Темное, кривое зеркало. Том 5 : Средь звезд, подобно гигантам

recognised a Tak'cha when she saw one, then memory returned and understanding dawned, and she realised to whom she was speaking.

'You are Marrain.'

His eyes flashed. 'Marrain the Betrayer, my lady.'

She looked back at the wall of force, and then at Marrain. She nodded once, and then followed him away from the battle.

* * *

'Then I guess I'll die.'

* * *

William Edgars had heard numerous theories about what happened when you died. There was of course the ubiquitous 'life flashing before your eyes', that single moment stretching out into years. But he had always favoured the idea of nothingness — no pain, no fear, nothing at all.

He was wrong, as he discovered.

'What do you mean?'

'I've seen Death.'

'I assume that word merits the capital letter. I do not disbelieve you, Senator Smith. Tell me what you have come here to tell me.'

'There was a box. It was called the Apocalypse Box. It was a…. gateway of some kind, into somewhere else. Something came through. Death.

'I've seen aliens. I've been in space. I've seen and done terrible things, but nothing like that. I never used to believe in a God or the Devil, but if a Devil exists, that's it. It looked at me, and I could feel it inside my mind, examining me as if I were an insect.

'I was wondering if you knew what that thing was.'

'The Apocalypse Box?'

'That was the name I knew it by.'

'Four years ago our agents were excavating ancient ruins on an abandoned planet. They found various religious objects. One of them, a Mr. Eilerson, managed to decipher the symbols as the work of a cult that worshipped death, recording that death had visited them in the form of a spirit.

'After a great deal of searching they located the temple of this cult, and they found an orb there, the size of a large man's head. They brought it to me personally. I could see dark clouds hovering within it, and I could feel something not quite reaching out to me, just beyond my comprehension. I gave the orb to a colleague of mine called Morden. I didn't want the thing anywhere near me.'

'Seedlings, they said. Objects planted in our galaxy through which they could return.'

'I see….

'I see.'

'Tell me, Mr. Edgars. Do you think these things could happen and your lords not know about it?'

'Perhaps. If Sinoval were….'

'No. He has no part of this.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes. They…. they are angered by the thought of his name.'

'Then…. no, they will know.'

'I see. Tell me, Mr. Edgars. Do you think these creatures can be defeated?'

'No.'

'Nor do I. I can feel them. They touched me, and I doubt that I will ever recover. Whatever they may do to me, I am still a man, and a man pays his debts. You have been good to me, and you have helped me. I know you had your own reasons for doing that, but you helped me all the same. I am going away, but I wanted to repay my debt to you first.'

'The gun?'

'You do not want to be here when they come.'

'I see. Thank you, Senator Smith. I will ensure you are not delayed on your way out.

'Miss Hampton. My guest will be leaving now. Ensure that he is not detained.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Cancel the rest of my appointments for today.'

'Yes, sir.'

'And…. may I take this opportunity to thank you for all you have done for me. I appreciate it, and I know I do not say this often enough.'

'Sir? Is everything all right?'

'Yes. I am fine. I just need to…. think about something.'

What really happens just before you die is that one single moment of your life is replayed before your eyes.

The woman was precisely one — and — a–half inches taller than him, and perhaps a year or two older. Not a great deal, but enough for a fourteen — year — old. She was wearing the uniform and the black gloves. She fiddled nervously with her badge, trying to make it sit exactly level.

'Do you think it looks all right?' she asked.

'It looks…. fine,' he said, stuttering and hesitant.

She looked at him, and his throat went dry. He had known her when they were both children, but then one day she had suddenly gone away. He had learned later that she had been taken in by Psi Corps. He had written, and she had replied.

It was the first time he had seen her in five years, and she seemed to him to be the most beautiful woman in creation.

She came slowly towards him, and he tilted his head, his heart pounding so fast he thought it might burst out of his chest. Their lips touched, and he was surprised by how soft and warm they were. He was not aware of anything else at all, nothing could have distracted him from that moment.

Then he felt it.

The merest touch at the front of his mind, like a tiny breath of wind in his face. He pulled back sharply.

'What?' she asked.

And then it hit him. She was a telepath. Everything about her…. was special. She was different — and not just different. She was better. She was superior.

She had something he would never have. She was superior to him, and she knew it.

He ran.

He just wished he could remember her name.

He just wished he had been able to apologise.

'Ah, well,' he breathed, or perhaps he only thought the words.

The PPG fell from William Edgars' dead hand. His eyes were closed before it hit the floor.

* * *

We are your masters and your saviours.

The words hit them at the same time as they hit everyone else on the station, but for Sinoval and Sebastian they had a far deeper meaning. Sebastian stiffened the instant he heard them, snapping to attention with the instinct of centuries.

They were his masters, and his saviours. The words were simply accepted.

For Sinoval, lying stunned and near — comatose, the words came from a long way away, from far beyond the tidal wave of pain and shock that had swept over him. Stormbringer, his blade, the weapon into which he had poured his soul, was broken.

He had fallen on the field of battle. His weapon broken, his confidence shattered, blind and deaf and mute, he was unaware that Kats had fallen too. To him, the words that sounded in his mind were the confirmation of his defeat.

He was lost.