10

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Delenn

As KyTeth left the courtroom with 'G'Tarn', Tan Kari and Ru'Kyla, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Ed Marsden, the Security Officer who had kept quiet about Kha'Ral's crime out of his love for her family. Ed's eyes were welling with tears, and he noticed that the man was in civilian dress.

"Ed!" he exclaimed, "How are you, man? I'd tried to find out how you were doing through all of this, but no one in your outfit would let me know anything."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised," Ed told him, wiping away his tears, "half the guys have been bought over by Nightwatch...even Zack, although he doesn't know what it is that he's getting into; he's just doing it for the few extra credits that they give you. I tell ya, Kytey, things are changing back home on Earth, but at least I'm sitting pretty. I'm not going to be put through a court martial, but I've been suspended from duty for an indefinite period of time. Captain Sheridan and Garibaldi must have had a tender spot for me in their hearts. They gave me a break, and it looks as if that luck rubbed off on Kha'Ral's trial! Judge Ho gave her a break, too, and she's not known for being lenient. I guess we also had a good jury, though, which helps. If Kha'Ral plays her cards right, she could be out within the next two years...that's assuming she doesn't play around with any more of this Shon-Kar nonsense."

KyTeth felt happy for the good-natured Marsden, but he also realized that this meant the former Security Officer was out of work; and because he was well-known for being compassionate and respectful towards non-Humans, he might now be a target of the dreaded 'Nightwatch' organization. He was very disappointed to learn that Zack, the Security Officer that he knew and trusted most after Ed, had joined Nightwatch. If he got the chance, he knew he needed to warn Zack, if the Human had not yet figured out what a lousy club he had unwittingly gotten himself involved in. He also wanted to do something for Ed, and he wondered if Ed might like to help Mango with his new business now that KyTeth was no longer involved in it.

"Hey, Ed," KyTeth offered, "If you're looking for a job..."

"Aw, Kytey!" Ed interrupted, jokingly, "Don't even think it! I'd be terrible at door-to-door sales. I have some savings piled up, so I'm not in any kind of emergency. In fact, this gives me a chance to do something I've been thinking about for a long time. I think I may run a soup kitchen for the folks Down Below. I think maybe they could use a bit of help. Sheridan, Dr. Franklin and the others are going to chip in a bit to help me out with it. If you guys are looking for something for your Mini-Troop to do while they're here...I could probably use their help."

"I know they'll all be happy to help you, Ed," KyTeth told the Human, "They know what a friend you've been to Kha'Ral and her family. In fact, they're already helping out Down Below, so they may be able to give you some pointers on how to set up. They've done a fair bit of that kind of work back on Narn."

Ed smiled and nodded his agreement, as they continued on their way. He was relieved that the trial was finally over, so that their family could concentrate on mending the fences between them. He was a bit disturbed to hear that Kha'Ral would have to wear an "implant" that could poison her if she tried to have it removed, but it was better than being thrown out an air-lock into outer space, he supposed. Sometimes he found it difficult to understand why people were so barbaric. Even in these supposedly "enlightened" times, life could be a real bugger.

"G'Tarn" had excused himself to go and lie down for awhile before Shad'ra'sha Troop returned. He had been working very hard with the Troop, and he had been accepted as a member in spite of his Human-ness. Nonetheless, he knew that Josh had been very worried about his family, lately, and he felt badly about it. Josh couldn't very well return as 'G'Tarn' to see how they were doing, but KyTeth wondered if he might get away with a visit to the Singhs, just to see how they were getting on. He knew that they were under tremendous stress from Nightwatch, though, and he did not want to get them in trouble for having a visit from a Narn. He would have to tread very carefully if he did do that.

As his father left to go and teach his late afternoon class, KyTeth gave his shoulder a playful slap and said, "Good going today, Dad. I was proud of you when you renounced that "shunning" thing for Kha'Ral."

"As I heard Kha'Ral speak of her remorse for her actions, KyTeth, I could do nothing else. If I am to be true to the path of peace, I must learn to overcome my own violence within—whether it is expressed in physical action or in words. I believe we have all learned a lesson as a result of this ordeal, my children."

KyTeth gestured his respect to his father before continuing on with Ru'Kyla. He knew that he needed to get busy cleaning the fighters now that the trial was over, but he wanted to take just a little time with his wife. Kyla Teth was asleep in her pouch, and so he quietly suggested that they take a walk in the Station's artificial Parkland. The couple walked arm-in-arm to the shuttle-rail station, which would transport them over to a choice spot that they liked to go whenever they had a few spare moments—which wasn't very often. They boarded the shuttle-rail car, and, as they sat down, KyTeth realized that they were seated across from the Minbari attaché, Lennier, and a woman who looked like a Human...except for the fact that she had a small Minbari head-bone casing around her mane of long, dark hair. As he looked into her face, he saw someone who was familiar to him. He suddenly realized, in a startled manner, that this person looked like the Minbari Ambassador, Delenn! But if it was Delenn, why was she dressed up as a Human—or was she truly a Human-Minbari hybrid?

"Hello, KyTeth," she greeted him, "And my greetings to your wife, Ru'Kyla as well. I met her earlier, when she was out with her children. How are the little ones faring?"

"Very well, thank you, Ambassador Delenn," Ru'Kyla replied politely, "Kyla Teth sleeps in my pouch at present, and KyTeth and I are going to take a quiet walk in the Park before he has to return to his work."

As the two women were exchanging greetings, KyTeth could not stop himself from staring at Delenn. Lennier was giving him a look which suggested that he should save his stares for his wife. He had not meant to be rude, but he simply could not get over the change in the Minbari Ambassador's appearance. He had not seen her since the day of Minnar Orno's Award ceremony in the Parkland.

"I know my appearance is a bit unsettling, KyTeth," she told him, "but do not be afraid of me. I have undergone a transformation of sorts so that I may be a better bridge of peace to the Humans."

Before KyTeth could stop himself, he had blurted out to the Ambassador, "Wow, Ambassdor Delenn—you look gorgeous!"

Lennier did not look pleased by that remark, and KyTeth felt mortified. The Minbari Aide was probably thinking that KyTeth wanted to take Delenn out to the Minbari Cultural Centre for a sexy romp, like he had done with Chanaral. He looked at Ru'Kyla nervously, but she appeared quite amused.

"Do not mind my husband, Mr. Lennier," Ru'Kyla told the Minbari man, "He is not as dangerous as he sounds."

Delenn smiled graciously at the couple, and asked after Kha'Ral.

"I am sorry that I could not be at the trial," she explained, "I was very disturbed when I learned that Healer Rha'Noth's wife had been the one to kill the Mhrr'Unik delegates...especially when Councilor Ni'Kar had been working so hard to achieve an agreement between your people and theirs. But I have understood from Lennier, who did attend the trial, that Kha'Ral expressed great remorse for what she had done, and that she had renewed her determination to work for peace when her prison term is complete. I want you to know, KyTeth and Ru'Kyla, that my offer to your clan still holds. All Minbaris are still honor-bound to protect your family, and that of the Ornos and Singhs as well. That has not changed, nor would it have even if Kha'Ral had defended her action."

At these words, KyTeth felt a sudden idea coming upon him. What if Delenn could help the Singh family with their problems? Now that she had somehow taken on a Human-like form, perhaps she would be willing to give them asylum somewhere, so that they could be away from the abuse of Nightwatch! He knew, though, that it was not his place to ask. He needed to suggest it to Kris Singh, who could then approach the Minbari Ambassador to ask for help. For that matter, Delenn might even be able to help Minnar and Tunida and their family—although that situation was a bit trickier now because their kids were living as a part of Centauri society while the two older Ornos were out on their ears one level above "Down Below".

"Ambassador," KyTeth whispered as the shuttle stopped at its destination, "I may suggest to the Singhs and maybe even the Ornos that they come to you for help. I don't know if they will agree to do that, but I just want you to know that they really do need your help, if you feel that you can provide it to them."

"I will do what I can for them, KyTeth," she whispered, "But first, they must ask. We cannot push ourselves upon them. The Singhs in particular may still be afraid of us, for we were at war with the Humans only ten years earlier."

KyTeth nodded mutely. He wanted to ask her how she had transformed herself, but he did not dare. He had already been rude enough, and he did not want Lennier to lose his patience with him.

As Ru'Kyla and he strolled along the walkway past the planted trees and gardens of the Greenhouse/Parkland, Ru'Kyla explained to him what he had wanted to know about Ambassador Delenn.

"I have heard from other women on this station, KyTeth," she told him, "and they say that Delenn underwent a transformation. She was ensconced for months in some sort of "cocoon" until finally she emerged from her shell looking different than she did before. They say she did this with the help of the Vorlon Ambassador, Kosh. The Vorlons used some kind of technology which was able to transform her into a being which was half-Minbari and half-Human. They call her "the Butterfly Woman", and they say that Captain Sheridan is in love with her...she was seen with him at that very fancy restaurant, 'The Fresh Air'."

KyTeth did not know if he believed the stuff about Sheridan and Delenn being an item, but he was fascinated by this idea of a cocoon or a "Chrysalis" of some kind transforming someone into a creature who was made up of two entirely different species. Why would the Vorlons want to do that? Vorlons were the most mysterious species in the galaxy, or so he had read in his interplanetary studies course back on Earth. No one knew what they looked like, for they were forever encased in their "encounter suits". They were supposed to be one of the most advanced species in the galaxy, but they had never been known to share their technology with others...until now, apparently.

"I wonder what would happen if Ambassador Kosh took a Centauri and made him into a half-Narn, half-Centauri creature, do you think the Narn Regime and Centauri Prime would go for that?" KyTeth asked Ru'Kyla jokingly.

"And who would volunteer for such an exotic transformation—Chanaral Orno, perhaps?" Ru'Kyla replied.

"It's Chanaral Cotto, now," KyTeth reminded her, "She's married to Vir, remember?"

"And...here she is, now," RuKyla noted as a Centauri woman with a shaved head, and dressed in a brilliant red cloak, approached them.

"Channie?" KyTeth asked, astonished. It had been a long time since he had seen her, and she seemed to be more mature, somehow.

"KyTeth, it's so good to see you!" she gushed, as if they were meeting at a family Christmas celebration back on Earth, "And your wife, Ru'Kyla, of course! We met at the 'Star Splash' not long after you returned from Narn, while I was working at that hallowed restaurant."

"So...how is married life?" KyTeth asked, a bit uncomfortable meeting her while with his wife. Ru'Kyla and Chanaral, however, seemed to be quite at home with each other. They gave each other a quick embrace, taking care to look around them before they did.

"My Vir is an angel," Chanaral replied, "and so is your Ru'Kyla. We've both been very lucky in our marriages, don't you think, KyTeth?"

"Yeah," KyTeth agreed, "But I don't think your parents have been so lucky, Channie. Your Dad has been having a nervous break-down, and your Mum...well, she's trying to look after him, but...you know they're living in Healer Rha'Noth's old dump of an apartment?"

"I am more than aware of that, my friend," Chanaral told him, "and I am working on a plan to save them. It may involve going to the Minbari home-world, or one of their colony worlds. Commander Sinclair is the Ambassador there, and he has created a new Army of Light—the members of this army are called "Rangers". There are some stationed here at Babylon 5, and it may be a job that Kris Singh could do! I have also been keeping abreast of what has been happening with Josh's family, and I wish to help them. I have spoken surreptitiously to Pat, but she has not been able to convince Kris to go to Delenn for help. She could help to get them away from that horrible Nightwatch group—but Josh told me back on Earth that Kris had lost a brother in the Minbari war, and so he does not really trust Minbaris terribly much. Maybe you could convince him, though, KyTeth! Josh had a falling out with Kris, you see, and..."

"I know all about that, Chan," KyTeth replied, "and as for the thing about going to Delenn, I was just thinking that might be a possibility—but this thing about Sinclair's Rangers sounds like it might be a good thing, too. Ru' was telling me about Delenn's transformation, and..."

"Isn't that wild?" Chanaral gushed, "I went to Ambassador Kosh when I heard that and asked him to make me a Centauri-Narn, and I think he just about fell out of his encounter suit—although it's rather hard to tell, since the suit has no real face to it, and therefore is expressionless."

"Chanaral, you didn't do that!" Ru'Kyla chided her, "I think that you are teasing us."

"I did," she told the astonished couple, "but I don't think poor Kosh was buying it. Oh, well...on with my next mission, which is to sing in a concert that I've planned for the Centauri Emperor. My mother thinks that he's going to be assassinated by a Narn, but I told her to stop making grim prognostications. I have gone to G'Kar and given him strict orders not to go near Emperor Turhan unless he is willing to hear an apology. G'Kar told me that Turhan would never apologize to the Narn people in a million years. I said, 'we'll see, Ambassador,' and I left him with that thought. The reception is to be tomorrow afternoon, when the Emperor arrives. Won't you two please come and support us? We have Human, Drazi, Triarian, and Minbari singers in our Peace Concert, but no Narns, and only one Centauri—that's me. I asked Healer Rha'Noth if Mara' could join me, but he ran off screeching, so I guess the answer was no. I'm sorry to hear about his wife having killed the Mhrr'Uniks...the trial was today, wasn't it? Will she..."

"She was sentenced to two years in the B5 Clink, a poisonous tracking implant put into her in case she tries anything that EarthForce doesn't like, and the threat of a death sentence if she ever performs another Shon-Kar outside of Narn—I don't think she's going to do that, again, though. So, all things considered, it's better than them tossing her out an air-lock, especially with the kids needing her and all that. So, there's one piece of news you weren't up on, Channie. The rest of it—man, I don't know how you get around so fast! You've talked to Ru', G'Kar, Kosh, Delenn, you know about Sinclair and the Rangers, you've planned this crazy peace concert which nobody thinks is a good idea—wow, girl, you get around!"

"Will you both come to the peace concert?" she asked again, hopefully.

"I'll try, Channie," he told her, "I haven't got a lot of time, these days, for peace concerts and parties, but...I'll see what I can do."

"I will go," Ru'Kyla promised her, "and, if you need a Narn to sing, I will sing my peace song to the Emperor, and to the Universe."

Chanaral hugged Ru'Kyla in a moment of joy.

"Thank you," Chanaral whispered, "I'm sorry, KyTeth and Ru'Kyla, I must rush off now, because I am to meet my husband here to discuss something very important."

KyTeth turned to see Vir looking at the trio hesitantly.

"Chanaral," he told her, "You need to be careful about being seen with Narns—you know that! I'm sorry, KyTeth...I don't mean to be rude, but..."

Vir's voice trailed off.

"It's o.k., guys," KyTeth reassured them, wishing he could stay to talk with them, as he could with regular friendships, "and...Vir...Channie...I just wanted to say...congrats about the marriage. May your Great Maker bless you both."

Vir appeared quite moved by KyTeth's words, and Chanaral looked as though she wanted to give him a hug, so he moved on quickly with his wife. He was tired of always having to pretend not to be friends with people, or worrying about some Narn or Centauri or Nightwatcher seeing them associating with the "wrong sort". He was also worried about Ru'Kyla going to the Emperor's reception alone to sing a peace song. Maybe he could get his father, Tan Kari, to go with her. He was unsure about whether he could make it, as he now needed to work double-duty to repay G'Roc. He doubted that G'Kara would be receptive to the idea of his taking time off to go to a Centauri party—she had been very kind to him so far, but she was in command of a troop of Flight Patrol cadets, in addition to being G'Kar's daughter. Indeed, it was quite conceivable that they might soon be fighting the Centauris, if this stuff about the "Shadow-Spiders" was true, and that the Centauris were aligning themselves with them.

He needed to get to work on cleaning those Star-Fighters, he realized, if he was to have a chance to read the Ti'Quan material by tomorrow. KyTeth suddenly had an idea.

"Ru'," he said, "Will you read this—it's a section of Ti'Quan's writings. I need to read it by tomorrow, because I have to give it back to G'Kara. I want to know what it says, but I don't have much time to get those Star-Fighters clean. I...I also have to go visit the Singhs. I need to encourage Kris and Pat to go to Delenn for help, and maybe Kris can even get involved with this Ranger thing that Channie was talking about. If I can do that, I might be able to help Josh. He can't stay with us dressed as a Narn forever. Nightwatch is going to twig to it, sooner or later."

"I will go with you to the Singhs, KyTeth," Ru'Kyla told him, "You will look less suspicious when accompanied by your wife...and I will see if I cannot get some of the boys and girls from Shad'ra'sha Troop to help you with cleaning the Star-Fighters. Na'Toth has been after us to get the children to do more for the Regime, and they will be interested in seeing the Fighters."

KyTeth held Ru'Kyla's hand tightly. "Channie was right about Ru' being an angel," he thought, "She always seems to know just what to do to help."

Ru'Kyla browsed through the Ti'Quan writings in the Book of G'Quan that KyTeth had just taken out of his satchel and given to her.

"KyTeth...where did G'Kara get this? There are very few copies of Ti'Quan's writings out there. You have given me a great honor by entrusting me with this. I will read it, summarize it for you, and give it back to G'Kara by tomorrow."

"Man, Ru'," he said to her, "What would I do without you? You've been a life-saver for me, and...well, I want you to know that...I love you."

Ru'Kyla chuckled at his awkwardness. "Of course, you silly one," she told him, "We are mates, are we not?"

The couple walked together back to the shuttle-rail so that they could go to the Singhs' home and share with them what they had learned from Chanaral and Delenn.