Criticism is welcomed. Without, it there can't be any improvement. Address criticisms to [xazqrten@cox.net]

***************************** 

   By the time Susan and Mrs. Lukens reached the wardroom, Sean was asleep on 
Susan's shoulder. One of her female junior officers piped up, "You... are a 
natural, captain."

   Susan handed the sleeping youngster to his mother after she found herself a 
seat. Then she stepped to the front of the room. "Let me give you a belated 
welcome aboard the EAS Ares. We are in the process of setting up a tour for 
all of you. The tour groups will be in small numbers accompanied by one of my 
junior officers. At the conclusion of the tour, I will be most happy to answer 
any questions you have about the ship and its operations. While you are being 
shown the ship, you are encouraged to ask any questions you may have of your 
escorts. If they can't give you an answer, please make a note and ask me. If I 
can't answer it, most likely neither can anyone else. I assume you are planning 
to attend the change of command ceremony this afternoon. If you don't wish to 
attend, we will provide you with an escort and you may look at parts of the 
ship that you missed on the first tour. I must insist that you not try to enter 
our restricted areas. If any of you do try to enter an area identified as 
restricted, you will be immediately returned to the wardroom and kept here 
until the first shuttle leaves for Earthdome, then you will be put on it. Enjoy 
our hospitality, but don't abuse it. My cheng will be here momentarily to give 
you a short briefing on the ship and its abilities."

   "How thorough will the brief be, captain?" asked one of the senators.

   "It will not include any information that is considered classified by 
Earthforce. If you receive that as an answer to a question that will be the 
end of that particular question."

   The cheng arrived, Susan introduced him and then excused herself. She 
immediately went in search of the President and Leftcourt. She started with 
the flag officer's messing facility. As she walked she called the O.O.D. and 
ordered him to get enlisted escorts down to the hanger bay for the next shuttle 
scheduled to land. After thinking it over for a minute, she called the O.O.D.
again. "Lieutenant Breen, I want you to very quietly set General Quarters in 
CIC. Power up the weapons arrays and bring up all of our sensors. I want a 
watch kept on everything between here and Mars. Keep a weapons lock on 
everything within range and tell the engineering officer of the watch that I 
want half of our plants online and the remainder on modified hot standby. Also, 
get the navigation console manned and power up the jump engines."

   "May I ask why, captain?" Asked the O.O.D.

   "We have President Luchenko, most of her cabinet, and most of the 
congressional leaders on board. I don't want to give someone else a chance to 
catch us by surprise."

   Remembering what they had done to the Drakh space station and ships, the 
O.O.D. thought about how they had operated when they had been in orbit around 
a plant or station when they had been deployed and replied, "Understood, 
captain. Should I make the standard arrival announcements for the President 
and SecNav?" as he finished talking to Susan, he began to make the calls that 
would quickly and quietly get CIC manned up for GQ.

   "Do so," replied Susan.

   As he finished talking to Susan, he made the necessary announcements.

*****************************

   Brad turned to the passenger seated on his right. "What brings you up here, 
captain, business or pleasure?"

   Having overheard the conversation between George and Brad, he 
replied, "That's none of your business."

   Brad trying to recover from the brush off, remarked, "It’s an impressive 
looking hunk of hardware, isn't it?"

   "Mister, I have no desire to talk to you. So, just can it."

   Brad gave up the attempt at conversation.

   George leaned forward in his seat and looked at the captain. "Pardon me, 
captain, but you look vaguely familiar. May I ask your name?"

   The Ccaptain looked at George and replied, "Patrick Owens, sir."

   George smiled broadly and said, "I thought it might be. "

   "You said you are meeting a client onboard the Ares," commented Owens.

   "I believe you know her, captain. Her name is Wayne," replied George.

   "You mean, General Ivanova is your client?"

   "Yes she is. She just doesn't know it yet. Let me introduce myself. I’m 
George White of White, Applestein and Biggsby. Some friends of hers have 
retained our firm to represent her."

   "What does she need defending from?"

   "His firm," replied George pointing to Brad.

   "I don't think I really want to hear this, at least not here."

*****************************

   In their quarters making final checks to be sure they didn't leave anything 
behind, the various generals who had ridden the ship back to Earth, heard the 
announcements. To a man, they shuddered at the thought of Susan Ivanova meeting 
President Luchenko face to face. The vision of Arkland and what Susan had done 
to him was fresh in their minds.

*****************************

One day out from Mars in hyperspace:

   "What is your plan, Commander?" asked his intelligence officer.

   "Very simple really. We will exit hyperspace very near the planet Mars. We 
will destroy any ships in the vicinity and then proceed to destroy the Mars 
colonies. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."

   "What if we encounter the Ares?"

   "They were successful last time because the station and ships there weren't 
expecting an attack. We will be ready. They don't have the technology to fight 
us head to head and win."

   "I find it hard to believe that the Earthers were lucky enough to catch a 
space station and five ships totally off guard long enough to destroy them."

   "You give these upstarts too much credit. They have barely climbed down from 
the trees in comparison to us."

   "Knowing that any animal with teeth might be able to kill me, given a 
chance, I keep an eye on them. Over confidence cost us a great many ships and 
personnel in the recent fiasco at Babylon 5."

   "There were other forces at work there. I don't know what they were, but it 
took more than one Earthforce destroyer to annihilate our fleet."

   The intelligence officer turned and walked away. He was another in the 
growing number of Drakh who were afraid that the arrogance of their leaders 
would eventually get them all killed. The feeling of being in charge of fate 
that pervaded the upper echelons of the Drakh leadership was the same attitude 
that eventually led to their dark masters being banished beyond the rim. If it 
could happen to them, then he could see no reason why his people should be 
immune to the same fate or worse.

*****************************

   Susan stopped in her quarters and instructed her steward to retrieve Mrs. 
Lukens' child, put him to bed on her office couch, and baby-sit the little 
fellow until his mother was ready to leave the ship. She didn't want the child 
dragged all over the ship for safety reasons. After taking care of this, she 
continued her search.

   Susan found Luchenko and Leftcourt in the flag mess.

   "I wish you'd told me who was coming aboard, General."

   "I wanted it to be a surprise, Susan."

   "I think it was very reckless to have had so many government leaders in one 
shuttle, and not even one fighter for an escort."

    "You worry too much, captain," commented Luchenko.

   "Did you see the data crystals, Madam President, they show how easily I 
destroyed that space station and the ships that were there? Did you notice that 
one of them was a hell of a lot bigger than the Ares, and it probably carried 
more total firepower. It didn't do them any good, because I knew where to jump 
into normal space in order to create a situation that gave them no time for 
responding to the threat I presented. They didn't even have time to realize 
what had hit them. What makes you think we are immune to such an attack? 
Remember, there are humans that worked very closely with these Drakh while the 
Shadow War was being fought. They haven't just gone away."

   The President was irritated by the rebuke, but before she could respond, her 
husband jumped into the conversation. "I hate to admit it, but the captain has 
made some very valid points. If she could do it successfully, what's to prevent 
someone else from doing it? It's even easier to just plant a bomb on the 
shuttle. It's been done before, with Earthforce One, I believe."

   This statement irritated her even more than Ivanova's. The fact that it was 
true didn't help any.

   "You’re leading up to something, Susan," said Leftcourt.

   "I have quietly put CIC at GQ. They’re monitoring everything between here 
and Mars and maintaining a weapons lock on everything within range. The weapons 
systems are powered up, the jump engines are online and half the power plants 
are operating at full capacity. The remainder are online in a hot standby 
status. I won't be caught napping with so many high ranking government 
officials onboard my ship."

   "You are paranoid, Captain. Surely you don't think we would be attacked so 
near Earth?"

   "You’re a lawyer, Madam President, surely you must be familiar with 
'Murphy's' law." 

   "Are you going to give President Luchenko a tour, Susan?" asked Leftcourt.

   Susan looked at Leftcourt with daggers coming out of her eyes. "If she wants 
one." 

   "You aren't satisfied, captain. Why?"

   "You and your cabinet did something very foolish and dangerous today. I 
don't like surprises. They can get you killed. As for having my CIC watch at 
GQ readiness, it's my call. While you are aboard this ship, your safety is my 
first concern. If you have a problem with that, tough."

    Susan waited for the explosion, but Luchenko's husband whispered something 
into her ear and she just looked at Susan and fumed. Susan turned and left the 
room.

   "Madam President, I told you she is a highly trained and extremely dedicated 
soldier. She doesn't understand your taking unnecessary risks."

   "She just frustrates me no end. She is the most irritating person I have 
ever met. She is as bad as... no, she is worse, than John Sheridan and his 
alien wife Delenn."

   "Sweetheart, she is you," commented Charles Luchenko.

   "What the hell does that mean, Charles?" retorted his wife.

   "The captain is totally dedicated to her duty, protecting the EA 
constitution. You are the leader and chief representative of that alliance and 
said constitution. She will do whatever she deems necessary to carry out her 
duty, driven by a dedication as fiercely unswerving as yours. You are cut from 
the same cloth. You have made decisions that hurt you politically because you 
thought they were the right thing to do in support of that same constitution. 
Also, both of you are stubborn as hell."

   "Your husband’s correct. The two of you are very much alike. Ivanova would 
do everything humanly possible to keep you from harm, even though she doesn't 
like you or your politics. From her point of view, those items are irrelevant. 
I think she is exactly what we want. Would you want to have to campaign against 
her? She’s a take no prisoners fighter; just ask the Arkland boy."

   "She’s arrogant, overbearing and worst of all, she is right, and that's 
what's really galling!" snapped the President.

   "Sweetheart, what was said here doesn't leave this room. You need to learn 
to get along with her. If you fire her, a lot of your supporters will be very 
unhappy. That’s not a good thing, politically," reminded her husband.

   "If you fire her, Madam President, her friend Lyta Alexander, who represents 
some very powerful business interests, has made her a standing offer of 
immediate employment, running some corporations for them. The standing offer, 
not counting perks, is a base salary of three million credits a year plus 
bonuses. Susan Ivanova isn't worried about a job," commented Leftcourt.

   "You are kidding, aren't you?" asked Charles.

   "That's more than I've made in all of my political career," replied 
President Luchenko.

   "It's more than I've made in my entire life," added Leftcourt. "I think you 
can understand why she has no fear of being busted out of Earthforce."

   "If she can make that much money out there, she’ll never stay involved where 
we want her," said Luchenko.

   "That's my point Madam President. She isn't driven by money or the other 
things that motivate most people, which is what makes her so valuable. She 
can't be bought."

   "I’ll keep that in mind, Tom. Now, who’s going to take me on a tour of the 
ship?"

   "Let me go smooth Susan's ruffled feathers. Then I'll ask her to do the 
honors, after all, no one, not even the people who designed and built her, 
knows more about this ship than Ivanova does."

   After Leftcourt had departed the room, President Luchenko's husband looked 
at he and asked, "How much do you know about Susan Ivanova, besides what’s in 
her personnel record?" 

   "What’s there to know? She’s one of my officers. I don't need to know 
anything else about her."

   "I’m going to tell you a story that may change your mind."

   "What kind of story, Charles?"

   "Do you remember that Psi Corps 'reorientation' camp we visited when the 
corps was being dismantled? Do you remember your reaction?"

   "I vomited up everything I’d eaten that morning, and when no one was 
looking, I wept. Why do you bring that up now?"

   Instead of answering her, he asked another question. "Do you remember when 
you were in fear of being discovered as opposing Clark's actions? You couldn't 
trust anyone, because they might turn you in to win favor from the regime."

   "I lived in terror of being discovered."

   "The important thing is that you put those memories together and think of 
what it felt like to know that without warning you could be 'arrested' and shot 
or imprisoned without any trial. And... no one would try to help you because 
they might be taken away, too."

   President Luchenko shuddered at those memories.

   "Now try to imagine that you aren't allowed to hide. You can only hope no 
one recognizes you for what you are. You have to stay exposed at all times."

   "This isn't amusing, Charles. What is your point?" she asked sharply.

   "Now imagine that you have to live every day of your life under those same 
circumstances. How would you see your fellow man, especially those in power?"

   His wife considered what her husband was saying. She was missing something.

   Charles reached into the briefcase he always seemed to have on hand. He 
extracted several sheets of flimsies and pushed them across the table to his 
wife. "Read these."

   She read the sheets carefully. Then, she looked thoughtfully at her 
husband. "You have been a busy little beaver."

   "Just trying to support you, dear."

   "This is more than I wanted to know about the good General."

   "Now, read these," he said, shoving some more flimsies across the table.

   As she read these sheets, President Luchenko said, "These’re from her 
service record. How did you get them?"

   "I have my sources. It’s quite helpful being invisible. Now... there is 
another story I want you to hear. It's about your firing of John Sheridan."

   "I'm all ears, sweetheart," she replied, biting off the word sweetheart.

   "You’ve always thought what you did to Sheridan was your idea. You think you 
did it because your senior officer corps left you no choice.  It really wasn't. 
General Ivanova is also going to have to be told this."

   "Continue, you little ferret. You have my undivided attention."

   Twenty minutes later, the President looked at her husband in disbelief. "You 
aren't joking."

   "Not for an instant. We had hopes that it would be Sheridan, but that went 
to hell in a hand basket. 

*****************************
 
   The shuttle full of news people had landed and been towed into the 
embarkation/debarkation area, and a set of  steps were being rolled up to it. 
A group of crew members designated to be escorts were assembling at the bottom 
of the steps.

   The passengers began to file out of the shuttle. Captain Owens took this 
time to ask Brad, "You said you have papers to serve on General Ivanova, 
correct?"

   "That, and I am here to see a client."

   "Who is your client?"
 
   "As you said to me a little while ago, Captain, that is none of your 
business."

   "Mister White, you said you are Ivanova's attorney, didn't you?"

   "Yes I did. Why?"

   "That means you are legally entitled to receive the papers this fellow is 
supposed to serve on her. Is that correct?"

   "Yes it is, Captain Owens."

   "You give Mister White those papers."

   Brad reached into his briefcase and pulled out some folded papers and handed 
them to White. "There, captain! Are you satisfied?"

   "Not quite. You see, I'm the Executive Officer of this ship, and I determine 
who does - and who doesn't – come aboard. Now you will tell me who you need to 
see or you won't get off this shuttle. Do I make myself clear?"

   "Perfectly."

   "Who is your client?"

   "Lieutenant Arkland."

   Owens hurried down the steps from the shuttle and asked for a communications 
unitt from one of the escorts. The young man was startled to see who had 
addressed him.

  Handing his comm. unit to Owens, the young man said, "Welcome back, sir."

  Owens called CIC and ascertained that Arkland was in sickbay. A call to 
sickbay revealed that Arkland was being wheeled to the shuttle used by the 
newsmen. He would be transferred to Earth with the J.A.G. contingent that had 
ridden the ship back to Earth. 

   Climbing the stairs back to the shuttle cabin, he informed Brad that he 
needn't get off the shuttle. His client was going to be sent to Earth on it. He 
invited White to accompany him onboard the ship.

   "I can give you the quarter tour, Mister White, and make sure you have 
quality time with General Ivanova."

   "I think, I'd like that, Captain Owens."

************************************************************************

  Knocking on Ivanova's office door, Leftcourt heard her say, "Come in."

  Entering the office, he saw Susan sitting behind her desk seeming to look 
into eternity. She appeared to be deep in thought. Finally she looked at him 
and asked, "Am I the female version of Job?"

  "No," he replied. "You and President Luchenko just don't see things from the 
same perspective."

  Turning to face him, she replied, "You could have fooled me."

  "You don't give her enough credit, Susan."

  "With all due respect, credit for what?"

  "She’s a politician, but there’s much more to the woman than just that. She’s 
a wife and a mother."

   Derisively, Susan replied, "I believe the mother part."

   "That wasn't what I meant, Susan. You might as well face it, you’re going to 
have to work for and with this woman. She could be a very useful ally."

   Laughing, Susan retorted, "Just what I need, my own personal knife wielder. 
With her covering my back, I would truly feel safe."

   "I'm serious, Susan. You have to mend bridges with this woman. The remainder 
of your career depends on it."

   "I think you have just helped me make up my mind, General Leftcourt." 

   "What do you mean, Susan?" 

   "Simple, general. I’m going to exercise my option on the job Lyta offered 
me. I have to protect the President and the other VIPs as long as I wear this 
uniform. However, I can resign at anytime, and that’s looking better all the 
time. I can’t stomach President Luchenko, especially after what she and her 
people tried to do to us at Babylon 5." Holding up her hand, she continued, 
"Don't try to patronize me, general. If she had not tacitly agreed with her 
people's illegal actions, she would have summarily fired the bastards."

   "You don't understand politics, Susan. Some of those people have powerful 
allies."

   "Who’re you trying to convince, general? You... or me?"

   "You’re the hardest headed Earthforce officer I’ve ever had to deal with. 
I'm trying to keep you in Earthforce for the good of the service, but you’re 
making it damned hard for me to do so."

   "Odd that you should put it that way. No one has ever worried about how hard 
it has been made on me. Do you know what is does to you when you try to serve 
your people, but you have to dread the day your little secret is discovered, 
and everything you worked so hard for evaporates. You should try it sometime. 
It can give you a whole new view of life, general. So, don't expect me to be 
too damned concerned for President Luchenko's political future, or my own 
military career for that matter. Before, I never had anything to fall back on. 
That isn't the case now."

   "You’ve become very hard in the last few weeks, Susan. You used to be more 
accommodating."

   "I didn't have any options before. Let's go get this over with, general. I 
have better things to do with the rest of my life, and they'll be holding the 
Stanley Cup Playoffs in hell before I cower to her."

   "You're making a mistake, Susan. Besides, she doesn't expect you to cower."

   Susan just snorted in response as she left her office with Leftcourt 
following her.

*****************************

   "The doughnuts and coffee were excellent, Captain. A fellow could trash a 
diet rather quickly on this ship."

   "When you're forward deployed for a couple of years at a time, Mister White, 
you make do as best you can. Chow has been found to have a most profound effect 
on a crew's morale. A good cook can make or break the crew's morale."

   "How long do you propose to take on this tour?"

   "As long or as short as you wish. I already know everything about the ship."

   "Tell me about the capabilities. I’ve never served in the military. I had a 
birth defect in one ear that rendered me unfit. That's why I became a lawyer. 
No physical or psychological tests involved," he said merrily.

   "In your case it wasn't from lack of trying. Maybe it worked out for the 
best. I understand your firm has an excellent reputation."

   "We do, but it has been a long uphill struggle. Everyone reads about and 
remembers the lowlifes, but no one notices an honest hard working solicitor." 

   They continued their conversation as they walked down the passageway, 
drinking coffee out of disposable containers.

*****************************

   Susan and Leftcourt arrived in the flag mess. President Luchenko, her 
husband and her aide looked at them expectantly.

   "I take it you smoothed her ruffled feathers," commented the President, in 
a condescending tone.

   Susan had stepped over to the communications panel and called the 
communications center. "This is the captain. I’m in the flag mess, please 
reroute any incoming calls for me to this location."

   A voice from a hidden speaker replied, "Yes sir."

   "What is that all about, Captain?" asked Luchenko.

   "I'm just keeping them informed of my location."

   "General Leftcourt, please explain."

   "Her feathers are still ruffled."

   "I really don't care, general. She can stay mad for all it means to me. I 
give the orders around here."

  "Computer, call up file Ivanova resignation and reenter today's date as 
effective date." The file appeared on the screen in front of Susan. "Computer, 
change the word Captain to General, print two hardcopies and send the message 
to Chief of Earthforce Personnel, Officer Assignments and Records Department, 
and copy to the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mark the 
message to be receipted and monitor for the receipt's return."

   "What kind of crap are you trying to pull, Ivanova!" demanded Luchenko.

   Ivanova got up and walked over to the table where the President, her aide 
and her husband were sitting. "I’m past time to sign my letter of continuance, 
Madam President. Therefore, I can resign on a moment's notice, and I don't have 
to have yours or anyone else's approval." As she was talking, she removed her 
jacket, and began to remove her general's insignia. She tossed the insignia to 
the President and said, "Keep 'em for a souvenir. I have no further use for 
them." She also pushed a copy of her resignation across the table. "This’s what 
you wanted. Well, you have it." Then she turned to General Leftcourt and said, 
in an emotionless monotone, "General Leftcourt, I relinquish command of the EAS 
Ares effective immediately, and I stand relieved."

   "You can't do this, Captain!" exclaimed Luchenko.

   "I'm afraid she can," said Leftcourt. "And, she just did. She never updated 
her letter of continuance when we were at Babylon 5. We all took it for granted 
that she would do it."

   "Are you telling me she can just quit?"

   "As of two minutes ago, Madam President, Susan Ivanova-Wayne became a 
private citizen and no longer takes orders from either you or me."

   "You just threw your career and pension out the window, Ivanova. That's not 
much of a smart move."

   "I consider it a donation," said Susan, as she leaned on the table and 
looked Luchenko in the eyes. "You were willing to try all of us for treason, 
and kill us just to keep your damned job. I’m going to tear you and your party 
down, any way I can. Furthermore, I’m going to enjoy it. You are a sniveling 
coward as is General Leftcourt and the rest of the cowardly bastards that let 
Clark usurp power illegally. It is you, he and his fellow officers that should 
be shot for treason. You've never put your life on the line for anyone or 
anything, and have no idea what it's like to have your people die in your arms. 
I have only contempt for the lot of you."

   Luchenko just stared back at Susan and realized that the plans she, General 
Leftcourt and others had made were history. Susan Ivanova would not be pushed 
or bullied. Her husband had been correct. She had badly underestimated this 
woman. She also had no doubts that Ivanova would make good her threat, no make 
that promise, to tear her down.

   "Enjoy your command, general," shot Susan with a voice dripping sarcasm, as 
she started for the door. "For as long as it lasts."  In spite of the 
artificial gravity, she felt the ship pivot on its axis until she knew it had 
to be pointing away from Earth. At the same time she felt the deck begin to 
vibrate as the main engines were powered up to their maximum thrust. "What in 
hell is going on? We're underway going away from the planet."

   The President and the others in the room looked at her in confusion at her 
last statement. Leftcourt felt the vibration, and recognized it as the main 
engines generating maximum thrust. 

   A loud bonging sound from the 1MC answered Susan's question, and filled 
Leftcourt with apprehension. 

*****************************

   Earlier in CIC:

   "Hey Breen, how long are we going to be at GQ?" Asked Ensign Albert Dawns, 
the weapons officer of the watch, the stand-in S.W.C. 

   "Until the VIPs are gone. Why don't you use the time to see what you can do 
with the long-range sensors. I understand there are six of those whitestar type 
ships at Mars, and there are six or seven destroyers there taking on supplies 
and fuel. Why don't you see if you can get us a picture of them."

   "What the hell, it'll help kill time," replied Dawns.

*****************************

   "This is number one reactor room, Mister White. The Ares has seven others 
like it distributed throughout the length of the ship. It has its own armor in 
addition to being protected by the ships main armor."

   White and Owens walked around the room looking over the panels and consoles 
full of displays and controls.

   "How long does it take to train a reactor operator, captain?"

   "The operation of the controls takes about a month, but the knowledge needed 
to understand the effects of what you’re doing, and the general theory behind 
it, takes almost two years of specialized classroom and practical education. It 
costs a fortune to properly train a reactor engineering operator."

   "You said this unit develops an output of five hundred megawatts?"

   "That is its nominal output. Its maximum output capabilities are classified."

   "So, the ship has a nominal power generating capacity of about four 
gigawatts, give or take a few."

   "We could power a major city without any strain."

   "Impressive, to say the least."

   "I'd like to show you what we have done to help the crew cope with a long 
deployment. We have some unique recreational facilities. I don't think you will 
find anything quite like them anywhere else."

*****************************

   "Petty Officer Baker, why can't we take pictures in this area?" asked a man, 
in his middle thirties, wearing a jacket emblazoned with a large ISN logo.

   "Captain's orders. She wouldn't have let you aboard if she had known the 
shuttle was carrying news people."

   "So we aren't going to be allowed to photograph anything. Is that it?"

   "No sir. You are welcome to photograph the main hanger bay, gymnasiums and 
other areas like that. There will be no photos taken in any of the ship's 
operational areas."

   "You do know that this will not make her popular with our superiors, don't 
you?"

   "After the butcher job you guys did on her situation at Babylon 5, I don't 
think she really gives a damn if you like her or not."

   This retort shut the man up. Some of his fellow news people snickered at the 
exchange.

   A little while later Baker caught what looked like the newsman taking a 
surreptitious photo of a reactor control console. He used his comm. unit and 
very quietly called for security.

   The group loitered for a few minutes in the reactor control room as Baker 
answered most of the questions that were asked. Out of thirty questions asked,
he only had to refuse to answer four of them. The questioners didn't press the 
issue.

   As the group was leaving the room, two security personnel arrived. Baker 
quietly pointed out the man in the ISN jacket as the offender. "I recommend you 
search him and confiscate the apparatus," commented Baker.

   "Not to worry, Petty Officer Baker. We’ve been briefed about these 
situations."

   The newsman ranted and raved, but he was led away by the security people.

*****************************

   "Lieutenant Breen, how do you like these apples?" asked Ensign Dawns, as he 
sent his sensor data to the large projection monitor at the front of CIC.

   Breen and the other watchstanders looked at the projection screen; displayed 
there was a fairly detailed image of the Planet Mars and the ships in its near 
vicinity.

   "The small ones are the whitestars," commented Dawns. "There are three old 
style Omega class destroyers and just within the angle of view are four of the 
Zeus class warlock destroyers. I can even resolve the domes on the planets 
surface," he continued.

   "Wizard Al has done it again," commented the chief petty officer manning the 
navigator's console.

   "Hey Al, how can you get such a detailed picture at that distance?" Asked 
the engineering watch. "Our systems aren't listed as being able to do that."

   "Well, to be truthful, I cheat. There are a number of high-powered video 
imaging devices mounted all over the outer hull. I am combining their signals 
like they do with a large telescope which is made up of a number of reflectors.
Their signals become additive and with digital filtering and some other neat 
stuff, WAZOO, pure magic, and I'm not finished yet."

   "At least someone is enjoying this watch," muttered the chief.

*****************************

   "What is this place, captain?"

   "This, Mister White, is a workout area that can have the artificial gravity 
neutralized," responded Owens.

   "You mean that I can go in there and experience weightlessness?"

   "Most certainly. We have several gymnasiums that can be used either as a 
regular gym  or as a null gravity area. We use it to train for combat in a 
weightless environment, but it makes a hell of a play area. You won't believe 
some of the variations on regular games our crew members have devised."

   "Ah, the human mind. It needs relaxation, and it will find it one way or 
another. I suppose it also teaches your people to think outside the box, so to 
speak."

   "That’s one of the side benefits. Overall it improves the quality of our 
people."

   "Who's idea was this anyway?"

   "Captain Ivanova's. She had the features added as the ship was being built. 
She’s very perceptive about such matters."

   "It would have helped if she had used that perceptiveness before she beat 
hell out of the Arkland boy."

   "I'm sure she had a good reason for what she did. Although, I’m wondering 
just what those reasons might be." 

   "As am I. Are we going to visit the doughnut factory and coffee dispenser 
again before lunch?"

   "You like those doughnuts, don't you."

   White smiled and nodded in response.

*****************************

In CIC:

   The chief at the navigator's station looked up and saw the latest efforts of 
Ensign Dawns displayed on the big tactical display at the front of CIC. "That 
is the damnedest thing I think I've ever seen," said the chief."

   The rest of the watchstanders looked at the display. The detail was 
incredible. As they watched, several jump points started to open. They paled 
when they saw what emerged from the colored vortices, Drakh warships like those 
they had destroyed less than a week before.

   As the Drakh warships entered normal space they began firing on one of the 
Omega class destroyers. It took less than three minutes for them to destroy the 
ship.

*****************************

In ARES' flag mess:

   The bonging sounds from the 1MC ended, only to be followed by, "GENERAL 
QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS! ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! ALL ESCORTS 
RETURN YOUR CHARGES TO THE POINT OF ORIGIN! SET CONDITION ONE THROUGH OUT THE 
SHIP. CAPTAIN TO CIC." This announcement was immediately followed by another 
series of bongings and the repeat of that announcement. 
 
   "I think they're playing your song, General," commented Susan, turning to 
leave the flag mess.

************************************

END PART 7

part 8

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