Resurrection Earth

                 By Alexander Dregon.
      Published on Smashwords by Alexander Dregon. 
                                   (Free Edition)
            Resurrection Earth 
                   Copyright 2012 @ Smashwords 

This universe, these characters and most of the technical information in this story are not mine. In any respect. The story is based on the universe of J. Michael Straczynski. The only reason I wrote it at all was as a gift to the fans of what I consider the greatest sci-fi show and one of the best shows ever on television. I could not and would not ever take a dime for this story. It is solely for those that regret the fact that the final premise of the show was never finished. This is a version of what could have been done.
 TO any that download and read this story. This is a final chapter to the story begun in the movie “A Call to Arms.” In the story Earth was attacked by the Drakh, dark servants of the Shadows, as revenge for Earth’s role in their master’s abandoning of them. Defeated by John Sheridan, they decide to attack Earth on the five year anniversary of the Shadow’s leaving. 
In the end, defeated by the combined efforts of Sheridan, the Techno Mage Galen, and a professional thief named Dureena, and the supreme sacrifice of an Earth force captain named Anderson, the Drakh, in an act of spite, release a virus into the atmosphere. Based on Shadow technology, it will kill every air breathing thing on the planet in five years.
Given the last remaining prototype destroyer called the Excalibur, Mathew Gideon, with the help of the same Techno Mage Galen and the thief Dureena, searched the galaxy for a cure for the virus. Along with others of equal determination, they finally found it, only to be attacked on the way back by the Drakh. 
 Like the other stories featured here, this and all the characters in it are works of fiction. They are products of the imagination of myself and of the originator of this universe.
And finally while the story is not risqué by any means, it is considered adult due to mainly the story subject itself. And one scene I consider, of love.





Dr. Sarah Chambers stared through the glass porthole in her med lab and felt tears well up in her eyes. They had fought so hard and been through so much only to lose it all so quickly. Just when the latest data had shown they had found if not a cure, then at least a treatment that could stave of the end of humanity. She believed it would stop the plague. And from the way the Drakh had attacked, so did they.
She thought back to the attack ten hours ago. They had just made a jump out of hyperspace. There were three heavy cruisers waiting for them, along with a host of fighters. Matthew had launched fighters but they never even had a chance. Then they had concentrated on the Excalibur. When they'd finished the once beautiful ship was a burning hulk. Her crew of over three hundred was, for all she could knew, dead but for herself and three technicians she could see through the door on the other side of the hall.
She wondered what they were up to. The hall had vented to space, leaving a vacuum between them. Parts of machines, (and people), floated down the hall.
She sat down in a chair and began to take inventory on what was left. The bridge was gone. Along with most of the living quarters. If there was anyone who had survived there, it was almost certain they had died by now from any one of a hundred different things. Max, Dureena, John, and Matthew, all dead. Along with Earth unless she found a miracle.
There was one hope however. Galen. He had made one of his sojourns two days ago. Since he could always find the ship there was always a chance that he'd show up and save them. If they lasted long enough. There were still a thousand ways they could die any second.
She slammed her fist into the table. It was so unfair. They had almost made it. Earth still had a year and a half by the best estimates. They had plenty of time to get back and get the final adjustments made. It wouldn't be easy by any means, but it was possible. But first she had to find a way out of this mess. That meant finding a way through that hall. And without any type of EVA suit, she wasn't going anywhere. But maybe the techs across the hall had access to space suits. She racked her brain to try and remember where there were suits.
She had no way of knowing the techs were in even worse shape than she was. The outer hull was on their side. Even insulated as it was, heat was rapidly being dissipated into space. They were in less danger of suffocation than they were of freezing to death. Their only chance was to stay close to one of the walls that were adjacent to one of the fires that were still burning. Without it they would all be dead in minutes. They took turns trying to find a way to another room, but they could only be gone for a few minutes before they had to run back.
All of which meant that she was more or less on her own. And that meant she had to find her own way out. Not just for herself but for Earth as well. The worst part was that even with all the equipment she had in the lab she had nothing that she could use to help herself. There was no way to contact any one. And it was getting colder on her side now. Not as pronounced but there was no fire burning near to help keep the temperature up. She thought furiously, trying to remember any detail that might help her.
She could not. She felt herself breaking. She wanted to cry. But she wouldn't allow it. She was alive. And that meant there was a chance. Suddenly she remembered something. The surgical lasers! They could, with a little modification and a lot of power, act the same as a message laser. There was one problem however. She had no equipment to encode a message. And if the Drakh happen to be in the area still they could pick it up and come back to finish the job.
She smiled at that. Fat chance. They didn't think there was anything left worth the effort. She was determined to make that a bad assumption.
But there was another problem. The laser was limited by physics. It traveled at the speed of light. At that rate it would take about six months to reach the nearest outpost. Unless it ran across an open jump point. And out here the odds were against that. Still, it beat just sitting and waiting to die. She began the modifications. She didn't even notice the tears that had begun running down her cheeks.
  

                                          CHAPTER  TWO
On board the Delsar, Al Gauge leaned back in the pilot's chair. The board read clear and there was really nothing to do so he did nothing. It was easy enough. In the ten years he'd had this ship, and made the courier runs, (and other things), he'd never run across anything that gave him a problem. When something threatened him he could generally outrun it. And more than likely out fly it.
"Doc" Monroe came into the control room with a pair of coffee cups. Coffee was at a premium since Earth was under quarantine. Fortunately he had stashes on a dozen worlds. Usually ones where the holders of the stash either had no idea what it was or couldn't stand the taste. Made it easier to keep them away from it.
"Here you go. Coffee, cream and sugar. How long until we make Denvar?"
 "About twelve hours. Assuming we don't decide to push it. Then we could be there in about eight."
Doc shook his head. "It's amazing what this little bastard can do. And I helped you build that damn engine."
"It's all in the power source. If Proxima military or Earth force or any of the corporations knew what it could do we'd never get a minute of peace until they got it. And I don't see them caring how."
"Yeah. Of course we could save them the trouble and just sell them the formula. Couple of million credits but we could learn to live with it."
Gauge grinned. Doc was kidding and he knew it. The reality of what he felt about Earth force or the military in general, was that he would sooner burn the ship then let them get their hands on it. And as far as the corporations were concerned, he'd sooner fly it into the nearest sun. He knew because it was the same way he felt.
He hadn't always felt this way. Once he'd been the typical officer in Earth Force. Then Clark had driven the whole world to the brink. And another crazy man named Sheridan stopped him. That had been bad enough but then they had railroaded him out of the Force. He had screwed 'em on that but they never forgot those that tried to stand with him. Himself included.
By the time they were done he was on the short list of people to hate in the Force. Even after Sheridan became the President of the Alliance several of the major powers formed, they still hounded those who stood up for him. Except the ones he watched. They survived okay. But the ones who just believed in what he did, and were unfortunate enough to be serving under someone who didn't caught eight degrees of hell.
He had for as long as he could take it. Then one day he decided he'd had enough and resigned his commission. Since then he'd been flying his modified fighter through space on a hundred different missions for various, rich clients. And in the process made a couple of fortunes worth of credits.
Yet they stayed in space mostly between worlds. Always on the hunt for some kind of score. They had more than enough money the three of them. Even Molim, their froglike  Caldaren handyman  made more in a month than most officers could in a year. Short and powerfully build like all his people, he was considered strong among them. So much so the ones in charge decided he was a threat to their regime. Especially since he and his father had spoken so vehemently against them. So much so he had been forced into exile. But he had made a few trips home. Nothing had changed. And he was sure that nothing would. The people were not happy but they weren't that bad off. So they didn't feel it was a necessity to rebel. So they simply let things go on the way they were. And Molim and his father, Klunler were forgotten after a few years.
In the interim, Molim had hooked up with Gauge and Doc. A very profitable relationship as he had made several times what he could have had he stayed on his world. He thought about going back and trying again to guide his world away from what the bastards in charge would have it be, but then he thought, why? People were happy or at least not unhappy. He could go anywhere, so why go fight a fight that no one really wanted? So he stayed with Gauge and Doc and made money hand over fist. They could afford to live anywhere.
Yet each of them hung around to see what happened next. And they were seldom disappointed, especially since Earth had been infected by the Drakh plague. There had been dozens of requests to break the quarantine, in either direction. The money had been good, but no amount would have been enough to make any of them take that kind of chance.
They had done a fair amount of business delivering supplies to ships in the outlands searching for a cure. Special equipment, chemicals and the like, all at premium prices. Even the corporations chipped in.
They had made a dozen trips to catch up to one ship in particular. The Alliance destroyer Excalibur. The first time he'd seen the ship he was awed. He'd made friends with several of the engineers on their second trip, just so he could see the way the ships workings. And they were more than proud to show them. If they'd only known that the little ship moored off the aft section of this behemoth, was a match for it in speed. And more.
After he'd left he tried to talk Doc into letting them in on some of the secrets they'd found. They needed every advantage. Earth needed every advantage. And they had one that no one else had. If they had the Irridinium fusion power that the Delsar had they could easily double the territory they could cover, giving them a better chance.
Doc had been adamant. "No chance. We give it to them and it'll end up in the hands of Earth Force. Which means it'll be in corporate arsenal before the year is out."
"I think we could trust Gideon. I knew him a little back in the Earth Force. He's a bit of a rogue. That means that the only thing he has is his word."
"Even if he does, it'd take at least two months to refit that ship. And then there'd be another month of tests to make sure it integrates right. And Lord knows how it would affect the way everything on that ship worked."
He'd given up then. Even though the idea of the Irridinium power source was his idea and he had done just as much to develop it, Doc still had final say. He always had.
So they made runs to the Excalibur and a dozen other Earth force ships. Until one day they came to deliver some medical supplies. They were in the landing bay when a conduit, damaged by one battle or another, had let go. The explosion knocked two deckhands out and pinned a third one to a wall. Gauge had jumped over the wreckage and pried him loose. Then he pulled him to safety just as a second explosion went off.
He woke up in a med lab. Somewhere in the distance he could hear people arguing.
"Little girl I don't care if you been playing doctor all your life he needs to have more oxygen in the mixture."
"What for?"
 "Because I said so, dammit!" Doc was clearly losing it. Looked like it was time to break up this love fest. He swung his feet off the side of the gurney and sat up.
 "You know, the bedside manner in this place sucks. You two should consider marriage. Then at least people would expect the yelling."
The entire room stopped moving. It was then he noticed the doctor that Doc was arguing with. And it was his turn to freeze.
She was tall. In heels she might have even caught his six foot three. But it was the rest of her that stopped him. She was bigger than the average woman but in such a way that made her even more attractive. Her face was what he found the most fascinating. She was easily the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Especially those eyes. They were deep brown pools with the hint of an almond shape on the edges. Her face was angular but not severe. And there was just a hint of a cleft in her chin from just the right angle.
He was standing there now, staring. Suddenly he realized that she was staring back, and both of them looked away, embarrassed.
"Told you all he needed was more oxygen in his air."
 Both of them took a second to look at him before Gauge told him, "Shut up Doc. I apologize for him. He means well but…"
She cut him off. "Never mind him, you get back in that bed. We have no idea what's wrong inside of you!”
He started to protest when the room began to spin. Apparently she knew more than he had given her credit for. Doc was in motion before he had started to drop. Two guards that had been assigned to these interlopers moved to intercept him. Big mistake. Doc had been practicing Ten-chi for nearly forty years just for fun. These two thought that this little old man would be no problem to subdue. It took less than three seconds for them to realize they'd made a major blunder. And he was still in time to catch Gauge.
That was how he'd met Sarah chambers. After Doc had placed him back on the bed, she had run in, all the while telling the two soldiers, who were getting to their feet, to get out of the way. They were mumbling about having to keep an eye on these two. Doc glared at them.
"If you want to watch, fine but I am not going anywhere." The finality of Doc's statement ended any further discussion. Meanwhile, Doctor Chambers was trying to figure out why Gauge had collapsed.
"Lie still. Run the standard…" Gauge grabbed her hand, cutting her off. "I think Doc might've been right about the oxygen." She looked down at him and caught her breath. She could see his chest heave as if he was having trouble breathing but nothing had shown up on the preliminary scans.
"What's wrong? Do you know?" Gauge couldn't help but wonder if the concern he heard in her voice was the same for every one or if he was really detecting something else? Something more?
He was rapidly losing it now. Doc again saved the day by breaking in. "He has Dayton's syndrome. Thank your boys at Earth force. Now give him the hundred percent oxygen before he goes into shock.
She looked at him blankly. Dayton's syndrome was a result of experiments done, by Earth force among others, to genetically enhance humans. But that had been a hundred years ago. She looked down at the huge man lying on her table as she gave him the oxygen he'd requested. He was huge but his body was chiseled as though he spent every day in a gym. He was dark as an old penny, with fine down like hair on his chest. She looked at his face and was shocked to see a faint darkening that signaled lack of oxygen. His nostrils were huge even for a black man, and they flared every time he breathed.
Placing a mask over his face, she leaned in as she saw his lips move. Placing her ear next to them she heard him say, "I'll be all right in a minute." She stood up and looked down at him. He was right. Dayton's syndrome was fatal if you didn't stop it. Fortunately all that required was oxygen for about a minute. That was the failing of the experiment. The subjects needed so much oxygen they literally suffocated in regular air. But this man was not old enough to have been part of that madness.
Turning to doc as she held his hand, she asked, "How did this happen? He can't be that old… can he?" 
 Doc just shook his head. "His grandfather was one of the original participants in the damn thing. And the first to get stuck with it. He just got it passed down to him. Just like his father. He had it real bad. Used to get attacks so often he carried a purifier around with him. He'd have attacks and grab that thing, suck on it for a minute or so and keep on stepping. He just has 'em when he gets bounced around too much."
"If you had told me that I wouldn't have argued with you."
"Yeah, but I was trying to get the oxygen in before he went into the full state.”
While they talked he had laid there quietly, holding her hand. Her skin felt soft against his. Soft and warm. She turned and looked at him as he sat up and removed the mask. "See, all better. Now if I could get your bill we'll be on our way." 
"You will need to be watched for at least twelve hours. At least!" 
Hearing the determination in her voice, Gauge decided the argument wasn't worth it. "Oh well I can always use some sleep. Doc can you handle the rest of the unloading?"
"I can get Molim to help me while the ship holds position, no problem. You lie there and make the lady happy." He threw a wink at Gauge who looked embarrassed by it. Realizing he still had her hand he snatched away. 
And was surprised by the hurt look on her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you," leaning into her he whispered, "but I'm already gonna hear about this for weeks. It's been a long time since I held anybody's hand that wasn't trying to kill me."
"Well in twelve hours you can get up and walk out of here, and never see any of us again."
"Hey that wasn't what I meant. Truth is if I could spend the rest of the week lying here holding your hand, I wouldn't mind a bit." 
She smiled then. And Gauge smiled back. Suddenly aware of her surroundings again she became the Doctor again. "If you're good we'll see what the mess hall has. More than likely, it won't be up to your standards…
"You don't know my standards. That's why I have Molim on the ship. He's a great handy man and a very good cook. When I get out of here you should try it." Looking around in a fair approximation of a conspirator's whisper she said. "That might be nice." Not a woman to hide behind formalities or coyness, she squeezed his hand. Gauge was surprised. The signs said she was an available woman, but the reality didn't add up. The woman was too gorgeous to be alone. After she went to tend to another patient, Gauge had laid back and dreamed of that smile. He was just about to drift off to sleep when his personal comm went off.
"Al, we need to be heading out as soon as you can tear yourself away from that doctor's claws."
"That could be a problem, Doc. I just asked her out to dinner." He added to himself, "I think."
"You know you're heading for trouble with this girl. She's Earth force. And that means she's as good as being a corporate stooge." Doc's hatred of the corporate world was legend to anyone who knew him but he had an unjustifiable hatred of Earth force as well.
"Doc, you gotta give it a rest. If there's nobody left but us, than we already lost. If there's no good left here, where the whole goal is to save lives, to save a world, then there really is no point to anything, is there?"
He could hear the sigh over the comm. "You are just as headstrong as your father. They ran you out of Earth force and you still chase after them like a puppy." Gauge could hear the joking tone of his voice, but he knew that on some level he meant every word. He'd never change. And of late, he seemed to be getting worse. Checking the clock on the wall, he quipped, "In just over ten hours, I get out of here. In less than eleven she gets off. And then I won't be chasing Earth force, just her."
Doc gave up then. "Well if you get lucky I don't want to know about it. I guarantee you will live to regret it." With that he'd broken the connection.
Gauge lay back once more. “Poor Doc” he thought. He'd hated too long. Guess it was up to him to make up for it. He looked up at the clock. Less than ten hours left. Then he could see her. What happened then he didn't know but he was eager to find out.
When his ten hours was up he got up and dressed. Washing his face in the bathroom he walked out and nearly ran over Dr. Chambers rushing down the hall. "Ooh! I am sorry. I have an emergency. I don't know if I can keep our little appointment."
Gauge was not to be put off so easily. "I can wait. I will wait. If you want me to that is."
"It may be a while."
"I think you're worth waiting for." She stopped and looked at him just for a moment, then she smiled again. "I guess I'll see you when I get done."
 "Yes, you will." Gauge had said with finality.
He stood off to the side and watched as she gave orders to her team. There had been another accident in the storage bays. The ship had obviously been through hell but with no time for proper repairs or maintenance, damage was beginning to accumulate. They needed to give the ship a month in space dock, but with Earth's existence hanging in the balance they were not getting the chance any time soon. And more people were going to get hurt like this. “Oh well” he thought to himself, “at least they had a very good doctor.”
He watched as she turned from one to the other, her brow furrowed in concentration. An incredibly formidable woman with brains and beauty to spare. For a moment he felt inadequate to be even attempting to try and talk to her. With a near start he realized he was beyond that. He wanted her yes, but not just for the fleeting moments he had between jobs. He looked at her and realized he wanted more from this fantastic woman than he had ever wanted from anyone he'd ever known. And more than that, he wanted it all.
This was stupid. He had just met the woman and now he was thinking about a future in the midst of the most madness he had ever seen. "Keep it simple stupid. Just let things happen the way they do and see how it goes."
He stood and watched her save the arm on one man as the rest of her doctors removed shards of glass from the face of another. It took nearly an hour. When she was done, she looked tired, but happy. Looking into her eyes, Gauge could see her love for her job. Almost against his will he wondered if she could care about anything else as much.
She had transferred the lab to the night shift, then she turned and seemed to search for something in the direction he had been. It took him a moment to realize she was looking for him. He stepped forward from the far side where he had been watching. Before she saw him he could see the look on her face. She looked dejected and hurt. The sight made him ache. He felt stupid for it but he thought to himself that she should never look that way. Ever. And never about him.
"Over here, Doctor. I was just watching you work. And admiring."
"Sorry I took so long, but that's the way of the job." She was smiling now. And Gauge found himself lost in that smile. And the look she was giving him.
"It's a little late to have a big dinner. Usually I just get something from the mess hall and take it to my quarters. If your friend isn't up to cooking we could do the same, provided you think you can stomach our fare."
"I think it would be nice." With that they had left and walked to the mess hall, talking all the way, oblivious to the rest of the hall's occupants. After they'd gotten a couple of plates of the day's special they had headed to Sarah Chambers' quarters, still engrossed in small talk. By the time they had arrived however, the talk had turned to more personal topics. So much so that by the time they had reached her door, they both felt they were kidding themselves about why they were there.
As she ran her card through the reader, Gauge reached out and caught her hand again. She jumped, nearly dropping her plate. 
He caught it, saying, "Careful. We may need that. Later." She had looked up at him then. And the gamut of emotions he saw in her eyes was startling. Fear, longing, pain, all flashed though them as she reached out and touched his face. And as he responded, leaning down he brushed her lips with his. The barest touch at first, then more insistently. She allowed him to kiss her. Passively, at first but quickly becoming more active, pressing herself against him as she returned the kiss with equal passion.
Suddenly she stopped, realizing they were in a hall. Looking around she motioned him into the room. Once inside she felt a need to talk, to explain. Gauge did not share it. Putting the plates down, he  pulled her into his arms almost roughly, engulfing her mouth with a kiss. At first she seemed to resist the roughness of his treatment but then she began to respond as before, only more urgently. She knew it was insane. She'd just met this man today and already he was in her room. And she was not just willing; she wanted him just as much. Maybe more.
Putting the plates down, Gauge looked at this magnificent woman and took a deep breath… for both of them it had been too long. 
There were no words for what he felt then. It was longing, anticipation and hope all rolled into one. Slowly he drew her to him as he pulled slowly at her clothes, not to take them off but to let his hands roam over her bare skin, gliding softly over her back and shoulders. 
She in turn found herself breathing harder as she felt the hands massage her inside her shirt. She slipped out of her shoes, lowering herself slightly so Gauge had had to reach down to nuzzle and suck on her neck. He did so with gusto, playfully nipping at her as he did, drawing little gasps from her more and more easily. 
In the moment fully now, Gauge suddenly slipped his hands under her bottom to lift her up as easily as he would a child. She felt awed by his strength as he carried her to the bed. Once there he continued to shower her neck with kisses as his hands began to explore her in earnest now, every motion matched by one of her own. 
She had few real inhibitions save her work ethic. To her, as to most these days, sex was something that was considered a gift, given to someone because one or both of the wanted it. Her problem at the moment was simply deciding who it was for. 
Her eyes closed, she felt hands reach up to her bra. With a deftness she found refreshing and disturbing at the same time she realized he had opened it so smoothly she had no idea when he had. A fleeting thought as she then realized she didn’t care when he raised her shirt suddenly dropped his lips to one of her now exposed nipples. 
Gauge had given up thinking, preferring to act on instinct as he let his tongue slide around the  chocolate colored areolas, each motion drawing a louder gasp from her almost constantly now.
She felt his hand drop lower, as if testing her conviction to the moment. For a second she wanted to stop him, not to keep him from reaching his goal but to prolong the exquisite sensations he was giving her already. To her surprise though, he had no intention of stopping as his hands again displayed their dexterity, undoing her pants with a quick and fluid motion that again disturbed her slightly. He was too smooth not to be well versed in what he was doing, and that led to questions she didn’t want to think about just then. 
Almost without thinking, she felt her hips rise to accommodate his advances. She had lost whatever control she had at that point. Pushing him off of her, she stood up quickly and removed her clothing so quickly she literally frightened herself, thinking all the while, “What Am I doing? He’ll either think I’m a whore or desperate.” Her mind seemed to work of its own accord as she thought to herself in answer simply, “Right now I am!”
 Naked, she watched as he stood as well matching her speed in disrobing and reaching out for her again. As he again began raining kisses on her, her breath now coming in ragged gasps that did little to fulfill her need for oxygen she wondered which description she had answered.
As they lay down together on the bed, she realized that at that moment, they were both fairly true. And that she really didn’t care.
 
Later he became aware of movement in the bed beside him. Not moving, he slit his eyes to see Sarah leaning over him. It took him a moment to realize she was crying. His eyes flew open, startling her. She moved back quickly. "Oh. I didn't mean to wake you. I was just…" she turned her head so as not to let him see her face. He reached out and pulled her to him. She came willingly.
"Getting woke up by you is something I could get used to very easily." She smiled through tears as she pulled away. Her voice was trembling. "You say all the right things so easily. I can't help wondering how much time you spend practicing."
He raised himself on an elbow so he could look her in the eyes. "If this is the result, I'd say just enough. But don't think I make this a habit either. I spend most of my time with Doc and Molim on the Delsar. I don't generally get to spend time with any women, let alone one of your caliber."
She dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry. I just… don't know. I haven't been with a man for nearly two years. It wasn't lack of opportunity just lack of interest. My work had held me up and when Earth was infected…"
She turned away then, fighting tears. "My sister is down there. And her daughter too. They're sitting there waiting like everyone else for someone to find a way to stop this. I'm supposed to be one of the ones looking but I haven't accomplished a thing yet. And time is running out. For them and all the other people down there. And I…"
He grabbed her by the arms then and looked into her eyes. "You are not alone. Lots of people I know have relatives down there. And lots are looking for a way to stop it. At least you get to do something. Most just sit around waiting like your sister, helpless." He hugged her then. And she buried her face in his chest. After another few seconds of crying she pushed him back.
"Yes I get to do something. And I was. Then you show up. And all of a sudden I'm like a schoolgirl. "
She looked disgusted and he could tell it was with herself not him. Still, it angered him.
"I can't tell you what you should feel, but know this. I didn't expect this, but I do not regret it either. And I think you don't either. So don't feel guilty about it." He let go then, swinging his legs off the bed, reaching for his clothes. "I'm sorry if I made you think about things you didn't want to. If it caused you pain, I apologize. I guess I should g…"
"Don't go. Please." Her voice had a pleading quality that made his heart hurt. Throwing down his clothes he gathered her up in his arms and soothed her like a baby as she broke down in sobs again.
"I don't want you to go. I just don't know what to do. Or how to do it. I wasn't ready for this this morning when I got up. And I'm still not.
"There's nothing to get ready for lady."
He'd held her then. And she'd let him. For a long time, they said nothing. Simply drinking in each other's presence. And that soon led to another of passion.
 When her alarm went off the next morning she was almost afraid to look and see if the night before had been real or just a dream. She looked behind her to find nothing, and for a moment she felt a pang of loss that she understood but couldn't fathom. It was just sex. Wonderful sex but just sex nonetheless. He's probably already left and gone on to some other woman he has on another ship somewhere. She cursed herself for expecting more. Then she had swung her feet to the floor, taken a deep breath and smiled. He had been good. And she needed the relief. She was still making excuses when her door opened and he walked in carrying a tray that looked overloaded.
"Oh you're up. Good. Molim had a fit when I didn't show up last night for dinner so I had him whip us up some breakfast. Hope you like eggs and bacon."
She was dumbfounded. And, she realized suddenly, starving. "How do you get real eggs out here?" 
"Our last delivery was a whole bay of livestock. Chickens lay wherever they are so we wound up with dozens of eggs. We're down to the last few now so I just had him cook all of them. Hope you're hungry."
"Famished." She'd said grinning slyly. "But the eggs can wait."
                                                         ****
That had been how he had met Dr. Sarah Chambers. Doc was still fuming about the fact that he had gotten so close to a member of Earth Force, but as Gauge said, "She's the only good thing I've found in longer than I can remember. Don't make it a choice Doc, you might not win.'
They made no pretense about how things would work. When Gauge made a delivery he would spend the night at Sarah's. They didn't let the rest of her shipmates know what was going on because they really weren't sure what was going on. Just that they were going to go as far as they could.
Sarah was still trying to find the cure for the Drakh plague, and Gauge was still delivering to starships that were transporting her and others like her. So for the moment, things were as they would be until something changed them.
That something had been the Drakh.
Sarah leaned against the wall. She had done all she knew. Now she was trusting to luck it would work. What was left of her computer had given her an angle to fire the laser at but she had to wait until the ship drifted to the right position. Then she'd fire the laser through the reception portal into space. If she had the angle right it would at least get close to the planet Denvar. With luck someone would detect it. If not it would be a long time before it found another target, not that it mattered. She'd probably be dead long before it reached Denvar. Unless it happened to run across a ship.
In the back of her mind she hoped that the ship it hit would be the Delsar. She ached to see Al again. She knew the chances were one in a billion, but it didn't stop her from hoping. The temperature was dropping faster now. She wondered if she could last long enough to get rescued, but put the thought out of her mind. She had to survive. For her sister, Jennie, for Earth. For Al. She thought about him the last time she had seen him. He was as always loving and attentive. But she could always feel the pain just outside of their world when she was with him. He seemed so wounded. Yet he doted on her as though she needed the pampering. She enjoyed it but mainly because it made him so happy.
Now, as she set the laser to fire on automatic, she thought about the last moments of his last visit. She wanted to tell him she loved him but dismissed it as being caught up in the moment. For a second she considered writing him a note, but decided to hold off. There was still a chance. Writing the note would be a sign of giving up.
She sighed as the laser triggered and sat down wrapping herself in some blankets from the gurneys. She could do nothing now but wait. And hope someone other than the Drakh heard her message
                                                         ****
At Denvar, the Delsar sat patiently in orbit. While inside Al Gauge was having the same argument he'd been having for months.
"Doc, when she gets here I plan to spend the night on board the Excalibur again. That is just how it is."
Doc snorted. "So you think you're going to tame her? Her kind is married to her work. All you are is a distraction boy. And as soon as the novelty wears off she'll drift away."
"She might. Or maybe I'll get lucky and she'll keep me around as a pet." He grinned at that. "Either way I win."
"You just ask for trouble, you know that? Knowing Earth Force, they probably already gave her orders to drop your ass. You know they…"
"Here we go. You're starting to bore the hell of me with this. Whatever happens will happen. What happened to you Doc? You were always deadest against Earth Force and the Corporations, but when did happiness become a crime in your world? We spend our lives between stars and that's been great but this girl makes me think there could be more. And I want it. I want her!"
Doc's face seemed to soften somewhat. It seemed there was a conflict in him. Gauge wondered what was going on. Doc was never a stable sort, but lately he had been all but unbearable. Even Molim, who talked less than a broken vid player had taken to avoiding him when he had one of his moments.
Just as the thought was running through his mind, Molim began shouting that someone was shooting at Denvar. "Can feel energy. Not much. Don't see how they can think they hurt someone with that. Must be out of range. Still they shoot, no question."
Now what the hell was going on? "Molim, see if you can get Denvar control on line. Find out what's going on." 
A dark feeling crept over Gauge. They had been waiting for five hours that they shouldn't have. The Excalibur was late. Not the first time but before this they had always contacted them to tell them they'd be late. Gideon was like that. He hated waiting so he was loath to make anyone wait on his account. He felt that the least he could do was tell the person he was on the way. This time there had been nothing.
Molim began talking to the control center. Meanwhile Gauge began checking sensors to see if he could find out anything.
It was just as Molim had said. The beam had come from space but its power was minimal. It had no destructive ability. It wouldn't have hurt much if it struck man's chest. Maybe just a little burn or something. What caught Gauge's eye was the pattern. It was detectable but more than that, it was predictable. After a few moments it faded, becoming lost in the background noise. Gauge was angry with himself for not recording the event. Suddenly it occurred to him that Denvar would have done just that. Standard operational procedure.
They had no trouble getting Denvar control to play it back and let them get a copy of it. They probably thought they were nuts to want it but something tugged at Gauge. It didn't feel right. Too many things off. Too many coincidences, all of which added up to a feeling that there was trouble somewhere that affected them. Or worse, her.
He had no explanation. But the feeling persisted and grew with each passing second. It was a thousand to one that it had anything to do with her, with the Excalibur, or anything else. Yet somehow, his feeling that something wrong was afoot pressed hard on his mind. So much so that he found himself rushed and shaking. Doc was the exact opposite. "What do you think, this has something to do with your lady friend? Relax. More than likely it's just some ass playing around with something and screwed up. What do you think, the whole galaxy rotates around that whore?"
Gauge didn't even really know he had done it until Doc got up off the floor. His left hand stung from the force of the blow he'd landed. All his adult life he'd looked up to the man. He'd taken him in when there was no one else to do it. He couldn't really say he'd loved him because he wasn't sure Doc loved anybody, but he'd never mistreated him. Nor had he ever said a truly bad word about anyone. The idea had always seemed wrong to him and he'd instilled that same hatred of talking behind someone's back in Gauge. But the sound of him calling Sarah a whore had triggered a response he didn't know he was capable of. He wanted to help him up, to say how sorry he was but the truth was he wasn't.
He knew Doc was trying to keep him away from Sarah. But he also knew it only made him feel more protective of his relationship with her.
Now he could hear himself talking. "Doc, I don't know if you're drunk or getting stupid in your old age, but if you ever talk about her like that again, you better have a gun in your hand or I swear I'll kill you where you stand."
Molim came on the bridge just in time to hear the last of it. He rushed toward Doc but he waved him off. "All right boy." Doc said as he rubbed his jaw. "You made your point. Your lady friend is off limits. But that still doesn't change what I said. This is just a coincidence. What, you think she's sending you coded…"
Doc stopped suddenly and furrowed his brow. He became a picture of concentration for a moment. Then he turned suddenly and began playing back the recording of the laser cutting through the ether. The laser had caused a disruption in the normal static and background noise, making the normal static fade in and out like a pulse. But this pulse had a pattern. And Doc recognized it. He stood at the console, isolating the sound then playing it over and over again. After the fourth time he shut down the recorder and turned to Gauge. "That's an old distress code from old Earth. Three dots, three dashes, and three dots again. That's the standard. It means S.O.S. But this one has another letter in it. The way I hear it is S.O.S.S."
 Gauge almost exploded. "Distress call. From where?" 
Doc seemed confused for a moment but he recovered quickly. "How the hell should I know? But whoever it is had dome knowledge of old Earth history. That kind of code isn't used much anymore, what with all the auto distress beacons and such every ship carries today."
Doc was more like his old self for the moment, but Gauge barely noticed as the sinking feeling in his stomach suddenly turned to lead. If the S.O.S. meant trouble what was the other S? He had heard of the code of course. It was still on the books, but like Doc had said no one used it anymore. But the extra "S" was a mystery.
For a second he stared at the floor trying to make sense of it. Then suddenly, suddenly he knew. There was no way it could be, no way. But he knew it was.
It was from her. She was in trouble. He knew it somehow.
"We need to go." Doc looked at him. He knew as well. He had already begun plotting the reverse course of the laser beam to try and find the source. "We're not going to be the only ones to figure that out. They're going to warn us away." "Let 'em. We just developed comm trouble."


                                                       CHAPTER THREE
Sarah looked at the readout on the console. The temperature was down to five degrees. She was wrapped in everything she could find but it wasn't enough. She was still freezing. In an hour the temperature would be well below zero. A couple of hours after that, she couldn't say. She knew she didn't have long. The techs hadn't looked over to see her in an hour and she wondered their fate. She checked the room again for warm spots and found one slightly warmer at the far end of the room. She curled up in it pulling her legs under her to conserve body heat. Finding another pair of blankets and a flashlight, she covered up and pulled a pen and paper from the pocket of the med coat she was wearing. Wiping her eyes, she began to write.
Half an hour was all it had taken to reach the co-ordinates. And less than a second to realize there was nothing there. Gauge couldn't understand it. The signal had come from this location, and if they were in trouble they should still be near here. Unless they had had to run. Which made no sense if they were in bad enough shape for someone to send a distress signal. Turning to Doc, he said, "Any thoughts on what the hell is going on?"
He looked, as Doc seemed to grimace, "Whatever the hell it is, it don't look good. There looks like there was some kind of rift here. One of those residual types that happens when the jump engines malfunction. Usually after the ship has sustained some damage. Some real severe damage."
Molim had come up from the engine room. He was worried as well. He liked Sarah Chambers. And he liked the way Gauge was after he was with her for a few hours. He was not much on conversation but he had spoken to her on several occasions when she had come on board the Delsar. If she was in trouble, he knew Gauge wouldn't rest until he found her. And he was sure Doc would help, even if he acted like he didn't care.
But now he was more worried about Doc than Sarah. For months he had seemed to be almost dueling with Gauge about her, the ship and their missions. It was like he was trying to get Gauge to drop the partnership. It made no sense but it was the only thing he could think of that made sense. Only that made no sense either. He had watched them for two years, as they had fought everything that they had come up against. They were not like father and son but they were close. Too close to act as they had for the last few months. Sarah had been the cause according to Doc, but to him it seemed to be something else. Something darker.
All this was an issue for another time however. As now they were hunting the source of the laser transmission. It was almost as though somehow they were being pulled out here to find whatever it was out here. It was beginning to scare him. And he didn't scare easy.
But he knew that as long as Gauge thought there was a chance she was in danger, he'd fly through a nova if he had to. He'd seen the look in his eyes every time he talked about her. Doc had no answer for that. What bothered him was that if anything Doc should have been happier than anyone for him. But he seemed to be at odds with the world over her. And himself.
But for now he was working with Gauge to find the source of the laser. Like the old Doc.
He even sounded like the old Doc as he said, "Near as I can tell, there was some ship went through here that was leaking bad enough to cause this rift. I think it'd been in a fight. If so we should be able to track the trail it left." 
Gauge was nearly physically sick with worry. "Do it. Fast!"
The Delsar was equipped with the best sensors money could buy. It took less than five minutes to pick the trail out of the background noise. It led back into hyperspace. That meant trouble. The gravity whorls and eddies would disperse the trail unless they moved quickly.
Gauge was about to trigger the jump engines when Doc stopped him. "Make the jump here and we'll probably splatter the trail over half a sector. Best head out and come back to it. From the look of it, it'll last at least that long."
Gauge said nothing, turning his attention to piloting the ship, spinning it away from the trail so as not to disturb it. Suddenly the comm line crackled to life. "This is Denvar command to Delsar. Stand down and explain yourself. Your abrupt departure has raised many questions. Particularly about this transmission that…"
Gauge cut them off. Not so much by any technological means as by the tone of his voice when he answered. "We think the transmission came from the Excalibur. We think she's in trouble, or worse. We can track a trail left by what looks like a damaged ship that might have had something to do with it."
"You have sensors equal to the task?" The Captain of the ship was surprised. The ship did not look that capable but then they had left them in atmosphere when they took off, so its speed was definitely above the caliber they were used to dealing with. "If you wish, we can accompany you. The Excalibur is a beauty. And what they hunt for is noble. We would like to assist if we can."
Gauge was surprised. He'd expected a lecture on letting the proper authorities handle the situation. He didn't waste any more time thinking about why. "I'll keep a signal on for you to follow. Get there when you can. Don't make your jump from here though. Head out a few thousand kilometers and then jump. You'll find my signal."
                                                        ****
On the hulk of the Excalibur, Sarah had finished her note and placed it in her pocket. When they found her body at least Al would know she thought of him. And in the other pocket were the data crystals with the new information that they had fought so hard to find. She held out little hope of surviving now. The temperature was at least twenty below now and falling rapidly now. She didn't have much time left. She was sure her idea had failed but they might find the data in time to save Earth.
            What she feared most was what her death would do to Al. She felt like he would survive, but the torture he would go through was hellish at best. It was strange. She was about to die and she was thinking about a man she had only known for a few months and how it would affect him. She had tried to think about other things but her mind had drifted back to him every time. Now as she drifted off for what she feared would be the last time. She realized why. And felt foolish for having waited so long before telling him. Now she realized she would never get the chance. Her heart ached. She looked over at the temperature gauge. Thirty below now. She could feel herself fighting sleep. Her hands going numb. She rubbed them together, then dabbed at her eyes. Suddenly, she heard or rather, felt, a bump.
Gauge had made the trip in record time pushing the Delsar to near its limit. Doc had said nothing, merely sitting behind his console, grimacing every so often. Gauge had no idea what was wrong and Doc was not forthcoming with any information on the subject. And he had more pressing things on his mind.
Like the scene he saw when he came out of hyperspace. 
The Excalibur. Burning in places, wrecked in others. There had been a battle here all right. And she had lost, but she did not go gentle into that good night. Floating wreckage of what looked like alien ships was testimony to that.
And in tribute to the engineers who had built her she held her form. There were several pockets of air still inside of her. Places where people could still be alive. Gauge hated himself for thinking it, but his main thought was she could be alive. She had to be. Running a scanning beam over the med-lab he was ecstatic to find a life sign. The armor was too heavy for him to tell if it was her but he could fix that in a few minutes. "Doc, hold position here. When the Denvar rescue team shows up send them after my signal. I'm going in… Doc? DOC!"
Doc was leaning his head down, chin on his chest. Gauge recognized the breathing exercises. What he didn't recognize was the face of the man who looked up at him. Twisted and straining, he said through clenched teeth. "Give me the bag by the door. Quick!" Molim had come in again and heard the order. Grabbing the bag he jumped to Doc, who reached in and pulled out what looked like a stim. But instead of shooting himself in the wrist, he went straight for the neck. After a second, his face relaxed only to convulse again even worse this time. Then this too passed. At least for the most part. The pain was still evident on his face. He stared at Gauge for a second, and then said, "I don't know how long I can last after that one. Been using a hemlock derivative to keep it at bay but it makes for some real bad times. There's a disk in my quarters, along with a will and some plans to some new gear I was working on before…"he took a ragged breath. "before I got this thing in me. Don't know what it is but it tried to make me turn over secrets. I used to use mind control to keep it in check but it got too strong. Before it could take over completely I managed to find the hemlock solution. Keeps it paralyzed. But it kept getting stronger, trying to make me tell it things, trying to make me do things. But I held it off! Only now it's too strong. The dosage I need to stop it is too much for me to take. That's why I been losing it on you for the last few months. I'm sorry. I can't fight it anymore."
             "DOC!" Gauge tried to grab his friend but he pulled away.
 "Don't! You can't help me! But you can still save your girl." He grinned then, a wicked sly one. "The part of me that's still me knew what was in store the first time I saw you look at her. And when she looked back I knew what it meant.” The old man looked dead tired but he could see for the first time the kind of happiness he had always wanted to see from him. He went on quickly. 
“Wanted to tell you how glad I was for you but it fought me down. It was like it didn't want me to let you know, I guess. I don't know why. Now you need to go. The disk will explain everything."
"But Doc, I can't just leave you here ..." Gauge felt like he was drowning. The only father he'd known for twenty years was in front of him, dying, while the woman he loved was on a burning wreck possibly dead or dying. He had to go but he couldn't.
It was Molim's turn to rescue him now. "You go Gauge! I stay with Doc. Make sure he okay! You go save pretty lady. Go! Go!"
Gauge stood, still unsure for a moment. Then turned and ran for the shuttle. Doc was dying. Gauge knew that. And he also knew there was nothing he could do. He hated the feeling that brought. But he also knew she could be dying too and he might be able to stop that. He had to try.
Once he'd reached the shuttle, he thought of what he might need. He thought of it like a rescue on an asteroid. If they were in as bad a shape as he thought, they might not be able to do much to help themselves. Pulling open the equipment locker, he took a moment to gather his thoughts, he then grabbed a survival bubble. Designed by Doc, it was a two-meter round plastic bubble with a frame and a heating unit. Placed inside, the person was safe from the ravages of space.
Grabbing four of the units he started for the shuttle when the thought hit him. He had detected another group of people that seemed to be across from her, probably on the other side of a hall if he remembered the way the ship was laid out.  Between the two groups was a vacuum. The only way to get to both was that hall, but those doors would never open while the sensors were picking up the vacuum. And if he blew one open, it would more than likely kill everyone inside. 
Couldn't risk that. But maybe if he could get a wall set up, using the bubbles he could get enough air in the area to get the doors to open. Grabbing a half a dozen more he threw them into the shuttle. Suddenly his comm came on.
It was Molim ."Hurry up Gauge. Temperature over there is about five below and dropping. They not last long in that. Air not good either."
"Gotcha! How's Doc?" The line went silent for a few seconds. "Doc dead. Went quiet right after you leave. Not woke up."
For the first time in nearly twenty years Gauge wanted to cry, but he knew there was no time. And no way to wipe his eyes inside the helmet of the EVA suit. He had the rest of his life to grieve, but only minutes save whoever was on that ship. As he worked he prayed silently, "Please God, no more today. Please, let me pull this off."
Blinking back tears, he went through the list of what he might need. Bubbles, oxygen, med kit with painkillers and stims. He was ready.
As he flew the shuttle out of he bay the Denvar Patrol ship finally arrived. The Captain had been more than impressed by the Delsar's speed. Now as he saw the shape the Excalibur was in, he felt sick. He had been on the ship on two occasions and was equally thrilled both times. Now he was watching her death throes. Sighting the small shuttle heading for it, he signaled over the comm.
"What can we do to assist? We have standard rescue gear and specialists in inter-ship rescue operations."
"Stand by. I'll assess the situation and advise. Scan for any more life signs. Do you carry sensor extender drones?"
"Yes, we have several on board.”
"Then send out as many as you can. Whoever did this might have left monitors and I don't want to get ambushed by 'em."
The captain was surprised by the fact that this supply jockey knew about the most advanced of the devices they had gotten from Earth Force. But then, after he'd thought about it, he remembered that this jockey was one that every one talked about as being out of place. But time for that later. He gave the orders, and then added, "I'm going to contact the Alliance. Have them send anything they have near us in. If you're worried then I think it prudent to prepare for the worse."
"Agreed." That done he settled the shuttle along side the hole in the hull of the great ship. He could see into the hall he'd walked before alongside her, now ruined almost beyond recognition. Venting the air from the small craft, he grabbed his kit and leaped out. The rocket pack on his back driving him into the hole. The sides of it were so ragged he began to wonder if he could seal it with the bubbles. They were designed to be puncture- proof but there was a limit. And the huge metal spikes and razor sharp edges could easily prove too much for the plastic shell of the bubbles. He had to find a place without the damage. As he moved further in the hull became smoother. Good. He could use it here. But getting them out would be tricky. He'd need help.
"Captain, have your men zero in on my signal. I'm going to need 'em to get the survivors through this maze of broken steel."
"They're on the way. And the area is clear as far as we can see. The Alliance has some White Stars in this general area but they are a good ways off. Said they'll be here as fast as they can."
Good. The whole thing was coming together. In theory. Even so  there was still plenty that could go wrong. Or he could be too late. He wouldn't think about that. He couldn't.
On board the ship, he went through the hall, looking for a sign of life. He could see the lab ahead and for a moment was almost afraid to go any closer. But every second he delayed meant that much more of a chance that, if it was her, she could die while he nursed his fear. He rushed to the door.
Inside the room was dark except for flickering readouts and emergency lighting. Vapor drifted in the air, giving the room the appearance of a haunted house from an old vid. He hoped it wasn't prophetic. Trying to adjust his eyes, he glanced at the feed from the ship that linked him to its sensors. The temperature in there was thirty below. He looked back in the darkness and then saw something on the far side of the room. At first it was just a slow movement under what looked like a pile of blankets against a wall. Then he saw a head pop out. It took him a second to recognize it.
It was her! She was alive! But he knew she wouldn't last long.
"Captain I got a live one. Get your people here now!"
"They're thirty seconds behind you. Can you get in?"
"Maybe. The door controls won't open cause there's a vacuum put here. If I can get some air in here it'll probably open up. I've got some survivor bubbles here I'm gonna use to make a wall."
The captain rubbed his chin as he thought about what Gauge was proposing. The idea would work if they could form a solid enough wall but the odds were against him. But the Captain was not without imagination himself.
"There ought to be a water line around there. After you set 'em up, spray 'em down. In that cold you'll form ice fast. That ought to last long enough for you to get the air pressure built up and get the doors open."
Gauge thought for a second. The idea would work if he had time. But first he had to let her know there was help here. He pounded on the door.
                                                             ****
Sarah turned toward the sound of the thump. Her eyes didn't want to focus. It would be so easy now to just close her eyes and rest. It would be so damn easy. But she made one last effort to see what it was.
She could see the door. In the window she could see a figure. She shook her head. Was it possible? The sound came again. She forced her body to move. The cold made movement all but impossible, but she made it to her feet. The motion helped her focus. There was someone there. She stumbled to the door to get a better look.
At the door Gauge was beyond reason. She was alive! Alive! He slammed an acoustic microphone on the window. "Sarah, it's me, Al! Hang on baby. I'm getting you out of there."
She couldn't believe it. Across all the space between them he'd found her. She had hoped, dreamed, even prayed, but she had never thought it would happen. She simply stared at him. Then what he was saying registered.
He was shouting, "I'm going to try something!"
With that he turned away and began setting the bubbles in place. She could see him moving but the angle kept her from seeing what he was doing. The cold was still oppressive but now she had hope to keep her warm. She went back to her corner; it was still warmer than the rest of the room. Only now she refused to sit, moving around to keep the blood flowing. She thought about using some stims but decided against it unless she felt herself begin to fade out completely.
Gauge on the other hand was too busy for his own good. The water line idea failed. The water was frozen in the pipes. That left him with his original plan and it didn't look good. He had managed to replenish the air supplies of both groups. So they wouldn't suffocate. A danger closer than any of them realized. The bubbles were lashed together by their individual tethers filled the hall but the fit was hardly airtight.
Suddenly the men from the Denvar cruiser showed up. A quick glance told him they were carrying standard rescue gear. Nothing to help there. Everything else he could use as a sealant was either out of reach or frozen. He thought furiously. He had not come this far to lose her now. The bubbles were squeezed into the hall that made for a clog that would not go anywhere. But he had no way to seal it. As soon as the air hit it, it would simply go through the cracks. Suddenly he had an idea.
Reaching down he grabbed one more bubble but this one he reset to expel all the air in its tank into the bubble at once. The bubble could stand the extra pressure it would just get a little bigger. Squeezed into one of the cracks it had forced the others to squeeze together closer. A second one forced them even closer together. But he still had several holes that were still too large to sustain any air pressure. Gauge was desperate. So close but so far. His only option was to blow the door and try not to kill her with the blast. He knew the odds were against her surviving but he was running out of options. If the temperature didn't kill her, soon she would probably run out of air. Either way she would be dead. And he would not allow that.
"What's wrong?" The leader of the men from the Denvar ship asked as he watched Gauge get more and more agitated.
"I can't seal it! The thing has so many holes in it, I'll never get any pressure in here to get the doors open."
Looking at Gauge's contraption, the Lt. had to laugh. "You definitely think like a miner. Here."
Reaching into his kit he pulled out a box that looked like a solid cube of plastic. Attaching a hose to the side, he pressed a stud and stepped back.
The box unfolded into a two and a half meter tall cube that looked like a wardrobe, its sides bulging from the internal pressure. Then reaching back into the bag he removed another cube, affixed to the back of the first and pressed the same stud. This one expanded the same way but had no air pressure inside. Stepping inside he motioned for Gauge to follow.
Once in, he sealed the opening behind them and opened the one on the rear of the first chamber. The blast of air escaping startled Gauge. But after they stepped through it he resealed it. Instantly the chamber refilled only now they were inside. Gauge was ripping off his helmet as the one of rescuers worked on opening the door. Both finished at the same time. The room was cold. And foggy. Gauge did not care. "Sarah! Sarah!" He ran into the room almost blindly, searching for her.
Suddenly she was in his arms. Her body covered with blankets and coats was thick and still shivering but she held him tightly. Lifting her up, he almost ran back to the chamber.
Once inside he grabbed his helmet and one of the bubbles. "Can we set up one of these inside this thing?"
"No need. You both can just stay here and we can tote you back to the Savoy. Or your ship if you prefer."
Sarah spoke up then, her voice shaking. “There are three technicians across the hall. I don't know what kind of shape they're in but they need help."
"Right. Then that's where we're going. Disconnect the portair and we'll re-set it on the other side."
Gauge felt good for the first time in hours. It was short lived as he remembered Doc, but at least he had Sarah back. And he would not make the mistake of letting her go again.
Suddenly one of the men shouted, "Transmission from the Savoy! We got company coming. At least two mid size cruisers. And a few fighters. Estimate one hour out. But they are definitely heading this way."
Now time was suddenly a factor. Sarah went cold with the thought. It was the Drakh. It had to be. The Alliance would have signaled. "Can you get a signal out? Try to reach any Alliance ships?"
"Already tried. Our boys have every channel jammed with static. Get every thing moving. The only shot we have is to get out of here before they get here. Otherwise we're dead. Reset the portair, now!
The team moved with practiced precision. Gauge marveled at their efficiency. Denvar rescue was regarded as one of the best in space but Gauge had never had any need for their kind of help before. Now he was very glad they were here.
But being here wasn't the optimum play. Into the comm he shouted, "Captain…what is your name anyway?"
"Tiles. Chris Tiles."
Gauge filed the name away. When this was over he promised he would make the good captain if nothing else very drunk as a way of thanks."Well Captain Tiles, my advice would be for you to hit the road. I can take you guys with me in my ship. You know how fast it is. But they got a shot at catching you, unless you leave now."
"Leaving my men is not an option Mister."
" Captain, look at this ship! It was the pride of the Alliance. Now it's a wreck. And the ships that probably did it are on their way back to finish the job. I think I can outrun them. Can you?"
Tiles looked around at the men on his bridge. Gauge was right of course. If they were here when the Drakh arrived they were as good as dead. Still he hesitated. Until one of his men, Orin Print, spoke up. "Sir, we'll be fine. But he is right if they catch the Savoy here alone, it's history."
As he spoke the other man finished setting up the Portair. In seconds they were inside and even faster they were back with two nearly frozen men and one woman. Once inside they turned the heat up all the way and let them enjoy it.
Meanwhile, the Captain had decided to make a run for it. The Savoy headed out trying to get clear of the jamming to call for help. One thing he knew about the Drakh was their hatred for notoriety. If he could get a signal out it would be sure to reach the right ears. And if the Drakh were exposed, if they were forced out into the open they would probably head for the hills. If they could get away it bode well for all of them.
If they could get away.
With the gravity generators destroyed as well as almost everything else on the Excalibur, towing the survivors to the Delsar was not hard work, just tedious. And slow. Having joined the two portairs together, Gauge watched as Sarah, ever the healer took care of the technicians, each of whom had a thousand questions about the fate of the Excalibur as well as the mission. Gauge leaned closer to hear the answer.
Sarah was trying to answer the questions as best she could but it was clear she was at least as much in the dark about the last minutes of the Excalibur as any of them.
 "I don't really know what went on, on the bridge. Just that they hit us as soon as we came out of hyperspace. It was a hell of a fight but… we lost. As for the mission? I have all the data we found on Rilos. If the tests are as positive as the preliminaries I ran when we were there, we may have the answer to the plague." While she talked she tightened a bandage around the woman's arm, who seemed to be fighting tears way too hard. Like she was fighting against something. Suddenly she bolted upright and tried to grab at the med-kit Sarah had.
Gauge grabbed her hand. She was strong. Too strong for a woman her size and condition. Gauge had to work to subdue her. She kicked Sarah in the stomach and slashed at Gauge's face with her nails. Caught off-guard he was cut just below the eye and down the cheek. As he recoiled one of the other techs grabbed her around the chest pinning her arms to her sides. The problem was she was facing him, and she buried her teeth in his neck, nicking the artery. As he reeled back, Gauge reared up and threw a punch that landed dead in her face. The blow would easily have stopped a man twice his size but it merely stunned her. The second was more effective, dropping her on her back. She was in a haze but still conscious. As the other technician and Gauge grabbed her, her glazed eyes fixed on Gauge. Her voice contrasted the shape she was in. 
In a vaguely twisted voice she rasped out, "Kill me! They know where you are because I told them. I can… can't stop them! You have to kill me! Kill me for Earth. K-kill me now!"
Gauge looked at this woman. Then up at Sarah. Holding her stomach, she moved to his side. The cramped space of the portair made it easy. 
"What are you talking about? What happened to you?" Gauge was shouting at her as if he was trying to rouse her from a dream. She responded just as she had before but he could see the strain was beginning to tell on her. Whatever she was fighting was powerful.
 "I don't know. I was on a survey mission on Rathalia when something hit me. When I woke up, I had this urge to do what this voice in my head told me to. And this thing on my neck. You can't see it but it's there. And it makes me do… things. I don't know which is worse, when I know what they make me do, or when I don't. But I know they used me to know when you got close to finding a cure for the plague. I think they wanted you to succeed as much as you did. But now they want you and the ship dead."
Sarah thought for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "If they want the cure, why destroy the ship?"
"They want the cure. They don't want Earth to get it. They want Earth to die as a warning to others. Then, when they use it again, they can demand anything and the figure they can get it. If Earth, and the Alliance can't find a cure, then they figure whoever they infect won't be able to either. Then the Drakh can get whatever they want from them. Once they knew you were this close, they decided to come in and take it. See, they've had me for months. They could have done this anytime." She took a ragged breath. "They waited until you found something they could use. Once they knew you had it, they wanted me steal it. I think it was me, or maybe there was another one of these things on board. Either way, they knew where we were going, and how to hit us. And it was my fault!"
With that last she lunged for the med-kit, seeing the stims. Powerful stuff stims. While one could keep a man going for hours after he should have passed out from exhaustion, three could put him in a coma. And four would overload the most vital heart. Hers was not. And she had grabbed a half a dozen. Before either of them could move she jammed them into her arm. It took only a few seconds. Sarah tried to get to her but even before she moved she knew there was no reason to. She was as good as dead the moment the needles hit her blood stream. She stared at the woman, trying to remember her name, as she convulsed on the floor, then lay still.
It was too much. Looking over she saw the other two techs, one bleeding, and the one that had been holding her helping the other with a dermal regenerator. She turned her head to look at Gauge. And the room faded away. She sagged against him and he grabbed her before she could slide down to the floor.
"Sarah! Sarah!" Gauge couldn't believe it. Her eyes flew open. She felt foolish. It was nothing for her to be ashamed of. After the last twenty hours, her body and her mind were pushed to the limit. This realization that everything she had worked for could be used to enslave more races for the Drakh, and the horror of how they did it was more than she could take. Watching the woman die had pushed her over the edge.
Just for a second. Then she was past her moment of weakness.  
It was time enough for the horrible looking one –eyed creature that had been attached to the woman's neck to detach itself. Visible just for a second, it burst into flame consuming every scrap of itself, leaving no clue to confirm her story. Or to be examined. The Drakh it seemed, had learned from the incident on Mars.
Now everyone in the portair stared at the woman's neck, as it seemed to burst into flame, never letting the creature itself be seen. So the Drakh kept their secret for another day.
Gauge knew none of this. He just knew that he had found his angel, across the void, and he would not let her go again. Holding her in his arms, he knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her he loved her. That he would be there, regardless of what ever came. But he held back. The time was wrong. She'd been through too much. He was afraid she'd respond out of the emotion she felt because he had just saved her life. And he didn't think he could stand it if she said she loved him just because of that. So he bit his tongue and held her tightly. And she held onto him. A little sanity in this madness. A little peace in this war. It was enough for now.





                                           CHAPTER FOUR              
Both men outside had watched the entire display, helpless. They couldn't get in the portair to help without stopping and there was no time for that. They could only watch and feel relieved when Gauge stopped the woman, then in horror as she killed herself. There was nothing to do now but keep moving.
Gauge, after helping Sarah sit down, got on the comm to Molim. "Mo, you got a fix on the bogies heading our way?"
"Still out bout half an hour away. One of them look like it not do to good but it still come. No more contacts out there in range."
"Right. Be ready to head out as soon as we get on board. Set course for the nearest known Alliance outpost. With luck we might run into a patrol."
"Roger but I not fly as good as you or…Doc could, so you hurry up and get up here once you on board."
Sarah looked at Gauge curiously. Then she asked, "What did he mean 'Doc could'? Isn't he there?"
Gauge hadn't wanted to throw any more weight on her but he couldn't really think of a reason to lie. "Doc is dead. He died just after we got here." Then, a thought occurred to him. "And he was acting similar to that woman before he died. Right down to killing himself."
Sarah simply stared at him. What would make two people kill themselves? And what was this thing that the woman had said was there but they couldn't see? She knew the Drakh had access to Shadow technology, which included some invisibility devices. And she had read the report by Dr. Stephen Franklin from Mars about the thing that they had found on one of the Mars underground rebels. She remembered that he had said the man killed himself too, in order to get away from the thing. To keep from hurting his friends.
The horror was mounting. Gauge knew this wasn't good. On the comm he asked the men towing them, "How much longer?"
In answer, Print simply pointed to the hole that loomed up in front of them. And the wing of the ship beyond. They had made it. "Mo, where are the bastards?"
"Twenty minutes and they here."
As they cycled the airlock, Gauge gave Mo the order to get out of there. Molim turned the ship to the heading he had computed and poured power to the engines. The Delsar leaped forward like a fighter, momentarily throwing the passengers against the nearest wall. As the ship accelerated, everyone marveled at the ship's power. Especially Sarah and the technicians. Used to the feel of Excalibur's engines, they were most surprised by the lack of vibration. There was no feeling of power. It was just there. It took only two minutes before they made it far enough away from the ship to form a jump point. No other ship as small as the Delsar could create its own jump point. Something that more than likely caught their pursuers off guard. Once in hyperspace, their chances greatly improved
Once the initial burst was over and the flight became more normal, Gauge stripped off his EVA suit. Sarah was helping the two techs to quarters. And securing the body of the third.
Trying to regain some measure of sanity Sarah thought it best to at least get to know the people there. If nothing else it would make conversation easier. "What are your names?" 
 "I'm Wright. Jim Wright. He's Jason Taylor. The girl's name is …was Lynn Stark."
Sarah caught the pain in his voice as he came to grips with the loss of what she supposed was his friend, Trying to steer the conversation in a different direction she said quizzically, "I suppose you know me." 
Both men nearly stumbled over the words as they both tried to answer at the same time. "Oh yes Doctor Chambers." Then one added, almost sheepishly, "And we know who he is as well."
Taken aback somewhat, she feigned incredulity. Taylor spoke up then despite the pain in his neck from Stark’s bite. "No disrespect or hidden meaning. It's just that it was pretty much common knowledge that you had taken up with one of the supply ship Captains. Everyone thought you deserved whatever you got out of it. And if you chose to not talk about it that was your business. Still, there were a lot of folks who thought he was beneath you."
She felt invaded. Seeing the look on her face he added quickly, "They didn't know him. They thought he was just another bum who'd washed out of Earth Force. And to tell the truth, most were taking bets on how long it'd be before he just stopped showing up. And more than a few of the men hated him for what they thought he was going to do to you."
Sarah had never realized so many people knew about her life, let alone cared so much. Then she realized he was still talking.
"…they didn't see the look on his face." 
Having missed part of the conversation she had to ask, even as she was checking the bite on his neck. "What look on whose face?"
Taylor answered almost peevishly. "The look on Captain Gauge's face when you started to fall in that chamber. He looked like the whole world had come crashing down. And before they got you out of there, he was losing his mind trying to get you out. I saw him. Just for a minute. I couldn't stay in the cold too long but I saw the look in his eyes."
Sarah looked at him, even more curiously now. "What look?"
Taylor looked at her almost like a child. She was beautiful. Everyone said so. But too wrapped up in her work. Until he'd come along. Just knowing that made it easier to say what he wanted. "The look of a man trying to save something. No, that's wrong. He had the look of a man trying to save everything. At least everything he cared about."
Taylor smiled at her then. As if he was telling a child the facts of life. He knew she was smart enough to know, she had just held herself back from saying it. Like it would make it a lie. But he had seen it. In his eyes and in hers. He'd seen it in his wife's eyes before he'd left Earth. And he remembered the pain when he heard she'd been one of the first who died from the plague. And the agony he felt ever since. An agony he never wanted to see anyone in.
He almost shouted, "He loves you. With everything he has. Hell, he belongs to you. And the way you look at him says you're his too. You might not want to believe it. Maybe you think you can't believe it now but whatever happens, if we don't die, he's never going to let you go."
He was old. Too old really to be in Earth Force. And his throat hurt where Lynn had bitten him. He knew he was overstepping his bounds but by all rights he should have been dead but for the man who came to rescue her. His ship was gone and he knew he would never get a posting on another so what did he care? What was important was people like him and her. Even if Earth survived, they were the future. Dedicated doctors and capable people who loved them. Strong, smart and in love.
The Drakh would never beat that.
                                                       ****
Having tended the wound and made sure that there was no lasting damage from the cold to either of the remaining crewmen, Sarah sat down heavily in a chair and thought about what Taylor had said.
 The old man was right. About her at least. And she knew it. She always had. Thinking back she realized she couldn't think of a time since she'd met Gauge that she didn't love him. She remembered the note she had written him, still in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared at it. She remembered every word of it. All the things she had never said to him. 
She had tried, but the time had never seemed right. At first, she had tried to think of him as a distraction. No, that was a lie she realized. He was always more than that. Much more. From the moment she had seen him in med-lab, when their eyes had locked and later when he'd grabbed her hand she knew. And she feared what she knew. All her life it had been the work first. Her mother had told her she would have to take care of the others since she was the oldest. So she had made herself as capable as she could, even at the expense of her own personal life. It hadn't been a perfect life but it suited her
Until he dropped in and turned her world around. Now, on the eve of what should be their greatest triumph, when she could really have had something to share, and someone to share it with, she was on a small cruiser converted to cargo and transport vessel, running from three Drakh ships. The Alliance…
The Alliance! They were their only hope. Even if the Delsar was fast enough to outrun the Drakh, they would never give up. And sooner or later the odds said they would get them. But if they could reach the Alliance they could get help. Gauge knew that. But suddenly it occurred to her what he didn't know.
Hitting the comm she called him. "Gauge, do you have any idea where you're going?"
"Not really. We're heading off in the general direction of a contact we think was an Alliance ship, but we can't be sure. They still have most of the channels jammed. Even trying to read scanners is almost impossible. All we can do is head along an extrapolated course that we hope intersects with one of their ships."
"I'm coming up." Gauge was glad for the company but he was more than curious as to why. The tone of her voice told him there was more to her visit than just his companionship.
As she burst through the door she looked around for the nav-system. As Gauge watched she searched for something on them. Suddenly jabbing her finger onto the screen she shouted, "There! There's a Ranger outpost in that sector. They don't do a lot of advertising, but we were given the co-ordinates in case we ever needed a place to run to. There's a whole wing of White Stars there. Enough firepower they wouldn't dare attack us. And if we can get close enough they have a dedicated satellite system that I doubt they can block. If we can get close enough we can get a signal to them."
Looking at the co-ordinates Gauge shook his head. "From here, most of that run is going to be through Centuari Space. And they haven't been allowing anyone through since long before this started."
Thinking quickly she said, "Then don't go through. We can skirt their space here. With a little luck we might even run into a Narn patrol."
Gauge looked at her. He wanted so desperately to kiss her. She looked back with equal intentions. She remembered her quick conversation with Taylor and Wright, she thought about her own feelings. And this time, she went with it.
Leaning in she kissed him hard driving her tongue into his mouth. He was surprised at first, then grateful. Just as quickly as it happened,  it was over, but her eyes told him that there was more to come later. And he intended to make sure there was a later.
"Right." Gauge breathed after she had moved away. "You go see what else you can find."
"Okay." Then she had a thought. Turning to a console she began to program a distress beacon. Then reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a set of data crystals. Seeing Gauge's curious look, she smiled, saying, "I'm going to send the data we discovered out on the beacon. It'll broadcast after three days. Then it'll keep on until it runs out of power. Even if we go down…"she paused for a minute then continued. "Even if we go down, there will still be some chance that the data will get through. Might even be pretty good odds if the Drakh think we were destroyed they'll think they've won, and if they do…"
Gauge finished the thought for her."Then they won't think to look for a single beacon in space. Brilliant."
For some reason the compliment made her smile broadly. She wanted to kiss him again, then felt ashamed. There was so much left to do and here she was making eyes at him like there was all the time in the world.
Stupid. But then everything that had happened since the beginning of this whole mess had been stupid. Like the death of all her friends. Of Doc. It was all so stupid she felt like crying, but there was no time for that.
Gauge felt the same way. There had been too much death. Too many lives wasted to stop a group of mad creatures bent on revenge. Only now they had crossed the line. They were responsible for Doc's…
Doc's death. The thought brought back feelings he thought he had long ago escaped. Loss, hurt, abandonment all came rushing back in a torrent, threatening to overwhelm him. His hands shook as he thought about what he would like to do to them. Then he thought about what they had almost done to Sarah and they shook even harder. There would be a reckoning for this. Even if it was only thwarting their plans for Earth, he would get even with these Drakh.
Meanwhile Print turned to his comrade from the Savoy. "Hopkins, see anything we can do to help?"
"Afraid this is a little outside my field of expertise. Actually, it's way outside."
That was Tom Hopkins in a nutshell. He was just the type who was great in this type of situation. He had a hundred rescues, in a dozen different and mostly more dangerous places. And he had performed in every one just as he had today. Print had been on most of them with him. He trusted the man with his life. But this called for more than they had ever given and he wondered if the man was up for it. Or for that matter was he?
They had been running hard in hyperspace for ten hours. Everyone had eaten and been refreshed. Gauge had even taken time to learn everyone's name. And explained Doc's demise to Sarah. It was hard but something made him complete the task. Including the most frightening thing. A recording he had made sometime before he died.
Gauge put the crystal in and sat down next to Sarah. She knew he was being tortured but she also knew he would not back down. She reached out and held his hand. He looked at her and kissed her lightly. He knew it was going to be hard but it had to be done.
The vid came alive with a picture of Doc James Monroe. Not the Doc that Gauge or Sarah had known but a haggard and pained looking man who spoke quickly and raggedly as though trying to hurry.
"I don't have much time so I'll get right to it. If you see this, then I screwed up. The truth is I got this thing on my neck, from where I don't know. It's trying to take me over. Seems like it had a little trouble adjusting to my weird body chemistry. Anyway, I found a way to keep it at bay. The problem is it's getting better at fighting whatever I throw at it. The best thing I've found is a hemlock and cyanide cocktail. Keeps it paralyzed for days, but you can guess the affect it has on me."
He stopped for a second to take a breath. Sarah stopped the playback for a moment as she looked at Gauge. "You saw no sign of him poisoning himself?"
Gauge stared straight ahead as he answered. "None. Doc was a genetic misfit. His body chemistry was, as you might have heard, a little different from the norm. Something about all the years of trying to improve his physique through herbs and other things he'd found on different worlds. He always said it had changed him. He just never went into how much."
"Apparently he felt he couldn't tell you what he was doing. Or why."
"Yeah but that makes no sense. He knew he could trust me." Gauge sounded hurt. Sarah started to say something but Gauge was already restarting the recording. She could see he was fighting tears and decided not to push it.
The image of Doc went on. "Even when it's out it still has enough control to keep me from talking about it. And I always had the feeling that it wanted to get to you Gauge. I think it was because of your 'thing' with the doctor. I could never be sure but it was always a feeling I got from the thing. Like I wasn't the target. But it couldn't get to you, so I was the next best thing. He tried to get Molim first but his species is immune to its… powers. He managed to block his memory of the attempt, but that was all."
"As near as I can tell, the thing is just an extension of another creature. My guess is the Drakh, but I couldn't swear to it. Once it hit me, I was able to fend it off with mind control techniques and then with herbs and chemicals. The hemlock is my last hope. It has just enough control to keep me from making direct contact with you or anybody, but I gave myself a massive dose just to be able to send you this. I can't do it again without killing myself. Wouldn't mind but I don't know if it'd kill this thing. Or what might happen if it doesn't. But if its control gets too much for me to handle, well by now you've probably seen my intentions."
"Don't worry too much about it boy. I mainly made this to apologize to you and Dr. Chambers. See, they had me before you and her became an item. They wanted you and her together. For whatever reasons. I think it wanted to have an ace in the hole. If you two fell in love it would have made its job easy. At least from its point of view. And the worse of it is, if it had succeeded, they might have been able to find a way to take over your lady. That was why I had to keep my distance from her. That way if it got too much for me, I still had my final option."
"I wouldn't let 'em take you two apart. You're good for each other. I saw that the first time I saw you together. But it was too happy. I could feel it. So I did what I could to keep away from you. To make it seem I was trying to rain on your parade, so you wouldn't want me around. It was the only way I could figure to keep you two safe until I could beat this thing."
Despite the pain he was already in, both of them could see it double as he went on. "Only now it looks like I failed. But I think I have one good piece of info for you. Whatever the thing was trying to do, it wasn't ready for somebody with my training. When it tried to get into my mind, it left the door open for me to get into its mind. I 'saw' what it did, or rather how it did what it did. It doesn't really know much but it is in contact with the others of its kind. Through it I gained a little access to them. From what I got, they don't really understand this virus either, but they do know how to use it, but they have no idea on how to stop it."
"What I gather is they want a cure to be found, so they can steal it. A cure changes the game. It makes the virus a weapon of opportunity, rather than one of terror. If they find out Sarah has found a cure, you can just about bet they're going to try and steal it. And they'll throw everything they have at the Excalibur to get it."
Doc stopped then, leaning back. The strain was beginning to tell on him. His breathing was labored and ragged. His face looked ashen even on the screen. But the most telling were his eyes. They looked haggard and bleary. It hurt Gauge to see his best friend looking so beat down. Sarah could see the pain on his face. And that made her hurt as well.
But Doc wasn't done just yet. "This concoction won't keep the little bastard from holding me down much longer. And when it starts I have to quit this. But before I go, know this. If I took myself out it was to make sure they couldn't use me to get to you. Either of you. Gauge, I've been looking after you since you were a kid. I always tried to be a good parent but you might have noticed I was out of my league. I hope you and the lady make it. I wish I could have known her better but at least you know why I was like I was. And one more thing," He took another deep breath. "I've been feeding you a light mixture of this cocktail for several months. If I'm right, it'll make you immune to these damn things. Don't worry though; the effects on you are minimal, thanks to your body chemistry. I made sure of that. They can't get you now. That's the only way I found to stop them." Doc rubbed his face, the strain clearly visible now.
"Going to have to go now. I can feel junior here trying to get his act together. Just keep yourself out of harm's way. And if you want one piece of advice, get that girl off that ship! If she does find a cure, the odds are they'll know. And they will do whatever they have to do to stop her from getting it to Earth. If you can't get her off, at least you can warn her."
With that Doc had stood suddenly and without warning shut off the recorder. Apparently he ran out of time. The warning he had given was to be the only one.
Sitting quietly, both of them felt amazed by the accuracy Doc had predicted their present situation with. And, given that accuracy, wished they had seen this recording sooner. Gauge was standing by the vid screen when Molim came over the comm.
"Gauge you better get here quick. Think we got more trouble than we think."
Gauge and Sarah looked at each other. The tone of Molim's voice scared them. He didn't frighten easily, but he sounded like he had seen a ghost. When they reached the bridge, they found him sitting at a console staring at a screen as though his life was playing on it. When he saw them he pointed at it and said, "They already here! They waiting for us!" Gauge looked at him dumbly. Sarah leaped to the console and stared at it. It was true. There were three ships lying in wait near the jump gate. They were too far away to detect their small ship but that would change in minutes if they didn't do something.
Gauge told Molim, "Come to a dead stop and hold position. Maybe it'll buy us some time." It would but what to do with it? If they were waiting for them they had to have probes out and about to get the earliest possible alert to their presence, or the presence of any ship in the area, to keep themselves out of the limelight. They weren't exactly inconspicuous, but unless they ran into a Ranger patrol or a destroyer from one of the Allied planets, it was unlikely they'd have any real trouble. Add to that the fact that they were still jamming the comm lines and it made any ship that happened into their range a vulnerable target.
Sarah stepped up to Gauge and asked, "Any idea what we should do now?"
Gauge took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "We can't sit here. The ones that were following us will catch up soon and if they do we're in the middle of a crossfire. If we jump to normal space, it'll be like a signal flare. And they'd be able to run around us by staying in hyper space."
Print spoke up then. "Maybe the Savoy made it through."
"Even if they did they would only have been able to give a sit-rep. They didn't know where we were heading, so all they do would be get a search started. Odds are they'll put everything they can in space hunting for us but… space is a big place. We…" 
Suddenly Molim grabbed Gauge's arm and pulling him close he whispered something in his ear. Gauge looked around. "Where is Hopkins?"
Print looked puzzled by the question. "He was down in the galley. Why?"
Gauge took another deep breath and pulled a PPG from his belt. Pointing it at Orin he said, "Don't move. You and I are going to find your friend and hope we don't find what I think we will. Everybody!"
Sarah looked at Gauge dumbly. Did he suspect her as well? And of what?
As they walked to the galley, she looked back at Gauge and realized what was going on. If the Drakh knew where they were going well enough to set a trap here, then they had to have some kind of intelligence source… on board the Delsar!
Gauge set his jaw as he walked, PPG drawn but not really aimed at anything. He couldn't bring himself to point it at Sarah at all, but that wasn't just because he loved her. She was the least likely to be the problem he had now, simply because they had it. The others were not so far above suspicion. They had their own agendas and whatever else, but this was something that was beyond their control. These things changed the way the game was played.
As they turned into the gallery, they were surprised to see Tom Hopkins sitting calmly at a table drinking a cup of coffee. Seeing the entire crew, except Molim, he began to rise, only to have Gauge motion him back to his seat with the barrel of his gun. The others who he had picked up on the way were scared, except Taylor. He was too old to be afraid for too long. And he had little to look forward to when, and if he made it back to Earth, so what did he care? Yet he was interested. These people were the hope of a world. He hoped they didn't fail.
Gauge motioned everyone to sit, except Sarah. He pulled her next to him.
"I'm sorry to have to do this but Molim gave me a piece of information that I can't ignore. About eight hours ago, right after we made the course correction to head here, Molim picked up a spike in the ultra-high range on the sensors. He didn't pay it a lot of attention because we were a little busy at the time. And it didn't repeat so no one thought any more about it."
"Then we get here and find three ships hovering around the jump point. A coincidence I don't believe in. Somehow, somebody got a message to these ships. That means we have a spy on board."
Everyone looked from one to the other, finally settling on Sarah Chambers. Everyone knew better than to push the issue on her with Gauge but to everyone's surprise, he spoke up quickly.
“Anyone who's wondering why she isn't over there with you, the answer is if she was the one there would be no need for those ships out there. Or the ones that have been following us for the last ten hours."
Seeing their looks of confusion, Gauge felt the need to explain. "Look, if they had control of her, then there would be no need to stop us from delivering the data she has. If they control her all they have to do is change the data so it doesn't work and let her deliver it. When it fails no one would blame her and if they did so what? The damage would be done and there would be nothing anyone could do about it."
Everyone thought about it and decided that Gauge was right. If she were compromised, then they were all fighting for nothing. But if they had a spy, their problems were more than just the ships outside waiting at the jump point. The only good thing was that there were no security procedures on the Delsar. Just locked doors. There was nothing fancy about it. Just the way the ship had been built. There was no way for anyone to have gained entry to any of Delsar's primary systems. But that didn't mean there wasn't some way that they could do some real damage to the ship.
Hopkins was the first to speak up. "If we have a spy among us, do you think you know who it is?"
"I don't have a clue but I think I know how to find out. A friend of mine had one of these things like the girl on the Excalibur had on her neck. He managed to keep it subdued with a cocktail of poisons. My idea is to give each of you the same thing and see which one of you uses the chance to tell me you're the one. "
Hopkins again spoke up. Irate now. "If you think I'm gonna stand here and let you shoot me up with some kind of poison you're crazy!
Gauge stared at the man. Along with Orin Print. And all of the others. He looked around suddenly aware he was the center of attention. "What am I, the only one who thinks this is crazy? You want to let him inject you with…"
"I never said anything about injecting. I said a cocktail. That should have made you think it was something you drink. You said it was an injection." Gauge pointed the gun at him. "It ain't much but it beats a guess. You get to go first."
Now he looked at Print imploringly. "Lieutenant, you can't let him do this. You know me. We worked a hundred rescues together. I'm no spy."
Orin Print looked at him. He was right. He did know him. And he had worked with him a lot. But the girl on board the Excalibur was as loyal as anyone he had ever seen, and the thing had gotten to her. And if this thing had gotten to his friend, this "Doc," then there was no one who was safe. And for himself he realized, it would be better to know rather than find out after he'd done some terrible thing to someone he cared about. That was when it hit him.
Turning to his friend, he said, "The Tom Hopkins I knew would do anything to be sure he was clean. And he wouldn't give a damn about what he had to do. But Captain Gauge here is right. How the hell did you know the stuff was an injection?"
 Looking around like a trapped animal, he snarled in a voice that didn't sound like it came from the man they had been talking to.
"Do you really think you have a chance? We were servants of the most powerful beings this universe has ever produced. They have gone on but we remain. And we will rule. The setbacks you have caused us are nothing. When we are finished, there will be nothing left of your precious Alliance. Or your world.”
With that he made a dash at Sarah. Gauge stepped in front of her to protect her. She would still be a very good target. He raised the PPG, but found there was no need. As he leaped toward them, Print and Wright, each grabbed him by an arm, intercepting him and throwing him to the floor. He was as unnaturally strong just as Lynn Stark had been. Only he was not half frozen and injured. Both men found themselves barely equal to the task. Hissing and snarling he slammed his friend into the wall hard enough to stun him, leaving Wright alone against this augmented human.
Gauge raised his gun and aimed at the center of Hopkins chest. Print screamed at him, "No!" But Gauge simply squeezed the trigger. The PPG spit tiny balls of fire at his target. But instead of the normally lethal pellets, the rounds were tiny soft pellets that were designed not to kill but to disable and stun. The first round did almost nothing but the second, third and fourth had a paralyzing effect on the man. He dropped to the floor gasping for air.
Before he could move, Gauge dropped a knee into his back, grabbed an arm and pulled it behind his back. In the blink of an eye, he had clamped a pair of cuffs on him. Standing up, he looked around at everyone, all of whom were surprised. Gauge simply shrugged and said, "Always be prepared."
Print was happy Gauge hadn't killed his friend. But as reality set in he wondered what they were going to do with him.
"Can we get the thing out of him? The question was cast out in general but it drew everyone's eyes to Sarah. She felt trapped, as she had no idea. The reports she had read from Dr. Franklin didn't go into great detail but it was enough to know there wasn't much hope. The creature infested the nervous system so thoroughly and with such tenacity, Stephanhad despaired of being able to help the rebel who had been infected even if he had come back to let him try.
She had no lack of confidence in her own abilities, but she remembered a promise she had made to Dureena, to save her people found on a moon with some runaway Earth force experimental soldiers. She had failed. She had tried desperately, but she failed. And this was probably more of the same. She would need time. Time she wouldn't have. But telling Print it was impossible wouldn't do anything but give him another reason to give up. And there were plenty of them without whatever she could add.
"We'll do everything we can for him." was all she could say.

                                             CHAPTER FIVE
Top of Form
"First things first." Gauge was thinking fast now, as the actions of the last few minutes would surely draw the attentions of their attackers. With their inside man discovered they would definitely attack quickly.
He shouted into the air. "Mo, everything set?"
"All ready to go."
Gauge felt every eye in the room focus on him. He smiled at them as he said, "Go."
Instantly everyone reeled as the initial thrust set in. Pouring power through the engines, Molim spun the little ship off the beacon and dove into the void of hyperspace.
Print was first to recover. "Gauge what are you doing? Unless I'm nuts, you just took us of the beacon."
At that everyone became alarmed. Even Sarah. Flying off the beacon was an act of not just desperation but outright insanity.
"Stay calm. We're off the main beacon but there's another one coming up." Without waiting for their puzzled stares, he went on as they made their way out of the galley, which would now be serving as their brig.
"Long time ago, before Doc and I found out how to make money the old fashioned way, we used to run with a more…shall we say ‘disreputable crowd’. One of whom had a knack for navigation." As they talked, they headed for the bridge, everyone intent on every word.
"It seemed they were always having a problem with Earth Force or some other government when it came to their line of work. So they decided to create their own system of beacons just a little ways off the beaten path. For escape purposes and the like. The routes were longer and more dangerous but they were all but impossible to trace unless you knew what to look for."
Seeing their looks of astonishment he paused. "They were smugglers. It was their job to get through when no one else could. And they took as much pride in it as anyone else did in theirs. This was just how they chose to make a living. And a lot of times they were useful."
No one could argue with that. On the Excalibur there had been many times Captain Gideon had dealt with some of the less savory types to get something he felt might help the mission. And Orin Print knew that there were several times during the last few years the smugglers had brought in supplies that they needed after Earth had been quarantined.
As they reached the bridge Gauge continued. "Doc and I set up a network of beacons that work on a super low frequency band. You need a special code to access it and special gear to read it, but it's there when you need it. They all go dormant when a ship gets within range of it, just to make 'em harder to detect. I've seen Earth Force pass one not five hundred meters away and not detect a thing. I'm betting these strokers won't do any better, providing they have enough nerve to try."
All of his guests were impressed but there was one question on Sarah's mind. "Why didn't you use this before? When we first left the Excalibur I mean?
Gauge smiled. "The network we made is more like a route of short cuts and connections. It's not extensive. The area where the Excalibur was at wasn't on the grid. Here however is a different story. There are several cuts through that intersect with routes that will give us a substantial lead on these ships. And even if that doesn't work, pretty soon we will be out of range of their jamming devices."
Sarah smiled up at the man knowing she had underestimated him again. Suddenly realization hit her.
"This was your target all along wasn't it? You didn't care about reaching the Alliance."
"Wrong. This was the back up in case we were being out-foxed. And as it turned out, we were." Pulling her to the side he added, "I had to make sure there was a way to get you safe. I couldn't take the chance on losing you. Not now."
She could feel his concern in his voice and his mannerisms. Why did she hold back? They were safe now.
At least it seemed so.
Molim was steering the ship capably if not expertly, all the while monitoring the comm for breaks in the jamming. They should have been clear of it by now but it persisted. Either they had far better equipment than they had given them credit for or…they had followed them.
A quick check of the rear sensors confirmed what he feared. The ships had followed them after a fashion. A group of fighters had strung out forming a chain. The further in they went the longer they extended the chain. Molim wasn't sure if they had enough fighters to reach the other side of the short cut but if they did they could regroup and begin chasing them again.
"Gauge! The baddies still with us. We got fighters making daisy chain." Gauge ran to the console. "Damn persistent sons of… how long until we intersect a regular hyperspace route?"
"Twenty… maybe twenty five minutes. But we got other problems."
"I know. How long until that reactor needs to be changed?"
Molim checked a panel of gauges and turned to Gauge. "One hour. Maybe ten minutes more but after that we have to shut down reactor and switch it to other or it gonna freeze up and we be stuck for hours."
Wright and Taylor had gone back to their room, but Print and Sarah had remained on the bridge. "What does he mean?"
Gauge looked at them. "Delsar has two reactors. One on- line and one in reserve. The one on line heats up as fuel gets used. Then we switch to the other. The process takes about three minutes but that's a long time when somebody's gunning for your hide."
Print was stunned. He knew the Delsar was the fastest ship he'd seen for any size but the reason was always shrouded in mystery. It seemed strange that Gauge would so blithely explain part of the workings that had made his ship so sought after by any that had cargo that was time sensitive. To the others it was just strange.
Sarah, as always was the one to voice the thoughts of others. "Can you make the transition in flight?"
Gauge shook his head. "We'd never be able to get the modules lined up with power going through them. Even if we built up all the speed we could and coasted for three minutes, they could more than likely get in range to launch a missile attack. One hit and we go nowhere."
Print spoke up again. "What's our present position?" Upon hearing the answer his eyes lit up. "We're an hour or so from Babylon 5. That could be our way out."
Sarah nodded in agreement. She knew Elizabeth Lochley. Her and Matthew had had a thing for some time. She was a capable commander and a tough woman.
But that meant she would have to tell her about Matthew's death. Not a task she looked forward to. Still in the scheme of things, that was… she hesitated at the use of the word, minor.
Gauge however, was not thrilled by the idea. "We can't just run in there with three cruisers on our tail. B5 has what, four wings of fighters? Against three cruisers and their full fighter compliment? They'd be outgunned to the point of being ridiculous. And if I remember right there's about a quarter million people of every race on that thing. We could get them all killed."
Taylor looked at Gauge and shook his head. "These clowns wouldn't be the first ones to try. The Centauri, those Death stalker guys, hell Earth Force once even tried to take over way back when Sheridan was running it. That thing might look like a target but trust me it has plenty of teeth."
"And," Wright chimed in unexpectedly. "Some of the best listening gear known. If there's any place that can bust this jamming, that's it.”
Molim added his thoughts to the fray. "We can make it in just under a hour. If they pick up signal we might get chance to make switch while they hold off baddies. We run they follow, leave Babylon alone. We can still outrun them."
Gauge had no particular love for any Earth Force outpost but he hesitated to use anyone as a decoy. But this was different. More was at stake here then a few months in some lock up somewhere. He made the choice. Then realized he really had none.
"Set course for Babylon five as soon as we hit the regular route."
Turning to Sarah, he said, 'I hope the bastards run out of ships before they make it to the other side." He held out little hope of that. The routes were designed so that if one became lost or lost the beacon, a little skillful reconnoitering could get you back to some place you could start over. And whatever these guys were they were not stupid.
As he grasped Sarah's hand he turned to stare at the screen. They would follow them. And they would arrive right behind them. How much lag time they would have he didn't know. He only hoped it would be enough for B5 to at least mount some kind of defense.

                                                ****
Meanwhile on the Drakh flagship, the leader of the group was fast running out of patience with the little ship that had been eluding them for so long. They had the data from the Excalibur that they had sought thanks to intercepting the signal Sarah had sent out. (A last gift from their spy) but it was worthless if these escaped and spread the knowledge to the entire galaxy. Turning to his engineer he asked, in the guttural language he spoke, "How long before you can launch the drone?"
"They will be ready in minutes. All we require is an optimal firing position and they will be destroyed almost instantly."
Although his face was not truly equipped for it, he smiled. After all the running they had done, all the trickery, it would come to nothing. Once they launched the drone they simply had to guide it into range and detonate it. There was no chance they could outrun it as it was designed to catch whatever it had as a target. And, thanks to some technology they had been able to decipher from the Shadows, it was invisible to scans. If they didn't see it with their own eyes, they would never know it was coming. He personally wanted to capture the little ship to rip it apart and see how it had managed to escape them for so long. And if they survived the drone's explosion, perhaps he would spend some time taking it apart. Who knew, it might yield something of use. And he would be greatly rewarded if it were something that added to the Drakh superiority.
The odds were against that however. The warhead on the drone was equivalent to a half a kiloton. Any larger and they risked setting off shock waves that could destroy them as well. Still they would have to back off before they could even explode it. He had considered making it smaller but decided that stopping the ship was more important than any knowledge they could glean from it.
The drone was ready. "Stand by emergency power. Bring us to optimum launch range and fire as soon as you achieve it.”
On the Delsar, Gauge watched as one of the ships following him seemed to leap forward. It took him less than a second to realize their plan. They were leapfrogging the cruiser over the fighters to use its engines in overdrive to try and catch up. If they got in range they'd launch a full out missile attack. They had to be getting desperate. If they failed the ship that tried would never recover enough to continue the chase, and with one already damaged from the fight with the Excalibur, that would reduce their pursuers to one. Of course they could always call n the other three they had seen at the jump point . He wondered why they hadn’t already as a matter of fact, but he didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. 
Still he had enough problems. They were still well out of range but if Gauge didn't use their own emergency boost soon, they could conceivably get close enough to do some damage. And any damage was more than they could stand.
Molim had seen it as well. He looked at Gauge as if asking what to do. He could tell  from the look in his eyes he wanted to stop and turn the laser cannons on them and to hell with what happened. He knew that from other escapades he and Doc had had with him. He was never sure if it was Earth Force training or something else but Gauge was always one for the fight. Molim knew the way he thought after all the time they had spent together. Yet since he’d met Sarah Chambers , Molim had sensed a lack of his former fire towards the life they had. He considered it  good. Gauge had never been really the type to do some of the things they had done. Always too eager to pick up a cause or to defend someone in trouble. Basically, too much of a "boy scout" as Doc had called him more than once. That didn't mean that he wouldn't kill the aliens chasing them without hesitation. Especially knowing what they had intended for the woman he loved. In fact, more so because of it.
Now however was not such a time. Gauge knew there was more to this last move than met the eye. He was just about to push their engines into overload when the lead ship suddenly slowed. Still out of range for weapons, its acceleration simply dropped off. Both Gauge and Molim were surprised as the ship had obviously not exhausted itself, as it continued to pursue at the rate it had been. The only assumption was they had tried to narrow the gap, a little at a time and would try to do it again later, so as not to cripple their ship.
Gauge was trying to decide on a course of action as Sarah walked on to the bridge. With the galley off-limits for the moment, she had made some coffee in her quarters and brought some with her. As Gauge gratefully accepted a cup, he stared at the screen, trying to make sense out of the last move made by their pursuers. Seeing his look of concentration she asked what was wrong. After he had explained his worry she asked, "Is it possible they could be getting information from Hopkins? After all we still don't know the limits of those things they use to control them."
Gauge thought for a moment. "True, but there isn't a lot we can do about it if they are."
"What about that cocktail Doc used?"
Gauge shook his head. "That was a bluff from the start. Doc didn't leave any specifics on how to use it and it was designed to work on him. It'd probably kill anyone else who tried it. I just figured they knew enough about it to be scared by it. At least that worked."
Turning to Molim he asked, "Time to intersect with the route?"
Checking a screen, Molim replied "Two minutes."
A feeling came over Gauge then. Call it a sixth sense. A premonition. Maybe a warrior's instinct. Or maybe just a man in love who was doing all he could to insure the safety of the woman he loved. Either way it was too strong to ignore.
"How are the jump engines fixed for power?"
The question caught Molim off guard, but he recovered quickly. "We can make two… three jumps. Then we need to recharge again."
"Stand by to jump to normal space. Then set course away from Babylon five. We'll run it long enough for them to detect, then jump back in. With luck it might just give us the leeway we need to change the reactor."
Molim nodded. Seems Gauge hadn't lost all of his fire. Or cunning.
As they made plans they were unaware that a Drakh drone was stalking them. Nothing special, it was just a warhead with a trio of engines attached. Its only real advantage was speed, thanks to the three engines, and stealth. Like the Minbari during their war with Earth, it was undetectable by standard scanning techniques. Rendering it invisible as long as it remained away from the bridges observation deck or one of the portholes in the rooms. By staying above the ship and towards the rear it made its approach unobserved. In a few seconds it would be in range where it would hold position, waiting for final orders to detonate.
The Drakh commander was waiting for the right moment. Just a few seconds and they would be far enough back to escape the blast radius. Then he could order an end to this charade once and for all.
On board both ships, two commanders issued identical orders. "Stand by." Both waited for optimal moments. The first came the first from Gauge. "Jump!"
Instantly Molim triggered the jump engines at full power. As the rift between hyper and normal space appeared the drone, caught off center, automatically tried to compensate by dropping down behind the Delsar. In doing so it caused a disturbance in the exhaust that the little ship was able to detect, if only for an instant. Not designed for extreme temperatures, it began to break up at once. Sensing an eminent demise the on board computer detonated automatically. The force of the explosion, now directly behind them however did almost nothing to the Delsar, save push it through the jump gate at a slightly greater speed. But the Drakh pursuers were left to contend with the shock waves, multiplied by the jump point, which was collapsing from the explosion releasing torrents of energy in all directions. Caught in the middle of this maelstrom, they could only try to turn away from the full fury of it and ride it out. The cruisers had little trouble but several of the fighters that they had used as a chain to maintain contact with the Delsar were torn apart in seconds.
Gauge however had his own problems. Though the explosion had been behind them it had still been a powerful one. After clearing the gate, Gauge shouted, "Molim, Damage?"
Molim was furiously checking gauges and readouts. "Nothing major. Internal comm is off line and rear sensors are down. They come back soon as interference clears. Other than that, we good."
Spinning around he saw Sarah getting up off the floor. As he started to go to her she waved him off. "I just got caught off guard. What happened?"
"I guess our boys got tired of waiting. How the hell they managed to get a missile that close is beyond me but at least we're still around to wonder about it."
"What's our position?" Molim, still checking for damage took a second before he could answer. About thirty minutes to Babylon five if we jump back now."
Gauge wasted no time "Jump!"
Again, Sarah marveled at this little ship. Out of hyperspace less than a minute and already able to make another jump. If Gauge could be convinced to share its secrets with Earth force there was no telling how it could advance from them. As she slid into a chair beside him she shook her head. All of this and she found herself thinking how she couldn't wait for this to be over so she could finally talk to Gauge. About them. About a future. It was strange but in the midst of this she had become even more attached to the man. And she realized, (she had no idea when,) that she was not going to lose him again either.
Gauge on the other hand was more concerned with the Drakh at that moment. The rear sensors had started functioning again but barely. They were good enough to let them know they had made some considerable progress on the Drakh who were behind now and falling further back every second thanks to the fact they were still trying to recover from the blast that had blinded their sensors.
Gauge was tempted to make a run at them. Try to disable them enough that the rest of the flight would be simple. He thought better of it. Even if he did manage to get a few good shots, the odds were they would still follow them. And he'd have lost the little lead he'd gained. No he decided, it was best to keep going. To put more distance between them. There would be another time for revenge. He'd see to it.
Orin print had been in his quarters when the ship had been hit by the blast wave. He had first thought they had taken a missile but realized quickly that couldn't have been the case, as they were still flying, to his knowledge, unimpeded.
He had settled back in his bunk then, thinking that if they needed him he was just a comm call away. He had seen plenty in the rescue force but nothing the like of this ship. Faster than anything its size and most everything else. He wondered how the weapons system stacked up.
 But the most amazing thing to him was its Captain. His friend just dead. His girl on board, and an alien fleet on his tail and he thinks three steps ahead of everybody. He thought about Hopkins. Would they really be able to do anything for him or had the Doctor just been stroking him? He felt tired. Figuring he'd be more help rested than exhausted he lay down and closed his eyes. It would be over soon one way or the other.
As he drifted off he was unaware of the single malevolent eye gazing at him from its hiding place in the closet. Soon it would get its chance, perhaps its last, to stop these humans from destroying its master's work. Soon they would all pay for their arrogance in assuming they could defeat the Drakh. All it had to do now was wait. Just a little longer and it would be strong enough again to control. It had taken time to throw of the effects of the poisons that his last host had used to keep him subdued. So subdued he had barely been able to disconnect and hide before he had killed himself. Only when he had heard the calling of another like himself did he stir and seek out that one.
Now that one was trapped. And the masters were falling away. Soon it would be alone. Then it would need help to contact the others. But now all that had to wait.
But not too much longer.
On the Drakh flagship the order of the day was fury. They had missed their chance and allowed the humans to gain distance on them. The report would not be favorable for their commander. Unless he could destroy these impudent creatures.
But how? They had no more time to create drones so they could not attempt another attack that way. And their efforts to catch the tiny ship had proved futile. It still danced just outside of range and worse yet the commander had the thought that if they wanted they could accelerate even more and leave them behind all together. He could only surmise they did not out of fear they might damage the ship and be captured. Better to run just ahead than to try and run away and end up caught.
No, his only option now was to wait and see if its Captain made some fatal mistake. Or if the life Drones on board could somehow slow them down. He held out little hope of that, as they had been useless up until now. And soon they would be coming into the range of the station Babylon five. Exposure was also a factor. If the ship did make it there he would have to choose whether or not to continue. Or sooner if they ran into a patrol.
Either way he was running out of time. And the Council was not forgiving as of late. Failure would likely mean loss of his command, if not his life. Something he held in great regard.
            "Have the engineers scavenge motors from the several missiles and create another drone to fire at them. That ship must be destroyed."
Then he had an idea. "Use a fighter. Frame it with six engines from missiles. They can act as boosters. If we launch from the proper angle they will never see it coming. Get one done at once. Two if you can get that many crews working."
He had them now. He'd stop that ship before it reached Babylon five. He had to.

                                                           ****
Twenty minutes. Not much time. Yet it seemed the clocks all ran in slow motion. Sarah and Molim sat still, waiting for the next thing to happen, at the same time dreading what it could mean. They all knew the Drakh were not about to give up, and that they did not risk exposure if they could avoid it, which meant they were going to do something desperate. Only luck had kept their last attempt from killing all of them. While Gauge was grateful for whatever favors the universe gave, he knew better than to count on them. Next time whatever they tried would probably be far more direct. And lethal.
Eighteen minutes now. Twelve before they were close enough for the vaunted listening gear at Babylon to begin picking up their transmissions. Then the fighting would begin in earnest. They'd get fighters in the sky, but the battle zone would be so close to the station they'd be fighting in their own backyard. Even if they won, the damage could be horrible. Gauge wanted to avoid that. At least give them more of a chance to get set up. Call for help and the like, before these bastards were in that close. After all, it was possible they could jam Babylon as well…
Then an idea hit him. "Sarah, when you sent your distress call, how did you know it would get anywhere?"
Sarah shook her head. "I didn't. It was all I could think to do. I really thought I was going to die there and I thought… well as somebody once said, 'If you're falling off a cliff, you might as well try to fly. You got nothing to lose.'"
Gauge laughed at that. It felt good. Even so, his mind continued to work at breakneck speed. "But how did you get it to Denvar so fast? You were at least half a light month out."
"I guess I got lucky and hit an open jump point. I don't know. Maybe the universe decided I should reach someone." She added softly, "I'm really glad it was you."
So was he but there was more than that on his mind. "What did you use to send it?"
"A boosted surgical laser. I wired it into the power grid and let it overload. It lasted about three minutes before the focusing crystal burned out."
"That's all?" 
Sarah nodded. "Why?"
"Even boosted across that kind of distance, that crystal shouldn't have fried for half an hour at least. It should have taken that long for the molecules to overheat. And even then the crystal should have been the last thing to go."
Sarah was adamant that the crystal had gone out first. "The rest of the laser still seemed to be operative. Just the crystal."
Molim smiled as he interjected, "Excuse, but I know what happen. She hit right frequency to activate jump point. Captain must have been trying to jump out when they all hit leaving the program running. She hit frequency, finish opening jump point and laser go through. That why crystal burn out first. Act like bridge between space and hyperspace.
Gauge thought for a moment. If they could reproduce the effect they might be able to warn Babylon. Only he had the same problem Sarah had had on the Excalibur. They didn't have the equipment to encode the beam with anything short of the most rudimentary message. He was trying to work out a plan when Molim shouted, "Gauge, reactor beginning to lose it! We got five minutes. Six outside before it lock up!"
No! If it locked up they were a sitting duck. Still fifteen minutes from Babylon space, their only hope was a patrol. But this far out, they weren't likely to see any. But maybe they were on their scopes.
"Molim, stand by to trigger the jump engines on my mark."
Recharged they were capable of four jumps, one after the other. The strain would probably cripple the ship when it was done but as Sarah's friend said about that cliff…
Molim was confused by the order but never the less stood ready.
Sarah stepped back out of the way. As Gauge threw switches in panels, he watched as dials indicated variances in fields he was trying to control. Satisfied at last, he shouted, "Now Molim!"
Molim triggered the jump engines. Instantly the rift between dimensions began to form. But to everyone's surprise Gauge angled the ship away from it. Then, a second shock. "Again!"
Molim did as told without thought. Then realized what Gauge had done. The two jump points were directly adjacent to each other. Static in space, both were almost touching, directly behind them now. And directly in front of the Drakh cruisers! Three minutes left before the reactor failed. Spinning the Delsar around and pointing the laser cannon at the event horizon, he triggered a continuous burst from it.
The Drakh cruisers were almost on top of the jump points when they realized what they were. Instantly all three commanders had ordered their ships off in different directions, trying to get away from what they knew was coming.
The fighter they had augmented with missile engines had launched seconds before Gauge had made the first jump point. Seeing what was happening, instead of using its extra boost to catch the Delsar the pilot too tried to escape the blast he knew was coming.
Having fired the laser all Gauge could do was run and hope. If they lived through it Babylon should have ships here in minutes. He only hoped they would find something besides wreckage.
                                                         CHAPTER SIX
On Babylon five Elizabeth Lochley stood in command and Control and willed something to happen. They had gotten a report hours ago about the Excalibur from a Denvar rescue ship called the Savoy. Its Captain had told about the rescue of one Sarah Chambers and three technicians. And how a cargo ship had taken the survivors and two of his crew after its Captain had convinced him to run. She couldn't understand how the Captain had thought his rescue vessel had less of a chance to get away than this cargo ship but he had been sure, and since it was already done there was nothing to be gained by second guessing the man.
Still the knowledge had triggered a full on search for the little ship. With no results. There had been no confirmed sightings of it. And that worried her more than a little. They should have been seen or at least heard from. Unless they were in serious trouble. Or dead.
She'd ordered the patrols to look for them but space was as always, too vast. They could be anywhere. While she waited she had looked up the captain and crew of the ship. She didn't like what she'd found. This Albert Gauge was former Earth Force. A capable, if outspoken officer. Excellent pilot, tactician, all around fighter. Decorated in half a dozen conflicts and dust ups around the galaxy, he had quit Earth force not long after the Clark incident almost nine years ago. Since then he and a retired commander named Monroe had run a little shipping business that showed a lot more profit than it should have. All of which made her suspicious about how they really made their living. Then there were the reports that this Gauge had taken to keeping company with Dr. Chambers on the Excalibur. It sounded like Matthew to allow that kind of …
She stopped as the thought of Matt Gideon ran through her mind. Four survivors were what they had reported. And he was not among them. There was still a chance. Matt was a resourceful sort. And as tough as they come, but they had reached the wreckage of the Excalibur hours ago and no reports had come in listing any more survivors. She had come to grips with it hours ago. Matt was gone. It made it no easier knowing that there was a chance that he had completed his mission but she'd be damned if she'd let the Drakh snuff out the last remnant of a man she had tried so hard not to fall in love with. She would not allow that.
She was about to order the patrols to another sector when one of the deck officers shouted, "Captain, something on long-range scan. Some kind of explosion but it’s …strange. It appears to be in hyperspace and in normal space. Estimating…"
He stopped then as he stared at screen. After a second he raised his eyes and looked at her, his face displaying incredulity. The blast was at least ten mega tons. It would be visible if they could see the direction from the C and C.
Looking at the screen Captain Lochley took a deep breath. Whatever made that explosion, the timing was too pat for her liking. "Where is the nearest patrol?"
"About five minutes away."
 "Get them in there on full burn. Have a whole wing converge at battle ready status."
Whatever it was she had the feeling it was connected to the Excalibur and the ship they were hunting. And from the size of the blast, it was possible they might never know what happened.
                                                       ****
Sarah woke up to a dimly lit bridge with a lot of flashing lights. It took her a few seconds to realize most of the flashing was in her head. Looking around she saw Molim slumped off the side of his chair. Suddenly terrified as she couldn't sight Gauge, she jumped to her feet, steadied herself and shouted, "Al! Al!"
Movement attracted her eye to the rear of the bridge. Gauge had been thrown into the wall and was in the throes of an attack of Dayton's syndrome. Grabbing a med kit she frantically began to feed him oxygen. It took only seconds for the effects to begin to show.
After about a minute he said, "Thanks, I'm fine now. Molim?"
Both of them moved to the slumped over form in the chair at the control panel.
Strapped in as he was, Molim had survived better than either of them but a flying cup had hit him in the head hard enough to render him unconscious. A trickle of greenish blue blood meandered slowly down the side of his froglike face. A second later, his eyes snapped open, a look of pure amazement on his face.
"We alive?"
Both Sarah and Gauge had to laugh. "Yeah old friend, but we won't be for long if this didn't work."
Sarah was still in the dark. "If what didn't work? What the hell did you do?"
Molim looked like he wanted to a take a poke at Gauge as he told Sarah, "He connect two jump points with laser. Feedback loop make big bomb."
Sarah was impressed and confused. "Why didn't you try that one before?"
Gauge was taking stock of the ship. "Because it was a one shot deal. I figured with three minutes left before we froze up, it was all we had left."
"You right too." Molim was checking gauges now as well. "Reactor went down before it froze, but module was damaged. We can fix. Take about five minutes."
"Any chance we can get the sensor grid on line?"
"Back-ups working. We still see. And kill. Cannon still charged. Half at least!"
Gauge had forgotten. The cannon had discharged but not fully. They still had teeth. "Targeting scanners?"
Molim looked disgusted. "Manual only. They need work too!"
Couldn't have everything, he supposed. Still from where he sat, Gauge figured they had come out pretty well.
"Let's get this thing moving. If our friends out there came out half as good as us they'll be making another run at us as soon as they can. And we don't have fighters to do the job for us!"
Suddenly, Print stepped through the door of the bridge. In his hand was a broom handle speared through what looked like a hand full of glop.
Everyone froze for an instant. Print explained. "Junior here had plans for me it seems. But that last little escapade knocked him out of his hiding place a little ahead of schedule."
The rest was evident. "You all right?" 
Print nodded, grimacing as he said, "Fine, but I may never eat oysters again."
Gauge laughed as he turned to the console. "We have to get mobile fast. All we have are maneuvering thrusters and emergency power. And we ain't gonna make any kind of a run with that. Molim, you go do your magic on the engines while I keep an eye out for our friends. Print you go help him. Sarah…"
             He stopped then, remembering the last member of their party. "Hold on Print. Sarah you go help Molim. Print you check on your friend. I don't want him loose."
"Already did. He's still in there. And from the sound of it none too happy about it. But the door looks like it held up so I don't see him as a problem."
Gauge was about to comment when Molim shouted, "Sensors on line. Look!"
Every eye turned toward the screen. The sight was gratifying and horrifying at the same time.
Two of the Drakh had made it far enough away to escape the main force of the blast but the third had taken it head on. Its fuselage was split open like a ripe melon, and fires burned their way through every internal area. There was no chance anything on board had more than seconds to live. The other two had been further off to one side. One of those was the one that had been damaged and had had trouble keeping up. That had apparently saved it by placing the other in front of it. That one, although it too had been off to the side had gotten caught in the blast window almost directly. Huge chunks of its main fuselage were missing or in flame. Either way the fighting for that one was done. All that remained was the damaged one. And their fighters.
Several of those flitted in and out among the wreckage like moths, themselves barely able to fly. Trying to gather survivor pods, they seemed to have for the moment forgotten about the Delsar. 
 Gauge knew that would change soon. And he did not believe he could stop them with just one cannon. They were small and few but they were still lethal. And Delsar was still crippled.
Turning to Molim he said, "Get down there and get this ship moving. They'll figure out we're a target soon enough and when they do…"
Molim needed no further prodding. He was off to do the impossible, knowing what was in store if he did not. Print went as well, leaving Sarah and Gauge alone.
Gauge was still figuring angles when Sarah reached out and touched his arm. He turned to her, still mindful of the scene outside for any sign of their turning their attention to them.
Sarah bit her lower lip as she wrestled with her decision. There might not be a tomorrow, or for that matter another five minutes. And she had learned enough in the last few hours to know there were no promises even in a regular life.
She stretched up and kissed him. He wanted nothing more than to be able to respond fully but she held him back. Looking into his eyes she simply said, "I love you. I don't know when it happened or how but I love you. And if we die I want you to know that. I…"
Gauge put a finger to her lips and said, "Shhh. You don't need to explain. As for when, I'd like to think it was the same time I fell in love with you. That was the first time I saw you. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen Sarah Chambers. And since the day we met I've been trying to work up the nerve to ask you for more than just the nights we stole on the Excalibur. I wouldn't even try because your work was too important. But I've been loving you ever since that day in your med lab. So don't explain. Don't try to understand. Just survive this with me and I promise I'll spend the rest of my life making you glad you did. Deal?"
She hugged him then. It was all out in the open now. Win or lose they had each other.
Suddenly, the comm crackled to life as they could hear Molim on the other end. Apparently it had been on the whole time. Neither of them was truly embarrassed, but more than a little amused as they heard Molim say, "Hmmph! 'Bout damn time."
Two Starfuries had been close to the area when the explosion happened. Both had gone to defense postures at once, surviving thanks to their distance from it. comm lines were down but they would clear soon enough. Then they saw what was waiting at the epicenter of the blast and decided it wouldn't be soon enough.
The hulks of two huge ships, apparently Drakh, were burning; drifting aimlessly, while a third looked like it was trying to do what it could for its fallen comrades. In the midst of all this were small fighters, darting in and out of the wreckage apparently guiding the larger ship as to where to go. Or perhaps effecting rescues of their own, they couldn't tell. What was far more interesting to the Fury pilots was the small ship drifting away from the carnage. It matched the description of the ship they were looking for.
As they came closer, their comm system began to work again. "This is Babylon control to Star Fury patrol. Can you copy?"
"Babylon, this is flight leader. Have area in question in sight. Target ship is in area. Requesting back up! Several fighters also in area!" Off-line he quipped, "And I don't think they're friendly."
"Stand by flight leader, Delta wing is in route." The comm went dead then. Lt Mathers wondered why but only for a second as he saw half a dozen of the fighters turn and head in their direction. Shaking his head he let out a sigh as he said to himself more than anything, "Didn't really think it would be that easy."
As Ensign Drake and he executed a pair of tight turns to get into position for an attack, he wondered why they were after the ship so hard in the first place. Then decided it didn't matter. They were trying to kill them and now him. And he took that personally, regardless of the reason.
Gauge meanwhile was trying to get the engines to fire on board the Delsar. With this latest addition to the equation they had a chance but the odds would increase dramatically if they could get into the fight.
"Molim, what's going on?"
In the engine room Molim was trying to do half a dozen things at the same time and for the most part was succeeding. Still it was a monumental task to restart the engines after switching the reactors considering the damage the ship had sustained. "Try now!" he shouted into the comm.
Gauge did and for a second was rewarded by the sound of the engines running up to full power. But only for a second as they immediately dropped off again. A second attempt proved equally futile. Gauge was about to try again when he noticed smoke from under the console. Ripping open the door he saw several wires, frayed and chaffed by who knew what, shorting themselves out. Reaching in he ignored the burning pain as he ripped them apart and secured them with tape from the emergency kit he kept in there with them. The whole process took less than a minute. Turning to Sarah he said, "Sit here and when I say, push this button and push this lever all the way forward."
Sarah protested. "I am not a pilot. I…"
Gauge cut her off saying, "Not trying to make you one dear, just trying to get our asses moving. If it works I'll be out in a second."
Sitting down Sarah took a deep breath. Her last attempt at flying had ended badly enough to prevent another but this time lives were at stake. She was still trying to talk herself into it when gauge said, "Now!"
Following his instructions she pushed the button and shoved the lever forward. Again the engines began to run up, then died. Gauge shouted for her to try again. This time the engines ran up but instead of dying out they maintained a steady drone that increased in intensity as seconds ticked by.
Just as she was about to ask if they were working gauge rolled out of the console and slid into the chair to her right, triggering the comm as he did. "Molim, we're up. Good job!"
"Not so good!" came the reply. "We got no more than half power. Any more, module blows. Need time to fix."
"And we haven't got it. Guess we have to make do. Still half power ought to keep us in front of the baddies."
Gauge knew he was being optimistic but there was hope at least with the fighters from Babylon five out there now.
Sarah suddenly reached for the switches to the comm and threw them shouting into the comm, "Babylon, this is Dr. Chambers from the Excalibur, do you copy?"
After a second the line came alive. "Dr. Chambers, it's good to hear you! What's your situation?"
Recognizing her voice, Sarah told Captain Lochley, "We're alive. And we have good news. But we have to get away from the Drakh. Your fighters are outnumbered and we're in no shape for a fight."
"I've got a whole wing of fighters on route to your position. Can you run? The fighters there will cover you."
Gauge had a bad feeling about leaving anyone to fight his fights, even in this situation. "We can probably do better with a fighting retreat. We have high powered laser cannon but we can't match their maneuverability."
"Right. Flight leader you heard?"
"Affirmative."
Lochley said something she never thought she'd say. "Follow his lead!"
The last participant in this little drama was drifting just out of the field of view of everyone there. In the modified fighter the Drakh had launched just before they had fallen to Gauge's desperation move. Now his added engines expended, he pondered his next move. With all the destroyers gone or so badly damaged, there was little chance there was still an effective jamming field so they were sure to transmit the data to the station, effectively destroying any chance they had of keeping it out of the hands of the Earthers. And any survivors would soon be in the hands of the Alliance. Which meant there was a chance that one of them could reveal their hiding place on Centauri Prime. The mission was a failure.
But if he acted quickly enough perhaps he could stop the female who had made the discovery from reaping the benefits from it.
The ship that had eluded them for so long was still probably faster than he could manage without the booster engines. But from this angle they were on an intercept course with him if he moved quickly enough. Damaged as they were he was sure they couldn't stand much more before something gave out in it and then it would be over. The Earth fighters would have their hands full with the Drakh fighters, so they would be no help to it. All he had to do was wait for the right moment and vengeance was his. The Earth force ships would kill them but at least that would stop any of the weaker among them from revealing anything about the location of their headquarters. That way when this was done they could start again. Next time better prepared.
Gauge guided the Delsar with a practiced hand; spinning the ship to fire and returning to its original heading so quickly, his pursuers thought it was some type of program designed for this purpose. Even the Starfury pilots were impressed by his skill. Had his jump engines been functioning he could have easily lost his pursuers by simply jumping into normal space but they had not yet been repaired.
So he pulled off some fancy flying while trying to reach the gate just a few minutes away. The two Fury pilots were also doing their part to destroy as many of the Drakh as they could on the way. Both had family back on Earth and were more than happy to hand out some punishment for what they had done to them.
But none of them had yet seen the Fighter off to one side, closing on a vector that would put him in the middle of the action where the others were still trying to catch up.
Molim meanwhile as trying to get as many systems back on line as he could, with Print doing all he could to assist. Sarah had tried twice to transmit the data but the system on the Delsar couldn't handle the down load fast enough to make it worth the time, so she waited as she watched the Delsar dance and the Drakh die. And she hoped that their nightmare was finally almost over.
Suddenly a blast hit the Delsar from the side just as it returned to its forward heading after one of Gauge's spin moves. Tearing through the armor on that side it took Gauge no time to realize the blow was mortal. The Delsar was finished. A quick check of the gauges confirmed it. The beam had hit one of the main conduits and the reactor, already in bad shape, was now well on the way to overload. Three or four minutes and it would go critical and then…
Opening the comm, he shouted, "Abandon ship! Molim take Print to the life pods. I'm on my way with Sarah!"
Print shouted back, "What about Hopkins? We can't just…"
Gauge cut him off. "We got no choice! That thing would try to kill us for spite if it gets the chance. And I doubt it'll let him go if we ask. I am sorry. But we have no choice!"
Print wouldn't hear it. "I'll knock him out. We can drug him. We…"
"No time! You go we can't wait and this ship is about three minutes from being a salvage op. That's your time frame. You want to try that's up to you, but you ride with him. The pods will hold four in a pinch."
Gauge felt no comfort from that. Once they were in the pods they were floating targets and everyone knew it. If the Star Furies couldn't hold them they were as good as dead.
As they reached the pods Gauge was glad to see Molim. His frog face was twisted with effort as he spun around and grabbed at the figure behind him. It was Hopkins. Guess he sided with Print. He was shouting. "You go! We take him in pod. Two better than one. You take lady and go!"
Gauge pushed Sarah into the nearest pod and slammed the door shut. Seconds later he hit the launch button and held her tightly. The ride was by no means gentle but it was survivable. In seconds the little boosters had pushed them away from the Delsar as the ship continued on its way. Angled as it was the pod was out of range of the potential blast in seconds. Gauge strained against the acceleration, turning to see how Sarah was faring. Her own space training had done its job well as she knew how to brace against the forces that buffeted her. The strain showed on her face, but so did her determination. She would not lose now.
The situation had been relayed to Babylon five, much to the chagrin of Captain Lochley. Her frustration was evident as she slammed her hand down onto a console. The bastards were persistent she had to give them that. And her other Furies were still at least a minute from their position. It looked like the fate of the whole world rested on two pilots in a pair of Starfuries. The most annoying thing was she wasn't one of them.
The Drakh fighter who had killed the Delsar watched as the life pods were shot into space. He had done it! The other fighters were engaging the Earth ships so they couldn't save them. And neither of them was in position to stop him, if he acted quickly enough. One quick strike and all his shipmates would be avenged, and with a little luck the cure might even be lost or at least delayed long enough for them to find a way to counter-act it.
Sarah saw the Drakh as it made a turn that put it on an attack vector. Looking at Gauge she was surprised to see him scrounging for one of the data crystals. Placing it in a transfer lock, he triggered it, firing the crystal into space. Turning to her he shrugged, "With luck they might find it. I've heard Lochley's pretty through."
She looked at him and smiled. Then softly laid her head on his chest. Gauge felt his eyes moisten. Thinking of what might have been, he said softly, "It would've been so nice."
Without looking up, Sarah said, "I know.
                                                  
                                          CHAPTER SEVEN

It took a few seconds for Lt. Mathers to realize what had happened and what it meant. But once he saw the life pods fly out of the ship, he knew it was trouble. The Drakh would kill the pods as fast as they could. He wasn't going to let that happen.
Spinning the Starfury he dropped away from the ships he was attacking and dove at the one zeroing in on the life pods, both guns blazing. All but out of range he did little more than attract its attention but for the moment that was enough. It gave him a chance to dive between the life pods and the Drakh. It also left Ensign Drake alone against an angry horde but with the stakes being what they were, there was really no choice.
Without warning, three more Drakh fighters dropped and began firing in his direction, suddenly sure of their targets. Watching the numbers mount against him he signaled Babylon Five. "Flight leader to Babylon control. Am under heavy attack. How long till back up arrives?"
He heard Babylon control begin to respond but suddenly they were cut off as a new voice, booming with an intensity born of nearness, blasted through. "We are not from Babylon but perhaps we will do!"
The statement was punctuated by an ion cannon blast that destroyed one Drakh and crippled another. Followed by a salvo that, although less well aimed served to shatter the ranks of the remaining ones. That left the one who had destroyed the Delsar alone against a very angry Lt. Turning his head for a second to see his benefactor he was almost shocked to see two Narn heavy fighters cutting through the expanse of hyper space, the same voice still booming through the speakers. "We were fortunate enough to arrive first. But I can assure you we are not the last."
As if to lend credence to his statement, more ships appeared out of the distance. Ones with a more familiar shape. White Stars!
The transmitter on the life pod wasn't set to send verbal signals, otherwise Gauge would have been screaming at them joyously. The Drakh, seeing they were both outnumbered and outgunned paused in their indecision. A fatal mistake as the White Stars opened up with everything they had. It was not much of a battle. In seconds the fleet had taken up positions around them and simply ordered their surrender. They had no intentions on giving up.
Suddenly a voice boomed across space. It was both gratifying and familiar. It was John Sheridan.
"This is the commander of the White Star fleet. You are ordered to stand down and surrender. This is your first, last, and only warning. Please ignore it."
Even Gauge was impressed by the audacity of the man. Yet the Drakh still persisted in trying to reach the life pods. Sheridan said, still on an open channel, "All weapons, all gunners! Weapons free! FIRE!"
White Stars are not small ships but neither are they large. Roughly five times the size of the Delsar, they packed an awesome amount of power. Concentrated in the small area the Drakh had been forced into they left no doubt there would be no survivors. Gauge wanted to yell they should save some of them as prisoners to try and find out what they could from them but it was too late. It was doubtful even Sheridan could have stopped them then.
For the Drakh fighters, death was quick painless and in the opinion of most who saw it, far too good for them. For the ones who remained on the cruiser, it was only a prelude.
Knowing escape was impossible, they triggered a reaction in their engines that would wipe out everything in the immediate area. Fortunately, the White Stars with their enhanced sensors were able to pick up the building detonation. Moving with a practiced ease the fighters from Sheridan's ship had picked up all the life pods in less than a minute, slipping them into the belly of White Star one.
 As Gauge and Sarah emerged they were happy to see Molim and Orin Print do the same. But the look on their faces told them the fate of Tom Hopkins. As medical teams moved in they directed them to be careful with the body.
"What happened?" Sarah asked. "It looked as though you had him sedated or something when we saw you."
Print answered through clenched teeth in a voice that sounded as though he'd just dug it up out of a grave. "He was. But just before they blew themselves up the Drakh must've sent through some kind of self- destruct command. The thing just burst into flame on his neck. He was dead in a second and it nearly killed us too. Would have if the system hadn't flushed the air and fire out into space."
Gauge wanted to tell Print he was sorry but that would have to wait as two Rangers, one human, one Minbari, appeared next to them. "If you would Sir. The President would like to see you before you…"
But Sarah cut him off as she asked, "Do you have a comm link to him now?"
"Yes ma'm." And with that he handed her a small box not unlike an Earth Force link. Sarah took it and seeing what appeared to be an activation stud, began talking, "Mr. President?" Not waiting for an acknowledgement she went on. "We have to get to Earth as fast as this ship will go." While she spoke she allowed Gauge to guide her through the halls following the Rangers as they led them to the bridge. Sheridan came on the line now. "Is there a problem Doctor?"
Gauge was amazed he knew who she was but only for a second. Of course he'd know. He had probably been following them in spirit since the beginning.
"The Drakh have been following us for about twelve hours and they may have the same information I have. If we don't act quickly, they may find a way to counteract the cure before we even have a chance to implement it."
By now they were entering the bridge and Gauge got his first look at the man he'd heard so much about.
He was shorter than Gauge but less so than he would have thought. Roughly the same height as Sarah, he was not bent yet but you could see the strain of the life he'd chosen pressing on him. Still he bore it well. His eyes clear and shining with hope. That was what made Gauge look harder at the man. He would not quit. Nor would he allow anyone around him to.
Standing in front the control chair, he walked towards them hand extended. Sarah shook it and he turned to Gauge. "Mr. Gauge, it seems all of Earth owes you a debt from the account given by Captain Tiles."
As Gauge shook his hand he thought of Doc for the first time in hours. Perhaps it was his manner or just the thought of who Sheridan was that reminded him of his friend but Gauge voice almost broke, as he said, "Not me Sir. I did it for her. And for a friend."
Sheridan didn't understand but he didn't press the issue just then. There were more important matters at hand. Whatever this man was after would wait. At least until the plague was dealt with.
Sarah began quickly, ignoring, or just not knowing any protocols. "As I said Mr. President, the Drakh have more than likely had the data for as long as I've been running and they have no doubt been trying to find a counter measure. If they do before we can get it to Earth they may nullify everything…" Now it was her turn for her voice to crack. But she went on. "…everything my friends died for. And I won't have it."
Sheridan looked at this woman with tears in her eyes and realized she had lost so much. Too much. And she was not about to stand around while even more was placed in danger. He admired her. He admired both of them.
"Set course for Earth. And don't spare any kitchen sinks." The Minbari looked at each other, unsure of the joke but positive of its meaning as they poured everything the ship had into the engines.
A ranger approached Sheridan and leaned in close to speak to him. After a second Sheridan nodded and said, "Fine, we'll rendezvous at those co-ordinates. Then she can come with us." Gauge guessed they were talking about Delenn. Like Sheridan, Gauge had only seen her in pictures and vids, but from what he had heard she was as formidable a woman as you could meet in this life.
"Your friends have been billeted already. So you can get to your quarters. We still have about two and a half days of hard flight to reach Earth…"
Suddenly a thought struck Sheridan. "Don't you know Stephan Franklin? I think he mentioned something to me about you the last time we spoke."
"Yes I know Stephan. We did some work regarding the initial stages of the virus." Sarah's eyes widened as she realized Sheridan's thought. "Can you get me a link to him? He would be able to cut days off."
Sheridan turned to a ranger only to find him already in the process of finalizing a link to Earth. In a few seconds a voice came on directing them to stand by for Dr. Franklin.
Seconds later, Stephan appeared on the screen, complete in pajamas and robe. No one had thought about the time.
"Sorry to wake you Stephan but I think you might want to hear this." Sheridan's tone belied the seriousness of the matter. It took just a minute to bring Franklin up to speed. Which bred the obvious question, "What is this miracle cure you think you have?"
Sarah was not fazed by his cynicism. He had undoubtedly heard more than his fair share of outlandish claims and wild ideas. Enough that he had a right to be skeptical.
She jumped in quickly, after a fast hello to Stephan. There was no tie for pleasantries but Gauge noted the smile on the doctor’s face as he saw Sarah. He smiled as he thought, “Good thing I’m not the jealous type.”
Sarah had started talking now. "We ran into it after we found out that nano-virus like the one we're up against. That gave us the screen we used to keep it out of our systems. On a world in the Sirulian system we found another only this one was different. Instead of needing to be re-set every so often it was always on line. It got us too then but John… Lt. Matheson found out there was a living tissue in the machine. That was what guided it. And that's how we can destroy it."
Stephan was still a bit foggy but the thought of finding a cure was clearing his head as they watched. Suddenly his eyes widened as the full implications hit home. "It isn't just a machine is it? And this living tissue?"
"Is a piece of the Shadows themselves! One virulent malevolent cell. It guides everything the others do. Take it out and the others are just so much bacteria. Regular antibodies will take them out."
Everyone on the bridge stared at her. The idea was insane. One cell? Capable of all this? But Franklin was less incredulous and far more intrigued by the theory.
"How do we take out this one cell? Surely it'll be defended by everything the others can do. And it would more than likely be formidable in its own right."
Seeing she had their attention now, Sarah smiled as she answered, "Yes but the Shadows have a weakness that we all know."
Sheridan was the first to realize what she was getting at. His eyes almost glazed over as he whispered the word almost reverently, "Telepaths."
Every eye in the room spun to look at him. He looked around almost sheepishly as though he hadn't really meant to say it out loud. Sarah simply confirmed his assumption and went on. "That's right! A burst of directed telepathic waves would disrupt the control they exert over the rest of the nano machines. Without that guidance they revert to an inorganic mush the body simply flushes out."
Franklin shook his head. "We tried radio waves, magnetic inversions everything we could think of but we never thought of using telepaths to send a signal that could stop this madness. How could we have missed it?"
"That's their plan. The fact that they were machines was never hidden, really. And once we discovered that we naturally assumed that the answer lay in mechanical technology. Which in a way it does. Normal telepaths can't do it. But the technology they had on Rilos is a kind of synthetic telepath they weren't prepared for."
Sheridan was becoming more and more interested now. "All right, now we have a weapon. The question is how do we use it to stop these things before they destroy all life on Earth?"
Sarah took a deep breath before continuing. The next part was so fantastic it would probably garner her some looks reserved for the totally insane. But it was true, and she would have to make them understand.
"We need to send a blast of the psionic waves to the cells. That was what the inhabitants of Rilos did."
Sheridan's brow furrowed in confusion. "You mean we get a group of telepaths to…"
Sarah cut him off. "No. The Rilosians didn't have telepaths, like the Narn. But they used a kind of technology that duplicated telepathic wavelengths"
Gauge was astounded. "But this is too simple. I mean the Shadows had to know that there would be telepaths on the worlds that they use this thing on. It doesn't make sense to leave it with this kind of vulnerability."
Again Sarah shook her head. "The Shadows seldom used this weapon. And the worlds they used it on were ones that usually had no telepaths. Or at least none strong eough or advanced enough to discover their secret. Like Rilos. The only thing that saved them was that one of their scientists was experimenting with psionic waves before the Shadows came. Only he was producing them from a machine to try and tell when a being was being truthful or not. That was why the Shadows never knew. Their procedure was to drop the plague and simply go away. When the world was dead, they come back, deactivate it and use the world any way they wanted. Efficient and clean. And no need to offer anything. But Rilos found the cure. So the Shadows came back and wiped them out to keep their secret."
Delenn spoke up for the first time then. Her arrival had gone unnoticed in the midst of Sarah's revelation. Gauge marveled at the woman's being and presence. She and Sheridan were a good match.
Sheridan was confused and he let it be known. This was no time for ego. "If the Rilos were destroyed how did you find all this out?”
Sarah had sat down, tired from both the events of the last two days and the telling of the story she had gone over so many times in her mind, but she went on. "The same scientist who had been working with psionic waves realized when the Shadows reappeared that they were there to destroy them. His last act was to commit everything that they had found to a type of data disc they used. Then he hid it in an A.I. to guard it. The idea was if anyone, like us came looking at their world for whatever reason; the A.I. would play the disc for them. Imagine our surprise when after all the time we had been looking for the cure to this horror, we walk into an old laboratory on a dead world and find a screen displaying everything we had been hoping to find. Once Max Iverson had finished translating it, we still couldn't believe it. Matth…Captain Gideon started to contact Earth but decided not to. Our early experiences with the Drakh had made us leery of putting too much on comm lines. Even secure ones. That was when we made the decision to head back to Earth. The rest I guess you can figure out. Technician Stark was a spy for the Drakh and let them know what we had found out. They destroyed the Excalibur to keep Earth from getting the cure. And every instinct I have says they are right now trying to find a way to fortify the plague against this kind of an attack. Which is why we have to move fast."
Franklin was flabbergasted. Everyone else was simply too stunned for words. After a few moments of trying to digest the information he had just been given he stared at Sarah and grimly said, "You said something about, ‘it got you?’"
Sarah looked down at the floor. "After we had found all of this, the A.I. decided we didn't believe it. So it blasted us with what it said was the same plague the Shadows had used on them! It made us verify it was before it went on."
The look on everyone's face was exactly the same. How could she risk being here in the midst of everyone if she had been infected?
 She looked up almost defiantly. "Once we ascertained that it was the same virus, the A.I. said it would now cure us. The process was quick and painless. And in less than two hours we checked again. We had no sign of any active viruses other than ones you find in a normal person."
Delenn looked almost star struck. "Then it really is a cure."
                                          
                                             CHAPTER EIGHT
"So where is this miracle machine?" 
Sarah looked at the group gathered around her, almost afraid to tell them. "Right here." As they watched, she pulled down the neck of her tunic to reveal a scar above her left breast. Everyone looked from one to the other in shock as she explained. "I had the device implanted under my skin, just as it was designed to be by its inventor. It works off a biologically activated power supply. Remember, its original use was to find out if someone was telling the truth. So it was made small. This one has a very limited range but it can be adapted to broadcast over certain frequencies. All we have to do is provide it with enough power and this small unit can initiate the effect we want."
Franklin was curious. "What about the power supply? You said it operated on a biological one. Won't that be hard to duplicate on the kind of scale we need?"
Sarah shook her head. "It was designed to run on that to make it harder to detect. Any power source can be used."
Everyone was beginning to feel the release of tension in the room. Even Dr. Franklin was beginning to look hopeful. Gauge was loath to say what had just popped into his mind but he knew it had to be said.
"You are going to have a problem with this." Instantly he could feel every eye on the bridge turn on him. He rubbed his neck as he went on. "I think I've seen this Rilos. And if I remember it right the world is small, almost moon sized. With an ocean that covers most of it. The only land mass isn't as big as Australia, right?" Sarah confirmed his estimates. "And that means they only needed one machine to cover the entire population at once. Earth won't have that advantage. The power source may be easy to reproduce but I'll bet that device itself will take years to duplicate. And you'll need several of these machines to cover the planet, regardless of its effective range. Which means your time frame is going up drastically."
The depression that filled the room was a palpable thing. The roller coaster ride they were on wasn't finished yet. And the gamut of emotions they went through in five minutes had been more than most people experienced in a lifetime. Even Sarah began to doubt the sacrifices she had made to find this cure only to have it so simply nullified. Gauge went on quickly.
"We have to find a way not just to increase its range but to angle it around the planet simultaneously. Otherwise, I bet the things will begin killing with whatever they can, and on as many folks as they can."
Franklin spoke up almost desperately, "What if we use real telepaths? We have a list of Psi-cops. They were the most powerful Earth had. We could…"
But Gauge was shaking his head. "The only way this thing will work is if you can get your signal to every corner of the planet at the same time. That way, none of them realize what's happening until it's too late to stop it."
Sheridan was thinking furiously. Gauge was right. If they went after these things piecemeal thousands, maybe millions could die. Earth might never recover. But if they took too long setting up the number of machines they would need to blanket the planet the Drakh could find a counter-measure and make all their plans worthless.
Meanwhile Sarah had stepped behind a wall and removed the Craver from the nesting place it had occupied for so long. A simple procedure really, as she had designed the skin flap to detach without pain. A simple dermal regenerator would repair any damage it had done in the few days it had been there. As she came back she was feeling the dejection that was permeating the bridge.
Sheridan spoke up then, his voice filling the bridge. "There has got to be a way to use this. We can't give up now!"
Unnoticed by everyone, Jim Wright had made his way to the bridge. For the last few moments he had stood and listened as the plan had been outlined and its flaw unveiled. All these brilliant people and yet the answer was eluding them so easily. He cleared his throat. At the sound everyone looked in his direction. He felt uneasy under the stares, but squared his shoulders as he began.
"Excuse me, but I think I might be able to solve your little problem. That is if you could give me the exact frequency of this thing you want to transmit."
Sarah had the numbers committed to memory. She rattled them off without pause. After a second or two of concentration, he nodded his head as if confirming what he had suspected. "There used to be a comm-system around Earth using radio carrier waves. Amateurs used it to talk to people in different parts of the world for a thrill. Called it HAM radio I think.
"How will that help?" someone asked. "We could bounce the signal around through the network we use now for that matter." That came from Franklin. Sheridan was the one who had seen the wisdom and spoke up first. "The Drakh would be monitoring that. Once they picked up the transmission they probably would jam it. If it's that specific, any interference would disrupt it."
"Plus there's the small matter of all the signals already on that network. They'd all have to be stopped and probably some reprogramming done to accept your new signal. Both of which would take time. Time we don't have. Every second the Drakh are more than likely getting closer to finding out how to neutralize this thing."
"So how does this system help?" Gauge asked.
Wright went on guardedly. "It was built, like I said to transmit radio signals around the planet. More important it used resonant frequencies to excite crystals to transmit. Crystals not a whole lot different from the ones we use nowadays to store data. If we can get this A.I. to broadcast the frequency at the right pitch, every crystal on the planet will turn into a transceiver.”
"You mean it'll just be transmitting through the entire network of data crystals all over the world? I thought there were safeguards against that kind of thing." Stephan sounded dubious. Wright was not deterred. "There are. But they’re to stop unauthorized interception of data or decoding by hackers. This won't use the crystals storage capacity, just its natural resonance to send a signal along at the exact same frequency. Once the A.I. sends the signal all it had to do is blend into every system in the world that uses data crystals. The storage crystals on the systems will do the rest."
"But won't the crystal have to be activated?" Gauge had again beaten everyone to the question they all had.
Wright just smiled. "Nope. Just in the system. And since every system has at least one crystal in play all the time to receive emergency broadcasts…"
 "Then we can inundate the planet in a few minutes! Mr. Wright you are a genius!" That had come from Sheridan. Almost in time with his announcement came another from Franklin.
"And I am an idiot! While we do that we can wire it into the planetary warning system! It'll give us a two-pronged attack. Sarah, give me that frequency again!"
But she shook her head. "That's just the carrier frequency. The real work has to be done by the device. Trying to send that through the link won't work. It's just too complex to maintain over the distance. That was why we were heading back to Earth. If we had had this conversation on the Excalibur, this all might be over now, but at least you can begin setting things up."
Franklin nodded as he began shouting orders. If they were right it was just a matter of time now. And for the first time in quite a while he felt hopeful about the outcome.
He had no idea that this little drama was about to take a turn for the worse.
The first warning came from Franklin. While he was talking to Sarah he was suddenly called from somewhere off camera. As everyone's attention became riveted to the screen he stepped away from the camera, returning after a minute looking ashen.
Delenn spoke first. "Steven, what is it?"
"Reports coming in from ships on the deep range. Two of their scout ships have detected what looks like a fleet moving toward Earth. Configuration says Drakh. And reports coming in from all over the world. People are getting sick from everything from Whooping cough to Ebola. Seems you have them running scared!"
Sheridan looked at the screen, shaking his head. "Trouble is there might not be anything left for them to run from in a few hours. How long until they get to Earth?"
"According to the scouts, maybe thirty hours." Franklin didn't look hopeful as he looked up. "You?"
Sheridan looked like he'd been kicked in the stomach. "Our best we could be there in around fifty. How long before you can get the system up and running?"
"Once we get all of the frequencies we …hey what if we use telepaths anyway?" Everyone looked at the screen as Franklin went on quickly to explain his idea. "Look, the thing might have been designed to imitate telepaths so what if we use the real thing? Like I said we have some of Earth's most powerful at our disposal. Do you think it could stop them? 
Sarah chewed her bottom lip as she ran the thought through her mind. Finally she said, "It couldn't hurt. Have them concentrate in the lower bandwidths… is that right? I'm not too sure on how it works in their world."
"Neither am I. But give me what you have and I'll get 'em on it. The thing is we're still going to need you and that device to deliver the final blow. My guess is that all we'll do is slow 'em down." To himself he added, "Or piss 'em off."
Sheridan came over the link again. "Our best estimates put us in Earth space in just over forty-eight hours. Providing we don't blow ourselves up trying to get there." Both men knew what that meant. Earth force was practically non-existent around Earth itself these days, with everyone hunting a cure. What few ships remained were mainly to keep the desperate from trying to escape. The planetary defense grid had long been rebuilt, but like the Minbari during the war, Drakh ships were all but invisible to their targeting scanners.
The White Stars were another matter though. With their Minbari and Vorlon based technology they could easily match the Drakh. But the numbers were against them. "I have ten White Stars with me and another two dozen… some fifty hours from you. Both too damn far to do any good."
Sheridan gnashed his teeth. There had to be a way. They were too close to lose it now.
Molim perked up suddenly. Grabbing Gauge's arm he pulled him over to whisper in his ear. As everyone watched Gauge seemed to mull over whatever he had said, then nodded. Turning to the others he said, "Do you think we could use a power-boost?
"What kind of boost? What do you have in mind?" Delenn asked curiously.
Gauge measured his words carefully. All the years of hiding the truth made him want to hold back. "The Delsar was powered by two reactors, both of them powered by an element Doc and I created. We called it Irridinium. The power output is roughly two hundred times a standard fusion reactor. Her reactors were only about two feet across, at least the chambers were."
Looking around he could see the disbelief on the faces of everyone. Sarah was perhaps the most stunned as she had been on the ship and felt the power it had. Almost directly to her Gauge said, "We could have possibly run away from the Drakh but I was afraid to try. Any mistake and we were history. If it ever came down to it I was planning to just run at full speed. I had the power but the rest of the ship might not have held up."
Gauge had no idea why he had to explain that but to him it was a necessity. At least, he had to explain it to her.
Delenn looked at both of them and realized the depth of what she was seeing. She smiled, possibly for the first time realizing at last how everyone felt looking at her and Sheridan. And realizing how immodest it was, felt ashamed and at the same time, awed by what she saw in these two. Looking over at John Sheridan she saw him looking at them the same way.
For Sarah it was not a matter of even thinking he had done less than his best. And later, she would be sure that he understood that but for now it was less important than getting the ship back to Earth.
"Can you boost this ship's power with this stuff? Maybe we could make the jump to Earth a little faster." Sheridan was curious for more than just the present situation. If this reactor he had was anywhere near as good as he said, it could be valuable beyond measure. But time for that later.
"How fast could we make the change over Molim?" "Take maybe two hours. Minbari tech close to what we use to set up Delsar. Think I can make it work real quick."
Sheridan groaned. "Two hours? No way! We couldn't …"
Ignoring Sheridan, Gauge asked Molim, "How much would we cut off an Earth jump?"
Molim thought for a moment, then announced, "Twenty hour. If everything hold up.”
Even the Minbari who didn't really have a fluid grasp of English looked astonished. 
Twenty hours dropped with just two hours work? If he were telling the truth it would be incredible. Sheridan was no less astounded even though he didn't show it. It meant they could possibly beat the Drakh to Earth. And Sheridan desperately wanted another shot at them. For Sarah it was another matter.
"If we can get that much boost to the power, can we increase the amount of …" She stopped suddenly, remembering the chase by the Drakh. "Could you use that extra power to make the signal stronger?"
"Stronger how?" 
Sarah rubbed her temples as she concentrated. The strain was beginning to show. "The signal will degrade thanks to distance and complexity. But if we can use your power boost to solidify the signal we may have a better chance of getting the signal through from here."
Molim smiled, his frog face stretching to its limits. "Always did like this woman. She smart. Boost power and send signal, Earth have time launch defense force. Boost power, fly faster, maybe get there late anyway."
"If Earth can get that transmission system on line, they'll still need as many ships as possible to try and fight off the Drakh. And if you can get us there twenty hours quicker, do it. Meanwhile I'll get on the horn and try to get as much help heading their way as possible"
Molim snapped a quick salute to Sheridan. "Need diagrams of power systems. And have somebody take this to the life pods we came in. Storage compartment have fifty pounds of Irridinium in each one. More than this ship need this month."

                                          CHAPTER NINE
Delenn looked at Gauge and Sarah. They were both probably exhausted. Molim too as far as that went. But he was needed to make the changes to the ship. "Come. You need to rest and eat. Your friend should too but I doubt he will, so I won't bother him by asking. Once he gets the process started we will see, but for now you need to rest so you can help him if he needs it."
Sarah looked around. Wright had gone back to his quarters after making his contribution to the effort. Sheridan was delegating helpers for Molim to get the job done as quickly as possible. Gauge was drained. The loss of Doc and then his ship were telling on him more than he would admit. And Sarah's losses were beginning to add up on her as well. In two hours they would be underway to Earth. What would happen then was anybody's guess. But there was hope. And at this point that was all she could ask.
Gauge gratefully accepted Delenn's hospitality. He even lay down in the room provided for him and Sarah. The Minbari bed however was another matter. After about ten minutes he decided it was better to just lie on the floor, rather than risk upsetting his hosts. 
After  an hour or so both were up again. They looked at each other and both agreed silently that they could sleep when this was over. Sarah went to work on streamlining the integration of the Craver she had called it, and the Minbari computer. While Gauge thought about what he could do to help. 
Although Gauge knew the power system far better than Molim, he knew he was of little help in revamping the Minbari system. Sleep was out. All he could do was sit and think about the last few hours. And the next.
"The hell with this." Gauge thought to himself. Sitting around was just not his style. Looking into the hall, he took a chance on which way to go. He learned quick enough that security was still a factor even among the Minbari. He had gone about ten feet when a Ranger appeared seemingly from nowhere. After a quick explanation, he was pointed in the direction of engineering. It was a safe bet they were still watching him, but he didn't care in the least. At least he could find something to do.
As he entered the room he found Sheridan and Delenn both hovering around as Molim tried to realign things in ways they were never meant to. And from the look of things they had already tried to make some suggestions on how he might do it. And gotten one of his patented growls to explain that he didn't want any help. Despite his stature, Molim was formidable in his own right. And he hated helpers.mmm
As he stood there looking around he marveled at the ship they were on. He had heard of them sure but in truth he had never made any plans to be on one. The technology was awesome, both the Minbari and what he could make of the Vorlon. It took only a few seconds of concentration to realize that even this marvel would benefit greatly from his power source. But the question was did it matter? Would there be enough time for them to make a difference? He had begun to feel hopelessness creeping up on him again when a hand wrapped itself around his and squeezed. It was Sarah.
"What luck on your end?" "Everything I can do is ready. We'll send the data burst in a few minutes. As soon as Molim reconnects the power grid to the comm system."
"Any more news from Earth?" Gauge watched as Sarah visibly sagged. "Nothing good. The sicknesses are still spreading, but Stephanput out the word, so they're using telepaths to fight it. They don't have the right frequencies to really do any damage to the things but they can harass them enough to slow them down. Once we're on line, I'm hoping we can change that."
Gauge was about to answer when he heard Molim begin growling something in his native tongue. Gauge had no idea what it was, but he recognized a few cuss words that signaled something was definitely amiss.
Stepping up to the station Molim had taken over, he asked in the calmest voice he could muster, "Mo, what's wrong?"
Molim refused to look up as he fought with the controls. "Lots! Minbari use ceramic lining for reactors. Real hard. But when Irridinium hit it, it begin to crystallize! Can’t get system to stabilize. Power level won’t hold. Best it do is sixty five per cent boost. Best speed we make take about forty hours at that rate. Core never make it. In fifteen hours, core breech. Then…"
Gauge felt his throat tighten "Well, stop the procedure man!"
Molim was shaking his head as he slammed his hand into the console, shouting, "Already started to happen! No way to stop now! Fifteen hours we dump core or we die!"
Gauge looked around. He cursed himself for not considering the effects of crossing technologies, then berated himself for wasting time. As if this news wasn't bad enough, a Minbari came in handing Delenn a pad with what he assumed was a message from Franklin. Sheridan looked disgusted. Gauge confronted him.
"Now what?" Gauge asked, although his tone said he already knew the answer. "The telepaths are beginning to lose the fight on Earth. Stephansays…"
Sarah began, "We've got to get that signal out now how fast can you get the…"
But Delenn cut her off. "We can't. Roden says we lost contact with Earth. They can't tell if they're being jammed or if they've destroyed some link in the system between us. But we can't even get reports from them now. I doubt they can receive us either!"
Everyone in the room was frozen then. All their hard work had come to this. Failure at the eleventh hour. Even Molim looked depressed.
Gauge however. was not finished yet. "Mr. President, we have one option left that I can think of. I didn't even want to bring it up but now it looks like all the choices are being made for us."
Sheridan nearly jumped at the chance. "Well? Out with it man! We didn't come this far to quit now!"
 Gauge rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully and began. "I don't know how much you know about me, but we used to do a lot of things that were… shall we say, shady. One of which was creating a system of short cuts in hyperspace using our own beacons. Ordinarily I'd never try something like this. It's insane even for me but if we don't we might as well give up and start looking for a new home."
Sheridan moved his mouth but Delenn beat him to it. "Does this system of your have a route that can get us to Earth before the Drakh?"
Gauge shook his head. "I think we can get there in around twenty-five hours or so with  what boost we can get from the Irridinium. But to do it we're going to have to cut through some real bad areas of hyperspace."
Sheridan looked concerned. And this time he beat Delenn to the punch. "Define 'real bad.'"
Gauge squared himself. He almost expected that once Sheridan heard what he was proposing, he'd lock him up as a nut case. At the very least he'd tell him to go to hell. But it was an option. And as of late they were running precariously low on those.
"The system is designed to let a… someone disappear from the regular lanes of travel, and give them an edge by letting them reach another lane by cutting across uncharted sections of hyperspace. But these short cuts are invariably short duration, relatively speaking. What I'm proposing is…" He took a deep breath. 
"…picking a course across enough hyperspace to get us to Earth in time to stop these bastards once and for all. The problem is that to do that we have to do some really dumb things in the vicinity of some very dangerous things. One you may have heard of. Asgard's Rift."
At the sound of the name even Molim stopped working to stare at him. Everyone else who knew what it was regarded him as you would a madman. 
Sarah on the other hand, was simply curious. "What exactly is this…Rift?"
To everyone's surprise a Ranger named Calhoun who had been standing quietly in the background spoke up, apparently having had some experience with it. "It's a hyperspace inversion at a point where the gravity fields of two suns meet in normal space. The Goladus was destroyed there along with a dozen other ships before they finally gave up trying to map it. It's insanity. No one's ever made it all the way across."
"Incorrect!" Gauge shouted. "It had been done at least three times that I know of. Once by Doc Monroe and twice by me. But you're right. It is insanity. That's why I never suggested it before now. Any option was better than that. Only trouble now is we don't have any other options. In fifteen hours this ship loses power until you can replace its core. Fifteen hours after that the Drakh arrive at Earth and finish what they started. The only chance we have of giving Earth a fighting chance is to let me try to pilot this thing across the Rift. With the boost from Molim's modifications, I think we can get close enough..."
"Yes but then what? We would still be at least ten or eleven hours from Earth. And the reactor would have to be dumped." That was Delenn again. "We couldn't cut through their jamming with only emergency power. And without the signal from Dr. Chambers’s computer Stephanstill can't stop the plague."
Another deep breath. What the hell they hadn't told him he was crazy yet, so he might as well push on. "Crossing the Rift will cut down our travel time by ten hours. The only way I can see is we take two ships at least, across the Rift. By locking the second one in tandem with this one we can energize the second one with Irridinium once we have to leave this one or sooner if it becomes necessary. Either way we'll come out the other side with something resembling a viable force. And we can beat them to Earth by enough time to make a try at getting a force together that the Drakh won't want to face. "
Looking at Sarah, he then said, "And the reason why I didn't try it when we were running for our lives was that I wasn't sure the Delsar could handle he strain. She'd done her share of running from just about everything lately. Maybe six more months and I could've gotten that refit Doc and I had been promising each other. But things just never worked out."
Turning to Sheridan he simply shrugged saying, "So there it is Cap… Mr. President. We helped get you into this particular mess, this is the only way I see out of it. But it’s your call."
Sheridan was trying desperately to process everything that gone on in the last two hours. One thing was sure. If any of them lived through this they would be guaranteed awards for the most insane. Still, John Sheridan was nothing if not decisive. 
"Signal White Star Six… and eight to have their Captains meet me on the bridge. And prepare to receive a new fuel complete with instructions on how to use it. Then have them disperse their crews through the fleet. Keep only essential personnel."
Looking at Gauge he grinned. "Three ships will be easier to keep balanced in tandem, don't you think?" 
"Yes sir." Gauge said, almost stunned as Sheridan went on. "You and…Molim should begin figuring how you want to divide up that…element of yours among the other ships. Anything you need you say the word. If we have it, you have it."
No more words now, he turned to leave. Then, filled with a sudden need to explain, he said almost absently, "I was there when this thing started, and I intend to see it end. And if this is the day, then so be it. One way or the other."
As he left the room, Delenn close behind, Gauge understood why so many people had followed this man. There was just something about him.  Even though the characteristic was indefinable, it was definitely there. In abundance.
He turned to find Sarah staring at him. He desperately wanted to tell Sheridan to put her on one of the ships that would follow along regular routes, but he knew it was no use. She had to be there. None of them knew what the hell that A.I. would do without her. And, unless he missed his guess, Sheridan was probably using all his persuasive powers to try and get Delenn to do the same thing. With probably the same success he knew he'd have.
He sighed, resigned to the knowledge that he would probably die in this one last attempt to save a world he has rejected long ago for a woman he had known for only a few months. 
He found himself laughing at the prospect. An old song popped into his head just then. The name and most of the words eluded him but one line flashed through. "Ain't love grand?"
                                    


                                           CHAPTER TEN
Two things worked in the favor of the good guys then. One: Molim had misjudged the resilience of the Minbari ceramic. After a quick scan he reevaluated his initial estimate by two hours. Not much but Gauge's new course, (assuming of course they survived it,) would put them in Earth space well ahead of the Drakh. A feat of such fantastic proportion that even the Minbari were impressed. The trick would be getting past the Rift. Although it would only be half of the trip, it was guaranteed to be the worst. His biggest fear was having to change ships in the middle of the Rift. Not a happy proposition.
Two: Gauge had found what he needed to plot the course from memory. The Minbari had mapped the area years before with little more success than humans but they had been more persistent. Their charts included details that humanity either didn't notice or just marked off as some kind of universal mystery.
In either case, Gauge found himself with far more information than he originally thought he would. And he was able to plot a course that would not only get there inside the deadline, but would do so with an almost acceptable risk factor.
The key word was almost. Asgard's Rift was famous for flaring. Sudden bursts of graviton waves that could crush a ship or render it helpless at least, then batter it to pieces. Navigational equipment was fine if calibrated correctly, as long as it remained focused on its goal. To that end Sheridan had come up with a plan.
After hearing the gist of Gauges plan, and the drawbacks it had, he'd grinned like a child as he recounted an old story from his Grandfather. "Seemed he had a friend who once earned his daily bread as a private detective. Following people who didn't want people to know where they were going and such. One trick he told me about was drilling a hole in one of the guy's red lights on the rear of his vehicle. The white light shining through was like a beacon you see. Then he could follow him from a distance and the guy would never know."
As he finished his story he stood and moved to the board displaying the outline of the Rift. "If we launched a set probes in a looping orbit now they could be in position for us to use as guideposts. Like a point of origin that we could always get a fix on to calculate our position and progress."
Gauge considered it. Then suddenly he found himself grinning. "And we've got the perfect flare! Irridinium! It's a high output energy source and its radiation frequency is so unique even a tiny amount is recognizable. Not even the Rift's gravity bursts could stop that!"
They had set to work then. The job took less than an hour. And at that they still had to deal with Molim's impatient gaze as he had finished the last of his own duties nearly half an hour earlier. With Sarah having completed all she had to do with the A.I., all that remained was to lock the three ships in tandem and launch the probes.
Once the final probe was underway as they waited to pick up its signal, Gauge heard mumbling behind him. As he turned he saw Sheridan with his head slightly bowed, and his lips moving. Not sure what to make of it he asked, "Mr. President, are you all right?"
Sheridan raised his head and half smiled. "Fine. I just figured it couldn't hurt." Still unsure of what that meant, Gauge wasn't sure what to ask when Sheridan went on.
"An old Egyptian prayer. ‘May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places you must walk.'”
After a moment of contemplation, Gauge agreed.
Time was for the first time on their side. The Drakh would arrive on Earth in just under twenty-eight hours, give or take. With the modifications to the White Star they would be in Earth space in just over twenty-six. While the first White Star would be drifting in space when they arrived, the other two could hit Earth space, complete with Irridinium-powered reactors. All that was standing between them and their goal was how well Gauge could learn to pilot a White Star.
Since the computer actually flew the ship, in that respect it was little different than the Delsar, which had been more fighter than transport, had been. Despite its mass the White Star boasted some pretty efficient handling characteristics, owed in no small part to the combination of Minbari and Vorlon tech it used. Gauge wondered vaguely why the Vorlon hadn't equipped the things with their power supplies rather than simply having the Minbari use theirs. He decided that the Vorlon, even with their allies, were less than magnanimous when it came to technology.
For Gauge it was simply a matter of readjusting what he knew to fit the new ship. A little coaxing this way, a little braking thrust on this and in less than the time it took to reach the Rift, even the Minbari were impressed by his progress. Another couple of hours would have greatly increased his confidence in his new charge but he had no time for fine-tuning himself.
However good he was, it would have to do.
The only visible accommodation made was for his massive frame to sit behind the control board. Other than that he fit right in. Delenn noted with some trepidation that he was the first person to handle a White Star so brutally since her husband had first flown one. The experience still haunted several of the flight instructors. Most of which had degenerated into drill instructors shouting at him and then remembering whom they were talking to, spent the next few minutes apologizing profusely. Which either annoyed or amused Sheridan, depending on how he felt the maneuver had gone.
Meanwhile everyone was trying his or her best to act unconcerned. And failing miserably at it. The tension was low key, as in any truly superb professional organization, but it was there nonetheless. Not that it made any difference. The efficiency level did not vary in the least. In less than an hour they would be in the middle of the Rift. Then the real work would begin.
Trying to explain what you see when you look at Asgard's Rift is like herding cats. Just when you think you have it figured out the whole thing changes again and you have to start over. The biggest difference is that you never really get it figured out. Navigating it is pretty much the same. You pick your spot and pray it's still there when you arrive. Finding a path through is another matter. The whole thing is formed by intense gravity wells in normal space. So intense they bleed through into hyperspace and become intensified by it. Then every molecule in the area gets caught in the maelstrom and you end up with the Rift. The only place you have a chance of crossing it is in its center. Which shifts erratically.
And then there are the flares. Every so often the whole thing overloads and, (for lack of a better word,) belches a gravity flux through that causes the whole thing to swell. When that happens, the center becomes a tunnel. A very small tunnel. No one really knows if it seals up altogether because it really doesn't matter. Once it closes your only option is to freeze up and let the waves wash over you, hoping none of them shift enough to rip your ship apart. As long as they remain constant from all directions, you can survive. If they shift far enough however, while you are inside, you have no chance. For Gauge and Doc it had been a simple case of timing. They hadn't run into a flaring. If they had all of this wouldn't be happening. At least the odds were against it.
Now as they approached the outer perimeter of the Rift, Molim and the Minbari techs ran through a thousand different tests to assure everything was as good as it could be.
Unfortunately, there was only so much they could do. Then it became the domain of Albert Gauge to complete the task. He had no fear of being up to the task. That was simple. He either could or could not and that would be it. His only apprehension was based not on fact but rather on legend.
An old spacefarer’s myth about the Rift said that at its center there was a point where realties collide. Some say it's the gravitational flux, others say it's just so much hubris. But no one knew for sure as few had been in the Rift and even fewer had come out of it. And none had been in for the amount of time they would be there.
In any case , Gauge knew there was no way out now. Less than twenty minutes to the edge. Then there would be no turning back. Not that there was any now.
Sarah had gone to a console to keep trying to break through the interference. Molim had found busy work to keep him occupied. And Sheridan stood around looking for something to do, unaccustomed as he was to not being in complete control.
For Gauge, things were going reasonably well. Mastering the Minbari controls had been less of a challenge than he had thought it would be, even with the addition of the two ships magnetically linked to the top and bottom of the one he flew. Molim had even made a tunnel between airlocks so he could travel between the ships unimpeded.
Now the ships were coming into view of the rift. And every eye found a way to get a look at it. Whether they saw salvation or doom was an individual choice and one they all chose to keep to themselves, but Gauge could feel apprehension oozing out of everyone on the ship. It began to make him feel somewhat less than comfortable.
Suddenly he seemed to hear Doc’s voice somewhere in the distance, like always, strong steady, full of hope as it said, "Steady boy. Let's get this show on the road. The sooner we start, the sooner it's over." He agreed.
Taking a deep breath, he began checking gauges and then shouted, (even though there was no other sound on the bridge,) "Strap in! This is gonna get ugly quick!"
The Rift loomed up before them like some beast from a forgotten mythology. Eddies of molecular material swirling like swarms of insects performing some twisted version of a Dance Macabre on what appeared to be a planetary scale. The normal hues and tones of hyperspace rushing in on one another as if trying to overpower each other. All the while every sensor on the ship screamed about the awesomeness of the whole thing.
Steadying himself, Gauge searched the scene for the only thing that mattered just then. The center of the Rift. He had not looked at the middle of the maelstrom. He had no thought of being that lucky. He found it off to his right and above. Not so much a path as a cleft in the swirling mass. But he knew his eyes deceived him. From that cleft flowed all the energy that powered the spectacle before him. But he knew that just above it was the only place in this place he had a chance of surviving. And with him, and this mission, Earth.
Suddenly he brought the ship(s) to a halt just short of entering the Rift proper. Which brought Sheridan almost out of his seat.
"What's wrong?" Gauge said nothing as he watched the patterns of the Rift ebb and flow before him. 
Gauge never took his eyes off the screen as he answered simply, "Fools rush in. And I do not intend to be a fool today."
For several minutes Gauge sat at the threshold of his goal and watched it perform. Doc had told him a "secret" of the Rift before he had made his first crossing of it. Something from an old joke about it, made by men too frightened to try and cross it. "The blues mean it's angry but the green means ready." Gauge searched every quadrant for either color. Satisfied neither was present he checked his heading and the relative position of the probes they had launched. Then, almost haughtily, he shouted, "Tally ho!" and launched the ship toward the cleft.
The ships rolled like drunks on a swaying deck as gravity became variable. And vicious. Despite the advanced tech of the Minbari and the Vorlons, they were only half in control at best. While Gauge held the ship on course, the Minbari struggled to rein in the new power source. Despite Molim's conversion, the levels fluctuated wildly forcing everyone to concentrate solely on their assigned station. Sheridan and Delenn both sat wide-eyed as Gauge's hands flew over the controls. Both were amazed not only by his skill but also by his determination. Only then did they begin to realize that whatever the reason, he was just as committed as they were. Not that his skill was anything to sneeze at.
But Gauge had no time for compliments. The Rift was doing it's normal best to destroy them and he was not about to let that happen.
"Molim, trim the starboard thruster! I can't get my angle right!" Without a word, Molim began turning dials furiously. Then he turned to Gauge. "Better?" 
Testing the feeling of the ship under the new tri he finally answered, "Some, but I could use a little more control on it."
Molim shook his flat head. "Nothing I can do. Gravity well pushes us sideways, thruster not built to do more."
Sheridan suddenly shouted, "Have the other ship slave into your controls. You can use it to boost your control."
Gauge half-smiled. The man was impressive all right. And cool under fire.
Even with the second ship however, the ship still had a tendency to slip off trajectory. The problem was that the thrusters were not strong enough to move the ship quickly enough to compensate for the Rift's shifting. After a minute of trying to realign them, Gauge opened a line to the other ships. His image appeared at once.
"Captain Rohine, Captain Trevor, kill the slave links! You guys are going to have to use your main engines to keep us on target."
The reaction to his suggestion was in Minbari. And, if the redness of Delenn's face was any indicator, not very polite. After a second to regain his composure, he said again in English. "Impossible! We would rip ourselves apart or at the very least tear loose the moorings between the ships!"
Gauge simply sighed. "I never said it was gonna be easy. You have to get us on the proper trajectory or we won't get the chance to stop anybody."
He said no more save one word in Minbari that Delenn translated when Gauge looked at her. She said, "Insanity."
Gauge shook his head, as he thought to himself, "Yeah, ain't we all?"
Molim shouted suddenly, "Wait! Got idea!" After a few seconds of reorganizing switches, he shouted, "Restart slave circuit. Now you control the main engines independent. Use nested memory for controller." 
Seeing Gauge's confused look, he pointed at the control board. "Third switch down on both sides. Left side, ship on top, right side ship on bottom."
"Great. Now I just have to not rip us apart." 
Molim just smiled. "Cannot fix everything."
Gauge wanted to banter with like they were on the bridge of the Delsar, but he knew he didn't have the time. Too many things to watch, too many things to do. The Rangers, so used to taking on anything, had to sit and watch while Gauge again fought the controls. After a few minutes he had again mastered the new arrangement and they were back on track. Gauge noted the time. Only a few minutes lost. He hoped they could spare them.
For the first two hours there was nothing to report. The new system worked well enough to keep them on target and Sheridan's idea with the probes had proved itself immediately but it still required constant vigilance. As usual, the Rift itself was performing with its customary hellishness. The thought of the old joke kept running through his mind, forcing him to constantly look for flashes of blue or green. So much so that when he saw one he nearly jumped up from the controls. Dropping the ship speed to as close to nothing as he could he watched the swirl of color for a few seconds, then saw it fade to nothing. As he continued to watch the area returned to "normal" before his eyes. By now others had moved up to stare at the spot as though expecting to it to jump back into existence shouting, "boo."
"You see anything?" Sheridan queried. 
Gauge suddenly snapped back from the trance he had let himself slip into. "Not now, but for a second I thought I saw a flash of color. Could've been nothing, but I don't know." After a few more seconds he began to feed power to the ships again, saying, "Can't sit here all day can we?"
But as he began to move, Gauge saw another flash of green, then blue, then green again.
"What the hell?" was the only thing he was able to get out before a wave of particles slammed into them. Not really too bad but Gauge was stunned by its suddenness. Slamming the ship to a stop he stared again at the scene before him. As everyone watched, he used the controls to shift the ship sideways, monitoring his relative positioning to the probes. Being so small they were not as susceptible to the Rift's agitation, but they too required watching. The three of them formed a triangle Gauge was using to keep himself centered. But now with the waves of matter streaming at him, he found himself losing his bearing for seconds at a time. And far worse those same streams of matter were shoving the probes around as well, making their use as positioning instruments doubtful.
Again, Gauge slammed the ship to a stop. Almost instantly the flashes stopped. Then, almost fearfully, he began to fire up the engines again, watching. And sure enough, again there were flashes of green and blue appearing in the particles around them after a few seconds, but Gauge quickly shut down the drives, preventing a full-scale flare up. Staring at the monitors and the view plate in front of him, he announced, in an almost bland voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem."
Sarah, who had come in and strapped down unnoticed after the first bumps, now unfettered herself and slid up beside Gauge. There was, to her, an edge to his voice she had found familiar… and alarming. "What is it?"
Gauge wiped his forehead. He hadn’t realized he was sweating so hard.  "Every time I use the engines it begins to build up some form of charge. And each time it seems to get a little worse. If it keeps up we'll be frozen in place, afraid to move. I've got to figure out what's going on before we can keep going or this mission is as good as over. I think it has something to do with the Irridinium but that makes no sense. It was what we used to cross it before in the Delsar." 
As he spoke he began checking readouts. But it was Molim who as usual came up with the real problem. "Not Irridinium. Not alone. Combination of Minbari and Vorlon tech in sensor array making Rift unstable…more unstable than normal." 
Now every eye on the bridge turned to Molim waiting for his next words. His broad tongue flashed, licking his lips. "Only way to stop is turn off sensor array."
                                         CHAPTER ELEVEN
"What?" That had come from Sheridan. "If you turn them off we won't have any way to navigate. What if we just use them at low power?" But Molim just shook his head. "Turn them down far as you want, it not matter. The sensor beams all infused with Irridinium. Boost power but aggravate Rift. Long as they on they do same thing. We not get through unless they off."
Gauge felt sick to his stomach. All this and now they were in the same boat they had started in. And the clock was ticking off vital seconds while they sought an answer.
Sheridan wanted to say something but it just wouldn't form the way he wanted. He knew all of them wanted the same thing. Different reasons but the result would be the same. Only now it looked like none of them were going to get their wish.
Now they sat, watching the advantage they had in time evaporate with every passing second. And with contact with Earth even more impossible within the Rift, there was no chance of even getting rescued. If all else failed they could use the other two ships to escape, but that meant abandoning Earth to its fate. And none of them were even willing to entertain that idea.
It was then that one obscure little Minbari named Ricard spoke up. Always hesitant, he seemed to be almost shy, if that was even possible for a Minbari, but he gathered himself up knowing that lives hung in the balance.
In halting, (but perfect) English he began, "Pardon me… but I think… you have overlooked something." As he spoke the bridge turned to face him and for a second he seemed to wilt. Then he drew himself up and continued talking. More forcefully now as if to keep himself from faltering.
"Your Irridinium causes the Rift to agitate. So much so it loses what little stability it has. But it does so by forcing the particles into a static state. Without any charge. That is why they then sweep into the ship, driven by particles they would have repulsed earlier themselves. But since they have no charge all they can do is slow down the ones that come crashing into us. And when they do hit they add to the impact."
As everyone struggled to digest what he or she had just heard, Delenn spoke up. "If this is true, what can we do to stop this effect?"
Ricard looked confused. He was unused to trying to find a solution so quickly and now fought to think. After a few seconds he shook his head. The worse news possible was the only thing he had to offer. He looked around, suddenly thinking about the human saying about not killing the messenger. Then, in a truly human gesture, he extended his hands, palms up, and shrugged, shaking his head. "This is what I know. How to stop it, I am at a loss."
But Sheridan was not. Even as Ricard displayed his frustration, he was running scenarios through his mind at breakneck speed, and rejecting each one just as fast. Then suddenly, a thought struck him.
"You said the… Irr-id-in-ium neutralizes the charge that the particles have. Makes them neutral, so to speak, correct?" Without waiting for a reply, he went on. "So how much would it take to neutralize enough that we would have a path through this thing?"
Gauge took his turn at being frustrated. Shaking his head he spoke slowly. "We'd need more than Doc and I ever created. Mega-tons of the stuff. The reaction is probably a one to one ratio and even if it wasn't we'd never get it spread far enough to get us a path through."
As they argued back and forth, Sarah looked around the bridge curiously. Then, brow furrowed, she turned to Gauge and said, "Al, where is Molim?" Turning around, both Gauge and Sheridan looked at her, then at the station Molim had been at. It was empty. For some reason it disturbed Sheridan.
"Your friend didn't strike me as the kind to run out in an emergency."
"He's not. Got a ship-wide comm?"
 A Ranger at a console spoke up, "Go ahead sir." 
"Molim where are you?" 
Almost instantly, Molim’s gravelly voice came back. "In fighter bay. You give Molim idea. If it right maybe solve all the problems." The reactions were all the same around the bridge, even among the Minbari. They looked around at each other bewildered. Gauge looked around as well. His gaze landed on Sarah. She was watching him as well. What was Molim up to? And why was he doing whatever it was in the fighter bay? Suddenly a Ranger ran up to Sheridan. After a few seconds of hushed discussion, Sheridan stepped back and stared at him for a second, then turned to Gauge and said, with a look that said he was having trouble believing what he had just heard. "Your friend just ran two Rangers and the maintenance crew out of the bay. Some kind of stun weapon."
Gauge said nothing. He knew what the weapon was. Molim's last remnant of his lost world. Gauge ignored the unspoken question and continued questioning Molim.
"What are you doing Mo'. Everybody seems to be worrying a little about you. Mind filling me in?"
Like always Molim was concise despite his strange association with English. "Minbari had right idea. Irridinium cause problem with Rift through sensors. So was Sheridan, when he say we can neutralize the Rift. I think you wrong when you say how much we need to do it. You think reaction would be one to one. I say it more. Much more. My numbers say it more like ten to fifteenth power to one. And each affected particle can slow down trillions of others. That why ship got beat up so much when sensors de-activated the molecules in front of it. Like running into sand storm on Vergas. Normally particles jump around and bounce off ships magnetic fields. But if particles 'dead' or 'neutral,' they not get repelled just lay there and ram into ship."
Sheridan had become interested in what was being said. Gauge tried to follow along. "So what we're getting hit by now is this dead material."
Molim was quick to agree. "Correct. Dead stuff can get right to ship without being deflected by magnetic field around it. But it still pick up speed from other molecules, even as it slow them down. Then as it slow them down, they hit more often as they have less charge to repel. Like crashing on sand. Sand build up in front of you and eventually you stop. These just bounce off. But so small they eat at the skin of the ship. When Gauge and Doc made run through Asgard's Rift, all excess energy from Irridinium went out the back from the engines. Cause same effect as Minbari sensors, except it was behind them all the time. That why no one notice. Now we running into effect head on. We move we make more dead matter behind us. If we use sensors we make dead stuff in front and ship run into it. If we turn off sensors, we fly blind, without probes for positioning. And if we not make it, Earth die. Not good choices."
Gauge motioned the others to be silent as he went on with this odd conversation. "So what can we do? If we can't get moving this is gonna be a bust of the stellar variety. And too many lives depend on us."
Delenn stepped up. "Agreed. But what do we do? If we can't move…"
Molim chimed in again. "If I get enough Irridinium to spread through Rift, it slow down enough to let us punch through."
"And how do you plan to spread it around the Rift?" Delenn asked. 
Gauge already knew the answer. As well as why Molim had run everyone out of the bay."With a bomb. That was why he ran everybody else out. His biggest fear is making a mistake that gets somebody else killed. Never knew why but it’s the only thing I’ve ever known him to be scared of. And if he’s making an Irridinium bomb, there are enough ways to get killed down there to make the odds f getting out dicey at best. " 
                                                   ****
Sarah was the first to recover. "What?" 
Gauge looked directly at her "The only way we could spread enough of the Irridinium throughout the Rift would be to detonate a bomb of major proportions."
Molim cut in again, "Not bomb."
Sarah froze for a second then, remembering the "trick" Gauge had used as a final attempt to escape the Drakh. Looking at Gauge she said quietly, "You're going to detonate another pair of jump gates aren't you?"
Molim said quietly, "No, two not do it."
It was Gauge's turn again. "That's why he's down there. Isn't it, Mo?'"
"Doing calculations to find out that now." 
Now it was Sheridan's turn. "Find out what?" 
Gauge looked at him and said slowly. "How many gate entry points we have to hook up and detonate to spread enough of the Irridinium through enough of the Rift to get us out of here. And in plenty of time to be front row center for the Drakh."
Molim was laughing on the other end of the connection. Delenn was still confused about one thing. "Once you have them hooked up how do you detonate them?" 
Gauge had started laughing with Molim. “We set up a resonant feedback loop using an ultra fast wave pulse powered by an Irridinium reactor. The two feed on each other until they overload, releasing all the energy used to penetrate the barrier between normal space and Hyperspace. I've used it before but the results weren't pretty, as Sarah can attest to."
At that everyone looked at Sarah. "Yes, I have seen what happened when he used it and his description is honest if understated. The destructive force is like nothing I've ever seen. But my military knowledge is limited. Ask the pilots of the two Starfuries that were first on the scene when we were rescued. They saw what happened to the ships that were chasing us."
By now, both Sheridan and Delenn were true believers in the truth of what these three said, regardless of what it was. But that still left the one question; why was Molim in the flight bay?
Molim came on the line. "I trying to see if I can rig one time use jump engines on your shuttle. If I can, I can make it work, we use them to create jump points enough to spread Irridinium throughout Rift. And the ships make it to Earth in time. Get to Earth fast enough to set up a defense perimeter. Rangers ask too many questions. Take too much time we not have." Molim's penchant for working alone could get out of hand sometimes but if this worked, all would be forgiven.
"How long will it take now?" Sheridan asked. Looking at a chronometer, Gauge made a few fast calculations then announced, "If this thing works and the Rift loses half its fury, we can cut half the time off our trip which will of course cut down how long the reactor will survive. Pushing that hard will definitely take it out quicker. But from where I sit we can beat the Drakh by hours."
To every Ranger there it was more than obvious that they were witnessing a monumental advance in technology, both military and otherwise. All they had to do was survive the next few hours.
While Molim, still in a solitary mode, worked on converting the shuttle engines, Gauge decided to take a break, at Sarah's urging. "You can't keep going like this or you'll bring on another of your attacks. You need to eat and rest or you'll be no good to anyone." 
He had reluctantly agreed. "You know, you will be a great wife." He said half-jokingly. She only smiled at him, but it said volumes he longed to explore. But beneath that was another layer. A layer of fear and hope. Fear of what could happen if they failed. And hope that they could somehow pull it off.
As Gauge extricated himself from the control console seat, he began running battle scenarios for what would happen when they arrived at Earth. And it was his turn to be afraid. He held her hand tightly. They were Earth's last hope. And for the first time the real weight of it landed on them fully. The A.I. was the only thing that could stop the plague, but they still had to get it to Earth. And so far they had had no luck.
But that wasn't entirely true. Despite the adverse conditions, they had yet to meet an obstacle they couldn't surmount. But now they were in the last lap of a race they couldn't afford to lose. And the only advantage they had was Molim. And the Irridinium.
Meanwhile, Sheridan had relayed everything that had happened to Captain Lochley at Babylon Five. She had at once tried to relay the news to Earth or Mars or even Proxima Centauri, all to no avail. She had every technician on the station working on a way to get through but so far they had had no luck.
What Sheridan, Lochley and the others didn't know was that the Drakh, through agents among the Centauri had established a line of jamming between Earth and a position that effectively cut off both Babylon Five and the expedition to Earth. And since the Centauri had declared themselves outcasts of the Galactic community, no one even approached their ships, few as they were. The worst part was that the Centauri didn't even know they were being used. The Drakh had simply slipped jamming devices on board ships that were going to sectors that they wanted jammed. In the case of a couple of the sectors they needed where the Centauri had no ships they simply sent out remote control ships like they had used when they were blowing up Star gates. Had Lochley or Sheridan known they would have had the sky cleared of Centauri ships, but the Drakh had hidden themselves well. To the crews of the White Stars and Babylon Five, the source of the jamming remained a mystery.
So as time slipped away, Molim worked his magic on the engines, while Sheridan and the others got a little grayer.
 Gauge and Sarah adjourned to her quarters for some food and rest. And everything else two people in love do whenever they got the chance.
Gauge thought to himself, "The end of the world brings out funny things in people."
As the minutes slipped by the edge to the tension  in the ships grew even sharper. Each second brought the Drakh closer to Earth. As well as added to the death count on the planet.  Everyone on board was painfully aware of that fact. The process only took Molim forty minutes to figure out how to use the Minbari engines to generate a jump point, with a few modifications. The only drawback was, it would collapse in a few seconds. Nothing could be done about that. The engines, never built for that kind of power could only maintain the needed waveforms for seconds. Once they began to deteriorate, the jump point collapsed soon after.
All of which meant that it was also necessary to create a timing mechanism that set everything in motion at the same time otherwise there would be no point in any of it. More time passed quicker than it seemed it should. On the positive side, the Minbari had quickly contrived a remote control system to guide the fighters to their designated locations. It seemed the Minbari warriors were eager to contribute something, anything, to the fight.
All of this to Gauge it meant one thing. A last shot at winning this thing. It was strange how it had become so important to him. At first it had been, he was ashamed to admit, simply because Sarah had been so determined to save Earth that he had simply gone along to please her. It wasn't that he didn't care, it was just that he didn't consider it his fight. Earth and he had gone their separate ways long ago. Now, having seen the nature of the Drakh, the level of their hatred and destruction, and the deaths of not just Doc, but of good people he had gotten to know on the Excalibur, he had grown his own hatred for them. And it fed on the knowledge of what it would do to Sarah if they failed.
Aside from all of that, there was another factor looming on the horizon. As they sat in the Rift, the radiation had begun leaking from the reactor in the Irridinium powered White Star. The leakage was inconsequential to the occupants as it was sealed inside chambers of the finest ceramic known to Minbari science. But certain sections came into contact with the hull near ejection points and vents. It was there the ceramic had begun to weaken and crack, allowing radiation to slip through. Not much, but enough to create eddies and ripples which, once conceived, slowed down enough of the molecular streams to begin again to batter the ships, rather than glide past at near light speed.
All of which meant that there was even less time than the situation showed. If they did not move soon, the battering would begin to damage the ship. And any damage could lead to mission failure. Which none of them were about to stand for.
Gauge finally couldn’t take anymore. Having returned to the bridge,  he had waited as long as he could stand, before triggering the comm. "Molim, have you got everything set up?"
Even through the comm Molim sounded exhausted. He had even given in and allowed several Minbari to help for the last few minutes. A sure sign of his condition.
 He said wearily, "Ready as I can be. We launch ships whenever. Remotes all set. Minbari real ready too. Watch out for eddies when we leave though. Starting out gonna be rough."
Gauge acknowledged quickly. "Copy that. Stand by. We launch in one minute.
Again Gauge began to feed power to the engines. The ships all shuddered as they began to move forward slowly. Then as they began to accelerate, the buffeting began. This surprised no one. What was surprising was the intensity of it. It felt as though the ship was moving through a viscous fluid. And as speed increased, so did the resistance. It didn't take long to realize it was worse this time.
Gauge took note of this, and after a few seconds of fighting the forces of the Rift, he told Molim to launch the shuttles.
Molim tried to argue. "Not yet. We need few more…"
Gauge was not hearing it. "Launch now! This turbulence is gonna shake us to pieces before we reach that original launch co-ordinate. The Minbari are gonna have to drive a little further than we planned."
Molim did some quick computations. Then shouted, "Wait. Only have fuel for set distance. Had to lose some to make room for Irridinium. Launch on my signal."
"All right but make it quick." Gauge looked at the time. If they made it, according to the calculations, they would set off the explosions in sequence, each boosting the outward momentum of the Irridinium particles. The down side was that there was going to be a hellacious blast to dodge.
Sheridan hovered around every station at one point or the other, Delenn always by his side. Gauge wished he would sit down but knew it was hopeless. He suddenly realized at least part of what he recognized in Sheridan, was himself. He smiled at the thought. 
It was go time for the fighters. The Minbari on each remote were as tense as anyone on the ship. As soon as they left the ship, Gauge spun the inter-locked White Stars upward away from the target areas. There was no way he wanted to be too close to them when they went off.
"Stand by to detonate on my signal! Mo' keep the channel open to the fighters. We only get one shot at this, let's make it good!"
Molim was too busy to answer. Monitoring the six fighters through the links was almost impossible, but he was determined to be up to the challenge.
It took only three minutes to reach the firing positions, but it was, at least to everyone on the White Stars, the longest three minutes of their lives. For a moment it seemed they would lose one of the fighters. Gauge felt panic rising in his throat. But once again Molim performed the technological equivalent of a miracle, getting the ship back on course quickly enough to keep from having to re-calibrate the detonation points.
Turning to Sheridan, Gauge almost shouted, "Brace up! Detonation in three, two, one… now!"
At that second, for everyone on the ships, time slowed down without really affecting any of them. They were moving at the same rate, but events happened slowly. Gauge ordered the activation of the circuit, which began the cycle of what had to happen. In the first second, each of Molim's homemade jump engines fired simultaneously, generating a small jump point in front of each of the fighters. Spread as they were, they seemed to be facing each other, so that if you were to jump out of one you would land in the other. These jump points did not however, reach all the way to normal space. That required far too much power. But they did contain almost the same amount of energy as a normal jump point. It was just that, in the Rift, the energy needed to make so many jump points was more than even an Irridinium powered White Star could produce. And even if they did, there was no way to know if the jump point might accidentally reach normal space.
Before the second was over, the charged particle beams lanced out from each ship, literally connecting each of them into a feedback loop that built to overload at the speed of light. In the last part of the second, the loop, already energized far beyond anything it was designed to withstand, lost its hold on cohesion, its energy cascading outward at near light speed. Each fragment carrying an Irridinium charge. Each one reducing the natural charge of the Rift particles along the order of, as Molim had calculated, ten to the fifteenth power. As everyone on each of the ships watched, each of the jump points, rather than exploding as the two Gauge had used against the Drakh, simply began to spread like flowers opening. The illusion lasted only for an instant but it was there long enough that everyone had a chance to be amazed by it.
Especially Gauge, who was on the comm with Molim in seconds. "Mo' what the hell just happened?"
Molim was as stunned as anyone on board, but he recovered quickly. "I not sure. Thought there would be explosion of some kind. But look now!"
As everyone's eyes returned to the scene outside, they were greeted by a light show of unparalleled scale. The Rift still showed its fury around them but now held itself in check at a distance of half an A.U. Inside that perimeter, space was if not normal, at least far calmer than it had been just seconds ago. Currents that had been ripping through space just instants ago now flowed serenely like gentle streams on primal planets. Still charged with extraordinary amounts of energy, although nothing like they had been, they were now visible as almost cloud like formations stretched out across the breadth of the now placid Rift.
To the crews of the White Stars, it was a welcome sight. It meant that at least for a moment, they were safe. And more than that there was a good chance that they now had enough time to clear the Rift completely if…
The question seemed to appear in the minds of at least a dozen people at almost the same instant. Sheridan was the first to give it voice. "How long do you figure this'll last?"
Gauge didn't take his eyes off the scene outside. "I have no idea. How much time before we have to dump this ship?" Molim began some quick calculations and announced, "Have less than five hours. Beating we took cut down time reactor has left."
Gauge made some calculations of his own and came to the conclusion they had lost about five hour off their scheduled transfer time fighting their way through. But they could still beat the Drakh to Earth if nothing else went wrong. 
Turning to Delenn he asked, "Any word from Earth?"
Delenn simply shook her head. "Still nothing coming through." 
Gauge took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. Now was the optimum time to switch ships. In the calm of this artificial "eye of the storm" they could make the transfer with minimal risk. But if they did, that was time they lost off of how much they'd have in the second ship. Gauge came to a quick decision.
"Time to go. Grab everything you need and get it to the second ship. We may not get another chance to transfer in calmness like this again and it makes no sense to risk it all trying to change over in the midst of what we'll hit once we get out of here."
Molim was about to protest when Gauge went on. "From right here we have twenty hours until the Drakh arrive at Earth. We still have three hours of travel in the Rift and ten once we're out. That'll put us in Earth space about eight hours in front of the bastards. That'll be how long we have to get a defensive force in position. My money says that the fight is not gonna last seventeen hours, so if we leave now we can get the two ships in place, maybe rig up a few surprises…"
"Or maybe hold 'em long enough for the Cavalry to show up."
That came, rather shockingly from Sheridan. He went on. "We may not be able to get through to Earth but we were able to get through to the White Star fleet in Drazi space. They think they can make the jump in about four hours behind us. And there are several closer they say they'll try to contact so they can add to the force. Seems we won't be as alone as we thought."
"Outstanding. And I just had a thought. What about Earth force ships? How many do you think they have on station?"
"Sheridan sighed."No more than a dozen. The rest are out trying to find a cure. Used to be more but as time wound down, they decided to use more of them rather than station them on defense of a planet no one wanted to get near."
 Gauge simply smiled. "It's still more than I thought we had. And if we get there fast enough… Mo' how much Irridinium we got left?"
A few seconds of calculations and he announced, "Twenty kilo. And Earth force ships not get fried reactors if we use it in them."
Now Gauge grinned openly. "Congratulations ladies and gentlemen. We have a plan.”
The plan was elegant in its simplicity. If they could get through to the Earth Force ships, they would meet and energize them with Irridinium. Not as much as they had used to energize the Minbari ships, but there would be no need for them to use it for propulsion, just weapons.
Sheridan was already on the comm working on setting up everything, while Gauge continued running through the Rift. Even as toned down as it was, it was still a vicious adversary, requiring every trick Gauge knew to stay on course. There was a bright spot however. Molim had only counted on stopping the Rift's effect in the immediate area. It had in fact, essentially shut down the Rift in the general direction they were heading for a hundred A.U.s. Enough that once they were through this part they would be clear of it. And save a couple of more hours. Of course Gauge knew that the effect was temporary and at any minute the Rift could regain its fury, but there was nothing to be done about that now.
Sheridan meanwhile was in high gear; co-coordinating rendezvous with ships as soon as they were clear of the Rift. Gauge on the other hand was beginning to wear down somewhat. But he knew he couldn't rest until they cleared the Rift. Then he could grab a couple of hours of shut-eye before they made the last stand at Earth.
Sarah on the other hand, was monitoring Gauge's vital signs remotely; looking for any sign he was about to have another episode. She hadn't told anyone about his "condition" for fear of them saying he couldn't handle the strain. And she knew better.
And Molim, the ever faithful, toiled away in the engine room, trying to find a way to survive whatever the next few hours would bring. And, truth be told, he was enjoying it. The only thing that had been missing from his life on the Delsar was a real challenge. Just the occasional skirmish with the law, which, thanks to Gauge and Doc being truly superior pilots, always ended the same way. Although he felt horrible about it, he had relished the entire escapade so far. This did not however include dying.
While Gauge and company tore through space, their adversaries were trying to find a way to increase their speed as well. Unaware as they were of the two White Stars heading toward Earth, they still wanted to take no chances. Despite Sarah’s fears the Drakh hadn’t managed to get a hold of the data. They would when Sarah’s crystal pack she had released back on the Delsar went off but then they would get it along with everyone else in the galaxy. So, still fearing the loss of their last weapon’s effectiveness, they did all they could to hasten earth’s demise.  While they still had almost no control over the nano-virus, they had been able to order it into an attack mode of sorts.  Still it was still possible that the humans could find a cure or treatment against it. And if they did, they wanted it.
So they poured energy into their engines to move quicker through hyperspace, still on the same mission to kill the planet.
                                                      ****
On Earth, StephanFranklin read reports of people getting sicker and dying all over the planet. It was as if the virus realized it was under attack and was fighting back. While the telepaths were able to slow it down and in fact were getting better at it, they were still unable to stop it. There had been no further contact with Sheridan or Dr. Chambers and nothing they did seemed able to break through whatever it was that was stopping their comm-link.
So they were in effect alone. With an old enemy still bent on their deaths. He ran his hand through his hair. Everything that could be done was being done. They were holding out as well as they could but he had no illusions about it being enough. If Sarah didn't show up or somehow get those frequencies to them, it was more than likely they had only accelerated the process of their own demise.
His hand flew to his stomach as another wave of nausea hit him. Then he smiled. At least they wouldn't go out without a fight.
                                                      ****
On board the second White Star, everyone had repositioned themselves in their new ship, and Gauge had slid into yet another pilot's chair. Designed to be a clone of each other it nonetheless had minute differences that Gauge spent a few seconds noting. A small misstep could cost more than just time here.
"Everyone in?" Gauge asked as he slid into his new chair. He was still impressed by the way the Minbari responded without question to whatever they were given for orders. He wondered absently if it was just training or something deeper. Either way he found it pleasant not to get dirty looks for taking someone's job over. Then again he might just have not recognized it. They were after all, Minbari.
"Everything is set. You can have the other White Star released at your convenience." At that Gauge smiled. "Not just yet. I just wanted to be sure everyone was safe." Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces he went on. "We still have the link between the ships, so before I condemn this ship's reactor, I intend to use every erg in the other ship to power us out of here. Then we'll see where we are."
Sheridan smiled. He was still impressed by the man. He missed nothing and used everything he could find. He found himself wondering if there was any way to convince him to join the Rangers when all this was through. Then reality struck. Gauge would never be Ranger material. His kind of independence made him adversarial. And woe unto a commander who gave him an arbitrary or just plain stupid order.
No, Gauge would not be a good Ranger. His place in life was more alone. Then thinking about Dr. Chambers he amended the thought to, it had been.
"Molim, you in place yet?"
 Gauge’s shout had snapped Sheridan out of his train of thought. Molim's reply was just as quick.
 "All set. Can remotely control ship to fly us out as far as it will go, then we can jettison core and let ship drift. If we get lucky the ship will clear rift and they can pick up later."
"Bet on it. Sarah, you had any luck getting through to Earth?"
"No. Whatever they're doing we still can't get through." She sounded disgusted and more than a little tired but then weren't they all?
"Okay here's the plan." As he spoke, he pushed the ship's engines into overdrive and let the three of them accelerate. "We use that ship as long as we can safely, then drop it with as much momentum as we can. If it clears it does, if not…
"Understood." That was from Sheridan. Now it was up to Gauge to get them out of there.
Checking the vector, he guided the ship over the route he had mapped out in his mind. Still responding beautifully, the ship rose and fell at his command, leapfrogging eddies of hyperactive molecules and energy bands as easily as if he were jumping over puddles. In its depleted form, the rift posed no threat to their progress, and Gauge was able to push the White Star to even faster speeds. Enough that the Minbari engineers were more than simply astounded. The down side was that as they were able to increase speed it equally decreased the amount of time the ship would be able to sustain itself. Where they had had hours they now fought for minutes. In a matter of twenty minutes they had regained all the time they had lost twice when Molim came over the comm.
"Reactor going! Five minutes tops! Jettison now!"
Gauge didn't question or try to hedge, he simply reached for the button to release the clamps that held the ship. But Sheridan spoke up. 'WAIT! Just jettison the core. Leave the ship attached."
Every eye on the bridge swung onto him but he continued. "With what we have we can power the ship and use its weapons if we get into a firefight. The core gone, we just feed it power and use your remote link."
Gauge mentally kicked himself for not thinking of that himself. But in his opinion it only increased his estimation of Sheridan. "Molim, you get that?"
"Yeah. Good idea. Ship mass make little difference to boosted engine and we can use other ship weapons. Need to make a few adjustments but nothing big. Good idea!"
Gauge pulled the lever and had the contaminated core ejected. It fired smoothly, tracing a path of fire across the multicolored hues of hyper-space. As they all watched, the core began to glow more and more intensely, like a miniature sun. Its walls, composed of the most advanced ceramic Minbari technology had been able to create, were visibly deteriorating. As they all watched mesmerized by the sight, the core seemed to speed off into the rift seemingly drawn away or propelled by something they had no clue about. Either way it was rapidly heading away from them, perhaps repelled by the interwoven fields of the remaining reactors. For whatever reason it was going and they were glad of it. They had been running away but thanks to this new development, they felt somewhat reassured. The idea of being in the immediate vicinity of the doomed reactor in the midst of its death throes was at best disconcerting. At its worst it could spell an end to their mission. As they watched, the glow intensified, becoming the dominant object in the sky. Then suddenly, it went out.
After a second Gauge asked Molim, "You got any idea what just happened?" 
After a moment of silence he simply replied, "No."
Watching the screens, Sarah shook her head. Making some calculations of her own she found herself impressed by their progress. They had gained almost another two hours on the Drakh, placing them in Earth space ten hours in front of them. Not a lot of time but they still could do a lot more if they could get through to Earth before they get there. She sighed. Well at least they still had ten hours at least to find a way. After that they would be there, with less time, but there nonetheless.
                                        CHAPTER TWELVE
The Drakh commander stared at the screen before him and gnashed his teeth. Their system of probes and buoys in hyperspace showed their worth today. With them they had been able to monitor the progress of the Alliance forces after a fashion, picking them up at different intervals. And what he saw was if not frightening, at least worrisome. The speed of the White Stars was well known, but this… these ships were beyond anything he had seen, even among the Shadows or Vorlons. Their speed was fantastic. And one thing had become clear. They would beat them to Earth, despite his orders to do everything to prevent that. And he began to wonder, what then? These humans were resourceful and tenacious. And not afraid of a fight, despite what the council said. Still, he had half a dozen ships now with four more to meet them at the target. Even though the White Stars were impressive in speed they would be outnumbered massively. He pushed aside the thought that if their speed was so enhanced, what had they done to their weapons?
                                                   ****
For hours they simply flew through space, each of them content to maintain an efficient quiet throughout the ship. Gauge had finally given up the helm, allowing the Minbari pilot to take over. And, (at Sarah's insistence), had retired to their quarters for some much deserved, (and needed) rest. Molim, on the other hand had spent every second he had nothing to do pouring over plans of the White Star, trying to find any advantage he could to increase their chances. Meanwhile Sheridan and Delenn both tried to find a way to break through the jamming or otherwise get some form of communication with Earth.
And Sarah spent more time trying to coax more information out of the A.I. until she too retired to the room she shared with Gauge, eager to rest before the final showdown at Earth. She smiled at that. It sounded like one of the old novels her father had been so fond of. Only now it was more than just a story told to entertain the masses. It was a reality that could kill them all given the chance.
Time flies when you’re having fun they say. The reality is that it flies even faster when you have trouble waiting at the other end. The eight hours they had went quickly enough that more than one person on the ship was amazed by its speed enough to question the timepieces on board. So when the time came Sheridan was almost loath to signal the jump to normal space. As he was about to give the order it was Gauge's turn to call a halt to the action.
"Hold up! Have we made any contact with Earth yet?"
 The question seemed to catch everyone off guard. Delenn spoke up. "No. Their jamming technology is still too much for us."
Gauge's brow furrowed intently. "Okay, how? If they aren't here, then who's doing the jamming in this area? And if there is somebody here, shouldn't we be worrying about what else they have planned for us?"
Now he had Sheridan's attention, as well as the Minbari Captain. "They can't have agents here. We've swept this area a hundred times, Minbari, Human, all the Alliance members, back when we were running security around the planet." 
Gauge was undeterred. "Yes but that was at the beginning of this. Since then how many times have you checked? And who did the sweeps? We know more of what the Drakh can do now, how can we be sure they don't have something out there? The evidence says they do. The jamming alone makes me suspicious. Relaying that much power would give us something we could trace back to them. No. Thinking about it tells me there's more than what we see here. We beat them back here but what does that mean? We're only three A.U.s from Earth but we still can't get through to 'em. They have to have something out here to block our signal. There is no other explanation."
Now everyone, including Jim Wright and Orin Print, who had finally made it up to the bridge, could feel the tension. If Gauge was right it was a safe bet there was more than just a comm link out there. Sheridan again deferred to Gauge. "Ideas?"
"Jump in behind the moon, and scan the area for anything out of the ordinary. If it’s powerful enough to stop all of Earth's combined comm lines, it'll sure be powerful enough to be detected now that it's active, if not by Earth force equipment, then maybe by the White Star's sensors.”
Once again Sheridan found himself shaking his head and smiling. "Mr. Gauge when this is over I intend to buy you, as a former associate used to say, 'a whole fleet of drinks'."
"And guess what? I'll drink every damn one."
                                                      ****
Jumping in behind the moon was no trick. Doing it quickly was. If the Drakh had any surprises planned they would more than likely be around Earth itself, figuring that the ship would jump in as close as possible to minimize the effect of the jamming and transmit any information to them as quickly as possible. So no one expected any real resistance this far out. What they didn't expect was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Sheridan was moving from console to console, as was Delenn, trying to see of anything showed up on any scanner. The result was still nothing.
"Well Gauge, it seems you overestimate our opponents." Sheridan seemed relieved. Until he turned to see the PPG in Gauge's hand.
Every Ranger dropped to a defensive position, weapons not drawn but close at hand. This Gauge was formidable and so far trustworthy. Their training put them on guard but cautious as to what they should watch.
 Sheridan's eyes never left the gun. "Gauge what the hell are you doing?"
"I apologize for this, but for the moment it's all I can think of. See if they don't have something here to block our signal, then they must have someone on board doing it for them from this end. It's the only way they could have gotten it done."
Delenn's face was horrified. "So you think they have one of those…things on someone else on board?"
Gauge let his eyes roam over the entire bridge. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "For the first time since this crap started I hope I'm wrong but I have to follow my gut on this. There has to be someone helping the bastards from this side. And this close we can't afford any kind of screw-up."
Sheridan looked around the bridge. He knew everyone but now he questioned that knowledge. If Gauge was right, any one of them could be an agent of the Drakh. How could they tell?
Running his hand through his hair, Sheridan sighed loudly, then asked, "What do we do then? Sit here until the Drakh jump in and finish us?"
"If I had all the answers I wouldn't have to even be here."
 " Maybe I do." Delenn spoke up. Looking around she said to Gauge, "How many of these… agents do you think there are?"
Gauge pondered for a moment then, "I'd guess one. More than that and they might take a chance on being discovered or crossing themselves up. And we don't know how hard these things are to produce."
"All right then, we pair off and stay that way. If there is only one, he will be unable to do whatever it is he might be trying to."
Gauge thought for a moment, then, "What happens if we have an incident?"
Delenn's face became stony and blank. All save her eyes. They burned with an intensity of conviction Gauge could see. Her voice had a gravedigger's chill as she said, "If he is detected he will be killed instantly." The finality of her voice shocked even Sheridan, but only for a moment. He already knew the commitment of this woman. What she could and would do if needed. To the others it was just the same. Gauge decided it was best to have it done her way.
"All right. But I call the couplings." 
Delenn simply bowed slightly, nearly smiling. "I would have thought as much."
In less than two minutes they had everything done. With one additional thought from Sarah. At her suggestion every pair was handcuffed together. If they found anyone missing a partner then there would be no question. Or hesitation. The only ones left alone were the engine room crewmembers, deciding there were too many things they had to do to be shackled to another. So instead eight guards were posted around the engine room, able to see every area, with orders to kill anyone who did anything without permission or explanation. All felt the tension but none said a word.
The precaution in place Gauge felt a little better but not much. Paired as he was with Calhoun he felt doubt. He knew that there was nothing else to do but he racked his brain anyway. They were running out of time. Again.
If Gauge had known the truth, he wouldn't have bothered. The Drakh had no operatives on either of the White Stars. His fear had led him to be extra cautious needlessly. But the reality was far more frightening. This close to Earth, they could get real time transmissions, bad as they were. All over the planet, reports were coming in of people rendered all but helpless by the virus. Vomiting, weakness, a dozen different ailments, each one debilitating in itself. It was as though the virus was fighting back. And winning.
On the White Star, everyone went on with what they were doing but now the urgency was increasing with each passing second.
Sheridan was pacing the floor of the ship with no end in sight. "How long before we can send the signal?"
 Although the question went out as a general query, Sarah was the only one to answer. "It won't work until we can figure out how to kill the jamming. Outgoing traffic isn't being affected but anything heading towards Earth is being scrambled into gibberish" Her voice was ragged, the strain beginning to show. They were so close, but they might as well have been light-years from Earth, for all the good it did them. If they knew they couldn’t stop them. They could imply dive on Earth but as Gauge had said, the last ditch attempt would be the most dramatic. His biggest fear was that if there was a spy here or on Earth in the right position, even one of the augmented White Stars would be a sitting duck to Earth Defense satellites. 
Everyone on the ship was running every possible scenario through their minds, trying to find a way to reach Earth, all the while watching for someone to do something out of the ordinary that would give himself or herself away as a spy. Heroism was never easy.
After nearly an hour it was Delenn who finally said the obvious. They had all known it but no one had dared make the suggestion. But now, with the Drakh less than five hours away, there was no more time to waste.
Speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear, she addressed her comments to her husband, hoping everyone else would hear without having to answer. "John, the only way we can do this is to go down to the surface and try from there. We won't break this jamming in time.”
 Before anyone could answer, Sarah spoke up. "Agreed. And the only one for the job is me."
Gauge had just stepped onto the bridge in time to hear the last of the conversation. At least he'd heard enough to evoke a reaction.
 " Hell no you won't! Once you get down there you'll be subject to the virus. And it's in hyper mode now. You wouldn't be able to get anything done before it took you out the same as it's doing everyone else down there now."
Ordinarily, Sarah would have been offended, but she knew with Gauge it was genuine concern, not some false sense of chivalry.  She also knew how to calm his fears. "You are not the only one who has a job to do. Or knows how to throw a curve. I think we can use a little of this Minbari technology to reproduce a little device we used on Theta 9 to keep myself from being infected."
Gauge didn’t buy it. "Great. But for how long? And that was against a normal version. With this thing trying to kill the planet there's no guarantee your shield will work at all!"
Grabbing her by the arm, Gauge pulled her off to the side, hauling Calhoun along, trying to talk softly. "You can't go down there. We… I can't lose you to this thing now."
Reaching up she touched his face softly, smiling almost sadly. "So do we sit here waiting for the Drakh to show up, or just give up? I thought I was dead back on the Excalibur, and half a dozen times on the trip here. You got us through, and now it's my turn. You have to give me that."
Across the bridge everyone was trying to look as though they weren't listening but every word was amplified by the silence that had permeated the bridge. In it Gauge could hear his heart beating so hard it was as if it would leap out of his chest. He knew he couldn't stop her but he knew what he could do.
"Fine. But you need a pilot. So make up two." With that he turned to Sheridan, holding up his cuffed arm. "Get me the hell out of this thing." 
But Calhoun spoke up. "And make three of those… whatevers." Seeing the looks from everyone there, he went on with a grin. "Somebody's gonna have to chaperone these two." Delenn looked at the three of them shaking her head. To herself she wondered; "Where do we find such spirits?" It was all she could say.
Suddenly a door opened and in walked Molim, carrying a case heavy enough to make his normally duck-like walk even more comical. But there was nothing funny about the look on his face as he said, "Make four. You might need spare hands that know what they doing with whatever you find.”
 Sheridan looked at the entire group. Not an expressive man Sheridan found himself choked with emotions he seldom used. So in typical style he took a deep breath and began barking instructions to Rangers and Minbari. Anything to keep busy. Again people were going to risk their lives to correct a mistake he felt responsible for. Even Delenn wasn't privy to the way he really felt about the entire situation. The truth was he'd felt responsible from the beginning. And his duties with the Alliance had forced him to delegate resources elsewhere. No matter what he could do to aid the effort to save Earth he had always felt it wasn't anywhere near enough. Now here were these four, two who had no ties to Earth in years or at all in Molim's case, about to go down to an infected world to save people who they don't even know. And he vowed that win or lose, those people would know them if nothing else before the end came.
But for now he made sure that everything they needed was there at their fingertips.
It took thirty minutes to get everything set up. The copies of the devices Sarah had created on Theta 9 were still functional, but they were not up to the previous standards. They would only last about two hours from their initial activation. Unless they landed and left the ship, they wouldn't need them at all, barring a breach. To add to their time, they all wore EVA suits fitted with electronic repulsion fields. In theory they prevented the virus from getting close to them, let alone into their lungs. 
In reality, all of this was moot. The truth was that if they went down to the surface, unless their cure worked, they would never leave. There was no other choice. If they failed, they couldn't get back through the blockade of satellites designed to keep people from making a run for it. Once they got inside their orbit, they were in for keeps.
As they made their final preparations, each quietly praying for the mission, even Gauge and Sarah didn't speak. If they survived they knew what lay ahead for them. And in some ways that was just as frightening. But for now, they were all business.
As soon as they were ready, Gauge slipped into the pilot's chair while Molim ran the pre-flight checks. Ranger Calhoun and Sarah secured gear in the rear of the shuttle. Sheridan came on the comm-line. "Best estimates give us between four and five hours before the Drakh show up. Whatever you plan to do, that's how much time you have. Good luck. We're counting on you."
Gauge shook his head. It was always the same. He smiled slightly. You always wish someone good luck regardless of how useless it might be.
"We'll head straight for Dr. Franklin's position. With luck, we can get in before the… bugs can figure out we're coming and rig up some kind of surprise."
"What kind of surprise are you talking about?" Sheridan was curious. Gauge was not sure, so he quoted an old Earth motto. "Always be prepared."
Two minutes to launch. Checks done. Ready to go. Looking at Sarah, Gauge felt that either way things went he was lucky to have met her, and Molim, and even Calhoun. All in all, not a bad group of people to die with.
The launch and ensuing flight were as eventful as watching grass grow. It took just under an hour at maximum burn to fly the distance to Earth, but the knowledge of what they were flying into made it seem less, while the desire to get it done made it seem interminably long.
They were halfway through the flight when Sheridan came on the comm again, his voice betraying an urgency that Gauge had not heard before.
"Gauge, there's an energy spike forming, five o'clock low!"
Instantly Gauge began spinning away from the area, while ordering the computer to scan it. He was not happy with the results. 
"What is it?" Calhoun was manning the weapons, what there were of them. The shuttle was armed far better than the normal Earth Force type but still, there was nothing that would make any difference to anything that could create its own jump point, so whatever came through would more than likely be more trouble than they could handle. 
Spinning the ship around Gauge tried to get a look at what was coming through when it burst into view.
Sheridan ordered the White Star conglomerate to attack the cruiser. The only thing he could do was keep them away from the shuttle. And with the firepower he had with all three White Stars joined together, he didn't see the single Drakh as a problem. Which somehow worried him. An operation of this importance struck Sheridan as…
The thought never finished as Calhoun shouted over the comm, "We have another spike! Directly ahead!" Then before he could look away, "And another on the port side!"
Gauge began to wonder how he had missed this. Of course they had no operatives on the White Stars. They didn't need any. But they had them on Earth. And in positions in space to give them the jump on anyone they deemed a problem. Gauge kicked himself for not seeing it sooner. It also explained how the jamming stayed so strong. As well as why the estimates were so far off.  They were on Earth! There was nothing to be done now. Trying to finish the run to Earth was pretty much out. But if he could draw them into the range of the Earth defense force satellites, maybe there was a chance they could still get close enough to try and get the signal out.
"Sheridan, I make four of these bastards. We…" 
"Try six. Two more on your six and closing."
Gauge spun away heading still in the direction of Earth. His ship had nothing like the firepower he needed to defend himself here. And the blasts were getting closer. No amount of dodging was going to get him out of this because there were just too many of them.
"Sarah, transmit the signal! If it gets through, it gets through." He looked at her and said quietly. "It's all we can do baby." Nodding, she began sending the predetermined signal out broadband. Once activated it ran through the sequence automatically. Then she sat back. Looking at Gauge she said, "We gave it our best shot, didn't we?"
"We damn sure did." Reaching out, he took her hand and squeezed. Then returned to the controls. For a second she debated pulling him away and holding him but thought better of it. He wanted to die trying. She knew that about him. And she would give him this one last gift.
On the White Star, Sheridan was tracking his opponents. One had been crippled and one had been destroyed already. Given time he could win the fight, but he was too far away to stop the attack on the shuttle. He was afraid that without Dr. Chambers the cure would be if not lost, delayed. And that amounted to the same thing. All their work gone. As he watched the shuttle evade another blast he mused to himself about the things that could have been. Another blast tore at the White Star conglomerate, blasting loose the first White Star. The loss of the weight made the remaining ships far faster and more maneuverable. Enough to compensate for the loss of fire power. And more important, it gave them a shot at getting close enough to the shuttle to give them some cover. Maybe they could still get a shot at this.
He shouted to the Minbari at the helm. "Dive in between the shuttle and that ship. Concentrate fire on his aft section. If we can buy Gauge some time, he might be able to get clear!"
Another blast slammed them sideways. And to his surprise, towards the shuttle. The ship that fired at them slid to the side, still firing at them, trying to keep them away from the shuttle and its attacker. Sheridan and crew were still in the middle of a fight they really didn't think they could win. And the best hope Earth had was out there, just out of reach, still trying to complete a mission. That it had evaded the beams of its attackers this long was only a tribute to the skill of its pilot. Sheridan thought how it was strange how he was already trying to distance himself from Gauge and the others. He guessed it was a defense mechanism. In a few minutes they'd be dead. And without a little help, they were more than likely going to join them.
So now he had a choice to make. He could try to save them. Or he could try and get away. The choice took him less than a second to make. He wouldn't have been him if it had taken any more time than that.
"Jettison the last ship. We need speed."
A Minbari spoke up. "Sir we haven't activated the Irridinium in it yet. We have to…"
"They can do their own transfer after they're clear. Just drop them … and let 'em join the fight. They can help and even so…" Sheridan swallowed as the thought, with all its ramifications sank in. He set his jaw and went on. "At least it'll give them another target."
For the next several minutes, Gauge tried every trick he knew and some he thought up on the fly. But the inevitability of it soon dawned on him. No matter what he did there were just too many pounding away at his little shuttle. On the Delsar he might have stood a chance but now he knew his best efforts were only prolonging the outcome. On a scanner he could see the White Stars trying to gain him a few seconds and realized that at times they were even succeeding after a fashion, but it was far too little to give them any real chance.
As he watched, Sarah began once again to try and get past the jamming to send the signal to Earth. He could see her lack of success written in her eyes, along with the same fierce determination he had come to expect from her. He sighed, knowing the futility of her actions, as well as his own. 
Turning to the rear of the ship he saw Calhoun simply sitting at a console, staring intently at a screen. And, Molim still trying to find some way to give Gauge enough power to perform some sort of miracle of escape. Gauge only wished he had some idea of how to use whatever he might come up with. Sadly he'd been reduced to dodging blasts as they were fired and throwing whatever he could back at them. It was futile but it was all he could do.
                                   CHAPTER THIRTEEN
As he kept up his evasion however, he noticed Calhoun was steadily adjusting the refinement of the scanner he had been staring at so hard. Gauge wondered what could hold his attention so well in the midst of all this carnage to be. Suddenly he shouted, "There's another energy spike!"
Gauge felt his heart sink. But only for a minute. After all, how much worse could it get? No matter what they did, they could only kill them once.
Almost jokingly, Gauge said, "What do they think… we're winning?"
He was surprised to hear Calhoun say, "Not yet."
                                                    ****
On the White Stars, Sheridan was in pretty much the same shape as Gauge and company on the shuttle, outnumbered, outgunned and outflanked. Now there were only five ships remaining, out of an original final count of eight, two having been crippled and one reduced to a burning hulk. The ones left showed signs of having been in one hellacious fight. But the damage was accumulating on the White Stars as well. And faster. Being a much larger target than the shuttle, they absorbed far more of the fury of the Drakh attack than Gauge and his shuttle. But they also had more people manning designated consoles, doing nothing but watching space. That was their duty and they would perform it to the last. For several minutes, there had been nothing stirring on any of their screens, but now suddenly an energy spike appeared. But this one was different. The energy signature was not Drakh. Or Minbari. No this signature was native to this sector. Definitely Earth force.
But the size, the intensity. They were like nothing any of them had ever seen before. No one except Sheridan, who was praying silently, that he was right.
As everyone, (including the Drakh), watched, a jump point formed perpendicular to the relative plane of the battlefield, so that whatever was inside it was hidden from view, just as if it were rising from a hole in the ground. As if on cue, one of the Drakh broke off its attack on the White Stars to fire into the maw that seemed to grow every second. Whatever was in there, the Drakh didn't want it joining the party.
Suddenly a brilliant red beam lanced out of the jump point, striking the Drakh mid-ship. The bolt cut through armor like butter, soundlessly, almost surrealistically, ripping off plates of alien shielding and punching through into delicate parts of the now doomed ship. The blast was followed by another equally vicious one that struck aft, ripping open the engine compartment. More conventional weapons began firing immediately after that, ripping out of the jump point to strike targets with uncanny and unerring accuracy.
Now the purveyor of such doom slid out of the ring of energy used to slip between the real and the unseen. And to outwit the laws of this universe by slipping into another. And the sight was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. Depending of course, on which side you were on.
Sheridan was the first, indeed the only one to recognize the shape as it emerged for what it was. He knew the lines of the ship. The shape. He knew the capabilities of it and more important, the capabilities of its Captain. He knew them well because they had served him on Babylon five and before that even. He knew it well.
"That's The Titans! That's Susan's ship!"
He was shouting now to get the attention of everyone on the bridge, all standing mesmerized by the sight of the Warlock class destroyer now emerging from the jump point, belching fire and plasma into the midst of the Drakh. As they all watched it turned almost lazily toward the planet and the Drakh firing on the almost insignificant dot spinning and darting to and fro to avoid the rain of fire pelting down on them. Now it concentrated its full wrath on them. Though barely in range, they still drew their attention away from their quarry long enough to buy them time.
Unsure of what to do, the Drakh commander made a fatal mistake. He forgot the White Stars. While Sheridan's was still too far away to mount any kind of attack, the other, newly released from its bondage, slid in under the nearest Drakh destroyer. At that range, he had no need of the Irridinium augmentation. The White Stars standard weapons were more than up to the job, slicing through the soft underbelly of the ship like gutting a fish. The other destroyer fired almost blindly at the White Star, but to no avail, as the pilot spun the ship like a top and slid away, if not unscathed, at least undamaged further.
Now with only one destroyer on his tail, Gauge found new life to his evasion techniques. And with no one to flank him he was easily able to slip out of range of the murderous guns and to find a new heading for Earth.
Out of the frying pan once again, Gauge thought. Now it's time to hit the fire head –on. A quick spin and the little shuttle dove beneath the orbit of the Defense satellites and into earth's atmosphere.
Suddenly he saw the nearest of those satellites swing itself around and line up on the still descending Drakh cruiser. As a last ditch effort, The Drakh commander ordered all weapons to fire at both the shuttle and the satellite. Though several hits landed on both none were enough to stop either. As Gauge watched, the satellite fired another brilliant red beam that lanced the side of the larger ship like a needle lancing a boil. Silently fire erupted from the gaping wound like puss, spreading across the underside of the ship, then over the top, consuming it in seconds, leaving only a burning husk remaining.
Everyone on the shuttle looked at Gauge as he turned back to the business of landing the shuttle. They had been reprieved. At least for the moment.
                                                       ****
On board White Star one, Sheridan was for the moment overjoyed, or at least as close as he could get to see a friendly face in the midst of the carnage of late. But as always his curiosity was paramount. "Susan, you have no idea how glad I am to see you! But how the hell did…?"
Susan sat on the bridge of her ship looking every bit the commander, eyes still burning with fire. "I've been monitoring your situation since Babylon five. I'd have made contact sooner but I wasn't sure we could reach you in time so I didn't want to build up your hopes and not live up to it. I figured if I did make it, it would be barely. And I didn't want to give the baddies any time to get ready for us. So I put everything in the fire and prayed it was enough. Looks like the man upstairs heard me."
Delenn spoke up. "We owe you much for this. We were all but sure of our demise before you showed up, to say nothing of the failure of our mission. Are you aware…"
Susan held up her hand as if ward the question off before they took root. "I only know what I was able to glean from the comm without breaking in. I understand you have some kind of cure or something you want to try and the Drakh don't want you to have the chance." After a moment she added softly, "And I heard what happened to the Excalibur. From what I gather, they're keeping it off the air on Earth to keep the panic down. But since you left Babylon we haven't been able to break through. I've got my best people working on it but so far, no luck."
"Same here. The Minbari haven't been able to crack the jamming either. But if Gauge can get to Franklin…"
"Gauge? Who is this Gauge I keep hearing about? "
"The pilot of that shuttle that just dove to Earth."
"The name seems to bring up memories. Not all of which I'd call good." Susan's voice hinted at bad things she wasn't sure they knew.
Delenn spoke up again. "His past is past. Now he carries your world's best hope of survival. And, judging by the display of piloting skills he gave to get his ship into the atmosphere, we can still hope there is a chance."
Ivanova sat mute. She had long ago learned to respect Delenn in matters of trust, her own being in such short supply. But even with her vast spirituality to draw on she wondered of this Gauge had managed to pull the wool over their eyes. What she had listed him as rouge and a smuggler, before the Drakh invasion. True, since then he had been seemingly doing his best to aid the cause, but given his reputation, his motives would be suspect no matter what he did.
Still, he had earned Delenn's and John's trust, so that counted for plenty in her book. And from what she heard on the Q.T. he also had conquered the heart of one Dr. Sarah Chambers, from the Excalibur. Maybe he was one of those charming types that had a good heart underneath. Whatever. He had a job to do and from what she'd seen he put his ass on the line to get it done. Regardless of his past, that made him points in her book.
Top of Form


Bottom of Form




                                             CHAPTER FOURTEEN
While Ivanova wrestled with her doubts about him, Gauge wrestled with the controls of his ship. Though he had managed to survive the attack, he had sustained damage enough to make their landing dicey at best. Even with Molim doing his best to keep everything together it was clear the shuttle was on its last legs. The final challenge it had was the trip through the atmosphere. And it promised to be a bad one.
There was however one bright spot. Thanks to the Titans, (he'd recognized her from the ISN reports when she'd been launched,) the jamming had been diminished to the point where contact was possible, at least this close to Earth. He had no idea if Sheridan was able to get through, but at this point it really didn't matter. They were on their way down with whatever he did. The trick now was landing in one piece.
"Mo, can you get me any more out of those stabilizers? I feel like I'm trying to fly a rock!"
Molim was doing his normal thing, checking gauges and adjusting switches, trying to keep one step ahead of a disaster. "What stabilizers? Blasts took out most of 'em. Rest in bad shape. What you got is what you get!"
Not good. "Brace up! I gotta try something."
Gauge forced the little ship's nose down then violently threw it upward, hoping the heat shield would last long enough to let them slow down. If it did, he could still get to the ground in one piece. Or at least hold it together long enough to get everyone out. Maybe.
"Sarah, get Franklin on the line. Start giving him the dope on how to stop these things, in case we… don't get to him for a while."
Sarah knew what Gauge meant. They were in trouble again and he was afraid they might not make it. So he wanted her to get what she could to Stephanwhile they were able. But the way the ship was pitching there was no way for her to.
"We need to be stable before I can run the entire program. But maybe I can get it to transmit to him or at least start the process."
With that she began the activation sequence on the tiny A.I. Simple really. It was locked into her mind as it had been with Matthew and Max. She merely had to think the commands and the device obeyed. But without a conduit to the human minds below it was only effective on those in the immediate area. For that they needed a telepath. She had no idea if the waveforms could be transmitted and then dispersed but now would seem to be the time to try.
"StephanFranklin! Calling Dr. StephanFranklin! Do you copy?"
The response was so sudden it startled everyone on the ship. "Dr Chambers is that you? My God we thought you were dead. When we lost…uhh… contact with you after our first talk we thought they had gotten to your ship."
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief but like everything lately it was short-lived. Stephansounded ragged and exhausted. More than even the time since they had last talked could account for.
"Stephanwhat's wrong? You sound worn out! How's it going down there?"
"Bad. Really bad. Whatever these things can throw at us they have over the last few hours. I've gotten reports from all over the world about virulent strains of everything from Ebola to athlete's foot. Anything they can do to keep us off balance, they try. Everyone who's infected is subject to a panorama of symptoms that don't really make any sense. In short, the whole world is under attack. And we don't have anything to fight back with!"
"But that doesn't make sense! They don't have any control over this thing. Do they?"
Her last query was almost a plea, as she thought of her sister and niece in the throes of this kind of agony, not knowing that there was help on the way. She pushed the image out of her mind. For now that would have to be later. And she had to make one.
"Is the system ready to send?"
"Yes! The resonant frequencies have been determined and all our equipment is ready to transmit. Just give me something to send."
"Then stand by!" She turned her attention to the disc in her hand, mentally giving it the go ahead to send its power across the ether to the waiting crystals. It obeyed instantly, seeming almost eager to destroy some part of the creatures that had destroyed its world. And the effect was almost as fast.
Steven, still on the line, was the first to feel it, but it spread so rapidly that everyone in the room was suddenly breathing easier in seconds, a sound so prevalent that even Gauge, still fighting the controls, picked up on it. Calhoun stared at the console for a moment, and then redoubled his efforts to get visual on the signal. Meanwhile Dr. Franklin came back on. "I don't know what you did but on behalf of everyone here, thank you."
"I wasn't sure it would work, but I figured it was worth a try. How do you feel?"
Franklin thought for a moment trying to put a name to the sensations he was having. After a few seconds he took a deep breath and said, almost reverently, "Cured."
On the shuttle everyone looked at the console, Calhoun's efforts to receive video having failed, and began to cheer. Everyone but Molim, who seemed lost in thought, taken away for a moment even from his chores at revitalizing the ship. Suddenly he leaped to the console and began shouting to Franklin. "Transmit signal around planet! Every frequency! Everything you got! Now!" Franklin was about to ask why when Sarah, looking at Molim's face, and seeing the desperate urgency in it, reaffirmed his order. "Do it, Steven. Do it now!
Signaling the technicians in the room to comply, he explained, "It'll take a few moments. But would somebody explain what…"
Molim jumped in. "Signal boosted by Irridinium. Make work stronger than it was before." Franklin wanted to ask how much stronger, but was cut off by Gauge. Or rather by a sudden sharp maneuver Gauge made to avoid a particle beam that lashed at the ship seemingly from nowhere. Spinning the almost crippled ship away had taken everything he and it had, ending any chance of a soft landing. Now it was back to survival mode.
"Brace up! We're heading in fast. Tell your friend I'm sending our coordinates on a sub-channel, so if he wants to join the party, he'd better hurry!"
"What's going on? Sarah?" Franklin was beside himself. They were so close.
Sarah shouted over the engine whine as Gauge pushed it further into the red. "Seems we have some company Steven! And I don't think they want us landing!"
Molim broke in. "Record signal and play everywhere! Might not need little A.I. now. We get down, you send help!"
With that, he grabbed Sarah and shouted at Gauge. "Shuttle have life pods! We go now!"
But Gauge wasn't through yet. "You guys go. Leave me one and I'll be right behind you. I'll get us as low as I can before you bail. Junior is still on our tail."
For a second it seemed to work. Molim had started for the door when Sarah snatched away. "Oh hell no! You get that low you won't have time to get out and you know it!"
So much for plan A.
 "Mo' get her out of here! Now!" As Molim grabbed at Sarah she twisted away. There had to be another way. They hadn't come so far to lose each other now.
Suddenly Calhoun reared up behind Gauge. Before anyone could react he landed a blow at the base of the big man's neck that would have probably killed a lesser man. As Gauge slumped forward, he yanked him out of the chair and almost threw him to Molim.
"Get him out of here! I'll get you low enough, you eject." That was all he said. 
Sarah was ready to protest again but without looking at her, Calhoun said in an almost reverent monotone. "We live for the one. We die for the one."
 Sarah wanted to say something. Anything to say how much his sacrifice meant to her but she had no words. Molim saved her from further thought by grabbing her arm saying, "Come on. Can't carry both of you."
As they left the bridge she looked back at this man she barely knew and now never would. Nothing came to mind to say. So she said the only thing she could. "Thank you."
Making their way to the life pods was no easy trip, with the deck of the ship rolling and pitching like a thing alive and trying to escape a horrible death. Twice Sarah lost her footing and only Molim prevented her from bashing her head against a bulkhead or doorway. By the time they reached their goal, Molim was coated in a film of sweat the viscosity of which made her wonder just how his metabolism worked.
"Here, strap him in seat. I fix surprise for Drakh." As Sarah began locking Gauge into his chair, she wondered what Molim was up to. They had little time and no weapons so she was at a loss as to what he expected to do.
Molim had his ways though. As if he had prepared for this, he whipped out a device and slammed it into the control panel. As Sarah adjusted her own harness she saw a fluid begin to leak out of it. Seconds later smoke began to swirl upward from it. Then she realized it was acid. Molim inspected his work, then, satisfied, turned to each of the other four pods and tossed something into each of them. Satisfied again, he turned and leaped into the pod with her. "Little gift for Drakh. Hope they hate it."
Puzzled, Sarah went about checking out Gauge, who was already regaining consciousness. He was not happy. "Where … oh my head! What hit me?"
Molim replied almost happily, "Calhoun." Then the thought of what it cost the man re-asserted itself and Molim felt ashamed for being so happy.
Gauge was less introverted. "What? We need to go back and…"
But Sarah grabbed his arm, shaking her head. "It's too late. He knew what he was doing. Don't take that away from him."
Gauge sat back. She was right of course. He was still too dizzy to even run and even if he could there probably wasn't time. In a few seconds they'd most likely be joining him anyway.
Molim was too busy watching his watch to participate in the conversation. As the seconds ticked by Gauge noticed this and asked, "Why are we sitting here?"
"We wait till other pods go, like Baroth."
Gauge smiled. Molim knew his job better than anyone and this was a prime example. "How long?"
"Ten seconds from… now!"
What Gauge knew that Sarah didn't was what Molim had done. When the pods launched, the theory was they would assume the first one to be the one with them on board. Molim had rigged them to launch after the others. And, if he knew Molim, he rigged charges in each of the ships that would provide a nice bit of cover.
As the acceleration slammed them against the seats, Gauge could see through the porthole the silhouette of the shuttle against the sun, still trying to dive away from the approaching fighters. Calhoun was not in Gauge's league when it came to piloting a ship, but he was no slouch either. Still, it was only a matter of time. The ship was too outclassed, too damaged to be anything more than a target. For a second Gauge felt a surge of relief that it wasn't him behind its controls. Then, like Molim he felt shame at the thought. The man was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. One more thing he owed the Drakh.
From another side of the ship came a sound Gauge barely recognized, so unaccustomed was he to hearing inside an atmosphere. The sound of an explosion. Undoing his harness, he craned his neck to see out of the porthole at the right angle to see the effects.
They were less than Molim had hoped for but they were visible. One fighter limped off at an angle not unlike the posture of the shuttle they had just left, but it was clear it was a temporary thing. The others showed no ill effects at all. But warned as they were they gave the remaining pods a wider berth than would be usual, the result being their shots were off the mark. With any luck they might even make it to the ground.
Suddenly another sound began to reach Gauge. And again owing to the small amount of time he'd spent inside atmospheres in the last few years it too was unfamiliar to him. But it didn't take long for it to turn into a drone he readily remembered from his more distant past.
“Thunderbolts! A whole squadron! Hell, two squadrons!”
He shouted at Sarah. "I think your friend sent the cavalry."
As she looked out the window, she replied laughing, "I always did think he was a show off."

                                                ****
Above the atmosphere the White Stars and the Titans had been monitoring the situation below as best they could, for the jamming was still in full effect outside the perimeter of the satellites. They were whittling down the capabilities of the Drakh ships. Even the reinforcements that had arrived far ahead of the predicted time had added nothing but more targets to the crews of the Alliance ships. With The Warlock class destroyer running point, Sheridan had been able to use its bulk for cover while the speed of the White Stars easily out classed their opponents. Soon one ship was seen to jump in, only to assess the situation and jump right back out again. Still they had managed to get a few fighters below the defense screen. And Sheridan didn't need to be psychic to know what for.
He knew what had to be done, but he was loath to do it. He was growing old and tired. He felt he had sent enough good men to their deaths, no matter how willingly they went for duty, honor or whatever. While the cause may be just, their blood was still on his hands. And he suffered for them periodically. Only now the thoughts of them came more frequently. And was harder and harder to disperse.
Still he knew what had to be but this time he had forgotten that there was one other here aside from Delenn who knew the same responsibilities. And she was just a little quicker on the draw this time.
"John, I have two Squadrons of Thunderbolts launching now. They'll head planet-side and see if they can help your team. They know the risks. All of them volunteered. They'll hit atmosphere in three minutes."
Sheridan wanted to say “thank you for not letting me do that.” Instead he said only, "Smart move. Let's hope they're able to get through. I'm looking forward to buying that man a drink. And you too." mmm
"I'll be looking forward to having one." was her only reply.
                                                     ****
On the planet below the pods had landed quietly in what appeared to be a jungle clearing. A quick check of the GPS put them some eighteen hundred kilometers from Washington Dome and StephanFranklin. No quick trek but still a lot closer than they could have been. Above, they could still see the remnants of the Drakh force being driven off by the Thunderbolts. Taking inventory of their supplies, Gauge had only a few seconds to wonder where the fighters had come from. He had an answer almost before the question was finished forming, as one of the Thunderbolts dropped in low searching for somewhere to land.
Sarah had managed to bring a hand held radio with them, (Not standard issue on a White Star shuttle), and was finally able to make contact with the pilot. Gauge caught the conversation's end.
"Understood. We'll meet you there." Looking up to see Gauge staring intently at her she grinned, saying, "There's a flat bottom valley over the rise where he can land, so we can use his ship to get us to Steven. He assumes you can fly a Thunderbolt?"
"Baby, right now I could fly a well shaped rock. But what about him?"
"There's a shuttle coming from the Titans to pick them up. And he is very relieved about the cure thing"
Suddenly Gauge remembered about the Plague and seeing the tears and rips in both of their EVA suits wondered about their status. The fact was they had never gotten the chance to use the shield she had created. To which Sarah only smiled. "No need. The A.I. can protect us as long as we're within range of its initial emanations. Seems to be as surprised about that as I am. Says this virus isn't as virulent as the one the Shadows used on their planet. Anyway as long as we stay close together, the virus won't be able to infect us."
"Good news indeed." Gauge said as they both began to strip out of their suits. The heat was oppressive and the journey promised to be hard, if brief. "And to make his job a little easier…"
Gauge pulled her to him, almost lifting her off the ground and giving her a huge openmouthed kiss that she accepted gratefully. The last few hours seemed so far away, all she wanted to do was lie in his arms for now and enjoy the feeling.
They had won. They were on Earth. With the A.I. that could save it. The last of the creatures that had started this were being routed as they held each other. They had done it. Her sister was safe. All the feelings burst through her like a tidal wave until she released her grip on Gauge to catch her breath like she'd been running for miles.
Though not as deeply at the moment, Gauge was still equally enthralled by another fact. He had made it here as he'd promised the woman he loved that he would. Now he had another promise to keep. "Seems I recall something about a lifetime of happy I owe you." he whispered into her ear. 
She smiled up at him, her eyes shining. "Oh, I haven't forgotten that either." And she kissed him again.
Molim came out of the little pod carrying what appeared to be more than the ship could have held. As Sarah and Gauge caught sight of him, he grinned and said, "Chhukt. Get a room.”
                                                          ****
In the clearing about a kilometer and a half away, Lt. Perone checked his ship out. He wanted no mistakes when they left and none to be the fault of his ship especially. News from the chatter was good. The virus seemed to be losing ground. A few more hours and Earth's worse nightmare would be over. All thanks to these two he was here to pick up. It was over. He wanted to get a look at the two who had stopped it just once so he could say he had.
And then would come the part he was really looking forward to. Finding the sons-of-bitches who did this and making them pay. He was still savoring the thought when the particle beam caught him in the back killing him instantly. Lt. Adam Gail, his co-pilot, hearing the noise spun around only to be hit by another blast. As he hit the ground rolling and writhing in pain, he was shocked to see the two Drakh step out from behind a tree. Weapons ready, they advanced on him almost leisurely.
At a time like this training takes over, and the person in question will act on instinct rather than any conscious action. In
Gail's case it was instinct that made him hit the send button on his comm, sending an auto-distress signal out broadband. He had no way of knowing the Drakh were again jamming all frequencies. Not to the extent they had in space, but in the immediate area, it were just as effective. Enough so that even though their plan to destroy Earth had failed, they could still make those who had foiled their plan pay. And in a few minutes the ones they wanted most to kill would be here. They stepped up to stand over the trembling form of Lt. Gail. He tried to raise his PPG but was too weak. They took no pity on him or that fact, as they literally cut him to pieces with their weapons. A Drakh smile is a cruel thing. And they grinned like Cheshire cats as they went about their work.
Then all that remained was to wait for the ones who had caused all of this.
And kill them.
         




                                       CHAPTER FIFTEEN
StephanFranklin was enjoying himself as much as he could. The pains in his chest and stomach as well as the ones in others around him had faded if not into obscurity, then at least dim memory. He felt better than he had in years. Throughout the building and indeed most of the city the reports all said the same thing.
It was over. That quickly. That suddenly. They had turned loose that A.I. and the last remnant of the Shadows was taken out without any fanfare or hoopla. It was so quick many who had been cured almost feared to believe it, thinking it was another trick or that they would jinx it.
But it was true. And the test he was running bore it out. Whatever they had used was so effective the virus was shutting down in places they hadn't been able to reach with conventional means yet. The crystals transmitted the artificial psionic waves at light speed in every direction. Everyone was bathed in a cascade of them that cleansed their bodies of the alien microbe. Reports came from everywhere over radio and vid lines, all with the same message. People were feeling better. And getting better. Diseases that had found new foot holds on the population were again receding into the darkness, or returning at least to their former status as nuisances. All thanks to a woman who had managed to survive everything the creatures had thrown at her, to get this gift to Earth. He wondered off-handedly how big the statue they built of her would be.
He was still in the midst of his musings when another piece of good news arrived. "Dr. we established a comm-link with President Sheridan!"
"Well don't just stand there man. Put him through." Instantly the screens all around the room lit up with the Sheridan's face, looking concerned if not downright dour. But a look at Franklin seemed to brighten him up as well.
"Well don't you look chipper? I take it we have some good news for a change?
"No. We have some great news. Whatever that thing was it's the answer we've been looking for the whole while." Unable to hold back any longer, Franklin simply burst out. "John it's over. That little device did it! We're still waiting for reports from remote regions but from what we have so far, the thing has just gone inert. Like its paralyzed or something."
"Any chance it’s just playing possum?" Leave it to Sheridan to play the devil's advocate.  "Given our history with this thing, I'd hate to find out we've been suckered again."
Franklin wasn’t going to let him rain on his parade. 
"I don't think so. All indications are the virus has simply gone inert. And the effects are fading. John it is over!"
"And all she had to do was turn loose it over the comm?" That had been Delenn.
"Apparently. She seems to have been wrong about the telepaths though. Once it was on line they seem to be able to direct it, like a scalpel. Or a sword. And it works through the comm and vid links as well."
"So that's it then? All this and it ends so quickly?" Delenn sounded amazed. 
Franklin didn’t want to push anything, afraid to jinx it."We believe so. But when they get here we'll run the most exhaustive set of tests ever created. And once she's here, we can still run the original plan to be sure."
"And where is she? Any word?" Sheridan was worried. He didn't want to think about losing them. Not now. 
Susan, who had been listening on the comm, broke in. "My Thunderbolts reported they went down in the Everglade National Park. I have one team giving them their ship to get to Steven, but we lost contact again. My guess is the Drakh are still trying something, but without comm we're flying blind. And none of the other ships in the area had any sight on them since the initial battle, what there was of it. But now…. I have no contact with them!"
Sheridan bit his lower lip. "We need ears on this thing, now! Stephancan you get anyone down there, fast?"
"Already in progress. But it'll take a few minutes for them to get there. And there's no guarantee they'll be able to break through the jamming either." 
"Understood. But at least they'll be there to help."
Susan shook her head. "There are already two squadrons there. And from what we saw over here, they outnumbered the Drakh that got through four to one. If my guys have them they'll be home in time for supper."
Sheridan still felt something was wrong. The Drakh were not known for giving up. The idea of losing to them was foreign. And they could conceivably still have a few tricks up their sleeve.
But still, they were right. There were enough ships down there. And enough personnel to blanket the area. All they could do now was wait.
                                                          ****
On Earth, Gauge, Sarah and Molim made their way through the brush toward the co-ordinates they had. Above, the sky had grown relatively silent, as the Drakh had been driven off and the Thunderbolts patrolled the skies. None of them made any motion in the direction of the little group slowly plowing its way through the brush. Not sure what might be down there, none of them wanted to give away their location.
Gauge was having a bit of a hard time dealing with the bugs and heat. Being more used to the controlled environment of ships and space stations, he found himself wishing for one or the other.
Sarah was also not doing well, for similar reasons. Molim however, was almost enjoying himself. The heat and humidity reminded him of his home world. He secretly had always wished the temperature on most ships to be up fifteen of twenty degrees. Out here, it was more like home.
But for Sarah and Gauge it was more like hell. Molim had no problem with bugs, because his body chemistry was so different, but they were a banquet they seldom saw this far out. Sarah was cursing the fact that she hadn't thought to check the supplies on the life pod for insect repellant.
Progress was slow, thanks to both the terrain and the bugs. After a while, Sarah decided to contact the waiting ship, to let them know about their progress. Or rather the lack of it. It just struck her as polite. And maybe they had word from Steven.
After several seconds of noise she realized something was wrong. "Al, I can't get through to our ride. It's like we have interference again."
"Maybe it's just the area. That radio doesn't look to be best quality or condition. It might just be equipment failure."
"Doesn't feel like it. It's like it's… I don't know, like the Drakh are still jamming us."
They looked at each other, both afraid to say what they both thought. If the Drakh were still jamming them, they were still trying to find a way to stop them, which meant either the broadcast hadn't worked or…
Or it had and the Drakh were out for revenge. A trait they were noted for. "I think we need to get to our rendezvous fast."
But Sarah grabbed his arm. "Wait. If these things are in the area, they more than likely heard our plans. And if they did…"
"…Then we might just be walking into an ambush."
Gauge took a fast inventory of their supplies. Specifically weapons. Two PPG pistols, a pair of binoculars and a couple of survival knives. Short range only. If they had company it was a safe bet they were out gunned. And if the jamming held up, they were on their own.
"You got that grid map?" Sarah handed it to him without a word, seeing the look on his face, recognizing it as his face of concentration. After orienting it, he looked around. Then, pointing to a rise, he said, "We can get up there and maybe see the valley. A little luck we might be able to figure out if it's a trap or just bad timing. And maybe with line of sight, we can get a link to the pilots."
Sarah nodded. Molim grunted. It was settled.
There was a rise in front of them that looked down into what Gauge believed was their destination. As they made their way up the last bit, he motioned Molim to head around to the right. The swamp level was below them at the top but he could still get around the rise to see. And, being in his element he would be less vulnerable to anything he might run into. Or at least more able to escape it.
The Drakh on the other hand were simply waiting for them to show up. They knew they were defeated. That their plan was lost, but there were other ways to win. And removing these two who had proven so formidable could only be an asset. Their orders were to do just that. That they would most likely die was of no consequence. The only thing important was that the ones who had thwarted their plans died.
                                                      ****
Stephanwas meanwhile trying to get more info from anywhere he could. The reports were only getting better. More and more people were getting a last rush of sickness followed by a recovery of miraculous proportions. The news was heading out to everyone who could get access to a comm link. Earth was saved. And those who had tried to kill her would be dealt with as enemies were but that was for tomorrow. Today was cause for joy and celebration. But first he had to find the ones responsible for this.
 "Why haven't we heard from any of the damn scouts we sent out?" His question had been nearly rhetorical, but half a dozen aides tried to answer it. Holding up his hand against the rising din he shouted, "Enough! One at a time."
One technician said, "We still can't get through on standard comm lines but we have been able to get a hold of some local authorities on land lines. They report the area is under the control of some Thunderbolts patrolling the area. All the Drakh seem to be gone or going. Nothing left from their forces seems to be flying. Looks like we've won."
Stephan ground his teeth together.  "Yeah, but I've been wrong too many times not to think of that old saying ‘looks can be deceiving.’ Get as many people in that area as you can now. I want those people found as quickly as possible." Stephansaid nothing else but his thoughts were that at this point the Drakh would take any kind of victory they could get. So if they couldn't kill the planet, they could at least kill the ones who saved it. And he felt duty-bound not to let that happen.
                                        CHAPTER SIXTEEN
In the skies above, the Titans and the White Stars were out of targets. The Drakh that had survived were either in no shape to fight, or were running for their lives. Sheridan did some metal computations and then verified them with the engineer who was looking after the engines. They still had about four hours before the Irridinium drove their reactor to breech. After a quick assessment, Sheridan finally shouted across the comm. "Susan, whatever's left is yours. I'm taking the ship down to see what's going on."
"Go. I'll take over here. Just keep a laser lock on me so we can stay in contact. They can't jam that."
"Right. Wish us luck." With that Sheridan turned to his helmsman, "You have the location, get there as fast as this thing will go." Without a word the Minbari rammed the ship through the first layers of the atmosphere. Whatever was there, in five minutes they would know.
On Earth Gauge had made it to the top of the rise and stared down at the Thunderbolt sitting in the clearing. He could see nothing. Absolutely nothing. No animals, birds, even the hated bugs seemed to be nowhere in sight, although from where they were, even with the binoculars it would really have been hard to see them. But it was the impression one got that they, along with everything else in the area had disappeared.
 Gauge knew better. The pilots of that ship would never have just left it. There were no signs of a struggle or firefight, but there was no sign of them either.
He whispered to Sarah, "Sarah, you had any luck trying to get through to them?" 
Sarah whispered back, even though she wasn't sure why. "None. And it's definitely a jamming. Not as powerful as the one we faced in space but just as effective at close range. Given time we might be able to break through but somehow I get the feeling we don't have that kind of time."
Gauge frowned as he said, "Neither do I. But something here is just not right. They know we're coming and they just vanish?" He ran his hand over his head. "Maybe Molim can see something we can't."
"See nothing." Both Sarah and Gauge jumped at the sound. Molim had slid up behind them so quietly it startled them both into reaching for weapons. And they both sighed with relief as they realized who it was.
Molim rose up out of the muddy water, naked to the waist. His faint bluish skin glistening with moisture. "Got to within hundred feet, saw nothing. Even animals gone. What that saying you got?”
Gauge looked at the clearing and said, "Looks like a trap, feels like a trap, guess what? It's a trap."
From behind them they heard a sound, muffled by the underbrush. As all three spun in that direction, a burst of fire shot out of the bush, narrowly missing Gauge. Instinctively he fired back with the PPG, while pushing Sarah to the other side. Rolling to his right and firing almost steadily, he found cover behind a stump. Looking back he could see Sarah make her way behind a huge tree. Molim simply dropped back into the water and slithered away. Gauge meanwhile had stopped firing, trying to locate a target. Sarah, although she had the other PPG, hadn't gotten off a shot, having never seen their adversary. But at least that meant she still had a full clip in her PPG while Gauge had spent nearly half of his. A quick check told him he had three clips. With luck Sarah had the same. Mo' had nothing but for some reason Gauge didn't think he had to be, anymore than a shark needed to be armed in the ocean.
The Drakh were cursing the fact that they had missed their first chance and lost the element of surprise. Luck had saved the human male but that would not last forever. But they were running out of time. Soon the Thunderbolts overhead would figure out there was something wrong and start destroying the surrounding area. But before they did, they would be sure to kill these humans. And that thing they had swimming in the muck like one of their own primordial ancestors. All they had to do was outflank them. Catch them in crossfire and that would be that. But they had learned that humans tend to be a little harder to kill than you would think. And these two were particularly difficult.
Meanwhile, in the White Star diving to the area, a Ranger at a control panel shouted, "Mr. President, we have energy spikes in the area! Looks like weapons-fire of some sort! Appears to be right next to the area of the Thunderbolt that landed to retrieve them!"
"Time to target?" Sheridan was ready to get out and push if needed. The Minbari at the controls shouted, in English, "Three minutes to landfall!" Sheridan pounded the chair arm. Three minutes was plenty of time for someone to die.
                                                
Gauge rolled over to Sarah, dodging a burst from the Drakh. As he got into position, he caught a glimpse of one of the Drakh. He was behind a tree to his right. And there was movement signaling others coming over the hill behind them. It was almost without thought he realized the other would have to be trying to set up crossfire. It was logical to the point of obvious. But they had overlooked one thing.
Molim.
Despite their best efforts, the Drakh could not keep up with him. They were in his element now. And if they didn't know it, they soon would.

"Any sign of them?" Sheridan was worried. And it came through in his voice. Delenn had moved to his side. She had seen him like this before. It wasn't new. And it wasn't good.
"We have life signs in the area… and… weapons fire as well! Trying to get through to the Thunderbolts in the area to see if they can get down there to help but we still have a lot of interference out there!"
"Forget them! Just head for the area. Once they see us, my guess is they'll follow just to see what the hell we're doing."
Delenn turned to Sheridan and asked in a low voice, "Exactly what are we doing? Our weapons aren't going to be specific enough to target single aliens."
"No but that clearing is big enough for us to land in, assuming we use the entire clearing. It'll mean destroying the Thunderbolt but…"
Delenn held up her hand. "I know, I know. What is that Earth saying of yours? 'You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs.' Or something along those lines."
"Yeah, that's about right." Sheridan was about to shout out some more orders when a Ranger, watching the scene below began shouting.
"Sir there's a ship on vector to the area! Not one of ours or theirs from what I can see. I've never seen anything like it."
"Show me." In an instant a hologram filled the bridge. To most it was still a mystery, but to Delenn and Sheridan it was both familiar and reassuring. Enough to cause Sheridan to break into a smile no one had seen in a long time. He was joined almost immediately by Delenn, who turned to look at him, breaking into a smile of her own. As the bridge crew stared at them the Ranger began shouting again. "We're on a collision course! We…"
"Veer off! He's in better shape than we are to help and I'm betting he's just mad enough to make somebody pay."
As the pilot slammed the ship upward just enough to give the smaller ship passage. Sheridan felt the pull of gravity pulling on him as he wondered where the pilot of the other ship had been.
As Gauge and Sarah returned fire, they both heard the engines winding down behind them. Gauge risked a look over his shoulder as he loaded his last clip. The sight was neither as good nor as bad as he thought it would be. His first thought had been a Drakh ship come to aid their attackers. The sight of it had quelled that thought. Whatever the ship was, it was unfamiliar to him, but he could tell by the look on her face it wasn't new to Sarah. And judging from that same expression, she was more than a little happy to see it.
That was enough for Gauge. He went back to the business at hand. Whatever it was, it would do no good if they were dead by the time they got down there. If they were help they could start any time now.
As if in answer to his unspoken plea, the ship dropped almost to the ground, next to the Thunderbolt still sitting in the middle of the clearing. Gauge was almost sure he saw a door open in the side, but it was just more blackness in the side of a ship as black as any he'd ever seen.
 Suddenly a figure appeared in the doorway, toting what appeared to be a weapon. A very large and more than likely very deadly weapon. But what was far more interesting to Gauge was its holder. The ship may not have been familiar, but he was. It was Calhoun.
Sarah was equally amazed but not surprised. After all she knew the ship's owner. And it was the first time in a while she had reason to smile. Turning to Gauge, she shouted, "We've got back-up! That's Galen!"
At the sound of the name, Gauge shot her a look that was more question than acknowledgement. Galen hadn't been seen since before the Excalibur was destroyed. Unknown to Gauge or Sarah, there were those who thought he might have had a hand in it. None of them knew him. But Sarah did, and she trusted him. And that was enough for Gauge. He turned his back on the ship. Between Sarah's faith and Calhoun's presence, Gauge figured he was in better shape than he had been in a while.
He had no idea how right he was. As he watched out of the corner of his eye, Calhoun locked and loaded the weapon he carried mounted to his chest like an old style parachute. The first blast from it cut the tree down that the first Drakh was hiding behind like it was a toothpick. It shocked Gauge that he knew where the creature was hiding. Then he realized that if this was the Galen he'd heard of, he was probably giving him directions.
Again as if in answer, Calhoun swung the muzzle of his weapon at a pair of rocks on the other side of the clearing. Made of sterner stuff, they allowed the second Drakh to survive and return fire. Calhoun readied a third blast, then suddenly relaxed. Puzzled by this, Gauge turned around to see the Drakh impaled on a makeshift spear. As Gauge watched, Molim's teeth flashed in the sunlight just for a second as he tore open the creature's throat with apparent relish. Gauge grimaced as he watched the Drakh slide into the water without a sound. Yeah he needed weapons all right. Like Custer needed more Indians.
Calhoun walked forward toward them, de-energizing the weapon and calling to them. "This way, quick. There might be more of the damn things out of range!" Turning in the direction of the last Drakh, he shouted, "C'mon Molim. Gauge you and the lady need to hurry up too!'
"No need to say that again." Sarah was already running toward the ship. As Molim came lurching out of the swamp, Gauge scanned the area for any sign of more enemies. As they entered the ship Gauge could see Sarah looking around anxiously. Just as Molim entered, she cried out, "Galen, it is you!"
Gauge had never seen a Techno-mage before. On Excalibur he'd somehow always missed Galen or never saw him if he was aboard. Now, as the black robed figure rose from the console, Gauge could see why they were described in terms of feared legends and myths. He wasn't large by any standard, but he exuded power. Yet even so he looked almost haggard as he stood, looking sheepishly at her, as she ran over and threw her arms around him. Gauge could see he was looking at a man haunted by something. He would have guessed it was the death of the Excalibur.
Sarah was oblivious to all of this. All she knew was there was a friend she thought she had lost standing in front of her and she was damn well not going to let him go.
"Galen, where have you been? When the Excalibur was destroyed…"
Galen’s voice was soft even a he nearly growled a response thinking about how they had all been duped and betrayed. "I was checking a lead out in a sector of space off the beaten path. Matthew asked me to do it to save time." He dropped his eyes for a moment, as if remembering his lost friend. "I had no idea it would be the last thing he would ask of me."
Sarah felt her eyes fill with tears as it reminded her of her own loss. Suddenly she hugged Galen. "We both lost some good friends that day. But we did it Galen. We found a cure for the virus."
"So I have heard." And at that he turned to Gauge smiling. "And you must be her young man I'd heard so much about on the ship." As he spoke he extended his hand in Gauge's direction. While he accepted it gratefully, he had to ask, "A pleasure to meet you. But you have to tell me; how did you get him out of the shuttle?" indicating Calhoun.
Galen looked at Gauge, then at Calhoun, then back at Gauge and said quietly. "I told him to jump. And caught him."
Gauge threw a look at Calhoun and said, "And you just did it?"
Calhoun simply smiled as he said, "I didn't have a lot of options at the time. And I once heard the President say, 'If you're falling off a cliff, you might as well try to fly. You got nothing to lose."' Gauge simply shook his head. "Seems that saying gets around."
Molim, who had been the last to enter the ship stopped in the doorway to listen. Something was coming in. Something big!
Dripping wet, he leaped into the room shouting, "We need to go. Now!"
But Galen simply held up his hand. "It is alright my bluish friend. That will be your ride home. Unless would you prefer to fly yourselves in the Thunderbolt out there. I am assuming it was waiting for you."
"Well yes but…"
"Don't worry about the Thunderbolt. I'll take it back to the Titans. I need a ride back to the White Star anyway."
But Galen laughed and gestured with his staff. "No you do not." As they all looked on, an image appeared out of nothing before him and arranged itself into a familiar shape, now they saw a shadow orbiting the area as slowly as possible. It was a White Star!
"I don't think they have enough room to land but I can ferry you up to it if you wish."
"And I can follow in the Thunderbolt."
Gauge was about to speak when Sheridan's voice came from…everywhere.
"This is White Star one to Techno Mage ship. Galen is that you?"
"It is indeed Mr. President. And I would like permission to bring you a pair who are by my estimation… heroes." As Gauge and Sarah both fought embarrassing feelings of inadequacy, Galen tempered the reverie by adding, "…in need of a bath.” Anyone listening at that point would have been treated to some the most honest and heartfelt laughter heard anywhere on the planet for a long time.
                                  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sometime later on board the White Star, (renamed White Star One as the original had been destroyed by an errant Drakh missile during the battle,) Sheridan was fulfilling his promise to Gauge by pouring him a drink. Despite being under quarantine still, Sheridan had used his status to get Dr. Franklin to the White Star and then to The Titans, where Suzanne played host to one hellacious party. Most of her crew were dumbstruck to see their Captain in such a mood as she was not known for being able to have a good time. Most simply marked it down as joy over Earth's reprieve, and indeed they were right. But also was the fact that she was with friends. The closet friends she had ever had. And for a little while she found herself in a state she seldom experienced. She was happy.
For Dr. Franklin it was also as happy an occasion as he could remember. But it was also bittersweet. For two years he had thought about Sarah Chambers as more than a colleague. It was just a fantasy but it had taken on a life of its own long ago. Now seeing her on the arm of the man that had saved her and in turn everyone on Earth, seeing the way she looked at him and he at her, he knew his dreams were just that.
Well, so be it. She deserves every happiness this world now had to offer. And if he was the one to give it to her, he hoped he was up to the task.
Almost unbidden, his glass raised and he heard himself saying, "Ladies, Gentlemen and… Minbari. A toast. To the man and woman of the hour! Dr. Sarah Chambers and Mr. Albert Gauge! On behalf of a grateful world let me be the first to say: thank you. And may your lives be as full of hope as the hope you granted to every member of the human race today!"
There were cheers all around as Sheridan shouted, "Hear, hear!"
Gauge was not used to the attention so he basically just stood and accepted the cheers. Sarah too, was not used to this much attention. 
But suddenly Gauge raised his hand. "Thank you all for everything. Especially the whiskey." A nod to Sheridan drew peals of laughter, to which Sheridan simply raised his own glass in acknowledgement. Gauge went on. "Before we made it back to Earth I made a promise I intend to keep. And since I doubt I'll ever be in a more august group, I guess this is as good a time as any."
With that he reached into his shirt, and withdrew a small box. Every voice in the room was stilled as he bent to one knee and looked up at the woman he had been through so much with and said, "Sarah, I know this is probably not what you expected but here it is. I promised to spend the rest of my life making you happy. And I want it official." As he spoke he opened the box. “Will you marry me?"
Everyone thought she would at least act surprised or indecisive. She was neither. "Oh yes!" were her only words as she looked at him, thinking he looked almost comical on one knee. But as Gauge pulled out the ring from its box every eye in the room turned to it. Even Galen looked shocked by it.
Oddly enough it was Ivanova who made the first comment. "That's a Mindorian Firestone. That damn thing probably cost more that this ship!" 
Gauge stared at it for a moment then quipped, "No, but it would probably make a damn good down payment."
Sarah, no expert on gemstones looked around. Gauge’s past as a smuggler and rouge coming to mind. To assuage her fears, Gauge spoke up. "Don't worry. I bought this months ago. See I've been planning this a long time."
 "But Al, this thing must have cost you…" she searched for a way to put it delicately, but Gauge cut her off."Honey I made enough to buy you whatever you think you want over the last eight years. With what I inherited from Doc money isn't an obstacle."
"Not to put too fine a point on it but how much are you worth?" That had come from Sheridan, although the thought was on everyone's mind. Gauge smiled, rising from the floor. "You have a friend named Garibaldi, runs Edger's industries?"
Sheridan furrowed his brow. Gauge went on. "I'm not quite in his neighborhood, but we have the same area code."
Susan shook her head, saying in an exaggerated voice, "Some girls have all the luck."
Gauge however, was not finished yet. Turning back to Sarah he said, "And you don't understand what I mean. I want to marry you right now. Here and now." Seeing Sarah's jaw begin drop. He went on. "We can have another ceremony when things calm down and you can invite the whole damn world if you want. But I want you to be my wife when we land wherever."
Sarah was more confused than objecting. "But who would do the ceremony?"
"Honey, we are on a ship." 
With that he turned to Captain Ivanova, all eyes following his.
Susan, in the middle of a drink, nearly gagged. "Me?" she sputtered. "I've never… I mean yes I guess I can but I… I'm not…"
"All you have to do is read it from the book and it's legal."
As everyone looked on, Susan threw up her hands in defeat. "What the hell? I guess today's a good day for miracles.”
So Sarah Chambers became Sarah Chambers-Gauge in the rec room on board The Titans. And Gauge kept the promise he made to the woman he loved. Sheridan acted as best man after Molim declined. ("I am not a man," he had said in perfect English.) And Delenn stood up as Sarah's maid of honor. In a bit of irony only he could appreciate, Dr Franklin ended up giving the bride away. Galen acted as a witness along with Calhoun, Jim Wright and Orin Print. It was discovered later that there were several who had recorded the event and it was played over ISN for months.
It was a copy of that recording that found its way, sometime later to the throne room of the Centauri Republic. And Lando Molari.
It took some time before he was able to get a free moment to watch it. Even then, he had to first knock out his "keeper" with several strong shots of Brivari. Once he was alone he almost beamed.
"Good." He had thought to himself. "Any failure of the Drakh is a good thing. The bastards have ruined my planet and murdered thousands of my people. But the humans defied you eh? And beat you at your own game! Wherever your other bases are, I hope the humans find you. And then maybe they can find a way to help my people." He took another drink and sighed. If the Keeper detected any part of that last thought, he was sure he would be punished, but at that moment he didn't care.



                                           EPILOGUE
It  could be said how Sarah, Albert, and Molim were given heroes welcomes when they finally made it to Earth Alliance H.Q. How they were mobbed by scientists and canonized by everyone they met who knew who they were. But these things went without being said and were expected. With Earth off of quarantine in just under a month, it became business as usual quicker than anyone thought possible. Several medals were handed out, most auspiciously to the Captain and crew of the Titans for their part in removing the alien menace that had threatened Earth. And to the Dr. who had risked life and limb to affect the cure they had waited for so long. And of course, (after they had suitably cleaned up his records) to her new husband who had rescued her from the frozen wastes of space and delivered her to The Interstellar Alliance President to get her to the Earth as quickly as possible.
All this took up the better part of six months. During which time Dr. Franklin took to analyzing every molecule of the virus he could find to insure there would be no flare-ups or recurrences. And engineers all over the world tried to find a way to incorporate Irridinium into a stable power source for their ships, making Albert (and Mrs.) Gauge even wealthier people. This was the way of the world. Dr. Sarah Chambers-Gauge was made head of interstellar research and told she should report for duty whenever she felt it convenient which would be a while as by the time they got around to offering it to her, she was two months pregnant.
So it was a year later, to the day that found all our participants in this little drama, in what had been the State of Missouri at the dedication of a memorial to those who had fallen in the search for the cure that had saved Earth. A somber and bittersweet affair that had lasted just short of forever and was now, mercifully coming to a close with a final few words from President Sheridan.
"Among the Rangers there is a saying. 'We live for the one. We die for the one.' In all of recorded history, there is no finer example of this than those who crewed the Excalibur. Who laid down their lives in the pursuit of life for others. And to remind us always of their sacrifice, their heroism. Of their courage and compassion. To honor them in a manner that befits the magnitude of their actions, we present to you for posterity," As he had spoken the giant rock wall behind him had begun to shift and shimmer revealing itself to be a hologram. Now as he neared the end of his soliloquy, it shifted to a curtain that opened dramatically to reveal a life size stone model of the Excalibur. A mile and a quarter long it was a perfect duplication of the ship that left everyone who could see it awestruck. Even those who had helped build it could do no more than stare at the behemoth before them. Sheridan waited for the sight to sink in, then continued. "The Excalibur Memorial Monument. And on its base is inscribed the name of every member of her crew. From deckhand to Captain."
Sheridan was not a hard man although he could be but his natural turn of emotions wasn't emotional either. But at the thought of what that ship had done, he found himself fighting to maintain his composure. For Sarah and the other survivors, it was impossible. Tears ran down her face as she thought of her sister, her niece, and all the others they had saved. She felt proud. Yet still saddened by the cost. But as Albert reached to hold her she sat up straighter. She would not take away from what they did by crying like a schoolgirl at the ceremony for them. They deserved better than that. No. She could cry later. With Albert. Perhaps even with Stephan when she went back to work. But not here. Not here.
The rest was just standard rigmarole that you find at every such event all over the galaxy. Strange that. It was like G'kar had once said of Swedish meatballs. Every sentient race had them. That was the fact. The how was one of those universal mysteries that we'll never find out. Or would drive you mad if you did.
No let us finish this story at the Reception after the dedication. Where we find Sheridan, Delenn, Albert and Sarah Gauge, Dr. Stephan Franklin and Galen preparing to go their separate ways.
"Stephan whenever you get the time you should stop by and see us on Minbar. David would love to see you."
"As soon as I can get some time, it sounds great."
"You and your new wife are always welcome as well, Mr. Gauge."That had come from Delenn. 
Gauge simply looked hurt and said, "What, I don't rate a first name?" Sheridan stared for a second, then burst into, what Delenn later described as the loudest laugh she'd ever heard from him. 
After taking a second to compose himself he clapped Gauge's shoulder and said, "Al you show up whenever you want. And this time you can bring the whiskey."
Gauge returned the smile "Good, yours was a bit on the light side." Another round of laughter from all. 
Then Gauge was struck by a thought. "You know since I can't do a lot of traveling for a while at least, I was thinking maybe we could have dinner before you have to head back."
Intrigued by this, Delenn asked, "M… Albert, are you offering to cook?" 
"Ah no. That would probably constitute assault. My suggestion would be that we take a couple of hours to visit a friend of mine. Only about a half an hour from here in New Orleans. Best Cajun food in the city. Even Molim liked it whenever we managed to smuggle some out.
Turning to Galen he said, "And besides, for the past year, I've heard tales of daring deeds by you that have boggled the mind. And in deference to the rest of my life, I'd like to find out just how much of it was fact or bias recollection from a friend. Just so I can get a handle on what to expect." With that he threw Galen an exaggerated wink that drew another roar of laughter from all, including the Techno mage himself.
Thinking for a second, he shrugged and said, "As the saying goes; lead on McDuff."
Sheridan looked at Delenn, who nodded so slightly it was imperceptible to all save him. But to him it spoke volumes. "All right Al. Do you need to call and make reservations? I don't think he'll care much for my security just showing up and taking over."
"Not to worry. He has private rooms for special guests. And an equally private entrance. We should however take my ship. Yours might be a bit conspicuous. I have enough room for your Rangers and the White Star can stay over the city just in case. "
After a second, Sheridan shrugged. "Cost of doing business I guess. You can never be too cautious." Delenn nodded. Saying only, "Indeed."
Had any of our heroes looked up into the tree that sat closest to the memorial they had just dedicated, they might have noticed a small flicker of…something. And if they had they more than likely would have attributed it to a trick of the light or something glinting off the huge polished stone structure behind them. They had no way of knowing it was the only visible effect of a device that hovered between dimensions and allowed another set of interested parties to have attended the ceremony.
Thousands of light-years away, three beings sat in a darkened chamber. Two familiar beings, and one less recognizable. One was a Shadow being, his insectoid legs twitching as he strove to make a point. The other more humanoid one was easily identified as Lorien, the first one. The third was a Vorlon named Amah. All three were deep in conversation over the events that had just transpired.
"You are sure these are the ones that fit all of the criteria?" the Shadow seemed jittery. At least in comparison to Lorien and the Vorlon, whose almost gelatinous body seemed to ripple with calmness. 
Lorien answered in his familiar sing song voice. "Quite sure. Their genetic profiles are as near to perfect as possible without some form of manipulation. And that as we all know is not allowed."
"It seemed to be foolish to allow them to be placed in so much danger if they are as you have said, so perfect." That had come from the Vorlon, his voice as smooth and soothing as the ripples that cascaded across his body. 
Lorien was not impressed by either as he sighed, "Perhaps, but it was necessary. Humans perform best under pressure, a fact not lost on either of you. In order to bring out certain aspects of their character, the danger was simply a catalyst. They chose to go to it."
The Shadow tried to interject, "But you allowed…"
"I could not have stopped them except by revealing my presence. It was after all your minions who brought about this conflict by attacking the humans." At this the Shadow creature fell silent.
"So the humans are on their way, with this Albert Gauge and Sarah Chambers ushering in a new genetic era?" The Vorlon pondered for a moment, then said, "At least we have done this correctly. Do you not agree?"
Lorien nodded almost at once. "Oh yes, your teachings have improved the humans considerably. Both of your teachings. I can see both ends of the spectrum in them, both placed there by you. But few races ever learn to balance them as they have."
The Shadow chattered, "So we have done well. And now?"
Lorien smiled. "Now we wait for a few thousand years and see if they chose one of your paths or find one of their own. That is all we can do now."
Both the Shadow and the Vorlon seemed to nod in agreement. Then, as if by some unspoken signal they began to leave the room, to leave Lorien to his private thoughts. But as they left the Shadow creature turned back to Lorien.
"It is fortunate you knew how to use the techno-mage magic to force them together."
"Yes it was indeed."
As the Shadow turned again to leave, Lorien smiled. It was as the humans said, only a little white lie. Yes, he knew the techniques of the Techno-mages to force love between two beings, but the truth was with these two he had never had to use it. The others thought he had, and indeed he was ready to, but as it turned out there had been no need. True, he had manipulated the events that precipitated their meeting but only after they had missed each other on so many occasions.
But once they had met, before he used the incantation he had wanted to gauge their reaction to each other, and once he had seen it decided to allow them to choose. After all, he could intervene at any time. But there had been no need. From almost the first moment they met, it was as though they had belonged to each other. There was nothing he knew of that would make the bond between them any stronger than it was. And it made him question some of his own beliefs about love. At least in humans.
No matter though. They were together, and a child was on the way. His work was done. Now he simply would watch from time to time. He sighed again, a distinctly human sound, and set about other tasks he had. And realized sadly, that none would be as interesting as this one had been.

Back on Earth, oblivious to the goings-on beyond the rim, Sheridan had gotten comfortable in Gauge's new ship, the new and improved Delsar2. Even the Minbari were impressed, (although that probably isn't the right word,) by its luxury. Sheridan was considering asking about trying to get one of his own but decided it might appear ostentatious. Suddenly he was struck by a thought that hadn't really occurred to him until this very second.
"Hey Al, this place we're going? Does it have a name?"
Looking over his shoulder at Sheridan, Gauge simply said, "Yeah. It's called Sisco"s Place."
                                                                 
                                               The End
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