Sorry this chapter is so short. It looked alot longer written long hand, and I didn't want toforce it to be longer once it was typed. See chapter 1 for disclaimers.

The Universe Blinked

Part 7

Alisa Belden, having been released from her restraints during the course of Jathenn's explanation, now sat on the edge of her bed. She'd been silent for the last three hours, and remained that way as she tried to process it all. Jathenn sat back in his chair and waited for her reaction.

"So you're telling me that I've been M.I.A for more than five thousand years? It was only supposed to be a few days," she whined, "maybe a week at the outside." Jathenn supposed she must have noticed that she'd sounded like a child, because she shook her head slightly and adopted a more professional tone. "Did the unit's event log say what happened?"

"We haven't been able to decrypt many of the files, and the few we have decrypted take hours to translate. We have a pretty good idea what happened, though. You were found in the ruins of Selini on Centauri Prime."

"Ruins? I was told that it was an inhabited island."

"It was, until Emperor Mollari the Second blew it up. It's a good thing you were still in that stasis unit. It's all that saved you."

"So it was all for nothing. Months of secret meetings and planning. Hours of training and programming. All for nothing."

"Maybe not," Jathenn told her, happy to have good news for her. "It's too late for the telepaths in those ships, but we have some guests here in the cryogenics wing who have been waiting a long time to meet someone like you."

"Sech Daniels for the Entil'zha. Tell her I've made a decision." Robyn fiddled with the knick-knacks on her desk while she waited for Kate to come to the COM. It took all of her will power to keep her anger at bay.

"Robyn? Hello. I wasn't expecting to hear from you until tomorrow. Is this a good sign?" Kate's face was one big network of worry lines, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She actually looked worse than she had earlier.

"Yes, it's a good sign. I've talked with Jay, and I've decided. I'll take the job. I can be there in two days. I just have to make some arrangements."

"That's good to hear. You've just made my life infinitely easier. I'm going to go let the Council know." A portion of her stress seemed to melt away instantly. "Report to my office the minute you land in Yedor, and be prepared for a briefing. I'll see you in two days."

The freezer-lined walls of the cryonic storage room loomed over the only two conscious occupants in a patchwork of metal and tiny colored lights. As the door slid shut behind them, Jathenn closed his eyes for a moment and let the soft hum of the machinery penetrate his cluttered mind. Spending time in this hope filled room always helped to remind him why he was in this field.

"Speaking of reminders," Alisa said, interrupting his train of thought, "don't forget that you wanted to make some introductions while we were here."

"I see the sleepers have worn off," he laughed. "How are you feeling?"

"Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to scan you. It's just that I've never felt a human broadcast contentment quite that strongly."

"Don't forget, I'm also Minbari. Are you ready to go, or do you need a few minutes?"

"I'm more than ready. I guess I've been waiting for this for thousands of years. Let's go." She took several steps toward the door at the opposite end of the room as if she knew exactly where to go, then stopped short and turned a bright shade of red. "I did it again. I'm so sorry!"

Jathenn put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and guided her forward. "It's okay. I don't know the details, but I figured the Vorlons would have enhanced your abilities." He punched in his security code at the door and stood back to let Alisa enter. He watched with anticipation as the telltale look of concentration crossed her face.

"How many did you say there were?"

"Sixty eight, why?"

"Are you sure? Besides you and me, there's only one other living mind in this room. You seem to be missing a few."

Jathenn's heart leapt into his throat as he rushed to the band of freezers on the right hand wall. He started frantically checking the status on each freezer. He was relieved to see that they were all running at full capacity.

"You had me going for a minute there, " he admonished. "You have an odd sense of humor."

"I'm not joking. I don't know how your equipment works, but I think it's malfunctioning. I'm telling you, there are only three live minds in this room. How long have they been in these freezers, anyway?"

"They're the original units. The records show that the original caretakers didn't fully understand the technology, but they figured it out eventually, and they adapted it to work with the systems they had. There haven't been any problems since then." He was beginning to lose faith in his miracle girl.

"You can doubt me all you want," she huffed, "but I'm telling you, they're dead."