Leroy, how were your meetings?"
"Uh sir, it seems my meetings went alright, but that's not why I'm calling."
"Oh really?"
"Yes sir. It seems that I've found us some new employees sir. But I need a few more ships to help them get to Vega 3."
"Well Leroy, I'll have Ricardo contact the local EA people and arrange for a ship."
Leroy could see the people around him getting nervous. "That wouldn't be a good idea sir."
"Oh, and why not?"
"Well sir, these new employees are for division M sir. Special circumstances."
"I see, and the quantity?"
"A double score sir."
Leroy and the lady heard some tapping on a keyboard. "Roger that, I'll have 4 shuttles and escort there in 8 hours. I'll need you to locate an isolated area for dust off."
"Will do sir."
Leroy put away his transmitter, and then looked at the lady. "If all goes well, by this time tomorrow, you'll all be on Vega 3. Now where can I get a map of the area?"
----
TCS Mastiff: The admiral had just hung up, and he contacted Col Lee. "John, I need some of your best pilots for a covert land and grab on Proxima 3."
"The parameters sir?"
"Absolute secrecy from Earth force, so full stealth there and back."
"Not a problem sir, when do we need to be there?"
"In just under 8 hours, and take a few med techs just in case."
The Col rubbed his chin, and then nodded. "We'll be in the air in 5 sir."
"Thanks John, contact Captain Tate on zeta channel when you arrive."
"Yes sir."
In just under 5 minutes, the shuttles were taking off from the Mastiff, and three Morning stars from the Bull Run rendezvoused with them on route to the jump point. Four hours later, they were about to jump to the Proxima system. Col Lee contacted the group, "Alright people, we're on radio silence until we reach the dust off."
Everyone acknowledged, then the 7 ships jumped into the Proxima system.
----
They flew in full stealth mode, and had to avoid a few patrols, but they were soon approaching the planet. Col Lee sent a single ping on the Zeta channel frequency, and Captain Tate sent a blip transmission in response. Col Lee set his course, and the other ships followed his lead. In 5 minutes the 4 shuttles were landing at a spot well outside of the colony. As the doors of the shuttles were opening, Captain Tate led the people out to the ships. He was also contacting his shuttle, and ordered the Ensign to launch. In less than 5 minutes total, everyone was on board, and the shuttles were lifting off. Once in orbit, they met up with the Captains shuttle. And the 8 ships set their course for the jump point. The med techs began to check the people out, and also handed out food to whoever needed it. The woman came up beside Leroy, and asked him, "Are we going to the Jump gate?"
He looked at her, "Not exactly."
"Then how are we getting to Vega 3?"
She saw him smile now, "We know a shortcut, trust me."
Four hours and a few course changes later, the ships jumped into the Vega system. The people on board were a little shaken up, and a few puked. But most were just happy to be getting away from the corps. Soon the ships were approaching the Mastiff, and when they landed, the Admiral and a few other people met the people.
----
They saw an older man there, and he smiled at them. "Welcome to the Vega system. I'm Luke Douglas, the CEO of the Confederation Corporation. This gentleman is Dr Anthony Mason, he is the head of Division M, and yes he is a telepath. Before we get you down to the planet, we need to get you registered as citizens of Vega 3. And we want to give all of you a medical exam as well. Once that's done, we'll let you rest up for a day or two, then we'll help you settle in planet side."
He turned to Anthony, "They're all yours Dr."
"Thank you sir." he looked at the people now.
"If' you will follow me, we have places where you can shower and we have clean clothes for you as well. Then after your physicals are completed, you and your families will be taken to quarters were you can rest up for a while. Welcome to freedom, and a new beginning."
----
After a few days, the people had been checked out, and fully registered. Now came the task of what they wanted to do. All of the telepaths volunteered to work for Division M, and they and the Masons truly started to set up the Division. They began to develop a testing methodology, to determine a member's ability level, and they also set up a curriculum for teaching new Mentalists on how to use their talents. They also set the guidelines for an enforcement group, like the Psi-cops, but with more of an emphasis on policing skills rather than a covert Ops group. The rest of the family members were also given aptitude tests, to see where they might be able to help out in the colony. After three weeks, they were moved planet side, and were quite surprised at the gated community that they were moved into. Another strange thing that was done to them was that the telepaths were given a daily injection, which made them a little ill.
----
When asked what it was for, Anthony and Admiral Douglas took them into a secured room and explained it to them. Anthony stood up in front of them, "The reason that all of you are being given this injection, is to build up antibodies in your system."
Young Angela Mitchell asked him, "What sort of antibodies?"
Luke stood up now, "When we first arrived here, my people had a run in with a certain Earth Senator, and the telepaths in his group. Because of that incident, we developed a protein that can incapacitate telepaths. Since then, we've placed this protein in key areas of our factories, and in our R+D sections. Since you are employees of our division, we've been inoculating you with small doses of the protein. This way, your bodies will develop an immunity to it, and the chance of an accidental exposure is minimized."
Anthony smiled now, "Believe me people, this protein really works. It took out both my wife and I in seconds, and we're both P-12's"
That statement surprised everyone there, but everyone agreed that it was worth a little discomfort now, rather than a full blown reaction later.