B5 Ficlet: Unfathomable
Apr. 21st, 2025 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knittedTitle: Unfathomable
Fandom: Babylon 5
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: John Sheridan, Marcus Cole.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 609
Spoilers/Setting: Grey 17 is Missing.
Summary: There’s something Sheridan doesn’t understand, so he asks Marcus.
Written For: Weekend Challenge ‘As The Saying Goes…’ at
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1_million_words.Disclaimer: I don’t own Babylon 5, or the characters. They belong to J. Michael Straczynski.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” Sheridan said, once Marcus was recovering well enough to have visitors.
“Only one? You’re a lucky man, Captain. The more I learn, the more things I realise I’ll never understand. Of course, that might just be me. I’ve been told striving to know everything is impossible, but I keep trying anyway. It’s a character flaw.” Marcus’ smile was more of a grimace, thanks to his healing wounds.
Sheridan frowned at the Ranger. “Can you be serious for a moment?”
“I thought I was. You had a question?”
“I did. I do. Neroon. As I understand it, he invoked something called denn-shah, a fight to the death.”
“Well, actually I was the one to invoke denn-shah. Neroon never would have fought me if I hadn’t, and I needed to delay him so that the initiation ceremony would not be interrupted. You see, once begun, Neroon could not surrender to me, so for as long as I kept fighting, he couldn’t leave. It was the only way.”
“Okay, maybe it doesn’t matter who invoked it, or why, but after all that, he had you beaten, and yet he didn’t kill you.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“No, of course not!”
“Then I don’t see the problem. Neroon has accepted that Delenn is Entil-zah, Ranger One. The Rangers will follow her.”
“Yes, and I’m relieved he won’t oppose her leadership, but I don’t understand why he backed down, and that bothers me.”
“He told me that he had a… revelation. Minbari take such enlightenment seriously.”
“That’s not exactly helpful.”
“Perhaps not, and yet that’s the only answer I can offer you. I’ve found, since joining the Rangers, that trying to understand the behavior of some people, whether human or alien, is rather like trying to smell the color nine.”
“Smell the… that makes no sense, Marcus!”
“I know, because it can’t be done. Some things are simply beyond the grasp of the human intellect, and the best we’ll achieve from trying to fathom them out is to tie our brains in an inextricable knot. I know. I do it all the time.”
“So what should we do about Neroon?”
“For the moment, nothing. He won’t try to take the Rangers from Delenn, and he won’t try to replace her with someone from the military caste. He has yielded any right he might have claimed to the position of Ranger One.”
“But? I’m sensing a but here.”
“You’re very astute, Captain. Neroon is ambitious, frustrated, angry at the breaking of the Grey Council, angry at what he sees as Delenn’s overreach. He doesn’t trust the religious caste, Delenn least of all. I very much doubt we’ve heard the last from him, but there’s nothing we can do about him now, not until he makes a move of some kind.”
“And when he does?”
“Then I suppose we’ll find some way to counter it. Either that, or we’ll fail, but there’s no point worrying about it until then. It would be a waste of time and effort. Let the future take care of itself; we have plenty of other things to worry about in the present.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that.”
“Good, because I’m feeling rather tired now, not really up to arguing, so if you don’t mind…”
“No, of course. You should rest.”
“Thank you. But Captain? Watch your back around Neroon, and Delenn’s. He will keep his word over the leadership of the Rangers, but that is all we can count on him for. Anything else…” Marcus trailed off.
“I understand.” Sheridan left Medlab, and Marcus sank back against the pillow.
“That’s nice. I wish I did.”
The End
“Only one? You’re a lucky man, Captain. The more I learn, the more things I realise I’ll never understand. Of course, that might just be me. I’ve been told striving to know everything is impossible, but I keep trying anyway. It’s a character flaw.” Marcus’ smile was more of a grimace, thanks to his healing wounds.
Sheridan frowned at the Ranger. “Can you be serious for a moment?”
“I thought I was. You had a question?”
“I did. I do. Neroon. As I understand it, he invoked something called denn-shah, a fight to the death.”
“Well, actually I was the one to invoke denn-shah. Neroon never would have fought me if I hadn’t, and I needed to delay him so that the initiation ceremony would not be interrupted. You see, once begun, Neroon could not surrender to me, so for as long as I kept fighting, he couldn’t leave. It was the only way.”
“Okay, maybe it doesn’t matter who invoked it, or why, but after all that, he had you beaten, and yet he didn’t kill you.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“No, of course not!”
“Then I don’t see the problem. Neroon has accepted that Delenn is Entil-zah, Ranger One. The Rangers will follow her.”
“Yes, and I’m relieved he won’t oppose her leadership, but I don’t understand why he backed down, and that bothers me.”
“He told me that he had a… revelation. Minbari take such enlightenment seriously.”
“That’s not exactly helpful.”
“Perhaps not, and yet that’s the only answer I can offer you. I’ve found, since joining the Rangers, that trying to understand the behavior of some people, whether human or alien, is rather like trying to smell the color nine.”
“Smell the… that makes no sense, Marcus!”
“I know, because it can’t be done. Some things are simply beyond the grasp of the human intellect, and the best we’ll achieve from trying to fathom them out is to tie our brains in an inextricable knot. I know. I do it all the time.”
“So what should we do about Neroon?”
“For the moment, nothing. He won’t try to take the Rangers from Delenn, and he won’t try to replace her with someone from the military caste. He has yielded any right he might have claimed to the position of Ranger One.”
“But? I’m sensing a but here.”
“You’re very astute, Captain. Neroon is ambitious, frustrated, angry at the breaking of the Grey Council, angry at what he sees as Delenn’s overreach. He doesn’t trust the religious caste, Delenn least of all. I very much doubt we’ve heard the last from him, but there’s nothing we can do about him now, not until he makes a move of some kind.”
“And when he does?”
“Then I suppose we’ll find some way to counter it. Either that, or we’ll fail, but there’s no point worrying about it until then. It would be a waste of time and effort. Let the future take care of itself; we have plenty of other things to worry about in the present.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that.”
“Good, because I’m feeling rather tired now, not really up to arguing, so if you don’t mind…”
“No, of course. You should rest.”
“Thank you. But Captain? Watch your back around Neroon, and Delenn’s. He will keep his word over the leadership of the Rangers, but that is all we can count on him for. Anything else…” Marcus trailed off.
“I understand.” Sheridan left Medlab, and Marcus sank back against the pillow.
“That’s nice. I wish I did.”
The End
(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-21 08:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-04-21 08:52 pm (UTC)