From akosut@nueva.pvt.k12.ca.usFri Mar 24 17:44:30 1995 Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 14:01:33 -0800 (PST) From: Alexei Kosut To: Babylon Five Creative Subject: Story: "The Untamed World" Hello: This is a story of mine, "The Untamed World". I've already sent two parts of it to this list, but that was seven weeks ago, and you've probably all forgotten, so here's the whole thing... The first half of this was based on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Ensigns of Command". The second half wasn't. Oh, and BTW, if you want to see a picture of approximately what MARA (a character in the story, sort of. You'll see), take a gander at the cover to the CD-ROM game "The Journeyman Project". -- Babylon 5: THE UNTAMED WORLD Copyright (c) 1995, Alexei Kosut, All Rights Reserved. This document may be freely distributed. Babylon 5 is a registered trademark of the Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN). All rights to this document will be unconditionally surrendered to J. Michael Straczinski, Babylonian Productions Inc. or PTEN upon request. HISTORICAL NOTE: This story takes place sometime after "Revelations", but before "The Coming of Shadows" PROLOGUE: On a world forgotten, a man stares up at the stars. Squinting in the heat of the desert, he cups his hands around his eyes and tries to find a star... the star from which he came. He glances about, but is unable to locate it. He turns and sees his wife, beconing him, wanting him to come inside. He pauses, scanning the heavens, then shrugs, lowers his head and goes back to his home, to rest. The star for which he sought, the bright yellow dot in the vast expanse, still shines brightly. And descending from it comes a streaking dot, down from the sky into the world... the only world the man has known. For though the star has begat him, it has forgotten he exists. Since all those years ago, when his grandfather came to this world, filled with hope and excitement, not a word has arose, not a glimmer of communication. It was as if a hand had reached out and silenced them... But the star still shines, the star still lives, as does the planet circling it. The planet that the man dreams of... the planet Earth. THE STORY "Captain," called Mort Weinstein, the communications officer aboard the EAS Columbus, "We're receiving a communication from Earthforce Command on Gold Channel Five." The commander of the Columbus, William Kright, swiveled around in his chair, his face rapt with attention. "On screen." The visual monitor on Kright's control console flickered to life, and the face of General Mark Aaronson appeared in it. "Captain Kright?" Kright saluted. "Yes, sir." "At ease. Captain, we have a problem. Have you ever heard of the Pi Sigma system?" "No, sir, I haven't." Aaronson sighed. "And apparently no one else has either. But apparently there's an Earth colony there, that we never knew about before." "So what's the problem?" "Well, the Vorlons have claim to that part of space, and they've contacted us. They want those people removed in the next seven days. Apparently there are almost thirty thousand colonists on the planet. You're the only ship in range that can handle that." "I see," said Kright cautiously. "But what if they object?" "They have no choice. Continuing our relatively good relationship with the Vorlons is a top priority of the Earth Alliance. You are to go to Babylon 5, contact Ambassador Kosh, and work out some kind of deal to allow you to get those people out of there. Then go do it. Understood?" "Yes, sir." "Good. Aaronson out." The general's face flashed off of the comm screen, and Kright stood and addressed his bridge staff. "Ready the ship for jump-point initiation. Set course for Babylon 5." *** Commander Susan Ivanova raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said I'd never see another one of them," she said, gesturing towards the sensor display of the incoming ship. Smiling, Captain John Sheridan turned to face her. "I lied. Well, at any rate, we'd better get ready for the Columbus' arrival. Has Mister Garibaldi cleared a docking bay for their command shuttle?" "I believe so, sir." *** "Captain, we're nearing the jumpgate at Babylon 5." William Kright put down the book he was reading. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Prepare to exit hyperspace." As the jump-point appeared in the ripples of hyperspace ahead of the Columbus, the majestic ship slipped into normal space like a duck into water. Swiveling its superstructure, it sidled up next to Babylon 5, braking thrusters firing, and stood there, side to side with the station, with an almost equal length, both hovering in space. Captain Kright and his senior officers boarded a shuttle and took it to Babylon 5. As the small ship settled into the docking bay and the airlock doors opened, Kright stood and strode into the station. There to greet him was Captain John Sheridan. He smiled, "Welcome to Babylon 5, Captain," he said, his hand outstreached. Kright took hold of the proffered hand and shook it vigorously. "Thank you, it's good to be here. However, if you don't mind, I'd like to skip the pleasantries, as I'm on a tight schedule. I came to meet with Ambassador Kosh." Sheridan frowned. "Yes, I was informed of that. Right this way, Captain Kright. I must warn you, though: Kosh can be a bit..." "A bit what?" prodded Kright. "Obscure," finished Sheridan. "You'll find you may get less out of the meeting than you might have hoped." *** "No." Kright stared at Kosh. "No?" Again the musical tones erupted from the Vorlon's encounter suit, followed by a slightly mechanical translation. "No." "But what you ask... Six days to evacuate thirty thousand people, that will put extreme stress on my ship and crew. I'm not sure we can do it. You've got to give us more time, at least two weeks." Kosh turned suddenly and floated forward. "The moss has begun to form. Soon the tree will be completely green." Sighing, Kright looked back up at Kosh. "I take it that means no?" "Meaning is in the eye of the beholder," said Kosh, then he turned away from Kright and exited the room into a different part of his suite. Grumbling, Kright likewise left. *** Sheridan looked at Kright with concern. "Leaving so soon, Captain?" Kright sighed. "I'm afraid so. My time is quite limited. I hope to see you again in about a week, though, to drop off the colonists." "I understand. Well, until then..." Kright got up to leave. "Goodbye." *** The EAS Columbus pierced through hyperspace and into the real universe, settling into orbit in the Pi Sigma system. Captain William Kright stood and addressed his communications officer. "Mr. Weinstein, open a channel to the planet." "Aye, sir. Open." Clearing his throat, Kright spoke. "This is Captain William Kright, of the Earth Alliance Ship Columbus, to the colonists on Pi Sigma IV. Please respond." He waited for several moments. "I repeat, this is Captain William Kright, representing the Earth Alliance. If you can hear me, please respond. This is quite urgent. Your world is in grave danger." After a minute or so of that, he finially turned to Weinstein. "No response?" "No, sir. Our scans show that they are receiving the signal, but I'm not getting anything back. I am getting some odd feedback, their equipment may be malfunctioning." "I see. Are there any life signs?" "Positive... instruments indicate approximately thirty-four thousand humans." Kright sighed. "All right then, if they're not going to listen, we'll have to go down and talk to them personally." At that moment, a voice from the far side of the bridge called out. "Um... Captain?" Nodding, Kright turned to towards the voice. "Yes, Lieutenant?" The young officer nervously spoke. "I just did a radiation scan of the planet, and.. and..." "What is it?" "According to this, that planet is completely enshrouded with a lethal amount of petrionic radiation." "Let me see that," exclaimed Kright, and he scrambled across the bridge to the sensor display. "Hmm....You're right. I wonder how those people could have survived?" "They could have adapted." Kright's executive officer, Morris Jones. Kright raised an eyebrow. "In only ninety years?" "It's been known to happen. Instant adaptation to a deadly climate. Or possibly the radiation started out at tolerable levels, then increased slowly, over fifty years or more, giving their bodies time to tolerate the increasing radiation. Certainly it's improbable, especially given that at the same time they were being irradiated with these petryon particles, they had to settle a desert planet... But not impossible." "No," sighed Kright. "I guess not. But this does bring up the question of how to contact them. We don't have any radiation suits that can handle this much radiation for more than a couple minutes. Damn." Tenatively, Jones spread his palms. "We could send MARA." Kright frowned. He head never heard of anyone using a Mobile Armed Robotic Attachement in diplomacy, but it was worth a shot. "All right," he finially sighed. "Wire in Weinstein. He'll go down in two hours." *** One and a half hours later, the MARA unit was ready to go. It was a simple concept, really. A robot in a vaugely humanoid shape, about seven feet tall, under remote tachyon control. Some human, in this case Lt. Weinstein, had his nervous system connected into the shipbourne transmitter, and was able to control the robot via a form of direct virtual reality. MARA had been developed during the Dilgar war, to deal with the chemical weapons the Dilgar were so fond of using. In this situation, however, it would be used not to fight a war but to help stop one, or so it was hoped. The unit was turned on, and the robot put in a shuttle set to go down to the planet surface. Weinstein flicked a switch, and he was there. He walked out of the shuttle and into what appeared to be a town square. There were several dozen people crowed around, but as Weinstein - as MARA - walked forward, the crowd dispirsed. After several moments, a uniformed man, whom Weinstein assumed was some sort of local police. "What do you want?" asked the man imperivitely. Choosing his words carefully, Weinstein activated MARA's speech unit. "I represent the Earth Alliance. I would like to speak with your leaders. It is an urgent matter." The policeman frowned. "You say you are from Earth? We've never seen anyone from Earth, mind you, but we've heard that humans live there, like us. And you don't look human." Weinstein sighed to himself. "There is radiation on your world that is harmful to us. This is a robotic simulation of my actions, which are being directed by the real me, who is in a ship orbiting your planet." After a pause of several seconds, the man finially relented. "All right, I'll take you to City Hall. You can talk to the Governor there." *** Mark Taylor, Governor of the Pi Sigma colony, was indignant. "Let me see if I have this right. Ninety years ago, our forefathers settled on this world. Since then, we have had no contact from Earth, no communication, no help, no nothing." He paused and scanned the room, looking at the faces of the Sigma Council members before returning his gaze to Weinstein and his MARA body. "And now you come and you want us to leave, just because some other race tells you they want this world. Well let me tell you, Mister whatever-your-name-is, we will not stand for this. We spend many long hard years cultivating this desert world, and now, just as our society is beginning to work smoothly, you intend to rip us from this world." Weinstein raised his hand in protest. "But the Vorlons believe they have a claim to this world. They'll do things to you... well, to be honest, we don't know what they will do to you, but no human who's gone into Vorlon space has ever returned. It's really in your own best interest to evacuate. We can resettle you on another planet, with a better climate perhaps. You'll be happy there." At this point, one of the council members stood. "Look who's talking. The guy who needs to use a robot to talk to us because our planet is 'inhospitable' to his people wants claims to know what we'll be happy doing. I don't think he's concerned about our safety. I think we're being used as political pawns, in the Earth Alliance's relationship with these Vorlons. And I for one don't want to be a part of it. I say we stay right where we are." The council room was shaken with thunderous applause as he sat down. He had obviously touched a nerve. Governor Taylor waited for the room to be silent again, then spoke. "Thank you, Mister Allen, for that eloquent speech. And now, let us take a vote. All those in favor of *not* being evacuated, please raise your hands." Looking around the room, Weinstein was dismayed. As near as he could tell, every single soul was raising his hand. Taylor continued. "All those for letting them take us with them, please raise your hands." Weinstein started to raise his hand, when he was stopped short by an icy glare from Taylor. "Council members only, please." Weinstein sighed and glanced about him. No one's hand was raised, it seemed, until he spotted one man, in the far corner. He was thin and seemed young, with wispy black hair. He had a dreamy look in his bright blue eyes, and his hand was raised high. Taylor looked up. "All right That makes the vote thirty-four to one against accepting the Earth Alliance's gracious offer to evacuate us," he said, laying heavy sarcasm onto the word "gracious". He then continued, "It is the position of this Council and the inhabitants of this world, which we represent, that we choose to remain here on our own soil, and take our chances with whatever hazards may come our way." Staring at Weinstein, he emphasized the final phrase. "If," he said, "they come our way, which I am inclined to doubt. As Councilman Allen put it so well, we will not be a part of your intergalactic chess game. This meeting is adjourned." *** In a meeting of Captain Kright's senior officers, Mort Weinstein sighed. "I tell you, Captain, these people are murder. I tried explaining the situation, but they wouldn't listen." Kright sighed. "Well, Lieutenant, our orders say we can't give them any choice. But we'll get back to that. Commander, have you found anything new regarding the radiation?" Morris Jones, first officer of the EAS Columbus, spread his palms and cautiously spoke. "Yes, sir. Lieutenant Anim has discovered that the amount of petryonic radiation on the planet is growing." Jones touched a button on his computer console and the conference room's viewscreen lit up with a graph. "We did a computer analysis on the growth pattern, and it's a pretty standard logarithmic acceleration curve. Apparently, the radiation level started increasing about fifty-three years ago, and has been steadily increasing. However, only recently is has reached this point on the graph," he said, pointing to a specific region on the screen, "And started rapidly growing." Taking a deep breath, Jones continued. "According to this, the planet will be completely inhospitable, even to these people, within ten days. In less than a month, in fact, the planet will collapse into a miniature black hole." Kright nodded. "And a black hole in this system could affect the neighboring systems' gravity wells." "According to our intelligence reports," broke in Weinstein, "The Vorlons have a sizeable colony on Alpha Sigma VI, just four light-years from here." Sighing, Jones nodded. "So they're probably planning on coming in and blowing up this planet before that happens." Kright sighed. "'The moss has begun to form. Soon the tree will be completely green...'," he said, thinking aloud. "Kosh must have been reffering to the radiation." Turning back to his officers, he spoke with a new determination in his voice. "The colonists must be evacuated. We'll just have to try harder. Lieutenant Weinstein, prepare to return to the planet surface at 2100. Dismissed." *** "But I tell you, you're in great danger here! You'll be dead within a week. You must listen." Taylor turned a jaundiced eye towards the MARA unit enclosing Mort Weinstein. "I told you before, we don't recognize your authority. You say that the radiation surrounding us is rapidly increasing, yet I see no evidence of anything but the gradual slope it has taken for the last fifty years. Our medics assure us we are in no danger." "Our computer models clearly reveal-" Taylor turned away and raised a finger. "Guards, remove this... this thing." Two uniformed men peeled out from their positions on the side walls of the City Hall main corridor and drew weapons from their holsters. Raising his robotic arms, Weinstein backed towards building's exit. "I don't want any trouble." Taylor spat at his feet. "Oh, you've already got it. You can quote me on that." Dejected, Weinstein turned and sped out of City Hall. In doing so, he almost ran over the man he had earlier seen cast the single vote for evacuation of the colony. Jumping out of the way just in time, he stuck his hand out and grasped the metallic arm of Weinstein's body. "Hi, Matt McCresney." Cautiously, Weinstein made MARA's arm move up and down, simulating a handshaking motion. "I'm Lieutenant Mort Wienstein, Earth Force. I want to thank you for your action back there in the council meeting." McCresney shrugged. "The vote? Oh, don't mention it. You know, I heard what you said just now to the Governor about the increase in radiation. If it matters to you, I think you're right. After your talk earlier this morning, I got interested in our colony's peculiarity - the petryon particles - I did some scans, and came to the same conclusion you did. You know, I'm a physicist by trade." "Do you think you can convince the council of this?" "Are you kidding?" laughed McCresney. "I have no pull with this colony whatsoever. They just ignore me. I think the only reason I was elected was because my opponent came down with the flu and he coughed more than he talked during his campaign speeches." Weinstein sighed. "Well, thanks anyway." "No problem." The young man smiled and walked briskly away. *** "Captain," exclaimed the sensor officer of the EAS Columbus, "I'm reading a Vorlon ship coming out of hyperspace in this system." Captain Kright stood suddenly. "What? We still have two days until our deadline. Try to raise them." After a pause, the man spoke again. "Sir, I have them on voice only. They claim their visual transmitter is malfunctioning." Kright rolled his eyes. "Put me on." The comm system beeped and a mechanical voice arose. "You have twenty-six hours." "Don't worry, we'll have out people out of here by then," sighed Kright. And with that, the Vorlon ship cut the transmission. Commander Jones leaned over and raised an eyebrow at Kright. "You realize, Captain, that even were we to start right now, we could just barely evacuate half that colony before our time is up." Kright shook his head and sighed. "I know, I know." *** Weinstein watched the young man walk away, and it saddened him. This man, this McCresney, he wouldn't live to see another summer, wouldn't live to see his next birthday, wouldn't live to see next month even, and all because of the stupidness of the planetary council. Anger balled up within him and he called out. "Hey... wait!" McCresney turned around to face Weinstein. "Yes?" "Mr. McCresney..." "Please," smiled the young man. "Call me Matt." "Matt, then. I was wondering... you said you were a physicist?" *** Kright sighed. "Lieutenant Weinstein, I'm not sure I understand. You're saying that if we flood the planet with delta-ray particles, it might reverse the rate of growth of the petryon particles?" Weinstein, now back on the ship in his own body, nodded. "That's right." "But we don't have a delta-ray generator on board." "No, we don't. But the jump-point generator can be modified to be a makeship generator." "Are you sure of this?" "No, sir." "I see," said Kright, sighing again. "How long would these modifications take?" "Fourteen hours, sir." From the other side of the bridge, the duty officer called out, "Captain, we just received a transmission from the lead Vorlon ship, text only. It says 'eight'." Kright turned to hear, the swiveled his head back to Weinstein. "Can you do it in eight hours?" Doing some mental calculations, Weinstein replied, "Maybe, sir." "Well, get going. But you'd better be right. If we can't pull this off, and the Vorlons decide to attack, we won't be able to leave." "Sir?" "You'll have modified the jump-point generator, remember, Lieutenant?" "Oh, of course, sir. That's right." Kright sighed. "Well, get started." Standing, Weinstein saluted. "Yes, sir." *** "Captain!" came a call from across the bridge. "We've got an incoming communication from the Vorlon ship. Voice only." Standing, Kright nodded to the communications officer. "Let's hear it." The melodic notes flowed out of the speaker system above Kright's head, followed by a mechanical translation. "Half an hour remains. Please vacate the system. You have been warned." "Damn," swore Kright. He tapped his link. "Weinstein! Have you got that delta-ray generator working yet?" The young man's voice filtered through the system. "Almost sir. I just need another hour." "You don't have another hour, goddamnit. It will take at least ten minutes to irradiate the entire planet, so you have fifteen minutes to complete the modifications. No more. Kright out." From the sensor station, a voice rang out. "Captain, four more Vorlon cruisers just dropped out of hyperspace." Kright nodded at his first officer, who stood and turned to the duty officer. "Take the ship to red alert status. Activate defense grid. All men to battlestations. And get all shuttles ready to launch immediately." "You know," said Kright morosely. "Our shuttles won't be much good against those Vorlon warships." "I know, I know," sighed Jones. "But you can't blame me for helping crew morale a bit." "No, I guess not." Kright sighed. "Well, let's just hope Weinstein can get that delta-ray generator working in time. Otherwise, we're dead." *** "Ten minutes remain. You have been warned." came the ominous voice from the bridge speaker system. Kright pounded his console. "Weinstein! Where the hell is my generator?" The panicked voice came back over the com system. "I'm working on it, Captain. I've run into a small snag, I need a couple minutes to work it out." "I want it ready, and I want it ten minutes ago. Is that understood? This isn't some science project, Lieutenant - thousands of lives are at stake. Is that clear?" "Crystal, sir. Weinstein out." As the communications monitor signaled the end of the communication, Kright turned to the sensor officer. "Give me a status report on the Vorlon ships." "They're just sitting there... no wait, they've started moving towards the planet. And I'm getting some kind of energy reading from them... it looks like they're powering up some kind of massive power generator, on a scale I've never seen before." "Enough to destroy a planet," muttered Kright. He turned to face his first officer. "Move the ship into the Vorlons' path. Put us between them and the planet." "Yes, sir," affirmed Jones. "Helm, take us to bearing four-four mark seven, full main thrusters." "Aye, sir." Kright tapped his link. "Bridge to Weinstein. Report." "I'm almost ready here. I just need to feed the input from the fusion manifold into the jumpgate energy grid and it'll be ready to go. Thirty seconds." "Thank you, Lieutenant Wie-" The ship suddenly lurched, interrupting the captain. The lights dimmed for a second, then returned to full strength. "What the hell was that?" demanded Kright. "The Vorlons? We still have another two minutes." The sensor officer consulted his console. "Negative, Captain. According to this, the emmision of petryon particles from the planet has just jumped in strength. It seems our computer models were off - in just five this planet will collapse into that black hole, not ten days!" "We're getting another transmission from the Vorlon ship, Captain," chimed in the communications officer. "They say 'one minute'." "Damn... these Vorlons don't leave themselves any time to spare, do they?" Kright was about to contact Weinstein about the status of the delta-ray generator when he was struck with a sickening thought: The planet would become a black hole in five minutes, but it would take at least ten to cleanse it. Therefore, there was no way to do it, and not only that, with the jump-point generator modified beyond use, there was no way to escape. They were dead. He tapped his link. "Kright to Wienstein. Are you ready to go?" "Affirmative, Captain. Shall I engage the generator?" "Negative, it won't work. Tell me, is there any way to have it send its burst all at once - in under four minutes?" "Message from the Vorlon ship," came the shout from across the room. "'Thirty seconds'". There was silence from the com system, but then Weinstein spoke again. "I think if we bypassed the hyperdrive control regulator, it might be possible. But..." "But what?" exclaimed Kright. "It'll completely burn out our jump-point generator-" "'Twenty seconds'" called the communications officer officer. Weinstein continued. "It'll destroy it beyond our ability to repair." "Well, we'll have to take that risk. Earthforce can send another ship to rescue us. Do it." "'Ten seconds'" For five agonizing seconds there was silence, then finially Weinstein's voice came through the link. "System engaged. It's working." "Captain," called the sensor officer. "I'm getting new readings from the planet. The petryonic emmisons have disapeared." *** "And then the Vorlon ships just went into hyperspace and left, without a word." Kright was relating the events of the previous week to Captain Sheridan, back on Babylon 5. Sheridan looked concerned for a moment, then spoke. "Well, the Vorlons never have been a verbose type. But what about the colonists?" "We left them there. I attempted to contact them again, but was given a response that wouldn't be polite to repeat in public. So we left them. They should be okay, if I understand things correctly." "Yes, that would be my understanding as well," said Sheridan. At that moment, Ambassador Kosh suddenly entered the room. "Ambassador," greeted Sheridan. Kosh glided up to Kright, and spoke, the musical background oddly soothing. "You pass. Congratulations." He then turned and left the room. Kright frowned. "What did that mean?" Smiling, Sheridan turned to face him. "I know no more than you do. But I think it's a good sign." EPILOG: On that far-off world, the man again raised his eyes to the heavens. He had seen a glimpse of what lay there, a wonderful vision, a place he longed to go. And yet it was still as far off as it was before. Maybe even father, he mused. For the stupidity of his government would ensure that the visitors never came again, that they left this planet alone until the end of time. The rage broiled within him, and he could barely contain his anger. He snapped his head upward and focused on a certain constellation. He smiled, for he now had found the star that had alluded him before. Staring at it, he dreamed of days that would never be, of a life he could never leave. For the rest of his life he would long for this life, he would star at this star until the day he died. For Earth's star would never again shine so bright. THE END -- Alexei Kosut Live, Londo and Prosper: /\/\/\\____-_____-- __.__.. akosut@nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us |-|-----|:|:|:: ..| |...| ||=/ \ Lefler on IRC |-|-----======____| |---| |-=\__/ \/\/\/ - --