Chapter 39

Delenn's Quarters Edding IV: When Delenn returned from the meeting, her acolyte informed her that Miss Daniels was waiting to see her. She entered the room and saw Megan standing there and looking out one of the windows.

"Hello Miss Daniels, you wanted to see me?"

Megan turned and smiled at her. "Hello Miss Delenn. I wanted to ask you something."

"And what would that be?"

"It's about Captain Jankowski, what will happen to him now?"

Delenn could see the serious look in Megan's eyes, so she decided to tell her the truth. "The Captain will be taken back to Minbar, where he will face the elders of the warrior caste. It will be they who judge him."

"So he's going to be put on trial?"

Delenn turned slightly away from her, "Not exactly."

"What do you mean not exactly?"

Delenn turned and looked at her now. "I doubt that the caste elders will even allow him to speak. He is not a Minbari warrior."

"But he is a warrior. He may be human, but he is still a warrior."

"It is not that simple Miss Daniels, only a warrior or their advocate may address the caste elders."

Megan looked at Delenn, "An advocate?"

Delenn could see the puzzlement on Megan's face, "Yes, their advocate. As you know Miss Daniels, our society has three separate castes. But if a person feels that they are in the wrong caste, they can approach the caste elders of another caste using an advocate who is already of that caste. That advocate can then speak for them to the caste elders."

"But the Captain doesn't have an advocate, does he?"

"No Miss Daniels he does not. And I am afraid that most warriors will not speak as one for him."

"So then he's already a dead man."

Delenn started to get an idea, and her mouth began to turn slightly upwards in a smile. "Perhaps not Miss Daniels. I might know of someone. But it will take some convincing to have him help the Captain."

Megan smiled at Delenn, "Thank you."

Delenn just looked at her, "Don't thank me yet."

Megan looked at Delenn, "There was one other thing that I wanted to speak to you about."

"And what would that be?"

"Well, several of us were talking about the problems that caused the war between the EA and the Minbari. We also had an idea on how our peoples could possibly prevent the same situation from happening again."

Delenn's curiosity was peaked now, "How?"

Megan held up a data crystal. "This has the history of an organization that was tried in earths past. It was called the United Nations, and it set aside a place where ambassadors could meet and discuss the problems between themselves peacefully."

Delenn just looked at her, "Are you proposing that we minbari start something like this?"

Megan smiled, "Actually, what we discussed was having several groups involved with this. The Minbari, the EA, the Narns, the Centauri, and."

Megan hesitated for a moment. Delenn took her hand, "And what other group?"

Megan looked at her, "Nossan suggested a group called the Vorlons."

Delenn looked at her, "The Vorlons are one of the first races, I do not think they would go along with this idea."

Megan smirked a little, "That's just what Mr. G'Kar said. But Nossan was sure that if your people approached them, they might agree with the idea."

Delenn looked at her, "I will have to consider this, after I look at the data you have given me. Perhaps this idea has merit, only the future will know. But first we must attend to the problems directly before us."

Megan smiled a little, "I understand." and she quietly left Delenn's quarters.

Holding room on the Valen-tha: Captain Jankowski sat quietly and contemplated what was happening. He knew that he was most likely going to die soon, and a small part of him was ready for that. He saw this as his only way to gain a small amount of redemption for what he had done. He thought back to a few weeks ago, when he had tried to kill himself, and he knew that that was the coward's way out. He was scared then, so scared that he had to get himself drunk before he could try to end his own life. Now he was on a path that would certainly lead to his own death, but he wasn't scared. In fact he almost felt a sense of relief. "At least I'm doing something good this way." he thought. He looked up as the door to the room opened, and he saw several Minbari warriors enter. He then saw the man he had seen on the surface enter.

"Captain Jankowski. These warriors are here to escort you to Minbar. If you try to escape, they will kill you. If you try to speak to them, they will most likely beat you. I suggest that you do not speak to them."

The captain only nodded his head and he stood up. One of the guards came forward and he had manacles in his hands. The Captain put his hands out and the guard proceeded to place the manacles on him.

The captain and the guards then left the room and walked down to the landing bay. They boarded a Minbari ship, and the ship launched. As soon as the ship cleared the bay, the Valen-tha opened a portal to hyperspace, and the ship entered it and disappeared. He looked at the guards, but he said nothing. He wasn't sure how long this would take, so he made himself as comfortable as he could, "This is going to be a long flight." he thought.

Delenn's quarters Edding IV: Delenn patched a signal to the Valen-tha, and then to the Minbari home world. It took a few minutes, but soon she saw the face of Branmer. "Hello Branmer, it has been to long. How is your arm?"

Branmer looked at her, "My arm is healing well Satai. To what do I owe this honor?"

Delenn looked at him, "Can't a friend call and see how a friend is doing?"

Branmer smiled, "Of course Delenn, but I suspect that you are not calling as only a friend."

Delenn nodded, "I see that you can still read my face my friend. You're correct; this call is not only personal. I have need of your services."

"In what way Delenn?" Delenn looked at him, "I am sending you some data that I need you and only you to see. Then I need you to destroy the data. After you have seen the data, I will need a special service from you. I will await your call."

The screen went blank, and the data followed and was downloaded to a data crystal

Branmer took the data crystal and placed it in a player. He saw the interviews of the two humans, and the meeting of the gray council. This revelation hit him hard, for he had been religious caste for much of his life. He knew of the decreases in the souls being born, and this revelation made sense to him. He also saw the humans turning over one of their officers to the Minbari, and he saw the look on the man's face. He was not able to read this humans face well, but he knew that he did not see fear in it. After he cleared the data from the crystal, he sat and wondered what type of service Delenn wanted from him. He knew that whatever it was, she had gone to great lengths to convince him to help her. He sat in his chambers for a nearly an hour, before he contacted Delenn. He saw her face and he could see the slightest hint of a smile. "What is this service you require Delenn?"

Delenn looked at him, " As you saw, the humans have turned one of their officers over to us. He was the Commanding officer of the group that attacked our ships and caused the death of Duhkat. He is to be taken before the elders of the warrior caste, and will most likely be executed. He knows this, yet he still came to us willingly.He must be allowed his right to speak."

Branmer interrupted her, "But Delenn, he is not of the warrior caste."

"Your right Branmer, he is not of our warrior caste, but he is a warrior. He is sacrificing his life to save all of the lives of the humans. Can you name any Minbari warrior that would do that? Other than yourself?"

Branmer sat in silence for a moment, "What would you have me do Delenn?"

She looked at him, and he saw the determination in her eyes. "He will need an advocate to stand with him."

Branmer was slightly shocked, "You know Delenn, that if I do this, there will be many in the warrior caste that will despise me."

Now Delenn smiled, "Once you are done speaking to them, there will be even more that respect you. You were always one of the finest speakers of the religious caste. Even Duhkat was impressed by your words. I can think of no better person to be his advocate."

Branmer thought for a moment, then he slowly nodded his head. "I will do this Delenn. For the sake of our friendship, and because of the look I saw in this humans face."

Now he looked at her and smiled, " Besides, you're right Delenn. Anyone who would do what he is doing for his people deserves to be heard. When does he arrive?"

"The ship he is on will be there in 4 days."

"Then I have much to do and little time to prepare. Valen's blessing be with you Delenn."

"And with you my friend."

The signal ended, and Branmer sat in his quarters, he had a lot to think about.