Темное, кривое зеркало. Том 3 : След на песке - [39]

Besides, it wasn't IPX business any longer. Just…. personal interest. Right?

"Dan," she called into the kitchen. "What do you know about a Narn called G'Kar?"

"Ha'Cormar'ah G'Kar?" he called back. Catherine, faintly recognising the term for a Narn preacher, shouted back in the affirmative. "Not as much as I'd like," came the reply. "Once a big fellow in the Kha'Ri. Disappeared on some sort of personal mission some years ago. Still got his fingers in a number of pies, though. Why the interest?"

"Would he have any connection with…. with IPX, at all?"

"Certainly possible. If any Narn would have, it'd be him. He's not quite as xenophobic as some of his fellows. He's got an aide of some sort who comes here from time to time. I'll remember his name in a minute."

"That's a fair bit."

"Well, you know me. Even when I'm not working, the old instincts linger. It's surprising how much you overhear even when you're not trying."

He came back to the couch, carrying two mugs of the nearest thing to coffee available in the post-fall days. Catherine took her mug with a smile and, kicking off her shoes, swung her legs up onto the sofa.

"Why the interest?" Dan asked again, sitting down beside her.

"He's…. involved in IPX somehow. I'm certain of it. At a fairly high level too." She sipped the coffee. It didn't taste of anything at all. "For what reason I can only guess."

"I'll have a poke around tomorrow, if you like. Rustle up a few old contacts. They might know something a bit more recent…. like if this aide of his is in town. Ah…. what was his name? The door chimed and Dan looked up. "I'll get it," he said, rising to his feet and putting his coffee on the table. "Probably the other woman who was supposed to come round when you were out." He grinned, and Catherine smiled back, albeit somewhat weakly.

Her senses were a bit dulled at the moment, but she still heard the buzz of a PPG charging just as Dan opened the door. Acting on instinct she spun round, dropping her coffee, droplets scattering black rain everywhere. She shouted a warning, but it was too late.

Far too late.

The thump of a body hitting the floor coincided with the sound of her cup shattering.

* * *

The speeches were over and business had returned to something resembling normality at Kazomi 7's spaceport. Delenn had gone to meet with Lethke. Taan Churok and Vejar remained, working as hard as they ever did, and Valen…. he had left too.

For a while he had stood there, the love and adoration of his people enveloping him, and he reflecting it back towards them. The wave of ill-feeling resulting from the fate of the Keeper's host had evaporated, and conversation was now lively — if quiet — and filled with wonder.

Valen drifted through the streets and alleys of Kazomi 7, his mind elevated on a higher plane. Few who saw him could comprehend the thoughts raging through his mind. Only one person he had met since his…. change had been able to identify with him and she…. was away. Besides, she had been changed almost as much as he had.

He remembered so much, some that had happened, some that had not. He could see clearly the slopes of Mount H'leya as he addressed the throng of his own people and others. He could hear the words of his speech as easily as if they were being spoken now beside him.

And yet he could not remember where he had been born, or the name of the first woman he had kissed, or even the name of his brother.

Many times he had pondered on the strangeness of this, and he had come up with many answers. Some satisfied him. Most did not.

But then, there had been very few people he could ever remember who had any sense of…. of centre. Any point of focus around which their lives were based. Marrain — a name and a face he knew but who had been dead for centuries — he had been thus focussed. For a while at least. His whole life had been based around one thing, and when that base was shattered he had fallen, and never recovered.

"I should have led!" the familiar voice cried out, one arm pointing across the room. "I was worthy, more worthy than you! I challenge you, as our people have always settled our differences. Here…. in the heart of the Wheel."

He shook his head sadly. He had known almost instantly that Marrain had not wanted to kill him. Oh no, he had wanted to die there. Some small element of what he had been had remained. As it happened, Marrain had not died then. Unable to bear the pain of the Starfire Wheel he had fallen free, crawling into the shadows at the corner of the temple, to watch.

He remembered…. raising his arms, letting the brutal radiation flow over him, into him. He was not afraid. He knew what to do. He knew….

He sighed, and pulled his thoughts back to the present. What had happened to Marrain in the end? He hoped he had found the peace he had searched for, but somehow he doubted it.

Few indeed with that point of focus. But one who was still alive….

He had spoken to Sinoval…. when…. a few days ago? Delenn had been discussing the problems with the Keepers and the refugees. She had then been called away, and Valen, out of curiosity, had stepped forward and continued the conversation.