Authors note: I know I haven't posted in a while, but the real world and family obligations do come first. This is half of the chapter that I am working on, and I hope you enjoy it. I will post more soon, and in less time than the last time. I promise.

Chapter 40

Branmer's quarters: Shai Alyt Branmer had thought of how he would approach the caste elders on behalf of the human Captain. He knew that being his advocate was the right thing to do, but he also knew that many warriors would not see it that way. He now had an idea of how he would proceed. He remembered a little trick he had pulled at the temple as an aspiring acolyte, so he sat in front of the comm. system and proceeded to rewrite a program that he hadn't used in over thirty years. He was a little rusty, but the comm. systems across Minbar had not changed much in the last few hundred years. Soon he had his little surprise package set, so he logged off and went to his bedchamber. He smiled to himself as he lay down to rest, now everything was in the hands of the elders. His last thought before drifting off was, "It should be an interesting morning."

He was sleeping soundly, when there was a chime at his door. He answered it, and found Neroon standing there. Neroon had a strange look upon his face, "Neroon, come in, what's wrong?"

He entered, and then turned toward Branmer. "Sir. Please forgive my intrusion at so early an hour. I've been ordered by the caste elders to inform you that you are to speak for the human captain."

Branmer looked at him slightly surprised, "What?"

"Yes sir. Apparently someone has been sending anonymous messages to the caste elders all night long. The messages are passages of the warrior code, and of the warrior caste history. It seems that someone wishes to remind them that the different warrior clans didn't always get along."

...
Branmer looked at him, with a questioning look. He knew what the elders had been though all night, but he couldn't tell Neroon that he knew. "Well why would they pick me?"

"Well sir, it seems that there is a little known precedent."

"A what?"

"When a warrior of another clan was captured, before he could be executed, he had to be allowed to make a final telling. The warrior could say anything that they wished to. But as you know, only a warrior of the clan could speak to the elders. This is how the use of the advocate came about."

"I understand that Neroon, but why me?"

"Because sir, in the most ancient of times, a warrior priest had to be used as the advocate. And you sir are the only warrior we have on the planet who was religious caste before becoming a warrior."

Branmer looked at him, "The only one?"

"Yes sir, the only one who was a full priest, and not just an acolyte."

"I see, well how long will I have to prepare?"

"The elders are giving you three days, for that is when the human arrives."

Branmer shook his head, "That won't work, I will need to speak to this human before his last telling. I'll need to know what he will speak about, and I will need to tell him how he must act in front of the elders."

Now Branmer looked at Neroon, "Return to the elders and let them know that I will do this, but I will need more time to prepare myself and the human. At least one extra day."

Neroon nodded "Yes sir, I'll tell them."

...
He activated his comm. system and placed a call to his ship. "I need to know how soon before the survivors of the Beta Durani attack reach Minbar?"

The warrior on bridge duty looked at his monitor, "They are set to arrive in 6 hours sir."

"Good, I wish to speak to them, before they make planet fall."

The warrior looked at him quizzically for a moment, "Of course sir."

Branmer closed the channel and went to his meditation chamber to plan and think. When the Cruiser Moon of Minbar exited hyperspace, the shuttle with Branmer on board was already headed toward it. He landed on the cruiser and was escorted to where the survivors were staying. He had reviewed the list of the survivors, and now looked for the senior survivor. He found the room were she was assigned, and he activated the chime on her door, and a moment later the door opened. A rather surprised woman stood there. "Alyt Dosamar?"

"Yes."

"I am Shai Alyt Branmer. I wish to ask you a few things, may I enter?"

Slightly surprised by the appearance of a fleet commander at her door, she quickly recovered and stepped back from the door. "Of course sir, please enter."

Once they had set down, Branmer looked at her, "Alyt, I want you to tell me everything that the humans did for you and our other warriors while you were their prisoners."

Alyt Dosamar then spent the next few hours telling Branmer everything that she had seen, and everything she had heard of while she was a prisoner of the humans, and he recorded it all. "Alyt, I may need to call you before the cast elders later. Is that a problem?"

She looked at him with what might have been a happy look, "No Shai Alyt. I would be honored to serve."

"Thank you Alyt."

Branmer left her quarters and proceeded to question a few more survivors before heading back to Minbar.

...
Later that evening Branmer sat in his quarters, and thought of the things Alyt Dosamar and the other warriors had spoken of. "It seems that we may have been very wrong about the humans, very wrong in deed."

Two days later, Branmer found himself in his shuttle making his way toward a station in orbit of Minbar. Once he landed, he was taken to a room, and there he met the human captain for the first time. This man, even though he looked tired, came to attention as Branmer stepped into the room. Captain Jankowski had judged by the guard's reaction, that this visitor was some sort of General, or the Minbari equilavant. Branmer looked at the guard, "Remove his manacles."

The guard looked at him nervously, "I'm sorry sir, I can not do that."

"Why not?"

"I was told to keep him chained up while he was my prisoner."

Branmer just looked at him and gave him a small stare with the practiced eye of a priest. "Well he is my prisoner now, not yours. Remove the manacles, then get out."

The young guard swallowed a little nervously, "Yes sir"

He removed the manacles and immediately left the room.

...
Branmer sat down on the chair by the table, and he motioned for the human to do the same. Captain Jankowski sat down, and he rubbed his wrists. "Thank you. They were just a little to tight."

Branmer looked at him, "I am sorry for your uncomfort. Do you need healer?"

The captain just shook his head, "No, why bother the Doc's. It's not like I'm going to be around much longer any way."

Branmer smirked a little, as he looked at him. He knew that this man was facing certain death, and still the human was able to jest about it. "I am glad you can joke right now. It helps to ease your situation. But I am here as your advocate."

"My what?"

"Advocate. You are to be allowed to speak to the Caste Elders formally."

"So, you like a lawyer or something?"

Branmer was unfamiliar with this word, and then he thought for a moment. "In our culture, only one who is of the caste may speak to its elders. Since you are not of our caste, you need one who is to speak for you."

The Captain nodded. "I get it. The only way I get to speak is through you."

"Yes."

Now Branmer looked at him closely, and he spoke very softly, "I need you to tell me why you are here to do this."

...
Jankowski looked at him and thought for a moment. "Well I could tell you that I'm here because it's my duty as an Earthforce officer."

Then he straightened up in the chair, "But I won't. Instead, I'll tell you the truth."

He looked at Branmer, "Are you familiar with the idea of atonement?"

Branmer thought for a moment, and he realized what the captain meant. "Yes I am. Before I was a warrior, I was a priest in the religious caste."

"A priest huh. Well then you might be able to understand what I mean."

Jankowski rubbed the back of his neck, "It was my ego, my arrogance and my fear that started this war. I was so confident that our technology was the best around. I felt that there wasn't anything out there that we couldn't handle. When our ships came across yours in that out of the way system, I felt that we could move closer to your ships and get all the Intel that we needed to handle your people. But when your ships came closer, I found that my confidence in our technology might have been wrong. Then I saw that your ships had their gun ports open, and with all of the interference to our ships systems that your scanners were causing us, I reacted out of fear. It was then that I ordered my people to open fire on your ships. It was that act that started this war. Since then, nearly a hundred thousand souls have been lost on both sides."

Jankowski had the beginning of tears in his eyes, and Branmer looked at him, "Do you need to stop?"

...
He wiped his eyes, and shook his head. "No, I need to get all of this out." Branmer nodded, and allowed him to continue.

"Since that day, I've lost a lot of friends and fellow officers. But what truly makes it bad, is the civilians. How many of them have died that didn't need to. People that should have been moving forward with their lives, but now those lives are gone. It's because of my debt to them that I am here. If by turning myself over to your people, I can prevent the loss of one more life. If I can allow a family to not lose its mother or father, son or daughter, then in some small way I can atone for my actions."

Branmer looked at him, he now saw that same look of relief in his eyes that he had seen the day the captain had turned himself over to Delenn and the others and he smiled. "I was correct about you. I saw what I thought was relief in your eyes when you were turned over to us. Now I am certain I understand why."

Branmer stood up and went to the door. "Guard, bring the satchel I brought with me to the cell."

The young warrior did as Branmer asked, and handed him the satchel. Branmer turned and looked at the captain. "I have clothing for you to wear."

Jankowski looked at him, "I understand. I can't wear my uniform. I get it."

Branmer looked at him, "No captain. These clothes are for you to wear while I have your clothes cleaned. You should look your best before the elders."

This surprised the captain for a moment, and then he smiled. "Thank you."

Now Branmer looked at him. "We have much to go over, and not much time to do it in."

After the captain had changed clothes, and Branmer had the guard take them to be cleaned, the two of them began to go over all of the protocols that the Captain would have to follow before his telling.

... The following morning, after only a few hours of rest and a rather poor meal, Captain Jankowski stepped out of his cell and was escorted to an awaiting shuttle. The same guards as before were escorting him, but this time his manacles were left off and his hands were bound in front of him with a silk cord. Branmer had told him that the cord was symbolic of his capture, and not to resist them placing it on him. Captain Jankowski's somber reaction to the silk cord had actually impressed the warriors who were to escort him. They had expected him to react differently, but he had reacted like a warrior. The shuttle took off, and soon landed at an isolated spot on Minbar, in a valley deep within one of their mountain ranges. Now the guards were preparing to lead him out of the ship and into the caste hall. One of them stepped in front of him, and looked him in the eyes. He made a motion with his hand, and one of the warriors placed a thick cloak on Jankowski's shoulders. Once outside of the ship he was glad that they had, as a bitterly cold wind came across the runway. Now they marched in step toward a large door cut directly into the mountainside. As they neared the door, it opened and they proceeded inside. Once there, he saw that the large circular outer room was empty, and had only the barest of illumination. Now all but two of the guards left, and Branmer came out of a hidden door. He came up to Captain Jankowski and bowed slightly.

"Did you get any rest?"

"Very little, but at least the food was lousy." he said while smiling a little.

Even the two guards smirked a little after that. Branmer took that as a good omen. Now the main chamber door began to open slowly. Branmer looked at him, "Remember to wait for the right moment."

Jankowski just nodded his head, and then he lowered his chin to his chest as he had been instructed. Now each guard took an arm and led him into the main chamber.