She left the rooms that had been her quarters ever since she had taken on the role as leader of the Alliance, well over a year ago. It had been after the arrival of the Inquisitor, something she only now understood. It hadn't been a test, as she and John had believed at the time. The Inquisitor had been sent by Kosh, whom she knew cared about her, about all the younger races. Kosh would never have demanded this of her, but he had given his life for them all.
He had known that might happen, and so he had sent the Inquisitor, as a warning. She had not listened, and now she had to pay the price.
She did not turn back to see if the Vorlon was following her as she walked through the streets of Kazomi 7. Either he was, or he wasn't, and she did not care either way. The streets were quiet. It was early in the morning, and even the nocturnal Brakiri were not about. The few patrol guards she saw ignored her, as if she were not there.
With each step she took, she remembered the images of these streets after the Drakh invasion. It was a true wonder that they had managed to create this hope from the chaos and despair of those dark days. It was a great triumph, and one that must surely be placed against the wrongs she had done.
Kazomi 7 and the Alliance spoke of hope, of order, of peace. They would carry on doing so after she was gone.
She reached the spaceport to find that no one there seemed to notice her either. As she walked down the docking bays towards her shuttle, past unseeing officials, she turned round and saw Ulkesh almost at her shoulder. "This is your doing, isn't it? You're why they can't see us."
<Yes.>
"And you need to make sure that I'm gone, of course. For all you know I could have let you cure John, and then stayed here and told him everything."
<No.>
"No? Why not?"
<No.>
She shook her head sadly, and walked away from him towards her shuttle. She had seldom needed a flyer, but when she had, one had been provided. Normally it was heavily guarded of course, but the guards could not see her. She hoped they had been equally blind to certain…. preparations made earlier.
She boarded the shuttle, and took a quick glance back. Ulkesh was there, watching. Angrily, she turned her back on him.
And then she left Kazomi 7, knowing she would never see her new home again this side of death.
And on to Z'ha'dum.
Mr. Trace received word of his men's failure to catch the female telepath with a calm demeanour. He thanked them for their efforts and dismissed them for the night. No doubt they were in a terrified rush to flee the sector — or possibly the planet — to escape his wrath. He didn't care if they did or not. There were very few people he trusted absolutely.
He had set them a task. They had failed. Miss Winters was simply smarter than they were, that was all. Where was the point in punishing someone for coming up against someone better?
Still, this did have to be reported to the Boss, and Trace was not sure how he would react. There were times when he thought he was afraid of the Boss, and other times when they could talk together like two old friends.
He did not really need the old man any longer. He could make a perfect living just from 301 alone. The protection, the drugs, the holobrothels and all his other little deals were enough to keep most men happy and rich for life, but he was not in this merely for the money. Trace wanted respect. He wanted status. He had power here, but he wanted to be a power.
Only the old man could help him with those things, and he would. Sooner or later he would move up from this worthless rat-infested dump and become a power in himself in Main Dome, or maybe off-world.
His signal was received, and the old man's voice came over the comm channel. Audio conversations only. It had always been that way, as far back as Trace could remember. He didn't even have any idea what the old man looked like. He had looked out of simple curiosity, but there were no pictures available at all.
He did know the old man's name, but it was a good idea not to let on that he knew it. The old man valued his privacy.
"Ah, Mr. Trace," came the voice. "What do you have for me?"
"We got another one. A pretty powerful one, too. I'd reckon P ten, P twelve maybe. There might be a problem, though."
"Yes?"
"He's been trained. He knows how to use what's he got. The psi-jamming tech you provided us with kept us safe though, and he only got mildly damaged when we took him down. He had a companion as well, another telepath, and she managed to escape. I'd put her at P five or so, but she's good. Very good. She knows much more than just how to read minds. Infiltration techniques, and pretty good at self-defence as well."
"A woman? Describe her for me."
"Ah, let's see. Blonde, fairly tall I'd guess. Pretty, in a…. posh sort of way. I'm uploading a picture with this. Her name's Winters. T. Winters"
"Ah, yes. I know of her. Well well. It appears we have someone out to investigate our little activities here, Mr. Trace."
"Yeah, I'd say so. They were talking with Chase when I found them. He was telling them what he knew."
"And where is Chase now?"
"Dead. Very dead."
"Good. I think, Mr. Trace, it is imperative you find Miss Winters as soon as possible. She might just pose a significant threat to us."
"We're on it. She won't get out of three-o-one, trust me on that one, Boss.
"There is one other thing, might be just a coincidence, but maybe not. There's someone poking his nose into my business. Had a run-in with one of my men in a bar, and went to see the Security Chief to talk about me."
"Mr. Allan. Is he…?"
"Oh, still bribed. He told me as soon as the guy left. You might know him, Boss. His name's Smith. Dexter Smith. Used to be captain of the Babylon."
"Smith. Ah. Yes, I had heard he'd returned to Proxima, but not that he'd made for your area, Mr. Trace. As you said, it might just be a coincidence, but I don't believe in coincidence. Find him as well as Miss Winters. If you can get Miss Winters in the normal course of things, so much the better. If you can't, then kill her. Definitely kill Mr. Smith. It really won't do to have them running around Sector Three-o-one finding out things they really shouldn't be finding out. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Trace?"
"No problem, Boss. I'll get back to you once we've found them. Trace out."
In a far more expensive and luxurious area of the colony, Mr. William Edgars, unofficial head of Interplanetary Expeditions, turned to his companion. "You heard that?"
<Yes.>
Edgars nodded. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to interfere with the scheme. You'll get all the telepaths you need. Trust me on this."
<Yes.>
Dexter Smith could not sleep. He had not been able to sleep since he had heard the ISN broadcast. He was not alone. All across Proxima people were not sleeping, staring up into the heavens through the clear surface of the domes, waiting for the first sight of the arriving allies.
Parents were keeping their children awake to see this once-in-a-lifetime event, just as they once had for comets or other astral phenomena. Smith could imagine the children now, excited, pointing up into the skies, waving and cheering. For many of them this would be their first glimpse of humanity's former saviours and current allies.
Not for him. He had seen them before, and he was chilled by the thought that they would be coming to Proxima permanently.
And to confirm earlier reports, President Clark and his Cabinet have assured us that our allies for these past three years will be setting up a permanent garrison in the Proxima system, both to provide extra protection for Proxima, and as a lasting symbol of our alliance. A ceremonial fly-by is expected later tonight….
Smith wondered if anyone in the Pit knew about this, or even cared. As he looked out through his window he could see that some of them obviously did. There were people congregating in the streets, talking nervous chatter and looking up expectantly. So, there was something that could make even the Pit trash all happy at the same time.
They have no idea. None at all.
There was a cheer, and then a sense of hushed awe. Smith could not help but look up, and what he saw chilled him to the bone.
They were there, not just one ship, or two, or five, or ten. Countless numbers of Shadow ships soared overhead. The people were watching; spellbound, awestruck, humbled.
Smith ducked inside his apartment and looked at the dull walls and the grimy floor. He clenched his hands into fists and felt a far greater anger than he had ever thought possible before. Did any of them have any idea what they had just done, or what they had just seen?
The Shadows had come to Proxima.
And at the same time, a few hours after Delenn of Mir had left the world she had taken for her home, jump points had opened and out had poured a vast fleet of ships older and more powerful than anyone on Kazomi 7 could imagine.
On the surface, Ambassador Ulkesh Naranek and Lyta Alexander waited for them, waited for his people to come and talk with him.
Everything was ready. Now the war could truly begin.