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A universe of Change

By Candlelight Defiance

Chapter Three

Epsilon Eridandi Star System

Babylon Five

Inside the grandconference room, the participating members were congregating to prepare for a meeting that could change the destiny of the fragile, multi-species alliance forming between the alien nations . Everyone knew if the Minbari lost their battle against the Sinhindrea for their own world, then everyone would lose. It was nothing less than a matter of survival for the galaxy. It sounded pompous, facetious, and hyperbolic; however, it was a frightening reality. The Minbari Federation was fighting for its life and the outcome was in question.

By themselves, none of the local powers were strong enough to stand against the anti-life forces coming for them all. Earth Alliance was all but crippled and struggling. Sixty percent of their space fleet destroyed; forty percent damaged. The loss of senior officers and trained experienced was stifling.

The space docks were essentially untouched, both in the Sol system and the ones located in the Proxima star system. The docks were undamaged, but the same couldn't be said for Earth. Earth's skies were blackened, plant and animal life dying. Every continent on Earth was affected. Pacific Ocean life near the North American continent was slowly dying. Hundreds of millions of people were instantly killed when the massive but greatly reduced plasma torpedo slammed into the western section of North America. Three weeks after the attack and the targeted surface was just cool enough for close in examination. Close to three billion were showing signs of starvation, and disease started to rear its ugly head. Fortunately, there was help and lots of it coming. Some of that help was already beginning to make a difference.

The NKDP union's and Starfleet's support was invaluable. Already the first synthesizers from Proxima were up and running, making a difference for the population of Earth. The Union was small but powerful and gaining in prestige and growing in strength. They were also absorbing other human colonists, independent miners, small family operations, and stragglers fleeing to the safety of Proxima III and eventually, a revamping Proxima II. The Non-Aligned league of Nations were coming together as never before. But the real enemy was Murphy's retarded and much hated sibling, lack of time, something that the upcoming meeting would help determine if it were successful. However, Captains Garrett, Sisko, Picard, and Archer were in quiet discussion concerning quite different.

"Why didn't you speak to us about this sooner?" Picard asked. There was a slight edge to his voice, but there was no genuine anger to it. This particular subject still felt raw. It was an unpleasant reminder of how little control he had over his own destiny.

"To be honest, Captain Picard, I didn't know you well enough. And there were other considerations."

Picard slowly exhaled, gathering himself. It was clear what the man was actually saying. In his place, he would feel the same. It took a while for him to get comfortable with Rachel those three years ago. "You didn't trust us."

"It wasn't a matter of trust as much as it was not knowing who you were," corrected Archer. "I needed to get a feel for who you all were. But I believe I have it."

Gathering himself, he plunged into the discussion. "The temporal cold war was the reason the Enterprise-C found itself effectively creating your timeline, Captain. It wasn't a mistake. a fluke, or some kind of natural phenomenon, but a deliberate act designed to destroy or at the least, cripple the Federation and Klingon Empire. If you hadn't protected the Enterprise-C and sent it back, that timeline would have become permanent. But the events that pulled you and all of us into this reality were not a product of the temporal war."

"We know that part, Jonathan," Garret said. "There were outside forces involved in bringing us to this universe. But you obviously know more about the temporal war than anyone else here. Can you explain how you know all of this?"

"I am interested in knowing as well," Sisko added, although he suspected some of the answers already. Certain aspects of that reality were slowly being accessed in his mind. He hadn't told anyone yet, but he promised he would soon enough, "Do you know who, from the future, attacked us?"

"It's complicated," he answered. "Several factions were vying for power, including the Sphere Builders that my crew fought during my time with the NX-01. Most of these factions were attempting to cripple, destroy, or prevent the formation of the Federation, in one way or another. I know that the Xindi conflict shouldn't have happened and considerable resources were used to keep that from happening, but now, it's part of our history, including my part in it. Apparently, there were several changes".

Captain Archer cracked his neck. He was still tired from the long journey but was recovering quickly. His crew had made it to safety, but there were things that needed revealing to his fellow Starfleet officers. "I'll use this as an example. Please tell me about the first Romulan war. What happened?"

Picard wasn't happy as he started. A knot of anger was growing in the pit of his stomach. "Our history shows that the war was fought to a standstill. Humanity, the Andorians, the Tellerites and the Vulcans fought in that war. The Neutral Zone was created, and that territorial separation was still in effect in our time.

"What type of weapons did they use in your history to fight that war?"

"Phase cannon and photonic missiles," Garrett said. "It was the standard armaments of the time."

Sisko and Picard nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's true," Archer told them. "I was there, and that is what we had." He was quiet for a moment. "Suppose I tell you that the war was fought with lasers and primitive nuclear weapons, no quarter and no prisoners, and we never saw what a Romulan looked like? It wasn't until Captain Kirk's first battle that occurred when a Romulan Bird-of-Prey attacked and destroyed several observation outposts that we saw that they were related to the Vulcans. Suppose I tell you that World War III happened in the late 1990s in our unaltered timeline?"

Picard exploded. "This is intolerable!" he hissed. Those words echoed in his memory as this was the second time he used them. "Something has to be done. Everything we know could well be a lie."

"Something was done about it," Archer said. "According to Temporal Agent Daniels, the timeline was correcting itself It was reset–for the most part, after we stopped a faction from helping the Nazis from winning WWII."

"What?" asked a shocked Garrett. "Just how much do you know about all of this?"

"More than I'd like," confessed Jonathan. "I do know that we were orbiting 1940s Earth having removed the temporal invaders and the next moment we were in our time period but light-years from Earth, and Daniels, who had disappeared into the time stream was back, screaming that 'this was impossible, it couldn't happen'. The next thing we knew a vortex had opened and a ship, the Bozeman, slammed into us. We were all swept here, and the rest is our well, current history."

"How do you know all of this?" asked an unusually calm Sisko. "Do you have evidence we can see and analyze for ourselves?"

"Yes," he answered. "We will show you when this meeting is over. There's a lot to tell."

"This is going to be an interesting debriefing."

"Another log to add to the fire," Picard whispered."

"More than you know, Captains."

Babylon Five

Diplomatic Suite

Senator Peterman's suite

"There's nothing humorous about this situation we find ourselves in," Alecia Phillips claimed. "We're trying to minimize what is potentially a devastating litigation against the governments by the most powerful corporations of Earth Alliance."

"The ones left," President Vincent muttered.

The woman CEO ignored the slight but did acknowledge its truth. "The surviving corporate entities are critical to the survival of Earth's financial stability, Mister President. Then there are the security concerns. Our companies, while not military based, supply all of our textiles and medical needs. Our medications and textiles are critical for the maintenance and survivability of Earth and all of our colonies. Without us, we honestly don't know how the colonies will survive. This is why we need Earthforce to ensure the security and safety of our transports. Our original proposal wasn't just for the benefit of Earth, but for every colony of the Alliance. We don't want our colonists starving because our transports can't deliver critically needed supplies." The woman sighed. "We will continue our transport services to the colonies without the use of Earthforce security. Naturally, this lack of security will inevitably drive the overall price of our goods up, but you understand the necessity since we are being forced to look for other means of securing our goods and services."

"For our mutual survival, we must all make sacrifices," Mister Shinga interjected. "Our stockholders are concerned about our viability. The changes that are happening have confused many of our clients. You can see the domino effect here. If we fail, the Earth Alliance's economy collapses. We wanted Earthforce to help us safely deliver our goods. The proposal rejected by President Luchenko was ill-advised, or does the Alliance intend to abandon them like you did us during the civil war?"

The senator's face turned a vivid red. But he held his peace while a triumphant Shinga continued. "However, if Earth is to survive, then our corporations, the same ones that will sustain our colonies until the situation stabilizes, must survive. Mister President, Senator Peterman, none of us wish to abandon our colonies. However, it's apparent to everyone here that Earth no longer appreciates our continued contributions, or our loss of revenue," he abruptly stated. His look of outrage mixed with hurt seemed well practiced. "Therefore, in order to maintain good relations with Earth, we are willing to eat the extra costs of hiring more private security and delivering critical goods to our colonial customers if we can obtain certain concessions."

This was it, both the President and senator thought. They were close to revealing the real reason for them being here.

"Our companies will drop our lawsuits, if we gain all rights to the AI designate and unfettered access to the synthesizer technology and six patents to be named later. We know those systems and schematics sold by Mister Adams," and here he scowled, 'are basic models. We've seen that the models sold have tamper-proof fail-safes systems built-in. We want full access and schematics. Our second condition is that Proxima returns our nationalized lands and assets. The Proxima government will allow us to re-establish our factories and offices on the new independent world."

The President's response was immediate and unequivocal.

"No. That is impossible. When you left. Your properties were nationalized. You left Proxima III of your own free will, assuming that you'd come back to Proxima in a position of strength. You expected EarthDome to back you up as they've always done. You expected us to fail."

The mega-corporations fully expected the small colony to fail miserably. Between the Earth Alliance civil war and quarantine and the Centauri nuclear attack on the planet, the original inhabitants of Proxima III numbered less than a thousand. The corporate facilities remained intact, and it was expected that things would return to the previous stature given time. What they didn't expect was the explosive growth of the colony fueled by survivors coming to Proxima III from throughout the system, from Cooke and Wolf 359 colonies. Proxima was seen as a small shining light that represented an escape from starvation and disease. It also had better security. Although these people were suspicious of Earth Alliance, the space docks were there and therefore the system was afforded better protection, especially since Clark was no longer president and returning to a plague-ridden Earth was out of the question at the time.

The corporations saw this as an opportunity to create their own little fiefdom, but those corporate entities hadn't worked out. The original survivors and transplants had plans of their own and in spite of the corporate security clamping down on the people. Their efforts failed, secretly joined with the Narn, Klingons, Brakiri, and Drazi in an unprecedented union. Incensed, and stung by their failure to maintain control of the people, the corporations cut their losses and left, expecting to come back and reclaim their properties and eventual profits and the power that went with it. They miscalculated, and it cost them.

"We survived and prospered and in fact, we've grown to almost fifty thousand. That's just the beginning. And now you come crawling to us trying to worm your way back into Proxima III's good graces by suing us one moment and begging for our help on the other. Of course, you expect to get your hands on our new technologies in the process." He broke into a vicious, predatory smile. 'Mrs. Phillips, I know for a fact that you haven't told us the real reason you're so desperate to return to Proxima," the President accused. So, let's get down to it."

"We've been perfectly upfront with everything," an infuriated Shinga countered. "We will drop our legal objections, if you give us unfettered access to the designate."

Again, he smiled at her. "You're dancing around the elephant in the room," he said. "You're trying to acquire a new cash cow." He stretched out his arms as he continued. "But That's not your bottom-line reason you're here, hat in hand," Vincent growled.

The corporate personnel looked uncomfortable. They had underestimated President's resolve once before and apparently; they had done so again.

""Auricon Inc. is crippled. Edgars industries, FutureCorp," Peterman named. "All of them, gone. The major corporations in North America are gone. Your corporations are the few off-world entities still functional. But the question is, for how long?"

My advisors and I knew that the instant you found out about our newfound wealth, you would try your best to find ways to return and reassert your power base in our new nation. If you were successful, you would be in a position to do anything you wanted for a generation. You would reap all the benefits and the average people would be under your yoke just as we were for the last thirty years. We couldn't fight you and Earth Alliance by ourselves. We were too small. So, we made friends, powerful ones, which by the way, wasn't as hard as you might think, and it worked. We're getting stronger every day, and that strength has placed your plans in a very precarious position.

"Once our proposals were accepted and ratified, instead of yours I might add, we knew that your bottom line and your shareholders would force you to come after us with everything you had short of armed conflict. And we were right. We also surmised this to be a secondary factor.

Peterman took over. "Orion and Gamma colonies are further from Earth than Proxima. Of course, you know that. You and your factories are all alone, without security, at the mercy of the Sinhindrea. You've taken all of this into account, and that is the real reason you want Earthforce ships. you want protection for your colonies and your lives. It's not because of company security, profits, your shareholders, or your concerns for the colonists you hold under your thumbs. You're doing this because of them."

The CEO's blanched. It was true. The corporation's main infrastructure was closer in relative distance to Proxima than Earth. Orion and Gamma were two weeks away by transport from Proxima and another week's travel to Earth. Considering the war, that was deemed unacceptable. In the Sol system, those monsters methodically wiped out every colony and installation, whether military or civilian from Saturn to Earth. They didn't spare anyone or anything, and the outlining corporations were terrified of the probabilities of what might happen.

"You want to return to Proxima III because it's safer," Peterman said matter-of-factly. "But it's not only safety you're concerned about. It's trying to reassert control of Proxima, and with that control, your power would ultimately dominate Earth Alliance's economy. I can't speak for Proxima III but, I believe that the President and people of Proxima will not allow it. They may accept you as citizens, but not your corporations. We don't want them."

"And no Robby, either, although we might make a few more one day," Charles Vincent added. "We have the technology to do so–now." He smiled viciously as he plunged in the metaphorical knife while staring down the normally ice-cold Alecia Phillips sputtered a retort. He continued before she could say anything.

"You've been here for a week," Vincent observed. "I don't see you rushing to get back home, and I don't see you protecting yourselves by eating those nasty ration cubes you want to push on everybody else."

The president tried his best not to smirk and failed completely as he continued twisting the blade into their emotional innards. "I saw you having dinner the other night. All of you and your families, let's not forget them, were stuffing your guts, and not one of you seemed worried about developing cancer." He smiled brightly. "I heard that steak and lobster, and the red wine your people guzzled down was particularly enjoyable." The president turned to face Mr. Tanaka directly. "I noticed you at the BABmed, perhaps making an appointment? You should have tried the medical center on Laberre. I hear that their medical services are very impressive, to say the least. Nice drugs, too. And it's free. No medical insurance required."

"President Vincent," growled Hikiro Tanaka, the CEO of SynthaCorp. The fiftyish, gray-haired man's cool demeanor was at an end. People rarely spoke to him in such a brisk manner, and he didn't tolerate it well. "It is in everyone's best interest that we all come to an amiable conclusion. That is why we are here before our legal sharks are asked to take over."

"Before?" Peterman asked. "Your lawsuits started hitting everyone within twelve hours of Luchenko's decision. It wasn't even official yet, the ink not dry before you set your lawyers on us." He looked at the CEOs contemptuously. "One moment you're threatening us. The next, you're practically begging, trying to get on our good side."

"We want our properties returned and we want proper compensation for your hijacking of our proposal, something I am sure is against contract law."

Babylon Five

General William Pickett and his aides gaped at the sights around, shocked at the scenery, seeing firsthand the advancements being showcased on the Babylon station. The sheer numbers of aliens and humans interacting with one another was, in the general's opinion, rather unnatural. Personally, he didn't like it, but as he kept reminding himself, he was old school. In his opinion, former President Clark was right about alien interference, but not in the ways he believed.

Aliens weren't just influencing humans, but the humans were also influencing them. He could see the evidence all around him. Dozens of species were working together, putting the last few touches on the Tram system damaged during the last attack.

According to the records allowed him by Sheridan, the tram system collapsed in two sections, killing thirty-seven people. There were fires in several sectors and power outages. The defensive systems on one side of the station were fried, but already replaced. The energy shield generators (the lucky dogs) burned out during the final but replaced within eight hours.

This station was marvelous, but it wasn't Earth Alliance property anymore, and that irritated him. Despite Clark's insanity, he was correct. The rebels shouldn't have started an insurrection against their own world, no matter what the cause. Clark was the legitimate leader, and if things had to change, and he admitted there was a need for it, then it should have been done through the proper means. In his opinion, the rebellion was the action that pushed Clark over the edge, that, and the fact that he was a power hungry, insane lunatic with delusions of grandeur. But he was still the President.

But…

That was in the past, Earth had far more pressing problems. Earthforce was in shambles. Many of the senior officers were dead, including Generals Brindley, Phelps and four others, all senior flag officers. The heart of the command was ripped from Earthforce. Thousands of experienced crewmen and women, and officers died in the fight to save Earth. Fortunately, the space docks and the people who worked there survived, for which everyone was thankful. Ships could still be built, rebuilt, and refitted, but there weren't enough experienced crews to go around, not to mention the lack of supplies and infrastructure on Earth to build the ships in the first place.

The officer exchange program with the Federation was the right thing at the right time; however, it was creating problems of its own. Earth Alliance was torn between the need for the continuation of the program and the need for officers to return and train new crops of personnel as soon as possible. This evaluation was critical because no one knew how much time they'd have before the aliens came back to finish the job. That they would come back was a certainty.

As soon as the program was announced, over three dozen officers had immediately applied, so many that Earthforce was forced to limit the number of personnel entering the program. Earth needed those people to help rebuild its own forces. The Federation people understood this, but things had to be approached with care. No one in the alliance wanted to insult the Starfleet leadership. Politics had already caused enough damage for a lifetime between the two nations, and no one wanted a repeat of that debacle, so everyone was walking on eggshells until people started getting comfortable with each other. So, Pickett's orders were to go and to B5 and Laberre and evaluate the situation before the President and command staff made any recommendations.

When he and his aides arrived, the first order of business was to head to the medical center and submit to medical examinations. t The General chaffed a little, but that was becoming standard operating protocol on the station. Like Colonel Griffin, he was glad he went.

The med bay was, in a word, enlightening. The instrumentation was far above anything he'd ever seen, gifts, no doubt from the Federation. Again, he observed aliens and human medics working together. The Centauri were a shock, but he wouldn't say anything. They had signed a treaty, hadn't they?

He hated needles. The medics here no longer used use them. The medics cured his arthritis, repaired age-related damaged joints, improved his eyesight, corrected the accumulated effects of the long-term weightlessness, and reversed his hardening arteries. It took less than an hour to finish the exam and treatment, and he walked out feeling like new and was very pleased at with the results. An added bonus he appreciated was when the doctors informed him that he wouldn't have a need to take medication for the rest of his life to maintain his newfound health.

The food was excellent, none of that processed food made by the corporations, and he smirked. No doubt the corporations were having fits.

He was allowed a quick tour of Babylon Five's Command center, the very heart of the station, and after he left the room, he swore up a storm. The station had everything, including energy shielding powerful enough to survive direct hits from the enemy that had massacred Earthforce ships by the score. If that didn't prove that Earth needed this treaty to succeed, nothing did.

What concerned him, however, was the regular class being taught by the Feds on B5 and Laberre. These weren't the very expensive classes everyone was clamoring about. These were high school level classes for teenagers. Not only did they have human teachers but, there were those Fed alien instructors as well. The classes were mixed, attended by both humans and aliens youngsters, living on the station and Laberre. The local unionists were breaking from the Earth unions and their families were allowed to live on the Starfleet station. Entire families were living at both stations now and not because they had to, but they chose to! Not only that, but they used the transporters to move back and forth freely. No shuttles required!

The things being taught practically blew him away. Advance physics, biology, social sciences, planetary geology, medicine, hyperspace and introductory warp theory, and his favorite 'hyperspace subspace interactional dynamics in relationship to normal and non-normal space' as an elective! Those courses were classes that any Federation student was expected to take.

These were just high schoolers, and they were sucking it up! These teenagers could give Earth's top physicists a run for their money and they hadn't graduated yet!

The holographic classrooms were almost beyond impressive. The chemistry classes stunned him to no end. Complex experiments were performed without fear of injury. Chemistry and physics experiments could go badly without hurting the students.

What Earth could do with classrooms like that!

Those children, the human ones, were just average kids, which made him wonder what those classes would be like if Earth's best of the best were in attendance here. What would those prodigies, if they were exposed to this environment, become? And again, he shivered at the loss of some many of Earth's best and brightest.

Curious, he talked with some of them concerning their plans for the future. Almost all of them planned to continue their education and join Starfleet in some capacity if they were accepted. And why should they want to come back to Earth? In the condition it was in, they'd be lucky just to survive. Plus, the opportunities here were enough to sway most people to join up.

EarthDome had to find a counterweight to this, and quickly. Perhaps in the future, a full, free scholarship program offered to any human child taking the classes could be initiated and in return, they would, upon graduating, devote their first five years to Earth Alliance in whatever specialty they were trained in. Earth had to rebuild, and this new generation was critical to the rebuilding when the time came. And that presented another problem.

This place, both stations actually. Were seductive. He could easily see more stations being built in this system, the whole thing becoming some type of mega complex in the future. That would be something to see, again, if they survived.

Federation training of Earthforce personnel differed greatly from EF training. It was just one concerned the senior officials in Earthforce had with the program. The long-term effects of Earthforce officers needed to be studied. This was originally envisioned as a simple officer exchange program, but it was very quickly turning into something much more expansive.

In addition, there were some old prejudices that permeated some of the officers and politicians. Many in Earthforce considered the Fed's command structure as too lax. Many also voiced concerns as to how the officers might respond to alien commanders ordering them around. The Andorians, Vulcans and Tellerites all had their quirks, and EarthDome didn't know how their people would respond in this new environment. All of them were worried about the lasting effects on the officers. But those fears didn't stop them from endorsing the program. The Feds were so rich that they could afford this different style of command. That might be the future of Earthforce, but Pickett agreed that they needed to proceed cautiously.

The shuttle to Starbase Laberre gave him an opportunity to see up close what was going on outside the station. Looking through the small window from the co-pilot's seat, he got a bird's-eye view of the cleanup going on throughout the system. He was rather stunned at how much work they'd completed. That cleanup should have taken at least a month or more of intense labor instead of a week. Then, there were the numbers of alien refugee ships nearby. He didn't believe it was possible for the two stations to handle the sheer numbers of aliens filling up the area. The supposedly dead planet wasn't so dead after all. The technology down there could change the face of Earth Alliance if it were available.

The shuttle began its orbit around the planet as it vectored towards the Federation station. It was then that General Pickett got his first actual view of Laberre. He was mute for a few moments as he took in the sight. It was huge, about two-thirds the size of the Babylon Five station.

In the distance he saw the Federation starships, all five of them and several of the small, extremely lethal mini starships, the peregrines, both versions of them patrolling the area. And he saw the space docks with two Omegas, the Evanston and Charon undergoing their refits to the Alexander standard. There was serious talk of giving the updated Omegas a completely new classification, and here he agreed wholeheartedly. He was pleased that the Evanston was getting updated to the Alexander standard. The general knew from personal experience what the warship had been through. Frankly, the man was amazed that the ship was still functional. The ship was a testament to Earthforce engineering. However, the reality was, no matter how many times it had been repaired, it had to be on its last legs. Staring at the ship being literally rebuilt from the ground up made him smile.

In the distance, he saw another space dock with two ships to be constructed. Both were unmistakably Federation design. One was two-thirds completed. The second one's hull was still being laid. They looked like miniature variations of the Enterprise and Ambassador. Those ships made him wonder what they could do in this war. He had no intentions of ever underestimating them . Earth Alliance made their ships bigger. It seemed the Feds engineered in the opposite direction. Either way, he knew those vessels would be powerhouses as the Reliant and Defiant had proven.

The pilot touched him to gain his attention. He saw them, two small mobile battle stations adding their power to protect the system. The general would gladly give his eyeteeth for a few of those things helping to protect Earth, and he didn't even know what their capabilities were. The Feds were acknowledged as the gold standard when it came to offensive and defensive weapons systems.

"How were they doing all of this with only ten thousand or so people?" he muttered to himself. But his pilot heard him.

"Sir, the Defiants were built in a month using their fabrication methods and the Fed replicators. It's the same thing happening with the station. We could literally see it growing larger by the day. When Voyager was here, they gave them upgraded replication units, industrial sized." The pilot shook his head in wonder. "If we could do half of what they're doing now, our supply chain problems would be nonexistent. Some of the Minbari are really worried about them Others are all but embracing them. You should see them literally fighting over who will take the classes in the next-ten-week course."

"Lieutenant, I believe you."

As the shuttle neared the Laberre station, something caught his eye. "Is that the new ship," he asked the pilot.

"Yes sir, the Bozeman."

"Looks like been in combat and lost. Where's the bottom half of the ship?""

"It collided with another ship. But that's the overall design, sir. It's just a saucer with engines, an Explorer class.

"Looks older," Pickett said more to himself than to the shuttle pilot. "Lieutenant, when are they planning to start the repairs?"

"It is older, according to the scuttlebutt, about a hundred years older than their current tech. that is about the level of the Babylon Five tech the Feds gave us. The word is, is that they won't refit. They're going to scrap her."

"Scrap her?" Pickett's mind whirled.

"Yes, sir."

I wonder if they might want to sell it.

TBC

Note: Captain archer of the NX-01/Bozeman crew were detailed in 'Allies in Blood. For details if requested i will give the chapters to you in this next chapter in the Record keeping section. Everyone, Be well.