WRITTEN BY MEG TORSKE & CAMILLA SANDMAN
(CHAPTER FIVE)
G`Kar sighed, trying to hide his rather tired expression. Humans. No matter how much he tried, he was never able to figure them out. Just when he thought he had gotten them nailed down (another strange Earth expression), they turned the other way and did something totally unexpected. Like now. Sheridan had not showed up for his appointment with G`Kar even though it was the captain who had insisted that they should meet. Humans. One of the biggest mysteries of this galaxy. That, and why Londo Mollari had been born. Well, Londo was probably the universe`s idea of a joke. Bad one, though.
«Commander!» He could see Ivonava rush past him, looking angry as he had never seen her. And he had seen her pretty angry! Something was up. He had been on the station long enough to see the signs and to realize this had to be serious.
«Commander!!»
«Look, G`Kar, I`m in a hurry.» Not an understatment, he figured. She didn`t even slow down.
«Can`t this wait until later?»
«Commander, I was looking for Captain Sheridan. He had an...» Trying to keep up with her, he didn`t discover that she had stopped before he almost ran into a Drazi. Quickly, he turned, and now he was really confused.
Susan Ivonava was just standing there, a small smile on her lips. She had just thought of way number 67, and it was brilliant. Simply . . . Brilliant.
«Commander?» G`Kar looked almost worried as he approached her.
«G`Kar, come with me. I just got an idea.»
Sighing, G`Kar went after her. Humans. You could never figure them out!
*************************
They had been tied up and thrown into a dark room on a kind of ship. And now the ship was moving, probably to leave. Leaving Babylon 5 and its protection. Leaving the tiny chance they had of being rescued. They were on their own now.
"Delenn?", Sheridan called out, trying to get rid of the rope around his wrists. He couldn`t see her in the darkness, and she didn`t reply.
«Delenn? Please answer me.» Still no reply, and now he was getting worried. Slowly searching the floor with his tied hands in front of him, he finally meet something soft. Delenn. Feeling his way up he suddenly stopped and blushed. Thankful for the fact that he couldn`t see his own expression, he moved his hands off her breasts and further up. It took a second before he realized why his hands got wet.
Blood.
She was bleeding. The bastards! Carefully he moved her body against his, letting her face rest in his lap.
«Delenn?», he called softly, letting his hand tenderly stroke her face. Finding the wound, not too serious thank God, he felt a new emotion build up in him.
Hatred.
«John?» Her voice was weak and filled with pain, but it was there. Slowly letting his lips find hers, he swore that the bastards were going to pay for this. Nobody was going to hurt the woman he loved and was going to marry unpunished. Letting his tied hands play with her hair, he whispered comforting words into her ear before his tounge started exploring her mouth.
«It will be fine, Delenn, I promise. I love you.»
Nobody.
(CHAPTER SIX)
G'Kar's eyes were about to pop out of his head. He looked at Susan, at the paper in his hands, and back at Susan again. He had always known that she was a bit strange, but he had *never* expected anything like this !
"Er. . . can you repeat what you just said ?" His voice was low, hesitant. She couldn't possibly be serious about this. No way.
"Just read the list I gave you, for heaven's sake !"
The list ! Well, the list was the problem, wasn't it ? He started reading it aloud, more or less to himself, while he at the same time hoped that this crazy human commander would hear for herself how insane this was, once she heard the words aloud.
" 'One hundred delightfully bloody ways of assassinating President Clark.
#1 Cut off his fingers, one by one, and keep cutting off body parts until he finally dies of blood loss. Should be done in an isolated room, due to the danger of unfortunate misunderstandings which might occur if anyone heard the screams from the president as he dies.
#2 Use the alien device and give him all kinds of illnesses and pain you can think of.
#3 Pour acid over him.
#4 Have him for breakfast'. . ."
G'Kar paused for a moment, looking uncertain at the commander, then repeated;
"Have him for breakfast ? Dare I ask what you mean by that?" She smiled her most devilish grin, a smile that made his eyes turn green for a moment (he was trying desperatly to stop using human expressions)
"I'm going to have the President for breakfast, G'Kar. If you understand what I mean ?"
"I don't think I *want* to understand,"he murmured, then continued in a louder voice,
"Why are you showing this list to me ?"
"I want you to do all this to our dear, dear president."
*********************
The darkness was overwhelming. It was all around her, she wanted to scream, to cry, but she couldn't move. She instinctively knew that the pain would explode if she did. And then, all of a sudden, a smell filled her nostrils - a familiar, soft smell, which she had smelled so many times before. A smell of soap, sweat and human male, a smell she knew and loved, a smell. . .
"John ?"
"It will be fine, Delenn, I promise. I love you."
She lay absolutely still for another moment, then she opened her eyes. The darkness was no longer so thick, she sensed the features of his face more than she actually saw them. Minbari had a better vision in the dark than humans, and even though she was no longer a minbari, she wasn't a human, either. He kissed her, tenderly yet demanding, but he released her from his tight embrace when he heard as well as he felt her soft moan of pain.
"Where are we ?" Her voice was tired, as if she was half asleep.
"I don't know. I don't even know how we got here. I just. . ." He didn't finish his sentence, and after a while Delenn silently asked;
"What ?"
"I was so afraid that you were dead." She couldn't hold back a smile as he buried his face in her neck, feeling his warm breath in her ear, hearing him whispering soft, loving words. He was so vulnerable sometimes, even though he tried his best to hide it from the rest of the world. But now, here in the dark, his mask was gone. He didn't try to hide his real feelings for her anymore. He had stopped doing that a long time ago, and she returned his trust in any way she could think of. Healing his wounds or making flarn for him, it didn't matter (as long as he didn't get near the flarn pan again !). Their trust in each other wasn't like anything she had ever experienced before.
She tried to sit up, ignoring the stars flying like shadow ships in her head.
"We aren't on Babylon 5 any longer, are we." It wasn't a question. Sheridan sighed and ran his finger down her cheek, enjoying the feeling of her skin against his even though they were in such a desperate situation, cleared his throat and said softly:
"I don't think so. I guess Clark has smuggled us onto one of his ships, where he's in control. We have too many allies on B5." He didn't say what he was thinking: 'And I don't think we have any allies here.'
G'Kar was still trying to recover from the shock this extremely *stupid* woman had just given him, when she repeated for the second time that she wanted him to kill the president. This damn war had finally given her delusions of some kind, he had been sure that it would happen sooner or later.
"You want me to pour acid over him? Wow, that's what I call a great plan to assassinate the president of the Earth Alliance!"
Susan started pacing around in the room, murmuring something to herself as if she hadn't heard what he had just said. He was about to repeat it when she finally raised her voice again.
"Of course, the plans aren't perfect, and you don't have to do all of them. You can leave out the eating-him-for-breakfast plan, for instance - I'd like to do that one myself." She smiled, her eyes were distant as she stared at something far away that G'Kar didn't see - and he wasn't sure if he *wanted* to see it, either.
"And you don't necessarily have to succeed - just make sure that you don't get caught. All I want is to keep him busy for a while." Her face suddenly turned serious.
"Commander. . . Susan. Why ?" Ivanova took a deep breath, for the first time her eyes were insecure and troubled.
"He's got Delenn and the Captain." The silence hang over them for what seemed to be an eternity.
"When do I start ?"
(CHAPTER SEVEN)
Clark was pacing the floor, feeling content with himself. He had won. *He* had won. And victory tasted so sweet! Picturing himself in charge of Babylon 5 as well as the rest of the galaxy and making that pig-headed commander crawl...
«Sir ?» He turned and sighed, leaving his sweet dreams of victory for another time.
«The Narn ambassador S'Lhjen has reqested to meet you, sir. He . . . wishes to give his support.»
Ivanova was also pacing the floor, waiting. He was late. She was going to fry *him* for breakfast!
«Commander? You wished to see me?»
«I wished to see you half an hour ago!»
«Would you like me to leave again?»
She sighed, and gave Marcus signs to sit. Why did that bloody ranger have this effect on her? He always seemed to annoy her, still . . . She took a deep breath, trying to get what she needed to say into one sentence.
«Marcus, I want you to get to the White Star fleet, find out if there are any traitors there, then take charge of the entire fleet, and wait in hyperspace for my word. Any questions?»
«Why??» He looked at her with questions in his eyes.
«The Minbari ships have left, and Earth ships will arrive in few hours. We need protection. The White Star fleet can give us that.»
«Wouldn`t it be simpler just to get the Minbari ships back?»
«Clark says they have spies for him on board. And I don`t want to risk the hostages!»
«Who?»
«Captain Sheridan and De...» Not realizing how he would react, she had already started the sentence when she saw his face turn red. Delenn. He was a ranger, she was Ranger One. Trouble.
«Sorry Susan, but I . . .» He didn`t finish the sentence, just gave her a look and left.
«Marcus! Come back here, you . . .!! Marcus !!!» He didn`t answer, didn`t even turn back.
************************
It was starting to get colder in the room. Sheridan could feel it, and he knew Delenn felt it, too, even though he tried to warm her with his body heat. Her back against his chest, his head resting on her shoulder. . . God, he loved her! If anything happened to her, he would . . . As if she realized what he was thinking, she turned her head and looked into his eyes. He could feel her hands on his, her soft features as she leaned closer. He closed his eyes, waiting for the kiss . . .
«John . . .»
«Hmm . . .»
«Your hands are free.»
«What??» He opened his eyes, only to see that she had untied him, as well as herself. She smiled, proudly, and he could sense her excitement. He couldn`t help feeling a bit let down, though.
«John, what is it?» As always, she read him like a book.
«I just . . .» - He took a deep breath - «thought you were going to . . . kiss me.»
«That can be arranged.» Her smile was warm, her eyes glittering in the blackness.
«In here we will have some time together, at least. That can never be a bad thing. Do you agree, Captain?»
«Absolutely, Ambassador. I am all yours.» And as he used his arms around her waist to pull her closer and his lips to tell her how much he loved her and she replied in the same way, she knew he was telling the truth.
***********************
Zack was not having a good day. There were riots all over Down Below, the President was becoming a huge security problem and now Ivanova was angry. He didn`t know what he feared the most, the station going to hell, or the Commander being in a bad mood.
«I will *personally* boil him, roast him and have him for breakfast!!»
«Commander?» Zack tried to make himself less visible and hoped she wasn`t talking about him.
«No, I`ll rip his heart out, then boil and roast him!!»
«Eh. . . Commander Ivanova??» She finally noticed him, it seemed to calm her down - he hoped.
«Zack, good. I`m going to take the White Star to get the fleet, get rid of any traitors and get back in time to protect the station. I want you to shut down all communication to and from the station until I return. Also, I need you to get a list of all ships that have left B5 the last hours. If any of them belong to Clark, I want you to track them down and get back the Captain and Delenn. Any questions?» Zack, trying to keep up with her, could just think of one.
«What about Clark. Won`t he notice you`re gone?»
«Trust me, Zack, he`ll be busy with other things!»
**********************
Clark didn`t like this. He looked around in the dark room, not seeing any signs of the Narn. Strange. The ambassador had insisted that they should meet alone, in a dark room in Down Below. Due to security reasons, the ambassador had claimed. Security reasons? Maybe the Narn had meant the Commander. She seemed to be one hell of a security problem.
A sudden sound made him turn. It sounded like to knives sharped against one another.
«Hello?» A deep, obviously alien voice answered.
«Would you prefer to lose the fingers on your left or right hand first?»
«What??»
«I said -» A huge figure stepped out of the darkness, holding two huge knives. The face was covered by a hood, but the eyes glowed red at him.
Clark felt panic build inside him, chocking a scream he turned to the door - but ran into something. A machine.
«Would you prefer to die of an illness, then?» The huge alien was coming closer, the eyes glowing insanely.
«Or perhaps . . . ACID!» Clark was barely able to escape the fluid thrown at him, and then he ran for his life.
G`Kar looked at him run. Mildly shaking his head, he crossed way #1, #2 and #3 of his list.
*************************
«Lennier, please.» Marcus was looking at the Minbari, pleading.
«This is the only way. By telling them Delenn is dead, the Minbari ships will track Clark's ships down. They will turn against him. Any traitors will come out in the open.» Lennier looked at him, trying to see the logic.
«It is the only way.»
*********************
«Mr. President, I think you should know...»
«Not now, you idiot! My life is at stake!»
«But all communication has..»
«I said, NOT NOW!»
(CHAPTER EIGHT)
'I live for the one, I die for the one. . .' But Marcus Cole knew that if he didn't watch his next step carefully, he was going to die pretty soon ! His mission was - trying to convince Susan Ivanova. That's not easy even when she's in a good mood, he thought, knowing that was not the case today.
She seemed haunted, tired - a lot more tired than she would have been usually, even considering the hour. There were a couple of fine lines in her skin which he hadn't seen before - and the look in her eyes. . . It was almost like the period not too long ago, when Sheridan had been assumed dead on Z'Ha'Dum.
"You know I'm right, Susan." He waited for the explosion, the inevitable - but he was surprised. She didn't say anything at all, so he continued:
"If we manage to convince the crews on the White Star ships that Delenn is dead, we'll find out who we can trust. How were you planning to find out who the traitors there are, anyway ? Ask them ? Simply saying; 'Can I trust you ?' to every Minbari on every ship ? That's suicide, not to mention silly."
Zack didn't like the plan. Hell, he hated it - there were too many lose ends, too many things that could go wrong. He had tried to say to Susan that he should go instead of her, that they needed her on B5 now that the Captain was gone. She hadn't agreed, of course. Not that he had expected her to, anyway. But he had to *try* to object, there was still a chance that he could make her understand that this wasn't going to work.
"How are you going to handle the traitors once you've found them - assuming that you find them in the first place ? You'll be badly outnumbered. They'll try to take charge of the ship as soon as you tell them that Delenn and the Captain are dead. And what if they know that they have been kidnapped - and that they *can't* be dead ? They'll know we're lying."
"I'll find out if they know soon enough, won't I ?"
Marcus was about to become desperate. He knew that he had to provoke her, knowing that she'd become furious.
"The last thing we need now, is me having to rescue you as well as the Captain and Delenn !" Susan's nostrils flared, she tried to control her temper - giving the damn ranger something to think about would've been very satisfying, but there was no time. She'd have to do it later - and she would *not* forget about this. Marcus Cole sure had a lot to look forward to !
So for now she just sent him a look which told the poor ranger quite a lot about what she was going to do to him, and said:
"We're unable to get in touch with the White Star ships. You know that as well as I do. I have to go there in person."
"Then I'll go with you."
"No, you won't."
"Yes, I will."
"Don't be ridiculous ! Marcus, you couldn't even save sand in the middle of Sahara."
Zack sighed. She was too stubborn, there was nothing he could do. When Susan Ivanova had decided to do something, she did it. She wouldn't change her mind, this whole argument was just a waste of time.
"We might as well open the cannels to and from the station again. How will you explain their 'deaths' to the Minbari captains, anyway ?" Zack turned to face Marcus.
"That's already been arranged." He pulled out a device which he had hidden somewhere in his pockets.
"Boom."
***********************
The news was out pretty soon, all over the galaxy. ISN sent shocking pictures from Captain John Sheridan's ruined quarters, interviews with crying civilians and members of the command staff, images of members of the religious caste fasting, praying. ISN had not been a part of the plan - nobody knew where the ISN crew had come from in the first place, not even Ivanova had known that they were on Babylon 5. So she'd have to improvise a press conference, to uphold the image that this had actually happened.
"I guess it's a pretty safe bet that Clark tipped them off when he was going to Babylon 5, to get some advertisement as 'the hero of the day' when he got us back into the Earth Alliance," Susan murmured to Marcus, before she turned to face the reporters. Standing in front of the smoking black hole which had used to be Captain John Sheridan's quarters, she looked like the perfect mix between a grieving friend and a military commander. She managed to look professional yet about to cry at the same time. She could be a terrific actress - when she wanted to.
"This incident has been a terrible shock to all of us. Two wonderful persons are gone, two persons who have struggled to keep the universe together when we all have been on the edge of destruction." She paused, her voice was a bit shaky when she said:
"We *are* going to find whoever's responsible for this shameful act !" Susan turned around and left the area, left the terrible smell of smoke and gases and melting materials. She had to get to the White Star fleet before they heard about the news -
- leaving Marcus Cole to the journalists, all by himself. There were only eight of them there, but they seemed to fill the whole room, surrounding him entirely. Marcus briefly thought that this was a part of Susan's plan to get even. She hoped to be able to get away from B5 without the extremely stubborn ranger, who still insisted that he was going with her. A camera was 20 cm away from his face, zooming in a close shot. Then one of the journalists asked:
"Can you explain what Ambassador Delenn was doing in Captain John Sheridan's quarters - at two o'clock in the morning ?" For once Marcus couldn't think of anything to say, so he just shut up.
"Don't you find that a bit - shocking ?" The journalist continued, when she didn't get an answer. She leaned in closer, her eyes shining. This was the scoop of a lifetime for her, an exlusive story - it already included two murders, and if she was really lucky, there were other . . . aspects to the case as well. Juicy aspects, which would surely get her story on everybody's lips !
"Are they sleeping together ? Is Captain John Sheridan, hero of the Earth-Minbari war, a so-called ali-sexual ? A human who has the hots for aliens ?" Marcus murmured something and almost ran away, trying to catch up with Ivanova, wondering just how far he'd go for the one. . .
**************************
Delenn took a short step away from the captain, her hair a bit untidy, trying to concentrate.
"John. . ." She had to clear her throat before she trusted herself to continue.
"We have to get away from here. This is neither the right time nor the right place. There'll be another time. . ." Sheridan smiled, a slow, lazy smile that seemed to lit up the darkness for a short while.
"You're pretty handy with those ropes, Ambassador. And I'm sure that's not the only thing you're handy with."
She smiled back, not missing the double meaning of his words.
"You're right," she answered. Her voice was almost as low and satisfied as a cat's purring.
**********************
Ivanova was aboard the White Star Two, the leader ship of the White Star fleet. Unfortunately, a certain ranger was there as well, and Susan didn't even try to hide her irritation. She had refused to speak to him, and Marcus was smart enough to do no attempt to start a conversation. At least she hadn't become violent yet.
It didn't seem like the atmosphere on the ship had changed at all since the last time she had been there - but everything *was* different now, even though she could see no obvious signs of it. It was calm, relaxed. Very Minbari. The situation was a bit different in the Minbari version of C&C, though. The leader, an old Minbari who Susan instantly recognized as Kath, seemed a bit distracted and concerned. When she realized what he was doing, she understood why. He was trying to get in touch with Babylon 5, as well as Minbar and the rest of the White Star fleet. He said something in Minbari, but when he saw the Commander, he turned to talk to her in English instead.
"Commander."
"Kath."
They greeted each other in the typical Minbari fashion, which Susan had actually started to like. It had seemed really weird in the beginning, but after living several years on a multi-racial space station, she was quite fond of the very respectful greeting. They had met each other several times before, Kath had been the leader of the White Star fleet for quite some time now.
"I'm very glad to see you, Commander. We haven't been able to contact Babylon 5, in fact we haven't been in touch with anyone during the last couple of days. We still haven't found the problem, but we're looking into it." Ivanova tried to smile, while she at the same time wondered if Kath was one of the Minbari who were working with President Clark. The traitors were most likely to be a part of the command staff, someone high up in the chain of command. Was he one of them, too ? She sincerely hoped he wasn't. This was going to become hard, a lot harder than she had anticipated.
"I. . . have some news for you, Kath. I don't think you're going to like this, but. . ." She interrupted herself, giving the impression that she didn't know how to continue. Try to imagine that John and Delenn really *are* dead, she told herself. How would you feel then ? When she spoke again, her voice was shaky - she even surprised herself.
"Ambassador Delenn and Captain John Sheridan are dead. They were killed in a bomb attack at two o'clock tonight. There was nothing anyone could do." Kath took a few steps away, shocked beyond belief. He was either a damn good actor, or he was not one of the traitors - Ivanova watched his expression carefully, trying to ignore the relieved voice inside her which told her that she could trust this man.
"I . . . This is a terrible shock. I don't . . ." Suddenly, Kath got a strange look in his eyes. His face started to become red, his body was stiff. It seemed as if he was trying to say something, but he was unable to, like his throat simply wouldn't cooperate. Then he collapsed, just a few metres away from Susan and Marcus, his head exploding as it hit the floor.
**********************
Someone concentrated really hard, visualizing the synapses in Kath's brain, wanting them to explode. . . He could already see the old sucker's head starting to turn red, a frightened look in his face. This was a terribly hard thing to do, it required an enormous amount of concentration and energy - but he had been trained well.
"They're wrong about one thing, though," he grinned. "Traitors *can* hide."
**********************
President Clark was sitting by his desk, trying to calm down. What the hell was going on out here ?It had seemed like such a good idea - the perfect opportunity to get B5 back into the Earth Alliance.
He wasn't so sure anymore. He hadn't had *any* idea that things were so bad out here. And this bomb attack was *not* a part of the plan ! It wasn't like he was sad that Sheridan and Delenn were dead, obviously his plan to take them hostage had failed in some way, his men had been too late - but instead of being rid of two problems, he had a bunch of new ones. Nobody - well, almost nobody - knew that he was on B5. It would never get out to the press, he'd make very sure that it wouldn't. If this got out, he'd be the prime suspect for the bomb. No one would be able to prove it, of course, no one would even try to do so ! But in the minds of people both on Earth and other places throughout the galaxy, he'd be the one who had cowardly killed two of his main enemies. Too much of a coincidence that he happened to be there at the same time, right ?
So, nobody could know that he was here. Damn. That meant that he'd have to cancel the hero-image he had planned to give to the media when Babylon was once again a part of the Earth Alliance. DAMN ! He *had* to find out who was responsible for this. . .
He'd succeed, of course. Eventually. He just didn't like waiting . . . Suddenly he was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.
"Who is it ?"
"Roomservice."
Roomservice ? On a space station ??? He nodded toward his bodyguards, there were at least four of them present at all times now, after that nasty incident with the Narn ambassador.
"Open." An innocent-looking human girl walked into the room. The security scan revealed nothing. The guards allowed her to enter. She was about 18, her blue eyes and blond, curly hair reminding him of an angel. She left the big plate she had been carrying on the table, smiling a perfect smile.
"Enjoy your meal, Mr President." After another quick security check, which also turned out negative, she left the room. Clark looked at the plate. The smell was delicious.
Bacon. Eggs.
Breakfast.
At 1600 ? This space station *was* crazy !
There was a letter with it as well. He gave it to one of the bodyguards, who opened it, carefully, with his gloves on to prevent the destruction of fingerprints - if there were any. The letter was quite short, written with neat handwriting on old-fashioned, thick paper:
"Mr President,
I'm sorry that Commander Ivanova wasn't able to wasn't able to join you for breakfast. You'll have to take a reincheck.
Yours sincerely, Ambassador S'Lhjen"
PART THREE
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