lurkers-guide/synops/011

<p>  President Santiago has decided to visit Babylon 5, ostensibly
in order to present a new fighter wing to the station (though some
people believe his real purpose is to drum up popular support for
his new alien trade and immigration policies, which have met with
opposition in the Senate).
<p>
<img align="middle"
src="/lurk/gif/011/prez-crop.gif">
The Presidential cruiser.
<p>  Ivanova and Garibaldi are en route to the president's arrival
site on B5, and they are discussing the president's arrival. 
Ivanova tells Garibaldi that the president and his staff have not
informed B5 command of their travel plans because the president
feels it's safe if nobody is aware of these plans till the last
minute (though Garibaldi jokes that, if B5 is unaware of the
president's plans, the president's staff can blame B5 if anything
goes wrong).  Garibaldi feels that the president's visit is simply
a waste of time and money; Ivanova responds that at least they're
getting a new fighter wing out of the visit.  Garibaldi is not
grateful--he explains that B5 should have had those fighters a long
time ago.  Ivanova shares in the cynicism--now, B5 will have to
renovate bays that haven't been maintained for years, using
untrained crews rushed for time--and all of this at B5's expense. 
When Garibaldi claims he's no longer surprised by anything the
government does (he's come to expect it), Ivanova compliments him
on his very "Russian" outlook.
<p>  Suddenly, there is an explosion in the bay.  Garibaldi and
Ivanova are almost injured, and Sinclair, from the observation
dome, sees a body in a spacesuit fly away from the station.
<p>  Down in the Med Lab, Franklin has diagnosed the person who
flew out of the station--he flew out of the bay before the
pressurization doors were activated.  When Sinclair asks if the
patient can say anything, Franklin replies that any procedure that
could be used to rouse the patient would kill him.  Garibaldi,
meanwhile, has finished his evaluation of the damage ("You can put
what's left of [the bay] in a shot glass," he tells Sinclair). 
Garibaldi still doesn't know what the cause of the explosion was,
but he feels it was probably caused by negligence or fatigue on the
part of the overworked crew.  Sinclair asks about the possibility
of sabotage, and though Garibaldi claims he never rules that
possibility out, he feels that the inexperience and possible
exhaustion of the crew was "inviting an accident."
<p>  Ivanova reports that Major Lianna Kemmer, an official on the
president's security staff, has arrived.  Kemmer requests an
immediate briefing on the explosion.  Garibaldi, when he hears
Lianna's name, becomes lost in thought--he explains to Sinclair
that he knew Lianna seventeen years ago (her father was his
friend).  "She's a real sweet kid," comments Garibaldi.
<p>
<img align="middle"
src="/lurk/gif/011/kemmer.gif">
Lianna Kemmer.
<p>  The meeting between Garibaldi and Lianna is somewhat cold,
however.  Lianna largely ignores Garibaldi and introduces herself
to Sinclair.  Sinclair comments that Garibaldi will brief her on
the situation, but she requests that her own team handle the
investigation.  Sinclair is reluctant, but because Lianna, as chief
of presidential security, has the legal authority to take over the
investigation ("with or without your permission," she comments.  "I
would much rather my report reflected full cooperation on your
part).  Sinclair hesitantly agrees (after Garibaldi bitterly tells
him to let Lianna take over the investigation), and Garibaldi moves
away bruskly, commenting that he has "better things to do."
<p>  Sinclair follows Garibaldi out and asks what the problem is
between Garibaldi and Lianna.  Garibaldi is hesitant to answer, but
Sinclair feels that if their relationship affects B5, Sinclair has
a right to know.  Abruptly, Ambassador G'Kar interrupts them--he
has a problem with the seating arrangements for the president's
banquet ("The entire Narn delegation has been seated next to the
Vree," says G'Kar.  "An intolerable situation!  Have you ever seen
them eat?  That's horror for you....  This is a deliberate slap in
the face to the entire Narn Regime.")
<p>  Meanwhile, Garibaldi, who had walked away slightly after G'Kar
interrupted his conversation with Sinclair, has caught a thief
trying to steal something.  He begins angrily yelling at the thief
(whom he has caught several times before in the past month), and
when he treats the thief somewhat violently, a fight erupts between
the two.  Sinclair interrupts G'Kar in order to break up the fight.
<p>
<img align="middle"
src="/lurk/gif/011/brawl.gif">
Garibaldi accosts the thief.
<p>  Later, Sinclair and Garibaldi are eating together, and
Sinclair asks Garibaldi what is wrong.  Garibaldi finally comments
that seventeen years ago, he was working as a security officer on
Europa ("a real cesspool," he claims).  "Ever try and uphold the
law when nobody cares?  After a few weeks, I started drinking hard
just to get through the night."  Eventually, Garibaldi met Frank
Kemmer, Lianna's father.  Kemmer was a shuttle pilot--"a real
decent guy."  Garibaldi explains that when his job got tough, he
spent some time with Kemmer and his family--this is when he first
met Lianna, who used to call him "Uncle Mike."  "With all the
madness, [staying with Kemmer] kept me sane and sober for a while,"
Garibaldi explains.  However, as Garibaldi was beginning to have a
certain amount of success upholding the law, he ended up making a
few enemies.  Garibaldi knew that some people were trying to kill
him, but he also felt that he could handle it.  Unfortunately, his
enemies worked indirectly:  they exploded one of Kemmer's shuttles,
thereby killing Kemmer.  They blamed the explosion on Garibaldi's
negligence.  Since the government didn't want a scandal, they kept
the situation quiet and "blackballed" Garibaldi throughout the
system.  "But none of that was as bad as telling Frank's family
what had happened.  Lianna didn't even cry; she just died inside...
I crawled back into the bottle, and didn't come out again
for a long, long time."  Suddenly, Dr. Franklin calls Sinclair into
the Med Lab.
<p>  At the Med Lab, Lianna and her staff have violated Franklin's
wishes and are trying to rouse the explosion victim in order to try
to get information from him.  When Sinclair arrives, the victim has
already been roused, and he claims that the explosion was no
accident--it was caused by a bomb.  Sinclair orders Kemmer to leave
the patient alone--for Franklin feels that any procedure to rouse
the patient will kill him--but Lianna refuses.  Just as the victim
dies, he names the person who planted the bomb:  "It was Garibaldi."
<p>  Major Kemmer has called a hearing in response to the allegation
against Garibaldi.  Garibaldi, however, cannot believe that
Kemmer and the rest of the president's staff are placing so much
importance in the accusations of a dying man.  Garibaldi claims
that the victim "had it in for me" -- that is, he resented
Garibaldi because Garibaldi had arrested him a few months ago for
"trashing an alien shop."  Further, Garibaldi argues that the
initial damage reports showed no trace of a bomb, but Kemmer
contends that the explosion may have destroyed any traces of it. 
Lieutenant Cutter, a member of Kemmer's staff, adds that perhaps no
bomb was found because Garibaldi didn't *want* to find one.  This
accusation angers Garibaldi, but Kemmer doesn't seem to care--she
asks Sinclair to suspend Garibaldi from duty because of Garibaldi's
possible criminal involvement.  Though Sinclair doesn't want to
suspend Garibaldi, Kemmer -- as head of presidential security --
effectively *orders* Sinclair to carry out the suspension. 
Sinclair, who has little choice but to submit to Kemmer's legal
authority, is forced to remove Garibaldi from active duty.  Major
Kemmer, now that Garibaldi has been removed from duty, temporarily
assumes the position of B5 security chief.
<p>  Garibaldi, upon returning to his quarters, is confronted by a
security officer who refuses to allow Garibaldi entry.  Major
Kemmer and Lieutenant Cutter arrive, and Garibaldi pleads with
Kemmer to allow him to speak with her.  When he moves to grab
Kemmer in order to speak with her, however, the security guard
roughly forces him to withdraw his grasp.  Kemmer orders Cutter to
leave and see what the scanning team has discovered concerning the
explosion in the bay; she then dismisses the other security guard
so that she and Garibaldi can be alone.
<p>  Once they are alone, Garibaldi explains to Lianna that he
"loved Frank like he was my own brother."  Lianna angrily tells him
that Frank died because Garibaldi was concerned only with protecting
himself, but Garibaldi denies this.  He admits that he "made a
mistake," but he claims that he would never have let Frank die to
save himself.  When he pleads with her and asks her to believe him,
she replies that it's too late for Garibaldi to ask to be trusted: 
"I might [believe you], if you had told me then, but you just got
drunk and ran, like you always do," she says.  Cutter has meanwhile
returned, and he informs Kemmer that the explosion was indeed
caused by a bomb, for the burns of the victim (the one who
originally implicated Garibaldi) showed traces of certain explosives.
Cutter also informs Kemmer that schematics of the bay, as
well as substantial amounts of Centauri currency, has been found in
Garibaldi's quarters.  Garibaldi again tries to reason with Kemmer: 
"Come on, Lianna, this is a frame.  If I were guilty, why would I
leave the evidence in my own quarters?" he asks.
<p>  "Maybe you just made another mistake, just like you did
seventeen years ago," replies Kemmer, who orders Cutter to take
Garibaldi into custody.  Garibaldi, however, who is angered by the
whole situation, runs away and attempts to escape Cutter.  Kemmer
orders her security officers after Garibaldi and posts a stationwide
security alert for Garibaldi.
<p>
<img align="middle"
src="/lurk/gif/011/escape.gif">
Garibaldi makes his escape.
<p>  On the observation dome, Ivanova and Sinclair are surprised to
see an alert against Garibaldi.  Sinclair orders Ivanova to cancel
the alert, but Kemmer--who has just arrived at the observation
dome--tells Sinclair that he can't cancel the alert because there
is now hard evidence that Garibaldi is a saboteur.  Sinclair
responds angrily to Kemmer and tells her that "Garibaldi is many
things but he's no saboteur"; further, Sinclair tells Kemmer that
he is quite annoyed with her personal vendetta against Garibaldi. 
Sinclair again orders Ivanova to cancel the alert, and Ivanova
gladly complies with the order.  Kemmer responds that if Sinclair
keeps "obstructing" her, she will have no choice but to invoke
presidential authority; however, Sinclair tells Kemmer that he's
tired of "presidential authority" excuse.  "This is my station, and
it's time you realized that," says Sinclair.  Sinclair proceeds to
order Ivanova to escort Kemmer off the observation dome.  Ivanova
gladly complies with this order as well ("You are going to resist,
I hope," she tells Kemmer).  After Kemmer leaves, Ivanova warns
Sinclair that Kemmer will probably contact Earth Central; Sinclair
says he's aware of that, but at least the delay will buy him enough
time to find Garibaldi before Kemmer's staff does.  Ivanova
suddenly has an idea: she smugly orders the B5 staff to begin a
"Level 6 maintenance check" on all off-station communication
channels--a move which will tie up the communication channels for
hours.
<p>  Garibaldi has discreetly moved down to the Zocalo, where he
seeks out Londo.  He tells Londo that he is looking for information
about the explosion in the bay.  He explains that someone tried to
frame him by planting substantial amounts of currency in his
quarters; he then explains that the currency was Centauri.  Londo
picks up the implication, and stares with feigned disbelief at
Garibaldi; "Oh, Mr. Garibaldi, do you really think that I would do
such a thing to you, my good and dear friend?"
<p>  "In a minute," responds Garibaldi.
<p>  "You're right," answers Londo, "but I didn't, though I may
have an idea who did...."
<p>
<img align="middle"
src="/lurk/gif/011/londo-help.gif">
"Don't turn around."
<p>  Meanwhile, Kemmer angrily contacts Ivanova and asks why all
communications channels are offline.  Ivanova replies that a
communications check is being conducted, for they don't want the
president to be "out of touch" when he arrives at B5.  Kemmer
demands that Ivanova open a channel, but Ivanova brushes her off
("I'm a lieutenant commander in Earth Force, major.  I do not take
'demands.'  If you have a request, I'll consider it," Ivanova says. 
When Kemmer 'requests' that Ivanova open a channel to Earthdome,
Ivanova simply denies her request.).
<p>  Kemmer comments to Cutter that Ivanova and Sinclair are "doing
everything they can to protect Garibaldi," but Cutter isn't
surprised--their files show that Ivanova and Sinclair are Garibaldi's
only real friends, aside from Londo Mollari.  Kemmer sends Cutter
to question Londo; she sends another officer to return to their
ship and open a communication channel with Earth Force One
(President Santiago's ship)--specifically, with General Netter on
Earth Force One.  Kemmer explains that Earth Force One should be
close enough to pick up the signal from Kemmer's ship, which is
docked at B5.
<p>  Londo, meanwhile, has explained to Garibaldi why he feels that
G'Kar is the one who's trying to frame Garibaldi.  Londo says that
during the Narn occupation of Ragesh 3, some important scientific
material was "lost," but the Narns claimed they could find it
again--for the right price.  Thus, G'Kar could possibly have had
access to large amounts of Centauri currency, which he could have
planted in Garibaldi's quarters.  Garibaldi says that he wants to
visit G'Kar.  Without his usual security clearance, however,
Garibaldi knows that he might have a hard time gaining access to
the ambassadorial wing, where G'Kar's quarters are located.
Garibaldi therefore asks Londo for a loan; Garibaldi claims that,
with enough money, he can gain access to the ambassadorial wing. 
Londo appreciates the irony in the situation--he has switched roles
with Garibaldi for the time being--but he eventually extends a
fairly generous loan to his "good, dear friend."  Londo explains
that he sees certain parallels between himself and Garibaldi (Londo
feels that, like Londo himself, Garibaldi is sometimes "the odd man
out"); it therefore gives him a certain comfort to be able to help
Garibaldi in a time of need (however, the more practical side of
Londo claims that the Centauri goddess of luck, with whom Londo has
had a "long and rather dubious relationship," has been smiling on
him lately--he can therefore afford the loan).  "If they catch
you," warns Londo, "I will deny ever seeing you.  Good luck!"
<p>  Garibaldi successfully gains access to the ambassadorial wing;
when he arrives at G'Kar's quarters, he's surprised to find that
G'Kar has been expecting him ("... you've been talking to Mollari. 
It was inevitable he would send you to me.... My people watch him;
his people watch me; we all watch one another here, Mr. Garibaldi.")
G'Kar also explains that the security monitors are "malfunctioning"
at the moment, so Garibaldi need not worry about the
security officers finding him here (especially since G'Kar took the
liberty of telling a security guard that he had seen Garibaldi on
the next level).  G'Kar says that he's sure Londo blamed Garibaldi's
present situation on the Narns; however, he denies any part
in the incident (though he admits he doesn't think it's a bad
idea).  G'Kar offers Garibaldi a chance to escape B5; G'Kar says
that Garibaldi's talents and services could be useful on Narn. 
Once on Narn, if Garibaldi were to ever become "homesick," G'Kar
says he's sure the Narns could arrange for Garibaldi to return--as
a genetically altered spy.  Garibaldi immediately declines G'Kar's
offer, however; he refuses to even think about betraying Earth. 
G'Kar advises Garibaldi to stop seeing things in "such absolute
terms" ("The universe is run by the complex interweaving of three
elements:  energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest.  Unless
you comprehend that fact--and soon--you will be cornered and
caged," warns G'Kar), but Garibaldi still refuses G'Kar's offer. 
G'Kar makes one last plea:  "Without your position, this station is
not safe for you.  You have made many enemies."  
<p>  "Call it a lifestyle," replies Garibaldi, as he leaves.
<p>  From the observation dome, meanwhile, Ivanova is giving
instructions to the new fighter wing, which has just arrived.
<p>  Down in the alien sector, Garibaldi is trying to purchase a
high-level security card from N'grath, but N'grath refuses because
Garibaldi is "still police," even though he's a fugitive.  N'grath
abruptly forces Garibaldi to leave, and when Garibaldi is thrown
outside N'grath's doors, he is almost caught by some of Kemmer's
guards.
<p>
<img align="middle"
src="/lurk/gif/011/ask-ngrath.gif">
Garibaldi and n'grath.
<p>  He narrowly escapes and eventually returns to the human
sector of B5, only to be attacked by a group of angry aliens.  Just
when it appears that Garibaldi has no hope left, Sinclair (who has
been monitoring security reports concerning Garibaldi's whereabouts)
suddenly finds him and helps to fight off the aliens. 
Sinclair suggests that Garibaldi go to Med Lab, but Garibaldi
refuses to go anywhere before he figures out who framed him. 
Ivanova contacts Sinclair and tells him that he has a Gold Channel
message from General Netter; meanwhile, when Sinclair turned his
head to speak with Ivanova through his comm link, Garibaldi ran
off.  By the time Sinclair turns around again, Garibaldi is gone.
<p>  General Netter's message has come through, and Netter orders
Sinclair and his staff to fully cooperate with Kemmar.  After
Netter ends communication, Sinclair explains to Kemmer that he
wants to find Garibaldi as much as she does--"the only difference
is," says Sinclair, "I haven't already judged him....  But the fact
is, Garibaldi is as loyal as you are, and if you weren't so twisted
up inside about what happened to your father you'd realize that. 
It's not justice you're after, major, it's blood."  Just then,
Cutter contacts Kemmer and says that the guards have sighted
Garibaldi and have discovered that Garibaldi has been paying for
things with Centauri currency.  Kemmer believes that the currency
found in Garibaldi's quarters was only part of the payoff; she
orders the guards to move in on Garibaldi.  After Kemmer leaves,
Sinclair contacts the security guard who had been stationed outside
Garibaldi's quarters when Garibaldi first found that his quarters
were being guarded.
<p>  Garibaldi, meanwhile, has entered a club.  He sits down and
suddenly notices that a security guard has moved into the same
club.  He borrows an alien's hat and tries to avoid notice--and he
succeeds, at least for the moment.  The guard leaves, and when
Garibaldi gives the alien back his hat, the alien replies, "Don't
want hat?  Take bottle.... I go casino."  As the alien gets up, he
pushes a bottle of some alcoholic drink toward Garibaldi. 
Garibaldi fights with himself for a long moment--will he give up
the sobriety that he has worked toward for so long?  The past few
hours have been excruciatingly difficult for Garibaldi--how
appealing the drink must seem--how easy it is to simply forget
about all of his problems.
<p>
<img align="middle"
src="/lurk/gif/011/tempt.gif">
Temptation.
<p> At last, Garibaldi decides to drink --
and he drinks heavily.  Quite soon, he's experiencing quite a
hangover--despite his trouble standing up, he is sharing jokes with
the aliens, and, in general, parading around the room making a fool
of himself.  ("You got a real nice place here!  Great ambiance,
terrific decor, friendly people.  Yeah, this place should be on all
the chartered tours--'see and experience the real Babylon 5.' 
Hell, in a couple month, I could see a few of you people topside,"
he mumbles, as he stumbles out the door).
<p>  Meanwhile, one of the people in the restaurant has notified
the security guards of Garibaldi's whereabouts, and when Garibaldi
wanders out of the restaurant, Kemmer, Cutter, and their guards are
waiting for him.  "Drunk again, Uncle Mike?" asks Lianna.  The
confused Garibaldi remembers how the young Lianna, seventeen years
ago, often said the same thing.  Kemmer's guards take Garibaldi
into custody; Cutter, meanwhile, comments that the new fighter wing
are getting ready to be launched, and he feels he should check the
bays one more time.
<p>  Lianna is questioning Garibaldi; she's trying to get him to
confess.  At one point, she confronts him and asks, "You never
change, do you, Michael?"  He replies that he thought he had--until
she showed up.
<p>  Garibaldi tries to reason with her again.  He asks her if she
really wants to destroy his life, just as she feels he destroyed
hers years ago.  "If I could have gone in Frank's place, I would
have," says Garibaldi.  "I didn't know, Lianna.  I didn't know."
<p>  Just then, the security officer whom Sinclair contacted
earlier arrives at the room where Garibaldi is being interrogated. 
He explains that Sinclair ordered him to search the explosion
victim's quarters--and when he carried out that search, he found a
detonator and a few Homeguard pamphlets (the security officer also
explains how there had been some trouble with the Homeguard a while
ago, and he mentions that Garibaldi cleared it up).  Garibaldi says
that security had suspected the victim of being a Homeguard member
for a long time--but they never could prove it.  Garibaldi says
that he feels that the victim was killed by a bomb that the victim
planted in the bay--but the victim was unaware of the use of a
plasma driver in the bay.  Such a plasma unit would have created
enough vibration to trigger the bomb prematurely.  When Lianna asks
about a possible motive, Garibaldi explains that the president was
planning to announce new alien trade and immigration policies --
policies that the Homeguard would strongly oppose.
<p>  Cutter calls in and informs Kemmer that the president is about
to arrive for the fighter wing presentation ceremony.  Kemmer
orders Cutter to make sure the bays are secure.
<p>  Kemmer admits that she'd like to believe Garibaldi, but she
still sees no explanation for how the Centauri currency and the bay
schematics got into Garibaldi's quarters.  She explains that nobody
knew that the victim had named Garibaldi except her, Garibaldi,
Franklin, and Sinclair.
<p>  "And Cutter," remembers Garibaldi.  "He was there just when
the evidence against me was found."  Lianna is skeptical, however;
she claims that Cutter is one of their best agents.  Garibaldi just
comments that perhaps the Homeguard was counting on that--though
the first bomb didn't work, Cutter can finish the job, so to speak. 
He advises Kemmer to check the bays herself--just to be sure.
<p>  As Earth Force One approaches the B5 docking bay, Kemmer and
Garibaldi walk down to the bay themselves.  Kemmer tells Cutter
that she wants to scan the bay herself; however, as she moves to do
so, Cutter knocks her out with the weapon he is carrying.  He
points a gun at Garibaldi, but when he bends down to recover the
weapon that he used against Kemmer, Garibaldi kicks the gun out of
his hand.  A struggle ensues, but Garibaldi gains the upper hand
long enough to grab hold of a comm link and warn Ivanova to abort
the docking procedure.
<p>  Later, in the Med Lab, Franklin tells Garibaldi that he'll be
all right (though Garibaldi feels like he "just made love to a
meteor shower")--and so will Lianna.  Sinclair tells Garibaldi that
explosives were found on the bay doors--if the doors had opened,
the new fighter wing, as well as half of the station, would have
been lost.  Sinclair also ran a check on Cutter and found that
someone on Earth deposited a large sum of money in Cutter's account
an hour after the explosion victim named Garibaldi.  Cutter then
withdrew it on B5 in Centauri currency, which he planted in
Garibaldi's quarters.  Sinclair congratulates Garibaldi on his
actions, and places Garibaldi back on active duty, but Garibaldi
feels that he lost a personal battle:  "I blew it, Jeff ... just
like I always do.  When things get too rough, I crawl right back
into the damn bottle.  What really scares me is how much I enjoyed
it."  Sinclair still feels that Garibaldi shouldn't be upset with
himself--he crawled back out of the bottle and saved the station. 
Garibaldi, however, feels that he just got lucky--this time; what
will happen next time, he asks?  Sinclair says he hopes there won't
be a "next time," but if there is, he wants Garibaldi to promise
not to try to fight the battle alone.  "You're more trouble than a
toilet full of snakes," says Sinclair, "but I couldn't run this
station without you."
<p>  President Santiago successfully completed his address and
reception.  In his address, he called for alien governments to work
more closely with earth--"a position certain to cause much
controversy in the weeks to come," according to a news broadcast.
<p>  Garibaldi finds Lianna just as she's about to leave.  Lianna
thanks Garibaldi for his favorable report of the situation;
Garibaldi replies, "I figured if you could nab me on my own turf,
you might just have a career in this game."  Lianna admits that she
messed up--she apologizes for what she put Garibaldi through (and
she says that Sinclair was right--she was out for blood, not
justice), but he tells her there's no need to apologize.  He
explains that people are not machines, and when they're angry, they
lash out.  "Seventeen years ago," he says, "we both died inside. 
But somehow, we survived.  For better or worse, that's all we can
do--survive.  And, maybe one day, forget how much it can hurt to be
human."
<p>  As she leaves, Lianna tells Garibaldi that President Santiago
is "fond of Babylon 5."  Garibaldi half-humorously tells her to
make sure to keep the president safe, for B5 needs all the allies
it can get.  They hug, and Lianna leaves quietly.  Garibaldi stares
after her, afraid that he really hasn't changed at all in seventeen
years.  If it's so easy to crawl back into the bottle, how can he
ever be sure that he won't do it again?
<p>
Shawn Bayern
<em>bayern@cshl.org</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.