From: "Aubrey W. Adkins" <xazqrten@norfolk.infi.net>
Subject: Lyta Chronicles Part 1H-1/3 (WIP)
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 11:17:13 -0500

I lost the email address so here goes: 

         All characters/places/persons not belonging to the writer are
the sole properties of their owners, PTEN, WB, JMS, and will be
turned over to the owners at the request of their agents. All other
characters/places/persons are public domain.

Title: Lyta Chronicles Part 1H-1/3 (WIP)

There are no spoilers in this story.

"--" = spoken words
<--> = telepathy
[--] = self thoughts
`--' = emphasis

Negative comments welcome at: xazqrten@norfolk.infi.net




    <Hi, mom>, sent Julie as she moved to give Lyta a warm hug. Her
large belly hampered her.
    "You look great. You haven't caused any problems with the locals
have you?" referring to her
own problems the first time she was pregnant.
    "No. there haven't been any. I have been seeing the doctor ever
since I found out."
    "Harold. You are responsible?"
    "Yes, ma'am."
    Lyta stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, and he
blushed bright red."
    "When is the ceremony?"
    "We were waiting for you, Mrs. Blaine. Since you are here now, we
can plan to have it next
weekend."
    Exiting the shuttle, well after his mother, came her youngest son.
     <Hi sis, I see you are expanding your horizons.>
     "Your father couldn't make it. He sends his regards," said Lyta.
     Julie nodded and hid her disappointment behind a smile. Her brother
had reached her and gave
her a big hug and kiss. He adored his older sister. The age differences
between them and their
older brothers was so great that there wasn't a relationship between
them. It was like having two
uncles.
    "Lyta, let me show you to your quarters," said Delenn.
    "Lead on."
    As Delenn and Lyta departed the landing area, <Why didn't Paul
come?>
   <He moved out three weeks ago. He is angry with me and he is
inadvertently taking it out on
her and Jonathan. I think he will regret it later. Julie is hurt.>
    <She doesn't show it.>
    <I know. She is very good at hiding her real feelings. One thing
Paul hasn't realized is that Julie
never forgets or forgives.>
    <Sounds a lot like you.>
    That remark earned Delenn a withering scowl from Lyta.
    < It's true, Lyta. Look at you and John.>
    Lyta was silent for the remainder of the trip to her quarters.
    <Lyta, the local leaders would like to meet you.>
    <Didn't you tell them that I had stepped down from my position.>
    <Yes, but they want to meet you anyway. It can't hurt anything.>
    <Okay. If you think it would be worthwhile, and as long as they
don't expect too much from
the meeting. I can no longer make commitments for Epsilon III.>
    Delenn didn't believe that for a minute.
    <Will you have supper with me and John tonight?>
    <Of course. Will you be inviting Julie and Harold?>
    <If you don't object.>
    Looking appalled Lyta responded, <How could you think such a thing?>
    <Just covering all aspects.>
    <I will be bringing Jonathan.>
    <He's a big boy now, and is as tall as Julie.>
    <He's a good kid. He has learned to control his enthusiasm.>
    <Until supper.> With that Delenn exited Lyta's apartment. 
 ***************************************************
    Supper was a quiet affair, with just the lightest conversation.
Business had been put on the back
burner.
    "Lyta, why did you give up your position?" asked John over the end
of meal coffee.
    "I wanted to get back into serious research. I want to work on
Harold's project and I can't do
that and be prime minister. Besides, it is time to turn those affairs
over to people who are more
suited to conducting them."
    "How is the investigation going?" Asked Delenn.
    "The Psi Corps is still putting together their package. They have
uncovered some interesting
activities in a number of departments and agencies. They expect to be
finished before the year is
out. There is much work being done to prepare prosecutions," replied
Lyta.
    "I thought this was to be my project, Mrs. Blaine?" queried  Harold.
    "It is Harold. I am going to be working with you. You will be
running things. I can substitute
for Julie in some of the testing."
    "Just what kind of research is this Lyta?" asked John.
    "You saw the images that were recorded when the attempt was made to
blow up Babylon 5.
Well the research is an attempt to quantify what is needed to perform
telekinesis. I want to be able
to build a ship that can use telekinesis to protect itself," replied
Lyta.
    John whistled a low whistle. "Not trying anything difficult are we?
That's what the remote test
facility is for, isn't it; final testing of the system?"
    Lyta nodded.
    "Mom, what are we doing on the planet itself?" asked Julie.
    "All in good time, dear." 
    "Lyta, the asteroid is in a stable orbit and the equipment
installation is about 80% completed.
Would you care to tour the facility?" asked John.
   "After the wedding, Delenn wants me to meet some local leaders and I
want to help with the
wedding arrangements, such as they are."
    "Let me know a day or so in advance. I will make arrangements."
    "Mom, Aunt D', Uncle John, I am tired, so I am going home and go to
bed. Being pregnant
isn't much fun, lately."
    Julie and Harold left.
    <Mom. I am tired too. It has been a long day. Can I have the key?>
    Lyta handed Jonathan the apartment key and he departed.
    <Want to talk about it Lyta?> inquired John.
    <About what?>
    <You and Paul.>
    Delenn and Lyta exchanged looks of surprise.
    <You think, because I am a male, I can't see what is in front of
me?>
    With a puzzled expression on her face, Delenn looked at her mate,
<What are you saying,
John?>
    <Lyta and Paul are having problems and I believe Julie is on the
receiving end of the
hostilities.>
    <John, you are correct. Ever since I got pregnant with Julie, he has
been cool toward me, and
when I had Jonathan, he was pissed. He didn't want anymore children. He
has hidden his feelings
from the children, but now that Jonathan is almost old enough to live on
his own, he has become
hard to live with. He moved out just before we came here.>
    Both John's and Delenn's faces displayed gross surprise.
    <You are serious.> said Delenn.     
   <Yes. I don't know when I will want another child, but I love little
ones and I have never made
a secret of it. That's one reason I am here.>
   <I don't understand.> said John.
    <Julie is going to have a baby and I am going to get to be day
care.>
    <You told Harold you were here to work with him.> responded Delenn.
    <I am, It's just not the only reason I'm here.>
    <Harold and Julie don't know this do they?> asked John.
    <Not yet. If Paul wants to be an ass, I won't stop him.>
    <Just how bad is it between the two of you?> inquired Delenn.
    <If we are still married when I return to Epsilon III, then it is
not as bad as I think. If Paul
wants out, I won't fight him.>
    <You've been married more than 40 years.> said John.
    <I know. Paul has never completely forgiven me for the way I went
about getting him. I think it
is festering in his mind like an ingrown hair. Sooner or later he'll
tell me it's over. It will hurt, but
I'll survive.>
    <How long are you planning to stay?> asked John.
    <I don't know yet, but I figure a year or so.>
    John exchanged glances with Delenn, both knew that Lyta's marriage
was as good as over.
    <I'll see you in the morning Delenn.> With that Lyta took her leave.
****************************************************************
    As she approached her apartment Lyta noted the lights were still on.
She decided to take a
stroll around the compound and get some night air. Her thoughts wandered
back over the last 45
years and all the things that had transpired. In retrospect she could
understand Paul's feelings
about how she trapped him into marriage. She would feel the same way.
What was it Delenn said,
"To do the right thing for the wrong reason is to spoil the results."
Creation knew she had done
enough things in an expedient manner in her lifetime, sometimes with
disastrous results. She had
learned over the years that being right wasn't always enough. She
thought of the heartbreak
caused by her interference with Marsha and her oldest son. 
    She wasn't watching where she was walking and almost stumbled over
one of the locals
employed by the embassy. The man was walking with a woman. Lyta begged
pardon and started
to walk away.
    The man asked, "You are new here?" 
    Lyta somewhat taken aback at his perfect Interlac, nodded. 
    "You look like Julie, but you aren't pregnant."
    Smiling, Lyta responded, "I am her mother."
    The man and woman expressed surprise.
    "You don't look old enough to be her mother, ma'am."
    "Thank you for the compliment."
    The man and his companion went on their way. Lyta watched them leave
and smiled to herself. 
    Later, back in her apartment, Lyta sat on the couch and drifted off
into thought. She became
aware of Jonathan standing in the doorway of his room looking at her.
    <Mom, aren't you going to bed?>
    Smiling, Lyta responded, <Yes, honey. I must have fallen asleep.>
    Two days later Lyta found herself in a large conference room holding
a meeting with the local
dignitaries. Delenn was officiating. The local leaders had some tough
questions for Lyta about
what they thought were restrictive policies of her government,
concerning trade practices and the
humans' reluctance to share technology secrets. Lyta had tried her best
to be courteous in her
answers, but the locals were pushing very hard. They had used veiled
threats of work stoppages
and materials shortages to bolster their demands. The representatives
had never used tactics like
these when negotiating with Delenn. She wondered what they were trying
to accomplish. If they
were thinking that Lyta would be easier to coerce than she was, they
were sadly mistaken and
were about to discover that fact. Finally Lyta said what had been her
mind for some time. 
    "We will give you most of the items you are asking for. However,
there is a price."
    The delegation leader asked, "What do you mean by 'a price'?"
    "Nothing is ever free. We will give you what you ask, but the price
is we will no longer offer
any protection for your world from the other races that have been trying
to get access to your
space. You will be responsible for your own security. We will remove all
of your workers from
our asteroid station and the planet below it. Finally we will remove all
of our personnel except
those necessary to maintain the embassy. We have shouldered all the
costs of doing business with
you and have shouldered all the costs of helping you establish trade
with other worlds. You will
now have to pay all the costs involved including paying for the ships
you are now using. You
believe you are ready to deal directly with the other races. I disagree,
however, you will be
permitted to learn for yourselves." 
    "We were told that you no longer made the decisions for Epsilon
III?"
    "Since we have come to terms that satisfy everyone, I see no further
reason to continue this
meeting. Good day gentlemen." With that said Lyta left the meeting.
    "Ambassador Delenn, She can't mean what she just said."
    "Gentlemen, I have been negotiating with you for many years. I
thought I had been more than
fair. We have never discussed some of the things you brought to the
table before today. You
never gave me a chance to discuss any of this with Lyta. You have
bushwhacked my boss and you
will now pay for it."
    "What can we do to change her mind?"
    "I am afraid nothing. I will begin removing our non-essential
embassy personnel as soon as
possible. I will develop a plan of payment for the ships you are using.
It will be submitted for your
negotiation and final approval by the end of the week. Good day
gentlemen." 
    In the Fjon president's office most of the same group of men and
women who had confronted
Lyta were holding another meeting. 
    "Mr. President, what do we do now?" asked his prime minister.
    "I don't know. I wasn't expecting this."   
    "This Lyta is not at all like Delenn," said the minister of trade.
    "Apparently she is still in charge of Epsilon III in spite of having
given up her political
position," replied the president.
    "She didn't even negotiate, she simply gave us what we wanted and
then told us what it cost. It
wasn't even take it or leave it. It was take it and no option,"
complained the minister of finance.
    Looking at his minister of finance, the president asked, "Redic, are
prepared to meet her terms
monetarily?" 
    "Yes sir. We are fine with that aspect. As she pointed out, they
have shouldered all the
expenses and have taken only a modest payment from the profits. We have
prospered greatly over
the years. Which begs the question, why did we hit her with so many
demands?"
    The minister of defense broke in, "we thought it would be a good
time to advance our military
efforts, since she was new, she would not be prepared to debate the
terms like Delenn has in the
past."
    "We were accustomed to doing business with Delenn. She is an
accomplished diplomat and
negotiator. Lyta is apparently not accustomed to our business style. She
reacted as if she had
personally been threatened. Our ignorance in our meeting with her may be
the most costly mistake
we have ever made," noted the president.
    "Mr. President, why can't one of us try to approach her and explain
our mistake. If it is
sincerely done, we may be able to repair some of the damage," injected
the minister of planetary
resources.
    There was a collective groan from the other ministers.
    "Are you volunteering Marel?" asked the president.
    "It might be easier for a female than a male. Yes, I will do it."
    "There is another matter we should discuss. The movement against the
Epsilon III people is
getting better organized. There haven't been incidents, but my sources
tell me they are working
themselves up to making physical movement against them," said the
minister of internal security.
    "The offworlders have never broken any of our laws and have not
taken advantage of our
people. What is the origin of the hostile feelings?" asked the
president. 
    "As far as we can determine, it is the result of political
aspirations," replied the minister of
security. "There are opposition factions that are using present economic
policies and offworlders
to whip up dissention amongst some of the less fortunate and convert it
to support for their
radical ideas. I will have it examined in more detail and report on it
at our next policy meeting."
    "It will be a moot point if the offworlders leave," reminded Marel.
*********************************************************************   
    Back in Delenn's office, <Lyta. You have frightened them.>
    <Oh? I gave them what they asked for.>
    <They were trying to see what they could get. It is the way they
bargain.>
    <Well, they got what they bargained for. I don't see a problem.>
    <Lyta, they expected you to push them back and argue the points.>
    <I pushed back.>
    <You clubbed them over the head.>
    <Delenn, are you saying I should change my mind?>
    <I think you should give it some serious thought. We have been
working with these people for
a very long time.>
    <I will give it some thought after we leave. It will alter the
bargaining positions.>
    <Lyta, you are making a very big mistake. Don't let other things
interfere with what we are
doing here.>
     Looking at her friend with an odd expression, Lyta left Delenn's
office.
    Just before leaving for the afternoon, Delenn got a call from Fjon's
minister of planetary
resources.
    "Delenn, would I be asking too much if I invited you and Mrs. Blaine
to lunch at my home this
weekend?"
    "I will have to check with Lyta, but I would love to."
    At supper in the embassy commissary, Delenn told Lyta about Marel's
request.
    "Do you think she'd mind if I brought Jonathan, Julie and Harold?"
    "Let me check with her. I don't think it will be a problem."

*******************************************************************************
   The lunch/party had been in full swing for more than an hour when
Jonathan asked where the
bathroom was located. He headed toward the house after getting
directions from Laarel, Marel's
daughter.
    "This is quite a place you have here, minister," said Lyta.
    "It is my family home. I moved back here after my husband was
killed," answered Marel.
    "You have a very pretty daughter, minister. Is she your only child?"
asked Lyta.
    "Mrs. Blaine, can we drop titles for this afternoon? I would like to
forget about the office this
weekend. Please call me Marel."
    Lyta nodded assent and noted that Marel had not answered her last
question.
    "You have other children Mrs. Blaine?" inquired Marel.
    "Umm, twin sons besides Jonathan. They are much older, in their
forties," responded Lyta.
    It hit Marel between the eyes that Lyta must be older than her own
mother, despite her young
appearance.
    "Mrs. Blaine, if I am not out of line, how old are you?"
    "In earth years, middle eighties."
    Marel had to fight to keep her composure.
    A few minutes later Jonathan returned wearing concerned expression
on his face.
    <Mom! There is something in the house you should see.>
    <Honey, what is it?>
    Jonathan sent images straight into her mind.>
    Lyta looked around to find Marel. She approached her and her father.
    "Marel. You have a second daughter."
    Marel heard the statement. It wasn't a question.
    "Strictly speaking, yes. She is mentally retarded. I don't like to
talk about it. Our society frowns
on allowing mentally handicapped children to live past the point that it
is discovered."
    "Would you permit me to see her?"
    "Why? What good would it do anyone?"
    "Marel. There is much you don't know about us or me."
    "Mrs. Blaine, you were invited here for a lunch, not to dig into our
family dirt, so to speak,"
said Marel's father."
    "Mrs. Blaine, this my father, Harq. He is getting blunt in his old
age and, dad, according to you,
Mrs. Blaine is older than you are."
    "Still doesn't give her rights to nose into our business."
    "Your father is correct. However, you have no idea what I might be
able to do for your
daughter," responded Lyta.
    "Very well. If you will follow me.'
    Lyta and Harq followed Marel toward the large house. It was a
mansion in size and style.
    "She may scream when we enter her room," warned Marel. "She missed
her medications this
morning and when that happens she acts like a mad woman."
    [Jonathan had been correct in his assessment] thought Lyta, but said
nothing. She could hear
the screaming as soon as they entered the house. If the girl were a
banshee, it couldn't have been
shriller or louder.
    They went upstairs toward the far end of the corridor. Marel was
explaining to Lyta that this
was what happened when her daughter wasn't tranquilized. As they entered
the room, Lyta saw
that the youngster was restrained. 
    Silence fell over the room as the girl settled down and looked Lyta
straight in the eyes.
    "What is her name?" asked Lyta.
    Looking first at Lyta then her daughter, Marel said, "Jaen Lae."
    Lyta walked over beside the girl and removed her restraints.
    "What do you think you are doing?" yelled Harq.
    "She doesn't need restraints and she isn't mentally retarded."
    "What makes you think so?" asked Harq. 
    Marel had a questioning look on her face.
    "I can help her to learn to live a normal life, if you will allow
me. Haven't you noticed? She isn't
screaming."
    Marel and Harq looked at Lyta in awe.
    "How can you do this?" asked Marel.
    "We can train her to compensate," said Lyta.
    Lyta took Jaen's hand and started for the door.
    "Let's clean you up and get back to the party," said Lyta.
*******************************************************************
    For the first time in her life Jaen was out among people. Laarel ran
up to her, picked her up and
gave her a big hug. She had never been allowed near her younger sister.
She had tears streaming
down her face.
    <Lyta, What is going on?> asked John.
    <She is a telepath. Very powerful and totally untrained.>
    <Why haven't we seen any before this?> asked Delenn.
    <They are considered mental defectives,> answered Lyta.
    <That still doesn't explain why we haven't seen one,> insisted
Delenn.
    <Delenn. When they discover a child is 'mentally defective' they
kill it,> said Lyta.
    A look of horror spread across her face. How could they have been
here so long and not had a
clue.
    <I have permission to take her with us and train her. They don't
have any idea what she is,>
said Lyta.
    "Marel, I will see you Monday about the custody forms."
    Marel nodded assent. She fought tears while watching Jaen play for
the first time in her life.
The fact that Lyta wanted her wouldn't raise real questions in her mind
until much later. She
should have been surprised at how easily she and her father had accepted
Lyta's offer, but Lyta
had taken care of that.  
    Lyta was already thinking of Jaen as one of hers. Jaen would be
cared for, loved, trained and
protected. She would also become a citizen of Epsilon III. Lyta believed
that she would be the
first of many to come. The fjonians weren't ready for telepaths just
yet. She was beginning to see
how her hard nosed position could be made to payoff big time. All she
had to do was let them
come to her.
   <Delenn.>
   <Yes, Lyta?>
   Lyta 'told' her what she planned. Delenn began to smile.
   Harq had noticed Delenn's changes of expression and wondered what he
had missed. There was
something about these aliens, friendly as they were, that was
unsettling. And the way Jaen had
stopped screaming when the Blaine woman had looked at her. There was
something there, but
what it could be was beyond his comprehension.
*************************************************************************
TBC