brennen
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lurkers-guide



								<p>  A reporter from Interstellar Network News has arrived on

								Babylon 5, to cover the second anniversary of the opening of

								Babylon 5 (an event which was extremely unlikely, considering the

								fate of the previous Babylon stations, according to the reporter).

								Unfortunately for her, Sinclair is on a mission to check out a

								damaged transport and is therefore unavailable for an interview.

								<p>  At the medical lab, Dr. Franklin is greeted by an old

								professor of his, Dr. Vance Hendricks.  Hendricks offers Franklin

								an "adventure, very possibly the biggest adventure you've ever

								had."  Hendricks, however, does not explain anything to Franklin

								yet--he explains that Franklin will find out in due time.

								<p>  At the customs center on B5, material entering the station is

								checked for security reasons--any organic matter or other, possibly

								dangerous substances must be quarantined.  At this particular time,

								a seemingly uneventful search is being carried out.  However, the

								attendant carrying out the search notices a possible security

								violation in the cargo of a certain individual, Nelson Drake--it

								appears that one of his suitcases is arranged so as to hide

								something.  "If I didn't know any better, I might think you were

								trying to smuggle something in," comments the attendant on duty.

								Nelson waits for the appropriate moment, then kills the attendant--

								and brings his contraband material aboard the station.

								<p>

								<img src="/lurk/gif/004/cargo.gif" align=middle> Inspecting the cargo.

								<p>  Dr. Franklin is called to examine the attendant that was

								killed.  He finds that the attendant was almost certainly died of

								natural causes--a heart attack.  However, at the insistence of

								Garibaldi and Sinclair (who has arrived back at the station),

								Franklin agrees to perform a thorough autopsy.

								<p>  Franklin returns to the medical lab in order to meet with Dr.

								Hendricks to find out what this "adventure" was that Hendricks

								spoke about.  Hendricks explains that he needs Franklin's help to

								study some artifacts found at a recent dig on an alien planet.

								First, he introduces Franklin to his assistant--none other than

								Nelson Drake.  Nelson opens the container that holds the artifacts--

								<p>  --and a sudden energy spike is detected on the bridge.

								<p>  Meanwhile, at the medical lab, Hendricks explains that he was

								on a dig at Ikarra VII, sponsored by

								a corporation known as "Interplanetary Expeditions."  He found some

								thousand-year-old Ikarran artifacts sealed deeply in a vault.  He

								asks Franklin to run these artifacts through his medical scanners.

								Franklin complies and (as Hendricks apparently expected) finds that

								the artifacts are composed of living tissue--they are an example of

								organic technology--"the one trick that Earth hasn't been able to

								crack," according to Hendricks.  Franklin is amazed, but suddenly

								asks Hendricks why he wasn't informed of these artifacts as soon as

								Hendricks arrived on the station--since organic material must be

								quarantined before it is allowed on the station.  Hendricks simply

								replies that the quarantine was undergone at their previous

								location.  When Franklin comments that there are surely better

								facilities back on Earth, Hendricks only insists that he needs

								someone he can trust.  Hendricks entices Franklin, saying that

								Franklin will achieve his dream of "going down in the history

								books" if he goes along with Hendricks.  Franklin, at length,

								agrees.

								<p>  Later, Nelson is in his quarters when one of the artifacts

								seems to come alive.  It releases a powerful energy surge toward

								Nelson, which propels him across the room.  This energy surge

								apparently has had some physiological effect on Nelson, who notices

								(a short time after) that his skin is undergoing some type of

								metamorphosis.

								<p>  On the bridge, Sinclair is questioning Garibaldi about the

								dead customs attendant--he wonders if the autopsy has shown

								anything yet.  The death, according to Garibaldi, still seems to

								have been a natural one--nothing abnormal has been found yet,

								although the autopsy is not yet complete.  Ivanova reports that

								some unusual energy readings have been detected--she is presently

								investigating them.  Further, she reminds Sinclair of his interview

								with the ISN reporter.  Sinclair acknowledges this, but it is clear

								the is not looking forward to it.  Garibaldi asks him why he is so

								adverse to this interview; Sinclair replies that the last time he

								was called for an interview (in which he was instructed to "relax

								and say what I really felt"), he was shortly transferred to a far-away

								outpost as a result.

								<p>  Franklin and Hendricks have meanwhile, for the last fifteen

								hours, been studying the organic artifacts.  Franklin suddenly asks

								Hendricks what will happen when and if they finally figure out how

								the organic technology works.  Hendricks replies that they will

								sell it to an Earth corporation, but Franklin expresses a certain

								resentment at this--Franklin says how he always thought Hendricks

								was the kind of man who made his own discoveries, rather than stole

								them from old alien civilizations.  "Granted, this may be important,"

								says Franklin, "but ... it's a shortcut.... Feels a little

								like grave-robbing."  Hendricks replies that the only way to really

								explore the galaxy is through corporation grants--he explains the

								wondrous things he's seen on corporation-financed missions.

								Franklin then confronts Hendricks with the fact that he cannot find

								any information on the corporation that supposedly financed the

								expedition on which these artifacts were discovered.  Hendricks

								avoids the question and promises to explain everything the

								following day.

								<p>  Garibaldi is meeting with the reporter, trying to explain to

								her about his background with Sinclair and B5.  She interrupts him,

								and confronts him with that background:  "I've come across several

								rumors surrounding your record prior to Babylon 5," she says.

								"That you were fired five times for unspecified personal problems

								and that this is your last chance to make good."  Garibaldi

								vehemently denies comment.

								<p>  The organic artifacts, in Nelson's quarters, are strengthening

								their hold over Nelson.  He is falling more and more under their

								control.

								<p>  When Dr. Franklin next enters the medical lab, he is surprised

								to find Nelson standing there.  Nelson has undergone some strange

								metamorphosis; he shoots Franklin, saying only one word:  "Protect."

								<p>  Later, Garibaldi is informing Sinclair about the incident that

								just happened to Franklin.  They both go to visit Franklin in the

								infirmary.  Franklin explains to them that the weapon Nelson used

								to shoot him had a similar design to the organic artifacts.

								Garibaldi is surprised to hear that the artifacts are organic; he

								asks Franklin if they were checked at customs.  Franklin can only

								reply that Hendricks told him that they were checked--he can't

								offer any guarantee.

								<p>  Nelson is meanwhile walking around some obscure level of B5.

								He has undergone an extreme metamorphosis; he is no longer

								recognizable as Nelson.

								<p>  Sinclair goes to confront Dr. Hendricks.  Sinclair tells him

								that, according to Franklin, the armor that Nelson was wearing was

								very similar to the organic artifacts that Hendricks brought

								aboard.  Garibaldi adds that the artifacts were brought on to the

								station illegally--somehow, they were not put through the required

								quarantine, either on B5 or at Hendricks's previous location.

								Hendricks says that he knows as little as Sinclair and Garibaldi

								know--he says that Nelson told him that they were, indeed,

								quarantined.  However, Sinclair explains that, whether or not

								Nelson was under Hendricks's orders, Hendricks will be held

								personally responsible for the incident.  Hendricks, when asked,

								says that the organic artifacts have limited energy and might

								attach themselves to another organism to achieve mobility; he

								cannot, however, explain why they may have attached themselves to

								Nelson but to no one else who has been exposed to them.  He guesses

								that the artifacts are now controlling Nelson; he cannot, however,

								explain =why= the artifacts might take him over.  He says that he

								will need to study the artifacts further in order to figure out

								their purpose and methods.  Sinclair allows him to assist Franklin

								in further research.

								<p>  Nelson, under the control of the artifacts, shoots and kills

								a group of people who walk by him (on the obscure level where he

								was walking before).  Again, he says, "Protect!"

								<p>

								<img src="/lurk/gif/004/protect.gif" align=middle> "Protect!"

								<p>  Simultaneously, on the bridge, another energy surge is

								detected.  They pinpoint the location of the surge and determine

								that it is 20% more powerful than the previous surge.

								<p>  Garibaldi reports that there are two deaths on the level known

								as "Grey-13."  Garibaldi leads a security team to that area.

								Sinclair calls a "Level 2 Alert."  Just then, the reporter from ISN

								enters the bridge, claiming to be interested in whatever problem is

								occurring--"the people have a right to know";

								Sinclair orders her to leave.

								<p>  Garibaldi's security team has found Nelson.  The team fires at

								Nelson, but Nelson is unharmed.  Nelson continues toward the place

								that he was originally heading.

								<p>  Franklin, while studying the artifacts with Hendricks,

								discovers a certain device in Nelson's belongings.  He hides the

								device from Hendricks's view.  Meanwhile, the study of the

								artifacts continues.

								<p>  Sinclair, meanwhile, guesses that Nelson is heading toward the

								Central Corridor, the area with the greatest population and,

								consequently, the area where Nelson can do the most damage.

								Ivanova reports that, although Nelson must rest after every time he

								attacks, his periods of rest are becoming shorter--and his power is

								increasing each time.  Sinclair realizes that their next chance to

								stop Nelson may be their last chance.

								<p>  Franklin has finally accesses the memory banks of the

								artifacts; he reports to Sinclair what he has found:  In the course

								of Ikarran history, the Ikarrans were invaded many times.  Because of

								these repeated attacks, they created organic weapons to use against

								their enemies.  Because it would take too long to create an

								artificially-intelligent weapon, they incorporated the personality

								matrix and brain patterns of one of their researchers, known as

								Tumar.  Because of the possibility,

								however, that their enemies might "fool" the weapons (for the

								weapons have personalities), the Ikarrans programmed their weapons

								not to accept commands from anyone but "pure Ikarrans."  However, as

								Franklin points out (with a bit of disgust), there is no clear way

								to define a "pure" Ikarran--"no one is pure," he says.  Franklin

								continues to explain that a coalition of religious fanatics and

								military extremists defined what it meant to be a "pure" Ikarran--

								their standards were based on ideology rather than science.

								(Sinclair points out the similarities to Hitler's "perfect Aryan"

								idea in WWII).  Unfortunately for everyone involved, after the

								weapons killed the enemies of the Ikarrans, they turned on the

								Ikarrans themselves, killing anyone who didn't =perfectly= match the

								standards of what a "pure Ikarran" was.  They kept killing everyone

								until the last Ikarran was dead.  Then, through centuries of disuse

								and neglect, the weapons failed.  However, the artifacts that

								Hendricks discovered contained one of these weapons--and it has

								activated itself by attaching itself onto Nelson.  Sinclair has an

								idea how to stop it:  if the weapon has a personality, he will try

								to contact that personality and reason with it, thereby attempting

								to bypass the programming.

								<p>  First, however, Garibaldi and Sinclair set up an extremely

								powerful attack against Nelson.  The attack fails completely; it

								doesn't even slow Nelson down.

								<p>

								<img src="/lurk/gif/004/firefight.gif" align=middle> Nelson under attack.

								<p>

								Sinclair, therefore, feels he has

								no other choice but to try to speak with the personality--with

								Tumar.  "I'm going to try to make it mad," says Sinclair; he

								explains that, by speaking with the personality of the weapon, he

								will try to lure Nelson to the docking area, which they can detach

								and eject--"armored or not, nothing can live in a vacuum."

								Garibaldi objects, but Sinclair goes anyway.

								<p>  Sinclair speaks to the weapon.  He attempts to anger it by

								saying (truthfully) that the Ikarran race is dead.  Sinclair's plan

								works--Nelson follows him to the airlock.  Sinclair explains the

								whole situation to Nelson--how the weapons failed in their mission,

								and how Ikarra was destroyed by their own hand.  "Your own people--

								how pure were they?  They didn't feed you facts; they fed you

								propaganda.  They programmed you with standards of genetic purity

								no one could match--not even your own people."  Then, at the last

								minute, Sinclair tells the weapon to search Nelson's memory (for

								Nelson has seen the dead Ikarra).  The weapon does this, and

								realizes that what Sinclair has said is true.  He is suddenly

								overwhelmed with guilt; he drops to his knees, asking his long dead

								race to forgive him.  Then, he destroys the organic artifact that

								has taken over Nelson--Nelson's metamorphosis is thereby undone,

								and Nelson falls to the grounds, rid of the artifact.

								<p>  Later, after the whole incident has passed, Franklin confronts

								Hendricks.  He explains that he found a cardiac stimulator in

								Nelson's belongings--the device, if used on a healthy person, can

								precipitate a heart attack.  Further, Franklin explains that he has

								found two small marks in the skin of the dead customs attendant--

								marks which were so small that they were overlooked; the marks

								perfectly match the cardiac stimulator's prongs.  Franklin tells

								Hendricks that he has spoken with Nelson, and that Nelson confirms

								Franklin's suspicions:  Nelson was acting under Hendricks's orders

								the whole time.  Hendricks admits that this is true; he explains

								that "Interplanetary Expeditions," the corporation that financed

								the Ikarran dig, is a front for a bio-weapons supplier.  Hendricks

								says that he suspected that the artifacts were organic weapons, so,

								instead of turning in the artifacts right away for standard

								commission, he came to Franklin in order to study them.  If the

								artifacts were indeed bio-weapons, he felt, they would be worth

								millions--or more.

								<p>  "You deliberately endangered a quarter of a million humans and

								aliens just to raise your profit margin?" asks Franklin.

								<p>  Hendricks explains that he was sure he could control the

								artifacts--he never expected any harmful incident.  He also says

								that he didn't know the customs guard was murdered--Nelson said

								that he would handle it, so Hendricks didn't question him.

								Franklin realizes that this was why the weapon attached itself to

								Nelson, not to anyone else--the program needed someone willing to

								kill.  Hendricks makes one final appeal to Franklin--he asks

								Franklin not to turn him in.  If Franklin doesn't turn him in, says

								Hendricks, then they will share the profits of the sale of the

								artifacts.  However, just at that moment, two security guards

								arrive.  "It's too late," says Franklin, almost sadly.

								<p>  Meanwhile, Garibaldi confronts Sinclair on another matter.  To

								do justice to this scene, I feel I must include Garibaldi's

								dialogue verbatim:  "The whole stations talking about how you were

								willing to risk your life to stop that thing.... This is the third

								time in the last year you've put yourself on the line like this....

								Jeff, you're my friend.  You've been my friend a lot longer than

								you've been my commanding officer so I think I'm entitled to say

								this.  We were both in Earth Force during the war; I wasn't on the

								line but I did my share.  I know a lot of guys who came out of the

								war--changed.  Some came out better; some came out worse.  A lot of

								them have this problem:  the war gave them definition, direction,

								purpose.  Without it, they don't know how to fit in anymore, so

								they keep looking for ways to go in a blaze of glory.  Some people

								call that being a hero--maybe so.  I don't know; I've never been

								one.  Me?  I think they're looking for something worth dying for

								because it's easier than finding something worth living for."

								<p>  Sinclair sadly, thoughtfully admits that he doesn't have an

								answer to this--although he also admits that he should.

								<p>  Franklin and Ivanova are speaking in the war.  He expresses

								his disgust at fundamental ideals of "purity" and "perfection"--he

								wonders if what just happened is a preview of what's to come,

								mentioning that there are many hate groups on Earth targeted

								against aliens.  Ivanova replies that she doesn't think that

								humanity would be so foolish--that, hopefully, they could learn

								from the past.  Just at the moment, however, two officials walk up

								to Franklin, demanding that he turn over the artifacts to them, on

								authority of Earth Force Defense, Bio-Weapons Division, in order

								that they can study them for purposes of planetary security.

								<p>  The reporter has finally caught up with Sinclair, and the

								interview has been carried out.  The reporter asks Sinclair if,

								after what he's been through, he feels that it's worth it for

								humanity to continue their presence in space.  "We have to stay

								here," he replies. "Eventually our sun will grow

								cold, and go out."  When this happens, he explains, the entire

								culture of Earth will be destroyed--a culture and history that he

								feels are worth preserving.  Therefore, humanity must go to the

								stars.

								<p>

								Shawn Bayern

								<em>bayern@cshl.org</em>

								<hr>

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

								granted to distribute this synopsis <strong>noncommercially</strong> 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.