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								   A solemn-looking man, known to us only as "Knight Two," has arrived on

								   Babylon 5. Shortly after his arrival, he sees another man ("Knight

								   One") in the waiting area and moves over to him quietly.


								   Meanwhile, right outside the waiting area, a security officer named

								   Benson is getting beaten up by two gamblers to whom he owes a

								   significant sum of money. The gamblers threaten him with death if he

								   does not pay them within 24 hours.


								   Knight Two has moved into his quarters. Knight One arrives, bringing a

								   three-dimensional image projector with him. He activates it, and it

								   shows a lifelike picture of Commander Sinclair. "I've identified the

								   target," he says.


								   Sinclair and Garibaldi have summoned security officer Benson in order

								   to question him about possible debts he's been accumulating. They

								   inform Benson that B5 security officers are strictly limited in their

								   gambling--if an officer becomes indebted to the "wrong people," he

								   would become vulnerable to blackmail, resulting in a security risk to

								   the station. Garibaldi claims to have information that Benson has been

								   exceeding the gambling limits, but Benson insists that he's done

								   nothing wrong. Sinclair, however, not wanting to take any chances,

								   removes Benson from the active duty roster pending an investigation in

								   the matter. After Benson leaves, Garibaldi comments that he believes

								   Benson is lying.


								   "Everyone lies, Michael," replies Sinclair. "The innocent lie because

								   they don't want to be blamed for something they didn't do, and the

								   guilty lie because they don't have any other choice." Knight Two and

								   Knight One are building a complex gadget in Knight Two's quarters.

								   They have everything they need except for a power source; Knight One

								   claims that it is impossible to smuggle an energy source onto the

								   station because it would be picked up by the scanners. "So I

								   improvised. It'll be here."


								   Benson, in the meantime, has stealthily made his way to a storage room

								   ...


								   In the medical lab, Dr. Franklin is examining Delenn. He expresses his

								   thanks to Delenn for allowing him to examine her; he says that he

								   rarely gets the chance to examine Minbari--unless there's something

								   wrong with one of them; he says that to have data on a healthy Minbari

								   will give him a basis from which to operate. After the examination,

								   Delenn rises and asks Franklin about a rumor she heard from one of the

								   other doctors--that Franklin used to hitchhike aboard spaceships.

								   Franklin confirms this rumor; he had "wanted to see it all," so he

								   traded his services as a doctor in exchange for free passage on

								   various ships. He explains how he did this until the Earth-Minbari war

								   started, but then pauses. Delenn asks him if he was involved in the

								   war. He replies that toward the end of the war, all xenobiologists

								   were asked by Earth Force to turn over their notes on Minbari

								   physiology so that effective genetic and biological weapons could be

								   created. Delenn asks him if he did, indeed, hand over his notes.


								   "I took an oath that _all_ life is sacred. I destroyed my notes rather

								   than have them used for killing," he answers.


								   Delenn smiles and thanks him. When Franklin asks her, however, what

								   her involvement in the war was, she only answers that the matter is "a

								   topic for another time."


								   Benson, after securing an energy pod from the storage area, delivers

								   it to Knight Two's quarters. The Knights promise to pay him promptly.

								   After Benson leaves, the Knights connect the energy supply to the

								   device they've been building. "I think we're ready to proceed," they

								   agree.


								   Sinclair, asleep in his quarters, is having a traumatic dream about

								   the Battle of the Line, the final battle of the Earth-Minbari war.

								   Sinclair's squadron is fighting a Minbari cruiser. One of Sinclair's

								   friends, Mitchell, ignores one of Sinclair's suggestions and breaks

								   from formation, feeling that he can get a clear shot at the Minbari

								   ship. Sinclair has a feeling, however, that Mitchell is entering a

								   trap. Just as he realizes that his friend is about to die ... he wakes

								   up and rises to get himself a drink. As he looks around his room, he

								   notices that his computer is not working. He calls a maintenance team,

								   but there is no response. Worried, he calls security; again, there is

								   no response. He gets dressed quickly and leaves his quarters, running

								   to the bridge.


								   [9][LINK]Sinclair on his way to the bridge.


								   When he gets to the bridge, however, it is empty, and the computer is

								   not activated. He tries communicating with Earth Central, but does not

								   receive a response. Finally, he attempts to activate the computer; at

								   length, the computer responds. Sinclair, slightly relieved, asks the

								   computer if an evacuation of B5 has been ordered; the computer replies

								   that there was no evacuation. Sinclair then asks the computer to scan

								   for other life forms on B5; sure enough, the computer finds one other

								   life form and notifies Sinclair of the life form's position. Sinclair

								   runs to the location, but finds nothing at first. "What the hell is

								   going on around here," he asks himself.


								   Suddenly, the lights in the corridor start flashing off, one by one,

								   and a mysterious voice answers him. "Maybe you're asleep. Maybe you're

								   insane. Maybe you're dead. Maybe you're in Hell. Not that it matters

								   much, Commander Sinclair, because wherever you are, wherever you go,

								   you're mine!" Sinclair turns around to find Knight Two staring at him.


								   [10][LINK]"You're mine."


								   Delenn has arrived at Garibaldi's quarters. She appears concerned and

								   tells Garibaldi that she was supposed to meet with Sinclair an hour

								   before. Garibaldi calls Sinclair and receives no response; sharing now

								   in Delenn's concern, he begins to search for Sinclair personally.


								   Sinclair angrily asks Knight Two what he's done to Babylon 5; Knight

								   Two replies that he hasn't done anything. He explains to Sinclair that

								   they are both inside a "cerebral matrix" (a "virtual-reality

								   cybernet"). "It's shadow-play," explains Knight Two, "without form or

								   substance. But I'm real, commander, and you're real. And the pain--the

								   pain for you is also real." Knight Two steps back, and a "cerebral

								   discharge" surrounds Sinclair, putting him through agonizing pain.


								   Garibaldi has rushed to Sinclair's quarters. When he enters the

								   quarters, however, he finds them empty. Alarmed, he contacts Ivanova

								   and explains the situation to her.


								   Knight Two, outside the matrix, orders Knight One to cut the cerebral

								   discharge. Inside the matrix, he begins to speak with Sinclair again.

								   He notices how important the station is to Sinclair--how his thoughts

								   seem to be rooted in Babylon 5. He explains to Sinclair that they will

								   "walk together across the bridge of synapses and neurons into the very

								   heart of your memories" in order to find the truth about what happened

								   to Sinclair at the Battle of the Line. Knight Two tells Sinclair that

								   he doesn't believe the testimony that Sinclair gave to Earth Force

								   Defense after the war: that, during the twenty-four hour period where

								   he was out of contact with Earth Force Defense, he merely blacked out.

								   "We're finally going to get to the truth," Knight Two says, "even if

								   it kills you."


								   Garibaldi, Ivanova, and Dr. Franklin are discussing strategies to find

								   Sinclair. Garibaldi has organized a search party, drawn from all

								   nonessential B5 personnel, but that the search still might take a few

								   days. Franklin warns that "a few days" might be too long if Sinclair

								   were injured. Ivanova has contacted a nearby station and asked them to

								   track any ships that have left B5 in the last eight hours. Garibaldi

								   suggests that they also send a few maintenance "bots" to patrol the

								   hull of B5--"If someone shoved [Sinclair's body] outside, the

								   station's gravity won't let it get far. Just in case."


								   "Mr. Garibaldi," Ivanova replies, "there are days I'm very glad I

								   don't have to think the way you do."


								   Meanwhile, inside Sinclair's mind, Knight Two is continuing his

								   probing into Sinclair's mind. "Your name is Jeffrey David Sinclair.

								   Rank: commander. Age: 39. Born on Mars Colony, May 3, 2218, 9:15 A.M.,

								   Earth Standard Time. Enlisted in Earth Force Defense, 2237; promoted

								   to fighter pilot, 2240; promoted again to squad leader less than a

								   year later.... Smart money said you'd make admiral one day. So what

								   happened, _commander_? Why'd you fall off the merry-go-round?"


								   [11][LINK]Sinclair listens to his dossier.


								   Sinclair merely tells him to "go to hell." He refuses to tell Knight

								   Two anything. "I'm betting you don't have a lot of time. Security's

								   probably tearing this place upside down, looking for me."


								   "Assuming you're still on Babylon 5," replies Knight Two. Proceeding

								   with his search for information, Knight Two tries to get Sinclair to

								   reveal "the truth" by conjuring up an image of Mitchell, Sinclair's

								   old friend and fellow officer who died in the Battle of the Line.

								   Knight Two's plan appears to be working, because as soon as Sinclair

								   sees Mitchell, his old memories of the Battle of the Line spring to

								   the forefront of his mind. Sinclair relives the battle--he sees again

								   what he saw in his dream, except that this time, he actually sees

								   Mitchell's ship exploding. After that part of the battle plays itself

								   out, Mitchell begins to speak with Sinclair again. At first, Sinclair

								   refuses to speak with Mitchell; he tells himself that Mitchell's image

								   is just an illusion. When Mitchell, however, accuses Sinclair of being

								   a traitor ("We fought for you. We fought beside you on the Line. We

								   swore we would all go down together, but you're alive, and we're dead,

								   because of you!" says Mitchell), Sinclair feels that he has to

								   respond. He replies, "I tried! I tried!"


								   "Tried to do what, commander?" asks Knight Two.


								   Sinclair answers by reliving the part of the Battle of the Line where

								   he tries to ram the Minbari cruiser. Knight Two urges Sinclair to

								   continue because, as Sinclair himself said, all of the incidents which

								   Knight Two has seen so far were in Sinclair's original report of the

								   battle ten years ago. Sinclair, however, claims that he cannot

								   continue--"I don't remember. I blacked out. I've never been able to

								   remember!"


								   Knight Two moves closer to Sinclair. "You don't want to remember! You

								   don't want to remember the twenty-four hours in which you betrayed

								   your own race. The day you became a traitor. The day you sold out--"


								   "That's enough!" screams Sinclair. As he says this, he suddenly hits

								   Knight Two in the stomach. Knight Two, taken by surprise, vanishes

								   from the matrix without a trace. "Well, well. Looks like the pain is

								   real for both of us," comments Sinclair.


								   Delenn is talking with Ivanova; Delenn explains how concerned she is

								   and offers her assistance in finding Sinclair, but Ivanova says that

								   they're already doing everything they can to find Sinclair. Delenn

								   suggests the use of the station's telepath, Talia Winters, but Ivanova

								   explains that Winters is only a P-5 and, consequently, needs to be in

								   close proximity with people in order to scan them. Winter's isn't

								   trained, according to Ivanova, for a search-and-recover mission.


								   Knight One, meanwhile, is concerned about Knight Two, who snapped out

								   of the cybernet suddenly. Knight Two, however, claims that he's all

								   right. He says that he needs to be put back into the cybernet quickly,

								   for Sinclair was right--they don't have much time. Knight One

								   estimates that the search parties on the station will find them on B5

								   in about four hours. "He's tough. Breaking him isn't going to be

								   easy," says Knight Two. Knight Two orders Knight One to increase both

								   the power of the cybernet and the dosage of psychotropic drugs with

								   which Sinclair is being injected. "We're close.... The more I walk

								   through his mind, the more I'm convinced he's hiding something,"

								   explains Knight Two.


								   One of the security officers is giving a report to Garibaldi. He

								   explains how, although the search teams have covered a lot of

								   territory, there still is no sign of Sinclair. Garibaldi orders the

								   officer to split the search teams into even smaller units--he also

								   orders the officer to bring in every possible available officer. The

								   officer explains how he's already brought in everyone--"even Benson."

								   Garibaldi is annoyed that Benson was brought back to duty, but the

								   security officer explains that he checked Benson's record, and Benson

								   isn't in any debts. In fact, he says, there's even a surplus in

								   Benson's account. Garibaldi, however, is suspicious, for the other

								   day, the account was empty. He checks the account again and finds that

								   one very large deposit was made, followed by numerous withdrawals.

								   Garibaldi assumes that these withdrawals were used to pay off

								   debts--and notes that the large deposit was made only four hours

								   before Sinclair was known to be missing. Garibaldi orders the security

								   officer to find and bring back Benson for questioning.


								   Knight Two has reentered the cybernet. Again, he asks Sinclair for the

								   truth about the Battle of the Line. Sinclair suddenly finds himself

								   surrounded by a circle of people wearing grey cloaks. "What are you

								   doing here?" he asks. "What do you want?" Before he receives an

								   answer, however, one of the grey figures shoots him.


								   Meanwhile, Benson has arrived at Knight Two's quarters. When Knight

								   One answers the door, Benson frantically asks for protection. "You've

								   got to help me. The whole station's looking for me. They think I had

								   something to do with the commander's disapp--" Suddenly, Benson hears

								   a scream from the back of the room. He curiously enters the quarters

								   and is surprised to find Commander Sinclair attached to the cybernet

								   device. He's not given the chance to think about it for too long,

								   however, for Knight One shoots Benson almost immediately.


								   Back in the cybernet, Knight Two confronts Sinclair about the grey

								   figures. He asks Sinclair to reveal what he's hiding, but Sinclair

								   insists that he's not hiding anything.


								   "We all hide things, commander. That's why we bounced back [to the

								   station] again, isn't it? This is where you hide, behind duty and

								   responsibility and obligation," says Knight Two.


								   "Things you'd never understand!" replies Sinclair.


								   Knight Two disagrees, however. "We're both patriots in our own way. If

								   I fail, more will come after me until the job is finished." He presses

								   Sinclair again, telling him that they're going to find out what

								   Sinclair is hiding.


								   Some security officers have found a body floating outside the hull of

								   Babylon 5. The body turns out to be Benson's.


								   Meanwhile, in the cybernet, Knight Two is again expressing his

								   disbelief at Sinclair's rendition of the events at the Line. Knight

								   Two asserts that Sinclair could not have simply blacked out, for his

								   ship "disappeared" from the sensing screens. Sinclair, however,

								   counters that the postwar hearings proved that the screens

								   malfunctioned. Knight Two explains what he believes to be the sequence

								   of events that occurred at the Line: The Minbari (Knight Two says)

								   realized the extent and power of Earth Force defense and realized how

								   difficult it would be to invade Earth. Therefore, they surrendered and

								   decided to work through more covert means. At the Battle of the Line,

								   Sinclair surrendered to the Minbari rather than give up his life. The

								   Minbari took him aboard and asked him to work for them--to be a covert

								   operative. "You agreed [to work for them]. You and

								   God-knows-how-many-other people."


								   "You're insane. I never betrayed Earth," insists Sinclair, but Knight

								   Two questions him--if Sinclair doesn't remember what happened, how can

								   he be sure he wasn't a traitor?


								   Sinclair, however, becomes annoyed with Knight Two: "That's enough!

								   You talk about the war. You talk about Mitchell and the rest, but you

								   didn't know them. They were my friends. I watched them die, one by

								   one. For years afterwards, whenever I saw a Minbari, I had to fight

								   the urge to strangle them with my bare hands.... We never had a

								   chance.... When I looked at those ships, I didn't just see my death. I

								   saw the death of the whole damn human race."


								   "Then why did they surrender?" asks Knight Two.


								   "I don't know. Maybe the universe blinked. Maybe God changed his mind.

								   All I know is that we got a second chance."


								   Knight Two is still skeptical. He asks Sinclair if anything has ever

								   made him doubt his story--that he simply "blacked out." Sinclair

								   replies that nothing ever made him question it--except for what the

								   Minbari who tried to kill Ambassador Kosh said to him: "There is a

								   hole in your mind." (cf: [12]"The Gathering") At Knight Two's further

								   prompting--and after Knight Two convinces Sinclair that Sinclair,

								   himself, wants to know what happened-- Sinclair allows his memories to

								   overcome him again. He again experiences the Battle of the Line. He

								   sees what he has seen before; except, this time, the take him further.

								   The Minbari cruiser stops his attempt to ram into it. The cruiser uses

								   some type of energy field to pull Sinclair's ship in. Sinclair is

								   taken aboard the cruiser and transported to a room where a bunch of

								   grey figures stand. At first, he is hanging in the air, arms bound to

								   the bottom of a triangular metal frame. One of the figures holds up a

								   small metal device (cf. [13]"Babylon Squared") that shimmers with some

								   kind of energy.


								   Later, the grey figures form a circle around Sinclair, who has been

								   freed. Suddenly, he moves over to one of the grey figures and pulls

								   back the veil that covers the figure's face. "I know you. I know who

								   you are. I _know_ you," says Sinclair. Before he can say any more,

								   however, another grey figure shoots him and knocks him out.


								   Outside the cybernet, however, Sinclair gathers up enough strength to

								   break the shackles that bind him to the cybernet device. As he

								   disconnects from the machine, the feedback knocks out Knight Two.

								   Knight One storms into the room, but Sinclair punches him, knocking

								   him out. He picks up a gun and escapes from the room. He is

								   delusional, however; he mumbles to himself about how the Minbari have

								   broken through and how he must get back to his ship.


								   Sinclair begins running through B5's corridors. One officer, a member

								   of the search party, sees Sinclair and beckons to him. Sinclair,

								   however, in his delusional state, believes she is a Minbari and shoots

								   at her. Fortunately, he does not kill her, and she links in with

								   Ivanova. She begins to explain that she has seen the commander;

								   however, before she can finish, Knight One shoots her in the back.


								   Knight One follows Sinclair; they shoot at each other unsuccessfully.

								   Garibaldi finally finds Sinclair, but is utterly surprised when he is

								   shot at by his commander. Dr. Franklin, a few seconds later, links in

								   and informs Garibaldi that he has found the room where he believes

								   Sinclair was held. Franklin believes that Sinclair may have been given

								   large dosages of psychotropic drugs and may consequently be delusional

								   or even dangerous.


								   As Garibaldi is hiding under a table, Delenn enters the room and

								   approaches Sinclair slowly. She ignores Garibaldi's warnings and

								   continues her approach. When she gets close enough to Sinclair, she

								   tells him that he's safe now and that nobody will harm him. He doesn't

								   listen to her, however; he can only picture the unveiling of the grey

								   figure ten years ago--the grey figure who he now knows to be Delenn,

								   though she looked younger then and had a silver triangle on her

								   forehead. "I know you!" he tells her.


								   "I'm your friend, commander. Ambassador Delenn. Your friend," she

								   replies.


								   "No!" he says, as he raises his gun. For a moment, it appears as if

								   he's going to shoot her. Instead, however, he points his gun in a

								   slightly different direction and shoots Knight One, who had just

								   arisen and was about to shoot at Sinclair. Knight One drops to the

								   floor, dead.


								   "Welcome home," says Delenn.


								   One day later, Sinclair awakes in the medical lab. Dr. Franklin has

								   finally flushed the psychotropic drugs from Sinclair's system.

								   Sinclair asks to see Knight Two, who has been taken; Garibaldi

								   replies, however, that Knight Two is about to leave the station. Earth

								   Central has decided to exercise jurisdiction in this case because they

								   believe Knight Two to be a member of an organization which wishes to

								   implicate members of the government as being traitors to the Minbari

								   (in fact, there are even rumors that the organization is a covert

								   operation run from within the government itself). Franklin explains

								   that he doesn't think the trial will reveal much, because when

								   Sinclair disconnected himself from the cybernet device, the feedback

								   "fried most of [Knight Two's] memory." Sinclair still, however, wishes

								   to see his former captor. As expected, Knight Two reveals little

								   information--in fact, he even claims that he cannot remember his own

								   name. However, just as he's walking away from Sinclair, he turns

								   around and says, "Commander Sinclair, there's something in my head. It

								   says, 'Maybe you're still inside. Maybe we're both still inside.'"


								   Sinclair goes to visit Delenn in her quarters. He thanks her for her

								   help in rescuing him--he notes that it's strange that seeing her was

								   the only thing that could help him. As he is about to leave her

								   quarters, she asks him if he remembers anything concerning the Battle

								   of the Line? He pictures in his mind the unveiling of the mysterious

								   grey figure; aloud, however, he says that he cannot, unfortunately,

								   remember anything. It is not clear whether Delenn knows he's lying or

								   not. After Sinclair leaves, a Minbari man, silver triangle on his

								   head, arrives from another room in Delenn's quarters. "He must _never_

								   know what happened. If he should find out, he must be killed. Do you

								   understand, Delenn?" says this man. Delenn replies that she does,

								   indeed, understand.


								   Sinclair, alone finally in his quarters, is making an entry in his

								   personal log: "I remember. I was taken inside a Minbari cruiser,

								   interrogated, tortured. Was that the Grey Council? Maybe. Maybe.

								   Before they surrendered, they must have blanked my memory and let me

								   go. And Delenn--what was she doing there? What is it they don't want

								   me to remember? I have to find out. I have to!"


								   Shawn Bayern _bayern@cshl.org_

								     _________________________________________________________________


								   Copyright 1994, Shawn Bayern. All rights reserved. Permission is

								   granted to distribute this synopsis _noncommercially_ 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.


								   [19][Next]


								      [20]Last update: October 15, 1995


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