"pffffffff"

was all Neil could utter when he let himself fall onto the chair next to Leanna

"that bad huh" She replied

"some frappucino then?" Lindaru asked as she got up, ready to walk over to the counter to order one.

"make it an espreszo"

"okay"

"now wait"

Lindaru raised an eyebrow

"a double espreszo"

Lindaru raised both eyebrows

"please" Neil added

"good boy" Lindaru winked and walked over to the counter

"man Neil, you look like crap" Leanna commented while stirring her coffee "something keeping you awake"

"Not sure" Neil sighed. Lindaru returned and sat down.

"what's up Neil" she asked taking a sip of her frappucino

Neil looked at them both, sat up straight and put his elbows on the table.

"did you see Garibaldi yesterday?"

"Ofcourse" both replied instantly

"everyone was there" Leana added

"Not what I meant" Neil shook his head a little

"what's wrong Neil" Leanna asked with a worried look on her face

The waitress put down Neil's double espreszo and Neil quickly drank it in one go.

"this is what I did last night..."
Neil recapped his midnight exploration of the Zocalo, the Garibaldi minbari look alike and the dream.

Both women looked at him, not quite sure what to say next.

"so again" Neil continued "did you see Garibaldi?"

Lindaru hesitated ".... yes"

"so.. " Neil challenged "what was he wearing"

Lindaru's mind drew a blanc

Neil turned to Leanna

"I'm definately sure I saw him" she started

"did you talk to him?"

"....eh" she stammed.

"See" neil exclaimed "I'm sure he was there aswell. In my memory I'm a 100 percent positive. But when I try to remember, try to focus on the memory of him being there..."

"nothing..." Leanna whispered.

the door to the Cafe opened and MB came walking in "morning" she purred. "sorry I'm late... what did I miss?"

"Apparently we missed Garibaldi" Lindaru replied

"pffft" MB shook her head "nothing new there"

While Anla'Shok Na told Neil about her work, which had been helped out by everyone who had attended and filled her in on missing details since they had been gone, SoCuz was winding up his show on ISN.

"Planet Killers, people!" he said as he leaned into the camera.  "For humans who have studied Earth history, this is a thousand, no, a million times more dangerous than what was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.  Hiroshima, Japan.  Have we as a sentient species learned anything?  Who has the right to this *Madness*?"

He paused to let his audience sink this in.  "Until the next *Madness*, I am outta here."

Neil turned and noticed that Jim was staring at him.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

Jim raised an encounter suited hand and pointed at him.  "There is a hole--"

Neil instantly froze with fear.  That part of the experience Neil had not shared.  It scared him to even think of the possibilities.  Did Jim know what Garibaldi had said to him?  Did Jim know more than he or anyone else did?  Did he--?

"--in your shirt," Jim finished.

Neil stared wildly for a moment and then came back to the present.  He followed Jim's finger to the front of his shirt and sighed with audible relief.

"Thanks, Jim," he said, "but that is syrup.  It is just dark and looks like a hole."

The ISN News Network was giving a brief go of headlines.  The woman reporting mentioned another catastrophic earthquake on Earth in the country of Chile.  "Like the one in 2010, it has moved the axis of the earth a few degrees and has actually changed the measure of time there."

Neil glanced at Lindaru and handed her his cup.  "Another, please?"

She looked at him.  She was ready to ask him something and then changed her mind.  "Sure."

"So," Major Buttons purred so that only a select few could hear, "should we get together later to discuss this little matter of a certain follower who is here and yet not here?"

Lindaru pointed to Critty at the far end of the room where the reception had been held.

"Leave that where it is," she told him.  "You just had knee surgery and you need to take it easy."

Leanna's shadow baby, Emily, came running into the room on all of her legs, a high pitched squeal resounding.

Leanna was running after her, trying to catch her.  Critty dodged the hyper-active child and replied to Lindaru, "Okay.  See you later.  Let me know if you need anything.  I am going to go play my key boards for a while."

"Sorry about that," Leanna said.  "It is time for her nap and you know how she gets."

"I sure do," Lindaru smiled.

Leanna ushered Emily back out and Lindaru had the big place to herself.  Jim was napping right now.  Barista and Wicket were on duty at Med Lab.  SoCuz was busy investigating material for his next show on ISN.

Lindaru continued wiping down the tables.  Surprising how much could spill and how many crumbs there could be under a table cloth.

She stopped and thought briefly back to what life had been like on Earth.  How different yet similar the children she had taken care of and taught had been from Emily.  She supposed it had been extremely helpful in preparing her for life out here in this part of the galaxy.  So many species.  So many different customs.

Her grandparents would have never believed that there could be such a thing as humans taking care of non-human children but she found it to be extremely rewarding.  She wondered how they were all faring now.

Her com beeped.

"Yes?" she answered.

Neil did not speak for a second.  "Do you think you could come to my motel room for a moment?  You and Jim?  I have something important to show you."

the room was quiet for a few minutes as the three people occupying the room only blinked their eyes at the screen.

Finally Neil sighed "must be a malfunction in the search engine"

"Computer" Neil called, not caring anymore if the room was bugged
"show a full station lay-out map"

A map of the station appeared on the screen and neil told the computer to focus in on the sector and levels the Booji Temple was located at

"what in Booji's name" Lindaru whispered

three words blinked in the sector and levels now displayed on the screen

SPACE FOR RENT

"Another thing we will have to discuss when we get together later," Neil sighed.  "What in Booji's name is going on anyway?"

"Not to worry," Lindaru told Neil.  "We will get to the bottom of this.  After all we were here first."

Jim wheezed, "We have always been here."

Jim and Lindaru decided to go straight to the Temple.  They were rounding the last corner when three Shadow figures approached.

Domi, Jesi and Mari had grown up so much in the intervening years.   Lindaru had almost not recognized them.

"Girls!" she cried.  "It was so good of you to come!"

They had been attending college now.  Shadows matured very quickly and lived long as did Vorlons and Minbari.  They planned some day to work in ship construction and computer technology.

They had come for the memorial service but now had to return.

They assured them that they would come back as soon as they could.

Lindaru gave them a hug, their slender arms embracing her carefully.

She blew them a kiss and Jim nodded.  They continued hurriedly down the hallway.

"Lets go see what this is all about," Lindaru told Jim.

She was in a hurry but came to a dead stop, Jim bumping into her and nearly knocking her forward.

There was a man with thick gray hair in a black pin-striped suit standing at the Temple doors.

after Lindaru and Jim had left the room Neil pondered for a while..

How could the temple space be for rent... booji owned it... hell, booji practically owned the station. Boojilon 5 for booji's sake!!

Neil shook his head trying to put the thought aside... ridiculous..

He sat back in the chair in front the the computer and flipped throught the pages until he was back at his initial search

138.404 matches

better define the search

He entered a few more keyword he though might narrow it down: Booji, followers, bucket

the amount of matching results only reduced a few dozen in numbers

It seemed the followers did indeed cause a lot of trouble, or were atleast involved with it.

Neil decided to link into Anla'Shock follower library files and connected the search results.

only about 6.754 left

then something from his dreams popped into his mind

the stations rotational degree changed

of all teh red alerts and station wide crisis' Neil could remember having been in that never seemed to have happened.

neil entered extra search parameters

rotational degree change

the hour glass on the screen twisted for what seemed to be an hour.
when it finally stoped and disappeared Neil couldn't help but jump from his chair and shout

YES!!!

He knocked over the chair and nearly tripped on it when he landed on his feet again

1 result

Jim and Lindaru walked back towards Neil's room silently.  Lindaru kept staring at the lettering on the envelope.

"I cannot tell you how long it has been since any of us have heard from Eric," Lindaru said.

Jim wheezed.  "In all of the universe, time is relative."

Lindaru shot him a sarcastic look.

They rounded the last curve to Neil's hotel room.

"What do you think Smith was getting at about the facility and the technology of the last century?" Lindaru asked Jim.

"Ask SoCuz," Jim wheezed.  "He has been talking about that very thing for a while now."

It was several paces before Jim could speak again.  "Displaced Narns.  Possession of planet killers.  Even the Suits on Earth have become our enemy."

They arrived at Neil's room.  Before they could chime the bell, the door flew open and Neil stood there gaping at them.

Lindaru saw the shocked look on Neil's face and responded by only handing him the envelope.

The first startled reaction were quickly replaced by surprise when all Lindaru did was put an envelope in Neil's hand.

Neil stammered a little, looked at the envelope, Lindaru and Jim and back at the envelope

"erm"

"it's from Eric" Lindaru whispered.

For some reason that didn't sink in with Neil

"I don't remember"

Lindaru frowned and quickly exchanged looks with Jim

"there ís a hole in my mind"

"it's a letter from Eric" Lindaru repeated

"do you remember?" Neil looked at them both, the look in his eyes almost deperate

Lindaru hesitated "Eric used to be one of..."

"I know who Eric is..." Neil interupted

"what I want to know...."

Suddenly he stopped midsentence and closed his eyes, clearing trying to calm himself

"what I want to know is..."

"what" Lindaru whispered again


Neil eyed to corridor then leaned closer to Lindaru and Jim

"how did the last battle end.... "

now it was Lindaru's turn

"erm"

Jim straightened himself and wheezed

"I remember....:  http://home.kpn.nl/tremalzo/chapters.htm"