Date: Sat, 19 Nov 94 08:20:37 -0500 From: "Bruckner, Sandra" Subject: Story "Fire" Following Alexei's lead, I decided to drop the first segment I've written about B5. Let me know if I should continue the story! Sandy "Fire" It had been a rather busy week for Jeffrey Sinclair, Commander of the space station Babylon 5. His second in command, Susan Ivanova, had gone to Earth to visit her relatives and to make some peace with them and herself after the death of her father. Unfortunately, that left him to cover both his and her duties, and it was starting to show. While Jeff knew Ivanova needed this time for herself, he really hated operating short-handed. The shift was finally over and he was on his way to his quarters for dinner and a shower. Half way down the corridor, the entire station shook violently. Jeff was thrown to the deck, but was quickly up and running back to C&C to determine what had happened. The bridge was ablaze; the crash doors to the hallway were off track; many of the instrument panels were dark or sparking with electrical feedback; people were on the floor or wandering around in a daze. Jeff's first thought was to get his personnel off the bridge and to get medical assistance. However, his first responsibility was to the station. He ran over to the sensor bank to see if they were under attack. Nothing outside indicated anything out of the ordinary. All was calm -- outside. There was no outward evidence of what had caused this distruction. Jeff called Dr. Franklin on his comlink and learned that a med unit was already on their way. Stephen had figured something major had happened and was putting a trauma unit together. As soon as staff got to MedLab, they would be ready for treatment. Jeff helped many staff members out into the hall. The air was better there; smoke filled the entire bridge area and it was very difficult to breath, but he couldn't stop. His eyes burned and he was nearly choked by the black smoke. He had to get as many out before he was forced to seal the area off. If the bulkhead collapsed, pressure in the entire station could be compromised. He made his way through the burning rubble to the main panel to close the blast doors. He hit the button and nothing happened; the panel was out of operation. The manual crank would have to do. He hit the fire extinguishers and watched as power decended from the ceiling. The fire was coming under control. He directed two crew members to close the doors to add some protection to the station. Jeff would have to use the second C&C area to regain control of the station. He was grateful that the station has not been sent into a spin. Looking over the number of charred controls, it would be have been very difficult to regain control if he depended on the thrusters and stabilizers. He now shifted his attention to the bridge area. A group of people were working feverishly to free someone caught under a beam. Jeff went to lend a hand and finally the man was free. Debris was falling from above, At last, everyone had now been evacuated and he could now seal the door -- if maintenance had completed repairs so that it could be sealed. Time was precious and every minute seemed like hours. As he exited the bridge, coughing and gagging, the repairs were just being completed. The doors closed and the smoke in the hallway gradually lessened. The air filtration system would take care of the major portion of the problem now. Jeff still had to determine what had happened. Jeff headed to the auxiliary bridge. It was standard procedure to have a backup command area in case of emergency, but it had been quite a while since he had been there. He was glad to find that it was already fully staffed and people were monitoring the surrounding area to see if any ships had fired on the station. There was nothing. Sensors showed regular traffic but nothing out of the ordinary. No one had any idea of what had happened on the bridge. Was it sabatogue? Michael Garibaldi, Chief of Security was there, talking to crew members monitoring station sensors in an effort to learn whatever. During everything that had transpired, Jeff had had thought little about his own well-being. He couldn't see that his face was a deep red and his hair was a little singed in spots, his uniform was town and there were blood spots showing through many of the tears and his hands were pretty burned. Michael wanted Jeff to go to MedLab immediately, but Jeff insisted on staying until he had a a better picture station stability. For now, everything seemed to be holding together. Garibaldi told Jeff that he had been talking with members of the bridge crew in MedLab to try to get more data but there wasn't much to go on. They would learn more once they got back into C&C. It was still too hot to enter though, but the immediate danger was over -- they hoped. Jeff had put the the station on alert as soon as the incident occurred and decided to leave it on, just in case. If it had been an equipment failure, they would know that soon enough. If it had been something else, he wanted everyone on their toes. Now that the crisis had passed, Jeff was ready to go to MedLab. Adrenline had gotten him through the initial crisis, but now he was really feeling like death warmed over. Michael escorted him to MedLab; and they talked about what steps they would need to take next. As they entered MedLab, they watched Dr. Stephen Franklin move from patient to patient, looking for the most critically injured to treat before going on to the next. Eight people were in MedLab 4 and 5 with third degree burns. Dr. Franklin spotted the Commander and came over quickly, sat him down and ran a scanner of him from head to toe. He started first with the hands. Jeff took off his jacket and there were bruises and cuts all over. Two ribs were cracked and would be a bother for a week or so. Fortunately he hadn't felt any pain; Stephen assured him that that would change. Jeff hadn't realized what he looked like until he stepped in front of a nearby mirror. He saw why everyone was showing some concern; his face was very red and the hair on top of his head and eyebrows was singed. It gave his usually light brown hair a much lighter look, almost blonde. The ends were frayed and curled. What a sight! Although the good doctor had joked and said that Jeff wouldn't need a haircut this week, the doctor was wrong. This just wouldn't do. He would have to get a haircut to snip off all the damage! Jeff's hands weren't badly burned but Stephen didn't want to take any chances. He sprayed on some new skin and bandaged them just to keep them clean. Stephen gave Jeff a shot of antibiotics, taped his ribs and told the Commander to return in the morning for a check-up. In all likelihood, the new skin replace the burned tissue in a few days, but infection was always a concern. Stephen gave Jeff some pain pills and ordered him to get some rest. Jeff was not to be on "active" duty for 3-4 days. Jeff was about to object but figured it was futile. The doctor is the only person on the station who had authority to order the Commander around. Michael walked Jeff back to his quarters. As they walked, he mentioned that he had gotten a little info on the incident from Baker, a jumpgate tech. He had said that everything seemed normal on his sensor panel until some indicators showed a rise in heat. He wasn't sure where the sensor was actually located to detect the change in temperature, but soon all hell broke loose. Michael had hoped for more information to start with but it looked like they were going to have to do this the hard way. As they got to Jeff's quarters, a message came over the Commander's new comlink; the other one had melted in the blaze. Susan Ivanova had just gotten back on station and had been trying to find out what was going on. She was on her way to the auxiliary bridge now. Jeff welcomed Ivanova back to the station and told her that he was in his quarters and to check back with him if she learned more about the bridge incident. Michael mentioned that the Commander had been injured, but assured her that it was not too serious. The Commander would be out of commission for a little while, but he still wanted to be kept abreast of events. Jeff was going to argue, but he was just too tired. Susan was a very capable officer and he knew he could trust her judgement completely. If he had to be out of it for a while, he couldn't think of more capable hands in which to leave his station. The shot Stephen had given Jeff was starting to take effect; he was really having a hard time keeping his eyes open. As Jeff headed for his bedroom, Michael went to see Ivanova. He promised to check back with the Commander as soon as he had more information. Jeff was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. As Michael entered the auxiliary C&C area, he could see that Ivanova had everything under control. The crew was monitoring all station functions and she had ordered a complete maintenance check for all systems. This would assure everything was running smoothly and it would review systems on the damaged bridge as well. Susan saw Garibaldi enter and asked about the Commander. Mike said that the Commander was a little worse for wear, but there wasn't anything that a little sleep and a few days off wouldn't cure. On the other matter however, they were just beginning to piece together what had occurred. It would be another hour or two before they could open the C&C blast doors and begin their investigation into the incident. In the meantime, he would continue to talk with the bridge crew and gather information. They were going through a process of elimination. There weren't too many ways of completely disabling the bridge so he would start with the easiest and work his way forward. First was equipment failure -- the diagnostics would cover most of that. He would inspect the physical equipment as soon as the room could be opened. Sabatogue -- that might be a little harder to prove. Again, he would have to wait to see what could be determined from the physical evidence. This was the part Michael hated the most - - waiting. Another hour before he could really start his work. Reports were beginning to come in from the maintenance check. Ivanova would pass the data on to the Commander when he called. She didn't want to disturb him before she needed to. The Commander had, by all accounts of the disaster, worked like a madman to get crew out off the burning bridge and regain control of the station. He was very lucky not to have been seriously injured. For now, she would work with Garibaldi. The repair crews were outside the original C&C waiting to get in to see what the total damage was on the equipment. Pressure had been maintained and the smoke had been cleared away. The doors were now ready to be opened. Garibaldi and Ivanova were there to be the first back on the bridge. As the doors opened, there was a certain eeriness about C&C. The workstations were charred or blackened by electrical discharges. Damage control went over to the power grid, looking at damage and determining what to do first. Wires needed to be replaced, but for the most part all was OK. They put the new segments in and flipped the switch. Lights came on in half the panels around the room. Michael cautioned everyone not to touch anything before his people had a thorough look at the equipment. He would gather any evidence before the equipment would be put back on-line. With the second bridge handling the station business, there wasn't a rush to get things back in order. He didn't want to destroy any evidence related to equipment failure or whatever. This was going to be a BIG job though and would take several days to complete. He and Susan surveyed most of the damage. At first glance, it looked like they would be off-line for about a week. Luckily, spare parts were onboard and with crews working around the clock, all could be back the way it was before too long. There was something nagging at Michael, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He had seen something out of place, and it had only partially registered. He was having trouble identifying why it was important. It would come to him, he knew it. Back in the Commander's quarters, Jeff was dreaming, reliving the bridge incident blow by blow. He saw crew members bleeding, burned, unconscious. He relived freeing the crewman from under the beam and felt his hands burning. Over and over he relived the incident wondering what had happened to cause this. Something was wrong though. He couldn't put his finger on it right now, but he would. As Jeff woke, he asked the computer for the time. He had been asleep for 10 hours and he was angry with himself. He knew it was really the medicine that had knocked him out, but he had wanted to get more information on what had been damaged his station. He knew also that there wasn't much to do right now; the station was in good hands. Michael and Susan were professionals and would be doing everything in their power to learn more about the incident. Jeff was starting to feel the effects of his burns and cracked ribs. His hands were really smarting now and breating was a new experience. He tried to ignore them, but it was useless. He got out of bed, and gingerly removed the reminents of his uniform. First a shower and fresh uniform; then off to C&C. Those tasks were more easily said than done. The bandages on his hands made it hard to unbutton his shirt and pants. The water in the shower was too hot, even though the temperature was set at the normal setting. Guess his skin was a bit more sensitive than usual. Getting into a fresh uniform was even more fun than getting out of the old one. The real problem was with the comlink. Where to stick it. It would normally go on the back on his hand, but that wouldn't work now. On top of the bandages would have to do. He combed his hair and made a mental note to see the barber, today! Finally he finished. He checked the mirror before exiting his room, just to make sure everything was buttoned, zipped, etc. There wasn't much he could do about the burns on his face, but otherwise all was in order. As the Commander entered C&C, everyone turned and greeted him. Ivanova was glad to see the Commander up and about and eager to share what she had found during her look through the original C&C area. He looked a sight, bandaged hands, red face and singed hair. She knew he wanted to know all there was to know about the bridge incident. Rather than stand around, she suggested they go to the Commander's office and she would fill him in. It wasn't that she didn't want to discuss the matter in front of the bridge crew, but she did want to Commander to rest as much as he could. While he would never admit it, he was looking worn and she was sure his injuries were taking a toll. Susan filled the Commander in on everything that had happened since she had returned to the station. Was it only ten hours ago? Repairs were going nicely, diagnostics hadn't turned up much, but there were some leads. Mr. Garibaldi was also identifying areas to investigate. They would get to the bottom of this, soon. The Commander thanked Ivanova for the briefing and said that he would be going down to MedLab later to look in on the injured crew members. He would wait a while, however, since he wasn't supposed to be out of his quarters and didn't want the good doctor to know just yet. Jeff's face broke into a huge grin and he thanked Ivanova for taking charge of the affair. "It's my duty, Commander," was all Susan had to say on the matter. He told her to get some rest herself. He couldn't have her coming down with anything now. She was too important to the welfare of the station. Ivanova blushed slightly and told the Commander that she would be off duty soon. This man always amazed her. Here he was, burned and bruised and still concerned about everyone else on the station. Guess that's why he was "The Commander." A couple of days had passed since the bridge fire and everything was nearly back to normal. Maintenance had replaced nearly all of the damage in the original C&C and it would be ready for business in another day or two. Ivanova and Garibaldi had compiled a list of possible causes for the incident and were going to review them with the Commander soon. The Commander had been busy as well. He had visited the injured crew members a few times, talking to each and every one, asking if there was anything that they needed, etc. He checked with Doctor Franklin on their condition and had been assured that everyone would make a full recovery. Dr. Franklin had been a little upset with the Commander for not obeying his orders to stay in his quarters and rest, but he knew that wouldn't happen at the time he said them. His burns and ribs were healing nicely and the bandages had been removed today. One thing people could be sure of, Commander Sinclair was dedicated to this station and his crew. Nothing would prevent him from learning what had put both in jeopardy. Commander Sinclair went to the original C&C and surveyed the area. New panels were being tested and computer programs checked. Technicians were everywhere working constantly to get the damage repaired. If there was anything positive that could be gained from this whole thing it was the fact that now the systems had been thoroughly checked by competent professionals and any old or defective parts had been replaced. They had even upgraded a few systems. Sinclair went to his office to catch up on some of the reports he needed to make back to Earth Force. High Command had been concerned about B5's condition but Jeff had assured him that everything was under control. As he finished a status report, Ivanova and Garibaldi entered his office and asked if he had a minute to review their findings. They started down the list of possibilities that would cause such a fire. All systems had checked out -- except two. The sensors and alarm systems had failed poorly. Other than Baker's mention of a sensor light coming on the console, there had been no warning of a failure or power surge. Why? The leads to the panel had been tampered with. With all the damage, however, it was hard to tell whether the connections had just worn or purposefully loosened. This would have prevented warning lights going off all over C&C. They all hoped that it had been faulty workmanship, but all suspected sabatogue. How could they have done the work without anyone noticing? Garibaldi would check the logs to see who had been working in the area. There would have to be some record of repairs made, service calls, etc. Something should point a finger at why a failure had occurred. And with that, Garibaldi went off to his office to investigate further. Susan stayed behind to talk to the Commander. She reviewed regular station business as well as upcoming traffic. Things never stopped around here, and that was good. It proved that Babylon 5 was serving a purpose and providing a necessary trading point for this sector. End Part I Copyright (c) 1994, Sandy Bruckner. Rights will be transferred to Babylonian Productions Inc. upon request. This document may be freely distributed. (Alexie: I hope you don't mind me copying your copyright line. Seems like a good one to me.) ================================================ Sandra G. Bruckner U.S. Information Agency (I/STC) bruckner@usia.gov Phone: (202) 619-5674 Fax: (202) 619-6557 "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" ================================================ From bruckner@usia.govThu Jun 1 12:02:26 1995 Date: Tue, 30 May 95 6:19:20 -0400 From: "Bruckner, Sandra" To: Alexei Kosut Subject: Re: Fire -- Part 2 Alexei, Here are the other parts of "Fire". Sandy "Fire" Part 2 Finally the video records of C&C during the explosion had been fully restored and Sinclair, Garibaldi and Ivanova gathered to see what could be learned from them. The people in the lab had worked round the clock to restore what they could of the magnetic media the video had been stored on. Unfortunately, the camera had been located near the center of the first fire in C&C. While they had restored a great deal of the visual record, certain segments were beyond hope. Terry and his staff had worked very hard on this project. They wanted to know what had happened just about as much as Sinclair and his staff did. "Commander, here it is at long last. We have had to work on it quite a bit, due to the damage, but we did the best we could," Terry said. "I hope it helps out in your investigation, Mr. Garibaldi." "Thanks Terry. I know you and your staff have worked very hard to restore this film. I just hope that it will give us a clue as to what really happened in C&C," Sinclair said. With that Terry left Sinclair's office and went back to the lab. He wanted to straighten things up a bit and then get some needed sleep. Now that he had delivered the data crystal to Commander Sinclair, he felt like a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders. If someone had tampered with anything in C&C to cause the explosion, they would want the crystal. He had kept this project under wraps from most of his staff for this reason. Now that it was over, he could get some rest. The worries were now elsewhere. "Well, let's see what is on this crystal. I understand it covers about 3 days on C&C; at least those segments that could be restored." Sinclair said. As the video started, Garibaldi and Ivanova brought their chairs around from the front of Sinclair's desk to get a better view. At first, the picture was a bit smudgy, scratchy but it improved to show normal activity on the bridge. They watched as routine duties were performed; trying to see whether something was out of the ordinary. There were a couple of workmen checking lighting, but nothing out of the norm. The video continued and as night fell, activity lessened. According to the date stamp on the film, a workman arrived to fix a panel early the morning before the explosion. "Good morning, Lt. Jones. I'm here to check the sensor panel on this grid. Thought I'd do it while things were slow here on the bridge." the workman said. Jones was a young lieutenant recently stationed on Babylon 5, but he was showing great promise. "No one said that there was a problem here," Jones said. "It's just routine maintenance. We have to check things out periodically so that we can avoid major problems later," the workman said. "OK, but how long will this take. Will systems be off-line long?" Jones asked. "No sir, this won't take long at all. In fact, nothing has to be shut down when I work on the panel. You may notice a few lights going on and off, but that's just me checking on them." the workman said. "Fine. Why don't you get started now, so that everything is in order when Commander Sinclair comes on duty in a couple of hours," Jones said. "I'll be finished in no time." the workman said. "Pause", Sinclair said. The image on the video halted and Sinclair, Garibaldi and Ivanova looked at each other. There hadn't been anything on the record regarding regular maintenance scheduled for that morning. "Who is the workman?" Sinclair said. "Haven't seen him before, but there are so many new guys in maintenance these days, it's hard to keep up. I'll see what I can turn up on him as soon as we finish here." Garibaldi said. "Resume", Sinclair said. The workman opened up his toolkit and crawled under one of the sensor panels. Lt. Jones watched him for a little while, but then went back to checking the other digital displays around the bridge. A transport was due into Babylon 5 early this morning and he wanted everything to be in order. It shouldn't be here on his watch, but he had learned that everything did not always go as planned. Ships arrived early and you had to be prepared for that. The video continued and they watched as the workman checked sensor lights, replaced a few circuits and pronounced to Lt. Jones that all was in good working order again. They hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. As the video continued, they saw Commander Sinclair enter C&C the morning of the explosion, make a quick check of all systems and then enter his station. The camera continued to pan the bridge area, catching the comings and goings of personnel throughout the day. The video was interrupted as the explosion in C&C occurred. The picture was hazy as the smoke filled the area. You could see crewmen being thrown around the room as the station rocked back and forth with the force of the explosion. One of the last images on the tape was one of the control panel in front of the camera. "Magnify," Sinclair said. The image increased in size and they stared at the indicator lights in the hope of finding some clue as to what had happened. "Everything looks OK to me. Does anyone see anything out of the ordinary?" Sinclair said. "No, Commander. The lights indicate everything is on-line and working." Ivanova said. "Resume", Sinclair said. The scene following the initial explosion continued. The panel changed slightly to reflect changing temperatures on systems. All three watched intently to see if they could detect anything more than usual operations. "Look at the guage on the right," Commander Sinclair said. "It's reading normal while the others are registering extreme temperature variance. It should have been tracking the temperature change along with the others. And the panel next to it, is doing something similar. That's our problem right there. With those sensors not detecting a power/temperature surge, no alarms would have been triggered. When maximum temperature was reached, it just exploded, taking the panel and half the deck with it." "Yes, you're right Commander. That panel should have kicked off an alarm well before the other panel even sensed a change. We'll have to determine whether it was an equipment malfunction or whether the "repairman" tampered with the senor array. This has certainly narrowed the search though." Ivanova said. They watched the remainder of the video, seeing crew fighting back the flames on the central panel; watching Sinclair extract several crew members from under rubble and help people out into the hall. The video record ended abruptly, as the camera was nearly destroyed by the heat generated by the explosion. "Well, there we have it. Our work is cut out for us. Mr. Garibaldi, you check on the repairman. See if you can get an ID and bring him here. Lt. Commander Ivanova, you continue to oversee the work on the bridge. We'll check on that entire panel. We gave orders that nothing would be removed from the station before it was thoroughly examined. Now that we know what we're looking for, we need to give that panel a very good look." Sinclair said. "Yes, sir" Garibaldi and Ivanova said, and both left Sinclair's office. "Commander Sinclair," Sinclair's vid-link came to life. It was Dr. Franklin. "Yes Doctor. What can I do for you." Sinclair said. "You are late for our appointment, Commander." Franklin said. "Oh? I don't remember having an appointment with you today." Sinclair said. "Commander, you were supposed to be here for a check-up. I've let you wander around the station, instead of being confined to your quarters, but our understanding was that you would come in for a check-up in a day or so. Well, that was 3 days ago and I haven't seen you." Franklin said. "Dr. Franklin, I appreciate your concern for my health, but I'm fine. Really. And I have a lot of work to do. We just reviewed the bridge data and have some leads on what might have caused the explosion." Sinclair said. "I should be checking out some ideas I have on this situation as well." "Commander Sinclair. We had a deal and I'm going to keep you to it. I want you here, in MedLab, in 10 minutes for that check-up." Franklin said. "Dr. Franklin, Stephen, can't we postpone this a little while longer. I'm waiting for Mr. Garibaldi to identify someone from the film and we'll want to talk to him as soon as possible. I'm hoping he's still on the station." Sinclair said. "No, Commander. I must insist on your coming to MedLab. Even from here I can see that you haven't been getting enough rest. I want to check you out. You have to remember you were injured and the healing process can't be rushed. It takes as long as it takes, and will take longer if you don't follow orders." Franklin said. "Alright, Doctor. I'll be down in a few minutes." Sinclair said. "I'll hold you to that, Commander," Franklin said, and with that the vid-link connection terminated. Sinclair looked at his desk to see what still needed to be done. There were reports to EarthForce on fuel consumption, trade restrictions, promotions of personnel, budget figures to be worked on, a schedule to review of incoming traffic for the station. Instead of the bridge, he wished office had burned! Would have given him a little more time to get all of this done, anyway. Oh well, better go see Dr. Franklin, Jeff thought. The man was relentless, and would pester if he didn't arrive in 10 minutes. Jeff was sure of that. Jeff removed the data crystal containing the bridge film and locked it away. He didn't want anything to happen to this information. As Commander Sinclair walked down the corridor toward MedLab, he reviewed the bridge film in his mind. There was still something that was nagging at him; something he had seen but not seen clearly. He made a mental note to review the film again as soon as he could. "Commander, good to see you, even if I did have to drag you down here." Franklin said. "How are you feeling?" "Any pain or discomfort?" Franklin asked. "No, doctor. Things seem to be healing nicely. My hands are still pretty red but not as sensitive as they were before." Jeff said. "Well, Commander, let's have a look." Franklin said. He then proceeded to check out Jeff's hands, looking at the burns and making sure that no infection was setting in. "OK, Commander. Now take off your shirt and lie down on the table. I want to check your ribs and your other injuries." Franklin said. "Is this really necessary? I feel fine." Jeff said, but he complied with the good doctor. One thing Jeff had learned about Stephen Franklin, he was persistent. Franklin ran a scanner over Commander Sinclair and put a few notes down on the chart. "You have one hell of a headache, Commander. Did you forget to mention that?" Franklin quipped. "How long have you had it and why haven't you come down here to get something for it? I don't remember a head injury from the bridge incident. Did something else happen after that? I see a nice bump on your head, back here. Where did that come from?" Stephen still had his eyes trained on the scanner, but was also checking out the back of Sinclair's head. Sinclair grimaced as Franklin felt the sore spot. "The reason I've not come down here is because I knew how you would react. I was in the damaged area on the bridge yesterday and got wacked in the head by some falling debris. Didn't think it was serious, but yes, I do have a headache." Jeff said, "and I would appreciate something for it." "Commander, I don't know which is harder, your head or the ship's deck. You have a mild concussion and really shouldn't be on your feet. Coupled with the fact that you still have ribs that are healing, I should confine you to your quarters for the rest of the week. Anyone else would be flat on their back." Franklin said. "Doctor, I have a station to run. I can't let a headache stop me from doing my duty. Besides, I really have to find out whether the explosion on the bridge was a mechanical failure or something more serious. If someone is endangering the station, I need to know and take appropriate action. There are 250,000 people on this station depending on me." Sinclair said. "Commander, I know that you are worried about the station's security, but you should let Mr. Garibaldi handle that. He's good at his job and will get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile, you really need to take care of yourself." Franklin said. "Doctor, I feel fine, except for this headache. The ribs bother me a little, but I've had broken ribs before. I can deal with them very well, thank you. Now, can I have some aspirin so that I can go back to my office. I've a ton of paperwork to do." Sinclair said. "I'll make a deal with you. I promise not to go running around the station for the next day or so. I'll stick close to my office and even come to see you in a day or so. How's that?" Sinclair asked. Jeff knew he had to come up with something or Franklin would order him to stay his quarters and that would be the end of discussion. He hoped the good doctor would buy limited activity on his part as a compromise. "I would prefer you going to your quarters and staying there for the next three days, but I know that won't work. It hasn't so far, so why should it now." Franklin said. "I'll not confine you to quarters if you do as you say, stick to your office and rest as much as you can. If you feel nauseated or dizzy, call me. A concussion is nothing to fool around with, Jeff." "I promise," Sinclair said. "Can I have those aspirin, though. Now that I have time to think about it, I can use them; my head does hurt." "Sure, Commander, but if it gets worse, please let me know." Franklin said. Franklin handed Sinclair a couple of pills and some water. Sinclair took the pills and downed them, thanking the good doctor as he left the office. Jeff walked back to his office from MedLab. It gave him time to clear his head and think again about what he had to do. "Commander," Garibaldi said on the comlink. "Go", Sinclair said. "I've located the repairman in central files. His name is James Caldwell. His record shows that he has been on B5 for 6 months, has been in maintenance that entire time and has been doing a very good job. I'm on my way to see him now. The schedule shows he's off duty so I'll stop by his bearth to talk with him." "I'd like to be there as well, Michael. What is his bearth number?" Sinclair said. "He is in brown 26, Commander." Garibaldi said. "Good, I'm not far away. I'll meet you there, Michael." Sinclair said. Sinclair caught the nearest turbolift to brown sector. It was then just a short walk to #26. As he approached, the door to #26 opened and the man from the data crystal came out. He had a bag with him, and looked as though he was leaving the station. "Excuse me, Mr. Caldwell, I'd like to have a word with you," Sinclair said. Caldwell looked up and saw Sinclair, recognized him immediately, dropped his bags and started to run in the opposite direction. Sinclair anticipated this action and was already in hot pursuit. He caught up with Caldwell and tried to talk to him again. Instead Caldwell started swinging. Sinclair ducked his first blow and followed with an upper-cut that caught Caldwell off-guard. The air out of his lungs, Caldwell sank to his knees. Jeff was glad that Garibaldi had arrived and was already putting restraints on Caldwell; his cracked ribs were reminding him that both running and fighting were going to be uncomfortable for a while. Caldwell looked at both men and said, "What do you want from me?" "We'd like to ask you about some work you did in the bridge area less than a week ago. Seems we had a little trouble up there and you were the last one under the control panels. What did you do under there? Plant a bomb or something?" Garibaldi said. "I don't know what you're talking about. I replaced a couple of lights and added a board. I did just what my boss told me to do, nothing more, nothing less." Caldwell said. "Where were you going then and why did you run," Michael said. "I'm scheduled for some leave. I was going to Mars colony for some R&R. I knew you would be looking for someone to pin the accident on, that's why I ran." Caldwell said. "We just want to get to the bottom of all of this. Take him down to interrogation, Michael. I think I'll go talk to his supervisor about this little job Caldwell performed. We can compare notes later," Sinclair said. "OK. Do you want to wait a sec and I'll go with you. Won't take long to have Lou pick this guy up and put him away." Garibaldi said. "No, that's not necessary. Why don't you meet me there. Jack Green, Caldwell's supervisor, should be in his office now. Should be able to catch him there." Sinclair said. "Wait for me though. I don't want you going to see this guy alone, especially if he's in on this." Garibaldi said. "Michael, you worry too much." Sinclair said. "And you don't worry enough," Michael said. "I'll meet you in red sector, Michael." Sinclair said. And with that he walked down the hall to the nearest turbolift. Garibaldi called Lou Welch on the comlink and had him meet him in red sector. He could pick up Caldwell there and Garibaldi could cover Sinclair's back at the same time. Sinclair arrived red sector and started off toward maintenance. He had known Jack Green for a couple of years now. Jack had been one of the original engineers on Babylon 5. He couldn't imagine Jack being involved in anything like sabatogue, but people change. As he approached the office, the door chimed and he heard "Enter" from inside. Jack was seated at his desk, completing some paperwork. "Hi, Jack. Got a second?" Sinclair asked. "Commander Sinclair. Haven't seen you in these parts for a while. Sure, I've got whatever time you need. Come in and have a seat." Green said. "Jack, we have been reviewing some data related to the explosion on the bridge a week ago. We noticed that one of your man, James Caldwell, made some repairs on one of the control panels less than a day before the incident. Can you tell me a little about Caldwell and the work he did that day," Sinclair asked. "Commander, Jim Caldwell has been with us about 6 months. He keeps to himself mostly, but has done a good job. Let's see. According to the work log, he was doing some preventive maintenance. Basically replacing some lights and such. Nothing major." Green said. "He said he replaced some boards in the panel as well. What was that for?" Sinclair asked. "Boards, I don't remember any boards that were included in the maintenance routine." Green said. "Well the video shows he had two boards in his hand when he went under the control panel and they were not in his hands when he came out. Are you sure that there were no circuit boards replaced during the maintenance?" Sinclair said. "No, Commander. We had talked about doing some upgrades, but we were waiting for some of the other parts to come in before we started the work." Green said. "OK, Jack. That's all I wanted to know," Sinclair said. "By the way, how's Sara?" "Sara is just fine Commander. She's growing like a weed. Will be 7 next month. I've sent her back to Earth to school, though. Thought it might be best for her. Things have been getting a little strange around here lately -- I'm sure you've noticed. Sara loved the school here, though, and will be back as soon as school is out for the semester." Green said. "Quite a little lady you have there, Jack. Hope things go well for her back on Earth. I know it can be hard here on Babylon 5 for a little girl, especially in a school where there are any number of alien races. Hope to see Sara when she gets back." Sinclair said. "Thanks Commander. I'll tell her you asked about her." Green said. Commander Sinclair exited the office just as Garibaldi was coming down the hall. Lou had been in the middle of breaking up a fight in the Zocolo so he hadn't come to collect Caldwell as quickly as Garibaldi had wanted. "Commander, I thought you were going to wait for me," Garibaldi said. "Michael, I've known Jack Green for quite a while and can't believe he'd be mixed up in anything irregular. He said that Caldwell was doing routine maintenance on the control panel in C&C, but that it was just replacement of some lights -- no boards. I have a feeling we've found the explosive device. Now to determine why Caldwell tried to destroy the station." Sinclair said. "I've done a little checking on Caldwell. He's heavily in debt. His wife has been sick and they lost their home and things have just been going downhill for him. This certainly makes him vulnerable. We'll have to see what additional information we can get out of him." Garibaldi said. "Let's go see him right now, Michael. I'd like to get this wrapped up as soon as we can. If Caldwell acted alone, that's one thing. If he had help or is part of a larger plot, we need to know that as soon as possible. Check out Green though, when you have a chance. I want to make sure we don't miss anything here, even if a friends is involved; especially if a friend is involved." Sinclair said. Sinclair and Garibaldi started down the hall to the brig where Caldwell had been taken. Neither looked forward to interrogating Caldwell, but it was something that had to be done. They needed to learn more about what had caused the destruction on the bridge, and the had to get to the bottom of it quickly, before tracks could be covered. Things were starting to come together, though. As they entered the brig area, they saw a guard on duty, making sure everything was secure. Caldwell was seated on a small chair in the corner of the room. He stood up as Sinclair and Garibaldi entered the room. "Well, did Green confirm my work on the bridge?" Caldwell said. "I'm afraid there is some question about what you actually did while you were on the bridge, Caldwell." Sinclair said. "Jack said you were there to do some regular maintenance -- replace a light, check connections, that's all. We saw you with what looked like circuit board on the video. There's no record of any circuit boards needing replacement on the work order. Were those actually boards or something else -- something explosive enough to cause a great deal damage on the bridge." "Green gave me those boards himself, Commander. He said that they had just arrived and should be put into panel 11 as soon as possible. I think he said they were needed to upgrade part of the guidance system." Caldwell said. "Well we have quite a different set of stories here, don't we. I've looked at your background, Caldwell. It seems that you owe quite a bit of money to a lot of people. Who paid you to place a bomb on the bridge? What was the purpose?" Garibaldi said. "No one paid me for anything -- I didn't do anything. Like I said, I got the boards from Jack and put them where he said to put them. I was just following orders. Yes, I owe a lot of money. My wife has been sick and that's been very expensive. But I'm paying off the debts as best I can. It's been slow, but I'm working at it. I would never think of destroying Babylon 5; not for any amount of money." Caldwell said. "And that's the story you are going to stick to, Caldwell," Sinclair said. "Commander, that's what happened -- it's not a story," Caldwell said. Caldwell was justifiably nervous. Sweat had broken out on his forehead, and his hands were wet. He looked Commander Sinclair in the eye when he spoke, however. Not usually something that's done be a guilty man. "Mr. Garibaldi, let's look into this a little more. We'll be back, Caldwell, you can count on that. In the meantime, if you want to talk to me or Mr. Garibaldi, just have the guard call us." Sinclair said. "Commander, I'm innocent. I've done nothing wrong and I want to clear my name. Please check this out further. There must be an explanation for what happened, other than I put a bomb on C&C," Caldwell said. Sinclair nodded to Caldwell and he and Garibaldi left the cell. "I have a feeling that Caldwell was telling the truth. That means a couple of things -- either Jack Green had given the explosive to Caldwell without his knowing or Caldwell is lying. In either case, we have to know," Sinclair said. "Michael, I'm going back to my office for a while. Check Caldwell and Green out some more and let me know what you find out. Also see if there's any record of incoming maintenance material within the last month or so. If new parts haven't arrived, it could shoot a hole in the story about the receipt of upgrades and add another piece to this puzzle." Sinclair said. "Commander, are you OK?" Garibaldi said. "Mike, I'm OK. I've just got a headache and it's driving me crazy." Sinclair said. "Maybe you should stop by and see the Doc." Garibaldi said. "No, I don't think I want to do that. I can tell you what he will say and do and I don't want to have to disobey an order. Best that that order not be given in the first place. Sort of trouble avoidance on my part. I'll just go to my office and hope that the aspirin kicks in soon." Sinclair said. Jeff knew that Dr. Franklin would confine him to his quarters so fast his head would spin more than it was spinning now. He hoped that going back to the office and concentrating on some of the work would do the trick. "I'll get back to you as soon as I have something more on Caldwell or Green. In the meantime, Jeff, take it easy. We'll get to the bottom of this. Things are starting to fall into place. It just takes time." Garibaldi said. "And time is something we may not have, Michael. For all we know they may be planning a new assault on the station." Sinclair said. "Well killing yourself is not going to get the job done any sooner." Garibaldi said. "OK, OK, I'll take it easy. Just keep me informed," Sinclair said. Sinclair started down the hall toward his office. Garibaldi watched him for a couple of seconds and then headed toward his station. He had a lot of checking to do, including queries to the nets to see what, if anything he could turn up. There were always rumors floating around there and maybe a choice bit of info now and again. He made a mental note to check on Jeff in an hour or so. Sinclair got back to his office and checked to see if any messages had come in during his absense. A couple -- but nothing of importance --but things that should be done today. He looked at his desk, so much for the paperless office. Where should he start? Jeff was thankful his headache was starting to lessen. Instead of setting to work on the papers, Jeff went over to the couch and sat down. Maybe if he closed his eyes for a minute, his headache would end completely and he could get to work. As he drifted off a bit, he thought about the video record of the explosion; things seemed to happen in slow-motion. He remembered entering the bridge that morning, checking in with the bridge crew and running some routine checks on the equipment and the area outside of the station. Things looked like they do most days -- with one exception. On the far wall, a panel was blinking -- very dimly, but blinking. That was it! End Part Two Copyright @ 1995 by Sandra Bruckner. All rights are retained by the author. Babylon 5 is a copyright of the PTN Consortium; no infringment of that copyright is intended.<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> Sandra G. Bruckner I/STC - USIA (202) 619-5674 (202) 401-1914 (fax) "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> From bruckner@usia.govThu Jun 1 12:02:23 1995 Date: Tue, 30 May 95 6:19:58 -0400 From: "Bruckner, Sandra" To: Alexei Kosut Subject: Re: Fire -- Part 3 "Fire" Part 3 Jeffrey Sinclair, Commander of Babylon 5, had been puzzled by an explosion that crippled his station. He and his Chief of Security, Michael Garibaldi, were running down leads in an effort to find the person or persons responsible for this act of destruction. Sinclair had just come back to his office after questioning some suspects. He was tired and still feeling some of the effects of his injuries during the explosion on the bridge. He had nearly fallen asleep in his office when he realized something he had completely forgotten about the incident. He couldn't wait to check it out more thoroughly. "Garibaldi, can you come to my office for a minute?" Jeff said into his comlink. "Commander, I'll be there in about 5 minutes," Garibaldi said. Garibaldi was in his office reviewing files for Green and Caldwell. He had found a couple of items of particular interest and would have called Sinclair soon, but now he didn't have to. Jeff paced the room waiting for Garibaldi to arrive. He hated to wait, for anything. One good thing, his headache was completely gone. It had been replaced by a different feeling however -- like a dull pain in the pit of his stomach. Someone had deliberately tried to destroy the station. He was certain of it now. He wondered what the motive was. Why? Who would gain from the eliminiation of Babylon 5? "Commander, I've got something to show you," Garibaldi said. "I've been doing some checking on Green and Caldwell. They have something very much in common --they both owe heavily to a syndicate on Earth. This may mean that they are working together or working separately. It's not clear. What is clear though, is that they both were very vulnerable to anyone that wanted blow up the station." "Michael, I remembered something about the bridge the day of the explosion. The panel showing power consumption was blinking -- very faintly just before the explosion. There wasn't time before the explosion to check it out. The sensor didn't trip an alarm; the panel didn't show anything as far as a signal that power was anything but normal. We need to find that panel and see if anything was tampered with and we can check the video again to see if my recollection is accurate." Sinclair said. "Commander, we checked the power panel first thing. Nothing appeared to be abnormal -- there wasn't much left of the panel either. It was badly damaged and was replaced. The old panel is in storage though, if you want to have a look at it." Garibaldi said. "Yes, Michael. I do want to see the panel. Those boards we saw Caldwell with in the video may have been placed into that panel and could have been the source of the explosion. That would explain the amount of damage you found and explain a few others things as well. That panel controls the entire grid and if anything had gone wrong with the initial warning system, the other systems would never have kicked in," Sinclair said. "OK, let's go look at the panel. I had all of the damaged equipment put on into storage on blue level. Only a few people know about it though," Michael said. Sinclair and Garibaldi departed his office and headed for blue sector. It wasn't far and only took a few minutes. As they approached, however, they noticed the door of the room had been tampered with. Since it has a cypher lock on it, only designated people could enter the room. Someone had used a torch on the lock and had gained entry. The hole in the wall was still warm, so it hadn't happened long ago. Sinclair and Garibaldi entered the room cautiously. They hoped the person that forced the door was still inside. "Michael, you go to the left, I'll take the right. Let's see if someone is still in here." Sinclair whispered. Garibaldi drew his PPG and went to the left. Sinclair went right, circling the room. Toward the back they heard a russle of metal. Someone was still here. Both men continued toward the noise they had heard, moving as quietly as they could. As Sinclair approached the rear of the room, he caught a glimpse of a figure moving toward the door. "Stop," Sinclair said. "What are you doing in here?" "Commander Sinclair? I...." It was Jack Green. He had in his hand a portion of the panel Sinclair and Garibaldi were looking for. Green swung the panel at Sinclair, but Jeff ducked and moved off to the left. He caught Jack by the arm and pushed him into the wall. Green dropped the panel and swung again at Sinclair. Jeff caught the blow right in the rib cage and went down gasping for breath. Fortunately Garibaldi was now all over Green. After a brief punching match, he had him subdued and on the floor with his hands behind his back in cuffs. Garibaldi went over to Sinclair to see how the Commander was. Fortunately Jeff's ribs had been taped very well by Dr. Franklin and he had just had the wind knocked out of him. He was trying to catch his breath and coughing a bit, but he assured Garibaldi that he was fine. Garibaldi helped him to his feet and they went over to see Jack Green. "Why Jack?" Sinclair asked. "What did you or whoever you are working for hope to gain by damaging or destroying Babylon 5?" "I had no choice, Commander. The syndicate threatened my little girl if I didn't cooperate. I had hoped no one would be hurt during the explosion and the station would only be out of commission for a little while. I tried to make sure the explosion went off during a time when either no one was on the bridge or when there was a skeleton staff around. I could have used a stronger explosive, but didn't want to chance destroying the entire station by throwing the station off it's axis. I was in an awful position, Commander, and this was the only way out of it." Green said. "Jack, you should have come to me and we could have worked something out. Have you heard from Sara lately? Where is she? We must have someone pick her up and put her in protective custody right away." Sinclair said. "I'll tell you everything, Commander. Just make sure my little girl is safe" Green said. "Was Caldwell involved at all in this?" Sinclair added. "No, he was just a pawn. I gave him the explosive to put into the panel when he did some minor repair. He had no idea what it was." Green said. "OK Michael. Take Jack to the brig and let Caldwell out. I'll call Earth Central and get some protection for Sara. They can send her out on the next shuttle, Jack." Sinclair said. "Thank you, Commander. I'd like that very much." Green added. Garibaldi took Green down to the brig and Commander Sinclair went back to his office. Unfortunately, Dr. Franklin was waiting for him as he entered. "Commander, I see that you did not keep your end of our bargain. You have been all over the station and it looks like you have been in some sort of fight as well." Franklin said. He walked over to Sinclair and drew his attention to the tear in his uniform's shoulder. Jeff must have caught it on some of the debris in the storage area. Franklin also noticed that Jeff was holding his side a bit -- where Green's punch had landed. "Dr. Franklin, we have just taken into custody the person responsible for the explosion on the bridge. Mr. Garibaldi and I were working on some hunches and they paid off. Yes, I guess I didn't hold up my end of the bargain, but things were moving too fast. Now that things are solved, however, I can do what I said I would do -- stay in my office and rest." Sinclair said. Franklin already had out his scanner and was going over Sinclair as he talked. Jeff wanted to object, but knew it was futile. He was in deep trouble and he knew it. Nothing he could saw was going to change Stephen's mind. That was clear. "Commander, given your present condition, I'm confining you to your quarters for the next three days. I don't want to see you out of your apartment for any reason. You should be happy I'm not putting you in MedLab." "Stephen, I'm fine and now that this is over, I can take it easy. You don't have to confine me to my quarters. I'll do whatever you say." Jeff said. "Alright Commander, but if I see you anywhere near this office or anywhere else on this station, outside of the Zocolo, I'll make that an order." Stephen said. "Thanks Stephen." Sinclair sighed in relief. With that Dr. Franklin pulled out a couple of pills from his pocket, handed them to Jeff and told him to take them as soon as he got back to his apartment. They would help his get a good night's sleep. "I'll check on you tomorrow, Commander," Stephen said. Lt. Commander Ivanova entered Commander Sinclair's office just as Dr. Franklin was leaving. Stephen looked back at Sinclair for a moment and then departed. Jeff knew what he meant by that look -- he had better do as he had promised. "Commander, things are coming along very nicely on the bridge. Everything has been totally repaired and we are back to full capacity." Ivanova said. "Thank you, Lt. Commander. You have done an outstanding job of overseeing the repair work and I appreciate everything you have done. Jack Green is responsible for all of this and is now in custody. We'll learn more about this in time, but for now it's over. I'm going to my quarters and get some rest. If anything comes up, let me know. I promised Dr. Franklin that I would limit my activities for the next couple of days." Sinclair said. "Commander, I'll take good care of the station. Do as the good doctor said and rest. I'll let you know if anything needs your direct attention." Ivanova said. With that Sinclair left his office and headed to his quarters. Once there, he changed his uniform, got into some comfortable jeans, a sweater and put on his favorite Tennyson recording. As the soft, familiar tones drifted over the room, Jeff took the pills Stephen had given him and he laid down on his bed. Sleep came quickly and tonight there would be no dreams -- no Battle of the Line, no explosion on the bridge, nothing. For once he would sleep without being interrupted by demons from his past. Tomorrow would bring a new day and he would again be Jeffrey Sinclair, Ambassador for Earth Force and Commander of Babylon 5. The End Copyright @ 1995 by Sandra Bruckner. All rights are retained by the author. Babylon 5 is a copyright of the PTN Consortium; no infringment of that copyright is intended. <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> Sandra G. Bruckner I/STC - USIA (202) 619-5674 (202) 401-1914 (fax) "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>