alexs_storybook (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alexs_storybook) wrote2014-04-04 09:16 am
alexs_storybook) wrote2014-04-04 09:16 am
Entry tags:
FIC: Lingering Shadows, chapters 7-13, B5/CrusadePG
Title: Lingering Shadows
Author: alexcat
Fandom: Crusade
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from the use of these characters.
Notes: I'd like to thank Larry for beta reading this one for me. I have wanted to tell this tale for a long time and decided that this is the time. It is based on an old story I wrote and very loosely on the canon set forth by JMS as canon for the remainder of the series. I stuck to canon as much as possible as well. Those of you who are fan of the short lived series will see many references to the series itself in little ways, especially Alwyn's golden dragons!
Archive: OEAM< Alex's Story Book, Ao3
Spoilers: Yes
Summary: Did you ever wonder what happened in the series Crusade? Well, here are my answers to all the burning questions.
~~~
Chapter Seven – Things Are Not What They Seem
The next day brought a flurry of activity onboard the Excalibur as crews began to go through all the other materials that they’d hauled up from the planet below them. Oddly enough, there wasn’t a trace of DNA or a fingerprint in anything they had, not even the personal letters written on actual paper.
It was all very suspicious.
Captain Gideon called a meeting in the conference room. They all sat around a round table much like the one in the Arthurian legends from Earth, the same legend that their ship’s name came from. Gideon had often wondered if it was named the Excalibur because it searched for truth or simply because it looked like a very long sword…
“Okay, gang, what do we have?”
“Mystery and more mystery. According to records, all the ships in the hangar do not exist, most listed as lost in battle or crashed. Of the people whose IDs I have, none of them exist either,” John reported.
Gideon made a wry face, his trademark one, and steepled his fingers. “That means one of two things then, the people were erased from all the databases because their mission is so secret or they really never existed at all and were just made up as a cover to keep nosy people like us from looking deeper.”
John hadn’t even thought of such a thing. He felt his skin crawl at the thought. He decided to mention one more thing. “One of the letters mentions the recipient being a telepath and belonging to Psi Corps.”
There was an audible sound among the others at that news. No one had fond memories of Alfred Bester and his Psi Corps. Especially not Matheson.
Max spoke up next. “I found records of a shipment of mining equipment delivered to this area by IPX about twenty years ago. That’s all I found.”
“What are you so angry about?” Sarah asked him, noticing he was visibly upset.
“I—nothing. It’s nothing.”
“Sarah?”
“I—there’s nothing for me to check… no DNA, no anything. My gut feeling is that this is all some elaborate hoax but to what end? Did we get this lead from Earth?”
“This one came from the Rangers.”
“It would seem that we’ve been sent here to find this place but why?” Sarah asked.
“We have the resources to look into things and an excuse to do so as well. If the Rangers looked into it that might cause some questions,” Gideon answered. “In any event, I think we need to get back down there and see what else we can find then get out. I don’t have a good feeling about this place. It feels too much like a trap.”
Galen strolled into the room at that time. Gideon nodded to him.
“Got anything to add?”
Galen shook his head. “I have sent out inquiries.”
No one wanted to ask towhom he’d sent inquires.
“Well, then, let’s get back down there. I think we’ll take a few extra Marines this time,” Gideon finished, ending the meeting.
*
They, of course, found things to be exactly as they’d left them. Searching inside the bunker they’d already found proved fruitless as they found no more hidden doors or rooms. Finally they all went back to the dusty surface to begin again.
They rode across the surface on their all terrain vehicles with no luck. John guided them to an area more than ten miles from the bunker. He’d picked up some energy readings from this area. All they needed to do was find the opening.
Not an easy task. The ground was still brown and dry. By coordinating with Matheson in the ship, they pinpointed the energy signature but still saw no sign of a trapdoor.
Galen was not with them this time, having said something about meeting with an old friend yet again and zipping away before anyone could try to stop him.
*
Alwyn had come halfway to meet him. “I didn’t think we’d meet again so soon. We may be noticed if we keep this up.”
“Then we shall have to be a bit more careful. I am sorry but I wanted to talk of this in person. What did you find?”
“First of all, there was no population to be exterminated on that planet. There never was a population at all. Not one a thousand years ago. Not one ever. Second, I can’t find anyone who’s ever heard of a base there. My source is pretty reliable that Earth certainly has not had a base there.”
“I think it’s a dummy base put there to fool someone but I’m not sure who. Whoever did it has access to lots of Earth records but that’s not a hard thing to do,” Galen told him.
“Any Technomage can do it. I expect any teenager can do it as well, if he or she is technologically inclined in the least.”
“Any ideas, guesses?”
“I think that answer is on Earth.”
“So who sent us there?”
“I expect you will find that out soon enough. The person who sent you there obviously wants something. He will reveal himself when he thinks the time is right.”
Galen nodded. “So how are you?”
Alwyn smiled at him. “I’m still making golden dragons, my boy. Your captain still talking to that box?”
“I think so but it didn’t send us to that planet.”
“You do know that you’ll have to choose who you serve at some point?” Alwyn reminded Galen in a rather stern manner
“Who have we ever served?”
“You and I? I like to think we serve truth,”
“Perhaps we are deluded.”
“My boy, you and I are abominations but sometimes even monsters strive to do good.” Alwyn touched his glass to Galen’s and smiled. “Besides, what else have we got to do these days?”
They drank.
“Now go on back to your captain and help him figure out who he serves as well.”
*
Somewhere hidden away from prying eyes, the person who received the message from the communications array in the bunker boarded a small ship. The ship was outfitted with much more weaponry than anyone would expect from a ship of its size. It also had a vast array of advanced surveillance and communication equipment.
“Are we ready?”
The captain of the ship nodded.
“Let’s go then. I’m looking forward to this.”
~~~
Chapter Eight – Peter Wright, Who Are You?
After a few more hours on the brown planet, they gave up and went back to the ship. Gideon was angry with Galen for running off like he had. He was angry with himself for depending on the Technomage as he had come to do. He stomped off to his room to brood.
Or talk to the Apocalypse Box.
*
Sarah went to visit Max Eilerson. She probably knew more about him than anyone on the ship. And he knew how much she knew.
“So how are things going for you, Max?” She sat down on his sofa in his very elegant and very comfortable quarters.
“For the first time since I went to work for IPX, I feel that I’m not very important to them.”
“Why is that?” She leaned forward, truly curious. He’d given up his wife for IPX and they’d never let him down before. He was the perfect employee and they knew it. He had delivered on many occasions.
“When I tried to find out more information on this sector, this planet, I ran into a brick wall.”
“Maybe there wasn’t any more to find out.”
“No, that’s not it. I—I thought my clearance was near the top at IPX, that I was privy to nearly everything. But this, this was way above my clearance. I hit a wall. It’s there. I just have no access to it.”
Sarah understood. To Max, this was like finding out your best girl was seeing someone else. Sarah reached out and touched his arm. Max let her comfort him though he’d probably have bitten anyone else’s hand off. He trusted her more than nearly anyone. She’d been there for him when Cynthia was threatened on Babylon 5. She’d understood when that young soldier had died for him as well. Sarah was one of the few people he actually considered a friend.
“Max, I think this mess might end up being something you’re glad you know little about.”
“I’m afraid so too.”
“Max, any company would be lucky to get you. You can probably write your own ticket back on Mars.”
Max looked at her and smiled his most aggravating smile. “You’re right. I am the best.”
Sarah laughed and rose. “I guess I need to get back. I’m expecting some news from Dr. Franklin.”
“How is the search for the cure going?”
“Well, I think. I’ll be able to tell you more in a few days.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “Indeed? You’re that close? I had no idea.”
Sarah gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “You can buy me a drink when we find the cure and I’ll tell you all about it!” And she was gone.
*
Matheson was still going through the boxes of ‘personal’ items they collected. The more he looked, the more he agreed that these men had never existed at all. Everything was too pat. The clothes were clean. The grammar was right in the letters. Nothing was missing. Nothing added up but he had to go through it all nonetheless. There might be a clue hidden somewhere, like a needle in the proverbial haystack.
With each box, he went through the paperwork first then the personal items. He laid the paperwork out to check later and sorted the items. They were pretty much the same: uniforms, one set of civilian clothes, toiletries and nothing more. No books, papers, nothing indicating that any of the men did anything but work.
He took all the letters from home and read every one. There was not another mention of telepaths or the Psi Corps anywhere. That had to be significant. But was someone warning them off or was someone looking for them?
He realized he should tell the captain but he wanted to go through all of the information one more time, to see if there were more clues. He began going through the other boxes one more time.
In the bottom of the last box of clothes, sort of tucked under the other clothes, he found another clue: a pair of the black leather gloves that telepaths wore when the Psi Corps still existed. He felt a cold chill run down his spine. There was one man in the galaxy that those gloves represented more than anyone else. That man was Alfred Bester.
*
Max was determined that he would find out more about what IPX was doing in this sector. He hated being bested and he had many skills, computer skills among them. Hacking into secure systems was not a problem for him but he feared that he might leave enough of a trail that would lead back to him.
He thought about it for some time and finally decided that he could make his little incursion look like it came from anywhere and the somewhere he chose was Centauri Prime. No one was ever surprised at duplicity and spying on their part; it was apparently hardwired into their natures. Besides, who was going to complain to them?
He set to work.
In less than two hours, he was in. Once there, he had to decide what he wanted to see. He began to run any and all reports of anything in his sector of the galaxy. He came across the twenty year old report of mining equipment. It must have been used to build this place because there were no mines of any sort in this sector at all.
Was the mining equipment used to build the bunkers?
Or was that simply a cover for something else all together?
He dug some more and found that there were many, many shipments of all sorts of things: equipment, food, medical supplies, everything they would send to a large excavation site or to a military base.
Well, they seldom contracted since they were in the expedition business themselves so that meant they had perhaps had their own operation here. What had they been doing here?
Looking further, he saw that the base had never been resupplied after the original run.
He was getting nothing else so he typed in a couple of the names of men whose belongings were in the bunker. Peter Wright was first.
When the name finally came up, it had ninety-nine other AKAs. He called Matheson and had the names of the men in the bunker sent to him. He began to check and each name from the bunker was an alias of Peter Wright.
There was only one person who’d been in the bunker.
Or was there anyone at all?
~~~
Chapter Nine – Gideon’s Choices
Matheson and Eilerson both went to Captain Gideon and gave him their findings. He listened then ran his hand through his longer than regulation hair and looked at them.
“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that there was no one down there? That there never was anyone there?”
“It looks that way, sir. It looks as if this base was placed here to send whoever found it on a wild goose chase, a chase that can never lead anywhere,” Matheson said.
“Max? You agree with this.”
Eilerson nodded.
“Then where do we go from here?” Gideon was angry but he wasn’t sure who his anger was aimed toward. Certainly not John or Max. Who was doing this? And why?
Matheson cleared his throat.
“Come on then. Out with it,” Gideon said.
“I think that someone will contact us and let us know. Maybe we should just hang out here for a few days and keep our eyes and ears open.”
“Why do you say that?” Gideon arched an eyebrow as he asked.
Matheson held up the pair of black gloves. “There were in the bottom of one of the boxes from the living quarters.”
“Are those what I think they are?” Max asked, reaching out and taking the gloves, bringing them closer to his face.
“Yes, they are telepath gloves,” Matheson said and before he could finish, Max finished for him.
“Like the ones Alfred Bester wore all the time?”
“Yes. Like Bester wore.”
“And you’re saying what?” Gideon was leaning toward them now, his face a mixture of incredulity and anger.
“We don’t know what we’re saying, Matthew,” Max said. “Something is clearly going on but what it is, is not yet clear. We can wait a day or two or we can leave and not look back. That, dear Captain Gideon, is clearly up to you.”
Gideon looked rather sourly at Max. “Indeed it is, Mr. Eilerson. I will take it under advisement and let the two of you know.”
Realizing they were dismissed, Max and John left the captain’s office.
Dureena joined them from nowhere. “What’s going on?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Matheson said.
“Did you tell him it’s all a fake?” she asked in her matter of fact way.
Eilerson stopped. “How do you know that?”
“Max, did you notice that I was gone for over half of the time we were down there?”
“Not that much but yeah, I did see you slip away once.”
“Well, I explored every bit that I could find and there were too many things missing. Like a waste disposal system. Humans can’t go without one of those.”
“And?” Max asked.
“And what? There’s nothing down there, nothing that will cure the plague.”
With that, she turned and marched away.
Max shrugged. “Women!”
Matheson smiled.
*
Dureena was in the Medbay in seconds.
“Why is Gideon wasting our time here?” She ranted.
Sarah looked up from the work she was doing. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s a dead planet with a fake military base. How can it help us?”
“I’m sure—”
“No, you’re not. You know as well as any of us that Matthew Gideon is still more obsessed with finding out what happened to the Cerberus than anything else in his life, the cure included.”
“I know but I trust him, Dureena. He really is as dedicated to finding the cure as he is to finding his answers.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I am and you already know how close we are. I don’t think that there is much that Gideon can do to affect the outcome either way at this point in time.”
“I’ll wait two more days then, I am done. I’ll force him to leave here if I have to.”
Sarah nodded. “He is no fool, Dureena. Trust him.”
Dureena looked hard into her eyes. “I trust you but that’s as far I’m willing to go right now.” She left as abruptly as she’d arrived.
Sarah let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding. She wondered sometimes at Matthew’s priorities as well but he’d shown himself a good captain so far. That was all she could ask for.
She decided to check her messages. There was a video from Franklin.
He stood in his lab, talking to the camera.
“Sarah, I hope things are going well with you. I wish I were out there among the stars. As a zenobiologist, I love traveling out among all the species in the galaxy, not being cooped up here on this poisoned planet in this lab.”
He smiled.
“But I digress. I have some good news. The dead nanites are still dead. I—I’m afraid to be too excited but it’s possible that we have found it. My next step is to try it on a live subject. Even though the virus is not activated, the nanites are still active and busy, making sure they’re attached to every system that keeps us alive.”
He stopped and cleared his throat.
“I am sending you copies of everything down to the last detail from my end because I have decided that when the time comes to test it, I will test it on myself. If you have all the data and something happens to me, then you can carry on from where I left off.”
He smiled, a little embarrassed at the drama, Sarah guessed.
“Anyway, I will send you all the info and I’ll let you know when I decide to do it. You take care, dear Sarah. I hope to meet you again soon and to be able to sit at a table and have dinner with you. Will you do me that favor when this is all over?”
Sarah sat very still when the message ended. She had only met him one time but she liked Dr. Franklin—Stephen. She liked him a lot. She checked her inbox and saw that there was a huge file from Franklin as well. His research.
She turned on her recorder and began to speak.
“Dr. Franklin, I’d be delighted to have dinner with you. I know this wonderful little restaurant on Babylon 5 that has wonderful breen, unless you’d rather have spoo?”
*
Galen sat in his ship and thought about what he knew so far. There was no way short of killing Matthew that would keep him from digging into this mystery. No way at all. He might be able to influence the captain if he could do something about that infernal Apocalypse Box.
The Box had to go.
*
In Gideon’s closet, the Box hummed and in as much as it thought at all, it was planning a way to get rid of that bothersome man with the machines in his body. He was making things more difficult than need be.
~~~
Chapter Ten – More Questions Than Answers
Galen was becoming frustrated. Alwyn was finding nothing in any of his searches. The planet had always been a dead one. The base that Galen’s captain had found did not exist. The Rangers could not have sent them there but if not them, then who was the young man who delivered the message?
Alwyn did have an answer of sorts for that one. The boy was a Ranger but his ship had made an odd little detour near the Rim. There were four hours unaccounted for in his ship’s logs.
Galen was willing to bet that the Ranger had no clue that he was even missing any time.
He went to Gideon with his findings this time. He decided that this one was a mystery for the captain.
“Are you sure about this?” Gideon looked up from his chair on the bridge.
“I am.”
“May I ask what your source is?”
“You’ve met him,” Galen told him.
“Your Technomage friend, Alwyn?”
“The very one. It seems that while most of the order was hiding, Alwyn was out gambling and enjoying the company of pretty women and he made more than a few friends high up in the military on Earth and other places as well.”
“He has something on them and they give him information to keep him quiet?”
“That would be my guess. Sound like a kindred spirit?”
“Sounds like he wins more than I do.”
“Perhaps. Maybe he cheats better than you do.”
“So, who, in your opinion, is behind this?”
“If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say someone wants you to find something and is leading you but who it is, I’m not sure about. If I were to guess, I’d say a telepath.”
“To what end?”
“I think that is what you’re meant to find out.”
“We need a hint of where to go. Is it possible that whatever it is, is hidden here on this planet?”
“I’d say no but if not that planet, we have very little to go on. So yes, it was hidden. I think the things you’ve found are the hint.”
“Thank you, Galen. I know I get irritated too often but I do appreciate your help.”
Galen nodded and left the bridge.
*
Matheson still had not stopped searching a second and third time through all the boxes of things from the planet. He had even sent Dureena and the Marines down to search for more, even the smallest slip of paper or a discarded cup or plate. He was working like a man possessed.
The second sweep had yielded little but there had been a cup in one of the bathroom waste bins. He was analyzing it now for anything at all. Why would anyone leave a single cup in a single trash can in a fake base unless they wanted it noticed?
It was manufactured on Earth, sold to various companies and government agencies: EarthForce, IPX, Mars Dome, Psi Corps…
That narrowed it down but not by much.
But there was Psi Corps again.
There were fingerprints on the cup as well but they did not match anyone living. They matched a telepath from many years ago and a rogue one at that: Fiona Dexter. Matheson remembered that she was a Resistance leader killed by Psi Corps many years before he was born.
This meant something but what?
The DNA was matched to a person descended from Fiona Dexter but he didn’t remember reading that she had children.
It had to do with Telepaths then. That was becoming obvious. But that was all that was obvious so far.
*
Dureena was lighting a candle in her quarters. She knew she was the only one on board who knew how close they were to the cure. She was beginning to think that she and Sarah were the only ones who cared as well. She wanted to deliver the news to her people, to save them from the plague that had already wiped out everyone she’d ever known.
A tear slipped from her eye, a rare occurrence for the hardened thief, but it was not a tear of sorrow but one of hope, something she’d felt little of since her father sold her into slavery. Maybe she could build herself a life on Theta 49 with her own race.
Or maybe with Robert Black. He was one of the only people she’d ever met who seemed to understand how she felt, to understand her loss and pain. She’d never wanted to have a mate before but he stirred something in her she’d never thought to feel.
She blew out the candle. She was being foolish and sentimental, a luxury no thief could afford.
*
In his lab on Earth, Stephen Franklin injected himself with a concoction that contained millions and millions of nanites. Each one was programmed to reprogram the Drakh nanovirus already in every part of his body. He just hoped they worked.
Nothing felt any different but he hadn’t expected it to. All that he could do now was wait a few hours and check his blood for the first time.
*
Gideon had gone to his room to consult the Box. He locked his door and opened the closet, removing the Box and setting it on his table as he was doing more and more these days.
He opened it.
It glowed but said nothing.
“What do we do?” he finally asked.
“Galen must go,” it said in a voice that sounded scarily like his own.
“I can’t get rid of Galen. He’s a big help to us.”
“Don’t trust a Technomage. Galen must go.”
“Where should we go?”
“Find a small, black ship. Destroy it. Kill Galen. He must go.”
“Do you mean Galen’s ship?”
“Small, black. Blow it up.”
Gideon sat down in front of the Box. He was frustrated with its cryptic answers, but he was more afraid of the clear ones. He couldn’t kill Galen.
Could he?
*
Galen was not far from Gideon. He was right outside his door, as a matter of fact. He was listening to the conversation going on in the captain’s bedroom.
So the Box wanted him gone, did it? That must mean that it was onto him. Or maybe it just meant that it was evil and wanted to make Gideon do evil things. He wished he knew more about the dreadful thing.
He did know one thing. He could destroy it. He was built for destruction and if that’s what it took, then that’s what it took.
~~~
Chapter Eleven – The Beacon and the Dead
Eight hours had passed and Stephen checked his blood. The nanites were dormant. This was promising. He would check again in eight more hours.
He poured himself a cup of coffee and smiled at the message that Sarah Chambers had sent him. He knew some good restaurants on Babylon 5 as well, one that even served edible spoo.
*
Galen debated for most of the night whether to tell Gideon about the Ranger and his lost time. In the end, he decided that his stray starship captain needed to know.
“Matthew, a word,” he said as he strolled onto the bridge.
Gideon nodded and followed him to the conference room.
“Someone interfered with the Ranger and the message he gave to you.”
“What do you mean, interfered?” Gideon was in a foul mood, Galen noted. The Box was beginning to wear on him, making him short tempered.
“I mean that somewhere out near the Rim, your Ranger lost approximately four hours of time. There is no record on his little ship of what happened to him or the ship during that four hours.”
“And you think this was—that someone intercepted him to make him send us here? There’s nothing here.” Gideon sounded exasperated.
“The lack of anything being here is a clue itself. Someone wanted your ship to come here and here you are. They wished us no harm or we’d all be dead by now so they must want something from us or want us to do something.”
Gideon sat very still for a few moments, thinking and running through it all in his head. “Supposing this is true, then why haven’t they shown themselves?”
“They will or they will tell us where to go next to find them.”
“We do have a mission, you know,” Gideon reminded him.
“Yes, we do and I believe your Dr. Chambers and her counterpart on Earth have about accomplished that mission.”
“You think she’s that close?”
“I do. If you wait to see who is looking for you, you might find the answer to your questions as well.”
“My questions?”
“Matthew, you know as well as I do that your main reason for coming on this mission was to search for the truth about why your shipmates died on the Cerberus.”
“I want to find out where that ship came from. It looked like a Shadow ship but it wasn’t quite the same. I still believe that our ship was destroyed because we’d seen it. But who was behind it?”
“That is what I think you might find out eventually if we follow this path.”
“Very well then. What do we need to do?”
“Wait. We wait.”
Gideon was good at many things but waiting was not one of them. He blew out a breath and finally said. “Okay. We’ll try it your way for a few more days.”
Galen nodded and smiled slightly, then left with his coat flapping behind him.
*
A small ship was meandering slowly toward a rendezvous with the Excalibur. The ship itself was black, almost as black as the Shadow ship that Gideon had once encountered but it was not made of the same material. This one was made of a light absorbing metal that only made it seem invisible in the sky.
Its lone passenger smiled to himself. Wouldn’t everyone be surprised to see him?
*
Gideon was back in his own quarters, thinking about Galen. Was Galen trying to steer him toward destruction? Was the Box right? Its previous owner said it lied sometimes. Was it lying now?
Did Galen have some dark purpose in mind when he’d rescued him all those years ago?
It did seem that the Technomage argued with him an awful lot but maybe that was just his way. What if it weren’t though?
He stood abruptly, put the Box away, and headed for the bridge.
Inside his closet where not even Gideon could hear it, the Box whispered, “Soon.”
*
“Captain, I’m picking up a distress signal on the long range sensors.”
“Identify?” Gideon turned in his chair to look at John.
“Not a known configuration. It’s very small, sir.”
“How far?”
“Ten hours and thirty-four minutes.”
“Chart a course,
“Aye, sir.”
*
Everyone was tense as they made their way to the ship, not knowing if it was a legitimate distress call or a trap to ensnare them further into this deepening mystery. Gideon headed to the gym to shoot baskets while Sarah recorded a new message for her sister and her niece. Dureena rode the bullet car and sharpened her knives. Galen was in his ship, analyzing the beacon. Matheson was on the bridge and Eilerson was reading an ancient text from another one of their dead end planets.
The time passed slowly but soon, they were approaching the origin of the beacon.
At first, John thought it must just be a small pod with a beacon on board then he finally was able to see the ship on his screen. The cameras mounted outside the ship showed a tiny black ship with a white emblem emblazoned on the side.
The emblem of Psi Corps.
“Sir, get up here. I think you’re going to want to see this,” he messaged the captain.
Within minutes, Gideon was on the bridge.
“This better be good. I was about to win a game of one-on-one.”
John hid his grin. Matthew was terrible at basketball and everyone but him seemed to know it.
“Take a look.” John showed him the ship.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, sir. A black Psi Corps ship. I didn’t think any of them were in existence any more.”
“Any idea who is on it?”
“I’d have to guess Mr. Bester,” John said, with all the dread he felt at seeing such a thing. A full sized Shadow vessel wouldn’t have scared him any more.
“I thought he was dead.”
“So did I but Mr. Bester has many tricks up his sleeve.”
John was terrified of Bester. He remembered him in his young days at Psi Corps. He had worshipped him as had many other young teeps until he met the woman in the cell, the one he was to give Sleepers to, the one he allowed to destroy Psi Corps headquarters. He knew then what a tyrant Bester really was and how all people, both telepaths and non-telepaths, should fear a man like him.
“Bring him aboard. Let’s see who it is for sure,” Gideon ordered.
“Aye, sir.”
~~~
Chapter Twelve – Bester’s Visit
Matheson hailed the ship.
“What is your emergency?”
Nothing. He repeated the message and still no answer. He looked to Gideon.
“Use the tractor beam and bring the thing on board. Send a security team down to guard it until we get there,” Gideon told him. “Tell them to shoot to kill if anyone comes out of that thing.”
Gideon was going down to see who was on the ship alone but everyone followed. Even Galen had come out of his ship to see what transpired.
The security detail was standing outside the tiny black ship with weapons drawn when Gideon got there. The doors opened and a rather small man came down the steps. He was in his late sixties at least though his hair was still black and he wore the uniform of a defunct order.
Alfred Bester smiled and looked at John. “Why, Lieutenant Matheson, I didn’t know this was the ship you were serving on.”
Matheson nodded, swallowing his fear though not his loathing. “Hello, Mr. Bester.”
“What is the nature of your emergency, Mr. Bester?” Gideon asked, his sarcasm shining through.
“I knew of no other way to get onboard the ship and you have a reputation for never ignoring a distress signal so here I am.” He was still all smiles though everyone there knew how dangerous he was, if not from actual experience then from reputation.
“What do you want?” Gideon asked.
“I would like to take you all on a journey.”
“To?”
“You’ll see. I’ll give Matheson here the coordinates when we get to your bridge.”
“This better be good, Bester. How do you know we haven’t already called Mr. Garibaldi? I hear he’ll pay a good price for your head,” Gideon asked him.
“You want to know why I’m here. You have a mystery you want solved and I think I might be able to help you. So it’s up to you, isn’t it, Captain Gideon?”
“One chance. You get one chance to impress me then you’re out of here.”
Bester smiled his sweetest smile. “Of course, Captain.”
Gideon and the Security detail escorted Bester to the bridge.
John threw up his shields but Bester was strong, too strong for John to keep him out. Bester sent him the coordinates he’d promised Gideon.
“Captain, your First Officer now has the coordinates.”
Gideon nodded to Matheson. “Aye, sir. Course is set to Mr. Bester’s destination.”
“So are you going with us, Mr. Bester?” Gideon asked their unwanted guest.
“At least part of the way, Captain. I might decide to let you have all the glory. Not sure I want to see Mr. Garibaldi yet. He doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
“So I’ve heard.”
*
Galen had made himself scarce since that abomination had come aboard. If his kind had been born to Chaos then Bester had been born to Order, both of them puppets of the Shadows and Vorlons. Absolutes of any kind were evil and Bester represented the pinnacle of evil among his people.
He could feel the buzz from the telepath’s mind as it probed the ship. With his tech, he could block it but Bester had to know he was aboard anyway. Not much had ever gotten past that one.
*
Bester looked around. “You have a Technomage onboard?”
“And this would be your business why?” Gideon was ready to shoot the older man, had been two minutes after meeting the condescending little creep.
“I am not fond of Technomages.”
“As I’m sure they’re not fond of you. But then is anyone fond of you?”
“Touché, Captain Gideon. You don’t seem to have much respect for authority.”
“And what authority would it be that you have, Mr. Bester?”
Bester laughed, which made Gideon hate him all the more.
They arrived at a small solar system in two days time. It had a small sun with seven planets. Their destination was a moon of the third planet. They set up orbit above the large moon, an orbital body at least as big as Earth in their own solar system.
“So what are we looking for?” Gideon asked Bester.
“You’ll know it when you find it.”
“And what will you be doing?”
“I’m actually going to leave right now. You don’t want anyone to know where you got this information, do you?” Bester smiled as he headed for the exit.
“What information?” Gideon shouted at Bester’s back as he left to bridge to go to his ship.
“Shall I stop him, sir?” Matheson asked.
“He’s right. Whatever is here is here and we don’t want his name tied up with it or no one would ever believe us.”
A few minutes later, the tiny black ship left the Excalibur behind and headed out into space.
Gideon turned to Matheson. “Would you like to go on an away mission this time?”
Matheson nodded.
Gideon took Matheson and Dureena with him down to the moon’s surface. John found that when Bester left them, he planted a set of map coordinates in his mind so that’s where they landed.
The moon was mostly dry but it was not without life. There were a sort of hardy plants and some small desert animals there, scurrying away as Gideon’s trio approached. They walked toward what appeared to be a mountain but when they got closer, they saw that it was really a large facility with windows and massive doors hidden in what only looked like a mountain.
“I can’t say what I was expecting but this is not it,” Gideon whispered as they all brought their weapons to the ready.
They moved closer to the large doors and saw that they were protected much like the doors on the ice planet where they’d rescued Natchok Var. Just as she did then, Dureena made short work of the coded lock and they slipped into the huge building.
The lower part of the mountain was a hangar and in it sat a ship that Gideon had seen only once in the real world and every night since then in his dreams. He stood there, just inside the large doors and stared, his mouth hanging open.
“What is it, sir?” Matheson asked.
“It’s the ship.”
“The ship?” Matheson wasn’t following.
“The ship that I saw that night, the shipped that killed the Cerberus. That is it. Where the hell has Bester sent us?”
~~~
Chapter Thirteen – Shadow Mountain
Galen simply appeared as he usually did outside the building. He slipped in the open door just as Gideon said, “The ship that I saw that night, the shipped that killed the Cerberus. That is it. Where the hell has Bester sent us?”
He knew what it was, had seen it before. He also knew it did not come from the Shadows who had made the tech running through his own body.
“I see Bester has given you an unexpected gift, Matthew.”
Gideon turned on him, fury as well as fear in his eyes. “How the hell do you know?”
“I assume this is the type of ship you encountered the night I found you in space.”
”You assume or you’ve known all along?”
“I have suspected. Leave it at that for now. This is not the time for explanation or recriminations.”
“That time will come though. Be sure of that.”
Matheson and Dureena stood transfixed, staring at the hybrid shadow vehicle. “I heard rumors but I never believed them,” Matheson whispered.
Matthew whirled on Galen. “These ships are EarthForce?”
Galen nodded. “I believe you will find that to be true.”
“But what…”
“EarthForce has a side as dark as the Shadows themselves and your ship blundered into a staging area, I believe. There was no alternative but to destroy it. No one wanted anyone to know of this. You were not supposed to live.”
“How do you know this?” Gideon challenged.
“That is also story for later. What do you plan to do?” Galen asked.
“What can we do? If I report it, someone will make sure that I don’t survive this time. If I destroy it, then they will have won, won’t they?”
“Perhaps we should explore the base further, see what else is here.”
Gideon ground his teeth and turned to Matheson. “Let’s see what other treats they have hidden here for us.”
Matheson nodded.
They walked through the hangar to a set of stairs that led up into the mountainous building. The first floor was a massive lab, replete with machines, test tubes, and an all white décor. They stepped into one of the labs. There were instruments laid out on tables as if they were about to be used. At one end of the room was a large tanklike box filled with random sized pieces of the telltale smooth black material that covered all Shadow ships.
Galen said nothing but it was exactly like the ridges of black tech that ran up and down his back, a living technology that had been grown on living, breathing beings in a lab very much like this one. Were they making hybrid Technomages here as well?
“What are those?” Matheson pointed to the small pieces of living metal.
“Those are biotechnology, the material that living ships are made of,” Galen explained.
Dureena gave him a hard look. She’d gotten a quick look at his tech once and she knew, but she said nothing. Her eyes told him that he would be telling her all about it later. Or else. Galen had great power but he still feared an ‘or else’ from Dureena as much as any sane man would.
“Matheson, take some of this for proof.” Gideon motioned to the tank.
“No!” Galen shot his arm out to stop Matheson from touching the smooth, black rocks. “You might wake them if you touch them.”
What he didn’t say is if they were awakened, they might decide Matheson was a perfect host for them and begin to attach themselves.
Gideon was angry but he backed down, not willing to take a chance on something that Galen obviously knew more about than he did. “Let’s look some more.”
They looked through the lab, finding more of the black metal but no one dared to touch it after Galen had warned them off. They found an office off the lab and went inside.
Matheson sat down and began to access the computers. There was very little there. He came across a list of names. One of them was familiar: Carolyn Sanderson. Who was she?
When it hit him, he turned as pale as if he’d seen the dead.
“Captain, this list, one of the names… she’s a rogue telepath, Carolyn Sanderson. There was a rumor that Mr. Bester was—that’s why he sent us here.”
“Explain, Matheson, so far you’re talking in half sentences.” Gideon was never patient and this place was trying what little patience he did have.
“There is a list of names here on the computer. One of them is Carolyn Sanderson, a rogue telepath who was rumored to be a favorite of Mr. Bester. If you remember, the Shadows used telepaths to pilot their ships though pilot is a not a very good word for it…”
Galen finished for him. “They used telepaths as brains in the living Shadow ships. The telepaths did more than pilot, they blended with the machine until the two were one.”
“So whoever this base belonged to was going to use telepaths to pilot their ships as well?” Gideon asked.
Galen nodded.
“Is this base dead then?” Gideon asked Galen.
“It would seem so but Bester has a motive for bringing you here, I believe. Perhaps he wants this news to come to light on earth.”
“Send all the data to the Excalibur and let’s finish this tour. This place gives me the creeps.”
Matheson nodded and began to transfer the data.
They began to explore more of the now deserted base and found more leftover metals. There were handwritten but unsigned notes that Sheridan had hit Ganymede and they’d better get out fast. There were names of scientists, some who were still living on Earth and had never been implicated in the Clark Conspiracy to kill President Santiago and take over Earth with the use of Shadow technology.
“We need to get these names to John Sheridan. He, if no one else, will see that proper means are taken to punish or at least bring those involved to justice,” Gideon told them.
“But, Captain, President Sheridan is not that easy to contact,” Matheson reminded him.
Gideon smiled for the only time that day. “You forget. Elizabeth Lockley is his ex-wife and she and I are… friends.”
“Friends? Well, I think we should contact your friend as soon as we get back to the ship.”
“You and Dureena go back. Galen and I are going to make a photographic record of what is here.”
~~~
Author: alexcat
Fandom: Crusade
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from the use of these characters.
Notes: I'd like to thank Larry for beta reading this one for me. I have wanted to tell this tale for a long time and decided that this is the time. It is based on an old story I wrote and very loosely on the canon set forth by JMS as canon for the remainder of the series. I stuck to canon as much as possible as well. Those of you who are fan of the short lived series will see many references to the series itself in little ways, especially Alwyn's golden dragons!
Archive: OEAM< Alex's Story Book, Ao3
Spoilers: Yes
Summary: Did you ever wonder what happened in the series Crusade? Well, here are my answers to all the burning questions.
~~~
Chapter Seven – Things Are Not What They Seem
The next day brought a flurry of activity onboard the Excalibur as crews began to go through all the other materials that they’d hauled up from the planet below them. Oddly enough, there wasn’t a trace of DNA or a fingerprint in anything they had, not even the personal letters written on actual paper.
It was all very suspicious.
Captain Gideon called a meeting in the conference room. They all sat around a round table much like the one in the Arthurian legends from Earth, the same legend that their ship’s name came from. Gideon had often wondered if it was named the Excalibur because it searched for truth or simply because it looked like a very long sword…
“Okay, gang, what do we have?”
“Mystery and more mystery. According to records, all the ships in the hangar do not exist, most listed as lost in battle or crashed. Of the people whose IDs I have, none of them exist either,” John reported.
Gideon made a wry face, his trademark one, and steepled his fingers. “That means one of two things then, the people were erased from all the databases because their mission is so secret or they really never existed at all and were just made up as a cover to keep nosy people like us from looking deeper.”
John hadn’t even thought of such a thing. He felt his skin crawl at the thought. He decided to mention one more thing. “One of the letters mentions the recipient being a telepath and belonging to Psi Corps.”
There was an audible sound among the others at that news. No one had fond memories of Alfred Bester and his Psi Corps. Especially not Matheson.
Max spoke up next. “I found records of a shipment of mining equipment delivered to this area by IPX about twenty years ago. That’s all I found.”
“What are you so angry about?” Sarah asked him, noticing he was visibly upset.
“I—nothing. It’s nothing.”
“Sarah?”
“I—there’s nothing for me to check… no DNA, no anything. My gut feeling is that this is all some elaborate hoax but to what end? Did we get this lead from Earth?”
“This one came from the Rangers.”
“It would seem that we’ve been sent here to find this place but why?” Sarah asked.
“We have the resources to look into things and an excuse to do so as well. If the Rangers looked into it that might cause some questions,” Gideon answered. “In any event, I think we need to get back down there and see what else we can find then get out. I don’t have a good feeling about this place. It feels too much like a trap.”
Galen strolled into the room at that time. Gideon nodded to him.
“Got anything to add?”
Galen shook his head. “I have sent out inquiries.”
No one wanted to ask towhom he’d sent inquires.
“Well, then, let’s get back down there. I think we’ll take a few extra Marines this time,” Gideon finished, ending the meeting.
*
They, of course, found things to be exactly as they’d left them. Searching inside the bunker they’d already found proved fruitless as they found no more hidden doors or rooms. Finally they all went back to the dusty surface to begin again.
They rode across the surface on their all terrain vehicles with no luck. John guided them to an area more than ten miles from the bunker. He’d picked up some energy readings from this area. All they needed to do was find the opening.
Not an easy task. The ground was still brown and dry. By coordinating with Matheson in the ship, they pinpointed the energy signature but still saw no sign of a trapdoor.
Galen was not with them this time, having said something about meeting with an old friend yet again and zipping away before anyone could try to stop him.
*
Alwyn had come halfway to meet him. “I didn’t think we’d meet again so soon. We may be noticed if we keep this up.”
“Then we shall have to be a bit more careful. I am sorry but I wanted to talk of this in person. What did you find?”
“First of all, there was no population to be exterminated on that planet. There never was a population at all. Not one a thousand years ago. Not one ever. Second, I can’t find anyone who’s ever heard of a base there. My source is pretty reliable that Earth certainly has not had a base there.”
“I think it’s a dummy base put there to fool someone but I’m not sure who. Whoever did it has access to lots of Earth records but that’s not a hard thing to do,” Galen told him.
“Any Technomage can do it. I expect any teenager can do it as well, if he or she is technologically inclined in the least.”
“Any ideas, guesses?”
“I think that answer is on Earth.”
“So who sent us there?”
“I expect you will find that out soon enough. The person who sent you there obviously wants something. He will reveal himself when he thinks the time is right.”
Galen nodded. “So how are you?”
Alwyn smiled at him. “I’m still making golden dragons, my boy. Your captain still talking to that box?”
“I think so but it didn’t send us to that planet.”
“You do know that you’ll have to choose who you serve at some point?” Alwyn reminded Galen in a rather stern manner
“Who have we ever served?”
“You and I? I like to think we serve truth,”
“Perhaps we are deluded.”
“My boy, you and I are abominations but sometimes even monsters strive to do good.” Alwyn touched his glass to Galen’s and smiled. “Besides, what else have we got to do these days?”
They drank.
“Now go on back to your captain and help him figure out who he serves as well.”
*
Somewhere hidden away from prying eyes, the person who received the message from the communications array in the bunker boarded a small ship. The ship was outfitted with much more weaponry than anyone would expect from a ship of its size. It also had a vast array of advanced surveillance and communication equipment.
“Are we ready?”
The captain of the ship nodded.
“Let’s go then. I’m looking forward to this.”
~~~
Chapter Eight – Peter Wright, Who Are You?
After a few more hours on the brown planet, they gave up and went back to the ship. Gideon was angry with Galen for running off like he had. He was angry with himself for depending on the Technomage as he had come to do. He stomped off to his room to brood.
Or talk to the Apocalypse Box.
*
Sarah went to visit Max Eilerson. She probably knew more about him than anyone on the ship. And he knew how much she knew.
“So how are things going for you, Max?” She sat down on his sofa in his very elegant and very comfortable quarters.
“For the first time since I went to work for IPX, I feel that I’m not very important to them.”
“Why is that?” She leaned forward, truly curious. He’d given up his wife for IPX and they’d never let him down before. He was the perfect employee and they knew it. He had delivered on many occasions.
“When I tried to find out more information on this sector, this planet, I ran into a brick wall.”
“Maybe there wasn’t any more to find out.”
“No, that’s not it. I—I thought my clearance was near the top at IPX, that I was privy to nearly everything. But this, this was way above my clearance. I hit a wall. It’s there. I just have no access to it.”
Sarah understood. To Max, this was like finding out your best girl was seeing someone else. Sarah reached out and touched his arm. Max let her comfort him though he’d probably have bitten anyone else’s hand off. He trusted her more than nearly anyone. She’d been there for him when Cynthia was threatened on Babylon 5. She’d understood when that young soldier had died for him as well. Sarah was one of the few people he actually considered a friend.
“Max, I think this mess might end up being something you’re glad you know little about.”
“I’m afraid so too.”
“Max, any company would be lucky to get you. You can probably write your own ticket back on Mars.”
Max looked at her and smiled his most aggravating smile. “You’re right. I am the best.”
Sarah laughed and rose. “I guess I need to get back. I’m expecting some news from Dr. Franklin.”
“How is the search for the cure going?”
“Well, I think. I’ll be able to tell you more in a few days.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “Indeed? You’re that close? I had no idea.”
Sarah gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “You can buy me a drink when we find the cure and I’ll tell you all about it!” And she was gone.
*
Matheson was still going through the boxes of ‘personal’ items they collected. The more he looked, the more he agreed that these men had never existed at all. Everything was too pat. The clothes were clean. The grammar was right in the letters. Nothing was missing. Nothing added up but he had to go through it all nonetheless. There might be a clue hidden somewhere, like a needle in the proverbial haystack.
With each box, he went through the paperwork first then the personal items. He laid the paperwork out to check later and sorted the items. They were pretty much the same: uniforms, one set of civilian clothes, toiletries and nothing more. No books, papers, nothing indicating that any of the men did anything but work.
He took all the letters from home and read every one. There was not another mention of telepaths or the Psi Corps anywhere. That had to be significant. But was someone warning them off or was someone looking for them?
He realized he should tell the captain but he wanted to go through all of the information one more time, to see if there were more clues. He began going through the other boxes one more time.
In the bottom of the last box of clothes, sort of tucked under the other clothes, he found another clue: a pair of the black leather gloves that telepaths wore when the Psi Corps still existed. He felt a cold chill run down his spine. There was one man in the galaxy that those gloves represented more than anyone else. That man was Alfred Bester.
*
Max was determined that he would find out more about what IPX was doing in this sector. He hated being bested and he had many skills, computer skills among them. Hacking into secure systems was not a problem for him but he feared that he might leave enough of a trail that would lead back to him.
He thought about it for some time and finally decided that he could make his little incursion look like it came from anywhere and the somewhere he chose was Centauri Prime. No one was ever surprised at duplicity and spying on their part; it was apparently hardwired into their natures. Besides, who was going to complain to them?
He set to work.
In less than two hours, he was in. Once there, he had to decide what he wanted to see. He began to run any and all reports of anything in his sector of the galaxy. He came across the twenty year old report of mining equipment. It must have been used to build this place because there were no mines of any sort in this sector at all.
Was the mining equipment used to build the bunkers?
Or was that simply a cover for something else all together?
He dug some more and found that there were many, many shipments of all sorts of things: equipment, food, medical supplies, everything they would send to a large excavation site or to a military base.
Well, they seldom contracted since they were in the expedition business themselves so that meant they had perhaps had their own operation here. What had they been doing here?
Looking further, he saw that the base had never been resupplied after the original run.
He was getting nothing else so he typed in a couple of the names of men whose belongings were in the bunker. Peter Wright was first.
When the name finally came up, it had ninety-nine other AKAs. He called Matheson and had the names of the men in the bunker sent to him. He began to check and each name from the bunker was an alias of Peter Wright.
There was only one person who’d been in the bunker.
Or was there anyone at all?
~~~
Chapter Nine – Gideon’s Choices
Matheson and Eilerson both went to Captain Gideon and gave him their findings. He listened then ran his hand through his longer than regulation hair and looked at them.
“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that there was no one down there? That there never was anyone there?”
“It looks that way, sir. It looks as if this base was placed here to send whoever found it on a wild goose chase, a chase that can never lead anywhere,” Matheson said.
“Max? You agree with this.”
Eilerson nodded.
“Then where do we go from here?” Gideon was angry but he wasn’t sure who his anger was aimed toward. Certainly not John or Max. Who was doing this? And why?
Matheson cleared his throat.
“Come on then. Out with it,” Gideon said.
“I think that someone will contact us and let us know. Maybe we should just hang out here for a few days and keep our eyes and ears open.”
“Why do you say that?” Gideon arched an eyebrow as he asked.
Matheson held up the pair of black gloves. “There were in the bottom of one of the boxes from the living quarters.”
“Are those what I think they are?” Max asked, reaching out and taking the gloves, bringing them closer to his face.
“Yes, they are telepath gloves,” Matheson said and before he could finish, Max finished for him.
“Like the ones Alfred Bester wore all the time?”
“Yes. Like Bester wore.”
“And you’re saying what?” Gideon was leaning toward them now, his face a mixture of incredulity and anger.
“We don’t know what we’re saying, Matthew,” Max said. “Something is clearly going on but what it is, is not yet clear. We can wait a day or two or we can leave and not look back. That, dear Captain Gideon, is clearly up to you.”
Gideon looked rather sourly at Max. “Indeed it is, Mr. Eilerson. I will take it under advisement and let the two of you know.”
Realizing they were dismissed, Max and John left the captain’s office.
Dureena joined them from nowhere. “What’s going on?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Matheson said.
“Did you tell him it’s all a fake?” she asked in her matter of fact way.
Eilerson stopped. “How do you know that?”
“Max, did you notice that I was gone for over half of the time we were down there?”
“Not that much but yeah, I did see you slip away once.”
“Well, I explored every bit that I could find and there were too many things missing. Like a waste disposal system. Humans can’t go without one of those.”
“And?” Max asked.
“And what? There’s nothing down there, nothing that will cure the plague.”
With that, she turned and marched away.
Max shrugged. “Women!”
Matheson smiled.
*
Dureena was in the Medbay in seconds.
“Why is Gideon wasting our time here?” She ranted.
Sarah looked up from the work she was doing. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s a dead planet with a fake military base. How can it help us?”
“I’m sure—”
“No, you’re not. You know as well as any of us that Matthew Gideon is still more obsessed with finding out what happened to the Cerberus than anything else in his life, the cure included.”
“I know but I trust him, Dureena. He really is as dedicated to finding the cure as he is to finding his answers.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I am and you already know how close we are. I don’t think that there is much that Gideon can do to affect the outcome either way at this point in time.”
“I’ll wait two more days then, I am done. I’ll force him to leave here if I have to.”
Sarah nodded. “He is no fool, Dureena. Trust him.”
Dureena looked hard into her eyes. “I trust you but that’s as far I’m willing to go right now.” She left as abruptly as she’d arrived.
Sarah let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding. She wondered sometimes at Matthew’s priorities as well but he’d shown himself a good captain so far. That was all she could ask for.
She decided to check her messages. There was a video from Franklin.
He stood in his lab, talking to the camera.
“Sarah, I hope things are going well with you. I wish I were out there among the stars. As a zenobiologist, I love traveling out among all the species in the galaxy, not being cooped up here on this poisoned planet in this lab.”
He smiled.
“But I digress. I have some good news. The dead nanites are still dead. I—I’m afraid to be too excited but it’s possible that we have found it. My next step is to try it on a live subject. Even though the virus is not activated, the nanites are still active and busy, making sure they’re attached to every system that keeps us alive.”
He stopped and cleared his throat.
“I am sending you copies of everything down to the last detail from my end because I have decided that when the time comes to test it, I will test it on myself. If you have all the data and something happens to me, then you can carry on from where I left off.”
He smiled, a little embarrassed at the drama, Sarah guessed.
“Anyway, I will send you all the info and I’ll let you know when I decide to do it. You take care, dear Sarah. I hope to meet you again soon and to be able to sit at a table and have dinner with you. Will you do me that favor when this is all over?”
Sarah sat very still when the message ended. She had only met him one time but she liked Dr. Franklin—Stephen. She liked him a lot. She checked her inbox and saw that there was a huge file from Franklin as well. His research.
She turned on her recorder and began to speak.
“Dr. Franklin, I’d be delighted to have dinner with you. I know this wonderful little restaurant on Babylon 5 that has wonderful breen, unless you’d rather have spoo?”
*
Galen sat in his ship and thought about what he knew so far. There was no way short of killing Matthew that would keep him from digging into this mystery. No way at all. He might be able to influence the captain if he could do something about that infernal Apocalypse Box.
The Box had to go.
*
In Gideon’s closet, the Box hummed and in as much as it thought at all, it was planning a way to get rid of that bothersome man with the machines in his body. He was making things more difficult than need be.
~~~
Chapter Ten – More Questions Than Answers
Galen was becoming frustrated. Alwyn was finding nothing in any of his searches. The planet had always been a dead one. The base that Galen’s captain had found did not exist. The Rangers could not have sent them there but if not them, then who was the young man who delivered the message?
Alwyn did have an answer of sorts for that one. The boy was a Ranger but his ship had made an odd little detour near the Rim. There were four hours unaccounted for in his ship’s logs.
Galen was willing to bet that the Ranger had no clue that he was even missing any time.
He went to Gideon with his findings this time. He decided that this one was a mystery for the captain.
“Are you sure about this?” Gideon looked up from his chair on the bridge.
“I am.”
“May I ask what your source is?”
“You’ve met him,” Galen told him.
“Your Technomage friend, Alwyn?”
“The very one. It seems that while most of the order was hiding, Alwyn was out gambling and enjoying the company of pretty women and he made more than a few friends high up in the military on Earth and other places as well.”
“He has something on them and they give him information to keep him quiet?”
“That would be my guess. Sound like a kindred spirit?”
“Sounds like he wins more than I do.”
“Perhaps. Maybe he cheats better than you do.”
“So, who, in your opinion, is behind this?”
“If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say someone wants you to find something and is leading you but who it is, I’m not sure about. If I were to guess, I’d say a telepath.”
“To what end?”
“I think that is what you’re meant to find out.”
“We need a hint of where to go. Is it possible that whatever it is, is hidden here on this planet?”
“I’d say no but if not that planet, we have very little to go on. So yes, it was hidden. I think the things you’ve found are the hint.”
“Thank you, Galen. I know I get irritated too often but I do appreciate your help.”
Galen nodded and left the bridge.
*
Matheson still had not stopped searching a second and third time through all the boxes of things from the planet. He had even sent Dureena and the Marines down to search for more, even the smallest slip of paper or a discarded cup or plate. He was working like a man possessed.
The second sweep had yielded little but there had been a cup in one of the bathroom waste bins. He was analyzing it now for anything at all. Why would anyone leave a single cup in a single trash can in a fake base unless they wanted it noticed?
It was manufactured on Earth, sold to various companies and government agencies: EarthForce, IPX, Mars Dome, Psi Corps…
That narrowed it down but not by much.
But there was Psi Corps again.
There were fingerprints on the cup as well but they did not match anyone living. They matched a telepath from many years ago and a rogue one at that: Fiona Dexter. Matheson remembered that she was a Resistance leader killed by Psi Corps many years before he was born.
This meant something but what?
The DNA was matched to a person descended from Fiona Dexter but he didn’t remember reading that she had children.
It had to do with Telepaths then. That was becoming obvious. But that was all that was obvious so far.
*
Dureena was lighting a candle in her quarters. She knew she was the only one on board who knew how close they were to the cure. She was beginning to think that she and Sarah were the only ones who cared as well. She wanted to deliver the news to her people, to save them from the plague that had already wiped out everyone she’d ever known.
A tear slipped from her eye, a rare occurrence for the hardened thief, but it was not a tear of sorrow but one of hope, something she’d felt little of since her father sold her into slavery. Maybe she could build herself a life on Theta 49 with her own race.
Or maybe with Robert Black. He was one of the only people she’d ever met who seemed to understand how she felt, to understand her loss and pain. She’d never wanted to have a mate before but he stirred something in her she’d never thought to feel.
She blew out the candle. She was being foolish and sentimental, a luxury no thief could afford.
*
In his lab on Earth, Stephen Franklin injected himself with a concoction that contained millions and millions of nanites. Each one was programmed to reprogram the Drakh nanovirus already in every part of his body. He just hoped they worked.
Nothing felt any different but he hadn’t expected it to. All that he could do now was wait a few hours and check his blood for the first time.
*
Gideon had gone to his room to consult the Box. He locked his door and opened the closet, removing the Box and setting it on his table as he was doing more and more these days.
He opened it.
It glowed but said nothing.
“What do we do?” he finally asked.
“Galen must go,” it said in a voice that sounded scarily like his own.
“I can’t get rid of Galen. He’s a big help to us.”
“Don’t trust a Technomage. Galen must go.”
“Where should we go?”
“Find a small, black ship. Destroy it. Kill Galen. He must go.”
“Do you mean Galen’s ship?”
“Small, black. Blow it up.”
Gideon sat down in front of the Box. He was frustrated with its cryptic answers, but he was more afraid of the clear ones. He couldn’t kill Galen.
Could he?
*
Galen was not far from Gideon. He was right outside his door, as a matter of fact. He was listening to the conversation going on in the captain’s bedroom.
So the Box wanted him gone, did it? That must mean that it was onto him. Or maybe it just meant that it was evil and wanted to make Gideon do evil things. He wished he knew more about the dreadful thing.
He did know one thing. He could destroy it. He was built for destruction and if that’s what it took, then that’s what it took.
~~~
Chapter Eleven – The Beacon and the Dead
Eight hours had passed and Stephen checked his blood. The nanites were dormant. This was promising. He would check again in eight more hours.
He poured himself a cup of coffee and smiled at the message that Sarah Chambers had sent him. He knew some good restaurants on Babylon 5 as well, one that even served edible spoo.
*
Galen debated for most of the night whether to tell Gideon about the Ranger and his lost time. In the end, he decided that his stray starship captain needed to know.
“Matthew, a word,” he said as he strolled onto the bridge.
Gideon nodded and followed him to the conference room.
“Someone interfered with the Ranger and the message he gave to you.”
“What do you mean, interfered?” Gideon was in a foul mood, Galen noted. The Box was beginning to wear on him, making him short tempered.
“I mean that somewhere out near the Rim, your Ranger lost approximately four hours of time. There is no record on his little ship of what happened to him or the ship during that four hours.”
“And you think this was—that someone intercepted him to make him send us here? There’s nothing here.” Gideon sounded exasperated.
“The lack of anything being here is a clue itself. Someone wanted your ship to come here and here you are. They wished us no harm or we’d all be dead by now so they must want something from us or want us to do something.”
Gideon sat very still for a few moments, thinking and running through it all in his head. “Supposing this is true, then why haven’t they shown themselves?”
“They will or they will tell us where to go next to find them.”
“We do have a mission, you know,” Gideon reminded him.
“Yes, we do and I believe your Dr. Chambers and her counterpart on Earth have about accomplished that mission.”
“You think she’s that close?”
“I do. If you wait to see who is looking for you, you might find the answer to your questions as well.”
“My questions?”
“Matthew, you know as well as I do that your main reason for coming on this mission was to search for the truth about why your shipmates died on the Cerberus.”
“I want to find out where that ship came from. It looked like a Shadow ship but it wasn’t quite the same. I still believe that our ship was destroyed because we’d seen it. But who was behind it?”
“That is what I think you might find out eventually if we follow this path.”
“Very well then. What do we need to do?”
“Wait. We wait.”
Gideon was good at many things but waiting was not one of them. He blew out a breath and finally said. “Okay. We’ll try it your way for a few more days.”
Galen nodded and smiled slightly, then left with his coat flapping behind him.
*
A small ship was meandering slowly toward a rendezvous with the Excalibur. The ship itself was black, almost as black as the Shadow ship that Gideon had once encountered but it was not made of the same material. This one was made of a light absorbing metal that only made it seem invisible in the sky.
Its lone passenger smiled to himself. Wouldn’t everyone be surprised to see him?
*
Gideon was back in his own quarters, thinking about Galen. Was Galen trying to steer him toward destruction? Was the Box right? Its previous owner said it lied sometimes. Was it lying now?
Did Galen have some dark purpose in mind when he’d rescued him all those years ago?
It did seem that the Technomage argued with him an awful lot but maybe that was just his way. What if it weren’t though?
He stood abruptly, put the Box away, and headed for the bridge.
Inside his closet where not even Gideon could hear it, the Box whispered, “Soon.”
*
“Captain, I’m picking up a distress signal on the long range sensors.”
“Identify?” Gideon turned in his chair to look at John.
“Not a known configuration. It’s very small, sir.”
“How far?”
“Ten hours and thirty-four minutes.”
“Chart a course,
“Aye, sir.”
*
Everyone was tense as they made their way to the ship, not knowing if it was a legitimate distress call or a trap to ensnare them further into this deepening mystery. Gideon headed to the gym to shoot baskets while Sarah recorded a new message for her sister and her niece. Dureena rode the bullet car and sharpened her knives. Galen was in his ship, analyzing the beacon. Matheson was on the bridge and Eilerson was reading an ancient text from another one of their dead end planets.
The time passed slowly but soon, they were approaching the origin of the beacon.
At first, John thought it must just be a small pod with a beacon on board then he finally was able to see the ship on his screen. The cameras mounted outside the ship showed a tiny black ship with a white emblem emblazoned on the side.
The emblem of Psi Corps.
“Sir, get up here. I think you’re going to want to see this,” he messaged the captain.
Within minutes, Gideon was on the bridge.
“This better be good. I was about to win a game of one-on-one.”
John hid his grin. Matthew was terrible at basketball and everyone but him seemed to know it.
“Take a look.” John showed him the ship.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, sir. A black Psi Corps ship. I didn’t think any of them were in existence any more.”
“Any idea who is on it?”
“I’d have to guess Mr. Bester,” John said, with all the dread he felt at seeing such a thing. A full sized Shadow vessel wouldn’t have scared him any more.
“I thought he was dead.”
“So did I but Mr. Bester has many tricks up his sleeve.”
John was terrified of Bester. He remembered him in his young days at Psi Corps. He had worshipped him as had many other young teeps until he met the woman in the cell, the one he was to give Sleepers to, the one he allowed to destroy Psi Corps headquarters. He knew then what a tyrant Bester really was and how all people, both telepaths and non-telepaths, should fear a man like him.
“Bring him aboard. Let’s see who it is for sure,” Gideon ordered.
“Aye, sir.”
~~~
Chapter Twelve – Bester’s Visit
Matheson hailed the ship.
“What is your emergency?”
Nothing. He repeated the message and still no answer. He looked to Gideon.
“Use the tractor beam and bring the thing on board. Send a security team down to guard it until we get there,” Gideon told him. “Tell them to shoot to kill if anyone comes out of that thing.”
Gideon was going down to see who was on the ship alone but everyone followed. Even Galen had come out of his ship to see what transpired.
The security detail was standing outside the tiny black ship with weapons drawn when Gideon got there. The doors opened and a rather small man came down the steps. He was in his late sixties at least though his hair was still black and he wore the uniform of a defunct order.
Alfred Bester smiled and looked at John. “Why, Lieutenant Matheson, I didn’t know this was the ship you were serving on.”
Matheson nodded, swallowing his fear though not his loathing. “Hello, Mr. Bester.”
“What is the nature of your emergency, Mr. Bester?” Gideon asked, his sarcasm shining through.
“I knew of no other way to get onboard the ship and you have a reputation for never ignoring a distress signal so here I am.” He was still all smiles though everyone there knew how dangerous he was, if not from actual experience then from reputation.
“What do you want?” Gideon asked.
“I would like to take you all on a journey.”
“To?”
“You’ll see. I’ll give Matheson here the coordinates when we get to your bridge.”
“This better be good, Bester. How do you know we haven’t already called Mr. Garibaldi? I hear he’ll pay a good price for your head,” Gideon asked him.
“You want to know why I’m here. You have a mystery you want solved and I think I might be able to help you. So it’s up to you, isn’t it, Captain Gideon?”
“One chance. You get one chance to impress me then you’re out of here.”
Bester smiled his sweetest smile. “Of course, Captain.”
Gideon and the Security detail escorted Bester to the bridge.
John threw up his shields but Bester was strong, too strong for John to keep him out. Bester sent him the coordinates he’d promised Gideon.
“Captain, your First Officer now has the coordinates.”
Gideon nodded to Matheson. “Aye, sir. Course is set to Mr. Bester’s destination.”
“So are you going with us, Mr. Bester?” Gideon asked their unwanted guest.
“At least part of the way, Captain. I might decide to let you have all the glory. Not sure I want to see Mr. Garibaldi yet. He doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
“So I’ve heard.”
*
Galen had made himself scarce since that abomination had come aboard. If his kind had been born to Chaos then Bester had been born to Order, both of them puppets of the Shadows and Vorlons. Absolutes of any kind were evil and Bester represented the pinnacle of evil among his people.
He could feel the buzz from the telepath’s mind as it probed the ship. With his tech, he could block it but Bester had to know he was aboard anyway. Not much had ever gotten past that one.
*
Bester looked around. “You have a Technomage onboard?”
“And this would be your business why?” Gideon was ready to shoot the older man, had been two minutes after meeting the condescending little creep.
“I am not fond of Technomages.”
“As I’m sure they’re not fond of you. But then is anyone fond of you?”
“Touché, Captain Gideon. You don’t seem to have much respect for authority.”
“And what authority would it be that you have, Mr. Bester?”
Bester laughed, which made Gideon hate him all the more.
They arrived at a small solar system in two days time. It had a small sun with seven planets. Their destination was a moon of the third planet. They set up orbit above the large moon, an orbital body at least as big as Earth in their own solar system.
“So what are we looking for?” Gideon asked Bester.
“You’ll know it when you find it.”
“And what will you be doing?”
“I’m actually going to leave right now. You don’t want anyone to know where you got this information, do you?” Bester smiled as he headed for the exit.
“What information?” Gideon shouted at Bester’s back as he left to bridge to go to his ship.
“Shall I stop him, sir?” Matheson asked.
“He’s right. Whatever is here is here and we don’t want his name tied up with it or no one would ever believe us.”
A few minutes later, the tiny black ship left the Excalibur behind and headed out into space.
Gideon turned to Matheson. “Would you like to go on an away mission this time?”
Matheson nodded.
Gideon took Matheson and Dureena with him down to the moon’s surface. John found that when Bester left them, he planted a set of map coordinates in his mind so that’s where they landed.
The moon was mostly dry but it was not without life. There were a sort of hardy plants and some small desert animals there, scurrying away as Gideon’s trio approached. They walked toward what appeared to be a mountain but when they got closer, they saw that it was really a large facility with windows and massive doors hidden in what only looked like a mountain.
“I can’t say what I was expecting but this is not it,” Gideon whispered as they all brought their weapons to the ready.
They moved closer to the large doors and saw that they were protected much like the doors on the ice planet where they’d rescued Natchok Var. Just as she did then, Dureena made short work of the coded lock and they slipped into the huge building.
The lower part of the mountain was a hangar and in it sat a ship that Gideon had seen only once in the real world and every night since then in his dreams. He stood there, just inside the large doors and stared, his mouth hanging open.
“What is it, sir?” Matheson asked.
“It’s the ship.”
“The ship?” Matheson wasn’t following.
“The ship that I saw that night, the shipped that killed the Cerberus. That is it. Where the hell has Bester sent us?”
~~~
Chapter Thirteen – Shadow Mountain
Galen simply appeared as he usually did outside the building. He slipped in the open door just as Gideon said, “The ship that I saw that night, the shipped that killed the Cerberus. That is it. Where the hell has Bester sent us?”
He knew what it was, had seen it before. He also knew it did not come from the Shadows who had made the tech running through his own body.
“I see Bester has given you an unexpected gift, Matthew.”
Gideon turned on him, fury as well as fear in his eyes. “How the hell do you know?”
“I assume this is the type of ship you encountered the night I found you in space.”
”You assume or you’ve known all along?”
“I have suspected. Leave it at that for now. This is not the time for explanation or recriminations.”
“That time will come though. Be sure of that.”
Matheson and Dureena stood transfixed, staring at the hybrid shadow vehicle. “I heard rumors but I never believed them,” Matheson whispered.
Matthew whirled on Galen. “These ships are EarthForce?”
Galen nodded. “I believe you will find that to be true.”
“But what…”
“EarthForce has a side as dark as the Shadows themselves and your ship blundered into a staging area, I believe. There was no alternative but to destroy it. No one wanted anyone to know of this. You were not supposed to live.”
“How do you know this?” Gideon challenged.
“That is also story for later. What do you plan to do?” Galen asked.
“What can we do? If I report it, someone will make sure that I don’t survive this time. If I destroy it, then they will have won, won’t they?”
“Perhaps we should explore the base further, see what else is here.”
Gideon ground his teeth and turned to Matheson. “Let’s see what other treats they have hidden here for us.”
Matheson nodded.
They walked through the hangar to a set of stairs that led up into the mountainous building. The first floor was a massive lab, replete with machines, test tubes, and an all white décor. They stepped into one of the labs. There were instruments laid out on tables as if they were about to be used. At one end of the room was a large tanklike box filled with random sized pieces of the telltale smooth black material that covered all Shadow ships.
Galen said nothing but it was exactly like the ridges of black tech that ran up and down his back, a living technology that had been grown on living, breathing beings in a lab very much like this one. Were they making hybrid Technomages here as well?
“What are those?” Matheson pointed to the small pieces of living metal.
“Those are biotechnology, the material that living ships are made of,” Galen explained.
Dureena gave him a hard look. She’d gotten a quick look at his tech once and she knew, but she said nothing. Her eyes told him that he would be telling her all about it later. Or else. Galen had great power but he still feared an ‘or else’ from Dureena as much as any sane man would.
“Matheson, take some of this for proof.” Gideon motioned to the tank.
“No!” Galen shot his arm out to stop Matheson from touching the smooth, black rocks. “You might wake them if you touch them.”
What he didn’t say is if they were awakened, they might decide Matheson was a perfect host for them and begin to attach themselves.
Gideon was angry but he backed down, not willing to take a chance on something that Galen obviously knew more about than he did. “Let’s look some more.”
They looked through the lab, finding more of the black metal but no one dared to touch it after Galen had warned them off. They found an office off the lab and went inside.
Matheson sat down and began to access the computers. There was very little there. He came across a list of names. One of them was familiar: Carolyn Sanderson. Who was she?
When it hit him, he turned as pale as if he’d seen the dead.
“Captain, this list, one of the names… she’s a rogue telepath, Carolyn Sanderson. There was a rumor that Mr. Bester was—that’s why he sent us here.”
“Explain, Matheson, so far you’re talking in half sentences.” Gideon was never patient and this place was trying what little patience he did have.
“There is a list of names here on the computer. One of them is Carolyn Sanderson, a rogue telepath who was rumored to be a favorite of Mr. Bester. If you remember, the Shadows used telepaths to pilot their ships though pilot is a not a very good word for it…”
Galen finished for him. “They used telepaths as brains in the living Shadow ships. The telepaths did more than pilot, they blended with the machine until the two were one.”
“So whoever this base belonged to was going to use telepaths to pilot their ships as well?” Gideon asked.
Galen nodded.
“Is this base dead then?” Gideon asked Galen.
“It would seem so but Bester has a motive for bringing you here, I believe. Perhaps he wants this news to come to light on earth.”
“Send all the data to the Excalibur and let’s finish this tour. This place gives me the creeps.”
Matheson nodded and began to transfer the data.
They began to explore more of the now deserted base and found more leftover metals. There were handwritten but unsigned notes that Sheridan had hit Ganymede and they’d better get out fast. There were names of scientists, some who were still living on Earth and had never been implicated in the Clark Conspiracy to kill President Santiago and take over Earth with the use of Shadow technology.
“We need to get these names to John Sheridan. He, if no one else, will see that proper means are taken to punish or at least bring those involved to justice,” Gideon told them.
“But, Captain, President Sheridan is not that easy to contact,” Matheson reminded him.
Gideon smiled for the only time that day. “You forget. Elizabeth Lockley is his ex-wife and she and I are… friends.”
“Friends? Well, I think we should contact your friend as soon as we get back to the ship.”
“You and Dureena go back. Galen and I are going to make a photographic record of what is here.”
~~~