Chapter Thirty-four- The Armageddon conflict-Part 10

It has been said that one's own personal bed can be-at times-the most inviting, most enticing thing that a man can experience. It may be rumpled, or even covered with articles that shouldn't have been thrown on it in the first place in that early rush to get up; but, who cares? All of these things flashed across Captain John Sheridan's mind- for all of a millisecond. He could have cared less about the existential complexities of it all because he mind was exhausted. His brain hurt and right now his bed looked beautiful and called to him like Delenn on that night when…

Wow, he really was tired if he couldn't fully remember that night.

Eighteen hours.

That's how long it took.

Eighteen hours filled with arguments, deals, diplomacy, pleading, agreements, insults and a healthy number of threats could burn a man out. If anyone had even hinted that there could be days like this in his life, he would have never accepted this posting. The complexities here were almost too much for a man to handle. But handled it he did, because he was not alone not by any means.

There had been a quick debate raging between his mind and body as to whether he would take his cloths off or not, before he crashed into his bed. His jacket missed the chair next to his bed but he didn't care. Somehow, he got out of his pants before he fell into unconsciousness. The socks remained where they were. A few moments later he began to dream as his mind began its own journey towards relaxation, trying to sort out the day's events. Visions of Shadows, Vorlons, Sinhindrea, Starships and a burning Mars danced within them. And there was a small voice there, an alien one, a familiar one like his father's…

"Sleep well, young one," Kosh whispered in the dark. And Captain John Sheridan dreamed-

-And remembered.

-x-

It had been a day of unparalleled surprises, a day of history that would not be repeated for a thousand, thousand years. It would be remembered with joy and with mourning. It would encompass all that was best in the universe and all that was foul and evil. It had been a day when the Vorlons returned to fight the ancient evil; and the Shadows were left to determine if they would help or hinder the great fight.

It was a day when Earth said 'Enough' and actually meant it.

It had been a day when the Minbari would take the first uneasy steps towards a true maturity, taking their rightful place as the head of a new order while their friends stood besides them. It had been a day when the Centauri would dare to throw caution to the four winds and join in the quest knowing that the Narn and the others could very well extract a terrible vengeance upon them. It had been a day of sorrow and of truth, a day when time would no longer be measured in thousands of years, but as the here and now. It had been a day when love was discovered, forsaken and renewed. It was a day when the First Ones discovered that they were mistaken, and that they were right, but that none of it mattered because they had forgotten the way. It was a day when the universe demanded that the allies come together or face obliteration together. In short it was eighteen hours in which everyone boldly stepped into the unknown with no assurance that anyone would ever be the same again.

-x-

"Eighteen Hours"

The first hour:

It was a given that any day shift on Babylon Five was always hectic. There were exceptions to the rule like the occasional war on the front doorstep, but as a whole, one could count on the fact that there was a certain consistency to the operations of the huge space station. It was designed to be a place where people could come together to discuss their difference and maybe come to agreements that did not include knockdown, drag-out fights by diplomats in the Zocalo. No one fully understood it but as of today, that mission had shifted from one of promoting peace, to one of preparing for war.

Captain John Sheridan had been as stunned as every one else by the loss of all of the domed cities on Mars. The numbers of lives casually snuffed out crossed the borders of obscenity; and coming on the heels of a poisoned Earth had been almost too much for most of Humans to handle. There had been several fights between the Humans and Aliens started by Humans needing to lash out at something. Very quickly, the situation grew very tense and Sheridan had to give a pep talk-the second major one after the civil war fight-to the entire population of Babylon Five to calm the people down. Earthers were losing hope and that was the last thing Sheridan and the rest needed on this station.

"As you know," he had said, "the Mars colonies have been loss to an alien attack. There have been a few survivors found in some of the deeper caverns but-" There was a short pause as he allowed that to sink through. There was nothing else to be said. The names of those survivors were being broadcast on a separate channel. "What you don't know is that these attacks were not perpetrated those who first attacked Earth."

"Earth Alliance, the Centauri, the Minbari, the Federation; all of us, have been attacked by a common enemy whose only purpose is to exterminate all forms of life that it comes in contact with. There is no reasoning with them. There is no discussion with them. They will continue on their paths of destruction unless we stop them here and now. The different governments will meet in a few hours to discuss the situation and we will remain in session until we come up with a plan. We are all in this together and together we will find a solution to the problem that faces us all. Meanwhile these are those who are striving to develop a cure for the plague that has threatened Earth and I can tell you progress has been made. We don't have a cure yet but we are getting closer to one much faster than we anticipated. Governments from all over the sectors have offered to help."

He said a few more things about the Mars incident and closed the comms. Some of the things said he actually believed. Yes, they were coming close to a cure but there was no guarantee that the pathogen or rather, patho-nanites wouldn't mutate/reconfigure again. And the truth was that he had no idea how the different governments were going to respond to what was perhaps the greatest threat they'd ever faced in a thousand years. But everyone didn't need to know the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Truth did far more than just hurt; it cut safe, perceived reality into little, useless pieces.

Everyone was antsy and the levels of distrust had increased, especially among the Humans on the station. So many things had happened to the system recently that he had to wonder as well. It seemed as if the universe was out to get them. He knew those thoughts were simply situational paranoia, but he couldn't fully shake them either. On top of this, his ex-wife was also acting strange.

-She was speaking to him.

Since he had declared his love for Delenn but had refused to allow Anne to accompany the Shadows to wherever they were going, she'd been unresponsive to any of his peace overtures. Now, in the last few hours something had changed and she'd insisted on seeing him. John hadn't had the time-when did he ever- but Anne was ever the persistent one and he acquiesced. As per usual, he didn't feel very comfortable in her presence because she wasn't 'her'. This Anne was a copy of someone that he once knew, a stranger with his wife's face, body, voice, mannerisms, that little smile... And that still hurt because he knew it was and wasn't her. But thankfully, one of the few things that kept his sanity intact was the presence and comfort of Delenn, an alien he knew to be his great love.

Of course, neither woman liked one another. Delenn felt sorry for her but feared her because she was touched with Shadow darkness and had once been John's beloved wife. Anne hated Delenn because she had interfered with the plans prepared for her husband she no long knew or cared about. Delenn was touched by Vorlon stain and Anne wanted nothing to do with them. She cared nothing for John because she didn't know him anymore. Everything that he was was foreign to her. Her love for him had been burned out of her brain by a dark servant, an organic machine, who twisted her brain into a mockery on herself.

The Anne he knew soul was gone, but she was not a lost soul. Someone had taken pity on her. And although she didn't know it yet that one person had become a lifeline that kept her from going over the edge of The Pit.

That person was Ambassador Guinan.

Sheridan remembered the look on Anne's face when Guinan began nagging her about the Shadows. He almost gagged when the Ambassador asked his ex 'what did she want' and 'what did she think she should have'? Despite herself she answered, first haughtily then with increasing openness. Anne, being touched by Shadows was completely alone on Babylon Five. Most people who knew her were wary in her presence and others who didn't were afraid when she came near. Guinan was the only one who really talked to her and slowly the woman whom Anne first hated became somewhat of a friend. But her hatred for John's rejection of her former master's demands remained undiminished. She hadn't spoken to him since the Shadows had fled.

Now she wanted to talk to him and he was curious despite himself.

"Hello, John."

"Hello, Anne," he responded. "What can I do for you?"

"So cold," she answered, delighted at watching him squirm under her scrutiny. "But I understand. I really do. I am sorry you didn't accept my-proposition. The three of us could have been, if not happy, very amused with each other. Human and Minbari, Shadow and Vorlon; you could have had the best of both worlds," whispered this stranger, his ex-wife. "You don't know what you're missing."

"Anne," he hissed. He did not need to hear this.

"I'm sorry," she said with as much innocence as she could muster. "I just want you to know that I forgive you-and also that the Shadows are coming."

"What?" He didn't doubt her for a second. With the defeat of the Drakh, the Shadows would want revenge of some sort. He was half expecting them o come back and attack Earth or B5. "What are they planning? Why are they coming?"

"I don't know, my dear. But I can feel them; they're close. No," she corrected after a moment's contemplation. "They're here."

The second hour:

Commander Ivanova's frantic calls confirmed the things his wife had said to him mere seconds earlier. Susan's voice was tight as she placed the Babylon station on full combat alert.

"Talk to me," he demanded.

"We have at least forty-five to fifty Shadow battlecrabs hanging one hundred thousand kilometers off of our port bow. Our shields are up and weapons-all of them- are active and hot. We're launching everything we have. The Minbari, the Narn, EarthForce and everyone else are on full alert. Both Klingon ships have cloaked but I know they're not going anywhere. Our Whitestars are signaling readiness. The Federation group has launched their runabouts and is actively scanning everything."

"I'll be there in two minutes."

"Sir," she added. "Voyager has signaled that they're leaving Earth orbit and will be here in seven minutes!" The awe emanating from her voice was palpable.

"What?" Hearing that, he almost tripped and fell into the elevator. "Confirm that!"

"I did," she rasped. "They're using something called QSD. The Captain said that they were using it in 'slow mode' to keep from overshooting the system."

Sheridan shook his head in wonder; surprised that anything could even astonish him anymore. "How many warships will that give us?"

"Forty-three."

"If they attack us…we are so screwed. Susan, open communications. See if they want to talk before someone does something that we will all regret.

A few moments later: "They want to talk! They're sending over an envoy."

Sheridan released the breath he was holding. If they wanted to talk, then maybe this wouldn't degenerate into a shooting match. "Clear Conference Room one for our guests."

"Yes, Sir. Permission to shuttle to Whitestar Two."

"Negative," John told her. "I need you here."

"Sir," she started to protest.

"Negative. That's an order. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Sorry, Susan. I need you here."

Ambassador Delenn and her fellow members of the Grey Council stood transfixed by the terror that were the Shadows. There were so many of the battlecrabs that surrounding space seemed to continually ripple with collective malevolence. The huge kilometer's long vessels floating serenely towards them represented the culmination of every fear their people had harbored for the past thousand years.

Neroon gave voice to what the entire council was thinking. "Do we stay or do we leave? A battle with them now serves no purpose and we don't have the resources to win."

As he spoke, another one of the Shadow vessels moved closer to the still damaged Enterprise. She was, in turn flanked by the two smaller Sabers and the Ambassador.

Unknown to the Minbari, this was the same vessel that had faced the Enterprise at the previous meeting at Babylon Five. Whoever the crew was on the shadow vessel, they didn't like the Federation ship. Enterprise was responsible for the near destruction of one of their sister ships and had caused that sister ship to flee from a member of the younger races!

Bad blood existed between the Federation and Shadows. The Shadows didn't like being defeated by younger races and the Federation ships were considered designated enemies. They had no idea where they came from and that unknown factor was the only thing that had kept them from waging an all out war with the young upstarts. Scouts had failed to find this young race's organization or their enemies, but they had to come from somewhere within forty thousand light-years. Another ship had arrived; a small one facing them with shielding that was different and more powerful, than the others. This confirmed the suspicion that they were somewhere relatively nearby, but far enough not to have interacted with the known races. Like the Vorlons, the Shadows had traveled much of the galaxy-but not all of it. And the leadership suspected other First One involvement in isolating and protecting these young ones until they could stand on their own and directly threaten its races plans. Some unknown First One was obviously playing with them and they didn't like it one bit.

With those plans and contingencies all but destroyed by Federation interference, the Shadows had spent quite a bit of time trying to analyze and circumvent those defensive shields. Now something new had been added to those inferno ships. The new small vessel had just deployed some type of armor across its entire length. It was small, formidable and would require a battlecrab to deal with it.

The younger races were learning the technology far too quickly and if the Sinhindrea were defeated, the Shadows would have a much harder time re-establishing the rules. This was completely unacceptable.

-x-

That unacceptability was something that the Grey Council found surprising-and disconcerting also.

"Neroon, will we leave them to their fate and run like cowards?" Delenn asked of him.

"The universe is tearing itself apart. We thought the Shadows had left, but now they are back. The Sinhindrea cloud is covering every star it touches with death and despair. Our entire fleet is mobilizing for the defense of our protectorate worlds. There is no dishonor in leaving now and return to our people to prepare them for the war that is surely coming."

Satai Delenn chose not to respond for several minutes. And none of the Grey council dared to speak to her as she prepared her reply. Finally she spoke and her voice rumbled like thunder. "We call ourselves elders among the younger races. We stood side by side with the Vorlons a thousand years ago as we fought against the Shadows and their minions. Entire worlds, entire races disappeared in that war, but we survived while countless others died and here we stand now knowing that everything we know will die in fire. We, the Minbari cower in fear, unable to make a stand against the coming dark. But we pretend that we need to leave because our people need us. Yes, they need us. But the Minbari people will die alone, isolated by our fear. Members of the Grey council; take a look at us and see what a thousand years of isolation has done to us. Our ships take the shape of organics because we know that we are destined to take our place among the First ones. But is that a truth, or is it what we only hope for? The Minbari Federation extends to dozens of stars. We protect the races under our care but we never think about them as anything but second-class citizens, a part of our Federation but not truly part of us. Why? Have the other races even seen those under our protection? We know it within our hearts that we do not respect them as we should."

"We understand the threat of the Yonji Sinhindrea," Delenn continued. "We were there at Z'ha'dum to witness the plague firsthand. We fought them. We witnessed the fight on the Ambassador and the savagery of the creature's attack. We felt the creature's hatred as it tried to telepathically influence us. We understand the threat. What we do not understand is that we are alone. The Vorlons have been defeated and they have left us on our own. That has terrified us all." She stared at each council member carefully, trying to peer into his and her minds. "If Dukhat was here, he would have run to join this battle with everything he had because he knew something that you've never known and I've but recently discovered."

We are alone," she announced to the council. "We don't know how to create communities. Communities have strength that surpasses the fortresses of isolation. The Humans understand this."

One of the council, a member of the worker caste snorted loudly. "The Humans seem to be disappearing in alarming numbers, Delenn. The universe may have decided to remove them, something we perhaps failed to do during the war." There were murmurs of agreement heard from several other members.

"If they all die, that will not change the fundamental truth that they have discovered," she countered. "By themselves, they are rather weak as compared to many of the other races. But the Humans in the Federation have created large, powerful communities of their own and we see the same thing beginning to happen at Babylon Five. As I have said once before when I addressed this council, which of us would have conceived of such a place and then allowed other races to interact with them? We would not have done so. The Narn and the Centauri? Never. The Drazi? Any member of the Non-Aligned league of worlds? Could we have done it?"

Delenn allowed the silence to reign for several moments before she continued to hamper in her argument. "I believe that if any one survives these times it is because we will emulate them."

"The others can take care of themselves, Delenn. Our first priority is to our people."

"Neroon, have we learned nothing?" The tone in her voice clearly betrayed her disappointment with him. He couldn't help but wince under her scrutiny.

Embarrassed, he retaliated. "Your thoughts are colored by your infatuation with the Starkiller." The warrior smiled as Delenn bristled at the implied insult. He expected a retort but it never materialized. Instead she was riveted by another scene and the expected response died stillborn as the holographic viewer focused on an incoming vessel. Another ship had just arrived, unmistakably Federation in design flashed into B5 space, immediately taking its place near the Enterprise. This was completely unacceptable. He knew about this vessel but seeing it was intimidating his psyche. He couldn't help himself as the words came bursting forth despite his protests. "Another one, Delenn," Neroon announced loudly. "How many more will come here?"

"They're not the enemy," retorted Delenn. "You know this."

"Yes," he admitted. He frowned slightly as he studied the frightening readings gleaned from the new starship. "But they represent a change in the order of things." The Minbari warrior straightened, but slumped seconds later as if a huge weight were crushing him. The defeat of Blood of Saints while an auspicious turn of events had disheartened the entire council. A race younger than they who possessed so much power and handling it with responsibility had sobered many and caused others to question their purpose in the universe. "I find myself being uncomfortable with the direction we are being force into traveling."

"You fear change," Delenn answered. "We all do. We have known who we were for a thousand years. And now nothing is the same anymore. No us, not the Humans, not the Vorlons nor the Shadows. We have waited for the war to come and now that it is here, it is not what we expected. Our people have waited for so long, we've become stagnant in our hearts as well as our bodies. The life-spirit of our people is bleeding away and all we can think of is to wait."

Their conversation was cut short by the appearance of a shadow vessel, a shuttle heading towards Babylon Five. A moment later, they received a request for Delenn to join in a meeting with the Shadows. She gulped and marched unflinchingly to her shuttle. "The universe has blinked Neroon," she told him uneasily. "Shall we find out why?"

For an instant he looked at her in cold fear. Smarting at her implied insult he relied, "why not?"

Together they both headed towards the shuttle while the others looked on in awe.

Before she entered the shuttle she turned and faced Neroon. The look on her face switched from revelation to dread.

"What is it, Delenn?"

"You know the truth about our people," she whispered. "I had a frightening thought. What if our vitality came from Valen?"

The Minbari warrior nearly choked. "Are you insane?" he hissed. "Do you understand what you are saying?"

"Minbari and Human," she whispered back.

"What are our people willing to do to survive? Our birthrate is dwindling. Each generation is less than the previous. What if our gene pool requires this?"

"If it is true…our people will never accept this!" Neroon looked completely horrified and the long ago forgotten conversation with Captain Garrett returned to slap him in the face. "If it s true, then what will our children be?" He trembled.

"What we make of them," She answered as they entered the shuttle. "If it is true, what will we chose, change or extinction?"

Neroon shook his head ruefully. "Now I know why Dukhat chose you. You are a terror in your own right, Satai. Come. Let us bravely look into the heart of darkness as befitting Minbari.

-x-

Three other crews were also looking at the new arrival in wonder and enormous pride as the vessel came into visual range. Voyager was a class that they'd never seen and everyone on the bridge had stood a bit taller at the vision of predatory fierceness that colored every line on her. Picard was quietly surprised at the sight. Images did not do it justice. But he was even more shocked at the speed that the Federation ship had made the journey from Earth to Babylon Five. To cover that much space in less than ten minutes boggled the mind. They were either using a perfected form of transwarp or something else other than warp. He didn't know what QSD was specifically but for now, he was glad to have her here.

However, it appeared that the Shadows weren't amused. A second three-kilometer long vessel slowly moved to face the third Federation capital ship. The space between the two ships closed rapidly.

Tasha Yar, manning tactical looked up. "Captain, Voyager is warning the shadow crab to back off."

"Pipe it through audio."

"Aye, Sir."

"…fire on us, we will respond with deadly force."

"You have never been here," was the response from the Shadow. "Your kind have interfered and poisoned the great debate. The choice has been contaminated. For that your deaths are assured."

"I'm not sure what your grievances are," the male voice said. "And we would be willing to discuss them. But I want to warn you. It will take a lot more than your ship to stop us, let alone slow us down. Do not engage us."

Yar paled slightly as her hands flew across her console. "Sir, I'm getting an energy increase from the shadow vessel!" Tasha yelled. "Voyager's responding and has locked onto the ship. The battlecrab is starting to back away attack position, its weapons are powering up!"

Captain Picard knew that these ships were dangerous and he wasn't sure how effective Voyager's shields were against the Shadow beam weapons. He knew that they had to have been studying the Enterprise's weapons and defensives in an effort to get around them. But he didn't know how much improvement they had made. Voyager could probably withstand a first and second strike but he was not aware of the ship's full capability. In any case, if the Shadow attacked then it would face the combined might of all of the Starfleet vessels present. And if it began a war, then so be it. They wouldn't have any other choice. "To all Federation ships lock on and prepare to fire!"

A loud screeching noise that seemed to tear into the minds of everyone permeated the air. Immediately the crab began to cycle down.

"We will not fight. There will be time for that later," a soft, rather feminine-sounding voice announced over the comms. "You have upset the balance. Your presence is required now on BabylonFive to explain your actions."

"We'll be there for you to explain yours,"Voyager's Captain growled back.

"Sir, most of the Shadow vessels are backing away. Z-axis, twenty-thousand kilometers. Both Klingons vessels had de-cloaked and are holding position three thousand kilometers aft, Sir."

That was still within firing range. Picard stood rock-still as he digested the short speech just given. He wondered what the Shadows were so angry about. "Back to yellow alert, Mister Yar. And keep an eye on the Klingons as well. I do not want any surprises there."

"Yellow alert aye, Sir. We're being hailed by Voyager, Sir."

"This is Admiral Janeway. Permission to beam aboard."

The Captain allowed a small smile to escape. "Admiral with respect, the Enterprise is still undergoing repairs. I would prefer to meet you onboard Voyager. "

"Acknowledged, Captain. I've asked Captain Garrett and Sisko to join us as well."

Many people wouldn't have noticed the small differences in the transporter effect, but

Captain Picard had. For one thing it was a bit faster, maybe a bit more refined. He and Lieutenant Commander Data arrived directly on the bridge of Voyager. Sisko and Garret were already there, looking a bit stunned as they studied the bridge's comparatively spacious configuration. He tried not to betray any surprise at anything that he saw, but this-excess of comfort was not what he was expecting. There was a much more relaxed atmosphere than he was used to. Another thing that immediately caught his attention was the Officer seated next to their navigator. He looked exactly like Data but somewhat older by as much as ten years. It had to be the somewhat arrogant Lore.

However what made him angry and a bit apprehensive was the tactical Officer. A Klingon in a Starfleet uniform! And a Klingon that looked like other Klingon, Worf. Picard found himself suppressing an angry outburst. Klingons were the enemy. No, he corrected himself. They were not, but everything that he was couldn't shake the feeling. Apparently, Sisko wasn't as surprise or concerned about that little fact. Guinan had believed Sisko, in fact had suspected this before Sisko had spoken to his 'brother'. He wasn't sure about that, but then, he wasn't sure about what the Q entity had told him in his dreams either. If he and his crew were able to get back would it even be a home that they'd recognize?

"Welcome to the USS Voyager, Captain Chakotay said to all of them, knocking Picard out of his reverie. To his right, was the Admiral Janeway speaking to a Vulcan Commander situated near tactical. To his left, Data was looking at Lore.

"Lore?" Data asked.

"No," the Commander answered. "I am Commander Data. I am in essence, you."

"Interesting. The fact that you are me would indicate that you are from a parallel reality. That theory can be substantiated by an analysis of your quantum signature. Were you created to appear as you are or did Doctor Soong somehow devise a way for your android form to age?"

"Doctor Soong created many innovations that has allowed me to emulate-"

"Excuse me; Lieutenant Commander, Commander Data," Picard interrupted. "Your conversation can be held at a later time." He had to stop them now, before of the two of them would start a session that lasted for hours.

Both of the Datas answered, "Yes, Sir."

"Admiral Janeway, Captain Chakotay, I must inform you that these Shadow vessels are very dangerous adversaries. Their beam weapons are strong enough to break through our shields and I am sure that they have attempted to devise a method to penetrate our shields more efficiently. And even though they are unshielded, they can take an enormous lot of punishment."

"We've analyzed their offensive and defensive capabilities," Commander Worf said to a very stern-looking Picard. "Their armor cannot withstand our pulse phasers and quantum torpedoes. The gravimetric and distortion fields common to this area of space, designed to blunt our phaser weapons have been analyzed and we have adjusted our weapons accordingly. Our multiphasic shields can withstand multiple attacks and we can adapt to them to improve our defenses. As of now, they're just bigger targets for our weapons to lock onto and destroy."

"You were able to analyze their capabilities that quickly?" Garrett asked. "It took us weeks to analyze our readings from those vessels and began to develop effective countermeasures."

"Research and development in a time of peace has generated several innovations that you are not currently aware of," Commander Data said. "Our scans of Captain Picard's ship indicate that the current dilithium configuration on the Enterprise-D has not been used for the past fifteen years. The gel packs that enhance the speed of our computers are standard on all Federation starships alone, have increased computer response time by over twenty-three percent. Improvements in computer processing have increased another nineteen percent overall. The Enterprise-D is almost fifteen years out of date with current specifications. And weapon's technology has increased significantly as well due to our contacts with the Borg, the Dominion and the Cylon Empire."

Picard and Garrett stared at each other. Again it was brought home to both of them how much it had cost his Federation. Guinan had called the Enterprise a 'ship of peace'.

How he envied that vision.

"To the Captains Ready-room, if you please," a sober Chakotay said, pointing the way.

Picard noticed that the Admiral had stayed behind. It had something to do about transferring a passenger to Babylon Five.

Idly, he wondered why she had chosen not to use the transporters.

TBC