Unfortunately, it was not the Emperor who greeted him.

“Why, dear Londo,” said the voice, and he grit his teeth very firmly together. “It is so good to see you again. I was just talking with Daggair the other day, and we were complaining that we see so little of you these days.”

“My Lady Elrisia,” he said, smiling. “A pleasure, as always,” he lied.

“I hear there was an attempt on your life last night. I am so glad it failed.”

“A seasonal occurrence, my lady. I am… always alert to these things. After all, no one has killed me yet.”

“But they only have to be lucky once, Londo. You have to be lucky all the time.”

Londo looked at his companion and silently thanked all the Gods in the Centauri pantheon that he had not been the one to marry her. Lady Elrisia was beautiful, unscrupulous, intelligent, ambitious and devious. Most Centauri ladies possessed at least two of those characteristics. The more dangerous ones possessed three or four. Lady Elrisia had all five. She was almost as bad as – if not worse than – her husband, the absent and mercifully forgotten Lord Refa.

“I… came here to meet the Emperor. I thought that with First Minister Jaddo away…”

“The Emperor is sleeping now. He is… quite tired.”

“I see. You will tell him I was here.”

“Of course. He appreciates your concern for his health, dear Londo. He told me so last night.”

“I am gratified that his Majesty thinks so highly of me.”

“You may go, Londo.”

“My lady.”

“Oh, there is one thing. I understand that there was a Minbari poet with you last night. He is well, I trust.”

“Very well, my lady. Shaal Lennier is currently enjoying my hospitality.”

“I would be most interested in hearing his work. Could you possibly arrange a private meeting at all?”

“I shall… broach the subject with him, my lady. Good day.”

“Good day, Londo. It was a pleasure as always. We should meet more often.”

Londo waited until he was outside the palace before he started swearing. This was not good. This was definitely not good. Nothing these days ever did seem to be good. Time for a meeting with Mr. Lennier, it seemed. Perhaps G’Kar might have some handy advice in store.

“What?”

“You heard me, Commander Corwin. The Resistance Government wishes to see you, Captain Sheridan and your prisoner. And they wish to do so now.”

“And if the Minbari happen to turn up while we’re… seeing the Resistance Government, Mr. Welles? Or aren’t they worried about the Minbari?”

“I am only relaying their instructions, Commander Corwin. I understand that Mr. Allan is investigating this incident up here?”

“Yes, and he is doing so well enough for me. We do not need…”

“What you need is irrelevant. I and my men will meet with Mr. Allan to co-ordinate this matter.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Commander Corwin. The actions of the senior staff on this ship have been, at best, incompetent, and at worst, treasonous. And not just in this incident, but for some time.”

“We run this ship as we see best…”

“Then you may explain that to the Resistance Government. I am sure that if what you say is the case, then you will have nothing to worry about, Commander.”

“And who do you expect to run the ship while I’m on the planet?”

“The people here are capable of running the ship for a few hours.”

“But…”

“Those are the direct instructions of the Resistance Government, Commander. You, Captain Sheridan and the Minbari are to attend the Resistance Government at once.”

“Delenn can hardly move. Her health is…”

“Irrelevant. You will do as you have been ordered by your direct superiors in the chain of command. Is that clear, Commander?”

“Perfectly clear.”

“Good. There was no need for all that hostility then, was there? I do have one question, though. Where is Captain Sheridan?”

Captain Sheridan was waking slowly. He stirred, and opened his eyes gradually. For a brief moment, he was surprised. This was definitely not his room on the Babylon. These were his quarters in the Main Dome. Well, he supposed they were Anna’s quarters. She lived here. He could not recall spending more than fifteen minutes at a time here before.

Anna was sitting beside him on the bed. She was smiling. “Good morning,” she said.

“Anna,” he mumbled, surprised. She was… she looked beautiful. She looked happy. “Anna…”

“If you said any other name, I’d be very angry,” she said, her eyes dancing. “I love you, John.”

The fog of sleep left him, and he remembered last night. She had come to him after his meeting with the Resistance Government and Lord Refa. She had… been like the Anna she had always been before. She had cooked him something – it wasn’t much, food on Proxima never was, but his cooking could make anything taste awful – and they had talked for a long time, about the past, about their future, about Elizabeth. Sheridan had not felt guilty about doing so. His link was on and if there were an emergency David could call him. He had been astounded throughout the meal, as if this were all a dream. He had resigned himself years ago to the fact that he and Anna could never be as they had been. The war, Elizabeth’s death, the destruction of Earth… it had all just become too much for them. John had watched Anna sinking deeper and deeper into her own private world and had been unable – or unwilling – to prevent her, knowing that he was doing precisely the same thing. He never stopped loving her, but he had stopped believing that they could be happy again.

Last night had surprised him. For a few hours at least, he had actually been happy. Both of them had.

“I love you,” he whispered, and he watched her smile, the smile lighting up her face. She looked so beautiful.

And then he blinked. “What time is it?”

“O-six hundred or so,” she said. “You always did get up early.”

“But… oh my God, the ship, De…” He nearly said Delenn’s name, but then he stopped himself. So much had changed in one day, but he did not want to jeopardise it. He looked around for his link and saw it lying by his side.

“John, they can get by without you for one night.”

“But the Minbari, the…” chrysalis. “Anything could have happened.” He picked the link up, and saw to his horror that it had been deactivated. He looked at Anna.

“I just wanted us to be alone,” she whispered. “I… I didn’t want to lose you again.” Her smile was gone, and his heart went out to her. He clambered across the bed and held her tightly. She rested her head on his shoulder. He felt her hair brush his cheek. He loved her. He always had.

Slowly, he re-activated his link, and patched a message through to Corwin. “Anything to report, David?” he asked.

“Captain, where the hell have you been?” A belated, “Sir.”

“In bed,” Sheridan replied slowly, and Anna chuckled. “I’m sorry. Things are okay up there, aren’t they? Nothing… unusual?”

“The only usual thing that’s happened up here is that everything’s fallen apart. The Resistance Government wants to see us both. This is serious. They want to see Satai Delenn as well.”

“Delenn? But…” She’s still in the chrysalis, isn’t she? She wasn’t meant to come out this early. I told her I’d be there for her. I promised her I’d be there for her.

“Oh my God, David. What’s happened?”

“Oh boy. Look, Captain, the Resistance Government wants to see all three of us sharp-ish. They’ll explain everything. You really won’t like this.”

“I… all right. I’ll be at the Conference Hall. Sheridan out.”

Sheridan pulled back to look at Anna. “I heard,” she sighed. “There’s always something, isn’t there?”

“Aw, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s your duty… I’ll have to find something to do now, I suppose. Just… make sure you come back to me, John. We’ve spent too long apart.”