From REWisian@aol.com Sat Jun 15 14:17:23 1996 Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 14:14:15 -0400 From: REWisian@aol.com Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: -30- : Attempting to send a readable copy Okay, I've decided to post this again (I know I said I was gonna go back to lurking, but I lied :-)). I think it'll work this time. I had some help from The Digit (muchas gracias!). Hope this works... [closes eyes and reaches out to hit the "send" button...]. Note: -30- is an old journalism symbol that a writer put at the end of a piece to basically tell the copy folks "this is the end, and it's ready to set", or that's what my old high school journalism teacher told me (if I'm wrong let me know, that teacher could easily be wrong; she was old enough to pass for a "First One"--some Mondays she coulda been a Shadow....). B5 and Co. don't belong to me, they belong to JMS. Cecily belongs to me, and the little technicians (most of 'em) do too, but I don't care. -30- Part 1 It was dark, cramped and stuffy. She tried to re-adjust her position, but there weren't many options. How much longer until they gave her a breather? She could use a good stretch, not to mention a bathroom break. It seemed like it had been days. She nibbled on the last of the disgusting nutrient bars they'd given her. *Well, you were tired of being a goody two shoes* she thought sarcastically *This is as un-goody two shoes as it gets. Way to go moron.* She heard footsteps outside. Moments later she was blinded as someone lifted the lid on her hiding place. It was the woman again. As her eyes adjusted, she couldn't help noticing that the woman was still wearing that god-awful eye-liner, though at that moment the woman could've covered her face in blue silly-putty, and it wouldn't have made much difference. "Almost clear--" the woman began. At that moment the ship rocked. The woman dropped the lid and quick footsteps died away. The only thing Cecily's fifteen-year- old mind could come up with was *Oh sh#t.* --------------- Sheridan came into the new command center. There was no meeting, no real reason to come, but he just felt the need to show up and check things out. Obviously Commander Ivanova had felt the same way because she was already there at the table going over read outs. Across from her was Delenn also reading reports. As Delenn finished with one she pushed it toward Susan. Sheridan watched them a moment. Their reactions as they read were completely different. Delenn's face was calm. She wore a slight frown as she read. If anyone one report worried her more or less than the others, she gave no indication of it in her face. Ivanova on the other hand was mumbling assorted curses in assorted languages, and every now and then she would slam her fist on the table. Despite the differences in reaction, it all boiled down to the fact that the reports weren't good. "Bad news?" he asked, as if he didn't already know. He came down the stairs as the two of them looked up. "You remember how it was back during the Earth-Minbari War when we didn't know what victory was, because we always got our butts kicked?" said Susan. The Captain opened his mouth to contradict the statement. "NOT counting your victory," Susan said. Sheridan nodded: "De'ja'vu." Susan blew air through her lips in exasperation. She leaned back in the chair. Sheridan sat down and began sorting through the reports that Susan had finished. He frowned. They were just as bad as he'd expected. They hadn't seen a real victory since the Vorlons gave the Shadows a whack. "We're gonna lose. The galaxy will be ruled by Londo and the Shadows. If we don't all die fighting, we'll be brainwashed, or fed to those ships for dinner or we'll be Centauri slaves or--" "Ivanova!" Sheridan snapped. He looked around the room at all the techs. The last thing he needed was for moral to get worse. "We cannot lose," Delenn said firmly. Ivanova was about to say something when her link beeped. "Ivanova, go," she said a little more roughly than usual. "Commander we have a badly damaged ship coming through the jump gate," said Lt. Corwin. "On my way," she said. "Duty screams." She hurried out and left Delenn and Sheridan to wade through the depressing reports. ----------------- "How the hell did they even make it through the jumpgate?" Ivanova asked as she stared out the observation window of C&C at the damaged craft. The thing barely resembled a ship at all. It showed signs of having been in a major fire fight. "I don't know. Their engines are functioning--barely. It's a weak flicker. Life support's almost shot. I'm getting minimal life signs," Lt. Corwin said. "A med team is on it's way out right now." "You never heard a distress call, or anything?" asked Ivanova. "No. Their comm systems might have been knocked out by...whatever." The medical craft was almost to the ship. Ivanova looked closely at the damage on the ship. It looked all too familiar. She headed for the door calling, "Let me know when you hear something." It had to be Shadows, that's all there was to it. No one else could have done that much damage to one ship. Unless there was some other ancient, evil, unseen thing lurking around out there that no one had bothered to inform them of. These days, who knew? The report had just come in when she walked back into the war room. Delenn and the Captain were pouring over it as she came down the stairs. She peeked over their shoulders. "Another loss, " said Sheridan. "I figured. That ship Corwin called about, looks like a Shadow attack. The only reason they wouldn't have annihilated it was if someone else stepped in," said Ivanova. "Us," Sheridan said. "Great. How's the ship?" "Looks like hell. Life support is almost nothing. Life signs are fluttering. A med team is out there right now, but I'm not holding my breath." ------------ It was hard to breath. That last hit had rolled the box all around the cargo hold. Cecily had a feeling she'd broken several things--namely her own bones. Ever part of her ached. She tried to take that as a good sign that she was alive, but optimism wasn't her thing, at least not recently. She had a splitting headache, and her eyelids were drooping. She tried to stay awake, but it was no use. ------------- "That's got to be it," said Lt. Augustina Cantu. "I don't see anymore. They're all dead except him. If there are any in the back they're dead by now. The doors are locked down for a hull breach. They're trying to burn through, but it doesn't look good. Those engines could go any minute. I'm reluctant to leave them." The nurse nodded, and they wheeled the man out on a stretcher and sealed up the hatch. He looked as bad as the ship did. He'd been thrown across the bunk area, and a few beds had collapsed on him. He was the lucky one. Cantu hated to come out here and find only one alive. It was part of the job, but damn, she sure hated it. "Babylon Control, this is Med Team One. We have one survivor in critical condition, and we're heading back," Cantu said, activating the comm as she walked into the cock pit area. Cantu strapped herself in the co-pilot's seat. Lt. Brinkly was disengaging from the damaged ship. "That's one ship that'll never fly again," mumbled Brinkly. "Yeah, they'll probably have a team out to dismantle it within the hour." -------------- Ivanova was going over the report for the third time when her link went off again. "Commander, the med team only found one survivor. They're headed back now," said Corwin. "The engines are going nuts. I can't get a good read on her for anything . We've still got people over there trying to burn through the cargo doors, but with the way those engines are looking, we'd better get them off, and get that ship away from the station." "Alright, a crew to go out and dispose of her. We don't need a traffic hazard," sighed Ivanova. "Aye, C&C out." ---------- "Geez, whatta mess," said the senior technician as he surveyed the wreckage from the window of the transport. "Whoa, they got survivors off of _that_?" asked a young tech, leaning over his shoulder. "Don't ask me how," said the senior as he latched onto the ship. "Okay, we've got a good seal. You guys can come on board." Another technician in an EVA suit came into the front: " We're all here." "Did you get through that door, Mitchell?" questioned the younger tech. She shook her head and pulled at the neck of the suit. "No luck." "Well, we're going to pull her clear of the station and fire a few shots at her before she goes on her own and interrupts the Commander's traffic schedule," the senior tech said, as he disengaged from the ship. "What schedule?" mumbled Mitchell as she headed out. "No one in their right mind comes to this place." ----------- Okay, if you're reading this I assume you didn't get warbled junk. to be continued--unless I get real stumped Capt. Camelot REWisian@aol.com From REWisian@aol.com Sat Jun 15 14:17:38 1996 Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 19:11:31 -0400 From: REWisian@aol.com Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: -30- part 2 Here's part two (in case anyone cares). I don't like it much, especialy one scene (I'll mention it at the bottom). Feedback appreciated. Part 2 The Captain sat at the table looking over more reports and figures. Sheridan rubbed his eyes as he reached for another report. He stopped and looked up at Ivanova. The Commander had been pacing around the table and mumbling for 5 minutes. So far he'd refrained from saying anything, but he couldn't help looking up now and then. "Susan," he finally said. "Is something wrong?" "Wrong? Nah, we're in a war with an enemy we barely understand. Everything's just peachy!" she said sarcastically. She stopped, shut her eyes and drew a deep breath. "I'm sorry. The situation with this ship is bothering me. Something's not right. I've just got this feeling in the pit of my stomach..." "Did you eat lunch with Michael? You know Italian food can do that to you. I think I've got some antacid in my office," said Sheridan, managing to keep a straight face. "I'm serious!" cried Ivanova. "Geez, you're sounding more and more like Garibaldi every day. That's the last thing I need is two of you tormenting me with bad jokes." "Hey," said Sheridan defensively. "You put in more than your fair share, and you're forgetting Marcus. Now, what's the matter?" "I don't know. I just don't see why the Shadows would attack that little ship. It's kind of out of character for them. That ship was pretty insignificant," said Ivanova, sinking into a chair opposite Sheridan. "Maybe they had something the Shadows wanted." "Then haul it in for an investigation," said Sheridan, sounding as if that were the obvious solution. He rubbed his eyes again, looking completely worn out. "That's the problem," said Ivanova. "I would've had it towed in to start with, but the engines are unstable, and it might be risk to the station. With your permission I could send an engineering team out to see if the engines could be stabilized." "Permission granted, but make sure all possible safety precautions are taken, and at the first sign of trouble, pull them out." "Thank you, sir," said Ivanova getting up. "No problem," Sheridan said, letting a yawn slip out. "Sir, you should get some sleep." "Me? I'm fine," he said. "You better get on the horn, before they destroy that ship." Ivanova nodded. "Ivanova to C&C," she said as she rode the lift. "Tell the crew disposing of that ship to abort it's mission and return to base." ______________ "You'd think they could make up their minds," muttered the senior technician as he shut the comm off. "Looks like we just leave the ship right here until the other team gets out to stabilize those engines." "Wonder why they changed their minds," said Mitchell. "With them, who knows? Aw, well, at least they caught us before we destroyed her. Just think what kinda hell we'd have to pay if we'd done our jobs faster." ____________________ It was very quiet, she was aware of that much. It was also very cold, except for one side of the box; it was warm. Outside of that and a whole lot of pain, she couldn't tell much else about her situation. Her head was aching worse than before, and it felt like it was full of cotton. She tried to force the fuzzy feeling out, to stay awake, but she couldn't. Breathing was trouble in itself, let alone trying to move. Why didn't they come and check on her? Where were they? Of course, she couldn't trust them. This was the shady side. They'd just as soon turn her over, as help her. Oh God. What if they had been caught? What would happen? Panic and pain kept her awake a little longer. It was so dark she closed her eyes to avoid straining them. Pushing the fuzzy feeling out and staying awake was exhausting. How much longer could she hold out? --------------------- "Well, this is a mess," said Lt. Janowitz. "Looks like fun." "Yeah, sure, risking my neck is tons of fun," muttered Lt. Tinsen. The two of them wore EVA suits as they walked through the ship. Behind them were several more suited technicians. "Yeah, well, at least we aren't working outside. Let's just get past that damn door and get to the engines," said Janowitz. The red light was flashing above the door indicating a hull breach. The air reading was nearly at the bottom of the scale. Janowitz prepared the torches as Tinsen looked at the dent the medical rescuers had made on the door. "They were getting close," said Tinsen. "Makes it a lot easier for us." Tinsen and Janowitz set to work on the door while the other split up to look at the damage around the rest of the ship. Their torches finished up what had been started. Tinsen called the others as he and Janowitz headed into the cargo area. It looked like hell. Crates and canisters were all over the place. Tinsen began shoving crates out of the way, heading for the back on the cargo area where access to the engine workings was located. "Here's our breach," said Janowitz, indicating a fairly small slit on one wall. "Have Handrick patch it up," ordered Tinsen. "Could you get over here and help me?" Tinsen was one very large box away from the entrance to the engine area. The box was against the wall. Janowitz helped Tinsen push it out of the way. "Geez, this thing weighs a ton," mumbled Janowitz. "Don't worry about it now. We can get into the engine now," said Tinsen prying off the panel. "Whew! Heat wave! This sucker's cookin'." "Well, lets dive in and get to work. The other guys'll be here in a second." -------------------- Ivanova met Ambassador Delenn on her way out of C&C. "Hello, Ambassador," said Ivanova. "Good evening, Commander," said Delenn. "What has you awake this late?" "That ship that was attacked is being towed in, I was headed down to have a look at it," said Ivanova as they walked down the hall. "I thought the ship was going to be destroyed." "Well, I talked to the Captain. Something about the whole thing seemed fishy, so we sent a team out to stabilize the engines and tow her in for investigation." "Fishy?" Delenn said. Ivanova wanted to slap herself over the head. It was so hard to avoid little things like that, especially around Delenn. "It means, something seems wrong," Ivanova said. "What has you out at this hour?" "I was finishing some work, and I thought I would take a walk. I did not think anyone else on the station was awake. It's quieter than usual." "Well, everyone around here has insomnia these days. I think the Captain is still reading reports in the war room. I told him to get some rest, but I might as well be telling the Centauri to give up Narn," said Ivanova. "If you don't mind, maybe you could go down and try talking some sense to him. You're the only one with any hope of getting through to him." "I will speak with him," Delenn assured Ivanova as she stopped in front of the lift. She bowed slightly. "Good night, Commander." Ivanova nodded in return before continuing to the docking bay. *** The War Room was almost silent when Delenn walked in. There weren't many people around. The few that were there were absorbed in their tasks around the room. Those people were not the reason why the room was _almost_ silent as opposed to _totally_ silent. The reason for that was that John Sheridan was at the table, asleep and snoring--loud. Delenn couldn't help smiling. At least he was getting some sleep. She decided not to wake him, because if she did, he would undoubtedly go straight back to work. She was turning to leave when she heard her name. She turned around. "Delenn," Sheridan called a second time. She came back down the stairs. He was still asleep. She put a hand on his shoulder. "John?" "Huh?" his head snapped up. "What?" "You called my name, " she said. "I what?" he said. *Oh God. Tell me that's _all_ I said* "Are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just having a dream. Um, we were in a council meeting and, uh, you fell asleep and we were calling you to wake you up," he lied as quickly as possible. "Oh," she said. "Perhaps you should go to your quarters to rest, unless you simply enjoy falling asleep at a table. You seem to have a habit of doing that." "I wasn't asleep!" he protested. She didn't say a word. "Oh^Å whatever. Goodnight, Delenn," he said, leaving in a hurry. As she watched him practically run out, she couldn't help wondering why he'd really called her name^Å *** By the time Ivanova had arrived the ship had been secured and she was able to enter without any special suit. Teams were still working on the engines, but they assured her that everything was safe. She entered the cargo hold to find Garibaldi already poking around. "Michael, what are you doing here?" she asked. "My job. I heard you were towing it in, and who better to investigate than yours truly?" "Do you want and honest answer?" she asked innocently. "So what have you found so far?" "Nothing, I just got here. I was fixing to have a look at what's stashed in these crates. Shall we?" "Be my guest," she said waving a hand around. Garibaldi grabbed the nearest box and pried it open. "Chocolate," he said. "Somehow I doubt that's why the Shadows attacked." "You never know," Ivanova said with a shrug. "This one has bolts," said Garibaldi, opening another crate. Ivanova walked around as he pried open more containers. The place wasn't crammed full like some ships, but going through it all could take some time. "Let's open a big one," suggested Garibaldi. He looked around. "How about this one?" Ivanova said indicating a big crate a few feet from her. "That one it is," said Garibaldi, coming around with the crow bar. He looked it over. "We'll have to turn it, otherwise everything'll come spilling out." Ivanova nodded. "On three. One, two--" "Geez, I think I pulled something," she mumbled, sitting down and leaning back against the crate. Garibaldi was already prying at the lid. As he lifted the lid he started to curse. Ivanova hurried to look. "Garibaldi to med lab. We have an emergency in bay 9. We need a team down here now!" **** That's enough for now Okay, I don't like the scene with the Capt. sleeping. I had a few ideas and the best of them slipped my mind by the time I got to the computer, so I tried to mix the other ones together..and it didn't work. I'll take any suggestions (but have some pity, I wrote it while suffering from a severe round robin confusion headache--speaking of which, the more I read, the more I suspect I'm missing parts of it....) Capt. Camelot From REWisian@aol.com Sat Jun 15 14:17:42 1996 Date: Sat, 15 Jun 1996 16:03:28 -0400 From: REWisian@aol.com Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: -30- Part 3 -30- Part 3 Garibaldi and Ivanova watched as the med team wheeled the stretcher out at a break-neck pace. Garibaldi shook his head and swore. "Probably a run-away," he said. "Damn! I really don't want to have to search for the parents of a corpse." "Hey, the kid's not a corpse," Ivanova repliedf. *Yet* "Yeah, well, she didn't look much better than one," he said more sarcastically than usual. "I've gotta start looking for something to identify her with. Dead or alive, we still need to know who she is." Ivanova watched Garibaldi trudge off with his hands in his pockets. She couldn't blame him for being in a crappy mood, but she couldn't do much about it either. With an annoyed sigh, she left the docking bay. If Sheridan was still up, he might as well find out now. ---------------------- "Hey, Chief, you rang?" said Zack stepping over a crate into the cargo area, trying not to yawn. "Yeah, we need to go through this docking bay piece by piece," said Garibaldi standing up and looking around. "We found a stowaway, and we need to find some kind of I.D. for her." "A stowaway? She's alive?" "Yeah, not in good shape, but she's alive. Keep an eye out for anything else out of the ordinary." "Any certain kind of 'out of the ordinary'?" asked Zack. "The kind of 'out of the ordinary' that could get a ship attacked," said Garibaldi roughly. He went back to digging through crates. "Whatever you say, Chief," said Zack, backing off. The Chief was in a bad mood, and the best thing to do was just get to work. A half hour later Garibaldi came across one of the things he was looking for. "Well, well, well," he said, pulling a travel bag out of a crate labeled "bolts" (one of the few crates that actually had label). "What?" Zack asked, picking up another container to rattle it near his ear. "Well, out of the crew that were found, our little stowaway would be the only one likely to carry this." He held up a rugged looking stuffed gray mouse. "Y'never know, Chief," said Zack, grinning, and hoping Garibaldi would grin back. He was disappointed. "Well, there's a gold mine of data crystals in here. I'm going to take this back to the office and have a look at them. I'll send someone down here to help you," Garibaldi said, stepping over crates carrying the bag. ---------------------- Ivanova walked into the war room, fully expecting to see Sheridan still sitting there. She had to admit she was a little surprised that it was Delenn sitting there. "So," said Ivanova, "did you run him out of here?" Delenn looked up. "He was asleep when I walked in. I woke him up, and suggested he leave. He did not seem to feel like arguing," she said, conveniently leaving out the name calling bit. "I have to admit, I am impressed," said Ivanova. "You've done the impossible. I commend you." Delenn gave a slight nod. "Did you find anything on the ship?" Susan sat down. "Did we ever," she mumbled. "There was a girl in a crate in the cargo hold." "Oh, no." "Oh, yeah. She was alive, but I don't know for how long. Garibaldi found her first. It upset him, pretty bad, I think. He's down there looking for some I.D. on her, and for what could've caused the Shadows to attack the vessel," Ivanova said. She sighed. "The kid was probably running away from home. To think, I came that close to having the ship destroyed. No one would have ever known. Somewhere a set of parents would be searching for their kid, and they would never find a trace of her." "But, you did stop it in time," Delenn pointed out. "Now there is a chance of the parents seeing her alive, which is better than no hope at all." "It still gives me the creeps," said Ivanova, making a face. "Well, I guess I better get down and see how she'd doing. I was going to tell the Captain about her, but there's no point in waking him up to do so. There's nothing he can do. I really don't want to go down there." Ivanova stood to go. "If you do not mind, I will accompany you. There's no need to go alone," said Delenn. Ivanova nodded. She didn't feel like turning down moral support. --------------------------------- Garibaldi popped in the first data crystal, and set the bag up on the desk. He leaned back. It was pictures. Most of them looked like they were of friends, and teachers. School activities, parties, and the like. They were pretty good photos. The kid must have been interested in photography. *Must have been* he thought again. *Am I thinking like Susan, or what?* He pulled the crystal out and put in another. More pictures, with some home vids mixed in. "I swear if you don't put that camera down I _will_ kick your a#s!" a girl with brown hair was threatening as she moved toward the camera person. She picked up a foot stool and waved it around. "Yeah, sure, Jo," the camera person retorted, zooming in and out on the girl's face, and backing away as the girl came closer. "Okay, Cecily, I won't beat you senseless, but I will tell everyone about----" Obviously the camera person didn't want the audience to hear whatever it was, since the vid stopped and still photo replaced it. Garibaldi was kinda curious about what it was, but that was a little irrelevant. At least he had two names. He could almost eliminate Jo. He didn't think that was the same girl he'd found, but with the way that kid had been knocked around, it was hard to tell. As for the Cecily character, he didn't have a face to identify with. "C'mon kid, work with me here," he mumbled. "Who are you?" ---------------------- Ivanova walked into Medlab with lead feet. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to a doctor apologize and say they did all they could, but... No doctor said anything when she and Delenn walked in. Most of them were in the Isolab working on someone. Ivanova didn't have to walk to the window to know who it was. "At least this shows that she is still alive," Delenn said. "Unless what they're doing is an autopsy," Susan said. She grabbed a nurse by the sleeve. "What's going on in there?" The nurse looked surprised. "I don't know exactly. It's some kid they brought in from the docking bay. She looked pretty bad when she got here. I don't know what they're doing now. Excuse me." The nurse scurried away. "Perhaps _you_ should get some rest," suggested Delenn. "You've done all you can for now." "I don't think I could sleep, besides, Michael will just wake me up when he finds something," said Ivanova. "I am going to go down to the Zocalo for a bite to eat, go see how Michael's doing. Maybe by the time I come back they'll be done." ------------------------ to be continued later-- Could somebody give me some feedback on this story, pretty please, por favor? From REWisian@aol.com Sun Aug 4 00:56:48 1996 Date: Sun, 23 Jun 1996 13:08:47 -0400 From: REWisian@aol.com Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: -30- Part 4 Here's part 4 (for anyone who's actually reading this). As usual, any feedback is appreciated. I think I got all the typos out, but I'm not making any promises. Capt. Camelot (Cammy Wisian) REWisian@aol.com Part 4 Ivanova had tried to convince Delenn that she should go on home. The Minbari was proving to be as stubborn as the Captain. Ivanova hoped to hell that those two never had a disagreement, or the result would probably rival the first Earth-Minbari War. Even so, Ivanova was secretly grateful that Delenn was sticking around. Ivanova found a Drazi vendor on the Zocalo selling something that vaguely resembled a corn dog. She didn't ask what it was, but she got it anyway. As long as it filled her stomach she could handle it. It couldn't be any worse than what they tried to pass off as food in the Officer's Mess. Delenn followed along silently. "Aren't you going to get anything to eat?" asked Ivanova. She took a bite of the corn-dog-like-thing. It was salty as hell, a little sour, and the wiener was replaced by a grayish goo. Delenn shook her head. She eyed Ivanova's snack with some skepticism. "It's not as bad as it looks. Kinda like sauerkraut," Ivanova said, seeing the Ambassador's look. "Sauerkraut?" "It's an Earth food. It's salty and sour," Ivanova said. "Some people hate it. I don't love it, but it's okay, I guess. Remind me another time and maybe we can find someone who sells it. Right now we ought to check on Garibaldi." *** Garibaldi put in the third datacrystal. He looked at the little pile of datacrystals next to him. He couldn't help wondering how a kid could managed to need seven datacrystals. Then again, if she were running away, she probably had most of her life on those little things. An index for text came up on his screen as his link sounded. "Garibaldi, go," he said, not taking his eyes off the screen. "This is medlab," a voice came. "We found an identicard while going through the patient's clothing." "Good," said Garibaldi. He pondered a moment over whether or not to continue. "How is the kid?" "Not sure, sir," the nurse on the other end replied. "Well, thanks anyhow. I'll send a guy down to pick it up. Garibaldi out." As soon as the link with medlab was cut he called into the next room. "Osterloh, hey, Osterloh!" A security officer stuck his head around the corner. "Yeah, Chief?" "Do me a favor and run down to Medlab. They found an identicard on a stowaway we sent down there," the Chief said. "Sure thing," Osterloh replied. As the security officer left, his link sounded again. "Have you found anything?" asked Ivanova. "Yeah, I'm up in Security now. There was a bag in the cargo bay that looks like it belonged to her," said Garibaldi. *"Belonged" there I go again*. "She had about 7 datacrystals in there. I've gone through two already. All they had were pictures and a few home vids. I just put in another one full of text. So far I still don't know who she is, but Medlab found an identicard on her. I sent a guy down for it." "Did medlab have anything to say about her condition?" asked Ivanova. "No," Garibaldi said shaking his head. "The nurse didn't have any information." "They had her in the isolab when we were down there," Ivanova said glumly. "If you don't mind the Ambassador and I are headed up to security. I'd like to have a look at what you've found." "Fine with me. I'll see you in a few minutes," said Garibaldi. *** Delenn and Ivanova arrived just as Osterloh handed Garibaldi the identicard. "Thanks, Osterloh," the Chief said. The younger officer nodded to the two women as he left. Garibaldi put the card in a reader. "Cecily Hammett," he read, handing it over to Ivanova. The Commander shifted her snack to the other hand. Garibaldi looked at the corn-dog like thing. "What is _that_?" Ivanova looked up from the reader. "Oh, this? I don't know. I bought it from a Drazi vendor on the Zocalo. It's not that bad. Kinda like sauerkraut." Garibaldi made a face. "Just don't get it on anything." "Can you be sure the card isn't a fake?" asked Ivanova, choosing to ignore Garibaldi's comment. She handed the reader back to him. "I'm going to check it, but I know it's not. The kid was hiding in the cargo hold. If it were a fake she probably would've used it to get a decent ride. It's more than likely that she wasn't going to get a fake until she got here," said Garibaldi. "Besides, going through some of those vids I came across several where there was a Cecily involved." Ivanova nodded and looked down at the computer screen. "How many more of those do you have to go through?" asked Ivanova. "There are about four left," he said, looking over at the little pile next to him. "I was about to give up on them and go help Zack go through the rest of the cargo. If you want, the two of you could finish going through them. Maybe there's a journal or diary or something explaining why she ran, but as long as we've got a name, the rest will come eventually." "I'll keep looking. I was going to wait up for word from medlab anyhow," shrugged Ivanova. "Hey, if they call you, let me know," he said. "I'll be in the docking area." Ivanova nodded turned to Delenn. "Why don't you turn in?" asked Ivanova. The Ambassador shook her head. "I intend to wait and see how the girl is," Delenn said. She paused before continuing, looking confused. "I do not understand why she would leave her home and family like this." Ivanova shrugged. "It's something human kids have done for ages. Sometimes kids just think that no one understands them and they'd be better off on their own, so they leave." Delenn nodded, but Ivanova could see she was still confused. The Commander had to wonder if Minbari kids ever had problems. Some days she had to wonder if Minbari were ever kids... Ivanova noticed the bag sitting on the desk. "Do you want to poke through her bag while I finish looking through these data crystals?" Delenn didn't look thrilled about "poking through" someone else's belongings, but she picked it up and took it over to the table without a word. Ivanova scrolled through the index of the crystal. It was all news articles, and books. The next crystal held similar contents. The kid was carrying a library around. Ivanova looked over at the Ambassador, who had yet to make a peep. "What was in the bag?" "Some clothing, another data crystal, this, um..." she held up the stuffed mouse. "It's a stuffed animal," Ivanova said, as she walked over to examine the things Delenn had spread out on the table. Delenn's eyes widened, and she looked a little horrified. Ivanova realized the little misunderstanding. "Oh, no, not that kind of stuffed animal! It's a toy made up to look like a mouse. No mice are ever that big, at least not naturally." Delenn looked relieved. She picked up the mouse and looked at it curiously. "Ah, I see. I assume it is a possession she thought much of. It looks as though it has, as you say, 'seen better days'." "Yeah," said Ivanova, looking at the sad state of the mouse. "I guess you could say the same thing for it's owner." **** " Nuthin'" muttered Garibaldi. "Huh?" said Zack, looking up. "There's nothing in here that would warrant an attack by the Shadows. Nothing we've found so far is out of the ordinary." "Except the girl," Zack pointed out. "I know. I keep coming back to that. I was hoping to find something else," said Garibaldi. "I--" He was cut off by his link. "Garibaldi, go." "Medlab just called," Ivanova's voice said. "They said we could come down for a look, but she'd not awake yet." The doctor was just coming over to Delenn and the Commander when Garibaldi walked in. "How is she?" "Not good. She's been through quite a lot. Broken bones, oxygen deprivation, concussion, " Dr. Hobbs listed. "What are her chances?" asked Ivanova. "It's hard to say. We've done all we can. The only thing we can do now is wait," said Hobbs. "I hate waiting," mumbled Garibaldi. "Yeah, well, you deserve a wait. How do you think we all felt while you were teetering on the edge two years ago?" said Ivanova, falling back into her pessimistic, crappy mood. "It seems as if the best thing we can do is get some rest," said Delenn. "Depriving ourselves of sleep is not going to help." Ivanova shrugged. "Well, we're not doing any good standing around here. Garibaldi, you need anymore help down in the docking bay?" "No, I'm going to call the guys off that one. We've been through nearly everything and the only thing that was different in that cargo hold from any other cargo hold, was her," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the room were the kid was. "You think they were after her?" asked Delenn. "So far we haven't found anything to say otherwise," said Garibaldi. "I hope not, but I guess we'll just have to dig around and find out. G'night ladies." __________ Ivanova stepped into medlab quietly the next morning. She couldn't resist a quick look in on the kid before she went on duty. She looked through the window. The kid didn't look any better than the night before. On the up side, she didn't really look any worse either. Garibaldi was coming in as she left, but he didn't see her. She would've stopped to talk, but she had to get Sheridan up to speed on things before he found out from someone else. Ivanova didn't know whether or not to count herself lucky that Sheridan was in a good mood. On the one had, since he was in a good mood, he wouldn't jump all over her for not telling him about the kid sooner, on the other she would be the one responsible for diminishing his high spirits. "So, what brings you into my office this early?" he asked. "You're probably not going to like this--" she began "Oh, please don't start your sentences out that way this early," Sheridan begged. "Sorry, sir," Ivanova said. "I just needed to tell you that we got the ship in last night." "And? What did you find?" "The only thing we've come across so far that could've provoked the Shadows was a stowaway in the cargo hold," said Ivanova. "A stowaway?" "Yeah, a girl about fifteen years old. We found an identicard, but Garibaldi hasn't finished checking up on her." "Fifteen," he said shaking his head. "Just a kid." "I haven't talked to Dr. Hobbs this morning, so I don't know if there's been a change," said Ivanova. "Wait, are you saying she's alive?" he cried. "Yeah," said Ivanova. "Didn't I tell you that?" "If she was alive, why didn't the crew find her the first time out?" "The engines screwed up the readings on the ship, and the med team couldn't burn through the door to the cargo hold," shrugged Ivanova. Sheridan looked relieved. "Let me know when you find out how she'd doing." "Yes, sir--" Ivanova was cut off by her link. She looked annoyed as she answered it. "Ivanova." "Commander, the Captain of a Centauri transport is demanding to speak with you," said Corwin. Ivanova looked over at Sheridan who was grinning far to broadly. "Have fun Commander." If he hadn't been her superior, she'd have hit him. From REWisian@aol.com Sun Aug 4 01:01:44 1996 Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 15:58:01 -0400 From: REWisian@aol.com Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: -30- Part 5 -30- Part 5 No one was around when her eyes opened. It took a moment for everything to come back to her. When it did, it was accompanied by an intense wave of pain that hit her like a high-speed transport. *Oh, God, they've got me* she thought, as she looked around the medical facility. She thought briefly of running, but tossed that idea when the pain hit her again. *Besides* she thought *It's not like I could get out anyhow. Once they've got you it's pointless* They had isolated her in a room with no door and a huge window looking out into the rest of the medical area. In that respect, it couldn't be called isolation. It couldn't be called privacy either. She turned her head for a better look out the window. "Ohh," she moaned. That wasn't such a good idea. She closed her eyes and waited for her head to explode. After she realized that her head exploding would be too easy, she opened her eyes. No one seemed to notice she was awake. From what she could see, people in the facility were busy enough without worrying about her. She looked at the machines surrounding her. *Bunch of gizmos they've got here. I guess I was in pretty rough shape* she thought. Another part of her corrected *_are_ in rough shape, dope*. Great, now she was mentally arguing with herself. "Well," a voice said from the doorway. "I see someone is awake. I'm Dr. Hobbs." A dark haired woman walked over to the bedside. Cecily didn't want to say anything. The doctor must've sensed this, because she kept talking. "Well, Cecily, I must say I'm rather surprised to see you awake this soon," said the doctor. "You've been through quite an ordeal. Do you remember anything?" No way out of talking now. She tried to focus on the fuzzy memory she had. Her head ached in protest. "Not very much." "Your ship was attacked. We towed it in to investigate, and you were found in a crate in the ship's cargo hold," said Hobbs. *'Your ship was attacked'* Cecily thought. Something about that wasn't clicking... "I have a few tests I want to run," she said. "You wait here, and I'll be back in a moment." *As if I'm in a position to be going anywhere* Cecily thought. ******* "Hey, Garibaldi," Ivanova's voice came through the link as Garibaldi sat down after his morning rounds, ready to start searching for information on the kid. "The girl's awake. Medlab just called." "Awake? Already?" he said getting to his feet. "That's what they told me," she said. "I'm going to head down there after lunch. I wanted to go now, but Hobbs said she wanted the kid to rest more before she had a bunch of people visit. If you want to eat lunch togther, I'll come by security on my way down." "Fine with me," he said. "Garibaldi, out." That was one less thing to worry about. He sat back down. He wanted to know a little about the kid before he met her. Digging for information about a school kid wasn't going to be as easy as digging for a criminal. For one thing he was going to have to get most of the information from Earth. That wasn't as easy as it once was, but he had his methods. *** Ivanova contacted Delenn as soon as she finished informing Garibaldi. It seemed the right thing to do considering the Ambassador's concern the night before. Lennier came to the viewer. "Is there a problem, Commander?" asked the Minbari attache. "No, Lennier, not yet," she replied. "I actually had some good news for the Ambassador. Is she there?" "I am sorry. The Ambassador is in a meeting," said Lennier, sounding like a recorded message. "If you like I will relay a message to her at the earliest possible time." "Tell her that our little visitor is awake, and Garibaldi and I are going down to see her," said Ivanova. Lennier looked confused a moment, but he nodded quickly. "Is that all, Commander?" "Yes," she said. "I will tell her," said Lennier giving a small bow he signed off. ***** Cecily stared at the ceiling as Dr. Hobbs poked, prodded, and asked medical questions. Cecily wondered when they were going to drag in the torture equipment and start the real questions. "That's enough for now. You need to rest," said Hobbs, heading for the door. "You may have visitors in a little while, so you better try and rest." *Visitors? Why are they sugar-coating it? Why don't they just say there are a couple of government jerks coming to pump me for information?* She took inventory of what appeared to be wrong with her. Hobbs hadn't been very talkative about it, probably because Cecily didn't ask. Her arm was in sling, so she assumed that was broken. She could feel wrapping around her ribs so something was probably broken there. Her neck was sore--along with the rest of her body. Her head throbbed, she was bruised all over and she had a jammed finger. A jammed finger that was annoying the hell out of her. She was beginning to wonder if any of the painkiller that Hobbs had administered, was ever going to work. It was obvious that either Hobbs had given her a sedative along with all the other medication they'd doped her up on, or the doctor had just been right about needing to rest. Either way, her eyelids were beginning to droop. **** When Ivanova came by Security, Garibaldi was staring into the screen, mumbling a few well worn curses. "I could teach you a few new ones," Ivanova offered from the door. "Huh?" said Garibaldi, looking up. "Oh, it's lunch already?" "Yeah, c'mon. Maybe we ought to eat before we go down there," Ivanova said, walking in. "What're you doing?" "Looking for some background on this kid, unfortunately, Earthdome officials are even more stubborn now that we don't work for them anymore," he said. "Getting information out of them is impossible." "Figures," shrugged Ivanova. "But with any luck, you won't need Earthdome to give you background. Maybe she'll be willing to tell you herself." "She might have to if these guys don't become a little more helpful," said Garibaldi standing up. "So, what's for lunch?" "I kinda want to try that Drazi vendor again. That corn-dog-sauerkraut thing was good. Gave me a helluva case of indigestion, but it was good. I want to see what else he's got." "Just don't think you're going to get me to eat one of those things," Garibaldi said walking out the door. **** Delenn allowed the others to leave before she even stood up from the conference table. The arguments and insults seemed even more petty , now that they were all faced with a common danger as powerful as the Shadows. She picked up her folders and walked out the door. She wasn't surprised to find Lennier waiting there patiently. He bowed in his usual manner, and then immediately began speaking. "Hello, Ambassador. How were the discussions?" "As well as can be expected," she answered. Lennier nodded as if he understood, but she had to wonder if he really did. "Commander Ivanova left a message for you," he said. "Yes?" "She said, 'our little visitor is awake' and that she and Mr. Garibaldi were going down to see her," Lennier said. Delenn smiled. "That is good to know," she said, to herself, more than to her assistant. "Lennier, would you take these back to my quarters. I have some things to attend to." Lennier took the folders from her hands and bowed before hurrying off down the hall. Delenn turned and moved in the opposite direction. The Zocalo was packed a little more than normal, as the residents of the station hurried back to their jobs after lunch. Delenn pushed her way through the crowd, getting her feet stepped on every time she moved forward. "Ambassador! Hey, Delenn, over here!" Delenn turned around and looked toward the voice. Ivanova and Garibaldi were flagging her down from table to one side. Delenn fought through the crowd to their table. Ivanova was devouring another of the Drazi vendor's creations. Garibaldi was eyeing it with distaste as he turned back to his own food. "Have a seat," Ivanova offered. "I take it Lennier gave you my message." "Yes. Have you been to see her?" asked the Ambassador as she sat down. "No, not yet. The doctor suggested we come after our lunch break and give the girl some time to rest," Ivanova said. "You want to join us?" "If you do not mind," Delenn said. "Now is your chance to try one of these things," said Ivanova. Delenn looked at it with as much distaste as Garibaldi had. The Chief didn't want to see the poor Ambassador suffer through eating that. "Why don't you try a human dish?" suggest Garibaldi quickly. "It's a good way to find out more about us." Delenn looked at him gratefully. "Is there anything you would suggest?" "You two just don't know what you're missing," Ivanova said shaking her head. Garibaldi ignored the Commander. "Why don't you try what I'm eating?" "Because she's knows better than to trust you?" asked Ivanova. ****** Cecily's eyes opened again when they brought in her tray. "Ah, you're awake," said the Medtech. "Here, let me help you sit up." The nurse managed to get Cecily into an upright position, but not without a fair amount of pain. "There. Do you think you can eat on your own?" *Dumb question. How old do they think I am?* "Yeah," Cecily said. The medtech pushed the tray around for her. "I'll be back to get it later." It wasn't until the nurse was gone that Cecily realized her right arm was broken, and she needed it to eat with. *Damn. I am a true idiot* she thought as she moved her left arm around. *Why don't they just cut to the chase and get it all over with. They've got me in custody, that's all they need* The food on the tray looked and smelled even worse than school cafeteria food. Her left middle finger was the one that was jammed. *Great. So they either spoon feed me this crap, or I starve* Her stomach growled as she picked up the fork as best she could with her aching finger. She put all her concentration into moving into stabbing a green bean and moving it toward her mouth. It was a painful process She was about to succeed when someone startled her. "Hello." The Cecily turned her head to look at the man in the doorway. The green bean dropped to the tray. She looked at it, and shook her head a little. The guy looked like his hairline was losing a battle and retreating as fast as it could. As he stepped in, a woman with light brown hair followed. They were both wearing black uniforms *Oh, Shit. Psicops. I'm in for it now.*. She was considering going into a massive panic tantrum when a third woman walked through the door. She was short, with brown hair, and a bone crest. She looked like a Minbari, except for her hair. Cecily recognized her from the ISN special report on Babylon 5. The one with that lousy Cynthia Torqueman. This wasn't Earth. "Where am I?" ************* to be continued later-- Thanks to those of you who've given me feedback! Also, Ali wrote awhile back: >Yes, and on that subject..... there was a mostly sensible post from >Gharlane on rastb5mod about not putting stories on the newsgeoups. >She promptly ruined it for me by slagging off the creative list as a >bunch of people who could not be bothered to invent their own >universe to write in. Considering how many professional writers have >(a) written trek and other stuff and (b) gone pro through writing fanfic, >this ticked me off no end. I'm behind on reading the newsgroup. Could someone tell me the subject line for the post? I want to see how bad this Gharlane-person "went off" on the creative list. From REWisian@aol.com Sun Aug 4 01:31:46 1996 Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 18:29:18 -0400 From: REWisian@aol.com Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: -30- Part 6 Here's part 6 (just when you thought you were finally rid of me). Babylon 5 is the property of JMS, Cecily is my character, but I don't care. Feedback--aw, you know the story...REWisian@aol.com Part 6 Garibaldi looked at the kid. She was pale to start with, but when she saw him walk in, she turned the color of chalk. Susan and Delenn came in behind him. The girl's eyes grew until he thought they would pop clean out of her skull. "Where am I?" the kid blurted. Garibaldi turned to Ivanova. The Commander shrugged. "You're on Babylon 5," he said. Cecily closed her eyes a minute. "You mean, I'm not in a Juvenile Facility?" Garibaldi looked over at Ivanova a second time. "No, this is Babylon 5's Medlab," Ivanova said. "Do you remember what happened to you?" Cecily didn't seem to hear the quetion. She had sunk back against the pillows, looking dumbfounded. *Babylon 5?* a voice in her head screamed. *You're on Babylon 5?* "Excuse me," Dr. Hobbs said coming into the room. "The patient needs to eat. I said you could see her, but your questions will just have to wait." "But-" Garibaldi began. "Goats 'butt', horses 'ney' and people in this medlab listen to me," Hobbs said firmly. "You can come back this evening. Cecily is going to eat, and then she is going to rest. I don't want you pestering her with questions until later." Garibaldi didn't appreciate being told off by a doctor, but she did have the power in this situation. If he didn't toe the line he'd be wating until the kid was completely recovered before he could ask her anything. "What time?" he asked. "You can check back at around 1600 hours," said Hobbs. He nodded, and left. Ivanova shrugged. "See you later," she said walking out. The Delenn bowed to the girl. She looked a little reluctant to leave, but she followed Ivanova out the door. Hobbs left as well. Cecily was left wondering why they didn't bother to introduce themselves. *So I'm on Babylon 5* she thought. She looked down at her plate, and then over at her jammed finger and groaned. **** "Why did they even bother telling us she was awake if they weren't going to let us talk to her?" asked Garibaldi as Ivanova and Delenn caught up to him in the hall. "Well, gee, maybe because we kept asking about her," Ivanova said sarcastically. "Did you notice the look on her face when we walked in?" "Yeah. It looked like she was being put infront of a firing squad," Garibaldi said. "Then when Delenn walked in she looked like she was going to lose it." "Lose what?" Delenn asked. Ivanova snickered. "It's another human saying. It means she looked like she was going to--" Garibaldi ran through a list of similar terms searching for one the Ambassador would understand, "panic." "Oh." "I suppose we're going to have to content ourselves with guessing why she's here," Ivanova said getting serious. "Take your pick, bad home life, social problems," Garibaldi shrugged. "Teenagers are strange." Ivanova thought a moment. "She said something about a Juvenile Facility. That might imply that she was having trouble with the law. Maybe it was seeing uniforms that scared her when we walked in." "We'd know who to suspect if medlab supplies started disappearing," Garibaldi said. "What is this 'Juvenile Facility'?" Delenn spoke up. Ivanova had forgotten the Ambassador was still standing there. "It's a generic term,"said Ivanova. "Usually it's used when referring to Juvenile prison, but it could be any place for helping kids with problems." "We can't be sure if that's the case here," Garibaldi said, "but if I had to bet on it..." Ivanova ran down a list of reasons in her head. "Why bother guessing? With Clarks little rules down there, she could be in trouble for just about anything. For all we know she could be running from psicorps," Ivanova said. She suddenly stopped. "Actually that might make sense." Garibaldi shrugged before she could finish. "Can't discount that theory yet. I'll go check up on this kid. See you ladies later." Garibaldi headed off down the corridor. *** Capt. Sheridan stood in C&C staring out the window. Ivanova walked in from her lunch break. "The girl is awake," she said without preamble. Sheridan turned to look at her. "She is?" he asked. "Have you found out anything about her?" "Yes, no. She's awake, and the doctor said she should be fine, but we can't question her yet. Dr. Hobbs thinks it would be better if she rested a little longer," Ivanova said dryly. Her tone said she neither approved nor disapproved. "She didn't even know where she was when we came in. She thought she was in a Juvenile Facility on Earth." "A Juvenile Facility? Does medlab look _that_ bad?" he asked, trying to laugh. Ivanova shrugged. "I suppose we'll find out when Hobbs let's us talk to Cecily this evening." "So, she has a name," Sheridan said. "I love being the last to know." "Sorry," Ivanova said. "Garibaldi's still trying to check up on her, but Earth's giving him hell." "Well, considering our postion..." Sheridan trailed off. "Yes, sir," said Ivanova. "We ran down a list of reasons why she was running away. Trouble with the law jumped out at us because of the mention of a Juvenile Facility, and the look on her face when we walked in the door. I think the uniform might have worried her." "Well, if she's a little shoplifter, then we'll have her on a transport home as soon as she can travel." "But if she's just a little shop-lifter, then she isn't the reason the ship was attacked," said Ivanova. "I--what? Centauri transport, this is Babylon control. Get back in your holding pattern, or it's going to be a lot longer than an hour before I let you dock!" *** "Bingo," Garibaldi said to an empty room. Busting into Earth resources wasn't easy, but he'd made it his job to know how to do it. "Hammett, Cecily Lynette. Born 25 January 2245," the information read. *Identicard looks okay so far*. He scanned down the screen past the garble of usual information. He changed to the next screen and his eyes widened involuntarily. "Garibaldi to Ivanova," he said. "Ivanova here." "This kid is hotter than a two dollar pistol," he said. "I'm looking at Earth's records on her. They've got alerts all over her. One step away from a blatant price on her head. Oh hell..." Garibaldi mumbled. "What?" Ivanova demanded. "I'll get back to you," he said, cutting the link. Earth had found him poking around in their system and were trying their hardest to keep him out. *Too late* he thought as he worked to save as much of the information as he could. *I've seen enough* The screen came up with a flashing "Access denied". Garibaldi leaned back. He went back to what he'd managed to get out before the lock up. Only the basics were there and the first sentence of an alert. Earth wanted that kid. The Shadows had almost killed her, and he still didn't know why. *** Delenn checked the time again. She didn't know just why she was so anxious to talk to the girl in Medlab. She felt sorry for the child, and she was curious. She didn't know _why_ she was curious, but she was. She left her quarters without telling Lennier. She knew well that if she said anything to him, he would insist on coming with her. Hobbs had said to come at 1600 hours, but Delenn didn't want to wait another hour and a half. She was sure Hobbs could be reasoned with, as long as she promised not drill the child with questions. *Child?* she thought *Do they still consider her a child?* She remembered the mouse down in security. Smiling to herself, she took a quick detour from Medlab. *** Cecily sat staring around. Dr. Hobbs had sedated her, but it must not have been strong enough, because here she was awake after only 2 hours sleep. Her stomach rumbled. She glanced at the tray that was sitting on the table. Someone had covered it while she was asleep. It was within her reach, but that didn't solve her lack of hands. With the lid on it, she'd never get to eat. She forced her mind into concentrating on the food, on the room, on the dull pain that remained after the painkillers, anything to keep from pondering her situation. *What now?* she kept thinking. She tried not to answer that. She _couldn't_ answer that--yet. She reached for the dish. If nothing else it would provide her with a puzzle to keep her mind off of other things. The lid proved to be impossible to open without hands that worked properly. A refrigeration mechanism in the dish had kicked in; she could tell that much. Her food would be cold if she ever got to it. *Face it* she told herself *You're temporarily helpless. You better hope they have some pity on you. You're gonna need it.* She put the dish back on the table and glared at it. She was still glaring when Ambassador Delenn came in. **** to be continued later-- Capt. Camelot (Cammy Wisian)