Mission through Time
John Sheridan had returned to Babylon 5 and then was sent out on a mission to Drazi space which resulted in several battle crabs being lost by the Shadows. The attack had been sussed out by intel from the Rangers.
When he returned, Sinclair met with him. "Anything on the mission that wasn't obvious from the report?"
"No. And the refugees from the colony were most appreciative."
"Good. Now, we have a mission coming up that will require that you be here."
"When is the mission?" Sheridan asked.
"It will be in three days." He paused. "But there's something else I need you to do."
The tone of that caused Sheridan to worry. "Sir?"
"I will require you to turn command of the Agamemnon to Commander James. He will be given a field promotion to Captain."
Vice Admiral Sheridan replied, "Can I ask why, Admiral? I don't think I've done anything that would warrant losing command. And I am currently carrying the Flag."
Sinclair gave a small smile. "No, you haven't. Actually, You will be carrying the Flag on another ship."
"Which ship?"
"You'll find out very soon. As a matter of fact, the official orders will be filed when the mission has already been activated. The mission requires total secrecy. We are going to inform Commander James that you will be helping me run the show for a few days. I will then present his promotion to him – right before we send the destroyer group out. I will have to keep the Agrippa here, leaving the command of the group to Captain James. If I sent the Agrippa, Williams could rightly claim that he had the most experience and should command the group. The Churchill has taken over for the Roanoke and she'll go with them."
"Where will the group be headed?"
"According to intel, there will be an attack on Brakiri space and I need the Shadows thoroughly distracted. So this will be noisier than earlier missions. We're sending three Minbari cruisers as well to assist in the mission. After they jump out, we're going to send you and the others on a shuttle through the jump gate to your new ship. You will take off from Epsilon 3 in three days after you are briefed there about the mission."
"Who's going with me?" Sheridan asked.
"You will command. Susan will be your second-in-command. Ranger Cole will be going with you as well for a reason that will become apparent. Also on this mission will be Delenn, her aide Lennier, and one of the caretakers that work for Draal." Sinclair smiled to himself. "He's an alien named Zathrus. He will be in charge of the special equipment that will be needed."
"How long will the mission take?"
Sinclair smiled widely at that. "That is a very interesting question. You'll find out why when you are briefed."
Sheridan cocked one eye at his superior, as though to say you can't just leave it at that. Sinclair just grinned more.
On the evening of the second day, Earth Force Admiral Jeffrey Sinclair stood on the Observation Deck of the EAS Agamemnon. Many crew members were present and all crew members not on the deck were listening.
"ATTENTION TO ORDERS!"
Every Earthforce member present stood at attention. Sinclair read through the citation promoting Commander James. Most listening agreed that the man deserved it. Vice-Admiral Sheridan presented him with his new insignia.
Sheridan then, with Sinclair backing him up, conferred command of the EAS Agamemnon to Captain James.
When it was done, Sinclair took Captain James aside. "Early tomorrow, I need you to take the other Omegas except the Agrippa, which will stay here as protection, on a mission." He pulled the data crystal from his pocket. "This contains your orders as well as the specifics. I recommend getting all Captains involved – including the lead Minbari cruiser captain who is already here – over to coordinate. I can't tell you how important this is."
Captain James kept his cool. "Yes, Sir. I will begin preparations immediately."
"Good man."
In the shuffle of shuttles moving around, no one really noticed the one that went down to the surface.
John Sheridan and Susan Ivanova, along with an extra technician from Babylon 5, were both quite awed by the vast machinery that they saw as they were led by a Goblin guard to Draal's area.
As a favor to Draal, the Goblins had set up a conference room which had computer access as needed (Zathrus was the one who installed the terminal). By himself Draal needed nothing of this, but with Babylon 5 and the Goblins working with him it would become necessary.
Upon entering, the Vice Admiral saw that there were several others already there. He stopped halfway in and said, "Good Evening, Ambassador Delenn."
"Please, just Delenn."
Sheridan gave a boyish smile and said, "Unless we're in an official meeting, call me John." Delenn was taken by how very nice that smile seemed to be. "You've obviously met Commander Ivanova." He also introduced the technician.
"Commander." She motioned to the others. "This is Lennier, my aide. You've met Marcus." Sheridan nodded to the two. "We are only waiting for Drall and one other."
Just then Draal appeared in the middle of the room. "Ah, good! Vice Admiral Sheridan. Welcome to the Great Machine!"
Sheridan immediately noticed something. "You seem … I don't know … younger than the pictures I've seen."
"The Great Machine has returned to me the youth and vigour I enjoyed thirty years ago." Sheridan also noticed that the Minbari was much more boisterous than most Minbari were wont to be. "We have just one more coming." Draal turned toward the door and yelled out, "ZATHRUS!"
They saw a humanoid figure come in. He had pelts of some type and a strange complexion and teeth that were slightly pointed. "Zathrus has come. Zathrus has brought the stabalizers." A little under his breath the being continued. "Zathrus is making and carrying. Zathrus always carries." Those watching were taken aback. Susan, in her mind, correlated the man's behaviour to that of one of those house elves that the wizards had brought. In his inattention, he accidentally knocked the box he was carrying against the table.
Draal, irritated said loudly, "ZATHRUS!" Zathrus stopped, wide eyed. "Thank you. Sit down with the others – we have much to talk about." Zathrus did so and looked at the various devices contained within the box. He missed the slight damage to one of them because it wasn't visible.
Everyone had also sat at the table. "Admiral. I am Draal. I live at the Heart of the Great Machine. Since taking over as its caretaker, I learned that it was put into place to assist in events that had not come to be yet. And I found that soon after the events that had been anticipated by the builders were actually coming to pass." He looked around toward the larger complex. "This Great Machine allows me to see many things. The Present. The Past." He paused and said, "The Future."
Sheridan looked a bit shocked at that, as did the rest – outside of the Minbari.
"During my time familiarizing myself with the Great Machine, there was something which I observed that was fairly curious." He looked at Ivanova and said, "Tell everyone here what you know of … BabylonFour."
Susan's eyes widened. She explained the Babylon project and what had happened to the first three stations quickly. She then explained that Babylon 4 had vanished, to only reappear a couple years earlier and then it disappeared again. As she described something that Sinclair had told her, she suddenly stopped and looked at Zathrus. "It was you! You were the alien that Jeff told me about when they evacuated the station!"
Zathrus looked at her. "Zathrus does not know. This has not happened to Zathrus. It might be that Zathrus was the one you were talking about but Zathrus has not lived this yet."
Draal interrupted. "That's because I was the one who initiated the sequence to bring Babylon 4 forward – and now you are all being sent to finish the job."
Sheridan was a bit shocked. "Why?"
Draal looked at Sheridan. "When the Minbari fought the Shadows a thousand years ago, we lost our largest station which we used as a forward base. This loss led to far more destruction than would have been if it had not been destroyed. Too many Shadow vessels were hidden away in preparation for the next war – this one. Then, like now, the Shadows were well aware of the strategic advantage of such a base. That is why they attacked Babylon 5. It was only through chance that it was saved. It is unlikely that another attack, properly coordinated, will prevent the destruction of Babylon 5. Its location is too well known. Its defenses are too well known. And even with Earthforce, the Minbari, and the Great Machine, if they send enough ships, Babylon 5 cannot be defended. It will be lost. And without a forward base this war will be lost. And so I have arranged for a replacement base when it becomes necessary. Have you considered what happened to the Roanoke?"
He said tightly. "I don't know what that has to do with anything. I was there – I led that battle. The Roanoke had to be abandoned due to damage."
"What part that plays I will explain now. The Roanoke was retrieved. And although much of it was rendered inoperable, it contained many defenses: Plasma Cannons, Lasers, Pulse Cannons, and Interceptors – as well as the mines that until recently Earthforce was loath to use. And while many of its parts are unsalvageable – the parts that are salvageable are far superior to what was placed as defenses on Babylon 4. And so, with Admiral Sinclair's knowledge, we have arranged for the ship to be taken to a place that is otherwise unknown to any race. Even now, technicians from Babylon 5 are taking these parts in preparation to install them on Babylon 4. As soon as you go and retrieve the station, the efforts to install the parts will commence."
"And how in the hell are we going to do that?" he asked.
First of all, I am increasing the tachyon field in Sector 14. I created it and I can optimize it. If we sent an Omega, or even a Sharlin or Shargoti, the defenses on the station, even as out of date as they are compared to Babylon 5, would pick it up. So instead, we are sending another ship. One which we will be placing under your command. It is a full battleship – but is the smallest ship you have ever seen that is jump capable by itself. Imagine the power of a full capital ship with the size of a medium size ship. When you see it, I am certain that you will quite enjoy it."
"I'll have to take your word for it. But what happens when the station reaches the present time?"
"There are others who are preparing to take it where it can be upgraded quickly. Unlike the other stations, Babylon 4 has its own engines. It is, in all respects, a starship all on its own: A ship far larger and with more resources than anything that was not built by one of the First Ones. And, when we are done with it, it will have its own jump drive, its own armaments, and even, thanks to the Tau'ri, its own shields. It will be the necessary forward base from which this war can be won."
Sheridan was mightily impressed. And a bit awed.
"So, how will we do it?"
Draal went through a complete explanation of exactly how the station would be retrieved. It was a bold plan. And history had already recorded that parts of it would succeed. Sheridan, and everyone there, was willing to go and do the mission.
Late that night, the other Minbari ships arrived and the entire group left for the mission. Simultaneously, a transport shuttle moved into the normal lanes of traffic and left through the jump gate. Those who were spying were too busy reporting the departure of the warships to pay attention.
In short order, the shuttle arrived at the jump gate that was designated by Marcus. Upon exiting, they saw the ship waiting for them. Sheridan's eyes widened.
Delenn smirked a bit and said, "Her name is the White Star – or White Star One if you will. It is a new class of ship, built with both Minbari and Vorlon principles. It is as fast – or faster – than any ship in our combined fleets." She turned to the man who was ogling the ship. "And now she is yours to command."
Sheridan turned his head to Delenn and grinned that boyish grin. "Thank you. I will take really good care of her."
Shortly, the shuttle docked and the new command staff made their way inside. Marcus lead the tour. Finally, they arrived at the bridge. "The White Star is currently crewed by Minbari members of the religious and worker castes. They don't speak English which is why that there will always be a translator on board."
Sheridan was a bit leery. "That might make it difficult. Sometimes seconds count."
Lennier said, "The crew is currently learning English. It will not take very long – but it will take time. Until then, we will help you. We also plan on bringing in more human Rangers."
Sheridan nodded. "Okay then. I'd love to take her apart and see how she works – but we don't have time. We need to get moving." He turned toward Delenn.
Delenn spoke, "As of this date and time, I am officially turning command over to you."
"Thank you." He turned his head toward Marcus and said, "Jump to hyperspace and make for Sector 14."
Marcus turned and translated. Marcus then gathered Ivanova up and started to show her how to operate the ship.
The Whitestar quite easily made it to the proper sector. With the Goblins on Epsilon 3, the group could enter the area at the optimum time. Marcus arranged for the connection.
The Goblin waiting on Epsilon 3 looked at the screen. "According to Draal, the best time to enter the sector and make your way to the rift will be in 52 minutes. Draal is now incommunicado but he did relay that there is a Shadow scout because the change in the rift energies has been detected. The mission led by your former ship is about to start – and should provide a reason for the ship to leave."
Sheridan breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Thank you. That will make our lives easier."
The Goblin nodded. "We are happy to be of service."
Those who were going to operate outside the station changed into their EVA suits.
Just as predicted the scout received the message that there was unexpected resistance and it left the system to back up the attack which had been scheduled. Four minutes after the scout left, the White Star jumped into normal space.
"Scan for the scout."
Marcus called out, "No other ships detected!"
Sheridan looked at the rift. "There she is. What can the scanners tell us?" he asked.
Marcus and Susan conferred. Susan spoke. "According to these readings, saturation will occur in two minutes."
"Prepare to enter the rift!"
After the rift stabilized, the White Star entered the rift. There was one bit of trouble however: A tachyon beam hit Sheridan as though drawn by lightening. The stabilizer he was wearing broke off and his disappeared.
Everyone looked. Susan called out, "What happened?"
Zathrus said, "The stabilizer could have been damaged. Zathrus will try to fix!"
"But where's the Admiral?"
"Admiral should reappear – as long as we are within field."
"GET TO IT!"
Marcus asked. "What do we do? Do we abort?"
"No! We carry on the mission and hope that the Admiral reappears." Susan became very stoic. Delenn and the others looked worried.
However, as had already been recorded by history, Babylon 4 disappeared into a rift of space-time, just as it had according to the records.
"How long before we reach the time where the crew are evacuated?"
"25 minutes!" Marcus called out.
Finally, the time controls were brought online and the station stopped. The White Star was not seen as it was too small and the sensors had not been fully online. The group started moving to place the equipment needed to a more advantageous position.
Susan's presence and its importance became obvious because she had the command codes necessary to lock off access for the Babylon 4 crew to get where they were working.
Zathrus got the time stabilizer that was damaged and he tried to fix it. However, this did not work as well as needed and Zathrus had to raid one of the station's shops. He was caught by local security, which caused him to meet Sinclair. He had seen the Admiral's picture and, for just a moment, thought he was being rescued. Then he realized, "Not the one! Not the one." He explained the need for the station as a forward base.
At a certain point, Zathrus felt the time circuits come oneline and warned the crew that their time was limited. Zathrus was also trapped by a falling support, which prevented the Earthforce personnel from taking him.
Finally, the crew was gone and the station was moving again through time. Luckily, Sheridan had reappeared and it allowed Zathrus to attach his own stabilizer to Sheridan's suit. The damaged stabilizer he had finally gotten working right after he had been assited by Delenn. Sheridan's place had been taken by the technician assisted by Delenn and Lennier as the most knowledgeable remaining.
Finally, the time circuits showed that they had arrived to the local time and they, having gotten to the bridge, were able to fire up the engines and steer the massive station out of the rift.
It winked out almost immediately after they had exited.
Susan, who had remained on the bridge with the technician messaged Sheridan. "Admiral, look!"
Right in front of the large station was a Vorlon ship. "This is the White Star to Vorlon vessel. Please acknowledge."
The channel opened up and a voice they hadn't heard for a while said, "Welcome back. Our friends the Vorlons are going to open a large enough jump point and help navigate toward our destination!"
Susan popped on the line. "Marek?"
They all heard the amused voice. "Hello, Susan. Miss me?"
"What are you doing on a Vorlon ship? They don't let anyone on their ships!"
"Let's just say – I'm a special case. Keep the White Star attached to the station and prepare to jump to hyperspace. Keep a lock on our friend here and follow him."
Susan chimed in, "Admiral? You hearing this?"
"Yes, Commander. Do as he says. I assume that this is what we spoke of in the meeting."
"Acknowledged. Preparing for jump."
It was a bit ungainly and it took all of Susan's familiarity with Babylon 5's controls as well as her experience on different ships, as well as the White Star command staff coming over and helping out, but the large station was soon trailing the Vorlon ship in Hyperspace.
Marek messaged over, "We have about 5 hours until we reach our destination. I will message you when we are approaching it so that you can prepare for the jump to normal space."
"Acknowledged, Marek. Just keep us out of the gravity well."
"Not a problem. Marek Out."
Sheridan asked, "What are you getting on the sensors?"
"I have no idea where the hell we are going. We are not riding a recognized beacon."
"I hope they know what they are doing."
"You and me both, Admiral."
It took a little while, but soon the slight calibrations that were needed were done and the ride became fairly routine for a trip through hyperspace.
As promised, a few hours later the comm. system chimed in. "This is Marek to Babylon 4."
"This is Babylon 4. Go."
"We are about five minutes out. Prepare for a countdown. As soon as we hit normal space, start slowing the ship down as we don't want to go too far."
"Confirmed. Preparing to reverse engines on your mark."
They scrambled about. For most ships, this would be fairly quick. But this was huge and inertia would have to be overcome. They would take about three times longer to decelerate than an Omega. The radio sounded. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"Prepare for jump in 30 seconds." After a pause. "20 second ... 15 seconds" They saw the jump point forming. "12 … 11 …10 … 9 … 8… 7 … 6… 5 … 4 …3 … 2 … 1 … jumping! Mark!"
They immediately reversed the engines, applying the brakes. After a short time, the ship came to a relative halt and they observed where they were. The noticed the sun, which looked far different than that in the Epsilon Eridani system. It was far weaker and far cooler. It would not support life in the same way. The small planets near the sun were cooler than the planets closer to Epsilon and Sol. According to scans, there was no jump gate.
"This is Babylon 4. We've stopped. Now where in the hell are we?"
Instead of an answer over the radio, Marek appeared on the bridge with a smile. "We don't have the official name. It's one of the many dwarf stars that are not important enough for civilizations to really care about. There aren't any jump gates. However, it is not far from Babylon 5, at least compared to most systems, and it has another interesting characteristic."
"What's that?" Sheridan asked.
"Just between me and you people, it is not a common dwarf star."
Susan checked out the system. "What do you mean? It looks pretty normal."
Marek chuckled. "You know that most dwarf stars are very light on the heavier elements. Because of their small size and much smaller gravity, they often do have large deposits of things like gold, silver, quantium ore, or other heavier metals." Most nodded – they were aware. "This dwarf is different. Instead of forming as most systems did, it appears to be the cast off of a larger star which went nova sometime in the distant past. Somehow, due to the luck of the gravity pulls, this one happens to be in a place where forces stopped some of the debris and where this debris coalesced into a smaller system. This particular dwarf star system is a veritable gold mine of minerals."
Sheridan and the rest looked at him for a long moment. "I assume someone has now claimed it?"
Mared nodded, still grinning. "There is a reason why the Goblins have become much more sociable. They want to ensure that no one objects when the information eventually leaks. Legally, they are the first race to actually land in this system. No other races ever tried to and there is no life. It has been, from the time of its formation up until now, ignored. You know that most systems aren't claimed until a jump gate is installed because of the hit and miss nature of locating such a system. With no jump gate and with it falling outside of known hyperspace routes, there hasn't been a reason for anyone to find it. Which makes it a perfect place to hide our activities – the Goblins have allowed its use at no charge during this war."
"What is the official name of the system and, if there is no beacon, how can our forces find it as necessary?"
"For various reasons, they've decided to call it Terminus."
"Like from the Foundation series by Asimov?" Sheridan asked.
Delenn asked curiously, "What are you referring to?"
Sheridan replied in a friendly manner, "About 300 years ago, there were several Humans who wrote Science Fiction. And although many of the concepts they wrote didn't pan out, a few wrote social commentary using theoretical science as a backdrop. Two authors wrote a very large number of books that described something like 'future histories' spanning a very large number of books: Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. And although they were limited to the view that Humans would be the dominant or only species, their political commentary truly told a story of human nature. One of them envisioned the collapse of a Galactic Empire and the political exile of a doomsayer who predicted it before it happened. He arranged for his people to be exiled to a far distant planet called Terminus – which allowed them to be separate enough to keep the old knowledge alive despite the rising anarchy across the galaxy." He looked at Marek. "Is that right?"
"Yes. Using that name implies that, like in those books, this system is metals poor, thus requiring massively clever people to develop technology just to survive; which is a bit of misdirection. Although the Goblins who claimed this system as a mining location are very clever, this system is anything but mineral poor."
Sheridan considered that. "Kind of esoteric. But it's not my star system." Marek nodded. "Anyway, what's next?"
"If you look out, you'll see the Roanoke. Those who were already here have been deconstructing it. They are just about ready to start modifying Babylon 4: More interceptors, Laser turrets, plasma cannons, and the jump engines which will allow Babylon 4 to operate as a true interstellar ship. I suggest a name change to Babylon Prime. Because just like Station Prime off Io is the main connection the galaxy has with the Sol system Babylon Prime will be the main connection the galaxy has with the Human race as a whole."
"How long will it take?" Sheridan asked.
Marek sighed. "I don't know – but the planning has been being done carefully since this was envisioned. The major changes will be the gravity generators, shield generators, and a new class of power generation based on what is done in this universe but a bit more powerful – it will need the power to run everything. It will actually use Quantium 40 as a battery method for storing power when systems don't require the excess. I'm kind of amazed that no race has done it. You all know how much power Quantium 40 can store as needed – that's why you use it to power your jump engines."
Susan said, "That's going to need a massive amount of shielding."
"Yes. But that will be taken care of. We already had to plan for shielding for the jump engines that were more powerful than most to allow such a large ship to move into and out of hyperspace. It will just be a bit more than that to add what we need."
Delenn was actually a bit shocked. "I can't imagine how that will be put together."
Marek turned to her. "Draal helped – he has access to a greater knowledge base than most races these days." He turned back to Sheridan. "Anyway, you probably want to start getting ready to return to Babylon 5. Have fun with your new ship."
Sheridan thought about the White Star that was currently attached to the outside of the Babylon 4. "Oh, I will."