CHAPTER NINE: Shadow's Against Light

Iris is waiting outside and only seconds later two people come to meet him. "Okay we're here what's going on?" Say Nanette.

Iris looks at Nanette, "When I went to Minbar with Deylnn and Mirra I had to escape because the Grey Council was going to do something harmful to us, so I made my escape without Deylnn."

Nanette nods, but that is now in the past. "I know."

Iris shakes his head. "I don't think you know the full spectrum of my failure to save Deylnn, I saw him hooked to machines and being changed by a chrysalis. When Rama transformed into Deltalenn it was because she is ready to complete some task I have no clue about."

Nanette begins to sum up the puzzle. "So the person in Docking Bay 3 is Deylnn?"

Iris takes in a deep breath. "Well—yes, and no" Nanette pushes Iris to the side to enter the Med Lab. "Please Nanette!"

Nanette sees Delenn 3rd, but not in the same form as she remembers. "Sim'wa captain—I mean hello captain."

Nanette looks at Delenn 3rd in shock, this is not what she expected. "Deylnn?"

Delenn 3rd looks confused. "Who?"

Nanette turns to Iris. "What's wrong with her speech?"

Iris looks at Nanette, "Well I was trying to tell you that this transformation is taking her back to her once memory—possibility how to defeat the Liberators—I don't know, all I know is that the transformation is having no stress on her body—as I see it, it is transforming her to possibly merge the old with the new."

Delenn 3rd look confused as she listens to the conversation. Nanette goes over to Delenn 3rd because something caught her eye, the flesh is shifting tighten and becoming smaller. "What's going on with her skin?"

Iris looks at the papers. "Well there appears to be a problem with her, you see her eternal epidermis is only nine years old and the outer epidermis is about 13 years—that's a five year difference, so the body can only do one thing—transform the outer flesh to match her eternal flesh. The entire transformation should last for another 48 hours, so I request time off because she wants to begin work."

Nanette nods. "Well she can begin in 48 hours."

Delenn 3rd is desperate. "Zum' Nanette nie'se felis, nehan!"

Nanette looks at Delenn 3rd. "Nee, ker'anla en'sim fes e'nek!"

Delenn 3rd shifts her eyes to the floor. Iris looks at Nanette. "What did you say?"

Nanette smiles and looks at Iris. "I told her no, and that I will see her in 48 hours, please keep a close eye on her for me, for when she or he once served under me she or he—ah—hell…Deylnn disobeyed when it came to work."

Iris chuckles, "Okay, I will see what I can do."

The pressure of autism begins to take Nanette, but she controls it. "Thank you Iris."

Nanette walking with Deltalenn. "So what do you think?"

Nanette looks at Deltalenn, "She is the fourth Child of Light—Delenn 3rd Mir Sheridan, that's what she will soon remember."

Deltalenn thinks why the flesh and mind had to be changed. "But why change the genetic makeup and name?"

Nanette is uncertain, but gives an explanation. "Fear, it's a survival tactic the Vorlon's implanted within her, like me. But what I think activated the gene was Thirdspace, you needed nine who were either influenced or are part of the Children of Valen, that would be you, Arimira, Casthmatic, Mirra, Gram, Iris, Jake, Mira, and Deylnn who turned out to be Delenn 3rd." Nanette looks at Deltalenn. "So where do you fit in again Deltalenn?"

Deltalenn smiles, "I am a messenger, and I am also a child of Valen."

Nanette continues walking and pondering of the prophecy. "So lets run this down, you said the Children of Valen, and Light have to gather?"

Deltalenn nods, "Yes, a there is a prophesy of this trip on Minbar, it's actually part of our revelations in the Religious Caste. It speaks of six prophets fighting against the legions; it also states that the captain dies only to come back as the Child of Light—other words if we are following this story that would be you Nanette."

Nanette looks scared. "I hope this is not true, but if it is so it is for a purpose, but to be a Child of Light would be strange!"

As Nanette and Deltalenn continue to walk, but a voice calls out to them. "AND SO IT BEGINS."

Nanette turns around to see the brown and blue Vorlon. "What begins?"

"THE WAR OF SHADOW'S." Says the Ulkesh Kosh, then both Vorlon's turn and leave.

Nanette rushes with Deltalenn at her heels to C&C. "We have a problem Delteine?"

Delteine looks at Nanette and at Deltalenn, her new daughter. "Who is it?"

Nanette sits in her chair. "What?"

Delteine looks at Deltalenn. "The person down in Med Lab."

Nanette looks at her weapons. "We found Delenn 3rd."

Delteine's eyes widen. "Delenn, Sati Delenn?"

Nanette shakes her head as she programs the weapons. "No just Delenn 3rd a member of my crew, he served as a FCS."

Delteine looks confused. "A FCS?"

"A First Contact Situations officer, he went with me thorough Thirdspace and probably began transforming slowly till he got to Minbar." Nanette looks at Deltalenn. "Your son—sorry daughter said that she is a very close match to Delenn 3rd."

Delteine looks at Deltalenn. "In Valen's name—I am blessed to be a member of this crew!"

Sarcastically, Nanette make a quick remark with weapons upgraded.." Well you might want to revoke your membership card—because in this time we have failed, the Liberator's are the master and the Hand are the servants."

Delteine looks at Nanette. "In Valen's name!"

Nanette looks at the console. "Yes, god helps us!"

Iris goes to Delenn 3rds room to talk with her personally. "Hello Delenn 3rd".

Delenn 3rd looks at Iris, the last time Delenn 3rd saw Iris, was before she went to Minbar in the form of Deylnn, now she lives in doubt of his past, but Delenn 3rd knows what is hurting Iris. "Hello Iris."

Iris looks at the floor and speaks very quickly to get through it. "I understand you're upset with me."

Delenn 3rd smiles. "Iris, I am not upset—it was a trap."

Iris nods, that is what he thought. "When I escaped through a vent I would have never got you out—it was too risky!"

Delenn 3rd nods, "I know, I also know what's going to happen to us." Delenn 3rd looks at Iris's worried face. "We're going the right direction for a chance; those who are not activated will be made as one by the Resperlizers."

Iris looks at Delenn 3rd, "Who?"

Delenn 3rd repeats herself. "The Resperlizers, they will create us as one by opening out sealed genetics to create us as one, already Deltalenn and I have been through the process, the others will follow and those who are only followers will die."

Iris smiles, "Not I, I know this for a chance."

Delenn 3rd looks at Iris. "How Iris?"

Iris sits down next to Delenn 3rd. "When we left 2261 we were hit be a electric storm and I was somewhat at the Liberators homeworld, Delenn 3rd I am actually the forth son of Delenn and I am afraid of the change!"

Delenn 3rd pushes herself from her bed in a sitting position to face Iris direct. "Don't be worried Iris, what we all wear is only the shell that helps up do our task here in this time, our souls never change, you've always been a hybrid of Human and Minbari of the Religious Caste and to tell you why your not even on the records is because of the fear of questions and murder by the Shadow's. There will be an equaling where we all will become equal then the true change will begin and then the war of all wars will begin, the judgment."

Iris looks at Delenn 3rd, "Sort of like Shadow's against the light?"

Delenn is sort of amused by the statement. "Yes, in a sort of a creepy way. We should be ready to jump now Iris, you better grip a wall, and our fall begins as we jump." Iris looks confused at Delenn 3rd.

C&C, the Armada jumps and a laser beam hits the engines sending the Armada plummeting towards Earth. Nanette looks over her window thinking...not again!. "Dear god, that's Earth."

Deltalenn looks at her monitors, "Yes captain and we're plummeting towards it."

Nanette locks herself in her chair. "Lock yourself in Deltalenn."

Deltalenn looks at Nanette. "You to Nanette."

Nanette looks at Deltalenn then back at Earth. "Impact area Delteine?"

Deltalenn plugs in the impact area. "Pacific Ocean."

Nanette looks at Deltalenn, "Where?"

Deltalenn reads her monitor, even though it is hard to read due to the entry of the atmosphere causing tremendous shaking. "150 degrees south, 10 degrees east, it appears to be the Mariana Trench."

Nanette looks at the deep blue ocean. "Depth?"

The numbers scare Deltalenn. "A negative 26,850 feet Nanette."

Nanette looks at Deltalenn. "Can this vessel handle that depth?"

Deltalenn calculates the PPSC. "Let me check. It is 813.6 atmospheres—Nanette only two can kill Human's."

Nanette nods, but looks like a violent shaking due to the vibration. "That is what I was afraid of! So what can this ship take in pounds per square centimeter?"

Deltalenn looks at the monitor. "Give me a second captain. In pounds per square centimeter—labs never tested, but I guess 10 thousand PPSC."

Nanette looks at the land and ocean. "And what is the Mariana's Trench PPSC?"

Deltalenn frantically punches in the calculations. "Give me a second."

Nanette can see the major current trails in the water. "Hurry, we don't have all hours—only seconds!"

"11, 959.92 PPSC."

Nanette feels hope in her sink. "Great were short 1959.92 PPSC."

Deltalenn looks at Nanette. "It is only a guess, we may decompress at 10,000 feet."

Nanette looks at Deltalenn. "I hope not!"

As the ocean nears they hit—the impact is smooth like if the ship was built for water, Nanette always thought the Minbari ships look like giant fish. As the Armada enters 8,000 feet Navigation is steering hard to avoid sharp cliff sides, as Nanette grips hard to her chair they enter the 10, 500 foot mark and the ship is still holding and the floor is still not in sight. By 15,500 feet there is no damage yet. By 20,000 feet the walls are compressing inward by three centimeters, by 24,000 feet the organic plates are breaking and flooding is on all levels then at 25,101 feet the Armada hits bottom, the ship is still holding. "We've stopped our decent at 25,101 feet; pressure is at 11, 181.35 PPSC."

Nanette looks at the groaning superstructure. "How is the ship holding?"

The groaning makes Deltalenn nervous. "There are ruptures on all decks. The Organic mass is—dead. The Armada will be flooded in three standard Earth hours." Nanette looks behind her to see a steady stream of salt water. As Nanette gets out of her seat the entire ship shakes. "What was that?"

Nanette looks at Deltalenn. "An earthquake, it appears that we've triggered an eruption."

Deltalenn is now very scared. "What?"

Nanette goes to a monitor the monitor's the environment outside. "Molten lava is spreading due south of us; it will hit us in four hours."

Deltalenn nods, "Fine with me, I will drown before burn!"

Nanette goes to the com. "Attention, this is Nanette, we are taking on water quickly I need you all to go to the mess hall to plan an evacuation." Com off.

Deltalenn looks at the rising salt water, it is ice cold! "We can't escape."

Nanette nods, "I know, but I wont just sit here waiting for death!"

Engine room. "Gram to Nanette—Gram to Nanette, if you are hearing this, the hit has jammed my door and short-circuited most of my consoles. I need help I repeat I need help!" Gram looks at the plates in the room explode. As the metal explodes in the engine room the room just crunches in like a soda can, but in the heap of metal no body—the body has disappeared. With the decompression the electric opens the jammed doors to Med Lab and security. As compartment after compartment crushes in there is no bodies.

As Nanette enters the mess hall with Delteine the lights are out. As Nanette looks down the hall she hears metal ripping, as she tries to crank the mess hall door shut a transparent glowing tentacle grabs her and goes over her mouth, ears and digestive system, entering her body, the pain knocks her out. As the entire ship crunches up, Kosh Nanarke and Ulkesh Kosh carry the crew away to the Resperlizers city.