When they arrived on the Whitestar, and John was sure it was safe to talk, he let loose a barrage of questions at Marcus.

"What happened? Where is she? Is it the baby? Is she ok?"

"Captain, you should see this." That was all Marcus gave in as a reply. Even though John's eyes were boring holes in Marcus, the Ranger refused to elaborate. He didn't have the words to explain yet, even if he had wanted to. As he walked onto the bridge, Marcus strode over to his console and activated several controls. "We recorded this just before I came to get you." The holo representation of the record floated down from the ceiling.

"Delenn," John breathed. It was hard to tell what was happening. She wasn't pregnant, though, he noticed. That fact filled him with grief. She had had to give birth to their child without him there to help her. He had promised her that he would be there for her! But thankfully, she seemed to be ok. He just hoped that she would forgive him, even though he'd most likely never forgive himself.

She was giving what appeared to be a speech, but it was all in Minbari, and he couldn't tell what was being said. It seemed that she was arguing with another Minbari. Then, something happened. A column of blue light was cast down from the ceiling. She spoke again, and stepped into the column of light. All around him, Rangers gasped quietly. Sheridan looked around at them, and then back at the vid. Delenn was standing there inside the light. She looked beautiful. Then, without warning, the vid faded.

"What happened? What was that?" John demanded.

"It's an ancient Minbari ritual," Marcus explained. "Before Valen, in times of civil war, the Minbari would choose their leaders through this ritual. It roughly translates as the 'Starfire wheel'."

John shook his head. "I don't think I understand."

"As I understand it, the ritual tests the faith of the leaders in their respective castes. They enter the Starfire wheel. Basically, she stepped into a column of fire, to prove her faith in her caste."

"WHAT?!?" John exploded. "How the hell does that prove anything? Why would she do something like that?"

Marcus tried to prevent a further outburst. "The leader who believes so much in his caste, in the rightness of his cause, that he will lay down his life in the Starfire wheel; that determines who is a worthy leader of their people." Marcus held up his hands, trying to forestall John. "I don't agree with it Captain, but that's the Minbari mindset."

A thought occurred to John. "Marcus, why did the record end? What happened?"

"We don't know. The signal was cut off. Attempted communication with Minbar since then has been unsuccessful. We don't know what's wrong. The best guess we have is that someone or something damaged their long range communication satellites."

"And the baby?"

"We haven't heard anything Captain."

"Oh my God," John whispered under his breath. He sank down into his chair. "Get us to Minbar. Now! Full burn. Everything this ship has got." He ordered, in a quiet tone, but one that offered death or worse to anyone who opposed him.

David Sheridan stood back by the door to the bridge. He was very confused. He recognized the Minbari Ambassador on the record the Ranger had shown John. But he was confused by his son's reaction to it. He had seen some things on ISN that had suggested that his son and the Minbari Ambassador had some sort of personal relationship, but he had assumed that it was just another one of the lies being put out by Clark's propaganda machine. But maybe there really was something to those rumors after all. And what was the baby John had mentioned? He looked over at his son. He looked dejected as he sat in the Captain's chair.

"Johnny?" he asked, "Can I see you out in the hall a minute?"

John looked up, startled. In his worry over Delenn and his child, he had forgotten his father. He realized that it probably wasn't the best idea to let the Rangers see him like this. He nodded silently, and left the bridge, with his father following close behind.

When the doors to the bridge closed, and John was sure that nobody was near enough to hear or see them, he leaned up against the wall, and slid to the floor. His legs couldn't support him anymore. He was filled with worry for Delenn. If the universe had taken her away from him, he didn't know if he could go on with living anymore. Not without her.

The elder Sheridan sat down on the cool floor next to his son. John held his knees up to his chest, and buried his head. He wanted to be just like a kid again. He wanted his dad to dream up some profound words that would make it all better. But he knew that he wasn't a kid, and he doubted that anything his dad would say would make even an iota of difference.

So, David thought, where to begin? What can I say to him? David had always seemed to have something to say for his son when he was a child, but now nothing came to him. It was obvious that John felt helpless. And nothing David could say to him would make it better. He decided to try a different approach. If he couldn't find the words, he'd just try to get John to talk. David knew that if he could get John to open up and talk, it would at least let him vent some of his frustrations. And he might get a few of his questions answered too.

"So Johnny. What's between you and her?"

John was suprised. "Haven't you seen it on ISN? I thought they were having a field day with us, the alien manipulator and her ignorant human puppet." John said bitterly. Despite his best efforts, several tears had escaped his eyes. He didn't want his father to see, so he kept his head rested on his arms.

"Johnny, we never believed anything ISN put out about you. We didn't think there was anything to your purported relationship, just another bit of Clark's propaganda to get the folks back home all riled up. So like I said, what's between you and her? The truth?"

John sighed, and picked his head up. "We got married, Dad. God, I love her." John couldn't help but smile when he thought about her sweet face. "I wanted to tell you and Mom, but with the communications blackout and the embargo..." John trailed off.

David nodded. He hadn't entertained this as a possibility. But if John loved the woman, then surely she couldn't be all that bad. And he was willing to bet that most of the things they'd heard on ISN about her weren't even close to true either. "It's alright. I understand. As long as you love her son, and she loves you, I couldn't wish for anything more." He reached over and put a comforting hand on John's shoulder. "I'm proud of you Johnny."

John nodded. "I knew you would be. And Dad? When I left her, a few weeks ago... she was eight months pregnant with my child. Now, after seeing the vid and all, it's pretty obvious she's not anymore. So I suppose you're a grandfather." He grinned sheepishly.

"Well if that isn't something..." David grinned broadly, and pulled his son into a hug. "Wait 'till your mother hears about this!" John groaned good-naturedly. He knew that his mother would make this into a huge affair. He supposed that he didn't mind much either. He was bursting with pride at the idea of being a father. He had wanted that, and he knew that Delenn was just as excited as he was. When his thoughts turned to Delenn, he sobered again. He didn't even know if she was alive.

David saw the look on his son's face. "John, I can see the way you look when you think about her. I can tell you really love her. And I think that you would know if something happened to her. So why don't we just try to think positive, huh? Now, since it'll take at least five days to get to Minbar, why don't you get some rest?"

"Five days?" John asked, confused. Then he realized what the misunderstanding was. "Sorry, I'd forgotten you'd never been on a Whitestar before. We're on full burn, and assuming we stay that way we'll get there in about two days."

David was duly impressed. This ship must be astonishingly fast if it could get from earth to Minbar in only two days. He shook his head. Sometime in the future at a more convenient time, he'd love to see if John would take him out for a small 'joyride' on one of these ships. "Well, even so, that still gives you plenty of time to rest." He stood up, and took on a commanding tone. "No son of mine is going to greet his wife half asleep and unkempt. Get some rest, now soldier!"

John jumped to his feet, half in surprise, and half in habit. "Yes sir!" He was feeling slightly better after talking to his father, and hearing the commanding tone of voice his father had sometimes used playfully with him as a child set his mind a little more at ease. John saluted his father with a slight smile on his face, and then walked off to find a bed. As he left, he tried to do what his dad had suggested, and think positive thoughts. After all, his dad was right. He would know if something had happened to Delenn. He had to believe that she would be alright.

David watched his son go. As John turned a corner at the end of the hall, David heard a noise behind him. He turned, and was startled to find the Ranger, Marcus, behind him.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you. Can I show you to some quarters?"

"Yes, please. And can you show me where there's a terminal that I can use to send a signal back to Earth?"

"Of course. Please, this way."