Episode VI: Final Moments of Rest

"Geez, do you ever lose?" asked Scott.

"I've learned the rules quite thoroughly. The objectives are a simple matter of geometry. Of course, the geometry is..."

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry I asked." Scott dealt new cards and changed the subject. "So, how are you guys coming along with that little problem in the engine room?"

"It is difficult to say. But we believe that we will be able to open up the core within a month."

Lin, who sat across from Scott, picked up and put down cards as she spoke, "What is taking so long to open the chamber?"

"It was well sealed, " answered Sonnier as he placed his own cards. "In fact, it must be the most heavily guarded section of any ship I have ever come across."

"I don't like the sound of that," replied Lin glumly. "Do you think Brenn was right in his doom saying about it?"

Sonnier looked directly at her and responded in a cool almost emotionless fashion, "Yes."

"Hold on!" Scott exclaimed drawing Lin and Sonnier's attention. "You mean to tell us that there really may be booby traps capable of killing people back there and we're still going to open it? That's ludicrous!" Scott calmed down and asked, "Does the Captain know about this?"

"He does," confirmed Sonnier. "But he realizes the implications of leaving it guarded. If the engine core goes down, we are - what you humans call - a sitting duck."

"Speaking of the captain, where is he?" asked Lin.

"Well, there have been rumors circulating around the ship," Scott said playing some cards. " They say he goes into Cargo Bay 3 now and then. I think it's very odd. He has the place sealed up tight for security reasons and yet, he walks in there. And that's not to mention that we know the pillars don't draw energy from the ship."

Scott looked intently at Lin. "Remember, 2 months ago when that telepath tried to take over the ship. The pillars were glowing. They somehow produce their own energy."

"Yes, it was so strange," agreed Lin. "It was like..."

"Pawner," interrupted Sonnier.

"Lin, we have to stop playing against him." Scott grumbled as he glared at the smiling Minbari.

Maybe, Lin was right he thought. Maybe, the pillars did draw power from the Grey Star. He was about to leave the cargo bay when he heard a voice behind him. Gannonn.

"Welcome back William."

Davidson turned around to find that he was in the sanctuary. He had no recollection of drowsiness like before. He just turned around and it was there.

Once more, he was in civilian clothes. Kate stood in the background. "Hello again, Will."

Gannonn spoke. "You have come back here for a reason. A reason that you may or may not understand at this moment, but you will at some point in time. In the course of life, the only constant is there is no constant. But in between these changes comes a pause before the storm. This, William, is the pause before you face the storm."

"You mean your sending us on a vacation?" Davidson asked.

Gannonn smiled. "I will take you to a place that I have passed through once, a place you may have heard about. It was the center of everything for a short time."

"And where is that?" asked Catherine.

"A place called Babylon 5," Gannonn responded.

Immediately, Davidson thought about leaving this region the Grey Star was trapped in. Before he could speak, Gannonn explained.

"It is, of course, what you would call an illusion, but you may interact with anyone within it. Come, follow me."

"I do not see the humor in this situation," Sonnier stated humorlessly.

Scott was still starring at the vid screen. "Are you serious? This is classic human humor! You should understand how funny it is. You spent months in a temple studying this stuff."

Sonnier sighed. "What is this program called?"

"It's a very rare one, very old. It's called 'The 3 Stooges'."

Scott's door opened and Lin walked back in. "I forgot my... oh no. Your forcing Sonnier to watch *that*! I can't believe you still watch it."

"Hey, this is high quality comedy," defended Scott. "It's a classic."

Lin snorted in disgust. "Well, I forgot my cards. I'll just pick them up and be on my way."

Scott stiffened a bit, "Whoa! Those are my cards, not yours!"

"No, they are mine!" Lin protested as Scott moved to protect the cards. They began fighting as Sonnier watched shaking his head in disappointment.

Sonnier looked at the vid screen, and then back at Scott and Lin. Inspired, he rose and walked over to the bickering pair. He grabbed them both by the ears, hard.

"Now look, see," Sonnier spoke trying his best to mimic the black-haired one on the screen. Was his name Moe? He did not recall. "I'm going off to my quarters to rest now and I want you two," he had difficulty saying the next word, "numb-skulls, to do the same!"

Sonnier let go of their ears and walked out. Scott looked over to Lin, "Just when you think you have a Minbari figured out, they seem to do things you'll never understand. Well, maybe not without knowing a thousand years of prophecy."

Lin looked at him and smiled. She nodded her head in agreement.

It was really more than an illusion. Sights, smells, ambient sounds (he swore he could pick up on other people's conversations), all encompassed him. But now, he was being dragged across half a station by a woman gone insanely happy. She would not tell him where they were going.

"How much further?" he asked.

"We're almost there."

They soon exited the corridor and were in a place that took Davidson's breath away. Catherine had brought him into a garden with a small cement bench. The view it gave... he was looking all around himself. The center of Babylon 5 was one large empty section lavishly decorated with plants and fields.

"Where am I?" he finally asked.

"It's a place I heard about on Babylon 5. It's called the sanctuary." Davidson smirked at the name. Still holding hands, they both sat down on the bench.

"I never knew how beautiful a place could be" Davidson said. "It's as if I'm a bird, looking down on the world, or the world is looking down on me."

Catherine took her eyes off the scenery and looked at him. "Maybe it's both."

Davidson looked at her. "Maybe. Maybe the world was built to surround and protect us. So no matter how far you walk, you always come back to the place you originally started. Making you travel nowhere."

"Or maybe bringing you back home."

Davidson leaned closer to Catherine his face just a few precious inches away from hers. "What if I want to break the cycle because it only brings pain?" he whispered.

Catherine leaned in toward him, "Is that all it brings?"

"No." They embraced and kissed. For a long moment in time, the world melted away in rapture. One moment of joy... and then it was gone, replaced by a moment of embarrassment. Nervously, they sat beside each other not knowing what to say.

After a minute of uneasiness, Davidson got up. "I'm hungry... ummm... would you care to join me in getting something to eat?"

"Yeah…I mean I'd love to." Davidson held her hand and brought her to her feet. They walked away from the garden.

"Excuse me, could you tell me what's going on here?"

The man looked at Davidson a baffled look on his face, "Where have you two been? You have no idea what's going on?"

Catherine spoke, "No. Can you tell us what's happening and where we are?"

"Well, Sheridan just mobilized the largest fleet ever in galactic history and is about to try and take out the Shadows and Vorlons! Ivonava is getting ready to take off with that strange alien the Captain came back with."

The man walked away shouting at them over his shoulder. "Look, I got a lot of work ahead of me. You're near the docking bays, blue 7. Good luck to ya!"

The end of the Shadow war? Davidson could now pinpoint the precise date of *when* they were. He was about to speak to Catherine when a voice softly interrupted from behind them.

"Hello."

Catherine and Davidson looked back to be greeted by a fairly tall alien. He had long fingers with four segments instead of three, and wore some sort of golden headgear. A woman ran up to the alien. Davidson instantly recognized her as Susan Ivonava.

"Come on Lorrien, we have to get going," Ivonava urged.

"Just one moment. I must speak with these two," he responded.

Ivonava sighed, "Alright," she said as she walked away.

"You two do not belong here," Lorrien said looking at Catherine and Will. "You are not supposed to be here. This is not your destiny."

He held up his hand to stop Davidson from interrupting. "No, you have to take the burden of the legacy that will end when I go into the fire. You both have a destiny, together. But I will warn you, you will both pay the price for the mistakes of the others. I can see this, and I am truly sorry."

He looked at them and spoke, his words measured and unmistakable. "You have a gift, the both of you. One that you have not yet opened. I must leave now, and forever."

"And to you," Lorrien said, looking at Davidson, "When your time comes, you will not be alone. Farewell."

Lorrien walked down the hall toward Ivonava who greeted him. The hallway faded into blackness but Catherine and William could see Gannonn appear as everything turned into the abyss of black.

"You have learned the answers," Gannonn spoke. "But you do not understand them. You do not even know that you know."

"What does that mean?" Catherine asked.

"Only that you two have found something you are only beginning to understand."

Davidson had a completely different question on his mind, something that may unbalance Gannonn into revealing more information. "Was Lorrien one of the first ones?"

Gannonn responded, undisturbed by the question, "No, he *is* the first one."

"And the gift?"

"The answer."

"To what?"

"Understanding."

"I don't understand."

"Yes"

Davidson woke up. He was on the floor of the cargo bay. He did not understand the purpose of what had just transpired. Even though Gannonn never said anything, Davidson knew that something was coming, and soon. He also knew he would be in the center of it all, with Catherine.

But where did she fit in the tapestry? All he knew is that as long as he was with her, nothing could happen.

He was wrong.