SquidgeWorld Archive

"Kwai Chang Caine?" He looked at the man standing before him with some curiosity. This man did not look like someone who planet hopped for the fun of it, but he didn't look like he had business reasons to be here either. Still, he came in on a freighter, so maybe he was looking for a job.

"That is correct."

"Your purpose here on the station?"

"I do not yet know. I travel the path...I must go where it leads."

The uniformed man looked at him oddly. Caine was unconcerned.

"Anything to declare?"

"I have only what I carry with me." He held out his shoulderbag. "If you would care to inspect it...."

"No, nevermind." The official punched in a code on the handset. "Welcome to Babylon Station. You have seven days to conduct your business freely before checking in with us again. There's a traveler's hostel on Blue 5 should you need it. There is also an information and aid station in the same area."

It was a set speech, delivered hundreds of times a day. Usually the travellers ignored it, knowing where they were headed even if they had never been to Babylon 5 before. This man was different, waiting patiently until the official was finished.

"Thank you." He closed his eyes and inclined his head in a slight bow, then threw his bag over his shoulder and began to walk away.

The official watched him go. His papers checked out, but there was something about the man that bothered him. He stood for a moment, debating what to do, then touched his commlink. "Garibaldi here."

"Chief? I've got somebody that needs checking out. The name is Kwai Chang Caine."

"Um...wanna spell that for me?"

The security officer grinned, and spelled the name.

"Caine. Got it. Who is this guy? Bad news?"

He paused. "I don't know, Chief. He just came in on a freighter. His papers are good, but...I don't know. I've just got an odd feeling about him. It was strange...."

The voice on the commlink laughed. "Let me guess. His eyes were too close together. Or too far apart?"

"Thanks, Chief. What was it about that 'sixth sense' for security that we're supposed to develop?"

"Right, right. I'll check him out and get back to you."

"Thanks. Hudson out."

~~*~~*~~

Security Chief Michael Garibaldi rolled his chair away from the console he'd been staring at for the last half hour. Never in his history of security work had he ever come across quite so puzzling a record. This Kwai Chang Caine...he had a clean record. This was good. But there seemed to be all sorts of addendums to the record. He was a magnet for odd happenings, and was frequently involved in fights. It was clearly marked that he never started the fights, but they simply seemed to spring into existance around him. This was Not Good. (Garibaldi frequently thought to himself in capitals.) Garibaldi informed his second that he was in charge, then left his office.

He was going to meet this Caine, and judge for himself.

~~*~~*~~

Finding Caine turned out to be easier than he had thought it would be. While walking down the hallway from his office, his commlink beeped and he was told that there was a disturbance in the Dark Star. As he was headed in that direction, he thought he'd follow up on the report himself.

At the Dark Star, all hell was breaking loose. Garibaldi entered the casino to discover a whirling, kicking Lennier taking on what seemed to be most of the clientele. Backing him up was an older man, dressed in loose clothing. It took a moment for Garibaldi to recognize Caine from the photo he had.

The two of them were doing quite well for themselves when Security came in and began arresting people. Garibaldi walked over to Lennier and Caine.

"Lennier? Wanna tell me what happened this time?"

"I am afraid the disturbance is my fault again, sir. I was attempting to demonstrate a maneuver we were discussing, and I knocked over someone's drink. I apologized, and offered to provide him with another, but he was not interested in a replacement. Mr. Caine entered the fight only to help me defend myself."

Garibaldi sighed to himself. "Mr. Caine? Do you have anything to add to that?"

Caine only looked at him for a moment, then said. "The man...had many friends. Lennier had...me."

"Fine. Let's not have any more fights, okay Lennier? They're still finding broken glass from the last time."

The Minbari looked chagrined. He took one last hard look at Caine, then decided there was nothing else he could do and left them to their discussion.

~~*~~*~~

Later that week, Garibaldi stumbled across Caine again. He was walking through the Zocalo and outside a small cafe he spotted Caine, sitting and talking with Talia Winters.

Half-hidden by the corner of one of the shops, he stood and watched them for a few minutes. Plainly, Caine was being charming and Talia was loving it. As he stood watching, Caine lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, then held it as they continued talking.

Garibaldi backed off slightly. 'I am not jealous. I Am Not Jealous. Damn it.' He turned, and headed for his destination via a different route. He was concentrating so hard on the fact that he was Not Jealous that it took him a full three minutes before he realized what else was bothering him.

Talia had not been wearing gloves! The realization worried him and he kept trying out possible reasons in his head. Finally, Garibaldi decided that he was just going to have to ask. He checked the time. She had a conference that day, and she was probably headed there now. He thought he'd try to catch her there.

~~*~~*~~

Arriving before the meeting started, he waited in the hallway for her. Ten minutes passed before he spotted a blonde figure out of the corner of his eye and moved to intercept. "Talia?" He took her elbow and led her to a quiet corner. "I need to know what you can tell me about him."

One eyebrow raised. "Him?"

"Caine."

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you asking me for a personal of professional report?"

He paused. "Professional."

"Nothing," she stated flatly, turning on her heel and walking away briskly.

Garibaldi dashed to catch up with her. "Talia!"

She spun around. "Is this a formal investigation?"

"What? No...." He felt sheepish, as he began to realize what she was getting at.

"As a Psi Corps representative, I have to go by the rules governing the scanning of non-telepaths. You have not brought up charges, and I have not done a formal scan."

"Right, right. Truce?" He tried his best apologetic face and it worked.

She grinned, and he decided to try again. "How about personally?"

She shrugged. "Personally? He's rather sweet. He has a very calming influence." She smiled, looking off in the distance. "I was talking to him about his son, and I could feel the love he has for Peter, even though they haven't seen each other for years. And when he touched my mind...."

"Wait a second," he interrupted her. "He touched your mind? Is he a telepath, too?"

"No, it wasn't like that...he's not a telepath, exactly." She sounded a little puzzled now as well.

"Then what is he, exactly?"

She frowned at him. "Well, I asked him about it. He said it was part of being a Shaolin priest." She just shrugged.

~~*~~*~~

Getting work done was easier when you didn't have people wandering in and interrupting you every ten minutes. Garibaldi heard the door open yet again and spun his chair around to see who had come into his office. "Ambassador Kosh! What brings you to security?"

The enigmatic figure spoke. "There is a presence here. It was not here before."

Something Kosh couldn't track down? "On the station?"

"Yes."

"Well, I can check who's come on board in the last few days." He swung about to the monitor and began pushing buttons. "Let's see...six freighters, with the usual complements of crew...a couple of businessmen...a minor Centauri noble, with a retinue of eight...three new pilots-in-training...and one Shaolin priest. It's been slow." He began to pull up crew lists and cargo manifests for the freighters.

"Shaolin priest?"

"That's what he says. We can run a background check on any of these...." He stopped as he heard to door open behind him. By the time he turned around, Kosh was gone, leaving one more piece to a puzzle that was getting decidedly odd.

~~*~~*~~

Caine's 7th day on the station came, and he checked in with security as he was supposed to. Garibaldi made sure that he was there for the interview.

"I wish...to extend my visit...another seven days."

"Your reason for the extension?"

"I believe my...son...will arrive shortly."

"And if he doesn't show up within the next seven days?"

"Then I will...continue...my path...and leave the station."

"Chief?" The officer looked at Garibaldi for confirmation.

He nodded. "Okay, seven more days it is."

The officer punched buttons, entering the information. Caine rose, and inclined his head in that half-bow of his to both Garibaldi and the security officer.

~~*~~*~~

Caine's second week on the station looked to be uneventful, both for him and for the station. Garibaldi was ceasing to worry about his presence on board, and was just relaxing in general. By the fourth day after the interview, he had even stopped assuming that every beep from his commlink was going to be about Caine.

He was relaxing in his office with his feet up and hands locked behind his head when his commlink beeped. "Garibaldi."

"Becker here, sir. One of the new pilots started a fight, and it's turning into a regular free-for-all. I need backup!"

"On its way. Garibaldi out." He contacted the other men and sent them to the Zocalo to join Becker, and then headed out himself.

When he arrived on the scene, he was amazed. Even during his own heavy-drinking days, he had never succeeded in getting so many people mad at him. At least, not all at once! The fight must have been forty-to-one, and the one (Garibaldi assumed he was the one who started it) was lucky to still be standing. Security was doing the best they could, but due to the arrangement of people they were stuck pulling men off the edges of the crowd. Garibaldi was about to join them when he saw someone else enter the fray.

Caine.

The man worked his way through the fight to the center, where he stood with the lone pilot. Together, they began making a real dent on the crowd opposing them. Garibaldi watched as they, aided by security, plowed through the rest of their opponents. The younger man, still caught up in the fight, swung at Caine. Caine stopped the fist with his own hand. "Stop...my son."

The younger man stopped and stared at him for a moment, the wildness leaving his eyes. "Pop?"

At that moment, Garibaldi knew that this was going to be a Very Bad Week after all.

~~*~~*~~

tbc???