("A Place to Call Home"

"STAR AND CIRCLE: THE SEEKER'S FIRE"
EPISODE SEVENTEEN: "A PLACE TO CALL HOME"

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(disclaimers and associated descriptions in overture)

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        <<Act Three>>

        ISAS 'Shard of Night' - Sector 979, in close proximity to the Artifact Ring City - 13:00 hrs, EST.

        Her eyes upon the panorama beyond the windows of the 'Shard's' observation deck, Julia didn't bother turning when the door opened behind her... she knew who was standing there even as it happened. "Sheynell - is he..."

        "As near as I can tell... he's resting. He was... gone for a long time, Julia - longer than is probably safe for the portable setup he and Lesaki built. And inevitably he's going to have to go back again - I get the impression that what his family's waiting for... that it hasn't happened yet."

        Julia nodded, her expression becoming bleaker as she tore her mind away from the vista outside. "There's no easy way to deal with something like this, 'Nell... but he's trying, which is a big accomplishment all in itself. I guess..."

        "You were being too hard on him for doing what he did?" the telepath finished for her, her expression still only a *little* forgiving. "Yeah, you were - but this year's been hard on us all, Julia... and as captain of this ship, you've always been at the heart of the storm."

        "A hard place to be at times..." Julia whispered. "A *very* hard place. While I've come to depend on Nicholas for so much in the past few months - and when you told me he'd abandoned us to return to Earth..."

        "All I ask is that you not shout too loudly when he finally does come out." Sheynell replied. "Whatever discussion you have should be constructive... not destructive."

        Julia suddenly grinned. "Duly noted, conscience mine! Actually, yelling is the last thing on my mind for Mr. Dawson when he comes out of his sanctuary."

        "That's good to hear - now, for the moment you've been waiting for - Klairika and her team have almost reached the surface of the ring city. Dasouri's found something that looks like an airlock, and she's asking for permission to try to open it..."

* * *

        13:30 hrs, EST.

        "Un-fraggin-believable." Nicholas managed, as he gazed at an image of the Artifact, and more specifically at the data coming in from the sensor network relating to the now close-nearby ring city. "Why did this have to be the day they found what's *got* to be the biggest engineering marvel I've ever seen..."

        "You do not say." a cool voice announced from behind. "What you would call a marvel, Nicholas Dawson... I would call a home."

        Nicholas whirled. "What the Hell, how did you..." The engineer stopped, taking in the shimmery projection standing in front of him, of what appeared to be a silver haired man in a dark suit, severe of expression... and almost instantly he understood. "Oh, isn't this cute... a hologram. Okay, Lesaki... what is this, some kind of joke?"

        "I am afraid, Mr. Dawson, that your esteemed associate is not responsible for this... apparation, would you call it? I sensed in you a kindred soul, someone who has also chosen to walk through the void to do what is necessary, separated from his crew and those he loved by the task he has chosen to undertake. And so I decided it would be safest, once I had learned what it was you and the others are doing here... to come and speak to you first."

        Nicholas frowned. "Okay - just who the Hell are you, anyways?"

        The hologram smiled in turn. "Not, I will admit, exactly what I appear to be. You may call me... the Authority - and for more years than I care to remember, I have guarded this place for Those-who-have-passed-Beyond... those who created me, so long ago."

        Was this actually happening? "Woah, wait a minute - are you trying to tell me that you're some kind of artificial intelligence?"

        "Perhaps I can be called that, yes." the Authority admitted after a moment. "Bred to suspicion, ordered to protect this place... but my greatest faults have always been curiousity, and hope... and so it was that I reached out and touched the memory you carry within this vessel... the memory of your people, and what it is they have done during my Watch in this place."

        "You mean... you downloaded the history of the Wars, of the Interstellar Alliance - without the Rangers knowing you were doing it?" He laughed. Now that Nicholas thought about it, what with all the other weird stuff that had happened to them this year... yeah, this probably actually *was* happening.

        The apparition nodded its head solemnly. "My nanobots were very careful not to raise alarms when they sifted through your memory stores - shielded themselves from your watcher programs, and have now returned to me with what they have gathered."

        "And if you hadn't liked what you found out?"

        "The consequences would not have been pleasant, I assure you." the Authority told him. "Luckily for all concerned, that was not the case. While I believe you have somewhere to go, Mr. Dawson... and something to do."

        "And are you going to contact the Rangers while I'm gone?"

        "I do not believe so. They are impetuous, most of them... and full of the need to find a cure to the plague that even now is close to striking down a member of your family. But they are not yet ready to speak to me, as *you* were ready to speak to me... Mr. Dawson." A thin smile appeared on the Authority's 'face'. "And now, I believe it it time for you to undertake another voyage to your homeworld. Once you have completed your tasks, perhaps we will speak to your captain and her Rangers. Perhaps."

        "This is one *Hell* of a secret you're asking me to keep, you know."

        "Yes... but you *will* keep it, won't you?"

        Nicholas smiled. "Yeah - I think I will... for now, at least."

        "Then go, Mr. Dawson... and do what it is you have to do. All other decisions can be made once you return."

* * *

        On the surface of the Ring City - 13:50 hrs, EST.

        "Most frustrating, this is!" Dasouri declared, as the Drazi and Klairika stood on the edge of the portal they'd discovered - one of what now seemed to be thousands if not *millions* spaced evenly around the rim of the Artifact's ring city. "There are no control panels, no means of opening airlock..."

        "Frustrating to us, perhaps..." Klairika observed, while Dasouri carefully made his way onto the surface of the airlock to join the other Rangers looking for a way in. "The thing we have to remember, Dasouri, is that the race that built this place was old before my ancestors learned what it was to speak to the dead, before your kind... STOP!"

        "Na'lai?" one of the other Rangers exclaimed, "What's..."

        Had she seen it? "You and the others were evenly spaced around the perimeter of the airlock for a moment - and it moved... it rotated!" Dasouri nodded his understanding, and a moment later, the Rangers, Klairika included, moved to evenly space themselves around the edge of the oval... which almost immediately began to rotate, and sink into the surface beneath.

        "Wish to enter has been granted." Dasouri observed with a wary grin. "But is response automatic... or do we walk into kaz`nur lair as appetizer before main course?"

        "I do not know..." Klairika admitted, as four petal-like surfaces came together above their heads. "All the same, we do not wish to attract undue attention. And thus far this place appears to be deserted..." Which was when the airlock surface came to a halt... and another portal opened to reveal the massive, partly transparent interior of the ring city beyond... and the multitude of buildings and towers that covered its interior. "Although it is obvious that many sentients once lived here."

        "Many." Dasouri agreed. "As we suspected... there are areas of artificial gravity in this place - and perhaps elsewhere in the Artifact, as well. There is also air..."

        "But not that we can breathe." she replied, checking the exterior readouts on her suit.

        Dasouri nodded curtly as he did the same. "Those that built this place were like us - and yet not. Builders they were..."

        "But whether they were collectors of knowledge has yet to be determined. We have to look, Dasouri... perhaps try to enter some of their structures... and see if they left anything behind. Because if they were on the side of the Vorlons, and fought the Shadows in the Great Cycle..." Klairika paused then, and shivered as a wave of cold passed through her - strange, considering that the suits carried onboard the *Shard* were more than capable of protecting her Rangers from the environments they needed to face on their search. The feeling was familiar... and unsettling - the last time she had felt the sensation this intently was when her father had come to her during the Day of the Dead.

        "Something is... concerning you." Dasouri said. "This place - do you..."

        "Sense the ghosts of its builders?"

        "I was not about to say it."

        "And I am not about to confirm it. Except..."

        "You have suspicions."

        She nodded. "I think that something's watching us - and if I'm right, I mean to track that something down... and ask it some questions. For starters - why is it watching us..."

        "And who does it serve?"

        Klairika grinned and nodded - and the grin was *anything* but friendly.

* * *

        From its place in between the moments, the place its Creators had given it to hide in, the Authority observed the intruders in its domain... and was perturbed by what it saw. The young leader of those who had come to this place had made a very interesting choice in sending the one who was Brakiri to lead the expedition into the city interior... and now it appeared as if the Brakiri had sensed its presence somehow. More and *more* interesting... if it was true - for while the Authority was not a 'ghost' as these short lived creatures termed things... it was, in its own fashion - alive.

        Unfortunately, the yang to that yin (as one subset of the race that named itself humanity termed things) was death... a fate that the humans would be facing all too soon, unless these Rangers and others succeeded in their mission. A bold species they were, to gather together the means to defeat and banish the Great Enemy as well as their sworn enemies... but they had paid the price for their daring. Now, the questions were would they find what they were seeking... and also, could it help them in their quest?

        And even... should it? The Authority believed it had chosen correctly in revealing itself to the ship-builder named Dawson... but wasn't sure if it should reveal itself to the other crewmembers onboard the Interstellar Alliance warship... *especially* their hot-headed leader, the one named Tikopai. Perhaps it would wait to ask Dawson his opinion when he next returned - but would that be too long to wait? Who knew how long it would take for Dawson to deal with his crisis of family. In any case, the decision would have to be made... and soon.

        And then, what would follow... would follow.

* * *

        Colorado Springs, Earth - 09:15 hrs, Local Time.

        "It's almost time, Meigs... time to let her go."

        "I know." Meighan admitted, as she turned to face her father. "I didn't think it was going to be this hard. Damnit, it's not fair! - what did any of us do to make those Drakh things hate us enough to try and kill every living thing on Earth?"

        "The ISA reports tell us that the Drakh were servants to those Shadow things - and that when the Shadows left, their homeworld, the place the Drakh had been living in for thousands of years... was destroyed."

        "Their home was destroyed, so in turn they're trying to destroy ours." Meighan said, her tone dull. "And us."

        "And us." Robert agreed. "But they haven't succeeded yet, kiddo... not completely."

* * *

        Again, he remembered.

        <Flash>

        "No way... is this the day? Is it?"

        "You bet, Mars - I *told* he was gonna teach you to ride your pony today..."

        <Flash>

        "So what do you think?"

        Marie snorted. "Warlock? What the Hell kind of name for a warship class is that? And you're going to help design these things?"

        "Yep - they needed a *lot* of help to help design those ships, and well, my name just happened to come to the top of the list."

        "Oh, right..." Nicholas's sister retorted, as she glanced at the ship schematics he'd brought down to show her. "Answer me one thing, though - why are these ships you're working on named the Warlock *Gamma*'s? As in, what was wrong with the Alphas and Betas?"

        Nicholas gulped - he'd been hoping she wouldn't point that out. "Now that's a long story. I could tell you..."

        "But then you'd have to kill me? Yep, heard that one before, too." Marie began to laugh as she took in the hurt expression on his face. "Forget it, Nick - shipbuilding's your life, and who am I to stand in the way of progress... or battleships named after sorcerers and their arts."

        "Except... not so many of the new ones are named after sorcerers, actually."

        "And I suppose *that* would be part of that story you can't tell me about, right?"

        He grinned sheepishly. "Uh, yeah... something like that."

* * *

Nicholas stood underneath a tree that had been growing for over a century, a tree whose leaves were now brilliant with the colours of autumn, and remembered. Remembered the good times, and the bad - and everything in between. A tree that he'd chosen as a meeting point... a place the others could come to in their time of need. And as the memories came to an end, Nicholas watched his family approach - and in that moment decided that he wasn't going to let any more of them die for the sake of an ancient hate... and that the decision he had to make was probably going to be easier than he had thought it was going to be.

* * *

        "She's gone, isn't she?"

        "Yeah," Tracie admitted, her expression uncertain, "The woman you saw in the hospital... she passed away about an hour ago. How did you know?"

        Kaitlyn shrugged, her eyes dark and shadowed beneath her long brown hair. "I'm not sure... I just *knew*, that's all. Can you find out where the funeral is going to be?"

        "I guess... why?"

        "Because *he'll* be there." Kaitlyn replied, her gaze suddenly intent. "Because I want to talk to him."

        Tracie snorted. "And how, exactly, are you going to find an invisible man?"

        "Because it's necessary... because I *can*. Because I want to tell him that not all of us have lost hope - and that when he and the rest do find the cure to the plague... that some of us just might join him out there."

        "Whaaaat?" the other girl blurted. "Are you out of your mind?"

        "No." Kaitlyn observed, her tone serene, "And once I take this first small step...

        Anything is possible."

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        "And now the time has come to say what must be said, Mr. Dawson. You have honored the final request of one who was close to you in this life... perhaps now is the time to reveal the truth of what you seek - and what you know."

        Nicholas nodded, his expression solemn as the hologram of the Authority waited patiently to see what he would do next. "I have to go back one more time before it's all over... but you're right, I don't suppose it makes much sense to stay in here any longer. I guess it's time..."

        "To face the music?" the Authority wryly observed. The entity chuckled then as Nicholas' eyebrows rose. "It was easy to deduce what you were going to say next, given the simplicity of your language... but you are right, Mr. Dawson. Now you must speak to your captain.

        As must... I."

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Lesaki said nothing when the door to his superior's office opened... but merely fell in at Dawson's side as the other engineer made his way resolutely towards the transport tube... and the confrontation beyond. The Minbari knew that the Rangers posted by the ship's tactical officer had fallen in behind them to ensure that Mr. Dawson didn't decide to travel elsewhere, say to the hangar deck... but also knew that those Rangers would not interfere so long as the man they were guarding continued on his present straight line course towards his captain.

While their silence spread to fill the bridge as they arrived at their destination.

* * *

        The door opened, and Nicholas stepped inside, turning to face the by-now familiar dark-haired figure sitting behind the desk in the corner as he did so. "Captain."

        "Nicholas - so kind of you to join us."

        He laughed. "What, no explosions, no ranting and raving?"

        "No..." Julia replied, "None of the above - although that might not have been the case if you've come out sooner. You've got something to say to me, Nicholas... else you wouldn't have come out at all. So say it... and I promise I'll listen, and try to understand."

        He nodded. "I will - but before I do, there's someone else who'd like to have a word with you. And I really do *think* you should hear him out." At which point the Authority phased into existence beside him... setting off every alarm in the ready room as he did so.

        "That was a little noisy, wasn't it?" Nicholas said.

        The door burst open, and Sheynell rushed in, several other Rangers behind her. "Julia, are you..." The telepath stopped dead when she saw the shimmery silver haired figure at Nicholas' side. "What the Hell is..."

        "What I am, you will learn soon enough." the Authority informed the astonished Rangers, as a thoroughly amused Nicholas threw himself into the first available chair. "For now, however, as a certain other individual has said to you from time to time, Val'na Tikopai...

        We need to *talk*."

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To be continued!

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