Place: Sol system
Date: 21st March 2076

The captains of the ISA battlegroup all arrived in the briefing room on-board the Warlock-class destroyer Alliance. A day had passed since the news that they were not in their own time anymore had arrived, and even the captains were worried. What the crews must be feeling like was not something Captain Mort Confed, the now ranking ISA officer anywhere, wanted to comprehend.

The last captain, of the Tethys-class T-K 1007, walked into the room, and sat down. As he did so, Mort Confed stood up.

"As you may know, we have a slight problem on our hands" he said, and the ripple of laughter that followed a really good contender for the understatement of the century seemed to ease the tension "We have been displaced in space and time, as a result of which we are now in the Sol system, and the date is 2076.
"With the help of the Abbai and Hyach historical files, we know quite a few things, which might help us to understand the time we have now just been thrust into"

Here, he held up his index finger.

"One, the Centauri Republic have finished a war with the Orieni Empire over 60 years ago. They are now exhausted, and from when there were over a hundred systems, the Centauri Republic is shrinking rapidly in size" a second finger joined the first "Two, the future League races are either throwing off the shackles of enslavement, or in the case of the Hyach and Abbai, are downsizing. It is also about this time that the Drazi are starting to expand to almost double their size--been given Tithalis by the Hyach and taking some of the systems that once were controlled by the Centauri. The Grome and Hurr are also beginning to come out of the shell, so to speak, but the Centauri still are close
"Three, the Narn Regime does not exist. It is still under the control of the Centauri. However, great unrest in the area is destabilising their hold over Narn and the future colonies that will belong, sooner or later, to the Narn Regime. And fourth, the Minbari Federation is entering a period of isolation. In other words, this is a very dangerous time. The Centauri and Orieni War has created a vast power vacuum, and into it will flow the Narns, the Brakiri, and dozens of other races...including us
"At least, that is how the history goes" Mort finished, and looked at the others "At this moment in time we have four courses of action. One: we leave this area of space, and never return. That way, our impact on the course of history will be minimised. Two: we go towards the League and try to form them into a more cohesive unit, ready for when the Dilgar and the Shadows come" a hiss emerged from some of the human officers, for the Dilgar War was when the EA reached its height...only to fall to its nadir a couple of years later, at the hands of the Minbari "Three: we each go our seperate ways--the Abbai to the Matriarchy, the Hyach to the Gerontocracy, and us to Earth, and try to help out our own races. Or four: we stay here and help shape the Earth Alliance to deal with the Dilgar and the Shadows"

An Abbai captain was the first one to talk "I think we should try and contact the League"

"Why?" another Abbai argued "The League was highly disorganised--even with our help, do you think such races as the Brakiri will even listen to us?" she threw her hands up "The best thing to do is to try and bring the EA into the galactic community"

"Nonsense!" a Hyach elder barked "No matter what we try to do, the same things will happen. The Dilgar are--were--demons" he corrected himself "and nothing we will do will stop them from causing death and destruction to the League--or the Drazi!"

"So you think we should just leave alone. Is that what you're saying?" a human asked, and the Hyach nodded

"Exactly. Our interference will not help in any way--don't you think I wish it could?--so we should leave, now!"

"No!" another human said "The Earth Alliance will help us all defend ourselves. If we make sure we never make the mistakes we did--such as attacking the Minbari and allowing that xenophobe Clarke gain power--we can help defeat the Shadows when the time comes"

Then the room descended into chaos. Mort Confed looked dismally on as what had seemed to him to be a strong cohesive alliance fall back into bickering. Now he knew how Sheriden felt when trying to beat the League into shape!

"Silence!" he screamed. And amazingly, everyone became quiet. Mort looked like death incarnate as he stood up, flexing his hands like a man possessed.

"You--all of you--ought to be ashamed of yourselves" he thundered on "The Interstellar Alliance was forged to ensure that all races worked together, and for the last ten years we have done just that. Now, as soon as the ISA is no longer there, you want to fight each other again. You're as bad as the Drazi! All you want to do is run back to your own worlds, or run off, just because that the thought of being able to change the world scares you. Doesn't it?" he glowered at them "Well, it scares the hell out of me. But I know what we should do. We should help create a new Interstellar Alliance, this time not based on the Shadow War, but this time an Interstellar Alliance that will stand firm against the Dilgar and against the Narns, the Centauri, yes, even the Shadows! We should stay here, and forge the Earth Alliance into a force capable of defeating the darkness"

Everyone was stunned. There wasn't another word for it

"Now, even though I could order us to stay here and help Earth, I won't. And even though trying to impose a democratic form of government into the military is doomed to failure, we will try it. We will all vote on what we should do. Whatever the decision, we will follow it to the letter"

"Thats odd" said Mendel

"Whats that?" his friend, Larrison, replied

"I've just seen a faint blue dot appear" he said, and Larrison snorted

"Don't be daft! How can you?"

"Take a look for yourself" Mendel replied, and turned the laptop connected to the Earth Orbit Telescope around to face Larrison

"You see it?" he prompted Larrison, and Larrison was just about to reply when he stopped, and tapped a few keys. The magnification increased, and he gasped

"What is it?" Mendel prompted

"If Im not mistaken..." Larrison said "Some spaceships have just appeared out of that 'faint blue dot'"

Within ten minutes, shuttles had been deployed. To every single capital of the world, from London to Washington DC, from Beijing to Tokyo, a shuttle descended. And each shuttle carried with it three creatures...one human, one Abbai, and one Hyach