TITLE: Soul Hunter
AUTHOR: Cris Wilson.
Season 1 - Episode 2
DATE FIRST POSTED: 12 April 2000
RATING: None
DISCLAIMERS: Babylon 5 and all related material belong to JMS, Time-Warner and Babylonian Productions. Anything connected to THHGTTG belongs to DNA and anything else belongs to me.
AUTHOR NOTES: Most AU B5 stories deal with the aftermath of the Minbari winning the war at The Battle of the Line, but what if a change in the time line occurred a thousand years ago. This is what I think may have happened if such a thing did happen, and how the future history of the B5 universe was changed and yet somehow not changed!
Since these stories are set in another dimension I'm only narrating the changes. To understand the stories better you have to watch the episode in question than see my stories as overlays. So whatever is going on in the backdrop of the story even if it doesn't get a mention is still going on in the background.
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Douglas Adams "There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
Soul Hunter
Opening narrative (spoken) by Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Sinclair.
It was the dawn of the third age of man. Ten years after the Earth- Minbari war. The Babylon Project was a dream given form.
Its goal was to be a place where Humans and Aliens could work out their differences peacefully.
A port of call, a home away from home, for diplomats, hustlers, wanderers, traders and Space Command. Humans and Aliens wrapped up in eight miles of floating ship, all alone in the night.
It can be a dangerous place, but it was our last best hope for peace.
This is the story of the Greatest of these stations, and the people whose lives were shaped by it.
The name of the place was Britannia 7.
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Soul Hunter
Part One
Anyone walking around the mining colony of Proxima 3 would have found it hard to believe that it had twice been devastated by war. The first time was when the Marach attacked on their way to destroying Earth's ability to trade with the rest of the known universe. Then a few years later the Minbari did the same thing, in their quest to destroy every human they could find. It was a human colony and as far as the humans were concerned it was going to say that way. So for the third time in its history the colony had been rebuilt.
Philip Cornwell had almost given up trying to get back to Earth. Each time he tried to book a ticket, he found the destination to be somewhere else! In a few hours he'd be heading towards the spaceport, then he'd board the liner 'Ramona'' two jump gates from his unintended destination. In the space of a few days he'd be on Tannia 7. He didn't know why, but the thought frightened him.
Walking into a bar he found himself ordering a meal instead of a drink, at least his craving for bananas had ceased. Instead of alcohol he found himself drinking gallons of tea, and with no sugar! He was still pondering on his strange situation while he ate his meal. He had begun to wonder if a 'spirit' possessed him, at least that might explain his strange behaviour.
He'd begun to dream as well, the horror of the flight from the Marach, at the end of the first battle, had caused him to have nightmares for years. But now they seemed muted, almost like his memories were fading and his mind seemed to be healing. He'd even found the strength to search out the stone War Memorial and found his wife's name on it.
Cornwell had spent almost a week on the colony, staying in a good hotel while he waited for his connection. He was still puzzled as to where the money was coming from, and how he kept getting it. All he knew was his wallet was full of cash and all his bills were paid for him.
Getting up he paid for his meal and made his way back to his hotel. Once there he'd suddenly had the urge to pack his bag and make his way to the spaceport. As he'd left the bar he remembered seeing a Psi-cop sat at one of the tables, vaguely he wondered if that had anything to do with him!
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"Wing Commander Meredith! " The dark skinned man burst though the door of the woman's office shouting angrily. "Why am I being stopped from doing my job? I have an autopsy to perform and I can't get into the Cryo Unit. Some great hulk blocked my way and though I explained I had every right to retrieve the body, he said I had to see you!" He slammed his hands on the desk and lent forward.
"So what's the problem with that Doctor Franklin?" the woman said, trying to recover from the sudden verbal attack.
"You've got an armed guard on the Cryo unit!" Franklin almost screamed into her face.
Fighting to control her temper, the Colithian managed to speak in a matter-of-fact way. "I know, I put them there." Her tone stopped the human short.
The doctor moved away but still remained in front of her desk. "Why do you need a guard on the Cryo Unit? Do you think the dead are going to get up and walk away?"
"It's not just the dead we store in Cryo, it's also the critically injured. Don't forget I recently spent a short time in Cryo while an antidote was sorted out."
"So why wasn't I informed?"
"An oversight perhaps? Go back to the Cryo Unit and retrieve your body, do your autopsy and if you need t'replace it, go and see Doctor Ashe."
"So that's it then. As simple as that!"
"Doctor - take the hint, bog off. If your not careful I'll apply to Earth Central t'have you removed. I said it was a bad thing when Benjamin Kyle was posted back t'Earth, at least he didn't throw wobblies like you."
Group Captain Appleton walked into the office and stood behind the human. He'd been listening to the conversation and agreed with his Commander. He wasn't happy with the doctor's attitude much either, especially his constant moan that he was being denied the use of the Station's facilities, even though a complete medical centre had been transformed into a Med-Lab to his personal specifications, and more medical centre's were being prepared for transformation.
"Are you threatening me Wing Commander?"
"Take it as you want Doctor. At the end of the day this is still my ship, and the Cryo-unit is still where it is." Sensing he was being out manoeuvred Franklin snorted and left.
"Problems Commander?" Appleton asked
"Nothing I can't handle. Any word from the Citadel?"
"The ship you're waiting for is called the 'Ramona'. One jump point to go, should be here in the next twenty-six hours. Any instructions?"
"Inform Vivian direct, get them to come though customs area F1, and locate Fred for me."
"Anything else Cath?" Her 2IC inquired and the Colithian looked blankly at him.
"Have I forgotten something?" she inquired knowing that Appleton only called her by her first name if something important was missing out of her schedule.
"Well you do have a date with Tom Harrington --."
"Valen's Shadow! I forgot," her eyes opened wide with surprise. "Thanks for reminding me. Find Fred, I'll talk to the Streeebe before I meet Tom."
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The Streeebe stood looking down over the garden when the Vorlon moved into view. Kosh stopped some way from the other alien and moved its encounter-suited head slightly. The Streeebe continued looking at the garden. To any Colithian seeing them, this whole event was strange, considering neither race got on with each other. Eventually the Streeebe shook its head and loped off, leaving the Vorlon on its own, before it too turned and left.
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The cooking chocolate was somewhere, she knew she had some, but where the hell had she put it. Just how invisible could bar of cooking chocolate get?
Once the Wing Commander had been released from the Medical Centre, she'd quickly noticed how depressed Harrington was, even though he made a good effort at hiding it. Nor did it need a telepath to tell the Colithian what was upsetting him.
She'd found herself warming to Thomas Harrington from the moment they'd met. He was so different from Jeffery Sinclair that she found to hard to believe they were close friends! To her Harrington was the gentler of the two, and the one who could understand her sense of humour. She could definitely see why Corinth had fallen for him.
In a desperate attempt to cheer the human up, Cath had asked him to join her for 'Dinner' and had decided to cook him a dish she knew he'd enjoy, which was why she needed the chocolate.
Searching franticly she was about to give up when she found it. "Eureka!" Cath shouted joyfully. Returning to the double boiler sitting on the electric ring, she added the thickening agent, stirred it, and turned the temperature down. The woman broke the chocolate into a dish, tossed it into the microwave, and satisfied everything was going to plan, made her way towards her bathroom and a good long soak.
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Harrington wearily entered Cath's quarters, not fully understanding why the Wing Commander wanted him to join her for a meal. He knew she wasn't attached and with Corinth away....
When Harrington entered the Group Captain's quarter's he was met by Cath still working at her computer, and when she greeted him it was as she would an old friend. As for her dress, well it was brown and looked almost as if it was her Command uniform. In fact the only proof that the Colithian was in fact off duty was the fact that her long hair was held in place by the Minbari style headband so beloved by her people. Harrington remarked on it and the Colithan shrugged, "I always dress like this, it's comfortable so why not?" she inquired leading him to the well-laid dinning table.
Cath disappeared into her kitchen to retrieve the first course. Harrington sat down and made himself comfortable, even going as far as pouring the wine out! After that the evening went well, a light first course and then Cath brought out her piece-de-resistance. Chocolate Flarn!
"Told you I'd cook you some," the woman informed a bemused Harrington, "and so I have."
"I didn't know this was a Minbari dish?"
"It isn't!" the Colithian explained. "Flarn definitely isn't the next best thing since sliced bread, so in the beginning we altered the recipe a little; we added chocolate, chocolate sauce, ice-cream and cream. It's not my own recipe though, I had to e-mail a friend for it since I seem to have lost mine."
As the evening progressed and the pair relaxed Harrington decided to use the occasion to wheedle some answers out of the 'Wing Commander'. Especially if the message from Colithia was right, and he could see no real reason why someone from Command GHQ would lie?
"On Earth we often play a verbal game after a evening meal, we call it 'Truth'. It works like this," the human explained. "I ask someone something, it can be anything and on any subject, and the person being questioned cannot lie."
Cath laughed, her childlike eyes lighting up. "Go on then, I'm game," she said, believing him as far as she could throw him, which wasn't very far.
"How come you speak English so well?"
"My people have been developing the English language for about four thousand years. Why do we speak Minbari?" the Colithian went on unprompted. "Because it is part of the legacy Valen left us. Who is Valen?" She sighed. "Valen was the greatest person we ever knew. He saved the universe, saved our race and gave us our home. And as for Torrac, she walked by his side, served him though out her life and it is said,' brought his children home'. Does that answer all you questions?" she finished.
"How did you know what I was going to ask?"
"About the questions? That's easy, I have been asked those questions more times than I can remember in the last year. Anything else?"
"I do have one big burning question, one only you can answer Group Captain."
The Colithian's face fell. She tried to hide behind her fringe while she looked at him. "O you know do you!" It was more a statement than a question.
Harrington nodded. "I received a message from GCHQ this morning, From a Wing Commander Max Graham, thanking me for helping save the Group Captain. When I said we don't have a Group Captain Meredith, I was informed you'd received your promotion over a year ago!"
The woman was cornered and she knew it. Straightening up and taking a sip of wine she began to explain. "I was ordered to accept this assignment, something to do with my participation in your Battle of the Line. Well at that time I was a Squadron Leader in command of both 23 and 35 Squadrons, I had to make sure that both squadrons ran properly, anything amiss and it was my fault. Your Squad leaders like Sinclair had it easy, I had forty-three 'craft to keep an eye on!
So when Babylon 4's plans were lost in the system, my government decided that there was absolutely no way it was going to allow the Marach to contribute to the proposed Babylon 5 Station, and offered them Tania 7 instead. For some rather obscure reason Earth Central didn't want a captain in charge, but they would be happy with a commander, something to do with word association. Great, fine, but when we had the seventh section added, well that's when I got the latest promotion."
Harrington looked puzzled. " Are you trying to tell me you were in charge of Tannia 6 then?"
Cath nodded. "I'm assigned to Fighter Command first and foremost, just as Corinth is assigned to Defence Command. But towards the end of the Minbari Conflict I went down with Minbari flu. It can be a killer, I was lucky I survived, but it was decided to transfer me to Command Staff, so I've spent the last eight years learning how to run this place. Thing was when I was posted to Tannia 6, I was automatically promoted to Wingco.
Anyway GHQ decided to wait until you'd taken over before my promotion was officially confirmed. But that took almost a year, and it's not something you can casually introduce into a conversation is it?" she finished taking another sip of wine.
"And Corinth?" He asked deliberately changing the subject to try and catch the woman off guard. "Where does she fit in? She's back on Colithia, what's she doing there, and how did she get back into Command so easily?"
"Truth be told I don't know. All I know is I received orders from GCHQ and I followed them. As for the rest of your questions, I have an idea where Corinth is but I can't be certain until I'm sent a report."
"So how long have you known her?" Harrington changed direction again.
"I was a Flying Officer doing a couple of years stint in Trainer Command, there was some trouble. Dad told me to sort it out, I got Corinth out of a hole and that was the start of it. About thirty years give or take, and including the ones you know about." The Colithian partly refilled her glass, swilling the wine round gently. "Now is this interrogation over or shall we continue down in de-briefing?" she said softly in a tone that sent a shiver down Harrington's spine.
He got the hint. Glancing at his watch he decided he was beginning to outstay his welcome. Getting up he thanked her for the Chocolate Flarn and left. Well at least one mystery had been cleared up he thought, but that still didn't explain Corinth's actions.
Pondering on Harrington's discovery about her real rank, Cath made her way over to her main Communicator. "I need t'patch through t'Command GHQ, direct to the top," she explained and was rewarded with a link to the C-I-C.
"What's up Cath?" Linda Tate asked, guessing it must be important if one of her junior officers was calling her at home.
"Harrington's found out about my real rank and he's asking about Corinth, any ideas?"
"As for the first, accept it, we both know it had t'come out a some stage. I say stuff Earth Central, it's your rank and you've earned it." The woman laughed. "As for the second, try Jarvis Bay!"
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Soul Hunter.
Part Two
Jenny Saunders was on duty when Harrington walked in. She glanced at him and was about to stand up when he gestured her to stay where she was. "How's it going?" he asked, listening to the standard traffic noise. He watched a Colithian supply ship being docked, followed by a Centauri freighter. Pointing to the left-hand corner of the holographic field, he asked what the lights moving about like fireflies were.
The OC grinned. "Commander Sinclair's decided t'take Alpha section out for a show. Thought they needed the practise, especially with the reported sighting of some raiders beyond the next jump point. Said better t'be safe than sorry," she explained.
Thomas Harrington nodded. Just like Sinclair, he thought, always ready for anything.
"Unknown craft on sensors, no squawk detected!" A female voice interrupted them. "Jump gate not activated."
Instantly Jenny was on alert. Looking in the direction of the voice in question she spoke. "Send out for ID."
"Squawk still not detected, am trying t'patch though audio." the same voice informed them.
"Keep trying. Shrink grid one, show grid two. Continue to control L and D's," she ordered. "Patch through to Control."
The 3D image of the ship shrank to half its size. Some of the operative's screens lit up with a map of the ship. From this they could continue to monitor the landings and departures from the Ops room. The new half showed the unknown ship in relation to the station.
"Still no patch."
This is Britannia 7," the woman began. "Designation code Zed Zed Alpha 9 Plural Zed Alpha to unknown spacecraft. Please identify yourself as no identification code has been received. Please identify yourself or we will have to designate you as hostile and take appropriate action," the Squadron Leader finished. She turned to the human. "Shall I contact the Commander?" she inquired, having heard all about the dressing down Appleton had received.
"No let her rest, she's still not A1. Go on let's see how you would normally handle it." He sounded confident.
"Still no squawk Squadron Leader."
"Show craft. Increase magnification fifty percent. Life force detection?" she fired more questions off.
The 3D image showed a ship that appeared to be badly damaged, as if caught in an explosion of some sort. "Any ideas?" Jenny asked, and Harrington who shook his head.
"Computer cannot identify type, poss first encounter!" they were informed.
"One life force detected," a sergeant spoke out. "Impact with ship in less than twenty minutes on present speed and trajectory."
"Activate tractor beam, initiate docking procedure." Jenny's training automatically took over.
"No connection made!"
"Try again!"
"Still unable to lock on, something interfering with lock-on program, am checking mainframe." The sergeant paused slightly while the check was completed. "Not mainframe, unknown squawk has blocking program."
"Scramble --."
"No," Harrington cut in. "Starfuries have grapples and Alpha squad is closer than you. Get Sinclair to handle it. If this is a possible first contact, we need the occupant alive!"
Nodding, the Squadron Leader began. "Eyeball to Alpha leader. Alpha leader-Eyeball."
"Alpha Leader receiving-Eyeball." Sinclair's voice sounded over the communication system. "Have been monitoring the situation. Get the Medical Centre on line. I'll bring unknown squawk in. Will talk you though situation."
"Understand Alpha leader, but if you get too close, I will have to use the ship's defences!" the OC pointed out
"Message understood Eyeball. Over and out." The audio went dead.
Jenny twisted to look at Harrington. "In Valen's name I hope you're both right, 'cos I don't want to be the one who has to tell the Wingco how I managed to lose him!" she finished, pointing to the tiny light already moving in the direction on the unknown squawk.
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"Co-ordinating vectors to grapple," Sinclair informed Eyeball. He turned the Starfury to face the damaged ship. Closing in he went on, "Twenty feet, ten, five. Activating grapple." The grapple shot out to the complete length of its reach and missed.
"Negative contact on grapple, Eyeball." He lined himself up for a second try. "Second try, activating grapple." The claws missed again and the human cursed silently.
"I'm not hitting it Eyeball. If I don't get it on the next pass you'll have to destroy it."
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Craig Appleton was watching the action on the control room screen. "Get ready to fire when I give the word," he informed the defence section and was rewarded with an.
"Understood sir."
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Using all his skill, Sinclair once more lined the Starfury's under section with the damaged ship and fired the grapple. "Got it!" he exclaimed with delight as the claws gripped and held. "Tell Doctor Franklin he's got a patient." The pilot grinned with relief. He'd had no desire to be used as target practise by the station.
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"Commander Harrington!" a voice called out to the human swiftly making his way to the Med.-lab where the patient was.
"Ambassador Delenn." He nodded, wondering why she would want to speak to him at the moment.
"I head about the rescue," the tiny Minbari explained. "How is the pilot?"
"From what I've gathered he's barely alive, but we've got him in the isolation unit."
"I would have thought the Cryo unit would be better," Delenn said, slightly puzzled.
"Dr Franklin's in charge of this patient and he works differently than the Colithians. But the only thing we've been able to identify so far is the atmosphere of his ship, in fact it was so badly damaged another hit, and it would have cracked open like an egg!"
"O I see! Commander Harrington?" Delenn smiled slightly, "I may be able to help you. I have seen many different kinds of life forms in my short life. Would you like me to see if I can identify him?"
"We'll take all the help we can get Ambassador," Harrington said. "And identifying his race will be a start."
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"Respiration's up twelve per cent." Franklin spoke to Garibaldi though the Iso-unit com.
"But that's great isn't it?" Garibaldi grinned
"Normally yes, but I've never seem anything like this before, I could be killing him for all I know!" Franklin sounded exasperated, it was times like this he could do with help from other quarters, but the patient wasn't Colithian and Ashe wasn't prepared to help otherwise.
Garibaldi sighed to himself. "Ask a silly question get a silly answer."
"How's he doing?" Harrington asked, walking towards them with Delenn following close on his heels.
"Doc says it's fifty-fifty," the security officer explained looking at Franklin moving around the unit.
Delenn had been studying the patient when she suddenly screamed, "Shagh-toth!" Grabbing Garibaldi's PPG from its holster, she expertly flicked the charger on and began to aim it at the window. She caught the two men off guard for a moment, and then they reacted together. Harrington grabbed her and Garibaldi grabbed the PPG out of her hands, switching off the charger, just as Sinclair came into view.
"What's the matter with you?" Harrington sounded shocked and angry.
"Kill it. You have to kill it Commander!" Delenn sounded both determined and distressed, her eyes wide and pleading. "You have to put it back into its ship, send it into space, fire it into the sun, anything. But you have to kill it quickly!"
"You're not making any sense Delenn!" Sinclair broke in, his voice having a slight calming affect on the tiny Minbari woman. "Why should we kill it?"
The Minbari spun round to face the newcomer. "You don't know, you don't know what that thing is do you?" A trace of pity filled her voice. "It is a Shagh-toth, it is a Soul Hunter," she explained, her tone becoming more urgent. She turned to face Harrington again. "Get it off this station Commander, before it is too late. Before someone dies."
I think you need to explain a little more about this 'Soul Hunter' thing Delenn," he informed her. Looking at the others he went on. "So I think we should all adjourn to my office."
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Catherine Meredith opened the door to see a frantic Minbari babbling gibberish at her. Gesturing Delenn in and sitting her on her sofa, the Colithian informed the Minbari she was going to get dressed first and then they would talk. By the time Cath re-joined her, Delenn had calmed down. Accepting a cup of tea she apologised.
"I am sorry Cath, but I am afraid, and Commander Harrington seems to think I'm exaggerating. I will explain. You see Commander Sinclair brought on board a very damaged ship. Nobody was able to recognise it so I suggested I try to identify the occupant, and I was able to do so."
"So what is so frightening about that?" the woman asked still a little sleepy.
"The occupant was a Shagh-toth." Delenn's voice was beginning to rise again. "A Soul Hunter!" she repeated in English to emphasize the point better.
The effect on the Group Captain was electrifying. " Shagh-toth! Valen shan'taa, a Soul Hunter on Tannia 7?"
"Then you will send him away?"
"Look, let me get something to eat first, if I don't I'll be sick." the Colithian informed the Minbari. Delenn followed her to the kitchen. Dragging out her blender, the Colithian half filed it with milk and added two raw eggs. Blending the lot together she poured it into a glass and began to drink it.
Delenn wrinkled her nose. "That looks disgusting, how can you drink it?"
"Max used to insist I drink one before each op," the woman explained.
"Was Max your - well you know?" the Minbari asked shyly
Cath shot the Minbari an odd look. "Max was my Nav-shot -," she paused for a moment. "My navigator when I flew Nimrods."
"You flew Nimrods!" Delenn exclaimed.
"Yes in the Time of Madness," the woman said, beginning to see Delenn's line of questioning and starting to frown at her.
"But it was Nimrods that attacked--"
"I'm quite aware of what I did in the Time of Madness thank you Delenn, and I have to live with what I did!" The Colithian's angry tone shut the Minbari up. Placing the glass in the sink the woman moved towards the door. "Well are you coming, or is it just the way you're standing?" she smiled.
Delenn sighed and followed her.
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The flight from Jarvis bay to Borrowdale had been delayed by thirty-five minutes. Not a long delay in itself, but long enough to aggravate Squadron Leader Corinth Richards. When she finally got through the airport and into the reception, she was ready to scream at anyone who got in her way. Frantically she searched the crowd for the man she was looking for, and finally saw him with his back to her, reading a poster about wonderful merits of being a member of Space Command.
"So why don't you join up?" she inquired, digging him gently in the waist.
The man jumped slightly, turned to face her and grinned with delight. "Because if I did Corinth my love, I wouldn't be able to make any retrograde moves."
Corinth laughed. "What do you mean by that?"
"Run away - bravely. Well I must say its good to see you again, it must be over ten years."
"Just over fifteen to be precise." the women pointed out.
"And Cath - how is she?" The laughter left the man's voice.
"As always, here, there and everywhere. She doesn't change much."
"No she doesn't, does she?" the man sighed slightly.
"Hey come on Jay," the woman grabbed his arm and began to tug on it. "Let's reminisce over a drink. I'm sure its happy hour down at the mess."
"Good idea, I've not shared a pint with anyone as nice as you for ages."
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"So you believe that the patient is dangerous as well?" Harrington shook his head, still trying to understand all the information the Group Captain had just given him. He'd already noticed her rank badge had an extra bar to it.
Sitting in a chair opposite Harrington, Catherine Meredith nodded. "We believe that if a soul is stolen it cannot fulfil its Is'til'za, it's future-destiny. If that happens then we believe the future will be changed, and we will not be able to walk on our Homeworld as free people." She took a swig of tea. "
"OK but if he is here to catch a soul, whose soul would he be going after? Delenn said they only go after important souls. Is there anyone on the Station worth going after?" the human inquired, still trying to grasp full implication of the situation.
"Not to my knowledge," the woman confessed. Not yet anyway, she thought. At least not until Skippy appears.'
Harrington stood up moving to the couch he'd had installed and sat down. "Maybe we could ask him when he recovers. Delenn said they collect souls," Harrington continued thoughtfully. "Maybe he could even be persuaded to release them?"
"As far as we know only one Minbari has ever been in the Shag-toth's hands and been set free. Soul Hunters would rather die than give up their collection, and that is why I strongly suggest you escort him off the ship. After removing his collection of course."
"And where do you suggest we send him?"
"I don't know, anywhere. Preferably into the sun."
"You sound exactly like Delenn."
"Well what do you expect me t'say? I don't like Soul Hunters anymore than the Minbari and yes, I do believe they can do what they say." She finished her tea and stood up. " If I was still in charge of this ship, I would regard this as a clear and present threat to safety, but I'm not anymore, so I can't. The ball's in your court Tom. Just don't come crying to me when people start dying. I've done all I can. No-one in Command will dare lay a hand on the Shagh-toth, but I can't promise that of anyone else."
"Is that a threat?" he asked still, trying to digest everything she'd just said.
"It's prophecy!" the woman stated, before returning to her own office.
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Still regretting the night before and accepting the offered cup of tea, Corinth Richards yet again decided she hated both Merediths. How could they drink so much and still remain relatively sober? It really had been happy hour down at the mess, and between drinks the woman had explained everything she'd found to 'the drop-dead gorgeous one'. Sometime in the early hours of the morning they'd staggered back to Jayson's quarters, at which point Corinth had explained to her companion she'd nowhere to sleep. Vaguely she remembered Jayson saying, "No problem, we'll improvise," and that was it until she'd woken up half naked, lying in a large double bed!
Getting dressed and staggering into the lounge, Corinth drank a pint of water before noting a letter addressed to her propped up by the kettle. It was from Jayson saying he was in the 'Lab,' trying to sort out her problem and he'd meet her there. Calling the guardroom to arrange a lift to the 'Lab,' the woman finally arrived just before lunch, to find Jayson acting as if he'd not had a drink in the last few months.
Waiting for what seemed an eternity until the painkillers began to work and the world returned to normality, the Colithian turned and look at her companion. Watching Jayson Meredith's hands flying over his keyboard, his eyes fixed to the screen, made Corinth feel sick. How could he act so normal?
"So what is the program then?"
Having been up at the crack of dawn, Jayson Meredith had been hard at work, testing the disk and extracting what information he could. "Well once I'd been able t'isolate part of the text, I was able t'work out who it was written for," he explained without looking up from the screen. "I don't think this is an original disk though. It appears t'be a copy, so I don't think you'll have any problem tracking down the original," he finished, shutting down the program and swivelling his chair to face her.
"So go on then, where do I start?" It was too early in the morning to start thinking straight yet the woman had decided.
"I'd try asking Jessie Dawson's husband first," Jay explained softly, aware of the condition his friend was in.
Through the fog that still clung to her mind, Corinth finally began to think straight, " Sounds like you know him pretty well."
"Well enough to spend my spare time writing a translation program for him. Steve's a text analysis, he mainly works on dead texts, trying to decipher them and translate them into English. Which is why he tends t'go on archaeological digs or at least he did before he got married. I wrote the program for him some years ago, after he returned from a dig with some stone tablets, apparently they dated from before the time of Valen. The only problem was he'd no idea where t'start, nor could he find any reference t'their style. It took a few years to put a package together and install in the university but it seemed t'work."
The woman was becoming very interested in her companion's words. "But how come the program was running on Tannia 7?"
"I don't know the full story, you'll have t'check up yourself. But I gather Steve was recalled back to his old university just after Jessie was posted from Trainer Command to Tannia 7, something t'do with some old records which needed sorting out. He approached me t'see if my old program was still in existence and could I fit it to Tannia 7's mainframe. I found the program, got permission from the C-in-C and fitted it. I was even able to adapt it t'the translation programs that run thought the IG unit and Bob's your uncle.
"So you're saying Steve's indirectly responsible for his wife's condition!"
"Seems that way," Jayson Meredith agreed. "Look, whatever was on the disk is the cause of the explosion. I bet you'll find the explosion was triggered by a key word, what I don't know, but the programs are easy enough t'write. If your theory's right and the bomb was partly organic, well that may explain why the Matrix didn't pick it up."
"So your saying that there may be more bombs on the ship?" Now Corinth was beginning to sound worried.
"It's possible. The only way to properly check would be for me t'run some tests on the cocoon thing, and as a back up manually check all the conduit tubes. I can start straight away, and you could contact Cath t'get her to check her end." He paused for a moment before continuing, " Besides Command anybody else involved yet?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"May I suggest you inform the Citadel direct? I think they will be more than interested."
"If you're right about a possible threat, then they may even want to question me, and that's going to be fun isn't it?"
Jayson Meredith nodded slightly. "You will have to face her sometime you know."
"I know," Corinth agreed." And I just hope it's a happy reunion."
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Soul Hunter.
Part Three
The sound of the glass shattering made the guard turn round. He moved towards the Iso-unit; peering through the glass he saw the patient appeared to be missing. Raising his Earthforce communicator to his mouth, he was about to call security when a heavy 'something' hit him over the head. Watching the security guard fall to the floor unconscious, the attacker smiled to himself, before stepping over the body and beginning his quest.
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The Soul Hunter made his way to the Cryo unit. He looked first bemused, then angry, when he saw the armed guard. He knew he'd no hope of getting past a group of Colithians. If he tried they'd kill him first and ask questions later. Thinking hard he smiled and nodded to himself.
There was another soul he knew of. He'd seen her when she'd visited him earlier, and he'd pretended to still be unconscious at the time. That soul belonged to Sati Delenn of the Grey Council.
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"Jump gate opened sir, ship docked, and the occupant is requesting to see you." Craig Appleton walked into Harrington's office. The human was snowed under with paper work and couldn't understand why the Colithian was bothering him with trivia until Appleton explained further. "Another Soul Hunter's ship has been given permission to dock by Squadron Leader Saunders. He is requesting permission to see 'you' Sir."
"Not the Group Captain?" he asked surprised.
"No sir. Asked for the Commander in overall command. Will meet you in dock 3L," the Group Captain told him, smiling slightly at the way Harrington was addressing 'his' commander.
The human was trying to remember where the docking bay was. "3L, that's one of the isolation docks isn't it. Strange place to meet someone?"
"Would you like a live visitor sir--?" Appleton trailed off as Harrington nodded. The only thing keeping the Colithians in line was their loyalty to Command. Without that the Soul Hunter wouldn't last five minutes, which was why Jenny Saunders must have directed the ship to that particular docking bay.
"Inform our visitor I'll meet him as soon as I can get there. And inform Cath and Sinclair I'd like them to meet me here in my office, understood!"
"Yes Sir."
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Sinclair pressed Delenn's door buzzer again and was rewarded with nothing. He checked his watch and wondered if it was broken, then decided it couldn't be. It was synchronised with the Mainframe and the time on the face matched the one on the wall. Ever since the day he'd hauled Delenn out of a cupboard and carried her to the Medical Centre, they'd become friends and both he and the tiny Minbari had spent time together discussing things, mostly each other's cultures. He was about to press the buzzer again, when he was interrupted by a familiar voice, inquiring if every thing was all right?
"What are you doing here?" Sinclair inquired, knowing that the woman wasn't off duty for another few hours yet..
"I've just been to feed the cats. You know what they're like, always starving." The Group Captain laughed.
"I can't seem to be able to raise the Ambassador, it's just that we arranged a meeting today, and it's not like her to be late."
Cath smiled at him. "Close are we?" she inquired, pressing the buzzer. Sinclair glared at her in disgust. When she got no reply she looked concerned. "Are you sure you were meant to meet her here?" she asked, but the smile had left her face.
"Why should I lie, why should Delenn lie?"
The Colithian looked worried. Putting her palm onto the plate she tapped her over-ride code into the lock, instantly the door opened. Sinclair entered first noticing the lights were on. They fanned out, each taking a room to search. A few minutes later Sinclair stood next to the Group Captain in the middle of Delenn's lounge. He noticed the woman's pallor was extremely pale; something Sinclair surmised was troubling to her, but what?
"Nothing, except for the lights, nothing!"
"Then where the hell is she?" Cath mumbled to herself. "She can't have just vanished."
"Look, maybe I got the time wrong, the lights are on, and maybe she was called away. She is an Ambassador, and her aide's not due to join her for a couple of weeks."
That was the moment that Cath's communicator watch buzzed at the same time as Sinclair's. They both laughed, especially when the messages sent by Appleton were the same. Harrington wanted to see them both in his office. It was something to do with a visitor to the station!
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Delenn was lying on a makeshift bed face up, one ankle trapped in a form of vice and from there her blood was being extracted though a tube. At first she tried to struggle but the Saul Hunter had rendered her unconscious. Now close to death, the Soul Hunter was speaking, his grating voice cutting into her fading thoughts.
"You and the others stopped me, shamed me before my brothers, I failed to preserve your leader, you made me fail. There must be a balance. Your soul, one of the Grey Council itself, will wipe out my failure."
He held a glass ball up. "I give you the chance to live forever, in here." He placed the ball into the end of the machine he'd removed from his ship earlier and set up. " I could drag your soul from your body, make you feel it being ripped away, causing you pain, but that damages the soul. I will be careful, you will hardly feel it when your body dies."
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Fred sat and watched. It knew what it was looking for and found it, two souls in one body, but it was surprised how Philip Cornwell had made his way through customs. The man was already shouting at a Flight Officer, insisting he needed to speak to Wing Commander Meredith. The officer was trying to explain it was impossible at the moment, "because there was some sort of flap on!" Already a crowd was beginning to form, and an MP had begun to move forward to see what was going on.
Fred loped over to the man, grabbed his shoulders and swung him round. His eyes penetrated deep into Cornwall's mind.
Finding himself staring into the black pupils of the strange creature, Cornwell suddenly felt drained as the initial static shock of the alien's touch wore off. His mind went blank again as the Streeebe took control. It decided it needed to keep the host as calm as possible, at least until it got the human to the Medical Centre.
The symbiont touched the Streeebe's probing mind and relaxed. It was safe at last!
The Streeebe looked at the MP. "Inform Commander Meredith that Skippy has returned home, and inform Doctor Ashe the same." The male/female voice was low but commanding.
Without even attempting to argue the officer sent the request though. The Colithian watched the Streeebe lead the newcomer away and shook his head. He'd never understand the Streeebe, not in a million years. Behind them the station Telepath Lyta Alexander began to follow.
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Kate Bremner began to cry with relief and sadness. It was time, she was here and at last the waiting was over. The women touched the photograph of her family and let her tears stream down onto it. Wiping her tears away she called her husband. "It is time!" she told him, seeing the pain in his eyes, and wishing it could be different. Pulling her jacket on, she composed herself before setting off to the Medical Centre and her Istil'za.
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Where are we going? The human's mind asked. He felt drained, almost sleepy; it seemed normal to 'think' the question.
The medical centre," the Streeebe replied.
Why?
You have something that isn't yours; it must be returned to its rightful owner.
What is it?
An Eternal's Soul! The Streeebe thought for a moment then smiled slightly, Let me explain-.
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Lyta Alexander followed the body. This was her main brief, as her chief Alfred Bester had informed her, it was important to find out what the Colithians did with the body. Once the body was in the medical centre and the door shut she attempted to scan the human.
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Convinced he couldn't trust Cath on her own near a Soul Hunter, Harrington decided to drag the reluctant Group Captain with him, as well as Sinclair and Garibaldi for back up and safety, when they met the visitor in docking bay 3L.
"You are the Commander?" the second Soul Hunter asked moving forward.
"Yes." He introduced himself and the rest of the party. The newcomer avoided looking at the Colithian who just glared at him. "I think we should talk about this in my office, if you will follow me," he gestured.
The Soul Hunter nodded walking by the Human's side and keeping the Colithian well behind him. "You have another Soul Hunter here. I have come to you, to warn you about him. This place is in great danger; every minute my brother is here means death. He is insane and he will murder to achieve what he needs to do."
"And what's that, soul stealer?" It was the Colithian, disgust seeping into her voice.
The Soul Hunter ignored the woman and began to explain to the rest of the party. "People say we steal souls, we do not steal souls, we collect souls. We are drawn to the moment of surrender, the instant of the loss of flesh, when all that is left behind is the soul. Not all souls though only the special ones, the important souls, creators, thinkers, poets, dreamers and blessed lunatics"
"What happens to the soul after you have saved them?" Harrington asked, shooting the woman a warning look before she could speak.
"We worship them, talk to them, listen and learn from them."
"What is it with you and the Minbari?" It was Sinclair this time.
"They are a jealous race, we have saved very few. Once we lost one, that soul escaped our clutches, and we wept at that great loss. Greatest of all their leaders was Ducat; he was the pinnacle of Minbari evaluation, almost as great as Valen. Your fault he died, you started that war. I and others came for that soul but Minbari made a wall of bodies to stop us, and his dreams, his ideas, all that he was, has gone, lost forever. My brother was one of them that came for Ducat's soul, the loss caused him to go mad."
The Soul Hunter paused, looking directly at the Colithian for a moment before returning his gaze back to Harrington. "His calling was to save Minbari souls, but the Minbari and their friends, the Colithians are good at stopping us, very good, too good for my brother.
Our brother was ordered to preserve the souls of the Minbari, Ducat and others. Each time he arrived late or was prevented, souls were lost. The loss of the one that escaped us played greatly on his mind, and our order was disgraced. He was always fragile, he became obsessed about loosing souls." Again he stopped speaking for a moment. "One day he said he had a solution to the problem, he left us and vanished into space."
"And this solution?" Harrington asked still keeping an eye on Catherine Meredith, but relaxing slightly.
"To stop waiting for death, he became too inpatient to wait. Now he takes their souls before their time, he kills them himself!"
The Soul Hunter stopped walking and shook his head. "You must understand this, our order does not support this, and we have tried to track him down. But each time we have arrived too late, each time there has been death.
Then we heard he was after a Colithian soul, a great one, they are a strange race, they do not belong here." Once again he glanced at the woman, this time a puzzled look flashed across his face. "The Colithians have vowed to destroy us one day, they have done so from the time of Valen. We do not fear them, but we do not take the threat lightly."
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Garibaldi's Earthforce communicator buzzed. "Garibaldi!" Franklin's voice came through. Four days earlier the Colithians had announced that the last piece of rogue hardware had finally been brought on line. "The Soul Hunter's gone, escaped. He knocked the security guard out, and he appears to be able to breathe air!"
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The Soul Hunter was listening to the message. He thought for a moment. " If he cannot get the soul he wants, he will go after another."
It was Sinclair who came up with the answer. "Delenn!"
Harrington looked horrified. "What do you mean Delenn?"
"Delenn was supposed t'meet Jeff today but she wasn't in her quarters," Cath explained. "I'm sorry I never thought."
"Then it's too late!" the Soul Hunter cut in. "But we will catch him after the death."
Sinclair remembered the 'you are here' maps scattered around the station. Grabbing the Soul Hunter's wrist, he dragged him to the nearest one he could find. "You say you are drawn to death, show me on the map where!"
"Here!" He pointed to a section of the map near where Cath had been held. " Here is where she is!"
Harrington came to a quick decision. " Look after him Michael, I don't trust him! We'll go after Delenn. Tell Ashe to get ready to receive a Minbari." He knew it wouldn't make the Earthforce doctor happy, but the Colithian doctor knew more about Minbari biology than Franklin would ever know.
A low buzzing sound drew the woman's attention away from the men. She replied to her own communicator. Appleton's voice came though in Torrac's archaic worker language. "Skippy is back and on its way home!"
Horrified at the message, the woman was torn between helping the humans save Delenn or finish the task she'd been given. As the Soul Hunter was pointing out where he could detect the Minbari, Cath came to a decision. Without warning she spun round and ran off. Harrington saw her leave. Surprised he shouted after her, but Colithian ignored him.
"Leave her. Come on or we could loose the Minbari," Sinclair stated, already setting his watch direction finder to the right destination.
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Running as fast as her short legs could carry her, Cath made her way to the medical centre. She'd already informed the guard on the Cryo unit to release the body and escort it to its final destination - the Intensive Care unit in the Casualty department.
Doctor Ashe was already waiting for her. Everything she needed was ready, except for the Streeebe, and Fred appeared with the host a few minutes after the Group Captain arrived. He was escorting a dazed looking human. Letting go of Cornwall's arm he moved towards the door. "I will be back!" Fred informed them. " I have some urgent things to attend to!"
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A Streeebe was walking towards her. She recognised it as Fred, and knew it was just over five feet high. But the closer the Streeebe moved the larger it seemed, by the time it was standing in front of her it filled the entire corridor. The telepath found she was being drawn towards its dark eyes and forced to look into them. A feeling of fear overwhelmed her, at the same time as the Streeebe began to speak, its voice boomed around her mind, echoing and ringing at the same time, Leave them alone, they are not for you. Go it pointed behind her. Go find the one who seeks you!
Managing to drag herself away from its eyes the terrified Lyta turned and ran, stumbling and sobbing, the feeling of disgust she'd picked up from its mind lingering in hers. Vaguely she heard people talking to her as she pushed past them. She had absolutely no idea where she was going but she had to get away.
Blindly turning a corner she found herself at a dead end, turning back she found a Vorlon blocking her path. The telepath sensed it easily penetrating her mind. Its encounter suit opening, bright light bathed her body and singing voices filled her mind. So overwhelmed with everything that was going on in her mind, the human began to scream.
The scream lingered in the air for a very long time after.
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Soul Hunter.
Part Four.
Watching the strange alien leave Cornwell looked at the two women standing by a bed, where a female body was hooked up to a life support machine. The monitors appeared to be switched off; either that or the woman was dead. Still a little confused he moved towards them and studied the body. Whoever she was she wasn't beautiful but she seemed more than pretty, with her slim frame and long dark hair. He felt he should be happy to see her!
Gathering his wits together, he looked at the two women. One was small and stocky probably only five foot in height. With long darkish hair tied up in a highish pony tail and plated to keep it under control. Her child-like brown eyes were framed by what could only be classed as a cute face. He looked at her shirt seeing what could pass as a rank badge, over which was set a pair of blue and gold wings, designating her as a pilot of some kind. The other woman was older, taller, and wore a loose white coat reminding him of the way twentieth century doctors dressed.
"Who the hell are you and why am I here?" he shouted angrily, sensing everything that had been happening to him was connected with the body.
"I'm Group Captain Meredith, this is Doctor Vivian Ashe." The smaller woman introduced them. "Has the Streeebe said anything to you?" The question was blunt and to the point.
"It said I have something that doesn't belong to me. Look I don't understand any of it." Cornwell suddenly felt drained again, something was making him calm down. "But I know I have to trust you."
Ashe pointed to the body. "You have her soul, spirit, 'essence' in your mind, she's running out of energy, that's why you're feeling drained. It's imperative we do the transfer ASAP. If we don't then she will die and what's left will be trapped in your mind forever. Not a pretty thought really," she confessed.
"If this is true how will you do the transfer?" Cornwell inquired still not fully comprehending what was being said, but going along with it never the less. At least questions were being answered even if they did seem bizarre!
Pulling the cloth off an outline on a trolley by the side of the bed the doctor pointed to the apparatus." We call it the Life-Giver, it's Streeebe, we rarely use it but at times we have too."
"How does it work then?" The human was becoming extremely interested in what the Doctor had to say.
"I stand behind you touching you, the machine is switched on, and while I give my life force - you return the rest." A calm voice by the door made them turn round in union.
"Kate!" It was the Group Captain who recovered first. She understood the full implication of what the woman had just said. "Are you sure?"
"Will you deny me my destiny, will you destroy all that is ordained?" The woman's voice cut though them." I have waited for this moment for along time. I know when it is time to go, I'm ready, and so is Paul! She pointed behind her. A moment later her husband stood by her, his left hand resting on her shoulder. "Deny me this and you deny me my life."
"Do you mean your going to die?" the human gasped in horror.
"Not 'die' in the sense you mean. I will move on to 'The Place Where No Shadows Fall'.
The full ramification of Kate's words sank into the man's mind. "I can't let you do it for God's sake, I'd rather die myself."
"That can be arranged!" Cath stated flatly. "But you will also have to kill Kate first."
"Damn you, you're in charge here Commander. How can you let someone be murdered like this?"
"I'm not letting anyone be murdered, I'm letting Kate Bremner do as she wishes."
"Do you have a god you believe in?" Ashe asked and Cornwell nodded. "And what happens when you die?"
"I believe in a god who doesn't believe in killing people."
"I was a pilot once," Kate's voice cut in. "I last saw action at the time when the sky was full of stars. My harrier was badly damaged in the battle. That was the point that I might as have well have died, 'cos since then the only thing that has kept me alive is a cocktail of drugs so powerful that have to spend a lot of my time in stasis to rest properly. The very drugs that are keeping me live are also killing me; my life span is shortening by a year each time I have to take them. I know I have only a few years at the most. So are you murdering me or letting my life to be of some use after all?"
Philip Cornwell listened to what the woman had to say, glanced at the body being kept alive, and tried to read Catharine Meredith's face. The one thing he was fully aware of was the predicament he was in, and that whatever happened next was up to him. It was his choice; his decision and the only options seemed to lead in the same direction. Not for the first time in his life, Philip Cornwell wished he were dead!
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"The transition is almost complete. In a moment I will take your soul, have patience little one. I will keep your soul, it will replace the one I was forced to loose."
"No it won't!" Harrington shouted bursting though the door holding a PPG in his hand, Sinclair following behind him. The Mainframe had pinpointed a strange heat source that had to be connected with the Soul Hunter. When Sinclair had found out the exact area Delenn was being held he'd screamed. "Not again, O God, not again!"
The men dived behind a container firing at the Soul Hunter. "Leave us alone," the Soul Hunter shouted. "Let me have this one," he pleaded. "If I can't have the soul of an Eternal, I'll have the soul of a Sati instead," the mad one screamed insanely.
Sinclair moved towards the sound of the voice. The Soul Hunter moved faster, darting from behind a packing case, he reached the taller human, hitting and stunning Sinclair while grabbing his PPG and pinning the human against the wall. He held the gun to his face. " Why do you do this? Why do you want to save her, don't you know what she is? Leave me, let me be, she is Sati." He flung Sinclair to the ground and began to move towards his machine, which was already beginning to emit a low hum.
The air was suddenly full of red lights moving around the Soul Hunter getting in his way and blocking his view. Harrington was moving behind the Soul Hunter. He stopped when he saw the unconscious Minbari and what he guessed was the soul-gathering machine. Quietly he moved behind it, carefully turning it towards the Soul Hunter's back
The Soul Hunter was speaking to the small balls of light. "You don't mean that, you don't know what you doing. Listen to me my children, I never meant any harm, listen to me. Listen to me," he pleaded as the lights slowly forced him back towards the soul-gathering machine.
A moment later the machine came to life, an orange beam hitting the Soul Hunter squarely in the back. The men watched in amazement as the Soul Hunter screamed in pain. He spun round, the look of shock etched for eternity on his face, before slowly crumpling to the ground. The light in the centre of the machine shinning as bright as a super nova, only to suddenly dim and the humming sound die.
Sinclair moved to Delenn's side, "Delenn?" he spoke softly, her eyes flickered slightly. "Thank God!" he breathed, relief flooding though him. Behind him Harrington was already calling for medical help.
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Kate moved behind Cornwell, her arms entwining round his body. Placing his hands where the doctor pointed, he closed his eyes.
Switching the machine on Ashe kept her eyes on the sensors. The machine began to hum into life. Nodding to Bremner who moved to stand behind his wife, the group waited still not knowing if the operation was going to be successful.
Closing his eyes, Cornwell felt slightly dizzy, and the dizziness quickly felt like a torrent of waters flowing though his mind, like a snake wriggling, twisting and turning. He saw green trees, blue skies and darkness with twelve bright lights shining down. His mind felt like it was being turned inside out. He heard someone speaking, calling out for help; he felt something else, someone or something that shouldn't belong there. The human screamed with the pain, he tried to pull away but the woman's body was holding him fast.
The moment the machine was ready, Kate's life force was dragged into Philip Cornwall's mind, linking up with the symbiont, and the two were swept into the 'bodies' mind. For a few special moments the two joined, became one, and parted, the act causing the host to scream.
That was moment the 'body' opened its eyes and tried to sit up "I'm back," A faint female voice cried. "All of me is back!" She fell back unconscious. Ashe was keeping her eyes on the monitor, watching the life signs first flicker, than become stronger until they quickly stabilised. Kate moaned slightly, the room suddenly became deathly quiet and Cornwell felt the arms around him relax. Behind him Paul Bremner caught the dead body of his wife before she crumpled to the ground.
Lifting her up he looked directly at the unconscious form on the bed. " You live, she's dead. I've lost my soul mate. I just hope you're worth the price that was paid."
The Group Captain moved towards the Mayji. "Would you like me to help you sort--" she trailed off.
Paul Bremner shook his head. "I know you mean well, Commander but--." They were interrupted by a call over the room's communicator, informing the doctor to expect an emergency admission, in other words Delenn.
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It was great to have had the free run of Britannia 4 and 5 as a kid. As long as she didn't get into trouble, her father had turned a blind eye to his daughter's antics. In almost twelve years Cath had explored every passageway, conduit tube and stairwell in the entire ship. It was insider knowledge she put to good use.
Vivian Ashe had been warned to expect Delenn, and Cath hadn't wanted to speak to Harrington at that moment. It wasn't difficult to work out that Tannia 7's CO would be accompanying the casualty. Thinking quickly, the small Colithian almost hurled the human out of a side door in the intensive care unit, sneaking through the sterilising room and going out of Casualty the back way. Sinclair, Harrington and the unconscious Delenn came into Casualty by the main doors. They missed each other by moments, much to the relief of Catherine Meredith and the disgust of Thomas Harrington when he found out.
"What about me? What will you do with me?" Cornwell asked after following the Colithian to her office. They'd finally gotten there by taking a back route though 23 Squadron's hanger to avoid Garibaldi. She'd offered him a mug of tea but he refused. He did accept the coffee the woman acquired from Harrington's office. The man chose to sit opposite her at her desk
"You're free t'leave anytime you want. Your task is over. But if you go back to Earth, Psi Corp could find you, and if you fall into their hands they will kill you!" Cath bluntly stated the truth.
"And what makes you say that?" the human asked, making himself more comfortable.
"You will have traces of the symbiont in your mind, not hard to detect if you're an extremely good telepath, as I gather they are in Psi Corp."
"How do you know that?" Cornwell asked, remembering the rush to get to the spaceport after he'd seen the Psi-cop.
"We have our sources," the woman sighed.
"So what do you suggest?" the man inquired, still trying to come to terms with what had been happening to him.
"You would be welcomed on Colithia. Of course you'd have to 'turn, face and swear' your loyalty, and revoke your Earth nationality, but you would be safe." The Colithian smiled " And you could even join Command!" she finished hopefully.
"And what can I offer you? I'm an ex alcoholic, and I don't work very well on a thirty six hour day."
"You won't be the only non-Colithian who lives on our Birthworld you know. Derrick copes by having a nap in the afternoon, and his eldest daughter is my godchild. As for your drink problem, I bet you will never touch another drop ever again." She was grinning now.
"More importantly, " the Group Captain went on, "you are a human born on Earth, you know all about the little blue/green planet that people claim we're an echo of. You know all about it's history, it's geography, and its," she hunted for the right words. "Well everything," she laughed, flinging her arms out. "We need t'know, we need t'find out, and we need t'understand--"
"You mean you need to know so you can invade us perhaps!" Philip Cornwell interrupted her in mid flow.
"What!" Cath looked at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. She was so tired of answering stupid questions, she snapped at him. " Listen human if we had wished to invade your stupid little planet we could have joined forces with either the Marach or the Minbari, but we didn't. Are you aware of the price we paid to save your miserable little planet? The price was greater than we wished to pay, but pay we did." She glared directly at Cornwell almost as if she was trying to get into his mind. The human shuddered slightly as she continued. "Earth is our Heritage! It is ours, so you can repay us by telling us all that we need to know about Earth!"
She just stopped herself from thumping the table as the anger in her eyes died. "Look I'm sorry for the outburst. I didn't mean it that way. I mean-," she stopped again and smiled sheepishly. "Go back to Earth if you want. I'll arrange passage for you, I think we've got a freighter going to Minbar. I can have it diverted to Proxima 3 for you!"
"Look Commander I don't fully understand what's been going on, but you're right Psi Corp is dangerous. I know, I've had some experience of their methods. One of my friends was found to be a telepath," Cornwell explained. "He refused to join Psi Corp. We worked together and one day he came to work looking worried. He said he was sure he was being followed. I laughed at him and told him he was being paranoid. The next day he never came to work. After work I went to see him, but he'd simply vanished, there was no trace of him. Some years later I heard he was more than a telepath he was a telekinetic, not a very good one but he was sane, and that was why Psi Corp wanted him.
Recently I've become embroiled in something I've no control over, but I don't want to end up in Psi Corps hands. Today I saw a man holding his dead wife in his arms. I was never able to do that myself, but I felt as if I was sharing his pain. I now know that I have to move on. I have the chance to put the past behind me and I want to start a fresh." Philip Cornwall looked directly at the woman, his voice calm and steady. "Group Captain Meredith I would like to go to Colithia. I don't know about joining Command, but I'd like to think about it."
"Good. Then I'll contact the C-in-C and arrange accommodation for you if you're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Well that's sorted then, and I can promise you one thing," Cath laughed, her childlike eyes coming alive. "You've just made the best decision of your life."
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Watching the Soul Hunter pass by her Cath spoke softly in Minbari, "One day we will hunt your people down and destroy Cathedral!"
The Soul Hunter turned and looked at her. "I too understand Torrac's dialect," he smiled slightly. "May I say you are lucky my brother did not recognise you, or it would have been your soul he would have gone after, not the Minbari!"
"What do you mean by that?" the woman sounded surprised.
The Shagh-toth switched to English. "Your soul is not your own!" he finished
Harrington was watching the exchange with interest. When the Soul Hunter had left, he turned to face her. "What did he mean by that?"
The Group Captain appeared visibly stunned, "I don't know?" she confessed. The Colithian fished around in her jacket pocket and pulled a small flat disk out, looked at it as if someone had planted on her, then handed it to Harrington. "Before you see Corinth next watch this, it may explain a little as to why she acted the way she did."
The man looked down at her. "Are you defending her actions?" he asked coldly.
"No I'm not. Don't worry I'll deal with her myself. Corinth went against orders; she deserves a good dressing down at least. And I've already seen G'kar about it, let's say we understand each other."
"Something about 'pink panties'?" Garibaldi inquired breaking into the conversation.
"Something like that," Cath smirked back.
"Is this the truth Cath?" Harrington inquired, remembering how evasive the woman had been when he'd questioned her about her own earlier actions.
"As true as we're genetically related," the woman grinned, her communicator watched beeped. She touched the face. "Meredith!"
Appleton's voice sounded. "Just to tell you the Marach Ambassador's ship is about to dock. Any instructions?"
"Yes," her eyes narrowed slightly. "Ask him to meet me at my quarters as soon as he clears customs, Meredith out. Oh Jeff!" The Colithian turned to face Sinclair. "Can I see you in my quarters in about half an hour?"
Sinclair nodded, Garibaldi smirked slightly and Harrington shook his head his thoughts elsewhere. The Ops room had informed him that Corinth had filed a flight plan and was due back in five days time. In the mean time he decided to visit Delenn. Doctor Ashe had said she could receive visitors when she recovered consciousness, and from what the Colithian doctor had told Franklin, it would be about now.
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"Commander Meredith, I must congratulate you on your promotion, and your safe delivery from death," Kal-Trango said accepting the offered drink.
"Are you really Ambassador?" The woman appeared surprised. "I'm glad you're extremely concerned about the life of a Colithian. Especially since it's a well know fact the Marach hate the Colithians, with a 'passion' that far exceeds the hate between the Narn and the Centauri. I find it strange that the first ship away, the moment the grounding orders was lifted was yours. It seems you were already to depart, and your flight plan filled two days earlier," she sounded totally unconvinced.
"Pressing affairs on the Homeworld demanded my attention Group Captain, I filed my flight plan earlier to make sure I was able to get away without any problems."
"Is that right Ambassador?" Cath asked studying the Marach's hands. When she'd passed him the glass, their fingers had brushed slightly; the sensation was similar to one she'd felt on her leg a few weeks earlier. She grimaced slightly, and touched her stomach as if in pain.
"Are you all right Commander," the Marach inquired in his normal calm voice. "Shall I get help?"
"No it's the nano-bots in my system. Still reacting to them weeks after the event." The woman had moved to her computer and began to search for something hidden in the paper work by its side. The woman grinned when she found what she wanted; she turned to face the Marach, chucking a paperback book on the table. "Besides which I make a very poor Vorlon," Cath said.
The Marach glanced at the title of the book his eyes widened very slightly, but enough for the Colithian's sharp eyes to detect. "Yes, it's a good book isn't it 'The Babylon Saga!' a story of a time that never shall be, as Elizabeth always said. Some say it's a book of prophesy, others say it's a thumping good read. Me, I just know that I don't exist in it, nor does the Streeebe and neither does the Marach."
"I have read it once. It is a very interesting book, but total fantasy," the Marach informed her
"I know that in real life the Vorlon wasn't poisoned, and the Battle of the Line was never fought against the Minbari, and Babylon 4 was actually built, totally unbelievable." She paused to look him directly in the eye. "Or is it!"
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe in another timeline these things happen, but not in ours. And as for the nano-bots, we can re-program them t'be radio transmitters as well as using them t'repair our bodies. Maybe I put one in your drink, maybe you swallowed it and it's attached t'your gut lining, or maybe I'm lying."
"What are you implying, Group Captain?" his voice wavered slightly.
"Nothing, but having seen the Matrix's recording of the dying moments of another Marach, I'm just trying to work out how a Marach could come to wearing Minbari warrior clothing. Since when have the Marach and the Minbari ever been allies? Maybe I should ask for a meeting with the Grey Counsel and show them the video!
As for my safety, you know who my father was, and who his friends were! I too have friends in high places, and others in Command. And if I ever end up in that state again or even, perish the thought -die, they will come after you. And no matter how hard you try t'hide, they will find you, and when they do they will kill you. Don't even think that it could be traced back to us, they cover their tracks extremely well, but they will only be doing what they're trained t'do."
"Are you threatening me Group Captain Meredith?" The Marach Ambassador's voice sounded angry, while his pale skin seeming to take on a slightly blue colour.
"Simply explaining the situation as it stands." Cath's voice had begun to sound honey like. "Now if you'll excuse me Ambassador I have my life to live," she finished, gesturing towards the door.
Slamming the glass down the Marach snarled at the woman. "I understand your implications perfectly. One day Catherine Meredith, you may regret what you said here. Remember what my late compatriot said, 'Revenge will be ours'. My people have very long memories, and a long tradition of remembering insults. One day," his eyes narrowed slightly, "one day--." He let the threat hang in the air for a moment before he headed out of her quarters.
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Sinclair waited until the Marach Ambassador had left before entering the Group Captain's quarters. "Everything ok?" he asked. "You still look ill!"
"The nano-bots strike back," she grinned, downing the pink liquid in one go then pulling a face. "Always affects me this way when I have to use them. Tell me when I glow in the dark." The joke went straight over Sinclair's head. "Look," she sounded serious, "remember what I said earlier about my brief. Well I'm using my discretion, how would you like to fly a Harrier?"
The human's eyes lit up. "That would be great!" he exclaimed.
"Well let's go then!" the woman said pulling on her jacket. "And on the way I'll tell you all about the Matrix."
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Soul Hunter.
Part Five.
Corinth Richards was on cloud nine. Returning to Colithia after a ten-year gap had been slightly frightening; after all with no passport she had no identity, no nationality and no sense of belonging. When she'd lined up with the other people who were going to declare their allegiance to the Birthworld, she was so nervous she felt like running away, but then the bell rang and she turned to face the Citadel. The moment she saluted and 'swore to uphold all the laws, customs and beliefs of the people of Colithia', her feelings changed from one of trepidation to one of delight. It seemed to her that after a very long and hard journey she knew she was finally home.
Even returning to Britannia 7 was a new experience. Passing though customs was easy, when she showed her dark blue passport with it's gold embossed cover to the officer in charge. The man had even smiled at her and said, "Welcome back Squadron Leader." In fact the only thing spoiling her new life was 'the Michael Garibaldi problem', something she decided she'd have to tackle sooner rather than later.
Harrington was out when she dropped her bags off at their quarters, not that it bothered her. The woman knew she'd see her fiancé later, besides she'd already decided to see what problems she was going to have to sort out after a three weeks absence, which meant a trip to her office.
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The moment Corinth Richards walked into her office she found herself facing one of her main problems. "Warrant Officer Michael Garibaldi?" she hesitated before she went on. "I didn't expect t'see you here."
The man in question turned and faced her. For a moment he looked directly in her eyes, then decided to look at her rank badge instead. "Squadron Leader," he began then stopped, he was already becoming uncomfortable with this interview. He decided to attack the problem head on. "Look Corinth a few weeks ago you asked me a question and I told you I couldn't answer it."
"I asked you if you condemned me as a traitor and while your words said one thing your body language said another. That's why you were avoiding me wasn't it?" she kept her face straight while she watched Garibaldi mentally squirm with the truth. "Would you like a tea?" Corinth asked still trying not to smile because fate had saved her a journey and brought her 'problem' to her
"No thanks."
"I'm not being polite for the good of my health. You know I've got other things t'do, like see Harrington." Garibaldi nodded weekly. "Well go on then," the Colithian said slightly sarcastically after she'd placed a mug of tea in front of Garibaldi. "I can see your dying t'talk."
Garibaldi took a deep breath and leaned forward resting his arms on her desk. "If I'd have known on Earth what I know about you now and you'd asked the same question then, then I would have said yes." he hesitated slightly.
"But?" the Colithian said softly.
"I could only see things from one side, the human side. I never stopped to think there could be another side. But since coming here I've seen another way of life, another culture. I'm working with people who appear to be humans, but who have a different way of looking at life. A people who can and do work with the Minbari, and who appear to have done so for about a thousand years, and yet who seem so human that it's hard to believe they can--." He stopped, aware that Corinth was hugging her mug and starring into the liquid.
"Do you really think I enjoyed being beaten and starved, being kept awake for days on end, and being fed intravenously when I became to weak t'continue with the interrogations? Do you think I enjoyed being probed by telepaths? They were good, even thought they couldn't break though the Cast, but that didn't stop them trying all the same.
On Mars I was classed as a special prisoner. I got special treatment all right. I was often lucky if I had one meal a day, and the interrogations never stopped, they just became worse. I worked by shifting rocks so the tunnels under Mars could be extended. And the marks on my wrists are from the manacles I had t'wear. They were deliberately kept too tight. The first time they were put on my hands turned blue, in the end they cut so deep my wrists bled, and I lost count of the times they became infected. Do you know when the war ended I weighed just over six stone!
The only reason I stayed in Earthforce after the war was because I had no where else to go. I no longer had my passport; I was no longer a Colithian by nationality, which meant I couldn't go home. I was in effect a stateless person. It was also Earth's way of controlling me, a way of keeping me quite and hushing up my presence." Her voice changed becoming harder. "If you think I deserved it and there are many who do, tell me to my face then leave me alone!" she finished suddenly, her eyes challenging him to speak.
"Corinth I've seen the size of this ship, I can see why Cath wants two security chiefs. I can't do this job without Space Command's help. We need to be able to work together--."
"Do you still condemn me?" the woman interrupted again.
Garibaldi shook his head. "No I don't, well not any more. Look can we discus this on neutral ground, over a meal maybe?"
"Better still Michael." The woman opened the paper bag she'd brought with her, pushing the contents on the table between them. "That's jam, that's cinnamon and apple, and those are assorted flavours. The jam's mine!" her voice was daring him to touch it.
"Doughnuts?" the Earthforce security chief gasped.
"Yes, it's a bad habit I picked up from you. But it's as good a way as any t'start afresh."
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"So you've decided to come home have you? And where have you been staying while you've been away"? Harrington's voice carried over the darkened room; he'd been sitting on the sofa trying to sort his feelings out when Corinth finally decided to return. "Why did you do it, why did you leave without even asking me my permission? You were the one person I always thought I could trust, and yet you went against a direct order from me, and I had to find out from G'kar. That Narn has one very loud mouth you know."
Taken by surprise the woman could only blurt out. "391 Squadron, Jarvis Bay, It's a research establishment," the Colithian explained, still getting over the impact of the initial greeting and trying to see what the man was getting at.
"Jarvis Bay's a research station more like. What do they research?" Her fiancés voice sounded strained.
"Things." Corinth had expected to have to explain her actions, but not in this way. "That's all I can say. Unless Cath let you read my report?" It was a stab in the dark and she wasn't even certain if she was moving in the right direction.
"Is that all?" Another question and the pattern was beginning to get on the woman's nerves. She sat down opposite him.
"Is that all, what?" Now the Colithian was totally in the dark, and she sensed a coolness forming between them.
"And what about us?" He looked accusingly at her, but his voice no longer strained. "Are we still an item or are you a free agent again? Are you going to find someone else and ditch me? I mean ten years is a long time for a human, our life spans shorter than your's remember. Have I wasted the last ten years of my life in a Martian hellhole?" Harrington's voice began to rise slightly.
"How can you say that? How can you say we're not an item? This is my job; I'm back where I belong. The circle's closed for me, but our relationship shouldn't change, damn it!" It was her turn to sound angry. "We were an item before the Minbari conflict. I didn't betray Earth. I didn't betray anyone. And I tried to get rid of you remember. I thought I'd done it. When I watched you leave the camp I burst into tears; even Scarface left me alone for a while. It was the biggest shock of my life when I got the posting order and found my new commanding officer was you. You could have left me to rot, you didn't, but don't blame me for your backwater posting."
"Is that all you have to say for your actions? I know who Jayson Meredith is, Cath explained everything, and she says you two go back along way." The human's voice hardened. "How do I know your not going to go after him? After all he's technically single now, and from how he's been described you could easily fancy him!" He got up and walked away keeping his back to her.
Harrington's words stung the Colithian deeply. Fighting back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her, Corinth said the only thing she could think of. "Maybe I should find somewhere else to live, since you don't trust me anymore?"
Harrington made his way over to the bedroom door and as he opened it he spoke. "Yes maybe you should," he nodded thoughtfully. "It would be for the best." He heard the woman move towards the door, it opened then closed, and for the first time ever, he found the silence overwhelming.
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Still stunned at her fiancés words Corinth wandered towards the garden. She made her way to the highest promenade walk. Looking down to the floor a quarter of a mile below, she felt completely drained, she'd never felt so wretched in her life. The Colithian leaned on the safety rail and glanced down into the scene below. It was night by Colithian time. The night birds were singing their hearts out. Directly across from her, jutting out over the garden was the human restaurant 'The Fresh Air'. Its lights were low, indicating it was night by earth time as well. Across to the left, interwoven with the garden was the Colithian equivalent, 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe'.
Looking down she saw Sinclair talking to Delenn on one of their nightly discussions and sighed loudly. For the first time in her life she felt completely alone and totally depressed. Deep in thought she never saw Delenn bid goodnight to her companion, nor Sinclair glancing up at her.
"I think the phrase is a pound of strawberry jelly." A voice shocked her out of her thoughts.
Recognising the voice she didn't even turn to face him. "Well Jeffery Sinclair, have you come to gloat, or just mock me. It's over, are you happy!" Her voice was angry.
"Your words stink," he stated evenly.
"Are you surprised? Before coming here and since the Trade War I've seen you twice. The first time, you called me a dirty stinking little traitor. The last time, during the Martian food riots you kicked a gun out of my hand and called me a murderer. Of course that's the sanitised version. I never thought you could swear like that, but it seemed I was wrong."
"You know why I did that," Sinclair said flatly.
"And where were you for most of the time?" the Colithian went on; her voice was loaded with sarcasm. "Getting drunk in some seedy bar with a few mates, while people like me were under orders to restore order using any means necessary. What other way could we restore order to t'the anarchy and chaos caused by Earth Central's own policy?"
"If it means anything I'm sorry you've broken up, but you've hurt Harrington more than you think. He's terrified he'll lose you again. The truth is if you leave him, I don't think he'll cope."
"Do you think I wanted t'leave last time? Do you think I was dragged kicking and screaming out of bed by choice?"
"No, but do you know it almost destroyed him? I've never seen a man go to pieces so easily. You two are meant for each other, don't you see that?" Sinclair explained, his voice softening slightly while he moved closer. "I saw that just after the Battle of the Line when I watched you franticly searching everywhere for Harrington. And I will never forget the look of shock on your face, or the sound of the Minbari words you shouted out when I had to tell you he was missing. Then later when you were missing, Thomas tried everything he could to find you. In the end I said I'd help him, but we had to work within the system. You should have seen how hard he worked to get the pass that allowed him to see you. And what happened? You rejected him!"
"I had my reasons," her tone was flat now.
"I hope they were good ones. You would have died if it weren't for Thomas. He stood by you and ended up destroying his own career. That's how much he loves you!"
Corinth glanced at Sinclair trying to read his expression. "Why are you sounding so concerned about our relationship, about me even?"
"Only Thomas and I really know where you were held, Garibaldi only knows what the reports say. Hell there'll always be rumours about a traitor, but it was almost ten years ago, we need to rebuild bridges. I'm sorry for what I did to you on Mars, I just lost my temper when I saw you act, I didn't think--"
"You know why I never reported you?" she interrupted him, turning to look at him directly for the first time in the entire conversation. "Because you were once my friend, you were the one who introduced us and for that I'm eternally grateful. Tom was as shocked as anyone was when he received those orders, he didn't want me to carry them out but what choice did I have. None really. And the phrase is a pound of strawberry jam, as in they scraped him off the runway, besides which I value my soul to much to do anything that stupid!" She sighed. "I wish I could turn back time though, but I can't and now I've lost everyone who meant everything to me."
"No you haven't!" Sinclair moved to stand by her side. "Tom still loves you, and if you stop thinking every human condemns you, you'll find it easier to rebuild old friendships." He put his hand on her shoulder, feeling her body tense up just as he expected it to. "I mean it Corinth. As you said a short while ago 'new life, new job', it also means new friendships as well."
It was the Colithian's turn to look amazed. "I didn't know you spoke Torrac's language!" she exclaimed.
"I don't," Sinclair grinned, removing his hand from her shoulder and beginning to walk away. "I got Cath to translate for me."
After watching the man disappear into the darkness, Corinth turned and looked in the opposite direction. "You can come out and show yourself if you wish," she informed the shadows.
"How did you know I was watching?" A female figure emerged from the darkness. If Sinclair had hung around he would have thought he was seeing double. The only visible difference between the two women was their hair; the newcomer's was long, dark and hung loosely down her back.
The Colithian's eyes almost popped out in amazement. "Sapphire. Is it really you?"
"Of course it's me, at least it was me this morning. I was someone else a few weeks ago." The woman laughed, "and before you ask, I was the one in Cryo."
"Why the hell wasn't I told?" The blonde haired woman sounded slightly vexed.
"Because right from the start, Cath was under orders not to say anything to anyone, not even to you."
Listening to what the other woman said Corinth suddenly looked puzzled. "Sphere, how did you know I was back?"
"We always knew you would return, we just had to bide our time," the dark haired one explained.
"The Citadel?"
Sphere nodded. "Tom loves you Corinth. Go and spend the night on the settee, in the morning you two will make up, I can promise you that."
"Are you sure?"
"Have I ever lied to you?" It was Sphere's turn to sound annoyed.
"Not as far as I can tell, but then again, I'm not you am I?"
Sphere sighed, "You are what you are Corinth, just as I am what I am. Now," she grabbed her double's arm, holding on in a more than friendly way and grinned, "are you going t'tell me all about him?"
"All about who?"
"Tom of course! I mean we've got near fifteen years of gossip t'catch up on. Come on don't keep me in suspense, tell me all I need t'know about him."
"You are sure about us, Tom and me I mean?" Corinth asked hesitantly. Again Sphere nodded. The blonde haired woman suddenly grinned back to her double, "Come on then, let's get a drink and catch up with ourselves. Anyway first of all Tom's got a --"
End of the second story
AUTHOR: Cris Wilson.
Season 1 - Episode 2
DATE FIRST POSTED: 12 April 2000
RATING: None
DISCLAIMERS: Babylon 5 and all related material belong to JMS, Time-Warner and Babylonian Productions. Anything connected to THHGTTG belongs to DNA and anything else belongs to me.
AUTHOR NOTES: Most AU B5 stories deal with the aftermath of the Minbari winning the war at The Battle of the Line, but what if a change in the time line occurred a thousand years ago. This is what I think may have happened if such a thing did happen, and how the future history of the B5 universe was changed and yet somehow not changed!
Since these stories are set in another dimension I'm only narrating the changes. To understand the stories better you have to watch the episode in question than see my stories as overlays. So whatever is going on in the backdrop of the story even if it doesn't get a mention is still going on in the background.
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Douglas Adams "There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
Soul Hunter
Opening narrative (spoken) by Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Sinclair.
It was the dawn of the third age of man. Ten years after the Earth- Minbari war. The Babylon Project was a dream given form.
Its goal was to be a place where Humans and Aliens could work out their differences peacefully.
A port of call, a home away from home, for diplomats, hustlers, wanderers, traders and Space Command. Humans and Aliens wrapped up in eight miles of floating ship, all alone in the night.
It can be a dangerous place, but it was our last best hope for peace.
This is the story of the Greatest of these stations, and the people whose lives were shaped by it.
The name of the place was Britannia 7.
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Soul Hunter
Part One
Anyone walking around the mining colony of Proxima 3 would have found it hard to believe that it had twice been devastated by war. The first time was when the Marach attacked on their way to destroying Earth's ability to trade with the rest of the known universe. Then a few years later the Minbari did the same thing, in their quest to destroy every human they could find. It was a human colony and as far as the humans were concerned it was going to say that way. So for the third time in its history the colony had been rebuilt.
Philip Cornwell had almost given up trying to get back to Earth. Each time he tried to book a ticket, he found the destination to be somewhere else! In a few hours he'd be heading towards the spaceport, then he'd board the liner 'Ramona'' two jump gates from his unintended destination. In the space of a few days he'd be on Tannia 7. He didn't know why, but the thought frightened him.
Walking into a bar he found himself ordering a meal instead of a drink, at least his craving for bananas had ceased. Instead of alcohol he found himself drinking gallons of tea, and with no sugar! He was still pondering on his strange situation while he ate his meal. He had begun to wonder if a 'spirit' possessed him, at least that might explain his strange behaviour.
He'd begun to dream as well, the horror of the flight from the Marach, at the end of the first battle, had caused him to have nightmares for years. But now they seemed muted, almost like his memories were fading and his mind seemed to be healing. He'd even found the strength to search out the stone War Memorial and found his wife's name on it.
Cornwell had spent almost a week on the colony, staying in a good hotel while he waited for his connection. He was still puzzled as to where the money was coming from, and how he kept getting it. All he knew was his wallet was full of cash and all his bills were paid for him.
Getting up he paid for his meal and made his way back to his hotel. Once there he'd suddenly had the urge to pack his bag and make his way to the spaceport. As he'd left the bar he remembered seeing a Psi-cop sat at one of the tables, vaguely he wondered if that had anything to do with him!
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"Wing Commander Meredith! " The dark skinned man burst though the door of the woman's office shouting angrily. "Why am I being stopped from doing my job? I have an autopsy to perform and I can't get into the Cryo Unit. Some great hulk blocked my way and though I explained I had every right to retrieve the body, he said I had to see you!" He slammed his hands on the desk and lent forward.
"So what's the problem with that Doctor Franklin?" the woman said, trying to recover from the sudden verbal attack.
"You've got an armed guard on the Cryo unit!" Franklin almost screamed into her face.
Fighting to control her temper, the Colithian managed to speak in a matter-of-fact way. "I know, I put them there." Her tone stopped the human short.
The doctor moved away but still remained in front of her desk. "Why do you need a guard on the Cryo Unit? Do you think the dead are going to get up and walk away?"
"It's not just the dead we store in Cryo, it's also the critically injured. Don't forget I recently spent a short time in Cryo while an antidote was sorted out."
"So why wasn't I informed?"
"An oversight perhaps? Go back to the Cryo Unit and retrieve your body, do your autopsy and if you need t'replace it, go and see Doctor Ashe."
"So that's it then. As simple as that!"
"Doctor - take the hint, bog off. If your not careful I'll apply to Earth Central t'have you removed. I said it was a bad thing when Benjamin Kyle was posted back t'Earth, at least he didn't throw wobblies like you."
Group Captain Appleton walked into the office and stood behind the human. He'd been listening to the conversation and agreed with his Commander. He wasn't happy with the doctor's attitude much either, especially his constant moan that he was being denied the use of the Station's facilities, even though a complete medical centre had been transformed into a Med-Lab to his personal specifications, and more medical centre's were being prepared for transformation.
"Are you threatening me Wing Commander?"
"Take it as you want Doctor. At the end of the day this is still my ship, and the Cryo-unit is still where it is." Sensing he was being out manoeuvred Franklin snorted and left.
"Problems Commander?" Appleton asked
"Nothing I can't handle. Any word from the Citadel?"
"The ship you're waiting for is called the 'Ramona'. One jump point to go, should be here in the next twenty-six hours. Any instructions?"
"Inform Vivian direct, get them to come though customs area F1, and locate Fred for me."
"Anything else Cath?" Her 2IC inquired and the Colithian looked blankly at him.
"Have I forgotten something?" she inquired knowing that Appleton only called her by her first name if something important was missing out of her schedule.
"Well you do have a date with Tom Harrington --."
"Valen's Shadow! I forgot," her eyes opened wide with surprise. "Thanks for reminding me. Find Fred, I'll talk to the Streeebe before I meet Tom."
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The Streeebe stood looking down over the garden when the Vorlon moved into view. Kosh stopped some way from the other alien and moved its encounter-suited head slightly. The Streeebe continued looking at the garden. To any Colithian seeing them, this whole event was strange, considering neither race got on with each other. Eventually the Streeebe shook its head and loped off, leaving the Vorlon on its own, before it too turned and left.
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The cooking chocolate was somewhere, she knew she had some, but where the hell had she put it. Just how invisible could bar of cooking chocolate get?
Once the Wing Commander had been released from the Medical Centre, she'd quickly noticed how depressed Harrington was, even though he made a good effort at hiding it. Nor did it need a telepath to tell the Colithian what was upsetting him.
She'd found herself warming to Thomas Harrington from the moment they'd met. He was so different from Jeffery Sinclair that she found to hard to believe they were close friends! To her Harrington was the gentler of the two, and the one who could understand her sense of humour. She could definitely see why Corinth had fallen for him.
In a desperate attempt to cheer the human up, Cath had asked him to join her for 'Dinner' and had decided to cook him a dish she knew he'd enjoy, which was why she needed the chocolate.
Searching franticly she was about to give up when she found it. "Eureka!" Cath shouted joyfully. Returning to the double boiler sitting on the electric ring, she added the thickening agent, stirred it, and turned the temperature down. The woman broke the chocolate into a dish, tossed it into the microwave, and satisfied everything was going to plan, made her way towards her bathroom and a good long soak.
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Harrington wearily entered Cath's quarters, not fully understanding why the Wing Commander wanted him to join her for a meal. He knew she wasn't attached and with Corinth away....
When Harrington entered the Group Captain's quarter's he was met by Cath still working at her computer, and when she greeted him it was as she would an old friend. As for her dress, well it was brown and looked almost as if it was her Command uniform. In fact the only proof that the Colithian was in fact off duty was the fact that her long hair was held in place by the Minbari style headband so beloved by her people. Harrington remarked on it and the Colithan shrugged, "I always dress like this, it's comfortable so why not?" she inquired leading him to the well-laid dinning table.
Cath disappeared into her kitchen to retrieve the first course. Harrington sat down and made himself comfortable, even going as far as pouring the wine out! After that the evening went well, a light first course and then Cath brought out her piece-de-resistance. Chocolate Flarn!
"Told you I'd cook you some," the woman informed a bemused Harrington, "and so I have."
"I didn't know this was a Minbari dish?"
"It isn't!" the Colithian explained. "Flarn definitely isn't the next best thing since sliced bread, so in the beginning we altered the recipe a little; we added chocolate, chocolate sauce, ice-cream and cream. It's not my own recipe though, I had to e-mail a friend for it since I seem to have lost mine."
As the evening progressed and the pair relaxed Harrington decided to use the occasion to wheedle some answers out of the 'Wing Commander'. Especially if the message from Colithia was right, and he could see no real reason why someone from Command GHQ would lie?
"On Earth we often play a verbal game after a evening meal, we call it 'Truth'. It works like this," the human explained. "I ask someone something, it can be anything and on any subject, and the person being questioned cannot lie."
Cath laughed, her childlike eyes lighting up. "Go on then, I'm game," she said, believing him as far as she could throw him, which wasn't very far.
"How come you speak English so well?"
"My people have been developing the English language for about four thousand years. Why do we speak Minbari?" the Colithian went on unprompted. "Because it is part of the legacy Valen left us. Who is Valen?" She sighed. "Valen was the greatest person we ever knew. He saved the universe, saved our race and gave us our home. And as for Torrac, she walked by his side, served him though out her life and it is said,' brought his children home'. Does that answer all you questions?" she finished.
"How did you know what I was going to ask?"
"About the questions? That's easy, I have been asked those questions more times than I can remember in the last year. Anything else?"
"I do have one big burning question, one only you can answer Group Captain."
The Colithian's face fell. She tried to hide behind her fringe while she looked at him. "O you know do you!" It was more a statement than a question.
Harrington nodded. "I received a message from GCHQ this morning, From a Wing Commander Max Graham, thanking me for helping save the Group Captain. When I said we don't have a Group Captain Meredith, I was informed you'd received your promotion over a year ago!"
The woman was cornered and she knew it. Straightening up and taking a sip of wine she began to explain. "I was ordered to accept this assignment, something to do with my participation in your Battle of the Line. Well at that time I was a Squadron Leader in command of both 23 and 35 Squadrons, I had to make sure that both squadrons ran properly, anything amiss and it was my fault. Your Squad leaders like Sinclair had it easy, I had forty-three 'craft to keep an eye on!
So when Babylon 4's plans were lost in the system, my government decided that there was absolutely no way it was going to allow the Marach to contribute to the proposed Babylon 5 Station, and offered them Tania 7 instead. For some rather obscure reason Earth Central didn't want a captain in charge, but they would be happy with a commander, something to do with word association. Great, fine, but when we had the seventh section added, well that's when I got the latest promotion."
Harrington looked puzzled. " Are you trying to tell me you were in charge of Tannia 6 then?"
Cath nodded. "I'm assigned to Fighter Command first and foremost, just as Corinth is assigned to Defence Command. But towards the end of the Minbari Conflict I went down with Minbari flu. It can be a killer, I was lucky I survived, but it was decided to transfer me to Command Staff, so I've spent the last eight years learning how to run this place. Thing was when I was posted to Tannia 6, I was automatically promoted to Wingco.
Anyway GHQ decided to wait until you'd taken over before my promotion was officially confirmed. But that took almost a year, and it's not something you can casually introduce into a conversation is it?" she finished taking another sip of wine.
"And Corinth?" He asked deliberately changing the subject to try and catch the woman off guard. "Where does she fit in? She's back on Colithia, what's she doing there, and how did she get back into Command so easily?"
"Truth be told I don't know. All I know is I received orders from GCHQ and I followed them. As for the rest of your questions, I have an idea where Corinth is but I can't be certain until I'm sent a report."
"So how long have you known her?" Harrington changed direction again.
"I was a Flying Officer doing a couple of years stint in Trainer Command, there was some trouble. Dad told me to sort it out, I got Corinth out of a hole and that was the start of it. About thirty years give or take, and including the ones you know about." The Colithian partly refilled her glass, swilling the wine round gently. "Now is this interrogation over or shall we continue down in de-briefing?" she said softly in a tone that sent a shiver down Harrington's spine.
He got the hint. Glancing at his watch he decided he was beginning to outstay his welcome. Getting up he thanked her for the Chocolate Flarn and left. Well at least one mystery had been cleared up he thought, but that still didn't explain Corinth's actions.
Pondering on Harrington's discovery about her real rank, Cath made her way over to her main Communicator. "I need t'patch through t'Command GHQ, direct to the top," she explained and was rewarded with a link to the C-I-C.
"What's up Cath?" Linda Tate asked, guessing it must be important if one of her junior officers was calling her at home.
"Harrington's found out about my real rank and he's asking about Corinth, any ideas?"
"As for the first, accept it, we both know it had t'come out a some stage. I say stuff Earth Central, it's your rank and you've earned it." The woman laughed. "As for the second, try Jarvis Bay!"
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Soul Hunter.
Part Two
Jenny Saunders was on duty when Harrington walked in. She glanced at him and was about to stand up when he gestured her to stay where she was. "How's it going?" he asked, listening to the standard traffic noise. He watched a Colithian supply ship being docked, followed by a Centauri freighter. Pointing to the left-hand corner of the holographic field, he asked what the lights moving about like fireflies were.
The OC grinned. "Commander Sinclair's decided t'take Alpha section out for a show. Thought they needed the practise, especially with the reported sighting of some raiders beyond the next jump point. Said better t'be safe than sorry," she explained.
Thomas Harrington nodded. Just like Sinclair, he thought, always ready for anything.
"Unknown craft on sensors, no squawk detected!" A female voice interrupted them. "Jump gate not activated."
Instantly Jenny was on alert. Looking in the direction of the voice in question she spoke. "Send out for ID."
"Squawk still not detected, am trying t'patch though audio." the same voice informed them.
"Keep trying. Shrink grid one, show grid two. Continue to control L and D's," she ordered. "Patch through to Control."
The 3D image of the ship shrank to half its size. Some of the operative's screens lit up with a map of the ship. From this they could continue to monitor the landings and departures from the Ops room. The new half showed the unknown ship in relation to the station.
"Still no patch."
This is Britannia 7," the woman began. "Designation code Zed Zed Alpha 9 Plural Zed Alpha to unknown spacecraft. Please identify yourself as no identification code has been received. Please identify yourself or we will have to designate you as hostile and take appropriate action," the Squadron Leader finished. She turned to the human. "Shall I contact the Commander?" she inquired, having heard all about the dressing down Appleton had received.
"No let her rest, she's still not A1. Go on let's see how you would normally handle it." He sounded confident.
"Still no squawk Squadron Leader."
"Show craft. Increase magnification fifty percent. Life force detection?" she fired more questions off.
The 3D image showed a ship that appeared to be badly damaged, as if caught in an explosion of some sort. "Any ideas?" Jenny asked, and Harrington who shook his head.
"Computer cannot identify type, poss first encounter!" they were informed.
"One life force detected," a sergeant spoke out. "Impact with ship in less than twenty minutes on present speed and trajectory."
"Activate tractor beam, initiate docking procedure." Jenny's training automatically took over.
"No connection made!"
"Try again!"
"Still unable to lock on, something interfering with lock-on program, am checking mainframe." The sergeant paused slightly while the check was completed. "Not mainframe, unknown squawk has blocking program."
"Scramble --."
"No," Harrington cut in. "Starfuries have grapples and Alpha squad is closer than you. Get Sinclair to handle it. If this is a possible first contact, we need the occupant alive!"
Nodding, the Squadron Leader began. "Eyeball to Alpha leader. Alpha leader-Eyeball."
"Alpha Leader receiving-Eyeball." Sinclair's voice sounded over the communication system. "Have been monitoring the situation. Get the Medical Centre on line. I'll bring unknown squawk in. Will talk you though situation."
"Understand Alpha leader, but if you get too close, I will have to use the ship's defences!" the OC pointed out
"Message understood Eyeball. Over and out." The audio went dead.
Jenny twisted to look at Harrington. "In Valen's name I hope you're both right, 'cos I don't want to be the one who has to tell the Wingco how I managed to lose him!" she finished, pointing to the tiny light already moving in the direction on the unknown squawk.
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"Co-ordinating vectors to grapple," Sinclair informed Eyeball. He turned the Starfury to face the damaged ship. Closing in he went on, "Twenty feet, ten, five. Activating grapple." The grapple shot out to the complete length of its reach and missed.
"Negative contact on grapple, Eyeball." He lined himself up for a second try. "Second try, activating grapple." The claws missed again and the human cursed silently.
"I'm not hitting it Eyeball. If I don't get it on the next pass you'll have to destroy it."
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Craig Appleton was watching the action on the control room screen. "Get ready to fire when I give the word," he informed the defence section and was rewarded with an.
"Understood sir."
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Using all his skill, Sinclair once more lined the Starfury's under section with the damaged ship and fired the grapple. "Got it!" he exclaimed with delight as the claws gripped and held. "Tell Doctor Franklin he's got a patient." The pilot grinned with relief. He'd had no desire to be used as target practise by the station.
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"Commander Harrington!" a voice called out to the human swiftly making his way to the Med.-lab where the patient was.
"Ambassador Delenn." He nodded, wondering why she would want to speak to him at the moment.
"I head about the rescue," the tiny Minbari explained. "How is the pilot?"
"From what I've gathered he's barely alive, but we've got him in the isolation unit."
"I would have thought the Cryo unit would be better," Delenn said, slightly puzzled.
"Dr Franklin's in charge of this patient and he works differently than the Colithians. But the only thing we've been able to identify so far is the atmosphere of his ship, in fact it was so badly damaged another hit, and it would have cracked open like an egg!"
"O I see! Commander Harrington?" Delenn smiled slightly, "I may be able to help you. I have seen many different kinds of life forms in my short life. Would you like me to see if I can identify him?"
"We'll take all the help we can get Ambassador," Harrington said. "And identifying his race will be a start."
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"Respiration's up twelve per cent." Franklin spoke to Garibaldi though the Iso-unit com.
"But that's great isn't it?" Garibaldi grinned
"Normally yes, but I've never seem anything like this before, I could be killing him for all I know!" Franklin sounded exasperated, it was times like this he could do with help from other quarters, but the patient wasn't Colithian and Ashe wasn't prepared to help otherwise.
Garibaldi sighed to himself. "Ask a silly question get a silly answer."
"How's he doing?" Harrington asked, walking towards them with Delenn following close on his heels.
"Doc says it's fifty-fifty," the security officer explained looking at Franklin moving around the unit.
Delenn had been studying the patient when she suddenly screamed, "Shagh-toth!" Grabbing Garibaldi's PPG from its holster, she expertly flicked the charger on and began to aim it at the window. She caught the two men off guard for a moment, and then they reacted together. Harrington grabbed her and Garibaldi grabbed the PPG out of her hands, switching off the charger, just as Sinclair came into view.
"What's the matter with you?" Harrington sounded shocked and angry.
"Kill it. You have to kill it Commander!" Delenn sounded both determined and distressed, her eyes wide and pleading. "You have to put it back into its ship, send it into space, fire it into the sun, anything. But you have to kill it quickly!"
"You're not making any sense Delenn!" Sinclair broke in, his voice having a slight calming affect on the tiny Minbari woman. "Why should we kill it?"
The Minbari spun round to face the newcomer. "You don't know, you don't know what that thing is do you?" A trace of pity filled her voice. "It is a Shagh-toth, it is a Soul Hunter," she explained, her tone becoming more urgent. She turned to face Harrington again. "Get it off this station Commander, before it is too late. Before someone dies."
I think you need to explain a little more about this 'Soul Hunter' thing Delenn," he informed her. Looking at the others he went on. "So I think we should all adjourn to my office."
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Catherine Meredith opened the door to see a frantic Minbari babbling gibberish at her. Gesturing Delenn in and sitting her on her sofa, the Colithian informed the Minbari she was going to get dressed first and then they would talk. By the time Cath re-joined her, Delenn had calmed down. Accepting a cup of tea she apologised.
"I am sorry Cath, but I am afraid, and Commander Harrington seems to think I'm exaggerating. I will explain. You see Commander Sinclair brought on board a very damaged ship. Nobody was able to recognise it so I suggested I try to identify the occupant, and I was able to do so."
"So what is so frightening about that?" the woman asked still a little sleepy.
"The occupant was a Shagh-toth." Delenn's voice was beginning to rise again. "A Soul Hunter!" she repeated in English to emphasize the point better.
The effect on the Group Captain was electrifying. " Shagh-toth! Valen shan'taa, a Soul Hunter on Tannia 7?"
"Then you will send him away?"
"Look, let me get something to eat first, if I don't I'll be sick." the Colithian informed the Minbari. Delenn followed her to the kitchen. Dragging out her blender, the Colithian half filed it with milk and added two raw eggs. Blending the lot together she poured it into a glass and began to drink it.
Delenn wrinkled her nose. "That looks disgusting, how can you drink it?"
"Max used to insist I drink one before each op," the woman explained.
"Was Max your - well you know?" the Minbari asked shyly
Cath shot the Minbari an odd look. "Max was my Nav-shot -," she paused for a moment. "My navigator when I flew Nimrods."
"You flew Nimrods!" Delenn exclaimed.
"Yes in the Time of Madness," the woman said, beginning to see Delenn's line of questioning and starting to frown at her.
"But it was Nimrods that attacked--"
"I'm quite aware of what I did in the Time of Madness thank you Delenn, and I have to live with what I did!" The Colithian's angry tone shut the Minbari up. Placing the glass in the sink the woman moved towards the door. "Well are you coming, or is it just the way you're standing?" she smiled.
Delenn sighed and followed her.
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The flight from Jarvis bay to Borrowdale had been delayed by thirty-five minutes. Not a long delay in itself, but long enough to aggravate Squadron Leader Corinth Richards. When she finally got through the airport and into the reception, she was ready to scream at anyone who got in her way. Frantically she searched the crowd for the man she was looking for, and finally saw him with his back to her, reading a poster about wonderful merits of being a member of Space Command.
"So why don't you join up?" she inquired, digging him gently in the waist.
The man jumped slightly, turned to face her and grinned with delight. "Because if I did Corinth my love, I wouldn't be able to make any retrograde moves."
Corinth laughed. "What do you mean by that?"
"Run away - bravely. Well I must say its good to see you again, it must be over ten years."
"Just over fifteen to be precise." the women pointed out.
"And Cath - how is she?" The laughter left the man's voice.
"As always, here, there and everywhere. She doesn't change much."
"No she doesn't, does she?" the man sighed slightly.
"Hey come on Jay," the woman grabbed his arm and began to tug on it. "Let's reminisce over a drink. I'm sure its happy hour down at the mess."
"Good idea, I've not shared a pint with anyone as nice as you for ages."
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"So you believe that the patient is dangerous as well?" Harrington shook his head, still trying to understand all the information the Group Captain had just given him. He'd already noticed her rank badge had an extra bar to it.
Sitting in a chair opposite Harrington, Catherine Meredith nodded. "We believe that if a soul is stolen it cannot fulfil its Is'til'za, it's future-destiny. If that happens then we believe the future will be changed, and we will not be able to walk on our Homeworld as free people." She took a swig of tea. "
"OK but if he is here to catch a soul, whose soul would he be going after? Delenn said they only go after important souls. Is there anyone on the Station worth going after?" the human inquired, still trying to grasp full implication of the situation.
"Not to my knowledge," the woman confessed. Not yet anyway, she thought. At least not until Skippy appears.'
Harrington stood up moving to the couch he'd had installed and sat down. "Maybe we could ask him when he recovers. Delenn said they collect souls," Harrington continued thoughtfully. "Maybe he could even be persuaded to release them?"
"As far as we know only one Minbari has ever been in the Shag-toth's hands and been set free. Soul Hunters would rather die than give up their collection, and that is why I strongly suggest you escort him off the ship. After removing his collection of course."
"And where do you suggest we send him?"
"I don't know, anywhere. Preferably into the sun."
"You sound exactly like Delenn."
"Well what do you expect me t'say? I don't like Soul Hunters anymore than the Minbari and yes, I do believe they can do what they say." She finished her tea and stood up. " If I was still in charge of this ship, I would regard this as a clear and present threat to safety, but I'm not anymore, so I can't. The ball's in your court Tom. Just don't come crying to me when people start dying. I've done all I can. No-one in Command will dare lay a hand on the Shagh-toth, but I can't promise that of anyone else."
"Is that a threat?" he asked still, trying to digest everything she'd just said.
"It's prophecy!" the woman stated, before returning to her own office.
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Still regretting the night before and accepting the offered cup of tea, Corinth Richards yet again decided she hated both Merediths. How could they drink so much and still remain relatively sober? It really had been happy hour down at the mess, and between drinks the woman had explained everything she'd found to 'the drop-dead gorgeous one'. Sometime in the early hours of the morning they'd staggered back to Jayson's quarters, at which point Corinth had explained to her companion she'd nowhere to sleep. Vaguely she remembered Jayson saying, "No problem, we'll improvise," and that was it until she'd woken up half naked, lying in a large double bed!
Getting dressed and staggering into the lounge, Corinth drank a pint of water before noting a letter addressed to her propped up by the kettle. It was from Jayson saying he was in the 'Lab,' trying to sort out her problem and he'd meet her there. Calling the guardroom to arrange a lift to the 'Lab,' the woman finally arrived just before lunch, to find Jayson acting as if he'd not had a drink in the last few months.
Waiting for what seemed an eternity until the painkillers began to work and the world returned to normality, the Colithian turned and look at her companion. Watching Jayson Meredith's hands flying over his keyboard, his eyes fixed to the screen, made Corinth feel sick. How could he act so normal?
"So what is the program then?"
Having been up at the crack of dawn, Jayson Meredith had been hard at work, testing the disk and extracting what information he could. "Well once I'd been able t'isolate part of the text, I was able t'work out who it was written for," he explained without looking up from the screen. "I don't think this is an original disk though. It appears t'be a copy, so I don't think you'll have any problem tracking down the original," he finished, shutting down the program and swivelling his chair to face her.
"So go on then, where do I start?" It was too early in the morning to start thinking straight yet the woman had decided.
"I'd try asking Jessie Dawson's husband first," Jay explained softly, aware of the condition his friend was in.
Through the fog that still clung to her mind, Corinth finally began to think straight, " Sounds like you know him pretty well."
"Well enough to spend my spare time writing a translation program for him. Steve's a text analysis, he mainly works on dead texts, trying to decipher them and translate them into English. Which is why he tends t'go on archaeological digs or at least he did before he got married. I wrote the program for him some years ago, after he returned from a dig with some stone tablets, apparently they dated from before the time of Valen. The only problem was he'd no idea where t'start, nor could he find any reference t'their style. It took a few years to put a package together and install in the university but it seemed t'work."
The woman was becoming very interested in her companion's words. "But how come the program was running on Tannia 7?"
"I don't know the full story, you'll have t'check up yourself. But I gather Steve was recalled back to his old university just after Jessie was posted from Trainer Command to Tannia 7, something t'do with some old records which needed sorting out. He approached me t'see if my old program was still in existence and could I fit it to Tannia 7's mainframe. I found the program, got permission from the C-in-C and fitted it. I was even able to adapt it t'the translation programs that run thought the IG unit and Bob's your uncle.
"So you're saying Steve's indirectly responsible for his wife's condition!"
"Seems that way," Jayson Meredith agreed. "Look, whatever was on the disk is the cause of the explosion. I bet you'll find the explosion was triggered by a key word, what I don't know, but the programs are easy enough t'write. If your theory's right and the bomb was partly organic, well that may explain why the Matrix didn't pick it up."
"So your saying that there may be more bombs on the ship?" Now Corinth was beginning to sound worried.
"It's possible. The only way to properly check would be for me t'run some tests on the cocoon thing, and as a back up manually check all the conduit tubes. I can start straight away, and you could contact Cath t'get her to check her end." He paused for a moment before continuing, " Besides Command anybody else involved yet?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"May I suggest you inform the Citadel direct? I think they will be more than interested."
"If you're right about a possible threat, then they may even want to question me, and that's going to be fun isn't it?"
Jayson Meredith nodded slightly. "You will have to face her sometime you know."
"I know," Corinth agreed." And I just hope it's a happy reunion."
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Soul Hunter.
Part Three
The sound of the glass shattering made the guard turn round. He moved towards the Iso-unit; peering through the glass he saw the patient appeared to be missing. Raising his Earthforce communicator to his mouth, he was about to call security when a heavy 'something' hit him over the head. Watching the security guard fall to the floor unconscious, the attacker smiled to himself, before stepping over the body and beginning his quest.
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The Soul Hunter made his way to the Cryo unit. He looked first bemused, then angry, when he saw the armed guard. He knew he'd no hope of getting past a group of Colithians. If he tried they'd kill him first and ask questions later. Thinking hard he smiled and nodded to himself.
There was another soul he knew of. He'd seen her when she'd visited him earlier, and he'd pretended to still be unconscious at the time. That soul belonged to Sati Delenn of the Grey Council.
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"Jump gate opened sir, ship docked, and the occupant is requesting to see you." Craig Appleton walked into Harrington's office. The human was snowed under with paper work and couldn't understand why the Colithian was bothering him with trivia until Appleton explained further. "Another Soul Hunter's ship has been given permission to dock by Squadron Leader Saunders. He is requesting permission to see 'you' Sir."
"Not the Group Captain?" he asked surprised.
"No sir. Asked for the Commander in overall command. Will meet you in dock 3L," the Group Captain told him, smiling slightly at the way Harrington was addressing 'his' commander.
The human was trying to remember where the docking bay was. "3L, that's one of the isolation docks isn't it. Strange place to meet someone?"
"Would you like a live visitor sir--?" Appleton trailed off as Harrington nodded. The only thing keeping the Colithians in line was their loyalty to Command. Without that the Soul Hunter wouldn't last five minutes, which was why Jenny Saunders must have directed the ship to that particular docking bay.
"Inform our visitor I'll meet him as soon as I can get there. And inform Cath and Sinclair I'd like them to meet me here in my office, understood!"
"Yes Sir."
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Sinclair pressed Delenn's door buzzer again and was rewarded with nothing. He checked his watch and wondered if it was broken, then decided it couldn't be. It was synchronised with the Mainframe and the time on the face matched the one on the wall. Ever since the day he'd hauled Delenn out of a cupboard and carried her to the Medical Centre, they'd become friends and both he and the tiny Minbari had spent time together discussing things, mostly each other's cultures. He was about to press the buzzer again, when he was interrupted by a familiar voice, inquiring if every thing was all right?
"What are you doing here?" Sinclair inquired, knowing that the woman wasn't off duty for another few hours yet..
"I've just been to feed the cats. You know what they're like, always starving." The Group Captain laughed.
"I can't seem to be able to raise the Ambassador, it's just that we arranged a meeting today, and it's not like her to be late."
Cath smiled at him. "Close are we?" she inquired, pressing the buzzer. Sinclair glared at her in disgust. When she got no reply she looked concerned. "Are you sure you were meant to meet her here?" she asked, but the smile had left her face.
"Why should I lie, why should Delenn lie?"
The Colithian looked worried. Putting her palm onto the plate she tapped her over-ride code into the lock, instantly the door opened. Sinclair entered first noticing the lights were on. They fanned out, each taking a room to search. A few minutes later Sinclair stood next to the Group Captain in the middle of Delenn's lounge. He noticed the woman's pallor was extremely pale; something Sinclair surmised was troubling to her, but what?
"Nothing, except for the lights, nothing!"
"Then where the hell is she?" Cath mumbled to herself. "She can't have just vanished."
"Look, maybe I got the time wrong, the lights are on, and maybe she was called away. She is an Ambassador, and her aide's not due to join her for a couple of weeks."
That was the moment that Cath's communicator watch buzzed at the same time as Sinclair's. They both laughed, especially when the messages sent by Appleton were the same. Harrington wanted to see them both in his office. It was something to do with a visitor to the station!
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Delenn was lying on a makeshift bed face up, one ankle trapped in a form of vice and from there her blood was being extracted though a tube. At first she tried to struggle but the Saul Hunter had rendered her unconscious. Now close to death, the Soul Hunter was speaking, his grating voice cutting into her fading thoughts.
"You and the others stopped me, shamed me before my brothers, I failed to preserve your leader, you made me fail. There must be a balance. Your soul, one of the Grey Council itself, will wipe out my failure."
He held a glass ball up. "I give you the chance to live forever, in here." He placed the ball into the end of the machine he'd removed from his ship earlier and set up. " I could drag your soul from your body, make you feel it being ripped away, causing you pain, but that damages the soul. I will be careful, you will hardly feel it when your body dies."
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Fred sat and watched. It knew what it was looking for and found it, two souls in one body, but it was surprised how Philip Cornwell had made his way through customs. The man was already shouting at a Flight Officer, insisting he needed to speak to Wing Commander Meredith. The officer was trying to explain it was impossible at the moment, "because there was some sort of flap on!" Already a crowd was beginning to form, and an MP had begun to move forward to see what was going on.
Fred loped over to the man, grabbed his shoulders and swung him round. His eyes penetrated deep into Cornwall's mind.
Finding himself staring into the black pupils of the strange creature, Cornwell suddenly felt drained as the initial static shock of the alien's touch wore off. His mind went blank again as the Streeebe took control. It decided it needed to keep the host as calm as possible, at least until it got the human to the Medical Centre.
The symbiont touched the Streeebe's probing mind and relaxed. It was safe at last!
The Streeebe looked at the MP. "Inform Commander Meredith that Skippy has returned home, and inform Doctor Ashe the same." The male/female voice was low but commanding.
Without even attempting to argue the officer sent the request though. The Colithian watched the Streeebe lead the newcomer away and shook his head. He'd never understand the Streeebe, not in a million years. Behind them the station Telepath Lyta Alexander began to follow.
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Kate Bremner began to cry with relief and sadness. It was time, she was here and at last the waiting was over. The women touched the photograph of her family and let her tears stream down onto it. Wiping her tears away she called her husband. "It is time!" she told him, seeing the pain in his eyes, and wishing it could be different. Pulling her jacket on, she composed herself before setting off to the Medical Centre and her Istil'za.
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Where are we going? The human's mind asked. He felt drained, almost sleepy; it seemed normal to 'think' the question.
The medical centre," the Streeebe replied.
Why?
You have something that isn't yours; it must be returned to its rightful owner.
What is it?
An Eternal's Soul! The Streeebe thought for a moment then smiled slightly, Let me explain-.
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Lyta Alexander followed the body. This was her main brief, as her chief Alfred Bester had informed her, it was important to find out what the Colithians did with the body. Once the body was in the medical centre and the door shut she attempted to scan the human.
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Convinced he couldn't trust Cath on her own near a Soul Hunter, Harrington decided to drag the reluctant Group Captain with him, as well as Sinclair and Garibaldi for back up and safety, when they met the visitor in docking bay 3L.
"You are the Commander?" the second Soul Hunter asked moving forward.
"Yes." He introduced himself and the rest of the party. The newcomer avoided looking at the Colithian who just glared at him. "I think we should talk about this in my office, if you will follow me," he gestured.
The Soul Hunter nodded walking by the Human's side and keeping the Colithian well behind him. "You have another Soul Hunter here. I have come to you, to warn you about him. This place is in great danger; every minute my brother is here means death. He is insane and he will murder to achieve what he needs to do."
"And what's that, soul stealer?" It was the Colithian, disgust seeping into her voice.
The Soul Hunter ignored the woman and began to explain to the rest of the party. "People say we steal souls, we do not steal souls, we collect souls. We are drawn to the moment of surrender, the instant of the loss of flesh, when all that is left behind is the soul. Not all souls though only the special ones, the important souls, creators, thinkers, poets, dreamers and blessed lunatics"
"What happens to the soul after you have saved them?" Harrington asked, shooting the woman a warning look before she could speak.
"We worship them, talk to them, listen and learn from them."
"What is it with you and the Minbari?" It was Sinclair this time.
"They are a jealous race, we have saved very few. Once we lost one, that soul escaped our clutches, and we wept at that great loss. Greatest of all their leaders was Ducat; he was the pinnacle of Minbari evaluation, almost as great as Valen. Your fault he died, you started that war. I and others came for that soul but Minbari made a wall of bodies to stop us, and his dreams, his ideas, all that he was, has gone, lost forever. My brother was one of them that came for Ducat's soul, the loss caused him to go mad."
The Soul Hunter paused, looking directly at the Colithian for a moment before returning his gaze back to Harrington. "His calling was to save Minbari souls, but the Minbari and their friends, the Colithians are good at stopping us, very good, too good for my brother.
Our brother was ordered to preserve the souls of the Minbari, Ducat and others. Each time he arrived late or was prevented, souls were lost. The loss of the one that escaped us played greatly on his mind, and our order was disgraced. He was always fragile, he became obsessed about loosing souls." Again he stopped speaking for a moment. "One day he said he had a solution to the problem, he left us and vanished into space."
"And this solution?" Harrington asked still keeping an eye on Catherine Meredith, but relaxing slightly.
"To stop waiting for death, he became too inpatient to wait. Now he takes their souls before their time, he kills them himself!"
The Soul Hunter stopped walking and shook his head. "You must understand this, our order does not support this, and we have tried to track him down. But each time we have arrived too late, each time there has been death.
Then we heard he was after a Colithian soul, a great one, they are a strange race, they do not belong here." Once again he glanced at the woman, this time a puzzled look flashed across his face. "The Colithians have vowed to destroy us one day, they have done so from the time of Valen. We do not fear them, but we do not take the threat lightly."
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Garibaldi's Earthforce communicator buzzed. "Garibaldi!" Franklin's voice came through. Four days earlier the Colithians had announced that the last piece of rogue hardware had finally been brought on line. "The Soul Hunter's gone, escaped. He knocked the security guard out, and he appears to be able to breathe air!"
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The Soul Hunter was listening to the message. He thought for a moment. " If he cannot get the soul he wants, he will go after another."
It was Sinclair who came up with the answer. "Delenn!"
Harrington looked horrified. "What do you mean Delenn?"
"Delenn was supposed t'meet Jeff today but she wasn't in her quarters," Cath explained. "I'm sorry I never thought."
"Then it's too late!" the Soul Hunter cut in. "But we will catch him after the death."
Sinclair remembered the 'you are here' maps scattered around the station. Grabbing the Soul Hunter's wrist, he dragged him to the nearest one he could find. "You say you are drawn to death, show me on the map where!"
"Here!" He pointed to a section of the map near where Cath had been held. " Here is where she is!"
Harrington came to a quick decision. " Look after him Michael, I don't trust him! We'll go after Delenn. Tell Ashe to get ready to receive a Minbari." He knew it wouldn't make the Earthforce doctor happy, but the Colithian doctor knew more about Minbari biology than Franklin would ever know.
A low buzzing sound drew the woman's attention away from the men. She replied to her own communicator. Appleton's voice came though in Torrac's archaic worker language. "Skippy is back and on its way home!"
Horrified at the message, the woman was torn between helping the humans save Delenn or finish the task she'd been given. As the Soul Hunter was pointing out where he could detect the Minbari, Cath came to a decision. Without warning she spun round and ran off. Harrington saw her leave. Surprised he shouted after her, but Colithian ignored him.
"Leave her. Come on or we could loose the Minbari," Sinclair stated, already setting his watch direction finder to the right destination.
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Running as fast as her short legs could carry her, Cath made her way to the medical centre. She'd already informed the guard on the Cryo unit to release the body and escort it to its final destination - the Intensive Care unit in the Casualty department.
Doctor Ashe was already waiting for her. Everything she needed was ready, except for the Streeebe, and Fred appeared with the host a few minutes after the Group Captain arrived. He was escorting a dazed looking human. Letting go of Cornwall's arm he moved towards the door. "I will be back!" Fred informed them. " I have some urgent things to attend to!"
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A Streeebe was walking towards her. She recognised it as Fred, and knew it was just over five feet high. But the closer the Streeebe moved the larger it seemed, by the time it was standing in front of her it filled the entire corridor. The telepath found she was being drawn towards its dark eyes and forced to look into them. A feeling of fear overwhelmed her, at the same time as the Streeebe began to speak, its voice boomed around her mind, echoing and ringing at the same time, Leave them alone, they are not for you. Go it pointed behind her. Go find the one who seeks you!
Managing to drag herself away from its eyes the terrified Lyta turned and ran, stumbling and sobbing, the feeling of disgust she'd picked up from its mind lingering in hers. Vaguely she heard people talking to her as she pushed past them. She had absolutely no idea where she was going but she had to get away.
Blindly turning a corner she found herself at a dead end, turning back she found a Vorlon blocking her path. The telepath sensed it easily penetrating her mind. Its encounter suit opening, bright light bathed her body and singing voices filled her mind. So overwhelmed with everything that was going on in her mind, the human began to scream.
The scream lingered in the air for a very long time after.
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Soul Hunter.
Part Four.
Watching the strange alien leave Cornwell looked at the two women standing by a bed, where a female body was hooked up to a life support machine. The monitors appeared to be switched off; either that or the woman was dead. Still a little confused he moved towards them and studied the body. Whoever she was she wasn't beautiful but she seemed more than pretty, with her slim frame and long dark hair. He felt he should be happy to see her!
Gathering his wits together, he looked at the two women. One was small and stocky probably only five foot in height. With long darkish hair tied up in a highish pony tail and plated to keep it under control. Her child-like brown eyes were framed by what could only be classed as a cute face. He looked at her shirt seeing what could pass as a rank badge, over which was set a pair of blue and gold wings, designating her as a pilot of some kind. The other woman was older, taller, and wore a loose white coat reminding him of the way twentieth century doctors dressed.
"Who the hell are you and why am I here?" he shouted angrily, sensing everything that had been happening to him was connected with the body.
"I'm Group Captain Meredith, this is Doctor Vivian Ashe." The smaller woman introduced them. "Has the Streeebe said anything to you?" The question was blunt and to the point.
"It said I have something that doesn't belong to me. Look I don't understand any of it." Cornwell suddenly felt drained again, something was making him calm down. "But I know I have to trust you."
Ashe pointed to the body. "You have her soul, spirit, 'essence' in your mind, she's running out of energy, that's why you're feeling drained. It's imperative we do the transfer ASAP. If we don't then she will die and what's left will be trapped in your mind forever. Not a pretty thought really," she confessed.
"If this is true how will you do the transfer?" Cornwell inquired still not fully comprehending what was being said, but going along with it never the less. At least questions were being answered even if they did seem bizarre!
Pulling the cloth off an outline on a trolley by the side of the bed the doctor pointed to the apparatus." We call it the Life-Giver, it's Streeebe, we rarely use it but at times we have too."
"How does it work then?" The human was becoming extremely interested in what the Doctor had to say.
"I stand behind you touching you, the machine is switched on, and while I give my life force - you return the rest." A calm voice by the door made them turn round in union.
"Kate!" It was the Group Captain who recovered first. She understood the full implication of what the woman had just said. "Are you sure?"
"Will you deny me my destiny, will you destroy all that is ordained?" The woman's voice cut though them." I have waited for this moment for along time. I know when it is time to go, I'm ready, and so is Paul! She pointed behind her. A moment later her husband stood by her, his left hand resting on her shoulder. "Deny me this and you deny me my life."
"Do you mean your going to die?" the human gasped in horror.
"Not 'die' in the sense you mean. I will move on to 'The Place Where No Shadows Fall'.
The full ramification of Kate's words sank into the man's mind. "I can't let you do it for God's sake, I'd rather die myself."
"That can be arranged!" Cath stated flatly. "But you will also have to kill Kate first."
"Damn you, you're in charge here Commander. How can you let someone be murdered like this?"
"I'm not letting anyone be murdered, I'm letting Kate Bremner do as she wishes."
"Do you have a god you believe in?" Ashe asked and Cornwell nodded. "And what happens when you die?"
"I believe in a god who doesn't believe in killing people."
"I was a pilot once," Kate's voice cut in. "I last saw action at the time when the sky was full of stars. My harrier was badly damaged in the battle. That was the point that I might as have well have died, 'cos since then the only thing that has kept me alive is a cocktail of drugs so powerful that have to spend a lot of my time in stasis to rest properly. The very drugs that are keeping me live are also killing me; my life span is shortening by a year each time I have to take them. I know I have only a few years at the most. So are you murdering me or letting my life to be of some use after all?"
Philip Cornwell listened to what the woman had to say, glanced at the body being kept alive, and tried to read Catharine Meredith's face. The one thing he was fully aware of was the predicament he was in, and that whatever happened next was up to him. It was his choice; his decision and the only options seemed to lead in the same direction. Not for the first time in his life, Philip Cornwell wished he were dead!
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"The transition is almost complete. In a moment I will take your soul, have patience little one. I will keep your soul, it will replace the one I was forced to loose."
"No it won't!" Harrington shouted bursting though the door holding a PPG in his hand, Sinclair following behind him. The Mainframe had pinpointed a strange heat source that had to be connected with the Soul Hunter. When Sinclair had found out the exact area Delenn was being held he'd screamed. "Not again, O God, not again!"
The men dived behind a container firing at the Soul Hunter. "Leave us alone," the Soul Hunter shouted. "Let me have this one," he pleaded. "If I can't have the soul of an Eternal, I'll have the soul of a Sati instead," the mad one screamed insanely.
Sinclair moved towards the sound of the voice. The Soul Hunter moved faster, darting from behind a packing case, he reached the taller human, hitting and stunning Sinclair while grabbing his PPG and pinning the human against the wall. He held the gun to his face. " Why do you do this? Why do you want to save her, don't you know what she is? Leave me, let me be, she is Sati." He flung Sinclair to the ground and began to move towards his machine, which was already beginning to emit a low hum.
The air was suddenly full of red lights moving around the Soul Hunter getting in his way and blocking his view. Harrington was moving behind the Soul Hunter. He stopped when he saw the unconscious Minbari and what he guessed was the soul-gathering machine. Quietly he moved behind it, carefully turning it towards the Soul Hunter's back
The Soul Hunter was speaking to the small balls of light. "You don't mean that, you don't know what you doing. Listen to me my children, I never meant any harm, listen to me. Listen to me," he pleaded as the lights slowly forced him back towards the soul-gathering machine.
A moment later the machine came to life, an orange beam hitting the Soul Hunter squarely in the back. The men watched in amazement as the Soul Hunter screamed in pain. He spun round, the look of shock etched for eternity on his face, before slowly crumpling to the ground. The light in the centre of the machine shinning as bright as a super nova, only to suddenly dim and the humming sound die.
Sinclair moved to Delenn's side, "Delenn?" he spoke softly, her eyes flickered slightly. "Thank God!" he breathed, relief flooding though him. Behind him Harrington was already calling for medical help.
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Kate moved behind Cornwell, her arms entwining round his body. Placing his hands where the doctor pointed, he closed his eyes.
Switching the machine on Ashe kept her eyes on the sensors. The machine began to hum into life. Nodding to Bremner who moved to stand behind his wife, the group waited still not knowing if the operation was going to be successful.
Closing his eyes, Cornwell felt slightly dizzy, and the dizziness quickly felt like a torrent of waters flowing though his mind, like a snake wriggling, twisting and turning. He saw green trees, blue skies and darkness with twelve bright lights shining down. His mind felt like it was being turned inside out. He heard someone speaking, calling out for help; he felt something else, someone or something that shouldn't belong there. The human screamed with the pain, he tried to pull away but the woman's body was holding him fast.
The moment the machine was ready, Kate's life force was dragged into Philip Cornwall's mind, linking up with the symbiont, and the two were swept into the 'bodies' mind. For a few special moments the two joined, became one, and parted, the act causing the host to scream.
That was moment the 'body' opened its eyes and tried to sit up "I'm back," A faint female voice cried. "All of me is back!" She fell back unconscious. Ashe was keeping her eyes on the monitor, watching the life signs first flicker, than become stronger until they quickly stabilised. Kate moaned slightly, the room suddenly became deathly quiet and Cornwell felt the arms around him relax. Behind him Paul Bremner caught the dead body of his wife before she crumpled to the ground.
Lifting her up he looked directly at the unconscious form on the bed. " You live, she's dead. I've lost my soul mate. I just hope you're worth the price that was paid."
The Group Captain moved towards the Mayji. "Would you like me to help you sort--" she trailed off.
Paul Bremner shook his head. "I know you mean well, Commander but--." They were interrupted by a call over the room's communicator, informing the doctor to expect an emergency admission, in other words Delenn.
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It was great to have had the free run of Britannia 4 and 5 as a kid. As long as she didn't get into trouble, her father had turned a blind eye to his daughter's antics. In almost twelve years Cath had explored every passageway, conduit tube and stairwell in the entire ship. It was insider knowledge she put to good use.
Vivian Ashe had been warned to expect Delenn, and Cath hadn't wanted to speak to Harrington at that moment. It wasn't difficult to work out that Tannia 7's CO would be accompanying the casualty. Thinking quickly, the small Colithian almost hurled the human out of a side door in the intensive care unit, sneaking through the sterilising room and going out of Casualty the back way. Sinclair, Harrington and the unconscious Delenn came into Casualty by the main doors. They missed each other by moments, much to the relief of Catherine Meredith and the disgust of Thomas Harrington when he found out.
"What about me? What will you do with me?" Cornwell asked after following the Colithian to her office. They'd finally gotten there by taking a back route though 23 Squadron's hanger to avoid Garibaldi. She'd offered him a mug of tea but he refused. He did accept the coffee the woman acquired from Harrington's office. The man chose to sit opposite her at her desk
"You're free t'leave anytime you want. Your task is over. But if you go back to Earth, Psi Corp could find you, and if you fall into their hands they will kill you!" Cath bluntly stated the truth.
"And what makes you say that?" the human asked, making himself more comfortable.
"You will have traces of the symbiont in your mind, not hard to detect if you're an extremely good telepath, as I gather they are in Psi Corp."
"How do you know that?" Cornwell asked, remembering the rush to get to the spaceport after he'd seen the Psi-cop.
"We have our sources," the woman sighed.
"So what do you suggest?" the man inquired, still trying to come to terms with what had been happening to him.
"You would be welcomed on Colithia. Of course you'd have to 'turn, face and swear' your loyalty, and revoke your Earth nationality, but you would be safe." The Colithian smiled " And you could even join Command!" she finished hopefully.
"And what can I offer you? I'm an ex alcoholic, and I don't work very well on a thirty six hour day."
"You won't be the only non-Colithian who lives on our Birthworld you know. Derrick copes by having a nap in the afternoon, and his eldest daughter is my godchild. As for your drink problem, I bet you will never touch another drop ever again." She was grinning now.
"More importantly, " the Group Captain went on, "you are a human born on Earth, you know all about the little blue/green planet that people claim we're an echo of. You know all about it's history, it's geography, and its," she hunted for the right words. "Well everything," she laughed, flinging her arms out. "We need t'know, we need t'find out, and we need t'understand--"
"You mean you need to know so you can invade us perhaps!" Philip Cornwell interrupted her in mid flow.
"What!" Cath looked at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. She was so tired of answering stupid questions, she snapped at him. " Listen human if we had wished to invade your stupid little planet we could have joined forces with either the Marach or the Minbari, but we didn't. Are you aware of the price we paid to save your miserable little planet? The price was greater than we wished to pay, but pay we did." She glared directly at Cornwell almost as if she was trying to get into his mind. The human shuddered slightly as she continued. "Earth is our Heritage! It is ours, so you can repay us by telling us all that we need to know about Earth!"
She just stopped herself from thumping the table as the anger in her eyes died. "Look I'm sorry for the outburst. I didn't mean it that way. I mean-," she stopped again and smiled sheepishly. "Go back to Earth if you want. I'll arrange passage for you, I think we've got a freighter going to Minbar. I can have it diverted to Proxima 3 for you!"
"Look Commander I don't fully understand what's been going on, but you're right Psi Corp is dangerous. I know, I've had some experience of their methods. One of my friends was found to be a telepath," Cornwell explained. "He refused to join Psi Corp. We worked together and one day he came to work looking worried. He said he was sure he was being followed. I laughed at him and told him he was being paranoid. The next day he never came to work. After work I went to see him, but he'd simply vanished, there was no trace of him. Some years later I heard he was more than a telepath he was a telekinetic, not a very good one but he was sane, and that was why Psi Corp wanted him.
Recently I've become embroiled in something I've no control over, but I don't want to end up in Psi Corps hands. Today I saw a man holding his dead wife in his arms. I was never able to do that myself, but I felt as if I was sharing his pain. I now know that I have to move on. I have the chance to put the past behind me and I want to start a fresh." Philip Cornwall looked directly at the woman, his voice calm and steady. "Group Captain Meredith I would like to go to Colithia. I don't know about joining Command, but I'd like to think about it."
"Good. Then I'll contact the C-in-C and arrange accommodation for you if you're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Well that's sorted then, and I can promise you one thing," Cath laughed, her childlike eyes coming alive. "You've just made the best decision of your life."
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Watching the Soul Hunter pass by her Cath spoke softly in Minbari, "One day we will hunt your people down and destroy Cathedral!"
The Soul Hunter turned and looked at her. "I too understand Torrac's dialect," he smiled slightly. "May I say you are lucky my brother did not recognise you, or it would have been your soul he would have gone after, not the Minbari!"
"What do you mean by that?" the woman sounded surprised.
The Shagh-toth switched to English. "Your soul is not your own!" he finished
Harrington was watching the exchange with interest. When the Soul Hunter had left, he turned to face her. "What did he mean by that?"
The Group Captain appeared visibly stunned, "I don't know?" she confessed. The Colithian fished around in her jacket pocket and pulled a small flat disk out, looked at it as if someone had planted on her, then handed it to Harrington. "Before you see Corinth next watch this, it may explain a little as to why she acted the way she did."
The man looked down at her. "Are you defending her actions?" he asked coldly.
"No I'm not. Don't worry I'll deal with her myself. Corinth went against orders; she deserves a good dressing down at least. And I've already seen G'kar about it, let's say we understand each other."
"Something about 'pink panties'?" Garibaldi inquired breaking into the conversation.
"Something like that," Cath smirked back.
"Is this the truth Cath?" Harrington inquired, remembering how evasive the woman had been when he'd questioned her about her own earlier actions.
"As true as we're genetically related," the woman grinned, her communicator watched beeped. She touched the face. "Meredith!"
Appleton's voice sounded. "Just to tell you the Marach Ambassador's ship is about to dock. Any instructions?"
"Yes," her eyes narrowed slightly. "Ask him to meet me at my quarters as soon as he clears customs, Meredith out. Oh Jeff!" The Colithian turned to face Sinclair. "Can I see you in my quarters in about half an hour?"
Sinclair nodded, Garibaldi smirked slightly and Harrington shook his head his thoughts elsewhere. The Ops room had informed him that Corinth had filed a flight plan and was due back in five days time. In the mean time he decided to visit Delenn. Doctor Ashe had said she could receive visitors when she recovered consciousness, and from what the Colithian doctor had told Franklin, it would be about now.
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"Commander Meredith, I must congratulate you on your promotion, and your safe delivery from death," Kal-Trango said accepting the offered drink.
"Are you really Ambassador?" The woman appeared surprised. "I'm glad you're extremely concerned about the life of a Colithian. Especially since it's a well know fact the Marach hate the Colithians, with a 'passion' that far exceeds the hate between the Narn and the Centauri. I find it strange that the first ship away, the moment the grounding orders was lifted was yours. It seems you were already to depart, and your flight plan filled two days earlier," she sounded totally unconvinced.
"Pressing affairs on the Homeworld demanded my attention Group Captain, I filed my flight plan earlier to make sure I was able to get away without any problems."
"Is that right Ambassador?" Cath asked studying the Marach's hands. When she'd passed him the glass, their fingers had brushed slightly; the sensation was similar to one she'd felt on her leg a few weeks earlier. She grimaced slightly, and touched her stomach as if in pain.
"Are you all right Commander," the Marach inquired in his normal calm voice. "Shall I get help?"
"No it's the nano-bots in my system. Still reacting to them weeks after the event." The woman had moved to her computer and began to search for something hidden in the paper work by its side. The woman grinned when she found what she wanted; she turned to face the Marach, chucking a paperback book on the table. "Besides which I make a very poor Vorlon," Cath said.
The Marach glanced at the title of the book his eyes widened very slightly, but enough for the Colithian's sharp eyes to detect. "Yes, it's a good book isn't it 'The Babylon Saga!' a story of a time that never shall be, as Elizabeth always said. Some say it's a book of prophesy, others say it's a thumping good read. Me, I just know that I don't exist in it, nor does the Streeebe and neither does the Marach."
"I have read it once. It is a very interesting book, but total fantasy," the Marach informed her
"I know that in real life the Vorlon wasn't poisoned, and the Battle of the Line was never fought against the Minbari, and Babylon 4 was actually built, totally unbelievable." She paused to look him directly in the eye. "Or is it!"
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe in another timeline these things happen, but not in ours. And as for the nano-bots, we can re-program them t'be radio transmitters as well as using them t'repair our bodies. Maybe I put one in your drink, maybe you swallowed it and it's attached t'your gut lining, or maybe I'm lying."
"What are you implying, Group Captain?" his voice wavered slightly.
"Nothing, but having seen the Matrix's recording of the dying moments of another Marach, I'm just trying to work out how a Marach could come to wearing Minbari warrior clothing. Since when have the Marach and the Minbari ever been allies? Maybe I should ask for a meeting with the Grey Counsel and show them the video!
As for my safety, you know who my father was, and who his friends were! I too have friends in high places, and others in Command. And if I ever end up in that state again or even, perish the thought -die, they will come after you. And no matter how hard you try t'hide, they will find you, and when they do they will kill you. Don't even think that it could be traced back to us, they cover their tracks extremely well, but they will only be doing what they're trained t'do."
"Are you threatening me Group Captain Meredith?" The Marach Ambassador's voice sounded angry, while his pale skin seeming to take on a slightly blue colour.
"Simply explaining the situation as it stands." Cath's voice had begun to sound honey like. "Now if you'll excuse me Ambassador I have my life to live," she finished, gesturing towards the door.
Slamming the glass down the Marach snarled at the woman. "I understand your implications perfectly. One day Catherine Meredith, you may regret what you said here. Remember what my late compatriot said, 'Revenge will be ours'. My people have very long memories, and a long tradition of remembering insults. One day," his eyes narrowed slightly, "one day--." He let the threat hang in the air for a moment before he headed out of her quarters.
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Sinclair waited until the Marach Ambassador had left before entering the Group Captain's quarters. "Everything ok?" he asked. "You still look ill!"
"The nano-bots strike back," she grinned, downing the pink liquid in one go then pulling a face. "Always affects me this way when I have to use them. Tell me when I glow in the dark." The joke went straight over Sinclair's head. "Look," she sounded serious, "remember what I said earlier about my brief. Well I'm using my discretion, how would you like to fly a Harrier?"
The human's eyes lit up. "That would be great!" he exclaimed.
"Well let's go then!" the woman said pulling on her jacket. "And on the way I'll tell you all about the Matrix."
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Soul Hunter.
Part Five.
Corinth Richards was on cloud nine. Returning to Colithia after a ten-year gap had been slightly frightening; after all with no passport she had no identity, no nationality and no sense of belonging. When she'd lined up with the other people who were going to declare their allegiance to the Birthworld, she was so nervous she felt like running away, but then the bell rang and she turned to face the Citadel. The moment she saluted and 'swore to uphold all the laws, customs and beliefs of the people of Colithia', her feelings changed from one of trepidation to one of delight. It seemed to her that after a very long and hard journey she knew she was finally home.
Even returning to Britannia 7 was a new experience. Passing though customs was easy, when she showed her dark blue passport with it's gold embossed cover to the officer in charge. The man had even smiled at her and said, "Welcome back Squadron Leader." In fact the only thing spoiling her new life was 'the Michael Garibaldi problem', something she decided she'd have to tackle sooner rather than later.
Harrington was out when she dropped her bags off at their quarters, not that it bothered her. The woman knew she'd see her fiancé later, besides she'd already decided to see what problems she was going to have to sort out after a three weeks absence, which meant a trip to her office.
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The moment Corinth Richards walked into her office she found herself facing one of her main problems. "Warrant Officer Michael Garibaldi?" she hesitated before she went on. "I didn't expect t'see you here."
The man in question turned and faced her. For a moment he looked directly in her eyes, then decided to look at her rank badge instead. "Squadron Leader," he began then stopped, he was already becoming uncomfortable with this interview. He decided to attack the problem head on. "Look Corinth a few weeks ago you asked me a question and I told you I couldn't answer it."
"I asked you if you condemned me as a traitor and while your words said one thing your body language said another. That's why you were avoiding me wasn't it?" she kept her face straight while she watched Garibaldi mentally squirm with the truth. "Would you like a tea?" Corinth asked still trying not to smile because fate had saved her a journey and brought her 'problem' to her
"No thanks."
"I'm not being polite for the good of my health. You know I've got other things t'do, like see Harrington." Garibaldi nodded weekly. "Well go on then," the Colithian said slightly sarcastically after she'd placed a mug of tea in front of Garibaldi. "I can see your dying t'talk."
Garibaldi took a deep breath and leaned forward resting his arms on her desk. "If I'd have known on Earth what I know about you now and you'd asked the same question then, then I would have said yes." he hesitated slightly.
"But?" the Colithian said softly.
"I could only see things from one side, the human side. I never stopped to think there could be another side. But since coming here I've seen another way of life, another culture. I'm working with people who appear to be humans, but who have a different way of looking at life. A people who can and do work with the Minbari, and who appear to have done so for about a thousand years, and yet who seem so human that it's hard to believe they can--." He stopped, aware that Corinth was hugging her mug and starring into the liquid.
"Do you really think I enjoyed being beaten and starved, being kept awake for days on end, and being fed intravenously when I became to weak t'continue with the interrogations? Do you think I enjoyed being probed by telepaths? They were good, even thought they couldn't break though the Cast, but that didn't stop them trying all the same.
On Mars I was classed as a special prisoner. I got special treatment all right. I was often lucky if I had one meal a day, and the interrogations never stopped, they just became worse. I worked by shifting rocks so the tunnels under Mars could be extended. And the marks on my wrists are from the manacles I had t'wear. They were deliberately kept too tight. The first time they were put on my hands turned blue, in the end they cut so deep my wrists bled, and I lost count of the times they became infected. Do you know when the war ended I weighed just over six stone!
The only reason I stayed in Earthforce after the war was because I had no where else to go. I no longer had my passport; I was no longer a Colithian by nationality, which meant I couldn't go home. I was in effect a stateless person. It was also Earth's way of controlling me, a way of keeping me quite and hushing up my presence." Her voice changed becoming harder. "If you think I deserved it and there are many who do, tell me to my face then leave me alone!" she finished suddenly, her eyes challenging him to speak.
"Corinth I've seen the size of this ship, I can see why Cath wants two security chiefs. I can't do this job without Space Command's help. We need to be able to work together--."
"Do you still condemn me?" the woman interrupted again.
Garibaldi shook his head. "No I don't, well not any more. Look can we discus this on neutral ground, over a meal maybe?"
"Better still Michael." The woman opened the paper bag she'd brought with her, pushing the contents on the table between them. "That's jam, that's cinnamon and apple, and those are assorted flavours. The jam's mine!" her voice was daring him to touch it.
"Doughnuts?" the Earthforce security chief gasped.
"Yes, it's a bad habit I picked up from you. But it's as good a way as any t'start afresh."
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"So you've decided to come home have you? And where have you been staying while you've been away"? Harrington's voice carried over the darkened room; he'd been sitting on the sofa trying to sort his feelings out when Corinth finally decided to return. "Why did you do it, why did you leave without even asking me my permission? You were the one person I always thought I could trust, and yet you went against a direct order from me, and I had to find out from G'kar. That Narn has one very loud mouth you know."
Taken by surprise the woman could only blurt out. "391 Squadron, Jarvis Bay, It's a research establishment," the Colithian explained, still getting over the impact of the initial greeting and trying to see what the man was getting at.
"Jarvis Bay's a research station more like. What do they research?" Her fiancés voice sounded strained.
"Things." Corinth had expected to have to explain her actions, but not in this way. "That's all I can say. Unless Cath let you read my report?" It was a stab in the dark and she wasn't even certain if she was moving in the right direction.
"Is that all?" Another question and the pattern was beginning to get on the woman's nerves. She sat down opposite him.
"Is that all, what?" Now the Colithian was totally in the dark, and she sensed a coolness forming between them.
"And what about us?" He looked accusingly at her, but his voice no longer strained. "Are we still an item or are you a free agent again? Are you going to find someone else and ditch me? I mean ten years is a long time for a human, our life spans shorter than your's remember. Have I wasted the last ten years of my life in a Martian hellhole?" Harrington's voice began to rise slightly.
"How can you say that? How can you say we're not an item? This is my job; I'm back where I belong. The circle's closed for me, but our relationship shouldn't change, damn it!" It was her turn to sound angry. "We were an item before the Minbari conflict. I didn't betray Earth. I didn't betray anyone. And I tried to get rid of you remember. I thought I'd done it. When I watched you leave the camp I burst into tears; even Scarface left me alone for a while. It was the biggest shock of my life when I got the posting order and found my new commanding officer was you. You could have left me to rot, you didn't, but don't blame me for your backwater posting."
"Is that all you have to say for your actions? I know who Jayson Meredith is, Cath explained everything, and she says you two go back along way." The human's voice hardened. "How do I know your not going to go after him? After all he's technically single now, and from how he's been described you could easily fancy him!" He got up and walked away keeping his back to her.
Harrington's words stung the Colithian deeply. Fighting back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her, Corinth said the only thing she could think of. "Maybe I should find somewhere else to live, since you don't trust me anymore?"
Harrington made his way over to the bedroom door and as he opened it he spoke. "Yes maybe you should," he nodded thoughtfully. "It would be for the best." He heard the woman move towards the door, it opened then closed, and for the first time ever, he found the silence overwhelming.
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Still stunned at her fiancés words Corinth wandered towards the garden. She made her way to the highest promenade walk. Looking down to the floor a quarter of a mile below, she felt completely drained, she'd never felt so wretched in her life. The Colithian leaned on the safety rail and glanced down into the scene below. It was night by Colithian time. The night birds were singing their hearts out. Directly across from her, jutting out over the garden was the human restaurant 'The Fresh Air'. Its lights were low, indicating it was night by earth time as well. Across to the left, interwoven with the garden was the Colithian equivalent, 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe'.
Looking down she saw Sinclair talking to Delenn on one of their nightly discussions and sighed loudly. For the first time in her life she felt completely alone and totally depressed. Deep in thought she never saw Delenn bid goodnight to her companion, nor Sinclair glancing up at her.
"I think the phrase is a pound of strawberry jelly." A voice shocked her out of her thoughts.
Recognising the voice she didn't even turn to face him. "Well Jeffery Sinclair, have you come to gloat, or just mock me. It's over, are you happy!" Her voice was angry.
"Your words stink," he stated evenly.
"Are you surprised? Before coming here and since the Trade War I've seen you twice. The first time, you called me a dirty stinking little traitor. The last time, during the Martian food riots you kicked a gun out of my hand and called me a murderer. Of course that's the sanitised version. I never thought you could swear like that, but it seemed I was wrong."
"You know why I did that," Sinclair said flatly.
"And where were you for most of the time?" the Colithian went on; her voice was loaded with sarcasm. "Getting drunk in some seedy bar with a few mates, while people like me were under orders to restore order using any means necessary. What other way could we restore order to t'the anarchy and chaos caused by Earth Central's own policy?"
"If it means anything I'm sorry you've broken up, but you've hurt Harrington more than you think. He's terrified he'll lose you again. The truth is if you leave him, I don't think he'll cope."
"Do you think I wanted t'leave last time? Do you think I was dragged kicking and screaming out of bed by choice?"
"No, but do you know it almost destroyed him? I've never seen a man go to pieces so easily. You two are meant for each other, don't you see that?" Sinclair explained, his voice softening slightly while he moved closer. "I saw that just after the Battle of the Line when I watched you franticly searching everywhere for Harrington. And I will never forget the look of shock on your face, or the sound of the Minbari words you shouted out when I had to tell you he was missing. Then later when you were missing, Thomas tried everything he could to find you. In the end I said I'd help him, but we had to work within the system. You should have seen how hard he worked to get the pass that allowed him to see you. And what happened? You rejected him!"
"I had my reasons," her tone was flat now.
"I hope they were good ones. You would have died if it weren't for Thomas. He stood by you and ended up destroying his own career. That's how much he loves you!"
Corinth glanced at Sinclair trying to read his expression. "Why are you sounding so concerned about our relationship, about me even?"
"Only Thomas and I really know where you were held, Garibaldi only knows what the reports say. Hell there'll always be rumours about a traitor, but it was almost ten years ago, we need to rebuild bridges. I'm sorry for what I did to you on Mars, I just lost my temper when I saw you act, I didn't think--"
"You know why I never reported you?" she interrupted him, turning to look at him directly for the first time in the entire conversation. "Because you were once my friend, you were the one who introduced us and for that I'm eternally grateful. Tom was as shocked as anyone was when he received those orders, he didn't want me to carry them out but what choice did I have. None really. And the phrase is a pound of strawberry jam, as in they scraped him off the runway, besides which I value my soul to much to do anything that stupid!" She sighed. "I wish I could turn back time though, but I can't and now I've lost everyone who meant everything to me."
"No you haven't!" Sinclair moved to stand by her side. "Tom still loves you, and if you stop thinking every human condemns you, you'll find it easier to rebuild old friendships." He put his hand on her shoulder, feeling her body tense up just as he expected it to. "I mean it Corinth. As you said a short while ago 'new life, new job', it also means new friendships as well."
It was the Colithian's turn to look amazed. "I didn't know you spoke Torrac's language!" she exclaimed.
"I don't," Sinclair grinned, removing his hand from her shoulder and beginning to walk away. "I got Cath to translate for me."
After watching the man disappear into the darkness, Corinth turned and looked in the opposite direction. "You can come out and show yourself if you wish," she informed the shadows.
"How did you know I was watching?" A female figure emerged from the darkness. If Sinclair had hung around he would have thought he was seeing double. The only visible difference between the two women was their hair; the newcomer's was long, dark and hung loosely down her back.
The Colithian's eyes almost popped out in amazement. "Sapphire. Is it really you?"
"Of course it's me, at least it was me this morning. I was someone else a few weeks ago." The woman laughed, "and before you ask, I was the one in Cryo."
"Why the hell wasn't I told?" The blonde haired woman sounded slightly vexed.
"Because right from the start, Cath was under orders not to say anything to anyone, not even to you."
Listening to what the other woman said Corinth suddenly looked puzzled. "Sphere, how did you know I was back?"
"We always knew you would return, we just had to bide our time," the dark haired one explained.
"The Citadel?"
Sphere nodded. "Tom loves you Corinth. Go and spend the night on the settee, in the morning you two will make up, I can promise you that."
"Are you sure?"
"Have I ever lied to you?" It was Sphere's turn to sound annoyed.
"Not as far as I can tell, but then again, I'm not you am I?"
Sphere sighed, "You are what you are Corinth, just as I am what I am. Now," she grabbed her double's arm, holding on in a more than friendly way and grinned, "are you going t'tell me all about him?"
"All about who?"
"Tom of course! I mean we've got near fifteen years of gossip t'catch up on. Come on don't keep me in suspense, tell me all I need t'know about him."
"You are sure about us, Tom and me I mean?" Corinth asked hesitantly. Again Sphere nodded. The blonde haired woman suddenly grinned back to her double, "Come on then, let's get a drink and catch up with ourselves. Anyway first of all Tom's got a --"
End of the second story