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- <h3>Synopsis by Arturo Magidin (magidin@matem.unam.mx)</h3>
-
- <i>ISN News Broadcast:
- <P>
- "Meanwhile, on Earth and Minbar preparations continue for next month's
- celebration marking the fifth anniversary of the Interstellar
- Alliance. Aside from one brief conflict with the Centauri Republic
- early in its first year, ISA President John Sheridan has delivered on
- his promise to maintain peace among all its member worlds. Although
- ISA Vice-President Delenn continues to make appearances during these
- preparations, Sheridan himself has not been seen for several
- days. Speculations on his absence range from the flu to a good will
- mission to Narn.
-
- <P>
- "In other news, ground was broken today in Earthdome for a monument
- dedicated to the many who died in the recent telepath crisis,
- including..."
- </i>
-
- <P>
- Sheridan has not been seen because he has joined Garibaldi on a secret
- trip to oversee the final stages of the construction of the prototypes
- for the destroyer class White Star ships (<a
- href="../guide/105.html">"Movement of Fire and Shadow"</a>). Garibaldi
- is taking a bit of time away from managing Edgars Industries on Mars
- (<a href="../guide/108.html">"Objects in Motion"</a>) at Sheridan's
- request.
-
- <P>
- The head of the construction project, Drake, is being too
- cautious for Garibaldi's taste. But Sheridan points out that reverse
- engineering Vorlon and Minbari technology to fit human technology is
- uncharted waters, and caution is necessary. The construction is top
- secret, not the least because the other races are likely to object to
- Earth, Minbar, and Sheridan being the sole beneficiaries of the
- project. Sheridan is sure no one can follow them to the construction site,
- as they are aboard a
- White Star, the fastest known ship. But he is wrong. A small probe
- follows them into and through hyperspace, projecting the image to a
- small crystal globe.
-
- <P>
- The globe is held by a man called Galen. He is interrupted and told he
- must explain his behavior and account for his activities to something
- called "the circle," and everyone involved. Although annoyed, he agrees
- to do so.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan and Garibaldi arrive at the construction dock. Two prototypes
- are there, the <i>Victory</i> and the <i>Excalibur</i>. Sheridan is
- welcomed by Drake, who gives him the tour. They are still battling some
- minor problems, haven't fully figured out the artificial gravity for
- example. But the ships are mostly ready, and the controls are intuitive and
- easy to master for Earthforce personnel.
-
- <P>
- "How does she handle?" asks Sheridan, excited; but they haven't
- actually tested it yet. And when they try, the propulsion system
- fails, despite Drake's assurances that there would be no problems.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan is told a message from Delenn has arrived. He takes it by
- himself in the conference room, but the message is all
- garbled. Sheridan is transfixed, seemingly for a few seconds. But
- Garibaldi enters, breaks the spell, and claims Sheridan has been there
- for almost half an hour. Garibaldi suggests he get some rest while
- Drake works out the bugs. Sheridan agrees.
-
- <P>
- "Things were so much easier on Babylon 5," muses Garibaldi.
-
- <P>
- On Babylon 5, a female alien arrives, and a weapons violation is
- detected. Zack Allan demands she turn over her weapons, and she does
- so silently: about a dozen or more blades and other low-tech
- weapons. Before leaving, she asks where the lost people, the neglected
- and forgotten, go. Zack directs her to Downbelow, Brown sector.
-
- <P>
- Aboard the <i>Excalibur</i>, Sheridan dreams. He finds himself on a
- desolate, burning world, ruins aflame all around him. A voice calls
- out to him: Galen. The world is dead, Galen says, murdered. Not an
- attack, but a test. Galen says he is the one who sent the message
- Sheridan received earlier; he needed a connection for the electron
- incantation.
-
- <P>
- A ship arrives. Galen claims it is the killers, come back to check on
- their work. He and Sheridan must leave, to ensure his probe goes
- undetected. Before leaving, he shows Sheridan the name of the
- world: Daltron 7.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan awakes as the ship begins to move. It is being towed to the
- firing range.
-
- <P>
- On Babylon 5, the alien female works her way through Brown sector,
- following hidden signs painted on the walls and ceilings. And she is
- being followed. Finally, she makes her way to an opening in the
- ceiling, where she is hit on the head. She falls unconscious to the
- ground...
-
- <P>
- ... and dreams. She is on the dead planet Sheridan was on. "No. I
- can't be back," she says to herself. Sheridan suddenly appears, and
- she throws herself at him in rage. But she passes right through the
- image, and as she does, Sheridan changes, becoming a Drakh. The Drakh
- holds in his hand a miniature galaxy. He closes his fist over it, and
- disappears.
-
- <P>
- And then Galen appears. "This is not your world, Dureena Nafeel," he
- booms at her. "But it shares the same fate as your world. When the
- time comes to choose your target, be sure to pick the right
- one. Because you will only get one shot." An earthquake hits, and
- Dureena falls; she awakes back on Babylon 5.
-
- <P>
- She is chained, lying on a small platform, surrounded by many beings,
- both human and alien. She is asked her name, and to show a mark: a
- tattoo bearing the same designs as the markers she followed to get
- there. It marks her as a member of the Thieves' Guild. She is asked
- the name of her teacher, and his teacher before him. She answers, and
- says she has been a thief long enough to be good at it. But
- apparently, she is challenged, not good enough to avoid being followed
- and chained up.
-
- <P>
- "What chains?" she asks simply, and the manacles fall in pieces to the
- ground. Dureena attacks the man who followed her, knocking him
- out. She was captured only because she chose to be captured, to meet
- the Guild. The leader of the Guild welcomes her and gives her the
- local rules: no inteference with other members, nothing violent,
- nothing to draw attention to them. They'll protect her and give her a
- place to stay in exchange for ten percent of her take; but if
- captured, she is on her own. The Guild must remain a secret
- organization.
-
- <P>
- The leader has one more question: they have never seen an alien like
- her before. She is far from home; why did she come to Babylon 5? "I
- don't know," she replies, and leaves.
-
- <P>
- On board the <i>Excalibur</i>, Sheridan is shown the weapons. He is
- not impressed with Level One, though; it isn't much more firepower
- than an average White Star. As destroyers, these ships should pack
- more punch. Garibaldi orders Drake to go to Level Two. But Drake lets
- them know there is a problem. The main guns are based on Vorlon
- design, and were intended for far more advanced ships.
- They use up almost all available power, and should be used only
- as a last resort. Sheridan orders a demonstration anyway.
-
- <P>
- Before he can give the order to fire, the view changes: the
- <i>Excalibur</i> is aiming straight at Earth. Sheridan is confused,
- gives orders to stop. Sheridan looks again, but the Earth is
- gone. Sheridan sits back down and orders the main guns to fire. They
- do so with impressive results, but all lights dim inside. According
- the Drake, there's barely enough energy left for life support and
- gravity. After firing, the ship cannot maneuver or fire again for at
- least one minute.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan starts to reply, but finds himself elsewhere again. Several
- robed men are around a campfire. "It's a mistake! You shouldn't have
- brought him here!" one of them says. They are chastising Galen for
- breaking the isolation without proof. But Galen claims that they need
- to break it to get the proof. And Sheridan is the only one who can get
- it. The others relent, but warn Galen he will be the first to die if
- their security has been compromised through his actions. They
- disappear, leaving Galen and Sheridan along. Sheridan can now piece
- together the clues: Galen and the others are technomages (<a
- href="../guide/025.html">"The Geometry of Shadows"</a>). Galen
- explains they are not hurrying to return from hiding. They have,
- however, been watching the Drakh. They think the Drakh are preparing
- to move. Sheridan points out that the Drakh have no homeworld and the Shadows
- are gone; how much power can they possibly have?
-
- <P>
- Galen replies that Sheridan himself must find the answer to that
- question, because Galen believes the Drakh will start by
- attacking Earth. Sheridan begins to ask more questions, but Galen has
- said everything he is allowed. Sheridan and his companions must
- discover the rest. However, he is not to tell anyone about what he is
- doing or why. The Drakh have spies everywhere. Before leaving, Galen
- shows Sheridan four faces: a Drazi, a human, Sheridan himself, and an
- alien, a good match for Dureena Nafeel; and an image of Babylon 5 high
- overhead.
-
- <P>
- And then, Sheridan finds himself back aboard the Excalibur. Drake is
- explaining that the hull can reflect 80% of any energy weapon. "We
- have to go right now," Sheridan interrupts. Garibaldi wants to know
- where. "It was above the faces," replies Sheridan, "above them
- all. Babylon 5."
-
- <P>
- While enroute, he refuses to tell Garibaldi why they are going; and
- he makes a sketch of the three faces he saw in the vision. Garibaldi
- is worried; he offers to stop by Minbar and talk to Delenn, but
- Sheridan insists he is fine. He also asks Garibaldi to find out
- everything he can about Daltron 7. "Never heard of it," says
- Garibaldi. "Me either," replies Sheridan, a response that adds to
- Garibaldi's doubts and misgivings about Sheridan's rationality. On his
- way out, he asks for a connection to Capt. Lochley.
-
- <P>
- The <i>Charon</i>, and Earth Alliance destroyer, is in hyperspace
- also on her way to Babylon 5. The first officer is questioning the
- Captain on the new destination. They are disobeying orders and not
- informing Earthdome. "I know what I'm doing," answers Captain
- Anderson enigmatically, and adds to himself: "I hope."
-
- <P>
- Lochley welcomes Sheridan aboard. He gives her the drawings, and asks
- her to find out where they are. "Are you sure they are here?" she
- asks. "No," replies Sheridan. "But if they aren't here yet, they soon
- will be... I think." With that, he leaves Lochley and Garibaldi, both
- utterly confused.
-
- <P>
- In the Zocalo, Dureena is stealing wallets and money belts when
- security arrives with the drawing. She tries to flee, but is stopped
- and captured. Lochley informs Sheridan. "Who is she?" he asks. Lochley
- doesn't understand; after all, he drew her. Since she was caught with
- stolen wallets, she is being deported. Sheridan asks where she is
- from, and is told she is from Zander Prime. Lochley thought it was a
- dead world, however. It is now, replies Sheridan. It was one of the
- last planets destroyed by the Shadow planetkiller (<a
- href="../guide/071.html">"The Long Night"</a>) during the Shadow War.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan then gets a message from Captain Anderson. He doesn't know
- him. "Hello, Mr. President," says Anderson. "By any chance, have you
- been looking for me?" Lochley looks at Sheridan's drawing: Anderson is
- the human drawn there. "So it would appear," replies Sheridan with a
- faint smile.
-
- <P>
- They meet in Babylon 5's conference room, and Captain Anderson
- explains the man in his dreams told him to find Sheridan. Dureena is
- then brought in, and when she sees Sheridan, she attacks him like she
- did in her dream.
-
- <P>
- Dureena blames Sheridan for the destruction of Zander Prime. For
- attracting the Shadows, and not being there to help despite
- requests. But Sheridan explains they didn't know about the attack
- until it was too late; and even if they had heard, they didn't have
- anything to stand up to the Shadow's planetkiller. He's asked himself
- over and over, since the war, if there was anything he could do to
- save more people. But there wasn't. He also points out it was the
- Drakh and the Shadows who destroyed her planet, and the Drakh are
- still around. She then recalls Sheridan's transformation in her
- dream. Sheridan offers her the chance to strike at them. Dureena
- relents. Perhaps this is what the dream meant.
-
- <P>
- Meanwhile, Garibaldi is in Lochley's office. "You think he's lost it?"
- he asks. Lochley isn't sure. Finding Dureena and Capt. Anderson, dead
- matches for Sheridan's drawing, has given her pause. "All I know is he
- isn't behaving rationally," she adds. "It's almost as if he's acting
- under some sort of outside influence."
-
- <P>
- Sheridan is worried the Drazi hasn't arrived yet, but they cannot wait
- any longer. Why us? asks Dureena. Sheridan thinks each of them brings
- something to the mission to increase the odds of success. Captain
- Anderson points out the <i>Charon</i> isn't powerful enough for the
- sort of thing they are contemplating. They need something bigger, and
- nastier. "I think I may just have the thing..." replies Sheridan.
-
- <P>
- In the morning, Garibaldi arrives in Lochley's office for a meeting
- with her and Sheridan. But Sheridan isn't there. He skipped out and is
- well on his way to the construction yard. Garibaldi asks for a line to
- Drake, anticipating him.
-
- <P>
- But Sheridan is a step ahead. He contacts Drake and tells him there's
- been a breach in security. All messages should now come through a new
- frequency, and no other messages should be replied to or acknowledged.
- Garibaldi won't be able to delay him.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan, sitting on the captain's chair, asks Capt. Anderson if he
- really wants to go through with this: going AWOL and risking his
- career. Anderson explains that during the civil war, they had a chance
- to join Sheridan but didn't; and they were wrong not to. Earth is in
- danger now, and this time he intends to be on the winning side. The
- crew feels the same way. "We let you down once," says Anderson. "We
- won't do it again."
-
- <P>
- They arrive at the dockyard, and over Drake's objections they
- commandeer the <i>Excalibur</i> and the <i>Victory</i>, leaving him
- behind. Sheridan takes command of the <i>Excalibur</i>, and Anderson
- of the <i>Victory</i>. Dureena joins Sheridan, and they head out to
- Daltron 7.
-
- <P>
- Once there, they find the dead world of Sheridan's dream; but Daltron
- 7 is supposed to be the next best thing to paradise. A pattern of
- craters seen from orbit is the same as that produced by the Shadow
- planetkiller.
-
- <P>
- There are no life forms, but they do pick up a Drazi distress
- signal. When they go down to investigate, they find the Drazi of
- Sheridan's dream dead, a data crystal hidden inside his body.
-
- <P>
- Meanwhile, Capt. Anderson's people have been doing an analysis of the
- planet and records. He asks Sheridan if he is sure this is the work of
- a Shadow planetkiller. Sheridan is. "We have a serious problem then,"
- replies Anderson. "Because if what I'm reading is correct, this just
- happened over a week ago." The Shadows left a planetkiller behind. And
- everytime Sheridan and the Alliance have ran into leftover Shadow
- technology, they've gotten their butts kicked.
-
- <P>
- Garibaldi has by now reached the dock, and Drake explains that
- Sheridan stole the prototypes, and seemed crazed. Garibaldi heads out
- to Daltron 7, taking Drake with him.
-
- <P>
- Meanwhile, Capt. Anderson calls his wife and daughter on Earth, to
- reassure her everything is fine and he hasn't deserted, merely been
- "transferred by a higher force." He also reassures his daughter, who is
- afraid of going to sleep because of nightmares, that he will protect
- her from the monsters.
-
- <P>
- Later, Anderson and Sheridan look at the contents of the data crystal
- they found on the Drazi. He too had dreams, which led him to Daltron
- 7. There, he saw and recorded the Shadow planetkiller in action. Then
- he followed the deathcloud to where the fleet was
- concentrating. Finally, he returned to Daltron 7 to see if anybody was
- left and to wait for the others, hoping the dark ones would not find
- him first.
-
- <P>
- And then, five small ships arrive: Drakh fighters. The Drakh send a
- message, trying to figure out who the two ships are; they don't
- recognize the design. On Dureena's suggestion, they try to bluff their
- way into the Drakh's good graces, pretending to be allies. But the
- Drakh receive an extremely powerful tachyon-enhanced transmission and
- start attacking.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan and Anderson fight back, destroying several of the fighters. A
- few more try to escape, and head for a strange, black, null-area in
- space. Sheridan orders the main guns to fire, and destroys the
- fighters. But inertia carries him through the null field, unable
- to maneuver for a full minute after firing. On the other side, which
- matches the coordinates the Drazi gave for the Drakh fleet, the Drakh
- wait. As soon as he can, Sheridan turns around and heads out through
- the null field, a few small fighters in pursuit. The rest of the fleet
- is already on its way.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan and Anderson move ahead, and jump to hyperspace before the
- Drakh can catch up; the fighters are caught in the collapsing jump
- point and are destroyed. Then, the <i>Victory</i> and <i>Excalibur</i>
- slip past the main fleet in hyperspace, and head for Earth at top
- speed.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan calls Lochley. He tells her of the Drakh fleet and the Shadow
- deathcloud. Lochley is skeptical; she thinks Sheridan may have indeed
- flipped. But Sheridan insists, and asks her vehemently for her trust
- and help. Delenn is already scrambling as many Alliance ships as she
- can together. Sheridan wants Lochley to call Earth and tell President
- Luchenko (<a href="../guide/087.html">"Rising Star"</a>) to do the
- same. Sheridan isn't much liked or trusted on Earth, so he needs her
- to make the call. Lochley can hardly believe she is doing this, but
- she does as he asks.
-
- <P>
- Meanwhile, Garibaldi is told someone aboard the White Star tapped into
- communications a while ago. Before he can investigate further, they
- receive a call from Sheridan. Sheridan tells Garibaldi about the
- planetkiller. Garibaldi is also skeptical. Sheridan wants to warn him
- the Drakh are onto them, and know about the new ships.
-
- <P>
- Garibaldi mentions that he has found out about Dureena's membership in
- the Thieves' Guild. She is not to be trusted, he says. Maybe it is
- her fault. Sheridan is partly taken aback, but Dureena points out that
- if she is the leak, she is stupid, as she could have gotten killed with
- him.
-
- <P>
- "Killed how?" asks Garibaldi, and Sheridan recounts their brief
- encounter with the Drakh, and the tachyon signal they received. The
- signal told the Drakh who they were. Garibaldi makes the connection
- with the anomaly in the communication system of his ship...
-
- <P>
- ... and hears a PPG powering up next to his head: Drake. Mars born, he
- owes no loyalty to Earth, and the Drakh made him a great offer. He is
- the leak. Garibaldi cuts the communication. Then he points out to
- Drake that if he shoots Garibaldi, the Rangers around him will take
- him down. One of them activates a fighting pike, distracting
- Drake. Garibaldi then quickly disarms him and puts him in a headlock.
-
- <P>
- "Now, you are going to tell me everything you know," says
- Garibaldi. Drake, frightened, nods slowly. Garibaldi later contacts
- Sheridan, and confirms everything. The Drakh are headed for Earth,
- want to make a statement to the Alliance by wiping out Earth in a big
- show of force. The only silver lining is that they only have one
- planetkiller. If Sheridan can destroy it, they won't have another one
- to worry about.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan arrives in Earth space. Lochley has apparently convinced
- Luchenko, and Earthforce has mobilized its ships. Aboard the Earth
- Destroyer <i>Hermes</i>, General Yuri Mikhailovich Denisov, in command
- of the EarthForce ships, is annoyed and thinks this is all some sort
- of exercise. Sheridan's assurances that this is for real are soon
- confirmed, as the Drakh fleet jumps into normal space.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan tells Gen. Denisov to leave the fleet to the defense grid (<a
- href="../guide/086.html">"Endgame"</a>). He wants the destroyers and
- Alliance heavy ships to form a wedge around the <i>Excalibur</i> and
- the <i>Victory</i> and lead them into the planetkiller itself. "Then
- what?" asks Gen. Denisov. "Then we kill it," replies
- Sheridan. "Somehow."
-
- <P>
- The General agrees and leads them in. While enroute, Sheridan uses
- the <i>Excalibur's</i> advanced sensors, more advanced than anything
- they've had previously, to analyze the deathcloud. It has a
- superstructure inside, a lattice of some kind, which is what they must
- destroy.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan notices the center of the lattice is bigger and reinforced:
- probably the command center. That's their target.
-
- <P>
- <i>"When the time comes to choose your target, be sure to pick the
- right one. Because you will only get one shot."</i> Galen's words echo
- in Dureena's head.
-
- <P>
- "No," she tells Sheridan simply. "If you hit that part you'll fail and
- your planet will be destroyed." She explains that a thief learns to
- look where you aren't supposed to look; that the most valuable items
- are never inside the safe, but next to it. Next to the central point
- of the lattice is a joint, seemingly the same as others in the
- structure. "There's nothing special about it," Dureena explains. "Then
- why is it surrounded by short range weapons? Why are they so
- determined to protect it?"
-
- <P>
- Capt. Anderson has been monitoring the situation. Enemy ships are
- closing in, and the deathcloud is approaching Earth. They are running
- out of time. They can hit one target but not both. Which one? Sheridan has
- to choose quickly.
-
- <P>
- "Hers," Sheridan replies. The <i>Victory</i> and the <i>Excalibur</i>
- accelerate towards the deathcloud.
-
- <P>
- But the deathcloud's defenses are formidable, and more Drakh ships
- join the defense as they figure out what is happening. The fire isn't
- getting through to the target. The <i>Victory</i> is hit severely, and
- its main weapons array destroyed. The planetkiller is minutes away
- from Earth.
-
- <P>
- "My daughter is out there, Phil," Capt. Anderson tells his first
- officer. "I made a promise to her that I'd protect her from the
- monsters. What kind of father am I if I can't keep my promise?"
-
- <P>
- Anderson contacts Sheridan. He suggests that Sheridan fire his main
- gun; although it will probably miss at that range, and leave the
- <i>Excalibur</i> vulnerable for one minute, it will clear away the
- defending ships. The <i>Victory</i> can cover her for a minute and
- get within range. Then the <i>Victory</i> will fire her main guns
- while the <i>Excalibur</i> covers her. It's a long shot, but it is
- their only one. Sheridan agrees and fires.
-
- <P>
- The <i>Excalibur</i> misses the joint barely, but destroys the enemy
- ships in the way. Captain Anderson then issues the order: "Ramming
- speed." Sheridan can't do anything, his ship out of power. The
- <i>Victory</i> heads in, taking hit after hit. Despite extensive
- damage, the ship makes it all the way to the joint, and destroys it in
- a fiery crash. But the <i>Victory</i> doesn't survive.
-
- <P>
- Anderson's sacrifice isn't in vain. The planetkiller begins to
- collapse. The missiles fire prematurely, hitting the superstructure
- itself. With the <i>Excalibur</i> back on line, Sheridan heads out. He
- escapes as the deathcloud collapses into itself and is destroyed.
-
- <P>
- Before they can even take stock, they see the remains of the Drakh
- fleet heading towards Earth. They watch in horrified silence as the
- ships descend into the atmosphere, and start releasing some
- sort of dust. The defense grid hits many of them, but they only fall
- towards the surface, releasing more dust on their way down.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan looks down in silence. "What is it?" asks Dureena, who does
- not understand what is going on. "What happened?"
-
- <P>
- Galen is looking over the results of the battle in his crystal globe
- when a voice calls out to him. "The circle requires your presence."
-
- <P>
- Sheridan is back on Babylon 5, explaining to Lochley and
- Garibaldi. "So, they finished analysing whatever it was the Drakh
- sprayed into Earth's atmosphere?" asks Lochley.
-
- <P>
- "It's a biogenetic plague," replies Sheridan. "Earth has been
- completely quarantined, nobody allowed in or out. The death cloud was
- the only one the Drakh had left, but it wasn't the last weapon in
- their arsenal. From the complexity of its structure, the bioweapons
- division back home thinks the plague was probably engineered by the
- Shadows."
-
- <P>
- "How much time do they have?" asks Garibaldi. "Looks like that's the
- only bright spot in this," replies Sheridan. "The Drakh didn't have
- time to finish adjusting it our biology, or they just didn't know
- how. But either way, its going to take time for the plague to adjust
- to a new host. They're saying 5 years. Could be less. But probably
- five years is the best guess for now."
-
- <P>
- "And... at the end of five years?" asks Lochley.
-
- <P>
- "Every man, woman, and child on Earth will be dead. Unless we can
- find a cure."
-
- <p>
- Since the plague is Shadow technology, they won't be able to solve it
- on Earth in five years. "But since this came to us from outside," adds
- Sheridan, "maybe we can find a cure out there." There are other races,
- as old as the Shadows; one of them must have a cure. "We'll find
- them. We have to."
-
- <P>
- Sheridan adds: "I've told president Luchenko we'll put all the resources
- of the Alliance and the White Star fleet at their disposal. We'll turn
- the <i>Excalibur</i> into a traveling research vessel, manned by the
- best crew we can find. The Rangers will search every corner of space,
- looking for clues to a cure. Then the <i>Excalibur</i> and her crew
- will go in to follow it up."
-
- <P>
- On their way out, Sheridan says, the Drakh hit the construction dock, destroying
- years of work. It will take time to make up for it, and so, for now,
- the <i>Excalibur</i> is the only of one of her kind.
-
- <P>
- Meanwhile, Galen arrives on Babylon 5, and joins Dureena.
-
- <P>
- Sheridan finishes: "Those who command the <i>Excalibur</i> will never stop,
- never give up, and never slow down until a cure is found. And we'll
- take any help we can get, wherever and whoever it comes from. Because
- this is a cause that surpasses borders, and differences, and
- distrusts. This is a mission about the survival of Earth itself. What
- we do over the next five years here, at home, and across the darkness
- between the stars, will determine whether an entire world will
- live... or die. It's a fight we can't afford to lose.
-
- <P>
- "And we won't. We won't."
|