Chapter 31 (Kalain)
Kalain watched the swirling clouds in hyperspace as they curled and flowed in all directions. He thought about the human vessel that had disappeared into the depths of hyperspace, never to be seen again.
He could not understand what the humans hoped to achieve by diving into something so deadly. He knew that entering an eddy stream would mean certain death.
But as he studied the footage for an hour, he noticed an object that resembled a flyer or a small one-man ship. Curious, he ordered the imaging computer to magnify the spot and sure enough, a small craft could be seen hooking itself to the Agamemnon.
Kalain had taken some extra lessons to learn the human language. He loved to hear the humans beg for their miserable lives. His own teacher praised him for his determination to learn another language but he was concerned for his obsession with humans. It was okay to harbor such feelings, as long as it didn't affect his work.
He slowly drifted back to reality when someone spoke.
"You know the Gray Council will want to know what happened. How will you explain the escape?" spoke one of the cloaked Minbari.
Kalain turned away from the projection. "We will tell them nothing." He waited for the shocked murmurs to fade. "The Gray Council does not need to know about this failure. They gave us our objective and I will see it completed. We will not tell them, because we are not finished yet."
"But Kalain, the Gray Council will demand a report. If we tell them that we had successfully destroyed the human ships, won't they want to see the evidence for themselves?"
Kalain turned his head back towards the projection, annoyed. His operations clerk had a point and it was a good one. How would he explain the failures to the Gray Council? The governing body was already split over the continued efforts of this senseless war and the Worker Caste had slashed the number of workers who were sent to build ships and guns. Even the Rangers had stepped away, like they were afraid of something…Shadows. Yes, that's what they're afraid of. The Shadows. A make-believe tale told to scare bad children.
"The Gray Council is currently preoccupied with its own legends about the Shadows and the rising tide at Z'ha'dum. Let them have what little information we can provide and I'm confident that they will ignore the matter for now," Kalain said.
Secretly, he held back his distaste for the whole matter. He must complete his own mission. He must find that human ship and destroy it. Completing this mission would uphold his family honor and he must show that he could command a ship accordingly.
Kalain waved his hand across the projection and watched the image slither up and dissolve back into the projector. A ring of lights slowly activated, illuminating the dark room.
Kalain bowed his head, replaced his hood with both gloved hands and slowly left the chamber, leaving the others to think about his words.
Strolling through the passageway, Kalain felt a brisk hand touch his shoulder. It was Deeron. She looked alluring and spunky as usual. Kalain could not wait to get her back to his quarters, but she appeared to have more important things on her mind.
"Kalain. I've just received word that there's a strange vessel following our course. It's just outside our scanning range. I've already ordered maximum power on the scanners, but the object is too far."
"Are you sure it's not a local life form capable of living in hyperspace? We've run into many of them recently."
Deeron's bright eyes looked into Kalain's. "We're quite sure. And it's deliberately staying outside our range. We have changed course to intercept it, but it only moves away."
"Could it be a human ship?"
"Perhaps, but we should be able to detect it, even at that range. It appeared to have organic technology that makes our scanning ineffective."
Kalain placed his hand to his chin and thought for a moment. There were not many species with organic ships and the only race that came to mind were the Vorlons. But why would they be interested in his ship or his people?
"Have you tried to contact them?" Kalain inquired.
"Yes, but we have not received a response. They could be ignoring us or..."
Kalain looked directly into her eyes. She was not the one to stutter or hold back. "Yes, go on."
She stood straight and appeared to treat his request like an order. "They might be planning an attack."
"What! Don't be foolish. The Vorlons have no quarrel with us. Why would they even plan such an attack? It doesn't make sense."
"I'm sorry sir." Deeron bowed her head.
Kalain placed a compassionate hand on her soldier and smiled. He'd never need this girl so docile and apologetic. He took her hand as a sign of interest.
"'It's probably nothing to worry about. Just some Vorlon scout ship." He stopped and looked at her directly. "Tell me Deeron, do you have plans for tonight?"
She tried to hide an embarrassed smile, but the question was so personal it was impossible to stop such simple feelings.
"I am not doing anything at the moment. But I get the feeling you're going to occupy my time later."
Kalain smiled and gestured her forward. It was going to be an interesting night. He still had a dark feeling of annoyance…lingering deep inside, like a child who wants to plot his revenge on his friend for something simple. But Kalain was more than thrilled to spend what little time he had with Deeron.
Itwas later that evening that Kalain received an urgent call. He'd just finished a rich dish of herbs and fruit for his companion. Something he'd spent most of the night preparing with great care.
Deeron sat at the end of the table with her legs crossed and looking very appealing. The sharp bone ridges heightened her Warrior Caste status and the jagged bones indicated she would make a fine mother. Kalain hid his inner desires. As he placed the soft fruit into his mouth, someone politely interrupted his moment through the ships personal communications.
"Kalain, you are summoned to the Control Chamber immediately. There's an unknown ship heading this way."
Kalain gazed into Deeron's eyes and felt her disappointment. "I bet the humans have returned to face us, like proper warriors." Kalain stood, beaming with pride. "I've underestimated these humans. I thought they were worthless cowards."
"I recommend that we don't keep them waiting," Deeron said, leading the way towards the entrance of the room.
The projection showed a dark object that felt and looked strange. Kalain didn't know what he was looking at, but he still assumed the humans had made this thing and he was the one to test their new level of technology. He ordered an intercept course and waited patently for the final battle to start.
Gaining honor, through battles with the humans, had begun to turn into a sport for the Warrior Caste. But that pride had been getting rare and rarer as time went on. The humans were not common as they once were. And finding a human battleship would bestow great honor for that family clan and the ship itself.
Sadly, as Kalain looked into the depths of hyperspace, the ship that slowly solidified into view was anything but human.
Like it was a giant of hyperspace and menacing in every way, the horrifying dark vessel slithered through the clouds and the gap between the two vessels soon disappeared.
Kalain had never seen such a vessel before and its threatening tentacles reminded him of a horrific creature he had once dreamed of many years ago. But what was it? As far as he knew, Kalain had never seen a ship like that in reality. Was this a first contact situation?
Somehow Kalain doubted that.
As his command crew exchanged words, the first sign of something hostile became noticeable.
The unknown ship changed its shape and pointed what appeared to be its mouth at the Trigati. Kalain could see the highly detailed vessel as the center of the mouth glowed red-hot; he knew it was about to fire.
When the devastating beam penetrated his ship Kalain was tossed around the Control Chamber like he was a toy in the hands of some absent-minded child. He could only imagine the damage inflicted on his vessel. Luckily, due to the location of the Control Chamber, in the middle of the ship, Kalain and his staff escaped unharmed.
But as they looked towards the ghostly projection of the black ship, Kalain could only watch as the vessel primed itself for the killing blow. As a hot indecent glow began to pulsate from the belly of the beast, Kalain was powerless to do anything. Then a stabbing beam of red-hot light engulfed the projection dome, causing the room to fall into a pit of darkness, emphasized by the howling cries of wind and breaking bulkheads. The room disappeared into the vacuum of hyperspace. Kalain felt nothing as his body was instantly frozen and crystallized.
Kalain knew his body had finally died. He gazed down upon his own mutilated body and felt the pull of the local eddy stream. He was powerless to stop it. He was told that a Minbari soul would return to Minbari and be reborn, but he knew that this was not the case. In his final moments, he saw the twirling tentacles of the departing vessel that had destroyed his cruiser. Then he drifted into the local currents of hyperspace, and Kalain was no more than local energy.