lurkers-guide/novels/001

<p>
<strong>Written by John Vornholt</strong><br>
Released: February 13, 1995<br>
ISBN: 0-440-22057-2 (US)<br>
ISBN: 0-7522-0644-3 (UK)<br>
Setting: Early 2259, between
<a href="/lurk/guide/023.html">"Points of Departure"</a>
and
<a href="/lurk/guide/030.html">"A Race Through Dark Places"</a>

<br clear>

<blockquote><cite>
Talia is caught up in a deadly conspiracy to assassinate hundreds of
top
Psi Corps officers.
</cite></blockquote>

<p>
Reader reviews, and online ordering, can be found at
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440220572/thelurkersguidet">Amazon.com</a>.

<p>
<hr>
<p>

<h2><a name="BC">Back Cover</a></h2>

<p>
Telepaths to the left of them.  Telepaths to the right of them.  And
danger is all around Commander Susan Ivanova and Security Chief
Michael
Garibaldi when a Psi Corps convention is held on Babylon 5.  Someone
will turn this meeting of mind readers into a real blast ... as a bomb
makes Babylon 5 a death trap.

<p>
The prime suspect is resident telepath Talia Winters.  With Talia's
old
foes, thought-cops Bester and Gray, calling for her head, Ivanova and
Garibaldi can't openly help her.  Now she's running for her life
through
a perilous universe, and her psychic talent is her only weapon when
her
path is blocked by staggering intergalactic horrors: psi cops closing
in ... and a killer waiting.

<h2><a name="SY">Synopsis</a></h2>

<p>
Harriman Gray (<a href="/lurk/guide/016.html">"Eyes"</a>)
arrives on Mars for a meeting with Mr.  Bester
(<a href="/lurk/guide/006.html">"Mind War,"</a>
<a href="/lurk/guide/016.html">Eyes,"</a>
<a href="/lurk/guide/030.html">"A Race Through Dark Places"</a>)
to help choose a location
for a telepaths' conference.  Bester suggests that he is strongly
considering Gray as his new aide (recall Kelsey's ignominious end in
<a href="/lurk/guide/006.html">"Mind War"</a>)
and that this is a test of sorts for him, even though Gray is not a
Psi Cop.

<p>
As Gray arrives on Mars and hands his identicard to the Earthforce
personnel, he feels his mind being scanned and sees Bester step out of
the
shadows.  Gray is staggered by the sudden scan, but he knows Bester
has special latitude to conduct operations, including scanning people
without
their permission.  (Also mentioned in
<a href="/lurk/guide/030.html">"A Race Through Dark Places."</a>)

<p>
As the two ride a monorail to the hotel chosen for the conference,
an explosion rips the building to shreds. Bester rescues the shuttle 
from the explosion's intense heat by activating a manual mode; he
later
tells Gray he felt 26 people die in the blast. Getting back to
business,  
Gray suggests Babylon 5 as an alternate site for the
conference -- mainly due to his desire to see Commander Susan Ivanova
again.  Bester agrees, saying he will make sure Sheridan can't refuse.

<p>
Senator Hidoshi convinces Sheridan to allow the conference to be
held on Babylon 5; the Captain ignores the opinions of Garibaldi and
Ivanova,
who think the conference is bad news.  He orders Ivanova to remain in 
her quarters except when on duty to prevent incidents.

<p>
Meanwhile, Kosh is up to his old game of hiring Talia Winters for
bizarre
assignments (cf.
<a href="/lurk/guide/009.html">"Deathwalker."</a>)
She clearly is frustrated by the assignments,
but also has started to come to understand some of his terminology
such as
"Hour of Scampering."  This time Kosh asks her to scan an empty chair
next to him for "Invisible Isabel," as he calls her.  To her surprise,
Talia
hears a voice there momentarily.  Kosh also understands French,
based on a brief exchange of pleasantries after the scan is concluded.

<p>
Gray contacts Ivanova as soon as possible upon landing; when
Bester tries to scan Gray, Ivanova stands up to Bester.  They talk
more
and at least agree to be on a first name basis -- in private.  Nothing
more
comes of a personal relationship between them in this book; however,
Ivanova's opinion of him is clearly softened.

<p>
Talia and Garibaldi make preparations for the conference and as the
delegates arrive, things get interesting.  Talia meets Arthur Malten,
head of the Mix, the association of commercial telepaths.   Malten's
assistant Emily Crane is peculiar for her shyness.   Talia convinces
Garibaldi to give the three of them a tour of various parts of the
station,
including Down Below.  Garibaldi has arranged with Na'Toth, aide
to Ambassador G'Kar, to give the group a little scare which he hopes
will
help keep the other delegates to the conference out of Down Below. 
(Their
telepathic attacks don't work on non-humans.)

<p>
Malten begins taking a serious interest in Talia, and eventually
convinces her to attend the conference on behalf of the Mix.  Crane
seems jealous but provides a data crystal with information
about budgets inside Psi Corps and the split of money between Psi
Cops, the
military telepaths and the Mix.  She also later takes back the
crystal,
claiming she needs to put more information on it.

<p>
Meanwhile, Deuce,
(cf.
<a href="/lurk/guide/015.html">"Grail"</a>)
arrives back on Babylon 5 with a special item in
hand.  During the first day of the conference, Talia and Malten are to
attend 
the budget meeting, which includes Bester.  Crane returns the data
crystal 
to Talia after carrying it through a security search. Talia proceeds
to the 
meeting and sits next to Bester.

<p>
During the meeting, Talia develops a headache and walks out. As she
leaves, 
a bomb detonates in the conference room; it takes a serious chunk out
of
Bester, but doesn't kill him.  Talia is immediately detained and
awakens in
her quarters with Ivanova alongside.  After a short exchange, she
decides she
would rather be tried on Babylon 5 than on Earth, and asks Ivanova to
be her
lawyer. Ivanova agrees -- at least until someone better can be found. 
Talia 
is taken to the brig, and Garibaldi starts to search for clues and
information to clear her name.

<p>
Ambassador Kosh pays Talia a visit in the brig, and they have a
bizarre
conversation which she thinks means he will break her out of the
cell in about 20 minutes.  Using the telekinetic powers she received
in
<a href="/lurk/guide/006.html">"Mind War,"</a>
she opens the lock to the internal door and then
finds Kosh has returned and knocked out the guards with a gas.

<p>
Talia dons a Minbari robe and proceeds with Kosh to the docking bays,
where he tells her to enter a cargo container.  When she tries to open
the box
after launch, she realizes that she is not alone in the container and
that
her traveling companion is Deuce, also escaping the station.  Against
his
better judgment and with many threats to kill her, Deuce decides to
help
Talia. When they arrive on Earth, he helps her get a false
identicard from a tribe of hi-tech would-be Indians who live in the
desert.

<p>
Gray and Garibaldi are assigned to search for Talia and quickly
board the first Earth-bound shuttle in search of Crane, whom they have
come to believe has vital information on the bombing.  (The Mix's
headquarters is on Earth.) Bester has Talia declared a rogue
telepath, and her image begins to be plastered on television sets
around
Earth. Gray and Garibaldi also learn that the
Military telepaths expected something bad to happen to Bester.

<p>
Deuce's desert hideout becomes unsafe as shuttles begin
to scour overhead looking for Talia.  At his friends' strong request, 
he and Talia depart.  The two play possum to get a Psi Cop shuttle to
land, 
and capture the two Psi Cops.  Talia convinces Deuce not to kill the
Psi 
Cops, and they steal the craft.

<p>
Deuce agrees to give Talia a one-carat diamond and drop her off out of
the
way so he can proceed on his own way.  They part ways in Phoenix. 
 Talia sells the diamond, using the money to get to
Boston and eventually to Mars.

<p>
Meanwhile, Gray and Garibaldi have been busy in Boston, paying a visit
to
Crane at Mix Headquarters.  Although she is extremely unhelpful
during the meeting, Garibaldi notices a confidential Senate memo on a
self-destructing transparency on her desk.  Through an old friend of
Gray's they track down the contents of the memo. They discover that
Psi 
Corps blackmails and bribes government officials, making lots of
enemies.  
The bill would completely privatize the corps, taking it out of the
military,
which no longer controls it anyway.  The Mix would take over control
of 
Psi Corps.

<p>
Garibaldi tries to make another attempt to talk to Crane and ends up
captured.  Gray and Bester come to the rescue but are forced to kill
 Crane and some telepathic accomplices on the street.  Bester tries to
wind
 the whole thing up
but refuses to acknowledge Talia's innocence.  Gray finally finds a
voice
and stands up to him, resulting in Bester agreeing to leave them in
Miami.
Bester also warns them off Mars, where he believes Malten is located
presently.

<p>
All paths begin to converge here as Garibaldi, Gray and Talia end up
on
the same shuttle to Mars by coincidence.  Garibaldi recognizes her
from
her buttocks, causing Gray to vow that he will pay more
attention to women's posteriors in the future.  They decide to wait
until
after landing to make contact.

<p>
After landing, Talia's Uncle Ted contacts her through a telepath (it
may have
been Ted himself) and assures her that all is safe as an explosion
rips the
terminal building (actually it is just a smoke bomb to cause a
distraction.)  Garibaldi and Uncle Ted eventually recognize each
other and he and Gray agree to follow Talia and Uncle Ted.  The two of
them convince Talia and Uncle Ted that discrediting Malten is of prime
importance to clear Talia's name and discredit the false Mars
terrorist group Malten has created.

<p>
Bester arrives after Gray contacts him. He meets Garibaldi and Gray
with
a shuttle, and explains that his true fear is that people will think
 Psi Corps can't protect itself from attacks from within.  He still
refuses to budge on the issue of Talia Winters.

<p>
Garibaldi offers to visit the bunker where they have located
Malten; after receiving assurances from Bester that he won't be
abandoned, he goes down to investigate.  Bester enters as well once
they
position with the hatch. Inside, Malten is strapped to a chair
wired with bombs and a note saying, "Compliments of the real
revolutionaries."  They have to abandon him after receiving a message 
that they have only 30 seconds to get out.

<p>
After the explosion and a narrow escape, Bester informs Garibaldi that
he
is still going after Talia and Uncle Ted.  Garibaldi pulls a file that
Ambassador Mollari made of Psi Cops gambling with him.  When Bester
tries to scan Garibaldi, Gray inserts himself and promises to protect
Garibaldi from the scan.  Bester relents and radios in a report
clearing
Talia Winters and restoring her to her position within the Corps.

<p>
Gray asks Garibaldi to tell Susan that he did
something brave and worthwhile, and the two go their separate ways.
 The story ends with Talia visiting her family
for a while before returning "home" to Babylon 5.

<H2><A NAME="UQ">Unanswered Questions</A></H2>

<ul>

<li> How powerful is Bester?  He was the only Psi Cop representative
to 
survive the budget meeting, and was feared by both the military and
commercial telepaths.  Clearly he calls a lot of shots in the movement
of Psi
Corps, but is there anyone behind him/against him?

<li> How does Kosh know so much about Talia's powers?

<li> Did Kosh leave Talia in Deuce's care for money, or was Deuce's
appearance coincidental?

<li> Where does Talia stand after all this?  Especially in light of
the events of <a href="/lurk/guide/030.html">"A Race Through Dark
Places"</a>?
  In all of these incidents she
has narrowly avoided Bester's wrath, but for how long can she avoid
it,
especially if she makes any moves against the Corps?

<li> Why weren't the two Psi Cops that Deuce and Talia attacked able
to
use their powers to take out Talia and/or Deuce?

<li> Does Bester control the new head of the commercial telepaths?

<li> Did Uncle Ted or his group kill Malten?

<li> Where does Gray's career stand?  It seems unlikely
that Bester would take him as an aide now; on the other hand, Bester
can be
almost as hard as Kosh to figure out.

<li> Have Talia's feelings about Garibaldi changed at all?

<li> Where do the military telepaths stand after this incident?  They
clearly
are not fans of Bester, but they seem less willing to oppose him.  In
light
of Malten's demise, will they make a move for power?

</ul>

<H2><A NAME="AN">Analysis</A></H2>

<ul>

<li> Talia's gift (cf.
<a href="/lurk/guide/006.html">"Mind War"</a>)
is clearly much more than it seemed at the
end of that episode.   Her telekinetic prowess is high, and she
is no longer transparently readable by Bester and other
telepaths.  This is supported further by
<a href="/lurk/guide/030.html">"A Race Through Dark Places."</a>

<li> Kosh is much more aware of the events taking place both on
Babylon 5 and elsewhere based on this episode and others.  It almost
seems
as if some of his assignments for Talia are attempts to improve her
telepathic and telekinetic prowess.

<li> Bester's power among Psi Corps and Psi Cops is nearly absolute
and
certainly has been consolidated by the deaths and removals of some of
the
more powerful enemies.  The blackmail and bribery of government
officials
means Bester may be running a sort of shadow government.

<li> Talia clearly trusts Ivanova very strongly, based on her
decision to have her as a lawyer in this novel and their
conversation at the end of
<a href="/lurk/guide/030.html">"A Race Through Dark Places."</a>

<li> In light of the events in this novel as well as
<a href="/lurk/guide/030.html">"A Race Through Dark Places,"</a>
why wasn't Talia included with the senior B5 officers in the
secret meeting that ended
<a href="/lurk/guide/033.html">"All Alone in the Night."</a>
Does this suggest that Sheridan's feels Talia is not trustworthy
enough yet? 
Or was he specifically told not to include her?

</ul>

<H2><A NAME="NO">Notes</A></H2>
<ul>

   <li> Since the novel features Garibaldi on the job, it takes place after
        <a href="../guide/025.html">"The Geometry of Shadows."</a> The front
        cover blurb is therefore wrong, since the story takes place in 2259,
        not 2258.

</ul>

<H2><A NAME="JS">The Author Speaks</A></H2>
<ul>

   <li> Chris, I did mention that I apparently substituted Kelvin temperature
        for Celsius.  It could get a bit hot on Mars during the day, but that
        would be from thin atmosphere.  It'd be damn cold there at night.
        This isn't something has any bearing on the story.

        <p>
   <li> Tony, the way this works is -- I work for Dell Books.  They have a deal
        with whoever to have the license to publish B5 novels.  Dell Books hired
        me, and Lois Tilton, who wrote the next novel.  JMS is doing approvals
        for the time being, although I'm sure there's somebody at Warner Bros.
        who could do it if he didn't want to.

        <p>
        I had lots of free rein with VOICES but no information about the big
        arc.

        <p>
   <li> Thanks for bringing up the fact that I wrote this book last July.  I am
        extremely happy that it fits into the second season as well as it does.
        This is the first book, our editor quit halfway through it, and we had
        some other bumps -- but I think we did all right.

        <p>
   <li> You can't write books set in other people's universes (that are so well
        known) unless you have a thick skin.  I don't mind being called on the
        carpet for a factual mistake, but I worked pretty hard to get the
        characters right.  Nevertheless, they are my interpretation of the
        characters, not someone else's.  We had some bumps in the road on this
        first one, but I think things will get smoother as we go.

</ul>

<hr>
Written by Erik Oliver &lt;oliver@dolphin.upenn.edu&gt;.
Edited by Julie Prince (jprince@peak.org) and Steven Grimm
(koreth@midwinter.com)