the Darkness
Epilogue
The little mute leaped to his feet at the sound of his master�s voice. His face gleaming with sheer joy, he rushed toward Diego, and, before the latter could even realize what was happening, he was already tightly squeezed in Bernardo�s arms.
�Whoa, whoa, whoa, my friend,� Diego said with a laugh, �take heed, or you will crush me in you bear hug.�
Bernardo let go, finally, and looked up at his master with shining eyes.
�My father asleep?� Bernardo nodded affirmatively. �Good.� When the little mute gestured bemusedly, Diego grinned, �I think it is best if I do not mention any of my recent adventures to my father.� He smiled slyly, �Besides, he, probably, would not believe me anyway.�
Bernardo made a sign for �scary� and a �spider� and then clapped his hands � �done?�
Diego shook his head, his eyes darkening slightly. �No, Bernardo. The Shadows are not finished.� The young don frowned and walked up to the opened window. �I have destroyed the one that came here, but there are many more still out there � thousands, maybe millions of them, waiting to attack us.� His last words faded away into deep silence that took over.
Diego looked pensively up at the sky where the first rays of the rising sun were timidly making their way through the fading darkness. The peacefulness and tranquility of this beautiful morning, the carelessness with which the early birds were beginning to sing their trills � none of this even remotely hinted at the threat of the black monsters that roamed around in the universe. But Diego was aware of them all too well. He knew in his mind that Captain Sheridan was right � there will always be a threat until the Shadows exist. Again he remembered the lines from a famous play: �If it be now, �tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come � the readiness is all.� He raised his head slowly and looked at the last remaining star that hung right above the de la Vega hacienda. �I will be ready,� he whispered to himself.
And somewhere on a space station in the far corner of the Galaxy a woman of Minbari descent heard his vow. In her turn, looking out the window into the deep space sprinkled with myriad of stars, she nodded slightly and whispered with a soft smile: �I know.�
The last star in the Californian sky blinked and faded away. A new day had begun . . .
The end
Note: Quotations used in this story are from William Shakespeare�s Hamlet.