"The Lone Traveler: Young man who tried to change the past and save those he loved… plan failed and became the Lone Traveler, wandering through time and reality, making a difference wherever he went… very powerful… defeated a powerful Dark wizard styling himself a Lord… swept along the path he walked by a spectacular aura of blue light."
'Legends & Myths of the Wizarding World' by Gertrude Yolanda
Delenn took the triluminary and held it toward the captured human. All the Minbari watched as, once again, the triluminary, relic of Valen, one of the holiest pieces of their culture, showed the terrible truth.
She turned toward those watching and said, "This human has the soul of a Minbari. And not just any soul: He has the soul of Valen!"
The council members in attendance almost keened in their despair.
"We must …" before she could finish the entire room was shocked as a light appeared before them. It hovered in the air and then slowly coalesced into a bipedal figure. Suddenly, the light winked out. And in front of them was a human dressed in odd clothing.
"Who are you?" Delenn asked the man.
Harry looked around and saw something which had been described to him in one of his travels. "I am the Master of Death and the Lone Traveler. Would you accept my advice, Delenn of Mir, to end this conflict?"
What shocked the watching Minbari was the newly arrived human's perfect Minbari dialect. He had spoken in Adrenato – the Grey language of the Religious caste.
She looked around to seek guidance from her fellow Minbari. One of the Warrior caste members of the Council asked, "Why are you here?"
In perfect Vik, the Dark language of the Warriors, he replied, "I am here to help you."
Surprised that the stranger knew his own base language, he nodded to Delenn.
Delenn turned and asked, "What should we do?"
"Do not surrender. Order a cease-fire. Tell the humans that new information has come to you and that you shall speak amongst yourselves and decide in two hours. Pull back, but do not leave. And then call the most ardent anti-Human, pro-War captain in your fleet to come here."
The watching Grey Council members were confused by these suggestions, but wanting to end the conflict now, did as was asked.
The Earth ships were fighting with their last breath. Despair was felt but pushed aside for resolve: They would not allow their world to be destroyed.
Suddenly, every Minbari gun stopped firing. Every fighter retreated from the battle and the Minbari fleet hung in front of them. The Earthers, in shock, also stopped firing.
Suddenly, a broad band message was played across the fleet.
"We have ordered a ceasefire for our fleet to resolve new information that has come to us just now. In two Earth hours, we shall inform you of our decision. We shall not attack but will defend. We shall not maneuver during this ceasefire."
The Captain of the Trigadi, Alyt Sineval, was incensed that he had been ordered to stop killing the humans. But a request to consult with the Grey Council could not be ignored. And so he flew his Nial class fighter toward the great ship which carried his leaders.
The Nine were nervous as they followed the dictates of their visitor. Having lost their certainty so abruptly, for this one moment in their history their arrogance was sufficiently punctured to listen and act on outside advice – their own judgment was suspect. At any other time, to act as they were being directed to would have been anathema.
They stood in conference, the captured human in front of them. Their visitor had miraculously healed what they had inflicted upon him during his interrogation and then had erased his memory of it. As far as he knew, he had been captured and was facing judgement for the first time. He had also been implanted with a suggestion to remember one thing.
Harry sighed as he hoped his brash idea would work.
Harry stood in the room also. He had transfigured his clothes into a robe with a cowl and had performed a spell so none could see his face.
The Minbari could not understand how anyone could do as their visitor had done.
Soon, a warrior entered and the Grey Council turned to him.
Coplann, Warrior caste and member of the Council, motioned to a watching worker and the worker pushed a few buttons. Suddenly, every ship in the Minbari fleet could hear the discussions. Every command vessel received a hologram on their tactical display.
Coplann spoke, "Sineval, of the Star Riders clan, Warrior caste, we have asked you to come as you are known as the most vocal proponent of this war in the fleet. It has been said that the Grey Council never tells the whole truth. This discussion is being transmitted to the entire fleet so that the truth is not hidden. We do not think our people are ready to hear what we have learned, but the Universe itself has conspired to cause us to not hide these truths in the Dark. Are you willing to hear what we have learned?"
Shocked at the idea that the Grey Council would actually be up front, he replied, "I am."
If anyone could have witnessed them all, they would have seen that every warrior and Minbari in the fleet was feeling the same titillation as though they were peeking at their elders in an intimate moment.
Coplann nodded. "During the fighting, it was suggested that we take a human for intelligence gathering. At random, one was picked from the sky and brought here. He has been questioned – and we were not easy. Further examination was required."
He moved to a covered tray and pulled off its cover.
"Do you know what this is?" Coplann asked.
Siveval nodded thoughtfully. "It is a triluminary. It is a relic of Valen."
"Do you know what it shows?"
"No." The Alyt was very curious.
"According to all records, it lit with a brilliant light when near Valen. It lights but dimly when a child of Valen is examined with it. It is also used to determine hidden truths." Coplann walked over and put it in front of Sineval, who looked at it curiously.
Nothing happened.
Coplann then moved and stood in front of one of the Nine. Pushing it toward the slight figure, the light on the triluminary showed a pale light. Sineval was shocked.
The figure, Religious caste from what he could discern, spoke. "I was the student of Dukhat. I held him as he died. In my rage, mine was the deciding vote to begin our holy war. I am the one who demanded a prisoner. Do you understand?"
Sineval nodded. "Yes, Satai. Most wise."
"Then let us see more wisdom."
Coplann moved to stand in front of the restrained human, who had no knowledge of the language spoken and no idea what they were talking about. The figure pushed a device toward him and suddenly a very bright light shown forth.
Sinclair was very confused, but ever watchful.
Coplann turned. "Do you see what we have discovered?"
Sineval, in shock, could barely utter the words. "The human has … he shows as being Valen himself."
"He has the soul of a Minbari and, yes, it is the soul of Valen. Because of what we have found, we captured other humans. Out of 9 captured, three were shown to have Minbari souls. Do you understand our problem?"
Sineval, still in shock, nodded.
"Let us question this human." Coplann turned and said. "What is his name?"
The figure dressed in odd robes asked in the Human language, "What is your name?"
"Jeffrey Sinclair, Earthforce, Lieutenant, J42T74-Omicron."
Sighing, Harry said quietly, "Don't give me name, rank, serial number if you want to end this war." He turned and translated the response to Vik.
"What did you say to him after his answer?" Upon hearing the explanation, the watching Council members nodded.
Coplann took up the next question. "Are you a member of your people's warrior Caste?"
The answer was both clean and confusing at once. "We have no Warrior caste. I am a member of the Military – like my fathers before me for over two hundred years."
"If you could kill one of us, knowing you would die, would you do so?"
"Yes."
"Knowing that it will not change your people's fate, and that you might survive if you stayed your hand, would you still attack?"
"Yes. I would count it a victory."
"Why?"
"Because there would be one less of you to attack my people."
"Would you ever surrender?"
"Not unless it would guarantee my people's survival."
"Why? Why fight if you know you cannot win? What value is it?"
Sinclair took on a resolute face and said, "Tennyson, one of our greatest poets said it best:
"Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Coplann and the remaining Minbari considered the human's words.
Harry motioned, "I would ask him another question: Do you want to fight? And why or why not?"
Coplann looked to the others and then nodded to Harry. Harry asked his questions.
"No," came the reply. "Isaac Asimov said, 'Violence is the Last Resort of the Incompetent'. War should only come when there are no other options available. But one should always fight for what he holds dear. Honor is greater than life. So says the Way of the Warrior. Of course Patton said, 'It's not your job to die for your country, it's your job to make the other bastard die for his'."
"What means would you use to win?"
"Any. Means. Necessary." The watching Minbari understood that what was just said was said with complete confidence in the truth of it even it they had to wait for the translation.
Finally Coplann turned to Sineval. "What would you have us do? There stands before you a human, our sworn enemy, who holds the soul of Valen. He will not surrender, he will not stop; he will only fight until he is dead or his people's life is assured." Coplann sighed. "Do we kill the human with the soul of Valen, and all the other humans, amongst which are many Minbari souls?"
Sineval looked to the council in confusion. "What would you have me say?"
Delenn, who had only spoken the once, spoke again. "We would end this. Too many have died on both sides. Valen said that we would have to join with the other part of our soul to win the war with the Darkness that is to come. But you, the greatest of the Warrior caste within this war: What will you do? Will you continue fighting? Or would you have us find another way? "
Sineval took his pike and extended it and stood there, looking at the human captive, bound as he was, who still stood tall and unflinching. Finally Sineval sighed and dropped his pike.
"I do not know what is right. But I will fight no more this day. End this as you will."
He then turned and, leaving his pike upon the floor, left the chamber.
Delenn motioned to Coplann, asking for the chance to speak. Coplann nodded. Delenn stood forward and spoke the entire fleet. "We will end this. And upon our return to Minbar, we shall, all of us, hold a Rebirthing ceremony so that we Minbari can remake ourselves into what is needed to face the future as one people. I would have the fleet listen to our words to the humans and then move to Minbar directly. Does the Grey Council agree?"
The other members' positions all lit up in agreement. The transmission was cut.
Delenn turned to their visitor and said, "What now?"
The Earthforce fleet waited nervously, watching the unmoving Minbari fleet, poised to assault their home world.
Efforts were made to evacuate even more people, and the Minbari did nothing to prevent it. The clock ticked down, and they waited.
With only a few seconds left until the two hour mark, communications panels across the fleet and across Earth itself lit up – a message was being sent.
A group of people in robes and cowls stood together. Off to side, another figure stood out. The lead figure, a slight one with a woman's voice, slightly distorted, began talking. At first they were afraid, because the voice wasn't speaking in English. But the separate figure began translating and they calmed down.
"People of Earth. We of the Minbari arrived to your home system to end our holy war.
"Understand this: Three years ago, we were approached in our space by ships unknown to us. We approached with Gun Ports open as is the custom of our warriors to show that we assume that those we meet have equal strength. We scanned these vessels to find out who had come into our space.
"In deliberation or in panic or for some other reason, these ships opened fire upon us. The ship they attacked was holding the leaders of all the Minbari people. Among those leaders was a man who was held by us all as the best of all Minbari. In this attack, in our space, from forces unknown, this leader of our people was killed.
"Imagine if you will that in these latter days a man was born who was acknowledged by all of your people as one who held the spirit and wisdom of Christ. One who was beginning to teach you and to lead you to a future in the light of God. And now imagine that forces unknown to you suddenly appeared among you and killed him. What would you do?"
There was a pause as the listening fleet considered that. Quite a number of them paled as, for the first time, they grasped exactly what had happened.
"Such was what we experienced. And so, we went to war. Not to subjugate – but to destroy every last vestige of those who could commit such a crime against the soul of our people.
"During this battle, we took prisoners and we questioned them. And we learned the soul of your people."
A recording of Jeffrey Sinclair's questioning was shown. The listening audience were filled with pride in his answers – pride tempered by nervousness and resignation.
"And this is what this war between us has been about: The Soul of the Minbari people against the Soul of the Human people. And in this time and place, we have learned that your soul is not found wanting."
"We have decided that further attempts at destroying you would taint our souls beyond redemption. And this we will not do, unless it becomes necessary to protect ourselves. And so we do as we must and we end this holy war. We shall return to our own worlds. We shall accept ambassadors to finalize the agreements that are necessary when two peoples cease their fighting and must now make plans for the future."
"In this war, there is no winner: Only losers. We have lost and you have lost. Let there be no more fighting between us."
Suddenly, several Earthforce fighters that had been captured were released by a number of capital ships. The entire Minbari fleet then turned and disappeared into hyperspace.
The entire Line watched in shock, barely able to understand that the war which had killed so many was finally over.
Harry, the Lone Traveler, watched as the nine leaders of Minbar stood in contemplation. Feeling the call, he waved his hands and his clothing returned to its original form.
The group looked at him and he said, "The future requires that you act in concert with the best parts of humanity. I wish you luck in your quest."
He turned and all could see the man begin to shrink down into a swirling ball of blue light. Around them, a song of both victory and loss, tinged with hope, filled the space. The Nine watched as the light disappeared and the song slowly faded into the night.