"I'll get back to you, Ross. Keep on it."
"Yes, sir."
John tapped the desktop. His instinct told him that neither Watley nor Spano was responsible for the sabotage. Yet logic insisted otherwise. No evidence implicated any of the four weapons officers, but if they were the only ones qualified... John searched through the reports for the information he'd requested, of any other crew on board with weapons training. His link chimed.
"Sheridan. Go."
"Captain, Lieutenant Spano is asking to speak to you."
If it wasn't one thing, it was two things. John spread the reports out over his desk.
"Did he say what. he wanted?"
"He said he had some information, sir."
"Put him on."
He couldn't find the report. He started going through the entire pile again.
"Captain, I've been thinking about what you said, and about some things Lieutenant Ross has said to me."
The voice didn't sound like Spano's. The word Captain had even been spoken with respect. A stay in the brig with the threat of a court-martial did wonders. Or else he was putting on a good act.
"You're right. My negligence has endangered this ship and this mission. I'd like to help, Captain. You asked me for information, and I think I've come up with something."
John got to the bottom of the pile and still hadn't found the report.
"Cut to the chase, Lieutenant. We don't have much time."
"I wondered if you had considered officers who had previously served in the weapons section."
John put the pile of reports down, the information he was looking for missing. His mind began to make connections.
"Was there someone specific you had in mind, Lieutenant?"
There was silence from the other end of the link.
"Commander Corchoran was a weapons officer very early in his career, Captain."
John had a vague recollection of reading that in Corchoran's file, though the service had been so far back in Corchoran's career that John had forgotten it. The information he had requested from Corchoran about crew members with weapons training was missing -information that would have implicated Corchoran.
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
He broke the link and activated it once again.
"Commander Corchoran."
Corchoran's voice replied almost instantly.
"Corchoran here."
"Commander, I'm missing that report on other crew members who have had weapons training in their past," John said.
"It was in with those other reports I gave you, sir."
"Well it's not here now. Can you get another copy down to me in my office immediately?"
"Yes, sir."
John linked out, checked the time. He went through the pile of reports again, checked the floor under his desk. Spano might just be trying to divert suspicion from himself. He might still be the saboteur. John could send Corchoran out to help Ross instead. Corchoran's performance had been quite competent since John had taken command. But now instinct and logic were telling him the same thing. Corchoran had been constantly available, attentive, cooperative. But he had been little actual help with the discipline problems on the ship. John had been forced to take on duties that should have fallen to Corchoran. And then there was Corchoran's uncharacteristic violation of procedure, routing Anna's call to him during a battle alert, in front of the general. It was a small thing, but it suddenly seemed significant. Perhaps, for some reason, Corchoran wanted him to fail. And the destruction of Babylon 5 would be a spectacular failure. John had been thinking that the saboteur was motivated by sympathies to the Homeguard. But perhaps the motivation was more personal, more direct. Corchoran had not been promoted in four years. As a commander under Captain Best, he'd been trapped in a dead-end job. Perhaps, when Best had been "promoted," Corchoran had expected to receive command of the Agamemnon himself. And instead he'd been given a new captain. John's mind returned to Best's "promotion" and what little he knew about it. Best had made a serious error.
Procedure dictated that all ports be confirmed closed before opening a jump point. Best had failed to do that, and through his negligence had endangered his ship and crew. But checking ports was a precautionary measure, as many procedures were. No port should have been left open in the first place. John had assumed, with good reason, that the engine port had been left open through incompetence or carelessness on the part of Best's crew. But what if it had been left open on purpose, by someone who knew that Best would not check before opening a jump point?
The gamble would have been risky, but perhaps not unacceptable for someone desperate enough to take chances. John had heard of a handful of other such jump point misfires, and while they could generate dangerous displacement effects and do serious damage to a ship, none had ever destroyed one. The error would be showy enough that it couldn't be ignored, but most likely not fatal. He gave Corchoran five minutes, ten. The report did not come. John linked down to the brig.
"I want you to release Lieutenant Spano immediately. Tell him to get into an EVA suit and get out to the laser tube with Lieutenant Watley on the double. Then I want you to find and detain Commander Corchoran. Make that your top priority."
"Yes, sir."
John rested his forearms on his knees and tapped his hands together. He felt like he'd made the right decision. But if he was wrong, they would be unable to stop the Homeguard cruiser and Babylon 5 would be destroyed, and all those on-station would be killed.
* * *
Anna stood and caught Donne in her light, the EVA suit a brilliant white against the darkness. Donne's movements seemed shaky as she climbed over the ir-regularly shaped rocks scattered across the cave floor. In her right hand, the metal reflecting the light, was a PPG, aimed at Morden.
Anna looked back down at him, still caught in Donne's light, his gun wavering now, but clearly aimed at Donne. On his right arm was a PPG burn. Skin and blood, muscle and tendon had all been fused into a black mass. Morden hadn't been aiming at her. He'd been trying to defend them from Donne.
"He hid the two artifacts you found, the mice," Donne said.
"Luckily I found them."
Her tone was low, tight. Anna could hear the tension in her jaw. Morden's careful smile was slipping as he looked up at Anna.
"I knew that if Donne had her way, Earthforce wouldn't see a single artifact from this dig. I had to try to protect our interests."
Donne's activation of the link gave his voice an odd doubled quality. Anna heard it not only over the link but through the screen of his breather.
"You mundanes would love to have a weapon against us telepaths," Donne said.
"It's more than that. A lot more than that."
Morden was resting the butt of the PPG against the cave floor now. He shook his head, as if to stay conscious.
"What happened to Dr. Chang and his party?"
Anna moved in front of Morden's chest, careful not to block his aim.
"I know where they are. Tell Morden to put his gun down first. He's making me nervous."
"Why don't you both put your guns away," Anna said.
Donne stopped about four feet away, her face obscured behind the reflection off her faceplate.
"Let Morden put his gun down first."
Anna wondered if Donne had already decided what body parts to keep after she had killed them. She crouched down in front of Morden, his hand with the PPG extending to her left. She kept her eyes on Donne, on the clenched face, the narrowed eyes. She almost looked afraid, though the thought was ridiculous. How could two archaeologists possibly scare a trained assassin? Unless something else had scared her. Anna reached down with her left hand, found Morden's hand beneath hers. She squeezed it. He had to trust her. She'd distrusted him in a critical moment, and he'd been shot. If only she'd trusted him, Donne would probably be dead now. His hand opened, and she reached into his smooth palm and scooped out the gun. She brought it up in front of her, keeping it aimed at Donne.
"Okay, now put your gun away."
"This isn't what I had in mind."
"You don't think I'm going to shoot you."
"You seem to have your loyalties reversed. He's the one who destroyed your probe. Do you want to see its pitiful remains? It's on the other side of the outcropping" Anna felt time slipping away.
Morden was injured. They only had a few short hours to find the rest of Chang's party. She couldn't even tell in the dark whether they were trapped or not. And in the darkness the watchers were watching.
"This is what we're going to do. At the count of three we're both going to put these PPGs into our pockets. Then we're going to search for a way out; Morden needs help. And while we look, you're going to tell me what happened to Dr. Chang and his party."
Donne nodded.
"One."
Anna brought the PPG next to her jumpsuit pocket, and Donne did the same.
"Two."
Anna tucked the tip of it into the cloth.
"Three."
Anna slid the gun into her pocket as Donne did the same. They both brought their hands away.
"Good. Now let's go up the passage and see if we can find a way out of here."
Donne picked her way farther up the passage, toward the center of the rockfall, and Anna knelt beside Morden.
"How are you?"
"I'm sorry about the probe."
Behind the glare of the breather, his face was pale and shiny.
"I didn't have a choice."
"I'm sorry I distrusted you. If I hadn't shoved you, you wouldn't have gotten shot."
He smiled as he braced himself against her arm, pushing himself up.
"If you hadn't shoved me, I think she would have killed me."
She helped him to sit, his body settling into a lopsided position.
"I'll be okay," he said.
"This isn't a fatal wound, as much as it feels like it. Just let me catch my breath."
Anna nodded.
"Stay here."
She took Morden's scanner, located Donne with her light, and worked her way over. Her legs ached, from the rock that had hit them and from exhaustion.
"The scanner shows about a five-foot barrier of rock between us and daylight. Do you see any openings?"
Donne had climbed to the cave ceiling and was shining her light along the rocks.
"It's hard to tell, since it's dark on the other side. But I don't see any- g"
Anna narrowed the focus of the scanner and examined the barrier of rock blocking them in, wishing she could trust the readout more. Donne was right. It would be difficult to visually spot an opening. And so far the scanner wasn't offering any hope. Anna climbed along the barrier, scanning, shining her light into crevices. The rocks were huge, sharp, irregular. Too heavy to move. And even if they were able to move a few of them, it could cause another rockfall. The whole area was unstable.
"Do you know another way out?"
"I came in through an opening on the other side of the outcropping, near where I found the probe. I'd been heading for your site, but I got lost in the storm. The passage eventually led me here, where I saw the floodlights you'd set up. No one was here, and I couldn't reach anyone by link. I set up the plaser generator, hoping the signal was strong enough to get through."
It was a good story, except that it didn't explain why she'd brought the generator into the caves in the first place, or why she'd set it up far inside the caves, beyond the line of floodlights. That seemed more like an ambush than an SOS.
"This way looks totally blocked. Can you find your way back?"
"Yes. That's the way the others are. It will lead us out on the other side of though. It's a long walk. Maybe you want to leave Morden here. We can come back on the other side with some heavy equipment and dig him out."
Donne definitely didn't trust Morden. Perhaps that had been the whole reason for the ambush: to kill him-or to kill all of them. Perhaps the others were already dead. Anna couldn't figure out why Donne hadn't killed her yet. She had no illusions that Donne was afraid of her quick draw. Donne must need her for something. Perhaps to help her with the thing she was really afraid of, the thing Anna was afraid of too.
"We're not leaving Morden."
As they climbed over toward him, Morden pushed himself to his feet, using the cave wall for support.
"I'm feeling better."
Anna searched for his light, found it and the bag of floodlights crushed flat under a slab of rock. Anna linked off for a moment, turning her face away from Donne. Morden did the same.
"Can you walk?" Anna asked.
"For now."
"I can help you."
"Watch Donne. She wants you for something, but eventually she will try to kill you."
Morden's voice was smooth, his features, though pale and sheened with sweat, relaxed. It was as though the worse things got, the more hopeless they seemed, the more he felt at peace.
"We'll get out of this," she said.
He turned back to Donne. Anna linked back in.
"Lead the way, Ms. Donne."
Morden needed her help at first, to get over the rocks from the cave-in, then, as the way became clearer, he slid his hand from hers, moving with a cautious, controlled gait to the other side of the passage . He was creating two separate targets for Donne. Ahead of them, Donne paused to pick up something. It was an isocase; it looked like one taken from the probe. She continued do wn the passage.
"Are those the mice?" Anna asked.
"Yes. I found this hidden on the side of the outcropping."
Donne seemed to have recovered from her earlier shakiness. Her stride was confident, strong as she led them deeper and deeper underground. The cave floor here had been artificially polished, and the ceiling was a smooth, uniform eight feet high. If the caves were still inhabited, they were getting closer to the site.
"You shot Dr. Chang, didn't you?"
"Yes."
Donne didn't even bother to turn to face them. She was sure Anna wouldn't shoot her. Anna and Morden needed her to guide them out.
"When I first saw the images of the egg, I felt drawn toward it. At first I thought I was just interested in it because it was the most promising find. But when you took the probe to the cave and I objected, and you told me I'd lost it, I realized the egg had some sort of attractive power. As a telepath, I was the most sensitive to the attraction. I don't know how it worked, over all that distance, through a recording. I thought there might be a subliminal message or signal, and I examined the recording for one, but there was nothing I could find. I've never heard of anything like it. But once I was aware of it, I was able to block it out.
"When we landed on the planet, I think the rest of you started feeling the attraction as well, though it was subtle. Close up, though, the attraction was much stronger. As soon as we got to the site, everyone went to the egg, even though they'd been assigned different duties."
"Wait a second," Anna said, and Donne turned back with impatience.
"You said you discovered the attraction that day I took the probe into the cave, and that you were able to block it. That was almost three weeks ago. You've done nothing but question us about that damned egg and talk about how important and fascinating it is for the last three weeks."
"I needed to know what kind of power it had that could draw me to it from so far away. Once Morden translated the writing on it, I realized it was a trap of
some kind, designed to draw us in. I had to find out how it worked."
"So you encouraged Chang's party to study it."
Donne shrugged and resumed walking.
"They really didn't need any encouragement. The attraction was so strong at that point, even I couldn't look away from it."
Her voice slowed.
"It was a translucent milky white. The letters on its surface formed a grayish pattern that shifted when you weren't looking. It was riddled with hollows, curves, holes, tunnels. They seemed to invite habitation, and I remember
thinking of a Venus flytrap. The sense of malice was clear, to me at least, at the same time as the attraction.
Churlstein climbed onto it first. Churlstein, who looked like a snowman in his EVA suit and could barely scrape one thigh past the other. He'd somehow managed to climb up onto the thing, using the indentations and twists as footholds. He acted like he was king of the mountain. When Chang asked him what he was doing up there, he said he was going to record some of the inscriptions for Morden. Everyone seemed to like that excuse, and they all got close to it, some climbing into the holes and indentations, following the inscriptions with their scanners into the interior."
Anna walked faster to catch up to Donne. Within the EVA suit, Donne's face was a shadowed profile.
"I'm not sure when it started happening, but I realized that the internal shape of the egg had changed, that a large opening that had been on its front had closed over, and that Scott, who had been in that opening, was gone. One of the tech's voices, over the fink, trailed off in a sigh. It took me a few minutes before I could actually catch the egg changing, and then I saw it. It was like a trick of the light, like catching a reflection off of something you hadn't known was there, like a pane of glass, and the reflection shines the light back at you, turning something from clear to white. Except that instead of turning clear again, the white stays, as if it has always been that way. Petrovich was gone.
Chang must have seen it too, because he stumbled a few steps back and started yelling at everyone to get away from the egg. And then the whole thing seemed to-ripple, like the hot air makes things in the dessert ripple, and the egg was solid. It was like the Trojan Horse, but in reverse. They were all gone except for Chang, who had taken a few steps away. He seemed... stunned. He turned toward me, and then the reflection thing happened again, and the egg was around Chang's foot. His whole body seemed to relax, and I heard him sigh, like the tech had sighed. When he started to turn back to the egg I shot him. I'm not sure when I drew my gun but it was in my hand.... I wanted to see what would happen. When he fell, the egg released him. Apparently it has no interest in the dead."
Anna swallowed the tightness in her throat, running her hand over the pocket with the PPG. Why couldn't Donne have tried to save Chang? Perhaps, with her telepathic abilities, she could have stopped the egg somehow.
Babylon 5 07 - The Shadow Within (Cavelos, Jeanne) Page 19