Understanding Humans

Londo Mollari stood and walked to the door as it opened. "Ah, Delenn. What can I do for you?"

As the two Minbari entered Delenn said, "I was taking my friend on a tour of the station and thought that I would introduce you. Drall," she addressed her companion, "this is Ambassador Londo Mollari of the Centauri Republic. Ambassador Mollari, this is Drall: For many years my mentor, and teacher."

Londo gave the man a genuine smile. "I am honored."

Drall replied, "Thank you. I hope that we are not intruding."

Londo replied. "Oh, no, no, no. I was just doing a little studying."

"Oh," Delenn said.

"Yes. These Earthers. I try to find out as much as I can about them to try to make some sense of them, but it never seems to come together."

Delenn replied, "They do seem to be a mass of contradictions." She had some sympathy for Londo's dilemma.

"Exactly my point. Here." He held up his finger. "6000 years of recorded history. A history that includes remarkable composers, astonishing symphonies, but: What is the one song that half of them sing to their children generation after generation?"

The two Mimbari looked at each other and neither knew. Londo, with a look of triumph, started singing, "You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out, …."

Before he could finish the lyric, the three were interrupted by a bright blue light appearing in the middle of the room. As the three watched, astonished, it formed into the figure of a humanoid. Suddenly the light disappeared and standing in front of them was a man, an Earther, dressed in very odd clothing.

The man looked at them for a moment and then put his hands to his chest. "Delenn, of the House of Mir. I greet thee on this glorious day." To the astonishment of the Minbari, the Earther spoke in perfect Adaranto – the language of the Religious caste. Londo was confused. His confusion increased when the man said in perfect Centauri, "Greetings, Londo Mollari, Lord of the House Mollari. I bid you great wealth and health." In English he added, "I am sorry, I do not know the third one. My name is Harry Potter, of the Houses of Potter and Black. I am also known as the Lone Traveler." Delenn noted that Londo was as confused as she was.

As the first one greeted, Delenn spoke. "Hello, Harry Potter, Lone Traveler. I do not know you. This is my old mentor, Drall. We are in the quarters of the Centauri Ambassador. How have you come here today?"

Harry grinned. "Sorry. I've met various versions of you in different universes." The three were astonished. "I've helped you and the people on Babylon 5 a time or two. Or a dozen, as a matter of fact. I've even helped Londo here – as well as his Emperor. I show up as needed and disappear when have helped who needs help. What were you just discussing?"

The three looked at each other and Londo finally said, "We were just discussing how consusing your Earthers are." As he spoke, his passion increased. "I was just telling these two: Your people have 6000 years of recorded history. Remarkable composers and symphonies of such beauty that it makes the heart weep – and yet, the song that most of you sing to your children – I just don't understand it!"

Harry looked at Londo curiously, "What song?"

Once again, Londo started singing. "You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out," as Londo sang it, Harry grinned more and more, "you put your whole self in and you turn yourself about. You do the hokey pokey, you give a little shout: That's what it's all about!"

Londo looked at Harry. "I've been studying this for seven days! It doesn't mean anything! I've tried to find out and I've come up with nothing. What is with this song?"

Harry looked at Londo and laughed out loud. When he got himself under control he said, "That IS what it's all about."

At Londo's almost murderous look, Harry said, "Tell you what, put out some non-alcoholic drinks and I'll explain it to you all."

Londo nodded. "I'll make some hot jala."

Finally the four sat at Londo's table and Harry said, "You want to understand humans, right?"

The three all nodded at each other and said, "Yes."

"Okay, then. First of all, to be human is more than one thing. Let's take what we admire: We revere the great men of war and we revere the great men of peace. We admire the men of great skill, and we admire the common work of the common man. We revere the elderly for their wisdom, and hold sacred the children among as for the hope they bring for the future. And in all of this, what we hold most is the drive to live. To learn. To feel."

Harry paused and thought for a moment. "Let's take music. What is the purpose of music? What IS music?"

The three consulted with each other, "It is notes and passages of sounds which work together in harmony," Delenn said.

Harry grinned and said, "Sometimes. Before I explain, let me ask: What purpose is music?"

Drall thoughtfully replied, "It draws the soul toward the perfection, allows us to become one with the universe."

Harry chuckled and replied, "Maybe. What makes music good?"

Londo replied, "One can understand it – it speaks to you."

Harry's face took on a smile. "THAT is closest. Music is art. And like any art, it is – in it's most basic form, a communication. We have sculptors for example, who make pieces that any man who saw it could understand and respond to. And we call this great art. We also have sculptors who make these odd conglomeration of pieces which, when put together, seems to hold meaning and value beyond our ability to comprehend. Is this good art?"

The three considered. Delenn finally said, "We don't know."

Harry chuckled. "It might be. The question, which answers THAT question, is: Does it make us feel?"

The three considered that.

"Art, in all its forms, in the end, is to make us feel – to make us connect – to allow us to become more than we were. And that's what music is about. For what purposes do your people sing, Delenn?"

Delenn took a moment and then replied, "As Drall said, to the Minbari music is a way to refine one's soul, to make one closer to the universe and all its glory. The chants we sing resonate with us. The songs of warriors bring out their warrior spirit. The songs of the workers revere the work in shaping the universe."

Harry shook his head. "How about fun? Isn't music fun?"

"Ye ..yeeeesss. It can be."

"It can be. To a human, we have songs which talk about every part of human experience. We have songs of love, songs of hate, songs of despair, songs of hope. I can name you songs which revere the love of God, and songs that rebuke and accuse God. In most Earth religions, there is a figure of evil we call the Devil or Satan. I can name popular songs from my earth which give the Devil his own acknowledgement. And pious members of our communities know and loves these songs. How can this be?"

Delenn was frustrated. "Humans are a mass of contradictions."

"No. Humans are a mass of emotions. To emote is to feel, to feel is to live. To a human, the moment one loses the ability to feel and to become one with others through these emotions is the moment that one dies. We live to experience – to feel. We sing songs of peace and we sing songs about God as we march into war. Such songs strengthen us – they inspire us. When we decide on a path, we hold to is as tightly as we can, as long as we can, until we can no longer do so, because to do this is to really live.

"If we fight, we will fight to the death because to do otherwise is to accept defeat – to accept death. And humans do not accept death. We use it. We drive toward it. Everything dies. But if our death can serve a purpose? It is the best death of all. We mourn the death of a soldier who dies to protect us, but we celebrate as well. We acknowledge the sheer life in his actions and how this death served the purpose of life. The deaths we truly mourn and do not accept or understand are those deaths that are without meaning; that contain no life or hope. THESE are the deaths that we reject. I am certain that most humans, knowing that they would die the next day, if they had the chance, they would celebrate until it was time. We have a saying, a salute, that is given on the eve of great battles: Eat, Drink, and be Merry! For tomorrow, we die!"

Harry paused as the three looked to be receiving a revelation. "Music is about life – every part of it. Now your little song: Do you want to see the reason for it?"

Londo, who had been pounding his head against this, nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!"

"Okay. Everyone stand up and let's make a space. Is there any way we can make a circle on the floor which can hold all of us?"

Harry helped the Ambassador make a space. He looked around for moment to find a way to mark a circle until Harry interrupted him. "Let me – I have some skills. This is called: Magic."

Harry took his wand and used it to make a fairly large circle. The three looked at him with awe. "I'm a wizard – found in some dimensions but not all. Now, everyone move to just outside the circle – equal distance from each other."

They did as he asked and he nodded. "Now, leave dignity and decorum out of this. There is no confusion here, there is no august rank – there is only we who are having fun. We will not make fun of or mock each other – unless one of you makes a mistake. Then, by ancient tradition, the others in the circle can smirk and laugh at you. Of course, if by doing so THEY make a mistake, you can smirk and laugh right back. I'm going to sing the traditional version of the song and do the steps – you watch me. And then, each verse will be another body part. Now – before we begin: Hokey is something silly. And poke is moving your finger like this. So Hokey Pokey is a dance which looks like this." Harry then did a little moving around, poking his fingers in the air. It might not be the original but he had never actually learned this dance as a kid, so he made it up as we went.

"Silly isn't it?" he asked with a grin. The three nodded, each smiling back.

"Okay – me first. And then everyone. I'll call the body part to move before each verse."

Harry sang the first verse, acting as the song said:

You put your right hand in,- he put his hand over the circle.
You put your right hand out, - he pulled his hand from the circle.
You put your right hand in, - he put his hand over the circle again.
And you shake it all about, - he shook his hand violently

You do the hokey pokey- he did the silly dance he had demonstrated
and you turn yourself around – he continued the dance while turning himself around 360 degrees
That what it's all about. - he put both hands out as if to say "See?"

"Okay. This time everybody!"

Harry repeated the verse and it took a moment but the group did a passable job. Londo messed it up but quickly got himself together at Harry's grin at his mistake. When the first verse finished Harry called out, "LEFT ARM!" He repeated the lyric with the new body part – watching the group screw it up before correcting themselves. This continued with various body parts: Right leg, left leg, whole head, right hip, left hip, and then the whole body.

At the end, the three aliens had gotten to singing along with the song and when it was over, they laughed at the silliness of it.

"And that, friends, is what it's all about!"

Londo looked at Harry, still smiling, and asked, "What is it about?"

"Fun." Harry smirked. "IF you want philosophy – if you noticed, by the end, we were all moving together – in sync with each other. The great part of the fun is working together. We teach this to our children to get them to get themselves physically involved with the world and to learn to move with each other when necessary."

He grinned and looked around. "We all were together at the end. In the end, I have a piece of each of you – nothing that you will miss but something that makes me more. And you all have a piece of me. In that way we have all become more one with each other. And we like each other more. But if you want to ignore all of that – we did it because it was fun."

The three aliens were astounded at the simplicity of it. Harry casually removed the circle with his wand and said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check in with the Commander – always better to warn them when I arrive."

The three thanked him and he left Londo's quarters. Londo turned and said, "That is a strange one, yes?"

Drall replied, "But remarkably adept at explaining what makes humans so odd."

Harry made his way up to the command deck to find Michael Garibaldi trying to reach the commander and Susan Ivanova, who had gone down to the surface. After a bit of fast talk, he convinced him that he meant no harm. The quick search for records and finding them in various times over the last century and a half was convincing.

When word was heard, Garibaldi quickly made arrangements. The only fly in the ointment was the arrival of an Earth Force Heavy Cruiser. Harry rolled his eyes as the heavy-handed approach the Captain of the ship took. He followed Garibaldi to meet the command staff.

When Harry met up with the Commander and Ivanova, hurried introductions took place. Harry stayed with the Commander as Ivanova went up to CNC. Harry commented to the Commander, "By the way, you should remember something."

"What should I remember?" the Commander asked curiously.

"Chain of command: Who gives you orders?" Harry asked.

Sinclair replied, "Well, as part of the military, I answer to Earthforce Central Command. But my position as Governor is according to the Babylon Treaty and I answer to the President directly."

"So, only the President can order you to cede authority?"

"Yes," Sinclair said thoughtfully. "Why do you ask?"

Looking innocent Harry replied, "Oh, just curious."

Sinclair gave Harry a hard look and then got the Doctors report about the being recovered from the planet.

Harry decided to skip the meeting with the Captain of the heavy cruiser and made his way to spend time with Ivanova. She was always fun.

Sinclair got to his office to find the visiting Captain reviewing the information about Babylon 5. When the man saw Sinclair had arrived he shut off the display. "Cushy. All the comforts of home. It'll be a nice change of pace for my men. Good food, some R&R while they're stationed here."

Sinclair lost his cool. "I've just gone over the message you sent upon your arrival, Captain Pierce. Would you like to explain yourself?"

"We were in hyperspace enroute to the Vegan outpost when we received a countermand order from Earthforce command. We were ordered to report here and assume control of this situation."

"On whose authority?"

"Office of Planetary Security," Captain Pierce replied with a smirk.

Commander Sinclair took on a smirk of his own and replied, "That's nice. But my authority was handed personally to me by President Santiago. Any order that countermands MY authority in this sector must come straight from the President. This is a military outpost – but Command is given to Earthforce under the Babylon Treaties. If these treaties are violated, we would be at war with the Minbari, the Narn, the Centauri. Oh. And let's not forget the Vorlons. This is neutral space ONLY under those agreements. I accept that your orders are to ensure that no external forces interfere with Earth jurisdiction but you will not take command of this sector. In this case, I represent not only the military but the civilian authority in this sector of space. If asked, you are here so that your people can experience some R&R. If external forces try to intercede, you may act – if I approve it."

Pierce was livid. "I was ordered to take command and that's what I will do!"

"And if you show me a presidential order allowing it – I'd accept it. The President is a bit busy with Mars. Until I receive confirmation through Gold Channel One from Earthdome – your orders are illegal. Now …" Here Sinclair took a breath. "Now, the alien who controlled the machinery is, unfortunately, very ill. We retrieved him. But without the control, that machinery is unstable. We will do NOTHING to incite any automatic defenses within the complex below to speed up that countdown. This station would not survive the planet destroying itself. We are attempting to heal the alien, or at least get him conscious. Until we know – we do NOTHING. That machinery says 'Doomsday' all over it."

Sinclair pushed a button on his desk, "Ivanova."

"Yes, Commander."

"I am hereby giving you a direct order: Any ship that attempts to approach the planet below without my personal approval is to be shot down at once if they refuse to stop when ordered: Order to retreat, then a warning shot, then a lethal shot. This includes any ship of any race: Centuari, Narn, Drazi, Brakiri … Earthforce. ANY ship which triggers any failsafe is to be considered an immediate and lethal threat to this station and its inhabitants. If there are too many for the defense grid to handle, you are to launch two wings of Starfuries to enforce my order. Do you acknowledge my order?"

"Achknowledged. No ships are to be allowed to approach the planet. Lethal force is authorized if the fail to follow orders to stop and do not stop with a warning shot."

"Sinclair out." He looked at Captain Pierce. "Any questions?"

Pierce looked at the Commander and stomped out of the room.