(disclaimers and associated descriptions in Overture)
* * *
"A lot can happen in a minute..."
- John Sheridan, aboard the destroyer EXCALIBUR, early in 2267
* * *
In the instant after she'd touched the crystal template, Julia felt a sudden, vibrant shock pass through her, and involuntarily closed her eyes and cried out, a cry that only she heard. When she opened them again, the figures of her friends and colleagues, and the surroundings of Engineering Section, had vanished... and all was as darkness. What had happened? Where was she?
"*You touch our memory. Good*" She whirled, to see a familiar and not wholly unexpected form emerge from the darkness... the encounter suit of the former Vorlon Ambassador to Babylon 5, Kosh. He had been killed in that place by his enemies, over six years before, and had what was left of him, the part of him that had hidden inside President Sheridan, had then sacrificed itself to destroy the *other* Vorlon, Ulkesh, some months afterwards.
So what, in Valen's Name, was going on here?
"Kosh? But you're..."
"*Yes.*"
"How is this possible, then? How can you be talking to me, here, and now? Is this from beyond the grave?"
The 'Vorlon' shook the head of its encounter suit, and glided towards her. "*I have always been here. You have never gone away.*"
"Why must you *always* speak in riddles?" she exclaimed.
"*Observer, we named you, in our time. Observe.*" The last, with emphasis, and Julia jumped, as the darkness before her gave way to an image; an image of the girl she'd been, after William had rescued her from the Nightwatch at Proxima III, just before Babylon 5 had seceded from the Earth Alliance. Of the moment she'd stood witness when the telepath named Lyta Alexander had come to Kosh's quarters in the Alien Sector, and part of his essence had transferred into her. A moment when Julia had stood in a corner of that room, hidden by Vorlon arts... a moment she had spent entranced by the beauty the Vorlon had chosen to show her.
Or so Kosh had claimed at the time. Later that night, Lyta Alexander had tracked her down, however, and explained a few things to her; how it was dangerous to be too close to Kosh... how strange things could happen because of that closeness. Well strange things *had* happened, afterwards; she'd begun to mature at an accelerated rate, the time had come when she appeared more then five years older then her true age. She'd always suspected the Vorlon had been responsible for that, but she'd never had proof.
Until now, that was. "*Observe.*" Kosh said again, and observe, she did, as a flare of Vorlon essence deviated from the path the rest followed between Kosh's encounter suit and his servant Lyta Alexander...
And entered the entranced eyes of her younger self.
"Then you're..."
"*A memory of what was. We have passed from this place, and what remains is not the whole; that can never be reclaimed. Now the memory is passing, as well; there is little time left."
"You've been inside me for the last *six* years?" she managed, her voice quiet... her breath taken away by the revelation. A fraction of a fraction of what he had been; a memory that had remained, while the rest of him had passed on. Had this 'fragment' of Kosh been responsible for guiding her sudden rush to maturity? It was all beginning to make so much sense, now. "And now, the last part of you is dying?"
"*Yes*."
"And you reached out to the SHARD's organic matrix?" she asked, as the image of the past faded away.
Kosh conceded the point. "*The time has come to complete the pattern of your soul, but help was required*"
"And my ship could help you, because it's partly based on your technology."
"*A connection was needed, both to the past, and also to the future*."
"You have more to show me, then. Before the end."
Another nod. "*You are the Seeker and the Gatherer. You must understand*."
The image came then, and Julia became one with that image... the girl she'd been, before this had all begun. And then, a doorway opened, a doorway into memories only the Vorlon seemed to have access to.
<flash>
The southern Okanagan Valley near Okanagan Falls. British Columbia, Canada, Earth Alliance. Mid-August 2255.
"Julia..." Katherine Ariadne Tikopai critically observed, as her ever-resentful, dark-eyed granddaughter met her gaze for gaze, "I know the things the other children said to you were spiteful, but you shouldn't have done what you did!"
Yet again, Katherine had been forced to apologize to her neighbors... 'a girl who fought like that should be disciplined', they had said... and they were probably right. But they didn't have to meet her gaze like she did, every day and every waking hour, now did they? She sighed; they did not see the sadness and *fury* that continually lurked in Julia's eyes, most days.
"And *why* not!" the girl cried out, tears in her eyes. "They all say that Mom's going to die, that the aliens are going to kill her, that she'll never come back!"
Katherine shook her head regretfully. Again and again, it seemed to come down to this. "Child, you have to remember that she's out there protecting us from those who would do us harm. The Minbari, they nearly killed us all before they surrendered, some of us have to work to make sure that never happens again. Some of us have to be out on the far reaches, and your mother is one of us that has sworn to do just that."
"But why does it have to be *her*?" came the shouted reply. "She's never been here for me. Never! No one cares!"
"You know that's not true, Julia. I care about you, and Auntie Maitrie..."
"You're not my mother, and neither is she! And I *don't* want to talk about this any more!" With that, her charge whirled away, and ran out the door, and into the pine forests beyond.
Almost, she'd moved to prevent that dash, but really, what was the point? No matter what she tried, she hadn't been able to break the pattern. Julia didn't have many friends... she'd always been a bit of a loner, and if only the family had been *larger*. But it wasn't... there was only her, her sister Maitrie and her small clan, her daughter...and Julia. And that child had been passed between them for *far* too long. If only Bethany hadn't chosen the career she had. If *only* Julia's father hadn't gone and gotten himself killed after the seperation, three years ago.
If only. In any case, she knew where Julia was going, and in that respect, she would be safe. The mountain was nothing if not safe for the children that called it home.
<back>
"Why did you bring that memory back?" Julia demanded of the Vorlon, a tear trickling down her cheek. "My father..."
"*It was... necessary*."
"I ran into the forest." she remembered, abruptly finding herself on another tangent. "I just wanted to be alone. And then..." Julia snapped her eyes back to meet the iris of Kosh's encounter suit. "I woke up in my bed." In Valen's Name! She'd completely forgotten about that day, that period of missing time, a fissure in her life with no memories to fill it. "I don't remember what happened!"
Yet another nod. "*Learn, then, Seeker of Truths.*"
<flash>
To the northeast, the bulk of Mount Christie hid the distant, muted glow of Penticton from sight, as Julia finally arrived at the firepit the Family Association had built in the shadow of their mountain's summit. There had been a time, her grandmother had told her the year before, when the City's light had filled the heavens, but over time, as the Valley Environmental Ordinances had become ever more strict, the light pollution had faded, and the night had returned to the valley of the Okanagan. To the south, the vast blot of a thunderstorm filled the skies, the distant thunder and the hiss of wind the only sounds she could hear... the flash of lightning almost the only illumination in the night around her, the flashes dancing through the trees.
From time to time, Grandmama Kathie had tried to stop her coming up here at night, but it was impossible to resist. Julia cast a gaze up to the skies above, to the river of fire that marched down towards the southwest horizon, and she sighed. Mother was up there, somewhere... would the time come when she would go to find her?
<back>
"I'd forgotten." Julia told her companion. "Why?"
"*We needed you to forget.*" Kosh told her. "*You were not yet ready.*"
"What came next?"
"*Learn.*"
<flash>
It was then that she saw the light, up above the thunderstorm. Down it dropped towards her, growing imposssibly closer. What was it?
The light faded as the object arrived overhead, and then, all she could see was the shape against the stars... long and tapered, a handful of long spikes on front, the rest an impossibly complicated series of curves, briefly silouetted against the Milky Way. So alien. Julia watched, and for a moment, a brief moment, tried to figure out why she wasn't afraid of the impossible *thing* that had emerged out of the storm, had flown down from the Night above to meet her here. It meant her no harm, but how did she know that?
A stab of light sprang down from the darkness, and found her. Found her, and she was...flying? Flying towards it. She frowned as she ascended, and finally, she figured out why she wasn't afraid.
It was singing to her...and then, something passed in front of her eyes.
And now, she was floating. In water? The song filled her ears, and a palpable darkness surrounded her...and a beautiful light as well, a light that flowed around her, and through her...
<back>
"You took me into your ship." Julia whispered. "You flew right into the heart of the Earth Alliance to find me, and no one saw you?"
"*They could not see what they could not understand. It was not the first time, or the last.*"
"What did you *do* to me?" she demanded.
"*We aided what was to be. What you have become. Observer*.
And SEEKER*."
"Why do you call me that?"
"*It is what you are, and what you will be. There have been others we have seen, others that have fallen, and others that have joined us, beyond what was and is. You seek... completion, and redemption. You seek to save your Kind. You seek the rest.*"
"The rest. Who are the rest?"
"*The rest... are. Sacrifice all that is, and all that was, to find what will be. You must seek Order, and completion. You must touch your Hidden self, you must find the One who will show you where it is hiding.*"
It was all coming... too quickly. "What do you mean?"
"*I have told you all I can.*" Kosh informed her. "*The memory grows dim; the time is near. I must join the Rest.*"
"Don't go!" she cried out, as his form grew dim, and the Darkness drew close. "I don't...
... understand!" Julia gasped, and raised her hand from the crystal. A crystal that had, a moment before, glowed beneath her touch. She looked down; the handprint was gone. She let out a long, ragged breath, and looked around. They were all still there; Nicholas and Klairika paused in mid-step, their expressions angry, Lesaki ready to aid them. "What happened?" Klairika demanded. "Understand what?"
"I..." Suddenly a loss for words, she turned away from her new friends, and ran from the chamber.
* * *
The bridge of the SHARD. A short time later.
"She wouldn't tell me what it was all about." Bethany Tikopai stated, as Klairika looked at the image of Julia's mother resignedly. The Captain had made the call from her private quarters aboard the DE'MOLAY... it appeared as if she was currently off duty. "May I assume, from your expression, that the matter actually *was* important?"
"Yes. And now that 'it' has happened, I see no reason to hold back this information from you. Shortly after we met, a crystal template formed on one of the consoles in our Engineering department, a template holding the print of my captain's left hand. Shortly after she returned to us from your ship, Val'na Tikopai came down to see this, and then began to speak to someone we could not see... someone who is dead, as near as I can tell. And since she is human, and cannot speak to the dead as my kind occasionally can, when she actually named the individual in question... I found the matter hard to believe."
"Let me guess." the elder Tikopai mused. "Kosh, right?"
Klairika blinked. "I now see," she carefully said, "Where some of her analytical gifts come from. Yes, you are correct, Captain. And then, despite our protestations, she touched the template, if only for a moment. The template flared brilliantly, and then all was as before."
"And what did my daughter do then?"
"She has retreated to her quarters, Captain, and will speak to no one."
A sigh. "It's been a long time since she's done this, Anla'shok Alidiae. I thought, after she came to Babylon 5 and started her training to become a Ranger, that she might have actually put *those* particular mood swings behind her. I guess I was wrong.
In any case, this was not the reason I hailed your ship, and since my daughter is unavailable, I had best discuss this matter with you."
"What matter?"
"Our *guest* has decided, for want of a better word, the necessity of proving he can aid us, and also, that he truly has been named renegade by the rest of his kind. Moreil has given us the coordinates for the world on which his race hid from the Drakh after Z'ha'dum was destroyed... a world named Talangahta IV, I believe."
"Is there something there that can help us?" she asked.
"He seems to think so, yes. Before they exiled him, Moreil spent a great deal of time producing a secret and comprehensive copy of his race's most important historical files, and placed them in a hidden place of his own choosing before he left his people's side. He tells us that this cache may contain information that will aid us in finding a cure for the Drakh plague, and also, that he does not believe his fellow Z'shailyl had found it, when they left that place to rejoin the Drakh."
"If this is true.. and since it appears, for now, that the EXCALIBUR is presently in no danger, I would suggest that we proceed to this world without delay, and attempt to recover this hidden store of information the Z'shailyl wishes to give to us."
"Then we are agreed. We might even, as a matter of fact, learn something about our enemies, the Drakh, as a side benefit of this 'recovery mission'. All right!" Captain Tikopai finalized, "It's decided, then. As soon as we break contact, I'll be ordering the Commander to jump for this world named Talangahta IV. May I assume you will be following us?"
Klairika nodded. "For now, Captain, we are allied, your crew and mine. And until my Val'na regains her composure enough to rescind or alter that order, it stands. We will follow your command to the planet of the Z'shailyl."
"I'm glad to hear that. DE'MOLAY out."
A few short minutes later, the mighty main drive of the DE'MOLAY engaged, and space flashed and flickered in front of the Warlock destroyer's hammerhead prow, before springing open into a jump point.
"Hold that vortex open, and follow them in." Klairika told Dasouri, as the DE'MOLAY entered the point, and sprang away into hyperspace. "Establish standard flanking escort formation, and hold on their course until we reach the target."
"I understand." the Drazi promptly replied, as the SHARD OF NIGHT moved into the point to follow. "Will not be difficult to do so. Easy, even, for pilot of my caliber."
"Of course. Larieken."
"Yes, Na'lai?"
"Stand by to establish stealth countermeasures after we've entered hyperspace. The Z'shailyl hunting Moreil may still be out there."
"May I assume," the Minbari inquired, "That you are now going to follow Anla'shok Keynes's example, and try to get our commander to open her door?"
"Getting her to speak to us is, I think, the more critical matter for now." she replied, as she rose from the captain's chair. "The bridge is yours."
* * *
Shortly thereafter, a call was made, and an answer was given.
"Que'zhail, it is as we suspected. The renegade seems to have given his new Earther allies the coordinates for the former home of our brethren."
A hiss of frustration. "Many things are hidden there, things that the Earthers should not be privy to. You have done well, I and the rest of the hunters will be joining you shortly. We will then pursue the Earth ship to Talangahta IV, and *prevent* them from gaining clues which will lead them to the cure they seek for their people."
"Ah... a good plan. There is," the hunter cautioned, "However, one small *problem*."
"Which is?"
"The Earthers were not alone in answering Moreil's call. Other fighters of unknown configuration joined them in attacking us. And while we cannot draw close to the Earther ship, it appears that they are not alone... another ship follows their course, a ship we can *barely* detect."
"Ah. This, so soon after the Vekh'shivalht was attacked at the human world Sinzar! Perhaps the Earthers are allied with this new and unknown force. Perhaps we can learn more about our new enemy; it is enough. Hold at your present location until we arrive. We will then pursue the foe."
* * *
The DE'MOLAY. Enroute in hyperspace, shortly thereafter.
"Dinner?" Bethany exclaimed.
"Yes." Jaiena Mithrush replied, somewhat bemusedly. "In his words, 'It's going to be about a day until we reach our destination, and why don't you come on over, and we can talk about things.'"
"It sounds to me," she observed, "Like your counterpart might be feeling a little lonely."
"And who can blame him?" her Chief Engineer shot back. "He told me, before I came on back, that until the Rangers took command of the SHARD after the Drakh attacked Earth, he'd been the only human on that ship in a crew of Minbari. And then, his family was on Earth, when the Drakh attacked."
"Oh my God. Kenneth said he'd handle things while you were gone, I assume?"
"Of course. So I can go?"
"I *suppose* even you need a little time off. Yes, yes, Lieutenant Commander, you can go... again."
"*Thank you*, Captain!" The signal cut, and Bethany began to count down, slowly, from thirty. She would bet anything that her helmsman had been in on this little plan too, and if he had...
<beep> "Captain?"
"Yes, Mister McClelland?"
"A little bird just told me that Commander Mithrush is going over to the SHARD OF NIGHT..."
* * *
She was trembling again, and the candles seemed to cast no warmth, this time. There wasn't anyone she could talk to about this, not even her mother. No one would understand.
<chime>
"Go away!" she shouted. "I don't care who it is, I don't want to talk to you!"
Rather abruptly thereafter, her visitor cleared his throat. "Well, okay! If that's what you want..."
Julia sprang to her feet, and ran for the door faster then she *ever* had before. "Open!" she cried, which the door obediently did, revealing the tall, somewhat bemused-looking figure of Will McClelland just beyond. "What are you doing here?" she exclaimed.
"Well," he admitted, "Your Chief Engineer invited *our* Chief Engineer over here for dinner, of all things, and given the rather open-ended way we ended our last conversation, I thought I might tag along and say hi.
And when I *did* get over here, I ran into one of your Rangers, a blonde-haired lady who didn't look terribly happy for some reason. Me, I was stupid enough to ask her why; she told me why. And right after that, I got directions, and came here. Sounds like you need some cheering up... and it *definitely* sounds like you need someone to talk to.
"She said that, did she?" Sheynell, she thought, the next time we meet, I'm either going to kill you *or* thank you profusely for doing this, and as of this moment, I haven't figured out which.
"Yeah, she did." McClelland sat down, then, still gazing levelly in her direction. "Nice place you've got here, Cap..."
"Julia." she offered, surprising even herself, and him as well, apparently.
"...Julia! Though I hope you don't mind me asking you another question."
She smiled. "Better then the last one, I hope?"
"Oh, definitely. Do you... like candles, or something?"
"A good question..." she replied, sitting down beside him. "The answer is a little more complicated then you might think, however, Lieu..."
McClelland grinned. "Tit for tat. *Will*, please."
* * *
Dawson's quarters.
"He did what?" Nicholas exclaimed.
"He wanted," Jaiena Mithrush carefully replied, "To come over and visit her again. Apparently, she ended their last conversation somewhat... open- endedly. The way he decribed it on our way over, your captain apparently made it sound like an invitation of some sort."
Nicholas laughed. "Well that *is* interesting. That's one iceberg I never thought I'd see melt."
"You're not saying what I *think* you're saying, are you?" Mithrush replied, her eyes narrowed in thought, though it did look like a twinkle of amusement was mixed in there, as well.
"Well, you know how it goes!" he replied, and all things considered, he really should have thought his reply through a little more carefully. "'Strangers passing in the night' and all that."
"I do? Why don't you paint me a pretty picture to go with the words?"
"Wha..."
* * *
Julia's quarters. Later that night.
All things considered, it hadn't taken much convincing for her to start talking... and then, it was almost as if the proverbial floodgates had opened, at least, Will McClelland thought, that was the closest he could come to explaining the rush of words and thoughts that had erupted out of his Captain's daughter shortly after he'd arrived at her quarters.
Damn it all, but if it was true, Julia Tikopai had, in her nineteen and a bit years, already experienced more excitement *and* fear then most people experienced in a lifetime, and she'd told him everything... *more*, apparently, then she'd told anyone before this moment. How she'd been abducted by a Vorlon at age 7, recruited by the Rangers at 13, and how she'd been in most of the biggest battles of the Shadow War, and *then* had served as William Westcastle's operations officer during the final battle for Earth at the end of the Civil War.
Since then, the pattern has become set in stone. First officer to the commander of the White Star Fleet by her 17th birthday (by which point she'd appeared more like 23, of course) and now, commander of this marvel named SHARD OF NIGHT.
The tale had been astonishing *and* improbable, and yet, from the beginning, he'd sensed the sincerity in her gaze and voice, and knew that everything she'd told him, however impossible it sounded, was true. He'd sat and listened to her, and she'd talked. He'd suggested they stop for dinner, and she had, but once the food was ready, she'd started talking again, and had continued while they ate, and after. Hours had passed, unbelievable hours... but now, it seemed as if she was finally done telling him her tale.
The thing he'd been able to figure out almost immediately from listening to her was that it was possible no one had ever listened to her like he had. First, the kids of her youth has almost ostracized her, and then, after her family had pulled some favours with their friends and sent her to Proxima III with the help of Earth Resistance, she'd gone through seven years of destiny and Hell serving the Rangers. Admittedly, she did have Ranger friends, but equally apparently, no friends outside that circle of duty and honour.
"Well?" she asked him, her dark eyes shining above the candles beside them. "What do you think? Crazy life, huh?"
"Crazy? Well, after all I've experienced, I'm not sure I'm qualified to give a judgement on what is and what isn't crazy about the lives we lead. But it sounds to me, from what I've heard and what I've read, and added to what you've told me here tonight, that everything that Vorlon Kosh did was for a reason. That last little bit of him that talked to you today... he called you a 'Seeker', and years ago, he also named you 'Observer', the same title he gave to your Ranger friend Jennifer, who taught you some of what you were back on Babylon 5, during the Shadow War..."
"But what does it all mean?" she muttered, sliding closer to him. "I just don't know what to think, sometimes."
Will blinked. Even for *him*, this was going a little too fast. "You, uh..."
"I want to show you something."
"Like... what?"
"Computer!" she called out. *Sie'veirra aloun' veisha*"
<chime>
He jumped, then, as the room blanked out around them, and hyperspace replaced it. "What the Hell?" He rose to his feet, and took in the vista... the flickering red of hyperspace, and just over there, the familiar form of the DE'MOLAY. "How is this..."
"Possible? Remember that the Minbari have been masters of holographic technology for longer then we've been in space. For them, anything is possible when you're talking about *that* technology, and in this ship, the possible can become real. If only for a little while."
"No kidding. By the way: what was... that you said? Was that Minbari?"
She nodded. "Religious Caste... it doesn't translate well. The closest I can come is 'show us all that is, and hide all that is."
"Isn't that a contradiction, though?" he asked, as he stood to take in the vista.
"Life sometimes is a contradiction." she reminded him.
"Yeah, you could be right about that, I guess. So how did you come to learn their language?"
"Languages." she corrected. "I asked a question one day, and got an answer." It was then that almost the most surprising thing of the night happened. As Will watched, Julia's smile became... coy. "Never been kissed." she said.
"I... beg your pardon?"
"That's the answer. You've been wanting to ask the question almost from the moment we met."
"Are you sure you're not a telepath?" he asked her, as her hand slipped into his. Yep, this was going *way* too damn fast... but at this point, he wasn't sure he wanted to argue with fate.
"Absolutely sure." she whispered.
"Never been kissed, huh?" he muttered. "Likely story."
"After hearing the story of my life, you're surprised?" she asked him. "And don't you want to correct this problem?"
He smiled, and thought about it for a second or so. "Yeah," he admitted, "I guess we'll have to fix that, won't we?"
At which point, he kissed her.
And was pleasantly surprised, a moment later, when she kissed him back.