Destroyers
Chapter 1

--- Preparations ---
Part 4 of 5
[I think]

Written by Shaule Sachs
(c) 1996, Shaule Sachs
#include #include ===== [Babylon 5; Command-and-Control Mid morning July 12, 2256] "ETA for Narn Ambassador, Lieutenant Commander?" Sinclair asked. "Narn Ambassador is scheduled to arrive in two hours, sir," replied Lt. Commander Takashima after looking at her board. "I suggest using Bay Three, since its the most completed of the Docking Bays at the moment." "How long until the other Bays are repaired?" asked Sinclair. "Another two hours after the Narn Ambassador arrives Commander," came the answer. Seeing Sinclair's face, Takashima continued, "Security Chief Garibaldi captured the saboteur three hours ago. Earth Dome wants us to send her to Earth for trail." "But the crime was committed here," Sinclair said, surprised at Earth Dome's decision. "Yeah well, that's why Earth Dome feels that she would get a /fair/ trail," Takashima continued, "I guess the fact that we caught her setting the explosives would cloud our judgement." She shrugged and said, "I don't see why." Sinclair sighed. "When does the shuttle arrive?" he asked. "About an hour sir, we should be ready when he gets here." "Very well, *sigh*, I'm going to see Ambassador Delenn to see what protocol she wishes to use to meet the Narn Ambassador," Sinclair said, turning towards the exit. Just before reaching the door he turned his head towards Laurel and asked, "What's the Narn's Ambassador's name?" "The Car, or something," came the reply. ****************************** [Babylon 5; Main Security Office Noon, July 12, 2256] "Okay people, we have fifteen minutes until the shuttle arrives," Michael Garibaldi, Security Chief of Babylon 5, said to the three security officers present. "Is the prisoner ready to be /transferred/?" he asked. "Yes sir," replied Jack, Garibaldi's aide. "I've got all the paperwork done." "*Paper*work?" asked Security Officer Elizabeth Thomson, "actual paper hasn't existed for centuries..." "So," replied Garibaldi and Jack together smiling. "I mean, why keep such an archaic term for something that does not exist anymore?" Officer Thomson asked. "Well, the work part remains. It's just the medium that's changed," replied Garibaldi, trying to explain it to the young officer. "And it's still a pain in the ass to do," Jack continued. "Oh," Thomson said. "And next time, Lisa, you get to do the paperwork," Jack joked. "And when you make Chief some day, you'll thank us for starting you early," Garibaldi said in the same tone as Jack. Looking only slightly serious, he said, "The higher in the ranks you get, the higher the pile of paperwork you have to do." "Eeck," Lisa replied, "So you're saying if I don't get promoted, then I'll won't get more paperwork?" "Yep," Jack replied. "Then maybe I shouldn't accept any more promotions then," Lisa said with a smile. "Wish I thought of that," Garibaldi said, "Well we've a prisoner to escort to Docking Bay Three." So saying, Garibaldi headed towards holding. "*Alien*-lover," screamed the prisoner, "They're trying to take away our souls..." "Yeah, yeah, just be a good girl and get in the shuttle," Garibaldi said tired of listening to her. He was glad to hand her over to the Alliance Marshals after listening to her screaming on and on as he escorted her from the holding cells to the Docking Bay. Once safely with the Marshals, Garibaldi decided to walk around the station to get a feel for it. From the docking bays he headed towards the Zocalo. The Zocalo, at the moment, was silent. The merchants who had rented space from Earth Alliance were busy setting up their respective shops. He knew the quiet would not last, so he tried to enjoy it. After about fifteen minutes or so, Garibaldi had gone through most of the Zocalo. As he was heading out a disturbance started. Two shopkeepers were arguing. What they were arguing about he could not tell since the two shopkeepers were aliens, each speaking in his/her/its own native language, which added to the argument. When he got close enough he asked, "What's the problem?" hoping that either one or both understood Alliance Standard. Well, even though it was in their rent agreement, which clearly stated that the rent must know Alliance Standard, neither aliens answered his question. Either they did not understand the language or they were ignoring him. He did not like the later idea. Believing that music is the universal language Garibaldi shouted, "ENOUGH!" Both aliens stopped in mid sentence, looked at Garibaldi and his uniform, and made a single sound towards their respective shops. Out of each shop another alien appeared. The two aliens looked at the their fellow alien, then at Garibaldi, and said, "What is problem, officer?" "That's what I want to know," Garibaldi replied. He then proceded to explain to the newcomers that he had heard the ruckus the two other aliens were making and he wanted to know what the agrument was about. It turned out that the shopkeeper on the left had put a large box on the other's area. When the other shopkeeper complained in her own native language the other could not understand so he began to complain in his native native language, thus began the /argument/. "That's why we decided on a standard language to be spoken while your on Babylon Five," Garibaldi explained. Just then his comlink beeped. "Garibaldi here," he replied. "The Commander wants us in Docking Bay Three, formal, to welcome the Narn Ambassador in fifteen minutes," Takashima said. "Right. Garibaldi out," he said closing the link. Garibaldi met Sinclair just as they both were entering the Bay. Garibaldi turned to Sinclair and said in a conspriatal voice, "Formal uniforms are torture devices." Sinclair could only smile at the remark. "Well, Michael, this shouldn't take long," he said back to Garibaldi. "That's good, Jeff," Michael replied. "Then we have to do it again for the Centauri Ambassador," Jeff said with a smile. "That's bad," Michael shot back. They both waited by the viewport, so named since it gave a view of the Docking Bay, while waiting for both Takashima and the Narn shuttle. Takashima arrived first, still trying to fasten her uniform's button together. "I'm going to *kill* the guy who designed formal uniforms," Takashima said with vemon. Garibaldi could not resist putting in, "why are you so sure it was a guy that designed them?" Takashima could only look daggers at him. "Shall we greet the Ambassador people?" asked Sinclair, who noted that the Narn shuttle was starting to do the final docking procedure. "Right," both Garibaldi and Takashima said. They had just entered the bay as the shuttle was preparing to disembark its passenger. A single person exited the shuttle and walked up to Commander Sinclair. "Greetings, I'm called G'Kar," the Narn Ambassador said as he crossed his arms and bowed. Sinclair took a step forward and said, "I'm Commander Jeffery Sinclair, Babylon Five's Commander, to my right is Michael Garibaldi, the station's Security Chief, and to my left is Laurel Takaishma, the station's Executive Officer." Ambassador G'Kar nodded. "Lieutenant Commander Takashima will excort you to your quarters in the Ambassadorial section. If you have any problems, please, don't hestiate to ask for help," Sinclair said. "I'm sure there won't be any problems Commander," G'Kar said and turned towards the door. After a few steps, G'Kar stepped on a tool that had been left out from the repairs to the bay. The tool went out from G'Kar's foot, causing G'Kar to fall on his rear and the tool to hit the bulkhead. Garibaldi had no choice but to turn away to keep his laughter hidden. Lt. Commander Takashima looked to Sinclair with a face full of shock. The worst part of it was that it took G'Kar a few moments to realize that he was flat on his ass, at which point G'Kar started complaining about the incident, how it was an attempted assassination, an attempt to embarrass the Narn government in front of others, to . . . "Enough, Ambassador, there is no other govornment representatives here except Earth Alliance," Sinclair cut the Narn off. He continued, "The Centauri are not to arrive for another five hours. It was an accident. These things happen. I'll personally escort you to your quarters or to MedLab if you feel the need..." "No... No, I'm fine," G'Kar replied. "Very well, shall we go," Sinclair asked giving G'Kar a helping hand up. The rest of the day went better than what had previous occurred. The meeting with Delenn and G'Kar went well and the arrive of the Centauri Ambassador, Londo Mollari, went smoothly. So smoothly Sinclair wondered if either the Fates were making it up to him for what happened with the Narn Ambassador or the Fates were trying to lull him into a false sense of security. When he mentioned it to Michael, he went with the false sense of security route. /* Of course, his job is to look towards the pestimist view, */ Sinclair thought. *********************************** [Babylon 5; Command-and-Control Late Evening, July 12 - 13, 2256] Sinclair was sitting at his post, reflecting on the day's events. The Narn and Centauri ambassadors were aboard. The Zocalo was filling in nicely. Ambassador G'Kar had dropped the complainant about his accident. /* So why do I feel like the other shoe is going to drop soon? */ he thought. Well, it was not until almost oh three hundred, the next day, that the other shoe dropped, and when it fell there was a brick inside it. "Commander," said Tech Number One, "Raider activity reported in Sector 16, sir. Six interceptor-class craft, minimum load and armament." "What's their target?" Sinclair asked. "The message came from the EAC Baltimore," the Tech replied. "Sounds fimilar," Sinclair said, "launch Delta Squardon to intercept. Have Alpha Squadron placed on alert stand-by." "Yes, its scheduled to arrive here in three hours," Tech One said, It's carrying the last of our supplies, seeds, rations, and ..." "And what... Ensign?" Sinclair asked. "Part of the manifest, it lists Knight Enterprise rations on it," came the reply, "but haven't they left already?" "No, they have an office aboard. A contract arrangement. Not a bad idea, I think," Sinclair said. "Yes sir," the Tech replied. "Should I alert the Lieutenant Commander?" "No, Laurel deserves some sleep," Sinclair said. "This is Delta Leader to Babylon Control," the voice on the comm system said. "Babylon Control to Delta Leader, raider activity reported in Sector 16. Investigate and lend any assistance as needed to the cargo ship Baltimore. ETA to target is three hours," Sinclair said. "Copy Babylon Control. Delta Squadron is away," Delta Leader said. "So what are they after?" Garibaldi asked when Sinclair informed him of the Raider activity. "I don't know, Michael, unless.... How much space did Zaxxon get?" Sinclair asked. "Huh? What does.... A little more than two standard stores in the Zocalo.... Plus two good size suites in Green Sector, a little way from the Ambassadorial wing.... Why?" Michael asked. "Part of the Batlimore's menifest listed Knight Entrprise rations as its cargo," Sinclair replied. "I still don't understand Jeff," Garibaldi said. Sinclair sighed and said, "Maybe if you knew that Frost Food Company is owned by Knight Enterprise...." Garibaldi eyes widen as he said, "They're after chocolate? I know Sophie's Chocolate bars are good, but, to take on an Earth Alliance transport...." "Well, somebody thinks they're that good, I guess. I understand that they are in high demand on worlds that wouldn't have had contact with the Alliance without making some kind of arrangement to buy some. They sell as well as, if not better than, spoo does," Sinclair said. "Not to mention how much they are worth on the Black Market," Garibaldi said, "still... they're just candy bars." "Status on Delta Squadron Ensign?" Sinclair asked. "Delta Squadron reports that they have the transport in visual range, no sign of the Raiders, sir. The Baltimore has some battle damage on its port haul but Delta Four believes that it should be able to complete its jounrey here," replied the Tech on duty. "Good," replied Sinclair, "have them escort the Baltimore here. Place Alpha Squadron off alert status but maintain stand-by until Delta Squadron is green lighted." "Yes sir," the tech answered. *********************************** [Babylon 5; Zocalo Afternoon, July 13, 2256] Delenn was walking through the Zocalo and she noticed a crowd of humans and aliens gathering around a particular store. She spotted Mister Garibaldi standing idly by the front of the store. She hesitated for a moment but curiousity won out. She approached him carefully, remembering a time when she was younger and had /disturbed/ a member of the Warrior caste. "What is happening here?" she asked, gesturing towards the crowd. She continued, "Why is everyone gathering around this store? Are not all the stores opening soon?" Garibaldi looked around. He noted the number of people standing in the Zocalo, the sign of the place, "Frost Food Store," and he also noted Delenn's puzzled look. /* At least, I think that's puzzlement, */ he thought to himself. Taking a deep breath he said, "Well, it would seem everyone is waiting for that shop to open." Delenn looked at Garibaldi then at the people in the Zocalo and back at Garibaldi. She said, "Okaaaaaay...," clearly not understanding. Garibaldi looked at Delenn as she said that. It seemed like she was trying to imitate the Commander and failing. "But why are they all standing in front of this place?" Delenn asked. "Well, this store belongs to Knight Enterprise and Frost Food," Garibaldi said as if that should answer the question. Looking at Delenn's face, he realized it did not, sighing resignedly he continued, "Sophie's chocolate bars." Garibaldi sighed and said, "the chocolate bars at the station inauguration ceremony...." "Oh, I recall eating a few. They were rather good," Delenn said with a fond remembrance. "And these /chocolate bars/ are for sale? What are their price?" "Well," Garibaldi said looking sheepishly, "that depends on how many they were able to deliver. They are in demand everywhere. They are very hard to come by outside of the Earth system. So their price varies from place to place." Garibaldi sighed and said, "Chief Warrant Officer's pay isn't that much so I'll won't be able get that many. Maybe... two or three. Why do you ask?" "Just wondering," Delenn replied. "How long do they, the chocolate bars, last?" "The bars themselves can last without proper storage for about a month or two. I figure that the store will be sold out in about an hour after they start selling them," Garibaldi said. "So fast?" Delenn asked. "What about the people who comes after that?" "S.O.L.," Garibaldi said. Seeing Delenn's puzzled faced he added, "It's an acryomn. S for Sorry, O for Out of, and L for Luck. S.O.L. Sorry, Out of Luck." "But what about..." Delenn began. Anticipating Delenn's question Garibaldi just nodded and said, "There's only so much room on an Earth transport. So like it or not, it's first come, first serve." "That's not fair," Delenn stated. "The Universe is not fair," Garibaldi said sadly. Delenn saw Garibaldi's face change from sorrow to something else as he said, "And some of us are here to make sure the Universe is fair. If you'll excuse, I've some crowd control to do." Garibaldi stepped away from Delenn towards a small group of people who were shoving each other. To herself Delenn said, "Yes, Mr. Garibaldi, the Universe is not fair.... It will be interesting to see if your kind can change it or not." === End of Part 4 === [One more part to go for Chapter 1. Wow.]