The Operations room was a hive of activity as they tried to contact Starfleet One. They were having no luck.
“It’s no use Captain.” said Ivanova. “I can’t get through! All the channels are being jammed!”
“What about the Gold channels?” said Sheridan.
“No luck there either.”
Sheridan thought quickly. He had to do something.
“Do we still have the I.S.N. feed?” he asked.
“Yes.” replied Ivanova. “But what use will that do?”
“Put it on the screen.”
The image of the newscaster appeared on the screen.
“And we are still awaiting the start of the President’s speech from Io. There has been no indication as to the reason for the delay.”
The image changed to an outside shot of Starfleet One nearing the moon of Io. The newscaster continued to speak as these pictures were relayed all over the Federation. Then there was a feeling of shock and a feeling of horror as millions of people watched as Starfleet One exploded. I.S.N. quickly cut back to the newscaster.
“There appears to have been an accident aboard Starfleet One.” she said, holding her ear-piece. “I’m being told that hospital ships are being despatched from the Jupiter station…..but there are reports of no survivors. We will….”
“Shut it off.” Sheridan ordered. “Shut it off!”
“I don’t understand!” said Ivanova, a tear in her eye. “How can he be dead?”
Thomas Leacock began to come around. His head felt like a mule was kicking it - from the inside. Getting to his feet he walked over to his desk and began searching through his drawers for some sort of pain killer. He didn’t find any medication, but he did find some sort of plastic box. The box was clear, and circuits could be seen inside it. He looked at it closely and wondered what it was. Then he heard someone outside, and suddenly the door to his study burst open and a Starfleet Security team came rushing in.
“Mister Leacock? We were getting worried about you. Starfleet Command has been trying to contact you for two days!”
“Two days?” said Leacock. “I can’t remember anything about the past two days!”
“Then you haven’t heard the news. President Watt is dead! Starfleet One was destroyed near Io!”
Leacock could not believe it. How could President Watt be dead? Then the guard noticed the object in Leacock’s hand.
“What’s that you have sir?”
Leacock handed the object to the guard.
“Looks like some sort of jamming device. There’s a number on the side here.”
The guard looked at the number.
“This is the Gold channel number to Starfleet One! Their transmissions were being jammed just before it exploded!”
The guard activated his communicator. A few minutes later Leacock was placed under arrest, suspected of the murder of President Watt.
Sheridan stood on MedLab and watched as Doctor Franklin and his team worked to repair Garibaldi’s injuries. He then turned to the security guard to issue orders. The guard in question was Burton.
“I want a full search of this station.” said Sheridan. “I want no stone unturned. I want Deveraux found - alive!”
Burton nodded and went to carry out his orders.
Ambassador Mollari sat in the gardens deep in thought as Morgan approached him. Quickly Mollari got to his feet and walked over to Morgan.
“What have you done?” he asked.
“You had a problem.” said Morgan. “I solved that problem. The word is that your government is very pleased with the way you handled things!”
“But you killed ten thousand Narn warriors!”
“I though you hated the Narns!”
“I do, but that isn’t the point!”
“The point is that you are now considered a hero on your Homeworld! If I were you I would enjoy the praise while it lasted!”
In his officer Sheridan sat looking at his view screen. He was in contact with Starfleet Command on Earth and speaking to Senator Hidoshi.
“Garibaldi uncovered something big Senator. It was because of this he was shot. He knew who was going to kill the President!”
“I hardly think your security chief could stumble over an assasination plot Captain. Starfleet One was destroyed by an engine failure and nothing more!”
“But Senator, we do have evidence!”
“I will hear nothing more of this matter. Hidoshi out.”
The screen went blank. Sheridan slammed his fist into his desk in anger.
A full security team rushed into one of the cargo bays to see Burton standing over the bodies of Deveraux and his men, phaser in hand.
“What happened?”
“He fired his phaser at me, so I fired back. He took a hit at close range. My phaser was set on stun. The blast killed him!”
The guard bent down and picked up Deveraux’s phaser. He then looked up at Burton.
“This phaser is cold. It doesn’t feel like it’s been fired!”
Burton stared coldly at the guard.
“Are you questioning me?”
“No. These things cool down pretty fast anyway!”
Na’Toth had spent the last hour or so searching Babylon 5 for Ambassador G’Kar. Since she had told him of the attack on Quadrant Thirty-Seven he had seemed very distant. She was getting worried about him. Since then she had not seen him. Now she had returned to his quarters in the hope that he had gone back there too.
“Ambassador G’Kar?”
The sound of Na’Toth’s voice activated the computer. Shortly afterwards the image of G’Kar appeared on the screen.
“Na’Toth, by the time you receive this message I will be long gone. The attack on Quadrant Thirty-Seven has raised many questions. Why? And by who? The Federation would not, the Centauri don’t have the courage, the Minbauri would not, and the other races wouldn’t care. No, I suspect that there is another force in all of this, and this is the reason I have left. I will return when I find what this strange new force is that has attacked our people. I do not know how long I will be. Expect me…when you see me.”
The message over, Na’Toth hoped G’Kar would return safely.
Sheridan sat in the bar, drink in hand, watching the I.S.N. news feed. It was showing some very interesting news.
“Senator Servalan was sworn in as the new Federation President under emergency regulations.”
The screen then showed Servalan giving her first speech as President. It included the usual political mumbo-jumbo. Sheridan paid it no heed. Then he was surprised when Ambassador Kosh suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere next to him. He almost jumped out of his skin.
“Ambassador! How can I help you?”
Kosh said only three words before walking away.
“It has begun.”
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