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Hopeless, Shapeless, Dreamless, Nameless (4/?)
by Meredith Bronwen Mallory
mallorys-girl@cinci.rr.com
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New Arisia- March, 2264

    Something next to Carolyn stirred in sleep. Groggy, she moved away, so
close to the edge of the bed that she almost fell off. The shock of nearly
falling woke her body fully, and she rolled over to look at the man sleeping
beside her. Alfred had arrived yesterday, saying he had a vacation and had
taken it to see her. That was the half truth, and Carolyn knew it. The other
half was that Alfred had come to check up on Marcus Cole. Looking after him
was Carolyn's full time job, keeping him as isolated as possible. His
business meetings were only to take place on back water outposts, and she
was to screen the addresses of all VidCom and StellarCom transmissions,
though she had no idea why. The telepath  did know one thing: Marcus Cole
had more mind blocks than she did, and that was saying something. She had,
of course, given Alfred a full report on the past three months. She'd only
neglected to mention the change of destination for a business trip Marcus
had just left for. But what did it matter, anyway? Babylon 5 was just as
back water and isolated as Triton 3.

    Afterwards, Alfred had taken her to dinner, which had landed her exactly
where she was now. Sighing, Carolyn lay on her back and stare at the
ceiling. She hated the Corps as much as she had the day they'd first found
her. They'd taken her sister, Kail, first. Her beloved sister, who had been
so central to the young Carolyn's existence. Her parents had been divorced
when she was five, and she and Kail lived with their neglectful father. Kail
had been thirteen when she manifested telepathic abilities, and the black
suited Psi Cops had come and taken away not only Carolyn's sister, but her
mother-figure as well. Two years later, Carolyn herself hit puberty and her
powers came to full. She'd actually been glad, she would see Kail again,
after two years of nothing. But that wasn't to be, she'd been informed that
Kail had died in a freak training accident. So Carolyn ran. But you could
only run so far, and the Psi Cops and blood hounds were far too strong for
an untrained P12, who was frankly terrified. They'd taken her back, but
she'd only run away again. After ten years of playing hide and seek, the
Corps had gotten sick of her, and tossed her into a 're-education' facility
on Mars. That's where she'd met Al, and that, was where they'd taken her.
Black things, she'd only recently learned were called Shadows. Three years
later, she was here on New Arisia, trapped in the Corps and playing
babysitter for a man that was clearly struggling all his might against the
mind blocks imposed upon him.

    Alfred was hiding something- correction, he was always hiding SOMETHING. He
was hiding something VERY important, Carolyn could feel it. The question
was, was she brave enough to go into his mind and get it? More importantly,
could she do it without waking him? Tentatively, her mind reached out and
felt for the edge of his. The blocks were down, not only was he asleep, but
he also trusted her. Slowly, she darted in, then back out, fearful of
springing a trap. But nothing happened, and she moved in as quietly as
possible. It was there, a huge secret... Images flooded her mind, each one an
atom of a huge tsunami that left her gasping with the clarity of it all. And
Carolyn knew. Marcus was only a pawn for a bigger hunt. They were after some
one else... some one stronger, a P12. Of course the Corps was desperate for
good P12s, there were only about two hundred of them in the current teep
population. There was a name: Susan Ivanova. The information was still
flooding to Carolyn when she realized something: Marcus had gone to Babylon
5, where he wasn't supposed to go. Not only that, but the Psi Cops were
planing something. She delved deeper, and found it. She had to warn them!
Everyone on Babylon 5 was in danger, especially this Susan person. Carolyn
retreated swiftly, leaving not a mark or clue as to the fact that she had
been in Alfred's mind.

    Throwing her legs over the side the bed, Carolyn steadied herself  and
hurried to get ready, as quietly as possible. She dressed quickly, then
glanced at Alfred's bags. Something, a hunch, told her there was something
in there. Sure enough, she discovered a case of data crystals and some
papers. She put them in a black bag and hurried for the door. She'd always
known she'd go rogue again, after all, she wasn't meant for the Corps. She
supposed now was as good a time as any.

--------

    "Really, and who would you be?" Jaylen and Erika looked up to see the
Captain herself, standing, Jaylen's PPG in hand, aimed at Erika.
"My name is Erika Browning. I have to speak with you, Captain, it's of the
up most importance.
"Really? Doesn't the Corps know by now that my reception for Psi Cops isn't
pleasant? You're not welcome here. If you want to talk to some one, go tell
your lies to the President," Susan spat. The icy mask that had fallen over her
face revealed just how much she took this intrusion as a personal insult.
"I'm not a Psi Cop," Erika replied, fishing in her pocket for something. She
pulled out a Ranger pin, "I'm a Ranger."
"I can vouch for that, Ma'am," Jaylen spoke up. Susan looked at the woman
dubiously. The Corps could not be trusted. Tapping her link, she called
Security.
"This is Ivanova to Security, I need a team down here immediately. I seem to
have an intruder in my quarters."
"Ma'am," Jaylen interrupted, "I told you, she is a Ranger. I trained with
her, I can vouch for her."
"Jaylen, I don't trust the Psi Corps. In fact, I down right hate them, and
when a Psi Cop shows up in my quarters at five in the morning, it tends to
bother me," the Captain said as clearly as possible. She was annoyed, at
five in the morning the last thing she needed to hear was more of the lies
the Corps dished out.
"Captain, your being unreasonable!" Erika exclaimed, "I have important
information, it's for both yours, and the Entil 'Zha's ears only!" The door chime
sounded, and Ivanova motioned for the Security team to enter. Two men
grabbed Erika, as she continued to struggle and protest. They roughly began
dragging her to the door, as Jaylen stood near-by, helpless, "Hey, watch the
merchandise!" the Psi Cop/Ranger protested harshly, "Captain! This is
ridiculous! You have to listen to me..." Erika continued as she was pulled out
the door. In her last ditch effort, she shouted loudly, "It's about Marcus
Cole!"

-------

Marcus Cole walked out of customs, gazing out at the sea of myriad colors
and smells that was Babylon 5. It was all very memorable, like it had been
only yesterday that he'd left. But... something was missing, something that
increased the ache in his heart, something as insubstantial as that golden,
blue-eyed unicorn in his dreams.  Slinging his travel bag over his
shoulders, he headed for station house, where he would rent some quarters
for his stay. Perhaps, he considered, towards the end of his time here he
might drop in on Stephen and see how he was doing.