Changed Circle
by Warringer
Chapter Twenty Eight
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President Ryan looked at the nine members of the Gray Council, not even slightly looking at the images from Delphi. He didn't want to see those images again. He was already seeing them in his dreams. It was worse than anything he had seen during the invasions of Dilgar occupied planets during the Dilgar War, when he had still been a Marine.
Sometimes he wished that he was still in the Corps, but an injury during the final invasion of the Dingar homeworld had forced him to leave the Corps as Gunnery Sergeant. He had than chosen to enter politics. Six years as Representative, before becoming Senator of Maine and eventually being elected as President of the Terran Union.
"Why are you showing us these images," one of the members of the Council, Delenn asked with a voice than clearly showed the horror she felt from seeing those images.
She wasn't the only one. Every member of the Council, even the Warroirs were shocked and looked at them in horror. The horror of orbital bombardment. Corpses of people who where looking normal if looking at the torso, but were reduced to burned skeletons below.
Skeletons who were still in the position they had been when the orbital bombardment had hit. Some of them sitting in cars, some of them standing in buses, arms raised to hold onto something.
Images of people who where screaming in pain when the skin fell of their bodies. Inhuman howls of pain coming from surviving Morphs, wails coming from normal humans and just plain shrieks from Dilgar.
The same horrors mankind had first seen in 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Ryan closed his eyes for a moment, trying to shut the sounds and images away, as he had seen similar scenes during the Invasions by himself.
"I need you to understand that each of the colonies and each of the victims of the attacks have a name, a face."
He closed his eyes again after saying that before the continued.
"Orbital bombardment looks clean from orbit. But has anyone of you bothered to look at the target areas after commercing the bombardments? Have you?"
He stood up and glared at the Warriors.
"This is worse than anything I have ever seen before. And I have been a Marine during the Dilgar War and the Invasions of Dilgar occupied worlds."
His glares intensified.
"You have killed FIVE MILLION CIVILLIANS OUT OF HURT PRIDE! FIVE MILLION LIFES! FIVE MILLION INNOCENT PEOPLE WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH A GOD DAMNED COMPUTER ERROR!"
Ryan pulled himself together. He hadn't wanted to scream at the Minbari, but the images had just been too much. Again he closed his eyes and breathed in deep as he slumped back in his chair.
"Five million," he whispered.
The Minbari were taken aback. First they had been forced to watch the images from the destroyed colonies and than Ryan, who had looked calm and collected had literally exploded.
Compared to those images, the destruction on Minbar were small. What were five million compared to about ten thousands? And had they really stared all this just because of hurt pride?
Dukhat was sure of that. The humans had been manipulated to shoot at the Valen'sha, but the Minbari had been so arrogant that they had reacted without knowing the facts. Weren't they the chosen of the Vorlons? Dukhat wasn't all that sure anymore.
The Vorlons hadn't contacted the Minbari during the entire cause of the War. The Warriors had taken this as validation for their attacks. But when the Terran Union had counterattacked, they had thought that the Vorlons would help them if things got to desperate. Than the Attack on Minbar had occurred and the Vorlons hadn't come.
The Warriors only reacted with being more boneheaded than normal. They had pressed the attacks, but lost every time.
"I don't want to see those images anymore," Ryan said finally to break the silence," Neither on any Terran colony, nor on a Minbari controlled planet. We need this peace. And we need to work together."
The Warriors looked up and at Ryan.
"We were manipulated by the Shadows," Ryan continued," That makes them our enemies. According to Lennon, the Shadows are you enemies too. They wanted that we destroy each other. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Dukhat wanted to answer, but a sudden movement let him look over Ryans shoulder and at one of the Secret Service agents, who were Ryan body guards.
The mans hand reached into his suit as Ryan noticed Dukhats glance. He turned around just in time to see Agent Dawson drawing his gun with a plain look on his face.
"Dwason, what..."
He couldn't say more as Dawson pointed his weapon at Dukhat's head. Only with the reaction speed of a Morph, Ryan acted. He shot from his seat, directly into the way between Dawson and Dukhat as Dawson pulled the trigger.
The gun barked once and a classical 9mm bullet left the barrel of the gun. The bullet impacted into Ryans shoulder, tearing into his flesh, shattering the shoulder bones, before coming out on the other side, its course changed so that she only managed a grazing shot on Dukhat's head.
While this only seemed to happen in slow motion for Ryan, the next didn't. Several Minbari warriors pulled their weapons and pointed them at Dawson.