From: Sue Isle <ratfan@newton.dialix.com.au>
Subject: Where Shadows Lie 1/3
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 19:38:37 +0800 (WST)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


Author's note and disclaimer:

FOURTH SEASON SPOILERS!

This story carries on from the events of _The Front Line_
and occurs as the returning warships of the Z'ha'Dum Fleet
are being repaired at Babylon 5 and before _The Illusion of Truth_

_Shadows_ is an amateur work, borrowing the scenarios and
characters of the television series _Babylon 5_.  Aline,
Diamond and Garth are my characters, everybody and
everything else belongs to JMS!

Sue

___________________________________________________________

                    WHERE SHADOWS LIE

                          Part One

               One Ring to rule them all
               One Ring to find them
               One Ring to bring them all
               And in the darkness bind them.
               In the Land of Mordor where
               the Shadows lie.

                    J.R.R. Tolkein, _The Lord of the Rings_


     There should have been shadows.  Not a brilliantly lit
room, a stark bare room with nothing in it but the oval
table, a cold shiny black metal, and the people in the
chairs.  She could feel their minds, sharp, questing, raised
up like cobras to test her courage.  Yet she wasn't alone
here, Diamond Kernock reminded herself, doing a brief
surface scan to sense the presence behind her, backing
her up all the way.
     None of them spoke, which was natural here.  She made
herself lower shields, allow the cobra minds in to search
throughout for any weakness.  If they had any weakness, she
couldn't sense it, and to attempt the same on them would be
to leave herself brain-burned.  They were all top level
telepaths, no one here was less than P10 and some had
travelled across Mars to be here tonight for her testing.
     "Good,"  one spoke aloud at last.  She didn't know his
name, hidden as it was behind that cold-burning screen.
_Dismissed_ they sent, and Diamond found herself beyond the
door she'd entered by.  Maybe two minutes had passed.
     Alfred Bester waited; stocky, unprepossessing, deadly.
His dark eyes searched her face and he nodded, satisfied.
"They're pleased.  It's not often anyone new is able to join
us."
     Us.  His cabal, his faction, who were only one of the
divisions within the hydra that was Psi Corps.  All had
risked death and worse to meet and test her.  If she had
been a mole, despite all of Bester's care, his careful plans
would be as dust.  He wanted to rule, to set "his" telepaths
in charge over the normals.  Diamond couldn't really see why
he wanted this so much, but he _was_ against the Shadows who
had worked their way into the Corps.  Diamond thought of
cobras again and shivered.  Bester put a hand on her
shoulder, very light, but she turned towards him.  Was Garth
right?  "Whatever humanity is in him, you can reach,"  her
partner had said before they left Mars for Babylon 5.
     Garth was on the beleaguered station now, training the
rogue telepaths who had helped them to win the war and might
now carry that war into the teeth of those in the Corps
who'd given their loyalty to the alien Shadows.
     "Let's get back?"  Diamond asked, still cold.  The back
of her neck prickled, the old, old call of danger.  Bester
nodded and they retraced their steps through the Corps HQ to
the apartment they'd been given.  She had her own room
within, could have had a separate place, but she'd said to
Bester that she would rather stay with him, did he mind?
His surprise had gleamed forth from his mind before he could
shield it, and also his pleasure.
     They did not talk of the meeting;  Bester had warned
her on the journey back to Syria Planum that this was
secret, that she must attempt to shield all knowledge of it.
He had drilled her in the mind techniques necessary, the
skills of an experienced telepath which even most psicops
didn't learn except at a rudimentary level.  At not quite
nineteen, Diamond had had barely a year as a full psicop.
She couldn't hold back a sigh of relief when they were back
in the apartment and she could sprawl out in an armchair.
     Bester got himself a drink, asking silently if she
wanted one.  _No_, Diamond said, smiling briefly at him.  He
nodded and sat down nearby in the low lighting.  Was he a
bit shaken also, she wondered. "All right?"  she asked.
     "I should ask you that.  Later."
     "Don't think about green elephants,"  Diamond murmured
and he smiled properly.
     "Is that one of Kalder's?"
     "One of mine, I think."  Garth being a safer topic, she
shifted ground a little.  "It's nice having somebody around
who isn't totally confused by what I say.  You and Garth.
I'd expect telepaths wouldn't have a problem, but they seem
to."
     "Most can't scan _you_, "  Bester remonstrated.
"Remember that.  How are you doing with the information in-
loading techniques?"
     Diamond yawned, covering her mouth.  "Not badly, when
I'm awake."
     He raised his brows in that look of mild surprise he
did so well.  "Get some sleep, then.  We can talk in the
morning."  He was still sitting there when she glanced back
from her doorway; dark and silent, not looking at her.
     The Corps had taught her to be sure of herself, not to
ask permission of others, except for those very few who were
her equals or superiors.  They'd taken her so far away
from her world; ordinary schoolgirl with ordinary friends,
an uncle who was a bit awkward raising a child, part of a
world where the alien civilizations beyond the sky hardly
mattered.  They'd taught her to trust no one, most
particularly the Corps telepaths themselves, but it had
taken her this long to begin to fear them.
     She woke alert in the strange bed, knowing at once
where she was and when.  Diamond got out of bed quietly and
went to shower, finding a fresh uniform in the closet.  At
first the psicop uniforms had seemed grim and uncomfortable;
now she couldn't imagine wearing anything else.  Once I
thought I'd be able to run away from the Corps, Diamond
thought as she showered; now I think I'll be able to change
it from within.  Which idea is crazier?  The bathroom was
brilliant white, so clean it gleamed in the sunlight through
the reinforced windows.
     Bester passed her in the doorway, heading for his own
shower.  "Morning,"  Diamond said.  He gave his curious
half-grimacing smile and went on in.  "Hey,"  Diamond called
after him - either this place was secure or she had no hope
- "am I actually on the inside now?"
     "You're alive, aren't you?"
     She choked back her immediate impulse answer - I've had
no complaints this far - but Bester's cough and chuckle told
her she'd slipped again.  Shields were always piss useless
between equal telepaths who spent much time near one
another.  His words weren't funny, come to think of it, the
implication that if she'd failed, they would have killed her
for the danger of the knowledge being betrayed.  Weak
vessels . . . She sat pondering it until Bester came out,
dark hair slicked damply back.
     "Let's take a walk."
     Before they could get far, another psicop came to
intercept them in a hallway, mind-to-mind with Bester, who
flashed a brief silent apology to her.  The strange P12
looked at her, to Diamond's mind, with wariness but there
was nothing she could do, only watch them walk away.

                       *     *     *

     It was a clear fine night on Minbar, within one of the
great, ancient cities kept clean and elegant and peaceful.
The Minbari are so used to this that anything else would
shock them beyond measure and so the humans who live on
their world have learned to live as they do.  For the woman
who roused from sleep by an open window, and a dream of far
stars, it hadn't been so difficult to adapt.  By habit and
by inclination she was an ascetic, sleeping on a thin folded
pallet and living out of a backpack containing a change of
clothing and other necessities.
     All around her in the room, on wooden benches, were
tiny, perfect bonsais, drinking in the fresh cool air
through the windows.  They were many species of Earth and
also of Minbar and other worlds..  For this gift alone, the
Minbari had honoured Aline and would have done so had she
never achieved anything else.  Yet she had.  With many other
Humans and Minbari, she had become a ranger, sworn to live
and die at the command of 'Entil-zha', once Commander
Jeffrey Sinclair, now Ambassador Delenn.
     She was not attractive, too tall and lean-boned to
appeal, blond hair cropped short and apparel plain.  Aline
was hardly bothered about that as she stood pulling her
clothes on, stretching and yawning, wondering what had woken
her in this peaceful setting.  Babylon 5 had been her most
recent taste of her own people's society and she couldn't
say she'd return to it willingly; too noisy and chaotic by
half.  She might have to, though.  The weirder assignments
always seemed to find their way to her and in any case, the
new Entil'Zha was based there.
     The knock resounded softly on her door only a moment
later and Aline laughed out loud, quelling the sound before
she opened it to a young novice of the religious caste.
"Ranger Aline,"  the young one said; this being the way
Aline had asked them to address her if they _had_ to use a
title, "you are asked to come."
     She came.  By now she didn't even need to ask any
questions, knowing they wouldn't be answered.  Minbari, with
their traditions of telling only what needed to be told and
no more, didn't really understand the garrulousness of
Humans.  Aline, as an empath, much preferred the Minbari
way.  What she really was, she supposed, was a telepath too
weak to be of interest to the Corps, whose talent focused
instead on emotions.  She could read them and she could
project them, in effect 'lying' with sendings of grief or
loss or whatever was needed to lure a foe.
     The robed acolyte left her at a door and departed back
along the stone corridor.  This whole building was as old as
the Terran pyramids, still in use, still necessary.  She
stepped inside, recognising the two Minbari who waited.
"Hello, Rathenn.  Hello, Neroon."  There was genuine warmth
in Aline's voice as she greeted the leader of the warrior
caste.  Neroon grinned.  These days he seemed to find all
the Rangers vastly amusing.  She could pick the time he'd
changed his mind about them, after his last journey to
Babylon 5.  The day he left, Neroon had been silent and
grim, ignoring her when she paid him a routine courtesy.
When he returned, though he'd been no less thoughtful,
the thunder had been lifted.
     "Pleasant rest, Aline,"  Rathenn replied.  She smiled
back.  The religious caste member had been in charge of the
day-to-day running of the Rangers for a long time, but never
lost his gentle patience with the exasperating Humans.  "We
are sorry to wake you, but Delenn has summoned you to
Babylon 5.  She believes you will be of more help there in
the coming times."
     "Yes,"  Aline agreed, a little surprised.  "I have
received the notification, like all the Rangers, that
Babylon 5 is now our centre of operations."
     "Your task is slightly more than simply moving to
Babylon 5.  You are right, we would not single you out on
that count.  Delenn needs you in particular at her side.
Your Psi Corps is causing trouble.  The Shadows infiltrated
that organisation, you know, and the Shadowed telepaths, if
one can use that phrase, are the ones influencing Earth's
government, which in turn has made the Babylon station
outcast.  Are you having any difficulty following this
progression?"
     "I wish I were,"  Aline answered slowly.
     "You can mark these people,"  Rathenn said, "perhaps
better than a telepath, for they will not regard you as a
threat to them.  There is unrest within that organisation.
We cannot know its exact nature, only that it is there, and
Delenn wishes you to be on Babylon 5 where you can observe
the telepaths there.  Watch them.  Ward them."
     "I am pleased to serve,"  Aline said in Minbari.
     She bowed.  So did Rathenn.  Neroon only smiled, and
when she left the room, he followed her, saying nothing as
they walked.  They reached the entranceway to the compound
where the shuttles were kept.  A young acolyte stood there,
holding Aline's pack, which she gravely accepted from her.
She bowed to Neroon, hands clasped together, then let a grin
slowly stretch her lips.  Sometimes you had to give way to
impulse, didn't you?
     "Neroon, you expressed interest in learning some of the
customs of my world?"
     "And so?"
     "This isn't an attack,"  Aline warned, before stepping
forward and wrapping her arms about his powerful body as far
as they would go, hugging and then releasing.  "We say
goodbye to friends thus."
     "Close friends?  It does not seem a formal action."
Neroon's arms clamped about her shoulders, holding her in an
effortless lock she didn't even try to break, while his gaze
considered her.  Just in case she wasn't on the level.
     "Close friends,"  Aline agreed, trying and failing to
imagine greeting Jeffrey Sinclair that way.  She had admired
him more than anyone she'd known, but he had always seemed
remote, a little sad and not receptive to friendship.  She
wasn't sure now, why she'd just done what she had, but the
Minbari war leader didn't seem to mind.  Slowly, he released
her and she took a grateful breath.  "I'll send you a
postcard,"  she added solemnly.  B5 had them, some rather
nice ones of the station and some truly garish horrors.
She'd have to find something just right for Neroon.
     Neroon's large hand on her shoulder stopped her.  They
were very much of a height but she was the cheetah to his
Bengal tiger.  "Do so,"  he said.  "And take care.  It is
not the open battle you need fear, but those who slink
behind you in the dark."
     Aline nodded, troubled by his intensity, then she was
through the gates and gone.  Gods, she thought, why _Neroon_
and why now?  She liked the Minbari in general and had
always liked Neroon in particular despite his ongoing feud
with the religious caste.  She found herself grinning as she
strode on board the shuttle.  Physically there was no reason
why not; a male Minbari wasn't _that_ different and you
could learn how to accommodate what differences there were
by reading Minbari medical texts.  Hmm, maybe she should try
to find out what Neroon had been reading?

     The arrival lounge on B5 was crowded with all manner of
beings, but Aline wove easily through them and towards the
waiting Ranger who'd stationed himself by a handy wall.
"Hello Marcus.  How do you stand this zoo?"
     He glanced quickly from side to side and shrugged
slightly.  "One gets used to it."
     "What's the telepath situation here at the moment?"
     "Interesting.  We have your friend and his partner,
Lyta Alexander and also Alfred Bester.  Lyta's managed to
stay out of the others' way so far, or they out of hers."
Marcus paced her as she headed out of the lounge, carrying
the duffel which was her only luggage.  "Bester and his
trainee got back here a few hours ago.  Delenn would like
you to talk with them.  I said I'd bring you through."
     "Not that I mind the company in the least, but do I
need an escort?"
     "With the station so crowded, I thought it was a good
idea."
     And you, Aline thought, would understate your own
funeral.  I'm duly warned.
     When they reached Garth's quarters, Marcus cheerfully
hollered at the intercom and hit the door with his staff,
currently in shortened state.  "Visitors!"
     Garth Kalder came to the door half in psicop uniform,
the pants half.  He was also wearing a half green, half
purple T-shirt with the words "green/purple . . .
GREEN/PURPLE . . . GREEN!  PURPLE!"  splayed jaggedly over
it in black lettering.  Marcus grinned, but Aline stared at
it in disbelief.  "I'm beyond comment,"  she said.  Garth
pulled her into his arms, hugged her and passed her through,
keeping an arm around her as he turned to the other two
people in the room.
     "Di, Alfred, this is Aline.  We've known each other
since we were kids, well, I was a kid  - before I was
Corps!"
     The teenaged girl looked at Aline a little warily.  It
was strange to see a kid wearing the black uniform of the
feared teep police, but it fitted her well.  Come to think
of it, maybe not a kid, Aline thought.  She doesn't look
like she got much childhood in before they grabbed her.
     Then she met Alfred Bester's eyes and immediately
realised how normal and personable Diamond was!  They were
black depths, unreadable, yet her empathic senses picked up
emotions all right, shielded behind such a hell of a wall
that she wondered whether _he_ could get at them.
Loneliness and threat, plots and counterplots, all blended
into a terrifying whole behind those eyes.  Too late, Aline
recalled the general warning never to meet the gaze of a
telepath, line-of-sight was all they required for a surface
scan.  Her empathy wasn't enough to let her know if he'd
done such a scan, but she shrugged inwardly.  It didn't
matter.  _Do it if it'll help you trust me_, she said inside
her mind.
     With an effort, she turned her head; saw him smile as
though he was pleased at having caused that difficulty.  "I
don't suppose you've a cup of tea handy, do you, Garth?"
she made herself say, sitting down on the only free chair.
She had broken out in a sweat.
     The room had been intended for a single occupant and
probably not for a prolonged stay; the small kitchen alcove
was barely adequate, yet everything was clean and tidy.
Garth moved about, getting mugs of tea ready.  "While I'm
delighted to see you, you have to know I'm curious,"  he
threw over his shoulder, aiming the words at both his Ranger
friend and partner and at Bester.  "Ali, you were due to
come back anyway, but I happen to know it wasn't _this_
soon, and of course, you were an unknown element, Al."  He
hesitated and laughed.  "I'm going to have to start using
one or both of your full names."
     "Later,"  Bester said.  Brick wall.  Aline smiled
pleasantly at him.
     "Al,"  Garth said, "Aline can know what I know..  You
can trust her as you trust me."
     "That is quite an assumption,"  Bester murmured.
     "Yes,"  the younger man said calmly.  He met Bester's
gaze squarely, meeting his bluff, and to Aline's surprise,
Bester's look of cold reserve was gone.  He smiled, and the
empath blinked at the depth of warmth and affection suddenly
released.  She would not have thought Bester capable of even
so much as unqualified, unselfish liking for someone, but he
loved and trusted Garth without reservation.  No, not quite
without reservation, there was still something there, a room
in the house with its doors securely locked, but after all,
which of them did not carry secrets?
     "Very well.  Diamond, there is a hitch."  Garth went on
alert.  Aline saw him tense, move a couple of paces to be
beside the girl, closer to rest a hand on her shoulder for a
moment, then back to continue with the tea.  Even Bester
better not try anything to upset her, that move said, and
Aline wanted to grin.  She wasn't afraid of Bester any more,
she realised, and quickly analysed why that was.  The elder
psicop had no intention of harming the girl.  As he looked
at Diamond and Garth, his feeling for them was plain to
Aline; the love just as strong for both, but towards Diamond
it was protective but fearful.  Perhaps Bester was concerned
that he could not protect her, that forces beyond his
control would take these two people from him as Carolyn had
been taken.  Aline knew she was reading things into what she
picked up and wished she was strong enough to be certain.
     "You passed your test, conditionally,"  Bester went on
to Diamond.  "They cannot be certain, but they think you
might be Shadowed."
     "Why didn't you . . . "  Diamond began.
     Garth slammed a mug - fortunately empty - down on the
table.  "You could ream her mind inside out if you chose,"
he said to Bester with quiet yet startling ferocity.  "If
you and your cadre couldn't pick it, it isn't there!"  He
turned a glare on Aline for good measure and kept on with
what he was doing.  Bester stood up and went towards him,
only half a dozen paces, but Aline tensed.  She'd rarely
seen the gentle Garth angry and he was angry now.  A
battle between top level telepaths was _not_ something she
wanted to be in the room with!  "Besides that, the Shadows
are _gone_!"
     "That cadre supports President Clark, who would give
them power, so they think, and break down the rest of Psi
Corps,"  Bester said, close behind him.  "We have to be
sure.  _I_ did not personally deep scan Diamond, now I must
do it and I will need your assistance."
     "Ask me as a friend and you might get somewhere, Al,
but don't give me ultimatums.  We both had to allow the
rogue telepaths to scan us, to be sure it wasn't a trap,
when we began to train them.  A deep scan isn't something
you need twice in the same decade, let alone within the space
of a few weeks!  Then your bunch did it in Psi Corps.  Three
times might do her serious damage."
     "The doubt is there,"  Bester said, his words knife-
sharp.  "We must be sure."
     "Aline."  Garth bit off her name.  "Why on earth do the
Minbari care, to bring your side into it?"
     "Some of the Rangers are moving here anyway.  I was
asked to come now, since Entil-zha, and those who were the
Grey Council perceive a threat in this fragmentation of Psi
Corps."
     "All right."  The kettle boiled and Garth poured the
water over the tea leaves, inhaling the steaming fragrance.
He looked over at Diamond, who shook her head at him, then
got to her feet and walked out, flicking a grey glance at
Aline as though to say:  sorry you had to see this.
     "I think that's a good move,"  Aline said before a
deadly silence could settle.  "Garth, may I grab a cup of
that to go?  I'd better check on the bonsai nursery."  And
warn Ambassador Delenn to add more sandbags to the defences.

     Diamond walked, no clear idea of destination, just
moving.  She locked her shields down as hard as she could,
walking through the Zocalo and its press of beings, somehow
avoiding collisions.  Somewhere near the casino, she was
aware of someone pacing her and sent a brief _Go away_.  She
was in uniform, they had to know what she was.
     "I'd just like to be sure you aren't going to let a
bomb off in here," said a voice.  Diamond's head jerked up
and she met the woman's eyes; Lyta Alexander.  The rebel
telepath smiled slightly, not in the least intimidated by
someone of more than twice her purported level.  "You look
like you could use a drink."
     Lyta had avoided them, all of them, most of the time
they were on station, which was natural enough.  She was
under Sheridan's protection but that wouldn't stop Bester if
he could manage to shanghai her back to Earth or Mars and
the Corps jurisdiction.  He wouldn't, so long as he needed
the pact with Sheridan, but that was tenuous now.
     "Okay,"  Diamond said warily.  "Thanks."
     They sat at one of the bars, she in black, Lyta in
something bright and fashionable, blues and greens which
complemented her striking hair and features.  "It's quite an
'honour' to have three psicops here at one time,"  Lyta said
wryly.
     "You don't need to worry about Alfred this time.  I'm
why he's here."  Diamond didn't try to hide the bitterness,
it was good to be able to talk about this with another
telepath.  "Him and Garth.  I thought I could trust Garth at
least."
     "I knew Garth a little, back in training.  Will you let
a stranger give you a warning on something you might not
have encountered yet?"  Diamond nodded and sipped her drink,
it was highly alcoholic, much more so than anything she
usually drank, and quite delicious.  "Garth Kalder has the
gift of being likeable, but when you get down beyond that,
he doesn't have much more to do with normals than Bester
does.  He is loyal to the Corps, that's the bottom line, no
matter what links he still has with his family or with Aline
Lorell.  He will obey the orders he gets - he will obey
Bester."
     Diamond stared into the bubbly blue depths of her
drink.  She knew Lyta was P5, but the feeling of power she
got from her now seemed far greater than that.  Greater than
her own ability.  What else hadn't they told her?  "Are you
saying you think he isn't my friend?  He's my partner."
     "I don't know enough about either of you to guess
that,"  Lyta said, more gently.  "That's not what I'm
saying.  Just keep your eyes open."
     "Yeah,"  Diamond said.  "I will.  But I have to let
them do what they want to do.  I'm not strong enough to hold
out and maybe I shouldn't even try to hold out."
     Lyta watched her, concerned but silent, as the girl
moved away.

     "Hi."  Aline looked up to see Diamond in the
doorway of the bonsai nursery/shop.  It was a couple of
hours since she'd left Garth's room and she'd become
immersed in catching up on bonsai care.  Garth and Marcus
had probably done their best, but they failed on the fine
details - like repotting when a bonsai grew.
     The kid didn't look good, with hollows under her
eyes, her brown hair tied severely back and a watchful
expression.  Aline got a wash of fatigue and frustration
from her, no more.  "I remember you talking to Garth, before
the bombing of Mars happened,"  the young psicop continued.
"He said you were coming back with the rest of the Rangers."
     "That's right.  Delenn leads us now, and she is here,
so the Rangers are here,"  Aline said, hoping this would be
enough.  Seemingly it was, or else Diamond was too
distracted to really think it through.  Babylon 5 was too
crowded and too restricted a place for the Rangers to train
properly; those who came here would be the ones whom Delenn
needed here.
     "Are you here because of me?"
     So much for that hope.  "I'm here because of what is
happening with Psi Corps.  You're part of that."  She met
the girl's grey eyes for a moment, then looked back at the
nearest bonsai.  "They care about you, you know.  Garth was
my friend from when he was just a kid, younger than you..  I
don't need to be an empath to read him.  And Bester, I was
surprised to sense it from him, but he loves both of you."
     "How can you know?  You're not a telepath."
     "I'm an empath.  Sometimes I can pick up emotions, if
they're strong enough."
     "Everyone's an expert."
     Aline set a tiny Chinese Elm back down, once more
troubled by the idea that this girl was Shadow-ridden.
There was nothing here to indicate any more than ordinary
adolescent irritation - okay, _telepathic_ irritation at the
stupidity of adults.  Three telepaths, Aline thought
wearily, all interlinked, all suspicious, all so damned
powerful they could mash my brain.  Neroon, if this was your
idea I'm going to wire your skullbones into a Full Cascade,
so help me.  Maybe I'll talk to Marcus.  If he thinks all
this makes sense, I'll know we've got trouble.  This kid
needs a mother and she's never had one, or not for a long
time.  How can I do the job?  She's a goddamned P12.  When
she glanced back at Diamond, the girl was gone.


                         End part 1



From: Sue Isle <ratfan@newton.dialix.com.au>
Subject: Where Shadows Lie 2/3
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 19:42:57 +0800 (WST)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


Disclaimers as for part 1
________________________________________________________


                     WHERE SHADOWS LIE

                           Part 2

     Garth, alone and stretched out on the bed to get what
rest he could, didn't move as Diamond closed the outer door
and came into the bedroom.  She stared down at him for
several minutes.
     "Garth, when would I have got Shadow taint?"  Diamond
asked, as though partway through a conversation.  "I was in
the Academy, then I came to Mars where I met you.  Except
for this trip back to Mars with Alfred, I've always been
around you.  You'd know if I was suddenly different one day,
even if I didn't know.  How could I have an AP in me or
whatever you think I've got?"
     "I don't think it's an AP.  That's not as common as you
seem to think.  I don't know what the hint was, but you know
we have to scan you."  He did not say:  we can do it without
your permission, for Diamond knew that perfectly well.
She'd sat through many classes about the duties and
responsibilities of the psicops to other telepaths.  The
guardians had to watch each other.
     _Alfred!_
     Garth winced and grabbed at his forehead, even knowing
that it wouldn't do any good.  Diamond's clear call,
directed also at _him_, cut right through flesh and bone and
nerves with a force that set them jingling with agony.  Al
was going to be sorry he'd taught her that . . .
     _Hello, Diamond_  Right on cue, not bothered at all,
Bester answered.
     "I want to talk to you in person."
     _If you open the door, you can_
     With a glance at her, Garth said, "Come," and the door
opened.  Diamond didn't look nearly so confident, eye to eye
with Bester, but she was no less outraged.  "If you can't
trust me, you go ahead and do your damned scan, sir!"
     The lines in Bester's face deepened when he frowned;
instead of looking angry, he appeared intensely distressed.
This, Garth sensed, bore no relation to what he was actually
feeling.  Anything Bester truly felt was buried deep inside
where not even another P12 could reach it.  "It is not a
matter of trust.  There is a doubt, for which you are not
responsible.  You are Corps.  You are required to allow the
scan."  His voice was quiet, soothingly reasonable.  "Garth
and I must both do it, one is not enough for this, else I
could have asked him to do so alone."
     Diamond stared at him, then abruptly lowered her
barriers.  "Fine.  Get it over with, sir."

     Garth and Bester circled Diamond, like hunters
confining prey.  She felt the probes like lasers, stabbing
far deeper than telepaths normally searched.  At this level,
the scan was painful, a mental rape no matter how careful
the telepath.  Diamond's anger rose up like clouds of mist
as she screamed, both psionically and aloud.  She'd seen
this done, known it was impossible to maintain control, but
nothing was like having it done to you.  The clumsy search
by the rebel telepaths had gone nowhere near as deep as
this.  Her whole mind seemed to catch fire and shatter in
pieces, the searchers examining each shard as it fell.
     Some time later, she came back to herself.  She was
lying on the bed, Garth beside her, Bester not far away.
She'd been crying, but couldn't remember the tears.  Her
breath came hard and jerkily and she found herself gripping
Garth's hand.  "W-well, what did you . . . "
     "Nothing,"  Garth said.
     Diamond concentrated on breathing for a few more
moments, before twisting her head to look up at Bester, who
stood like a black pillar by the bed.  "Maybe you . . .
should think who might have wanted to turn us against one
another," she said, hating the way her voice jumped about
like that of a child who'd been howling.  She turned her
face back against the bed, not wanting to look at either of
them for awhile.  Her hand stayed in Garth's and after a
moment she heard a creak of someone else sitting down.
     "Diamond,"  Bester said.
     "You look,"  she burst out again, turning to give him
line of sight, not that he needed it.  "Look!"
     And she told him, as no one can ever really tell a
friend in words, what he meant to her.  First the figure
of terror, who'd meant to slaughter the rebel telepaths.
Who had believed he had.  Then later, the teacher, the one
who knew what she needed to learn.  The one who never gave
way, never trusted the Shadows and their fine promises.  She
had allied with him, needing someone who would care and
approve, someone beyond Garth.
     "Someone . . . maybe wants us to fight among ourselves.
I needed you and you did this."
     "No,"  Garth said.  "We had to be sure."
     She threw a stab of irritation, enough to make him
wince.  He still hadn't shielded.  "So if you found nothing,
who did?  Who cast the doubt?"
     "Too late to stop them now, if there is anything to
stop,"  Garth said to Bester.  Diamond pulled her hand free
and rolled over to a sitting position.
     "Or else they wanted you here, out of their way."
     Bester's brows rose.
     "I'm serious,"  Diamond protested.  He nodded, not
denying it.  "Talk to me, Alfred.  Why did you tell me like
that - as though you believed I couldn't be trusted?"
     "Until just now, I could not be sure."
     "And now?"  She became aware of their body language,
herself with Garth, still gripping his hand, but Bester
alone, even so close to them.  When he reached out, it was
with his mind.  Diamond looked at her partner and gently
disengaged her hand from his, thinking of Lyta's words as
she regarded him.  There was no way she could talk to Alfred
Bester on the level.  _Talk to him!_  she sent to Garth.  "I
need some time alone."

     Garth closed the door to Bester's room, letting his
breath out in a dismayed, "Whew!"  He looked at Bester, who
had started to pace the small available floor space.
"Alfred.  Sit a moment."
     Bester looked at him, over a room, over a dark gulf.
"They were my people.  I know them; they would not have
tried to break down the connection between me and the two of
you."
     "_You_ trust someone?"
     Bester made a brief, annoyed gesture and took a step or
two closer to him.  "I mean I have scanned them.  I am as
sure as a P12 can be that they are loyal to our interests
and _not_ to a murderous alien race."
     "I hope you are not saying that you still doubt
Diamond?"  There must be trust between us; that or madness.
The words echoed in his head and he saw that Bester heard
them.  There were no shields between them at this moment,
almost as close as lovers.  Bester sat down at last.  "When
it all breaks apart, where are you going to be?"
     Bester grinned.  "Not on this station, I hope."
     "That's not what I mean."  Garth laughed and hugged
him.  "Look, you're my senior but will you listen to me?"
     "All right."
     "Go to Diamond.  Convince her you trust her.  And try
to do it before dinnertime, huh?  I'm starving."
     "We'd better give her a little time."
     "True.  So why don't you bring me up to speed
concerning the latest goings-on around here?"

     Diamond rolled over, sensing Bester's presence, but not
Garth.  She'd actually fallen asleep.  She didn't sit up,
but she faced him as he sat down on the bed, still correct
and grim in his uniform.  She was still wearing hers, too,
much though she'd like to get out of it and put on a crazy
shirt like Garth's.  Garth ignored clothing regs, but she
wasn't sure she could get away with it.
     "You can if you like,"  Bester said.  "I will not tell
anyone."
     Diamond sighed and peeled off her gloves, laying them
on the bed.  She held out her hands to him, a clear
invitation for him to do likewise.  Bester hesitated, then
also peeled.  As their hands touched, Diamond felt the first
clear, sharp shock of his mind touching hers, an intimacy
fiercer than anything physical.  He was locking down, but
even so, the force made her gasp.  _Be sure_ she said into
that dark gulf.  _Please_.
     He made no empty protestations, no polite argument.  He
simply did exactly as she had asked, as any psicop was bound
to do.  Their physical bodies ceased to exist for them.
Time did not matter.  When they returned to themselves,
Bester was lying down and his arms were around Diamond in an
intense embrace.  Her breathing was a little fast, his was
as well, so he waited a further moment.  "Someone was in
your mind.  They planted . . . a shadow, though that word
has been overused of late.  A psionic ghost, the merest
flicker, which a searching mind might well discover.  In
short, you were set up."
     Diamond's mind flared with anger and she tried to get
up, but his arms held her.  "Stay."  She was up on her
elbow, staring at him, one hand pressed against his chest.
There was no fear in her, only a burning determination to
_find_ the perpetrator/intruder.  "We are one in this,"
Bester said softly.  "It seems you were right."
     Diamond wondered for a moment if he would kiss her; she
sensed his wanting, the knowledge that it had been a long
while now since Alfred Bester had allowed anyone that close
to him.  Only Carolyn.  But he released her, after that long
pause, and moved to sit up, sliding his booted feet to the
floor.  "For now, Garth has asked that we go to dinner
before he starves,"  Bester added drily.  "As this would not
look good in a report, shall we tidy ourselves and find a
reputable restaurant?"
     Diamond nodded.  "I don't want to wear uniform."
     His dark brows rose.  "I look forward to the result."
     She laughed, for the moment once again only a teenaged
girl.  "It won't be that great, but would you mind clearing
out again while I get ready?"

     When Bester came back in, Garth looked at him with a
grin.  "I don't even have to scan you.  Are we going to
dinner?"
     "That is why I was kicked out,"  Bester said.  He
surveyed Garth's shirt with disapproval.  "You will - lose
that garment, won't you?"
     "Alfred, I don't think going out in psicop black is a
good idea."
     "Diamond has already made her stand on that point,"
Bester said, sitting on the bed.  "That leaves me with a
problem, though, uniforms are all I have and I don't think I
can borrow anything of yours."
     "Well,"  Garth said thoughtfully, "you may be right.
Wait here a few minutes."
     He was still gone when Diamond came in, selfconsciously
wearing a turquoise-blue dress in some satiny material.  It
gave her grey eyes a blue tinge and complemented her skin
tones.  For response, Bester simply lowered his shield and
let her sense his appreciation.  "Where's Garth?" she asked,
turning about.  Her brown hair was loose, brushed to a silky
shine about her shoulders.
     "We were talking about uniforms and then he raced off,"
Bester said, shrugging.  The door slid open as though on cue
and their fellow telepath came in, grinning in triumph.
Over his arm was a mass of green material, which Garth shook
out to reveal a shirt.
     "I had to guess the size, but it looks all right.  Try
it on."
     Bester shot him a darkly suspicious look which set
Diamond chuckling, then slowly unfastened his jacket and
laid it on the bed.  He unzipped the black collarless shirt
and set it with the jacket.  "Come on,"  Diamond said.
"Worlds get invaded in less time."
     "You be quiet,"  Garth admonished and just as Bester
felt grateful for his intervention, he went on.  "This is a
momentous occasion.  Perhaps I should call security and make
sure Mr Garibaldi is taping?"
     "Count on that,"  Diamond muttered, as Bester picked up
the green shirt.  It could be worse.  The garment wasn't the
lurid lime of Garth's T-shirt, but it wasn't the sober dark
green he would have preferred.  More emerald.  It had
buttons, which he fumbled a little under their eyes.  Garth
had guessed well, though, the damn thing fit and even looked
good against the black breeches.  Diamond applauded and
Garth smiled.
     "Now, you change that shirt,"  Bester told him.
     "Five minutes,"  Garth said.  He was a bit longer than
that, having taken time to clean up as well, but when he
returned, even Bester could find no fault with the silver-
gray dress shirt he was wearing.  "Shall we go?"

     "I don't believe it,"  Ivanova said.  She hadn't even
seen it until Stephen Franklin told her, then turned to see
the three telepaths in a tight pack, making their way to a
table.  Not one of them in that damned black uniform.  She
stared at Bester and wondered idly just what sort of force
had been exerted to make him get out of uniform.  "Lyta's
not about, is she?"
     "I don't think so,"  Franklin muttered, his gaze on
Diamond.  He had just seen Aline Lorell weave easily through
the crowded restaurant and reach Bester and the others right
after they sat down.

     "Hello,"  Aline said.  She did not come right up to the
table, her body language cautious.  She had not dressed up.
Her gaze flickered to Bester in his bright shirt, her smile
just as brief.  "Garth got to you?"
     "You could say that,"  Bester agreed.
     "Well."  Aline turned away.  "I'm glad you got all that
sorted out somehow.  I gather there's nothing for the
Rangers to worry about?"
     "Only for me,"  Bester said.
     He sensed the Ranger discount that as not important;
her primary duty fulfilled for the moment.  Diamond was not
a threat, no agent of the shadows, and he gleaned from her
surface thought that Aline had not believed her so.  She had
not relaxed her guard, she knew there was still danger, but
now she would report to Delenn that the immediate threat was
nonexistent.  Then she was gone, almost a ghost herself
among the fancily-clad diners, the white linen and
silverware and candles.  A Ranger, one who walked in the
dark places of earth and space.
     "Food,"  Garth said contentedly beside him as their
dinners arrived, and Bester favoured him with a shake of his
head.  How on earth did Garth do that; push even serious
concerns away for the while and give his entire mental
concentration to a plateful of roast beef and veg?

     Aline felt a sense of relief when she got out of the
place.  She didn't like all that space outside the
restaurant's windows; it felt unprotected, a target.  She
was never comfortable in places like that and couldn't
believe that Garth and the others really were either.
Unable to stop a grin, she thought that Alfred Bester really
had looked all right in that gear.  The smile faded as she
reflected that those three would have an evening together,
able to push away their worries for a time at least, but all
she had was the care of the bonsai and the sending of that
report to Delenn.
     Someone was standing outside the door of her
quarters/bonsai nursery.  Minbari robes.  She noted that,
went into alert before she recognised him and even then, did
not relax.  "Neroon,"  she said, "what are you doing here?"
     "Waiting for you,"  he said, his voice as dry and
uninformative as only a Minbari could manage.  She opened
the door and went in; he followed and waited while she
adjusted lights and swept her gaze briefly over the bonsai
on their tables.  All seemed in order.
     "I have to report to Delenn,"  she said and he moved
out of vision range of the screen without any more being
said.  Delenn was not in her quarters.  Aline coded a brief
message stating that "examination shows the subject has been
cleared of any suspect material.  We believe another has
left a trace to encourage our original belief."  She
thought, after this long around John Sheridan, that Delenn
would pick up the idea of "a set up".  Then she turned to
the Minbari who waited for her, meeting Neroon's slow smile.
     "Hey,"  Aline said, "it's good to see you.  Want some
tea?"

     Bester and Garth sat back after dinner, watching
Diamond eat her way through a large slice of chocolate cake
with disbelief.  When she sat back at last, Garth suggested
that they head back to quarters.  "Now?  I can't _move_."
     "You take the feet,"  Garth said to Bester, who broke
into an unexpected smile, the sort of look which indicated
he might just do what Garth had told him.  Diamond pushed
her chair back hastily and stood, backing.
     "Don't you guys dare . . . "
     Abruptly she stopped and looked around.  Everyone in
the restaurant had tensed, particularly the gray-clad
Security near the doors.  _They_ were staring hard in the
telepaths' direction.  As Diamond was distracted by her
flash of panic, her shaky shields dropped and for just a
second, she was the recipient of all the fear and distrust
felt by normals towards telepaths.  A moment's joking was to
them a potential threat.  Diamond choked a cry of agony as
the emotions flooded in to her - and then it suddenly
stopped.  Blessed peace, as quiet as within Psi Corps
itself.
     "Thanks."
     "We didn't do it,"  Garth said, also on his feet.  He
put an arm around her and looked, seeking through the people
around them for the one he wanted.  She walked forward from
behind a standing group; red-haired and elegant, her
expression watchful.
     "I did.  Are you all right?"
     "Yeah, thanks.  It was just seeing them all _look_.  We
were just joking but they all thought . . . "
     "Good idea not to joke,"  Lyta Alexander said.  She
nodded to Garth, and it was the look of equals, not that of
a junior telepath.  Instead of anger, he only looked
curious, raising his brows at her.  "Ask Bester,"  she said
aloud, cool and remote as though he was not right there in
front of her.  Bester said nothing at all.

     "Damn,"  Ivanova muttered.  She would have stood, but
Franklin put a hand on her arm.  Before she could rip it off
his arm, he spoke quickly.
     "It's not anything.  Only fooling around."
     "P12s don't 'fool around'."
     "If Bester has any friends in the known universe, I
think they're with him at the moment,"  Franklin said,
making her meet his eyes.  Ivanova sighed and sat back down.
     "I thought that kid had some potential to be a human
being."
     "She does."
     "Not if Bester keeps control over her, keeping her
isolated from normal human beings!"
     "The way those normal human beings just reacted should
tell you that may not be altogether a bad thing."
     She grunted something.  "We should get rid of him soon
anyway, I guess."
     "Is that a statement or a suggestion?"
     "Why, doctor, how could you think such a thing?"

     Lyta withdrew, leaving her final suggestion with them.
Bester got up, punctiliously pushing his chair in before
turning to the others.  The entire restaurant watched the
trio leave.  Diamond thought she'd feel the burning gazes
even if she weren't a teep.  "Alfred,"  she said, her voice
dry, as though wearing out.  "If I wanted . . . to go walk
for myself for a while, would you tell me no?"
     It was Garth whose hand tightened on her shoulder, but
Bester looked at her from the other side.  "That might not
be safe."
     "I know.  I also know that I could protect myself if I
really wanted to."
     "By using such force as would confirm all the bad
stories,"  Garth said.
     "Do you intend to talk to Lyta?"  Bester asked.
     "I might."  She turned suddenly, eye-to-eye with him,
realised suddenly that his concern was genuine.  "I already
have.  She's not my enemy."
     Bester nodded.  "Be careful.  If you need us, call."
     Diamond hugged him suddenly, feeling his surprise that
was always there when either of them did anything like that.
Next she embraced Garth, who was clearly worried but did not
say anything about it.  "See you soon.  Take care."  She
grinned, facing both their stares with a slight shrug,
before moving away.

     Aline and Neroon had tea, beside her pallet, the
partition pushed aside to reveal the room with its tiny
forest arranged on trestle tables.  A Human might have
looked askance at the bare conditions she lived in; Neroon
did not even seem to notice.  Keeping the correct tea
ceremony was impossible; she couldn't do more than brew it
from leaves, not tea-bags, and serve it in rough white bowls
instead of the delicate ceramics that should have been here..
Those were on Minbar; a sign, perhaps, that this place was
not yet home to her.
     Alone with a man; among her own that too would have
meant something else, and Aline knew herself well enough to
realise it would please her.  Among the ceremony-ridden
Minbari, even the warrior caste would regard such haste as
unseemly, as suggesting that the union was worth no
importance at all.  She looked up from her thoughts to see
Neroon's gaze on her.  The light was deliberately low,
suggesting a shadowy evening, but his eyes were bright.  "A
pause in the chaos, perhaps."
     She nodded.  War had ended, possible war still lay
ahead, perhaps the end of all things, yet they might enjoy
these moments of peace and the taste of tea on the tongue.
"The female sees clearly,"  Neroon mused.  "That is why,
when union is planned, the female watches while the male
sleeps."
     "I always thought that unfair.  When does she get a
chance to rest?  And what is the omen if she falls asleep?"
     "Oh, that the male was not sufficient to hold her
interest?"  Neroon paused, then let out a booming chuckle.
"She rests as she needs, once she has her answer."
     "Neroon, why did you come?  Truly?  This mess with the
Psi Corps telepaths, that doesn't necessitate the leader of
the warrior caste being here at such a crucial time."
     "Oh, I return in a few hours.  I wished to see you, to
be sure all was well."
     "Uh."  Aline wondered belatedly why she'd been so sure
she _wouldn't_ get a straight answer.  Neroon's grin showed
he was enjoying her discomfiture hugely.  Fine.  Let's show
you!  "Neroon, what would you say if I told you that I once
observed you doze off at a religious ceremony to mark the
arrival of new acolytes into the central temple?  Those
around were afraid to touch you, so you slept for almost an
hour until the movement around you woke you up."
     "I would ask whether you received your answer."
     Her mouth was dry.  Gods, she was as nervous as a
teenager.  "I guess I did."
     He moved the tea things aside, very carefully, then
settled himself down on the pallet beside her.  As Neroon's
arms enfolded her, Aline thought to ask, "Uh, isn't there
some other ritual we . . . "
     "You have been spending too much time among the
religious caste,"  Neroon scoffed, but he smiled.




End of part 2


From: Sue Isle <ratfan@newton.dialix.com.au>
Subject: Where Shadows Lie 3/3
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 19:46:44 +0800 (WST)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


Disclaimer as for part 1
_________________________________________________________

                     WHERE SHADOWS LIE

                           Part 3

     "Message for you,"  Garth called to Bester, who had
gone into the kitchen while the former checked comp.  "Want
me to disappear?  It's coded."
     "Not particularly."  Bester came back, sat down before
the terminal.  "Alfred Bester,"  he told it, and the Corps
insignia glowed whitely on the black screen before a black-
uniformed Psicop appeared and began to speak.  Two minutes
later, the message ended and Bester was still sitting there.
Garth, not sure what he could say, rested a tentative hand
on his chief's shoulder.  Bester shook it off.  "You heard
that.  You know what my orders are."
     "I heard."  Garth looked at the blank screen, then at
Bester's no less blank expression.  The message reverberated
inside Garth's own mind.
     _They are to work with you, to learn anything and
everything about Babylon 5 that will destroy it.  If they
resist, you are to use the trigger words that compel them_
     Garth's mouth was dry at the thought of that.  He knew,
at some basic level he had always known, that the Corps had
programmed him.  There were days he didn't remember, people
whose faces caused a convulsive jerk of recollection, yet
his mind provided no knowledge.  And now, the Corps clearly
knew that he and Diamond were not clear in their purpose any
more.  If they were lucky, their minds would not be
irretrievably damaged within a few months.  Garth had some
idea of the chances involved; not very great at all.  He
also knew that he could not betray this place, not even to
his own.
     He tried to send reassurance, a strong, protective
shielding, caught Bester's familiar, ironic amusement
flaring blackly against it.  "Find Diamond,"  his chief said
at last.  "We must talk."

     For a while Diamond moved along on her own, locking
down shields as tightly as she could to close out the
intrusive crowd murmurs..  Despite them, it was good to be
moving, to be looking at bright colours and shopfronts and
alien beings who demanded nothing from her.  Then a coolness
settled around her mind and Lyta said _Here, let me help_.
     _Thanks_
     "What was all that about in there?"
     Diamond shrugged, embarrassed.  "They were only
teasing, threatening to carry me if I couldn't walk.  I had
dessert.  Then when I stood, I saw that everyone in the
restaurant was staring like - like I'd pulled a gun or
something."
     "That's what I thought happened.  The mistake - not the
gun."
     "You aren't P5."
     Lyta grinned.  "Psi Corps says I am."
     "Is there anywhere _quiet_ on this station?"
     "Not totally, not for a telepath, but there shouldn't
be too many people in the gardens at the moment."
     There weren't and Diamond felt easing within her mind
as they walked slowly among the plants.  Lyta was non-
demanding company, talking a little about the gardens
themselves and how people always needed such spaces even on
a station.  It was good to talk with another woman again, a
woman _telepath_.  Men just didn't understand some things.
"You sort out the other difficulty?"  Lyta asked finally.
     "I guess so.  Someone set me up . . . to make them
think I might be Shadowed."
     "You aren't,"  Lyta said and her certainty made Diamond
feel better.  "Did Bester hurt you?"
     Diamond shook her head wearily.  "No.  Not really.  He
didn't want to.  You know what they _can_ do."
     "Better than you know.  And yet you're still loyal?"
     "I don't know.  I mean, nobody can get off the station
right now - most of the alien fleet are still damaged and
other ships can't come from Earth.  Even when I went to Mars
with Alfred, we had to go by way of one of the colonies and
take ages."
     "Trust me, if Psi Corps wanted you off, you'd find a
ship."  Diamond glanced sideways at her and Lyta added.  "Do
you want Psi Corps?"
     "I want . . . "  Diamond broke off, looked over at a
tall white rose tree and back at her.  No one, Lyta thought,
had asked her for an opinion in some time.  Not anything
big, about her own life.  "I'd like for it never to have
happened."
     "What happened?"
     "When I was thirteen.  I was with some friends, we were
late for school but we were fooling about on the street.  I
saw the Corps booth there beside the Mall and I ducked in -
just looked through the door and the psicop there looked
back at me.  Like I was showing my friends how brave I was."
Diamond's grin was mockery for that lost child.  "We went on
to school and I would've forgotten all about it . . . but
two psicops came that same day, Lyta.  Maybe an hour later,
no more.  I was called to the principal's office and they
took me away.  We went to my uncle's house to get a few
things and to tell him - not ask him, tell him - that they
were taking me.  They were already that sure.  I want not to
have done that.  I wish we'd . . . walked down another road
or something."
     "It wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference,"  Lyta
said calmly.  "Thirteen, you said?  Your whole class
would've been tested sometime during eighth grade.  They
test at first grade, some kids show psi then, but a lot
don't until they hit their teens.  And again just before
high school graduation to catch the few late bloomers."
     "Garth was seventeen."
     "So all it meant was they saved a few months because
that psicop happened to scan you that day.  Or would you
have run, if you'd had warning?"
     "No.  My parents died when I was little, so there was
just me and my uncle.  He wasn't mean to me, but he didn't
really want a kid around.  After the Corps took me, he moved
away and didn't tell me . . . or they didn't, I don't know
which.  My old friends were scared of me.  The Psi Corps
_wanted_ me."
     "You bet,"  Lyta agreed, with a grin to try to ease
Diamond's nerves.  "P12s don't fall out of the trees.  Three
of you here on this station is a higher percentage than
usually happens in a population this size.  How many were in
your special training class?"
     "Two of us."
     "You see?  Who trained you, just out of curiosity?"
     Diamond's wry grin told her the answer even before she
spoke the words.  "Alfred.  For a while, anyway.  He was
visiting from Mars."
     Lyta whistled softly, shaking her head.  "That's heavy,
sicking him on you that early.  As I've told people before,
psicops are trained to make people nervous, but he can make
other psicops nervous."
     "Alfred?"  The voice was Garth's; he'd come through the
gardens quietly and neither of them had noticed him.
     "Who else?"  Lyta asked, but she watched him.
     "Garth, I don't feel like being hunted down right now,"
Diamond said, not bothering to hide her irritation.
     Garth stood where he was, sensing Lyta's power even if
he did not fully understand how she came to be that strong.
That, he knew, would be one of the first things Psi Corps
would want to know.  "Alfred got a message.  He needs to
talk to us about it."
     "Not now."
     "If you don't want to go back right now, come over to
my place and we can talk there,"  Lyta said to Diamond,
ignoring Garth.  "Now the Vorlon's gone, I can furnish it as
I like."  This did not mean much to Diamond but she sensed
the overtones of humour.
     "They've told him to use trigger words on us,"  Garth
said.  Lyta stared.  There was no one else close enough to
hear, she knew, but all of them looked around to make
certain.  Garth looked quite calm, as he always did, but his
expression showed that he had told the exact truth and also
that it scared hell out of him.  "He did not take it well.
I really don't like leaving him alone there for too long."
     "What if I come back with you?"  Lyta said.  "How do
you think Alfred Bester will take that?"
     "Will he have to?"  Garth looked at her, then politely
turned his stare aside.
     "Yeah,"  Lyta said, very quiet.  "If he pushes me,
he'll have to."
     "I want her to come along,"  Diamond said.
     Garth shrugged.  "This should be entertaining."

     Bester had not moved from where he'd been when Garth
left him.  He shifted only slightly when the three of them
came in, his chin lifting as he recognised Lyta, but the
hostility radiating between them was enough to trigger a
planetwide war.  Lyta returned a level stare.  _As observer
only, by Diamond's request_  she sent, _unless you make more
of it._  Then she sat down at the back of the room and might
as well no longer have been there.
     "They gave me the trigger words the day each of you
came within my sphere,"  Bester said slowly.  "For
Diamond, when we met.  Your conditioning was done within
your first few days with the Corps, you will not remember
any of it.  Garth, I was told yours when you came to Mars.
Just in case.  And now I must decide what to do."  He looked
square at Diamond and lowered his shields, telling her
within a second the content of his message.
     "How can you?"  Diamond whispered.  The full power of
the Corps lay heavy and malignant over her mind.  She had
never really known it before; now, it seemed as though that
deadening gray fog had always been there.
     "How can I do it?"
     "How can you _decide_.  There is no decision, they've
ordered you.  You know . . . "  Her throat went dry, she had
never in all her time with the Corps spoken to him like
this, "you know we won't betray this place or the telepaths
we're training.  You know it's the front line . . . against
the Shadows, against all our enemies."
     Bester's smile was bitter.  Then he did an unexpected
thing.  He got up from his seat and went to sit beside
Diamond on the couch, putting his arm around her.  She gave
him a puzzled look as he asked, "Do you mind that?"
     "You know I don't,"  Diamond said, a little
impatiently, smoothing the hair which he'd displaced.  "But
you didn't answer me, Alfred, you . . . "
     "My point precisely."  His voice was not quite so
confident and sharp as it usually was, making her turn to
meet his eyes.  "Hear yourself, Diamond.  You do not mind my
touching you, you do not _fear_ me any more, even given what
I have told you."  Now his voice did grow sharp, but it was
a lash against himself.  "You are a possible weapon against
me, both of you are, and I have let that happen.  The Corps
know I will not obey this order - it is a reminder of their
authority over me as a telepath, even a P12 telepath."
     "And you know what obedience would cost you,"  Garth
said, his voice so low that they wouldn't have understood
him had they relied on hearing alone.  From his seat on
Diamond's other side he looked at Bester.  "If you do that,
we will have to obey, but we could never love you again."
     Bester stared, his mouth slightly open.  He had
expected Garth to say they trusted him.  That gift he had
grown to value for its rarity.  But not love.  He had
forever barred that expectation from his spirit - except for
Carolyn and she was frozen, perhaps beyond his help.  Now
Garth laid it simply before him as though not realising its
force, not understanding that he had put himself beyond any
chance of Bester's wrath, he and Diamond both.  Lyta got to
her feet, cat-silent.  When she reached the door, it slid
open and she went out, looking over her shoulder in time to
meet Bester's eyes and to see his nod.  Perhaps
acknowledgment, perhaps thanks.
     "This doesn't mean we're in bed with Babylon command,"
Bester said with something of his usual acerbity.
     Garth laughed out loud.  "I sincerely hope not.  All
right, I know what you mean."
     "We have to do some planning.  I must return to Mars
and make a report, which cannot include any of this.  Then I
have to seek out the one who set up Diamond.  You two must
help me shield my knowledge before I leave - perhaps a
trigger block would be best.  They won't find that unless
they deep scan _me_."
     Garth demurred.  "If they do find it, they'll tear your
mind apart and you'll then find dressing yourself a
challenging experience.  What are we supposed to be doing
while you're gone?"
     "Spying,"  Bester said drily.  "In actuality, I suppose
you will continue to train those telepaths who make it this
far."
     "I suppose we will,"  Garth answered.

     In the end Neroon did sleep before she could.  Aline
watched him in rare peacefulness, lying on his back on
the pallet, the strange bony outline of his skull catching
the reddish light from the ceiling.  She did not like the
complete darkness on this station, for it had no breeze of
starlight to make it alive.  Dark here was to be entombed.
She wondered for how long; would Delenn let her travel back
to Minbar - on whatever pretext - to see Neroon?  Would the
Entil Zha accept this because of her own link with Sheridan?
Aline wondered.  She'd seen Delenn lose some of her own
fierceness, become more concerned with how _Sheridan_ would
think and feel than with her own self.  Aline did not want
to merge with anyone that way; it always seemed to her that
the woman lost out.
     She and Neroon really didn't know much more about one
another than they had before this.  It could have been
curiosity that moved him.  Aline sat up, regarding his
sleeping profile.  He was a quiet sleeper, his face calm in
repose, neither tossing nor snoring, someone who would
listen to her and not push her out of herself.  Someone who
could laugh.  Someone who fought like a tiger for what he
believed, but could halt his own anger.  That was Neroon,
awake and asleep.  She could see him clearly now.  He
trusted her enough to sleep in her presence, never mind that
she was from what had been an enemy race.  Despite his
strength and skill, in sleep he was helpless.
     "If you'll give me the other two nights, I think I'll
keep you,"  she whispered.
     Neroon shifted and opened his eyes.  "I will, but not
now.  I believe it is almost time for me to meet my ship."
     Aline grinned.  "You know it is.  Were you really
asleep?"
     "You know."  He surged up, embracing her hard.  Aline
kissed him with equal fervour, then reluctantly let him go,
watching him robe.  "Walk with me to the ship?"
     "I find myself wanting to tell you to be careful,"
Aline said as she and Neroon reached the departure lounge.
"Or any other number of foolish things.  I'll see you again
on Minbar, soon."  She would tell Delenn the truth and be
damned.
     "Or I will see you here."
     "I'd like some starlight."
     She tried to forget about the guards and other
passengers as Neroon wrapped her into what she could only
describe as a bear-hug.  She savoured his strength and the
feel of his powerful body against hers, for memories against
their next meeting.  "Be careful,"  she whispered and
laughed at herself.
     "Tell that to my enemies."
     "I can't.  They'd be dead."
     The last she heard was Neroon's deep laughter as he
walked towards his ship.

     It would not be so difficult to stay now.  No.  Bester
looked at the ceiling, tried to imagine the hostile cold of
space beyond the station hull.  Though he was alone in this
room, he had only to extend his psi senses a little to reach
the two sleeping nearby.
     Their space here was nothing like the luxury which the
Corps provided; cramped and unattractive, with not enough
stowage for a long stay.  Perhaps it was fortunate that no
telepath had many possessions beyond what the Corps
provided; only the small brightness of a flowering plant set
upon the dresser, or one of Garth's appalling shirts thrown
over the back of a chair.  Things like that.  Never a home
beyond the Corps or thoughts beyond what the Corps taught.
The normals would not let them integrate, however much
people like Lyta might want to.  It was for him, then, to
make it possible for all of them to return, to remake Psi
Corps into his desired image.
     It was unusual that he was so aware of them; he knew
that perhaps better than they did.  Diamond, rousing from
sleep, wasn't even surprised to sense him.  _Are you okay?_
she asked, adding a yawn.
     _Yes.  Just thinking_
     _Are you going back to Mars_?
     He assented.  _I have a lot to do.  But do not think I
will not be keeping an eye out - in a manner of speaking -
on the two of you here.  You are still Corps, not rogue.
Remember that_
     _You too_, Diamond said, her thoughts heavy with sleep.
Bester was left wondering whether she'd actually realised
what she had said.  He shouldn't leave it too long before a
return visit, he decided.  Definitely not.


                          THE END