"How does it look out there? The galaxy, I mean. I have not been seeing as much since I took on that damned uncomfortable chair. We have been.... considerably out of touch for a long time."
"Tense. The Shadows have been moving at last, attacking Drazi and Brakiri territories. They have not moved against the Alliance directly.... yet. The Minbari.... well, they are completely falling apart . There are rumours of a civil war, even. One of their major colonies was attacked a few months ago, at the same time as.... the Battle at Epsilon Three. We have had no word from any of the prominent Minbari leaders except Delenn."
"Sinoval is here. Have you seen him?"
"No, but I knew he was here. He has requested a private appointment with me later." G'Kar shook his head sadly. "He is a very different person from the one I met at Babylon Four. Something has claimed him. He was interested in peace and unity then, but now.... I cannot be sure.
"And of course, our two races are at each other's throats.... again."
"That will end, G'Kar. And soon. I promise you. I have made approaches to your representative here.... G'Kael. He will contact his Government, and we will begin peace negotiations. The Alliance should support me in this. Both of us have lost too many to this war."
"Do you think you can get past all those who desire war? Those who cannot see beyond the cycle of hatred?"
Londo sighed, and leant on the balcony wall, looking out across the city again. "Can you, G'Kar?"
There was a long silence. "It is not easy. It never will be. For.... years we have hated your race for what you did to us, and that hatred corrupted us. I fear we now fight simply because we do not know how to stop.... but.... yes. For the good of my people, and in memory of the few good Centauri I have ever met.... I can see beyond hatred, to the needs of peace."
"I sometimes wonder if you are not right in your opinion of us. I am Centauri. I am proud of my people, and of my Republic.... but Great Maker! How much of it was built on blood? My ascension saw me swimming in it.... and I reached the throne only thanks to the machinations of a madman who would rather see everything destroyed than reach out his hand in a plea for help.
"Still.... I have seen too many of my people die not to want to end this now. There will be peace, no matter what must be given away to secure it." A faint smile touched his face. "We won't give up the homeworld, though."
"We won't give up ours," replied G'Kar, with solemnity.
Londo laughed. "We don't want it. I have never been there, but I have heard things from those who have. Hot, dry, dusty.... the air so thick you cannot breathe it...."
"Yes, Majesty. We do apologise. We should have designed our world so that you would find it more amenable."
"Hah! Humour from a Narn. Will true wonders never cease?"
"Probably not."
"Well.... I do not know about your lot, but I think I can get my army to see reason. Marrago is the Lord-General again. He is a good man, a good friend, and his soldiers almost worship him. As long as our worlds are protected he will agree to an accord, and if he does, so will his men. Of course, after the recent battle at the homeworld.... it may be harder to convince some people that we need peace. There have been cries in the Court that we should.... hah, listen to this.... sweep you all before us, and take over your homeworld. As if we were not ready to fall entirely not two months ago."
"Your victory, Mollari. It was a little.... easy, was it not?"
"Easy? I suppose. What are you getting at?"
"There were rumours in your Court.... Rumours I heard while I was there. Some of your soldiers seemed to think the battle was not won by them alone. Some seemed to say the battle was not even a victory.... but a massacre. Did events fit with your generals' assessments of how the battle would turn out?"
"No," Londo admitted. "They were predicting a bloody stand-off.... but so what if things were a little easier than that? Perhaps Marrago was merely being pessimistic. And rumours.... in the Royal Court! Bah! I would bet you a ducat to a duck that not one hundredth of them are true."
"Warleader G'Sten testified before the Kha'Ri upon his return. I managed to gain access to the report yesterday. He claimed that an alien fleet came out of nowhere and wiped out his ships. He claimed your ships did not even fire once."
"The lies of a defeated general trying to pass the blame elsewhere!"
"G'Sten is my uncle. If he says there was alien assistance.... then I believe him."
"Him over me? Who were these aliens he claimed to see? Great big flying cows? How about a herd of spoo descending from the heavens?"
"He did not see." The Narn was maintaining his calm equanimity before Londo's aggression. That only made Londo all the angrier. "His sensors could not track them clearly."
"Hah! So there are no records. He is lying, G'Kar. I know nothing about any.... mysterious alien allies come to our aid. I wish I could say I did. We need all the help we can get. But no.... I am convinced that our fleet acted alone, and yours was simply overconfident."
"I fear you blind yourself to the truth, Mollari.... but I hope you are right. I must go now. I am expecting a report from an agent in the Kha'Ri soon. I had never realised how much I would miss the Great Machine. There were times when being unable to touch, to eat, to drink.... times when I missed them all. But without it, we are all but blind and deaf in the galaxy.
"I will talk to you tomorrow, Mollari."
"Goodbye, G'Kar." Londo was still looking out across the city. He did not turn round as his friend left.
"Something's wrong."
"Well, of course something's wrong." Commander David Corwin watched as Lyta Alexander absently brushed back a lock of her hair. "The Shadows got an agent on to Kazomi Seven, kidnapped Delenn, and got her to their homeworld without anyone noticing. I think that's a fairly accurate description of something being wrong."
"That's not what I meant," he said, sighing, wondering just why he was here. He and Lyta had never really got along very well. There had been flashes of empathy over the years since she had come aboard to serve as the ship's telepath, but for the most part the two had had as little to do with each other as possible.
Still, who else was there? There had been a time when he could have confided in the Captain about everything. They had served together ever since the Battle of Mars, half a lifetime ago. But that had been before his injuries.
Corwin had not been able to take his problems or his suspicions to the Captain during his time in hospital, and.... there was just something about him now. He had obviously gone through a great deal, near-death only to be miraculously cured and have the woman he loved captured by his sworn enemies all on the same night.... It was no wonder he was distracted.
So, who else was there for him to talk to? Mary was gone. Michael was gone. He had never really had many other friends, always content with the few he had. Now most of them had gone, and he was alone.
"It's just...." he said again, struggling to find the right words. "Something just feels wrong."
"So you said."
"You know what I mean," he snapped, then immediately regretted it. "Why are we going to Z'ha'dum alone? We won't be able to fight our way through a Shadow fleet if there is one there. What does the Captain hope to do?"
"He loves Delenn, and she's a prisoner there. I think he's more than willing to fight his way through."
"And sacrifice this whole ship? I.... like Delenn as well. Oh, did I really just say that? Okay, she's Minbari, yes, and she's done a lot I can never forgive her for, but I can see that she and the Captain are in love, and he used to be happy when he was with her, and it's hardly for me to judge. But I can't think the Captain means to throw away this ship and everyone on it for a futile chance to rescue her.