The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
You can not select more than 25 topics Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.

435 lines
24 KiB

  1. [1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]
  2. [3][Guide] [4][Background] ### SYNOPSIS ### [5][Credits] [6][Episode
  3. List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]
  4. During a meeting of the council, Londo complains about the absence of
  5. Ambassadors Delenn and G'kar. This upsets him greatly, and he moves
  6. that they reprimand both ambassadors and ask the Narn and Minbari
  7. governments to assign new representatives to the council. When no one
  8. seconds the motion, Captain Sheridan adjourns the meeting and suggests
  9. they all meet the following morning. As the ambassadors leave, Londo
  10. confronts Na'toth and asks her about G'kar. She tells him only that he
  11. went to investigate the attack on the outpost in quadrant 37, and that
  12. he is able to take care of himself.
  13. Meanwhile, G'kar is fleeing from several pursuing Shadow ships,
  14. smaller than the spiderlike vessels that destroyed the outpost in
  15. quadrant 37. Though there are other one-man ships with him, they are
  16. losing the battle against the Shadows, and retreat to the jump gate.
  17. Two of the ships are destroyed by the Shadows on the way, and the
  18. final remaining Narn pilot radios G'kar, "Tell the others. Warn them.
  19. In death we salute you. Honor our names. Goodbye." The ship makes a
  20. run directly into one of the Shadow vessels, which writhes in pain.
  21. G'kar makes a pledge to remember the pilot who gave his life, as the
  22. Shadow ship explodes. G'kar is able to get to the jumpgate, which he
  23. uses to travel to Babylon 5.
  24. [INLINE] The Shadow fighters in pursuit.
  25. Dr. Franklin enters the officer's lounge, where he encounters
  26. Sheridan. Sheridan says he has some time before his sister arrives to
  27. visit. Dr. Franklin tells Sheridan that Garibaldi's situation is very
  28. bad and that there is little chance of his coming out of a coma by
  29. conventional means. He mentions that there might be one solution:
  30. using the alien machine he obtained from Laura Rosen (cf. [9]"The
  31. Quality of Mercy.") He tells Sheridan about it, and asks for his
  32. permission. Sheridan is somewhat apprehensive, but gives Franklin his
  33. permission. He asks who Franklin had intended to transfer the life
  34. energy from, and Franklin answers that he had planned to take it from
  35. himself. Franklin leaves.
  36. Later, Sheridan meets up with his sister, Elizabeth, when she arrives
  37. on her transport. After some small talk, they go off to have dinner
  38. together.
  39. Meanwhile, Londo receives a visitor: Morden. Morden asks Londo how he
  40. can be of service, and Londo wants to be reassured that the attack on
  41. the Narn base in quadrant 37 cannot be traced back to him. "The Narns
  42. will never be able to prove it was done at your instigation," Morden
  43. tells him, "and, based on your promise to take care of it, your
  44. government accepts your responsibility without question or hesitation.
  45. Perfect symmetry. I believe that this little demonstration will bring
  46. you some very interesting propositions." When Londo asks what should
  47. happen if he is asked to provide another demonstration, Morden tells
  48. him that they will provide it, if only he names the target. "A colony?
  49. An outpost?" Morden suggests.
  50. Londo laughs at that. "Why don't you eliminate the entire Narn
  51. homeworld while you're at it?"
  52. "One thing at a time, Ambassador. One thing at a time." Before he
  53. leaves, Morden asks Londo for another small favor. "If you should hear
  54. about anything strange happening out on the rim, I'd appreciate being
  55. informed, even if it seems unimportant."
  56. [INLINE] "One thing at a time."
  57. As Captain Sheridan and his sister eat dinner together, they talk
  58. about the two years they have been apart, though Elizabeth is a bit
  59. upset that Sheridan only wants to talk about work. Sheridan explains
  60. that her being around only "brings it all back." Elizabeth realizes
  61. that things have not been the same between them since his wife's
  62. death. Sheridan says he needs more time -- that two years isn't
  63. enough. He still has to remind himself that she is gone, and he has to
  64. force himself to remember that she is not alive. Elizabeth
  65. understands, but wants Sheridan to honor her memory instead of burying
  66. himself in his work. He says it isn't about work, but doesn't want to
  67. discuss the subject further. They agree to put off the discussion
  68. until later.
  69. [INLINE] Sheridan talks about running the station.
  70. Lennier still tends to Delenn's chrysalis while Sheridan finishes
  71. dinner and goes down to MedLab, where Dr. Franklin is about to begin
  72. using the healing machine to bring Garibaldi out of the coma. Sheridan
  73. says that it is his responsibility to make sure that Garibaldi is
  74. safe, and he also doesn't want Franklin using the machine alone, in
  75. case a mishap takes his life as well. They agree that both of them
  76. will split the time on the healing machine: one will operate it while
  77. the other one is giving their life energy to Garibaldi.
  78. Na'toth returns to G'kar's quarters, and begins studying some
  79. information she is carrying. While she is doing so, a voice tells her
  80. to close the door. She investigates the voice, finding it to be G'kar,
  81. sitting cross-legged on his bed. "Weep for the future, Na'toth," he
  82. says to her. "Weep for us all." She asks if he is all right, and he
  83. replies, "I have looked into the darkness, Na'toth. You cannot do that
  84. and ever be quite the same again. When you told me about the
  85. destruction of our base in quadrant 37, I knew that only a major power
  86. could attempt an assault of that magnitude, but none of the
  87. governments here could have done it, which left only two
  88. possibilities: a new race, or an old race--a very old race.
  89. "G'Quan spoke of a great war long ago against an enemy so terrible, it
  90. nearly overwhelmed the stars themselves. G'Quan said that before that
  91. enemy was thrown down, it dwelled in a system at the rim of known
  92. space.
  93. "I searched for days, going from one system to another. Then, on dark
  94. deserted worlds, where there should be no life, where no living thing
  95. has walked in over a thousand years, something is moving, gathering
  96. its forces, quietly, quietly...hoping to go unnoticed. We must warn
  97. the others, Na'toth. After a thousand years, the darkness has come
  98. again."
  99. Dr. Franklin is in MedLab, exhausted from the time spent on the
  100. healing machine, when Garibaldi wakes up. He radios to C&C, telling
  101. Ivanova and Sheridan to get to MedLab. Garibaldi's aide is listening
  102. in; he leaves his office in a hurry.
  103. When Sheridan and Ivanova arrive, Garibaldi asks is if they were able
  104. to save President Santiago's life. Ivanova tells him that they were
  105. not. Garibaldi asks to see Sinclair, but learns about his
  106. reassignment. Sheridan introduces himself. Ivanova asks if Garibaldi
  107. remembers who shot him, and while his aide, who has entered MedLeb,
  108. keeps a firm grip on his weapon, Garibaldi confesses that he never saw
  109. his assailant because he was shot from behind. At this news,
  110. Garibaldi's aide removes his hand from his weapon and walks away.
  111. Londo and G'kar meet up in the hallway. Londo asks if G'kar has found
  112. anything interesting. G'kar answers affirmatively, but tells Londo
  113. that he is going to tell the council about his findings. He tells
  114. Londo that the only way to resolve the problems between the Narn and
  115. Centauri is with Centauri blood, but that what he has found may
  116. threaten all their races, except possibly the Vorlons, a race he
  117. doesn't believe could be threatened by anything. G'kar is on his way
  118. to see Delenn, but Londo tells him that something happened to her
  119. right after he left. When G'Kar asks if she is still alive, Londo
  120. says, "That is a very good question."
  121. That question is soon answered as Lennier reenters Delenn's quarters
  122. to find the chrysalis open. Though he doesn't see her at first, a
  123. quick search of the room leads him to find her in a dark corner,
  124. wrapped in a dark cloak. She speaks, her voice frail and weak, and
  125. asks him to help her. Lennier calls Dr. Franklin, asking him to come
  126. to her quarters. Lennier warns him before he enters that anything he
  127. learns must be kept confidential. Delenn tells Franklin that she isn't
  128. ill. "What I have become, what I suffer, requires you," she tells him,
  129. giving him her hand, which is now dry and scaly.
  130. [INLINE] The empty chrysalis.
  131. Sheridan and Elizabeth discuss life aboard Babylon 5, and Sheridan
  132. continues to lament the loss of Anna, his wife. Elizabeth notices that
  133. he seems to be acting more detached than ever, and asks him what is
  134. wrong. He claims it was his fault that she died. She tries to convince
  135. him that he had nothing to do with the explosion of the deep space
  136. vessel that killed her, but he tells her that he is responsible for
  137. her being there. "We were gonna get together on our anniversary. She'd
  138. arranged to meet me when we pulled into spacedock, off of Centauri
  139. Prime. Well, we hadn't seen much of each other the year before--you
  140. know what the military life is like. Well, I'd gotten real busy--I was
  141. up to my ears in inspections, drills...I had to call her and tell her
  142. I couldn't make it. I was too busy--too damn busy. Well, right after I
  143. cancelled, she took that science officer's job on the Icarus. Just a
  144. two week survey. Said she'd back before I even noticed she was gone.
  145. Well, she didn't come back, and I've been noticing she's is gone every
  146. minute of every day." Elizabeth tells Sheridan not to blame himself.
  147. He refuses to believe it isn't his fault, but he tells her the real
  148. reason he is so upset. "When we used to talk to each other over long
  149. distance, we would say 'I love you' at the end. The last time I talked
  150. to her...I don't know, I was rushed...I didn't say it. I didn't even
  151. realize it. And I figured I'd make it up to her later on. I never even
  152. got to say good-bye to her. Oh, Lizzy, I miss her. I just didn't want
  153. her to go without telling her I loved her one last time."
  154. Dr. Franklin makes a new discovery while treating Delenn--he pushes on
  155. part of her blue, scaly arm and it cracks away, revealing something
  156. underneath that is flesh-colored. Neither he, Lennier, or Delenn know
  157. if that is something that should happen or not, so he quickly scans
  158. her with a medical device. He lifts up her head to get a look at her
  159. face. "What am I?" she asks weakly. "What am I?" As he looks into her
  160. face, which is covered with the blue substance, he has no answer to
  161. give her.
  162. [INLINE] "What am I?"
  163. G'kar address the council about what he encountered at the rim.
  164. "...which leads me to believe that the ancient race described in our
  165. holy books may have returned. If true, this holds grave danger for all
  166. of us." Sheridan suggests that the dead worlds where he found life may
  167. have been colonized by another race, but G'kar will not accept this,
  168. as he says that the ships that fired upon him looked very much like
  169. the drawings made by G'Quan. But, because the rulers of the Narn
  170. homeworld have reservations about what he has found, no official
  171. confirmation of his findings have been given. G'kar tells the council
  172. that he has convinced the rulers of his planet to send a ship "to the
  173. heart of the enemy's own domain, located at the rim of known space...a
  174. dark and terrible place known as Z'ha'dum. It has been dead for a
  175. thousand years. No one goes there...no one. Our ship will arrive in
  176. twelve hours, coming out of hyperspace as close to the enemy's
  177. homeworld as possible. They will scan the planet for signs of life and
  178. return to hyperspace before anyone can attack." Sheridan asks what
  179. will happen if someone is living there. G'kar replies, "Then all our
  180. races stand on the end of extinction."
  181. Londo meets with Morden yet again. He tells Morden about the
  182. information he got from G'kar. Though Morden says little about it, he
  183. does ask when the ship is scheduled to arrive.
  184. Talia Winters enters MedLab and begins talking to Garibaldi. She
  185. understands what he wants her to do, but warns him that even if she
  186. does find anything, it is not admissible in court. She tells him that
  187. the scan she performs will have to be a deep scan. He understands, so
  188. she removes one of her gloves, takes his hand, and begins the scan.
  189. She sees what happened when Garibaldi encountered Devereaux, and sees
  190. him raise his weapon...Right before Garibaldi is shot, however, she
  191. also sees the face of Garibaldi's aide, Jack, in a reflective surface
  192. at the very edge of his vision.
  193. [INLINE] Talia agrees to help Garibaldi.
  194. A security officer enters the office of Garibaldi's aide, and tells
  195. him that Delenn is emerged from the cocoon, and has wings like a
  196. butterfly. He urges Jack to go and see, which he reluctantly does. As
  197. soon as he leaves the office, he is assaulted by a group of security
  198. officers and held at bay until Sheridan arrives and orders them to
  199. take him to the lockup and put him under maximum security, with checks
  200. on him every fifteen minutes.
  201. [INLINE] Garibaldi's aide gets his just desserts.
  202. Despite Dr. Franklin's objections, Garibaldi convinces him to let him
  203. go talk to his aide and find out why he attacked him.
  204. "I trusted you," Garibaldi tells Jack during the ensuing
  205. interrogation. "I taught you everything I know. I gave you every
  206. break. I even treated you like my own brother." He bangs his cane on
  207. the table and demands to know why Jack did it, to which his aide only
  208. responds that he had his instructions. Garibaldi asks him who gave the
  209. orders.
  210. "There's a new order coming back home, Garibaldi. You can either be
  211. part of it, or you can be stepped on. A winner or a loser. I'm with
  212. the side that's gonna win." Garibaldi asks if it is Homeguard, but
  213. Jack tells him that he is wrong; the Homeguard are a bunch of
  214. amateurs. Garibaldi tells Jack that he is in big trouble. Jack scoffs.
  215. "You don't even know what trouble is... but you're gonna find out,
  216. real soon."
  217. Garibaldi tells Jack that the shooting of a senior officer is treason
  218. and mutiny and that the penalty is spacing. "They put you in an
  219. airlock, seal it, and then open the space door. You spend the next
  220. five minutes chewing vaccuum until your lungs turn inside-out, your
  221. eyeballs freeze, and your heart explodes. It's the worse kind of death
  222. you can imagine. And when that day comes, I'll be there to push the
  223. button."
  224. Garibaldi begins to leave, but on the way out, Jack calls to him and
  225. performs a salute with his hand, the same that Bester once gave. "Be
  226. seeing you," he says, smiling.
  227. [INLINE] "Be seeing you."
  228. Sheridan is working in his office when Ivanova calls in, telling him
  229. that he has a call from President Clark. The president tells him that
  230. he read the report on the arrest of Garibaldi's aide. He asks if
  231. Sheridan actually believes the aide was in on the conspiracy to kill
  232. President Santiago. Sheridan has no evidence of that, but does say
  233. that he is guilty of shooting a senior officer. Clark tells him that
  234. they need to investigate the matter fully and orders the prisoner
  235. transferred to Earth so that Clark can assist in the investigation.
  236. "We can't risk this being mishandled, Captain," Clark tells Sheridan.
  237. "During the time I served as vice-president under Santiago, I grew to
  238. admire and appreciate the man. I owe it to his memory to personally
  239. oversee any inquiry." He orders that all other information regarding
  240. the matter be sent as well. He compliments Sheridan on his good work.
  241. As the Narn warship exits hyperspace into the system of Z'ha'dum, a
  242. Shadow ship, that had apparently been waiting for it, appears and
  243. swiftly attacks, completely destroying it before it has the
  244. opportunity to reenter the jump point.
  245. [INLINE] The Narn warship is destroyed.
  246. At the council meeting, Na'toth reports to G'kar and the council about
  247. the ship's destruction. She says the Narn government believes it was
  248. an accident with the jump engines because it occurred right after they
  249. left hyperspace. She also tells them that the government cannot afford
  250. to send another ship. But G'kar doesn't believe it was an accident.
  251. "When a warship jumps to normal space, it's briefly out of contact
  252. because of the energy drain. It might have been attacked during that
  253. period. But that couldn't happen unless...unless they knew the ship
  254. was coming and were waiting for it. But no one knew, except..." His
  255. voice falls dead as the meaning of his words hit him. He looks quickly
  256. at both Londo and Sheridan, both of whom return his glance steadily.
  257. Lennier enters the council chamber and addresses the council, telling
  258. them that Ambassador Delenn has returned and would like to reclaim her
  259. seat on the council. Sheridan tells Lennier that it is all right, and
  260. tells Lennier to let her come in. She does so, dressed in a long white
  261. cloak with a hood that covers her head. She slowly removes the hood,
  262. revealing what she has changed into. Her skin no longer is pale like
  263. that of a Minbari--it is now flesh-colored, that of a human. She has
  264. long, brown hair which spills down over her ears, which have the same
  265. size and position of human ears, and what looks like part of the
  266. Minbari headbone, though it is only about a third of the size it once
  267. was. While the council observes her, awestruck, she explains her
  268. change. "Ambassador Sinclair has been allowed to live on my world as
  269. an act of good faith, to create a greater understanding between
  270. Minbari and humans. In return, I have undergone this change with the
  271. blessings of my government, so that I may become a bridge between our
  272. worlds, in the hope that we will never know war between us again."
  273. Sheridan tells his sister of Delenn's change. She asks if it is just
  274. her outward appearance that has changed, or if it was her genetic
  275. structure as well. Sheridan doesn't know, but tells her that Delenn
  276. wasn't eager to discuss it. Elizabeth tells Sheridan that she has
  277. something he should watch, and that she decided after their talk to
  278. let him see it. It is a message that Anna sent her before she left on
  279. the Icarus. Sheridan plays it and watches silently.
  280. "Oh well," Anna's image says happily, "maybe we'll have the chance to
  281. try again later. I am really excited about serving signing on board
  282. the Icarus next week. John and I were supposed to spend some time
  283. together, but Dr. Chang thinks he's found the ruins to an ancient
  284. civilization nobody's ever heard of before. The chance to be there
  285. when the discovery is confirmed is just too good an opportunity to
  286. pass up. I had already decided to put off our vacation and go when
  287. John called to tell me that he had to cancel, so it worked out just
  288. great. Though the poor dear looked so upset about breaking the news, I
  289. wanted to tell him I was going away anyway, but I...we had so much
  290. else to cover, and there's never enough time... I'll just have to fill
  291. him in when I get back. You've got quite a brother there, Liz. I can't
  292. tell you how...how lucky I feel sometimes, even when he's not here. I
  293. just... Someone said that love knows no borders, and ours certainly
  294. proves the point. Well, I'll check in with you when I get back, though
  295. with any luck, you'll hear about it on the news first. My love to
  296. Danny and the kids. Bye."
  297. Sheridan says good-bye to her as well. "I love you, Anna," he tells
  298. the image on the screen.
  299. [INLINE] Saying goodbye.
  300. Garibaldi thanks Talia for helping out, and she tells him that it
  301. wasn't a problem, but it still isn't admissable in court. Garibaldi
  302. tells her that, thanks to her help, he can take it the rest of the
  303. way. He asks her to leave, and speaks to Dr. Franklin and Ivanova. "I
  304. trust her as much as I trust any telepath, but she's still PsiCorps."
  305. When Dr. Franklin asks what PsiCorps has to do with the attack,
  306. Garibaldi explains. "I've been thinking about this little salute Jack
  307. gave me back in his cell -- same as that PsiCop Bester gave? It's like
  308. he was rubbing my nose in something he knew I could never prove.
  309. Remember the last election, there was a big scandal about the Corps
  310. endorsing Vice President Clark?"
  311. "Sure. It was big news. Made all the nets," Ivanova says. "Their
  312. charter prohibits them recommending candidates to their members."
  313. Garibaldi continues. "Exactly. Now Jack didn't admit anything, but he
  314. did say that the Homeguard wasn't behind President Santiago's
  315. assassination. But what if it was the PsiCorps? What if they wanted
  316. someone in office who was sympathetic to the Corps? Right before Earth
  317. Force 1 exploded, the Vice-President got off at Mars, saying he had
  318. the flu. Pretty convenient, isn't it?"
  319. Sherdian and Elizabeth say good-bye to each other, but he promises to
  320. write to her, letting her know how he is. He thanks her for coming,
  321. and thanks her for everything she did. "You're my brother," she tells
  322. him. She waves to him and leaves. Right after she does, Sheridan
  323. receives a call from Ivanova, telling him to come to C&C.
  324. G'kar and Na'toth are in G'kar's quarters. "Things have changed,
  325. Na'toth, and they will never be the same. But we are Narns. We have
  326. learned to cope with change--to triumph in the face of adversity. We
  327. will overcome this as well. We have no other choice." Na'toth asks
  328. about something G'kar is holding, and he tells her that it is a human
  329. book. He tells her that he has been studying their literature, and
  330. that he came across that book, and that he believes humans may be
  331. wiser than the Narns thought. He reads from it, and while he is doing
  332. so, we see Lennier with Delenn in her quarters, as she puzzles over,
  333. and examines, her new form:
  334. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.
  335. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
  336. The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere,
  337. The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
  338. And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
  339. Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?
  340. [INLINE] G'Kar reads the poetry.
  341. Sheridan arrives at C&C and asks Ivanova why she called him there. "On
  342. a hunch," she explains, "I just checked on the ship taking the
  343. prisoner back to Earth. He was transferred to another ship a half an
  344. hour ago. It had EarthForce security markings, it knew all the right
  345. access and identification codes, had papers authorizing the
  346. transfer... But I just backtracked with Earth Central. The ID codes
  347. don't match any ship registered to Earth Force."
  348. "Great," Sheridan says. "So he's gone, and all the evidence with him."
  349. Sheridan asks if she notified President Clark, but she tells him that
  350. he isn't taking any calls. "It gets cold up here sometimes, doesn't
  351. it, Lieutenant Commander?"
  352. "Yes sir," she replies, as they both contemplate the situation. "It
  353. does indeed."
  354. Synopsis by Matthew Murray (i9717029@unicorn.it.wsu.edu)
  355. [15][Next]
  356. [16]Last update: October 11, 1995
  357. References
  358. 1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
  359. 2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
  360. 3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/024.html
  361. 4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/024.shtml
  362. 5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/024.html
  363. 6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
  364. 7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/023.html
  365. 8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/025.html
  366. 9. file://localhost/lurk/guide/021.html
  367. 10. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
  368. 11. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/024.html#TOP
  369. 12. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
  370. 13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
  371. 14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/023.html
  372. 15. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/025.html
  373. 16. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html