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

He had lost a lot of his resources since the destruction of the Great Machine, and in his subsequent depression and ill health he had let himself grow lax and uncaring. A conversation with Kulomani of all people had changed things. The new Commanding Officer of Babylon 5 had managed to convince him to return to his duty: the Rangers. As he sat alone in his meeting room, he cursed himself for being asleep for so long. If he had been able to act a little sooner, maybe.... maybe this whole mess could have been avoided, or at least ameliorated.

He turned the data crystal in his thick fingers, wishing he could avoid the urge to crush it to powder. Things had been so much easier when he had been willingly insensate, when he had simply not cared. Now it was time for him to start caring, and to start doing.

There was a knock at his door, polite and restrained but authoritative enough to confirm that here was a person of some power. G'Kar sighed. He knew G'Kael did not do it on purpose, but some things were simply too ingrained to erase. There was a chime of course, but G'Kael probably never even contemplated using it. It was just too.... impersonal.

"Enter," he said.

The door opened and the Narn Regime's ambassador to the United Alliance entered. He clasped his hands together into fists and nodded his head briefly.

"You wanted to see me, Ha'Cormar'ah G'Kar."

"Yes." G'Kar waved at a seat opposite him. "Please be seated." G'Kael did so. "Food? Drink? I have had some teree prepared, and there is a human drink here that Delenn has grown quite fond of and is trying to interest me in. It is called 'tea'."

"No thank you, Ha'Cormar'ah. I have only recently eaten."

"Ah. You are very.... careful about what you imbibe, are you not, G'Kael?"

The Ambassador smiled slightly. "People who are not do not survive very long in the circles in which we both move, Ha'Cormar'ah."

"Circles. Of course. We both move in very.... interesting circles, do we not?"

"I would suppose so."

G'Kar flicked the data crystal across the table, and G'Kael caught it easily. "We learned a great deal from the Centauri," G'Kar continued. "We learned about space. We learned about war. We learned about the galaxy, we learned how to fight, and we learned how to hate. All of those things are still with us to a greater or lesser degree, but most of all.... We learned how to play their games.

"We learned about intrigue and deception. The 'Great Game', they call it, and they have been playing it for all their recorded history. A game of intrigue and diplomacy and unseen alliances. We have taken it on board very well, as I remember from my time among the Kha'Ri. Assassins, backstabbing, lies.... I remember it well."

"Things do change, Ha'Cormar'ah."

"I am still speaking, G'Kael. Accord me the respect due my position, if nothing else."

G'Kael spread his arms wide and bowed his head. "Of course, Ha'Cormar'ah. My apologies."

G'Kar continued. "In the last few decades we have tried to acquire all the skill and sophistication the Centauri developed over millennia. We are not as good as they were, but we are working hard, are we not? We will never be able to rest until we have beaten them at everything, even the game they created." He paused, gesturing to G'Kael to allow him to speak.

"We and the Centauri are one brotherhood in the Alliance now. Our assistance during their recent troubles is proof of that," G'Kael stated.

"Yes. Our.... assistance. After vehement objections at first, we now offer as much aid as we can spare. Proof to all that we are not bound by old paths and old ways. The Centauri have requested our aid, and thus we grant it. Old wrongs are forgotten."

"As you say, Ha'Cormar'ah."

"Who are you, G'Kael?"

The ambassador looked at him squarely, and then at the shadows behind him. A tall, one-eyed Narn was standing there, a long sword strapped to his back. "You would not ask such a question," G'Kael began, "unless you knew the answer."

"I do know the answer," G'Kar said. "I merely wished to hear it from your mouth."

"I am the Ambassador to the United Alliance from the Narn Regime. I hold honorary rank in our navy, although I fear my military skills have corroded slightly in recent years. And I am the Kha'Ri's Spymaster in Chief."

"They sent you to spy on me."

"And on the Alliance. Both are legitimate causes for concern. Both merited watching, and they felt it important enough to warrant my personal attention."

"Na'Toth?"

"Her.... dealings with you became a little too obvious. She was sent here as my assistant in the hope that the two of you together would lead to others whose loyalty to you was greater than to our people."

"What have you told them?"