So, I had a rather long vacation period in which I managed to watch the entire series of B5, the movies, and Crusade. Somewhere in this time I managed to take some preventative cold medicine (wife was sick), which in turn gave me a funny dream... which became an outline... a rough draft... and finally:Dangerous Crossing
Epsilon Three spun slowly. The large yellowish orb orbited its star, Epsilon Eridani, the same as it had for millennia. There were even the same electrical readings coming from the planet.
Babylon 5, however, was not.
Neither was the local jump gate. Nor the plethora of Interstellar Alliance vessels that normally stood watch over the five mile long station.
Nothing was as it should be.
Everything was gone.
Except one
Omega destroyer.
“Still nothing else on sensors,” called the voice of Commander Ellsworth,
Agamemnon’s executive officer.
“Jump engines?” Colonel James asked. He’d managed to retain his command of the vessel for twelve years, and had served on board for an additional three; and yet in all this time, he’d never encountered anything like this.
“Recharging,” his XO replied. “Doubtful we could jump anywhere, though.”
Various bridge personnel scrambled about the duo, James in the big chair, Ellsworth to his right. “Let me guess…” James started.
“We lost the hyperspace beacon as soon as we jumped to normal space,” Ellsworth finished for him.
James pondered for a minute, weighing the options. “But we do have readings from Epsilon Three?” The means to contact Draal and the Great Machine had been a secret Sheridan had told him of long ago, a just-in-case fallback during the Earth civil war. It seemed almost a lifetime past.
“Affirmative, sir.” Ellsworth pressed left hand to associated ear, pressing his earpiece slightly deeper into his ear canal. It was the simplest way to increase the volume of the device for short durations, while maintaining a comfortable listening level afterward. His face twisted slightly as he spoke, “we’re being hailed.”
“Well that’s promising. Where’s it from?”
“Just outside the system, scanners haven’t locked onto any particular vessel or station. Recommend we launch fighters, sir. The signal is coming through on an unused Earth frequency; very suspicious.”
James nodded is acknowledgment of the situation. “Put the call through, audio only. Once we figure out more of what is going on, then we can decide if that is the correct course of action.”
“Aye, sir. Message relayed to speakers.” He relaxed his pressing on the earpiece, allowing his hand to fall to his side.
The voice that came through was instantly recognized by all, causing several of the bridge crew to stop in their tracks and look directly at their commanding officer. “
This is Commodore James of the United Starship Agamemnon
to unidentified vessel. Identify yourself and your purpose.”
Colonel James felt the eyes of his crew upon him. It was now his play, but he wasn’t sure how to proceed.
How do I handle myself? he thought. “Anything yet on scanners?” he asked.
Ellsworth paused a moment, listening for the sensor operator’s reply through the ever-trusty earpiece. “Nothing new,” he replied softly.
“Very well. Open a channel.”
“You’re on, sir.”
“This is Colonel James of the Earth Alliance Destroyer
Agamemnon. We seem to be a bit lost. Any assistance that you can offer would be greatly appreciated.”
Static buzzed softly over the open comm. channel as they waited for the response. Surely the commodore would find listening to his own voice just as discomforting as the colonel had. “Sir!” Ellsworth exclaimed. “Multiple vessels inbound, moving… fast! Silhouettes unknown.” They both turned and looked quickly over one of the Tac-Sit displays.
“
Colonel, we’ll be happy to assist anyway we can. We’re en route and will be there momentarily.”
“Understood, Commodore. Can we assume that your ships are those coming in from our port quarter?”
“
Affirmative,” came Commodore James’s reply. Dryly he continued, “
We’re just now picking up new contacts… I’d recommend you get ready to defend yourselves if you can. Hang tight, we should be there before the Klingons reach you.”
“Confirmed, Commodore. Commander, launch all fighters, activate defense grid and charge all weapons.” Colonel James paused and listened over the still open line. Although slightly muted, he could have sworn he'd heard the commodore say something about Vulcan...
But what does an ancient Roman god have to do with this? Czar "Yes, I realize I promised other stories," Mohab, who is as surprised as you are.
P.S. I did do alot of research for this to get the details worked out, I'm now 100% sure where Epsilon Eridani would be in relation to Federation/Klingon space, so I'm claiming author's prerogative on this and asking that you just follow along.
P.P.S. Partial hint at the date in the story, however, I'll give you all some captain's logs later if you're not up on B5 history.
Topic: Dangerous Crossing. (Read 3137 times)