Free Babylon 5: Red Fury by Claudia Christian, Morgan Grant Buchanan Page B

already compelling him to warn Bester, to stop Susan, to preserve Bester’s life. Was this Bester’s little joke—to infuriate Susan and then sit back and wait, knowing Garibaldi would have no choice but to step in and intervene?
    Garibaldi came to a stop before a large, impregnable door made
    of quantium-80—an ultra-rare mineral that could only be found on one planetoid in Grid Epsilon. He didn’t need to punch in a security code or supply voice identification. The sensitive alien alloy from which the door had been forged had imprinted his form. He walked directly into it, activating the localized jumpgate that transported him from outside to inside his command center in an instant. Any intruder would go unrecognized by the door and live a very short life after being transported into hyperspace.
    The room was filled with an extensive security station, similar to the one he’d had on Babylon 5, except this unit was state-of-the-art and hooked into a super computer deep beneath the Martian surface. It was the only man-made system to contain components loaned personally to Garibaldi by Draal, custodian of the Great Machine on Epsilon III.
    When he’d retired from his short stint as Head of Covert Intelligence for the Alliance, Garibaldi made sure he had all the tools he needed to protect himself and those he loved.
    Garibaldi knew he was a few hours ahead of the Psi Corps, EarthForce and the Alliance, time enough to uncover what had happened and make sure that, however things played out, the final move would be his.
    He placed a circular neural interface on his head and allowed his
    -8-
    RED FURY
    unconscious mind to start scanning through the oceans of data floating about on the Inter Stellar Network, piecing the story together with every resource at his disposal. Information was currency and having it might mean the difference between life and death for his friend when the game played out—and he was determined that if he did have to stop Susan, that he would do everything in his power to spare her life.
    Garibaldi suddenly remembered he had an outstanding task and
    opened up a comm channel to the kitchen. “Can you have a pot of
    bagna càuda sent to Reynolds?”
    “Yes sir,” a voice replied. “And one for yourself?”
    “Maybe later,” Garibaldi said as he filtered through the thousands of news bulletins and military reports that raced through his mind,
    “I’ve lost my appetite.”
    A few minutes later, when he had a sense of what had happened,
    Garibaldi punched a complex code sequence into his console and
    opened a channel to Psi Corps HQ. The image of the man he hated
    more than anyone in the universe appeared—a smug, self-satisfied smile upon his face.
    “Mr. Garibaldi?” Bester said cheerfully. “I’ve been expecting
    your call.”
    -9-
    RED FURY
    ONE

    One day earlier. Asteroid belt between Mars & Jupiter, en route to Proxima.
    Captain Susan Ivanova tapped her foot impatiently on the metallic deck as her Warlock-class destroyer Titans hurtled through space towards a sea of asteroids.
    “We’re almost there, sir,” her Commander, William Berensen said.
    “Ten thousand clicks.”
    “Any luck contacting them yet?” she asked. Berensen looked to
    Lieutenant Lukas Breck, the communications officer.
    “White Star 27, come in. This is the Interstellar Alliance Ship, Titans, ” Breck said into his console, “we’re responding to your distress signal. Can you read us?” He shook his head a few seconds later.
    “Nothing, sir, just the same message on repeat.” Breck tapped his console and the message broadcast around the bridge.
    Under attack from an unknown vessel. We’re suffering heavy casualties.
    We are in desperate need of reinforcements! We can’t take this kind of damage for long.
    They’d been en route to Proxima III, ordered to protect transports delivering vital supplies to the colony, when the distress call had come through. The signal originated from deep within the asteroid