Chapter 63
Lennon's Quarters, Minbar: The senior worker caste engineer rang the chime at Lennon's door, and when it opened, Lennon smiled at him. "Good evening Pearlon, what brings you here at such a late hour?"
Pearlon bowed slightly, "Please forgive me Lennon, for intruding at such a late hour. May I enter?"
Lennon nodded and gestured for him to enter, "Please forgive me Pearlon, at my age I sometimes forget my manners. Please enter."
"No need to apologize Lennon, I to sometimes forget my manners as well."
He smiled a little, "A price one pays for living so long I guess."
Lennon nodded, "No doubt."
Once they were seated in the front room, and Lennon had poured some tea, he looked at Pearlon. "So what troubles you my friend?"
Pearlon wasn't sure on how to proceed, so he just decided to come right out with it. "It is the new ship design Lennon. The new systems and devices from the Vorlons are magnificent. But they use a lot of power. More power than the generators we have to fit the ship can produce."
"So what do you suggest we do to correct this problem Pearlon?"
"I'm unsure Lennon, perhaps the Vorlons could help."
Lennon shook his head, "No my friend, they have helped us more than we expected. No, this problem, we the children must figure out."
Pearlon looked at Lennon, "Then I will have my people go over the designs again. Perhaps we can figure out a way to enlarge the engine compartment enough to add a third generator system."
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As they sat there, and Lennon was sipping his tea, he started to smile. "Maybe Pearlon, we are not looking in the right place for help my friend."
"What do you mean Lennon?"
"Perhaps we are to set in our ways of thinking and doing things. I believe that we need a new way to see how to use the things we already have."
Pearlon just looked at him, and Lennon sat back a little. "Let me tell you of an incident that occurred on our border with the Centauri that happened about two weeks ago. One of our Cutters found and engaged a group of bandit ships. Although they were outnumbered, theirs was the better ship. They managed to destroy the bandits, but their weapons were destroyed or so badly damaged that they could no longer be used. But the bandits had called for help, and the cutter saw another bandit ship coming into the area."
Lennon sipped some more tea. "As you know, Rangers do not run from a fight. But they had no usable weapons left."
"What did they do?"
"One of the rangers told her Shok-Na that she had an idea, but she would need some help. Another ranger said she would help her. They went to the secondary comm. array, and the 1st ranger handed the other a focusing crystal from one of the Neutron cannons and had her attach it to the array dish. While she placed several engine control crystals in the comm. generators energy pathway."
Pearlon started to picture this with his mind's eye; after all he was a very good engineer. "Lennon, by doing that, the 1st ranger would only manage to slow the tachyon signal pulse, and greatly decrease its communication range."
Now Lennon smiled, "Yes my friend it did."
He looked at Pearlon, "Do you know what happens if you slow down a tachyon pulse to less than light speed?"
Pearlon just shook his head, and Lennon now smiled. "Well, it becomes a very powerful energy pulse."
Now Pearlon finally understood everything, "And by focusing that pulse, they had a weapon."
Lennon looked at him, "Yes they did, a crude one perhaps, only good for a few shots at best. But they used those shots to destroy the incoming bandit ship. Sadly it also overloaded the comm. systems and damaged their own ship a little as well. But they had won."
"I would like to meet with this ranger Lennon, it sounds as if we could use her way of thinking on this project."
Lennon looked at Pearlon, "Even if she is human?"
Pearlon was shocked for a moment, but he quickly recovered, "Yes Lennon even if she is human."
He smiled at his friend, "I know that it takes time to get used to new idea's Pearlon. But remember, we are at peace with the humans now."
Pearlon nodded, "You are correct Lennon, on both points. Please forgive me."
He put a hand on Pearlon's shoulder, "There is nothing to forgive my friend. I also agree with you, and I will ask Megan if she will look at the designs. Perhaps she can see something we do not."
Pearlon stood up, "If she is as inventive as you say Lennon, then I look forward to any help she can give us with this project."
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Two days later: Megan and Lennon were talking, and he showed her the designs and data for the new ship that the worker and religious castes were working on secretly. Megan went over all of the data carefully, and then looked at Lennon. "Lennon, I'm not sure if I'm the right person for this assignment."
"Why Megan?"
"Well, I was just a crewman, I wasn't an engineer."
"But you are familiar with these technologies, aren't you?"
"Well yeah, some of them, but I'm sure there are others who can help you far more than I can."
"Whom would you suggest?"
"Well there's Lassier, Vosson, Neshall, and …"
"And who Megan?"
Megan looked at him, "Commander Langford."
He just looked at her, "Why her Megan?"
She smiled now, "Because the Commander is one of the most intelligent people I know. She also has a weird knack for figuring things out, and for rather creative problem solving idea's. That's why the Admiral chose her for his command staff."
He just looked in her face and he could see the admiration in her eyes. "Is she really that good?"
Megan nodded her head, "Oh yeah."
Now Lennon was stroking his beard, "Well then Megan, I think we should go and visit a friend of ours."
She looked at him, and the small smile on his face, and she guessed what he meant. "And I believe that I should keep a promise that I made. Besides, you should have an escort. After all we wouldn't want anything to happen to the Anla shok Na, now would we?"
"No, that would not be a good thing. But no one can know of this journey."
"No one?" she said while frowning a little.
Lennon remembered what it was to be young and looked at her, "Well maybe one other."
Megan started to smile now.
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Jump Gate Vega System: A Minbari transport exited the Jump gate, and was immediately hailed by the Confed station. There hadn't been any ships scheduled to arrive, so this arrival was definitely a surprise "Attention Minbari Vessel, please identify yourself, and state your destination"
"This is the Minbari transport Blue sky, we are inbound to Vega 3. We are requesting an escort. Over."
The comm. tech was a little surprised by the request, "Roger that Blue sky, stand by one."
She called the OD, and passed on the request. Within 2 minutes, three Stilettos' were pulling along side the transport, and they set their course for Vega 3. As the ships were nearing Vega 3, they were again contacted by the System control. They asked for landing clearance, and to speak with Director Grove.
Jeff Grove was sitting in his office at the test center on the Moon, when the message reached him. He was soon put in contact with the transport. He saw someone on the monitor he hadn't seen in a while. "Hello Captain."
"Megan, it's good to see you. What brings you to our neck of the galaxy?"
"Well, Nossan and I are here to take you up on your invitation."
Jeff just looked at her, "Uh huh, well I can give you a vector to the moon, that's where I'm at right now."
"Actually sir, we'd like to land on Vega 3 if you don't mind. And in a secure area sir."
"Of course, I'll arrange everything and meet you planet side when you arrive."
Jeff ended the signal, and while he was happy to see Megan, there was something in her look that had him curious.
As the transport set down in the secured hanger, Jeff was waiting patiently. He saw Megan step off the transport, and he was a little amazed by what he saw. Gone was the young girl he had known, here was a leaner yet more graceful woman approaching him. He could see the confidence in her stride, and he also saw the smile on her face when Nossan stepped off the transport right behind her. He had to admit she did look good, even in the Minbari outfit. But he was even more shocked to see Lennon step off the ship as well.
As they drew closer, they bowed to him, and he returned the bow. "It's good to see you all again."
Jeff hugged Megan, then he shook hands with Nossan and Lennon. "But what brings you to our little slice of heaven?"
Megan had been a little surprised by the star port, and the surrounding city. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought she was back in their old galaxy. "It's amazing sir, all this in such a short time."
"What can I say Megan, we were motivated."
Lennon smiled, "Can we speak somewhere a little more private Jeff?"
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Office of the Director of System Defense Division: Jeff entered the office, and offered them all a glass of fruit juice. They accepted, and he saw Megan holding something in her hand, and she was sweeping the room. She looked at Lennon, and nodded, "It's clear."
"Megan, what's wrong?"
She looked at Jeff, "Sorry sir, just making sure we're alone."
He looked at Lennon, "What's the real reason you guys came here, not that I don't mind the visit."
Lennon nodded his head, "Yes Jeff, the true reason for our visit. We've come here to ask for your help."
"What sort of help?"
Lennon smiled, "Help from your engineers."
"In what way?"
He held up a data crystal and gave it to him. Jeff put it in a player and watched scenes of tremendous space battles against strange black ships. He watched as ships that looked like the Minbari were fighting them and others off. When he heard the scream of one of the ships, it sent a cold shiver down his spine. When it was done, Lennon looked at him, "Those ships you saw were shadow vessels. The shadows are a race as ancient as the Vorlon's, and with a soul as dark as their ships. Our legends tell us that they will be returning soon. We need your peoples help to face them again."
Jeff just looked at him, "Now lets say that I believe you, what sort of help are you looking for."
Lennon smiled at him now, "We need your help building a new ship."
"Why? I thought that the Minbari already had some of the best ships among the space faring races."
Megan looked at him, "They do sir, but Lennon believes that with our peoples help, we can make them better."
Jeff just started to chuckle to himself now.
"What's so funny sir?"
"You sound just like Hershel and the Admiral. When we came to the Vega system, we towed Nossan's old ship here with us. We've been working on it in secret, and Nossan, I doubt that even you would believe what its capable of doing now."
Nossan looked at him, "I would like to see it if I may?"
Jeff thought for a moment, "Well we'll need clearances for you, and I'll need the Admiral's OK. I'll have to make some calls, in the mean time, why don't you check out the colony for a while. I should know something in about an hour or so. Do you mind if I borrow this crystal?"
Megan and Nossan wanted to agree, but they looked at Lennon. He smiled at them and nodded. "You two go and explore a while. I'll stay here with Jeff. Maybe I'll finally get to meet Admiral Douglas."
Megan gave Jeff the frequency of her comm. unit. As soon as they left Jeff began to make some calls.
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Luke was in his office when Jeff called. "Hey Jeff, I wasn't expecting to hear from you for a few more days."
"I know that sir, but something came up."
"Really."
"Yes sir, some guests have just arrived, and have asked me for our help."
"Our help?"
"Yes sir. If you're not to busy, I'd like you to meet with someone, he wants to show you something."
"Well, I'm free for about an hour."
"We'll be right over sir."
Jeff and Lennon went to his office. As they entered, Jeff introduced Lennon to the admiral. Lennon bowed, and Luke bowed as well. "It is an honor to finally meet you Admiral."
"The honor is mine Lennon. So what brings you to Vega 3?"
Lennon placed the data crystal in a reader and showed him the same things he had shown Jeff. When it was done, he told Luke about their current problems. Like Jeff, Luke had felt that same cold shiver when he heard the shadow ship, now he looked at Jeff. "So what do you want to do Jeff?"
"Well sir, I'd like to show them our new Cutter class ships."
Luke smiled, "Why am I not surprised?"
Jeff almost chuckled, "What can I say sir, you know me to well."
Luke looked at him, "Alright Jeff, go ahead and show them, but try not to give away all of our secrets."
"Yes sir, but I can't promise anything."
Both men smiled a little at that. After they had left, Luke wondered where this little visit could possibly lead, and he had a strange feeling. He sat down and watched the data on the crystal again.
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Star port Commons area: Megan and Nossan were both amazed by the things they saw around them. There were beings from several races actually sitting at tables with each other, and talking. Nossan also saw what he thought might be a business meeting, and he overheard the young woman telling the two men that she was a telepath. Nossan had studied how telepaths were treated in the Earth Alliance, and he was surprised to see that the woman had on a casual outfit, and no gloves or Psi-corps badge. Things here on Vega 3 were quite different than what he had expected. He would definitely have to tell Lennon about this. Megan and Nossan next headed over to the University, and again they saw beings from a few different races sitting in mixed groups. Megan and Nossan soon stood in front of the school plaque and Megan had a small tear in her eye. Nossan put a hand on her shoulder, "From what you have told me of Noah, I am sure he would have liked this."
As they were walking around the campus, they heard a shrill sound coming from behind them and Megan smiled as she turned around.
Nossan saw one of the Temshwee looking aliens, and it came up to Megan. "Megan, I thought that was you."
Megan smiled, "Hello Arika, how are you?"
"I am well little one. I thought you had left our little nest, are you back to stay?"
"No Arika, this is just a visit."
"Will you be here long?"
"That's hard to say, I'm not sure how long our business will take."
Megan noticed the people looking at them; she was a little surprised to see a Minbari sitting with the group. "Uh Arika, what's going on here?"
Arika opened her mouth in her approximation of a smile, "It was to beautiful a day to stay indoors, so I'm having class outside."
Megan had a shocked look on her face, "You're a teacher?"
Arika's head bobbed up and down, "I am teaching a class in basic shielding technologies."
She seemed to chuckle for a moment, "It's a lot more fun than field stripping a shield generator."
Megan grinned, and chuckled a little, "Anythings better than that."
Just then her communicator started to beep. She answered it and listened for a moment, "We'll meet you at the star port sir." and she put it away.
"I'm sorry Arika, it seems our business,"
Arika held up her hand, "I understand, it was so good to see you again. Please come back for another visit, soon."
Megan just nodded her head, and then they hugged a little, and Arika headed back to her group of students.
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Two hours later, Jeff, Lennon, Nossan and Megan were on a shuttle bound for the edge of the system. When they jumped, Nossan looked a little pale, "I don't think I'll ever get used to the way you travel."
Jeff laughed a little, "Well we use the jump points to get to certain places a little faster than with hyperspace. Especially this system, since there are no inhabitable planets, there's no jump gate here. So effectively it's off the grid. But with the new ships we're building, we can use both hyperspace and the Akwende drives."
Nossan just looked at him, Megan looked at Nossan, "That's what our Jump drives are really called, named after Dr Akwende who first developed it."
Nossan just nodded. Soon they were nearing a large asteroid, and as they approached it, a huge section of it began to slide open. The three rangers realized that this asteroid was actually one of the largest shipyards any of them had ever seen,
Then they saw several types of ships, some of which Megan recognized, but others were completely unknown to her. Then they saw at least 6 ships that looked similar to the Minbari Liandra class cutters. Jeff had the shuttle aimed at one of them, "This is Director Grove requesting permission to land."
"You have clearance sir, welcome back."
Soon they landed, and Nossan was surprised, because although the ship was the same size as the Liandra, there was a small landing bay on this ship. Once they were down, Jeff led them to the bridge. Lennon could definitely see Minbari influences here and there, but this was definitely a different ship. "We made a few modifications Lennon, we used Nossan's old ship as the template, but we used our materials. By doing that, we've managed to cut its mass by half, and increase its overall speed and maneuverability. We've also installed Phase shields and an improved stealth capability. Even more than we have in our current ships."
"What else have you changed sir?"
"Well Megan, we upgraded the weapons systems a bit. And as you've seen, we added a small landing bay. We've also worked on the power systems and the engines a little."
When they reached the bridge, the Captain looked at them, "Hey Jeff."
Then he saw Megan, "Well look what the cat dragged in."
He came up to them, "Commander Wesley, I see you finally got your own ship."
Ian was smiling, "Yeah, and she's a beauty."
"Ian, I was wondering if you could take her out on a high speed target run at range X-ray."
Ian looked at him, then at the others. "How high speed Jeff?"
"Well, I'd like to be back here in an hour."
Ian was smiling; "Yes sir." and he went to his command chair.
"Attention all hands, we've been asked to make a high speed run to range X-ray. Lets get going people."
The ship soon cleared its mooring and began to pull out of the shipyard and was soon moving at nearly full speed. Nossan was surprised by not only how fast they were going, but at how quickly they had accelerated.
"Uh Ian, we aren't going to make it in an hour."
"Now Jeff, you know port rules, hell you wrote half of them. We just needed to get far enough away. Helm, initiate Jump drive."
"Aye aye sir."
The three rangers just looked at each other, and Jeff saw the surprise on their faces. "I told you we made some improvements."
Ian watched the control panel, and saw the green light, "Jump."
Everyone saw the Vortex open in front of the ship, and the ship jumped to hyperspace. Soon the ship exited hyperspace on the far side of the system, and Megan saw a large asteroid field.
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"Bring all weapons on line and commence run."
"Aye aye sir."
The ship began to weave in and out of the asteroids like a fighter, and soon had its targets in range. When the ship began to fire, both Lennon and Nossan were amazed by the range and power of the weapons. Megan just looked at Jeff, "Sir, is that an antimatter cannon?"
Jeff just smiled, "No it's not."
Soon the attack run was over, and the ship jumped back into hyperspace. Nossan just had to ask, "What kind of weapons were those?"
Ian looked at Jeff, and Jeff nodded. "Those were Laqua beam cannons. They can put out a sustained beam that's nearly 30 percent stronger than Minbari weapons. And they have almost double the range of most Minbari weapon systems."
Now Lennon asked him, "What type of energy source do they use, Laser, Neutron, Plasma?"
Ian looked at Jeff again, and again Jeff just nodded. "Actually, it's Tachyon based sir."
Now both Megan and Nossan were smiling, "Lennon, you were was right, when you said that Megan's people were the ones to help us with our problems."
Jeff looked at Lennon, "You know, you haven't exactly said what sort of problems you're having."
"Well Jeff, as I told you, the Anla-shok are working on a new ship design, and it has both Minbari and Vorlon technologies on it. The problem is that we can't get everything to work right. What I would like is if your people could look over the design, and possibly make a few suggestions."
Jeff nodded, "I'll ask Hershel to go over the designs and see if she can come up with any ideas."
"Thank you Jeff."
They soon arrived back at the shipyard, and once in the main base area, they headed to Hershel's office. They found her with her head down on her desk, and at first they didn't want to wake her. Jeff just cleared his throat; and Hershel looked up at him and stretched a little. "What time is it?"
"About noon."
She suddenly had a worried look on her face, "Oh shit, I over slept." and she started to gather a few things off her desk.
Hershel then realized that there were others there as well. "Oops, sorry about the cussing."
Megan smiled, "That's alright Commander Langford."
Hershel looked at her; "Actually it's Wesley now."
Megan looked at her, an expression of shock on her face. "You and Commander Wesley?"
Hershel just smiled, "Yep."
Megan started to chuckle a little. Nossan looked at her, "What is so funny Meg?"
"Of all the people I know, the idea of those two hooking up. No one would ever believe it."
Now Jeff looked at them, "Well when you spend almost 2 days stuck together in a one man life pod."
Megan just looked at him, and he winked. "It's a long story."
Now Jeff looked at Hershel, and she looked a little miffed at them. "Sorry Hershel, that was rude of us."
She smiled, "That's OK, it's just that I have to go. I promised to meet Ian at noon for lunch."
Jeff looked at the others, "Are you hungry?"
They nodded, and as they were about to leave, they saw Ian coming down the hallway with a tray. He came up and kissed Hershel on the cheek, "I figured you overslept. So I brought you a little something."
Jeff saw the quick glance between them, "Why don't we let you two eat your lunch, and we'll come back at say 13:00."
Megan had a hint of a smile, and Jeff started to lead them to the Mess hall. Nossan touched Megan's arm, and she turned and mouthed the word 'nooner'. Nossan smiled a little and just nodded.
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At 13:00, they were back at Hershel's office, and Lennon handed her a data crystal. "These are the designs for a new ship that the religious and the worker castes are working on. It has both Minbari and Vorlon technologies incorporated into it. But as I told Captain Grove, we can't seem to make everything work right."
Hershel looked at him, "Well, let me look over these, and see what I can figure out. Can you give me about an hour?"
Jeff looked at them, "Why don't you let me give you folks a tour of our base."
Lennon shook his head, "Thank you Jeff, we would like that."
Jeff took them on the tour, and they all seemed very impressed. Nossan saw that they had a lot of automated systems doing the work for them. "Is it easier using these robotics instead of people?"
Jeff smiled, "Easier, and safer. Plus they don't ask for a retirement plan."
Megan giggled a little. At a little after 14:00 they headed back to Hershel's office. She looked at them as they entered, "I looked at your designs, and I must say, I'm impressed. It looks like a really nice ship. But it seems that the power requirements are way above what the generators can produce."
Lennon glanced at Megan, then he nodded, "That is one of the problems we're having."
"It also seems that your using only slightly upgraded Minbari weapons on it."
"Yes."
"Well, let me show you something."
Hershel began typing on a keyboard, and they watched as a simulation of the ship appeared on the monitor. "This is the ship with the designs you gave me. I'm running it through one of the simulations we used when developing the cutter class."
The ship moved along gracefully, but when it entered a fighting scene, it seemed to slow down considerably. "As you can see, the drain of the weapons causes the ship to slow down, because the power generators can't keep up with the demand of both the weapons and the drive system."
Megan looked at her, "Can you help us with this Commander?"
Hershel smiled "I think I can."
She typed a few things on the keyboard, and then the simulation started again. This time the ship ran the same scenes, and the slow down when it fired its weapons didn't happen. Lennon looked at her, "What did you change?"
"I only replaced one thing. I took out the Minbari generators, and replaced them with the ones we've developed."
She then typed something on the keyboard. The monitor now showed two columns of figures."These on the right are the figures of one of your singularity generators. The ones on the left are from one of ours. As you can see, the standard Minbari generator produces a maximum output of 90 Peta joules of energy per Kilogram of fuel used. This is a little less than our same sized Confed Mini M/AM generators. But by using our materials in the new generators construction, we've been able to increase the maximum production to 108 Peta joules"
Lennon looked at the numbers. "You've managed to increase the output by at least 20 percent. But what about the safety factors?"
Hershel smiled, "Even higher than your original factors. By using our materials in the construction, we've managed to increase the shielding by almost 150 percent. Also the mass is actually 10 percent less than yours. And by pairing it with a Mini M/AM generator, instead of a second singularity generator, the overall energy output is at least 40 percent higher than what your previous output was. Also, there are almost no wasted materials."
Lennon looked at Jeff and Hershel, "I was right. Your people truly must have been sent by Valen."
Now he smiled at Jeff Grove, "Would it be possible to see one of your Jump drives as well?"
Footnote: A Peta joule is 1,000 Tera joules