brennen
/
lurkers-guide



								<p>    A solemn-looking man, known to us only as "Knight Two," has

								arrived on Babylon 5.  Shortly after his arrival, he sees another

								man ("Knight One") in the waiting area and moves over to him

								quietly.

								<p>    Meanwhile, right outside the waiting area, a security officer

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

								a significant sum of money.  The gamblers threaten him with death

								if he does not pay them within 24 hours.

								<p>    Knight Two has moved into his quarters.  Knight One arrives,

								bringing a three-dimensional image projector with him.  He

								activates it, and it shows a lifelike picture of Commander

								Sinclair.  "I've identified the target," he says.

								<p>    Sinclair and Garibaldi have summoned security officer Benson

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

								They inform Benson that B5 security officers are strictly

								limited in their gambling--if an officer becomes indebted to the

								"wrong people," he would become vulnerable to blackmail, resulting

								in a security risk to the station.  Garibaldi claims to have

								information that Benson has been exceeding the gambling limits, but

								Benson insists that he's done nothing wrong.  Sinclair, however,

								not wanting to take any chances, removes Benson from the active

								duty roster pending an investigation in the matter.  After Benson

								leaves, Garibaldi comments that he believes Benson is lying.

								<p>    "Everyone lies, Michael," replies Sinclair.  "The innocent lie

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

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

								Knight Two and Knight One are building a complex gadget in Knight

								Two's quarters.  They have everything they need except for a power

								source; Knight One claims that it is impossible to smuggle an

								energy source onto the station because it would be picked up by the

								scanners.  "So I improvised.  It'll be here."

								<p>    Benson, in the meantime, has stealthily made his way to a

								storage room ...

								<p>    In the medical lab, Dr. Franklin is examining Delenn.  He

								expresses his thanks to Delenn for allowing him to examine her; he

								says that he rarely gets the chance to examine Minbari--unless

								there's something wrong with one of them; he says that to have data

								on a healthy Minbari will give him a basis from which to operate.

								After the examination, Delenn rises and asks Franklin about a rumor

								she heard from one of the other doctors--that Franklin used to

								hitchhike aboard spaceships.  Franklin confirms this rumor; he had

								"wanted to see it all," so he traded his services as a doctor in

								exchange for free passage on various ships.  He explains how he did

								this until the Earth-Minbari war started, but then pauses.  Delenn

								asks him if he was involved in the war.  He replies that toward the

								end of the war, all xenobiologists were asked by Earth Force to

								turn over their notes on Minbari physiology so that effective

								genetic and biological weapons could be created.  Delenn asks him

								if he did, indeed, hand over his notes.

								<p>    "I took an oath that <em>all</em> life is sacred.  I destroyed my

								notes rather than have them used for killing," he answers.

								<p>    Delenn smiles and thanks him.  When Franklin asks her,

								however, what her involvement in the war was, she only answers that

								the matter is "a topic for another time."

								<p>    Benson, after securing an energy pod from the storage area,

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

								him promptly.  After Benson leaves, the Knights connect the energy

								supply to the device they've been building.  "I think we're ready

								to proceed," they agree.

								<p>    Sinclair, asleep in his quarters, is having a traumatic dream

								about the Battle of the Line, the final battle of the Earth-Minbari

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

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

								and breaks from formation, feeling that he can get a clear shot at

								the Minbari ship.  Sinclair has a feeling, however, that Mitchell

								is entering a trap.  Just as he realizes that his friend is about

								to die ... he wakes up and rises to get himself a drink.  As he

								looks around his room, he notices that his computer is not working.

								He calls a maintenance team, but there is no response.  Worried, he

								calls security; again, there is no response.  He gets dressed

								quickly and leaves his quarters, running to the bridge.

								<p>

								<a href="/lurk/ftp/Pictures/Scenes/sinclzoc.gif"><img

								src="/lurk/gif/008/sinclzoc.gif" align="middle"></a>Sinclair on his

								way to the bridge.

								<p>When he

								gets to the bridge, however, it is empty, and the computer is not

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

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

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

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

								computer replies that there was no evacuation.  Sinclair then asks

								the computer to scan for other life forms on B5; sure enough, the

								computer finds one other life form and notifies Sinclair of the

								life form's position.  Sinclair runs to the location, but finds

								nothing at first.  "What the hell is going on around here," he asks

								himself.

								<p>    Suddenly, the lights in the corridor start flashing off, one

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

								Maybe you're insane.  Maybe you're dead.  Maybe you're in Hell.

								Not that it matters much, Commander Sinclair, because wherever you

								are, wherever you go, you're mine!"  Sinclair turns around to find

								Knight Two staring at him.

								<p>

								<a href="/lurk/ftp/Pictures/Scenes/knight2-1.jpg"><img

								src="/lurk/gif/008/knight2-1.gif" align="middle"></a>"You're mine."

								<p>    Delenn has arrived at Garibaldi's quarters.  She appears

								concerned and tells Garibaldi that she was supposed to meet with

								Sinclair an hour before.  Garibaldi calls Sinclair and receives no

								response; sharing now in Delenn's concern, he begins to search for

								Sinclair personally.

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

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

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

								cybernet").  "It's shadow-play," explains Knight Two,

								"without form or substance.  But I'm real, commander, and you're

								real.  And the pain--the pain for you is also real."  Knight Two

								steps back, and a "cerebral discharge" surrounds Sinclair, putting

								him through agonizing pain.

								<p>    Garibaldi has rushed to Sinclair's quarters.  When he enters

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

								Ivanova and explains the situation to her.

								<p>    Knight Two, outside the matrix, orders Knight One to cut the

								cerebral discharge.  Inside the matrix, he begins to speak with

								Sinclair again.  He notices how important the station is to

								Sinclair--how his thoughts seem to be rooted in Babylon 5.  He

								explains to Sinclair that they will "walk together across the

								bridge of synapses and neurons into the very heart of your

								memories" in order to find the truth about what happened to

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

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

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

								where he was out of contact with Earth Force Defense, he merely

								blacked out.  "We're finally going to get to the truth," Knight Two

								says, "even if it kills you."

								<p>    Garibaldi, Ivanova, and Dr. Franklin are discussing strategies

								to find Sinclair.  Garibaldi has organized a search party, drawn

								from all nonessential B5 personnel, but that the search still might

								take a few days.  Franklin warns that "a few days" might be too

								long if Sinclair were injured.  Ivanova has contacted a nearby

								station and asked them to track any ships that have left B5 in the

								last eight hours.  Garibaldi suggests that they also send a few

								maintenance "bots" to patrol the hull of B5--"If someone shoved

								[Sinclair's body] outside, the station's gravity won't let it get

								far.  Just in case."

								<p>    "Mr. Garibaldi," Ivanova replies, "there are days I'm very

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

								<p>    Meanwhile, inside Sinclair's mind, Knight Two is continuing

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

								Sinclair.  Rank: commander.  Age: 39.  Born on Mars Colony, May 3,

								2218, 9:15 A.M., Earth Standard Time.  Enlisted in Earth Force

								Defense, 2237; promoted to fighter pilot, 2240; promoted again to

								squad leader less than a year later.... Smart money said you'd make

								admiral one day.  So what happened, <em>commander</em>?  Why'd you

								fall off the merry-go-round?"

								<p>

								<a href="/lurk/ftp/Pictures/Scenes/jsdrill.jpg"><img

								src="/lurk/gif/008/jsdrill.gif" align="middle"></a>Sinclair listens to his

								dossier.

								<p>    Sinclair merely tells him to "go to hell."  He refuses to tell

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

								Security's probably tearing this place upside down, looking for

								me."

								<p>    "Assuming you're still on Babylon 5," replies Knight Two.

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

								Sinclair to reveal "the truth" by conjuring up an image of

								Mitchell, Sinclair's old friend and fellow officer who died in the

								Battle of the Line.  Knight Two's plan appears to be working,

								because as soon as Sinclair sees Mitchell, his old memories of the

								Battle of the Line spring to the forefront of his mind.  Sinclair

								relives the battle--he sees again what he saw in his dream, except

								that this time, he actually sees Mitchell's ship exploding.  After

								that part of the battle plays itself out, Mitchell begins to speak

								with Sinclair again.  At first, Sinclair refuses to speak with

								Mitchell; he tells himself that Mitchell's image is just an

								illusion.  When Mitchell, however, accuses Sinclair of being a

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

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

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

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

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

								<p>    Sinclair answers by reliving the part of the Battle of the

								Line where he tries to ram the Minbari cruiser.  Knight Two urges

								Sinclair to continue because, as Sinclair himself said, all of the

								incidents which Knight Two has seen so far were in Sinclair's

								original report of the battle ten years ago.  Sinclair, however,

								claims that he cannot continue--"I don't remember.  I blacked out.

								I've never been able to remember!"

								<p>    Knight Two moves closer to Sinclair.  "You don't want to

								remember!  You don't want to remember the twenty-four hours in

								which you betrayed your own race.  The day you became a traitor.

								The day you sold out--"

								<p>    "That's enough!" screams Sinclair.  As he says this, he

								suddenly hits Knight Two in the stomach.  Knight Two, taken by

								surprise, vanishes from the matrix without a trace.  "Well, well.

								Looks like the pain is real for both of us," comments Sinclair.

								<p> Delenn is talking with Ivanova; Delenn explains how concerned she

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

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

								Delenn suggests the use of the station's telepath, Talia Winters,

								but Ivanova explains that Winters is only a P-5 and, consequently,

								needs to be in close proximity with people in order to scan them.

								Winter's isn't trained, according to Ivanova, for a search-and-recover

								mission.

								<p>    Knight One, meanwhile, is concerned about Knight Two, who

								snapped out of the cybernet suddenly.  Knight Two, however, claims

								that he's all right.  He says that he needs to be put back into the

								cybernet quickly, for Sinclair was right--they don't have much

								time.  Knight One estimates that the search parties on the station

								will find them on B5 in about four hours.  "He's tough.  Breaking

								him isn't going to be easy," says Knight Two.  Knight Two orders

								Knight One to increase both the power of the cybernet and the

								dosage of psychotropic drugs with which Sinclair is being injected.

								"We're close.... The more I walk through his mind, the more I'm

								convinced he's hiding something," explains Knight Two.

								<p>    One of the security officers is giving a report to Garibaldi.

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

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

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

								also orders the officer to bring in every possible available

								officer.  The officer explains how he's already brought in

								everyone--"even Benson."  Garibaldi is annoyed that Benson was

								brought back to duty, but the security officer explains that he

								checked Benson's record, and Benson isn't in any debts.  In fact,

								he says, there's even a surplus in Benson's account.  Garibaldi,

								however, is suspicious, for the other day, the account was empty.

								He checks the account again and finds that one very large deposit

								was made, followed by numerous withdrawals.  Garibaldi assumes that

								these withdrawals were used to pay off debts--and notes that the

								large deposit was made only four hours before Sinclair was known to

								be missing.  Garibaldi orders the security officer to find and

								bring back Benson for questioning.

								<p>    Knight Two has reentered the cybernet.  Again, he asks

								Sinclair for the truth about the Battle of the Line.  Sinclair

								suddenly finds himself surrounded by a circle of people wearing

								grey cloaks.  "What are you doing here?" he asks.  "What do you

								want?"  Before he receives an answer, however, one of the grey

								figures shoots him.

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

								Knight One answers the door, Benson frantically asks for protection.

								"You've got to help me.  The whole station's looking for me.

								They think I had something to do with the commander's disapp--"

								Suddenly, Benson hears a scream from the back of the room.  He

								curiously enters the quarters and is surprised to find Commander

								Sinclair attached to the cybernet device.  He's not given the

								chance to think about it for too long, however, for Knight One

								shoots Benson almost immediately.

								<p>    Back in the cybernet, Knight Two confronts Sinclair about the

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

								Sinclair insists that he's not hiding anything.

								<p>    "We all hide things, commander.  That's why we bounced back

								[to the station] again, isn't it?  This is where you hide, behind

								duty and responsibility and obligation," says Knight Two.

								<p>    "Things you'd never understand!" replies Sinclair.

								<p>    Knight Two disagrees, however.  "We're both patriots in our

								own way.  If I fail, more will come after me until the job is

								finished."  He presses Sinclair again, telling him that they're

								going to find out what Sinclair is hiding.

								<p>    Some security officers have found a body floating outside the

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

								<p>    Meanwhile, in the cybernet, Knight Two is again expressing his

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

								Knight Two asserts that Sinclair could not have simply blacked out,

								for his ship "disappeared" from the sensing screens.  Sinclair,

								however, counters that the postwar hearings proved that the screens

								malfunctioned.  Knight Two explains what he believes to be the

								sequence of events that occurred at the Line:  The Minbari (Knight

								Two says) realized the extent and power of Earth Force defense and

								realized how difficult it would be to invade Earth.  Therefore,

								they surrendered and decided to work through more covert means.  At

								the Battle of the Line, Sinclair surrendered to the Minbari rather

								than give up his life.  The Minbari took him aboard and asked him

								to work for them--to be a covert operative.  "You agreed [to work

								for them].  You and God-knows-how-many-other people."

								<p>    "You're insane.  I never betrayed Earth," insists Sinclair,

								but Knight Two questions him--if Sinclair doesn't remember what

								happened, how can he be sure he wasn't a traitor?

								<p>    Sinclair, however, becomes annoyed with Knight Two:  "That's

								enough!  You talk about the war.  You talk about Mitchell and the

								rest, but you didn't know them.  They were my friends.  I watched

								them die, one by one.  For years afterwards, whenever I saw a

								Minbari, I had to fight the urge to strangle them with my bare

								hands.... We never had a chance.... When I looked at those ships,

								I didn't just see my death.  I saw the death of the whole damn

								human race."

								<p>    "Then why did they surrender?" asks Knight Two.

								<p>    "I don't know.  Maybe the universe blinked.  Maybe God changed

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

								<p>

								<a name="minbari-assassin">

								Knight Two is still skeptical.  He asks Sinclair if anything

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

								Sinclair replies that nothing ever made him question it--except for

								what the Minbari who tried to kill Ambassador Kosh said to

								him:  "There is a hole in your mind."

								</a>

								(cf: <a href="/lurk/guide/000.html">"The Gathering"</a>)

								At Knight Two's further prompting--and after Knight Two convinces

								Sinclair that Sinclair, himself, wants to know what happened--

								Sinclair allows his memories to overcome him again.  He again

								experiences the Battle of the Line.  He sees what he has seen

								before; except, this time, the take him further.  The Minbari

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

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

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

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

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

								up a small metal device (cf.

								<a href="/lurk/guide/020.html">"Babylon Squared"</a>) that shimmers

								with some kind of energy.

								<p>

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

								freed.

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

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

								you are.  I <em>know</em> you," says Sinclair.  Before he can say any

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

								<p>    Outside the cybernet, however, Sinclair gathers up enough

								strength to break the shackles that bind him to the cybernet

								device.  As he disconnects from the machine, the feedback knocks

								out Knight Two.  Knight One storms into the room, but Sinclair

								punches him, knocking him out.  He picks up a gun and escapes from

								the room.  He is delusional, however; he mumbles to himself about

								how the Minbari have broken through and how he must get back to his

								ship.

								<p>    Sinclair begins running through B5's corridors.  One officer,

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

								Sinclair, however, in his delusional state, believes she is a

								Minbari and shoots at her.  Fortunately, he does not kill her, and

								she links in with Ivanova.  She begins to explain that she has seen

								the commander; however, before she can finish, Knight One shoots

								her in the back.

								<p>    Knight One follows Sinclair; they shoot at each other

								unsuccessfully.  Garibaldi finally finds Sinclair, but is utterly

								surprised when he is shot at by his commander.  Dr. Franklin, a few

								seconds later, links in and informs Garibaldi that he has found the

								room where he believes Sinclair was held.  Franklin believes that

								Sinclair may have been given large dosages of psychotropic drugs

								and may consequently be delusional or even dangerous.

								<p>

								<a name="recognize-delenn">

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

								and approaches Sinclair slowly.  She ignores Garibaldi's warnings

								and continues her approach.  When she gets close enough to

								Sinclair, she tells him that he's safe now and that nobody will

								harm him.  He doesn't listen to her, however; he can only picture

								the unveiling of the grey figure ten years ago--the grey figure who

								he now knows to be Delenn, though she looked younger then and had

								a silver triangle on her forehead.  "I know you!" he tells her.

								</a>

								<p>    "I'm your friend, commander.  Ambassador Delenn.  Your

								friend," she replies.

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

								as if he's going to shoot her.  Instead, however, he points his gun

								in a slightly different direction and shoots Knight One, who had

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

								to the floor, dead.

								<p>    "Welcome home," says Delenn.

								<p>    One day later, Sinclair awakes in the medical lab.  Dr.

								Franklin has finally flushed the psychotropic drugs from Sinclair's

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

								Garibaldi replies, however, that Knight Two is about to leave the

								station.  Earth Central has decided to exercise jurisdiction in

								this case because they believe Knight Two to be a member of an

								organization which wishes to implicate members of the government as

								being traitors to the Minbari (in fact, there are even rumors that

								the organization is a covert operation run from within the

								government itself).  Franklin explains that he doesn't think the

								trial will reveal much, because when Sinclair disconnected himself

								from the cybernet device, the feedback "fried most of [Knight

								Two's] memory."  Sinclair still, however, wishes to see his former

								captor.  As expected, Knight Two reveals little information--in

								fact, he even claims that he cannot remember his own name.

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

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

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

								<p>

								<a name="delenn-knows">

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

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

								seeing her was the only thing that could help him.  As he is about

								to leave her quarters, she asks him if he remembers anything

								concerning the Battle of the Line?  He pictures in his mind the

								unveiling of the mysterious grey figure; aloud, however, he says

								that he cannot, unfortunately, remember anything.

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

								</a>

								<a name="sinclair-kill">

								After Sinclair

								leaves, a Minbari man, silver triangle on his head, arrives from

								another room in Delenn's quarters.

								"He must <em>never</em> know what happened.  If he should find

								out, he must be killed.  Do you understand, Delenn?" says this man.

								</a>

								Delenn replies that she does, indeed, understand.

								<p>    Sinclair, alone finally in his quarters, is making an entry in

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

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

								Maybe.  Maybe.  Before they surrendered, they must have blanked my

								memory and let me go.  And Delenn--what was she doing there?  What

								is it they don't want me to remember?  I have to find out.  I have

								to!"

								<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.