Shadows of Light, Chapter 1
Title: Shadows of Light
Fandom: Babylon 5/Farscape crossover
Pairings: Crichton/Aeryn, Marcus/Ivanova
Rating: PG
Summary: AU. After Sheridan becomes President, Ivanova becomes the commander of Babylon 5. However, this new promotion doesn't prevent her from deeply mourning the death of Marcus Cole, a situation which only gets worse when his body, in suspended animation, goes missing. In another time and place, the crew of Moya has followed John's directions to a wormhole which will lead himself and Aeryn, into a reality of a future Earth they can scarcely believe.
Timeline: Story picks up after the final events of season 4 of B5, and during season 4 of Farscape. Marcus' presence in this story will be explained, I promise.
Babylon 5, C&C, 2262
Captain Susan Ivanova stared dully out the viewport in C&C, looking at the stars but not seeing them. She was silent, motionless, hands clasped behind her back, stance rigid, militarily precise. She stood like that all the time now, for the past six months. Where once she would’ve paced, checked the readouts hundreds of times, gone virtually stir-crazy waiting for John and Delenn to arrive, now she just stood. Her second, Lt. Commander David Corwin, wasn’t even sure she realized that they were coming. She was such a turnaround from last year, before the war. Despite being somewhat frightened by her, now Corwin would give almost anything to have her yell again, curse, do something to show she was still human and not just a walking corpse. Susan rarely spoke anymore, to anyone, even her closest friends. Nor did she smile, laugh, joke, nothing. Oddly this complete lack of emotion frightened the Babylon 5 crew more than her curses and yelling had. Although she unnerved them, and they knew she’d reject any pity, they were concerned, watching her covertly.
Corwin stopped his study of his commanding officer and looked down at his monitor as it beeped. Finally, the President and his wife were back. Maybe Susan would cheer up at least a little, but then Corwin remembered why John and Delenn had been gone at all. They had returned to Minbar to select a new station Ranger. Sadly Corwin realized things might actually get worse. Glancing back up at Captain Ivanova he schooled his expression and voice, “Captain, ship coming through the gate.”
Susan didn’t so much as twitch, all she said was, “ID?”
“Whitestar 2, sir. I’m directing them to Bay 12.”
Susan nodded once then turned and left C&C, presumably on her way to Bay 12, though given her current situation that could prove to no longer be a safe assumption. It was common knowledge that she tended to avoid people now whenever possible. Indeed, once off duty she was rarely seen before her next shift started. And with a new Ranger coming, it was entirely possible she’d simply retreat to her quarters. Sighing Corwin flipped the comm., “C&C to Chief Allan.”
“Allan here.”
“Zack, the President is about to dock in Bay 12. Get your security team down there now.”
“On our way, Lt. Commander,” Zack paused before speaking hesitantly, “Will the Captain be there?”
Corwin sighed softly before answering quietly, “She knows, and she left C&C. But I’m not sure if she’ll be there. Be prepared if she’s not.”
“Will do,” Zack cut the connection and gazed at the monitors, off in his own thoughts for a moment. It pained him to check on his own CO like that. Even a few months before it wouldn’t have felt like a necessary question. But Ivanova had slowly become more and more withdrawn. Right after the war and her promotion she’d been fairly normal, for Ivanova anyways. But over the weeks, then months she’d withdrawn from everything and everyone so much that even her former reserved self looked like a chatterbox in comparison. Shaking his head Zack rose, calling for his security detail to head down and meet the Alliance President. As they headed out Zack crossed his fingers that Ivanova would show, he had no desire to explain to John why Captain Ivanova wasn’t there to meet him.
Susan seriously considered going straight to her quarters and avoiding the docking bay. She was, as was usual now, sunk into a deep depression. Seeing her friends helped somewhat, as did the anti-depressants Stephen occasionally forced her to take when he noticed her depression getting really deep. But she’d grown so tired of their constant questions that she forced herself to act like she was coping, in public at least. Privately was a whole different story, one that she hid from everyone. Sighing Susan ordered the tube to the blue level closet to Bay 12. She knew she couldn’t hide from Sheridan and Delenn, and duty also demanded she greet the President of the Interstellar Alliance upon his arrival on her station. Duty was all she had left.
And so it was that Captain Susan Ivanova found herself next to Dr. Franklin, Chief Allan, and Mr. Garibaldi waiting to welcome John and Delenn home. She either ignored or did not see the surreptitious glances shot her way as they stood in perfect military stance, all in uniform except Michael who had never officially rejoined, running the Covert Intelligence division and his company with his new wife Lise. Distantly Susan felt surprise that only the Command Staff was here instead of the usual crowd of ambassadors and other dignitaries. The part of her mind that still functioned properly, the analytical, practical part, realized that this was because Sheridan had never formally announced when he’d be returning and so they, the command staff, were the only ones who knew he’d returned.
Abruptly Susan realized that Corwin wasn’t there, she was so used to the three of them being the command staff that she tended to forget he was part of it too now. Mentally she made a note to reprimand him. She wasn’t really angry, she hadn’t truly felt, well, anything in months but she was irritated. It was neglection of duty on his part and that was the one thing still guaranteed to annoy her. But just as the Whitestar landed the object of her ire ran up and took station next to her. Shooting him a reproving glanced Susan stepped forward to greet John as he disembarked. Corwin cringed slightly at the look, but inwardly he felt almost happy. For the first time in months he’d seen a flash of emotion in her eyes. Admittedly it wasn’t exactly a happy emotion, and it had been directed at him, but it was something. For a moment he dared hope she might come out of it, return to the Ivanova he knew. But as fast as it had appeared, the flash of anger was gone and Corwin’s hopes wilted.
President John Sheridan stepped from the ship’s hatch, Delenn on his arm. They both smiled warmly at Susan who smiled mechanically in return. Only Delenn noticed the way John’s smile faltered slightly, felt the sudden hesitancy in his step as he moved forward to grasp Susan’s hand, “Captain.”
“Mr. President,” Susan spoke for the second time that day, her voice only slightly warmer than it had been when requesting ID on the ship.
Delenn could tell John wanted to hug her, ask her if everything was alright. But she could also tell that Susan would not appreciate the hug, nor answer the question. It hurt John so much to see his closest friend like this but he could do nothing, he’d tried. Glancing over Susan’s head he met first Stephen’s, then Corwin’s, then Michael’s eyes. One by one they shook their heads slightly, no improvement. Sighing softly John released Susan’s hand, allowing his wife to step forward and bow in traditional Minbari greeting. Susan bowed in return, a ghost of a smile flickering across her face before she stepped back to allow the others forward.
Susan watched the opening in the side of the Whitestar as the others greeted the President. She saw a figure waiting there and her heart grew heavier, if that was possible, was this then the new Ranger? Her attention skipped back to John as he spoke directly to her, out of the corner of her eye she saw the person descend the ramp and move towards the group. It was a woman, wearing an Earth Alliance uniform, Susan let out a low breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, not the Ranger then. “Captain Ivanova, I know you’re not going to be happy with this, but EarthGov has decided to send an… observer… to Babylon 5 to investigate the rumors from before and during the war. She will not be in charge, more like a second-in-command though she has equal rank. She has been ordered to defer to your judgment but she will be attending the Command Staff meetings for as long as she’s here.”
Susan nodded briefly, shifting her gaze to the newcomer. The woman was about her height, carried herself proudly and bore the insignia designating her as a Captain in the Earth Alliance. Her dark hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail and she looked like she vaguely disapproved of the station. Susan didn’t care for her much at all, but it didn’t show, she just gazed impassively at the woman, waiting for John to introduce her. “Captain Ivanova, this is Captain Lochley. Captain Lochley, Captain Ivanova.”
Ivanova nodded curtly to the other woman, shaking her hand briefly before turning back to John, an unspoken question in her eyes. Immediately John knew what she was asking and shook his head slightly, “The new station Ranger will arrive next week after finishing some things on Minbar,” he hesitated then plowed ahead, “Another human.”
Slowly Susan nodded then spoke quietly, “Lt. Commander, please show Captain Lochley C&C and then her quarters. Captain, if you have any questions Corwin will be glad to answer them.” The young man nodded quickly, not willing to raise Ivanova’s wrath, even if it did mean she was more normal. Susan looked back at John and Delenn, the pain briefly mirrored in her eyes, then without a word she spun on her heel and vanished out of the docking bay, moving as swiftly as she could.
Lochley stared after her in consternation, that had to be the coldest meeting she had ever had the privilege of experiencing. Turning she was about to ask John what the hell was wrong with the Captain when she stopped, realizing he was deep in conversation with Michael and Stephen.
“Any change at all?”
“Maybe… but if so, it wasn’t for the better,” Stephen shook his head. “I hardly see her anymore; it’s hard to say if anything’s changed.”
“I see her more than Stephen, but not much. Like he said, if there has been any change, it hasn’t been for the better, but it’s impossible to tell unless something dramatic happens.”
John sighed and rubbed at the short goatee adorning his chin, “I’ll try and talk to her later then, for whatever good it’ll do. Maybe convince her to take some time off?”
Stephen shook his head no rapidly, “You know Susan, John. You make her take time off and all she’ll do is brood and we’ll be worse off than we are now, better to let her keep working, occupy her mind so she can’t think too deeply on the events.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Just… keep an eye on her, ok? I’m worried about her.”
Michael smiled sympathetically, “We all are, John.”
Lochley blinked in puzzlement, looking to Corwin for an answer but he resolutely looked away, apparently his willingness to answer questions did not extend to this topic. Odd, but she supposed it wasn’t really her business, whoever this Susan was sounded like she needed help. Pondering the comment about work Elizabeth Lochley wondered if maybe “Susan” was a member of the C&C crew, someone she would meet soon. Shrugging she followed Lt. Commander Corwin out of the Bay and through the station towards C&C, pushing the mild curiosity out of her mind.
Moya, Observation Dome
Commander John Crichton stood staring quietly out at the stars from the observation dome on Moya. Out there a blue wormhole writhed, stable for now, waiting. This area of space was deep in the uncharted territories, and almost completely uninhabited, at least as far as they could tell. It had called to him, compelled him to come here and now he was uncertain why, except for the wormhole. He knew where it went, could sense it, yet somehow, he didn’t. There was something different about this wormhole, he could tell it didn’t lead straight to where he thought it did, but at the same time it did. Odd.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Aeryn walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder. Turning he glared at her in mock anger but she didn’t even seem to notice, looking instead past his shoulder to the wormhole hanging in space. She ignored him for a minute then turned back to look at John, “We’ve been looking all over for you. D’Argo’s been trying to call you for almost an arn.”
“I know; I’ve been ignoring him.” John redirected his attention to the wormhole, absently pulling Aeryn against him. She blinked up at him in consternation, wondering if maybe this was some strange human thing, maybe he was hiding again? Or something equally stupid?
“Why?”
“Didn’t feel like talking to him. He’s pissed, I know it; you know it, why rush the inevitable?” Aeryn opened her mouth to reply when the inevitable rushed through the door. She barely heard John murmur against her hair, “Here we go,” when D’Argo started in on him.
“John! What the hell is that?”
“Looks like a wormhole to me, D. We’ve seen them before you know.”
D’Argo growled, “Yes, but where did it come from? You made no mention of a wormhole being here!”
“And if I had would you have come? No! Why? Because you don’t like them, because we could lead the Peacekeepers to it or a host of other reasons!”
“Right, and we are leaving, now. Pilot!”
“No, we’re not leaving. At least I’m not.”
Aeryn looked at him sharply, “What do you mean, Crichton? You can’t possibly be thinking of going through it.”
“Yes, Aeryn, I can and I am.”
“Not without me you’re not.”
“Neither of you are going because we are leaving. Pilot!”
“I am right here, Ka D’Argo-“
“No, I’m going, D’Argo whether you like it or not. I have to.”
“Crichton! You are not going through that thing alone!”
“Yes, I am. You’re staying here, Aeryn, where it’s safe.”
“Oh no, I’m not. Don’t you dare try to protect me, John!”
D’Argo cut in again, “I said we’re leaving. Pilot, prepare for starburst, back the way we came.”
“No! I- we,” John amended upon seeing Aeryn’s expression, “are going through. Now, you can either come back in 10 days when the wormhole reopens or you cannot, either way, I’m going.”
D’Argo gazed from one to the other, looking for all the world as if he was about to have an apoplexy. Finally he ground out, “Fine. Pilot, ignore that last order.” D’Argo looked at them a moment longer before turning and stalking out, as he walked through the door he tossed over his shoulder, “Take the prowlers.”
John let out a sigh of relief and commented idly, “Well that went well.”
Aeryn glared at him, “What’s this all about John?”
He looked over at her then shrugged, “Don’t know, your guess is as good as mine.” With that he too strode out of the room, heading for the docking bay and the pair of prowlers that waited. One prowler was Aeryn’s and the other was one they’d “borrowed” from a Peacekeeper base when making a quick getaway. It was to this second one that John was aiming for, it’d pretty much become his as he was the only one other than Aeryn who enjoyed taking it out since D’Argo had his ship, Chiana was now blind, and Rygel… well Rygel couldn’t fly a ship if his life depended on it.
John didn’t hear Aeryn following him to the bay and pondered that for a bit as he started checking over the prowler, running the preflight tests and prepping it for launch. But after a few minutes Aeryn joined him, tossing him flight suit, helmet, duffel bag, and pulse rifle. He blinked down at the latter curiously then glanced up at her, puzzled. “Just in case,” she replied before turning to her own prowler.
He chuckled softly and set the pile down while he finished the preparations, trust Aeryn to feel that a pulse rifle was their most needed item for going through a wormhole. Not that they weren’t armed with their own pulse pistols to begin with, and the prowlers themselves were far from defenseless, but whatever made her happy. To be honest he couldn’t help but agree; he had a nagging feeling that the rifles would come in handy before this little venture was over.
Letting the prowler finish running the last checks John tugged on flight suit and tossed the duffel into the rear seat. Carefully he tucked the pulse rifle next to his own seat, checking to make sure the safety was on first, he had no great desire to accidentally shoot off his own foot. Then, with a quick glance at Aeryn he scrambled inside, settling the helmet on his head. Closing the cockpit he finished the last of the preflight after checking to make sure Aeryn was also in her cockpit since the end of the preflight required opening the hold to vacuum. Satisfied that all was ready he looked at Aeryn once more and nodded, flipping on his comm. system, “Aeryn, can you hear me?”
“Yes John, prowler is ready for launch.”
“Ok, let’s do it,” with that John kicked the prowler into gear and shot out of the hold, Aeryn close on his tail. “Ok, D’Argo, you got us?”
“Yes John. Pilot says the wormhole will be at its most stable point in just a couple of microts.”
Taking a deep breath John nodded, not that anyone could see him. Muttering under his breath he pointed the prowler towards the wormhole, “Let’s hope this works the way it’s supposed to…” out loud he commented, “Follow me in, Aeryn. See you guys in 10 days.”
With that John gunned the prowler into the wormhole, Aeryn close on his heels. He gripped the stick hard as the prowler bucked and jerked, rocketing through the wormhole at what was definitely a dangerous speed. He barely noticed the swirling blue around him, concentrating as he was on keeping the ship under control. It was pretty he supposed, in an abstract sort of way that could only be appreciated when you weren’t the one who had to keep from crashing, or something equally stupid.
After what seemed like an eternity yet was actually only a few minutes the pair of prowlers shot out of the wormhole into real space. Flipping the comm. John tried to raise Moya, but all he got was static. Cursing he glanced around, “Aeryn, you ok?”
“Yes, John. Where are we?”
“Umm… as soon as I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”
Her reply was cut off with a curse. John blinked and glanced over at her ship. An asteroid was belting straight towards her; luckily she’d moved quickly enough to get out of the way. A pinging on his own console brought his attention back to his own ship. With an exclamation he found himself having to throw his ship into evasive maneuvers also. Without thinking he muttered, “Gee, I feel like I’m in Star Wars or something.”
“Star Wars? What’s that?”
“Oh uh... I’ll explain later- watch out!” John’s shouted warning gave Aeryn just enough time to jerk her prowler mostly out of the way of a piece of rock coming from behind her, though not quickly enough to completely prevent her from getting hit. “Aeryn? Aeryn!”
Dodging various asteroids John made his way towards Aeryn’s prowler as quickly as he could. He was relieved to see her apparently still in control of the ship though he still couldn’t contact her. She glanced over at him and shook her head when he tried to speak again. Her comm. unit was out. Resorting to good old fashioned sign language John pointed in the direction of the least rocks, and what looked like might be the edge of the field.
Nodding her understanding Aeryn turned the prowler in that direction, John shadowing her closely, watching to make sure there wasn’t more damage unseen. He couldn’t bear to lose her, not here, not now. Slowly they made their way out of the asteroid field, their progress slowed by the fact they couldn’t communicate except through hand signals. They had just reached the edge when everything seemed to go wrong at once.
The maneuvering went out on Aeryn’s prowler and her life support began to fail. Panicking, John scanned Aeryn’s ship, her life support was failing fast, but she’d managed to stop the ship and was floating dead in space. And to top it all off a huge blue… hole… opened in space, a ship like nothing Aeryn or John had ever seen appearing from within. There was no way they could fight the new ship, and the only way Aeryn could live was to get out of that prowler and fast. Despite the fact that everything that had always ever gone wrong when they needed help the most, John transmitted an SOS on every frequency he could think of. Even if they were captured, they’d be alive… hopefully.
It didn’t take long before a pair of smaller craft appeared from the new ship. It was a very graceful ship, he had to give it that much. Almost organic looking but not quite, as were the smaller ones. He assumed they were some sort of fighter or shuttle. Whatever they were they had grabbed the two prowlers and were hauling them towards the ship. John ignored the proceedings for the most part, keeping a careful eye on Aeryn and his console. According to his readings she didn’t have much time left. A few minutes before life support failed completely then a few more after that before she either suffocated or froze to death.
Fortunately it didn’t take long before the alien ships had towed the prowlers into the docking bay. It was only as they were settling to the deck that John realized the aliens had somehow taken over his controls. Cursing he tried to get the prowler to do something, anything as long as it was something he told it to. But the console sat dead, blinking cheerfully at him and steadfastly ignoring his efforts. The next thing he thought of was what if they didn’t breathe oxygen? If that was the case it wouldn’t matter that they’d been rescued, they’d be dead anyways, just inside a pretty ship instead of out in space.
Then, as the ships settled firmly to the deck he suddenly had control again. Eyeing his surroundings warily John swiftly locked down the prowler, scanning both the bay and Aeryn’s ship in the meantime. Fortunately the readouts indicated that the atmosphere was perfectly breathable by sebaceans and therefore (presumably) humans as well. Glancing at Aeryn he noticed her opening her cockpit. After a brief moment of surprise he realized it was only logical, stay in the ship die of suffocation, get out of the ship, live a bit longer, maybe get shot and die honorably. Sighing he did the same, checking that Winona was clear in the holster and that the safeties on both pulse pistol and rifle were off.
Pushing the cockpit open he swung out of the prowler, holding the rifle carefully, studying the area. Nearby Aeryn did the same, swiftly moving to stand next to him, rifle pointed at the pair of alien fighter type craft. Both watched warily as the craft opened and two figures jumped out lightly. John blinked, the aliens were like nothing he’d seen before, and he had a feeling nothing like Aeryn had seen either.
Fandom: Babylon 5/Farscape crossover
Pairings: Crichton/Aeryn, Marcus/Ivanova
Rating: PG
Summary: AU. After Sheridan becomes President, Ivanova becomes the commander of Babylon 5. However, this new promotion doesn't prevent her from deeply mourning the death of Marcus Cole, a situation which only gets worse when his body, in suspended animation, goes missing. In another time and place, the crew of Moya has followed John's directions to a wormhole which will lead himself and Aeryn, into a reality of a future Earth they can scarcely believe.
Timeline: Story picks up after the final events of season 4 of B5, and during season 4 of Farscape. Marcus' presence in this story will be explained, I promise.
Babylon 5, C&C, 2262
Captain Susan Ivanova stared dully out the viewport in C&C, looking at the stars but not seeing them. She was silent, motionless, hands clasped behind her back, stance rigid, militarily precise. She stood like that all the time now, for the past six months. Where once she would’ve paced, checked the readouts hundreds of times, gone virtually stir-crazy waiting for John and Delenn to arrive, now she just stood. Her second, Lt. Commander David Corwin, wasn’t even sure she realized that they were coming. She was such a turnaround from last year, before the war. Despite being somewhat frightened by her, now Corwin would give almost anything to have her yell again, curse, do something to show she was still human and not just a walking corpse. Susan rarely spoke anymore, to anyone, even her closest friends. Nor did she smile, laugh, joke, nothing. Oddly this complete lack of emotion frightened the Babylon 5 crew more than her curses and yelling had. Although she unnerved them, and they knew she’d reject any pity, they were concerned, watching her covertly.
Corwin stopped his study of his commanding officer and looked down at his monitor as it beeped. Finally, the President and his wife were back. Maybe Susan would cheer up at least a little, but then Corwin remembered why John and Delenn had been gone at all. They had returned to Minbar to select a new station Ranger. Sadly Corwin realized things might actually get worse. Glancing back up at Captain Ivanova he schooled his expression and voice, “Captain, ship coming through the gate.”
Susan didn’t so much as twitch, all she said was, “ID?”
“Whitestar 2, sir. I’m directing them to Bay 12.”
Susan nodded once then turned and left C&C, presumably on her way to Bay 12, though given her current situation that could prove to no longer be a safe assumption. It was common knowledge that she tended to avoid people now whenever possible. Indeed, once off duty she was rarely seen before her next shift started. And with a new Ranger coming, it was entirely possible she’d simply retreat to her quarters. Sighing Corwin flipped the comm., “C&C to Chief Allan.”
“Allan here.”
“Zack, the President is about to dock in Bay 12. Get your security team down there now.”
“On our way, Lt. Commander,” Zack paused before speaking hesitantly, “Will the Captain be there?”
Corwin sighed softly before answering quietly, “She knows, and she left C&C. But I’m not sure if she’ll be there. Be prepared if she’s not.”
“Will do,” Zack cut the connection and gazed at the monitors, off in his own thoughts for a moment. It pained him to check on his own CO like that. Even a few months before it wouldn’t have felt like a necessary question. But Ivanova had slowly become more and more withdrawn. Right after the war and her promotion she’d been fairly normal, for Ivanova anyways. But over the weeks, then months she’d withdrawn from everything and everyone so much that even her former reserved self looked like a chatterbox in comparison. Shaking his head Zack rose, calling for his security detail to head down and meet the Alliance President. As they headed out Zack crossed his fingers that Ivanova would show, he had no desire to explain to John why Captain Ivanova wasn’t there to meet him.
Susan seriously considered going straight to her quarters and avoiding the docking bay. She was, as was usual now, sunk into a deep depression. Seeing her friends helped somewhat, as did the anti-depressants Stephen occasionally forced her to take when he noticed her depression getting really deep. But she’d grown so tired of their constant questions that she forced herself to act like she was coping, in public at least. Privately was a whole different story, one that she hid from everyone. Sighing Susan ordered the tube to the blue level closet to Bay 12. She knew she couldn’t hide from Sheridan and Delenn, and duty also demanded she greet the President of the Interstellar Alliance upon his arrival on her station. Duty was all she had left.
And so it was that Captain Susan Ivanova found herself next to Dr. Franklin, Chief Allan, and Mr. Garibaldi waiting to welcome John and Delenn home. She either ignored or did not see the surreptitious glances shot her way as they stood in perfect military stance, all in uniform except Michael who had never officially rejoined, running the Covert Intelligence division and his company with his new wife Lise. Distantly Susan felt surprise that only the Command Staff was here instead of the usual crowd of ambassadors and other dignitaries. The part of her mind that still functioned properly, the analytical, practical part, realized that this was because Sheridan had never formally announced when he’d be returning and so they, the command staff, were the only ones who knew he’d returned.
Abruptly Susan realized that Corwin wasn’t there, she was so used to the three of them being the command staff that she tended to forget he was part of it too now. Mentally she made a note to reprimand him. She wasn’t really angry, she hadn’t truly felt, well, anything in months but she was irritated. It was neglection of duty on his part and that was the one thing still guaranteed to annoy her. But just as the Whitestar landed the object of her ire ran up and took station next to her. Shooting him a reproving glanced Susan stepped forward to greet John as he disembarked. Corwin cringed slightly at the look, but inwardly he felt almost happy. For the first time in months he’d seen a flash of emotion in her eyes. Admittedly it wasn’t exactly a happy emotion, and it had been directed at him, but it was something. For a moment he dared hope she might come out of it, return to the Ivanova he knew. But as fast as it had appeared, the flash of anger was gone and Corwin’s hopes wilted.
President John Sheridan stepped from the ship’s hatch, Delenn on his arm. They both smiled warmly at Susan who smiled mechanically in return. Only Delenn noticed the way John’s smile faltered slightly, felt the sudden hesitancy in his step as he moved forward to grasp Susan’s hand, “Captain.”
“Mr. President,” Susan spoke for the second time that day, her voice only slightly warmer than it had been when requesting ID on the ship.
Delenn could tell John wanted to hug her, ask her if everything was alright. But she could also tell that Susan would not appreciate the hug, nor answer the question. It hurt John so much to see his closest friend like this but he could do nothing, he’d tried. Glancing over Susan’s head he met first Stephen’s, then Corwin’s, then Michael’s eyes. One by one they shook their heads slightly, no improvement. Sighing softly John released Susan’s hand, allowing his wife to step forward and bow in traditional Minbari greeting. Susan bowed in return, a ghost of a smile flickering across her face before she stepped back to allow the others forward.
Susan watched the opening in the side of the Whitestar as the others greeted the President. She saw a figure waiting there and her heart grew heavier, if that was possible, was this then the new Ranger? Her attention skipped back to John as he spoke directly to her, out of the corner of her eye she saw the person descend the ramp and move towards the group. It was a woman, wearing an Earth Alliance uniform, Susan let out a low breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, not the Ranger then. “Captain Ivanova, I know you’re not going to be happy with this, but EarthGov has decided to send an… observer… to Babylon 5 to investigate the rumors from before and during the war. She will not be in charge, more like a second-in-command though she has equal rank. She has been ordered to defer to your judgment but she will be attending the Command Staff meetings for as long as she’s here.”
Susan nodded briefly, shifting her gaze to the newcomer. The woman was about her height, carried herself proudly and bore the insignia designating her as a Captain in the Earth Alliance. Her dark hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail and she looked like she vaguely disapproved of the station. Susan didn’t care for her much at all, but it didn’t show, she just gazed impassively at the woman, waiting for John to introduce her. “Captain Ivanova, this is Captain Lochley. Captain Lochley, Captain Ivanova.”
Ivanova nodded curtly to the other woman, shaking her hand briefly before turning back to John, an unspoken question in her eyes. Immediately John knew what she was asking and shook his head slightly, “The new station Ranger will arrive next week after finishing some things on Minbar,” he hesitated then plowed ahead, “Another human.”
Slowly Susan nodded then spoke quietly, “Lt. Commander, please show Captain Lochley C&C and then her quarters. Captain, if you have any questions Corwin will be glad to answer them.” The young man nodded quickly, not willing to raise Ivanova’s wrath, even if it did mean she was more normal. Susan looked back at John and Delenn, the pain briefly mirrored in her eyes, then without a word she spun on her heel and vanished out of the docking bay, moving as swiftly as she could.
Lochley stared after her in consternation, that had to be the coldest meeting she had ever had the privilege of experiencing. Turning she was about to ask John what the hell was wrong with the Captain when she stopped, realizing he was deep in conversation with Michael and Stephen.
“Any change at all?”
“Maybe… but if so, it wasn’t for the better,” Stephen shook his head. “I hardly see her anymore; it’s hard to say if anything’s changed.”
“I see her more than Stephen, but not much. Like he said, if there has been any change, it hasn’t been for the better, but it’s impossible to tell unless something dramatic happens.”
John sighed and rubbed at the short goatee adorning his chin, “I’ll try and talk to her later then, for whatever good it’ll do. Maybe convince her to take some time off?”
Stephen shook his head no rapidly, “You know Susan, John. You make her take time off and all she’ll do is brood and we’ll be worse off than we are now, better to let her keep working, occupy her mind so she can’t think too deeply on the events.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Just… keep an eye on her, ok? I’m worried about her.”
Michael smiled sympathetically, “We all are, John.”
Lochley blinked in puzzlement, looking to Corwin for an answer but he resolutely looked away, apparently his willingness to answer questions did not extend to this topic. Odd, but she supposed it wasn’t really her business, whoever this Susan was sounded like she needed help. Pondering the comment about work Elizabeth Lochley wondered if maybe “Susan” was a member of the C&C crew, someone she would meet soon. Shrugging she followed Lt. Commander Corwin out of the Bay and through the station towards C&C, pushing the mild curiosity out of her mind.
Moya, Observation Dome
Commander John Crichton stood staring quietly out at the stars from the observation dome on Moya. Out there a blue wormhole writhed, stable for now, waiting. This area of space was deep in the uncharted territories, and almost completely uninhabited, at least as far as they could tell. It had called to him, compelled him to come here and now he was uncertain why, except for the wormhole. He knew where it went, could sense it, yet somehow, he didn’t. There was something different about this wormhole, he could tell it didn’t lead straight to where he thought it did, but at the same time it did. Odd.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Aeryn walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder. Turning he glared at her in mock anger but she didn’t even seem to notice, looking instead past his shoulder to the wormhole hanging in space. She ignored him for a minute then turned back to look at John, “We’ve been looking all over for you. D’Argo’s been trying to call you for almost an arn.”
“I know; I’ve been ignoring him.” John redirected his attention to the wormhole, absently pulling Aeryn against him. She blinked up at him in consternation, wondering if maybe this was some strange human thing, maybe he was hiding again? Or something equally stupid?
“Why?”
“Didn’t feel like talking to him. He’s pissed, I know it; you know it, why rush the inevitable?” Aeryn opened her mouth to reply when the inevitable rushed through the door. She barely heard John murmur against her hair, “Here we go,” when D’Argo started in on him.
“John! What the hell is that?”
“Looks like a wormhole to me, D. We’ve seen them before you know.”
D’Argo growled, “Yes, but where did it come from? You made no mention of a wormhole being here!”
“And if I had would you have come? No! Why? Because you don’t like them, because we could lead the Peacekeepers to it or a host of other reasons!”
“Right, and we are leaving, now. Pilot!”
“No, we’re not leaving. At least I’m not.”
Aeryn looked at him sharply, “What do you mean, Crichton? You can’t possibly be thinking of going through it.”
“Yes, Aeryn, I can and I am.”
“Not without me you’re not.”
“Neither of you are going because we are leaving. Pilot!”
“I am right here, Ka D’Argo-“
“No, I’m going, D’Argo whether you like it or not. I have to.”
“Crichton! You are not going through that thing alone!”
“Yes, I am. You’re staying here, Aeryn, where it’s safe.”
“Oh no, I’m not. Don’t you dare try to protect me, John!”
D’Argo cut in again, “I said we’re leaving. Pilot, prepare for starburst, back the way we came.”
“No! I- we,” John amended upon seeing Aeryn’s expression, “are going through. Now, you can either come back in 10 days when the wormhole reopens or you cannot, either way, I’m going.”
D’Argo gazed from one to the other, looking for all the world as if he was about to have an apoplexy. Finally he ground out, “Fine. Pilot, ignore that last order.” D’Argo looked at them a moment longer before turning and stalking out, as he walked through the door he tossed over his shoulder, “Take the prowlers.”
John let out a sigh of relief and commented idly, “Well that went well.”
Aeryn glared at him, “What’s this all about John?”
He looked over at her then shrugged, “Don’t know, your guess is as good as mine.” With that he too strode out of the room, heading for the docking bay and the pair of prowlers that waited. One prowler was Aeryn’s and the other was one they’d “borrowed” from a Peacekeeper base when making a quick getaway. It was to this second one that John was aiming for, it’d pretty much become his as he was the only one other than Aeryn who enjoyed taking it out since D’Argo had his ship, Chiana was now blind, and Rygel… well Rygel couldn’t fly a ship if his life depended on it.
John didn’t hear Aeryn following him to the bay and pondered that for a bit as he started checking over the prowler, running the preflight tests and prepping it for launch. But after a few minutes Aeryn joined him, tossing him flight suit, helmet, duffel bag, and pulse rifle. He blinked down at the latter curiously then glanced up at her, puzzled. “Just in case,” she replied before turning to her own prowler.
He chuckled softly and set the pile down while he finished the preparations, trust Aeryn to feel that a pulse rifle was their most needed item for going through a wormhole. Not that they weren’t armed with their own pulse pistols to begin with, and the prowlers themselves were far from defenseless, but whatever made her happy. To be honest he couldn’t help but agree; he had a nagging feeling that the rifles would come in handy before this little venture was over.
Letting the prowler finish running the last checks John tugged on flight suit and tossed the duffel into the rear seat. Carefully he tucked the pulse rifle next to his own seat, checking to make sure the safety was on first, he had no great desire to accidentally shoot off his own foot. Then, with a quick glance at Aeryn he scrambled inside, settling the helmet on his head. Closing the cockpit he finished the last of the preflight after checking to make sure Aeryn was also in her cockpit since the end of the preflight required opening the hold to vacuum. Satisfied that all was ready he looked at Aeryn once more and nodded, flipping on his comm. system, “Aeryn, can you hear me?”
“Yes John, prowler is ready for launch.”
“Ok, let’s do it,” with that John kicked the prowler into gear and shot out of the hold, Aeryn close on his tail. “Ok, D’Argo, you got us?”
“Yes John. Pilot says the wormhole will be at its most stable point in just a couple of microts.”
Taking a deep breath John nodded, not that anyone could see him. Muttering under his breath he pointed the prowler towards the wormhole, “Let’s hope this works the way it’s supposed to…” out loud he commented, “Follow me in, Aeryn. See you guys in 10 days.”
With that John gunned the prowler into the wormhole, Aeryn close on his heels. He gripped the stick hard as the prowler bucked and jerked, rocketing through the wormhole at what was definitely a dangerous speed. He barely noticed the swirling blue around him, concentrating as he was on keeping the ship under control. It was pretty he supposed, in an abstract sort of way that could only be appreciated when you weren’t the one who had to keep from crashing, or something equally stupid.
After what seemed like an eternity yet was actually only a few minutes the pair of prowlers shot out of the wormhole into real space. Flipping the comm. John tried to raise Moya, but all he got was static. Cursing he glanced around, “Aeryn, you ok?”
“Yes, John. Where are we?”
“Umm… as soon as I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”
Her reply was cut off with a curse. John blinked and glanced over at her ship. An asteroid was belting straight towards her; luckily she’d moved quickly enough to get out of the way. A pinging on his own console brought his attention back to his own ship. With an exclamation he found himself having to throw his ship into evasive maneuvers also. Without thinking he muttered, “Gee, I feel like I’m in Star Wars or something.”
“Star Wars? What’s that?”
“Oh uh... I’ll explain later- watch out!” John’s shouted warning gave Aeryn just enough time to jerk her prowler mostly out of the way of a piece of rock coming from behind her, though not quickly enough to completely prevent her from getting hit. “Aeryn? Aeryn!”
Dodging various asteroids John made his way towards Aeryn’s prowler as quickly as he could. He was relieved to see her apparently still in control of the ship though he still couldn’t contact her. She glanced over at him and shook her head when he tried to speak again. Her comm. unit was out. Resorting to good old fashioned sign language John pointed in the direction of the least rocks, and what looked like might be the edge of the field.
Nodding her understanding Aeryn turned the prowler in that direction, John shadowing her closely, watching to make sure there wasn’t more damage unseen. He couldn’t bear to lose her, not here, not now. Slowly they made their way out of the asteroid field, their progress slowed by the fact they couldn’t communicate except through hand signals. They had just reached the edge when everything seemed to go wrong at once.
The maneuvering went out on Aeryn’s prowler and her life support began to fail. Panicking, John scanned Aeryn’s ship, her life support was failing fast, but she’d managed to stop the ship and was floating dead in space. And to top it all off a huge blue… hole… opened in space, a ship like nothing Aeryn or John had ever seen appearing from within. There was no way they could fight the new ship, and the only way Aeryn could live was to get out of that prowler and fast. Despite the fact that everything that had always ever gone wrong when they needed help the most, John transmitted an SOS on every frequency he could think of. Even if they were captured, they’d be alive… hopefully.
It didn’t take long before a pair of smaller craft appeared from the new ship. It was a very graceful ship, he had to give it that much. Almost organic looking but not quite, as were the smaller ones. He assumed they were some sort of fighter or shuttle. Whatever they were they had grabbed the two prowlers and were hauling them towards the ship. John ignored the proceedings for the most part, keeping a careful eye on Aeryn and his console. According to his readings she didn’t have much time left. A few minutes before life support failed completely then a few more after that before she either suffocated or froze to death.
Fortunately it didn’t take long before the alien ships had towed the prowlers into the docking bay. It was only as they were settling to the deck that John realized the aliens had somehow taken over his controls. Cursing he tried to get the prowler to do something, anything as long as it was something he told it to. But the console sat dead, blinking cheerfully at him and steadfastly ignoring his efforts. The next thing he thought of was what if they didn’t breathe oxygen? If that was the case it wouldn’t matter that they’d been rescued, they’d be dead anyways, just inside a pretty ship instead of out in space.
Then, as the ships settled firmly to the deck he suddenly had control again. Eyeing his surroundings warily John swiftly locked down the prowler, scanning both the bay and Aeryn’s ship in the meantime. Fortunately the readouts indicated that the atmosphere was perfectly breathable by sebaceans and therefore (presumably) humans as well. Glancing at Aeryn he noticed her opening her cockpit. After a brief moment of surprise he realized it was only logical, stay in the ship die of suffocation, get out of the ship, live a bit longer, maybe get shot and die honorably. Sighing he did the same, checking that Winona was clear in the holster and that the safeties on both pulse pistol and rifle were off.
Pushing the cockpit open he swung out of the prowler, holding the rifle carefully, studying the area. Nearby Aeryn did the same, swiftly moving to stand next to him, rifle pointed at the pair of alien fighter type craft. Both watched warily as the craft opened and two figures jumped out lightly. John blinked, the aliens were like nothing he’d seen before, and he had a feeling nothing like Aeryn had seen either.