"I.... I was called Na'Lar, but it's almost time for me to choose my new name. I don't know what to pick, but.... Do you know a man named Londo Mollari? I have a message to give to him. A strange man called Lennier asked me to. He helped me."
"Londo?" G'Kar tried to follow the unconscious stream of rambling from the girl. Her innocent chatter was welcome, but trying to follow her.... "Lennier! Have you seen him?" He had entirely forgotten about the Minbari. He had assumed Lennier and Ta'Lon would have left the planet when they overheard his conversation with Da'Kal. "Is Lennier on this ship?"
"No," she said, sadly. "He couldn't come on. He helped me. He carried me here. He was a good man."
G'Kar closed his eyes. "Yes. Yes, he was."
"Do you know this Londo Mollari?"
"Yes, I do. I will take you to him if you like. If I can."
"I'd like that. I've got something to tell him."
"What?"
"I can't tell you. I can only tell him. Who is he?"
"A friend. A friend of mine. And Lennier's. Another good man. There are.... not enough good men in this galaxy."
"Are you a priest?"
"A priest? Yes, I suppose so. I believe, if that means anything."
"My mother said I had to go to a priest when I'd chosen my new name, when I chose which religion I wanted to follow. She wanted me to call myself Na'Hiri and adopt her religion, but none of them.... made any sense to me. I wasn't sure what name I wanted. Can I....
"Can I call myself L'Neer?"
He looked at her. Lennier had bought her life at the cost of his own. He must have seen something within her, something special, and for a moment G'Kar thought he could see it as well.
"Little one," he said, smiling. "You can call yourself whatever you wish."
Lennier had left the city far behind him, walking out into the countryside. High grey mountains loomed on either side, every stone and plant and breath of air filled with blood. This world had been a battleground for so long that in the end no one had known what else to do with it.
The sad thing was that Lennier had no better idea that the Narns did.
"Hey, Minbari!"
Lennier turned in the direction of the shout. He had thought himself alone. Most of the remaining inhabitants of Narn were cowering in their homes with friends and family, or in the chapels praying for a salvation that would never come. He had certainly not expected to find anyone out here.
It was an old soldier, dressed in a uniform that was ripped and torn and scuffed with age, but still worn with pride. Lennier had seen him before — walking about in the city, but earlier than that too. A long time ago.
"I know you, don't I?" the old Narn said, drinking from a bottle held in one hand. "You're one of my nephew's men. His Rangers."
Lennier touched the sunburst badge which he had taken to wearing openly again. "I.... was," he said, carefully. "My name is Lennier."
"G'Sten. I knew I'd seen you before somewhere. You were with the Centauri, weren't you? The one who's now Emperor, and Marrago. You helped break him out." Lennier nodded, remembering now. So many years ago.... "I knew it. Have you seen Marrago recently? Last I heard he'd been fired and gone into private work as a mercenary."
"I heard the same thing."
"Pity. He was a damned good man. For a Centauri. There's something about an enemy like that, someone you respect, even like. It makes it less of a war, less about hatred, and more about proving yourself better than he is. More about the Game." He took another swig. "Not that that's always a good thing, of course.
"But it's done now. Both of us are old men, discarded by our Governments, put out to grass. Happens to us all eventually."
"You did not try to leave?"
"Leave? Me?" He laughed. "I'm too old, boy. No, leave this life to the younger ones, the ones who've got enough time left to enjoy it. I'm a relic of the old days, me. By any rights I should be dead a hundred times over." He pointed a little way up the mountain. There was a cave mouth there. "Do you see that cave?"
"Yes."
"We had a Resistance base there, during the Occupation. Anyway, when I was young, in the early days, I was captured by a Centauri lord. I'd been sabotaging his estates, burning stables and farmland, that sort of thing. Turned out he had one of those witches on his staff. The ones who can see the future. You heard of them?"
Lennier nodded.
"Well, she went into a trance, and said she saw me dying in the mountains. She described this place perfectly. I don't mind admitting I was a bit scared. The Centauri had a thing about unpleasant deaths. One thing they liked to do was stick dozens of sharp stakes into the ground and then throw their prisoners off the top of a mountain on to them. The fall wasn't so far that it'd kill you, but the stakes would. Eventually. I thought that was what they'd do to me.