Once again, to all of my readers, a heartfelt than you. I've been touched by your support. Right now I am working two projects. ATV and TWS plus I am editing another story appearing in miscelleanous (I won't say which). And I am collaborating on a horror script which we hope will prove-interesting. So I am a bit busy now. But I'm still working. As you can see this is (chapter 35 and 36 ) is really one long chapter connected and should be considered as such. I was going to post it 2 weeks apart but then I said 'naw'. So please enjoy, even the 'ol schizoid, who continues to read this despite his jealousy and contempt of it. Hopefully, he can steal a bit more for his own story.

P.S. Dont forget 'Crossroads' a ST-BG story. No war yet, but great interaction with Uhura and other secondary characters like Tigh and Boomer and Sulu. Check it out located at the BG original section of TV movies.

Now as I ususally say---On with the story!

Chapter 35
"Eighteen hours continued"
Unexpected Visitations

USS Voyager:

Geordi LaForge recovered his composure quite nicely after meeting the Chief engineer of Voyager. The fact that she was half Klingon, sporting a name like B'Elanna Torres-Paris had thrown him slightly. He was used to Klingons not being in Starfleet and, in general, trying their best to kill him, rather than helping to upgrade Starfleet specs. He and Sonya Gomez were glad they weren't carrying weapons or he might have embarrassed himself and then he wouldn't have gotten a chance to see engineering deck in this fantastic ship. And in a short while he relaxed enough to enjoy talking with B'Elanna.

"So you know my counterpart?" he had asked her.

"Of course," B'Elanna responded. "Some of the innovations that Commander LaForge developed on Enterprise-D and the E are required reading now days for all first year Cadets. He's quite famous. Married now and on the fast track to becoming Captain, if he's not one already."

'Commander and married', thought Geordi. "I'm glad one of us is," he said somewhat bitterly. When she looked at him, curious, (as did Lieutenant Gomez) he felt obligated to continue. "It's taken everything we have just to survive the fighting and now I see all of the things we've never had the chance to develop because of the war against the Klingons." Although his eyes were covered with his Visor, the sadness the rest of his face expressed was obvious to everyone. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me," she answered. "I've never been overly impressed with the Klingons myself. But they do have a few good points and they're not trying to kill everybody like the good old days." The look of surprise on his face was priceless. He didn't expect here to respond that way. After all, she was partially Klingon herself. She let it go and changed the subject. "When you get a chance see Voyager's doctor. Our Geordi doesn't need that Visor any more and he may be able to perform the same treatment for you. Whether it is full regeneration of the optic nerves or a cybernetic implant, I don't know. But have him check it out."

That possibility made him smile more than he had since he'd arrived. Constant use of the visual enhancement aid gave him terrible headaches, something he'd gotten used to. That was the price he had to pay in order to see and he believed that this would be with him for the rest of his life. "I'm very glad for you all," he said as he looked around some more. "Zero point power core, not anti-matter; multiphasic shields, slipstream, subspace folding. I feel like an obsolete primitive."

B'Elanna almost hit him. She was a bit put off by his self-pitying attitude, and it was making her a bit defensive and irritated. It brought back too many memories of the old days on Voyager. "Hey, I was stuck in the Delta quadrant for seven years on an Intrepid trying to follow inept Federation protocols while Vidiians, Kazon and Borg either wanted to kill, snatch our body part, steal our ship, or assimilate us. I can't tell you how many non-regulation additions we wound up with by the time we got back. What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Oh, nothing," he explained rather sheepishly. "It's just that you're so much more relaxed than your younger self."

"I have a counterpart here?" B'Elanna was shocked. "Why haven't I been introduced to her yet?"

"She's on the Enterprise-C. We can make a request to Captain to ask if she can to beam over a little later. But right now, I want to make sure that the Enterprise is space worthy again. We took a heavy beating when the Sinhindes attacked us. Our phasers were barely effective against their shields."

"Admiral Janeway gave me the okay to give you the specs for the ablative armor generators," the woman said. "Between that and the shields, your defensive capabilities will improve dramatically. We'll have to rebuild your phaser array to accommodate the new power ratios."

"Lieutenant, will we be able to upgrade the warp drive?" Sonya asked. Warp physics was her specialty and she was salivating at the new antimatter designs compatible with the Galaxy class. The Ambassador would benefit as well with a warp core refit.

"If we have the time," she answered. "You're both using the older style warp engines, which has been replace by the newer, more sub-space friendly drive units. The older drives were found to damage subspace over a period time and we suffered a couple of very widespread ruptures in the alpha quadrant along established travel routes. If we're are able to upgrade the warp core and the support equipment and EPS manifolds, then replace the subspace emitters, we should be able to get you past the hyperspace warp one barrier. Together, with the multiphasic shields properly modulated and the upgraded multiscan sensors we should get the Enterprises up to warp six. That's faster than our current slipstream."

"Unbelievable. We're talking about three to five light-years per second," Geordi said. People throughout engineering let out whistles at that statement. "There's no telling how far we can take this technology or in what direction it'll take. If we can integrate slipstream or subspace folding into jump space, then-"

"Then, travel to the local galaxies would just be the beginning," Sonya added. "But that's years, maybe decades down the road. All in all though, this is a very exciting time to be alive." The young woman was practically radiant thinking about the possibilities.

"Yes," B'Elanna said. "But then let's not forget that everyone's trying to kill you, so priorities first."

"Yes, Ma'am," Geordi said respectfully. He was adjusting faster than he'd first thought.

"Phasers are still going to be the standard for a long time, "B'Elanna started. "But phaser technology can't be pushed much further. So Starfleet R&D teams are developing new weapon's systems such as the iso-magnetic disruptors. They require more power at this point since the technology is still being refined, but our zero-point warp core supplies us with everything we need with power to spare. The cannons have three times the punch of the phasers and we have found them to be very effective against our enemies, the Cylons and the Borg."

Geordi nodded. "I've read some of the stats on those things. I'm glad we've never run across them."

"Yes, they are a handful," said a voice from behind. Lieutenant Paris grabbed his wife's waist and planted a kiss on her neck to the shock of the Enterprise crewmen. "They adapt to everything we try so we're constantly improving our weapons systems."

"This uncouth heathen is Lieutenant Tom Paris, my husband," she said as she tried to sound sour but failing completely to convince anyone. "As I was saying," she continued while lightly elbowing her husband, "the IMD is effective but we've also gone back to some of the earlier technologies, as in projectile weapons which are more effective in dealing with the walking tin cans. The Cylon ablative armor has a refractive coating that takes phasers too long to burn through. The three seconds of concentrated phaser fire required to burn through their armor will get you killed very quickly. The updated rail guns are very effective in blowing them to hell and gone. These weapons will be useful against the Sinhindrea, since they have cybernetic armor protecting them also."

xxx

B'Elanna stood back as a Federation Marine introduced the Miller-T'voku assault combat recoilless rifle or ACRR-MT twelve Mark two.

The MACOs handed Geordi his rifle and with great relish, proceeded to detail it. "At twenty two rounds per second, with variable loads ranging from forty-four to fifty-five caliper-users choice-the ACRR-MT twelve is designed to fire neutronium coated, rhenium based armor piercing slugs, magnetically accelerated to forty-one percent light speed within three meters post ejection. Acceleration can be adjusted automatically with four presets or it can be adjusted manually to as low as three percent LS. It had a liquid boron-cooled reflex compartment and a built-in high-speed ammo replication chamber with power enough to generate two thousand rounds of ammunition. With auto-tracking with multiple target acquisition up to six individual targets, heat signature recognition, and subspace sensor location, it is one of the latest in anti-Cylon offensive weaponry. On continuous fire, it can overwhelm (PPS) personal protective shields in four seconds. It is also equipped with its own personal shield that protects its user. Shield duration is thirteen minutes on continuous cycle. The Mark one is more powerful, but it's also heavier. The Mark two gives us more flexibility and is easier to carry around.

B'Elanna waited patiently while the Major discussed every little detail of the weapon's capability to the enraptured Enterprise crew. She liked the weapon itself, but she preferred the new pulse phaser pistol.

"I heard that there is a younger you on the Ambassador," her husband said mischievously. "The rumor is that she's a bit more feral than you are. Should be interesting to meet her, don't you think?"

"Possibly," she said thoughtfully. "She might not want to see us. She's grown up Klingon and there's a lot of hatred there. I know."

"But she's you," Tom countered. "I think she would be as curious as we are."

"Okay," she relented. "But we won't push it."

"Well, you know yourself."

"Yes, I do," she growled. "We'll see. But if she looks at you to hard then I'll hurt her," she hissed.

"Jealous of yourself?" he inquired. "Wow."

"Get out of here, Tomas. I've got a lot of work to do and unless you want to start realigning twenty year-old warp coils, be somewhere else."

"Yes Lieutenant Ma'am, woman."

As her husband quickly departed, deftly dodging her –somewhat-playful swing at him, she took a moment to try to understand what Janeway was up to. Frankly she was surprised that the Admiral would even consider giving these people complete access to their database. Yes, these people were Starfleet, but the Prime Directive still applied here.

Personally, she could have cared less about the Prime Directive in situations like this. There were times that it didn't apply. But the Admiral was a stickler for the rules and in this particular situation B'Elanna wasn't sure which way she would decide. This wasn't their universe but the Starfleeters here were their people. Here, Picard and the others had thrown the Prime Directive to the four winds and she understood exactly why they did it. They were adapting to the situation here. But what would Janeway had done she wondered? Would she have tried to stay out way of this universes' history? She laughed at that. The very question implied that history was a fixed entity and everyone knew that it was turbulent changeable ocean. Every single action produced change. This universe was blended now with the Federation-both of them. It was time to deal with it and determine their own unique future.

"When the meeting is over and those Shadow things go away," she announced to everyone, "we'll start repairs in earnest. Right now, I don't trust them as far as I can throw one of their ships. I don't like those Vorlon ships hovering over everything, either."

Everyone nodded in complete agreement.

Babylon Five:

For the native younger races witnessing the unprecedented events occurring on Babylon Five, there was this timeless instant when they witnessed a lone Human dared to defy the leader of the Vorlon Empire. They felt the energy of the Vorlons and fell back in fear of their power. Only the Minbari had hints of their true potential because they had felt it a thousand years before and it was imprinted upon their very genes.

There was an urge for Delenn and Neroon to bow down and worship them, but the two of them resisted because of the discovery of deeper truths. They had been tampered with by a race of old aliens, not gods and that knowledge made all the difference. But not even they could see what was occurring beyond the veil. That was reserved for those more than mortal, or those who possessed a more intimate understanding of the universe.

xxx

"Who are you?" the Vorlon leader telepathically demanded of Guinan. "Why do you force conflict with us?"

"My parents gave me my name, Guinan," she said. "Beyond that you don't need to know. I haven't forced anything on you, but you have decided attack me? I understand that you consider yourselves pre-ascended beings but there are levels that you haven't come close to yet. This lack of understanding leaves you at a disadvantage. So, if you want to continue this then I suggest that you do so. I'm a patient woman but even I have my limits so please hurry up and decide what you intend to do."

The utter confidence in her voice slowed the leader's psychic advance. His power approached cautiously as he tried to probe the limits of her power. She pushed him and his energy reeled from the impact. But that was enough for him to learn something about his adversary.

"You are duality," he hissed. "You have the energy of a First One but you are not one of the older races. You have mortality, but you are timeless. You are mortal but you are eternal, with power. You are abomination. Your Federation therefore must exist as abomination to the natural order of things. And when the time comes we will crush you and remove your filth from the universe."

Guinan wasn't movedby that impassioned speech. "You are an old species, worshiped by some, despised by the other older races because of your dreams of godhood and callous disregard in performing your duties as protectors of the younger races in your care. You should be improving, but you're as stagnant as the Q. You're ancient, but instead of improving you're simply growing old and brittle. Your technologies are pitifully inadequate and instead of striving to improve yourselves you strive to keep the younger races down so that they won't become a threat you and your way of thinking. Your weapons are no more advanced than when your ancient enemy first came. The Sinhindrea nearly destroyed you because you're too used to looking backwards instead of forwards. If you hadn't stopped them at the gateway, they would have overrun your defenses and this galaxy would have been a barren wasteland thousands of years ago."

"The Sinhindrea arrived a million years ago," the Vorlon leader Kosh Ura corrected viciously.

"So you say," Guinan retorted. "The Sinhindrea weren't as much older as in more advanced. If that were true then the older First Ones would have eliminated the threat, but they were gone by then, weren't they? And precisely when did they leave? As in everything else you proclaim, one has to discern your personal truth from the real truth." Guinan was prepared to say more when two others made their presence known.

"Leave her alone," Ambassador Kosh demanded. "The circle is complete and now irrelevant to the present. She is correct in saying that we have become stagnant. When ones such as us live so long, we become frighten of change. We have become complacent and rigid in our fear of the unknown. We are not better, simply old."

"You would side with this abomination against your own people?" asked a very surprised and very angry Kosh Ura.

"She knows the truth of your plans," another voice said. "The other Federation leader knows as well."

"You let them know," Kosh Ura snapped at his Ambassador. "You let them know."

"That we planned to destroy every planet that the Shadows influenced regardless of the innocent life present to satisfy our need to be proven correct?" the ambassador asked. "To Guinan, yes."

"The Admiral has other resources to rely upon," Lorien added. "The Vorlon and the Shadows have lost their way and have become the very things that you were charged to defend against. I have warned you before Kosh Ura. Interfere with this one," he said point towards Guinan, "and you will lose. Harm Admiral Janeway and your entire race will suffer. Choose carefully," he cautioned.

Almost overflowing with anger, the leader withdrew his defenses. "Guinan, if that is what you are truly called, there will be a reckoning," he swore.

"I'm impressed," she chided. "This is the first time I've seen a frightened Vorlon. It's quite refreshing."

Respectful of Lorien, the Vorlon leader withdrew into himself, desperately trying to keep his growing anger under control.

There were several moments when the Admiral felt that things had gotten out of control with the Vorlons openly threatening Guinan. She thought she would have to intervene but the instant passed. However, she couldn't help feeling that something important had taken place. The event reminded her of the talks with Q. To her relief, the Vorlons had backed off and Guinan appeared more relaxed now.

The tension however was still there and it appeared to her that it was steadily growing. The others in the room had noticed as well. The two Minbari seemed to almost faint from mental exhaustion. She'd ask Guinan what actually happened later. But for now, she needed to address the Shadows.

"With respect to the Shadow leader," she started. "Your plans are flawed. We are within days of curing the plague you have so callously infected Earth with." The Shadows present nearly faded from view. They were shocked and angry and none of them doubted the strange Human Admiral's claim for an instant. "If we can cure this nanite infestation in a matter of days, how long would it take for the Sinhindrea to do the same thing? They are cybernetic organisms who are easily capable of defeating your plague. You would have sacrificed the lives of an entire population for nothing."

"That is not for you to decide," the Shadow leader said. "We are doing what is best for the galaxy. They will threaten even your Federation. Earth's sacrifice would gain everyone valuable time."

"To do what?" she asked. "Run?"

"There must be time to regroup," the Shadow explained as if speaking to a child. "You are technologically advanced but you are still children, unable to understand such things that are above your comprehension. Humans are targeted for destruction by the Sinhindrea. Your arrogant displays of bravado have doomed your species."

"Mankind has always been on the edge," Janeway said. "But we do find ways and we survive and prosper. We've made countless numbers of mistakes but Humans always learn from them and adapt. Can you say the same?"

"Our mistake was in not finding you," the Shadow Lord retorted. "This is not about us, Child. We have traveled the stars for a million years. Our knowledge is infinite and our ways are not yours. Our understanding is beyond anything your feeble minds could possibly grasp."

"Yet, here you are discussing with us mere mortals on how to proceed against a common enemy. I understand that the Sinhindrea are older than the Vorlon race. Does that make them more intelligent than either of you?"

Both Vorlons and Shadows turned their full attention on this arrogant waste of flesh. But to the Shadow Lord's surprise, it was one of her own entourage that spoke up first.

"We will find your Federation of things and eliminate them from existence," the male Shadow subordinate said. His voice was colder than anything any mortal had ever heard and everyone shrank away-

Including the Shadow Lord. Was it possible?

"We will feast on your entrails until we rupture. Your worlds will be ours."

"Who are you?" the Shadow Lord heard the Vorlons say."

"What do you want?" the leader heard himself say found herself saying.

The other shadow shivered. "I am enthralled," he shrieked, gaining temporary regaining back his control. "The dreams of the dark city…I-" His eyes glowed as it once more lost control. "Flee while you can as far as you can for we are coming and we will feast on Vorlon flesh."

"Sinhindrea!" the Shadow lord said, astonished. She had suspected that some of her people had been touched by that evil. But her closest, most treasured advisor had been compromised by the Yongi-at this distance! The Shadow ability for telepathy had only enhanced the enemy's ability to spy on them.

"Surrender and die," the possessed Shadow said. "Or resist, and die screaming. We care not which."

"Don't you mean surrender or die?" the leader heard the Narn representative say.

That being had a proclivity to speak out at exactly the wrong time. But for the most part she ignored the caustic remark. There were more important things to be concerned about. The Lord could feel the waves of pure fear emanating from the Vorlons, something it had never experience from her traditional enemies. The younger races were experiencing fear as well but there was something else rising past that fear, a defiance coming from the Humans, the Minbari, the Klingons, and surprisingly, the Narn representatives. Mollari sat there frozen but even he seemed to be shaking off the fright, preparing himself for battle.

And in that instant the Shadow Lord was overjoyed. The ages-long contest between the Vorlons and Shadows had been decided at this exact moment and his people were victorious! Conflict did indeed make the young ones stronger in their minds if nothing else. And these Young ones were becoming strong.

However, this victory over the Vorlons was souring quickly as it realized that her own fear was NOT subsiding and instead panic was trying to take control of her soul. And she felt disgusted, weak with the revelation. She wanted to take her people and run away just as the Human female had suggested. Paralyzed, the Lord hesitated a moment too long and her companion moved quickly towards the Human ambassador.

"We know where you are!" it screamed. "We will destroy you all; decimate your Federation, the Humans here, your allies, your enemies, everything will suffer for what you have done!" She was the strongest of the younger ones here and needed to be the first to die. And before anyone could move, the Shadow leap at Guinan, every natural weapon bared to rend and kill the first of the Humans that denied the Sinhindrea their gate.

USS Voyager:

The room assigned to Alyt Rannaonn was as luxurious as anything he'd ever experienced onboard a space ship. These Humans had done their homework well. The room was a perfect replication of a Minbari luxury suite right down to the cool, moist temperature favored by his people. Never in his life had he felt as uncomfortable as he did now. His unwavering absolute certainty had pushed him off a very high cliff.

"Water," he demanded. The replicator activated and a glass of pure, clear water formed before his eyes. He went blank for a second as he connected the replicator's function to transporter technology. He snatched the glass from the cubicle and viciously gulped it down. He stared at the room coldly. Even the design of the Minbari bed was perfect. The Ambassador was an advanced vessel, but Voyager was something else. It was a generation or more ahead of Garrett's ship and the implications were frightening. No wonder Alyt Menroi was so enamored with the Federation, insisting that the Minbari open unrestricted relations with them. And no wonder Shai Alyt Neroon was so reluctant to do so. These people were so adaptable that it was frightening. He was silent contemplating the glass in front of him for a long time. Finally, he spoke to the other Minbari in the room with him. "What do you think of all of this, Lennier?"

The young Minbari paused momentarily. "I believe it is a faithful recreation of a Minbari suite. Admiral Janeway and Captain Chakotay spared no expense in order to make us comfortable."

Rannaonn just looked at him. As a member of the religious caste, Lennier was very adept at avoiding answers when he wanted to. Nevertheless he did have a point and a change in direction would be good for the Alyt for the moment. "This room is satisfactory," he said finally and with a bit of regret. He wished it was less perfect. "If this were a Minbari vessel, I doubt we could improve upon the accommodations. But that is the very point that disturbs me," he added. "It would not have even entered our minds to recreate alien accommodations for another race. After all, we're the best at everything," he answered sarcastically. "And naturally we expect that they should be more than satisfied with what we have to offer. Our people are not really concerned with others. We are an island unto ourselves is the popular Earther phrase. But these Humans are different. They're so comfortable and well established with whom they are that they can devote time and effort to consider the comfort of others. So again I ask, what do you think of all of this, Lennier?"

"I think that the universe has gotten bigger," Lennier answered carefully. Or, our eyes have been opened a little bit more."

"I-I find myself overwhelmed," Rannaonn admitted. His voice was higher than usual and just for a moment he worried about his sanity. Evidently Lennier was also concerned as his answers were so carefully crafted to be as neutral as possible given the circumstances and company. "I have been humiliated, insulted, my ship-my pride was found to be antiquated against a Federation ship smaller than this one, built by Humans and other races working together. Everything I have believed has been uprooted, changed, and corrupted into something that I can no longer recognize. This replicator," he said, pointing at the empty glass," is faster, more efficient than the ones on Babylon Five. If that is not the summation of Humanity I don't know what is. The Earthers are the same. They are barbarians, but they are growing just like their cousins. We can see it, if we just look below the surface."

"Captain Sheridan…"

"…And Starkiller?" the Alyt finished. Again Lennier's eyes were filled with caution. "Do not concern yourself Lennier. That's over, like so many other things. I am becoming convinced that Delenn is far wiser than I gave her credit for," he said, then added. "But, she is not for you." He was rewarded by the shock on Lennier's face.

"Satai Delenn is the best of us," he said coming to her defense and trying to of course, change the subject. "She has sacrificed everything to help our people. She deserves our full support."

"In light of the present circumstances, I fully agree with you," Rannaonn responded with a wink. "She trusts you enough to have you spy on me. I should feel honored. But your feelings for her will go unrequited and for a young Minbari that is a fate worse than death."

"With respect Alyt," Lennier nearly growled. "We should not be having this conversation. My life and feelings are my own."

'Ah, he admitted it!' "Not anymore. We've opened a door to a new universe. True, it's a frightening door, one the Vorlons had locked us away from. They've genetically engineered our people for their own purposes! The Vorlons have poisoned us, literally; brought us towards extinction for their own purposes and we still think of them as gods. That must change; all of us must change," he reiterated. "As for me, telling you to forget Delenn is a waste of speech. But I suggest you turn your direction towards another." Then he smiled mischievously. "There is a certain Vulcan female that you might find interesting."

Lennier stepped back as if slapped, stunned by Rannaonn's analysis of the situation. "You've changed."

"Water," the Alyt said, speaking instead to the replicator and ignoring Lennier's comment. Another tall glass of water formed inside the replicator. He stared at it, swirling the fluid around ever so slowly. Tasting it, he decided he liked it and swiftly emptied the glass. "Our people are not very flexible but things will be different soon. It's that witch, Garrett's fault. She has contaminated me with her truths. And I will make sure that I spread this contamination to Neroon and the others so that they may be properly infected as I have been. Oh, yes. Garrett has much to answer for. We will erect a statue in her honor, and then…and then we will take great pleasure in promptly blowing it up," he laughed. "I claim the honor of pressing the button. And to answer you, yes I have change. Me-who would have imagined it? I came here to force the Federationers to share their shield technology. Instead they've shared themselves and I can never be the same again. No Minbari can. Lennier, I have heard the rumors that Minbari souls have been placed among the Humans. With all of the wonders I have seen, even I don't know if I believe that is possible. But I will explore those possibilities with my eyes open this time."

"Finally you have seen the light," a voice boomed in perfect Minbari.

Swiftly both Minbari males searched for the owner of the voice. They discovered the image of a holographic Minbari male standing behind them.

"I've heard the Humans call us bone-heads for many years, now and for many years I have contemplated ways of getting even with their callous insults, but I must confess that they do have a point-in certain respects." The hologram looked directly at them. "Forgive my crude manners. I am Draal."

"The Draal?" exclaimed Rannaonn. "I believed you long dead."

"Not hardly," Draal retorted. "Although watching my people acting like wayward children, sometimes I wish I were."

"How are you doing this?"

"I am using a technology you are currently unfamiliar with," Draal answered. "With it, I have explored the universe and beyond. Watching the multiverse is a very humbling experience. I have searched the different histories our people and I have felt ashamed by what I have seen. You wouldn't believe how many times our people have ruined our world going against the Humans, especially the Federation and other Human-based organizations because of a callous mistake. Take it from me; all Humans are not as weak as Earth Alliance. What I've seen has been enough to make me grow a full head of hair." He shivered at the thought of having to comb hair like Sheridan and Delenn. He had studied Delenn carefully as she struggled with her mane in those first few weeks. Hair was way too much trouble to handle.

"I don't have much time," he continued. "Voyager's sensors are magnificent. It took me days to discover how to override their scans in order to speak to you privately and I can only achieve this minor miracle for a few minutes at most. I wanted to say that you two, and Neroon, and Delenn must carry the hopes for the future of Minbari and our people. Together you must pull our people together and push us into the future with the Humans-all of them. Earth Alliance will soon fall and give way to something better but you must help them as they can help us. A Minbari-Human Alliance could very well herald a new age in the galaxy."

Rannaonn merely grunted. "Nothing surprises me anymore."

"Is that what you believe? Come visit me and we will grow hair together," Draal laughed. "But become a champion for the cause of unity," the hologram smiled. "This does not mean that we shouldn't occasionally kick mankinds behind to push him in the right direction. However we must also check ourselves, or we'll fall back into our old patterns."

The room shook throwing both Minbari to the floor. And the room continued shaking.

"We're under attack," both of them said at the same time as alarms began blaring.

"I must go," Draal said. "Minbari, Humans and the others must come together quickly or we will not survive the Sinhindrea. And there are others coming back."

"Who is coming back? What do you mean?"

"First Ones who have gone mad, and now portray themselves as gods. There is a Human here that can make their dreams a reality if they capture him. We will talk more if we survive." The hologram winked and was gone.

"Why the Humans?" Rannaonn wondered out loud, but Draal wasn't there to answer him.

The two Minbari felt the ship's engines throbbing as the room continued shaking.