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171 lines
7.9 KiB
171 lines
7.9 KiB
The Price of Peace
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[1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]
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[3]
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### GUIDE ### [4][Index] [5][Previous] [6][Next]
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Overview
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Colby makes a last desperate break for freedom, as Sinclair's
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problems reach a climactic finish on Minbar.
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Issue 4 (April 1995)
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Setting: Between [7]"Revelations" and [8]"The Geometry of Shadows"
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Writer: Mark Moretti
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Premise: J. Michael Straczynski
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Penciller: Michael Netzer
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Inker: Rob Leigh
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_________________________________________________________________
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Synopsis
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As Jason Colby gathers his belongings -- including a picture of his
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dead wife -- his video tap shows Col. Rabock talking to Ivanova,
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demanding permission to board the station. Colby recognizes Rabock as
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Webster.
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In Medlab, Rabock upbraids Sheridan for allowing Talia to scan Hall.
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Sheridan retorts that Hall was about to die, that the scan has given
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them a lead in the Minbari assassination plot, and that they're trying
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to track down the man who attacked Hall. Rabock storms away, which
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strikes Sheridan as odd. "I would've thought an internal affairs
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investigator would be interested in any information we uncovered," he
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says.
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Sinclair's trial is interrupted when Delenn charges into the chambers,
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claiming to have new information that might exonerate him. Neroon
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objects to her presence -- her association with Sinclair invalidates
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anything she might say. Delenn begins to describe what Garibaldi and
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Sheridan have learned; the tribunal decides to hear her evidence
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privately.
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Rabock speaks privately with a superior over a comm channel. He tells
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the mysterious man that Colby will take the fall for smuggling the
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weapons into Sinclair's luggage. His superior points out that if Colby
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is blamed, the cover story about Cypher being responsible will fall
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apart. Colby must be killed. Rabock's superior mentions that Rabock
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killed Colby's wife to help recruit Colby into the Homeguard -- an
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unfortunate revelation, since Colby is listening in on the
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conversation from his quarters.
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Delenn finishes her report on the situation on Babylon 5. Neroon
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dismisses it out of hand as a delaying tactic, and says that once it
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becomes clear that Sinclair's friends are fabricating evidence to set
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him free, the warrior caste will demand a renewed war against Earth.
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Delenn counters that the war was ended the first time because some
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humans, including Sinclair, carry Minbari souls, a situation which
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hasn't changed. Neroon scoffs at that.
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Rabock checks in with Garibaldi to find out how the manhunt is
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proceeding. It's proceeding as planned, though as yet there's no trace
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of the man Talia described. While Rabock watches, Garibaldi discovers
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a visual log of the docking bay that shows Colby loading weapons onto
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Delenn's flyer. That's enough for the computer to search the personnel
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files and determine who Colby is.
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Rabock, who slipped away the moment he saw the video, arrives at
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Colby's quarters as Garibaldi and Sheridan rush to the scene. As he
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enters, Colby ambushes him and takes him hostage. Sheridan and
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Garibaldi arrive; Sheridan agrees to let Colby get to Rabock's shuttle
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unhindered. As soon as Colby is out of earshot, Sheridan orders a wing
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of Starfuries to take out the ship's engine when it emerges.
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The shuttle leaves the station. Rabock tells Colby to put down his gun
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-- and hits Colby with an intense burst of telepathic pain when Colby
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doesn't comply. Colby figures it out: Webster isn't Rabock at all.
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He's Cypher. Colby grabs his gun and begins firing. Unfortunately, he
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hits the shuttle's systems several times; it explodes before the
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waiting Starfuries can fire a shot.
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Neroon cites the video as evidence that Sinclair is simply part of a
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larger conspiracy to assassinate the Minbari leader, and demands that
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such an act of war be responded to in kind. The tribunal agrees. As
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its head is pronouncing sentence, Sinclair invokes an ancient law,
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offering his life in exchange for war. This infuriates Neroon, who
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accuses Sinclair of mocking Minbari customs... but the tribunal rules
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that Sinclair's request is valid.
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The Minbari leader enters the court chamber, flanked by robed
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acolytes, and demands to be heard. He has been watching the trial, and
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the fact that Sinclair was willing to pay the steepest possible price
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for peace has convinced him that Sinclair is "a good and just man." He
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pardons Sinclair.
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Later, Delenn congratulates Sinclair on the ploy. He knew that the
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leader, as head of the Grey Council, would never allow the execution
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because of Sinclair's Minbari soul. As Delenn bids Sinclair farewell,
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he surprises her by kissing her on the cheek.
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Sheridan, Ivanova, and Garibaldi discuss the situation. All the
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principals are gone -- even Hall's body, which had been loaded onto
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Rabock's ship. Garibaldi says he still doesn't believe Hall was
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Cypher, doesn't think Cypher even exists.
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They're interrupted by the arrival of an Earthforce officer: Colonel
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Tiffany Rabock. Garibaldi is stunned -- maybe Cypher did exist after
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all.
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On Earth, in an office with a stylized, militaristic psi symbol on the
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floor, a man deletes the files for Colby and Webster and asks the
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computer to search Psi-Corps records for a person matching the
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"Cypher" program's criteria. "Somewhere out there," he says, "a new
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Cypher is waiting to be found..."
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Backplot
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* Neroon knew, before [9]"All Alone in the Night," that Sinclair was
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alleged to be carrying a Minbari soul. It seems he doesn't believe
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it, or doesn't care.
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* The Minbari leader has the power to pardon criminals, even those
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convicted of treason.
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Unanswered Questions
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* Who's the mysterious man in charge of Cypher? From the "PSI" in
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his office on the last page, it seems he's connected with
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Psi-Corps. Perhaps he's part of Bureau 13? (cf. [10]"A Spider in
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the Web")
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Analysis
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* The plot to set Hall up as Cypher seems flawed; if Webster and his
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superior had succeeded in convincing everyone that Hall was
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Cypher, that'd mean another cover story would have to be concocted
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if they wanted to do anything they'd ordinarily pin on Cypher.
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* Sinclair and Delenn are more than just colleagues, clearly; unless
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Sinclair has picked up some of Ivanova's Russian habits, kissing a
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foreign official is hardly an ambassadorial thing to do.
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* Sinclair now seems to have an ally in the leader of the Minbari.
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Notes
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* In this issue's behind-the-scenes pages, Ann Bruice talks about
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the designs of various costumes on the show, and about being B5's
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costume designer.
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jms speaks
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[16][Next]
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Last update: February 5, 1996
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References
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1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
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2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
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3. file://localhost/lurk/gif/comic/004.jpg
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4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/index.html
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5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/003.html
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6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/005.html
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7. file://localhost/lurk/guide/024.html
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8. file://localhost/lurk/guide/025.html
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9. file://localhost/lurk/guide/033.html
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10. file://localhost/lurk/guide/028.html
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11. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
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12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/004.html#TOP
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13. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
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14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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15. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/003.html
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16. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/005.html
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