(disclaimers and associated descriptions in overture)
* * *
<<ACT THREE>>
Tuzanor, Minbar -- before dawn, local time. May 17th, 2267.
In the darkness, the man whose skin was also dark flinched and cried out in the night at what he was seeing and experiencing... the warnings that cried out to him in ways hardly anyone now alive understood. Those who cared for him, those who had undertaken this duty for almost seven human years now, they arose, somewhat grimly, to calm him down. This was a task they had accepted, and they would fulfill their duties, to the end -- but even so, some days it was hard when he cried out as he was crying out now, in the middle of the night... in the darkness before the dawn.
Talking to him however, they had found, almost always calmed him down.
"'Kanion -- be calm, be at peace. We are here for you, as always we have been."
"They are coming." the man on the bed insisted, his outstretched finger trembling as he pointed at the star-dappled sky through the portal of his bedchamber. "Warned you I did, what might happen, but listen you did not... and now they are coming. The war we cannot hope to avoid -- it is coming... the discord born of Dreamer and Daughter."
One of those who waited, an Anla'shok trainee named Jaarisa Kaise, an apprentice Ranger whose skin was as dark as that of the man on the bed, moved to the portal, and looked out upon the night that was. "I see nothing, 'Kanion -- you are..."
And then Jaarisa nearly gasped out loud -- as all of a sudden, slightly less then half way up from overhead, part of the sky flickered twice, and then abruptly irised open into the electric white-and-blue maw of a rather *large* jump point.... out of which emerged a black-and-silver splinter flecked with lights, its bulk a shadow against the night beyond. This vessel was of course only a splinter from perspective -- to be seen so from the surface, the ship was quite obviously a large one. "What is that?" she managed.
"Have you not heard?" a Minbari Ranger named Leishenn inquired, as she came to Jaarisa's side to gaze up upon the new arrival with knowing eyes. "Our leaders have only now deemed the moment right to release the information I now pass on to you -- several days ago, my people and those of yours among the Anla'shok encountered a new race on the edge of our territorird, a race set upon by the Shadows and now freed of that burden... a people that dared to send a fully armed warfleet through the heart of the ancient Shadow sectors in the hope that they were gone... and also in search of the power which drove that ancient enemy away."
Leishenn extended one long, pale finger into the darkness, towards the massive ship now riding in orbit. "That vessel, bigger even then our greatest war cruisers, is the flagship of that force. Invited to this place by President Sheridan they were, so negotiations between the Alliance and their leaders might begin."
"And they come in peace, then?"
"So it would appear, yes."
Jaarisa frowned then, however.. if these creatures came in peace, then why, in the name of all that was holy, in the name of the One and the Protector, was the half-insane Observer in the bed behind her crying out his warning?
There was a connection between the two events -- now she and the rest only had to make it...
* * *
"In all my wildest dreams," Julia began, as she and Klairika sat together in the SHARD's conference room and gazed down upon the silvery-gray hairnail crescent of Minbar below them. "I never believed we'd be back here so soon. The search for the cure, our mission to protect the EXCALIBUR..."
"Has barely begun, yes..." Klairika replied with a small smile, "But the vows we make as Anla'shok must always be honored, even if they do take us away from our primary tasks for a time. These... Eloi'a may be valuable allies, and even as President Sheridan explained to us two days ago, since so many of our kind are now out on the Rim helping with the search for the cure..."
"This may happen more then I like?" she retorted, before reining herself in with a grimace. "My apologies, Klairika, you didn't deserve that -- what you say, it's the truth of course. I suppose I *should* be honoured we're considered such a valuable commodity!"
"Do not be so quick to consider this captaincy an honour just yet..." Klairika gently reminded her, "Our greatest crises yet await us. For now however, I believe the time has come for us to proceed down to the surface. The moment of meeting between President Sheridan, our High Councillor and the Eloi'a Speaker draws near... a meeting we should not miss."
As if to prove that point, a summons-chime sounded, and both Rangers turned as Sheynell's image sprang into being on the table. "Val'na -- you wished me to warn you when the Eloi'a landing craft left the TIELDA'S PRIDE... that has now occured."
"In that case, Anla'shok Keynes..." she replied, as both she and Klairika moved towards the door and out into the main bridge, "The ship is yours until we return... wait. While I'm thinking about it, maybe we should let the crew go down to the surface to resume the shore leave we were taking at Shelaya, as long as we're here."
"If we're going to do *that*," Sheynell drolly replied, "We'd best not delay -- let us enjoy *today*," she quoted, "For who knows what tomorrow may bring?"
"If the voyage to date is to serve as precedent," Dasouri gruffly noted from the helm station, "Tomorrow will bring *trouble*."
"Let's hope not!" Julia replied with a small laugh, somewhat forced, as she left the bridge, Klairika at her side. "And anyways, now we're in orbit around the capital world of the strongest member of the Interstellar Alliance, about to initiate negotiations with what looks to be a very valuable ally... what can possibly go wrong?"
She would have reason to regret saying those words later on.
* * *
"And what of you, Larieken?" Sheynell inquired, as her captain and first officer vanished from sight. "Now that we're back at Minbar, isn't there anywhere you want to go while we've got the time to do so?"
"That," Larieken solemnly replied, "Is a far more interesting question then you might suspect. While we were enroute to Minbar, I received a message from my father, Alyt Kendraii of the Wind Swords Clan -- he *requires* of me my presence at our ancestral home below the *Nael's'sha Aeiyn Vei'shai*."
Sheynell translated that title in her head, and abruptly shuddered. Translated from the Warrior tongue, it meant 'Wall of Daggers' -- and she knew well enough where that was. The Wall was a great, serrated graben fault that helped to define the shape of Minbar's second largest northern hemispheric continent, almost half way around the planet from Tuzanor... a fault that predated the coming of the north polar ice by at least three and a half million human years. The south coast of that landmass had, of course, been one of the centers of Wind Swords territory since before the coming of Valen. But, she pondered, why, after so many years among the Anla'shok, did his father want to see him *now*?
"Why?" she asked, a simple question... though also a question that tended to produce complex answers, in her experience.
"I do not know." Larieken replied, his face now expressionless. "And, I will admit, this concerns me. The last time I saw my father and family was when I decided to turn aside from the path they had chosen for me and train to be Anla'shok -- like so many of my caste, the parting was not, shall we say... an amenable one. My younger brother Ariekaas, for instance, considered what I had done to be a betrayal of caste and clan... but enough of this, for the time being. It has been too long since I have seen my family, and since it is my father that has asked it, it would not be... acceptable for me to refuse the invitation."
"And what if he asks you to give up the Rangers?" Sheynell inquired, a slight frown on her face. "What will you do if that happens?"
"I will, as your kind says," Larieken said, "'Cross that bridge when I come to it'. Until I see you next, Sheynell, be well -- and keep this vessel safe for our captain."
"I will." she replied with as much sincerity as she could manage, as Larieken left the bridge. "Good luck."
* * *
Luck. Again and again, the humans had revealed their love of chance to him, over the years. He had lost count of the times his charge and her various leaders and friends had wished each other 'luck' over the cycles he had known them. And yet, Larieken added almost as an afterthought as he made his way to his quarters to gather the few belongings he would need on this trip, on this occasion he might well need all the 'luck' he could find. Everything about this matter was a curiousity, from the tone of the summons to the lack of information about the actual reason for the summons -- 'it will wait until you arrive, Larieken', as his father had put it.
Now that he thought about it, though, the ever present imperious shell he remembered from his youth seemed to be showing cracks, now. And through those cracks, he had sensed concern.
And also regret. But concern about what? And regret for whom?
"What are you up to now, Father?" he muttered. "And what have you done?"
* * *
William braced himself against the stiff wind blowing off the northern mountains, and watched the Eloi'a atmospheric shuttle approach the main landing platform at Tuzanor with no small amount of anticipation. All that Julia had told him thus far on their voyage from the Rim back to Minbar had been promising -- that these Eloi'a had evidently survived their own wars against the Shadows was only the beginning. By far the most interesting aspect of the whole situation was her claim that their leader, an Eloi'a by the name of Aeilyn, was an Observer, like Julia... like his own wife.
Spatters of rain blew across the platform in the wind, and he shook his head grimly, before turning to appraise the approaching black wall of cloud to the north. From clear and calm last night to this in only a matter of hours... it was clear the Fates were having their fun with him and the President, *this* day.
He turned his thoughts away from the weather then, however, as the Eloi'a craft turned in mid air and gently set itself down, while the flyer from the SHARD OF NIGHT passed by overhead and whispered around to the south to begin its own final run. He knew, without guessing, who was at the controls of the flyer... but for now, the visitors to this place were by far the more interesting of the two arrivals. Three-pronged the lander was, two forward and one to the rear, like the outstretched talons of a bird. Which, considering these Eloi'a were avian in nature, wasn't really all that surprising. A brief vibration as the tips of the prongs touched the platform, and almost immediately thereafter, part of the rear tip reconfigured itself into a ramp, and the guests themselves began to emerge, as he and the Ranger guard of honor accompanying him moved forward to meet them half way.
"In the name of the Towers I serve in this life, I greet you, High Councillor Westcastle..." the Speaker began, his tone respectful. "From the histories that Observer Tikopai relayed to us enroute to this place, it appears that you have also walked with the Beyonder against the ones you call Shadows, and we the Dark Ones -- and earned the respect of those you serve with and those you obey. As warrior to warrior, I greet you, *Rimstalker*... perhaps there will be opportunity during our time here for us to discuss our accomplishments in the war against the Great Enemy?"
"Perhaps," he replied, gesturing at the storm front almost upon them, "But for the time being, Speaker, the weather worsens, and there are those among us in this place that you have yet to meet... the President, for instance. He keenly wishes to begin talks with you and your fellow Eloi'a."
"And us with him!" the Speaker replied. "And while, because of our nature, we do not share your... concern with the elements, for the time being your suggestion is a just one, Councillor. Will you, then, be guiding us to our destination this day?"
"As much as I would enjoy that duty, for the time being other duties await." William paused for a moment, then, as his second-in-command stepped forward, expression properly solemn. "Speaker, if you will allow me to introduce to you my fellow Councillor, Sha'vei no'raden Shival. He and his associates will be guiding you to your destination this day. After I have concluded my business, I will then be rejoining you."
"It shall be as you say, then, High Councillor..." the Speaker replied with a slight bow. "Until next we speak."
Which gave William all the opportunity he needed -- a brief glance in Shival's direction, to which his old friend gave an abrupt and understanding nod in response, and then he turned aside to stride across the platform towards the two slender figures in cloaked Ranger black-and-silver even now emerging out of the thickening misty drizzle now falling over Tuzanor. "And out of the darkest shadows," he drolly began, "There comes two candles..."
"Lights to guide by and flames to guard against the darkness." the target of his barb finished for him with a smile, as they moved into a quick embrace that most everyone else on the platform chose to ignore. "And now you'll be wanting an apology, I suppose?"
He raised an eyebrow. "For doing the right thing, you mean?"
"Then you forgive me?" Julia replied, her eyes dancing.
"Only if I get a proper goodbye when you leave this time. Deal?"
"But of *course*." came the reply, even as both of them looked off in the direction of the rapidly dissapearing Eloi'a ground party. "So... do we get a little bit of time to make ourselves presentable before the main event?"
"I'm sure something along those lines can be arranged, yes..." he replied, as they made their way off of the platform together, Julia's first officer close behind. "*If* we can avoid the deluge of people waiting to see you, that is."
* * *
The sound of rain falling upon crystal was not something he had expected to hear after crossing so much distance and enduring so much fear from his crew during their crossing of the Dark Territories, but then again, was this so surprising, to hear an echo of the water-sound upon his own tower, so far from home? He nodded... the synchrony was a just one for this place, the Home of the Observers who served this Interstellar Alliance. A beginning to what lay ahead.
"Father." He turned then, as his daughter emerged from the dry-shelter behind him out onto the rain-swept outlook. "The moment you have been waiting for draws near -- your intent, it remains unchanged?"
He shook his head, irritated that she would ask this of him, in the here and now, with the moment of meeting so near. "It is our way, Nirisha! -- it is the way that things have always been done. The Order has survived many crises, great and small, because even in our darkest hour we have upheld the traditions that are. And even as we have gathered new allies and new Observers to our side, the traditions have spread and grown.
Now, as we prepare to welcome new members of the Order into our gatherings, must we remember that our traditions and our ways are more important then ever. The question, it must be asked!... the young one who met us on the deep range, she has no young -- but the other, the one she thinks of even now as 'mistress'... this Observer *does* have younglings, Nirisha! Honour and tradition demand that the Question be asked, even as it is expected that the Answer be given in return. It is our way... the way it has *always* been.
The way it will always *be*."
"I pray that you are right, Father..." came the reply. "Because if you are not, what you are about to do may bring a great sorrow upon us all."
"Speak you not this nonsense!" he commanded, briefly showing his anger yet again at her continued, if mild, impertinence. "The humans, they will accept our guidance in these matters... if we are to bring this alliance to the full closure they seek, they will give us what we want, what tradition demands."
"We will see, soon enough, whether you are right about this or not, Father."
"Yes..." Aeilyn murmured, his belief in the inevitable outcome already solidly in place. "We will, indeed."
* * *
"And that's the way I see it." Julia concluded, as she and her former teacher and still firm friend walked down the hall together, aide and Westcastle children in tow. "They wanted to meet me because I'm the only Observer in the Alliance to actively command a warship, they wanted to meet the President because he and the Entil'zha were the ones to drive away the Shadows, and they want to meet *you*..."
"Because I was the first?" Jennifer Westcastle replied, her normally light filled eyes still full of suspicion, even after all the reasons she'd given her to trust their Eloi'a visitors. "I'm sorry, Julia, but I just don't think it's that simple. The reasons they've given us for coming here are certainly valid ones... but I can't help but feel they're still hiding something from us. For instance, why does he want to see my children, of all things?"
"I don't know..." she finally admitted, after a few seconds of furious pondering, "But even if they are hiding something from us, they probably have their reasons for doing what they're doing... traditions, or something. After all, from what little they've told us, the Eloi'a have had Observers in generational families for almost as long as they can remember."
"Which, of course," Jennifer continued, "Reminds me that we now need to consider this 'trait' of ours a genetic one... a trait that Richard and Celia might share with us, all things considered. And all these years, I thought it was just a title the Vorlons had given us, because it was something we were good at." She sighed. "Even after all we've been through and even after everything we've seen in service to the Rangers and to Valen, looks like the universe is still capable of throwing a curve ball at us once in a while."
"I guess so." she admitted, as they approached the meeting room where the Speaker, William and President Sheridan had been in closed meeting for some time, now. "So... are you ready to meet him?"
"Let's get this over with, before I change my mind." came the reply, and with that, they pressed on through the door... and into contact with what could properly be called an Observer... force of nature.
"Ah!" a voice cried out, "At last!" Julia and Jennifer almost jumped at that cry, as the Speaker for the Cradle of Stars, his daughter (looking mournful, somehow) standing beside and behind him, rose to his feet and approached them, while William and John Sheridan watched on from behind, looking somewhat bemused by the sudden turn of events. "President Sheridan... would it be untoward for me to request a short and private audience with Anla'shok Tikopai and her senior circle-member Sech Westcastle at this time?"
A short series of acceptances and thank-yous followed, and then the two human Observers followed the Speaker and his daughter into a smaller and more private chamber, Jennifer's children still in tow. "A pleasure it is to finally meet you, Jennifer Westcastle..." Aeilyn reiterated, "As Saarlveii' to Saarlveii', we now speak."
"Ah... translation, please?" Jennifer tentatively replied.
"But of course." came the firm reply. "As I am Circle-Prime to the Eloi'a, you are Circle-Prime to the humans. Admittedly, yours is a much *smaller* circle then mine!... but Prime of this generation you are -- leader of your kind in the here and now."
"But there are only..."
"Four of you, yes. A small circle, as I said."
"Four?"
"We are aware of the male of our kind among you who suffered at the hands of the ancient powers..." the Speaker continued, "My daughter will be visiting him shortly to see if anything can be done about the matter. The fourth among you is your female daughter, Saarlveii' Westcastle... an enviable echo to mine, to be sure! As often occurs, the trait among your kind appears to be stronger on the female side."
"Damn!" Julia heard Jennifer whisper, and winced herself. All Speaker Aeilyn had done was glance at Celia Westcastle, and he had known -- what else were these Eloi'a Observers capable of?
"As such, I have a request to make at this time." And with that, the Speaker for the Cradle of Stars became far more formal. "As has been before since the Exodus, as has always been, the towers live on through the sacrifices made by the generations before to prepare for the struggles ahead -- the gatherings made stronger in each generation.
To make our firm the compact between the Cradle of Stars and your Interstellar Alliance," the avian continued, his eyes bright, "I beseech you to allow your daughter to be trained in her calling by the A'arein of Eloi -- the Elders that are, the teachers whose sole purpose in life is to pass on their wisdom to those who would follow. For countless generations they have guided our Towers and our circles... since the Exodus, and before. There is no better place for your youngling to learn her nature, Saarlveii'... and in all our history, no Observer has ever refused the call.
Say you now what must be said," Aeilyn concluded, almost as if the decision had already been made. "And all will be as it should be."
And with that, silence fell... a silence that a suddenly thunderstruck Julia filled with numerous unsaid responses to this sudden and most unexpected turn of events. Of all the things for this avian visitor to say, she had not expected this... had not expected the Eloi'a Speaker to all but *demand* that Jennifer's daughter be turned over to them for training.
And while this request had obviously also taken her fellow Observer by surprise, she could see from Jennifer's suddenly stony expression that a response would not now be long in coming.
And that response, she feared, would *not* be the one Speaker Aeilyn was looking for.