Chapter 1

IT was the dawn of the third age of mankind, as we would later call it. At the time it seemed unlikely that mankind would ever finish this age, but we had hope, and we had heroes, and one of those heroes was Captain John Sheridan, and some of that hope came from a race called the Shadows....
Commander David Corwin, personal diaries, dated December 2260.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

The Shadows were coming.
He listened as they died, and as they killed. His friends were dying in his name, were fighting a last stand so that he could complete his destiny. He wanted to be there with them, this one last time, but he knew that they were dying for his sake. He could not render their sacrifice worthless.
Are you ready? said the voice in his mind.
He didn't know what to say, but the voice knew. Good. You are the closed circle returning to the beginning. I cannot be with you then.
He gasped as he felt its pain. It was light and beauty and agony all in one. The Vorlon was going to die, and both of them knew it. The sacrifice would be made willingly. Could he do any less?
"Are you ready?" said the voice from the commscreen. "Are you...?"
"I.... think so," he said hesitantly. "I.... thank you. For everything."
"It was no more than my duty, and no less than my pleasure. Be well, and walk with.... Oh. Of course."
He chuckled. "It is all right. For you, it will always be all right."
"Remember me?" More of a question than a request. He smiled, sweetly and sadly. As if there were any other answer.
"Always," he whispered, and touched the image on the commscreen gently. It faded and he straightened. It was time now. After so long, he at last knew his destiny. He was the arrow that springs from the bow. No doubts, no fears. Just certainty.
"Are you ready?" said the voice by his side.
"Yes," he said simply.
"Good, good. Yes, is being very good to being ready. Now is right time to being ready, yes. Zathras is being ready for long time, yes. Zathras has grown tired of waiting sometimes, but Zathras is used to it. Zathras is patient. And now you are ready, yes. Good."
"What about the Enemy?"
"<Click, click> Is being not good. Enemy is being very strong. May get on board before we leave. That is being very not good, but have idea, yes. We get help. That is idea. We get help."
"Help? From where?" He was told, and then he smiled. "Ah, of course."
And the man who had been called Jeffrey Sinclair, and the alien called Zathras, entered the place called Babylon 4 - named in memory and honour - and they passed into history and legend.
But there were some for whom history and legend were present and fact. Two such were watching legend combine with reality, one with an almost beautiful awe, and the other with a pragmatic sense of the possible.
Who is to say which one was right in their reaction?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"Blessed Valen!" she gasped.
"That's impossible!" he cried.
"You recognise it?" she asked.
"Yeah," he breathed. "That's Babylon Four."
"What.... is Babylon Four?"
Captain John Sheridan turned to Satai Delenn, and tried to frame an answer. Mere moments before, they had been standing on the observation deck, talking quietly about life and death and everything in between, and simply staring at the stars. And now he was staring at a piece of his past - and his future.
Before he could answer, his link sounded. It was Corwin. "Captain, tachyon emissions are stabilising, but they aren't our only problem. You'd better get up here fast, and bring our guest with you. This is Grade A weird."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"It is Babylon Four, then?"
"Definitely," Corwin replied. "It matches the plans almost exactly, the location's dead on, and it's, well.... identical to all the plans and specs I ever saw about it. That's Babylon Four, no doubt about it."
Sheridan groaned and sat down heavily, burying his head in his hands. "Why can't I ever have a normal day, like normal people?"
"You'd be bored stiff, sir. And you know it."
"I wouldn't mind a bit of boredom once in a while."
"Both of you recognise that?" asked Satai Delenn. Corwin shot her an awkward glance. He was barely comfortable with the idea of a Minbari being on board the ship, least of all her. The Captain seemed to trust her, and therefore he could cope with it, but he always made sure she was closely watched at all times, and her room was guarded. All in the interests of security, he kept telling himself. Whatever the Captain might say, Delenn was still a Minbari, and Corwin had a long memory. Although not even the worst amnesiac in the galaxy could ever forget what the Minbari had done to humanity.
Corwin had not been on Earth when the Minbari had destroyed it. No one who had was still alive, but he had been on Mars, and he had seen the Minbari fleets filling the skies. And he had seen the Babylon, tearing through those self-same skies, which were full of stars, and each star was one ray of hope in three years of despair.
Very few people aboard the Babylon knew of each other's pasts. Some, like the Captain, had been in Earthforce before and during the war. Some, like Lieutenants Franklin and Connally had had other plans and dreams - he to be a doctor, she to be the hope of the downtrodden worker - torn from them. Some, like Corwin, had no past, or none that they would admit to, and none that mattered any more. The past was dead, and there was only the future.
But still, he had a long memory, and even having Satai Delenn on this ship grated at him. Having her in the Captain's ready room seemed almost sacrilegious. But if the Captain wanted her here....
"Yes," Corwin said. "And so do you." He caught the flicker in her eyes as he said that, and he knew his guess had proved accurate. Quite a few aboard the Babylon knew of the Babylon 4 mission - they had been so instrumental in its planning that the station had been named after the ship itself, but how Satai Delenn could know about this would be fascinating to hear. Especially in light of the.... ah, unusual circumstances here.
"It's called Babylon Four," Sheridan said, raising his head. "It was the fourth in a series of secret missions and agendas called the Babylon Project - named after this ship, of course.
"Babylon Four was to be a secret base. Proxima Three was just a little too open. We wanted somewhere quieter and out of the way, somewhere for the Resistance Government to hide, somewhere a little more easily defended than Proxima Three. A space station, packed to the core with the best weaponry systems we could muster. A place of defence, and later, offence. Plans were drawn up, we did extensive scouting missions to find a suitable place, and we found here. Above a deserted planet. Perfect."
Corwin could see Delenn alternating her gaze between him and the Captain. He met her eyes with a steely determination and he was quite surprised to see sadness in hers when she recognised this.
"But?" she said.
"But it was never damn well built!"
Corwin could see her staring at Sheridan, perhaps surprised by the bitterness in his voice, and why not? Although he doubted the wisdom of telling all this to a Minbari Satai, he decided to continue.
"We were all ready to go when we lost Orion Four and Seven and most of the Belt Alliance. Over half our financial and mineral resources gone in a matter of weeks."
He could see the emotion in the Captain's eyes. Sheridan had lost more at Orion than just some money or minerals. He had lost his daughter - buried beneath a collapsed building. With Elizabeth, he had also lost his wife. While Anna was still alive in a physical sense, emotionally, she was quite dead.
"All our remaining resources had to go on feeding the refugees we managed to get away from Orion," Corwin continued, never taking his eyes off Delenn. "It wasn't enough. Twenty thousand starved that year."
"But we can't dwell on the past now, Mr. Corwin," the Captain suddenly spoke up. "Any word on anyone on the station?"
"Just this." Corwin went over to a control panel and activated the communications system.
--- eridan and Zha'valen Delenn to come over and meet with us. They must come alone. We repeat. We would like Captain Sheridan and Zha'valen Delenn to come over and meet with us. They must come alone. We repeat ---
"Just that. Over and over again. It's got all the right Earthforce identification codes, but I would be interested to know how they knew the two of you would be here."
"Mr. Corwin. A space station that hasn't been built appears from over above a planet that's supposed to be deserted but contains awesomely powerful technological resources, and you're worried about how they knew I'd be here? The codes are genuine?"
"One hundred percent. What do you think? Some kind of Black Ops mission? A secret project? Some sort of cloaking device, perhaps?"
"Secret enough for me not to know about it?"
"Point, but it's a fair bet that someone knows something about it." Corwin looked at Delenn. "Don't you?"
"I.... yes," she breathed, looking directly at the Captain. "We must go, Captain. It is very important that we do so."
"It could be a trap," Corwin said flatly. "I'd advise taking a Security team along."
"It said we should go alone, Mr. Corwin."
"What was that title the message gave you?" Corwin asked Delenn. "Zha'valen? Some kind of Minbari rank?"
"It.... it is nothing. I possess no such title. Please, Captain, we must go. I cannot tell you why, but we must."
Corwin caught the Captain's gaze. She was lying - at least partially - and all three of them knew it. There was an old saying humans had picked up from the Centauri.
'Minbari never tell anyone the whole truth.'
"She's right, David. Whatever this is, I have to know. Launch two Starfury squadrons and keep them on constant flyby. We'll take a shuttle over. At the first sign of trouble, blast that thing, and don't worry about me."
"Captain, I...." Corwin flicked another glance at Delenn. "I don't trust her. I think you should take a Security team along. I can contact Mr. Allan, we can...."
"It said to go alone, David."
Corwin sighed. "Fine, fine, but.... be careful, sir."
The Captain seemed to consider this advice for a moment and then he chuckled. "That'd be far too easy, Mr. Corwin. Far too easy."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

She'd made it aboard after all. She and her allies could have easily wiped out their opponents, but that wouldn't have brought them victory if they hadn't stopped this station. Dying was just what her opponents wanted.
Dying in their holy cause. How noble of them!
No, death was preferable to the pain of living, but she knew enough to be aware of her responsibility - to the ones who had saved her, and to the one who had loved her.
A few of her opponents had survived and managed to escape. A few more had been captured. The others had been killed. She wondered if they had died happy, suspecting their deaths were buying them victory.
They had been wrong. There was no victory for the Army of Light today, and there would not even be the memory of one. They would have had no victories for the past thousand years.
For she would stop them.
Susan Ivanova and her Shadow companions were hitching a lift aboard Babylon 4 to the past. All they had to do was kill the man called Jeffrey Sinclair.
And then the war would be over a thousand years before it had ever begun.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"So?"
"I am sorry?" Delenn looked at Sheridan carefully. He more than any other human she found difficult to understand, although she had admittedly had little contact with other humans to use as reference.
Welles was the result of the worst of the war: a man with great gifts who had become so hard and cold that he could only use those gifts to give pain in the name of duty and anguish in the name of service.
Miss Alexander seemed almost subdued, living her life by rote because she lacked the will to do anything else.
Commander Corwin and the security guards she had met - including the two who had beaten her - were either suspicious of her or plain hated her, still fighting a war in which she was the enemy, not knowing or not caring just who they were selling themselves to in the name of victory.
And Captain Sheridan? He combined all these traits and many more. He possessed great gifts, and used them to kill. She knew the rage he could manifest, having seen it at horrifying first hand, but she also remembered the act of mercy he had shown her - the only mercy she had ever been shown by a human being. She had even let him watch her as she slept, reminded almost absurdly of both her father, and of the ancient ritual of sleep watching between two who were intended. It felt both absurd and strangely right to her. She wondered how it had felt to him. She was nowhere near an answer, but she suspected that neither was he.
He had so much power, so much potential, but where would it fall? He was walking a thin line between Light and Darkness. One simple push could send him either way. She knew that it was her destiny to bring him to the correct path.
"So," he said. "What do you know about Babylon Four and what did that title mean? I know you didn't want to talk about it in front of Corwin, but you are going to have to tell me."
She breathed in sharply. What to tell him? Could she even accept this herself, and if she could not, then how could he? Could she even expect him to believe her?
"I have.... told you before about the Ancient Enemy that we believe is arising," she said hesitantly. Babylon 4 was looming up in front of their shuttle. She looked up at it, and then down again. Sheridan didn't reply, and so she continued.
"There was a Great War against the Enemy a thousand years ago. I do.... not know how much you have been told about it by your.... friend?"
"A little," he replied tersely. "Not nearly enough, but a little."
"Ah." She continued. "We fought in that war, alongside the Vorlons and a few other races. We drove the Enemy from their homeworld of Z'ha'dum and thought we had defeated them. There are a few records remaining of that war. Some of them show this very station, Captain. It was used as a base of operations during the final days of that war.... one thousand years ago."
She had expected disbelief, denial, even anger. She received only a terse grunt. She looked at him, but he was still focussed on the controls.
"You believe me?" she asked.
"Satai, after today, I don't think anything could surprise me."
"I.... suppose not."
"Now what about that title? Sah-vahlan?"
"Zha'valen," she said, correcting his pronunciation. "It means.... it means...." She sucked in another deep breath of air. "It means outcast. It means that I am.... that I am 'a shadow to Valen'."
"Not a title you have now?"
"I.... do not think so, unless it has been given me in my absence."
"I see. Well, what's one more mystery. Hopefully when we find the person who sent that message, we'll clear this up. And there's the docking bays. Looks like they made a few modifications to the plans after all. Either that, or my memory's getting faulty."
Delenn was silent as Sheridan surrendered the shuttle's controls to the station's docking systems - with considerable reluctance, she noticed - and she instead looked up at the station as it swallowed the shuttle.
There was something she had not said. The pieces were starting to fall together in her mind. The space station that had saved her people had been designed and - presumably - built by humans. So what did that make the one who had given it to her people? Did that prove her suspicions?
And how could she expect Sheridan to trust her when she did not trust him?
"Captain," she said softly. "There is something else I have not told you." He looked at her. "This station was given to my people and those who were allied to us to fight the Enemy. The one who gave it to us was called Valen."
"Are you expecting to find Valen here on Babylon Four?"
"I.... hope to find.... someone."
"You mean a human. Well, so do I. I'll think about what you've told me, Satai Delenn. If we do find this Valen then.... we'll see."
She smiled slightly. She had tried to tell him of her beliefs about human and Minbari souls once before. He had either not believed or not cared to listen. Perhaps he was beginning to listen, and beginning to believe.
As they left their docked shuttle, she felt the first surge of hope she had felt since her capture four months ago.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"Should we tell the Captain, sir?"
Corwin shot a glance at Security Officer Zack Allan - Chief of Security aboard the Babylon - and then back at the other figure.
"We can't," he replied. "Communications are impossible through that tachyon field. I don't know what they're doing to it, but it's getting less and less stable all the time."
"Any chance you can get that Narn on the planet to give us a hand, do you think, sir?"
Corwin started. G'Kar - greatest hero of the Narn / Centauri War - had taken custody of Epsilon 3 only a few hours ago, and the massive technological resources with it. Captain Sheridan had given him a run down of most of what had happened, but he hadn't known who else knew.
"How did you know about that?" he asked.
"Are you kidding, sir? We all saw him just appear in front of us and give his spiel. Weird, it was."
"Yeah, what isn't these days?" Great, Corwin thought. The Captain's going to have enough trouble justifying his failure to the Resistance Government without having to tell the truth about it.
"I don't think that would be a good idea," he began, when Zack interrupted him.
"It's moving!"
The figure before them was indeed moving, and Corwin joined Zack in drawing his PPG. The figure before them was humanoid, but that was all he could tell immediately. It had been found floating in space just off the station by a mechbot. A quick scan had confirmed that the figure was alive - presumably kept so by its blue space suit - but Zack had suggested caution, and Corwin had agreed. There was no reason to assume it was hostile, but then there was no reason to assume it wasn't either.
"Who are you?" he asked. It made no reply. "Do you understand me?"
The figure staggered forward, making for Corwin who, out of a feeling he couldn't quite identify, lowered his weapon.
Then the figure saw Zack, and lunged towards him. It seemed to reach out - in anger, or in friendship? - and there was a burst of what Corwin could only call lightning and Zack was thrown backwards.
The figure turned to Corwin....
.... and vanished.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"Do you, John Sheridan, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife...?"
Sheridan blinked. This was impossible. He looked up and met Anna's eyes. There was laughter in them, a joyful, happy laughter he had not seen in her since Elizabeth had died.
"I do," he whispered. "I do," he repeated, louder.
Anna had insisted on a traditional wedding, in spite of the lack of appropriate venues. The chapel on the Babylon had seemed the best bet, and Reverend Dexter had been dragged up from Proxima 3 to officiate. Anna had insisted on everything being as traditional as she could make it. Her father had died on Earth, so Dr. Chang gave her away. Sheridan had always planned on asking Jack Maynard to be his best man, but he had not survived the brief counterattack over Mars, and so General Hague was performing the honours. There was no expensive ring, and very few guests, but it was the happiest day of both their lives. Even amidst all this death, some love could prevail.
"I do," Anna said. She was smiling. There had been no white dress either. The best they could manage was a light blue. The way their lives had gone since then, funereal black would probably have been more appropriate. Sheridan, still in a daze, looked around at the crowd. Half of them were dead now.
"Pay attention," Anna hissed. That brought a giggle of laughter from everyone and he found himself blushing.
"You may now kiss the bride," Reverend Dexter said.
He was still trying to focus his attention when she threw her arms around his neck and treated him to the longest, happiest, most perfect kiss he had ever had in his life.
He remembered that day as if it had been yesterday. It had, in fact, been nine years ago, just after the Resistance Government had been established on Proxima 3. Anna had survived the war, but so many others hadn't, including the one who had introduced the two of them in the first place - John's sister Elizabeth. Her matchmaking had been the subject of a long-running joke between the three of them. Sheridan had offered to tithe their first-born daughter to Elizabeth in payment. He had had to settle for naming her after his sister instead.
He blinked, and his eyes opened. He reeled, and almost fell against Satai Delenn. She caught him and helped him rest against the wall.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I.... I don't know. I was reliving my wedding. It's like I was there, but it was nine years ago. I don't understand."
"It's been happening to all of us," said a new voice. Sheridan started and looked up. "Flashes, forwards or back." The voice was coming from a Minbari, but one who.... who seemed more than just a little human. He looked again, closer this time. The figure was definitely Minbari, but there was something in his gait, in his stance, that marked him out as human.
"Greetings, both of you. I welcome you to this place." Sheridan heard Delenn give a soft gasp. "I am called Valen."
He shifted his gaze elsewhere, and he did find something familiar.
"Zathras! But.... what are you doing here? You stayed on the planet with G'Kar!"
"Ah, no, Captain. Zathras is being very sorry, but Zathras last seen you many years ago, yes. Time has passed, yes. Much time. In your years...."
"Zathras!" snapped Valen.
"Ah yes, Zathras know, Zathras not supposed to talk about time. Zathras not supposed to talk about anything. Zathras supposed to shut up. Zathras is being shutting up. There. Zathras is shut up."
"I thank you both for coming," Valen repeated. "We need your help, but first you have to understand. You have to...."
Sheridan blinked.
"Anna! No!"
"John, what are you doing?" He was holding a PPG, as was she. There was a light in her eyes once again, but he didn't remember this. When had this happened?
"Anna, what's happening?"
What had Valen said? Flashes - forwards or back?
His arm jerked upwards, and he fired. He could see the light die in her eyes as her body was thrown backwards and by the time she hit the floor he knew she was quite dead. Behind him, somebody moved and was about to speak.
He blinked again, and staggered forward. There was no sign of either Valen or Delenn. He felt so weak.... so helpless.
"Anna. Oh, God help me, Anna!"
He hadn't realised he had spoken aloud, until he heard footsteps and rested himself back against the wall, to look at the person who was before him.
"Oh poor Johnny," said a mocking voice. "Your Minbari whore's finally abandoned you, has she?"
"Susan," he breathed.
And behind her, the very shadows moved.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"We cannot just leave him," Delenn was saying. They were running from the attack. She had no idea how it had happened. Valen had welcomed them, and she had been on the verge of kneeling to him, when Sheridan had staggered, and there had been the sound of PPG fire, and the chattering of Shadows. Valen had grabbed her hand, and they were fleeing.
"They won't kill him," he said. "It's me they want - me and you. You have to understand, Delenn. There's a lot I have to show you, and not much time. You told me about this, and now I have to do what you said I did. I have to...."
Delenn blinked.
It was cold, that was her first sensation. So very cold. She wrapped her black robe tighter around herself, and stared at the small object in front of her. It was a block of grey stone, partially embedded in the ground at her feet. There were letters inscribed on it.
She knelt down and touched it gently, reading what it said. The words were written twice, in English and Adronato, but the meaning was the same.

JOHN SHERIDAN

RESTING

IN A PLACE WHERE NO SHADOWS FALL