To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Babylon 5 Read Free Book Online Page A

corny to say those things, so he usually just smiled and said: “Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr...?” Sinclair motioned for the young man to sit down and then returned to behind his desk.
    “Cole. William Cole. And believe me, the pleasure’s all mine. I mean, I’ve read all about you. The best fighter pilot Earthforce ever had. The first commander of Babylon 5. The first ambassador to Minbar. And I’ve never before met anyone who actually fought on the Line. I mean, my brother was in Earthforce during the war, but he didn’t fight in the Battle of the Line.”
    “Is your brother still in the military, Mr. Cole?” Sinclair wanted to change the subject.
    “No,” William replied. “He didn’t much like the military. Got out as soon as the Minbari turned tail and ran. No offense intended. I mean, I like the Minbari. Really interesting people. That’s why I’m here. I want to study the language, learn more about their customs, their martial arts, their history, everything!”
    “So how long do you plan to be here. Mr. Cole?”
    “Until they throw me out, I guess. That’s about three months, right?”
    “Approximately,” said Sinclair. “Well, if you run into any difficulties while you’re here, this embassy is open to help. Before you leave, my aide will give you a packet of information that should prove useful to you. I assume you’ve already filled out all the required forms for the Minbari government?”
    “A stack of them. Jeez, these people like their paperwork, don’t they?”
    Sinclair laughed in assent. He liked this young man, but he wondered how some of the more stuffy Minbari would react to him.
    “Tell me, how are things back on Earth? I’ve had a little trouble getting news in the last couple of weeks.”
    William shrugged. “I’m not really all that up on the latest. I’ve been traveling around – spent a lot of time seeing the outer planets, then Mars, and then, of course, the Moon – saw the Apollo 11 museum, and did the whole tourist bit. I was born on a mining colony, and spent most of my life on one out-of-the-way colony or another, so I’d always wanted to see the sights of the Solar System, as the ads say. But I ended up only having about a day to spend on Earth, just long enough to catch the flight here.”
    He paused and rummaged around in his satchel.
    “I got Universe Today in here. It’s only a couple of days old.” He pulled the creased and tattered paper out and handed it to Sinclair. “I’ve read everything I want to. You can have it.”
    “Thanks.” Sinclair took the paper and was stopped cold by the headline:
    EARTHFORCE ONE EXPLOSION AN ACCIDENT. INVESTIGATION CLOSED AS EA WORLDS CONTINUE TO MOURN.
    “Anything else?”
    Sinclair looked up from the paper. “Oh, sorry. No, that’s it. It was good meeting you.”
    The young man stood up. “Hope to see you again. Really an honor, sir. Really an honor.” And he left.
    Sinclair sat back down, and began to read. The commission on the Assassination had swiftly completed its investigation and concluded beyond doubt that a faulty power core in the main engine had caused a chain reaction, resulting in the explosion of Earthforce One. Other theories, including assassination, were dismissed in one line as either “fantasies, self-serving lies, or deliberate attempts to undermine the government.” There was nothing about the evidence they had uncovered on Babylon 5.
    The other main article on the front page covered President Clark’s speech before the Industrial Assembly, in which he assailed “the undue influence of alien representatives” on Earth, hinting that the unrest on Mars might be linked to such influence, and castigating Minbar for its “seeming policy of duplicity and aggression toward the interests of the Earth Alliance throughout the galaxy.”
    “Ambassador?” It was Venak. “Your next appointment is here.”
    “Tell them to wait,” he said without looking up. He continued to