lurkers-guide/synops/064

<h3>Synopsis by Katrina Glerum (kat@midwinter.com)</h3>

<p>
Z Minus 14 Days

<p>
The station is a flurry of activity as war preparations continue.  Since
they can jam the Shadows, telepaths of many races are being recruited and
assigned to Army of Light patrol ships.  G'Kar insists that each telepath should
be given a Narn bodyguard. 

<p>
Londo thinks G'Kar has been permitted to escape Centauri wrath for too long,
however.  Vir is appalled that Londo could care about petty revenge when the
entire galaxy is suffused with war. 

<p>
<IMG SRC="/lurk/gif/064/religious.gif" ALIGN=RIGHT WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="120" BORD
ER="1" HSPACE=4 VSPACE=2>
Appreciating Brother Theo for the stability his monks have offered in the
chaos, Ivanova joins him in Docking to greet some religious "colleagues."
Personal and professional rivalry aside, Brother Theo seems genuinely
pleased to meet the Baptist minister, rabbi, Buddhist monk and Islamic
cleric who have arrived.

<p>
Looking weary and haggard, Captain Sheridan is lost so deep in contemplation
that he is oblivious to Delenn's teasing. Nothing about the Shadows'
strategy makes any sense.  The timing and location of the attacks seem
random and illogical, but the individual engagements are tactically very
logical.  The Captain isn't eating properly, hasn't slept well since Kosh's
death, and is suffering from nightmares.  So Delenn bullies him into meeting
the new arrivals for dinner that night. 

<p>
Another arrival has the Centauri flustered - or at least Vir.  Nothing seems
to faze Londo any more, not even Lord Refa and Minister Virini.  Londo
outlines his plan to ensnare G'Kar by having Vir pass on the tale that
G'Kar's former assistant Na'Toth is imprisoned on the Narn homeworld. G'Kar
will then rush back to Narn to rescue her and be taken captive by Londo's
agents.  Vir refuses until Londo threatens to humiliate and destroy Vir's
family in retribution.

<p>
As smarmy as ever, Lord Refa presents his case to the Minister of why his
house should achieve ascendancy over that of Mollari.  The ambassador has
spent too much time among aliens, he claims, and is no longer loyal.  The
Minister wants the rivalry between the two houses ended and is apparently on
the station to determine which of the two deserve his support.

<p>
Cringing pathetically, Vir takes his mission to G'Kar, while Londo informs
the Minister that the division between the two houses will be ended soon
through his relieving the Empire of an ongoing embarrassment.  Vir can't
contain his anger when he realizes that Londo intends to kill G'Kar in order
to curry royal favor.  His outrage does not go unnoticed by Refa's spies.
Vir is captured and interrogated by Lord Refa himself.  When he tries to
hold out, a telepath easily rips Londo's plan from his mind.

<p>
At dinner it is revealed that the religious leaders are part of an organized
resistance and intelligence gathering movement on Earth, and come bearing
information for B5.  Before leaving, Reverend Dexter says that he wants to
hold a religious gathering on the station.  The Captain agrees over Brother
Theo's humorous objections.

<p>
Reverend Dexter finds Sheridan still working late in his office, and asks
him who he shares his heavy responsibility with.  Sheridan grows irritated
with the minister's presumption, especially with the implication that
Sheridan is not being a good officer and the suggestion that he should share
his burden with the woman who loves him.

<p>
Z Minus 13 Days

<p>
Peering into the cold, wind-wracked desolation of the former Narn capital,
G'Kar gathers his forces for a mission into the secret caverns below the
city.  The ruins above are being rebuilt and redecorated to look like the
Centauri Imperial Palace.  Refa has just arrived and requests a security
detail from Lord Drego to assist him in capturing G'Kar.

<br clear=all>
<p>
<IMG SRC="/lurk/gif/064/attackmap.gif" ALIGN=RIGHT WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="120"
BORDER="1" HSPACE=4 VSPACE=2>
Musing in the war room, Delenn and Sheridan realize that the Shadows are
corralling refugees into zones where they can be annihilated with ease.
This war is "as much about terror as territory," he argues.  A strike
against defenseless refugees would have a great demoralizing effect on the
Alliance.  "It's what I'd do," he crows.

<p>
"What?" Delenn gasps. 

<p>
When he tries to explain that they need to think like the enemy, she grabs
him by the arm and drags him out of the war room telling him he seriously
needs a break.

<p>
G'Kar and his Narns proceed underground.  Refa and his guards pick up the
trail and follow him into an ambush.  Refa gloats, "You have taken your last
steps as a free Narn!"

<p>
Back on the station, Reverend Dexter begins his sermon.  The enemy is not
just something different.  "We are all alien to one another," he argues.
"The enemy is fear.  The enemy is ignorance. The enemy is the one who tells
you that we must hate that which is different."
<br clear=all>

<p>
<IMG SRC="/lurk/gif/064/hololondo.gif" ALIGN=RIGHT WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="120"
BORDER="1" HSPACE=4 VSPACE=2>
As the service continues, a far eerier ritual begins deep under the surface
of Narn.  Refa orders his guards to attack G'Kar.  His face shows the first
signs of fear when they fail to move.  Then G'Kar brings out a holo
projector with a recording of Londo telling his nemesis his fate.  In return
for Mollari freeing 2000 incarcerated Narns, G'Kar has captured Refa, the
Centauri who is personally responsible for the planetary bombardment of Narn
and the deaths of 5 or 6 million Narns.

<p>
Holding aloft a data crystal, G'Kar admonishes his Narns only to leave this
on the body and keep the face and head intact for identification later.

<p>
"No hiding place!" the gospel singer begins in the B5 chapel.  As the
congregation joins in joyously, Refa scrambles down a corridor into the arms
of waiting Narns.  "There's no hiding place down here!."  He runs terrified
back the way he came.  "You know the sinner's gonna be runnin' at the
knowledge of their fate!"  Refa barrels into a crowd of eager Narns.
"They'll be runnin' trying to find a hiding place when it comes their time
to die!"  Even the Minbari begin to catch the spirit and try to sing along.
"No hiding place!"  Refa's crest drowns under a sea of spotted heads, and
he is brutally attacked by the Narn as G'Kar watches, then leaves.

<p>
Mollari gives the data crystal found on Lord Refa's body to Minister Virini,
and explains how Refa had betrayed the Centauri to the Narn and G'Kar to the
Centauri. The minister seems surprised that Londo asks for nothing in return
for exposing this plot.  Vir is furious again however, this time for being
set up and lied to.  Londo says he knew that Refa had a telepath with him,
so of course he had to tell Vir what he wanted Refa to believe.  But Vir is
not placated.

<br clear=all>
<p>
<IMG SRC="/lurk/gif/064/fleet.gif" ALIGN=RIGHT WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="120"
BORDER="1" HSPACE=4 VSPACE=2>
Delenn has a final surprise for the Captain.  In the long period of
preparation before the war, the Minbari have completed an entire fleet of
White Star class ships.

<p>
Z Minus 10 Days.