Disclaimer
---------------------------------------
Previously on Crusade:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"Intolerable!" Kosh said as he formed a small cut on Gideon's left cheek.
"All right, smart ass. You want some of this? Huh?"
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> To his surprise, not one ship orbited T'N'T'ha'dum'a. It seemed empty; alone. But why? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"My name is Fabyron."
"What do you want?"
"They wish to add you to their side. You would make a powerful ally," Fabyron whispered.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> Gideon quickly activated his link. He put in a code and activated the Whitestar. It screamed toward the planet with a load of 30 nuclear explosives. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"Did you really think that would work again? We learned many important lessons from the Shadows." <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"Susan, by the time you get this message I will be at T'N'T'ha'dum'a. I...love you."
"Oh please!" Ivanova yelled at the screen. "What a bunch of bull!"
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Gideon jumped off the edge into the abyss. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
---------------------------------------
Captain Susan Ivanova’s personal log—December 13th.
It’s been two weeks now since Gideon’s disappearance at T’N’T’ha’dum’a. We don’t know what’s happened. No one that I’ve talked to has even heard of the damned place, and to be entirely honest, I don’t know if we’ll ever get Gideon back.
I’ve started devising a plan to get him back. But it relies on Gideon being alive. That is a separate matter—a separate matter entirely. EarthDome has given me temporary command of the Excalibur in Gideon’s absence. Our official orders are to continue searching for a cure. Unofficially, I’ve got my ship—the EAS Death Incarnate, under the command of Lieutenant Matheson—searching for any information on what happened to Gideon. If it’s true that this is the time the TNTnites are making critical moves, then something’s got to turn up, eventually.
In the meantime, the Excalibur is heading to Babylon 5 at full burn. Right now I think it’s our last, best hope for finding Gideon.
****
“Captain Ivanova, we’re ready to make the jump out of hyperspace.”
“Very well, Ensign,” Ivanova said as she sat down. “Jump.”
With the order, a large jump point formed a small distance from Babylon 5.
“Captain, I’ve got Captain Elizabeth Lochley on the link. She wants to speak with you privately on Babylon 5.”
“All right. Tell her I’ll be over as soon as I can.”
****
Ivanova made her way onboard Babylon 5 soon after. There, an old friend—Security Chief Zach Allan, greeted her.
“Captain!”
“Hello Mr. Allan,” Ivanova said, “it’s good to see you again.”
“And you, Captain. How have things been going for you?” he asked as he took her identicard.
“Not well. Recently Captain Matthew Gideon has turned up missing near T’N’T’ha’dum’a.”
Allan suddenly dropped the identicard scanner. “T’N’T’ha’dum’a?”
“Yes. What’s wrong?” Ivanova asked, examining Allan’s facial expression. “Have you heard of it?”
“Yes ma’am,” Allan sighed. “It’s a place I never want to see.”
“Where have you heard about the place from?” she asked as she gave Allan the look.
He showed her to a more private area of the docking sector. “A few months ago we had a strange fellow come in from Proxima 3, said his name was…Fabyron, I think.”
“Fabyron,” Ivanova pondered.
“Yes ma’am. I thought he was a little suspicious, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. So, I let him pass.”
“And then?”
“Then, strange things started happening around the station. We had a few lurkers turn up dead.”
“That doesn’t seem like anything new,” Ivanova said as she prodded for answers.
“No, dead lurkers aren’t new. What’s new is the way they were murdered.”
“How?” Ivanova said as a certain realization came over her face.
Allan sighed, looked around suspiciously, and finally answered. “All of their brains were…sucked out. And we found Fabyron’s fingerprints on all of them. Trouble is, he left before we had a chance to pinpoint him as the suspect. ”
“Oh my God.”
“Listen, you’d better get to Captain Lochley. She seemed anxious to speak with you.”
“All right. Thank you for the information, Mr. Allan.”
*****
“Sir! We’re approaching the Nelgana system.”
“All right,” Matheson responded. “Prepare to jump.”
“Aye sir. Ready to jump at your command.”
“Jump!”
The bluish jump point formed just outside of Nelgana 3 space—the third planet in the Nelgana system. Matheson, with the help of the Rangers, had learned that this place was a staging ground for early TNT attacks on the Excalibur. Recent reports, however, had indicated that the TNTnites had moved on to bigger, more strategically valuable worlds. But perhaps, there was still some information to be gained from this planet.
“Prepare a shuttle and a small security team. I’ll be going down,” Matheson ordered.
“Aye sir,” the bridge officer affirmed.
Within an hour, the docking bays of the EAS Death Incarnate opened up and Matheson was on his way down to the surface.
****
“What in the hell have you done to Sheridan’s office?” Ivanova demanded to know.
“What do you mean?” Lochley asked.
“Pastels?”
“I felt they were best for the office.”
Ivanova gave a look of disapproval. “Yeah. Whatever.”
Lochley frowned. “Can we get down to business?”
“Certainly.”
“I have information that might be helpful to you.”
“What?”
“I’m sure Mr. Allan has informed you of Fabyron’s recent passage through Babylon 5. Well, I have even more than that. We recently had a Drazi pass through. He said his name was Vindrezi. As soon as all that Fabyron business had passed, he came to me asking for personal security. He said he had worked for the Vorlons some years back. I didn’t believe him, and told him to get lost. The thing is, he turned up dead days after. His brains were sucked out, too. That meant we had more of those TNTnites lurking around, or one of their agents. We found no fingerprints, so it probably meant that whoever did the job was a professional.”
“I see. I’m going to get back onboard the Excalibur and continue on mission. If you get anymore information that could help me, don’t hesitate to send it.”
“All right. I’ll talk to you soon, Captain.”
“And I'll talk to you soon too, you sorry excuse for an Ivanova replacement.”
****
Matheson sat down at a small table in a quaint bar just inside the largest city of Nelgana 3. He was disguised in civilian clothing in order to avoid setting a bad fashion statement for the Earth Alliance. Across sat a dark young man.
“My name’s Matheson, you?”
“Unimportant.”
“Would you like a drink?
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I would.”
Matheson signaled for the waiter. “What’ll you have?”
“Tea. Cold.”
“You heard the man,” Matheson said. As the waiter left, Matheson continued. “I need to know if you have any information.”
“Depends on what kind of information you’re looking for, son.”
“Important information,” Matheson whispered.
“Isn’t all information important?”
“Well, yes, but this is high-priority information I’m looking for.”
“Go on.”
“Have you ever heard of a race called TNTnites?”
The man frowned and lowered his voice to a barely audible volume. “This will cost you.”
“I don’t care about the price, dammit! I want answers!”
“All right,” the man signaled for Matheson to lower his voice. “A bunch of aliens came through a while back. This was a couple of months ago. Sometimes I could see them, other times they would be…invisible, if that makes any sense.”
“It does. Now what information can you give me?”
“They were looking for a man.”
“Who?”
“Depends.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you’re screwed, buddy!”
Suddenly the man jumped up, pulled out a PPG, and pointed it at Matheson. The security officers sitting at a table just behind Matheson jumped to their feet, but were promptly shot.
“Who are you?” Matheson yelled.
The mysterious man laughed. He brushed away a long strand of blonde hair. “All right. Walk!” he demanded. He ushered Matheson out of the bar and onto the cold, dark streets.
“What do you want with me?” Matheson demanded to know.
“None of your damned business, kid.”
*****
“Captain, we’ve scanned the system. We can’t find anything,” a young officer reported to Ivanova.
“Damn,” Ivanova responded. “I can’t wait any longer. We’ve got to get moving.”
Dureena and Max were behind her chair.
“And where exactly are you planning on moving to, Captain?” Eilerson asked.
“The only place we can move to—T’N’T’ha’dum’a. If Gideon is alive, my money is betting he’s there.”
“Are you crazy? We can’t go there! We’ll be shot down before we even get out of the jump point!” Eilerson yelled.
“We have to try!” Dureena yelled back at him. “…We have to try for Gideon.”
“Then put me on a shuttle back to Babylon 5! I am not going to T’N’T’ha’dum’a!” Eilerson retorted.
“Fine,” Dureena said. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t have the stones to help the Captain when he needs us.”
“Just shut up! Both of you! Before I rip every organ from your putrid bodies!” Ivanova yelled. “We’re going, and that’s the end of it. So sit back and enjoy the trip.”
Eilerson frowned and then stormed off the bridge.
“Helm…” Ivanova raised her chin. “Set course for T’N’T’ha’dum’a.”
“Aye. Plotting course now. Ready to jump at your command.”
“Jump!”
*****
Gideon sat alone in the dark. A small fire surrounded him to his surprise. Was he alive?
Then, he heard footsteps. An alien silhouette appeared in the distance. Then, it came closer and closer.
At last, the alien figure stood just over Gideon. He was terrified. “Who are you?”
“That’s the question,” she said laughing. “One thing is for sure—the TNTnites are on the search for you. We must leave before they find you, or all will be lost.”
“I don’t understand…how can you get me off, and how am I alive?”
“Well, it was a long fall, but I think the padding saved you in the end.”
Gideon looked down at the soft ground. “Oh. Does this happen often?”
“Oh, all the time. In fact, I was beginning to think you would never come. But now that you’re here, we must be on the move!”
--To Be Continued--
------------------
"The universe is already mad, anything else would be redundant."
Rising Star | The Coming of TNT | blackstar@welivefortheone.b5lr.com
[This message has been edited by BlackStar (edited November 22, 2001).]
---------------------------------------
Previously on Crusade:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"Intolerable!" Kosh said as he formed a small cut on Gideon's left cheek.
"All right, smart ass. You want some of this? Huh?"
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> To his surprise, not one ship orbited T'N'T'ha'dum'a. It seemed empty; alone. But why? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"My name is Fabyron."
"What do you want?"
"They wish to add you to their side. You would make a powerful ally," Fabyron whispered.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> Gideon quickly activated his link. He put in a code and activated the Whitestar. It screamed toward the planet with a load of 30 nuclear explosives. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"Did you really think that would work again? We learned many important lessons from the Shadows." <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"Susan, by the time you get this message I will be at T'N'T'ha'dum'a. I...love you."
"Oh please!" Ivanova yelled at the screen. "What a bunch of bull!"
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Gideon jumped off the edge into the abyss. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
---------------------------------------
Captain Susan Ivanova’s personal log—December 13th.
It’s been two weeks now since Gideon’s disappearance at T’N’T’ha’dum’a. We don’t know what’s happened. No one that I’ve talked to has even heard of the damned place, and to be entirely honest, I don’t know if we’ll ever get Gideon back.
I’ve started devising a plan to get him back. But it relies on Gideon being alive. That is a separate matter—a separate matter entirely. EarthDome has given me temporary command of the Excalibur in Gideon’s absence. Our official orders are to continue searching for a cure. Unofficially, I’ve got my ship—the EAS Death Incarnate, under the command of Lieutenant Matheson—searching for any information on what happened to Gideon. If it’s true that this is the time the TNTnites are making critical moves, then something’s got to turn up, eventually.
In the meantime, the Excalibur is heading to Babylon 5 at full burn. Right now I think it’s our last, best hope for finding Gideon.
****
“Captain Ivanova, we’re ready to make the jump out of hyperspace.”
“Very well, Ensign,” Ivanova said as she sat down. “Jump.”
With the order, a large jump point formed a small distance from Babylon 5.
“Captain, I’ve got Captain Elizabeth Lochley on the link. She wants to speak with you privately on Babylon 5.”
“All right. Tell her I’ll be over as soon as I can.”
****
Ivanova made her way onboard Babylon 5 soon after. There, an old friend—Security Chief Zach Allan, greeted her.
“Captain!”
“Hello Mr. Allan,” Ivanova said, “it’s good to see you again.”
“And you, Captain. How have things been going for you?” he asked as he took her identicard.
“Not well. Recently Captain Matthew Gideon has turned up missing near T’N’T’ha’dum’a.”
Allan suddenly dropped the identicard scanner. “T’N’T’ha’dum’a?”
“Yes. What’s wrong?” Ivanova asked, examining Allan’s facial expression. “Have you heard of it?”
“Yes ma’am,” Allan sighed. “It’s a place I never want to see.”
“Where have you heard about the place from?” she asked as she gave Allan the look.
He showed her to a more private area of the docking sector. “A few months ago we had a strange fellow come in from Proxima 3, said his name was…Fabyron, I think.”
“Fabyron,” Ivanova pondered.
“Yes ma’am. I thought he was a little suspicious, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. So, I let him pass.”
“And then?”
“Then, strange things started happening around the station. We had a few lurkers turn up dead.”
“That doesn’t seem like anything new,” Ivanova said as she prodded for answers.
“No, dead lurkers aren’t new. What’s new is the way they were murdered.”
“How?” Ivanova said as a certain realization came over her face.
Allan sighed, looked around suspiciously, and finally answered. “All of their brains were…sucked out. And we found Fabyron’s fingerprints on all of them. Trouble is, he left before we had a chance to pinpoint him as the suspect. ”
“Oh my God.”
“Listen, you’d better get to Captain Lochley. She seemed anxious to speak with you.”
“All right. Thank you for the information, Mr. Allan.”
*****
“Sir! We’re approaching the Nelgana system.”
“All right,” Matheson responded. “Prepare to jump.”
“Aye sir. Ready to jump at your command.”
“Jump!”
The bluish jump point formed just outside of Nelgana 3 space—the third planet in the Nelgana system. Matheson, with the help of the Rangers, had learned that this place was a staging ground for early TNT attacks on the Excalibur. Recent reports, however, had indicated that the TNTnites had moved on to bigger, more strategically valuable worlds. But perhaps, there was still some information to be gained from this planet.
“Prepare a shuttle and a small security team. I’ll be going down,” Matheson ordered.
“Aye sir,” the bridge officer affirmed.
Within an hour, the docking bays of the EAS Death Incarnate opened up and Matheson was on his way down to the surface.
****
“What in the hell have you done to Sheridan’s office?” Ivanova demanded to know.
“What do you mean?” Lochley asked.
“Pastels?”
“I felt they were best for the office.”
Ivanova gave a look of disapproval. “Yeah. Whatever.”
Lochley frowned. “Can we get down to business?”
“Certainly.”
“I have information that might be helpful to you.”
“What?”
“I’m sure Mr. Allan has informed you of Fabyron’s recent passage through Babylon 5. Well, I have even more than that. We recently had a Drazi pass through. He said his name was Vindrezi. As soon as all that Fabyron business had passed, he came to me asking for personal security. He said he had worked for the Vorlons some years back. I didn’t believe him, and told him to get lost. The thing is, he turned up dead days after. His brains were sucked out, too. That meant we had more of those TNTnites lurking around, or one of their agents. We found no fingerprints, so it probably meant that whoever did the job was a professional.”
“I see. I’m going to get back onboard the Excalibur and continue on mission. If you get anymore information that could help me, don’t hesitate to send it.”
“All right. I’ll talk to you soon, Captain.”
“And I'll talk to you soon too, you sorry excuse for an Ivanova replacement.”
****
Matheson sat down at a small table in a quaint bar just inside the largest city of Nelgana 3. He was disguised in civilian clothing in order to avoid setting a bad fashion statement for the Earth Alliance. Across sat a dark young man.
“My name’s Matheson, you?”
“Unimportant.”
“Would you like a drink?
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I would.”
Matheson signaled for the waiter. “What’ll you have?”
“Tea. Cold.”
“You heard the man,” Matheson said. As the waiter left, Matheson continued. “I need to know if you have any information.”
“Depends on what kind of information you’re looking for, son.”
“Important information,” Matheson whispered.
“Isn’t all information important?”
“Well, yes, but this is high-priority information I’m looking for.”
“Go on.”
“Have you ever heard of a race called TNTnites?”
The man frowned and lowered his voice to a barely audible volume. “This will cost you.”
“I don’t care about the price, dammit! I want answers!”
“All right,” the man signaled for Matheson to lower his voice. “A bunch of aliens came through a while back. This was a couple of months ago. Sometimes I could see them, other times they would be…invisible, if that makes any sense.”
“It does. Now what information can you give me?”
“They were looking for a man.”
“Who?”
“Depends.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you’re screwed, buddy!”
Suddenly the man jumped up, pulled out a PPG, and pointed it at Matheson. The security officers sitting at a table just behind Matheson jumped to their feet, but were promptly shot.
“Who are you?” Matheson yelled.
The mysterious man laughed. He brushed away a long strand of blonde hair. “All right. Walk!” he demanded. He ushered Matheson out of the bar and onto the cold, dark streets.
“What do you want with me?” Matheson demanded to know.
“None of your damned business, kid.”
*****
“Captain, we’ve scanned the system. We can’t find anything,” a young officer reported to Ivanova.
“Damn,” Ivanova responded. “I can’t wait any longer. We’ve got to get moving.”
Dureena and Max were behind her chair.
“And where exactly are you planning on moving to, Captain?” Eilerson asked.
“The only place we can move to—T’N’T’ha’dum’a. If Gideon is alive, my money is betting he’s there.”
“Are you crazy? We can’t go there! We’ll be shot down before we even get out of the jump point!” Eilerson yelled.
“We have to try!” Dureena yelled back at him. “…We have to try for Gideon.”
“Then put me on a shuttle back to Babylon 5! I am not going to T’N’T’ha’dum’a!” Eilerson retorted.
“Fine,” Dureena said. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t have the stones to help the Captain when he needs us.”
“Just shut up! Both of you! Before I rip every organ from your putrid bodies!” Ivanova yelled. “We’re going, and that’s the end of it. So sit back and enjoy the trip.”
Eilerson frowned and then stormed off the bridge.
“Helm…” Ivanova raised her chin. “Set course for T’N’T’ha’dum’a.”
“Aye. Plotting course now. Ready to jump at your command.”
“Jump!”
*****
Gideon sat alone in the dark. A small fire surrounded him to his surprise. Was he alive?
Then, he heard footsteps. An alien silhouette appeared in the distance. Then, it came closer and closer.
At last, the alien figure stood just over Gideon. He was terrified. “Who are you?”
“That’s the question,” she said laughing. “One thing is for sure—the TNTnites are on the search for you. We must leave before they find you, or all will be lost.”
“I don’t understand…how can you get me off, and how am I alive?”
“Well, it was a long fall, but I think the padding saved you in the end.”
Gideon looked down at the soft ground. “Oh. Does this happen often?”
“Oh, all the time. In fact, I was beginning to think you would never come. But now that you’re here, we must be on the move!”
--To Be Continued--
------------------
"The universe is already mad, anything else would be redundant."
Rising Star | The Coming of TNT | blackstar@welivefortheone.b5lr.com
[This message has been edited by BlackStar (edited November 22, 2001).]
