He looked at her, and there was pain and confusion and querying in his eyes. “Why?” he whispered.

“Why what?”

“Why would you ask me to dinner?”

She smiled again. “You’ll find out when you get there.”

“Eight o’clock,” he whispered and she nodded. “I’ll be there. And… thank you.”

She looked at him and caught again the sheer pain that lay behind his eyes. He was almost screaming there. Behind the façade, behind the bodyguard or the warrior, there was an existence simply of pain. Slowly, gently, she reached out to him. He made no gesture, no sound, but instead, seemed to welcome her touch, both physical and mental. She slowly removed her glove and touched his cheek…

“Ah, Miss Alexander. It is good to see you here early. Your commitment is welcome.” Lyta jumped back as if hit by PPG fire. Starting, she turned around to see Welles standing there. He was simply looking at her, his arms crossed, his expression… patient. “I had not expected you for another three hours, and I would be most interested to learn how you got past Mr. Morishi. But never mind, it is good that you are showing such enthusiasm. Follow me.”

He swept past her and she looked up at Marcus. Slowly, she replaced her glove, never losing his gaze. The pain and confusion were still there. He looked away sharply. “I’ll be there,” he said again.

Lyta’s smile as she followed Welles into Delenn’s cell was a very different smile from her usual one. This time there was genuine happiness in it.

“We cannot ignore the possibility, William,” barked President Crane. “The danger is very real, believe me.”

“But Madame President,” General Hague replied, knowing that he was doomed even as he began the sentence, “the Narns have proved trustworthy allies in the past. To abandon them now…”

“Trustworthy, he says!” scoffed Vice President Clark. “They lend us no military assistance, in spite of our aid to them in the war with the Centauri. They sell us weapons at vastly extortionate prices, and only when it suits them to do so. They rule over our people on our colonies, and tax them almost to death. And then they expect our automatic aid whenever they get into a skirmish with the Centauri, or the Tuchanq or the T’llin. If that is your idea of a trustworthy ally, General Hague, I would hate to see your idea of an enemy.”

“The enemy is the Minbari, as you well know, Vice President, and given a choice between the Minbari or the Narns, I would take the Narns. If it weren’t for their intervention, the odds are we wouldn’t even be here.”

“That’s as it may be, William,” Crane replied, “but the Centauri may well prove to be better allies. They ask little, and they promise a great deal.”

“Madame President, the Centauri cannot defeat the Narns. That is a fact, and take it as read. Neither can the Narns defeat the Centauri, and we, as things stand, would be lucky to defeat a planet full of teddy bears! If we lend our negligible military strength to the Centauri, then they would not give us our colonies back, because they would be in no position to do so. What would happen is that the Narns would very likely sell us all out to the Minbari, and then Proxima Three would go the same way as Earth.”

“But the Narns have asked for our military aid in their next war with the Centauri,” Clark said. “Given that the next war is likely to happen either this year or the next, we will either have to give it, or ally ourselves with the Centauri and that…”

“Either way, Vice President,” Hague interjected, “the point is moot if the Minbari blow us all apart first. You have all read the reports Mr. Welles has made from his interrogation of our Minbari captive. The reason they have held back from any decisive attack thus far is because of the power struggle going on in their Grey Council. Given that one half of that power struggle is now lying in our prison, it’s likely that this… Sinoval… will take over the Grey Council, and lead the war straight here.”

“The problem, if I may be so bold as to say so,” brought up General Takashima, General Franklin’s former head of staff, who had been raised to the Resistance Government following Franklin’s death, “is with neither the Minbari, nor the Narns, but with our military. As you all know, our military strength consists almost entirely of Captain Sheridan and his Babylon. We have neither the resources nor the money to build new heavy class warships, and the Narns won’t sell us anything of that size. We can barely manage to replace Sheridan’s Starfury losses. And Sheridan… has a mind of his own. There is little point in us debating and arguing if the effective head of our army decides just to ignore whatever we tell him, as he has done on numerous occasions.”

“Exactly,” Hague said, glaring at Takashima, and no less at Clark. It was well known that Takashima was in Clark’s pocket. “I think that is where our allies might come in. You have all read Lieutenant Ivanova’s report, I trust. She has offered us the complete and unconditional assistance of this mysterious race of aliens. All they want, apparently, is to live in peace, and if that means wiping out the Minbari, then so be it. She wants an answer, and I have to give it to her. I am sure I do not have to remind you of the sheer power of these aliens?”

“No,” Crane said. “You do not. It is their sheer power that worries me. We know nothing about this race. We have seen no Ambassador or envoy, just this Lieutenant Ivanova. She offers us the help of this race none of us has seen in order to help annihilate the Minbari. If they are that powerful, then why haven’t they done so themselves? And I am not the only one to be doubtful of these aliens. Captain Sheridan has formally noted his… suspicions…”

“You’re being a fool, Marie,” snapped Clark. “And Captain Sheridan is simply afraid that he will not be indispensable any longer. They offer us the greatest hope we can get for the end of this war. We don’t have to trust them. We just have to ally ourselves with them.”

“I agree,” said Takashima.

Crane looked around at the others, who either bowed their heads or spoke up in agreement. She knew a losing cause when she saw one. “Fine. Tell Lieutenant Ivanova that we accept her offer of an alliance, but she must remain on Proxima Three, and she must be answerable to this assembly for the actions of her allies. You will be responsible for this, William. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly, Madame President.”

Sheridan had watched Welles’ brutal interrogation of Delenn with silent, staring eyes. He had watched as Welles had dragged each piece of information, kicking and screaming from her. He had never struck her, never touched her, never even caused her physical harm, but he had managed to tear down everything she was, and everything she believed in with merely a few well chosen words. He had spoken about Earth, about severed dreams, and lost souls and broken spirits. He had spoken of countless deaths, he had spoken of the heart of the human race – the planet Earth – and of how it was gone forever.

And then he had fallen silent, and left Delenn to her guilt. And then he had asked her questions: troop movements, army organisation, supply lines, technology. Each piece of information she gave was verified by Miss Alexander, who repeatedly violated Delenn’s mind.

The whole thing lasted several hours, during which time Welles uncovered information that would have taken months of scouting operations and hundreds of lives. Sheridan recognised the equation, but he still felt disgusted by what he had witnessed. Welles had seemed oblivious to the stare Sheridan was boring into the back of his head. It was easier for Sheridan than looking at Delenn.

When it was over, Welles had yawned, and risen to his feet. He flicked a switch, at which motion Delenn had started, and then he left, saluting Sheridan as he did so. Sheridan simply stared at him, and then at Lyta. She looked haggard and weary, and her walk as she left was slow and hesitant.