I was there at the dawn of the third age of mankind. It began in the Earth year 2257 with the founding of the last of the Babylon stations, located deep in neutral space. It was a port of call for refugees, smugglers, businessmen, diplomats, and travelers from a hundred worlds. Could be a dangerous place. But we accepted the risk, because Babylon 5 was our last, best hope for peace. Under the leadership of its final commander, Babylon 5 was a dream given form: a dream of a galaxy without war, when species from different worlds could live side by side in mutual respect. A dream that was in danger as never before, by the arrival of one man on a mission of destruction. Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. This is its story.

We join LtCdr Takashima at Ops, guiding a transport ship in to dock. Station security chief Garibaldi calls in (most contacts within the station are both audio and video). He's looking for Cdr Sinclair, who needs to meet one of its passengers personally. Takashima reports he's on his way already.

Del Varner (one man on a mission of destruction), is in the docking bay passing through security. Sinclair arrives to meet Lyta Alexander, the telepath newly assigned to B5. While Varner is watching, Sinclair welcomes her aboard and explains the rules of the station. As they head off to her quarters, Lyta looks back; she and Varner appear to have exchanged glances.

Ambassador G'Kar storms into Ops, shouting objections to the requirement that his supply ship from Narn submit to a weapons search. Takashima deflects him coolly and there is no resolution. "As far as I'm concerned, they can sit out there for the next solar year. If it makes you feel any better, I could send them a fruit basket..."

Sinclair and Lyta cut through the alien sector on the way to her quarters. Sinclair uses the otherworldliness of it to underscore his point about B5's purpose - it's a hub for exchange of all kinds between people of all kinds, and must be able to cater to any of them. "Sooner or later, everyone comes to Babylon 5." At Lyta's question, Sinclair explains what happened to the other four stations: three were sabotaged, one more simply disappeared 24 hours after coming on-line. She does not take this to be a good sign.

Later, the senior officers are gathered in Sinclair's office. Kosh, the last of four foreign ambassadors to B5, will be arriving in 48 hours. From the input of the officers it is clear that the Vorlons are very secretive. Takashima has been in contact with Kosh but with audio only - the Vorlon claimed his monitors were malfunctioning. Garibaldi says the Earth Alliance knows almost nothing about them - no-one's even seen a Vorlon. Dr. Kyle (medical chief) says they've only given him enough info to generate the right atmosphere - "Pretty thick stuff."

Outside, a tiny clawed ship deploys from an undocked transport, zips down to the station, grabs onto it, and carves a hole in the hull under its belly.

Minbari Ambassador Delenn invites Sinclair to meet in the Garden, an open air environment in the center of the station (the view down the great cylinder is breathtaking). He is starting to ask why he sees her there almost every other day, but she interrupts him.

  D: Notice the waves, each moving in its own order, predictable,
     unchanging.  But drop in a single stone, and see how the
     pattern changes.  Everything around it is altered.  
     [turning to Sinclair] This is from your world?
  S: It's a Japanese stone garden.  Setting it aside was tough.
     [...]
  D: I am glad it is here.  On my world there are books -
     thousands of pages - about the power of one mind to change
     the universe.  But none say it as clearly as this.
     [Delenn changes the topic to the Vorlons, and gives Sinclair
     a copy of all the information she has about them]
  D: If anyone asks, say it fell from the sky.
  S: Why?  I mean the war between us has been over for almost ten
     years but there are still a lot of people on either side
     who'd hang both of us for this kind of...
  D: [standing] Commander - you know everything about your stone
     garden, but clearly you have not spent enough time looking
     at it.  Good day.  

At Ops, a ship is reported to be coming through the jump point. Takashima is distressed - "Damn, that's a Vorlon ship all right. Ambassador Kosh two days early. I was afraid he'd pull something like this."

In a dark corridor, a poorly glimpsed figure scans its hand at a door, which opens to reveal Varner inside. As the figure enters, Varner says, "About time." But, when the door swings shut, there is a bright flash of light and the thud of a falling body from within.

Sinclair, Garibaldi, and Takashima are strapped into a rail-car moving down the axis to the other end of the station. Kosh will be arriving in only two hours. Sinclair sends Garibaldi to ensure that Ambassador Londo will be at the early reception, "We don't want a repeat of what happened when G'Kar arrived." A private message then comes in for Sinclair, which he says he'll take in his quarters.

The message is from Sinclair's SO, Carolyn Sykes, who is returning a week early from a trading expedition (ETA 1 hour, 40 minutes). "Just in time for the reception," says Sinclair, already starting to look haggard as he changes outfits.

G'Kar stops Takashima in an upward-curving corridor to happily announce that he's ordered his transport to submit to the weapons search.

  G: Since you doubtless have your hands full, our captain will
     wait until after the Ambassador's ship has docked.  Is that
     satisfactory?
  T: Yes, yes it is.  Are you feeling all right Ambassador?
  G: Couldn't be better!  See you at the reception then...  
     [he walks off, humming and bouncing]

Lyta Alexander is telepathically overseeing a business deal, to the marked (but honest) advantage of the fellow employing her. When that concludes, G'Kar invites her to talk, invoking "privacy" (a feature of the room that can shield transactions at any table). G'Kar proceeds to offer her money for sex, the major purpose (but clearly not the only one) being to acquire telepathy for the Narn Regime through her genetic resources. Lyta is not interested. "I've heard about the Narn obsession with buying new technology, but you can't just buy someone's genetic makeup. It's... immoral." G'Kar persists, even to the point of bringing up details of the coupling. We can only assume, from her expression, that she doesn't take him up on it.

Varner steps into a corridor where a security guard is shining a flashlight in peoples' faces. Varner passes this scrutiny and smiles confidently.

The Vorlon ship is closing up its scintillating fins and entering the station under Takashima's control. She routes it to docking bay 9 and directs Sinclair there.

Sinclair steps onto a turbolift and takes it down, but it stops almost immediately. The computer reports a momentary power loss - there will be a 2.3 minute delay for secondary power to become available.

The Vorlon ship opens and Kosh emerges, wearing a great big encounter suit with a cape hanging from the back. He glides slowly down the ramp into the bay.

Sinclair jogs up to the closed docking bay, arriving at the same time as Garibaldi and Takashima. Garibaldi begins to complain about Londo's absence, but an alarm suddenly goes off. Sinclair sends Takashima off to notify security and opens the bay door, finding Kosh on the floor. They can't open his suit because the atmosphere would kill him, so Sinclair sends Garibaldi off to have Kyle ready the medlab immediately.

Later, Sinclair is in the medlab, where Kyle is mixing up the atmosphere for Kosh. Takashima comes in and reports that the Vorlon government has forbidden them to open the encounter suit at all. "We haven't come this far to watch it all fall apart," Sinclair growls. "Jeff, I'm warning you," she objects, "they're deadly serious about security." "Then we'll give them security," - he orders all monitors and data logging to be turned off, reminds Kyle of his oath of confidentiality, and sends him in to do what he can. He acquiesces, and as he prepares for the unknown, Takashima says, "Good luck, and I hope you're wrong..."

Looking through the glass into the environment room, Takashima tells Sinclair what she and Kyle had been talking about earlier - legend has it that the only human being ever to have seen a Vorlon had been turned to stone. Soon ready, Kyle touches the outside of the suit in a couple places, and it opens, light streaming out. He looks in... and sees what he sees.

Later, in his office, Sinclair is reporting to Earth that Kosh could well die. The Senator warns that the Vorlon government is very suspicious of what happened - if there is any sign of foul play there could be serious repercussions. On hearing that Garibaldi is in charge of the investigation, he's skeptical. "Is that wise? I was opposed to you bringing him on in the first place. He's been bounced from one station to another for years, I don't know if he's up to an investigation on this scale." (Garibaldi has come in meanwhile and has been listening out of sight.) Sinclair proclaims complete confidence in his security chief, and they sign off. "Old news," Garibaldi says. Sinclair charges him with finding out where everyone was during the five minutes between Kosh's arrival and the alarm, and grants him "full diplomatic access."

Stumbling into his quarters, Sinclair finds Carolyn in his bed. "You really should change your access code more often," she says. He kisses her and collapses in exhaustion.

We find Dr. Kyle in the outer room of the medlab, staring blankly off into space. The computer analysis completes; an unidentified foreign compound is present in Kosh's body. His condition is very poor, the prognosis terminal.

Kyle, un-rattled as usual, wakes up Sinclair to report that Kosh was poisoned, and he needs know what kind of poison it was in order to counteract it. If he knew where it got in through the environment suit, he could probably find enough of it there for an identification. Failing that, Kosh will die in 24 hours. Sinclair immediately calls security and seals off the station: no ships may come or go until further notice.

Meanwhile, G'Kar and Delenn are in her quarters talking about the situation.

  G: Why won't you accept the facts?  Who was the only one of us
     missing from the welcome party when Kosh arrived?  Londo
     Mollari!
  D: And why would the Centauri Republic want to kill Ambassador
     Kosh?
  G: What better way to prop up a fading empire than to start a
     war? They've been trying to join forces with the Earth
     Alliance for years!  A mutual enemy would serve that purpose
     very well.
  D: And if your assumption is correct and he is the assassin,
     what would you suggest?
  G: An alliance between our governments.  Yours is the oldest of
     the five federations, ours is the youngest.
     Technologically, you're centuries ahead of everyone else.
     We have unlimited manpower and the will to use it!  Can
     you imagine what we could achieve together?
  D: I can, which is why it must never be allowed to happen.
     Your perceptions are colored by your history with the
     Centauri.  As former slaves of their government, you would
     seize any opportunity to raise a force against them.
  G: We were never slaves!  Our world was invaded, our people...
  D: The word - was ill chosen.  My apologies.  But my decision
     stands. Thank you for coming, Ambassador.
  G: HAH!  I should have known better than to waste my time.
     You're even worse than the Centauri; they're beyond the
     dream of conquest.  But you, you had the Earth Alliance on
     its knees - one more stroke and you would have defeated
     them!  Yet you surrendered - why?
  D: We had our reasons.
     [While G'Kar talks into space, Delenn opens a hidden
     compartment and puts on one of 20 or so simple rings
     ceremoniously displayed there]
  G: On Narn we heard that the decision to surrender came from
     your holy men.  A secret group called the "Grey Council" -
     weak frightened old fools with no vision or the will to
     fight.  But we -

Garibaldi finds Londo at the bar by the casino. "It's a pity," Londo says, "I suppose there'll be war now, mm? All that running around shooting at one another? I would have thought sooner or later it would go out of fashion." When Garibaldi begins questioning him, Londo blows him off, but then acquiesces to "full diplomatic access." He was still gambling at the time, he claims - Varner had promised to back his bets but then pulled out after Londo suffered heavy losses.

  L: He's here, if you want to talk to him.
     [he points out Varner across the room, but Garibaldi
     continues to question]
  G: Can anyone confirm your story?
  L: Yes - the new telepath, Lyta Alexander.  I saw her talking
     to Varner shortly after you left.
  G: Who would want to kill the ambassador?
  L: Mr. Garibaldi - it's a big universe!  If I knew who did it I
     would tell you.  I'm not here to make trouble.  You know why
     I am here?  I'm here to grovel before your wonderful Earth
     Alliance, in hopes of attaching ourselves to your destiny,
     like... what are those fish called on your planet that
     attach themselves to sharks?
  G: Ramoras.
  L: Yes.  You make very good sharks Mr. Garibaldi.  We were
     pretty good sharks ourselves, once - but somehow, along the
     way, we forgot how to bite.  There was a time, when this
     whole quadrant belonged to us!  What are we now?  Twelve
     worlds and a thousand monuments to past glories, living off
     memories, stories, selling trinkets.  My god man, we've
     become a tourist attraction!  "See the great Centauri
     Republic, open 9 to 5, Earth time."  [he sighs] Anything
     else?
  G: No. Thank-you, Ambassador.

Takashima and Kyle are in private quarters, discussing the Kosh dilemma. At the Vorlons' request, all the monitors had been off in the docking bay, so no-one but Kosh himself knows how he was poisoned. Kyle suggests that they enlist the telepath's aid to find out, and Takashima agrees it's the best thing to do (but only after a quite contrary story from her own life about the importance of sticking by the rules). The Vorlons would never allow it, of course, so they plan to proceed behind Sinclair's back.

When they confront Lyta with the idea in the medlab, she objects - quite rightly - that she could be thrown out of the Psi Corps for the crime of unauthorized mind scanning. Takashima urges the gravity of the situation, "Lyta, if the ambassador dies, the Vorlons will retaliate. This station is the first logical target. If I were in their position, I'd have a cruiser standing by in hyperspace right now just waiting to attack us. Thousands would die, and after us who knows how many more..."

Meanwhile, air is leaking out from one of the holes caused by the grabber ship still attached to the hull. The techs begin to notice the pressure loss and send a maintenance pod to investigate.

Vast forces weighing upon her shoulders, Lyta agrees to scan Kosh. Preparing herself, she explains, "When I get inside, it's subjective - I'll feel what he felt, but I'll see my body, not his. This could get rough." Initially she can't make mental contact with him, but succeeds when she takes off one of her gloves and puts her hand inside the encounter suit.

With Lyta, we see Sinclair walking forward through a warped image of the docking bay. "Welcome to Babylon 5," he says, smiling. A glance at his left hand shows it is slightly cupped away from sight. Sinclair offers his right, and we see a woman's arm reach forward to shake it (PoV, remember). He quickly grabs the proffered hand and slaps a big red circle onto the back of it. Soon the image of the bay distorts and tumbles, leaving us looking up from the floor at a grim Sinclair, then blackness.

In the medlab, Lyta is screaming blindly. Once the staff extricate her from the environment room, Kyle and Takashima talk her back to reality. She reports where the poison hit, and Sinclair jogs in just in time for Lyta to viciously accuse him of the deed.

Later, we momentarily see Varner in the marketplace pointing a little gadget at Lyta, who apparently doesn't see him.

The maintenance pod comes upon the grabber ship, which produces a cannon and demolishes it.

Varner follows a yellow-suited man into a turbolift and gets recognized by Eric, a yellow-suited tech. There is a flash of light as the door closes, and Eric emerges grimly - and alone.

In another senior staff meeting, Takashima reports that word has gotten out that a witness has identified Sinclair as the assassin. The senator calls and, given conflict of interest, orders Sinclair to temporarily surrender command of the station to Takashima, who will also represent the EA at the upcoming emergency council. "Jeff, once the council gets into this, there's nothing we can do without compromising the neutrality of Babylon 5 - we can't let that happen." After the senator signs off, the officers voice strong objections, but Sinclair demands that they do this one by the book.

The Babylon 5 advisory council is in session. G'Kar is making the case against Sinclair: he was suspiciously missing when Kosh debarked, and there is no record of the lift malfunction Sinclair claims delayed him. G'Kar opens the floor to questions, and Delenn asks Dr. Kyle who it was that identified Sinclair. Kyle replies that the witness has requested anonymity, which would of course change if this went to trial. When asked about the poison, Kyle reports that it was Florizine, a rare poison found only in the Damocles sector [a chilling name]. G'Kar immediately announces that "Sinclair's woman" had arrived from the that very sector less than an hour before the assassination attempt!

During a recess, Londo is at the bar again, staring at his drink. G'Kar walks merrily up to him and says, "Ambassador Mollari, I would like to discuss your vote with you."

Garibaldi is updating Sinclair on his investigation as they walk through the corridors. Garibaldi doesn't trust what Lyta has to say - "I've seen her a lot with Del Varner, the guy who kept Londo from attending the reception." Turns out Varner has many EA indictments for smuggling illegal technology. Garibaldi can't fathom that man's actions; why would he put himself at risk stepping into EA jurisdiction? Why would he deliberately anger Londo by offering monetary support and then backing out, when many of his own underworld clients are Centauri? Furthermore, Varner was too much in debt to cover Londo's bets anyway. Sinclair sends Garibaldi off to talk to have a chat with Mr. Varner.

Council resumes - Sinclair is now on the stand. G'Kar opens with a motion to extradite Sinclair to the Vorlon home-world for trial and quickly opens the vote with a yes. Takashima votes no for EA. Delenn, with unknown difficulty, abstains. Londo, with deep regret, votes yes. The council is deadlocked: two for, two against or abstaining. G'Kar then announces that he'd suggested his idea to the Vorlon government just recently: they requested that he vote yes on their behalf. The motion passes, deportation to take place in 12 hours.

Garibaldi arrives at Varner's quarters to find the access system out of commission. Gaining entry with a gadget, he puzzles at a small puddle of orangish liquid on the floor. Then he puzzles at Del Varner's body in a big fish tank.

In the medlab, Kyle confirms that the body is indeed Varner's, dead for at least X hours. Also, he will be able to counteract the poison in 6-7 hours, which is not much less than the time Kosh has got left.

Garibaldi has lost the only lead he'd found. "Dammit, maybe they were right - maybe you got the wrong man for this job after all," he says to Sinclair in the corridors. "Michael, I picked you because you're right for the job. You're not politick, you're not subtle, and sometimes you're a pain in the ass - and I wouldn't have it any other way."

At Ops, a tech reports to Takashima that the maintenance pod was lost. She sends a repair crew to check out what's going on.

G'Kar and Lyta meet in the alien sector. She notes his lack of a breathing mask, and he points out his gill implants. "Come," he says, "there's been a complication."

In the casino, Londo apologizes to Garibaldi for his vote - G'Kar had blackmailed him with scandalous information about Londo's father. Of such secrets is Centauri power made and broken. Londo didn't know his vote would matter, but he admits, at Garibaldi's questioning, that knowing wouldn't have changed anything. "This is my weakness, my failure. I am sorry, truly sorry."

In Sinclair's quarters, Carolyn is looking in awe at a medal of honor.

  C: Jeff, this medal, you were on the Line, and you never told
     me?
  S: I didn't want to talk about it. 
  C: Why?
     [Sinclair broods over a star globe, looking old]
  S: I was a squad team leader when the call came in.  We all
     knew it was a suicide mission, the Minbari had broken
     through, closing in.  Every ship we had left was ordered to
     circle Earth.  We had to stop them, no matter what it cost.
     They came at us out of nowhere, we never had a chance.  The
     sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship.  One of
     ours.  My team was blown out of the sky in less than a
     minute.  Twelve ships.  I managed to take out a fighter
     before they hit my stabilizers.  I was losing power, I'd
     lost my team, and I figured if I was going to die I'd take
     someone out with me, so I targeted one of their heavy
     cruisers, hit my afterburners.  I was going to ram them head
     on.  The last thing I remember is hurtling toward that
     cruiser, filling my screen.  Big... my god so big.  Then,
     something passed in front of my eyes - I guess I blacked out
     from the acceleration.  When I came to 24 hours later, the
     cruiser was gone.  I checked in.  They told me the war was
     over.  The Minbari had surrendered.
  C: [appealing] Because of the Line.
  S: No.  We were beaten.  We didn't stop them, they stopped
     themselves, and I wish to hell I knew why.

The false Lyta is careening down the corridor, cradling her arm. Falling against a wall, her whole face is malformed momentarily by a scream of pain. She stumbles on.

In a cargo bay, Garibaldi shows the now-disabled grabber ship to Sinclair, reporting how it was found. Only one individual could have come aboard in it. "Short range," Sinclair muses - some other ship must have brought it here. Garibaldi also reports that the body of Eric the tech has turned up dead, yet friends have reported seeing him recently. Just then Takashima links in to call them all over to Varner's quarters - she has something to show them.

Takashima has cracked open Varner's files and discovered that Varner was on the station to sell a changeling net: illegal technology that can make a person's appearance and voice that of someone else, at the risk of death from prolonged exposure. "So that's what Kosh saw in the docking bay," Takashima realizes. The net puts out a huge amount of energy, enough to detect with the station's sensors. Sinclair orders Takashima to reconfigure them to scan inwards, and then heads off to security.

Sinclair and Garibaldi arrive at Ops in body armor, carrying big guns. Filtering out known sources, Takashima finds the expected energy spike. Sinclair orders that area sealed off and heads for the door. Takashima suggests they take a hovering recorder along, "The way things are going, you may need a witness." Indeed, moments after they've left, a tech reports that something is coming through the jump gate. "It must be the transport ship - damn!" she says. The tech looks up in fear - "That's not a transport!" "Looks like the commander's ride is here," she replies. But it's not just a ride - no less than three Vorlon cruisers emerge from the gate amid a swarm of fighters.

In the corridors, Sinclair has Garibaldi set his weapon to a non-killing level so that they can take the assassin alive. The move in with Takashima's assistance from Ops, pinpointing the energy source. There is a brief exchange of fire, and Garibaldi is thrown backward by a hit in the chest. He tears off his super-heated jacket, which took most of the blast. Sinclair forges ahead alone.

At Ops, the Vorlons have demanded the immediate transport of Sinclair. Takashima orders a tech to link the Vorlons in to the recorder following him. While the tech gets to work on that, the Vorlons threaten attack in 5 minutes.

Sinclair exchanges fire with the assassin, but neither is hit. He stalks slowly forward to where the figure disappeared, looking back once. When he turns his attention forward again the assassin (disguised now as Eric) tackles him from behind. Both apparently having lost their guns now, they start fist-fighting. Sinclair is quickly in severe trouble. However, the chameleon net starts changing images as they grapple - first Varner appears, then Lyta, and finally Sinclair himself in body armor! The assassin is forced to pause each time, and at the last change Sinclair throws him against a high-voltage barrier in a room across the corridor. Gouts of electricity pour through the figure, and the disguise finally gives out, revealing him to be... Minbari!

The Vorlon fighters are powering up their already awesome-looking weapons as they close on the station. The tech finally gets the signal from the recorder finally connected to the outgoing link.

There is an explosion (possibly the chameleon net), and the assassin is thrown back into the corridor. "Why," Sinclair asks in wonder, "Why did you do it?" Looking up at him, the Minbari has only this to say: "There is a hole in your mind." With that, he reaches up and breaks his own wrist, activating some kind of device in his arm. Through the link, Takashima shouts, "Oh my god, he's wired!" Sinclair orders the area sealed off and sprints down the corridor. He's quickly blown through a closing bulkhead by a great explosion behind him.

B5 is thrown off kilter by the blast, and Vorlon fighters veer off to avoid colliding with it. It takes quite some effort on Takashima's part to pull it back into position without ripping apart the spinning station.

Garibaldi and Delenn find Sinclair returning from the destroyed section. "This little breach of security isn't gonna affect my Christmas bonus, is it?" Garibaldi quips. Delenn asks him, "Do you need anything?" "Coffee," Sinclair chuckles, "two sugars, cream - and aspirin."

A shower and change later, Sinclair sees Carolyn off the station - trading has called her away again. On a whim, she invites him to quit Babylon 5 and go off with her. "I'll think about it," he says. "Well don't take too long," she replies, "I'll wait, but not forever."

Later, the officers gather in the medlab. The station will be fully operational again in a few days, and Kosh is recovering and out of critical. Then Delenn enters and invites Sinclair aside, "I regret that a Minbari was responsible for all this sadness," she says. Sinclair is forgiving - "You can't be responsible for the actions of every member of your race, Delenn." "No. But there is something I can do." So saying, she gives him a file of information about the assassin, whose clan she recognized when she watched the recording broadcast to the Vorlons. "I think you'll find it... most interesting."

Still later, Sinclair is in his quarters, proposing a toast with G'Kar "To a fully operational Babylon 5!" "To the future!", G'Kar returns, and they drink. G'Kar expresses his pleasure at how it all turned out, and reaffirms their mutual goal of peace. However, Sinclair has his own agenda.

  S: I'm surprised you didn't ask about Del Varner.
  G: I assumed he was simply another innocent victim.
  S: Not quite.  His last entry spoke of a big payoff for
     bringing a changeling net across the border.  He was
     supposed to meet with his buyer in the Tigris sector but was
     running behind - didn't your supply ship also pass through
     the Tigris sector on its way here?
  G: If you have a point to make, Commander, pleeease make it.
  S: I believe the assassin was brought here on your supply ship.
     [G'Kar is carefully examining Sinclair's bric-a-brac]
     That's why they needed the changeling net before they
     arrived - a Minbari warrior walking off a Narn ship would
     draw a lot of attention.  With the net, he could appear to
     be one of your crew and infiltrate the station.  When Varner
     missed connecting with your ship he came here, so you had to
     find another way to get the assassin on board.  They used
     the transport we found on the station's hull to get him
     inside, he then killed Del Varner and grabbed the changeling
     net.
  G: Sheer speculation, Commander.  With the death of Del Varner,
     and of the assassin, you have no proof.

Storming out of Sinclair's quarters, G'Kar is blocked for a moment by Garibaldi and Londo coming out of a lift. Garibaldi mimes a gadget at G'Kar with a "beep-beep" as he walks by. "Beep Beep?" Londo asks, "It must be Earth humor. Who can figure a species like that - Beep Beep." G'Kar is quite beside himself.

Londo walks on to the reception, but Garibaldi and Sinclair stop and talk in the corridor.

  G: Do you think they'll find that transmitter you slipped him?
  S: No.  Because there isn't one.
  G: There isn't?  Wait...
  S: I lied.  I figured if there was a transmitter sooner or
     later they'd find it and remove it.  But if I just told him
     there was, they'd keep looking, indefinitely.
  G: Commander, do you have any idea of the tests they'll put him
     through, the things they'll do to him, tryin' to find a
     transmitter that's not there?
  S: Yes.  Come on...

Later, Delenn finds Sinclair alone in the night-darkened Garden.

  S: Delenn, just before he died, the Minbari assassin looked at
     me and said, "There is a hole in your mind."
  D: An old Minbari insult, nothing you need worry about.
  S: Maybe... it's just - there's a 24-hour period in my life
     that I can't account for.  It happened during the war with
     your people.  You wouldn't be holding anything out on me
     would you, old friend?
  D: Commander, I would never tell you anything that was not in
     your best interest.
  S: Well, we'll talk about this again, one of these days.  Come
     on, we should get back to the reception.
  D: By the way, there's something I've been wondering - why
     "Babylon 5?"  After prior four stations were lost, or
     destroyed, why build another?
  S: Plain old human stubbornness, I guess.  When something we
     value is destroyed, we rebuild it.  If it's destroyed again
     we rebuild it again.  And again, and again, and... [looking
     down the vast Garden] again.  Until it stays.  That, as our
     poet Tennyson once said, is the goal: "To strive, to seek,
     to find, and not to yield."  

Matthew Ryan mattryan@pobox.com

Anthony Taylor (FNATT@elmer.alaska.edu) wrote a preliminary version of the files on the pilot, and I am grateful to him for many of the points listed on the above page (included with his permission).