"How many people ever do?" asked Morden. "How many people even want to?"
"Right as ever, my friend. I'm sorry. I must be depressing you. Here, do you want some orange juice? They've tried growing some oranges in the farming zones outside the Fourth Dome. I fear they haven't quite perfected the process yet, but they're getting there. Slowly. It still costs a fortune, of course."
"No, thank you. I'm afraid my stomach is still full from all that brivare they stuffed down my throat on Centauri Prime." Morden made a face. "Absolutely revolting stuff. I don't know how they stomach it."
"Just one of the many hardships we have to suffer in the name of our great cause."
"True enough, and I suppose compared to their cells and their politicking it wasn't so much of a burden."
The old man sat down, and Morden sat opposite him. He was cradling a glass of orange juice, and making wistful smiles as he sipped at it. "So, just how was Centauri Prime? Did the Emperor accept our offer?"
"No. He's come down with a bad case of social conscience. The.... troubles we found out about in the middle of last year were more severe than we'd guessed. Things are quite bad there. Improving now of course, but still problematic. I thought that the Emperor would be willing to agree to anything that would help him, but.... it seems I underestimated him. I won't do that again."
"He drove a hard bargain?"
"Worse than that. He flat out refused to commit to anything that might beggar his people in the long run. A very canny man. I actually sort of like him."
"And what about.... them?"
"Ah." Morden's easy tone evaporated. "Not so good. Someone at the Court has been in negotiation with them. I can make an educated guess, but there's no solid evidence, just circumstantial. I'm convinced Mollari doesn't know a thing about it. After all he's seen, there's no way he'd make a deal with them, especially if he turned down an alliance with us.
"No, I'm inclined to think someone's either trying to gain a little personal power in the new system, or that they're genuinely trying to save the people, and don't want the Emperor's conscience getting in the way. A.... fairly sizeable fleet of Shadow ships came to defend Centauri Prime when the Narns attacked. Shortly afterwards I was arrested and imprisoned."
"How were the cells there?"
Morden flashed a smile. "A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Fortunately, we do have a friend in the Court. He got me out, and.... well, everyone else just had a great deal of problems seeing me."
"What about the seeresses? How many are still alive?"
"Of any real power.... I'm betting on none, although one or two might have escaped. The troubles last year were marked by an extreme psionic backlash across the whole planet. The seeresses and telepaths fell apart completely, and those with the strength to endure the turmoil were soon murdered in the rioting." The old man swore. "My sentiments exactly. I knew the Enemy was trying to stamp them out after Lady Morella's.... death, but I was in no way expecting them to be able to swamp the whole planet."
"It spread chaos, and lots of it. They've always been partial to that."
"Indeed. It also pushed the Centauri closer to an alliance with them. I wouldn't be surprised if they were expecting someone more like Cartagia to take over. He'd have been quite happy to make a permanent deal with them. As it turns out however, he was too clever for their own good, and they're stuck with Mollari."
"How many of their.... devices are on the planet?"
"No way of telling. I managed to locate the first creature when I was there a few years ago, back when Lady Morella was killed. Some of the nobles there had been only too happy to open negotiations with a new trading race. It was the Vree, by the way, I found that out. Some of their merchant caste had made a deal with the Enemy via the Drakh. Anyway, the Vree merchants sold on the psionic devices to the nobles, telling them that they would prevent telepathic scans of their estates. As you can imagine, they were bought up by the barrel-load. When they were ready the Shadows activated them, and people all over the planet started to go mad."
"One of the same devices that killed Lady Morella?"
"Well, one of the things that encouraged her maid to do it, and then to kill herself afterwards. Lady Morella was a bit too powerful and too well connected for their liking, I suspect. After I found and destroyed the device, things calmed down. And then of course I was suspected of murdering Morella and thought it prudent to be away from Centauri Prime for a while.
"While I was gone, they must have kept dropping the devices all over the place. One of the more nastier elements of their biotechnology. Alive, sentient and psionically very powerful. The Enemy turned them all on at once, and the entire planet fell apart. Things are quieter now. I'm not sure if the devices were found and destroyed, or if they've got what they wanted with the whole thing and are happy to stop frying everything on Centauri Prime.
"Still, I'll say one thing for the place though," he added with a smile. "Primarch Sinoval was a very long way away."
"Him again. Oh yes, we are going to have to do something about him."
"It's just a matter of direction, surely? He's not allied with us, and he certainly isn't allied with them. Set him after the Enemy, and then we can sit back and watch the fur fly. He's arrogant enough to think he can storm the gates of Z'ha'dum by himself, and maybe lucky enough to do it as well."
"And that, no doubt, is exactly what the Enemy will be planning."
"He's a direct sort of person," Morden said, musing for a moment. "One of the reasons he dislikes our side is that he can't stand what he perceives as our manipulation of his people, his to rule. Given that we've written them all off as a bad job, if we just ducked low and stayed out of his way for a while, he's more likely to focus his efforts on Sonovar and the Enemy."
"That is not too likely, I am afraid. He was confirmed as being on Kazomi Seven this week."
"Ah.... That's not good."
"I think you might be overestimating his abilities."
"I've met him. Trust me on this. He may not have the power to destroy everything we've built, but he thinks he has, and he's certainly willing to try. Just how likely is he to stumble over our activities there?"
"You've met him. You tell me."
Morden moaned. "Is there anywhere we can count on? I have this vision of everything falling apart."
"Well.... something's going according to plan anyway. We finished the construction here last month."
"Ah." Morden smiled. "That is good news. Can I see it?"
"Certainly. Come right this way."
"I come here.... in a spirit of alliance and co-operation. That is after all the meaning of this place, is it not? Different races allied together for mutual advantage, a shelter together from the raging storms that crash and wail in the galaxy outside us.
"But no matter how we try to hide from it, the storm will find us out in the end. No shelter can last forever, no wall can endure an onslaught indefinitely. The storm will come here.
"No doubt you will try to fight it. I will try to fight it. We might even do so together. What will it cost us to win? What has it cost us so far? Minbar? The Great Machine? Babylon Four?
"Delenn...?
"But what if we win? Victory is not impossible, not at all. We managed it a thousand years ago, and we can manage it now. So we win, and we return to our homes, to our shelters and our walls....
"And the greater Enemy arises. The storm that builds slowly within our walls, the storm that waits for the winds outside to die down before destroying everything within."
"I assume you are speaking of the Vorlons, Primarch Sinoval?"