“I’m really sorry about this, sir,” he said, “but there’s a Gold Channel transmission from Vice President Clark, sir. I’ve tried telling him you’re indisposed, but he wants to talk with you immediately. He says it’s urgent.”

“I understand. Thank you, David. I’ll take the message in my office.” He looked at the chrysalis again. He had promised Delenn he would be here for her, but he wouldn’t be gone long. Even if he had to go down to the planet, he would only be a few hours. He’d be back in plenty of time.

“I won’t be long,” he told the chrysalis. “I’m sorry. I won’t be long.”

Sheridan left the room and locked the door with his own personal access code. He turned to the two security guards on duty. “No one but Commander Corwin is to go into this room until I get back. If anyone tries, lock them in the brig.”

Of necessity Delenn’s quarters, which were supposed to be her cell – despite the fairly comfortable furnishings – were far from the actual bridge and his office at the front of the ship, and so it was a long walk. If he walked a little slower than usual, then that was definitely unintentional. He didn’t like Clark, but that was no reason to irritate him, right? At least, that was what he told himself.

When he reached his office, he stood before the communications panel and activated the Gold Channel message. Clark’s face appeared on the screen. He did not look happy.

“You took your time, Captain Sheridan,” he snapped.

“I’m sorry, Vice President,” he said. “I’ve been busy with inspections and so forth. We want to make sure the ship is ready for when the Minbari come.”

“Our early warning probes have picked up no sign of Minbari activity yet. We have at least twelve hours of opportunity.”

“Believe me, Vice President, that’s not nearly long enough.”

“We’ll see, and I’m sure the Babylon can run without you for a few hours. We have a Centauri diplomat here to discuss a possible mutual defence alliance, and he would very much like to see you…”

“Vice President, I am very busy here. I am sure he will get by without seeing me…”

“He insists that is not possible, Captain, and I would remind you that you serve the wishes of this Government. If we can complete this treaty with the Centauri then we may not even have to fight the Minbari at all.”

“Vice President, I’ve fought both the Minbari and the Centauri, and I’m telling you, a Minbari fleet could go through anything the Centauri send to help us like a hot knife through butter. And if they don’t, then the Narns will likely sell us all out to the Minbari and scrap your early warning probes, as well as all the other equipment they sold us.”

“We shall see, Captain. The fact of the matter is, your presence is requested on Proxima as soon as possible, and you will have to be here.”

Sheridan swore silently. “I will be there, Vice President.” The signal ended, and he stepped backwards, sitting on his desk, thinking. A Centauri, here? In what was technically Narn space, with Narns in and out of Proxima all the time – well, more out than in at the moment. But why would a Centauri come this far into a war zone? The Minbari could arrive at any moment – he didn’t exactly trust any early warning probes – so why would a Centauri noble risk being caught in the crossfire, let alone risk being beaten to death by a Narn?

Questions. Always too many questions, and never enough answers.

He swore again, and made preparations for Delenn while he was on Proxima. He wouldn’t be gone long anyway. A few hours at best. Yes, that would be all.

Secret meetings and clandestine plots were practically compulsory behaviour among the nobility on Centauri Prime these days. Emperor Marrit was well-meaning, competent, polite and sincere, a combination that meant it would probably have been easier if he had just painted a large target on his forehead and walked in front of a firing squad.

There were many who said that Marrit was not half the man his father had been, and those complaints were true, but the point was that Turhan had been a great leader for the early part of his reign. He had pulled the Centauri out from the whole Narn nightmare with less loss of face, chaos and loss of life than many would have thought possible, and his dealings with other governments, especially the rising power of the Earth Alliance, had brought the Centauri new hope for a reconstruction and a possible renaissance of power.

But Turhan, like so many great leaders, had lived too long. He had grown old and frail and his court had slipped away from him. The Centauri’s most powerful allies – the Earth Alliance – had been ripped apart and reduced to less than a fragment. When the Centauri had been unable to assist that fragment, they had turned to the Narns for help, help which had been given gladly, if not freely.

And then came the war with the Narns, and the Centauri’s renaissance had started, much to the surprise of everyone in the galaxy, not least the Narns, who found out that their mighty war machine was not as mighty as they thought.

Turhan had died during the war and his son had succeeded to the throne, but as a figurehead and nothing more. With all attention focussed on the war, a small coalition of nobles had been able to rise to power and guide the Centauri back to greatness. Through skilled use of diplomacy, military tactics and the same strategies of attrition that the Narn had employed against them, Londo Mollari, Urza Jaddo and Antono Refa had managed to guide the Centauri through the war. Yes, it had ended in bloody stalemate, but at least the Centauri were still free, and rebuilding.

And then the hammers had started to fall. Londo Mollari had seen something at the end of the war that he would not talk about to anyone. He had been sent out on a diplomatic mission to the Drazi that was attacked by Narns, and he disappeared for over a week. Upon his return he was distracted and vague, and suffered from increasing nightmares. Urza Jaddo had become focussed on the Emperor, and on finding a way to end the war and improve matters at home. And Antono Refa… he had become lost in the dreams of power, guided no doubt by his fair lady wife, Elrisia. Urza and Refa soon found themselves at opposite ends of the political spectrum, and the whole of the Centarum came close to open war. Forced, somewhat against his will, to choose sides, Londo had allied with his old friend Urza, but he was clearly not happy about it. Refa had too many allies for him to be got rid of permanently, however, and so he was dispatched to Minbar, out of the way. Urza became the Emperor’s First Minister, and Londo… was left to complete his own agenda.

But somewhere between Refa’s banishment and the present, events had slipped from the control of the Three Who Rule – Marrit, Urza and Londo. Marrit, still unmarried, was finding himself drawn increasingly under the influence of Lady Elrisia, who was enmeshed in some sort of deal with Londo’s wives Mariel and Daggair. Several powerful nobles had died mysteriously of natural causes. Marrit was growing more and more divorced from reality and a number of Turhan’s nephews and cousins were emerging from the woodwork and taking stronger rôles in Centauri power politics.

And then there were the Narns. The recent attack on the Narn-won colony at Ragesh 3 had sparked the whole business with them up again. No one seemed to have ordered this attack, and no one seemed to mind that the Centauri had been beaten away. That did not matter, and if the Narns did attack then, well… the Centauri had beaten them before… the Centauri would beat them again.

And while Centauri Prime was set to burst into flames, Emperor Marrit sat alone, captivated by the noble lady Elrisia, Urza Jaddo was preoccupied with personal matters, and Londo Mollari… had affairs of his own to deal with…