The Paths Not Taken
Secrets of the Soul Part Seven (Missing Scenes)
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//Private thoughts - or mental argument, when one person is trying to decide something. //
~~~~ Scene change - small (or POV change)
******** Scene Change - large (or POV change)
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Lisa Ashton was just a tad bored . . . and a lot nervous.
Sure, she owed a favor to B5's Chief of Security, and this ~did~ give Macy a chance to meet Entil'Zha. But if anything went wrong . . .
She was the best. She could do it. She was waiting, eight-year old in tow, for the rediculously slow line to continue inching forward. Macy kept complaining how bored she was. They weren't even close to customs yet, which was the plan. The delay was the reason she'd picked such a busy time to arrive, no one should notice the numbers. There was still a 6-hour window to get her main objective done. The side duties . . . well . . . She had friends.
She leaned against the wall for support, rummaging through her shoulderbag for a portable vid to keep Macy calm, reminding her daughter very quietly that she couldn't say anything except the one line, on cue, until mommy said otherwise. Macy nodded. They were just around the corner from where the first vid monitor was watching the arrivals.
//This is going to work. I hope!//
She heard the faint tapping from the sealed door behind her. //Punctual as always.//
A few moments later, security footage recorded a female, human ranger coming on board, holding the hand of a young girl who was dressed in a bright blue jumper and matching ponytail elastic. The ranger's brown hair was cut short to the ears, and she wore the full dress regalia, from the tunic to the cloak. She was carrying two things. A grey shoulderbag, and a little blond child, fast asleep on her other shoulder, wearing a slightly worn red and white shirt with red pants ensemble.
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23 minutes later . . .
A young recruit, trying to not look bored silly and failing slightly, was taking the identicards and scanning them. Lisa could see his supervisor watching from a few feet back, and got the slightly older man's attention. She couldn't repress a grin as he jumped in recognition. He'd been one of the ones she'd flayed alive on her last visit, so few and yet so many months ago. He wandered up to talk as she began to rummage through her pockets and bag, trying to juggle a toddler, an 8-year-old, and an unwieldy diaper bag. It was a good thing she was the last in line for a few minutes, anyway, with the delay she planned to cause.
"Macy, where did you put the identicards?" She asked as it was her turn to be carded.
"On the counter where we'd remember them. Back on the ship." The child replied carefully.
Lisa froze mid-search.
"Oh." Was all she said.
The ranking guard laughed. "Don't worry, Mrs. Ashton, I'll probably remember you for decades. Joe, this is a friend of the Chief. Don't worry about the cards, I can log her in from the files we've got. But I must confess the little ones are new . . . " He paused as he did a fast record search, pulled up her file and entered her as returning. "You staying long?"
"A few hours, not much. Briefing mine," she winked at him, "and red�s replacements. I'm not going to do more training outside the excercise room - and I look forward to winning any and all contests, your protege here among them. Since my work is - um - safer this time, I got to bring my daughter along. This is Macy. Same last name. The record's attached to mine."
The girl just hid her face in her mother's black cloak.
"Found and logged. And the baby?"
"A friend's. His name is Tyler. His dad is here at the moment, I'll have to get Zack to do the record since ~someone~ forgot the cards . . . Delenn has heard a story or two about these two in particular and wanted to meet the wee ones whenever safe passage could be arranged. There'll probably be more tikes in the next few days or weeks. It all depends on how the war out there is going. You've been here for one of the kid's visits from Minbar?"
"Once, on my shift. Cutest little minbari you ever saw. I'll let the Chief know the three of you are here - unless he's already expecting?"
"When is he NOT on top of everything?"
"True. See you around, Mrs. Ashton."
She just grinned at the pair of guards and wandered off, silent daughter a few paces behind.
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A moment later, "Mr. Amis, who was that? Besides a ranger - that much was obvious from her clothes."
"Someone who helps with training. Beat the heck out of half my class a few months ago . . . she's also good with the pike. Replacements. Hah. We all figured the Chief's girl would refuse for sure."
"Huh?"
The senior guard paused only a tiny tiny bit before replying, "She's also a friend of Miss Alexander - the same one we warned you not to get feelings for. Beyond that, I don't have the clearance, and neither do you. Look sharp, here comes the next ship full."
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An hour passed. So much can happen in such a short time. Little Macy got to meet her idol (and mom's boss), as did her tiny blond companion. Although ~his~ visit was cut rather much shorter than hers when he christened Entil'Zha with something other than holy water . . . Lisa changed him quickly, leaving an enthusiastic Macy with Delenn, and soon was giving off the boy to her friend Lyta, who was passing her in the corridor as Lisa went back to fill Zack in as to the two who'd be coming (out of uniform) to the station to assist with training in the next week. The securecams caught the entire exchange, a coincidence planned by Delenn.
Lyta was genuinely surprised to meet Lisa, and after she picked her jaw up off the floor, quickly took claim to Lisa�s charge.
� He - he's -
� Visiting? Yup. We just had to get him a new ID after the old one got lost. Delenn wanted to meet him . . . would you like to hold him?
� Oh - well, yes! Here. Ohh . . . hi there. He sure likes to hug, doesn't he?
� Yes. I think he'll do ok in daycare while I finish my work this afternoon, don't you agree?
� I just can't let you leave the sweetheart in Daycare when I have an afternoon off! Could I take him with me to the gardens?
� Not a problem, here's his nappysack. His ID is in the side pocket. I'll catch you in - say - just over 3 hours, your room?
� Sure. Hello, sweetie! Um - boy, right?
� Boy. His name's Tyler. He sure seems to like you . . . usually is quite shy the first time.
� Oh, he's got good taste, don't you Tyler?
And the boy laughed and laid against Lyta while gnawing on a teething ring sleepily.
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Tyler had never felt grass before. He'd rarely seen flowers. Butterflies were a brand-new terror for him. He was broadcasting ~JOY~ so strongly that Lyta had a hard time jamming him if he was more than a few feet away. She kept him close, letting him stagger along beside her, his bare toes a blur in the green as her shoes padded slowly along the paved walkway, his socks and shoes carried in one of her hands, a furry very-brand-new teddy she'd let him pick out from a booth in the Zocalo in her other hand as she watched over him.
Later Tyler also made a terrible mess of a banana all over himself, her, and a small section of the floor in her quarters, to both Zack's and Lisa's amusement.
They cleaned up the mess, and Zack gave Tyler a second hug of the day - the first being just before passing him to Lisa for the first time. Then he dried Lyta's tears as she carried Tyler and let the women walk back unescorted to Delenn's to retrieve Macy, and return to customs. Zack soon returned to stand beside Lyta as she watched the data screens scrolling by with 'departures' information.
10 more minutes, and they were gone from B5.
"It was too fast . . ." She whispered, mostly to herself. They walked back to her room to talk, holding back the words until they reached privacy.
He held her hand as they moved back to their interrupted lives, briefly, before another interruption would - they both hoped - come along to be smuggled away. "Delenn said if you met him and it was legit, he could make visits - supervised, of course - later, when he'd learned not to broadcast randomly by accident. Is - is that ok?"
Lyta nodded, smiling with damp eyes. Then she swung her fist as hard as she could into his stomach. �That was so bloody damned dangerous I could strangle you! What if someone had touched him?!?�
Zack could barely wheeze.
�WELL?� She demanded, fists planted firmly on her hips.
�That�s why I made sure to get Ashton - nobody would have gone near him as long as she held onto him! Ow.�
Lyta scowled for a few seconds then decided he was right, and tried to relax.
They sat down on her sofa side by side. "After all this with the rogues is over - one way or another - Delenn said I could go visit. There's half a hundred valid reasons for me to go to Minbar for a few days or weeks. I'm just afraid of the Corps interfering while I travel . . . or if they came here while I was gone. I'd hate to feel responsible if Bester killed or took back Susan. I'd hate it anyway, if it happened. I plan on sticking close to her, you know. When Sheridan and Delenn move to Minbar, she'll be my only protection against the Corps. I know you'd try, but you just don't have the rank to enforce sanctuary. Lord knows what a different Captain or Commander might do with me."
"I try not to think of what might have happened to you if she'd left for that ship. Maybe I'd have made you go to Minbar for good, come myself to visit. But I love having you right next to me." He kissed the top of her head, imaging a giant pair of dove's wings circling around her protectively.
It made her smile. Then she sighed. "What DID you do the other day to warn Susan? She has backed off so much . . . I sent a friend of mine to corner Byron . . . he can be quite dramatic, even with the language barrier. And no, you don't know him . . . he's still too young to be familiar to you."
"I'm not much for tact . . ." Zack started off, remembering. "I got her alone in her office, set up the jamming device in case anyone was listening, and started very bluntly. I had to get the point across . . ." He tried not to grin.
"Well?!" She demanded.
" 'I'm going to assume, Captain, that you've never had to change clothes in a white Star before. If a Minbari ~had~ managed to read that tattoo of yours, you'd have been killed slowly and painfully, considering what it says!' " He recited.
"You didn't!" Lyta exclaimed.
"It gets better . . ." and he recounted the entire brutal argument.
Lyta had a good laugh at his brashness. It explained why Susan ~had~ been able to curb her behavior - at least a little - before being caught. Zack's story was even better than Trelno's! Although it lacked the actions the boy had provided to demonstrate to Byron the fact he was aware of Susan's . . . 'attributes'. She didn't tell Zack any of that, however. He had to return to work all too soon, even with the very-delaying, very-pleasant kiss they shared at his departure.
Life went on.
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