Eye in the Sky
an interlude in the "Latitude" universe
set during "Eyes"
by Galenn

        Garibaldi stood and began pacing his office, too nervous to sit and wait 
any longer. He needed to see the file on Ben Zayn *before* the 'Eyes' colonel 
interrogated Sinclair.
        When he'd first met the colonel, the man had smugly commented that he 
knew him 'intimately'. Garibaldi had managed to conceal his panic, although the 
little psi, Harriman Gray, had probably picked it up. But Garibaldi had been 
scrambling mentally, trying desperately to remember if he had ever encountered 
the harsh man -- or if perhaps Ben Zayn had been referring to the level of 
detail 'Eyes' had in their files on 'problem' members of EarthForce.
        Ben Zayn had gone on to needle Garibaldi about alcohol, so perhaps that 
had been it -- maybe he had been talking about extensive, rather than truly 
intimate, knowledge.
        Except that the longer Garibaldi was around the man, the more nervous he 
became. Little hints, gestures, even the colonel's body language -- something 
was not right here. _God_, thought Garibaldi, _I've got to know..._
        And finally the computer was done. He ordered the file displayed at his 
console and scrolled immediately to Ben Zayn's previous duty stations.
        After scanning through them and doing a quick double-check, he breathed 
a sigh of relief. The man had never been assigned to the same post he had at the 
same time. And, Garibaldi decided, even someone of questionable sanity wouldn't 
voluntarily spend their leave time at any of those places. As far as vacation 
spots went, they were...not.
        _So_, Garibaldi mused, skimming through the rest of the file, _he was 
just talking about my file -- there's no way he could have been present for any 
of those...incidents._
        And then he spotted something that made his blood run cold. _Bester. Oh 
shit -- the man knows Bester..._
        "Computer, close file, save to crystal port," he ordered, standing and 
plucking the data crystal from its port the second it was finished. "I gotta 
warn Jeff before the 'hearing', orders or no orders!" he muttered as he strode 
from the room.

        After he handed Sinclair the crystal, his resolve faded -- what if he 
was just being paranoid and imagining things? He shook his head, started for the 
door, and paused again. _But then,_ he thought, _what if I'm not?_
        "Jeff?"
        "What's wrong, Michael?" Sinclair asked, seeing his distress. He turned 
on his stool to face him and held a hand out.
        Garibaldi walked back to him and took the offered hand, moved close 
enough to embrace him. "I think we might have a problem."
        "What kind of problem -- with Ben Zayn?"
        Garibaldi nodded, then sighed and reluctantly stepped back. He motioned 
towards the data crystal and said, "Ben Zayn knows Bester pretty well from what 
I can tell. Remember while Bester was here, that time he snagged the information 
right out of my mind while we were in C&C?"
        Sinclair nodded slowly, recalling the incident. "Yes -- then he made 
a...comment about something else you were thinking."
        "Yeah, well, what if the information about Ironheart and me telling him 
to go fuck himself wasn't the only thing he picked up...?" Garibaldi asked, now 
unable to meet Sinclair's intense gaze.
        "You mean--"
        "Yeah, he might know about us," Garibaldi said, the cold feeling in the 
pit of his stomach intensifying.
        "Do you have any proof?" Sinclair asked, his mind racing. If Bester 
knew, and told EarthForce -- or worse, 'Eyes'... It wasn't exactly forbidden, 
but official policy was that relationships like theirs were not compatible with 
command positions, not to mention the difference in rank.
        "No," Garibaldi answered dejectedly. "No proof one way or the other... 
Nothing more than a hunch because of something Ben Zayn said."
        "What?"
        "When I asked if he knew me, he said 'intimately'. Could just be a 
figure of speech, or he could know..."
        "And the hunch says --?"
        "That he knows."

        Things had gone unpleasantly, but not disastrously during Ben Zayn's 
interrogation of Sinclair. During the proceedings, Ben Zayn had become 
increasingly irrational, until it was obvious to all present that the man 
had snapped. When he stood and loomed at Sinclair, snarling in the commander's 
face, Garibaldi's hackles rose as he noticed the colonel's cock straining in his 
uniform trousers.
        Then Mr. Gray scanned the colonel, and made a comment about how he could 
feel the hatred in him, "sick, deep..." At that point, Gray had paused and 
glanced at the bulge in the colonel's pants and said, "...filthy!"
        He'd gotten a fierce backhand from the colonel but in the end he was the 
one who turned the situation in their favour. He had managed to distract Ben 
Zayn long enough for Sinclair to punch the man and knock him out, and for that 
Garibaldi was eternally grateful. Garibaldi was convinced the 'Eyes' colonel had 
fully intended to rape Sinclair, to show how completely he could dominate the 
commander. How completely he could dominate Garibaldi's lover...
        He shuddered violently again and helped the PsiCorps liaison to one of 
the chairs, and watched slightly surprised as Ivanova took over for him, making 
certain the telepath was comfortable.
        Garibaldi took his attention off them long enough to have a security 
team come to collect the colonel. When they left, he realized Sinclair was 
talking with Ivanova, encouraging her to head back to her quarters for a rest. 
The accumulated effects of her drinking, the barfight, and this bit of ugliness 
were starting to hit, and she looked terrible. Garibaldi grinned a little when 
she put up only a token resistance then headed for her quarters, leaving 
Sinclair, Gray, and him alone in the office.
        He caught Sinclair's eye and nodded towards Gray. Sinclair gave a brief 
nod, then walked back behind his desk and sat down. Garibaldi deposited himself 
in the chair next to Gray and looked at the telepath.
        "Thank you for stopping him," he said, catching Gray's eye. Then he 
looked at Sinclair and said, "You don't know how unpleasant that almost got..."
        Sinclair raised an eyebrow and said, "That's what you think. *I* saw the 
look in his eyes..." He shuddered, and noticed that Garibaldi did, too, then he 
cleared his throat and turned his attention to the telepath. "So, Mr. Gray, I 
think we need to talk."
        "I won't tell anyone," Gray said nervously, looking from Sinclair to 
Garibaldi.
        "Whoa," Garibaldi said quietly, "No reason to be scared of *us*, 
Harriman. We're not about to threaten you."
        Sinclair frowned as he studied Gray again. The telepath had been acting 
rather skittish, and after Ben Zayn had slapped him, he seemed to flinch at any 
sudden move. Anger flared as he realized the telepath was showing all the 
classic signs of being an abuse victim.
        And then Gray flinched back from him, and he realized the telepath had 
picked up his anger. "Mr. Gray," he began softly, squashing his anger and 
projecting calmness, "Michael and I are not going to hurt you. I am not angry at 
you; I am angry at PsiCorps and their methods. Please accept my apology."
        "You have nothing to apologize for, Commander. I -- my god, what I felt 
from him... He *was* going to rape you, Commander, as a pure show of his so- 
called superiority..." Gray shivered as the memory of the feeling rose in his 
mind's eye, but Sinclair's calmness washed over him again and chased away the 
colonel's influence. "I -- I have to warn you, after what I saw in his mind... 
You mentioned Mr. Bester earlier. Bester *knows* about you and Mr. Garibaldi... 
I felt -- I think Bester may have even put the idea into his head about what he 
was going to do to you."
        "That little *bastard*," Garibaldi snarled, the outburst making Gray 
jump. "Sorry..."
        "I don't *think* he's made it public knowledge," Gray said softly, "I -- 
saw -- a private meeting. Just Bester and the colonel." His eyes unfocused, and 
Sinclair realized he was 'looking' at the mental image of what he had learned 
from scanning Ben Zayn. "He...oh god -- I think he placed the knowledge directly 
in the colonel's mind, and while he was in there tweaked some of the frustration 
and anger the colonel had about missing out on this posting..."
        He focused again, and looked first at Garibaldi, then met Sinclair's 
gaze. "I think Bester engineered this entire incident."
        "Is there anything we can do about this?" Garibaldi asked, horrified and 
disgusted by Bester's manipulations.
        Gray looked down and shook his head, then looked up at Garibaldi. "I'm 
sorry, Mr. Garibaldi... He's got the perfect defense."
        Sinclair nodded and said, "Very smart -- no witnesses, nothing written 
or spoken that could be used as evidence..."
        Garibaldi snorted in frustration and said, "And information gotten in a 
scan is inadmissable in court. *Damn* him!"
        "I'm sorry," Gray said quietly.
        "Aw, geez, it's not your fault," Garibaldi said. "At least you've 
alerted us to the problem -- we can watch our step from now on, and steer *real* 
clear of anyone Bester's had over for quiet one-on-one talks..." Even as he 
tried to make light of the situation, his insides churned at the realization 
that Bester had been in *his* mind...
        Sinclair nodded, looking at Garibaldi, then turned his attention back to 
Gray. "How precarious does this make *your* position, Mr. Gray?"
        The telepath shrugged and said, "I've never exactly been in the best... 
position, Commander. However, as a military liaison and a P10, I'm usually not 
around too many psi's for great stretches at a time. The biggest danger would be 
if Bester wishes to debrief me himself..."
        "And even then the sick bastard would probably be glad we know," 
Garibaldi grumbled.
        Gray shuddered and said, "You're probably right."
        Sinclair nodded and said, "Well, it's probably not going to be much 
help, but I will be as careful as possible in the wording of my report. Since 
the colonel...became unstable here, and may be a danger not only to others but 
also himself, we will have to have him escorted back to Earth Central. I will 
have to speak to the doctors both here on B5 and back on Earth to arrange his 
transport back. If you wish, you can remain here on Babylon 5 until everything 
is arranged, or travel back to Earth Central on your own."
        Gray nodded and said, "Thank you. I'd like to stay -- perhaps get a 
closer look at some of the Starfuries. However, I suspect that the instant they 
hear what happened, they'll call me back for my next assignment..."
        The reluctance in his tone tore at Garibaldi as he realized that the 
telepath knew he most likely was going to be walking headlong into a trap upon 
his return. Bester would probably rape his mind, looking for every tiny scrap of 
information he could use. And then, the PsiCop would probably fiddle around and 
set some kind of ugly booby trap in Gray's mind, and send him back out among the 
rest of them. _Hell_, he thought, _if he knows how to fly a 'Fury, we oughta 
give him one and just let him run for it..._
        Gray looked at him, and the sadness in his eyes made Garibaldi's throat 
close. Those eyes told him, 'What's the use of running? They'd find me again 
anyway...'
        Damn it, it just wasn't *right*.

End

Babylon 5 is (c) 1996 PTEN & Babylonian Productions.  This story is not intended 
to infringe on these copyrights.  "Eye in the Sky" is (c) 1996 Galenn