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

"Neither I nor my Government has any wish for hostilities with the Alliance, Minister. However, Delenn is wanted for war crimes against my people, and my orders are to make sure she stands trial for them."

"Well then, Captain, it appears we are at an impasse. I cannot allow Delenn to be taken into your custody. Would it not be said she possesses diplomatic immunity, as head of the Alliance?"

"My Government has not recognised that position." Smith hoped his bearing did not betray his concern. His orders had stated that the capture of Delenn was second in importance only to the capture of the Machine. War with the Alliance would be a trifling price to pay if it brought the President Delenn. And yet…. Smith did not want to start a war, and he did not want to hand someone over for torture and probable execution. He had no doubt that she would have no qualms about doing the same to him, but he liked to believe that that was what made him better than the Minbari.

The Drazi said something else, and this time Lethke shook his head sadly.

"What did he say?" Smith asked.

"He said we should kill you," came the reply.

"Then do so," Smith said, quietly pleased by how stern his voice sounded, "but know that if you do, the four ships waiting in orbit will attack and board this station, and there will be no measures taken to protect diplomatic immunity. Your guards will stand down their weapons, and you will render us every co-operation in the capture of Satai Delenn. Do you understand me?"

Something else from the Drazi, and a hint of anticipation in the Brakiri's bearing. "We understand you perfectly, Captain. Absolutely perfectly."

"Ha'Cormar'ah G'Kar…. is anything…. wrong?"

"Of course not," replied Donne. "Why would there be anything wrong?" She looked at the figures before her, searching through the Machine's memories to find their records. They had all come from the station, and all but two of them were Narn — G'Kar must have had details on them. It would have helped if the Narns didn't all look alike, but then it was only a matter of time. How long to leave things before she showed them all the truth? How long would it take those mundanes to seize control of the station? Silly question, they were mundanes — they would probably still be trying by Christmas.

"We were unable to contact you. You have not been seen on the station for hours. We were…. worried."

"There was no need to be worried." The one in front was speaking. He would be the leader then. Come on, his files would have to be here somewhere. What sort of organisation was there in this thing? Where…? Her vision swam, and she found herself still staring at the Narn before her, but somehow she knew he was younger.

"Will you follow me, Ta'Lon?" she asked. No, it wasn't she who was asking. It was G'Kar.

"Of course I will. Through fire and darkness, past death and despair…."

With a colossal force of will she brought herself back to the present. That was not the first time she had found herself visually and mentally reliving old scenes, all of them involving G'Kar. The Machine's equivalent of a filing cabinet, no doubt.

"There was…. no need for concern. The Machine has just been…. under some strain lately."

"Of course, Ha'Cormar'ah G'Kar. I understand. I shall report back that all is well. May I lay my blade at your feet in honour and respect?"

"Yes. Yes of course." What was this? Some absurd Narn ritual. Donne scanned through the others. All Rangers no doubt. All expendable therefore. Who were the humans? She recognised Michael Garibaldi. He'd been working for Al for quite a while. A mundane, but an important one. She'd probably have to keep him alive then. The other one…. the woman…. where had she seen her before?

She looked back to see Ta'Lon draw that long sword from the sheath on his back and kneel down just in front of her. He was almost close enough to touch. She considered reaching out and tearing his mind open.

His next motion was too fast even for the Machine to track. He brought the sword up and slashed it across her side. She threw back her head and screamed, knowing that had she not installed a protective force field the blow would have killed her.

Through her pain she could feel the voices of the Machine wailing in her mind, a myriad cacophony of screams.

"Did you think I would not recognise an imposter in the place of my lord?" hissed the Narn. "Where is he and what have you done with him?"

Something began to knit across the wound. She did not know what, nor did she care. All she felt was the burning hatred, and the explosion of voices in her mind.

"Burn!"

The entire room before her burst into a blaze of electrical discharge. The Narn Rangers ran forward, drawing their own swords, rushing to join their leader.

Too late.

At the last minute Donne remembered to erect a hasty force field, shielding both herself and Ta'Lon from the effects of the blast. She very much wanted him alive. The Narns screamed as the floor beneath them heated up and the air thickened and flashed with sparks.

"Burn," she said again, and the blasts ended, six smoking bodies falling to the ground. "Tu'Pari!"

Ta'Lon, who had been knocked aside by her blast, rolled to his feet in one smooth motion. Still wielding his sword, he lunged for her again, but this time she had her own Narn to aid her.

The assassin's cloak of darkness dissolved and he burst into motion. Hiding him had been simplicity itself. Concealing Numbers One and Two had been equally easy, although G'Kar had been a little harder. The Machine recognised its former keeper and did not want to harm him. Forcing it to do so had taken some effort.

Numbers One and Two trained their weapons on the other two humans. Garibaldi looked up at Donne, her holographic illusion now cast aside. He shrugged, and handed his own weapon over to Number One. His companion carried no weapon.

Ta'Lon's sword swept out towards Tu'Pari, but the assassin raised an arm and the sword appeared to glance aside. Lashing out with his other fist, he caught the underside of Ta'Lon's jaw. Just before the impact, small spikes shot out from the knuckles of his glove.

The Ranger went down. A few sharp kicks ensured that he did not rise again.

"Is he dead, Tu'Pari?"

"No, not yet. You aren't paying me enough to kill him."

A wave of anger poured through her, but she managed to restrain herself. She needed Tu'Pari alive. Better by far to turn that anger against the being who had wounded her.

"Am I paying you enough to torture him?"

"Depends on what you want done to him."

"I had plans for G'Kar, but I still need him alive and relatively unharmed. He may be willing to talk more if he feels his friends are in danger. Begin with an eye, and work your way up from there. I trust to your expertise in this matter."

Tu'Pari drew his wickedly-bladed dagger and tested it against his arm. He then smiled. "Always a pleasure to serve."

Catherine shook her head slowly. "It's all so…. I don't know. I thought you were dead. No one survived the Line, they said. No one."

"No one did. I can't…. quite…. see it. But I do know that no one survived. The Minbari were…. very thorough."

"Now that is what I don't understand. The Minbari destroyed everything of ours. They tore us apart, and they kept us apart these past thirteen years. Oh, I know it was these Vorlons who did…. whatever…. but it was the Minbari who allowed it. So why in God's name are you…. looking like…. that?"

"I don't expect you to understand. Sometimes I'm not sure I understand." He rose to his feet and gently took her hand, guiding her outside to his balcony. It was the middle of the morning now, and the bustle of people through the streets of Kazomi 7 could be heard. Slowly he pointed to a park, not far away. There was a small shrine there, made of wood and stone. In front of the shrine there was a garden of sand and rocks. "You see that?"

"A Japanese stone garden, yes…. I…. What is a Japanese stone garden doing here? I've only seen two other humans on this whole planet; that insane merchant who brought me here and the Gandalf wannabe who checked me out in the customs area."

"Ah, I believe the Centauri picked up the idea, and quite liked it…. for a time. Our fashions were quite popular with them for a while, remember? And after…. afterwards…. Delenn told me that they merely altered the stone garden a little to make it look Minbari. It was destroyed when the Drakh invaded, but Delenn saw to it that it was rebuilt. She said…. something…." He straightened. "The power of one mind to change the universe. I told Marrain that once, when he was questioning some of my ideas. That was the one occasion when I wish he hadn't listened to me."

"You creep me out when you do that." She shivered. "Oh, don't look at me like that. One minute you're almost the Jeff I knew, and I can almost forget you've got that damned bone growing out of your skull, and then…. and then you switch personalities and creep me out. What has that stone garden got to do with anything anyway?"

"What do you see when you look at it?"

She shrugged. "Rocks. Sand. More sand. What am I supposed to see?"

"I see footsteps stretching out across the sand, running forever on into the distance. And I know that I'm following them, travelling a path that has already been travelled…. There's a man waiting for me at the end…. and he's me.

"Catherine, I remember things that I have not yet done. I can see my future…. your past. The Vorlons did that to me. They changed my appearance, my memories, took away almost everything that made me human…. leaving just enough so that I would be the Valen of history. They took you away from me. They took everything away from me.

"I have no choice but to follow this path. They made sure of that."

"You…. remember your future?"

"I know what is to happen. The histories record everything I said, and did, and all the mistakes I made…. mistakes I have to make again. Footsteps in the sand."

"Then you…. you know how you're going to die?"

He shivered and bowed his head, gripping the balcony rail tightly. "Don't ask me. I can never tell you. Never tell anyone."

"I don't know if you're Jeffrey or…. the other guy at the moment. I don't think I want to know. What are you going to do now?"

"Stay here. I have to. I don't think the Vorlons want me to go too far…."

He must stay here, until the time is right.

Catherine recoiled at the alien thoughts, but she said nothing. He did not seem to notice.

"Besides, if I head out into the galaxy, there's too much that could happen. The Minbari are…. falling apart at the moment. If I tried to help, I'd just make things worse. I know I would. Neither of the factions out there wants me, not really. But here…. I can help. There are some Minbari who…. remember what I'm meant to represent, and they're coming here. They're coming to safety and strengthening this place…. all at the same time.

"I have to stay here. But you, Catherine…. what are you going to do? I…. I would like you to stay."

"I don't know. I'd…. been told I would find you here, but I had no idea it would be like this. I…. I need to think. I'd like to see a bit more of this place."

"Of course. I'll give you a guided tour."

"I just hope that no one back home gets word of me hanging around with a Minbari."

He smiled, but it was a false smile. She looked at him, and wondered what thoughts were there, behind that so-alien face. For a brief moment equally alien thoughts flitted inside her mind — but only for a moment, and then they were gone, the Vorlon influence receding to her subconscious, content to wait. For the moment, at least.