Sinoval turned his gaze to Minister Lethke, who had spoken. The Brakiri had a reputation for considerable shrewdness and political acumen. Sinoval had certainly seen that when they had met a few days ago. He had told Lethke a little more than he had told the others, although not as much as Mollari or G'Kar.
"I am indeed."
"The Vorlons are our allies," said Lethke. "They have offered us their assistance against the Shadows."
"For their own purposes. You, I.... everyone, we are caught in the middle of a conflict between Vorlon and Shadow. What does it matter if we defeat the one, only to be enslaved by the other?"
"You may well be right, Primarch," spoke up a soft voice, and Sinoval looked at Ha'Cormar'ah G'Kar. He had been notably inconspicuous since he and Mollari had visited the Well of Souls. This was the first time they had been in the same room since.
"It is certainly possible the Vorlons are but using us in their war with the Shadows. Certainly, some of their behaviour has been.... erratic, not to mention questionable." Sinoval knew what he was referring to. G'Kar knew the truth, as did he and Mollari and as the technomage. Delenn had gone to Z'ha'dum, not abducted by a Shadow agent as many chose to believe, but at the order of the Vorlons.
"However, we cannot win this war without their aid. We have tried, and we have done.... better than I dared dream. Our very presence here is proof enough that we have achieved some triumphs.
"But I have seen the fleets of the Enemy. I was a part of the Great Machine for over two years, and all its vast power was mine. The Machine could not hold against the forces of the Enemy. If all that ancient, wondrous technology fell.... then how can we be expected to win without the aid of the Vorlons?"
"We have Cathedral."
"Soul Hunters," said Taan Churok. "You ask us to trust takers of souls over Vorlons? You ask us to believe in those who deny the warriors their paths to Droshalla's kingdom?"
"The Soul Hunters do not imprison anything or anyone. I have made a bargain with them, on terms both of us have agreed to. They mean you no harm, not now, not while I live, and not after I am gone."
"Certain of that, are you?"
"It does not matter who can be trusted more," spoke up G'Kar. "I have.... thought greatly on what you said at our last meeting, Primarch Sinoval, and on what I saw.... We need the Vorlons. Without them we will all be dead, if not today then tomorrow. Surely their price is not.... not too high a price to pay for our lives."
"And if it is?"
"If it is, then we will deal with that later.... when the time comes. But for this moment, for this instant, we need them."
"I think the Primarch.... may have some wisdom," spoke up Londo suddenly. Sinoval looked at the Centauri Emperor. His initial assessment had been proved wrong, and he had been forced to re-evaluate it. There was hidden strength within the man, and a greater wisdom than was readily apparent. However, he would always put the needs of his people first. A fine and laudable aim.... but it would end up crippling everything all of them fought for.
"I turned down an alliance with the Vorlons, because their.... representative did not offer as much as he seemed to. I was wary about becoming involved in this war, and I still am. Shadow and Vorlon, elder races all.... let them fight. Why can we not pull back and leave them to it, and say good riddance to both of them? Let us work together to create peace, not a furtherance of bloody war."
"Centauri cowardice," muttered Taan Churok under his breath.
"You know me," replied Mollari angrily. "I was here, on this planet. I saw the suffering the Drakh caused to the people here. I lived through it every bit as much as you did! Do not call me a coward.
"Yes, I have seen the evil of the Drakh, but they are gone now, their fleet destroyed, yes? So it was I heard. Why do we fight against their masters? We have built a peace from the Drakh invasion. Can we not be satisfied with that, and work on?"
"No," said Sinoval. "I wish we could, but neither Shadow nor Vorlon will leave us alone. They war, not with fleets or weapons or soldiers as we do, but through us. They toy with us, directing us to wars, manipulating us to conflicts, to alliances, to chains we cannot throw off until it is too late.
"We must be rid of them both.
"I have something to show you all.... Something to prove that I mean what I say." He gently laid the holographic projector on the table in front of him. He did not want to do this. He did not want to relive Delenn's last message one more time, to look at the face of her compassion and her courage and her self-sacrifice.
But he had to.
"No!" said a voice. "You mean nothing of what you say."
It was Vizhak. He stormed into the room, his face in a black fury. "I hear you come here. I hear you come here to talk of peace. I hear these things while on homeworld.
"And while on homeworld, I hear of Drazi ships attacked. Drazi merchant ships attacked. Carrying food and medicine for wounded Drazi soldiers.
"Drazi ships attacked by Minbari ships."
Why did you come here?
You know why.
Humour an old, old man. Why did you come here?
That was the price the Vorlons demanded of me to save John. I had to come here in payment for them curing him. I.... hoped to do as much damage here as I could before I died, but.... the technomages betrayed me. You know all this, surely.
Yes, I do. But that was not the question I asked. I know you came here to save another, but why?
Why? How can you ask that? I love him!
Is it truly love? Or merely guilt? Remember his wife, dead all these years. Remember his world, his friends.
I love him!
A true love?
Yes!
Such that you would give your life for his?
Yes! I came here. Surely that proves as much?
It was not guilt, then? Not a means of compensation for everything you have done to him and his people?
....
Ah. Silence. Have you ever thought about that?
Yes. I have.... wondered.... Sometimes. I do love him. I do.
But were you willing to give your life for his out of this love, or because of your sense of guilt?
I love him.... but.... these times need him more than me. Kazomi Seven needs a warrior now, not a healer. I am not a warrior. John is.
And when the war is over, if it ever can be over.... When you win, what then? Who will be left to heal the wounds of the war?
But without the warriors, we will never win. I have thought of all this.
Perhaps. What of Neroon?
He is dead, isn't he?
Yes.
Could you save him?
I cannot create life. Only the universe can do that, but yes.... I suppose I could save him, extend his life for a brief period, repair damage and heal wounds, but he would not thank either of us if I did. His doom was set, you know.
You said nothing was written in stone.
Nothing is. Nothing is inevitable, but I have seen his soul, his pattern. He would die sooner or later. All beings do. This is the way he would have wished to die, a true warrior's death, defending his true love.
He still loved me, then?
He did.
And he died because of me. Another one.