Dr. Priscilla Carter walked into the main research tent shortly before dinner,
to find the Minbari, Lennier, hadn't moved since that morning. She stood in the
opening for several minutes simply observing him. Admittedly she found him
interesting, in a dark, mysterious, horrifying past secret kind of way.
He was already well into the thick book she'd given him, and was reading it
with trained discipline. He didn't move at all, except to occasionally turn the
page. She found such stillness captivating and she didn't dare breathe for fear
of breaking it. However, she couldn't hold her breath indefinitely and breathed
out, heavily.
He looked up at her, and she felt faintly embarrassed for no good reason she
could think of. He smiled at her, and she told herself to stop being so silly
and retake command of her senses.
"So," she said, coming over to him, "anything interesting?"
"Yes, this is extremely interesting," he fell silent, becoming once again
engrossed in the book.
Carter prompted him again, "Um, do you know what happened?"
He looked up, distracted, "What?"
"The Minbari, do you know what happened to them?"
"Oh, well yes and no."
She gave him a confused look, "I don't understand."
Lennier shifted his position so that she could also see the book as she sat
down next to him. The writing meant nothing to her, but she was interested in
what it said.
"From what I've read, their ship was part of a deep space patrol. Apparently
there was a miss-jump and they ended up in an uncharted sector. From what I'm
able to gather, it was fairly close to here, but they did manage to plot a
course home to Minbar."
Carter was perplexed by this, "So, why didn't they go home if they knew the
way? Why come to this rock?"
He looked at her and said very quietly, "That's where it starts to get strange."
"Oh good," she said, "strange is more my kind of thing."
"They were on their way home, when the crew started having dreams, visions."
"Of what?"
"Well, he wrote it in great detail, but then later he crossed it out."
Carter started in shock, "What?"
He showed her the section he was talking about and indeed, it had been crossed
out heavily. She supposed that she hadn't realized it before because it had all
been gibberish to her anyways. "Why would he do that?" she asked.
He shrugged, "I don't know, but there are several other places where it's been
crossed out." He flipped through the book, showing her dozens of places where
the words had been crossed out heavily, and sometimes frantically.
A faint sense of "something is very wrong here" creeped up on her. She looked
at Lennier and could see that he felt it too.
She shivered and changed the subject, "Any clues on how to open the door?"
He shook his head slowly, "No, but I'm not finished yet."
At that moment, a digger ran in startling her, Lennier barely moved. "Yes?" she
asked.
"Huntington's managed to breach the wall, Dr. Carter, he's ready to start."
Carter nodded very slowly and murmured her thanks to the digger. She then turned to
Lennier and said, "Come on, maybe we can now get a look at what's in there."
There was a vague look of worry in his eyes as he nodded his agreement and got up.
Admittedly, beyond her usual excitement at finding something new, there was a feeling
of fear, and a sense that she really didn't want to know what was behind the door.
The chamber was alive with activity as Carter and Lennier made their way to where
Huntington was standing, ready to begin. He was grinning like a schoolboy, standing
next to the small whole he'd been able to drill. Leaning against the wall was the
smoking remains of the diamond drill which had finally burnt out for the last time.
He had in his hands the probe and a small gun. He attached the probe to the gun, while
explaining to everyone what was going on. "What's gonna happen, is that I'm gonna shoot
this through the hole and it will attach to the first thing it hits and start scanning
the area. Then it'll send the signal back to us and what it sees will displayed on the
monitors."
Huntington stood by the hole and made the final adjustments to his toy. Kendle was
looking around, "Hey," she said, "where's Henry? Shouldn't he be here?"
Carter shrugged, "I haven't seen him all day," she grinned, "maybe that rat-bastard fell
down a hole and broke his neck."
Foster scolded her, "You shouldn't wish something like that on someone, even Henry."
"Besides," Huntington called over, "you know miracles never happen. Right, you ready
for this?"
Carter nodded, "Go for it."
Huntington readied the gun, and pulled the trigger. The probe shot through the hole.
They all gathered around the monitors and waited for the return image.
Nothing happened.
Carter began to fidget, "Is it working?"
Huntington checked his instruments, "Working fine, and it's hit something."
"So what's the problem?"
"Well, I don't believe it but it's getting a reading, but it's too complex to transmit."
"What?"
There was a tremendous crack and the monitors all shut down. Then the ground began
shaking heavily, and rocks were falling from the ceiling. Everyone scrambled for cover
as the shaking intensified.
Amid the confusion, Lennier could see Carter was trying to get her people to safety.
Then he saw a rock above her loosen and give way.
He dashed to push her out of the way.
That's when the lights went out.
to find the Minbari, Lennier, hadn't moved since that morning. She stood in the
opening for several minutes simply observing him. Admittedly she found him
interesting, in a dark, mysterious, horrifying past secret kind of way.
He was already well into the thick book she'd given him, and was reading it
with trained discipline. He didn't move at all, except to occasionally turn the
page. She found such stillness captivating and she didn't dare breathe for fear
of breaking it. However, she couldn't hold her breath indefinitely and breathed
out, heavily.
He looked up at her, and she felt faintly embarrassed for no good reason she
could think of. He smiled at her, and she told herself to stop being so silly
and retake command of her senses.
"So," she said, coming over to him, "anything interesting?"
"Yes, this is extremely interesting," he fell silent, becoming once again
engrossed in the book.
Carter prompted him again, "Um, do you know what happened?"
He looked up, distracted, "What?"
"The Minbari, do you know what happened to them?"
"Oh, well yes and no."
She gave him a confused look, "I don't understand."
Lennier shifted his position so that she could also see the book as she sat
down next to him. The writing meant nothing to her, but she was interested in
what it said.
"From what I've read, their ship was part of a deep space patrol. Apparently
there was a miss-jump and they ended up in an uncharted sector. From what I'm
able to gather, it was fairly close to here, but they did manage to plot a
course home to Minbar."
Carter was perplexed by this, "So, why didn't they go home if they knew the
way? Why come to this rock?"
He looked at her and said very quietly, "That's where it starts to get strange."
"Oh good," she said, "strange is more my kind of thing."
"They were on their way home, when the crew started having dreams, visions."
"Of what?"
"Well, he wrote it in great detail, but then later he crossed it out."
Carter started in shock, "What?"
He showed her the section he was talking about and indeed, it had been crossed
out heavily. She supposed that she hadn't realized it before because it had all
been gibberish to her anyways. "Why would he do that?" she asked.
He shrugged, "I don't know, but there are several other places where it's been
crossed out." He flipped through the book, showing her dozens of places where
the words had been crossed out heavily, and sometimes frantically.
A faint sense of "something is very wrong here" creeped up on her. She looked
at Lennier and could see that he felt it too.
She shivered and changed the subject, "Any clues on how to open the door?"
He shook his head slowly, "No, but I'm not finished yet."
At that moment, a digger ran in startling her, Lennier barely moved. "Yes?" she
asked.
"Huntington's managed to breach the wall, Dr. Carter, he's ready to start."
Carter nodded very slowly and murmured her thanks to the digger. She then turned to
Lennier and said, "Come on, maybe we can now get a look at what's in there."
There was a vague look of worry in his eyes as he nodded his agreement and got up.
Admittedly, beyond her usual excitement at finding something new, there was a feeling
of fear, and a sense that she really didn't want to know what was behind the door.
The chamber was alive with activity as Carter and Lennier made their way to where
Huntington was standing, ready to begin. He was grinning like a schoolboy, standing
next to the small whole he'd been able to drill. Leaning against the wall was the
smoking remains of the diamond drill which had finally burnt out for the last time.
He had in his hands the probe and a small gun. He attached the probe to the gun, while
explaining to everyone what was going on. "What's gonna happen, is that I'm gonna shoot
this through the hole and it will attach to the first thing it hits and start scanning
the area. Then it'll send the signal back to us and what it sees will displayed on the
monitors."
Huntington stood by the hole and made the final adjustments to his toy. Kendle was
looking around, "Hey," she said, "where's Henry? Shouldn't he be here?"
Carter shrugged, "I haven't seen him all day," she grinned, "maybe that rat-bastard fell
down a hole and broke his neck."
Foster scolded her, "You shouldn't wish something like that on someone, even Henry."
"Besides," Huntington called over, "you know miracles never happen. Right, you ready
for this?"
Carter nodded, "Go for it."
Huntington readied the gun, and pulled the trigger. The probe shot through the hole.
They all gathered around the monitors and waited for the return image.
Nothing happened.
Carter began to fidget, "Is it working?"
Huntington checked his instruments, "Working fine, and it's hit something."
"So what's the problem?"
"Well, I don't believe it but it's getting a reading, but it's too complex to transmit."
"What?"
There was a tremendous crack and the monitors all shut down. Then the ground began
shaking heavily, and rocks were falling from the ceiling. Everyone scrambled for cover
as the shaking intensified.
Amid the confusion, Lennier could see Carter was trying to get her people to safety.
Then he saw a rock above her loosen and give way.
He dashed to push her out of the way.
That's when the lights went out.