Ivanova Part 2 of ---(WIP)

************************************************************
 
   "That concludes the briefing, gentlemen. I’ll take questions for discussion, 
but the decision has already been made," said Susan. "Ops, insure we’re 
maintaining EMCON (emission control) condition one. There is one other 
thing: if I or any of my crew catch anyone trying to send any unauthorized 
message traffic, the offender  will be escorted to the brig. That offender 
will remain there until we get back to Earth, assuming we get back. If 
anyone actually sends any unauthorized message traffic and gets caught, 
mark my words, I will have him or her shot. We’re going into battle, and 
I don't need some idiot compromising my operations and risking my ship and 
crew."
  
     "Captain, is this a prudent move?"
  
     "You’re a lawyer, I expect you to be scared, but I believe it is. The 
CJCS is sitting right here, why don't you ask him?"
  
     "General Leftcourt," said the lawyer, "You haven't said anything during 
this whole meeting."
  
     "I think Susan covered all the pertinent points. She gave me a briefing 
last night on these Drakh. Based on that, I agree with her course of action."
  
     "I understand that part, General," insisted the lawyer. "But destroying 
two ships as opposed to following them back to their base and attacking them 
and it, is anything but prudent. We have no idea what we’ll be facing."
  
     "Did you ever see what was left of Clark's elite advanced destroyer 
squadron after Susan got through with it. Keep in mind that she hadn't any 
real idea what she and  her whitestar squadron would be facing, except that 
she would probably be outnumbered. She was outnumbered, and the ships she 
faced also had a tremendous advantage in firepower."
  
     "No Sir. I have never seen the results, not even pictures."
  
     "All that was left of the destroyers was a really large amount of 
wreckage. There were no survivors. Give them the spiel you gave me last 
night, Susan. Maybe, then, they’ll understand better."
  
     Susan pulled a small box out of her jacket pocket and selected a data 
crystal from it. Putting it into the player unit, and began to talk.

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

   Susan took thirty minutes to tell the story she had told Leftcourt. 
Then she took questions. It didn't take long for all the combat veterans 
to realize that the lawyers were scared. This in itself was not a bad thing. 
Not being scared at the possibility of being killed in an upcoming firefight 
was at best foolish, at worst outright stupid. However, it was obvious that 
a number of the them were outright cowards - brave in a courtroom with a 
controlled environment, but scared  witless at the prospect of being in a 
real battle.

   Finally one of the lawyers said, "The EA has not declared war on these 
Drakh; therefore, you can't legally carry out this attack, Captain Ivanova."
  
     "You can file a complaint when, and if, we get back to Earth. I have 
the consensus of more than a dozen experienced combat officers many of flag 
rank, one of whom is the CJCS of the Earthforce, and the concurrence of the 
JAG. Therefore, this discussion is closed, and the next person who tells me 
what I can and can't do, will finish what's left of this trip in the brig. 
Any further questions gentlemen?" inquired Susan. Silence was the only 
response to her last statement.
  
    The group started to break up and file out. Susan asked, "General 
Leftcourt, would you and the other combat officers please remain behind 
for a few minutes, sir?"
  
     Leftcourt had noticed that Susan's officers  were remaining in their 
seats. In a few minutes the non-combat officers, except for the JAG, had 
departed the briefing room.
  
     Retaking his seat Leftcourt asked, "What's on your mind, Susan?"

     "As much as I dislike some of the pantywaists that just left, they 
had some valid questions and concerns. The most important ones concerned 
our lack of knowledge about  what we’re up against. Let's face it, we’re 
going up against what is most likely superior technology. I’ve faced that 
technology. Our armor is at least as good as theirs and from what I have 
experienced maybe even better. Our firepower, based on the Shadow battle 
cruiser discovered on Ganymede, may be a bit superior to theirs. We won't 
be able to lie in wait for them this time, like we did at Babylon 5."
  
     "You’re getting around to something, Susan, so let's have it," said 
Leftcourt.
  
     "For whatever reason, gentlemen, before this ship left on its deployment, 
it was loaded with a large number of tactical nuclear weapons of various 
yields. I have decided to arm our thunderbolt fighters with high-speed 
missiles and with as many of these warheads as they can carry. The remainder 
are, at this moment being fitted onto our ship's missiles. I plan to go 
into this armed to the teeth, and fully prepared for all out war. I’m 
telling you this for your information. I'm not even sure I can legally 
do this, but I’m willing to take the responsibility, and all that goes 
with it, for the decision. If it will make you feel better, you can deny 
knowing anything about it."
  
     "I never realized how lucky we were when John used the teeps to disable 
our ships at Mars," commented Leftcourt.
  
     "You may as well know, gentlemen, I firmly believe in taking an assault 
rifle to a knife fight," replied Susan. Then she continued, "Okay. Wally, 
give us the rundown of where we are in our preparations."
  
     The ops boss stepped to the front of the room, inserted a data crystal 
in the player, and began talking.

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

   Onboard the Drakh lead cruiser-carrier, the 'commanding officer' was 
watching the display at the front of the bridge area. It reached from the 
deck to the overhead and was as wide as the front of the bridge area.

   "It has been following us for the better part of the day. Have you 
identified it?"

   The Drakh at the CO's side, his intelligence officer, answered, "Although 
it is showing heavy external damage, our data indicates it is the EAS Ares, 
presently commanded by Earthforce Captain Susan Ivanova."

   "I have heard that name before. The memories it invokes are not good."

   "We know she was part of the so called 'Army of Light' that fought with 
the Vorlons against our dark masters. We have kept track of her assignments, 
waiting to take revenge for her part in their departing."

   "I thought that she had been caught in a trap which we set for her when 
she commanded the EAS Zeus?"

   "We lost contact with the ships sent to ambush her. We never found any 
trace of them. We searched the area from which their last transmission 
originated. We found nothing, not even debris. Their fate is still a 
complete mystery."

   "What happened to the fleet sent to capture and destroy Babylon 5? I 
know they were destroyed. She personally destroyed eight of our finest 
before they could even exit from hyperspace. That still left twenty-nine 
ships that were somehow disabled and destroyed. They never sent any 
communications about what was happening to them."

   "We don't really know, sir. We have rumors, but not much else. There 
have been unsubstantiated reports that she and the station were helped by 
someone or something located on the planet near the station. There is also 
a rumor that she was aided by a human telepath."

   "Are you going to try to convince me that twenty-nine of our ships and 
their crews were disabled or destroyed by one human telepath?"

   "Maybe I was too hasty with my description. I have learned that she is 
the human who went to the Vorlon homeward and returned. She also worked 
for the Vorlon Kosh."

   "What are you trying to say?"

   "There are rumors that the Vorlons left behind a weapon. If they decided 
to do that, what better weapon than one that can operate independently, 
reproduce itself and adapt to whatever situation that arises?"

   "Is there any proof of this?"

   "I am not sure. We have observation data from reliable sources that 
indicate that she is capable of feats even our dark masters would have 
trouble doing, without the use of their technology. I would dismiss the 
data as daydreams, if the sources didn't have long records of providing 
reliable information."

   "Why hasn't she been targeted for elimination?"

   "She has. However, those sent to terminate her have met with less than
 great success. They are all dead, and there is no evidence that she ever 
touched any of them  physically or used any weapons on any of them."

   "Was she on the station when our forces attempted their attack?"

   "Yes. Our sources aboard the station reported that she was alone in her 
quarters during the entire time of the attack. I don't see how she could 
have been involved in the destruction of that fleet?"

   "Well, we have the Ares trailing us. It is odd, though. She is not using 
any of her active tracking systems and all her weapons are powered down. 
Do you suppose she is unaware of our presence? After all, this is one of 
the courses a ship would use if it were taking the shortest route to Earth."

   "Our sensors indicate that half of her reactors are either off-line or 
only idling. I would be inclined to agree with your assessment except for 
the fact that her commanding officer is Captain Ivanova. I do not trust 
that woman. She seems to be able to smell trouble or a trap, and she has 
an irritating proclivity for survival. Her record as a tactical commander 
is the envy of most of the Earthforce officer corps."

   "I will take your judgment to heart. We will maintain our course, but 
we will be vigilant for any activity on her ship. After all, she has enough 
firepower to destroy us, if she decides to do so."

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

  "That's our plan, gentlemen. Since we are on our original course for 
Earth and the Drakh ships are going in the same direction, we can follow 
them without raising their suspicions. Our weapons are powered down and we 
are not using any of our active sensors. From their point of view, we just 
happen to be going in the same direction they are. We won't be doing anything 
to get their attention if it can be avoided. I’m going to turn this over 
to the weapons officer for his part of the briefing."

   "Gentlemen, my name is Marshall Kiley, Commander, Earthforce - I am 
the weapons officer of the Ares. My part of this briefing is just that, 
brief. During this deployment, my men and women have worked closely with 
the intelligence department, the tactical divisions, our engineering support 
divisions and the programmers we brought with us to enhance the Ares chances 
of survival in a firefight. We have altered the capabilities of our high-speed 
missiles so that they can carry multiple warheads and decoys. We have also 
modified them so they can be independently targeted on a specific ship's 
heat signature. Our energy weapons are derivatives of the Shadow technology 
that former President Clark tried to use during the recent civil war. I 
won't go into specifics except to say that our weapons sensors and the 
navigation system have been highly integrated. When the navigator programs 
course changes into his system, our weapons tracking systems use the programmed 
changes to predict where we should be aiming even before we actually execute 
the maneuver. No other ship in Earthforce can do this. We have programmed 
the various attack patterns into the system so that as the navigator changes 
course, our maneuvers change to account for it. If we survive the upcoming 
firefight, and I have every expectation that we will, I will be wanting your 
comments about our efforts. Now it’s time for the spooky part of the 
presentation. Casper, it's all yours."

   The ship's intelligence officer walked to the front of the room. "For 
your information, gentlemen, my name isn't Casper, and I’m damned sure 
not a friendly ghost. My name is Jake Collins. I’ll give you a short and 
sweet synopsis of what the weapons officer left unsaid. The missile warheads 
were reworked by our engineering machine shops. We can put ten small nuclear 
warheads in each missile, or we can put decoys in them, or any mix of the 
two. These decoys have been built with independent rocket motors so that 
they travel very fast after the mother  warhead opens up and they generate 
the signals you will see in a real warhead. It can make for a very large 
number of targets that have to be destroyed to ensure destruction of the 
real warheads. We have developed a method of using navigation buoys and 
self-propelled probes to get a picture of an enemy area, and be able to 
jump in virtually on top the enemy. We have thoroughly analyzed the Drakh 
ship data we were able to collect at Babylon 5 and correlate it with other 
data we have on them from other encounters." All the while he was talking, 
Collins was showing videos and stills to illustrate exactly what he was 
talking about. He showed videos to illustrate the tactics that had been 
developed by the Ares crew to take best advantage of their improved weapons 
and software packages. "Any questions, gentlemen?"

   General Sanchez spoke up first, "All of this was accomplished on this 
deployment. How did you find enough time, Mister Collins?"

   "That's easy, General. Captain Ivanova teaches you how to prioritize 
your activities and make time. Besides, what else was there for us to do."

   Looking at Ivanova who was kicked back in a chair with her eyes closed, 
Sanchez commented, "I think I'm getting the picture."

   "One thing to remember, general, she starts work before we do, and she 
is usually still working long after we've quit for the day," replied Collins.

   Susan opened her eyes and looked around the room. "If there are no more 
questions, the briefing is concluded. My people still have a lot of work 
to do in preparation for what's ahead."

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

   In CIC, Susan was reviewing with the navigator the strategy to be used 
when the Drakh ships changed course away from the beacon they were presently 
following. After she was satisfied with their preparations, she left for a 
tour or the ship and a look at the preparations being made in other areas of 
her command. Her first stop was the area of the ship's hanger bay being used 
to prep and arm her starfury and thunderbolt fighters.

   "How’re we doing Lieutenant?"

   "We’re almost finished, skipper. We just have to arm these four and we 
will be ready to go," replied her airdale weapons officer. "I can guarantee 
they’re all loaded for bear, or - in this instance - loaded for Drakh."

   "Let's hope for the best. This isn't going to be any cakewalk."

   "It never is, skipper. It never is."

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

   Susan had walked several miles down the various passageways interconnecting 
the many compartments on the big ship. She found herself just outside the 
control room of the dead reactor. There were raised voices engaged in what 
was obviously a heated discussion being conducted inside the room. She 
walked inside to get a better understanding of the issues.

   "Ah, captain. You are just in time to make a command decision here," 
said the cheng.

   "What kind of decision?" inquired Susan, noting that the other half of 
the discussion was the civilian, Jeff, that she had the run in with the 
other day.

   "They tell me there is a very good chance that we will be going into a 
firefight soon," commented Jeff.

   "And that is important because...?"

   "We got off on the wrong foot the other day, captain. I don't like going 
into a fight unprepared."

   "Get to the point."

   "This reactor is flat on its ass, and it can't be properly repaired until 
we get the ship into a shipyard. Nothing can change that, but it is possible 
to repair it enough to allow it to function for a day or so."

   "Tell her the downside, Jeff."

   "There is always a price. What’s the price for getting her up for a 
few days?"

   "I can get her up and running at full power for maybe forty-eight hours, 
less if you run her balls to the wall."

   "How long if we run her as you say 'balls to the wall' and what is the 
price?"

   "Maybe eighteen hours. After that she will be completely trashed, beyond 
repair anywhere."

   "That will give me maximum power out of all my plants for about eighteen 
hours. The fight won't last that long, and if the Drakh intelligence is up 
to snuff, they know we're crippled. It's my ace in the hole. I'll take it, 
Jeff. You never know, it may be the difference between getting home and 
being blown to dust. I'll leave you gents to your jobs."

   "Captain Ivanova," said Jeff as Susan was leaving the room, "thanks."

   "This better work, Jeff," said the cheng.

   "My life may depend on it, so you can bet your ass it will." 
 
*****************************

   Susan thought to herself as she walked down the passageway leaving the 
control room behind, [If he succeeds, I'm going to owe him big time.]

   She made one more stop in CIC prior to going to her office to finish up 
any loose paperwork. After that, she would be heading for her quarters and 
her husband. [Having him aboard is a definite distraction,] she smiled to 
herself.
   
   The ops boss had left the latest SITREP message on her desk for chopping 
and releasing. She pored over it and added a few items of her own, then sent 
it to communications for immediate transmission to Earth. She was sure the 
Drakh would intercept and decode it. A routine message of no importance, 
really, from a ship on its way home. It should help convince the Drakh 
commanders on the ships she was tailing that she was unaware of their presence.

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

   "I hear we're going into harm's way."
  
   "Probably," replied Susan, taking another bite of her supper.
  
   "I suppose it's necessary."

   "That's up for debate, Charley. Leftcourt and his boys agree with me 
that it is the right thing to do. Remember when we were on the Zeus? The 
Drakh ambushed us by faking an emergency beacon. I’m going to try and repay 
the favor... with compound interest."
  
   "Remind me, as if it's necessary, never to piss you off."

   They finished dinner and retired for the evening. Both of them needed 
more than just a hug and kiss.

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

   "Good morning, General Leftcourt. What can I do for you?" Asked the O.O.D.

   "Nothing really, Lieutenant. I woke up about 0430 and haven't been able 
to get back to sleep. Since I’m just along for the ride, I don't have anything 
to do, and I'm feeling a bit antsy."

   "Not antsy, General, I bet it's anticipation. We most likely are going 
to get into a firefight. I don't know about you, but my adrenalin glands 
are working a bit of overtime this morning."

   "You’re probably right. I felt like this when I had to take on John 
Sheridan at Mars. You knew it was coming, but you didn't know exactly 
what. You only knew it would be very dangerous."

   It was getting to be 0630 and the morning chow reliefs were arriving 
to let the watch break for breakfast, when the O.O.D. noticed that the 
Drakh ships were changing course.

   "Navigator!" said the O.O.D.

   "I'm on it, and beginning buoy release program number one," answered 
the navigator.

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

   Susan was having a leisurely breakfast with Charley when the intercom 
signaled. Stepping over to the comm. panel, Susan said, "Accept."

   "Captain, this is the O.O.D. The Drakh ships have changed course and 
navigation is running buoy dispersion program number one."

   "Very well. Keep me informed of any changes to the present situation. 
Captain out."

   "Do you have to run?" asked Charley.

   "No. Buoy program number one will keep us on our present course for at 
least two more hours before we double back on our course to the point where 
the Drakh ships changed course. So, we have four hours at least before all 
hell can break loose. However, I am not sure it will...break loose. I want 
more information about those Drakh and where they’re going, before I take 
the ship and crew into harm's way. Contrary to some rumors, I don't go off 
half-cocked anymore."

   Charley regarded his wife speculatively, as he took another drink of coffee.

   "Just what do you have in mind, Charley?"

   "A number of things, none of which is important at the moment."

   "Well, I’m going to brush my teeth before I go. Otherwise my breath will 
peel the paint off the bulkhead."

   Susan was busy brushing when Charley put his arms around her. 

   Through the toothbrush she tried to say, "We don't have time for this." 
What came out was not intelligible.

   Charley pressed his advantage. Susan rinsed and twisted in his arms. 
Nose to nose, she said, "Charley that's my ass you're squeezing."

   "I surely hope so. Otherwise, I'm in big trouble."

   "Let me go!"

   Charley continued to kiss and fondle his wife, despite her 'complaints', 
and when she didn't make any real effort to break away from him, he picked 
her up and carried her to the bed. 

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

   "When do you expect the captain, lieutenant?" Asked Leftcourt.

   "Hard to say, general. The buoy program will keep us on our present course 
at our present speed for two hours before we reverse course and go back," 
replied the O.O.D.

   "I suppose you have tested this little exercise before."

   "Yes sir. We’ve run a number of variations and reworked monitor and 
navigation buoys and our probes to facilitate the operations. It's why we 
should be able to kick the ass of a force several times our size. Have you 
ever wondered what would happen, general, if you opened a jump point inside 
a solid object, like a ship or a space station?"

   "I understand the theory boys believe you would have massive destruction 
of said ship or station."
   
   "That's correct, sir. The captain has that as one of many 'outside the 
box' ideas for defeating a numerically superior force."

   "I'm not at all surprised."

   General Leftcourt sat back in the staff command chair and spent the next 
hour and a half watching the watches do their jobs. He was impressed at 
their competence.

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

   Susan eased herself out of her bed and went to take a quick shower. A 
few minutes later, as she got dressed for the second time that morning, 
she commented to her husband, "Charley. We can't just hop into the sack 
every time you have the urge."

   "I know, but you had extra time this morning. Besides, you didn't resist 
very strongly."

   "I'll let you get away with it this time."

   Charley got up, came over, embraced her and kissed her very deeply. 
Pulling away, he whispered in her ear, "You can kick my ass in a heart 
beat, but if you hadn't wanted it as much as I did, it wouldn't have happened."

   Susan kissed him very passionately, then replied, "I know. Anyway, you 
aren't the type to force the issue." She kissed him again.

   Breaking the kiss, he whispered, "You're late, sweetheart."

   As she went out the door, she looked back at him and smiled wickedly as 
she shot back, "Who's going to complain?"

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

    Entering CIC Susan asked the O.O.D., "What's our status?"

   "We have just under an hour before we reverse course, Captain."

   "I have a feeling about this one. Let's stay on course two more hours 
then backtrack. Something tells me the Drakh are going to go sideways until 
they lose us on their sensors then... double back. I want to give them 
good reason to feel secure."

   "What makes you think they’ll do that, Susan?" asked Leftcourt, from 
the flag commanders chair.

   "It's what I would do if I had an advantage in sensor capability. I 
only hope they don't pick up our probe buoys. They’re totally passive, so 
maybe the Drakh will pass them off as extraneous debris."

   "Have you changed your mind about our course of action?"

   "No, general. I have not, but I want to know as much about what we’ll 
be facing as I can. I’m not suicidal in spite of what some people think. 
We will make every attempt to assess the situation before we commit ourselves. 
I intend to bring this ship home in one piece. I won't attack against hopeless 
odds. Don Quixote, I’m not."

   "Odd turn of phrase, Susan, but very applicable. I wouldn't have thought 
of windmills in space."

   "When I took on Clark's advanced destroyers, I didn't know what I was 
up against, but the situation didn't give me the choice of evading the 
encounter. That's not true here. If things are too unbalanced, I can simply 
leave and come back another day."

   The engineering watch looked up from his console and said to Susan, 
"Sir. I’m being informed that they have finished machining the parts for 
the number seven reactor. They say they need at least six hours to install 
them and test the unit."

    "Tell them they have it," replied Susan. Then she turned toward the 
navigator's console and said, "Replot our course and speed to give them 
the time they need, before we arrive back at the buoy release point."

   "Yes sir," responded the navigation watch.

   Swiveling her chair, Susan looked at Leftcourt, who was studying her 
intently.

   "How do you do it?" he asked.

   "How do I do what?"

   "How do you get that kind of performance out of them?"

   "Easy. I demand the best they have to give as a starting point. Then 
we go from there."

   Susan turned back to face the front of the watch area as a yeoman brought 
her a datapad with more than a couple of status reports displayed on it. 
She had been working over the datapad for almost an hour when her intelligence 
officer approached her and whispered in her ear. Moments later Susan followed 
him out of CIC.

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

   It was late afternoon when Susan was informed that the parts had been 
installed in reactor number seven and powering up procedures were being 
implemented. She was also informed that it would be at least four hours 
before they would know how well, if at all, the temporary repairs were 
going to work. The ship was less than an hour away from the area where 
the buoys had been dispersed. It was looking like her analysts would have 
plenty of time to make sure buoy program number one had worked as planned.

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

   It had taken several hours to work their way through the data collected 
by the monitor buoys, but they had arrived at the calculated jump point of 
the Drakh ships. Susan's taking extra time had proven to be a very good idea. 
One of the Drakh ships had backtracked on their course looking for the Ares. 
Finally after several hours loitering in the area to make sure the Earthforce 
destroyer was in fact gone, it had changed course and followed its sister ship.

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

   In CIC the atmosphere had started to become slightly intense. Susan 
had ordered several passive probes readied for insertion into normal space 
through a short jump point. After launching the first batch, she deployed 
a buoy to mark the insertion point and moved the ship a short distance and 
inserted a second batch. The probes would separate over a distance of 
several thousand kilometers in real space and when interrogated by an 
encrypted signal, they would send data in short compressed burst. If all 
went as planned Susan's intelligence people would be able to correlate a 
very small volume of hyperspace with a relative volume of normal space and 
would have the targets located in normal space as well. If they did their 
work accurately enough, the Ares would be able to either open a jump point 
very close to the target allowing for engaging the target without actually 
exiting hyperspace, or allow attacking the target by opening a jump point 
in the same space occupied by the target. It had worked in practice. However, 
this wasn't practice and the targets could shoot back.

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

   Several hours had passed since the initial buoy/probe placements and Susan 
had opened jump points several times to interrogate the deployed bouy/probes.

   "Captain," said the O.O.D. The spooks say they have the data ready for 
use. Mister Collins wants to hold a briefing in briefing room two."

   "Tell him I'm on my way," responded Susan. "General, would you care to 
attend?" Susan asked Leftcourt as she headed for the exit from CIC."

   In response, Leftcourt followed her out.
 
   As they walked down the passageway, Leftcourt inquired, "If you don't 
mind, I'd like for some of my people to attend. It won't hurt them to see 
how "outside the box" thinking can enhance a units 'performance'."

   "Call them. Tell them to get their asses in gear, I won't hold this up 
more than a few minutes. I figure the Drakh are wondering just what the 
hell is happening and are going to send someone to find out before long. 
I plan to hit them before that, or if the odds are too great, I want to 
get the hell out of here."

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

   "Okay, Jake. Get the show on the road. Those who aren't already here 
can catch the replay after this is all over. Make sure the recorders get 
it all. I expect you and some of your people are going to be writing this 
up for the tactical operations course at the war college," said Susan.

   "Gentlemen. If I can have your undivided attention and silence, I will 
try and make this a brief brief... pun intended," began Collins.

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

END PART TWO
   

part 3

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