Гэрет Уильямс - Темное, кривое зеркало. Том 3 : След на песке

"No, but I feel the cargo manifests may have been filled in incorrectly."

"Well, my congratulations on such a thorough investigation, Miss Sakai. This matter is now out of your hands. Do not speak to anyone of it, do not continue any investigations, and never mention the name of G'Kar to anyone at all. Resume your normal duties."

"Yes," she said, angrily. She did not like any of this.

"Oh, one last question, Miss Sakai. Are you involved with anyone at the moment?"

She started, and it took her a moment to regain her composure, such as it was in this situation. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I am. Why?"

"Just curious." The metal restraints around her wrists and ankles slid back. She began rubbing at her wrists. "You may go now. Leave by the same way you entered. Good day, Miss Sakai."

"I'm…. well…. this is amazing."

G'Kar's holographic form bowed in mock homage. "Indeed. Babylon Four. The project that never was."

"I…. we were going to build this. We had all the plans drawn up…. everything. It was going to serve as a battle station, a rallying point…. everything."

"As it will yet, but for a war far greater than yours, or even mine. The Shadow War is coming, and sooner than we would like. They were delayed greatly by their losses at the battle of the Second Line, and perhaps…. scared a little by the Vorlon presence there. But now that the war between your people and the Minbari is over, and with the Drakh fleet destroyed…. I fear the Shadow War will soon progress to a far deadlier phase."

Captain John J. Sheridan nodded. "I think so too. It might take a little while, but…. sooner or later…."

"We are hoping later, of course. Babylon Four is not yet complete." Sheridan gave him a cautious glance. "Oh, all the major systems are operational. Navigation, communications, life support, the ion engines and so on. There are just minor details, little bits which still need fixing. We have rushed construction through as fast as we dared. It was inevitable that some details would get…. lost along the way."

"Exactly as I saw it…." Sheridan whispered. He drew in a deep breath. He had been one of those who had helped with the fourth mission of the Babylon Project. He had had input into the drawing up of the plans and in scouting out suitable locations.

And then the Minbari had launched a renewed attack on Orion and grandiose schemes of counterattacks had gone completely out of the window. Sheridan sighed. Everyone had lost a great deal at Orion.

But there was something else. A year and a half ago…. just after G'Kar had entered the Heart of the Great Machine…. Sheridan and Delenn and…. others…. had seen Babylon 4, disappearing backwards in time. A great battle had been fought there, one he could only dimly remember.

"I know," G'Kar said, evidently reading Sheridan's thoughts. "This station has a greater destiny than just this war. It will be sent back in time to aid in the last Shadow War. But first…. let us hope it serves us well enough."

"It will go back in time with Valen," came the muted reply. Sheridan rubbed at his eyes. All these time travel shenanigans made his head ache.

"Yes, I have heard about everything that has happened on Minbar," G'Kar said. "I will have to talk to this…. Valen soon. He is who he claims to be, I suppose?"

"Delenn certainly thinks so. Even Sinoval seemed to accept it, although a bit more reluctantly. I…. I'm not so sure, although it is possible. I knew Jeffrey Sinclair…. whom Valen claims he used to be…. well, before…. Ah hell, you know what I mean."

"The mysteries of time travel, Captain. Some days I think both our languages are lacking some very useful linguistic subtleties."

"Heh…. don't tell Delenn that. She'd probably try and teach us some of hers. Anyway, I knew Jeffrey Sinclair. We were at the academy together. I don't remember him all that well, but little details, the speech, the stance, the bearing…. so on. He is Jeffrey Sinclair. I'm certain of it."

"Then he may be Valen as well. I will have to talk with him soon. Primarch Sinoval as well. We have to tie as many of our allies together as we can for the coming storm. Babylon Four was built to unite us. We are too spread out at the moment. The United Alliance at Kazomi Seven, Mr. Bester at Sanctuary, the Minbari here, there and everywhere, my own agents on Narn…. We are too dispersed. Babylon Four will bring us together…. or so I hope."

"I can't get over just how…. familiar it looks."

"I had access to the original plans in the Machine. Everything was copied as closely as possible. Allies of mine in your Government helped with some of the materials."

Sheridan started at the mention of human allies, but he did not ask. G'Kar had his secrets, and he knew a great deal more than he was telling anyone. Necessary, Sheridan supposed, but awfully risky as well.

"Anyway…. I have a request for you."

"You wish to return to Kazomi Seven?" G'Kar said, and he smiled as Sheridan started. "It is not that difficult to notice. I swear I may be turning into a Centauri, may G'Quan save me from that fate! It is dangerous here. We are not…. well defended. Some of my Narn ships are here, it is true, but Captain Mollari has returned to his homeworld."

Sheridan started. He had known Carn…. a little. "He was a good captain. We'll miss him."

"I hope it is only temporary, but there is great upheaval on Centauri Prime. Probably little more than politicking, but I cannot be sure. Even if it is merely what the Centauri call 'the Great Game', it is still a great risk. I have heard little from my agents there for some time. I am troubled." He shook his head sadly.

"No, Captain, you may return to Kazomi Seven. We have enough ships here to protect this station for the time being, and hopefully the day will come soon when the Alliance will be moved here. Besides, dark days are coming, and love must be allowed to shine in what little time we have. Bester will not be pleased, no doubt, but he still has Captain Ben Zayn and the Ozymandias , so he can survive. And he understands the importance of defending the new Alliance just as we do."

Sheridan shrugged. He did not like the idea of G'Kar allied with someone like Bester, but war made for strange bedfellows, as the saying went.

"Thank you, G'Kar. With your permission, we will leave tomorrow. Some of my crew are engaged in various duties around here."

"Ah yes. Thank Lieutenant Connally for me. My people are not used to flying in your Starfuries, but they are superior to our own flyers — may G'Quan blacken my tongue for saying so — and the bays here were designed for Starfuries. Her training is invaluable."

"A question…. why did you build the Starfury bays? Wouldn't designs for your own flyers be easier?"

"We cannot defy history, Captain. I pray you are not needed here for a while at least."

"So do I," Sheridan agreed. He reached out to touch the wall at his side, half afraid that it would disappear at his touch.

"So do I," he repeated softly, his heart many light years away.

"One…. last question," G'Kar said softly. "Has any of your crew experienced…. anything…. unusual?"

"Unusual? No, not that I'm aware of. I suppose David might know before I would, but…. no, I can't think of anything. Why?"

G'Kar waved an arm in negation. "Nothing. Just…. ghosts in the machine, so to say. Nothing serious."

"If you say so." Sheridan did not believe him.

They listened to him, unable to do anything else. Not just Minbari, but everyone there. Drazi guards, Brakiri clerks, Hyach customs officials. Even Taan Churok listened, an almost rapt expression on his face. Delenn was unable to tear herself away from the beauty and power of his words.

Even Delenn, who knew the truth about the one they knew as Valen, even she was helpless before the power of his oratory. His words fired and enraptured, captivated and liberated. They were the golden rain on the green fields, the silver skies, the shining stars at twilight.

And finally, the speech done, he bowed gently and walked out among his people, receiving the comforts of their touch, their prayers, and their blessings. All accepted beyond doubt that Jeffrey Sinclair was Valen, as indeed he was. Or, more accurately, as he would be a thousand years in the past.

It was his presence here which had done so much to bring Minbari attention to the United Alliance, even led as it was by an outcast such as Delenn.

"Pretty words," grunted Taan Churok. He sounded moved. Anyone would be, even a Drazi. He shook his head, as if attempting to rid himself of an annoying insect buzzing around him.

"Words from old," Delenn agreed softly. She could not remember the bulk of his speech — she doubted anyone could; it was the words, not the meaning which mattered — but she had recognised faint traces. This line, from the 'Times to Come' speech on Mount H'leya — that image from the triumphant arrival at Z'ha'dum — a metaphor first spoken at the first assembly of the Grey Council. Jeffrey Sinclair possessed all the memories of the Valen he would become, a thousand years before. They had been implanted into him by the Vorlons, erasing in the process almost everything that had made him Jeffrey Sinclair.

She looked at him, basking in the adulation of his people, and reflecting that adulation back to them. He was so beautiful….

Her personal communicator beeped and she picked it up, somewhat awkwardly, from her side. A Centauri instrument, bought and modified by the Brakiri. Such a device felt…. alien to her, but she accepted it.

It was Lethke, former head of the Brakiri Trading Guild here on Kazomi 7, and now Minister for the Economy.

"Delenn," he said, his flawless politeness the result of both years of diplomatic experience and a genuine liking for Delenn, "we have received the documentation from Ha'Cormar'ah G'Kar of which you wished to be kept informed. It contains the details of the Babylon Four station he has built, as well as certain…. confidential matters to be shown only to you."

She sighed softly. "Of course, Lethke. Thank you for informing me. I will be with you in a moment." A tremor passed through her, a memory of the past, and the not-too-distant future.

She looked at Taan Churok, and then at Valen, and sighed softly as she left the presence of the most beautiful spirit she had ever known, to dwell on what his — and her — future might be.

Catherine was in a strange mood for the rest of the day, not altogether surprisingly. Her ambiguous meeting had raised more questions than it had answered concerning the G'Kar mystery, and the fact that she had been ordered to forget all about this only puzzled her the more. The order to prepare the report which had led to her discovery of the G'Kar Files had come from Zento's own office.

An hour or so after her return from the 'meeting' two men she did not recognise but with appropriate IDs had taken all her copies of her unfinished report. She had spent the rest of the day in a fugue, working idly at various sundry items she had neglected during the investigation of the G'Kar problem.

For the first time in months she had left work on time. She made her way home, her mind still engulfed by the events of the day. Nothing about this made any sense. Nothing.

The hovertransports were busier than she remembered, and being surrounded by the chatter and bustle only deepened her dark mood. Far too many of the conversations were about war. With the Minbari crushed, where now? Some people seemed to think the Narns, or perhaps the Centauri. Maybe even a few of the Non-Aligned Worlds. The economy was on an upswing at last and a continuing war was thought to be the means to keep it that way.