'You would.... have liked each other.... Delenn.... Do you think.... I will see her again.... after.... I die?'
'I do not know,' she said simply. 'If there is any justice.... then you will. But justice may be.... in short supply.' Her eyes suddenly widened as she caught something in his tone. 'But I thought.... your injuries were not fatal.'
He smiled. 'No,' he rasped. 'No, they aren't. I could be.... out of this bed.... in a few months.... walking around in a year.... and in two years or so.... I'd have no sign but a very.... distinguished.... limp.
'Of course.... that doesn't matter. I'll be put on trial.... convicted.... and shot in the street like a dog.... No.... I know the means.... of manipulating the public. If.... the new Government.... wants me as its villain.... then so be it. As long as.... one person knows.... the truth.'
'I know,' she said, firmly. 'And I will not let that happen.'
He shook his head. 'Doesn't matter.... Doesn't.... matter.... at all.... Sorry, Delenn.... can't.... stay.... awake.'
'I understand.' She rose, the sheer grace of her presence undoing the awkwardness of her movements. 'We will talk again. You must let me finish your confession.'
'Yes,' he whispered, his eyes closed. 'Mother.... what is my penance?'
'I do not think you need one,' she said. 'You have made penance enough for any number of sins.'
'Ah.' He smiled again. 'Ah.'
Her fingers brushed his gently, and then she left. He was now ready to face his end, his final destiny.
There was not much for Corwin to say after that. What was there for him to say? Sheridan certainly didn't want to say anything after that revelation. His self-loathing practically radiated from him, and Corwin could feel the air become thick with pain.
He tried not to think about what Delenn had gone through. He tried not to think about what it must have cost her to tell him.
And what it must have cost Sheridan to comfort her, to love her, even through his own suffering.
'I love her,' came a whispered voice. The provisional leader of humanity, the General of the
What could he say to reply to that? He knew there was no way Delenn could be blamed for what had happened. For one dark moment he suspected the Vorlons of manipulating Sheridan again, of pushing him and Delenn apart, of removing any emotional link to peace and happines in the creation of their 'Shadowkiller'.
But then he realised the truth. The Vorlons needed no control, no manipulation, nothing. They needed nothing more than the darkness within one man's soul, the legacy of a daughter taken too young, and a son butchered before he even had a chance to exist.
There is no evil greater than that which humanity does to itself.
Tomorrow, things would return to normal. Corwin would resume his search for the missing Captains Barns and Tikopai. Sheridan would become the General again, guiding his forces towards a war that was becoming more and more costly. Delenn would rest in the hospital, making contact with the Alliance Council on Kazomi 7 and trying to heal her body and her soul.
And the war would continue. More people would die. More people would suffer. More people would grieve.
And for what?
David did not know.
The sobs coming from John's body lessened, as he finally fell asleep. David rose and walked to the window, looking out across the buildings and streets and people of Proxima's Main Dome.
He sighed, and shook his head, recognising the futile lies in his hopes. It would never be over.
Never.
He was ready now, at last. He had made his confession, he had said what needed to be said. He was ready to face the infinite.
'Are you sure?' asked the nurse again. 'Are you...?'
'Yes. There is no other way. Do not worry. You will not get into trouble for this.'
'I wasn't. It was just.... No, it doesn't matter. Goodbye, sir.'
'Goodbye. And thank you.'
She left him alone. Alone, as he had always been. His fingers gently caressed the pad in his hand. It controlled the level of his life support, the amount of the painkilling drugs he was receiving, his entire treatment programme. He was definitely not meant to have it, but the fact that he had acquired it somehow should not surprise anyone.
Besides, no one would be unhappy with the use to which he would put it.
He began moving through the instructions on the pad. It was security coded of course, but that took him all of five minutes to break. He would have done it sooner, but his swollen fingers had trouble inputting some of the codes.
He began flicking through the options, settling on the one he wanted. He was not a doctor, but he had been married to one for eight years, and his memory had always been near perfect. Medical advancement had been limited since Vicky had died, and he was more than capable of adjusting the dose of his medicines to a lethal level.
It was so much easier this way. No show trial. No interrogations. He would not be forced to the same ordeal he had put so many through. He would be gone and forgotten, surviving only in curses and nightmares. Let him be the monster of Clark's rule. One person knew the truth now, and that was enough.
It was over. Gone, and forgotten. All of it.
Except Vicky. He had kept her alive all these years in his memory, never fully letting her go. Now another knew her. He could not pass beyond into whatever Heaven or Hell awaited him without ensuring that Vicky's memory would survive.
He closed his eyes, and felt everything begin to slip away. The end called to him, and he answered.
Part 7 : That Which Man Hath Brought Together...
For millennia the Shadows have walked above the younger races, dark Gods of chaos, spreading anarchy and death where they passed. Their day is nearly done. Beaten back almost to their homeworld they prepare for the end, for a final act of revenge on the races that scorned their ideology. An agent prepares a dark revenge on Proxima. Kazomi 7 is engulfed by a fell and terrible cloud. On Centauri Prime, the Shadow Criers ready for the ascension of their mad lord preaching his creed of fire. Sinoval sets forth for the final meeting with his enemy Sonovar, and takes the first step towards his greater destiny. And a fleet, vaster and more powerful than any before assembled by the younger races, makes for Z'ha'dum.
Chapter 1
