Sheridan followed the gurney as far as he could, stopping at the sliding doors. He desperately wanted to follow Sam into the Operating Room. He was Commander of Babylon 5, damn it, how could he be this helpless?

And yet, he was helpless; all he could do was observe through the large window. He watched the controlled chaos of the Operating Room; controlled and planned like a choreographed dance. He knew it was bad by the look of grim concentration and determination on Franklin's face. "God, Sam," he thought. "Please stay strong. Please hang on. Please."

Sheridan did not know how long he stood in front of the glass, staring inside without really seeing anything, but eventually he felt a smaller, warm hand slip into his. Sheridan turned toward the comforting presence. "Let me buy you a cup of coffee, and you can tell me about her," Delenn said gently.


_Delenn and Sheridan chose a small, private table in the café in the Zen Gardens. "Tell me about her," Delenn prompted.

As worried as he was, Sheridan had to smile. Sam's presence was supposed to be a secret, which meant that everyone would know. "Sam was a surprise to Mom and Dad," Sheridan began. "They had thought they were done with kids, but then they got her while Dad was stationed on Mimbar. You'd think," he said, smiling gently, "that she would be closer to Lizzy since they are closer and age, but from the moment she was born, we shared...," he stopped to choose the right word," ...we shared a connection. We were always close. She came to me when she was sad or hurt. At night, when I was home from school, she'd come to me at night if she had a bad dream or was scared."

"You both joined Earth Force?" Delenn prompted.

"I joined up when the war started," Sheridan said. "Sam was only 15. She joined up as soon as she turned 18." Sheridan chuckled. "Mom was so mad at me when she joined. She said it was my fault. But she knew how headstrong Sam is – she always made her way and made her own decisions. Once she set her mind on Earth Force, nothing was going to dissuade her. When she decided to become a pilot, that's what she did. She is now the Lieutenant with a whole squadron under her command. "

"You are proud of her?" Delenn said softly, her hand reaching over to cover Sheridan's.

"Yes. Very," Sheridan said. "Damn, I wish I knew what happ...," he cut off in the middle of his words and reached into his pocket for the data crystal Sam had given him.

"What is that," Delenn asked.

"The truth," Sheridan replied.


_In his office, Sheridan inserted the data crystal into the reader on his desk while Delenn stood by his chair with her hand on his shoulder.

The images came fast. On the screen was a view through the front viewscreen of a Star Fury. The tag in the left corner indicated that the fighter belonged to Lt. Samantha Sheridan. The view showed a planet, which the scrolling data identified as a Narn colony.

"Narn Colony," the voice was Sam's, this is Lieutenant Sheridan of EAS Chimaera. I am in commander of a squadron of Star Furies. We have received your distress signal. May we be of assistance?"

The response was marred by static. "Chimaera Fighter, we are under attack. I repeat, we are under attach. We are a farming colony with minimal defenses. We are launching transports with our women, children and elderly; they will not make it to the jump point without your help." At that moment, several large, bulky freight haulers came into view. Immediately, they were fired upon.

"Narn Colony," Sam asked, "who is the aggressor? I repeat who is attacking...," she did not finish the question as several squadrons of fighters flew up from behind the plant. "Shit," the exclamation was involuntary, "Centuari fighters," Sam yelled. "Blue Squadron form up on me. Lets get these transports to the Jump Point."

"Squadron Leader, this is C-and C". We have received updated orders.

"Copy that C-and-C, go ahead," Sam replied.

"These orders come directly from Earth Force Command. They are not even five hours old. As of now, there is a compact between Earth and Centuari. You are not to fire on them. Do you Copy? YOU ARE NOT TO FIRE ON CENTAURI SHIPS.

"Sir, there are thousands of Narn on those ships. We can't..."

"Lieutenant, DO YOU COPY," was the response.

"Copy," Sam growled. Then to the Squadron. "Guys, you heard C and C. Head on in."

"Uh L.T," a young male voice," and what are you going to do?"

"I am going to do everything that I can to get these people to safety," Sam said

"If that's your plan, L.T,", the young voice responded, then I am staying. This was echoed by every member of the squadron; nobody was going to leave her.

"I will have every one of you up on charges of insubordination," Sam threatened, but Sheridan and Delenn could here the relief in her voice. "OK. We can't fire on these bastards, then all we can do is shield the transports..." she paused. "You all understand what I am saying? What this means? I cannot...and I will not order this..."

"We know L.T.," the young man replied. "We are volunteering."

Sheridan could have sworn, he heard a sigh from Sam, but all she said was, "Assume defensive positions and DO NOT FIRE."

For the next few minutes, Sheridan and Delenn watched in horror as the Centuari ships chased and blew up Star Fury after Star Fury. But with each explosion, the transports got closer and closer to the Jump Point. They watched as the first transport made the jump. Then the second. Finally only one transport was left and Sam's Star Fury was the only one remaining as she escorted the transport and guarded its back. Just as the Jump Point opened to the transport, a Centauri Fighter straffed the Star Fury. Sam screamed as the beams tore through her ship and her body. But the transport was safe. The images and sound was wavering as the damaged ship fought to sustain the life of it pilot.

"Switching to private channel," Sam whispered, her voice full of pain.

"Sam? This is Rick in C and C. Hold on, we've already dispatched rescue. Just hold on."

"Just hold on Sam," Sheridan whispered under his breath.

"Rick," Sam's voice was getting weaker. "Please get word to my brother, Captain John Sheridan. Tell him...," she gasped and tried to regain composure, "please tell him what happened to me. And please tell him...," the voice was barely a whisper, "please tell him I love him."

The video faded. Delenn and Sheridan stared at the screen speechless.

"My God," John whispered.

Delenn just held his shoulder trying to offer him comfort; there was nothing she could possible say.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the office door. "Captain Sheridan," the accent was unmistakable.

Sheridan took a deep, shaky breath, "Ambassador Molari, this is really not a good..ti..."

"I have it on good authority," The Centuari started as if he heard nothing, "that there is pilot on board this ship who engaged in hostilities with Centuari Fighters over rebel Narn world in Quadrant 14. I would like to speak to this pilot and take them into custody for violating the terms of the agreement between Earth and Centuari.

Delenn felt Sheridan stiffen as he stood. He rested his fingertips lightly on his desk. He spoke very quitly and very deliberately, but there was something in his voice that got Molari's attention; something he had not heard before- a clear threat. "Ambassador, that pilot is my sister and she is not going anywhere. In fact, what I saw just now an attack by Centauri forces on civilians as well as on Earth Force Personnel. My sister," he took a deep breath to control his voice which was threatening to start to shake with anger and emotion," my sister was injured by one of your fighters. So, Ambassador, I strongly urge that you walk out that door," Sheridan pointed to the door, "right now and go very, very far away from me for a very, very long time."

Molari stared at Sheridan, trying to face the man down, but Sheridan's controlled rage was too powerful and he had to lower his gaze. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it with an almost audible snap, pivoted and walked out.

As he was leaving, he ran into Ambassador G'Kar who was accompanied by several other Narn. Molari glared at his traditional enemies growled out an insult in his native language and pushed his way past them.

Sheridan looked at the four Narn standing in his office and suddenly felt very tired. "Ambassador," he started, but stopped when all four Narn bowed low.

"Captain Sheridan, I apologize for disturbing you when you have...," G'Kar searched for a word, "...when you have such family concerns. We have heard about the pilot in the Infirmary..."

Sheridan threw his arms up in frustration, "Of course you have. It was only supposed to have been confidential." He looked at the Narn, took a deep breath, "I apologize. Please go on.

G'Kar nodded in acceptance. "We also heard of what she did for our people. We would like to honor her with an honor guard, " he pointed to the three younger Narn who bowed again in unity. There will be three guards at all times. It will show that we hold her in great regard and it will keep her safe.

Sheridan looked up at Delenn. "Thank you for your generosity Ambassador G'Kar. We humbly accept the honor. But we do ask that you follow the directives of the medical staff." G'Kar and the other Narn nodded in unison and marched off in unison

Just then, Sheridan's Commlink beeped. "Yes," Sheridan did everything in his power to not growl.

"Sir. Its C and C" we just received a high priority transmission. For your eyes only.

"Okay," Sheridan said. Patch it through to my office.

"Aye, sir".

Sheridan went to his desk and punched a few buttons. The message was only a few lines long, but he stared at it for a long time.

Delenn looked at Sheridan's face, "John" she inquired.

Sheridan tore his eyes away from his screen. "Its the Chimaera," he said. "Its been destroyed. All lives on board are presumed lost.

The only sound in the room was a gasp from Delenn as her hand flew to her mouth.

"What in the hell is going on here," Sheridan wondered, not for the first time.

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think