From: "Aubrey W. Adkins" <xazqrten@home.com>
Subject: Ivanova, Part 1 of ---(WIP)
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 12:20:00 -0500

Ivanova, Part 1 of ---(WIP)

     Criticism is welcomed. Without, it there can't be any
improvement. Address criticisms to [xazqrten@home.com]


          All characters/places/persons not belonging to the writer are
the sole properties of their owners, PTEN, WB, JMS, and will be
turned over to the owners at the request of their agents.  All other
characters/places/persons are public domain.

Rated PG-10 (Vocabulary)

********************************************************************************

   The Ares had just transited to hyperspace when Ivanova turned to
General Leftcourt and said,
"I don't expect any trouble on the way home, but I see no reason to not
be ready. Commander
Evans, before he left, made up rosters for the civilians riding back
with us. They have been mustered and made aware of what is expected of
them in the event that we have to go to general quarters(GQ).
We will be going to GQ shortly. I want to insure we can get everyone
where they should be in an
efficient, timely manner. Your officers are advised to go to their
quarters areas and log into the
ship's personnel accounting system. It will serve the purpose of
mustering them and keep them
out of the way. Being anyplace else will just cause them to be in
someone's way. If you make it up
here, you will sit and observe, nothing more. Any questions, Sir?"

   "It's your ship, Susan. I would not presume to tell you how to run
it. Somehow, I think I might
make it to the brig if I tried."

   "Only if we are at GQ, General."

   "That was an interesting demonstration you conducted back there."

   "It's only part of what this ship can do. We do things the designers
never envisioned."

   "Well, I am going to give my boys the news. They need to get their
acts together before you
start running drills."

   The chief engineer(Cheng) turned from his console and asked Susan,
"Captain. We really need
to workon several of the reactors besides the one which was sabotaged. I
request that we be allowed totake down two more for non-routine
maintenance ."

   "What the hell, I am losing her when we get back. Go ahead,
Commander. They're yours. Just
keep me informed. I may need them back on short notice."

   "You got it Captain." he turned back to his console and passed the
word to his crew. Then he
called his relief.
*****************************************************************************

   It was 1300 and lunch had finished thirty minutes before when the 1MC
(ship's general
announcing system) began blaring the ringing of a brass bell followed by
the announcement,
"GENERAL QUARTERS, GENERAL QUARTERS, ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE
STATIONS. SET CONDITION 2A THROUGHOUT THE SHIP. MAKE MUSTER REPORTS
TO THE SHIPS OFFICE AND READINESS REPORTS TO THE OOD IN CIC."  It was
immediately repeated.

   In spite of earlier preparations, what followed was a sort of
pandemonium amongst the civilians,
many of whom had never heard the term general quarters, much less had to
respond to it. It took
thirty minutes for the evolution to be completed.

Finally the OOD turned from his console display and reported, "Captain,
DCC (damage control
central) reports that condition 2A has been set throughout the ship.
Ship's office is reporting all
personnel, including our riders, are present or accounted for."

   Susan thumbed the 1MC 'on' switch on her console control panel and
said, "This is the captain
speaking. It took us thirty minutes to get this little evolution
finished. We will practice until we
can do it in less than fifteen. It is important for all of you,
especially the non-crew members, to
understand that when we go to condition 1A, we will be flooding unmanned
outer areas of the
ship with nitrogen gas, to lower the possibility of uncontrolled fires,
when we are taking enemy
fire. Anyone in those areas when the flooding begins will suffocate.
Bear in mind, I won't hesitate
to flood those areas if we start taking fire. If you are in there, I
will have the displeasure of
informing your next of kin. Ladies and gentlemen, my ship comes first,
and with it the safety of
my crew. I will not allow someone who can't or won't get his or her ass
in gear to jeopardize
either of them. Captain out."

  In the wardroom General Sanchez looked at the other officers present.
"Gentlemen I think this
trip is going to be anything but boring. General Ivanova runs a very
tight ship. I sincerely suggest
that getting on her bad side will not be pleasant."

  "I don't know about the rest of you, but I like her style and
attitude," replied General Ames.

   Several of the generals and a number of the junior officers, captains
and below, only groaned in
response.
*****************************************************************************

  Charles had nothing better to do, so he wandered down to the wardroom.
He figured a good cup
of coffee and a fresh doughnut would be nice. Susan had bought some of
the real thing for the
wardroom galley. He wasn't alone.
There were a number of junior officers from the board of inquiry sitting
at the tables killing time
and cups of coffee and tea.

   Charles sat down at a table that for whatever reason was empty.
Taking a bite of a freshly made
doughnut and a sip of coffee, he started thinking about the last time he
had been aboard a warship
commanded by his, now, wife. It had not been pleasant.

   "A credit for your thoughts," said an unfamiliar voice.

   Charles opened his eyes and looked at the speaker. It was one of the
commanders who had
worked for the board.

   "They aren't worth that much, Commander," he responded.

   "Might I share your table?"

   "Sure thing. Besides it isn't mine. I only have a short term lease on
it."

   The commander sat down and placed his tea in front of him. "You don't
look like a shipyard
worker."

   "I'm not. Anyway, how is a shipyard worker supposed to look?"

   "Surely not as relaxed as you do. What do you think of the drills?"

   "I think of them as a necessary evil, Commander. I'd damn sure rather
know what to do in an
emergency situation than not."

   "It's only a milk run back to Earth. What bad can happen?"

   "I really don't know, and I'd rather not find out. I am sure the
captain knows what she is
doing."

   "Sometimes I wonder. Giving a woman that kind of power seems wrong
somehow."

   "Well, let me see. The Earth Alliance President is a woman. The CO of
Babylon 5 is a woman,
and before that she commanded a destroyer. Yep, Commander, I suppose you
do have a point.
However this isn't Susan's first ship, and she was XO of Babylon 5 for
four years. Let me see
now. She also totally destroyed Clark's advanced destroyer fleet, even
though she was out gunned
and out manned. Tell me, Commander. What have you done in your career
that is notable? I
mean besides gripe."

   "You seem to have a high opinion of her?"

   "Well, you see, Commander, I'm biased. After all, she is my wife."

   At that revelation, the commander choked on his tea. Then he hastily
left Charles alone at the
table.

   Charles was lonely for long. A few minutes later a young lieutenant
junior grade (ltjg) asked,
"Do you mind some company, Mister....?"

   "Wayne is my name, and no, I don't mind," responded Charles.

   The young officer sat down across the table from him.

   "Are you a member of the crew?"

   "No sir. I work for the JAG. I'm the all-purpose 'gofer'. You know,
go for this and go for that."

   "I do understand the position Lieutenant. What do you think of all
the drills the captain has
promised?"

   Well, my first assignment was a destroyer, but I have never been in
combat. I believe in
being prepared. When they're shooting at you, it's too damned late to
learn what you need to
know."

   "My sentiments exactly, Lieutenant. Mister Wayne, may I join you?"
Asked  an older
commander who pulled back a chair and seated himself.

   "You have me at a disadvantage, Commander."

   "I am the operations officer of the Ares. I'm also wearing the XO hat
for the time being.
Commander Evan's sudden departure left us one short. I'm Wallace Finkle,
but Wally is just fine,
unless we are dealing formally."

   "I've worked for the military on and off over the years, but I've
never really gotten used to its
traditions and way of doing things. It's in its own little universe."

   This caused the ops boss to laugh heartily. "Yes, I suppose we are."
Looking at the young
lieutenant junior grade, Finkle asked, "Do you know who this is son?"

   The young officer nodded, no.

   This is the CO's husband.

   The young man looked surprised. "Oh. I didn't know that."

   "Don't worry Lieutenant. My wife's bite is much worse than her bark,"
offered Charles.

   "I will be witness to that," agreed Finkle.

   "She is one busy person. I haven't seen her since breakfast this
morning. I hadn't realized how
much effort it takes to run something like this ship," commented
Charles.

   "It always looks easy until you get involved in it, up close and
personnel," agreed the ops boss.

   "I was looking over some of the reports she utilizes every day, and
was astounded at how much
she must know to do her job."

   "That's why they pay us the big credits, Charles."

   "Speak for yourself, Commander. I surely haven't seen any of them
yet," replied the young
lieutenant.

   "Don't worry, Son. You will. Just as soon as you retire and go to
work for a civilian company."

   "I wouldn't give him any false hopes, Commander. It doesn't pay as
well as you might imagine,"
noted Charles.
******************************************************************************

   "Ivanova was walking down the passageway heading toward the wardroom,
when she a voice
from behind ask, "Where are you off to, Susan?"

   Recognizing Leftcourt's voice, she responded, "I'm tracking down my
ops boss. I have decided
to forgo the speed run back to Earth. I want him to initiate a sitrep
update and include our new
arrival time."

   "Why are we not doing the speed run?"

   "My cheng asked for permission to perform maintenance on a couple of
the reactors. Since
you're taking Ares away from me when we get back, I can't see any good
reason to be in a big
hurry, General."

   "I see. So, we get the scenic tour. Is that it?"

   "And they say you don't have a sense of humor."

   "Are your trousers off-the-rack or do you have them tailored?"

   "Why do you ask, Sir?"

   "They seem to fit very well."

   "General, they don't make the uniforms to fit a woman's body, in
spite of the fact that we make
up thirty per cent of the service. Since my ass is larger than my waist,
a normal condition for a woman, unlike most men who have big waists and
no asses, I have them tailored to fit. I am physically fit, meet the
weight standards,and according to rumor, am built like the proverbial
brick outhouse. I can't be held responsible forhow my appearance affects
the men around me. Is that a problem?"

   "No. It's just a distraction."

   "That's your problem, General. I think you'll find it hasn't
presented any problem for my officers
and crew. None of them thinks of me as a female. I have a reputation as
one of the hardest-nosed
COs in earthforce. Not many people dream of going to bed with someone
like that."

   "You do have a point."

   "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

   "Yes. I was thinking about these Drakh. What do you know about them?"

   "I think this is the wrong place for a briefing. Let me find my ops
boss, then I will be happy to
tell you what I know. You know we are at war with them, whether Earth
has declared one or not.
The attack on Babylon 5 was a defacto attack on the Earth Alliance and
the Interstellar Alliance."

   "As you said, let's discuss it later."

   They continued walking in a direction that would bring them to the
wardroom.
******************************************************************************

  As Ivanova and Leftcourt entered the wardroom, one of the junior
officers piped up,
"ATTENTION ON DECK!"

   "As you were!" said Susan before anyone could come to attention. She
then headed toward the
operations officer.

   Susan stopped at the table and said, "Wally, I want you to send a
sitrep update, after you finish
your coffee. Let them know we expect to be arriving very late day after
tomorrow. Follow up with a
new one as soon as the navigator gives you an updated arrival time."

   "Yes Sir," responded the ops boss.

   "What brings you down here Charley?" she asked her new husband.

   "Good coffee, better doughnuts and excellent company. I know you are
very busy and I will go
stir crazy sitting in your quarters," he replied.

   "He's joking, Wally. I know for a fact that a year in solitary
confinement won't even phase
him." Saying that she leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips and
whispered in his ear,
"More later."

   Having finished her business, Susan left the ward room with Leftcourt
following closely behind.
*****************************************************************************

   Susan had made a stop in her office to pick up some data crystals on
her way to the briefing
room where she would explain the Drakh problem to Leftcourt.

   "I take it that all that I am showing and telling you is new to you.
Is that accurate General
Leftcourt?'

   "None of this information has ever been disseminated, Susan," he
replied. "These 'First Ones'
are beyond anything I could imagine, and these Drakh had been working
for the ones you call
Shadows for thousands of years. I can imagine they have to be plenty
pissed at those responsible
for their mentors being banished. Even worse, they have had access to
advanced technology for a very long time. I can't help believing we are
at a real disadvantage. It makes the results of your efforts at Babylon
5 even more important."

   "If they knew who was responsible for the destruction of Za'ha'dum,
they would being trying to
destroy them, too. You see, as John Sheridan explained it, there were
four of us on Babylon 5
that the Shadows considered capable of being a nexus. There was, of
course, John, then in order
came Delenn, me and Garibaldi. At the very least Delenn and I are
considered prime targets for
revenge. I think that the lengths they employed trying to destroy me and
the Zeus helps prove that
point."

   "I would assume then, that the you being at Babylon 5 during their
planned attack was
considered a stroke of very good luck."

   "I don't think so General. Remember their attack corresponded to my
arrival almost to the day.
I don't accept it as a coincidence, especially considering we were well
ahead of schedule."

   "I don't know about that, but I do accept your assessment that a
state of war exists between
them and us. This is at least the second unprovoked attack on an EA
installation."

   I am looking forward to getting home, General, but if I run into a
Drakh ship, it will be history.
I won't wait for them to shoot first."

   "I don't like the idea of a shootout, but I understand your
feelings."

   "I just want you to know what my perspective is, General."

   "There was never any doubt about that, Susan. You have had a chip on
your shoulder for a long
time. I think you feel you have to prove you can do the job. You don't
have to prove anything.
Your record speaks for you."

   "Did they tell you that when I was XO of Babylon 5, I was called 'Ice
Queen' behind my back?"

   "You like to be in control. That puts a lot of people off until they
get to know you, and you don't
make that easy."

   "Of all of my friends, only one really understands me."

   "Who?"

   "Lyta. She has been there and understands. When I first met her, I
hated her. It took me a very
long time to accept her, and that only came about because she started
working for Kosh. Then she
saved our asses several times. It's funny how having someone save you
from certain death can
make you reevaluate your opinion of them."

   "She got pretty close to you."

   "Closer than a beloved sister."

   "Except for my wife, I have never felt that way about anyone I know."

   "I hate to brief and run, but I have business in CIC. We have some
more drills to run."

   "Somehow, I just knew you were going to say that."
****************************************************************************

   Susan held three more drills running until 2000 that evening. The
crew and riders had managed
to do the last one in just a few seconds more than fifteen minutes.

   After the OOD had reported that muster had been taken and condition
2A successfully set,
Susan looked at him and said, "I think they have the general idea, OOD.
Secure from GQ and set
the normal underway watch."

   "Yes Sir," he responded.

   Susan left CIC and headed for her quarters. She needed to unwind, and
a shower and Charles
would be a real help in that department.
******************************************************************************

   Susan was preparing to take a shower, when Charles asked, "Did you
fit your trousers this well when you commanded the Zeus?"

   "You were there. You tell me."

   "If memory serves me correctly, I saw you once in the wardroom. You
were sitting down behind a table, and you had security remove me and
confine me to my living compartment. It was the size of one you normally
assign to a junior ensign. It was two and a half by three meters. After
the fight with the Drakh, I awoke in the brig, and I didn't leave there
until I departed the ship. I didn't see you then, so the only time I saw
you in all the time I spent aboard was when you confined me. Therefore,
I have no idea how well they did or didn't fit."

   "I stand corrected. That is one thing I have done for which I am
truly sorry."

   "You are only sorry because you met me much later, and learned what I
really was."

   "Charley, I don't want to fight."

   "We aren't going to. I told you that is past. I only stated a fact.
That being, I never saw all of you on the Zeus."

   "As I said, you're correct."

   "Did your pants fit that well when you were CO of the Zeus?

   "Yes they did, Charley. I have been told I have a nice ass, and that
it is distracting."

   "You mean someone is complaining about how you look?"

   By this time Susan had removed her clothing and was walking toward
the shower. "General Leftcourt mentioned that the tailored trousers
caused my ass to be distracting."

   Charley started laughing. "You'd think he had more important things
to worry about. Is it distracting?"

   "It hasn't bothered my officers and crew."

   "You don't seriously think anyone would have enough nerve to tell
you, do you?"

   "Oh yes. My former XO, Pat Owens, would not have hesitated to tell
me. That's why I chose him for the position. That's why I know nobody
cared. Pat would have heard about any rumors and acted to handle them."

   Charles listened to the shower run, shut-off, and then run again. A
minute later Susan was out of the head and into bed.

   "You're slow Charley."

   "Actually, I took my shower before you came in," he replied removing
his pajamas and joining her in bed."

   Susan wanted physical contact and was on top of Charles before he
could get the blanket pulled up.
******************************************************************************

   It was 0430 when the alarm went off. Susan was up and getting dressed
in a sports bra and sweatpants. Charles looked at her and asked, "Where
are you going?"

   "I like to start the day with a workout, so I join Lieutenant Colonel
Munoz and his marines for an early morning workout. Sometimes I work out
with them later in the day, but these early workouts seem to give me an
energy boost. You will have to try it sometime. It will tone you up."

   "Give me a minute. I want to come and watch. If it doesn't look to
dangerous, I may give it a try."

   Two minutes they were hustling through empty passageways heading
toward one of the ship's gymnasium facilities.

   "Has anyone ever told you that you are distracting in sports bra and
sweatpants?"

   She shot him a dirty look, and then smiled broadly and gave him a
quick kiss. It took them ten minutes to walk to the gym.
******************************************************************************

   Looking across the breakfast table at Charley, Susan commented,
"You've never seen the ship have you?"

   Charley, with a mouthful of food, shook his head, no.

   "As soon as I get through going through message traffic, I'll give
you the credit tour. I have a training session with the Colonel's troops
scheduled for 1000. I can give you a tour and end up in the gym on
time."

   "You just did a workout with them."

   "That was a warm-up workout to get the blood flowing. This is close
personnel combat training. It's kick butt and take names training,
without taking names."
******************************************************************************

   "Has anyone ever told you this one very large ship?"

   "Several times. It is considerably larger than the Zeus. This is one
of the reactor rooms. It is one of eight on board."

   Susan led Charles into the outer control room. He could see the
reactor itself was four decks high and least a hundred meters wide.

   "This is as close as I can take you. This is a very hazardous working
area. I don't even go in there, unless it can't be helped. I leave it to
my engineers. It is their area of expertise."

   "Sweetheart, this is closer than I want to be."

   "May I ask what you two are doing in here?" Asked a gruff male voice
from behind them.

   Without turning around, Susan responded, "I was giving Charles the
one credit tour."

   "Well, someone should have told you this is a restricted area. There
are signs posted outside the space."

   "I know. I read them," replied Susan still not turning around.

   "I am going to call security and have the two of you taken to the
brig. The captain is going to have a fit when he finds out you were in
here."

   The chief engineer came into the space just in time to hear the man's
last statement.

   "What's the problem, Jeff?"

   "The skirt is giving her boyfriend a tour of the ship. I caught the
two of them in here."

   "Were you at the short indoctrination that the XO held for all you
civilian workers?"

   "No. it was a waste of time. I already studied the ship's plans. I
know where everything is."

   "That may be, but the other purpose of the indoctrination was to
familiarize you people with our ship's officers."

   "So, she ain't wearing a uniform."

   "That was my point. If you had attended, you would know who she is."

   Susan and Charles had turned to look at Jeff and the chief engineer."

   "You haven't sent for security yet, mister. I suggest you make it
quick, before me and my 'boyfriend' simply walk out."

   "What aren't you telling me?" Asked Jeff.

   "I am not telling you that you're about to step on your crank with
golf spikes."

   Jeff looked at the commander with confusion showing on his face.

   "I think what Cheng is trying to tell you is that your dismissal of
the indoctrination briefing is about to get your ass fired!" snapped
Susan.

   Charles had seen Susan in this frame of mind before, and was glad he
wasn't going to be on the receiving end of her anger.

   "What the hell are you talking about?" demanded Jeff.

   "Questioning our being in here is good security, learning who we are
and whether we are out of bounds being in here is also part of the
drill. Calling security if there is valid doubt is also part of the
drill. Your being a smart-mouthed wise-ass isn't part of that drill. If
you had gone to the indoctrination you would have been aware that the
captain of this ship is a woman, not a man! Is any of this getting
through that Neanderthal skull of yours? One more thing, when you
address me, you say, "Yes Sir!" or "Yes Captain!""

   Jeff looked at the cheng and was greeted by a smiling face.

   Cheng offered, "Jeff, you have now met General Ivanova, our CO."

   "I am sorry, General."

   "Not as sorry as you are going to be. You will be working for me when
you get back. I am relieving your present CO. If I ever hear of you
pulling crap like this again because you didn't see fit to go to an
informational briefing, I will have your job. Do you understand me?"

   "Yes Sir."

   Susan and Charles departed the control room.

   After Susan and Charles were gone, the cheng told Jeff, "You are very
lucky. The man with her is her husband. If he hadn't been here she would
have ripped you a new ass."

   "I thought she did a fairly good job of it, as it was."

   "Not even, Jeff. You haven't seen her mad yet. She was just
irritated."

   "Was she kidding about being Admiral General Zaleski's relief?"

   "Not at all. She is only taking Ares back because the fellow they
were going to send to do it wasn't qualified."
******************************************************************************

   "You went easy on him, Susan."

   "I didn't want to make a scene in front of you."

   He looked at her closely to see if she was joking.

   "What are you looking at?"

   "After what you did to me on the Ares when I introduced myself, I
can't believe you could ever worry about making a scene."

   "I have changed since then, Charley. You don't know how many times I
have regretted that scene. It made me look cheap and vindictive in front
of my officers. I never even tried to look beyond your uniform and
symbol. That was an inexcusable disgrace, and several friends have
pointed it out to me."

   "We better get a move on if we are going to make your class on time."

   They speeded up their pace, and walked the rest of the way in
silence.
******************************************************************************

   "I am afraid my people are adamant. They will spar with you, but not
at full contact."

   "I don't understand, Frances." Said Susan. "They haven't refused in
the past. I thought I was an accepted full contact sparring partner?"

   "That was then, Captain. You weren't pregnant then. None on them
wants to chance hitting you and harming your unborn child."

   "It is unfair. I'm not even showing yet. I thought they were
ferocious and merciless?"

   "They are to an enemy, but you aren't an enemy. You're a sparring
partner, a training opponent as it were. They'll spar with you light
contact, but they refuse to do no holds barred sparring with you. They
respect you very much. They respect your condition even more."

   "I need a quick visit to the head, then I will join you for the
warm-up."

   As Susan made a dash for the head, Munoz looked at Charles. "Let me
guess, morning sickness."

   "You got it. Sometimes she can go a whole day, then zap, she's off
the do the business."

   "You understand why me people don't want to take a chance with her,
don't you?"

   "I do. She grows on you after a while. She doesn't understand how
people see her. She has this mean tough image of herself and works very
hard to protect it."

   "She is a hard taskmaster, Mr. Wayne, but she isn't mean. They aren't
the same things. I know skippers who are mean, but couldn't lead a team
to pour piss out of a boot with instructions on the heel. Believe me,
there is a vast difference between the two types."

   A minute later Susan reappeared and began to lead the warm-up
exercises.
******************************************************************************

   "A credit for your thoughts, Charles."

   Charles looked around and found himself looking into the face of
General Leftcourt.

   "I thought I would come down and watch the marines workout. I didn't
expect to see Susan out there."

   Looking Leftcourt up and down, Charles said, "You seem to be dressed
to join them."

   "I think I'll do that," he said, and took up a spot in the back of
the small formation.

   Less than a minute later, Charles became aware of someone standing
close on his left side.

   "Good morning, Mr. Wayne. Why aren't you working out with them."

   Charley looked around at the speaker. It was the young lieutenant
junior grade from the day before. "Do I appear to be suicidal,
Lieutenant?"

   "Not really, Sir. Is that the CO leading the exercises?"

   "Yes. She is big on fitness."

   Silence reigned for several minutes, then Charles looked at the young
man again. He was engrossed in watching Susan exercise.

   "Lieutenant, it is bad form to drool in public."

   "I'm not drooling, Sir. It's just that she is very beautiful. I've
never seen a senior female officer who looked that good, before."

   "From what she tells me, it sometimes creates problems."

   "How?"

   "Men don't take beautiful women seriously. Especially in the
military, almost three hundred years of history notwithstanding. So, she
has to work extra hard to be accepted as serious."

   "I hadn't thought of that."

   Thirty minutes later Susan and Leftcourt walked over to where Charles
and the lieutenant junior grade were standing. Susan was breathing
lightly and wiped the sheen of sweat from her face with a towel.
Leftcourt was breathing very heavily and sweating profusely.

   "I hope you didn't overdo it General," said Susan.

   "I thought I was in better shape," replied Leftcourt. "You damned
near killed me with that pace."

   "General, you're in excellent shape for your age. I think the fact
that you have me by more than twenty years has a lot to do with it,"
commented Susan.

   "You have a cheering section, Sweetheart," noted Charles.

   Susan looked at the young man. "Just who might you be?" She asked.

   "He's one of Walsh's boys, Susan," offered Leftcourt.

   "Lieutenant Junior Grade, Allison Caldwell, Sir," replied the young
man.

   "Well Lieutenant, the good part starts now. Just don't yell too
loudly," said Susan smiling, as she turned and headed back out on the
padded floor.

   Looking at Leftcourt, Charles said, "She said this was the
butt-kicking and name-taking part of the workout."

   Caldwell looked at the marines and Susan taking up positions on the
floor and noted, "I didn't see her carrying any data pad."

   The older men just laughed.

   The sparring had been going on for almost an hour, when the 1MC
blared, "CAPTAIN IVANOVA, PLEASE CALL CIC."

   Susan jogged over to one of several communications panels mounted on
the bulkheads around the perimeter of the gym. "Captain Ivanova here.
Go."

   We have something on passive sensors that you should look at ASAP,
Captain," came the reply."

   "On my way. Captain out," replied Susan.

   Passing Munoz, Susan said, "Sorry, Frances. Duty is rearing its ugly
head."

   As she passed Charles, she excused herself, telling him she had duty
to attend to.
******************************************************************************

   Susan became aware that someone was touching her mind. It was Lyta.
Saying that she was almost half-way to Mars. Lyta's mental touch faded
as she told Susan to take care.

   Entering CIC stilled attired in her workout clothing, Susan's
appearance turned heads and focused eyes on her. She looked around and
asked, "don't you guys have watches to stand?" Everyone went back to
their duties.

   "You will want to see this, Captain," said the OOD.

   Susan stepped over to one of the analysis consoles and looked at the
data displayed there.

   "Are we sure of this?"

   "Yes Sir. It exactly matches the profiles we built from the data
collected during the attack on Babylon 5 and the data from your
encounter on the Zeus."

   Susan thought about it for almost a minute and then thumbed the 1MC
switch on her command chair control panel, "THIS IS THE CAPTAIN. GENERAL
LEFTCOURT, YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED IN BRIEFING ROOM TWO. CAPTAIN
OUT."

   "OOD. Set condition Three Alpha."

   Taking a seat in the command chair the OOD made the announcement.

   "Get our intelligence types busy. I want a briefing in briefing room
two in thirty minutes. If the general calls up here, tell him what it's
about and to expect a complete briefing. I want weapons, engineering,
the air group commander and my tactical staff there. I am going to grab
a shower and try to make myself look like an officer in the meantime."

   "Yes Sir!" Came the response.
******************************************************************************

END PART ONE


From: "Aubrey W. Adkins" <xazqrten@home.com>
Subject: Ivanova Part 2 of ---(WIP)
Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1999 12:35:08 -0500

 Ivanova Part 2 of ---(WIP)

     Criticism is welcomed. Without, it there can't be any
improvement. Address criticisms to [xazqrten@home.com]

Think of this as a space opera.

          All characters/places/persons not belonging to the writer are
the sole properties of their owners, PTEN, WB, JMS, and will be
turned over to the owners at the request of their agents.  All other
characters/places/persons are public domain.

Rated PG-10 (Vocabulary)

"..." = spoken words
<...> = telepathic speech
[...] = one's own thoughts, internal
(...) = to set off items such as acronyms immediately identified by the
phrase they stand for.
'...' = to set off odd items???
I don't have one for italics... yet.

******************************************************************************
    "That concludes the briefing, gentlemen. I will take questions for
discussion, but the decision has already been
made," said Susan. "Ops, insure we are maintaining emcon (emission
control) condition one. There is one other
thing: if I or any of my crew catch anyone trying to send any
unauthorized message traffic, the offender  will be
escorted to the brig. That offender will remain there until we get back
to Earth, assuming we get back. If anyone
actually sends any unauthorized message traffic and gets caught, mark my
words, I will have him or her shot. We
are going into battle, and I don't need some idiot compromising my
operations and risking my ship and crew."
  
     "Captain, is this a prudent move?"
  
     "You are a lawyer, I expect you to be scared, but I believe it is.
The CJCS is sitting right here, why don't  you
ask  him?"
  
     "General Leftcourt," said the lawyer, "You haven't said anything
during this whole meeting."
  
     "I think Susan covered all the pertinent points. She gave me a
briefing last night on these Drakh. Based on that,
I agree with her course of action."
  
     "I understand that part, General," insisted the lawyer. "But
destroying two ships as opposed to following them
back to their base and attacking them and it, is anything but prudent.
We have no idea what we will be facing."
  
     "Did you ever see what was left of Clark's elite advanced destroyer
squadron after Susan got through with it.
Keep in mind that she hadn't any real idea what she and  her whitestar
squadron would be facing, except that
she would probably be outnumbered. She was outnumbered, and the ships
she faced also had a tremendous
advantage in firepower."
  
     "No  Sir. I have never seen the results, not even pictures."
  
     "All that was left of the destroyers was a really large amount of
wreckage. There were no survivors. Give them
the spiel you gave me last night, Susan. Maybe, then, they will
understand better."
  
     Susan pulled a small box out of her jacket pocket and selected a
data crystal from it. putting it into the player
unit, and began to talk.
***************************************************************** 
     Susan took thirty minutes to tell the story she had told Leftcourt.
Then she took questions. It didn't take long for
all the combat veterans to realize that the lawyers were scared. This in
itself was not a bad thing. Not being scared
at the possibility of being killed in an upcoming firefight was at best
foolish, at worst outright stupid. However, it
was obvious that a number of the them were outright cowards--- brave in
a courtroom with a controlled
environment but scared  witless at the prospect of being in a real
battle.

   Finally one of the lawyers said, "The EA has not declared war on
these Drakh, therefore you can't legally carry
out this attack, Captain Ivanova."
  
     "You can file a complaint when and if we get back to earth. I have
the consensus of more than a dozen
experienced combat officers many of flag rank, one of whom is the CJCS
of the earthforce, and the concurrence of
the JAG. Therefore, this discussion is closed, and the next person, who
tells me what I can and can't do, will finish 
what's left of this trip in the brig. Any further questions gentlemen?"
Inquired Susan. Silence was the only response
to her last statement.
  
    The group started to break up and file out. Susan asked, "General
Leftcourt, would you and the other combat
officers please remain behind for a few minutes, Sir?"
  
     Leftcourt  had noticed that Susan's officers  were remaining in
their seats. In a few minutes the non-combat
officers except for the JAG had departed the briefing room.
  
     Retaking his seat Leftcourt asked, "What's on your mind, Susan?"

     "As much as I dislike some of the pantywaists that just left, they
had some valid questions and concerns. The
most important ones concerned our lack of knowledge about  what we are
up against. Let's face it, we are going up
against what is most likely superior technology. I have faced that
technology. Our armor is at least as good as
theirs and from what I have experienced maybe even better. Our
firepower, based on the Shadow battle cruiser
discovered on Ganymede, may be a bit superior to theirs. We won't be
able to lie in wait for them this time, like we
did at Babylon 5."
  
     "You are getting around to something, Susan, so let's have it,"
said Leftcourt.
  
     "For whatever reason, gentlemen, before this ship left on its
deployment, it was loaded with a large number of
tactical nuclear weapons of various yields. I have decided to arm our
thunderbolt fighters with high-speed missiles
and with as many of these warheads as they can carry. The remainder are,
at this moment being fitted onto our
ship's missiles. I plan to go into this armed to the teeth, and fully
prepared for all-out war. I am telling you this for
your information. I'm not even sure I can legally do this, but I am
willing to take the responsibility, and all that
goes with it, for the decision. If it will make you feel better, you can
deny knowing anything about it."
  
     "I never realized how lucky we were when John used the teeps to
disable our ships at Mars," commented
Leftcourt.
  
     "You may as well know, gentlemen, I firmly believe in taking an
assault rifle to a knife fight," replied Susan.
Then she continued, "Okay Wally, give us the rundown of where  we are in
our preparations."
  
     The Ops boss stepped to the front of the room, inserted a data
crystal in the player and began talking.
*****************************************************************
   Onboard the Drakh lead cruiser-carrier, the 'commanding officer' was
watching the display at the front of the
bridge area. It reached from the deck to the overhead and was as wide as
the front of the bridge area.

   "It has been following us for the better part of the day. Have you
identified it?"

   "The Drakh at the CO's side, his intelligence officer, answered,
"Although it is showing heavy external damage,
our data indicates it is the EAS Ares, presently commanded by earthforce
Captain Susan Ivanova."

   "I have heard that name before. The memories it invokes are not
good."

   "We know she was part of the so called 'Army of Light' that fought
with the Vorlons against our dark masters.
We have kept track of her assignments, waiting to take revenge for her
part in their departing."

   "I thought that she had been caught in a trap which we set for  her
when she commanded the EAS Zeus?"

   "We lost contact with the ships sent to ambush her. We never found
any trace of them. We searched the area
from which their last transmission originated. We found nothing, not
even debris. Their fate is still a complete
mystery."

   "What happened to the fleet  sent to capture and destroy Babylon 5? I
know they were destroyed. She personally
destroyed eight of our finest before they could even exit from
hyperspace. That still left twenty-nine ships that were
somehow disabled and destroyed. They never sent any communications about
what was happening to them."

   "We don't really know, Sir. We have rumors, but not much else. There
have been unsubstantiated reports that she
and the station were helped by someone or something located on the
planet near the station. There is also a rumor
that she was aided by a human telepath."

   "Are you going to try to convince me that twenty-nine of our ships
and their crews were disabled or destroyed by
one human telepath?"

   "Maybe I was too hasty with my description. I have learned that she
is the human who went to the Vorlon
homeward and returned. She also worked for the Vorlon Kosh."

   "What are you trying to say?"

   "There are rumors that the Vorlons left behind a weapon. If they
decided to do that, what better weapon than one
that can operate independently, reproduce itself and adapt to whatever
situation that arises?"

   "Is there any proof of this?"

   "I am not sure. We have observation data from reliable sources that
indicate that she is capable of feats even our
dark masters would have trouble doing, without the use of their
technology. I would dismiss the data as daydreams
if the sources didn't have long records of providing reliable
information."

   "Why hasn't she been targeted for elimination?"

   "She has. However, those sent to terminate her have met with less
than great success. They are all dead, and
there is no evidence that she ever touched any of them  physically or
used any weapons on any of them."

   "Was she on the station when our forces attempted their attack?'

   "Yes. Our sources aboard the station reported that she was alone in
her quarters during the entire time of the
attack. I don't see how she could have been involved in the destruction
of that fleet?"

   "Well, we have the Ares trailing us. It is odd, though. She is not
using any of her active tracking systems and all
her weapons are powered down. Do you suppose she is unaware of our
presence? After all, this is one of the
courses a ship would use if it were taking the shortest  route to
Earth."

   "Our sensors indicate that half of her reactors are either off-line
or only idling. I would be inclined to agree with
your assessment except for the fact that her commanding officer is
Captain Ivanova. I do not trust that woman. She
seems to be able to smell trouble or a trap, and she has an irritating
proclivity for survival. Her record as a tactical
commander is the envy of most of the earthforce officer corps."

   "I will take your judgement to heart. We will maintain our course,
but we will be vigilant for any activity on her
ship. After all, she has enough firepower to destroy us, if she decides
to do so."
*****************************************************************
  "That's our plan, gentlemen. Since we are on our original course for
earth and the Drakh ships are going in the
same direction, we can follow them without raising their suspicions. Our
weapons are powered down and we are
not using any of our active sensors. From their point of view, we just
happen to be going in the same direction they
are. We won't be doing anything to get their attention if it can be
avoided. I am going to turn this over to the
weapons officer for his part of the briefing."

   "Gentlemen, my name is Marshall Kiley, Commander, Earthforce - and I
am the weapons officer of the Ares.
My part of this briefing is just that brief. During this deployment, my
men and women have worked closely with
the intelligence department, the tactical divisions, our engineering
support divisions and the programmers we
brought with us to enhance the Ares chances of survival in a firefight.
We have altered the capabilities of our
high-speed missiles so that they can carry multiple warheads and decoys.
We have also modified them so they can
be independently targeted on a specific ship's heat signature. Our
energy weapons are derivatives of the Shadow
technology that former President Clark tried to use during the recent
civil war. I won't go into specifics except to
say that our weapons sensors and the navigation system have been highly
integrated. When the navigator programs
course changes into his system, our weapons tracking systems use the
programmed changes to predict where we
should be aiming even before we actually execute the maneuver. No other
ship in earthforce can do this. We have
programmed the various attack patterns into the system so that as the
navigator changes course, our maneuvers
change to account for it. If we survive the upcoming firefight, and I
have every expectation that we will, I will be
wanting your comments about our efforts. Now it is time for the spooky
part of the presentation. Casper, it's all
yours."

   The ship's intelligence officer walked to the front of the room. "For
your information, gentlemen, my name isn't
Casper, and I am damned sure not a friendly ghost. My name is Jake
Collins. I will give you a short and sweet
synopsis of what the weapons officer left unsaid. The missile warheads
were reworked by our engineering machine
shops. We can put ten small nuclear warheads in each missile, or we can
put decoys in them, or any mix of the
two. These decoys have been built with independent rocket motors so that
they travel very fast after the mother 
warhead opens up and they generate the signals you will see in a real
warhead. It can make for a very large number
of targets that have to be destroyed to ensure destruction of the real
warheads. We have developed a method of
using navigation buoys and self-propelled probes to get a picture of an
enemy area, and be able to jump in virtually
on top the enemy. We have thoroughly analyzed the Drakh ship data we
were able to collect at Babylon 5 and
correlate it with other data we have on them from other encounters." All
the while he was talking, Collins was
showing videos and stills to illustrate exactly what he was talking
about. He showed videos to illustrate the tactics
that had been developed by the Ares crew to take best advantage of their
improved weapons and software packages.
"Any questions, gentlemen?"

   General Sanchez spoke up first, "All of this was accomplished on this
deployment. How did you find enough
time, Mister Collins?"

   "That's easy, General. Captain Ivanova teaches you how to prioritize
your activities and make time. Besides,
what else was there for us to do."

   Looking at Ivanova who was kicked back in a chair with her eyes
closed, Sanchez commented, "I think I'm
getting the picture."

   "One thing to remember, General, she starts work before we do, and
she is usually still working long after we've
quit for the day," replied Collins.

   Susan opened her eyes and looked around the room. "If there are no
more questions, the briefing is concluded.
My people still have a lot of work to do in preparation for what's
ahead."
***********************************************************************************
   In CIC Susan was reviewing with the navigator the strategy to be used
when the Drakh ships changed course
away from the beacon they were presently following. After she was
satisfied with their preparations , she left for a
tour or the ship and a look at the preparations being made in other
areas of her command. Her first stop was the
area of the ship's hanger bay being used to prep and arm her starfury
and thunderbolt fighters.

   "How are we doing Lieutenant?"

   "We are almost finished, Skipper. We just have to arm these four and
we will be ready to go," replied her airdale
weapons officer. "I can guarantee they are all loaded for bear, or---in
this instance---loaded for Drakh."

   "Let's hope for the best. This isn't going to be any cakewalk."

   "It never is, Skipper. It never is."
************************************************************************************
   Susan had walked several miles down the various passageways
interconnecting the many compartments on the
big ship. She found herself just outside the control room of the dead
reactor. There were raised voices engaged in
what was obviously a heated discussion being conducted inside the room.
She walked inside to get a better
understanding of the issues.

   "Ah, Captain. You are just in time to make a command decision here,"
said the Cheng.

   "What kind of decision?" inquired Susan, noting that the other half
of the discussion was the civilian, Jeff, that
she had the run in with the other day.

   "They tell me there is a very good chance that we will be going into
a firefight soon," commented Jeff.

   "And that is important because...?"

   "We got off on the wrong foot the other day, Captain. I don't like
going into a fight unprepared."

   "Get to the point."

   "This reactor is flat on its ass, and it can't be properly repaired
until we get the ship into a shipyard. Nothing can
change that, but it is possible to repair it enough to allow it to
function for a day or so."

   "Tell her the downside, Jeff."

   "There is always a price. What is the price for getting her up for a
few days?"

   "I can get her up and running at full power for maybe forty-eight
hours, less if you run her balls to the wall."

   "How long if we run her as you say 'balls to the wall' and what is
the price?"

   "Maybe eighteen hours. After that she will be completely trashed,
beyond repair anywhere."

   "That will give me maximum power out of all my plants for about
eighteen hours. The fight won't last that long,
and if the Drakh intelligence is up to snuff, they know we're crippled.
It's my ace in the hole. I'll take it, Jeff. You
never know, it may be the difference between getting home and being
blown to dust. I'll leave you gents to your
jobs."

   "Captain Ivanova," said Jeff as Susan was leaving the room, "Thanks."

   "This better work, Jeff," said the cheng.

   "My life may depend on it, so you can bet your ass it will."  
********************************************************************************
   Susan thought to herself as she walked down the passageway leaving
the control room behind, [If he succeeds,
I'm going to owe him big time.]

   She made one more stop in CIC prior to going  to her office to finish
up any loose paperwork. After that, she
would be heading for her quarters and her husband. [Having him aboard is
a definite distraction,] she smiled to
herself.
   
   The ops boss had left the latest SITREP message on her desk for
chopping and releasing. She pored over it and
added a few items of her own, then sent it to communications for
immediate transmission to Earth. She was sure
the Drakh would intercept and decode it. A routine message of no
importance, really, from a ship on its way home.
It should help convince the Drakh commanders on the ships she was
tailing that she was unaware of their
presence.
*****************************************************************
   "I hear we're going into harm's way."
  
   "Probably," replied Susan, taking another bite of her supper.
  
   "I suppose it's necessary."

   "That's up for debate, Charley. Leftcourt and his boys agree with me
that it is the right thing to do. Remember
when we were on the Zeus? The Drakh ambushed us by faking an emergency
beacon. I am going to try and repay
the favor... with compound interest."
  
   "Remind me, as if it's necessary, never to piss you off."

   They finished dinner and retired for the evening. Both of them needed
more than just a hug and kiss.
***********************************************************************************
   "Good morning, General Leftcourt. What can I do for you?" Asked the
O.O.D.

   "Nothing really, Lieutenant. I woke up about 0430 and haven't been
able to get back to sleep. Since I am just
along for the ride, I don't have anything to do, and I'm feeling a bit
antsy."

   "Not antsy, General, I bet it's anticipation. We most likely are
going to get into a firefight. I don't know about
you, but my adrenalin glands are working a bit of overtime this
morning."

   "You are probably right. I felt like this when I had to take on John
Sheridan at Mars. You knew it was coming,
but you didn't know exactly what. You only knew it would be very
dangerous."

   It was getting to be 0630 and the morning chow reliefs were arriving
to let the watch break for breakfast, when
the O.O.D. noticed that the Drakh ships were changing course.

   "Navigator!" said the O.O.D.

   "I'm on it, and beginning buoy release program number one," answered
the navigator.
*************************************************************************************
   Susan was having a leisurely breakfast with Charley when the intercom
signaled. Stepping over to the comm
panel, Susan said, "Accept."

   "Captain, this is the O.O.D. The Drakh ships have changed course and
navigation is running buoy dispersion
program number one."

   "Very well. Keep me informed of any changes to the present situation.
Captain out."

   "Do you have to run?" Asked Charley.

   "No. Buoy program number one will keep us on our present course for
at least two more hours before we double
back on our course to the point where the Drakh ships changed course.
So, we have four hours at least before all
hell can break loose. However, I am not sure it will...break loose. I
want more information about those Drakh and
where they are going, before I take the ship and crew into harm's way.
Contrary to some rumors, I don't go off
half-cocked anymore."

   Charley regarded his wife speculatively, as he took another drink of
coffee."

   "Just what do you have in mind, Charley?"

   "A number of things, none of which is important at the moment."

   "Well, I am going to brush my teeth before I go. Otherwise my breath
will peel the paint off the bulkhead."

   Susan was busy brushing when Charley put his arms around her. 

   Through the toothbrush she tried to say, "We don't have time for
this."  What came out was not intelligible.

   Charley pressed his advantage. Susan rinsed and twisted in his arms.
Nose to nose, she said, "Charley that's my
ass you're squeezing."

   "I surely hope so. Otherwise, I'm in big trouble."

   "Let me go!"

   Charley continued to kiss and fondle his wife, despite her
'complaints', and when she didn't make any real effort
to break away from him, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. 
************************************************************************************
   When do you expect the captain, Lieutenant?" Asked Leftcourt.

   "Hard to say, General The buoy program will keep us on our present
course at our present speed for two hours
before we reverse course and go back," replied the O.O.D.

   "I suppose you have tested this little exercise before."

   "Yes sir. We have run a number of variations and reworked monitor and
navigation buoys and our probes to
facilitate the operations. It's why we should be able to kick the ass of
a force several times our size. Have you ever
wondered what would happen, General, if you opened a jump point inside a
solid object, like a ship or a space
station?"

   "I understand the theory boys believe you would have massive
destruction of said ship or station."
   
   "That's correct, Sir. The captain has that as one of many 'outside
the box' ideas for defeating a numerically
superior force."

   "I'm not at all surprised."

General Leftcourt sat back in the staff command chair and spent the next
hour and a half watching the watches do
their jobs. He was impressed at their competence."
**********************************************************************************
   Susan eased herself out of her bed and went to take a quick shower. A
few minutes later, as she got dressed for
the second time that morning, she commented to her husband, "Charley. We
can't just hop into the sack every time
you have the urge."

   "I know, but you had extra time this morning. Besides, you didn't
resist very strongly."

   "I'll let you get away with it this time."

   Charley got up, came over, embraced her and kissed her very deeply.
Pulling away, he whispered in her ear,
"You can kick my ass in a heart beat, but if you hadn't wanted it as
much as I did, it wouldn't have happened."

   Susan kissed him very passionately, then replied, "I know. Anyway you
aren't the type to force the issue." She
kissed him again.

   Breaking the kiss, he whispered, "You're late, Sweetheart."

   As she went out the door, she looked back at him and smiled wickedly
as  she shot back, "Who's going to
complain?"
****************************************************************************************
    Entering CIC Susan asked the O.O.D., "What's our status?"

   "We have just under an hour before we reverse course, Captain."

   "I have a feeling about this one. Let's stay on course two more hours
then backtrack. Something tells me the
Drakh are going to go sideways until they lose us on their sensors
then... double back. I want to give them good
reason to feel secure."

   "What makes you think they will do that, Susan?" Asked Leftcourt,
from the flag commanders chair.

   "It's what I would do if I had an advantage in sensor capability. I
only hope they don't pick up our probe buoys.
They are totally passive, so maybe the Drakh will pass them off as
extraneous debris."

   "Have you changed your mind about our course of action?"

   "No, General. I have not, but I want to know as much about what we
will be facing as I can. I am not suicidal, in
spite of what some people think. We will make every attempt to assess
the situation before we commit ourselves. I
intend to bring this ship home in one piece. I won't attack against
hopeless odds. Don Quixote, I am not."

   "Odd turn of phrase, Susan, but very applicable. I wouldn't have
thought of windmills in space."

   "When I took on Clark's advanced destroyers, I didn't know what I was
up against, but the situation didn't give
me the choice of evading the encounter. That's not true here. If things
are too unbalanced, I can simply leave and
come back another day."

   The engineering watch looked up from his console and said to Susan,
"Sir. I am being informed that they have
finished machining the parts for the number seven reactor. They say they
need at least six hours to install them and
test the unit."

    "Tell them they have it," replied Susan. Then she turned toward the
navigator's console and said, "Replot our
course and speed to give them the time they need, before we arrive back
at the buoy release point."

   "Yes sir," responded the navigation watch.

   Swiveling her chair, Susan looked at Leftcourt, who was studying her
intently.

   "How do you do it?" He asked.

   "How do I do what?"

   "How do you get that kind of performance out of them?"

   "Easy. I demand the best they have to give as a starting point. Then
we go from there."

   Susan turned back to face the front of the watch area as a yeoman
brought her a datapad with more than a couple
of status reports displayed on it. She had been working over the datapad
for almost an hour when her intelligence
officer approached her and whispered in her ear. Moments later Susan
followed him out of CIC.
***********************************************************************************
   It was late afternoon  when Susan was informed that the parts had
been installed in reactor number seven and
powering up procedures were being implemented. She was also informed
that it would be at least four hours before
they would know how well, if at all, the temporary repairs were going to
work. The ship was less than an hour
away from the area where the buoys had been dispersed. It was looking
like her analysts would have plenty of time
to make sure buoy program number one had worked as planned.
**************************************************************************************
   It had taken several hours to work their way through the data
collected by the monitor buoys, but they had
arrived at the calculated jump point of the Drakh ships. Susan's taking
extra time had proven to be a very good
idea. One of the Drakh ships had backtracked on their course looking for
the Ares. Finally after several hours
loitering in the area to make sure the earthforce destroyer was in fact
gone, it had changed course and followed its
sister ship.
***********************************************************************************
   In CIC the atmosphere had started to become slightly intense. Susan
had ordered several passive probes readied
for insertion into normal space through a short jump gate. After
launching the first batch, she deployed a buoy
to mark the insertion point and moved the ship a short distance and
inserted a second batch. The probes would
separate over a distance of several thousand kilometers in real space
and when interrogated by an encrypted signal,
they would send data in short compressed bursst. If all went as planned
Susan's intelligence people would be able
to correlate a very small volume of hyperspace with a relative volume of
normal space and would have the targets
located in normal space as well. If they did their work accurately
enough, the Ares would be able to either open a
jump point very close to the target allowing for engaging the target
without actually exiting hyperspace, or allow
attacking the target by opening a jump point in the same space occupied
by the target. It had worked in practice.
However, this wasn't practice and the targets could shoot back.
***************************************************************************************
   Several hours had passed since the initial buoy/probe placements and
Susan had opened jump points several
times to interrogate the deployed bouy/probes.

   "Captain," said the O.O.D. The spooks say they have the data ready
for use. Mister Collins wants to hold a
briefing in briefing room two."

   "Tell him I'm on my way," responded Susan. "General, would you care
to attend?" Susan asked Leftcourt as she
headed for the exit from CIC."

   In response Leftcourt followed her out.
 
   As they walked down the passageway, Leftcourt inquired, "If you don't
mind, I'd like for some of my people to
attend. It won't hurt them to see how "outside the box" thinking can
enhance a units 'performance'."

   "Call them. Tell them to get their asses in gear, I won't hold this
up more than a few minutes. I figure the Drakh
are wondering just what the hell is happening and are going to send
someone to find out before long. I plan to hit
them before that, or if the odds are too great, I want to get the hell
out of here."
*************************************************************************************
   "Okay, Jake. Get the show on the road. Those who aren't already here
can catch the replay after this is all over.
Make sure the recorders get it all. I expect you and some of your people
are going to be writing this up for the
tactical operations course at the war college," said Susan.

   "Gentlemen. If I can have your undivided attention and silence, I
will try and make this a brief brief... pun
intended," began Collins.
**************************************************************************************
END PART TWO

From: "Aubrey W. Adkins" <xazqrten@home.com>
Subject: Ivanova Part 3 of ---(WIP)
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 19:48:56 -0500

 Ivanova Part 3 of ---(WIP)

     Criticism is welcomed. Without, it there can't be any
improvement. Address criticisms to [xazqrten@home.com]

Think of this as a space opera.

          All characters/places/persons not belonging to the writer are
the sole properties of their owners, PTEN, WB, JMS, and will be
turned over to the owners at the request of their agents.  All other
characters/places/persons are public domain.

Rated PG-10 (Vocabulary)

"..." = spoken words
<...> = telepathic speech
[...] = one's own thoughts, internal
(...) = to set off items such as acronyms immediately identified by the
phrase they stand for.
'...' = to set off odd items???
I don't have one for italics... yet.

******************************************************************************
   Pointing to the pictures being projected on the screen at the end of
the briefing room, Collins explained, "As you
can see there is a space station almost two thirds the size of Babylon
5. Off to one side is what looks like the two
ships we followed here. There are two more holding position on the
opposite side of the station, and this monster
here is a ship type we haven't seen before. As best we can determine it
is about twenty percent larger than the Ares.
We have studied the infra red signatures of it and the station to try
and find weak points. We know the weak spots
of the cruiser-carrier ships. Captain."

   "Gentlemen, we need to discuss this situation, and determine if there
is a reasonable chance of successfully
attacking these ships and that station and also surviving the attempt. I
am open to all suggestions and questions,"
commented Susan.

   A long silence greeted Susan's comments. Each of the participants
looked at one another everyone waiting for
someone else to be the first. Susan's husband was sitting in the back of
the room. He was an invited guest, but not a
participant. However, he held his hand up.

   "What's on your mind, Charley?" Asked Susan.

   "I don't know crap about military tactics, but several things seem
rather obvious," he replied.

   "Go on Mister Wayne," said Sanchez. "About now, your ideas are as
good as anyone else's."

   "First and foremost, the station can't run away. Second, the
cruiser-carriers are very vulnerable to the Ares' main
batteries. We learned that much at Babylon 5. That leaves the big
fellow. We need to take him out of the picture
first. I suggest we use some of the new tactics my wife and her crew
have developed, namely, open a jump point
either inside their ship, or right on top of it, and hit them with
everything we have from hyperspace through the
jump point."

   "I thought you said you didn't know anything about military tactics,
Son?" inquired Sanchez.

   "I don't, General, but I believe in winning at whatever the cost,
especially when my ass is on the line," replied
Charles.


   "I am waiting for any other ideas," noted Susan.

   "I believe your husband summed it up very well, Susan. All that
remains are the details," said Leftcourt.

   "Do we have enough data, Mister Collins?" Asked Susan. 

   "I would really like to insert another set of probes on the far side
of the unknown ship. I want to be pinpoint
accurate when we hit him. We probably won't get a second chance,"
responded Collins.

   "Okay. We will insert one more set of probes. Then I want
particulars. They aren't going to wait for us forever,"
commented Susan. "I want a meeting of my tactical team as soon as Jake
has his data. Jake call us when you're
ready."
*****************************************************************************************
   Sitting in Susan's office, Leftcourt looked across the room at her.
"Are you having second thoughts?"

   "Not at all. If we can pinpoint the unknown ship and surprise them, I
think that between our main batteries and a
few nukes we can destroy them before they know what hit them. Remember,
the Drakh know they enjoy a number
of
technological advantages. I am counting on their arrogance in these
matters to be one of their Achilles' heels. If I
had observed as much activity as they have while we were doing our probe
insertions, I would have had a couple of
my ships checking it out."

   "You've fought them before, so I will go with your assessment. Any
way you look at it, we are going to have to do
some fast talking to do when we get back."

   "I notice that you said when, not if."

   "I have faith in you, your crew and your ship. It looks like it may
be the best money we've ever spent on a ship." 
******************************************************************************
   "Just what is the purpose of this meeting General Marsh?" Asked the
same lieutenant that had told Susan she had
no authority to attack the Drakh.

   "Robert, you were rather blunt in telling Susan Ivanova that she has
no authority to proceed with this endeavor. I
thought I would enlighten all of you in matters that can ruin your
career and your life," replied Marsh. He then put
down a pile of printed sheets or paper on the table. "Everyone take one
of these and then I will explain them."

   Each of the men took a set of stapled sheets and quickly gave them
the once over.

   "You will note item labeled paragraph 4.C. Read it carefully then
read section 2 on the second sheet of what I
passed out," said Marsh.

   "Does this mean what it seems to mean, General?" Asked a lieutenant
sitting on the other side of the table.

   "Let me summarize it for all of you. What these document excerpts
mean is that under the circumstances we are
now operating, everything she is planning to do is completely legal, and
is supported by present law," explained
Marsh. "Robert, she could charge you with treason for what you said in
the briefing. At the very least she could
charge you with trying to start a mutiny. She could have you shot, under
the present circumstances, for your what
you said, and nothing could be done about it, under the present laws.
So, let me advise all of you, keep out of sight,
and keep your damned mouths shut. You might get yourselves into
something, I can't get you out of. That said, I
am going to show you the video of the last briefing. It may allay some
of your worst fears." 

   "Couldn't one of you senior officers take command of the ship and
over rule her?" Asked Robert.

   I am not an unrestricted line officer, and am not in her direct chain
of command. Therefore, I can't over rule her
in any matter relating to combat. I can only advise her if she is
breaking the law," answered Marsh.

   "How about all the other generals?" Insisted Robert.

   "Because of the unique situation surrounding the Ares and General
Ivanova's assignment as her commanding
officer, none of the other generals are in her chain of command, except
General Leftcourt. That makes him the
only one who can overrule her on the decisions she makes as this ship's
captain. Even he had better be able to
explain what she did wrong, if he were to do such a thing. As long as
she stays within the law and regulations, on
board this ship, she is God. She may have to answer for her decisions
later, but only if she did something patently
illegal. The military is loathe to second guess it's leaders, especially
when the decisions are made in a combat
situation. That is one of the reasons she was exonerated for her actions
at Babylon 5. That said, Robert, I again
remind you, she could have you shot and nothing would be done about it,"
answered Marsh. "Make no mistake, the
marines will follow her orders to the letter without question."
*****************************************************************************
   The video of the briefing had finished running. There were low
murmurs around the room.

   "How do you feel now about what we are about to get involved in?
Anyone still think we are going into a fight
without knowing what we are getting into?" Asked Marsh.

   "I still don't like having to go into combat, General. If I had
wanted to get shot at, I wouldn't have bothered with
law school," groused the lieutenant named Robert.

   Another young officer commented, "Let's face it Bobby, you've always
been a coward. I bet you have never stood
and fought a fight in your life."

   That comment elicited laughter from the other young officers.

   "I have no desire to get killed. If you turnips want to commit
suicide, be my guests," retorted Robert.

   "All of you, remember what I told you and behave accordingly. Screw
with Susan Ivanova, and you will be lucky
to get back to Earth in one piece," said Marsh, ending the meeting.
****************************************************************************
   "Captain, Mister Collins is ready for a final briefing," said the
yeoman, who had just delivered a datapad to her.

   "S.W.C, Navigator let's go see what the man has to tell us," said
Susan as she headed for the exit from CIC.

   In the briefing room, Susan and her tactical team looked on as Jake
Collins made his presentation. 

   "We have plotted out the exact location for the attack on the Drakh
dreadnought. We will be on the side away
from the station and the other ships. If we do this by the numbers, they
won't even know he's under attack until he's
been destroyed. That's if we do it by the numbers," said Collins.

   "We'll do it by the numbers, Jake," said Susan. "Navigator, S.W.C.
get your numbers from Jake and let's get this
show on the road. We have ships and a space station to destroy and Drakh
to kill."
********************************************************************************  
   "I told you they were simply traveling the same direction we were,
Sir. They have continued on their way,"
insisted the intelligence officer.

   "I want to go back and make sure. They may return after they think we
have gone on our way."

   "I thought I was distrustful and suspicious, but I admit, you shame
me."

   "We will loiter at the point where we changed course for a few hours.
We aren't in any hurry. I don't trust
earthers, and I trust this one least of all."
******************************************************************************
   Almost six hours had passed when the Drakh commander gave the word
for his ship to rejoin its sister ship. It
was a short trip to the jump point. Arrival at the space station would
be the beginning of a well deserved rest
period.

   The jump point opened and the Drakh ship entered normal space five
hundred kilometers from a space station. It
was two-thirds the size of Babylon 5, but mass was all it had in common
with Babylon 5. Its shape was similar to a
diamond with rounded edges, and its layout was purely functional.
Nothing had been sacrificed for creature
comforts. Its atmosphere was pleasant enough, but its location well off
any beacon path meant that only Drakh
ships, military ones at that, ever visited it. 

   The presence of several other ships like his and especially the
dreadnought made the Drakh commander breathe
a little easier. The stress caused by the close proximity of the Ares
had not helped his stomach ulcer. For all the
knowledge his people had accumulated while they were allied with the
dark masters, they still hadn't developed a
decent pill for the occasional stress related stomach ulcer. A visit to
the doctor for such a mundane ailment seemed
so backward.
*****************************************************************************
   Onboard the Drakh dreadnought, the monitors picked up a disturbance
that resolved itself into a small jump
point. It closed in less than a minute. The area was more than two
hundred thousand kilometers distance from his
ship and the space station, but the Drakh commander dispatched a fighter
to investigate  it, even though they had
detected nothing coming out of it.

   Over the next several hours the incident repeated itself at widely
separated points in normal space. Drakh
operators on the various ships had informed their commanders, who
dispatched fighters to investigate each one.
However, since nothing had been detected coming through them the
commanders didn't give them much thought
after the fighters were dispatched.

   "I don't care what the other commanders think. Take us toward the
last detected jump point. I want to see for
myself."

   "As you command, Sir," responded his navigation watch. [Damn him, his
ulcer and his suspicions.]

   "I warned them about the earthforce destroyer and how did they
respond. They all but laughed in my face. So
help me, if I turn out to be correct, I will show them who laughs last."

   "You still grousing about the Ares, Commander?" Asked his
intelligence officer.

   "I'm not grousing. There have been a half dozen jump points open in
the space surrounding us. I smell trouble
and its name is Captain Ivanova. They could be using some new kind of
reconnaissance system."

   "If they had something like that, our agents would have notified us.
We have infiltrated their highest command
levels with agents happy to sell out their brethren for advantage or
money," replied the intelligence officer.

   "What if it is a technique that she developed while deployed away
from Earth? Then our agents wouldn't know
about it." 

   "Commander, this woman has you rattled. She is just a ship commander,
nothing more."

   "Tell that to the ships we sent to ambush her and the Zeus."

   "Commander, nothing was ever found of those ships. There is no way
she could destroy them without leaving a
great deal of wreckage."

   "I will sleep much better after I attend her funeral."

   Shaking his head, the intelligence officer departed the bridge,
muttering to himself. Leaving his commander with
an increasingly burning sensation in his stomach. The commander reached
into his pocket for his bottle of
anti-acid tablets and popped two of them into his mouth.
********************************************************************************
   The fighters that had been sent to investigate the jump point
openings found and destroyed small monitor buoys
in each area after reporting them to their mother ships. What the Drakh
missed was that these were 'sacrificial'
buoys, intended to be found and retrieved or destroyed. It dissuaded
them from investigating any further and
prevented the discovery of the real monitor buoys.

   On board his ship the suspicious commander was inspecting the buoy
that had been retrieved. His intelligence
officer offered the evaluation that the buoy didn't present any threat
and was only good for general monitoring, not
the precision processing required for tactical use. In short it was good
only for the most elementary strategic
monitoring. His explanations only served to reinforce his commander's
suspicions that they were missing
something important.

   "Open a jump point and take us into hyperspace!" ordered the
commander.

   His navigator immediately complied. The resulting excursion revealed
nothing of value to the suspicious Drakh,
and his ulcer kicked into high gear, causing him to gulp down a small
handful of his anti-acid tablets. Finding
nothing to support or allay his fears, he ordered a return to the
vicinity of the space station.

   Less than twenty minutes after the Drakh ship exited hyperspace, the
Ares passed through the hyperspace area it
had occupied. 
********************************************************************************
   "O.O.D. How is the evacuating of the unmanned compartments coming?"

   "We're as ready as we will ever be, Captain," said the O.O.D.

   Susan turned her chair and looked at the general officers seated in
the flag area. Her expression was one of
apprehension at what she was about to do. It was apparent that she
didn't like the situation. Slowly turning back to
face the navigator, she gave the order, "Take us in. Everyone look
sharp."

   Behind her in the command area, General Fitzgerald leaned over to
Sanchez, Ames, Marsh and Leftcourt and
said, in a tight voice, "Hold on to your hats, the ride is about to get
interesting."

   A jump point opened in front of the Ares and centered in the view of
normal space and less than twenty-five
kilometers from the opening was the Drakh dreadnought. Before the jump
point finished opening four beams of
energy focused on the same point impacted the dreadnought's hull. The
beams burned through the outer hull and
the supporting structure behind it without hesitation. The secondary and
tertiary weapons began pouring fire into
all exposed areas of the dreadnought's hull. The result was the loss of
sensor information to the Drakh manning
their ship's sensors.

   "S.W.C., the missiles, are they..."--- "Already on their way,
Captain," the S.W.C.'s response cut her question off.

   Susan watched the destruction of the Drakh ship, and felt as useless
as tits on a boar hog. Her crew didn't need
her. She swung around and looked back at her fellow general officers.
Her expression was one of consternation.

   Grinning a grin that covered his entire face. Leftcourt offered,
"This is what happens when you train them too
well. Let them do the job you trained them to do, Susan."

   "I never had a crew that was so well trained that they made me feel
useless," commented Sanchez to the other
officers.

   "I venture that none of us has," noted Ames.
******************************************************************************
   On the bridge of the Drakh dreadnought, its commander was watching
the cruiser-carrier leave its assigned
station.

   "Where is he going?" The commander asked, rhetorically. 

   A moment later, his communicator answered, "He says he wants to check
out the jump point that just opened and
closed."

   "We have already sent fighters to do that."

   "Yes Sir. He insists it needs to be investigated more closely."

   "I am beginning to wonder about his stability. This isn't helping my
opinion any."

  He received no answer from his communicator.
******************************************************************************
   When the cruiser-carrier returned from checking out the jump point
oddity, her commander was called by the
dreadnought commander for an explanation.

   The only explanation that was forthcoming was that they had found
nothing, except another of the general
purpose monitor buoys.

   The commander of the dreadnought was talking to the commander of the
space station about the jump points
they had seen, and how they were affecting one of his sub-commanders,
specifically the commander of the
cruiser-carrier that left its station a short while earlier.

   "Commander, we have a jump point opening close off the starboard
beam," stated the monitor array operator.

   "Bring us about and power up the weapons array! Quickly!"

   As he finished stating his command, the ship shuddered slightly and
the main lighting was lost. As the
emergency lighting powered up, he noticed that none of the consoles on
the bride had power.
  
   "Engineering! What happened!" He shouted into his chair's intercom.
There was only silence. He noted that none
of the lights on his armrest control panel were working.

   There was another shudder that shook the big ship from stem to stern
that almost knocked the commander out of
his chair. There could be no doubt, they were under heavy attack.

   "Commander! We have lost main power to all our systems! I have no
contact with any other stations on the
ship!" Noted his navigator insistently.  

   Raising his link to his mouth, the commander tried to contact his
engineering section.

   "Commander, we are starting to drift and we have lost artificial
gravity," said the navigator.

   "I think artificial gravity is the least of our worries! Can we get
even one scan system console operating!" 

   The ship shuddered again as somewhere in its bowels there were
massive explosions occurring. The commander
had no way of knowing that these were the smallest of the micro-nukes
from the Ares. In a few moments the much
larger one-megaton warheads following just behind the micro-nukes would
all but vaporize his ship.
******************************************************************************* 
   Captain, we have to let the jump point collapse. If we don't, we risk
damage from shrapnel from that ship when
the big nukes detonate!" Exclaimed the S.W.C.

   "Do it! Move us to our next target. I want to hit the space station
next. Just hit it hard enough to keep those
cruiser-carriers hanging around to protect it."

   "Yes Sir!" snapped the S.W.C. in response. "You will be pleased to
know, Captain, the jamming buoys we
deployed are operational. The other Drakh must be having a hell of a
time trying to communicate with one
another."

   In the flag area the generals were looking at one another, stunned at
how quickly and efficiently Susan's crew
and tactics had destroyed a ship that could kill the Ares in a
toe-to-toe slugfest. The Drakh hadn't even known what
had hit them. The odds were that the space station and other ships were
still trying to understand what happened.

   Luck had smiled once again on Susan Ivanova. The first salvo of
high-energy beams had destroyed the principal
power distribution conduits on the dreadnought. The sweep of the beam
had destroyed the secondary feeds and the
main propulsion reactors. In a matter of seconds, the Ares for all
practical purposes had 'killed' the dreadnought.
The remainder of the short, vicious attack had merely reduced the ship
to less than salvageable scrap metal.
*****************************************************************************  
   On his ship, the paranoid Drakh commander was watching the playback
of the dreadnought's destruction, again.
It had been lightning fast and efficient. The attack had been launched
from the far side of the dreadnought and its
size had prevented them seeing who carried out the attack. In the pit of
his stomach, he knew it had to have been
the Ares and her Captain. That female human must be the devil incarnate,
if one believed in the human
superstitions.

   The station and remaining ships made haste in getting fighters
launched and positioned around them to prevent
whoever had attacked the dreadnought from being able to pull off another
surprise attack. The quick, efficient
dispatching of the dreadnought was beginning to sink into the Drakh
commanders consciousness, and now they
weren't quite so sure of themselves where this threat was concerned.
They had been lackadaisical and arrogant.
That attitude had cost a great many lives and a fine ship.
******************************************************************************** 
   "Captain Ivanova, we probably won't be able to open a jump point as
close to the station as we did to the ship.
We don't have precise enough data."

   "Do your best. Maybe we'll get lucky and open it within the station
itself," replied Susan.

   "Let's say we don't, and be ready for a real fight, Sir," answered
S.W.C.

   "The fighters are manned and ready, Captain," reported her 'air'
boss.

   Thumbing the 1MC switch on her console control panel, Susan started
speaking, "Attention. This is the captain.
We have just engaged and destroyed the Drakh dreadnought that was in the
vicinity of the space station. We
caught him by surprise. We won't be as lucky during the next phase of
this attack. I expect us to use every dirty
tactic we have developed and practiced. I strongly advise all personnel
to make sure they are securely fastened to
something that is permanently mounted to the deck, ceiling or bulkheads.
Captain out."

   "We are approaching the area of the station, Captain."

   "Navigator, S.W.C., the show is yours, gentlemen. Take us in."
********************************************************************************
   "What is our status?" Asked the senior Drakh leader aboard the space
station.

   "Our fighters and those of the nearby ships have been deployed around
them and us. Some are hurrying to get on
station. Our local defensive systems and main batteeries are up and
operational, and they are on full automatic.
They will acquire and fire on any target that presents itself," reported
the station commander proudly. "We will not
be caught by surprise like the Grntlh( roughly translates as "Master of
Darkness") was."

   "I certainly hope not," responded the senior Drakh, disgustedly.
"Whoever attacked her has very heavy energy
weapons. They would seem almost as powerful as those of our former dark
masters. Can your station withstand
that type of bombardment?"

   The look on his junior's face answered the question, and not to his
liking. Their communications were being
jammed, rather effectively, making communications with the nearby ships
extremely difficult. He did not like this
situation at all.
********************************************************************************
   "Jump point initiated, Captain," said the navigator, as an enlarging
vortex sprang into being in front of the Ares.

   As the Ares approached the jump point, the S.W.C. spoke into the tiny
microphone suspended just in front of his
lips, "Bob(Navigator), give me pattern Golf One when we enter the jump
point." S.W.C then finished
programming his target list and prioritizing it.

   The ship shuddered heavily as the navigator poured all available
power into the engines, and initiated a pseudo
random tumbling pattern. The ship would exit the jump point at a very
high rate of speed, tumbling end over end
and sideways along a changing course.
********************************************************************************
   On his ship's bridge the nervous Drakh commander watched a jump point
forming just off to one side of the
station at a distance of less than a hundred kilometers from it. The
opening was about four hundred kilometers
from his ship, but almost in the center of the box formed by his ship
and its three sisters. Whoever tried to attack
the station would find themselves fighting on all sides at the same
time. It also occurred to him that there were
bearings the ships could not fire on without hitting one another. He
didn't like it, but it was the best defensive
stance they could assume, considering their lack of data concerning
their attacker or attackers. What he saw exit
from the jump point took him by surprise. It looked like a ship
completely out of control. This element of surprise
had affected the other ship commanders also. It lasted only a second,
but it was enough for the Ares to get a
complete and accurate picture of the situation. 

   The station's weapons began firing the instant the Ares appeared on
its weapons tracking systems. However, the
tumbling pattern prevented the station's weapons systems from being able
to effectively concentrate their fire on a
single area of the Ares hull.
********************************************************************************************
   As the station's main batteries took the Ares under fire, the senir
Drakh official looked at the station commander
and said, It looks as id something is going right."

   "Not as right as I would like," responded the station commander. "Its
tumbling makes it impossible to
concentrate our weapons in one area of its hull."

   "It doesn't sound like an accident, does it?" Aske the senior Drakh,
as the Ares returned fire with its four
forward batteries concentrating their output on a single area of the
space station.

   As the Ares poured fire into the station with its forward batteries,
its aft batteries were raking the cruiser-carriers
in turn, destroying their primary power distributions systems.

 In the bowels of the station there was pandemonium and panic as the
powerful energy beams sliced throught
deckplates, bulkheads and girders alike as they sought the apparent main
reactor area of the station. There was
carnage everywhere. Broken station hardware and flesh and bone were
vaporized and melted together in the
inferno, which showed no signs of abating. 

   As suddenly as it had begun, in less than two minutes, the station's
weapons and defense grid had been reduced
to ineffectiveness. Its main power source had been destroyed and
secondary generators were all that kept the lights
working. This secondary system was only for limited backup purposes. The
station's designers had never designed
it to withstand  an attack by a ship or ships having the firepower of
the Ares. They were now in the process of
paying dearly for that oversight.

   The paranoid Drakh commander ordered his ship to fire on the Ares at
the same time as the energy beam from
one of the Ares main batteries raked across his ship's hull. The energy
beam sliced a deep scar across the hull
leaving a gash twenty meters wide, one hundred meters deep and three
hundred meters long. It severed the main
power couplings between the ship's reactors, its engines and its main
power distribution switch boards. It would
take three minutes to reroute the main power to the secondary
distribution system. The secondary power couplings
to the engines could only handle sixty percent of the power load the
main system had handled.

   As the lights came back on, the paranoid Drakh ship commander
demanded, What is our status?"

   "We have restored partial power, our main power distribution center
and our main power couplings to the
engines have been destroyed, reported his engineering officer. Also our
jump engines are damaged, maybe beyond
repair."

   "One salvo and we are almost destroyed. We can't retreat."

   "That appears to have been their intent, Commander. Our scanners
indicate they hit the other ships in the same
manner. We can't retreat, our communications are being jammed and we no
longer have full power to our weapons
systems. Our best hope is that our fighters can destroy the Earth ship."

   "What is the station's status?"

   "It is very heavily damaged. Its defense screen capability  is less
than fifty per cent. Also the Earth ship has
jumped back into hyperspace, but she didn't escape unharmed."
********************************************************************************
    As the Ares exited the jump point looking for all intents and
purposes to be out of control, the station's main
batteries, without hesitating, engaged her. Its energy beams played over
the rapidly moving ship's hull and the
energy was absorbed and dissipated throughout the ship's bio-armor. The
Drakh ships hesitated for a moment
before firing and paid for it by having their main power systems come
under fire from the Ares. In less than two
minutes all four ships had been rendered less than fifty percent
effective. They major danger they still posed was
from their fighters.

   Susan watched the scenario unfold. It went like a textbook example.
The ship was handling the incoming fire
without any strain. They had been at it for almost two minutes when the
big ship shuddered heavily, twice, only
moments apart.

   "We have been hit by two Drakh fighters, Captain.

   "Where?"

   "Damage control is localizing the impact areas now, Sir. We have been
hurt, Captain. I am getting reports from
at least fifteen decks," responded Cheng from his station.

   "Navigator! Get us out..."

   "Jump point already initiated, Captain," the navigator responded,
cutting Susan off
in mid-sentence.


   The Ares entered the jump point and vanished into hyperspace to lick
its wounds before returning to finish the
job.
**************************************************************************
END PART 3