From: SkyHawk Subject: The Babylon Files; Prologue Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 14:00:08 -0500 Note: this was originaly sent to an X-Files Fan Fiction mailing list. Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 13:55:27 -0500 From: SkyHawk To: b5-creatrive@lists.best.com TITLE: The Babylon Files(Prologue) AUTHOR: SkyHawk EMAIL ADDRESS: skabax@istar.ca DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: In as many XF Fan Fic forums as you can. Go nuts. SPOILER WARNING: Gethsmane. RATING: R CONTENT WARNING: Well, um, it's to early to really know..but expect everything and anything(exept slash). CLASSIFICATION: Crossover(Serial) SUMMARY: Mulder, Scully, and the 22nd Century incarnation of Jackie St. George, pop up on Babylon 5(circa 2260 A.D.) along with two other people. Will they ever make it back home? The above is strictly for use of Archivists, detailed notes follow. I suggest you read them if you havn't already in previous chapters. *DISCLAMER* All following characters, settings, and situations pertaining to the television shows 'Babylon 5', and 'The X-Files', including Sheryl Martin's 'Dragons' series of fan fiction stories, and the words to the 'I Mother Earth' song, 'One More Astronaut', are used without permission. All things pertaining to the CSIS Rangers, CSIS Agent Patrick 'Skybax' Clement, SkyHawk, and the 'The Long, Twilight Struggle' Universe belongs to me, and are my creations. This story may be reproduced, but only in it's entirety. *DISCLAMER* Notes on 'The Babylon Files', Book Two of the "The Hitchhiker's Guide To Babylon 5" series of fan fics: I'm a big fan of "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.", so I decided to name this ongoing epic of weirdness after it. Actually, I first got the idea for the title when my former co-author remarked while writing Book One(Why You Should Never, Ever Write Yourself Into Fan Fiction) that the story read like a Douglas Adams novel. BTW: Note that "The Hitchhiker's Guide To Babylon 5." is the over-all title of this series of books, you can read 'Book Two; The Babylon Files' without ever reading the other books and get along fine, that's why I'm suggesting that this be archived(in XF archives at least) under the title 'The Babylon Files'. Anywho, by the over-all series title alone, you can already tell that this isn't a regular Babylon 5/X-Files/Convergence type story(is there such a thing as a regular Babylon 5/X-Files/Convergence type story?? *Shrug* I dunno, but it ain't the plagiarized Jon Souza fan fic that it might look like at first, that's for sure), I'm going to try to mix a few of the best elements from 'Hitchhiker's Guide..'(humor, non sequiturs, spoofs on other sci-fie shows, and general weirdness), in Book 2 The X-Files will also play a part(eery mysteries, conspiracies, Mulder and Scully interacting, and X-File-ish resolutions to problems, the paranormal), with B5 as the setting(The great master story arc, characters evolving as the story progresses, thinly veiled jabs at Star Trek, realistic plots and scenarios & outcomes, poignant moments, tragedy, cool space battles, the Lord Of The Rings mystique, the Universe itself(be it a distorted mirror image of it)), all the while trying to make it all as true to life as possible. Expect some Red Dwarf references thrown in just for the heck of it. Hmmm, maybe I'm being a wee bit too ambitious.. Naah. Okay, for those you who don't know what 'Convergence' genre fan fic is, it's basically a story were a person from the real world(usually the author), and one or several characters from TV/Books/Movies/Games/other fan fictions get teleported to one time and place, usually to work together in order to solve a problem(often with intergalactic implications). The biggest(and most popular) story of this type is a round robin fan fiction story entitled 'Convergence'(after which the genre is named). I definitely suggest you go check it out when you have time. You can find it at: http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~morden/convergence/ I'm, sort of, borrowing a character(Jackie St. George of the 'Dragons' series of XF fan fics) from another fan fiction author(Sheryl Martin). It's such a great character, that I just couldn't resist. Hope she doesn't mind! Check out the 'Dragons' series when you have time at: http://www.chimera.simplenet.com/xfiles/dragon.htm And for those of you who aren't familiar with the Babylon 5 Universe, go check out the 'Lurker's Guide To Babylon 5'(http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/universe/intro.html), they have a special 'Babylon 5 Universe' section for those who wish to quickly and easely orient themselves within the B5 Universe. The next link contains a summary of Babylon 5's story arc (the 5-year plotline) up to, but not including, "Shadow Dancing", the B5 episode where this first chapter takes place, visiting and reading what's on this page is the easiest and fastest way of getting up to speed so that you won't get lost in the story. http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/background/065.shtml If you want more specific info about different stuff in the Babylon 5 Universe(People, Places, Things, Organisations, ect.) that are mentioned within this story, visit 'Voltayre's Encyclopidia Xenobiologica' at: http://www.infinicorp.com/VEX/ I don't think this 'fic qualifies as a XF relation shipper story, it hints at things, but doesn't say it out loud, just like the show. I also don't think(or so my friends tell me.. but that's another barrel of sturgeons(barrel of what?!?!)) that you can classify this in any one category.. It's an Alternate Universe/Crossover/Adventure/Romance/Mystery/Angst/Humor/Wh atever I can cram in here story. You know.. one of THOSE! ;^) But just for conveniances sake, you can put this under 'Crossover'. The Scully and Mulder characters are from a post-'Elegy' and pre-'Demons' setting. Initial Babylon 5 setting is 'Shadow Dancing', at the end of the third season. Warning: Possible B5 spoilers up too 'The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars' and 'No Compromises' *PHEW*! That's a THREE full pages of info, and the chapter hasn't even started yet! That's the problem with Convergance or Crossover type stories involving Babylon 5, it's such a rich tapestry of people, places, & stuff that it's really easy to get lost in the details if you never actually watched a few seasons of the show. Good thing that there's a ton of background info about B5 on the 'Net. Here's a plot summary: Two FBI agents we all know and love get teleported to Babylon 5(circa 2260 A.D.) for some mysterious reason they can't yet phantom, while the same thing happens to the 22nd Century incarnation of Jackie St. George, a futuristic Ranger, and also to the founder of the CSIS Rangers, Patrice Clement. Another being is thrown into the mix, to whom this has happened before... Why have they converged to this time and place? Will they ever make it back home? Read on and find out. ************************************************************ The Hitchhiker's Guide To Babylon 5. Book Two: The Babylon Files. By: SkyHawk Sponsored by: ISACTFFW(Internet Society Against Cruelty To Fan Fiction Writers) Prologue: Points Of Departure. Somewhere in Canada. 1997. "Headspace... Alive and painless, Weightless and almost sane I close my eyes, I become the sky Headspace... Alone and shameless Can't wait to find the faces I left behind in a troubled time Back Home.." As rock music from 'I Mother Earth' blared from the radio, he sat there, alone, save for the black moonlit sky, and the stars above. He liked to come out here on these all too rare, warm, windy, star filled nights in Eastern Canada, and tap away at his laptop Computer on the back porch. From there he could see the lush green river valley, hear the cry of the loons, the roar of the rapids, and the ethereal silence of space. The view lacked nothing to inspire, both night and day, but the impenetrable, eerie shadows that the moon cast at night where best when it came to writing dark, chilling mysteries. So it was now that he spun a tale of deceit and perplexing enigmas more complex and baffling than any spiders web know to humans. His head swam in the wheels within wheels of half-truths and lies he had created in advance for this yarn, the myriad possibilities flashed before his mind's eye, overwhelming him. He had no idea where it would lead him, he only knew that it would surprise. It would seem only fitting that the amazement would begin by striking at him. Once more. He typed the last sentence for the Prologue, and looked up at the vast and infinite star scape that stretched in out into the dark Abyss. He remembered another evening like this, so long ago.. A night that had started the great Odyssey, an adventure that rivaled even Homer's epic tales. He remembered that faithful night, which had marked the beginning of so much. Suddenly, a shooting star streaked across the heavens, and at the same moment in time, he heard a hawk cry out and a fox howl, it combined to form prophecy, just like in Greek legend. This time, he knew exactly what it meant. His head shot up and he looked upwards, a disbelieving look in his eyes. "Aw, *Hell*! Not agai.." A bright flash of light, and he was gone. But his words still hung in the air. The golden retriever lying nearby on the floor lifted up it's head and looked pointedly at where the teenage author had been sitting only moments before. Seeing what had happened, the dog decided to rest it's furry head back on his paws, and sighed tiredly. As the music played on into the night. "Bold are the ones who Come over the line to fall over The Horizon...Never ones to fade away Then it hit me, this Cosmic pull and energy It kinda makes me wonder If I'll ever make it Back home... Back Home.." **************** J. Edgar Hoover Building. Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters. Washington, D.C. United States of America. 1997. Special Agent Fox Mulder of the FBI was not a happy man. Aside from the usual annoyances, and the fact that his partner had an incurable form of mortal cancer, it also happened that he was buried under a mountain of paper work that day. In his line of work, a good 90% of it was just that, sitting behind a desk pushing papers like some bureaucrat, but since he had gained Scully a few years ago, he had become dependant on her to do a great deal of such chores. But now, because of her..illness, that responsibility had fallen solely to him. Since he had learned of her condition, Mulder had chosen to bury himself in his work, not to think about..it. The inevitable, what he wouldn't accept, yet must have know to be true. Still, as he pondered the vast amount of mind numbing paper work ahead of him, he silently wished that it would just all disappear.. That things would get back to normal.. One man's normal routine is another's bizarre experience. Fox Mulder thought he had seen the weird and fantastic before.. He was about to find out how much the Universe likes to show us when were wrong. A flash of light, and it was done. ***************** Washington, D.C. United States of America. 1997. She lay in the recovery bed at the hostital.. wondering. Not just of why she was there.. but of Life, the Universe, & Everything. You had a lot of time to think about these things when you were stuck in a hospital bed 'recuperating' from the treatments. The her, the very meaning of the word seemed absurd. She wasn't doing anything of the kind.. she was dying a lingering death.. This..*thing* inside her skull was killing her, slowly growing inside her like some parasite, getting closer to her brain with each passing hour. In some of her weaker moments, she longed for a quick end to this torture, for this slow demise was killing not only her body, but her soul.. And her partner. The fool, when she passed beyond the veil, he would no doubt charge down some self destructive path in blind grief and agony, only to end up dead himself in some dark alleyway, with Cancer Man holding the smoking gun. She wanted to shake some sense into him, to slap him and tell him that he did something stupid like that she would come back to haunt him, to not throw his life away, to make their work with the X-Files *mean* something. She.. she wanted to tell him so much. But she couldn't bring herself too. Not even now, when she had nothing left to lose. Perhaps this unwanted death sentence which shadowed her every moment recently had played a part in her choosing.. Perhaps. All that maters is that she was chosen, and so, with a flash of light, she went. ****************** Canadian Security Intelligence Service Headquarters. Ottawa, Canada. Monday, October 11, 2003. Paper work. The Universal pain in the @ss. If there were any pervasive constants in the infinite number of parallels realities which made up this Multiverse, paper work would no doubt be one of them. Patrice Clement, a.k.a. Skybax, acting Ranger One of the CSIS Rangers, was positive of that. Of course, his opinion on the mater was perhaps clouded by the fact that he was going on his fourth hour of reading progress reports, okaying requests, giving go aheads on the various investigations his division was running, reviewing the resumes and transfer applications of new candidates, and looking at the new case files.. Despite himself, he had become a damned bureaucrat, a paper pushing middle manager.. Well, he figured that it was small price to pay.. And it didn't overly interfere with his field work during the day.. Maybe St. George was right when she said that his pulling of double duty was going to burn him out before long, but he didn't care. He was convinced that his Rangers were making a real, concrete difference. He wasn't about to jeopardize that by letting someone else take the mantle of Ranger One, or abandon his own investigations. "Raelynn, what time is it?" The young, dark haired CSIS Agent spoke into his office's artificial night. The room was pitch black, with the hovering hologram before him offering the only light. "8:31 PM Eastern Standard Time, Pat. Take a break, you look tired." A female, disembodied voice offered from the surrounding obscurity. He stared with a disgusted look on his face at the Holo document before him. Enough. The half dozen transfer requests he'd gotten today could wait until later. Somewhere along the way since he first gathered that squad of somewhat colorful agents four years ago, the Ranger Division of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had become a much sought after assignment. Not because it would get you on the fast track for promotions up the Service ladder, but because of what they were doing. Not just the usual espionage, sabotage, foreign-influenced activities, political violence and terrorism, subversion, and about everything that fell under 'National Security', but they also looked into things that other people would just as soon ignore in the hopes that it would just quietly go away; cover-ups, conspiracies, and various matters that fell under the 'unexplained' category. Eventually, it had come to be that as soon as something weird or just plain creepy happened in Canada, a file about it would make it's way to a Ranger's desk. Patrice wouldn't have it any other way. He had his pick of cases, his freedom to pursue his investigations without interference from above, and more importantly, he and his people were getting results. Actual, concrete proof. Maybe it was the combination of this, maybe their natural curiosity, or the perception that his division was on the edge of know reality and human knowledge, pushing back the boundaries, shedding light on the mysteries of the unknown that drove them to become Rangers. Whatever their motivation, their goal was the same as his, to uncover the Truth, wherever it might be, whatever it might be. Sure, some had their eccentricities, like his partner, Jackie St. George, or the American Max Fenig, but they were dedicated and were among the best his country had to offer. Anyhow, this wasn't the time to reflect, it was a time to relax. "TV mode. Network: CBC." He commanded with a weary voice to the Holo projector on the desk in front of him. The ghostly three dimensional display flickered and changed to a flat 2-D format. Just in time to catch his favorite show; This Hour Has 22 Minutes. "To bad Jackie decided to go out alone on stakeout.. She's going to miss Rick Mercer's monologue again." Little did he know that he was going to miss it too. A flash of light, and he was gone to solve the ultimate mystery. **************** Europa Ice Mining Colony 4: New Toronto 2197. It wasn't always easy being a 22nd Century cop. Never mind an Earth Alliance Ranger, stuck on one of Jupiter's moons investigating corporate terrorism, industrial espionage, and ice smuggling. Of course, the fact that she was a Dragon, didn't help matters any either. "One more astronaut in black skin Of Universe One more travelin' man With heavy tired eyes, feeling cold Thinking around the clock of drinking On the job, of the powdered food And piss bags, never having sex and growing old.." As the old 20th Century rock music blared from her office's hidden speakers, she sighed and rubbed her temples, she was having another migraine. Trouble was coming. So far, Jackie St. George, named after and a direct descendant of the legendary CSIS Agent Jackie St. George, who was one of the first Rangers, had managed to avoid the attention of Psi-Corps, but they were a constant menace that overshadowed her every move. But for some reason, she didn't think that her headache was because of those cold blooded bastards.. No, it was something else.. She didn't know what it was, but Jackie was going to make 'em wish they were never born. St. George propped up her feet on her desk, knocking over a pile of reports. Grabbing her PPG from her holster, she checked the plasma cap, then popped it back in. The gun charged with an audible, high pitched whine, and Jackie re-holstered it under her worn leather combat jacket. Her hand fell the sword hilt at her side. The ancient family weapon was a comforting presence, sheathed in an antique, alien scabbard she had bought from an Centauri merchant on the Io Transfer Station. Jackie had the scabbard dated by a xenobiologist friend of hers there.. It was over a thousand years old, completely authentic, employed back when the Centauri fought close combat onboard starships using swords and shields to avoid puncturing the hulls with energy weapons and getting hit by the ricochet of their own slug-throwers, before they had Phased Plasma Guns. Jackie had first been attracted to the scabbard by the strange engravings on it; stylized depictions of mythical Dragons.. How a one thousand year old piece that pre-dates all Centauri contact with humans could have Dragons carved on it was beyond her..but that was the reason she had bought it. She was a Ranger, after all, and mysteries were her bread and butter. Activating her Link, she decided to sit back, and wait. Ranger St. George had learned a long time ago that she didn't need to go out and find trouble, it usually found her first. "One more astronaut in Endless old universe with One more second chance at Wondering why he's here at all..." At least a little action would change the monotony of the past few months.. She was used to dealing with wild and crazy shit no one else wanted to handle, or even talk about. Investigating dishonest business men as a favor for a friend wasn't exactly pushing back the boundaries of known reality. A change of pace was in order. And with a flash of light, she got what she wanted, but not the way she wanted it. ************* End Prologue.