The shard of the necklace was both warm and cold in her hand; warm with memories of love and happiness and cold with the realisation of present grief. Kats wore it always, but the comfort it provided was never consistent. y
Tirivail was still pacing up and down. David and General Sheridan were talking quietly. Tirivail suddenly stopped to look at Kats. o
'There will be war,' she said flatly. 'Do you think it can be avoided?' u
Kats gripped the necklace more tightly. 'I hope so,' she breathed. 'But.... I do not know. I do not want a war.' w
'I do. It is what I live for.' i
'Have you not had enough of war?' l
'Never. I am still alive.' l
Kats sighed. There was no way to reason with her, and she did not see why she should. Tirivail was a warrior, and however much time she spent with warriors she would never be able to adjust her philosophy to theirs. It could take generations to build a work of great beauty, and only moments to destroy it. o
When she was younger, that was all she had thought warriors to be: destroyers. That belief had been changed by her experiences. She had seen the compassion and courage and infinite gentleness in the eyes of some warriors. They were like everyone else: each one different. b
Kozorr had tried to explain it to her more than once, and she had started to see. There was an ancient code, from simpler days, one of honour and nobility and a tight bond between warriors. Trust was a necessity, to place your life and your honour and your fane so completely in the hands of another and know that they were doing the same to you. e
Kats had tried to imagine that, in the warm days on the balcony of their home looking out over Yedor, resting against him. Could she trust anyone that much? Could she place so much trust in one person knowing they were doing the same to her? y
Then she had wrapped her arms around him and understood the answer. u
As she looked up at Tirivail, she realised she had found another person to trust like that. Tirivail was difficult and awkward and fiery, but she was a friend. s
It was hard to hate someone who loved the same person as you. y
Kats rose from her seat and walked over to her friend, taking her hand. Tirivail jumped back. o
'Sit,' Kats said. 'And tell me what you fear.' u
'I fear nothing!' Tirivail said, a little too defensively, but she did not protest as Kats sat down, and joined her a moment later. 'There will be war,' she said again. Kats nodded. 'I am scared,' she whispered. 'No, I am a warrior. I do not know fear.' w
'Fear is nothing to be ashamed of.' i
'It is not shame! Do you know nothing of our ways? I am not afraid because I might die. I am afraid because I do not have a cause to die for. I do not want everything to end in quiet and silence. What is there for me to die for? I do not have a lord, I do not....' She reached out with surprising gentleness and touched Kats' necklace. 'I would have died for him. I would have died for Sonovar. I might even have died for Sinoval. l
'But they all abandoned me. Where am I? Whom do I serve? For what cause do I fight? My father has made it very clear that I will never be worthy in his eyes. I do not want to die for no reason.' l
'You can fight for your people, for your home.... for me. You are my friend, Tirivail.' o
The warrior turned her head away. 'At least he loved you,' she whispered. b
'Maybe you will not have to die after all.' e
'You know nothing.' y
'Maybe.' Kats took her hand again. 'And he did care for you. He admired you greatly.' u
'But he did not love me.' s
'No.' y
'No.' o
Babylon 5 grew nearer. u
'I don't care what he says, I've never heard of them.' y
'Dex, dear....' o
'What?' u
Talia leaned in and kissed him once, gently, on the cheek. 'Never mind. A bit of healthy paranoia is.... well, healthy.' w
They were gathered in one of the safe houses, one of many abandoned buildings scattered throughout Sector 301. Talia had sent out a call in their dreams that night, and slowly, one by one, they had arrived. She had insisted on bringing the Box, and the Vindrizi. i
She had tried to explain to him who the Vindrizi were, but her explanations had been a little.... well, vague. An ancient race of parasites created to observe events and, just.... remember them. They possessed living beings and saw through their eyes, using their senses. And they'd existed all this time without anyone noticing. Five hundred millennia was the time–span Talia had mentioned. l
But when he tried asking sensible questions like who had created them and why and where were they now, did he get any answers? Yeah, right! l
He leaned back, looking at the telepaths gathered in a circle around them, acutely aware of just how unalike them he was. They were.... different. Whatever powers or talents he had - or others claimed he had - he still thought of himself as human. These were not. Even Talia. She could do things he could not even dream about. o
At heart, all he was was a poor poker player and a failed soldier. And the man who had murdered the saviour of mankind. b
The Vindrizi was there as well. Whatever his human name had been he was not inclined to say. e
'Are they all here?' he asked. y
'Everyone who's going to be here,' Talia replied. u
Dexter looked around. This place should be safe enough. There were enough members of Sector 301 Security outside maintaining irregular patrols that were just a little bit more regular than usual. And everyone here would be aware of any Hand of the Light who came within a mile of the place, but.... s
The Vindrizi stepped up, and looked around at the circle of telepaths. y
'You do not know me,' he said. His voice was strange, with emphases on the wrong words, the wrong sounds, as if he were having to concentrate to sound human. 'My name does not matter. We are ancient, my people. We were created to be observers and recorders of the images of the galaxy. o
'We are called the Vindrizi. We are sworn to peace and neutrality. We take no part in the wars of mortals, younger race or First One. But we will defend ourselves. We have debated amongst ourselves, and a path has been chosen. There is a war, and we will fight. u
'Our enemies seek to control us, to bind us to their ways. They have sent their agents in pursuit of us, and some have been captured and fed into their network. Memories and images, forever lost in time. This cannot be permitted. w
'We once aided a mortal, one bound by a great destiny and purpose. He seeks to fight the enemy we speak of. He will raise an army and a banner and he will lead the galaxy to war. He is the consummate warrior. i
'We speak here on his behalf. You fight an enemy. We fight an enemy. He fights an enemy. Align your cause to ours, and we can help you. You desire knowledge, we can provide it. We have a weaponsmth. Weapons will be provided. Safe havens, military strength.' l
'Why do you need us?' Dexter suddenly asked. 'Why does this warlord of yours, and I think we all know who you're talking about, why does he need us to help him?' l
'You have power, a unique power. The enemy would use that power against him, but you.... you can use it against them. Cripple their control over you and your kind, and they will be gravely weakened.' o
'The network?' b
'They have much power here. Destroy their base, and they will be weakened.' e
Dexter looked at Talia. She shrugged. 'I think we will need to talk this over.' y
