terribly, terribly hurt, and needed help, needed company, needed someone.
'We have talked before,' she said hesitantly, after a while. 'I know you....'
'Dexter Smith. Formerly Captain in Earthforce. I arrested you on Babylon Four.'
She smiled in recognition. 'Yes, I remember now. What happened? Why are you not with your army any more?'
'Ah.... I was asked to explain some.... things about that whole incident I really couldn't explain. I resigned to avoid a scandal, with an honourable discharge due to 'ill health'. To be honest, I just couldn't do it any more. When I joined Earthforce it was to get away from here. Then later it was a simple matter of good and evil. We were good, you were evil, and that was that.
'I saw just a bit too much and....' He sighed. 'I didn't know where I was going, what I was doing.... what. So I decided to wind down a notch, come back here and try to work things out.'
'Ah,' she said, nodding. 'A soul quest, yes. Some of our people have been known to do similar things, when they realise they are known only by their positions, by what they are, rather than who they are.
'Tell me, Captain Smith, do you know who you are now?'
'I'm getting there,' he admitted. 'And it's plain old Mr. Smith these days. Or Dexter even. Just not Dex.'
'I apologise,' she said. She made to smile, but then a look of pain crossed her face, and she began to cough. Flecks of blood stained her mouth.
'Are you all right?' said Smith, starting. 'Let me get a doctor.'
'No,' she whispered weakly. 'It is.... only to be expected.... after what has happened. I can....' She closed her eyes. 'I can still hear his heart beating....' She began coughing again.
'I'm going to get a doctor,' he said again, rising from his chair by her side. She tried to say something, but clearly could not. He moved quickly from her room to the adjacent corridor. To his surprise there was no one there. He took a glance in the nearest room. It was empty. And then the next one.
That was empty too.
In fact, there was no one around.
He might have retired from Earthforce but he had been a soldier for a long time, and some instincts remained. They were all screaming at him. There was the sound of movement outside, and he began to panic. Racing back to Delenn's room, he scooped up the PPG he had laid next to the chair.
'What is it?' Delenn whispered.
'Trouble,' he replied softly. 'Can you walk?'
'If I must.'
'Trust me, you must. I think someone's discovered you're here. Come on.' He reached for her and gently helped her out of the bed. She swayed against him and almost fell. 'Just move as quickly as you can,' he said. 'We've got to get out of here.'
'Where?'
'I don't know.' Slowly, he began to guide her towards the back door. 'I would have said Bo's, but I went to him before. Maybe he....' He shook his head. 'No, I can't believe Bo would do that. But.... Damn, we've been much too careless. Doctors, helpers, anyone could have found out you're here.'
'We don't know.... they.... know....'
A window exploded as a rock came flying through it. Smith started as it landed at his feet. There was the sound of angry voices outside. He could not identify words, and he did not want to.
'Oh, they know all right. There must be another way out of here.'
'Why...?' She coughed again. 'Why are you helping me?'
'Someone has to.'
'No,' she said seriously. 'No one has to. I would not blame you if you chose to leave me here. I have done much to deserve that.'
'Well, what can I say? I always wanted to be a hero. Look, someone has to be the good guy, and it might as well be me. In the grand scale of things my life doesn't mean much. Yours does. Now come on, we have to get out the back.'
'Thank you,' she whispered. 'Thank you.'
'Hey, don't thank me until we're out of this.'
Slowly, they moved on. More windows broke, but they were all front–facing ones. Maybe they had not got round the back. Smith was thinking of places to go, places to hide. There was an alley not far away that led out to another abandoned building. They could hide there for a while. It would be hard to conceal Delenn, of course. Even apart from her headbone she was pretty conspicuous in her white hospital gown.
Still, all they had to do was get away from here. They could try to get in touch with Welles. He would be able to do something.
Smith pushed open the back door, and swore loudly.
There was a crowd waiting for them. Several people were carrying weapons, and dark glares were burning in their eyes. There were angry cries.
And standing in the front row, a look of triumph on his face, arms folded across his chest, was Trace.
He was smiling.
Klaxons continued to blare across Proxima. Wherever they were heard they aroused panic and terror. People had long memories. Some scrambled into underground blast shelters, families huddled together, reliving days they had thought were long gone. Others stumbled outside, looking up into the sky, waiting for the first sight of the alien ships descending on their world.
If anyone in the business sector had done that they would indeed have seen an alien ship descending on their world, but this was not a Minbari warship, not a
It was a Shadow vessel. A ship belonging to humanity's allies, their saviours, their guardians against all the things that threatened the human race.
The dome shattered as it crashed through the glittering surface, shards raining down upon the buildings and people below. It turned and bore down on the Edgars Building, the headquarters of Interplanetary Expeditions.
It fired. Windows shattered. Walls exploded. The building began to collapse.
Somewhere beneath the building, in a hidden, reinforced underground complex, two men stood before another one. The room was shaking around them.
'How strong is this place?' asked the younger. 'Can that thing blow us up?'
'Eventually, yes. There were limits to just how strong we could make this complex without alerting the Enemy. It will however take time.... and that is on our side.'
'Is it ready?'
A thin smile stretched across his features. 'Yes, the network is ready. The
Mr. Edgars stepped forward, looking up at the still form of Byron. There was a low humming noise, which had been growing louder and louder. Lights began to sparkle around the wall, illuminating Byron's body. His eyes flicked open, and from deep within them came a brighter and brighter–glowing light.
'Mr. Byron,' said Edgars, stepping back and breathing in sharply. 'This is your wake–up call.'
Above them all, the Shadow ship continued to fire.
Smith moved first, instincts honed by back–alley brawls and Earthforce training. He darted in front of Delenn as the first rock was thrown. She stumbled as he pushed her back, but the rock missed her.
'It is her!' cried one voice.
'I told you so,' said Trace. 'It's her. He's the one that hid her here.'
Some of the crowd moved forward, and Smith gently tried to push Delenn back into the doorway. She would not move.
'Stop this!' Smith cried. 'This isn't....'
'Oh, but it is!' snapped Trace. 'She's Minbari. She's Delenn herself. We all know who she is, what she's done! You're trying to protect her!' He turned to face the crowd. 'The big war hero here would rather protect the Minbari
