It's been a long time since I added to this, so I hope this doesn't disappoint. I spent a few days writting this, so I hope it's a decent length, even if it's not all of what you want. Please people, start reviewing. There's not a lot of reviews considering how long the story has been online.

All characters except those I created belong to whosoever owns them. Please try to remember and not sue me for attempted theft as I am only borrowing these people in order to fill my otherwise empty life with more tales of the wonderful worlds which have unfortunately been brought to a close or set aside by their rightful owners.

STORY STARTS HERE

I frowned as I finished explaining what I'd found to my parents and the other officers. They had remained calm as my friends and I told of al we had discovered and shown them the copy of the book that we had purchased. My father's face had become set when he saw the photo on the jacket of the book, as he immediately caught the implications of what was displayed. Not having been witness to those events of only days before, my mother and the others were less annoyed and more puzzled by the evidence before them.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is that someone at the training camp is feeding restricted information to some one with the ability to publish it to the general public. This image was taken the day Dad came to get me, less then a week ago. And now it's turned up on teh cover of a book that claims to have detailed information on my private life and the supossedly secret training methods of the Anla'shok." I explained again, finally getting through to all as the implications of the words and images in the slim volume sunk in. "Some one among the Anla'shok and the trainees is betraying their oaths of loyalty in return for either money or some other gain. It could be someone who's just jealous of all the attention that's always on me, or it could be someone who is working against the Rangers and the Alliance."

"Whichever one it is, doesn't matter. What does matter is that we find out who is doing it so that we can put a stop to it. We can't let this person continue to leak vital information regarding Anla'shok personnel to the public where any potential enemies might be able to pick it up and use it to damage the Alliance. There's enough problems getting some of the races to remain peaceful without having them learn of the inner workings of the Anla'shok training facilities." Kahlen stated when I paused.

"Not to mention the possible threats of attack on the training ground or against David when we are on training missions." Marcel added from where he was standing near the door.

The gathered group had likely more experience in covert operations and infiltration then any living group. Not even the remains of PsiCorp could equal the equival years of eperience gathered in that conference room. Each realized what exactly was at stake with the revalation of a traitor in the ranks of either the trainees or the trainers at the Anla'shok facility. If one facility was infiltrated, who could say if all were not compromised.

"Do any of you have any idea of who it could be?" my mother asked, as she kept glancing from me to Kahlen while practically ignoring hte others besides a cursory greeting.

I sighed and rubbed my temples, already getting a headache over the posibilities. "The first that comes to mind is Lucas, but I seriously doubt its him. Unless he's too stupid to look into who he's working for."

My father looked at me sharply and Uncle Mike took the book from the table. "Why not? He certainly seems to hate you enough to do this." my dad asked.

I gave a weak grin. "Because he doesn't just hate aliens, dad. He hates anyone not from Earth. And the publishers for the book, and the companies that own them all are from Mars. In fact, "I turned to face Uncle Mike. "Edgars-Garibaldi have a rather large stake in the company that published the book. Nearly 42 percent. Only ONYX owns more, at 47 percent. And would anyone like to guess who owns ONYX?"

My parents looked impressed that I could have dug up that much information on my own, but really, Shannon and Marcel had done all the work. It was amazing how well those two oculd work together to search through restricted, classified, and nearly non existent mainframes. I gave credit where it was due, and again asked if they knew who owned the company.

They talked amonst themselves for a few minutes, and Kahlen squeezed my thigh, nearly making me loos track of my trains of thought.

"None of us have any idea, but there are a few suspects. But from the way you're acting, I don't think the usual names would matter."

Grinning widely, I took out the sheets of flimsy and slid them over to my father. I watched as his face clouded and he stood and started pacing the room, muttering angrily under his breath. I noticed the concern on my mother's face as she took the sheet my father had left on the table and was rewarded with the flash of rage that took over her face as she read the sheet before standing and stalking over to my father. They wrapped their arms around each other in comfort, and for a moment I almost regretted having found the information.

"So, who owns it?" Uncle Stephen asked, unable to see the sheet my mother had crumbled and thrown across the room.

"Lady Eraly, third wife to former Lord, now lawn fertilizer, Lord Refa of the Centauri Replublic. And a group of several of Refa's closest allies and associates who have not yet been, shall we say, brought to task for their dealings with the Drahk." I stated calmly, not letting any of the memories rise to the surface. I had had several bad experiences with various Centauri, yet I held no hatred for them in general, onyl those that had sought to harm me and my parents. Lady Eraly had now moved to the top of that growing list.

Everyone started swearing and muttering threats against the Centauri. No one had forgotten what had been done to me in my first encounter when I was just nine. And no one had forgiving them. Sure, Emporer Mollari was dead now, and Emperor Vir had gone a long way to redeeming the Centauri's reputation, but he couldn't just overturn millenia of social and economic policy overnight without crushing the Centauri from within, but he was slowly making slight adjusments and improvements to their laws that would make them more acceptable to the general Galactic community. I personally held no anger towards Mollari, as I was aware of the fact that he had been subjected to the control of a Keeper for almost 12 years by that time, and though I had been spared that fate myself, I had been quite close to it. The keeper had been only inches from inserting itself and taking me over before I was saved by a Ranger spy.

Shaking my head to dispel the bad thoughts, and taking comfort in the gentle gaze given to me by Kahlen, I refocused on the current situation.

"Look, there's nothing we can do about it. They are extremely wealthy, very well connected, and have good reason to want revenge against the Alliance. And what better way to hurt the Alliance then by attacking the 3 people who are quite literally the foundation and living breathing symbols of the Alliance." Uncle Mike stated in a dry tone.

I blinked, once again reminded of the fact that my parents and I were considered as being the highest symbol of the Interstellar Alliance. My parents for being responsible for it's founding and as President and Enthil'zha of the Anla'shok, and I was often thought of as the living enbodiment of interspecies cooperation. Being the first ever human/Minbari child, many looked at me as something of a novelty. Lucas was far from the first to insult me for my mixed heritage, and it was hard as I grew to realize that I would never quite fit in with either of my genetic brethen. It was difficult to say, but there wasn't really a polite way to name what I was. Mixed breed, Half-breed, Cross-breed, Hybrid. All carried rather unfortunate images in the minds of most people. Though myself, if someone asked, I usually prefered Hybrid over the others. It was a less harsh sounding term. The others were usually used when speaking of births between different breeds of animals. Hybrid was usually reserved for plant life. Crossgerminated flowers and trees and the like.

"So what can we do? Even with the resources of the Rangers and the Alliance, we're still outgunned when it comes to sheer monetary influence. The, let's call it a consortium, has wealth and influence with all of the Centauri, own large parts of the economic structures of the Alliance worlds, and even have large percentages of ownership in many major Earth and other human corporations. If they pulled the plug on those companies, the entire economic structure on which the current galactic community is supported would collapse in on itself." Marcel stated. He shuffled uncomfortably at the door, not liking all the attention he was receiving. My friends and I all knew that Marcel preferred to stick to the background and not draw attention to himself, something we all found amusing since his sheer size and physical presence always drew the attention of everyone around him as soon as he entered a room.

"So what can we do about this Consortium? And how is Refa's wife in charge of it?" Aunt Lise asked. She'd had her own share of corporate battles over the years, even before she married Uncle Mike.

Shannon stood and handed out a few copies of the information she'd gathered. "Appearantly, she is the last survivor of her family, and is the mother of Refa's heir. Despite his actions against the Centauri people, Refa's family had enough pull to keep his heriditary position for his heir. Luckily, his son is an idiot. Eraly is the real threat. She's gathering those who oppose Vir and trying to get him off the throne. Luckily for us, there are Anla'shok stationed all over the Centauri capital and Vir's personal Guard are all either Ranger trained or of inpeccable loyalty. That's not to say that someone might not betray Vir, but we have enough loyal people to protect him and get him out of danger should that happen."

My mother had calmed enough to rejoin the conversation. "Is there any chance this could lead back to one of hte Shadow's agents? Like the Drahk?"

"That's a possibility, but not a certainty." Shannon stated. "It's unlikely the Drahk, as they were nearly wiped out and the few remaining have left this area of the galaxy to regroup. It's too early for them to be a threat, but they might have left some of the other servants behind with some keepers. That's what we have to find out. We need to find some way to detect if someone is infiltrated by a keeper. We already know that telepaths won't work. So we have to find something else that would work that doesn't depend on the subject knowing what was happening."

"That's were you come in, Uncle Stephen." I said, turning to the older man. "You need to work out some type of device that will scan a person from a distance and give us detailed readings of their bloodwork and genetic material. Something more portable then the diagnostic tools that are currently in use. Preferably something handheld and which can be hidden in a pocket. I don't know how long it will take, but the faster you can do it the better."

Uncle Stephen sat back with a startled expression on his face. "No one's ever tried to make one that small before. The closest I've ever seen were Minbari, and even they were at least three times the size of what you're asking for."

I nodded. "I know, Uncle Stephen. But Marcel's willing to grant access to the technomage devices that were left with him. They've been on the planet under protective shielding that no ones been able to access it, even though some people have tried, according to him."

Marcel nodded and removed a slim device like a link. He pressed a few buttons on the button, and a 3d holographic display appeared in the air above. It was nearly as advanced and realistic as I'd heard Vorlon holographs were. In the display was a scene of a nearly tropical forest leading into a large beach type area with an immense lake or ocean that stretched into the horizon. The view panned in a circle and I noticed that scattered here and there on the ground where remnants of various tools and machines that had been destroyed. There were glossy areas on the sand and blackened area on the grass gave testimant to several landings and takoffs of various craft. Seeing no living beings around, the view shifted to show a rather complex array of machinery, the purpose of which none of us knew. Behind the machinery was a low shack, solidly build of heavy timbers and stone. There were signs of inlaid wiring and piping, showing that while looking rustic, the small home had been fully equiped with most modern conveniences.

"This is were I lived most of my life." Marcel stated, staring at the display with an odd look on his face. It took me a moment to realize that it was home sickness. He missed his old life, even if he was being more challenged then he had been there and was experiencing more then he ever had on that small island of the small planet. "As you can see, the shielding system has kept it out of any ones hands. I'll copy the access codes to a single link and give it to a trusted Ranger and someone here to go and get it when we return to the training grounds. We, " he gestured to the four of us, "Will look into trying to find out who's spying on our training. You'll have to assign people to try and check the other training facilities."

Uncle Mike leaned forward. "While John and Delenn look into that, I can try and backtrack some more of the financial aspects of the Consortium. Edgars-Garibaldi Industries can make inquiries into buying some of their stock, and see what happens. I'm sure they know about my involvement in the Shadow War and the Drahk Offensives. If they see me looking into their little conglamorate, they'll want to find out why I'm looking into them. They will likely concentrate most of their attention on me, and the rest o fyou will be able to act more or less without interference. Well, without whatever interference they normally run with your lives."

I leaned on the table, concerned for my uncle. "Wouldn't that make you a target? What if they tried to hide what their doing by going after you?" I asked.

Uncle grinned. "I've been a GROPOS, been shot in the back by someone I considered family, been subject to the PsiCorps mind control, the Shadow War and Drahk conflicts, and being president of one of the richest companies on Mars, have fought of my fair share of hostile takeovers and assasination attempts. I might be older then I ever thought I'd live to be, but I'm still capable of handling myself."

Anyone who spent more then a few minutes in his presence was able to tell how competent Uncle Mike was, even as he approached his sixties. Hell, he was in better shape then most of the starting trainees, some of whom were almost a third his age. He and my father were the benchmarks in my mind for what I wanted to be like when I was near their age. Of course, thanks to my mixed physiology, by the time I was sixty, I would look like a man in his mid thirties. I was aging at almost human norm now, but careful testing by Uncle Stephen and the best Minbari doctors and scientist had shown that as I got older, my aging would actually slow down. There were traces of alien genetic material that they'd only found in my father, and which were a legacy of his time with THE First One, Lorian.

Lorian was an enigmatic being who claimed to have been the first sentient being in the galaxy. There was apparently a lot of evidence to support that since while he had not taken an active role in any recent galactic events, he had brought my father back to life, and his very presence had both terrified and attracted both the Vorlons and the Shadows. Even the other races known as the First Ones had only returned to aid the Alliance once he had gone out with Aunt Susan and Uncle Marcus to search for them. His presence was alike a beacon to them and they had only aided at his behest. I certainly believed his claims, as that little bit of material I had from him seemed to be responsible for the slight telepathic and precognitive gifts I had. I was also unusually healthy, all things considered. While I was widely considered the first hybrid, there had been successful pregnancies and births of interspecies couples. Unfortunately, those few children tended not to survive long as the conflicting genetic material fought to direct the body into geneticly programmed patterns that could not support the fragile life.

I was really the first fully successful and viable hybrid. And with all that my parents had undergone, I had the genetic material of human, Minbari, Lorian, and even Vorlon from the time my father carried a piece of Kosh within him. Even my mother had carried Kosh's essence at one time, and any one who carried a Vorlon was touched by their presence. So really, I was a mix of 4 species, not just two, which would complicate things even further if anyone found out. There was really no telling how the 4 different genetic heritages would change and interact as I got older. Lorian and Kosh's DNA seemed to be keeping my father younger hten his actual age. While his face and hair were now starting to show it, the rest of him still had the form he had held at the time he'd met Lorian.

Uncle Mike's response had again sent my into my own little world of reminicing about my parents and my genetic heritage. Kahlen squeezed my leg and brushed against me lightly. I looked to the faces sitting across the table from us and leaned away from the table. "Okay, so Uncle Mike will look into that part of it while the four of us search our facility, and Dad gets people searching through the other facilites. Mom, what are you going to do? We need to keep this as quiet as we can."

My mother smiled at me, pride filling her eyes as she studied me. "I am proud of you, David Sheridan. You have trully grown into a remarkable young man. I am honoured to have been granted the right to call you my son. You show here, today, that you are a true leader, and I am now confident that when the time comes, the Alliance will be in good hands under the guidance of you and your friends."

I blushed even more then when I caught her calculating stare and questions the day before. A rush of love for my parents filled me, and I realized that it was not just my own love for them I was feeling, but that I was picking up their love and pride in me. Unable to weather the intense feelings alone, I stood and went around the table to hug my mother, practically lifting her from the ground. My father came over and embraced us both, and I grinned as I realized the sensation I felt at being engulfed in his larger frame must be similar to what my mother felt when I hugged her. While I was slightly taller then my father, I had no where near his muscular build and took after my mother's slim, but toned frame.

The meeting broke up soon after, and we went our separate ways for what we all knew to be our last day on the station. Uncle Mike and Stephen went off with Marcel, talking about various ways to possible come up with technologies that could help us aside from the palm scanner. Mary and Aunt Lize went off with Shannon to talk about how she felt about being raised in a mainly human environment, following human traditions and religious holidays while maintaining a Minbari belief system.

The only ones left were my mother, Kahlen and myself. I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I nervously tried to think of something to say in order to head off the coming storm of questions. I had no doubt that a between my mother and my lover, I was about to have all my secrets and idiosyncrocies aired, dissected and discussed. All those embarassing stories of my childhood, the odd happenings at the facility, everything that could possibly embarass or humiliate me would be shared between them. I looked around desparately for something to distract them from the conversation, but saw nothing.

Resigned, I kept my mouth shut as the conversation started with my mother, in her typical fashion, asking how well Kahlen had slept. They stood and walked out of hte room, and without any sign acknowledging me, I followed behind them silently, my head hung low and my posture one of a child being punished. As we passed various crew, I received several sympathetic looks from the men, and amused looks from the woman. Sighing, I resolved to never let myself be cornered by my mother again. Though deep inside, I knew I would crumble under my mother's brilliant and diverse questioning in future interactions. I never could keep anything from her.

TIME BREAK

The rest of our trip passed quietly. Marcel was mostly closeted with Uncles Mike and Stephen, with Shannon and Kahlen alternating between my mother and Aunts Susan and Lize, leaving me to talk about possible ways to track the spy or spies in the Ranger ranks. We left B5 and headed back to the facility, the adults letting us run the ship without interference, though my parents and Uncle Mike at times seemed to almost be testing us as whenever one of them came to the Ops Center, they'd start throwing out questions a bout the ship and it's abilities to us.

Luckily, it was a dull enough trip, except for when Kahlen and I were off duty, that we had plenty of time to study all the speces during our shifts. Kahlen and I were busy during our downtime getting to know each other better. We went through the small collection of books I had brought, taking joy in being near each other as we snuggled on the small couch in our quarters.

Every hour in the Ops Center, I crew more attached to the wonderous chair at its heart. I wanted nothing more for my future then to take this ship out and explore the galaxy with my friends by my side. Perhaps travel through Vorlon space, which was still considered off limits by most species. Maybe even search through the Rim planets for First One technology.

Of course, I knew that none of my plans would happen, at least not for some time, but still, I did wish that it was possible.

Eventually, we reached orbit of the facility, and were given permission to land. One of the improvements on this vessel was that it was easier handling in atmospheres for planet landing then the whitestars, though this came at the expense of a shuttle.

Kahlen guided the ship to a near textbook landing, with only a minor jolt at touch down. We gathered in the loading dock for a last few moments to finalize plans and say farewells.

"I want you to be careful, son. We don't know who or how many people the Consortium has here on this base. Keep your senses up and watch your backs at all times." He gave us each a hug, and stepped back in time for my mother to step up.

"I find it harder everytime we part to say farewell, for you are growing and each time I see you again, you have changed so much from what I hold in my memories." She stated, tears glistening in her eyes. "I am so proud of you, my son. You have grown into an excellent young man. And are becoming a fine leader and warrior. Your trainers speak very highly of you, of how skilled you are and yet how little you allow pride to rule your actions. You accept their praise for you accomplishments, but do not wallow in it like so many others have done since time began. One day, you will be a beacon of hope for all, not through your birth and bloodline, but because of your own accomplishments and skills. Your bring honour and pride to all who know you well, and I eagerly look forward to seeing what you will be capable of in years to come."

She turned to face my friends and I realized for the first time that the four of us were facing my family. "I am proud of the progress all of you have made. I have received reports regarding all of you and you are all among the most proficient of your training group. Each of you on your own has a great future ahead of you, but together, together you may accomplish feats that will astound the galaxy. Resist the temptations of personal fame and glory, and remain true to each other. Allow nothing to separate you from each other, and you may become even greater then any of you dream."

She bowed and stepped back to my father's side. Together, the four of us bowed, and turned to walk down the ramp. We reached the bottom and turned again to look up into the ship. We were all surprised to see them following us down the ramp once we had turned from the ground.

"What's going on, Dad?" I asked. "You guys sticking around for a while?"

My dad grinned and shook his head, placing a large arm around my mother's slim shoulders. "No, son, just have to debark to go and catch our ride."

Puzzled, I stared for a moment. "Your ride? I thought you guys were taking this ship home. It's a prototype, right? Shouldn't it go back to the shipyards for testing."

Uncle Mike grinned and stepped towards me, placing one arm around my shoulders and holding something out to me in his left hand. "No, David, our ship is over there." He turned me to face another landing pad where I recognized the White Star that had become my father's personal vessel over the years. He turned me back to the ship we had traveled on. "This, this ship is for the four of you." He stated, handing a small device to my numb hands.

I was too stunned by his words to speak, but Shannon was much less overwhelmed then me. "What do you mean our ship? We are still cadets and have no standing to have our own ship."

Uncle Mike chuckled and nodded to my parents. "Ask them, it's their idea. I just added a few personal touches to make it more comfortable for human sensibilities."

As one, we face my parents, onyl it was immediately clear by the rigidness of their posture and the stone masks in place of their usually expressive faces that we now face not John and Delenn Sheridan, my parents, but Captain John Sheridan and Ambassador Delenn of Mir, Presidents of the Interstellar Alliance and Enthil-zha of the Anla'shok, The One who IS, and The One who WILL BE. We bowed as had been drilled into us and greeted them as we were taught.

"Enthil'zha Veni, In Valen's Name. We live for The One, we die for The One." we intoned formally.

"Enthil'zha Veni, In Valen's Name." my parents replied. Two Ranger One's studied us as we stood at attention in our full ceremonial robes. My father spoke first. "Due to the nature of the current situation and with the approval of your instructors, the four of you have been graduated from the training and granted all rights and priviliges of full Anla'shok. You are assigned to remain at this facility in a cover capacity. You are to pose as normal trainees until such a time as you have discovered who is passing confidential information out of this base. In order to aid your covert assignment, this ship has been assigned as a training vessel for the purpose of helping the training missions such as the tracking, courier and exploration missions. Each group of 4 trainees is being assigned a class of ship similar to this, though mostly from the other Alliance races as this is the only one of its kind at this time."

My father paused and my mother stepped forward. The sheer presence of the two as they stood in full command mode was enough to cause shivers of excitement to course through our bodies. I had lived with these two people my entire life, knowing of hte deeds they had accomplished and the awe others held them in without ever really understanding that awe. To me, they were simply my parents, Mom and Dad. The woman who'd given birth to me and bathed me as a baby, and the man who'd taught me how to ride, and fish, and play baseball. The people who had instilled a joy in the simple things in life, like friends and family, and stressed those over materialistic needs. The people who had taught me to read and tie my shoes.

But here, now, on an alien world millions of millions of miles from where I was born, and the place I called home, I saw for the first time, just what others saw when they looked at them. I could feel the air crackling with the power they exuded with an ease and comfort I hoped to one day emulate. There was no doubt in my mind, that these two were indeed capable of inspiring the near worship that had sprung up around them, that they could accomplish anything they set their minds too and that nothing and no one could stand in the way of their finishing what they started. I saw and believed for the first time in my life, taht these two could have fought off the Shadows and drawn together an assortment of sometimes hostile races into a peaceful alliance of coexistence and defense. Before me stood not my parent, but two figures out of modern legend, the scourge of the Shadows, and saviours of the galaxy.

A sense of pride filled me as I stared at them in awe, knowing for the first time just how important it had been for them to live a somewhat normal life like the one I craved and how the two of them had been chosen to be the ones of to save the universe from the Shadows. For there were no others who had the strength of will and convictions as the two beings who stood before us. No others would have been able to carry the vast burden of holding together the Alliance and fighting off the doomsayers and mal intentions of their enemies. Other's might have been able to survive the physical battles, but only these two could have survived the mental anguish of caring for millions of lives as though they were your own families. I was honoured beyond all words that I had been allowed to have been their son, that the Universe had given me to these two beings. That my soul had been chosen to be given to their personal care and to absorb their essence and knowledge.

I was fighting off tears as my mother spoke, filling the silence left by my father.

"This ship was made specifically with David in mind, and designed to fit the needs of all four of you as you are his closest friends. Everything onboard has been coded to the four of you, and was built with your physical and physiological needs in mind. You may have noticed that even the bridge was designed with your specific needs in mind. The command chair and pilot's seat were crafted to conform to David and Kahlen's bodies. The offensive and defensive consoles were crafted to fit the needs of Marcel's larger body and strength. The sensors and other systems were crafted to fit Shannon's Minbari physiology and human instilled sensibilities. Each of you are the best in your particular fields, though you are also the most well balanced of all ranger trainees to have finished the program in quite some time. While there are those who might be individually superior to each of you, even in your chosen specialty, together, the four of you are beyond compare. No other quad has even approached the level of cooperation and coexsistence as the four of you. You are 1 soul in four bodies. As long as you continue to believe in each other, and work together, there are no obstacles too great for you to over come." My mother took another look at us, before bowing. "It is time. Rejoin your friends and seek out those that wish to harm all you hold dear. Do not be afraid to put your full training to use. You have been given full access to all ares of the base as well as full authority to use whatever means needed to find the culprits. Make us proud, my son. You are all children of my heart, if not my blood." Tears were running down all our faces as we bowed to each other and went our separate ways. The four of us to our quarters, and the others to my fathers ship.

We were both saddened and heartened by the parting, for while we would all miss the presence of my parents and other family, we were filled with pride and honour that they trusted us enough to leave us on our own to find the betrayers. Filled with pride, love, and joy, we set out with determination to solve the issue and bring peace back to our world. It was the first steps into adulthood for us, and we were determined not to falter. Untold millions counted on us, even if they were not aware of that fact yet. It was up to us to bring an end to this evil. And end it we would.