Chapter 68

A Conversation Between Old Warriors

Palace Gardens, Royal Palace

Queentown, Iscandar

Time Unknown

Two presidents walked into the garden, both lost in their thoughts. They had been friends for decades, since they met in Earthforce Academy ages ago. They didn't always agree, but they stayed friends despite the pressures of their respective jobs.

Interstellar Alliance President John Sheridan looked over towards the hill where so many Iscandarians had been buried. "You been over there yet," he said as he pointed to the hill.

Earth Alliance President Garrison Hollifield nodded and sighed, saying, "Yeah, I've been over there. It's a place I won't be going back to, because they deserve their privacy. I never was much for graveyards."

Sheridan snorted and said, "We all gotta go there someday."

"Yeah, but at least when you make your last trip there, you won't know what they're doing to you.," Hollifield laughed.

They walked further into the large gardens, stepping aside to allow the robotic gardeners to go about the maintenance of the place. Hollifield observed cynically, "That would have made many an aristocrat's wife feel blue if their husbands could have hired those instead of human gardeners.," as he pointed to the robots.

"I don't know. Humans have a strange way of getting their sexual satisfaction.," Sheridan replied.

"You aren't kidding! I once had to do a report on sexual fetishes for my advanced sociology class at UNC, and you would not believe all the stuff I saw! Some of what I saw would turn your stomach, and this was BEFORE we ever met any aliens," Hollifield said.

Sheridan laughed and sat down on a bench. "Makes me glad that I never went to college!"

They sat down and turned to watch the ocean, staying silent for several minutes as they both got lost in their thoughts.

Finally, Hollifield broke the silence. "So what do you think about all of this?"

Sheridan sighed and said, "It goes against everything I believe in, but if that's what they want, who are we to deny them?"

Hollifield nodded and looked back at the ocean. "When Lorien gave you back twenty years of your life, did you ever think you would see all that we've seen?"

"No. I still have ten years to go until...well, you know."

"What does it feel like to know you can't go past that date?"

Sheridan thought for a moment about his hyphenated lifespan, and said, "It gives me a clarity about things, and helps me focus on the moment,because, all too soon, it'll be gone."

Hollifield nodded, still looking at the ocean. "You know, we should all think like that. Maybe that's the lesson from this war, in that we should appreciate the time we have, and not waste it like we do on such trivialities. How many lives have we seen lost way too soon?"

Sheridan shrugged his shoulders and responded, "Too damn many! Ever get the feeling that you're living when someone better than you lost their life way too soon?"

"All the time. It feels like that we should be doing more to make a universe that those who've been lost would be proud of.," Hollifield said.

"We can only do what we can, Garrison, and leave the rest for the universe to sort out. We need to have faith in those who'll come after us to do the right thing."

Hollifield sighed, "You know, I would have loved to have a kid."

"Who says you can't? Hudson's still young enough to have kids, after all."

Hollifield leaned back and looked at Sheridan in surprise. "How did you know?"

"You don't need to be a telepath sometimes to read people's minds, Garrison! I've noticed how you two are with each other. Besides, there is this wonderful thing called scuttlebutt."

Hollifield laughed and said, "My uncle said that gossip was the work of the devil. If that's the case, then ol' Satan is one busy bastard!"

"So where do we go from here, Garrison? Now that we know what the Legendorans are up to."

"We win the war, then go from there. That's all we can do. Then, hopefully, we'll get a decent break before the next war comes along"
Hollifield replied.

Sheridan sighed, "Yeah, and we'll be lucky if we don't see another war before I kick the bucket!"

They got up and walked back to the palace. "Do you think it's all been worth it, John? All the battles, the lives lost, the effort we've put into all of this?"

Sheridan looked up into the sky and then said, "Yes. If there is one thing I have learned in all of this, is that faith does indeed manage."

Hollifield nodded and said, "It does indeed!" He clapped Sheridan on the shoulder and the two made their way back into the palace.

Looking from a window, Delenn looked down at the two presidents, tears in her eyes.

"Why are you crying, mommy," said seven year old David.

"Just thinking about the past. That's all.," replied Delenn.

"Oh. Well, could you help me with my homework? I'm having trouble with the religious caste lesson that Master Vornar gave me this morning.," said David.

Delenn nodded and said, "Sure, David. Go back to your room and I'll be there shortly." As he left the room, she looked back out the window and saw Sheridan and Hollifield re-enter the palace.

"Ten years! Only ten years left," Delenn whispered as she followed them with her eyes back into the palace. Then she snapped out of her daze and went back to help her son.