ISN Anchor Desk - Original Short Stories

On the ISN Forums, there is a B5 fanfic area. In May, I tried to create an interactive fanfic ... It's a round-robin way of storytelling. I started part one, someone else would do part two, someone else does part three, and on and on.

Unfortunately, nobody continued it. Eventually it got buried on the second page. I asked people why they were contributing to other stories, but not mine. I was actually surprised by the answers ... The round robin stories that they participate in don't pay attention to the "rules" .. They are written for humor and jokingly only. They don't have serious tones, and they don't "fit in" with the series itself. They're alternate universe-type stories, and have the characters doing things they normally never would - like breaking into song in the middle of battle, a Narn wearing a tutu, things like that.

They were afraid of ruining what started as a very good story, and wanted me to continue it, but that's not why I wrote it. I wrote it for others to play with. But that never happened, and I have no plans currently to continue it .... That may change in the future, but I'm disappointed that no one saw fit to add to it, even one line. :(

I now present "In Valen's Name" - horrid or great, I would really like to know your opinion. Just click here to email me.

***

"My name is Valen, and we have much work ahead of us," the man before them said. To either side and behind were Valeri - Angels, spirits of the universe.

Valen was an alien name to the Minbari. When they asked of his clan or caste, he smiled and simply refused to answer other than to say he was not born of the Now.

Trulain and Drulenn held their weapons high, aimed at the man before them, but there was something very ... powerful .. in his presence. Something told them he was one of them, that they would be safe here.

"These are Vorlons," he said, paused, then continued with, "I know the war goes badly for you. I’m here to fix that."

Trulain lowered his weapon, followed seconds later by Drulenn. The silly man - what was it the Valen man had called him? Zathras? - returned with two pikes, handing one to each of them.

"A gift," Valen said.

"These are very well crafted," Trulain said after a careful study. "I’ve not seen such craftsmanship in many years."

"Yes, I’m certain of that. But as I said, it’s time for a change. Now, would you mind contacting the Zha’Mir Council? I need to speak with them as soon as possible."

***

Valen - Sinclair? He still wasn’t sure who he was himself! - stepped through the door and back into his quarters. He was actually very lucky, he told himself. His future - or was it past? - version of himself had kept very detailed records, and included them on a series of datacrystals, along with the notes to himself and Delenn. The datacrystals had his notes, his journals, everything from the moment he traveled back in time until the moment they were burned onto the crystals, 100 years from now.

The data gave Sinclair/Valen a very distinct advantage. He knew everything that would happen over the next hundred years ... where the Shadows would strike, how they would attack ... who would live ... and who would die.

They also carried a very heavy burden. He would have to record a set. Indeed, he’d already done so. He would have to follow what he’d done each time before, or risk the timeline going out of balance. For example, he and Trulain would grow quite close in the months and years ahead. There was no avoiding that. Trulain would be sent on a relatively safe mission that would end in his death.

Sinclair/Valen could easily prevent that from happening, but that would lead to a chain of events that may cause the future to happen differently. Maybe it would prevent the Earth-Minbari war. Preventing that would prevent the Minbari from discovering who he was, and sending him back. It would also prevent the Babylon Project, part of which he was standing in now. That would cause the Shadows to win the war now, and everyone would pay the price.

He sat down in the one chair in the room and sighed. Considering time travel ramifications always gave him a headache. He wished Dr. Franklin or Dr. Kyle was here. Hell, he wished anyone he knew was here. Catherine ... Now she was the one he missed the most.

He still wondered what that entry was about. Three days from now, "I found her! I can’t believe it, I found her!" But who was she? Had Delenn come back in time too? It had been several weeks in the Chrysalis, and some parts of the journals were ... vague. He wasn’t sure why yet, but he knew from other historical records that he would have children, and their descendents would include Delenn. But nowhere in the crystals did it mention them, or who the mother was.

"The One?" he heard a gruff voice call out. "The One?"

"Yes, Zathras. I’m right here," he said.

"All three castes are being here, the One," Zathras said. Perfect, things were progressing exactly as planned.

Leaders of each of the main three castes - warrior, religious, and worker, along with the minor two casts ... music and mindwalkers - would be meeting with him and form the new Grey Council. The two minor castes would join the religious caste, and together would lead the fight against the Shadows.

The mindwalkers - telepaths, Sinclair/Valen’s mind translated - were crucial to the fight.

To be continued, by ....???