In San Francisco Senator Servalan hurriedly walked around the quarters that had been assigned to her. She was busy packing her case as she prepared to join President Watt on his five planet goodwill tour aboard Starfleet One, a tour that would encompass the colonies on Mars and Venus as well as the station near Jupiter’s moon Io. She was annoyed when her communications console was activated. She did not want to receive any call at the moment, but then she thought the call could be from the President himself. Walking over to the table she sat herself down in front of the terminal and activated the view-screen. It was not the President calling. Instead it was a smartly-dressed young man with black hair and wearing a smart grey suit. Although this man was smiling Servalan was not happy to see him.
“Morgan, I told you not to contact me here.”
“Do not worry Senator. I am on a secure channel. We are not being monitored. We can both speak freely.”
“Good. I trust no recordings are being made of this conversation.”
“Of course.”
“Then give your report if you must. And be quick, I’m due on Starfleet One in a few moments. Are you on Babylon 5 yet?”
“I just arrived, and everything is as you said. Captain Sheridan is due to arrive any time now, and he’s going to gave trouble on his hands as soon as he arrives. Mollari and G’Kar are at each other’s throats over the Quadrant Thirty-Seven problem. It seems that there is no solution to this problem. Neither side can agree to anything!”
“Then perhaps you can provide a solution, Morgan. You have the device?”
“I’ve been able to make a few copies of the prototype. If we are needed the Narn won’t know what hit them!”
“And Londo Mollari will seem like a hero to his government.”
“Or a fool, depending on how you look at it.”
“When is the council due to meet?”
“Commander Ivanova will chair a meeting this afternoon so Captain Sheridan can settle in. With luck I will speak to Ambassador Mollari this evening about his ‘problem’.”
Servalan smiled.
“I wish you luck Morgan.”
“And the same to you, Senator. Morgan out.”
The screen went blank. Servalan leaned back in her chair and smiled. All seemed to be going well for her. Then her door buzzer sounded and a security officer entered.
“The President is awaiting you Senator.”
Servalan got to her feet and walked towards the door while the guard picked up her case.
A short time later she beamed aboard Starfleet One, the President’s own ship, which was docked at McKinley Station. In orbit nearby was Starfleet Two. Servalan stood on the bridge where she saw President Watt, Vice-President Thomas Leacock and Senator Luis Santiago. In the captain’s chair was Leonard Johnson, the commanding officer. As soon as Servalan entered she was greeted by Watt.
“Welcome aboard Senator.”
Watt kissed her hand. Although he had no liking for the senator he was always polite and courteous to her. Then the communications officer called to Captain Johnson.
“Sir, I’m getting a communication from San Francisco. They are getting a message from the Time of Legends. It’s for Vice-President Leacock sir, from Istarix.”
“I will take it in my quarters.” said Leacock.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” said the communications officer. “The call is from Gandalf. He wishes to speak with you alone, at your home. He says it’s urgent Istarian business.”
Leacock turned to Watt.
“I’m sorry about this Jim. I can’t think what those old devils want.”
Watt patted his V.P. on the shoulder.
“If it’s Istari business then it’s important. You can take a shuttle and catch us up near Io.”
Leacock smiled and left the bridge, beaming back down to the surface a few moments later. As Leacock left no one seemed to notice the slight smiled on Servalan’s face. Shortly afterwards Starfleet One and it’s sister ship soon left for the Venus colony. Watt knew he was not going to get a good reception there.
Meanwhile Leacock arrived at his home on the outskirts of Paris. As he entered the building the lights came on. He soon made his way to his study and opened the door. When he did the first thing he saw was two black-clad men holding what appeared to be phaser-type weapons. Each wore helmets that covered their faces.
“What the hell is this?” said Leacock. “How did you get in here?”
The men did not reply. They just held their weapons up, aimed at Leacock, and fired. He had not time to use his magical powers. He slumped to the floor unconscious. One of the guards checked his pulse.
“He’s unconscious, and alive!”
“Good.”
One of the men then reached into his pocket. He took out a small yellow box-type thing. He put it onto one of the drawers in Leacock’s desk.
“That’s the jamming device planted. Where’s the triangulation system?”
The other man reached into his tunic and took out a circular device. He then moved several books off the shelf until he found what appeared to be a safe. Opening the safe he placed the device inside. He then put the books back in their proper place.
“That’s it. Now let’s get out of here.”
One of the men took out a communicator and activated it. A few seconds later they were beamed away.
The jump-gate near Babylon 5 was activated as the huge starship, the U.S.S. Agamemnon, arrived at the station. The arrival of this war cruiser caught everyone by surprise, especially Ivanova.
“What the hell are they doing here?” she said as she spilt her coffee on the Ops floor. “They aren’t due for another six hours!”
She hastily got to her feet and quickly made her way to the customs area. As she arrived she tugged on a security guard’s arm. They soon saw Captain John Sheridan, bags in hand, coming aboard the station to take command.
“Welcome to Babylon 5, Captain Sheridan!” said Ivanova, saluting.
The young guard also saluted.
“Thank you, Commander Ivanova.”
“We were not expecting you so soon.”
Sheridan handed his bags to the guard.
“Please take them to my quarters.”
The guard did as she was told and then left Sheridan and Ivanova alone.
“Perhaps a brief tour is in order.” said Ivanova.
“Certainly!”
Ivanova began to show her new C.O. around his new command.
“I read your report on the Frankenstein incident. Did you conduct another search of Epsilon 3 after Captain Sinclair had left?”
“Three, sir. We still couldn’t find the pod.”
“And what about the clearance papers for his cargo? Who signed them?”
“I don’t know. The records seem to have been wiped from the computer, by who I don’t know!”
Sheridan stopped and stared at Ivanova.
“You mean an outside source has ready access to our computer net?”
“It is possible, but the records could have been wiped by someone on the inside. We could have a mole. If we have he, or she, is covering their tracks very well.”
“Continue with your investigation. What other business is there at the moment?”
“The Narns and the Centauri are arguing over Quadrant Thirty-Seven.”
“So what else is new? The Narns and the Centauri are always arguing.”
Sheridan let out a huge sigh.
“Could you handle this? I’m very tired from the journey. Besides, I hear you have wonderful oranges here. I haven’t had a real orange in nearly three years aboard the Agamemnon. I always feel that the replicator doesn’t really do it justice!”
“I can try. But I don’t think Londo and G’Kar will get very far. Both of them can be very stubborn!”
“I hope they can settle this thing, what with the Romulan talks coming up. Anyway, if you need me give me a call. I’m going to my quarters to get some sleep.”
And with that Sheridan walked towards his quarters, leaving Ivanova hoping that she could cope with the small problem.
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