The Long Trial, Part Two
Chapter Eleven: Different Faces
by R. Bernstein

After assisting Ambassador Sinclair in developing a formal visa protocol, she left Yedor just before the end of Interlude to see other regions and record the regional differences. She arrived at the eastern coastal town of Vazor in the mid-afternoon, and traveled to the local fishing village of Tiluri in the evening. She began to assimilate place-names and recognize that the ending 'or' meant large town or city, and 'uri' meant small town or village. 'Ve', or 'va' meant 'tears', so Vazor was named because it rained frequently, and rain was the tears of Dol' An. It was an interesting place. Apparently it was the region that one of the prominent Warrior Caste clans came from, the Wind Swords. The local people seemed friendly, although somewhat stoic, in a way that reminded her of New England. But she made a point to avoid any warriors if possible. No sense in having a repeat of the incident two weeks ago. According the Worker Caste fisher-family she stayed with, the Wind Swords were one of the more militant clans, and vehemently hated Humans. Luckily, many of the families of the Wind Swords had migrated to the vicinity of key military compounds around Minbar, leaving this area primarily to the fisherfolk. However, she noticed that in this village at least, the caste lines were not as clearly drawn. She asked if this was because of the Old Year custom of exchanging profession, but the man replied that the caste system was not as marked in the smaller, less populated areas. It was not always practical to have solid divisions in a small town with a great deal to do, and fewer people to do it. The castes were still recognized, but the division of actual tasks was less specialized.

She went out in the boat with the parents and eldest child and tried to learn their fishing methods, until she was overtaken by an extreme bout of sea-sickness. The family's eldest boy, Dulier, looked at her with a mixture of sympathy and hidden amusement. They had all grown up on or around boats. She was clearly a land-lubber. He brought her a blanket and food, the thought of which made her want to yak all over the side of the boat. But it was a sweet gesture. He talked to try to distract her from her nausea. He told her some of the history of the area. Becoming absorbed in the information helped. In the past, the clans and families of the region up and down this coast, Worker or Warrior, had been renowned navigators of ocean and sea, similar to the Maori of New Zealand. They even had developed a similar device for navigation using wave patterns. Originally the name of the Wind Sword clan had in fact been the Wind Riders or Wind Talkers, so intimate was their knowledge of the sea. But the ferocity of the warriors, especially in times of clan conflict altered the local perception of them. They became known as the Wind Swords because of the swiftness with which they struck, and the total devastation that they could wreak in an attack, like the wake of a hurricane, mowing down enemies with the totality of indomitable wind-shear. Traditionally, their main conflicts had arisen out of their competition with another prominent clan, the Star Riders. Havah had heard that name before, and she listened intently despite her persistent queasiness. It was the clan of her father. The Star Riders were more of an inland clan. In the past they had navigated the steppes, woods, and mountains as the Wind Swords had navigated the seas. Anywhere they were on the planet, they could determine their location by the position of the stars. Well, apparently I didn't get that talent from my dad. I get lost in my own neighborhood, Havah thought sourly. Her nausea momentarily forgotten in fascination, she took notes as fast as Dulier explained, tapping the recorder to make sure it was undamaged by the salt air.

In the beginning, the clans' respective regions kept them out of conflict, but in time, as people and families migrated, competition arose. This conflict only intensified when the Minbari population grew and united in mechanical or technological innovation. For land, the system of navigation the Star Riders used was the pre-eminent development. This pre-eminence continued into the Minbari's period of early space flight, when they did not have the technology to detect graviton waves. But once this technology was developed, and they moved beyond what Earthers would call Newtonian physics, the Wind Sword's wave diffraction system was adapted to detect gravity waves, and the Star Rider's navigation system fell into disuse. Wave detection was the system they used during the Earth-Minbari war.

That was how their jump engines could target such a small area with such accuracy, Havah thought.

Dulier continued to tell her about the clan conflict. Apparently it had grown quite savage at times, since both clans produced extraordinarily formidable warriors, fueled by competition in many arenas.

Like the Montagues and the Capulets, Havah thought.

And then after the initial blood-shed, it became harder to let go of old wounds and the reasons for the conflict deepened as each clan's mercurial tempers waxed out of control. With the advent of space flight and contact with other races, they, along with much of the Warrior Caste had become strongly nationalistic, the Wind Swords more so. Both were considered two of the oldest known and most powerful of the Warrior Caste clans, with their own schools and fighting academies, sought after by other clans for education. The Star Riders, while somewhat exclusive, tended to collaborate more with the rest of the Minbari population and other castes, so they admitted more students of other clans to their training schools. But entrance was still extremely stringent and based on exemplary physical and mental performance, even for those in the clan themselves. Anyone not passing the exams, who were of the Star Riders clan would be relegated to more supportive or administrative positions with low visibility.

Desk jobs, Havah thought.

The Wind Swords rarely admitted anyone not of their clan. The boy talked to her for a while about various things until she could finally stand without falling over. She really wanted to help out on the boat if she could, and of course learn something of this remarkable navigational system. The rest of the day passed pleasantly with the wistful sounds of some sea mammals braying from the water, and the lapping waves against the boat. She learned of a legend concerning the mammals they kept seeing alongside the boat, called loktari. They looked something like manatees, large and bulky, with coarse dark fur and flippers, but their eyes were more like the giant eyes of whales. They were considered by the Minbari to be intelligent and sentient, and as such, were not eaten or killed. In fact, the legend went that after the Minbari left the water for good, the loktari called and called for their lost companions and still call to this day. They hang about the bows of ships, hoping to catch a glimpse of their long-lost friends. And if a Minbari is lost at sea or drowning, the loktari will guide them back to land or boat, protecting them from the cold and from sea-predators, recognizing their old fellows and remembering their alliance of long ago, despite the Minbari's new lives and forms. Some even say that on quiet nights, when the loktari come close to shore, one can understand their calls, if one concentrates very hard. Dulier spent many nights trying, as did his father when he was a boy.

All in all, it was a productive day and a productive trip. She spent a couple days with them, helping about their small bungalow. She traveled to a few other regions, thinking of Trell, whom she'd not gotten contact with since she arrived on Minbar.

He may be off-planet, she thought.

And she found, in comparing notes taken, that it did seem to be the case that the caste system was more distinguishable in areas of high population density. Like many Earth societies, stratification seemed to occur both to relieve population pressure, and to allow for deeper specialization and expertise in particular areas: targeted diversification. In addition, the caste system, comprised of three main castes, Worker, Warrior, and Religious, still had certain professions that cut across all three castes. Medicine was one of them. No one caste could claim such a discipline. It was, instead, within the realm of the telepath's guild, which pulled the talented members from all castes and clans. Researchers, scientists and healers were not mutually exclusive, but any researcher who interfaced with patients was a healer and as such, a mild telepath. But only those within the telepath's guild who displayed a capacity for social skill and healing became healers. All castes had scientists, researchers, and analysts of various backgrounds. The main differences seemed to be that the Worker Caste disciplines tended to be more 'hands on,' and their science, more tangible and hard than that of the Religious Caste, which dealt more in theory and the softer more complex variables of society. The Warrior Caste took on more tasks related directly to security and war or preparation for such, using the devices and technology engineered or adapted and built by the Worker Caste. And both the Worker and Religious Caste were more involved with the arts, the Worker Caste, in the interest of beautification and enrichment, and the Religious Caste in the interest of the exercise itself. The Worker Caste, however, was the only caste to do menial labor on a civic scale, although most Minbari, unless they had assistants or attendants, took care of their own affairs within their own homes or estates. She still didn't completely understand the relationship between caste and clan. It seemed as though clans began exclusively in one or another caste, but as time progressed, they shifted, as people changed callings, but the majority of the clan stayed primarily in one or two of the castes. Despite some diversification within clans though, there was a sense of elitism, within the Religious and Warrior castes, although not absolute or obvious. This was apparent in the general lack of intermarriage between people in the professions of the Worker Caste and the other two castes. This homogeneity was not due to the reluctance of the Worker Caste, who had been the most adventurous of the castes in exploring other cultures. She was informed, in fact, that it was because of the Worker Caste's wanderings and obvious curiosity regarding the reproductive anatomy of other races in the early days of contact with other races, that had prompted the rule that Minbari should only take a mate who was Minbari. But learning the stories and accounts from different regions led her to believe that there was in fact more variation among the Minbari than represented by Delenn. This was not surprising. She wore the face that Minbar wished to present. And busy people like Katani and Trell may see either very little outside of their jobs or regions, or in Trell's case, more of other races than of his own kind. They would have no basis for comparison, like New Yorkers who have never seen the inside of the Statue of Liberty, until they take their out-of-town friends. She recorded all of this information while traveling.

This was good, because once she arrived back in Yedor, there was no time. Apparently, Satai Rathenn, in keeping with the custom of revealing new plans for the new year, had done so. And what a plan it was. The Grey Council had decided to ask Ambassador Sinclair to take command of the Anla S'hok, making him not only the first alien ever to set foot on Minbar, but certainly the first ever to man a military position.

I bet the Warrior Caste are just joyous about that, Havah thought as she made her way to his office, half expecting to see toilet paper and angry graffiti garnishing the building. There wasn't. She slipped inside and stared at him with a smirk. "So can I call you 'sir' again?"

He sighed, "No. I haven't decided to take the position. And stop grinning at me like that. Don't you have work to do?!" He said irritably.

She grinned even wider. "No, I just got here, from a very long trip. You should be nice to me. It says so in the protocol we wrote. It says 'Be nice to out-of-town assistant.'"

"What does it say about my Minbari assistant?"

"Nothing. He can write his own clauses into the protocol."

Sinclair laughed and hugged her. "Well, good to have you back. How was your trip?"

"Very productive and interesting. I learned that I hate boats as much here as I do at home, although the lore was very interesting and the people I stayed with were all very nice‹" She turned around to face him after going to hang up her coat, and what faced her almost took her to the floor. A tall Minbari man with Sinclair's unmistakable eyes looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish her sentence. She didn't.

Instead she stared at him, shaking her head, blinking and rubbing her eyes, until his face grew concerned and he said, also with Sinclair's voice, "Havah?! Are you alright?"

She closed her mouth, put her head down, covered her eyes with her hand and reassured this pod-person with Sinclair's features, "UhŠyeahŠsure. Just a long trip back!" She looked up to smile nervously at him, and the Human Sinclair was back. What in Valen's name was that?! She thought, and then realized the content of her thought. I must be adjusting, I'm even using their exclamations. She sat heavily down in a chair.

Sinclair was still peering at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. YeahŠno." She rubbed her forehead. "But I will be as soon as I get something to eat. I think I'm just having a long day. I'm going to grab a bite and bring it back here. Do you want anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Do you want to go home?"

"No. Just need a moment."

He nodded, and she went, and returned with food. They got to the paperwork, and she stayed unusually quiet the rest of the afternoon, glancing nervously at him from time to time, not knowing what she would see at the next glance. She told no one what she had seen for a long time.

* * * * * * * *

After about a week, Sinclair decided, against his better judgment to accept the position as commander of the Anla 'Shok. Following this decision, the next time Havah came in to assist in the diplomatic office, he shut the door and told her to have a seat. He started carefully. "I'm taking the position."

Havah's eyes widened. "Yeah? Cool! Have you told Earth Force HQ yet?"

"No, and the way things are going back home, it may be better not to. Somehow I doubt they'll think of it as 'cool.' I wasn't going to take it. It's one thing to be controversial on our own world, but I have a lot of hesitation getting involved in something so controversial on an alien world. ButŠI met with the Grey Council a number of times. Every time I came up with a reason to not take the position, they wanted to meet with me to give me a reason to take it. They said that there was great need, and that really they weren't considering any one else as appropriate for the position. I asked them why not, and they explained that they want to begin integrating Humans into the Anla Shok, and they feel that there isn't anyone else who both the Minbari and the Humans will trust. My next question of course, was why did they wish to ask Humans to join a Minbari military organization. Or, why specifically Humans? Their answer was not convincing, at first. Aside from the business about our having their souls, which I am still not sold on, they said that the numbers were depleted. The Warrior Caste had largely abandoned the order, believing it unnecessary and leaving it understaffed, with only a few older Religious Caste operatives. So why would I have any interest in something that the Warrior Caste thought was a waste of time, and why would other Humans be interested? Well, at first it seemed that they didn't want to tell me, but then they became more forthcoming when I told them that no Human including myself would join an alien organization unless they had clear and logical motivationŠI'm telling you all of this because I want to ask you to be my executive officer. They recommended your name for this post, and I agree with their evaluation. You have a short, but impressive military record. You are intelligent, easy to work with, and most important, honest about your opinion. You also have extensive experience with interviewing and investigation. These are skills needed by the Anla 'Shok. They are surveillance specialists as well as military officers. In addition, although no one knows about your father, you are in fact, half-Human and half-Minbari, so if it's symbolism they're looking for, you fit the bill in that respect. Even if they don't know it. But you have every right and need to know why I have chosen to join. They presented me with information on an alien race that we have very little solid data on. What they have shown me suggests the possibility that this race is aggressive and not interested in diplomacy. There is not enough information yet to make any assumptions, however. My interest lies in the fact that if they are a threat, they appear to be powerful enough to engage many of the organized races, and Earth Gov may not be in a position to fight them. I would not have said this even two weeks ago, but EarthGov was just given information on sightings of ships of this configuration and they all but called them bubbles of swamp gas! They are not acknowledging valid reports and I want to know why! The evidence we compiled indicating the President's assassination disappeared en route to Earth, and I want to know more about that too. And this post may be the only way to learn the answers to any of these questions. The data the Council showed me wasŠdisturbing. And if I can be of some use to our people and to our allies, even through another organization, it's worth a shot. It's more than I'm doing currently."

I knew it, I knew he wasn't happy sitting here when there were questions to be solved at home. How long did they think they could way-lay him? Havah thought triumphantly.

"The Council would not allow the data out of their possession, so I'm afraid that if you have more questions about what they showed me, you will have to meet with some of them. Do you want to meet with them?"

"ŠYes."

He leaned over to the wall-com and contacted Satai Rathenn. "Her answer was as I told you it would be."

"Of course. May we meet in an hour on the ship? We will transport you."

"That will be fine. Thank you, Satai."

"Very well."

As they awaited the transport ship, Havah said out of the corner of her mouth, "Are you sure their interest wouldn't have anything to do with that weird yarn about Minbari souls?"

Sinclair leaned over and replied under his breath. "I'm fairly certain that the reason that they have been so secretive about their information has about half to do with matters of planetary security, and half to do with the fact that either we didn't give that hypothesis the reception they hoped we would, or that we gave it exactly the reception they were afraid of. They took a big chance telling anyone that."

"I bet."

"Be nice."

"What do you mean 'Be nice'? When am I not nice?"

Sinclair smirked and shot her a look as they boarded the manta-like transport.

As they approached the giant war-ship, Havah involuntarily shuddered. She hadn't been aboard a Minbari war-ship since the War, and hadn't had a working memory of it until a couple of months ago. It still looked deadly. They docked and were led by a tall assistant into a large room lit by white light from diamond-shaped wall panels. There were four people in the room. Two she knew, one she didn't, and one, she wasn't sure was even a person. It was a tall-robed creature, like the one she had seen in the bar so long ago on Babylon 5, and like the one that had spoken to her on the Minbari ship during the Earth-Minbari War. The other two she knew were Satai Delenn and Satai Rathenn. The other Minbari was also Grey Council, but she didn't know him. Something told her he was not Warrior Caste.

"Welcome. It was good of you to come. You are looking well." Delenn spoke and bowed to them. "Havah, you know Satai Rathenn, this is Satai Gorhat, and this is Ambassador Ulkesh, of the Vorlon Federation." She indicated the encounter-suited figure. He/she/it tilted its head, expanded the iris in the middle of the mouth area and said nothing. Havah stared for a moment at the horns on the top of its helmet and then returned her gaze to Delenn, who continued. "You are here because you require more evidence of the threat we revealed to Ambassador Sinclair."

"He said that there might or might not be a threat." She said neutrally, keeping her face dead-pan. She wasn't getting railroaded into deciding one way or another until she saw something more convincing than fairy tales to explain their actions at the end of the war.

Delenn, Rathenn, and the other Council member exchanged significant glances. At Delenn's nod, Rathenn lowered the level of light and Delenn put a crystal into a port on a table next to them. "This log entry was recorded from one of our ships, returning to Minbar after a particular battle with these alien ships in our war with them a thousand years ago, audio only."

"I am Alyt Durann, first officer of the Fire Storm. It is 32 solar hours since we fled the ships. Our engines were hit and our life support will fail in eight standard hours, twelve hours before our ship can reach Minbar. Our coordinates are now 15 by 9 by 12. This message is for those who find us. It will be too late for us, but with luck, not for anyone who hears this. The rest of our cruisers have been destroyed. I have seen the alien ships. We have not known what to look for in the previous attacks because in the previous attacks no one was left alive to identify them. They are black, blacker than the void, but they shimmer for a moment if one stares at them, just before their blackness engulfs even the reflection of the stars from their hulls. They have eight to ten very long spikes or protrusions from either side of the core, like arms. They are as large as our largest war cruisers and far more powerful, with red antiproton beams. They have a number of capabilities. They can belch out a ball of spikes that fractures into large numbers of smaller fighters of similar configuration to the large cruisers. Organic technology. And they can appear from nowhere, without the use of any jump gate. Reality ebbs and slides away before them, and then they can melt back into the void. And they scream. They scream in our minds as they approach, as though they would rip our very spirits from our bodies. The screams are full of the dying and the dead. They must be stopped before they strike directly at home-world."

Those ships had been in her dreams.

Delenn spoke. "Ships of this configuration were sighted in hyperspace recently and even recorded, near Mars. Your President Clark was told of this sighting, but denied that they were anything more than blips in the recording."

Havah snorted bitterly. "No one voted for him!ŠSorry. That sounds like Clark."

Delenn continued. "This next recording was taken at a medical facility in the Vega system six years ago, shortly after the disappearance of a ship called the Icarus. It was an archaeological expedition bound for a planet on the Rim called Z'hadum. We believe Z'hadum to be the home-world of these aliens. The man arrived at the medical facility claiming that the crew of the Icarus had encountered an accident, with no other survivors but himself and a couple others. No others aboard this ship have been found or are believed to be still living, from this accident. However, his medical exam indicated that he sustained no injury. His name is Mr. Morden."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute‹" Havah interrupted before Delenn could continue. "Medical records are strictly, and I mean strictly confidential! How did you get his medical record, and why was he being taped?"

Delenn slipped the crystal into the port. The man in the recording was the one Havah had seen in the bar, the dark man with the winter smile. As he sat, there was a staticky warbling that seemed to seep from the recording into the air of the room around them. She had heard that before too. The sound rippled the hair on the backs of her arms. She had heard that sound in the bar, near Morden, and she had heard those horrible sounds in her dreams every time her and child were about to die. The sounds had surrounded her, filling her ears, as inescapable as the void.

"YES." The Vorlon spoke.

Havah realized that her whole body was shaking, and her face must have been a sight.

"Havah, are you alright?" Rathenn asked.

"Can you filter out certain frequencies of light on that thing, on a recording? Can you change the wavelength used to view it? Like alter the phase or something?"

"It may be possible."

"Do itŠpleaseŠif you can."

Rathenn tinkered with the recorder and the image began to play again. As he played with the controls the vision shifted and slowly the room in the image darkened and other forms took shape revealing the barest outline of the arachnoid horrors that had chased her through dreams for the past several years. "Freeze the image."

There they were, making holes in space, like the children of Ungoliant the spider-demon, in the old Tolkien myths. The Devourers. If there had been anything in Havah's stomach, she would have lost it. A wave of nausea swept over her and she closed her eyes. They were real. The damn things were real. So she had been receiving some kind of psychic transmission from a thousand year old dead Minbari woman. Or something like that. Why? A warning? Havah slowly looked from the screen to Delenn. Their eyes locked.

"I'm in." Havah said quietly.

Rathenn took the crystal out of the port and the vision disappeared.

"I'm supposed to be doing ethnography. What do you want me to do about that?"

"If you would compile the data that you have gathered so far, it will be a couple of weeks before we can arrange for the shift in position and for the training. Will this be enough time to write a synopsis and develop some materials from what you have?"

"Yes. But it won't be thorough, and there may be inaccuracies."

"We can review the material and make adjustments. Also, you can add to this, as your knowledge of Minbar grows. You will be stationed here for a while, in training with the Anla Shok. What we ask of you now is more of a priority than even the data collection you have been doing."

"I heard it from Ambassador Sinclair, now I need to hear it from you. What exactly do you ask of me?"

"Based on your war record and yourŠunique investigation skills and character, we recommended you as a second-in-command for Ambassador Sinclair in leading the Anla Shok."

"Who are the Anla Shok?"

"A thousand years ago, the Warrior Caste clans were fighting amongst themselves. And while they agreed that the Shadows, the creatures you saw, must be fought for the survival of Minbar, they could not agree on how do so in a united organized fashion. Valen knew there was no more time for quarreling or trying to unite them, so he left them and formed a new order composed of any Minbari who wished to fight under his orders. They were called the Anla Shok. After the Shadow War, they were not decommissioned, but took on a surveillance function. Valen said that the Shadows would return, and he had not been wrong once about anything he had already said would happen. So he gave them the task of watching for the Shadows' return, which he believed would be in a thousand years. We approach that time now."

"So they are soldiers and spies. Isn't the Warrior Caste going to have a problem with Ambassador Sinclair and I joining?"

The Satais all looked at each other. Rathenn continued. "The Warrior Caste members of the Council have agreed to allow this. They merely did not wish to be here."

"It sounds like while they may agree, they are still not happy about it. Why us? Surely there are more qualified members of the Warrior Caste?"

"We also wish to allow other Humans to join. They would almost certainly be uncomfortable at this time with leaders who were Warrior Caste. And yet, you are now trusted and respected by many Minbari. And someone who was Minbari would not have the sameŠperspective that you can provide."

"Why Humans? Why not Narn and Drazi and others? Why specifically Humans?"

Again they looked at one another before answering. "We believe, after our War with the Humans, that you have certain qualities and abilities that are needed here."

The ability to be cannon fodder? She thought suspiciously. What a wonderfully obtuse answer. "Why did they attack you a thousand years ago?"

Rathenn hesitated. "We do not know. We have never known this, only what they are capable of, and that they will, in fact, attack. Not just us, but other races as well. Many of the other races have suffered at their hands."

* * * * * * * *

After the meeting, Havah rode back with Sinclair in silence, picking at the chapped skin on the backs of her knuckles.

"What happened back there, Havah? I saw your face. What's going on? It's not like you to jump into anything so quickly like that."

Havah didn't say anything for a minute, trying to think of whether or not to tell Sinclair, and how to tell him what she had seen without making him regret his decision to request a nut-case as his second-in-command. "I've seen those things before."

"Where?"

Havah sighed. "WellŠI dreamed about them. Then I saw that man on the station a while back and I heard the same funny static noises. And I saw the air around him sort of shimmer, except I couldn't see them then."

"And?"

"And that's it. I've seen them before. The dreams always endedŠbadly. I know that doesn't make them bogeymen in real life, but it just makes me wonder."

"As long as you know that. We're not going to be running anywhere guns blazing, not until we know more about this race. We don't even know why they attacked the last time. For all we know it could be a similar situation to the Minbari War. They didn't know why we attacked either, and we didn't know at first what happened to make them so angry. As far as I'm concerned, the Anla Shok haven't finished watching yet."

"Understood."

"I'd also appreciate it if you would write me a report, in as much detail as possible, what you saw in that bar that night, and what your impressions were."

"Absolutely, as long as you promise not to think I'm two squirrels short of a picnic."

He smiled kindly. "Think? I already know that. And, if you are, then I think half of the Grey Council will be joining you."

* * * * * * * *

When Havah returned to Katani and Sorail's house for dinner, she told them about her upcoming change in position. Katani did about the last thing Havah would have expected from any Minbari. She pulled Havah to her and hugged her, and then held her at arm's length, nodded and beamed, and walked into the pantry area to start dinner. Havah just stood stunned for a moment. Sorail, who had listened to Havah's news and watched the exchange, just nodded, smiling, and returned to his scrolls. But he wasn't paying attention to the scrolls, as much as staring thoughtfully into space.

Havah played with Nohri for a little bit. She pulled the little girl onto her lap, as Nohri tried to give Havah one of her toys and engage her in a three-year-old conversation in Minbari and make-believe words, which, after a few weeks of lessons, was just about Havah's speed. A lot of things were going to change again. Havah just sat for a few minutes, hugging Nohri and smelling baby-skin.

* * * * * * * *

She woke up very early the next morning, at Nohri's hour, put on sweats and went outside in the court-yard to take up practicing kung-fu again. If she was going to join these Anla Shok, it was likely that she was going to have to pass some tests. And while two weeks would do little to improve her fitness, it would be good to start getting back in the habit of strenuous exercise. Apparently, Nohri was not the only early-riser. Before long, she had acquired a small audience of Minbari children, some of them trying to imitate her motions. One of the mothers popped her head out of a door and called to her child to stop bothering the woman trying to train. The mother looked at Havah curiously, and called again to her child, who was completely ignoring her.

After Havah finished, she went back inside to the smell of aromatic eggs. Katani put a plate loaded with food in front of her, twice as much as normal.

"You are going to need your strength in the Anla Shok training."

"That's not for two weeks at least."

"Start now. Besides, you are too thin."

It's good to know that some stereotypes don't change from culture to culture. Although she wasn't sure whether Katani was just living up to the motherly stereotype, or whether this was a serious warning about what she was in for with the Anla Shok. But Havah had lost weight since coming to Minbar. The food was not bad, but it had taken her time to adjust to a new diet, and there were times when she had gotten so wrapped up in studies that she had not gotten around to eating. She finished the plate under Katani's watchful eye, and thanked her. And then she secluded herself in her sleeping room with her computer to organize, analyze, and summarize the data she had collected.

Katani came to get her for meals, and Nohri came in once and plopped down in Havah's lap, demanding attention, and poking at the controls. Havah played with her for a few minutes until Sorail came and collected Nohri, and reprimanded her for pestering Havah.

She worked like this for days, practicing kung fu in the mornings in the courtyard, amidst a gaggle of curious children, and writing her thesis and materials during the day, punctuated by meals and Nohri's excursions.

After a week, Katani came in and dragged Havah from the computer, to go for a walk with her. "It is not good sitting all the time at this work. You will ruin your eyes. You must work with balance. Some computer and some fresh air. You are just like Sorail. He doesn't listen either. You will learn balance among the Anla Shok. And if you are in a position of command, you must remember this for those you command."

"Wise words. Where were you when I was working on my Masters degree?" They stopped and sat by a fountain and munched on a couple of the buns Havah had liked when she first went into Yedor. "I'm going to miss getting up and eating with you, Sorail and Nohri. She is such a cutie."

"We will miss you too, Havah. Nohri has become quite attached to you. But that just means that you must come visit when you are not training or being alyt." Katani used the term as the generic 'second-in-command', but it still sounded strange to Havah, reminiscent of the formal military address. They sat for a while, relaxing and enjoying the sounds of the water and the singing breeze. The weather was getting cooler, and the wind had strengthened in the past couple of weeks.

They headed back to the house and Katani stopped just before going in. "Dreams come to us from the Universe, Havah. They are keys. You would be wise to pay heed to yours, no matter how difficult. They can save you when you need saving." Katani touched her cheek lightly, looked hard into her eyes and went in.

So she did hear me at night. Havah rubbed her arms against the brisk wind, and then followed her in.

-- continued in chapter twelve --