test of his galactic knowledge, but Shaw rose to it. ‘Err, well, it’s a Centauri world, near Minbari space. I remember stories of an ancient alien race disappearing, leaving their technology behind. Which the Centauri promptly scavenged. Oh, and I remember a report on nomads living in the southern hemisphere, something about abandoned slaves.’
‘Good enough,’ Badeau nodded. ‘We are not interested in slaves today though. Our old friends in House Kaado have a few operations here, and Intelligence wants us to do a sweep of the planet to detect any new activity since our last reconnaissance of the system. If we see anything unusual, we are to get as much information as possible, landing planet-side if need be. We are to avoid contact with Centauri military forces. Then it is on to Babylon 5 to escort the new Ipsha ambassador to Minbar.’
‘All in a day’s work.’
‘Just so. We will be jumping in-system within three hours. Use that time to plot the optimum entry point and course to the second planet. Assume a full defensive spread of Centauri mines and a battlegroup within an hour’s reach of the planet.’
Shaw turned from the display to stare at her. ‘I didn’t know Coutor was heavily defended. I thought the Centauri had all but forgotten this world.’
‘They have,’ she said, smiling. ‘This is a test.’
Aye, Captain.’ Feeling slightly foolish, Shaw relieved the Minbari at his station and began integrating known data on Coutor with likely scenarios for an aggressive defence. Accounting for the gravity wells that existed in the system and the current orbital positions of the planets, Shaw soon worked up three likely entry points and ingress routes before spending the next two hours refining his plans to come up with the single optimum flight plan.
When he felt ready, Shaw presented his plans to Badeau, who insisted he forward it to the holographic screen. After answering a few pertinent questions without consulting his data, the Minbari helmsmen were ordered to make a few corrections and the flight plan programmed into the Intrepide ’s computers. Badeau made no outward comment, but Shaw felt she was at least satisfied with his work.
A blue jump point blinked open in the Coutor system, and the Intrepide flew straight toward the second planet. While the White Stars lacked the full stealth suite of most Minbari warships, it was still difficult to detect, and Shaw’s flight plan did much to maximise their cover. This would only work up to a point though, and every crew member on the Intrepide knew that the Centauri would detect them sooner or later.
The sleek White Star crossed the gulf of space between the jump point and the second planet orbiting Coutor’s star in minutes. On the bridge, every crew member was alert as the planet grew in the viewport. A desolate place of reds and browns, patches of dark organic matter stained vast areas of the surface. As they closed, they witnessed volcanic eruptions concentrated around the equatorial region visible to the naked eye.
Badeau called to the Minbari working at the stations behind her. ‘Work quickly. We only want one pass. Scan for all structures in the northern hemisphere and compare it to our records. Highlight anything new and send it to the main display immediately. Michael, with me. Within seconds of any sites being displayed, we must determine if the Intrepide is to land or not. Any hesitation and we’ll be out of low orbit and have to make another pass.’
The holographic display shimmered down in front of the main viewport once more but remained blank for several minutes as the White Star began to decelerate and enter low orbit around the planet. Shaw was aware of a great deal of activity behind him and did not envy the Minbari who had to detect, record and process the scan in time to meet Sabine’s orders.
Then a list of inhabited sites began scrolling up the right-hand side of the display, all those that matched the previous
‘Good enough,’ Badeau nodded. ‘We are not interested in slaves today though. Our old friends in House Kaado have a few operations here, and Intelligence wants us to do a sweep of the planet to detect any new activity since our last reconnaissance of the system. If we see anything unusual, we are to get as much information as possible, landing planet-side if need be. We are to avoid contact with Centauri military forces. Then it is on to Babylon 5 to escort the new Ipsha ambassador to Minbar.’
‘All in a day’s work.’
‘Just so. We will be jumping in-system within three hours. Use that time to plot the optimum entry point and course to the second planet. Assume a full defensive spread of Centauri mines and a battlegroup within an hour’s reach of the planet.’
Shaw turned from the display to stare at her. ‘I didn’t know Coutor was heavily defended. I thought the Centauri had all but forgotten this world.’
‘They have,’ she said, smiling. ‘This is a test.’
Aye, Captain.’ Feeling slightly foolish, Shaw relieved the Minbari at his station and began integrating known data on Coutor with likely scenarios for an aggressive defence. Accounting for the gravity wells that existed in the system and the current orbital positions of the planets, Shaw soon worked up three likely entry points and ingress routes before spending the next two hours refining his plans to come up with the single optimum flight plan.
When he felt ready, Shaw presented his plans to Badeau, who insisted he forward it to the holographic screen. After answering a few pertinent questions without consulting his data, the Minbari helmsmen were ordered to make a few corrections and the flight plan programmed into the Intrepide ’s computers. Badeau made no outward comment, but Shaw felt she was at least satisfied with his work.
A blue jump point blinked open in the Coutor system, and the Intrepide flew straight toward the second planet. While the White Stars lacked the full stealth suite of most Minbari warships, it was still difficult to detect, and Shaw’s flight plan did much to maximise their cover. This would only work up to a point though, and every crew member on the Intrepide knew that the Centauri would detect them sooner or later.
The sleek White Star crossed the gulf of space between the jump point and the second planet orbiting Coutor’s star in minutes. On the bridge, every crew member was alert as the planet grew in the viewport. A desolate place of reds and browns, patches of dark organic matter stained vast areas of the surface. As they closed, they witnessed volcanic eruptions concentrated around the equatorial region visible to the naked eye.
Badeau called to the Minbari working at the stations behind her. ‘Work quickly. We only want one pass. Scan for all structures in the northern hemisphere and compare it to our records. Highlight anything new and send it to the main display immediately. Michael, with me. Within seconds of any sites being displayed, we must determine if the Intrepide is to land or not. Any hesitation and we’ll be out of low orbit and have to make another pass.’
The holographic display shimmered down in front of the main viewport once more but remained blank for several minutes as the White Star began to decelerate and enter low orbit around the planet. Shaw was aware of a great deal of activity behind him and did not envy the Minbari who had to detect, record and process the scan in time to meet Sabine’s orders.
Then a list of inhabited sites began scrolling up the right-hand side of the display, all those that matched the previous
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