The Lady of Downbelow
Kidnapping Arc
+++++PART+02+++++
September 1, 2258
1037 hours
Jamie didn't know what to think about suddenly being in charge. He clutched the thin wallet to his chest as he watched the Lady walk away, the largest Minbari following her. The Minbari who had stayed with them was about the same height as the Lady, with little purple spots on his head. Jamie thought that the clothes the Minbari wore were strange, lots of layers of weird not-shirts. On his waist hung a short metal pipe. "What's that?"
The Minbari looked down to see where he was pointing. "My denn'bok."
Charlie's brows wrinkled. "What's a denn'bock?"
"Denn'bok," the Minbari corrected her pronunciation gently. He pulled the pipe from his waist and held it sideways.
Both children's eyes widened in amazement when the pipe expanded to over five feet long in a blink. "Wow…" Jamie reached forward, fascinated. Before he touched it though, he looked up at the adult to make sure it was okay.
The Minbari nodded his permission, bringing it down slightly to make it easier for the children. "It is a Minbari fighting pike. Similar to a human bo staff." He noticed the boy's awed reverence, while the girl held herself back, and nodded his approval. "You are correct to be wary, young one. It is a weapon."
The girl child's eyes widened further and she took a step back. "You're going to hurt us?"
Jamie shook his head, moving to put himself between Charlie and the stranger. "No. Remember? He's gonna protect us while the Lady rescues Danny and Kari. Okay?"
The girl hesitantly nodded, her eyes staying on the Minbari.
The Minbari priest nodded solemnly and returned the weapon to its previous state. "Indeed. No Minbari would ever harm a child. It will be my honor to watch over you while your…guardian…is away."
She nodded again more firmly. "I'm Charlie. He's Jamie, and that's Jack." She turned and pointed to the oldest child, unconscious on the couch.
The priest gave a short bow, his hands making a triangle as he introduced himself, "I am Kayal of the Third Fane of Chudomo."
"What's that mean?"
"It is the name of my clan."
"What's a clan?"
"When one is born, you are part of a blood family. As you grow, you learn more and must eventually decide upon a course for your adult life. On Minbar, there are three possible castes and one must petition to join a clan of the caste they choose. A Minbari clan is the family that one chooses." Kayal could see the visible concentration the children had, trying to understand. "My clan is the Third Fane of Chudomo, which is part of the religious caste. I learned alongside Lennier, the aide to the Minbari ambassador here. The ambassador is of the Tenth Fane of Elleya, another clan of the religious caste." He hesitated to give the children more information; they were obviously already having difficulty absorbing the explanation. Telling them that some families were also clans wouldn't help their comprehension.
Charlie was the first to hesitantly ask, "So Minbari have families and clans." Kayal nodded. "Do humans?"
Kayal paused. "I do not know." He wondered why the child wanted to know.
"Oh."
Jamie looked at the younger and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "It's okay. Our families threw us away," Kayal stiffened, "but we're already a clan. We live together and learn together, and the Lady takes care of us. We're part of the Lady's clan now."
"What's her clan?" Charlie asked with a sniffle.
As he listened to the pre-teens, Kayal went to put a pillow under the third, propping her head and chest upright. Then he pulled a blanket up to her waist.
Jamie hesitated. "I dunno. Morganson?" They knew the Lady's name was Nova Morganson.
She shook her head. "No, that's her family name. What's her clan name?"
"…I don't think she has one. She's never mentioned it if she does."
"Well, we should come up with one!" Charlie declared. "If we're all part of the same clan, then we need a clan name." However, even though they had been living with the Lady for over a year, she never offered information about her past. Just as the children didn't. It was an unspoken agreement not to pry and respect their privacy.
"Gallifrey?"
"No, that's her planet."
"Rassilon?"
"No, that's a person."
"Tabri?"
"No, that's her dad!"
"You come up with one then!"
There was a long silence as each pondered the question. A weak voice quoted into the quiet, "We are all of us stardust." It was one of the Lady's first teachings. The pair turned to look at the oldest of their group. Jackie stared back at them. She was weak and in pain. She hadn't even moved from her position except to open her eyes! But her gaze was steady. "Clan Stardust."
The three children looked at each other solemnly before all nodded in tandem. "We are Stardust!"
Kayal suddenly feeling an icy chill go down his back and a lead weight settle in his stomach. He swallowed harshly.
What he had just heard…
.
.
It was impossible that they meant…
.
.
.
Impossible that they were…!
.
.
.
.
.
He must tell Satai Delenn of this.
+++++B5+++++
September 1, 2258
1041 hours
A small part of her mind wondered what she looked like that those they passed, people who had known her for over a year, paled at her approach and stepped back. Some even hid. One ran. However, none of that was important. So, while a piece of her considerable brain registered and catalogued the information for later analysis, she had bigger things to focus on right now.
"Your name?" she asked without looking over to the warrior Minbari that was a step behind and to the side of her.
"Mireen, of the Night Walkers clan," he spoke for the first time. His voice was deeper than most Minbari, towards the lower end of baritone or a high bass. His clothing was standard for the warrior caste: black with gray accents, chest piece armor, and protective layers that didn't inhibit his movement one iota. She always found it a bit funny that Minbari pretended they didn't lie when so much of their attitude, culture, and even their clothing was designed to be misleading or hidden.
She noted that he didn't do the standard hand-triangle bow of introduction. "Do the different Minbari castes have different customs?" She knew that all three castes had their own language, expectation of clothing, and training. All Minbari knew all the other castes, at least in theory, but were still separate. The human saying of 'separate but equal' came to mind when she thought of Minbar, and was probably as successful for the Minbari as it was for the Terrans.
"Yes."
If he didn't want to talk, that was fine. Or perhaps Minbari warriors were trained that way. She knew enough of their culture to get by; not the intricate details. And really, right now, she was only interested in his skills. "Your rank?"
"I am second to my Alyt."
Nova did glance over at him at that. Alyt was the Minbari word for general. "Minbari warrior leadership goes to the most skilled?" It wasn't actually a question. She knew they chose leaders based on merit, not popularity nor bloodline. (Though part of her thought that their Grey Council were elected by popularity. Perhaps. She wasn't sure.)
"Yes."
As second to his clan's general, Mireen had excellent skills. However, it also told her that she needed to give him detailed instructions for her first stop. Of a sort. She needed a bit more information first.
She stopped and turned to face him. They were in the deepest parts of Downbelow; they hadn't run into anyone for two levels. They were as private as they could get on this ship. "I don't know much about Minbari culture or traditions. Know that anything I say or ask is not meant to be an insult in any way."
He had stopped with her, staring at her with such a non-expression that it was unnerving. He didn't answer verbally, merely gave a small bow of his head in acknowledgement. The gesture could've meant anything from "that was obvious from your previous questions; I'm not a fucking idiot" to "thank you for letting me know".
That was fine. They could get into details later. After. For now… "Here is what I know of the Minbari warrior caste: you are generally more aggressive than the other castes. Loyal to a fault. Honorable to your core. You serve and protect with your entire being, even if it requires your life. Trained in logistics, strategy, tactics, and all kinds of combat though you prefer the denn'bok.
"Night Walker clan are trained as foot soldiers, infantry credited to working in the shadows. As second to your Alyt, you would be an expert in ground combat, guerilla warfare, and stealth action. How am I doing?"
He blinked slowly twice. She could briefly see the surprised confusion flit across his face, a dozen questions behind his eyes, before he shut it down. "Correct."
"Do you always give single word answers or am I special?"
He blinked again. "We are active."
Oh.
Night Walkers. Ground tactics. Stealth action.
She twirled her sonic screwdriver idly as she mulled it over. "Right." This qualified and he considered himself currently in active combat. Which meant he probably thought she was in moron for talking so much about seemingly nonsense things when they were on a rescue mission.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't nonsense conversation. (Well, mostly not nonsense. Of a sort. Given that she had been trained by the Doctor, a male seemingly incapable of being silent for any length of time, she showed a remarkable amount of restraint in her speech!) "Fine. I could probably talk for an hour and still not tell you everything I think might be useful in this situation. So, let's go for the bare basics: you are an expert in anything combat or weapon related. I won't argue that. However," her eyes hardened, "I know a great many things that you don't. And I'm no doubt about to do many things that you will want to object strongly to. You'll want to fight me. That's fine, we can hash it out later. Our current priority is the children. Right now, I need you to obey. Agreed?"
Another long pause filled with eye blinks. "Yes."
"Excellent." Minbari deceived in different ways; they didn't lie outright, and they were honorable to their core. There wasn't a word for betrayal in any Minbari language that she knew. Once he'd agreed, he wouldn't go back on his word. "Information is my first objective. I've got two sources at the top of my list. This one was closer. You are not to engage under any circumstances. You cannot react to anything you see or hear. Understood?"
Instead of a verbal agreement, he nodded once sharply.
"Good."
+++++B5+++++
1102 hours
The Lady looked around them and set off again at a brisk walk. The warrior stayed a step to the side and two steps behind her, easily keeping pace. While he certainly didn't like her orders, he had given his word. He would obey.
Mireen fought not to react in any way when he noticed a shift come upon his temporary commander. Her shoulders loosened. Her stride lengthened. Her grip on the metal cylinder unlike any he had ever seen slid so that her thumb rested upon a center dial. However, it was her new grace that caused his mind to reassess her threat level. Between one step and another, suddenly her feet made no noise. Almost seeming to walk above the floor rather than upon it. Twice it was as if she moved instantly from one step to the next without travelling the intermittent space.
Not in his considerable training, nor in his ensuing career had he ever seen anyone, of any species, move as she did now.
A cold feeling of dread curled inside his belly.
The farther they moved down this level, the darker it became until only shadows surrounded their single barely lit corridor. Ahead, the darkness became absolute in a vertical blanket. Approximately three meters from the wall, the Lady gestured for him to stop. She didn't look to see if he obeyed as she took another three long gliding not-steps forward to the very edge of the darkness.
"Did you get my message?" in a loud clear voice she demanded to seemingly empty air. There was a long silence as his unease instantly doubled.
She waited.
Silence.
.
.
"Did your messenger do his job?"
Silence.
.
.
.
She waited impatiently, her hands on her hips, glaring at the shadow blanket. "Well?"
.
.
.
.
.
"Sorry, it took me a little bit to get here." A human male with dark features stepped out of the shadows on her left. "You didn't give me any notice that my presence was needed." He gave a sly grin full of teeth. "And yes, your message was delivered verbatim, as requested."
Nova scowled at the man, then looked back to the wall of darkness. "I don't need a translator. I understand you just fine."
Mireen had to use all of his considerable self-control not to react as he felt something in the shadows move. It was the blackness between stars…and there was something IN it. He knew it with every instinct he possessed.
Nothing heard.
Nothing seen.
Only felt.
His trepidation doubled again as his heartbeat began to sound in his ears, the only thing he heard for long, long moments.
"I want to know if you had anything to do with this."
The human was obviously annoyed as she ignored his presence, speaking to the darkness directly, yet his smile didn't drop. Instead, it sharpened. "What are you talking about?"
She bared her teeth to the darkness. "This is a violation of the Code, edict 16. If you, in any way, are involved, then I will be happy to remind your people of the consequences."
"What Code?"
She flicked her eyes to the human, then back to the blackness of unseen entities. "I said I don't need a translator," she growled.
"I'm only here to help—"
She looked back to the male, her expression alone interrupting his words. "Shut. Up. Pet." She faced fully forward, again dismissing the human as inconsequential. "If you didn't organize it, or influence anyone to do it, then you DO know who would be most likely to do it for themselves. This is your area."
She paused.
Her teeth bared. "Edict 17 requires you to offer all assistance to resolve a breach of edict 16. I won't owe you anything."
Another pause.
Her spine straightened. "I am the Lady Nova Morganson, ward of House Lungbarrow, heir apparent of House Blyledge, heir apparent of the Prydonian Chapter. I am Gallifreyan and you WILL follow the Code!" she finished half-shouting.
Pause.
Her smile held nothing but teeth. "Or, I will enact the full extent of edicts 9 through 11…and erase Z'ha'dum."
Silence.
"Thank you," she gave a mocking bow, "for your cooperation." Turned and not-walked back the way she had come, gesturing for him to follow.
Mireen silently acknowledged that he had never seen anything even half so terrifying as a small humanoid female winning an argument with a vertical wall of starless black full of unseen, unheard movement.
+++++B5+DW+B5+++++
***Anyone notice that the B5 episodes are NOT in chronological order?! Yeah, me neither…until I tried to put these in the same order. Finally decided that if M.S. can ignore chronological order in favor of the story, so can I.
Thanks go to denise3 and BarbedCaress for their awesome betaing!
This is my first Babylon5 fic, please be kind as I know it's not perfect.
Reviews are love and help keep me motivated to write more!