Chapter
Five
The
Servants of Darkness' Plans Go Awry
Aboard the
EDS Yamato
January 24,
2271 6pm
Earth
Standard Time
"C'mon,
you have to be kidding me on this, Wildstar?"
Derek Wildstar
laughed at Captain Susan Ivanova for asking about the origins of Yamato again.
"It's true, Ivanova. This ship was the old Yamato battleship sunk
off the coast of
Lochley stood
there with a puzzled look on their face. "Let me get this straight: back
in 2199, Earth was a radioactive wasteland, all the oceans had dried up and all
human life had migrated to underground cities. Then, as a last ditch effort to
save Earth, your government decided to take the rusted hulk of an ancient
battleship, remodel it, and make it space worthy. Am I missing something
here?"
Derek smiled
and said, "Nothing so far."
Ivanova spoke
again, "Do you know how impractical that sounds? I mean, wouldn't it have
been easier to just find somewhere where the Gamilons weren't and gather the
materials to build a ship in space."
Sandor,
sitting beside Wildstar in the mess, looked across at the two strangers and
said, "Well, desperate people do desperate things, and we were pretty
desperate back then. We had only one year before the radiation would have wiped
all the humans out underground. So we had to come up with this idea, and it
worked out better than we could have ever imagined!"
Derek looked
towards the entrance to see IQ-9 come into the mess. Being an intelligent
machine, he would sometimes drop by the mess when things weren't busy to
socialize and improve his programming. He rolled up toward the table and spoke
to Derek. "Wildstar, Venture has completed his calculations and says we
can warp to Minbar whenever you are ready."
"Thank
you, IQ-9. Head on back to the bridge and we'll join you there shortly.," replied Derek, and IQ-9 rolled out of the
mess hall.
Ivanova shook
her head, still looking towards the entrance. "Back on Earth...our Earth,
robots like that aren't around because human-form robots are illegal."
Derek smiled
and said, "It's a shame, because IQ-9 has been invaluable to us. He's
saved out hides many times aboard this ship."
"That may
be the case, but, between the four of us, it might be a good thing to be
careful who has access to him from my side of the street,
because they'll be people who will want to snatch him up and use him for their
own purposes, and others who would want to dismantle him because they are
afraid of him."
Derek and
Sandor were aghast, and Lochley was quick to reply, "Things are a bit
different in this universe. We're a bit more cynical, to say the least. One of
these days, if we have the time, I'll try and explain it all to you."
Derek nodded
and stated, "I look forward to it, but now, we need to go to the bridge
and get ready for the warp."
Ivanova was
quick to reply dryly, "This should be interesting."
They made
their way to the bridge and Sandor showed the two guests to their chairs on the
bridge. Ivanova looked up once again at the portrait of Captain Abraham Avatar
above the captain's station. In her military side of her brain, she chided
Wildstar for not taking that position because it clearly could give him more
information about the ship and any action it becomes involved with than his
combat chief station. However, her Human, especially her Jewish side, realized
the need to leave it untouched as a tribute to this man.
Nova came over
to her station and explained the process of warping the ship again. Ivanova,
when she first learned of the way that Yamato traveled faster than light,
remembered an old Earth vid series called Star Trek, where the ships in the
various shows would warp space and travel faster than the speed of light.
However, after warping twice to make sure the star charts matched in the
computer, they were now someone used to it. They both smiled at the blond
woman, who had gone out of her way to make them feel welcome, and, since there
were so few women aboard the ship, Ivanova figured that Nova appreciated the
company of some more women.
Venture
announced to the crew that warp would begin in less
than a minute. Both Ivanova and Lochley both inhaled and slowly let out a
nervous breath, trying to not seem overly nervous to the crew.
However, the
process bothered Ivanova, because the warp process stimulated her latent
telepathic abilities. In her first warp experience, she had had a strong vision
of the past during the warp. It was back when she was a little kid and her
mother had come down to watch her play. Her mom had
watched her intently for a moment, then sent Susan
over to a cousin's house to play for a while. Hours later, her dad had come to
get her and told her that her mom had died. She found out later that her mom
had committed suicide, mainly due to the drugs that were injected into her on a
weekly basis to suppress her telepathic abilities so she could continue to live
with her family. However, over the years, the drug's side effects had taken
their toll on her mind and body, and she was slowly going insane.
The second
warp had brought back memories of when she was on her deathbed on board
Venture once
again spoke to the crew, "Warp in 10...9...8...7...6...5."
Lochley, who
had grabbed hold of Ivanova's hand in the previous
two warps, now grabbed it again, and the two of them briefly exchanged the same
kind of look they had done before a warp. Ivanova could tell that her friend
was just as nervous as she was, but she had yet to ask if she had had visions
of her own.
Venture called
out the countdown, "4...3...2...1...warp!"
Venture pulled
down on a lever at his station, and suddenly a white light engulfed the ship.
She could feel the pressure changing slightly around her, and suddenly felt a
sight push into her seat. Then, another vision came over her.
She was inside
a Minbari temple, looking up at a statue of Valen. She looked around and saw a
figure coming up towards her in a dark brown robe with a hood over their head.
"Hello,
Susan."
"Jeff?
Jeff, is that you," Ivanova asked, recognizing the sound of the voice of her
former commanding officer on
He removed the
hood from his head, and Ivanova let out a slight gasp as she noticed the bone
crest on his head. Sinclair smiled and said, "So, how do I look
bald?"
Ivanova
chuckled and said, "It's good to see you again, Jeff. Or should I call you
Valen?"
Jeff smiled
again, "If it makes you feel more comfortable, call me Jeff. God only
knows that I haven't heard that name in a long while."
Ivanova would
have loved to spend hours talking to her old friend, but she knew she had a
short period of time. "Why are you here?"
"To bring you some comfort and to tell you that you are doing
the right thing. You are needed in the coming fight. There are plans in the works
to prepare for the conflict. Just be ready when I return."
Ivanova's jaw dropped, "You mean...?"
Jeff nodded
and said, " 'Valen would return in Minbar's hour of greatest need.' Trust me,
this is a very dark hour upcoming for Minbar. But you’re on the right ship,
Susan. Trust Wildstar's instincts."
Ivanova was
about to speak, but Jeff held out his hand to silence her. "So
long, Susan. I'll see you soon!"
"Wait, I
have one question: did you ever find her?"
Jeff inclined
his head and said, "You'll see soon enough."
Tuzinor,
Minbar
January 24,
2271
9pm Earth
Standard Time
John Sheridan
and his wife, Delenn, were being whisked to the spaceport on a transport. They
set down near two Whitestar ships, advanced destroyers, which were a fusion of
Minbari technology and the technology of the ancient race called the Vorlons.
Before getting on board, they had a moment to embrace and look into each
other's eyes, realizing this may be the last moments they spent together.
"Where's
David," asked John.
"Safe. I
had him evacuated from the city and he's on a religious caste ship heading away
from Minbar."
John looked
deep into his wife's eyes and told her, "I love you, Delenn."
Delenn looked
back into his eyes and replied, "I love you too, John. And, no matter what
happens, I'll be there where no Shadows fall."
John smiled,
remembering the first time she had uttered those words, and departed to go
aboard his Whitestar. Delenn took a moment to watch him go, then
she turned and boarded her ship.
Delenn swiftly
made her way to the bridge, feeling the ship take off from the ground and
making its way into space as she walked through the corridors. She got up onto
the bridge just as the bright blue sky of Minbar turned into the darkness of
space.
She made her
way to the command chair and asked the officer on duty about the status.
"It's not good, Delenn. The fleet is massive and they should be here
within the hour. We don't have near enough ships, unless the Earth Alliance is
sending ships to aid us."
"They
are, but it's a matter of when they can get here. All we can do is do the best we can. Faith manages.,"
replied Delenn.
Her Whitestar,
along with over three hundred others, were speedily making their way to where
they would meet the fleet, along with dozens of Minbari cruisers and
destroyers. The space outside her window was also filled with countless Minbari
fighters, and she had a brief horrifying memory of the
It was then
she noticed the fleet, and a sudden flash of light in front of it. She didn't
pay much attention to it until she noticed that it was some sort of ship coming
into the battle. "In Valen's name! They must have
jumped at the wrong co-ordinates! They're right in the path of that fleet, and
we can't get to them in time."
It was then
she noticed the flashes of light coming from the ship.
Instead of the red color of Drakh weapons, it was white flashes filling space.
She then noticed that the Drakh fleet was taking a pounding. "In Valen's
name," she whispered.
Space
Battleship Yamato
January 24,
2271
9:30pm
Earth Standard Time
Yamato had turned
her five main guns towards the fleet and was giving the Drakh forces its
broadside, and Ivanova watched on in stunned silence as she watched this one
ship shred the massive fleet with volley after volley.
Derek Wildstar
looked over to his fiancée, Nova Forrester, and asked how much longer until the
Minbari fleet join the fight.
"Estimate
two minutes at current speed, but they are speeding up so it'll be a bit
sooner."
"Good.
Dash, stand by port side missiles. Prepare them to fire on my mark."
Dashell
"Dash"
Shortly
thereafter, the ship shuttered slightly as volley after volley of missiles were
fired at the oncoming fleet.
Nova then
spoke up, "Captain, huge unidentified object directly behind the Drakh
fleet!"
"Put it
on screen, Nova.," commanded Derek, and, after a
moment, the massive object filled the screen.
Ivanova got up
out of her chair. "Oh my God! A Shadow planet
killer! We thought they didn't have anymore! We don't have near the forces to
stop that thing!"
Derek looked
at her. "We don't need them. We have the wave motion gun!"
Ivanova shook
her head, "I'm sorry, what? What's a wave motion gun?"
Derek smiled
and, instead of answering her, went over to Mark Venture's station.
"Venture, turn the ship to face the fleet, then go to full speed and begin
to divert power to the wave motion gun when we get behind their fleet."
Mark nodded
briskly and said, "Yes, sir!"
TO BE CONTINUED....
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