Темное, кривое зеркало. Том 3 : След на песке.

"By knife, by madness, by rope…. all here shall die. Surely you…. and surely I. By knife, by madness, by rope we must die. Surely you…. but firstly I."

Jarno let out a strangled cry and moved forward. His hand seized a goblet from the mantle at his side. It was an old ornament, and heavy. Stumbling forward, as if he had inherited the same near-drunkenness that afflicted her, he dashed the goblet against Ladira's head.

She fell crumpled to the floor, a brief spot of blood dropping from her crushed skull.

"Oh, Gods," cried Daggair. "What have you…? The Court must…. must…." She turned and lurched for the door. Mariel was faster, sliding a thin blade from the spine of her fan. Daggair had hardly reached the corridor outside the door when the blade pierced the back of her neck, and she fell.

"She was right," said Jarno, looking at the two bodies before him. "She was right."

"Shut up! There's no backing out of this now, Jarno…. none. We are in this to the end. Do you hear me?"

"Rope, knife, madness. Rope, knife, madness."

Mariel sighed, and noticed a speck of blood on her gloves. She cursed slightly as she tried to wipe it off. Then, mindful that her companion seemed incapable of doing anything, she called for the guards to remove the bodies.

Then she fled to a distant corner to be terribly sick.

* * *

Captain Dexter Smith refrained from checking his uniform for the eighth time and drew in a deep breath. He was the representative of the conquering heroes after all. He had won. Well, not just him, but he had been a part of it.

Maybe now the ghost of the Starkiller would leave his shoulder.

He walked forward into the docking bay of the station the Narn had, strangely, named Babylon 4. That was the proper name for the place of course, but Smith was less than sure why a Narn would call it that. Ah, who could fathom the motives of aliens? His security guards were behind and beside him. Enough of them…. for the moment. Enough to deal with such problems as might arise.

A small group of aliens was waiting for him. Most of them were Narns, wearing peculiar sunburst insignia, and carrying weapons. In front of them were a Drazi, glowering unpleasantly, and a Brakiri, dressed in an immaculate copy of an Earth business suit.

The Brakiri stepped forward, as Smith came to a halt. "I am Lethke, Minister of the Economy for the United Alliance of Kazomi Seven. It is with…. some reluctance that I hand the station over to you, Captain Smith."

"I thank you, Minister Lethke. Reluctance need not play a part. This station was meant to be ours and this area of space does belong to the Resistance Government. Our diplomats will be more than happy to confirm this, and once they have done so you and your staff will be free to return to your home. We at Proxima would value good relations with the United Alliance."

The Drazi barked something in a strange language, and the Brakiri nodded once. "It is unfortunate, I suppose, that those more qualified than I to authorise an action such as this are not here. Messrs G'Kar and Ta'Lon are currently missing, and the Narn security forces here seem to accept me as the acting leader…. at least for the moment."

"We will be happy to discuss matters with G'Kar and Ta'Lon when they make themselves known to us, Minister. Now, where is Satai Delenn? I have orders to take her into custody."

"Ah, Delenn no longer goes by that title, Captain, and I do not know where she is. I should also point out that any measures taken against her will constitute hostile action against the Alliance, and we will respond in kind."

"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.