THIRTY
It was a massive armada of spaceships. There were not just the fighters and small cruisers, but larger warships as well. Nothing came close to the Titans in terms of sheer size, but the numbers were incredible. They filled the screen almost blotting out the stars.
“Not so all alone now,” Berensen said as the Var Krelecz vessel they had been following approached the front of the fleet and turned back toward the Titans.
“I’m reading weapons signatures,” Graydon said. Ivanova could hear a faint tremor in her voice.
“All weapons ready to fire on my signal,” Ivanova said, not showing the least bit if fear. She felt angry instead, being led along by the nose to this. If the Var Krelecz thought she was in the least bit intimidated by their numbers they were dead wrong. She had faced Shadows and Vorlons and the Shadow Omega vessels. Although she had not fared too well in that last engagement, she was not going to let that stop her.
“All weapons, fire on my mar--"
“They’re hailing us,” Breck interrupted.
“This is H’Lan of the Var Krelecz,” the voice said over the intercom.
Ivanova looked at Graydon. The faltering voice had gone.
“Well, he sounds much more confident than before,” Ivanova said.
“You have crossed into Var Krelecz sovereign territory, prepare to relinquish your vessel.”
“H’Lan, this is Captain Susan Ivanova. We thought you’d invited us,” she said. “Our mistake.”
There was silence over the intercom.
“Your little assassin didn’t quite pull it off, I’m afraid.”
“They’re weapons hot,” Graydon warned.
For a moment Ivanova imagined she saw something dark and fibrous, lit by distant starlight that shone on the rippling hull. You don’t scare me anymore, she thought.
“Captain?” Graydon asked.
“To hell with them. No surrender, no retreat!” She turned to Graydon. “Fire!”
The missiles poured out of the large launchers on either side of the hull. The arrogance of the Var Krelecz would be there downfall. Their ships were too close together. As the front line of vessels manoeuvred to try and avoid the first incoming salvo the missiles slid past, impacting into the heart of their fleet. The sudden white hot glare of the twin particle cannons firing lit up the monitor. The beams lanced through space and tore through the front line of ships. The Var Krelecz fleet broke formation. With all the movement and glare from the unleashed firepower, Ivanova could not be certain but she thought that H’Lan’s ship was one of the first to be torn in half by the particle beams.
Even operating at less than the full energy output of two million terawatts, the particle beams scythed through the ships. The fleet seemed to explode from the inside out. As the particle beams carved the fleet neatly through the middle, the pulse cannons directed their fire right and left.
“Switch the screen over to tactical,” Ivanova said as the monitors showed debris spiralling out into space.
The tactical display appeared, showing the Titans as a large green circle toward the bottom of the screen with smaller green circles, reduced almost to dots, representing the Starfury squadrons, moving around behind it. Further up the screen were three sizes of red circles defining the different classes of ships in the Var Krelecz fleet. Spread out, they formed a large crescent that advanced on the Titans in a pincer movement.
“Starfuries, take out the ships trying to flank us,”
Ivanova said as she felt the ship buffet from the returning fire.
“Beta squadron, you are free to engage the enemy,” Berensen announced over the intercom. “Alpha squadron wings provide cover.”
The larger Thunderbolt Starfuries broke off from the cover of the Titans, split into two wings they rocketed toward the Var Krelecz cruisers. Flying in close formation, their quartet of pulse cannons were already firing as they moved in on the designated targets. Plasma bolts arced across the blackness of space as the bomber locked on to the cruisers. Missiles away, they arced up and around, ready for a second pass as the one-man Aurora Starfuries watching over them engaged the Var Krelecz fighters trying to force them within range of the guns on the larger ships.
A Var Krelecz fighter on his tail, Lieutenant Oliver angled his ship to avoid the streaks of plasma fire. With the enemy fighter gaining on him he hit the manoeuvring thrusters, spinning the Starfury around before firing a second, longer burst that sent his ship arcing up over the approaching alien vessel. His cockpit facing down at the alien fighter as it passed underneath him, once it filled his targeting computer, he fired a burst from the plasma cannons that blew the Var Krelecz ship to pieces.
Ivanova watched red dots blink off the tactical display as the smaller coloured dots merged on the fringes of the alien fleet, swarming around each other like angry insects. They steered clear of the central mass of ships that were flashing off the screen as the second barrage of missiles tore through the Var Krelecz fleet. Even with all the destruction inflicted upon them the numbers were still overwhelming.
“Var Krelecz ships are closing,” Berensen announced. Ivanova watched as the red circles gradually moved down the screen, closing in on the Titans.
“At this distance, the armoury is switching to low-yield missiles,” he told Ivanova.
It was obviously the Var Krelecz’s sole remaining tactic. Further away from the Titans, the particles beams and multimegaton missiles were blowing apart by. Up close, where the larger weapons onboard were less effective, they had a better chance of inflicting more damage on the warship.
“Back us up,” Ivanova ordered. “Don’t let them get within an effective range.
As the Titans put some distance between it and the armada, the Var Krelecz ships pushed closer towards them, coming from the sides to keep out of the forward firing solution. A vibration shuddered through the deck and Ivanova gripped the arms of the chair.
“We’ve lost a heavy pulse cannon turret,” Berensen said. Behind her Ivanova could hear Graydon order damage control teams to deal with the situation.
One of the external camera views flashed up on a secondary monitor showing a burning crater at the front of the Titans, pock-marking the hull where the turret had been.
“Jump points opening!” Berensen announced. “Narn signatures!”
The N’Tek accelerated through the jump point and swooped over the Titans. The heavy particle cannons were firing as soon as it appeared from hyperspace, targeting the first Var Krelecz cruiser that came into its targeting display. Behind it were a trio of smaller Th’Nor Class Cruisers. They looked ancient. The primary capital ships of the Narn regime, the assault cruisers had been mothballed in favour of the sturdier G’Quan heavy cruisers. With their capital ships decimated by the Centauri, the Narn had had to cannibalise what remained and returned to the more simpler, modular design in an effort to rebuild their fleet.
The three ships held formation, their plasma cannons firing into the Var Krelecz armada as they were overtaken by a wave of Frazi heavy fighters that raced into the fray, blithely ignoring the firepower unleashed by the Titans. Looking at the screen Ivanova wondered if the Narn pilots had mistaken the need for revenge with a death wish. The Frazi fighters all but rammed the Var Krelecz ships, skimming over their hulls and blasting away with the forward particle cannons as the enemy guns desperately tried to get a lock on them. The manoeuvre did not work for all the Narn ships. The Var Krelecz fighters rallied and blew them out of the stars. A damaged Frazi fighter spiralled down and crashed into a Var Krelecz cruiser setting off a chain reaction that tore the ship apart. Another veered away from a strafing run over its target and flew into one of the Titans’ missiles before it could hit the target.
Watching the tactical display, Ivanova tried to decide whether the appearance of the Narn was a help or a hindrance. Just as many green lights were blinking out as red ones. Already one of the Th’Nor cruisers was going down in flames. A large hole had been gouged out of the rear of the vessel close to the fusion reactor. Manoeuvring on thrusters alone, the ship was still firing a steady stream of fusion missiles into the Var Krelecz fleet, stopping one side of the armada from outflanking the Titans.
“Incoming breaching pods,” Graydon called out.
“How many?” Ivanova asked.
“I’ve got seven contacts, two on the port side, five to starboard.”
“Advise the gunners to take the pods out if they enter their line of fire,” Ivanova ordered. “Bring up the Starfury wing.”
“Aye sir,” Graydon replied as she keyed the intercom. “This is the bridge to all batteries. We have breeching pods moving on an intercept course. Take them out if they enter your firing line.”
Turrets on the hull of the Titans swivelled around as their sensors locked on to the heat signatures from the breaching pod thrusters. Continuous bursts of fire from the plasma cannons lanced through the blackness of space. The first two pods closest to the Titans were torn apart before they could manoeuvre, exploding in tiny balls of fire. The remaining breaching pods punched their attitude thrusters, spiralling around as they shot forward to evade the deadly fire from one projective AA placement only to be targeted by another.
The seven Aurora Starfuries that had been kept in reserve to protect the Titans in such an eventuality moved away from the rear of the ship and targeted the remaining pods coming in from the starboard side.
“Second wave incoming,” Graydon announced before they could even pause for breath.
“How many this time?” Ivanova asked.
“Too many. Twenty at least. They’re coming in from all angles.”
“That’s pretty ambitious of them,” Ivanova said. “Where are they projected to latch on?”
“Deck’s E and G on the port side. They’re heading for the armoury and Damage Control. Starboard is angling for the Engineering compartment and the hanger bays. And here to the bridge.”
“Commander Dorland, this is the Captain,” Ivanova announced over her link. “We have breaching pods zeroing in on the ship. Projected targets are Deck E armoury, Damage Control on G and Engineering.”
She looked at the officers around her. That’s too precise, she thought. It was as if the aliens knew exactly where to strike.
Lieutenant Lindsey Garland led his marine detachment thundered down the corridors to the side of the landing bays.
“Compartment F-43,” he heard in his headset. Rifles raised, they took the positions, hunkered down against the bulkheads. With the lockdown in place they had an eighty metre killing zone. The narrowness of the corridors would allow them to concentrate their fire on the hatch the alien shock troopers had to come through.
They heard the dull echo as the breaching pod, having got through the spread of cannon fire, landed hard against the hull of the ship. Garland gestured for his first team to follow him forward. As they edged into the corridor, ready to face the enemy, the bulkhead door slid shut behind them.
Garland turned as he heard the men locked out pounding on the door. Before he could respond there was a loud explosion as the hatch to the compartment was blown out. His ears rang and he ducked down as a fireball briefly raged across the ceiling.
“This is Garland, open the bulkhead leading to F-43,” he shouted into his link as the first of the Var Krelecz shock troopers appeared.
Even with only five men at his side, the marines were trained well enough to shoot down the first of the shock troopers dressed in their dark crimson body armour. PPG bursts cracked against the tall, narrow helmets. As the bodies collapsed onto the deck, more kept coming.
Trooper Marzac was the first to fall, blown back against the bulkhead door. With the Var Krelecz using their fallen comrades as cover, Garland felt more exposed than ever before. He continued firing at the mass of red until his aim was interrupted by Howe tumbling back against him, his visor split open by fire from the Var Krelecz’s rifles.
A burst of fire hit Garland’s hand. Screaming as the bones in his hand were blown out through the skin of his palm and imbedded in his glove, he leant back against the wall, taking deep breaths as the sounds of gunfire suddenly abated. Miller and Klauson were also dead, one lying over the other. Garland scrabbled for a weapon as one of the shock troopers walked towards him. The Var Krelecz stood over Garland, the dark eyeslits in the helmet staring down at him, as it reached behind its back and produced two crimson metal discs. The alien pressed one against the bulkhead door, the other against the wall to the next compartment.
Garland looked up at the discs. A gold light spun around in a narrow grove on the disc as a high-pitched whine grew. From compartment F-43 he heard what sounded like a loud cough. Suddenly the dead Var Krelecz shock troopers lifted off the ground as they were pulled back into the compartment. The bodies of the marines around him were dragged toward them and then Garland felt himself being wrenched after them. It all became clear to him. The Var Krelecz had detached the breaching pod from its landing site. Before he was flung into the compartment and out into space, Garlan heard the whine from the discs reach an ear-splitting intensity.
Since the fighting had started the marine detachment cut off by the bulkhead door had tried to override the system and get the hatch open. Marine Guy Broom had listened to the PPG fire as it grew in strength before eventually tailing off.
“Get this bulkhead open,” Broom shouted angrily. From the other side of the bulkhead he felt an unusual vibration and a sound that rose in pitch.
“What the hell is that?” Broom asked just before the countdown expired and the hatch exploded in his face.
“Hull breach on Deck F,” Graydon called out. “Damage control teams are on the way.”
She looked at the graphics of the Titans on the wall. A red block close to the hanger bays was flashing a warning hazard.
“The breaching pod blew itself up,” she said checking the data that scrolled up her console screen. “Damage control teams are on their way to seal the compartments.”
“I want sensor readings on all the breaching pods,” Ivanova said, worried by the turn of events.
“Four pods incoming. Only our life signs,” Berensen replied
“On each?”
“In total,” Berensen announced ashen-faced.
“Starfury wing, take out all breaching pods. They’re using them as suicide bombs against us.”
The tactical display zoomed in on the Titans and the red dots zeroing in on the ship.
“Two coming in amidships,” Graydon said. “They’re heading for the missile pods.”
“Launch all remaining missiles,” Ivanova ordered, “and stop the armoury from reloading the silos. If they blow the missile launchers it’ll break the ship in half.”
“Missiles away,” Graydon said. “The armoury has discontinued rearming.”
The final missiles slid from their silos just before the breaching pod latched on to the starboard launcher and exploded. The shockwave rippled through the Titans. On the bridge Ivanova heard a deep groan as the superstructure absorbed the impact. On the tactical display five lights winked out as the short-range pulse plasma turrets took out the breaching pods. The Detonations so close to the ship, they felt the shockwaves buffeting them on either side.
“Have Beta squadron locate and take out the support carriers,” Ivanova ordered.
“Second wave of breaching pods,” Berensen said. “Life signs confirmed, they’ve got troops onboard.”
“Where are they targeting?”
Berensen looked up, wide-eyed.
“Here. They’re heading for the bridge.”
THIRTY-ONE
Alexi Kutzov angled his Starfury toward the breaching pod as it headed toward the Titans. Before he could fire, a Frazi fighter suddenly flashed past his cockpit. As it banked hard, plasma bursts from a Var Krelecz fighter tore through the Narn ship, blasting it apart.
Kutzov spun the Starfury, raking the enemy ship with his plasma cannons, blowing it to pieces. Debris rained against his Starfury damaging the starboard thrusters. Fighting to control his ship he increased the power to the port thrusters, fighting the building G-forces as he zeroed in on the breaching pod. The proximity alert sounded in his ears. He reached for the lever to eject the cockpit from the X-foil frame as the Starfury spiralled into the pod. The fuel cells ruptured and ignited,
spinning the Starfury around moments before the cockpit was released. Kutzov cursed softly as, instead of being shot out into space he was hurled toward the side of the Titans. Waiting in the accessway, the marines heard the dull thud as the cockpit impacted against the hull plating. Weapons raised they stood poised to go into battle. Visors were pulled down to shield their eyes as the aliens blasted their way onto the ship. Marine Sergeant Daniel Marber lipped his dry lips. The stock of the rifle dug into his shoulder as he silently counted down, waiting for the Var Krelecz shock troopers to come blasting through the wall. Around him marines shifted from one foot to another, eager to get into the fight.
“Sarge, what’s going on?” a voice close behind him asked.
Ivanova stared intently at the tactical display. With the last of the Var Krelecz suicide pods dealt with it flashed back to an overview of the whole battle. There were a lot less red dots but the Titans was taking hits. The hull had been compromised more times than she would have liked but the damage control teams had contained the atmosphere loss and extinguished the fires quickly and effectively so as not to allow them to cause any long term structural damage. The hours of simulated drills appeared to have paid off.
Dorland’s marines were holding their own against the shock troopers that had boarded the ship. Two of the breaching pods heading for the bridge had made it through the curtain of fire from the AA placements and latched on to the hull like deadly parasites.
Ivanova had heard the marine reinforcements run past the entrance to the bridge to back up the squad already on guard. She listened out for the dull thump, which came earlier than she expected. The nearest hatched had been shut and sealed but Ivanova knew, if they were determined to get to the bridge, they would find a way. In the last couple of minutes the bursts of PPG
bursts and returning fire had grown louder.
“What we need here are some Gaim thermo-nuclear bombs,”
Ivanova said.
“I can check the armoury, Captain. But I’m guessing I’ll come up empty,” Berensen replied.
“Damn, because I think they could do with a couple down the hall.”
“The Narn cruiser is taking fire,” Breck said. On the monitor Ivanova watched as a sustained burst of plasma fire from the Var Krelecz cruisers sliced through the leading edge of the N’Tek.
“Lieutenant Maddison, take us in close to give the Narn ship cover,” Ivanova ordered.
“How close?” Graydon asked her.
“Just try not to scrape the paintwork,” Ivanova replied. Ivanova felt a vibration shudder through the deckplates as the Titans advanced into what remained of the Var Krelecz armada. Space around them was littered with debris from the Var Krelecz cruisers and fighters. She saw the broken remains of
Starfuries wheel past the external cameras feeding to the monitors. A Thunderbolt with two of its foils sheared off spun lazily into view. The cockpit had been blown open when the pilots ejected. Leaking plasma from the pulse cannons sparked leaving a glowing trail that curled around like a cat’s tail. Behind it one of the Th’Nor cruisers idled listlessly, venting its atmosphere. The red symbols that swarmed around the green circle of the Titans had gradually diminished but there was still a long way to go. On the screens the emptiness of space was a barely visible backdrop to the fiery criss-crossing of plasma weapons bursts. A Var Krelecz cruiser rose up into view firing directly at the Titans as the particle beams sliced through the bow. Ivanova grabbed the armrests of her chair as the ship was buffeted by the close-range assault.
“Direct hit amidships,” Commander William Berensen announced calmly as sparks showered down across his console. An acrid smell drifted across the bridge. Ivanova listened as the exchange of small arms fire that echoed down the corridor and into the bridge grew louder.
Relay systems in the walls ruptured behind her and Ivanova turned to see Lieutenant Maddison throw his hands up to cover his face as the console in front of him overloaded.
“Damage to the navigational system, unable to take evasive action!” he called out as he managed to avoid the full brunt of the explosion. He tilted his head back as blood ran down the side of his temple from a gash in his scalp.
Even if they were not shielding the Narn ship, it was now impossible to make a tactical withdraw and put enough space between the Titans and the enemy fleet so that the port missile launch could be brought back online, Ivanova realised. All they could do was stand their ground and fight. On the screen she saw the Var Krelecz cruisers were making an effort to regroup and concentrate their fire on the Titans.
“Full power to the forward batteries,” Ivanova ordered.
“Punch a hole through their hearts!”
“Particle beams, retargeting,” Berensen said. “Firing!”
The monitor flared white as the full force of the beams ripped through the enemy ships just at the bow of the N’Tek was torn open and splintered into a million pieces.
“Narn heavy cruiser disabled,” Graydon announced, grabbing on to the railing as the ship was rocked again by incoming fire.
“Jump points opening!” she called out, looking back at her console.
“Where?” Ivanova asked, unable to see anything on the monitors.
“Directly behind them,” Graydon said, her voice wavering.
“It looks like reinforcements.”
A multitude of jump points flowered open in space. So close together, they resembled a crown above the Var Krelecz armada. In that moment Ivanova admitted to herself that they had been overconfident, trusting in the vast weapons of the Titans. Now
there would be too many ships to hold them back and it would be the end of them.
Through the commotion of the battle she heard what sounded like rapturous singing inside her head. It was the Vorlon ship calling out, not just to her but what was out there, coming out of hyperspace.
Ivanova choked back tears of joy as she realised the ships were not Var Krelecz but White Stars. Light gleamed across their graceful contoured hulls as they sped to engage the enemy.
“I think we’re going to be okay,” Ivanova announced as she watched the ships sweep down over the Var Krelecz cruisers, neatly carving through their hulls with the forward-mounted discharge beams.
There must have been almost two dozen ships in total. They swept down over the alien fleet and flashed past the Titans, before braking hard and spinning back around for another pass. As they finished their second attack run, red lights blinked off the screen in rapid succession.
“What are they?” Graydon coughed.
“It’s the White Star fleet of the Anla’shok,” Ivanova announced. “It’s the Rangers.”
The dead were laid out on the deck of the landing bay. Most of them were marines. They had stood their ground, not letting the Var Krelecz shock troopers reach any vital parts of the ship. Ivanova saw Dorland walking quietly amongst the rows of the dead, his head bowed. His emotions were on the surface, she could see. A gruff commander he may have been, but this time it was personal. These were his men. He had trained them, fought along side them.
He looked up and saw her walking towards him.
“Twenty-seven dead. Thirty-one injured,” he said. Ivanova nodded.
“They fought well,” Ivanova said, not knowing what else to say. Dorland nodded solemnly.
Ivanova looked over the bodies and across the bay to where Berensen was standing, looking at the row of nine helmets that represented the Starfury pilots lost in the battle. She had already spoken briefly with Oliver who had looked dazed. Four other pilots had ejected and been picked up. Two of them, including Rowland had broken bones and were being treated in the MedLab.
There were eleven general crewmembers that had been killed. Amongst them was Harriet Crawley who had joined the marines guarding the bridge.
“She was a good officer,” Dorland said. “Keen as mustard. Sergeant Bisley said she just stuck a helmet on her head, grabbed a rifle off the deck and started firing as the Var Krelecz troopers orchestrated a counter attack. She didn’t have any armour, didn’t think about herself. She knew it was all about the man fighting next to you.”
He cleared his throat and leant forward, brushing the hair from her forehead.
“She was a good soldier,” Dorland nodded as he moved on. Ivanova looked over at the body next to her and was surprised to see it was Wynant. She squatted down beside him. The overhead lights shone directly down on him and she thought about the sunlight he missed so much. Gently she turned his head away to examine the side of his face and neck was burnt and there was a blackened depression on the edge of his temple.
“What’s General Lefcourt’s aide doing here?” Graydon asked, looking over Ivanova’s shoulder.
“What are you talking about?” Ivanova said. “This is Lieutenant Kyle Wynant. He met me in Geneva.”
She stood up, trying to figure out why Graydon looked so puzzled.
“You sent him to escort me to the Titans from EarthDome.”
“I was supposed to meet you in Geneva,” Graydon said, wondering why Ivanova now looked confused. “We were busy working around the clock to get the ship ready on time and there was difficulty arranging a transport. I got a message from EarthForce saying they would send an aide to accompany you. It seemed irregular, but I... followed orders.”
Ivanova looked around for Berensen. He wasn’t there. She raised her right hand to activated her link, cursed when she remembered she had to switch hands.
“Ivanova to Lieutenant Breck.”
“What’s going on?” Graydon asked, but Ivanova ignored her.
“Breck here, Captain.”
“Is the icebreaker up and ready?”
“It’s all installed,” Breck said.
“Stand by. I don’t want the message, but the location. Once you’ve pinpointed the source kill all outgoing transmissions.”
“Confirmed.”
Ivanova pushed past Graydon and headed out of the launch bay. She ran down the corridors heading deep into the Titans, waiting for the call.
Come on, she thought. Her cheeks felt hot. Her eyes welled up with anger. This was supposed to be a clean start, but they were not going to let her forget.
“E Deck,” Breck eventually told her. “E-87.”
Ivanova ran, pushing her way past crewmen. She wanted Dorland with her, a full squad of armed marines. Instead Ivanova knew she had to do this for herself.
She checked the numbers on the hatches, trying to orient herself. She was close to the armoury that much was sure. There were scorch marks from PPG blasts on the walls, a red Var Krelecz helmet on the floor and the bodies of two shock troopers rolled against the side of the corridor, their weapons left discarded on the deck.
Hatches were open and she looked in at the rows of empty bunks to accommodate the hundreds of marines the Titans would carry if they were going to war. This was why it felt unfamiliar. She had not needed to come down to this part of the ship. No one needed to be down here. It was the ideal place to hide a stowaway.
A hatch opened ahead of her. She could see the light spill out into the corridor, suddenly blocked by a silhouette. Ivanova ran forward, fist raised she lashed out, caught the figure square on the chin. The person fell backwards and Ivanova tumbled in after him.
THIRTY-TWO
The room smelt of stale sweat, of someone locked up for too long. There was a small cot and a tiny cubicle with minimal washing facilities. Wrappers from basic rations littered the floor. Wynant had come on board and this is where he had been, sealed up inside, waiting for inter-ship communications to be relayed to him that he had dutifully passed on through Gold Channels.
She tried to make the connection between the shy young man who had talked about standing in sunshine and the pride of his parents. That had been an act. It reminded her of Talia Winters on Babylon 5, the resident commercial telepath whose whole life was revealed to be a lie when she was exposed as a sleeper agent.
“Wynant was your man,” Ivanova said.
Her hands were around the throat of the person sprawled on the floor, knees pressed firmly into his stomach.
“He was a rush job. We didn’t think he was going to work out. The original agent who signed up was killed in a shuttle accident a week before you took command. ‘Wynant’ was just some schlub pulled out of the Academy and programmed as best we could in the time we had left.”
“And for his troubles he was locked up here, sending your reports while you stood on the bridge, free from suspicion.”
“He understood the meaning of duty.”
“Duty?” Ivanova said, incredulously. “What duty?”
She pulled his head up, smacked it back hard against the deck.
“Receiving instructions that endangered my ship and the lives of everyone on board. Why?”
“Because the Generals who wanted to see you rewarded won out. You got the ship. So we had to turn your reward against you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
There was not enough room to swing a proper punch but Ivanova managed to crack him across the chin before pushing herself away and standing back.
”This was all just to get back at me?” Ivanova growled. Berensen pulled himself up to his knees. He coughed blood. A ruby rivulet of blood ran down his chin. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and briefly looked up at Ivanova with unmasked hatred.
“Can you think of a better reason?” he said.
“You wanted me to fail.”
Regaining his composure, Berensen stared blankly up at her.
“Who wanted me to fail?” Ivanova asked.
“Him. Her. They.”
“Who are they?” she growled.
“You expect me to give you their names?” Berensen said. “Or just their ranks and serial numbers? They’re higher up the chain of command than you’ll ever get.”
He grinned when he saw Ivanova’s stunned expression.
“And that’s just in EarthForce. Then there’s EarthGov and the Psi Corps. And the Cops,” Berensen explained. “They haven’t forgotten you. They’ll never forget. They want you so bad they can taste it.”
He basked in the silence. Then his right eyelid flickered involuntarily and the muscles under the eye twitched. His eyes narrowed as he looked Ivanova square in the face, studying her expression. A thin smile gradually spread across his face.
“So that’s how you really discovered the Shadowtech? Well, it looks like we’ve all got our dirty little secrets,” Berensen said. “You can knock all you want but I’m not letting you in. I’ve been through the programme and you don’t have the training to get inside, bitch. And wait until they hear about this back home. Your next command will be from a jar of formalin.”
The frown faded from Ivanova’s face as the realisation sunk in.
“I guess, I’ll have to try a different approach,” she told Berensen. Standing over him she clenched her fist and slugged him again, snapping his head back.
She pulled a PPG from the holster at the base of her spine, pointed the pistol at Berensen.
“This will get inside,” she explained.
Berensen looked her in the eyes. His calm expression didn’t change as he raised himself up on his haunches, lifting his head enough so that his chin nuzzled the PPG before he dropped forward and pressed his forehead hard against the short barrel of the pistol.
“Knock, knock!” he shouted.
It wasn’t what Ivanova expected. Berensen looked up from under his brow and saw that. Instantly he used her surprise to his advantage, jerking his head back as his arm swung hard around. Ivanova’s finger jerked on the trigger as her arm was knocked against her chest. The energy burst went wide. He clawed at the weapon. As it slipped from her grip, Ivanova grabbed it like a stone in the palm of her hand and smashed the flat of the weapon against Berensen’s temple. The force of the impact split the skin below the hairline and blood ran into his eye. He stumbled backwards, head rolling from side to side.
“And the Var Krelecz?”
“They were the Shadows little helpers from long ago and far away who came back to do their masters’ bidding. Except they were a little late and found the Shadows gone and new masters.”
“Which was why they attacked Babylon 5?” Ivanova asked.
“That was just the bait, to begin with. Although we hoped they would destroy the station, but their force obviously wasn’t sufficiently strong enough.”
“So striking at the Gaim first was a ruse so it wouldn’t look like Babylon 5 was the main target.”
“The Gaim? We could stomp on those little bugs and be home in time for breakfast. Just another puppet race for the Minbari to tug the strings of.”
Berensen spat blood on the floor.
“They wanted Sheridan discredited on Earth. He tried to take down everything we had done and gets a promotion for his troubles? We had Minbari warships in Earth orbit! If he wants to stay out amongst the aliens he can. You can all stay out there. We don’t want you back. We don’t want you in our uniform. You’re not part of us anymore.”
“That’s the first thing you’ve said that I agree with,”
Ivanova said.
She leant against the wall, lowering the weapon. Berensen suddenly lunged at her. He knocked the PPG from her hand and grabbed a fistful of hair. Yanking it toward him, he shifted his weight and slammed her head hard against the wall.
“I’ll be sure to put in my report that the Captain died a foolish death,” Berensen spat. “Who knew there was one Var Krelecz trooper still roaming the ship? How unlucky is that?
As he tugged at her again, a plasma burst split the silence. Berensen screamed as the concentrated discharge shattered the bones in his hand.
He stumbled away from Ivanova as they both turned, shocked to see Graydon standing in the doorway, the Var Krelecz weapon pointed at Berensen.
“Captain,” Graydon said to the surprised Ivanova, “you really shouldn’t run off like that when the ship isn’t secure.”
“Lieutenant Commander,” Ivanova said.
Berensen screamed with rage. He threw himself at the door. A second shot echoed loudly in the room and he fell face down on the deck, his broken, outstretched hand landing on the tip of Graydon’s boot.
“Commander,” Graydon corrected her.
Ivanova leant against the wall, breathing deeply as Graydon prodded Berensen’s body with her foot.
“How long have you known?” Ivanova finally asked.
“I suspected him for a while now,” Graydon replied. “Few people aboard had authorisation or access to make unlogged Gold Channel transmissions. By process of elimination, I simply narrowed it down, without such unorthodox methods.”
“And you didn’t say anything?” she said incredulously. Graydon shrugged.
“Like you said, it takes a while to trust someone.”
“I’m glad you’re a fast learner,” Ivanova told her. “How much did you hear?”
“Most of it,” Graydon replied. She turned and looked at Ivanova. “Except the parts that didn’t concern me.”
Ivanova nodded.
“There was a time when I thought it was you,” Ivanova admitted.
“I didn’t doubt it,” Graydon replied.
“But then I discounted you because you don’t hide your feelings.”
“He’ll have told them everything. About the trip to Babylon 5, everything,” Graydon said.
“I don’t expect EarthForce would want it made public. Even if they know I know, they’ll also expect that the President of the Interstellar Alliance knows. And he’s sitting on my side of the table.”
Graydon dropped the weapon on the floor beside Brensen. She looked at the two bodies of the Var Krelecz shock troopers outside in the corridor.
“Well, I’ve got to report Mister Berensen’s unfortunate demise. Meanwhile, there’s someone waiting to see you.”
The Ranger stood waiting the bridge. He had light blond hair swept back over his forehead and a neat goatee. The long brown robes swayed as he turned, hearing Ivanova approach. Light from the screens was reflected in the polished Isil’Zha set in his pin.
“Ranger Edwin Ambrose,” he said bowing.
“Captain Susan Ivanova,” she replied, returning the greeting. “Thank you for your help here.”
“Entil’zha informed us of your quest. We requested to offer assistance if it was required.”
“It was very much required,” Ivanova said.
“We will always be at your service,” Ambrose told her.
“And I will always be in your debt,” Ivanova replied. “For Marcus.”
Ambrose put his fist to his heart.
“Marcus Cole lives on inside of you,” he explained. “We live for the One, we die for the One.”
Ambrose bowed before her.
The bridge crew watched in silence as the Ranger finally straightened and nodded to Ivanova.
“I will take my leave of you now,” he said.
Ivanova sat down in the Captain’s chair. She watched on the viewscreen as the formation of White Stars turned as one. A Jump Gate blossomed ahead of them and the ships darted into hyperspace.
She rested her chin on her hand, looked around at the damaged consoles, the dissipating smoke drifting languidly through the bridge. The crew had turned away from the screen and were back at work, sizing up the damage.
“Thank you everyone,” Ivanova said.
Heads turned towards her. There were one or two smiles.
“I guess that concludes the practical part of the training exercise,” Graydon ventured.
Ivanova smiled.
“The first stage at the very least. How would you evaluate their performance?”
“More than adequate,” Graydon declared.
Ivanova looked around at the faces, blackened and bloodied but not bowed.
“Very much more than adequate,” she declared.
“Listen to the wisdom of an old man,” her father had once implored her when, as a child, she truculently refused to accept his line of reasoning. All these years later she couldn’t remember what had prompted this, but the words still rang in his head.
As the first of the First Ones, Lorien certainly fitted the category of an old man. As they had sat together aboard the White Star, waiting for the ancient reinforcements that would aid the alien armada in the final showdown between the Vorlons and Shadows, the alien had imparted his own special wisdom.
“Only those whose lives are brief can imagine that love is eternal,” he had told her. “You should embrace that remarkable illusion. It may be the greatest gift your race has ever received.”
Ivanova knew she should have shown Marcus that love. He had stood at her side and fought alongside her. What had stopped her, quite simply, was the pain of past relationships that had ended badly. She did not want to repeat the mistakes. She mulled over Lorien’s words. For the first time Ivanova realised that, in his wisdom, what Lorien had suggested was that she had to love herself first before she could love anyone else. She wondered how much to tell Sheridan. The Alliance was still new and fragile. She wondered whether to wait until it was stronger. There was time to consider what would go in the report. There was a lot of time for everything.
Ivanova looked around at her crew. One thing that saddened her after leaving Babylon 5 once the Shadowtech had been purged from her ship was that she had not got to see G’Kar while she was onboard.
She would have liked to have told him that in the end, being amongst the humans was not so bad after all.