[Makebelieve] Brothers Of The Blood - Mark Of Cain 22

[makebelieve archive]

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

As the door closed behind them, Dalton's dark laughter rose, coming slowly
at first, then growing to fill the room.

"Something amuses you?" Adric asked, eyeing him warily.

"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?"

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."

"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."

"How do you arrive at that?"

"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."

"I know what you're saying," Adric assured him. "Be that as it may, all this
does begin to pall, don't you think?"

"Explain?"

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."

"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."

"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."

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."

"Don't worry. I'm not ready to commit suicide." Adric smiled sadly. "Not
yet."

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."

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."

A curious frown marred Dalton's brow. "What's happened to change your mind?"

"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."

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?"

"I remember more than you think, perhaps."

"You think so?"

"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."

Dalton laughed heartily. "Maybe with a lot of distortion."

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."

"Pretty unpleasant for you, I bet."

"Not as unpleasant as the accident."

"That must have been mighty traumatic."

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."

"Adric...."

"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."

"Adric...."

"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."

"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?"

"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."

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?"

"You know why Paris has sought me out."

"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."

"That's what you think I'm trying to do?"

"I hope you're not that stupid. I really do."

"Paris doesn't trust you, Dalton. He seems to think you were going to
jettison him out an airlock."

"Yes, well it seemed like the thing to do at the time."

"Have you really become that ruthless?"

A cruel glint brightened Dalton's eyes. "I didn't jettison him, did I?"

"But you would have?"

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."

"Paris didn't see it that way, I take it."

"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."

"And you're no more selfless than Paris."

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."

"How's he come to still be counted among the living?"

"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...."

"With a gun in your hand?"

"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."

Adric snorted, shaking his head. "Your skin always did come first."

A look of pure innocence covered Dalton's face. "Would you fault me for
that?"

"That's a damn frightening confession, Dal," Adric said carefully.
"Can you possibly be as heartless as you portray yourself?"

Dalton's lips lifted in a half-smile. "I advise you never have to find out."

The intercom bleeped, blaring a summons for Adric's immediate attention and
interrupting whatever response Adric might have made.

end part 22


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