A Dark, Distorted Mirror. Volume 4. A Future, Born in Pain

plan.

'Your day is done, yours and all of your foul race. I will break you.'

The Vorlon's eye stalk swivelled and looked directly down upon him.

<You do not understand.>

'But I do. You are one of the First Ones, a race older than almost anything we can hope to understand. You are millennia in advance even of we Minbari. You are powerful, ancient, possibly even immortal. You think you know all there is to know. You are the masters of order, the keepers of stability and stasis and discipline.'

Sinoval smiled softly.

'There are older ways than yours, Vorlon. There are paths far darker than any you have ever trod. There are riddles you have never heard, and questions that you cannot answer.

'I am not afraid of you. I will destroy you.... each and every one of you.'

<We do not fear you.>

'You should.'

The Vorlon looked at him, its eye stalk moving slowly. A glowing, golden light began to emanate from it.

<Leave this place. Leave the thoughts of mortal beings. They are not for you.>

Sinoval chuckled. 'I was going to tell you the same thing,' he remarked. 'Pray to whatever Gods you worship that we do not meet again. The next time we do, I will crack open that armour of yours and turn the light within you to darkness.

'Do you understand me?'

<We do not fear you.>

Sinoval turned and left. He could feel the voices in the Well of Souls rise in concern, but he ignored them. He had nothing to fear from the Vorlon. Nothing at all.

* * *

Corwin sensed something was wrong from the instant he set foot inside the compound. He couldn't explain it as anything other than instinct, which irritated him no end. He just had a feeling that something was happening.

Ambassador Sheridan showed the two of them into a small but comfortable waiting room, while he went off to get Delenn. Corwin looked around at the chairs, the desk, the pots of tea, and was struck by the complete absurdity of it all. He had not been sure what to expect on the homeworld of the enemy, but it had not been this.

Just to be sure, he had remained standing and passed up the opportunity to sample some of the tea. He had always been a coffee drinker anyway.

He looked at the Captain, who seemed to be perfectly at home here, and that was even more worrying. He was sitting on one of the chairs, flicking idly through an old issue of Humanity magazine that had been discarded on the table. Corwin caught a glimpse of the picture on the cover, and read the tagline. 'Lieutenant Commander Ramirez — One of the New Generation of Earthforce.'

'I wonder if they get a subscription out here,' he muttered. The Captain looked up.

'Oh,' he said. 'Yes. Last October's issue, I think. Da.... He must have brought it with him when he came here. Something to read on the way, no doubt.' He chuckled. 'They're talking about the proposed line of ships for the new year. The Saint-Germain, the Dark Thunder and the De'Molay. According to the dates here, the Saint-Germain must be done by now.' He shook his head. 'I've missed a lot. All those months....'

'Who's the bloke on the cover? I don't think I recognise him.'

'Oh, Earthforce's up-and-coming new star apparently. I don't remember the name, but that's not surprising. He'd be one of the new generation.... since Earth. God, he looks so young.'

'He looks older than me. I think.'

'The more things change, the more they stay the same,' the Captain muttered. 'I bet my superior officers were saying that about me when I joined. God, I never thought I'd get to be this old. Coming up to forty-five this year. That is old, isn't it?'

'Oh, ancient,' replied Corwin dryly.

'And when I look back.... Just how did we get here? In rebellion against our Government, fighting a war against one of the oldest races in the galaxy.... in love with a Minbari.... Was there anything we could have done, do you think? Anything that could have prevented this.... all this?'

'I don't know. It's hard to look back and pick out one moment where everything went wrong. We did all we could, I guess. We did what we had to do.'

'Yes, I suppose.' He tossed the magazine aside. 'It's just weird. I can't get my head around it all sometimes. I can see.... all the roads of the future stretching out before us, and I've no idea which one to take. Just what do we do now? If we took the wrong path before, then can we bring things back to where they should be? Is that even possible any more?'

'I think.... I think we just have to hope for the best. We can't give up. We have to keep trying.'

'There must be another way. There.... I think you're right, David. You're a good man.... a good friend. How's Mary? I completely forgot to ask before.'

'She's.... gone. I haven't spoken to her for months.'

'Ah.... I'm.... sorry.'

'Don't be. It's.... better for her this way. She's alive, and she's not worrying about whether I'm not going to come back one day.'

'Oh, you will. You're going to outlive all of us.'

'Thanks for the vote of confidence.'

The Captain smiled, and for the first time since his revival he looked like himself. Corwin was about to say something when the door opened, and he turned. The Captain rose from his seat, obviously expecting to see Delenn.

It wasn't Delenn. It wasn't even Ambassador Sheridan.

It was a humanoid figure, an alien, dressed in long, flowing robes. Its head was scaly and high, with little horns rising from the back. It did not shimmer, and it did not hold a glowing orb, but Corwin still knew what it was.

'Drakh,' he whispered.

'Yess,' it replied. 'Drakh.'

'You're all dead,' he protested. 'We destroyed you at Minbar.'

'You destroyed our fleets, our orbs, our magi. Our warrior caste is broken and gone. The rest of us.... remain. We bid you welcome.... to our home....'

'Where's Delenn?' asked the Captain. 'Where is she?'

'She will be here.... soon. Yess.'

'No,' whispered the Captain. 'Damn you. Damn you!' A weapon appeared in his hand, and he raised it. The Drakh's eyes twitched as if in surprise, and then its body was thrown back against the wall, a smoking hole in its chest.

'Captain, what...?'

'They killed her,' he whispered, tears rising in his eyes. 'They.... they killed her. Damn them! They killed her!'

'What? How do you know...?'

'I.... I just know. Come on. We have to get back to the ship.'

'What are we going to do?'

'We.... we can't do anything here. I swear I'll be back, though.... and I'll blow this entire planet straight to Hell! Come on.!'

Corwin let the Captain pull him towards the door, and then his instincts took over and he started to run alongside him. 'I thought you gave up your weapons,' he said, as they began hurriedly strapping on their breathing masks.

'Something my.... my father taught me,' he whispered. 'Always be prepared for anything. I brought a spare.'