"To dream the dream was to learn of my fate. And to walk amongst the ashes was to understand the nature of the long road we were about to walk upon..."
* * *
Approximately twenty hours before the Drakh attack on Earth.
White Star 4, enroute to the Earth-Minbari Frontier.
"I feel that I *must* inform you..." Larieken commented, as Julia turned and looked at him irritably, "That you still don't look comfortable, sitting in that chair! Has it, perhaps, insulted you somehow? Or, are you merely still dealing with what has ailed you from the start of your service amidst the Anla'shok?"
"I think you know the answer to that question, Larieken. But I cannot change what I feel about this...*situation*."
Larieken shrugged. "It is inevitable, from time to time, that the Sha'vei of the White Star Fleet will be recalled to Minbar, to consult with the members of the High Council. But it would not do, in this day and age, to leave the flagship of the Fleet *unused* for the period our commander will be on Minbar, now would it?
And since that’s so..."
Julia glared at her friend and guardian for a few seconds more, and then allowed the glare to soften. "I suppose you're right, Larieken; even though I don't want to admit it, it does make sense for us to go out on patrol, even when the Sha'vei isn't with us. And because of a whole lot of conspirators, it seems that I've managed to pick up a lifetime's experience in the last five years...so I'm probably fighting against a flood of inevitablities, here."
"Forged by Fire and by Storm, and called upon to act as you must." Larieken mused. "Still, there is a precedent; during your time of training beneath Sech Westcastle, you told your mother that if you had your way, there would eventually come a time when you and she would meet between the stars as equals...captains of your respective ships. Was that not how you put it?"
Julia smiled, finally...every once in a while, a moment like this would come, and give her cause to remember that her mother's ship, the Warlock Class destroyer DE’MOLAY, was still out here in the darkness somewhere, as well...and eventually, such a meeting *must* occur. "Yes. I suppose I did at that, now didn't I?"
"And now th.." It was then, quite naturally, that a deep resounding chime warned the two Rangers that something was amiss. "There is a priority signal coming in from Minbar..." Larieken tersely reported, and then, the Minbari's expression sharpened. "It is from High Councillor Westcastle, Julia...and the matter appears *urgent*."
"I knew that this was too good to last..." she muttered, and rose to her feet as the image of her friend, the High Councillor, rippled into being...and immediately realized that things were not as they usually were...his expression was *terrible* to behold.
"High Councillor!...whatever is the matter?*."
"Julia...we have a problem, a very *large* problem, as I've just learned. And because of the nature of what I am about to tell you, I, and Sha'vei Tashann, have decided that there is not sufficient time for you to return to Minbar to pick him up."
What? "I don't understand, sir! What's going on?"
"Then LEARN...Anla'shok Tikopai." She stiffened...that William had become formal meant much...and none of it was good. "Less then thirty minutes ago, a message arrived on Minbar from President Sheridan; he, and others he has drawn to his side, are currently aboard the newly commissioned Interstellar Alliance Destroyer EXCALIBUR. Together with her sister ship, the VICTORY, the EXCALIBUR is currently enroute to Earth...mere minutes ahead of a Drakh attack fleet of considerable size."
"In Valen's Name..." Larieken muttered beside her, his expression disturbed. "It was bound to happen eventually..."
"And there is worse news...*far* worse. The President and his companions have learned that the Drakh have a Shadow planetkiller with them...and it would appear that their first target is going to be our homeworld."
"NO..." she whispered, the whisper a whisper of horror. *Now*, she understood the desperation visible on William's face...a planetkiller, and the Drakh had activated it? "Sir! How much time remains until the President and his squadron reach the Earth?"
"Not nearly enough. But all the same, our Entil'zha has promised him that every ship and command that can come to Earth's defence *will* do so. And that, Anla'shok Tikopai, is where you and your crew enter into the equation."
So that was it. "We’re nearer to Earth then any other member of the Fleet, save for the group presently *in* Sol system, aren’t we?"
A grim nod. "In the name of our Entil'zha, and the One, I command you to join your White Star with the Alliance units gathering to protect Earth from the Drakh advance."
"I understand, sir. We are Rangers...this is the reason our order was created, to fight the Darkness whenever and wherever it can be found. We will protect Earth from their fleet and their weapon of terror, sir...I swear it, in Valen's Name, and yours."
"Good...I can expect nothing else of you, this time." And then, the High Councillor smiled, amazingly enough. "There is one other matter for us to discuss before you leave for Earth, however. Since the Sha'vei will not be able to join you, there is something we must...correct; and it is this. By the power invested in me by the High Council of the Anla'shok, I raise you to the Anla'shok Val'na for the duration of this crisis, Julia. And if you do well, and Earth is saved...then this may become *permanant*."
"I..." On top of what had come before, *this* shocked her to the bone. She had expected it would happen eventually...but so soon? "You honour me, sir...I don't deserve this, not yet!"
"Honour is earned, not given, Val'na Tikopai." The High Councillor sharply replied. "And sometimes, duty summons us to positions beyond our years. I learned this the hard way...now *you* must do the same."
She bowed, then; it was quite apparent that she would not win this argument. "I understand."
Another brief smile came to William Westcastle's face, and then it was gone, as if blown away. "Then go! There is no more *time*." The signal abruptly ended, allowing Julia a moment more to consider what had just happened. Once again, it seemed she was facing a responsibility far beyond her years...but this was no longer a surprise; there was, instead, almost a grim *inevitability* about it all.
"Anla'shok Larieken..."
"Val'na Tikopai..." Larieken slowly replied, as if trying out the title to see how it fit..."Command us."
"You will set course for Earth..." she replied, settling herself back into the chair that destiny seemed hell-bent on throwing at her. "BEST possible speed."
* * *
Interstellar Alliance Destroyer EXCALIBUR; enroute to Earth.
Fourteen hours before the Drakh attack.
All alone with his thoughts, John Sheridan sat in the EXCALIBUR's conference room, and wondered what he could possibly do to make this situation any better then it was. He *knew* that Delenn would pull together as many Alliance ships as she could find, and he hoped that Earthgov would believe he was telling the truth, as well...that Elizabeth would be able to convince them. Because if they didn't...
And then, he remembered something he hadn't done, yet "Communications, this is the President; I need another connection to Babylon 5."
"Yes, sir; and the receipient?"
"Director of Covert Intelligence Theresa Halloran."
"Stand by." Sheridan waited for the moment that it took for the connection to be established, and then, the Director's face sprang onto the screen, her expression cold and resigned.
"Mr. President; I've been expecting your call."
"I'll be brief, then, Ms. Halloran, and get straight to the point. In only a few more hours, as you may have heard, a sizable Drakh fleet, together with a Shadow planetkiller, will be jumping into Earthspace. Is there *any* chance the SHARD OF NIGHT can reach Earth before that happens?"
Director Halloran paused for a moment, and then said something Sheridan had unfortunately been expecting all along. "I know you don't want to hear this, Mr. President, but we're looking at one Hell of a bad case of timing at the moment. The SHARD's just about as far away from Earth as it's possible to be, and *still* be in Alliance territory. Even at maximum burn, Captain Rahkeel and his crew won't be able to get to Earth until the battle's over...one way, or the other."
Sheridan gritted his teeth, and nodded. "That's what I was afraid of. Fair enough, we can't work miracles, with both time *and* distance against us. Guess we're going to have to take care of this one on our own, then."
"Wait. Mr. President!..."
"EXCALIBUR out."
* * *
Ten minutes later...the bridge of the SHARD OF NIGHT.
"So..." Captain Rahkeel mused, as Director Halloran's image floated in the air in front of him. "The Drakh have finally moved; it was to be expected, eventually..."
"Eventually has become NOW, Captain."
"So be it...I understand, Director, all too *well*, what must be done." Rahkeel sharply replied. "Know that we are breaking off from our present intelligence-gathering mission," at which point, Drakan, his first officer, began issuing *that* very order, "And setting course for Earth.
But to continue; we both know and understand, Director, that this ship and her crew will not reach the homeworld of the Humans in time to meet the Drakh advance...but we *will* be there, eventually...and if the Drakh have gained the upper hand in their battle with the defence fleet, and Earth has been destroyed, then the Drakh will be made to pay for their crimes with their own destruction, down to the last generation.
So do I swear."
* * *
Tuzanor.
His mind working over the tasks ahead, Veyshahk finished putting together his travel pack, muttering under his breath. Sooner or later, he had thought this would happen again...and as per usual, sooner was the alternative that had been chosen.
"I have told them, have I not..." he muttered to himself, "But do they listen to me? Never!" Since the beginning, the Sech'veht had chosen to train new recruits in the mountains north of the city...and inevitably enough, someone would become careless, and injuries would result. At least no one had been *killed*, yet, that he knew of...
"Veyshahk!" He looked up irritably, and sighed. Not again. "Have you heard? There is..."
"Forash, you will have to forgive me, but I do not have time for your...excitations, at the moment. There has been a training accident in the mountains, and since this is so..."
"No!" Forash exclaimed angrily, halting the surprised doctor in mid-word. "This time, I will *not* listen to one of your lectures, Veyshahk. The Sech'veht have commanded that all of us should learn what is occurring on the outside; it is important, it is terrible, and if the instigators succeed in their aims, the world of the Humans will CEASE to be."
"Cease to be?" he replied, his incomprehension at these words paramount. "What is this you say, Forash? We are not in the time of the Shadow War any longer!"
"Nevertheless..." the other Ranger muttered darkly, "The legacy of that time has now reached out to the present. The news is this, Veyshahk; the Drakh, one-time allies of the Shadows, have amassed a fleet to attack Earth; and they have, somehow, resurrected a *planetkiller* that their Masters left behind."
For a moment, even breath stopped; this was *terrible* news; Veyshahk had joined the Rangers in time to experience the end of the Shadow War...he knew, all too well, what was at stake, here. "I will assume, Forash, that some of our kind move to stand against this dark onslaught?"
"Yes...and in addition, a number of Alliance and Human vessels are close enough to reach Earth before the Drakh. Finally, I have learned that the President and his new destroyers will also be there, to hold the line against the Drakh and their dark purpose."
So. Veyshahk nodded briskly. "If anyone can stop their advance, Forash, it is Sheridan."
"I pray that you are right, Veyshahk..." Forash replied, his face somber. "Because if you are *not*..."
Even he could finish that sentence. If Sheridan failed, the Drakh would destroy Earth, and all her peoples.
And *War* would come again.
* * *
The bridge of White Star 27; Earth orbit...
Five minutes before the arrival of the EXCALIBUR and the VICTORY.
Her thoughts troubled, Sheynell looked out upon the world that had once been hers; a world she had exiled herself from, by design and by principle. And now, that world, a world she still cared for, even now, faced a threat it had faced several times before...but this time around, there would be no surrender or last-minute miracles to halt the dark tide.
And as for the defence fleet, it seemed likely that the score of Earthforce destroyers around them would only be able to attack the Drakh's conventional fleet units...even the White Stars might do no better. Sheynell feared that there was only two ships in known space that would be able to take on the planetkiller, and they had not yet arrived; were in fact, only minutes ahead of the Drakh fleet, itself.
And then, her board chimed, and Sheynell blinked, coming back to the here and now. While she had taken her vows, and trained as a Ranger should, every once in a while, as it had even when she had served the Corps...her mind would wander It was a bad habit, and *still* needed to be broken.
"Sir. One jump out, a single vessel..it's a White Star, sir, they're hailing us."
"Do you *have* to keep doing that?" Captain Montoya replied, a hint of annoyance now in his voice.
Oops. "Sorry, sir...the question you were about to ask was right at the top of your mind...I couldn't help it!" And then, seeing his expression darken, she straightened to attention. "I won't do it again, sir."
Montoya snorted, and then turned back towards the matter at hand. "Well now, who could this be? I didn't think there were any more of the Fleet this close to Earth. Accept hail, and display."
At that, the viewscreen rippled down, and Sheynell could not help but jump, so surprising was the revelation. Julia was commanding that ship!...and if *that* was the White Star she thought it was, then where was Julia's commander? "Val'na Montoya...my regards to you and your crew. We stand ready to join your squadron, in Earth's defence."
Montoya's eyes narrowed. "With all due respect, Anla'shok Tikopai, you are not our Sha'vei, and yet, you act as he would. You will, I assume, explain to me the reasoning behind this?"
"Of course. Firstly, less then a half day ago, I was called upon to join my command to the fleet defending Earth by High Councillor Westcastle. Secondly, we were near enough to reach this place before the Drakh...we are Rangers, this is *our* highest duty; and this is a battle that we *must* win, if our homeworld is to survive."
And then, Julia's gaze sharpened, and Sheynell smiled. Here it came..."And finally, the High Council has seen fit to raise me to command rank, for the duration of this crisis. And possibly *longer*, if any of us survive what is to come, that is."
After a moment, Montoya laughed. "Interesting. And how much higher will your star rise, young Tikopai? One is given cause to think you are blessed, somehow, to have risen so far, so fast."
"Or damned." was the reply of White Star 4's present mistress...and then, Sheynell saw Larieken lean over and murmur in his captain's ear, and Julia's expression became hawk-like. "The time for talk has ended, Val'na Montoya...it seems we're about to have another arrival; and I can *guess* who this is going to be, without even trying. And if they're here, then the Drakh are RIGHT behind them...White Star 4 out."
"Is it them?" Montoya asked, a moment later.
"Yes, sir." She winced, then, as the background anxiety on the bridge climbed by a rather healthy margin. This was going to be the first major engagement of her Ranger career...she had *no* doubt whatsoever that before the end of it, the stray mental leakage was going to give her one Hell of a headache..."The EXCALIBUR and the VICTORY are maneuvering to join our forces, sir."
"And the Drakh?"
"Not yet, sir, but..." she stopped, unable to believe what she was seeing...but the instruments could not be argued with; an immense chunk of space out near the Moon had just been torn asunder...
"*Now*, sir."
* * *
The SHARD OF NIGHT...enroute to Earth.
"He is mad!" Varsak exclaimed, while just out of range of that bellow, Nicholas winced. Ever since Captain Rahkeel had changed course and decided to push the SHARD's speed out to the edge of the envelope in a bid to reach Earth if not *before* the Drakh, then before the battle was concluded, the Chief Engineer's mood had gone from the usual (overly protective) to bad (overly furious). Varsak seemed to think that no one, not even the Captain, had the right to push *his* ship to the limit...Nicholas shook his head once more; someone had to stop Varsak before he did something that *everyone* on board would regret. "Mad, I tell you! He cannot push her this much, this fast...I will not have it, it must be stopp.."
Okay, to Hell with this nonsense. Nicholas strode over, and got right in Varsak's face; if the rest of the department wouldn't tell him this, well, *he* would; he was a human, after all...and even though his species was in the minority aboard the SHARD, he wasn't about to let that stop him! "VARSAK! I am going to come straight out and say this, whether you want to hear it, or not. While I understand you don't want the Captain to put even a SCRATCH on this ship, sooner or later, the time for a firefight is going to come, and well, it sure looks to me like this might qualify as that!"
"Your opinion does NOT count, Dawson!" Varsak roared, his fury unabated. "I designed this ship, and as her creator, I will not have this! It cannot be borne...I will not allow it!" Nicholas nodded, as Varsak turned away...okay, if that was way he wanted it, fair enough, that was the way he was going to *get* it.
"Lesaki." he snapped out.
"Yes, sir."
"As Assistant Engineer of this vessel, I am relieving Chief Engineer Varsak of his duties for the duration of the present crisis. You *will* take him to his quarters, until this...period of madness has passed."
Varsak turned back towards him, then, his expression now mocking. "They will not listen to you, Dawson!...you are a human, after all, not a Minbari. They will not..."
"Sir." Varsak paused in mid-tirade, to realize that Lesaki and another member of the engineering crew had placed firm hands on his shoulders. "It with *regret* that I must accede to Assistant Engineer Dawson's demands."
"What? You *cannot*. You WILL not!..."
"We are." Lesaki bowed briefly in Nicholas's direction, and he smiled...before letting out a big sigh of relief. Damn, but that had been close... "Engineering to Bridge."
"This is the Bridge." Captain Rahkeel replied, after a moment. "Mr. Dawson, you wish to report something?"
"Yes, sir. It is with regret that I must inform you that we had to...relieve the Chief Engineer of his duties for the time being."
"I *see*." Rahkeel sighed. "I do not blame you for your choice, Dawson...the inevitability of this moment has not escaped my attention. I fear that Varsak will have to be transferred, shall we say, ELSEWHERE once this crisis is concluded. The blindness of the creator cannot be excused, and partly because this is so, but also for a number of other reasons, I choose you as Chief Engineer, in his place."
Well, I'll be damned, Nicholas thought. "Thank you, sir."
"Do not assume that this will become permanant, however..." Rahkeel cautioned. "Until Earth is saved, nothing, as you humans say, is set in stone."
"I hear you loud and clear, sir."
"Good. Then if there is nothing else, Mr. Dawson, be about your duties..."
Nicholas nodded, as the image faded away. What was done was done.
"Sir."
He turned, expression now grave. "Lesaki."
"It is done, sir. We are yours to command, for the time being."
He nodded. "Sure seems like it. Okay, we know what needs to be done, gentlemen...and that would be whatever the Captain wants of us. If he wants speed, well, we'll give him speed. If he needs to fight, then weapons, he shall have, and all the power he needs. Clear?"
"Very."
He smiled, then, and strode over to look upon the massive generators that kept this ship howling as it did towards Earth...towards these Drakh things, and their nightmarish weapons...but then, the smile faded, and became a worried frown. He understood the distance to Earth, all too well, and even at this speed, they weren't going to make it in time.
And the Drakh? THEY had that planet-killer thing...it had to be stopped...it had to! His parents, his two sisters...everyone he knew, and billions more besides, were under the gun, and the man who was about to lead Earth's defence was a man a previous government had declared a traitor, and more besides...
"Sheridan..." he muttered, "Or Mister President, if you so prefer that title. You've *got* to stop that thing, I'm not going to get back in time to help Mom and Dad...or Gwen and Vic. Damn it..." he stopped for a moment, and fought away the fear.
Word was that Sheridan was going to draw the line against the Drakh with those new-fangled destroyers of his...and also that a lot of Earth and Alliance ships has climbed on board for the battle, as well.
But would it be enough?
* * *
White Star 106; enroute to Earthspace.
Dasouri sighed deeply, as he went about his duties. The humans and Minbari on his ship, and most especially the Captain, were not in a very good mood at the moment, and it was easy to understand why. It wasn't his world, of course, but he knew what evil was...and the Drakh certainly qualified as THAT.
"Is this as *fast* as we can go?" his Captain exclaimed behind him.
"Cannot go any faster, Captain." he testily replied. "Already at limit of endurance, going any faster would damage ship, then we would not reach Earth at all, will have failed in mission."
"He's right, you know..." the White Star's first officer commented. "If we push her any harder, the engines will be damaged."
"Of course he's right..." the Captain snapped. "He's almost ALWAYS right; that's the annoying part, as well you know."
Dasouri closed his eyes for a moment, and sighed. He wished that a time would come when being right would not equal being *shouted* at. But he had chosen his path...and the decision made, could now now be *un*made.
"The battle's already begun, hasn't it?" the first officer inquired.
"Yes...it has."
* * *
"To dance the dance of fire was also to live the memory of what was...
The Memory of War."
* * *
White Star 98. Ten minutes after full engagement.
Klairika closed her eyes briefly for a moment, as her White Star passed neatly between two immense Earthforce destroyers, their weapons glowing with the heat of constant fire; the constant thunder of weapons fire from her own command was equally as fierce. Lines of fire crisscrossed the heavens, a sign she had not seen before...not this seriously, this fiercely. There was a beauty to it, but also a horror...
So many battles and so many wars had raged across the known galaxy in the last twenty cycles. Worlds had been scorched, and torn asunder, and millions upon millions of innocents had died. And now, war had come again...but this was a battle they *had* to win, or Earth would be destroyed...
Now, she understood why her father had seemed so sad, during the few leaves he had taken, during her youth...before his death at the hands of the Shadows. From time to time, he had been forced to take his cruiser into combat...and he had seen members of his own crew die, die because of orders he had given. And sometimes, he had told her, it was no easier to kill those who sought to kill him.
Sometimes. But not now.
On every side, death surrounded her; Drakh ships spinning across the sky to destruction, burnt to shreds by the fires of their own undoing. But those who fought on *her* side were taking just as many casualties...as she watched, the bow of one of the Human destroyers splintered, and the capital ship shuddered, and began to list out of the fleet's advancing wedge. Good men and women of Earth were dying on that ship, even now...and it was all in aid of the two arrow-like destroyers at the heart of the Fleet. Even now, they were drawing near to the edge of the deathcloud...and the time was coming for the President and his ships to do the impossible...the improbable.
But to give the EXCALIBUR and the VICTORY their chance, the rest of the Fleet had to do their job as well as they were able. And even as another cluster of Drakh ships approached, spitting deadly blue fire, she realized that another White Star had fallen in at their side...and smiled, knowing exactly who commanded that ship, and why. And side by side, they fought with the rest to return most of the Drakh squadron to the night that had given them birth.
And then, there was a sudden lull, and Klairika realized that they had reached the edge of the deathcloud... and that the two ISA destroyers were now moving inwards, moved to dance what might be their own dance with destiny. One of the two, the EXCALIBUR, she thought, fired its forward batteries, the beams lancing out at maximum dispersion into the deathcloud. If there were something inside that thing, then maybe the President could kill it...somehow. Maybe he knew something the rest of them didn't...
She only understood that the Drakh had to be stopped...that they *had* to keep on fighting until the Drakh were either all gone, or driven away. Because if the deathcloud could be destroyed, the rest might become easy; hopefully there would be more then enough capital ships in the fleet to take on the Drakh that would be left.
Hopefully.
And these thoughts kept her and her crew alive to fight the good fight, until several astonishing and tragic things happened...
* * *
Rahkeel didn't realize how wound up he had become about the matter of the Drakh attack on Earth until after it was over. To him, not reaching Earth in time was a failure of inescapable magnitude, but *everything* had been against him, this day. And most certainly, they had been cursed by the inescapable nature of space-time; they had not even been close to entering Earth system by the time the call from the President came, the call that told him the battle was over.
"Captain Rahkeel, this is President Sheridan."
"Mr. President..."
"I am going to come straight to the point, Captain. You are to cease your approach to Earth and set your course for Minbar, no questions asked. We have a lot of difficult decisions to make because of what has just happened, and this is only one of the first."
"Mr. President!" Rahkeel began again, rising to his feet. "I must assume, since we are having this conversation, that you and ther rest were successful in preventing the Drakh from destroying the Earth?"
"That is correct, Captain..." The President stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Unfortunately, to defeat and destroy the deathcloud, the VICTORY, and all aboard her, were forced to give up their lives...but yes, we prevented them from destroying the Earth...we killed their deathcloud, and destroyed their fleet."
"Then we won." Rahkeel declared, a smile coming to his face.
"No, Captain...we did not."
"Mr. President?" It was then that President Sheridan explained to him why there had been *no* winners in the battle for Earth. And after the conversation concluded, Rahkeel gave the order to change course, and then left the bridge in silence, his bridge crew equally silent and numb around him. Admittedly, there were some of them, in the past, who had thought of the Humans as the Enemy...but since then, the Humans had done a great deal of good; for them to come to this end would be a terrible thing.
A terrible thing, indeed.
* * *
"We must speak, Dawson..." Varsak began, as he cornered his former assistant in the Engineering ready room. "About a great many things."
"I'm listening..." Nicholas ground out, after a moment. "Start talking."
"To begin..." Varsak stated, his expression terrifyingly bitter. "I must ask if what you did during our recent run to Earth, was done on purpose. Did you move, then and there, to take advantage of my weakness? Because if that was the case, all the rest of what I wish to say to you may be in doubt..."
Nicholas thought about those words for a moment, and then replied, "No, Varsak...I didn't. What you did, you did all by yourself, by going nuts when we were placed in a period of crisis. A Chief Engineer is supposed to keep his ship working for his Captain...but when the need to protect this ship became stronger then the need to serve our Captain...that was when you forced me to draw the line. I'm sorry, Varsak...that's the just the way it is."
Varsak's expression crashed from bitterness into regret, at that statement of fact. "So. In the end, it has come down to something I swore I would never allow; my blind spot has struck me down. It is bitter medicine to swallow, Nicholas Dawson, more bitter then you can know. And since Captain Rahkeel will undoubtedly have his way in this matter, it would appear that I chose my assistant wisely..."
Nicholas frowned, and then realized what Varsak was driving at. "Oh, now WAIT a minute..."
"Peace, Nicholas." Varsak continued, his expression now genial. "You knew when to act, when it was right to do so...when it was necessary. For that I cannot blame you...but there is more."
Varsak paused for a moment, and then continued. "As you inferred, there comes a time when the mission must come *before* the ship, and the crew, before the mission. I ignored both of these rules, when I sought to stop Rahkeel...if things had gone badly, in my rage I might have killed us all. This is inexcusable, and as such..."
"You wish me to follow in your footsteps."
Varsak smiled thinly, and nodded. "That would be...the *acceptable* alternative, yes. When I chose you to aid in the design and construction of this ship, I was taking a chance, Nicholas...and that decision was the correct one, or so it would seem. I will retire from this duty, as I have been...commanded to, and you will carry on in my place...if that is what you wish.
That *is*, what you wish, is it not? I cannot demand of you this thing, given what has happened to Earth, and those you know. I must assume that your family was down there, when this plague attack happened?"
Nicholas nodded numbly. "My parents, my sisters, their husbands, and my niece and nephew...they're ALL down there, Varsak. They've *all* got this thing...this plague the Drakh sprayed into the Earth's atmosphere. They're all living on borrowed time, and I don't know what to do! I don't know how I can help, by staying here...and I certainly can't go back to Earth; I'd get it, too!"
"Attend, then, to this piece of wisdom..." Varsak told him. "We have been recalled to Minbar, and I do not believe it is for an idle reason. Our time amidst the stars working for Director Halloran *may* be coming to an end; this plague that afflicts your homeworld is a problem that overruns all others. And I do not doubt that President Sheridan will shortly call upon this crew, and this ship, to help find a *cure* for the plague that ails your people.
A struggle is starting, a struggle that will last until either a cure is found...or your people lie dead in their billions. And given President Sheridan's past history, I do not believe that he will accept the latter alternative.
Varsak bowed to him, then, a bow that he returned, if a little jarringly. "Good day to you, Chief Engineer Dawson...and good luck.
Because if VI'DALAE AN'SHAKA, my creation, is sent where I think it will be sent, you will need all the luck you can find, and more, besides..."
* * *
White Star 4, enroute to Minbar.
How had it happened, Julia asked herself, her thoughts dischordant and broken, as she sat there in silence, on the bridge of the ship she had commanded through the battle just past. How could they have *allowed* this to happen? They had failed...somehow, they had *all* failed in their mission, their duty, and what had happened had been the result.
In her memories, she saw the Earth, shimmering beneath a greasy black pall...a cloud of death left by the Drakh in an ultimate act of spite...and now, *billions* of her kind had been poisoned by that final gift...and curse.
She sat in silence, and beside her, Larieken did the same, his expression troubled. When they reached Minbar, she had no doubt that a great many things would be decided...that a great many difficult decisions would have to be made. Many of them, she suspected, would revolve around the surviving Alliance destroyer, the EXCALIBUR...for now, or so she had heard, the only one of her kind...for some time to come. But the EXCALIBUR was a great and noble ship, nevertheless...perhaps, if all went well, it would be an ideal center for the struggle ahead of them all.
We went to space, she pondered, because we wanted to learn what was out here between the stars, in the dark places we could not see. And in the end, that might be the only thing that would stop Earth from becoming the dead world the Drakh wished it to be.
But at the same time, she could not help but think back to what Galen had told her, all those long months ago. That if all were to be saved, a Great Sacrifice would be necessary. And if the Technomage was right, what would she have to sacrifice, to save the countless people and creatures of Earth from their fate?"
"And a Child will lead them..." she whispered to herself.
But to where? And more importantly...
How?
* * *
<To be continued in Part 7...with the answer to her question...>