Oh my... I have reviews! That means someone's actually reading this. Thanks all!

Although... That thought makes me a bit uneasy. Considering that when I first started writing this story, I didn't have the slightest idea where it was going, and didn't think it really had a plot or anything like that. I had just finished reading the techno-mage trilogy, and wanted to write a story in the same spirit - a story where Galen's in some major trouble. So, I hope no one who happens across this story and reads it expects it to be a work of art. It's just a bit of fun. ;-)

Anyway, on with the story...

This time, no one was there to stop Dureena Nafeel from entering the MedLab. She marched in, and approached the captain, who was standing in front of the isolation room, staring at the things beyond the transparent window. As she watched, lieutenant Matheson stepped out from the airlock to that room.

"Captain, I've tried to do what you asked, but..." Dureena started, and then stopped, taking in the look on Gideon's face. It was dead serious, perhaps even sad.

Dureena turned and looked through the window, and saw pretty much what she had expected to, although it still felt awful. Galen had always been independent, and nearly always in control of the situation. Now, he was neither, since he was wholly dependent of others' help, and unless this whole thing was an illusion or some such, which would make it the worst trick he had ever played, he had no control over what was happening. Independence and control had made Galen something of a loner, but nevertheless, she considered herself his friend. She would do her best to save him, if saving him was still possible. Galen looked dead, and the look on the captain's face suggested the same.

"...he's not dead, is he? Not yet - he can't be!" Dureena exclaimed.

Gideon glanced at Matheson, then at doctor Chambers, who was still on the other side of the window. "We're not sure," Gideon answered. "At least his body is still with us, but we can't say the same about his mind."

Dureena shook her head. "I don't know what that means, but if there's any hope left, we can't give up, we'll have to keep trying!"

"And we will, Dureena, don't worry," Gideon reassured her. "Have you found anything yet?"

"Well, no, not really. I have been looking, but I don't have all the data I need. Maybe you can help."

"If there's anything I can do, just ask."

"All right. If there's one place in this universe that a rogue techno-mage is sure to visit, that'd be Babylon 5. It's the best possible place to start looking. So, I need to have access to their security files."

Gideon raised his eyebrows. "That's no small thing to ask. I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything."

"I'm sure you'll manage it, captain," she smiled. "And, by the way, you mentioned that other techno-mage you've met, that Alwyn - do you have a picture of him? A security camera video? Anything like that?"

"I met him down on a planet's surface, but I'll check if we have anything."

Access to B5's security files was a dream come true for any thief. Dureena knew that she could find things there that, given to the right people in the Thieves' guild, would make her a very popular character and give her a good amount of wealth and power. Right now, she didn't care. She had promised the captain not to do anything except what was needed, and since this was a very special situation, she was prepared to keep that promise. She would not waste a minute doing something that would not forward this task. Besides, captain Gideon was standing right behind her, watching over her shoulder.

Gideon had given her a picture of Alwyn the techno-mage, and since she didn't have much else to work on, she had decided to try and look for this one particular person. She knew he would be in disguise, but luckily, she was used to seeing through such things, and it shouldn't be too hard to recognize him - unless he had erased all his files. But somehow she doubted that. If he wanted to hide who he really was, he would probably want to look like a completely regular person, and disappearing security files would make him appear something out of the ordinary, especially if he visited the station often. Which she was sure he did, since B5 was such an important meeting place for all kinds of strange folks.

Dureena narrowed the list down to the most likely candidates, which still meant hundreds of people. That would have to do. She started skimming through the files, looking at the identification pictures, searching for the slightest sign of something that's amiss, or anything that would resemble the one picture she had of Alwyn. It was slow and tedious work.

She had only gone through a hundred and fifty faces or so, when she stopped and looked up at Gideon. "That's him."

"That's him?" Gideon repeated. "You sure about it? He doesn't look anything like the man I met."

Dureena placed Alwyn's picture next to the one on the security file and tilted her head, peering at the two. The first was white-haired and quite old, the second a decade younger, with dark hair and strong features. The name on the file said Thomas Alecto.

"Yes, I'm sure," she replied. "You know, just wearing a wig can change a person remarkably. And he's got much more than just a black wig - some prosthetics, make-up, and who knows, maybe a techno-mage illusion or two. But he's the same person. Look at his eyes, and the area around them. That's exactly the same. And the shape of his face as well, except for the chin, which is probably fake. Let's see when he's last been to B5."

They scrolled along the text of his file, and there it was. They were lucky. "He's just checked in, and he's still there!" Dureena noted. "Let's call him."

"I'll do it. He knows me already," Gideon said.

He tried calling him, a few times, but got no answer. "I guess he's not in his room right now. I'll leave him a message."

Gideon closed the connection to B5's database, making sure that Dureena wouldn't get any wild ideas about trying to snoop around some more. He had just left the room, heading for the bullet car, when he suddenly found himself walking not on the Excalibur's smooth metallic floor, but on a floor paved in stone.

He looked around. He was in a large room, and the walls and the ceiling, just like the floor, were made of tiles of gray stone. Hanging on the walls were several big, colorful tapestries. Somehow the colors were almost too bright and vivid, more than real, dream-like. In front of him, at the foot of a huge throne of gold, decorated with rubies and red velvet, stood Alwyn, white-haired, just like he had been when Gideon had met him on Regula 4. The look on his face was stern, but Gideon thought there was a hint of concern as well.

"Is it true? That Galen is in grave danger?" Alwyn asked.

"It's true, all right. He's dying. He might be beyond any help already. Unless you can help him, somehow."

Alwyn stared at him intensely. "What has happened?"

"We don't know, actually. We met his ship in hyperspace, took it in, and found him the way he is: a complete mess, as our Doc says. But she can't do a lot to help him, since she doesn't know what's normal and what's not, with all those implants and stuff in his system."

Alwyn frowned, and nodded. "That I can understand. Where are you?"

"Still in hyperspace, about 10 hours from Babylon 5."

"Ten hours is a long time. I will come as soon as I can."

In the blink of an eye, it was all gone - the stone-walled room, the throne, and Alwyn. Gideon gazed at the surrounding corridor. Had it been real, or just a hopeful, waking dream? Had he really met Alwyn and talked to him?

Rationally, scientifically thinking, he couldn't be sure. Still, intuition and instinct told him that it had been real, and that Alwyn was already running for his techno-mage ship, racing to meet them as soon as possible.