 |
Next chapter | Top of this page | Home page |  |
"I DON'T like this," Commander Susan Ivanova mumbled to Captain John Sheridan as they stood in line at the entrance bay. "I really don't like this."
"Join the club," he muttered, flicking a quick glance across the line to see if his fiancée had heard him. Delenn didn't appear to have done so. In fact, she was busily discussing matters with Lennier, who also did not look very happy. John thought she looked especially lovely, wearing the blue and red dress she tended to wear for important occasions. "But if Delenn wants him here, then he should be here."
"I think marriage is going to agree with you," Susan replied. "But doesn't it bother you that the last time he was here he tried to kill Delenn and nearly killed Marcus."
"Of course it does, but if Delenn and Marcus both think he can be trusted, then that's fine by me. Besides, he'll be a valuable ally."
"You're getting mellow in your old age."
"Old? Ha!"
Sheridan suddenly started and came to full attention, an action duplicated a few moments later by Susan. Whatever both of them thought about the man, this was just as important a visit as any Ambassador's. "Greetings, Shai Alyt Neroon," he said formally, stepping forward to greet the tall, proud Minbari who was stepping into view. Neroon black clad attendants stepped forward belligerently, but Neroon himself simply said nothing, casting a contemptuous gaze over the human he called 'Starkiller'.
Then Neroon's gaze turned to Marcus and a slow, hesitant, almost out-of-place smile spread across the Minbari's face. He stepped towards Marcus and then bowed his head in the ancient Minbari greeting. Marcus responded, and then extended his arm, which Neroon took.
"It is good to see you again, Cole," Neroon said, rare pride in his voice.
"And you, Shai Alyt. I hear your fortunes have been on the rise."
"A little. We have been rebuilding, and planning and trying to repair something from the chaos of this last year. I will talk about it in more detail later, though. One warrior to another."
"I would be honoured."
Sheridan rankled slightly at this discourse. Neroon had initially begun speaking in Lenn-ah, the language of the Warrior caste, a calculated insult to many of the humans there. Marcus, of course, had to respond in the same language. Sheridan looked at Delenn, who gave him a soft smile, as she turned to face Neroon.
"Entil'zha," Neroon said softly, no trace of the pain and the hurt in his voice he felt at acknowledging someone like Delenn in this way. "Respects and.... honour to you, Entil'zha."
"I thank you, Shai Alyt," she responded, not a hint of anger in her voice. John admired her her composure.
"Accommodation has been arranged for you and your aides, Shai Alyt," Ivanova said, also stepping forward. Neroon regarded her carefully. "If you will follow me."
He nodded slowly and barked out a series of orders to his nine companions. A mockery of the Grey Council, Sheridan wondered, or simply a symbolic Minbari number?
As Neroon swept past Sheridan as if he were not there, John found himself sliding slowly towards Delenn. He felt.... annoyed, and a little insulted, but twelve years of hatred could not be washed out overnight, on either side. If Delenn and Marcus could so easily come to terms with Neroon, then why couldn't he?
Delenn slowly took his arm in hers and she gave him one of the soft, loving, tender smiles she did so well. And then everything was fine. For the moment at least.
* * * * * * *
Marrit had never expected anything to be like this. When he had agreed to this plan, he had expected something swift and nasty. A bomb perhaps, a simple means to get back at the traitor and his half Minbari freak whore. He had not liked taking orders from a Minbari, not even an exiled one, and the Centauri lady filled him with the same contempt he reserved for all those who thought they were automatically better than everyone else. He got on with the Narn all right, but only because they had little to do with each other.
As he crept through the darkness, muttering softly to himself, he tripped and stumbled. He managed to regain his balance, but cut his leg on an exposed piece of metal. Swearing softly, his first thought was an absurd reaction of how Catherine would swear to kiss the cut better. Stupid, of course, but understandable.
Still thinking of her, he suddenly found himself watched by that damned Minbari, sitting on his throne like some kind of goddamned king.
"I have news," Marrit said hesitantly. He had never been sure of how to relate to this Minbari exile. What was his rank? His status? Even his name was surely faked.
"Then give it," snapped the Centauri whore from Shryne's side. Lady High and Mighty, Little Miss Perfect Elrisia. The Narn was nowhere in sight. He never was. "There's no need for melodramatic pronouncements here."
"Shai Alyt Neroon is here. He seemed very chummy with the Ranger fellow, the one who always hanging around the Commander."
"I see," Elrisia said. "You may go now."
Eyes burning, Marrit looked at the Centauri lady, all grace and favour and impractical dress. Shryne noticed his expression and suddenly spoke up. "You mispronounced Neroon's name. He would be very offended if you did that in his presence."
Marrit stammered something and left, his last sight one of Shryne staring out silently into the shadows around him.
* * * * * * *
"So, how are things back on Minbar now?" Marcus asked. He paused, resting back on one heel, before spinning forward, lashing out with his pike. Neroon caught and parried the blow easily, deflecting it aside, but he was unable to follow up due to Marcus' speed.
"Well. The collapse of the Grey Council did not hurt as much as was feared. I have managed to bring the Star Riders Clan to order, and when Shai Alyt Derath of the Wind Swords passed beyond the veil, I was able to rise to leadership of that clan as well, through my mother." He stepped back, launching a series of short, sharp swipes.
"I wouldn't imagine the Wind Swords would like that very much." Block, parry, step forward. Block. Lunge. Step forward.
"They do not, but they have learned to accept it, as they have accepted the Rangers at long last." Neroon parried Marcus' blow and leant forward, swiping down at the Ranger's head. Marcus side stepped, but fell off balance. Neroon followed up, and Marcus only barely managed to roll out of the way.
"So, you are now the most powerful Shai Alyt anywhere since Branmer?"
"I am, although I would much prefer it were he still here. As Satai I was out of place, young and inexperienced, filled with passion and fury. As Shai Alyt, I can at least do what I was trained for." A complex series of swings and stabs met with skilled parries. "You have improved greatly, Cole. Delenn must be pleased."
"I think so." An attack met with a simple block.
"I still do not like her. Or what she has done, but that she has loyalty from men such as yourself and Sinclair, then maybe she is worthy of my respect at least. For all her sins, she was born Minbari, and she is of the same heart as I."
"As am I?"
"Yes." Marcus attempted an attack, only to be neatly floored by Neroon. The Ranger tried to roll aside, but he found Neroon's pike just touching his neck. "But you have a long way to go before you are of the same skill."
A smile. "I'm getting there."
"Perhaps." That was the greatest compliment Neroon had ever paid anyone. And Marcus knew it. "I think we are being watched." Marcus rose effortlessly to his feet, in one graceful movement.
Marcus shot a brief glance into the shadows of the room. A security guard was there, acting nonchalantly. Marcus gave a brief laugh. "I think our dear Commander has asked Chief Allan to put a guard on us."
"She does not trust me?"
"She does not trust me. She probably thinks I'm going to challenge you to Denn Sha again."
"Ah."
"You should have heard her after the last time. You would have thought I had just tried to kill myself or something."
"What else would you call challenging me to Denn Sha?" Neroon paused, as if unsure of what he was about to say next. "What are your.... feelings for this Commander Ivanova?"
"Feelings?"
"You humans seem obsessed by emotion and passion. I have seen the way Delenn looks at Starkiller and the way he looks at her in return. You may be Minbari at heart, but you are still human in flesh."
"Perhaps, as for my feelings, I don't know. Well, yes I do, but no I don't. Do you understand?"
"No, I do not, but then I am not surprised by that. If you do not understand your feelings for her, then how may I?"
"A good question."
"I will tell you this, however. She is a rare kind for a human. Perhaps there is the spirit of a Warrior within her as well."
"I think we can take that as a definite."
"Really?"
"Oh yes." Marcus remembered being on the wrong one of Susan's sharp tongue on a number of occasions. "Oh yes."
* * * * * * *
John Sheridan, hero, leader and renegade Captain, was tired. Very tired in fact. Looking at the flimsy of water reclamation units in front of him, he sighed and placed it back on his desk. The units would just have to wait until tomorrow. What he wanted was a drink, a shower and his bride to be. In that order. (Unless Delenn wanted a thirsty, dirty, irritable fiancé of course.)
He was not looking forward to tomorrow. First on his schedule was a meeting with the rest of the Non-Aligned Worlds, trying to drum up support for the continued defence of Babylon Five. Then, he had an appointment with G'Kar concerned recent Centauri attacks on Narns returning to their homeworld viz Babylon 5 and then there was a meeting with Neroon about developments on Minbar.
The last he was definitely not looking forward to. He still did not like Neroon and he was sure the feeling was mutual. He had heard Neroon's name mentioned one time too many by refugees in the War, and he could not forget that little incident last year with Marcus. Okay, if Delenn and Marcus trusted Neroon then so did he. A little.
There was a beeping sound, clearly coming from his link. Muttering something angrily to himself, Sheridan answered it. "Yes?"
"Captain," came Corwin's voice. "There is a Lady Elrisia of the House of Montagne who wishes to see you."
"Who?" Sheridan replied slowly. Then he remembered. "Oh yes, that Centauri lady. Does it have to be me? Can't you send her to.... ooh, Susan or.... hah, or maybe G'Kar. I know Londo hasn't got around to sending a new Ambassador yet, but...."
"I'm afraid not, Captain. She insists on seeing you."
Sheridan swore softly and then focussed his mind on the image of Delenn's smile. All right, if he could just make his way through this meeting, then he could go and see Delenn. That would definitely give him something to look forward to.
"All right then. Send her in." What was one more annoyance?
A few minutes later, the Lady Elrisia swept in to his office. Sheridan was usually one to trust his gut instincts and his gut instincts of Lady Elrisia were not favourable. She was clearly quite beautiful, although it was the carefully prepared beauty of make-up and dress, as opposed to say, the natural beauty of Delenn. Elrisia was also graceful, but it was an arrogant grace as compared to Delenn's easy, soft grace. Elrisia wore her power as a right and a privilege rather than Delenn's acceptance of it as a gift.
I am going to have to stop comparing women to Delenn, he thought. Everyone comes up short, for one thing.
"What can I do for you, my Lady?" he said, putting on his best diplomat's voice.
"I want to complain about those awful Narns," she said, moving slowly around his desk, waving her hands at her face as if in order to get rid of a bad smell. "They've been accosting me wherever I go recently."
Little wonder. "I'm sorry to hear that, my Lady. Perhaps if I put you in touch with Citizen, ah, I mean Ambassador G'Kar." It was so good to give G'Kar his proper title again. "I'm sure he would be able to help you...."
"Oh no, he's one of the worst offenders, you see. He looks at me, you know. And they all smell. Very bad. It's an offence to my delicate nose."
Oh God. "I'm sorry about that, my Lady. But there's very little I can do, unless you want to report a crime to Mr. Allan?"
"No, no, it's not that. It's, well...." She began removing her right glove, an entirely preposterous looking garment consisting of a lot of pink silk and little else. "You see, it's...."
Sheridan was tired, and his instincts were a little off, but he still recognised the attack an instant before it came. She swiped the glove a mere inch from his face and had he not moved the three needle sharp spikes that suddenly protruded from the fingernails would clearly have cut him.
He managed to roll backwards from his landing and was touching his link in a moment as the Lady Elrisia moved further forward. He was about to bark out an order when something hard and heavy crashed into his back. He fell forward and was still stunned when Elrisia's glove scratched across his face. The poison did its required work and he was unconscious within seconds.
Lady Elrisia smiled as she replaced the glove on her hand, scowling as she noticed the silk was slightly cut. "Very good timing," she said. "For a Narn, of course."
The Narn, who had literally appeared out of nowhere, scowled at her, but said nothing. He never spoke to her. In fact, she had never heard him speak to anyone. Perhaps he was a mute, or maybe that was simply what his species thought of as civilised behaviour? What could one expect from Narns? She didn't even know this one's name, although it probably wasn't very important.
"It's a wonder he didn't notice the smell," she replied. "I wonder if that weird belt type thing masked that as well." She smiled sweetly. "Well, pick him up and let's get out of here. It's...."
She came to a direct halt as she looked up to see none other than Ambassador Delenn enter the room. Elrisia had never met the ambassador before, but Delenn was sort of hard to mistake for anyone else.
Delenn clearly took the whole scene in in a heartbeat, but her reactions were slower. Seemingly torn between going to defend her fiancé and going for help, she hesitated for just long enough for Elrisia to reach her, hoping the poison on her glove worked just as well against Minbari as it did against humans.
To her surprise Delenn ducked under her first swipe and managed to issue a shuddering blow with her elbow to Elrisia's midriff. The Centauri lady staggered back, gasping for breath. She turned, only for a well placed punch to catch her in the small of her back.
Silently crying out with intense agony, she fell awkwardly, and tried to turn around, but the pain was too strong. "What is happening here?" she heard Delenn ask. "What are you doing with John?"
The Narn wouldn't reply of course, and Elrisia had heard tales of what Minbari did when they were angry, and Delenn sounded very angry. The Earth / Minbari War would seem like a small skirmish unless she did something quick.
The Narn had managed to vanish, using that strange technology Shryne had provided them, but Delenn was no idiot, and she was about to head to call a Security team. One chance, Elrisia thought. One chance.
Swivelling awkwardly, and trying to avoid putting any pressure on her back, Elrisia swung out with her legs. Delenn stumbled over them and nearly fell. Sometimes wearing long dresses was a disadvantage. Elrisia had taken pains to wear her slit dress for this occasion.
Delenn was off balance long enough for Elrisia to stagger forward and claw at Delenn's leg. The Ambassador kicked her aside, but not before three small cuts had been made through the fabric of her dress, and across her skin.
At first, Delenn seemed unaffected, and Elrisia began to have serious worries about her mortality. Crawling backwards, Elrisia began to experience her life flashing before her eyes, while Delenn was saying all the while, "Who are you? What have you done with John?" Her voice was getting weaker and weaker however. Elrisia watched as Delenn made to leave, but then her graceful body swayed against the closed door and then she slumped, moaning softly.
As Delenn fell, Elrisia caught a glance at Delenn's face, which was glazed over with pain, her mouth caught in a grim rictus. The beautiful Ambassador was shaking and trembling.
Elrisia managed to haul herself to her feet, wincing with each movement. She managed a short laugh. "It looks like that poison is even more effective against Minbari. I wonder if our dear leader knew that. You are still here, aren't you?"
The Narn gave an angry grunt, that signified 'yes'. He was hidden from her view by that piece of light refraction type technology thing Shryne had provided. A less ambitious woman might have wondered where Shryne was obtaining these wonders from. Elrisia didn't care.
"Come on. I just hope I've got the energy left to meet up with Shryne." and as she looked down at Delenn, still moaning and shaking, Elrisia could not resist giving her a brief kick as she left, the invisible Narn carrying his invisible prisoner just behind her.
|
Next chapter | Top of this page | Home page | |