To Dream in the City of Sorrows (26 page)

“I’ve never had any doubt of that, Chosen One,” said Sinclair. Jenimer’s ailing appearance had suddenly made Sinclair want to express his appreciation toward this kind and remarkable Minbari, even as he tried to shake off the feeling he might never have another chance. “You’ve been a good friend. Not only to the Rangers as a whole, but to me, personally. For that I want to thank you.”

Sinclair had wanted to say more, but it seemed to be enough for Jenimer who smiled, obviously very pleased.

In the short silence that followed, Sinclair wondered if the meeting was over until Ulkesh, who had stood motionless until then, turned slightly toward the Minbari leader. Jenimer’s smile faded.

“I fear there is another matter to discuss,” Jenimer said unhappily. “The presence of Ms. Sakai ...”

“It is not acceptable,” said Ulkesh in his harsh, synthesized voice.

Sinclair folded his arms and his eyes narrowed in anger, but otherwise he kept his cool. “The Vorlon ambassador is a valuable ally,” he said evenly. “But my personal life is none of his concern.”

“You are the arrow and must not be deflected.”

“Get this straight, Ambassador,” Sinclair said in a dangerously calm voice. “I’m not just some unthinking tool for you to use any way you want.”

“There is concern,” Jenimer said carefully, “that your ability to concentrate fully on the task-“

“Will not be in the least bit compromised by the presence of Ms. Sakai,” Sinclair said. He looked back at Ulkesh. “After all this time, do you really have so little faith in me? If so, you’d better tell me now.”

The Vorlon turned and glided out of the room.

C
HAPTER 21

I’M here, Will, thought Marcus Cole, just as I promised. But understand, little brother, if this Sinclair and the Rangers aren’t what you assumed them to be ...

He let the thought trail off, and looked around the small windowless room instead. Three other men and two women sat as he did on three stone benches, while one Minbari male and one woman, both dressed in Ranger uniforms, stood near the only door. The woman would occasionally leave, then reappear to speak in a low voice to her Minbari comrade. They had been waiting about forty minutes in the room, which had become uncomfortably warm and stuffy. Marcus shifted impatiently and wondered again if he wasn’t making the mistake of his life by being here.

He had arrived on Minbar two days before, sure that he would feel more than just a little uneasy being on the homeworld of Earth’s former enemies, surrounded by Minbari. To his great surprise, he found himself quite taken by the physical beauty of the place and charmed by the polite Minbari he had encountered, though he had quickly learned to steer clear of the military caste.

Immediately upon arrival, he’d wasted no time in seeking out the Earth Embassy office in Tuzanor, which helpful Minbari on the ancient stone streets were more than happy to direct him toward. He had asked for an appointment with Ambassador Sinclair, said he wanted to inquire about the Rangers, and had given his name. He was given an appointment for the next day. It was only then that he had realized he hadn’t bothered to arrange for a place to stay the night. When he inquired about hotels, the Minbari Embassy aide wrote down an address for him.

He found it was a small private residence. Sure a mistake had been made, he went to the front door to make another inquiry about hotels, but was immediately welcomed inside by the Minbari family and told he could stay the night in a small guest room.

He did not sleep well, and morning came unexpectedly soon. The breakfast they offered him was mostly inedible. Nevertheless, he was grateful for their generosity and had tried to pay them, which they refused.

Now here he sat, hot, tired, and growing a little cranky.

“Is it going to be much longer?” he said suddenly, his voice sounding startlingly loud in the oppressive silence. The Human Ranger looked at him blandly, but the Minbari Ranger seemed almost amused. Neither one of them replied.

After a moment, Marcus tried again. “Then I have another question for you.” Now his benchmates reacted a bit nervously. The Human Ranger whispered something to the Minbari Ranger and left.

‘”Do we know in what order we will be seeing the ambassador?” Marcus continued. “Because if I’m at the end of the group, I’ll take a walk and come back later.”

“You will not be seeing the ambassador individually,” the Minbari said in unaccented English.

Marcus found this more irritating than he knew he should. “I was told to expect an individual appointment, not some kind of cattle call.”

“And who told you that?” asked the Minbari.

Marcus hesitated briefly. Was he supposed to say? “My brother,” he said finally.

The Minbari looked at him intently. “What is your name?”

“Marcus Cole.”

Surprise flickered in the Ranger’s eyes.

“Was your brother William?”

“Yes.”

The Minbari started to say something, then seemed to change his mind. “The ambassador used to conduct individual meetings, but regretfully no longer has the time. If you are with us long enough, you will eventually have the honor to meet with him individually.”

Marcus was on the verge of responding sarcastically, but was interrupted by the reappearance of the woman Ranger.

“Ambassador Sinclair has been delayed,” she said, “and sends his apologies. You may leave to walk about the city, if you wish. Please return in an hour, when you hear the central tower bells ringing.”

Marcus stood with the others, and started to leave. But as the others filed out, the Minbari Ranger stopped him.

“I am Inesval,” he said. “It is a great pleasure to meet you. William was a good friend. I am deeply sorry for your loss. William is very much missed by all of us.”

Marcus felt some of his earlier pique drain away. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“William spoke of you often,” Inesval continued. “He proposed his mission to see you on the basis of providing us with Q-40, but I knew that equally important to him was the chance to ask you to join us. I am very happy you have come.”

Marcus was caught unprepared for the wave of grief that overcame him. He had managed to repress it for so long in his focus to get to Minbar. He had not counted on how difficult it would be to meet these people who had been Will’s friends, or to hear how his brother had talked about him. “Perhaps, I might walk with you,” said Inesval gently, “while we wait.”

“Why not?” was all Marcus could manage to say. The fresh air helped steady Marcus’s mood. He realized Inesval was waiting for him to speak. “You know, you’re nothing like the other warrior-caste Minbari I’ve met. No offense,” Marcus added quickly.

“No offense taken,” Inesval said with a laugh. “I’m worker caste. Or I was. Now I’m a Ranger.”

“Sorry, I just assumed–“

“You’ll find very few military caste among the Rangers. Mainly religious and worker. Most military would not pledge themselves to a Human.” “And you would?”

“I like Humans. Some of your people who come to Minbar seem to want to drop their Human ways, and act only Minbari. I don’t understand that. There is much to admire in your ways of doing things. But I’m not typical of most Minbari, I should warn you of that. Maybe I have a Human soul that got lost somehow, and ended up on Minbar.”

Marcus couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, with that last remark. “How did you end up joining the Rangers?”

“I had the honor of meeting Ambassador Sinclair shortly after he arrived. I perceived immediately that what was whispered about him was true – he possesses an extraordinary soul.”

“And you Minbari can tell that by just looking at a man?” said Marcus skeptically.

“Can’t you?”

“I don’t believe there is such a thing as a soul,” said Marcus.

“Then how do you judge a person?”

“By his actions.”

“Then we are not that different,” nodded Inesval. “So judge for yourself what kind of person our Anla’shok Na is. You say you have met members of our warrior caste. Would you say they appear to be a fearful group?”

“It’s my impression they don’t fear much of anything.”

“They fear Jeffrey Sinclair,” said Inesval. “It is said he is the only Human they have ever feared.”

“Why?”

“Many reasons. He was one of your most successful fighter pilots during the war, killing many Minbari in one-to-one combat. The military entered the war believing that was impossible, and ended the war unable to explain away such losses except as Human treachery or luck.”

“But there were a few other successful fighter pilots,” said Marcus. “Why fixate on Sinclair?”

“There is more. We Minbari are much stronger than Humans. No Minbari warrior was ever defeated during the war by a Human in any physical confrontation. I do not say this to boast. It is a simple physiological fact.”

“No argument from me,” said Marcus. “Go on.”

“But it is said that Jeffrey Sinclair has twice defeated Minbari warriors during direct, physical confrontations, no weapons involved. The first time, it is said a member of the military caste tried to frame Sinclair for an attack on the new Vorlon ambassador to Babylon 5, and when that failed, the warrior attacked Sinclair, only to be defeated by him.”

“They sure don’t tell you everything in the news, do they?” Marcus said with surprise. He had never heard of the incident involving a Vorlon, even though he was fascinated with the mysterious aliens, like most Humans, and read as much as he could find about them – which admittedly wasn’t much.

“The second incident is even more troubling and embarrassing to the military caste, because the warrior he defeated is one of our greatest warriors, Neroon himself. It is said that Neroon ambushed Sinclair in the dark and from behind, an act which in itself might be called dishonorable by some, but which should have assured Neroon of victory. Yet Sinclair, as William liked to say, kicked Neroon’s ass. Without any training in Minbari fighting techniques.”

“So what you’re saying is that the military caste are sore losers.”

“That is an excellent way of putting it,” Inesval agreed. “So you might imagine how upset the military were when the religious caste and our Chosen One insisted over their strenuous objection that Sinclair, and only Sinclair, was worthy of following in Valen’s footsteps as the one and true leader of the Anla’shok. Their fury only increased when Sinclair’s first act was to open the ranks of the Rangers to the worker caste to whom it had been closed for a thousand years.”

Marcus had to admit to himself that this last act spoke well for Sinclair. But he wasn’t convinced yet.

“It was Valen who first elevated my caste from near slavery into equality with the military and religious castes,” Inesval continued, “and when Sinclair reaffirmed that equality with his bold act, the whispered speculation about him increased: some believe that Sinclair, a Human, may possess at least part of Valen’s soul. And that possibility frightens the military caste most of all.”

Marcus was worried again. He decided not to ask how someone could have only part of someone else’s soul. It was all superstitious nonsense to him anyway. Only one thing mattered: if Sinclair turned out to be just another egomaniacal, would-be messiah and the Rangers just another pathetic cult of deluded losers, he would be on the first ship back to Earth.

Marcus noted that the Minbari sun had reached its zenith, and suggested to Inesval that they head back immediately. The Minbari spent the walk back telling him stories about his brother, but that didn’t help Marcus feel much better. All he could think of was that maybe Will had thrown his life away for nothing after all.

Once they had arrived back at the embassy, Marcus and the others did not have to wait long before being ushered into Sinclair’s office. Marcus noted that he wore a slightly fancier version of the basic Ranger uniform, and that he was a very tall and dignified man with a pleasant, sonorous voice. The others bowed to Sinclair as they had been instructed to do. Marcus did not, and it caught the eye of Sinclair, who smiled just a little before turning away.

“You are here,” Sinclair began, “because you have expressed an interest in joining the Rangers, and because we believe you are qualified candidates to do so. But first, you should know the essential facts about us. To explain who we are, I must first tell you who we are not. We are not a religious order. Those looking for eternal truths or a spiritual path would do best to look elsewhere. What you believe or don’t believe regarding religion, God, the soul, or the meaning of life is your own business, and no one will try to evangelize you to another belief. You will find, however, that Ranger tradition is steeped in Minbari religious tradition, so if that bothers you, if you are not open-minded enough or secure enough in your own beliefs to be able to honor their traditions while keeping faith with your own, again, you’d be better off elsewhere.

“Second, and even more important, understand this: we are not a hate group, not a vigilante group, not an army of vengeance. Those looking for a license to commit violence or to pursue an individual path of revenge against the Shadows are not welcome here. We are dedicated to preventing destruction, not wreaking it. The enemy slaughters wholesale, we do not.

“The Rangers are a military group dedicated to nothing less than preserving the future and all life. Even our enemy’s life, if possible. This is by the word of our founder, Valen. We are not looking to annihilate our enemy, only to defeat his aims of destruction. Never forget they are living beings also, however distorted their motives and actions appear to be.

“You will be taught as soldiers how to fight and how to kill. You will be taught to be the best at it because we must prepare for a war we do not want. That is the tragedy of war: that good people must take up those activities in self-defense. But teaching you those skills is not our sole mission. You will also be taught many ways of achieving our aims without violence, and where possible that will take precedence, even at the risk of your own life. If you are uncomfortable with so strict a code of conduct, you may leave now.”