A Darkening Tide - Chapter 15

V: Bride Of The Serpent - Epilogue

"Mane-of-Night? I'm picking up the Mystalorn system's perimeter beacons", reports Myr'aa, her words cutting through my meditative state. "We'll be home shortly."

I've spent hours - maybe a whole day - recounting my experiences, my conversations, everything in the hope of disproving the conclusion I've been forced to make concerning Lady Darkening. The more I go over those flashes of thought I snatched from her mind as we battled, the more times I hear that laugh in the back of my consciousness, the more convinced I am that the truth is inescapable. I know this woman - and so does Darkhawk.

"What's the local situation?", I ask my companion as I head for my wardrobe, and start looking for something suitable to wear, a task I find peculiarly joyless on this occasion. "The last thing I need are more surprises."

"The current system-wide alert status is Level 2", my friend informs me. "No imminent threat anticipated, but neighbourhood military forces are maintaining vigilance."

"Dominion alert status?"

"The Fleet Expeditionary Wing is on warm stand-by, with no standing orders", comes the reply. "Otherwise, vigilance has been advised."

"Location of Dominion flagships?"

"Dominion One is on shallow patrol out along the orbit of Scalos", reports Myr'aa. "Dominion... Dominion Two is reported as being on stand-by status at Fleet Forge Fourteen - that's the development base for the Phoenix class ships..."

That certainly counts as a surprise - albeit a pleasant one. It appears that I haven't been forgotten...

"...Dominion Three is on diplomatic secondment in Imperial Temple space; Dominion Four is on high-visibility patrol out on The Edge, monitoring Mutual Defence Imperative fleet movements; Dominion Five is at Fleet Platform Broadsword, awaiting deployment..."

Nothing seems to be out of place - but then I haven't even started yet.

"Put me through to the Embassy on my personal priority channel", I instruct Myr'aa. "I need Darkhawk to arrange to keep my arrival quiet."

"Understood", responds my companion, but the illusion of normality then starts to show a few cracks...

"Mane-of-Night, the Embassy is communications-dark", Myr'aa announces, with some anxiety. "No out-going traffic, all incoming signals are going straight to an automated buffer. That should only happen if there's been a major security breach..."

"I know", I murmur to my friend. There couldn't be a clearer sign that things are not as they should be, and if the rest of Dominion isn't on high alert because of it, that suggests the problem is more personal - and that makes me even more concerned.

"Give me the Confederacy news network", I tell Myr'aa. "Scan for references..."

"I think I have something already", Myr'aa tells me almost immediately. "Linking to your suite..."

"...no official word has yet been released by Dominion diplomatic channels", says the Yituron woman who's the lead reporter on this particular info-strand, "but there has so far been no denial of the story we've been running with since last night, and that is that reliable sources have revealed that Darkhawk has been suffering for some time from an unidentified, but apparently terminal medical condition..."

It was bound to happen, sooner or later. Stories like that are slippery as eels, squirming out of even the strongest grasp, and although the damage already seems to have been done, Darkhawk appears to have closed down all public channels in an attempt to prevent any more information leaking out.

"Contact Jiira Surjitaal on the Dominion Military Channel", I instruct Myr'aa. "Have her arrange me a secure docking bay - and no publicity. If Commander Rusitan gets in her way, tell her she has my full authority to punch her way through him."

I'd prefer to avoid inciting a diplomatic dispute, but this goes beyond diplomacy. I need to get to Darkhawk, and avoid the prying eyes of the intergalactic news networks, The longer I stay hidden, and hopefully dead in the eyes of certain individuals and organisations, the better a chance I stand of dealing with this situation before any more damage is done - not counting, of course, any "accidental" damage that might be inflicted on the Confederacy's stiflingly authoritarian commander of Sentinel Station...

Under the guise of a routine Dominion diplomatic courier ship, The Ebony Wind adopts a standard approach to Sentinel - with Chief Ranger Surjitaal supervising the whole procedure, apparently without needing to knock Commander Rusitan on his backside. Darkhawk's chosen representative on the Station's operational command staff has perhaps shown uncharacteristic self-control, staying her displeasure to avoid needlessly drawing attention to Darkhawk's situation, and our approach and docking take place without excessive and intrusive scrutiny, all thanks to our representative's commendable restraint.

"Mooring stations report we're secure, and clear to disembark", Myr'aa tells me as I return to the command deck of my ship, in fresh boots, a white halter top tying shut under my breasts, a short black leather skirt and one of my favourite cropped jackets, also in black leather, and with full-length gloves for sleeves. My energy whip still needs repair, but I still have my armour generator, which takes its usual pride of place fastened onto the left breast of my jacket, and my mind contains all the weapons I'm likely to need, magical and telepathic - but I still have an enchanted whip at my hip, should anyone think I'm too predictable.

A Dominion operations crew "unload an important package" - a crate containing only inert material The Ebony Wind collected from space - whilst I slip away from the ship under a cloak of magical invisibility, creep up to Master Warrior Surjitaal as she oversees the unloading, gently nudge her to indicate my presence, and my readiness to proceed, and follow in her footsteps as she leaves the docking complex, heading for the Embassy.

Several members of the media community are gathered outside the Dominion Embassy, with video crews or anti-gravity equipped automated camera modules also in attendance, but the arrival of a cargo container doesn't exactly stir them into frenzies of excitement. There is a certain increase in interest as the crate reaches the Embassy doors, and one or two of the reporters try to snatch a glimpse of the interior, but there's nothing to see, for my spell is doing everything I asked of it, keeping my arrival a secret to everyone but those who I want to know...

The reception hall is empty - there's no-one stationed at the main desk. Not knowing what state of mind Darkhawk might be in, I telepathically instruct Jiira and the support team to stay back as I dismiss my invisibility magic and venture onward alone. All this time, with "Lady Darkening" on my mind, I'd never considered that Darkhawk's condition might have worsened since I last saw her - she could be struggling to keep it together. This could be all it takes to push her right over the edge...

"T... tell me it wasn't you..."

I'm snapped out of my thoughts by the trembling voice of Darkhawk. All of a sudden, I find her standing right in front of me, face damp with sweat, sunken eyes glowing with the inner fire that's killing her.

"Tell me it wasn't you that told them", she says once more, "and I'll believe you."

"I told no-one", I assure her. "I'll help you find out how this got out - as long as you need me, I won't be going anywhere. But first, there's something you need to know..."

...to be continued in "A Crash-Course In Betrayal", coming soon on The Darkhawk Diaries...

Mane-of-Night will return in "A Darkening Storm"...

Posted at 22:54 on 15.06.2008


~ o O o ~


Previously...
Mane-of-Night And The Watcher From Beyond - Chapter 1 - 21.06.2009
Mane-of-Night And The Dark Child's Descent - Chapter 14 - 17.05.2009
Mane-of-Night And The Dark Child's Descent - Chapter 13 - 15.05.2009
Mane-of-Night And The Dark Child's Descent - Chapter 12 - 13.05.2009
Mane-of-Night And The Dark Child's Descent - Chapter 11 - 11.05.2009