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[3][Guide] [4][Background] ### SYNOPSIS ### [5][Credits] [6][Episode
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List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]
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A transport ship docks with the station.
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Sinclair sits down to eat with Garibaldi. Delenn and Lennier interrupt
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them; there is a distinguished guest coming aboard, Delenn says, and
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Sinclair should greet him.
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[INLINE] Delenn and Lennier interrupt a meal.
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In Downbelow, a crime boss named Deuce asks another man, Jinxo, to
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provide him with the locations of secret passages in the station.
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Jinxo replies that while he did help build Babylon 5, he was mostly
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involved in big structural construction and can't provide that
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information. Deuce insists that he can -- or else. He gestures to
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another part of the room, where a woman is tied down in a chair. Her
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name, Deuce says, is Mirriam Runningdear, and she agreed to testify
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against him. Now she'll pay the price. He beckons to something in the
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shadows. A Vorlon encounter suit comes forward. The front panel opens
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and a tentacle extends out, attaching to Runningdear's forehead. Deuce
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tells Jinxo to have the plans, or 50,000 credits, within 300 cycles,
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before Ambassador Kosh gets hungry again.
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[INLINE] Deuce warns Jinxo.
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In a courtroom somewhere on the station, an ombudsman listens to
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testimony from a man who's suing aliens for abducting his
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great-grandfather.
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Sinclair, Garibaldi, Delenn and Lennier greet a man named Aldous
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Gajic. He says he didn't notify Sinclair of his arrival because his
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mission is not Earth-related. He reveals that he's looking for the
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Holy Grail, and, as his order has looked everywhere on Earth, he has
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come to the station to talk to the alien ambassadors about its
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possible whereabouts. Sinclair, incredulous, excuses himself.
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Delenn catches up with Sinclair and asks why he holds Gajic in such
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contempt. Sinclair explains that the Grail is just a legend, but
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Delenn counters that that doesn't matter; Gajic is a holy man, a "true
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seeker," devoting his life to a search for enlightenment and the
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bettering of his race. "I wish him luck," Sinclair says. "He's
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probably the only true seeker we have."
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"Then perhaps you do not know yourself as well as you believe," Delenn
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comments, and walks off. Sinclair gets a call from Dr. Franklin;
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there's another brainwipe victim.
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Gajic is changing money when Jinxo walks by and picks his pocket.
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Garibaldi is watching and grabs Jinxo before he's gone twenty feet.
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Gajic wants to let Jinxo go, but Garibaldi says that Gajic is a
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witness and insists that he testify.
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In medlab, Franklin and Sinclair look at Mirriam Runningdear, who lies
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unconscious. Franklin says her brain has been wiped clean, synapses
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fused, leaving it barely able to keep her autonomic functions going.
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She'll live, but she'll have to start all over again, as her life
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experience is gone. Garibaldi is furious that his sole witness against
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Deuce has been "reduced to a rutabaga" and asks Sinclair for
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permission to sweep through Downbelow with his men. Sinclair tells him
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to wait until there's proof that the brainwipe is in fact connected to
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Deuce.
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The ombudsman sentences Jinxo (whose real name is Thomas.) He is
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barred from the station for five years. Jinxo objects strongly: "I
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can't leave the station, or it's the end of the station -- and every
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man, woman and alien on the station!" Gajic speaks with the ombudsman
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and convinces him to remand Jinxo to his custody. As Jinxo leaves,
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he's pulled aside by Deuce, who reminds him that he has only 240
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cycles left.
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[INLINE] Bargaining with the ombudsman.
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Next, the ombudsman reads the charges against Deuce, who pleads
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innocence. Garibaldi tells the ombudsman about Runningdear's
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condition. Unfortunately, without her testimony, there isn't enough
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evidence; the ombudsman dismisses the case against Deuce.
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Gajic takes Jinxo to his quarters and asks why he thinks he can't
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leave the station. Jinxo answers that it's the "Babylon curse" -- if
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he leaves, the station will blow up or disappear or something else
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will happen. When Gajic asks how he got the curse, Jinxo answers,
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"Don't you get it? I don't _have_ the curse. I _am_ the curse."
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Jinxo explains that he was too young to fight in the war, so when he
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had the opportunity to work on the original Babylon station, he jumped
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at the chance. Three months into it, he went on leave, and the
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station's infrastructure collapsed, the result of sabotage. The same
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thing happened to Babylon 2. Babylon 3 blew up while he was away, and
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he got the nickname "Jinxo." When Babylon 4 was being built, Jinxo
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stayed the entire time, until it was completely finished. He thought
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the curse was gone. "But as I was leaving on the shuttle, I looked
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back, and the station just sort of wrinkled. Twisted like putty. And
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then it just... disappeared."
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Gajic suggests that Jinxo should have been nicknamed Lucky -- he
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managed to escape death four times.
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Franklin and Ivanova suggest a possible cause of the brainwipes: a
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creature from an off-limits world in Centauri space called a
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na'ka'leen feeder.
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[INLINE] Describing the feeder.
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Sinclair asks Londo about the feeders; Londo says they're very
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dangerous creatures. The Centauri lost an entire colony to them. When
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Sinclair lets slip that there may be one on the station, Londo makes a
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beeline for his quarters, and suggests Sinclair does the same.
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Gajic and Jinxo visit Delenn, who says the Minbari don't have the
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Grail, nor had they heard of it before Gajic asked them. Lennier says
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they searched their files very thoroughly. Delenn tells Gajic that she
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will have word sent to all Minbari outposts, and if one of them hears
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about the Grail, they will find Gajic and tell him. Jinxo is amazed;
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after the war, he figured, the Minbari wouldn't be eager to help a
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human. Lennier explains that there are two castes of Minbari: the
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warrior caste and the religious caste. "The warrior caste... would not
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understand," he says.
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"So we will not tell them, and spare them the confusion," Delenn says.
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"These two parts of your society. Do they ever agree on anything?"
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asks Gajic.
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"Yes," says Delenn. "And when they do, it is a terrible thing. A
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terrible force, as recent events have shown. Let us hope that it never
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happens again in our lifetime."
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[INLINE] Gajic and Jinxo visit Delenn.
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In Downbelow, Kosh (or is it a feeder?) pleads with Deuce to bring him
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more food, older minds. The voice is high and tinny, not the usual
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melodic rumble of a Vorlon voice. Deuce orders a henchman to fetch
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Jinxo and the ombudsman.
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Dr. Franklin tells Sinclair that using the file provided by Londo, he
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can confirm that Runningdear was indeed attacked by a na'ka'leen
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feeder. Sinclair tells Ivanova to run a check on every ship entering
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the station in the last ninety days. Garibaldi says he's going to
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track Jinxo down, as he saw Deuce and Jinxo talking at the trial.
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Londo speaks with a Centauri government representative, trying to get
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the government to reinstate the quarantine on the feeders' world.
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Gajic and Jinxo are waiting to talk to him. Gajic asks about the
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Grail. Londo says he can search the Centauri-Earth trade files, but it
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will be very time-consuming and expensive. Vir interrupts and says
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he's already done it, in the interest of efficiency, prompting Londo
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to scold him. Gajic and Jinxo leave in a hurry.
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Gajic tells Jinxo that if he finds it, he will use the Grail to heal.
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"Perhaps it has enough power to heal the entire human race," he says.
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Jinxo asks how he got started looking for the Grail.
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Gajic did the accounts for a large Earth corporation, he says. He
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lived in a world of numbers, logical and clean. He and his family took
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a vacation on the Mars colony. An accident killed his family but left
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him alive. He mourned for a long time, and when he returned to work he
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found that the numbers didn't make sense. He began to wonder why he
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was spared. And then he met a man, the last of his kind, who told him
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he was a man of infinite promise and goodness. When the man died, he
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entrusted his legacy to Gajic. Now Gajic is the last of his kind. "The
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numbers add up again, Thomas," Gajic concludes. "The numbers do add
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up."
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Deuce's men kidnap the ombudsman.
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Two thugs try to capture Jinxo, but Gajic fights them off. Jinxo,
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panicing as he thinks of what Deuce will do now, asks if he can learn
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to fight like that. "You can learn whatever you like," Gajic says,
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"because you are a man of infinite promise and goodness." When Jinxo
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scoffs, Gajic points out that Jinxo is willing to stay on the station
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to protect its people, even at the risk of his own life.
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[INLINE] Fighting off the thugs.
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The two of them go to visit Kosh. When Jinxo sees Kosh, he runs away,
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terrified, warning Gajic to stay away or Kosh will eat his mind.
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Gajic catches up with Jinxo in Downbelow and convinces him to talk to
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Sinclair if he has information about the Vorlons. Deuce's men attack;
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Gajic fends them off long enough for Jinxo to escape, but is captured
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himself.
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Ivanova reports to Sinclair that she hasn't had much luck figuring out
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which ship might have brought the feeder onboard. Garibaldi links in
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and tells Sinclair the ombudsman has been kidnapped. Sinclair leaves
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to see the scene of the crime for himself.
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The ombudsman, strapped to the same chair Runningdear was, watches in
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horror as the feeder approaches in the Vorlon encounter suit. Deuce
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reassures him that if there's any pain, it won't last long. Deuce's
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men bring Gajic in.
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Jinxo finds Sinclair in the hallway and tells him that Deuce is going
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to feed Gajic to the Vorlon. Sinclair goes with him and tells
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Garibaldi to follow his signal.
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Gajic steps between the ombudsman and the feeder. The feeder moves to
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attack Gajic, but stops short, then withdraws its tentacle. Gajic
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speaks softly. "There is nothing in the dark. No fear, no pain. Only
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the light. Show yourself."
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The feeder, resembling a cross between a squid and a jellyfish, steps
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out of the suit.
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Garibaldi's men blast the door in and a firefight ensues. The feeder
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leaps up into the pipes crisscrossing the ceiling. As the firefight
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continues, it drops behind one of Garibaldi's people and strikes,
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then, more confident, approaches the ombudsman. Jinxo leaps out from
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his hiding place and unties the ombudsman's hands, but he doesn't
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notice Deuce taking aim at his back. Gajic does, and takes the shot.
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The feeder is blown to pieces by Garibaldi, Sinclair, and the security
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team.
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[INLINE] Sinclair consults Garibaldi.
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Before Gajic dies, Jinxo promises to continue the search.
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Sinclair visits Kosh and tells him Deuce was using an excellent
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replica of a Vorlon encounter suit so people would think he had the
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Vorlons on his side, making him appear more fearsome. "Why?" asks
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Kosh.
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"No one knows exactly what you look like," Sinclair answers. "And that
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makes some people a little nervous."
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"Good," Kosh replies.
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Sinclair and Delenn see Gajic's body off. "It's hard," Sinclair says,
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"to spend your whole life looking for something and never find it."
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"Are you speaking of Aldous, or someone else?" asks Delenn.
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Sinclair looks at her for a moment. "Aldous," he finally answers.
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"There you are wrong. He found what he was looking for. What we are
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_all_ looking for. A reason."
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"For what?"
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"Everything, Commander. Everything."
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Jinxo arrives just as the coffin is about to be loaded aboard the
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ship. Delenn gives him a crystal. "Put this on his grave, and crush
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it," she says. "It will glow every night for a hundred years. It is
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our way with all true seekers," she continues, with a meaningful
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glance at Sinclair.
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[INLINE] Delenn gives Jinxo a crystal.
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"Good luck, Jinxo," says Garibaldi.
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"Thomas," he answers. "My name is Thomas."
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Sinclair, Ivanova, and Garibaldi are back in C&C, discussing the
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Babylon Curse, when Thomas' ship leaves the station. It enters the
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jumpgate. "No boom?" asks Sinclair. "No boom," answers Garibaldi.
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"No boom _today_," Ivanova corrects them. "Boom tomorrow. There's
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always a boom tomorrow." Sinclair and Garibaldi shake their heads and
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leave.
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"What?" Ivanova asks. "Look, someone's got to keep some damned
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perspective around here. One of these days... _boom!_"
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Synopsis by [9]Steven Grimm
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[15][Next]
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[16]Last update: March 19, 1997
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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/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/015.html
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4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/015.shtml
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5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/015.html
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6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/014.html
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8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/016.html
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9. http://www.midwinter.com/~koreth/
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10. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
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11. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/015.html#TOP
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12. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
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13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/014.html
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15. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/016.html
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16. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html
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