Volume 1:  The Other Half of my Soul Part I:  A Dark, Distorted Mirror




Chapter 4


"FELLOW Satai."  Sinoval bowed his head slowly, wanting to pull down his hood, to hide his face from the empty circle of light which stood across the chamber from him.  For so long he had desired this, but now that it was here, that his greatest opponent in the Grey Council was gone, he felt strangely.... ashamed.
      "Satai Delenn is lost to us."
      "What do you mean, lost?" barked Satai Lennann.  Religious caste, and just as new to the Council as Sinoval himself.  But Lennann had no clan leadership, no warship of loyal warriors, no great record in the jihad against the Earthers, nothing to support him.  He was simply a simpering nonentity fawning after Delenn.  "What's happened to her?"
      "The Starkiller has escaped.  He had.... assistance from somewhere.  During his.... escape, he encountered Satai Delenn and took her with him.  As a hostage, I presume.  I shudder to imagine that she went with him willingly."
      "What are you saying?" shouted Lennann.  "Are you accusing...?"
      "I am accusing no one and I am saying nothing," Sinoval replied through gritted teeth.  He hated doing this, hated casting doubt - however indirect - upon a fellow member of this Council, but it had to be done.  Sheridan had had help in his escape, but that help had not come from Delenn.  And yet if Delenn were not blamed, then investigation might alight upon Sinoval himself, and upon the creature he protected.
      Still, as he looked at Lennann, he felt a surge of anger.  Delenn was at least worthy of respect.  Lennann was not.  Did Delenn really have no better supporters than this?  Sheridan's attack upon this very ship shortly after the destruction of Earth had killed two of her greatest supporters, but was Lennann really the only one to speak up for her?
      No, he was not.  "She will have to be found and rescued," Hedronn said, as brusque and to the point as ever.  Sinoval admired the man.  "She is one of the Nine.  She will be found."
      "Sheridan has left the planet.  Our sensor probes detected a human shuttle leaving the atmosphere.  For some reason, they did not alert us to this fact until many hours later.  He has undoubtedly met up with his ship."
      "Then.... they are lost to us?" breathed Lennann, his voice filled with an anguish Sinoval himself shared.  To have Sheridan - the Starkiller - in his grasp.... only to lose him again.  And to have one of the Nine fall before him.  Sinoval did not like Delenn, but she was of the Nine, as was he.
      And all of this thanks to the machinations of a creature he should have killed the moment he laid eyes on her.  Instead he had become intrigued, and listened and learned....
      And fallen.  Not for nothing did they call her Deathwalker.
      "No," Sinoval said.  Blood calls out for blood.  The blood of those slain on the Dralaphi, on the Emphili, the blood of two Satai, even the blood of Delenn.  It all called out for blood - Sheridan's blood.  "Sheridan is an Earther and Earthers are a predictable people.  He will return to the site of his earlier capture, to find his missing crewmen, and to discover why he was betrayed there.  He will be returning to Vega Seven."
      "Then I doubt he will return from there," Hedronn said, and Sinoval started.  He had not expected such a reaction from the staid, determined worker.  "Vega Seven is touched by a force far greater than our own.  Our probes have detected something.... moving there.  Something ancient and dark.  Something that seeks to fly again."
      Sinoval's face turned white.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"How is she?" Sheridan asked Dr. Kyle.
      Delenn's breathing was harsh and ragged, but the movements of her chest seemed to be returning to a steady rhythm.  He still did not know what had brought the Minbari down.  He had caught only the faintest glimpse of movement and a soft scream.  Ivanova had tried to pass it off, but he knew better.
      "She's fine.  Minbari have a remarkable constitution.  She will be on her feet in a few hours, I suppose.  A stomach wound is painful, but if caught early enough, it can be repaired."
      "Good, she has one hell of a lot of questions to answer."  And she isn't the only one.  "Keep me informed."
      Sheridan left the small Medlab facilities aboard the Babylon in a conflict of emotions.  What was going on?  He could have attacked Delenn, maybe killed her, so why hadn't he?  He'd told her it was because he didn't like doing the expected, but was that the whole truth?  Why did she smell so tantalisingly of orange blossom, and who was the woman who'd rescued him?
      Start at the end and work your way backwards.  Not exactly Sherlock Holmes, but at least he had a place to start.
      He found Corwin exactly where he'd expected to find him, in his ready room just off the bridge, poring over star maps and technical data.
      "What news on repairs?" Sheridan asked.  "Did you get them all done before...?"
      "Mostly, sir.  Hull integrity is back up to over eighty per cent.  Communications, navigation and rotation are all back on line, as are our jump engines, although they're still a bit unstable.  They'll need a thorough overhaul when we get into Proxima.  We can't repair the hull around the observation dome, and external cameras, aft batteries and Starfury drop port C are all still inoperable, sir."
      "Not good, but it could be worse."
      "Um, sir.... it probably is.  General Hague told me in no uncertain terms to.... um.... leave you and the others behind, sir."
      "So you said, screw him."
      "Basically, yes."
      "That was an incredibly stupid and irresponsible thing to do, Mr. Corwin.  However, I can't thank you enough.  Just don't do it again."
      Corwin smiled.  "No, sir."
      Not for the first time, Sheridan was struck by how young his commander and executive officer was.  Too young to fight back on Earth, he'd been one of hundreds of thousands of refugees who'd escaped from the Battle of Mars just after the Line, where Sheridan had launched his berserk attack on the Grey Council.  The difference was that none of the other refugees had made their way up to the bridge and taken over the helm when the lieutenant manning it had been killed.  Sheridan had appointed Corwin second lieutenant on the spot, and ever since Corwin had risen almost as fast as Sheridan himself.  One of many attached to his coat tails.  One of many who would probably die a lonely, pointless death on an alien world.
      "I do have another question, David.  A more.... personal one.  How do you know Miss Ivanova?"
      "Susan?  She was in Earthforce, sir.  She joined back on Earth and was away on a training run at Ganymede when the Minbari took Earth.  Somehow she made her way to Proxima Three and managed to get attached to General Franklin's personal staff.  I met her there when the Babylon was being refitted and redesigned a few years ago.  The Resistance Government insisted I be posted somewhere they could keep an eye on me.  I don't think they trusted me then, and they certainly won't after this."
      "I'll deal with that."
      "Thank you, sir.  Anyway, I met Susan and.... well.... things got.... um...."
      "I'm a married man, David.  I understand."
      "Thank you, sir."  Corwin was blushing.  "Then I was posted back here, and Susan was sent out on secret missions for General Hague.  They called it the Babylon Project - after this ship.  I don't know what she was doing exactly, but we kept in touch and met up whenever we could, but.... well.... she was on some sort of secret mission out on the Rim.  We heard a report that her shuttle had crashed and that everyone on board had died.  I was.... quite.... upset about it, sir."
      "Yes, I remember.  God, why didn't I see anything back then?  Why did I never notice her.... or you?"
      "I think we were all a little mad back then, sir.  Madness takes a while to heal."
      "Sometimes it never heals, Mr. Corwin."  Sheridan rose and left the room.  He was tired and he still had more questions than answers.  He wanted some sleep before he arrived at Vega 7.  Sleep and some answers.  And his daughter....
      It wasn't his daughter waiting for him when he opened the door.  "How?  How did you get in here?"
      Susan smiled.  "Just a knack."  She was lying on his bed.  Absolutely naked.  "Are you coming in or not?"  Sheridan could only stand in his doorway and stare, Anna almost superimposing herself on the sight before him.  He caught the faintest hint of orange blossom.
      He closed his eyes, and silently wept.
      Then he took a step forward and the door closed behind him.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"Come on, Warren, hang in there."
      "Hurts.... Doc...."
      "Damn!  I wish I.... I wish I could remember what to do.  I only stopped being a doctor a few years ago.  Warren!"
      "How much can we do for him, Stephen?  You can see that wound."
      "I won't let him die, Neeoma."
      "You might have to."
      "Any word from the Babylon yet?"
      "No."
      "Come on, Warren.  Don't you die on me.  Don't you dare!"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"Who are you?"
      Susan smiled.  "That's a very philosophical question.  Since when did you become a Vorlon?"
      Sheridan was pacing slowly up and down his room while Susan was lying casually on the bed, smiling, looking more at home here than he did.  And why not?  He was hardly ever here.  When he was on the Babylon, he was always either on the bridge, or in the ready room, or flying a Starfury.  Susan looked so at home in his bed.  That's Anna's place.  She belongs there.
      "You know what I mean.  Why?  I mean....  I don't understand any of this."
      "You didn't need to understand anything half an hour ago."
      "I do now."
      "Ah.  You've been talking to David, I gather.  A nice boy, and what we had together was fun, but that's all it was - fun.  I always knew he'd go far.  A commander, eh?  Well, well, well.  Still.... I'm changed now.  I've been different ever since I arrived on Z'ha'dum."
      "Z'ha'dum?  The base of operations of your.... friends.  What are they?  Aliens?  Humans?  I saw a bit of what hit Delenn, and that was nothing I'd ever seen before."
      "They're aliens.  And I wouldn't advise trying to pronounce their name, unless you can speak Welsh of course.  It's ten thousand letters long."  She paused, and drew in a deep breath.  "I'm not sure how to explain this to you.  They're old, very old, and they're powerful, but.... all they want to do is live in peace.  The planet my shuttle crashed on to - Z'ha'dum - it's their homeworld, and a very holy place for them.  They worship something there - I don't know what.
      "Anyway, my friends.... they have a long-standing grudge with the Minbari.  All my friends want to do is live in peace, but the Minbari won't let them.  I don't know why, but I guess the Vorlons have something to do with it.  A thousand years ago, my friends tried to return to Z'ha'dum after having been driven away.  The Minbari objected, and went so far as to attack Z'ha'dum, with the help of the Vorlons and a few other long-dead races.  My friends were forced to flee, but they left a few behind, hidden from the Minbari.  I sort of.... attracted their attention when I crashed on their heads.  They're very friendly actually.  Or, well, they were once I'd explained the situation.  They want to return to Z'ha'dum and live there, but there's the Minbari and the Vorlons to consider.  So, they're offering help to us because they know what we're going through.  They don't want to have to destroy the Minbari, but they'll do it because all they want to do is live alone, in peace, on their world.  Is that so much to ask?"
      "The Minbari are one thing," Sheridan said.  "What about the Vorlons?  If your.... friends get involved, then we might get the Vorlons annoyed with us.  I do not want that to happen.  It would make the Line look like a church social."
      "Exactly.  Which is why my friends can't lend their support openly.  They're having to move slowly, but they'll do what they can to help."
      "Thank you."
      "I thought you'd be pleased.  These are the first decent allies we've had since this whole thing started.  So what if they can't come out in the open?  They're willing to help us, Captain.  Maybe even help us get revenge.  We can't get Earth back, and you can't get your daughter back, but we can still make those monsters that did it to us pay!"
      Something suddenly clicked in Sheridan's mind and he turned to Ivanova.  "What did you want?  If they asked you the same question that you asked me, then what did you want?"
      Ivanova smiled.
      His link beeped.  Cursing silently, he went to his desk and picked it up.  "Yes?"
      "We've reached Vega Seven, sir.  We're out of hyperspace.  The jump engines are down, though, I'm afraid.  Again.  Our repairs weren't complete, and it'll take a while to get them back on line again, so we can get to Proxima.  But ah.... that isn't the worst of it."
      "What do you mean?"
      "We've scanned the planet, sir.  Out of a total population of over four hundred thousand Narns and humans, we have a grand total of five life-signs."
      "Five?"
      "I think you'll find it's more than four and less then six," Ivanova interjected, and then shrugged when Sheridan glared at her.
      "I'll be up on the bridge in a minute, David.  Sheridan out."  He turned to Susan.  "Five.  Out of the whole planet.  What happened to them all?"  He was beginning to dress hurriedly when his link beeped again.  It was Dr. Kyle.
      "Captain, someone's just tried to kill your Minbari guest."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"It was Maya Hernandez," Dr. Kyle said.  "She was trying to corrupt the blood we were giving her with Metazine.  It's a painkiller and soporific for humans, but it can be deadly to Minbari, especially in large doses."
      "Mind telling me why you never mentioned this little biological weakness before, Doctor?"
      Kyle shot Sheridan an angry look.  "I heal, Captain.  I do not kill.  Besides, Metazine is only effective in the bloodstream.  Not a very useful weapon really."
      "Aw hell.  I know, I know.  I'm sorry, Doctor.  Things have been a little.... weird lately.  Where is Dr. Hernandez now?"
      "No idea.  She fled as soon as I caught her."
      "Any idea why she did it?"
      "Her husband and son died on Earth.  Maybe she's just seen too much of this war."
      "We all have."  Sheridan turned to Corwin.  "Have her found and locked up."
      "Yes, sir."  Corwin had looked uncomfortable ever since he had linked his message to Sheridan.  "Will you want this done before or after I come back from the planet?"
      "You won't be going to the planet, Mr. Corwin.  I'll need you to run things here.  I'll be going."
      "Captain!  Have you forgotten what happened the last time you went down there?"
      "No, and I'm not likely to.  Trust me, Mr. Corwin."
      "But you can't go alone."
      "I don't think five life-signs are going to be much of a threat.  Besides, I won't be going alone.  She's coming with me."  He pointed to Delenn, sitting impassively on a chair at the end of her bed.  Her hands were manacled together, but her face was expressionless and calm.  "I'm not letting her out of my sight.  She has too much information to let her die, and no, Mr. Corwin, she is not going to run off anywhere.  I'll take a full Security team down to the planet with me if you insist, but that will be all.  Good day, Mr. Corwin.  You," he looked at Delenn.  "Come with me."
      Silently, her face as calm as ever, she rose and followed him, looking as tranquil in her dignity as she did proud in her chains.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Minbari.... damned Minbari.... destroyed Earth.... finished Earth.... ruined it.... killed everyone....
      Killed....
      Katherine, come on Katherine!  Wake up, Katherine....  You can't die on me.  Joseph's dead.  You can't die too.  Please, Katherine.
      Please.
      Minbari....  Katherine....  Joseph dead....  Earth dead....  Earth gone....  Everyone gone.... but me....  I'm here....  I'm always here....  Katherine....  I....  I love you, Katherine....  I love you, Katherine.... you can't die....

      Everyone around him was dead, and so was the man called Marcus Cole.  But his death was not the death of flesh, but the death of spirit, the death of futile dreams and ambitions and hopes.
      For Marcus Cole, something new and terrible was being born.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"What do you think happened here?"  Delenn remained silent, staring straight ahead.  Sheridan looked at her calm demeanour and wished he possessed the same.  He could not look at the burnt buildings, the rubble, the devastation, the nightmare that had once been Vega 7, and maintain anything other than a slow, simmering anger.  So like Earth.  This was so like Earth.
      Landing the shuttle had been difficult, with so little flat space.  But land it they had, and now they were walking through rubble and devastation, stepping over crushed and burned bodies, heading for the SOS signal Corwin had identified.  Vega 7 was rubble, and Sheridan could not help but wonder if this had happened in spite of his actions, or because of them.
      There was a sound to his left and he spun, holding his PPG ready.  One of the security guards had done the same.  Sheridan gestured for him to lower his weapon and he moved forward, the other slowly following him.  This place had once been a home.  One body lay half-buried under what had been a wall.  Sheridan could see dried blood everywhere.  There was another body not far away, a woman, her skull crushed.  And kneeling over her, whispering something over and over again, was a man, tears of pain and agony running down his cheeks into his short black beard.  He looked up, and for a brief instant Sheridan saw himself reflected in those eyes.  Himself as he had been.
      "My name's John Sheridan," he said, slowly lowering his PPG.  One out of five.
      "The Starkiller," the man whispered.  "She's dead.  They're all dead."
      "Who was it?  What happened here?"
      "Minbari.  Must have been.  Didn't see them, but who else could it have been?  Minbari....  Minbari....  I'm Marcus.... Marcus Cole."
      "Do you have anywhere we can take you to?  Family, perhaps, on another world?"
      "All dead.  All gone except me."  He had a slightly strange accent, and Sheridan realised it was English.  He hadn't heard an English accent in years.  "Everyone's gone except me.  And you.  Help me, Starkiller.  Help me to kill them all."
      Hatred.  Such a cycle.  It never ended, did it?  Sheridan had said similar words after the death of his daughter.  Could anyone ever find the courage to break free of the old ways, the old cycles, the old vendettas?  Could Sheridan himself?  Perhaps he didn't want to.
      "I'll do what I can," he said simply.  "You'll be welcome aboard the Babylon, Mr. Cole."
      "Thank you."
      "We can.... arrange to have these bodies buried, if you'd like."
      "Leave them.  Just shells.  Nothing more.  Can I help you at all?"
      "Do you know the way to the main bureaucratic centre here?  I need to know if anyone survived there."
      "Yes, it's this way.  Follow me."  Sheridan marvelled at Marcus' stilted, precise delivery.  Such control should be impossible after such loss, and sooner or later the grief must burst free again.  Sheridan half expected it to happen when he saw Delenn, but he simply ignored her.
      Marcus led them through rubble-strewn streets and over battered bodies.  He must have known some of the dead, but he said nothing.  It was as though the destruction of his home planet had destroyed his spirit as well.  Sheridan looked at Delenn, but she was also silent.  Had the Minbari done this?  Could they have done this?  This was just like Earth.  So like Earth.
      And there they were.  Franklin and Connally, working over two slumped forms.  One was Narn, the other....
      "Oh my God," Sheridan breathed.  "How is he, Stephen?"
      "Not good."  Sheridan made a gesture, and the doctor Kyle had insisted he bring rushed forward.  He and Franklin began working over Keffer's body.  He was moaning, but softly this time.  And then Sheridan saw the Narn.  It was Na'Far.
      "He hasn't been saying much," Connally said.  "He's dying as well.  Whatever you want him to tell you, you'd better ask him now, Captain."
      Sheridan cast one last look at his crewman and scrambled towards the Narn who had betrayed him.  His legs were crushed, and his face was burned and blistered.  There was such loss and grief in his blood-red eyes.  "G'Quan forgive me," he whispered in a Narn dialect Sheridan understood.  "G'Quan.... protect me."
      "What happened here?  Who did this?"
      "The enemy.... ancient and dark....  The enemy.... ah, G'Quan forgive me.... should have listened.... should have listened....  Listen to.... Minbari.... they.... know...."  The words trailed off, and Sheridan looked up.  He hadn't heard the last two words, but what he had heard was enough.
      "Damn!" he heard Franklin swear.  Sheridan didn't need to be told.  Keffer was dead.
      "We.... were being kept underground," Connally was saying.  "I don't know how we survived.  But.... Warren.... he was slower than we were.... that blow earlier hit him pretty hard.  He couldn't move fast enough, and when the wall came down...."
      Sheridan turned away, still and quiet.  Everything else seemed irrelevant.  He heard Marcus say something to Connally and Connally reply.  Franklin and the doctor were talking softly, but the only words which reached his ears were from Delenn.
      "Valen guard your souls."
      Sheridan spun to face her.  Without thinking, without anger or hatred, with just a cold, solid finality, he struck her in the face.  Her hands restrained, she fell backwards on to the rubble.  Sheridan had drawn his PPG, again without thinking, and he was pointing it at her.  There was a buzz as it charged.  It was the long second again, an eternity of time where all that mattered was the look in her eyes.  Like a startled child who has lost her innocence.
      Disgusted, although whether with himself or with her he did not know, Sheridan replaced his PPG.  "Death's too easy for you," he spat.  "Come on.  Bring Warren's body back to the shuttle.  He deserves a decent send-off at least."
      And they left Vega 7 behind them, a dead world filled with only the dead and the memories of the living.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Dr. Hernandez was running scared.  She'd failed.  Dr. Kyle had spotted her, and now they were looking for her.  Security.  Why?  Didn't they understand?  The Minbari bitch shouldn't be allowed to live.  She should have been left to rot, just like everyone on Earth, just like Maya's husband, just like her son.
      But Dr. Hernandez had a friend, a friend who'd explained everything, who'd talked it over with her, who'd made her understand, who'd told her what she'd needed to do.
      "Are you there?" Maya panted.  This was where she'd been told she would be safe.  This was where her friend had said she would meet her.  Everything would be all right now.  "Are you here?"
      "I'm here," said a soft voice.
      "I.... I got caught.  Security's looking for me.  But why?  She deserves to die, right?  You told me that.  She deserves to die.  Why are they hunting me because I did what I had to?"
      "You failed.  I need that Minbari bitch dead.  She knows who I am, what I am.  You failed, and you'll draw attention to me.  I can't allow that."
      "You.... you're scaring me."
      "Good."  A soft motion, a dull thud, and Dr. Maya Hernandez was dead before she'd had a chance to understand what was happening to her.  Susan Ivanova compressed her Minbari fighting pike and stepped out of the shadows.  So.... one attempt had failed.  It wasn't the end of the world.  She had time.
      Time enough to see that Minbari whore dead.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"From the stars we came, and to the stars we shall return.  From now until the end of time."
      Sheridan finished the ritual eulogy and stared at the blank viewscreen, blank because the external cameras weren't working.  They should have been in the Observation Dome, but it was still damaged.  This was unfair.  Keffer deserved a better send-off than this.  Not even any time to give him a Starfury escort.  This was not fair.
      He looked away from the blank screen to the others on the bridge.  Franklin was quiet, bitter anger in his eyes.  Sometimes the man still thought like a doctor.  Corwin looked uncomfortable.  Connally was not around, probably drinking a toast to Keffer's memory.  And Delenn.... were those genuine tears in her eyes, or simply a result of the bruise he had given her?
      "How long until jump engines are back on line, Mr. Corwin?"
      "A good half hour or so, I'm afraid.  They're shot to hell."
      Sheridan nodded soberly and then Delenn spoke up.  "Captain, please, you must listen to me.  My people would never do something like this.  It was another race, an older race.  Your companion is a part of them.  They are evil, dark and terrible.  We call them...."
      "Shut up!  I don't care what you call them, but Susan's told me all about them.  I know about your little vendetta.  I don't know why it started, and I don't care.  All I know is that for the first time in fourteen years, we aren't alone any longer."
      "Captain, please, listen to me!"
      "Do I have to gag you?  You're here because I want to keep you where I can see you, because I need you alive, but when the day comes when that doesn't apply, I'll volunteer to be the one who presses the button that sends you out into space."
      "I will face death, but not before I have spoken...."
      Sheridan drew his PPG and pointed it directly at her.  She met his eyes with cold indifference, but there was a dark pleading at their centre.  He regretted his words the instant they left his mouth, but it would do no good now.  "How you face death doesn't concern me.  Now shut up or I will have you gagged."
      "Captain!"  Franklin spoke up suddenly.  "Two jump points opening right on top of us!"
      "Aw, hell!  Minbari.  Begin evasive manoeuvres, David.  Launch Starfuries and get those jump engines back on line ASAP.  How could they find us here?  We're behind a moon for God's sake."
      "No idea, Captain," Corwin said.  "They're hailing us."
      Sheridan gritted his teeth and looked at Delenn.  She was staring at the floor.  "On screen.  Maybe we can talk our way out of this one."
      A Minbari face appeared on the viewscreen.  She did not bother with introductions.  "You have Satai Delenn.  You will turn her over to us and surrender yourselves immediately."
      "Do the words 'not a hope in hell' ring a bell?  We've got the upper hand here.  You can't fire on us and risk killing your precious Satai Delenn, can you?"  The viewscreen went blank.  "Can they?"
      "They are warrior caste, Captain," Delenn said suddenly.  "My death, especially where you could be blamed for it, would suit them only too well."
      "Politics.  Great!  David?"
      "I'm doing what I can, sir.  I.... wait.... another jump point opening."
      Sheridan leapt to his feet.  "There must be something we can do."
      "I.... oh my God," Franklin whispered.  "Both Minbari ships have been destroyed.  I.... there's something out there, but.... I've never seen anything like it before."
      "That's impossible.  Nothing's that strong or that fast.  Try to hail them."
      "Trying, sir.  Trying and failing.  They've gone."
      "Nothing's that fast.  They'd need to give their jump engines a chance to cool down a little first.  Who the hell were they?  Did the external cameras pick up anything?"
      "Negative, sir," David replied.  "They're all still off-line, and we didn't have time to launch any Starfuries.  Whatever that thing was, nobody saw it."
      Sheridan sat back down.  "What could it have been?"
      "One of my friends, Captain."  It was Susan, walking casually on to the bridge and smiling.  "Our friends, I should say.  I thought we might be in a little danger here, so I asked them to come in and help us out."
      "That was one of our friends?  Two Minbari cruisers in ten seconds?"
      "If need be.  They're on our side now, Captain.  They can't help often, but when they can, they will."
      Sheridan looked around at his bridge crew, seeing the awe on their faces.  Awe and something he'd doubted he would ever see again.
      Hope.
      "It looks as if things are finally going our way.  After fourteen years, things are finally going our way!"  He let out a laugh, and then the whole bridge was laughing and smiling and cheering.  One grain of hope in a decade of despair.
      The whole bridge.... except one.
      "Well, Satai Delenn," he said smugly.  "It looks as if we aren't alone any more.  I don't know who these allies are, but at least they're willing to fight, which is more than the Narns will.  What do you think about that, eh, Satai Delenn?  What do you think about that?"
      She looked at him, her face very pale.  There was fear in her eyes.  "I think that we are all doomed, Captain."  She lowered her head.
      "Valen help us, I think that we are all doomed."



Into jump gate




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