"You bet I'll tell her," said Garibaldi. "I plan to get a lot of free meals out of this - by recounting our adventures over and over again. I'll leave out the part where you fell in the water."

"That wasyour fault," Gray reminded him.

"That's why I'll leave it out."

"And how is Ms. Winters?"

"Still a little shaken," answered Garibaldi. "I understand she's staying with her parents for a few days before she goes back. I bet she'll have some pretty good stories to tell, too." He sighed. "These are classy women we're talking about, and we're a couple of lugs. We may never stand a chance with them."

"I know," said Gray.

A synthesized voice announced, "TransportStarfish is now boarding for Babylon 5."

"That's me," said Garibaldi. He started off but stopped to wave back. "You're okay, Gray."

"You too."

Two hundred kilometers below them, a young woman with sleek blond hair stood watching the stars from her parents' porch. The nightmare was finally over, but she still didn't feel like talking much, about her escape or anything else. So much of what had happened to her in the last few days Talia didn't understand. She had to parse it slowly in the light of time, and pick out those pieces that were worth saving, and worth puzzling over.

As she watched the stars glimmer, she marveled at the fact that she lived among them. She called them home. Talia had seen enough of both Earth and Mars to last her for a while, and she looked forward to going back to the cold blackness of space. She longed to see the aliens, who were less judgmental and prejudiced than her own species. Among aliens, you could be whoever you were, she realized, but among humans you had to be whoever they wanted you to be.

And nobody was what they seemed.

Out of all the weirdness, the duplicity, the good masquerading as bad, and the badmasquerading as good, there was one piece of her journey she wanted badly to understand.

It was Invisible Isabel. She wanted to talk to Ambassador Kosh as soon as possible, but she knew the Vorlon would speak in riddles and tell her nothing outright. Kosh would want her to figure it out for herself.

The part of Invisible Isabel she recognized was her nascent telekinetic abilities, a gift from an old friend; but it was Isabel's voice that was new to her. That voice was confident and independent, and it could get her out of tough scrapes. She couldn't hear it all the time, but she would like to hear it more often.

"Talia, honey, we're going to have some ice cream!" called her mom, sounding a lot like her Uncle Ted. His nightmare was still going on, but at least he had chosen it.

And what about the dogged persistence of Garibaldi? That was something. She had to think about all of it, but not tonight. Tonight she would eat ice cream and listen to stories about her extended family and parents' friends. Then she would return to her home, Babylon

Blurb

THERE WOULD BE A CONFRONTATION, TALIA COULD FEEL IT . . .

There were three large, hooded figures, and they were rapidly walking toward the party of genteel telepaths and one security officer.

She didn't want to pry into their minds, but she had to know what the three strangers were thinking as they strode briskly toward them. She could see them clearly now, even in the dim light, and she tried to hear their voices.

Talia gasped. Their minds were cold and alien! They were not human!

"I know," said Malten, hearing the alarm sounding in Talia's head.

The security chief quickened his step to get out in front of the others. He waved jauntily as the first hooded figure drew abreast of him. "Top of the mornin'!" he called.

The alien never stopped moving as he slammed his shoulder into Garibaldi and crushed him into the bulkhead. A huge knife flashed under the dark robes, and Emily screamed.

The other hooded thugs rushed toward the telepaths, knives gleaming in their gloved hands!

Historian's note: The events in this novel take place shortly after the events depicted in the second-year episode, "Points of Departure," and prior to the events in "A Race ThroughDark Places."