Author's Note: As I draw near to the end of THE RIDERS ON THE STORM, and, for the most part, towards the conclusion of the saga as a whole, I would like to thank those on the list who have, from time to time, sent small accolades in my direction, as I have wrestled with the beast, and slowly drawn it towards submission. It has been a long road, telling the story of William Westcastle and his comrades, but an enjoyable one, nontheless.
David Goldingay; 12:15 am, MST, October 28th, 1998
RIMSTALKER: THE RIDERS ON THE STORM; PART 18
"FLIGHT OF ANGELS"
**"...the New Alliance would waver and crack, but in the end, it would hold...because what is built ENDURES. And what is LOVED, endures..."**
- Delenn
* * *
Chronicles Log, Remembrances. November, 2261.
It has been said, by many and by few, across the ages, across the miles and the light years, that the darkest hour comes before the dawn. We faced that hour, and faced it with courage. We were nearly all there, in the end, the ones who survived, the ones who cared the most; if not in body, then in spirit.
But in the end, the dawn *did* come. And with it, the closing of a circle, as well as the knowledge that something precious had been rescued from the darkness, although another comrade had given his life to save that precious thing.
Marcus Cole and I had never truly been close; he had his tasks beneath the Captain and our Entil'zha, and I had mine. So engrossed with our task were we on the final approach to Earth, that I never saw fit to ask *why* one of my White Stars had left the fleet. Did Julia notice, and keep her silence, for her own reasons, or was she focused, like the rest of us, on the task at hand? I will have to ask her, in due course, which it was...if time allows.
In the end, Marcus had fallen prey to the same thing that Jennifer and I share; only the woman he loved had nearly fallen into Death's embrace before he could reach her. The choice he made, the action he took, was a noble one, but *so* difficult for us to accept, when we found out. Another comrade...and a friend, lost in the name of love.
But the past could not be changed, or the actions of a man seperated from us by light years of space and emotions. We must move on, to the future, and accept what we have been given. The reunions we enjoyed with lost ones, dear to our hearts, almost made up for the pain of knowing what Marcus had done, and why.
Almost.
* * *
November 2nd, 2261; the south coast of the Cuban Republic.
All through that day, and well into the evening, Alister Molloy guided his ship northeastwards towards Cuba, and one of the ports that he, from time to time, had frequented in his travels around the tropics. As the lush coastline drew nearer, Charles looked into the setting sun, and sighed. It was hard to believe; and yet, there was no doubt that what they had seen, had been the truth, and that what they had heard...well, that was *also* the truth.
The previous evening, President Clark had committed suicide at Earthdome in Geneva, just after Captain Sheridan and his armada had jumped into Earthspace. Clark's last action had been to turn the powerful planetary defense grid towards the surface, and Sheridan's forces had been forced to engage and destroy those platforms, not without the loss of lives, and, he noted sadly, as ISN had informed them after its return to the air, half a dozen of the destroyer commands that had followed Sheridan, including Sheridan's flagship, the AGAMEMNON, had been damaged enough to warrant scrapping. Several had even been completely crippled.
Soon after that, the tyrannical force of Clark's dictatorship had unraveled, as the forces within the Alliance government that had been waiting for *just* such a moment, had risen up, to do what was right. It would be chaotic for a while, and the local planetary governments had been quick to move in with their own military and security forces, to take out the Ministry of Peace and Nightwatch facilities all across the planet.
Charles nodded solemnly to himself. Within twelve hours after the end of the battle, those commands who could jump had retreated to the Earthforce yards near Jupiter, while those that could not had been towed out towards Lunar orbit. The wreckage from the battle would be up there for weeks yet, but really all that mattered was that the forces that meant *well*, for now, had come out on top.
What price Sheridan would have to pay for what he had done, however...what price the Earthforce captains who had followed him would have to pay; now *that* was yet to be determined.
"Charles!.." Alister bellowed from the helm, and he jumped, to see the coastline, and coastal marina they were making for, close at hand, within a few hundred meters. "We're almost into port...come out of it, old chap!"
He smiled, and met the answering smile from his daughter, who had just emerged from below, her husband behind. "Of course; I must admit, it *will* be nice to step out onto dry land again...and not have to worry about hiding my face from the world."
"Damn right!" Alister replied, passing him a small glass of what appeared to be port. "I'll drink to that." Which they did.
"I'm assuming you've found us a spot for the night, so we can step off, and join the celebrations?"
"Absolutely; now, it's the damndest thing, though...on our approach, I saw one of those newfangled atmospheric shuttles descending from orbit. Now *who*, do you suppose, would want to land in Cuba from orbit, of all places?"
"I'm not sure..." At that point, Alister began to slowly guide them into the spot reserved for them at the marina...and he realized someone was standing on the jetty; someone tall...and dressed all in flowing black clothes; and then, beside him, Ariana gasped, and he turned, to see his daughter's face had gone almost completely white with shock and surprise.
And then he looked again.
"WILLIAM?"
"In the flesh." his son called down from the dock, a wide, but mysterious smile on his face. "Did you miss me?"
* * *
Near Tacoma, Washington State. 8:30 pm, Pacific Standard Time, November 2nd...
"God help me!" Clarissa Zandar breathed out, her face a mask of shock, as across from her, Jennifer and Brianna sat quietly, and drank their tea in silence. "I thought...I thought you were dead! And what you've told me, all the things you've seen, and done...it scarcely seems believable!"
"For a while," Jennie replied to the mother of her old friend, reaching out her hands and grasping Clarissa's tightly in her own, "For a while, I guess I was. But then, I found a purpose, and a love beyond words. And I swear to you, if not by God, then in the name of Valen, he who created the Rangers, so long ago, that all I've told you is true." Across from her friend, Brianna nodded solemnly in silent accord.
Clarissa cast a single, critical gaze across the fine woven, black and gray Ranger uniforms that both women wore, and sighed. "Shadows and Vorlons; prophecies and ancient dooms...and war. Always war. You would have thought, after all we've done, after all the advancements we've made, that we could leave war behind us. But the universe is a harsher mistress then even I understand; all I shall say is that I am eternally grateful that this Valen you swear by gave you the courage to survive all you've been through, together."
Brianna smiled, and nodded. "What I say, I say truly, Miss Zandar; it has been a long, hard road for us, but now that we have reached the end of it, it is a pleasure for me to meet the woman whose daughter befriended Jennifer in her youth. I grieve for your loss, even after so many years, but maybe, all we've done will prevent more senseless deaths in the years to come."
Their host nodded. "We can but hope. Now that the tyrant Clark is gone, Earth can begin to return to normal. I don't pretend to understand the ways of the military, *or* the ways of your Rangers, Jennifer, but now that I know you're alive, and *some* of the reasons why you pretended to be dead, I can understand them...all too well. You had to do what you had to do, to *survive*...and in that survival, you've played your part in creating a miracle."
"Thank you, Clarissa." At that, both women rose. "You *must* forgive us for our haste, but...we are needed back in orbit."
"Duty awaits, does it?" Clarissa observed, wryly, but with a slight touch of humour. "And that husband of yours...William. I am glad to hear that *he* waits for you, as well, and cares for you as my daughter and husband did for I, may God watch over their souls. That he cares for you so, watches over you, and protects you from harm, is a greater gift then you can possibly imagine."
Jennifer sighed, and though of Z'ha'dum, and all that happened there...had it really been only eleven months, since they had faced death in the Shadow City? It seemed...an age. "I know. Clarissa, his love for me is the greatest treasure I possess."
Clarissa nodded knowingly. "Then you understand...that is well. Tell me, though, before you go...do you intend to have children, Jennifer?"
She smiled. "I would like that; now that the war's over, I would like that *very* much indeed. And if I have a daughter...I'll name her after Celia, in honour of her memory."
Clairissa smiled in return, and wiped away the tear on her cheek. "You have no idea how much I would like that, as well, Jennifer.
No idea at all."
* * *
Cuba. Alister Molloy's boat, below decks.
Charles nodded, and tried not to laugh out loud, as around the table, the rest of the gathering did its best not to gape, while Ariana had, at her husband's behest, stayed right beside her brother since the reunion, his hand gripped tightly between hers, and didn't look like she had any intention of letting him go, just yet.
"And that, believe it or not..." William stated, a small smile on his face, "Is, essentially, in an hour's telling, the story of my life for the last three years. Dad knew some of it, Ari, but only some...I'm actually surprised he didn't say more. So much happened to me, and Jennifer, and the rest, after we parted aways on Babylon 5, after the secession.
So many wonderous things; and so many terrifying moments. Moments in which I should have died, and didn't. Times in which I rode directly into the Fire that was, by myself, and by Captain Sheridan's side, and did what needed to be done. Now, the darkness that fell over the galaxy is finally gone...and maybe, just *maybe*, I can rest...
If only for a little while."
"Can't you, well, stay with us for a little while longer?" Ariana pleaded, her face despondent. "Just as I've regained you, I find out that you have to go again! It's not *fair*!...when will I ever get to meet your wife, if you're both running around the galaxy doing these...Ranger things?"
William smiled, and rose to his feet. "Soon enough, Ari...soon enough. But until things settle down a bit, we're still needed, Jen and I; out among the stars, as our Entil'zha, Delenn of Minbar, commands. Needed as Rangers, needed to command the myriad ships of the White Star Fleet; until she says otherwise."
There was a brief pause, and then Ariana glumly nodded. "I guess...you've tried to make us understand what drove you to do what you did, William, and I guess...I guess you've succeeded, somehow! I admire the things you did, fighting those ancient, oh, despicable aliens; it must have been *so* hard! And all the rest; you've already lived a life that puts the rest of us Earthbound fools to shame!" Ariana got shakingly up, and moved to hug her brother. "And what right do I have to deny you the life you've made for yourself?"
William smiled broadly, and hugged her right back. "Thank you, Ari...for understanding! And I promise you, sooner rather then later, that I *will* come back, with Jennie, and Brianna, and Julia, and as many of the rest as I can drag with me, and we'll come to see you; and we'll have a reunion such as the universe has *never* seen!"
"I'll keep you to that promise." Ari whispered, as everyone got to their feet, and followed William up onto the main deck.
William nodded, as he made ready to step off. "I will keep it; in Valen's Name, I swear it." And then, he was gone, a figure of black, lost in the tropical night.
"He's changed *so* much." Ariana whispered, as she leaned into her husband's shoulder. "So much."
Charles chuckled. "And this is a BAD thing?"
"DAD!" Ariana indignantly exclaimed.
* * *
Geneva; dawn. November 3rd, 2261.
Behind her, the twinkling lights of Earthdome still held firm beneath the fading stars, but Julia only had eyes for the broad expanse of the lake before her. A little ways along the shoreline, her mother walked slowly, her gaze faraway, in space and in time, her uniform crisp and sharp, her injured left arm bound firmly to her chest.
"This place...this place has meant so much to me. After my graduation from the Academy, I came here, to celebrate, beneath the stars. I saw so much hope in those stars, and look what they brought me. The night after you were born, I brought you down to the Lake, and simply sat, and held you. And then, the following year, beneath the falling stars left in the aftermath of the Line, I watched you learn how to walk. And then, I left you behind, left you for the stars, and my commands. I wasn't fair to you, Julia; the things I did, I did for me, not for you, and it's taken me *this* long to admit that to you."
With that, her mother turned, and Julia was surprised to see tears on her mother's face; always the career officer, she had been, and if this had changed, what else had? "I guess, what I'm trying to say, is that is it even possible for you to forgive me for what I did to you? I know you've found a life of your own, within the Rangers, and maybe the government will let me have another command...but we share something precious, Julia; something we nearly lost, a long time ago, and only *just* found again. We can't lose it again, Julia...we can't let our careers get in the way of the fact that we're family."
"No..." she replied, her voice amazingly steady, considering. "We can't. And for a long time, I acted just about the same way. You were gone so many years of my childhood, I was ready to forget that I even had a mother, ready to immerse myself in my studies. I even thought, at one point, that if I got to be *smarter* then you, then well, I could show the world how much better I was, then you.
But then...but then, circumstances intervened; KOSH intervened, and I went to Proxima III. And there, I met William, Jennifer, and eventually, all the rest who made me what I am today; someone who can not only forget some of the mistakes we've both made, but can also move on, freely, and understand that the past is the past!...it's done, we can't change it! But some of the things we've done recently, both in Valen's Name and the name of Right, have maybe changed us enough that we can freely move on...together. The future awaits, Mother...will you follow me there?"
After a time, her mother smiled, and came up to join her, as the sun burst over the horizon to the east. "With you leading the way, Julia? Anything's possible, I guess."
* * *
After a time, we finished doing what we had to do, and returned to our places of duty; there was something Delenn had asked us to do, and it seemed a just request. The circumstances gave justification for what we did that day, as a series of momentous events had been made to come to pass.
In exchange for the guarentee that all the officers that had followed him would be granted amnesty, John Sheridan, the man I had followed through more battles and destinies then I cared to remember, resigned from Earthforce just after noon on November 3rd, before an assembled audience at Earthdome. Everyone who watched, that day, were made to *understand* the reasons he did this. Not only was he moving on with good grace, but all the officers who had followed him during the war would, in all likelihood, be able to move on with their own careers...in time.
In time, maybe Julia's mother would survive her own board of inquiry, and move on to command another destroyer; a newer generation then her last, perhaps, constructed from the ashes of war? Time would tell.
Just after the Captain announced his retirement from the Force, however, my Entil'zha revealed to the assembled humans her own plan...a bold one, and dramatic. The Alliance that had come together under her and the Captain had decided to move on to something...larger, somehow. An Interstellar Alliance would be created, an alliance based on the principles of understanding, and of mutual trust. An Alliance in which technology would be freely shared, to a certain extent, and finally, the Alliance members would attempt to defuse the problems that lead to war, before the conflagrations erupted.
Not an easy task, as you will no doubt realize; but the other governments had decided to *try* and make it work. Was the Earth Alliance willing to do the same?
Finally, as a measure of what the Alliance was capable of, our Entil'zha arranged for a 'small' demonstration to take place. That was where we came in.
* * *
White Star Four.
"Jump out complete." Julia announced from behind, as William cast a single, amused glance across at his wife, and nodded. Below them, the rumpled, green and blue landscape of Western Europe shone under a nearly clear sky, while off to the East, the Alps marched in a curve off towards the horizon. Behind them, the ranks of the White Star Fleet had formed up on their point, a mighty host, between earth and sky. "Earth Orbital Command is on comm, demanding to speak to us, Sha'vei; do we respond?"
"*No*." he replied, as across from him, Jennifer tried not to laugh. "We are Rangers, and we are the White Star Fleet, in all its multitude. Let them see us for what we are, this day, and understand.
Take us down...we have a flyby to conduct."
* * *
And so it was that millions of people in Central Europe were witness to a miracle, that day...a moment remembered for years to come, in which children pointed skyward, and yelled with excitement...in which their mothers looked on with trepidation, and amazement...and in which their fathers gazed on, some with troubled frowns, and some with understanding, for what was yet come.
The miracle of a mighty host of starships crossing the skies, lower and lower, until the air above Geneva shook with their high shriek. The White Star Fleet had come, in answer to their Entil'zha's call.
And their passage, was a sign of things to come. A sign of the future, yet to be.
Soon afterwards, two things happened. President Susanna Luchenko of the Earth Alliance was able to confirm that the Earth Alliance wished to become a member of the new Alliance that Delenn, G'kar and Londo Mollari had helped to create. And finally, we learned that John Sheridan, my former commander, and once the Captain of that place that had been, in turn, our last, best hope of peace, *then*, our last, best hope for victory, and finally, our last, best hope for a better future, had been named as the first President of the Interstellar Alliance.
It was a good sign; a better one we couldn't have hoped for. For now, there was peace; for now, there was hope. And as soon-to-be President Sheridan united with our Entil'zha, the other half of his soul, in a Union similar to the one that Jennifer and I had passed through, months before, we were given cause to believe that all might have turned out well, in the end.
Unfortunately, the moment of realization was transient. Although we saw only light, still the darkness waited for us, in places unseen, and with methods unknowable; the stand we made was not the last, but only the greatest. And while a great joy would soon be created within our hearts, the realization would come, eventually, that the fight we fought was not one that some of us could give up on, until death embraced us.
And maybe not even then.
* * *
It was the End of the Earth Year 2261, and we had come to a crossroads. Behind us lay an age now gone; am age of conflict, of destruction, and of change. Ahead of us lay the unknowable future. And while the Alliance we had helped to create would fulfill its destiny in the years to come, the tasks we had held to heart, while important, would change with us, to the end of our days.
And where we walked, would astonish us.
And what we faced, would terrify us.
And the words we wrote, would, in the end, help to change everything we knew.
Forever.
* * *
"**The Light fulfilled, was one we knew, the banished were as ghosts. But yet to come, were other shades, still lesser, jealous hosts. Into the Fire, as was our wont, we would walk yet again; the patterns strange, we would yet range, into the stars we named. While some would fade, the elders made, the next of kin would walk, onto those paths.
The travelling Game.
In his fine Name.
The Great *Crusade*."
- Excerpt from "The Book of the Observer" as published in the 33rd Century, Human Reckoning, after the Great Burn
* * *
Next: The epilogue to this saga...RIMSTALKER V: THE WALKERS IN THE DARKNESS.