Reflections
Every once in a while everyone needs someplace to get away from it all. The station’s first commander had retired to the Observation Dome to unwind. His successor had often slipped off to the Zen gardens when he needed to escape for a while. These days the current captain roamed the corridors of Down Below for her “sanity breaks”. Lieutenant Commander David Corwin went to none of these places. Several years ago he had discovered one place on the station that was strangely soothing no matter what chaos seemed to be possessing the rest of Babylon 5 - a small chapel in Red Sector.
Space on Babylon 5 was limited and the chapel served as a place of worship for many faiths. Corwin hadn’t been raised as much of anything and consequently found all of the services held there to be interesting in their own ways. He figured that in the six years or so that he’d been coming here he had probably seen more different religious practices from more different worlds than most people back home could even imagine. He didn’t agree with all of them. He didn’t understand a lot of them. But no matter what faith was being celebrated he found most of them to be oddly reassuring.
He came here often enough that most of the station’s spiritual leaders knew him by sight, if not by name. They merely nodded a silent acknowledgement if the tall officer slipped into one of their services. A few had tried to convert him, but most were content to simply let him observe. Even the non-human religions generally had no problem with his presence.
As he entered today he saw that a Foundationist service was in progress. It was a religion that he found fairly easy to grasp. It was a relatively new Earth sect, less than a hundred years old, that was an amalgamation of several belief systems. It had its points, Corwin admitted, but he also thought that it was a little too simplistic in places. Still, the Foundationist pastor was a good speaker and since had come all this way he might as well stay.
When the service ended Corwin rose to leave. He was not surprised to find his path blocked by an energetic brown-robed man.
“David,” the monk said warmly. “Just the man I’ve been looking for.”
“Brother Theo,” he smiled in return. “What can I do for you?”
“Several things, actually. Walk with me?”
Corwin easily fell in step beside Theo. Despite his reluctance to settle on any one particular faith, he had developed something of a friendship with the leader of the small community of Jesuits who had taken up residence on the station several years ago. Although the monk was rather persistent in his attempts to persuade Corwin to find a solid religious foundation he was never overly aggressive and Corwin had grown to respect the older man’s insights. Conversations with Brother Theo generally left him with new perspectives… and occasionally headaches.
“Brother Andrew, as you know, is a virologist,” the monk began. Corwin hadn’t known, but he nodded reflexively. Brother Theo continued. “He sent word to Dr. Hobbes several weeks ago, offering his services to help in any way he can with the research on this dreadful Drakh plague. We know how busy she is and that Brother Andrew’s contributions may not appear very significant, but...”
Corwin nodded in understanding. “We have a staff meeting in the morning. I’ll check with her and make sure she got the message. But, to be honest,” he shrugged, “I’m not sure that there’s much Brother Andrew could do here. We aren’t really set up for any kind of large-scale research. Most of it is being done back on Earth and Mars and on the Excalibur.”
Brother Theo smiled as if that had been the answer he was expecting. “Then may I ask yet another favor of you? As Earth is out of the question and Mars is rather inconvenient - that leaves the Excalibur.” The monk’s eyes twinkled brightly. “And I do believe that the Excalibur is here again, is it not? Perhaps introductions could be made? Brother Andrew would be quite honored to meet Dr. Chambers.”
Corwin shook his head in amused defeat. He had walked right into that one. “I’ll see what I can do,” he promised.
“Thank you, David. As always, your assistance is much appreciated.”
“Which means there’s more.”
“Such a suspicious nature,” Theo chided cheerfully. “But now that you mention it. We are very concerned about the displaced person population in Down Below. It has been growing quite rapidly lately.”
“I know,” Corwin said, his face wrinkling in concern. “Most of them are people who’ve been stuck off-Earth because of the quarantine. There’s nowhere they can go and they can’t afford to leave anyway. EarthEcon so screwed right now that even the ones who do have money can’t get to it.”
“Which brings me to you again,” Theo said. “Most of these people came here planning to visit only a few days. They were utterly unprepared for an extended stay. Through circumstances beyond their control their lives and their finances have been thrown into disarray. They need to work and they would work if they could.” He fixed the young officer with a stern look. “But they need work permits and most of them don’t have the necessary credentials to obtain them. They never expected to need such things on their visit here.”
“And what am I supposed to do about that? Work permits aren’t exactly my field.”
“Of course not. All I am asking is that you relay a request to the captain that she meet with Brother Martin to discuss the possibility of leniency for these unfortunate souls who have been stranded so far from home.”
“Brother Martin? I thought he was a systems engineer.”
“Oh, he is. But in our order one must be many things. Brother Martin is also a labor advocate. He is well versed in immigrant worker rights and transient labor law. I believe Captain Lochley might find many of his suggestions quite practical.”
Corwin sighed. As was often the case in these conversations with Brother Theo, he felt that he was probably in over his head. “Send him by my office tomorrow afternoon. I’ll try to set something up. Anything else?” he asked warily.
“No, David,” Theo chuckled. “Now is when I ask if there is anything that I can do for you.”
“I really don’t think so.”
“Then perhaps a cup of tea? I know you, David,” Theo said firmly as Corwin began to shake his head. “You don’t come to the chapel unless something is bothering you. I won’t pry. You probably wouldn’t tell me anyway. You have a stubborn streak, you know,” he noted almost absently. “But perhaps a few minutes of sitting and not thinking about anything in particular would do you some good.”
Corwin was saved from having to answer as a young woman in an EarthForce uniform approached them.
“Lieutenant Commander,” she began hesitantly. “Could I speak with you for a moment?”
He glanced at Brother Theo.
“It’s all right, David,” the monk said. “We can continue this discussion later. My door is always open.”
Corwin turned back to the lieutenant as Theo left.
“I know you’re off-duty, sir,” she said with a quick glance at his civilian clothes. “But it’s sort of unofficial. I probably shouldn’t be asking anyway, but you were the only person I could think of who might be able to help. You remember my son, Jarrett?”
Corwin nodded. He didn’t generally pay a lot of attention to other people’s personal lives, but Lieutenant Peterson had asked for his help in arranging authorization for her young son to join her on Babylon 5. The boy had arrived only a few months ago. If Corwin remembered correctly, the kid was about seven. “He’s settling in okay?”
Peterson shook her head. “He was until the Drakh attacked. He has a lot of friends back on Earth. His grandparents.” She gave him a hopeless look that he’d seen on far too many faces lately. “I can’t get him to talk to me about it. It’s so hard to get him to talk about anything anyway.”
“There are counselors...” Corwin began.
“I know,” she said. “I’ve tried, but none of them have been able to get through to him. Since he won’t talk to me and he won’t talk to them, I finally asked him who he would talk to. He asked for you.” She shrugged at her baffled superior’s unasked question. “I don’t know why. I know he’s only met you once but apparently you made an impression on him. Could you? Maybe?”
For a moment Corwin stood completely still. This really wasn’t the sort of thing he was comfortable getting involved in. An image of a quiet tow-headed boy rose in his memory. Corwin had run into Peterson and her son in the Zocalo not long after Jarrett had arrived. The child had been taking everything in with wide-eyed fascination... including the lieutenant commander that had been at least partially responsible for his relocation. As Peterson became involved in conversation with another friend at a nearby stall Corwin was left alone with Jarrett. The boy had to tilt his head awkwardly to look up at him so Corwin had moved to sit at one of the tables on the edge of the food court. After a brief glance at his occupied mother Jarrett had followed. Corwin had no idea how to make small talk with the child so he hadn’t even tried. Jarrett hadn’t seemed to mind. He was too much in awe of the passing aliens.
“What’s that?” the boy’s soft voice asked suddenly.
“Pak’ma’ra,” Corwin answered.
Jarrett nodded solemnly. He didn’t speak again, but each time an unfamiliar species walked by he threw Corwin a questioning look. Corwin would identify the alien, but offered no other commentary. They passed quite a few minutes in this manner until Peterson came to retrieve the boy. She had apologized profusely. The boy had given Corwin a bashful smile as they left.
Until he saw the spark of hope in Peterson’s eyes Corwin didn’t realize that he had nodded. “Would this evening be all right?” he heard himself asking.
“Yes, sir,” Peterson said in relief. “And thank you. I really appreciate this. I just didn’t know what else I could do.”
“Well, I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” Corwin cautioned. “But I’ll try.”
“I’m sure that anything you’re able to do will be fine. Thank you, sir.”
“It’s okay,” he said quickly. He was relieved to see her leave at last. Her gratitude was beginning to embarrass him. He hadn’t done anything yet and wasn’t at all certain that he would be able to do anything to deserve it. He tried to shove away the rising sense of dread he felt as he wondered what he was going to say to the kid. A shout from farther down the corridor momentarily distracted him from his worries.
“Hey, Dave! There you are,” the security chief called out as he approached. “Couldn’t raise you on the link, so I figured you might be down here.”
It occurred to Corwin to wonder briefly just how well-known his habits were becoming. “Zack,” he nodded in greeting. “Something wrong?”
“Nah, I was just wondering if you were still up for the game tonight.”
“Tonight?” Corwin blinked in surprise. “I’d forgotten,” he admitted.
Zack Allen laughed as he slapped the younger man’s shoulder. “Twenty-two hundred. It’s at Halloran’s this week. You gonna make it?”
“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “You guys play for some pretty high stakes.”
“It’s only expensive if you lose,” Zack pointed out. “And you’re a great bluffer. Looking worried about every hand you get really works for you,” he grinned. “Come on, kid. You’ll be fine.”
Corwin smiled in spite of his misgivings. He knew he was being suckered into the senior staff’s weekly poker game again, but he had to admit that there were worse ways to spend an evening. If his talk with Peterson’s son went okay he should be able to make it in plenty of time. Besides, he needed to see Hobbes anyway.
“All right. Count me in.”
“Good,” Zack’s grin widened. “Because you’re supposed to bring the pretzels. See ya at ten, Dave.”
Corwin couldn’t help but laugh at himself. Damn, but he was going to have to stop walking into these things.
* * *
* * * "I'm early?" Corwin asked.
"No," Halloran said. "You're on time. Everyone else is late."
"I think I am the only one who had today off."
"I would buy that, David," the blonde woman smiled at his attempted diplomacy. "But the rest of them would probably be late even if they had the week off. Zack not coming?"
"What?" Corwin blinked at the sudden shift.
She nodded at the bag of pretzels he held. "Zack was supposed to bring...” She broke off at his expression and laughed. "When are you going to learn how to say 'no'?"
"Not soon enough to do me any good apparently," he said wryly. "As far as I know Zack's planning to be here."
"So, that's three. And the Excalibur's here, so the captain will probably bring Gideon again." Halloran's sharp eyes caught his quick grimace. "Not another fan of Matthew Gideon, I see."
Corwin shrugged as he dropped into a kitchen chair. "He's okay. He just takes a little getting used to."
"He's obnoxious and he cheats at cards," Halloran stated flatly. "What's to get used to?" She dumped the pretzels into a bowl. "How did it go with Peterson's kid?" She laughed again as he gave her a startled look.
"How did you...? Nevermind," he sighed. "I forget. You know everything."
"Damn straight," she grinned. "So?" She pulled a chair and propped her elbows on the table.