A while back, JMS noted that all actions have consequences. In this particular part of the RIMSTALKER, the actions of a telepath, torn between two worlds, will finally come back to haunt her...
RIMSTALKER: DARK CIRCLE; PART 10
"CROSSING THE BORDERS OF BELIEF" ACT III OF III
**"Every case of divided loyalties that was encountered during the Shadow conflict resulted in a great deal of grief, and, in some cases, betrayal by various parties relative to others. The case that most everybody knows about, now, the revelation of Talia Winters's duplicate nature close to the end of 2259, is a well understood one, but a far more secret and less known divided loyalty occurred, as well, during this time period.
By the middle of the Earth Year 2260, Brianna Tolmanes, one of the original members of William Westcastle's cadre, was being forced, more and more, to make a decision as to who or what she would serve, the manipulative Vorlon Ambassador to Minbar, he who called himself Ulkesh Naranek(and, later, Kosh, onboard Babylon 5, though the reasoning behind this was never made fully clear, like so many things about this War) or the Rangers, those that helped to save her and gave her a purpose....
...while Westcastle, Clifford and Tolmanes normally trusted each other to an enviable degree, for a short time period during the hostilities, due to this divided loyalty, that trust was replaced by..."**
From "Holding the Line: A History of the Army of Light"
* * *
Screaming their screams, the three Shadow vessels, and their fighters, moved forward with inspired purpose. The trail from Z'ha'dum had ended here, and as expected, yet another of the enormous, but ultimately fragile Cha'hal'zhamon bases was present at the end of the trail. Verah was almost certainly here, and the group of Drakh warriors contained onboard one of the cruisers had been brought along for that very purpose. Wherever Verah went, and no matter how long he ran, if the Shadows or their minions could get within close proximity (close proximity being anything within a standard warm-world planetary orbital diameter) then Verah could be found, from the trace that had been implanted in him upon his arrival on Z'ha'dum.
Ahead of them, a tiny, but now increasingly familiar vessel hung close against the Cha'hal'zhamon base...a vessel of those who stood against them, built by the cursed Minbari, and used by the force that named itself ‘The Rangers'. The Shadow vessels thought nothing of this, either; it would certainly be easy to destroy...
And then, they found themselves surprised...for the Cha'hal'zhamon had been preparing for this eventuality for some time now, and as such, refused to let any more of their Homes be destroyed for no good reason. With hardly a whisper, well over a hundred Cha'hal'zhamon war cruisers moved from their places of concealment, and in one, long, bold rush, attacked their Foe. This was a greater concentration of firepower then the Shadow vessels had expected, and as such, a great number of fighters were lost before the capital vessels could respond..
But respond they did, and then, death spread to both sides of the battle.
And thus, time was limited; time in which the tiny, by comparison, Ranger warship docked at the Cha'hal'zhamon base, and made ready to take on the human for which all this effort was being expended...
* * *
In crossing the borders of belief, I have seen many things, and undertaken many obligations, but this?...it is clear that I will never be able to repay the debt I owe these beings. Those called the Cha'hal'zhamon have taken fairly serious losses, but in their attack, they managed to destroy one of the Shadow warships chasing me, and hold off the rest. This allowed the Ranger warship to dock, and shortly thereafter, a man appeared, dark of uniform, hair and beard, his face grim with purpose. He identified himself as William Westcastle, a Sha'vei of the Anla'shok, and indicated that I should come aboard.
I could scarcely believe my eyes when I did come aboard. Besides Westcastle, the vessel was nearly completely empty, save for a bare dozen or so Minbari, who, to my astonishment, appeared to be...
Asleep.
What did this mean, I asked?
The Cha'hal'zhamon will deal with me and me alone, Westcastle replied, as he took the Captain's chair on the bridge. As such, our allies imposed a dampening field of sorts on my skeleton crew...once we have departed from this place, they will recover. There was never any danger...they were warned this would occur, and a White Star is completely capable of operating automatically under the command of one man...if we are not attacked, that is.
But that is not the case, here, I reminded him. My former Masters are apparently eager to reclaim me.
The Cha'hal'zhamon will cover our departure, Westcastle replied stoically. They now know how to deal with small groups of our Enemy's ships, and hide from their fleets. Your pursuers will be harried until we have left, and then, they will vanish from their sight. The Shadows themselves, and their agents, will be displeased with this stand against them, but by then, we will be long gone.
An ideal escape, and that was nearly how it went. We are now entering the final stages of approach to Babylon 5, and I believe it will only take a matter of a few more hours until I am in a position to consider myself free from my former Master's influence. I have escaped, nothing else can conceivably go wrong now..
Can it??
Hold. A rumble has just moved through the body of the White Star. What does this mea...
* * *
Chronicles Log, Event Review, June 21st, 2260.
They came from behind, and surrounded us in a matter of seconds. Fighters, transports, and, as far as I could see, at least two dozen of their enormous heavy cruisers. Vorlons. How did they learn of our mission, and how did they learn of our position, I asked myself, even as I tried to open communications, to discover what it was they had come for.
What they had come for, became clear immediately thereafter. A flash of light filled the bridge, and I and my crew instinctively threw arms in front of our eyes, not that it helped. A moment of fugue, and then all was as it had been.
But the Vorlons were gone...and over forty-five minutes had passed, according to the chronometer. It was then, and only then, that I realized what must have happened, and rage filled me, a rage I could barely control, for it was true. Alkanion Verah, the man we had done so much to recover from the Shadows, the man that Cha'hal'zhamon had died for, was gone, taken by the Vorlons!
Rage then became cold determination, as I ordered the crew to resume our course to Babylon 5. Aside from Kosh, there were no other Vorlons on the station, but there was someone who quite likely had served as a leak to Ulkesh. This was a Vorlon I was coming to like less and less, and trust not at all as time went on, for if it was true, he had succeeded in turning one of my greatest resources against me, a resource I had trusted since she swore herself to my side, and ceased to be the Avatar of Downbelow.
But not anymore.
This would, for a little while, mark a break between us, a break of trust created by the manipulations of a race just about everyone saw as being 'good'. Assumptions always get you in trouble, and this assumption just about killed us all before it was all over...
* * *
Z'ha'dum..June 23rd, 2260.
"It is as we feared." Walther grimly reported, as against the far wall, Justin scowled, and a good number of their associates stood around, their gazes angry. "Both the Cha'hal'zhamon and the younger races are being manipulated, in part, by those we call the Vorlons, and now, the Vorlons have managed to capture our Observer, as well."
"It is all too likely.." Amilia added, her eyes flashing dangerously close to anger, "That the Vorlons will drain Alkanion Verah of all he knows about us; this is intolerable, Justin!! It gives the Enemy an unfair advantage over us, and if they are allowed to win, in part because of the information they obtain..."
"Then the Galaxy will suffocate under the weight of unchanging Order." Justin added, puffing on his pipe. "And we will have failed in our mission."
"Precisely!"
"Well; it wasn't your fault, Walther, Amilia, that this happened, we can't blame you for losing him...this time. But our associates grow more and more enraged, and I believe it is now only a matter of time before the next movement will occur." Justin sighed. "However, until that next phase begins, it would appear that the Circle has a bit of breathing space to regroup and ready ourselves...for when the time comes when both sides collide in direct engagements, and this will happen, soon, we must be fully rested and ready to act."
"Agreed. For now, thought, there is a small matter I must take of, Justin, before that happens. The matter of a colony out on the edge of Earth Alliance space, a colony I once had the unlikely pleasure of serving at. It would serve as an ideal base for our associates, but first, we must, persay, convince the colonists that this would be in their best interests. There are enough rogue groups from the Younger Worlds moving in fear that it should be...easy to incite an attack on this colony...an attack that our associates can save them from."
Justin snorted. "If you weren't so busy plotting to further our associates' interests, Gideon, I might almost be tempted to guess you were trying to take over my job!"
"Of course not, sir. Your tasks are suited to you, we are the movers...in the darkness, where no one can see...and there still remains some work to be done before our associates' open strikes can begin."
"Do you concur, Miss Croyt?" Justin inquired.
Walther's partner nodded. "I do, Justin...shall we proceed?"
"Yes; but with only *one* cruiser, mind you; that should be more then enough to fulfill your plans."
* * *
Later...
"You enjoy this, don't you??" Amilia whispered, as they lay together.
"Yes. The manipulation and fear we incite among the Younger Races is more enjoyable then I could have possibly conceived when I began this. Admittedly, my failures with reference to that DAMNED Westcastle are irking, but the rest..."
"...more then makes up for it, I hope. Between us, we have been responsible for bringing into line OR destroying over a dozen colonies, as well as inciting wars between at least that many species! It is more then enjoyable, Walther...it is our way of life, what we have become." Amilia smiled beside him, and then laughed. "But we are not finished yet, dear one! The darkness's height is still to come...I can hear the screaming, already."
"Deliciously morbid, Amilia."
"I told you, don't you remember?? We will make black magic together, and the universe will never forget our legacy!!"
There were no arguments after that, but the Watchers became more then amused at their actions. At the base of it all, while they were the most useful race to come along in thousands of years, humans were, still, after all, animals, in the final analysis...
And if they ended up becoming extinct as a result of their war and bloodlusts, then someone else sufficiently entertaining would replace them.
In due course.
* * *
Babylon 5; the office of the Anla'shok Sha'vei. June 24th, 2260.
Brianna stood at attention before her commander's desk, and realized that what had been put off for so long was now unavoidable. William was far past angry at what she had done...furious was now more like it. Behind and beyond, many of the Council waited and watched, their eyes icy.
It was the end.
"The time has come.." William ground out, "To determine where your loyalties lie, Brianna. Over a year ago, you swore to serve me always, and THEN, shortly after that, you swore to serve the Rangers in all things, to live and die for the One, and serve as we ALL do, to fight the Darkness in all things and all ways.
But now, I find that to no longer be the case; I find that you are more interested in fulfilling the wishes of the Vorlons then you are of the Anla'shok!...and this most recent example is only further tinder to build your pyre. A great many are angry at you, but I thought that I would allow you to provide some explanation of why you did this, before deciding the punishment you deserve, for this divided loyalty you hold."
The end, indeed. She fought to stop the tears from coming, and mostly failed. "Sha'vei..William...all you say is true, all you describe is the truth, and this has been coming for a LONG time now, I'm afraid. I tried to put it off, to make believe I could still work with the Rangers, but after I returned from the Vorlon homeworld, Ulkesh's hold over me has become near unbreakable. Whatever he wants from me, I can now no longer stop him from taking it...and that included the knowledge of the Shadow Observer you tried to save. It was a mistake for you to utter that knowledge in my presence, for as soon as Ulkesh found out about it, he acted...and the sacrifice your allies made was all in vain.
You called this a betrayal...and it was; you describe a divided loyalty...and you're right. I cannot...no, I MUST not argue with your viewpoint, for it is the right one. And as such..." With one trembling hand, she reached up to the Ranger badge over her left breast, and detached it. "I must, with regret, resign from my position at your side, William Geoffrey Westcastle. I don't want to!...but the pull of the Vorlons is TOO strong.
Until this changes, I can only serve them...I do my duties as Anla'shok no honour, and as such, I turn over to you my badge, as penance for what I have done, in hurting you and yours." She wiped a tear from a cheek, and tried not to meet William's eyes, now full of sorrow, not anger. "Hold it for me, and if I return to you in the future, you, with the Entil'zha, must make the decision on whether I can re-earn it. In Valen's Name, I ask this of you!"
There was a pause, and then William nodded somberly. "I regret this...but I understand the reason behind it....and accept this task. When this is all over, I pray that Ulkesh will find it in his heart to release you of your obligations, and let you return to us. When that time comes, I will be waiting, badge in hand, to return to you your honour."
Did Ulkesh even HAVE a heart?...she wasn't sure, but she nodded anyway. "Thank you." She half turned. "Farewell, friend. It's been an honour to serve with you, and all who follow you."
And then, she turned, and walked away. A walk that only barely restrained itself from becoming a run.
* * *
I am the Follower, and I speak on what I have seen.
This was the first sorrow I beheld; Brianna running away, tears streaking her cheeks, because she could no longer withstand the pull of her master. The Three so built by fate, while not yet broken, was now sorely strained, and it would take a long time for the trust they had previously enjoyed to return.
In between, battles would flare, and worlds would die.
And everything would change.
* * *
Next...as William begins to train with the crews of the rapidly multiplying White Stars, and the others make ready to leave for Minbar, the man named Walther Gideon and his dark lover descend on the world called Nighthawk. It is July 2260, and the chaos of the Shadows comes stalking behind. "Desperate Measures" a three phase part, coming soon.