Peter David - Out of the Darkness

He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

There was one thing he was at least grateful for: that John Sheridan had not done some damned fool thing, like sending someone to Centauri Prime in a vain effort to rescue him. Or even showing up himself. He knew Sheridan all too well, knew it was the kind of stunt he was likely to pull. But apparently he had not done so. He’d probably had the impulse, but cooler heads had prevailed. Thank G’Quan for that. The knowledge that Sheridan and Delenn were nowhere near this insanity brought him some measure of comfort.

In their cell beneath the palace, Sheridan and Delenn heard something faintly that sounded a great deal like cheering.

“Sounds like they’re having a party up there,” Sheridan commented. They were the first words he had spoken in some time.

“Do you think it involves us?” Delenn asked. She noticed some sort of vermin crawling around in the corner of the cell, and did her best to ignore it.

Sheridan noticed where she was looking. Without a thought, he walked over and stepped on it. “You mean do I think he’s going to trot us out, his prize prisoners, and lord it over us? Is that what I think?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, I think that’s what he’s going to do.” Sheridan looked haggard, as did Delenn, and for good reason. Their captors had not been especially kind to them, depriving them of food and water, endeavoring to extract information about the Alliance’s armed might. Neither of them had said anything to that point, and they had no intention of doing so.

Yet Delenn couldn’t help but be apprehensive. The Centauri efforts at extracting information from them had, thus far, been fairly mild. She was sure they could do a lot worse, and she had said as much to Sheridan.

“My guess,” he had replied, “is that their more ‘efficient’ methods wouldn’t leave us in especially good shape. Perhaps not even very recognizable as ourselves. And they may want the option of maintaining at least a semblance of… I don’t know… mercy. Having a mindless shell of President Sheridan speaking out on their behalf isn’t going to convince many people.”

It seemed to make sense to her, but nevertheless she couldn’t help but feel that something worse was going to be forthcoming. And when they heard the crowd noises outside, she began to wonder whether or not this might be it.

She said something softly, and Sheridan looked at her. “What? What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Delenn.” He sighed. “People don’t mutter things under their breath because they don’t want to be heard. They do it because they do want to be heard.”

“You should not have come here,” she said finally.

“What?”

“When that monster… Lione… contacted us, told us that they had David… that we were to come here at once, directly, informing no one, or else they would kill him… I should have come on my own.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said.

But she wouldn’t be dismissed. “It is not ridiculous,” she informed him. “I should have come here as an effort to try to convince them of the insanity of their actions. Try to reason with them. But you should have remained behind.”

“Send my wife to do something that I’m afraid to do?” He shook his head fiercely. “Sorry, Delenn. Call me oldfashioned, but it just doesn’t work that way.”

“Why?” she demanded, her ire rising. “Because you’re a man? A Human male? How typical! You have to throw yourself into the heart of danger when every reasonable assessment of the situation says that you should stay behind. John, it was foolishness! You’re the president of the Alliance, and you delivered yourself to our enemies! The Alliance needs you!”

“You’re the one who should have stayed, Delenn! You could do the Alliance far more good than I could. I tried to talk you into staying behind—”

“I’m David’s mother, in Valen’s name!”

“Hah!” he said triumphantly. “Now who’s being typically Human! And you don’t even have as good an excuse as I do! We both know that, if it’s the Alliance you’re so concerned about, you were the logical one to stay behind.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because you’d be around longer! I’ve only got a few more years left!”

And there it was.

Delenn suddenly felt the coldness in the cell more than she had before. She looked down and away from him, because she knew it to be true. He had acknowledged the terrible truth that had preyed upon her, and somehow made it all the worse.

“I’m sorry, Delenn,” he said softly.

And she turned and thumped him on the chest. It didn’t hurt, but it startled him. The fury exploded from her.

“You’re sorry? You ‘re sorry I Don’t you understandanything, John? I know I should have remained behind! That I should have let you do this on your own! But I couldn’t refuse to come and risk condemning our son to death, because he’s the part of you that will live on! And I couldn’t be separated from you because, with the dwindling years we have left to us, every day—every second—becomes infinitely precious. Whether we live or die, all that mattered to me was that we did it together! How utterly, utterly stupid and shortsighted was that?”

He took her in his arms. “Completely,” he said. “Can’t you see how much I hate you for it?” He tilted her chin back with one finger and kissed her upturned lips. She returned the kiss as if it were going to be their last.

And then there was a rattling at the door. Several guards presented themselves and walked directly toward Sheridan.

“No!” Delenn cried out.

They grabbed Sheridan by either arm, forestalling any chance he might have at trying to pull away. She cried out his name, and he called back, “No, Delenn! Don’t show them any weakness!” before he was hauled out of the room.

The door remained open. For a moment, Delenn thought that somehow they had actually overlooked the fact that she was still in there. Or perhaps they were so confident that it never occurred to them that she might make a break for it.

But as quickly as those hopes went through her mind, they were dashed when she heard footsteps approaching the door. And then she took a step back, startled, when a figure in gleaming white appeared. He looked almost heaven—sent in that aspect.

“Hello, Delenn,” he said. He turned to the guards at the door and indicated that the door should be shut behind them.

“Highness, are you sure?” one of the guards asked.

“No. But one of the perks of being a highness is that people must obey your orders, even when there’s no certainty in your mind at all. Do it.”

The door closed, and he turned to Delenn.

“I felt you would be able to talk more freely if we were alone. Now then,” he said. “Let us chat.”

G’Kar heard a noise at his door and stood. He was certain that this was going to be it. And he steeled himself for the escape attempt he knew he would have to make, no matter how hopeless it was. Whenever they entered his cell, they always did so with enough restraints, shock prods, and such to control a dozen Narn. But today he would have to display strength on a par with more than that, for he knew in his heart that he would not have another opportunity.

But then the door opened only slightly, and instead of someone coming in to pull him out, a body was shoved in. It stumbled and fell, and the door slammed shut.

G’Kar squinted with his one eye. Only a small bit of light filtered through the tiny window in the door. The sounds of the crowd were getting louder, reaching a fever pitch, it seemed, only to get louder still. And then his new cell-mate stood, steadying himself a moment, then trying to make out the other person he sensed in the darkness. “Hello? Who’s there?”