Темное, кривое зеркало. Том 5 : Средь звезд, подобно гигантам.
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And this person crying for help.
It was a plaintive, lost, little cry, like that of a child who has lost his favourite toy. Motivated more by curiosity than anything else, he began to move in the direction of the cries. He walked past an abandoned holy building, down a dark alley, and into a main street.
A Narn girl lay there, huddled against the wall of a building, holding her leg. She looked about ten years of age, and Lennier knew in one of those perfect moments of clarity that he had seen her before. He had run into her while fleeing from the Thenta Ma'Kur assassin. He had seen her running around the city, playing childish games.
He moved forward to her.
"What is wrong, little one?" he asked in the Narn language.
"I hurt my leg," she said. "I can't find my mother. There were all these people running and I fell over and.... I don't know what's happening."
There had been chaos, people running and scattering. Several people had been trampled beneath the feet of the frightened and angry crowd. Lennier had watched from the shadows, not intervening. It had not been his place to intervene.
"Everyone is leaving, little one. They are leaving this world on giant ships."
"Why?"
Lennier hesitated, not sure what to say. "Because they are going somewhere better," he said lamely.
"You aren't one of us, are you? You're an alien."
"My name is Lennier. I am Minbari."
"I've heard of you. My father says you're evil, like the Centauri. That all aliens are evil."
Lennier sighed. "He might be right."
She thought about this for a moment. "I don't think you're evil. You look strange, but you talk nicely. My name is Na'Lar, but it will soon be time to take a new name, when I become grown up, and choose a religion. I don't know what name to take."
"You will, when the time is right." He reached down a hand to her. "Come on, little one. I will take you to the spaceships."
"I can't walk. I hurt my leg."
"Then I will carry you." She took his arm and he slowly pulled her to her feet. Then he scooped her up and held her tightly. "Are you safe there?"
"Yes," she said.
"Good."
He began to run. He was trained and fit and healthy and he had exercised hard, but he had never run as he ran now. He sped through the abandoned streets of Narn, past dead buildings, always beneath the oppressive darkness in the sky above. She buried herself in his arms and pressed her head into his shoulder.
She had seemed so light at first, but with every step he took she became heavier. He was not sure if he could even keep hold of her, but he continued to run.
Why are we doing this? asked the voice in his mind. W hat is she to us?
"An innocent," he replied.
What does that have to do with us?
"Everything."
The spaceport grew nearer with every step, but the burning in his lungs and the weight of his burden increased even more quickly. He recited Ranger cants in his mind, meditation techniques, historical texts, anything and everything he could think of.
There were no guards on duty, nothing to stop him entering the launch pad itself. There was one cargo ship remaining, its hold filled with people. He saw a few soldiers, carrying what looked like a coffin towards the ship and carefully loading it on board.
Urgency gave him renewed energy and he sprinted across the pad, ignoring the heat from the engines. One of the soldiers was one the verge of closing the hold when Lennier arrived beside him.
"There's no more room," the Narn said. "Certainly not for.... your kind."
"Not for.... me," Lennier gasped. "But.... her?" He handed over Na'Lar, who looked up at the ship with wide eyes. "A child.... innocent. Take her!"
The soldier looked at him, and plucked Na'Lar out of his arms. She reached back for him. "Wait! You have to come as well!" she called.
"I can't, little one," he whispered. "I have to stay here."
"But you helped me."
"Yes. There is one thing.... you can do for me.... to pay me back for helping you."
"Yes?"
"If you ever meet a man.... called Londo Mollari.... tell him.... I was honoured.... to be his friend."
"Londo Mollari," she repeated. "Yes, I will. I will."
"Good." He pulled back, and the soldier pushed the girl into the hold. The door closed. "Good," Lennier said again, stepping back.
He did not stay to watch the last ship take off. He turned his back and walked away. Exhaustion filled him, but he did not care. There would be plenty of time to rest when he was dead.
They walked slowly, in a silence that veered between the companionable quiet of friends and the awkwardness of people who had once been friends and were now not certain what they were.
They made small talk, chatting about the improvements that had been made on Minbar. Corwin asked about old friends, although there were fewer than he had realised. Sheridan asked about life on Minbar. Corwin did not mention Susan. Sheridan did not mention Delenn.
Finally they stopped, looking at each other awkwardly.
"You've come to ask me to go back, haven't you?" Corwin asked.
Sheridan looked at him, and gave a half-smile. "Sort of," he said. "In a manner of speaking."
"I don't want to go back. I like it here. I'm doing something good. Not morally grey, or vaguely good intentions, or less bad than other people. I'm doing something good. I like it here."
"You don't belong here."
"That's what Kats said."
"Is she the one who brought you here?"
"Yes. I met her at the Day of the Dead on Brakir. I don't remember a great deal about it, but.... it was bad. I had no idea just how many ghosts there were. She invited me here, to help with the rebuilding."