Writer's Note: and now begins the oft-tricky job of tying up most if not all of the loose ends in this series...
* * *
"STAR AND CIRCLE: THE SEEKER'S FIRE"
EPISODE TWENTY-ONE: "THE END OF THE INNOCENCE"
'Featuring'
DAVID ALLEN BROOKS as Max Eilerson
GARY COLE as Captain Matthew Gideon
JEFFREY COMBS as Harriman Gray
ROMA DOWNEY as Brianna Tolmanes
MEREDITH HENDERSON as Kaitlyn Hughes
LANCE HENRIKSON as Praetor Questus
MARJEAN HOLDEN as Dr. Sarah Chambers
DANIEL DAE KIM as Lt John Matheson
NICHOLAS LEA as Rahkeel
LINDSAY LOHAN as Jaida Tefano
ROB LOWE as Kavanagh
JAMES MARSDEN as Mordechai Ben Zayn
GREGORY MARTIN as General Ari Ben Zayn
MARJORIE MONAGHAN as Tessa Halloran
JAMES MORRISON as Tashann
RUFUS SEWELL as Shai Alyt Kozorr
ED WASSER as Aazhvar
PETER WINGFIELD as Palakz
NANA VISITOR as Raeznon
GEMA ZAMPROGNA as Tirivail
With,
BRUCE BOXLEITNER as President John Sheridan
RUSSELL CROWE as William Westcastle
and PETER WOODWARD as Galen
* * *
The Excalibur - hangar deck. 07:40 hrs, EST - Dec 12th, 2267.
In his long years of service to the Code of Technomancy, there had been some days when Galen had found himself thinking of all the plans he and the others had set in motion since the first time they'd discovered the truth about the darkness returning to the galaxy. A darkness that had sent the Order fleeing in search of sanctuary, a shadow that had even set mage against mage before the end. Some of those plans had cost lives in their failure... while others had succeeded in their aims beyond his wildest ambitions. "The road has been a long one," the mage allowed, as the transport carrying Julia Tikopai set gently down on the hangar floor before him, "But for a wonder, with respect to this mattter, everything seems to have turned out more or less as I had forseen..."
A wraithlike chuckle sounded in the back of his head, and Galen smiled as a sprite-like image of Vejar appeared above his right shoulder. "Now, now - if you go on like this, Galen, you're only going to get a swelled head. Just because our darling little Seeker is about to set foot on the 'Excalibur' is not a cause for celebration. Let's see if the two can actually get along before breaking out the champagne..."
With a wave of one hand, Galen banished his would-be conscience, and stepped forward to meet the grey-cloaked figure standing on the exit ramp of the transport, her eyes downcast and teeth apparently nibbling on lower lip. Galen let out a sigh - in most respects the young Ranger before him could now be considered an adult - but the shreds of a childhood lost could still be seen hanging around her like ghosts on occasion. "Anla'shok Tikopai - well, well. It would appear as if your first officer has managed to keep you alive after all. I shall have to congratulate her on a job well done the next time we speak."
In an instant the uncertainty vanished to be replaced by a brilliant smile as Julia stepped off the ramp to come to his side. "Only if you promise not to scare the living daylights out of her again."
"Perhaps that can be arranged. Now, just out of curiousity - what are you feeling?"
The smile vanished, to be replaced by a shiver. "If you must know, a slight case of deja vu. The time I went through the 'door' into my opposite's body..."
"Ah, yes - the time you nearly got killed. Again."
Julia glared at him, an expression the mage endured stoicly as the two made their way off hangar deck and towards the nearest transport tube. "Don't rub it in - I think there's already plenty of salt in that wound."
"Accepted - you were saying?"
"Anyways, during that... ah, adventure, I actually spent a lot of time on the doppleganger version of this ship - so deja vu it is. I've been here before... but at the same time, I've never been here in my life. I've met Gideon..."
"But not this one." Galen clarified, his tone that of a headmaster to his student. "You do not know this man like I know him - have not spent months of your life working at his side as he has shouldered the expectations of a world under the gun. Now is the time to walk carefully - remember that it is very difficult to become an ally of this man, and very easy to become his enemy."
"I'll try to take those words to heart." Julia promised, her expression solemn as the two approached the Excalibur's dining hall. "I've always worried what would happen if he ever found out. I guess now I get to find out first hand. Wish me luck?"
"You do not need luck." Galen replied, as they came to the doorway. "You only need your intuition."
* * *
Several sectors distant from Ari Ben Zayn's armada, a pair of ships hung together beneath the searing light of a contact binary star, the distinct reddish and pale blue light of those stars playing upon their hulls. In a time not far removed from this one, Rahkeel considered, his Stormwind and Palakz's Nelaziz would have been set against one another... one vessel serving darkness, the other light. But that had been before black and white had blurred, and only shadows remained - before he had let his anger consume him, before the path had chosen him and the rest. And now, there were decisions to be made - and those decisions could not be made lightly.
Behind Rahkeel, the door slid open, and the Minbari turned to face the figure standing there. "I see you, Akanakaton." Palakz said, his face expressionless. Rahkeel nodded - in their brief time together on this path of darkness and betrayal, the Drakh had explained that term to him, one of many that his kind used to describe renegades, those who had turned away from the better interests of the race to follow their own aims. The implication being that those who lead among the Drakh had long since applied this term to Palakz in particular, and to his followers in general.
Traitors, others would say - by now, Rahkeel considered, the time was probably drawing near when those he had once served would be saying the same of him. It did not matter, none of it mattered any longer... not even the bargain of alliance they had made with General Ben Zayn. The only thing that mattered now was finishing what he had started when he had taken command of the Stormwind... of finding the Vorlon-touched changeling who had stolen his ship from him, and of meeting her in battle. And if he succeeded, and survived, perhaps then he would return home, to pay the price for what he had done.
Perhaps. "I see you." Rahkeel agreed, as the Drakh came to his side. "You understand as well as I do what must be done. The Earther Ben Zayn has cast us aside as he moves on to face his destiny - we are free to act. Free to do what must be done."
"What must be done cannot be until we know where the Anla'shok Tikopai can be found." Palakz countered. "Where she is, and where she is going. Once these things are learned, a pattern may emerge, a pattern which will allow us to determine what it is the Rangers are planning."
"If they still live, that is. As yet, we have no proof that any one member of that ship's crew survived Illithan's trap..."
"Alyt." Rahkeel fell silent then as a hologram suddenly sprang to life between them, an image of the Stormwind's cold-eyed yet capable first officer Tirivail. "Forgive the interruption, but a Z'shailyl scout cruiser has just emerged from hyperspace - its commander wishes to speak with you both."
Rahkeel nodded, and a moment later the image of the Z'shailyl replaced Tirivail's. "Aazhvar." Palakz hissed, "You have something to report?"
"Yesss." Aazhvar replied, "Viknahz sends word - the Dark Ones, even though they be gone from our side, still smile upon us - he has found the quarry we seek. Be warned, however," the Z'shailyl cautioned, "That they do not move alone. Numerous other enemy vessels accompany them, including the daggership named..."
"Excalibur?" Rahkeel exclaimed, his expression now one of astonishment. "Do you mean to say, Aazhvar, that the ships commanded by Gideon and Tikopai move together, openly?"
The Z'shailyl nodded... and Rahkeel began to laugh. "What is it you find so amusing?" the Drakh demanded.
"Her secret is out." Rahkeel managed. "There must be some way to take advantage of this... but how?"
"Aazhvar," Palakz ordered, "You and the others are to converge on the present position of our enemies - learn where it is they are going, and report back to us when this becomes clear to you."
"I hear you, Vekh'zhivalht," the Z'shailyl confirmed, "And will obey."
* * *
The Excalibur - private dining facility. 08:15 hrs, EST.
She'd known from the moment she stepped into the room how it would have to go - what she would have to say to him, and why. It hadn't been easy, but nothing this important ever was. Cup of tea cradled between her hands, Julia gazed across the table and into the face of a man who was doing his best not to look at her. Neither of them had eaten much, but then again, neither of them had come to this place for that reason. Food could come later - for now, the only thing that mattered was the truth.
"So there you have it, Captain - in a fifteen minute summation, that's the story of my life over the past year - watching from the shadows and waiting for the next attack to come, while at the same time having to deal with the half dozen other crises fate has chosen to throw in our direction. I won't blame you for being angry at me... I've known this day would come from the moment President Sheridan gave me this job. If I was in your place, I'd probably feel the same..."
"In my place." Gideon laughed, the sound not one of amusement but rather of irony. "That's a good one. When I was your age, kid, I hadn't even entered Earthforce yet. You're more than fifteen years away from being in my place..."
"With one foot still in the cradle, is that it?"
"You said it - not me."
Crack. Gideon's eyes widened as Julia slammed the cup down on the table. "And maybe you're right. Maybe I've been the fool all along. Maybe when my destiny called, when the door that lead to this life opened up in front of me, it would have been nice if another option had presented itself. Unfortunately for me, a certain Vorlon dragged me through that door, and I didn't even bother to struggle, because at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. When President Sheridan asked me to protect you and your crew, I said yes, because it seemed to be the right thing to do. And Valen help me, in the half dozen times since then that my crew have nearly died around me, I have not abandoned that duty... because that would have been the wrong thing to do."
"Are you quite finished?" Gideon asked her, one eyebrow raised.
Julia drew in a breath - had she gone too far? "Yes - I think that should just about cover it."
"In that case, let's clean up the mess you made, and pour you another cup of tea. And while I'm doing that," the captain of the 'Excalibur' continued, even as a now astonished Julia waited for the other shoe to drop,"Here's the scoop. I won't deny that I was angry when I found out the truth about your mission - won't deny that at the time I was ready to take your head off and then head for Sheridan's office on Minbar with fire in my eyes. And yeah, I still think he was nuts to give this mission into a hand of someone who can't be any more then twenty-five years old - but I guess the most important thing is, you got the job done... with the odds severely leaning in the favour of the bad guys."
"Yes, sir." Julia finally managed a moment later. "Thank you, sir."
"Don't thank me yet - and quit it with the sirs, already. In case you've forgotten, we're not out of the woods just yet. There's still a fleet of Shadow technology warships out there maurauding through known space, and who the Hell knows what their next target is going to be. And along those lines, would the powers that be behind that fleet have anything to do with my first officer leading me on a wild goose chase to find you and your crew?"
Julia nodded. "We've both made a lot of enemies among the other side, Captain - they tried to take us out, and I'm fairly sure that given the opportunity, they'll try the same with you."
"I have no intention of giving our mutual enemies what they want - and while they tried to kill you and your crew, they failed. And now, it's payback time."
"So... you believe me, then?" Julia asked, her tone hesitant.
"Want to believe you, no - have to believe you, yes. I get the impression that if we'd come out of this room without some of agreement in place, Galen would shortly thereafter be coming down on us like a ton of bricks - and we can't have that, now can we?"
Julia smiled. "You said it, Captain... not me."
"Touche. So if you don't mind me asking, what the hell kind of name is 'Tikopai', anyways?"
"My name, whether I like it or not. The pronounciation's changed a fair bit over the years, actually - if you go back four or five centuries or so on my mother's side, my family started out in Wales with the name Taeh'kelpaei..."
Which was, thankfully, when the alert signal went off. "Captain Gideon - this is Lieutenant Matheson on the bridge. Thought you would like to know ASAP - Dr. Eilerson's transport has just emerged from hyperspace... and he's not alone."
"Would you care to be a bit more specific about that part, Lieutenant?" Gideon asked, as he moved to the comm screen, Julia just behind.
"In this case, I think a picture speaks louder than a thousand words, sir." Which was when an image of the two ships presently approaching the Excalibur appeared.
"Well I'll be." Gideon muttered. "Either the good doc's fallen in the bad guys, or we've got a defector on our hands. Personally, I prefer Option B myself."
"You'll get no disagreements from me on that one." Matheson agreed. "Message coming in from Dr. Eilerson on Channel 3 - switching now."
"Max," Gideon began, cutting right to the chase, "Do you have what we need?"
"The identity of the man behind the attacks on ISA space? - yeah, I've got it. But for right now I'd rather not say it out loud over an open channel, if you know what I'm saying? You never do know who might be listening..." Which was when Eilerson noticed a few things. "Say - you wouldn't happen to know what the deal is with that ship parked beside the Excalibur, would you? And who's your new Ranger friend?"
"Captain Tikopai, believe it or not, is the commander of that ship."
"Captain?" Eilerson exclaimed. "You're kidding." A moment passed. "You're not kidding."
"I'll tell you all about it after you come onboard. Now... why don't you tell me about your new friend?"
"I'm not so sure about the 'friend' part, Captain... but he's a got quite a story to tell, and trust me, this is not one you'll want to miss. Eilerson out."
Gideon turned back to face Julia as the comm channel cut out. "Something tells me you're going to want to be in on this little party as well."
Julia nodded. "And don't be surprised if a mage or two comes along for the ride, too. Shall we?"
* * *
Minbar - Interstellar Alliance Headquarters.
There were several things that John Sheridan had learned about his Director of Covert Intelligence in the five years since she'd taken on the job - if Tessa Halloran appeared in front of you with fire in her eyes, someone was either in a lot of trouble or about to die... and then were situations like today's, when she looked like a cat who'd just gotten hold of the proverbial canary. And since that was so... "I'm here, I'm listening - start talking."
"First things first, I didn't know we had Ranger ships that could go that fast - and second, according to the data I've got available to me right now, there appears to be a rather significant fifth columnist element among our enemies, Mr. President. Significant enough that a short time ago, a White Star out along the Earth/Minbari border received a transmission from a Mr. Harriman Gray, asking to come aboard - and, by the way, looking for sanctuary." Sheridan's eyebrows rose, and Tessa nodded. "Yes... that Harriman Gray. We've never been sure whether he survived the Telepath War or not, but according to the commander of that White Star, it's him, all right."
"As I recall, didn't Mr. Gray come aboard Babylon 5 just before I took command?"
"That he did - and connected with that visit is a suspicion I have - a suspicion I'm going to keep locked up tight until and if we get more concrete information about our enemies. For now, though, what you do need to know is that Mr. Gray's claiming he has in his possession a very important piece of information he's willing to give to us in exchange for protection - the codes to unlocking the jammers in place around most of the major systems in the ISA."
"How convenient."
"Exactly. As you probably know, Mr. Gray is a telepath - and I've never made it a habit of trusting them, because even when they swear up and down they're on your side, most of the time they still have a hidden agenda of some sort. So we wait until he gets here - and then we unleash our secret weapon."
A faint smile appeared on Sheridan's face. "Do me a favour - put me out of my misery before the cloak and dagger routine gets right out of hand."
"I think that can be arranged, Mr. President." another voice said.
"Well, well," Sheridan continued, as the man who was second in command of all the Anla'shok entered the office, "I might have known you would be involved in Tessa's latest plot."
"But of course." William replied, with a twinkle in his eye. "As you may or may not recall, there are presently two human telepaths serving within the Anla'shok - one of whom is presently missing in action, although hopefully not for much longer. While as for the other..."
* * *
The Excalibur - hangar deck. 08:27 hrs, EST.
"Out of all the things I've seen come aboard in the year since we've started this little quest," Gideon said, nodding in the direction of the recently arrived Shadowtech scout ship, "That's just about got to be the strangest."
"And also the most dangerous." Galen added, as together with Gideon and Julia, the mage awaited the approach of Max Eilerson and his latest associate. "There may come a time when you will regret letting that man on board - but all the same, there may be a revelation or two in the offing in the very near future..."
"All right, Max," Gideon began, as the archeologist and his companion came into speaking range, "There's two names I want. Let's start with his."
"Since you asked so politely, Captain, my name is Kavanagh." the dark haired man replied. "And might I say you and Captain Tikopai have done quite well to stay alive long enough to join forces."
"You appear to have unusually accurate information about us, Mr. Kavanagh." Julia observed. "Might I ask how?"
"You might, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you... yet. What you do need to know, however, is that we're now getting to the point where your enemies are starting to let their egos run the show. They're starting to make mistakes, and I think we can take advantage of that."
"While the biggest ego of all belongs to the man in charge." Eilerson continued, as the party moved out of the hangar bay. "The big cheese - one General Ari Ben Zayn." the archeologist added a few moments later, after everyone had moved into the conference chamber. "Problem A being, Ben Zayn's got a bad case of 'king of the world' syndrome, Problem B..."
"Problem B being," Kavanagh added, "That according to the best intelligence we've got, Ben Zayn's gotten hold of a small quantity of antidote for a certain plague we're all familiar with."
"Ah Hell, Max!" Gideon exclaimed, "You don't mean to tell me you believe this guy, do you? If all the supposed leads to the plague antidotes we've been following this year had panned out, Earth would have been free of plague ten months ago - which isn't, of course, the case. So, unless and until someone gives me some proof this is for real and not just another wild goose chase..." Galen cleared his throat. "What?"
"There is an extremely good chance he may actually be telling the truth. And as for how I know this, you do recall the young woman I brought aboard the Excalibur yesterday?" Gideon nodded. "Until several days ago, Miss Hughes was on Earth - and now she is here. From that, you may perhaps draw your own conclusions. Captain."
A moment passed, and then... "And you were planning on telling me this when, Galen?"
"When the right time arrived. That time is now."
* * *
The bridge of the Shard - shortly thereafter.
"I thought Nicholas had worked all the bugs out of our systems," Julia complained. "What's taking so long?"
"Link coming online with the Trikaain..." the Brakiri Ranger told Julia, as her captain paced back and forth across the bridge. "Now."
"Val'na Tikopai," the strike cruiser's commander began with a frown, "Is there a problem?"
"Problem, no... revelation, yes. As of fifteen minutes ago, a piece of information landed in my lap that every Ranger in the Fleet needs to know about, yesterday. The archeologist assigned to the 'Excalibur' crew told us the name of the man in charge of the enemy fleet - one General Ari Ben Zayn."
"In Valen's Name!"
"You know of him?"
"I do." the former warrior replied, his expression grave. "Even before the Shadow War, our intelligence operatives told us that Ben Zayn was capable of becoming perhaps one of the more dangerous members of your race. He can be clever when the need arises, and murderous as well if need be. There can be no doubt that now his opening moves are over, Ben Zayn is moving towards a target - a target he will destroy if President Sheridan does not give him what he wants."
"We have to send a ship to warn the fleet about this - the fastest ship we've got. And neither of our ships fall into that category."
"Agreed." Vellani said. "But the new scout-class vessels do. Perhaps we should give this task into Anla'shok Dechene's capable hands?"
"Agreed. And now that's been decided," Julia continued, a sneaky grin appearing on her face, "There's something else you need to know as well."
* * *
The Tower of Lai'reati - Yedor, Minbar.
He stood alone in the darkness, as was his right in this most secret of sanctuaries, and thought on all that had gone before, and all that might yet be. And then Kozorr shook his head grimly and cast his mind's eye out beyond the walls of his tower, beyond Minbar and out into another darkness entirely. "That it should have to come to this." he muttered. "You have disappointed me, Rahkeel. You have forgotten your orders... and you have forgotten the meaning of obedience. You were given a very specific task to fulfill - you failed to achieve it. And now, as Sheridan would say, it is time for us to clean up the mess you have made."
The others had... advised him, as was their duty - but in the end it was him, Shai Alyt of the Warrior Caste, who would have to tell the President what had been done, and why. Delenn's lifemate would undoubtedly be annoyed - and a price would have to be paid.
And even though the idea of destroying 'Vi'dalae An'shaka' had been his, Kozorr had no intention of being the one to pay that price. Others would volunteer to take the fall or would be volunteered.
And Rahkeel? Well, the Stormwind's captain would be first on that list, if Kozorr had anything to say about it.
* * *
To be continued...
* * *
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