Corwin remembered the meeting of the United Alliance Council he had been called to a few days ago. He had been on this ship, supervising the repair of the damage suffered during their most recent skirmish with the Shadows. He had been working hard, too hard, hoping to forget about Mary that way.
He had not been surprised by the invitation. He was not a member of the Alliance Council, but he had been present at a number of their meetings in the last few months. As military advisor or something. He had always been uncomfortable there, among alien politicians and economists and wizards.
His first reaction had been to wonder where Delenn was. She had always been present at such meetings. His second was to notice that the Captain was there. Standing.
"Captain!" he had cried. "But.... What...?"
"It's good to see you too, David," he had replied with a broad smile. The two men, friends for over a decade, had embraced, and Corwin had just looked at his commander, dumbfounded.
"What happened?"
"The Vorlons," had come the simple reply. "God knows what type of tech they've got at their disposal, but they used it to heal everything. I'm fine. Perfectly fine. I feel better than I have in years."
"That's great! That's.... Does Delenn know?" There had been a chill pause. "What?"
"She's not here. They've got her. The Shadows."
"How? What happened?"
"We don't know.... not entirely. We think one of the aides here in the Council was infected by one of those.... Keepers. One of Delenn's servants is missing, as well as her private shuttle. We think they managed to capture her, or knock her out.... or something. They've taken her to Z'ha'dum."
"How are you so sure?"
"We know."
"A Keeper, but...." Corwin had looked around for the technomage, Vejar. He possessed strange abilities, magic worked through science, or science that had the appearance of magic.... something like that. He had been given the task of finding all those tainted by the Shadow symbiont.
He had not been at the table. He was nowhere in sight.
"What are we going to do?"
Corwin had suddenly become aware of a bright and blinding light behind the Captain. Blinking and shielding his eyes with his hand, he had realised what it was. A Vorlon. The Vorlon Ambassador, in fact. Ulkesh Naranek.
"We are going to Z'ha'dum," the Captain had replied. "We're going to find her.... and kill everything else we find there."
There had been an argument then. One of the Drazi on the Council had muttered something about not being able to spare any ships from the fleet for a futile attack on Z'ha'dum. Delenn would have known that.
"It doesn't matter," the Captain had replied. "We'll just take the Babylon. It's all we'll need."
He had been very sure.
Looking back on it, nothing about that conversation had seemed right to Corwin. Not a single thing. The Vorlons creeped him out, at least this one did. Where had Vejar been?
There was a movement behind him, and he turned. It was Lyta. She took a step forward, and then stopped as if paralysed. She was looking directly at the Captain.
The Vorlons had insisted she come along. They had ordered it, in so many words.
Corwin looked at her, and at the Captain. Neither of them was moving. Neither of them even seemed to be breathing.
And just for a moment, in what might have been a trick of the light, he was sure he saw Lyta's eyes blaze gold. But then the light faded, and she was just herself again.
And the Babylon continued towards Z'ha'dum.
The door closed behind her, and Delenn looked at the man in front of her. It was strange, but Ambassador Sheridan seemed every bit as at home here, in this barren construct of stone and rock, as he had in the Council rooms of Kazomi 7. She imagined he had a knack of fitting in wherever he went.
"You may remove your breathing equipment now," he said politely. "The atmosphere in here is perfectly suitable for you. We have had Minbari here before. Of course your unique biology may cause some difficulties, but I doubt they will be overly serious."
Delenn unclipped her respirator mask and handed it over to him. She took a few breaths, and then nodded. The air was bearable. The gravity felt a little off, but then she had been used to Kazomi 7 for the last few years.
The building was sparse, and fairly empty. Everything seemed to be made of stone, as if the place had been hacked out of the raw bones of the planet itself. Everything was red, or brown. It was hot.
"You made your way here easily enough, then?" Sheridan said, making small talk.
"Your directions were most precise," she said. Then, after a pause, "Thank you."
"Do you have any baggage? I will have everything taken to your quarters."
"No," she replied formally. "I am as you see me."
"I doubt that," he replied, his voice icy. "If you will follow me, I will introduce you to others who wish to meet you again. It has been a while, for most of them."
"Are you in charge here, then?" she said, following him as he guided her through the corridors. Everything seemed the same; dark, red and hot.
"This is a private sector of the capital city, built especially for us. The city has a name, by the way, but not even I can pronounce it. Far too many letters. I am.... the highest ranked of those of us here at the moment. The true inhabitants of this city prefer to live in the lower levels, and rarely come up this high. I apologise if the accommodation seems a little.... spartan to you. It was designed by a member of your race, and he had certain.... strict attitudes to what was necessary for life. I have done what I can to make them more habitable, but I am rarely here these days."
"None of my race has served the Shadows," she replied tersely. "None of us ever would."
"Oh?" he said, with a raised eyebrow. "Have you forgotten your history? Parlonn lived hereabouts for some years. I can show you the place where he met Marrain and convinced him to join with the.... ah, the Shadows. There's a shrine at the place where Parlonn was murdered down here somewhere. It's quite a way underground, and I don't like travelling there too often. It does get a little claustrophobic at times."
"Parlonn.... chose his own path."
"I never said he did not. It is refreshing, actually.... to see that your race can be just as petty as ours. It completely dispels that whole aura of superiority you like to build up around yourselves. Why was it Parlonn changed sides again? Jealousy? Envy?"
"Neither," she whispered. "He heard your lies and chose to believe them. It was Marrain who betrayed Valen out of jealousy."
"Ah yes. I had the two confused. Do forgive me." He came to a door and stopped. "This is a.... I don't know if Minbari have a word for it. A living-room would be the English phrase. A place to sit and meet and discuss things that are not business. No vidscreen or television, fortunately. You can't get ISN all the way out here, which is a shame, but I can't say I miss any of the rest of it."
He pushed the door open and gestured to her to go inside. There were two people there. One of them was a human woman, sitting on a comfortable-looking chair. The other was a tall figure dressed in a black tunic, with the hood pulled up over his head. His back was to her.
"You know Miss Susan Ivanova, of course," Sheridan said. "It has been a while, I accept. And.... you will also know our other companion, although that has been even longer."
"Why did you come here, beloved?" said a harsh voice, one she recognised all too well despite the many years since she had last heard it.
She gasped as he turned round and pushed back his hood. It was Neroon.
"A question I would like answered," Sheridan replied. He walked over to a table. "Do you want some tea, or do you not drink it? I know Neroon does not, but then you are partially human. I do hope you've learned something of ours."