Galen is called before the ruling Circle of Techno-Mages to explain himself.  They demand to know why he continues to be so involved with the affairs of Humans and the other races.  He has become too violent, and too caught up in the Humans' desire for revenge.  They feel he may even jeopardize their hiding place, before they can complete their preparations to begin the Great Migration in full.

Galen scolds them.  "Humanity now walks the Long Road," he tells them, "and, like it or not, we are obligated to help them find their way."  He shames them into acquiescence, at least for now.

News of the murder of EA President-Elect Redway has spread to the crew of Excalibur, and rumor has it that his running mate, Vice-President-elect Lochley, is wanted for questioning in the matter, but she cannot be located by the authorities.

Word also comes via ISN of a mass sickness on Mars, apparently caused by food poisoning.  At Mars Dome, Michael Garibaldi stands over the stricken figure of his wife, Lise, who lies in a coma.  He vows to bend all the elements of his vast corporation, Edgars-Garibaldi Industries, to finding a cure, and to finding what caused this outbreak of poisoning.  He brings in a private physician, Dr. Sarah Chambers, and promises her anything she wants if she can help Lise.

Back aboard Excalibur, Galen confronts Dureena and demands that she hand over the Techno-Mage sword.  Dureena counters that instead, Galen should teach her how to properly use it.  Galen replies that there must always be a price for power;  that Dureena has not yet walked "the Long Road" of proving her worthiness and of learning the responsibilities that come with power.  And besides, he points out, she is not a Techno-Mage, so it will not work for her in any case.  In her anger, Dureena lashes out at Galen with the sword--and energy flares from it, nearly burning Galen, who just avoids the clumsy and unexpected strike.  A shocked and confused Galen allows Dureena to keep the sword once again, but vows to discover how she was able to use its power.

On Mars, a pretty but disheveled blond woman stumbles out of a bar.  It is Talia Winters.  Avoiding death during the Telepath War, she nonetheless lost everything she had, and her mind is now a battleground between two personalities--her own, which has, against all odds, managed to re-emerge, and the "evil sister" personality implanted by the old Corps.  The conflict is tearing her apart.  As she stumbles and collapses to the street, two figures in black emerge from the shadows and pick her up, carrying her away.

Marcus sits in his quarters on Babylon 5, torn between obeying the orders issued by his Ranger superiors and wanting to trust and help the fugitive Neroon.  Ivanova visits him, and she is very angry.  She demands to know if he told Forrell and the Rangers that Neroon was with the Excalibur.  Marcus denies this vehemently.  Ivanova accepts his word, but tells him that neither she nor Captain Gideon can figure out how else the word of Neroon's presence got back to Minbar and Mars so quickly.

Determined to unravel the mystery, and to resolve his internal turmoil, Marcus travels to Minbar to meet with Anla'shok Na Forrell.  Forrell greets him and hands over to him a set of new, "special orders," which are top secret.  Only a few of the Rangers will receive these orders, Forrell tells him.  After Forrell bids Marcus good-day and retreats to his sanctum, Marcus reads the orders.  He is shocked to see what they contain.

Annotations for "The Long Road."

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DarkCrusade is the Crusade Alternate Universe story--
the complete, five-year Crusade saga, following one slight change in 2261, "the year everything changed."
Story, design, and layout by Van Allen Plexico. Send correspondence and comments to vplexico@bellsouth.net
Babylon 5 and Crusade created by J. Michael Straczynski and property of Warner Communications.