Harry Potter and the First Ones

Encounter

Ginny awoke extremely disoriented. There were no curtains drawn around her bed, no stone walls were in sight, a faint humming seemed to emanate from every direction, and she could only hear the breathing of one other person rather than three. Blinking, she sat up, and the memory of the previous day gradually returned to her mind.

She swung her legs over the side of the upper bunk she'd slept in, dropping lightly to the floor. The quarters had evidently been designed to house four crew members in a pinch, so there was another bedroom, but she and Hermione had wanted to stay in the same room. Both of them were accustomed at school to sharing their sleeping space, and it was comforting for them to stay close.

Ginny visited the bathroom, discovering during the trip that it did not have the traditional water shower she was accustomed to. There was a small booth, but she couldn't find any water faucets. Fortunately, the sink worked normally (the toilet used some sort of vacuum system). Hoping that Hermione would have some insights, she raided the pantry and her own bag to put together a morning snack and returned to the bedroom.

Hermione was stirring by this time, so Ginny waited patiently until she was fully awake. When she took her friend to look at the "shower," Hermione explained that it used a sonic method of pulling dirt and oils off of your body. As far as she knew, it was still just a concept in their own time. Ginny used it, and while it did seem to clean her, it wasn't nearly as pleasant or relaxing as a hot shower.

They had just finished their morning routines and were sitting down to discuss the possible activities for the day when an insistent beeping sounded.

"Enter," said Hermione crisply, and Ginny belatedly recognized the sound as the equivalent of a doorbell on the station. The door slid aside to reveal Harry and Ron, who stepped in. The door closed behind them, and Ron turned to look at it.

"I don't think I'll ever quite get used to that," he remarked. Hermione greeted him with a quick kiss, and the four of them sat in their living room area.

"So, does anyone know what we're supposed to do?" asked Harry after they'd exchanged a few pleasantries. He seemed to be a little restless, in need of a plan.

"I think we need to wait until Captain Sheridan sends for us," answered Hermione.

"Or another officer or something," Ginny agreed. "But it will probably be Sheridan."

"I hate waiting," Harry muttered. Privately, Ginny felt the same way. She wished she could touch him to reassure him, but aside from the fact that she was also uncertain of their role in this time and place, their friendship did not yet permit that much familiarity.

"The captain's been gone for two weeks or more," Ron pointed out. "He's bound to have a lot to catch up on before he deals with us."

"He might also think we could use some extra rest," added Ginny. She could think of another reason that Sheridan might wish to stay in bed a little longer, but she decided not to say it out loud. She doubted that he would delay very long, knowing how important preparation was and how short their time was becoming.

Her suppositions proved to be true when, perhaps half an hour later, the door beeped again. Ginny called out permission to enter this time, and Captain Sheridan stood there with Lorien.

"Good morning," Sheridan greeted them pleasantly as the pair stepped into the room. He looked distinctly refreshed and far better than he had even the previous evening, which had already been a marked improvement over the condition in which they had found him in the caves of Z'Ha'Dum. "Did you all sleep all right?"

There were various polite murmurings in response, but Hermione cleared her throat.

"The rooms are fine, sir," she commented almost apologetically. "I'm afraid we haven't really covered how and what we're supposed to eat, though."

"Oh! I'm sorry," he apologized quickly. "I guess I didn't think about that."

"It's okay. We brought some stuff," Harry put in.

"But in the future, it would be nice to know where to get our meals," Ginny added.

"I'll show you where the crew eats," said Sheridan, nodding. "After that, there's someone I'd like you to meet."

There was something about the way Sheridan said this that made Ginny a little uncomfortable. However, she shoved any disconcerting feelings aside as she tried to memorize the way to what was apparently called the enlisted mess. She didn't really understand this terminology, since the place was actually quite clean - sterile, even - and the food was passable, if nothing like the feasts at Hogwarts or her mother's home cooking.

When Ginny later mentioned her confusion about the name to Hermione, the older girl grinned and explained that it was simply a military word used to describe where people ate. She thought it came from an old meaning of the word "mess" indicating a measurement. It eventually also came to mean a specific amount of food. Since military meals were usually rationed, the same to everybody, the "mess hall" was a place for them to get these measured amounts - mess.

This was far more than Ginny had really wanted to know, but she listened politely. It gave her a chance to exchange a glance with Harry, who seemed to share her uncertainty about where Sheridan was going to take them next. That didn't make her feel any better. To distract herself, she wondered if there were any chance that this stay on the station might have the same effect on her and Harry as their previous trip had had on Ron and Hermione. If so, she only hoped one of them wouldn't have to be seriously injured to make it happen.

***

After breakfast, Harry followed Sheridan and Lorien with some misgivings, his friends ranging around him. He couldn't explain it, but something just didn't feel quite right. Sheridan led them back to the green or alien portion of the station. He went much farther than Delenn's quarters, however, stopping at a large, sealed door. He opened a compartment on the side and began handing out breathing masks.

"What are these for?" asked Hermione, eyeing hers doubtfully. Harry looked at his as well, seeing that it had a full faceplate of a substance like glass, with canisters under the chin.

"This is the area of the station reserved for methane-breathers," Sheridan explained. Ron and Ginny frowned, but Harry remembered enough from primary school science to understand, at least on a basic level.

"Their air would be poisonous to us," Hermione clarified for the benefit of the Weasleys. Sheridan helped them all to put the masks on correctly, but when he handed one to Lorien, the ancient alien bowed slightly.

"It is not yet time for me to get involved," Lorien almost apologized. "I shall wait here." Sheridan appeared to study Lorien's inscrutable expression for a moment, then he shrugged. Harry couldn't help wondering whether Lorien would even need a mask to go in there. He certainly seemed pretty versatile, though he could be killed, and it was entirely plausible that suffocation would be one possible way that could happen.

"Okay," said Sheridan. "Everyone ready? Let's go." He opened the door, closing it again once they were all through. The air here had a distinctly yellowish color, odd to someone used to a transparent atmosphere. It felt like they were at the very edge of the space station by the time Sheridan stopped. He raised his head and threw his shoulders back in a manner that looked almost defiant and pressed the button beside a door.

"It's Captain Sheridan and a few guests," the captain answered in response to the hissed question through the speaker. His voice was coolly polite, but the tension in his stance belied that something was going on beneath the surface. Harry slowly drew his wand and looked over to see that Ginny had done the same. He nodded at her approvingly, noting that Ron and Hermione were following their example. All four were holding their "weapons" down at their sides, not threatening but ready if they needed them. Harry was all too aware that it wouldn't take much to crack their masks or disrupt the flow of oxygen, either of which could kill them within minutes. He felt extremely vulnerable. He gripped his wand more tightly in a hand grown suddenly moist.

The door slid grudgingly aside, or maybe it was just Harry's imagination ascribing emotion to it, and the five humans trooped in. The room was scarcely lit, and Harry could make out very little, but as far as he could tell, there was no real furniture. Occupying the center of the room was a large figure, taller than either Sheridan or Ron and twice as broad. The top portion seemed to consist of an angular, shell-like structure, similar in shape to a collarbone, supporting a snake-like head, featureless except for a small hole in the center. All of the visible parts looked like they were made of some kind of hard material, and there was a mottled pattern on them. Voluminous fabric extended from the support down to the floor, concealing everything below these "shoulders" and evoking a comparison with a glittery shower curtain.

The whole image did look a little silly, but Harry could almost feel the power emanating from the creature, and he was not fooled. It was fortunate that he remained alert because his only warning came in the form of a light blossoming in that hole in the alien's "face."

"Protego!" Harry shouted, bringing up his wand and casting the Shield Charm almost without thinking about it. A crackling bolt of orange collided with the invisible shield, and the two forces destroyed each other with enough energy to knock everyone backward a couple of steps. Four wands were now at the ready, waiting for the next attack, but Captain Sheridan placed himself between the kids and the alien.

"Ambassador Kosh, I came to introduce you to these kids, but I take it you recognize them already?" he offered mildly, but there was a hint of steel lying under his tone. Harry started a little at the name. Surely this couldn't be Kosh...yet it must be a Vorlon!

"Monsters! Aberrations!" hissed the creature in a raspy, mechanized voice, turning its head ponderously toward Sheridan as though in accusation. "How dare you bring these...things into my presence!"

"They are humans, and they are under my protection," asserted the captain in an authoritative voice. "I brought them here hoping you might know how they can help us in the war against the Shadows."

"The assistance of the younger races is no longer required," responded the alien. "We are handling the problem."

This Vorlon, whatever its real name was, obviously knew what Harry and his friends were and must have been in the camp that wanted to destroy all witches and wizards. In addition, this last statement was clearly a reference to their genocidal campaign to wipe out all places known to have the taint of Shadows. What wasn't clear was whether it (he?) knew that some of the other races were already aware of this plan.

While Harry was thinking through all of this, there was a lengthy, tense pause. Without breaking the silence, the Vorlon turned its back (for lack of a better term), indicating a clear dismissal. Although Harry didn't believe it was possible, he felt like the temperature in the room had just dropped noticeably.

"I see," said Sheridan at last, his voice tightly controlled. "Thank you for your time." With that, he turned on his heel, and Harry could see no choice but to follow. The walk back down the corridors was a silent one.

"That was a Vorlon!" Hermione exclaimed, once they had rejoined Lorien and removed their masks. "Who was it? Why did you call him Kosh?"

"The only name he would give us was Kosh," Sheridan replied. He had visibly relaxed a little since ending what could only be called a confrontation.

"What? But he isn't--" Ron protested.

"Of course not," Sheridan agreed. "They're trying to cover up what happened to the real Kosh. What he said when he first showed up was 'We are all Kosh.' I think you can see that's not completely true. Anyway, it's one of the many subterfuges he's engaging in, and I'm beginning to get really tired of them."

"What was all that about?" Ginny inquired.

"A show, mostly," explained the captain. "Vorlons are strongly telepathic, more than any human I know, probably. He knew who you were before we went in there. I'm really sorry about that. I didn't expect him to attack you so blatantly."

"It's okay," Harry answered for all of them. "I think it's good that we finally met one. It sort of confirms what Lorien told us."

"Not that we doubted you," Hermione hastily said to Lorien. He merely nodded, his eyes twinkling with what might have been amusement.

"I still shouldn't have put you in danger," Sheridan insisted.

"No harm done," Ginny tried to assure him.

"We don't know that yet. Now that he knows you're here, we'll have to be especially careful. I guess it's a good thing he refuses to leave his quarters. That should make things safer for you. I'm sorry."

"You said that already," Ron reminded the captain with a lopsided grin. "Don't worry about us. We're sort of used to being in danger. Right, Harry?" Harry smiled ruefully back.

"More than I'd like," he acknowledged.

"Did you learn anything new?" Lorien addressed Sheridan, who shook his head.

"I really just confirmed what I already knew but didn't want to believe. We have to get rid of him if we're going to stop this war without tearing the universe apart."

Harry didn't like the sound of that.