By Elizabeth Ann Lewis

Part 3

Margo was still muttering furiously to herself as she packed up to head out of her rooms. She had two hours before she had to be at trade press conference. More than enough time to shred someone into pieces, she thought with grim pleasure. She'd done a little digging, and had found out quite a bit. Professor Hampton had been a naughty boy, politically, financially, and personally. He had a very bad record; Mingala Chang was his last chance to make a mark in Earth politics, even if it was through a figurehead. The problem was Margo didn't think he realized that Mingala wasn't likely to be anyone's figurehead.

She made an annoyed noise to herself as her comlink signaled an incoming call. She didn't have *time* for this, didn't people understand? No trace of her thoughts showed on her face when she answered it, although she did have to control a small start of surprise when she saw it was Gideon Hampton himself. ~Do research on the devil...~ "Dr. Hampton, what can I do for you?" she asked, managing to bury any and all traces of sarcasm.

He was looking uncharacteristically grim on the link. "Ms. Channing, there has been a terrible attack, and I'm afraid that if it is not reported than it will be... discreetly ignored."

Gideon Hampton was feeling whiny. Great. He'd probably been bumped by a Vree in the Zocalo and had his dignity bruised. Margo kept her covetous smile from showing and said with a reasonable facsimile of demureness, "I'll be right over. Did you want to go on camera...?"

"No, no," Gideon waved his hand in rejection. "I just want to make sure this isn't brushed under the rug. Please, come as soon as you can."

Securing his room location, Margo broke the connection and picked up her stuff, her mind already spinning with possibilities. She couldn't get any footage, which was a shame, but with the information she could get from Gideon, she could recut the interview from Mingala and make it better, more pointed. Better still if she could reinterview Mingala, get some of her new views on record... always assuming that those new views held up to the light of day and the strain of the morning after...

Deep in plotting, she turned the last corner to the corridor where Hampton's rooms were -- and skidded to a dead halt. She'd been at the scene of too many crimes not to recognize one in the final throes of being tidied up. A few security personnel were lingering, a few uniforms muttering seriously amongst themselves -- and a maintenance worker was cleaning up what looked like blood.

"Ms. Channing," Gideon greeted her gravely. He'd been waiting in the corridor for her. Waiting to see her reaction, Margo realized. "You see?"

Margo felt a chill work its way from the nape of her neck to her knees, but her voice remained calm. "What...," she began, then took a deep breath. "Who?"

"Who do you think?" Gideon demanded. "It was Mingala. And it was the Minbari who attacked her."

Sheridan laughed tiredly. Funny how Ivanova made that sound like a better option would be putting her on a sleeper ship for Earth. "Fine, go ahead." Straightening at his desk, he mentally reviewed what he knew and what he planned on telling. Mingala Chang had been injured. Fact. If pressed, he could concede that it had been an attack. Fact. Investigation ongoing, no other comment.

"Captain Sheridan." Sheridan rose as she came in. "I'm Margo Channing."

"Ms. Channing. What can I do for you?" He gestured to a chair, all affable host, but Margo ignored it.

"Mingala Chang was attacked outside of her advisor's door a few hours ago, beaten, and left for dead. She's in MedLab in critical condition. What do you know about the situation?"

Sheridan tried his most charming smile, not holding out much hope for it against the crisp, concise summation that he had been offered.. "Less than you do, it seems. I didn't realize that the place where she was hurt was significant."

"It is. I want to know where the investigation is."

"We are following certain leads that I cannot discuss with you at this time. Now, if you don't mind, Ms. Channing --"

"What about the Minbari who attacked her?"

Sheridan's smile faded into a look of grim fury. "How did you find that out?" he demanded.

Margo crossed her arms. "Answer my question and I'll answer yours. Don't answer my question, and I'll ask it again -- on the air on ISN."

"This is a matter of station security. I could have you thrown into the brig," Sheridan seethed.

Margo smiled sweetly. "You can fry my butt any time you want, but the security tapes are still going to get out, *unless* you give me something here. Look, I get that this is a diplomacy issue. I'm not going to be stupid about this." She paused. "I met Mingala Chang yesterday, shot an interview with her. She may have been assaulted because of some things she said on that interview. If that's true, then publicizing the attack might help her, or at least help catch whoever attacked her."

Sheridan sighed. "Off the record?" he offered. Margo accepted the condition with a quick nod. "We have someone in custody. We're holding him for questioning. Other than that, we don't have any leads," he said. "Anything you can do to help would be appreciated."

"I'll do what I can. In return, I want an exclusive on the situation. Who did it, why. Any information I get goes to you, and anything you get comes to me. And I want to be there when you catch the rat bastards."

"Deal," Sheridan confirmed. After Margo left he grumbled, "Dealing with reporters. Almost as bad as dealing with lawyers." Then he sighed and headed for MedLab.

Garibaldi entered and looked at him for a moment. Then he keyed off the door to the cell. "The security cams made it obvious it wasn't you," he said in brief explanation. "But with Hamilton screaming bloody murder, I had to--"

"Is she alive?" Ximenn demanded, cutting through Garibaldi's words.

"Yeah, she's alive." He watched Ximenn stride out of the holding area without another word. "For all the good it does," he added to the empty room.

"Three ribs broken, the radius of her right arm cracked, her left knee badly sprained, multiple contusions." Franklin ran down the list of injuries with the sort of rigidly controlled fury that only a doctor could feel. "I managed to repair most of that. But it's the concussion that is the danger now. I don't know how bad it is, and I won't know until she recovers consciousness."

"And if she doesn't wake up?" Sheridan questioned.

"Then... we know how bad it is."

"And until she wakes up and can tell us what she saw, we don't know what happened." Sheridan sighed with frustration.

"We know precisely what happened, Captain," Gideon Hampton spit out. "Mingala was attacked by the Minbari, and I think that this station's security is irredeemably lax in allowing this to happen. What I want to know is why you have not caught the other attacker the security cams showed."

"Mr. Hampton, I am trying to prevent a major incident," Sheridan snapped.

"Captain, I would say that one had already occurred."

"Captain Sheridan, I demand to know why you have an official representative of my government in custody."

Franklin discreetly stepped out of the way and let Ambassador Delenn pass. Getting in her way when she was in full boil was a bad idea.

"He was found at the scene with blood on his hands," Gideon said, obviously relishing the mental image.

"And, I've been told, he has repeatedly asserted he was the one who prevented Ms. Chang from being beaten to death. That he drove off her assailants and was trying to help her when Mr. Hampton found them and accused him of being the attacker." Amazing how Delenn managed peel skin from bodies without raising her voice.

"Yes, well, he would say anything to save himself, wouldn't he?" Gideon said snidely.

"Not likely," Delenn fired in his direction. "An attack such as this would never have been perpetrated by a Minbari."

"Are you saying that the security cams are wrong and that a Minbari did not attack Ms. Chang?" Sheridan stepped in between Delenn and Gideon and turned to face Delenn.

"No. But I find it hard to believe that two Minbari would be foolish enough to attack Ms. Chang in the full view of a security camera, would use crude bars rather than their own weapons, and would run when confronted with another Minbari. It makes no sense."

Sheridan's link signaled, and he was relieved to have something to distract him from the battle of wills in MedLab. "Sheridan."

"Captain, I've got bad news and bad news."

"Chief, don't you ever have *good* news?"

"'Fraid not. Bad news is that a check of the security cams clearly shows Ximenn leaving Ms. Chang at Mr. Hampton's door and returning to chase off the two Minbari who attacked her. Other bad news is that we have no idea where to start looking for the two Minbari that *did* attack her. Are you in MedLab?"

Sheridan glanced around at the avid audience to his conversation. "Yes."

"I'm willing to bet my next month's salary that Ximenn is about five seconds from joining you. He seemed to be in a hurry when I turned him loose. Garibaldi out."

"You *released* a Minbari who attacked a Human?" Gideon demanded furiously.

"You heard Mr. Garibaldi. He was trying to save her, exactly as he claimed while you stood there and screamed murder."

"So now you go from having one suspect to no suspects. I fear for my own safety, Captain, if this is the best you can do to protect the people on this station."

Sheridan turned and took a step towards Gideon, who hastily took a step back. "Then return to your rooms, Mr. Hampton. And *stay* there." Turning back to Delenn, he said, "Ambassador, if I showed you the recordings the security cams took, would you help us identify the Minbari we recorded in the attack?"

"I would do my best, Captain." Franklin noted with some interest that Delenn's voice was much calmer and warmer when she spoke to Sheridan. "Unfortunately, you must understand that I simply do not know every Minbari on this station. If I recognize one of them, it would be pure chance."

"That's better than nothing, Ambassador. I need all the help I can get."

Delenn turned back to the silent woman on the bed before them, the insensate audience to their conflict. For a moment, she pressed her fingers to Mingala's forehead, her touch gentle, her face a study in sympathy. Gideon started forward in fury, but Franklin subtly blocked him until the older man subsided in frustration. "There may be...," Delenn said quietly, mostly to herself. "If I can help, Captain, I will." Turning back to Sheridan, she clasped her hands before her and regarded him gravely.

"I sincerely doubt we want the help that she can provide," Gideon said -- from, Franklin saw, a safe corner.

Not safe enough. Sheridan turned on him immediately. "You demand that we do something. Ambassador Delenn offers to help. I don't really understand your problem with it."

"She is Minbari," Gideon hissed. "Why should we trust her to help a Human against one of her own?"

"Ms. Chang *is* one of my own," Delenn said firmly. "She is a living, breathing creature who is deserving of life and safety. The crime that was committed against her is an atrocity that I will not tolerate. *That* is why I help her."

Gideon opened his mouth to speak again -- and left it hanging open for a moment. Ximenn stood in the doorway. His gaze passed over the occupants of the room to settle on the bed where Mingala lay, and then onto where Gideon stood a few feet away.

Delenn immediately moved to step in between Ximenn and the rest of the room. In a low, rapid voice she told him, "She is alive, and the damage that can be healed has been. The doctor will not know anything more until she wakes." Without waiting for his answer, Delenn turned to Franklin. "Doctor, is there a place we could speak privately?"

"Yes, of course." While Gideon found his tongue and demanded that Ximenn be arrested, charged, hanged and shot, Delenn and Ximenn moved to a small observation room off to the side, watching through glass.

"I had an idea," Delenn began without preamble. "Two ideas, actually. One is that they were not Minbari that attacked Ms. Chang."

"You don't think that some of the clans wouldn't have done this?" Ximenn's voice was sharp. Delenn knew she had a limited amount of time and patience to work with. He had been Called to protect. His failure to do so would mean he would not rest until that failure was rectified.

"Some of them, yes. But not the ones who would happen to be on Babylon 5, and not the ones who would turn and run from another Minbari, and not the ones who would be foolish enough to do it in full sight of a security camera. Two years ago, there was an attack on the Vorlon ambassador's life. The man who attacked him wore the face of the first commander of this station, Jeffery Sinclair. He stole that face using a changeling net."

"And you think this happened again?" She'd gotten his attention, Delenn saw. Now she had to keep it.

"It's possible. If I'm correct, then finding the attackers could be difficult. I have someone who could help. You do not know the station. She does."

"Who?" Ximenn demanded in a low voice.

"Anla'Shok Ross," Delenn said quietly.

"A Ranger?"

"Keep your voice down," Delenn ordered quietly. "No one but myself and Lennier know that they are here. She is the only one I can offer -- the others have not the training or the experience on the station. If we do not find who attacked Ms. Chang -- if they are either Human *or* Minbari -- then violence will bred violence and everything I've worked for here will be destroyed. I will *not* allow that to happen."

For a long moment, Ximenn stared at her and Delenn wondered if her gamble would work. Then, abruptly, he nodded.

"Good." Relieved, Delenn nodded. She exited the small room to face those in the larger examination area. Gideon had evidentially worked himself into a fit of rage in the absence of the two Minbari, no doubt egged on by Garibaldi's entrance and the refusal of anyone to agree with him about Ximenn's culpability.

Garibaldi, aside from one disgusted look, ignored Hampton. "Captain... it's beginning to leak out. I've been trying to squash the rumors, but people know that the security cams recorded two Minbari."

"Great," Sheridan said furiously. "I've got a reporter on my back but she promised only to release news of the attack. Who would have released this?"

"Three guesses, and the first two don't count," Garibaldi said grimly, nodding at Hampton.

"I protest," Gideon said, offended.

"Fine. Go call EarthDome and protest all you want. But get the hell out of my way," Sheridan ordered.

Delenn cut across the frayed tempers. "I have an idea. Captain... if you will let me conduct an investigation, I might give you some answers."

"What's your idea, Ambassador?" Garibaldi questioned, alert for any solution out of the problem.

"Do you remember when a Minbari assassin attempted to kill Ambassador Kosh?" Delenn asked. She didn't need to say anything more.

"Changeling nets," Garibaldi said, disgusted. "Terrific. We're looking for two guys who look nothing like the guys who I've got pictures of."

"It is a possibility," Delenn stressed. "I still cannot offer any proof that it was not two Minbari. I can only say that I think it was not."

"How can you listen to this?" Gideon demanded. "The evidence is before your eyes, and you deny it? Who else would wish to attack Mingala? Are you so much the Minbari government's leech that you cannot see the truth?"

"Ximenn," Delenn ordered in a firm voice. Franklin could see the effort it took for the Minbari to obey the command of his superior and not detach Hampton's head from his shoulders.

"Mr. Hampton," Sheridan began, but Ximenn cut him off.

"I can offer you complete assurance that the two 'Minbari' who attacked Mingala were not, in fact, Minbari," Ximenn said with the sort of frozen fury that was one moment from bursting into flame. "If any Minbari was to harm her, it would have been me. I was sent to be her assassin."