This is _Babylon Five_ spin-off fiction, using the characters and situations of the television show, written on an amateur basis by a fan of the show. However, the sheer quality of the plotting and the writing set this work apart from the usual run of "fan fiction" and clearly establish Gareth Williams as a major storytelling talent.

Unlike the well-known _Star Trek_ mirror universe, which in part provided the inspiration, the characters are not evil caricatures clad in black leather and brandishing whips, but themselves - changed in various ways by ten years of conflict and hardship never experienced by the originals, but still the same people, with the same hopes, aspirations and dreams. And this is no crossover story, with the heroic originals from the fortunate "real" universe materialising from nowhere to turn their counterparts back to the paths of
righteousness. These are characters working out their own destinies.

That which they are, they are. One equal temper of heroic hearts... strong in will, to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.