22. The First Key, Part One

Faith Manages
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Chapter Twenty-Two: The First Key, Part One
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"On the day the ancient Shadows are first seen, count seven days forward. That day shall you take a light within the Steps of Valen. There you shall find and open the Vault. Within you shall find the Three Keys to the Circle. The Circle is all. The Circle must be preserved. The Circle is victory. And that year shall the Circle be completed."
- Final Directives of Entil'Zha Valen

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Jan. 1st 2260
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Anla'Shoq Na Lennon - the title meant 'First among the Rangers' in the human tongue - had read through all Valen's Prophecies and the Final Directives many times, and even he had no idea what the Three Keys might be. But it was clear that the day had come to open the sacred Vault of Valen. According to the Directives, it was the only purpose for which artificial light was allowed within the winding staircase.

Lennon took an electric light, and quietly went, alone, to the base of the Steps of Valen. According to the Directives, the Vault was to be found within.

He took the spiral passageway in reverse, clicking the light on as the sunlight that sparkled into the crystalline rock face became pure darkness, the staircase burrowed too deep into the face for sunlight to penetrate.

Shining the light upward, Lennon saw nothing other than what he expected - a spiral staircase in a dark shaft, which continued far enough overhead that its roof was not actually visible in the weak light of his handheld.

Resigning himself to the task, Lennon meditated for a moment before climbing the first stair, to the protest of his old joints. It was no matter. The task had fallen to him, to be the first to climb up the staircase, rather than down, since before the death of Valen himself.

Four hundred and fifty steps up, he was startled to find a recess in the wall, just above the step. It was low enough that anyone following the dark staircase's wall with their hand would never find it - it barely reached the top of his boots. Kneeling one step below, he peered into the recess, and barely a finger's length in was a tiny door. Opening the door, he found a simple, unlocked metal box, smaller than a food tray and barely a hand's breadth in height. Valen's name was etched across the lid, and Lennon rose.

Taking the box in his hand, he clicked off the light, as the Directives stated, and made his way back down the lower half of the Steps of Valen, Vault in hand.

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Faith toggled through her data interface, looking through the catalog of products available through the Torrbar Company, a Minbari shipping company which specialized in Earth Alliance trade and did not a small amount of importing on its own. It was, for the human Anla'shoq, the equivalent of the Sears Catalog that Faith had grown up with.

She was looking for suitable Christmas presents for her friends at the Ranger compund here in Tuzanor, somewhat embarrased that she was doing so on the first of January.

A quiet tap at her door startled her out of the embarrasing moment, and she quickly powered down before going to the door - her old Sunnydale habit of not issuing an invitation was still unbroken. The door slid quietly open, and she was surprised to see Torenn, flanked by two older Anla'Shoq she did not recognize.

Minbari custom dictated that males and females - even amongst the Anla'Shoq - were not customarily to be seen in or even near one another's sleeping quarters, unless a personal attachment of some sort existed. The fact that not one, but two (the Anla'Shoq to Torenn's left was female) had broken that custom clearly meant that something was seriously 'up'.

"Anla'Shoq Faith." Torenn bowed. "Anla'Shoq Na Lennon has sent for you."

Faith blinked - hard. Anla'Shoq Na... First among the Rangers.

"Sent for me? Sure there's not some mistake?"

Torenn shook his head slightly, an expression picked up from the human Anla'Shoq. "He called for you by name. And he said that I was to address you, this once, by another title." Glancing at a data reader in hand, obviously wanting to make sure he had it right, he said, "Anla'shoq ra kas ard'ka."

'The Ranger of the Two Lanterns'. That was awful close to the 'Lady of the Two Lanterns' from Valen's prophecies. Fuck.

"Allow me a few moments to be suitably attired for a meeting with the Anla'Shoq Na." Faith stammered out, closing the door. Stripping off her black tank top and Harley pajama pants, she replaced them with a charcoal grey tunic and trousers, topped by the traditional Anla'Shoq robe and her izil'zha. Pulling her hair back into a quick and dirty braid, she tied it off with a Red Sox-logoed ribbon, pulled on her boots, then re-opened the door.

"The Ranger of the Two Lanterns is ready to meet the Anla'Shoq Na." Faith admitted, wondering what this day would bring.

Apparently, this was a big event. At the bottom of the stairs, leading out from the residence building, an honor guard of six more Anla'Shoq waited. Forming around her in a perfect circle, they followed Torenn in guiding her through the compound to the crystalline spire housing the office of the Anla'Shoq Na.

Lennon himself was waiting just inside the arched doorway, and bowed to Torenn and the others. "I will lead the Anla'shoq ra kas ard'ka from here."

Torenn bowed, and the honor guard immediately dispersed, leaving Faith alone with Lennon. "Come, Anla'Shoq Faith Abigail Lehane. We have much to discuss."