Dawn of Duty

February 12th, 2259 - Station Babylon 5, Epsilon System

C&C - Command and Control Observation Dome 1 1630


Lt. David Corwin was enjoying the relative quiet shift at his work station and casually ran a hand through his well kept brown hair, blue eyes watching activity in the docking bays where several Drazi transports were unloading various perishables for trade and refueling. It was all routine and he was hoping that his shift that was ending soon would remain just as peaceful.

His slim face frowned at the jumpgate sequence that was running through his console. There wasn't supposed to be another ship heading through here for another two Earth Standard Hours.

"Commander? Jumpgate's been activated ..." he stated firmly.

Ivanova immediately grew annoyed and her icy stare went right to the gate through the observation window. "Of course it has. Something just had to ruin our shift. What's coming through?"

The four long struts whose points formed a diamond flashed at the very end before the swirling blue vortex appeared, as it always did, when a vessel was exiting hyperspace. The jumpgate was a fixed structure just like the station above Epsilon III.

"Not sure. It's small though." He squinted at the screen. "Can barely pick up uh. Hm ... Um, Commander?"

With a sigh, she responded. "Yes?"

"It's one of our own. A Starfury. And just the one. Attempting to contact the pilot."

"What the hell." Her annoyance was replaced with confusion. "We haven't received notice that any Earthforce fighters were headed our way. Have there been any communications of attacks on our fleet? Could've gotten lost in the battle."

"Negative on that, Ma'am. I ... huh. Okay. This is weird. The pilot ignored my message and sent one of their own."

"Yeah ...that's odd." She squinted at the small spec as the blue vortex disappeared. "What are the scans picking up?" Ivanova had learned one couldn't be too cautious out here and not everything was so simple on the surface.

"Fury is intact with no damage. Weapons offline. The message is standard - requesting to speak to the Commanding Officer."

"Alright. Patch them through. Only one way to find out who our mystery guest is." She cleared her throat. "Babylon Control to Starfury - This is Commander Susan Ivanova of Babylon 5. Please state your designation for processing as previously requested."

"Geesh. It takes you all that long to answer a call? No wonder people bitch about how shitty the docking procedures are," quipped the female voice on the other end.

"Oh for the love of ... Aliya?!" Ivanova leaned over the console, clearly irritated and that shone through her voice. "You weren't supposed to be here for another two days!"

The newly minted Lt. Commander was early on arrival. Aliya Shalynn was requested by the Minbari and approved by the League and council members to assist with diplomatic relations on the station. Ivanova and Shaylnn served together at Station IO under Sheridan and was happy for the reunion, but even her good mood had limits with these antics.

"I was not coming on Valentine's Day. You realize how absurd that is with the pressure to bring you all chocolates and flowers?"

Ivanova laughed, taking all the technicians by surprise. She usually, no, always, hated smart asses and entitled beings that were trying to procure favoritism ... and this pilot slammed B5's operations and bruised the commander's ego in one blow. Everyone kept quiet despite sharing odd looks between them and eying the doppelgänger that was their XO. "So instead of following protocol, you decided to show up unannounced to avoid bringing ... gifts?"

"Nope. I announced it."

Ivanova was afraid to ask. "To who?"

"The captain. We kept it on the QT to surprise ya."

She sighed, half rolling her eyes. "Of course he did. Remind me to thank him later by asking maintenance to shut off the water to his quarters."

Laughter resounded through the channel. "What is it with you and watery vengeance?" Aliya was referring back to their time on Station IO when she threw a Psi Corp member out a three story building who landed in the pool below.

"And what are you doing with that maneuver, Shalynn?" The commander's blue eyes watched the fighter dip low, burn thrusters, and fly off in a hurry out of view with no answer. "What the hell is she doing?"

"Flying closer to the station, Ma'am, but we haven't given her clearance for Cobra Bay yet," said Corwin.

"I know she's flying closer to the station ... Just ... nevermind." She flexed her fingers in annoyance and tried again. "Shalynn... you need to remain in a holding pattern until we can confirm Cobra Bay has room for you."

"Holding pattern? Seriously? With what traffic do I need to hold around? There's no one out here but me."

"That's it. I'm going to kill her. Got the resignation letter already in mind with why I killed her and plea insanity," she muttered. "This'll be the quickest reunuion ever."

"What was that, Ma'am?" asked another tech within earshot.

"Oh nothing. Contemplating murder. Shalynn! I'm serious. I ... I'm watching you in front of the viewport. Are you serious?!"

Ivanova was in awe that Aliya's Starfury was not only slowly passing across the observation dome just over 200 feet away, but the fighter was upside down and her dear old friend was waving at her with a big grin.

"Are you crazy?!" Ivanova screeched, arms outstreched in disbelief. "One wrong thruster hit and you'll collide with the station!" She spun around and glared accusingly at Corwin. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"I ... I ... I couldn't! She flew too close and too fast to get a lock on her," he sputtered out in his defense.

Ivanova turned just enough for Aliya to see her profile and the look shot at her. "It's kinda scary how well I can see you hating on me right now."

"I don't hate you," Ivanova corrected.

"Oh? Is it utter contempt?"

"Corwin! What is the status on Cobra Bay?" she barked, ignoring Aliya.

"Received word that they'll have Bay 14 ready for the Lt. Commander in 30 minutes," said Corwin.

"So that means I can st- ..." Aliya amended that statement with a nervous chuckle feeling the cold death glare of her friend, "... wait at a nice safe distance in a holding pattern around invisible ships."

The thrusters were activated and all C&C personnel gasped and jerked back in defense but the fighter slowly moved backwards to a safe distance before tearing off away from the station.

"Have to admit, that was pretty impressive ..." Corwin said in quiet envy.

"And it'll be the last time it happens too," snapped the commander, but as she looked out the dome, she couldn't help the flicker of smile that appreciated the stunt. "Alright. Fun's over. Back to work everyone ..."

Medlab One, Blue Sector.

Alice thought that Valentine's Day was enough justification to roll her eyes around this time of the year; but apparently some force of nature - or likely sheer idiocy from too many people partaking in unprotected sex - had decided that to add insult to injury, an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases was the perfect compliment to boxes of cheap chocolates.

The Medical Officer had been among those dealing with the first batch, given the location of Medlab Four in Red Sector, where a variety of establishments for all kinds of entertainment. By all means, Alice wasn't one to scoff at sex work or booze, or even recreational drugs; but if she was the praying kind, she'd bloody sacrifice to whatever god person that people learned to practice safe sex. It was bad enough within a single species, but when you mixed human and alien of all kinds, it was a recipe for an even greater disaster. Lots seemed to think that different species, many of them unable to reproduce, was enough of a guarantee.

Bunch of morons.

Given how diverse cultures were aboard the station, it was going to be a diplomatic mess with some upon mention of their people being screened better and some populations get preventive treatments and shot to ensure optimal containment. Even though the medical team had narrowed down to two establishments the origin point; given the amount of known patrons, and the other ramifications such dangerous behaviors could have, they still had to operate on a large scale. It wasn't the first medical issue of the kind on the station, as it had been the case in the early months of Babylon 5 operating; and Alice had heard of similar events elsewhere in the galaxy; but it remained frustrating.

For the most part, the infection wasn't life threatening; but the station had better use of its personnel and equipment than treating a random but large scale mess because people couldn't practice safe sex. And she didn't care about pathetic excuses such as blame game, or cross-species sex being supposedly safe.

Yeah right, in their stupid narrow little minds that likely had the most boring approach to carnal endeavors anyway.

Given her first row seat with the outbreak, Dr. Franklin had requested she came to Medlab One, to be the one speaking with the diplomatic attaches, to ensure that all big wigs on the station were aware of the risk. Alice didn't mind most of them, and traumatizing some of those on the more skittish side was somewhat amusing.

Among them, two had been particularly uncomfortable when she had spoken to them. Vir Cotto had been horrified at the news, though she believed that it had more to do with him having to tell his boss to behave in any sort of way. The other had unsurprisingly been Lennier. While nobody would ever guess her personal dislike of the Minbari, she always preferred leaving other doctors to deal with them. She had had no choice in the matter; but at least his utterly shocked reaction had proven mildly satisfying. She cared little how weird the current situation of the Minbari ambassador was; but as she had reminded her attache, it was standard to inform the ambassador's attache of such medical threats. It could also facilitate crowd control within a given population, for listening to one's leader could sway things.

She still had others to speak with, including Na'Toth, who was unavailable until later in the day. For once in her life, her friend would have to care about whatever got in G'Kar's bed.

"Dr. Desclun?"

Alice looked at the nurse.

"Yes?"

Please don't make it a secondary outbreak anywhere on the station, or more chocolate indigestion because some aliens didn't realize it wasn't a delicacy friendly to their systems.

"We were informed that Lt. Commander Shalynn arrived two days early; and Dr. Franklin is unavailable to take care of her check up. Since you're already here, would you handle it?"

Well, at least she could pass on the news about the outbreak to her, as she also needed to let Commander Ivanova about the situation anyway.

Welcome to Babylon 5 where intergalactic STDs arrive in time for Valentine's Day so everyone can partake!

Maybe that would be a good way to end this commercial nonsense though. Except the happy hour special, that one she could keep.

"Sure thing. I'll see her in twenty minutes though, because I need to meet with the Balosian attache who has just arrived."

Lt. Commander Aliya Shalynn rocked on her heels, noting curiously the hustle and bustle of Medlab One. She was dressed in uniform, the only item she could stuff in the fighter as it had no cargo or compartment space. The familiar blue uniform of fleet personnel now had a gold and silver stat bar underneath the Earth Alliance Emblem over the left breast that designated her promotion. The rest of her belongings would be making its way here within a few hours on a Earthforce transport that was also delivering large packages to the Postal Service on station.

Even arriving two days early, quarters were already assigned and cleaned thanks to the captain who put a discreet rush on it. It was stocked with basic necessities for command staff and Aliya was looking forward to browsing the Zocalo, the station's marketplace, to fill in the gaps and get a good look at station commerce.

It wasn't a surprise that the Cobra Bays weren't quite as ready since that would have raised suspicion with Ivanova why one of the fighters had to be moved and inspected since Delta and Zeta squads already had been given a tedious and thorough once over two weeks prior. So she waited, as promised, in a ridiculous holding pattern, pushing Ivanova's patience by spinning the Fury clockwise for 15 minutes then counter clockwise for the last 15 until she got clearance.

Not once did Susan contact her to continue their chat but knowing the commander, she was busy cracking the whip in C&C and informing Sheridan of her unorthodox arrival. Odds were 50/50 between him finding the humor in the stunt and a mild verbal reprimand.

Probably both, she mused, waiting to find out when she'd be squeezed in to see the doctor.

"Lt. Commander?"

Aliya slightly turned her head and smiled at the nurse that returned. She was the one that originally checked Aliya in. "So ... when do I get probed?"

The nurse blinked and then shook her head. "Your probing will be in 20 with Dr. Desclun."

"Not Franklin?" The chief medical officer usually handled this formality with command staff.

"He's otherwise occupied. And you did come unannounced."

She defensively held up her hands. "Oh ... it's not a problem. I mean, I can wait as long as needed. Just protocol's the head guy."

"And it probably would've been him, but we've been dealing with ... a situation," she explained, tapping away at her com pad on the way to her station.

"What kinda situation?" she asked curiously. "Is this why the lab's full of all sorts of beings?"

"Yeah." The nurse briefly looked up. "There's been a little pre-Valentine's partying going terribly wrong."

Aliya made a face. "Do I even wanna know what that means?"

"Considering your rank. Yep."

"Okay, let me rephrase - do I need to hear about it now?" she said with a lopsided smirk.

The nursed rolled her eyes and could tell this one was going to be a handful around here. "No. I suppose you don't. But now please, have a seat and stay out of trouble until Desclun can see you."

She brought a hand to her chest and looked absolutely mortified. "I'm not trouble."

The nurse's challenging eyes glanced upwards. "You buzzed the station closer than any crazy fighter pilot dared to do since the station went online."

"Damn. Fair point," she muttered and took a seat with a shrug, "word travels fast around here ..."

Word might travel quickly aboard the station; but Dr. Desclun was too deep into managing the current health crisis that Lt. Commander Shalynn's antics had eluded her. Under other circumstances she might have found the story hilarious and been among the first to discuss it upon hearing; but it really was the least of her concerns now.

The Balosian attache had been among the most annoying she had had to deal with. As open as they could be about sex contrary to other populations, they were among thinking that interspecies sex brought little to no issue, and that if some of them disliked one other type of aliens, everybody avoided bedding them too. It had required patience and firmness from the Medical Officer to make it clear that Balosian dancers and some diplomatic agents had been at the origin point of the outbreak, along with Centauri waiters and some of their sexual partners.

At least the attache hadn't shrieked, so Alice counted that as a positive, given how her day had gone so far.

She had also made sure to be done a few minutes before seeing the new Lt. Commander, so she would do a quick review of her file. While everything appeared in order, the check-up was mandatory. And given the situation, Alice would also strongly suggest a shot that was normally mandatory. Better safe than sorry. Whatever the military's carnal preferences were, she'd rather have her covered, and she knew that Franklin and the other Medical officers were on board too.

Exiting the small examination room she had been allocated during her stay in Medlab One, Alice walked up to the waiting area and easily recognized her next patient, and offered a polite smile.

"Lt. Commander Shalynn? I am Dr. Alice Desclun. Please follow me."

Once they were in the privacy of the small medical room, Alice double checked something on the screen from the other woman's file.

"Thank you for your patience. We have been dealing with an outbreak of sexually transmitted disease and assorted infection in the last while. I haven't briefed Commander Ivanova yet; but since you are the newest addition to our leadership, here you go."

She smirked, clearly tired of having to explain that.

"So I hope for both your sake, your partners', and the medical personnel's, that you know how to practice safe sex. I could use more people who still use their brains when they want to bang."

Aliya was true to her word and stayed out of trouble. She just sat there, a polished shoe over her knee, watching the buzzing medlab. The short time she was there three Centauri, four Balosions, and one Gaim came in for assistance. She noticed how the Centauri and Balosians were herded towards one area ad the Gaim was escorted to an isolab for an examination.

Perhaps she should have let the nurse explain because this was disconcerting with the amount of patients here. She shrugged it off since the nurse had her hands full and needed to take care of the patients instead of filling her on the situation. There will be time to learn about later and Aliya had every confidence that Franklin and his team would manage.

Her mind wandered to her to do list. After here, it was checking in with security to get her hand link and then to see the captain. Hopefully by that time, her belongings will arrive and she could get to unpacking.

The doctor's arrival caught her attention and she looked up at the woman who arrived, nodding in confirmation before rising to attention. Desclun was right to business and had to take a few quick steps forward to keep pace with her. Aliya appreciated the efficiency and hopped onto the examination table.

To say that she was surprised was an understatement. Out of all the potential diseases running around a station filled with a quarter of a million beings, sexy time fun time consequences wasn't even on her top five.

"Yeah... the nurse mentioned something about it. Just no details," she said, unclasping the jacket collar and slipping it off, leaving her in a white dress shirt. "I was really hoping to avoid them a bit longer ... but hey! Happy fucking Valentine's Day around here."

She tossed the jacket over to the nearby chair and chuckled, unsure if her decision to arrive early was a good idea. "And you don't need to worry about me."

Aliya curled her hands around the sides of the table, slightly leaning forward and smirked. "Trust me ... that's not the kinda trouble I get into. So, you've got my brain on your side, Doc."

Alice appreciated that the Lt. Commander was reactive and she gave her a quick nod as the other woman dressed down to her white shirt from the get go. As silly as it might sound, some hated these check ups and tried to make her life difficult. And with the current health crisis, she had no patience for those wanting to do that,especially when it concerned many people and not just being a pain in their medical officer's ass.

Putting on clean gloves after checking the records, she walked up to the examination table and began the routine physical, grateful for the small equipment that made it quicker and more on par to check heart and lungs as well.

"Yeah, safe-sex seems to be on people's top three things to be careless about, regardless of their species," she quipped back.

She carried on with the examination, finding everything just fine with Shalynn, as per expected, which was nice with how her expectations of people' actual brains had been trampled over recently.

"Glad to have your brain on my side, Ma'am. Much appreciated."

Stepping back after a few minutes, she nevertheless brought up the other shot.

"Just to be on the safe side, I'd recommend getting the optional shot ZM-960. I saw you didn't get it on your file. I trust your judgement; but I am planning to bring it up to Commander Ivanova later today so we make it mandatory for the time being."

She was a practical sort with these examinations. If you followed directions and didn't create a fuss, it would be over before you knew it. The doc was thorough and to the point too, which made for the perfect combination of time spent wisely. Aliya gave the doc a half smile with her approval if not being a complete idiot with personal matters of the bed variety.

"Uh ..." she hedged with the mention of the shot and grimaced. "Yeah, I didn't get it last time because I really didn't need it. And I don't really need it now because the partying that is commencing won't be following me to bed now or for a significantly long time."

Not that she wanted to go into her non-existent sex life, but that was what this was really about for the officer. She hadn't had anyone she clicked with in years not since IO or Mars. Being on the destroyer in close quarters was a bad idea for a love life if things turned south, and she wasn't the type to go looking for a one night stand at port. Her work on Earth playing politics kept her too busy to do either and her heart wasn't into it either. She enjoyed the camaraderie of her squadron, fellow soldiers, and friendships created over the years. That sustained her. Babylon 5 will too. She already had friends here, even if Ivanova wanted to strangle her, and the old flame that was stationed here had become a close confident and friend over the years, even if they've not seen each other since Mars.

"I'll just sign the waiver again, doc. But I agree that the commander would want to know you're recommending it for the more adventurous staff."

Alice didn't press the matter further about the Lt. Commander's sex life, or seemingly lack of such matters. It wasn't her business, as long as the other woman was healthy. And really she could understand, given how minimal her carnal ventures had been in the past few years. And really, she wasn't interested in changing it.

"You're good to go and I'll have you re-sign the waiver, Ma'am," she replied with a polite smile.

"I've signed this one a few times myself, so I understand."

She had been in two monogamous relationships in most of her life, and the few non-platonic encounters with a certain Narn had always been safe, because they both ensured out of habit that they were healthy. And Na'Toth had no interest in any formal relationship or fancy emotional bonding. They had each other's back and once a year or so, either of them ended on said back; and it was good enough for the Medical Officer. Once a widow, and now with a still alive but borderline comatose ex boyfriend, she had better things to do with her life than tie herself to another living being in any mid to long term fashion.

She handed the portable device for the military to enter her digital signature.

"Welcome to Babylon 5, Lt. Commander. Thanks for your patience with the mess we're in."

Her posture relaxed a little as she returned the device to her lab coat's pocket.

"Given the Valentine's Day shenanigans, too many shops attempt to sell chocolates, that make a bad drugstore brand from Earth seem palatable. I'd recommend to stick with the ones from The Kitchen on Lambda 6. Good choices ranging from basics to some interesting new takes. And if you're planning to celebrate your arrival, this time of the year has the Eclipse Cafe run really good Happy Hours."

She grinned and clasped her hands before her.

"Of course, as a doctor, I shall remind you to consume all such things in moderation; but making the best of a silly commercial holidays can make it a little less annoying in my experience."

"Awesome. I'll warm my fingers up to scribble my name," she jested as she curled her dominant fingers and hopped off the examination table. She took the com pad and swirled her index finger along the cool screen before handing it back.

"There ya go." She grabbed her jacket and slipped it on. "I will say, the station has a special way of making someone feel welcomed around here. Who knew it'd a be a serious case of alien cooties."

While buttoning her collar, Aliya listened to the recommendations with a bemused smile. She wasn't big on sweets. For some reason the cloying taste of sugary goods were sickeningly potent to her palate. Some pastries that weren't too fried or doused with too much sweetness did well with her. Going through basic, people joked that she was rabbit with the amount of raw vegetables she could pound away.

"Thanks, but I'll pass on the chocolates. Which dismisses the chocolate overload concern. However, a nice Happy Hour with some food is the right kind of celebrating." She tugged the hem of the jacket, feeling like a properly dressed soldier now. "Any recommendations on the food there? Or is it that general, it's all good kinda thing?"

The Lt. Commander was giving a good first impression to the Medical Officer. Alice could use people she could speak to and who had a good head on their shoulders. And a decent sense of humor didn't hurt either/. She couldn't help chuckling at the remark about alien cooties.

"It's not a yearly feature so far; and I hope it stays that way," she added with a smirk.

As she updated Shalynn's file, confirming the waiver into the system and ticking all appropriate boxes for the checkup, she nodded to the brunette's comment about chocolates. After all different tastes were quite the norm even within a single species and community.

"Oh, the Eclipse Cafe has some good dishes too. And you might still want to check the Kitchen on Lambda 6, given how many various products they have, all of quality. As for the food, well they are finishing to remodel a couple of cafes in the northern part of the Zocalo, so I'm curious to see what will open."

She mused a moment, and shrugged lightly.

"I don't recommend the Jupiter Bistro, even though it tends to be a favorite for a bunch of people. I find the food either too bland for their savory options, and way too sweet for their desserts."

"Ah right. The Zocolo," she said thoughtfully but inside her scholarly self was thrumming with eagerness to visit.

The B5 bazaar was of great interest to the officer because of her background in diplomacy and linguistics. Aliya was excited to test out how fast her brain could switch to different languages in a short span. She had presided over many negotiations but her mind was focused to the alien representatives, well prepared for the species present. The Zocolo was bustling with countless travelers from a hundred worlds. It was a challenge she was looking forward to let alone new alien customs and history to learn!

She did, however, make a disgusted face at the doctor's review of the Jupiter Bistro. "If all they can do is extremes in sweet and where the hell's the seasoning, I'll pass."

Aliya noted that Desclun mentioned Lamba 6 twice now so that was probably the best one to check out first and quality and variety are what her eclectic palate preferred. "Sounds like Lamba it'll be. Course depends on what the Captain and Commander have in mind too. I sense some less than likely drinking in moderation at ..." She fumbles for the name before snapping her fingers when it clicked. "Earhart's. Been awhile since me and the command staff served together so it's a bit of a reunion."

Everything was updated within a couple more minutes, which Alice was grateful for. While she didn't expedite the check up in any manner, both women's time was precious and the universe knew what the hell was awaiting her for the rest of the day. She was looking forward to getting a break before the middle of the night if she got lucky. She briefly smirked at her inner thought given how dozens of morons "getting lucky" had resulted into this freaking mess in the first place.

She laughed at Shalynn's remark about the Jupiter Bistro. "Yeah save your taste buds for elsewhere."

The tall blonde soon got back up as everything was in order. "I hope you and the command staff have a good evening. Even without major crisis, it often feels that we run from one thing to the other."

She extended her hand to the brunette. "Welcome to Babylon 5, Lt. Commander."

Right on cue, she heard quarelling from another part of the Medlab, apparently some lover argument about who cheated on whom first.

The doctor rolled her eyes. "I am looking forward to not-so-moderate drinking after all this mess."

If things permitted, she was hoping to maybe catch up with Na'Toth for a bite and a drink later; but with the current mess, it could just be a quick electronic update.