Chapter 65

B4 Construction site:

Kosh Naranek was analyzing the data his ship had gathered, the holo-data showed that the unaltered humans had lay down a very efficient early warning net of satellites. He also studied the ships that they were using to guard the area, and he was both impressed, and worried. These small ships could easily overwhelm any of the lesser children's ships, and perhaps the ships of the Minbari or the Drahk. This could be a problem. He knew his brothers and sisters would do something about this, so that the circle would continue. He also knew that whatever they did, it would cost these humans many lives. He knew he had to do something about this first. He would contact Lennon, and try to do this subtly. His ship began to move away from the area carefully, and when it was safe, they entered hyperspace.

His ship made it to Minbar quickly, and then passed their security systems without registering on them. Kosh made his way to Lennon's quarters, and found him meditating. Lennon heard the melodious voice, "There is trouble."

Lennon looked at him, "What sort of trouble?"

"The new humans."

"What about the new humans?"

" Endanger the circle."

Lennon was worried now, "Would the Vorlons do something drastic?"

"Yes."

"And many of the humans will die?"

"Yes."

"How long do I have?"

"22 Days."

"Then I will do what I can to prevent this."

"Good."

Lennon hesitated for a moment, "I may need to tell them certain things."

"Yes, do." and Kosh withdrew.

...

Lennon got up and began packing a small bag. As he was packing, the chime at his door sounded. When he answered it, he found that it was a priest from the House of Mir. The man bowed deeply to Lennon, and then handed him a large envelope with his name written on it. The writing appeared very old, and Lennon looked at the priest, "Who sent me this?"

The priest only smiled, "You must read it to find that out, Anla-shok Na."

Then the priest again bowed, and left Lennon alone. Lennon found two letters inside, and he looked at the one marked 'Lennon'. Then he looked at the name on the second letter. The letters were written on very very old parchment, and to say he was shocked by the second name would have been a great understatement. He read the letter marked 'Lennon', and he felt he had to sit for a moment. After a few minutes, he alerted his number two, and had a flyer made ready for himself. His next stop was at the anla-shok archives. Two hours later, he was entering the hyperspace gate and setting a course for the Vega system.

Lennon's ship arrived at the Vega system 2 days later, and once he gave them his personal code, he was cleared all the way to Vega 3. He landed the flyer at the private area set aside for him, and contacted Jeff Groves office.. The woman he spoke to informed him that Mr. Grove was out of the office today, but she could get a message to him. Lennon just looked at her, "Please do that, and tell him that I need to see him about a very important matter."

"Yes sir."

...

Twenty minutes later, Lennon saw a hover car pull up in front of the flyer, and a man got out of it, and opened the back door, and then looked at the flyer. Lennon exited the flyer, and made his way to the hover car. The driver bowed slightly to him, "Master Lennon, Mr. Grove apologizes that he couldn't come for you personally, but he is detained by the function he is at. He has asked me to drive you there immediately."

Lennon nodded, and got in the hover car. They were soon on the outskirts of the city, in one of the residential area's, and they stopped in front of a building. Lennon could see the security men, and he wondered what was going on. The driver got out and opened his door, and Lennon saw the sign on the front of the building. His mastery of the written human languages wasn't perfect, but he made it out to read, 'Saint Teresa's 1st Church of Vega.'

"A temple" he thought, "I must be on my best behavior here."

The driver then escorted him to the front door of the church and waited outside after Lennon had entered. Lennon saw many doors to the left and front of the entry area, and he saw a set of double doors off to the right. He also heard music coming from that direction, and then he saw Mr. Douglas standing just inside the doorway. Mr. Douglas also saw him, and he came over and they both bowed. "Lennon, what brings you to Vega 3?"

"A matter of the utmost urgency. We need to talk."

"I see, but as you can see, I'm a little tied up right now. Could this matter wait a short time?"

Lennon nodded, then looked at Mr. Douglas. "What is happening? Am I interrupting some sort of human ritual?"

Mr. Douglas smiled now, "Lennon, how would you like to attend a human wedding ceremony?"

Lennon thought for a moment, "I believe I would like that. I am very well versed in the various traditions of many races, but I have never attended a human wedding before."

Mr. Douglas smiled again, "Excellent. I think you're in for a treat."

He motioned for a young man to come over, and an Earth Force officer came over. "Lt Chapman, this is Master Lennon of Minbar. A friend of the bride. Would you please escort him inside, and seat him with my wife."

The young man looked at Lennon for a moment, then nodded. "Yes sir."

He led Lennon down the center aisle, and indicated the pew where Mrs. Douglas was seated. As Lennon was going down the aisle, he noticed Jeff Grove standing at the front of the room, standing next to a very nervous appearing Earth Force officer, Captain Santiago.

He bowed slightly to them, and they bowed their heads in return. He also saw several people that he recognized as being in the Earth Alliance government. Once he was seated, Terry could see the puzzlement on his face, and she quietly asked if he was alright. He told her it was his first human wedding, so she quietly explained the various things about a wedding. The procession, the wedding party, the best man and maid of honor, and some of the history behind the positions. The music changed slightly, and Lennon saw people looking at the back of the church. He saw a young girl was coming down the aisle, and she was spreading flower petals. Now a young boy came down the aisle, carrying a red satin pillow, and he heard Terry quietly say, "That's our son Steven." Now he saw the Maid of Honor began down the aisle. Lennon was slightly surprised now, for he saw that the Maid of Honor was a young Minbari woman he knew. She bowed her head slightly as she passed him, and continued to the front of the church. Then he saw everyone was rising, and the music was changing again. Now he saw Mr. Douglas escorting a woman in a white veiled dress, and when she was closer, he saw that it was Dr. Lloyd. To his own surprise, Lennon found that he was actually finding this human ritual quite intriguing, so he listened very closely to the ceremony.

After the ceremony, the guests were making their way to the rear of the church, and greeting the wedding party. As he approached her, Dr Massalon bowed deeply, "Anla-shok Na Lennon, it is an honor to see you again."

He bowed to her, "Healer Massalon of the House of Mir, it is I who am honored. You and a few of our other young people have been willing to embrace new ideas. Ideas Minbar will need in the future. But I must request two things of you for now."

"You need but ask Anla-shok Na."

" First, we should speak in English, in deference to our human hosts."

Now he smiled at her, "And second, please just call me Lennon. Formal titles are not truly appropriate here today. Don't you agree?"

Now she smiled, "Of course Lennon."

Now Lennon made his way to Jeff Grove, "Jeff, I need to speak to you urgently."

He smiled a little, "I'll try to get away as soon as I can Lennon."

Lennon nodded, "Of course." and moved down the line.

Now he came up to Dr. Santiago, she was a little surprised to see him, but she smiled and greeted him. "Master Lennon, you honor us with your presence here."

"It is I who am honored Doctor. I have never seen a human wedding before, and my first one is with the most beautiful bride I have ever seen."

Heidi actually began to blush, and he saw her eyes start to moisten. Captain Santiago extended his hand, which Lennon took and shook. Captain Santiago leaned closer, "Mr. Lennon, I don't know of to many people who could make my wife blush and tear up. But anyone who can is a welcomed guest."

All of them chuckled a little.

Soon the guests had made their way to the reception area of the church, and Lennon found himself seated with Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, 2 women and several children. He saw that the wedding party was seated at a separate table at the front of the room. Luke introduced the two women as Commander Ahmed of the Confed defense force, and her wife Gina, and the children were his other son Nicholas and two of the Ahmed's daughters. After the meal and the toast, Lennon saw Dr. Massalon coming over to the table, so he made his way over to her.

"Are you enjoying yourself Lennon?"

"Very much so, the food and the company are excellent. But I must say that I was a little surprised to see a Minbari taking part in a human ceremony."

Massalon looked at him, and he saw she was a little upset. "Heidi was my mentor when I first arrived here, and she has since become a very good friend to me as well. I have learned a lot from her and the others, so when she asked me to stand with her at her side as her Maid of Honor, I could not refuse her."

Lennon smiled at her, "I understand, and if I have offended you, I most sincerely apologize."

They were interrupted as a girl began to pull on Massalon's dress, and they looked at her, Lennon recognized her as the flower girl he had seen before. Massalon smiled at her and bent down and picked her up. "Hina, how are you feeling today? No tummy aches?"

The girl smiled and shook her head from side to side, "No more."

Massalon looked at Lennon, "This is Hina Ahmed, she's one of my more regular patients. It seems that she's never met a small object that she hasn't liked."

Lennon looked a little puzzled, and Massalon tried not to laugh, "She likes to swallow things."

"Ah, I see."

Hina reached over and touched his beard, "Pretty."

Lennon couldn't help but smile at the child, she reminded him of a few of his own grandchildren at that age. He touched her cheek gently, "But not as pretty as you."and Hina buried her face in Massalon's neck.

Now he looked at Massalon, "Have you seen Jeff Grove?"

She nodded, "He's on the dance floor with his wife, since I do not know the human dances, she volunteered to dance with him during the wedding party dance."

Lennon nodded, "Yes, I remember that Jeff said that she loves to dance."

After the dance was over, Jeff and his wife came up to Lennon, "Lennon, I'm sorry that I didn't meet your ship, but as you can see, I've been a little busy today."

"I understand Jeff."

Now Lennon looked at the woman beside Jeff Grove and smiled as he took her hand. "I take it that you are Darlene? Jeff has told me much about you."

The woman smiled at him, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Lennon. Jeff's talked a lot about you as well,"

"Are your daughters here as well?"

She smiled again, "No, they're spending the day with my parents. Something about not getting enough time with their granddaughters."

Lennon smiled a little more, "I know what they mean, I hardly ever see my grandchildren these days."

Now Jeff asked him, " So what brings you to Vega 3?"

"I need to speak to you and Mr. Douglas, it is very important."

Jeff just looked at his wife, and she nodded her head. "I know, business is business, go on."

Jeff kissed her cheek, then looked at Lennon. "OK, follow me."

They made their way back to the table, and Mr. Douglas saw them coming, and stood up. The three of them made their way out of the reception area, and down a hallway. They entered one of the Sunday school classrooms, and made sure they were alone. Luke looked at Lennon, "We can talk here."

Once the door was closed, Lennon took out a device from his robes, and activated it. He just looked at them for a moment, "I need your help."

"What sort of help?"

Lennon looked at them and hesitated, "Before I tell you, I must have you read this." and Lennon handed him a parchment letter.

Mr Douglas looked at the letter, and the strange seal just below his own name. He opened the seal and read the letter. When he was done he just looked at Lennon. "Is this for real?"

Lennon looked at him, "As real as mine." and held up another parchment letter.

"So what kind of help do you need?"

"It has to do with Babylon 4."

Jeff looked at Lennon, a worried expression on his face. "Have the Anla-shok heard something?"

"In a manner of speaking." again he hesitated. "But what I know, you may not believe."

Luke smiled a little, "We traveled here from another dimension, it may surprise you what we believe."

Lennon nodded his head, "Of course."

Now he looked at them. "As you know, almost a thousand years ago, the forces of light fought a war with the Shadows and their allies. But what you don't know, is that at one point, the dark forces scored a great victory. They found and destroyed the main command post for the forces of light."

Luke just nodded, "That could be demoralizing to any force."

Lennon nodded, "It was, and things did not look good for the forces of light. But they soon began to receive signals from an area of space where many strange things had happened before. A ship was dispatched to the area, and they found a large space station there. When they boarded the station, they found a Minbari man, the Vorlons, and a few other beings on the station."

Luke looked at him, "Valen I take it."

"Yes, Valen, a Minbari not born of Minbari. That was the turning point in the war for the forces of light. Under Valen's leadership, the forces of light began defeating the Shadows and their minions. Soon this drove the forces of darkness into hiding."

Now Lennon took a data displayer from his robes, along with a crystal. He played the crystal, and a hologram appeared showing the station. Both Luke and Jeff immediately saw that it was Babylon 4, and there were signs of repaired battle damage.

Now Luke raised his hand, "Are you saying that the station your people found nearly a millennium ago was Babylon 4?"

Lennon just nodded, and Jeff looked at him, "How?"

"I am not sure. All I know, is that the image I showed you was from just after the last great war. What I do know is that when it arrived, it was fully functioning."

Luke looked at him again, "You do know that Babylon 4 is almost completed."

Jeff thought for a moment, "I think about two maybe three weeks before they're completed."

Luke looked at Lennon seriously now, "So sometime between now and then, somethings going to happen to Babylon 4."

Lennon just nodded, but Luke thought he saw a look in his eyes, "There's more, isn't there?"

Lennon looked at him, "I believe that the Vorlon's may do something to ensure that Babylon 4 travels back into time. But there is another problem."

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose, "It's our security screen, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Now Luke looked Lennon directly in the eyes. "Do you think the Vorlon's would do something drastic to our people?"

"I don't know for certain, but I believe it is possible they would."

Jeff looked at Luke, "Sir, from what I've heard about them, the Vorlons could wipe out all of our people. But we might hurt them a bit."

Now Luke began to pace a little, after a minute, he looked at Jeff, "Jeff, our Corvettes have our standard sensor suites right?"

"Yes sir."

"And our new project is set for field testing?"

"Just about sir."

Now Luke thought for another moment, then he looked at Jeff. "Jeff, have your driver take Darlene, Terry, and the kids home, then ask Commander Ahmed to meet us out front. We need to go to the office."

Jeff looked a little surprised, and looked at him, "Are you sure about this sir?"

Luke just looked at him, and Jeff saw a hard look in his eyes. "A lot of lives are at stake Jeff, I'm as sure as I can be."

Jeff just nodded, "Yes sir."

Now Luke looked at Lennon, "I think we should say goodbye to our hosts."

The three of them then headed back to the reception area. As they left the church, Commander Ahmed was waiting for them. She saw Lennon, then looked at Mr. Douglas.
"Sir, Am I to take it that Mr. Lennon is being given full access."

Luke just nodded, and the four of them got into Mr. Douglas's hover car.