akos From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 00:42:59 1996 Date: 18 Jun 96 13:52:47 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Violation Part 1 I have to write a little to explain the background of this story. It was actually written before 'A Time for Shadows', for those of you who have read that, and provides a lot of the background for the relationship that was the core of that story. As to why it didn't get posted first....actually I wasn't on line then and it has been sitting gathering dust on the hard disk of my old computer. I re-read it the other day and it actually doesn't look at all bad. Anyway here is the first part and I hope you enjoy it. It was written after seeing Season 1 and is roughtly between Babylon Squared and Chrysalis. I know there's a big mistake early on but the plot doesn't work without it. I think I've stolen the title from an episode of Star Trek.....oh well, titles have never been my strong point ! Violation Part 1 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights Talia Winters looked at the package as if staring at it would reveal its contents. Sealed orders from Psicorps headquarters were rare, only used in the most confidential cases. They had been delivered to her quarters a couple of hours ago by a Psicop, who informed her, in no uncertain terms, that he was planning to hang around until she carried them out. She broke the seal carefully and spread the paper flat on the table. The message was simple, a coded signal to transmit certain data to headquarters. Information that she had gleaned about the crew of Babylon 5 over months of subtle telepathic contact. There was no reason given as to why the Psicorps might want that material, but the fact that they had requested it made Talia very uncomfortable. She knew, from previous experience, that her superiors were very interested in what happened on the station but this was the first time that they had asked her for specific details. The courier was waiting, so Talia didn't waste any time compiling her report. ********************************************************************************* ** The Babylon 5 station appeared almost serene as the cruiser approached, deceleration from hyperspace gave one time to appreciate the view. At least that's what Michael Garibaldi thought as his shuttle disembarked. He wouldn't admit it but he was glad to be back. If the truth be known he always worried about the station when he was absent. His vacation hadn't exactly been restful. Despite the general weariness, he felt surprisingly good. The weeks leading up to his leave had been something of an emotional strain, what with the trouble on the Mars colony and the disturbing experience on board the Babylon 4 station. It wasn't until he had left the station that he really realised how much he needed the time off. Now he was able to enjoy the reassuring feeling of coming home. He entered the docking terminal to a cheery wave from one of the security team as he passed through customs. Tomorrow he would be back on duty but tonight he planned to grab some food, get back to his quarters and relax with his second favourite thing in the universe. Juggling a Pizza, three bags and a bottle of chilli sauce Garibaldi made his way, precariously, through blue section. His mind was firmly focused on the problem of getting his hands on his security pass without having to put everything else down, he almost ran into the woman. She was standing outside her quarters looking as if she was about to seriously abuse the locking mechanism. His first thought when he took a good look at her was, 'Talia Winters eat you heart out,'. She was tall with brown eyes and golden skin, long light brown hair fell over one shoulder. He knew that he was staring but he didn't seem to be able to do anything about it. " Problems ?" He asked. " My pass card doesn't seem to be working," she exclaimed. " Let me have a look," She smiled at him gratefully as he put down his burden and took her card from her. Examining it closely he noticed that the card was actually damaged, " There's you're problem, the computer can't read the card." " So I can't get into my quarters." " You could share mine," The lack of response prompted Garibaldi to add, " Don't worry you've run into the right guy," Garibaldi produced his own pass and used it to open the door, " Security Chief Michael Garibaldi," he announced offering his hand, she presented him a perfectly manicured one in return, " Hillary Rivers, thankyou Mr. Garibaldi." " Anytime." She gave him another stunning smile as she entered her quarters. The door slid shut before Garibaldi had time to try another one of his chat up lines. However, his mind was working on it as he gathered his belongings and continued on his way. ********************************************************************************* ** There was no escaping the fact that it was morning. Susan Ivanova opened her eyes with more reluctance than usual and rolled out of bed. She stood up gingerly as the unexpected pain throbbed in her temples. How much had she had to drink last night ? She couldn't remember, but she had the mother and father of all hangovers to show for it. She'd been under the impression that a good dose of alcohol would help her sleep. Unfortunately she had been wrong. This was stupid, she told herself, Lieutenant Commander's didn't have personal problems. What she really needed to do was to yell at someone and smash a few things, but Lieutenant commander's didn't do that either. Instead she settled for two oxy pills and a hot shower, after performing a few half-hearted stretching exercises. Her head still felt three times its usual size as she pulled on her uniform and attempted to force her hair into some kind of order. It was a loosing battle. She gave up in disgust and left her quarters. " Good morning, Good morning," Michael Garibaldi came up beside her in the corridor. Ivanova grunted in reply, the man was positively bouncing, it was obscene. He had just come back from his vacation, but that was no reason to be deliberately cheerful. She clenched her fists at her sides. Garibaldi never realised how close he came to a punch in the mouth. " Mr. Garibaldi, could we dispense with your usual inane banter." She began, "Its for your own safety." Garibaldi didn't take any notice of the chilly reception. Teasing Ivanova, especially first thing in the morning, was one of his favourite pastimes. " Come on admit it, you missed me." " Just go and bother someone else. Isn't Londo doing something illegal ?" " Actually no." " G'Kar then ?" " Nope, they're all running round preparing for some kind of reception. What's the gossip on that. When I left everything was peace and quiet now it looks like half of the alliance is on its way to B5." " You'd better ask the Commander about that one, I'm not even going to pretend to understand." Garibaldi noted the edge in her voice. This was something she obviously wasn't happy about. It sounded like she'd argued with Sinclair over the issue. He also noted her dishevelled condition. If he wasn't mistaken Lieutenant Commander Ivanova had a hangover. Something that he had never known her suffer from in the months that she had been stationed on B5. " I'm on my way to see Jeff now....as you should be." He prompted. Dredging up several swearwords from her Russian childhood, Ivanova swung round and headed back to her quarters. She remembered that she'd left her notes on the table. " You must of had a hard night if you didn't remember." Garibaldi called after her. " We all know why you don't have that problem, Mr. Garibaldi." She snapped in reply. The smile vanished from the security chief's face as he turned away from her. 'That was a low blow', Ivanova thought to herself as she watched him disappear into the lift. Leaning against the wall she held her head in her hands. Ten minutes out of bed and she had already managed to offend the first person that she had met. It did not bode well for the rest of the day. Wearily she returned to her quarters. She would have to apologise to Garibaldi....but not today. ******************************************************************************* The three senior officers sat Commander Sinclair's office with coffee and a box of donuts that Garibaldi had found it necessary to bring back with him from Earth. Commander Sinclair seemed relaxed enough but there was a definite tension emanating from Ivanova. " Well ?" Garibaldi asked, " What's all this I hear about a party ?" " Babylon 5's been operational long enough for Earth Central to want to show us off a little." Sinclair smiled. " And whose bright idea was this ? Let me guess Senator Hidoshi ?" " As a matter of fact no. You haven't met our new liaison officer, but she'll be here in a moment." " What ? You're taking advice from a Liason officer !" Garibaldi gave his commander a strange look as he flipped to the next page on his clipboard. " Okay question number two. The security arrangements, I've looked them over and I don't think that its feasible." " Why ? " " Jeff you've got at least one hundred dignitaries arriving at more or less the same time daily for a week. I just don't have the staff to provide escorts, check for weapons etc." " Your second didn't seem to have any problems." A woman's voice sounded from the doorway. Sinclair jumped to his feet and waved her into the room. " Mr. Garibaldi may I introduce Hillary Rivers, our new civilian liaison officer." The woman smiled as she gracefully entered the room. " We met last night, Jeffrey. How are you this morning Mr. Garibaldi ?" " Fine, I'm sure that we could come to some kind of arrangement." Garibaldi smiled, " but..." " Thankyou." She replied gratefully. " This is so important to the shared culture of our many worlds. I'm sure that you understand." " Now if you don't mind." Sinclair said," Hillary and I have a lot of work to do before the end of the week." " I'll catch up with you later Jeff," Garibaldi said as he joined Ivanova, " But we really will have to do something about those arrangements." He felt a twinge of annoyance. Hillary hadn't been prepared to listen to anything that he had to say and the Commander hadn't protested. There was definitely something in the way that Sinclair was looking at the woman. Ivanova, on the other hand seemed to be in a hurry to leave the room. " What's goin' on between those two ?" Garibaldi added as he and Ivanova entered the corridor. " I neither know nor care." She replied tersely. " You don't like her ?" " How observant of you ." " Its my job." " Then you should use your eyes not your hormones." " What does Catherine say about all this ?" " She's been off station for the last three weeks and I'm not going to tell her when she gets back." ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 00:43:03 1996 Date: 18 Jun 96 13:53:00 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Violation Part 2 Violation Part 2 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights 'The infinite wisdom of Earth Central," Ivanova thought to herself as she straightened her dress uniform. This celebration had turned out to be a nightmare of diplomatic planning. Firstly representatives of every major government were converging on the station, it was going to take a week for them all to arrive. This was in addition to the ambassadors already present. Secondly there were the dinner arrangements for the grand reception; the Narn's couldn't sit anywhere near the Centauri, who would come out in a rash if positioned next to the reptilian Visitori, and the Vorlons...Ivanova didn't even know if they were going to show up. Then there was the food. The "delicacies" which had been shipped in over the past week made her feel more than slightly ill. Over the next week Ivanova would be forced to eat too much, drink too much and sit through countless boring conferences. To make matters worse Sinclair had assigned Ivanova to work with Hillary Rivers, probably in the opinion that working together would improve their relationship. It hadn't. Yes, they were sickeningly sweet to each other in public but Ivanova still couldn't stand the woman. It had been hate at first sight, even if that hate did appear to be a little one sided. " Are you ready ?" Garibaldi's voice broke into Ivanova's thoughts. She had not heard the man enter the Observation Dome. " As I'll ever be," She replied, " You ?" " I suppose so. I had four of my men call in sick this morning so some of us are going to have to work double shifts. Then I had to throw half a dozen reporters out of security central." On top of everything else the entire affair was to proceed under the magnifying glass of the Galaxy's press. Garibaldi prayed that nothing would go wrong. Security was as tight as could be under the circumstances but Babylon 5 was a breeding ground for trouble. Murders, sabotage and riots had all invaded his dreams over the past few nights. ********************************************************************************* ** The docking reception area was so crowded with ambassadors, press and security guards that the entrance of the commanding officer was almost unnoticed. The first day of the festivities was highlighted by the arrival of the earth representatives. Sinclair pushed his way to the front of the crowd, ready to greet the visitors. " There they are," He whispered as he arrived at the side of the liaison officer. A noise at the back of the crowd distracted Sinclair for a moment. He felt a ripple run through the mass of people as security moved into action. When his mind returned to the matter in hand he noticed a glaring omission in the line of officers. His second in command was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the crowd, hoping to spot her in another part of the room, but she was conspicuous by her absence. Sinclair signalled to Garibaldi, " Have you seen Ivanova ?" He whispered. " No," Garibaldi replied, " I assumed that she was with you, what's the problem ?" " The problem is that she's not where she's supposed to be." " I see, do you want me to find her ?" " Yes." Acting on a hunch Garibaldi started his search for Lieutenant Commander Ivanova in the Stations many drinking establishments. He checked the Casino, the Zocalo, Dark Star but she didn't seem to be in any of her usual haunts. His systematic search eventually brought him to a bar in the business area of the station. It wasn't somewhere that he normally frequented himself, mostly because of the ghastly pink colour of the interior and the off putting name, Optic Illusion. The room was fairly quiet, just a couple of seedy looking girls hanging around the bar in short skirts and preposterously high white stilettos. No doubt searching for some rich business man. Sure enough the only other occupant of the room was Ivanova, nursing one of what had been several drinks. She paid no attention to Garibaldi's entrance. The man wasn't entirely sure that she had even seem him. He stopped off briefly to have a word with the barman and pick up a couple of glasses of water, before seating himself opposite Susan. " I brought you a drink." He said sliding a glass towards her. " What is it ?" She asked. " Water, you'll need it if you've drunk as much as I think you have." " Do the words 'get lost Garibaldi' mean anything to you ?" " I'm only following orders." Quite calmly, she threw the water in his face and strode out of the bar. Garibaldi swore to himself, he'd handled that badly but he didn't all together blame Ivanova. After all he'd been in her condition more than once. " Ivanova !" Garibaldi's voice echoed through the corridors of blue section, but it didn't slow Susan down. He was slightly out of breath as he ran up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. At his touch Ivanova pulled away sharply but she came to a halt. " Where are you going ?" He asked with some concern. " Back to my quarters," " In the middle of the reception ?" " That's my business not yours." She started walking again, wishing that Garibaldi would go away, but he jogged round in front of her, blocking her path. " This isn't like you, What's up ?" He said. " Maybe I have PMT." Ivanova raised a hand to push him out of the way, but he grabbed it. The anger that she had been holding inside suddenly flared up and she struck out at Garibaldi. The security chief was surprised and didn't manage to block theblow. It connected with enough force to send him stumbling backwards. He recovered quickly enough to knock her legs from under her as she attempted to follow up with a right hook. He stood over her as she lay winded, " I think your quarters might be the best place for you," He said, "As in confined to." " If you touch me again Garibaldi....." She threatened. He took no notice as he pulled her to her feet. Ivanova struggled slightly in his grasp. " Do you want to walk or be carried ?" He asked mildly. " You wouldn't dare." Garibaldi just gave her a look before slinging her over his shoulder and carrying her towards her quarters. Once inside he dropped her in the shower and turned the cold water on; " Sober ?" He enquired. " I need a drink." She replied. " No you don't." Ignoring him she crossed to the table and poured the remains of a bottle into a glass, " You've done your job Mr. Garibaldi now leave me alone." She threw back the liquid and refilled her glass from a fresh bottle. " What ?" She demanded, as she felt the weight of Garibaldi's stare. " Take it from an expert, that's not going to help." He said. " Maybe, maybe not. Look if I want to drink myself unconscious its no business of yours. I promise that I'll stay in my quarters." He shook his head and made for the door, not quite bringing himself to leave. If Ivanova had a problem he felt that it was his duty to help if possible. She looked paler than usual, almost ill. " Come on Ivanova, " He protested, " I've never seen you like this, what's the problem ?" She managed a tight grin, " I just want to be left alone." " Okay, I'll tell Jeff that you're sick. Actually you don't look too good. Maybe you should get some rest ?" " If you say so." " I do. Now go to bed, before I put you there myself." " Only in your dreams." Garibaldi grinned, that sounded more like the Ivanova he knew. He came back to her side, placed an arm around her shoulders and guided her towards the bed. " Don't you want to undress me as well Mr. Garibaldi ?" " Only in my dreams." He sighed. " Now kindly remove your arm before I bite it off." ********************************************************************************* ** " Did you find her ?" Sinclair asked as his security chief entered the office. " Worst case of food poisoning that I've ever seen. She hasn't stopped throwing up long enough to link in. Any other problems ?" " Not so far." " And how are our reporter friends doing ?" " I had to cut through the alien sector to avoid them." " Jeff..." " Yes, Michael." " Ivanova's not been herself lately and she's been hitting the bottle pretty hard.....Maybe you should have a word with her." Sinclair appeared to think for a moment. Ivanova's mind had definitely not been on her job recently, she had also been coming on duty looking increasingly weary. It was possible that she had been spending a little too much of her time in the casino. He was surprised that the security chief had been the one to notice. Garibaldi was not the most sensitive of individuals. " Check on what you can, Michael," Sinclair ordered. " Will do." " But I don't think that we need to be too concerned, I'm sure she can cope with whatever's bothering her," " Yes but shouldn't we try to find out what that is ?" " Michael, it is possible to care too much." Garibaldi looked at Sinclair with some confusion as he realised that the commander had come out with a completely uncharacteristic statement. He would have said something but Sinclair started to study some of the papers which littered his desk, indicating that the interview was at an end. Maybe Garibaldi was getting personally involved with Ivanova, but the last time he had checked it wasn't a crime to care about your friends. It was obvious to him, if not to Sinclair, that she was letting something interfere with her duties. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 00:43:10 1996 Date: 20 Jun 96 13:34:17 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Violation Part 3 Violation Part 3 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights It was rumoured around the corridors of B5 that the station security chief was omniscient. Naturally this type of gossip was often circulated by the criminal element who spent a major proportion of their time in the brig or in front of the judiciary. It was not a story that Ivanova had ever taken much notice of until she ran into Garibaldi as she was leaving her quarters. " I thought that I confined you ." he teased. " I released myself. Or did you intend to starve me Mr. Garibaldi." She replied. " How are you feeling ?" " Fine, now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and get something to eat." Ivanova pushed past him. He was really the last person that she wanted to see, with Commander Sinclair running a close second. They were the two people aboard the station who knew her best, whom she couldn't fool with a front of icy detachment. " Where do you want to eat ?" Garibaldi asked. " I'm sorry ?" " Come on we're both off duty, it'll be my shout." " If this is an attempt to cheer me up I should remind you that we Russians are naturally depressive." " I wouldn't dream of it." " Thank you for the offer but I would rather be alone." " No offence, but I don't think that you should be." The jovial mask slipped from Garibaldi's face as he was suddenly serious. She still looked terrible, he doubted that she had actually taken his advice and used her time off to rest. He needed to convince himself that she wasn't going to do anything stupid and that included avoiding alcohol. " I've got another idea, " He continued, " Why don't you come round to my place and I'll fix us something to eat..." " I don't think so...." " Then we could watch a few movies..." " Mr. Garibaldi." A voice from the end of the corridor interrupted the security chief. The pair turned to see Hillary approaching. She smiled warmly at Garibaldi, " Mr. Garibaldi I need to discuss the security arrangements for tomorrow nights banquet." " I'll be at your disposal first thing tomorrow morning." Garibaldi replied. She moved closer, standing directly between him and Ivanova. He caught the feint smell of her perfume as she bent towards him, lowering her voice to a whisper, " I thought we could discuss things less formally, over dinner perhaps ? I feel that you and I got off on the wrong foot, professionally, and I want to make amends." When they had first met Garibaldi wouldn't have had any qualms about accepting the invitation, now he had too many other things on his mind. Besides, she was already involved with his best friend and he got the feeling that she wanted more than an amicable meal. There was something predatory about her attitude. It wasn't that he didn't find her attractive but, when he thought about it, he realised that he would rather spend the evening with Ivanova. " 7:30 am security central." He replied, " I'm afraid I have plans for tonight." He glanced pointedly at Ivanova who couldn't resist smiling sweetly at Hillary. An annoyed look flashed across her features as she moved away without saying another word. Ivanova got the feeling that few people said no to Hillary Rivers. " That was very restrained of you Mr. Garibaldi." Ivanova said. " I hadn't said yes." " I know, but gossip says that she and the Commander are an item and I've seen her try the same thing with half the men on this station. If she wants to mess him around that's their business, I don't want to get involved. Besides I'm more worried about you than my love life." She looked at him closely, he really was concerned about her, and he had turned down Hillary Rivers advances. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to avoid the rest of the station personnel. Susan came to a decision; " Very well Mr. Garibaldi." " Great. You won't regret it, I'm a fantastic cook." Garibaldi offered her his arm, but she ignored it. 'You can't blame me for trying,' he muttered to himself. ********************************************************************************* ** The food smelt as good as Garibaldi's boast. Ivanova wandered restlessly around his quarters while he worked. She had come to the conclusion that anything was better than spending another night alone, even Garibaldi's company. It was not that she objected to him violently, in fact she liked him, but she found his tendency to turn everything into a joke annoying. His irreverent sense of humour tended to assert itself at the most inopportune moments. Right now, however, it seemed like he was the only friend that she possessed. Ever since that woman had come aboard. Ivanova couldn't put a finger on it but there was just something about Hillary Rivers that she didn't like. Over the past few weeks it had become clear that Susan was the only one to find her excessively irritating and Commander Sinclair was obviously captivated by the woman. Then again so was every man on the station. 'Maybe I've just got an inferiority complex', Ivanova thought to herself but when her dislike of one woman was affecting her work it was time to start worrying. Take that afternoons welcoming ceremony, Ivanova just hadn't been able to force herself to attend because that woman would be there. She was not a vindictive person and didn't normally take an instant dislike to someone. Even she and Talia Winters had worked out their differences. " Its ready," Garibaldi gestured towards the table. He held the chair for her, " Can I get you a coffee or something ?" " No, Thankyou I'm fine." She replied, picking up her fork and dubiously trying the food on her plate. Garibaldi laughed at the expression on her face. " I've surprised you." He smiled. " Why ?" " Why what ?" " You know..." " Firstly an apology for the way I treated you this morning." " I probably deserved it." " Secondly you looked like you could use a friend." " Mr. Garibaldi I..." " The sort of friend I could of used from time to time, but the only thing I found to talk to came in a bottle." He refused to meet her gaze. This was something that he obviously felt uncomfortable talking about. She realised that the behaviour she had exhibited over the past few days must have aroused some frightening memories. He recognised the mood swings, bouts of drinking, hangovers and he was concerned that she could be making the same mistakes that he had. He wasn't trying to get information out of her. Just let her know that he was there if she wanted to talk. She reached forward and touched his hand, this time he looked into her eyes. " Thankyou," She said simply. " Anytime." He nodded and changed the subject awkwardly, " I think we're both in need of some pure escapism." " As long as you don't mean those inane cartoons." " Trust me !" She actually found herself laughing as they finished their meal. ********************************************************************************* ** A communicator beeped somewhere in the depths of Garibaldi's subconscious. Muttering to himself he reached for his link only to find that Ivanova was propped up against his arm, her head resting on his shoulder. Slowly and carefully he extracted his arm and brought the communicator to his mouth. Ivanova mumbled something . " Garibaldi here," He yawned. " Sorry to wake you chief," The voice echoed from the speaker," But we have a problem." " Can't Jack deal with it ?" " Ambassador G'Kar asked for you personally." " Okay Lou where are you ?" " In G'Kar's quarters." " Give me ten minutes." Garibaldi looked down at the sleeping woman. This was the most relaxed that he had seen her in days, it seemed a pity to wake her, especially considering where she was sleeping. He wondered what her reaction would be to using him as a pillow. They had both been awake during "Encounter at Farpoint," but he remembered dozing towards the end, she must have dropped off sometime after that. He brushed the hair away from her face and shook her gently. Ivanova stirred again but remained asleep. " Okay, if you're going to be difficult," Garibaldi sighed. He picked her up and took her through to the bedroom. She curled up under the quilt and wrapped the pillow around her head. There was no doubt that she would be annoyed when she woke up and discovered where she had spent the night. Making as little noise as possible, Garibaldi moved away and started to change back into his uniform. ********************************************************************************* ** Security Officer Lou Welch was standing guard outside Ambassador G'Kar's quarters. He grinned at his commanding officer, " Hope I didn't disturb anything important Chief ?" " Occupational hazard. What's the situation Lou ?" " The Ambassador returned to his quarters forty minutes ago to find that someone had ransacked the place." Garibaldi entered the room to find the Narn ambassador standing in the centre, looking around himself. Ornaments had been smashed, furniture torn, books destroyed. G'Kar sensed the presence of the man behind him and turned to face Garibaldi. " I hope you don't mind me calling you, Mr. Garibaldi," He said, " But an outrage of this nature requires your attention." " I'm honoured that you did." Garibaldi replied, not sounding as sarcastic as he could have done under the circumstances. Strictly ambassadorial quarters were foreign soil and as such Garibaldi had no right to be there. He was glad that G'Kar had contacted station security. Normally the Narn ambassador would have taken matters into his own hands and left Earthforce to pick up the pieces. " Na'Toth wanted to tidy up but I thought that you would want to examine the area first." " That was very considerate of you." " It appears to be an act of wanton vandalism." " If you could give me a few more details and I'll have a word with the other Narn representatives, they might have seen something." " And of course you'll question Molari ?" " If it becomes necessary." " It is just like the Centauri to stoop to such a low, petty..." " Ambassador...Ambassador ! First of all we'll go through this lot and make sure that nothing is missing." " Very well, but if anything is I'm going to Londo Molari's quarters to look for it." ********************************************************************************* ** " G'Kar was difficult," Garibaldi reported to Sinclair half an hour later, " Wanted me to strip search Londo." " Have you any idea who could have broken into his quarters ?" " Not yet, I only have about two hundred suspects." " In other words anyone who has a grudge against G'Kar and has diplomatic access." " I've posted some of my people at the access points and I've warned the other ambassadors. Delenn was very distressed, she thought it might be something to do with the Homeguard." " Did you manage to reassure her ?" " I don't know. I told her that if it couldn't be blown up or murdered those psychos wouldn't be interested." " She's probably just worrying over nothing. We'll pick this up in the morning." " I hope this isn't the start of some petty vendetta. I've got enough to think about with this reception tomorrow...correction, tonight. Incidentally do you know what's on the menu ? I practically starved the last time we had one of these parties." " Whatever it is its certain to be more palatable than Narn cuisine." " You mean it wasn't a shared cultural experience ? Commander you surprise me." " Get out of here Garibaldi." " Yes sir !" However, he paused on his way out to throw one final comment at Sinclair, " I just hope its not Sushi. I hate Sushi." ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 00:43:13 1996 Date: 20 Jun 96 13:34:30 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Violation Part 4 Violation Part 4 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights The screams echoed through the darkness and there was nothing that Susan could do about them. She blundered about trying to locate the source of the tortured sounds but she could not seem to pinpoint the direction. The darkness smothered her. She couldn't see, she couldn't feel. All she was aware of were the screams. There was nothing Susan hated more than the feeling of helplessness that threatened to envelope her. Someone she loved was hurting and she wanted desperately to find them. Exhausted she curled herself up in a ball, trying to block out the noise. A hand touched her shoulder, caressing the nape of her neck. " You know who that is don't you Susan ?" A voice whispered. " Who are you," She shouted, " How do you know my name ?" There was no reply, Susan lashed out at the place where she expected the owner of the hand to be, but her hand passed harmlessly through the air. Dragging herself to her feet and bolted away. She couldn't say in which direction she ran, the darkness had no shade, no variation. Eyes streaming, breath coming in painful gasps, she struggled on for what amounted to several miles. Eventually she was forced to her knees as she attempted to catch her breath. The screams were still there, mingled with her own whimpers of pain and fear. Then the hand touched her again, and the voice whispered in her mind. Someone was digging into her thoughts, sorting through her memories. Susan screamed. ********************************************************************************* ** It was a very weary security officer who let himself back into his quarters. he seriously wondered if it was worth going to bed, he was due on shift again in a couple of hours and he had to meet Hillary Rivers to discuss security arrangements. He'd tried to delay the appointment but for some reason Jeff had refused to be accommodating, giving some speech about teamwork and time management. Garibaldi was too tired to wonder why. He removed his jacket, threw it on the sofa, and poured himself a cup of coffee. He started to pull off his shirt when he remembered that he'd left Ivanova in his bed. It was no good, she was going to have to wake up and let him get some sleep. He doubted that she would be willing to share. " Ivanova," Garibaldi said as he walked into the bedroom, " I hate to disturb you but..." His voice trailed away . Ivanova was curled up tightly, screaming, but there was no sound issuing from her throat. The coffee cup fell to the floor as Garibaldi ran to her side. He grabbed her shoulders, pulling her upright. ********************************************************************************* ** Susan screamed and she couldn't stop. She no longer had any control over her own mind, the barriers that she had built so carefully were being swept away. Hands restrained her as she tried to bolt away again. In defeat Susan realised that there was nowhere left to run. Then there was someone else with her, the touch of a friend not of an assailent. The voice faded and the hands seemed to melt away. At first she was afraid but she felt the concern echoing from this other mind. It was almost overwhelming but it gave her the strength to wrench herself back to wakefulness. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around herself fearfully. She didn't know where she was, didn't recognise the man holding her. Raising his hand he slapped her across the face. The blow seemed to drag her back to reality and she slumped against him, crying like a frightened child. Garibaldi held her tightly, stroking her hair as she tried to stifle her sobs against his chest. The physical contact appeared to have a calming effect but Garibaldi couldn't be sure how long they sat there. Eventually Ivanova appeared to regain a measure of her composure and she pulled away from him. " I'm sorry Garibaldi," She sniffed. " Nothing to be sorry about." Garibaldi produced his handkerchief and offered it to her. Ivanova had to smile. " What happened ?" She asked, " Last thing I remember is watching one of those films, and you snoring." " I got called out a couple of hours ago, you didn't want to wake up so I carried you through here. When I got back you seemed to be having some kind of dream." " I don't really remember... I was in the dark, there was this voice and then someone was touching me." Susan was dismayed to find herself shaking as she attempted to recall the details of her nightmare. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly. Garibaldi didn't quite know what to do, whether any gesture he made would be misinterpreted. He settled for placing his hand over hers. " How do you feel now ?" Garibaldi asked. " I'm okay, I think. It was just a dream." Garibaldi didn't look convinced. Ivanova wished that she could reassure him but she still felt more than a little uneasy. She had the feeling that something terrible would have happened if he hadn't woken her up. " Its happened before hasn't it ?" He surmised. She just nodded, miserably. Why did he have to be so observant, and so right, all the time ? " It started about three weeks ago." She told him. " Go on." Telling Garibaldi about what had been happening to her was suddenly easy. She suspected that he was now able to guess most of it. Very quickly she had found that drinking herself into oblivion had been the only way that she had been able to sleep at nights. She had been to see Dr. Franklin at first, but he'd dismissed the matter. Telling her that dreams were a natural part of the sleep cycle and that recurring nightmares hinted some deeper personal problem. He had even set up an appointment with a counsellor but Ivanova had never gone. She didn't think that it would serve any purpose as the only personal problem that she could think of was her dislike of the new liaison officer. She refused to believe that that could be the source of her nightmares. Garibaldi didn't say anything when Susan had finished but he slipped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her head to rest against him. " I should be going." Ivanova said sharply, drawing away. He helped her to her feet, " I hope this won't affect our professional relationship Mr. Garibaldi." " It will if you don't let go of my hand." He laughed. " Sorry. Could you do me a favour ?" " Sure." " Check that the corridor is clear. I don't think that I should be seen leaving your quarters this early in the morning, people might get the wrong idea." He feigned a hurt expression as he saw her safely out. Pausing at the door she added, " You know some people say that if you die in a dream..." she laughed uneasily as she left. After she had departed Garibaldi didn't feel like trying to sleep. He was beginning to be aware that his feelings for Ivanova went beyond professional concern. There had to be a reason for her uncharacteristic behaviour. Garibaldi decided to do a little investigating. He snatched up his jacket and left his quarters. ********************************************************************************* ** Hillary Rivers breezed into Garibaldi's office over an hour later than she should have. He was not best pleased, it was now almost time to greet today's influx of guests. There were far more important things that he should have been doing but he held his tongue. If he said anything the chances were that she would go running to Jeff and Garibaldi didn't particularly want another lecture. According to the gossip that he'd picked up she didn't have any problem about complaining about her fellow members of staff. He was becoming more and more convinced that she was the reason for the change in the command staff that he had noted since his return. They were gradually loosing faith in their Commander due to his involvement with Hillary. She was definitely the cause of Ivanova's current unhappiness. The two women had apparently had several violent arguments over questions of station procedure and Sinclair had backed Hillary every time. No wonder Ivanova was avoiding contact with both of them. There were also rumours that she had put in for a transfer. Garibaldi was still puzzled by Sinclair's reaction to the woman. It wasn't as if the Commander was easily influenced. 'It must be love,' Garibaldi had thought to himself on numerous occasions. " Did you enjoy yourself last night," Hillary asked. " Sure," Garibaldi grunted in reply, " Sorry, I didn't get much sleep. I'm not much for small talk when I'm tired." " Understood. I never thought that Lieutenant Commander Ivanova was your type. Her company must have been fascinating." " I got called out in the middle of the night, now if you don't mind..." Garibaldi was aware that he snapped at the woman but for some reason he felt strangely annoyed at the tone of her suggestion. The silence stretched out between them for several minutes, while Garibaldi read over her suggested changes to his own plan. " Let me get this right, you want my men to be waiters ?" He exclaimed finally. " Yes, having them intermingle with the guests would be a perfect way to ensure that they can keep an eye on proceedings without looking too intimidating." " Intimidation's in the job description, they like it." " The Commander has already approved...." " He's not head of security. I am and I don't want a rebellion on my hands. They'll wear the tuxedos and secure the room as I've already indicated." Hillary appeared to think about the compromise, " Very well," She agreed. " Believe me you don't want the likes of Lou Welch serving drinks unless you want to be the one to clean up the floor afterwards." He smiled. " Thankyou for your time Mr. Garibaldi, now you'll have to excuse me. I have a great deal to do before tonight. By the way, I expect you to save me a dance....to make up for missing dinner last night." " Only if its on your grave," He muttered, breathing a sigh of relief as she left. That had been unexpectedly easy, although he still got the impression that she had manipulated him in some way. If only the woman wasn't so attractive. He found himself wondering what would have happened if the two of them had gotten together the night before, but he was strangely relieved that they hadn't. She had too much influence over his friends. Jeff seemed to have lost his ability to care about those under his command while Ivanova was falling apart, mentally and physically. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:00:11 1996 Date: 24 Jun 96 13:17:01 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Violation Part 5 Violation Part 5 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights ' Its been a long time since I put this on,' Ivanova thought to herself as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror, " I'm surprised that it still fits," She added out loud, smoothing the fabric of the deep red full length gown over her hips. Tonight marked the first of the official functions and Hillary Rivers had highlighted the fact that no uniforms were to be worn. Ivanova touched up her makeup and ran a comb through her hair before she was finally satisfied with her appearance. If she was to appear in public with the 'bitch queen from hell' she wanted to be able to hold her own. She was on her way out when she noticed the package on the table. She opened it curiously to find a corsage of white orchids. Glancing at the card, she allowed a smile to cross her features. There were going to have to be words with the Security Chief about improper use of his security pass. Still, it was a remarkable gesture from a man who normally had as much charisma as a visit to the dentist. He was obviously still concerned about her. That would explain the gift and the appearences in the Observation Dome during her shift. The story about checking the security monitors didn't really hold true. Not fifteen times anyway. It was quite flattering really. She pinned the flowers to her dress as she hurried away. ********************************************************************************* ** Garibaldi looked at the buffet with a feeling akin to despair. He hadn't had time to eat lunch, due to yet another change in the security arrangements. Three more of his men had called in sick and he had spent the entire afternoon trying to arrange cover. It was lucky that Lou Welch had offered to work a double shift. Garibaldi himself was still suffering the after affects of being up most of the night due to the business with G'Kar and he was no closer to finding a solution. Subtle interrogation of Londo had given him no joy and he was being forced to come to the conclusion that it was an isolated incident, pure vandalism. Consequently the plates of wriggling crustaceans and Japanese food were not looking particularly appetising. He suddenly had a craving for steak or a hundred other dishes that weren't live. Despondently he put his plate back on the pile and grabbed a glass of water from the bar. A jazz band was playing quietly at one end of the room, where a few couples were dancing. Commander Sinclair, resplendent in a white mess jacket was guiding Ambassador Delenn around the floor. The security chief's gaze fell on Ambassador G'Kar who was lurking suspiciously by the door. Garibaldi nodded to one of his men who smoothly took up position next to G'Kar. Grinning back at the Ambassador's outraged expression Garibaldi moved on. Even on, what was meant to be a social occasion, he found himself on duty. With so many different races in the room, things could get rough if someone decide to remember an old grudge. Another person that Garibaldi made it his special duty to watch was Hillary Rivers. She was hovering at the edge of a group close to Lieutenant Commander Ivanova. In the cause of station peace, Garibaldi decided to intervene. He approached Susan, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. It always surprised him, the difference in her apppearence when she was off-duty. In uniform he would never have given her a second glance. Tonight, in red, with her hair curling gently round her shoulders, he thought that she was the most attractive woman in the room. " Excuse me Lieutenant Commander," He gave a half bow, " Would you give me the pleasure." " Certainly Mr. Garibaldi," She smiled and took his arm, glad of the excuse to distance herself from Hillary, and allowed herself to be led away. Garibaldi felt her trembling as he swung her onto the dance floor. " How are you feeling ?" He whispered. " Not too bad, until the Wicked Witch of the West turned up. You know for a moment I thought that she was going to speak to me, and don't give me the lecture about tolerance and teamwork." " I wasn't going to say a word. I still have the bruises from the last time. Look, do you want to get out of here ?" He asked. " It would look a little suspicious. Running out on another official function." " I could arrange an emergency in the Observation Dome." " Stop worrying." He matched her smile with one of his own as he tightened his hold about her waist. They waltzed in silence for a few minutes, still uncertain of how to deal with each other on anything apart from a professional basis. Garibaldi was finding it difficult to feel the same way about her after the events of the past couple of days. The problem was that he had never really allowed himself to find her attractive. They were part of the same command team, romantic entanglements would only lead to problems. Giving himself the luxury of really looking at her for the first time, he was beginning to regret his decision. " Nice dress," Garibaldi ventured. " Nice tuxedo," She returned, " I didn't know that you could dance Mr. Garibaldi." " I picked it up here and there. You ?" " Officer training. The flowers were a surprise, Thankyou." " I'm glad you liked them." " You know you can be a charming man when you put your mind to it." " And the rest of the time ?" Susan didn't reply, but glanced round to check that no one was looking before kissing him quickly on the cheek. Londo Molari's voice cut across anything else that the couple might have had to say to each other. Garibaldi's attention was instantly diverted and his eyes scanned the room. The Centauri ambassador had climbed onto a table and was throwing food at the assembled guests. All business again, the Chief of Security muttered his apologies and vanished into the crowd. ********************************************************************************* ** Several hours later, the reception was still going strong and there was no sign of the crowd beginning to thin. Most of the guests were now a little the worse for alcohol, or whatever drug was judged to be socially acceptable by the various races. The Commander mingled with satisfaction, despite the feeling that there was a crustacean still running around in his stomach. Maybe Garibaldi had the right idea, refusing any food that wasn't dead. Spotting Garibaldi propping up the bar, Sinclair moved over to speak to him. The man had been forced to listen to tales of the Centauri Empire. He looked ruefully at his glass of water, then at Sinclair as Londo launched into yet another story. " Keep up the good work Michael." Sinclair said. " Do I get a citation for this ?" Garibaldi wanted to know. " How much longer will he go on ?" " I give him one more time through the Battle of Xenon and he should pass out," " I owe you one." " I know." "...And as my ship dived through the rings of the third planet...the view my friend." Londo exclaimed throwing his arm, and most of his drink, around Garibaldi. " Did I ever tell you how good I look in purple." He giggled as he slid to the floor. " I hope you're going to get this cleaned." Garibaldi complained, trying to wipe the liquid off of his jacket. " Charge it to the Centauri." Sinclair replied. ********************************************************************************* * Ivanova was not enjoying herself. She smiled inanely at an Earthforce Admiral, whose name she couldn't remember, talking about something that did not interest her in the slightest. She just let him drone on. It was less of an effort than excusing herself and finding someone less boring. " I'm sorry what was that ?" She queried, realising that someone had asked her a question. " I merely inquired as to your state of health." The voice seemed to echo inside her head. Ivanova suddenly noticed that the man she was looking at as still talking about defence cuts on the Mars Colony. Apologising to the Admiral she turned to face Hillary, struggling to keep up the icy formality. " Please, don't do that." She told her. " I'm sorry Lieutenant Commander." " Remember in future." Ivanova attempted to move away, but Hillary caught her arm, " Susan, isn't it time we stopped this petty feud...." " I suggest you let go of my arm." Ivanova knew that she was raising her voice but she couldn't seem to do anything about it. There seemed to be a voice in her head, a mind reaching out to hers. What started out as light contact was moving deeper, into areas where she didn't want it to go. Hillary was still smiling at her, there was no outward sign of the mental barrage that Ivanova was being subjected to. The bright lights of the room were dimming rapidly, until she was in complete darkness. Screams overwhelmed the murmur of conversation and she was back in the nightmare. That voice again, mocking her, this time she recognised it. She wanted to run, but the touch of a hand on her shoulder brought the room back into focus. Garibaldi had materialised at her side and was literally dragging her away from Hillary. The mind touch was diminishing but it left in its place raw emotion. She put her hand to her head for a moment, all of a sudden she wanted nothing more than to wipe the smile off of the other woman's face. Shaking off the Security Chief's restraining hand she hurled herself at Hillary, knocking her to the ground. Almost immediately she felt a pair of strong hands drag her away. She was dimly aware of a voice in her ear, " Allow me to escort you to your quarters, Lieutenant Commander." Then she was firmly led from the room. Commander Sinclair was the first to help Hillary to her feet. The woman appeared to be unshaken by her encounter, despite the bruise that was rapidly appearing on her face. " I can't apologise enough..." The Commander sounded calm enough but inside he was fuming. " Jeff, it wasn't you who attacked me." " Are you all right, if you want to go to Medlab ?" " No Commander, but I will return to my quarters." " As you wish." " I will, of course, be bringing charges against Lieutenant Commander Ivanova." Nodding wearily Sinclair stood back and let Hillary leave the room. He became aware of the circle of interested spectators and smiled his most charming smile. Conversation started again as they realised that there was nothing left to see. Sinclair grabbed a drink from the bar and gulped it gratefully. This was all he needed, that and the sight of the station's press representative starting to make her way towards him. Sinclair decide to make a fast exit, silently damning all reporters, ambassadors and most especially Lieutenant Commander Ivanova. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:01:19 1996 Date: 25 Jun 96 16:22:16 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Violatiion Part 6 Violation Part 6 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights As soon as they had left the reception Garibaldi dropped any pretence of arresting Ivanova. She was keeping herself from breaking down with the utmost mental control but Garibaldi could sense how scared she really was. Especially now, without her uniform to hide behind. He desperately wanted to help her, but if she didn't want to accept.... Unfortunately all he had seen was Ivanova launch herself at Hillary with no apparent provocation. She was a woman who prided herself on her emotional control so logically something had made her loose her famed cool. Once inside her quarters he tried to put a comforting arm around her shoulders, but she walked away. Any connection they might have made earlier in the evening had vanished. " I appreciate your concern but just court martial me and get it over with." Ivanova snapped. Garibaldi gave an angry exclamation, " If you won't talk to the Commander about this, I will." " That's up to you." " For cryin' out loud..." He trailed off, registering the struggle in her eyes, " Look, I'm sorry but you don't want to destroy your career over this. Jeff will understand." " You're out of line Mr. Garibaldi." " I know, but I can't just stand by and do nothing." " Just get out of here," Garibaldi shook his head and sat himself down. His whole posture told her that he was willing to wait, all night if necessary. In defeat, Susan took the seat beside him. " It was the dream." She admitted. " The one you had last night ?" " That's what happened at the reception. The room faded out and I was back in that place with that person." " Who ?" " Just a hand and a voice. This all must sound so stupid, maybe I should sign myself up for a padded cell, but I would swear that it was her." " Hillary ? Do you mean that she was inside your mind ? But she's not a telepath, is she ?" "We don't know that, in fact we don't know anything about the woman. She just turned up soon after you went on vacation. I just assumed that Earth Central had forgotten to tell us. " " Not unusual. What happened then ? " " She had a long meeting with Commander Sinclair and he introduced her to the command staff." " If she's a telepath it would explain a lot of things, the Jeff's behaviour for one. " " But it wasn't like any sort of telepathic contact that I've ever experienced. It was... I don't know, I just wasn't aware that it was happening until this evening." " We don't know how powerful these telepaths are. If they can manipulate people in this way.... control the subconscious through dreams.... the question is why ?" " I don't know." Ivanova moved away to pour herself a drink. She was dismayed to find that she had tears running down her face, but it was more from anger now than fear. Her mind had been tampered with, something that Susan had striven all her adult life to avoid. She hated to think what the brutal assault might have revealed to Hillary. The officer reasserted itself, wanting to accuse the telepath of unauthorised mind scan. However, logic indicated that, at present, it would just be her word against Hillary's and a dream wasn't much evidence to go on. Garibaldi was right, why would Hillary Rivers be interested in her mind ? What could she hope to find ? This was one case when her public aversion to telepaths would work against her. She threw her glass against the far wall in annoyance. Garibaldi, who had been in the way, let out a yelp of surprise as he ducked down. It shattered with a satisfying crash, closely followed by the bottle. Garibaldi caught her hand before she could hurl anything else. " Sorry," She said, " I just got mad, nothing personal." " Fine, just make sure that I'm behind you next time." She moved closer to him again, and he gave her a reassuring hug. This time Ivanova let herself relax into the embrace. Responding to an impulse that surprised him, Garibaldi placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to meet his own. He kissed her tentatively, expecting a slap round the face, but although she tensed she did not move away. There was something about the way that held her that drove away the uncertainties of the past few days, made her feel safe. Maybe she was mad, drunk or both, but for some reason she didn't want to let him go. Perhaps deep down she knew that, if she were left alone, the horror of the nightmares would return. Suddenly, scared of what they were doing, Garibaldi pulled away, " I'm sorry Susan I didn't mean to do that, I..." He tried to explain. " I'd better be going." " No, please, stay here tonight.....Just in case she tries to get to me again." " I don't know," " Please Michael." ********************************************************************************* ** It was definitely Lieutenant Commander Ivanova and Security Chief Garibaldi who met in the mess hall for breakfast and chatted inconsequentially about station business. If anyone noticed anything different about their attitude to one another they wisely kept quiet. " I feel like everybody in that room was staring at us," Ivanova said when they found themselves alone in the Travel Tube. " I don't think the Station grapevine's that good...oww ." Garibaldi protested as Susan hit him in response. " Look, there's no reason to let the rest of the crew know..." He continued. " I'm not sneeking round corners like a naughty teenager." Garibaldi smiled, " In that case, how about dinner tonight ?" He added. " What ?" " You know....Dinner for two, flowers, champagne...." " Assuming that I manage to get through the day without a court martial, " " Oh yeah that. A candlelit dinner in the brig doesn't quite have the same appeal. I know, I'll confine you to my quarters." " In that case I accept." They laughed but Garibaldi's expression became unusually serious as he added, " Look, I want you to know that I want to work things out between us... one way or the other." " Which way do you want them to work out Mr. Garibaldi ?" Feeling slightly self-conscious he bent forward and kissed her as the lift doors opened. They jumped apart, resuming their professional roles, almost. " Mr. Garibaldi." " Yes," " We're on duty, please remove your hand from under my jacket." " Of course, Lieutenant Commander." ********************************************************************************* ** " Talia !" Garibaldi's voice made the telepath cringe, but she turned to face the security chief. " What can I do for you Mr. Garibaldi ?" She asked. " I need some information." Talia was surprised, it wasn't like Garibaldi to miss an opportunity for a suggestive remark. She opened her mind a little, feeling the flood of anxiety that was emanating from him. This was a very worried man. " You're a P5 right ? Is it possible for you to influence someone else's mind, their subconscious." " No, the only psi's who would be able to do that would have to be high P12." " In other words Psicops." " Yes." " Okay, next question. Would you be able to tell if another telepath was on board ?" " Not necessarily if their mental shields were strong. If I did a direct mind scan it should be possible to tell. Why do you want this information ?" " I don't know yet but thanks for your help." Garibaldi grinned as he dashed away. Talia had confirmed some of his suspicions, now if he could only break into the psicorps mainframe he should be able to gather enough evidence to convince Sinclair. He felt almost cheerful as he returned to his office and seated himself behind the desk. One thing that was not generally known about Michael Garibaldi was his undoubted skill for tapping into computer systems, especially high security computer systems. In fact it was one of the reasons that he had been fired from a previous job, when he found out something he shouldn't have done about the base commander. In this case, however, he felt that he was more than justified. If the Psicops were playing another one of their little games the Commander had to be warned as soon as possible. ********************************************************************************* ** Commander Sinclair literally had to fight his way into his office, through the menagerie of reporters. Ivanova was waiting for him, Garibaldi shadowing her. The Lieutenant Commander stood at attention, staring past Sinclair's right ear. " Well ?" Sinclair asked. " Sir," She replied. " Before I decide what to do with you, have you an explanation ?" " Yes sir. Last night I felt someone scan my mind. The only person it could have been was Hillary Rivers." Ivanova began, she was obviously finding this difficult. " And have you any evidence for this...theory ?" " She doesn't appear in the available Psicorps records but I'm still down loading some of the data. But from what Susan has experienced I think that its the only explanation." Garibaldi replied. " This is ridiculous. Lieutenant Commander even if this were true, your vendetta against telepaths has been noted previously." " I felt her in my mind." Ivanova said, " You know that I'm sensitive to telepathic contact. She was trying to influence me and I had to stop her." " On this occasion I can't overlook the incident. You are under arrest on assault charges. Mr. Garibaldi if you would escort Lieutenant Commander Ivanova to the brig." " Just listen for a minute," Garibaldi protested. " You're out of line Mr. Garibaldi. One more word and I'll have you arrested too." Garibaldi opened his mouth again but Ivanova gave him a swift kick. Her expression clearly said 'there's no point in both of us getting locked up for this.' " Now escort her to the brig, that is an order." Garibaldi didn't offer another protest but he flashed a ' we're going to talk about this later' look at Sinclair. He took Ivanova's arm and steered her out of the office. When they were alone in the corridor Ivanova turned to him, "What's happening to me Michael ?" She asked. " I wish I could even begin to guess." He replied," Look I'd better follow my orders but don't worry we'll get this sorted out." " That's what you said last night." The edge of hysteria was back in her voice, but Ivanova was not the only person that Garibaldi was concerned about. Sinclair's reaction to the situation was abnormal. It was not like the Commander to accuse someone out of hand, or ignore the advice of his officers. Garibaldi intended to have a long talk with Commander Sinclair in the very near future. Trust Hillary Rivers to press charges against Ivanova. In the most important week of the station's history it looked as if the second in command was going to be court martialled. Garibaldi had been hoping to get away with a discommendation but he doubted that Hillary would be satisfied with that. The last thing he wanted to do was loose Ivanova. Garibaldi didn't particularly want to leave her in the brig but she was right, if both of them got locked up no one would be able to stop whatever was going on. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:01:22 1996 Date: 25 Jun 96 16:22:03 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Violation Part 7 Violation Part 7 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights " I think Mr. Garibaldi's getting suspicious," Talia Winters reported, " He's been asking some awkward questions about psi skills." Hillary Rivers acknowledged with a nod and seating herself, smoothed her skirt over her knees. " That's why you took the risk of contacting me," There was anger in her voice, making Talia shrink away. Hillary appeared to think for a moment, " He's obviously more of a threat than his records indicated. I might have to arrange another little distraction. Either that or dispose of him completely. Tell me what would you expect him to do." " Attempt to gather enough evidence to persuade the Commander." "Then we'll have to give him something else to occupy his time. A nice riot I think. Ambassador G'Kar should be willing to help us again." " You're not really going to provide the genetic material..." " Of course not, although a direct mating with Narn might prove to be interesting. Now find the Ambassador and send him to see me." " Very well," A shiver passed down Talia's spine as Hillary gave her a cold smile. She hated what Psicorps was forcing her to do but she had no choice. Disobeying orders would result in extreme pain, as the psicops subjected her to deep scan and possible brain wipe. A P5 telepath, trained for business negotiations would not normally see a psicop, but Talia had the misfortune to be stationed on Babylon 5 and right now she was hating every minute of it. ********************************************************************************* ** Three Pizzas and a bag of tortilla chips later Garibaldi had discovered what he was looking for. He'd had to access more than two hundred records before he'd found the one that applied to Hillary Rivers but it was there. Psicop, a breed apart from the commercial telepaths, P12, fifth generation. Her record at the academy was excellent and she had been commended several times for her work within the corp. However, reading between the lines he could see that her methods were generally machiavellian, some might say ruthless. She had successfully walked the narrow line between approval and being thrown out of the corps. The record also listed her special skills, manipulation and psychic projection were among them. There was no listing for her current assignment but her file was linked with three others. What was more disturbing was the data that the other files held, and the creation date. Someone had sent detailed dossiers on the command crew of Babylon 5 less than two months ago. A deeper search of the system did not reveal any further information. Garibaldi didn't really expect a sign saying this way to the secret plan but it would have been nice. Still, he had enough information to take to Sinclair, he only hoped that he could persuade the Commander to release Ivanova. Garibaldi swore softly to himself, he hadn't thought about Susan in several hours. He really should have checked on her but he had become preoccupied with his investigation. Copying the data he had obtained onto a memory crystal Garibaldi started to work his way out of the system, being careful to put everything back exactly as he had found it. The Security Chief found Sinclair in the briefing room. He handed the data crystal to the other man, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice; " This is it Jeff," He said, " Ms. Rivers is a psicop all right and I'll give you good money that they're up to their old tricks again. " Sinclair took the crystal with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, "I'll look at it later Mr. Garibaldi." " What about Susan, there's no point in keeping her in the brig..." " The evidence will be reviewed at her court martial." " Jeff !" " Mr. Garibaldi, I'm ordering you to take no further part in this case. You are obviously too emotionally involved with the suspect." " What !" " I know where you spent last night Michael." " If I though that it was any of your business I would've used a video camera. Besides nothing happened." " This is no time for jokes Mr. Garibaldi. With the eyes of the galaxy's press focused on Babylon 5 I can't afford to be lenient." " The hell with that. If the Rivers woman hadn't messed with your brain you'd care a whole lot more about Susan that about savin' face." " Garibaldi, you are just this side of insubordination another word and..." Sinclair didn't have the chance to finish his sentence as Garibaldi's link gave a timely beep, " Garibaldi," the security chief replied. " We have a major disturbance in Red 5," A voice said. " Send a team in with riot gear, I'm on my way. If you don't mind Commander we'll continue this later." The Commander gave a curt nod and allowed the other man to leave the room. As he hurried to change into his flack jacket Garibaldi reflected that it was probably just as well that he was going to have the chance to be extremely violent. It was that or be thrown out of an airlock for murdering a senior officer. ********************************************************************************* ** Garibaldi and his team arrived in the required section less than five minutes after receiving the call, however, it was obvious that the mob was already beyond tactful negotiation. The security team waded into the fray, trying to separate one bunch of protagonists from the other so they could start to arrest people. The business section of Babylon 5 was usually relatively peaceful. These things normally started down below, or in the alien sector. This group appeared to be a strange mix of races and it was difficult to sort out who was supposed to be fighting who. After a few minutes it was clear that the security team weren't having a significant effect on the ferocity of the fighting. In fact the rabble seemed to resent the interference of station security. As one they started to attack the common enemy. This was no standard riot, every time one of the fighters went down, another ten attacked the security guard responsible. Garibaldi clawed his way clear of the fighting and opened communications with security central, " Garibaldi to security," he yelled, the acknowledgement was almost lost in the noise, " We have a serious situation here, seal off the area and pump in morph gas." Gas was a drastic solution. Yes, it would send the mob to sleep but the after affects were most unpleasant. The brig wasn't equipped to deal with a hundred sick humans not to mention the alien contingent. Garibaldi gave the signal for his men to put on their respirators. Those that couldn't manage it could be sorted out later. As he pulled his own mask over his head, Garibaldi saw the feint pink tinge of the gas as it was blown out of the air conditioning system. He took a deep breath, making sure that the mask was tight against his face. He remembered accidentally inhaling the stuff while he was working on the Orion 4 colony and had no desire to repeat the experience. The whole of the corridor was turning pink now as the gas diffused through the normal atmosphere, tainting the air with its musty smell. It took several seconds for Garibaldi to realise that he could smell the gas through his respirator. He stopped breathing, by the time the gas had reached critical concentration within the chamber Garibaldi was on the move. The last thing he wanted was to be incapacitated, he had to make it out of the section before he was overcome. It was lucky that you could smell the gas before it knocked you out. By the time most people realised this, it was usually too late. Lungs bursting, adrenaline took over and he managed to roll under the barrier as it completed its descent. He ripped off the mask, there was bound to be some caught in the filters, but he still couldn't tell if he felt groggy due to oxygen deprivation or the effects of the gas. There was no time to lie around gasping for air, Garibaldi activated his link, " Garibaldi to security, how's it lookin' from your end ?" he panted, " I think we have a problem Chief," the voice replied. " What kind of problem ?" " The gas knocked out the security team, it looks like all of the respirators were faulty." " All of them, I know that mine was but...did anyone else make it out ?" " No one else has reported in." " Okay, I'll be with you as soon as I can. In the mean time clear the atmosphere and get a med team in there. " Garibaldi took several deep breaths and started running again, his thought processes struggling to clear the fog that seemed to be enveloping his brain. Even one faulty respirator aroused his suspicions, they were maintained under a very strict conditions. You had to fill out several forms each time you used one, after all any malfunction could kill a man. He had a nasty feeling that the whole thing had been a set up. The rabble had been a little too well organised for a run of the mill disturbance. They had been obviously been given instructions to attack the security forces . Someone had known that he would be forced to use morph gas, calculating that they could take out the best of the stations security as well as their chief. A cold feeling started in his toes and worked its way up to his chest, that someone could only be a person with access to security equipment, including all the weapons on the station. The timing of the event had been perfect, just in time to stop him from alerting anyone with the information that he had gathered. He felt that he should be able to see a picture emerging, some clue as to what the hell was going on but at that moment he couldn't piece things together. It was an effort to put one foot in front of the other. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:01:24 1996 Date: 25 Jun 96 16:21:46 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com To: b5-creative@lists1.best.com Subject: Violation Part 8 Violation Part 8 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights Ivanova sat slumped against the wall of her cell, she'd been there for hours. A guard had approached her with an offer of food and water, but she hadn't had the energy to talk to him. She had expected to hear from Garibaldi by now. Maybe he hadn't been able to find any information, maybe she really was going mad. Ivanova had decided that, right now, insanity was probably the best option she had. Her thoughts constantly returned to the events of the past few days. The horror of the forced telepathic contact was threatening to overwhelm her. Deep within the core of her being she reached down to find the memory of her mother. To make sure she could still feel the love that had dominated her childhood. It brought a measure of peace to her otherwise confused feelings. Footsteps outside of the force barrier caused Ivanova to sit up, " Garibaldi, where the hell have you been ?" She exclaimed as she turned her body to face the entrance, " I've been stuck here for...." Ivanova's voice trailed off as she recognised the sweetly smiling face. " Wrong. I'm afraid your knight in shining armour has been permanently delayed." Hillary Rivers entered the cell and pulled the other woman to her feet, gesturing out of the door with her PPG weapon. " I'm supposed to keep you alive but I'm not opposed to disobeying orders. In fact a little struggle might be quite fun." Hillary smiled. " I wouldn't give you the pleasure." Forcing herself to stay calm Ivanova stepped out of the cell. Getting angry would serve no purpose. Hillary laughed, and placed a hand on Susan's cheek, " But you already have, you have no idea how much fun I had delving into your sub-conscious, playing with all of your little neurosis." Ivanova pulled away from the cold touch. She couldn't help showing how the other woman was affecting her. Hillary wouldn't let her go, grasping Ivanova's arm. A wave of fear was suddenly projected into Susan's mind making her cry out, stopping any action that she might have taken. As she struggled a PPG weapon discharged, distracting Hillary, allowing Ivanova to break free and dive to the floor. A hand helped her to her feet and an arm placed itself firmly around her shoulders. " Is this a girl only thing or can anyone join in ?" Michael Garibaldi asked. " I'm sure I could find a use for you Mr. Garibaldi." Hillary purred. " I'll have to take a raincheck on that. Right now you can drop the PPG and walk away." The weapon fell from Hillary's hand and Ivanova made a move to pick it up. She was restrained by Garibaldi's arm, it was then that she realised that her strength was the only thing keeping him upright. As Hillary backed around the corner, Garibaldi let off another shot, causing her to break into a run and disappear. " Why did you let her go ?" Ivanova protested. " I missed I couldn't tell which one of her I should shoot," He replied slumping slightly, " and I don't think that I could run another step without falling over." " What happened to you ?" " There was a riot in Red section and I took a lungful of gas, but I was lucky, I got out. Someone has just taken out fifty of my best men, the travel tubes aren't working so I had to run up here, my security pass no longer works and I think I'm going to throw up." " Some knight in shining armour. I think we'd better get out of here." " Agreed." Still supporting Garibaldi as best she could Ivanova scooped up the discarded weapon and led the way out of the holding area. ********************************************************************************* ** A vague impression of endless corridors was the only recollection Michael Garibaldi ever had of their flight from the brig, he just wasn't in any condition to care. The small amount of gas he had inhaled was reeking havoc on his system. Ivanova half carried, half dragged him along beside her, as they made their way through the station. He awoke to the smell of fresh greenery, a gentle breeze blowing over him and someone lightly slapping his face. He brushed the hands away and sat up, looking around bleary eyed. They were deep in the station's hydroponics area, "night" had fallen and he could faintly see the twinkling lights on the opposite "wall". " At last," Ivanova said, " I thought you were going to sleep for a week." " It feels like I have. How long was I out ?" " About four hours." " A little hint, never sleep in a flack jacket. I'd forgotten how uncomfortable it could be." " Do you want something to eat ?" " Absolutely not." Garibaldi realised that he was still feeling decidedly queasy. That was the trouble with morph gas, in large quantities it knocked you out and then made you very ill, in small quantities it made you very ill then you fell asleep. He got to his feet, the ground swayed a little but not as drastically as it had been doing. " Thanks for getting me out of there." He said to Ivanova. " You're welcome, but I think that makes us just about even. By the way, they've posted a station wide fugitive alert for us. You know the sort ofthing armed, extremely dangerous, do not approach and the worst photo of me." " This is some mess, I just hope that Jeff looked at the data crystal I gave him." " Do you think it will make a difference ?" He didn't answer, Ivanova just nodded. They both knew that, judging by his recent behaviour, Sinclair was unlikely to intervene. The station was not a safe place now for either of them. Their best course of action was to leave, simply disappear on any one of the Earth Alliance worlds but that was an option that they didn't even consider. " If Commander Sinclair won't listen maybe someone else will." Ivanova said. " Its the best option we've got but I'll have to get hold of the backup crystal." " Where is it ?" " Security central." " So we have to break into the most secure area on the station ? Its a good job Russians like hopeless situations." " What's the time ?" " Just gone 0200. If you're feeling up to it we'd better move out. " " Yeah " Garibaldi said, " We should get to Security Central before the first shift comes on." Ivanova had tried not to let the worry seep into her voice. She was not convinced that Garibaldi was quite recovered but she knew that they had already been in one place for too long. Station security could be tearing the section apart at any moment. She didn't allow herself to concentrate on her own weaknesses. The journey from Blue section had taken alot out of her, not being physically equipped to support someone of Garibaldi's build for such a distance. That and the fact that she hadn't had a great deal of sleep the previous night. ********************************************************************************* ** The prisoner looked at Hillary. There was little recognition in his eyes for the woman who tormented him but they still held a spark of resistance. That feint gleam was enough to arouse her anger. She struck him about the face. If asked he probably wouldn't have been able to tell his own name, never mind give her the information that she requested. All he remembered was the hatred that welled up inside him as she entered the room. She sometimes left days between visits but she always came back. It was then that the dull ache, which threatened to overwhelm him, flowered into moments of poignant pain. He welcomed it, the agony was all he had to remind him that he was still alive. Calming herself with effort, Hillary took time to regard her specimen, his face barelyrecognisable under the network of cuts and bruises. Some, old, half-healing, others refreshingly livid. She took no small satisfaction in the fact that she had inflicted them all herself. Physical abuse was not within the normal psicop manifest, but this man had proved extraordinarily resistant to the normal forms of psychic manipulation. There was something odd about his thought patterns. It was as if someone had got there first and built impenetrable walls. She was unable to scan him for the information she required. All she could sense were the basic emotions . The records that she had studied had hinted as much. However, she had had her fun playing with Ivanova's mind. It took skill to influence a woman who was so sensitive to telepathic contact, yet Hillary had successfully managed to isolate her from her co-workers, driven her almost to the point of insanity. The one flaw in the plan had been her handling of the Security Chief. His untimely intervention had meant that Ivanova had not quite gone over the edge and Hillary had been forced to risk contact with the woman's conscious mind. Again Garibaldi had got in the way pulling Ivanova back to reality. The information she had been given pointed to an insensitive, 'thick' individual, emotionally distant from his peers. An ideal subject for her charms, but after their first meeting he didn't seem to be interested. His friendship with Commander Sinclair had been noted, but not his obvious dedication to Ivanova. She doubted that he had been fully aware of it himself. He was beginning to be more than just a minor irritation but Hillary didn't consider it a problem. She fully expected that the two of the would be found and dealt with before much longer. The staff she had recently imported would make sure of that. The man remained unmoving, staring at her. Sometimes she felt no need to speak to him, just her presence was enough. It helped to be unpredictable. He never made any attempt to communicate with her any more. At first there had been the usual 'who are you ? What do you want ?', but they had become less common over the weeks. Now he just looked at her, slumped in his chair. He was unrestrained, there was not enough of his personality left to attempt escape. " Its sad," she began in a conversational tone. " to see you like this. Just one word would have been enough." The man turned his face away, he had heard this all before. Hillary continued, " You had everything and I reduced it to non-existence." She feigned a hesitation, " I've brought you news of your friends, I think that you'll be pleased to know that they will be joining you soon." She was delighted to see a flicker of something in his expression. Somewhere his brain reacted to the implied threat to people he cared about. Her pleasure was interrupted, however, a psi corps security guard had entered the room andstood quietly by the door, waiting for her to notice him. " What ?" she snapped. " We have a problem. We've picked up the fugitives on the monitors and they appear to be moving towards security." Hillary only allowed herself to think the laugh that fought to pass her lips. " Watch him," she said," I'll take care of this personally." She left the room, this was something that she had vaguely expected. It was a futile gesture, if they were stupid enough to try to enter the most secure area in the station she wanted to be there when they were apprehended. She didn't notice the prisoner's eyes follow her exit. His mind was coming back to life. Somehow, through all the pain, he realised that his friends were in danger. He couldn't accept the idea of them being hurt in the way that he had. The guard was standing just out of his reach, but the prisoner judged his leap perfectly, knocking the other man out with a powerful double handed punch. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:07:38 1996 Date: 30 Jun 96 05:44:07 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: Violation Part 9 Violation Part 9 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights The woman screamed as the man ran towards her, he did not even slow down but pushed by her like he was in a dream. His face had been badly beaten and blood was running freely from one corner of his mouth. As he passed she thought for a moment that she should stop him, offer to take him to the medical facilities, but the grim purpose in his movement prevented the words from passing her lips. A few more seconds and he was gone, disappeared into the main corridor. She felt that she should have recognised him, but she dismissed the thought. 'Probably just another lurker from down below' she said to herself and let the image flee from her memory. The prisoner came to an uneasy halt as he entered the massive chamber. It was as if he didn't quite know which way to turn. The very dimensions of the corridor disorientated him somewhat. He rested against the curved wall gathering what was left of his remaining strength. It was still early in the morning so few people were around, even so he was angry with himself for being seen. He prayed to God that he still had enough energy to complete his journey. The pain was starting to drain him. It would be so easy to sink into the welcome arms of unconsciousness. Forcing himself upright he moved cautiously down the corridor, ready to duck out of sight if necessary. A voice echoing throughout the chamber sent him diving for cover, it took him several seconds to realise that it was being relayed over the public address system. " All civilians and Earthforce personnel, this is Commander Sinclair. Please evacuate sections blue 5 through to 16. I repeat sections blue 5 to blue 16 are being evacuated, there is no cause for alarm." The message was repeated several times. It was a voice that he felt he should have recognised but the name wouldn't come to him. The man crouching below the stairs heard footsteps above him. A woman's voice swore loudly, " I get the impression that this has something to do with us," She added more quietly. " Don't some people have anything better to do," A male voice said. " Shh, can you hear something ?" " No." The man pressed his lips together aware that he had allowed a whimper of pain to escape. His injuries were protesting to being cramped in one position. The owners of the voices descended the stairs, " Come on, this place is going to be crawling with security in about thirty seconds," The man hissed, " I tell you I heard something," A pair of legs appeared in his line of vision, he hunched back, bringing another unwelcome exclamation. " Garibaldi you'd better look at this," The woman said. Michael Garibaldi crouched down beside Ivanova, " My God," He whispered. His brain refusing to admit the message that his eyes were patiently telling it. He held out his hand to the man, " Jeff," he said, " Its me, Michael." " Michael," The man tried the name out, within his mind a switch was triggered and he allowed himself to be hauled out into the open. His two friends laid him on the ground, "Ivanova ?" He questioned, looking up at the woman. " Yes," She nodded, " Commander what happened ?" But he couldn't tell her, something else was more urgent, " There's no time, she's coming to look for you, you're walking into a trap." The sound of running feet interrupted Sinclair as Garibaldi helped him to his feet. Supporting his Commander he gestured for Ivanova to cover them and they disappeared into a side passage. ********************************************************************************* ** " Its too quiet," Ivanova turned and whispered to Garibaldi. He nodded, his eyes scanning the corridor ahead for any sign of station security. The area should have been swarming with guards, being so close to the monitoring and control equipment. " Now or never," He said eventually, " Unless you have any better ideas ?" " I never was one for taking the easy option." " There'll be five men on duty I don't know what their reaction will be, but its unlikely that they'll shoot first." " Unlikely ?" " Hey, they like their boss okay. Now I don't want particularly want to put any of them in Med. Bay but shoot to wound if necessary." " Lets go." They moved quickly down the corridor. Garibaldi taking the lead, Ivanova watching his back. The movement in the room ceased as they entered, eye contact was made between the men on duty and their chief. Although they stared at the Commander, it soon became evident that none of the station personnel were going to do anything about the fugitives in their midst. Garibaldi set Sinclair down in an convenient chair. " Keep away from the consoles," Garibaldi ordered, gesturing with his PPG, " I'm sorry to have to do this to you guys," " Is there anything you want us to do Chief ?" One of them asked as they moved to the far wall of the room. " Thanks for the offer but I don't want to pull you into this mess." " How long ?" Ivanova asked. " About ten minutes, cover them." Garibaldi made his way into his office, relieved to find it exactly the way he had left it, including the rubbish that littered the desk. Seating himself, he got to work creating a link between themselves and Earth Central. It appeared that the only communications coming into and out of the station were through the observation dome and he didn't have the time to navigate his way around the block. He was willing to bet his entire cartoon collection that no one could get a clear channel without broadcasting from the dome. They were going to have to find another way to transmit off station. There was still the backup data. In his haste to take evidence to Sinclair, Garibaldi had left the data crystal in the computer after making the copy. He scanned it quickly to ensure that it still held all the relevant information before storing it safely inside his shirt. He made his way back to Ivanova. " Well ?" She asked. " No joy, communications has been disrupted from the dome," Garibaldi shook his head, "The other possibility is the Ambassadorial wing. I'd bet good money that G'Kar or Londo have an illegal transmitter stashed away somewhere." " We'd better get out of here, who knows we might manage to negotiate some political asylum." " You may want to be grateful to G'Kar for the rest of your life but I could live without it." Susan nodded and moved away to check the corridor. It was still quiet. Something told her that there was no way that someone hadn't been alerted to their presence. Security monitors would have picked up their movements even if the staff in Security Central were not co-operating with Sinclair. " I don't like it." She decided, " No one can be this lucky. Is there another way out of here ?" " They didn't build this place with multiple exits. Unless you want to try the ventilation system ?" " Too obvious, we'll have to make our own door." The security guards watched dubiously as Garibaldi disappeared for a moment. He returned with a supply of explosives. Setting the charges took several minutes. Ivanova looked on impatiently, they could have company at any time. Although the chances were that they were expected to walk straight into a trap. " Take cover, " Garibaldi ordered, sounding amazingly calm as he set the detonators. The resulting explosion blew out a whole section of the wall. It was loud enough to bring the security forces running. Ivanova didn't wait for the smoke to clear, leading the way through the gap. However, Garibaldi pulled her back towards his office. She grinned when she realised what he was doing. Ten seconds later a squad of black clothed men charged into the room and through the hole in the bulkhead. " No slacking now," Garibaldi added to his staff as he and Sinclair followed Ivanova out of the room via the door. The five men in the room looked at each other, before taking up their positions once more, ignoring the debris that now littered the room. " Did something happen just now ?" One of them asked the others, " Nope," " Normal day at the office," " Whoops, the security monitors in blue section have just gone down." " Oh no its happened in red section too," " And green." " Better call maintenance," " Anyone see the game last night ?" Their light banter fade out as Hillary Rivers entered the room, carefully picking her way through the rubble. She looked at the five men. Their emotions clearly told her what had happened. Sinclair had managed to contact his friends and that information couldn't be allowed to reach the other personnel. Drawing her PPG she fired five times. ********************************************************************************* ** " We'll take travel tube three," Ivanova said as they reached the main corridor " Its a long way but, hopefully, they won't be expecting that." Garibaldi agreed without comment. Burdened as they were they made good speed out of the main corridor. However, they were spotted by a team of security men as soon as they came round a bend and faced the travel tube. Garibaldi dealt with the two men guarding the access, careful to inflict non-fatal injuries, and relieved them of their weapons. As Garibaldi hit the call button, Ivanova managed to distract those in pursuit with a stream of well placed shots " Wouldn't you know it, there's never a lift around when you want one," She yelled above the gunfire. " If life were perfect it wouldn't be as much fun," Garibaldi replied " You have strange ideas of fun." Ivanova ducked back behind the bend in the corridor, " It had better hurry my PPG's out of power." In answer to her prayers the doors slid open . Ivanova called out a warning to Garibaldi, as three security guards revealed themselves, but he was in the process of throwing her a second PPG weapon. He twisted away but the Commander's presence prevented him from moving fast enough. The plasma blast hit him in the side, and he crashed to the floor. Commander Sinclair, impassive throughout the gunfire, launched himself at the three in the lift, knocking two of them down while Ivanova decked the third. Garibaldi managed to haul himself to his feet and he dived after his companions. Realising that they were no longer being fired upon the pursuing group charged around the corner in time to see the lift doors slide shut. " Destination ?" The travel tube computer asked in its annoyingly calm tones. " Up your shaft," Garibaldi muttered. " Green 5, " Ivanova ordered. She looked at her friends. Garibaldi was slumped on the floor, breathing heavily as he attempted to bring his pain under control. He threw off the burning flack jacket, something he should have done as soon as the shot had hit, the chances were that he was just badly bruised. Sinclair, however was giving her more cause for concern. She moved closer, to examine his injuries, but he shied away, withdrawing into himself once more. Now that the immediate danger was over a strange blank expression had shielded his eyes. He no longer appeared to recognise his surroundings, or his friends. Even from a distance she could tell that he had been beaten around the head and she hated to think what other injuries the tattered remains of his uniform hid. " Michael, " She said, " What do you make of this ?" " What ?" He panted, " I don't think that all of these injuries are recent." He crawled over to take a closer look, " You're right, some of them are several weeks old." " If he's been held for some time...." " ....Then whose been Commanding Babylon 5 ?" ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:10:20 1996 Date: 04 Jul 96 13:46:04 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: Violation Part 10 Violation Part 10 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights " Well where are they ?" Thomas Smith demanded of Hillary Rivers. " Security monitors are down we couldn't track them...." She attempted to explain but the man standing before wouldn't listen. " You have badly misjudged this situation, I thought you were supposed to be the expert." Hillary remained silent. There was no point in protesting, Smith was nominally her superior officer and he never let her forget it. She would just let him rant and rave until he was forced to ask her opinion on their next move. That was one thing that he had got right, she was the expert. Psicorps headquarters had sent him along to provide the replacement for Commander Sinclair, making him technically in charge. However he was not a telepath and she couldn^Rt regard him with the same respect she afforded her own peers. " They can't get off the station, its only a matter of time before somebody turns them in," Hillary sounded almost unconcerned. " How about Sinclair ?" " The state his mind is in he won't be a problem. As far as the other matter goes," Hillary continued. " How are we proceeding ?" " On schedule. Even without Sinclair's access codes, which you should have been able to suck from his mind." Hillary just shrugged, there was no point in trying to explain the problems she had encountered while delving into Sinclair's mind. Mental blocks that strong were rare in a non-psi. " Good. If we have them all together at the same time it should be no problem. Actually we now have the perfect Earthforce scapegoats. We can implicate all three of them in the plot instead of just the gallant commander. " " I still have to be the one discovered behind the whole thing." " And I'm sure you'll play the part beautifully." The man glared at her, if she was wrong it was his head that the psicorps would come hunting for. He was convinced that the reason she let him take command of this mission was to watch him go down when it all fell to pieces. She was probably right about the fugitives. There was nowhere for them to go. The station had a finite area, psi corps operatives would track them down sooner or later. However, the normal personnel were asking some awkward questions, especially as he had been forced to restrict communications to prevent Garibaldi transmitting the information he had gathered to the outside world. He had also taken the precaution of sealing off the station, just in case either Garibaldi or Ivanova managed to gain access to the docking terminal. In a matter of hours though, he knew, it would no longer be of any consequence. ********************************************************************************* ** Ivanova shouldered the burden of Sinclair, supporting her commanding officer as they left the relative safety of the travel tube. She was half-expecting another team of security guards but the corridors of Green Section remained still. It could only mean that the monitors were not working, but they couldn^Rt rely on that fact to protect them. Garibaldi, some way ahead, signalled them forward to the first bend in the hallway. As she lead the Commander forward, Ivanova found herself wondering why she had spent a great deal of the past twelve hours supporting men who were at least twice her body weight. Injured as he was, Garibaldi hadn^Rt been in a position to assist. To his credit he hadn^Rt tried to act the hero. Ivanova was secretly pleased that they had managed to maintain their working relationship. After all she was still his superior officer and the burden of command was now firmly on her shoulders. It was becoming clear that they needed to find somewhere to lay low for a while. The need for medical attention was the obvious reason but they also required time to rest and reflect on their present situation. Ivanova^Rs mind was going over their possible options and was dismayed to find that she couldn^Rt think of very many. She was reluctantly coming to the conclusion that they might have to rely on Garibaldi^Rs slightly dubious friendship with Londo Molari. ********************************************************************************* ** Ambassador Delenn was returning to her quarters after her habitual morning walk in the ship^Rs garden, her mind going over her schedule for the day. She felt generally uneasy. Worrying news had been filtering down from the Earthforce personnel, regarding the security of the station. It was true that there were more guards in evidence but she had supposed that this was due to the large number of visiting dignitaries. However, the number had increased since the fugitive alert had been posted, an alert that accused two of the stations command staff of terrible crimes. The fact that the station had been sealed off was consistent but not the additional communications ^Sproblem^T. Yes, there had been an official explanation but Delenn did not believe it. She had tried to discuss matters with Commander Sinclair, but he had refused to speak to her. Her instinct told her that something about the entire situation was wrong. Commander Sinclair always had time to soothe the worries of the Ambassadors. He would also have shown some concern for his fellow officers instead of apparently accepting the situation. No one could ever believe that Ivanova or Garibaldi were guilty. Taking a short cut through the area reserved for methane breathers, she was surprised to see three human figures stumbling towards her. Although she was unable to recognise their features through the respirators she immediately sensed their distress. The leading figure was armed with a PPG weapon and was moving stiffly, as if he was in a great deal of pain. Supporting the other male, the smaller human stopped for a moment to catch her breath. They did not appear to see her at first, vision obscured by the methane atmosphere, but she stepped towards them through the fog. The PPG swung round to cover her, although no move was made to fire. Delenn halted and spread her hands, " Mr. Garibaldi ?" She questioned. " Ambassador," He acknowledged. " What has happened ? I heard that station security was looking for you." " I can't help it if people are after my body." Delenn decided to ignore this, she didn^Rt understand Earth humour. The man was injured and so was one of his companions. Looking closely she could now see that it was Lieutenant Commander Ivanova supporting Commander Sinclair, who barely seemed to be aware of what was going on. " You are hurt," she continued, " Come I will take you to a place of safety." Garibaldi and Ivanova looked at each other and nodded. They were not in a position to refuse Delenn^Rs offer of help, whatever her motive might be. Jeff needed medical attention and Garibaldi wasn^Rt much better off. Besides she might have the means to send a message off station. " Aren't you worried about that security alert." Ivanova asked. " If it had any basis in the truth which I suspect it does not." Delenn replied, "Let us hurry, we may not have much time." Taking some of the burden of Sinclair away from Ivanova, Delenn directed them towards her quarters. Once inside the two women lay the Commander on the couch while Garibaldi checked the rest of the rooms. Delenn watched him with some amusement but did not comment. He was only being cautious. She called for her aide, who, with his usual eagerness, arrived at a run. His eyes widened as he saw his ambassadors guests. Delenn did not give him time to comment. " Lennier," She ordered, " Fetch Dr. Franklin. It is vitally important that you speak to no one on the way and do not tell the doctor whom he is required to see." " Understood," Lennier replied dashing out of the room again. The Ambassador then moved to assist Ivanova as she removed Sinclair's shirt. The flesh below was discoloured by bruises. Almost tenderly Delenn wiped the blood off of the mans face. There was little else she could do until the doctor arrived. She turned to her other guests, " Is there anything else that you require ?" She asked. " Food, a change of clothes, a hot shower," Garibaldi replied, coming back into the main living area. " Very well. Lennier will see to it." " Thankyou." Seeing that there was nothing more that she could do for Commander Sinclair, Ivanova crossed over to Garibaldi, touching him lightly on the back. He winced, " Do you want me to have a look at that ?" She asked. " I'll live." He dismissed it. Ivanova rolled her eyes skywards, this was no time for him to turn macho on her. He pushed her hands away and turned to the Ambassador, " We need a secure channel to transmit some information to Earth Central." " I am afraid that will not be possible Mr. Garibaldi." " With all respect Ambassador..." " Communication with those outside Babylon 5 is not possible. A blackout is in operation. All channels which are not controlled by Earthforce cannot penetrate the unexpected magnetic storm." " Magnetic storm ?" " Yes, I did not believe it either." " Its more likely to be a low level jamming device. Only the transmitter in the dome would be powerful enough to break through." Ivanova said, " Any news from the other ambassadors ?" "They are not happy naturally but we all have other concerns at present." " Cultural awareness week, or whatever it was called." Garibaldi said. " We can still contact our homeworlds if we do it through the dome but, I for one do not find this satisfactory. Maybe you could provide an explanation ?" " I wish I could." Garibaldi retreated to the rear of the room, away from Delenn's questioning gaze. She wanted answers, but he was unable to provide them. The pieces still weren't falling into place. Someone was going to a great deal of trouble to isolate the station from the outside worlds. Just as they had done to split up the command team. The replacement Sinclair had been very convincing, but Garibaldi knew that, as security chief, he should have acted before he had done. He lowered himself slowly into a chair, letting the waves of depression and pain roll over him. There didn't seem to be any point in fighting them any more. ********************************************************************************* ** Locating Dr Stephen Franklin had been easy, however, Lennier had had some trouble in persuading him to pay a house call to green section. The doctor had wanted to know who he had to see and what the problem was. In the end Lennier had made up a story about Ambassador Delenn needing attention. He still felt ashamed of the falsehood as he led Franklin into Delenn^Rs quarters. Once inside the Doctor didn^Rt ask any more questions until he had treated Sinclair^Rs injuries. He worked in silence for a good hour before getting to his feet and facing the other occupants of the room. " Would someone tell me what the hell is going on ?" He demanded, " I saw the Commander at breakfast and he was perfectly fine. Now you bring me down here to this." " The man now in control of Babylon 5 is not Jeffrey Sinclair." Ivanova replied. He looked at her, disbelief gradually giving way to acceptance as she explained. " I must admit it does makes a strange kind of sense." He said, " I don't have as much contact with the Commander as you do but he hasn't been to Med. Lab. at all in the past few weeks. " " He always used to try and visit every couple of days." Ivanova reminded him. " Yes, then there's this crazy witch hunt after you and Garibaldi, the respirators going down, no outside communication." " How is the Commander ?" Delenn interrupted, switching their attention back to the man lying on the couch. " I've treated his physical injuries. Only time will tell how this has affected his mental faculties." " There may be permanent damage ?" " I don't know. He's a pretty tough customer, give him several hours rest then we'll see, and I'm going to prescribe the same for you Lieutenant Commander." " I get the feeling that I'm not going to have the time." Ivanova grumbled. " Whatever is going on here you're not going to be able to deal with it in your present state. When was the last time you had a decent nights sleep ?" " Okay I get the message." " I'll keep a watch here and wake you in eight hours." " Could you take a look at Mr. Garibaldi, he took a direct hit from a PPG. He was wearing a flack jacket but its better to be sure." Franklin nodded and turned his attention to Garibaldi. Close range PPG injury could still result in internal damage even through protective clothing. All the doctor could detect, however, was bruising. Garibaldi would be stiff and sore for a while but that was all. He didn't say a word as he accepted the pain killing injection. Franklin was almost tempted to slip him a sedative, another candidate for eight hours sleep. " If you wish to rest you may use my sleeping quarters," Delenn informed Ivanova. Susan nodded her thanks, and approached Garibaldi, " I think we'd better get some sleep. Dr. Franklin will keep an eye on the Commander." " No, I can't afford to just sit here. There must be something I can do." " Michael, you're tired and hurt, I must look like I fought the Earth-Minbari war single handed. Lets give ourselves a break." " And hope that someone else will save the universe as we know it ?" " Exactly." Logically he knew that she was right but doing nothing was something that Garibaldi was very bad at. He looked up at her, then across at Dr. Franklin before taking the hand she offered. Concerned as he was about his patient the Doctor couldn^Rt help watching them as they left the room. After the shock had worn off he found himself laughing . " What is wrong ?" Delenn asked, her eyes registering mild surprise. " I think I underestimated Mr. Garibaldi," He replied. Again, Delenn was forced to file the comment away as another incomprehensible human reaction. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:10:24 1996 Date: 04 Jul 96 13:46:30 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: Violation Part 11 Violation Part 11 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights When Jeff Sinclair had regained consciousness the first thing he did was demand to be brought up to date. He had been given the data crystal and was in the process of reviewing the information when Garibaldi entered the room. Silent recognition passed between the two men as the Security Chief sat himself down. " I'm okay Michael." Sinclair said. " If you want to talk about it ?" Sinclair shook his head, it was not that he didn^Rt feel the need to talk but in truth he did not know where to start. The last thing he remembered clearly was his meeting with Hillary Rivers, then waking up in Delenn^Rs quarters. He reckoned that he had been missing for a period of three weeks, more of his life that he couldn^Rt account for. At least he had a vague awareness of where he had been, the recurring image of his tormentor^Rs face. His mind was full of images, half pictures that he couldn^Rt interpret and he didn^Rt have the time to unravel. All he had left was the pain, dulled now by Dr. Franklin^Rs administrations. He knew that they had wanted information, and it had to be something that he wasn^Rt willing to release. Something he would have rather died than tell. " Whenever you're ready, Jeff." Garibaldi told him. " Thanks....You look like you've seen some action yourself ?" " It only hurts when I....." ^S I don^Rt suppose it would be worth asking Delenn if she possesses a comb,^T Ivanova interrupted as she entered the room, dragging her fingers through her wet hair. She also looked a little the worse for wear. A mild PPG burn disfigured one cheek and her knuckles were skinned and bruised. However, eight hours uninterrupted sleep had done wonders for her state of mind, as had the news that Commander Sinclair had regained consciousness. Weak though he was, Sinclair now seemed to be in full command of his faculties. There was no sign of the blank expression that had been so disturbing. It had been replaced by a steely glint in his eye. His expression clearly said ^QSomeone is trying to screw around with my station, and I^Rm going to have to stop them.^R They spent some time discussing the events of the past few weeks, but it was only towards the end of the period that Sinclair noticed that Ivanova wasn^Rt saying very much. " Susan ?" He prompted. " What ?" " You have something on your mind ?" Ivanova shifted uncomfortably, " This could just be a wild theory but I think that this is bigger than any of us realised. Call it instinct but someone went to a lot of trouble to get you out of the way." " Your replacement was very trying." Garibaldi added. " And provided distractions for anyone else who might spoil their plan, myself, Mr. Garibaldi. Someone doesn't want you in command of Babylon 5," " Psicorps ?" Sinclair postulated. " Exactly." " My God...," Michael interrupted, " There are three hundred alien dignitaries on the station..." " What if something was to happen to them ? We could have a war on our hands that would make the Earth-Minbari war look like a tea dance. The worst part is that they could pin the entire thing on you and pacify the alliance by finding some sufficiently messy execution method." " The way you've been acting recently no one would have been suspicious." Sinclair sat back and thought for a moment. What they had been saying was feasible, it would not be the first time that someone had wanted to get rid of him. However, this time desperation was starting to show. Taking the galaxy to the edge of war was a dangerous method to remove one man. He was beginning to suspect that his very presence on Babylon 5 was an acute embarrassment to a great many people. It was as if the project had never been meant to work and he had proven that the station could achieve its objective against all the odds. " What do you think they'll do ?" He asked. " I don't know," Garibaldi replied, " But whatever it is it'll happen soon, the full compliment will be here by tomorrow." " We have to assume that the representatives of all of the alien governments will be in one place," Ivanova theorised, " The most likely is the council chambers. The Five Federation conference is being held there tomorrow." " But we'll never get in there if my replacement does his job properly." " You may not but I will." Sinclair grinned " This whole scam has been planned around me. The last thing they would expect is for the real thing to turn up." " We'll have to get rid of your double first and do something about your face." " Now the swelling's gone down, I think I can cover it with makeup," Ivanova said. " Good," Sinclair replied. "Care for a little shopping trip Mr. Garibaldi ?" " I'd be delighted." He grinned. ********************************************************************************* ** Talia Winters started in fear as the chime to her quarters sounded. She knew who was waiting outside, the mental vibrations were so strong. Despite her apprehension she told the locking mechanism to admit her visitors. Both of them had come to see her this time. No longer willing to blame themselves for the way their mission was turning out they were seeking another, weaker, scapegoat. Smith just stood by the door, knowing that Talia was more scared of Hillary Rivers than she was of him. They may have argued in private but he realised that, to outsiders, they had to present a united front. " Talia dear, we need your help." Hillary began. " I've told you everything," Talia protested. Hillary wasn't about to take no for an answer, she took Talia's hand. Despite her best efforts Talia's mental barriers crumbled. " But you didn't did you ? Where are they ?" " I swear that I don't know." " Someone must be protecting them, the way you are behaving, it might be you." " No." " We don't want to do a mind scan." Memories of pain flashed through Talia's mind. She knew very well that she was not keeping anything from the psi cop but that would not stop the scan being carried out. " They may have gone to one of the ambassadors." Talia blurted out. " Which one ?" " Delenn appears to have a special interest in Sinclair. She's most likely one to give them political asylum." Smiling her sincere thanks Hillary turned to the man. Their eyes met as he received his instructions. For a moment Talia feared that the psicop intended to stay but Hillary followed her companion out of the room. Talia let her head fall into her hands, she just wasn't strong enough to resist. ********************************************************************************* ** The security team pounded down the corridors of Green Section, unaware that their prey was watching them from the shadows. " Looks like we got out of there just in time." Garibaldi muttered. " Lets move out, we've got a long way to go." Sinclair ordered, leading the way down the corridor. Garibaldi and Ivanova exchanged glances. It was typical of the Commander to lead the assault, even in his present condition. " Are you sure that he's up to this ?" Ivanova whispered to Garibaldi. " Probably not, but this is his station. I saw this program once about this captain who fell in love with his ship. Never understood it until I realised how Jeff felt about this place." " Just remember that you're the one whose going to have to carry him if he collapses again. Incidentally what happened to the ship." " The Captain blew it up." " Great." They headed up towards Blue section, making short work of the two mile run. The travel tubes could no longer be considered safe, it was reasonable to assume that all transport from the Ambassadorial wing would be under surveillance. They could only hope that their passage through the rest of the station would not be monitored. ********************************************************************************* ** Smith returned to his quarters after what had seemed to be a day of endless false alarms and fruitless searches. He removed his uniform jacket, and allowed himself to relax for a few moments. Talia Winters had not been able to give them any further information as to where Sinclair and the others might be. However, she disagreed with the suggestion that they had simply got themselves lost Down Below. After all it was the safest part of the station for them. There was nothing to do now except to wait while the security teams conducted a thorough search. Sightings had indicated that Sinclair and Garibaldi were both injured, so it was only a matter of time before they reached the end of their physical endurance and made a mistake. What Smith didn^Rt realise was that he was about to make several. His first mistake was to assume that he was the only one to have access to his quarters. The second was in removing his PPG weapon. The final mistake was responding to the noise behind him. He turned to receive a fist in the face. Ivanova shook her hand, massaging her knuckles. " Good job, Susan," Sinclair said. " Hey ! Isn't that what you pay me for ?" Garibaldi interrupted. " Okay where does Catherine keep her make-up ?" Ivanova asked. " There's about a ton of it in the wardrobe" Sinclair replied. Ivanova disappeared for a moment, while Garibaldi activated the Commander's computer terminal. " There's a few things I need to check, " He told Sinclair, " I might be able to pick up something that'll give us a clue to what they're planning for tomorrow." " Now Commander," Ivanova said as she came back with her arms full , "This won't hurt a bit." ********************************************************************************* ** Sinclair looked at himself in the mirror twenty minutes later. He had to admit that Ivanova had done a good job. If no one looked at him too closely, and the light wasn't too bright, no one would notice that his face was covered with makeup. He congratulated her, but she waved away his thanks, " I had a terrible complexion as a teenager," She explained, " Commander you do realise that she'll know that you're not our sleeping friend." " I know, but I'm hoping that there won't be a chance for her to do anything about it. We'll be making this up as we go along ..." " It seems to have worked so far." " I don't know how this is going to turn out. You've done an excellent job but if you want to pull out... What I'm trying to say is that you don't have to come with us." " With all respect Commander, yes I do." Ivanova glanced involuntarily at Garibaldi. She knew what the Commander was trying to say, if it had come from anyone else she would have been insulted. Sinclair often found himself being protective of Ivanova, her relative youth always made him hesitate before exposing her to dangerous situations. She had her whole life, her whole career in front of her. Plenty of time to make the mistakes that he and Garibaldi were making. Garibaldi was almost unaware of the conversation going on behind him. He had started off by examining station operations and was now deep within the system, attempting to track down the commands that had been issued under the Commanders personal access code. It soon became clear that no one had used the code since the Sinclair^Rs abduction. Some commands had been given by clever circumnavigation, but it was the absences that were telling. New security weapons shipments, which required the Commander^Rs personal authorisation to come aboard, had been refused. The Star fury upgrades hadn^Rt been endorsed. As far as he could tell the order to seal off the station had coincided with a computer failure, making it a vocal command only. No doubt some explanation had been fabricated to explain the coincidence and the crew had not thought to question the order. In fact the malfunction had probably been blamed on himself and Ivanova if things ran true to form. He felt that he now had a good idea as to why the Commander had been snatched. There was alot aboard the station that could not be done without certain computer protocols. Although the impostor had done a good job in avoiding any problems which arose, the Security Chief was convinced that Sinclair^Rs access codes were the key to the whole operation. Everything else had been a diversion, to keep them away from the truth. Even the death of the assembled dignitaries would be a side effect. The additional confusion on a dozen worlds was a bonus to the real objective, the destruction of Babylon 5. "Its the fusion reactors, " Garibaldi said quietly to himself, " The bastards are going after the fusion reactors." " What ? Michael explain ?" Sinclair snapped. " The only computer function that can't be ordered by anyone else apart from yourself is the self destruct. This whole charade has been a cover. Don't you see, its the station they're after, not you or any one alien government." " He's right." Ivanova exclaimed, mulling Garibaldi's ideas over in her own mind, " It all makes sense. They knew that you wouldn't cooperate so they found someone to replace you and tried to remove anyone who might notice from the equation. That gave them the time to persuade you to part with your access codes." " But I didn't, did I ?" Sinclair wondered. " There's been no boom." " They could still do it, rig the fusion reactors to blow. It would be difficult but they've been on board long enough to figure it out." Garibaldi said, " I've gotta get down there." " Michael, no." " Let me do this Jeff." Sinclair knew what Garibaldi was referring to and inside he knew that the man was right. It might be the only chance to save the station. There was no way that they could evacuate in time. Any move they made was likely to result in immediate distruction. Giving Garibaldi time to reverse whatever had been done was possibly the only chance they had. The Commander nodded. " Alone ?" he asked. " I can move faster. The corridors won't be safe. I'll go between the walls." " Very well. Ivanova and I will keep them occupied with our own distraction. Get going Michael, you may not have much time." Acknowledging the order with a nod Garibaldi picked up his PPG and made for the door. On the way he brushed past Susan, their fingertips touching goodbye. Sinclair caught the look that passed between them and suddenly realised something that had been staring him in the face. He had to ask, " May I ask you a personal question, Lieutenant Commander ?" ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:10:26 1996 Date: 04 Jul 96 13:46:56 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: Violation Part 12 >From here on in I think I've been watching 'Die Hard' too many times...oh well.. Violation Part 12 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights Garibaldi crept into the corridor, feeling surprisingly cool about what he had to do. Maybe this was the way heroes felt ? He laughed to himself, dismissing the idea. Crawling through miles of the ships infrastructure could not under any circumstances be described as heroic. Especially when you considered what he might have to crawl through. In his mind Sinclair and Ivanova had the more dangerous task. They had to confront the enemy face on, while Garibaldi kept himself safely hidden. He didn^Rt have far to go, the access panel he required was a couple of hundred yards down the corridor, but it took him some time to travel the distance. There seemed to be a large number of people around. Tripping the security lock also caused some delay but he didn^Rt think that he^Rd been spotted. He eased himself carefully into the down the ladder, wishing that he^Rd asked the doctor for some more pain killers. At least he was able to move, something he hadn^Rt initially been to do when he^Rd got up that morning, much to Susan^Rs amusement. The passages which ran the length and breadth of the station were largely unused. Necessary for station maintenance, the only illumination came from the infrequent orange lights. In the cold, still air Garibaldi could clearly see his breath and in some parts the dripping water had turned to ice. The engineers were the only people who normally saw this part of the station although security had had to access the tunnels from time to time. That was how Garibaldi knew his way around so well. He had vivid memories of spending several uncomfortable days during the course of an investigation. Naturally there were rumours floating around as to what could be found living there but the sceptical Security Chief didn^Rt actually believe any of them. Apart from the one about the rats. The ladder which he was now climbing down led directly into the ships waste control system. Luckily it was the right end, if he^Rd judged his position correctly. He stepped out onto the ledge at the foot of the ladder. Water moved beneath him. After recycling it was used in the reactor cooling system before being passed through the final filtration process for use in hydroponics, drinking, washing etc. The upshot was that Garibaldi had a long swim and direct access to his destination, as long as he kept his face to the current and managed to climb out at the right point. Sitting down he removed his combat boots, not exactly the best thing to swim in, and tucked his PPG below his shirt. He felt the water, it was ice cold. ********************************************************************************* ** " How long have we got until the conference ?" Sinclair asked Ivanova. " Three hours. Are you sure you want to go in alone ?" She replied. " Yes. " Ivanova surpressed an exasperated remark. This heroic gesture thing was obviously catching. First Garibaldi and now the Commander. What was she supposed to do in the meantime ? Watch the soaps and crochet ? Sinclair detected her annoyance, " I want you to stay here and look after our friend." He reminded her. " When this is all over he may be the only evidence we have." " You really want to go against Psicorps ?" " I have to," They had been warned that the Corps were gaining more and more influence within the government on Earth. The attack on the Station was another facet of the need to gain control and if someone didn't make a stand, maybe no one would. The Commander was well aware that he was putting his career on the line. A career that was already blemished by, what some regarded, as his maverick actions on B5. He played by the rules, but he often twisted them to agree with his personal directives. Some people didn't understand that out here, on the frontier, rewriting the book was the only way not to end up dead. He was lucky to have a command team that thought the same way that he did, which is why they were all in this predicament. Ivanova got to her feet and started to pace around the room. The waiting was getting to her. Rationally she accepted that there was nothing that she could do until it was time for the conference. Even then the Commander had made sure that she missed out on the action. Unfortunately he was absolutely right. That only made it more annoying. The man who had been impersonating Sinclair had come round an hour ago, just as they were beginning to speculate that she had hit him too hard. Despite questioning they hadn^Rt managed to get him to tell them anything that they didn^Rt already know. Eventually Ivanova had tied him to the Commander^Rs bed. Just to make sure that he couldn^Rt go anywhere or damage himself. ^S I wonder how Garibaldi^Rs getting on ?^T she mused out loud. ********************************************************************************* ** Cold, wet and tired actually summed up Garibaldi^Rs feelings at that precise moment. He rested on a maintenance platform before embarking on, what he hoped was, the last section of his journey. A long ladder now stood between him and the Reactor Room, but he needed to gather his strength before attempting it. The swim had taken more out of him than he had expected. The ice water had drained his strength until every stroke was an effort, he reminded himself to bring a wet suit next time. This was along with food and a change of clothes. Then he made a mental note that there was never going to be a next time. Using the ladder to haul himself upright, Garibaldi started upwards. After a twenty minute climb Garibaldi began to wonder if he shouldn^Rt have chosen the shorter route. The guys with the guns didn^Rt seem so dangerous. His arms ached, his legs ached, his back hurt like hell and raw fire seemed to be burning throughhis bare feet. He added a spare pair of shoes to his list. Leaving his boots behind had been a calculated risk. Their weight would have not improved his chances of making the swim. He couldn^Rt be that far from where he wanted to go, however, what he was going to do when he got there was a mystery. Although armed he was well aware that he might not have the chance to fire without hitting something vital. The space was becoming more and more confined. Garibaldi had never been claustrophobic but knowing that he was likely to be blown to space dust didn^Rt help matters. ^SYou^Rve obviously got a death wish Michael.^T He told himself, ^S And you^Rve got to stop talking to yourself, do you want this ladder to think that you^Rre crazy.^T ********************************************************************************* ** Hillary Rivers didn^Rt miss her partner at first. She knew that he was getting some rest before the conference. When he didn^Rt turn up for their prearranged meeting she started to get suspicious. This close to the culmination of their plan was no time to be playing games. At first she thought it was another of his petty attempts to spite her but she realised that he was not going tojeopardise his only means of escape from the station. They planned to enjoy the destruction from a good distance away, then listen as the known worlds went into shock at the loss of their ambassadors. The black box recording that he had prepared would prove that Sinclair and his associates were responsible. Enough people would be allowed to escape to corroborate and the Narn Regime would also back up the fiction. Recriminations and political embarrassment would ensure that the Earth administration would be almost dysfunctional, anything to avoid going to war. Psicorps would be in a prime position to take over government. They wished for nothing less than complete domination of Earth and her colonies. Swearing to herself Hillary linked in with the Commander^Rs quarters. Sinclair^Rs face appeared on the screen. If she had been less angry she would have noticed something different about it. He did not greet her with the arrogant expression that had symbolised their relationship. This man really was in control. " Where the hell have you been ?" She shouted, no longer caring that he was her superior. " Resting, as I told you." " The conference is about to start, have you checked the shuttle ?" " All systems are green." " Good. I'll meet you in the reception area, don't be late." Sinclair turned to Ivanova and gave her a reassuring smile; " That's the first hurdle over with." " Did you hear what she said about a ship ?" Ivanova asked. " Yes, they've obviously got their escape route planned. Find out which one it is. We may have to ensure that its not working properly." " Yes sir." Ivanova grinned. ********************************************************************************* ** Thomas Smith watched the woman before him. They had been so close to breaking her, but now she seemed to be in full control again. The Commander was gone, left to keep his appointment at the Council Chambers. Smith couldn^Rt be sure what had happened to Garibaldi but it was likely that the man was still around. Smith was beginning to realise the severity of his situation. He was a prisoner and as such it was only a matter of time before he was questioned again. Eventually they would find a way to get what they wanted to know, especially as their situation became more desperate. He had been briefed about this eventuality, although his superiors had assured him that it could not possibly happen. Wondering what had gone wrong, where they had made mistakes, was not going to do him any good. There was no chance of escape and as such his course of action was clear. Thomas Smith was a good soldier, he^Rd had his face changed, his voice altered for this mission. Now he didn^Rt allow himself to think as he followed his final orders. ********************************************************************************* ** The dress uniform hung on Commander Sinclair^Rs frame making him realise how much weight he had lost during his imprisonment. He pulled the belt tighter, wrinkling the fabric, in the hope that no one would notice that their Commander had lost a few pounds. It was time that he was in the council chambers but he had risked an appearance in the Observation Dome, there were a few things that he needed to take care of. The first thing he did was restablish the communications channels, followed by the transmission of certain data to Earth Dome. He felt safer knowing that, whatever happened to the station, those responsible could be identified. There was still the nagging doubt that there was something else he should be doing. Some other action to take. He was beginning to regret letting Garibaldi tackle the reactor problem by himself. Sinclair hated to leave the safety of his station in anyone else^Rs hands, even if he did trust them implicitly. Sinclair was surprised to hear his link beep as he left the Command and Control centre. Heanswered it quietly, in an out of the way corridor, just in case it was Garibaldi trying to get in contact; " Sinclair, " He whispered. " Ivanova here, " The voice replied, " We have a problem," " Go ahead." " Your alter ego, is no longer with us." " What !" " I'm no doctor but I think he took cyanide." The Commander shut down his link with a stream of swear words that would have made his Jesuit teachers blush. It was now even more imperative that he reach Hillary Rivers. He started to run towards the council chambers. The room was seething with lifeforms. Sinclair found himself marvelling how this had all been organised in such a short space of time. He paused at the threshold, scanning the room for signs of Hillary Rivers, but she was not in evidence. The longer he stood there, the sooner someone would notice him so he took the plunge and entered the room. After weeks of isolation he was finding it difficult to be once more among a crowd. It was unlucky that the first person he ran into was Ambassador G^RKar who insisted on telling him about the insults that had been paid to the Narn Regime over the past week. ********************************************************************************* ** Talia Winters felt the stirrings of the familiar mind as she entered the room. Despite the number of aliens the human was broadcasting powerful emotions. Too strong for her to block out, even without physical contact. There was an unhealthy amount of fear and confusion mixed with an almost bestial anger. These were not casual thoughts. She staggered for a moment while she strengthened her mental shields. Only then did she feel able to track down the source of those feelings. She almost cried out in delight when she spotted Commander Sinclair. There was no doubt in her mind that this was the real thing, not the impostor. Hope sprung within her. The fact that the Commander was alive and well signified what could be the end of the ordeal she had faced over the past few weeks. However, the emotions he was broadcasting were so strong that Hillary was bound to pick them up. She hurried over to him. " Commander Sinclair." Talia interrupted. The Commander turned to her, with his charming smile, " What can I do for you Ms. Winters ?" " A moment of your time." Slight doubt flashed clouded his features. He knew that Talia^Rs Psicorps connections made it likely that she was involved with the chain of events that had led to the present situation. However, she had been known to go against her superiors orders. On that basis he felt that she deserved a measure of his trust. He led her to a quiet corridor, outside the room. " Commander Sinclair ?" She asked again, just to confirm what his emotions were telling her. " Yes Talia." " We may not have much time. They're planning to blow the fusion reactors, you've got to evacuate the station..." Talia's words came out in a jumble. Her relief in being able to tell someone was very evident. " Slow down," Sinclair told her, " Garibaldi's down there." " The place is guarded by Psicops. His chances are between slim and none." " Then we'll have to risk an evacuation but I need to know when she's planning to do it." " Now that all the Ambassadors are aboard, any time the whim takes her." " We won't waste any. Come on we'd better get those Ambassadors to their shuttles." " As soon as she realises what's happening she'll do it." " I know but we have to try. You handle the evacuation. I'll take care of Hillary " He led the way back towards the Council Chambers. Silently saying a prayer for all of the men women and children that he could be sentencing to death. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:21:50 1996 Date: 08 Jul 96 14:49:38 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: Violation Part 13 Thanks to all those who have sent me feedback, here are the last two parts. Violation Part 13 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights Garibaldi sat quietly behind the service panel, straining to make out the voices in the room beyond. He was annoyed with himself, he might have guessed that the room would be guarded. There was still the element of surprise but he really needed to know how many he was supposed to be surprising. The access to the Control Room opened on the mezzanine, twenty feet above the floor. Chances were that the men in the room weren^Rt aware of the entrance but he couldn^Rt be certain. Time was not on his side, however, he had to take the risk. With more care than usual, he bypassed the lock, hoping that he hadn^Rt activated the alarm. This was potentially one of the most sensitive areas on board the station, not just anyone could break in. Pushing the door open carefully he crawled onto the mezzanine, looking out over the floor below. There were four men in the room. Dressed in black they were not standard Earthforce security. Garibaldi was relieved, he wasn^Rt too keen on shooting at his own men. Now he didn^Rt have to be as particular about his shots. Drawing his PPG he took careful aim, killing two of them before the others had had time to react and dive for cover. He loosed off a couple of shots in the direction that he had seen the men disappear, and was rewarded by an answering volley. Stooping low he fired again, running along the platform. There was no time for a stand-off he had to attack. Garibaldi jumped lightly down on the top of a cabinet, his bare feet making no sound. He didn^Rt want to loose the advantage of height but the mezzanine offered little in the way of cover. Silence infused the room. Any moment now they would realise that he had moved. He crouched down, ready to spring to the floor. As he expected his inaction drove the two men away from their cover. They split up and moved around the perimeter of the room slowly, anticipating another volley of fire. For a moment they moved out of sight of each other and Garibaldi made his move. He dropped his full body weight on one of the men. They crashed to the ground, without much of a struggle. Garibaldi knocked the other man out easily. However, before he could pick himself up he felt the cold touch of a PPG at the back of his neck. " On your feet," The other man ordered, " Keep your hands clear of your body." Garibaldi did as he was requested, turning round slowly. The man in black gestured towards the centre of the room. " Move," " This way ?" Garibaldi asked mildly. " Don't even think it Garibaldi." " You're a psicop ?" The other man didn^Rt respond verbally but Garibaldi could hear the acknowledgement in his mind. The security chief was angry with himself for not identifying the uniform. His chances of success had just plunged into the minus figures. He couldn^Rt tell if the man was scanning him but it was likely that the psicop would be able to prevent anything he was likely to attempt. The ^Qwhat^Rs that behind you?^R technique was not going to work. ********************************************************************************* ** The delegates had taken their seats by the time Talia returned to the room. She didn^Rt make straight for the podium, although it was clear that Hillary Rivers was about to make the opening speech. She needed to get Hillary out of there without upsetting the Ambassadors. Hillary spotted her standing by the entrance and scowled in her direction. Talia made frantic signals for the other woman to join her outside. There was suspicion in Hillary^Rs face as she made her apologies and walked towards her. Purposefully the telepath led her outside. " What is it ?" Hillary hissed. Talia didn^Rt have to answer as Commander Sinclair stepped out of the shadows, his PPG trained on Hillary. The hatred on his face was frightening as he looked at her, the memories of his imprisonment coming flooding back. He had to fight the impulse to strike her down. Instead he signalled to Talia to withdraw, which she did gladly. " I might have known, " Hillary sneered, " We always suspected that one of being weak." " She was strong enough to betray you." Sinclair replied calmly. Hillary laughed, she could feel the depths of his emotions. In fact she was surprised that he hadn't killed her where she stood. However, she already knew that there was more to Sinclair than met the eye. " You're too late." She told him, " Its already been set in motion. Unless you know a way to evacuate the station in slightly less than half an hour." She moved a step closer, but he refused to give any ground. Her flawless face creased in a frown as she picked up a thought, " Garibaldi ? He won't be able to help you. The reactor room is guarded. He's probably dead by now." " I think you have a problem estimating my Chief of Security's abilities." He replied lightly but she had sown the seed of doubt in his mind. There was no way he could tell if Garibaldi had even reached his destination never mind dealt with the guards. All he could do was wait for the boom. " You can stop it," Sinclair ordered, " You will stop it." " Why ?" Hillary asked smoothly. " I'm not about to let you get to your escape shuttle." " So I die here. There was always a good chance that I wouldn't make it." Again Sinclair fought the impulse to hit her. Hillary delighted in his anger, it was something that she could use. She took another step. Reducing the distance between them improved her chances of useful telepathic contact. He wasn't the type of man to back away. Concentrating hard she nurtured the anger, made it irrational. He was now fighting for control, " My name will go down as the woman who destroyed Babylon 5, destroyed the futile dream of peace." She laughed. She was ready for him as he lashed out, flipping him easily over her shoulder and slamming him to the floor. However, she did not hang around to see what damage she had caused. Scooping up the weapon she ran down the corridor. Hillary Rivers had no intention of being on the station when it blew. Sinclair swore to himself, as he lay winded, realising how he had been manipulated. He tried to drag himself to his feet and set off in pursuit of Hillary, but his strength was finally giving out. There was no way that he could do anything but crawl after her for the moment. He activated his link, " Ivanova ?" He said. " Yes Commander," " Is Garibaldi back yet ?" " There's no sign of him." " Then get to the shuttle, she can't be allowed to leave. We've got to find out how to stop it." " On my way." Ivanova picked up her PPG and wasted no time leaving the Commander's quarters. It was only a short distance to the docking bay but there didn't seem to be anyone around when she got there, but there was a shuttle preparing for take off. It would take Hillary several more precious minutes before the shuttle was ready to leave. Ivanova started to run, diving through the open air lock of the vehicle in question. It closed behind her. Crouching in the rear compartment, Ivanova wasn't sure of the best way to tackle Hillary, aware of the effect the other woman could have on her. The hesitation was a mistake. Before she could act the shuttle started to move. Unrestrained Ivanova was flung against the back wall by the momentum. ********************************************************************************* ** The shuttle burst free of Babylon 5, the staff in the Observation Dome had been ordered not to stop it. Once enroute to the jump gate Hillary relaxed a little, there was no sign of pursuit. She opened a communications channel to the station, now that she was free it was time to initiate the distruction. The radio signal started the countdown and the explosion would be triggered in a matter of minutes, half an hour later the reactors would overheat. As the shuttle attained level flight Susan climbed clumsily to her feet. She clutched at her side, definitely some broken ribs. Coughing gently, she tried no to notice the blood she brought up. There would be plenty of time for pain when Hillary had been stopped. Smiling, Hillary let her mind wander, free from the distraction caused by the several thousands of beings on board the station. The second mind on the craft cried out to her as she let down her shields. Hillary turned away from the controls to find herself facing yet another PPG. At the other end of this one was Lieutenant Commander Ivanova. For probably the first time in her entire career Hillary Rivers felt fear stir. There was no doubt that Ivanova was quite capable of killing her. As Sinclair had hesitated there was no reason for the other woman to hold herself back. The touch of the other mind was now familiar to Susan and she prepared herself to shoot as soon as it made itself apparent, but a wild shot would result in death as the shuttle depressurized. Before Hillary could point that out to her Ivanova spoke; ^S I read somewhere that if you take a lungful of air you can survive in the total vacuum of space for thirty seconds. The chances of being picked up are 2267799 to 1 against. I^Rm feeling lucky today.^T " But you need me to save your precious station." Hillary smiled. " Not necessarily, but you could make it easier for us, and yourself." Susan answered lightly, but she was desperately worried about Garibaldi. She was sure that, if he had been successful, there would have been some word. Telling herself that no news was good news did not help. ^S Really," Hillary sneered. " The death of all those people will be quite uncomfortable for a telepath and I'm not about to let you get far enough away. You'll feel every moment ." "There's only one way you can get that information," " No !" " Embrace it, enjoy it. Its your mother's gift." " Don't mention her !" The picture came unbidden to Susan's mind as she drew from Hillary's strong thought patterns. With a cry of horror she realised what had happened, and, reacting faster than she would have thought possible, Ivanova contacted the Observation Dome, " Commander, its the cooling system, " She shouted, " There may be some kind of explosive device." " I'll get the message through," Sinclair replied, " How are things up there ?" " Situation under control." " Very well, bring her back to the station." The two women looked at each other, for a moment there was a stand-off but Hillary felt the doubt in the Susan's mind. She realised what she had done, lost control of the part of her that she didn't even want to acknowledge. " I know what you are, " Hillary said quietly, " Its so deeply hidden within that most wouldn't see it." " No ! " Susan shouted. Laughing, she lunged towards Ivanova, not going for the weapon but trying to establish a physical contact. Susan had enough time to fire once. The shot went wild, short circuiting the control panel. Before she could release herself, Ivanova felt the foreign invasion, intensified by the hold Hillary had on her arm. Susan began to slip into the familiar nightmare. This time there was no one to pull her out of it, she was alone, helpless. Darkness enveloped her and the screams started. ********************************************************************************* * Wondering what the Psicop had in store for him was making Garibaldi more and more uneasy. There was no reason why the man hadn^Rt killed him , but he^Rd heard some nasty stories about how some psi^Rs got their kicks. There was definitely someone else in his thoughts now, he could feel the cold touch of another mind. Unauthorised mind scan was illegal and Garibaldi now understood why. Telepath^Rs like this one enjoyed it too much. The man was obviously getting a buzz out of the discomfort he was causing. Garibaldi wanted to resist but the pain made that impossible. He had never experienced a scan, Ivanova^Rs horror of it was now too real. It was no wonder she reacted as she did to telepaths. Despite the agony some part of his mind insisted on remaining analytical. Replaying all of his past experiences with telepaths, he remembered Talia Winters telling someone that she was unable to block strong emotions, that they could be discomforting. Without giving himself time to think he concentrated on all of the anguish he held inside him, the failures, disappointments,the broken relationships, fighting in the war. Any experience that had caused grief, and he had plenty to choose from, he now concentrated on. The other man may get a buzz out of causing pain but how much human ugliness could he actually stand ? In response to the sudden intensity of unsettling emotions, the other man was distracted enough to take a step backwards. Garibaldi now had enough space to swing round and kick the PPG to the floor. Both men dived for the weapon. Although Garibaldi got his hands on it first, he did not have time to fire before the Psicop was upon him. They wrestled in grim silence, neither willing to relinquish his grip on the weapon. Their concentration on gaining the upper hand was such that neither was able to react to the call that was broadcast over the station communication system. However, Garibaldi^Rs weight and height eventually began to tell, he managed to gain enough leverage to pin the other man beneath him and smash his hand against the floor. There was a sickening crunch of broken bones as the security chief took possession of the PPG. He used the butt to knock the psicop unconscious. Garibaldi took the precaution of securing his prisoners before he turned his attention to the control panel. He didn^Rt want any more nasty surprises. Subconsciously he realised that he was dripping blood from somewhere but he couldn^Rt give himself the luxury of finding out where. Thanks to Sinclair^Rs information he now knew where to start to look for trouble. Garibaldi set the diagnostic routines in motion, waiting impatiently for the warning signal that would highlight a problem with the system. The room remained disquietingly silent. He hit the control panel in frustration when he realised that the alarms themselves had been disabled. It took him precious minutes to reactivate the warning system. He immediately set the scanners to identify foreign substances. Without Sinclair^Rs access codes, use of the computer to initiate self destruct was unlikely, and the psicops had to be guarding something. The sound of the alarm almost deafened him with its intensity, but it clearly located the presence of an explosive device in the coolant control system. When detonated, the reactor would overheat in a matter of thirty minutes as the valve controlling the coolant supply was destroyed. Working as fast as he could, Garibaldi stripped the access panel from the relevant control system and prepared to crawl inside. It was no easy task. The space was designed for weedy engineers not bulky security guards. ^QCut down on the donuts, Michael,^R he muttered as he pulled himself through the gap. ********************************************************************************* ** Susan^Rs thoughts were brutally directed to the things that meant the most to her. Hillary knew just where she was vulnerable. The telepath^Rs voice was in her mind, whispering, above the screams from the darkness. She was not helpless. As much as she hated it, he mind could offer some resistance. The pain was extreme, more than she could bear, almost. Characteristically some part of her refused to give in. She had no control over her mind as it started to fight back. ********************************************************************************* ** A small fleet of ships hung above the planet about which Babylon 5 orbited. Sinclair watched them with a heavy heart as he gave the signal that would take them all to the opposite side of the planet. If the station blew the ambassadors would be safe and Earth would avoid a major diplomatic incident. Talia had done a fine job, worthy of a commendation. There were still a quarter of a million people who would not survive. Sinclair was glad that he would be one of them, he knew that he would not be able to live with that amount of blood on his hands. There was a chance that Garibaldi had been able to react to the information that Ivanova had supplied. However, the man still hadn^Rt made contact. There wasn^Rt time to send others. The Commander was forced to come to the conclusion that his friend was either dead or seriously injured. Sinclair had sent messages to EarthDome. He was determined that Garibaldi should be remembered as the man he truly was not what others had made him out to be, Ivanova would also receive a commendation. ********************************************************************************* ** It took Garibaldi some time to trace his way through the maze of wires. The circuit diagram bore little resemblance to the real system. He was just glad that someone had thought to colour code the wires and sprinkle the area with sticky labels. It made the job easier if you were a control engineer, or a security guard. The device was lodged next to the control valve, looking, for all intents and purposes, like any miscellaneous piece of hardware. Removing it was going to be difficult, it had been bolted to the support structure in several places. Garibaldi was going to have to practically hang upside down in order to undo the connections safely. He twisted himself into a position where he could at least get a spanner on the bolts. As his face came level with the device the display flashed into life. Working with a new urgency, Garibaldi leant on the spanner, ignoring his cramped muscles. Every second he expected the device to explode in his face. He had to really fight with himself to stay where he was. It would be easy to run, he had at least half an hour before the station blew. The last nut was proving to be tougher than the others. Sweat was running down his hands, making it difficult to hold onto the spanner. He nearly twisted his wrist off before it condescended to budge. When it did he breathed a sigh of relief. Straining downwards he managed to pull the device off of the support. Cradling it against him he started to crawl back towards the control room. There couldn^Rt be much longer before it exploded, whatever it did to him he couldn^Rt let it take out the control system. For some reason it took him ten times longer to get out than it did to crawl in. Wires wrapped themselves round his ankles, tried to strangle him, in some strange conspiracy. At last he hauled himself into the control room, hitting the floor at a run. There wasn^Rt time to get the explosive to an air lock. He raced out into the corridor hitting the nearest communication pannel as he did so, " Garibaldi to C and C," He yelled, " Mike ?" Sinclair's voice replied, tinged with relief. " Drop emergency blast doors in section brown 22." There was no reply, Sinclair didn't waste any time giving the order. Garibaldi dropped the device and ran like hell. ********************************************************************************* ** From 101646.276@compuserve.com Sun Aug 4 01:21:53 1996 Date: 08 Jul 96 14:49:55 EDT From: Ruth King <101646.276@compuserve.com> Reply-To: b5-creative@lists.best.com To: b5-creative@lists.best.com Subject: Violation Part 14 Violation Part 14 By Ruth King 101646.276@compuserve.com Babylon 5 is copyright 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions. This story is not intended to infringe on these copyrights The shuttle hovered just outside the jump gate. Ivanova should have been home by now. Commander Sinclair ordered its retrieval with some trepidation. He could only assume that the shuttle was damaged in some way. However, he was worried by the radio silence. There were life signs but he couldn^Rt tell how many or what condition they were in. Garibaldi stood beside him, outwardly trying to remain calm but the man^Rs distress was evident to his friend. Neither of them was willing to accept the possible price for the saving of the station. " How long ?" Garibaldi asked. " About twenty minutes. Time enough for you to get to Med. Lab." Sinclair replied. " No." Sinclair didn^Rt push the point. If he sent the Chief to the medical facilities the man was likely to get into a fight on the way. There was no doubt that he would find someone to vent his feelings on. The Commander empathised with the man but it would do Garibaldi no good to be charged with assault. " Lets get to the docking area, " Sinclair said, " Dr. Franklin will meet us there." ********************************************************************************* ** The shuttle was towed into position, coming to rest in a cargo bay. Sinclair and Garibaldi would have been the first on board if the medical team hadn^Rt forcibly pushed them back. Dr. Franklin threatening to put them in straight jackets if they didn^Rt get out of the way. Hillary Rivers was carried out first, her beautiful face pale and still. Franklin hovered over her briefly but he shook his head. Susan climbed out unaided. She was flushed, her whole body shaking. The noise was almost too much for her, she no longer had control. She was aware of Garibaldi darting forward. He reached out to take her in his arms but she shook her head. Michael came to a halt, hurt and confused. He didn^Rt understand what had happened, why she wouldn^Rt let him help her but the strength of his emotions was too much for her to cope with. Ivanova collapsed so quickly that Garibaldi was hard pushed preventing her hitting the floor. She moaned softly as he caught her. The medics shoved him out of the way as he laid her on the waiting stretcher, eager to rush her to Med. Lab. They also blocked his path as he made to follow. Garibaldi felt sick as he watched. Susan^Rs mind had been taken to the place she feared the most. Damaging enough in the form of a dream. In reality it could have killed her. His need to hold her was almost overwhelmingly strong, knowing that physical contact would help her. They wanted to take her away but Garibaldi wasn^Rt about to allow that to happen. He grabbed Dr. Franklin by the front of his tunic, " Get out of my way," He shouted. " She has internal injuries Mr.Garibaldi, we have to get her to theatre." Franklin did his best to sound calm. " You don't understand..." " If we don't go now she'll die !" " Jeff, " He protested, if brute force wouldn't work maybe the Commander's support would. Sinclair put a restraining hand on Garibaldi's shoulder and the security chief released Franklin. He watched as they took her away from him, " Don't worry, " Franklin said, " She's in good hands." Garibaldi didn't reply, he just turned away. Without another word he left the docking area. ********************************************************************************* * She felt him enter the room. The sense was sharpened now. Eyes closed, she pretended to be asleep, even when he bent to kiss her. A mere brush of the lips but the underlying passion was unmistakeable. She would have to tell soon. There wouldn^Rt be a right place or a right time but he had to know before they got too involved. This time, however, it was more difficult. She could feel his emotions so strongly and her own unsettled feelings threatened to cloud her judgement. He left a package on the beside cabinet as he turned to leave. Susan opened her eyes, " Michael," She called. Garibaldi came back over to the bedside with a smile. He felt like he had been constantly in Med. Lab over the past few days but he didn^Rt mind now that Ivanova was on the mend. She seemed to be regaining her physical strength rapidly but Garibaldi still wasn^Rt sure that her ordeal hadn^Rt left deep mental scars. He sat on the edge of the bed reaching out to take her hand, but she pulled away from him, as far as she was able. " Susan ?" He asked, " What is it ?" The confusion that had been so strong in the docking bay returned. He badly wanted to hold her, to try and restore some of the feelings that he had been sure that they shared. " Its you and me, Mr. Garibaldi we need to talk." " Okay ? What do you want to talk about ?" " I don't think that we can continue like this." " I'm sorry ?" Garibaldi shot to his feet. Despite his suspicions, he couldn't quite believe what she was telling him. " This relationship, it isn't going to work." " But I thought..." " No. We can't be involved in this way." " Why ? Give me one good reason." Susan shook her head, " I'm a career officer. You know that. There's no room in my life for..." "...Me ?" " Relationships...any relationship." She couldn't look at him, see the hurt in his eyes and she couldn't let him know that she was lying. " Susan, I never thought that I'd say this but I.." He protested, he was trying to tell her how he felt but she wouldn't let him say the words. " Try to understand." She interrupted. " Understand ! You haven't explained anything !" Garibaldi was loosing his temper now. He strode away from the bed and stared at the wall for a few second, trying to bring himself under control. " I don't know why I'm listening to this. My God I don't know what you think of me and quite frankly I don't care, but we've been through hell this past week. If that didn't mean anything to you then you need to take a good long look at yourself." " Mr. Garibaldi...." " Just leave it." " Michael..." " I said, leave it !" " What the hell is going on in here, ?" Dr. Franklin's voice halted any further argument. " I was just leaving." Garibaldi muttered as he stalked out of the room. " Are you okay ?" Franklin asked. " Yes, I'm fine." Ivanova said, closing her eyes once more. She didn't notice Franklin leave. Darkness helped. She could focus on her inner self, quieten the voices. It was a terrible thing she had been forced to do on that shuttle and she wouldn't be able forget for a long time. Sooner or later Garibaldi would have found out and she wasn't prepared to let that happen. She always had to end a relationship before anyone came that close to her. Susan had lost count of how often. This time she was not able to run away, quoting career as an excuse to transfer to another posting. She had to live with her decision, they both did, and that was what hurt most of all. ********************************************************************************* ** ^S Nice flowers,^T Sinclair commented as he escorted Ivanova to her quarters. The woman walking beside him was barely recognisable as his second-in-command. Her skin was deathly pale, she had lost several pounds and her normally glowing hair was lifeless. However, her eyes were bright and the strength was returning to her voice. The doctor was in no doubt that she would make a full recovery. " Garibaldi sent them." She said. " Ahh." Sinclair changed the subject, " And how are you feeling Lieutenant Commander ?" " Like I could mud wrestle a Narn." " Are you sure ?" There was something behind her smile that made the Commander look at her more intently. The expression faded from her face, " I feel like I've lost something I never knew I had." She whispered. Sinclair gave her a fatherly peck on the cheek, " If you're lucky you might find it again." Susan entered her quarters. It had been a fortnight since she had been there, unfortunately nothing had changed. ^QOne good cry is all I need,^R She told herself as she sat down on the bed. For a moment the tears refused to come, the unemotional Lieutenant Commander holding her emotions in check, but as she cursed her mother, her father, Commander Sinclair, Michael Garibaldi she finally gave herself the luxuary of tears. ********************************************************************************* ** Garibaldi sat alone on the observation deck, watching the stars. It was quiet and quiet was what he needed right now. He just couldn^Rt bring himself to understand why Ivanova had dismissed him as she had done, what had changed.He suspected that something had happened on board the shuttle and he would bet good money as to who had caused it. The sound of footsteps heralded the Commander^Rs arrival. He took a seat next to Garibaldi and the two let the stars spin in silence for a while. One not wanting to ask a question and the other not wanting to answer it. " I've contacted Earthdome, " Sinclair said eventually, " I think they'll be keeping a closer eye on the Psicorps. Incidentally they accepted my recommendation for a commendation, congratulations." " Thanks." " I talked to Dr. Franklin. He suspects that Hillary Rivers was killed by a psi flash of incredible magnitude but he refuses to go into details.... I'm sorry Michael." Garibald said nothing. Another part of his life had crumbled to pieces. He wanted to go and see her, to explain, but somehow he knew that that wasn't possible. He could never find the right words to say. " When will she be back on duty ?" " In the next couple of days." Nodding, Michael got to his feet and started to leave, " Michael, if you want to talk about it ?" Sinclair offered. " Yeah, sometime, when it doesn't hurt so much. Look, Jeff, I'm going to put myself on the nightshift, its probably better that I don't see her for a while." " If that's what you want." Sinclair understood Garibaldi's reluctance to have any contact with Ivanova but he didn't agree with it. He decided to make one last attempt, " At least talk to her," He protested, " She's still the same woman." " Is she ? You know as well as I do that shared danger can lead to a false sense of intimacy." " And that's all it was ?" " Yes." Garibaldi was not lying very well and Sinclair could see right through his flimsy defence. " You really care about her don't you ?" Jeff pressed home the point. " Yeah, yeah I do, and I wish I could tell you why. I know it's something I should never have started but I can't just stop feeling the way I do." Garibaldi sighed, "It would all fall apart anyway. Sooner or later one of us will get transferred off Babylon 5. I can't see Susan giving up an oppotunity for anyone, least of all me. I'm not sure that I would want her to." " Don't dwell on what might happen. You could try living for the moment." " Yeah, well this moment sucks. I'm going to bed, goodnight Jeff." " One more thing Michael, whatever your personal feelings might be, I can't have my two command officers at each others throats. The two of you need to come to some kind of agreement...." "...or one of us will have to transfer." " Don't let it come to that. I couldn't run this place without either of you." Garibaldi left, not allowing his mind to wander through the might have beens. Maybe it was naive of him but he refused to accept that they could just go back to the way they were. If it happened once it was just possible that it would happen again. Despite the problems he didn^Rt want to dismiss the possibility, but he needed to wait a while, let the emotional bruises fade. However, for the smooth running of the station there was something that he had to do. He made his way to Ivanova^Rs quarters. He didn't think that she would even open the door but, surprised as she was, she invited him in. Garibaldi didn't give her time to speak, " I just want to apologise, " He said quickly, " I had no right to yell at you like that. My temper always gets the better of me. We have to work together so its a good idea that we get along." " It was my fault," Susan sighed, " You were right I didn't explain." " Did something happen ?" He asked gently, " On the shuttle ?" Ivanova dropped her head in her hands. For a moment she thought that Garibaldi was going to touch her but he kept his distance. He was doing his best to be Michael Garibaldi the friend now, and nothing else. If only he would get angry again...shout at her. The whole situation would have been easire to cope with.^RStop being so damn understanding,^R she thought to herself but she actually found herself saying, " It isn't just the shuttle. Mr. Garibaldi, this is something that I have to come to terms with and until I do I can't form a stable relationship. Not with you or anyone. Don't take this personally because I've left a number of people in my life and all for the same reason. I just hope that, one day......" He looked at her for a moment before breaking out in a reasurring smile, " Make sure I'm the first to know." " Friends ?" She asked. " Most definitely. Come on I'll buy you a drink." " I'm on medication, it will have to be coffee," " Believe me, thats no problem." Laughing, Susan allowed herself to be escorted from the room. THE END I said at the begining that this connects with 'A Time For Shadows' well it does...but that has turned into another story ! Thanks for reading.