Diversion



"What the...????  Damn!" 

The link chirped insistently.  Garibaldi shook the sleep out of his head and 
fumbled in the dark for it.  "Garibaldi.  Go!"

Zack Allan's voice crackled through the darkness.  "I'm really sorry, Chief, but 
I think you'd better get down here." 

"Where is here?  And you'd better be sorry."

"Sorry...Grey Sector"

A chill ran down the Chief's spine.  "Where else?"  he thought to himself.  He 
didn't even want to know what it was.  "On my way."



Garibaldi pulled on his uniform trousers (Fasten, then zip) Climate control not 
withstanding, his body seemed to have its own sense of seasons, and right now it 
believed it was winter.  All he wanted to do was hibernate.  The computers could 
adjust the lighting but he still felt like he was pulling himself out of bed in 
the middle of the night.  
"It's always dark in space," a voice inside his head replied.  "Yeah, well at 
5:17 Earth Standard Time it's damn dark.  This better be important." 
As he slipped on his tunic, he flashed back to medlab, the day of his return.  
Why the hell couldn't he remember?  
He positioned the link on the back of his hand.  "Why is it always Grey Sector?"  
His thoughts flew to the Zarg.  He shuddered and headed for the door.



The moment the transport tube doors opened on Grey Sector, he saw the crowd.  
"Aw, nuts...  what has the G-monkee done now?"  He was still annoyed about that 
little popcorn stunt.  
"Comin' through!"  He pushed his way through the throng, and found Zack and 
Annie at the front.  He couldn't help but smile as he looked down at her.  
"Why am I not surprised to find you here?"

"Honestly, Chief, it's not my fault!"  Annie replied.

"Annie had nothing to do with it, Chief."  Zack gestured toward the ductwork.  
"There's something in there."

"You got me out of bed to visit with the ductwork crowd?"  Garibaldi asked in 
disbelief.

"No, no..."  Zack protested.  "It's not any of the ductwork crowd.  They're all 
accounted for.  It's a thing."

Garibaldi looked up.  There were far too many layers of station between him and 
heaven, if there was a heaven, and one of them was the reason he was up at this 
hour.  He gathered his patience.  

"OK, I said from the beginning that it was a bad idea.  Now get those rat dogs 
out of there."

"Why are all these people here?"  He looked around and realized the crowd was 
not just the Ladies of the Line.
Annie leaned in closer to the Chief.  "It's not the rat dogs, Chief.  We checked 
on that.  There are a lot of rumors about what it is.  That's the reason for the 
crowd."

Garibaldi glanced over his shoulder at the group.  Just about every culture 
represented on the station was represented here.  

"Every group seems to have its own theory about what it is," Annie continued, 
"but our best information suggests that it's a creature native to Epsilon 3.  A 
burrowing creature -- sort of Epsilon 3's version of a groundhog.  We think it 
may have slipped onto one of the shuttles we were using to move refugees to the 
surface of the planet."

"And you needed me to call maintenance for you?"  Garibaldi looked questioningly 
at Zack Allan.  

"We can't just go in and pull it out, Chief," the sergeant explained.  "Once the 
word got out that it was here all sorts of aliens started to gather around to 
see it."

"It appears that this creature has legendary, even religious significance in 
some of these cultures."  Annie explained.  "  They say that it will surface 
soon, and its behavior when it surfaces is supposed to be prophetic.  They're 
waiting to see it."

"All except the Pak'ma'ra," Zack added.  "They're here because....", his voice 
trailed off and his gaze went to the floor.  

"Chief, I know it may sound silly, but we've already had to break up fights down 
here, just because the different groups can't agree about who the creature 
'belongs' to.  If anything were to happen to it, we could have an real incident 
down here."  He saw by Annie's eyes that she was serious.  

"OK."  Garibaldi realized he was going to have to take charge of this.  "Zack, 
make contact with Epsilon 3.  Find out what Draal knows about this ...thing."  
The Chief wondered what Draal would think of this call.  "Annie, establish a 
perimeter and try to keep order.  I can't wait to tell the Captain about this 
one.  "




He caught up with Sheridan and Ivanova in the Captain's office.  "It appears we 
have a ...situation...down in Grey Sector."

"Again?"  Sheridan looked exasperated.  Garibaldi decided to ignore Ivanova's 
smug smile.  

"Some sort of creature from Epsilon 3 is holed up in the ductwork down there, 
and all sorts of aliens are congregating because the thing is supposed to have 
some kind of religious importance.  They claim it's going to surface soon and 
that what it does when it surfaces will foretell the future.  "

Ivanova's smile was growing into a smirk.  Her glance went to the door as Zack 
Allan appeared at a trot.  

"Excuse me, Captain, ...Commander."  The security officer nodded to each in 
turn.  "Sorry to interrupt, but I made contact with Draal the way you said, 
Chief.  You gotta hear this."

Draal's holographic projection system activated at that moment.  "Good morning!"  
The deep resonance of Draal's voice always seemed so cheerful.  He smiled when 
he saw Ivanova.  "In trouble again??"  Ivanova's smile warmed.

"Congratulations, Mr. Garibaldi!"  Draal turned to the Chief.  "I understand 
your staff has made a discovery."

"Discovery?"  Garibaldi was puzzled.  "We seem to have something here that 
...well, sort of belongs to you..."

"The katapa...It is just one, isn't it?"  Draal queried.

"We think so," offered Zack, "but we're not entirely sure."

"Well, even if it's just the one, you've got quite a find.  We had thought the 
katapa were extinct.  "

"Excuse me, Draal, " the Captain interjected, " exactly what is a katapa, and if 
they're extinct, how did one get onto my station?"

"The katapa were ...are...  large, fur-covered creatures which lived in burrows 
in the surface of the planet.  Adults are about the size of a human female.  The 
weapons which protect the planet's surface are housed in abandoned katapa 
burrows.  We seriously thought they were gone."

"So how did we get one...  and what's the great fascination with it?"  Garibaldi 
still wasn't sure if he wanted to believe this one.  

"The only explanation I can imagine is that one wandered into your shuttle, 
'though I can't imagine how that could happen without someone noticing.  They're 
not small enough to go unnoticed.  As for all the interest, the katapa were said 
to have a multi-year hibernation cycle, so they were not often seen.  The 
popular mythology says that if the katapa leaves its burrow and moves out to the 
surface, it signals the beginning of a period of peace and prosperity.  The 
creature has quite a reputation....  in some cultures it's said to be the 
companion of the gods.  As a result, it is revered."

"So what do we do now?"  Ivanova asked.

"I would suggest you treat the creature with great care.  If any harm were to 
come to it, there would be great distress among those who believe the legends."  
Draal cautioned.  

"Yeah, but the Pak'ma'ra wouldn't mind," Garibaldi thought.

"It has probably turned to your ductwork as a substitute for its own burrow, but 
you are fortunate in that its hibernation cycle should be ending soon.  It will 
probably want to come out on its own, but please know it's a very shy, almost 
timid creature, so be gentle with it.  If you can capture it and get it back 
here, we'll see it's well cared for."

Draal said his farewells and faded from sight just as the Chief's link sounded.

"Go!"

"Chief, it's Annie.  Help!"  Plaintive was not an adjective that usually suited 
her, but this time..."I need a diplomat down here.  Please!"

"Why did she call you?"  Ivanova's smirk was becoming annoying.  

"Tell her we're on our way," Sheridan said, rising from his chair.

"They're both enjoying this way too much, " Garibaldi thought as they headed for 
the transport tube.



Despite security's best efforts, the situation in grey sector was getting worse.  
Garibaldi was pleased to see that his people were able to contain the crowd and 
establish safety corridors.  Several groups of watchers had begun to chant, 
however, which might have been interesting if they used anything like similar 
tonal scales.  Instead it created a dissonance that made his teeth hurt.  He 
sensed too that the pitch of crowd has higher than before.  This had to end 
soon.  

"Delenn!?!  What are you doing here?"  Sheridan stared in disbelief at the 
Minbari delegation at the front of the crowd.

"I am a member of the religious caste.  It is appropriate for me to be here."  
She returned to her meditation.  

"Now you see the problem, Captain."  Annie's voice snapped Sheridan to 
attention.  "Since the word got around that this -- what's it called?"

"Katapa," Garibaldi answered.

"Since it got around that the katapa is the companion of the gods, ambassadors 
from all over have been showing up.  They all seem to think it will be looking 
for them.  There have been...words.  And arguments about protocol and diplomatic 
courtesy."

"Just what I needed, " Garibaldi thought, "Dueling egos."

"This is not what they trained me for."  It was Annie's turn to sound 
exasperated.

"All right, " Sheridan turned to face the crowd.  He raised his voice and began.  
"Honored guests..."

A gasp went up from the crowd.  The chanting stopped for a moment then began 
again with a new intensity.  Sheridan looked at Ivanova.  Her eyes widened, and 
she shook her head.  He began again.  "Honored guests..."

The crowd pointed, and Sheridan heard a noise behind him.  Garibaldi looked up 
at the access panel just over his left shoulder.  Large brown eyes looked back 
at him, then disappeared.  

"Zack, Annie, let's move.  This thing wants out, and we're gonna help it.  We've 
got to get that access panel off, or at least loosen it so the katapa can knock 
it off when it's ready."

"I'm on it," Annie raced for a toolkit.  

"And we need a platform or scaffold under this panel.  We need to be able to 
reach the panel, and heaven forbid the thing were to fall out of the ductwork 
and knock itself unconscious."

"Done," Zack signaled to a few security officers.  Using crates and containers 
found in the area they managed to construct a makeshift stairway to the access 
panel.  Annie headed up to remove the panel.  

"Go easy," Garibaldi cautioned.  "Draal says these things scare easily."

She tiptoed up, quietly loosened the panel until it was hanging half open, then 
retreated quickly.  

"Could you see it while you were up there?"  Garibaldi asked her.

"No sign of it!"  She shook her head.  

For a moment the Chief had a waking nightmare of scenes like this all over the 
station as the katapa moved from access panel to access panel.  The sight of 
those brown eyes again brought him out of it.  

"Fear not, katapa!  We will protect you!"  The brown eyes disappeared again and 
Garibaldi turned to see Lady T and the Guardians -- the full ranks of Micheline 
Knights -- with broad swords at the ready.

"Put those things away!!!" Oh, god, if he didn't love them so much..."You'll 
scare it to death."

Sheepishly, they sheathed their swords.  Now he felt bad that he had embarrassed 
them.  He'd have to make it up to them later.  He was certain Lady T could think 
of a way.

For now he turned his attention to the ductwork.  Soon the brown eyes returned, 
and this time stayed long enough for him to see that they were part of a furry 
brown face, with a nose the texture of velvet and the color of chocolate.  The 
crowd hushed at the sight of it.

A paw emerged from the ductwork, and then another.  Gina, standing next to him, 
whispered, "Look, Chief, it's got white paws.  We can name it Socks."  He was 
not amused.  

Slowly the creature made its way out onto the platform his security team had 
rigged.  It looked around and blinked, seeming mystified by all the attention.  
The chanting began again in earnest, and some of the ambassadors rose to move 
forward.  

"Hold it right there," Garibaldi ordered, "We're all going to stand here nice 
and quiet and let the katapa go where ever it wants to.  "

Sheridan gave him that look that meant they were going to have the conversation 
about diplomacy again soon.  God, he hated that one!

The creature was completely out of the duct now, and Garibaldi prayed it would 
not retreat.  Maybe if they all got their promise of peace and prosperity they'd 
go home to celebrate.  Tentatively the katapa picked its way down the makeshift 
staircase.  Pausing at the bottom, it looked around again, its gaze this time 
lingering on each of the ambassadors in turn.  Then it scampered across the 
floor, and curled up at Garibaldi's feet.  There was mayhem in the crowd.  
Ambassadors sputtered and fumed.

Delenn tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smile.  "It seems the companion of the 
gods has chosen its companion, Mr. Garibaldi.  It would appear the katapa thinks 
you are God."

Garibaldi looked over at Ivanova.  Her face said, "don't go there" and he 
decided he wouldn't.  He hated to admit it, but right now, he needed a diplomat.  
"Captain?"

"Yes Mr. Garibaldi?" Sheridan was enjoying this.

"What do I do now?"

"Any rejection or lack of respect could precipitate a major incident.  I suggest 
you assume your most godlike stance and leave.  From the look of it, I'm 
guessing the katapa will go with you."  The creature was ringing Garibaldi's 
ankles.

"I hate pets," he thought, gently extricating his feet and heading for the 
transport tube.  The katapa padded along beside him.  Hands reached out from the 
crowd to touch them, and voices called out to them.  Garibaldi sighed with 
relief when the transport tube closed.  

"Terrific!"  He looked down at the katapa.  "Now where?"  He decided his 
quarters had a better chance of privacy than the station house.  The katapa 
seemed instantly at home.  

"Of course we didn't ask Draal what you ate," he said to his furry guest.  "And 
how the hell did you get on to the station?"  The katapa stared up at him with 
those huge brown eyes.  "You are kind of cute, actually."  He sat down next to 
the creature and began to stroke the soft fur.  Like an overgrown puppy, it 
rolled onto its back, white paws in the air.  "You want your tummy scratched, 
eh, Socks?" He ruffled the soft fur on the creature's underside.

"What the...?"  His hand found something metallic.  He walked his fingers along 
it, up to the katapa's neck, where a small tab of metal protruded.  "A zipper?"

A white paw took the zipper pull from his hand, and drew it down the length of 
the body.

Fade to black.
Diversion		6