Byron nodded. "Uh-huh. And after we've found out what we want from him?"
"You want to kill him, don't you?"
"He's just a mundane, and it would be dangerous to leave him alive."
She sighed. "I've never liked gratuitous killing."
"You won't have to do it."
"Well, you're the bodyguard, I suppose. Do what you think's best. I'm just.... surprised Al felt the need to give me a bodyguard. He never has before."
"He's worried about you."
"I've been in less safe places than this. No...." She swung herself back on to the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Something's going to happen at Sanctuary, very soon. He's been trying to keep it from me, but there's trouble there.... possibly the worst trouble he's ever been in.
"I'm worried about him. A lot."
They were ready. A decision had been made. She was not entirely sure if it was the right one, but at least it was a decision, and Vizhak and Taan Churok were right. Something had to be done. There are times when any action, even the wrong one, is preferable to no action at all.
Delenn just wished she was sure this was the right action.
She took her place in the same seat she had sat in, slept in and wept in for the last few months. John was still in the same bed. He was asleep. He looked so still. For just a moment he seemed so much at peace, almost as if everything that had happened to them had been just a dream.
"I'm going soon," she whispered, not knowing if he could hear her, but knowing she had to speak anyway. "We're going to try to take on the Shadows. It's the sort of thing you'd want to do.... if you could. Commander Corwin will be there, though. He's a good man. I can see now why you trusted him so much."
She paused, touching his face gently. "I don't know if I will be able to return. I don't know if I'll ever see you again. I do know.... that I will never forget you. I love you, John. Now.... and always. I hope you know that."
She gently leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. Then she turned and left.
He was surprised by just how much had been done since he had last been here. Kozorr had last seen the buildings and offices of Tarolin 2 in ruins, devastated by the Tak'cha's retribution on those who had betrayed the Minbari people. The streets had been filled with the wounded and dying, and as he had moved through them he had heard the cries of the lost and the moans of the forsaken.
Now it was almost as though the attack had never happened. Oh, there were traces here and there, but for the most part the damage had been repaired. The attack had been very localised of course, and after the initial assault the Tak'cha had gone on the ground to hunt and kill the survivors.
But still, he knew to whom Tarolin 2 owed this miraculous repair. He found her seated at a desk in a nondescript office in the building the new Government had taken over. She was alone, staring at a computer screen.
He stood silently in the doorway, looking at her. She was hard at work, but she looked.... drained. He knew from experience that she had a habit of working on beyond her endurance. Anger flared. Why had Sinoval not recognised this, and done something about it? He calmed himself. He would not be angry around her. He could not be angry around her.
He stood there, watching, for a long time. He did not know how long. Time did not seem to matter. It was only when she stirred and turned to look at the doorway that he returned to his senses.
Her mouth opened wide in mute shock. Her eyes looked.... tired.
"My lady," he whispered softly, his voice choked. He had seen and done many things, and he had been afraid before. He had known great fear, but never so much as in that moment when his lady Kats looked at him.
"You were.... He said you...."
"I am here," he said, walking over to her. His limp seemed not to bother him. She rose from her seat and almost fell against him. He caught her easily and held her there. He did not ever want to let her go.
"He said that you were dead," she whispered. "He told me you were dead."
"He lied. I was never dead.... just a prisoner, and every day I thought about you."
She said nothing for a long time afterwards, but he could hear the sound of her sobs. He was crying himself, but he had no need to say anything. Just to be there, with her, was enough.
For the moment.
They were there, black against the blackness of space, screaming in her mind. They would kill, brutally slaughter the innocent with no mercy, no compassion. They had to be stopped.
Delenn sat in silence on the bridge of the Babylon, looking around at her companions: Commander David Corwin, John's closest friend. He was breathing in and out slowly, his hands clenched into fists. Lyta Alexander, her eyes shrouded in darkness. She seemed to be listening to something that wasn't there.
There were other ships here as well. Drazi, Brakiri, a few Narn. They were ready to make a stand against the Darkness, to take the war to the enemy.
Corwin received a message, and sighed. "They're here," he said.
"Then let's go."
The jump points from hyperspace opened, and the fleets poured out. The Shadows were waiting for them.
Chapter 2
It was almost ironic. She had been preparing for this moment for over thirteen years. During all that time she had imagined their darkness, their terror, their.... evil. Too many of her friends had given their lives in this cause: Lenonn, Draal, Neroon, Marcus....
And now that she was finally taking the war to the enemy, Delenn of Mir had never felt less ready for anything in her life.
Part of that had to do with the circumstances of this battle, which were less than ideal. The Drazi Government had been furious about the orders to hold and prepare and wait. They simply did not have the resources to defeat the Shadows themselves, but they had persisted in trying, and that only resulted in more deaths.
So the Alliance had had to force a showdown, to win some sort of victory, however small, just to prove it could be done. That meant utilising the greatest weapons they had; the Babylon, a ship modified by Shadow technology, and Lyta Alexander, the strongest telepath available.
Delenn had also insisted on coming herself. She was going to send people out to die for her after all. She needed to see it.
There were three Shadow ships. All three turned when the jump points opened. Delenn drew in a deep breath and waited for the battle to begin.
On another ship, a long way away, another person was sitting on the bridge, deep in thought. He had been preparing himself for this war for a long time, longer even than Delenn. Ever since he had been a young child he had dreamed of this moment. His war was nearly at an end, and then he could rest.
Warleader G'Sten of the Narn flagship Pride of the Kha'Ri looked around at the rest of his bridge crew. They all looked so young. They were probably older than he had been when he had begun this war against the Centauri.
They were nearly there. Centauri Prime, the dream he had been chasing for so long. He might have succeeded during the last war, but the attack on Gorash had been too bloody and had taken too much out of the fleet. G'Sten had never been more disappointed than when he had surveyed his fleet and realised they were not strong enough to go for the homeworld. He had turned his back and left, not wanting to see the planet and be unable to grasp it.