12

Chapter Seventy-Six

Valen'tha

The Hall of the Grey Council

The modified Shagotti called Valen'tha,the very heart of Minbari power was situated twelve thousand kilometers in orbit above the planet Minbar. It was surrounded by close to one hundred Minbari warships of all configurations whose sole purpose was to protect the ship from any harm. Ironically, the biggest concerns right now were with their own brethren. Since the announcement of surrender by the Satais on the flagship of the most hated Human in the collective Minbari consciousness, both sides had slowly withdrawn to their respective areas. Trust that had been so solid mere days before now became a thing suspicion between the two.

Inside the Valen'tha, the hallowed meeting place of the Grey Council was as dark as Hedronn in had ever seen it. It was more than the lack of light. There was something missing and it took him a moment to realize exactly what was. Gone was an almost mystical feeling of power, of reverence, of that sense that everything was right in the universe that had pervaded the ship for almost a thousand years. It was still the seat of power the Minbari but it was no longer the 'heart' of the Minbari. That heart had been stripped away the moment the Minbari discovered that they were no longer the greatest of the young races. That revelation is stripped from them their dignity had stripped from them their souls and for the first time they felt real fear.

They were lost.

The elder Minbari could see it in the eyes of others as they stepped into their respective places, all but one. Dhaliri of the religious was there, but not Cadroni, who was on the other Earther ship. In his stead was his father, retired Satai Cadoni offering desperately needed advice. Kalonnon, Varenn and he represented the workers. Coplann of the warrior caste was with Cadroni. Sherran and Morann were present and others such as Drulan and Zakat those being groomed for leadership in the Grey Council – all accounted for but one. One of the Satais was missing; perhaps the most revered one, and certainly one that Dukhat had loved.

It was well-known that Delenn would have had been the eventual successor of Dukhat had he lived. But she had gone missing and no one knew where she was. Delenn had not been seen for months now and this was so very much unlike her.

Many of his fellow religious caste members had feared the worst and believed that she had died somehow in a conflict against the Federationists with the real truth never to be known. No one knew for sure but what they did now was that she would have never run and left her people alone. That would have been unthinkable and so unlike her. The enemy would have gloated concerning her capture or death, if they had been responsible.

So now they had to lead rule without her presence and it was indeed far more difficult than he had imagined. They had made mistakes, horrible mistakes in willingly allowing their Ashen brethren to leech power from them. It should not have happened, but in their desperation the unthinkable had happened.

For several moments, no one spoke. No one dared to be first. But finally Hedronn broke the silence, not because he wanted to, but it was but because it was the right thing to do. Just because one was afraid of the future did not mean that one had to be paralyzed by it.

"Throughout my long life, I have never imagined that success could be so frightening," Hedronn quietly said to the other members of the Grey Council. Cadroni and Coplann had succeeded. That was somewhat expected however the further revelations of the relationship between Humanity and Minbari was not. It came as a horrible shock to both the Minbari leadership and the entire world of Minbar as that quiet truth was exposed to the galaxy.

The revelation that Minbari blood had been tainted by Humanity had caused near riots on the planet within minutes of its pronouncement. Ashen brutality had been bad enough, and now this. Already there were those who had said that they'd now understood why the Humans were so defiant and efficient in their defense against the Minbari war machine. How could it not be? They were part of the Minbari themselves, the same blood. Others were afraid for exactly the same reason. But most of the people really didn't care if they had Human blood mixed with Minbari or not. There was still the enemy and the enemy was coming.

"Now the whole world knows what we've always suspected," he said. "Every fear we've imagined has come to pass."

"Did you truly suspect that this would not get out?" asked Cadoni who had known of this horrible truth for some time. The hooded father of Cadroni stood within the circle slowly surveying the other Satais attempting to discern their thoughts and feelings before continuing. His eyes were sunken and his voice shook with rage. "I for one had not expected something like this would come out in such a manner, however in light of everything that has happened. I am not surprised, especially with the revelations of a cure at Becerra. The question becomes what do we do about it?"

"May the universe forever curse the ISN and the FBN for their inability to keep their mouths shut!" snapped Varenn. "They didn't even consider what this might have done to our people. Earther and UFOpers news service has done more damage to our people than just about anything that the Federationists and their allies have done to us! Not only have they attacked our people, now they attack our souls."

"The people are already in a panic because of Ashen atrocities. They're not pleased with what we've done either, or should I say what we have not done," said Hedronn. "We are the ones responsible for what has happened to our planet. We were the ones who allowed the Ashen to do what they have done and said nothing. It is now our responsibility to change what has happened, to take back what we gave away."

Sherann, the second youngest of the Satais nodded vigorously. "No longer can we depend on others to do what we should have done in the first place. Minbari do not kill Minbari. We should continue to honor that mantra but it may not be possible now. We have chosen this course of action and now we must continue the road wherever it leads us. The Vorlons are not here but we are, as are Ashen," he added with a touch of contempt. Despite everything that we said, despite everything that we think about them, the Ashen are Minbari. Many of the warrior caste respect and honor them. We gave them authority over us. Of course, we realize this was a mistake but it is our responsibility and now we propose to take back what is rightfully ours. The Grey Council is tainted."

"Will the warrior clans support us?" asked Hedronn.

"I don't see how they couldn't," Sherann answered. "We have failed them, but the warriors are more than aware of the situation at hand. As aggressive as you wish them to be, as much as they wish to fight to the bitter end, they know that the cause is lost. They have no desire to have Minbar burn because of their pride."

"That's a big change," argued Kalonnon.

"Yes, it is, for all of us," Sherann said. "When you look at our warriors out there preparing for the final battle, what do you see?" No one spoke. This was good, he decided, because he needed to make a statement. "This is what I see – dreams of revenge, dreams of glory, all turning to ash. When I look at our warriors, I see a defeated army. The fire has been lost in their eyes. Fear has replaced it. Our warriors have fought bravely but we've lost nearly every battle against our enemies. We have lost stations, we have lost convoys, and we have lost people both warriors and civilians. We have lost entire cities; we have lost entire worlds. We have fought back with everything that we've had and we were pushed back. We received help from the Vorlon's and we were defeated. We were allied with our brothers the Ashen, and that did nothing to slow the tide. We were pushed back. We tried to end the war on Earths doorstep and we failed." As he spoke, the room seemed to grow darker. "The Ashen tried the same and they failed. Our victories are almost nonexistent. I can see the terror in our warrior's eyes, something that has never happened before and do you know why? It's because they cannot see a path to victory and if they cannot see that path then they have no hope. Our people are so strong, and they've always been strong, but they been strong because there was always the possibility of victory no matter how dark the circumstances. What I see now are a people that are willing to give up because they have no hope of defeating this enemy. The Humans have destroyed our ability to effectively fight back against them because our warriors believe they have no chance, and if our warriors believe they have no chance then how much more do the people that we are trying to protect? Do you think they will fight to the death if the Federationist people come and lay waste our world? I do not think so. I think they have given up. The Minbari have no hope and because of that they have no strength. That is the reason why we have submitted to the terms of the Admiral James T. Kirk, the Minbari Slayer."

"Can't you see this, Morann?" asked Dhaliri.

"No."

"Then I believe you to be blind. Coplann and Cadroni, indeed all of us, have risked everything to go and talk to the Federationists," Cadoni said. "We have done this thing to protect our world and I expect all Minbari to follow our leadership, if we are to survive."

"But we were the ones that convinced the people that these are the Humans and the animal allies were agents of darkness in the first place!" said Hedronn.

"The Vorlons approved of our findings, agreeing with what we had always thought the Federationists to be," Morann said. "And now you want us to publicly change our opinion concerning the Federationists saying that they are not agents of the darkness as we thought them to be even though they are coming to destroy our world?" asked the very distraught Minbari. "The Vorlon's sent our brethren here to aid us in our time of need. Do we just ignore this fact and state that the Vorlons have lied to us? Why would they do such a thing? They have been our allies for more than a thousand years and we have trusted in their words with our lives. Are we to abandon these beliefs when the enemy is so close our world? They are First Ones, whose thought processes are as far above us as ours are above insects. These are the ones we should trust no more so than now."

"Have they ever physically fought by our side?" Varenn shook his head violently. "They have abandoned us," he said, giving voice to an unvoiced acknowledgement every Satai feared. "They are nowhere to be seen, and the supplies that they have given us the only partially successful against the enemy. If they were so concerned about our safety then why was the technology they have given us so inferior? Ashen technology is above ours so why did not the Vorlons give us the same technology so that we could defend ourselves better against this enemy? Why is it that in our time of need the Ashen have not given us technology to help keep our warriors, our people, and our ships from being bled by our enemies? The Ashen have knowledge of subspace technology but they did not share it with us. The Ashen had more powerful weaponry, but did not share. The Ashen have better sensor technology, but did not share. They have killed our people and all we can say is Minbari do not kill Minbari! Morann, you believe in the Vorlons and you believe in Ashen. My question to you is, do you believe that they would allow Minbar to survive, or are they willing to let the people die, let our world die fighting an enemy that have no chance in defeating?" There, he'd said it. "These are not the Shadows or their minions. If it were the Shadows or their minions right now we would be morning our future deaths. Unlike them this Federation has given us a choice."

Morann shook his hooded head once. He recognized that the others were united against him. "What they have given us the choice to become slaves of Humanity or to die like Minbari! We once killed the Humans with impunity. Do you not think that as they now have the power they were not come here looking for vengeance? We tried to destroy their world and we failed! The Ashen tried to destroy their world and they failed! Now they are coming for us and do you not think that they wish to turn us into little more than pets to be used for their amusement?"

"Morann, members of the Minbari warrior class are guarding on doors and this ship from Ashen attack, our so-called allies! This is something that has never had been necessary until now! The Ashen could very easily decide to come here and try to kill us in these very chambers. We are the seat of power the Minbari but if we die then the Ashen truly will take over."

"You misunderstand them. They would not do such a thing, because they 'are' Minbari, even more so than we if that insolent Human is to be believed. They are as concerned for this world as we are."

Hedronn growled at him. The other Satais glared at him in shock. "Minbari do not kill Minbari. But the Ashen don't have any such compulsions. You see what's happening on the planet Ashen have been killing Minbari, forced another Minbari to kill Minbari. The Ashen may be Minbari but that culture is not ours; Valen's wisdom and understanding and yes, compassion had not touched them. This must not continue."

"I would never have believed this to be possible," said Morann. "Have we become so to desolate and fearful that we are willing to trust the word of the Human who is responsible for killing tens of thousands of our people over our own brethren?"

"Coplann and Cadroni trust him enough to make the pronouncements that they have. Do you trust their word?"

"Yes," Morann said after the moment's hesitation. "They have our best interest at heart even if they are misguided."

"If you call them misguided, then you call us misguided," countered Sherann.

Moran turned pale. "Why did you not tell me that this action was to be taken?"

The room seemed to darken even more. "It was because we could not trust you as it is apparent to us that you rely on the Ashen more than you trusted us."

"Larohia is designated leader of the Minbari now," defended Morann. "He is our rightful leader."

"No, he lost the right to leadership when he ordered his people to shoot and kill ours. Would you have done such a thing?"

"No, I would not have," he quietly admitted.

"This is why we would take back what is ours and the warrior Caste will support it."

"Most, not all."

"Yes we made a mistake. We will correct that mistake before we are all doomed. I would not be held accountable for the destruction of our world when we could've stopped it."

"You all sound like you have already acknowledged defeat," spat Morann. "We can still stop them!"

"Morann, what good is victory if there is nothing left but ash in the end?" asked Hedronn.

"What if the Federation is lying and we order our military to surrender and it makes us even more vulnerable to attack by the enemy? If we lay down our defenses and they still attack and destroy our system and our people what will you have to say then?" Morann's frown was visible even with his head covered. "I've studied some of the history which the Centauri have given us. They have been historical cases where the losing faction surrendered and the winning faction butchered them like animals. It was recorded that the rivers ran red for days because of all the blood spilled, and they spared no one. The Ashen are still with us. I for one would not wish to have our people to endure such a fate. I would rather die with the weapon in my hands then to submit to such an atrocity."

"I would agree too, if such a thing comes to pass, although is a real possibility that this may not happen. Kirk is a warrior who seems to have honor," said Sherann. "Cadroni trust his words."

"He is a Human," spat Morann.

"He has given us his word when he could have quietly invaded and destroyed us all without notice. Instead he chose to warn us. He may be ruthless, but two Satais of the Grey Council apparently trust his words enough to accept surrender from him."

"If they weren't coerced in the first place," commented Morann. "There's been so much bloodshed that we dare not trust them and why should we? If we could have, we would have slaughtered them all. There would have been no peace overtures from us. Do we trust them when we planned to wipe them from the face of the universe? Why should they not do the same to us?"

Sherann raised his hand to speak. Although the newest of the Satais, he was also the most vocal of the group. "Yes, we did plan to kill them all. We also see the irony in this situation. We did not expect such huge losses on our side, not to this extent; however the blood of the Minbari people has flowed as freely as that river you spoke of. Our glorious cause has led our people into a death trap."

"Delenn…"

"And we have blamed Delenn for that!" Sherann pushed on. "She was Dukhat's protégé and she was allowed to dictate this war's beginning and the Grey Council stood back and let her."

"She was right to start a holy war against Earthers," Morann countered.

"They killed our beloved leader." Hedronn looked on in disgust as much upon Morann and much as himself. Foolish arrogance had led them to this point in history. If they had believed they couldn't have won at the beginning of this war, would they have been so eager to start it? "One person dies and an entire people must be wiped out from existence, and we call ourselves followers of the light." He paused. "It makes me wonder exactly what kind of people are we?"

"You wouldn't have wondered if we were winning this war," Moran retaliated. "The enemy is coming soon and if we blunt their coming attack, show them the price of attacking the Minbari in their home space with the help of our brothers, then we will be able to dictate terms of our capitulation." There, he'd said it as well; as bitter as worm root, he'd said it. He had admitted the probability of defeat – to himself. "We can then do so from a position of strength." He looked around, almost pleading. "We can do this."

"No, we can't," Cadoni said. "Our forces are weakened at best, broken at the Earthers Battle of the Line. Our best warriors are dead. Our best ships are dust. Our best weapons are not effective enough. Our allies work at cross purposes to our needs. "He remained silent for a second leading what he had said that just to them out because they knew who he was talking about. Next to him, Morann snorted, but remained silent. "We respect the Vorlons who have abandoned us in our time of need," he spat. "We still respect them. How could we not? But the Ashen treat them as gods. They have no qualms in the fighting to the death no matter the cost. They would take Minbar into the fire in the name of the Vorlons. We will not do that."

"The Ashen would not consign our world to oblivion," Morann persisted. He looked around slowly, allowing everyone to know exactly what he was doing. "I do not see our Del'Nilbae here," he said. "He should be presiding over this council meeting."

"His presence is not required here," Cadoni said matter-of-factly. He was angry now, angrier than he ever imagined possible. In his mind the Ashen had betrayed the people of Minbar. "He should be the protector of our people instead of their murderers. Yet, he has killed innocent men and women whose right it was to protest." The others could tell that Cadoni was struggling to maintain his control even as his anger threatened to take over. "Our people have already suffered terribly because of this war. The birthrate continues to decline with each generation and the loss of so many has done nothing to help the situation. You are all aware of that and with each death we experience, the Minbari are diminished. My heart was nearly broken when the Federationists spoke to us of the disease that has been killing our people for generations. They knew! Morann, let us say that we had won the war and exterminated the life form known as Human. Then we would have never known what was the cause was that destroys us from within. Their genes have been joined with ours! We've been cursed in ways that we will never fully understand in our lifetimes, and I believe that the Vorlons or some unknown First One did this, a thousand years ago. The Vorlons introduced Valen, the Minbari not of Minbar. They did it purposely and allowed his contamination into our gene pool without considering the consequences, or," he added quietly, "they didn't care. The truth is a horrible thing, but the truth is the truth and as much as I am loath to admit it, I can foresee the extinction of our people within thirty generations. I have little desire to see that happen knowing that I could've stopped it. We, as a people must survive, not die in a glorious but futile war. Larohia does not see that. None of the Ashen do, and I would not have them ruling over us, redefining who and what we are for their own interests. Minbar is for the Minbari first. They are welcomed to join us, but not welcome to rule over us."

"You would depose our leader?"

"The Grey Council leads the Minbari," was Hedronn's retort, "not him. It was a mistake we are now correcting."

"This will start a civil war," Morann said. "We cannot be divided, not now."

"They can support us in our decision or they can leave," Hedronn snapped.

"Then you have decided?"

"The Grey Council has decided," he answered with absolute finality. "Your points are valid, Morann, but I would not have our home world turned into a wasteland when there is something we can do to avoid it. It may not be a peace of our choosing but it will be a peace, one which allows our people to survive. With hope, we will survive. Without hope, I fear for us all."

"These are truly dark times," Morann wailed, "that you would trust the word of enemies of our people, rather than our own brothers."

"A brother should be concerned with what is best for our own world."

"I disagree with these actions and there are those Minbari in the warrior caste who will not side with your decisions."

"But most of them will. For the others, it will be their choice and the will bear the consequences of those actions," was Hedronn's dark response. Minbari did not kill Minbari but that mandate might well change. "The Ashen are to remove themselves from the planet, all of them. We have allowed them to kill long enough!"

"They only did what they thought was best in these dark times," said Morann.

"Listen to yourself! The Ashen can leave anytime they want to. Have they been honorable with us? I think not! They have an understanding of subspace, which they did not bother to share with us, their brothers in blood. We can't. Hyperspace is turbulent and is closed to us. We cannot escape! We cannot generate jump points for our people to flee. We can only fight to the death… or we can surrender. There's no escape and we will not abandon our people even if we could."

Morann shook his head violently. "Then I ask that you will speak to Larohia before things become worse than they already are."

"He may speak to us from his ship. We will speak to him from the Valen'tha."

USS Romanoff

Captain Nyota Uhuru commanding

"The word is given, Captain," said Lieutenant Osborne. "Element Titan is on the move. ETA twelve hours."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

Uhuru was hunched over Communications, her old style earpiece firmly placed on her left side listening in to Minbari transmissions. At the edge of the Minbari star system, the Knowles moved slowly, barely at one quarter impulse. The modified stealth system on the Oberth class vessel made it all but invisible to any Minbari sensor system not actively searching for it. The dark gray, almost black communications-science vessel could barely be seen against the backdrop of space. Equipped with the same stealth system, its heavy escort, the Romanoff, followed in its wake one light second distant. In the last few days they'd been lucky; despite the heavy patrols so far they hadn't been detected. The Minbari knew that the Federation had ships in their system and they were trying their best to find them.

"Uh-uh-uh," she whispered.

The bridge was darkened, reflecting the EMCON condition. Emissions and power generation was at a minimum helping to maintain its stealth's efficiency. During these times the crew had begun to whisper, keeping with the quiet status of the ship.

The Ashen were another matter. If they were actively searching, then their subspace sensors could partially defeat the Federation stealth. But 'partially' was enough where those monster-sized ships were concerned. Unless an Oberth could get in the first strike and then move quickly, it was the likely loser in an engagement. But the small communications ship wasn't alone, not with a heavily armed Centaur running escort, and she trusted Chekov with her life.

"Tachyon transmissions have gone off the scale," Osborne whispered. "We've never recorded such a high volume before."

Uhuru nodded. Apparently they'd heard about the disease's origin and the reason why, as well as the offer of surrender coming from their own leaders. She could imagine how the warrior clans were taking it and she almost felt sorry for the Minbari civilians on the planet. A lot of the communications first had come from the planet and she could hear the panicked messages. From the information that they had gathered, the Ashen had taken it upon themselves to quell the ever increasing demonstrations occurring on Minbar. Apparently there had been peaceful demonstrations, however the Ashen took a very hard line and a lot of people have been killed, something that the Minbari did not appreciate at all. Reports hinted at a tense standoff between the two forces. There was a mantra that Minbari did not kill Minbari. Although she was dubious about that truth, she had to respect their culture. The Ashen were physically Minbari, but apparently they didn't have the same philosophy about the people as did the Minbari. There have been rumors of a few actual clashes between Ashen and Minbari warriors. That would not bode well for the unification between the two peoples.

"Captain, do you think that they'll accept the surrender?" asked Ensign Schakowsky.

It was a good question, one she'd been asking herself for a while now. Starfleet would have obeyed if ordered to surrender. So would the Klingons, as aggressive as they were. Yes, there would have been a few dissenters who would have continued fighting, but they would have been the exceptions.

However, the Minbari were warriors, not soldiers and in their culture, the words of their caste leaders sometimes carried more weight than their Grey Council. If said leaders decided to ignore the surrender then those caste members would fight.

"The jury's still out," she answered. "The Wind Swords, the Star Riders, the Sun Storm, and a few of the other larger warrior clans would probably surrender out of respect to their leadership. They wouldn't like it but they'd do it. The others we're not so sure about. They may well fight to the end. The Ashen will most likely decide to fight."

"I'd hate to have Starfleet wipe them out," said Lieutenant Osborne.

"You have to remember, Lieutenant, Starfleet's mandate is to protect the Federation and its people and in this case, those we have sworn to protect. We are explorers true but we are also defenders of the Federation and that is something that a lot of people seem to forget. I am not a war lover, but I will do my duty to defend the Federation with everything that I have."

"What about Starfleet's General Order Twenty-four, Ma'am?"

"The Minbari started this war and we'll finish it. It sounds antiquated but it is the price that we have to pay for freedom. We won't run from those that would condone genocide. The galaxy is getting smaller every day and eventually we'll all have to wake up and take a stand for everyone's security."

Osborne nodded in agreement. "Sometimes I think that the Federation has forgotten that fact. I don't understand why they were thinking about moth-balling Starfleet."

"Some people are shortsighted. What would've happened if the Klingons had decided that they wanted to start one last glorious war with the Federation sometime a few years down the road? Would we have been prepared to stop them?"

Uhura left that question hanging as she straightened up, rotated her neck back and forth a bit to relieve the stiffness and moved quickly over to Tactical. On the screen there were several dozen blinking red icons, differentiated from the thousands of other icons also red, all indicating Minbari and Ashen warships in normal and local hyperspace. The blinking icons were identified as targets of interest and prioritized accordingly. There were also five blue icons showing the position of Federation starships situated in the star system. The five starships consisted of two more Oberths and their three escorts including the Knowles' escort, the Romanoff.

All of the starships had inserted themselves into the Minbari star system five days earlier. Their mission was to identify enemy numbers, monitor communications, and identify targets of interest, without being caught and destroyed by enemy forces. The vessels were designated stealth class, designed specifically to be inserted unobtrusively into enemy territory. The USS Franklin's specific duty was to track traffic activity, if any, in local hyperspace, identifying fleet movements, and monitor the local turbulence patterns in hyperspace as hyperspace had been disrupted. The USS Labelle's primary responsibility was to track the Ashen fleet movements and to record any and all tacking on and subspace transmissions coming from those ships. Like the USS Knowles, they will also to identify and target of interest for the incoming fleet.

"Status of target acquisitions?"

Those acquisitions consisted of high value targets which included Valen'tha, two of the Shagotti escorts, and three large militarized stations orbiting Minbar. Secondary targets included several major communication arrays orbiting the planet.

"The Valen'tha hasn't moved from the standard orbit," the Ensign said. "However it has been surrounded by at lease twelve additional Sharlins and about twenty-two Tinashis. Minbari and Ashen warships seem to be separated from each other. The Ashen warship designated Alpha One has been surrounded by a series of thirteen Ashen Sharlin and Shagotti analogs."

The captain stared carefully at the screen trying to understand what she was seeing. "It looks like there's some dissension among the ranks."

"Captain, we've intercepted a data burst from the Ashen command ship sent to the Valen'tha."

"What this essay?"

"The Del'Nilbae Larohia, the Supreme Leader is dead."

Uhuru stood there for a moment, stunned. "Can you confirm that?"

"'They' already have, Captain."

"Encrypted transmissions between the Ashen and the Minbari command ships have increased."

"Did they say anything about a possible assassination?"

"No, nothing was mentioned over open transmissions."

"Keep monitoring. See if we can find out exactly what happened."

"Captain," Schakowsky interrupted. "We have three Sharlin type-three warships entering our sector. There are two Ashen light Tinashi analogs with them. Their vector will bring them within four thousand kilometers of our current position."

Uhura's response was immediate. "They know we're somewhere in the area. Maintain position. Shut down everything but life support and passive sensors. I want us to look like a rock in space and I don't want to see that rock. Same as before, you know the drill."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Within moments the Knowles and its escort's emissions were close to zero as they waited for the enemy warships to either pass them by or hit them with everything they had.