7

Chapter Nine: Farewell to Babylon 5

Ni'Kar and Ra'Mogh waited patiently as Garibaldi and his team brought the two smaller cargo vessels into the B5 docking facilities. The Nu'Ral had towed the larger cargo vessel, as promised; but Ni'Kar felt that their "diplomatic gesture" had been smashed to smithereens by the hostile actions of Ma'Grahk and his gang.

When the Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari had heard about the disabled Narn vessels, he had been overjoyed to send two nearby Centauri vessels out to the "contested zone" to rescue the Narns. Since the Centauri vessels were well-equipped to tow the cruisers, Ni'Kar had agreed. He knew G'Kar would be furious, but even he would have to admit that it was the perfect punishment for Ma'Grahk and the others to undergo the embarrassment of being "rescued" by Centauris. It was preferable to do that than to ask the Humans to tow them back, given that the Narns had engaged in hostile actions against them.

Captain Ba'Gor's ship had been unaffected by Duronn's attack because he, at least, had finally obeyed G'Kar's order to stand down. Ni'Kar had ordered Ba'Gor to help the Centauris in their efforts to secure the two disabled cruisers, and he had grudgingly obeyed since he knew that the Humans and Minbaris would be in no mood to help them. The Nu'Ral had taken up the rear of the odd procession in order to supervise Ba'Gor and the others, making sure that there were no more rash acts of violence.

It took a long time for the Centauri vessels to safely deposit the Narn cruisers in the docking facilities. When at last it was the Nu'Ral's turn to dock, there were plenty of dock workers available to aid the disabled cargo vessel that they had brought in. Ni'Kar left Ra'Mogh to deal with the two ships and he set off to find G'Kar.

He did not have far to go before he saw his brother, together with Commander Sinclair, Delenn, and Londo Mollari waiting near the docking facilities to greet the crews of the various vessels.

"Ah, G'Kar!" Londo teased the Narn Ambassador, "So glad to have been of service to your poor disabled warships! Please, you don't have to thank me too profusely..."

"I warn you, Mollari," G'Kar said between clenched teeth, "Do not provoke me at this moment!"

"Yes," Londo replied in delight, "I imagine it must be very humiliating for you and your brave Commanders to have been helped by Centauris. But, my dear colleague, it was worth the effort from my perspective, as I so enjoyed your discomfort when I volunteered our courageous heroes of the Centauri Republic to rally to your cause!"

"All right, Londo!" Sinclair cautioned him, "That's enough. You've been at G'Kar constantly for the past fifteen minutes. Quit while you're ahead, before we have a murder investigation on our hands."

"Commander Sinclair," G'Kar seethed, "You have no idea how close you are to just such an investigation."

"Ni'Kar, my dear White Spot!" Mollari continued, oblivious to Sinclair's warning, "I imagine that you are not quite so bothered by our aid, are you? It is amazing to see such an astronomical difference between two genetically related people as you and your brother. One is as volatile as an Earth volcano, and the other is as docile as Spoo larvae. Yes, and your white spots remind me of Spoo worms, as I think about it..."

"Yes, Londo Mollari," Ni'Kar responded in a good-natured tone of voice, "Many people have told me that. Perhaps it is because I spent so long processing Spoo for our Centauri Masters during the Occupation. But no matter...I do thank you for your help today."

Ni'Kar was determined not to let Mollari have the satisfaction of annoying him. He could tell that his absence of a negative reaction soothed G'Kar somewhat, simply because it disappointed Mollari's perverse delight in their shame.

Commander Sinclair, thankfully, was far more diplomatic. He thanked Ni'Kar for his help with the whole affair, and he told them that the request for Ma'Grahk's and Ba'Gor's arrest was now a moot point since Duronn had ended the skirmish before anyone was killed. After this particular incident, however, it was clearer than ever that they needed to re-negotiate the trade routes and territorial claims. Even G'Kar understood that, and he committed himself to hammering out the "general framework" of the new treaty with the Advisory Council and the League.

Ni'Kar's wife Tre'a was excited about the idea of going to Io with Ni'Kar as part of a "cultural exchange". She and her young children had boarded the first passenger ship to Babylon 5 that they could find in order to join him. They were obliged to stay in a guest suite for the time being, however, as Ni'Kar needed to be present for the first phase of the treaty negotiations on Bablyon 5. With luck, however, he hoped that they could depart for Io within the next few weeks.

The family took a few days to acclimatize themselves to the busy space station, but it was not long before little Ni'Ko was pestering them to explore the busy "B5" community. Thankfully, G'Kar's aide Na'Toth was amenable to taking the family on various tours of the station while G'Kar and Ni'Kar were busy with the negotiations.

In between spending time with his family and attending treaty negotiations, Ni'Kar found that he was even able to attend a few "A.A." meetings with Garibaldi and Jack. Now that the disputes were being settled, Ni'Kar was again welcome to go to the group. After one particularly emotional meeting where Ni'Kar had shared his fears and anxieties about his family and his society, Garibaldi asked him to come to his quarters in order to watch some Earth cartoons and munch on popcorn.

"Sometimes you need to do something that is pure, off-the-wall fun after a meeting like that," Garibaldi told him, "Cartoons are the best remedy for stress that I know."

Garibaldi seemed to favor an Earth program about a big black bird who stomped around a lot, swore, and became very stressed himself as he dealt with all kinds of comical situations. It seemed to be a great relief for Garibaldi, however, to laugh uproariously at the antics of the strange bird. The cartoons were very strange, for they depicted birds and animals as walking and talking like humanoid bipedal beings. Ni'Kar laughed along with Garibaldi, although he did not completely understand every aspect of the Earth bird's humor.

It was not long before Garibaldi had invited Ni'Kar's whole family for supper, and little Ni'Ko became as "hooked" on the cartoons as the Security Chief was. Ni'Ko wanted to spend every waking minute with "Garrrr-a-ball-dee the Human", and when he was not available, with Uncle G'Kar listening to "war stories". Ni'Kar had to make sure that he took the time to tell his son stories about peace and honor as well. He did not want to wake up one day and find that Ni'Ko had grown up without his pouch-father's input and guidance.

Ni'Kar was pleased to see that Tre'a and the pouchlings were having a calming effect on "Uncle G'Kar". The busy Narn loved to cook for the family as much as Garibaldi did, but instead of watching cartoons afterwards he would tell dramatic stories to Ni'Ko and the smaller pouchlings. He even told them the story of what had transpired in the "contested zone" of the Io-Richilari border in order to introduce the children slowly to the kind of work that he and their father were doing.

When at last the time came for Ni'Kar to move his family to Io, both G'Kar and Garibaldi were very sorry to see them depart. Even Commander Sinclair and Londo Mollari took the time to bid them farewell after the first phase of the treaty had been negotiated and it was time for the Narn family to board the Nu'Ral.

"Bring some Swedish Meatballs when you come for your next visit to B5, Councilor," Sinclair told him, shaking his hand as was the Human custom when saying either good-bye or hello to someone.

"Your wife is far too beautiful a creature for the Narn Regime," Londo Mollari advised him, "You should keep her and your young ones on Io. The Humans will take much better care of them than your insane government."

Ni'Kar had thanked them both, and after they had left he and his family embraced both Garibaldi and G'Kar, who had stayed to see them off.

"Remember what I told you, G'Kar, about treating the Others with honor," he reminded the Ambassador, "Tre'a and I are both concerned about the direction in which our world is headed. If you won't listen to me, at least consider some of the wisdom that Tre'a has shared with you in the past few weeks."

G'Kar remained silent, but he put his fists to his chest and bowed his head to the couple in the Narnish gesture of respect. He then knelt down to touch heads with Ni'Ko while the three youngest ones crawled all over him.

"I don't know about your brother, but I'm gonna miss you crazy Spot-Heads," Garibaldi told them, "I never thought I'd be saying that about a bunch of Narns. Ni'Ko, don't forget The Duck, buddy."

"Ya, Budd-eee Garrrr-a-ball-dee!" Ni'Ko chirped, waving his hand enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Garibaldi, for being a friend to me and my family," Ni'Kar said to the Human, "It has now been a very long time since I have taken a drink, and Tre'a wants me to continue with these "A.A." meetings when I go to Io. They have been helping my family as much as me."

"Good luck on Io, Ni'Kar," Garibaldi replied, "Don't kick around any Cargo vessels while you're there."

"You don't trust me, Garibaldi?" Ni'Kar asked in a jovial tone.

"Nah," the Security Chief responded in an equally good-natured manner, "Never trust a Narn."

With those words of wisdom, Ni'Kar and his family boarded the Nu'Ral and left the bustling world of Babylon 5 behind them.