From pl6a4bnb@swansea.ac.ukMon May 8 19:10:43 1995 Date: Sat, 8 P E G A S U S M a i l 2000 03:43:08 GMT0BST From: Nick Barlow To: babylon5-creative@netcom.com Subject: Round Robin: "Reaper" - Part 1 This is the first part of the B5- Creative Round Robin (RR) story - basically one writer writes the first part, another writes the next and so on and so forth until the end. This story takes place in Babylon 5's second season, after the episode "Hunter, Prey" ************ REAPER ************ Part 1 by Nick Barlow At times, Londo Molari almost believed the propaganda saying that humans were an offshoot of the Centauri. After all, they seemed to have such a knack for inventing games that he could win and, more often, large amounts of money on. These thoughts normally came about at times like these, when he was winning in the Casino, surrounded by a happy crowd and with a drink in his hand. _The mark of a truly civilized society_, he thought, _is the quality of it's gambling. I wonder if the Vorlons have any good games?_. He had a frivolous thought of asking Ambassador Kosh this question at a Council meeting but decided that it wouldn't be a good idea. "Ambassador Molari!" He looked up to see the source of this disturbance, knowing from the tone of the voice that it could only be his assistant Vir. "Why do you always have to disturb me when I am enjoying myself, Vir? Do you take some great pleasure out of interrupting my pleasure?" Vir looked flustered for a moment but soon regained his composure. "I am sorry to disturb you but there is someone requesting to see you, Ambassador. One you would no doubt deem to be important." "Who?" asked Londo impatiently, not wanting to waste his time with more hangers on requesting the help of the rising star of Centauri politics. "That strange human." "Mister Morden?" Vir nodded. The mere mentioning of that name gave Londo a chill. He knew that all of his current standing with back on Centauri Prime could be attributed to this man and his mysterious "associates". Something about him almost terrified Londo and this was not a feeling that he liked to have. "Well then, I suppose I should go and see him." He picked up his money bag and began to head out of the Casino, having now lost his good mood. Suddenly, there was a commotion near the doorway. A lurker had staggered into the room and was struggling through the crowd of people there. There was seemingly nothing special about him - average height and build - but his eyes were almost blazing with insanity. Londo watched as he seemingly threw off all those who tried to stop him. His thoughts were not for those injured in his attack's but the for himself - the madman was heading straight for him. He took a step back, placing Vir between himself and the assailant, frantically glancing around for Garibaldi or any of his Security staff. Then, just as suddenly as the commotion had started, the attack ended. He watched as the lurker stopped and began, slowly, to fall forward, clutching at himself. Curiosity got the better of Londo, and he again moved in front of Vir to see what had happened. The lurker had fallen to the floor and was undergoing some sort of fit. "HELP ME!" he screamed, as his body was shaken by another convulsion. Then, his eyes caught Londo's and held them. "Please..." he said, staring directly at him. Before Londo could act, another convulsion shook his body and then he lay absolutely still. Londo stepped back from the body as members of the crowd moved towards him. One of them put their hand to his neck and then withdrew it almost instantly. "He's dead." she said. Londo sat down, shocked by the events that had occurred. "Vir, find Mister Morden and tell him that I will be delayed. Ask him to come and see me," he paused, "later." Autopsies were never one of Stephen Franklin's favourite medical tasks. For him, they always seemed like an admission of failure, an acknowledgement that whatever his medical skills he was not infallible. He began analysing the data on his screen as the automatic machines began probing the dead body. Normally, the death of a lurker would not warrant an autopsy, but the fact that this on had died at the feet of the Centauri Ambassador made it a higher priority than usual. The circumstances of his death also made Franklin curious. The strange mania followed by the sudden death could be a new syndrome and his background in experimental xenobiology made him curious. After all, he had come to Babylon 5 in order to discover more about medicine. The screen was beginning to reel off rows of numbers and charts, showing every aspect of the dead man's health. He started to separate it off, grouping the anomalous figures off on their own, hoping to find some pattern that would explain the mysterious death. His Link sounded. "Doctor, this is Captain Sheridan. Can you meet me in my office in five minutes? We have important matters to discuss." "On my way, Captain." The tone Sheridan had said "we" in indicated that there were going to be more people there than just him and the Captain. Given the recent events on the station, he figured it would be Ivanova and Garibaldi. He decided that the autopsy could wait while he went off to discover what Sheridan's "important matters" were. "I've received some information from an... associate in EarthDome." Sheridan said cautiously. "What?" asked Ivanova. "I only received a very garbled and confusing message. We were speaking on a public channel and thus she was trying to hint something to me rather than say it outright. Basically, the main statement was 'The reaper is coming to Babylon 5'. It was meant as a warning." He sat back in his chair and watched the reaction of the others. "I hate to sound stupid here," said Garibaldi, "but just what does that mean? Are we about to get a visit from a tall guy in a black hood, carrying a scythe?" "I have almost no idea." said Sheridan. "Almost?" Franklin asked. "I searched my files and found a small piece of information about a black project, codenamed Reaper. It dates from the time of the Battle of the Line." "What was it?" asked Ivanova. "That's just the problem. It was closed down almost instantly and marked out as being unworkable. All I can assume is that the project has been restarted, in some way, on Babylon 5. The problem is that I know nothing about Reaper's aims or what it actually achieved." "So, we're going to be looking around in the dark, trying to find something we know nothing about, while not letting anyone know that we're looking for it. Hey, my job was getting a little bit too easy." Garibaldi said, smiling slightly. "Exactly. But we need to be extra-vigilant to try and find out what it is. From what I've heard, this could be very important." They were interrupted by the chiming of Garibaldi's Link. "Chief, this is Zack. We've got another problem in Downbelow." "What sort of problem?" "It looks like a riot, Chief." "Just what I need. I'm on my way." He looked around at the others, "Duty calls." With that he left the room, heading for the lift. _Great_, he thought, _Just the kind of day you always want. A riot in Downbelow and strange dealings with Earth Force._ He got to the lift and began heading towards Downbelow, activating his Link again. "OK, Zack, give me the details." END PART 1 Ok, next writer step to the plate... ______________________________________________________________________ Nick Barlow \ Babylon 5 - telnet chris.ntu.ac.uk 4040 pl6a4bnb@swansea.ac.uk\--------------------------------------------- -------------------------\ "The avalanche has already started, it is Alive in the Superunknown \ too late for the pebbles to vote." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It's a feel good hit for the entire family... WE HIT YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY - AND WE FEEL GOOD! From JoeFerrare@aol.comSat May 13 17:25:20 1995 Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 13:26:16 -0400 From: JoeFerrare@aol.com To: pl6a4bnb@swansea.ac.uk, babylon5-creative@netcom.com Subject: Round Robin: "Reaper" - Part 2 OK, gang, here it is, early and under budget. I left those weird boxes at the beginnings of the paragraphs because we can't tab the text over on the AOL mail software, and you have to know where the paragraphs start to understand who is speaking is some parts. If you can, replace each box with a return or a tab. Hope it doesn't distract too much. joe f. --------------------------------------- This is the second installment of the B5- Creative Round Robin (RR) story - basically one writer writes the first part, another writes the next and so on and so forth until the end. This story takes place in Babylon 5's second season, after the episode "Hunter, Prey" ************ REAPER ************ Part 2 by Joe Ferrare "Ever seen the vids of wildebeasts trying to cross that river in Africa, Chief?" Zack answered. "Wildebeasts? What the hell do wildebeasts in Africa have to do with Downbelow?" "That's exactly what it looks like down here. Like thousands of wildebeasts trying to get across the river, only the wildebeasts are lurkers and the river is the corridor out of Downbelow." Garibaldi shook his head. "I said give me details,' Zack, not metaphors." The lift slowed. Garibaldi stepped forward, only to pull up short when the door didn't open. A light on the panel lit, flickered and died. Soft pinging noises came from outside the lift tube. "What the --" Garibaldi said. The door slid open. Lurkers streamed by. There was a knot of them in front of the door, but it scattered when Garibaldi whipped out his PPG. In the clearing left by the frightened lurkers, Talia Winters wavered, oblivious to the mayhem. Her eyes rolled back into her head, then fluttered into focus. "Mr. Garibaldi..." her eyes rolled again. "Michael..." She started to crumple slowly toward the floor. Garibaldi leapt forward. "Ms. Winters," he said as he struggled to bring her fully upright again. "What happened?" Talia's eyes rolled back into focus, but Garibaldi could tell she saw nothing. "It's so dark," she said, and fainted. As Garibaldi struggled to hold up Talia's dead weight, he noticed she wasn't wearing her gloves. Zack appeared at his side. Together they wrestled Talia upright and held her they. They surveyed the scene. Hundreds, maybe thousands of humans and aliens formed a rushing river of flesh; it was impossible to get an accurate count because of the curves in the corridor. They pushed, trampled and struck each other in their blind rush to get away. The mob overran the ramshackle stalls that lined the corridor walls and filled the spaces between every legitimate business and facility. Garibaldi saw shopkeepers standing in makeshift doorways, only to have their jerry-rigged shop tumble down around them. Amazingly, the mob drove on, ignoring the goods that fell to the floor. The sound of breaking glass cut through the fear and sweat stench until Garibaldi was almost overcome. It was only because the lift was slightly out of the way -- and because Garibaldi and Zack waved their PPGs menacingly -- that the crowd didn't overrun the three of them "Jesus, you weren't kidding," Garibaldi said. "I wish I was. What're we going to do?" "Do you know what started this?" "Something about a crazy woman," Zack said. "She apparently attacked a Centauri transport pilot who was down here looking for something a little out of the way, if you know what I mean." "Did you see this woman?" "I found a body, but before I could do anything I got reports of another attack, then another and another." "Three attacks? Four? In a row?" The mob of lurkers backed up on itself. The dull roar was pierced by the shrieks of those caught between the rushing lurkers still trying to get out and those who had stopped up ahead. Garibaldi looked down the corridor and saw the stream running from this direction had run into a stream running from another direction. More glass broke as the crowd swelled in the middle. A crazed few tried to climb over those around them, grabbing at cables and ropes. Sparks flew, lights went sputtered and people screamed. The crowd tensed for a moment, waiting to see if the air would rush out of the station or some other calamity would strike. That moment seemed to break the madness and sober the crowd. "I don't know if there even was a second attack," Zack continued when things settled down a bit. "I started getting reports in from all over. The Centauri pilot got so scared his hair laid down on his head and he started yelling something about an infection that led to insanity and death. Next thing I know, it's wildebeasts running for the river." "Looks more like rats deserting a sinking ship." "I was going to say that, but you remember Commander Ivanova said to be more diplomatic or she'd be using our shin bones for chopsticks." "So you came up with wildebeasts." "It's all I could think of," Zack said. "It looked just like the vids." "Great. Well, it seems to have run itself out for now. I want a team in every main corridor, but leave me a couple of teams to escort the medics. Dr. Franklin might want to have a look around, and I don't want him getting trampled. Meantime, help me get Ms. Winters to MedLab." * Downbelow one of Garibaldi's security guards crawled aimlessly on his hands and knees. The pain was constant, a ceaseless squeezing and drumming of his insides. His mind wandered in and out of consciousness; whose consciousness he wasn't sure. Something was wrong. At his best he couldn't have resisted it. Now he could hardly whimper. He held out his right hand and squeezed until blood appeared around his fingers. In the cold shadows his eyes seemed to give off light. He moaned. "It's OK, mister." A little girl appeared. A lurker child. Small and frail, she probably didn't know her own age, but it couldn't have been more than six. To the guard she was a moonish face with a halo of yellow hair. Something resembling a jumpsuit was almost hidden under an accumulation of rags, bindings and old adult-sized T-shirts. "It's OK, mister," she repeated. When the guard didn't respond she stepped a little closer. "My mommy says it's OK now, mister. I could come out and play." The man hid his bleeding hand and motioned the girl closer to him with his other hand. She hesitated, but remembered her mother had told her to run to men in that kind of uniform if she was ever in really big trouble. "I need help," the guard said. The little girl stepped forward: close, closer, close enough. The man reached a hand toward her. He collapsed before he could touch her. "I'm sorry," he said, and died. The little girl reached down and touched the man's neck, but only long enough to slip off the necklace he wore. She ran away with her new jewelry. * "Commander Ivanova," Ambassador Molari said. "I don't know why I should be asked to view this, this...casualty. I am a busy man. I have appointments waiting. You are hampering the conduct of the Centauri Republic's diplomatic relations. Surely my presence will do no good." Susan Ivanova caught herself before she could fire back an answer. Diplomacy could be so difficult. Strees, she'd once heard, is what results when you aren't allowed to throttle some...body who richly deserves it. She was beginning to feel a bit of stress around Ambassador Molari. And the stress was building the closer she got him to MedLab. She had to concentrate to control the scowl she felt forming on her face. "Ambassador," she began calmly, "We have three confirmed reports of attacks on the station in the last few hours." "I heard there were many more than three." "I said confirmed' attacks," Ivanova said. "In each case the attacker was a human and the intended victim appears to have been a Centauri." Londo was taken aback. "Are you sure? All Centauri?" "No, we're not sure. Each of the cases was much like the incident you were invovled in. There was a crazed person in a crowded area, a fight, and the crazed person seemed to be heading for a Centauri citizen. In at least one case, however, the Centauri was standing with several other aliens." The pair arrived at MedLab, where Dr. Franklin was standing before two dead bodies, staring at a computer screen. Neither body seemed remarkable for a dead person. "Dr. Franklin, Ambassador Molari is here," Ivanova said. "Ah, Ambassador; I'm glad you're here. I need you to..." Franklin stopped speaking and followed Londo's wide-eyed gaze to the woman on the autopsy table. "I take it you know her," Franklin said. "Yes, yes I do," said Londo. "I mean, no, no I don't." "Which is it Ambassador?" Ivanova asked pointedly. "Do you or don't you?" "I don't know her, but I have seen her," Londo said, turning away from the body. "That is the woman from the casino. The one who said the madman who tried to attack me was dead." "Did she came in physical contact with the man who attacked you?" "Yes, yes, of course she did. I saw it. It was rivetting. He collapsed on the floor and she reached down and touched his neck. Then she said he was dead." "This doesn't mean what I think it means, does it?" Ivanova said. "Infection," Londo said. His eyes widened and the color drained from his liver spots. "I don't think so. At least not like any infection I've ever seen," Franklin said. "What do you mean?" Ivanova asked. "Ambassador Molari, how many people did that lurker touch before he died?" "I don't know. There was an altercation. He struck several people, and several more tried to restrain him." "And I don't think any of them are here," Franklin said. "The only other person I've got was reportedly present when this woman went after a Centauri pilot. He helped carry the body here, then attacked an armed security team that was between him and several aliens, including a Centauri." "What does that mean, exactly, Dr. Franklin?" Ivanova asked. "It means I don't think this is infectious at all. At least not from one carrier to many others. But it may be moving from person to person." "And these people are all humans?" Londo asked. "As far as I can tell," Franklin said. "I hope that allays your fears a little," Ivanova said. "Oh yes, a great deal," Londo declared with theatrical flourish. "Now I don't have to worry about every Centauri on the station getting sick and dying, only about them getting attacked by sick humans and being torn to bits! How much better I feel!" The ambassador stormed out of the room, leaving Ivanova and Franklin struck dumb in his wake. It was several moments before either could speak. "I'm going to go crazy and kill somebody myself," Ivanova finally said. "It's perfectly natural for him to be upset," Franklin said. "His people are in danger." "Oh, I wasn't talking about Ambassador Molari," Ivanova corrected him. "I meant Capt. Sheridan. I'm going to kill him for assigning me to these diplomatic duties." "Well, I've got something for you to look at first," Franklin said. "I've done autopsies on all three of these lurkers, and I've come up with some disturbing results." "There's a surprise," Ivanova said. "Commander..." "I know, Dr. Franklin: I know. And I'm sorry. Show me your results, please. But go slow. My head is about ready to go boom!" END TEXT NEXT BATTER UP From pl6a4bnb@swansea.ac.ukTue May 16 21:10:25 1995 Date: Tue, 16 May 1995 15:27:51 GMT0BST From: Nick Barlow To: babylon5-creative@netcom.com Subject: Round Robin Chapter #3 This is being forwarded to the list - I don't mind doing it but it's easier if people post these directly as sometimes I can get stuck away from my terminal for a few days so it will lie there unread for all that time... Here's my chapter, well within the alloted week. I hope I didn't miss any of chapter 2...the digest seemed to cut off as Franklin was about to tell Ivonova of the link between the three dead lurkers, and Ivonova made another BOOM! joke... Chapter Three By Nathan Bredfeldt (Posted by Dawoud Al-haddad) "Slow. No problem." Franklin said, offering Ivonova a seat at a work station, and taking one of his own. "Slow is my speciality." "Not when operating, I hope." Ivonova said. "Only when I have to be." Franklin countered. He keyed a monitor to life, and what Ivonova could only describe as a big swirl of colored thingees of all shapes and sizes appeared on the screen. "Ok. I'm impressed. What does it mean?" "Look closer." Franklin recommended. Ivonova leaned in, for a closer look at the swirlies. "What you're looking at is-" His voice came from behind her. A few seconds passed. "Is what?" Ivonova asked, just as Franklin's head landed on the table next to her. Ivonova sat up straight, and saw something long and sharp protruding from Franklin's back. "Nurse!" She shouted at a woman standing nearby, with about fifty charts in her hand, then scanned the room. The exit was just shutting. Ivonova ran towards it. "Doctor Geller! Doctor Hernandez!" She heard the nurse call out, as Ivonova slipped through the still opening door (good thing she stayed in shape), and bolted down the hallway after the backstabber. "Ivonova to security," she said as she banged on her link. As if by coincidence, Garibaldi chose that moment to turn the corridor. Probably would have been a good thing (he might have been able to stop the man's escape), if he hadn't been carrying the body of...a woman? It turned out worse, though, as the assassin slammed knees first into the security chief, and sent the three of them tumbling. He landed a solid blow to Garibaldi's jaw,grabbed his PPG, and fired a volley of shots at Ivonova in one swift, fluid move. Just as fluidly, Ivonova got out of the way, diving into a doorframe. The shots scattered harmlessly to everything but the walls. "Commander? Commander, are you all right?" Came a voice from somewhere, startling the already shaken Ivonova. It took her a minute to remember that she'd activated her link. "I'm here. Zack, Garibaldi's been hurt, and the armed human male perp is moving from Blue 27 towards Blue 35." "I knew we shouldn't have split up." Zack said. "I'll send some men." "He's got Garibaldi's PPG; tell them to be careful. Ivonova out. Ivonova to medlab. I've got two more wounded in blue 27." "Coffee, mister Morden?" Vir's hospitality carried a bitter undertone to it and Morden couldn't help but wonder why it was there. He was, after all, only there to help. "Tea is more to my liking." Morden said in his trademark calm, even voice. "Fresh out." Vir shrugged. "But I can live with coffee" "I'll be back." Vir scurried off to the other side of the room, and returned with a cup and ceramic pot. "Made it myself." "The pot, or the coffee?" "Both." Vir said, with a hint of pride. "I play pool, too." "Very nice." Vir started pouring coffee. Unfortunately, he didn't stop when the cup was full, spilling hot liquid all over the sitting Morden. "Oops. Clumsy me. What a mess." For some reason, he didn't sound all that sincere. "That's all right, Vir." "I'll get something to clean you off with." Vir headed (none too quickly, Morden noticed) in the direction of the suite's washroom. While he was gone, the room's main door slid open, and in stormed Ambassador Londo Mollari. Morden stood to meet him. "Ambassador Mollari." "Morden! Didn't Vir tell you that I'm very busy? Come back later." "Yes, Ambassador, he did. "Then why did you wait here for me? What is it that you want?" "We'll get to that later. My business here concerns your situation." "My situation?" Londo asked, sitting in one of the room's many big cushy chairs. "Vir, get me a drink!" "The attacks. Surely you're concerned about the safety of your people on board that station." "Yes. I am, indeed." "My associates and I can assist you in your troubles." "And in exchange?" Vir appeared with a towel for Morden, and a drink for Londo. Morden smiled. "In exchange, we simply require a little favor of you." Sheridan cursed softly, under his breath. He'd spent the last two hours trying to obtain some information, just any little snippet, about this Reaper project, or whatever it was. Unfortunately, even his best sources had nothing to share. Kapowski, Ingrid, Atkins, even the McQuaids; all of them were just as in the dark about Reaper as he. With a sigh, Sheridan pulled out a piece of paper, and listed all the facts and events he knew might be connected to this mystery. After a few minutes of staring, he threw the paper into the recycling bin, and rewrote the facts, this time side by side, instead of in a verticle column. Nothing. Same for the pyramid of increasing significance, same for just throwing them all over the paper. Sheridan aggrivatedly crumpled the last piece of paper, and threw it towards the recycler. It probably missed. "Some collector of secrets I turned out to be." He mumbled, just as his wrist communicator beeped. "Sheridan." He answered. "Captain." It was Ivonova. "We've had an assassination attempt on doctor Franklin. Garibaldi and Talia Winters are also hurt." "Did you catch the assassin?" "Not yet, sir. I've alerted security, and expect a response soon." "Meet me in medlab. Sheridan out." Sheridan straightened himself up, and started on his way to Medlab. He moved unhindered, until he had to wait at the lift. As he did so, he felt a presence behind him, and heard a musical sort of whispering sound. "Sheridan." Sheridan turned. "Ambassador Kosh. You've caught me at a bad time." "We begin." "Now? Now you want to start teaching me about myself?" Sheridan had been looking forward to finding out what Kosh had to teach him, but: "Now is just not a good time. I'm extremely..." Sheridan sighed and shook his head. "Can you accompany me to medlab? I'll just be there for a while, then I'm all yours." "Yes." Together they entered the lift. For the hundreth time since they parted company, Zack wished he'd been able to accompany Garibaldi to medlab. But, no. "We can't let that mob run." Garibaldi had said, an abrupt change of mind from his previous "Help me get Ms Winters to Medlab." "Well, what do you think, Welch?" "I dunno." The hefty balding security guard, and Garibaldi's new right hand man had met in the main security office, to try and think of a way to quell the stampede that had started in downbelow, and was now working its way up, mauling everything unfortunate enough to be in its way. "Thanks a lot. You're a great help." Zack dropped himself into a chair. "Wait. That's it!" Lou said. "What's it?" Lou Welch outlined his plan to the other man. "Welch! I never knew you had it in you! Keep this up, and I might have to start worring about my job!" "Lou Welch. Second in command, Babylon 5 security. I like the sound of it." "Don't comission the plaque yet." Zack warned. "Let's at least go stop that mob, first." "How are they?" Were the first words out of Sheridan's mouth, as he strode into medlab, followed by (to everyone's suprise) Kosh. A nurse met him. "Garibaldi has a nasty headache. Ms Winters and Doctor Franklin are in considerably worse shape." "Will they make it?" "Hard to tell. Franklin wasn't just stabbed; the knife was coated with some type of poison. And, we're still not sure what's wrong with Ms Winters." "Thanks. Keep us informed." Sheridan said as the nurse left, and Garibaldi and Ivonova appeared. "How you doing?" "Not too bad, all things considered." Garibaldi said. "I'll feel better when they nab the guy who has my piece." "Not much chance of that, any time soon." A security guard entered medlab. "We lost the man, if it was in fact a man." He threw something that looked like a large piece of rubber at Garibaldi, who caught it. "This is one of those new masks?" Garibaldi asked. "Almost as good as a changeling net. Almost 100% foolproof, and perfectly legal. That man could have easily been a woman. He could easily have been a Vorlon. Oh, no offense." Kosh nodded his big rectangular head, which Garibaldi hoped meant `none taken.' "Never seen one in action." Ivonova said, looking the mask over. "At least, I think I haven't." "Keep a watch out." Sheridan ordered the guard. "Garibaldi, keep at least two guards watching medlab at all times." "Done and done. That just leaves us with the big mystery, and the reason behind the stabbing of the good doctor." "I think I can answer the second mystery. To an extent, at least." Ivonova said, leading them to the consone she and Franklin had been looking at. "The three deaths, of the lurkers. Franklin had dicovered that they were all connected. Apparently, whatever this is," she gestured at the big swirl of colored objects on the monitor, "is the reason he was stabbed." "What is it?" Sheridan asked. "My knowledge of medicine stops at first aid." Ivonova admitted. "Same here." Garibaldi said. "Nurse." Sheridan stopped a passing attendant. "Would anyone else know what that might be?" "Not that I know of." The nurse said. "Franklin insisted on telling only one of you three." "Perfect." Ivonova said. "Now what?" TO BE CONTINUED! From mikeh@telebase.comThu Jun 1 20:05:41 1995 Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 16:19:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Mike Heckler To: babylon5-creative@netcom.com Subject: Round Robin "Reaper" - Part 4 Here's part 4 of "Reaper". Wow, 2 day early even after I couldn't work on it over Memorial Day. ************ REAPER ************ Part 4 by Mike Heckler "What's the status on Franklin?" an obviously harried Sheridan grilled Dr. Hernandez. "Stabilizing, sir. It was a fairly common poison and he's reacting well to the serum." Hernandez replied, holding her ground. Both Franklin's example and her own experience had taught her that a superior officer's anger or hurry did not affect medical treatment. "But, he's going to be out for awhile. It's a side-effect of the serum and we had to give him a large dose. I'd say 36 to 48 hours." "OK, ok... Contact me as soon as he's up." Sheridan said, calming down as he realized there was nothing the doctor could do. Still, the frustration ate at him. At least this time he was able to keep it inside. "Ivanova, get a copy of these files and send them back to MedCenter on Earth. Mark them Top Priority and the turn around will probably only be a day." "Captain, you're actually going to send them back through official channels?" an incredulous Garibaldi asked. "He has to." Ivanova answered for Sheridan. "It's in the regs. Franklin was probably about to do it himself. If we don't, we run the risk of exposing our suspicion." "Exactly," Sheridan confirmed. "Besides, if it is unrelated to Reaper, we still have to figure out what's causing the problem. Not that I'm going to trust the reply. Make another copy and send it here." He leaned over and typed in an Earth address. "Dr. Atkins should be able to make sense of these swirls or know someone who can. And I trust him completely... almost. But at least we'll have two independent replies to compare." "Captain, duplicity serves you well." Garibaldi said admiringly. Ivanova just smiled as she started to copy the files. "Thanks. Now what's the status on the riot?" "My men are working on it. As we haven't heard anything, I'm assuming it at least has gotten any worse. Last I heard most of the high levels have been closed. So, it's only down in the mid and lower levels, as well as Down Below. There's probably enough room down there for it to go awhile. And if I was allowed to leave, I could tell you more." "You're going to have to let your men deal with this one. Hernandez ordered him to stay for a few hours to recover." Ivanova explained to Sheridan. "OK, keep me updated." Sheridan turned to leave and ran into an encounter suit. "Oh yes, Ambassador. Sorry for the delay. I'm ready to begin now." Kosh bowed and led Sheridan from Medlab. Garibaldi leaned back and banged his fist against the bed, frustrated at being cooped up. * * * "Lou, I've got to hand it to you. It worked." Zack looked up from the screen where they had just watched a few hundred crazed lurkers storm into a room and suddenly calm down, then stand around looking bewildered. Now, they were slowly edging their way back out, but all of their hostility was gone. Lou and Zack had just spent a frantic hour staring at the station's layout, trying to figure out what passageways to close or leave open in order to drive the mob to the target: the bay where the Vorlon's ship was docked. "Well, when trapping them didn't work, I figured we needed something to calm them down. Seems throwing something that just makes them nervous, rather that outright threatens them, seems to do the trick. We used to use Enforcers when I was working downtown Detroit." Lou replied. "The Samaurai bodyguards?" "Yeah, we'd hire them to just go out and stand in the way. The sight of them plus the rumors that they all were a bit nutso worked every time." "Well, I wouldn't have thought of it. Let's let the chief know. It'll be one less thing on his mind." * * * "Captain Sheridan!" Sheridan sighed and stopped. Kosh and he had just about made it back to his apartment, where the Ambassador insisted they go to pick "something" up, when Londo Molari appeared with a human Sheridan didn't recognize. "Ambassador Molari, don't you know we're recommending every one stay in their quarters until the riot is over? Besides, I'm in the middle of something, so if you'll just make an appointment...." "It'll just take a moment." Londo interrupted, ignoring the warning about the riot, even though he was nervous being out here after hearing about Centauri being murdered. "I was actually going to be of some assistance to both of us. "When Commander Ivanova told me about the Centauri being murdered, I went to see an... associate of mine. He recommended Dr. Davis here to assist Dr. Franklin in looking into the matter. Now, I hear that there was an attempt to assassinate Dr. Franklin! Mr. Garibaldi must be beside himself! Anyway, maybe Dr. Davis can make some headway while Franklin recovers." Kosh, who had been standing patiently behind Sheridan (at least Sheridan hoped it was patiently), suddenly moved forward, involving himself in the conversation without saying a word. Londo, used to being mystified by the Vorlon, ignored him. Davis, after nervously glancing at Kosh, extended his hand to Sheridan. "Any thing I can do to help, sir. I'm sure you'll find my background quite impressive." Dressed all in black, standing over 6'6", and having incredibly bushy black eyebrows, Davis cut quite an impressive figure himself. Sheridan glanced at Kosh. After ensuring himself that whatever had caught the Vorlon's attention was not enough to make him interrupt, Sheridan made up his mind. Initially, he was going to refuse Londo, but with only Centauri being killed, he didn't want to deal with the political mess that Londo could create. Especially with the EA trying to keep both sides of the Narn-Centauri war happy. "OK, Ambassador. I'll tell Ivanova to give Dr. Davis access to the files. Hopefully he'll have some luck with them. Keep me posted." "I seem to be telling everyone that lately," Sheridan muttered to himself as he and Kosh continued toward his apartment. "Yes" replied Kosh. * * * Londo watched Sheridan and the Vorlon leave. "OK, Doctor, I guess you'd better get down to Medlab. I've repayed my favor. You can probably just tell Commander Ivanova if you discover anything." "Oh, I already know what I'll be discovering." Davis replied, smiling. "And I definitely won't be telling this Ivanova. I have a much larger audience than that in mind. But, yes, I should get down to Medlab to study Dr. Franklin's files." He turned and walked the opposite direction that Sheridan had left in. Londo leaned up against the wall. "What have I done now?" he wondered. When Morden had told him what the favor was, Londo couldn't believe it. He knew that Morden's allies couldn't really have the best interests of the humans and Centauri in mind when they wanted Dr. Davis to look into the problem. But, Morden refused to give any more details. Londo had given in, justifying it to himself by thinking it was his responsibility as Ambassador to do anything he could to protect the Centauri on Babylon 5. Still, as he watched Davis round a corner and disappear, he had a feeling he had just made things worse. From jenkins@rrnet.comFri Jun 2 12:47:20 1995 Date: Fri, 2 Jun 1995 01:55:46 -0500 (CDT) From: "Lisa D. Jenkins" To: B5 Creative Group Subject: "Reaper" part 5 I hope that my quick turn-around time makes up for the fact my part of the story is twice as long as what the round robin guidelines stated. (So, there! Mr. "But-I-Thought-I-Would-Have-A-Whole-Nother-Week-Before- Having-To-Write-My-Part" Up Next!) It's basically I've been training myself to keep all segments of any story I write at approximately 400 lines. Seems to make for a well-rounded chapter. And I think I provided enough BAMS! in there to play around with several more segments.... (For the upcoming writers of the RR, I have extensive notes on all the scenes in case you'd be interested in seeing how I was trying to develop the story.) BABYLON 5 ROUND ROBIN "Reaper" written by Lisa Jenkins part 5 "Hey, chief!" cried Lou Welch as he entered medlab. Garibaldi smiled to see a friendly face. "Hey, Lou," the security chief reciprocated. He sat half-propped on a patient bed. "What's up?" Lou informed him as he approached Garibaldi, "The riot Downbelow is under control." "Good work! How'd'a do it?" "Aw, chief. You know me. I hate to brag!" Lou teasingly lied. Garibaldi grinned. "I highly doubt that." "I took a page outa my old Detroit days. Zack's doing the report. God, I love seniority!" The two officers chuckled over the joke. Turning serious, Lou stated, "I caught up about what happened here on my link -- Dr. Franklin was stabbed? How are you?" Garibaldi dismissed his own attack with a wave of his hand. "Oh, I'm fine. Doc Hernandez is treating Franklin, although he'll be out of it for a while. Right now I'm concerned about our perp. He ran off with my PPG." "Two steps ahead of you, chief," Lou reassured him. "We got added men on all the docks with energy emission scanners. He tries to leave, we'll nail 'im." "I'm not entirely sure leaving is on this guy's agenda." Garibaldi tossed a sealed bag containing the mask Ivanova had discovered in the hallway after the attack. "Take this down to forensics and see if they can lift off anything from it -- hair, skin cells, facial mold, anything. We need a better picture of who the attacker was to in order to know what it was he wanted." "I'm on it, chief," acknowledged Lou. With a curt nod of his head, the officer took the evidence and made his way out of medlab. Dr. Davis stepped through the threshold, nearly bumping into Lou. "Oh, sorry," apologized the officer. Davis scowled at Lou and walked briskly passed him. Davis called for the nearest nurse, "You! Give me a patient roster." Garibaldi squinted at the man who had entered medlab. The nurse replied, "And you are?" "Dr. Allan Davis, surgeon and exobiologist," the newcomer spoke in clipped tones. "Where is my patient roster?" Hesitantly, the nurse retrieved the current roster chart and gave it to Dr. Davis. He scanned the list and stopped at one, taking a deep interest in it. He pointed it out to the nurse. "This one. Talia Winters. Has she been tested for the infection yet?" "No," answered the nurse. "Do it," ordered Davis. Before Garibaldi could even voice his own personal objections, Dr. Hernandez stepped into the center of the room and approached Davis. "Excuse me," she addressed pointedly, "but on whose authority do you order my staff to run tests?" "On Captain Sheridan's," answered Commander Ivanova who had been speaking to the captain on her link. She clasped her hands behind her and faced the others. "Dr. Davis has full authority and access to any files and patients relating to the infection." Hernandez looked at Ivanova for a moment as though she did not believe the second-in-command officer, but she realized she had no choice. "Very well," answered the woman doctor. Addressing Davis, she stated, "But I want to be informed of all tests and see the results as well." "Fine," spoke Davis, sounding as though he were dismissing her as he walked around Hernandez. "Where are Dr. Franklin's files? I need to find out how far he's gotten." As Hernandez ushered the tall dark doctor to a computer terminal, Garibaldi leaned towards Ivanova and whispered, "Pssst! Susan!" Ivanova turned and approached the security chief. "What's going on? Who is that creep?" Garibaldi indicated Davis. Ivanova shrugged slightly, giving a glance to the man across the room before speaking. "Apparently, Dr. Davis is an associate of Ambassador Mollari. He requested the captain allow Davis to work on finding out why the infection is causing people to attack the Centauri." "What's the guy's credentials? I'd rather not have someone poking around Ms. Winters -- or anyone else for that matter -- without knowing where he's been." "I agree. Captain Sheridan said the ambassador didn't provide any, but was fairly persistent on letting this Dr. Davis work on finding a cure." Garibaldi stole a glance at the doctors as he answered, "If I could just get back to my office, I could run a check on him." "I'm afraid you're on your own for that, Garibaldi," Ivanova replied, unclasping her hands from behind her. "With Ambassador Kosh deciding to take the captain on a little stroll of the station and the riots finally over, I'm sure the station's standing down from ultraviolet. I'll be needed in C&C." "Yeah. Thanks." Ivanova gave him a nod and walked around the bed, glancing at the man who invaded Franklin's work space. The sight of him made her skin crawl as if she were peering into a long dark empty tunnel. She turned away and left medlab. Hernandez had returned to the workstation outside an isolab to observe Dr. Franklin's condition. Garibaldi got out of bed and trotted over to speak to her. "Mr. Garibaldi," she admonished as she turned to look at him, "I told you to rest. In bed." "Yeah, I know, but I feel fine. I need to get out of here." She turned away from him again to look at the medical readouts. "I don't see how that's possible--" "Doc," he addressed her again with some urgency, "I don't trust that guy -- you don't trust that guy. Let me find out more about him for you. Besides, I promise to stick behind a desk until I can find out more about what's going on. Agreed?" She eyed him, considering. "All right. But I want you to wear a monitor. I don't want to have you suddenly passing out from over exertion!" Hernandez motioned to a nurse to bring over a medical bio-monitor. "Fine by me," Garibaldi answered. The nurse came over and strapped it to his wrist. * * * After their detour to the ambassador's quarters, Kosh silently led the way to hydroponics. Sheridan couldn't be fooled -- not any more. This pleasant "Sunday stroll" would have deeper meaning, he was sure. But what it would be was anyone's guess. The ambassador stopped in the middle of a pathway. Sheridan hadn't anticipated the stop and walked a few strides ahead. Realizing the Vorlon was behind him, the captain turned back. "What is it?" he asked. The Vorlon stood like a pillar, its only motions that of the tiny ports around the marbled neck casing. From underneath the encounter suit's robes, a small box appeared. It glided out seamlessly, stopping out six inches from Kosh's suit. A trap door on the bottom of the black box released and something fell at its feet. The box retreated the same way it came. Sheridan bent down slightly to look at what first appeared to be a long mottled brown rope -- until it began to move. The viper slithered out from under Kosh's feet and towards Sheridan. He jumped back in surprise. Slowly Kosh's head turned to peer at the captain. A string of musical notes emitted from the encounter suit, its deep voiced translation soon following. "Capture it." "How?" asked Sheridan dumbly. When Kosh continued to say nothing, Sheridan looked back down at the snake coiling ever closer to his own feet. The captain backed away half a step as he considered ways to catch the beast. He looked about and saw the garden surrounding the path. Leafy bushes and trees stood silently in the cultivated soil and grasses. Checking the status of the snake before moving again, Sheridan quickly grabbed a small sturdy branch from a young tree and broke it off. He tried to stick the viper with it, but to no avail. "What do you want me to do?" asked Sheridan, again looking up at the Vorlon whose orifices continued to flex in odd directions. "Do you want me to kill it?" Kosh gave no reply. Sheridan tried again to stab the viper which by this time was getting rather annoyed at the attack. It backed away slightly from the human, apparently trying to find a way around the menace. The captain sighed as he realized he was getting nowhere. If he wanted to do something about the snake, he would have to get down there with it. Turning over the branch in his hand, Sheridan used the thicker end to hold the snake in place. He got down on one knee and, with his free hand, tried to pick up the viper. His inexperience in dealing with snakes became apparent when the snake agilely turned back its head to bite Sheridan. Automatic reflex made Sheridan drop the snake and stare at his hand. Two small fang marks began to swell on the fleshy part of his hand between the thumb and first finger. He was about to make a complaint to Ambassador Kosh when he suddenly felt rather dizzy and light-headed. "Wha--?" Sheridan tried to speak. "Poison?" he managed to mumble before falling down on the pavement. The snake, free of the attack, slithered into the greenery. * * * Back at his console, Garibaldi had sat impatiently behind his desk waiting for a response back from Earthdome. He had sent a request for Dr. Davis' credentials under ultraviolet priority, but that only proved the government's knack of moving as slow as molasses. The chief got up to stretch his legs, rubbing his weary eyes after staring at all the vid screens. The computer decided to chirp at that moment, indicating an incoming message. Garibaldi rushed back to the console in a flash. "Yeah. Garibaldi here." An Earthdome representative appeared on the screen. "Am I correct in assuming Dr. Davis is on board Babylon 5?" the administrator questioned. "Yeah. That's right." Garibaldi tried his best not to appear too antsy for the reply -- or worried. "He is an excellent physician. He should prove useful to your medical staff." The administrator added, "Hasn't your Dr. Franklin told you a little about Dr. Davis?" Garibaldi swallowed, knowing that not revealing all the facts would get him into trouble. He bluffed his way out, a trick older than Londo's old poker moves. "Doc Franklin's feeling a little under the weather today." "Oh, I see," answered the administrator, not entirely sure he was going to swallow the bait. "Well, I am transmitting the doctor's credentials for you now. I am sure you will find his record quite exemplary." Garibaldi plopped a data crystal into the input port. "Thanks." "If there is anything else we can assist you with, please don't hesitate to contact us," the administrator stated in a well-practiced end-of-conversation mode. Not waiting for a reply, the transmission ended. The data port darkened at the end of the transmission of the file. Garibaldi requested, "Display." The file appeared on the vid screen before him. Skimming the file quickly, Garibaldi looked for anything that would set his alarms off -- service records, mentions of disciplinary actions, areas of expertise and the like. He noted immediately that Dr. Davis was a commissioned medical officer during the Earth/Minbari war. Reading further, Garibaldi discovered Dr. Davis had served in much the same capacity as Dr. Franklin during the war. In fact, as the administrator had noted, the two probably worked together and knew each other professionally if not personally. Then he saw it. Dr. Davis' record indicated a classified project aborted at the end of the war. After the Battle of the Line, all research on the project was turned over to Earth Central and marked "eyes only." All other references to the project in Davis' file were blackened out. "Damn!" cursed Garibaldi. This coincided exactly with the message Captain Sheridan received the day before regarding a "Reaper" project at the time of the Battle of the Line. He tapped his fingers on the console. One step forward, two steps back. At least knowing the Reaper project was medically related helped confirm his greatest suspicion -- this outbreak of violence and infection was not entirely accidental. * * * Dr. Davis sipped a cup of tea as he sat at the medlab console. In a dark suit, the large man appeared more like an attorney or business associate going over his books. Instead, he was appreciating Franklin's work in accumulating data. He was quite thorough, certainly, and Davis saw immediately why someone had been compelled to silence the good doctor when he did. Davis called up a diagram of the infection again. Staring at the colorful swoops and swirls, he commented to himself, "Messy. Rush job." He clicked his tongue and shook his head as if disappointed in a student's work. DNA sequencing was tricky at best, and those who concocted this certainly should have known better. But impatience and overconfidence always led to mistakes, and it was apparent to Davis whoever attempted this botched the job. Or, at least, half of it. Dr. Hernandez approached the console. "Dr. Davis," she said without much respect. The cold light in her eyes made it apparent to him she did not welcome him here. He did not care; she had no choice. "Yes?" he replied civilly. "The test results came back on Ms. Winters." "Ah, good." Davis set down his cup and reached out for the test results she held. Hernandez passed them over the console to him, saying, "They were positive. She has the infection." "As I expected," he answered matter-of-factly, looking over the report. He checked the blood tests. Looking up, he wondered, "Is she your only resident telepath?" Hernandez, frowning, replied, "Yes, she's the only Psi Corps representative on the station." Davis clicked his tongue disapprovingly again. "Too bad." * * * "Chief," Zack Allan's voice came over the link. "Garibaldi here," he answered to the back of his hand. "What is it, Zack?" "I think you better come down and see this for yourself. I'm in Brown 10, Sector 8." "I'm on my way." When Garibaldi found Zack, he did not exactly expect to see what he did. Zack pointed down to the body. "A couple of women found her like this about 20 minutes ago." Garibaldi hunched down to peer closer at the body of a small girl curled up as if asleep. Her lips were blue from death and lack of oxygen. He noted the silvery chain around her neck, intwining with her delicate fingers which clutched desperately to her chest. "Choked herself to death," said Zack sadly. "Got an ID on the kid?" "Not yet. We'll get her to forensics for an autopsy right away and post her picture up on the nets. If she's somebody's kid, they'll come asking about her." "Unless they didn't want her," added Garibaldi absently. He had seen enough abandoned children on Mars Colony to fill every orphanage back on Earth and then some. "Yeah, well...." Zack tried to reply but couldn't. Garibaldi stood up, looking at the bulkhead and floor. "Whatter those?" he pointed to the drawings. "It appears she was trying to draw something before she choked herself." Garibaldi leaned close and squinted at one on the bulkhead over the little girl's dead body. He backed away, hands in pockets. "What would you say that looked like to you?" "A person's face?" suggested Zack. Provided Garibaldi, "A CENTAURI'S face." "Welch to Garibaldi," called Lou through the link. The security chief lifted his hand to his mouth. "What is it, Lou?" "I thought you'd want to know -- forensics have the results back from the mask you gave me," stated the officer on the other end of the link. "Our perp's Narn." Looking over to Zack, Garibaldi answered Lou, "Now, why am I not surprised?" * * * Commander Ivanova was not disappointed in the pile of reports and problems C&C had waiting for her when she returned from medlab. Taking care of them one by one in due course, she finally felt she was getting a hold of the situation. By the time Captain Sheridan returned from his little stroll with Ambassador Kosh, there would be nothing left to worry about. "Commander," called a tech from the "pit," as they lovingly dubbed it, behind her. "I have medlab on the link. Captain Sheridan was found in hydroponics -- he was bitten by a snake!" "What?!" cried Ivanova. Just when she thought the day couldn't get any worse. "Is he all right?" "I -- I'm not sure. They say they have him in an isolab, trying to extract the poison now. They'll contact us when they know his status." Damn! "Could this day POSSIBLY get any worse?" wondered the pessimistic Russian officer. As if in response, another tech called, "We are receiving a Gold Channel message from Earth Central. They are requesting to speak to the commanding officer." "Well," Ivanova smiled gloomily, "why not? Put it on." The vids in C&C switched to the incoming message of an Earth Force general. "General, this is Commander Ivanova. Captain Sheridan is indisposed at the moment. How may I help you?" She though that sounded rather...diplomatic. "Commander," stated the general. "I am General Tangen. MedCenter forward your medical chief's report to Earthdome. I am hereby authorized to ask you to surrender all documents and materials regarding this outbreak of infection -- including patients currently undergoing treatment -- to Earth Central." * * * to be continued... DISCLAIMER _Babylon 5_, its characters and situations, is copyright 1995 PTN Consortium. This publication is not meant to infringe on any rights held by Babylonian Productions, Prime Time Entertainment Network or Warner Bros Television Distribution. "Reaper, part 5" is copyright 1995 Lisa Jenkins. This publication is free to distribute as long as its contents and this notice are intact. -- Lisa Jenkins "Well, who am I to argue with me?" jenkins@rrnet.com -- Dr. Bashir, Deep Space 9 From UVAlpha@aol.comWed Jun 14 23:16:34 1995 Date: Sun, 11 Jun 1995 04:29:20 -0400 From: UVAlpha@aol.com Reply to: b5-creative@best.com To: b5-creative@best.com Subject: Reaper Part 6 Here's Reaper Part 6 -- sorry it's a little late, folks, but in trying to catch up from being away for 10 days, things got a little delayed. (Was hoping to see Lisa's notes before I posted this, but I don't know if she ever got my message, so I'm gonna wing it!) And I hope that if I didn't take it where she was expecting, then I at least took it in interesting directions! :) REAPER Part 6 by Isoline M. Sanderson Ivanova stood before the viewscreen, trying to keep from blurting out something that she'd regret. Finally she regained control and said as evenly as possible, "General, we still are not certain how many people are affected. If we turn over all the information we have at this time, treatment for any new cases will be difficult." General Tangen's eyes narrowed and in a dangerously quiet tone, he repeated "Commander, you will surrender *all* documents and materials, including the patients. If there should be any new patients, you will send them to Earth Central as well. Am I clear, *Commander*?" "Yes Sir, clear as crystal," Ivanova responded numbly. "Very good." "Sir, it may take some time to get things together -- the recent events have been a little difficult and we are working somewhat short-staffed," she said, trying to force her words out through what felt like a fist squeezing her chest. The General frowned now, and replied, "A transport is on its way. When it gets there, you will be ready. General Tangen out." As the screen reverted to the StellarCom logo, Ivanova leaned back heavily on the railing and looked around at the other staff in C&C. Eyes were rapidly averted back to consoles and screens, except for Lt. Corwin, who looked indecisive for a moment, and then vacated his chair. "Commander, sit down, please. Can I get you anything?" As Ivanova actually acquiesced and sat at his station, he turned a shade paler and waited for her response. Finally she shook her head and said, "No, thank you. I --" He made a pretense of leaning over to check something on a panel and whispered, "Are you okay?", half expecting to be shredded for seeing her so shaken. Instead she smiled for half an instant, just long enough for him to know he hadn't imagined it, then she nodded. "I'm fine. Generals are like that. Actually, you *can* get me something - someone to take my station for the rest of this shift. I need to see to getting the files and patients ready for transport," she added, her voice belying her calm exterior. Lt. Corwin nodded and contacted Major Otombe, the third-shift commander, then turned back to Ivanova. "He'll be here shortly, Commander. I can handle it for now -- you should get to MedLab and see how the Captain's doing..." She nodded, and stood, glad to find that her legs weren't quite so shaky now. As she strode out, Corwin watched her leave, wondering if there had been something beyond the threatening tone and blatant rank-pulling that had bothered her about the General. He'd never seen her so shaken before, and certainly never in the state to actually admit to it. Something was very, very wrong. * * * As Ivanova rode the turbo-lift to MedLab, she went over it again and again in her mind. Just what the *hell* was it that bothered her so much about the General and his orders? If it was a black project that Earth Alliance had been working on, and they delivered all of the information and victims into their hands, what kind of fate would befall them? If they didn't deliver everything, it would give away their suspicions, just as not going through regular channels would have -- but if they did...And why the hell had that damned General shaken her so? It wasn't as if she was some green recruit! But something about him was just -- frightening. She almost missed the stop at MedLab, standing there long enough for the lift doors to begin closing again. She leaped out and shook her head, knowing she was tired and stressed, and more liable to make stupid mistakes right now, and knowing that there was probably going to be a long night ahead of her. She walked into MedLab and froze as she saw Dr. Davis, his back to her, leaning over a console. That was it -- the General had given her the same icy creeps that he had...For half an instant, she thought of turning around and leaving before he registered her presence, but just as that thought formed, he turned and saw her. "Ah, Commander Ivanova," he said pleasantly, the tone hitting her like nails across a chalkboard, "is there a problem?" "That depends, Doctor. I've been given a report that Captain Sheridan has been bitten by a snake -- I need to know how he is." "Ah -- yes. Most unusual -- you don't see too many Earth snakes out here." "Maybe one of the Lurkers had it as a pet and it escaped. Or someone else brought it for food. I don't know, and right now I don't care. I'll leave that up to Security. How is the Captain?" _Now, now, Susan_, she thought, _calm down and don't let this guy get to you_. "He's over here. Doctor Hernandez, please let Commander Ivanova see the Captain." He turned back to the console, dismissing her as finally as the General had, and she was only too glad to be out of range of him. Dr. Hernandez came to show her to the Captain's bed, and once they were out of earshot, she whispered, "Commander, there's something going on here and I don't like it." "Yes, I know. I don't know what though. You need to make sure someone is guarding the Captain and Dr. Franklin at all time." "You suspect he's going to try something?" "I don't know - but it's better to be safe," Ivanova answered, finally allowing herself to shiver. It felt like sharp spikes of ice were dancing up and down her spine, and she noticed that the further she got from Dr. Davis, the less she felt it. "So, how *is* the Captain?" "Anti-venin is very easy to synthesize, so I think he will be up and around in a short time. I'd like to know how the hell a snake got into hydroponics, or what he was doing there in the first place, but I think he'll be okay..." Dr. Hernandez answered. She and Ivanova stopped at the side of Sheridan's bed, Ivanova noting that his eyelids were flickering in rapid-eye-movement. "How long has he been like that?" she asked. Dr. Hernandez looked closely at him, checked the monitors, then frowned and turned to her. "It looks like it started about the same time you walked in -- it means he's dreaming, you know." "Yes, I know. I just wondered what..." She stopped, barely managing to keep herself from stiffening or making any other move that might give her away, and turned slowly to find Dr. Davis standing close by. "Doctor?" "Just seeing how he's doing. He looks like he'll make a full recovery. Was there anything else you needed, Commander?" "How are the other patients doing?" she managed to make herself ask, squashing all her reactions. How someone who sounded so pleasant and urbane could make all her hackles rise was beyond her. "Ms. Winters has tested positive to the infection and is stable at the moment, Doctor Franklin is showing signs of improvement. Is there anything else you need, Commander?" "No, thank you," she responded, turning back to Dr. Hernandez for a moment. "You will let me know as soon as any of them wake up?" "Of course, Commander," Dr. Hernandez responded. Ivanova turned an walked out, trying to keep it from looking as if she was hurrying... * * * __Sheridan sat in the garden, watching the snake slither away in the grass. He turned to Kosh and asked "I did something wrong?"__ __The Vorlon tilted its headgear to 'look' at him, the warbled musical notes and then the words coming to his ears through a fog. "To tell defeats the purpose of the lesson."__ __Sheridan looked up at him and frowned, thinking 'What kind of teacher doesn't teach?'__ __Again the musical notes, then a single word: "Experience."__ __Sudden realization dawned and Sheridan asked, "You mean I'm supposed to learn by doing, not by you telling me!"__ __Kosh nodded once, more an inclining of the headgear, but was silent.__ __Sheridan thought for a moment, 'What was I supposed to learn then...'__ __The musical notes came again, then a sigh and, "Action without planning will be your end." Kosh's tone was almost one of annoyance. The Vorlon turned and walked away, and Sheridan frowned as the lights dimmed in the garden...__ * * * Ivanova picked up her pace once she was out of sight of MedLab, wanting to put as much distance between her and Dr. Davis as possible, but not wanting him to see her upset. Something told her he was the type who *would* exploit a weakness... As she strode to the Security office, she thought about what he'd said: Talia had the infection -- they would have to turn Talia over to Earth Central! Just what the hell was going on?! What was this Reaper project and what were they trying to do with it? She stormed into the Security office, only to come up short when she saw Garibaldi fast asleep, his head on his console. For an instant she envied him, but they just didn't have time right now, and despite his condition and orders to rest, she needed him awake. "Garibaldi, c'mon, Michael, wake up..." she said, edging closer. With paranoid ex-Gropos, it was always safer to be cautious when one woke them. "Garibaldi!" He shot awake, a shout of "Incoming!" dying in his throat as he realized it was a dream. He looked around, eyeing her accusingly when he spotted her. "Ivanova -- I was..." "Yeah, I know. It's okay." "No, it isn't. I got something I needed to tell you about -- shouldn't have let myself fall asleep, but my head hurt so much..." He looked up at her and squinted, then rubbed his eyes and blinked. "Damn, I'm tired..." "I've got to tell you something too -- is it...?" She trailed off, looking around the office. He caught her drift and took a small device out of a locked drawer, turned it on. "Thanks," she said. "First, the Captain's been bitten by a snake. He's in MedLab, but Dr. Hernandez says he'll be fine. Second, we got a Gold- Channel transmission from some General Tangen. We have to turn over everything on the infection to Earth Central -- documents, files, *and* patients." "General Tangen? Oh shit...Ivanova, I got Dr. Davis' file from Earth Central -- he's in this up to his neck -- he worked on some kind of classified project that was terminated and turned over to Earth Central just after the Battle of the Line..." "Reaper?" she asked, hoping there was more than just supposition. "It doesn't say, but the timing's right -- and anything else about it in his file's been sanitized. And this is where it gets really bad -- Davis worked for a short time with a Lieutenant Colonel Tangen in the War..." He frowned and looked at her closely. "Ivanova? Susan, what's wrong?" "Look, Garibaldi, I know you're not a Psi, but you and any other good security guy or cop I know uses 'Cop's Intuition' -- " She trailed off, not quite sure how to continue. "Yeah, you can kinda sense when someone's not right. Why?" "I --" she paused and swallowed, hoping this wasn't going to be a bigger mistake than not mentioning it, "I get the chills everytime I'm near Dr. Davis, and earlier in MedLab I knew when he was behind me, even though I never heard him approach. He also knew when I was got there, even though I was thinking of not going in...And I got the same feeling from talking to the General on the Link..." "Women's intuition? Isn't that supposed to be as much a myth as Cop's intuition?" Garibaldi joked, trying to get rid of the chill that had seemed to settle on the office. "If we're not careful the men in the black coats will be coming to get us soon..." _Oops -- wrong choice of words_, he thought, mentally berating himself as her face fell. "Damn, Susan, I'm sorry! I didn't mean -- oh *hell*." "It's okay, Michael, really, it is...We've got bigger problems to worry about right now than how I feel about Psi-Corps." "Psi-Corps! Oh shit! Talia?" Garibaldi asked. His heart fell as Ivanova nodded, and he asked "How do we stall them? We can't let them take her -- they'll disappear her somewhere..." He trailed off and frowned, then started furiously typing into the computer, trying to access the MedLab records. "What the hell are you doing?" Ivanova asked, watching his fingers fly across the console. "I've got to see what the records say about her -- we saw what Dr. Franklin found, I want to make sure the results actually do show that." "Michael, I've told the General that it may take time to get everything together, but he was playing rank games and made it quite clear that we have to get them on the transport as soon as it's here..." "Yeah, I'll bet he did. Look, Susan, remember the rogue-psi, Ironheart? He said Psi-Corps was doing experiments to try to enhance Psis. That little shithead Stoner did too...If they get Talia, we'll never see her again. Or if we do, gods only know what they'll have done to her..." He tapped one final key and smiled. "Ah hah!" The screen before him now displayed Talia's current medical record, and as Ivanova & Garibaldi read it, their hearts sank. The test results were there, plain as day, and the entry was from Dr. Hernandez, not Dr. Davis, meaning that most likely it was genuine. "Damn..." Susan whispered, then glared at him as he opened his mouth. Whatever he'd been planning to say, he thought better of it. "Now what do we do?" he asked, not for the first time wishing that he had more people he could trust with this kind of information. His head was really starting to throb again... "We find some way to stall that transport?" Ivanova suggested, "At least until the Captain wakes up..." "How much of a risk are you planning on taking on this?" he asked her quietly. "I could try to change her file, but Dr. Davis knows she's got it..." "No, that wouldn't work. Whatever game he's playing, he and the General probably both know...We'd give away our hand... We could find some reason to shut down the jumpgate..." "Mechanical failure? Computer problem? Centauri and Narn spat?" Garibaldi asked, wracking his brain for the best and least-traceable answer. "The first would be best but difficult, the second simpler but more easily fixed, and how would we ever convince them to go along with the third and *not* destroy each other?" She frowned and looked at him, realizing for the first time that he was sweating. "Michael, are you okay?" "I'm expecting this damned bio-monitor to go off any second -- I shoulda rested, but we just don't have the time..." he answered, grinning for her benefit. "And I haven't eaten in a while..." "That figures. Look, maybe we can have a maintenance-bot run into one of the generators -- that would shut the gate down for a bit, and it wouldn't cause too big a mess..." "I'll get on it." "No, you won't. I'll have Officer Welch bring you some dinner, and I'll see to that. You pass out on me now, and we're all in trouble -- two of us already down, and no one else we can trust..." "Yeah, I know what you mean. Oh -- all this wonderful news made me forget the *rest* of what I found out! The guy who stabbed Franklin was a Narn, and Zack found a kid who'd choked herself to death...Drew a picture of a Centauri face before she died..." "The assassin was a Narn? That doesn't make any sense, Michael, why would a Narn try to kill Dr. Franklin?" "Because he was trying to stop whatever was making people go crazy and try to kill Centauris?" Garibaldi ventured. "It made perfect sense when they told me, but now I'm not sure *how* the Centauri fit into this whole thing. If it's something to do with Earth Central, why the Centauri?" "Maybe it's a test case..." She frowned, pondering the question herself. While everything was connected in some odd way to the infection, it actually seemed that there were two different sides to it, and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out how Earth Central and the Narns & Centauri both fit in. Unless... "Michael," she started, feeling the icy shivers run down her spine again, but this time knowing they were caused by her thoughts instead of proximity to Dr. Davis, "The Narn are the only major race without telepaths..." Garibaldi frowned, turning that over in his mind a few times. If only it didn't hurt so much to think... Suddenly both of them were startled by Ivanova's Link. Garibaldi turned off the jammer device and she answered, "Ivanova." "Commander, this is Dr. Hernandez. The Captain's coming around." "I'll be there as soon as possible!" Ivanova answered, keying the Link off again. "Come on, let's see if he can shed any light on this." Garibaldi put the jammer away, hit a few keys on the console, and the records from MedLab vanished to be replaced by the standard 'inactive' screen. When he stood he felt the room spin, but forced himself to ignore it, although he was starting to experience hunger pains and decided that was the cause. "Ivanova, I gotta eat something, or I *will* pass out..." "Hurry up, we've got to talk to the Captain about that Jumpgate before it's too late." Garibaldi nodded and went to a locker in the office, rummaged through it for a moment until he came up with a couple of fruit & grain bars. "Quick energy and tasty too," he quipped, opening one and taking a huge bite. "Come on, let's go." As they walked to the turbo-lift, Garibaldi keyed his Link and said "Garibaldi to Welch..." "Chief? What's up?" "I need you to take over in Security for a bit -- I'm heading to MedLab to talk with the Captain. I've gotta crash after that or I'm gonna be useless. If you find anything out, talk to Commander Ivanova or the Captain only, you got that?" "Got it, Chief. Don't worry, you can trust me." "Thanks, Lou." * * * They arrived at MedLab about 7 minutes after the call, and Ivanova noticed that Garibaldi was still sweating and from his expression was either having trouble seeing, or suffering from a splitting headache -- or both. When they walked in, she saw his head snap up at the same time that Dr. Davis turned to look at them. _What the...?_ She cleared her throat and said "I was informed that Captain Sheridan is coming around?" Dr. Hernandez came out of the closed-off area where the latest patients lay and frowned when she saw Garibaldi. He shook his head almost imperceptibly and she kept quiet, leading them to Sheridan's bed. Ivanova caught Garibaldi looking back at Dr. Davis out of the corner of her eye, and when they were far enough away she asked "So you feel it too?" He looked down at her and opened his mouth, closed it again and swallowed hard, then whispered, "Yeah -- it's worse than the first time I was in here with him. Like cold spiky things running up and down my spine. It's like..." He trailed off when he realized Sheridan was sitting up, awake. _Better to not talk about things the good Captain may construe as the DT's or insane imaginings, but damn that feeling's familiar...Like on Mars, with Jeff...Black spiky ships, cold terrors...Watch out for Shadows..._ "Captain!" Ivanova was saying -- he shook his head and tried to pay attention, but his head was roaring like interference... "Doctor, is he okay to leave MedLab? We have a situation we need his expertise in..." Sheridan looked up at her, confused. "Ivanova? What's been going on while I was out?" "It's complicated, Sir," she explained, hoping that the formality would clue him off to part of the problem. "If I might ask, how did you get bitten by a snake? I didn't know there were any dangerous animals on board..." "That's complicated too, Commander...I'd rather not say." _I'd come out sounding awful stupid if I told you_, he thought, still upset with himself. Kosh's lessons were starting to make sense, and he knew full-well he'd failed that one..."Well, Doctor, I do feel fine now, may I go?" Doctor Hernandez frowned and replied "I think I've got too many patients out and roaming around already, but in your case, I can see where it may be necessary..." She stopped with a pointed look in the direction of Dr. Davis. "If you wear a monitor, I'll let you go." "Done." He waited for her to get one, eyeing Garibaldi. "Garibaldi, you look like hell!" he observed, suddenly very concerned. Ivanova turned to look at Garibaldi, alarmed at how much worse he looked than he had ten minutes earlier. Garibaldi opened his mouth to argue with Sheridan's assessment, but instead he suddenly turned to look behind them. Ivanova was startled to see Davis standing up and heading their way. "Michael?" she asked quietly, seeing what looked like fright in his eyes. Just then Garibaldi slumped to the floor, the alarm on his bio-monitor shrilling. She could have sworn she saw Davis smile for just a second... * * * WHEW! That's it! (I'm writing this on Saturday at my office, and it must be 90 degrees in here!) Sorry if I took this where others didn't want it heading, and sorry too if any of you aren't familiar with the Garibaldi & Sinclair backstory from the comics -- that's what the reference to him & Jeff on Mars was. Flames and gripes may be ignored, but should be sent to UVAlpha@aol.com. Letterbombs will be returned unopened and postage due. DISCLAIMER _Babylon 5_, its characters and situations, is copyright 1995 PTN Consortium. This publication is not meant to infringe on any rights held by Babylonian Productions, Prime Time Entertainment Network or Warner Bros Television Distribution. "Reaper, part 6" is copyright 1995 Isoline M. Sanderson (and an apology to Lisa for stealing her Disclaimer -- it was just perfect!) - Unsubscribe: majordomo@best.com With message: unsubscribe b5-creative Digest of b5-creative: unsubscribe b5-creative, then subscribe b5-speculation-digest