“Satai no longer,” Delenn said softly, still looking at Sheridan. “I am Zha’valen now. Outcast.”
Corwin looked at Sheridan and met his gaze. He noticed Sheridan hold Delenn just a little bit tighter, and he wondered what had happened to the two of them on that Minbari ship…
The battle’s over, but I feel like it’s still going on. And it is. The Minbari are practically broken now. It’ll take them a long time to recover from this, and the Resistance Government won’t give them a long time. I predict a few months at most before we start taking the war to them… with the Shadows to help. I don’t know… I’m not sure I believe what Delenn’s been telling us, but then I really don’t like where humanity is going.
I hear there are celebrations down on Proxima at the moment. Under different circumstances, I might be down there celebrating as well, but I can’t… All I can think is how much this cost us. Alisa… what it’s done to the Captain… and then there’s Marcus, of course. It’s funny… I don’t like telepaths, never have, and I barely said three words to Miss Alexander before this started, but it’s her I feel most sorry for.
I can’t help but have the feeling that she’s been affected by this more than anyone else…
“Lyta Alexander,” she rasped. “Telepath rating P five, complete with Vorlon accessories, reporting for duty… Captain.”
She was resting back on one of the beds in the small Medlab facility on the Parmenion. Sheridan was surprised at the amount of bruising that covered her, particularly her neck. Her eyes almost seemed… unfocussed… almost vacant.
“You’ll have to excuse her,” said the doctor on duty. “We’ve given her a few drugs to relieve her pain. They make her a little light-headed. She’s been through a lot. Broken ribs, near strangulation, head trauma, concussion… and I don’t know what she did with her telepathic powers but her brain readings are like nothing I’ve seen before. I’ll have to get a better reading when we get back to Sanctuary.”
“Marcus?” Sheridan asked. He had a feeling he knew the answer.
“Dead,” Lyta whispered. “He’s… he’s…”
“I’m sorry, Captain,” the doctor said. “You’ll have to come back later. She needs to rest.”
Sheridan nodded slowly and left. As he left he thought he heard a musical voice in his mind.
It begins.
Speaking of telepaths, there’s Bester as well. Now him, I really don’t trust. He and Ben Zayn set us up, and the thing is… I still don’t know what he’s doing or why he’s doing it. Most people are content to have one private agenda. He has a lot more than one…
I’m not sure about the people he’s got working for him either. I mean, I like Michael Garibaldi… he seems like a good person. I wish I knew why he’s working for Bester. As for Ben Zayn… now there’s a face I’d quite happily never see again. I don’t know. Whenever I see him I just think of the Captain… and how he might turn out like that. Not a pleasant thought…
Although if the Captain wants to work out a little personal anger on Bester, who am I to argue with a superior officer?
“What the hell game are you playing?”
“Captain Sheridan,” Bester said, walking around his desk slowly. “I really think you’re…”
“Just answer the question. You’ve known about the Shadows all along, haven’t you? This… all of this… it’s all to use against them, isn’t it?”
“Who else can fight them, Captain? Oh, the Minbari have their Rangers, but they haven’t been organised for a long time, and after the battle, they won’t be again. No, someone has to hold the line, so to speak.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me the truth? Why send me into the middle of a war zone with no idea of who I was meant to be fighting?”
“You had to choose your own path, Captain. I cannot hold your hand all the way. We needed to be sure that your loyalties were in the right place. I must admit I was wrong about you. That does not happen very often, Captain. Enjoy it while you can.”
“We? Oh, of course. Who else can order Narns around? Who else has Centauri… Narns… everyone working for him?”
“Well done, Captain.” Sheridan stared angrily at the corner of the room where G’Kar appeared. He inclined his head and walked forward, through Bester’s table.
“So, you’re working for G’Kar?”
“With G’Kar,” Bester corrected him. “I don’t work for anybody.”
Sheridan shot G’Kar a look. “And you trust him?”
“Bester has been most useful to me, Captain. It was through him that I gained the telepathic DNA I needed to begin creating Narn telepaths again. It was through him that I gained a second base of operations for my Circle of Light. Here and Epsilon Three. He has been a great help.”
“Yes, and he’ll want to be paid back as well.”
“Worry about that later,” Bester said smugly. “To all things there is a time, Captain Sheridan. You’ve done well. We’ve proved that we can defeat the Shadows. The Minbari will no longer pose a threat to humanity, not with their fleet destroyed and the Grey Council dead. Give us enough time and we can win this.”
“Since when were you a tactician?” Sheridan spat. “You’re going to regret allying yourself with him, G’Kar. Believe me, you will.” He stalked towards the door and then turned. “And next time, come out and tell me what needs doing. I’m not a child, so don’t treat me like one.” He left.
Bester looked at the holographic image of G’Kar. “Better the devil you know?” he asked.
G’Kar shrugged.
And I suppose I’ll have to get to her eventually. Delenn. Sometimes I think this is all her fault. Before she got here, things were… well, not normal… but certainly not this bad. I don’t know. I’m probably just blaming her for nothing, but I still don’t like her, and I definitely don’t trust her. I’ve seen the way she looks at the Captain, and the way he looks at her. I could just be jumping at shadows here… and God knows, the Captain still hasn’t got over Anna yet, but… what if she is using him?
Susan would laugh and say I’m being paranoid. Well, the old Susan would. It’s funny, but I never was paranoid when she was around. I always felt safe then. Times change, all right.
I don’t know… maybe I am being too hard on Delenn. She did come back after all, although if what she said is true, then it was probably because she didn’t have any choice. Besides, judging from her expression today, she got some bad news earlier. Some very bad news…
“We were on a mission to a Drazi colony at Zagros Seven. G’Kar has a small base there, using it to funnel information from the Non-Aligned Worlds to here, and to Epsilon Three. Somehow, Shadow agents had infiltrated the base, and the Shadows launched a full scale attack.
“Neroon… insisted on helping the people escape. We were almost ready to leave, when we discovered one life-form left inside the complex. Neroon told me to get those we had helped so far away from the colony. I had just broken orbit when the Shadow craft arrived. The entire complex was destroyed. Completely. Not even ashes left. I… I never saw his body, but he must have died. No one could have survived that.
“I… He knew that this might happen someday, and he asked me that if he ever did die, I would tell you certain things. I know that Ha’Cormar’ah G’Kar gave you a message from him last year and… he said so many things. All Neroon wished you to know was that he loved you. That you were the other – and better – half of his soul. He was a good friend, and his death was… as you would say… an honourable one. He will be missed.