Zack hurried toward his quarters in Blue Sector, where the command staff was housed. Command staff. He still wasn't used to being included in that group. He preferred the 'good ole days' when he was second in command in Security. It wasn't that he didn't like his new found authority, he just didn't like how he'd gotten it.
      Michael Garibaldi had been his boss, his mentor, and most of important of all, a good friend. It was lousy what had been happening around here lately. Mr. Garibaldi no longer seemed to trust the Captain, whom he had trusted about as much as he'd ever trusted anybody, except perhaps his best friend and former Commander, Jeffrey Sinclair, who was gone now. Garibaldi was notorious for being paranoid but this appeared to go beyond that. He didn't agree with any of the Captain's ideas, and had made his feelings about him known, saying Sheridan had changed since his brush with death within the hellish bowels of Za'ha'dum.
      Consequently he had resigned his post as Chief of Security, leaving Zack to take over.
      For his part, Zack harbored hope that one day his friend would come around and take back the job that he was meant for. Until then, he would do his best to fill the position.
      Which included long and tedious, but important, staff meetings which he had just attended, and which in turn was presently making him late for his date. Lord knows he respected Captain Sheridan but he could sure be a windbag when he wanted to. His footfalls echoed down the corridor as he kept himself from breaking into a run. In two minutes time, he wished he could run, when he saw who was rounding the corner and heading straight for him. Don't make eye contact and he'll go away, he thought. No such luck.
      "Ahhhhh, Meeester Allen! And how are you this fine evening?"
      Zack blew air between his lips and tried to look cordial. "Fine, Ambassador Mollari, and yourself?"
      The imperious Centauri ,who had been preening, stopped and looked offended. He wagged a finger at Zack as if he were a naughty little schoolboy that was in need of a reprimand. "Tut-tut, Mr. Allen, that's 'Minister' Mollari now, or have you forgotten?"
      Zack would've liked to tell Minister Mollari exactly what he could go and do with his title. A description that would've included various anatomical references. Not wishing to start a small war, they'd had enough of those for the moment thank you, he said,"Forgive me, Minister, I guess I've become too accustomed to calling you Ambassador. I'll pay attention to that in the future." Now was one of those times he wished Garibaldi was here. He'd had a certain rapport with the blustering official. He wouldn't have hesitated to tell Londo to go to hell, or the Centauri equivalent of it. Zack was not so fortunate.
      "Yes, well, see that you do." Londo gripped the lapels of his statesmen's outfit, and strutted off down the corridor, muttering something about idiotic humans who wouldn't know an important man if he walked up and bit them on the leg.
      Zack felt like banging his head against the wall. He now had exactly ten minutes to go to his quarters, get cleaned up, and get to Jessie Devereux's place on time. He could do it. If he was a magician. Seeing that he wasn't, he took off like a shot, and prayed to the Almighty Dating Goddess that Jessie was an understanding person, and wouldn't be angry with him if he was late.

      Jessie was in her room, praying to the Almighty Dating god that Zack was an understanding person and wouldn't be angry with her if she was running late. Time had gotten away from her while she was shopping.
      Getting lost and ending up at the refuse recycling place instead of the Visitor's level had absolutely nothing to do with it. So much for the color coded map.
      The problem was this stupid barrette she'd bought from the Centauri jewelry kiosk Zack had mentioned.       It refused to hold more than two hairs at a time. She'd thought it was strange at the time when she bought it. Centauri women didn't HAVE any hair. The older ones usually didn't anyway. She remembered reading that somewhere. Damnit! She threw the barrette down on the dresser and dug out some good old Human bobby pins from her bag. She quickly put her hair up with those and then stuck the barrette on top like a Christmas star. There! Whose to say that's not what you were supposed to do with it anyway?
      She stepped back and checked herself in the mirror on the wall, smoothing the satiny folds of the dress over her hips. The black satin slip dress she'd found was perfect. She spun herself and enjoyed the way it swirled around her calves. She added a necklace and earring set of silver that had belonged to her mother and studied the effect. It was nice to have a reason to get dressed up again. The last time had been her mother's funeral, about a month ago. Jessie frowned. She was determined not to let anything get in the way of her enjoyment tonight. She'd had a little talk with herself while shopping and convinced herself there was no reason to be apprehensive about going out with Zack tonight. Just keep the conversation light and away from sensitive areas. She sat down on the bed to put her shoes on and suddenly the door chimed. She glanced at the clock. 18:05 hours. Well, at least she wasn't the only one who was late. She quickly slipped her shoes on , rushed to the door, and activated the intercom. "Who is it?" She wanted to make sure it was him. It was. "It's Zack Allen. I'm sorry I'm late. I sort of got hung up in a staff meeting. I hope you're not mad."
      She keyed the lock. As the door drew open Zack was struck speechless. She looked like a princess in a picture book. All she needed was a tiara.
      "Hi,"she said. "C'mon in. Don't worry about it. I'm not exactly on schedule myself." Zack recovered his wits and stepped in. He offered her a gorgeous pink rosebud. "This is for you."
      Jessie reached out for it. "Oh, Zack! How lovely. You didn't have to do that." Zack gazed at her. "It's not as lovely as you are. You look beautiful." God, did she look beautiful. He was glad he'd thought to put on his spiffy new command coat over his uniform. She was dressed like someone who ought to be escorted by a guy in white tie and tails. Jessie ducked her head at the compliment."Just let me put my gloves on and we can go." She laid the rose on the nightstand, picked up a pair of wrist-length black gloves and smoothed them on.
      She spread her arms out. "I'm ready when you are."
      Zack was surprised. She was acting a lot more cheerful and open than she had this afternoon. Oh well, maybe she'd just been having a bad day.
      He grinned, "Let's go then. After you, m'lady."
      Jessie flashed him a smile and walked out into the hallway. He joined her and was taken aback when she took his arm. He looked down at her and laid his hand over hers,"I'm glad you said yes, Miss Devereux."
      Jessie looked back up at him and her smile turned mischievous. "I thought I told you to call me Jessie."
      He took his cue. "You didn't."
      "Oh, well, I am now." She grinned.
      Zack laughed, "In that case, I'm glad you said yes, Jessie."
      "You know something, Zack? So am I. Now let's go eat. I'm starved."

      Jessie desperately tried to keep herself from gaping when they walked into the Fresh Air restaurant. Zack wasn't kidding. This place was fabulous! They did a pretty good job of making you forget you were on a space station and not dining outside back on Earth or one of the colonies. It resembled a fetching garden with tables carelessly strewn here and there. More trees and plants than she could name filled the place and a wonderful trellis covered in roses and ferns stood at the entrance. She swore she heard faint birdsong underneath the melodic strains of violin music filtering thru the establishment. She briefly wondered how much dinner here would cost. This kind of thing couldn't be cheap.
      "Did I tell you? Is this place great or what?"
      She gazed around,"It's amazing Zack. How did they manage to do all this up here?"
      "Ahhhh, one of the great mysteries of the Universe. Can't tell you!"
      She squeezed his arm."Don't be silly."
      "I'm serious, it's a secret!" He said, putting his hand over his heart.
      "Fine, I didn't want to know anyway."
      He laughed. "Just wait. You ain't seen nothin' yet."
      A tall, lean gentleman walked up to them just then and playfully slapped Zack on the back. "Well, if it isn't our new Chief of Security. How's it going Zack?"
      Zack shook his hand. "Great, Carlo, can't complain."
      Carlo took in the woman on Zack's arm. "I should say not. And may I ask who this lovely young lady is?"
      Zack presented Jessie proudly. "Carlo, this is Jessie Devereux. She just arrived this afternoon. I figured I'd try to impress her with your little dive here."
      Carlo ignored the shot. "Jessie, a pleasure to meet you."
      "Jessie, this is Carlo D'Amico. He runs this grease pit you see before you."
      Jessie suppressed her laughter."Nice to meet you too, Carlo."
      "The pleasure's all mine, Jessie. And when you're tired of this insignificant little gnat's buzzing, you can come see me."
      "Not if you're wife has anything to say about it." Zack said pointedly.
      "What Donna doesn't know, won't hurt her."
      "I'll be sure to tell her you said that."
      "You do and I'll permanently seat you next to the kitchen whenever you come."
      "Threats, threats. I presume our table is ready?"
      "If not for your beautiful friend here, I would direct you to the greasy spoon around the corner. Though even their swill is probably too good for you."
      Zack laid his hand upon his chest as though wounded."I give, I give! I humbly apologize and beseech your forgiveness."
      Carlo turned to Jessie. "Jessie, I'll be seating you at the best table in the house. It's none of my concern who you bring along, as long as they behave themselves."
      Jessie pretended to nod gravely. "I vouch for him."
      Carlo looked amused. "Now I KNOW you two just met. Good luck . You're going to need it."
      He ceremoniously swept two menus into his hands and told them to follow him. He led them in and out of the tables with a practiced gait, rounded a booth and stopped. "There it is. Best spot in the house."
      Jessie saw a little round table for two set with a white damask and lace tablecloth and fine bone china with gilded edges. Sterling silver cutlery and napkin rings and two white tapered candles, just lit, graced the table. Two etched crystal flutes waited to be filled with the champagne that was sitting next to the table in an iced bucket. And to top it all off it was placed in front of ..........
      "A fountain!" Jessie exclaimed. A fountain in the shape of two swans kissing,with soft rivulets of water tinkling gently down the bowl.
      Jessie wasn't the only one surprised. Zack pulled Carlo to one side."I know I asked for the best table, but all this......," he gestured questioningly at the sumptuous set up.
      Carlo explained in a low tone."Do you remember when Clark's forces attacked last year and Donna was in your group down in Brown Sector and she was wounded?"
      "Yeah."
      "Remember you're the one who made sure the meds took her in the first group, and then came and told me yourself that she was going to be okay?"
      "Yeah, but..."
      "No buts. Just consider this payback. A favor from both of us. Besides," he waved in Jessie's direction,
"how often do you meet a charming lady such as that?"
"Thanks man, I owe you."
"I'd say we're even. Also, Donna wants to get in good with the new boss. She's due for a raise," he joked. "Now, I'll get you two seated and then you're on your own."
D'Amico held Jessie's chair for her and then Zack's and told them to order anything they wanted, it was on the house, then discreetly took his leave.
"That was very nice of him,"Jessie observed.
"Yeah, he's a good guy. His wife is one of our best officers. A crack shot. Nobody likes to go to the target range with her. Including me." Zack shook his head.
Jessie smiled wryly ,"Aw, c'mon. You can't be that bad."
"You haven't seen me yet."
They settled down and perused their menus.
"Not too much in the way of meat," Jessie said. "At least not Earth meat."
"Yeah, well, with the blockade and everything, it's a little hard to come by."
"Oh." Jessie flushed. Why didn't she think of that? " I guess I'm just used to life on the colony. There's stuff that's scarce, of course, but we have plenty of beef and pork because of all the farms."
"Well, maybe I'll talk to the Captain and we can try and acquire some from there. I'm getting sick of gruel."
She glanced at the menu. "I'd hardly call this gruel. How'd you get fruit?"
"Well, we do have a hydroponics bay, and we managed to score some more from a raider." "That is," Zack corrected himself quickly,"a trader who was passing through."
She let that one go. With what she was planning to do, she was hardly in a position to judge. She understood desperation all too well.
Something caught her eye. "What's spoo?"
Zack turned slightly green. "They must really be desperate if that's on the menu."
      "What is it?"
      "You don't want to know. I'll tell you after we eat some real food."
      "I think the greek salad looks good. How about you?"
      "That sounds good to start with. What do you say to duck?"
      "Duck? How can they have duck?"
      "I don't think it's really duck. They probably killed something they couldn't identify Down Below and decided to call it duck."
      Jessie made a face."Down Below?"
      "Never mind, I'll explain that later too.So what do you say?"
      "I've never had duck, but I'm game." She smirked.
      "Ohhh, Jessie, that was awful. No more bad puns on an empty stomach, okay? Give a guy a break."
      They gave their orders to the waiter and decided to pop the bubbly while they waited.
      "Mmmm. I only tasted champagne once. About four years ago. Mother always said it was fattening anyway."
      Zack knew she was 20 from her info. "Sweet Sixteen party?"
      "Something like that."
      He watched the halo that gathered around her face from the candlelight. Very bewitching.
      This was the kind of girl you could fall in love with. Pretty, quick witted, sweet but a little shy. Almost too good to be true. Garibaldi always told him if it seemed to good to be true, it probably was. And the reason she gave for her traveling still pricked at him.
      It had sounded like a very bad story she'd made up on the spot. He'd heard better ones from people he'd escorted to the brig.
      "So, you're from Proxima 3?"
      Jessie almost choked on her champagne. Here we go, she thought. She'd been wondering when he was going to get around to this.
      She nodded."Born and raised."
      "Any brothers or sisters?"
      "Nope. I'm an only child." Zack thought she seemed a little defensive.
      "How about your parents?"
      Jessie stared straight at him. "Do you always interrogate your dates like this?"
      Whoa. This was off to a bad start. "No. I didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted to know something about you. I'm sorry, I'll stop."
      She examined her hands, which were currently twisting her napkin into an interesting shape. She dropped the napkin."No, I'm the one who's sorry. Look, my parents are both dead, Zack. My father died before I was born, and my mother just passed away about a month ago. I guess I'm still pretty upset. I don't like to talk about it, that's all." Half a lie, half a truth. Hopefully, that would hold him, and make him feel bad enough to stop. She didn't like manipulating him but she didn't have a choice.
      Zack didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected that for an answer.
      "Jessie, I'm really, really sorry. I feel like such a jerk. I didn't know." He leaned across the table and reached for her hand. She hesitated, then took it. "Zack, it's okay. Don't worry about it. Let's just talk about something else, alright?"
      "Deal." He racked his brains. "So......whattya think about the weather?"
      She burst out laughing. "I dunno. Awfully dry lately, don't you think? Could use some rain." He squeezed her hand and then let go. The waiter showed up just then and they dug into their salads while making small talk. When the main course arrived Zack was regaling her with tales of various skirmishes on the station. He was in the middle of a very exciting story when she started to feel a slight pressure in her temples. She ignored it at first but in about twenty minutes' time it wouldn't allow itself to be ignored. Jessie tried not to panic when she recognized it for what it was. The "wall" was coming down. She always felt tremendous pressure right before the dam broke. It had to be all the people on the station, mixed with her present emotional upheaval. She hadn't been prepared for this and it was starting to wear on her. She'd been losing control alot lately. More often than was usual. Her father had finally confided to her in his note that he thought this might be due to the fact that her powers were growing. She'd never been tested, obviously, but it was possible that she might be growing into the range of a P8 or higher. Maybe as high as P10. They might not have known this before because she never deliberately used her abilities. She spent all her time attempting to suppress them. Sooner or later that situation was going to come to a head.
      Jessie put her hand to her forehead and attempted to build the barrier backup. She was slammed with a wave of foreign thoughts and almost fell out of her chair. Finally, Zack noticed something was amiss. He peered at her through the dim lighting. "Jessie, are you alright? You don't look so good. Is something wrong?"
      "No. I'm okay," she managed to get out. "I'm just a little dizzy." She searched for an excuse."It's probably the champagne, I'm not used to it." She got up slowly and her head spun. "Would you excuse me? I need to go to the ladies' room. I'll be right back." Zack got up from his chair but she'd already turned and headed away from the table. He sat back down and waited.
      Jessie barely made it to the rest room, thankful to find it empty. She winced under the harsh lighting and leaned against the wall. I can do this, she told herself. She tried to envision a protective brick wall but it was immediately smashed by another volley of thoughts not her own. She felt the panic rising within her. Why hadn't she done what she'd been told? She should have told Zack no, and stayed in her room the entire week, until it was time to go. Too late now.
      She clenched her fists and conjured up an iron wall this time, imagining nothing could break through it's thickness. The pain decreased slightly inside her head. Good.
      Just keep that up. It seemed to be working for the moment.
      Waiting a minute, then two, it appeared to hold. Jessie knew she had to get out of there and isolate herself.
      She'd just go back and tell Zack she wasn't feeling well, and needed to lie down. He couldn't object if she was sick. All she had to do was make it to the room without breaking her shield.
      Jessie left the rest room and sluggishly started to retrace her steps back towards the table. Zack had been keeping an eye out for her. He took one look at her and a gut feeling instantly told him she was definitley NOT okay. He got up again, intending to meet her.
Then he saw her start to sway. "Jessie?", he called to her. "Jessie!"
      A tremendous burst of pain, light, and noise went off inside Jessie's mind. She faintly cried out, and just had time to see Zack reach her side and grab for her before she slowly sank into welcome oblivion.

       
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