'I always dream. Who doesn't these days? Nothing serious though.'
'Of course. My…. apologies for bothering you, Captain. I remember now that you have been involved with Vorlons at various times. That could explain a great deal. Good day.'
He started to leave, but Sheridan stopped him. 'Wait! Do you…. know where Delenn is?'
'She will be here in a moment.' He gently pulled himself free of Sheridan's grip and nodded his head, before turning and moving away. Sheridan shook his head, and then turned to look at his companion. Corwin shrugged.
At that point, the figure of Sheridan's beloved appeared at the door.
All thought of the confusing conversation with Vejar left him as he ran towards Delenn, calling out her name. Smiling, she stepped forward and let him engulf her in his arms, lifting her up into the air and kissing her lightly.
'I missed you,' he whispered to her, over and over again. 'I missed you.'
'John,' she said, still smiling. 'We were only apart a week.'
'So? I still missed you.' He lowered her back to the ground, but did not let go of her. Nor she of him, he noticed.
'And I you. It seems that…. any time we spend apart now is….' She paused, trying to find a word. Sheridan brushed her hair with his fingers, feeling the beating of her heart against his chest. 'Hard,' she whispered at last.
'I know. Still, we have some time here at least…. before anything else blows up in our faces. Why don't I try cooking for you tonight? We can….'
'I…. have another idea,' she said, smiling. 'My people have…. rituals for when a couple become…. close. A courtship among my people can take many years, but the rituals are designed to ensure that the couple are right and true for each other before the relationship is…. consummated.'
'I think it's a bit late for that,' he whispered, and she blushed.
'No. I know…. we cannot have a full Minbari courtship, and I would not expect it from you, not even if…. we had the time. But still, some rituals we have already passed through…. without knowing. Others…. we cannot perform here. But there are some. I would like us to perform one tonight, just…. as a reminder of how things might have been, and may yet become.'
'Hey, you're the boss. You sat through my cooking after all, so I suppose I owe you something in return. I'd love to, Delenn.'
'Good.' She smiled, and then reached up to him, her lips lightly brushing against his. 'Tonight?'
'Mm-hmm.'
'Greetings, Miss Sakai. I suppose you would like to know what's been happening, hmm?'
To call that an understatement would be an understatement itself, Catherine Sakai thought, and one of galactic proportions. Two people close to her had died tonight, and…. and…. she wasn't sure what she was going to do, but yes, she definitely did want to know what had been happening.
But first, she wanted to know why she was in the company of a man who was supposed to be long dead.
William Edgars smiled and nodded. 'Yes, I can see that…. recent events might have been a…. burden, and I would like to apologise for that. Alas, it was necessary, I assure you. Nothing I do is ever without reason.'
Something clicked. Catherine was not sure how to react to the insanity of this — the man who seemed to be confessing to ordering the deaths of her lover and her best friend was apologising for doing so! — but her instincts were not dying down. The phrasing, the syntax, the grammar….
'You're the one who questioned me earlier?' she asked. 'You…. asked me about the G'Kar File.'
'Ah yes, that was me. I apologise for the deception, but it was necessary again. That was too important to entrust to anyone else and I was afraid you might have recognised my voice…. it has been a long time of course, but not that long. So, the distortion was necessary. Unfortunately there are other aspects of speech which cannot be so easily hidden. Ah well….'
'But….' Catherine shook her head. 'You're supposed to be dead!'
'Dead? Me? Well, maybe. Again, another deception. I'd made far too many enemies and there was a need to work…. behind the scenes, so to speak. Oh, I'm sorry. What am I thinking of?' He pressed a button on his desk and the restraints around Catherine's wrists slid open. She rose to her feet awkwardly. 'Coffee? It's the real stuff, I assure you. Or perhaps orange juice? I do have some left here, you know. I used to love drinking orange juice as a child. Freshly squeezed, without any of the additives, preservatives, and bits and pieces we introduce to make our lives more bearable. No, sometimes I think nature was right in the beginning. Our lives are just too complicated now. Perhaps we should be thanking the Minbari for one thing. Whatever else we think of them, they have brought us back to the basics. Food, drink, shelter, survival…. What more do we truly need?'
'I don't know…. friendship, love, some kind of purpose?'
'Ah…. yes, perhaps. A romantic, then?'
'No. I just…. think there must be more than just survival. There's what we need to live, and there's why we want to live.'
He nodded. 'A…. wise attitude, and one returning to popularity, I believe. Oh, the coffee?' Catherine shook her head. She couldn't face anything at the moment.
'Now, I'm sure you have a number of questions, and this is…. for your benefit after all, so if you ask the questions, I'll attempt to answer them, to the best of my ability. Then we can sort out why you're here.'
Questions. Yes. Answers…. yes, she wanted these too. Or did she?
'Why did you kill Dan?' she whispered. 'And Julie? You…. were behind that?'
'Ah…. yes. Indirectly, I suppose. Mr. Randall was a…. complication who needed to be removed. Miss Musante was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mr. Morden assures me that her shooting was an unfortunate accident.'
'An accident? You killed my best friend by accident?! And Dan, he was…. what? A complication? How can you talk about human lives that way? Don't they mean anything to you?'
'More than you'll ever know. But…. I see we'll have to do this another way. Care for a seat?' Catherine looked at the chair behind her suspiciously. 'Oh no, not that one. There's one over here.'
'I'd rather stand, thank you.'
'As you wish. To begin…. well, at the beginning, I suppose, as a great man once said. Just after the war….'
Darkness was falling slowly over Kazomi 7. Valen — Jeffrey Sinclair — both — either — was standing on a balcony of the main building, watching thin tendrils of red light gradually retreating. He sighed, and was suddenly aware of a movement behind him.
'I'm sorry,' said a not-unfamiliar voice. 'I didn't realise…. I'll go….'
Valen turned, to see a human. It was one of those who had been present at the Rebirth Ceremony, the companion of Captain Sheridan. 'No,' he said softly. 'Stay.'
The human shrugged and stepped forward. He looked out over the horizon silently for a few minutes, lost in thought.
Valen studied him, and immediately found thousand-year-old memories rising to the forefront of his mind. This soldier…. Commander…. Corwin, that was it. He reminded him of many who had served under him…. before. Brave soldiers, noble warriors, good people, but…. always frustrated by how little they could serve, annoyed that their talents could only raise them so far. Each had reacted in different ways to this — some had sought to improve their talents and skills so that they could do all they desired; some had sunk into depression, into darkness, content with what they had when they could have had far more; and some…. some had let their own weaknesses twist and corrupt them, until they lost everything of what they had been…. like Marrain.
'I like it here,' he said finally. 'The city is full of such hope, a rebuilding from chaos and disaster, a look to the future.'
'It's a place where millions died,' replied Corwin. 'I was here after the Drakh left, and there was no hope here then. Just people starving, and bleeding to death, and screaming from nightmares that never ended.'
'And look at them now.'
