His gaze dark and brooding, Palakz sat in his seat-of-command and looked out upon the shimmering veil of hyperspace, the nearer forms of his fellow Vekh'shivalht's carriers against the L'shaai`z backdrop. Most of them were unharmed, of course, so little time had they spent at Sinzar... while his forces, on the other hand, had been broken and shattered. Out of of the ten warships he had ordered into the battle, only three had survived, his included, and over three quarters of his cruisers had been destroyed, their valuable warrior crews lost, during the engagement.
The humans, he grudgingly admitted, had fought well protecting their colony world. But even so, they would not have done as well as they had if not their unseen and unknown ally had joined them against his Order. *Still* that bothered him, how a warship of his enemies (for enemies they had to be, to attack him and his) could hide itself so completely, and strike his junior commanders without warning!
A test, the Sha'drakh had called it, a ploy to draw out the human forces, to see what resources the enemies of the Drakh could draw upon. A test it had been, but not the one his Elder had intended. *He* had been tested to the utmost, and had been forced into ordering a retreat before any of his followers... a rare way of thinking for his kind, to be sure, but the correct choice to make at that moment.
Now, he knew the hidden enemy existed, and Palakz realized what it was he had to do. This new threat had to be dealt with swiftly, for not only did the hidden ship clearly use Vorlon weapons technology, it also managed to emulate the banished warships of his former Masters in their stealth and guile.
Palakz smiled viciously, then, as a new thought came to him. Born of both darkness and light, this new enemy was... and thus, an abomination that had to be destroyed, if the rest of the Entire were to succeed in their plans.
"Your thoughts run deep." Raeznon noted, from behind. "Having passed through the trial just concluded at your side, as is proper, will you share those thoughts with me?"
He turned towards her, the smile still in place. So be it; the conspiracy could begin here, with one who was closer to him then any other Drakh. Now that the path had revealed itself to him, this was where the strike back against his hidden enemies would begin. He would first recruit those he trusted, and then, the Dark Ones willing, perhaps more.
"We will return to our Place of Power, my Vaarliht," he informed her, "To repair and rearm our forces, and draw more warriors to our side from the other Orders, those that wish..a *special* challenge.
And then, Raeznon," he concluded, "The hunt will begin."
* * *
The SHARD OF NIGHT. Uninhabited system, approximately 30 light years from Sinzar. The brig.
"I do not like what it is that I hear." Julia declared, as she slowly paced back and forth in front of Nicholas and Sheynell. "What you are saying, it implies a conspiracy of the highest level!"
"Yes." the telepath replied, her gaze steady. "It does. But what I have discovered cannot be denied or ignored. The moment I tried to touch Klavait's mind to try and find out who had sent him on this mission of sabotage, he began to convulse, and I called Veyshahk to send aid. Anla'shok Nividia arrived soon thereafter, but it was already too late by that point."
"Between our examinations of the patient, both physically and telepathically," Taylene Nividia clinicly noted, "We were able to deduce that the seizure was a result of a telepathic command planted in Klavait's mind before he joined us. Much of his recent memory seems to have been erased; he does not recall how he came aboard, *nor* any of the time since then."
"And most importantly, from my point of view," Sheynell added, "Whatever information he learned about us and this command has also been erased by the command planted in his mind. A command planted by a telepath who wasn't human, as far as I can tell."
"Which implies," Julia concluded, "That Mr. Klavait encountered certain, shall we say, 'allies' on Minbar, allies who knew a great deal about the inner workings of the SHARD OF NIGHT...Minbari, I would say. Mr. Dawson, would you care to share any light on who these shadowy opponents might be?"
"Could be anyone." the engineer replied with a shrug. "There were a lot of Minbari that weren't happy about Sheridan giving you command of this ship, Captain...and plenty of those are Warrior Caste, some of which haven't changed their way of thinking about us since the Earth-Minbari War ended.
And then, there's Alit Rahkeel, isn't there? I can't help but think, Captain, that he might be one of the ones who set up Klavait as a worm in our dark little apple. And that sooner or later, Rahkeel will come back to haunt us with another plot of some sort..."
Whatever she had been about to say in response was interrupted at that point by a long chime-alert that sounded at that point, an alert they all already recognized quite well.
Battle stations.
"Klairika!" Julia exclaimed. "What's going on?"
Almost instantly, the ship's computer called a hologram into being depicting the bridge of the SHARD, and the now-deadly serious Brakiri who presently commanded in that place. "Val'na..." her first officer began. "I believe that you and Anla'shok Keynes should join us on the bridge.
We have a problem."
* * *
By the time she reached the bridge, Julia already had a fairly good idea of what was going on, since the computer had been more then willing to give her a view of the space around her command enroute. And one, specific, *recent* addition to that area of vacuum that was causing the present concern.
As she rounded the curve of the bridge, she saw that Dasouri had, at last, returned to his station as well, having been released by the doctor on his own recognizance, having returned, more or less, to normal. Not that this was a surprise, of course; the Drazi had long been known for having strong temprements...
For now, though, she needed to focus. There were other, far more *critical* matters to deal with, for the moment.
"I was afraid this was going to happen," she informed her first officer. "And the moment the DE'MOLAY entered Sinzar system, I knew she'd find a way to follow me."
"Just out of curiousity," Larieken inquired, "If you don't mind me asking, that is... just how long *has* it been since you and your mother have met face to face?"
"Three and a half years since the last time; I've been busy, and so has she. For now though, we've got a problem. The core of President Sheridan's orders revolves around our secretive nature, and if our cover gets blown, the Drakh are soon going to figure out where we are, and then we'll have whole battlefleets dogging our every move!"
"Nevertheless," Klairika informed her, "I fear that we are about to discover who it is we can trust with our secret. Your mother is just beginning to issue a message to the system-at-large..."
She curtly nodded, settling deeper into her chair. "Show me."
The holo-curtain rippled down, then, and Julia sighed when she saw her mother's image. Her hair was touched more with silver now then the last time they'd been together, and the lines on her face a trifle deeper... but her voice? Her voice had not changed in the slightest.
"This is Captain Bethany Tikopai of the Earth Alliance Warlock Class Destroyer DE'MOLAY to unknown alien warship that joined the Earth forces in the defence of Sinzar. I regret to inform you that the advanced sensors package aboard my command was able to track your vessel to this place; I'm sorry if this compromises your need for security, but *my* need to discover the nature of those who aided us this day is equally strong. Please understand that we mean you no harm; we only wish to talk to you...to find out why you attacked the Drakh when you did, and if we can, perhaps, establish some sort of permanant alliance."
Julia watched her mother's gaze harden, then, however. "You must also understand, however, that if you decide to open a jump point and attempt to escape, we will follow you until you give us an answer, or introduce us to someone who will. It is my opinion that the only way you and yours can maintain your secrecy is if you *talk* to us, and bring this matter to a reasonable conclusion.
I and my crew only wish to *learn* who you are, and why you helped us... that is all.
I await your reply."
"What we are we going to do?" Klarika asked her, as the message ended. "Admittedly, she *is* your mother..."
"But all the same," Larieken warned, "There is a chance that there may be a spy within her crew, someone who will report our nature and presence to the Drakh. Do we dare take this chance?"
She took in a deep breath, then, on one hand fearing that very outcome, but on the other, also feeling the need to speak to someone dear to her, someone who had so often been seperated from her, not only by distance, but by career choice as well.
She smiled. "Do we dare take this chance, did you say? Yes, Larieken, I think we can indeed. My mother and her crew have been through a lot together over the past five years on the DE'MOLAY; not only do they trust each other, they've all got their own fair share of secrets to keep already, what's one more?"
"Val'na." Sheynell noted, her gaze icy. "Be *very* sure that this is the right thing to do. Once we take this step, there is no going back."
"No. There isn't, but my mind's made up." Julia straightened in her seat, then. "Na'lai Alidiae."
"Command me." Klairika said.
"Prepare to disengage darklight mode, open comm channel with the DE'MOLAY."