Author's note: Thanks for the review, Deaf Scout. I assume by 'fix it' you mean the formatting. I'm working on it.
***
John ached all over. He woke up slowly, his brain seeming unwilling to connect with his body. Given the way his body was feeling, he didn't blame it. The first thing he became aware of, after noticing the aching pain, was the awkward angle his body was lying at.
Thoughts and memories drifted slowly into his awareness. He was prisoner of the Minbari. He opened his eyes, and looked round. He was back in the small cell, lying on the angled bed, but this time he wasn't tied down.
He half stood half slid off the bed, and found his legs shook beneath his weight, but they held. Everything seemed to be made of triangles, he realised, having the chance to see things clearly for the first time. The bed had a thin, triangular pillow, the three-legged chair had a triangular seat, and even the lights on the wall, near the ceiling were triangular.
He sat down on the chair, not wanting to strain himself after what he'd been through. He wondered where his crew were. Had they all been tortured like he had? Or worse? He had no way of knowing how long he'd been unconscious, so anything could have happened in that time.
He looked at the table, noticing something on it for the first time. It was pyramidal in shape and made of something that looked like glass or clear plastic. Inside was a colourless liquid, and a wick rose from it, out the peak of the pyramid. Next to it something black lay, with a button on one side.
In child-like curiosity, he lifted it up and pressed the button. A small flame emerged from a nozzle at the top, so he lit the lamp. It might have been any decorative oil lamp on Earth for the way it burned, but why would it be in a cell? It seemed stupid, pointless.
Having nowhere else to look, John watched the small flame flickering. He'd never really looked at a flame before. It was beautiful and deadly, but fragile. It would only take a wind and that flame would be gone. It was like life.
How many flames had gone out already during this war? How many more would go out before its end? Enough to set his world alight.
Tears filled his eyes as he thought of it. There was no way for them to defeat the Minbari. They'd destroyed one ship in the whole damn war, and how many human ships were gone? Besides, the trick he'd used probably wouldn't work again, even if he could tell anyone about it. The Minbari would learn from their mistake. It might take months, it might take years, but the Minbari would reach Earth and they would destroy it in the same merciless way that they always fought.
The tears flowed freely now, water for the flames, as he pictured everyone back home he knew. Anna, Lizzie, Mum and Dad. All his friends and family. Everyone. They were dead, they just didn't know it yet. Their lives would be snuffed out as easily as the flame on the lamp.
And he could do nothing about it.
He didn't notice the door behind him had opened until a voice said, "I did not mean to disturb your meditations." John almost said, 'That's alright' out of habit, but caught himself in time. He turned to see a Minbari standing behind him. He was curious as to why it would matter to him that he'd been disturbed. Compared to the torture session that was inevitably coming, it was minor.
The Minbari was probably male, but John couldn't be sure. He was dressed in black tunic and trousers, and over the top of this was a robe of a red-brown fabric. Attached to this robe was a badge set with a large green stone. The thing that caught John's eye most however was what he held in his hands: a bowl giving off a deliciously tempting scent.
"I have food," the Minbari said. He put it down on the table in front of John. John looked at it suspiciously. He was hungry, hungrier than he could remember ever being before, but he didn't trust these. . . people not to poison him.
"We checked your body," the Minbari went on, "it is safe." Obviously he didn't suspect John might believe they'd poison him on purpose. Maybe they hadn't even considered it. The bowl was filled with brown lumps, like a cross between rice and mashed potato, with a variety of other things mixed in.
John decided to risk it, and lifted the fork he'd been given. He was about to plunge it into the bowl, when he saw the expression on the Minbari's face: something between shock and disgust.
"What?" he asked.
"Your other hand," the Minbari said. John looked at his hands. He had been about to eat using his left hand, which seemed perfectly normal to him being left-handed, but for some reason the Minbari thought it wrong. Some cultural taboo?
Deciding it was better not to ask for any more trouble than he was already getting, he switched hands and began to eat. It was nice, surprisingly nice, especially these green lumps distributed quite frequently through the mixture, though he'd have preferred a little less salt on them.
His meal eaten all too quickly, John addressed one of his other major needs. "Something to drink?" he asked.
The Minbari called something over his shoulder that John didn't understand. In response, another Minbari entered holding a jug of what looked like water and a cup. He put them both down on the table and picked up the empty bowl.
"Entilzah," he said to the first Minbari, with a bow of his head, before leaving.
"Is that your name?" John asked, "Entilzah?"
"My," the Minbari hesitated, perhaps searching for the word, "position," he settled with. So he was someone of high rank come to inspect the prisoners for himself.
John gulped down one glass of water, then took a second glass more slowly. He was about half-way through when the Minbari spoke again.
"You will need that later." John stopped. He realised he'd been stupid to assume the Minbari would keep delivering food like this. This might be all he'd get for a while. He put the cup down, and decided to ask about his final need.
"I need to go to the bathroom," he said.
The Minbari frowned, "Bathroom?"
"I need to relieve myself."
"Of what?" Surely the Minbari had this physical need. John tried to think of a way to say it since they probably wouldn't understand Earth slang.
"Bodily waste," he settled on, and the Minbari seemed to understand.
"Come," he said. John stood, glad to see that his legs had stopped shaking now. The meal had probably helped. He took the few steps necessary to cross the room and found each one made him feel stronger. It seemed no long term harm had been done by the torture session.
Outside John was surprised to see that there were no guards waiting for him. The other Minbari had gone somewhere. Entilzah obviously noticed him looking round.
"Do not try to run, human," he said, "I may look old but I can still fight." John looked at the Minbari. He wouldn't have guessed he was old, but he wasn't the best qualified to guess the age of an alien life-form.
A couple of minutes later, John emerged from a Minbari bathroom feeling much better. This seemed to be his day for surprises, as he was led in the opposite direction to the way he had come. So he wasn't being taken back to his cell. Where then? Another torture session?
A door opened into a reasonably large room. The floor was slightly padded and it was well lit. In the centre of the room two Minbari were fighting with what looked like metal rods. John noted that they each wore the same badge this Minbari wore.
When they saw Entilzah, they stopped fighting, and bowed their heads respectfully. Together they said something in Minbari, followed by "Entilzah." John really wished he could understand their language. He wished it even more when Entilzah said something to the two Minbari.
One of them hesitated a moment, then threw his weapon at John. John caught it on instinct, then looked down at the thing in his hands. It was indeed a metal rod, lightweight and smooth, but from the feel of it very strong.
"I would see how you fight, human," Entilzah said. John was puzzled and curious, and more than a little worried. He couldn't image why his enemies would put a weapon in his hands and tell him to fight. Still, he wasn't going to argue with an instruction like that.
The third Minbari still held his weapon, and as the other two backed away slightly he began to circle John cautiously. John held the rod horizontal, mimicking the stance of the Minbari opposite him, waiting, alert.
Not alert enough it seemed, as a blow struck him on the side and another on his right leg. His leg fell beneath him, but he swung his weapon round and into the back of the Minbari's legs, causing him to fall.
John stood, his own leg bruised and nothing worse, and waited for the Minbari to rise. He'd just got to his feet again, when John struck two blows to his right side. He tried to deliver a third to his left, but the Minbari blocked with one end of his rod and used the momentum to swing the other end into John's side. John stumbled, and wasn't prepared to block the blow that struck his head.
Momentarily disorientated, John wasn't able to block the next few blows that struck him at various parts of the body. He finally managed to get a few more strikes of his own in, but the Minbari was doing better. He was trained to use this thing and each successful blow made it harder for John to fight back.
The fight lasted several minutes, and John was soon breathing heavily and sweating. The Minbari didn't appear to be suffering as he was. Either he was used to it, or Minbari just didn't sweat like humans did.
At last John stumbled and fell to the floor. He rolled over onto his back and lifted the rod to block a blow coming at his head. But the blow was pulled short as Entilzah called out something in Minbari. The Minbari fighting John stepped back and John pulled himself painfully to his feet.
The Minbari who's weapon John had been using took it back. He looked at John was obvious distaste, but Entilzah was smiling.
"You fight honourably, human," he said, "You could have struck your enemy when he was on the ground and won, but you waited."
"Honour isn't always a good thing when fighting a race with none," John said angrily. The Minbari who's weapon he'd used yelled something in his own language and looked as though he meant to kill John, but Entilzah raised a hand to stop him.
"Explain that," he ordered, anger gleaming in his eyes.
"You fire on ships that can't defend themselves, that are no threat to you. You kill when it's not necessary. Even when our ships can't hurt yours you destroy them. Where's the honour in that?"
One of the Minbari said something that was undoubtedly an insult. From the tone of his voice, John didn't want to know what it meant.
"It was a fair question, Hatir," Entilzah said. John knew he was meant to understand, why else would he say it in English? "And one that Elcann would do well to answer," he continued.
The Minbari, Hatir, said something else which Entilzah began to respond to. He was interrupted by an angry shout.
"Lenonn!" A Minbari stormed into the room. Hatir bowed his head in respect, but John noted that the others didn't. "Lenonn!" the Minbari repeated, addressing Entilzah, then went on into a stream of angry Minbari. John could tell by the way he kept looking at him, that he was the subject of this tirade. Once the Minbari finished his angry stream, Entilzah replied calmly. This seemed only to anger the new Minbari more.
Entilzah turned to John. "Come!" he ordered firmly. The new Minbari said something sharply, to which Entilzah retorted. He gripped John's arm firmly and pulled him towards the door. As they passed the new Minbari, he said something.
In an instant, Entilzah drew something from beneath his robe. It extended into one of the rod weapons and struck the new Minbari in the chest. As he fell to the ground, Entilzah pressed the tip of the weapon against his throat and said something with a cold, hard anger that John was glad was not directed against him. He'd much rather face Entilzah's white hot rage any day.
He glanced behind him to the other two Minbari. Hatir was twitching slightly, as though unsure whether to go to the newcomer's aid. It was clear he was angry, but the other Minbari, the one John had fought, was grinning like a kid being given a treat.
Entilzah stepped back, and the rod retracted into something no longer than a fist. John was amazed, that was some great technology there. The interior of the weapon must be entirely hollow, and split into pieces that could slide inside each other, but when it was extended it was impossible to know that it could be done.
Entilzah took hold of John's arm again and half-towed him out of the room. Outwardly he looked calm, but his fingers dug painfully into John's flesh. Whatever that Minbari had said, it had angered him.
They reached John's cell quickly, and John was surprised when he came in with him, rather than just shoving him inside. The way things were going, he'd soon be surprised if nothing surprising happened. John picked up the half-finished cup of water on the table and drank it quickly, glad that Entilzah had made him keep some.
"Who was that?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Elcann," Entilzah replied, "he is clan leader of the Fire Stars since you destroyed Dral Afi. His father died aboard that ship."
"And a lot of people I care about have died because of your people. More would have died if we hadn't done what we did. Your Dral Afi was coming to kill every member of my crew. We just did it to you first."
"Your crew?" John realised his mistake as soon as he said it. He'd as good as admitted he was the commanding officer of the Lexington. "You should guard your words more carefully, human. Elcann would gladly kill you in the most painful way he can think of if he should learn you are the leader, and your crew would be killed soon after."
With that he left, and John could just stand there, more surprised by this than anything else that had happened that day.
***
John ached all over. He woke up slowly, his brain seeming unwilling to connect with his body. Given the way his body was feeling, he didn't blame it. The first thing he became aware of, after noticing the aching pain, was the awkward angle his body was lying at.
Thoughts and memories drifted slowly into his awareness. He was prisoner of the Minbari. He opened his eyes, and looked round. He was back in the small cell, lying on the angled bed, but this time he wasn't tied down.
He half stood half slid off the bed, and found his legs shook beneath his weight, but they held. Everything seemed to be made of triangles, he realised, having the chance to see things clearly for the first time. The bed had a thin, triangular pillow, the three-legged chair had a triangular seat, and even the lights on the wall, near the ceiling were triangular.
He sat down on the chair, not wanting to strain himself after what he'd been through. He wondered where his crew were. Had they all been tortured like he had? Or worse? He had no way of knowing how long he'd been unconscious, so anything could have happened in that time.
He looked at the table, noticing something on it for the first time. It was pyramidal in shape and made of something that looked like glass or clear plastic. Inside was a colourless liquid, and a wick rose from it, out the peak of the pyramid. Next to it something black lay, with a button on one side.
In child-like curiosity, he lifted it up and pressed the button. A small flame emerged from a nozzle at the top, so he lit the lamp. It might have been any decorative oil lamp on Earth for the way it burned, but why would it be in a cell? It seemed stupid, pointless.
Having nowhere else to look, John watched the small flame flickering. He'd never really looked at a flame before. It was beautiful and deadly, but fragile. It would only take a wind and that flame would be gone. It was like life.
How many flames had gone out already during this war? How many more would go out before its end? Enough to set his world alight.
Tears filled his eyes as he thought of it. There was no way for them to defeat the Minbari. They'd destroyed one ship in the whole damn war, and how many human ships were gone? Besides, the trick he'd used probably wouldn't work again, even if he could tell anyone about it. The Minbari would learn from their mistake. It might take months, it might take years, but the Minbari would reach Earth and they would destroy it in the same merciless way that they always fought.
The tears flowed freely now, water for the flames, as he pictured everyone back home he knew. Anna, Lizzie, Mum and Dad. All his friends and family. Everyone. They were dead, they just didn't know it yet. Their lives would be snuffed out as easily as the flame on the lamp.
And he could do nothing about it.
He didn't notice the door behind him had opened until a voice said, "I did not mean to disturb your meditations." John almost said, 'That's alright' out of habit, but caught himself in time. He turned to see a Minbari standing behind him. He was curious as to why it would matter to him that he'd been disturbed. Compared to the torture session that was inevitably coming, it was minor.
The Minbari was probably male, but John couldn't be sure. He was dressed in black tunic and trousers, and over the top of this was a robe of a red-brown fabric. Attached to this robe was a badge set with a large green stone. The thing that caught John's eye most however was what he held in his hands: a bowl giving off a deliciously tempting scent.
"I have food," the Minbari said. He put it down on the table in front of John. John looked at it suspiciously. He was hungry, hungrier than he could remember ever being before, but he didn't trust these. . . people not to poison him.
"We checked your body," the Minbari went on, "it is safe." Obviously he didn't suspect John might believe they'd poison him on purpose. Maybe they hadn't even considered it. The bowl was filled with brown lumps, like a cross between rice and mashed potato, with a variety of other things mixed in.
John decided to risk it, and lifted the fork he'd been given. He was about to plunge it into the bowl, when he saw the expression on the Minbari's face: something between shock and disgust.
"What?" he asked.
"Your other hand," the Minbari said. John looked at his hands. He had been about to eat using his left hand, which seemed perfectly normal to him being left-handed, but for some reason the Minbari thought it wrong. Some cultural taboo?
Deciding it was better not to ask for any more trouble than he was already getting, he switched hands and began to eat. It was nice, surprisingly nice, especially these green lumps distributed quite frequently through the mixture, though he'd have preferred a little less salt on them.
His meal eaten all too quickly, John addressed one of his other major needs. "Something to drink?" he asked.
The Minbari called something over his shoulder that John didn't understand. In response, another Minbari entered holding a jug of what looked like water and a cup. He put them both down on the table and picked up the empty bowl.
"Entilzah," he said to the first Minbari, with a bow of his head, before leaving.
"Is that your name?" John asked, "Entilzah?"
"My," the Minbari hesitated, perhaps searching for the word, "position," he settled with. So he was someone of high rank come to inspect the prisoners for himself.
John gulped down one glass of water, then took a second glass more slowly. He was about half-way through when the Minbari spoke again.
"You will need that later." John stopped. He realised he'd been stupid to assume the Minbari would keep delivering food like this. This might be all he'd get for a while. He put the cup down, and decided to ask about his final need.
"I need to go to the bathroom," he said.
The Minbari frowned, "Bathroom?"
"I need to relieve myself."
"Of what?" Surely the Minbari had this physical need. John tried to think of a way to say it since they probably wouldn't understand Earth slang.
"Bodily waste," he settled on, and the Minbari seemed to understand.
"Come," he said. John stood, glad to see that his legs had stopped shaking now. The meal had probably helped. He took the few steps necessary to cross the room and found each one made him feel stronger. It seemed no long term harm had been done by the torture session.
Outside John was surprised to see that there were no guards waiting for him. The other Minbari had gone somewhere. Entilzah obviously noticed him looking round.
"Do not try to run, human," he said, "I may look old but I can still fight." John looked at the Minbari. He wouldn't have guessed he was old, but he wasn't the best qualified to guess the age of an alien life-form.
A couple of minutes later, John emerged from a Minbari bathroom feeling much better. This seemed to be his day for surprises, as he was led in the opposite direction to the way he had come. So he wasn't being taken back to his cell. Where then? Another torture session?
A door opened into a reasonably large room. The floor was slightly padded and it was well lit. In the centre of the room two Minbari were fighting with what looked like metal rods. John noted that they each wore the same badge this Minbari wore.
When they saw Entilzah, they stopped fighting, and bowed their heads respectfully. Together they said something in Minbari, followed by "Entilzah." John really wished he could understand their language. He wished it even more when Entilzah said something to the two Minbari.
One of them hesitated a moment, then threw his weapon at John. John caught it on instinct, then looked down at the thing in his hands. It was indeed a metal rod, lightweight and smooth, but from the feel of it very strong.
"I would see how you fight, human," Entilzah said. John was puzzled and curious, and more than a little worried. He couldn't image why his enemies would put a weapon in his hands and tell him to fight. Still, he wasn't going to argue with an instruction like that.
The third Minbari still held his weapon, and as the other two backed away slightly he began to circle John cautiously. John held the rod horizontal, mimicking the stance of the Minbari opposite him, waiting, alert.
Not alert enough it seemed, as a blow struck him on the side and another on his right leg. His leg fell beneath him, but he swung his weapon round and into the back of the Minbari's legs, causing him to fall.
John stood, his own leg bruised and nothing worse, and waited for the Minbari to rise. He'd just got to his feet again, when John struck two blows to his right side. He tried to deliver a third to his left, but the Minbari blocked with one end of his rod and used the momentum to swing the other end into John's side. John stumbled, and wasn't prepared to block the blow that struck his head.
Momentarily disorientated, John wasn't able to block the next few blows that struck him at various parts of the body. He finally managed to get a few more strikes of his own in, but the Minbari was doing better. He was trained to use this thing and each successful blow made it harder for John to fight back.
The fight lasted several minutes, and John was soon breathing heavily and sweating. The Minbari didn't appear to be suffering as he was. Either he was used to it, or Minbari just didn't sweat like humans did.
At last John stumbled and fell to the floor. He rolled over onto his back and lifted the rod to block a blow coming at his head. But the blow was pulled short as Entilzah called out something in Minbari. The Minbari fighting John stepped back and John pulled himself painfully to his feet.
The Minbari who's weapon John had been using took it back. He looked at John was obvious distaste, but Entilzah was smiling.
"You fight honourably, human," he said, "You could have struck your enemy when he was on the ground and won, but you waited."
"Honour isn't always a good thing when fighting a race with none," John said angrily. The Minbari who's weapon he'd used yelled something in his own language and looked as though he meant to kill John, but Entilzah raised a hand to stop him.
"Explain that," he ordered, anger gleaming in his eyes.
"You fire on ships that can't defend themselves, that are no threat to you. You kill when it's not necessary. Even when our ships can't hurt yours you destroy them. Where's the honour in that?"
One of the Minbari said something that was undoubtedly an insult. From the tone of his voice, John didn't want to know what it meant.
"It was a fair question, Hatir," Entilzah said. John knew he was meant to understand, why else would he say it in English? "And one that Elcann would do well to answer," he continued.
The Minbari, Hatir, said something else which Entilzah began to respond to. He was interrupted by an angry shout.
"Lenonn!" A Minbari stormed into the room. Hatir bowed his head in respect, but John noted that the others didn't. "Lenonn!" the Minbari repeated, addressing Entilzah, then went on into a stream of angry Minbari. John could tell by the way he kept looking at him, that he was the subject of this tirade. Once the Minbari finished his angry stream, Entilzah replied calmly. This seemed only to anger the new Minbari more.
Entilzah turned to John. "Come!" he ordered firmly. The new Minbari said something sharply, to which Entilzah retorted. He gripped John's arm firmly and pulled him towards the door. As they passed the new Minbari, he said something.
In an instant, Entilzah drew something from beneath his robe. It extended into one of the rod weapons and struck the new Minbari in the chest. As he fell to the ground, Entilzah pressed the tip of the weapon against his throat and said something with a cold, hard anger that John was glad was not directed against him. He'd much rather face Entilzah's white hot rage any day.
He glanced behind him to the other two Minbari. Hatir was twitching slightly, as though unsure whether to go to the newcomer's aid. It was clear he was angry, but the other Minbari, the one John had fought, was grinning like a kid being given a treat.
Entilzah stepped back, and the rod retracted into something no longer than a fist. John was amazed, that was some great technology there. The interior of the weapon must be entirely hollow, and split into pieces that could slide inside each other, but when it was extended it was impossible to know that it could be done.
Entilzah took hold of John's arm again and half-towed him out of the room. Outwardly he looked calm, but his fingers dug painfully into John's flesh. Whatever that Minbari had said, it had angered him.
They reached John's cell quickly, and John was surprised when he came in with him, rather than just shoving him inside. The way things were going, he'd soon be surprised if nothing surprising happened. John picked up the half-finished cup of water on the table and drank it quickly, glad that Entilzah had made him keep some.
"Who was that?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Elcann," Entilzah replied, "he is clan leader of the Fire Stars since you destroyed Dral Afi. His father died aboard that ship."
"And a lot of people I care about have died because of your people. More would have died if we hadn't done what we did. Your Dral Afi was coming to kill every member of my crew. We just did it to you first."
"Your crew?" John realised his mistake as soon as he said it. He'd as good as admitted he was the commanding officer of the Lexington. "You should guard your words more carefully, human. Elcann would gladly kill you in the most painful way he can think of if he should learn you are the leader, and your crew would be killed soon after."
With that he left, and John could just stand there, more surprised by this than anything else that had happened that day.