Темное, кривое зеркало. Том 5 : Средь звезд, подобно гигантам.
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Kazomi 7 was quiet these days. All the administration of the Alliance had been moved to Babylon 5. The Ambassadors and their staff had left. Most of the Governments kept a skeleton office here, with third- or fourth-rate diplomats who did little more than eat large dinners and try to stay out of trouble. The Shrine to the Unknown Warrior that Delenn had created to honour those who had died was now untended and unguarded.
And there, as always, at the summit of the tower that was the Neuadd, was the globe of light that formed the Vorlon's quarters. Ambassador Ulkesh was in. Alone of the ambassadors he had remained behind, a new Vorlon ambassador having been appointed to Babylon 5. Vejar did not know why he was here, and he did not want to know. He had tried, once, penetrating the globe that surrounded Ulkesh's quarters, and had been repelled in agony. Never again. Not for people who no longer cared if he even existed.
It was galling. He had been so much in demand before. Checking people for Keepers, providing wards and shields and holo-demons. With the war over and the Vorlons secure in their power base once again, there was no more need for him.
None whatsoever.
"Such is the gratitude of princes," said a voice.
Vejar returned slowly to his body, and stared deeply into the mirror. There was nothing behind him, exactly as he had expected. He raised one hand, and a ball of light formed inside his fist. Opening his fingers one at a time, he released the ball and it rose into the air.
The light shattered and became a mass of butterflies, a million different colours. Vejar caught one easily and lowered his hand.
In his fist was a feather.
"Hello, Galen," he sighed.
"Hello, Vejar," came the cheery reply. "I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing here."
"Who is Da'Kal?
"That is a question I find my heart is too heavy to answer, but answer it I must. What I do, I do alone. As mine was the omission, so is mine the responsibility to make restitution. But I know that I may fall, and someone else will have to take up my path, and to do that, you will need to know what I know.
"Da'Kal is a noblewoman of my people. Her father G'Nattach was a priest of G'Quan, a particularly wise and enlightened man. I learned a great deal from his teachings, and it grieves me more than I can say that I am acknowledged as a great messiah while men such as he are forgotten. He did what he could to help our people during the Centauri Occupation. He helped refugees flee beyond Centauri-controlled lands. He hid outlaws. He provided medicine and healing and holy words.
"I first met him the night after my father died. I had fled from the household where my family had been kept as servants, and I had killed one Centauri, the son of the noble family who owned us. I still remember his wide, terrified eyes as he died. One more sin to add to so many others. I believe this more as I grow older: we are all born pure, but with each passing day the weight of our actions burdens us more and more and stains us with their filth.
"Lost and confused and angry and afraid, I stumbled on G'Nattach's chapel and collapsed in the doorway. Da'Kal found me and took me in. She nursed me back to health. I still do not know why.
"I do not want to go into too much detail. My flight leaves soon and there is much to cover. I think, however, you can guess what happened next. She was beautiful and passionate and committed to our liberation. I was young and angry and determined to have my revenge. It was an.... unforgiving combination.
"We grew together, we grew apart. Our careers took us on different paths after the liberation. Mine to our military and then into politics. Hers into internal reorganisation and administration. Our lives were entwined as two pieces of yarn from two different spinners, and it was ultimately arranged that we were to be married.
"The passion of our original affair had subsided, but there was still something there and neither of us objected. In the politically-charged environment of the Kha'Ri any alliance was a good one, and the name of her father still carried a great deal of weight. By marrying her, I would be seen as the natural inheritor of his legacy.
"Then came my sighting of the Shadow ship and my epiphany under the choking grasp of Londo Mollari, and my life changed forever.
"I abandoned my post in the Kha'Ri, and set about creating the Rangers and preparing for the war that was to come. I told Da'Kal simply that she could not follow where I walked, and I left her. I have not seen her since.
"I learned something recently — several somethings. I learned that our Ambassador here, G'Kael, is the Kha'Ri's spymaster, sent to observe the Alliance and myself. I have learned that we have been dabbling in areas we should not have been dabbling in, working to wreak our revenge on the Centauri, and we have done it through intrigue and manipulation and deception.
"And I have learned that Da'Kal is the one behind this plan.
"I need to find her. I need to talk to her. I must either try to learn more or try to reason with her. I must at least do something. I am afraid. I loved her once, but that was many years ago. I was a different person then, and I am sure she is a different person now. She must be, to command the fear of one such as G'Kael.
"I am going to Narn to find her. I may not come back, and so I leave this message for you, explaining what I know and what I am hoping to do. I.... feel a strange foreboding about this journey.
"Some of my people call me a prophet. It is not a term I like. I do not see the future, I simply see the strands of fate that connect us all, and I see how they intertwine and shape each other. It is a skill, not a talent, and one I have honed and practised.
"Still, I feel an almost prophetic unease about this. I must go, there is no doubt about that, but I fear something.... Perhaps I am just starting at shadows, but perhaps there is more.
"If I do not return, use what I have told you. Do not trust any of my people, least of all G'Kael. We have become more devious than I had ever suspected, more than anyone could suspect, I think.
"Be careful, and good fortune.
"I wish you well, Delenn."
The laughter had stopped, replaced by the easy, casual intimacy of two people who have fought for their lives together. Talia's hand was in Dexter's and her head was resting on his shoulder.
"So?" he said at last.
There was a long pause.
It grew longer.
"'So' what?" she replied, eventually.
"Dare I ask what you've been up to? It's been almost two years."