So much blood.
Almost an ocean of it.
Marrago
stared in mute horror, unable to form even a conscious thought.
"Where are you, Sinoval?" he cried again after a long while. Tears were welling in his eyes.
Behind him, the Shadow Warrior waited.
Kulomani was not stupid. He knew in whose service he had been recruited and he accepted that, knowing the stakes he fought for. To his mind there had been something wrong throughout the war with the Shadows, something he had only been able to conceptualise during the final battle at Z'ha'dum itself. There had been something wrong and now he had the feeling that he was on the side of right again.
He sat at his command post on the bridge of Babylon 5. What did the humans call it? C and C? At his fingertips rested the entire power of the whole station, and by extension all of the Alliance. Power was a truly terrifying thing sometimes.
He tried again to contact General Sheridan. Again there was no reply. The General was here, in his quarters. He had taken some time off to rest, claiming he had not been sleeping well. Kulomani did not really grasp the problem there, but he supposed none of his people could. Still, he could not deny that the General had not been looking well. There were dark smudges under his eyes and he spent a lot of time rubbing at his face and drinking that strange black drink he called coffee.
Still no reply. He ordered a Security squad to General Sheridan's quarters. It could be nothing, but he had a feeling there was something happening. The Alliance fleet at Frallus 12 was mobilising, as was the Dark Star Squadron 17, patrolling the outskirts of Centauri space. With one word from Kulomani they would rush to Centauri Prime and fire the first shots in a new and terrifying war.
Not Alliance against Shadows. Alliance torn apart against itself. The raiders were a symptom, the first bubble of poison rising from the bottom of the swamp. There would be more. But the war would begin there, on Centauri Prime.
The Security team reported back.
Kulomani breathed out and gave instructions for the Alliance fleets to move to Centauri Prime, top priority, and for a medical team to go to General Sheridan's quarters.
He gave them in that order.
Susan Ivanova called until her throat was hoarse. She ran through the neverending, always-winding pathways of Cathedral until her feet ached and her legs burned with pain.
It was happening. The Brotherhood had launched their attack. The Centauri ships were being outmatched and overcome. Brotherhood shuttles were already heading for the planet's surface. Centauri Prime was teetering on the brink of one disaster too many.
And where the hell was Sinoval?
"Damn you, Sinoval!" Ivanova called out to the empty darkness. She could not even see any of the Soul Hunters, not even the Praetors Tutelary who were always near Sinoval. It was as if Cathedral had died in a split second and she just had not been told yet.
"Sinoval, if you make me do this by myself, I swear by almighty God I'll...."
She ran into the training ground without even realising it. He was there, sitting cross-legged as if in meditation, Stormbringer on the floor in front of him. He was staring into nothingness.
"Damn you!" she cried out. "Didn't you hear me? It's starting!"
There was no reply.
She ran up to him and shook him roughly. He did not move. "Sinoval, don't you...." She shook him again. His skin was cold, unbelievably cold. "Sinoval!" She pushed him.
He fell backwards. His eyes continued to stare up into the darkness.
Chapter 4
There are no secrets under the sun.There are no hiding places for the shadows.
There is no time for one last request.
Those who would betray the light will fall and die, destroyed by their own darkness. Shadows flee when even a single ray of light is cast upon them. One glimpse of the sun and they are gone.
understanding of etiquette."
The man nodded. "I do what is required of me. Look upon this place, Sinoval. Look, and wonder how it is you will escape, for that will never happen. This is what awaits you."
Sinoval looked at him. "You are playing a game you do not understand."
"On the contrary, sir, we understand it very well. Good day, Primarch."
With that, the Inquisitor was gone.
Leaving Sinoval alone.
That did not mean she had been scared to.
The door was clearly meant to inspire awe and terror. Susan was neither awed nor terrified. She was mildly impressed, and in a very bad mood.
"We haven't got time for ritual," she snapped. "Open up now or I'll kick the door in."
The door opened, and she stepped inside.
In another situation she would have been astounded by the size and majesty of the room that greeted her. She might have asked how such a room, whose borders seemed to stretch into infinity, could fit inside a place even as massive as Cathedral. She might have wondered at the millions of twinkling stars that lined the walls.
She did not.
She stormed up to the altar, sparing only a passing glance for the flower that still rested there, looking as perfect and alive as the day it had been plucked.