"What?" Lethke breathed, at the same time as G'Kael's protest and Krantz's spluttering.
It was Delenn, however, who commanded their attention as she stood. "Vizhak.... your Government made Kazomi Seven the centre of the Alliance. We were grateful to them. It was a great gesture, and one none of us has forgotten. We have worked with your Government in every way possible. Why do they take this step?"
"Yes, Alliance grateful. You grateful. You, I trust, Delenn. You, Government trusts, people trust. But Alliance none of us trust."
"You dare...!" began G'Kael.
"Our ships die. Our people die. We fight this war for you, for all of you. Shadows beaten now. Defeated. War can be over. But no, still is war. Still Drazi die. Drazi homeworld attacked by Streib. Drazi homeworld unprotected because all Drazi ships and soldiers here.... fighting your war! More Drazi die defending it. No Alliance ships come to help. Drazi die alone.
"If Alliance not help Drazi, then Drazi not help Alliance!"
"Vizhak," Delenn said softly. "I did not know of the attack on your homeworld. I would have sent help if I had known. If I had been here."
"Believe you, Delenn. But you cannot do everything. You cannot be everywhere. And you not in charge of military. Your lover denied us aid. Your lover sends our soldiers to their deaths. Your lover sends armies to fight elsewhere."
Delenn recoiled as if physically struck. John. Had he become so truly obsessed with this war he did not see what he was fighting for? She had to talk to him, had to make him see.
She had to tell him she loved him.
"Some in Government believe there can be peace with Shadows. Some believe we were too quick to reject last time. Shadows are broken now. Done. No threat to Drazi now. There can be peace. There cannot be peace while Drazi with Alliance. So, Drazi want not to be in Alliance. Drazi want Kazomi Seven back."
"And you, Vizhak," Delenn said calmly. "What do you want?"
"I want.... I serve my people. I serve my Government. They want peace with Shadow. I want no more Drazi dead in others' wars. I want no more sons dead."
"Your son?" Delenn whispered, her face ashen. "Vizhak.... I did not know."
"Of course, you not know. Delenn, not you we distrust. Not you. Your lover. Vorlons. Dark Stars. War is over. There can be peace."
"There can be no peace with the Shadow," G'Kael said calmly. "We learned that last time. You remember what they did with the prisoners they returned. You want peace with such as they?"
"I want it over."
"We all want it over," Delenn said. "And soon, it will be. All of it. No more wars, no more deaths. No more.... dead sons." She hesitated, trembling. "It will be over, but G'Kael is right. There can be no peace with the Shadow."
"Government wants peace."
"And there will be. I promise you. I will speak to your Government, if you wish. And if you wish to leave the Alliance and take back Kazomi Seven, you may. You have given more than most to the Alliance, Vizhak. You and all your people. I can see why you might want it all over with.... but soon it will be. Soon, we will all be safe. Just a little longer. That is all we ask."
"Talk to them, Delenn. I believe you. They believe you. There is one you wish to talk to. One who can give us what we want. Talk to your lover. Make him see us as people, not as toys."
"I will," she said firmly. "Trust me, Vizhak. I will."
There was a silence, Delenn and Vizhak both looking at each other across the table, neither moving. No one dared breathe.
Not until a message was brought in, an urgent warning for the entire planet from Captain David Corwin.
Soon after that, there came the Vorlon.
Things moved quickly after Corwin's warning reached the Council. Arguments were forgotten in the face of this new threat. Ships were mobilised, defence systems prepared. Help was pulled in from nearby worlds. G'Kael sent a request to Narn for urgent aid. Delenn likewise to Proxima. Both doubted that help would arrive in time.
Vejar sat alone in his darkened room and reached out to the skies. He could feel it coming. A Fist of Darkness, so some races called it. A creation of flesh and technology and evil. A weapon designed for the sole purpose of destroying entire planets.
And he realised something else also. Whatever the Shadows could do, so could the Vorlons.
Ulkesh arrived in the Council chamber as preparations were being made. Delenn stood up, her skin crawling as she looked at him. This was the being who had sent her to Z'ha'dum, sent her to die, who had toyed with her love for John for his own purposes.
But he was also the representative of an ancient and powerful civilisation, a race that could help save this planet.
<No. There will be no help.>
"What?" Delenn whispered, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. Always before, the voice of a Vorlon had been musical in her mind, a whisper of symphony and melody and rhapsody, a rise and fall of beauty. Now Ulkesh's voice was that of the grave, the dank and dreary rustling of bones, the dreaming of dead men.
<There will be no help. Leave this world. Its purpose is done.>
Delenn did not need to look at her companions to see the stunned horror on their faces. She also did not need to look to feel the rising fury in Vizhak and G'Kael and Taan Churok, even the normally calm Lethke.
But she spoke first.
"How dare you?" she cried. "How dare you? This is our home now. The cradle of all our hopes and dreams. We crafted something here, something that will live on long after all of us have gone. We created an alliance from death and torture and pain, and we made something better.
"And you expect us just to leave!"
<The Alliance will endure. This world has served its purpose. Let it die.>
"No," Delenn said firmly. "I will fight to save it, as will we all here. If you will not help us, then leave. You will not be welcome here any longer! None of you will!"
Ulkesh looked at them all, the darkness within his eye stalk seeming so much more intense, so much deeper. There was a slow surge of wind chimes, clattering against one another, echoing far distant screams,
<It is not necessary for you to die,> he said, after a time.
"You don't understand us at all," Delenn said. "You do not understand. Now, stay and help. Or go, and do not return!"
Ulkesh lowered his eye stalk and turned. Delenn did not see him leave. She turned back to the others.
"Well said," said G'Kael, approvingly.
"We have no time to worry about the Vorlons. We have to defend Kazomi Seven. There will be time for worries later...."
"Come on," Corwin said. "Come on, come on."
"A message from Proxima, Captain."
Corwin drew in a deep breath. He had been expecting this. "Put it through."
Unsurprisingly, it was from the General. Corwin had rarely seen Sheridan look so angry. "Captain Corwin," he said. "You are abandoning your post. Return to Greater Krindar immed...."
"Sorry, General. Kazomi Seven is under attack from a Shadow planet killer. They need every ship they can get to help them."
"We received a message as well. That is beside the point. Return to your position."
"Oh for the love of.... Listen to yourself! Kazomi Seven is under threat. The whole world is going to be blown up...."
"You don't know that, Captain."
"Yes, I do! The whole planet is going to be destroyed unless we help them. All of us. Put these damned Dark Stars of ours to a real fight for once. Besides.... Delenn is there."
"That's.... not the...."
"No, it isn't. But I remember when you would have done anything to save her, and never mind what was right. We went all the way to Z'ha'dum to get her back, didn't we? What's a quick trip to Kazomi Seven?"