Delenn woke up. She was alone in a damp cave. She sat up in her dirty clothes and tried not to let the situation overwhelm her. It had been days since she originally woke up here. Things had seemed to settle into some kind of routine. Saran would be working on the transmitter; exploration parties would go out and report back. Reynolds would work on keeping his water purification working. He said it was a full time job with this many people here.

She'd tried meditating but there was something at the back of her mind, which would not let her rest. Ivanova's 'hour of the wolf' explanation came to her mind. She sighed, perhaps she was getting paranoid, but Reynolds story kept on coming back to her. It sounded truthful and he did seem genuine, but something told her it wasn't quite right. She smiled to herself as thought of what Mr. Garabaldi's face if she could tell him that she used gut instinct.

They found some more of the roots that they could use over in the next valley. It would be just enough to keep everybody on subsistence rations. Then yesterday there were more arrivals, even with meditation and the strictest rationing, starvation looked likely. Standing up, she realised that in order to survive they were going to have to manage day to day. There was a knock at the cave entrance.

"Good Morning Delenn." greeted Muttley, "I've had some good news from Saran. He reckons he knows how he can get enough power into the generator."

"That's good news." She replied "You don't seem to be cheered by it though?"

"You'll have to forgive me." He said, "But we've been here before."

"I know." said Delenn. "That's why I want you to watch Professor Reynolds. If you loose him, get Saran as far as possible away from that transmitter."

Muttley bowed, accepting the order, and turned to go. Delenn decided it would be best to walk with him for a bit.

"I think that Takoh and Jason have found something. " He said, as they walked out of the cave, "They seemed quite shocked by something."

"They've been exploring haven't they?" she asked.

"Yes, they found the first plantation of roots a couple of days ago." He added wryly, "Maybe they've found a way to improve the taste."

Delenn smiled suddenly remembering Ivanova for the second time in less than ten minutes. Ranger Muttley seemed to have the same cynical approach to problems. He would work on the assumption that anything could and would go wrong, so he'd plan for every eventuality. He did take set backs personally and he'd even berate himself for something that was in no way his fault. He'd just say that he didn't plan well enough, but he always started again, not giving up. This determination was evident in his demeanour and the dry, sometimes offensive, sense of humour was just a release.

"Are you Russian ?" she asked suddenly.

"Oh, no." he replied, "I'm from Detroit in America."

"Nice place?" she inquired.

"Not really," he replied with a grimace. "It's one of the most depressing places on the planet."

Nodding to Delean, he went off to search for Reynolds. She could see in the distance the other two rangers who had been here when she had arrived. They seemed to be talking the newcomers. She strode up to them. There was one human ranger and a couple of warrior caste Minbari. They all bowed when she approached.

"Delenn, May I present Captain Towlen, Talrook and Neteen." Said Jason

Delenn nodded in their direction. Here were more names to remember and add to the list.

"What happened?"

Talrook and Neteen exchanged glances.

"We had asked for a white star escort of our Clan Leader. Our other ships were busy on patrol else where." Talrook Explained, "We were attacked by a ship which disabled the white stars and then captured them."

"And you're Clan Leader?"

"His flyer was destroyed after all the others had been captured." reported Towlen, "They seemed intent in only capturing us."

"Was there any chance that the outcome would have been different?" She asked.

"The White Stars were disabled in seconds." explained Neteen, "The Flyer stood no chance."

"In Valen's name!" Said Delenn, "How many ships are there here?"

"Four Crews."

Four Crews meant almost another two hundred mouths to feed and they didn't know how much more food they could find. Delenn sighed, unless Saran could get the transmitter working then, there were going to be serious problems.

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" Delenn asked Jason.

"Actually no," replied Jason. "We found another patch of those roots."

"Enough for everyone?"

"Well that's just it." said Tahok puzzled, "I'm sure that patch wasn't there when we passed it a couple of days ago. All of a sudden, we've got just enough for ourselves and the new arrivals."

"You think someone's planting them?"

"Well..." he glanced across to Jason. It was apparent that the other ranger didn't agree with what Tahok was saying.

"These roots take two weeks to grow and there is no way that anything could have grown there a couple of days ago. Now there is water flowing into that area and these roots have instantly appeared."

"You think this is Reynolds doing?"

"That's the thing," said Jason, "I was with Reynolds a couple of days ago and he was nowhere near that area."

"I'm going to ask him." said Delenn.

"Do you think that's wise?" asked Neteen, "He seems to be the only person who's keeping us alive?"

"No!" replied Delean. "I think there is something else at work here."

Delean set off in the direction of the home made water purification apparatus that Prof. Reynolds had built. The other rangers and the warrior caste followed. She made her mind up. It wasn't the lack of food or her nagging doubts about the capture that made her jump to this conclusion. It was a gut feeling, a human gut feeling.

She tried to reason through it. You not could survive on these roots for the length of time he claimed to have been here. He would have needed help to build the water purification structure. Where did he get the raw materials for it?

Reynolds had lied to her all right and Delean was getting angrier with each step. Then just as she thought her anger turned to rage, an explosion was heard ahead. She broke into a run. She ran over the small dunes in the valley and rounded a corner to see devastation. The remains of the escape pod had smoke pilling out of it and the small tower next to lake that held the water purification equipment had been totally decimated.

She noticed two prone figures on the ground, one next to the burning tower and the other next to the escape pod. She ran over to the Tower, gesturing to Jason and Neteen to look at the other figure. Looking down she could see the Muttley. One arm bend and both legs were set at impossible angles and his face was a mess of blood and cuts. He was breathing very, very shallowly.

"What happened?"

"Dunno." Delean had to listen hard. He was whispering very quietly. "Reynolds started running… when Saran shouted … Pod."

"Where did he go?"

Mutley said no more but with his good arm he pointed over to his left. His chest stopped moving and the arm relaxed. She looked over at where he pointed and ran. She ran at the cliff base following the wall. The way these valleys were laid out, there would be no way for the professor to double back. She turned another corner and saw him duck into a fissure in one of the cliffs ahead.

Delean realised one thing; although she'd though she kept her self fit, she was beginning to tire. The lack of proper food over the last few days was counting against her, in addition to the fact that she was more used to a more 'administered role' these days. She saw the fissure begin to close ahead of her. She put her head down and tried to lengthen her stride. She dived through the closing gap, rolled and came back to her feet. The cave closed behind her.

Not bad for a mother who's had a three year old. She thought.

Unfortunately, that single thought brought John and David into her mind. Grimacing, she forced them away. If she didn't focus on the present, then there would be no chance to see them in the future. She took in her surroundings. She seemed to be in a dimly lit corridor. The only light being a faint glimmer up ahead. She listened. There was no sound, apart from her heavy breathing. That meant he was close by and not moving, or he was a lot further away.

Controlling her breathing, she slowly eased her way down the corridor. It was hard to tell how far away the light was or how the passageway bent up ahead. She could hardly remember her stealth training but she seemed to be walking silently. The light seemed to fade the more she walked forward and after a few meters she was completely blind.

The she heard it, whispering words from not far away. She slowly turned a couple of corners and was faced with a small room. Reynolds was kneeling down in front of what looked like a computer console. Delean could have been mistaken, but it sounded like he was preying.

"Why do you make me do this, I've done everything else?" he was muttering.

He paused while he seemed to listen to a reply.

"Isn't it enough? Haven't I done enough?" He stood up and shouted. "I demand you send me home."

There was another pause.

"No I will do it no Longer. Kill me if you must, but no more!"

He backed away from the console and then ran at it. Punching at some of the controls. He didn't make a dent. He punched again and again with an inhuman fury. She could tell that his knuckes and hands were bleeding from the repeated impacts, but he didn't give up. He kept at it again and again until she heard a small smashing sound of glass or something similar, breaking.

Reynolds scrabbled at the console and pulled out a couple of wires. He put them to his neck. There was a sparking sound and he flew back from the console into the wall near Delean. There was a sickening snap of bone when he hit and he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Delean slowly walked up to him. She could see he was still breathing but he was staring straight ahead. He must of heard her approach because he turned his head.

"Delean?" His voice had changed dramatically, "You've got your power."

He pointed at the console and with that, like Ranger Muttle before him, his eyes closed and his breathing stopped.