“Oh,” said a voice Sheridan had never heard before. “Is being very honoured to meet you, yes. Very honoured.” And then a strange clicking noise. “A great destiny lies before you, yes. Click, click A great destiny indeed.”

Sheridan looked at his second, who had brought a mysterious hairy humanoid into the ready room aboard the Babylon. Corwin shrugged, “Don’t ask,” he said. “If he’s here, at least we know where he is.”

Sheridan turned to the newcomer. “And you are?”

“I is being called Zathras, oh yes, and I is being come with Holy One G’Kar here to be meeting you, Captain Sheridan. You must come with us, oh yes. Click, click”

“I…” Sheridan looked at G’Kar, who gave the Narn equivalent of a shrug.

“I do not know much either, Captain, I am afraid. He came to me during my recovery, and spoke of a place where I was urgently needed. He did not say where, or why, but he knows about the Great War that is coming and he knows about the Enemy, and he knows about you. He would not tell me why or how he knows these things, and I did not ask.”

“Well, I will. Look… Zathras? I can’t just drop everything and leave here on your say-so. I’ll have to justify something like this to the Resistance Government, and they might be interested to know where I’m going.”

“Oh no no no no. Must not tell them, no. Click They is being corrupted by Darkness, yes. Click Very bad, very sad, very bad.”

Sheridan placed his hand on his forehead. “I’m not following this, G’Kar. You actually trust him?”

“Yes.”

“Mind telling me why?”

“Your destiny lies with us,” Zathras said. “Many lives, yes. You must see, you must learn, must understand. You have a destiny, a great destiny. More than leader, more than Starkiller, more than messiah. Yes yes, must come, to understand.”

“What destiny?”

“Ah no, Zathras is being very sorry, but Zathras not being allowed to tell you that. Varn give Zathras list of things not to say, and that was… ah, no, Zathras not being allowed to say what Zathras not being allowed to say. You not trick Zathras. Zathras knows what not to say, and Zathras is not being saying it. You must come. That is all.”

“Come where? Or aren’t you allowed to tell me that either?”

“Oh no, Zathras being allowed to tell you that. You must come home – see Varn. Yes, Varn wants to see you. Well no, Varn not want to see you, but Varn need to see you. Varn not understand, Varn not know. Varn is being old, and dying. Very sad.”

“I suppose there’s no point asking you who this Varn is?” Zathras shook his head. “Or where your home is?”

“Oo. Please be waiting a minute. Zathras be thinking. Yes, Zathras is being permitted to being telling you that. Zathras tell you where home is.”

“Just as well,” Corwin muttered. “Or how would we get there?”

“Home is… known to you as third planet of Epsilon Eridani. Yes, that be home. Called… Euphrates. Yes. Zathras call it home, but you call it Euphrates. Zathras think home is better name, but what does Zathras know?”

Sheridan and Corwin shared a glance. “I see. G’Kar, can we have a word alone for a minute here, please?” G’Kar nodded, and Corwin led Zathras away, a looked of pained exasperation on his face. When they were gone, Sheridan turned to G’Kar.

“What the hell kind of story is that? Epsilon Eridani Three is deserted, and I know that for a fact. I did a survey of that whole area three years ago, looking for potential sites of the Babylon Project – mission four. We scanned the whole area, and there was nothing even faintly unusual. What are you trying to pull on us here?”

“Scans can be obstructed, Captain. You must trust me on this matter.”

“Aw hell! Look, I need to think about this for a while. I’ve still got no idea what I’m doing here, and I think the Resistance Government is going to want me to run a mission out on the Rim for a while. I’ll need to get back to you on this.”

“Of course, Captain, but do not take too long. The road is running away from us faster all the time. Unless we choose our own path on the road, we will be forced where it takes us, which is seldom where we would like to go.” He pulled something from his pocket. It was a data crystal. “I would appreciate it if you would give this to Delenn. It is a message recorded for her by Neroon. You may watch it first yourself to ensure it contains nothing dangerous to you. Neroon accepted that that might be a possibility.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Sheridan said softly. Suddenly, his link bleeped.

“There’s a Gold Channel message coming from President Crane, sir,” Corwin said.

“I’ll take it in here,” Sheridan replied. “I don’t think it would be a good idea for her to know you’re here, G’Kar. How many people know so far?”

“Just yourself, Commander Corwin and a few security guards. Commander Corwin assured me that they could be trusted.”

“Good. David will show you somewhere to rest tonight while I think this whole thing over. You never know, the Resistance Government may just want me to fall on my sword or something.”

“Of course, Captain. G’Quan be with you.” G’Kar thumped his fists on his chest and bowed his head as he left the room.

Sighing softly, Sheridan turned to the commscreen and activated it. He clasped his hands behind his back and tried to present the image of a dignified, stern Captain. Appearances counted for a lot with the Resistance Government.

President Crane’s face appeared on the commscreen. “Captain Sheridan, we wish to see you before us immediately. Do not tarry.” And then the screen went blank.

Sheridan groaned. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

“I hope this reaches you, Delenn. G’Kar has said that he will do all he can to ensure that it does. He is a good man, a very good man. Better than Sinoval, perhaps better than Branmer. I told you before that I felt my destiny lay with G’Kar. Now I am certain of it.

“I cannot tell you what I have been doing, or where I am. This message may be intercepted. I… simply wanted to give you some sort of comfort, Delenn. If there were any way I could help you, I swear before Valen, I would. Sheridan will try to help you, I think. He is an honourable man, and can be trusted.

“I wish that there were something I could say to you, Delenn… anything that would make this easier. I would only remind you of the Shryne. I do not need to tell you to be strong, but I hope you can be at peace. I am.

“Valen walk with you, Delenn, and know that you are always in my thoughts. Always, and forever.”

The message ended, and Delenn stared at the silent viewscreen. There was a faint, tragic smile on her face.

“The planet’s name is Euphrates,” General Hague was saying. “The third planet of the Epsilon Eridani system. I believe you’ve been there before.”

Sheridan looked at Hague, managing to keep his expression carefully neutral. Hague was standing in front of the half circular table where sat the Resistance Government. Sheridan could practically feel the dark eyes of Vice President Clark boring into him, but he ignored them. Clark had been the biggest proponent of having Sheridan punished over his actions concerning Delenn, but he had been voted down. Sheridan was indispensable, and everyone knew it.

“Yes, General,” Sheridan replied. “I performed a scouting mission there while searching for sites for the Babylon Four mission. It was uninhabitable, deserted and worthless in itself, but it was found to be a suitable site for the…”

“We all know that, Captain,” spoke up Vice President Clark. “It appears that your scouting mission was a little lacking.”

“Vice President?” Sheridan was a master at the neutral tone when he wanted to be.

“Our probes have been picking up unusual seismic activity from the planet,” Hague said. “One of them was destroyed by some kind of long range weaponry. Very powerful weaponry. The planet Euphrates is not as worthless as it may have seemed.”