lurkers-guide/synops/002

<p>  Sinclair is waiting at a docking bay for the arrival of Dr.
Stephen Franklin, the new medical chief of staff--and evidently an
old friend of Sinclair.  Right after the new doctor arrives,
Sinclair gets a message from the bridge that there's a disturbance
at the jump gate.
<p>  On the bridge, Sinclair finds out that a very damaged ship has
come spinning out of the jump gate.  The ship is out of control and
is on a collision course with the station.  The ship cannot be
identified--its configuration doesn't match anything they've seen
before.  Sinclair decides to go outside the station and try to
grapple the unknown ship with a ship of his own in order to prevent
the ship from crashing into Babylon 5.  He gives the order to
destroy the unknown ship only if he fails to stop it.  After a
number of failed attempts, he is successful in grappling the ship
and preventing it from hitting the station.
<p>
<img src="/lurk/gif/002/match-rotation.gif" align=middle>Matching rotation
with the alien ship.
<p>  As Sinclair is on his way to the Medical Lab to check with the
injured pilot of the unknown ship, Delenn meets up with him and
offers her help in identifying the unknown pilot.  When they
arrive, they find that Dr. Franklin is unsure of the condition of
the alien pilot, simply because he knows too little about the
unknown alien's physiology.  Upon seeing the patient, however,
Delenn immediately recognizes him and has a surprising reaction:
she attempts to kill him.  Sinclair stops this attempt only with
difficulty.  Delenn warns Sinclair to kill the patient immediately,
because the patient is a "Soul Hunter" who steals people's souls. 
She warns Sinclair to get rid of the patient, "before someone
dies!"
<p>  Later, Delenn apologizes to Sinclair for her actions in the
Medical Lab.  Sinclair comments on her unusual behavior; he has
never before seen such a violent reaction from Delenn.  "You don't
know these things as I do," replies Delenn, who explains that all
Minbari are taught to be afraid of the soul hunters.  Soul hunters,
she explains, are immortal beings who are drawn toward death and
who steal people's souls at the moment of death.  They don't steal
every soul, only ones which they deem to be worthy enough.  Delenn
also explains that the soul hunters have previously shown an
interest in "certain classes of Minbari."  She again warns Sinclair
to send the soul hunter away.
<p>  Meanwhile, in the alien sector of Babylon 5, a gambler is
running a seemingly-innocuous, familiar game where he hides a ball
under one of three cups and has a player choose which cup they
think the ball is under.  In the Med Lab, the voice of this gambler
is echoed and heard in the mind of the soul hunter, who awakes
suddenly.
<p>  Garibaldi, in the meantime, warns Sinclair that many people in
the alien sector seem to be "hiding"--that the alien sector is
basically deserted.  Ships which were not scheduled to leave for
months are suddenly requesting departure.  It seems that the aliens 
are afraid of the soul hunter.
<p>  The voice of the gambler continues to echo in the mind of the
soul hunter.  The gambler meanwhile has won a game, but is
violently confronted by the loser, who proves that the gambler was
cheating.  The loser starts to chase the gambler, while the gambler
runs away.
<p>
<img src="/lurk/gif/002/hustler-running.gif" align=middle>Fleeing the scene.
<p>  When Dr. Franklin next walks into the Med Lab, he is surprised
to find that his patient is awake and standing.  "I have been to
your world," says the newly-awoken soul hunter.  "Can you feel it?"
he asks, but Dr. Franklin just gives him a perplexed look. 
Meanwhile, the gamble is still running away from his pursuer.  "It
comes," says the soul hunter.  Meanwhile, in the alien sector, the
gambler's pursuer finally catches up with him and stabs him.  "It
comes!" repeats the soul hunter.
<p>  The gambler is brought to the Med Lab, where it becomes nearly
certain that the soul hunter realizes that the gambler's dying.  As
the gambler finally dies, the soul hunter says, in a contemplative
voice, "Quick flash.  The deep blue of pain.  Dull, muffled. 
Slower, now.  Closer, now.  Gone, now!  Gone!  If you could only
see."
<p>  Sinclair comes to visit the soul hunter in the Med Lab, where
the soul hunter is chanting to himself and is refusing to speak
with Sinclair, who wants to know how the soul hunter knew that the
gambler was dying.  Trying to get his attention, Sinclair confronts
him:  "Did you come here for his soul?  Oh, we've heard, if you're
wondering."  Sinclair expresses his disbelief that the idea of
"soul hunting," and, further trying to pique the soul hunter's
attention, accuses him of being a thief--a stealer of souls.
<p>  "We are not thieves," replies the soul hunter.  "We are
preservers.  We act only for the greater good."
<p>  "The Minbari don't seem to think so," contests Sinclair.
<p>  "The Minbari:  pale; bloodless; look into their eyes and see
nothing but mirrors; infinities of reflection.  Will not let us
help them."  The soul hunter then explains that his kind are drawn
toward death--toward the moment of death--in order to save and
preserve certain souls.  Not every soul; only outstanding ones--
those of "leaders, thinkers, poets, dreamers, blessed lunatics." 
Sinclair asks what the soul hunters actually =do= with the souls
once they have them.  The soul hunter replies that they talk,
listen, and learn from them.  Dr. Franklin, who has been standing
by Sinclair, comments to Sinclair that what the soul hunter is
saying is truly impossible--that, with enough technology, a
person's thoughts could be saved, but that the idea of taking
someone's "soul" is not possible.
<p>  Sinclair, meanwhile, still wants to know what is precisely
going on between the soul hunter and the Minbari.  The soul hunter
explains that years ago, when one of the great Minbari leaders was
dying, the Minbari made a "wall of bodies" to stop him--they
defended their leader's soul at all costs.  The leader, according
to the soul hunter, therefore died a wasted death--a death due to
which his thoughts and dreams were forever lost.  Sinclair, ending
the discussion, responds that he still doesn't believe that the
soul hunter can do what he says he can do.  However, because the
aliens on the station seem to fear the soul hunter (and because
Sinclair says that he has no reason to doubt the judgment of the
aliens), Sinclair orders the soul hunter off the station as soon as
the soul hunter has recuperated from his injuries.
<p>  On the bridge, Ivanova is meanwhile conducting the gambler's
funeral from the bridge.  The body is launched out to space while
Ivanova says, "From the stars we came, and to the stars we return
..."  Dr. Franklin contemplates the shortness of life--that, as
soon as humans have nearly figured out life, they die.  Ivanova
dryly comments that, even if humans lived 200 years, they would
still make the same human mistakes.  "I'm a Russian; we know these
things," she adds.
<p>  Delenn is meanwhile visiting with the soul hunter in the Med
Lab.  She confronts him, saying that soul hunters never travel
without their collection of souls and asking him where his is.  "My
children are safe," he replies.  Delenn vows that, before the soul
hunter leaves the station, she will find and release the souls in
his collection--to free them once are for all.  The soul hunter
dismisses this vow, commenting that by "freeing" the souls, she is
actually killing them.  Delenn expresses her belief that, if the
souls of the Minbari leaders and thinkers are "stolen" from them,
the Minbari are diminished with each generation because the stolen
souls cannot rejoin the Minbari and be reborn.  The soul hunter
dismisses this as superstitious nonsense, saying that the soul dies
at death (unless, of course, a soul hunter saves them).  "We will
help you, in spite of yourselves," he promises.  Suddenly, he
recognizes Delenn:  she was among the group of Minbari that stopped
him from "rescuing" the soul of the great Minbari leader that he
discussed with Sinclair before.  "That was where it began to go
wrong," he says, mostly to himself.  The lost souls. ... one after
another.  I failed because you stopped me!  A pattern began." 
Suddenly, changing the tone of his voice, he adds, "They called you
Satai Delenn of the Grey Council.  Curious, curious."  He goes on
to ask her why a great leader of the Minbari would be "playing
ambassador" here.  Somewhat taken aback, Delenn leaves the room
quickly.
<p>  Right after Delenn leaves, the soul hunter feigns injury and
falls to the floor.  The guard who was stationed outside the Med
Lab rushes in, only to be knocked unconscious by the soul hunter. 
The soul hunter escapes, gun in hand.  He arrives at his ship,
where he begins to talk with his collection of souls.  He tells
them that he finally knows why he was drawn to Babylon 5.
<p>  Shortly after, Garibaldi tells Sinclair that he scanned the
soul hunter's ship.  The soul hunter is no longer aboard; further,
Garibaldi says that there's a cabinet of some sort on the ship--but
it's empty, meaning that whatever was in there, the soul hunter now
has with him.  However, Garibaldi can't understand what the soul
hunter could possibly be up to, because Garibaldi has guards all
around and because the soul hunter couldn't possibly get back to
his ship or (even if he did) pilot the ship away from the station. 
Ivanova suggests that if the soul hunters are drawn to death, the
way to catch this soul hunter would be simply to figure out who's
about to die.
<p>  The soul hunter has meanwhile entered the alien sector and has
bought a map of the that section of B5--a map that includes all of
the secret corridors, hiding places, entrances, and exits.
<p>
<img src="/lurk/gif/002/hunter-and-ngrath.gif" align=middle>Negotiating
with a shady character.
<p>  Meanwhile, the bridge crew is made aware of another unsched-
uled arrival through the jump gate.  Another ship arrives, carrying
another soul hunter.  "Someone's about to die," he warns, and goes
on to warn that more will die if he's not allowed to come aboard
and speak with Sinclair.
<p>  The soul hunter on the station has meanwhile entered the
ambassadorial wing and knocked out another of the guards.
<p>  As Sinclair is heading to a reception room to speak with the
arriving soul hunter, Garibaldi warns him against meeting with him-
-he mentions that the soul hunter's warning sounded very much like
a threat.  Sinclair thinks about this for a moment, and then
decides that the tone of the arriving soul hunter was not aggres-
sive, but nervous.  Sinclair meets with the soul hunter, who
describes how the soul hunter who has been on board the station is
a deeply disturbed person and because of this, the station is in
great danger--someone is about to die, but at the soul hunter's own
hands.
<p>  Delenn is in her quarters, negotiating a trade route with some
alien race through her communication screen, when her "doorbell"
rings.  "Come," she says; she doesn't even look around until she
realizes that it's the soul hunter, who tells her that he has come
to save her soul.
<p>  Meanwhile, the soul hunter who just arrived tells Sinclair why
his "brother" is deeply disturbed:  When he was ordered to save the
soul of the Minbari leader (and others), he either arrived too late
to save the souls or was prevented by others from his mission.  His
order was disgraced.  Because of this, he had found the ultimate
solution:  to stop waiting for death--to take the lives himself. 
"Our order does not support this," claims the newly-arrived soul
hunter.  The soul hunter explained how he chased his "brother" and
how it was they who had damaged his ship before it had come through
the jump gate.  They had almost caught him at his last stop, but he
escaped.  This time, however, there will be no escape--after he
kills whomever he's about to kill (for they feel it's too late to
stop him), they are determined to apprehend him.  Sinclair doesn't
accept this--he vows that there will be no death this time.
<p>  Meanwhile, the soul hunter explains to Delenn that her death
will avenge his previous failures.  "I give you a great gift--to
life forever."  He starts the process of killing her slowly and
warns her not to resist, because it will trouble her soul if she
does.
<p>  Sinclair, searching for Delenn, confronts the newly-arrived
brother of the murderous soul hunter:  "You're drawn to death," he
says, indicating a map.  "Show me!"  The soul hunter complies.
<p>  The slow process of killing Delenn is continuing; her blood is
being drained slowly.  The soul hunter feels that the time is
getting closer--close enough for a glimpse into her soul.  He takes
that glimpse, and after seeing what he sees, he shows great
surprise.  "You would plan such a thing?  You would do such a
thing?  Incredible!"
<p>  Sinclair runs up to the ambassadorial wing, whence he goes to
Delenn's quarters.  As he's running up, the soul hunter tries to
stop him.  "Why do you fight for her," he asks Sinclair.  He goes
on to explain:  "She's Satai.  I have seen her soul.  They are
using you!"  After a brief fight with the soul hunter, Sinclair
runs over to Delenn.  Right next to Delenn, there is a bag of some
sort containing the soul hunter's "collection."  Sinclair opens the
bag and allows the souls to swarm about the soul hunter, presumably
confronting him about what he's about to do to Delenn.  Suddenly,
the soul hunter's "soul-draining" machine begins to activate.  He
swirls it around on its platform and aims it at the soul hunter
himself.  The soul hunter's soul is captured into one of the little
soul vessels like those the other souls occupied, amid cries of
"No!" from the soul hunter.  Sinclair kneels down next to   
Delenn.
<p>
<img src="/lurk/gif/002/sinclair-globe.gif" align=middle>Sinclair watches
a soul globe.
<p>  Later, in the Med Lab, Sinclair finds that Delenn will be all
right; Dr. Franklin explains that she has a remarkable constitution
(and extrapolates that this was the reason that they did so well in
the Earth-Minbari war--because they kept going despite severe
injuries).  "So, I hear you saw something," says Dr. Franklin to
Sinclair.
<p>  "I'm not sure--I don't know if I'll ever be sure," replies
Sinclair.
<p>  Dr. Franklin replies that that type of talk could get Sinclair
sent on a "very long vacation."  The doctor further goes on to say
that he still doesn't believe that the soul hunter can do what he
says he can do.
<p>  Meanwhile, Delenn, who has just awoken, sees Sinclair and
smiles.  "I knew you would come," she says.  "We were right about
you ..."
<p>  "Who was right?" asks Sinclair, but Delenn has already fallen
back to sleep.  Sinclair jokes with Dr. Franklin that he's almost
completely sure that Delenn won't finish the sentence once she
wakes up.
<p>  Later, in his quarters, Sinclair asks the computer to do a
key-word search.  He struggles to remember the word that the soul
hunter used to refer to Delenn, and finally successfully remembers
it.  The computer tells him that the title "Satai" is used as an
honorific applied to the members of the grey council.  Sinclair
expresses basically the same question that the soul hunter had
asked:  why a member of the ruling body was assigned to diplomatic
service.   The computer asks Sinclair if he wishes to make another
enquiry.  "No, it can wait.  There's always time," he says.
<p>  Sinclair finds out that Delenn will certainly live.  Mean-
while, as Sinclair is escorting the soul hunters off the station,
he warns them that they will no longer be allowed on Babylon 5. 
The soul hunter seems already to expect this--he admits that his
kind are usually not welcome wherever they go.  The soul hunter
asks Sinclair what happened to his "brother"'s collection of souls. 
Sinclair harshly brushes this question off:  "Life's full of
mysteries.  Consider this one of them!"
<p>  Delenn, in her quarters, is crushing the vessels that
contained the souls in the soul hunter's collection, thereby
freeing them.  She studies each of them for a moment, listens
intently to them, and finally destroys their containers, allowing
them to fly about the room freely, eventually to fade into
nothingness.

<p>
Shawn Bayern
<em>bayern@minerva.cis.yale.edu</em>
<hr>
Copyright 1994, Shawn Bayern.  All rights reserved.  Permission is
granted to distribute this synopsis <strong>noncommercially</strong> as long as
the synopsis and this copyright notice remain intact.  Babylon 5 is
a copyright of the PTN Consortium; no infringement of that
copyright is intended by writing these synopses.