There was a moment of silence in the Council Chamber of the United Alliance of Kazomi 7. All eyes were fixed on the two figures standing. All minds were filled with speculation.
One of the standing figures was Primarch Sinoval, leader of the Minbari people, master of the mysterious and terrifying Soul Hunters. He had been on Kazomi 7 for over a week, engaged in private meetings with many of the leaders. Now he had spoken to the Council, trying to win their support to his goal of a strike against the Vorlons. The Vorlon Ambassador was not here.
Sinoval's speech had been interrupted by the arrival of the second figure. Vizhak was a member of this Council and had been since its formation more than two years earlier. He had only recently returned from a visit to the Drazi homeworld, and had returned with startling information.
'I say again to those who did not hear me before,' he said. 'Drazi ships have been attacked. Drazi ships have been attacked by Minbari ships. And who leads Minbari? Who orders Minbari ships? Who, but you?'
'I have given no such order,' replied Sinoval, his face cold and hard, his dark eyes darting to each member of the Council as if daring any of them to disbelieve him. 'I have not instructed any attack on Drazi shipping.'
'Perhaps they were not Minbari ships,' countered Vizhak. 'Perhaps there were other ships looking like Minbari ships. Looking just like Minbari ships. There are eyewitnesses. There is documentation. They were Minbari ships.'
'Sonovar,' whispered the Primarch, closing his eyes. He hesitated, his body seemingly shaking with rage. Even Vizhak took a step back. Sinoval opened his eyes. 'Sonovar,' he repeated. The name meant little to anyone present.
'You pass blame on to another?' asked Vizhak.
'We should at least examine this evidence,' spoke up a hasty voice. G'Kar, the voice of peace and reason as always. Unfortunately neither Sinoval nor Vizhak was interested in peace or reason. 'Perhaps it is a conspiracy to frame Primarch Sinoval.'
'No conspiracy,' said Vizhak, with absolute certainty. 'Minbari ships.'
'Pirates, perhaps?' suggested G'Kar, looking at the still form of Primarch Sinoval. 'Renegades?'
'You imply the mighty Primarch Sinoval cannot control his own people,' said Vizhak. 'That Minbari pirates slip his control and attack our ships. No, it was ordered, and who orders Minbari ships but he?'
'Sonovar,' spoke the Primarch again. 'This was Sonovar's doing. A pirate and a renegade, just as Ha'Cormar'ah G'Kar said.'
'So. You cannot control your people,' snapped Vizhak.
'He lives only by my sufferance. He is too insignificant to bother with!'
'Deal with your own problems before you come to us!' cried Vizhak. 'Why should we listen to one who lets his own people fly and destroy at will?'
Sinoval was about to reply, but he suddenly stopped and cocked his head as if listening to something. He looked at the door Vizhak had entered by a few minutes earlier. His hand went unconsciously to his side, to the place his pike would normally be.
The door opened, and in walked someone known to everyone on the Council. Captain John Sheridan, the legendary Starkiller himself. Sinoval straightened.
'Captain,' said Lethke, the first to regain his composure. 'You are.... back? How was.... How.... is...?'
'Delenn,' spoke the thick accent of Emperor Londo Mollari. 'Captain, is she...?'
'She is dead,' came the soft reply. There was a collective sense of sadness, of sudden and terrible tragedy. Ha'Cormar'ah G'Kar looked at his old friend, and his people's oldest enemy. Emperor Mollari's head was bowed.
'The Shadows killed her,' continued Sheridan. 'We.... only just got out of there alive. We.... couldn't get her body back.'
'Droshalla preserve us,' whispered Taan Churok. The stocky Drazi's face was full of emotion. He would have followed Delenn into oblivion and back. They all would.
'I.... um.... I think they were trying to convert her. Give her one of those Keepers or something.' Sheridan's voice was choking as well. Everyone knew the depth of the relationship between him and Delenn. He had been mortally wounded and had lain paralysed for months. To recover only to lose her so shortly afterwards.... it was a true tragedy. And yet G'Kar knew the truth. Delenn had not been abducted and taken to Z'ha'dum. She had gone of her own free will as the price for the Vorlons curing Sheridan of those injuries. She obviously considered her life a price worth paying, and if that was her decision, how could he disagree with her?
But it was still so hard....
'She resisted,' continued Sheridan. 'They killed her when we arrived. They were afraid she'd escape and tell us about their secrets.'
G'Kar looked up and turned his gaze from Sheridan to Sinoval. The Primarch was one of the three people in this room who knew the truth about Delenn's journey to Z'ha'dum. He was the one who had told G'Kar and Londo.
'She is dead?' said Sinoval.
For the first time, Sheridan seemed to notice he was there. He turned to look at the Minbari warrior. The two had met several times before, and there had rarely been friendship there. The air seemed to crackle between them.
'Yes,' replied Sheridan simply.
Sinoval looked at Sheridan intently, staring into his eyes. Sinoval's own eyes grew even darker, so dark as to be almost infinite, a pool of blackness deep within his soul and beyond. G'Kar thought he could hear again the voice of the Well of Souls.
Sinoval then looked down, a terrible sadness filling him. He drew in a quick breath, then shook his head sadly.
'Damn you,' he whispered, although of whom he was speaking G'Kar could not tell. Sinoval looked up again. 'Damn you.' He picked up the data crystal he had brought to the meeting, the crystal containing the record of Delenn's message to him, the message he had been intending to show the Council.
'Damn you!' He hurled the crystal against the wall. It shattered.
'I know who you are,' he hissed, advancing on Sheridan. 'I know who you are, and I swear by all the Gods in the heavens.... I will destroy each and every one of you!
'I will burn down your cities, and sow the ground beneath your feet with salt. Everything you have ever cherished I will destroy, as if it had never existed! Darker paths than yours, remember. I will show you them all.'
Sheridan stood still where others would have quailed. Even some of the Council were flinching, and Sinoval's words were not directed at them.
It was Taan Churok who moved first, pushing back his chair and leaping to his feet. He lunged forward to attack Sinoval, when Sheridan suddenly raised a hand.
'No,' he said softly. 'Leave this place, Sinoval. Leave this place and never return.'
'Let me kill him!' roared Taan Churok. Vizhak agreed.
Sinoval turned his gaze on all the Council. 'I pity you all,' he whispered. 'Remember that I warned you.' He looked back at Sheridan. 'Remember that I warned you as well. Damn each and every one of you!'
'Go!' shouted Sheridan.
Sinoval stormed past him and left the hall. Sheridan watched dispassionately as the door slammed shut. He then turned back to the Council. He said four simple words.
'We are at war.'
