From: "Gary Boshears" Subject: Darkness Wakes The Special Edition Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2000 17:28:58 -0500 Here it is, the first part of the completely re-written and re-worked version of my story Darkness Wakes. Enjoy and send comments. Babylon 5: Darkness Wakes The Special Edition Part One: 2272 Starring: Liam Neeson as Admiral Jerry Barns Tracy Scroggins as Captain Elizabeth Lochley Marjorie Monaghan as Tessa Halloran George Clooney as Captain Mike Taylor Colm Meaney as Captain Edward MacDonald Terry Farrell as Captain Sarah McDouglass Jennifer MacDonald as Commander Alyssa Price Simon Billig as Greg Giovoni Jennifer Aniston as Captain Leslie Griffon Madeleine Stowe as Julia Rourke Also-Starring: Natalie Portman as Julia Tikopai Bruce Boxlietner as President John Sheridan Donna Murphy as General Lillian McDouglass Anthony Zerbe as General William Pack Marshall Teague as Ta'Lon Todd Wilson as Colonel Nathan Meade Robert Duncan McNeil as Commander Connor MacKenzie Ewan McGregor as Captain Gene Summers With Mark Hamil as Senator William Cutler And Malcolm McDowell as General Na'Goth << Overture >> General Pack's Residence Geneva, Earth January 5th, 2272 0400 Earth Standard Time On any normal day, General William Pack would not have been awake this early. This morning, the General was preparing to leave for Babylon 5 for quite possibly the largest gathering of military leaders ever. Generals from all across the Interstellar Alliance would be arriving there to see Jerry Barns officially sworn in as Admiral of the new Allied Military. There would then be days of conferences discussing various strategic defense situations. He stopped to think for a minute. Jerry Barns. He had been following that man's career since he first joined Earth Force during the Minbari War. He had never met another man who had such a grasp of strategy and tactics. Barns was the only man considered by President Sheridan for this position and, in Pack's opinion, the only person who needed to be. As much as the two may have disagreed in the past, Pack knew Barns was right for this job. Pack normally did not enjoy being awake at this time though, on this particular day, he was glad he was. The communications system in his office came to life, flashing that there was an incoming priority one signal. The General finished buttoning his uniform jacket and went to answer the signal. "This is General Pack," he said, his voice displaying that he was still slightly tired. "General," a young voice which he was unable to recognize replied. "There is an emergency situation sir, you're needed at HQ immediately." Pack sighed. Three weeks before retirement and they still felt the need to call him for everything. "I'm on my way." He said as he deactivated the communication's system and headed for the door. *** Earth Force HQ Geneva, Earth 0412 EST General Pack wasted no time in reaching the situation room once he arrived at HQ. When the door slid open, after he had entered his access code, he saw that the room was bustling with activity. Dozens of officers ranging from Generals to Junior Lieutenants scurried about the room in what seemed like a rather disorganized fashion. "General Pack," the voice of General Lillian McDouglass came from his left. He turned to see her walking towards him, happy that he did not have to try and find her in this gaggle of people. "What's the situation General?" He asked as she handed him a report. He opened the folder and began to thumb through it as she summarized it for him. "The EAS Columbus was on the other side of what used to be Vorlon territory on a fairly routine survey mission." Pack closed the folder and glanced up at General McDouglass, slightly annoyed with her. "You're not telling me anything I don't already know General." McDouglass sighed slightly. "Sorry General." She continued. "At any rate, we stopped receiving signals from them a couple of hours ago. At first we thought it might just be a problem with the communication's relay system but then we picked up a faint signal saying that they were under attack," she paused, her voice became softer. "We haven't heard anything since then." "Could it possibly just be technical difficulties?" Pack asked, hoping for a positive response to the question, knowing that he would likely not get one. "It's possible but doubtful." McDouglass replied. Pack walked to the center of the room and took a seat at the main planning table, McDouglass sat down at the closest chair to his right. "Tactical options?" Pack asked. McDouglass activated the master tactical display board which zoomed in on the area of space close to where the Columbus had disappeared. "The Seventh Fleet was chasing down a rather large group of raider's that decided to try and hide in Vorlon space," various green lights were displayed indicating the position of the fleet. "As soon as we lost contact with the Columbus, I ordered them to get into a position to jump into the system. They're standing by now, we just need to give them the go order." Pack hesitated slightly. There were thousands of people with the Seventh Fleet, dozens of ships. If the Columbus had in fact been destroyed, was it wise to send an entire fleet into a potentially dangerous situation? "Send one destroyer and a few Search and Rescue units. Have the rest of the fleet hold back in hyperspace." "Yes sir," General McDouglass said as she stood and went to carry out his orders. She had considered questioning them but, after working with Pack for as many years as she had, she knew it would do no good. EAS Black Wolf Outer Edge of Vorlon Territory 0420 EST The bridge of the Omega Class Destroyer was dimly lit with flashing red lights. The mood was tense as they prepared to jump into the system where the EAS Columbus had apparently disappeared in. The ship shot into normal space at the Captain's order, followed by three of the larger S&R units. Thunderbolt and Starfury fighters pored from the launch bay of the destroyer, assuming a defensive posture around it and the S&R ships. "Getting anything?" The Captain asked the Lieutenant at the operations station. The young Lieutenant quickly checked all of the sensor displays once again, making sure that he was not missing anything. "No sir. Not," he paused slightly as he checked a new reading on the sensors. "Wait . getting something. A large field of debris in orbit of the first planet." "Can you identify it?" The Captain asked, his voice gaining intensity. "Is it the Columbus?" The Ops officer looked up from the sensor displays and to the Captain. "If it is, then it's been shot up so badly that there isn't a big enough piece left to identify but, judging by the amount of debris, it had to have come from an Explorer Class vessel." The Captain was silent for a moment, contemplating the loss of the ship and it's crew. "Alert fleet command and begin a thorough scan of the system for ." "Captain!" The officer at the tactical station raised the alarm. "We have incoming!" Earth Force HQ Geneva, Earth 0427 EST "What happened?!?" Pack exclaimed as he saw the Black Wolf and the S&R ships disappear from the tactical display. "We've lost contact sir. General White is requesting permission for the rest of the fleet to go in," General McDouglass said frantically. Pack sighed and nodded. "Issue the go order." Pack believed that the large force of warships would be able to handle whatever was in that system. He did not understand what had just begun and what it would mean, not only for Earth but for the galaxy. To be continued... From: "Gary Boshears" Subject: Babylon 5: Darkness Wakes The Special Edition Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 00:46:49 -0500 Enjoy and send comments. <<< Part One >>> Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 0505 EST Jerry Barns seemed to distinctly remember President Sheridan explaining that one of the benefits of taking the job of "Supreme Interstellar Alliance Military Commander" was that he would be able to sleep in before going to work, a benefit that he was not allowed as the commanding officer of an Earth Force destroyer. Yet here, on a day when he had not even officially been sworn in yet, his link was chiming, which could only mean that there was something which required his immediate attention or at least, something that his staff felt required his immediate attention. He reached over to his bed stand, fumbling around for a few seconds to pickup his link. "Barns . go," he said after finally picking it up. He had been up until early this morning familiarizing himself with the positioning of nearly every military vessel in the entire Interstellar Alliance. It was a great deal of information but it was a necessary evil for this job. "Admiral," the voice on the other side was clear and lively. "This is Director Halloran. We have a situation, I need to meet with you immediately." Barns sighed. Why was it that "situations" seemed to seek him out. He had thought that leaving the Dark Thunder and Earth Force would have quelled them a bit, but in the past four years, he had still seen as much trouble as he had in all his time with Earth Force. "Give me fifteen minutes, then you and Captain Taylor meet me in my office." With that, Barns toggled his link off. Fifteen minutes gave him just enough time to start a pot of coffee, take a shower, get dressed and get to his office. As he got out of bed, he found himself replaying the short conversation with Tessa in his head. There was a tone in her voice that he was unable to recall ever having heard from her before. Granted they had not been working together long, but something about this tone of voice seemed like it did not fit her. It sounded like she was afraid. *** Admiral Barns casually returned the salute that the two guards at his office gave him. From most guards, he would not usually expect a salute. These guards however were top Earth Force Special Security, a contingent of them had been assigned to Babylon 5 strictly for the protection of him and his staff. While President Sheridan had initially believed that the Rangers should handle the security, Barns had successfully lobbied to have the Earth Force troops assigned. Not that he had anything against the Rangers, he simply felt a bit more comfortable with Earth Force handling the security; likely a result of having served in Earth Force for all of his adult life. He entered his office to see both Tessa Halloran and Captain Mike Taylor, his adjutant, with decidedly worried expressions. " 'Morning Admiral," Captain Taylor said as Barns was taking his seat. The Admiral immediately picked up the concern in his voice. "Good morning Captain," the Admiral said, sitting down at his desk. He took another quick sip of his coffee and then looked to Tessa. "So, Miss Halloran, care to explain what's going on to me?" Tessa wasted no time. She handed black folders that were marked with the Interstellar Alliance emblem and a classified documents tag to both Barns and Taylor. "A few hours ago, Earth Force lost contact with the EAS Columbus, an Explorer class ship assigned to conduct survey missions of the unexplored territory on the other side of what was previously Vorlon space." She paused then continued. "Earth deployed the Seventh Fleet to the area. Now the fleet has disappeared as well." Barns closed the folder and looked directly at her. "You're tell me, that an entire Earth Force fleet has just disappeared?!?" He said, trying to make himself believe that this was some first day orchestrated by his two comrades. "Disappeared and presumed destroyed." Tessa added grimly. Barns sighed and nodded slowly. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. At least this situation did warrant Tessa getting him out of bed. "All right," he said after a moment of silence. "Let's play this cool. Tessa, get on a secure channel and brief President Sheridan. I'll contact the White Star Fleet commanders. Mike," he said turning his head slightly to face Captain Taylor. "Setup a meeting with Generals Pack and McDouglass when they arrive on the station in a couple of days." He paused once again, considering his next move. "Now, I want a total media blackout on this. Nobody else finds out unless they have high level security clearances." "What about the rest of the member worlds sir?" Taylor questioned. "No," Barns said shaking his head. "I don't want to alarm them unless it is absolutely necessary." He rubbed his head slightly with one hand, trying to fight off a headache. "We can at least try to get through this damned swearing in ceremony first." The Admiral leaned back slightly in his chair. "Let's get to it people." On cue, both Tessa and Taylor left his office. Barns was tempted to try and catch a few more minutes of sleep in his office but knew he would not be able to, not with the news he was just given. Instead he turned to face the communication's monitor located behind his desk. He toggled his link on, "Barns to C&C." "C&C online," the response came as quickly as it always did. "Get me a secure channel to the IAS Victory, Captain Edward MacDonald." IAS Victory - Victory Class Destroyer On Standard Patrol - Narn/Centauri Border 0545 EST Captain Edward MacDonald was having trouble sleeping this morning. After tossing and turning in bed for an hour or two, he finally decided to get up and take a stroll around his new command. The Victory was the first of the first full production line of Victory Class Destroyers. When his long time friend and CO Jerry Barns began working with the Alliance a couple years back, he pulled some or more correctly a lot of strings to be sure that MacDonald got his pick of a ship from that construction line. When he was presented with the choice, there was something that appealed to him about the Victory. Probably the name of the ship he thought. It had a long and proud heritage and he hoped to expand upon that. Even if he would only command the ship in peacetime. As MacDonald found himself glaring out one of the viewports on the Victory, his link chimed. "MacDonald, go." He answered quickly. "Sir, this is Commander MacKenzie," his Executive Officer said on the other end. "You have a secure comm. coming in from Babylon Five, it's Admiral Barns." Normally MacDonald would be pleased that his old friend was calling him. Barns and he rarely got the opportunity to talk anymore. When the Admiral used a secure channel though, he knew it meant that he was not making a courtesy call. "I'll take it in my office," MacDonald replied and toggled his link off. He was only a short distance from his office and made it there in no time. The monitor already indicated that there was a transmission holding. "Computer, receive transmission, authorization MacDonald three nine gamma echo." When Barns' image appeared, MacDonald decided to plead ignorance that this was likely an important call and let the Admiral broach the subject. "Admiral," MacDonald said with a slight smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Barns answered quickly, his voice filled with concern and what MacDonald could almost identify as fright. "I wish it could be just calling to see how things were going on the Victory." "But you wouldn't be using a secure channel if it was." MacDonald commented with a hint of sarcasm. "Exactly," Barns said with a nod. "Mac, we've got a . well, potentially a rather large problem." While he acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, MacDonald squeezed in a hint of a smile. "Why do those always seem to follow us Admiral?" Barns smiled slightly as well. "I suppose we're just that lucky." The Admiral paused slightly. "Now, down to business. Earlier today, Earth Force lost contact with the Seventh Fleet on the other side of what used to be Vorlon territory." Any hint of a smile remaining on MacDonald's face vanished. "I certainly hope that you're kidding me." Barns shook his head. " 'Fraid not Captain. We're not entirely sure what our plan of action is going to be at the moment but I want you to take the Victory into Vorlon territory. Don't go too far, just far enough in so that we can show the flag. Let whoever has decided to start picking off our ships that we mean business." MacDonald nodded. "We'll get underway immediately sir." There was a slight pause. "Admiral, what do we do if we're engaged by a hostile force?" "Defend yourself but get out alive." Barns seemed to know the answer to that question before it was asked. "Good luck Captain MacDonald. Barns out." The transmission ended. MacDonald leaned back in his chair and sighed. Vorlon territory, if there was one place that he did not want to go back to, it was Vorlon territory. He toggled his link on. "MacDonald to MacKenzie." "MacKenzie here sir." "You're going to love this one Commander," MacDonald said sarcastically. Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 0700 EST To Captain Elizabeth Lochley, it seemed just like another average day, with the obvious exception that the station was playing host to several dozen military leaders from across the Alliance. Still, nothing seemed all that different. People moved on about their daily routines just as they usually would. When she stopped for her cup of coffee and breakfast as she did every morning, she noticed Admiral Jerry Barns seated at a table not far from her, busily going through a folder filled with reports. She and Barns had known each other for quite some time and had seen their share of action together. She stood, walked to his table and sat down across from him. "Captain, you're never going to take that promotion and transfer are you?" Barns said casually, not looking up from the reports. Lochley smiled. Even though the Admiral sounded serious, she understood his subtle sense of humor. "What can I say? I have an interesting job here." Barns looked up from the reports and smiled slightly. Lochley could read the expression on his face and she instantly knew that something unpleasant was going on. "Not that I mind having you around of course," Barns commented. Lochley allowed herself a slightly larger smile. The Admiral was slightly charming in his own way, something she had noted over the years. "It's going to be nice having you and Mike on the station. I was glad that you made Babylon Five the command post for the ISA military." Barns shrugged. "It's a logical choice, more centralized location. Plus," Barns grinned slightly, leaning closer to Lochley. "I like to be closer to the front lines. Let all of the politics happen on Minbar where it's safe. If we're ever in another conflict, this is where the action will be." Lochley smiled and shook her head. "Even when they strap you to a desk they can't keep you away from the front lines." "You'd better believe it," Barns said as he went back to reviewing the papers in the folder. Lochley took note that it was marked with a classified documents stamp. "So," she decided to simply bring it to the light. "Care to tell me what ." Barns cut her off before she could finish. "I can't at the moment Captain, I'll brief you as soon as I can though." "I understand," she said softly. Although she was slightly disappointed, she did understand the need for security in some matters. After a few more minutes of casual conversation with Admiral Barns, Lochely's link chimed, she was needed in Command & Control. EAS Dark Thunder - Omega-X Class Destroyer Neutral Territory 0843 EST "Target locked Captain!" Captain Leslie Griffon was quick to react after the tactical officer shouted that report. "Fire!" At her command, two large beams of blue energy from the front of ship shot forward, piercing the hull of the raider battlewagon directly in front of them, causing it's reactor to go critical. "Target destroyed Captain," the tactical officer reported, his voice calming slightly. "But we've still got two of them out there. Main lasers won't be recharged for another eighteen seconds." As Captain Griffon well knew, eighteen seconds could be an eternity in battle, even if the battle was against poorly constructed raider warships. Luckily, she was not planning on simply sitting here for that amount of time. "Transmit the signal," she said calmly to the operations officer. He quickly ran his fingers across the communications controls. "Signal transmitted." The scene in front of the Dark Thunder rapidly changed. Between and behind the two battle wagons, a jump point formed. From the jump point came the EAS Cerberus, a newly designed strike cruiser. Before the jump point had closed, it had already opened fire with a large array of lasers and pulse cannons, destroying another battlewagon. "The Cerberus reports that they have weapons locked on target. Our weapons are standing by." Captain Griffon wasted no time. The Dark Thunder and the Cerberus had been chasing this raider group for more than a month, it was time for it to end. "Fire." Weapons from both of the ships carved until the hull of the raider vessel, leaving it nothing but a burning hulk of metal. Griffon exhaled slowly. "Stand down from battle stations." She said, her voice showing it's usual calmness for the first time since this battle began. "Captain," the operations officer said. He waited until he was sure he had her attention before proceeding. "Incoming signal from the Cerberus, it's Captain McDouglass." Griffon nodded. "Put it through." Seconds after she gave the order, the image of Captain Sarah McDouglass appeared on the comm. screen next to her chair. "Looks like a pretty good day's work to me Captain," Griffon commented. McDouglass nodded. "That it was. Good to finally be rid of these guys." She paused slightly, her mood seemed to lighten a bit. "You know Captain, at maximum burn we could make it to Babylon Five in just enough time to be able to see Admiral Barns sworn in." Griffon smiled. Jerry Barns, they had kept in touch with each other since he had left Earth Force, they had even bumped into each other a couple of times since then. It had been close to six months since she had seen him in person. It would be nice to be able to catch up a bit. "You want to lead the way or should I?" Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 1020 EST Admiral Jerry Barns was, to say the least, in a hurry. Between going over the Seventh Fleet's disappearance and contacting various White Star Fleet commanders, he had completely forgot about his meeting with one of the Drazi Generals on the station. He wanted to discuss increased raider activity in Drazi territory over the last few days and likely request the assistance of the White Stars in dealing with them. Barns had been rather tempted to cancel the meeting so he could deal with more urgent matters but, knowing how the Drazi would probably react to that, he deemed it best to simply go and get it over with as soon as possible. As Barns rounded a corner, it seemed his mind was focused on other things as he carelessly charged into another person who was coming around the same corner from the opposite side. "I'm sorry," he said, recovering. The woman he had ran into was relatively young with a light complexion and long blonde hair that seemed to have a slight red tint to it. Barns instantly began walking away, still trying to make his meeting on time. "Admiral!" The woman said loudly, obviously trying to get his attention. He stopped and turned around to face her. "Sir," she said. "I'm Commander Alyssa Price." The Admiral looked puzzled, obviously not recognizing her name. She smiled slightly. "The attach, from Earth Force that you requested sir." "Oh yes," Barns said as he walked over to shake her hand. "I'm sorry I was unable to greet you when your transport came in." "Not a problem sir, I realize you're probably very busy." "You could say that," Barns said with a slight grin. "Looks like a brand new set of Commander's bars," the Admiral commented, lightly tapping the rank bars on one of her shoulders. "Just awarded to me before I came to Babylon Five sir." "Congratulations," Barns started to walk off again but turned quickly back around. "I have a lot of business to attend to today but perhaps we could meet later to discuss your job here and some of the current situations. Dinner tonight perhaps?" She smiled and nodded. "I'd love to." "Good," he started walking off again. "Twenty thirty hours at the Fresh Air Restaurant." Now that she had "checked in" with the Admiral, Price decided that she had better go to see Captain Lochley, this being her station after all. *** "You're still picking it up?" Lochley asked as she briefly glanced at the sensor display Lieutenant Jeffries was studying. Jeffries responded quickly. "Yes ma'am. We can't identify it but there is definitely some sort of anomalous energy reading out there. Our hyperspace probes are barely picking it up but it's there." Lochley sighed and shook her head. Although this job did keep her life interesting, it could also be damn frustrating at times. "Is there anything we can do to get a better analysis of the readings?" "I've tried having some of the ships around the station initiate scans but they haven't had any more luck than we have. We can't identify it and we can't localize it." Jeffries said as he continued to run sensor sweeps. Lochley noted that she liked how he seemed to waste no time. "Well then," Lochley said, having become quite frustrated with this. "I don't see that there's much we can do at the moment except keep an eye on it." She continued studying the display for a moment. "What's the position of White Star Prime?" Jeffries quickly entered a command into the computer. It then displayed the exact position of President Sheridan's ship. "They're about twenty hours out Captain." Lochley crossed her arms and nodded. "All right, as soon as they're within range I want you to dispatch a full fighter escort. Just to be on the safe side, we're going to a quiet alert level two as of now." Lochley was sure to put extra emphasis when she said quiet. The last thing they needed right now, with so many VIPs onboard the station, was a panic. NRS R'Tal - Narn Bin'Tak Class Dreadnought Hyperspace - Near the Centauri Border 1947 EST Warleader Na'Goth sat silently, starring at the situation ahead of him. The rest of the fleet had formed up with his command ship, the R'Tal. It was the only dreadnought to survive their first war with the Centauri. It then participated in actions against the Shadows and in support of Sheridan's campaign against the corrupt Earth President. It then participated in, as Na'Goth had been known to put it, the delivering of justice to Centauri Prime. Since then, she continued to serve the Regime well, as she would today. "Sir," the Narn at the weapons station to his right said calmly. "The IAS Victory has left the border at maximum velocity." Na'Goth nodded. The Victory had been the only obstacle in his plan. Now it was gone and their path was clear. He took a deep breath, now was the time when they would see what their destiny had in store for them. "Order the fleet to enter assault formation. Begin the attack." As the engines of the ship came to life, Na'Goth could feel their triumph approaching. "There are times when the sword must strike, even when the wielder does not wish it to." The Narn fleet began moving slowly ahead, followed secretively by a single ship. *** Julia Tikopai watched from the bridge of the Shard of Night as the Narn fleet in front of them began moving. She did not like it. She did not like it at all. The Narns had been keeping quiet for some time, this sudden movement of such a large force of ships likely meant that they were about to make some noise. "Can you extrapolate their course?" She asked quietly. After a few minutes of running computer computations, the Ranger at the helm station answered, his voice grim. "You'd better take a look at this." Julia rose quickly and examined the display. The results did not please her in the least. "Pursuit course," she ordered. "How long until they reach that location?" "Approximately eighteen hours. They're moving slowly, probably trying to not set off the early warning system before they absolutely have to." She sighed. "Let's get on the comm." As the crew went to their duties, the Shard of Night continued pursuing the Narn fleet. Space Station Babylon 5 Orbit of Epsilon 3 2030 EST It had been a long day for Admiral Jerry Barns. He had barely found the time to make it back to his quarters to shower and change from his uniform into civilian clothes. The rest of his day had either been spent compiling reports on the Seventh Fleet disappearance or meeting with various Generals from the Alliance member worlds regarding a sudden increase in the amount of raider activity against them. Something about this increase in raider activity had him concerned. All of the attacks seemed very sudden and very well organized. It was not uncommon for raiders to have organized activities within a small section of space but these were organized across dozens of systems. It had worried him enough for him to dispatch several squadrons of White Stars to assist the member worlds in tracking these raiders down. Barns had decided to try and put it out of his mind for the time being. The White Stars would deal with it. He arrived at the restaurant just in time. Commander Price was already there, having changed from her uniform into a blue silk dress. "Admiral," she said to him with a smile and a nod. "Commander, you look lovely this evening." Barns almost thought he could see her blushing slightly. "Thank you sir." "Well," the Admiral said, gesturing at the restaurant. "Shall we?" The two of them were escorted to their table and given menus. Barns, who had been here on several occasions, went straight to looking at the menu. Price on the other hand, looked around the restaurant first. "Nice place," she said casually. "Yes it is," Barns set his menu down. "Tell me Commander, is this your first time on Babylon Five?" "Yes it is," she paused briefly to begin studying her own menu. "I made sure to familiarize myself with any documents on it that I could get my hands on though." Barns lightly chucked at that comment. "There's a lot that isn't covered in documents and manuals." "Well, I suppose I'll have to learn as I go then." Barns nodded. "That's something that my entire staff is going to have to do. There's no real precedence for this. We are the first ISA Military Command staff ever. I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot of learning as we go, especially with whatever has happened to the Seventh Fleet." "Agreed." She set her menu down and took a sip of water. "Sir, if I may ask," she tried to decide how best to word this question. "Why am I here?" Barns set his water down after taking a long drink. "You mean, why did I specifically request an attach, from Earth Force?" She conceded. "I suppose that would be a better way of putting it." Barns cupped his hands together on the table and leaned forward slightly. "Earth was probably our greatest supporter in getting all of the other member worlds to agree to this. Asking people to differ military command decisions is not an easy thing to do but they supported us throughout it. And . the more personal reason of wanting my core staff to be mostly from Earth Force. There will be representatives on the staff from most member worlds of course." "Well Admiral, I hope I'll be able to do you proud." Barns smiled. "I'm sure you will," he said as he raised his glass to toast. "To the Alliance." Price tapped her glass lightly against his. "To the Alliance." As Barns was setting his glass down and beginning to look forward to an uneventful evening, his link chimed. He and Price both shared a look and a slight glance before he answered it. "Barns, go." "Sir this is Captain Taylor." "What is it Mike?" Barns asked. He was already starting to worry. The Captain would not have contacted him now unless it was for a very good reason and typically, very good reasons translated to trouble. "Sir, we just received a Flash Trans from the Shard of Night ." There was a long, discomforting pause. "They're tailing a Narn assault fleet that's advancing on a Centauri colony." Barns and Price both shot each other the same look. "War room, ten minutes." Was Barns' only response before deactivating his link. Both he and Price were already standing when he said, "I'm afraid we'll have to cut dinner short." To be continued ... http://www.armymenstudios.com/b5dw/ The Official Darkness Wakes Web-Site