To Dream in the City of Sorrows (18 page)

Only two more missions to go.

C
HAPTER 14

The Minbari cherished their ceremonies, Sinclair thought again as he walked away from the temple dedicated to Valen – or The Chapel, as the Human Rangers had taken to calling it. He strolled silently across the compound with Jenimer and Rathenn, lost in his thoughts as they were in theirs. This had been a landmark day – the induction of the first group of trainees as full Rangers.

The Minbari had a ceremony or ritual for everything, it seemed, all performed in leisurely detail. Even a simple meal could be turned into an excruciating ordeal in the name of ceremony. Sometimes Sinclair found it an admirable trait; it was a way of slowing down and noticing things, investing importance and continuity in all aspects of life, rather tiian letting events rush by in a hurried jumble.

Other times it was just a pain in the ass.

Still, he understood the importance of ceremony in the military. And this day’s initiation of the first new Rangers represented the culmination of three months hard work. Sinclair was proud of his young recruits, Human and Minbari. For them, it was one of the most important days they would ever know, something they would remember in great detail for the rest of their lives. And as Minbari ceremonies went, this one was relatively brief and straightforward.

So Sinclair had found himself conducting the ceremony with as much intensity and delight as the young recruits themselves, taking particular joy in presenting each one with their badge, and then shaking their hand. The latter was not part of the traditional ceremony, but was clearly expected and welcomed by the Human Rangers, and quickly adopted by the Minbari recruits as well, to only a few scandalized looks from some of the older Minbari.

One part of the ceremony, however, had bothered him a little. That was the traditional Ranger credo. The voices of the new Rangers reciting those words at the end of the ceremony still rang in his ears: I am a Ranger. We walk in the dark places no others will enter. We stand on the bridge and no one may pass. We live for the One. We die for the One.

It bothered him for two reasons. He had not been able to get a straight answer out of any of the Minbari as to exactly who or what was the One. Not that he was surprised by this after all his time on Minbar, but at times it seemed that some of the Minbari didn’t know themselves. Those, like Jenimer, who probably did know, indicated (always indirectly) that it referred to the leader of the Rangers, specifically the Entil’Zha. As there currently was no Entil’Zha, and hadn’t been for over a thousand years, they were pledging to the memory of Valen as invested in whoever was the current Ranger One.

That roundabout explanation still made him uneasy. He didn’t believe an army should pledge itself only to one person, whether it be a king or a general or an Entil’Zha. He was uncomfortable with even the suggestion of a cult of personality. Pledge yourself to your responsibility for preserving life, and your duty to do what is right, he had told the new Rangers. But they were still required by tradition to also pledge themselves to “the One.”

And then there was the other thing that bothered Sinclair. He’d heard that phrase before.

“We live for the One. We would die for the One.” A rather strange alien, identified only by the name Zathras, had said that to Sinclair on Babylon 4, just before that ill-fated station went through the time rift in Sector 14 to an unknown fate. But Zathras couldn’t have been a Ranger, at least not as things stood now, since the Minbari had insisted only Humans and Minbari could join. So why had he used that exact phrase, so close to the Ranger credo?

“Did the Anla’shok Na say he had some urgent business to discuss?” Jenimer asked. Both he and Rathenn seemed hesitant to break in on Sinclair’s thoughts.

It was still strange for Sinclair to hear himself referred to in this way, since even Jenimer and Rathenn still usually called him ambassador. “Yes, we need to discuss our next move concerning Babylon 5.” Jenimer simply nodded.

Sinclair was growing ever more concerned about the ailing Minbari leader’s health. Jenimer had clearly been pushing himself too hard over the past three months, having set himself up as the buffer between Sinclair and those in the Grey Council and military caste who still opposed what the Rangers were doing. And though he never complained or referred to it, it had taken a noticeable toll on Jenimer.

“It is time to step up our activity on Babylon 5,” Sinclair continued. “It’s crucial to us as a source of supplies and information. Now that we have Human Rangers to send there on a full-time basis, I want to increase the flow of both those commodities. It’s time to inform Sheridan of our activities.”

Jenimer shook his head. “The Vorlons say it is not yet time.”

Even though Ulkesh wasn’t walking with them, he was there, as always, needlessly putting obstacles in their way. But the Minbari, including Delenn apparently, joined the Vorlons in believing that Sheridan wasn’t ready to be told everything. They had a timetable and they would not budge from it.

“I had a feeling you’d say that, but if we’re going to intensify our activities on Babylon 5, we’re going to attract attention. If we get the wrong sort of attention from the station’s security chief, it will be impossible to do our work there, I can guarantee you that. If nothing else, we need to at least inform Chief Garibaldi of what’s going on. Just him, no one else. I’ll ask him to give the Rangers his cooperation, and, where necessary, turn a blind eye.”

“But he will inform Sheridan immediately if you do that,” said Rathenn.

“Not if I ask him not to.”

“You are not his commanding officer anymore,” said Jenimer.

“No, but we’re still friends. And he owes me. He’ll do this if I ask him to, and he’ll prove an invaluable ally, I promise you. There’s no other way.”

Jenimer considered it. “Perhaps you’re right. But the security chief only. And the message you send must be carefully worded.”

“It will be,” said Sinclair, then silently adding, it’ll have to be if it’s going to tell Garibaldi what he needs to know and still get by Ulkesh. “I’ll instruct one of the Rangers to deliver it personally. A copy of the message should also go to Delenn, to keep her informed.” Whether she would get the entire message he sent to Garibaldi, he had yet to decide. One thing at a time.

“I’m sure Ulkesh will agree to this.”

“Wonderful,” Sinclair said as neutrally as he could, and left it at that.

As soon as he got back to his quarters, he sat down to compose the message. He would make a visual recording, but first he wanted to carefully work out what he would say. He wrote the first words.

Hello, old friend. It’s been a while.

Best to keep it simple. Garibaldi wasn’t one for sentiment.

I’m trusting this message to an associate of mine who is sworn to bring it to you at any cost – including his own life. That should help convince him of the life-and-death seriousness of what Sinclair was about to say.

My job on the Minbari homeworld is more than just representing Earth. Even the President doesn’t know about that part yet, and I don’t think it would be wise of you to tell him.

Be careful about what you say and who you speak to from Earth. Garibaldi would almost certainly understand that part of the message.

There’s a great darkness coming. Some of the Minbari have been waiting for it a long time.

He hoped that was vague enough for the Vorlon. The next part could be, and had to be, stated directly.

I have to ask and trust that you will tell no one, not even Sheridan, what I’m about to say. The bearer of this message is one of my Rangers. Some are Minbari. Most are Humans. They have been drawn here to work together and prepare for the fight ahead. Their job, for now, is to patrol the frontier, to listen, to watch, and to return with reports too sensitive to trust to regular channels. They are my eyes and ears. Where you see them, you see me.

In the name of our friendship, I ask that you give them every courtesy and cooperation.

Sinclair paused. That was the heart of the matter. He thought for a moment, and then decided to continue the direct approach.

I wish I could tell you more. I wish I could warn you. But the others don’t think it’s time yet.

It still wasn’t enough. He had to say something more specific. He owed Garibaldi and Babylon 5 itself at least that much. What did he really want to say to his old friend? He wanted to warn him about the Shadows. By now, he must have heard something, seen some of the reports, heard some of the rumors.

But Sinclair wanted to warn him about more than the Shadows. He also wanted to warn Garibaldi about the Vorlons. He was a little surprised when he realized how strongly he felt about this, since he wasn’t really sure what exactly he wanted to warn Garibaldi against. That they were evasive? That they knew far more than they were willing to say? It was more than that. Garibaldi already knew those things. He knew Kosh. And maybe that was the point. Those on Babylon 5 only knew Kosh, knew only that one Vorlon, knew only the one side of the Vorlons Kosh represented. Mysterious but seeming benign. Sinclair had believed that image himself, until he finally met another Vorlon. Ulkesh represented another side of the Vorlons, and Sinclair believed that to be a much darker side. Perhaps the more influential side.

Sinclair remembered that Garibaldi was fond of saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Sinclair was finding it increasingly hard to see the Vorlons as anyone’s friends, but they were clearly enemies of the Shadows, who appeared to be enemy to all. So it was essential to cooperate with the Vorlons. And equally essential not to trust them too far. How would he get that across to Garibaldi without letting the Vorlon know he was doing so?

He thought about his friend for a moment. Although almost completely uninhibited when off duty, Garibaldi took his job as security chief very seriously, and was thorough and cautious on the job.

Garibaldi once told him he had a motto as security chief. It came from an old, old movie he’d seen once; he had a fascination for late twentieth and early twenty-first century popular culture. “There’s a line in this film,” Garibaldi had told him. “‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.’ And if I don’t know which a person is, I stay really close.”

That was it, Sinclair suddenly thought. He would use that. “Stay close to the Vorlon” might just resonate with Garibaldi in the right way.

Now, what about the Shadows? He couldn’t call them by name – or could he? It was, after all, a perfectly common word, one often used to denote danger in a general sense. Link that with the Vorlons in the same sentence, and maybe the point would be clear enough.

Stay close to the Vorlon and watch out for shadows. They move when you’re not looking.

They. Would Garibaldi discern he meant that both the Shadows and the Vorlons had a tendency to “move when you’re not looking”? Sinclair would just have to trust Garibaldi’s instincts.

He reread the message. A bit melodramatic, perhaps, but it should do the job. Satisfied, he walked over to the computer to make the visual recording. As he sat down, he thought of his old friend and of all his friends on Babylon 5, and felt the familiar surge of conflicting emotions. The strong feelings carried through as he began.

“Hello, old friend. It’s been a while ...”

The young Ranger stood at attention, but was clearly eager for his first mission. Sinclair was at his desk in his official embassy office in Tuzanor. In a few hours, a group of Rangers would depart for Babylon 5, and Sinclair had left the assignment of the final and most important part of their mission there to the last possible moment. He also carefully decided that the instructions would best be given in the greater privacy of this small office, rather than at any of the offices in the administrative buildings or even in his quarters on the Ranger compound.

“At ease,” said Sinclair. “I understand you’ve been to Babylon 5 before?”

“Yes, sir, a couple of times.”

“Good.” Sinclair handed the Ranger two small computer data crystals containing the message he had recorded that had been duly approved by Jenimer and Ulkesh. “You are to personally deliver these messages to Babylon 5’s Security Chief Michael Garibaldi and to Ambassador Delenn. No one else. You must not divulge to anyone else that you carry these messages, simply insist that you must speak privately to the chief and to the ambassador, no matter what. Is that clear?” “Yes, sir.”

Sinclair hesitated briefly. “I also have a second assignment for you, which you are to discuss with no one but Mr. Garibaldi, and that only after you have delivered the first message.”

Sinclair handed the Ranger a third data crystal, containing a message that had not been approved by anyone, nor did anyone else know about it. Maybe it wasn’t necessary at all, but Sinclair wanted to be sure.

“Tell Mr. Garibaldi that I request he store this message in the Babcom system without speaking of it to anyone else. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

Sinclair stood. “Then good luck.”

“Entil’Zha veni, “the young man said earnestly. “In Valen’s name.”

Sinclair smiled at the two oaths that the Minbari insisted the Rangers be taught. It was the unwritten rule that the first one was used only at the most solemn and important of occasions. Sinclair supposed a new Ranger’s first assignment qualified as such, The second oath was almost as common on Minbar as “please” and “thank you.”

“Godspeed,” Sinclair replied.

When the Ranger left, Sinclair went to the window that looked out upon the quiet, ancient streets of the City of Sorrows. The third message, sent without the knowledge or approval of the Minbari or the Vorlons was for Catherine. He hadn’t dared to do an image recording; it was a written message, encoded and unsigned, that would be placed in her mail file and tagged as originating on Babylon 5.

He had no idea what she would find when she returned to the station from her mission, no way of knowing what she would be told by EarthGov or the Minbari, but he suspected elements of both might try to convince her to stay away from Minbar and simply forget about him. Since he wasn’t able to ask Garibaldi or Delenn to tell her the truth, he had to try and leave her word to come to Minbar so he could explain everything in person.