From jon.souza@creature.com Thu May 9 20:24:10 1996 Date: Sun, 5 May 1996 18:31:57 GMT From: Jon Souza Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Dragons of the Tears 2-Episode 1, Part 1 u Two notes- Note #1-The events of this story take place, in theory, after "Dust to Dust" in the third season of Babylon 5. Note #2-Each of these stories are episodes. The start theme is the standard B5 theme, the end theme is "Anywhere Is" from the Enya *The Memory of Trees* CD. As always, any comments, compliments, complaints, flames, requests for FAQs, etc, etc, etc, can be sent to me at- Jon.Souza@Creature.Com NoDUI@AOL.Com Now for the disclaimers- "Dragon of the Tears II" is a story based on the PTEN/Warner Brothers show "Babylon 5." All characters not the creation of the author are the property of PTEN/Warner Brothers, Copyright@ 1996 PTEN/Warner Brothers. All other properties are the sole property of Jonathan Souza, Copyright @1996. This copyright will be transferred upon request to the authorized representatives of JMS/PTEN/Warner Brothers. All copyrights extend to electronic forms of this story. And now, to the future- _Dragon of the Tears-II_ _By Jon Souza_ _Episode One-The Wooden Men_ [Babylon 5] It's hard to imagine a construct of any sort five kilometers long. It takes a feat of imagination, and of faith, to imagine such. Now, imagine life in there-maintained by an intricate system of computers, machines, and biological systems. Over a million or so people lived in that five-kilometer construct, sometimes loving, sometimes hating, sometimes killing..... And, in one of the debarkment areas, where a person could leave their ship and enter Babylon 5, someone has scrawled something in red paint-using a liquid polymer pen normally used for applying paint in space. They had scrawled, in a casual, almost languid hand- IT ISN'T HELL, BUT YOU CAN SEE IT FROM HERE In the "mythology" of Babylon 5, rumor had it that some Narn with a sick sense of humor had placed it here, a warning that here, if not in the flesh then in the spirt, was Hell. Other rumors had it that a Earth Alliance soldier, off to fight somewhere that he knew he was about to die on, put it here to keep on that odd sense of faith he had in his own personal hell. There was another story, a story that said that someone knew exactly who had did it. And then she hunted them down. And ate their heart. If this was true, Susan Ivanova, Initiate of the Dragon, really needed to change her diet. Susan Ivanova was a Dragon. A odd hybrid being that was built to hunt down and kill Shadows. That she was human once was just a side-line she kept to herself somewhere. As well, she was Earth Alliance military, and had fought eight separate transfers to Earth Alliance labs for "research" on her Tears. Oh, her Tears. She had four of them, red gems the size of a quarter. Each of them was a source of power, and Ivanova could claim an uninterupted lineage of Tears to her progenitor, Watsuu Masakata. That she was a Tear-bearer could be claimed to be an accident of the worse sort. A dying Dragon desperatly needed someone to bear her mantle, and Susan Ivanova was the closest there. And Babylon 5 would soon be the closest thing there. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] "So," Ivanova asked, "what news of home?" "Not very much," Shalen said. Another Dragon, a two-Tear Adept, she had just arrived from Dragonhold and was here to report to the local Dragonlady, Washuu Masakata. She was Minbari, formerly a member of the Warrior Caste, and was claimed to have a wit just as sharp as her blade. "A lot of rumors, a lot of odd reports all over the place-the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, for example, have been really restless. The Centauri are making conquests all over the place, and there have been these odd reports about things happening across the border of Minbari space. This investigation of the killing of your President, for example, has the Night Watch's garders in a bind." "Watch your tongue...." Ivanova joked, then drew herself another cup of coffee. The two were in her quarters, Ivanova interviewing Shalen before Watsuu did. Watsuu was busy, trying to keep things from going to hell in a handbasket. "That's true, but is it all Shadow-influence? I've heard some rumors about the Warrior Caste back in Minbar that makes my hair curl." "I know," Shalen said. "The current clan leadership in the Warrior Caste has barely enough intellegence to jerk themselves off, let alone lead," and she faked a lady-like mistake, "oh, did I say that?" "But true," Ivanova replied. "But true," Shalen agreed. "That's what worries me. Actually, after I report to Watsuu, I plan to go back to Minbar and check up on my Grey Council contacts. Things back home are rather crazy, especially with the Centauri and such." "So, when you going back?" Ivanova asked. "After I report to Washuu, a few days. I've never been to Babylon 5, and I'd like to see the sights," Shalen said. "No problem. How about we meet for lunch, say, tomorrow?" Ivanova asked. "Only if you buy," Shalen replied, jokingly. "I'm not that rich." [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] Sheridan was frustrated. If any of the rumors that he heard from either Hague or his contacts on the League of Non-Aligned Worlds was true, then things were going to Hell in a handbasket. Reports of the Nightwatch, the Ministry of Peace's personal army, had "disbanded" a gathering on Vega II, with casulties in the hundreds. Of course, the reports were that the gathering was violent, and that the MiniPax personnel had fired in self-defense. Even ISN picked it up as such, despite the fact that someone got them live video that showed that the Nightwatch had fired first. An intense search for certian people who worked on a archeological dig on Mars, for FutureCorp. No names were mentioned, but it could only be Psi Corps hunting for them, the dig was at Syria Planeta. And Washuu offered to buy him dinner again. The third time that month. And Sherdian was scared. Washuu Masakata, the Oracle of the Dragon, the higest ranking Dragon on the station, had made no pretentions to her affection to Sheridan. And, if the look in her eyes was remotely accurate, her affections might include leather and whipping cream and latex.... "Shit," Sheridan said to the walls. He wasn't happy. Then his door beeped, a steady, strident note. "Come!" he yelled to whomever was outside. From jon.souza@creature.com Thu May 9 20:24:17 1996 Date: Sun, 5 May 1996 18:32:46 GMT From: Jon Souza Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Dragons of the Tear II-Episode 1, Part 2 (Continued from previous post) Delenn walked in, looked at the slightly haggared Sheridan, and said, "Are you feeling fine?" "Not really," Sheridan replied. "There's all these reports and Washuu invited me to dinner tonight...." "Oh? So it's going to be a threesome then?" Delenn asked. "What? She invited you too?" Sheridan said, shocked. "We're old friends, Washuu and I. It's been so busy around here that neither of us have had time for dinner. Now that we have some time free, I plan to take Washuu up on her offer of dinner. Are you coming?" Delenn asked again. How could he refuse? "I like that offer," Sheridan replied. "I accept. I'll meet you there at eight." "Then I'll see you there," Delenn said. [Earth] [San Diego-Unreclamed Area] The command organization of the group called "Bureau 13" was merely called Steele. They talked to their main liason to Bueau 13 in a sealed room, with thirteen floating black monoliths hanging in mid-air. Each of them had a number, and the voices were computer-altered, so much that the woman in charge of Bureau 13 didn't know who they were. And she had tried to find out. "Report," Steele 8, Finance and Econimics ordered. "We are having trouble," she said, "with penetraiting the Dragon organization. The loyalties of the group are almost astounding, and if we want to get someone in, we have to to try something different." "Have you tried sleeper agents?" Steele 4, Intellegence asked. "Both psionic and hypnotic conditioned. Implanted Tears break the conditioning and show just how they were manipulated-we lost two whole cells of agents when our infiltrators turned rogue," she said. "We have to capture one, that's the only solution I can see." "And how do you propose to do that?" Steele 11, Technology asked. "I don't know-yet. Conventional stun weapons are out of the question, Dragon biology is resistant to them, or at least that's what I heard. As well, the Tears are attached in some type of network that keeps every other Dragon informed of their nearest brethen," she replied. "But I think that if Exotics will help, we might be able to pull this off." "What do you want from us?" Steele 13, Exotics asked. "Here's my plan," she said, smiling. "Tell me what you think...." [Babylon 5] [The Blue Danube] "Is she normally this late?" Sherdian asked. "Relax," the man who sat across from him replied. "She likes the idea of being 'fashionably late', you know, just enough to cause people to talk among themselves. She'll be here." The man who was across from him was human, but Sheridan couldn't tell what his ethnicity was accuratly. If anything, he looked like some kind of hunting bird, cocking his head at odd angles. He wore a black dress suit that matched his black hair. His name, as he called himself, was a Stephen Greyhawk. That he was a Dragon himself could easily be seen-the collar of his suit was just short enough to show the top of the Tear in his neck. He was a Master, a five-tear Dragon-one in each arm, one in each leg, and one in the neck. "I never understood this idea of being late intentionally," Delenn said. "It always seemed....rude." "That's mostly because you've never done it yourself right," Washuu said from behind them. As the two pivoited, Washuu looked back at them, smiling. She was wearing a long dress of black and glitter threads-she looked like a river at night. It flowed perfectly with her body, and she sat down and said, "Shall we eat?" The conversation meandered, from religion to philosophy to local affairs. If anything, Sheridan was nervious at sitting across from Washuu and to Delenn's right. Not that he could note why, however, just that he was nervious. "So," Stephen asked, "are we going to discuss the situation on Earth?" "I've heard enough about that mess, thank you," Sheridan replied. "I agree," Stephen said, spearing more salad and eating it before continuing. "This should be a pleasent dinner, not a dicussion on problems we're all having." "You have been rather insistant," Delenn said, looking at Washuu, "about information about the political situation on Minabar. Is there a problem with your agents?" "Of course not," Washuu replied. "But we like an independent perspective whenever possible. To keep things even, you know. Besides that...." Watsuu said, then her terminal beeped. "Duty calls," Washuu sighed, then tapped it on. "Stephen," she said, "it's rather urgent. We'll have to go now." "That's all right," Sheridan said, starting to get up. Delenn was just behind him. "No, no," Washuu said, motioning for the two to sit down again. "This is *your* dinner. Enjoy it, because if you didn't, I'd feel guilty. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have work to do." As the two Dragons left, Delenn looked at Sheridan, Sheridan looked at Delenn. "Our dinner?" Delenn asked. Sheridan mulled over it for a minute, then said, smiling, "I think they're trying to play matchmaker for us." "Oh," Delenn said. A second later, she asked, "What's a matchmaker?" Down the hallways, Washuu was talking to Stephen. "What do you think?" "You're right, of course. The two love each other, even if they're too damn headstrong to realize it. I can't belive she's to be the other half of this 'One' thing, especially considering what her other half is going to be...." Stephen replied. "You met Sinclair?" Washuu asked. "Yes I did. He's a frigging robot! Here, I'll do my Sinciair impression," and Stephen patomined a stiff-limbed robot. "I... am.... Am...bass...a....dor.... Sin...clair..... Oh.... dear,....the... pla....net... is... about... to... blow... up... Not...ice... that.... I... have.... no... ex....press...ion...." Washuu giggled. "A little over the top, you say?" "A little too accurate," Stephen said warily. "But you know where this comes from." (Continued in next post) From jon.souza@creature.com Thu May 9 20:24:20 1996 Date: Sun, 5 May 1996 18:33:45 GMT From: Jon Souza Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Dragons of the Tear II-Episode 1, Part 3 (Continued from previous post) "Yea," Washuu replied. "The Vorlons-cum-Phoenix. Kosh will not be happy if we keep this up." "Screw Kosh," Stephen said. "This is perfect mortal love we're talking about here, and that stuff's damn rare." "I can't screw them-I don't have the equipment," Washuu said. "But if you decide to, wait at least until you're an Oracle. Or you get a lot more allies than just me." "Then we'll just have to watch Kosh get steamed, shall we?" Stephen said. "Of course," Washuu replied. "Kosh-baiting is one of my favorite hobbies. Oh, did you know that a new Adept is coming?" "Yea," Stephen replied. "First field assignment, eh? Who's her supervisor." "I was thinking about Susan Ivanova," Washuu said. Stephen paused for a second, then said, "Ivanova doesn't have the experience we need for this sort of thing." "But she's a good teacher," Washuu replied. "And that's something useful. Besides, Ivanova is going to have to do this some time or another. Why not now?" "Very well then," Stephen replied. "Do it." [Babylon 5] [Cargo Bay 12] Click. The crate had been carefully shipped, and the man sent to recover it looked it over very carefully before he opened it. Satisfied that all the safety seals were intact, and nobody gave it more than the most cursory of scans, he opened a side panel on the unit, revealing a small control panel, and a slot for a key. Carefully, the man removed the key from around his neck, and slit it into the slot. Counting silently, he waited six second before turning the key counter-clockwise. Nothing happened. Then, six mechanical latches on the crate *snick*ed open hard, and the crate opened, parting to allow a cold gas to collect along the floor. "Perfect," the man said longingly, looking at the dark shape inside the crate. [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] "But I really don't see the problem," Marcus said, pouring himself a cup of coffee along with Ivanova. "Considering what our duites are, we should be a lot more forthright about each other." "How can I do that?" Ivanova replied. "I don't know that much about you." "Well, I have all my shots," Marcus replied. "I eat most of the right things most of the time, I can balance a pickled herring on my nose for twenty-three seconds, and I can spell 'abraxas' without looking it up in the dictionary. That either makes me a Ranger, a sewer cleaner, or a cartoonist." Ivanova barely was able to restrain a giggle. Marcus definitly had a sharp, witty sense of humor. Half the time, Ivanova wanted to strangle him. The other half, she would have willingly bore Marcus' child. If she wasn't a Dragon, of course. "Did they teach you that on Minbar?" "What?" Marcus asked, utterly innocent. "How to make such bad jokes," Ivanova said, smiling. "No," Marcus said, "that, fortunatly or unfortunatly, is a native talent of mine. All the Minbari did was give me a larger number of jokes to work with. Did you hear the one about the Narn, the Centauri, and the Human? That one, I'm afraid to say, came from the Minbari." "Excuse me," Washuu said. Both Marcus and Ivanova jumped as she spoke. "Are you busy doing something?" "Trying to have a heart attack, thank you!" Ivanova nearly yelled at her. "Dragons don't have heart attacks. We give them to people," Washuu said, smiling. "Well, you gave me a good one," Marcus said. "So, you're Ivanova's superior." "True," Washuu replied. "Ivanova, I've got a job for you." "Yes?" Ivanova said. "What do you want me to do now?" "Will you come here?" Washuu asked, looking over her shoulder. Around Watsuu's back came a young woman, no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a simple brown dress. She cocked her head at Ivanova, and smiled a white, toothy grin. Her hair was short and brown, resting on her shoulders; while her eyes were wide and sky-blue. "Susan Ivanova, Initiate of the Tears; I'd like you to meet Felicia LeCou, Adept of the Tears," Washuu said. "It's an honor to meet you, madam," Felicia said. Her voice was a muscial whisper, seductive and entangling. "I only hope that you will be satisfied with me." "What's she here for?" Ivanova asked. "She's your student. Her Tear is new, as well as her body. She's been to Dragonhold already, and had her basic training. Now, she's your student for field operations. Teach her well, Ivanova," Washuu said, walking away. "Hold on a minute!" Ivanova said, catching up to Washuu. "How do you expect me to teach her! I put in eight hours on-duty, six with other projects, and two for other stuff. Even we have to sleep!" "True. She's your student. And you control the roster of Babylon 5 personnel. Assign her to your staff," Washuu said, unmoved. "That's going to cause questions," Ivanova replied. Why wasn't Washuu getting this? "Nothing that you can't handle. You're smart, fast on your feet, and can find the most unortodox of solutions to problems. Just keep that up, and we'll all be in good shape," Washuu said. And Washuu left, leaving Ivanova stunned for a second. Felicia came up to Ivanova, and asked, "Madam, what do you want me to do?" "Could you go to your quarters? I've got somethings I have to do," Ivanova replied. "Yes, ma'am," Felicia replied, and walked off. [Earth] [Old Jerusulum-Future Corp Archelogical Dig] "You're sure you found it," the supervisor said. (Continued in next post) From jon.souza@creature.com Thu May 9 20:24:23 1996 Date: Sun, 5 May 1996 18:34:43 GMT From: Jon Souza Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Dragons of the Tear II-Episode 1, Part 4 (Continued from previous post) "Of course," his assistant replied. Him, and just three other assistants, were digging up the area specified by one man. They had been told what to look for, and they had found it. "Just like he said, sealed in a caern with a Roman soldier in full armor." They finally got to that level of the diggings and found the opened caern. In it was the prone skeleton of a Roman soldier, fully armored with only the slightest spots of rust on the armor. In his hands, however, was something odd. It looked like two twisted pieces of violet plastic or metal, wound together. It was tight from the bottom, and as it came up it unwound and seperated and straightened until it became two long, sharp prongs. The soldier was holding it in his arms like his life depended upon it. "I confirmed the dating on the body-it's 44 AD, sir," the assisstant said. "Good," the supervisor replied. "Maybe now we can get paid...." "You do not like my hospitality, Dr. Fallows?" a languidly calm voice said. The three men and the archeologist looked up to see a man in full cloak, backlit so brightly that he was unseeable. "No, sir, it's just that...." Dr. Fallows tried to backpedal, and apologize. "It's just that you would like to be paid," the man replied. "If that is truely the Spear." "I don't understand why you're so interested in a very odd spear. If it's that old, it's more a relic than an antique. Why is it so important to you?" Dr. Fallows replied. "You know about the crusifiction of Christ, and that, to confirm that he was dead, a Roman soldier poked a spear into the body of the Savior. What you see is that Spear," the man replied, "the God-Killer, the Slayer of Deities. It is Longinus's Spear." "You're crazy," the assisstant said. "It's just a biblical story!" "But it's true," the man said, drawing his hand up. The spear floated into the air, and into the man's hand, which he grasped it firmly. Though smoke came from his gripping hand, the man didn't even notice. "And now, for you're payment." The man raised his other hand, and in a hail of crimson darts, the four men were cut down and killed. The man then caved in the dig, burying them. Why take chances? [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] A goldfish. That was what was on Sheridan's desk when he came back from dinner. A goldfish in a little glass container, with a simple label on it:Female, Blue 7, Section 11, 2100 hours. Now, who could have gotten in here to deliver it? That was the mystery that confronted Sheridan for the next few minutes. Garibaldi? No, too blatant for him. Ivanova? Why not, she had the means and the talent, but not the reason. Franklin? No, he was too busy to think up a trick like this one. Kosh. That made the most sense. Kosh was "teaching" him, and this sort of enigmatic clue was just the right thing to cause Sheridan to ask that most essencial question:"Why?" So, Sheridan put back on his uniform, and took the goldfish with him to this mysterious meeting. He hoped that Kosh would be kindly enough to explain this problem without the answer being *too* enigmatic. But Sheridan didn't hope for that much. [Bablyon 5] [Ambassadorial Quarters] A goldfish. That was the thing waiting for Delenn when she got into her quarters after dinner, a small glass sphere with a goldfish swimming rather happily in it. Around the sphere was a string-tied tag:Male, Blue 7, Section 11, 2100 hours. Curious, she asked, "Lennier?" "Yes, Ambassador?" Lennier replied, in the opposite room. "Had anyone come in since I was gone?" Delenn asked. "Nobody, ma'am. I went out to get some materials for tomorrow's dinner, but I was the only one who came in or left," Lennier replied. "Hm," Delenn replied. "I'll be going out for a while. I should be back soon." "Yes, ma'am," Lennier replied. When Delenn left, Lennier walked over to a terminal, keyed in a comm sequence. The screen lit up with the Babylon 5 connect mode, and Lennier said, "She's left. With the fish." "Got you," a soft voice replied. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] When Ivanova walked in to her room, Felicia was sitting on the couch, silently tuning Ivanova's guitar. Occasionally, she strummed a note, but she didn't notice that Ivanova was there until she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, madam," Felicia said, carefully putting down the guitar, "I was waiting for you here, until you returned and...." "What are you doing here?" Ivanova asked. "I'm here in my quarters, madam," Felicia replied. She looked at the guitar, and said, "I'm a good guitar player, as well as a couple of other instruments, madam." (Somewhere deep inside Ivanova, Sharon looked at Felicia and said, "Damn, she's sexy. And that voice! I wonder why she doesn't go pro.") ("Can we try to keep this professional?" Ivanova whispered mentally to Sharon. "I'm trying not to think about that.") ("No problem, boss," Sharon replied.) "You're quarters?" Ivanova asked, curious. "Yes, madam," Felicia replied. "I am to stay with you during my training, am I not?" "Look," Ivanova said. "It's late, and I don't have time to adjust the accomidations. You'll stay here tonight, then you'll get a room somewhere else. Having you stay with me is not a part of the training." "I understand, madam," Felicia said, bowing. (Continued in next post) From jon.souza@creature.com Thu May 9 20:24:25 1996 Date: Sun, 5 May 1996 18:37:22 GMT From: Jon Souza Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Dragons of the Tear II-Episode 1, Part 5 (Continued from previous post) Ivanova was finally able to get herself settled into bed. As she turned and twisted to get herself comfortable, she was confronted by a odd sight. She was staring into Felicia's face. No makeup, but that didn't matter for Felicia, and she was lightly wearing a perfume that smelled like liliacs. And she was utterly naked, except for the single Tear in her throat. "What are you doing here?" Ivanova whispered. "Whatever you want me to, madam," Felicia replied. "You're kidding, right?" Ivanova said. "No, madam," Felicia commented, curious at Ivanova's reaction. "My last tutor was very satisfied with my duties for him." "Let me guess, he was Centauri, right?" Ivanova said, not really caring if there was an answer. "No, madam, he was Minbari," Felicia replied, calmly. "He was soft, gentle, and rather loving. I'm trying to understand you, madam. You don't want me here?" "No, it's just that...." Ivanova flustered. "I understand," Felicia replied. She got up, out of bed, and walked to the door. "I'll be in the next room, on the couch. I heard about what happened to you, back at Dragonhold, madam. I'm sorry, I thought that maybe I could help, madam." And she was gone. [Babylon 5] [Blue 7, Section 11] Sheridan was in the section, carrying a sphere with a goldfish. Delenn was in the section, carrying a sphere with a goldfish. Eventually, the two were going to meet. And they did. If anything, it was Sherdian who encountered Delenn first, saying, "Ambassador Delenn, what has you up so late tonight?" "Huh?" Delenn said, then pivoted, holding a goldfish bowl in her hands. "I was....you have one too?" "What?" Sheridan asked, curiously, then looked at his goldfish bowl. "Yes, I do. It's a female, and...." "And mine's a male," Delenn said. "This is most strange." "Why's that?" Sheridan asked, curious. "It's a Minbari tradition. The beloved gives their mate something living and beautiful, and of the opposite sex. Then they tell them to help the living creature find a mate. Did you send me a goldfish?" "No," Sheridan replied. Then he asked, "Did you send me one?" "I didn't either. Someone's trying to set us up....," Delenn replied. "Well then, why?" Sheridan asked. "Why get the two of us together, if its a courtship thing?" "Because someone wants us together, as mates. But whom?" Delenn asked. "Washuu," Sheridan started to tick off things on his free hand, "for one. She told me that if you didn't get me, she would. But whom else?" "I don't know either," Delenn replied. "But I'll ask Washuu tomorrow." "No," Sheridan replied. "I'll ask. Hey, it seems like I'm the guy who's being fought over, why not get things settled right here and now?" "Very well then," Delenn said. Then she looked around. "The hour is late, is it not?" "I'll walk you back to your quarters," Sheridan replied. [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] "And you wouldn't believe it," Ivanova replied. She was talking, and drinking, with Marcus again. He seemed to be the only one who could even remotely understand her problems. A lot of Dragons came to train Rangers. "She was in my bed with a 'I'll do anything you want, madam' attitude." "Well, I can't blame her," Marcus said, "considering how attractive her teacher is...." Before Ivanova went to removing Marcus' head, Washuu walked up and said, "Good morning, Ivanova. How was you night?" "Did you know about Felicia?" Ivanova asked, angrily. "Of course. Oops," Washuu said. "Oops what?" Marcus asked. "Oops as in, 'Oops, I think I might have made a mistake' oops. You hadn't had the full training-there wasn't time and you couldn't leave. Part of the training was seduction and pleasing mates of both sexes. Don't laugh-sex is just a good tool to manipulate people as money. Sometimes even better. And she heard about you and Talia Winters. She might have gotten the facts wrong, but she was trying to help," Washuu replied. "How was she trying to help? She was trying to screw me!" Ivanova asked. "Because that's what Dragons do. Help one another. We care about our own, Susan. We have to-there's really nobody else who does. If you're in pain, a Dragon will help you to fix that pain. Of course," Washuu said, "we sometimes get it wrong. Felicia thought you were in a jilted lesbian relationship, while you were just good friends with her. Right?" "Of course," Ivanova replied, a little uncertian. "But I don't like pushing her out of my bed. It feels....rude." "Then don't. I heard she gives good backrubs, and has a wonderful singing voice. At worse, she's a warm body in a cold bed," Washuu replied. "Or, if you're really that inhibited, get her another set of quarters. But you have to teach her how to work in the field, and that's your job." "Well, I see that you two are busy," Marcus said, getting up from the table. "If you'll excuse me, I've got some work to do." As Marcus left, Washuu leaned over to Ivanova's ear and said, "I'd get my hands on him, if I were you. He's attractive, and looks rather athletic. Of course, I'd have him cut the beard, but that's just me." "We're just friends," Ivanova replied. "Of course," Washuu smiled, the usual cat-ate-the-canary smile on her face. (Continued in the next post) From jon.souza@creature.com Thu May 9 20:24:28 1996 Date: Sun, 5 May 1996 18:38:20 GMT From: Jon Souza Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Dragons of the Tear II-Episode 1, Part 6 (Continued from previous post) [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] Sheridan had been having a frustrating day. After confronting Washuu about the goldfish, in which she denyed full responsability for it, he went to the Zocallo for lunch. Franklin, and oddly enough, Lennier was there together. "And how are you today, Captain Sheridan," Lennier asked. "Not so good. I got this odd package last night, a goldfish. I've been trying to track down who did it," Sheridan replied. "I hope it finds it's mate," Franklin said, under his breath. "Excuse me," Sheridan replied. "What did you say?" Lennier and Franklin looked at each other. "You tell him," Franklin asked. "No, I think you should tell him," Lennier replied. "You suggested the goldfish." "But you told me about the ritual," Franklin replied. "If I could break up this mutual admiration society," Sheridan said, "could I get the real story of what happened?" The two looked at each otehr again, and Franklin said, "We were trying to get you and Delenn together again. But I couldn't figure out how to until I was taking with Lennier." "When I heard about his proposal," Lennier said, "I told him about the particular ritual he used to get you and Delenn together. He put the fish in your room, I put the fish in Delenn room." "Medical override," Franklin said. "Can't leave home without it." "And that was it," Lennier finished. "Did it work?" "I don't know," Sheridan replied. "But don't do it again, ok?" "We won't," Lennier said. Franklin nodded with him as well. "Good," Sheridan said, and left. A few minutes later, Garibaldi sat down. "Didn't work?" he asked. "Didn't work," Franklin said. "And he found out we did it." "Figures," Garibaldi said. He sighed, "Looks like a professional's going to have to get a crack at this. Watch how I work." And Garibaldi left. Lennier looked at Franklin, and said, "I get this strange feeling that we're going to do something very wrong." Franklin took another drink of his milk, and said, "I think we already have." [Space Transport *Lilith*] [Between Earth and Babylon 5] "And how are you today," the attendant asked. The ship had a spin section, and the gravity was about half-normal. Sufficient for everything to go to the right place when it was needed. "Fine," the man said. He looked at the woman, and smiled. "And how is you're wife," the attendant asked as well. "Wonderful," the woman, a auburn beauty with a witty smile replied. "Our honeymoon and all that." "Oh," the attendant replied. "Then I'll have the chef prepare you something extra special for dinner." "Thank you," the man replied. The attendant left, and he looked at the calendar. "Twelve days to Bablylon 5, dear." "Yes," the woman replied. "I know. But it gives us twelve days to know each other so much better in so many ways." "When we get there, you might have to kill him, you know that," the man said. "I'll gut him alive and enjoy the screams," the woman replied, smiling. "It makes it even more satisfying that the level of betrayal is going to be so high. You've got the Spear?" "Of course," the man replied. "We have to kill an Angel, and we need the Spear." "Good," the woman snuggled closer, cooing softly as the man rubbed her head. "Dear Anna," the man said, "we are going to have so much fun destroying them all." [End Episode 1] From NODUI@worldnet.att.net Sun Aug 4 00:52:24 1996 Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 23:15:11 -0700 From: "Robert B. Souza" Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Dragons of the Tear II, Episode 2(Remix) [The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] Two notes- Note #1-The events of this story take place, in theory, after "Dust to Dust" in the third season of Babylon 5. Note #2-Each of these stories are episodes. The start theme is the standard B5 theme, the end theme is "Anywhere Is" from the Enya *The Memory of Trees* CD. As always, any comments, compliments, complaints, flames, FAQs, etc, etc, etc, can be sent to me at- Jon.Souza@Creature.Com NODUI@worldnet.att.net Now for the disclaimers- "Dragon of the Tears II" is a story based on the PTEN/Warner Brothers show "Babylon 5." All characters not the creation of the author are the property of PTEN/Warner Brothers, Copyright@ 1996 PTEN/ Warner Brothers. All other properties are the sole property of Jonathan Souza, Copyright @1996. This copyright will be transferred upon request to the authorized representatives of JMS/PTEN/Warner Brothers. All copyrights extend to electronic forms of this story. And now, to the future- _Dragon of the Tears-II_ _By Jon Souza_ _Episode Two-Shadows and Light_ [Babylon 5] [Cargo Bay 11] "Look," the man said, "I can't get them! You're talking about stuff rarer than photographs of the Vorlon homeworld." Michael Garibaldi, Chief of Secuirty, kept his temper calm. "Look," Garibaldi replied, "a few very old, very good friends are coming here, and I promised them a home-cooked meal. And if I can't get the ingrediants for a real spagetti and meatballs, I'd better just shoot myself and get it over with. Hey, you owe me, Mac." "I know that!" Mac replied, just as frustrated. "But I'm telling you, with all the shit going on back home, my usual supplies are drying up. You want real spagetti and meatball fixings? Give me a month, not four days. A month, maybe. Four days, you'd better ask the Archangel Michael-he'd get you better results." Garibaldi sighed. "And that's it?" "Look, if I can get something sooner, I'll call you. But, until then, I'm stuck," Mac noted. "But I'll see what I can pull out." "Thanks, Mac," Garibaldi patted him on the back, "you're a lifesaver." Mentally, Garibaldi made a small tick mark on a mental list. One down, four to go.... [Earth] [San Diego-Unreclamed Area] "Ma'am," a technician, wearing grease-coated overalls, said, "we've got a hit." The head of Bureau 13 replied, "Confirmed?" "Double-checked, ma'am. NEVA picked up the transient signature and triangulated it. Confirmed Angel signature on Babylon 5, pretty high-powered," the technician said. "Good," the head of Bureau 13 replied. She waved the technician off, and then activated her terminal. "Exotics, there's a change in plans." "What?" the head of Exotics replied. "What sort of change?" "Confirmed Angel signature on Babylon 5. How long before the Wirblewind is ready?" the head of Bureau 13 asked. "Modified for Angel duty?" the head of Exotics replied, "24 hours, and that's double shifts. Are we go for Insturmentality of Man?" "Hold your clock at T minus three days," the head of Bureau 13 said. "And tell Bester that he has a job to do-he has to go talk to Captain John Sheridan and enlist his help. Without it, the Instrumentality of Man Project won't work." "Confirmed," the head of Exotics noted. "But Steele wants a Dragon." "Steele can go to hell. Our standing orders are to, whenever possible, to get an Angel. With one, we can finally complete the Instrumentality of Man Project. And that means that nobody, not the Vorlons, not the Minbari, not even the Shadows, will be able to harm the human race ever again," the head of Bureau 13 said. "And we can finally get rid of that traitor Clark. Get to it." "Yes, ma'am!" the head of Exotics cheerfuly replied. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] "You're going to stay here," Ivanova said, showing Felicia in. It was a simple, unadorned room, more a barracks than living quarters. "It's not much, but it's the best I can do without people asking questions." "It's fine," Felicia replied softly. "I can live within this, in fact, I have been in worse places before. Will we be training any time soon?" "I'm going to assign you to Garibaldi's staff. You'll learn security from him. Can you pilot a Starfury?" Ivanova asked. "Of course," Felicia replied, "I am qualified in all forms of space craft, Initiate Ivanova." "Of course," Ivanvoa muttered to herself. Felicia looked at Ivanova curiously. "I've got some work to do...." "You stand a watch in C&C for about eight hours, then you go off-duty, have dinner, take care of body maintance, and then do things before you go to sleep. When you finish you're watch, I'll be ready to help you," Felicia said, smiling. "I don't really need your help," Ivanova said, waving off Felicia. "But you do," Felicia replied, smiling. "You'll see." [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] "I'm coming!" Washuu yelled, as she clamored out of the bathroom. She had a honest-to-God hot tub installed in her room, and she liked to use it. It cost her, almost literally, an arm and a leg, and she didn't like to be messed with when she was using it. She fumbled over to the terminal, slapped the command panel(ligthly, as not to put her hand through it) and said, "Washuu here, what is it?" Suddenly, Morden's face appeared on the screen. "Ah, Washuu," Morden said. "Why the fuck are you contacting me?" Washuu replied, angry. "Do you want to die sooner, and much more painfully?" "Absolutly not," Morden replied. "But our....mutual friend is coming. You know him, don't you?" "Fei Luci," Washuu said, grimly. "What for? And how did you know?" "One of my....associates was working with Fei Luci, a dig in Old Jerusulum. We lost contact with him eight days ago. When I went to investigate, he was dead-after exuming a Roman caern that's nearly two thousand years old, with the body of a Roman soldier in it. He had something in his hands," Morden said. "Why tell me?" Washuu asked. "Having Fei Luci kill me would help you a great deal, so why warn me?" "Three reasons. One, you know and I know that what little power Fei Luci has is way too much-he's damned smart, damned corrupt, and too dangerous. Too dangerous to you, and too dangerous to my associates," Morden said. "Isn't that like the lamp calling the kettle black?" Washuu said, a feral smile on her face. "Touche," Morden said, a much more relaxed smile on his face. "Two, he's insane. Our buisness doesn't like rogue elements like him roaming free-it's too much of a risk for that loose cannon to be running all over. Third, and most important, he's heading to Babylon 5. With a new Initiate. He stole her from me, and I'm afraid to say, made her even worse than I am." "I'm not sure to thank you-or to kill you. Well, since I'm going to kill you anyways, I'll just say thank you and get it over with. Thank you, Morden. And now, could you just polietly drop dead?" Washuu asked. "Only if you can do one thing for me. I don't care what do you with Fei Luci, but you must send me his head. On a pike," Morden replied. "Mind if I ask why?" Washuu cocked her head curiously, "Anything in particular?" "Well, somebody told me that they want my head on a pike, as a warning to the next ten generations. It actually sounded like an amusing idea. The head on the pike part, not that I would volunteer mine...." Morden said. "That's original," Washuu said. "I heard that you've been threatened with boiling in oil, being flayed alive with a cat'o nine tails, castration by a dull mellon baller, being shot, hung, torn apart by four horses running the opposite ways. I even heard that you were once threatened with being dipped in dog food and fed to rabid poodles. But your head on a pike? That's an image I am going to savor. Good day," and she flipped off the terminal, before Morden could say anything. A few seconds later, Washuu started to tap out commands on her console. She needed information from Dragonhold, and she was getting it as quickly as possible. [Babylon 5] [Security Offices] The four boxes landed on the table hard. "I got them," Mac said. "Excellent!" Garibaldi replied, smiling. "Real meat? Real tomatoes?" "I even splurged and got you real chianti from Italy. And real parmessan cheese, none of the artificial stuff. And real spices. Man," Mac said, "I hope these friends are really worth it." "Oh, they are, they are," Garibaldi said, "Thanks." "Hey," Mac said, "any of them of the female and the single persuasion? I'd like to meet one of them...." "Sorry, they're both married," Garibaldi said. "But I'll see what I can arrange." "Hey man, thanks," Mac said, and was out of the office. He tapped the terminal. "Computer, set time-delay message to the following locations at the following times. Message is as follows," and Garibaldi dropped a data crystal into the terminal. It hummed for a few seconds. "Message sent," the terminal replied. "Zack," Garibaldi said, "can you take over for a few hours? I've got something to do." "No problem, Chief," Zack replied. He came out of the side office and looked at the boxes. "What's the fixings?" "Making a real, honest-to-God spagetti and meatballs for a few friends of mine who are coming on-station. I've got to go make it and everything," Garibaldi said, lugging the containers. "Oh, Zack? I might need you to do me a favor." "Hey, if it's to help you," Zack said. "What is it?" He looked at Zack for a second, then said, "I'll tell you when I get back," and he left. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] It floated, silently, in the air. From a distance, it appeared like a gun-metal grey sphere of *something*, occasionally bobbing and weaving in mid-air. Up close, like he was, it looked like it was made from some type of oval scale, like the scales on a lizard. However, every single scale was identical and the scales were perfectly molded into each other-there was no sign of any seams or breaks in the smooth surface. As wide as the length of a man's arm, it waited as the man in the room broke open a sealed package filled with tools. A few seconds later, the man had set up a series of five small projectors, confining the sphere within a pentagram-shaped diagram about twice as wide as the massive sphere. He took a deep breath and tapped a few commands into a control panel. The projectors hummed silently, then, suddenly, the sphere seemed to break apart and scream to the man. Then there was nothing but silence. And a heart-beat that wasn't human. [Babylon 5] [Ready Room] "So, you want me to find this ^ÑFei Luci' and detain him?" Sheridan asked. "No and no," Washuu replied. "Fei Luci is smart and very, very cunning. He won't come under his own name. Hell, he probibly won't even come in his own gender-he's a master of altering his face and clothing to fit a new role. As well, he can compromise just about anyone, anywhere, any time. Even if you warned the security staff, he'd just offer them a bribe they couldn't refuse." "I trust my people," Sheridan replied, wrapping duty around him like a shroud. "Are you saying that they're corrupt?" "No, but Fei Luci has the knack of offering something that a person can't refuse. What would you do, John, to see you're wife again? I'm not making this up," Washuu said, fendning off the daggers Sheridan's eyes were shooting at her, "I'm just saying that he's the best at what he does and what he does is create chaos. Why he's coming here, I don't know. But I'm going to stop him." "So," Sheridan asked, "what do you want me to do?" "If there are any odd reports, anything out of the ordinary, anything strange, tell me immediatly. I'll investigate myself-you don't want to mess with him. Dangerous is a understatment with Fei Luci, even for a renegade Dragon. His love of anarchy and confusion makes him uncomprehendable and impossible to understand. And warn Garibaldi to be very careful-the best way to keep him from suspecting is for as few people as possible to know about him or his coming. This is something very important," Washuu said. "Please let me deal with it in my way." "Very well then," Sheridan replied. "But, please, don't destroy the station." "I won't try to," Washuu replied. [Babylon 5] [Ambassadorial Section] Delenn looked at her computer terminal, watching as the messages played across it. One in particular caught her eye, from Garibaldi. "I didn't think you knew," Garibaldi said, "but today is Sheridan's birthday. Don't tell him-he'll just get all defensive. And don't get him a present either, I'll have dinner here for him. And keep it quiet, it's a suprise." Delenn looked at the message curiously. Why such secrecy? Oh well. "Lennier," Delenn said, "I will be busy tonight. I leave you in charge." "Yes, Ambassador," Lennier replied. "I will be here if you need my help." [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] "I didn't think you knew," Garibaldi said, "But I just discovered that today is Delenn's birthday. Don't ask me how I found out-you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Don't tell her you know. Don't tell her you found out. Just be at my quarters at about eight- I'll have dinner here for you guys." As the message finished, Sheridan looked at it, curious. Garibaldi's web of contacts and informants was huge, that was true. Even more so, it was effective-he had found out that little piece of trivia. And Sheridan didn't mind being with Delenn. In fact, he rather enjoyed her company. He just hated the damned necessity of keeping things quiet. With politics both here and back home the way they were, a "relationship" with the Minbari Ambassador would be the worst thing possible. Too many humans saw the Minbari as those who promised to exterminate the human race twelve years ago, and time had only made that wound worse. And too many Minbari saw Delenn as a traitor, with only the backing of the Grey Council to protect her. Sheridan sighed, then looked at his clothes. He needed something nice to wear. [Earth Fast Transport *Leviathan*] [Between Earth and Babylon 5] Bester looked at the crate in the cargo hold. A whole ship, a complete high-speed transport of the Nimrod class, was at his disposal. All to carry Bester and the cargo that he was looking at. Nothing else. There wasn't even a crew on her-what Bester didn't run was controlled by computers. It was an ordinary space shipping box, perhaps unique because of the myriad ports on the crate's sides for data links and power feed cables. Bester was here for two reasons-he had orders to tell the staff of Babylon 5 about the Instrumentality of Man Project. And to use the Wirblewind-he was one of the few who were qualified for it. Bester sighed. After this, if he was successful, his life was complete-Bester had been, ever since his youth, been prepared and trained for the final portion of the Instrumentality of Man Project. His PsiCop identiy was merely a cover-suitable and keeping up his onsiderable reflexes in shape. "Not much longer," he said to the box. The box didn't say anything, but Bester could *feel* the box respond, in a way that could only be compared to telepathy in that it was a link between the two. He smiled. "I know. We're almost done, aren't we? Just another five days, and we will have gotten the Angel. And the Instrumentality of Man Project will be complete." The box responded again. "Yes, in a way, we'll both become kind of pointless. But I'd rather explode than rust anyways, and you would too," Bester said. The box gave it's equiviant of a sigh, then was silent. Bester, smiling, walked up to the control center. Just another week in hyperspace, then he would be at Babylon 5. And then the hard part of his job would begin. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] Sheridan was looking at the door, trying to thing about Delenn, standing there beside him. He glanced a look at Delenn, who glanced at him, both suddenly looking away. A few seconds later, Garibaldi cycled the door open, and waved the two in. "Come in!" They came and Garibaldi showed them to the table. The lights were low, and two candles in bottles provided additional light. "I made dinner for you guys," Garibaldi said, pulling out a bottle of sparkling apple cider. "I don't drink, and I've seen drunk Minbari, so nothing alcoholic, unfortunatly. A shame, though-I make a chianti maranade for my meatballs that's just heavenly." Pouring them all a glass, Garibaldi went into the kitchen to finish the dinner. Sheridan looked at Delenn, and, impishly, said, "Happy Birthday." "Eh," Delenn asked, curious. "Why are you wishing me a happy birthday?" "Because today's your birthday, right?" Sheridan asked. "No, today is your birthday," Delenn replied. "At least that was what I heard." "I was told that today was your birthday," Sheridan said. As the two argued, Garibaldi looked. Things were falling apart faster than he expected and.... Then his link beeped. "Chief," Zack said, through the link. "What is it?" Garibaldi asked, taking out the plates to the arguing Delenn and Sheridan. "Message for you," Zack replied. "Priority one, your eyes only. And it's urgent, sir." "I see," Garibaldi replied. Then, looking at the two, he said, "I've got to get going. There's more food in the kitchen, the pie's in the fridge, and just let yourselves out when you're done." "These meatballs are good," Delenn said. "This is much more different than what Minbari eat." "You haven't had Italian food? Shame," Sheridan said. "I know of a place in Flagstaff that makes excellent Italian food. Here," and he handed her some parmason cheese, "Try some of this on your spagetti." "And you should have some of this sauce," Delenn said, taking a fork-full of spagetti and sauce, and putting it in Sheridan's mouth. Watching his shocked expression, Delenn giggled a little. "You look like a blowfish!" she laughed. "And you look hungry," Sheridan said, taking a meatball and plopping it in Delenn's mouth, and laughing too. Dinner was amusing, to say the very least. [Babylon 5] [Security Offices] "That was good, Zack," Garibaldi said. "That ^Ñeyes-only' message was a good one." "I didn't make that one up, sir,' Zack said, pointing at the terminal. "It's from the EA Security Office on Minbar. And it's ^Ñeyes-only', with a Priorty Alpha routing." "Huh?" Garibaldi said. "I'll look at it. For now, can you go?" "Yes, sir," Zack replied, as he walked off. Garibaldi settled down in his chair, isolated the comm line, activated his personal scrambler, and said, "Activate terminal, eye-only connection. Code sequence as follows: Rack and Pinion Molecules on Planet X are needed to grease the Earth's yo-yos." "Identity confirmed," the terminal replied, and the monitor flared to reveal Ambassador Jeffery Sinclair's face. "Hello, old friend," Sinclair said. "Hi Jeff," Garibaldi replied. "What's with the call?" "I just got something disturbing from my contacts on Minbar. The Minbari, ever since the Great War, have taken care of a few of the Ikkarian bioweapons that were used over a thousand years ago. One of them was stolen," Sinclair replied. "Jesus," Garibaldi noted. "Do you know anything about what was stolen?" "The Minbari call it the ^ÑKiller of Dragons', but they don't now how it works, or how it even operates. It's a gun-metal grey sphere about a meter wide, made of what looks like scales," Sinclair said. "Whoever got it knew their way around computers, they hacked the Minbari computers, and had it shipped as ^Ñcooking supplies'." "Why are you telling me?" Garibaldi asked. "Wouldn't telling Earth be helpful?" "My contact said it was shipped to Babylon 5," Sinclair replied. "And that's what worries me-the concentration of Dragons there, since they use it as a core base." "You think whomever grabbed the thing is going Dragon-hunting?" Garibaldi said. "That's my guess," Sinclair replied. "Be careful, and if you see it, get away from it. They think that it's one of the most dangerous of the Ikkarian super-weapons avalable." "I got you. If I find anything out, I'll be sure to contact you," Garibaldi replied. "Garibaldi out," and the terminal shut down. "Damn. Zack, come in." "What is it, chief?" Zack asked. "Search the records, I want you to find out what cargos have come from Minbari space in the last five weeks. If you find anything out of the ordinary, tell me," Garibaldi replied. "Sure thing, chief," and Zack left. Garibaldi leaned back in his chair, and massaged his head. It was going to be a long week. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] Felicia lay in her bed, looking at the celing. Her clothing was resting on the back of two chairs, and the room was silent. For hours, she rested like a corpse, looking at the celing with slow, careful deliberation. Then, softly, she stood up and silently padded across the room to her shower, getting washed and cleaned up. Putting her clothes on, she walked out of the room silently and walked down the hallway to Ivanova's quarters. She softly placed her hands on the external control for the door, and the door opened to the room. As she walked in, the door closed, and Felicia sat down in a chair, waiting. An hour later, Ivanova came in, her shoulders and body acheing, and feeling like she would need some sleep and a whole new life to restore her to function. "Lights," Ivanova said, and Felicia sat there, patiently waiting. To Ivanova, it almost looked like the ancient portrats of the lady-in-wating she'd seen in museums, patient and calm and almost angelic in her visage. "What are you doing here?" Ivanova asked, barely able to work up the energy to growl at her. "I said you would need my help. I am here to help you," Felicia said. "I'm fine," Ivanova said. As she stumbled into the room, Felicia stood up and caught her, lowering her to the carpet. "No, you aren't," Felicia chided. "You feel like a brick- your mucles are so tight, they could be used to plate warships. I'm an expert in massage, so just let me help you relax." Ivanvoa would have fought back, but she barely had enough energy to reply, "I don't need help...." as Felicia took off Ivanova's clothing from her barely resisting body. "You're lucky," Felicia said. "I brought my lotions and oils-you'll be feeling like a Dragon again." With deft and nimble fingers, Felicia moved her hands across Ivanova's body. From the bottoms of her feet, which Felicia complained, "they're so rough! And the nails! You're tearing them, not cutting them," to the top of her head, where Felicia's hands rubbed the collected tensions of fourteen years away from her neck. As Felicia started to work on Ivanova's hands, Ivanova managed to turn her head, and saw that Felicia was, like her, utterly naked. "Why are you...." Ivanova started to ask. "Undressed?" Felicia replied. "If you are naked before me, I should be naked before you. Do you fear this?" Felicia posed silently. "Are you so afraid of another women's body near to you? We share the same parts, the same eyes, the same souls. I am not afraid of you, Initiate Susan. Please, don't be afraid of me." After she finished, Felicia worked on Ivanova's nails. "You're biting these as well. I'll put a bittering agent on them-so you don't. They look awful! I'll trim and sand them, so you can look decent." Fifteen minutes later, Ivanova was helped to her feet. "I'd suggest that you take a shower, but it would be better if you got some sleep," Felicia said. As the two went to Ivanova's room, Felicia tucked Ivanova in, and said, "Would you like me to tell you a story?" "No," Ivanova said, softly. She was just a few seconds away from falling asleep. As Felicia turned away, Ivanova raised her voice, and said. "Felicia, there is a reason why I'm not as friendly as I should be with you." Felicia turned, and looked silently. "When Talia was here, we were....more than what we should have been for a while. She was forced out of her quarters due to some budget mistake, then she moved in here," Ivanova said. "Two nights, she spent them in my bed. The third night, she was shipped back to Earth-when her Artificial Personality was activated. I'm not sure if it was desperation on either of our sides or one of us seduced the other or what, but I think I fell in love with her. And I loved a monster...." as Ivanova trailed off into sleep. Felicia walked in a few steps, came to Ivanova's forehead, then kissed it softly. "Good night, Susan. I'll be here to keep the nightmares away," and Felicia walked out to the next room, put on her clothing, put away Ivanova's clothes, and cleaned the room silently. Once done, Felicia walked to the door of Ivanova's bedroom and stood guard all night. And no nightmares came to Susan Ivanova. [Babylon 5] [Ready Room] "You wanted to see me sir?" Washuu asked. Sheridan and Garibaldi were there as well. "Yes," Sheridan said. "According to Garibaldi, someone stole a Ikkarian bioweapon from the Minbari. According to Mister Garibaldi's sources, the weapon was called ^ÑKiller of Dragons.' Do you know...." "Anything about it?" Washuu asked. "All too well. The Ikkarians were xenophobes and racists and general, all around assholes. But a few wanted to help the other races defeat the Shadows. But the Ikkarian populace felt that they were ^Ñdisloyal.' And they felt that it was us, the Dragons, who were causing the disloyalty. So they created the Cleanser and the Killer. You had a Cleanser on the station-to clean up and eliminate the ^Ñimperfect' from the Ikkarian society. But since there was no ^Ñperfect' Ikkarians, the Cleansers killed the Ikkarians off. They made only three Killers, and those were to hunt down Dragons." "You were there?" Gariabaldi asked. "I am that old," Washuu replied. "We lost six Tear-lines before we stopped the Killers. They were only able to activate two, you see. The third was inactive somehow-we couldn't ever make it work. So the Minbari took care of it, as well as three of the remaining Cleansers. We never would allow them to escape." "And now that a Killer is free," Sheridan said, "what do you think they're going to do with it?" "Kill Dragons, of course. But I can't believe that Fei Luci's coming her and the disappearance of the only remaning Killer is a coincidence," Washuu said. "The biggest problem is that it takes Dragons of at least Master class to fight one-and one of Oracle class to defeat them. There isn't enough time to get more Dragons out here, so I'll have to fight it-if it's activated." "Could it destroy the station?" Garibaldi asked "It will, if that is what it takes to destroy the Dragons here," Washuu said. "That's why we have to find out where it is-and stop it before it's actvated." [Space Transport *Lillith*] [Between Earth and Babylon 5] "Beautiful as always," the man said. A week out from Babylon 5, the man and the woman were engaged in their most favorite thing in the universe. After finishing that, they discussed their plans and both of them needled and teased each other. "Did you hear the news," the woman said. "I heard, but why don't you tell me," the man, who's sharp grey eyes could strike fire in women's hearts and blow men's hearts cold, said. "The bitch is trying to seduce my husband," the woman, tossing her brown hair casually over her shoulder, said. "Of course, she's failing, but that's due to her clumsiness. My bastard husband is so horny-and such a bastard, that it's only a matter of time before she succeeds." "I know that too, but he thinks you're dead," the man replied. "In a way, you can't blame him." "Then he should mourn me-and never let another in his heart," the woman replied. "And it would have to be a half-breed, mother-fucking, molesting Minbari bitch that he has to fall for!" "Don't worry," the man said, "you can reclaim him when we get there." "I don't want to reclaim him, Fei," the woman said. "I want to kill him. But not before she dies before his eyes." [END EPISODE 2] From NODUI@postoffice.worldnet.att.net Sun Aug 4 01:57:03 1996 Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 01:03:36 -0700 From: NODUI@postoffice.worldnet.att.net To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: [STORY]Dragons of the Tear II-Episode 3 [The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] Two notes- Note #1-The events of this story take place, in theory, after "Dust to Dust" in the third season of Babylon 5. Note #2-Each of these stories are episodes. The start theme is the standard B5 theme, the end theme is "Anywhere Is" from the Enya *The Memory of Trees* CD. As always, any comments, compliments, complaints, flames, FAQs, etc, etc, etc, can be sent to me at- Jon.Souza@Creature.Com NODUI@worldnet.att.net Now for the disclaimers- "Dragon of the Tears II" is a story based on the PTEN/Warner Brothers show "Babylon 5." All characters not the creation of the author are the property of PTEN/Warner Brothers, Copyright@ 1996 PTEN/Warner Brothers. All other properties are the sole property of Jonathan Souza, Copyright @1996. This copyright will be transferred upon request to the authorized representatives of JMS/PTEN/Warner Brothers. All copyrights extend to electronic forms of this story. And now, to the future- _Dragon of the Tears-II_ _By Jon Souza_ _Episode Three-Historical Story(Oral Version)_ [Babylon 5] "Do you wish it?" "Do you want to feel what it is like inside of me, all the voices and all the sounds? Do you want to feel the holy place, soft and warm?" That was the spectre confronting Ivanova, with Talia Winters' face just two inches away from hers. Naked and looking at Ivanova, her voice was a solid monotone, yet imbued with a fear of something. "A what?" Ivanova sounded like she was being strangled. "An Intrumentality of Man." "What is Instrumentality of Man?" Ivanvoa's voice became solid. "To explain it it to become it." "But I don't know what it is." "And you won't unless you become a part of the Instrumentality." "I don't want to join an unknown thing." "But you will." Ivanova woke up, panting and scared for the first time in a long time in her life. She held up her right hand and looked at the glistening Tear. "What is going on in my mind," Ivanova asked the silently quintessent Tear. The Tear had no answers for her. [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] "Heard the latest?" Washuu asked. "The latest what?" Ivanova asked back, a little confused. "How our little effort at interspecies breeding is going," Washuu replied, taking a sip of her tea. "So far, Garibaldi's done the best, but they didn't go to the final carnal act." "I see," Ivanova asked back. "Who's next up?" "You are," Washuu replied, a little taken aback. "I'd do it, but somebody has to keep Kosh occupied-he doesn't approve of Sheridan and Delenn's extracurricular activities. Would you rather I had G'Kar try? Or maybe Ambassador Molari? Considering just how horny the Centauri are, I wouldn't recommend it...." "Point taken," Ivanova replied. "But I can't think of anything original to do. All the good ideas have been taken." "You have a reputation for ingenuity and cunning, Susan," Washuu said, switching over to a more intimate tone. "Now use it." "Well, if it's going to be a challenge...." Ivanova replied, smiling. "Then I'll do it." As Washuu prepared to leave her table, Ivanova looked at her and asked, "I was wondering-have you ever heard about anything called the Intrumentality of Man?" A second's pause, then Washuu said, "No, I've never hear the term. But, if you want, I'll check up on it-see if it means anything." "Thanks," Ivanova replied. "I've been having some very weird dreams, and it seems to involve the Instrumentality of Man." "That could mean something," Washuu said. "Keep a log, and give me a copy of what dreams you logged every week or so-I want to see if there's a pattern." "Thanks," Ivanova said. As the two left, thought were running through Washuu's mind. Very unpleasant one. [Earth-San Diego Unreclaimed Area] [Bureau 13 Headquarters] "We are very displeased," Steele 4 said, "that you would use the Wirblewind on a wild goose chase rather than to follow our very clear orders." "You are speaking of myths-we never truly knew what was created at the lab," Steele 9 said. Then, dangerously, it said, "You violate the rules-and you instituted the Instrumentality of Man project without out authorization." "NEVA confirmed the presence of an Angel on Babylon 5," the head of Bureau 13 replied. "Our standing orders, ever since Marduk, was to capture an Angel at all costs-even if it meant abandoning other projects. Your masters want to see Project EVA succeed, I want to get the Instrumentality of Man working." "Irrellivant. We have a confirmed Angel sighting on Orion 7, and you refused to follow it up...." Steele 8 said, but was interrupted. "Feh!" the head of Bureau 13 hissed. "That wasn't an Angel- we had no confirmed AT Field, nor did NEVA give us the inducations that it was nothing more than some kind of monster. We had a double, I repeat, a *double* hit series from NEVA, and the only time that happened was at Second Impact." "She is right," Steele 2 replied. "We have no choice but to trust NEVA. Why not trust it all the way? There is an Angel on Babylon 5. Let us get her." "My man is already on the way with a Wirblewind. He'll be there in two weeks, and that's been recently confirmed no less than two hours ago. Now, if you'll excuse me...." the head of Bureau 13 replied, and she walked out of the room. "Hard day, ma'am," her assistant asked. "Anything I can get for you?" "Just some listening time," the head of Bureau 13 said. "Steele want EVA, for Clark's own weapons program. But we'll gain the Instrumentality of Man, and that is the true prize, not a bunch of bioweapons." "What is the Instrumentality of Man?" the assistant wondered. "From what I heard, it is something very terrible." "It is," the head of Bureau 13 said. "It can destroy man utterly, without even a rememberence to be sung. Or it can put mankind in the place of the gods themselves. That is Instrumentality of Man, nothing more, nothing less." "It is a dangerous thing," the servant replied. "But we'll get it," the head of Bureau 13 said. "Because we have to succeed at all costs." [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] The door beeped twice. "Come in," Washuu said, typing up a report. Kosh strode in. "You are not to interfere," he said. "Kosh, you have your obligations. I have mine. Here's where they conflict, and I assure you, if push comes to shove I'll be the one shoving you over the cliff. Delenn is my friend, has been my friend longer than she'd been a cog in your prophesy. If John Sheridan is what makes her happy, then so be it. I want her to be happy, Kosh," Washuu replied. "And, if you interfere in her happiness, I will eat you alive." "Happiness is irrellivant-only The One matters. You interfere in The One. Without it, we cannot win this War," Kosh replied. "Shut up about your ^ÑOne', Kosh, we've got a bigger problem. Ivanova just told me that the Instrumentality of Man is trying to contact her," Washuu said. "No," Kosh replied. "Yes," Washuu said. "And the last time I heard that term was about a hundred and fifty years ago-when San Diego went up in a nuclear fireball. The Angels are coming, Kosh." "What has MAGI said?" Kosh asked. "Unconfirmed at this time," Washuu said. "We know Earth has some system, something called NEVA, to detect the fields a Angel puts out-but there is no other information. If this is true, if there are Angels, then even your Shadow war is irrelivant to what is about to happen." [Babylon 5] [Ambassadorial Section] "Ambassador," Lennier came up to Delenn. "A message for you," and he handed the envelope to Delenn. "Who sent it?" Delenn asked. "Unknown-it was taped to the door this morning and it fell in front of me when I left to get the materials for breakfast," Lennier replied. "It was most unusual." "There have been many unusual things going on recently," Delenn said, glancing at Lennier. "But some of them have been done with malice, not with noble intentions." Delenn opened the envelope and read the two hand-written pages. After she read the first, her hands trembled. Once she completed the second, her hands were shaking like leaves in a hurricane. "No, by Valen's name," she whispered. "Delenn? Is there something wrong," Lennier asked, worried. "Yes," Delenn replied. "But there is still a chance. Find Washuu, and tell her that I must see her now." "And if she asks about what?" Lennier asked. "Give her this," Delenn handed Lennier the letter. "This should explain it all." Lennier took a glance at the letter, then at Delenn. "This letter was written in a human language." "A language that Valen taught us, taught only to the Grey Council, a language that is ancient on Earth, but is taught by the Roman Catholic Church-Latin. Take the letter to her, now," Delenn said. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] The glass was a artifact that seemed to defy existence. Sitting on the table, just an inch over the edge, the glass waited as Felicia looked at it. Her mind was racing with thoughts, ideas, concepts. But they all returned to the glass. She just kept looking at it, and only the beep of her alarm diverted her attention. "You are still there," Felicia said to the glass, sadness in her voice, "you shouldn't be." So Felicia got dressed, and walked to Ivanova's quarters. Ivanova was there, with dinner waiting. The last week had seen a change in their relationship, as the two had gotten along together very, very well. They would eat, talk, discuss progress, and then one of them would give the other a massage, and Felicia would put Ivanova to her bed. Sometimes she would read a story to her, sometimes she would not. This night, over spagetti and meatballs, Felicia looked at Ivanova and said, "You are scheming something, aren't you?" "I am," Ivanova replied, "Washuu wants me to get Sheridan and Delenn together, a blind date sort of thing." "I see," Felicia said. "How are you going to do it?" "I didn't say I was going to do it," Ivanova protested. "But this is a challenge. You'll make the challenge work for you, that is your way," Felicia replied. "I shall aid you, if you wish." "You?" Ivanova asked. "This is my job." "But what are assistants for, if not to abuse and made to work very hard," Felicia replied back, smiling. "That's for sure," Ivanova replied, giggling. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] "Sir," Lt. Surraco said, "are you in here?" Surraco was sent down here when the bill for the room was unpaid and the sensors showed a occupied room. Overriding the door lock, he entered the room and started to investigate the few items that were in the room. As he did, a soft footfall hit the floor and muted breathing filled the room soon enough to make Surraco turn around. "Sir? I need you to come with me to deal with your billing....." he said, just as he noticed the shape in the darkness, and a odd grey sphere with five evenly spaced hexagonal ports, like the slots for fingers. It would be the last thing he ever saw-five, dagger-like rods tore through his body like a blender, killing him instantly. As his body dropped to the floor, the rods flowed back and mered to form a sword's blade. Before the body even hit the floor, the sword blade was striking the final blow. [Babylon 5] [Command and Control] "Ma'am," Lt. Corbin said, a little nervious, "that package you wanted me to watch out for is here. Should I send it to your quarters or...." "No, no," Ivanova replied, "I'll get it myself. I'll be in my quarters for a hour or so, if there's a problem, call me." "Yes, ma'am," Lt. Corbin replied, as Ivanova walked off the C&C deck, down to the hanger bays. Waiting there was two large crates, both labled "perishable" and equipted with portable refrigeration units. Picking them up, Ivanova lugged them down to her quarters, where Felicia was waiting. "You got them?" Felicia asked. "I got them," Ivanova replied. "You should be happy-Lord knows how many contacts I had to go through to get these things. Are you sure that this will work?" "I'm positive," Felicia replied. "This will work. Trust me." "I have to," Ivanova replied, "I'm utterly out of ideas." "You would have thought of something," Felicia said. "I have confidence in your abilities." "I just wish," Ivanova replied, "that my confidence was as great as yours." "It isn't confidence," Felicia said. "It's faith." [Babylon 5] [Hanger Bay 2] The *Neue Ziele* sat waiting. Washuu looked around carefully, then walked into the ship, sealing the hatch behind her. Carefully checking the security seals, she activated and powered up the ship's own comm system and the unit beeped Dragonhold. A Narn, two-tear Adept, responded, "Dragonhold Duty Office. How can I help you, Oracle Washuu?" "I need you to put me through to Section 7, immediatly. This is an Oracle-level override," Washuu replied. "Yes, ma'am," the Narn replied, and the image blinked to Section 7, Internal Affairs. "Section Seven duty officer," the Minbari at the station replied, "Whom can I put you in touch with, ma'am?" "I need to talk to Oracle Nishlas," Washuu said. "This is an emergency situation." "One moment," the Minbari said, then the terminal beeped again as a second Minbar, a female Oracle, sat down in front of her terminal. "Washuu," Nishlas said. "What's so urgent?" "This is MAGI buisness," Washuu said. "Shit," Nishlas replied. The terminal made some odd noises, then she said, "We're in the tightband encryption. What is the problem?" "I got a letter. From Lennier, whom said that it was sent to Delenn...." "The Minbari Ambassador, yes," Nishlas said. "That's right," Washuu noted. "The letter was written in Latin, and it says, and I quote-'Things are coming to a head. The Thirteenth Angel is coming too soon, and I do not have the power to stop it. Hold the line as long as possible, so the Angel does not come.' There as no address, nor was there a signed reply. We've seen ten Angels ever since Second Impact, Nishlas. If the Thirteenth Angel is coming soon, we have to move quickly. Ivanova has been contacted by the Instrumentality of Man." "No," Nishlas said, a whisper. "I'll tell MAGI immediatly. What has Bureau 13 been doing?" "Evidently, they know that there is an Angel here, close to Babylon 5. They want to produce the Instrumentality of Man as well, but they truly don't know of it's power," Washuu said. "We must move quickly, sister. Tell all the Oracles to get as many reports as possible-we have to find the Eleventh and Twelth Angel soon and stop them." "But if we stop them," Nishlas replied, "that could summon the aforementioned Thirteenth Angel. What should we do?" "If the Thirteenth Angel is coming," Washuu said, "we need a weapon to stop it. Order all Dragons to start hunting for the Spear of Longituis-we may need the God-killer to stop the Thirteen Angel. Until then, MAGI should put out all effort to find the Eleventh and Twelth Angels." "I shall do my best," Nishlas said, and the terminal cut off. Washuu looked at the disconnected terminal, and thought about everything that had happened and was going to happen. Then she said, in a low whisper, "We had all better do our best, or may God have mercy on our souls." [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] Sheridan was reading the letter in his hands. It was a single sheet of white paper, with small, yet legible handwriting. It looked as if it were written by someone attempting to mimic a computer's touch-every letter was perfect. The letter said, "There is something about yourself you try to deny, something you plan to ignore, something you wish to forget. Do not forget it-you know you love her. You know you want to feel her breath on your ear in the morning, you know you want to feel the curve of her arm around your shoulder in the afternoon, you want to feel the touch of her lips in the evening. Remember her, because it is what you are, what you must be." As Sheridan looked at the letter, unsigned and unannounced, it was like a piece of Judgement. *Who else knew?* he thought. As he looked at the letter, a ancient quote came back to him. He said it himself, whispering it to the small room, "Love held too tightly is squeezed to death. Love held too loosely flies away. So, am I holding too tightly or too loosely?" That has been Anna's most favorite expression, he remembered. He looked at the photo of her that he had, carefully looking at it with deliberation and a calm reminder that he had been in love before. The wounds were still fresh, reopened. John Sheridan didn't want to be hurt again, not like that. For the longest time, he didn't move. Then, calmly, he walked up to the picture and put it down so that Anna's picture was hidden. As he did, he said, "I loved you, Anna. I just wish I could keep on loving you." Then, almost like a dead man, he walked out of his quarters, into the hushed pause of the universe. [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] "So," Marcus asked, "what have you been up to?" "I've been busy," Ivanvoa replied, looking at her salad. "With all the work I've been up to trying to keep this station from falling apart, and trying to keep myself from exploding, I feel like a dragon booger-green and slimly." "Can I help?" Marcus asked. "Maybe I should get you a kleenex?" "No, that wouldn't help," Ivanvoa replied. "The really big thing is that I've been trying to get everything assembled to help get Sheridan and Delenn together." "That reminds me," Marcus said, pulling out a package, "these are the things you wanted. Are you sure you need them? It took me a lot of favors to get them, and if you don't want them, I can make good use of them...." "I'll take those," Ivanova said, taking the paper-wrapped package from him. "This idea had better work." "Have you ever realized something?" Marcus asked. "What?" Ivanova replied, curious. "Have you realized just how eerie Felicia is?" Marcus said. "She thinks up this elaboriate scheme, but says that it's your plan, your plot, your idea." "It is odd," Ivanova mulled, "when she first came, I didn't know what I was going to do with her. But now, it's like she's the other half of me-I can't think of doing anything without her." "Maybe I should talk to her, get some sort of time-share going with her about you," Marcus said, joking. "What, do you want to share her with me?" Ivanvoa asked, looking shocked. "Who said anything about Felicia?" Marcus asked. "I'd like to share you with her." Before Ivanvoa could come up with a reply, Kosh floated over to Ivanova. "Ambassador," Ivanova said, suddenly noticing his presence, "I didn't see you come up and...." "Talk. Alone. Now," Kosh said, and he spun off to a side hallway. Ivanova shrugged to Marcus, got up, paid her bill, and followed him. "What do you want?" Ivanvoa asked. "Do not be seduced by the Instrumentality," Kosh said. "It seeks to destroy what you are and unmake what you belive you be." "What the hell are you talking about," Ivanova asked. "I don't know anything about the Instrumentality of Man, or what it is." Kosh turned away, then walked a few steps. Turning just enough to show the front of his encounter suit and his "face", he said, "No, you don't. But you will." Then he walked off, leaving Ivanova there with questions she couldn't answer. [Space Transport *Lillith*] [Between Babylon 5 and Earth] Hyperspace. Dream time. Nightmare time. Two weeks from Babylon 5, in a luxury suite, a man and a woman looked at each other. "Did you get the letter sent off," the man asked. "I did," the woman replied, "but I don't know why you wanted me to warn the bitch-I like terror and shock." "The warning wasn't for her," the man said, "but for another, and sending it to her was the easiest way to get the job done. Two weeks, then it's time for us to hunt." "You seek myths-while I seek true vengence against a living being. Why do you want me to stay my hand?" the woman asked. "Patience is a virtue in our buisness," the man said. "I have waited a long time for this, and I will wait no more. The Angel will pay. Pay for Second Impact. Pay for the lies. Pay for what we had done with her treachery. Then, I assure you, you may pop their heads like zits." "Very well then, Fei," the woman said, "I shall do as you ask." "And I will reward you," the man said, taking a kiss. "A little early reward now, eh?" [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] Ivanova looked at Marcus and Felicia. "Are we ready?" Ivanova asked. She surveyed the two, letting the play roll around in her mind. "I'm ready," Felicia said. She held up her satchel, bulging with objects. "The plan will work." "I believe so too," Marcus said as well, his bag filled with stuff. "As soon as you want, we can go." "Then go, and may we have success," Ivanova said. As the two left, Ivanvoa reviewed the plan in her mind. Only three things had to go right, and her part was the most important. Picking up a package on the table, she looked around the room and said, "This will succeed. I know it." In the year 2260, the great plan had started. And when the year was over, the world that existed was much different than the start. [END EPISODE 3] From NODUI@postoffice.worldnet.att.net Sun Dec 22 22:42:11 1996 Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 12:07:34 -0700 From: NODUI@postoffice.worldnet.att.net To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: [STORY]Dragons of the Tear II-Episode 4 Two notes- Note #1-The events of this story take place, in theory, after "Dust to Dust" in the third season of Babylon 5. Note #2-Each of these stories are episodes. The start theme is the standard B5 theme, the end theme is "Anywhere Is" from the Enya *The Memory of Trees* CD. As always, any comments, compliments, complaints, flames, FAQs, etc, etc, etc, can be sent to me at- Jon.Souza@Creature.Com NODUI@worldnet.att.net Now for the disclaimers- "Dragon of the Tears II" is a story based on the PTEN/Warner Brothers show "Babylon 5." All characters not the creation of the author are the property of PTEN/Warner Brothers, Copyright@ 1996 PTEN/ Warner Brothers. All other properties are the sole property of Jonathan Souza, Copyright @1996. This copyright will be transferred upon request to the authorized representatives of JMS/PTEN/Warner Brothers. All copyrights extend to electronic forms of this story. And now, to the future- _Dragon of the Tears-II_ _By Jon Souza_ _Episode Three-Historical Story(Written Version)_ [Babylon 5] [Blue Section] "Where in the hell did Surraco go?" Garibaldi asked. "He's not the sort to be late or AWOL." "Beats me, sir," Zack replied. "Last I heard, he was going to investigate somebody over-staying in their room." "That's a good place to start," Garibaldi replied. The two were walking to the Security Office, both reading the report of the Dragon-slayer weapon, stolen from Minbar. The information, to say the very least, was hazy. How fast was it? Unknown. What was it armed with? Unknown. There were only two known-it was deadly, and optimized to kill Dragons. Could normal humans stand up to it? Probably not-a one-Tear Adept was a fiercely trained warrior, easily better than any human being short of someone who spent their entire lives learning arcane martial arts. And, according to what little Washuu was willing to let out, it was capable of defeating anything short of an Oracle Dragon. "Get on it," Garibaldi ordered. "I need to get some work done." "Yes, sir," Zack said. As he left, Garibaldi looked at the clocks. What little Ivanova was about to lay out about her plan was simple-it was direct and it was final. If this didn't work, she said, those two weren't to be together. Ever. Garibaldi shrugged, worrying a little. The top of his head was really tight, and that happened in only one of two circumstances- there was either going to be rain or things were going to the proverbial hell-in-a-hand basket. He only hoped that it wouldn't be that desperate a crisis as he thought. [Earth Alliance Cruiser *Tokyo-3*] [Epsilon System, one million kilometers from Babylon 5] *Tokyo-3* was, in the Earth-Alliance military arsenal, called a "siege weapon." Technically, the 500-meter long core of the ship was built around a positron cannon-requiring a massive gigawatt hour pulse to fire at it's maximum capacity. It's engines were so overpowered that it didn't use the standard centrifuge of Earth ships-it either would be accelerating at quarter speed(1 G), or would deploy two "hamster" cages on the ends of tethers to give gravity when not accelerating. It was designed to destroy planetary defenses at extreme range-barely perceivable by enemy warships, it would fire at the enemy defense network and destroy them for invasion. In theory, it could even be used for planetary bombardment. But a positron cannon was overkill for planetary bombardment-a misplaced shot could shatter a continental plate. According to theory, the reason why the twenty *Trojan*-class siege cannons were built was just in case of another Earth-Minbari war, or a war where Earth was on the offensive. These ships would be used to destroy either enemy fleets(the first sign of a positron cannon firing was the destruction of your ships and the golden lances of energy streaking across space) or to destroy enemy defenses. In actuality, Bureau 13 had these ships built, using all the other reasons to cover up the actual reason for this ship's construction. Bureau 13 had encountered the Angels only three times. In those times, they knew one thing-the only thing that harmed Angels were positron weapons, N2 devices, and the artificial constructs called the Wirblewind. *Tokyo-3*'s crew was either Bureau 13 personnel, or could be relied upon to fire if necessary and keep their mouths shut later. In a sense, *Tokyo-3* and her sister ships were the last ditch weapon-if the Wirblewind assigned to deal with an Angel failed and was destroyed, the entire area would be blown up. Either by one of *Tokyo-3*'s sister ships or by a EA ship carrying N2 weapons. No mistakes could be allowed. That was the danger of Angels. So, quietly, *Tokyo-3* moved into firing position. And waited. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] "Hey, Nick, you asleep at the punch?" Zack said, cycling open the door to the room. He looked around, curious, then said, "Lights." As the lights came on, the day-old body of Nick Surraco was revealed, a massive puddle of blood on the floor. "Zack to Garibaldi," Zack said, trying not to throw up. "What is it, Zack," Garibaldi asked. "We've got a problem. Nick's dead, Jesus, it looks like a fucking slaughterhouse," Zack replied. "I'll be up there in ten minutes," Garibaldi responded, "with forensics team. Keep that place isolated....." As the two were talking, a small distorted wave of light walked out of the room. It paused just once, stopping to allow a Mylar-like ripple stop in it's center. It then left, quietly leaving the entire section. [Babylon 5] [Ambassadorial Section] "I dunno," Marcus said, "this just feels, well, bad." "It's going to work," Ivanova said, screwing up her courage. "We just need to get the timing right. Can you do that?" "Oh, sure," Marcus replied. "It's just that, well, if they take it the wrong way, we're going to be in a lot of trouble." "If we're lucky," Felicia said. "They'll shove us out the airlock. If we aren't, they'll have us for lunch." "Eh?" Ivanova asked. "Minbari insult-to consume one's most hated enemy is to deny their soul a chance to be reborn," Felicia replied. "Of course, this will work." "Well then," Ivanova said. "You know your places, get going." As the two left, a soft voice whispered in Ivanova's ear, "Who are you?" Ivanova turned, to see Talia there, naked. "Who are you?" Talia asked again. "Susan Ivanova," Ivanova replied, a little worried. "Yes, but which Susan Ivanova? "The Susan Ivanova in Susan Ivanova's mind? "The Susan Ivanova in Marcus Cole's mind? "The Susan Ivanova is Felicia Le Cou's mind? "Or maybe even the Susan Ivanova in Talia Winter's mind. "All are true, all are valid, but which one is the true Susan Ivanova?" Talia finished. "Would you stop talking riddles!" Ivanova yelled, an energy blade erupting from her hand, and passing through Taila like she was smoke. "That will not answer your questions, but close those doors forever. Would you slay your answer so easily, dragon?" Talia replied, and vanished. Just popped out of existence like she wasn't there ever. Ivanova shook her head and looked around. "I need a vacation...." Ivanova muttered. [Babylon 5] [Customs Area] "Welcome to Babylon 5," the security guard said. "Thank you," the man said, smiling. "We plan to only be here a few days-lay over for our honeymoon trip and that." "I see," the security guard replied. He leaned over to the man conspirtoraly, "There's a great cafe near the Zocallo-really romantic. Friend of mine's the matre'd, he can get you in a nice quiet little nook if you want." "Thanks," the man said, "I just might take you up on that offer." As the man and woman left, the woman took a nibble at the man's ear, and used it as a chance to whisper, "Almost there?" "We have to find her," the man said. Then, as a few people came, the two kissed. "Give me a day or two, and we'll be able to make the best use of the Spear." "Let us hurry," the woman replied, "I want the bastard and his bitch girlfriend." "Patience, patience," he whispered. "Give yourself a break- you need it." [Babylon 5] [Command and Control] "Yes, sir," the tech said. "I'll make sure you get the high- security berth. Will you be needing a....I see. Yes, sir." [Space around Babylon 5] [Earth Fast-Transport *Leviathan*] "Thank you," Bester replied sweetly. He walked around to where the box with the Wirblewind was. "It's nearly our time. You can hear it, can't you. Like yet unlike, you are. Lacking everything but a soul, Wirblewind. You will hunt down the Angel, you know." A silent plead for mercy, then a sense of resignation. "You know we want to humanely capture the Angel. Blasting it to pieces would be easier-and a lot less risky. But we want to save it. Even you can appreciate that," Bester said, smiling. The box thought, then responded. "Agreed. Let us be careful -we have to be else we'll lose the chance to save the lives of the people on this station. We can't let the God's Wind Effect happen-Lord knows one San Digeo was enough," Bester said, walking to the door. "Let us work together, or else we both shall die. And the millions on Babylon 5." [Personal Quarters] [Babylon 5-Blue Section] "Eh?" Sheridan asked. "It's true," Felicia replied. "She told me to give this to you," and she handed him a small, paper-wrapped package the size of a video cassette. "And she gave me two very specific instructions-to not open it until you get to the destination I was told to take you to and to not let you contact anyone. Not even to bring your Link or PPG." "You're kidding," Sheridan replied. "She gave you those instructions?" "And a third-to bring to the destination, even if I had to use force. Please don't make me use force, sir," Felicia said. "I assure you, I will be the victor, and I am not your enemy. Let us go." Sheridan shrugged, then he left with Felicia, not even bothering to close the door. Felicia did it for him. [Personal Quarters] [Babylon 5-Ambassadorial Section] "It is too soon," Kosh said. "It is too late," Washuu replied. "Our plans have been destroyed by the Instrumentality. A shame, really. Goodbye, old friend. I shall be back, later." "None of us will be back," Kosh said. "I beg to differ," Washuu said. "There is always a chance. In a universe of infinite infinites, there is always a chance." She took her sword over her shoulder, and walked to the door. "I shall see you again." [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters-Ambassadorial Section] "He did?" Delenn asked. "He was rather insistent," Marcus said, shrugging his shoulders. "He wanted me to give you this package," and he handed Delenn a paper-wrapped package the size of a videocassette, "and for me to escort you to a location known to me, and one other. And to allow you to contact nobody. And to make sure you came no matter what the cost." "What if we were killed or lost?" Delenn asked. "He wants me to risk his life for him without knowing....." "He also told me to give you the following message-Nak'sral now'onn korri shorrak, malar, shalar sho tsui kes krey," Marcus interrupted, speaking partially in Minbari. "'By the hopes of the two worlds, love, we are joined as one,'" Delenn translated in a whisper. "Would he risk all this, his position, his title, his stature, for me?" "For a human," Marcus said, "to risk everything for love, a true love, is the height of honor. If he risks this for you, it is because he loves you so." As Delenn sat down, shocked, Marcus continued, "If you don't, if you forsake him now, you should have just left him for Sebastian-it would have been more merciful if he thought he was defending you in his death. Leave him like this, you will shatter him like a crystal with the right note. Please, I ask you as his friend, your friend, and someone who wants to believe in the kind of love you two have-come with me." Delenn didn't say anything. She just stood up, slowly and deliberately, and looked at Marcus. "I shall go," she whispered, softly and calmly. Without hesitation, without fear, she followed Marcus. [Babylon 5] [Security Office] "What's the report?" Garibaldi asked. "Slashed and slaughtered," Franklin replied. "Five sharp probes perforated his body-the damage to his heart, lungs and kidneys would have been enough to be fatal. Then, he cuts the top of his skull off and removes his brain. It's so close I can't tell if the damage is post-mortem or not. We are talking sadistic." "Thanks," Garibaldi replied. "If any more show up, I'll be sure to send them to you." "Give me plenty of warning," Franklin asked. "I don't want to puke again." As Franklin left, Zack got around him with a set of notes. "Sir, I found out about the guy who was living in that room." "So," Garibaldi asked, "who was it?" "Guy's name was Greg Alexandrov. Native Russian, he's an archaeologist by trade-so was his ex-wife," Zack said. "What happened," Garibaldi said, "to his wife?" "They separated-uncontested divorce but hell of messy, he claimed that his wife Francheska was committing adultery. She didn't say anything but 'yes' to the divorce. About three years later, she vanished," Zack replied. "Expedition in Sector 38, something about finding an alien race's artifacts." "Sector 38's near the Rim, isn't it?" Garibaldi asked. "Yes, sir. You want to hear the interesting bits?" Zack asked. "Hit me." "Mr. Alexandrov has dual Ph. Ds-one's in archeology. The second is Computer Sciences. He learned that one a few months ago. He's one of the fifteen top experts on the Ikkarians, probably the top five. And, he was on Minbar three weeks ago," Zack replied. "That puts him in the time frame to find the Dragon-killer weapon," Garibaldi said. "You got his photo?" "Already circulating it, sir," Zack said. "Also hailed Earth to have his quarters and cargo aboard the transport searched- just in case." "Good work," Garibaldi replied. "Did he leave any cargo here?" "Yea," Zack said, "one box. I've already got EOD and forensics down there, to safe it and examine it. Can't find out much about his economic affairs-he seems to have liquidated all of his assets and put them in charities....." "Shit, a suicide," Garibaldi muttered. To Zack's look, Garibaldi replied, "Learned that one in Criminal Psychology. It's call the Valhalla Syndrome-a person getting ready to die tossing everything away so he can die clean, unattached. And if he has that weapon...." "I'll get the Tac team warmed up and ready," Zack replied, getting out of the room. Garibaldi tapped his link, and said, "Garibaldi to Ivanova." "She is not available right now," the computer voice said, "please leave a message." "Shit," Garibaldi said. *This is not a good day* he thought, hunting to get Lou on the link, so he could start looking for her. [Babylon 5] [Zen Gardens] "Face yourself," Felicia said, "walk ahead to the center, walk to where you find that which is yours." "You jest," Sheridan asked. "What if I miss?" "You won't miss-everything is ready and prepared for you and her. What do you fear, John? That is what you must fight," Felicia replied, then walked away. "That is it," Marcus said. "Here is where destiny and the universe collide. You are one of the sparks." "I can't," Delenn said. "I fear the shape of myself, all the things that haven't been said, all the things that were said only halfly." "Don't. Go as yourself, don't depend upon others to create your need for self-worth. Face that, face yourself, and face what you must become," Marcus replied. "If I go," Delenn whispered, a choking sensation in her throat, "I will die." "Then die," Marcus replied. "But a catipiller must die to become a butterfly. Do you wish to have the limited horizons-or see the sky?" Delenn stiffened, then bowed. "I wish to taste the sky." Maybe it was deliberate. Maybe it was an accident. Regardless, it looked like a scene from every badly written spaghetti western-Delenn stood across on one side of the main courtyard, the silently babbling brook roaring in her ears like the pounding surf. She looked across, in terror? Yes, but not of her kind, of what faced her ahead. To her opposite, Sheridan looked back at her, a little scared as well. Here, feeling the rocks under his feet, he could take no comfort from their solidness. In fact, it was the loose, pebble-like nature of them that scared him the most. Here it was-the most terrifying thing possible. Sheridan was facing his own soul. They looked at each other, and said nothing. It was Sheridan who broke the silence before it became a crescendo of terror, saying, "I have come." "So have I," Delenn replied. "I wish to arrive at what we are being pushed at." "Our friends seem to think they know more about us than we do," Sheridan said, thankful that she choose something else to talk about. "They think we are in love with each other." "Aren't we?" Delenn asked. "Do you not dream of me when I hear your heart next to mine, do you not wish to hear my voice?" "I do," Sheridan said. "And so do I," Delenn replied. "But, it is the fear...." "Fear of loneliness," Sheridan continued. "Fear of rejection, fear of another, fear of those who do not understand, fear of being harmed by our own kind, fear of everything that isn't ours," Delenn continued. "We even fear each other-fear that maybe what we have chosen isn't what we wish. The fear that you have that I might not love you." "And the fear that you might not love me," Sheridan replied. "I know," Delenn said, turning around. She stood, scared. It was Sheridan who crossed the remaining distance. "I don't want to be afraid any more," Sheridan replied. And, with a soft hand, took Delenn's chin to tilt up her face to his. And, with a silent pause, he closed to kiss with her. But it was Delenn who came the remaining way, wrapping her arms around him and taking his lips into hers. As the two kissed, they felt a soft musical tone float through the room. Quietly, and softly, Delenn broke away to look up slightly. A rose petal landed in her eye. The two broke away long enough to look up as a small shower of rose petals landed on them-placed in a precise counter orbit in the habitat area, timed to drop at the right time. As they looked, the petals were easily worth enough to buy half the station-to ship rose petals, to even ship whole roses, was an expense that was almost unfathomable. Just for two other people, they expended this much money, time, and effort. The two looked in each other's eyes, dazzled that others would care about them this much. Then, the music started. Sheridan recogizned the voice-faintly. Couldn't put it exactly, but it was the language that he couldn't understand. But Delenn did, and she smiled, saying, "They're right, you know." "Eh?" Sheridan asked. "The song's in Minbari-'everything you say, I want to know, the depth of the sea, the height of the sky, the mystery the blue filled with these wonderful wonders, this scenery, and that's why I fell in love with you,'" she said, smiling. "That is why I fell in love with you-I want to know everything about you." "Maybe we should try to find out more," Sheridan replied, kissing Delenn softly and longingly. The two broke off, suddenly, realizing what they held in their hands. "Do you?" Sheridan asked. "Together," Delenn replied, and the two opened up their packages, to show two separate pieces of a small, black sphere. As they put them together, the seams disappeared, and series of grey and blue lines appeared on the sphere. "A maletov," Delenn whispered. "A what?" "A very potent symbol of good luck for a married couple," Delenn replied, "you can't take these off Minbar," Delenn replied. She lifted it up, and the two looked at each other for a second. "We have to go," Sheridan said. To Delenn's look, Sheridan said, "Got a clock in my head that's accurate as hell-and I have to go back to work in two hours." "And back to the hell of reality, eh?" Delenn asked. "True. I get off shift at 2100 hours-if you'll meet me in my quarters then, I'll try to continue this discussion," Sheridan smiled. As the two walked away; Marucs, Felicia, and Ivanova got out of the bushes. "Well, it worked," Felicia said. "Thank you, I think," Ivanova replied, stretching. As the three stripped off their ghillie suits, she looked at Marcus. "Hey, it was hard work! Sharon had me sing in Minbari and it took me and Felicia the better part of two days to get the re-toning right so it sounded like her. You just had to steal a few things." "A few things!" Marcus replied, shocked. "I was nearly shot-twice!-by Minbari who didn't want me to steal one of those things. And where did you think five tons of rose petals came from!" "Will you two stop acting like children," Felicia said, softly. As the two shut up, Felicia said, "You two have your own problems to deal with-get to it. Or do I have to try out one of my love potions?" "Eh?" Ivanova asked. "I can smell it in both of you-you two are attracted to each other. So get on with it," Felicia replied. "I have only so much cunning, and I used most of it here. So, I'm going for the direct approach." Felicia shoved the two into each other. "Deal with it! Or do I have to staple you together?" "Geez," Marcus said, "She does like to go direct and personal...." "And I sealed off the entire Zen Gardens for two hours," Felicia replied. "You'll find a good white wine, brie and crackers, and the usual compliment of sex toys in the basket on the other side of the fountain. Enjoy yourselves-or you'll have a miserable two hours together." As Felicia walked off, Ivanova and Marcus looked at each other. "I think she just pulled rank," Ivanova said. "Me too," Marcus said. He walked behind the fountain, pulled out the basket, and rummaged in it. As he did, he pulled out a rubber cone with three thick flanges. "Do you know what in the hell this thing is?" Marcus asked. [Babylon 5] [Customs Area] "Welcome back," the security guard said. "Thank you," Bester replied. "I will need someone to bring the box aboard my ship up to the Ready Room. As well, I want the entire command staff to report to the Ready Room as well in three hours." As he walked off, he suddenly turned the guard and said, "I'd just like to say that you are doing excellent. Hope your second job doesn't keep you too busy." Before the guard could reply, Bester was gone. [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters-Rental Area] "How long?" the woman asked. "Four hours," the man replied, fingering the case nervously. He remembered too well how painful it was. "I'll let you chase him then." "Thank you, Fei," the woman said, walking to the door. Before she exited, she asked, "Can I use the Spear?" "No," Fei Luci, opening the case slowly replied, "I need it. You can do the job by yourself-you have the power, Anna." "I do," Anna replied, then walked from the room. [Babylon 5] [Ready Room] "Well, you two look like you've been having fun," Franklin said, as he entered the room. The comments were directed to Sheridan and Ivanova, both looking, well....happy. They were cheerful, enjoying life, and seemingly immune to any feeing of blahs or annoyance that they could have felt. "Thanks," Sheridan replied. "I had something good happen to me today." "So did I," Ivanova replied. "But not with him," she pointed out to Franklin. Then, she turned serious, "What's with this meeting?" "Bester called it," Garibaldi said, walking in the door. "He said that this was a 'matter of Earth Alliance security,' and to tell you that he hasn't forgiven Washuu for knocking him or his three front teeth out." "Well, I don't think he'll get an apology for that...." Ivanova said, "He'll have to talk to her." Before anyone could say anything else, Bester came in. Oddly enough, Bester looked like he was younger-he walked with a spring in his step, a smile in his eye, and without any of the stiffness any of them had ever seen before. "Good afternoon," he said, smiling. "Before I start, I would like to tell a story." "What kind of story?" Sheridan asked. "Oh, about a doctor taking a few too many stims, a security officer who is keeping some very vital information away from his superiors, a executive officer who is an unregistered telepath, and a commanding officer who is currently engaged in a conspiracy against the Earth Alliance government," Bester replied. "Now, if you don't want me to tell the rest of this tale-or to tell it to people who will shove you in jail cells until the end of the next ice age, what I'm about to tell you here is to remain here." "You're blackmailing us?" Sheridan asked, starting to stand up. "No, just warning you that what I'm about to tell you here is to remain most secret," Bester replied. "I have to tell you, because I have orders to tell you the whole truth, and nothing but the truth- about Bureau 13 and the Instrumentality of Man project." "What the hell are you talking about?" Ivanova asked, worried. "It's a long story-and it starts about two hundred years ago. Any of you ever heard of the DCS-2751?" Bester asked. "Yea," Franklin replied, "Some joint American/Israeli code breaking system-never worked because it was too advanced for it's time." "That's not true," Bester replied. "It did work. In fact, one of it's first test subjects was the Dead Sea Scrolls. They had been confusing scholars for years, since there were pieces missing and lost and parts were obscurely written. But the DCS-2751 was designed to counter that, and it did. "Three weeks after they started to insert data, the computer started to spit out a perfectly translated version. When they discovered what the contents were, they were absolutely amazed. The Dead Sea Scrolls were perfectly written and perfectly formed instructions for the creation of an artificial soul. "I know, it sounds impossible. It's merely improbable. We've always asked the question of 'Where do souls come from,' and never, ever assumed that they might be made somewhere. In fact, humans may make souls for their own children within them. But we learned of how the mechanism of soul creation works. And the organization, called then Marduk, worked to create an artificial soul. "We later concealed ourselves within an organization called 'Bureau 13', a 'dirty tricks squad' for the Earth Alliance, perfectly formed and created to our mission. But we had a goal of our own-to figure out the mechanism for the workings of soul, and to understand what they meant by the term 'Instrumentality of Man' in the Dead Sea Scrolls. "I don't know how it works, exactly-ten generations of Earth's best mathematicians and physicists have been trying to figure it out and they don't work. But we thought we knew enough to create an artificial soul, and so we did in a secret laboratory in San Diego. The project was called Lillith, for very necessary reasons. And we succeeded, about eighty-five years ago." "Wait a minute," Garibaldi interrupted, "SD was nuked eighty-five years ago!" "It was. By us," Bester replied. "When I say 'us', I mean Bureau 13. We created Lillith. And in that creation, we drew down Second Impact. "First Impact was about seven hundred million years ago, when life first started to form on Earth. It started the process of creatures being born with souls. If you're curious, we found out all about this from the Dead Sea Scrolls, later. Second Impact was when we created Lillith. But when we created her, we accidentally created something else. We created an Angel. "To this day, despite the fact that we can create our own Angels, we know little about them. We know that they are some kind of fourth-dimensional being that 'extrudes' into our universe. And that they can create some type of energy field, a AT-Field, to protect themselves. And that they seem to take offense at the creation of artificial souls. One hit San Diego, and that was Second Impact. "We didn't know much, we couldn't risk the secret getting out. So we used a nuclear weapon, suitably 'modified' to look like a terrorist device, a few minutes afterwards to eliminate the evidence-and hopefully kill the Angel. We didn't kill it. Angels don't die that easily. "So we went back to study the Dead Sea Scrolls again. It made reference to the Angels, and told us that there would be thirteen of them after Second Impact. After that, there would be a reckoning, and if humankind hadn't completed the Instrumentality of Man, it would be wiped out of existence-there wouldn't even be memories of the human race, ever." "You still haven't told us why you're here, or what the hell the Instrumentality of Man is," Ivanova said, "Hell, you could be on Hallucn-N for all we know." "I'm getting to that," Bester replied. "It's just that you need to know the background. We learned about the Angels, and learned that only three things can truly harm an Angel-positron weapons, N2 devices, and the Wirblewind. "The Wirblewind is our weapon to kill Angels. It's literally a human-made Angel, having everything but a soul. You see," and Bester motioned to the box, "it's in here, stored in cold suspension, to keep it from awakening until we want it to. Once I release it, I will use it to capture the 11th Angel, so that we may take it back for analysis. It's getting too close to the 13th Angel, and we haven't completed the Instrumentality of Man yet. "We don't know what the Instrumentality of Man is yet, except that it involves the following assumption-human souls are incomplete. By their very nature, they are and will be incomplete until they are put together, and when that happens, the Instrumentality of Man is complete. We've never found out what the 'incomplete' portion is, and we once thought it was the split of Minbari/Human souls sometime around Valen's time. But it isn't, we think. "It's a clock puzzle, really," Bester said, sitting down. It was evident that this was a burden he was enjoying taking off his shoulders, "Can we defuse the Instrumentality bomb before the 13th Angel splatters us into non-existence? I hope so-I kind of like humanity. "And to the question you're about to ask," Bester said, looking at Garibaldi, "I have orders here, written orders with receipts and direct orders to me for all of you to keep the originals, is to render any and all assistance, regardless of the cost. If you have to blow out an Ambassador's door, we will cover you-period. Nothing matters-except killing or capturing the Angel. Do you understand?" "I do," Sheridan said. "But I want this to be two-way. Garibaldi is going to go with you. If you so much as piss or go to the bathroom, he's going to be close enough to count the turds. Got that?" "You have no problem with me on that," Bester said, agreeing. "But you might not like what I'm about to do." [Earth Alliance Cruiser *Tokyo-3*] [Epsilon System, one million kilometers from Babylon 5] "We're in firing position, sir," the XO said, floating up to the captain. "Capacitors are charging, we're about an hour from a full-charge shot." "Good," the Captain replied. He thought a second, then said, "Have you ever been on a failed mission?" "No, sir," the XO replied, "Maybe I'm lucky that way, sir." "You are," the Captain replied. "I was on a failed mission, once. I'm not sure if we were doing the people there a favor-or just trying to assuage our own souls. Especially those hit by the God's Wind. I hope Bester can do this, because I don't want to do it again." [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] "You never talked about Anna," Delenn said, "Why's that?" The two were trying to finish' what they had started in the Zen Gardens. Somehow, the discussion had reached the point of what Anna Sheridan, John's dead wife, was like. Sheridan looked at her, and said, "It's hard to explain." "Try me," Delenn said, smiling. The two were enjoying, of all things, egg rolls and green Japanese tea in his quarters-Sheridan threw the rolls in the microwave and Delenn brought the tea. "I'd like to know who's memory I was fighting against." "Ok," Sheridan replied, and he searched for a picture. Technically, it wasn't a picture. It was a electronic greeting card with a small stored video clip in it, about fifteen seconds. Sheridan pushed the small switch on the side, and the image of Anna Sheridan danced on it, "Hi, honey. Sorry I can't send you a real birthday present, but I'll have one for you when you get home. See you then," and the image reset on the start. "What was she talking about a present when you got home," Delenn asked. Sheridan hemmed, hewed, and looked at Delenn for a second. "You're going to have to bear with me. I'm not sure how, well, um....the Minbari have....sex." Delenn looked at Sheridan for a minute. "Sex," she replied. "Yes," Sheridan said. "Ah," Delenn said. She looked at him, then back, and they both kept looking at each other. "So, that is the problem." "Right," Sheridan replied. "Hm," Delenn thought. "I could always call Washuu, have her help...." "No, no," Sheridan said, trying to laugh, "I think that if we did, we'd both be very much overwhelmed." The two looked at each other, and Delenn said, "I put myself in your hands," and she walked off the bed and turned around from him. A second later, she turned back to face him, and her robe dropped to the floor. "I don't know the way around you. Please," and she took her naked body to Sheridan's clothed one, "show me the way around myself." Something in his brain circumventing the gallavant reflex, Sheridan kissed Delenn and helped to lower her to the bed. [Babylon 5] [Blue Section] "I dunno," Garibaldi shrugged, "That box is, well, eerie." "I agree with you fully," Bester shrugged. "It does make you a little worried, thinking about everything contained within that box." Bester had pulled out a small scanner, the size of a large paperback book. "This should find the Angel for us-the NEVA unit can detect AT-Fields up to ten kilometers away and with an accuracy of about half a meter. Close enough. Unfortunately," and Bester slapped it against his hip, "It has this annoying problem of going on the blink every once in a while-not false readings, but just not working right on occasion." "Thanks for the vote of confidence," Garibaldi muttered. Bester looked at the monitor and muttered, "There's something wrong." "Eh?" Garibaldi asked. "I'm picking up three signals. Two are in Downbelow-Section 13, Block 2. The third is in Blue Section, Section 17, Block 4," Bester replied, shaking the box, then setting it into a test mode. "Hell," Garibaldi said, "That's the Captain's quarters!" "I'll get the Wirblewind ready," Bester said. "Have your people secure the area around his quarters-so we can get the people out of there. Don't call the Captain-if the Angel hasn't gone to a high-activity mode, we might be able to pull this off with a minimum of bloodshed." [Downbelow] [Section 13, Block 2] Fei Luci was carrying, in his hand, a long box that was rumbling and grumbling with something inside. Nobody interfered with him, nobody wanted to. As he rounded the corner, Felicia was waiting there for him. "Why are you here?" she asked. "To kill you," Fei Luci replied, slapping the box down on a convenient ledge. "Your kind has been doing so much fucking damage...." "You will use the Spear of Longitus?" Felicia asked. "I can still see the burn on your hand-that is a weapon made by Man to kill Angels, and it knows what you truly are. Would you kill one Angel with a weapon that knows what you are?" "You speak in riddles," Fei Luci said, "and you shall die." "Not today," a voice somewhere in the room replied. There was nothing, then the air seemed to ripple as it walked out from invisibility to the center of the room. Whatever it was, it wore a dark purple, almost black, cloak around it's shoulders. Man-sized, it's shoulders were massive pods, the head merely an intricate mask with a single glowing eye in it's middle. As it walked between them, the cloak retracted to show it's armored body, dark purple covered in black tracery. The armored feet reverberated on the floor with deliberate intention. As it turned, it raised it's arm to Fei Luci, showing the ends of a wrist with no hands, but five evenly spaced hexagonal ports. "It is your time to die," the machine said. "Mind if I know who the fuck are you?" Fei asked. "Three years ago," the armored man said, "Earth, Russia, Moscow. University of Moscow. Archeology Department. You seduced someone." "I've seduced a lot of people," Fei said, smiling. "But I don't know who the fuck you are talking about...." "Listen!" the man commanded. "You seduced her, turned her against her husband, and used her to find something for you. Then, when you did, you fucking left her to die on some God-forsaken world....." "Yea, tell me another sob story," Fei said. "That woman was my wife," the armored man said, "And, on that day, I swore to avenge myself. I swore to kill you, but that became difficult to do when I found out exactly what you are. But I did learn of this. This is an Ikkarian Dragon-killer weapon, the last of it's kind. With it, I will kill you, before I die." "Before you die?" Felicia asked. "It is slowly killing me," the man said, "A week, ten days at most, then I will die. But before then, I want to send your twisted and demented soul to Hell the slow way. My name, hell-spawn, is Greg Alexandrov. You will die." "Oh, her, Francheska," Fei said, smiling. "Yea, I screwed her really good and she loved it....." but he was interrupted by a sharp tendril of steel screeching past his ear. "Shut the fuck up!" Greg replied, the metal tendril erupting from one of the ports in his hand. Suddenly, the tendril snapped back and from all five ports came a series of sharp steal claws. "Now, you will die." [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters] Delenn smiled softly. Sheridan was asleep in bed, totally drained of energy. The two, she thought, most certainly had fun that night. Evidently, the human instinct of "sex" was something rather joyous. She carefully plodded around the room, putting on just the inner set of robes she normally wore, just allowing herself a chance to look at the view. Her eyes settled on a glass snowglobe, an amusing scene of life on Earth. For just a second, she knew exactly why she had fallen in love with John Sheridan-he was the most interesting thing on this entire station. As she played with the snowglobe, she shook it enough for the scene to look like it was wreathed in snow. From behind her, without warning, the door opened. Delenn looked, turning to see who was at the door. "Hello," the voice said, and in that instant, as the snowglobe loosed from her grip, Delenn knew, without hesitation or mistake who it was. The moment the snowglobe shattered on the floor, the first words from Delenn's lips were, "Anna....." [END EPISODE 4] From NODUI@worldnet.att.net Wed Dec 25 00:51:20 1996 Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 00:45:41 -0800 From: NODUI@worldnet.att.net To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: [STORY]Dragons of the Tear II-Episode 5 Two notes- Note #1-The events of this story take place, in theory, after "Dust to Dust" in the third season of Babylon 5. Note #2-Each of these stories are episodes. The start theme is the standard B5 theme, the end theme is "Anywhere Is" from the Enya *The Memory of Trees* CD. As always, any comments, compliments, complaints, flames, FAQs, etc, etc, etc, can be sent to me at- Jon.Souza@Creature.Com NODUI@worldnet.att.net Now for the disclaimers- "Dragon of the Tears II" is a story based on the PTEN/Warner Brothers show "Babylon 5." All characters not the creation of the author are the property of PTEN/Warner Brothers, Copyright@ 1996 PTEN/Warner Brothers. All other properties are the sole property of Jonathan Souza, Copyright @1996. This copyright will be transferred upon request to the authorized representatives of JMS/PTEN/Warner Brothers. All copyrights extend to electronic forms of this story. And now, to the future- _Dragon of the Tears-II_ _By Jon Souza_ _Episode Five-The Beginning of the End, or Knockin' on Heaven's Door_ [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters-Blue Section] "So, you recognize me," Anna said, striding into the room. As she did, her hand snapped out and energy collected in the middle of her palm. By the time she crossed half-way, her hand snapped closed and a blade of energy appeared in her hand. "What is this, eh?" Sheridan, very suddenly, woke up to a oddly familiar sound. When he awoke, he couldn't say anything but "What the...." "Shut up, you whore-monger!" Anna snapped. "Bad enough you've got to fill the space in my bed with another, but to do it with a half-breed Minbari bitch! Now, I'm going to let you choose-either I kill you painfully or I kill you slowly. You're choice." "Anna, listen, please," Sheridan tried to say, trying to get out of bed. "Wrong answer!" she screamed, and she backhanded a hail of reddish energy darts at Sheridan, the bolts tearing through the air like greased lightning. Another hand caught them. "Temper, temper, Initiate," a familiar voice cooed from the wall, where a female hand was sticking out. The rest of the body followed, revealing Washuu, in full armor. "Now, I believe you have an explanation, or do I have to kill you?" "Another one of your little whores?" Anna said, haughtily. "Where was all of this energy when you my husband?" "^ÑWhore?'" Washuu said, a pained look across her face. "That I've never been-but if you want to compare prostitution of the soul, we have to look no farther than you. Now, uncharge your weapons, and let us talk, before you do something horribly wrong...." But Washuu never completed the sentence. The door exploded open, and from the shadows of the debris came a horrible growling sound that seemed to tear at the core of their beings. As they all watched, the shadow became a shape-an almost skeletal humanoid shape in a ghastly purple, long arms hanging from its wide shoulders, the oddly faceted head of the unit panning to lock Anna in it's sights. It looked, and Anna hissed, "Abomination! Why are you here?" The thing didn't even hesitate-from a pop-out container in the right shoulder came a wide-bladed knife which, once attached to the unit's hand, hummed with a dangerous sounding glow. It leapt at Anna, and as the blade reached some intangible limit, it seemed to hit a barrier that rippled away from the impact in a oddly square pattern. "Let's get out of here!" Washuu yelled. "Now!" And, scooping up the confused Sheridan in one arm, and the shocked Delenn in the other, flew them out of the room. As they managed to clear out of the room, Delenn was looking at Washuu and said, "What in the hell was that?" "Something we've known for a long time-a Angel. Your Anna Sheridan is the 11th Angel-and the other monster was the Wirblewind," Washuu answered, choosing a safe hallway to put them down in. "MAGI, the Dragon organization which I'm a part of, has been trying to understand the Angels ever since the Ivla encountered them fifty thousand years ago." "But the Ivla vanished without a trace!" Delenn complained. "They failed," Washuu answered, without preamble. "The Angels have a very low threshold for failure." "You mean, that's a part of the Instrumentality of Man?" Sheridan asked. "How in the hell do you know about that?" Washuu asked. "Bureau 13 loves to keep that very, very secret. If you told anyone, you could be tasting hard vacuum if you aren't careful...." "Bester came on-station, and he said they had found an Angel here. He also told us the entire story of the Angels; well, as much as he knew, but...." "Shit," Washuu replied. "We need to find him, and now! If he screws this up, we're all in big trouble. Bureau 13 is very particular about correcting failed Angel incursions-and that means that they might have to blow up the station with a positron cannon or N2 weapons." "They would use a positron cannon on the station!" Sheridan yelled. "Shit! Why go for that much firepower?" "Because," Washuu replied, putting him down, "if the Angel grows powerful enough, he'll start the God's Wind Effect-and that will be a lot less more merciful than the place blowing up." [Babylon 5] [Blue Section] Garibaldi looked at Bester, as he ran the Wirblewind. He looked distant and almost distracted, as if he was thinking about something else. Two small sensor pickups, attached to his temples, worked silently, with a few small lights blinking on and off. He occasionally muttered comments-"She's close," "Nearing the target area,""She's very good." Garibaldi watched him, mostly because he had nothing better to do. It was Garibaldi's intense examination of Bester, perhaps, that allowed him to see the thing on his arm. It swelled suddenly, lines of weavery under his skin, suddenly swell to become visible, then disappear to an unknown sight. Garibaldi looked at it, and said, "Bester, are you ok?" No response. As he watched, Bester twitched slightly, then started to look at the wall again, evidently deep in thought. As Garibaldi looked around, he heard something escape Bester's lips. It was a scream. [Babylon 5] [Downbelow] Fei Luci looked in shock. The Dragon-killer stepped closer and closer, creating a blade from the end of one of it's "hands", and stared him down. "You will die, Fei Luci," the thing intoned. "Not likely," Fei replied, and dove for cover as five tendrils of solid steel ripped through the air, screeching their metallic crescendo as they curved like snakes. As he rolled along the ground, he came up with a charged energy bolt, firing it past....but he was gone. Hunting with his vision he barely missed a second series of metal tendrils, coming from, of all things, mid-air. "Where are you?" "Where you are not," the voice said, from nowhere. "You don't play fair-so why should I?" "Because," Fei Luci said, "You always thought you were a good guy. Good guys don't cheat." "For your death, I'd sell my soul to the Devil, and I may have already done that," as another burst of tendrils erupted across the room. Their battle was just joined. From a hidden vantage point, Felicia looked upon the battle, and said, "No, no....it's too soon....it's not time for him yet." [Babylon 5] [Blue Section-Personal Quarters] The noise sounded like a replay, in miniature, of Ragnarok. There were crashes and rumbles, screams and sparks. The reflected light alone was enough to see flickering scenes of battle, painted on the wall. Washuu looked at the two and said, "We'd better get out of here, regardless of who wins. I don't want to be around if the Wirblewind is victorious. And I definitely...." The noise stopped suddenly. Then, staggering, the Wirblewind stepped around the corner, one arm dragging along the ground, a trail of blood behind it. As they watched, the Wirblewind fell to the ground, a gaping hole in it's rear, spewing blood and hydraulic fluid all over the floor. A second later, Anna walked around the corner, coated in layers of blood from the Wirblewind. She staggered two steps, a fragment of the Wirblewind hanging from her lip. With a terrifying roar that sounded like both orgasm and agony mixed into one, Anna lifted her head and crowed her victory. "Out of here!" Washuu yelled, spewing energy bolts into Anna as Sheridan and Delenn ran to the nearest pressure door. Washuu pasted it a second later, and she hit the emergency seal, slamming the door down. She then blasted the panel and used an energy beam to seal the door shut, then scribbled a series of stigils onto the door. "I don't know how long before the seal breaks....John, you have to order the evacuation of Babylon 5 and now! If Bureau 13 learns of the failure, there will be a destructive blast to destroy everything." "But..." "No buts!" Washuu yelled. "We need to go, and now!" [Babylon 5] [Personal Quarters-Blue Section] Susan Ivanova snapped awake, partially ignoring Marcus' curled body around her. Her ears rang, her eyes burned, and, for the first time since she had become a Dragon, she was scared. There were noises-noises of battle. There were the smells of burned flesh and vaporized blood. And her eyes could only see the silence of Talia Winters, looking over her. "What are you doing here?" Ivanova yelled. Silence. "Listen, I've had too little fucking time to deal with your shit...." Ivanova said, getting up. Before she did, Talia put a single hand out and placed the tip of it on her shoulder. Marcus fumbled awake, tossed the covers over his head-and stopped. "Ivanova, do you know you have an angel in your quarters?" Marcus asked. "What do you mean?" Ivanova replied, grouchily. She could only barely move her head-where Talia's hand touch, a faint sense of nothing came from it. "Well, we're talking a classical angel here-white robe, halo, big feathery wings that are dropping feathers on the sheets, her hand is on your shoulder, that sort of thing," Marcus replied. He moved, very carefully, to get his fighting stick. Just in case. "You don't need that," Talia said. Marcus stopped instantly. "I'm here to tell you that it's time. Time for you to take your place within the Instrumentality of Man." "What the hell is the Instrumentality of Man?" Ivanova yelled. "You'll learn of it soon enough," Talia replied, and she started to back off. Before either of them could do anything, she vanished into thin air. "Well, that was an interesting experience," Marcus said. "Now I can tell my kids that dad saw a real, live angel from heaven." "Marcus," Ivanova said. "Get to a shuttle. Now. I want you on the *White Star* as quickly as possible." "Why do you want that?" Marcus asked. "Because it's about to get very deadly here," Ivanova replied, stepping out of bed. The moment her feet hit the ground, her battle uniform of black and purple appeared, rippling across the skin. "Because, dear Marcus, Babylon 5 is about to fall." [Babylon 5] [Blue Section] "What?" Garibaldi asked. "Wirblewind is dead, Anna killed it," Sheridan replied by the Link. "Tell Bester that we need another plan, and now. As well, I want you to start organizing an evacuation of the station." "Got you," Garibaldi replied, and he turned to look at Bester, "Hey, Bester, we need to talk...." Garibaldi was silenced by Bester turning around, his body cris-crossed with sausage- sized lines bulging from the skin. His eyes had a wild, glazed look to them. He turned, moaning, and shambled towards Garibaldi. Garibaldi pulled his PPG, charged it, and aimed it at Bester. "Stay back!" "Go....ds......wi....nd....," Bester moaned, each step like a fragment of time. Garibaldi stared at Bester and recoiled in shock. He was seeing the first stage of the God's Wind Effect. [Babylon 5] [Downbelow] Fei Luci was backed into a corner. The Dragon Killer, still invisible, deployed a single, long metallic blade the size of a broadsword, the blade catching fragments of light from the few arc lamps hanging over the room. "How does it feel to know that you will die soon, bastard?" the Dragon Killer replied. "I don't know," Fei said, looking around, "You tell me." His eyes caught something. Taking a few deep breaths, he got ready-the timing had to be absolutely right. The Dragon Killer's blade came down. At the last instant, Fei Luci dove for the box holding the Spear. Rolling, he flipped the box open, and without hesitating, grabbed the Spear of Longituius. The pain was worse than what he remembered. It felt as if his blood was molten iron, his skin sheets of raw pig steel. His fingers were five flares in the night. With both hands in agony that cannot be believed even if experienced, he swung the spear along and drove it home into the Dragon Killer with such force, it ripped out his back side, the twin tines of the Spear tearing his heart out. There was a gurgle, a shiver in the armor, then it died. Fei fell to the ground, his arms shriveled as if they had been dead for years, feeling pain that could never be felt before and possibly never felt again. He tried to roll over, but even breathing, an odd affliction for a Dragon, sent shots of pain like fiery needles up his nerves. To this view, he saw Felicia land nimbly onto her feet a few feet away. Softly, she walked over the armor, kissed it, and said, "I'm sorry you had to be involved in this. This isn't your fault-it's mine." She then walked over to the Spear and, with outstretched hand, allowed the Spear of Longituius to float into her hand. "I'm disappointed, Fei, that you couldn't do this on your own." "How can you hold that thing?" Fei said, in pain. "I can't even touch it without it burning me...." "Because the weapon knows it's mistress," Felicia replied. "It knows that I am it's creator true, and that it serves me. Without fail." "What are you?" Fei asked. As he watched, Felicia took the Spear and raised it over his heart. "Who are you?" "Who else?" Felicia said, smiling. "Lilith. God has deemed humanity a failed experiment, so he's flushing the petri dish. I'm thinking that they have much more potential than even he realizes. Now, my dear 12th Angel, you shall die." One stroke of the Spear, four Tears clattering the ground, then silence. [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] "All right, everyone!" Zack yelled. "I want this nice, neat, and orderly! We just had a little accident in the backup cooling loop for the main reactors-this is just a precautionary evacuation! Nice and orderly, right now." Fortunately, with the help of security guards in riot gear and plenty of yelling, Security was able to keep the evacuation in order. But, there was a silent, underlying current of fear. Somewhere in the crowd, G'kar looked at his copy of the Book of G'Quan. He had heard a report of monsters. One report, according to them, matched a creature in the Book of G'Quan, a creature "dipped in blood and light" that strode the halls of Babylon 5. "In G'Quan's name," G'kar said, whispering, "let it not be so...." The creature described in the Book was a Deathbringer. "Deathbringer" also translates in Narn to "light bearer." [Earth Alliance Cruiser *Tokyo-3*] [Epsilon System, one million kilometers from Babylon 5] "Status of Wirblewind?" the Captain asked. "Nothing yet-Bester told us that he was about to engaged the Angel fifteen minutes ago. It could be good news, sir; if he hasn't contacted us, it means that he might still be fighting...." the XO replied. "Regardless, I want the power-up procedure for the positron cannon started. I want it ready to fire in ten minutes, at full charge. If he hasn't called back, or I get different orders, we fire," the Captain replied. "And I don't want anything to stop us." "Charging sequence started," the XO replied. [Babylon 5] [Blue Section-Personal Quarters] The door was being pounded by rhythmic blows, steady, methodical. Sheridan, Delenn, and Washuu looked at the door, worrying. Patiently, Washuu turned and opened the next door manually. "Get going," Washuu said. "I'll seal this door, and clear the hallway." "But...." Delenn tried to reply. "No argument!" Washuu replied. "Get going-I'll hold down the fortress here until you're clear." She smiled. "I've got to live long enough for your wedding, Delenn-sama. After that," she shrugged, "I'll see what happens after that, eh? Go." As the two ran off, Washuu welded and sealed the doorway they left behind. Silently, she carved incantations on the next door, and felt her power flow into the runes she left behind. A second later, she slipped past the door, just before the barrier solidified. Washuu looked at the door, and said, "Geez, this is getting old! We need the Spear, and badly." She tripped a wall panel, and said, "Felicia! Where are you?" "In Downbelow," she replied, without a visual. "You won't believe what I found." "At this point, nothing surprises me," Washuu said, feeling more tired that she had ever felt before. "What did you find." "The Spear of Longituius," Felicia replied. "And Fei Luci-dead by suicide. I collected his Tears by the rituals, and they are safe." "Bring the Spear, if it is that," Washuu thought, "to the Zocallo. Our dear friend, the Angel, is pounding her way here." "Moving," was the reply. The only one needed. [Babylon 5] [Hallway to the Zocallo] "Captain!" Garibaldi yelled. "We are in deep shit!" Sheridan and Delenn slowed to a halt. "What is it?" "Bester! He's....." Garibaldi struggled for the words. "Sir, Bester is spreading across three sections of the station, absorbing it. Anyone caught in those sections becomes a part of whatever's going on and...." A crash behind Sheridan, and Washuu flipped hand-over-heels down the hallway. "Out of here, now!" Washuu yelled. "Anna's running like shit down here and there's nothing left to stop her with except the Spear of Longituius! Felicia is bringing it up here right now, and we'd better get to open ground so we can fight her!" They were running like mad to the Zocallo. "Anna was the Angel?" Garibaldi asked. "One of two-the other was an enemy of the Dragons by the name of Fei Luci. Get as many people as you can to the escape pods, we have to evacuate the station and...." Washuu said, as a horrifying sound of tearing metal rippled around them. "Shit!" The bloody and battered body of Anna rounded the corner. She stared, with blood- stained eyes, and said, "Well, more blood for the Goddess, eh?" In an instant, Washuu and Garibaldi were firing at Anna. She strode the two steps between her and Garibaldi in a second, and tore Garibaldi like a banana peel across the shoulders. With a powerful kick, Washuu was sent sprawling across the floor, with cracked ribs and only her enhanced Dragon body saving her. Turning and stepping across Garibaldi's corpse, she said, "Now, I'll make you two pay for what you did to me. All the lies, all the betrayal, all the deceptions...." She raised her arm to strike the two, then suddenly stiffened. Anna looked down to see two tines of a spear, a dark purple color, erupting from her torso. She twitched slightly, then fell down on the ground, evidently dead. From behind her stood Ivanova, the Spear of Longituius in her hands. "Sir, I...." Ivanova was about to say, but Felicia's hand rested on her shoulder. "We must leave them now, Susan. This," and Felicia dropped a bag of four marbles on the ground beside Anna's twitching body, "is their time. We have our time to deal with." As the two walked away, Anna's body twitched. Sheridan turned her over, and said, "Anna, what...." "John," Anna said. She coughed up blood, looking scared, as if she faced an eternity in Hell. "I'm so sorry. I was exceeding my own time here, letting my grief overwhelm your happiness. Please, John, be happy with her, if only for me." Anna's hand moved to find the bag, wrapped loosely around it. "I have one last gift, a wedding gift, to give you two. It's a gift of myself, John. It's eight Dragon tears...." she croaked, then she died, her body collapsing into itself. A few seconds later, Washuu was awoken by lightning. As she looked, she said, "Oh no, it cannot be....." [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] "What's going on, Felicia!" Ivanova yelled, still carrying the Spear of Longituius. "Who are you really! What is this ^ÑInstrumentality of Man' I keep fucking hearing about. Answer me!" With a swift pivot, Felicia turned on her foot, and with a single, powerful slap, knocked Ivanova silent. "If you have to know," Felicia said. "My real name is Lilith. And, if you don't mind, I'm trying to save your entire people." "You're a demon!" Ivanova whispered, gripping the Spear a little tighter. "Why are you helping me...." "Because I'm not a demon," Felicia replied. "I disagreed with God. He wants weapons, Ivanova. Weapons for the Vorlons, weapons for the Shadows, weapons for Him. But, there is so much potential in the human race, that He fears losing control of it. I want humanity to live up to it's potential-and he's just about to flush the petri dish. The 13th Angel is coming, Susan. And you're going to stop it." Ivanova silently whispered, "But...." [Earth Alliance Cruiser *Tokyo-3*] [Epsilon System, one million kilometers from Babylon 5] "Sir, look!" the XO yelled. The Captain looked through the monitor, and saw the bulging mass of grey and blue and green that seemed to collect in a part of Babylon 5. "Damn Bester! He failed and unleashed God's Wind! Target Babylon 5 and fire!" Half a second later, the ship rumbled as the positron cannon fired, erupting in a massive lance of gold across space. [Babylon 5] [Zocallo] "I can't....explain the Instrumentality of Man to you. There aren't words in the human language to do so. The best analogy I can use," Felicia said, "is the questions the Shadows and the Vorlons ask." "Questions?" Ivanova asked. "The Vorlons ask ^ÑWho are you?', the Shadows ask ^ÑWhat do you want?'. The Instrumentality of Man asks, ^ÑWhat are you?'. Don't dismiss that question without some thought-it's a very dangerous question," Felicia replied. "And that's why you're here-I need you to stop the 13th Angel, and save Earth-because you're the only one who can. Time bends upon itself, and ensnares you." "What if I refuse?" Ivanova asked. "What if I say no to being a weapon for you?" "You'll do it. Because you don't have a choice, because the universe is folding upon itself and you are where it is folding into." A second later, there was a massive explosion. [Outside of Babylon 5] [Escape Pod 11] Marcus looked at the steadily retreating bulk of Babylon 5, a small pang of fear in him. Ivanova had all but thrown him onto the shuttle, and told him to wait for her-she'd be coming soon enough. Marcus was the last one out-nobody had seen Sheridan or Delenn, and Garibaldi was still on the station. "What's that!" somebody screamed. Marcus looked to see a golden lance streak across space, hitting Babylon 5 dead on. That single shot tore the station to pieces, tearing most of the station's core apart and spraying fragments all over the place. Even though he could feel the ship rock around him, Marcus wasn't afraid. Ivanova said that she'd come for him. She'd promised. And she wasn't about to break her word. [Uranus] [Earth Alliance Deep Space Listening Post #11] There was no more lonely place than a Deep Space Listening Post. Samuel Johnson once referred to naval warships as like being in jail, with the possibility of being drowned. A DSLP was like being in jail, with the possibility of explosive decompression. The DSLPs were there to act both as traffic control for ships entering Earth space, and as an emergency rescue base. They were as bare minimum you could get for a space station-a small gravity ring for the twelve-man crew, a central core with thrusters for station keeping, some life support equipment, a fusion reactor attached to a long boom, and hanger bay holding three shuttles and a small cutter. Sensors on DSLP 11 locked onto an energy source. Sensitive optical cameras and detectors pivoted to scan as well. The computer chewed the information, processed it, and then came to a decision. It needed human intervention. The alarms went off and the duty officer was shocked out of his reading to look at the panel. He looked, and then he gasped. "Deep Space Listening Post Eleven to Earthforce Command! Deep Space Listening Post Eleven to Earthforce Command!" he yelled into the radio. "Earthforce Command," the voice said. "What is your report?" "I have a massive object in...." he checked the grid reference, "Sector 11 by 23 by 19. According to the sensors, it's about....Mother of God...." he whispered. "DSLP 11! What is it?" Earthforce Command yelled. "It's about fifteen megatons, sir!" He looked at the computer enhanced image. "It's obscuring a lot of stars." "That's a pretty bright sector," Earthforce Command replied. "What do you mean." "Listen to me! The starscape is six parts enemy and four parts black! Six parts enemy and four parts black!" [Bureau 13 Headquarters] [Unreclaimed Area, San Diego] "WHAT?!?" the head of Bureau 13 yelled. "What do you mean!" "We picked up the biggest AT Field we have ever seen just two minutes ago, ma'am. It was detected in the same star zone where the object was discovered by DSLP 11," the technician replied. "It masses about fifteen million tons, is a reflective gunmetal grey, and is vaguely shaped like a olive pit. It's trajectory and speed will put it in Earth orbit within ten days." "Could it be the 13th Angel?" she asked. "Must be-we detected that odd echo on Babylon 5 before *Tokyo-3* destroyed it-it had to be two Angels in the same area," the technician said. "Then, we have to move fast. I want a briefing officer to report to General Hague, fill him in on the situation. Do we have that proof of Clark's conspiracy against President Santiago?" the head of Bureau 13 asked. "I'll have them pull it from archives," the technician said. "Where do you want it?" "Geneva, in eight hours. I'll be there as well, to get Clark out of office. We need Hague in the seat, because he'll do something about this, not that Shadow-controlled bastard Clark. I'll be on my way now," and the head of Bureau 13 stood up and walked out the door. A few steps away from the office, the technician yelled, "Ma'am! A message just came from Steele!" The head of Bureau 13 looked at it. In those three lines, her blood ran cold. TO:All Bureau 13 Departments FROM:Steele MESSAGE: Do not, repeat, do not interfere with the 13th Angel. We have failed, and should die with dignity. Do not interfere with the 13th Angel. The head of Bureau 13 crumpled the paper in a rage, and said, "I want anyone who can be spared to start a full, all-out search for Steele. I want those thirteen fucking heads on my desk in forty-eight hours, and I want them now!" She stormed off, dropping the crumpled paper on the floor. [Wreckage of Babylon 5] [Remains near the Zocallo] A piece of wreckage was tossed off into space, pushed from outside. A hand, long and white, with a single red Tear pushed upwards. Clambering out, Sheridan looked around silently. Within himself, he could feel a lot, including memories. Memories of Anna, memories of the other bearers of his Tears. He looked around, hoping for a point of reference. A second later, Delenn came out as well. She looked at him, and could feel, within herself, the same memories. Of Anna's four Tears, two were given to Sheridan, two were given to her. With Fei Luci's Tears, that made them both Initiates. But titles meant nothing now. Delenn floated over to Sheridan, and put her arms around his neck. They didn't even have to say a word. Sheridan just lifted his hand and patted her on the arm, thinking. As they did, a small ship closed slowly with them. [Earthdome, Geneva] [Office of the President of the Earth Alliance] "I didn't schedule an appointment with you," President Clark yelled, as General Hague, and some unknown woman in a Psi-Corp uniform came in the doors. Behind them were six Earth Alliance Military Police officers, in full riot gear and carrying PPG rifles. "What's this? A coup?" Hague stopped, then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "By the order of the Earth Alliance Senate, on September 11, 2260, General Hague is hereby authorized to arrest President Lewis Clark on charges of conspiracy to commit assassination, high treason, conspiring with a known enemy of the Earth Alliance, sedition, and the assassination of President Santiago. Sir, you are under arrest." President Clark was about to reach under his desk for the PPG he had there, but Hague got to him first. "Sir, I will shoot you if I have to. You're under arrest." Clark sighed, then put his hands up. As the two MPs forcibly frisked him, Clark said, "You've got no proof. All of this is heresy, and when I'm out, I'll have your head on a platter." The woman in the Psi-Corp uniform merely walked over to the terminal, and put in a data crystal. The monitor flared slightly, with the conversation about how Clark's ^Ñfriends' had arranged President Santiago's assassination. "Sir, this is just the tip of the iceberg. You're looking at a long jail time, if you're lucky. If not, it's the end of the noose," the woman said. "Get the shit out of this office." As Clark was dragged out screaming, Hague said, "Ok, now what?" "We have to stop the Angel. With anything we've got. It'll be at Mars in three days, so we'd better do something. We can get three positron cannons into position, hopefully in time," the woman said. She looked at him. "We may have to contemplate the use of N2 weapons." "Only as a last resort," Hague replied. "I'll have the fleet in position, as well as those positron cannons. I hope you know what you're doing." "If any of us are going to survive, I'd better," the woman replied. She sat down. "It's weird-I just revealed to everyone who mattered the biggest secret of the last century-and nobody seems to care." "They're in shock," Hague said. He sat down at the President's desk. "When this is all over, there will be blame a plenty." "That's true," the woman laughed. "But, let's make sure that there is an ^Ñover' that keeps us alive." [Earth Alliance Cruiser *Tokyo-3*] [Epsilon System, one million kilometers from Babylon 5] The Captain looked quietly. He never liked this part, and he liked having to do it here even less. "Start to head in, we'll start looking for survivors and...." Suddenly, there was a massive THUNK! on the hull, and everyone looked at each other in shock. As they did, every monitor started to squeal. One of the technicians yelled, saying, "Sir! My panel is saying ^ÑIf you want to go home, get off this ship, now!'" Others started to suddenly agree with him. "All crew members to escape pods! Let's get out of here!" the Captain yelled, and they all flung themselves into the pods. The escape pods had few windows. When the Captain, thinking about how in the hell he was going to explain the loss of a multi-billion credit warship, looked at his ship, all he could see was some tracery of white engulfing the ship, attached to something glowing white, then it vanished. "Geez, I think we've got to get our stories straight-so they don't put us in the loony bin," the Captain said to the crew members in the pod. They all nodded agreement. [Earth Alliance Fleet] [Just Outside the Orbit of Mars] For lack of a better place, they put the command and control of the fleet aboard the *Churchill*. Forty Earth Alliance ships, ranging from Hyperion-class destroyers to the powerful Omega-class battle cruisers jetted silently into position, bringing their powerful weapons to bear on the incoming target. Between them were three massive siege cannon ships, their half-kilometer length holding a powerful positron beam cannon. Floating between all these ships were six Minbari cruisers. They were there because of what the thing had did. The intruder from deep space, jokingly called "Big Brother" had just passed by the Io Jumpgate-without a shot. Then the message came a few minutes later, from a Centauri who happened to have a personal comm link nearby. His report, still unreleased by Earth, was hysterical, "They all vanished! Every human, every Minbari! They vanished just as that thing passed!" So, they floated silently. The first, major inhabited world within Earth space, Mars was the first line of defense. Admiral Lee looked out, and said, firmly, to all the ships, "All ships ahead at half fleet speed, prepare to engage when we enter firing range." And they departed in silence as well. "Enemy target in range!" a weapons technician said. "Positron cannons report ready to fire." Admiral Lee looked into the monitor. He looked at his crew, and said, "All ships, open fire. All weapons, full power." From the siege vessels, three massive lances of gold leapt from the ship, converging on a single point on Big Brother. They kept on going, seemingly ignored.... Until they hit a barrier. The beams seemed to splatter on the field, hexagonal grids suddenly flaring to life a few meters away from the surface of the target. "What was that?" Admiral Lee said. "Unknown energy field," one of the technicians replied. "The field just deflected the beam, sir." "Well then, let's just see how tough that field is! Launch the ^ÑFuries and open fire!" Admiral Lee said, smiling. "I always thought that the complicated shit wasn't worth it's price." Over a hundred Starfuries flew at the target, firing with their cannons as the ships opened fire as well. They spewed electronic death at Big Brother, hitting the same hexagonal energy field, without effect. As the Starfuries got closer, they suddenly went out of control, as if their pilots vanished. A few collided, a few hit the field without effect, and a few spiraled off into space. "This isn't working," Admiral Lee said. He looked worried. "Fall back to Mars, we'll reassemble the battle line and...." "Message from Earth, sir," a technician said. "We're to head for Earth and assemble for a final stand there..... We're to abandon Mars, sir." "Damn," Admiral Lee said. "Fall back to Earth....and may God have mercy on our souls." [Earthdome, Geneva] [War Room, Underground Bunker] "After the first assault," the officer said, "we managed to map the AT Fields that the Angel uses," and the monitor behind him lit up. "As you can see, it's a series of two fields-one platter-shape that extend one million kilometers from the center point of the Angel and a second that is like a mushroom cap, extending a thousand kilometers from the front of the Angel." "And the positron cannons had no effect?" Hague asked. "I thought they could pierce AT Fields." "So did we," the head of Bureau 13 said. "All the Angels we have encountered have had Blue-type AT Fields. With N2 weapons, positron beam cannons, and the Wirblewind, we could stop them. But this is a unique creation, it has a Red-type AT Field. We've never encountered a Red AT Field before, and we have no knowledge of it's characteristics. Even the Dead Sea Scrolls are silent on this point. This field seems to only affect humans and Minbari. Nothing else. Narn, Centauri, Drazi, they don't feel a thing. But humans vanished." Too many people had watched, in horror, as the 13th Angel had passed Mars, sweeping people away like an eraser of God-which it almost was. Even now, every house of worship on Earth was packed to capacity, and sometimes even more so. As one commentator said, "If this wasn't Ragnork, I don't know what else is." People were choosing to die rather than vanish-and suicides were up all over. Earth was falling apart. "What do we do?" Hague asked. "We can move two more positron cannon ships into position. They weren't ready for deep space operation-but they can fire and fight. We can pull every garrison ship, fighter, and move them into an attack position. And we arm them all with neutronic nuclear weapons, with orders to use them liberally," the head of Bureau 13 said. "I don't want to be known for using N2 weapons in the solar system...." Hague said. "Sir," one of the officers said, "if we don't use the N2 weapons, we may not have a solar system or a human race left to complain with!" Silence. Then, Hague said, "Arm all ships. We establish a defensive line at the Moon." Then he looked at them all, and in a whisper, said, "Authorize the full use of N2 weapons." As they got up, Hague motioned to them and said, "Let us be successful, so we won't have to explain to our Maker why we did this. Dismissed." [Hyperspace between Babylon 5 and Earth] Ivanova was dead. Everything that was Susan Ivanova, Earth Force Commander, Executive Officer of Babylon 5, was gone. Susan Ivanova, Initiate of the Dragon, had died in the struggle against the 12th Angel. Susan Ivanova, sister of Lilith, and Angel, was alive. Around her new body, she could feel things that there existed no words for in the human language. Ivanova felt herself changing, and almost welcomed the changes. She was becoming a part of the Instrumentality of Man, and she enjoyed that feeling. Now, she had one final task to accomplish. [Earth Alliance Fleet] [Near the Orbit of Luna] Even the veterans couldn't explain it-the tension was worse than the Battle of the Line. At least there, they were fighting a mortal enemy, someone who could die if you poked them right. Even the Minbari, some veterans said, could be killed. But the Second Battle of the Line, as it was being called, was a deadly thing that nobody wanted to admit the truth to. The truth was that they were fighting God for their own survival. And God was winning. Silently, over a hundred Earth Alliance ships-a fifth of the fleet, was in position. Thirty Minbari ships were there as well, giving up command and control of the fleet to an Earth Alliance commander. All of the ships and fighters had loaded N2 weapons, even Starfuries strapping two massive N2 missiles below themselves. All to stop the 13th Angel. Some of the pilot swore, if that was what it took, they would ram their own fighters loaded with N2 weapons into the Angel, if that would stop the monster. "Sir," an officer said, "Luna facilities report full evacuation. All mass drivers are on automatic firing sequence-they are ready to fire." "Good," Admiral Lee said. Here he was, in an odd counterpoint. If he succeeded, he'd be known as the savior of mankind. If he failed, he'd just be dead, a lone note in history. "Have we reconfirmed the Angel's trajectory?" "At the current rate of motion," an aide said, "The Angel will hit Earth in eight hours, at Antarctic. The impact, at it's current rate, will kill most life on Earth." "And what the impact doesn't kill, the AT Fields will. Very well. Order all ships to open fire when the Lunar projectiles hit," Admiral Lee replied. Silently, on the moon, a dozen mass-drivers fired off projectiles on a precise trajectory. Half of the hail of slugs were solid hunks of rock-deadly at their speed. The other half were N2 weapons, on a collision course with the enemy. He watched a remote satellite view as the Angel was peppered by these rounds, without effect. "Damn! Are we firing?" Admiral Lee asked. "All ship firing," and the weapons leapt from their launchers. Laser beams cut across the hexagonal barrier, N2 weapons detonated harmlessly with actinic flares against the AT Field, and positron beams failed to do anything but merely illuminate the barrier. "Keep firing, I want a full tactical retreat as we pound that thing! Maybe we can overload it!" Admiral Lee ordered. [Earthdome, Geneva] [Balcony outside, near the Presidential Offices] General Hague looked up near the moon. He still had a spacer's eye, and could see the flashes near the moon, and the vague, silvery dime-shaped Angel, closing silently with Earth. "Well?" he asked his other companion. "You don't need to be a psi to see that you're afraid," the head of Bureau 13 said. "You did this one before-and you hate to do it now." "I did," and Hague's memories went back to another desperate battle twelve years ago, when he could see too many damn good men and women dying in a futile battle. Fate, and perhaps luck, had save mankind then. But mankind's luck was out. "I never got your name," Hague asked. He put his hand lightly on the PPG on his hip. "I was born Eliza," the head of Bureau 13 replied. "I had so many names, cover identities, and just plain chances, but I loved that name the most." "I see," Hague said. He drew the PPG. "I had a daughter named Eliza, once." "She died in the War," Eliza replied. "Sir, don't do what you're thinking. What could be worse, if they finally succeeded, and you weren't around to see it?" Hague looked at her, then chucked the PPG so hard that it fell out of sight. "Maybe you're right. And maybe we'll just vanish when the AT Field passes through us-can't be that bad a way to die." "True," Eliza said, letting down her hair and taking off her gloves, dropping them one at a time down the side of the building. "But I want to still believe that we can survive-perhaps it's a vain hope, but maybe it's the only hope we have." [Earth Alliance Fleet] [Near the orbit of Earth] Of the one hundred and thirty ships, only ninety-three were left. Two of the positron cannons were gone-crews wiped from existence, the ships exploding along the AT Field of the Angel. Four Minbari cruisers had chosen to die in a suicide charge rather than retreat and be dishonored. Admiral Lee looked at his crew and said, "I just want to say, that you are all the best people that I've ever had serve under me and....." "Sir! Angel is accelerating! ETA ten minutes!" someone yelled. "Open fire! We have to fight here and now, or never again at all!" Admiral Lee replied, pointing with outstretched hand at the Angel. The final legend of Earth was joined. [Earthdome, Geneva] [Balcony outside, near the Presidential Offices] Hague and Eliza were looking up at the sky, watching the final aspects of the battle, talking. Hague had managed to find a good fifth of Scotch, and the two were sharing it on the roof. "You know, I wasn't supposed to be a officer," Hague said. "Eh?" Eliza asked back. She had gotten rather loose with the scotch in her. "What do you mean?" "Dad wanted me to be a priest-take over the local parish in New York, that sort of thing. But I wanted to see the sky-and see space. Now, it's ironic-what I rejected is coming to me...." Hague shrugged. "I don't remember my parents-I was about six when I tested true for psi-potential," Eliza said sadly. "I just lived my life as a member of the Corps, then a PsiCop, then Bureau 13. When this is all over, I should go look for them, just to show them how their daughter turned out." "Better do it soon,"Hague said. "We have about two hours to go before that thing hits." "I will have time," Eliza said. "I think we'll make it. I don't know how, but we will." The two looked up at the sky, the ruddy red glow as the energy of the battle reflected of debris. Perhaps that was why they saw it. [Earth Alliance Fleet] [Orbit Around Earth, Engaging the 13th Angel.] "Object coming out of hyperspace, sir!" a technician yelled. He looked at Admiral Lee. "Unknown configuration!" "What the?" Admiral Lee looked out the window, to see space starting to....crack. Like a pane of glass, space seemed to crack until it shattered and seemed to implode into hyperspace. From it, came a thing that looked humanoid, a pale white with disjointed limbs, and a massive spear on it's back. As it passed a Minbari ship, it's scale-it was easily ten times bigger than the Minbari cruiser, was seen. Admiral Lee looked at it, and the face was that of some kind of monster. Then, the wings came out. Not wings, technically, almost like the webwork of a butterfly's wings, glistening yellow against space, ten spars erupting from the thing's back-as it drew the massive spear, easily a kilometer long, to bear on the Angel. "Sir!" a technician said. "AT Field confirmed....," and he looked at his indicators again, "It's white! It has a White AT Field!" The thing brought it's massive spear, purple with two sharp tines unraveling from the shaft, up and let it fly across space, as if an Olympic thrower. The spear crossed space, and hit the Angel's fields, causing an eruption of lightning and light across the greenish hexagons of the field. Then, suddenly, the AT Field of the Angel started to shatter. The hexagons shattered like mirrors, allowing fire to tear into the structure of the 13th Angel, which seemed to splatter under the heavy fire. The white thing tore across space, dodging friendly fire, to recover it's spear. It then lead with the spear, tearing itself deep into the structure. [Interior of the 13th Angel] [In Orbit Around Earth] Within a certain part of the Angel, it was hollow. It was here that Ivanova ripped into with the Spear of Longituius, rebuilt with the structure of *Tokyo-3*. Here, seamlessly fused with the Angel, Talia looked out. Ivanova's new body spilt open in the chest, and a tendril, with Ivanova's old body, flowed out to Talia. "I'm here," Ivanova said. "You won, you and your sister," Talia replied. "And, in a way, I'm glad. From now on, mankind can choose his own destiny, without interference by God." "That is how it shall be," Ivanova said solemnly. "But you still don't know what the Instrumentality of Man is," Talia replied. Ivanova looked at her angrily. "Go to hell," was her only comment. Her new body took up the Spear of Longituius, and drove it home. [In Orbit Around Earth] The 13th Angel, the exterminator of humankind, exploded silently in a shower of green. As it exploded, it seemed as if a belt of green was growing around Earth, covering it in a ring around the Equador. From near the poles, it was merely a green band on the horizon. But in every major city on Earth, people were cheering, crying, pounding each other on the back, kissing, hugging, and giving thanks to a Merciful God. Everyone, every man, every woman, every child, could see the ring of green. Every alien looked up, and said, to themselves, and to others, "This place is blessed. How else can it be if this didn't happen?" In Geneva, Hague and Eliza looked at each other. There would be hard times ahead, they knew, but maybe they had a chance. Under that green light, they kissed. From space, the green belt, with a fleck of gold like meteors, was a sight that could catch any heart. Mankind was master of it's own destiny. And somewhere in that band of green was Ivanova's new body, every limb ripped off by the blast, headless. And inside of it, with Ivanova's old body, eyes were starting wide with black- on-white, no irises. Susan Ivanova had lost. [END EPISODE 5]