Note: Some of this material was written by Tomyris and another writer, Alyrium aka ComradeTortoise.

The gardens in Babylon 5's central shaft were absolutely vast and easy to get lost in, but they were also safe and it was relatively easy to find a quiet bench out of the way and out of line of sight of any recording equipment or human eyes. Elia found Astrid in one of those gardens next to a grove of coffee trees that had to be illicit given their water requirements, sitting on a bench, still wearing her badge and gloves.

Astrid looked toward the apparent stranger looking a bit startled "Hello! I'm sorry, I came here to get away from everything. So many minds on this station, they're hard to block out. I can find somewhere else to sit if you like." she said, sounding a bit sheepish.

The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father. Commander Saumarez…Sister. It's good to see you doing so well. Sit, please. We have a great deal to discuss, I suspect.

"It's fine. I can trust you to be quiet, and I like the sound of silence myself," Elia answered after a moment. Dye job, fake ID that isn't fake because a real Alliance ID machine made it, a little misdirection at the port of entry, and the absolutely revolting feeling of wandering around naked, but I'm here.

"Excellent" Astrid replied "This spot really does have a lovely view. It's surprising, but I suppose it shouldn't be. This garden is vast enough to generate weather. The station uses it for water reclamation" I know the feeling. I've had to do those ops before. The only reason I didn't this time is that my cover requires my being known to be on the station. Of course, I'm only nominally with Commercial division these days.

"It's quite amazing," Elia agreed pleasantly. But even her full response to that, she kept to a more comfortable mode of communication. I've heard there are universes like the one with the Symbiotic Amazons that actually went and built full-sized O'Neil cylinders, which is just amazing. Babylon 5 is close enough for EarthGov work, though, let's be honest. And yes, I understand.

"Not sure who these coffee plants belong to though. They're not tagged…" Astrid did actually indicate for the benefit of anyone watching that this particular set of plants was indeed illegal. Transport division Intelligence. Ever since Omega VII was evacuated.

"Someone has a really nice stash of coffee, then. Of course, we have replicators on Alliance ships, but many people insist it isn't the same thing." Transport division intelligence. So you're working for the fleet we encountered. Got it. All right, you're going to love this. They sent me here to contact you.

"Oh yeah, someone's taken good care of them too. They're so lovingly trimmed."Oh God, it's an espionage comedy. Astrid grinned inside her head I take it the Union kept Mha'dorn contact with the Corps compartmentalized for opsec purposes? In fairness, we only recently found out about that ourselves. Metapol plays things close to the chest. They have to. Loose neurons and all that, and they're being observed.

I admit, I always preferred the capers to the outright comedies. Someday there will be a movie night and I will break out my copy of Night Train to Munich. But yes, the Union understands very precisely that sometimes our political objectives and the Alliance's are not in lockstep. Sync, yes, but not lockstep.

Astrid got a disquieted look on her face and in her mind at Elia's use of the concept 'our'. Elia, no matter what, you're still our sister. As far as we're concerned, you've never left the Corps. I've been authorized to pass information on the current sociopolitical situation to the Alliance, but I can pass along military information to the Mha'dorn. by which she meant Elia From there, we trust the Mha'dorn to put it in the right hands at the right time.

Then any military matters we discuss are for War Captain Era'jhi's mind only. She had caught the look, the feel from Astrid. Astrid, I've gestalted with Dilgar without going insane. When I say Our, I really mean the Mha'dorn.

Astrid smiled faintly, and shook her head, not in denial, but the strangeness of everything. "The lengths people will go to for a good light roast I suppose, especially when their other options are probably institutional swill. If you ask me, our brave men and women in Earth Force deserve better." That is agreeable. And I assumed such was the case, it's just odd to p'hear you speak that way. There's nothing for it, though. The damned charter saw to that. Transport is slightly annoyed that the Mha'dorn poached you, by the way. Not that we hold it against or blame them, given the circumstances. That they've done right by you speaks volumes.

"Considering military life flows straight out of coffee, I'm surprised there aren't mutinies." A cheery, but soft laugh. When I break a mundane rule, I like to turn it into confetti. In all seriousness, thank you. The Mha'dorn connection was … Unexpected, but not unwelcome. They're probably the closest alien telepath org to us that exists.

"Shh! Don't say the word! This station has already declared independence once, one more time and underwriters will start putting Babylon 5 exclusions into insurance policies." Astrid laughed both internally and externally. One for show at her own joke, the other genuinely regarding confetti. You're welcome. I imagine the whole thing was rather unexpected. Some might disagree with me, but I'm glad to have the Dilgar around again. No species should be consigned to oblivion like that. And they were always… more like humans than most would be comfortable admitting. It makes sense that their telepaths would be similar.

And they are. And Jha'dur of all people arranged evacuation transports to favour Mha'dorn, so they're an order of magnitude more common in Dilgar than we are in humans. She paused for a moment. That'll probably scare some Mundanes later, but they scare easy.

Hmm, then it's just a matter of what scares the mundanes more. Dilgar telepaths, or human telepaths crewing the PCS Sandoval BeyAstrid glyphed Elia an image of a nearly-completed Warlock-class Dreadnought being built in a reclaimed Markab shipyard.

...I'm going with the Sandoval Bey. I think the only Dilgar trump card is a redhead with a rap sheet longer than an Administration accident report form.

Astrid's mind went from 'Mother of God' at Administration's accident report forms to a mental exclamation mark when she put two and two together and came up with five because She was supposed to be very dead.You don't mean…?

Look how effective that is. I mean you could have directly seen that I was just making a joke in admitting the Sandoval Bey is scary awesome. But the psychosocial history of Jha'dur is like no other. She's dead. They're not hiding her. Shai'jhur's too sincere about democracy. She has at least six living relatives, though, and I think they're closer relations than anyone lets on. Probably for the best to keep that one quiet, though.

Astrid kept her external expression completely passive as she visibly contemplated the artificial clouds being sucked through a negative pressure system at both ends of the garden, kilometers away. Inwardly, she laughed. You had me pretty good there, I should have gotten that. I figure she just cheated death and retired to private life or something, I don't think the Varm-the Clan of Var would be… a thing, if she was the secret head of state or if Shai'jhur were insincere. Also, that little secret is safe with me. Jha'dur was completely mad, but her relatives don't deserve the fallout from that.

I appreciate that. But we should probably get to business, under different circumstances I wouldn't mind just spending the day with you but the longer we stay here the longer we risk being discovered. What have you got? Elia asked.

Astrid sighed, externally it was more of a wistful relaxed thing. Internally it was frustrated and sad; even angry. Not at Elia, but at the situation in Earth Alliance space. In this datacrystal, you'll find what I can share with the Alliance. As for the rest, drop your blocks and touch my wrist. Astrid told her, and changed the position of her arm just enough to expose a strip of skin that wasn't covered by clothing.

Elia took the datacrystal, but hesitated. She felt naked and vulnerable enough without her gloves, let alone touching someone else with naked hands, even if just a finger. On the other hand, skin-to-skin contact was also secure from interception and eavesdropping. She did it, reluctantly, but she did it. Information swam into her mind, some direct experiential memories, some in the form of reports of operational readiness figures she could recall and reproduce, contacts within the Transport fleet, even strategic contingency scenarios.

That, Elia remarked is a lot of trust.

We're family. Plus our best profiler cleared it, we're not running on rainbows and hope here. Astrid remarked with a twitch of a smirk and a shrug glyphed into Elia's mind. The blunt reality is, we have to trust someone or we're fucked. Our entire strategy for the last century has been playing the long game to overcome the numerical disadvantage. The Earth-Minbari War proved we needed to pick up the pace, but the aftermath of both recent wars and whatever the hell the Vorlons did to Lyta is going to force our hand before we're really ready. Without help, it's going to be a bloodbath.

Elia took that in soberly, and maintaining her composure and wishing she had a cup of tea. She tried not to dwell on the quiet desperation her family must be feeling but she could see it in her mind. Telepaths getting up and doing their jobs every day despite not knowing if that would be the day their world imploded, House-Parents in the cadres doing their level best to make sure their charges didn't know that the evacuation drill might be more than a drill the next time. Alright, I'll make sure this gets to the right people, and I'll keep in touch.

Thank you. Astrid replied, and without changing her outward expression in the slightest gently knocked on the door of Elia's mind. Elia knew Astrid was asking if she needed a hug. In answer, all she did was drop her blocks and let Astrid in, filling her mind with warmth and stimulating her nervous system so she could feel the other woman's embrace without ever needing to physically touch. For just a moment her frustration and anger vanished, replaced by a filial love that was unconditional and hers, just for the asking. Elia sensed that Astrid had to hold her tongue dealing with Captain Ivanova earlier that day. If Zhen'var's experiences with her were any indication, it must have been immensely frustrating; so Elia took that affection and reflected it back, feeling the tension and weariness in Astrid's own mind and soul slacken and ease.

When it was over, Astrid stood up and spoke verbally. "It's been nice sharing a bench with you, but I have work to get back to. Be well." Then she disappeared into Babylon 5's sprawling gardens.

Not very far from where they were, beside the Zen garden of B5, a simple structure rose the equivalent of four stories. At the top one could look out at the station and take in the view of its expansive interior. With a five mile length, the inside allowed for numerous structures, not to mention the garden around them, and even some farmland to give the station some capacity to grow its own food.

Julia looked over the sight and drew in a little sigh. She wanted to enjoy the view, as she had two years before. But she found she couldn't. For one thing, the negotiations were not looking good. It was clear Earth had no intention of amicable compromise. They were calculating that the Alliance, war-weary and facing the Dominion threat, would bend to their demands to keep the peace in E5B1.

It was more than that, though. The last time she was here, she'd been with someone, a comrade and a friend. Someone who'd saved the lives of the people she loved and would do so again and again. Even now Julia could imagine Jen Shepard standing beside her, in the uniform of the Systems Alliance, red hair brushed into place and green eyes staring out at the station. It was a memory, and that was all she'd have of the woman who became the M4P2 galaxy's first Human Spectre operative and saved them all from the Reapers.

Julia felt tears go down her cheeks as she thought about the loss of Shepard in the Traverse the prior month. Shepard had died as she lived, saving the people who were trusting her with their lives. There'd been no sign of the unknown attackers when the Koenig arrived, responding to the Normandy's distress signal. Just the remains of the ship plunging into the atmosphere of the planet below and a collection of escape pods with the survivors of the Normandy crew aboard. Even Shepard herself was gone, her body reportedly drifting into re-entry.

I swear, if we ever find out who attacked the Normandy, we'll…

"Captain."

Julia turned toward the staircase, where Captain Lochley was now standing in Earthforce uniform. An older woman, with brown hair and a dusky complexion, Lochley kept the look of a model officer. She was entering the final quarter of her third year as B5's commanding officer. "Captain," she replied.

"Congratulations on the promotion. Although I know I'm long overdue." Lochley approached her with even steps. Julia knew Lochley had to notice the tears flowing down her face, but Lochley said nothing on them. "How are the negotiations going?"

"Terribly," Julia replied. "Your government and ours… we don't see eye to eye, you might say."

Lochley sighed and nodded. "I was afraid of that. Given the attack on Mars and the other attacks Lyta's people have launched, people are angry. They won't let Luchenko come to an agreement easily."

"We just finished one war, we don't want another. But EarthGov could end up pushing us into one," Julia said. "Their terms are completely unacceptable."

"Just between you and me? I agree. Someone is playing politics back at EarthDome." Lochley peered out at the interior of the station she commanded. "The Free Colony is a done deal and your people will never remove it. And I don't think you should. The telepath situation would be a lot more peaceful if they had somewhere to go."

"You dealt with Byron, didn't you?" Julia asked.

Lochley frowned at the name. "More like I had to clean up after him. He was… well, if you ask me, it's a little insulting that the Free Colony is named for him. He doesn't deserve it. He was little better than a cult leader. He played the pacifist martyr well enough, though. We still get people leaving flowers at the blast site. Sometimes more than flowers."

Julia shook her head. "He's a symbol, I suppose. For telepaths who don't want to be in the Corps." After a moment's pause she asked, "What do you think about them?"

"Who? The Psi Corps?"

"Yes."

Lochley considered the question. "I think they've got a raw deal, but I would be lying if I claimed they didn't scare the hell out of me sometimes. Normals put them in the Corps, but they've made it something we didn't expect. Given what telepaths can do, it can be frightening to think about it."

"That they might want revenge?"

Lochley nodded. "And maybe they deserve it. In the end, the best thing might be to give them a homeworld of their own outside of Earthspace. Let them build their own society."

"But telepaths are still being born in your population, right? What would happen to the newborn telepaths if your current population left?'

Lochley had no answer to that. And she said so. "I'm not sure. Maybe we would start over again. Find a different way to balance the rights of telepaths with the rights of normals."

"Or maybe you'd treat them even worse."

"Maybe. I just know we need to find a solution. The Multiverse made it impossible to keep the status quo." Lochley's eyes focused on Julia's face. "Thinking of Shepard?"

Julia nodded. "The last time I was up here, she came too."

"And I gave you both a tour of the station," Lochley said. She nodded. "Commander Shepard was an impressive woman, a real hero. They don't make many like her. She'll be missed."

"We still don't know who attacked her ship," Julia said. "If we ever find out, I hope the Aurora is there to put them down."

"If I were in your place, Captain, I'd feel the same way," Lochley admitted. "And…"

Before she could finish her link - placed on the back of her right hand - beeped. She tapped the device. "Lochley here."

"Captain, Ms. Connolly just called. That meeting with the Dockworkers' Guild needs to be moved up and she'd like to see you immediately."

Julia watched Lochley breathe out a sigh. "Tell her I'll be there shortly." After lowering her hand Lochley showed a moment of exasperation. "Running this place can be a pain sometimes," she admitted to Julia.

"But it's worth it?"

Lochley looked back toward the sight around them. A twinkle formed in her eyes. "Yeah, it is," she admitted. "I'll see you around, Captain."

"See you around, Captain," Julia replied.

Given his rank, it was no surprise Secretary Onaran had the largest guest suite on Deck 6. It was an interior suite without any viewing windows and was the largest individual suite on the ship - even Julia's quarters were about twenty square meters smaller. Intended for diplomatic visitors as well as for people of Onaran's rank, the suite was as luxurious as it could get on a starship that was not a dedicated starliner or yacht. Elia could imagine Earthforce officers burning with envy at the thought of it on an Earthforce ship (and then defensively scoffing at the Alliance wasting the valuable volume).

Seated at the work desk of the suite, Onaran himself was out of his formal suit and in more casual business wear, a full-sleeved vest and shirt of green and cyan with leggings of dark red. His teal hair, pale in color, was still in its formal braid. A glass of fine Daxai brandy - made of fermented seemai - was to his side, as well as a digital reader. He looked slightly worn and even with what both considered an alien mind, Elia and Meridina sensed his frustration and his concerns. "The meeting went well?"

"It did." Elia replied neutrally. "Is this room secure?" She asked. She knew Alliance security protocols, but it was a due-diligence matter that she didn't think should ever be overlooked, particularly with high-stakes.

"Commander Richmond was quite thorough," Meridina assured Elia. "And since we cannot dock to Babylon-5, there is much a reduced risk of an intruder being aboard."

"Good." Elia replied tightly. "My contact provided me with a data crystal. I've had some time to digest the contents and I can give you an executive summary if you wish." Elia set the crystal down on Onaran's desk.

Onaran took it and considered the crystal. It was not unlike some of the data storage mediums used in Dorei space, and he had an adapter to plug the crystal into his secured workstation was it was. He did so and nodded to Elia. "Please, do so, Commander."

"To be blunt Mr. Secretary, the sociopolitical situation the Psi Corps finds itself in is getting desperate. Many colonies are using the rights they won at the end of the Civil War to eject the Corps, and many are not bothering to put an alternative system in place while maintaining Crawford-Tokash. The net result are telepaths cast out from their families or expelled from school with nowhere to go. They're not being trained and inevitably are either perceived to or accidentally do scan mundanes, leading to increased anti-telepath violence. They also become incredibly vulnerable to slavers."

Elia managed to keep her tone neutral, betraying nothing of the white-hot anger building inside her just speaking about it. "There is also an unknown group taking over that slave trade. They seem to have an insatiable demand and the prices are commensurate. It's gotten to the point that even Psi Corps membership is no defense, and telepaths in the Corps are being kidnapped off the streets in some of the less-secure colonies. Extensive collaboration with the local governments and even Earth Force is suspected in either case." Elia waited a moment for questions and to let that sink in. She had to clasp her hands behind her back to stop them from shaking.

Onaran listened quietly, but there was a clear hardening to his expression as Elia went on. Especially on the issue of a slave trade. When she was done he quietly took a drink and held up a glass. "Would you like some, Commander?" he asked simply.

"Just a small one Mr. Secretary." It would be rude to refuse such hospitality, and she did desperately need one. If not tea, then a small amount of alcohol.

Onaran nodded and poured a small amount into the second glass before presenting it to her. As Elia took the glass he asked, in a low voice, "How much do you know about the history of my species, Commander?"

"There are a great many species, Mr. Secretary, I've spent most of my time acquainting myself with the Dilgar."

Onaran nodded. "You can look up the finer details later. To put it bluntly, my people were once as divided as most Earths have been. When we formed our first planetary government, it was a century after our first contact with an alien species. The Gersallians were good neighbors. The Jeaxians… were not." His purple eyes glistened. "In those days the Coserian Empire was at its height, and the Jeaxians were loyal followers. They saw our people as slaves to be acquired and often raided our first colonies. Even Doreia itself. They were the ones who made the vicious old autocrats of the Sindai continent willing to plunge our world into war to shatter our global federation, all so they could weaken us and turn more of our people into slaves. The Gersallians stood with us, however, and ultimately the power of those terrible old monarchs was broken, our people unified, and the Jeaxians and their masters pushed back. Today the Coserians are a declining empire, more interested in fighting over what they have left than trying to expand. And the Jeaxians… well, they still raid for slaves, but they attack weaker species only. As for my people?" The hard look intensified. "Many believe we only joined the Allied Systems because the Gersallians did. This has some justice. But we saw something in the Alliance proposal, and in the character of those making it. Even the most profit-seeking merchant of Daxai hates slavery to the core of their soul, Commander. The Alliance is built to stand against that evil. So let me assure you, whatever difficulties may arise with Earth or the Psi Corps, these slavers will not be tolerated. We will do whatever is in our power to smash them and bring them to justice."

"Thank you for that, Mr. Secretary." Elia replied. She did believe him, he hated slavery with a passion and so did the rest of the Alliance. "There is, I am afraid, more. Concerning the Earth Alliance itself. I suspect it will be somewhat telling to you."

"There is little I expect from EarthDome. Nothing truly constructive, as it is." Onaran frowned. With a tap of a key at his workstation he activated the crystal's contents. "I will relay this information to the President. Much will have to be decided." Seeing that Elia was finished, Onaran stated, "I have nothing further to ask of you right now, Commander. I have a meeting with Minister Travada and Captain Andreys in three hours. I would like to see you there."

"I will be Mr. Secretary. In the interim, I think I'll get some rack-time. Or perhaps some tea. The day has been… trying, and promises to continue as such."

Meridina departed with Elia. Her own quarters were on the same deck, in the next section over, a walk of several moments. As they turned into a cross-section corridor that curved through the deck, Meridina gently glyphed her recognition of Elia's deepening sense of despair.

Elia tried to keep it hidden, away, but she needed to talk to someone, even for just a moment. Everything about this mission was wrong, that the Alliance was even considering some sort of agreement with EarthGov was ridiculous to her. They're my family, Commander. All twelve million. She glyphed Meridina a flash of growing up communally in a cadre, children playing under the watchful eyes of a kindly older woman.

Meridina considered what she saw. It was not entirely unlike Gersallian child-raising. My parents secured an arcology home in Jantarihal when my mother was carrying me. While I lived with my biological family there, child care was a communal duty for all residents of the arcology, and we often spent time in the arcology's child care section. Meridina glyphed memories of such, first as a young child, then as she grew older becoming more responsible for her younger neighbors and siblings, all until the day she left to become an initiate at the Great Temple and develop her talents.

Communal child-care is where the similarity ends. EarthGov mandated that the state by way of the Psi Corps have legal and physical custody of our children. We made it ours. For us, the whole Corps is family. Literally.

Meridina nodded in understanding. I can sense that in your feelings. The way that farisa are treated in the Humanity of this Earth is depraved. With you, I can see why our efforts to persuade telepaths to come to Gersal have not been as successful as we believed they would be. Your bonds to one another, the strength of your community despite the oppressive elements, we had little idea of such. Some of it is undoubtedly my people allowing our certainty as to our ways to become arrogance. I am… unhappily familiar with how our people can be led astray by that certainty. Meridina smiled thinly. I admit I myself wanted to try and convince you to join us at Tira. It was not to be, and that is a good thing.

You've seen what Nazis do to 'untermenschen', yes? Not in the Reich, but in their early history?

Meridina nodded. I am familiar with such. After our first contact with the Reich, Robert and the others familiarized me with the darkness of the movement.

Then I might recommend some reading for you. Think of them as companion pieces. The History of the Psi Corps by J. Gregory Keyes, and Gregory Stanton's Eight Stages of Genocide. In the Earth Alliance, pay special attention to how telepaths get blamed for our own persecution, and how we are forced to enforce oppressive laws against our own people. I suspect you will notice some similarities.

That there could be such similarities sent revulsion through Meridina that Elia could sense. Your Earth has such darkness clouding it.

You can sense that more acutely than I can. From what I remember, your spiritual beliefs? Philosophy? They stipulate that the Flow of Life is put in balance by positive emotions, yes?

Yes, that is one way to put it. The Flow of Life is strengthened by positive feelings and emotion. There will always be negative sentiments, of course. But Life instinctively seeks the better ones. Love, compassion, joy, the 'feel-good stuff' as Lieutenant Barnes once said. Those things that warm the soul and provide contentment, they are the Light of Life. Some negative sentiment does not overwhelm the Light. But suffering, despair, fear, hatred, if such feelings become widespread, they restrict the Flow of Life. The Light is dimmed, Darkness intensifies, a cold in the being that fuels further dark feelings. It can be powerful in its own right, especially for beings like myself that can reach into the Flow of Life, but it is an intoxicating influence, corruptive of the spirit. To succumb to darkness is a terrible fate. Meridina felt a small shiver of remembrance for her own brushes with darkness, first from her body being hijacked by the Goa'uld Amaunet and then her own inability to deal with the anger and pain that possession had caused her.

You'll forgive me Commander, but it is difficult to not feel despair when there's a good chance I'm going to watch my entire family snuff it, and that the Alliance might well, in ignorance or for lack of political will, help it happen.

Meridina nodded. There was no mistaking her concern. That is why Swenya formed the Order. To teach us to be swevyra'se, to strengthen the Flow of Life, by protecting those such as your people even if it meant our own deaths. We will not stand idly by and watch such a culling, even if the Alliance does nothing. A bitter sense came to her. This is why we have worked to help telepaths flee to the Free Colony. Now, having met you and Astrid Bergsen, I cannot help but wonder if we have been in error on the source of darkness in the Earth Alliance.

You have been. Commander, the Psi Corps considers sleepers to be abominations that we're forced at gunpoint to administer. The same for the camps. If the Corps had it's way the formula for that poison would be erased from history and the camps would be evacuated and glassed from orbit.

Then we must work for that day. They stepped up to the door of Elia's assigned quarters. Whenever you are ready to arrange another meeting with Ms. Bergsen, please inform me, I will forward the request at the negotiation sessions. Please rest well.

I will. "Thank you for the company Commander." Elia said verbally, and entered her quarters.

With the Aurora not at warp or in a combat situation, Engineering was in a state of quiet activity. Personnel were observing the naqia reactors on standby mode, waiting to be brought back online to provide the necessary power for an interuniversal jump or the activation of the warp drive. The large Master Systems Display was showing a ship that was running as smoothly as she ever had, much to the satisfaction of the man responsible for ensuring that.

Montgomery Scott often eschewed the normal duty uniforms for an engineer's vest and white turtleneck, just as he had now. His gray hair and mustache set him apart from his younger staff. "Well, now. Wid ye look at that?" he asked aloud.

Tom, also on engineering watch, looking up from a digital reader and reports on systems checks for the ship's sensors. He noticed Scott looking over the warp nacelle readings. While they were not in operation, it was standard practice to keep them ready for use whenever the ship was not in dock, necessitating teams to be assigned to maintain the nacelles' readiness. Tom noted the readouts from all four and nodded. "Ninety nine point eight percent on the field harmonics," he noted. "Damn good."

"Aye lad, that it is." The old Starfleet engineer beamed with pride. "We've put together an excellent engineerin' team on this ship. I cudnae be prouder." He clapped Tom on the shoulder. "An' ye deserve some of that credit, Tom."

"Eh, I had an excellent teacher."

"So, th' new arm's workin' well?"

"Yeah." He scratched at his forearm. "At least I can deal with the phantom limb stuff now." He held the arm up. "Although there's a lot more that can be done with this thing, if you ask me. From what Rob's said, Kane actually got arms with freaking pulse guns built into them."

Scott chortled at that. "Did he now? An' what did ye have in mind?"

"Well, I figured I can build something. Maybe a built-in plasma torch. Or an autospanner. An extendable one for all of those hard-to-reach parts." Tom shrugged. "Something to make things faster, I guess. I mean, we came pretty close to losing the ship over Germania."

"Lad, dinnae worry yourself about it," Scott said softly. "Ye did well enough. Ye dinnae need t' prove somethin' by buildin' some special arm."

"I was just thinking it'd be cool…" Tom stopped and sighed. "Yeah. It would be a waste of time, I guess."

"What's really botherin' ye, Tom?"

"I just…" He shrugged. "It's not so much that I almost died, it's that… what if I hadn't been able to free myself? We'd have lost the ship. And what if it happens again?"

For a moment Scott remained quiet. "Ah lad. I know how easy it is t' worry about such things. I've had more close calls in my life than even I can remember, an' ye always wonder if th' next one will be th' one that gets ye." He put a hand on Tom's shoulder and prompted his protege to face him. "Tom, ye've come a long way from th' day I met ye. Ye've learned a lot. But one thing we all have trouble with is learnin' t' accept when we dinnae have control over somethin'. Dinnae worry yerself about that or think ye need t' make some fancy arm for yeself."

Tom processed the advice for several seconds. "Alright," he said. A small smile came to his face. "But I still think a plasma welder arm would be cool."

To that, Scott chuckled.

The conference lounge was selected for the private briefing to the others on Elia's contact with Psi Corps. Onaran only brought Travada while Julia, Meridina, and Jarod attended as well. An evening repast was provided by the Lookout staff, mostly finger foods given the late time, should anyone want something to supplement dinner (or lack thereof).

At Onaran's request, Elia provided the information in brief. Repeating the information about the Earth colonies ejecting Psi Corps and the rise in the slave trade, Elia moved on to other material.

"What is worse, in a political sense at least, has been EarthGov's response. Instead of increasing intelligence-sharing and providing additional patrols, they've actually curtailed both. At the same time, EarthDome has been demanding that Metapol 'do more' about Lyta's attacks, They've threatened to cut the Psi Corps budget over that particular issue. With their ships at best hesitant to answer calls for assistance and the mundane intelligence services being unwilling to share information, they're hampering the efforts of the Corps in that respect as well. You all saw the results on Mars, and the aftermath. An aftermath that is entirely predictable and would have been easily foreseen by EarthGov."

"At the same time, ISN, which is an arm of the state in all but name belonging to the Anti-Clarkist faction this year, has been perfectly happy to take every opportunity possible opportunity to attack the Psi Corps, up to and including distorting and in some cases outright fabricating facts. It got to the point on Omega VII last year that they were openly slandering the local Psi Cops. The Corps managed to effectively declare them factio non grata on that planet and commercial telepaths refused to contract with them or any of their business partners, but the same cannot be said everywhere, EarthGov didn't let that stand for long either."

Julia listened quietly and said nothing, considering what was being said. She'd seen little of ISN herself. She glanced toward Jarod, whom she knew researched such things.

"ISN makes pretenses to being an independent news channel, but they get preferential treatment on the interstellar communications network and tax breaks," Jarod revealed. "Generally speaking, the owners seem to give editorial freedom except on some issues considered vital to whichever faction of Earth's government they're in alignment with."

"And the charge of stealing children?" asked Julia.

Jarod shook his head. "I researched it myself. They were teenagers freed from literal slavery. They'd bonded mentally to the point that taking even one away would have been of immense psychological harm." He frowned. "Unfortunately, one set of parents, the ones who went to ISN, were anti-telepath bigots who wanted to put their son on sleepers. They were the ones who screamed kidnapping when he refused to consent."

"It is clear that the situation in Earthspace is worsening," Onaran stated. "And we cannot discount the possibility that they will refuse reasonable terms. Given the survival of Clarkist elements, President Luchenko cannot afford to seem too accommodating."

"Hating telepaths and the Psi Corps is a bipartisan consensus, Mr. Secretary." Elia replied.

"Throw in the people who are pro-telepath but anti-Corps, and it's a mess," Jarod added.

"Wait, hold on. I've been out of the Earth Alliance for some time, but I was in the Corps during the Clarkist regime. They always seemed more than happy with the Psi Corps. What changed? The slavers have always been a problem, a large number of ships we expected to arrive at the Free Colony have failed to show up and we've fear the worst there, but seriously?" Travada said.

"You can hate telepaths and the Psi Corps and still use them." Elia replied in clipped tones "Just look at the Earth-Minbari War. What does one do with a tool that is no longer of use?"

Jarod nodded. "Another factor is that with Clark out of power and his abuses publicly revealed, those now in power may see the Psi Corps as more of a threat. York is the one known committed Clarkist to have kept his position."

"Which only contributes to this problem. It is a severe enough difficulty that the Underground attacks are stepping up in a period of increased anti-telepath sentiments," Meridina said. "That this is occurring while an unknown party is creating a great demand for telepaths in the slave trade makes our difficulties all the greater. Slavers such as these thrive on political instability as much as they do upon corruption."

"There's not much we can do to stop it inside of Earth space," Julia noted. "And even in neutral space, there would be holes. The Alliance fleet doesn't operate in hyperspace, and it would take months to refit enough ships to create a working hyperspace-capable patrol fleet given the spaces we'd have to cover."

"There is the White Star fleet," Meridina proposed. "And G'Kar would contribute ships as well."

"No." Elia said in flat tones that could only be a suppressed snarl before she calmed herself down with her own iron-discipline. "Sheridan uses and discards telepaths like toilet paper. I will also relay what Captain Zhen'var told me: when he was stationed on Io, he covered up the fact that then-lieutenant Ivanova defenestrated a commercial telepath. Three stories up, head first. It didn't matter that there was a pool, he's confined to a wheelchair now. Sheridan is not to be considered reliable."

Julia felt an instinctive need to defend Sheridan, who always struck her as a good man who'd personally suffered to stop a cruel regime. Meridina spoke into her mind before Julia could voice it, carefully shielding the thought to keep it private. Lyta Alexander voiced a similar sentiment when we met her last year. Although she did not confine it to telepaths.

Elia p'heard Julia's thoughts, despite her habitual blocks, it was so strong and reflexive that she couldn't help but pick it up, and yet there it was. "I will note, Captain, that the man who wrote the American Declaration of Independence was himself a slave-owner. He did not manumit the mother of his children."

There was a small frown on Julia's face at that, not from what Elia said but the facts behind it. She didn't want to be wrong about someone she'd looked up to. She could still remember Sheridan shaking her hand after the talks at Rohric, congratulating her for her handling of the Tira Crisis and her stand against the genocide of the Dilgar survivors there. The recognition from someone of that reputation was treasured by her. To hear him being slandered...

"My government largely concurs with Commander Saumarez. President Sheridan stands up for the rights of every sapient being in the the galaxy, except for the ones he's been raised his entire life to unconsciously think of as tools." Travada replied "During the Shadow War, he put out the call to rogue telepaths the Underground Railroad got out of Earth Alliance space with the promise of paying work. They found themselves on Minbari ships as jamming devices. Some knew what was being asked of them, some didn't. They got cut loose when the war ended without so much as a by your leave. And I need not point out his betrayal of both Byron Gordon and Lyta Alexander. Byron was a cult leader, I'll admit that here; but the reason Lyta was susceptible was because Sheridan and almost his entire staff treated her like useful garbage for years."

Julia said nothing. It was one thing for the involuntarily exiled Elia to say these things. She wore her continued loyalty to Psi Corps on her hands. Travada, she knew to lack the same. If even he was bitter toward Sheridan…

"Great beings are never perfect ones," Meridina said. "And while I understand your distrust, even if Sheridan has no sympathies for telepaths, his InterStellar Alliance cannot afford to seem incapable of stopping such conduct. And I am quite confident that G'Kar will be just as willing to see these forces stopped. We cannot rule out some aid from that quarter."

"G'Kar is generally reliable, yes. If nothing else he can browbeat Sheridan into doing the right thing." Elia replied.

Having listened quietly to the conversation and the back-and-forth, Onaran returned to the discussion by saying, "Whatever the prejudices of Sheridan and the other leaders are, the Alliance is founded on opposition to sapient slavery, and we will make clear our insistence on the ISA's cooperation against slaver forces." He looked to Elia. "I am consulting with Portland on some of the issues raised in this communique from the Corps. Do you have another meeting planned with Miss Bergsen?"

"I do."

"I need only arrange a time with Miss Bergsen, preferably during a negotiation session," added Meridina.

"Then I will endeavor to have a reply to send with you," said Onaran. "I can already give this guarantee: the United Alliance of Systems will accept the aid of any group seeking to put down slavery and the slave trade. If Psi Corps is fighting slavers, they will have our support, and we request theirs in kind on the matter. Other matters we will negotiate over."

"That is something that the Psi Corps will doubtlessly appreciate, Mr. Secretary." Elia said, a certain tension visibly lifting from her shoulders.

"Then our business for the day is concluded. Please rest well, Commander." Onaran stood and nodded once to her respectfully. "We will know more tomorrow."