<br><br>CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO<br><br>As the door closed behind them, Dalton's dark laughter rose, coming slowly at first, then growing to fill the room.<br><br>"Something amuses you?" Adric asked, eyeing him warily.<br>
<br>"Oh yes, indeed." Still chuckling, Dalton dropped into a lazy sprawl across the sofa. Shifting his hips slightly, he pillowed his dark head on his arms and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. "I often find those three quite amusing. Especially when they're trying to be subtle. Don't you?"<br>
<br>Adric shifted uneasily in the chair, massaging his left leg. "I haven't found much worth laughing about in a very long time, my cold, calculating friend."<br><br>"A pity, that." Dalton swung his legs to the floor and sat up. Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, he closed the space between them. "Life is much too short to succumb too melancholy. You and I, we're Roman candles, burning out too damn fast to waste a moment on regrets and might-have-beens."<br>
<br>"How do you arrive at that?"<br><br>"We command, Adric. And for that reason alone, we don't meet the criteria of normal men. We've got too many lives depending on our much vaunted leadership. If we show weakness, even for a second, someone will be there to steal our power. We have to be more than the average man or we're no more than dead men."<br>
<br>"I know what you're saying," Adric assured him. "Be that as it may, all this does begin to pall, don't you think?"<br><br>"Explain?"<br><br>Adric shrugged. "Ah, I know you were born into this rebellion, but I was recruited. I came into it with my head full of dreams of glory and regaining the freedom of a past century. But there isn't any magic, just killing." He sighed, shaking his head. "Hell, maybe I've just gotten too damn old for all this cloak and dagger crap, Dal. Shit, I am old. Old, and damn tired of all the endless fighting."<br>
<br>"You and I were old from the cradle, Adric. Death and destruction were the toys given to us as babes in the cradle. They are all destiny had in store for us. It is all we'll ever have from our lives, but being alive is better than the alternative."<br>
<br>"Perhaps. Perhaps not," Adric said dully. "I gotta tell you, old friend, the blazing fires that burned in my soul have wasted away into cooling embers. I don't sleep well anymore, Dal. When I'm laying there in the dark, I find myself wishing for a little cottage where I can find peace in my final years."<br>
<br>A disgusted sneer twisted Dalton's lips. "You make a practice of talking like a dead man, don't you? I trust you realize if you stop running and live in that cottage, that's exactly what you're going to be." His hard eyes bore into Adric, probing deep into the slightly older man's soul. "That life was never meant for the likes of us." <br>
<br>"Don't worry. I'm not ready to commit suicide." Adric smiled sadly. "Not yet."<br><br>Dalton continued to study the man for a long moment before he nodded. "That would be very reassuring if I was certain you meant it."<br>
<br>Adric lifted a dejected shoulder. "Maybe that's why I said it." His sad smile flickered again. "You know, when I realized you'd finally come, I was delighted. Now, I'm not so sure you should have made the trip."<br>
<br>A curious frown marred Dalton's brow. "What's happened to change your mind?"<br><br>"I'm wondering if it was the smart thing for you. I suspect you are being forced into a situation you have no taste for. I've got to ask myself if you're accepting our alliance because of the pressure your friends put on you to agree."<br>
<br>Dalton slumped back against the sofa and steepled his long, graceful fingers, watching Adric for a moment. "I don't make any decisions under duress, Adric. If I'd seen a better option of getting off this infernal planet, I'd have taken it." His lips curled into a mocking half-smile. "You really don't credit the man I am, do you?"<br>
<br>"I remember more than you think, perhaps."<br><br>"You think so?"<br><br>"As I recall, you were always a very contrary man, but also a man who was often correct. You were a careful man, whereas I tended to lean toward the impulsive." Adric traced his scar thoughtfully. "Admittedly though, I do think of you fondly, and maybe with a little distortion."<br>
<br>Dalton laughed heartily. "Maybe with a lot of distortion."<br><br>Adric grinned, and for the first time there was a touch of the old Adric in his amber eyes. "That might well be the case." The sparkle dimmed as suddenly as it appeared. "I tell you, Dal, sitting here talking like we did in the old days brings back a lot."<br>
<br>"Pretty unpleasant for you, I bet."<br><br>"Not as unpleasant as the accident."<br><br>"That must have been mighty traumatic."<br><br>Adric swallowed hard, nodding. "I have never been so scared in my life as when I realized the ship was out of control. I hope to God I never know that kind of terror again."<br>
<br>"Adric...."<br><br>"After the crash, when I came around, I couldn't move. But, I could sure as hell feel. It was torture, Dal. Pure and simple hell. I didn't know a man could hurt so bad and still survive."<br>
<br>"Adric...."<br><br>"Just breathing was like having a thousand knives dicing through my skin. I actually prayed for death, but the old gods must not have been in a merciful frame of mind." He groaned softly in his throat. "I couldn't will myself to die, and I couldn't pass out. I thought I'd lose my mind from the pain."<br>
<br>"Adric. Don't." Dalton jerked swiftly to his feet and moved away. When he turned back his brilliant gaze was chilled, unapproachable. "Why are you telling me this?"<br><br>"Maybe I'm a selfish man. Maybe I want to win my way back into your faith. Maybe to do that, you have to understand what has happened to change me." Adric laughed bitterly. "And maybe I find I need to spend time with the people I knew before my life crumbled."<br>
<br>Dalton's black scowl silenced him. "So, that's why you've been locked away in private conference with Paris? Is that what you expect me to believe?"<br><br>"You know why Paris has sought me out."<br>
<br>"Oh yes, Adric." Dalton hissed, his words dangerously soft. "I'm afraid I do. Paris has developed a strong fear of me. A fear I've not taken time to rectify." His anger burned, darkening his eyes to a deep, glittering sapphire. "Don't try to use that fear for your own ends. I warn you, it will not be well received if you do."<br>
<br>"That's what you think I'm trying to do?"<br><br>"I hope you're not that stupid. I really do."<br><br>"Paris doesn't trust you, Dalton. He seems to think you were going to jettison him out an airlock."<br>
<br>"Yes, well it seemed like the thing to do at the time."<br><br>"Have you really become that ruthless?"<br><br>A cruel glint brightened Dalton's eyes. "I didn't jettison him, did I?"<br>
<br>"But you would have?"<br><br>He shrugged a lazy shoulder. "It was a matter of survival. We'd tossed everything that wasn't welded down, but we were still short of reaching escape velocity. The computer reported we had to lose only one hundred seventy pounds. Paris weighs just over one seventy-five. Under the circumstances, I felt he was expendable."<br>
<br>"Paris didn't see it that way, I take it."<br><br>"I don't suppose he did. He's not the self-sacrificing kind. I, on the other hand, saw no reason for both of us to die. Not when the sacrifice of one would guarantee the survival of the other."<br>
<br>"And you're no more selfless than Paris."<br><br>Dalton shrugged again. "I considered the consequences and decided I had more to contribute to the group. If I had to do it over, I would change nothing."<br>
<br>"How's he come to still be counted among the living?"<br><br>"Ah, Paris always was lucky. He struck the mother lode on that day. While I was trying to convince him round to my way of thinking...."<br>
<br>"With a gun in your hand?"<br><br>"You do what you have to do," Dalton said. "Anyway, while I was trying to find him and convince him to step into the evac tube, I stumbled over the sabotage. It was easier and quicker to correct the damage than it was to find my elusive companion, so I corrected the damage. End of story, Paris survived."<br>
<br>Adric snorted, shaking his head. "Your skin always did come first."<br><br>A look of pure innocence covered Dalton's face. "Would you fault me for that?"<br><br>"That's a damn frightening confession, Dal," Adric said carefully. <br>
"Can you possibly be as heartless as you portray yourself?"<br><br>Dalton's lips lifted in a half-smile. "I advise you never have to find out."<br><br>The intercom bleeped, blaring a summons for Adric's immediate attention and interrupting whatever response Adric might have made. <br>
<br>end part 22<br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>PEJA<br>The wwomb archive <a href="http://www.squidge.org/~peja/cgi-bin/index.php">http://www.squidge.org/~peja/cgi-bin/index.php</a> accepts all fandoms, all genres. Come create your personal page with us<br>
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