"STAR AND CIRCLE: THE SEEKER'S FIRE"
EPISODE EIGHTEEN: "SOUL SEARCHERS"
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(disclaimers and associated descriptions in overture)
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<<Envoi>>
Captain's Log, ISAS 'Shard of Night' - Supplemental.
There's another saying humans have - 'those who make mistakes are often doomed to repeat them' - a curse mankind has been unable to escape from for all its long history. But this - this was a mistake we could *not* afford to make. And now - now it's time to pay the piper...
The Sha'vei'e have sent their summons - and together with Val'na Feist's triad and G'Kael's Narns, we are making for Babylon 5 at the best speed we can manage. That isn't as fast as I would like, but we have to make allowances for the damage we suffered in our engagement with the enemy - damage which will, Nicholas assures me, be healed soon enough, however. It is... more difficult, though, to heal the injuries suffered by my Rangers during the battle. Veyshahk and his people are tending to them as I write this, while the High Council has sent a White Star with replacement crew onboard. They will be rendezvousing with us shortly...
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The lower decks - shortly thereafter.
"Those of you unfamiliar with the deck plan of this vessel would be well advised to review it once you reach your quarters." The duty Ranger quietly informed the handful of new arrivals. "We will not have time to teach you the basics once we engage the enemy..." It was then that he noticed the faint and almost mocking smile on the face of the Ranger standing at the back of the group. "...*You*! Is there something you find amusing about my words?"
"Forgive me, *sir*." the Minbari named Illithan replied, as she forced her expression back towards polite attentiveness. "My mind was elsewhere. You were saying?"
* * *
Time... unknown. Location... unspecified.
Kaitlyn didn't know how long she'd been here, only that the dark was getting to her... and the loneliness. Why had they done it? - why had they kidnapped her? She was only a kid... except...
Her eyes widened - she still didn't want to accept what it was that man, Dawson, had told her... but everything that was happening to her pointed towards an inescapable conclusion. "He was telling the truth!" she whispered, as a strange mixture of excitement and dread grew inside her. "Is that why they took me... because I'm one of these Observers?"
And then it happened. <Thunk> Kaitlyn glanced down at the floor, and put her hand to her mouth in horror as she saw a silvery-white, almost lumiescent gas coming out of vents around the perimeter of the cell. "Let me out of here!" she cried, as the level of the gas reached her knees, her waist... "Let me..."
The gas reached her mouth - and Kaitlyn coughed and then doubled over and screamed, as an agony unlike anything she'd known before, an agony that made the pain of her recently broken leg seem like a stubbed toe by comparison, filled her world.
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Interstellar Alliance Headquarters, the office of the President. 11:20 hrs, EST - Dec 5th, 2267.
"All right, John..." Westcastle asked from his position near the window, "What now?"
Sheridan looked up from his desk, met Westcastle's gaze, and nodded. "They tried to stop this from happening, I'll give them that much - but now there's only one thing we can do, only *one* response we can take. I will *not* have them disturb the fragile peace we've built for ourselves, here - as long as I stand this watch, as long as I am President of this Alliance."
The Ranger nodded. "I understand. All of the White Stars and strike cruisers close enough to help out are already heading for Babylon 5..."
"We can't let it all fall on the shoulders of the Rangers this time, William." Sheridan abruptly countered, his expresson grim. "We're going to have to bring this before the rest of the Alliance Council as soon as possible, to try and get them to pull together a strong enough fleet to take on this threat. But before we do, let's see if we can't make a few calls to hasten the process a little."
"And the first is?" William saw the expression in Sheridan's eyes, and nodded. "Of course."
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Onboard Shadow technology warship - 11:47 hrs, EST.
"So," Rahkeel asked, as Ben Zayn reclined in the captain's chair nearby and smiled his smile of purpose, "Now that the Lieutenant and his associates have succeeded in their mission, what now?"
"What now, you ask?" Ben Zayn laughed as he rose to his feet. "Now the time has come for us to set our plans in motion... to strike at our enemies, and strike *hard*! And now that we possess the resources of the Shadow base, the time of the gathering has come - the moment we have been waiting for over five years, now." Ben Zayn nodded sharply in the direction of his Z'Shailyl underling, and after a moment's hesitation, the warship translated through into normal space. "Until now, we haven't dared to bring all of our ships together in one place - but the time is past for us to hide. Observe!"
An image shivered into being then of the void outside the warship - and after a moment Rahkeel, Palakz and Aeilyn observed dark shapes moving against that emptiness... *many* dark shapes. "They can knock us down and hope that the people forget about us... but that has always been our greatest strength, hasn't it? Every time we are punished, we learn - and return all the stronger."
"And what of your recent aquisitions?" Palakz abruptly demanded. "To what use will you put the power source?"
"To *that* use, of course." Ben Zayn pointed, and after a time the three determined there was some sort of *greater* darkness at the centre of the swarm of Shadowtech vessels. "My flagship - the *Cain*... at last, it is ready."
Even Rahkeel had heard of that human legend. "In the name of the Betrayer..." he began.
"Exactly." Ben Zayn whispered, his eyes glittering with malice. "Betrayed from within and attacked from beyond - soon enough, my friends, we will have Sheridan and his Alliance on their knees, begging for mercy.
Soon enough. But before that happens, we must give them a demonstration of our abilities - of what it is we can do to them. It's time for us to choose a *target*, gentlemen. And time for *you* to keep your end of the bargain we have made."
"And once we do, what then?"
Ben Zayn's smile became, if that was possible, even chillier. "Why after that, gentlemen - the sky *is* the limit."
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Onboard 'EAS De'Molay' - Martian orbit. 12:41 hrs, EST.
"...And I want to thank you, *all* of you, for the long and hard hours you've put in working under my command - but now it's time for me to move on. Time for me..."
"Captain on deck!" McClelland suddenly bellowed, and even as Bethany turned to meet her former XO with a frown and a sharp word, the new captain of the 'De'Molay' got right to the point. "I'm sorry for the interruption, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this farewell party short. Earthforce Command has just relayed new orders for us - priority Ultraviolet. Everyone to their stations, please - we're jumping in five minutes... and as of now, the clock *is* ticking."
"Paul," Bethany began, as the room thundered with the sounds of officers departing at speed, "What the Hell's going on? Those orders aren't going to give me enough time to disembark!"
"I'm well aware of that, Beth... and brought the point up with the Joint Chiefs within a minute after receiving the tag order, as a matter of fact. Their reply was worded thusly - 'you are to proceed to Babylon 5 with Commissioner Tikopai onboard, Captain. Once you reach B5 she will be free to disembark, and *not* a moment before.'"
Telluride sighed as he saw the unspoken question in her eyes. "And no, I don't know what the Hell's going on, only that President Sheridan called our *own* President less than an hour ago, and whatever he told her was enough to make the Joint Chiefs set an entire Earthforce battlegroup in motion. As of this instant, there are ten Omega Class Destroyers, six heavy cruisers and three Warlocks, the *Foxfire*, *Mithrandir* and my own command, heading for Babylon 5."
"Son of a *bitch*." Bethany breathed, as she did the math in her head, "Paul, that's enough firepower to slag a small solar system! If the response from the other Alliance worlds is as big as ours..."
"Then something's going on that's bigger than the Plague, bigger even than the Drakh." Telluride agreed, as they jumped into the nearest transport tube. "It sure looks like we might be going to war with someone."
"Agreed." Bethany replied, her eyes narrow with thought. "The question is... who?"
There were no clear answers to that question available as Bethany and Telluride arrived on the bridge several minutes later... but an answer to a different question was. "All stations manned and ready, sir." Piesch told Telluride as he took the center seat. "Jump engines ready to go."
"Mr. Piesch, make our course for Babylon 5."
"Aye, sir!" the De'Molay's first officer confirmed, as the massive black prow of the Warlock class destroyer came about under McClelland's steady hand. "Course locked in for Euphrates primary jump beacon - engines are hot!"
"Jump!" Telluride barked.
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Time - unknown. Location... unspecified.
"What did you do to me?" Kaitlyn gasped, as the fire faded from her veins, while she did her best to struggle to her feet to face the silver haired man who had emerged out of the shadows to stand before her. "You hurt me!"
"How unfortunate - it would seem that even after all this time, some things just *never* change." the man replied, his tone a masterpiece of ice. "What, not even a little bit of gratitude?"
"For *what*?" Kaitlyn all but shrieked. "Your goons kidnapped me from my house and took me God knows where, and then you pump this place full of gas and just about kill me... and you want gratitude? Mister, just what kind of a cloud are you living on?"
"Ah. Forgive me, then, Miss Hughes... but I must admit that the procedure just past *was* a bit of an experiment. We weren't really sure if it would work - but every measurement we've just taken assures us that it has. Unfortunately there was only enough to take care of one or two people - but I and the other members of the team deemed you valuable enough to be the one who *should* be saved."
"Saved... from what?" And then Kaitlyn's eyes widened as she finally realized what it was that the man was getting at - it was impossible, it was supposed to be... "No!" she cried, "You didn't, you couldn't have - out of all the people you could have saved!..."
"We chose YOU." the silver haired man informed her, "Because you are valued - because you are needed *here*... because others have given me the moral authority to 'play God', you might say. And so I chose you as the guinea pig for our... little experiment. It might not have worked - but aren't you glad that it did?"
"You... cured me?" Kaitlyn managed.
The man smiled. "Indeed we did. And now you are indebted to us, Kaitlyn Hughes, and it is time to turn aside from your past, and embrace a better future."
"You *can't* be serious."
"I've never been more serious in my life." the silver haired man lied. "Now, there is something else I must ask you - who do you serve, and who do you trust?"
Tracie, she wanted to say, or maybe that man who'd contacted her, Nicholas Dawson had been his name - but in an instant Kaitlyn realized that saying nothing was probably the safest course of all. "I don't know."
The silver haired man smiled, and even the smile tasted of ice. "A beginning, that is... and from beginnings manifest *destinies* have been known to emerge."
Yeah, right. "If you say so. Hey!... are you going to tell me your name, or what? I can't keep calling you 'mister', you know."
"That is an acceptable enough request. My name... is Mr. Molyneux - and it would appear that we have *much* to discuss."
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Elsewhere...
"I warned you, Seeker." Galen whispered, his expression baleful as the light from his sorcerer's globe winked out. "I warned you that this day might come. Now there is no escaping from the path of sorrows you have wrought for yourself - no way out but to face that which is your *greatest* fear." The Technomage turned away, but then he paused, and said one more thing.
"This is where all roads end... in fire. Mark this day well, Anla'shok - for this is where your *innocence* ends."
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