Темное, кривое зеркало. Том 3 : След на песке

What is one life worth? What is one soul worth? And who must pay the price? The war has begun, and Delenn is faced with a most difficult choice by the new Vorlon ambassador. An offer of salvation is made, but is it too much for anyone to pay? Elsewhere Sinoval encounters the sting of treachery, and the war comes to Centauri Prime, bringing with it a great fire and a terrible Darkness.

Chapter 1

Their tactics are seemingly without rhyme or reason. There is no logical pattern to their choice of targets. Of this I am certain. The worlds that have come under fire so far have no distinguishing characteristics. There is no progression from one area to another; no discernible goal; no readily ascertainable purpose.

The respected representatives from the other clans will no doubt regard this as inadequacy on my part, and far be it from me to presume to compare myself to the wisdom of such people, but if I may reach above myself for a moment, I believe I have a theory.

None of us has been able to discern an overall strategy to the actions of the race we have dubbed 'Shadows'. We know that they are not a haphazard race in general, because when it comes to a direct engagement there are clear, well-defined tactics and very precise attack formations. They have tactics, they merely lack a strategy.

I believe their strategy is nothing but the spreading of chaos. They exist to create fear in our minds, to disrupt and damage, but not to destroy.

My lords, I do not think they want us dead. On the contrary, they want us alive, but…. directed in some way. They want us to panic, to blame each other for our lack of skill, to sow doubt and dissension. Their reasons for this, alas, I have not been able to determine, but then I am just a simple warrior and such things are doubtless beyond me. Perhaps the revered Shalma Drekenn may be able to enlighten me.

What is clear is that they have some purpose for us, and I for one have no intention of letting them accomplish it….

An excerpt from A Report upon the War, by Parlonn, Warleader of the Fire Wings clan, presented before the Gathering of Fanes in the city of Tuzanor, in the third year of the last great Shadow War.

[This report was declared highly seditious in light of Parlonn's later actions and was sealed in the Great Archives in Yedor following the conclusion of the war. All copies were lost when the Library was destroyed by human bombardment in the Earth Year 2259.]

* * *

They came from nowhere, simply appearing, shimmering into view. There were three of them, black and sinister, shadows against the night sky.

The crew of the two Drazi ships knew full well what they were, and they were not afraid. Perhaps these…. mysterious aliens had been able to defeat the Brakiri expeditionary force sent out against them, but what could you expect from Brakiri anyway? This crew were Drazi, and they were true warriors. After all, hadn't they fought these…. Shadows already? At Epsilon 3. They had survived that, and they would survive this.

The first Sunhawk was sliced in pieces by the first Shadow ship. Its crew died without the chance even to scream. The other soared forward, firing its forward ion cannons. The Shadow dodged the blast effortlessly and rose above the warship.

An instant later, the second Sunhawk was gone.

The three Shadow vessels departed from normal space, none so much as scratched, leaving behind them only the wreckage and the dead.

* * *

The images faded, and Delenn sighed softly. So many dead, so many lives annihilated in a mere split second. Such a tragic waste, and it had been she who had arranged their deaths. Oh, refusing the Shadows' false offers of peace had been the only course of action, but ultimately it had been her decision. She had made it, and these people had died as result.

There was a gentle hush amongst the members of the Council. Delenn's first glance was to Vizhak and Taan Churok, the two Drazi members. They had been here from the very beginning, and they had each served the Alliance well. But they were still Drazi, and some things remained no matter how much time was spent among aliens.

'We will send more ships,' Vizhak announced. 'And we will keep sending ships until these Shadows are all destroyed.'

'You can send all the ships you like,' Delenn said softly. 'You will only create more of the dead. The Enemy is too powerful for that. They are also too quick. You saw yourself just how the ambush turned around there. Did both ships have telepaths?'

The two Drazi looked at each other, and then proceeded to find many things of interest in the papers before them.

Delenn sighed again, rubbing at her eyes. She had not slept well last night. Not at all. 'Telepaths are the only real weapon we have against the Shadows,' she said. 'You both know this. Why then were those ships not provided with telepaths?'

'It is easy for you,' Vizhak said, looking up. His tone of voice was faintly apprehensive. 'Minbari have many telepaths. Drazi have few. We do not breed as many telepaths as Minbari do, and those we have are…. needed. Our laws do not bind them. They are not soldiers. We cannot command them to go to war.'

'We have…. some telepaths here,' she said.

'Yes. Minbari telepaths. Brakiri telepaths. One human telepath. None of those can serve on Drazi ship. Only Drazi serve on Drazi ships.'

'I was on one of your ships,' she pointed out. Twice, in fact, at Minbar and at the Third Line. The Drazi had been most eager to have her aboard the Stra'Kath, their flagship.

'You are leader,' she said. 'You lead Drazi. You speak for Drazi to aliens. You are different.'

She did not know whether to be flattered or not. She had certainly been given worse compliments. Her general mood, however, left no time for recognising the absurdity of the situation. 'The fact is, Vizhak…. without telepaths we stand little chance against the Shadows. At Epsilon Three we had the advantage of knowing they were coming, of setting defences, of time to prepare. We cannot do that this time, and if we simply fly around waiting for them to appear, then we will share the same fate as those two ships.'

'At least we try,' spoke up Taan Churok. 'Kazomi Seven is as safe as we can make it. Is fortified, is strong, is safe…. but other worlds, other peoples, other ships…. We cannot protect them all. So we try to deal with Shadows. We try…. where are others?'

'We have hardly been idle,' Delenn replied. 'We have been trying to establish a strategy, so that we can understand the enemy. Ambassador Sheridan made it clear that we, the Alliance, would bear the brunt of the Shadows' attacks, and so far that has appeared to be the case, but their attacks have been against your individual worlds…. not against any Alliance holdings. Why? We have to understand what they want first.'

'We know what they want. To destroy us.'

'We try to fight them, Delenn,' said Vizhak. 'Is Drazi way.'

'There is another concern,' spoke up another voice, and all eyes turned to Lethke, Minister for the Economy. The Brakiri was a calm-spoken man, precise and used to thinking clearly before speaking. 'We have among us, here in this very city, one who knows more about the Shadows than anyone else can hope to. He promised us his aid and the assistance of his people when he arrived. But he has done nothing. For three weeks he has done nothing. He is not even here now.

'Where is Ambassador Ulkesh?'