From RHAZLWD@KUHUB.CC.UKANS.EDUFri Feb 10 14:53:58 1995 Date: Fri, 10 Feb 1995 12:38:05 -0600 (CST) From: Richard Hazlewood To: Creative Babylon5 Subject: REPOST: Katringa 1-4/7 Hi All, I have had several people ask me for parts of my story. Instead of mailing it out to everyone individually, I am going to repost it all here. I have combined the various sections together into two files. I have also tried to clean up the story a little, for example I believe Palomino has been spelled three different ways in the course of the story. There were also several errors, for example McNeil's rank goes from Captain in Part 1 to 1stLt in all the others. Well here it is again... =========================================================================== AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place in 2253, six years after the Earth/Minbari War, four years before the Babylon 5 station became operational, about two months before Babylon 4 disappeared. Comments and criticisms are welcome. DISCLAIMER: This story is copyrighted by Richard Hazlewood. All rights will be transferred to Babylonian Productions upon request. NOTICE: I know that there is no true up or down in space. But, I have used them here for convenience. Think of it as if you were looking at a TV screen. ================================================================ THE KATRINGA BELT by Richard Hazlewood Chapter 1 The Jump Gate flashed it's characteristic blue-swirl as the Earth Force Destroyer Palomino emerged from hyperspace back into the normal Einsteinian universe. On the cramped bridge, a tall, ebony-skinned woman sat in the command chair just behind the Duty Officer's station staring at the large, 3-D viewscreen on the forward wall. Astronomical information about the star system they had just entered was displayed in the lower right corner, ships status in the lower left. The center of the viewscreen was dominated by the image of the distant orange sun. The pilot spoke up, "Transition complete." she said in her nasally voice, "Telemetry confirmed. We have entered the Katringa system." Ltjg. Christopher Durand, the watch officer, acknowledged the pilot quietly, never taking his eyes from the displays on the screens at his Duty Officer station. After a brief pause to absorb the data coming in from the Jump Gate, he said, "Standard system scan. Overlay tactical on main viewer." Ltjg. Durand was acutely aware that his new CO was sitting behind him, watching everything he did. Commander Katherine Drake had not even noticed the nervousness of her Duty Officer. Kathy savored her first look at the Katringa system. She never tired of seeing new stars; never tired of seeing the same stars in new patterns. Of course, the Katringa system was not really a planetary system at all. The K6v orange star was surrounded at a distance of about 0.4 AU by a fairly dense, but minerologically poor, asteroid belt. No gas giants, no planets orbited this dim star. Ordinarily, this type of a star system would not have warranted a Jump Gate, let alone an outpost. But Katringa was strategically located at the edge of the Euphrates Sector, directly between New Jerusalem and the almost completed Babylon 4 station, and that warranted the outpost. New Jerusalem was becoming one of the most important extra-solar colonies in the Earth Alliance. After Earth Force squashed the civil war there three years ago, the colony was fast becoming a major source of manufactured goods. Goods that were sorely needed in the EA following the devastation caused by the Earth-Minbari War six years before. With the completion of the Babylon project, this sector was going to be a very important place, very soon. The system tactical display covered the starfield. Drake shifted her attention away from the beauty of the stars and concentrated on the more important job at hand. On the screen, three icons representing spacecraft were visible, additionally the station icon had appeared near the edge of the digitally simulated asteroid belt. Two ships were inbound to the station, one from each of the Jump Gates, and one ship was stationkeeping inside the asteroid belt, probably a miner. "Sir, incoming transmission from Katringa Station." Said the young man at the communications station. "Patching it through on main viewer." Replacing the placid starfield was the torso of a dark skinned man. Over the loudspeaker, the deep, rumbling voice of the Katringa station communications officer could be heard. "Earth Force Space Ship Palomino, this is Katringa Command. Welcome to the Katringa system. How may we help you?" Ltjg. Durand shifted his attention to his comm pickup, "Katringa station, this is Palomino, we are here on routine patrol and do not require anything at this time." Katringa station acknowledged and signed off without further comment. Drake noticed the CommTech was not really paying attention and that a deep frown now creased his pale face. "What is it Comm?" Drake asked quietly. "Well sir..." the Tech replied slowly, shifting his attention from the now blank Comm Screen to his Commanding Officer, "Katringa was very brusque. We have been coming to this station for over three years. They are always very friendly. Besides, Chief Sanchez in engineering is the niece of the station commander. Every other time we've come into this system he ALWAYS has a little message for her in the first communication. But this time he didn't and I don't understand why." "Maybe he's not on duty. I don't think forgetting to send a message to his niece is such a big problem." "Sir," interrupted Lieutenant Commander David Purduski from his seat beside the AuxControl station, "Comm's correct. Every time we come into this system, Major Sanchez has a little message for the Chief in the first broadcast. Every single time sir, for over three years, there has been a message. I think something is wrong." "Lieutenant Commander, you ALWAYS think something is wrong." Retorted Drake, a slight smile on her face, "That's why you're still my Exec." "Yes sir, " replied Purduski, ignoring the jibe from his new boss, "And I'm usually right too." "Are you really convinced that this lack of a personal message is so significant? I know I'm new here, but IS this a big deal?" "I think it could be, sir." came the thoughtful reply. Drake thought to herself for a second. She was still uncomfortable with making command decisions, her Commander's bars and her command on this ship were both very new, but this was her job now. Taking a deep breath and muttering to herself, "OK, better to die a fool than to live a coward." Drake turned her attention to her bridge crew, her voice sharp and crisp "OK, lets assume the worst. Comm, send a message to the station, tell them that we need to refuel and are coming in. Helm, set a course to the station, standard acceleration. Scan, get me information on all ships in-system and the station itself. Lets see what we've got here people." Each of the stations acknowledged and began their various tasks. Durand, not used to having his authority circumvented on the bridge, started to say something, thought better of it and kept his mouth shut about this technical breach of the chain of command and watched silently. Turning to her Executive Officer, Drake said quietly, "David, go down to engineering and talk to Chief Sanchez. Get what you can about the Major." Purduski nodded and left the bridge. Drake turned her attention to the view screen, this time looking in detail at the tactical display. "Damn," Kathy muttered under her breath. Chapter 2 "Sir," said the pale haired ScanTech, "Updated tactical is on the main screen. Details available on your number three monitor." Looking down at the detailed information scrolling across the #3 monitor of the DO station and her own, Drake was impressed by the detail. "Good work," she said quietly. The tech gave his superior a nova-burst smile and returned his attention to his board. Kathy couldn't help but smirk. The Palomino rotated slowly, orienting towards the unseen station 0.6 AUs away. The acceleration klaxon sounded and ten seconds later, the Palomino's fusion engines ignited, building up thrust until the ship was accelerating at 9.82 meters per second every second. Inside the ship, all hands automatically adjusted to the change in orientation. Ten minutes after starting to accelerate towards the station, the engines cut out and the ship returned the more accustomed freefall. Several minutes later, Palomino received a message from the station, "Palomino, this is Katringa station. We do not have sufficient LHyd reserves at this time to refuel you. Engineering estimates that three days will be required to process the necessary amount of fuel. Sorry." Drake was silent following the message. Durand and the CommTech looked silently at their commanding officer, waiting for her response to this unexpected development. After a slight pause, Drake pressed a button on her the station pad and looked into the face of the Katringa CommTech on her #2 screen. "Katringa, this is Commander Drake of the Palomino, we are seriously short of fuel and demand immediate refueling. Palomino out." Touching another button on her panel Drake's voice echoed through the ship. "All hands, department head meeting in the wardroom, five minutes." Pressing another button, "Engineering, this is Drake. Have Chief Sanchez report to the Wardroom as well." Drake switched off before she could hear the complete reply. Turning to her left, she faced the Scan station. "Scan, I want a DETAILED scan of all ships in system. No telemetry, I want direct scan information about everything out there. I want the results yesterday." After receiving the acknowledgement, Drake turned to Ltjg. Durand and spoke quietly, "There is definitely something wrong. Earth Alliance regulations require all outposts to maintain an emergency fuel supply for use by our ships. Make sure we get there before anyone else." Releasing her safety harness, Drake stood and exited the bridge through the iris door behind her chair. Following the quick departure of their CO, the members of the bridge crew looked at each other, silent questions passing between them. Exactly five minutes later, Cdr Drake entered the oversized closet that served the Palomino as a wardroom. Moving quickly to her seat at the head of the table, she sat and looked at the assembled faces before her. She had only been in command of the Palomino for a week. She was still trying to match personnel files to the actual people, something she had never been very good at. At the other end of the small table sat LCdr David Purduski, her XO. To his immediate left sat the Star Fury Wing Commander, Lt Susan Ivanova. To her left, and a little closely Drake noticed, 1stLt Andrew McNeil of the Marine force sat at attention. Next to McNeil and to Drake's right, sat Chief Sanchez. On Drake's left sat the Chief Engineer, Lt San Ho Ling. To his left sat the new Weapons Officer, Ltjg Constance ben Sha'l. Finally, to her left and to Purduski's right sat the Operations Officer Lt Maria Gonzales. Having completed her quick, mental survey of her command staff, Drake got down to business. "We seem to have a problem with the Katringa Station." Several of the officers shifted uncomfortably. "When we entered this system, the first transmission from the station did not include a message from Major Sanchez to his niece here. As a result, we told Katringa that we needed to refuel and were coming in. They refused. As you know, Earth Alliance regulations require that all EA outposts and stations have an emergency fuel supply available for Earth Force warships. This is a hold over from The War. We may not be Jump capable, but we are still a warship. It is against the law for Katringa to refuse us refueling rights. "Commander Purduski thinks that something is wrong and I agree. Chief what can you tell us about the Major and this station?" Chief Sanchez sat up a little straighter, "Well sir, my uncle Paulo has been the station commander for about five years. He has been assigned to stations all his career. He would not refuse refueling if there wasn't a VERY good reason." Next, Drake turned to her Ops Officer, "Ops, what has the scan shown us?" "We are still checking one of the inbounds, but from what we have so far, there are two miners station-keeping in the belt. Inbound Alpha is a registered cargo hauler, the Scheherazade. We have encountered her before in this area. We should have word on the other inbound soon. I told my people to deliver it as soon as they get it." Nodding, Drake turned her attention to her Wing Commander, "Lieutenant, what is the status of the Star Furies?" Ivanova straightened in her chair with a slight look of surprise on her face, "Well sir, all four Furies are ready to go and can be launched in less than five minutes, as usual." Before Drake had a chance to respond the door from the hallway opened and an enlisted man entered and quietly gave Lt Gonzales several datapads. He exited quickly. Gonzales looked at the top pad for a few seconds and then said,"We have a problem." Passing the pad down the line of officers to her CO she continued, "It seems that inbound Bravo is not one, but two ships travelling very close together. The drive signature wasn't clean and Petty Officer Johanssen ran a detailed spectral study. It seems that there are actually two ships, about the same mass, travelling together. Initial estimates are that the ships are separated by less than a kilometer. Both are moving at the same speed and will begin decelerating to the station in about three hours." "I also have the helm update," she started passing the next datapad, "Helm figures that we will need about thirty minutes at maximum acceleration on each end to beat them in." Gonzales looked at her CO expectantly. Normal EF procedures only allowed for maximum acceleration under "times of extreme duress". After a long pause, Drake spoke to her Ops Officer, "Lets do it." Reaching to the CommPatch on the back of her right hand, Drake said, "Bridge, this is Drake. On my authority, maximum acceleration is authorized. Set course for Katringa, use whatever acceleration is necessary to get us there before those inbound ships." After getting the acknowledgement from Ltjg Durand, Cdr Drake turned back to her officers, "Gonzales, I want your best pilot at the helm when we get close to the station. Ivanova, I plan on detaching the Star Furies about an hour before we go into docking orbit, be ready. Lieutenant Sha'l, I want the weapons systems on standby, starting now. Don't do anything that would give away our intentions, but have everyone in place. McNeil, meet with me after the first burn and we will discuss troop deployment. "If there are no questions?" Drake waited for a few seconds, then rose and headed through the door to the galley to get a cup of coffee. Overhead, the first warning klaxon sounded. As the door closed behind her, Drake heard Ivanova whisper to McNeil, "Max acceleration, I'll never get the lumps out of my mattress now." Kathy couldn't help but smile. Chapter 3 There was an audible sigh, and more than a few groans, from the bridge crew as the engines powered down and the acceleration eased. Commander Katherine Drake took her time about getting out of the acceleration couch she was strapped into. After thirty minutes at 10 gees, the body needed time to recover. Sitting up slowly, she felt a twinge in her lower back, "Must be getting old," she thought to herself. There was a time, not so long ago, when she could handle an hour at max gee and be ready to pull a double shift, but not any more. At the console in front of her, the revised status of the other vessels in the Katringa system was displayed. The Scheherezade was about sixteen hours away from the station. Inbound Bravo was just over six hours out. The Palomino was within two hours of decelerating into station orbit for docking. Ltjg. Chris Durand sat up slowly. He felt a stickiness on his face and self-consciously wiped off the small trickle of blood coming from his nose. Glancing around to see if anyone had noticed, he caught sight of Cdr. Drake turning away. 'Great, now she thinks I'm a wimp,' he thought to himself. Turning his attention to the other people on the bridge, he noticed that the CommTech was holding his right wrist against his chest while trying to operate his panel one handed. Addressing the injured CommTech, he said, "You better call up a relief and visit the Doc, that wrist might be broken." Nodding his acknowledgement, the tech turned back to his panel and began the embarrassing task of calling his relief. Glancing at the clock on his consol, Durand noted with some relief that his watch would be over in about half an hour. He wasn't very hungry and a shower sure sounded good right now, even if it was sonic. Cdr Drake eased herself out of her chair and floated slowly towards the irised door off the bridge. Stopping herself at the exit, she turned back to face Durand and said, "Mister Durand, please see me in my quarters after your watch." Durand mumbled an acknowledgement, thinking of all the things she could have seen him do wrong during this watch. Sighing to himself, he turned his attention to the complex task of getting every station updated for the watch relief. Twenty minutes later, after receiving three additional medical alerts, the on-coming watch section began to filter in. The normally quiet bridge was filled with the murmurs of watch relief. Durand was able to pick up bits and pieces of conversations while he prepared for the arrival of his own relief. "I hear we might have some fun later." "They have sliders and fries for lunch." "God, I wish I could have taken a shower before coming up here." "Believe me Smitty, so do we..." General laughter followed that remark from the direction of the Scan station. That laughter died quickly, however, when the ArmsTech entered, quietly took her seat in front of the Weapons Console and began her system checks. Finally, Durand's relief arrived. Ten minutes later, he was floating outside his CO's cabin, gathering himself for the coming confrontation. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. From within the room he heard the muffled, "Enter." The door opened and Durand slowly entered. "I wanted to talk to you about your watch." Cdr Drake said softly. Durand stood quietly, contemplating the end. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior on the bridge. I should have gone through you rather than ordering your bridge crew around myself. I'm sorry." Durand was stunned into silence for a second. "Uhm, that's OK sir, I understand." he finally got out. "No it wasn't OK. Sometimes I forget that I'm not a Duty Officer any more. We have the chain-of-command to prevent exactly this sort of thing. It won't happen again." "Yes sir." "One more thing, I would like you to be on the bridge when we go into station orbit. I want you as my Junior Duty Officer as soon as we burn down." "Yes sir!" Durand couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he realized exactly what his new CO was telling him. She wanted HIM to be on the bridge for all the action! With a slight smile, Drake asked, "Any questions?" "No sir, thank you sir." Durand sputtered out and spun around, almost lost his equilibrium, recovered, and exited the CO's stateroom with an attempt at dignity. When the door had closed behind him, a huge smile broke out on his face and he pumped his fist in the air, "YES!" Looking around, Chris composed himself and headed down the passageway towards the wardroom. Sliders and fries sounded very good right now. Inside the small cabin, Cdr Drake could hear the muffled elation from her junior officer outside her door. With a smile, she returned to reading the updated scan data of the station. It seemed that all was not as it seemed at the station either. One of the docked ships did not completely match the given ID information. The ship was IDing as a bulk freighter with no weapons. But, the detailed scan performed by Johanssen indicated the presence of several weapons turrets, possibly even PPGs. Inbound Bravo was definitely two ships, now designated Bravo-1 and Bravo-2. Both about 20 KiloTons. Energy readings indicated that they were fairly heavily armed. Luckily, neither ship indicated the presence of fighters. Ivanova's Furies should be able to handle them. Drake now had a pretty good idea of what was going on at the station. But the question still remained WHY? This system was economically unimportant, except for it's location. The station itself wasn't exactly portable. What would anyone want with this place? And who were THEY? From the small terminal on her desk, a light came on and a buzz sounded. Putting down the datapad, she answered the call. "Commander Drake, this is Petty Officer Johanssen." came the voice on the other end of the speaker, "I would like permission to man the AuxScan station on the Emergency Bridge to continue working on Inbound Bravo. I have already talked to Lieutenant Gonzales and she has given her permission." Drake was impressed with this young man's enthusiasm, not many people would want to spend their off-time working like that. Speaking into the comm unit, "Petty Officer Johanssen, you have my permission, inform the Duty Officer." Returning again to her report, Drake noticed that lunch was almost over, and if she wanted to eat, she better hurry. Putting the report back into it's holder on her desk, she rose and floated out of her cabin towards the wardroom. In the darkened emergency bridge, Petty Officer Second Class Thorvald Johanssen, Thor to his friends, ran a quick systems check on the AuxScan station. He then began a very detailed look at the readings coming from Inbound Bravo. On a secondary screen he began reviewing records in an attempt to match the readings he was getting with a known ship class. Neither Bravo-1 nor Bravo-2 registered as the freighter they both claimed to be. Thor sighed, this could take a while. Chapter 4 Petty Officer Thor Johanssen burst onto the bridge and frantically moved towards the DO station where Commander Katherine Drake sat reviewing procedures. "Commander! I gotta talk to you before we burn down!" Desperately, the ScanTech tried to catch his breath. Drake waited quietly. Finally, his breathing almost normal, Johanssen began his report. "I did a comparison scan of Inbound Bravo. I have ID'd the ships. They're Narn." Around the bridge, conversations died as everyone listened to the pale Tech. LCdr David Purduski, the XO, looked at his CO. "But, when I did a lifescan, all I could pick up was humans." continued Johanssen, "I ran the scan three times, always the same. Human." Purduski spoke up from the AuxEngineering station, stating what everyone on the bridge was thinking. "Raiders." Drake nodded her head and waited for the young man to continue. "I identified the ships. They are Narn freighters, F'Chor Class, but they've been heavily modified. That's what took so long to figure out. They have military engines and weapons. No fighters though. Only fusion lasers and missiles. I have the details here." Johanssen handed his CO a datapad and waited. Drake glanced down at the datapad. She didn't really need to read it, Johanssen had given her just about everything that she needed to put the final pieces of the puzzle together. Raiders. "Launch Fighters!" The command came over the small speaker installed in Lt Susan Ivanova's flight helmet. Almost immediately she felt acceleration forcing her back into the cushions of her couch as her SA-23B Star Fury, the Russian Eagle, separated from the Palomino and moved away into the cold blackness of space. In the pit of her stomach, Susan could feel the rising thrill of open space. Inside, she could feel the joy of piloting her own ship through the deep dark. Realizing how much she had missed that feeling, Susan luxuriated in her return to space. Automatically, Ivanova checked the locations of the other Star Furies under her command. "Theta-1 to all fighters, form up and report." Inside her helmet came the series of replies: "Theta-2 on station" Ivanova noted that her wingman had positioned his Star Fury just below and behind hers. "Theta-3, in position," came the reply from the lead fighter in the other pair of Star Furies. "Theta-4, ready," came the soft female voice over the speaker. Flipping a switch, Ivanova reported to the ship, "Palomino, Theta Wing has completed launch sequence. We are moving into covering positions." To her Wing, "Alright people, let's DO IT!" Ivanova's fingers danced over the throttle controls. She rotated her fighter then activated all thrusters. Silently, her wingman followed. The other pair of Furies peeled off and headed to the other side of the station. The scan image of the Katringa station and surrounding space was visible on Ivanova's V-HUD display. Moving her Star Fury into position, Ivanova rotated her ship to get a better look at the station and the Palomino below her. Through her earphone, Ivanova heard the reports that the other fighters were in position. From the outside, the Eagle on the nose of her Star Fury looked as if it was hovering in space, claws outstretched, ready to grasp it's prey. On the bridge of the Palomino, Drake was strapped in to her seat at the Duty Officer's station. The ship had gone to battle stations as soon as the orbiting burn had been completed. On the main viewer, the 3-D image of the Katringa station was shown, along with relevant tactical information, ship locations and nearby asteroids. The station was a small EA outpost. Standard crew of five hundred with the capacity to dock six vessels at once. The station's central core was a cylinder connected to the habitation ring by six cables. The station resembled nothing so much as a large, rotating bicycle tire. The docking bays were located at the top and bottom of the core section. Currently, three ships were docked at the station. The two ships docked at the upper bay were clearly cargo vessels. Essentially, these ships were nothing but large truss structures with engines at one end and a habitation module mounted at the other. Cargo containers of various shapes and sizes were mounted to the truss. The third ship, docked at the lower bay, was definitely not a cargo ship, at least not any longer. The multiple weapons emplacements and oversized engines showed it's true nature. This vessel was also clearly not of Earth design. The third vessel, like the two incoming freighters, was a Narn ship. Raiders. Following the routine, and entirely automatic, docking maneuvers, the Palomino sat nestled in the lower docking bay, across from the Raider ship. Automated systems connected the station's facilities to the matching ports on the ships hull. While the crew of the Palomino sat tensely and waited, the machines completed the docking sequence. The Katringa station authorities had not wanted to let the Palomino dock. However, after a little bullying, they had relented. The big question now was, why and what did the Raiders have planned for the warship? Sensors reported that there were only about fifty people moving around on the entire station. Most of the people were concentrated in C-and-C, on the Raider ship and near the Palomino's docking bay. Why no one else was moving around was still a mystery however. Cdr Drake flipped a switch on her station. "First Lieutenant, are your people in place?" "Yes sir. Awaiting your orders." "Get your people through the airlock. Then we wait. I plan on letting the Raiders make the next move. Be ready to get on to that station in a moments notice." So, the crew of the Palomino waited. Five minutes passed. Ten. McNeil reported that two of his squads had made the trip around the station hub and were at the entrance to the unused bay. Drake turned slightly and addressed Ltjg Chris Durand. "This is the tricky part. When the marines open that airlock, a warning light will go off in C-and-C. If they pull there people back to cover the other bay. We go in from here and catch them in the crossfire. If they stay where they are, we will let our people come up behind them and catch them in a crossfire. It all depends on what they do." In the relative silence of the Command and Control center of the Katringa station. Corporal Lou Welch sat at the Security station. One of the Raiders hovered over him. Only four station personnel were in C-and-C, while about a dozen Raiders wandered around. The Raider commander had not been pleased when the Palomino showed up and ruined his little trap. Welch didn't know what they were going to do now, but it looked like the Raiders were planning on fighting it out with the ship. Almost all of the Raiders were down in the docking bay where the Palomino sat. Welch didn't know if the ship knew there was something wrong on the station, but God knows, the Major had done everything he could to give them clues. Welch just hoped the commander of the Palomino knew what she was doing. On the console in front of him, Welch noticed the access light for docking bay five come on. Glancing quickly at the Raider above him, Welch noticed that the guy seemed more interested in what was on the main viewer than in what was on the panel he was supposed to be watching. Welch shifted his position slightly, apparently to ease cramped muscles. Incidentally, his left arm covered the offending light. Lou figured that the marines could use all the help they could get. Sergeant Jason Motambo waited patiently. Either the mountain was coming to Mohammed, or Mohammed was going to the mountain. After five minutes, with no sign that the Raiders knew of their presence, he quietly led the two squads of marines under his command through the docking bay. Once inside the station, Alpha squad took up covering positions while Beta squad removed their Vacc-Suits. Quickly, the two squads changed positions and within five minutes, all of the marines were ready for action. Holding up the first and last finger of his left hand, Motambo rotated his wrist several times. Then he pointed to Beta squad and flicked his wrist. Advancing squad-by-squad in overlapping runs, the marines made there way around to the end of the bay area. As they approached the massive doors that separated their bay from the one that their ship was attached to, the troops became extra cautious. Nodding his head to Beta squad's leader, Motambo proceeded through the door alone. Behind him, he sensed both squads spreading out and taking cover. Inching his way through the doorway, Motambo noted the positions of the Raiders on the other side. 'Amateurs,' He thought to himself as he analysed their defenses and made a quick head count. The two dozen Raiders were all facing the docking bay airlock, surrounding it in a rough semi-circle. No rear guard had been posted, therefore, no one noticed Motambo's marines. Motambo signaled the Comm Operator to send the "In Position and Standing-By" signal. The operator turned to the heavy electronics she was carrying and sent the encrypted signal back to the ship. The signal, sent in nanosecond pulses of tachyons, was almost undetectable. However, the message was limited to about eight bytes of information, barely enough to send simple messages. Motambo and the rest of the marines settled down and waited to see what the Raiders would do next. Alarm sirens sounded throughout the ship. The voice of the Palomino's computer could be heard echoing through the passageways, "WARNING. Airborne. Contamination. Detected. All personnel. Don emergency breathers. WARNING. Airborne. Contamination. Detected..." The message droned on. In a flurry, everyone on the ship reached into a nearby cabinet and put on a Mark IX Emergency Air Breathing Unit. The Tech at the AuxControl station worked furiously for several minutes then reported to his CO, "Sir. The contamination came through the air lines from the station. I have isolated the line. Recommend we flush the entire air system." Without hesitation, Drake gave him permission. Throughout the ship the background noise of the ventilators changed pitch as the system aligned itself to flush the air through the emergency chemical filters. "Looks like the Raiders have made their move." she said quietly. ================================================================== Virtually Yours, Richard Hazlewood RHAZLWD@KUHUB.CC.UKANS.EDU Do not assume malice when stupidity will suffice. -Flame War Comment From RHAZLWD@KUHUB.CC.UKANS.EDUFri Feb 10 16:03:43 1995 Date: Fri, 10 Feb 1995 12:39:04 -0600 (CST) From: Richard Hazlewood To: Creative Babylon5 Subject: REPOST: Katringa 5-7/7 Hi All, Here is the other three chapters... ======================================================================== AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place in 2253, six years after the Earth/Minbari War, four years before the Babylon 5 Station became operational, and about two months before Babylon 4 disappeared. Comments and criticisms are welcome. DISCLAIMER: This story is copyrighted by Richard Hazlewood. All rights will be transferred to Babylonian Productions Inc. upon request. NOTICE: Chapters 1 through 4 are available upon request. I know that there is no true up and down in space. I have used these terms anyway since most people will understand what I mean. Think of it as looking at it on a TV screen. ================================================================= THE KATRINGA BELT by Richard Hazlewood Chapter 5 "Somna gas." The Tech told Cdr Katherine Drake. "They tried to get us with somna gas." "I guess we know why the station is so quiet." Muttered LCdr David Purduski through the pickup from the Emergency Bridge. Drake could only nod her head in agreement. It did look as if they had determined how the Raiders had taken over the station. A handful of canisters of this gas released around a station as small as Katringa and most of the people on board would be unconscious before they even heard the alarm. Flipping a switch on her panel, Drake spoke into her comm unit, "First Lieutenant, we have determined that the Raiders are using somna gas. Make sure your people take the necessary precautions." Almost as an afterthought, she said, "Also, please review with your marines the rules regarding hostages. We don't want any unnecessary casualties." Near the airlock connecting the Palomino to the station, 1stLt Andrew McNeil, Earth Force Marines, acknowledged his CO then muttered under his breath, "Damn Spacers! Can't they leave us alone and let us do our job?" The sergeant standing next to him looked over and gave him a sly smile, "Don't worry sir. After ten years, you almost get used to it." Looking at the woman next to him, McNeil asked, "Do you really?" "No, not really. But it sounds good. "Don't worry sir. I reviewed the rules of engagement with respect to hostages while you were meeting with Commander Drake earlier. Everyone knows when to shoot and when not to." McNeil nodded, a slight smile on his face. Turning to his troops, McNeil informed everyone about the somna gas and then checked his own breather. "Final equipment check people. I expect to get the word any minute." Around him, the dozen marines all checked their PPG rifles and protective armor one more time. Outside the station, Lt Susan Ivanova had been monitoring the Palomino's communications. She knew about the gas, she also knew that there was nothing she could do about it. Sometimes being a fighter pilot had it's drawbacks. She worried about Andy. She also knew that this was his job. Susan just wished she could be there. Checking her V-HUD display, Ivanova noted that the two inbound Raiders were almost in position to begin their orbiting burn. Once they had slowed to orbital speeds, the Star Furies would engage them and keep them away from the station. In the mean time, Ivanova waited. On the station, Sergeant Jason Motambo surveyed the Raiders spread out in front of him. His two squads had been in position for about fifteen minutes and not a single Raider had turned around and noticed them. Amateurs. Suddenly, a lone woman came through the doors separating the docking area that the marines were in from the Raider ship. Seeing the marines in front of her, she froze for a second. In that second, she died. The rear guard spotted her as soon as she rounded the curve of the station's hub and opened fire. He fired one shot. The super-heated Helium penetrated her chest cavity, vaporizing a large portion of her chest and stomach area. The remains of the plasma stream passed completely through her body and dissipated in the bay area behind her. The impact of the plasma knocked her body back almost three meters. She was dead before she hit the ground. However, the sound of the blast had alerted several of the nearby Raiders. Turning around they realized that there were a dozen heavily armed and armored people right behind them. With a yell, several opened fire on the marines. The resulting firefight was loud, swift and bloody. Motambo slapped his CommPatch with his right hand and shouted one word, "NOW!!" On board the Palomino, the marines waiting at the airlock pushed through to the station. Their bodies pressed close together, the marines rushed into the docking bay and fanned out. They swiftly moved left and right to various parts of the room in an apparently random fashion that was, in fact, a perfectly choreographed way to quickly spread them throughout the room with a minimum of confusion and interference from each other. The Raiders were caught between two forces. They were out gunned and could only protect themselves from one enemy at a time. If they tried to take cover from one group, their backs were exposed to the other. They were trapped. Three of the Raiders, seeing that the battle was over before it had even begun, tried to run through the door separating the Palomino's bay from that of their own ship. Almost simultaneously, two of the Raiders were hit by PPG fire and fell. The third, burned and bleeding from several near misses, managed to get through the doorway and behind the wall. He made a dash for the protection of his own ship's airlock. As he reached the door, a blast took him in the left side. His hip and most of his stomach area were seared by the super-heated Helium. Covered in his own blood, the Raider somehow managed to get through the door and onto his own ship, collapsing as the heavy airlock door closed, protecting him from further harm. McNeil quickly surveyed the remains of the recent battle. His medics were seeing to the few injuries sustained by the marines. Fortunately, there had been no fatalities. The thick ablative armor worn by the marines had protected them very well against the lower powered PPG pistols used by the Raiders. Several of the marines were already spreading out to cover the other docking bays and looking through the carnage for any surviving Raiders. McNeil ordered Delta squad to cover the airlock to the Raider ship. Gathering his forces around him, McNeil gathered his remaining four squads and set them to their preassigned tasks. Reaching onto the back of his right hand, McNeil contacted the Palomino. "Palomino, this is McNeil. We have secured the lower docking area. Minor casualties. We are proceeding to C-and-C and engineering. McNeil out." Before the connection could close, McNeil heard Drake's voice, "First Lieutenant, I'm coming down there. I will join your forces going to the bridge." The connection beeped closed and McNeil swore. "Who the HELL does she think she is!?! Dammit, and I can't be coddling a non-combatant. She'll get herself killed!" Sergeant Allison Moritsugu placed a hand on her platoon leaders arm. "Calm down sir. I've worked with Commander Drake before, she knows what she's doing. You won't have to coddle her...much." Looking over to his top sergeant, McNeil nodded and then silently waited the arrival of his CO. Floating above the station, Ivanova saw no sign of the bloody fight that was going on just a few dozen kilometers away. Suddenly and without warning, the Raider ship pulled away from the station taking chunks of the surrounding structure with it. Bits of debris began spinning away from the hub. The Raider ship, with most of the station's airlock still attached, pulled away and rotated around, trying to orient it's weapons systems on the defenseless Palomino. While she was shouting a frantic warning to the almost helpless vessel below, Ivanova activated her thrusters and weapons systems. As her Star Fury streaked toward the ships and station, she could see two of her other Star Furies open fire on the Raider vessel. The first volley was aimed at the weapons emplacements closest to the Palomino. Several gun turrets exploded. As the Furies came around for a second pass, Ivanova and her wingman arrived to join the fray. Diving towards the engine section. Ivanova unleashed a barrage of weapons fire at the powerplant. Below and behind her, her wingman aimed for the thrusters. Sweeping up over the ship, Ivanova continued firing, hitting several weapons pods as she sailed over the Raider. The crew of the Palomino were doing there best to protect themselves. Several of the ship's weapons turrets were oriented in the general direction of the Raider. The ship fired what weapons it could. Several shots hit the Raider, none caused major damage. After passing the habitation section, Ivanova quickly rotated her Fury 180 degrees and activated her thrusters. The massive acceleration threw her back into her acceleration couch and almost made her black out. Reoriented on the habitation section, Ivanova again fired, this time blowing a large hole in the structure near the bridge. Her wingman, a split second behind her, saw the explosion and was able to alter his aim slightly so that his shot hit in the same place as Ivanova's, thereby increasing the damage. The other pair of Star Furies meanwhile, had continued their assault on the weapons turrets. Several Raider shots did manage to come fairly close to the twisting, turning Star Furies. But nothing actually hit the agile craft. After a second pass, the Raider ship all of the turrets had been destroyed, the ship was defenseless against the Star Furies. Ivanova ordered the attack halted and called for the Raider ship to surrender. In response to Ivanova's call, the Raider ship rotated again and tried to accelerate away from the station. Only two of it's four thrusters were working and large portions of the exterior seemed to be without power, but the ship still tried to escape. Not waiting for permission from the Palomino, Ivanova led the three other Star Furies in pursuit. The Raider ship had no real chance of escaping the faster Star Furies. Within a few seconds, all four Star Furies were keeping pace with the Raider ship and Ivanova demanded their surrender a second time. When she got no response, Ivanova tried a third time. This time, the Raider ship responded by changing course and trying to ram her Star Fury. Ivanova easily avoided the larger and much slower vessel. "Open Fire." She ordered. All four Star Furies concentrated on the engineering section. After one pass, the remaining two thrusters flared out. After the second pass, the Raider was dead in space, all power lost. The internal gyros were no longer able to keep the vessel from tumbling out of control. Ivanova pulled her forces back and again demanded surrender. In a gigantic explosion, the Raider ship disintegrated before her eyes. Ivanova's window darkened momentarily, keeping the intense light from damaging her optic nerve, but she still saw a few spots before her eyes. Reacting quickly, she tried to avoid the debris flying towards her from the destroyed ship. Eventually, all of the debris passed her ship. All four Star Furies had been far enough away that they had not been seriously threatened by the explosion. Rotating her Fury around, Ivanova led her Wing back towards the station and their ship. Chapter 6 Commander Katherine Drake gagged as the airlock door cycled open. The stench from the seared and burning flesh was almost overpowering. Looking out over the docking bay, Drake saw a scene out of hell. Bodies, and pieces of bodies, lay strewn all over. Chunks of human flesh lay bubbling and smoking where human beings had been just a few minutes before. Choking back the bile that had risen in her throat, Drake moved on into the bay and allowed the Techs behind her to leave the airlock. As she advanced through the bay, approaching 1stLt Andrew McNeil, Drake heard someone behind her moan and retch. Keeping her head up, her eyes focused on McNeil, Drake moved passed the bodies and stopped in front of her Marine Officer. "Report First Lieutenant." She said, forcing her voice to be calm and level. "Sir. We have secured the entire docking bay. The Raiders are confined to their ship. I have Delta squad guarding their airlock. Two soldiers received minor burns, both will be able to continue with the mission. Twenty-seven Raiders dead, three wounded and ready to be transported to sickbay. One Raider managed to get onto the ship before the area was secured. Sorry about that." Drake took a moment to absorb the information. "Only three wounded First Lieutenant?" "Yes sir." McNeil could not entirely keep the pride out of his voice, "The wages of stupidity is death, and these folks paid the price." "Are any of the Raiders in condition to be...." Drake's question was interrupted by a sound that sent chills down her spine: hull breach. The alarm sirens and lights came on all over the docking bay. The massive doors separating the three docking bays began swinging closed. Through the doors leading to the Raider bay, Drake could see that a large section of the station around the airlock had been ripped away. From fifty meters away, Drake could feel the pull of the wind that was air escaping into space. Drake was helpless. She was forced to watch, in apparent slow motion, the desperate attempt of the four marines in the Raider bay to get to safety before the doors isolated the hole to space. The large marine who manned the semi-portable squad support weapon was farthest from the airlock. He immediately abandoned his position and dove through the closing door, scampered up and dashed to the side. Two others made a desperate run for the far door. Drake lost sight of them as the door in front of her continued to close. One marine, standing guard near the airlock never had a chance. She was sucked out into space. Her retreating body flailing around in agony as her skin boiled. The doors clanged shut and the reverberations echoed through the cavernous docking bays. Drake was paralyzed with shock. The idea of a ship pulling away from a station while still locked in place was almost unthinkable. Slapping the back of her wrist, Drake tried to warn the ship. "Palomino, this is Drake. The Raider ship has broken away from the station! Do whatever you have to to protect yourself." Through the open comm line, Drake could hear the frantic voices of the bridge crew as they tried to save there ship. Finally, after several tense and uninformative minutes, Ltjg Chris Durand said, "Commander, Lieutenant Ivanova's Wing has engaged the Raider ship. We are no longer in immediate danger. Do you need any assistance?" "No, we're fine here." Drake turned off her CommPatch. Turning to McNeil, she asked quietly, "Who was the marine?" "Private Sheila Anderson. She had only been on board a couple of months. She has a husband and two kids on Mars." Came the sad reply. McNeil absolutely hated loosing people. He always felt responsible some how. If he had only kept them farther from the airlock. If he had only realized that the Raiders were likely to pull something like this. If only.... Lieutenant Susan Ivanova shifted position in her Star Fury. Keeping a close eye on the long range scan, she also concentrated on the externally quiet station kilometers away. Listening to the reports of the carnage caused by the marines taking the docking bay, she shuddered. Somehow, when a ship exploded, the idea that there were people on board was more abstract that looking at a body somewhere. When she heard that one of the marines had been lost, she immediately ordered her wingman to search for the body. There was little real hope of recovering her body, but Susan had to try. On her long range scanner, Ivanova noticed that the two incoming Raiders had not begun the orbiting burn. In fact, they were accelerating away from the station. With a sinking feeling, Ivanova calculated their new course. The answer was what she expected. The remaining Raider ships were accelerating to the opposite Jump Gate. By moving across the system, they were able to use their existing speed to shorten the trip time to the distant Gate thereby reducing the chance that the Star Furies could catch them. Further calculations indicated that the Star Furies would only have about ten minutes to begin pursuing the ships if they were going to catch them before they entered hyperspace. Ivanova immediately asked the Palomino for permission to pursue. On board the Palomino, LCdr David Purduski had made his way from his normal battlestations assignment on the Emergency Bridge back to the main Bridge, taking command of the Palomino from the JDO. When he received the request by Ivanova to pursue the Raiders, he looked to his ScanTech. "Scan, can you verify the Raiders course?" "Only roughly. I think they are headed for the Jump Gate." Purduski was about to give permission to pursue when the ScanTech interrupted him. "SIR! The Raiders are going to pass VERY close to the Scheherezade! They will be within weapons range in less than an hour!" Purduski did not hesitate. "Ivanova! The Raiders are going after the Scheherezade! Get out there!" Hearing the almost frantic voice of her XO, Ivanova immediately moved her Star Fury around and applied maximum thrust. On her short range scanner, she noted with approval, that all three of the other Star Furies had broken off and were forming up on her accelerating ship, all without her having to say a word. McNeil sent Beta squad to escort the Techs to engineering. He led the remaining soldiers under his command, along with Drake and several more Techs, towards the Command and Control Center of the station. It took them about ten minutes to make their way through the hub of the station, out one of the transfer tubes and around the ring to C-and-C. Finally, the group reached the closed doors of the control center. The marines spread out to cover the area. Cdr Drake used the intercom mounted to the wall. "Command and Control, this is Commander Katherine Drake of the EAS Palomino. We have control of the rest of the station. Give yourself up now." Drake waited a couple of minutes for a response. When none was forthcoming, she again addressed the Raiders, "Raider commander, your ship has left the station without you. There is no way you can get off this station. Surrender now, don't make things worse than they already are." Finally, the Raiders responded. "Drake, we have hostages in here. If you try to come in here, we will start killing them!" The Raider's voice was hesitant and sounded scared. It seemed that whoever was in charge in C-and-C was not very high up in the Raider's command structure. Drake responded immediately, "We know that you have hostages. There is no way I'm going to let you out of here. If you kill those hostages, there will be nothing to stop us from killing everyone in there. Give it up, it's over." There was no response from the other side of the door. While this conversation had been going on, one of the Techs had been working on the door controls. "Sir, I think I can get the door open from here. They didn't use a security lock sequence." Drake thought about the situation. She knew that forcing the door would probably lead to the death of one or more of the hostages. At the moment, she wasn't willing to do that. McNeil had an idea. "What about the ventilation system? We could shut off the air to C-and-C. Then when everyone was unconscious, we could go in." "What about their breathers? When they gassed the station they must have been wearing some kind of breather." "All we found on the others were filter masks. They don't do much good when there isn't any air to breath." Drake thought about it. Since she couldn't think of a better solution she nodded to one of the Techs and he began working. While they were waiting for the Tech to complete the adjustments to the ventilation system, Drake received word of the destruction of the Raider ship. This was followed almost immediately by a report about the other two Raiders breaking off and heading for the Jump Gate, and possibly the Scheherezade. Knowing that the Raiders on the station knew the fate of their comrades, Drake allowed them to consider their situation for several more minutes, then she spoke to them again. "Raider commander, your ship is destroyed, the other ships have abandoned you. There is no way out. If you do not surrender immediately, we will have to take drastic action. Don't force me to do that." The Raider commander responded, "Drake, if you come in here I'll kill them! Here are our demands..." Drake cut him off, "No demands! You either surrender or you die. No other option is acceptable. You are trapped here. You know it and I know it. Surrender or else." Drake cut off the commlink. McNeil looked over at his CO, "You know they could start killing hostages." "I know, but I am not going to let them get out of this. We have them and I'm not letting them get away." The Tech indicated that he had completed the required modifications to the ventilators. Drake took a deep breath, said a silent prayer that the Raiders wouldn't do something stupid and gave her permission. The Tech connected a few wires inside one of the panels he had opened and pressed a button on his mini-computer. Inside C-and-C, the background hum of the ventilators grew quieter and then stopped completely. This was followed by a soft banging sound as the isolation valves slammed shut. Drake did not try to contact the Raiders again, if they were interested in surrendering, they knew how to get in touch with her. The Tech who had worked on the door now stood beside that door with a portable scanner in his hand. Suddenly, the Tech yelled, "Sir! I'm picking up weapons fire in there!" Drake ordered the marines into the room just a fraction of a second after they started through the door. Not taking any chances, McNeil had ordered an assault formation similar to the one used by the marines when they entered the docking bay. As soon as the door opened, the marines rushed the room, wearing their breathers, just in case. Quickly, they spread throughout the room, yelling and screaming for everyone to get down, creating as much confusion as possible. Drake stood in the doorway, PPG pistol in hand. Near the command chair, a lone Raider stood with a laser pistol pointed at the ground. About a dozen Raiders were scattered throughout the room. The Raider with the pistol dropped his weapon and shouted, "Hold your fire! We surrender!" The other Raiders slowly raised their hands. One young Raider looked around him with panic in his eyes. He started to grab for his pistol. Before he could get the pistol clear of the holster, three PPG blasts hit him and spread a large portion of his insides against the wall behind him. He died with a look of surprise on his face. The other Raiders meekly surrendered and the marines went through the group, searching people and collecting weapons. The four people wearing station uniforms were also searched and separated from the Raiders. McNeil nodded his head and Drake entered the room. Moving up to the command chair, she saw the smoking remains of what appeared to be a Raider on the deck, a large burn hole in the side of his head. The Raider who had apparently shot him spoke up, "The man was an idiot. I wasn't going to let that fool get us all killed for nothing." Drake surveyed the Raider and his comrades. They were a scruffy lot, she noted to herself. Most of them looked like refugees or losers dragged from some cesspool; however, a couple looked like they were military with their faded fatigues and general military bearing. Drake addressed the Raider, "What happened here?" "The idiot was going to start killing the hostages. I wasn't about to let him get us all killed for nothing, so I shot him." The last was said almost nonchalantly. Drake shuddered. McNeil ordered Gamma squad to take the prisoners to the security area and lock them up. The Raider keeping up a steady stream of dialog about how he had saved everyone as he left for the brig. Drake approached the station personnel. One officer, wearing Major's bars, came to attention and saluted. "Major Paulo Sanchez sir. I'm sure glad you people showed up." Sanchez explained how the Raiders had come on board twelve hours ago. They had gassed the station and then awakened these four in order to make it look like the station was operating normally. "Why did they come here?" Drake asked after the Major completed his report. "I don't know. They were planning some kind of trap, but against who, I don't know." Drake activated the communication system and notified the Palomino that everything was now under control. One of the Medics moved amongst the stationers, checking vital signs. One of the station Techs moved over to the main console and activated the main viewer. Together, Sanchez and Drake watched the unfolding scene on the main viewer. It looked like Ivanova had her hands full. Quietly, McNeil came up beside his CO and the station commander. Seeing the events on the screen, Andy gripped the back of the chair in front of him and whispered, "Susan, be careful." Chapter 7 Lt. Susan Ivanova had her hands full. Having chased the two Raider ships away from the station, Ivanova and the other Star Furies were trying to reach those ships before they reached the Scheherezade. Looking up to the infinite, Susan asked, "Why do you keep doing this to me? You do know that after the first five or six times, it stopped being funny don't you?" As usual, God had no reply. Ivanova double checked her calculations, again. There was no doubt, the Star Furies would be within weapons range of the Raiders at almost the exact same instant that the Raiders would be within range of the Scheherezade. The Raider ships had altered course to intercept the unarmed freighter. The slower freighter had tried to move away from the approaching vessels, but the large re-fitted engines on the Raider ships were too powerful for the freighter to outrun. The Raider ships were going too fast to make more than one quick pass by the freighter as they accelerated past on their way to the Jump Gate. But that one pass could be devastating. Ivanova was doing everything in her power to make those Raiders come after her and the other Star Furies rather than the helpless freighter. Approaching the two ships from below-left, Ivanova and her wingman fired their PPGs as soon as they were in range. The trailing Raider ship rotated around and brought it's main weapons to bear on the fighters. Their first shots were wide of the mark. Ivanova did not give them a chance to improve their aim. Orienting on the ship, Ivanova fired every weapon she had. Since she had closed range with the Raiders somewhat, one of her shots hit the trailing Raider amidship, nothing vital but she did get their attention. Soon, all four Star Furies were dodging and weaving, trying to avoid the almost continuous stream of laser fire from the Raider ship. Returning fire, Ivanova noted with satisfaction that most of her shots were hitting the ship. Some of those shots even appeared to hit vital areas. One of the laser turrets was hit and several hits on the habitation section had opened up a couple of areas of the ship to space. Suddenly, there was a large explosion behind and below her. The shock-wave from the explosion sent Ivanova's Star Fury into a vicious roll. Fighting for control, Ivanova saw that her wingman had been hit and his ship had exploded. The pilot had no chance to eject as his ship disintegrated around him. Ivanova had no time to mourn her friends death. Turning her attention back to the Raider ship, she activated all thrusters and made another pass, laser beams slicing through the space where her fighter had been just seconds before. While Ivanova continued her attack on the trailing Raider ship, the other pair of Star Furies concentrated on getting between the lead Raider ship and the Scheherezade. As the lead vessel started firing on the freighter, the two Star Furies made their run at the Raider ship, attempting to distract the Raiders and allow the Scheherezade to get out of range. All three Star Furies continued to pound on the two Raider ships. Due to the fact that the Scheherezade and the Raider ships were moving in opposite directions, the Raiders had a few firing window of only a few seconds. The freighter took some minor hits along the central truss, luckily nothing vital was hit. One cargo container, it's attaching mechanism damaged by a laser shot, broke free and went spinning off into space. Finally, after what seemed like days, but had in fact been only a few seconds, the Scheherezade was beyond weapons range of the Raider ships. The Scheherezade had run the gauntlet and survived. Ivanova and the other fighter pilots continued their assault on the Raider ships. The trailing ship had received the most damage and the Star Furies concentrated most of their fire on it. After several tense minutes, the main thrusters of the harassed ship flared out and the vessel stopped accelerating. The lead Raider ship continued to accelerate towards the Jump Gate; the Raiders were leaving their companions behind. Ivanova checked her fuel supply. Due to the limited on-board fuel capacity and the two battles she had fought, her Star Fury did not have sufficient fuel to continue the attack on the lead Raider ship and still be able to return the station. Filled with frustration, Ivanova ordered the other Star Furies to break off further attacks on the lead Raider ship and concentrate on the vessel they had already damaged. Besides, Ivanova had a score to settle with that Raider, and his name was Ltjg Mark Ashcroft. Ivanova rotated her fighter around and advanced on the hapless vessel. The ship appeared to be heavily damaged. The lights around the drive section were flickering and many of the laser turrets were damaged or destroyed. Ivanova ordered the Raiders to surrender, secretly hoping that they would not. After her last experience with a helpless Raider ship, Ivanova kept her Star Furies well away from the disabled vessel. Ivanova waited only a few seconds for a reply then ordered the Star Furies to resume the attack. After two passes over the damaged ship, all of it's external power failed, all remaining weapons emplacements were destroyed and huge chunks of the habitation section were bleeding air into space. The Star Furies pulled back and again Ivanova ordered the surrender of the Raiders. The reply came quickly this time. The Raiders surrendered. Ivanova ordered the other two Furies to stay with the damaged Raider ship while she escorted the Scheherezade to the station. The two fighters could do nothing about the damage to the Raider ship, however, and the station would have to send out a tug to bring them in. During the long, uneventful trip back to the station, Susan thought back over her year long friendship with her wingman. She remembered the first time they had met, he just out of flight school, she the surly veteran, his gentle attempts to make them more than just friends, his week-long silence when he had seen her kissing Andy outside that bar on Io last month. As the various memories of her friend bubbled through her consciousness, Susan realized that she had never told him how much she valued his friendship, she had never been able to reconcile their relationship following the events on Io. Ivanova said a silent goodbye to her friend, brushing the tears threatening to escape away. With an almost physical effort, Susan pushed all those unwanted feelings down into that little place inside her where she kept all things painful. Sighing softly, she ran through a complete systems check, for the fifth time. On board the Katringa station, McNeil was finally able to relax his grip on the chair. Susan, at least, was safe. Drake had noticed the intense interest that her Marine Commander had been paying to the activities of one particular Star Fury. She made a mental note to herself to have a talk with those two. She didn't want their personal relationship to interfere with their duties. "Commander," McNeil said, interrupting her train of thought, "I would like to go down to the brig and interrogate the Raiders. Maybe, our talkative friend can tell us just what the hell is going on here." Drake nodded and McNeil left C-and-C. Turning to Sanchez, Drake noticed that the Major was engrossed in the long and, to her, tedious process of restoring the station to normal operations. "Major, my people are at your disposal. Is their anything we can do to help?" While Sanchez outlined his recovery plan, Drake noticed that the last Raider ship had made it to the Jump Gate. With a flash and a red-orange swirl, the Raiders escaped into hyperspace. An hour later, just as the medics were waking up the last of the stationers and beginning to wake up the civilians, the Jump Gate through which the Raiders had escaped flashed and a large military transport emerged from hyperspace. As the ship's ID came up on the station's screens, Drake and Sanchez were able to put the final piece of the puzzle into place; now they knew why this had all happened. McNeil returned to C-and-C at about the same time. Seeing the incoming transport, he nodded to himself and made his report. The Raiders were planning on hijacking the military transport. The ship contained the final shipment of weapons for the almost completed Babylon 4 defense grid. The ship was carrying a half a dozen pulse cannons and over two hundred interceptor missiles. Those types of items were worth millions of credits, and could be sold on any of a hundred worlds. Apparently, the two Raider ships that had been disguised as one had planned on luring the transport into range and then boarding it. Both Raider ships had been full of troops ready to take over the unsuspecting transport. The Raiders on the station were there to ensure that the transport did not suspect anything before the attack and then cover the escape route before leaving the sleeping station themselves. Drake thought the trap was ingenious, but she wasn't sure the plan would have worked even if the Palomino had not come along. Drake noted that the military transport was also carrying three platoons of marines. Considering how ineffective the Raiders on the station had been in stopping her one platoon, she could only assume that the Raiders on the other ships were better trained to handle a force three times as larger. Luckily, she, and the transport, would never have to find out. Interrupting her train of thought, Major Sanchez spoke up from his command chair, "Commander, could I interest you in a cup of coffee in my office while we start filling out the first of our many reports about this mess?" Drake hesitated. "It's Jamaican Blue Mountain." "REAL coffee?" asked Drake incredulously. Smiling, Kathy said, "Paulo, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." The End ================================================================= McNeil's line about the wages of stupidity credited to Master Gunnery Sergeant Horace Applewhite, USMC. Virtually Yours, Richard Hazlewood RHAZLWD@KUHUB.CC.UKANS.EDU Do not assume malice when stupidity will suffice. -Flame War Comment