From: "Aubrey W. Adkins" Subject: Ivanova Part 4 of ---(WIP) Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 18:39:03 -0500 Ivanova Part 4 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. ******************************************************************************************** In the flag area the generals were watching and listening to everything transpiring in CIC. They couldn't be heard whispering amongst themselves at a very low level. The fact that Susan's crew seemed to know what her next command would be, even before she could voice it, left them very impressed. It was obvious that the training she had visited upon them had been effective. They didn't seem to need her to fight the ship. Leftcourt reminded them that just knowing she was there played a big part in the confidence the crew displayed in their abilities. The fact that she let them run the show only helped to bolster that confidence. ****************************************************************************************** "Did you get a load of that, Robert, my boy, the captain says we just destroyed that monster they showed us in the briefing," gloated one of Robert's roommates, Jeff Daniels. "Maybe so, but we aren't home yet," he responded. "We are aboard the best earthforce has to offer, Bobby. Quit complaining," harassed Juan. "You guys make me sick with this hero worship of the good captain," retorted Robert. "Who is your hero, Robert. Just who do you admire?" Asked Jeff. "That's what I thought. Bobby is so in love with himself, he doesn't have any room for anyone else," taunted Juan. "I wonder how you guys can stomach even being around an ass-hole like him," chimed in the fourth roommate, Jerry MacKenzie. "We don't have a choice, Jerry. We were assigned this room. When we're back on Earth, we wouldn't be caught dead around him," responded Juan. "To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if old Bobby isn't quietly invited to leave the service when we return. After all, he shot off his mouth in front of some of the top brass in earthforce," commented Jeff. "What do you think, Bobby? Are you going to be around the old office six months from now?" Inquired Juan. Turning his face toward the bulkhead as he rolled over in his rack, Robert responded, "Why don't all of you just go straight to hell?" "Anything to please you, Bobby, my boy," answered MacKenzie in a patronizing tone. A short while later the roommates heard Susan's admonition to fasten themselves in or at least get a good grip on something that was permanently attached to the ship' structure. "I think this is where the ride gets rough, gents," noted MacKenzie. In less than two minutes they found out how true Mackenzie's prediction would prove to be. "I don't give a damn about rides or anything else," responded Robert. He had just finished speaking as the ship was tumbling through space. It was all he could do to hold himself in his rack. Before anyone else could say anything the ship shook heavily, then it shook a second time, and Robert found himself in a corner of the living space, with MacKenzie and Daniels lying on top of him. Juan was fastened into his top bunk looking down at his tangled roommates. "You guys are a mess," commented Juan. ***************************************************************************************** In Susan's quarters sitting in a chair with its safety strap fastened, Charles felt the sudden jerk of the two separate impacts and knew the ship had been hit badly. His experience on the Zeus came immediately to mind. However, he felt better this time. This wasn't a lopsided affair like that one had been. Besides, he hadn't told anyone that he and his wife could feel the strong emotions of their mate. He didn't get the vibes he knew Susan would give off if she were scared or afraid. The part that worried him was that his wife didn't scare easily. Sometimes he wondered if she had enough sense to be afraid. ******************************************************************************************* Susan, considered what she was hearing from her cheng and thumbed the switch on the 1MC control on her console, "Mr. Norman Kelly, shipyard supervisor, your presence is requested in CIC immediately." "What's on your mind, Susan?" Asked Leftcourt. "I want to know what Mister Kelly's people can do to help us. You're hearing what I am, and we've been hurt. I would prefer to patch the holes before we go back in there." "How much can they do in a short span of time?" "That's what Mister Kelly is going to tell me. Meanwhile, I have an idea to buy us some time for repairs. Navigator, bring us back into normal space about five-hundred thousand kilometers from the station, cut power to the weapons systems and idle all but two of our reactors before we transit back into normal space. Then take us away from the space station at about one-quarter speed. I want them to think that we're much more heavily damaged than we really are." "Yes sir, Captain." "Why are you doing that, Susan?" "Watch and learn, General. First, watch them send their fighters after us at their maximum burn rate, then watch us limp away just fast enough to keep them from overtaking us. When we have them far enough away and our repairs, what we can do of them, are finished, we will jump into hyperspace. Next stop after that will be jumping back into normal space, right on top of the station. We will then proceed to destroy the station and the cruiser/carriers." "I really am glad it was John we faced at Mars, and not you," replied Leftcourt. ************************************************************************************* "Commander, we are detecting a jump point appearing about five-hundred thousand kilometers away," said one of his sensors operators. The paranoid Drakh commander swallowed several more antacid tablets, stepped over to the console and observed the display. What is that coming out of it?" He asked. "It is the Earth ship, Commander," replied the operator. "From the data, it appears that they are badly damaged." "Relay this information to the station and the other ships." On the station the Senior Drakh official was watching the data displays with the station commander." "Does that data mean what I think it does?" Asked the senior Drakh. "If we believe it, it means the Earth ship is very badly damaged. With a quick strike we can destroy it, before the humans can mount another attack," replied the station commander. "Exactly what is our attack going to consist of?" Asked the senior official. "We will send three-fourths of our fighters and two of the cruiser/carriers to deal with the Earth ship." "Is that a prudent thing to do? They have been damaged so badly that they can only make half speed and their weapons systems are in no better shape. We don't know if the Earth ship still has jump capability, but we know ours don't." "All too true, Sir, but the time lag between our controllers and their fighters at the distances involved is too great for good response to circumstances that the fighters may encounter, and the jammers the humans deployed are still causing a great deal of interference with our communications and remote control systems." "We will be leaving ourselves very vulnerable to further attack." "Yes Sir, we will, but we can't afford to give the humans time to effect repairs." *********************************************************************************** A few minutes after she had passed the word for him, Kelly's voice on the intercom side of her headpiece got Susan's attention. "What can I do for you, Captain?" "We have taken two very bad hits, Mister Kelly. I need for you to consult with D.C. Central and let me know if you and your people can do anything in the nature of quick repairs, before we get back into this conflict." "I was doing just that when you passed the word for me. I will get back to you in a little while." "I appreciate your position, Mister Kelly. However, I need specifics," insisted Susan. "Captain Ivanova," said Kelly in a voice displaying irritation, "It's going to take at least twenty minutes to get a damned maintenance-bot out there to look at the damage to the hull. The damage control people are doing their best to approach the damaged area from inside the ship. There is broken and bent metal through out at least fifteen decks. I will let you know as soon as possible. That's going to be at least half and hour. Now, you can like it or lump it, but that's the best I can do!" Susan took the nose tweaking in stride. She was pushing Kelly and her own crewmen very hard in a very dangerous situation. "Very well, Mister Kelly. Just remember, in less than six hours, we are going back into combat, whether the repairs are completed or not. Captain out," she replied in a level tone of voice." "Captain. It is hard to see much of what is happening around the space station, offered S.W.C. "Our long range scanner operators report that our jammers are doing a fairly good job. However, we are detecting a high Doppler shift in some of our scan signal returns. They are sending their fighters after us." "At our present speed how long before they arrive?" "Can't tell yet, Skipper. We're getting some Doppler, but not enough to process for range data. All I can give you is a general bearing. From the amplitude we are receiving, I figure several hours at least." Susan proceeded to chew on one of her knuckles. "What are our weapons capabilities?' "We lost some of our close in weapons, Captain, and a few of our secondary batteries. The fighters that hit us destroyed some power conduits, but engineering damage control is in the process of rerouting power and control through our back-up distribution systems. We still have seven main batteries at full capability and the eighth one is maybe capable of half power. It is useful for wide beam use on attacking fighters, Sir. Also, we still have several hundred attack missiles with warheads of varying sizes, all our fighters and a great many decoy missiles and buoys." "So, as long as we keep the areas where we were crashed into away from further damage, we can still do some serious Drakh killing?" "Yes Sir." "Susan, the boys and I are going to secure here and get something to eat. Would you care to join us?" Asked Leftcourt. "You did say we have a couple of hours, didn't you, navigator?" Asked Susan. "Yes sir, Skipper," replied the navigator. "Pass the word along to all stations to get their people fed and back to station. I don't want anyone to have to stop for a snack when we go back into combat," ordered Susan. "Your mess or mine, Susan?" "Mine, General. I have the best chef in earthforce," answered Susan. "That is only your opinion, Captain," noted Ames. "It'll be yours by the time we finish eating," retorted Susan. Tapping a switch on her communications control she called her chef and told her to prepare for ten people for a quick lunch. ***************************************************************************************** "It is going to take our fighters more than four hours to overtake the Earth destroyer, Sir. The carrier/cruisers won't make it more than one-third of the way. It is a bad situation," commented the station commander. "She can do a lot of repairs in that length of time, Commander," replied his senior. "I don't believe this," said the paranoid Drakh commander. "They are sending the vast majority of our fighters and half of our remaining large ships after the Earth destroyer." "True, Commander, but why not destroy the ship while the chance presents itself?" Asked his intelligence officer. "So far, this woman hasn't followed not even one rule of engagement from the earthforce manuals. We are splitting our resources up, and for what? Maybe a chance to destroy the Earth ship? If she decides to jump back into hyperspace, she can be on top of us before our ships can even change course to return. We will be worse than, I believe the human term is, 'sitting ducks'." "What could we have done differently, Commander. What would have made anything be different than it is now?" "We should have faked several gross course changes and observed their reactions. Then we could have called for help before they had deployed jammers, and crippled us to the point that we can't enter hyperspace." "I see your point, Commander." "Why do I derive no comfort from that admission?" ***************************************************************************************** Susan, Charley and the generals were sitting in her mess eating some delicious sandwiches and outstanding soup when her communications panel sounded the incoming message alert. Stepping to the panel She replied, "Accept call." "Captain Ivanova, this is Mister Kelly. We have examined the damage, and I have an answer to your query." "Proceed, Mister Kelly." "We have enough spare armor plating in your ready spares to put temporary patches over both holes. We need to stop long enough for us to position them and tack-weld them into place. It will take at least two hours to accomplish that. The remainder of the welding can be done from the inside of the ship, as can installation of the extra bracing that will be needed. Can you give us that much time?" "Yes I can, Mister Kelly." Susan then called CIC and informed her navigator. "We are going to stop for repairs?" Asked Sanchez. "Only as long as necessary, General," replied Susan. "Actually, we'll only shut down the drives. The zero acceleration will help facilitate the outside work." ****************************************************************************************** "Commander!" exclaimed the sensor console operator, "The Earth ship has stopped accelerating! Our fighters should arrive at her location in about three hours." "If it isn't accelerating, then it is not using its drive engines. They may need zero acceleration to allow outside repairs to be accomplished. If it gets underway again, notify me and the station immediately," responded the commander. "Do you really think they can make any real repairs in three hours, Commander?" Asked his Intelligence officer. "This woman doesn't do anything without a good reason. I believe that she believes she can make significant repairs in the time she has. If we don't manage to get help, she will probably destroy all of us. Remember, her ship is still capable of hyperspace jumps. They can be upon us in only a few minutes," replied the commander. ***************************************************************************************** Susan was sitting in her office looking at the images of the damage inflicted by the collisions with the fighters and the energy weapon fire the ship had received from the station and the Drakh ships. The first images were of the collision areas. The fighters had, fortunately, not exploded, but they had managed to leave two holes thirty meters in diameter and fifteen decks deep in the underside of the ship. The evacuation of the atmosphere from all unoccupied compartments had prevented fires, and had reduced the damage suffered from the impacts. The last images showed the plates tack-welded over the two holes. She could feel the vibration of the engines being brought up to half power. It would not be long before the Drakh realized that the Ares was underway again. Using her hand-link communicator Susan called CIC. "Navigator, how far away are those fighters?" "About an hour and a half, Skipper," came the reply. "Check with Mister Kelly in D.C. Central, and if he has no objections, take us to full burn. I want the bastards to think we're running for our lives." "You are taking this attack personally aren't you?" Asked Charles. "Yes, I am, Charley. They took their best shots at me twice. Today, it's my turn." "You are going to kill every last one of them, aren't you?" "If it's possible, you can bet on it. I would exterminate their entire race if I could." "Remind me never to get you pissed at me." "Why not? You survived the last time. I am sorry, Charley, but I have a real hatred for these Drakh." "So I, and everyone else, have noticed." "I am going to CIC, Charley. I want to discuss some nasty tactics with the navigator and the S.W.C." ************************************************************************************ Gathered around the table in her ready room, Susan, the navigator, the cheng and the S.W.C. discussed Susan's latest attack tactics. Leftcourt and his fellow generals sat and listened. Leftcourt came to the conclusion voiced earlier by Sanchez, Susan was very scary and very dangerous. The tactics she was proposing now made those she had used earlier seem quite tame and sane by comparison. [Then again, it's what makes her such a damned good combat commander,] he thought to himself. "Then that's it, men. Let's get this show on the road as soon as possible. I will get an estimated time from Mister Kelly." The CIC personnel filed out going back to their GQ stations. Susan touched a comm panel controller built into the table. "D.C. Central, is Mister Kelly still down there?" "I'm still here, Captain. What can I do for you?" He responded in a voice that betrayed fatigue and exhaustion. "Can you give me an estimate for the completion of the repairs you're doing?" "Let me get back to you, Captain? I need to check with your people and mine to determine that." "Thank you, Mister Kelly." "You seem to defer to him, Captain. Why?" Asked Marsh. "He's an expert in ship repairs. My people are experts at working under the worst conditions. They make a good team. I won't second guess him, even though the final decisions are mine. He understands that and acts accordingly. I don't consider using all of my resources to the best of their abilities, deferring to anyone or anything. It is good leadership. Nothing personal, but I don't think that is a concept you truly understand, General Marsh, based upon your performance on Babylon 5," shot back Susan. Before Marsh could respond, Leftcourt cut him off saying, "Let's leave the personalities out of this, people." "With all due respect, General Leftcourt, he questioned my command and leadership abilities, and I don't think he is qualified to do that, in spite of his senior rank," she threw back at Leftcourt. "Point made! Now! Let's end it!" The fire in Susan's eyes told Marsh that this woman would hand him his head if he didn't back off. She wasn't like Conrad or Owens. They were in a combat situation, she was in command and wasn't about to let anyone question that fact, least of all him. Sanchez, seeing that look, wished he was about twenty-five years younger. She was a spitfire in every positive way, complete with solid brass balls the size of a destroyer. Knowing, that Susan would love with the same intensity with which she fought, he envied Charles Wayne, and felt sorry for her enemies. This woman didn't do anything half-way. ************************************************************************************* The paranoid Drakh commander had his thoughts interrupted by his sensor console operator reporting that the Earth ship was underway again. His own people had not had any success trying to fix any of the massive damage to his ship. His weapons were still at less than half their capability and his engines were still limited to about forty percent power. In his heart, he knew it was only a matter of time. They hadn't been able to call for help and if his suspicions were correct, the female captain had only stopped long enough to make minor repairs and lead the bulk of their fighters and half their remaining ships away from the station. If he were in her place, he knew what he would do against numerically superior forces. He would do exactly what she was doing. He was beginning to realize that the arrogance they had developed, while they were serving their dark masters, was proving to be their undoing. They overestimated the advantage that their superior technology gave them and as a result didn't think well in short term tactics, and if they were destroyed as a result, the long term planning, which they were so expert at doing, would be so much wasted effort. "Commander, they have increased speed. I can't be sure, but this rate of acceleration must be near her half power point." The commander didn't answer. He wondered how long she would lead his fellow commanders away from the station, before she opened a jump point and returned, to finish the task she had begun earlier that morning. Less than an hour later his worst fears were confirmed when his sensor console operator said, "Commander, the Earth Ship has increased her acceleration rate and the Doppler shift, detected by the scanners on the fighters trying to overtake her, indicates that it is at full power. Also, Sir, they are using their after batteries in a barrage function against our fighters. "Just tell me when it jumps to hyperspace," he replied. "Commander?" "It is the time left for us to contemplate the future." His intelligence officer had heard the last remark. He could hear the defeat in his commander's voice. It irritated him, no end, even if it might be justified. For what it was worth, his commander had been correct on all points of his paranoia, and in all his assumptions about the Earth destroyer and its captain. ******************************************************************************************* "It has been quiet for a while now. Do you think things are okay?" asked Jeff. "We're still here," groused Robert. "No thanks to the good captain." "Bobby, me boy, do you have the balls to say these things to the good captain. Or, are you all mouth and no ass?" Inquired MacKenzie. "Surely, you can whip the skinny woman in the general's uniform," taunted Juan. "No way, guys. It would ruin his image as a sissified mama's boy. Isn't that right, Robert?" Asked Jeff. "You people make me sick," replied Robert. "Would you take on the captain, if she took off her rank? Hell man, she's pregnant. Surely, you can kick the ass of a pregnant woman, or is even that too much for you, Bobby, me boy?" Taunted MacKenzie. "For your information, I have a black belt in karate. Yes, I can kick her skinny ass, but you won't ever get her to take off the rank!" Sneered Robert. MacKenzie had seen Ivanova working out with the marines. He knew she could take the average marine, half her age, apart. He knew that Robert had not been in the room to hear the marine colonel's testimony about the captain and her workouts with his marines. He didn't miss his chance. "You will fight the captain, if she will take off her rank? Is that what you're saying, Bobby, me boy?" said MacKenzie in the most patronizing and taunting tone he could muster. "If she is stupid enough to take off her rank, I will be happy to kick her skinny ass," retorted Robert. Smiling to himself, MacKenzie said, "You are on, Robert. I will get General Marsh to set it up. I want to see you get your smug, arrogant ass kicked all over one of the gyms on this ship." MacKenzie's other roommates chimed in their desires for the same display of events. "Let's go get something to eat, guys. All of a sudden, I have an appetite," commented Jeff. As his roommates left the quarters, Robert knew he had screwed up. He just didn't know how badly. ******************************************************************************************* After they had eaten, MacKenzie and his roommates, excluding Robert, went looking for General Marsh. They met him coming out of the captain's mess, and managed to take him aside. Sanchez and Ames watched as the young officers talked feverishly with Marsh. "I wonder what could be so important?" Asked Ames, rhetorically. "Beats the hell out of me," Replied Sanchez. "Let's get a move on. We can ask him about it later." They turned and walked away from Marsh and the young officers. After listening to his young officers, Marsh asked, "Are you fellows really serious about this?" "As a heart attack, General," answered Juan. "It will be a good lesson for everyone." "And you want me to run this by the captain and General Leftcourt?" "Yes Sir. We think it is legal, but we aren't sure," noted Jeff. Marsh smiled, replying sincerely, "I like the idea. I will run it by them, but I'm not making any promises." "That's all anyone can ask, General Marsh, and thank you," said MacKenzie. The general and the young men, then, went in opposite directions down the passageway. ***************************************************************************************** Susan was sitting in her chair when her chair console speaker alerted her that she had a call. "This is the captain. Go ahead." "Captain Ivanova, this is Kelly. We have finished what repairs we could. Just be gentle with her." "I will take that under advisement, Mister Kelly," replied Susan. "Navigator, pass the word to reman battle stations." The GQ alarm sounded followed by the announcement to reman battle stations and reset condition one. The ship was preparing to go into harm's way once again. "Navigator, as soon as we have reset condition one, I want to commence the tactics we discussed in my ready room. S.W.C., are you and your people ready?" "Champing at the bit, Skipper." In the background, Susan could hear much feverish whispering going on amongst the generals in the flag area. Charles had persuaded her to let him sit in that area and watch her at work. "Susan," called Sanchez. Susan swivelled her chair to face the flag area. "What's on your mind, General?" "Do you remember the young fellow that questioned your authority to conduct this evolution?" "Yes. I ought to have the weasel shot, just on general principles." "It seems that his roommates convinced him to fight you, if you would forgo your rank for the duration of the match." Her eyes lit up like a fireworks display. "You have to be kidding." "It seems that he has a black belt in karate." "Please tell me you aren't just jerking my chain," she pleaded. "General Marsh is having some of his people comb their legal books and files to determine the legality of the situation." Susan was almost drooling. "I haven't had a real no holds barred barroom style fight since I served under Commander Sinclair, the Drazi purple/green fiasco notwithstanding. It's been at least six years since I busted up a bar, and a goodly number of its patrons." Thinking for a moment, she continued, "Just let me know where and when. That boy's going to wish he was a Drakh before I get through with him." Susan then turned to face her navigator and the rest of the CIC watch. "Did you see the look in her eyes, Tom, said Sanchez forgetting himself. "You would think I dangled raw meat in front of a starving tiger." "Indeed I did, Jose. And, I think you were." "I want to remind you guys, that's my wife you are talking about," commented Charles. Both men looked at him and smiled broadly. "I do envy you, Mister Wayne," replied Sanchez, earnestly. "We are ready, Captain," noted the navigator. "Then, by all means, let's get this show back on the road," answered Susan. "Jump engines on line," said the cheng into the miniature mouthpiece just in front of his lips. In response to the cheng's statement, a jump point opened in front of the Ares. **************************************************************************************** "Commander! The Earth ship has jumped into hyperspace!" exclaimed the sensor console operator. The commander contacted the station. Not the easiest job in the sector with the jamming that the buoys laid by the earth ship were doing. They had managed to find and destroy some of them, but it was not nearly enough. "The destroyer has jumped to hyperspace. We must turn our fighters and the other capitol ships around immediately. [As if that were going to do them any good.] The Earth ship can be here in less than an hour." On the station, its commander was looking at his superior. "It seems that he was correct all along. It's a pity we didn't listen to him." The senior Drakh remarked, "The point is now moot. What are our chances of surviving further attacks from this ship?" "My affairs are in order, Sir. Are yours?" "That's what I thought. Well, I suppose we should make it as hard on them as is possible." "It's the least we can do, Sir." ****************************************************************************************** The generals in the flag area of CIC on the Ares became very quiet and introspective. This was it. Maximum amounts of excrement were about to impact the main ventilation system impeller blades. "Coming up on first jump point, Captain," noted the navigator. "You boys know the script. Do it by the numbers." "Yes Sir!" answered the navigator, as he initiated the jump point. ****************************************************************************************** "General Marsh is going to try and fix it up so you can kick Captain Ivanova's ass, Robert," commented Jeff. "I figure it will be sometime after she gets through killing the rest of these Drakh and destroying their station and ships," offered Juan. "You guys think she is hot crap. I think she is just plain lucky," replied Robert. "People like her make their own luck, Robert. She is probably the best tactical combat commander in earthforce. You don't get a reputation like hers by being lucky. Just ask anyone who has had to fight her," commented MacKenzie. "We'll see," replied Robert. ******************************************************************************************* "Commander! There is a jump point forming well behind our forward fighters and the ships sent to operate them," noted his sensor console operator. "She is making a run on those ships. They have less than thirty minutes left before she destroys them." "Commander, is it good to let the junior personnel see your frustration and disillusionment?" Asked his intelligence officer. "Normally, I would say no. However, I think the next few minutes are going to remove any doubts about the outcome of this situation." "Commander, our ships have managed to change course and are heading back toward us," commented the sensor console operator. The commander looked at his friend and said, "It is all but over. They have their engines exposed to the Earth destroyer's forward main batteries and those are working perfectly." ****************************************************************************************** As the Ares approached the jump point that would return them to normal space somewhere behind the Drakh ships, the S.W.C. was talking to his operators on their intercom. "Okay gents. This is it. Look sharp. Weapons are hot, you are cleared to fire as soon as you get a firing solution. Don't wait for a weapons lock. That will take care of itself." At their respective consoles the weapons operators were rechecking their target selection program priorities one last time. "Cheng, transfer all power except reactor number seven to the forward weapons arrays as soon as we reenter normal space. Keep it for maneuvering and the after battery arrays." "Yes Sir," he replied. ***************************************************************************************** END PART 4 From: "Aubrey W. Adkins" Subject: Ivanova Part 5 of ---(WIP) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 19:57:58 -0500 Ivanova Part 5 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. ******************************************************************************** Onboard the forward Drakh cruiser/carriers the sensor console operators saw the jump point forming aft of their ships and notified their commanders. The Drakh commanders started to maneuver their ships to bring their forward batteries to bear on the Ares. Unfortunately the damage to their engines and power systems made the attempt futile as the sluggish systems fought to respond. As the Ares exited the jump point, the weapons operators saw two Drakh capitol ships exposed broadside to them at a distance of less than two thousand kilometers. They fired without hesitation. The first ship attacked lost its stern section, containing its engines and power generating reactors. The second Drakh ship had just enough time to see the effects of the attack on its sister ship, before it suffered a similar fate. The beams from the forward main batteries on the Ares kept raking both ships even though they could no longer defend themselves. Sometime during the attack the missiles impacted both ships and they broke up into small pieces. "Navi...," began Susan. She was cut off by the navigator's response. "Jump point initiated, Captain." "Very well," Susan replied, grumpily. "We will be at our next jump point in ten minutes," Captain. "Very well," she answered. "You don't seem to happy, Susan," noted Leftcourt, from the flag area. "They're taking all the fun out of it. This is akin to using explosives to kill fish in a swimming pool," she responded. She heard laughter from her contemporaries as a response. Then, she thought about the young lawyer and felt much better. She would get her enjoyment later. She was lost in thought when the navigator said, "Initiating jump point, Captain." "It's your show men. Show the generals how real professionals do it," replied Susan. "I heard that," came from someone behind her that she couldn't immediately identify. The jump point opened to show the space station less than ten kilometers away. It was virtually point blank range by outer space standards. The forward main batteries of the Ares were firing even before the jump point could fully form. The secondary and tertiary batteries that could be brought to bear on the station began to pour continuous streams of fire onto the station. The Drakh sensors on the side of the station receiving the fire were completely useless. The station sensor operators could not see who or what was firing on them. ******************************************************************************** The Drakh commander looked at the display, such as it was and saw the trashy sensor returns from the other ships fade off the console screen. A few moments later they saw the flash of the explosions on the displays from their external video cameras. They knew it was over for their comrades. Following the flashes, they observed a jump point opening and closing. "That didn't take long, Commander," noted his intelligence officer. "How long do you estimate until they get here?" "Ten minutes, maybe twenty at most." Ten minutes later the sensor console operator reported, "Commander, there is a jump point forming almost on top of the station on its far side." "She is punctual," noted the commander. ******************************************************************************** The station commander was in his Command and Control Center (C&CC) watching the video display feeds from external cameras and the displays being fed from what parts of the sensor network that were still functioning. The jump point openings and closings coupled with the brilliant flashes observed in that area told their own story. He sounded the Drakh equivalent of 'General Quarters'. The Drakh, who had taken a break during the lull, in the conflict were still in the process of returning to their stations when the jump point began forming very close to the side of the station away from the cruiser/carriers. In his quarters the senior Drakh official listened to the sounding of 'General Quarters' and poured himself another drink. He was thinking how frustrating it was to end his career in this manner. He took the drink and relaxed in the most comfortable chair in the room. [It shouldn't be long now,] he thought. As the jump point reached about seventy-five per cent of its maximum size four brilliant beams of focused energy poured out of it and onto the station. They were so intense that they burned their way completely through the station in less than thirty seconds. Wherever they sliced and stabbed they severed power conduits, water, steam and sewerage lines and control cabling of all types. The C&CC immediately lost all power except battery powered emergency lighting. The station engineering officer was attempting to contact his emergency parties and make a report to his commander when the missiles with nuclear warheads detonated. In several very brilliant flashes the station ceased to exist except as fragments varying from dust size to several hundred metric tons which sped away from the center of the explosions many at many tens of kilometers per second. It was as if someone had detonated a two million metric ton grenade. ******************************************************************************** Seeing the station blown to pieces less than a hundred kilometers away prompted the paranoid Drakh commander to give the order to make for life pods and abandon ship. As he gave the order, he knew there would be no survivors. This earthforce captain had a personal grudge to settle, and letting any Drakh in the sector escape with its life was not part of her plans. He thought about the attempt to destroy her and her last ship. They had failed. She wouldn't. "Aren't we giving up too easily, Commander?" asked the intelligence officer. "What do you think our chances of destroying that ship are? Give me your best estimate." "After what I have seen, I don't think we have one." "Then why stay and die unnecessarily?" "Do you really think they will let any of us escape?" "Not if they can prevent it, by using our hibernation techniques some of us may just make it. Besides, pieces of the station will be arriving in a few seconds. If a large piece of it hits us, survival will be a moot point. " "Then let's get to a pod while we still can." ******************************************************************************** As the Ares exited the jump point, Susan found herself and her ship less than a hundred kilometers from the remaining Drakh warship. The Ares opened fire on it immediately. Its main batteries were slicing through the hull, and inner bulkheads and decks like sharp knives through a thoroughly cooked turkey. "Captain, he isn't offering any resistance," commented the S.W.C. "Communications, can you shut down our jammers? Scan for life pods. They are probably trying to escape that way." "Missiles launched, Captain," said S.W.C. "Trying to scan for life pods now." "Navigator, how long until those runaway fighters get here?" "Less than three hours, Skipper. We don't want to be here when they do." "S.W.C., as soon as you have destroyed that cruiser/carrier, concentrate on those incoming fighters," ordered Ivanova. "Already on it, Captain. They're easy targets, since they are constant bearing decreasing range (CBDR)," replied S.W.C. "Well, 'easy target' them into very little pieces if you please." "Yes sir!" he replied. ******************************************************************************** The Drakh commander and his intelligence officer made it into a two person escape pod and launched minutes before his ship exploded into small pieces. Almost two-thirds of his crew managed to escape in similar pods. His sister ship commander was not as fortunate. His entire crew died with him and his ship, when they were hit by a four-hundred metric ton piece of the recently destroyed space station. At a relative velocity of more than twenty kilometers per second, his ship was virtually disintegrated by the impact. The escape pods were spreading out in all directions from their mother ship. ******************************************************************************** "Captain, we need to get closer to our jammers to disable them," noted Susan's communications watch. "Air Boss. I have a job for your pilots. I want them to launch. They are to destroy any fragment of the ships or station that are a meter or larger in size." "What about the life pods, Sir?" "What about them, Commander? Was there something about what I just said that you didn't understand?" retorted Susan. "No Sir," replied the air boss. Then, he began talking into the microphone suspended in front of his mouth. "Commander, make sure your pilots are aware of the approaching fighters. I don't want to lose someone to speeding debris." "Yes Sir, Captain." Susan swiveled her chair and faced the flag area. Her facial expression dared anyone to question the orders she had just given. She was met with silence for a minute, then, Sanchez said, "We haven't had a chance to learn from a live Drakh. All of them we have been able to get our hands on, up until now, were already dead. Could you see your way clear to haul in a couple of those life pods, intact. It would be a real boon for our intelligence people." "You have a valid point, General," she replied. Then she called the air boss on her intercom. "Commander, General Sanchez has requested that we bring in a few of the life pods intact. Have your men bring in half-dozen or so." "Yes Sir!" He responded. "General?" Asked Susan. "That will be plenty," he replied. "Navigator, as soon as we finish launching our fighters, take us to our buoys. I see no reason to waste perfectly good equipment. Also, set condition two as soon as the launch is complete. There's no further reason to keep everyone a full GQ." "Yes Sir." Looking at the generals, Susan stated, "If you gents care to come, I am having drinks in my mess in a few minutes. It's the good stuff." She didn't have to repeat the offer. Walking down the passageway toward her mess with Charley's arm around her waist, Susan tossed back at the men behind her, "Since I took out five ships and a space station in one battle, does that make me an ace?" "Your crew took care of the ships and station," shot back General Ames. "They surely did, but I trained 'em," she replied. "Touche," answered Ames. ******************************************************************************** Susan was back in CIC watching as her crew retrieved the last of the buoys they had deployed. "It wasn't really cost effective, Susan, to pick up that hardware," commented Ames. "No it wasn't, General Ames, but the reason for not leaving it behind is twofold. First, it will make it very difficult for the Drakh, who come to investigate, to determine exactly who is responsible for all this destruction. In the second place, they will be unable to determine what tactics were used to accomplish this task. I don't intend to leave them anything to work from. That's one of the reasons I had the life pods destroyed. There is and old axiom, and I will paraphrase it for you, "Dead Drakh tell no tales". The other reason I had them destroyed is the golden rule, do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. They got the first two tries at doing it to me. So, in response totheir trying to do to me, I have done unto them, to the best of my ability." "Yes, you have. I hope they appreciate your efforts." "Somehow, General Ames, I really don't think they will." "Captain, we have the last of the buoys. I am going to return and pick up our fighters," noted the navigator. Susan got up and walked to the door, commenting, "They don't need me in here. Navigator, when we have retrieved our fighters and stowed the life pods, set a course for home, and make the jump to hyperspace. Also, as soon as we are underway for home, secure completely from General Quarters, and set the normal underway watch." "Yes Sir, Skipper!" he replied, sharply. General Ames sat down in Susan's empty chair and looked around, then looked at her. "I am retiring when we get back to Earth, this is the last time I am going to get to do this." Susan just smiled at him, turned, and walked through the open door. ****************************************************************************** "So tell me again," inquired Charles, "When is this little match of yours supposed to happen?" "General Marsh has set it up for tomorrow morning, just before Colonel Munoz's troops start their hand-to-hand combat drills. I will warm up with his marines and Marsh will bring in the lawyer," replied Susan. "And, this is going to be no holds barred hand-to-hand combat? What are the rules?" "No rules, Charley. It ends when one of us is carried out unconscious or dead." "And, you think this is a good idea?" "I've probably had better, but let's face it, I should have had him shot. At this rate he gets back alive, even if he is crippled for a while. Besides, he will have a chance to use a staff or nun-chucks if he wishes. If he grabs a weapon, I will use the denn'bok Marcus left me." "I understand this guy has a black belt in karate and he is bigger than you are." "If you knew me as well as Michael Garabaldi does, you wouldn't be fretting so much." "It's been a few years since you were involved in a brawl." "You watched me fight with Colonel Munoz's marines. Do you think I can't take care of myself?" "They were pulling their punches." "You will just have to trust me." Charley looked at his wife and began to wonder if he really knew her at all. [Probably not,] he thought to himself. "I promise not to let myself get hurt too badly." ******************************************************************************** Susan and Lieutenant Colonel Munoz's marines were just finishing their warm-up exercises when Marsh and Robert arrived. The generals had arrived early and watched the warm-up exercises. They all agreed, Susan looked like a million credits. Susan walked over to Marsh and asked, "Did you explain to him that this is hand-to-hand combat, no rules, and it ends when one of us is carried out of here on a stretcher either unconscious or dead?" "Oh yes, I was perfectly clear on those points. He wants you to sign a release form absolving him of all responsibility for your injuries," responded Marsh. With a wicked smile, Susan replied, "Really. Was that his idea?" "Yes. He insisted." "Did he sign one?" "Most certainly," said Marsh with a wicked smile. Susan signed the release form, then turned to Robert and asked, "You do understand that I could have you shot? In fact, I still think it's a good idea. We need to set an example for the rest of the troops. However, Generals Walsh, Sanchez and Leftcourt have convinced me that this fight is a much better way. I understand, that if you don't fight, they will court martial you for cowardice, attempting to instigate mutiny and treason. If you fight and lose, you will be dismissed from the service without prejudice, and if you win you will be allowed to resign your commission under honorable conditions. Is that about it?" "Yes it is," he replied. Susan caught his disrespect of not ending the statement with sir, and resolved to break every bone in his body, unless someone stopped her. The others noted it, but said nothing. Robert's roommates were present to watch the fight. Susan turned to the marines and spoke in a loud clear voice, "Everyone will clear the gym floor. This an anything goes fight. There will be no tapping out. The staff and nun-chucks on the floor are for the lieutenant's use, if he wishes to use them at anytime during the fight. However, if he takes a weapon, my husband will toss me my denn'bok which is known to most of you as a Minbari fighting pike. It is similar to the quarter-staff. Also, as long as both of us are conscious, you will refrain from approaching either of us, no matter how badly injured we may be. This fight does not end until one of us is unconscious or dead. I will court martial anyone who interferes." Then she turned slowly and glared at everyone around the floor to make sure they understood that she meant every word she had just spoken. Charley was standing on the right side of Colonel Munoz. He said, "I watched her work out with your people. They all treated her as if she were made of crystal. She is going to get hurt doing this." Munoz turned his head and looked at Charley. "You have never seen her in an all-out fight, Mister Wayne. She can take care of herself. Let me hold that thing." He said nodding at the collapsed denn'bok. Charley handed him the Minbari weapon. Munoz took it and said, "I venture she will encourage him to grab one of those weapons. Then I will toss her this thing. And then, she will beat him to death, if we don't stop her in time." Charley was appalled and said, "You can't be serious." "As a heart attack, Mister Wayne." "Call me Charles or Charley, Colonel. Mister sounds so damned formal. Why is Susan wearing leather gloves?" "To keep from skinning her knuckles when she hits him with her fist." Robert had walked about eight meters out onto the gym floor. The floor wasn't padded as was customary for hand-to-hand combat matches or martial arts practice and training. He turned to face Susan. The smile on her face confused him. He was several centimeters taller than she was, and must have had her by at least fifteen kilograms in mass. She walked toward him in a determined manner. When she was about two meters away he threw his first kick, but his foot only passed in front of her face, because she had deftly back-stepped out its path. ****************************************************************************** Earlier that day: Looking up from her morning coffee, Susan asked, "What are you finding so interesting?" Charles, sitting at her in-port office desk, replied, "I was doing a search on the kid who is antsy to kick your skinny butt. It seems that his name is Robert J. Arkland, the fourth. His family is awash in money and influence." "And?" "They have a lot of political clout. They could make a lot of trouble for you." "Not before I can have that worthless piece of crap they call a son shot." "You can't be serious?' "You think I'm joking?" Looking over at his wife, he realized she meant every word she had uttered. "You are supposed to fight him later this morning." "So I am. I can beat him to death. Somehow, I find that idea very satisfying." "You seem to forget that he might fight back." "Really," she said sarcastically, "The thought never occurred to me." "I am looking at his records. It seems that his parents have bought his way out of a lot of trouble situations in the past." "I plan to do my damage before they have a chance to intervene. If they intervene, I will go after them. Money can buy a lot, but not absolute safety." "You scare me, sometimes." "As Kosh would say, "Good"." "Knowing Lyta will hire you in a minute seems to have made you a bit reckless." then looking at her expression, he continued, "I know. Good." She just smiled very sweetly at him. It made him feel like a canary being carefully scrutinized by a hungry cat. ***************************************************************************************** In the ship's gym: Susan deftly sidestepped several more kicks from Robert. She was sizing him up and came to the conclusion that his martial arts training had been a waste of time. On his next kick, instead of stepping back, she stepped forward, grabbed his kicking leg and quickly pushed it up throwing him off balance. Then, while he was off balance, she threw a short straight punch into his nose, breaking it and splattering the front of his face with blood. Then she quickly danced away, all the while leading Robert toward the weapons laying on the gym floor. "I bet that smarts," noted Mackenzie, watching the blood flow from Roberts nose. "She isn't even started yet," commented Daniels. "I've seen her fight the marines, she is much better than this." "I think she just wanted to get his attention," said Juan. Robert wiped the blood from his nose on his left sleeve, and in doing so momentarily obscured his view of Susan. She didn't hesitate to execute a roundhouse kick that hit him just below his left armpit. The kick landed with a solid thud, and elicited a cry of pain from Robert. As he moved to position his arms to protect his ribs she kicked him in the left shin, twice in rapid succession. Robert hopped backward and Susan kicked him in the upper right thigh. Robert felt like he had been hit with a club and his right leg ached from the kick. He quickly looked around for the weapons and was rewarded with a kick into the left side of his head for his efforts. [This bitch is crippling me,] he thought to himself. [Jesus, this was a mistake. Where are those weapons?] While he was trying to shake the stars from his head and get a fix on the weapons, Susan landed half a dozen kicks into his ribs and legs. Everyone of them brought a grunt or whimper of pain. Robert was hurt in both legs and, unknown to him, already had three cracked ribs and a mild concussion. Susan was relentless in her attacks. Finally she knocked Robert to the floor with a spinning backfist to the left side of his head. All he could see were stars and he felt excruciating pain as he tried to shake off the effects of the blow. He managed to get his hands on a weapon. It was the nun-chucks. He swept them in an arc around himself. Susan stepped back a few steps and gave Robert time to get his bearings and to get to his feet, as she motioned for Charles to throw her the denn'bok. Colonel Munoz smoothly tossed it to her. "She is beating the crap out of him," observed Charles. "She hasn't even got started yet, Charley," replied Munoz. "Is she impressive, or what?" Asked Mackenzie. "You haven't seen anything yet," commented Daniels. "She could kick my ass," noted Juan, "With both hands tied behind her back." Susan caught the denn'bok, but didn't open it immediately. She seemed to be waiting for Robert to regain his feet and sensibilities. Her foot and hand hurt where she had hit his head with them. [His damned head must be solid concrete,] she thought to herself, as she continued to wait. [I'm going to let him get in a few swings, then, ‘sianara senor', lights out time.] "Looks like he is going for her bait," said Sanchez. "He is dumber than we thought," replied Marsh. "The stupid bastard is going to get up, and with a weapon. He'll be lucky if she doesn't kill him," chimed in Leftcourt. "We could always stop her," offered Fitzgerald, in an obviously joking tone. "Not if we want to get back to Earth in one piece," offered Ames. "That part isn't even a joke," replied Leftcourt. Robert regained his feet and made several passes with the nun-chucks. His head was splitting with pain, but he could focus on Susan. She had the weapon she had given her husband in her hand. However, it didn't look like much. Feeling better now that he had something in his hands, he made advances on Susan. she danced away, just out of reach of the nun-chucks. She was smiling at him, but it was the kind of smile one would see on the face of someone who was torturing a helpless victim. Susan stopped dancing away and let Robert take several serious swipes at her with the nun-chucks. They barely missed their marks. Then she flicked her wrist and extended the denn'bok. The next swipe of the nun-chucks was rewarded by Robert feeling one of his ribs break where Susan hit him with the Minbari weapon. She had watched his movements and timing and hit him when he was vulnerable. Over the next ten minutes Susan deftly beat Robert very severely in the upper body area with the denn'bok. She broke most of his ribs and his upper left arm bone. He was reduced to defending himself with one arm. "I think she is getting serious," noted Mackenzie. "Most definitely," replied Daniels. "I suppose this means we'll have the room to ourselves for the remainder of the trip," commented Juan. "I do think Robert will be in some casts before the day is over. "Either that or a coffin," added Juan. "General Leftcourt, shouldn't we put a stop to this?" Asked Charles. "Not quite yet, Charles. I'm sure he still has some bones she hasn't broken yet. She could have had him shot. I would have under the same circumstances. However as much as she damages him, he gets out of this alive," answered Leftcourt. "Are you willing to wager on that, General?" Inquired Munoz. "Actually, no," replied General Leftcourt. "Colonel Munoz, just because he is CJCS doesn't mean he has money to waste," laughed Sanchez. That remark got a chuckle out of the rest of the observers who heard it. Out on the floor, Susan was losing interest in Robert and decided to end it quickly. With a flurry of blows, delivered at maximum power, she managed to break his right arm and fracture both his legs before connecting one blow with the left side of his head, fracturing his skull and giving him a serious concussion. Robert collapsed onto the floor unconscious and bleeding from both ears, his nose and his mouth. Susan had broken several of his teeth with a kick to the mouth. Stepping away from the unconscious Robert, Susan ordered the medics, who were standing by on the side of the gym floor, to get him to sickbay. Walking over to Charles and the generals, Susan took an offered towel, wiped the sweat from her forehead and then the blood from the denn'bok. "You are pretty good with that thing, Susan," said Sanchez. "I had a good teacher, and the other rangers on Babylon 5 let me practice with them when I was the XO there. Since then I have kept myself in shape with my, or rather Colonel Munoz's marines. It seems to have been worthwhile." "You did know he had a black belt in karate, didn't you?" Asked Fitzgerald. "You could have fooled me, General." "General Leftcourt said he would have had him shot under the same circumstances, Sweetheart," noted Charles. "I'm going to tell you a poorly kept secret in earthforce, Charley. General Leftcourt is a hardass," answered Susan. "Only when necessary, Young Lady," retorted Leftcourt. "I thought you let him off to easily." "Easily, hell! I broke every bone I could without outright killing him. As it is, he'll probably be undergoing physical therapy for the next year or so, if he is lucky. His mental condition may take a bit longer to recover." "Honestly, Captain Ivanova, I've never seen someone beaten so badly without being killed before," observed Munoz. "That was my intent, Colonel. Alive, he makes a good poster boy for keeping one's mouth shut when one is full of crap." Daniels, Mackenzie and Juan watched the medics carry Robert away before leaving the gym. "I feel sick," said Daniels. "You and me, too, Jeff," said Juan. "I've never seen anyone beaten that badly before. I hope I never see it again." "Before you feel pity for the dumb bastard, just remember this, he would sell out any one or all of us to get whatever he wants. And, he did incite mutiny. He got what he richly deserved," commented Mackenzie. "I just hope the Captain doesn't get in hock over this. His parents have tons of money and clout." "Somehow, I don't think Captain Ivanova gives a rat's ass about his parents, their money or their clout. If I were them, I'd leave well enough alone." ******************************************************************************************** "Susan, was what you did necessary?" Asked Charley. "You would rather I had him shot?" "No, but that beating." "I am responsible for this ship, the crew and any other people aboard. I will brook no questioning of my authority or decisions concerning any of them. No responsible ship's captain would." "I just hope there isn't too much flak from his parents." "Don't worry about. Nothing is going to happen." ******************************************************************************************* "Captain, we are ready to jump into Earth's space," said the navigator. "When you are ready jump, and put us into a synchronous orbit above Earthdome," replied Susan. A few minutes later the ship settled into orbit above a beautiful blue ball covered with white clouds. Susan thumbed her 1MC switch and announced, "This is the Captain speaking. For those who may be interested, we are now in synchronous orbit above Earth. We are home." "Captain, I have Earth space control center on the horn. They want us to assume a low orbit. There are some shuttles full of VIPs wanting to come aboard." "CRAP!" "Captain?" asked the navigator. "We're going to be overrun by the damned press, and every other clown who thinks he can make points by being seen with the brass we're carrying. Take whatever orbit they assign, after all, it is their parking lot." "Yes Sir." ******************************************************************************************* "Aren't you going down and meet our guests, Susan?" Asked Leftcourt. "That's your job, General. Mine is running this ship, and operating a tourist concession isn't in my job description." "Well, you better get used to it, General Ivanova. You will have to deal with them and worse in your new assignment." "I hate it when you're right." Then she got up and put on her jacket, saying, "Don't expect me to be too nice." Laughing, he replied, "The thought never crossed my mind." "Come on, Charley. You married me for better or worse. It's time you shared some of the worst." Together, she and Charles followed Leftcourt down the passageway. ******************************************************************************************* END PART 5 From: "Aubrey W. Adkins" Subject: Ivanova Part 6 of ---(WIP) Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 20:46:11 -0500 Ivanova Part 6 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. ******************************************************************************** "Susan, you should have at least worn your dress uniform jacket to meet the VIPs," commented Leftcourt. "If they want dress uniform, then they shouldn't have been waiting to ambush me. They'll just have to be satisfied with me in my work jacket." "Susan, it still has your captain's insignia on it." Susan looked at the rank markings on her jacket. "So it does, General. So it does. If they want to me to treat them like 'honored guests', they should at least give me a day's warning before they come calling." They continued on in silence for a few meters. [She is still keyed up from the Drakh fight and the thrashing she gave the Arkland kid,] thought Leftcourt to himself. He felt badly about not telling the rest of the boys who was coming to visit and why. They were going to be pissed at the surprise. "There is one thing we haven't considered General Leftcourt," said Susan, as they continued walking toward the main hanger deck." "And that is?" he asked. "His parents are most likely to push for some kind of trial or, lacking that, they will sue me in civil court." "That is a distinct possibility. I think you made a mistake lifting communications silence after the fight with the Drakh. ISN and the other networks have gotten their hands on recordings of the fight in the gym, and they have been running very heavily edited versions of them. The ones I've seen are very biased against you." "I'm not surprised. What does give me reason for thought is how much legal talent the Arkland's money will buy." "We have some aces up our sleeves that nobody is aware of, not even you, Susan. General Marsh, being the lawyer he is, has some very interesting recordings." "I've seen those ISN transmissions and they're really cutting me up. I expected better after their experiences with the Clark regime." "There is another possibility, Sweetheart," noted Charles, "They may have received the videos already edited. If so, they may not be aware that they are being used." "The only thing I am sure of is that their son never sent them. General, if his parents pursue this, why couldn't we consider it a breach of the agreement he made with you?" "I will ask General Marsh. If Robert has to fight being court martialed for those charges, then the press would have to have all the particulars, and we have some people who are experts at those scenarios. "I just love it when you two talk dirty," commented Charles. "You two go on without me. I am going to change uniforms. I will meet you on the hanger deck," said Susan doing an about face and walking quickly back toward her quarters. "You'll be late, Susan," replied Leftcourt. "It isn't proper for me to set a bad example for my crew, General. Regardless of my personal feelings." **************************** "What brings you on this trip?" Asked an expensively dressed, dark haired gentleman in his mid-forties, of the distinguished looking, older silver-haired gentleman sitting in the seat on his left. "I might ask you the same question, Brad, but if it will make you feel better, I am meeting a client," replied the older gentleman. "I have a similar reason. I have to see someone and serve some papers," replied Brad. "The Arklands didn't waste any time." "Have you seen the videos on ISN, George?" "Who hasn't? I don't give them any credence. It is obvious they've been edited. My first question is why? The most obvious answer is for time." "And you and your partners never accept the obvious." "Something like that." "Ladies and gentlemen, if you will look at the screen in the front of the passenger cabin, we are displaying a live video feed as we approach the Ares. It is as it would appear if we had observation windows," said the pilot's voice over the shuttle's public announcing system. "I am permitted to tell you that she is the largest, fastest, most maneuverable and most heavily armed warship the Earth has ever built." "I can't believe they gave that thing to a woman," commented Brad. "Not to just any woman, Brad," replied George. The shuttle they were on was the second and last in line to dock with the Ares. It was full of newsmen and one earthforce, interstellar branch, captain. The first to dock in the main hanger bay of the Ares would be carrying EA President Luchenko, several members of her cabinet, including the EA secretary of defense and several senators and congressmen. Leftcourt had neglected to tell Susan that little tidbit of information. He had told her they were VIPs, but not that they would be so high ranking. A shuttle full of EA troops and a shuttle full of presidential security personnel had landed earlier in the Ares aft hanger bay, while the ship was changing orbits. The troops were to pickup and escort the Drakh life pods off the ship. Susan wasn't told their destination, and she didn't bother to ask. What she didn't know was that the same shuttles carried the forward security detail for the EA president. Their job was to make sure things were safe for the president, while making as little fuss as possible, except for the ship's security personnel involved, no one was aware of their presence. ********************************* "You haven't asked where we're taking the life pods," commented Leftcourt. "I really don't care, General. They are no longer my responsibility, once they depart the Ares." "I took the liberty of notifying your band that there were some VIPs coming aboard. They are already in the hanger bay. Your security people are also deployed." "Really! You should have come to me, General. It is a blatant ignoring of the chain of command," retorted Susan. "Don't get upset. I had a reason for it. It is a little surprise, from me to you." "I really don't like surprises, General." ********************************** On Mars two days earlier: "What can I do for you, Sir?" Asked the young sergeant sitting behind the security desk in the lobby of the EA building. It was a three story, one hundred meter square structure that housed earthforce military representatives and several other EA government departments, including the EA embassy. "I need to close out my final travel claim and pay records," responded Patrick Owens. "Do you have an appointment, Sir?" "No. I just got in from Babylon 5 last night. About all I've had time for is a hot shower," replied Owens, handing the sergeant his papers. "I resigned, before I departed Babylon 5. All I want is to get this finished and go on my way." The sergeant quickly scanned Owens' papers, then he punched some keys on the keyboard in front of him. "This will only take a moment, Sir." "You don't have to call me sir. Mister will do nicely, Sergeant." The sergeant studied the display for a few moments. Then he looked up at Owens. "You are wrong, Sir. You are still an officer. As a matter of fact the dates on your paperwork raise some questions. Things may not be as simple as you think." "All I want to do is close the books, Sergeant. I don't need a hassle. I only came in to do this because I need the funds. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered." "It's not a hassle, Sir. When I said you are still an officer, it is the truth. I have summoned my boss. She will discuss this with you." A very young looking female sporting army captain's bars appeared just as the sergeant finished speaking. "What is the problem, Sergeant Anderson?" Asked the slender brunette. She stepped behind him and looked over Owens' paperwork, then studied the display screen. Straightening up and looking at Owens, she said, "If this screen is correct, you are out of uniform, Captain." Looking puzzled, Owens replied, "In the first place, Miss, I am no longer in earthforce, and second place, I was a commander then. All I want to do is close out my financial records. My resignation is already on file. So if it isn't too much of a burden, I would like to get it done and over with." She crooked her finger for him to come around the console and look at the display. He did. He studied the display for almost a minute and then looked at the young captain. "There must be some mistake. You have the wrong records displayed." "Captain Owens, look again. The information is correct. If you wish, I can query EA records on Earth. It will only take a minute or so," said Sergeant Anderson. His boss said, "Do it, Sergeant." It actually took a minute and a half for the query results to be displayed. Owens read the information carefully. "The rotten bastards. Those incompetent, rotten bastards. They didn't process my resignation. That son-of-a-bitch, Leftcourt, put me on leave." "Is that any way to talk about the CJCS, Captain Owens?" asked the young woman. "My uniforms are still on the Ares. I am not buying new ones," commented Owens loudly. "With all due respect, Sir, since you are on leave, we can process your travel claim. You will have to make an appointment to deal with the remainder of your records discrepancies," said the young woman. "It is odd, Sir. According to your records, you have been a captain for almost a year, and you weren't even aware of it. Since your ship prepared your travel papers, apparently they didn't know either. Where have you been to be so out of touch?" She asked. Owens thought for a moment, then answered, "As far as you can go and still be inside the galaxy. When can I make an appointment for?" "The sergeant pulled up another display on his monitor and replied, "How about 0900 in the morning, Captain?" "That will be fine, Sergeant. Thank you for your time, Miss." "Turner, Captain. Army Captain Sean Turner." "Thank you for your time, Miss Turner." After Owens had walked out of the lobby, Turner said to Anderson, "He didn't even know. I pity somebody somewhere, if he ever finds out who is responsible." "Too bad he's married, Miss Turner." "No kidding." **************************** 0900 the next day: "Have a seat, Captain Owens," said the major behind the desk major, as he shook hands with Owens. "It isn't often I get to see a record as fouled up as yours. If it was by accident, it is one for the record books." Taking the offered seat, Owens replied, "I really don't care, Major. I submitted my resignation, they receipted for it, and that is that." "I'm afraid it isn't that simple, Captain. Because your request was submitted with bad data, it wasn't processed. It couldn't be because there is a real mess of dates and ranks. It will have to be sorted out back on Earth and that could take anywhere from weeks to months. From the legal aspects of what I can see, you are a Captain in the interstellar branch of earthforce. They have been paying you as such for almost a year. According to this, you were recommended for your own command more than six months ago. I know they are relieving General Ivanova of command, so she can execute her next set of orders. It appears you were slated for command of the Ares for a while now." "I don't understand, Major." "I pulled up everything earthforce has on you. You have had a damned interesting career to say the least. The short story is that they cut General Ivanova's orders about three months ago. They kept it all classified top secret. I don't know why, but they did. Your assignment to replace her as commanding officer was cut on the same day and also classified top secret, but apparently yours were handled by someone besides CJCS. I bet General Leftcourt never knew of the screw-up in your rank and stuff. General Ivanova's orders are certified by CJCS and countersigned by President Luchenko. They didn't want anyone to know ahead of time. Smells damned funny, if you ask me, Captain." A buzzer sounded on the Major's desk. He looked at the monitor screen. "Captain, if you will come with me, there is a secure call coming in for you. It is being received in the embassy's secure communications room." "Who is it?" "It doesn't indicate who, only that it is secure." [Damned curious,] Owens thought to himself as he followed the major out of the office. *********************************** Onboard EAS Ares, two days after the destruction of the Drakh space station: "Madam President, what can I do for you? Asked General Leftcourt of the image displayed on the secure comm screen. "I would like to know your arrival time, Tom. You and the rest of your crew were supposed to be here tomorrow afternoon. I want to make some plans, but I can't without knowing the Ares' schedule." "Susan has decided to take a few extra days to get back. She wants to get the ship cleaned up and give her crew some time to get back to their normal routine. They're keyed up to a fever pitch. Their little skirmish with the Drakh was too short to let them blow off steam." "Little Skirmish! Tom, I have seen the video that was sent back yesterday. Jesus, Tom, what were you thinking about when you let her do that?" "She presented valid reasons for the venture, and also presented reasonable scenarios for accomplishing the task. Short of relieving her of command, there wasn't much I could do. I am afraid she played by the rules, Madam President, and so did I. If there is fault, it's mine, not hers." "There isn't any fault, Tom. It's just that sometimes she scares the hell out of me. I bet there aren't many other captain's who would have tried what she did." "No argument there. I will have a schedule SITREP on your desk no later than 1600 hours today your time, Madam President." "You know, Tom, I never attended the Ares commissioning. I never even sent a representative. That was a major insult to Captain Ivanova. I feel ashamed of it, after seeing what she has accomplished with the ship and her crew. I would like to see the ship when you get back." "I will arrange it with Susan." "I'd rather she not know I am coming. If it's a surprise, she won't have time to have anything unsavory prepared for me." "Whatever you wish, Madam President. However, I don't think you give her enough credit for being fair." "I will be watching for the SITREP, Tom." "Madam President, there is one thing you might be able to do for me." ********************************** Location of the destroyed Drakh station, two days after the attack: Four jump points formed in the area where the destroyed Drakh space station had been. Lack of response to communication attempts had prodded the Drakh high command to send a small task force to investigate. Onboard the lead ship, the Drakh commander asked a rhetorical question. "Where is the station and the ships that were here?" "Commander, we are detecting very high background radiation in several places around this vicinity," Noted a sensor operator. "Analysis indicates it is from fusion bombs of various sizes." "Are you trying to tell me they were blown up with nuclear devices?" "Thermonuclear to be exact, Sir." "What about life pods and debris?" "There is no response from the pod transponders, Sir. The largest debris pieces we can detect are no more than a meter in size. If the station was blown up, the pieces could be hundreds of millions of kilometers from here in all directions." "Contact the other ships. I want a thorough scan of the surrounding area out a distance of two million kilometers centered on this point." ******************************* In the EA secure radio room on Mars: "I understand ma'am, but I told the general that I wasn't interested, or words to that effect." "If you won't do this, then I have no choice, but to have you pay back all the extra pay you received, before you are discharged." "I don't have that kind of money to spare, ma'am. I can make arrangements, but it will take me a few days to a week." "I insist, Captain, that either you make restitution now or accept the orders. I was elected to see to the best interests of the Earth Alliance. Having you in that position is in that best interest. Legally you owe the earthforce fourteen more months of service." "When do you want me there?" "She arrives in Earth space tomorrow morning, Captain. I suggest you grab the first shuttle out." "Yes Ma'am." "How did it go, Captain?" Asked the major, who had waited outside the room for him. "I got my marching orders, Major. I couldn't come up with the excess money they paid me, so I have to take orders for the next fourteen months." "If it isn't a secret, who was the call from?" "Would you believe me if I told you it was President Luchenko?" The Major looked Owens in the face carefully. "You aren't joking." "I don't joke about being kept on active duty for an extra year and two months. My wife is going to really be pissed." ****************************** Later that day in Owens' apartment: "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I really didn't have a choice." "I managed to take one of your older jackets out and get the captain's insignia sewn on, and bought you a new hat and a set of shoulder boards. I didn't think you would want to report out of uniform. Your old uniform trousers are a bit worn, but they still fit, and a white shirt is a white shirt." "You don't seem to be too upset about this." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him and hugged him tightly. With tears in her eyes, she said, "I am so proud of you. We have worked so hard for this. Honey, this means that when the fourteen months are up, you can retire." "I have to catch a ride to Earth ASAP." ******************************** Location of the destroyed Drakh station, three days after the attack: Onboard the Drakh dreadnought, the Drakh commander was fuming. "Are you telling me that whoever did this took the time to destroy the life pods with our people in them?" "Yes Commander," replied his intelligence officer. "In addition, we retrieved some of the wreckage for analysis. The scorching of some of the material shows it the destruction was done by earthforce weapons. Communications records indicate it was done within the last three standard days." "How did earthforce ships find this station? It is well off the beacon pathways." "Unknown, Commander. However, I speculate that somehow one of our ships was followed. By whom, I don't know. We can try to deduce who it was by reviewing earthforce ship schedules for the past standard week." "Do it. In the interim, call for reinforcements. I want to make an example of the earthforce ships responsible." "Yes Sir, Commander," replied the intelligence officer. The wait wasn't a long one. Less than half a standard hour later the intelligence officer approached his Commander. "You have the data?" "Yes Sir. According to the most up to date records we have, the EAS Ares started her transit from Babylon 5 to Earth about two days before the attack. She was supposed to be making a speed run, according to their military records. However, she has been delayed in her arrival. There is no reason given." "I think the reason is obvious. She had to take the time to obliterate this station and the ships that were here then." "There were four of our cruiser/carriers and one of our sister ships her at that time, Commander." "Which means whoever we are dealing with is extremely dangerous." "That much is not in doubt sir. What kind of force could do this kind of damage? Even our dark masters were not often this thorough." Just then the Drakh commander was handed a data pad. Looking at his intelligence officer he commented, "We will be joining up with two more cruiser/carriers one day out from Earth space. I think their Mars colonies will be a good place to start the lessons." **************************** In the Ares' main hanger bay: "Exactly who is coming aboard that requires a band, General?" Asked Charles. "If Susan gets here before that shuttle gets tied down, don't tell her, but it is President Luchenko, the secretary of defense, some other cabinet members, and a few assorted senators and congressmen." Charles whistled. "That is most of the top brass of the EA, General. Isn't it a bit dangerous to have so many of them on one shuttle?" "This close to home, not really. Besides there is a reason for her and the secretary to be here. They're here to attend Susan's change of command. No, she is not aware of this, yet." ****************************** Susan had hurriedly changed into her best fitting proper uniform and was walking fast down the passageway toward the main hanger bay when one of her security personnel rounded a corner and collided with her. "I'm sorry Sergeant, I wasn't looking where I was going," apologized Susan. "My apologies, Captain. Is it true that President Luchenko is coming aboard this morning? We have her security people all over the place." "If she is, Sergeant, I wasn't told about it." "I hope I didn't say something out of line, Sir." "Not at all, Sergeant. Thanks for the information," replied Susan, as she started down the passageway at a fast trot. [That rotten bastard. Of all the balls, trying to sneak her on board. If she is here, who else did she bring with her? What the hell is going on here?] Then she remembered that she was supposed to be relieved of command upon the Ares' arrival in Earth orbit. As she continued on her way, Susan called the O.O.D. in CIC. "Get hold of the operations officer and tell him to get me about a dozen junior officers to be VIP escorts. Send them to the main hanger bay. If the VIPs get here before the escorts get to the hanger bay, have the escorts meet us in the wardroom." ********************************** Somewhere in hyperspace on the way to Earth space: "Commander, we are at the rendezvous," noted his navigator. "Are the other ships here yet?" "They have sent word that they will arrive within the hour." "Continue toward Mars at reduced speed until they catch up with us." "Yes, Commander." ************************************ Susan trotted up to Charles and Leftcourt. "Have I missed anything, General. I mean like President Luchenko?" Both men looked at Susan. "Where did you hear that?" Asked Leftcourt. "I almost ran over one of my security people, and he wondered if she was coming aboard, seeing as how her forward security people are all over the place on this ship." Leftcourt looked at Charles and said, "She is scary at times." "Tell me about it," replied Charles. "What have you two cooked up, General. She knows she isn't my first best loved political figure. Hell she isn't even my second most favorite. So, is she here for the change of command, or what?" "Would believe to pay her respects?" Susan laughed so hard she almost choked. "Not in a million years," she managed to say between choking spasms from her laughing. "What is so funny?" Asked Charles. "Charley, that woman wanted our blood so badly it hurt, for taking up arms against Clarke and his regime. If it hadn't been for John Sheridan hard bargaining with her over the people who followed him during the civil war, we would all most likely have been shot as traitors. The upper echelon of earthforce who had been faithful to Clark's government, which includes our esteemed General Leftcourt, wanted our blood very badly, even though we had the balls to do what they wouldn't." "That's not a fair assessment of the situation Susan," said Leftcourt. "Just remember one thing, General Leftcourt. Always thank whatever gods you believe in that John Sheridan escaped from Clark's people and lead the final assault on Earth. I would have destroyed your forces to the last man, and I would have had every one of you, who supported Clark, stood up against a wall and shot." "Of that, I have not one doubt, Susan," replied Leftcourt. "What I can't figure out, General, is this. If she is so hyper about what happened during the civil war, why did you people give Susan command of the two most powerful ships Earth has ever built? Weren't you afraid of what she might do with them?" "Son, you need to pay attention to what she says, and remember, Sheridan immediately turned control over to the duly elected civilian government after Clark was deposed. She might shoot me, but she wouldn't do anything to harm Earth. She fought too hard to save it and us. The last two battles she was in should prove that." "She didn't see fit to even send a low ranking member of her administration to the commissioning. Why bother to come to a simple change of command? It doesn't make much sense." "Have you ever met President Luchenko, Susan?" "No I haven't, General, and it's below the bottom on my priority list." Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the first transport shuttle being towed into the embarkation/debarkation area of the main hanger bay. As soon as the shuttle stopped the ship's hanger bay crew rolled steps up to it. As the shuttle door opened, the band started to play. Leftcourt, Charles and Susan began walking over to the bottom of the steps. Several civilians, obviously presidential secret service, hastened to get there first. They lined up, Leftcourt, Susan then Charles. President Luchenko, who had visited several earthforce destroyers in the past, appeared at the top of the portable stairway, and was immediately followed by a well dressed gentleman of about fifty-five. She stopped, looked around at the hanger bay and, thinking to herself, [Damn this thing is big,] started down the steps. The gentleman followed close behind her. "I hope you enjoyed this little vacation of yours, Tom. I am beginning to think you did it to get away without using leave." "I'm not sure I'd use the word vacation, Madam President. Good morning, Mister Luchenko." he said in response, at the same time acknowledging the man with her. Stepping in front of Susan, She commented, "You seem to have a talent for getting your commands shot all to hell, General Ivanova." "It requires a great deal of training, Madam President. It isn't something just anyone can do... properly." Luchenko didn't rise to the bait. Instead she stepped in front of Charles and asked, "Just who might you be?" "I'm with her, Ma'am," he replied, hooking his thumb in Susan's direction. "You're the psi cop." "Former psi cop, Ma'am." "You are the one she confined in what amounted to solitary confinement when you were aboard the Zeus with her, aren't you?" "The same, Ma'am." Looking from Charles to Susan and back again, she said, "She locked you up for a year, then threw you off the ship when the opportunity presented itself. Then, you later married her." Looking back at Susan, she continued, "I think, General Ivanova, you should write a 'how to' book. One about how to catch and keep a man. To say the least your approach seems to be rather unique, don't you think so, Charles?" "It seems to have worked," replied the gentleman. "If I had known you were coming, I would have set up some kind of itinerary for you and your guests, Madam President," replied Susan. "I didn't want to call too much attention to the fact that a shuttle full of congressmen and the president were coming here." Others of the president's group of visitors started to appear at the top of the steps. Luchenko, her husband and Leftcourt walked away from the shuttle. Susan and Charles walked several meters and stopped. "Charley, I need to stay here for a few minutes and make sure nothing gets botched up while she's onboard." "Well, while you take care of business, I'm going to start packing what few things, I've unpacked. I'll take a shuttle down to the surface and start looking for an apartment near the supply school you'll be attending." Susan stopped and took Charles in her arms and kissed him very deeply. "I love you, Charley." Across the hanger bay Leftcourt and the Luchenkos had turned just in time to see Susan kiss Charles. "She can be rather demonstrative when the occasion arises," commented Leftcourt. As Leftcourt and the Luchenkos left the hanger bay, the junior officer escorts that Susan had ordered up arrived. Susan turned and walked back to the bottom of the shuttle's steps. A young looking well dressed gentleman stepped forward, offered his hand to her and said, "General Ivanova, I am Walter Egan, Secretary of Defense. I am pleased to finally meet you." Susan looked confused, but took the offered hand. Egan explained, "My predecessor fell ill about four months ago. I'm the new kid on the block, but I've heard so much about you, I just had to take this opportunity to meet you." "I hope I don't disappoint you, Mister Egan. Who are these other gentleman and women?" Egan introduced Ivanova to his fellow travelers. They were the leaders of both major parties from the senate and house, in addition to several cabinet members. "Gentlemen these officers will be your escorts while you are aboard the Ares. This is necessary due to the size of the ship, the damage we sustained at Babylon 5, and a few restricted areas.. I don't want anyone accidentally getting hurt. They will escort you to the wardroom. We will give you a quick briefing about the ship." "As the group started leaving the hanger bay, Susan noticed a woman in the back behaving oddly. As the remainder of her group walked quickly after their young escorts, she was left behind. Why became obvious when Susan saw that she had a boy about eight years old in tow." "This is no place for a child, ma'am. Why did the president bring you and him along?" "I have no idea, Captain?" "You are?" "Mrs. Nancy Lukens, Captain. I'm the Secretary of the Interior." "Let's catch up to the rest of your group," said Susan, bending down to pick up the youngster in her arms. As they started to walk away, Egan fell in behind them. He was very impressed with this woman warrior, which was how he thought of her. "What is your name, young man?" Asked Susan. "Mine is Susan. You can call me Mrs. Wayne." "Sean," answered the boy, sleepily. ********************************* END PART 6 From: "Aubrey W. Adkins" Subject: Ivanova Part 7 of ---(WIP) Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 23:32:24 -0500 Ivanova Part 7 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. ******************************************************************************** By the time Susan and Mrs. Lukens reached the wardroom Sean was asleep on Susan's shoulder. One of her female junior officers piped up, "You... are a natural, Captain." Susan handed the sleeping youngster to his mother after she found herself a seat. Then she stepped to the front of the room. "Let me give you a belated welcome aboard the EAS Ares. We are in the process of setting up a tour for all of you. The tour groups will be in small numbers accompanied by one of my junior officers. At the conclusion of the tour, I will be most happy to answer any questions you have about the ship and its operations. While you are being shown the ship, you are encouraged to ask any questions you may have of your escorts. If they can't give you an answer, please make a note and ask me. If I can't answer it, most likely neither can anyone else. I assume you are planning to attend the change of command ceremony this afternoon. If you don't wish to attend, we will provide you with an escort and you may look at parts of the ship that you missed on the first tour. I must insist that you not try to enter our restricted areas. If any of you do try to enter an area identified as restricted, you will be immediately returned to the wardroom and kept here until the first shuttle leaves for Earthdome, then you will be put on it. Enjoy our hospitality, but don't abuse it. My Cheng will be here momentarily to give you a short brief on the ship and its abilities." "How thorough will the brief be, Captain?" Asked one of the senators. "It will not include any information that is considered classified by earthforce. If you receive that as an answer to a question that will be the end of that particular question." Then the Cheng arrived, Susan introduced him and then excused herself. She immediately went in search of the President and Leftcourt. She started with the flag officer's messing facility. As she walked she called the O.O.D. and ordered him to get enlisted escorts down to the hanger bay for the next shuttle scheduled to land. After thinking it over for a minute, she called the O.O.D. again. "Lieutenant Breen, I want you to very quietly set General Quarters in CIC. Power up the weapons arrays and bring up all of our sensors. I want a watch kept on everything between here and Mars. Keep a weapons lock on everything within range and tell the engineering officer of the watch that I want half of our plants online and the remainder on modified hot standby. Also get the navigation console manned and power up the jump engines." "May I ask why, Captain?" Asked the O.O.D. "We have President Luchenko, most of her cabinet and most of the congressional leaders on board. I don't want to give someone else a chance to catch us by surprise." Remembering what they had done to the Drakh space station and ships, the O.O.D. thought about how they had operated when they had been in orbit around a plant or station when they had been deployed and replied, "Understood, Captain. Should I make the standard arrival announcements for the President and SecNav?" As he finished talking to Susan, he began to make the calls that would quickly and quietly get CIC manned up for GQ. "Do so," replied Susan. As he finished talking to Susan, he began to make the calls that would quickly and quietly get CIC manned up for GQ. ******************************************************************************** Brad turned to the passenger seated on his right. "What brings you up here Captain, business or pleasure?" Having overheard the conversation between George and Brad, he replied, "That's none of your business." Brad trying to recover from the brush off, remarked, "It is an impressive looking hunk of hardware, isn't it?" "Mister, I have no desire to talk to you. So, just can it." Brad gave up the attempt at conversation. George leaned forward in his seat and looked at the captain. "Pardon me, Captain, but you look vaguely familiar. May I ask your name?" The Captain looked at George and replied, "Patrick Owens, Sir." George smiled broadly and said, "I thought it might be. " "You said you are meeting a client onboard the Ares," commented Owens. "I believe you know her, Captain. Her name is Wayne," replied George. "You mean, General Ivanova is your client?" "Yes she is. She just doesn't know it yet. Let me introduce myself. I am George White of White, Applestein and Biggsby. Some friends of hers have retained our firm to represent her." "What does she need defending from?" "His firm," replied George pointing to Brad. "I don't think I really want to hear this, at least not here." ******************************************************************************** In their quarters making final checks to be sure they didn't leave anything behind, the various generals who had ridden the ship back to Earth, heard the announcements. To a man, they shuddered at the thought of Susan Ivanova meeting President Luchenko face to face. The vision of Arkland and what Susan had done to him was fresh in their minds. ******************************************************************************** One day out from Mars in hyperspace: "What is your plan, Commander?" Asked his intelligence officer. "Very simple really. We will exit hyperspace very near the planet Mars. We will then destroy any ships in the vicinity and then proceed to destroy the Mars colonies. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours." "What if we encounter the Ares?" "They were successful last time because the station and ships there weren't expecting an attack. We will be ready. They don't have the technology to fight us head to head and win." "I find it hard to believe that the Earthers were lucky enough to catch a space station and five ships totally off guard long enough to destroy them." "You give these upstarts too much credit. They have barely climbed down from the trees in comparison to us." "Knowing that any animal with teeth might be able to kill me, given a chance, I keep an eye on them. Over confidence cost us a great many ships and personnel in the recent fiasco at Babylon 5." "There were other forces at work there. I don't know what they were, but it took more than one earthforce destroyer to annihilate our fleet." The intelligence officer turned and walked away. He was another in the growing number of Drakh who were afraid that the arrogance of their leaders would eventually get them all killed. The feeling of being in charge of fate that pervaded the upper echelons of the Drakh leadership was the same attitude that eventually led to their dark masters being banished beyond the rim. If it could happen to them, then he could see no reason why his people should be immune to the same fate or worse. ******************************************************************************** Susan stopped in her quarters and instructed her steward to retrieve Mrs. Lukens' child, put him to bed on her office couch and babysit the little fellow until his mother was ready to leave the ship. She didn't want the child dragged all over the ship for safety reasons. After taking care of this, she continued her search. Susan found Luchenko and Leftcourt in the flag mess. "I wish you'd told me who was coming aboard, General." "I wanted it to be a surprise, Susan." "I think it was very reckless to have had so many government leaders in one shuttle, and not even one fighter for an escort." "You worry too much, Captain," commented Luchenko. "Did you see the data crystals, Madam President they show how easily I destroyed that space station and the ships that were there? Did you notice that one of them was a hell of a lot bigger than the Ares, and it probably carried more total firepower. It didn't do them any good, because I knew where to jump into normal space in order to create a situation that gave them no time for responding to the threat I presented. They didn't even have time to realize what had hit them. What makes you think we are immune to such an attack? Remember, there are humans that worked very closely with these Drakh while the Shadow War was being fought. They haven't just gone away." The President was irritated by the rebuke, but before she could respond, her husband jumped into the conversation. "I hate to admit it, but the Captain has made some very valid points. If she could do it successfully, what's to prevent someone else from doing it? It's even easier to just plant a bomb on the shuttle. It's been done before, with Earthforce One, I believe." This statement irritated her even more than Ivanova's. The fact that it was true didn't help any. "You are leading up to something, Susan," said Leftcourt. "I have quietly put CIC at GQ. They are monitoring everything between here and Mars and maintaining a weapons lock on everything within range. The weapons systems are powered up, the jump engines are online and half the power plants are operating at full capacity. The remainder are online in a hot standby status. I won't be caught napping with so many high government officials onboard my ship." "You are paranoid, Captain. Surely you don't think we would be attacked so near Earth?" "You are a lawyer, Madam President, surely you must be familiar with 'Murphy's' law." "Are you going to give President Luchenko a tour, Susan?" Asked Leftcourt. Susan looked at Leftcourt with daggers coming out of her eyes. "If she wants one." "You aren't satisfied, Captain. Why?" "You and your cabinet did something very foolish and dangerous today. I don't like surprises. They can get you killed. As for having my CIC watch at GQ readiness, it's my call. While you are aboard this ship, your safety is my first concern. If you have a problem with that, tough." Susan waited for the explosion, but Luchenko's husband whispered something into her ear and she just looked at Susan and fumed. Susan turned and left the room. "Madam President, I told you she is a highly trained and extremely dedicated soldier. She doesn't understand your taking unnecessary risks." "She just frustrates me no end. She is the most irritating person I have ever met. She is as bad as... no, she is worse, than John Sheridan and his alien wife Delenn." "Sweetheart, she is you," commented Charles Luchenko. "What the hell does that mean, Charles?" Retorted his wife. "The Captain is totally dedicated to her duty, protecting the EA constitution. You are the leader and chief representative of that alliance and said constitution. She will do whatever she deems necessary to carry out her duty, driven by a dedication as fiercely unswerving as yours. You are cut from the same cloth. You have made decisions that hurt you politically because you thought they were the right thing to do in support of that same constitution. Also, both of you are stubborn as hell." "Your husband is correct. The two of you are very much alike. Ivanova would do everything humanly possible to keep you from harm, even though she doesn't like you or your politics. >From her point of view those items are irrelevant. I think she is exactly what we want. Would you want to have to campaign against her? She is a take no prisoners fighter. Just ask the Arkland boy." "She is arrogant, overbearing and worst of all, she is right, and that's what's really galling!" Snapped the President. "Sweetheart, what was said here doesn't leave this room. You need to learn to get along with her. If you fire her, a lot of your supporters will be very unhappy. That is not a good thing, politically," reminded her husband. "If you fire her, Madam President, her friend Lyta Alexander, who represents some very powerful business interests, has made her a standing offer of immediate employment, running some corporations for them. The standing offer, not counting perks is a base salary of three million credits a year plus bonuses. Susan Ivanova isn't worried about a job," commented Leftcourt. "You are kidding, aren't you?" asked Charles. "That's more than I've made in all of my political career," replied President Luchenko. "It's more than I've made in my entire life," added Leftcourt. "I think you can understand why she has no fear of being busted out of earthforce." "If she can make that much money out there, she will never stay involved where we want her," said Luchenko. "That's my point Madam President. She isn't driven by money or the other things that motivate most people, which is what makes her so valuable. She can't be bought." "I will keep that in mind, Tom. Now, who is going to take me on a tour of the ship?" "Let me go smooth Susan's ruffled feathers. Then I'll ask her to do the honors, after all, no one, not even the people who designed and built her, knows more about this ship than Ivanova does." After Leftcourt had departed the room, President Luchenko's husband looked at he and asked, "How much do you know about Susan Ivanova, besides what is in her personnel record?" "What is there to know? She is one of my officers. I don't need to know anything else about her." "I am going to tell you a story that may change your mind." "What kind of story, Charles?" "Do you remember that Psi-Corps 'reorientation' camp we visited when the corps was being dismantled? Do you remember your reaction?" "I vomited up everything I had eaten that morning, and when no one was looking I wept. Why do you bring that up now?" Instead of answering her, he asked another question. "Do you remember when you were in fear of being discovered as opposing Clark's actions? You couldn't trust anyone, because they might turn you in to win favor from the regime." "I lived in terror of being discovered." "The important thing is that you put those memories together and think of what it felt like to know that without warning you could be 'arrested' and shot or imprisoned without any trial. And... no one would try to help you because they might be taken away, too." President Luchenko shuddered at those memories. "Now try to imagine that you aren't allowed to hide. You can only hope no one recognizes you for what you are. You have to stay exposed at all times." "This isn't amusing, Charles. What is your point?" "Now imagine that you have to live every day of your life under those same circumstances. How would you see your fellow man, especially those in power?" His wife considered what her husband was saying. She was missing something. Charles reached into the briefcase he always seemed to have on hand. He extracted several sheets of flimsies and pushed them across the table to his wife. "Read these." She read the sheets carefully. Then, she looked thoughtfully at her husband. "You have been a busy little beaver." "Just trying to support you, Dear." "This is more than I wanted to know about the good General." "Now, read these," he said, shoving some more flimsies across the table." As she read these sheets, President Luchenko said, "These are from her service record. How did you get them?" "I have my sources. It is quite helpful being invisible. Now... there is another story I want you to hear. It's about your firing of John Sheridan." "I'm all ears, Sweetheart," she replied, biting off the word sweetheart. "You have always thought what you did to Sheridan was your idea. It really wasn't. General Ivanova is also going to have to be told this." "Continue, you little ferret. You have my undivided attention." Twenty minutes later, the President looked at her husband in disbelief. "You aren't joking." "Not for an instant. We had hopes that it would be Sheridan, but that went to hell in a handbasket. ******************************************************************************** The shuttle full of news people had landed and been towed into the embarkation/debarkation area, and a set of steps were being rolled up to it. A group of crew members designated to be escorts were assembling at the bottom of the steps. The passengers began to file out of the shuttle. Captain Owens took this time to ask Brad, "You said you have papers to serve on General Ivanova, correct?" "That, and I am here to see a client." "Who is your client?" "As you said to me a little while ago, Captain, that is none of your business." "Mister White, you said you are Ivanova's attorney, didn't you?" "Yes I did. Why?" "That means you are legally entitled to receive the papers this fellow is supposed to serve on her. Is that correct?" "Yes it is, Captain Owens." "You give Mister White those papers." Brad reached into his briefcase and pulled out some folded papers and handed them to White. "There, Captain! Are you satisfied?" "Not quite. You see, I'm the Executive Officer of this ship, and I determine who does - and who doesn't - come aboard. Now you will tell me who you need to see or you won't get off this shuttle. Do I make myself clear?" "Perfectly." "Who is your client?" "Lieutenant Arkland." Owens hurried down the steps from the shuttle and asked for a communications unit from one of the escorts. The young man was startled to see who had addressed him. Handing his comm unit to Owens, the young man said, "Welcome back, Sir." Owens called CIC and ascertained that Arkland was in sickbay. A call to sickbay revealed that Arkland was being wheeled to the shuttle used by the newsmen. He would be transferred to Earth with the J.A.G. contingent that had ridden the ship back to Earth. Climbing the stairs back to the shuttle cabin, he informed Brad that he needn't get off the shuttle. His client was going to be sent to Earth on it. He invited White to accompany him onboard the ship. "I can give you the quarter tour, Mister White, and make sure you have quality time with General Ivanova." "I think, I'd like that, Captain Owens." ************************************************************************ Knocking on Ivanova's office door, Leftcourt heard her say, "Come in." Entering the office he saw Susan sitting behind her desk seeming to look into eternity. She appeared to be deep in thought. Finally she looked at him and asked, "Am I the female version of Job?" "No," he replied. "You and President Luchenko just don't see things from the same perspective." Turning to face him, she replied, "You could have fooled me." "You don't give her enough credit, Susan." "With all due respect, credit for what?" "She is a politician, but there is much more to the woman than just that. She is a wife and a mother." Derisively, Susan replied, "I believe the mother part." "That wasn't what I meant, Susan. You might as well face it, you are going to have to work for and with this woman. She could be a very useful ally." Laughing, Susan retorted, "Just what I need, my own personal knife wielder. With her covering my back, I would truly feel safe." "I'm serious, Susan. You have to mend bridges with this woman. The remainder of your career depends on it." "I think you have just helped me make up my mind, General Leftcourt." "What do you mean, Susan?" "Simple, General. I am going to exercise my option on the job Lyta offered me. I have to protect the President and the other VIPs as long as I wear this uniform. However, I can resign at anytime, and that is looking better all the time. I cannot stomach President Luchenko, especially after what she and her people tried to do to us at Babylon 5." Holding up her hand, she continued, "Don't try to patronize me, General. If she had not tacitly agreed with her people's illegal actions, she would have summarily fired the bastards." "You don't understand politics, Susan. Some of those people have powerful allies." "Who are you trying to convince, General? You... or me?" "You are the hardest headed earthforce officer I have ever had to deal with. I'm trying to keep you in earthforce for the good of the service, but you are making it damned hard for me to do so." "Odd that you should put it that way. No one has ever worried about how hard it has been made on me. Do you know what is does to you when you try to serve your people, but you have to dread the day your little secret is discovered, and everything you worked so hard for evaporates. You should try it sometime. It can give you a whole new view of life, General. So, don't expect me to be too damned concerned for President Luchenko's political future, or my own military career for that matter. Before, I never had anything to fall back on. That isn't the case now." "You have become very hard in the last few weeks, Susan. You used to be more accommodating." "I didn't have any options before. Let's go get this over with, General. I have better things to do with the rest of my life, and they'll be holding the Stanley Cup Playoffs in hell before I cower to her." "You're making a mistake, Susan. Besides, she doesn't expect you to cower." Susan just snorted in response as she left her office with Leftcourt following her. ******************************************************************************** "The doughnuts and coffee were excellent, Captain. A fellow could trash a diet rather quickly on this ship." "When you're forward deployed for a couple of years at a time, Mister White, you make do as best you can. Chow has been found to have a most profound effect on a crew's morale. A good cook can make or break the crew's morale." "How long do you propose to take on this tour?" "As long or as short as you wish. I already know everything about the ship." "Tell me about the capabilities. I have never served in the military. I had a birth defect in one ear that rendered me unfit. That's why I became a lawyer. No physical or psychological tests involved," he said merrily. "In your case it wasn't from lack of trying. Maybe it worked out for the best. I understand your firm has an excellent reputation." "We do, but it has been a long uphill struggle. Everyone reads about and remembers the lowlifes, but no one notices an honest hard working solicitor." They continued their conversation as they walked down the passageway, drinking coffee out of disposable containers. ******************************************************************************** Susan and Leftcourt arrived in the flag mess. President Luchenko, her husband and her aide looked at them expectantly. "I take it you smoothed her ruffled feathers," commented the President, in a condescending tone. Susan had stepped over to the communications panel and called the communications center. "This is the Captain. I am in the flag mess, please reroute any incoming calls for me to this location." A voice from a hidden speaker replied, "Yes Sir." "What is that all about, Captain?" Asked Luchenko. "I'm just keeping them informed of my location." "General Leftcourt, please explain." "Her feathers are still ruffled." "I really don't care, General. She can stay mad for all it means to me. I give the orders around here." "Computer, call up file Ivanova resignation and reenter today's date as effective date." The file appeared on the screen in front of Susan. "Computer, change the word Captain to General, print two hardcopies and send the message to Chief of Earthforce Personnel, Officer Assignments and Records Department and copy to the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mark the message to be receipted and monitor for the receipt's return." "What kind of crap are you trying to pull, Ivanova!" Demanded Luchenko. Ivanova got up and walked over to the table where the President, her aide and her husband were sitting. "I am past time to sign my letter of continuance, Madam President. Therefore, I can resign on a moment's notice, and I don't have to have yours or anyone else's approval." As she was talking, she removed her jacket, and began to remove her general's insignia. She tossed the insignia to the President and said, "Keep 'em for a souvenir. I have no further use for them." She also pushed a copy of her resignation across the table. "This is what you wanted. Well, you have it." Then she turned to General Leftcourt and said, in an emotionless monotone, "General Leftcourt, I relinquish command of the EAS Ares effective immediately, and I stand relieved." "You can't do this, Captain!" Exclaimed Luchenko. "I'm afraid she can," said Leftcourt. "And, she just did. She never updated her letter of continuance when we were at Babylon 5. We all took it for granted that she would do it." "Are you telling me she can just quit?" "As of two minutes ago, Madam President, Susan Ivanova-Wayne became a private citizen and no longer takes orders from either you or me." "You just threw your career and pension out the window, Ivanova. That's not much of a smart move." "I consider it a donation," said Susan, as she leaned on the table and looked Luchenko in the eyes. "You were willing to try all of us for treason and kill us just to keep your damned job. I am going to tear you and your party down, any way I can. Furthermore, I am going to enjoy it. You are a sniveling coward as is General Leftcourt and the rest of the cowardly bastards that let Clark usurp power illegally. It is you, he and his fellow officers that should be shot for treason. You've never put your life on the line for anyone or anything, and have no idea what it's like to have your people die in your arms. I have only contempt for the lot of you." Luchenko just stared back at Susan and realized that the plans she, General Leftcourt and others had made were history. Susan Ivanova would not be pushed or bullied. Her husband had been correct. She had badly underestimated this woman. She also had no doubts that Ivanova would make good her threat, no make that promise, to tear her down. "Enjoy your command, General," shot Susan with a voice dripping sarcasm, as she started for the door. "For as long as it lasts." In spite of the artificial gravity, she felt the ship pivot on its axis until she knew it had to be pointing away from Earth. At the same time she felt the deck begin to vibrate as the main engines were powered up to their maximum thrust. "What in hell is going on? We're underway going away from the planet." The President and the others in the room looked at her in confusion at her last statement. Leftcourt felt the vibration, and recognized it as the main engines generating maximum thrust. A loud bonging sound from the 1MC answered Susan's question, and filled Leftcourt with apprehension. ******************************************************************************** Earlier in CIC: "Hey Breen, how long are we going to be at GQ?" Asked Ensign Albert Dawns, the weapons officer of the watch, the stand-in S.W.C. "Until the VIPs are gone. Why don't you use the time to see what you can do with the long-range sensors. I understand there are six of those whitestar type ships at Mars, and there are six or seven destroyers there taking on supplies and fuel. Why don't you see if you can get us a picture of them." "What the hell, it'll help kill time," replied Dawns. ******************************************************************************** "This is number one reactor room, Mister White. The Ares has seven others like it distributed throughout the length of the ship. It has its own armor in addition to being protected by the ships main armor." White and Owens walked around the room looking over the panels and consoles full of displays and controls. "How long does it take to train a reactor operator, Captain?" "The operation of the controls takes about a month, but the knowledge needed to understand the effects of what you are doing, and the general theory behind it, takes almost two years of specialized classroom and practical education. It costs a fortune to properly train a reactor engineering operator." "You said this unit develops an output of five hundred megawatts?" "That is its nominal output. Its maximum output capabilities are classified." "So, the ship has a nominal power generating capacity of about four gigawatts, give or take a few." "We could power a major city without any strain." "Impressive, to say the least." "I'd like to show you what we have done to help the crew cope with a long deployment. We have some unique recreational facilities. I don't think you will find anything quite like them anywhere else." ****************************************************************************** "Petty Officer Baker, why can't we take pictures in this area?" Asked a man, in his middle thirties, wearing a jacket emblazoned with a large ISN logo. "Captain's orders. She wouldn't have let you aboard if she had known the shuttle was carrying news people." "So we aren't going to be allowed to photograph anything. Is that it?' "No sir. You are welcome to photograph the main hanger bay, gymnasiums and other areas like that. There will be no photos taken in any of the ship's operational areas." "You do know that this will not make her popular with our superiors, don't you?" "After the butcher job you guys did on her situation at Babylon 5, I don't think she really gives a damn if you like her or not." This retort shut the man up. Some of his fellow news people snickered at the exchange. A little while later Baker caught what looked like the newsman taking a surreptitious photo of a reactor control console. He used his comm unit and very quietly called for security. The group loitered for a few minutes in the reactor control room as Baker answered most of the questions that were asked. Out of thirty questions asked he only had to refuse to answer four of them. The questioners didn't press the issue. As the group was leaving the room, two security personnel arrived. Baker quietly pointed out the man in the ISN jacket as the offender. "I recommend you search him and confiscate the apparatus," commented Baker. "Not to worry, Petty Officer Baker. We have been briefed about these situations." The newsman ranted and raved, but he was led away by the security people. ******************************************************************************** "Lieutenant Breen, how do you like these apples?" asked Ensign Dawns, as he sent his sensor data to the large projection monitor at the front of CIC. Breen and the other watchstanders looked at the projection screen. Displayed there was a fairly detailed image of the Planet Mars and the ships in its near vicinity. "The small ones are the whitestars," commented Dawns. "There are three old style Omega class destroyers and just within the angle of view are four of the Zeus class warlock destroyers. I can even resolve the domes on the planets surface," he continued. "Wizard Al has done it again," commented the chief petty officer manning the navigator's console. "Hey Al, how can you get such a detailed picture at that distance?" Asked the engineering watch. "Our systems aren't listed as being able to do that." "Well, to be truthful, I cheat. There are a number of high-powered video imaging devices mounted all over the outer hull. I am combining their signals like they do with a large telescope which is made up of a number of reflectors. Their signals become additive and with digital filtering and some other neat stuff, WAZOO, pure magic, and I'm not finished yet." "At least someone is enjoying this watch," muttered the chief. ******************************************************************************** "What is this place, Captain?" "This, Mister White, is a workout area that can have the artificial gravity neutralized," responded Owens. "You mean that I can go in there and experience weightlessness?" "Most certainly. We have several gymnasiums that can be used either as a regular gym or as a null gravity area. We use it to train for combat in a weightless environment, but it makes a hell of a play area. You won't believe some of the variations on regular games our crew members have devised." "Ah, the human mind. It needs relaxation, and it will find it one way or another. I suppose it also teaches your people to think outside the box, so to speak." "That is one of the side benefits. Overall it improves the quality of our people." "Who's idea was this anyway?" "Captain Ivanova's. She had the features added as the ship was being built. She is very perceptive about such matters." "It would have helped if she had used that perceptiveness before she beat hell out of the Arkland boy." "I'm sure she had a good reason for what she did. Although, I am wondering just what those reasons might be." "As am I. Are we going to visit the doughnut factory and coffee dispenser again before lunch?" "You like those doughnuts, don't you." White smiled and nodded in response. ************************************** In CIC: The chief at the navigator's station looked up and saw the latest efforts of Ensign Dawns displayed on the big tactical display at the front of CIC. "That is the damnedest thing I think I've ever seen," said the chief." The rest of the watchstanders looked at the display. The detail was incredible. As they watched several jump points started to open. They paled when they saw what emerged from the colored vortices, Drakh warships like those they had destroyed less than a week before. As the Drakh warships entered normal space they began firing on one of the Omega class destroyers. It took less than three minutes for them to destroy the ship. *********************************** In ARES' flag mess: The bonging sounds from the 1MC ended only to be followed by, "GENERAL QUARTERS, GENERAL QUARTERS, ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS, ALL ESCORTS RETURN YOUR CHARGES TO THE POINT OF ORIGIN, SET CONDITION ONE THROUGH OUT THE SHIP. CAPTAIN TO CIC." This announcement was immediately followed by another series of bongings and the repeat of that announcement. "I think they're playing your song, General," commented Susan, turning to leave the flag mess. ************************************ END PART 7