"Babylon 5 - Legions of Fire 03 - Out of the Darkness - Peter David" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babylon 5)

"Well, actually, it is an easy question. The answer's the tough part."
Sheridan glanced at Garibaldi, who had just spoken, and responded wryly, "Thank you, Michael, for that reassuring clarification."
"No problem."
Delenn stepped forward, and resting a hand on her son's shoulder, said, "It depends whether one is in a situation where a movement of peace is viewed as a benefit for all concerned ... or merely a sign of weakness."
Sheridan nodded in confirmation. "There are some who use peace, not as a tool, but as a weapon. Something to distract or forestall opponents while they move forward with their plans for conquest."
"And how do you know when that's the case?"
"You have to look at the whole picture," Sheridan said. "You don't examine one action, or even a couple of actions. You look at everything they've done throughout their history, and get a



clear idea of where they've been. Based on that, you can determine where they're most likely to go."
"In the case of Londo and the Centauri," Garibaldi said grimly, "where they're going to go is anyplace they want to. Right now they're the six-hundred-pound gorilla."
"The what?" David looked at him blankly.
"The gorilla. It's an old joke. Where does a six-hundred-pound gorilla sit? Answer is, anywhere he wants. Get it?"
"Kind of." David hesitated, then asked, "What's a gorilla?"
Garibaldi opened his mouth to respond, then closed it and sighed. "Never mind."
Easily turning his attention away from the joke that had left him puzzled, David said, "Londo ... the emperor . . . you think that's what he wants to do? Go everywhere . .. anywhere ... he wants?"
"I don't know. I don't know the man anymore," Sheridan said. He looked to G'Kar. "What do you think, G'Kar? You haven't been saying all that much. What's your opinion on Londo's intentions?"
"His intentions?" G'Kar shrugged. "I could not tell you for sure. But there is one thing I do know for certain: Londo Mollari is one of the most tragic individuals I've ever met."
"Tragic?" Garibaldi snorted. "Look, G'Kar, I once liked the guy. And then he went power mad, and now he sits there on Centauri Prime playing all sides against each other. And yeah, okay, I'll be honest... losing Lou Welch to those high-haired bastards didn't exactly endear me to the whole Centauri experience. I've heard them say, in their rhetoric, in their histories, that the emperor is the living incarnation of Centauri Prime. If that's the case, I have some major issues with the incarnation, because it means he's the living symbol of a planet that's gone straight down the tubes. So I don't exactly see, G'Kar, why I'm supposed to shed a tear for him and think of him as a tragic figure."
"Shed tears or not, as you see fit," G'Kar said with a shrug. "I know I shed none. Why should I? He was responsible for mass drivers being used against my people. For the deaths of millions of Narns. Do you know what would have happened if not for Londo Mollari?"
There was a pause. "What?" inquired David.
"Very likely the exact same thing," G'Kar told him. "It is my
belief that Londo became swept up in circumstances that were beyond his control... perhaps even beyond his understanding. And by the time he did understand, it was too late. I believe he had hopes and dreams for his people, but only in the most ephemeral of terms ... and others transformed those hopes into a harsh reality that he never contemplated in his wildest dreams.
"That, Mr. Garibaldi, is the tragedy of Londo Mollari: that he never had the opportunity to become that which he might have been had the vagaries of fate not caught him up. Do not misunderstand," he added hastily. "As I said, I shed no tears for him. In many respects he brought it on himself, and there were times he might have been able to stop it. Then again, perhaps not. We will never know. But whether he is pitiable or not, whether he is someone with whom we empathize or not, is beside the point. He remains a tragic figure nonetheless."
Sheridan was shaking his head and looking over at Garibaldi. "And here you said he wasn't talking much. See what happens? Now we can't shut him up."
"I won't burden you with my opinions if it's a problem, Mr. President," G'Kar said archly.
Sheridan waved him off.
"So what do we do, John?" Delenn said. "We remain stymied."
"We stay the course, that's all," Sheridan told her reluctantly. "I'm not going to unilaterally order the White Star fleet to attack Centauri Prime. I have to present an example for the Alliance, and what they do not need is an example of a leader who functions without giving a damn about the opinions and desires of his constituency. The Alliance refuses to pull the trigger. I can't go forward without them, so we remain together and stationary. And we hope that once the Alliance does come to its collective senses, it's not too late."
"That certainly seems the only way to go," Garibaldi agreed reluctantly. G'Kar simply nodded noncommittally.
Sheridan then gave Delenn a significant look, and she understood immediately what he wanted. "David," she said, "why don't we go for a walk?"
"Dad wants to be able to talk without having me around, right." Despite the phrasing, it wasn't a question so much as an affirmation.

"Nothing gets past you." Sheridan chuckled, but there was edginess in the laugh.
"Fine." David shrugged with feigned indifference and allowed Delenn to lead him out.
"He's a sharp boy, and he's growing up fast," said Garibaldi. "We probably could have kept talking in front of him."
"Let's let him be just a kid, at least for a while longer."
"I wouldn't say he's ever been 'just a kid,' Mr. President," G'Kar said.
"That's probably true." Sheridan seated himself back behind his desk. The back-and-forth with David had taken some of the ire out of his voice, but he was still clearly not happy with the situation. "The thing I find most disturbing about this is the business with the Drazi. One of their own people was murdered, and they simply let it go."
"The word on ISN was that it was a lone nut acting without the government's knowledge or consent," Garibaldi said. "They're even suggesting that it's a private group of saboteurs who're working to bring down the Centauri government by staging acts of violence designed to foster war with the Alliance. The new Drazi ambassador backed it up. Not that I necessarily believed it for a second..."
"You were wise not to," G'Kar said. "It was, in fact, the organized actions of a mob, performed with the full cooperation of the local authorities and Minister Lione's pet troops, the Prime Candidates. They tore the poor devil apart. His assistant was hurried away. I saw his picture on the same ISN broadcast that Mr. Garibaldi saw; he's the new Drazi ambassador. It seems his predecessor's misfortune was his own good luck."
Garibaldi looked at him suspiciously. "You're acting like you saw this as an eyewitness."
G'Kar said nothing.
Garibaldi looked from G'Kar to Sheridan. "Someone want to tell me what's going on? I mean, there's no way G'Kar could have seen it. A Narn on Centauri Prime? Impossible. They've banned all off-worlders ... and even when off-worlders were welcome, Narns never were."
"I have ways," G'Kar said with great mystery.
"Mind telling me what they are?"
"I cannot, in good conscience, do so," G'Kar informed him.
"And you?" He turned expectantly to Sheridan.
But Sheridan shook his head. "I don't know, either. G'Kar hasn't told me."