Address criticisms to [xazqrten@cox.net] 
 
******************************

Thursday, 29 August 2266 0800:

   “Gentlemen, and I use that term loosely, I understand your counsels have 
explained the terms of the deal you’re being offered,” said Susan Ivanova-Wayne 
flatly.

   Commander Jennings replied, “It’s been done, general.”

   “There are several other things I want to explain to you, gents,” continued 
Susan. “First, you will not be scanned. Only your immediate surface thoughts 
will be monitored. Secondly, nothing we learn can be used to directly prosecute 
you; that immunity does not extend to any third parties; however, any 
information developed independently as a result of investigating those third 
parties is not covered by the immunity provided by under our agreement. I’ll 
give you ten minutes to discuss this with your attorneys. It’s a take it or 
leave it package; your choice.” Susan then walked out of the room, followed 
closely by Commander Jennings and Lorin Hinton.

   In the coffee mess of the security building, Hinton asked, “Do you think it 
was a good idea to give them that last little piece of information, general?”

   “Of course. If we don’t do it this way, their attorneys could challenge 
anything we developed from this little endeavor as being covered by the 
immunity blanket. Let’s look at this from a different perspective. We’re 
dealing from a stacked deck. First, we’re bargaining with their lives. If they 
don’t buy into this, they’ll rot in an EA prison. If they accept, they still do 
hard time, just not as much, and by agreeing to our terms, we can use anything 
we get from them to nail any pertinent third parties. Any deals we might make 
with those third parties are exempt from the conditions of the deal we cut with 
our four little Cro-Magnons; finally, any information developed while 
investigating any third parties is also exempt from today’s agreements. I know 
that wasn’t explained in legalese, but I think you get the idea. We have 
nothing to lose, but it remains to be seen if we ultimately have anything to 
gain.”

   Commander Jennings didn’t hesitate, “I like it, general.”

   Lorin Hinton thought for a moment, “I like it too, even better than you 
explained it yesterday. You get them to slam the door on themselves by severely 
self-restricting the scope of their immunity from prosecution. I retract what I 
said about your tactical abilities yesterday. You are very damned good.”

   They were on their second cup of coffee when Jerry Halstein, Ralph Gordon’s 
attorney, walked through the door and announced that the accused men were ready 
to discuss the General Wayne’s offer.

   Halstein took Susan aside and said, “Gordon wants his session to be 
monitored by a telepath of his choosing to ensure you don’t engage in scanning 
him.”

   “Not a problem for me, Mr. Halstein; however, the telepath will have to 
agree to being deep scanned by Earth Alliance intelligence security telepaths 
to ensure he doesn’t gain access to any of the classified information that I am 
privy to. Any knowledge he might gain from me will be erased from his memory. 
Last but not least, I want to be finished with your client before lunch. If 
this is unacceptable, I’ll inform Ms. Hinton and she, her people and your 
client can be on their way to San Francisco in less than twenty minutes,” 
replied Susan.

   “That doesn’t give my client any time for anything, General Wayne.”

   “Take it or leave it, counselor. Your client tried to kill me. I’m not 
feeling too damned magnanimous.”

   Halstein hurried on ahead to talk to Gordon.

   Susan went back and got another coffee refill then proceeded to the 
interrogation room. When she entered it, the room was empty except for Gordon, 
Hinton and Halstein. “Well?” inquired Susan.

   Halstein said, “My client wants to renegotiate the offer in view of what you 
said about us using our telepath to monitor you.”

   Susan turned and faced Hinton. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, Ms. 
Hinton. Have a pleasant drive back to San Francisco.”

   “What about my client?” demanded Halstein.

   “Your client has to deal with Ms. Hinton, Mr. Halstein. My offer no longer 
extends to your client.” Looking at Gordon, Susan added, “Enjoy your sentence, 
Mr. Gordon. I do believe you would have been better off taking my offer.” Susan 
then left the room.

   “Is this some kind of hardball, Ms. Hinton?” asked Halstein.

   Hinton looked at Gordon. “You’re mine now, Mr. Gordon. I’m not offering any 
deals. I plan to put you away for so long you won’t even remember what a 
sidewalk is.”

   As if on cue, one of Hinton’s detectives entered the room and put Gordon 
into handcuffs and leg irons. As the detective led him out of the room, 
Halstein realized that this was no bargaining ploy. 

   “Ms. Hinton. Can you get the general to reconsider her offer?”

   “Why in the world would I want to do that, counselor? I have your man dead 
to rights and I’m going to see him sent away for the rest of his life. I will 
not ask the general to reconsider. Maybe you should have thought of that before 
you tried to be too smart for your client’s own good.”

   Susan looked at the MP who had entered the room. “Bring in Lt. Meyers and 
his attorney, please.”

  “Yes, sir!”

   While she waited for Lt. Meyers, Commander Jennings came into the room. “How 
did it go with the Gordon fellow?”

   “He opted out of the deal. They didn’t like the idea that they couldn’t have 
a telepath of their choosing monitor me. I know too much to let any other 
telepath look into my mind. The powers to be decided that none of the other 
Earth Alliance telepaths could be trusted with some of the data to which I’ve 
been privy.”

   “Surely, general, that can’t be the only reason. After all, there are 
telepaths in some very sensitive positions in the Earth Alliance.”

   “True enough, commander; however, I’m the only one that never belonged to 
Psi Corps. I got to my present position as a non-telepath who put her life on 
the line many times for the Earth Alliance, and I rebelled against what was 
then my own government. How many of those other telepaths can make that claim?”

   “I’ll concede you the point, general.”

   Meyers arrived accompanied by his attorney. Susan was already seated and she 
lowered her mental shields enough to hear his thoughts as she studied him 
closely.

   “What’s the matter, general? Never see a first lieutenant in prison garb 
before?” inquired Meyers, snidely.

   Susan didn’t respond immediately. She was listening to the very strong 
thoughts he was projecting. From what she was ‘hearing’, he wasn’t very smart. 
She wondered how he had been selected as an officer in the first place.

   “General Wayne, My client has a question about this deal you are offering,” 
said Lt Brookman.

   Meyers was thinking that getting the deal offered by General Wayne would put 
him back on the street in less than ten years. She might be hot when it came to 
hand-to-hand combat and with that Minbari pike she carried, but she’d be a easy 
picking from long range with a high-powered hunting rifle equipped with a 
telescopic sight. He could do ten years standing on his head if it meant 
getting to kill her for screwing up his career. His hopes were short lived 
because Susan had heard his complete thought.

   “Don’t bother to ask, Lt. Brookman. There’ll be no deal for Lt. Meyers. 
He’ll be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

   “May I ask why, general?” inquired Brookman.

   “He’s not a good candidate to ever be let out on the streets again. I admit 
that it’s only my opinion, but mine is the one that counts. He’s the reason 
we’re here to start with. Also, at his trial, he’s going to learn that he threw 
his life away for nothing. Lon, the bartender who was on duty the night of the 
offence, will testify that he had convinced me that the sort of thing Lt. 
Meyers was guilty of went on all the time at the club. In other words, it 
wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I was going to drop the matter except for 
having some sensitivity training made mandatory for all my command personnel. 
I’m going to do that and leave it to my various commanding officers to 
implement a program acceptable to my chief of staff, after I relieve Zaleski. 
For your information Lt. Meyers, you wouldn’t have even been slapped on the 
wrist. I would have demanded a sincere apology and that would have been the end 
of it. Now you’ll spend the remainder of your life behind bars in some EA 
prison located so far from Earth that it takes ISN broadcasts two months 
through hyperspace to get there.”

   Lt. Meyers looked at Susan in disbelief. “You can’t be serious, General 
Wayne.”

   “About which part, Lt. Meyers.”

   “You mean we planned and carried out an attack on you for nothing?”

   Susan smiled, “That’s exactly correct. You are totally to blame for your 
predicament. Not me, not Mr. Gordon, or your two fellow officers. Guard, return 
Lt. Meyers to his cell. I’m sorry, Lt. Brookman. It looks as if you’ll have to 
earn your pay this time.”

   After Brookman had left and Meyers had been taken away, Commander Jennings 
asked, “What was your real reason for dumping Meyers from the deal, General 
Wayne?”

   “He was thinking that after he was released he could kill me by shooting me 
from a long distance with a high-powered rifle. I don’t want him to ever walk 
the streets again.”

   “Let me guess; his thoughts were strong enough for you to hear over your 
mental barriers.”

   “More or less, commander.”

   “How about the other two?”

   “We’ll see shortly.”

   The other officers were brought into the room one at a time. Susan studied 
them and listened to their thoughts. Their major concern was how they were 
going to be able to make it when they were released. As far as she could tell 
without actively scanning them, they held no animosity toward her. The same 
couldn’t be said about their feelings toward Lt. Meyers and Ralph Gordon. They 
got the deal she offered.

   Hinton hadn’t reached the van she was returning to San Francisco in. Ralph 
Gordon was asking, “Ms. Hinton. I was ill advised about trying to renegotiate 
the deal offered by General Wayne. Is it really too late to ask her for another 
chance at it?”

   “I’ll go back and talk to her, but don’t get your hopes up. She doesn’t 
impress me as the type to screw around.” Thinking that she really did want a 
crack at whatever Gordon might reveal, she went back into the security building 
while her people got into the van with Gordon.

   Hinton found Susan in conference in the interrogation room. Susan was 
talking to a master sergeant and what appeared to be member of the medical 
corps. “General Wayne?”

   Susan replied, “What can I do for you, Ms. Hinton?”

   “Mr. Gordon thinks he was ill advised by his attorney about trying to 
renegotiate your deal. He really wants to take it, if you’ll allow it.”

   “I take it, you’re interested for your own reasons.”

   “Yes. I want anything he and the others may know. I have a lot of resources, 
General Wayne. They could be useful to you as well as me.”

   Susan looked at Master Sergeant Jenkins. Jenkins slightly nodded his head 
yes. The medical officer, a psychologist working with her and Jenkins, also 
nodded yes.

   “You have a deal, Ms. Hinton. Bring him back in and have him put into a 
cell. We’re just making our last preparations. We’re going to use the 
interrogation room farthest from the rest of the personnel in the building.”

   Susan looked at Jenkins and the psychologist. “You two can add new questions 
based on what I pass to you as I get each answer from our guinea pigs. It might 
not hurt to have Ms. Hinton here help in that little endeavor. Especially, 
while we’re interviewing Mr. Gordon. Do you have any heartburn with that, Ms. 
Hinton?”

   “Absolutely none, General Wayne. I’ll go get my prisoner.”

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

   It was well past 1600 hours when the questioning of the prisoners was 
finished; Hinton had stayed and helped with all of it. From what she had heard, 
the men had provided much more information than would ever have been gathered 
using standard interrogation techniques. Ralph Gordon had been a wealth of 
information thanks to the targeted questions generated by her, Master Sergeant 
Jenkins, and the psychologist. Susan was now working with an identification 
specialist and a program used to generate drawings of faces from verbal 
descriptions. While Gordon was a small fish, Hinton acknowledged that he had a 
wealth of data on many others making their living on the wrong side of the law. 
It would be a good start. The highly accurate detailed drawings of faces 
provided by Susan’s eidetic memory were the icing on their cake. Hinton had 
discussed cooperation between her office and the base security people with an 
understanding that Master Sergeant Jenkins would be Susan’s point man. 

   On her way back to San Francisco, Hinton gave much thought to the woman she 
had been dealing with. General Wayne was what was known in military vernacular 
as a hard-ass. On the other hand, you knew exactly where you stood with her. 

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

   Susan dressed in an all white outfit consisting of white pants, blouse and 
boots. She wore her hair down and brushed straight to her shoulders. She looked 
like anything except a flag officer.  It was 1830 hours and she fixed herself a 
juice over ice and drank it while waiting for the car Zaleski said he would 
send. It arrived at 1845 hours.

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

   It was 1855 hours when Susan arrived at Zaleski’s house. The security man at 
the door didn’t recognize her until she was standing right in front of him. 
Entering the house, she found herself in a small vestibule with a walk-in side 
closet for guests’ coats and such, which led into a large front room. Upon 
entering it, Susan estimated it at six by nine meters with a three-meter 
ceiling. There were a small number of people already there. Some were 
segregated into small groups talking and nursing drinks.

   As she started to walk toward a small group that included Colonel Audrey 
Keller, one of the women she had noticed from a quintet standing near the 
entrance that she had immediately dismissed as being officers’ wives, stepped 
in front of her and stated, “You aren’t properly dressed for this event.”

   Susan looked at her coldly and replied, “Get out of my way.”

   The woman said, “I can see you’re new here.”

   “Move, or I’ll move you!” snapped Susan. “What’s your name?”

   The woman had expected anything but this. She had guessed that the woman was 
some junior officer’s wife. 

   “I asked, ‘What’s your name?’ Do you have a hearing problem?” demanded Susan.

   Confused the woman replied, “Dorothy Stout.”

   Looking over at the officers standing with Colonel Keller, Susan noted that 
they were watching her. One of them was Colonel Stout. Susan looked back into 
Dorothy Stout’s face and said, “I’m General Susan Ivanova-Wayne. Now get out of 
my face!”

   At that statement, Dorothy visibly wilted. She stepped out of Susan’s path 
and went back to her group.

   “I see your wife just met General Wayne, Bruce,” Keller chuckled to Stout. 

   “I keep telling her that being the president of the Officers Wives Club 
doesn’t give her license to jump on people. I think she just learned that. She 
keeps thinking that because I’m a colonel, she has special rights.”

   Susan walked up to Keller and her group and said, “Colonel Stout, if I’d 
known whom your wife was, I’d have brought you a sympathy card.”

   “She can be a pain, general.”

   “What gives her the idea that she can tell other women what they should be 
wearing?”

   “She’s president of the base’s Officers Wives Club and since she didn’t know 
you and you’re a new face, I imagine she thought you were some junior officer’s 
wife. I saw that she learned differently.”

   “After I assume command here, I want to meet with her, you and Colonel 
Keller. I want to know all about this wives club.”

   “Are you going to disband it, general?” asked LtCol. Briers.

   “Not necessarily, Col. Briers. Organizations that keep people involved with 
what’s going on in a command can be very positive. I want anything like that to 
be a plus for the command, not someone’s power trip in his or her personal 
fiefdom. Has anyone seen General Zaleski?”

   Mark Pearson walked up and said, “He’s in the music room, general. He wants 
you to join him there. There’s someone there looking forward to getting 
together with you again.”

   “Where’s the music room?”

   “Follow me, general.”   
   
******************************

   In the music room, Susan was greeted by General Zaleski and his 
wife. “Susan, I’d like you to meet my wife, Martha.”

   Susan extended her hand to Zaleski’s wife. “The pleasure is mine, Mrs. 
Zaleski.”

   “No, it’s mine. We saw you perform last Saturday night. Mark convinced Ron 
and me to accompany him and Bernice to the club for an evening of music. He 
didn’t tell us who was performing until after you started playing.”

   “You were there Saturday night?”

   “Yes. It was worth our time too.”

   Looking at the musical instruments and sound equipment set up in the room, 
she commented. “I see you’re a musician too.”

   Martha laughed and replied, “It’s not for us. It was delivered a couple of 
days ago. I believe it was an Eckland’s Music Emporium truck that delivered it. 
I can check with the woman who is helping me get our furniture moved out and 
your furniture moved in. Actually, yours belongs to the housing office.”

   “Mark said something about there being someone I knew waiting in here to 
meet me again.”

   “He must be talking about Mary,” replied Martha.

   “Mary?” asked Susan.

   “Yes, General Wayne,” said a familiar voice from behind Susan.

   Susan turned to face Mary Evans her chief steward from the Ares. “How long 
have you been here, Mary?”

   “She arrived last week, Susan. She has been helping me make sure that my 
best antiques get shipped properly,” stated Martha. “She has also been scouring 
the supply of household furnishings on base to get this place ready for you. 
She is very good at keeping the shipping contractor on the ball.”

   “What did the people who delivered this music and sound equipment say when 
they brought it?”

   “They told me it was for you to use for practice and recording. They set it 
up and tested it. They even left a manual for operating it,” replied Mary.

   “When did you leave Ares?”

   “I received orders about two weeks after they med-evaced you back to Earth. 
I’ve spent a few weeks, make that months visiting my offspring and my 
grandkids.”

   Zaleski looked at Pearson, “Mark, I’m expecting several civilians. Would you 
meet them at the front door and protect them from Mrs. Stout. Bring them in 
here.”

   Susan picked up an acoustic guitar and strummed it. She noticed that there 
was a box sitting on top of the synthesizer; it contained picks and a glove. 
Eckland had thought of everything. She looked around the room more carefully 
with an eye for detail, surely enough, there were several video pick-ups. As 
she considered things, she remembered that she was supposed to arrange to meet 
General Sanchez this weekend and the lady who would be penning her 
autobiography wanted to meet with her too. It was beginning to look like her 
free time was going to be anything but free.

   Susan put on the glove and the finger picks and began to play the acoustic 
guitar. She had adjusted the sound system for the voice pick-up that she had 
put on her head. Picking the guitar strings she began to sing in a very clear 
sharp voice. Zaleski noted to himself that her voice here sounded very 
different from what it had in the club. Five minutes later, Susan finished the 
song.

   “What was that?” asked Martha.

   “It was an old Celtic traditional song titled ‘Bonny Portmore’. I love many 
of those old songs and I love that style of music. It’s absolutely perfect for 
songs of remorse and regret.”  

   “I assume that’s not the only one you know?” asked Mary.

   In response, Susan began to play again. Out in the front room, the guests 
could just hear the music and singing, but not well enough to realize that it 
was being performed live.

   Pearson met the civilian guests that Zaleski was expecting and escorted them 
into the music room where they were treated to some very good Celtic style 
playing and singing. They waited for Susan to finish.

   Zaleski made the introductions. Susan noted the look of surprise on their 
faces when they realized that she really was Zaleski’s replacement.

   “I do hope I’m not too much of a disappointment, gentlemen,” said 
Susan. “I’m sure you were expecting someone older and more experienced.” Susan 
lowered her mental blocks enough to hear the thoughts of those present. She had 
been correct. The civilians were very disappointed. Their thoughts made it very 
clear that they had expected another good-old-boy supply officer.

   “Do you have much experience in the supply arena, General Wayne?” asked 
Ralph Gomez, the man Zaleski had introduced as the Mayor of Stockton.

   “Only what I got from complaining to my supply department onboard ship about 
their inability to get me the spare parts that were needed to keep my ship 
ready for combat. We never seemed to see eye-to-eye about those things.”

   “And now, you’re in a position to do something about it. It that correct?”

   “I have no idea, Mr. Mayor; I won’t assume anything.”

   Ralph Gomez, was tenth generation Mexican-American. About the only thing 
that remained to identify him as such was his last name. He didn’t know what to 
think about this woman. She looked too damned young to be a flag officer. If he 
didn’t know better, he would have guessed that she might be a senior first 
lieutenant. “I know it’s a bad question, General Wayne….”

   “I’m thirty-six, Mr. Mayor, but please don’t let my youth put you off. I 
really can take care of myself.”

   Gomez felt chastised. She had seen through him like a plate glass window. 
Obviously, she was much more experienced than he gave her credit for. “My 
apologies for being so forward and obvious.”

   “I’m not offended. Most people react with disbelief when they learn my rank; 
however, please believe me when I tell you that I’ve earned every rank stripe 
on my uniform by spilling blood – sometimes my own – mostly someone else’s.” 
Susan showed no expression at all on her face when she made the statement.

   Mayor Gomez was smart enough to let that train of conversation drop like a 
very hot rock. The woman had answers. He wasn’t sure that he was going to like 
most of them. 

   Trying to lighten up the conversation, the vice-mayor, Paul Johnson 
asked, “Do you have many interests, General Wayne?”

   “Quite a few actually,” replied Susan. Some of them interest me more than 
others.”

   “Really,” responded Johnson. “Give us an example?”

   Looking very relaxed, Susan replied, “Local drug problems and how they 
affect this military installation.”

   At that statement, Mary quickly departed the music room. She knew that when 
Susan was in the mood she was in now, being elsewhere was most healthy.

   Susan’s reply brought forth the tremendous sound of silence as the shocked 
expression on Johnson’s face at her answer, slowly spread to every other face 
in the room.

   [Jesus Christ,] thought Zaleski to himself. [What a sucker-punch of a reply.]

   Gomez tried to laugh Susan’s response off. “I thought we’d at least get to 
have a drink before we got serious, General Wayne.”

   Looking at Johnson, Susan replied, “He asked.” 

   Johnson looked like he wanted to be anywhere but his present location. She 
had baited a trap; he had literally jumped into it gleefully. She had just 
taught him a very valuable lesson.

   General Zaleski offered, “Let’s retire to the main great room. There are a 
number of introductions I need to make. Susan needs to meet the commanding 
officers and their executive officers of the commands that operate from this 
base.”

   The introductions went without a hitch, if one didn’t think too long about 
Susan’s statement to LtCol. Higgins. When she was introduced to him she 
said, “I’ve been hearing things about you.”

   The expression on Higgins’ face told any observer that he wasn’t happy about 
Susan’s statement. Susan could see a hidden hatred there. More than ever, she 
was convinced that he was someone she would be better off without. His anger 
was so strong she had to strengthen her mental shields to block it out.

   The introductions were concluded quickly, and the party members were seated 
at the table in the main dining room. Susan was struck by the size of the room 
and the table. It could easily seat at least forty people. There weren’t nearly 
that many there this night. Even with all their wives present the guests didn’t 
fill every seat at the table. Mary helped the personnel from the base galley 
serve the meal. They had hardly started eating when the first question was 
fired at Susan.

   “General, might I ask what you, an unrestricted line officer, had to do get 
this assignment?” asked Colonel Dale Miller.

   “To be truthful, Colonel Miller, I objected to being assigned to this 
position. To be very blunt, I didn’t want it and I let President Luchenko, the 
joint chiefs of staff, and General Leftcourt know just that in no uncertain 
terms. They in effect told me to shut up and get my skinny ass in gear and take 
care of my responsibilities as they handed me my marching orders.”

   “You didn’t want this job – even though it carried a promotion with it?” 
queried Colonel Stout

   “You have it in one, colonel. I’ve never made any of my military decisions 
with an eye to what it might do to advance my career. If I did, I’d never have 
commanded the rebel force that deposed Clark or commanded the whitestar 
squadrons that destroyed his coveted advanced destroyer group.”

   “I thought Captain Sheridan was the commander of those forces?”

   “He was after General Hague was killed in action. I was his second in 
command. After he was captured, I took over as commander. It’s not the kind of 
thing you highlight on your military resume. Some people take a dim view of 
people who overthrow their government. As you can well imagine, I have no 
friends in the officer corps that remained loyal to Clark.”

   Zaleski injected, “You are all aware that there is going to be a shake-up in 
the present structure of this command. Some of you are going to see your 
commands be merged with others and some will be disestablished with your 
responsibilities being redistributed amongst those that survive the reshuffle. 
There are several commands that will be transferred along with their 
responsibilities to become subordinate commands to other major departments. The 
bottom line is that Susan will be responsible for that evolution. I can’t state 
it as a fact, but I believe that her not owing anything to anyone in the 
present command structure is exactly why she was chosen for this assignment. 
She is going to be high command’s chain saw. What is not a rumor is that 
whoever is in the position of orchestrating this scenario will be wearing three 
stars.”

   Higgins looked bewildered. “You mean she picks up a second star when she 
relieves you and then they are going to hand her a third one when she begins 
ripping this place apart.”

   “That’s exactly what I mean, LtCol. Higgins. “She was aware of being 
temporarily promoted to two stars when she relieved me, but she didn’t have a 
clue about the third one.”

   Mark Pearson stared at Zaleski. [The old coot knew all along and didn’t tell 
me.]

   Susan looked a bit surprised. “I knew they didn’t like me, but this is 
ridiculous. They didn’t tell me they wanted me to do their dirty laundry and 
rebuild their card house.”

   “It makes sense,” said Briers. “She is hated by everyone who has interests 
buried in this command. Who better to tear down the ‘card house’ as she 
describes it and rebuild it from damned near scratch? With the new laws that 
were passed right after Clark was deposed, she can do it. The politicians can 
scream bloody murder out of one side of their collective mouths and explain to 
their constituents out of the other side at the same time about their hands are 
tied and the law prevents them from interfering. General Wayne becomes their 
boogey man. General Wayne, with friends like yours, enemies are redundant.”

   Pearson changed the subject when he asked, “I’m sure you have some terrific 
war stories, General Wayne. Would you be kind enough to spin a couple of them 
for us.”

   “Where do you want me to start?” asked Susan.

   “How about something called the Shadow War? What was that all about?”

   “It was about facing an enemy that can make what the Minbari did to us look 
like children having fun playing in a toddler’s sandbox.”

   Her response was met with silence. She took another bite and chewed it 
slowly. Then she looked around the table and realized they wouldn’t believe her 
anyway so she decided to tell them the truth, excepting Sinclair’s involvement 
with Babylon 4’s disappearance and all that arose from it.

   She talked slowly and thoughtfully while eating and giving them a short 
version of events. Her audience was totally engrossed in her recounting of very 
painful events. She quickly passed over the particularly painful destroying of 
the Earthforce starships sent to take control of Babylon 5 early in Clark’s 
short regime.

   “You mean that the picture of the ship that was run on ISN was one of these 
Shadow battle cruisers? It looked like a big spider.”

   “One of those ships could destroy an Earthforce destroyer in a matter of 
seconds. Our ships wouldn’t have had any chance at all. Those ships are what 
allowed the Centauri Republic to utterly crush the Narns.”

   “Did you ever have to fight one of them directly?”

   “Yes. When we rescued the Anla’shok from Zagros VII.”

   Susan proceeded to give them a quick account of that fight. There were looks 
of disbelief on the their faces. When she recounted the operations of the 
Vorlon and Shadow planet killers the looks of disbelief were replaced with 
looks that were beyond disbelief and extended to complete incomprehension. She 
finished her tale as they were finally getting around to having dessert. 

   “You say these Vorlons and Shadows just up and left with this being who 
called himself Lorien?” asked Stout.

   “The younger races had proven that they were ready to become masters of 
their own fate. Keep in mind, we did this while still fighting with Clark’s 
regime.”

   “General Wayne, you say that the Shadow planet killers broke the planets up 
from the inside out but didn’t physically destroy it. Exactly what did the 
Vorlon ships do?

   “As near as we can understand, from someone who was very close to them, the 
Vorlon planet killers tapped into hyperspace and stored and then released a 
tremendous amount of energy that literally caused the center of the planet to 
boil into a gas which then exploded and reduced the planet to rubble. From 
observations made after the war, there are asteroid fields where the target 
planets used to be.”

   “Do you suppose that something like that might be responsible for the 
asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter?”

   Susan looked very thoughtful for a full minute. “The question never occurred 
to me before. Maybe a scientist will develop enough curiosity to convince 
someone to finance research into that area.”

   Silence reigned around the table. The wives had not spoken a word during the 
entire meal. To say the least, Mrs. Stout was crushed at the idea that she had 
brazenly told this woman she wasn’t dressed properly. She just hoped her 
arrogance didn’t negatively affect her husband’s career. She had heard of 
careers ended for much less by more than one senior officer. Susan was watching 
her and could see Mrs. Stout’s fear written all over her face.

   “Mrs. Stout, I don’t hold your husband responsible for your faux pas.”

   The woman immediately looked relieved. 

   “But, I will be discussing it with you in the near future.”

   Mrs. Stout’s face fell again.

   Zaleski spoke up, “Susan, would I be imposing if I asked you to entertain my 
other guests with some of your music?”

   Susan worked her nose back and forth then answered, “Okay, but I don’t do 
requests.”

   That statement elicited chuckles from almost everyone at the table, except 
LtCol. Higgins. He asked, “General Wayne, is it true that you work out every 
morning in the base gymnasium?”

   “Yes. Why?”

   “I’ve heard that you are pretty good at self-defense.”

   “I can take care of myself if that’s what you mean. I don’t do exhibitions. 
I only fight no-holds-barred hand-to-hand combat with or without weapons.”

   “You do fight when killing your opponent isn’t necessarily the outcome?”

   “Only with someone who can defend themselves properly. Most people can’t do 
that and you don’t impress me as being one of those people who can.”
 
   “That’s a matter of opinion, General Wayne,” responded Higgins, indignantly.

   “If you want to fight with me, Mr. Higgins, there are a few things you 
should know, although I don’t think you’ll pay attention,” said Susan with a 
small smile on her lips.

   “Such as?” he asked.

   “In anything-goes hand-to-hand combat against me, you won’t last fifteen 
seconds. I’ll kill you with my first strike; I won’t need a second.”

   “I thought you said you could fight without killing your opponent?”

   “Oh, I can. In your case, it shouldn’t take me more than a minute to send 
you to the emergency room of the base medical facility with at least a half 
dozen broken bones. I tell you what; arm-wrestle me. If you win, I’ll spar with 
you and promise not to bust you up too badly. If you lose, that ends it here 
and now. Deal?”

   Higgins didn’t hesitate in accepting her challenge. Susan stepped around the 
table and rested her right elbow on one corner of the dinner table. Higgins 
took his place opposing her.

   They grasped one another’s hand and waited for Zaleski to say go. He did and 
they started to wrestle. Susan held her arm very still. Higgins was straining 
with all his strength, yet he couldn’t budge her arm. She smiled at him and put 
his arm down with one smooth movement. Higgins and the rest of the guests were 
stunned at how easily she bested him considering his size advantage.

   “I’ve spent almost two years doing calisthenics, aerobics, working out with 
weights and sparring with and without weapons under as much as three gravities. 
At present, I’m far stronger than most men. To make you feel better Mr. 
Higgins, I’ll tell you now that I can do five pull-ups under three gravities…
with one hand.”

   Higgins blinked his eyes and was speechless. “It hasn’t hurt your agility 
any.”

   Smiling, Susan replied, “No it hasn’t.” 

   “On a more serious note, gentlemen, my assignment here seems to be 
predicating the belief that there will be wholesale firings and dismissals 
after I take command. That’s about as far from the truth as it can be. 
Everything General Zaleski just told you is true; however, it takes time to 
accomplish these changes. I have to set up a group to aid me in deciding how to 
implement the aforementioned changes. What criteria will be used to decide 
which commands stay or go, which ones will be integrated into one another, and 
which ones may be moved from this command to another command altogether. My 
feeling is that I’ll have to develop plans to retrain some personnel, reassign 
others and pink slip those who just don’t cut it. We will have to offer 
outplacement assistance and in some instances provide additional or new 
training to facilitate removing positions that are deemed redundant. Early 
retirements and buyouts will also have to be addressed. I’m sure that at least 
ten percent of those positions will be vacated by normal attrition over the 
course of the realignments. As for your fears, LtCol. Higgins, I don’t fire 
people out of hand. The fact that I may not approve of your methods of 
discipline is not reason to give you the heave-ho. I’ll give you the 
opportunity to get with my program. Make no mistake about it, gentlemen, it’s 
my way or the highway. You might keep in mind that I also reward performers. 
Those of you who appreciate a smooth running organization won’t have any 
problems. Those of you who chose to see how far I can be pushed are in for a 
rude introduction to reality. Onboard ship or a space station, I just toss the 
offender out the nearest airlock. On Earth, I don’t have any airlocks handy, 
but remember, necessity is the mother of invention.”

   There was a stony silence amongst the guests. The mayor and vice-mayor did 
an immediate re-evaluation of the youthful appearing woman who was going to 
relieve Zaleski. She had made it apparent to them all that she had a will of 
iron. The men had no doubts that she would be as good as her word.

   Zaleski cleared his throat, “I think Susan has made her position and views 
abundantly clear. I’m sure she will be happy to elucidate for those of you who 
still have questions, but I don’t think this is really the time.”

   The remainder of the evening passed without further incident. Susan 
entertained the guests demonstrating her musical breadth and depth. Zaleski 
asked her to remain after all the other guests departed.

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

   Zaleski got himself a fresh drink and Susan got another glass of juice.

   “You slam-dunked the mayor and his party the first thing this evening. Do 
you think that was wise?”

   “Hard to tell. They came in and immediately put me down as a know-nothing 
novice. After the way I bushwhacked the vice-mayor, they’ll have to reevaluate 
their thinking. Anything that keeps them off-guard with respect to dealing with 
me is to my advantage.” Susan held up her hand to stay Zaleski’s 
response. “I’ve handled alien and Earth ambassadors for a long time, Ron. Take 
my word for it, this way works best. Don’t let them feel comfortable. If they 
have enough time to feel comfortable, they have time to try and find your 
weaknesses. If you keep them off balance, they have to guess.” 

   “It’s going to be your ballgame after next Friday morning. I hope you’re 
right. Now what was that you laid on my military guests?”

   “Higgins is a poor disciplinarian and he’s afraid I’ll fire him as soon as I 
relieve you. I don’t work that way. I wanted them to know where I’m coming 
from. I have a job to do and I’ll get it done, with or without their 
cooperation. This is not a democracy, Ron. I just want them to understand that. 
Those who actively support me will reap the benefits of their labors. Those 
that won’t will reap the benefits of their labors, too; though, they probably 
won’t enjoy them very much.”

   “I don’t have that kind of drive. I don’t think I ever did. I seriously 
doubt that very many other supply types do either. It goes back to explaining 
why you’re here. You’ve made a career out of kicking ass and taking names, with 
the emphasis on kicking ass.”

   “Have you ever been involved in a reorganization like this one?”

   “Fortunately, no. I’m trying to imagine how hard this is going to be for 
you.”

   “I have the nastiest feeling it’s going to make the odds I faced at Babylon 
5 a few months ago look like a walk in the local park. Do you think Colonel 
Pearson might rethink his decision to stick around and help me run this place?”

   “He’ll stay. He likes your style.”

   Tilting her head and smiling at Zaleski, she said, “Regular sucker for 
punishment, isn’t he?”

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

   Susan put in a call to General Sanchez as soon as she got back to her suite 
at the BOQ. His reply was to agree to meet her for lunch at the galley on 
Saturday. She left a message for Brad Gordon to call her office to set up a 
meeting with her ‘ghost writer’ for Saturday after 1400 hours. She didn’t think 
it would take more than an hour to answer any questions that Sanchez might have 
concerning Lyta.

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

   Zaleski stuck his head into Pearson’s office and asked, “Where did Susan get 
off to?”

   “She was on her way out and passed me in the passageway. She said she had to 
go see about the uniforms she ordered earlier this week.”

   “I don’t suppose she took the staff car did she?”

   “I don’t know, general. I’ll check on it.”

   “If she didn’t, send it after her.”

   “You want her back, sir?”

   “No. She’s got to learn to use the perks that come with her new status.”

   “Yes sir. I’ll see to it.”

   After Zaleski left, Pearson called the front desk and sent the staff car and 
driver after Susan. He wondered why she hadn’t taken it in the first place. 
Maybe the general was right; she hadn’t become accustomed to the perks of her 
new status. She still thought like a warship’s captain. 

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

   Susan was looking at her image in the full-length mirror outside the 
dressing room at the uniform shop. The whites were damned impressive and they 
looked so much better than the regular Earthforce uniform. She fingered the 
single stars on the collar of her blouse. She hated to admit it, but she looked 
damned good. The khakis were very comfortable too. They were perfect for 
everyday wear as a work uniform. But she liked the whites the best.

   “You’re going to turn heads in that uniform, General Wayne. It makes your 
regular Earthforce uniform look like a cheap suit.”

   Smiling at the clerk, Susan replied, “It does look good. I bet my husband 
will go ape over it when he finally gets to see me in it.”

   “We will exchange rank insignia when you put on your second star and again 
if they pin the third one on you. The boss says it’s free since you dropped a 
small fortune on the uniforms and shoes.”

   “As long as it’s not a bribe. I can be bought, but I’m damned expensive.”

   The clerk laughed. “As long as you’re satisfied with the uniforms, he’ll be 
happy.”

   “Can I have you send the remainder of them to the BOQ.  Also, I suppose you 
should dry clean the one I just took off.”

   “No problem, sir.”

   Susan left the uniform shop and saw the command car sitting in the parking 
lot with its engine idling. She walked over to the driver’s side door. The 
driver lowered the window. “Are you my shadow today?”

   “Yes sir. My orders are to make the car available to you all day.”

   “Okay. I need to go over to Colonel Stout’s office.”

   “Yes sir.”

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

END PART 27  

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