An Early Peace
Prologue
The Earth Year 2246
The bitterly cold wind bit into the team's flesh even through the thick clothing each member wore. Fog built up almost instantly in their goggles. Blind and cold, the three men raced for the safety of the lonely concrete outpost. The leader shed his goggles, knowing that he at least would have to be able to see the destination. His eyes instinctively closed from the harsh glare of the sun reflecting off the white snow and he forced them open slightly, just enough to make out a gray smudge in the distance. The team slowly trudged towards its target; each step had to be made through deep snow, slowing the team's pace to a mere crawl. By the time the three men reached the building, they were sweating from the exertion of walking the 150 meters from their shuttle to the abandoned listening post.
Commander John Sheridan slammed his shoulder into the door, forcing it open. He eagerly entered the dark structure, escaping the wind and at least some of the cold. "We need to find the auxiliary power generator," he shouted as his companions joined him inside. Silently realizing that he would no longer have to contend with the wind, his next words were much quieter. "Doctor Franklin, take a look outside and see if you can secure a perimeter."
"Right," the doctor replied before turning to leave to brave the cold once more.
Sheridan, meanwhile, returned to the task of finding the power generator to restore lighting and heating to the concrete outpost, a necessity if they would have a long wait for their expected visitor. The final member of the team, G'Kar, the Narn ambassador to Earth, joined in the search with as much vigor as the Earth Force commander; the Narn, evolving on a world with vast stretches of tropical environment, was far less suited to the cold than his two human comrades. The two men quickly found the power generator. Fortunately, even after several years of neglect, the mechanism still functioned. Electric lights blazed in all their glory and the heater slowly came to life.
"You know, Commander," the Narn said as he walked across the single-room building to stand next to the human officer, "it occurs to me that if this meeting with the Minbari fails, you can still find refuge in the Narn Regime. We can use a man of your talents and can even set you up with a small community of fellow humans on Homeworld."
John Sheridan shook his head. "No way, if Earth goes down, I go with it," rejecting the proposition without a second thought.
"A noble sentiment, if a foolhardy one." The Narn turned as a shadow appeared at the entrance of the small outpost. "Ah, Doctor, I was just telling the Commander…" G'Kar stopped as Franklin entered the building, his hands held high in the air and a Minbari following him, holding a silver-colored pistol. Sheridan and G'Kar stared at the Minbari silently, waiting for him to make the first move.
The moment passed endlessly. Sheridan reflected on the fact that he had never seen a live Minbari before despite his service in the war. It had been difficult to associate the lifeless bodies he had seen with the race who had effortlessly annihilated one Earth Force fleet after another. The Minbari standing in the entrance was clearly an old man; nevertheless, he maintained a quiet dignity that belayed the years evident on his worn face.
As if suddenly becoming aware of the threat the weapon represented, the Minbari lowered the energy pistol. "Precaution…only," he said a stuttered English. "I am Lennon…" the Minbari stated before being cut off by a frantic series of beep's from his jacket.
"Another precaution?" Stephen Franklin asked, somewhat sarcastically, with a single eyebrow raised.
The Minbari either missed or ignored the subtle undercurrent and opened his thick jacket, removing a long, thin cylinder. Words, incomprehensible to Sheridan, echoed from the device. The commander glanced at the Narn, who claimed to be fluent in Minbari, but the ambassador waved him off, listening intently on the conversation. The team's Minbari visitor now began to respond. He spoke rapidly for a brief moment then paused before continuing to speak once more. This time, he spoke deeply and slowly, words that seemed to call for obedience. The 'or else' was also clearly implied by the tone.
"G'Kar," Sheridan said, trying to copy the Minbari's tone in his own statement. Evidently it worked, for the Narn turned to face the commander and began to explain.
"Apparently, this Lennon placed several drones in hyperspace just near the jump point. Those drones have reported the presence of a Centauri cruiser…"
"Centauri?" Franklin interjected.
"Yes, Doctor, your hearing is quite functional," G'Kar responded. "As I was saying," the Narn continued, with a glance at Franklin, "the drones reported the presence of a Centauri cruiser and Lennon has warned them to leave the area immediately or face swift retribution."
"That must have sent them scurrying," Sheridan said.
"Oh indeed Commander," the Narn responded, a smile planted on his face. "I only wish I could have seen it in person."
"Still," Sheridan pondered aloud, "that leaves Stephen's question; why was the cruiser here in the first place? We're well off the regular trade routes and the nearest Centauri outpost is light-years away."
"Our meeting…not a secret…yes?" the old Minbari said, stating the obvious and interrupting the conversation between the Earth Force officers and the Narn ambassador.
"In'la phili kur'il dra'ent'il? G'Kar replied. He noticed the confused look on the faces of his human companions and spoke again, this time in English. "I offered to translate for him, since his English, while better than your Minbari, is not quite adequate to the task of formulating a cease fire."
The Minbari began to speak quickly and Sheridan found it difficult to differentiate between words; it was as if each sentence was a necklace, with each word a bead in the ornate object. The Narn listened intently before turning towards Sheridan and Franklin. "Gentlemen, you are quite fortunate."
"How so?" Franklin replied.
"Our esteemed Minbari friend has been authorized by his government to seek a settlement to the conflict." G'Kar smiled. "It appears as though your world will live to see another day."
Sheridan couldn't help echoing the sentiment and a broad smile emerged on his face. It died when he saw the look on the Minbari's face. So, this is how it feels when someone walks over your grave.
Hurry up and wait. The phrase had passed from generation to generation of military servicemen, crossing national and even species lines. Whether fighting with swords, muskets, or starships, the principle remained the same. John Sheridan knew it well. He and Doctor Franklin had been standing out in the cold for nearly fifteen minutes, serving as a scratch honor guard for the approaching diplomatic party, whose shuttle had just appeared over the horizon. While the wait had been relatively short, when one factored in the sub-zero temperatures of the abandoned world, the 'short' quarter-hour extended endlessly.
As Franklin continued to watch the approaching Earth Force shuttle, Sheridan turned his attention to the small cluster of Minbari standing beside their Flyer. The three-member Minbari delegation waited inside the old listening post along with Ambassador G'Kar, who would serve as an official mediator of the rapidly assembled peace conference, but the Minbari had left their mode of transportation heavily guarded by a full squad of soldiers. I don't even know why they bother, with a war-cruiser in orbit. The Earth Force vessel, Heracles, would be vaporized if it so much as hiccuped in the direction of the Minbari warship. The two men had tried to start conservation with the group earlier but the results hadn't been encouraging.
"Look sharp John, she's coming in now," Franklin said and Sheridan once more faced the shuttle. The small vessel ignited her landing thrusters and extended her landing prongs. While the prongs were no replacement for wheels and a runway, the strip on the abandoned listening post had long since decayed from the cold. Instead, the shuttle slowly settled onto the ice, the warmth of her hull melting several meters of snow. Steam rose towards the sky and the craft's ramp descended towards the ground. As soon as the ramp settled on the ground, the diplomatic team walked down and came into view.
The two men saluted as they noticed the leading figure, General Lefcourt. The general returned the salute. "John, excellent work with the initial phase," Lefcourt said. Before the young officer could acknowledge his superior's compliment, the general turned his attention to Franklin. "The same to you, Doctor; I'm sure your efforts will be noted by the court-martial board."
"We both thank you, General," Sheridan said quickly, cutting off any comment by Franklin about not having the opportunity to face a court-martial yet, despite several months of confinement.
"Commander, Doctor, let me introduce the other members of the diplomatic team, Senator Morgan Clarke and Ambassador Gerta Engels," the general stated.
"Commander," Clarke said, extending his hand, "it's a pleasure to finally meet you, both for what you did here and what you did to the Black Star." The medium-height, balding man gripped Sheridan's hand firmly and shook vigorously.
"I concur with Senator Clarke's sentiments Commander," the ambassador said. The woman, from Bonn in the European Union, was slightly shorter than the senator. Although over forty years old, the woman had lost little of her youthful looks.
"Madam Ambassador, it's good to see you again," Sheridan replied to the German woman. Ambassador Engels responded with a slight frown and a questioning glance. "My father," the commander explained, "introduced us at a reception held at EarthDome a few years ago, after I graduated from the Naval Academy."
"Well then, Commander Sheridan, I salute your rather exceptional memory."
Another bitterly cold gust of wind blew through the group of Earth Alliance soldiers and diplomats, cutting off any remark Sheridan could make. The general then spoke, ending the conversation permanently. "Commander, Doctor, you are free to return to the Heracles. We'll make our introductions to the Minbari, then head up to their cruiser for the official talks."
"General," Franklin said, "we wish you luck. Lennon has seemed reasonable enough, but the warriors that arrived have rebuffed any attempts at discussion the Commander or I have made. I doubt they'll treat you any better."
"I hope you're wrong Doctor," Senator Clarke stated.
"As do I," Stephen replied.
"Gentleman," Lefcourt spoke again, as if trying to end the conversation on a positive note, "we will meet again in a few days. We should be at peace once more by then." The three negotiators turned and walked towards the bunker as Franklin and Sheridan returned to the shuttle.
"John," Stephen said quietly, "you talked to those warriors the same as I did. You know we're not going to get any sort of peace treaty on easy terms. We're going to have to give up something big."
"I know and that's what I'm afraid of."
.
Sleeping in zero gravity was not fun nor was it comfortable, relaxing, or anything else sleep should be. Wrapped in what was for all intents and purposes a bag that was securely fastened to a bulkhead, a person simply floated in the cabin and let exhaustion put them to sleep. The starships were not supplied with mattresses or beds so that even if the ship was under acceleration, the crew could not benefit from a normal sleep. It was one of the many reasons why Earth Force vessels seldom served long deployments away from rotating space stations.
John Sheridan was an old space hand and at least knew what to expect while sleeping in his small cabin aboard the Heracles. He had traveled with his father on several diplomatic missions while a teenager and spent over a decade with Earth Force. He was thus mildly annoyed when his comm screen began to beep the incessant sound of an urgent message. The commander was awake in a few moments, though he allowed himself to catch his bearing for another several seconds after regaining consciousness. Sheridan released himself from his sleeping bag and gave a slight push that propelled him across the room to the comm screen.
"Comm, receive," Sheridan said, suppressing a yawn. The face of Victor Chavez, one of Heracles' lieutenants, appeared on the screen.
"Commander Sheridan, my apologies for waking you, but General Lefcourt's shuttle has departed from the Minbari cruiser."
Sheridan felt as though he had taken a double shot of expresso and any hints of sleep vanished from his mind. "What's the shuttle's ETA, lieutenant?"
"Ten minutes, sir," Chavez replied.
"Has it sent any messages?"
"About the meeting with the Minbari, you mean sir?" Sheridan nodded to the lieutenant's question. "No sir, he did not mention anything about the conference, just that the diplomatic team was returning."
"Thank you, lieutenant. End transmission." The screen went blank. Sheridan felt bad for cutting off the young officer, but his mind was preoccupied with more urgent matters. Sheridan wanted to be near the hanger bay when Lefcourt's shuttle arrived. He grabbed his uniform trousers from the rack and threw them on over his undergarments, followed by his jacket. He took a quick glance in the mirror to ensure that he was somewhat presentable and raced out of his cabin.
In zero gravity, one could quite literally race through the long corridors of the warship. For practical purposes, designers tried to limit the number of corners inside their ships, keeping hallways as long and straight as possible. This, combined with the fact that the majority of the crew were around twenty years of age, meant that crewmen shoved off from walls as hard as possible to gain the most velocity along the straight-aways. They freely admitted that deceleration was a problem, though slamming feet-first into the rare corner allowed one to rebound off in the new desired direction. And Earth Force footwear was rather durable. Though officers tried to limit the worst of the abuses, today, Sheridan ignored the official regulations and enlisted crewmen of the Heracles chuckled as they witnessed an officer outpacing them through the vessel, rebounding off the walls with the 'skills' of a green recruit.
Sheridan reached the landing bay before the general's shuttle…barely. The corridor outside the airlock exit was strangely empty; the commander expected a large party to have gathered to await news of the peace conference. He ignored the discrepancy and instead turned to watch the video monitors that showed the shuttle approaching the Heracles. The vessel first appeared as a distant star in the background and slowly grew larger and recognizable to the naked eye. The shuttlecraft decelerated, matching the velocity of the EarthForce cruiser. With a series of quick flicks with the thrusters the pilot closed the meters-long distance between the two ships. A final burst of reaction mass brought the two vessels together, docking the shuttle with the cruiser's airlock.
The minutes passed endlessly as Sheridan waited for the passengers to enter the Heracles, numerous questions waiting on his lips. The airlock finally opened and General Lefcourt walked through, followed by a pair of EarthForce Marines. The two soldiers had been relieved of their rifles while on the Minbari warship but would nonetheless have made a good albeit brief account themselves with just their combat knives and PPG pistols. Though the other members of the diplomatic team had only just begun to disembark, the general gestured to Sheridan.
"Commander," he spoke evenly, "with me." Without another word, the general softly pushed off from the deck. Sheridan followed, crossing the paths of several of the soldiers he had zipped by minutes earlier. Any amusement they might have felt was carefully hidden from the sight of the general flying in front of the commander. Sheridan knew that Lefcourt in his current state of mind would not have noticed a nuke detonating nearby much less a quick hint of disrespect from an enlisted soldier.
The general's voyage ended at a private conference room located near the airlock. He grabbed hold of a handle bar next to the door. Sheridan followed suit, his forward momentum dying with a harsh tug on his arm. The automatic door triggered, allowing the two men to enter. As the door closed, Sheridan waited for Lefcourt to recount the peace negotiations; instead, the ominous silence continued to stretch on.
"Sir," Sheridan said, the words sounding harsh as they shattered the quiet atmosphere, "what happened?" The commander wanted to add something more, release the ocean of questions floating in his head but the general finally spoke, interrupting any other comments.
"My apologies, Commander. The negotiations were…trying. They started well, too well in fact. We were all astounded by the terms. The Earth Alliance will be allowed to maintain its own domestic policy, though the Minbari will now decide our foreign policy. War with the Minbari will now mean war with Earth. Along those lines, Earth will provide bases for Minbari forces and the Minbari will have control over the size and composition of EarthForce."
"So we're just a puppet state now? If the Minbari can decide on the strength of EarthForce, what's to stop them from just getting rid of it?"
"Absolutely nothing, Commander. From what we all heard during the negotiation though, it sounds like we won't just be a Vichy to their Third Reich. For one thing, they swore that this defense pact is mutual; war with Earth will now mean war with the Minbari." The general gave a half-hearted chuckle. "If anyone plans on pulling a Mers el Kebir on us, they won't last long enough to regret it."
"At least they've agreed to pay us in security for the freedom they've stolen," Sheridan said with disdain.
"I won't say I'm delighted with the concept of being a sepoy for the Minbari, but it's a damned sight better than seeing Earth as a burning cinder! The Minbari leaders, the Grey Council they call themselves, by the way, were quite insistent that Earth may govern itself as it wishes. There will be no pillaging of our resources in reparations for the war. They also promised to permit free trade with any power not currently warring with the Minbari."
"And? When is the other shoe going to drop, General?"
"You know me too well, John," Lefcourt said in a sad, tired voice. Warning bells screamed in the commander's head. "The negotiating team would have been willing to sign off on those terms without hesitation. We were about to do so, only a few hours into the discussions when the Minbari mentioned their final term. John…they, the Minbari, want you."
For Sheridan, the world seemed to stop as the implications of the general's statement sunk in. Speaking the words had the opposite effect on Lefcourt, for words began to escape from his mouth in a rush.
"The Minbari warrior caste wouldn't be moved from the demand, no matter what we offered. They want blood for the Black Star. A couple of the other Minbari tried to suggest some sort of compromise but the warriors wouldn't budge." The general paused for a moment, regaining control. "I'm sorry John, there's just no other way. I won't insult you by saying it's your decision, because you know I can't do that and I know I wouldn't really be offering you a choice at all. I…" Lefcourt's voice failed him for a moment, "I can get you a few days to put your affairs in order, but not much longer."
Sheridan nodded, giving himself a few more seconds to compose himself before having to speak. "I understand sir." He stopped, not trusting himself to say anything else and his eyes turned to the porthole on the wall of the conference room, where the Minbari warship stood in clear view.
.
"Satai, the human shuttle is on final approach."
Coplann's words did not spark any movement in Delenn, meditating on the floor of her quarters.
"The humans say Sheridan is with them."
Delenn continued to remain motionless and her eyes stayed shut but this time she responded to the warrior's words. "Of course Sheridan is with them, Coplann. You offered them the choice of extinction or the execution of a soldier who has done only his duty. What did you expect of them, Coplann? Sheridan is dead either way, only now his death inflicts even more dishonor upon us."
"You do not understand, Delenn."
"No, Coplann, I understand completely. Remember, it was I that started this crusade. I know the desire for revenge. I also know how the taste of vengeance is bitter and is no salve for your pain and anger."
Coplann flinched, as if struck. The ironclad will that had forced the surrender of Sheridan as a term for peace seemed to buckle.
But it did not break.
"The Council has agreed upon this course of action," Coplann said, hiding behind the decisions of the Council. "The humans will be arriving soon, we should be there to meet them." Coplann turned to depart.
"I will be there shortly," Delenn said. Coplann paused for a moment, then left, knowing Delenn would say no more.
Delenn continued to mediate, trying to think of some way to deter Coplann from his course. If he could be convinced to spare Sheridan, the other warriors would follow him. Her words, however, had proven powerless. She knew that any hope of a lasting peace would die with Sheridan, that the Earthers would never accept the peace if it were bought with Sheridan's blood. One day, they would return to demand blood to water the ground of his grave.
Coplann had not accepted the argument, stating that the Minbari would just have to crush the humans again, as they had done so easily in this war. Eventually, he argued, the humans would learn.
And Sheridan would die.
She had even consulted with the Vorlons, hoping they might be convinced to speak out against Coplann. They had responded in their usual, cryptic fashion. Standing in Dukhat's old chambers, she had confronted them. Pleaded with them. Throughout it all, they had stood silent. As she prepared to leave, though, one of them, the darker one, spoke.
"Some must be sacrificed if all are to be saved."
The words had not comforted her. She asked for clarification. Did that mean Sheridan had to die? Was there no other way to end the war and prepare for the next? Again, the Vorlons refused to answer her questions. Once more she started to leave, when the other spoke.
"The truth points to itself."
She stopped. So, yes, Sheridan is the sacrifice that will save us? She did not expect an answer and did not receive one. She began to walk towards the doors again, but this time, the Vorlons remained silent.
In her quarters, Delenn opened her eyes, the memory fading. The humans were arriving and she did indeed need to be present for their arrival. She stood and adjusted her robe before leaving her quarters, the words of the Vorlons echoing in her mind.