PART 2 - How Entil'Zha Sinclair Got the Scar
by Sunraven, Jan 1999

Two White Star shuttles burned into the atmosphere of Lackt’ha, the heat thermals from the desert below causing the ride to be very bumpy. Jeff, who thankfully had an ironclad stomach, politely pretended not to notice the human Ranger next to him turning a little green. She looked so young. They all did.

The rules of Ratha Hactchala were fairly simple. The goal was to stay alive for five planetary days. The equipment you were allowed to take with you were your denn-bok, a pack of survival rations for six days including water, a firestarter, a knife and a small digging tool, a first aid kit, a sleeping roll, and your clothes.

Yes, the rules were simple. The problem, and the challenge, was that Lackt’ha was considered a planet that was inimical to both Minbari and Human life. The atmosphere was acceptable to their type of life, but the local animals were not. Being mostly a desert planet, there was a surprising diversity of poisonous and fanged creatures that thrived in the barren dunes. Not to mention the killer sandstorms that could scour the skin off of someone if they were caught during the worst of it. Or the freezing nights. They would be fighting for their lives from the moment the shuttle landed until it returned in another landing spot to pick them up again. They also had to travel at least fifty kilometers to reach that other landing site.

Jeff Sinclair, you are absolutely crazy to be doing this, he thought. Was it some kind of midlife crisis, or something? You survived the Battle of the Line, you were responsible for the Minbari’s surrender, you successfully commanded Babylon 5, and now you are Entil’Zha. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone, let alone the damned warrior caste. Oh, well, what is done is done.

When the shuttles landed, they dropped their passengers off in the blowing sand, and took off. All eyes immediately turned to him.

"You need to choose the one who will lead us during this." Damned sand was making his eyes water!

"But, you are Entil’zha." Said Branlen, a slender worker caste male.

Jeffrey looked each one of them in the eyes ( there were eight of them). "No, I am here on Ratha Hactchala just as you are. Here we are equals. Choose a leader quickly, for we must seek a safe place to shelter before nightfall, and we do not know how long that will take."

They looked at each other. All knew each other well, for they had trained together for two cycles. They had fought together, healed together, faced terror together, some had slept together in light passionate embraces. They knew individual weaknesses and strengths just as a family would know this about one of its members. The Anla-shok was their family.

The assessment was made quickly. All eyes turned to an exceptionally beautiful Minbari female who was studying the surroundings, while at the same time glancing at the others thoughtfully.

Branlen came to her, voicing the group’s opinion. "Rulan? Please lead us."

She looked them over quickly. "Yes, but only if Entil’Zha serves as my Lieutenant."

"Just call me Jeffrey, Rulan. Why did you choose me to second?"

"Because I remember being told that you survived a downed plain crash on Mars, near Earth. That was quite hostile environment, was it not?"

"Yes it was."

She nodded. "Then you know how to survive well. You have been through it."

She turned to the group again. "We must find a defensible site to camp. We need wood for a fire during the night and to make weapons." Her brown eyes turned to the horizon. In the distance, through the roiling heat waves, was a greenish haze. "Sackett, you are the most far-sighted of us. What do you see in that direction?"

The black human male turned where she was pointing, squinted, and said, "Some sort of group of trees, maybe an oasis?"

"That direction. NOW! Jeffrey, take lead behind me. Sackett and Dushonn take the rear. Stay together, but don’t hamper each other. Pace yourselves, don’t tire yourselves out too soon, we may have a long way to go. Hold you denn-boks ready."

At that moment a screech was heard that didn’t seem too far away. It was hard to tell the distance with the sand blowing around like it was. They moved out at a ground-eating trot. The hard ground the shuttles landed on quickly gave way to sands that sucked in and tripped the feet. Sand was blowing even fiercer, and Jeffrey moved up to Rulann.

"When I researched this planet, it warned of killer sand storms. The weather reports from the planet warned that one of these was blowing into the area we landed in."

"Suggestions, Jeffrey?"

"I suggest that we find the leeward edge of that large sandstone ridge over there, and dig ourselves in. We can use our denn-boks as tubes to breathe through. They are long enough that we should get enough clean air to survive, and also not be buried."

Rulann repeated the order to the others, and they all made for the large ridge he had mentioned. Once on the leeward side, the wind dropped significantly.

Rulann turned to another of the Minbaris and said, "Takor, you are from a stone mason clan. Can you see where we can safely dig in to this ridge without collapsing the stone?"

Takor moved to examine the sandstone closely. The wind on the other side was picking up and howling like a bain-sidhe, but no one disturbed him.

He stood up and pointed to a red and white striped portion of the ridge. "There. See that indentation? It has already been hollowed out somewhat. The surrounding rock is soft, but stable enough to withstand wind pressure. We should dig there. Don’t dig into that brown area near it, though. That will weaken it if you do."

They did as he recommended. They managed to dig a four feet by five feet hole into the soft rock before the wind was blowing the sand so hard that their skin was beginning to get cut. They wrapped their cloaks around their heads, and continued for another foot on either side.

"Move it! It will be a tight fit, but we’ve got to go now! The storm’s getting worse, and we will smother if we stay out much longer." Rulann shouted over the wind. The scrambled into the tiny cave.

Jeff said to them, "Cover the opening with our cloaks. We can peg them down with the knives. Then expand your denn-boks and extend them out of the spaces between cloaks. Keep them as horizontal as you can."

Realizing that he had taken command, he looked apologetically at Rulann. She smiled a quick smile, and nodded.

The wind grew to gale proportions outside the makeshift shelters. It was dusty inside, but there was fresh air coming through the denn-boks as well. They were really packed in tightly. The stringent smell of Human sweat and the citrus smell of Minbari secretions quickly filled the air.

Jeff couldn’t resist a comment. "Good thing we’re all thin." This got laughter all around.

Another ranger, a Minbari, said, "It probably felt this way inside my mother’s womb." He looked at his companions. "Though I don’t remember having so many siblings. And some decidedly odd ones, at that." Another brief burst of laughter resulted.

Sackett responded, "Jahlett, if my sainted mother saw a baby as ugly as you looking up at her, she would have fainted dead away."

They continued trying to raise each other’s spirits, and to keep their minds off their increasingly cramped bodies. Soon they dropped either into sleep or meditation to help the time pass.

Jeffrey’s heart swelled suddenly to bursting as he looked at each young face. He was so proud of them. They had survived their first crisis like the warriors they were. They were all his children, and they were grown up now.

Four hours later the storm subsided. They had to dig themselves out of three feet of sand, but everyone appeared to be okay, other than a little stiffness. They continued the trek to the trees, still floundering in the deep sand. As they neared and passed by a small ridge, something launched itself from the top of it. It landed on Jahlett, who was the closest. He instinctively struck it with his denn-bok, knocking it off of him, but not before it clawed his back and left shoulder. The others beat it off until it left to find more accommodating prey. Jahlett shook his head when offered a first aid kit, and they continued their trip. The oasis was many kilometers away. The sun was sinking towards the horizon by the time they finally reached the grove of stunted trees.

Takor pointed to a slim waterfall bubbling out of the rock from an underground spring. "That looks like there could be caves there."

Rulann sent some of them to find the cave with the order not to enter it, but instead to come and get her. She assigned others to collect firewood and still others stood guard, denn-boks ready, as sentries.

A decent sized cave was finally located. Obediently, the Rangers returned to Rulann, who took them all to the site. She ordered a fire built in the opening, and a wind break set up behind the fire so that the smoke would be directed into the cave. This precaution was necessary. After a few minutes, a multitude of insectile creatures with big fat stingers crawled out of the cave and rushed off into the night, chittering. After that, some bat-like animals flew out as well, screeching.

"That was good thinking, Rulann." Jeffrey said.

Rulann blushed and stammered a thank you. "My siblings and I were trying to explore some caves near my home, and my uncle told me about this trick. It seemed appropriate to use it here as well."

They put the fire out then and cautiously entered the cave, denn-boks ready. It smelled funny, and needed to be swept out, but otherwise it would suit them as a base of operations.

They moved in, set up a fire and ate and drank their rations. Rulann set up a guard schedule, and the others settled down to try to keep themselves warm. Before long, they started swapping stories, songs, and Tay-lok (Minbari poetry). Sara Kichener, a female Human, sang an eerily haunting song that stayed in their minds for quite a while afterwards. The words were like this:

Later in the night, one of the Minbari yelled out in his sleep, his cry of terror sending everyone scrambling for weapons.