Thirteen

Chapter Fifty-Three

Recovery

The funeral service was in the Sanctuary aboard Babylon 5. Colonials crammed into the small space along with those from Earth to honor all those that had died, which was close to six thousand human souls, as well as dozens of Minbari, Narn, Centauri, as well as those from other races of the Interstellar Alliance.

John Sheridan wished G'Kar were here, because he would know just what to say in a moment like this. He missed the Narn for more than just his speech-making abilities, of course. The former Narn ambassador to Babylon 5 had been a foe at first before a transformation came over him and he became one of Sheridan's best friends.

Now, though, he was dead, dying beside another former foe, Centauri Emperor Londo Mollari. G'Kar had been found by Vir Cotto dying beside Londo, another victim of the Drakh. Sheridan still was angry that the Drakh had taken two of his friends (and yes, despite it all, Londo was still his friend), but the bastards hadn't gotten his son, David. The Drakh had manipulated Londo into betraying Sheridan and his wife Delenn by giving them a gift of a sealed vase, claiming that it was a traditional gift the Centauri gave their children upon entering adulthood.

That hadn't been the case, of course. The night after David had been presented the gift on his sixteenth birthday, a Shadow keeper, under the control of a Drakh named Shiv'kala, had broken out of the vase and jumped onto David, sinking its tendrils into his skin and taking control of David. The keeper then urged David to leave Minbar and head to Centauri Prime, with the goal of giving Prime Minister Durla leverage against Sheridan and the Alliance.

Sheridan and Delenn had gone there to bring back their son, but were captured, imprisoned, and sentenced to be executed. However, Vir Cotto and his resistance forces had managed to thwart not only those plans, but also the entire attack that Durla was going to launch against the Alliance. It was during a speech that Durla was making to announce the attack when Cotto's forces struck and blew up an abomination called the Tower of Power, which had been full of Drakh, unknown to Durla and his ministers.

They had succeeded in stopping the Drakh, rescuing David, and freeing the Centauri, but the price had been high. Durla and his wife Mariel died when she struggled to stop him from sending the launch codes to the Centauri fleet, falling over a balcony with him and crashing to their deaths. Hundreds of thousands of Centauri died in an instant when the Drakh had exploded fusion bombs planted underground. Then, of course, there was G'Kar and Londo.

Sheridan was roused back to the present by a cough from the elderly Brother Theo, who ran a monastery on the station. Theo was conducting the memorial service, along with Rabbi Horowitz and a couple of other ministers of the various faiths. The Colonials, however, had no priests left to carry on the faith, so it turned to President Roslin to lead the part of the ceremony dedicated to the fallen Colonial soldiers.

Roslin told the story of the Prophesy of Pythia, "And the Lords anointed a leader to guide the caravan of the heavens to their new homeland. And unto the leader, they gave a vision of serpents, numbering two and ten, as a sign of things to come." Sheridan reflected on this for a moment, knowing all too well that prophesy had a rather annoying way of coming true, especially when it concerned this station. He wondered if this was yet another portent of things to come, which made him almost glad that he didn't have long to live. Almost.

"So say we all." Roslin ended the Colonial part of the ceremony with what was their version of "Amen" in their religion, or so Sheridan thought. Sheridan looked over at Admiral Adama, who was solid as a rock beside him. He could tell, though, that Adama was holding back a lot of pain, and Sheridan didn't know how the commander of the Colonial forces was able to hold up. He had lost his friend and former executive officer, Saul Tigh, in the battle, as well as sixty-five crewmembers on Galactica. Then, of course, there was the Pegasus, lost with all hands during the fight. Her fighters were all that were left of the battlestar's crew, which helped to fill out the roster of Viper pilots on Galactica.

Theo wrapped up the ceremony with a solumn singing of the hymn, "Amazing Grace", and then it was over. The others began to file out, but Adama and Sheridan stayed behind, along with a few others. Apollo, Starbuck, and Helo stayed behind, along with Roslin and Zarek. Theo came up to Sheridan and said before he headed out, "I thank you for allowing me to conduct the service, John, though I fear that it may be one of the last acts I do here on the station."

"Why do you say that, Theo?" Sheridan asked.

"Rome is aware that the Senate has designs on closing the station, and Bernadette II has decided that the brothers and I of my order need a new venue to do our research of the many names of God. We've decided to relocate to Tuzinor and set up a monastery there, if it meets with the approval of those of you in the Alliance!"

This surprised Sheridan, but gladdened nonetheless, "Well, I'll definitely do what I can to help you out with moving there. Getting the approval for the move shouldn't be a problem, even though I know of a few Minbari in the religious caste whose arms I'll have to twist to go along with this!"

Theo stuck out his hand and said, "God bless you, John. Thank you for all that you've done for us!" Sheridan nodded and Theo left to continue packing.

Adama was still beside him, looking out into space. "It's a damned thing, death.", said Adama to break the silence.

"I know what you mean. I've seen too much of it in my time. Way too much of it." Sheridan replied.

Adama changed the subject, and Sheridan could tell that the elder Adama was having a hard time holding back the tears. "So when will your forces be ready for the counterattack?"

"Within a few days. You still sure you want to do this?" Sheridan asked.

"Never surer in my life. Lee will lead the mission on my behalf."

Sheridan nodded and added, "Captain Brennan of the Independence and Captain Okita of the Argo will take on the Vipers you assign to the mission."

Adama looked over at Starbuck and said, "You going too?"

"Damned straight I am!" she said, "I have some payback to dole out, not only for myself, but for all of us."

Apollo smiled and added, "That goes for all of us!"

Later on, Apollo joined Starbuck and Helo in the officer's mess aboard the station. Rissen, in keeping with the tradition set by his predecessors Sheridan and Lochley, allowed Rangers to eat there, and he also allowed visiting Colonial officers to dine there as well. So there was a lively mix of all three groups when Starbuck, Helo, and Apollo dropped by the mess to grab some dinner.

"You've changed, Starbuck." Apollo said as he sat down at the table.

"What do you mean?" Starbuck asked, as she sat down across from him.

"You seem…I don't know…more at peace these days. Ever since you got back, I've noticed that you seem a lot calmer."

Starbuck considered this over a bite of chicken gumbo, which was a specialty of some region of Earth she couldn't remember right off hand. "Ranger training is more than just drills and simulations. It's different, in a lot of ways."

"How different?" Apollo asked.

Helo interjected, "To the Minbari, the Anla'shok is more than just a military force. It's sort of an embodiment of all three castes: warrior, religious, worker. At times it seemed like I was training to become a priest rather than a soldier, because the training is much more intense than what we had at the Academy."

Starbuck added, "It's been much more liberating for me, and it's helped me in more ways than you could imagine. It's hard to put into words, but I've been able to learn how to deal with a lot of things better than I used to before we encountered the Alliance."

Apollo mulled that over for a while as he ate his dinner. He finally said, "This is going to take some getting used to, you know?"

Starbuck laughed, saying, "I'm not totally different, Lee, for Gods' sake! I'm just…more mature, I guess you can say."

Apollo nodded, not knowing what to think about that. The Starbuck he knew had a devil-may-care attitude and rebellious manner about her, which honked off a lot of top brass but attracted him to her. Now, though, she seemed more mature and in control of herself, whereas before there were times Apollo wondered if she would finally go over the edge and lose control once and for all.

"So is it true about you and Dee?" Helo asked.

"What?" Apollo said, sipping some coffee.

"You know, that you and her are wanting to become an item?" Helo asked.

Apollo choked on some of the coffee he was drinking when Helo asked him that question, which made Starbuck laugh. He drank some more coffee to compose himself before he spoke, then said, "Well, you know about the regs!"

"Yeah, but since your old man is taking charge of the Galactica again, maybe…" Helo said.

"I can't ask him to do that!" Apollo interrupted.

"General Ivanova told me something not long ago. 'Touch passion when it comes your way. It's rare enough as it is.' She said that a friend of hers had said that a few months before he died. We may not live through this, Lee, so if the chance for love comes along, you should take it."

"Like you and Anders?" Apollo asked.

Starbuck smiled and nodded. "Yeah, like us." She smiled and dug into the remaining meal, with Apollo looking at her, lost in his thoughts.

Hours later, Helo was heading back to his ship when he ran into someone. "Helo!" said Galen Tyrol.

Helo turned and looked at the deck chief from Galactica, whose uniform was dirty and spotted, which made him suspect he was just getting off shift. "What's up, chief?" he said as Tyrol approached.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing, that's all. Haven't seen you in a while."

Helo nodded and said, "I'm ok. Been busy with the Rangers."

"How's Sharon?" he asked warily.

"She's ok. Back on Minbar on maternity leave. She hates it, but…" Helo shrugged.

"Well, if you see her, tell her I said hello, okay?" Tyrol asked hesitantly.

"Sure thing, chief!" Helo said.

"Galen?" said a tall, stocky woman with long black hair and a uniform just as dirty as his own.

"Fabby! I wasn't expecting you this soon to get off work!" Galen said, surprised that she was here.

"So who's your friend?" Fabby asked.

"This is Helo. He served with me back on Galactica before he joined the Rangers. Helo, this is Fabiana Cortez. She's part of the maintenance team here on Babylon 5, and…we're engaged!"

Helo looked to have taken a double take when Tyrol hit him with the news. "Engaged?"

"Yep. When this is all over with, we're going to get married." Tyrol said, "When that will be is anybody's guess!"

Helo extended his hand and Tyrol shook it. "Congratulations, man. I'm happy for you!"

"Thanks! Hey, good hunting out there!" Tyrol added, waving back as he left with Fabby, hand in hand.

"Thanks Chief!" Helo said as he waved to Tyrol. "Engaged?" Helo said to himself and he chuckled. After a moment, he realized that this made things a lot easier than they had been before. The Sharon that Tyrol had loved was dead, while the one Helo had fallen for was on Minbar, carrying his child. He realized that, at least with this situation, things were a lot easier now. As for the rest, he said as he made his way onto the transport, it was still going to be hard for a long time to come.

The planned counterattack was one of those hard things. It wasn't quite a suicide mission, but Helo knew that some would be lost when they met the Cylons and whatever Drakh ships happened to be at Picon. The point of the mission was to throw the Cylon/Drakh alliance into chaos by attacking them where they least expected them to fight them. The plans were being worked on by Sheridan and Admiral Adama, as well as Generals Ivanova and Cain back on Earth, and they were just about to launch.

On the Argo, Captain Jyuzo Okita met with Apollo for the first time. "You are Captain Adama?" Okita asked.

"Yes, sir! I'm in charge of the Vipers assigned to you!" Apollo said as he saluted, which the older Japanese officer returned.

"Very good! I'm glad to have you on board!" Okita said, extending a hand. Apollo took it and shook hands with the older captain.

"Thank you, sir!" Apollo said. Then he spied someone coming down onto the bridge, and said aloud, "Dee?", without thinking of Okita's presence.

"Yes, sir?" Dee asked professionally.

Okita laughed and said, "Your father assigned her to be my liaison with the Colonial fleet, Apollo. He recommended her highly. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get back up to the bridge." Okita walked away, leaving Apollo and Dee standing there on the flight deck.

"You think someone is trying to tell us something?" Apollo asked Dee.

"Maybe." Dee said, smiling as she walked away towards the exit of the flight deck. Apollo followed her out, wondering if his dad was trying to play matchmaker or something.