"If their past choices are anything to go by, they will first try to determine if the information is correct. Once that has happened, they will check back with their oh-so-glorious leader, who will give cautious approval to check things out. And after that, friends...it's entirely up to us as to how things go."
- remarks attributed to Walther Gideon in mid Aug 2259.
* * *
August 12th, 2259. Babylon 5...
"You understand what must be done?" Vendant inquired, as the being named Taaldon sat back and inhaled the peculiar potion he carried with him at all times. "If you tell them this, with your mind, and your unique position, it can be done."
"Very well..." the tall, sallow alien replied. "Your side, or the other, gives me what I want, and what I am...I cannot argue. It will not last much longer, of course, if what I see is true. But for now, I will do as you ask. Tell your companion to reveal himself, and let us conclude this matter."
Vendant nodded, his distaste plain.
* * *
William, with Talion close behind, moved into the Ranger quarters at speed, and shut the heavy, circular metal door behind them. This portion of Down Below was little used, as was common in some other parts of the station, and thus, it was ideal for a Ranger command post. William, as senior Ranger present on Babylon 5 (or Anla'shok Val'na, as Tashann and Dreann would say, a usage that was beginning to spread into the human Ranger population) was nominally in charge of the post, and while the Rangers did not often make an issue of seniority, it seemed now was going to be one of those times.
"Val'na Westcastle!" Tashann began, his voice sharp, "Given the current situation, perhaps choosing someone *else* to go and meet Talion would have been preferable. You must consult with us before making such decisions in the future...the enemy could attack at any time, and if you are lost to us...quot;
He looked around at the faces around the room, Tashann and Dreann, their faces cold, and Jennifer and Brianna, flushed and angry. "You know."
"We SAW them!" Jennifer hissed, abruptly withdrawing and driving her pike into the deck. "Corrolan and Gideon, together! It's true, isn't it?? How could he be so *stupid* as to turn to the Shadows?...to serve them??"
William smiled thinly. "They gave him what he wanted. First wealth, and then security, and finally the ability to once again control destinies, an ability he lost when he was forced to resign from the Force. We warned him...tried to get him to come with us to Minbar, as you'll recall, but he refused, and went down that other path."
"Can't we...well, try and turn him back to our side?" Jennie demanded. "We have to try!"
"Forgive me for saying this, but how easy do you suspect that will be?" Talion demanded from his position behind William, his gaze knowing. "We all understand you worked for him in Earthforce, Anla'shok Clifford, but he has *been* to the homeworld of the Shadows, no one goes there and returns unchanged!!"
"Until I talk to him myself..." Jennie darkly replied, "I will not believe it."
"Getting that close to *them*" Brianna added, her voice sharp, "Is not prudent. Gideon will not be alone, I assure you. They are always accompanied by at least ONE of their masters, as watchdogs or companions. Leaving ourselves directly open to attack by those who control the enemy forces is not an option I will agree with."
"I agree." Talion added. "However, for now, the Entil'zha has passed on the identities of those agents we know of. They must be watched, and their actions reported on so that we have a chance of responding to their plots. For now, though, they must *not* be intercepted and interrogated...any Ranger who does so risks being killed by the Shadows accompanying their charges.
William strode to the center of the room, and locked a piercing gaze on all..but especially on a now-sullen Jennifer. "Talion speaks truly. We *must* obey the orders of the Entil'zha, or risk setting off the war that is coming, before we are ready for it. If any Agents are encountered, the Ranger in question will extract him or herself from the situation with all due speed, learn what can be learnt, and report back. No other actions are to be taken..is this *clear*?
* * *
"I am surprised to see you here." Gideon commented, as he and Morden walked together for a time. Soon enough, Gideon would need to leave...but for now, there was time to talk on matters.
Morden smiled. "I am here to take care of...important business, but will not be here long. But I hear you've decided to involve yourself more with the problem of Westcastle and his companions. A serious prospect, and a challenge...but I know you now, Walther, and you seem to *enjoy* challenge."
Gideon nodded. No other response was necessary.
* * *
Aug 14th, 2259.
Jennie and Brianna, together once again, strode through the corridors of Down Below, 'on patrol' she had called it, explaining to Will why she needed to get out...really, to be alone as possible. *He* would not allow it, of course, and Brianna would certainly not let her do what she wanted to...find Walther, and demand an explanation *why*.
'Don't do anything we won't both regret' Will had said, *damn him*...and now she walked, if only to get away from him for a time. A bitter smile twisted her mouth...their first argument. Sooner or later, she thought, it would have happened, but on this point, it was difficult to accept. Honour demanded her safety...but emotion, equally strong, demanded a response.
A deep 'clink' sounded through the corridor, and she nodded wearily. It would be as she had suspected: Gideon and Corrolan were not here just for show, and Brianna, who immediately backed against her, knew the same. "Jennifer. This is *foolish! I sense something nearby...dangerous, I think. We should go back."
She turned one eye, and replied, "Why bother?? They know we are here...and I suspect that they want an encounter. We will give them that encounter... and if Corrolan were to come, I'm quite sure you'd jump at the chance for a little bit of payback...he's the one who set off your madness, after all!"
Brianna nodded coldly. "If *he* appears, then I will allow the confrontation to occur...indeed, you may be right, but I will know when and if the moment comes, and not before."
"Do you honestly believe it will be that easy?" a voice intoned, and the tall, dark alien that went with the voice stepped out of the darkness ahead of them. "There are those who would disagree with you, and it is certainly a mistake for you to go looking in the darkness for them, here...you might get *hurt*. And he is not here, in any case...as your searching has already determined. The agents of those you call the Shadows have left Babylon 5...with one, *notable* exception, of course. But Captain Sheridan is certainly having his *fun* with that one at the moment, isn't he?"
"What do you know of this?" Jennie snarled, opening her pike in one quick movement, as Brianna stepped forward besides her. "Do you stand with Corrolan? If so, then you should not have met us this day...alone as you are! We could *force* the answer out of you..."
The alien inclined one tufted eyebrow sardonically. "That path is, I'm afraid, not one that's open to you at the moment..and any attempt you make to extract information from me by force will fail, and result in, unfortunately, your unconsciousness and my dissapearance. I do not take such assualts lightly.
But, I give you this chance, and you must make of it what you will...I will give the information freely, but only *once*. And know this...I am older then I look."
"How much older?" Brianna inquired, her eyes narrow.
"You will discover the answer in due course, Miss Tolmanes. The conflict between the Vorlons and the ones you call the Shadows has been of interest to me for some time, now. And thus, I know things.....and one thing that I *do* know of is the current location of the one you call Gideon. After departing this place, he has moved to a base on the fourth world of System 774 in Sector 700. Do you not find this knowledge valuable? There is even a jump portal present in that location, as your race knows already...and those you fear are elsewhere, for now. Their resources are, as yet, quite limited."
"Is he telling the truth?" Jennie demanded.
"Difficult to tell..." Brianna murmured, her eyes closed; but then, they snapped open. "Yes! He is, even though where the information comes from is unclear. I dare not press...his mind is too complex."
"Why do you tell us this?" Jennie demanded.
The alien bowed, and smiled. "I am what you humans would call a 'double agent'. One side or the other needs something, and if the situation is right, I provide them with that information...for cost...or in your case, for free. It all depends on the situation."
"And now..." Jennie inquired, "What are we to do with you? And what is your *name*, anyways?"
"My name is unimportant, but if you insist, call me...Taaldon.. I will depart from this place, and you will not see me again unless I wish otherwise; those are my only terms." After a moment, Jennie nodded, followed by Brianna. "Very well, then." Taaldon replied, and turned on one heel, and vanished into the dark corridor from whence he came. After a few stunningly brief seconds, Brianna moved, and they both ran into the corridor. But of Taaldon, if that was really his name, there was no sign.
* * *
"I won't believe it!" William commented darkly, when Jennie and Brianna had finished telling their tale. "Until I see this base firsthand...even if we *can* get in there without Shadows attacking us instantly. This alien double agent, Taaldon, coming out so coincidentally, and telling us what we want to know...it seems too good to be true."
"Doesn't matter..." Jennie insisted. "We have to check this out, Will. If it's real, then the Rangers should at the very least, investigate the matter. Taaldon implied that we would be able to check the system out without Shadow interference!"
"We should contact Minbar..." Dreann suggested, her gaze speculative, "At least to tell them of this...Taaldon creature. I have never heard of such a being before."
William nodded. "Make it so."
* * *
Intolerable!...but all too true. The song of Ulkesh's vessel intruded on the Vorlon's mind with the news. The others had recruited the services of a **V'zag**! Ulkesh had *not* believed that any still lived, especially given what the more radical conponents of the Many had done to the V'zag homeworld near the end of the last war...now a rather LARGE belt of rock in a forgotten part of the galaxy, far beyond that which any of their Charges had yet explored.
Disturbing. Sooner or later the V'zag would come in search of the Many, and ask for what had been given in the past...and what choice was there, in this case?? Most disturbing. Ulkesh made his decision.
* * *
"You've *got* to be kidding."
"I'm *not*!! That's what the message says!"
"Well I'll be damned...can't hurt, I guess."
* * *
Aug 20th, 2259. Sector 700...Shadow base.
"They have arrived." Vendant commented, as Corrolan and several others approached, alerted by the jump-in signal. "Not quite so quickly as we would have liked...but they are here at last. That Taaldon thing did its job...as have I, Corrolan, as promised."
"You have done well, Vendant." Corrolan commented, and turned to Gideon. "Walther?"
Gideon bowed. "How may I serve?"
"The cursed Rangers have arrived in-system, little people that they are, and *so* trusting. Let's check things out, they might say!...and they have, by the look of it. Fools." As one, Corrolan and Gideon moved to the holographic system display grid provided by their associates, and Corrolan cast one finger across the symbol representing the Ranger vessel. "To see a trap openly, and still come to investigate the matter...in your name. Well, well!...I'm afraid they're going to be a little disappointed." Corrolan laughed.
Beside him, Gideon scowled, and looked at the image. Deep inside him, a hollowness remained, one that even his companion could not remove...of memories, sharp as thorns...and wrong. Would this action remove those memories? Gideon hoped so.
"Call them in...let us finish this."
* * *
Rather abruptly, the system jump gate came online behind them, and seven fighters, class and race unknown, but black as night, rushed out of the vortex.
"Signal coming in from the planet." Dreann reported.
"Put it on." William ordered...and even then, he jumped a little, as Walther Gideon's image, so familiar and now, so alien, appeared on the screen. "Walther."
"William. Your arrival here is worse then futile. I give you either one of two choices, given that you were...foolhardy enough to come here with only *one* ship. Was that all your glorious Entil'zha would give you? Unfortunate...but not surprising; you cannot hope to stand against the forces that have trapped you here...you should not have even tried."
"And this Taaldon...he works for the Shadows, I suppose."
"No." Gideon shook his head. "Taaldon, as it stands, does speak the truth...but the truth is a little twisted sometimes. Enough! You waste our time, and that of those I work for. Either descend to the planet and surrender to us...or be destroyed."
William laughed. "Never."
"Do you really wish to die that much?" Gideon exclaimed, his face grim. "If that is the way it must be, then so be it...but I do *not* agree with your choice."
"That may be so." And at that, William met all their eyes, most resolute, and Jennie's rueful and final gaze, "But the matter stands as it does. We are Rangers. We live for the One...we die for the One."
Gideon shook his head wearily. "Westcastle, you are a fool. Then die you shall."
* * *
Next: The conclusion of "Revelation's Shore"... Taaldon returns, Corrolan *finally* gets what's been coming to him, and Gideon is compelled to make for the part of Hyperspace that overlays the section of realspace named Sector 14! Coming Soon.