After the Blood Flowed Like Rivers, Part 5


Synopsis: In Part 4, the top Minbari telepath, a venerable old P-16 crone, tried to do a deep scan of Terra’s mind. She didn’t succeed. Later, Shi Alyt Branmer invited/ordered Terra to have dinner with him and his Alyt. Dressed to kill, she headed to his quarters and almost did kill a few tree trunk-necked warrior caste and one Alyt (who was annoyed because he had lost a bet). She had now passed the Shi Alyt’s second test, and gained his respect as well. 




The com line chimed gently, waking Terra where she thrashed on the floor. She had fallen there while moving around in her sleep, dream fighting off a bunch of crabs and sea shells that were nibbling her skin to ribbons.

God, she was sore! She toddled over to shut the thing down.

"Yes?"

Rathenn’s serene face stared out from the screen. "Doctor, I trust you slept well?"

Imagining that she very closely resembled the Bride of Frankenstein about now, and that the poor thing probably thought that was how all humans looked in the morning after a great night’s sleep on a 50 degree tilted gurney while dreaming of monster female-eating crabs, she answered. "Fine, Rathenn, just fine. May I help you with something?"

"I just wanted to inform you that your breakfast will be waiting on a warming tray outside your quarters. We have made a special effort to match your human nutritional needs and tastes, and I am sure you will enjoy it. Also, once you have eaten and performed your, ah, ablutions," He looked a little embarrassed at discussing this extremely naughty topic, "Then Satai Delenn would like to meet with you for an interview at 10:00 EST, if that is acceptable?"

Her chron said it was 8:40. "Tell the Satai that I will be honored to meet with her then. Rathenn, do I have a secure com line here to Earth? The President has asked me to contact her daily."

"Yes, Doctor. Just request the link after activating the com, then you will be connected to a secure line."

"Thank you. Will you be meeting me at 9:45 ETS to guide me to the Satai?"

"Yes, Doctor. Good bye."

"Good bye, Rathenn."

She went into the bathroom and had a sonic shower, wishing that she had a steaming hot tub to soak for about a week in. Terra smiled when she thought about Rathenn’s embarrassment when he talked about her ablutions. She enjoyed an idle moment imagining the dignified aide involved in some sexy ablutions before breakfast. Nahhh. No way. They probably kept the females and males segregated and mated by vidcom. Testy, testy, Terr, she chastised herself, that isn’t nice. 

When she looked at her body in the mirror, she gasped. The bruises on her arms were huge blobs that met in a ring around each arm. They weren’t really that sore, her freckled skin did bruise easily, but really!

She put on an aqua one-piece pantsuit, then topped it with a linen jacket the color of mustard with small blue flowers on it. She quickly french-braided her hair, then went to get her breakfast.

The meal that "matched human tastes and nutritional needs" tasted a lot like space rations with mayonnaise spread on it. She washed it down with some blue liquid that tasted like citrus. Then she asked for the line to Earthdome.

It took a few minutes to get through to President Levi, but she finally did.

"How is the testing going, Terra? Have you found out anything about the Minbari that might be helpful to know?"

Lady, you can’t even imagine, she thought.

"I have passed the psi test, Ms. President, and at least two of the warrior caste Leader’s tests. Beth, these people are really weir….uh, unusual. I think we could study them for centuries and still not completely understand them."

"Unfortunately, we don’t have centuries. We only have a few months at best. Do your best, dear. Though it does sound as though you’ve made some progress. Satai Delenn has been very complimentary when I talked to her this morning."

"Thank you, that is encouraging. Unless there is anything else, I have got to meet the Satai in a few minutes, so I should be going."

"Just remember you are representing all of us, Terra. And we are proud of you."

The President signed off, and Terra spent the next few minutes meditating to clear her empathic gifts until Rathenn came to show her to the Satai’s quarters.

Satai Delenn sat down on the cushions with a grace that made Terra envious. After she herself sat down, she waited for the Minbari to speak, her hands placed demurely on her lap.

"Sech-met Minur was quite impressed with your empathic abilities, Doctor. And impressing her is not an easy task. She is over 200 years old, and has seen most things in life at least twice."

"The Sech-met impressed me also, Satai. She is quite a formidable lady. She rather reminds me of my mother’s mother’s sister. As a child I used to be frightened to death when we had to go visit her."

"Yes, I had a similar feeling when I visited my father’s mother’s sister as well. I used to have nightmares that she would eat me if my father ever left me with her."

"And did she?"

"Only in my dreams. She was actually a dear hearted person." 

The Satai looked intently at Terra. "Shi Alyt Branmer has had much to say about you as well. He is another one that is not easily impressed."

Terra groaned in her mind. 

"Did you actually make two of his warriors and Alyt Neroon lose consciousness?"

"Yes, Satai, I’m afraid I did. His warriors were ordered to attack me, and the Alyt, uh, surprised me rather unpleasantly. I reacted unthinkingly in my own defense."

"And did you actually call the Alyt a, what was the term, a black-suited gorilla?"

Terra was bright red by now, her skin glowing with heat. The Satai was giving off more curiousity, amusement, a slight annoyance, and other, harder to pin down, emotions.

"Yes, Satai. I did apologize to him, though. He was betting on me being intimidated by those organic buildings that he calls warriors!"

Delenn smiled at her, a smile that lightened her face considerably.

"I have often been tempted to call the Alyt a few choice names. He has an exceptional talent, even for a warrior caste, to irritate me. Unfortunately, because of my position and my caste, I must restrain myself. But you are young, and the way they performed their "test" was not in the best taste."

"I should not have called him a gorilla, Satai. I am ashamed that I lost my self-restraint like that."

Suddenly Delenn’s face became sad, and seemed to age years in just a moment. "When our leader Dukhat was killed by your people’s ship, I lost my self-restraint also. I caused untold numbers of deaths and almost caused genocide for your peoples. Just be glad that you have not chosen to be a diplomat, or a leader, Doctor. The price of lost restraint can be unbearably high. What you did was quite normal, considering the circumstances. Did the Alyt hurt you when he laid his hands on you?"

Terra’s right hand unconsciously went to her left upper arm. "Only bruising, Satai. I have very fair skin among humans, and so I get discolorations easily." On an impulse, she added, "You cared deeply for your leader."

"Is that your gift telling you that?"

"Yes. But it is not my gift, but instead my mind, that is telling me that the Minbari, as all other great cultures I have studied, must have had a chain of command that shared the decision to go to war. They must have all agreed to proceed, or it would not have happened. To take responsibility for our own behaviors is a requirement for spiritual and emotional growth. But to try to take responsibility for others’ behaviors is an impediment to that growth."

Satai Delenn looked intently at Terra.

"You are an unusual woman, Doctor. You speak like my leader Dukhat used to." Then she smiled again. "Only he did it with less regard for my feelings."

"I bet he never called anyone a black-suited gorilla!"

The Satai had a very lovely laugh.

"Tell me, Doctor, what did you think of those vids I sent you on the culture and rituals of my people?"

"Should I answer that question frankly, Satai, as a scientist and an empath who has dealt with many cultures, or as a diplomat?"

"The role of a mediator as we see it, Doctor, will not always be that of a diplomat. If one side is being close-minded for no good purpose, it will be your role to see that they see that. I would appreciate your frankness, yet would ask that you only flay a little skin off, rather than an entire body part."

Terra had to laugh at this wry answer.

"I find your culture admirable, and quite fascinating. You have developed rituals for so many actions. 56 rituals for courtship and marriage, 24 for preparing for a birth, 32 for dealing with the death of a loved one, 150 for dealing with disagreements among the castes. I was amazed at the complexity. It seems that you have a ritual for everything."

"We certainly try to. Do you not have rituals in your culture, Doctor?"

"Of course, Satai. Every culture does. I think that a big difference between your world and mine is that mine is broken down into many subcultures, more than can be easily counted. Each subculture has their own set of rituals. Where yours is amazingly complex, amazingly rich, and utterly homogeneous. Earth has many subcultures, and the Minbari has only three."

"My people have so many rituals because of that homogeneity, Doctor. There would be too much contention among the castes otherwise. The rituals allow a cooling of tempers, or for wiser heads to intervene, or other ways of diffusing potentially dangerous situations. They were historically necessary so that the castes would not destroy each other."

"Yet, Satai, from the day I have spent with you, I have sensed antipathy between the religious caste and the warrior caste. Forgive me if I am being too presumptuous, but something has caused that friction, and if it is not dealt with as one would deal with a wound, allowing the corruption to drain, then my people’s diplomats may try to take advantage to that."

"Will you inform your government of this …division?"

If you choose me to be mediator, Earth, Minbari, and I will draw up a contract as to what exchange of information is allowed. I have told them no details about this testing phase, and have no plans to do so. Though I am tempted to pass along the story of what happened to me last night at the Shi Alyt’s quarters. It would give them some unusual insights into your warrior caste." 

She continued, "Your warrior caste especially fascinates me, Satai. Earth has had a few warrior societies in its history. One ancient peoples, the Spartans, felt so strongly that strength and prowess in battle were the only important gifts, that they would sacrifice weak or sick babies in order to strengthen the gene pool."

At Delenn’s look of horror, she continued. "What they ended up doing, in actuality, was weakening their gene pool. The babies they sacrificed would have grown up to be their leaders, their priests, their philosophers, their magicians. In the end, Sparta was conquered fairly quickly because brawn had replaced the brain.

"A caste completely dedicated to war, honed by majority interbreeding over several millennia, has resulted in a frightening strength, which almost annihilated my people. The religious caste seems to have control over that strength on the surface, but my impression is that the balance is precarious."

Delenn looked very uncomfortable, and the emotions she gave off were tulmutuous.

"That is a strong conclusion to reach after only one day with us, Doctor."

"True. But you asked me for my observations, Satai, and that conclusion is based on my gift, my experience with other cultures, and on observation. Your Shi Alyt, for instance. He is a great war leader, a great fighter, and a great tactician, who almost destroyed my people. Yet I sense a great sadness in him, and underneath that, the beautiful light that is his soul. He was praying at an alter when I was brought to him yesterday. Most warriors I have met have difficulty marrying war with religion. He struck me as an exception. There is a war going on in his soul."

"Branmer is only half warrior caste, by right of his father, Samel. Before the war he was one of our most revered high priests, by right of his mother, Lunale. He is unusual, not typical of the warrior caste."

"Is Alyt Neroon more typical, Satai? His pride is easily wounded over many perceived slights, his anger shouts out from his soul, his curiosity about humans is strong, and he cares for his master with his entire being. He is impatient, has no apparent control over his temper, and his intensity last night was enough to frighten me, and I am not easily frightened, Satai."

"In some ways the Alyt is typical. Though most of our warrior caste have little curiosity about their enemies, except about the things that would be an advantage in battle. But Neroon cares about all our people of all three castes, where most warrior caste care only for their own caste. Because of that he is not completely typical. And you were wise to be frightened when he used violence against you, Doctor. He is one of our best warriors, if not the best. He was responsible for killing many thousands of your people during the war. He has been trained to kill your kind, and he has excelled in that skill for the entire war. Now, you are forcing him to see that Humans are not just the faceless victims before his gun ports. Because of who and what you are, he is being forced to see one of the formerly faceless enemies as a lovely, desirable, brilliant woman who has the same power over Minbari males as strong, attractive Minbari females do. I think that if you had been male, his reactions would be quite different. He would feel less threatened, yet more secure in his beliefs about your people. Thank the Great Maker that females have been granted this power over males, Doctor, otherwise most humanoid cultures would be quite – chaotic."

Terra was blushing again, but she responded, "We have a saying on Earth, Satai, about males – You can’t live with them, and you can’t live without them. I have sensed a small amount of admiration coming from the Alyt, though the Shi Alyt gives it off much stronger. But mostly I sense confusion, hostility, and frustration."

The Satai smiled. "The Shi Alyt has always been admiring of the females of my people, and has never been afraid to show that. He has merely extended that appreciation to you. It is quite a compliment, as he has discerning taste."

"You have given me several gifts today, Doctor, and I thank you. A spiritual lesson that I can cherish, as well as something to remember the next time Alyt Neroon irritates me. If I ever feel tempted to lose patience with him, I will remember what you called him, and smile instead. You have also given me a more thorough understanding of the potential benefits and the consequences of using an empath of your power as a mediator. You will have all of us, both of the negotiating teams, understanding each other to the point of discomfort. It may be difficult for us, but I’m afraid that I think that it will be necessary for insuring peace in the future. Also, you have shown me that perhaps a little lack of self restraint at times is good for the soul. But I need to ask you something else. I understand that you are a quite skilled zenobiochemist. Did you practice those skills during the war?"

"Yes I did, Satai. As I mentioned to the Alyt yesterday, my only experience with your people before yesterday was examining your dead."

"Did they ask you to use the knowledge you gained to help them create biochemical weapons against us?"

Terra frowned. "Yes, Satai. They asked."

"Did you provide them with this information?"

"I memorized and destroyed my notes, Satai, and, please don’t take offense to this, but I told them that the only thing I had learned from my examinations was how your people reproduced. I figured that information would be impossible to use as a short term weapon for the war, and without my notes, they couldn’t use it as a long term weapon either."

It was Delenn’s turn to get embarrassed. "I am not offended by your frankness, Doctor. And I am pleased that you never turned your work into a weapon against us. We could not accept you for the mediator position if you had. My people feel very strongly against biochemical weapons."

"I wish I could say the same about mine, Satai. Actually, my specialty is the use of pheromones in zenobiologic behaviors. I am going to publish a treatise on the use of pheromones in the negotiating process. I am hopeful that both your people and the Earth diplomats will allow me to attempt to distill some for the talks."

Delenn frowned. "Will these affect our minds?"

"No. I’ve used them before when the species involved in the negotiations are similar enough biochemically to be able to. They can be used to ease tensions, relax people, sooth anger, reactions like that. Even if I would not be accepted for the position of mediator, my proposal for pheromone treatments will still be submitted. They are really quite useful for diffusing tense situations."

"I will be interested in seeing that proposal, Doctor. Now," She got gracefully to her feet, with Terra clambering up after. "I have taken enough of your time, I think. You are scheduled to see Satai Relinn of the worker caste this afternoon. Would you honor me by sharing my dinner with me tonight?"

"I would love to, Satai, but the Shi Alyt has already commandeered my time tonight. He wishes to have dinner with me, and scheduled it so. I must say that your offer tempts me more than his. I’m not sure I want to go near his quarters again. But please do not tell him I said so, for he is quite charming, and I would not wish to hurt his feelings. Thank you for seeing me."

"One last thing Doctor. How do Minbari reproduce?"

"Oh, by fission of course, Satai." 

Terra bowed to the smiling Satai, and found Rathenn waiting outside to escort her back to her quarters.