Babylon 5 is owned by J.M. Strasinzky.
The Characters in Epsilon Squad with the exception of Lt.  Will Jansen are the
property of Mark Craig.  Please ask him to use his characters.
Macross is owned by people that are surely not me.
The Characters in Tau Squad and those of the SDF-3 are Mine, Mine, mine.  Don't
steal them.  Ask to use them.
This fic takes place after the Shadow war.  It also takes place in the year 2045.

      Shattered Dreams

          Part 1:   Unexpected visitors

          Date:     Feb. 2, 2045
          Place:    Deep Space

Captain Shane Benton had just returned to the bridge of his ship the SDF 3.  For him
it had been what his squad called "Another one of those patrols."  The patrol was
long and exhausting to those that were not used to the rigors of that kind of patrol.
It entailed his entire flight wing of VF2-SS SAP's to make a patrol circuit that, when
finished, totaled two thousand sectors of space.  It was a lot of ground to cover in a
patrol, but when they had a specific job to perform that was what it entitled.
His ship itself was an inside joke between him and several people that he called his
friends.  It was a tribute to the original ship the Macross.  He had insisted on having
an original Macross style of battleship.  It was mostly due to the fact that he liked
the original Macross and partially because that style suited his needs.  He made it a
point to tour the original before he made his request.  Fortunately, the government
agreed to his request and built the ship.

Their first assignment for him and his crew was to find the lost colony ship the
Megaroad-1.  All transmissions from it had ceased back in 2014 and it was now
with launching of the new colony fleet that the United Forces could actually look
into that mystery. In fact this was the SDF-3's maiden voyage.  His entire bridge
crew was made up only women.  Perhaps it was another joke that the top Brass
thought was funny.  Shane thought that it was due to the fact that the bridge crew of
the original Macross was all female as well.  All of the fighter pilots were just fresh
out of flight school and were automatically assigned to the ship.  Shane did not like
the idea of rookie pilots, but he knew that he would teach them to pilot properly.
Something about this whole mission did not sit right with him.  In fact he wondered
if they were punishing him with this command.
It was just seven years prior that he had refused to become part of the elite fighter
squadron on the Macross 7 colony fleet.  He was a good pilot and even his flight
instructors agreed that he was perfect for the role of leader of the VF-17 squad that
was assigned to the main colony ship.  He gave the reason as not wanting to leave
his family.  Fortunately, the captain of the fleet understood.  The captain was his
flight instructor, and they had become friends as well.  In fact, Shane had been
asked to be their youngest child's godfather.  He had graciously accepted.  Since
that day, about every year he would get pictures of her.  He saw that they had
named her Mylene.  Shane believed that it was a good name for her.
The real reason that he did not go was because of a premonition that some
catastrophe would befall the colony fleet.  It had been seven years since he bid
farewell to the crew of the Macross 7 fleet.  Shane was the youngest captain in the
whole of the United Forces.  This was another point of contention with the older
generation of ship captains.  At only twenty-eight, Shane was respected, and yet
most of the top brass wanted to revoke his pilot's license, because of his crazy
flying tactics.  He would do things to the VF-11's that would make most veteran
cringe.  The designers were also cringing every time they heard that he shot down
several enemy Mecha's.  They knew that he had earned the nickname "Harbinger"
as a reminder of his daredevil flying.  In fact sometimes they wondered if he would
not end up killing himself trying to outdo himself.
To some of the test pilots like Isamu Dyson, this was a hotshot kid that just got
lucky and was good.  Isamu believed that he was reckless and undisciplined.  Of
course Isamu was one to talk.  He still could not believe how a twenty-eight-year-
old was a full Captain.  Fortunately for Shane it was because of the intervention of
Maximilian and Miria Jenius that he was not drummed out of the service.
Thankfully, all of his accomplishments was by his own actions and not because of
his connections to them.
As he sat down in his chair, Shane wondered how his friends and his twin brother
was doing on the Macross 7 fleet.  Of all of the people that he knew the best, it was
his brother Shannon.  He was part of the VF-11 squad that was assigned to the main
ship in the fleet.  Shane's ship was outfitted with the VF-11's and the new VF-19's
that just five years ago won the competition on Eden.  He also managed to acquire
the plans for the YF-21 and had one reproduced.  This was his special fighter that he
only uses on special occasions.  He was also given the plans for several fighters that
never left the design tables.  Among them were the plans to the VF-22 Sturmvogel.
This was the production model of his plane the "Star Dancer."   Even though he did
not have a colony ship attached to his battleship, he was given the facilities to
manufacture more Valkyries, and other things that would be needed on trip like this.
For some reason today, Shane was restless.  Perhaps it was because of the report
that the 37th colony fleet was attacked by an unknown enemy.  It bothered him to
know that his feeling was right on.  This was the seventh time that a feeling like this
was accurate.  He was in particularly worried about his brother and his Goddaughter
as well.  The worry that he was feeling was mirrored on his face.
"Captain is their something the matter," The helmsman asked.
"I was just thinking about the report that I just received," Shane commented.
"What happened," She asked.
"It is just that the colony fleet was attacked by some unknown force," Shane said as
he shifted in his seat.  "In a sense I was glad that I did not go with them."
"But what about your brother," The communications officer asked.
"Denise, I am worried about him as well.  I just hope that nothing has happened to
him."
"But Captain, what about the others on the ships?"
"Danielle, trust me Lt. Kinyuu is one of the best pilots that Macross 7 has."
"But what about us?"
"We have our fighter squads as well.  Besides I don't think that we will have to
worry about what is going on with the Macross 7," Shane said with some
confidence.  "We are no where near where the problems are."
"But are you sure," Denise asked.  She was worried about the relaxed stance that
Shane had.
"Yes Denise I am sure about it," Shane said.  "Now what is our ETA at the
Megaroad 1's last known location?"
"We will have to make one more fold to get there and that will be in two hours,"
Denise said.
"Alright, begin charging the fold engines," Shane said as he shifted in his seat.  He
hated the effects of space fold.  But he knew that the instant that he finished this
mission he and his crew would have other matters to attend to.  Maybe the united
government will end up sending them on a Colonizing mission as well.  He really
did not want to do that.
"Captain, we will be able to fold in twenty minutes," Sarah the operations officer
said as she turned around.
"Understood, initiate fold as soon as we are able," Shane said.
"Roger," Sarah said and then turned around to monitor the build up in the Space
Fold Generators.  Just as the engines were about to reach the proper charge, Sarah
noticed that the engines were about ready to over heat.
"Captain we have a problem with the fold engines!" Sarah said.  Her voice was
tinged with worry.
"What is wrong," Shane asked concerned.  'It isn't as if we have been having good
luck to begin with.'
"The fold engines are about to overheat!"
Shane sighed.  He knew that he had to find out what happened to the Megaroad-1
and then go on to the next job.
"Fold anyway," Shane said.  "Trust me on this one.  We will survive."
"Alright commencing fold now," Sarah said and then pressed the button that
initiated the fold sequence.
The whole entire ship started to shake and fade in and out of normal space.  Shane
was gripping the arms of his chair and singing loudly to stave off the effect that
Space folds had on him.  Half way through the fold the entire ship lurched and
everyone was thrown from their stations and on to the decking.  All hands on the
bridge were knocked out.
                              ******
               Date:          September 1, 2261
          Place:    Sector 14

"Tau Leader to all Star Furies and Thunderbolts, we got word of something strange
floating out in this area of space," Lt.  Commander Allishar Morgan said as he
brought his Thunderbolt up next to his wing man.  "Keep a sharp eye out for
anything thing strange. And I mean strange.  I don't care even if it is a Teddy Bear
with the words Babbearlon 5 on it.  I want to know about it."
Allishar could hear the resounding snickers from the rest of Epsilon Squad and of
Tau Squad at the mention of that bear.  He had only seen it once and that was out
during the patrol where the now deceased Lt.  Keffer found it.  To be quite honest
he found that bear quite cute.  He did not understand why Captain Sheridan said that
they were a banned item.  But he was the captain and he was one not to argue with
the captain.  Something about this patrol made his skin crawl.  Who would not be
nervous to go out to that sector of space.  He sure was nervous.  All Allishar wanted
to do was finish this patrol and get some well deserved sleep.  He had heard that the
sector that he was in was home to many a strange event.
"Tau Leader this is Epsilon 14," The pilot said, snapping him out of his musings and
nearly scaring him in the process.
"What is it Jansen," Allishar asked.  He knew that Starfury pilot personally.  They
had served together on the Destroyer Damocles back in 2255 up until they were
transferred to Babylon 5 in 2260.  Fortunately they were in different squads and that
was fine by Allishar.  The man's name was Will Jansen.  He was only a Lt in Earth
force, and he was a capable pilot.  However, he had a bad habit of disobeying
orders from time to time.
"I was wondering Lt.  Commander, what we are supposed to do if we find anything
out here," Jansen said.
"Well we are supposed to report it to C&C and they will advise us," Allishar said
and closed down communications with him.
'Geez why in the world would he have to ask that stupid of a question,' Allishar
thought disgustedly.  'I hope that Jesa talks to him about that.  I mean Jesa is after
all in command of Epsilon Squad.'
"Alright let's make one more sweep of the sector and then let's head back to the
barn," Allishar said as he and his wing man flew off to scan their portion of Sector
14.  Finding nothing Allishar and the rest of the Star Furies started  the trip back to
Babylon 5.  If they had waited several minutes longer, they would have been
witness to a ship 3/4 of a mile in length topple end over end out of a rip in space.
                              ******
Shane woke up slowly.  His head was starting to hurt from being slammed on the
unforgiving metal decking.  Slowly getting to his feet, Shane started to see where he
was.  It was still in space that was a good thing.  He had heard the stories of
malfunctioning fold generators dropping ships within the atmosphere of a planet.
That was not at all a good thing to have happen.  As he was moving around he could
see that the rest of the bridge crew was also starting to wake up.
"Is everyone alright," Shane asked.
"Fine as anyone can be," Sarah said as she got up off the ground.
"I will live if that counts for much," Denise said.
"Same here," Danielle said as she slowly got up.
The rest of the people on the bridge also gave affirmatives that they were alright.
"Give me a status report," Shane said as he walked to the front of the bridge. 'Not
good at all.  The ship has a malfunctioning fold system.  Can anything else go
wrong?'
"Well we have minimal power all across the ship.  Life support is operating at half
of what it should be," Sarah said.  "And Captain, our fold engines are gone."
"What?!" Shane asked in surprise.  To say that he was upset was almost pointless.
In this instance he was a bit peeved and he did not let it show.  'On cue the fold
drive is now missing.  Wonderful.'  "We can't fold?"
"No we can't and it seems that where ever we are, we are stuck," Danielle said.
"Then we have a problem then," Shane said as he sat back down.  "Do we have
enough power to get underway?"
"No we do not," Denise said.  "Plus we don't have sensors operational yet."
Shane sighed heavily.  He was not at all happy that they were sitting dead in space
with only life support working and that was about it.
'Perhaps this is the curse of all Ships that are designated Macross,' Shane thought
acidly.  'It has to be.  There is just no other explanation for it.'
"Alright, here is the drill," Shane said as he straightened in his chair.  "Send out a
distress call in all known languages.  Then, scramble the fighter squads.  I also want
the 'Star Dancer' prepped as well."
"But the launch systems are also off line," Danielle said.
"Have the Spartan crews start with the arming process on the Valkyrie squads,"
Shane said as he was walking off the bridge.  "Tell them that I want my typical
armament on the 'Star Dancer.'"
"Your usual armament," Danielle asked.  She could not believe that Shane was
insane enough to use Reflex warheads when the United forces said that they were
prohibited.
"Yes I will want that.  Tell Ruby, Sapphire, and Amethyst Squads that we are to
only act as our eyes and ears.  Also Inform Red, Copper, Gold, and Blue Squads to
patrol a four sector range around the ship.  I don't want to be surprised, " Shane
said as he walked out.  He forgot that the door frame was low and he smacked his
head into the top of the door frame.
Swearing softly, Shane walked off to get suited up.
As the giggles died down on the bridge the communications officer started to send
the distress call.
"When do you think that he will notice that we are in love with him," Sarah said to
Danielle.
"I don't really know, but I think that he has more on his mind than a romance,"
Danielle said.  She was a realist when it came to dealing with Shane.  She knew that
he was a private person and that was the thing about him that she liked.  In fact she
wanted to tell him how she felt, but she knew that it was against protocol that
officers have a romantic relationship.  Plus when her own sister Sarah also was in
love with him as well, she knew that it would be a long hard fight to win his love.
A few minutes later the Destroid crews reported that the armament of the Valkyrie
were complete.  As soon as the Valkyries were ready all of the Squads launched.
As soon as the last of the Valkyries launched, one more Valkyrie rolled into
position.  This one was crimson red trimmed with silver.  The instant the last of the
missiles  were loaded the Valkyrie hovered above the deck and then a pair of legs
and arms unfolded from the bottom of the plane and it now looked like a bird of
prey getting ready to leap from a branch.  This thing then hovered across the deck
and out of the launch bay.  Everything was going smoothly.  Or so they thought.
                              ******
Some three hours away on a floating space station a woman was on duty.  She had
long brown hair that was neatly pulled up.  Her black uniform was also neat and
clean.  It seemed to be a peaceful day.  Well it was peaceful.
"Commander we are receiving a distress call that is on all channels," Lt.  Asa
Devers said.
"Where is it coming from," The commander asked.
"Sector 14," Asa said.
"Wonderful," The commander sighed.  "What is going on?  Babylon 4 making a
return trip or something?"
"Epsilon and Tau Squads are out in that area.  Should we have them investigate?"
"Yes I will tell them myself," She muttered.  'Lt.  Commander Marason and Lt.
Commander Morgan are going to hate this I just know it.'
"Babylon control to Tau and Epsilon Squads," The commander said.
"Tau Leader here," Allishar said.
"We just received a distress call from Sector 14.  I want you to go investigate it and
see what is going on."
"Will do Commander," Jesa replied.
"That is a roger Commander," Allishar said with a bit of amusement in his voice.
"Understood, Babylon Control out."
As soon as everything was settled, the commander left the main control room and
headed out.  Halfway down the hall she was met by a man in a similar uniform.
"Ah Captain. I thought that you should know that we received a distress call about a
few minutes ago.  It was from Sector 14."
"Sector 14," The captain said.  "Susan are you sure?"
"As sure as I'll ever be," Susan said.  "I have sent Tau and Epsilon Squads back to
investigate the source of the signal.  We should know something with in the next
half hour."
"Well I will let you know as soon as they report in," the Captain said.
"Thank you Captain," Susan said and then stepped into the transport tube.
                              ******
As soon as Allishar closed down his communications channel, he stated to swear.
He knew that he did not find anything in that sector before and now that something
had popped in, drove him mad.  In fact he wondered if this was her way of telling
him to look harder.
'This is just her way of getting me out of her hair,' Allishar thought acidly.  'If
Commander Ivanova thinks for one minute that I will sit still on this then she is
sorely mistaken.  What does she think I am?  A total idiot?'
Flipping his Thunderbolt over on its axis 180 degrees, Allishar started to head back
in the direction that he just came from.
"Tau Leader to Tau and Epsilon Squad, we have been ordered to investigate the
distress call," Allishar said hiding the sour tone to his voice.
"This is Epsilon Leader, we're right behind you," Jesa said.
"Understood Tau Leader," came the reply from the rest of the squad as they fell into
place behind him.  A few minutes later all of Epsilon Squad fell into place as well.
Allishar was mad and it showed.  In fact as the entire squad flew back, Allishar was
quiet.  He did not say much to anyone.
The rest of the squad was tense.  Half of them wondered what was going on and the
other half was trying to figure out what was going on in their leader's mind.
Nobody really knew what goes through the mind of a squad leader with the
exception that person.  Most of Tau Squad knew better than to talk to Allishar when
he would only give them clipped answers as he did.  They came to a conclusion that
it was going to be a long flight.
                              ******
Shane had just launched when he saw through the Valkyrie's sensors a rip in space
and a ship appear out of it.  It was configuration unlike anything that he had ever
seen before.  It was round and looked as if it had several fighter launch ports.
"Star Dancer to Ruby Leader," Shane said.
"Ruby Leader here," The pilot said.
"Alec, I want you to investigate the ship that just appeared out of Fold Space,"
Shane said.
"Will do Captain," Alec said and then turned his Valkyrie toward the new ship.
"Oh Alec, have Sapphire squad back you up," Shane said.
"I was just asking them to do just that," Alec said.
Smirking, Shane continued to keep his patrol around the ship.  He wondered if the
ship that arrived was there to answer his distress call.
He got his answer soon enough when he saw several triangular shapes launch out of
the front of the ship.  As he flew by he saw that they were starting to engage the
squads and make attack runs on the ship.
"I don't think so," Shane snarled.  "I worked to hard to get that ship and its crew
and I don't intend to lose any of them."
Shane then threw his plane into full power and barreled off after the offending ships.
He could see that the other squads were dealing with the main force and he was
playing pick off on those that were getting too close to the ship.  When the fighters
were all destroyed all that was left was the ship that launched the fighters.  Shane
was of the opinion to take it out himself.
"Star Dancer to unidentified ship, you have exactly fifteen seconds to either
surrender or leave," Shane said.  "I will have no qualms about destroying you."
Shane saw that the ship targeted several of his fighters and destroyed them.  Of
those that were lost, he lost all of Sapphire and half of Amethyst Squads.
"That is it!!" Shane snarled.  "Unidentified ship you have shown me your true
intentions, you have forfeited any chances at surrender."
Shane armed the four missiles that were on the wings of his ship.  As soon as he got
a good lock, Shane fired all four missiles at the ship.  It appeared that they could not
lock on to the projectiles which was their biggest mistake.  As all four impacted the
ship went critical and was totally destroyed.  As soon as he was able he transformed
his Valkyrie into its humanoid configuration.  Shane allowed himself one moment of
grief as he mourned the loss of all of those good brave pilots.
"Your lives were not lost in vain my friends," Shane said as he moved his Valkyrie
into a form that was praying.
                              ******
Allishar and the rest of the Star Furies and Thunder Bolts arrived as the Raider's
ship came out of the jump point.  He really did not hate them but he would not
tolerate them attacking what appeared to be a helpless ship.  Allishar knew about
Jesa's hatred for raiders.  In fact Allishar remembered hearing Lt. Rico Vazquez tell
his wing man about the campaign that he did against the Raiders back in 2257.
Allishar never quite knew why he hated them.  He was smart enough to decide that
if Jesa wanted to tell him then he would in his own fashion and when he was ready
to talk to him.  He did not know him as well as he liked to, but he did manage to
talk to him on a  few occasions.  The first was right after his posting to Babylon 5.
The main part of what they discussed was the procedures that was followed.  Jesa
also warned him about the Commander of Zeta Squad that liked to commandeer
pilots out of other Squads.   Allishar's quarters were in Blue 21 Suite 49.  The
second time was right after City 7 and its crew had made an appearance.
That was an interesting bit unto itself.  He had been one of the half dozen pilots or
so that was attack by the forces that attacked the City 7.  It was only through the use
of Music and in particularly the music of Fire Bomber, that he was able to recover.
Since that day, he has always kept the collection of CD's that he bought from the
music store on the other ship and a means to play them as well.  He was half
tempted to find a way to put a portable player in his Thunderbolt.  He suspected that
it was against station policy to have music in his fighter.  Allishar figured that he
would have to read the Regulations and find out for himself.  The third time that
they talked was last month, when they had to escort the Guardian Senshi around to
find their missing princesses.  As it turned out five of the nine Guardians had
managed to raid his and Jesa's supply on soda.  They then started to terrorize all of
Epsilon Squad, Devon, and Allyson.
Both squads saw the fighters that were around the ship move into attack formation.
From their vantage points they could see that those fighters destroyed the Raiders
fighters with ease.  In fact Jesa thought that the red fighter looked vaguely familiar.
"Not another one," Jesa commented dryly.  "I thought that they left last year."
"Maybe Basara wanted to take some piloting lessons from you," Lt. Laura D'Amico
commented.
"Yeah right," Jesa said with a laugh.
Rico had to suppress a laugh at that remark.  He knew that only Laura could get
away with a remark like that.
"Not bad," Tau 12, Kevin Danvers said.  "I would venture to say that the Crimson
fighter is their leader?"
"That is possible," Allishar said.  He saw that within several minutes after the fight
began it ended with all of the raider ships destroyed.  The only thing that was left
was the main ship.
Allishar then heard over his communications channel, "Star Dancer to unidentified
ship, you have exactly fifteen seconds to either surrender or leave, I will have no
qualms about destroying you."
"What is he waiting for,"Jesa commented.  "Why is he giving them time to
surrender?"
"Well Epsilon Leader, perhaps he doesn't hate them as much as you do," Evan
Michaels, Tau 14 said.  He had enough ire in his voice to sound as if he wanted to
kill.
Jesa snorted in contempt.  "Tau 14 I would suggest that you keep your observations
to yourself from now on."
"Yes sir," Evan said.
To everyone's amazement they saw the main ship open fire on the squads of planes.
When the guns stopped, they could see that of the sixty-three fighters that were out,
one full fighter wing was destroyed and another eleven were also destroyed.
"Geez," Rico said in surprise.  "I didn't think that those ships were that armed."
"Apparently they are," Allishar said.
They saw the Crimson fighter start flying toward the main ship.  As the guns started
to fire at him the fighter started to dodge and sway in such a way that it looked as if
someone was controlling it with their mind.
"What's he doing," Will Jansen commented.  "Is he suicidal?"
"I don't think so," Tau 6, Ryooko Stingray said.  "I think he intends on destroying
that ship himself."
"He is suicidal," Rico said.
What they saw next amazed all of them, the fighter launched four missiles at the
ship and as soon as they impacted it exploded.  The ship's exploding fireball was
bright enough to be seen through out that sector of space.
"What in the heck was he using," Evan commented.
"I don't know and I sure as heck don't want to be on the receiving end of one of
those either," Tau 15, Erica Andrew said.
"Good point," Ryooko said.
All of the remaining pilots saw the crimson plane change shapes and then it moved
in such a way that it looked as if it was praying.  It then stopped and pulled out a
gun from a opening on his leg.  The humanoid then started to fly around looking for
more ships.
"Jesa this is Allishar," Allishar said.  "Do you think that we should approach them?"
"Well anyone that hates raiders shouldn't be too bad," Jesa said.  "I think that we
should approach, but cautiously."
"Roger Epsilon Leader," The rest of Jesa's squad said and started to move forward
slowly.
"Tau Squad, let's follow them," Allishar said as he edged his Thunderbolt forward.
He saw the crimson humanoid stop and level the gun at them.
"Star Dancer to unidentified ships, are you friendly or not," The voice on the
communications channel asked.
"Star Dancer, this is Tau Leader," Allishar said.  "We are here to render assistance
to you and your people."
The plane lowered the gun and allowed them to approach.  As the star furies and the
thunderbolts flew by the ship they saw that it was huge.
"Geez," Tau 8, Elsa Davenport said in surprise.  "That looks a tad bit familiar."
"How," Allishar said.  "The only other ship that is even remotely like this one was
the ship that was attached to City 7 while it was here."
"I am not exactly for certain, but it just does," Elsa said.
"Well what ever," Allishar said.  "Let's see if we can give them some assistance."
"Star Dancer, to Tau leader.  Our ship has zip for power and our life support system
could go at any time.  Could you tow us to where you are stationed to give us a
place so we can begin repairs?"
"Tau Leader to Star Dancer, let me confirm it with our commander," Allishar said.
"Understand Tau Leader," the Star Dancer pilot said.
"Tau Leader to C&C," Allishar said.
"C&C, go," The person on the other end said.
"Captain, we have a ship that is floating almost dead in space here," Allishar said.
"Requesting further advice."
"Tau Leader, I want you and Epsilon leader to give any assistance that would be
appropriate," The captain said.
"They are requesting that we tow them to the station," Allishar said.
"Lt.  Commander, it is your call on this," The captain said.  "I will support whatever
decision that you make."
"Roger that Captain," Allishar said.
"This is Epsilon Leader," Jesa said.  "That's a roger."
"Babylon control out," The captain said and closed the link.
"Star Dancer, this is Tau Leader," Allishar said.  "The captain said that we can tow
you to the station."
"Copy that Tau Leader," Star Dancer said.  "Ruby Squad, the rest Amethyst Squad,
Red, Copper, Gold, Blue, and myself will fly escort for you.  It is the least that we
can do for you."
"Roger that Star Dancer," Jesa said.  "Do you have a name that we can call you?"
"I am so sorry.  I am Captain Shane Benton of the SDF-3," Shane said.
"Pleasure to meet you Captain Benton," Jesa said.  "I am Lt Commander Jesa
Marason.  Tau Leader is Lt.  Commander Allishar Morgan."
"Ah it is a pleasure to meet you both," Shane said.
All of the Star Furies and Thunderbolts latched on to the ship and started to tow it
toward their station.  The remains of Amethyst Squad, all of Ruby Squad, plus the
other four squads fell into formation around the fighters that were towing the ship.
Shane himself was flying among all of the fighters keeping watch for anything that
might sneak up on them.  He had been surprised once before and well it was quite
annoying.  Shane was hoping that the raiders would have taken the hint and leave
them alone.  They could only hope.
"Captain do you have any idea where we are taking you," Allishar asked.
"I was hoping that you could tell me about it in flight," Shane said his voice
sounding a bit strained.
"Well we are taking you to the station known as Babylon 5," Allishar said.  "Don't
worry we will not turn you in."
"Why would you turn us in?"
"I think what Allishar is trying to say is Babylon 5 broke away from Earth back in
April of 2260," Jesa said.
"So you have broken away from Earth?  Why?"
"It was because of President Clark," Rico said.  "He declared Martial law on the
Colonies, Mars, and tried to have B5 do the same."
"Ah I see," Shane said.  "So I don't have to worry about Earth battleships showing
up on your doorstep?"
"No, Ambassador Delenn has put several Mimbari Cruisers in orbit around the
station," Taven O'Shane, Tau two said.  "It was luck that they showed up when
they did or we would have been toasted."
"Ah now I think I understand what we are dealing with," Shane commented dryly.
"So how long before we get to Babylon 5?"
"About three hours," Jesa said.
"Ah I see," Shane said.  "Alec take the point I have to change planes I am starting
to get a massive migraine."
"What can't handle the pressure of long flights," Allishar asked.
"Lt. Commander, I would advise you to hold your tongue until you understand what
I am flying," Shane snarled.
"Captain, it is only a few hours till we reach the station," Tau 3, Terry Morgan said.
"Do you think that you could hold on until then?"
"I will try," Shane said as he blocked the pain and continued to focus on keeping the
plane moving.
Three hours later the two squads towed the crippled ship into a spot right next to the
station.  It was lined up such as to put it's main gun in the optimum firing position.
The remaining fighters that were assigned to the Ship landed on the ship.  Shane,
wanted to meet with the Captain as soon as possible.  He sent a communication to
his ship to have his executive officer take a shuttle over and then they would meet
with the Captain as soon as possible.
                              ******
Shane could barely climb out of his plane because his head was pounding so bad.
He could swear that the systems were not calibrated properly for him.  He was
going to have to yell at the person that was in charge of maintaining his fighter.  In
fact he fell out of the cockpit and landed hard on the deck of Bay 14.  His head
swam with pain as he tried to rise to his feet.  He could just make out two people
rushing to him before he blacked out.
Shane woke up in what looked like a hospital.  He could see a doctor hovering over
him.
"Ah I see that you are awake," The doctor said.  "I am Doctor Franklin, care to tell
me what happened that caused you to black out like you did?"
"BDI and BCS started to fritz out on me," Shane said as he tried to sit up.
"Easy now, you also took a nasty fall as well," Franklin said.
"I have had worse," Shane said.
"You have?"
"Yeah I fell out of my Gerwalk once.  Broke my arm in seven places.  That hurt."
"I bet it did.  I noticed that your cerebral activity is higher than normal for a person
of your age.  Any idea why?"
"Nope."
"I would like to run a test that will determine if you are either a Telepath or an
Esper.  Now it won't hurt but it may make you a bit dizzy."
"I suppose, can't be any worse than the day that I have already had."
Shane just laid on the table while the doctor ran the test.  He could tell that he had
just made a major idiot out of himself and he hated that feeling.  He would have to
remedy that situation as soon as possible.  Several hours later the Doctor Franklin
turned around with a very confused look on his face.
"Alright what am I?  A Telepath or an Esper?"
"This is odd, you rate at a P-14 and have an Esper rating of E-7.  I have never seen
anything like this."
"And this is a good thing?"
"Well let me ask you this can you hear other peoples thoughts?"
"Never tried to though."
"Ah I see.  Well our resident telepath could work with you to test your limits."
"Thanks but no thanks.  I figure that if I could hear others thoughts then I would,
and would deal with that on my own.  The only thing that I have noticed was the
fact that I get these feelings every now and again like I know that something is
going to happen and I am more often then not right."
"Precognition?  There was only one Esper that was ever recorded with that ability
and she died in first few months of the Earth Mimbari war.  It was said that she saw
the whole war and their surrender.  Yet she died on the ship that encountered them."
"Well Doctor if I am alright then may I go?"
"I don't see why not Shane.  You wouldn't be related to a Shaelynn Benton the
fourth would you?"
"Nope don't think so."
With that Shane walked out of the med lab and into the halls.  He had no idea where
he was going.  In fact he had to ask a passer by where the Captain was.  He was
directed to the nearest officer that was in the hall.  That officer was none other than
the Security Chief Zack Allen.  He was able to guide him to the room where he was
supposed to be.
                              ******
Jesa and Allishar waited outside of Med Lab.  They were concerned about the status
of the pilot that they found on the floor of the docking bay.
"What do you think could have caused him to collapse like that," Allishar asked
Jesa.
"Don't really know, but I thought that I heard him say something about having a
headache or something like that," Jesa said.  "Say do you have any idea what was
up with Will?"
"No Idea except that he needs to learn to ask questions of you.  I mean come on he
is in your Squad for the love of little green apples," Allishar said.  He was almost
yelling.
"I know and I will have to talk to him about it," Jesa sighed.  "How did he get
through flight school with that kind of attitude?"
"Beats me.  He is a decent pilot.  Although I tend to wonder myself about him."
"Still what about Captain Benton?"
"I hope that he is alright."
Several hours later they saw Shane walk out of the Med Lab and wander down the
hall.  Shrugging, Allishar walked back to the squad room to pull off his flight suit
and take nice long shower and get some rest. While he was pulling out of his flight
suit he could see the other members of his squad doing the same.  He could see that
there were members of various squads pulling on their flight suits to go out on
patrol.
"Man I can't believe that Commander Barton is pulling this on us," one of the pilots
said.
"Tau 3 you are up for this patrol as well," Zeta leader said.
"But Commander I just got back from an extended patrol," Terry said.
"That is none of my concern, you are part of this Patrol," Zeta Leader said.
Allishar was now extremely steamed.  How dare Commander Barton pull a stunt
like this after they just got back from a particularly trying patrol out in Sector 14.
That was the sector of space that was called the "Bermuda Triangle of Space." This
was the last straw.  He was not going to stand for this.  Storming out of the squad
room, Allishar punched the call button on his link.
"Lt Commander Morgan, to Commander Ivanova," Allishar said.
"Ivanova, Go," Ivanova said.
"Commander I need to talk to you in person," Allishar said.
"You have five minutes."
"Fine I will see you in two minutes."
With that Allishar closed the link and strode down the corridors to meet with
Ivanova.
                              ******
Commander Susan Ivanova was waiting in her office to talk to a very irate Lt.
Commander Allishar Morgan.  She hoped that he was not going to rant and rave at
her.  Right now she did not need it.  She was due to meet with Captain Sheridan in
twenty minutes.  It was mostly due to the visitor that popped out of hyper space in
Sector 14.  She was hoping that this was not another gift of the Vorlons that was
about to be dumped on their doorstep.
'Maybe he's upset about the patrol taking longer than usual,' She thought dryly.
The she saw Allishar's face as he entered her office.  It was a mask of irritation and
frustration all put into one form.  In fact the way that he walked into her office
showed that he was mad.
"Now Lt Commander what can I do for you," Commander Ivanova asked.  She
braced for him to yell at her.
"It is about that, that Commander Barton," Allishar fumed.  "He is up to his usual
tricks and to be quite honest I am getting fed up with it."
'Or not,' She amended when she heard what he was griping about.  She had to give
him credit though.  Even though he was mad, Allishar did not once loose his cool.
"I see.  Lt.  Commander, I have tried to talk to him, but he either doesn't want to
listen to me or will not listen to me.  Believe me I have tried to talk to him when Lt.
Commander Marason complained about this same problem last year.  Now I suggest
you return to your quarters and take a nice hot shower to cool yourself off.  Believe
me you need it."
"Thank you Commander," Allishar said as he walked out of the room.
She had to breathe a sigh of relief.  Allishar was hot tempered but he never lost it
that often.  Perhaps that was one of the reason that he was one of the better pilots
that they had.  Composing herself for the meeting, Commander Ivanova walked out
of the office and down the hall toward the Captain's.
                              ******
Allishar stepped into the transport tube.  He was now tempted to go straight to the
captain himself about this.  This was the last time that he would stand for his pilots
to be Shanghaied on another patrol after they got back from one.  He figured that if
Captain Sheridan did not do something about it then he would deal with it in his
own way.
Allishar stopped by his friend Taven's Quarters on Blue 7 to talk to him about some
things that were bothering him.  One in particular was in regards to his wing man.
Tau 7 Allyson Torren.  He found out recently through his close friend Devon
Maddison, Tau 5 that she was in love with him.  Even though they were really close
and were inseparable as a team, Allishar could not talk to Devon about this.  He felt
that he needed an objective opinion.  Since April of 2260, Allishar never really
thought about a relationship with anyone.  In fact his elder sister that was stationed
aboard the Roanoke was about to introduce him to her roommate before all of the
fighting broke out.  She had been one of the casualties of the battle.  Since that day
his feelings came second to his duty.
The one thing that he did find solace in was the one copy of the Book of G'Quan
that the former Narn Ambassador G'kar gave to him as a gift.  He saw it a kind of
challenge to read the Narn language so he could understand what he was reading.
He could read about half of it and only understood about one forth of that.
As he was about to reach Taven's door, he saw that Lt.  Will Jansen came around
the corner.  It seemed that he wanted to take issue with what he said to him.
"Ah Lt.  Commander, I would like to speak to you," Will said.
"Not at this moment Jansen I am a trifle bit busy," Allishar said.
"It won't take but a minute of your time," Will said.
Sighing, Allishar stopped to talk to him.
"Alright what do you want," Allishar said trying to keep his voice from showing the
anger that he was feeling.
"I want to know why in the world you would not give me a straight answer while
we were out on patrol," Jansen said.
"Because it was not my place to tell you what your Squad leader is supposed to.  Lt.
Commander Marason is your superior officer and I believe that you should have
asked him and not me."
"Why should I have asked him?"
"Because he is your commanding officer that's why.  It was rude and impolite of
you to ask me that."
"That is what you think and this is what I think.  I think that you should have never
been chosen for such an important mission such as that."
"And I think that you are way out of line mister," Allishar said this time his voice
was getting louder.  How dare he do this.  In fact Allishar was of the opinion to
knock him down a few pegs.  "You have no right to question me or the reasons that
I was chosen for this mission.  Listen to me and listen good, just be glad that I did
not volunteer you for Zeta Squad's patrol after we got back.  I am sure that
Commander Barton would have loved to used you as well."
"You wouldn't dare," Will said.
"Care to test that theory," Allishar said.
                              ******
Jesa had just sat down to eat a well deserved meal with his two closet friends when
he heard the sounds of two people yelling just outside his room.  He wondered just
what in the world was going on.  Looking and Laura and Rico,  they just shrugged.
Putting his fork down, Jesa walked out into the corridor and found that the two that
were arguing were Allishar and Will Jansen.  Jesa had to sigh, because he knew that
Will had lapsed again.  He wondered what needed to be done to keep him in line.
He had thought about taking him off active flight status for at least a month, but he
knew that he could not afford to that.
"Will, my quarters now," Jesa said putting all of his authority in to that command.
Will stopped in mid spate.  He recognized the voice of his commanding officer.
"Yes sir," Will said and then proceeded to walk back to Jesa's quarters.
"I am sorry Allishar," Jesa said.  "I thought that he wasn't going to do that again."
"I know Jesa," Allishar said.
"Don't let him bother you, he will be punished as I see fit," Jesa said as he turned
around and walked back to his quarters to discipline Will Jansen.
Allishar then pressed the call button on his friend's quarters.  When Taven answered
the door he saw that Taven was not in one of his better moods.
"Taven, what happened to you?  You look like hell," Allishar said.
"Ah, it's nothing, I was just taking a nap," Taven said.
"Well if I could talk to you about Allyson?"
"What about her?"
"I heard that she was falling in love with me."
"Why?  Doesn't she know that you are not much into relationships?"
"Yeah she knows and I don't think that she cares."
"You should let her down gently."
"I know, but the she would be devastated."
"Allishar, you haven't had many relationships have you?"
"What do you think?"
"Ah that's right, your sister Megan was going to introduce you to her roommate
Jessica in April."
"Exactly, and now you see what my trouble is."
"Well Allishar, be kind to her and talk to her."
"So Taven what do you think about this new visitor that showed up?"
"Well as long as he doesn't turn out to be either an Esper or from Sector 1015."
"What is wrong with Espers?"
"Nothing is wrong with Espers.  But with the problems that came with that Esper
that showed up in July of this year, I fear that if he is an Esper then we will have the
Psi Corp back here breathing down our necks."
"Still give him a chance, I mean come on, wait and see what he is like."
"I will."
"Well listen Taven get some sleep we have to be on patrol tomorrow.  I surely don't
want you falling asleep on me during our patrol."
"I will and thank you."
As soon as he left Taven's room, Allishar quickly walked to the Transport tube to
go to his quarters.
                              ******
When Jesa returned to his quarters he had already decided what he was going to do
to Will Jansen.  What he did this time was not going to be forgotten or taken lightly
this time.
'That was just down right insubordination,' Jesa thought.  'I don't know how
Allishar would have handled it, but I think that he needs time to think.'
As he opened the door to his quarters, he saw that Rico and Laura were on the way
out.  They knew what was about to happen and did not want to hear what was going
to be said.  They had a general idea, but did not want to stick around to hear it.
As soon as the door closed Jesa walked to his desk and sat down.
"Mr. Jansen, you're having an interesting day, I see."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, I hope so because it's going to get even more interesting."
"I don't think that I follow you sir."
"Lt.  Jansen, just what in the world possessed you to say what you did," Jesa asked
calmly.
"Sir?"
"Why were you questioning Lt.  Commander Morgan's leadership?
"I did not like the fact that he was chosen to lead that patrol," Will said.
"That is not your business to judge his capabilities as a leader," Jesa said trying to
keep his cool.  He mentally admitted to himself that this was the most stubborn
person that he had ever met in his lifetime.  Well there was Garabaldi, but in this
instance he did not count.  "In the future, I suggest that you keep those kind of
remarks to yourself."
"Yes sir," Will said.  He still had some fight left in him.
"I am not finished by a long shot here.  I believe that you should apologize to him
and his entire squad for what you did.  And," Jesa let that hang for nearly a whole
five minutes before he continued.  "And that will be done after you have had some
time to think about what you have done.  As of right now, you are off active flight
status and will spend the next two weeks in the brig to think about it.  Afterwards
you will be restricted to your quarters."
"But," Will asked.
"I am sorry but I am not going to stand for this," Jesa said as he pressed the call
button on his link.  "Marason to security, I need to have two guards take Mr.  Will
Jansen to the brig."
"Understood and I will send some right up your way," The voice said.
Five minutes later two security officers arrived at Jesa's quarters and escorted Will
Jansen off to the brig.
                              ******
Elsewhere on the station Captain John Sheridan waited for the visitors to arrive so
they could begin this important talk.  He was eager to talk to them.  He remembered
when that Vorlon Artifact appeared just after the Shadow War.  This was another
opportunity that he was not going to pass up.  As Ambassador Delenn said "You get
this light in your eyes that says mine, mine, mine."  In this case that was not true.
This new ship, if he could actually call it that, was not his at all.  He saw Ivanova
walk in the office.  She looked as if she had been through a trying time.
"Something happen Commander," Sheridan asked.
"Commander Barton, just pulled a member of Tau Squad for the current patrol and
Lt.  Commander Morgan made a stink about it to me," Ivanova said.
Sheridan sighed.  This was the second complaint that he had heard about in the last
year.  What exactly was he doing that was setting off the Squad leaders so much?
He thought that it was over with after what he caught wind of back in 2260.
Apparently not as it seemed that he was back to his old trick again.
"Commander, have you talked to Zeta leader at all," Sheridan asked.
"I have tried and it doesn't seem to work.  He is bull headed as they come," Ivanova
said.  "But we have this new guest that was just dropped in our laps and let's make
his first impression a good one."
                              ******
Shane waited for Danielle to arrive before he went to see the Captain.  The instant
that she arrived they were escorted, by Zack Allen to the Captain's office.
'I don't know what to make of him,' Shane heard in his mind.  'Maybe he is a good
guy.  Hell for all I know he could be a plant by President Clark.'
As he looked around for the source of that voice he noticed that the voice was from
Zack's mind.  Shane concentrated and managed to shut out all of the static that his
brain was receiving.  Shane saw that Danielle had moved up beside him and was
walking rather close to him.  He could tell that she was wearing a fruit scented
perfume.  The aroma from that was making his head swim with images that he really
did not want to think about at this current time.  Or for that matter at all.  When they
arrived in the office, Shane saw a man that was in his mid-thirties wearing a similar
uniform that Zack was wearing.  Also he saw that there was a woman that appeared
to be in her late twenties to early thirties.  She too was wearing a black uniform as
well.
"I am Captain Sheridan, I am in charge of Babylon 5," the man said.  "This is my
second in command Commander Ivanova."
"Captain, Commander," Shane said nodding to each in turn.  "I am Captain Shane
Benton, and this is my Exec., Commander Danielle Masters."
"So Captain what can we do for you," Sheridan asked getting straight to the point.
"Captain Sheridan, please.  I am not one to stand on ceremony.  Please call me
Shane," Shane said.  "Now as to what you can do for us.  Hmm, well I don't know
how much you were told, but we tumbled out of Fold Space and ended up about
three hours from here."
"That put you in Sector 14," Ivanova said.  "What were you doing out there?"
"I dunno," Shane said with a shrug.  "That was where we ended up with out power
our Fold engines had vanished and we were operating on minimal life support and
we had gravity.  Fortunately."
"I see," Sheridan said.  "So what exactly do you need from us?"
"If you could I would like to station my crew on the station for the duration of the
repair time I would really appreciate it."
"How many are we talking about," Sheridan asked.  "And for that matter how
long?"
"About 8100 people.  That is mostly pilots and other staff.  The repair crews will be
staying on the ship so they can work on it.  As for how long it will take to be
operational again, hmm well considering we lost our main engines we are stuck here
indefinitely."
"Lovely, 8100 people and we just have room for all of them," Ivanova said.
"Where will you be staying?"
"I will be staying on the ship to oversee the repairs," Shane said.  "Could you have
some of the do's and don'ts sent to each of my crew's quarters after they are on
station?  I don't want them to cause any undue problems."
"Done and done.  Any thing else that you would want of us," Sheridan asked.
"Actually now that I think about it, I could use a room here as well that way I can
actually take a break with out having to stay on the ship all of the time.  And that is
it."
"Not a problem, We will put you on Blue 14 suite 35," Ivanova said.  "That is the
last room that we have after we put your crew on station as well."
"Thank you Commander, Captain," Shane said.  "You don't know how much this
means to me."
"You are welcome Captain," Sheridan said as he rose to shake his hand.
Shane returned the hand shake with a firm grim and shake.  Then with a curt nod to
Commander Ivanova, Shane strode out of the office.  Before he got too far out he
peaked his head back around the corner.
"Oh I need to return my 'Star Dancer' to the ship to have it's systems looked at.  So
I need clearance to leave."
"I am on my way to C&C right now so I can give you clearance," Ivanova said as
she walked past him.
With that Shane headed back to the landing bay where his plane was located.
                              ******
Allishar just got out of the shower and was toweling his hair dry when he heard his
door chime.
"Who is it," Allishar asked.  He could probably guess who it might be.  Either it
was Allyson or it could be Jesa.
"It's me Allyson," The voice said from the other side of the door.
Allishar's heart sank.  She was the last person that he wanted to see at this moment.
He had made plans to pick up where he was reading in the Book of G'Quan.  He
hoped that he would be able to read and understand more of it.  With this recent
development, those plans would have to be put on hold for now.
"Hold on a minute," Allishar said as he pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt.
"Ok enter."
Allyson entered his quarters with such a smooth gate that he did not hear her at all.
"Allishar, I have to talk to you," Allyson said.
"What about," Allishar asked as he ran a comb through his thick black hair.
"I want to know exactly how you feel about me.  And don't give me the usual line
that you gave me back on the Damocles.  I am not that shy and innocent kid that you
knew.  So I am demanding that you tell me the truth."
Allishar was trapped.  He was not about to tell her what his heart was telling him to
do.  He knew that if he were to ask for advice from anyone they would tell him what
they would do.  He did ask Ambassador Delenn for advice once and it really
helpful.  She told him to follow the calling of his heart.  Sighing, Allishar knew what
he had to do and it scared him.
"Allyson, listen to me.  As a pilot I am impressed by your abilities.  As a person I
am impressed by your wit and intelligence.  Overall I really like you."
"Is that it?"
"What are you wanting me to tell you?"
"I want to know your feelings toward me."
"I am not even for certain about that."
"Allishar Morgan you are mean!!" Allyson said as she slapped him and ran out of
the room with tears streaming down her face.
"Well Allishar, I sure blew that all to hell," Allishar said with a resigned sigh.
"If I am disturbing you I will come back later," a female voice said from outside his
door.
As he turned around he saw that the person that spoke was none other than
Ambassador Delenn herself.
"Ah greetings and salutations Ambassador," Allishar said.  "What brings you by
here?"
"I was passing by and I saw that one of your friends ran out of your quarters,"
Delenn said.  "I was wondering what happened?"
"Ambassador, I managed to stick my foot in my mouth," Allishar said.
"I don't think that I understand."
"Ambassador, I said some things that I am now regretting."
"I understand.  What exactly did you say to this person?"
"Well Allyson came in to my quarters and asked me what I felt about her."
"And you told her the truth I would guess?"
"Well I told her that I did not know how I felt about her."
Delenn frowned.  She wondered how much he really understood about the opposite
gender of his race.  From what he just told her it was apparent that he did not know
that much about them at all.
"Well when two Mimbari become close, they have already gone through several
rituals to make sure that they are proper for each other.  In your case I would
suggest to you, as I did once before, to follow the calling of your heart.  It will not
steer you wrong," Delenn said.
"Are you sure about that," Allishar asked.  "What if you are wrong."
"Mimbari do not lie," Delenn said.  "What I have told you is the truth.  How you
choose to use it is your own."
"Thank you Ambassador," Allishar said.
"You are welcome," Delenn said.  "I do not even know your name.  What is it?"
"Allishar, Allishar Morgan," Allishar said.
"That is most peculiar.  Just last month I met a person with the same name as
yours," Delenn said.  "Are you two related by chance?"
"We are in a really strange way."
"I must be going now I have to see some one else," Delenn said as she got up.  She
gave him a small bow and turned to leave.
"May your way be Green and Golden, Ambassador Delenn," Allishar said as she
left.
                              ******
Allyson stopped running when she got to the transport tube.  She still had tear
streaks running down her cheeks.  How could he have been so insensitive to her
needs and her wants.  She knew that when she was with him she felt as if she was
complete.  Call it true love or what ever, but she knew that she was meant to be
with him.  She did not know what was going through his mind and she wanted to.
Perhaps he was wishing that he would have went with that Princess from Crystal
Tokyo that he had fallen for.  She was pretty.  That much she knew.  In fact she
wondered if he would ask to resign and go be with her.  What exactly did he see in
her?  Was it the fact that she had short blue hair?  Or was it the fact that she was a
Princess?  What ever the reason he brushed her off constantly.
Thinking about all of the possibilities brought fresh tears to her eyes.  When the
transport tube doors opened she saw that the Centauri Ambassador, Londo Mollari,
was also in the car.
"Ah Lt.  Torren what seems to be the problem," Londo asked.
She did not answer.  How could he understand her problems.  He had no idea of
what she was going through.  In fact why should she give him an answer.
"I see a man broke your heart," Londo surmised.  "Well, I don't see why a pretty
woman like you would be crying like this?"
"Blue 8," Allyson said through sobs.
"Well be that as it may," Londo said.  "He doesn't know what he is missing in you.
No."
The transport tube stopped on Blue 8 and she got off.  She was glad to be off that
tube.  Shed did not really hate aliens, but something about Londo gave her the
creeps.  When she got to her quarters she saw that the door was standing wide open.
This was not at all natural.  She was going to have to change the lock codes more
often now.  She had one trick up her sleeve that would get who was in her quarters
out.  Yet, she would only use it if she absolutely needed to.
"Computer, lights," Allyson said.  The light came on quickly and she saw sitting in
one of her chairs Ryooko Benton-Stingray.
"Ryooko, what are you doing here," Allyson asked.
"I had a feeling that you needed to talk to someone.  I am someone so talk to me."
"It's about Allishar."
"Allyson, have you even looked at his eyes at all?"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Just yes or no will do."
"No I haven't.  Why do you ask?"
"Because his eyes are those of a person that could never truly love someone as
much as you want him to."
"Why do you say that?"
"You remember the battle that we fought in when B5 broke away?"
"How could I forget it.  Why do you bring that up?"
"He lost his sister on the Roanoke."
"I did not know that."
"Not many in the squad knew.  My point is, yes he may say that he loves you and
even show it from time to time, but deep in his heart the part of him that could give
you the unconditional love that you are wanting died with his sister that day."
"But, can't he get over it in time?"
"I suppose that he could, but Allyson what you should do is be there for him.  He
could use some one like you to help him through the tough times that are to come."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes I am.  My cousin's ancestor Shaelynn Benton the first, was more of a
confidant to his wife before they were even married.  In fact they split up once and
then got back together.  Yet they loved each other so much, the day that she died in
2051, he did not leave his house for two solid weeks.  Yes he was in mourning.  In
life they were inseparable.  Shaelynn the first died two years later of a broken
heart."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"To prove a point, you two are just like them.  In fact it would be frightening if you
two were the reincarnations of them.  Be there for him is all that I am saying."
"That is all?"
"Yes that is all."
"Thank you Ryooko."
"It was the least that I could do for a friend."
They hugged and then Ryooko left her quarters as quietly as she entered.  Ryooko
had left her with a lot to think about.  Some of it did not make sense.  Other parts of
it did.  She still did not understand the reasons that Ryooko told her about her
ancestor.  Granted there were some similarities between them and that was as far as
she was going to go with that.  She would just try to be a friend to Allishar for the
most part.  Allyson was no dummy she would wait until he was ready to commit and
then go from there.
                              ******
Shane arrived back on his ship.  He was mad that someone did not do the proper
maintenance on his fighter.  That was his baby and he knew that if anyone did not
do the proper maintenance that was required on it, then there would be hell to pay.
As he hopped out of the cockpit and dropped to the decking, he saw several of the
techs rush over to it.
"I want to speak with the tech that takes care of the BDI and BCS NOW!!!" Shane
said.
That tech crawled down off of the plane and walked over to him.  He could tell that
Shane was upset with him.  In fact if no one could then they needed to get their eyes
checked.
"Yes sir," the tech said.
"What in the world was going through your mind when you checked the BCS and
the BDI," Shane asked.
"They -they all checked out at 100%," the tech said.
"I specifically said that they were to be at 150%," Shane said.  "I was feeling the
effects of it and was carted into the station's Med bay by two of their pilots,
because of your ineptitude."
"Sir I was under the impression that it was only supposed to be at 100%."
"There was a reason for the 150% of normal.  That being that is the only way that
the system works with me."
"I am sorry it won't happen again."
"I know it won't, and as an incentive for you to not screw it up again I am docking a
week's pay and you will not have station time until those systems are perfect.  Do
you understand me?"
"Yes sir I understand."
"Good now get to work."
The rest of the tech quickly went back about their business of repairing the various
fighters and shuttles.  Shane walked over to another part of the bay.
"Is my VF-19 flight ready," Shane asked.
"Yes Sir," Chorused the entire tech crew.  Shane wondered if they were just saying
that so they did not get yelled at as well.  Shane tried to see if he could sense what
they were thinking.  He could tell that they were sincere about what they said.
Shaking his head, Shane climbed up the ladder and into the cockpit of the VF-19.
As he sat down he found his favorite CD in the world.  It was a mixture of music
that he recorded off of the Galaxy Network.  He recorded his goddaughter's first
song that she sang.  Shane was surprised to learn that she was a part of a rock band.
He also heard and recorded other songs by the same rock band.  His favorite was
"Planet Dance." He put that CD in the CD player that he had installed in his plane.
Running the cord from the player to the helmet Shane then pressed play and hovered
out of the bay.
                              ******
The following day several pilots of Tau Squad were in one of the local bars talking
among themselves.  They were in awe of the pilots of the ship that was parked off of
the station. Some wondered if they were all ace pilots or not.
"I don't see what is so big about them," Terry said.
"Why do you say that," Allyson asked.
"Well just because they think that they can take such long patrols they are better
than us."
"Terry, that is cruel," Allyson said.
"He does have a point you know," Elsa said.  "Plus I think that they are trying to be
hotshots."
"I can't believe that I am hearing this," Allyson said.  "Listen they have their patrol
routes and we have ours."
Several minutes later the pilots from Ruby squad came in sat down.  The were
talking among themselves about things.
"Ah man what in the world is Alec up to," one of the pilots complained.  "This is
the third patrol that we pulled in the past sixteen hours."
"See what I mean," Terry said.  "They have no stamina."
"Terry, hush!" Allyson said.
"What, are you saying that we are weaklings," one of the Ruby Squad Pilots said.
"Exactly," Terry said.  "If you think that you are so good then why don't you prove
it."
"Terry that is not such a good idea," Allyson said.  "I'd shut up if I were you.
"It will be fine," Terry said.
"Name the place and time," The pilot said.
"The time is ASAP the place is between the station and Epsilon 3.  Pick two other
pilots and meet us there," Terry said.
"Done," the pilots said and then left.
"Terry you are just as bad as your brother sometimes."
With that Allyson stormed out of the bar.
"What got into her," Elsa asked.
"Don't know," Evan said as he sipped his drink.  He wished that Allyson would
stop acting as childish as she was.
                              ******
Several hours later the three pilots from Tau Squad and the Three pilots from Ruby
Squad met in the designated area.

"Alright here is what we are going to do.  We have adjusted our plasma cannons to
minimal power.  That way we don't scratch your precious plane."
"What ever just don't hold back on us," the lead pilot said.
As soon as that was said the six pilots started their mock duel.  To those that were
observing it was a display of perfect skill and timing.  Perhaps Ruby Squad was
cheating a bit by using their VF-17's, but they was not about to let them get the
better of them.
The three pilots of Tau Squad was not doing all that good.  They could not believe
that their sensors could not find their targets.
"Damn them," Terry swore.  "What are they doing?"
"Wiping the floors with us is what they are doing," Vincent commented.
As Ryooko was about to lock on to one of Ruby squad, she saw a navy blue plane
fly up between them and change into its humanoid form.
"Ruby 3, 9, and 12 I want to see you on the flight deck in twenty minutes.  As for
you three, your C.O. will hear from me on this."
"Yes sir," the three pilots said and flew off to their command ship.
The three pilots returned to Babylon 5 to face their Commander's punishment.
                              ******
Jesa, Rico, and Laura were on the observation deck watching this display.  He could
tell that the three pilots were good.  He wondered how long they had been flying.
Their style was one of excellent pilots in what they are used to.  He saw that
Allishar was also among the people that was watching it.  Jesa could tell that
something was going through his mind.  If only he knew what it was.  The display
only lasted for a few hours until they saw another fighter appear and break it up.
'Well that did not last long," Jesa thought.
He then saw Allishar walk out of the dome in a hurry.  He had a feeling that he
knew what this was about.
                              ******
As Terry and the other two walked into the squad room to get changed, they saw
that Lt.  Commander Morgan was waiting for them.  He was leaning up against his
locker with a look of irritation on his face.
"So what were you two thinking when you went and did that foolish stunt," Allishar
asked.
"Trying to prove that we were better," Terry said.
"That is it," Allishar said.  He could not believe his ears.  His own brother was
becoming egotistical all of a sudden.  "My Quarters five minutes!"
As soon as they walked out of the Squad room Jesa walked in.
"This is not at all good," Jesa said.  "Now you have three pilots that are acting up."
"Well this is their first time the pulled this kinda stunt," Allishar said.
"What are you going to do about it," Jesa asked.
Allishar gave Jesa a very amused expression.  He really could not get angry with
him, but he knew that he was only asking a question that did not deserve an answer.
"Scare the living shit out them," Allishar said and then walked out of the room.
When Allishar got to his quarters he saw that the three pilots were standing outside
his door waiting for him.
"Alright inside," Allishar said.
When they filed in Allishar was right behind them.  When the door shut he got into
his mode.
"Alright now listen up," Allishar said.  "I don't know what in the hell you were
trying to prove by that duel with them?"
"We were just. . ." Vincent stammered.
"Trying to get yourselves killed was what you were trying to do," Allishar said this
time getting louder.
"But, we didn't mean to. . ." Ryooko started.
"Didn't mean to start an incident with them?  Please don't make me laugh."
"So what are you going to do about this," Terry asked.  He knew that his brother
was angry.  Wether or not this was faked or not he was scared.
"Your punishment will be this," Allishar said.  "You will take your toothbrushes and
you will use them to scrub the public bathrooms.  And I mean all of it.  Including the
Methane Stalls as well."
They could not believe their ears.  Allishar had just assigned them to clean the
public bathrooms with their toothbrushes.
"Why are you doing this," Vincent asked.
"Because that is what I have decided and that's the bottom line because Lt.
Commander Allishar Morgan said so!"
The three of them sighed and left.  As they left the noticed that Allyson was waiting
outside his door.  As the door started to close, she deftly slipped in.
"Allishar, I wanted to apologize for yesterday," Allyson said timidly.
"Allyson, don't.  I was at fault for saying what I did.  I am sorry," Allishar said as
he turned around to face her.  "I should have told you the truth."
"I understand if you are not ready for a relationship," Allyson said.
"Can you really understand what I went through last year," Allishar asked.
"I know that you lost friends and family on the Roanoke, but that is all I know,"
Allyson said as she walked closer to him.  "What happened I can't even begin to
comprehend, but I will always be here for you."
"I know and I thank you for that," Allishar said as he took her by the hand.  "I am
glad to know that you are here."
"Thank you Allishar, for everything," Allyson said as she reached up and kissed him
on the cheek.
With that she quickly left the room leaving Allishar standing in the middle of his
room in a daze.  All he did was reach his hand up and touch the side of his face that
she kissed.
'Did she just kiss me,' Allishar asked himself.  'What did I do to deserve that?'
He could not believe that she did that.  In fact the way that she acted was familiar in
some strange way.  That would be a discussion for another time.  Right now he had
some reading to do.
                              ******
On the SDF-3 Shane was irate.  He could not believe that they would pull stunts like
that.  On the flight deck the three pilots waited, shifting from foot to foot.  They
waited for Shane to arrive so they could receive their punishment.  They could see
him walk down the ramp and onto the flight deck and over to the three pilots.  He
was mad and all of the techs got out of his way.  Which for them was a good thing.
They did not want to get what they called the "Shane 3:16" as well.
"Now you three what am I going to do with you," Shane asked them.
"Not punish us," Ruby 3 asked.  He knew that what he said was a mistake.
"For that stupid remark, consider your flight status on suspension until further
notice," Shane said.
"That is unfair of you to do that," Ruby 12 said.
"And you will be in the brig for that remark," Shane said as he motioned for the two
guards to escort him to the brig.
"The flight status is revoked for all of you," Shane said and stalked out of the flight
deck.
                              ******
"That's right Mr.  Bester he is a Telepath.  How strong I cannot say, but I would
suggest that you show up immediately," Lt.  Asa Devers said.
"I am en route to Babylon 5 already," Bester said.  "I will look in to this new
telepath when I arrive."
Asa closed the link down and went back to work.  He was holding back the most
important bit of information from him.  That was exactly how strong Shane was.  He
noticed that Commander Ivanova was working this shift so he kept the conversation
short.  Part of what bugged him about this new Guest was the fact that he was
almost anti-social.  With his quarters on Blue 14 he knew that it was almost
impossible for anyone to talk to him.  The only ones that seemed to talk with him
were the command staff and two pilots.
As soon as his shift ended, Lt.  Corwin took his place and he went to his quarters to
get some much needed rest.
                              ******
Commander Ivanova watched Lt.  Devers leave C&C.  She wondered what was
going on with him.  So many strange things was going on and it bothered her to no
end.  She was glad however, to have several of the squads from SDF-3 helping with
patrols as well.  She did notice that Captain Benton was also out on several of these
patrols as well.  On several occasions, she could hear music being played in the
background of his fighter.  She thought she heard him singing along to the music. In
fact at one time she could swear that he was actually singing.
In fact all was quiet around Babylon 5.  Well it was quiet until she saw the jump
point open and a lone Starfury appeared out of the vortex.  The only markings that it
had was the top was painted black and it had the last letter in the Greek alphabet on
it "Omega."
"Wonderful," Ivanova muttered.  "What does Psi Corp want with us now?"
"Black Omega to Babylon Control, request clearance to land," The pilot said.
"You are cleared for bay 15," Ivanova said.
"Roger that Babylon control," The pilot said.
"Lovely an uninvited visitor," Ivanova said.  "Inform the Captain that we are about
to have Psi Corp guests."
With that Commander Ivanova left to prepare for their discussion with their latest
arrival.
                              ******
Shane was in his quarters on Babylon 5 when he got a vivid flash.  He saw a man
dressed all in black wearing gloves.  He noticed that he wore a copper badge that
had the Greek letter Psi on it.  Shane also got a name.  Alfred Bester was the man's
name.
'Who is this Bester character,' Shane thought to himself.  'And what does he have
in store for me?'
As he continued to work with his abilities, Shane noticed that he could do more
things than the thought that he could.  As he attempted to do a station wide scan he
got a very bad headache and laid down on his bed.
                              ******
Bester walked through the halls to the Captain's office.  He was going to get to the
bottom of what was going on.  He saw the ship or what ever it was floating next to
the station.
As soon as he stepped into the office he noticed that Sheridan was expecting him.
"Ah Captain Sheridan, it is good to see you again," Bester said.
"Pity, that I don't think that it is good," Ivanova said under her breath.
"What or for that matter who are you here for this time," Sheridan asked.
"My sources say that you have a new unregistered Telepath and I want to talk to
him," Bester said.
"Mr.  Bester I don't know what you are talking about," Sheridan said.
"Well then if you don't mind I would like to speak with your visitor," Bester asked.
"If you want, he is on Blue 14 suite 35," Sheridan said.
"Thank you Captain, Commander," Bester said and then walked out of the room.
As soon as Bester left Ivanova was livid.
"What does he mean that we have another Telepath on station," Ivanova asked.
"Susan, calm down," Sheridan said.  "I did not want to say this in front of Bester,
but our guest is rated P-14.  I don't think that he is even aware of his gift yet."
"Still I don't like the fact that we have a Telepath that is that strong on the station.
How do we know that he is on our side?"
"I know that, but let's see how this situation develops."
"Alright, but if he causes problems then I will give him Lt.  Commander Morgan for
disciplinary actions," Ivanova said.
"Yeah I was wondering about why I saw those three pilots scrubbing the public
restrooms with their toothbrushes," Sheridan said with a laugh.
                              ******
Jesa was walking back from patrol and he noticed that one of the maintenance tech
was coming out of Cobra Bay 3.  He could see that the tech had a strange look on
his face.  It was a look of confusion.
"What happened," Jesa asked.
"You don't want to know," the tech said as he left.
Jesa's curiosity got the better of him and he went into the bay.  When he walked up
to the Thunderbolt that was designated Tau 1 he saw a pair of legs dangling over the
nose of the ship.
'I have always heard of those two that got too friendly in the cockpit of a
Thunderbolt, but I never seen it,' Jesa thought.
Jesa then saw an arm raise up and grab a can on the form's left side and pulled it
down in to the cockpit.  He could hear the sounds of someone belching, and then the
can flew out of the cockpit and hit the deck at Jesa's feet.
'Who is in that Thunderbolt?  I thought that Allishar wouldn't do that with Allyson
yet?  I dunno after what I saw her carry off last month on White star 7 I wouldn't
doubt it,' Jesa thought as he picked up the can off of the deck.  He noticed that the
can said "Double Jolt." Jesa whistled as he looked at it.
"Must have cost him a pretty penny to get that imported in," Jesa mused aloud.
A few minutes later the sounds of two hard objects hitting each other could be
heard.
"Ow, Shit!!!!" a voice said.  "Damn it that fuckin hurt!!"
Jesa could see that the legs were attached to the form of Lt Commander Allishar
Morgan.  It puzzled him to see Allishar doing some work on his Thunderbolt.
"What were you doing," Jesa asked.
"Installing a CD player on my Thunderbolt," Allishar said as he dropped to the
deck.  Jesa could see that he was wearing a black short sleeve shirt with a large
green "D. X." stenciled on the front.  He also saw that Allishar was wearing a white
headband that was keeping his hair out of his eyes.  "There was nothing in the regs
that said that I could not do it."
"I see," was all that Jesa could say.  He was shocked to see that shirt on Allishar.
As Allishar turned around, Jesa saw that on the back was two phrases.  They were
"Two Words.  SUCK IT!!!" All Jesa could do was stare with his jaw hanging wide
open.  He could not believe what was written on the shirt.
"And well I figured since there was nothing that said that I couldn't do it I went
ahead and did it anyways."
"True.  That's kinda why I have a crystal port in my Starfury, if I want I can catch
up on some reading or whatever," Jesa said.
Allishar whistled, he did not think that Jesa was that much of a rebel.
"You are a slick one you know that," Allishar said.
"True," Jesa said with a laugh.
"Well look at it this way, at least we haven't had to put up with two foot tall people
on a sugar and caffeine high," Allishar said as he grabbed his jacket.
"Don't remind me.  I think I was paranoid of my closet for several days after that
mission was over."
"Well look at it this way, when it was called for, they were able do the job.  I
wonder if Laura and Allyson don't hate them for that?"
"I don't think Laura would hold a grudge.  I really don't know about Allyson
though."
"Good point.  Hey listen I am up for Patrol now so I will talk to you later."
"What did Barton snag you for a patrol?"
"Nope, this is my standard patrol time."
"Ah well I will see you later," Jesa said and walked off in the opposite direction.
He had to laugh because of what actually happened for those three days of that
mission.  To say that it was anything but chaotic would be understating things just a
bit.  It was Epsilon Squad's traditional night for poker and he had to get his place
set up for it.
                              ******
Allishar walked into the Squad room and started to change into his flight suit.  He
was also thinking about what happened last month as well.  He saw the rest of Delta
wing pulling off their flight suits and leaving.
"Man that patrol was hell," one of the younger pilots said.
"Lieutenant, your patrol was not hell," Allishar said.  "My assignment last month
was hell."
"What happened," he asked.
"You don't want to know," Allishar said as he finished suiting up.  He saw that
Devon and Allyson was just walking in.
"Hurry up slow pokes," Allishar said.  "Or shall I find the 5 on 4?"
Allyson paled.  She knew what he meant and did not want to be subjected to them
again.  She quickly pulled her flight suit on and checked all of the seals.
Devon just grinned and pulled his flight suit on and was half-way down the hall to
Cobra Bay 3.
                              ******
Shane was sitting on the floor of his meditating.  The table behind him stated to
shake and rise, when he heard his door open.  He then heard the sounds of hard
soled boots on the deck plates.  The mental presence that he felt was that of a very
strong Telepath.  He recognized him.
"Ah Alfie Bester," Shane said not turning around.  "I have been expecting you."
"How- how did you know my name," Bester stuttered.  He was shocked to see the
table floating in mid air.
"I sensed that you would be coming soon," Shane said as he set the table down.
"So what do you want from me?"
"You are what we call an unregistered Telepath.  Unregistered Telepaths are given
three choices.  Choice 1 is to join the Corp.  Choice 2 is to go to prison.  Choice 3 is
to take the sleepers for the rest of your life.  That way we protect the privacy of
others."
"Is that why you wear the gloves and long sleeves," Shane asked.
"That is for our own protection," Bester said.
"How do I know what you are saying is the truth?"
"You will just have to trust me."
"Like hell I will trust you.  You are nothing but a goose-stepping fascist that thinks
that all non-Telepaths are below you," Shane said fuming.  The vase on the table
was starting to rattle.  "Besides Alfie, I have no intentions of Joining the Gestapo
that is the Psi Crap.  My system will more than likely purge the drugs out of me in
twenty-four hours.  And as far as Jail is concerned Once Captain Sheridan hears of
this then I think that he will be quite upset."
"But you need to learn how to use your abilities to their fullest.  Let the Corp teach
you," Bester said.  "We look out for our own.  These mundanes will fill your head
full of lies about what we do."
"Bester, listen I am not that good with what I figured out that I could do.  Now I
suggest that you leave now before I accidently sever something that you hold dear,"
Shane said with enough menace to scare him.  "Besides my first loyalty is to the
Commander of this station.  That is Captain Sheridan."
"We shall see about that," Bester said in a huff as he left.
"Bye Alfie," Shane said as he waved at him.
                              ******
"Man Jesa, I can't believe that hand of yours," Rico said as he tossed his cards on
the table.  Jesa had managed to get a flush in the suit of spades.  "How in the heck
did you get so lucky?"
"Maybe he was born with a four leaf clover in one hand and a rabbit's foot in the
other," Laura said.
"Maybe," Jesa said.
"You wouldn't believe what I say yesterday," St John said as he waited for his
cards.  "I saw Lt. Morgan, Lt. Vanrill, and Lt. Benton-Stingray walking into the
public bathrooms with their toothbrushes."
"Ok so they were going to brush their teeth.  So what," John Jansen said.
"Well when I went in I noticed that they were scrubbing around the sinks with them.
I wish I knew why though."
Everyone else at the table wore expressions of shock on their faces with the
exception of Jesa.  He was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes.
"Jesa what is so funny," Rico asked.
"So- so that was what he meant by 'scaring the shit out of them,'" Jesa said while
he was laughing.  "I would have never thought of that kind of punishment."
"As it turned out," St.  John continued.  "They had to clean the methane stalls as
well."
"Ack, that is bad," John said as he took a drink of his water.
"Not half as bad as when the Pac'Mara used it just after they finished cleaning it,"
St.  John said as his cards were dealt to him.
There was the resounding sounds of everyone gagging at the mention of that.
"I wonder if they were prepared for that," Del Tarrant mused.
"I don't think so," Laura added.  "I really don't think they were."
A few minutes later Jesa had stopped howling with laughter and was occasionally
snickering.  Once he had his cards he was all business.  His cards was the best that
anyone could get.  In fact the chances of anyone getting this was one in 500.
Everyone anted up and the game got started.  Rico discarded three and received
three new ones.  Laura only discarded one.  The rest dropped anywhere from one to
four.  Then the raising began.  It started out small and then as it became big the
tension in the room could almost be cut with a knife.  Several of the other pilots
folded.  They were of the opinion that Rico was going to win.  It finally came down
to Rico, Laura, John, St John, and Jesa.
"I call," John said.  "Two pair."
"I have a high straight," St John said.
"Full house.  Kings over Jacks," Laura said.
"Four of a Kind," Rico said and started to pull the winning to him.
"Not so fast Rico," Jesa said cooly.  "I still have yet to show you what I have."
"Ok then show us what you have," Rico said as he pushed the credit pieces back
into the center of table.
Slowly and methodically Jesa laid down one card at a time.  First, the ten of spades.
Then the Jack of spades.  Followed by the Queen of spades, to then be followed by
the King of spades.  As he held the last card in his hand he saw the expressions of
the others change from concern to shock as they see him lay down what could be
the start of a Royal Flush in the high suit of Spades.  Waiting almost a full two
minutes, Jesa then laid down the final card which was the Ace of spades.
"Aw man and here I thought that this time I had you beat Jesa," Rico said as he
dropped back into his chair, a look of defeat on his face.
"I guess that I was right after all," Laura said.
"Maybe Laura," Jesa said.  "Maybe."
"You know you just broke the lot of us again," John said as he got up to leave.  "It
is getting late and I have to be ready for my patrol soon."
"See you later John," Dell said as he left.
One by one the rest of the players filed out of Jesa's quarters and left.  Only Laura
and Rico remained behind.
"Jesa, you know from what St.  John said, you and Allishar think alike," Rico said.
"It would almost seem as if you two were twins or something," Laura said.
"Perhaps, but I don't think so," Jesa said.  "I was thinking about the six of us get
together and talk some night."
"I suppose that it couldn't hurt," Rico said.  "Where is Allishar anyway?"
"Out on patrol right now," Laura said.
"Ah well I will talk to him about it when he get's back," Jesa said.
"Well come on Rico let's get going I am sure that Jesa needs time to count our
money," Laura said as she grabbed Rico by the arm and pulled him out of the room.
                              ******
Bester stormed back into Captain Sheridan's office.  He was mad to say the least.
Never before in his life had he been so humiliated.  Plus to be humiliated by a
Telepath was even more demeaning.
"Captain Sheridan I demand that you have a talk to that person that you have
staying here," Bester fumed.
"Mr.  Bester, I don't know what you are so upset about," Sheridan said.
"It is in regards to the Blip that you are harboring on this station," Bester said.
"And this is a problem why," Ivanova asked.
"Commander Ivanova, what you don't seem to realize is that this person is a
potential threat to you and to this station.  Turn him over to the Corp and let us help
him."
"Why don't you ask him yourself what he wants," Ivanova said.
"Captain if you would ask him to please come here and I will ask him," Bester said.
"Fine I will," Sheridan said.  "Sheridan to Captain Benton."
"Benton here," Shane said.
"Ah Shane could you please come to my office, it seems that Mr.  Bester wants to
ask you something."
"OK I will be there in a few seconds," Shane said and closed down his
communications line.
A few seconds later Shane materialized in Sheridan's office.  All present could not
believe what they just saw.  For that matter Shane was amazed that he actually
made it.
"Yes Captain what does Alfie want to ask me," Shane said as soon as he caught his
breath.
"Shane, do you want to join the Corp," Bester asked.
"I told you before that I had no intention of joining the goose-stepping fascists that
is the Psi Crap," Shane said.
"Very well then you will be considered a rogue and will be hunted down like a
dog," Bester said.
"And as I said to you before, leave me alone or will cut you off from the gene pool,"
Shane growled.
Sheridan squirmed in his chair when he heard that remark.  He could not believe that
Shane would say something like that.
"You would do bodily harm to me," Bester said.  "I am amazed that you would
even think of it.  You see Captain, he is a problem to everyone."
"I don't see the problem at all," Ivanova remarked dryly.
"Mr.  Bester I suggest that you leave as soon as possible," Sheridan said.  "You
have worn out your welcome."
"Very well Captain I will go, but we will be back for him," Bester said and then left.
The instant that Bester left, Commander Ivanova fixed Shane with a look that would
peel the paint off a Starfury.
"How in the hell did you do that," Ivanova asked.
"I am not exactly sure myself," Shane said.  "I just concentrated on an empty spot in
the room and then willed myself here."
"I swear that you even think about scanning me, I will make you suffer greatly for
it," Ivanova said.
"Commander, listen I won't scan anyone," Shane said.  "Not even if I am given
permission.  It is an invasion of privacy and I won't do it.  I am still not sure how I
got here in the first place."
"Well how ever you did it, please don't be jumping around the station like that,"
Sheridan asked.
"I understand Captain," Shane said.  "I do have a question for you though.  I got a
message from someone named D'rall.  He said that he had something of mine and
was willing to give it back."
"Ah yes I will send some one down to retrieve it and bring it back," Captain
Sheridan said.
"The things that he has are the Fold Generators of my ship," Shane said.
"How big are they," Sheridan asked
"About the size of two Valkyries standing one on top of the other," Shane said.
"How many are there," Ivanova asked
"Well there was usually four or so, but one must have been destroyed.  So we have
three now.
"Well we can bring them back to you ship for you.  Tell you what, I can ask Delenn
if they could provide a jump engine for your ship if you would like?"
"It is not really necessary," Shane said.
"I insist," Sheridan said ending his argument.  "You and you pilots have helped with
the patrols and this would be the least that we could do for you.  How much longer
will your repairs take?"
"Well we will have the systems back on line by the end of the day and then once we
have the generators back it will be about two more days to get them installed and
tested.  So about three days tops to be back to what we were before we came here.
Now when the jump engine arrives I will want to have them install it and explain
how it works to my engineers and to me."
"That can easily be arranged.  We should have it to you by the end of the week,"
Sheridan said.  "After it is installed what do you plan to do?"
"Well since we can't seem to go back to 2045 I guess that we will explore this
universe," Shane said.  "One other thing, I will say this now.  My ship and my crew
are at your service.  Feel free to call on our services at anytime."
"I appreciate it very much," Sheridan said.  "I will if I need to.  You are planning on
exploring this universe huh?  Well it is big and I wish you luck."
"Thanks Captain, I will need it," Shane said and then took his leave of Sheridan.
                              ******
Allishar and his two wing men had just made the circuit around Epsilon 3 and were
heading back to the station when Devon's flight system started to short out on him.
"Tau leader, to Babylon control," Allishar said.
"Babylon control here," The voice said on the other end.
"It seems that something is the matter with Tau 5's flight systems we could use
assistance," Allishar said.
"Roger that Tau 1 we are sending help immediately," C&C said.
"I am sorry about this Allishar," Devon said.  "I thought that my Thunderbolt was in
prime condition."
"We all make mistakes Devon," Allyson said.  "I am sure that this is nothing to
major."
Several minutes later they could see another Thunderbolt pull up along side.  It was
Tau 10 Ensign Dale Alexander.  He was the rookie of the squad.  Not much flight
time except during his patrol time.  In fact this is the only time that Allishar can
remember him doing something like this.
"Ah Lt Commander I am here to tow in the Lieutenant here," Dale said.
"That's a roger Dale," Allishar said.  "We'll finish up the patrol route.  And Devon
let's meet in my quarters afterward, I want to talk to you about some things.  That
goes for you too Allyson."
"Roger that Allishar," Devon said.
"I copy you, Allishar," Allyson said.
"Now to test this out," Allishar said as he popped in a CD into the CD player.  The
first track on it was 'Holy Lonely Night.' Allishar then cranked up the volume on
the internal speakers and started to sing along.  The rest of the patrol goes with out
any incident at all.
                              ******
Shane was walking down the Central Corridor when he bumped into Jesa.
"Sorry about that," Shane said.  "Wasn't paying much attention."
Jesa noticed that the person that bumped into him was the pilot that he helped carry
to the med lab two days ago.
"That's alright," Jesa said.  "I didn't catch you name."
"Captain Shane Benton of the Macross 2," Shane said.  "Please call me Shane."
"Pleased to meet you," Jesa said.  "I am Lt.  Commander Jesa Marason.  Please just
call me Jesa."
"Not a problem," Shane said.
"Were you the one that was in the Red plane a few days ago," Jesa asked.
"Yes I was," Shane said.  "I wanted to thank the two that brought me to Med-Lab."
"I was one of them and you are welcome," Jesa said.  "I was wondering though if
you were feeling better?"
"Yeah I am feeling better, thanks for asking," Shane said.  "Hey listen I am
returning to the SDF-3 and I was wondering if you would like to take a look at what
I called home on my mission?"
"Sounds interesting, where should I meet you at," Jesa asked.
"Bay 14.  I will be there in a few minutes I have to get something from my
quarters," Shane said as he walked off.
"Ok see you in a bit," Jesa said and then went to get ready to visit the ship that he
helped to tow in.
Fifteen minutes later, Jesa saw Shane walking down the hall to Bay 14.  He looked
as if his whole life was about to be thrown out of the airlock at any moment.
"Sorry that I am late," Shane said.  "I had a run in with a peanut brittle can snake."
"Do I dare ask," Jesa asked.
"It was five two foot tall people standing one on top of each other," Shane said.  "It
came out of my drawer."
Jesa buried his face in his hands.  He knew what that was and he thought that he had
escaped it.  Yet with those five one could never tell.
As they walked into the bay Jesa could see that what he would be riding in was a
VF-19.
"I hope that you don't mind riding in the fighter," Shane said.  "That's what I
usually come over in."
"Not a problem," Jesa said.  "This should be interesting."
"Indeed it will be," Shane said.  "Well climb in and get strapped in."
As soon as they were both strapped in, Shane requested clearance.
"Babylon control, this is Blue leader requesting clearance to launch," Shane said.
"Blue leader you have clearance to launch.  Godspeed," the voice said.  It was
Commander Ivanova.  Shane had to smile.  He knew that she was usually on duty
when he launched.
"Roger that C&C," Shane said and then Shane took off.  It was his usually graceful
flight no acrobatics or crazy flying at all.  When they landed Shane immediately
pulled off his harness and then jumped to the flight deck.  He saw that Jesa too was
just getting out of the seat in the back and was climbing down the ladder to the deck
below.
When he set foot on the deck Jesa was in awe of the technology that went into
giving the ship gravity.  He remembered from when he saw City 7 that it had
something similar on it that gave it artificial gravity.  This ship must have been built
on the same principle.
Jesa knew that only the Mimbari, and the other races had ways to generate artificial
gravity.  Earth Force vessels had to have parts of their vessels rotation to create
gravity.
"Nice ship you have," Jesa said as he looked around.
"Thanks," Shane said offhandedly.  "Her designation is the SDF-3 Macross II."
"So what happened to the first two SDF's," Jesa asked.
"Well I will tell you that while we walk," Shane said and then directed Jesa to an
elevator.  "The first SDF was called the Macross.  It was responsible for winning
the first space war back in 2010.  The second SDF was designated the Megaroad 1.
We were looking for it when we ended up here."
"Ah I see," was all that Jesa could say.
Shane then showed Jesa around the ship.  He showed him pretty much everything
that he felt comfortable with showing.  They ended up in Shane's office in the
command tower.
"Well that is the ship for you," Shane said as he sat down.  "What did you think?"
"It is a nice ship," Jesa said.  "I wasn't expecting a ship this size to have a huge
cargo bay."
"The original Macross, had a city of 70,000 people in it," Shane said.
"How in the world did they do that," Jesa asked.
"Beats the heck out of me," Shane said.  "I have only been in the original at most
seven times in my entire life.  It's a pity though, I now kinda wish that I had taken
the position on the Macross 7 colony fleet."
"They showed up here last year," Jesa said.  "You know I have only seen two other
people fly the way you do and that was Captain Maximilian Jenius and Miria Farina
Jenius."
"They were my flight instructors while I was going through training," Shane said.
Jesa was in shock.  He had no idea that Shane knew Max and Miria.  That would
explain why his flying was the way it was.
"They were your instructors," Jesa asked.
"It's not that big of a deal," Shane said with a noncommital shrug.  "I learned to fly
properly from them."
"I bet you did," Jesa said.
"I have also been appointed their youngest daughter's godfather," Shane said as he
handed Jesa a picture of her.  "Her name's Mylene."
As Jesa looked at the picture he saw that it was almost identical to how she looked
when he met the Members of Fire Bomber last year.
"I met her last year," Jesa said.  "Quite an interesting person."
"You know I have never really met her at all," Shane said.
"You haven't," Jesa asked.
"No, I haven't," Shane said.  "I was assigned to a different ship while this one was
being built and by the time I able to see her they had already left on their mission."
"Ah I see," Jesa said.
"How was she doing," Shane asked.
"She was alright as far as I could tell," Jesa said.
"That's good to know," Shane said.  "I was wondering if you would be interested in
trying out one of our fighters for a change?"
"Don't you have regulations preventing that," Jesa asked.
"If we were back where I was from then yes I would, but since I am here those are
not as enforced as much," Shane said.
"Ok I think that I would like to give it a go around," Jesa said.
"Ok well let's head down to the Squad room and I will get you a flight suit," Shane
said.
"Alright," Jesa said and then followed Shane to the squad room.
                              ******
Allyson woke up in a deep sweat.  She could not believe that she was having that
horrible nightmare again.  How in the world did this happen to her?  She could not
believe that she was going to let that bother her.  Yet something about that
nightmare was odd.
In the dream she found herself walking through a city that she recognized as Tokyo
4.  It was a dark night and was starting to rain.  As the rain started to fall she began
to run to find her car.  When she passed a window she noticed that it was not her
face that she saw, but that of a woman that was her age with short black hair and
brown eyes. She was wearing an outfit that accentuated her in such a way that it
made people's heads turn.  She noticed that someone was following her.  As she ran
the person caught up to her he pulled out a knife and stabbed her.  As she fell to the
ground she could feel a pair of hands catch her and held her.  She saw that this
person had Black hair and dark blue eyes.  His face had a look of grief and of
worry.  As she was losing consciousness she could tell that he was saying something
to her.  At that she woke up.
Allyson could not believe that this dream was having this much effect on her.  If she
only knew what it was that was causing it.  She was half tempted to talk to Ryooko
and see if she could make heads or tails out of it.  In fact that was exactly what she
was going to do.  While she was in the shower, she was hit by a searing pain.  It
started in the base of her skull and traveled the length of her spine.  All she could do
was clutch her head and whimper in pain.  Eventually the pain passed and she was
able to continue with her shower.  When she was finished, she got dressed and went
to talk to Ryooko about that dream.
                              ******
Shane and Jesa arrived in the squad room some ten minutes later.  Jesa could tell
that it had some similarities to the squad rooms back on Babylon 5.
"Heads up," Shane said as he tossed Jesa a flight suit.
Jesa snapped out of his reverie to see a suit being tossed at him.  He managed to
deftly catch it.
"Ok this is the flight suit that you want me to wear," Jesa asked.
"Yes it is a special type for the VF-22 that I think that you would be suited to,"
Shane said as he pulled out his flight suit as well.  "The helmet that goes with it will
help clear up the confusion of piloting the craft."
"Oh?  How," Jesa asked.  He was dubious as to one single helmet could do what he
said it could.
"Some parts of the systems are tied into the helmet such as communications and the
like.  It takes some getting used to but I think that you shouldn't have too much
trouble," Shane said as he pulled on his flight suit.  "As of right now we only have
seven VF-22's.  Our manufacturing ship can't produce them that fast so we are
limited to what we have."
"If you have that few then maybe we shouldn't go out in them," Jesa said.
"It's fine," Shane said reassuring Jesa.  "Trust me."
"Alright if you say so," Jesa said as he pulled on his flight suit as well.
As soon as they were suited up Shane took them to the back part of the Landing
bay.  In the back Jesa could see the seven VF-22 neatly lined up with crews
crawling over them like a mound of ants.  He then saw the crimson and white plane
among them.
"Is that the 'Star Dancer,'" Jesa asked.
"Yes it is," Shane said.  "I managed to get the plans for the YF-21 and had one
built."
"Ok.  So what's so special about it," Jesa asked.
"Well it has two control systems that work off of the pilots thoughts.  In short it
moves at the speed of thought," Shane said.  "If it isn't  properly adjusted for
someone then the slightest stray thought will cause it to react."
"Ah I see it's a dangerous piece of equipment," Jesa commented.
"Not really, other than the fact that you are the YF-21,"
"How," Jesa asked.
"Well you see through it's sensors and what you think about doing it does," Shane
said.  "There are some down sides to using it as well."
"Oh," Jesa asked.
"Well let's just put it like this, the pilot could get massive headaches," Shane said.
"Ah," Jesa said with a whistle.  "So in a sense you have a Psi Control system in that
plane?"
"Nothing that fancy, but basically yes," Shane said.
"And I thought that he was crazy to have one on his Thunderbolt," Jesa said.
"Huh," Shane asked as he scratched his head in confusion.
"We had an Esper show up on station two months ago with a modified Thunderbolt.
Had a similar control system in it.  In fact I think that he might be a relative of
yours," Jesa said.
"Dr.  Franklin asked me that and I told him that I am not related to him at all,"
Shane said.
"Ah I see," Jesa said.  "Well shall we get this show on the road?"
"Sure let's get going," Shane said as he directed Jesa to the light blue VF-22 that
was parked next to his Crimson and silver one.
The instant Jesa sat down in the cockpit, Shane was perched up on the edge.  Shane
the preceded to give Jesa a brief explanation of what was what in cockpit.  All
Shane gave him was the basics and hoped that Jesa could pick up the rest as they
flew.
"OK Jesa that is the general idea of what does what," Shane said.  "Go ahead and
launch and I will be about five minutes behind you."
"Got it," Jesa said as he closed the canopy and put on his helmet.
                              ******
Allishar had finished his supper and was about to settle in with a good book, when
he heard his door chime.  Getting up to answer it he noticed that it was none other
than Devon Maddison.
"Devon what brings you here," Allishar asked.
"We need to talk," Devon said.
"About," Allishar asked.  He could almost guess the topic of the conversation."
"Allyson of course," Devon said.  "You realize that you are turning away a very
beautiful woman and to be quite honest she is madly in love with you."
"I know that Devon," Allishar said almost snapping at him.  "Allyson and I talked
about it a few days ago.  She has decided to wait until I am ready to commit to a
relationship."
"And she told you this," Devon asked.
"Not in those many words," Allishar said.  "But I could tell that was what she
meant."
"Well don't let too much time go by before you tell her," Devon said.
"Tell her what," Allishar asked.
"How you feel about her stupid," Devon said.  "She won't wait forever you know."
"I know that Devon," Allishar said.  "This will sound really strange, but something
about her seems awfully familiar."
"How," Devon asked.  "You have only known her for four years."
"Still I felt as if I have known her for longer," Allishar said.
"Did Princess Mercury hit you upside your head a couple of times," Devon asked.
"You aren't starting to believe in reincarnation are you?"
"You never know," Allishar said.  "It is possible.  I mean look at it this way the
Senshi and the Guardian Senshi have lived, died and was reborn on Earth back in
the 20th century.  Now I wonder."
"Good point," Devon said.
Between the two of them they managed to discuss several things that carried on well
into the night.
                              ******
By the time that Shane launched out of the bay he saw that Jesa was putting the VF-
22 through all kinds of twists, turns, and spins that Shane could not believe were
possible in a VF-22.  Hell the things that he put the VF-11 through was bad enough,
but to see Jesa do that with a VF-22 gave Shane a new respect for him.  If anything
Shane was amazed that Jesa was doing that good already.
"Not bad Jesa," Shane said as he flew up along side of him.  "In fact I am
impressed."
"Thank you," Jesa said.  "It wasn't too hard to figure out how to pilot this fighter."
"True," Shane commented.  "Well how about if I follow you as we put these
fighters though their paces?"
"Sounds good to me," Jesa said as he edged his fighter forward.
As Shane followed him, he noticed that Jesa was doing a really good job on piloting
the VF-22.  He figured that if they did not have such a limited number of them then
he would give him one as a gift.  Perhaps once the Three Star gets operational again
he would have them work on one for him.  He figured that it would be something
that Jesa would not expect.
While they were out, Shane noticed that the jump gate opened and seven star furies
appeared.
"Hey Jesa, do you know anything about the new arrivals," Shane asked.
As Jesa looked he noticed that the star Furies were none other than Black Omegas.
"They are Psi Corp," Jesa said with a hint of disgust in his voice.
"And our standing orders when dealing with the Psi Crap," Shane asked.
"Well we are to not fire first," Jesa said.
"I understand," Shane said as he went fishing for his newest CD and popped it in.
"Unidentified fighters this is the Psi Corp, we are chasing a rouge telepath and want
to land at Babylon 5 to find him," The leader of the Star Furies said.
"This is Epsilon Leader," Jesa started.  "I don't know what you are talking about.
Even if I did we have no association with Earth Gov so technically we don't have to
allow you to land."
"Um Jesa I think that they are looking for me," Shane said over a private
communications channel.
"You ever play poker, Captain," Jesa asked.
"Off and on," Shane said.
"Well that was what is called a bluff.  Now let's see if they are intelligent enough to
leave."
"That's a negative Epsilon Leader," Their leader said.  "We will not be deterred."
Shane noticed that three of the starfuries had started to power up their weapons.
"Um Jesa we have a problem," Shane said.  "They have powered up their
weapons."
"Don't worry about it until they fire on you," Jesa said calmly.
They did not have to wait long before the star furies opened fire.
"It looks like their leader is Mr.  Bester.  Leave him to me I want to toy with him a
bit," Jesa said.
"Fine I'll play with his cronies," Shane said as he cut communications and cranked
up the music.  The song that was playing was 'Never Say Die.'
'I could get used to this,' Jesa said thought as he heard the music coming over the
general comm line.  'I think that I will just shear off the engine ports and leave him
helpless.'
Jesa locked four missiles on to the engine ports and as soon as he got a solid lock he
launched them.  The force with which they hit managed to blow off all four of them
neatly and did not even cause an explosion.
'Excellent,' Jesa thought.  "Shane do you require assistance?"
"That's a negative," Shane said.  "But if you would could you watch my back I
would appreciate it."
"Sure thing," Jesa said.
A few seconds later the poor Star furies didn't know what hit them as they exploded
in to six small fireballs.  Shane's flying was that of an ace pilot who was aware of
all of his surroundings.
"Choke on that Psi Crap," Shane said.
Shane then saw Jesa transform his VF-22 into Batroid configuration and move
toward the now crippled Starfury.  Shane followed suit and did like wise.
"If you are going to kill me then get it over with," Bester said.
"No Bester I am not going to kill you," Jesa said.  "That would be too easy.  I think
what I will do is to punt you back through the jump point.  There you will float until
you reach that mother ship that you say is not out there and let you try to explain to
your superiors what happened to you and your associates."
Jesa then grabbed the Starfury and moved to where he could cue the jump point to
open.  The instant that it did, Jesa then maneuvered the Valkyrie into a position that
looked as if it was a Football player about ready to kick a field goal.
"Well it is the last ten seconds of the super bowl and number 7 is set and ready to
kick the game winning field goal," Jesa started.  He actually sounded like an actual
announcer.  "The snap is good the kick is up and it is good.  Tokyo 4 wins the Super
bowl."
Shane watched as the Starfury was punted through the open jump point.  As it
cleared the entrance, Shane raised his Valkyrie's arms in the sign for a good field
goal.
"Ok Jesa let's head back to the SDF-3 and I will take you back to B5," Shane said
as he switched modes to fighter and headed back to the ship.  Jesa did likewise and
followed Shane back.
                              ******
Commander Ivanova was watching what was going on.  She could not believe what
she saw.  She saw seven Black Omega Star Furies appear out of the jump gate and
six of them get summarily destroyed.  The seventh one she noticed that the engine
ports were sheared off by four missiles and then it was kicked back through the
jump point. She also heard the pilot of one of the planes acting like a twentieth-
century football announcer. Vaguely enough it sounded like Epsilon Leader. She
could also hear in the background the sounds of music and of someone singing.
"Ok I think I know who the one is in the light blue Plane, but who is in the Crimson
one," Ivanova asked.  As if it was waiting to answer her question she heard over the
main communications channels someone yelling at the top of their lungs.
"What in the world was that," Ivanova asked.
"It sounded like someone was yelling," Lt.  Corwin said.  He then heard singing as
well.
          "Niju-u yoji kan ugomeku machiwo, TONIGHT TONIGHT kake nukeru
     Hijyou kaidan hitomi no mure ga, SIGN OF THE TIME sagashiteru   Mega
     kuramisouna a-o-I dai-I-iyamo Garasu ni kawa-ate shima-u, kiwo tsu-ke-lo."
"Ah I see," Ivanova said.  "Well I think that I now know who that is."
"Oh," Lt.  Corwin said.
"That sounds Like Captain Benton," Ivanova said.
"Maybe," Corwin said.
"As soon as their shuttle lands tell them that I want to speak to them ASAP,"
Ivanova said as she walked out of C&C.
"Understood Commander," Corwin said.
                              ******
Allyson made it to Ryooko's quarters with out much of a problem.  She had a really
bad ringing in her ears that made her sick to her stomach.  She did not remember
ever feeling this bad before.  Well there was the time that she got drunk the day
before she graduated from the Air Dome.  That was an experience that she did not
ever want to repeat again.  It was because of her stupidity that she was nearly raped
by one of the other cadets.  If her brother was not there to protect her then that was
what could have happened.  That cadet was summarily expelled from the academy.
Perhaps that was part of the reason why she felt secure around Allishar.  He would
never do anything to harm her.  In fact every time that she was with him she felt at
peace.  Yet she did not know exactly why she felt the way that she did.
"Allyson are you alright," Ryooko asked.
"I feel like the whole world is spinning," Allyson said.
"Here let me help you in," Ryooko said as she assisted Allyson into her room.
As soon as she sat down, Allyson was feeling better.
"What did you want to talk to me about," Ryooko asked.
"I think that you may be right."
"Right?  About what?"
"That I was the reincarnation of your ancestor's wife."
"Allyson I was joking.  There is no way that you are the reincarnation of Sylia
Stingray-Benton."
"With what I witnessed last month I would believe almost anything."
"Still you could not be her."
"Why do you say that?"
"I mean look at it this way what possible way could you be her.  Other than the fact
that you are unexplainably attracted to Allishar.  That is all I can figure out."
"Ryooko, that's mean.  Then I don't think you would care about the dream that I
had."
"What was it about?"
"Well I found myself in Sylia's form and I was running from someone.  That person
that I was running from stabbed me and as I died I could feel myself being held by a
pair of strong hands.  The person that I saw looked familiar."
"Let me show you some pictures of my ancestor and I want you to tell me if that
was who you saw."
Ryooko then got up and picked up an old photo album and brought it to Allyson.
While Allyson was looking through the album Ryooko sat down and started to
massage her temples.  She had been plagued with headaches since she was eleven.
She could not explain why she got them.  In fact when she got them she could not
function for about three minutes.  Fortunately for her and the rest of her squad mates
she never got one during a patrol or during any critical moment.
As soon as this one passed, she could hear Allyson almost yelling about something.
"That's him I know it is," Allyson said.  "That is him."
When Ryooko looked at the person that Allyson was pointing at she noticed that
Allyson was pointing at her ancestor Shaelynn Benton the first.  She was amazed
that Allyson could point out someone that she had never seen except in a dream.
Still she was skeptical.
"Are you absolutely sure about that," Ryooko asked.
"Yes I am sure about that," Allyson said.  "There is no doubt that I recognize him."
"What about her," Ryooko asked as she pointed to a picture of Shaelynn's wife.
"Yes that was what I looked like when I looked in a mirror," Allyson said.
"Ryooko, what does this mean?"
"Well I think that you may be right," Ryooko said.  "Yet I think that a telepath
could tell you for certain."
"Out of the question," Allyson said.  "It's not that I hate them, I just don't like them
rooting around in my head."
"What about Lita," Ryooko asked.
"She frightens me," Allyson said.  "I don't know why but she just does."
"Alright Allyson, Then how do you expect us to figure out what is going on,"
Ryooko said.
"I will manage," Allyson said.
                              ******
Shane had just pulled off his VF-22 flight suit and was pulling on his regular flight
suit to take Jesa back to Babylon 5.  When he had his other flight suit on and was
walking out to the flight deck he heard someone talking to some of his pilots.  It
seemed that he was trying to convince some of his pilots to go out on patrol.  Who
was that person and what right did he have to do something like that?  How dare he
do this to his pilots that had just pulled their fifth patrol circuit without even being
asked.  He did not know who that was but he was going to get to the bottom of this
as soon as possible.  He could tell that the man's name was Commander Barton.
"Lieutenant, I am ordering you and your squad to take this patrol," Barton said.
"Like hell we will," Alec said.  He was exhausted and wanted to shower and then
take a much needed nap.  "We just finished our fifth patrol circuit and we have
some down time.  If you have a problem with that then you can take it up with
Captain Benton."
Alec then stormed off in a huff.  There was now way that he would pull another
patrol.  Especially for this stranger that just waltzed in and made demands of him.
He was determined to make this complaint known to that person's direct superior
and to the commander of the station itself.
Barton was not in a good mood.  He could not believe that this officer would be so
insubordinate.  Barton saw that Shane was storming toward him.
"Captain Benton I demand that you. . .," he began.
"You make demands of my pilots on my ship," Shane fumed.  "Commander you
have no right to tell my pilots what to do.  This isn't even your ship!"
"But I want. . .," Barton stammered.  He could not believe that someone would not
even let him finish a sentence.
"You want to use my pilots who have had to pull multiple patrols since we lost one
third of the squads," Shane said as he got into Barton's face.  He was not
intimidated by this man.  "Now if you wasn't so frickin lazy I would actually have
some respect for you, but I don't have any kind of respect for you at all."
"How dare you call me lazy," Barton fumed.  "I don't want. . ."
"You don't want you pilots to do any of the work.  What expecting a juicy mission
to come along?  Now that is what I call just plain lazy.  I really don't know what is
going on through that pea brain of yours, and I don't want to know.  Now I suggest
that you march your butt off of my ship.  And if you even think of trying this again I
will drop kick you out of the airlock with out a space suit. And that's the bottom
Line Because I said so," Shane said.
"I'm filing a complaint with Captain Sheridan," Barton said as he stormed off.
"Fine you just do that and I will file a counter complaint stating that you were going
outside the chain of command on this ship," Shane growled.
"What a jerk," Shane said.  "I can't believe that he would have the gall to do that
right under my nose."
                              ******
Jesa heard the sounds of someone yelling.  He wondered what in the world was
going on.  Walking down the hall he could see that Commander Barton was on the
ship.
'What in the world is Commander Barton doing here,' Jesa thought.
He then heard Shane yelling.  He wondered what it was about.  As he got closer to
the entrance to the flight deck he saw a tech walking the other way.
"What's going on," Jesa asked.
"I wouldn't go in there Commander," the tech said.  "Shane is not in a good mood."
"What's happened," Jesa asked.
"Someone had the guts, to order Ruby Squad out on another patrol," the tech said.
"Great it sounds like Barton," Jesa groaned.  "I thought that he learned his lesson."
Jesa stood by a stack of boxes and listened to Shane yell at Barton.  There were a
few times that Jesa had to bite his tongue to keep him from howling with laughter.
He found some of the things that Shane said were funny.
As soon as Barton left, Jesa appeared from his place next to the boxes.  He was
shaking with laughter.  This was the second time that he had seen Commander
Barton that mad.  Yet it was only the first time that Jesa had seen Commander
Barton's Ego knocked down several pegs.
"Well Shane, that was Commander Jim Barton," Jesa said.  "He is leader of Zeta
Squad."
"So I gathered," Shane said.  "Is he always like that?"
"Sadly yes," Jesa said dryly. "I thought that would have learned his lesson last
year."
"Dare I ask what he did," Shane asked.  He kinda had an idea what he might have
done, but he was not sure.
"He tried to go outside the chain of command," Jesa said.
"Ah, you know this bit with Alfie is getting very old very fast," Shane said.
Jesa had to try to stop from giggling at the name that Shane gave to Bester.
'I think that I will have to file that name for Bester away for further reference,'
Jesa thought. "Ah yes, well he thinks that just because he is a Psi Cop he can do
whatever he wants to."
"That's the way I see it as well," Shane said. "'Course I wonder if it would have
anything to do with the fact that I was tested as a P-14. What ever that means."
Jesa was stunned. He had no idea that Shane was that powerful as a Telepath. He
knew that no one was ever rated higher than a P-12.
"You are a P-14," Jesa asked when he could finally speak.
"Is that a good thing," Shane asked. He did not know if that was good or not.
"Well look at it like this, P-5 is a commercial Telepath and a P-12's are designated
Psi-Cops," Jesa said. It still amazed him that he was that powerful.  "Plus the scale
normally stops at P-12."
"I see," Shane said. "Yet I was also told that I was an E-7. I think that is good as
well."
"I am not familiar with how the Esper ratings go," Jesa said.
"True.  Yet I have not been able to read one thought at all. I have been able to do
this though," Shane said as he then lifted a tool box off the ground to about three
feet.
Jesa was, once again shocked to see what Shane did.  This was the fist time he had
ever met someone that was a Telekinetic.  Let alone one that was not mentally
unstable.
"Is this all that you can do," Jesa asked.
"Well I have jumped from my quarters on Blue 14 to the Captain's office and that is
about it," Shane said. He did not want to tell him about his Precognition just yet.
"I see," Jesa said. 'He is full of surprises. What is he going to do next? Tell me
about the next year of my life?'
"Well I think that we should inform Commander Ivanova about what happened,"
Shane said. "I am sure that she would want to know all about it."
"That she would indeed," Jesa said as he walked over to the two seat VF-19 and
climbed up the ladder.  Shane followed him up a few minutes later. Once the both of
them were seated and settled, Shane took off.
                              ******
As luck would have it, Rico and Devon were both in one of the local bars having a
drink and looking at all of the women. It was amazing that Devon who could be a
prude was in a bar staring, sometimes drooling over some of the women that were in
the bar. Of Allishar, Allyson, and himself he was the most uptight and the one that
was the most opinionated.  He first impressions of the Guardians when they showed
up on station last month was favorable. That was until he saw first Laura and then
Allyson being subjected to the antics of the five Guardians that was the closest to
Neo-Queen Serenity. He was even less impressed by the one called Princess Mars.
She had no right to first yell at Lt. Commander Marason and then to yell at Shane.
They were just doing their job. In fact he knew that if the Guardians had not asked
for help then she and the rest of the Princesses would have been killed. In a sense it
would have been a trivial loss to loose Princess Mars and Princess Uranus.  There
was no cause for Princess Uranus to threaten a four-month old infant.  Sometimes he
wondered if that mission was worth the hell that they had to endure.
Among those that he called friend, was Rico. Perhaps it was because of the fact that
they usually hung out in the same places and always got to talking about women.
That in itself was a favorite topic and usually ended up in them laughing about
something that they both thought was funny.  That being the fact that Allyson had
that purple see-through lingerie.  They had both seen it last month and to this day
they still could not believe that she had something like that.
Devon was still unsure about Lt. Commander Marason. He had never really talked
to him at all. Yet from what he could tell Lt. Commander Marason was an
approachable person.  That much he was told and could see for himself.
Then there was the fact that this Captain Benton showed up last week. He had no
idea what this was all about. Granted they helped tow his ship in and well he had
not once had the chance to meet him first.
"Hey Devon, what about her," Rico asked as he pointed to the auburn-haired girl
that just walked in.
Devon looked up and saw the person that just walked in. She was about his height
and carried herself with a poise that almost screamed elegance.  Devon wondered if
she was attached to anyone.
"She is cute," Devon said. "Do you think that she is taken?"
"I dunno, but how do you think that she would look in that see-through bit of
Lingerie that Allyson has," Rico asked.
Devon was starting to blush a bit. He had no idea that Rico was so lewd. This was a
side of Rico that he had never seen before. To be quite honest he thought that this
was a trifle bit embarrassing.
"Rico, That is just plain rude," Devon said sharply. "Come on, you don't even
know who she is and you are already thinking about that?"
"Well it was just something that I was curious about," Rico said with a shrug.
Devon just sighed. He wondered if Rico was going to get worse or not. He hoped
that he was not and therefore save him from any more embarrassing moments.
Sadly, that was not to be the case. The person that walked in was now walking over
to the bar where they were sitting. She was wearing a similar uniform that they had
seen the pilots from the Macross 2 in. However, she made the uniform look good.
Devon tried not to drool over her. It looked to him that she was thinking about
someone.
Rico, on the other hand was about to start to turn on his usual charms.  Or in
Devon's mind lack there of.
"Um excuse me," Rico said. "But has anyone told you that your beauty could stop a
fleet of ships?"
The woman looked at Rico and recoiled in disgust. She could smell the alcohol on
his breath. This was one of her pet peeves. She could not tolerate anyone that was
drinking. Perhaps it was something about the way that people acted when they were
drunk.  Or perhaps it was because she had several bad experiences with people that
were drinking. She took one look at Rico and gave him a scathing glare.
"Listen, I don't take too kindly to tawdry pick up lines like that," she said coldly.
"Besides, I have given my heart to someone else."
Rico winced under that admonishment. To be quite honest this one stung. He then
heard the sound of a stop watch being shut off.
"2.5 seconds, a new record for you," a voice said from behind him.
As Rico turned around, he saw a woman sitting at the bar holding a clipboard and a
stop watch. She had a look of mischief in her eyes. He could swear that she was not
there a moment ago.
Devon just dropped his head into his hands and sighed heavily. He knew who this
was and to be quite honest, that was too much even for him.
"I think that I need a drink to put out this fire," Rico said as he hollered for the
bartender.
The woman that was between Rico and Devon looked from Devon to Rico and just
shook her head and left.  As she was walking out, noticed a woman that was
wearing a uniform that was similar to that of the man that tried unsuccessfully to
pick her up.
"You really need to have a talk with him," she said as she jabbed her thumb in the
direction of the bar.
"Oh," The other woman asked.
"Well he should have the decency to not drink so much and well to be honest, he
needs better pick up lines," She said.
"And your name," The other asked.
"I am Commander Danielle Masters," Danielle said. "And you are?"
"I am Lt. Laura D'Amico," Laura said. "Please just call me Laura.
"Fair enough. And as I said. Talk to him, before I deal with him the way I usually
deal with drunken perverts."
With that Danielle walked off.
                              ******
To say that Laura was upset would be like saying that the station rotated.  She could
not believe that Rico did something like that. No, she could believe that he would do
something like that because he had done something like that before. She walked
with purpose over to him and grabbed him by the ear.
"Let's go Rico," Laura said. "We need to have a little talk."
"Wait, Laura, Aw come on let go," Rico said half yelling and half pleading.
Laura did not let up until she got him in a transport tube.  She was mad at him and it
showed.  It was only then did she even release him.
"Listen Rico, what possessed you to do that," Laura asked.
"Well, she was good looking and it seemed like a good idea at the time," Rico said
with a shrug.
"Still that does not account for the fact that you managed to irritate her," Laura said.
"Well," Rico said sheepishly.
"What am I going to do with you," Laura said more to herself than to Rico.
                              ******
Jesa and Shane landed back in bay 14 and were in route to report to Commander
Ivanova.  Shane hoped that she would not yell at him for destroying those fighters.
He had no idea about her opinion of Psi Corp, or as he liked to call it "Psi Crap."
They were met half way by both Captain Sheridan and Commander Ivanova. This
was a surprise. Neither of them were expecting to see both of them. Shane thought
he could sense that the Captain was upset with him about some things.
"Ah Captain Benton, Lt. Commander Marason, you are just the two people that we
have been waiting to see," Ivanova said.
"Ok what ever it was I didn't do it," Shane said. Call it a case of paranoia or what
ever, but he was not about to be accused for something that was not his fault.
"Well that depends on what you didn't do," Sheridan said. "This was more about
what happened between you two and those Black Omega Starfuries."
"Ah well that," Shane said. "Well we were jumped by them. My flight recorders
will prove that. I was just acting in self defense."
"Well I think I will have Mr. Allen take a look at them," Sheridan said. "Lt.
Commander Marason you are dismissed."
"Thank you Captain," Jesa said and walked off.
"Shane there is one other matter that was brought to my attention," Sheridan said.
"It is in regards to Commander Barton."
"What about him," Shane asked.
"Well it seems that he filed a complaint with me stating that you refused to let your
pilots go out on patrol.  Also he stated that you made it a personal issue with him."
"Yes Captain I did," Shane said. "I had good reason to do that too."
"And they were," Ivanova asked.
"Well for one thing Ruby Squad had just returned from their patrol circuit and I told
them that they could have some down time," Shane said. "They had came back from
their fifth circuit too. Besides he did not have the decency to come to me and ask to
use my squads."
"Well that is Commander Barton for you," Ivanova said. "So it wasn't Lt.
Commander Morgan that had problems with him."
"Well at any rate, please refrain from anymore confrontations with Commander
Barton," Sheridan said.
"Understood," Shane said and walked off to his quarters.
                              ******
The remaining five days was a bustle of activity. It involved a White Star going
down to Epsilon 3 to retrieve the fold engines that were a part of the Macross 2.
Then the Mimbari arrived with the jump engine and installed it.  It was now at the
time that Shane and his ship was to leave.  As Shane was gathering his things to
leave his head began to spin and his actual sight went out on him.
                              ******
Shane found himself floating out in space without a space suit.  He was not dying,
but felt as if he was being gently caressed by the cold of space.  He saw ships of all
shapes and sizes.  Some looked as if was made out of cut crystal.  Others he
recognized as the same type of ships that were outside of the station.  Eventually the
entire fleet was joined by a large bi-pedal humanoid. It looked as if the shape had
large fins on it's shoulders.  The whole scene changed and Shane found himself and
the fleet in space next to a planet. He could see six shapes in the distance.  All of
them were shrouded in darkness but he could make out the outline of what ever it
was that was there.  Three looked to be human shaped. One was a ring. Another
looked as if someone had taken two sundew plants and smashed them together. The
final one was as if was a slug.
The fleet then started to attack the shapes. He could see fighters being destroyed
and several of the large ships were destroyed as well. He could not believe the
bloodshed that was caused by just those six forms.  What ever they were, they had
enough power to lay waste to ships without much thought.  That is if those things
could think.
It was at that time that he faded from the scene of the carnage.
                              ******
When he could see normally, Shane was disturbed by what he saw in that vision. He
had good reason to be disturbed by what he saw.
"Computer, Begin recording," Shane said.
"Standing by," The computer said.
"This vison that I saw was just plain frightening," Shane began. "I don't know when
this is or where it takes place.  Perhaps it is next month or perhaps it is next year.  I
see a large fleet of ships massing for an attack. Where it is I can't say, but what I do
know is that what ever they are facing will be destroyed.  I saw a humanoid shape
with what I think were fins on it's shoulders. What that is I don't know. I then see
the fleet over a planet facing six silhouettes. Three of these silhouettes are vaguely
humanoid. One looks to be a ring in shape. One looks like a giant slug with feelers.
The other one I don't know what it was.  I then see the fleet engaged the forms and
it looks as if the battle has become a blood bath. In the end many people have died.
I recognized several of the ships in the fleet. Some were Mimbari of that I am sure
of. I have never seen ships made of crystal before."
Shane had to stop recording. He was shaking. This was the most vivid vision that he
had ever had.  He believed that not one person would believe what he saw.
"In the end so many lives were lost," Shane said when he could speak.
"Computer, Transfer recording to crystal port and make two copies," Shane said a
few minutes later. His voice was shaking with fear. This was something that he had
to keep to himself.  As soon as the transfer was complete, Shane grabbed his bags
and headed to Captain Sheridan's office.
                              ******
When he got to Sheridan's office, he was still nervous and frightened.  He knew that
he had to give this crystal to the Captain.
"Ah Shane, is there something that I can do for you," Sheridan asked.
"Captain, I have something that I want you to keep. It is a data crystal. It has
something on it that is important. However, don't listen to it for a year," Shane said.
His expression was grim.
"Are you alright," Sheridan asked. "You look as if you have seen a ghost."
"It's nothing," Shane said. "I really don't think I can explain it."
"Ok I respect your right to privacy," Sheridan said.
"Thank you Captain," Shane said. "Well I hope to be back within a year's time."
"I look forward to it," Sheridan said as he stood up and extended it to shake his
hand.
"Thanks," Shane said as he shook his hand.
With that Shane picked up his bags and walked off to Bay 14 to return to his ship.
He had hoped to see Jesa one more time before he left. It turned out that Jesa was
out on patrol. As soon as he launched, Shane found where Jesa was and followed
him on his patrol route.
"Jesa this is Shane," Shane said.
"Shane what are you doing out here," Jesa asked.
"Well I just wanted to tell you that I am taking off for parts unknown," Shane said.
"Since my crew and I are new to this place we need to see where we are and what
this place is about.
"Well take care of yourself," Jesa said.
"I plan on it," Shane said as he turned his Valkyrie around and headed back in the
direction of the Macross 2.
The instant Shane's plane disappeared into the ship the ship itself winked out of it's
place next to the station.
                              ******