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286 lines
16 KiB
286 lines
16 KiB
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<p> Sinclair is waiting at a docking bay for the arrival of Dr.
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Stephen Franklin, the new medical chief of staff--and evidently an
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old friend of Sinclair. Right after the new doctor arrives,
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Sinclair gets a message from the bridge that there's a disturbance
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at the jump gate.
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<p> On the bridge, Sinclair finds out that a very damaged ship has
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come spinning out of the jump gate. The ship is out of control and
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is on a collision course with the station. The ship cannot be
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identified--its configuration doesn't match anything they've seen
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before. Sinclair decides to go outside the station and try to
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grapple the unknown ship with a ship of his own in order to prevent
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the ship from crashing into Babylon 5. He gives the order to
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destroy the unknown ship only if he fails to stop it. After a
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number of failed attempts, he is successful in grappling the ship
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and preventing it from hitting the station.
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<p>
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<img src="/lurk/gif/002/match-rotation.gif" align=middle>Matching rotation
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with the alien ship.
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<p> As Sinclair is on his way to the Medical Lab to check with the
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injured pilot of the unknown ship, Delenn meets up with him and
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offers her help in identifying the unknown pilot. When they
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arrive, they find that Dr. Franklin is unsure of the condition of
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the alien pilot, simply because he knows too little about the
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unknown alien's physiology. Upon seeing the patient, however,
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Delenn immediately recognizes him and has a surprising reaction:
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she attempts to kill him. Sinclair stops this attempt only with
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difficulty. Delenn warns Sinclair to kill the patient immediately,
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because the patient is a "Soul Hunter" who steals people's souls.
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She warns Sinclair to get rid of the patient, "before someone
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dies!"
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<p> Later, Delenn apologizes to Sinclair for her actions in the
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Medical Lab. Sinclair comments on her unusual behavior; he has
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never before seen such a violent reaction from Delenn. "You don't
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know these things as I do," replies Delenn, who explains that all
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Minbari are taught to be afraid of the soul hunters. Soul hunters,
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she explains, are immortal beings who are drawn toward death and
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who steal people's souls at the moment of death. They don't steal
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every soul, only ones which they deem to be worthy enough. Delenn
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also explains that the soul hunters have previously shown an
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interest in "certain classes of Minbari." She again warns Sinclair
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to send the soul hunter away.
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<p> Meanwhile, in the alien sector of Babylon 5, a gambler is
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running a seemingly-innocuous, familiar game where he hides a ball
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under one of three cups and has a player choose which cup they
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think the ball is under. In the Med Lab, the voice of this gambler
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is echoed and heard in the mind of the soul hunter, who awakes
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suddenly.
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<p> Garibaldi, in the meantime, warns Sinclair that many people in
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the alien sector seem to be "hiding"--that the alien sector is
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basically deserted. Ships which were not scheduled to leave for
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months are suddenly requesting departure. It seems that the aliens
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are afraid of the soul hunter.
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<p> The voice of the gambler continues to echo in the mind of the
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soul hunter. The gambler meanwhile has won a game, but is
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violently confronted by the loser, who proves that the gambler was
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cheating. The loser starts to chase the gambler, while the gambler
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runs away.
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<p>
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<img src="/lurk/gif/002/hustler-running.gif" align=middle>Fleeing the scene.
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<p> When Dr. Franklin next walks into the Med Lab, he is surprised
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to find that his patient is awake and standing. "I have been to
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your world," says the newly-awoken soul hunter. "Can you feel it?"
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he asks, but Dr. Franklin just gives him a perplexed look.
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Meanwhile, the gamble is still running away from his pursuer. "It
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comes," says the soul hunter. Meanwhile, in the alien sector, the
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gambler's pursuer finally catches up with him and stabs him. "It
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comes!" repeats the soul hunter.
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<p> The gambler is brought to the Med Lab, where it becomes nearly
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certain that the soul hunter realizes that the gambler's dying. As
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the gambler finally dies, the soul hunter says, in a contemplative
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voice, "Quick flash. The deep blue of pain. Dull, muffled.
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Slower, now. Closer, now. Gone, now! Gone! If you could only
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see."
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<p> Sinclair comes to visit the soul hunter in the Med Lab, where
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the soul hunter is chanting to himself and is refusing to speak
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with Sinclair, who wants to know how the soul hunter knew that the
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gambler was dying. Trying to get his attention, Sinclair confronts
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him: "Did you come here for his soul? Oh, we've heard, if you're
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wondering." Sinclair expresses his disbelief that the idea of
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"soul hunting," and, further trying to pique the soul hunter's
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attention, accuses him of being a thief--a stealer of souls.
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<p> "We are not thieves," replies the soul hunter. "We are
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preservers. We act only for the greater good."
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<p> "The Minbari don't seem to think so," contests Sinclair.
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<p> "The Minbari: pale; bloodless; look into their eyes and see
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nothing but mirrors; infinities of reflection. Will not let us
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help them." The soul hunter then explains that his kind are drawn
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toward death--toward the moment of death--in order to save and
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preserve certain souls. Not every soul; only outstanding ones--
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those of "leaders, thinkers, poets, dreamers, blessed lunatics."
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Sinclair asks what the soul hunters actually =do= with the souls
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once they have them. The soul hunter replies that they talk,
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listen, and learn from them. Dr. Franklin, who has been standing
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by Sinclair, comments to Sinclair that what the soul hunter is
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saying is truly impossible--that, with enough technology, a
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person's thoughts could be saved, but that the idea of taking
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someone's "soul" is not possible.
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<p> Sinclair, meanwhile, still wants to know what is precisely
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going on between the soul hunter and the Minbari. The soul hunter
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explains that years ago, when one of the great Minbari leaders was
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dying, the Minbari made a "wall of bodies" to stop him--they
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defended their leader's soul at all costs. The leader, according
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to the soul hunter, therefore died a wasted death--a death due to
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which his thoughts and dreams were forever lost. Sinclair, ending
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the discussion, responds that he still doesn't believe that the
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soul hunter can do what he says he can do. However, because the
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aliens on the station seem to fear the soul hunter (and because
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Sinclair says that he has no reason to doubt the judgment of the
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aliens), Sinclair orders the soul hunter off the station as soon as
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the soul hunter has recuperated from his injuries.
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<p> On the bridge, Ivanova is meanwhile conducting the gambler's
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funeral from the bridge. The body is launched out to space while
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Ivanova says, "From the stars we came, and to the stars we return
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..." Dr. Franklin contemplates the shortness of life--that, as
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soon as humans have nearly figured out life, they die. Ivanova
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dryly comments that, even if humans lived 200 years, they would
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still make the same human mistakes. "I'm a Russian; we know these
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things," she adds.
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<p> Delenn is meanwhile visiting with the soul hunter in the Med
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Lab. She confronts him, saying that soul hunters never travel
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without their collection of souls and asking him where his is. "My
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children are safe," he replies. Delenn vows that, before the soul
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hunter leaves the station, she will find and release the souls in
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his collection--to free them once are for all. The soul hunter
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dismisses this vow, commenting that by "freeing" the souls, she is
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actually killing them. Delenn expresses her belief that, if the
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souls of the Minbari leaders and thinkers are "stolen" from them,
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the Minbari are diminished with each generation because the stolen
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souls cannot rejoin the Minbari and be reborn. The soul hunter
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dismisses this as superstitious nonsense, saying that the soul dies
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at death (unless, of course, a soul hunter saves them). "We will
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help you, in spite of yourselves," he promises. Suddenly, he
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recognizes Delenn: she was among the group of Minbari that stopped
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him from "rescuing" the soul of the great Minbari leader that he
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discussed with Sinclair before. "That was where it began to go
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wrong," he says, mostly to himself. The lost souls. ... one after
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another. I failed because you stopped me! A pattern began."
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Suddenly, changing the tone of his voice, he adds, "They called you
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Satai Delenn of the Grey Council. Curious, curious." He goes on
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to ask her why a great leader of the Minbari would be "playing
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ambassador" here. Somewhat taken aback, Delenn leaves the room
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quickly.
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<p> Right after Delenn leaves, the soul hunter feigns injury and
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falls to the floor. The guard who was stationed outside the Med
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Lab rushes in, only to be knocked unconscious by the soul hunter.
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The soul hunter escapes, gun in hand. He arrives at his ship,
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where he begins to talk with his collection of souls. He tells
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them that he finally knows why he was drawn to Babylon 5.
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<p> Shortly after, Garibaldi tells Sinclair that he scanned the
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soul hunter's ship. The soul hunter is no longer aboard; further,
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Garibaldi says that there's a cabinet of some sort on the ship--but
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it's empty, meaning that whatever was in there, the soul hunter now
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has with him. However, Garibaldi can't understand what the soul
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hunter could possibly be up to, because Garibaldi has guards all
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around and because the soul hunter couldn't possibly get back to
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his ship or (even if he did) pilot the ship away from the station.
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Ivanova suggests that if the soul hunters are drawn to death, the
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way to catch this soul hunter would be simply to figure out who's
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about to die.
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<p> The soul hunter has meanwhile entered the alien sector and has
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bought a map of the that section of B5--a map that includes all of
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the secret corridors, hiding places, entrances, and exits.
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<p>
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<img src="/lurk/gif/002/hunter-and-ngrath.gif" align=middle>Negotiating
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with a shady character.
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<p> Meanwhile, the bridge crew is made aware of another unsched-
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uled arrival through the jump gate. Another ship arrives, carrying
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another soul hunter. "Someone's about to die," he warns, and goes
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on to warn that more will die if he's not allowed to come aboard
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and speak with Sinclair.
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<p> The soul hunter on the station has meanwhile entered the
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ambassadorial wing and knocked out another of the guards.
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<p> As Sinclair is heading to a reception room to speak with the
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arriving soul hunter, Garibaldi warns him against meeting with him-
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-he mentions that the soul hunter's warning sounded very much like
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a threat. Sinclair thinks about this for a moment, and then
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decides that the tone of the arriving soul hunter was not aggres-
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sive, but nervous. Sinclair meets with the soul hunter, who
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describes how the soul hunter who has been on board the station is
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a deeply disturbed person and because of this, the station is in
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great danger--someone is about to die, but at the soul hunter's own
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hands.
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<p> Delenn is in her quarters, negotiating a trade route with some
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alien race through her communication screen, when her "doorbell"
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rings. "Come," she says; she doesn't even look around until she
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realizes that it's the soul hunter, who tells her that he has come
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to save her soul.
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<p> Meanwhile, the soul hunter who just arrived tells Sinclair why
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his "brother" is deeply disturbed: When he was ordered to save the
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soul of the Minbari leader (and others), he either arrived too late
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to save the souls or was prevented by others from his mission. His
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order was disgraced. Because of this, he had found the ultimate
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solution: to stop waiting for death--to take the lives himself.
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"Our order does not support this," claims the newly-arrived soul
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hunter. The soul hunter explained how he chased his "brother" and
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how it was they who had damaged his ship before it had come through
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the jump gate. They had almost caught him at his last stop, but he
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escaped. This time, however, there will be no escape--after he
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kills whomever he's about to kill (for they feel it's too late to
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stop him), they are determined to apprehend him. Sinclair doesn't
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accept this--he vows that there will be no death this time.
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<p> Meanwhile, the soul hunter explains to Delenn that her death
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will avenge his previous failures. "I give you a great gift--to
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life forever." He starts the process of killing her slowly and
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warns her not to resist, because it will trouble her soul if she
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does.
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<p> Sinclair, searching for Delenn, confronts the newly-arrived
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brother of the murderous soul hunter: "You're drawn to death," he
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says, indicating a map. "Show me!" The soul hunter complies.
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<p> The slow process of killing Delenn is continuing; her blood is
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being drained slowly. The soul hunter feels that the time is
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getting closer--close enough for a glimpse into her soul. He takes
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that glimpse, and after seeing what he sees, he shows great
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surprise. "You would plan such a thing? You would do such a
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thing? Incredible!"
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<p> Sinclair runs up to the ambassadorial wing, whence he goes to
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Delenn's quarters. As he's running up, the soul hunter tries to
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stop him. "Why do you fight for her," he asks Sinclair. He goes
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on to explain: "She's Satai. I have seen her soul. They are
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using you!" After a brief fight with the soul hunter, Sinclair
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runs over to Delenn. Right next to Delenn, there is a bag of some
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sort containing the soul hunter's "collection." Sinclair opens the
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bag and allows the souls to swarm about the soul hunter, presumably
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confronting him about what he's about to do to Delenn. Suddenly,
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the soul hunter's "soul-draining" machine begins to activate. He
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swirls it around on its platform and aims it at the soul hunter
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himself. The soul hunter's soul is captured into one of the little
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soul vessels like those the other souls occupied, amid cries of
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"No!" from the soul hunter. Sinclair kneels down next to
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Delenn.
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<p>
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<img src="/lurk/gif/002/sinclair-globe.gif" align=middle>Sinclair watches
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a soul globe.
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<p> Later, in the Med Lab, Sinclair finds that Delenn will be all
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right; Dr. Franklin explains that she has a remarkable constitution
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(and extrapolates that this was the reason that they did so well in
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the Earth-Minbari war--because they kept going despite severe
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injuries). "So, I hear you saw something," says Dr. Franklin to
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Sinclair.
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<p> "I'm not sure--I don't know if I'll ever be sure," replies
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Sinclair.
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<p> Dr. Franklin replies that that type of talk could get Sinclair
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sent on a "very long vacation." The doctor further goes on to say
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that he still doesn't believe that the soul hunter can do what he
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says he can do.
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<p> Meanwhile, Delenn, who has just awoken, sees Sinclair and
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smiles. "I knew you would come," she says. "We were right about
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you ..."
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<p> "Who was right?" asks Sinclair, but Delenn has already fallen
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back to sleep. Sinclair jokes with Dr. Franklin that he's almost
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completely sure that Delenn won't finish the sentence once she
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wakes up.
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<p> Later, in his quarters, Sinclair asks the computer to do a
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key-word search. He struggles to remember the word that the soul
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hunter used to refer to Delenn, and finally successfully remembers
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it. The computer tells him that the title "Satai" is used as an
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honorific applied to the members of the grey council. Sinclair
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expresses basically the same question that the soul hunter had
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asked: why a member of the ruling body was assigned to diplomatic
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service. The computer asks Sinclair if he wishes to make another
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enquiry. "No, it can wait. There's always time," he says.
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<p> Sinclair finds out that Delenn will certainly live. Mean-
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while, as Sinclair is escorting the soul hunters off the station,
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he warns them that they will no longer be allowed on Babylon 5.
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The soul hunter seems already to expect this--he admits that his
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kind are usually not welcome wherever they go. The soul hunter
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asks Sinclair what happened to his "brother"'s collection of souls.
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Sinclair harshly brushes this question off: "Life's full of
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mysteries. Consider this one of them!"
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<p> Delenn, in her quarters, is crushing the vessels that
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contained the souls in the soul hunter's collection, thereby
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freeing them. She studies each of them for a moment, listens
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intently to them, and finally destroys their containers, allowing
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them to fly about the room freely, eventually to fade into
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nothingness.
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<p>
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Shawn Bayern
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<em>bayern@minerva.cis.yale.edu</em>
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<hr>
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Copyright 1994, Shawn Bayern. All rights reserved. Permission is
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granted to distribute this synopsis <strong>noncommercially</strong> as long as
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the synopsis and this copyright notice remain intact. Babylon 5 is
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a copyright of the PTN Consortium; no infringement of that
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copyright is intended by writing these synopses.
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