The Secret of Arias

by LilyHalcombe

The Vorlons wanted a weapon to fight the Shadows, but even they could not imagine the terrible being they would create. Fearing for their very existence, they trapped the creature on a distant world, imprisoned for all time. However, even the Vorlons couldn't predict the arrival of an IPX survey vessel from Earth.

10. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

---

Susan stared at the tall alien warrior, who was looking back at her, waiting for her to respond to his orders. "What?" she finally managed to blurt out, still in shock over discovering that the alien could speak English. That, and the way he had just spoken, sounding a lot more like some twentieth century police officer than an alien warrior.

"I did not say it correctly?" the alien asked, cocking his head to one side and peering at her quizzically. He examined the scrap of paper again, before looking back up at Susan and saying, "it is what I wrote down. The Mistress told me to invite you to see her, and when I watched the long archive she sent me, this was how they asked someone to come with them. I think I am supposed to take you to the station now."

Susan looked helplessly back at him. "The station?" she asked, finally deciding to take some sort of control of the conversation.

"That is what it said on the show," the alien confirmed. Then he stopped and peered intently at Susan for several seconds. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, noticing that his stance was changing from one of curiosity to one of caution. "I know you," he said finally, not sounding pleased at all by that discovery.

"You do," Susan replied. "I don't think I have ever seen you before. I think I would remember if I did."

"You are on the screen quite often," the alien explained. "They reported that you were working with the creature your people call Sheridan. The Mistress was most angry with this Sheridan for driving them away."

"Them?" Melis asked, before quickly closing his mouth when he realised that he had spoken out loud. "Sorry," he muttered under his breath as Susan glared at him.

The alien leader spun around and stared at Melis. After looking the scientist up and down several times and eventually dismissing him as unimportant, he turned back to Susan. After looking slightly confused for a second or two, as if deciding how to explain something, he pointed a cautious claw towards the dark sky. "Them," he said, jabbing the long claw towards the storm cloud above. "The Mistress wanted to destroy them herself, but the one called Sheridan drove them away and she was very angry."

"You mean the Vorlons?" Susan asked, suddenly understanding who the alien leader was referring to.

An angry murmur raced its way around the gathered warriors and their slitted, snake-like eyes all glared at her as if she had committed some grievous sin. The tall, muscular leader looked at her with a concerned face. "Do not mention their name," he warned. "The Mistress does not like to hear of them. She may become angry if you mention their names in her presence. The warrior who I took to see her must have mentioned them and the Mistress became very angry with her. Fortunately the Mistress is merciful and your warrior friend still lives."

"My warrior friend?" Susan asked, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. There was only one person that she could think of that fitted the bill, and she had learned over the past few weeks that Major Logan had both the temper and the attitude to anger anyone, should she choose to do so.

Sergeant Drake appeared to have picked up on the same thing that Susan had and he stepped forward angrily. "If you have harmed the Major..."

"Sergeant Drake!" Susan interrupted him. "This isn't the time."

Drake nodded and took a step back, although he still had his finger on his rifle's trigger and was pointing it at the alien leader. The alien hadn't even blinked during Drake's outburst. Instead, he just turned to face the Sergeant and stared at him with a curious gaze. Then, after Susan ordered Drake to stand down, he turned back at her and flashed a fang-filled half smile. He then waved a hand in the direction of the crater-like mountain that rose above them. "I believe the Mistress can explain all your questions," he said.

"You mentioned something about an invitation," Susan reminded him.

The alien leader nodded. "Yes, the Mistress said to invite you to come and see her. I apologise if I was incorrect in the protocol of such invitations, but my people do not get many guests on this world. In fact, your people are the first. The Mistress sent me to find you and bring you to her throne room so she can talk to you. I must insist though, that all of your warriors remain outside. I will not permit another alien warrior within reach of the Mistress again, not after what happened with the last one."

"What did happen with Major Logan?" Susan asked, growing slighty concerned for the Major. While she knew that Lily could probably take care of herself, Susan was worried that she might have done something stupid. First contact situations were difficult enough as it was, and not really suited for soldiers. "Is she still all right?"

The alien leader nodded again. "She lives and has recovered from her foolishness. The Mistress healed her injuries. She was fortunate, however, that the Mistress ordered that she not be harmed. She dared to try and injure the Mistress, and for that crime she should have punished. But, the Mistress showed her mercy and permitted her to live."

"I don't suppose you will let us see her?"

"You must ask the Mistress," the alien replied. "I will take you to her now."

"Just a minute," Susan said. "I must talk with my team first."

The alien leader nodded and walked the short distance back to the rest of his troops. Susan turned to Drake and asked, "what do you think, Sergeant?"

"I'm not sure if I would go anywhere with this bunch," Drake replied. "I don't know what they did with the Major, but it is obvious that they are keeping her prisoner. If we go along with them now, then we might just end up in the same place she is. I think it would be better if we tried to make them give up the prisoners now. My men can probably take these guys if you give the order. They don't appear to have any dangerous weapons. Swords I can handle, they won't even get a chance to fire back."

Susan shook her head. "I don't think that would be the best way to handle this situation, Sergeant. We are backed up against the long drop, and I don't really want to start something if these creatures aren't hostile. I'm concerned about the Major as well, but they haven't appeared violent yet. I think that if they wanted to hurt us, they could have done so long before now." She turned and looked at Melis. "What about you, Doctor. Do you have any suggestions?"

"I think they are very interesting," Melis replied. "I can't agree with the Sergeant though, I don't think they want to hurt us. They are probably just as curious about us as we are about them. It is possible that they only captured prisoners due to a misunderstanding. If that is so, then we should do everything in our power to improve relations. I do not think these creatures are the real power on this world. It is obvious that there is some creature guiding their actions. It is this Mistress that we need to speak to. These warriors are obviously the servant race here, we need to speak to the leader of this world."

"And what do you base these deductions on, Doctor?" Susan asked.

Melis paused for a moment, mulling over how to explain his theories so everyone could understand him. Finally he pointed behind him, indicating the Vorlon war cruiser. "This ship gave me the final clue," he said. "I have examined Vorlon artefacts before, and they require one of two things to operate. Most of their organic machines require sunlight to work, while some of their smaller devices need a telepathic signal to switch on. That level of technology is way beyond anything these creatures have. They strike me more as a primitive race who has been given technology, but has no idea how it works. This then leads to the question of who gave them the technology. This ship seems to suggest that it was the Vorlons, but they are gone from the galaxy. Perhaps they supported this world before they left, but I don't think that is likely, not given the way they think of them around here."

"So, who is it then?" Susan asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Melis admitted. "Which is why I am curious to meet this Mistress of theirs. If she is the one who built all of this, then I would like to speak with her. She could be some creature that is even more powerful than the Vorlons."

Susan nodded. "So would I, but not for the reasons you are thinking off. You are forgetting our mission. We are here to retrieve the Sturt's crew and Major Logan, not conduct an investigation of this world. As far as I am concerned, if they give us back everyone who's missing, then I will leave this place quite content." She turned away and walked forward, attracting the alien leader's attention. "Can you guarantee our safety?" she asked as soon as the alien walked over to see what she wanted.

He nodded. "The Mistress said to invite you to see her. She was most specific that you not be harmed in any way, and that you be treated as her honoured guests. She was also very insistent that I bring you to see her, it is important to her."

"Will we be able to leave again?"

The alien looked hesitant. "I do not know," he admitted. "The Mistress does not inform me of all her plans. My orders are to find you and invite you to see her, nothing more."

Susan stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was telling the truth or not. It was almost impossible to tell when the only facial features the alien had was a thin pair of ridges, just above his eyes and a fang filled mouth that for the most part only moved when he was speaking. Finally she decided that taking a chance was better than nothing. "Can we keep our weapons?" she asked, pointing out the Sergeant's rifle.

"Those are weapons?" he asked, peering at the rifle and snorting derisively. "The Mistress did not say to take your weapons, only that I was to bring you to see her."He waggled a claw around at the group of warriors facing Susan and her team. "My soldiers wear her special clothing anyway, so your weapons can not harm us."

"You don't though," Susan pointed out.

"I do not need it," the alien replied. "It constricts my movements. Besides, the Mistress said that you would not hurt her and she is almost never wrong."

"Almost?"

The alien hesitated again, looking nervously around the ledge, as if he was afraid that someone was watching him. "She has not been herself ever since your people arrived on this world," he said in a low, conspiratorial tone. "I think she is sick."

"Why do you do what she tells you?" Susan asked, deciding to try and find out as much as possible about this Mistress creature before she chose to put her life on the line.

The alien frowned, and waved a clawed hand towards the canyon below. "She has given us much," he replied. "All of this has been built because of her gifts. She works to make our lives better, she gives us laws and she makes sure that we understand the ways of other races, so that when we leave this world and venture beyond the clouds we will know of what lies before us."

"Is that why you speak English?"

"English?" the alien replied, looking confused.

"The language you are speaking," Susan replied. "On our world it is called English."

The alien shrugged. "I do not know of your world. The Mistress told us that we must learn this language many generations ago. Before then, we spoke another language that she had taught us and before that we spoke our own language. Recently, when the screen started to show images, the people on there that looked like you spoke in the same language. We assumed that all aliens spoke that way."

Susan shook her head, a faint smile on her face. "Only Humans," she replied. "The other races have their own languages. You mentioned a screen, what is it?"

"The screen the Mistress created. It shows images from far away. The scouts can use it to send reports from the lands of light and it used to be able to pick up the ISN. However, something stopped it several cycles ago and it was then that the Mistress started to act strangely."

Susan considered the alien leaders words, before realising that a cycle must be a day and that meant the satellite the Rasputin destroyed must have also been acting as a receiver for the ISN broadcast. If that was true, then it meant that the Vorlons must have tapped into the ISN feed from Geneva somehow. There certainly wasn't a relay station anywhere near the Vorlon border. "I think I would be very interested in meeting this Mistress of yours," Susan said.

The alien looked pleased. "I will guide you," he said, pointing towards the stairs leading down into the canyon. "That is the quickest way to the palace."

He then hurried over to his troop and began to give them orders, his words just audible to Susan's ears. She could hear him muttering something about guarding something, but nothing more than that. She turned around to face her own team, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Are you sure this is wise, Captain," Drake asked her.

"Probably not," she replied. "But, I think it is worth a shot. It may be that this Mistress just wants to talk and will let us go again. If not then we may have to fight our way out. I don't fancy our chances though. If what their leader said is true, then our weapons may have little effect."

"That may explain why Major Logan was captured so easily," Talia suggested. Telepathically she added. Remember what you told me about the Vorlons imprisoning something on this world.

I remember, Susan replied telepathically, while trying to look as though she was considering what Talia had just said. However, I am beginning to question their motives. It was obvious that they were afraid of this creature, but was it because it threatened everyone, or was it just the Vorlons who were threatened. Susan then looked around as the rest of her team and said, "I don't like having to do this, but it may be the easiest way there is to get everyone back. Dr. Melis is right, this whole thing could just be one gigantic misunderstanding. They might have thought the Sturt's crew were trying to invade or something."

Melis looked pleased that Susan was agreeing with him, but any comment he was about to make was cut off by the return of the alien leader, along with his all of his troops. They had put away their swords, but each alien warrior still looked dangerous enough with just his claws. "This way," the leader said, pointing towards the stairs. "It is not far."

Susan indicated to Drake that she would take the lead and followed the alien leader onto the stairs. The warriors who had been watching them from the top of the stairs turned around and took up the lead, Susan and the leader falling in behind them. Further back was the rest of Susan's team and behind them the remaining alien warriors. Then, walking in single file, they all set off down the stairs, heading towards the canyon floor, hundreds of metres below them.

---

The long staircase appeared to go on forever, zigzagging its way down the rocky side of the massive canyon. In several places the alien metal had been replaced by steps carved out of solid rock, a welcome relief from the rickety metal framework found along the rest of the journey. The aliens seemed to be having very little trouble with the stairs, almost bounding down them as they led the way towards the floor of the canyon. Susan and the rest of the humans were having considerably more difficulty though, forced to slowly pick their way along at a snails pace. Fortunately, no-one suffered from a fear of heights, although a journey like this was almost enough to give anyone vertigo.

Finally the alien leader called a halt, stopping where the stairs suddenly transformed into a long bridge that arched across the bottom of the canyon. Below, a gentle stream slowly trickled its way along the canyon floor, winding between strands of jungle trees and vines. Much of this part of the canyon was cloaked in shadow, the vast bulk of the war cruiser blocking out the light from the braziers, which all appeared to be on the higher ledges.

"Are you sure this is safe," Susan asked the alien warrior, indicating the bridge in front of them. "It is too dark down here to see where we are going."

The alien looked at her, one eye ridge raised in a questioning expression. "You can not see?" he queried.

Susan shook her head. "No, it is too dark. We can not see where we are going."

The alien seemed to consider this for a moment and then he walked back across the wide ledge until he reached the canyon wall, stopping just next to the lowest of the metal steps. There was a thick strand of orchid-like flowers hanging from the rocky cliff face right next to him and the alien dug into the soft soil they were growing out of, eventually tugging out a dirt encrusted sphere that had lain hidden in between the flowers. He wiped his hands across the sphere's smooth surface, he removed most of the dirt and caused the sphere to glow with a dim light. It wasn't much, but it would be enough to see by.

"The Mistress placed globes all along the walkways," he explained as he handed the globe to Susan. "Its power is low, but it will work for a while yet, at least until you reach the other side of the bridge. From there on, you will be within the city and its tunnels have their own globes."

Susan nodded and stepped back to allow the alien leader to resume his place at the head of the group of warriors who were leading her and the rest of her team. She glanced up for a second and couldn't help shivering at the sight of the gigantic warship that hung just above them. She could almost reach out and touch its smooth surface, something Dr. Melis had been attempting to do ever since they had reached the end of the staircase. From their current location, the vast supports that lifted it off the canyon floor were lost in the darkness and it appeared as though the ship was just floating in mid air, right above them. If she didn't know that the supports where there, Susan would have been even more concerned. As it was, she couldn't help a small shiver of fear as she imagined what that ship could do. She had seen them in action, and even though this one wasn't active - asleep in fact - if the feelings she was picking up were correct, it still looked dangerous, like a powerful war engine just waiting for a chance to destroy something.

"Come," the alien leader called, interrupting Susan's thoughts. He pointed his claw across the long bridge and in the dim light the globe provided, Susan could see that the bridge was a lot safer than she had first thought. Like the larger bridge that spanned the very top of the canyon, this one was constructed of stone, and Susan imagined that it would also have metal supports beneath it, as it certainly didn't appear to have any other form of suspension. Taking one cautious step forward she started across the bridge, only to have Melis brush past her as he hurried to catch up with the alien.

"Can I ask you a question?" Melis said as he reached the tall warrior's side.

The alien turned and looked at Melis, regarding him with the sort of disdain someone would look at something they had just scraped off their shoe. "What is it you wish to know?" he asked, sounding none to pleased at being interrupted

"I want to know about that ship," Melis replied, pointing to the warship above them. "Where did it come from? Who made it? That sort of thing."

The alien stopped and looked up at the ship. "It has always been here," he replied. "The Mistress asks us to care for it and so we light the fires that keep it warm and ensure that it is connected to the power network. The Legends say that it arrived shortly after the Mistress, growing out of the ground."

"But who owns it," Melis pressed. "Does it belong to the Mistress?"

"I know nothing more," the alien insisted, turning and walking away from the scientist, heading out of the circle of light cast by the globe in Susan's hand and across onto the dark span of the rest of the bridge.

Melis looked a little annoyed, but allowed the alien to depart without pressing him further. Susan quickly caught up with him. "That was foolish, Doctor," she whispered angrily. "I don't want to anger them. Just leave the talking to me will you."

"I was just trying to find out more about this ship," Melis whined. "I thought that if we knew something more about how it came to be here, then it would help us when we meet this Mistress creature."

"Perhaps," Susan agreed. "But it's not worth starting an argument with that creature, no matter what the reason. Stay back with Sergeant Drake and keep out of the way."

Melis nodded submissively and waited until the big marine caught up with him. Then, they all set off across the bridge in pursuit of the alien leader and his warriors. Another group of alien waited behind on the ledge. They tried to look nonchalant, but it was obvious to Susan and everyone else that they were there solely to ensure that no-one attempted to return up the stairs. As Susan's team moved off, they also followed, keeping a good distance between them and the Humans, but still staying close enough to deal with anything that might arise.

Susan wasn't concerned about them for now though, her attention was focused on the upcoming meeting with the creature that the alien leader had called "The Mistress". She wondered what sort of being this Mistress was, wondering if perhaps she wasn't a Shadow agent the Vorlon had imprisoned here. Something told her that wasn't likely, especially considering the make of ship the Mistress preferred to fly, assuming of course that is was her vessel. Susan had never heard of a Shadow agent flying a Vorlon war cruiser, especially one with such unusual markings.

"I wonder," she muttered to herself, looking up at the vast bulk of the warship as they passed beneath one of the four gigantic tentacle-like appendages that formed the ship's main gun.

"What do you wonder?" a soft voice asked from just behind her.

Susan turned, and smiled at Talia, who was following along just behind her. "I was just wondering what that flower is," she explained, pointing towards the region where the pinkish symbol was inscribed across the side of the warship. It wasn't actually visible from here, but Talia had seen it from the top of the canyon, so Susan knew she was aware of its existence. "It is so familiar, but I just can't quite place it."

"You don't buy many flowers do you, Susan," Talia said, shaking her head in amusement. When Susan looked at her in mock indignation, she smiled and said, "it's a lily. I used to have one in my quarters on Babylon 5, only it was white, not pink."

"You're sure?"

"Positive," Talia replied. "It has a fairly distinctive shape, I don't think I would make a mistake, especially not after looking at it every morning for nearly two years."

"I don't remember seeing it," Susan muttered.

"That's because you didn't really go into my quarters a lot," Talia replied. "If you remember, it took you nearly a year before you would even talk to me like a person."

"You know what this means then."

"That you aren't very observant," Talia suggested, a teasing smile on her face. "Or do you mean that you just take too long to get over your insecurities?"

Susan looked at Talia with a slight frown on her face. "I was talking about the flower," she replied. "Don't you think it a little strange that an Earth flower is being used by some alien ruler."

Talia looked at her companion with a shocked expression on her face, suddenly realising what Susan had discovered. "You don't think this Mistress comes from Earth do you?" she asked excitedly.

"It has to be a possibility," Susan replied. "We know that the Vorlon have visited Earth many times in the past, and we know they have taken people away to serve them. What if this prisoner of theirs comes from Earth. That might explain why the aliens thought that she was acting strangely when she found out about the Sturt's arrival and it might also explain why everyone here speaks English."

"Do you think it's possible?"

"I don't know for sure," Susan admitted. "But I intend on finding out." She handed Talia the light globe. "Take this," she said. "I have someone I need to talk to."

As Talia stood there with a quizzical look on her face, Susan ran across the long, darkened section of the bridge and onto the wide ledge that waited on the other side. Fortunately, the bridge headed in a straight line for all of its long span, or Susan wouldn't have been able to stop herself from falling off the side. However that didn't happen and a dim light shining out of a nearby passageway, provided just enough light for Susan to see the alien leader, and the small group of warriors who accompanied him, waiting on the far side of the bridge. They all appeared to be discussing the way the light glistened off the skin of someone called Kaj. Susan didn't know who this Kaj was, but the way the warriors were talking it was obvious that he or she was of great interest to them.

"Can I talk to you for a moment," Susan asked, as soon as the alien warrior noticed her.

"What is it you want, Captain Ivanova?" the alien asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"You know my name?" Susan asked in surprise, before cutting off the alien's explanation. "Wait, I remember, ISN. I have been on there often enough over the last few month that I'm surprise half the galaxy doesn't know who I am."

"The oldest of our people are permitted to watch the screens whenever they are not working," the alien explained. "Those of lesser rank may only watch in the communal halls, the Mistress does not wish to waste too much energy. I have spent many hours watching the ISN when I am not otherwise occupied. It was very interesting, although it was difficult to see much due to the... interference I think the Mistress called it."

"Do you have a name?" Susan asked suddenly, slightly annoyed that the alien leader knew who she was, but she didn't have a clue what to call him. It was obvious that they had names, unless this Kaj was some sort of animal, their equivalent of a horse or something like that. After the way the warriors were talking about her though, Susan didn't think that likely.

"I am General Azrak," the alien told her. "You said you wanted to talk to me?"

Susan nodded. "I wanted to ask you about the Mistress," she told Azrak. "Can you tell me what she looks like?"

Azrak raised both eye ridges and peered quizzically at her for several seconds before replying. "The Mistress is a being of great beauty," the General told her. "When I look at her, I see nothing, just a shadow in the place where she should be and her eyes. But her eyes are very warm, dark and mysterious like her body, but they shine with an inner light. She is the most wonderfully kind and generous being in all of the universe."

"Then she is not one of your people?"

"Of course," Azrak snorted. "She is our leader and all here would willingly give their lives for her."

"I mean, she isn't the same as you," Susan said, struggling to find a way to explain what she meant.

Azrak stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face. "No," he said finally. "She does not look like me. She is different."

"Does she look anything like me?" Susan queried.

A round of laughter greeted her question, and it seemed that all the aliens found her suggestion extremely amusing. "No," Azrak replied finally, a wide smile covering his face. "As I said she is the most wonderful being in the universe, not a creature like yourself." He waved his hand in front of Susan, indicating her body. "She does not have thin arms and legs like you, or unhealthy white skin. She also doesn't have this strange... hair?"

"So, she is a creature of shadow then?" Susan asked.

The General frowned angrily. "She is not a creature," he said in a low, dangerous tone of voice. "It is you who are a strange alien creature, not the Mistress. She is glorious being and you should not talk that way about her. She does appear as a shadow to us, but her servants say that she is just as wonderful close up as she is to observe from afar. You should not call her a creature when you have not even met her."

"I'm sorry," Susan said. "I was just curious about what she looked like."

"You will see her soon enough, Alien," the General replied. "She has requested that I take you directly to the throne room, so you will be allowed to see her there."

Susan nodded, and then turned around to watch the rest of team arrive at the end of the long bridge. They had been taking their time, so it wasn't only Melis that was interested in examining his surroundings. "Did you find out what you wanted," Talia asked, pulling Susan's attention away from the tardiness of the marines.

"Not really," she replied. Talia smiled at her, and handed back the light globe Susan had given her. As their hands briefly touched, Susan opened up her mind and projected her thoughts in Talia's head, silently informing Talia of what she had really discovered after questioning Azrak. I think this Mistress could be a Shadow agent after all. The way the General was talking, she sounds like a creature that the Shadow's would have serving them. Of course, that doesn't explain the flower, or the Vorlon ship, but I guess we will find out about them soon enough."

I hope you are wrong, Talia replied. From what you have told me about these Shadows, they were not a very nice race.

No, they weren't, Susan confirmed. Although why one of their agents would be on a Vorlon world is beyond me. This world was in the path of the their planet killers, they should have been able to destroy it just as easily as they did the other worlds they murdered.

As you said a minute ago, I guess we will find out soon enough, Talia replied, stretching in an attempt to more evenly distribute the weight of her pack, which had become unbalanced during the long walk down the stairs from the top of the canyon. "I wish we didn't have to carry these things," she muttered out loud. "It seems to get heavier with every minute."

Susan nodded in agreement, before a sudden idea struck her. She turned back to the General who had been watching her mostly silent conversation with Talia with a look of bored indifference on his face. "Can we leave some of our equipment here?" she asked. "It is heavy and if we will be coming back this way, then it will save us having to carry it all the way there and then back again."

"You will not be returning this way," Azrak replied.

"What?" Drake, who had been listening in on what Susan had asked, demanded angrily. The Sergeant looked furious, holding his rifle in a threatening manner. "I thought you said you didn't know what your Mistress wanted with us. How do you know we won't be returning this way then?"

Azrak turned and looked at Drake, sniffing derisively at the PPG rifle. "I do not know what she desires with you," he replied. "But I do know that this is the long road. If you wish to return to the swamp, where the alien ship is, then it is a lot quicker to take the tunnel from the centre of the city. This way is only used by the workers who are constructing the new road, and occasionally by the other workers who repair the collection towers."

"We didn't know that though," Susan pointed out.

The General looked back at her and nodded. "Leave your belongings here," he said. "I will order the first workers that we see to collect them and bring them along to the throne room."

"I wouldn't want to put anyone one out," Susan said, not really wanting the aliens to have a chance to examine the belongings of her pack. Not that she had anything personal in there, but it was just the principal of the thing.

"It would be an honour to the workers," Azrak replied. "They will get to see the throne room door, and that is a great honour, for only those of the higher ranks are usually permitted into the palace."

"Sounds good to me," Talia replied, unclipping the straps of her back lowering it to the ground with a tired sigh. Most of the marines quickly followed suit, piling the packs and the other equipment they didn't need near the passage way that led into the rock face. After a moment of hesitation, Susan also followed suit. Although, as she lower her pack onto the growing pile, she noticed that both Dr. Melis and Sergeant Drake were hanging onto theirs, obviously not willing to allow their packs out of their sight.

"Are you ready now?" General Azrak asked impatiently. "The Mistress awaits your presence, and I do not intend on keeping her waiting any longer than I have to."

"We're ready," Susan confirmed.

"Good," the General replied, walking into the passageway. "This way then, and you will not need the globe. The way from here is lit. While we can see in the darkness, we see better in the light, although only if it isn't too bright. The Mistress created the globes for us, and they will provide you with enough light to see by. You may leave the globe by your equipment. The workers will take it away to be recharged when the come to collect you possessions."

Susan nodded and placed the globe down on the pile of packs. Then she looked around at the rest of her team, indicated for them to follow the General. There was an obvious hesitation to be the first to enter the passageway, until finally Susan sighed in frustration and stepped in after Azrak. The passageway was made of the same greenish-yellow metal as the stairs had been, but apart from that it appear much the same as every other passageway she had ever seen. "Come on," she said to her companions, before turning and following the General into the hillside.

---

Lily leaned back against the roughly hewn wall of the tunnel, intermittently surveying the continuing digging. She had been worried that the lack of any good light source would be a problem, but the light globes from the living quarters were found to retain a lot of their power, even after being torn out of their settings. She had used them sparingly along the tunnel itself, but had set several on the ground near the actually digging site, not wanting anyone to injure themselves due to poor lighting. So far it seemed to be working, and the digging had continued on through the mountain side, with only the occasional scrape or cut.

Currently the two marines, Hawke and Anderson, were taking their turn digging, with most of the scientists and crew from the Sturt having long ago finished their turns with the picks and were currently sleeping off their exertions. Lily herself still didn't feel like sleeping, but had pushed her worry about what was happening to her body and metabolism into the deepest, darkest recesses of her mind. When this was over, and everyone was on their way back to Earth, then she could worry about it. Now, she had a tunnel to build and over sixty people looking to her to save them.

She had finally relinquished control of her pick to one of the other workers about two hours ago. She wasn't mentally tired, but physically she was exhausted. Despite her training and fitness, her body just wasn't strong enough to keep going at that pace forever. In the face of her physical depletion, her mind was still absolutely awake. Knowing she couldn't sleep, she'd chosen to supervise the digging, making sure that it continued without interruption. Some of the more out of shape scientists had complained about the tough pace she was forcing them to adhere to, but Lily had dismissed those concerns. She knew that they had to work fast.

They had been working on the tunnel for nearly eight hours now, nearly an entire day on this world. The guards who bought their food and took away the gems had last come three hours ago, and Lily was sure they were getting suspicious. She had ordered the tunnel blocked by a makeshift barrier. In the poor light it look much like the rest of the wall, but she had still seen one of the alien soldiers looking closely in its direction. The soldiers had left without comment though, but Lily knew that another inspection, the next was due in about five hours, could spell their doom. So she had been pushing everyone extra hard, working them until they dropped, all in an effort to finish the tunnel and get out of here before the alien soldiers returned.

Suddenly, one of the marines stopped his digging, pausing and looking down at the rock face in front of him. "What is the problem, Private Hawke?" Lily demanded, hopping up and walking across the rough tunnel floor to where the digging was being conducted. As she took her first step, she also reached down and scooped up one of the spare light globes, running her hand across its surface to activate it.

"I'm not sure," Hawke admitted, standing back to allow Lily to take a look at the crack his pick had made in the rock. "I think I can almost feel a cool draft coming from beyond this wall."

By now Anderson had also stopped digging, and they all clustered around the crack in the rock, feeling a slight breeze gently brushing their faces. It bought with it the smell of vegetation, probably rotting, but at least it was something. With renewed vigour, Lily snatched Hawke's pick out of his hands. "Stand back," she ordered, as she raised it above her head.

Both of the marines quickly complied, stepping well back as Lily swung the pick with all her strength, down onto the hard rock. There was a loud ringing sound as the metal of the pick struck the rock and then came the sound of falling rock. Fortunately though, it wasn't the ceiling that was caving in, but rather the rock wall in front of them. Lily leapt out of the way, standing well clear until the last of the rocks had stopped moving and the dust began to settled.

"Looks like you did it, Major," Hawke said, shaking his head in amazement. "We made it through to the other side."

"Don't get you hopes up yet," Lily replied. "We could still be underground, this might just be a cavern."

"But Major, the air."

Lily hesitated, the smiled as she realised what Hawke meant. The stuffy air of the tunnel was gone and in its place was air smelling of the surface, just like the faint breeze they had detected moment earlier, only much more powerful and exciting. The pile of rocks in her way almost reached up to the ceiling, but she could still see a small passage through, into whatever lay beyond. Tossing the pick to one side, Lily clambered up the rocks towards the passage, unmindful of the possible dangers of the still unstable rock pile. It was rough going, but she soon managed to squeeze through the gap between the rocks and ceiling and tumbled down into the cavern beyond.

"Are you all right, Major?" Hawke voice called from the other room.

Lily picked herself up and dusted off her clothing. Somewhere in the distance, the musical tinkle of a river running over rocks reached her ears, while the tangy smell of some flower or mushroom made her nostril twitch with the beginnings of the sneeze. She managed to hold back the sneeze, and called back to her companions, "toss one of the lights through. I can't see a thing in here."

One of the marines, she didn't see which, hauled himself up on the pile of rocks and pushed a globe through the gap into this new cavern. It bounced across the rocks before falling into Lily's outstretched hand. After checking to make sure it wasn't damaged she held it aloft and looked around the new cavern. It wasn't very big, but there was a passage leading out of one end. That was a very good sign, as it meant that they wouldn't have to do more digging for a while. The breeze they had felt was coming from somewhere down that passage, so hopefully it also led to the surface.

"Clear away the rest of those rock," Lily ordered, shining the light into a dark corner of the cavern and frightening a tiny lizard that had been resting there. It hissed at her, before deciding that she was too much to take on and scuttling away down the passage. The sounds of renewed work came from the other side of the rock pile, and it quickly began to decrease in size as the chunks of rock and gemstone were carted away. Lily sat down on a large, rounded rock and amused herself by trying to clean up the singlet she was wearing while she waited for the others to arrive.

It didn't take long for the two marines to haul away enough rocks to form a proper passage between the tunnel and the cavern, and as soon as they had broken through Hawke hurried into the cavern, eager to see what Lily had discovered. "Do you think this leads back to the surface?" Hawke asked.

"I hope so," Lily replied. She stood up, looking over at Hawke. "You didn't bring your pick?"

"I didn't think I would need it," Hawke replied.

"Get it. If that rock fall was heard by any of the aliens, then they might be on to us. We may need to defend ourselves. Get two picks and another light for yourself and meet me back here." Then as an afterthought she added, "also bring two flasks of water and my uniform jacket."

"Right away," Hawke replied with a salute.

As he ran off, Lily peering back into the tunnel. "Anderson?" she asked, looking around for the other marine.

"Right here, Major," came the reply from the lanky Swede, still hidden from Lily's sight in the shadows at the end of the tunnel.

"Can you take over here?"

"Are you going somewhere?" Anderson asked.

"I thought I would check out this tunnel with Hawke," Lily replied, pointing towards the passage on the other side of the cavern. "The air in this place obviously comes from the surface and I saw a lizard so it must have found its way in here somehow. With any luck, we won't have to do any more digging."

Anderson walked into the cavern and peered down the passage. As soon as he had satisfied his curiosity, he turned back to Lily. "I can take care of it, Major," he replied with a nod. "But, are you sure you don't want to take me with you?"

Lily shook her head. "I need someone I trust in charge here," she replied. "Besides the fewer or us there are, then the more likely that we won't be spotted by any alien patrols."

Hawke chose that moment to come running back down the tunnel, slightly out of breath. He quickly handed Lily her wrinkled jacket and a pick, while keeping the two water flasks and another pick. "Ready to go, Major," he said with another academy trained salute.

Lily nodded, taking a few seconds to pull on her jacket and zip it up. "Good," she said. "Anderson, keep an eye on everyone, and if we aren't back in an hour, then you can come looking for us."

Anderson nodded. Then, with Hawke in tow, Lily set off down the passage. It wasn't long, in fact a lot shorter than even she had imagined. It ran perhaps fifty metres before ending in a thick curtain of leafy vines. Unlike the rest of the vegetation Lily had seen on this world, these plants were much more verdant, almost resembling the jungle trees and vines she had seen around the landing site. Beyond the vines the sound of moving water had grown stronger, and Lily almost imagined that she could see a faint light filtering down from somewhere up above. For a moment, she thought that they might have dug their way all the way out of the cloud covered region and back into the sun light, before she realised that it wasn't possible. They were still beneath the cloud, so that meant that the light had to be artificial.

"Do we go through?" Hawke asked, pointing towards the vines. "We should be careful around here, any one of these plants could be poisonous or something like that."

Better not take the chance then," Lily replied, lashing out at the vines with her razor sharp pick. The metal didn't cut as well through the vegetation as it had through rock, but Lily discovered by aiming at the roots of the vines they were soon removed and the way out cleared. Beyond lay a thick forest of bushes and trees, again resembling the jungle that covered the lit areas of the world. "This is becoming a little strange, Lily muttered to herself, stepping out of the cave mouth and onto the soft earth beyond.

She glanced up, looking for the source of the faint light that was shining down on them. The light appeared to flicker slightly, but that effect was probably caused as it filtered down through the leaves, bouncing from leaf to leaf. At least that's what Lily decided was causing the flickering. She couldn't see the source from here, so further investigation were impossibly until they reached a clearing.

"Which way now?" Hawke asked, joining her at the edge of the jungle. He stared cautiously at a trio of medium sized lizards that were hiding under a fallen log, looking at him. "Do we go back and tell the others?"

"We might as well take a look around, Lily replied. "I told Anderson an hour, and it has only been five minutes so far."

"Which way then?" Hawke asked, sweeping his hand around the cave mouth, pointing out all the directions open to them. He glanced up at the high cliff that towered above the cave. "We obviously can't go up, so we either go along the cliff walls or head out into the jungle."

"That way," Lily replied, pointing straight out into the jungle. "The water we can hear sounds like it is coming from that direction. That seems the most logical place to start."

Hawke nodded and they both set off, hacking at the thick vines and bushes that stood in their way. The jungle was so thick that It took them nearly ten minutes to make their way to the edge of the fast moving steam. On reaching the water, Lily knelt in the dark moss on the bank of the stream and reached down with one hand, scooping up the water and sampling it. She knew she should have had it tested first, but all of their survey equipment had been on the rover, which was probably lying in pieces somewhere by now. Fortunately the water didn't kill her. In fact it tasted identical to the water they had been drinking in the mines, although it was just a little warmer.

"Major," Hawke said softly, tugging on her jacket.

Lily looked at him, annoyed at being interrupted. Before she could say anything though, she noticed that he was staring at something above her, a look of fear on his face. She quickly glanced up and what she saw made her fall backwards with shock. "What the hell is that," she demanded.

The vast shape seemed to hang in the air above them, like some gigantic alien squid. It was long, so long that Lily couldn't even see the far end, and wide enough to fill the entire canyon. It took Lily several seconds to recognise the shape, remembering a briefing she been present at five years ago. There, she had been shown pictures of a Vorlon war cruiser and its escorts massed outside Babylon 5. That sight had been frightening enough, but to see one of the huge war cruisers up close was terrifying.

Since the end of the civil war she had heard stories from starfury pilots who had fought against the shadows. A few pilots had returned to Earth from Babylon 5 and they bought with them tales of fighting against the Vorlons and another race they called the Shadows. In the briefing and in the stories, the ships had always been green, but although this one was a pale white, there was not doubting the shape.

"A Vorlon warship," Hawke breathed. "What the hell is one of those things doing here."

"I don't know," Lily replied, pushing her fear aside and examining the ship as if it was something to analyse, instead of a gigantic alien warship that could probably fry her and this entire forest in a nanosecond. She suddenly noticed the rows of walkways along the sides of the canyon walls, as well as the braziers that had been scattered along them. "It looks like they almost worship the thing though," she said, pointing to the flames leaping up from the metal braziers.

"This is a Vorlon world," Hawke reminded her. "Perhaps they worship the Vorlons and this is their idol."

"Perhaps," Lily murmured. It didn't seem like the aliens she had seen though. They worshipped their Mistress and no-one else, and after having come face to face with Jeanne, Lily didn't think it was likely that she would allow them to worship anyone else either, especially the Vorlons. That then raised the question of exactly why a Vorlon cruiser was sitting here in this canyon. After Jeanne's reaction, Lily didn't think that the she would have wanted to have anything to do with Vorlon technology.

Just then, the sound of something scrapping against metal snapped her attention away from the ship and reminded her that she was not supposed to get caught. She grabbed Hawke's arm and dragged him back into the forest. When he tried to complain, she held a finger to her lip and whispered, "be quiet." With her other hand, she pointed above them, toward a dark bridge that crossed the canyon, high above the tree tops.

Hawke nodded and pulled himself beneath a large overhanging leaf, frightening a sleeping lizard at the same time. As the lizard screeched at Drake, Lily also moved back out of the line of sight. She couldn't see who was on the bridge, but she could hear the sound of footsteps. They sounded a lot like the alien's footsteps, with the scrapping of claws across metal.

There was quite a few of them, but they moved quickly, not appearing to notice her or Hawke hiding beneath them. Then, just when she thought it was time to come out, another set of footsteps could be heard, lighter than the first ones. Whatever the creature was, it quickly passed across the bridge, almost as though it was running. Then the sound of distant voices echoed could be heard. Neither Hawke nor Lily could pick up the details, but they sounded as thought they were speaking in English. Of course, on this world that didn't mean a lot.

Hawke glanced across at her and inclined his head in the direction of the cave mouth, silently asking if they should leg it. Lily shook her head, and signalled for him to wait. Hawke nodded his understanding and sat still. It was a good thing he did too, as another two group of creatures passed overhead, all going in the same direction. With the third group, Lily also noticed a light passing travelling along the bridge at the same time, probably either a torch or one of those light globes. Then, everything went quiet again. The light was switched off and soon even the voices faded away. However, Lily still waited another ten minutes before coming out of hiding, just to be sure.

"A patrol?" Hawke asked as he stood up, brushing off dirt and crawling insects.

"Probably, "Lily replied, stretching her legs to try and relieve a soreness that was starting to set in. "Lets get back to the tunnel," she said, retrieving her pick and leading the way down the path of hacked up vegetation they had created.

"What do we do now, then?"

Lily looked up at the canyon walls. "We get out of here," she replied firmly. "There must be a way up these walls, all we have to do is find it. After that, we can get out of this hellhole and back to the Rasputin. Then, I intend on having a long, hot bath and spending a couple of days in bed."

"Sounds good to me, Major," Hawke replied, shouldering his pick.

---

Morkazz hurried into the throne room, his brown robe swirling around him as he hobbled along. "Mistress," he called out excitedly, before hesitating and peering intently at the figure on the throne. "Mistress?" he asked cautiously. "Is that you?"

"It is me, Morkazz," Jeanne confirmed. "I needed to change my appearance a little as part of my plan. Now what is so important that you would actually try to run?"

Morkazz stared at Jeanne for another full second before finally deciding that the figure on the throne was indeed his Mistress. "The Human's have finally arrived," he told her. "Azrak is guiding them through the outer reaches of the city right now."

"Is he now," Jeanne mused, flicking two controls on her throne. "Do you know which district he is travelling through?"

As the large display screen slid smoothly out of its alcove and began to lower itself toward the floor, Morkazz replied, "Azrak reported that he took the stairs from new road, so I would think they would be in the outer warehouse sector by now, probably just outside the satellite control facility."

Jeanne nodded and tapped another control. The screen cleared to show a long, empty corridor. Jeanne frowned and tapped a few more controls, flipping through nearly twenty different camera views before finally finding the correct one. Azrak and his squad were leading the small group of eight Humans down the corridor towards the main elevator, which meant they would arrive outside her throne room in around ten minutes at the latest.

A few more alterations to the view and Jeanne had zoomed in on the group of Humans. She quickly dismissed most of them as unimportant, probably just soldiers, and focused on the three who were leading the party. One was a tall man in civilian clothing, with a large pack on his back, who didn't look like an Earthforce officer. The other two were women and Jeanne quickly passed over the blonde one and focused instead on the slightly taller woman in the Earthforce uniform, obviously the leader of this particular group. With a sudden stab of annoyance she realised that she had seen the officer before, several times in fact. "I know her, Morkazz," she said, pointing towards the woman on the screen. "That is Commander Ivanova from Babylon 5."

"Captain," Morkazz corrected. When Jeanne turned to stare at him quizzically, he quickly added, "she became a Captain after she left Babylon 5. They said so on ISN."

"I didn't know that," Jeanne replied, tapping her fingers on the arm of her throne.

"If you remember, Mistress, you stopped watching after... they disappeared, and only started again a few weeks ago. A lot happened in that short time."

"So it seems," Jeanne mused. "Is there anything else I should know about? I know you enjoy watching ISN."

"I have seen all the episodes," he said proudly. "At least up until the signal was lost. I even saw the episode where the evil president killed himself. Of course we didn't know he was evil then, they said he was good and everyone from Babylon 5 was bad. But he turned out to be evil and Sheridan turned up and saved Earth before the president could kill everyone. It was very exciting because everyone thought that Sheridan was going to attack Earth, but he didn't."

"I was aware of that," Jeanne interrupted. Actually she hadn't been. Ever since the Vorlon departed, she had no longer felt the need to watch any of the alien networks and with the Vorlon networks now silent there had been nothing of interest to her, at least not until the IPX survey vessel had landed on this world. She knew that if she ordered him to, Morkazz would have told her everything that had occurred on Earth over the past year or so, but she didn't have the time for that right now. On the screen she could see Azrak's party drawing closer and closer. All her plans had been depending on encountering someone who didn't know the Vorlons, which Ivanova obviously did. This would require a change of tactics. Turning back to her counsellor, she asked, "Morkazz, can you send a messenger to Azrak before he reaches the elevator?"

The counsellor peered at the screen and then nodded in confirmation. "That should be easy Mistress. One of the guards outside the throne room should be able to run down to that section before Azrak arrives."

"Good, do so then. Tell the General to take the humans through the central plaza first."

"That will take him at least half an hour," Morkazz reminded her, sounding confused as to why Jeanne would want Azrak to take longer to arrive.

"Good," she replied. "Now hurry, send the messenger and return."

After a quickly bow, Morkazz hurried off towards the doors. As soon as he was gone, Jeanne turned her attention back to the screen. This sudden discovery of Ivanova's presence raised some serious problems. She had been hoping that the commander of the rescue vessel would be a typical Earthforce officer, not someone like Ivanova. Several of her options were now gone, as she didn't imagine that she could use bribes or offers of technology. It was obvious that anyone who had broken away from their own government over a matter of principal would probably not allow herself to be bribed. There was, of course, always the chance that a direct exchange of the prisoners for her freedom might work, but she knew that many humans had strange ideas about paying ransoms. It had been so much simpler when she had been on Earth, with rulers regularly paying ransoms to release their soldiers and nobles from enemy captivity. That attitude appeared to have changed considerably since the last time she had seen Earth though.

Which left her with very little to work with. In fact, there was really only one thing to try and it was the last thing she really wanted to use. Jeanne knew that Ivanova had seen the Vorlons at their worst, and also had been present on Babylon 5 when Kosh had revealed himself, well appeared to reveal himself anyway. The truth might work on her, but it was always a risk. To someone who didn't know anything about the Vorlons, the truth was so improbable that they would automatically dismiss it as a lie. Which left the question, did Ivanova know enough about the Vorlons to understand the truth when she heard it?

"It is done, Mistress," Morkazz said as he hurried back into the throne room, interrupting Jeanne's musing.

Jeanne nodded. That would give her a few more minutes to prepare, which might just be enough to work out a way to convince Ivanova to do what she wanted done. "Good," she said. "Now, I need you do something else for me."

"Anything, Mistress," the counsellor replied with a low bow.

A flicker of a smile crossed Jeanne's face. It soon faded though and she tapped her finger on the lid of a large chest that sat next to the throne. "I want this removed," she told the counsellor. "It is no longer of any use to me."

Morkazz stared at the heavy chest of gems. "I will get some of the warriors to take it away. Do I take it to the artisans?"

Jeanne was about to say yes, before another use for the gems crossed her mind. "No, put them in storage, I will have need of them one day. Once that is done, arrange for some extra lights to be bought to this room, as well as chairs, a table and some of our best food."

The counsellor nodded and once again hurried out of the throne room to call in some guards. As he left, Jeanne allowed herself to sink into the shadows, darkening the room around her. She felt herself growing in confidence again, now sure that she could convince Ivanova of her plight. Everyone had their price and Jeanne was sure that the truth would be a high enough price to convince the woman she was watching on her monitor.

---

"We must go this way," Azrak said, pointing down a narrow corridor that ran off the one they had been following ever since they had left the canyon.

"I thought you said we were going down this corridor," Susan reminded him, looking suspiciously at the narrow, dark passage that the general had indicated.

"We were, now we must go this way."

Susan nodded, but glared suspiciously at the messenger who was heading back along the main corridor. She hadn't caught what he had said, but knew there must have been a sudden change in the General's orders. She had considered using her telepathic powers to find out, but still didn't feel comfortable scanning someone's mind. She couldn't stop herself from picking up Azrak's surface thoughts though, which were so strong they broke through all her blocks. Those thoughts told her the general was extremely annoyed with his new orders. She hoped that was a good thing, and that the General had been asked to do something that he didn't like and it wasn't something that might effect her.

"Come," Azrak said again, pointing angrily down the corridor.

"Captain?" Drake asked, looking questioningly at her, obviously wondering if her slight hesitation wasn't due to a sudden change of mind about cooperating with the aliens.

"Let's go," Susan replied, pointing down the narrow corridor.

Drake nodded and followed her as she stepped into the passage. Azrak and his warrior waited until all the Humans had passed and then also followed, the General muttering something about wasting time. The passage itself took a fair amount of time to traverse, running for nearly five hundred metres. Several times other passage branched off it, but the General always pointed them along the narrow passage. Finally it ended, and opened up into a gigantic cave.

"What is this place?" Susan asked breathlessly, looking around at the thousands of aliens who were busy with their work. Many stopped to peer back at her, before continuing on their way. All appeared to be smaller in size than the General and his warriors, most having light green scales instead of the dark purple of the warriors.

"This is the great plaza," the General explained. "Apparently the Mistress wanted you to see this before continuing on."

"It's amazing," Susan said, stepping out onto the smooth tiles that made up the floor. Ahead, a railing circled around a vast lake which filled most of the plaza. The water bubbled and steam rose from the lake's surface, a sure sign that it was probably close to boiling. Despite this fact, there were a large number of aliens playing in the water, splashing each other and tossing balls and other objects around. It was reminiscent of scenes common on a thousand beaches all over Earth, except the playful beings in the pool were obviously not Human, and the water was a lot hotter than any Human could survive.

"It is the pool," Azrak said. Then he pointed towards the levels of buildings and tunnels that were built along the walls of the gigantic cave. "There are the artisan's shops and the restaurants."

"You have restaurants?" Susan asked, looking surprised.

"Of course," the General replied. "You may trade items for food there."

"You don't have money then," Dr. Melis cut in, a strangely excited look in his eye as he glanced around the room. The archaeologist was obviously enjoying himself tremendously.

"No. The Mistress does not allow money, it is against her sacred laws. She says that to have money will make us greedy, like Humans, and that is a bad thing. We are only permitted to trade our goods and services for the things that we desire. Of course, the warriors are given a certain amount of goods each week, as we need to be strong to protect this world from creatures such as yourself."

"We don't mean you any harm," Susan tried to explain. "All we want to do is collect our companions and leave. We have no intention of remaining here."

"We will see," Azrak replied, not sounding convinced. "Now, we must go. My orders were to show you the grand plaza. That I have done, now we must return to the main corridor." He pointed back down the passage they had just left. "Go that way."

Susan looked down the tunnel and sighed, but allowed herself to be guided away from the plaza and along the narrow, stuffy passage again. The journey didn't seem as long this time though and they soon found themselves walking back along the main corridor. That corridor soon ended, running into a small room that the General identified as some kind of elevator. After hustling everyone into the small room, he ordered it to take them to the throne room. There was only the faintest sensation of movement, much less than any elevator Susan had ever been on, and then the doors opened again, looking out on a new corridor.

"This way," Azrak said, pointing towards a large set of golden doors that lay at the end of the corridor. A large group of warriors were gathered around the doors, and piled nearby were their packs and other equipment, which had somehow managed to beat them here. After a brief glance behind her to ensure everyone was still with them, Susan allowed Azrak to guide her towards the great doors.

---

At the southern end of the great canyon, where a small waterfall cascaded over mossy rocks to form a small stream, Major Logan and Private Hawke stood, scanning the cliff walls. "This appears to be the only way up, Major," Hawke said, pointing towards the stairs that ended about fifty metres above them. "There doesn't appear to be any direct route from the canyon floor to the top of the cliffs and this is the only bridge or stairs that comes even close. I have the rest of the scouting parties still looking around for something they might have missed earlier, but it doesn't look like there is any other way."

"We are going to have to climb up there then," Lily replied, scanning the cliff wall for hand holds and ledges that would make it possible to climb the fifty metres or so to the ledge where the stairs ended and the long bridge began. She knew that they had go up here. Already too much time had been wasted searching the jungle for an escape route, and before long the aliens would discover that they were missing. "Recall the scouting parties, this is were we go up."

"It doesn't look very easy," Hawke noted. "Most of the civilians won't be able to make it without some sort of assistance. In fact, I'm not sure I could even climb up something like that."

"I can make it," Lily told him.

"Are you sure, Major?" Hawke said, not sounding convinced. "You have been working fairly hard on the tunnel, and a climb like that won't be easy."

"I said I can make it," Lily growled angrily. "Don't question me. I'm fine and if I say I can do it, then I can."

"Of course, Major," Hawke stuttered, taking a step back. "I was just concerned for you, that's all."

"Don't be. There is nothing wrong with me and I wouldn't try to do something if I didn't think it would succeed. I used to go rock climbing for fun back on Earth, so I know what I am doing."

"What about everyone else then? How do we get them up there?"

Lily looked around the jungle. Her eyes fell on a long, creeping vine that had wrapped itself around a nearby tree. Most of the vines were too old and dried out to be of any use, but some of the younger vines still looked pliable enough to be useable. "We could make a rope or a ladder out of these vines," she said, pointing them out of Hawke. "It might be strong enough to hold together until we got everyone up there."

Hawke looked doubtfully at the vines, but lacking a better idea of his own, nodded slowly in agreement. "It might work," he admitted. "We would need to find something to bind it all together though. Once that it done, then all we need is for someone to climb up there and attach it to something."

"That will be me," Lily said, her tone of voice not inviting argument.

"I guess all we have to do is construct a ladder then," Hawke replied. "Shall I recall all the scouting parties?"

Lily nodded and looked back at the cliff and the ledge, her mind already working on the best route for climbing the almost sheer cliff face. As Hawke had already pointed out, it wasn't going to be an easy climb, but as long as her strength didn't give way halfway up, then she should be able to make it easily.

---

The robed alien glared at General Azrak, and Azrak glared back. "I want to be there when these creatures are meeting with the Mistress," he demanded. "They are dangerous and may try to hurt her, remember what happened with the last one, Counsellor Morkazz."

"The Mistress was not injured," the alien called Morkazz replied. "It is also her wishes that she meet with these creatures alone, without any of your warriors present."

"It is obvious to me that the Mistress has not been well," Azrak argued. "She does not know what she is doing. These creatures will try to hurt her, just like the other one."

"You would not want to go against her wishes, would you?"

Standing behind Azrak, Susan could hear everything that was being said, and realised what the General was worrying about. If she had been in his position, then she probably wouldn't have let anyone in with weapons either. However, after nearly five minutes of this argument, she had had quite enough. "How about if we leave our weapons behind," she suggested, interrupting the two alien's before they could continue arguing.

They both stared at her for several seconds before Azrak muttered, "that would be acceptable, but only two of you may enter at once. The rest must remain here, so I can keep watch and ensure that they don't intend to hurt the Mistress."

Morkazz's eye ridges drooped in the Arisian equivalent of a frown. "The Mistress did not say that she only wanted to see two. I assumed that she wanted to see all of you."

"I'm sure two will be fine," Susan interrupted again, wanting to get this argument over and done with. It had been a long walk today and she was growing tired of the constant run-around she had been receiving from Azrak. She wanted to get this meeting over and done with, so she could retrieve Major Logan and the rest of the missing crew and get off this hell of a world. Even Proxima III, with its burning deserts and hostile native life forms, hadn't been as trying as Arias.

Azrak looked at her again. "Very well, two is acceptable, but I don't want any warrior anywhere near the Mistress. One you and one of the other workers may enter."

Morkazz sighed and looked over the group of humans in front of him. Spotting one that didn't look like a warrior, he pointed to Talia and said, "you will go along with Captain Ivanova." When Azrak didn't argue, he continued, "the rest will remain here, until the Mistress desires your presence or it is time for you to leave."

"Then we are going to be allowed to leave again?" Susan asked.

The robed counsellor looked surprised at her comment. "Of course," he replied. "The Mistress does not want you to remain here, that would achieve nothing. She only wishes you to meet with her so that she can talk to you and arrange the terms for the release of your friends."

"Terms," Drake muttered from his location off to one side, where he had been quietly training his rifle on the General. "I don't like the sound of that."

Morkazz ignored him and looked over at Susan with a pleasant smile, or rather what looked more like an upturned snarl, on his face. "Shall we continue?" he asked, sweeping his hand towards the huge golden doors that waited behind him. "The Mistress awaits to meet you."

"Let's go," Susan agreed, stepping forward.

Morkazz looked pleased and directed two guards to push the doors open. As they swung smoothly open, he looked across at Susan and asked, "Can I have your autograph?"

"What!"

The counsellor looked confused. "Isn't that what I am suppose to do? I saw this program on ISN, the Academy Awards it was called, and everyone there was asking their favourite people for autographs. As you are my favourite person on ISN, I thought I would ask you for one."

"I'm not a vid star," Susan corrected him, while Talia struggled to hide her amusement. "I'm just a soldier. I have never even considered acting."

"But you are on ISN all the time," Morkazz argued, fingering a piece of paper and what looked suspiciously like a quill pen. "I thought that you must be very famous. I watch all the time you see, and I know all about what happens, even more than the Mistress."

Realising that the quickest way to end this was to sign the paper, Susan snatched it out of the counsellors hand and quickly scrawled her signature across the middle of the strip of paper. Then she handed both it and the quill back to Morkazz and marched away through the door. The counsellor looked pleased, and quickly stuffed the paper into a hidden pocket before hurrying after her.

I didn't know you were so famous, Susan Talia teased. Does this mean that I have to book you through your agent. Any further comment was cut off as Talia came to a sudden halt, staring in shock at the creature that awaited them inside the throne room.

The doors behind them swung shut, coming together with little more than a faint click. No-one really noticed though, they were too busy staring across the huge room. Even Morkazz looked a little surprised by the effect that the Mistress had managed to create with the extra lights and her servant's assistance. Instead of her normal drab appearance, she now looked more like a fairytale princess, with a long white and pink gown, encrusted with tiny gemstones. Her dark hair had been brushed until it shone, and had also been dusted with crushed gems, making it sparkle in the light.

Susan looked stunned, before glancing across at Morkazz and asking, "that's your Mistress?"

The counsellor looked surprised by the question. "Of course," he replied. "Who else would be in the throne room."

"But she's Human."

"Not exactly, Captain Ivanova," a soft feminine voice interrupted. "I don't think you could describe me as Human any more." Susan spun around to stare at the throne. "Won't you join me," the girl on the throne continued, indicating the chairs that had been arranged before her. "I have been looking forward to meeting you for some time. We have much to discuss."

---

Back in the canyon, a small group had gathered near the waterfall. Standing close to the cliff face, carefully examining it for possible hand holds, Lily was steeling herself for the long climb ahead. It was only around fifty metres, but it was almost straight up, and with her muscles complaining every step of the way, it wasn't going to be easy. Behind her, most of the rest of the prisoners had gathered, all working hard to complete the rope ladder she was going to carry up to the ledge.

"This is foolishness," Curran said, coming up behind Lily and peering up at the distant ledge. "You can't possible make it all the way up there, at least not in your condition."

"My condition?" Lily asked, trying to sound as though she didn't know what the Sturt's first officer was talking about. "I assure you, I am fine."

"That's not what Dr. Abbado has been telling me," Curran replied. "He said that the virus he detected in your system has spread throughout your body and by all rights you should be dead by now."

"I don't feel dead," Lily said. "A little tired perhaps, but nothing I can't handle. You can tell Dr. Abbado that there must be something wrong with his instruments."

"You don't believe that any more than I do," Curran muttered. "There is something going on that you're not telling us."

"If there was something to tell, then I would tell you. But there is nothing. I feel no different than I normally do. I can make this climb, in fact I am the only one who can make it."

"I don't know why you are bothering. They probably have guards waiting for you at the top of the stairs anyway. We are better off waiting for Earthforce to send a proper rescue mission."

Lily stared at him incredulously. "You don't call the most powerful ship in the fleet a proper rescue mission?"

"It's obviously not enough. You ended up captured, just as we did. We need a proper rescue mission, troops, tanks and that sort of thing, not just a couple of rovers with people who obviously don't know what they are doing."

Lily fought down a sudden urge to thump Curran and was fortunately persuaded against that move by the timely arrival of Dr. Janet Petrilli, who was heading the team of scientists working on the ladder. "We have finished, Major," Petrilli said, completely unaware of the argument she was interrupting. "Just in case, I had sixty five metres of ladder made, so we will have plenty left over if the distance turns out of be more than fifty metres."

"Good work, Doctor," Lily said, sounding pleased. She turned to watch as ladder the scientist's team had put together was carried out of the jungle and dumped onto the ground nearby. It was long, and it took several people to carry the heavy vines, but it appeared to be holding together well enough. Hopefully it would last long enough for everyone to make it out of the canyon and up to whatever lay beyond.

"Will this do, Major?" Janet Petrilli asked as the last of the ladder was lowered to the ground. "Everyone is rather tired, but we can recheck it if you want."

"That should be just fine," Lily replied, looking more than a little surprised at the ladder Petrilli and her team had managed to come up with after less than an hour's work. Long vines had been unwound from around trees and bound together with metallic wire stripped out of the walls of the living quarters. The result was a solid looking construct, which appeared strong enough to hold even the most overweight of the scientists. It probably wasn't the best they could do, but as Lily wanted to get out of the canyon before anyone noticed they were missing, it would have to do.

"Are you still sure that you want to do this?" Hawke, who had been helping carry the ladder, asked. He handed her a thin, metallic wire that someone had wrapped tightly with torn strips of cloth, most of it from the Major's own shirt.

"Can anyone else do it?" Lily asked, taking the wire and wrapping it tightly around her middle. The other end was attached to the rope ladder, which she would need to haul up and attach to a rock or something once she made it onto the ledge. She was then to lower the rock down on the other side of the bridge, using it as a counter-weight, so the heavy ladder could be hauled into position by those below.

"I could try," Hawke offered, not looking overly enthusiastic.

"Do you think you can make it?"

"Probably not," Hawke admitted.

"Better leave this to me then," Lily told him. "It is my plan, so if anyone is going to risk their lives, then it should be me." She turned and looked at Curran, who was looking up at the cliff and shaking his head. "Mr. Curran. I want you to look after things down here, get everyone ready to leave, that sort of thing. Once I make it up to that ledge and secure the ladder, I want everyone ready to climb up as quickly as possible. If you have anything you want to take with you, then make sure it is waiting here."

"Be right back," a voice called, and everyone turned to watch as Nicolai Luchenko tore off through the jungle.

Lily frowned at the retreating back of the president's errant nephew, before turning to Hawke. "Make sure we have plenty of water gathered, Private," she ordered. "I don't know how far it is back to the Sturt, or even which direction it is from here, so we are going to need something to drink. Also collect as much of that meat they have been feeding us as you can. It may not taste that appetising, but no-one is going to complain if that is all we have to eat."

"Anderson is already taking care of that, Major," Hawke replied. "I will go and double check though."

"Good," Lily said, turning back to the cliff and looking up at the her goal. Remembering one last thing she had to take care of, she turned to Curran. "Mr. Curran. If I don't make it and fall to my death, then I want you to take over. Try and get everyone out of here one way or the other. Whatever happens, promise me that you will try to escape."

Curran was about to argue, but through better of it at the last moment and nodded instead. Lily smiled at him and then started up the cliff face. Pushing her feet off the ground, she jumped up and grabbed hold of the closest ledge to the ground. It was only narrow, but it was just wide enough to pull herself up onto it. Then, bracing her feet against the ledge, she began to clamber up rest of the rock face.

She moved as quickly as she could, but the hand holds were so spread out that she had to take special care with each one. This made the journey a lot slower than Lily would have liked, but at least ensured her safety. At least it did until she was halfway up the sheer cliff face. Hanging by her fingernails from a tiny ledge, the muscles in her arms and shoulders aching terribly, Lily searched around for something to move onto next. Eventually she spotted a small outcropping of rock, nearly two metres to her right and slightly below her. From there it would be easy enough to climb the rest of the way without any further risk, but she had to make it there first.

Mindful of the twenty five metre drop to the ground that would await her if she slipped, Lily edged across the ledge until she was as close as she could get to the outcropping. Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply, and then flung herself in the direction of the outcropping, reaching for the rough rock. To those on the ground it must have appeared as though she was falling, because there was a collective gasp from the prisoners gathered to watch her.

Her aim had been true though, and her outstretched hands struck the rock firmly. Ignoring the screaming pain in her fingertips, as sharp rock tore open her flesh, Lily gripped at the outcropping with all her strength. She hung there for several seconds, calming her wildly beating heart, before pulling herself up again and continuing on up the cliff. As she had predicted, the rest of the climb was fairly easy, with a good number of ledges and other hand holds for her to reach for. Finally, ten minutes latter, she reached the ledge where the stairs were and collapsed onto the rough rock, breathing heavily after such a difficult climb.

Remembering the wire she had attached to her waist, Lily pulled up some of slack so it wouldn't fall down again and then began to unwind it. Finding a suitable rock, she attached it to the wire and dropped it over the far side of the bridge. It fell into the jungle below, where it was collected by Curran and several others. They quickly began to haul on the wire and on the Lily's side of the bridge the rope ladder began to rise slowly up towards the ledge.

Lily smiled, and sat down on the bottom step to wait for the ladder to arrive. It was then that she remembered the cuts she had gained when she had grabbed hold of the outcropping. Holding up her hands for examination, she noticed that the blood had already dried, which was rather unusual as she continued on climbing after the injury. Normally they would still be bleeding, and raw, but that didn't appear to be the case this time. Curious, she scrapped away some of the dried blood with a fingernail, before staring at her fingertips in shock. There was no trace of any injury, just the almost invisible scars that showed where the rock had cut into her. "What the hell?" she muttered, a cold chill running down her spine. "What has that witch done to me?"