She could see John’s eyes staring directly into her own – like a pathway into the heart of his soul. The other half of my soul, she realised.
He looked away sharply, possibly having realised the same thing. “I’ve… put all the guards on security patrol along the inside of the outer hull. The Minbari might try to board us. Just because they haven’t before, it doesn’t mean Sinoval won’t start. Or maybe the people from Proxima might try, I don’t know. I won’t be able to spare anyone to guard you. You can go up to the bridge, if you like, but…”
“No,” she said softly, smiling sadly. “I do not… think I could bear that.”
“I understand,” he said. “Please, take care. I wouldn’t…”
She smiled again. “Trust me.” She bit back the anger of betrayal welling up from deep within her. What was the human saying? Minbari never tell anyone the whole truth? “How… competent are these Narns?”
They’re very good. Their leader – Ko’Dath – assures me that they’re good at what they do.“ Sheridan smiled. ”The humans call them the Narn bat squad.“
Delenn smiled too. “Be careful,” she whispered.
“You too.”
The Parmenion came closer and closer to Proxima and the Second Line.
“What… price?” Hague asked. “You never…”
“Sorry?” Ivanova said. “I can’t quite hear you.”
“What price?! You never said…”
“Didn’t I? Sorry. Must have slipped my mind. You know how memories are. Tricky things at best.”
Hague slumped back in his chair. He didn’t… he couldn’t… the Minbari are coming. “What… what is the price?”
“Just a little thing. More of a… middle man’s commission sort of thing. It’s not very much really.”
“What price?!” He leapt to his feet, scattering readouts and documents everywhere. “This isn’t a game! They’re… they’re coming, and if your friends don’t help then we’re ALL GOING TO DIE! WHAT PRICE?!”
“Lyta Alexander. What are you doing with her at the moment?”
He blinked. “Miss Alexander? What does she…?” He gasped and closed his eyes hard. The whisky was disagreeing with him, and why shouldn’t it? He hadn’t eaten anything in days. “She’s being held in the Detention Block. Mr. Welles will have the details… Why are you interested in her?”
“She’s the price. I want her.”
“What? I… I don’t…” The Minbari are coming.
“What would you do with her? As punishment for what she did?”
He couldn’t think. This was so… unreal. The Minbari were coming, and in just over twelve hours, this, none of this would survive. He didn’t… he couldn’t…
“Treason still carries the death penalty,” he muttered, largely to himself. “She’d be given a trial and if she was found guilty, she’d be executed. Some of the… some of the others… they were debating what… to do… with… her. Why do you care, for God’s sake?”
“That’s my business. I want her. I want to kill her. No trial. No fair hearing. I want to kill her myself.”
He didn’t believe he was hearing this. He couldn’t believe he was hearing this, and yet… the Minbari are coming. THE MINBARI ARE COMING, FOR GOD’S SAKE!
But still he was hesitating. This was wrong. She deserved a fair trial at least, but it was more than that. William Hague had always held such a high image of himself. He wore the uniform of the Earth Alliance proudly, without regret or fear or shame, because he knew he was worthy of it. He’d fallen a long way since he’d first put on the uniform, but this…
If he agreed to this, he would be damned, finally, irrevocably damned.
And yet what was one life – two lives even – compared with all of humanity? Lyta Alexander would die anyway if the Minbari did to Proxima 3 what they had done to Earth. Did one life really matter so much?
Some must be sacrificed if all are to be saved. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.
But this… this was wrong. This was immoral. This was illegal. This was…
Ivanova shrugged and went to the door. It opened…
“Wait!” he cried. “Yes! Yes, you can do whatever you like, just make sure they’ll be here.”
Ivanova smiled. “Thank you, General. I always knew you’d see sense.”
“I told you. I don’t know which cell she’s in, but you can ask Mr. Welles. I’ll… let… him know of my decision. I… I…”
“Don’t worry, General. Sooner or later everyone falls to the bottom. You’ll have plenty of company.”
Ivanova smiled and left.
There had not been much time for the testing of the new White Star class ships, but even so Tryfan felt comfortable in one. Their speed and power surprised him, especially in relation to their size, but he had little idea of how much damage they could take, or of how effective they would be in full combat. The Vorlon technology they had incorporated seemed to be invincible, and perhaps it would be. It was certainly one of the few occasions on which the Vorlons had actually helped their erstwhile allies since the discovery of the Shadow vessel under the sands of Mars.
He would have liked a little longer to test them, but Sinoval had said that was impossible. The Enemy was at Proxima. The Starkiller was at Proxima. The Earthers were at Proxima.
Their destinies lay at Proxima.
Tryfan had not played a great part in the last war. He had served most of the time as aide to Shakiri, the great warrior who had died in flames in Sheridan’s onslaught over Mars. Tryfan had served a similar rôle to that which his friend Neroon had played serving Branmer, but whereas Neroon and Branmer had risen to high positions within the Rangers – until Branmer’s death and Neroon’s mysterious disappearance – Tryfan had languished in the Rangers for many years, unnoticed and unremarked.
Until Sinoval had risen to power. Sinoval had known Tryfan well and had trusted him with a position of authority – Shai Alyt, and Captain of a White Star fleet, taking the place vacated by Kalain with his recent ascension to Satai.
He would not betray the trust Sinoval had placed in him. At Proxima, he would repay the trust with deeds performed a thousandfold.
Slowly, Tryfan’s White Star Nine – named the Valen – leading the way, the great Minbari fleet emerged from hyperspace into the skies of Proxima.
The Second Line had been drawn, and the Minbari were there.
As were the Shadows…
Chapter 4
“And we must reunite with the other half of our soul in a war against the Enemy which is to come… Together we will walk into fire and darkness and bring the light…”
So ran the prophecies of Valen, immortalised over a thousand years ago, at the end of the last Great War. To the Minbari, who did not believe in gods, Valen was the closest thing to a God they had.
“Minbari not born of Minbari, he came from nowhere during the dying days of the last Great War, he defeated the Shadows, formed the Grey Council, wrote the prophecies…”
And the prophecies he had written were coming true, but in a way he could surely never have expected. Only Delenn, who had studied his words in such detail that she knew every line and marking, only she knew the true, bitter irony of what was happening.
The two halves of the soul were coming together, and they were walking into fire and darkness, but they were coming together in war, and they were bringing the fire and darkness with them.
Over ten years after the Battle of the Line and the subsequent destruction of Earth, Minbari and human were meeting in battle once again, with the Ancient Enemy involved, aiding the humans, who had sold everything they were just to stay alive. The humans could, perhaps, be forgiven for being so easily corrupted by the Shadows. Their question – ‘What do you want?’ – was easily answered when all you wanted was safety and peace, and not to have to look up into the skies every night, dreading the arrival of an alien armada.