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								   We join Sinclair and Garibaldi in the dining hall. They are soon

								   joined by a very tired Ivanova, who was awakened one hour early by C&C

								   after mysterious tachyon emissions were discovered in sector 14, three

								   hours away from Babylon 5. Though Ivanova believed the emissions were

								   just routine, she authorized Alpha VII, a Starfury, to investigate the

								   problem.


								   Alpha VII contacts Babylon 5 when it enters sector 14, and the pilot

								   reports an increase in tachyon emissions. Though he doesn't see

								   anything when he first arrives, the sensors register something, and he

								   sees a large object materializing. By the time he figures out what it

								   is, it is too late. "No! That's not possible! That can't be, it just

								   can't be!" His last words fade into an agonizing scream as the

								   Starfury is engulfed in blinding white light.


								   [INLINE] A startling apparition.


								   Ivanova calls Commander Sinclair after the pilot's last message. She

								   is unable to contact the pilot on any open frequencies, but is still

								   receiving the Starfury's homing beacon. According to the beacon, the

								   ship is returning to Babylon 5 and will be there in one hour and

								   fifteen minutes. Ivanova also reports that more bursts of tachyon

								   emissions are occurring, and that one occurred when she lost contact

								   with the fury's pilot. Sinclair tells Ivanova to make sure that Dr.

								   Franklin is ready at MedLab in case there are any injuries that need

								   to be tended to.


								   Meanwhile, Ambassador Delenn, in a Minbari ship, departs from Babylon

								   5. Though Babylon Control asks her if she wants someone to pilot the

								   ship for her, she declines. "Some things one must do alone," she

								   explains just before she enters the jumpgate.


								   Soon after, Alpha VII returns into scanner range. Alpha VII approaches

								   the station, but does not enter the docking bay. A scan of the ship

								   reveals that there is no structural damage and that hull integrity is

								   okay, but there are no life signs. Soon after, Garibaldi returns to

								   Sinclair and Ivanova with Dr. Franklin's report. "There was no damage

								   to the body, no shock, no trauma. Everything points to death by

								   natural causes." Though things seem ordinary at this point, when

								   Garibaldi explains that the pilot, who just turned thirty years old,

								   died of old age, Sinclair and Ivanova are understandably puzzled. "His

								   internal organs are like those of a man three times his age,"

								   Garibaldi reports. Ivanova recommends that they send a team to

								   investigate, in case there is a hazard to navigation, but Sinclair

								   declines. "Not yet," he says. "Not until we have a better idea what we

								   are facing. Meanwhile, I want all traffic routed clear of sector 14.

								   Michael, I want that ship examined with a fine-tooth comb. Something

								   fatal happened out there. I want to know what."


								   As Delenn reaches her destination, Sinclair, Ivanova, and Garibaldi

								   discover another portion of the mystery. Garibaldi, after a thorough

								   search of Alpha VII, finds the buckle off the pilot's safety harness.

								   Scratched into the surface of the buckle is "B4." Ivanova speculates

								   that "B4" stands for Babylon 4, the previous Babylon station that

								   disappeared in sector 14 four years previous. Sinclair reports that

								   the tachyon emissions from that sector were coming from the same place

								   that Babylon 4 disappeared. The discussion is interrupted by

								   communication from C&C, declaring that the station is receiving a

								   distress signal from sector 14. "I thought I ordered all ships to stay

								   clear of that area," says Sinclair. The technician from C&C affirms

								   his orders, but then identifies the signal as coming from Babylon 4.


								   [INLINE] Delenn waits.


								   After the three arrive at C&C, Sinclair doesn't reply to the signal

								   but instead orders Ivanova to retrieve the secure code of Babylon 4

								   from the station archives. "Ever since the war, every Earth Force

								   command and control center was configured to broadcast its ID code on

								   a subchannel," explains Sinclair. Garibaldi adds that the reason for

								   it was to prevent counterfeit orders. Ivanova brings up the signal and

								   it matches perfectly to the one being broadcast from sector 14.

								   Sinclair orders the transmission to be patched through. "Earth station

								   Babylon 4 requesting help. We need assistance," says the man on the

								   other end. Sinclair responds, and the commander on the other end

								   explains that they are caught in a flux with only 30% of their power

								   and their escape ships damaged. They request help from Babylon 5 to

								   evacuate their skeleton crew of 1200-1300. The commander of Babylon 4

								   looks nervous and begins muttering strangely. "Oh God. It's starting

								   again. It's starting again," he says just as the communication is cut

								   off. Ivanova notices that the date stamp on the message is four years

								   out of date.


								   Though Garibaldi has a difficult time believing the station is Babylon

								   4, Sinclair prepares a fighter escort with an evacuation fleet to

								   sector 14, determined to find Babylon 4. Sinclair makes a speech to

								   the pilots of the ships warning them of the dangers and the previous

								   death of the pilot of Alpha VII. Though he offers them a chance to

								   withdraw because of the danger, no one does, and soon the fleet is

								   sent off into space. Sinclair wants to learn the truth about Babylon

								   4, but also wants to take no chances. "If you don't hear from us in

								   eight hours, notify Earth Central, but do not send additional ships,"

								   he tells Ivanova.


								   Meanwhile, Delenn reaches her destination, a gigantic ship, not unlike

								   the one from Sinclair's memory of the Battle of the Line (cf. [9]"And

								   the Sky Full of Stars".) She boards the ship and is taken into a great

								   chamber by a hooded Minbari. When she enters, she addresses the eight

								   hooded figures around her, each of which is standing in an individual

								   pool of light. "Summoned, I come," she intones. "In Valen's name, I

								   take the place that has been prepared for me. I am Grey. I stand

								   between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the

								   darkness and the light." She is welcomed back by the council, but

								   wonders why she has been recalled.


								   "It has been ten cycles," explains one member of the Grey Council,

								   "since Dukhat has left this world to take his place with Valen and the

								   nine who were. Ten cycles since our people have had a leader. The time

								   of mourning is complete. We must now choose another." Another member

								   of the council, the one who visited her on the station earlier, (cf.

								   [10]"And the Sky Full of Stars") explains that they have spent much

								   time deciding who the next leader should be, and that they have

								   decided upon Delenn as the leader because she has seen the most, and

								   knows the most about the universe and other species. Delenn doesn't

								   want to accept the position because she believes that her work on

								   Babylon 5 has not been finished. She worries about a prophecy, but is

								   assured by the council that it will take care of itself, and that an

								   appropriate replacement will be selected for her aboard Babylon 5, and

								   that her work there is concluded.


								   The fleet from Babylon 5 arrives in sector 14 to the sight they didn't

								   really expect to see: Babylon 4. Though tachyon emissions are still

								   present, Sinclair orders the rest of the fleet to approach the

								   station. They encounter a distortion field near the station where

								   tachyon emissions increase by 50%. Sinclair orders the fleet to remain

								   back while he and Garibaldi investigate.


								   [INLINE] Approaching Babylon 4.


								   After docking, they are assaulted and shot at in the otherwise empty

								   docking bay. "Monsters! I'll stop you!" shouts the assailant. "I know

								   where you are! I see you! You think I can't? I've gotta get off this

								   station. Come on, show yourselves!" While Sinclair diverts his fire,

								   Garibaldi sneaks up on the assailant from behind and captures him. The

								   commander of Babylon 4 then arrives to take custody of the assailant,

								   who keeps insisting that he must be taken off of the station. After

								   the three officers indentify themselves, Sinclair explains that they

								   are from Babylon 5 and the year 2258. "We have to hurry. We have to

								   get everyone off the station," says Major Krantz, the commander of

								   Babylon 4. He is interrupted, however, by a flash of light that

								   engulfs the station.


								   Suddenly, Sinclair finds himself elsewhere in the midst of total

								   chaos. "Commander, they burned through levels seven and eight. Can't

								   stop them. They're everywhere!" shouts Garibaldi, there with him, who

								   is wielding an extremely large weapon, firing at a wall being cut

								   through from the other side. "I rigged the fusion reactors for the

								   time I'm done," Garibaldi says. "Get going, I'll hold them as long as

								   I can. Jeff, it's okay. I finally understand. This is the moment I was

								   born for!" Garibaldi pushes Sinclair into the crowd which carries him

								   away, despite his protests, just as the wall collapses. Garibaldi and

								   those under his command fire madly at the hole.


								   [INLINE] Garibaldi opens fire.


								   Another white flash occurs, and Sinclair finds himself back in his own

								   time, aboard Babylon 4. Sinclair, very confused, asks Krantz to what

								   happened. "It's different for everyone. A flash. Forward. Backward.

								   All of us. The entire station. We've become unstuck in time,

								   Commander. That's why we have to get out of here. Quickly!"


								   Back on the Minbari ship, Delenn is afraid of accepting the position

								   of leader. "I cannot do it," she says. "I cannot accept the calling."

								   She is told by another councilmember that no one has ever refused the

								   position when offered it. Though Delenn yearns to accept the

								   leadership of the council, her heart tells her that she must remain

								   with Babylon 5 and that she has a part to play in the change that is

								   coming. She wants to reconvene the Council to speak to them, something

								   that has never been done. The other councilmember warns her that it

								   might be a bad time, and that she must be aware of the consequences.

								   She understands, and the council is reconvened.


								   As the evacuation of Babylon 4 continues, Major Krantz explains the

								   problems they're having with Babylon 4 and the tachyon emissions and

								   time distortions. "It started 24 hours after the station went

								   operational. We began noticing discrepencies in the time track system.

								   We thought it was a computer glitch. Then all hell broke loose."

								   Sinclair asks if anything else unusual has happened, and Krantz

								   replies by introducing him to a strange being called Zathras. "We

								   don't know how he got aboard, where he came from, or what race he is.

								   I've never seen an alien like him before," Krantz says, and describes

								   how Zathras suddenly appeared with a flash in the conference room.

								   When Sinclair enters, Zathras stands and stares intently at Sinclair,

								   then shakes his head. "Not The One. Not The One..."


								   [INLINE] Zathras sees Sinclair.


								   Zathras babbles that he does as he is told. "The One is hurt. Must

								   find. Zathras must find. Help." When asked why he is there, Zathras

								   responds by saying that he was told the biggest of all the Babylon

								   stations was needed. Zathras is afraid to tell for fear that he will

								   not be able to finish his mission, but explains further after being

								   threatened by Garibaldi:


								   "Great war. Terrible war. Much killings. Everyone fighting. A great

								   darkness. It is the end of everything. Zathras warn, but no, no one

								   listen to poor Zathras, no. Great war. But, great hope of peace. Need

								   place. Place to gather, to fight to organize...to help save galaxy on

								   the side of light. So they tell me. Must have. Or it is the end of

								   all. The One leads us. The One tells us to go, we go. We live for The

								   One. We would die for The One. We pull this place through time to save

								   us all."


								   When asked where he comes from, Zathras says he came from his year of

								   4993, but does not know what year that is in Earth time. An officer

								   appears and says, "Major, it's back." Zathras, Sinclair, Garibaldi,

								   and Krantz run out of the room to see a figure in a blue space suit.

								   The figure is having considerable trouble breathing, and is

								   flickering, as if in and out of time. Zathras is in awe. "It is The

								   One," he says.


								   [INLINE] The One.


								   The figure in the space suit is apparently in great pain, but Zathras

								   explains that The One will sacrifice himself for others and that he

								   stopped the taking of Babylon 4 to let its crew evacuate. Sinclair

								   approaches The One, who reaches out his hand to him. When Sinclair

								   touches the gloved hand, a great shock sends him flying backward.

								   While Krantz and Garibaldi tend to Sinclair, Zathras runs to The One

								   and hands him a small device. "Zathras fixed," says Zathras. "Take!

								   Hurry!" The One then vanishes completely, and Zathras tries to run

								   away, but is captured before he can escape. "You must leave now.

								   Finished we are," Zathras warns Sinclair. "There is no more time.

								   Leave or be trapped here forever!" Sinclair orders Garibaldi to assist

								   in evacuation.


								   Aboard the Minbari ship, Delenn addresses the Grey Council. "This

								   Council stopped the war against the humans because of prophecy,

								   because Valen said that humans, some among them, had a destiny, which

								   we could not interfere with. It was my place to study them...to

								   determine if the prophecy was correct. I have not yet finished that

								   task." Another councilmember tells her that he believes that the

								   prophecy refers to others, but Delenn does not believe it. The

								   councilmember does not understand Delenn's attraction toward humans,

								   but Delenn explains that "they do not seek conformity. They do not

								   surrender. Out of their differences comes symmetry. Their unique

								   capacity to fight against impossible odds. Hurt them, they only come

								   back stronger. The passions we deplore have taken them to their place

								   in the stars, and will propel them to a great destiny. Their only

								   weakness is that they do not recognize their own greatness. They

								   forget they have come to this place through two million years of

								   evolution, struggle, and blood. They are better than they think and

								   nobler than they know. They carry within them the capacity to walk

								   among the stars as giants. They are the future. We have much to learn

								   from them." The council cannot understand why she should stay with the

								   humans, but Delenn believes it is the calling of her heart. Delenn is

								   warned that if she leaves the council, she may lose her position

								   within it and may become outcast. She is also warned that should she

								   leave, the council may become divided. She understands, and says that

								   she must do what she believes is right. The council votes on whether

								   or not to honor Delenn's request. The vote ends in Delenn's favor, and

								   the council withdraws its decision and sends Delenn away so they may

								   select another leader.


								   While Garibaldi oversees the evacuation of Babylon 4, Major Krantz and

								   Sinclair interrogate Zathras further. They demand to know what Zathras

								   gave to The One. He explains to them that it was a "time stablilizer.

								   Help survive when make next time jump." Sinclair then realizes that

								   Alpha VII was caught in the time distortion and killed by it. Zathras

								   gave his only time stabilizer to The One. He says that when the

								   station jumps, he will die, but that he will probably be remembered

								   for his sacrifice. Krantz threatens to remove him from the station,

								   but Zathras also claims that if he leaves the station, he will die as

								   well, though he does not want to.


								   The station shakes again, and Garibaldi reports that tachyon emissions

								   have increased greatly. There is another flash, and this time

								   Garibaldi finds himself in the past, at the moment when Lise decided

								   that she could not live with him anymore. He wants to try to change

								   things, but is too disoriented by the experience, and events happen

								   much as they did before. After she leaves, Garibaldi finds himself

								   back on Babylon 4.


								   [INLINE] Lise says goodbye.


								   Sinclair contacts Garibaldi, who says he wants to leave the station as

								   soon as possible. Major Krantz agrees with Garibaldi, and insists that

								   Zathras be taken with them when they leave the station. "For the next

								   fifteen minutes," Krantz tells Sinclair, "this is still my command.

								   I'm going to have to answer for this station, and I want proof to go

								   with it. Alive or dead, he's the only proof I've got. And he's going

								   with us." Sinclair, Krantz, and Zathras, led by two security officers,

								   attempt to leave the station, but it begins shaking again, and Zathras

								   is caught, trapped beneath fallen debris. Krantz and the guards run

								   away, afraid for their lives, but Sinclair stays behind, trying to

								   help Zathras. "Leave me," Zathras cries. "You must listen to Zathras.

								   You have a destiny. Go. Please. Go for Zathras." Though he doesn't

								   understand, Sinclair runs away and meets up with Garibaldi, who

								   escorts him off the station.


								   The station continues to break apart, and as it does so, The One

								   returns to the station to retrieve Zathras. Sinclair and Garibaldi

								   escape in their ship just as the distortion field goes off the scale

								   and Babylon 4 begins to disappear again. The One walks out of a

								   chamber into another room. "Time distortion repaired," intones a

								   computer voice. "Present time atmosphere now breathable." The One

								   removes his helmet, revealing an older, and somewhat injured Sinclair.

								   "I tried," the older Sinclair says. "I tried to warn them. But it all

								   happened...just the way I remember it." A hand in a red dress reaches

								   up an touches him on the shoulder. "I know," says a woman's exotic

								   voice, a voice that sounds suspiciously like Delenn's. "It's time. We

								   have to go. They're waiting for us." Sinclair and the woman leave.


								   [INLINE] Comforting Sinclair.


								   Sinclair and Garibaldi from the present return to Babylon 5 and

								   speculate along the way on what they had just experienced. "Do you

								   think that bit was true," asks Garibaldi. "About a great war and

								   Babylon 4 being a great base for somebody to try to bring peace to the

								   galaxy?" Commander Sinclair doesn't know. "But if it is true," he

								   says, "I wish them luck. The station was built to create peace. Maybe

								   now it'll do so in a way nobody ever expected. But it's still on the

								   same mission." They fly off back toward Babylon 5.


								   Not long after, Delenn prepares to leave the great Minbari ship. On

								   her way, she meets up with a member of the Grey Council. He hopes to

								   see her again, but Delenn believes that she will never see the inside

								   of the Council Chamber again. The councilmember doesn't know, but

								   before she leaves, he presents her with a gift, wrapped in a cloth. It

								   is the Triluminary, a transparent triangle with metal edges. She

								   doesn't want to accept it, but he assures her it will not be missed

								   for a time because there are two others. "These are curious times," he

								   tells her before she leaves. "I feel a great change in my bones. A new

								   beginning, an end, I cannot say. We are surrounded by signs and

								   portents, and I feel a darkness pressing. If ever you have need of me,

								   I am here." She wraps the triluminary back in its cloth and returns to

								   Babylon 5.


								   [INLINE] Delenn receives the triluminary.


								   On the station, Sinclair talks to Ivanova about what happened. She

								   expresses her regret about not being able to see Babylon 4, but

								   Sinclair counters that they don't know where, or when, it was being

								   taken. It might pop up again some day. He recalls Garibaldi's

								   comparison of Babylon 4 and the Flying Dutchman -- a sailing ship, he

								   explains to Ivanova, that vanished, only to appear again and again

								   over the ages. "Did the Flying Dutchman ever make it home?" asks

								   Ivanova.


								   "No," answers Sinclair.


								      Synopsis written by Matthew Murray <i9717029@unicorn.it.wsu.edu>


								   [16][Next]


								      [17]Last update: October 11, 1995


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