To Dream in the City of Sorrows (20 page)

“I suppose there’s been just a beehive of Shadow activity out here,” Marcus said skeptically.

“Actually, no. At least none that’s been reported to us. But then we have no reliable way of gathering information in this area yet. We need to establish observation bases out here. We’re asking for your cooperation.”

“I will not disrupt this colony’s business so you and your friends can come here and play soldier. Was that the opportunity?” Marcus asked.

“No,” William said, looking steadily at Marcus. “The Rangers had to start almost from zero. We’re growing fast, but we need a lot more recruits. It’s the responsibility of every Ranger to talk to those few people we know who could make it as Rangers and tell them what we’re all about.”

“You want to come here and recruit among my workers?” Marcus asked incredulously. “It’s hard enough to find and keep good workers in this business, without you-“

“No, you don’t understand. Not your workers. Just you. Marcus, I want you to join with us. You have all the skills. You’re a superb pilot, you have military training and a working knowledge of Minbari from your service in Earthforce during the war. You’ve always been good at learning languages. During the war you were assigned to Earthforce Intelligence Garnering, which is primarily what we do at the moment.”

Marcus looked at his little brother in disbelief. “Do I have to remind you I was drafted unwillingly into Earthforce and that I hated every moment of it?”

“The Rangers are different. We aren’t just a military organization. We’re more than that.”

“Sounds like some kind of a cult, if you ask me. And I detest those even more than the military.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s just that being a Ranger is more than just being a soldier. It’s a calling to serve. Ranger One impresses upon all of us that our primary duty is to preserve Life. That’s what we’re about.”

“This is the Minbari, we’re talking about, isn’t it? And a Minbari military organization has to be run by the Minbari military caste. Well, I know a little something about them,” Marcus said. “They’re not particularly fond of Humans, and I don’t exactly trust them. Will, don’t you think it’s possible you’re being misled by them for reasons of their own?”

“The Rangers aren’t run by the military caste, and it’s not even primarily a Minbari organization anymore. Ranger One is Human and most of the other Rangers right now are Humans. Ranger One says that’s because Earth is as much in danger from these Shadows as Minbar, so we have a responsibility to join in the fight. Ranger One says–“

“‘Ranger One says’ quite a bit, doesn’t he?” said Marcus in a mocking tone. “Sounds like a cult leader to me.”

“Jeffrey Sinclair is a remarkable man, but he’s totally down to Earth,” William said earnestly, then laughed at his own choice of words. “So to speak. I mean, even though we’re based on Minbar. He’s the farthest thing you’ll ever find from a cult leader.”

“Well, I’ve read about your Ranger One, like everyone else. Isn’t this the same Jeffrey Sinclair that was captured by the Minbari during the war? The same Jeffrey Sinclair that was sent to Minbar as a goodwill ambassador at the Minbari’s request? And then tried to represent himself as having more authority than he really had? Sounds like he’s gone native, if you ask me. Who knows what his motivations really are?”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the papers, Marcus, and very little of what you hear coming out of official EarthGov sources these days. I didn’t think I’d have to remind someone raised on a colony of that. Some bad things are happening on Earth right now. I believe someday the Rangers may be necessary to help out there as well. Come back to Minbar with me, and see for yourself. I told Ranger One all about you and he has agreed to talk with you, to ask you to join us.”

“I have a business to run,” said Marcus, then paused. “Damn it, Will, I am glad to see you, even if you’re right that we can’t seem to say two words before we start yelling at each other. But believe it or not it’s because you’re my brother and I love you and I worry about you. You’ve spent your whole life jumping from this thing to that, never staying with anything for very long. Why should I believe this Ranger thing will last any longer than any of your other past pursuits?”

“Because this is different. This is important. Because I’m doing something important. It’s what I was meant to do in this life, I can feel it. The Rangers represent something greater. If you’d only come to Minbar, meet with Jeffrey Sinclair–“

“Willie, you’re a acting like a fool,” Marcus said impatiently. “Chasing legends, playing the hero. Look at you in that ridiculous outfit, pretending to be a legendary Minbari soldier, probably risking your life, and for what? Well, little brother, if it makes you happy, fine. But don’t try to drag me into it. I have a real life that needs attending to.”

William sat back, sighed, looked at the ceiling, looked back at Marcus. “You know, you used to be fun,” he said, catching Marcus off guard. “You were the fastest wit I ever knew, had the best sense of humor of anyone I ever met. Just being with you was enough to make me feel better when we were kids, no matter what else happened. Now look at you. A storm cloud hangs over you. You call this a real life? And you’ve done it to yourself. You say I’m a fool, risking my life for no good reason. But I’m happy. And I’m making a difference for the better. Can you say the same?”

Marcus didn’t have an answer. The truth was there was something different about his little brother. He seemed more mature and more sure of himself than Marcus had ever really thought possible. And yet it was still William in the most important ways. He didn’t act brainwashed, as Marcus had at first feared. He just acted like someone who had found himself. And yet it was all so ridiculous – Shadows and Rangers and all of that.

“I suppose you’ll be leaving with the Minbari ship?” Marcus said finally, with more than a touch of regret.

“No,” said William, as if coming to a decision. “I’ll send them on. I’ll catch the next ship. We still have a business deal to work out. You don’t have to like the Rangers to sell them Q-40, do you?”

Marcus smiled for the first time. He didn’t want to admit it, but it would be nice to have his brother around for a while.

C
HAPTER 16

Catherine Sakai hit save and exited the database. The final planetary stop on her itinerary, UTC67-02C, code-name Mjollnir, was now just an entry on her flight log and a closed report awaiting delivery to the Ops ship that awaited her on the other side of a jump gate four days away.

She had never felt happier to be in hyperspace and this first day had been just as uneventful as her last two planetary stops had been. Uneventful, but not unsuccessful. Mjollnir had proved as bounteous as Glasir, more than offsetting her disappointing fourth stop at UTC59-02B, aka Skirnir. Two successes out of five tries was a very high percentage under any circumstances. Sky dancer was bulging from the collected mass of rich soil and rock samples she was bringing back along with her detailed reports and data compilations, which she figured should make everyone happy.

And she had encountered absolutely nothing out of the ordinary at these last two planets, enabling her to set aside thoughts of mysterious destructive aliens in favor of geology, chemistry, and orbital mechanics, subjects she much preferred.

But best of all she was on the first leg of her journey back to Babylon 5 and Jeffrey Sinclair.

Her sensor panel sounded a low warning tone, and she immediately checked it out. Before entering hyperspace she had set her sensors to extreme sensitivity and had been rewarded all day long with frequent warnings. This one, like all the others, was just a hyperspace artifact, not a ship and not any kind of danger.

Hyperspace frequently “knotted” itself into little eddies, whirlpools, and temporary clumps that highly tuned sensor equipment could detect and would sometimes report as an object. This meant a pilot had a choice: keep the equipment highly tuned and put up with the many false warnings that resulted; or turn down the sensitivity for a little peace and quiet, knowing that any encounter with other ships or real objects would be at much closer range, occasionally closer than was comfortable.

Most pilots, including Sakai, usually chose the latter option, on the practical basis that such encounters in hyperspace were relatively rare; and even if they did occur, there would still be enough time to react; and in most cases the spatial displacement that formed around all objects in hyperspace actually helped to prevent collisions.

That’s what she usually chose. Not this time. She had chosen instead to put up with the constant pings, bells, and buzzers that sounded as the sensor panel warned her of what it thought were various-size objects. She was too close to getting home to leave anything to chance. If she were to encounter any unknown aliens in hyperspace, she didn’t know how, or even if, they would register on her sensors, so she was content to check out each and every little warning until she left hyperspace and reached the Ops ship. Just in case.

According to the chronometers, day one in hyperspace was just about over, and it was the scheduled time to go to bed. Sleep in hyperspace always seemed a little redundant. Most of the waking day felt like a dream, and her real dreams at night were almost always of piloving through hyperspace. It could sometimes become difficult, particularly at the end of a long flight, to differentiate between the two states of consciousness. Which made it all the more important to stick to the schedule, and put in those six hours in the bunk, whether sleepy or not. At least this time, she really was tired. Maybe she could actually get some decent sleep.

She made her way to the back of the cockpit and pulled herself into the bunk webbing. She drifted off to sleep almost immediately and in her dream was frantically trying to extricate Skydancer from a strangely entangled area of hyperspace. Though obviously very hazardous it was causing only the lowest level alarm to sound, a steady ping-ping-ping she only gradually became aware of ...

Sakai abruptly jerked awake, hitting her head against the bulkhead in the process. She had somehow managed to wrap herself up in the webbing, and tussled with it sleepily to free herself. The alarm was real. Something had set off the most sensitive sensors. Probably another false alarm, but she was leaving nothing to chance this trip. With a sigh, she pulled out of the bunk and floated over to the console. She yawned as she turned off the alarms and called up the sensor readings, then forced herself to focus on the numbers.

What she saw brought her instantly to full alertness. This didn’t look at all like a hyperspace artifact. The sensors seemed to indicate that she had just passed through an area where a jump point had opened, even though it somehow hadn’t triggered the usual alarms. She had to go on the assumption, therefore, that these other readings indicated spaceships, but they certainly didn’t match the configurations for any ships she was aware of. Still, there was no other reasonable explanation.

Suddenly, her computer sounded a new warning: “Skydancer is moving off course. Please advise as to course adjustment.”

She checked the heading and was about to order the computer to put Skydancer back on its original course, when she decided it might be better to first determine what had moved her off course in the first place.

She strapped into her console chair, and studied her readouts. “Okay,” she muttered. “Who are you?” Whatever was out there, there were at least twelve of them, all around her – including three that should be visible through her cockpit window and canopy. She leaned forward and peered out, trying to make sense of the perpetual chaotic dance of light and color that was hyperspace and somehow spot the anomalous objects.

Then she saw them. At first they seemed to be just more of the many small areas of darkness that formed in the folds of light and color, then quickly dissipated. But these stayed steady and unchanging, like three negative image stars.

“Computer, maximum magnification on sensor-recorded object number one, straight ahead.”

A moment later her monitors displayed a glistening black spider-shaped object that was definitely a ship of some kind, but like none she’d ever seen before. Jeff had been right – it wasn’t at all similar in appearance to what she had encountered at Sigma 957, but it was every bit as disquieting. And she was dead center in the middle of a fleet of them.

Should she try to make contact with them? That didn’t seem wise, not given what she had seen at Ymir, and not given Jeffs warning to her.

Had they even detected her yet? Most likely, but it was possible they hadn’t, given the conditions of hyperspace. They had apparently come out of normal space just as she passed by their jump point, and spatial displacement had put her right at the center of their formation. Sky dancer was a much smaller ship than the alien ships, and they might have passed her off as a hyperspace artifact. She could hardly count on that, however, and certainly not for very long. They would have to detect her eventually.

She looked up again at the monitor, and shivered. Just having the image on the screen was too much like having it looking at her. And she didn’t like the thought of that at all.

“Computer, normal view on all monitors.”

At least they weren’t shooting at her. In fact, she thought, she was probably right now in the one place where they wouldn’t dare take a shot at her. Given the unpredictable properties of hyperspace, any missiles or even energy weapons fired at her could easily bend off course and strike one of their comrades rather than her.

But Skydancer was still gradually being moved off course and away from her targeted jump-gate coordinates. Any course correction would surely attract their attention, something she absolutely wanted to avoid. But she couldn’t just let them carry her off course indefinitely.

She still had no proof, of course, that these strange alien ships meant her any harm. Perhaps she was overreacting. She had to be rational and consider that possibility. Which she did, for all of two seconds.