A letter to Londo
Outside the door is a fairly normal looking Centauri. He bows to Londo and says, “I bring a gift from the Lady Tyree.” He hands a package and a letter to Londo. “She insisted that you open the package before the letter.” He shrugs. “Our ship will be here for a few hours while our cargo is unloaded. Then we will return to Davo. Should you wish me to take anything back my ship is in docking bay 11. Good day Ambassador.” He bows again and walks away.
The package is wrapped in the lilac color that seems to have become Adira’s choice for stationary and now it seems gift wrap and ribbon as well. It is quite heavy despite its size.
Within the package is a manuscript with a mahogany colored leather cover. Embossed on the cover are two symbols; one Londo recognizes as that of Adira’s House the other he doesn’t recognize. The first page reads in beautiful script “To the Lady Tyree who makes all of the worlds shine in gold with her presence.” The second page reads “Poems 2222-2223 Earth Standard Years - Lord Thero” There is a ribbon marking a page in the manuscript. The poem on the page is as follows:
You did not come this far to walk away,
Were the only words you could say;
I saw your eyes in tears as your gaze strayed.
Though I wished with all my hearts for you to stay;
Perhaps you will return to me someday.
Until then I shall always pray;
To see an end to the tradition I wish to disobey.
All you said was you did not come this far to walk away.
(There are a couple lines that were written and then scratched out as if the poem remains incomplete. Along the bottom of the page is a string of music notes and the words “Even the drabbest bird sings with all its heart.”)
My Dear Londo,
It seems, My Ambassador, that the interest of the humans in “alien” culture did not end with the festivities on Babylon 5. The Art Conservancy here on Davo received a request from The Earth Alliance to do a cultural exchange of what they refer to as mythology. It seems they consider our religions to be nothing more than fantasy stories. I am hardly surprised. It is a fool’s hope that this exchange will alleviate the problem of “cultural misunderstandings” as they think it will. They can not understand the very basics of our culture let alone its motivations. I fear my understanding of English has lead to trouble for the second time in my life. I have been enlisted to help translate the legends of our dear goddess Li into English. It is quite impossible. They have but one word for passion, one for desire; I can not do Li justice with such a limited vocabulary. Our language has a substantial list of words to describe her in the subtlety that she embodies. It seems your misery caused by irritating human demands has rubbed off on me, as the humans would say. You know I jest My Ambassador, I am honored to have been entrusted with such a duty despite all of its annoyances. I only wish the language archives of Babylon 5 were still available to me; perhaps then I could find a way of expressing the refinement of our language in the hopelessly less expressive human language.
You are more adept at dealing with the humans and far more eloquent with their language. The task would be infinitely more agreeable if there was someone here who could help me laugh at the absurdity of their requests. Alas, here they take the humans much too seriously and that sort of company is rare.
It would be amusing to hear what happened when the Alliance went before the Narn and asked for a translation of their religious texts. I can not help but imagine a human trying to persuade a Narn to hand over an English version of the Book of G’Quan. Perhaps your Narn “friend” has an entertaining story to share.
The news from Centauri Prime can not be too bad. As I hear, our relations with the Narn are improving and the other races are at least neutral now. Of course, I could be wrong; I am sure very little truth reaches this far from the court.
Perhaps it will bring you joy to hear of Trakis. It seems Chief Garibaldi continued snooping in his affairs after I left; I hated Garibaldi’s inability to stay out of the dealings of others while I was on Babylon 5. Now it seems I will have to thank him. Trakis was trafficking human slaves, which is illegal by EarthGov regulations. Needless to say he barely had a trial when they took him to EarthDome. He is to spend quite some time in prison. The other girls are free now as well. Gera and Niomi will be returning to Babylon 5 in a few weeks I am sure you will see them; they both have jobs in the casino.
I am continuing my studies at the Conservancy and Kailin is to arrive in a week or so after he finishes his current duties. In case, you can not find out how to contact me via BabComm here is the beacon information:
Aries Sector- 175; Hamal-3; Davo-Isaran-3756; Tyree-4
I have tried to contact you but they will not let me through. I even told them I was my mother and that I was arranging entertainment for the court and still no luck. Is there something wrong on Babylon 5? It seems that security is a little more suspicious then usual.
I am sure you are wondering about the gift. Most of Lord Thero’s manuscripts were left to my mother after his death. You have given me an irreplaceable, beautiful piece of your family’s heritage and now I have given you part of mine. It is interesting that one of my favorite poems may have been written the day he was with your friend Urza.
Sending all of my passion,
Adira
The package is wrapped in the lilac color that seems to have become Adira’s choice for stationary and now it seems gift wrap and ribbon as well. It is quite heavy despite its size.
Within the package is a manuscript with a mahogany colored leather cover. Embossed on the cover are two symbols; one Londo recognizes as that of Adira’s House the other he doesn’t recognize. The first page reads in beautiful script “To the Lady Tyree who makes all of the worlds shine in gold with her presence.” The second page reads “Poems 2222-2223 Earth Standard Years - Lord Thero” There is a ribbon marking a page in the manuscript. The poem on the page is as follows:
You did not come this far to walk away,
Were the only words you could say;
I saw your eyes in tears as your gaze strayed.
Though I wished with all my hearts for you to stay;
Perhaps you will return to me someday.
Until then I shall always pray;
To see an end to the tradition I wish to disobey.
All you said was you did not come this far to walk away.
(There are a couple lines that were written and then scratched out as if the poem remains incomplete. Along the bottom of the page is a string of music notes and the words “Even the drabbest bird sings with all its heart.”)
My Dear Londo,
It seems, My Ambassador, that the interest of the humans in “alien” culture did not end with the festivities on Babylon 5. The Art Conservancy here on Davo received a request from The Earth Alliance to do a cultural exchange of what they refer to as mythology. It seems they consider our religions to be nothing more than fantasy stories. I am hardly surprised. It is a fool’s hope that this exchange will alleviate the problem of “cultural misunderstandings” as they think it will. They can not understand the very basics of our culture let alone its motivations. I fear my understanding of English has lead to trouble for the second time in my life. I have been enlisted to help translate the legends of our dear goddess Li into English. It is quite impossible. They have but one word for passion, one for desire; I can not do Li justice with such a limited vocabulary. Our language has a substantial list of words to describe her in the subtlety that she embodies. It seems your misery caused by irritating human demands has rubbed off on me, as the humans would say. You know I jest My Ambassador, I am honored to have been entrusted with such a duty despite all of its annoyances. I only wish the language archives of Babylon 5 were still available to me; perhaps then I could find a way of expressing the refinement of our language in the hopelessly less expressive human language.
You are more adept at dealing with the humans and far more eloquent with their language. The task would be infinitely more agreeable if there was someone here who could help me laugh at the absurdity of their requests. Alas, here they take the humans much too seriously and that sort of company is rare.
It would be amusing to hear what happened when the Alliance went before the Narn and asked for a translation of their religious texts. I can not help but imagine a human trying to persuade a Narn to hand over an English version of the Book of G’Quan. Perhaps your Narn “friend” has an entertaining story to share.
The news from Centauri Prime can not be too bad. As I hear, our relations with the Narn are improving and the other races are at least neutral now. Of course, I could be wrong; I am sure very little truth reaches this far from the court.
Perhaps it will bring you joy to hear of Trakis. It seems Chief Garibaldi continued snooping in his affairs after I left; I hated Garibaldi’s inability to stay out of the dealings of others while I was on Babylon 5. Now it seems I will have to thank him. Trakis was trafficking human slaves, which is illegal by EarthGov regulations. Needless to say he barely had a trial when they took him to EarthDome. He is to spend quite some time in prison. The other girls are free now as well. Gera and Niomi will be returning to Babylon 5 in a few weeks I am sure you will see them; they both have jobs in the casino.
I am continuing my studies at the Conservancy and Kailin is to arrive in a week or so after he finishes his current duties. In case, you can not find out how to contact me via BabComm here is the beacon information:
Aries Sector- 175; Hamal-3; Davo-Isaran-3756; Tyree-4
I have tried to contact you but they will not let me through. I even told them I was my mother and that I was arranging entertainment for the court and still no luck. Is there something wrong on Babylon 5? It seems that security is a little more suspicious then usual.
I am sure you are wondering about the gift. Most of Lord Thero’s manuscripts were left to my mother after his death. You have given me an irreplaceable, beautiful piece of your family’s heritage and now I have given you part of mine. It is interesting that one of my favorite poems may have been written the day he was with your friend Urza.
Sending all of my passion,
Adira