brennen
/
lurkers-guide



								<p>

								Ivanova, after awakening with difficulty from a sound sleep, reports to

								C&C just in time to find Sinclair listening to a distress call from a

								lone Starfury pilot who's being attacked by raiders not far from the

								station.  Sinclair launches a wing of fighters to aid the pilot, but it's

								too late; the raiders overwhelm and destroy the Starfury.

								<p>

								A well-dressed man comes aboard the station on his own.  When the customs

								officer comments that his identicard hasn't been updated in a while, the

								man replies that he's been out of touch, out exploring on the Rim.  "Find

								anything interesting?" asks the officer.  "Yes," replies the man with an

								enigmatic smile.

								<p>

								Ivanova, Garibaldi, and Sinclair meet.  Ivanova reports that by the time

								the station's fighters got there, there was nothing left of the Starfury

								they were supposed to rescue.  Garibaldi comments that the raiders have

								been hitting closer and closer to Babylon 5 lately, prompting Ivanova to

								wonder how they're getting in and out so quickly.  The raider ships are

								much too small to make their own jump points, and the nearest jumpgate

								in this latest incident was hours away.  Sinclair puts Delta Wing on

								alert and asks Garibaldi to go over the cargo manifests of ships due to

								arrive shortly in the hopes of identifying the raiders' next target.

								<p>

								After Ivanova leaves, Sinclair tells Garibaldi what he's discovered about

								the events during his 24 hours out of action at the Battle of the Line

								(cf.

								<a href="008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars"</a>)

								and asks Garibaldi to help him find out more.

								<p>

								Londo, waiting at a bar table, is visited by a somewhat sleazy-looking

								man who hands him a black

								box.  The box contains the Eye, "the oldest symbol of Centauri nobility,

								property of the first Emperor, lost over a hundred years ago at the

								Battle of Nashok."  The Centauri government, says Londo, paid very

								generously for the Eye.  "But I would very much like to know how you got

								your hands on this," Londo says.  "No, you wouldn't," says the man,

								and leaves.  Londo walks off with the Eye, unaware that he's being watched

								by someone at the bar -- the newcomer who'd been out exploring.

								<p>

								G'Kar and Londo find themselves waiting for the same transport tube.  Londo

								mentions a famine on the southern frontier of the Narn homeworld; the

								conversation quickly degenerates into a barrage of insults and threats,

								causing both of them to miss the lift.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/tube.gif"> "So now it is all our fault,

								eh?"

								<p>

								Later, G'Kar is visited in his quarters by Morden, the man who arrived on

								the station earlier.  Morden claims his visit was authorized by the correct

								officials in the Narn government.  He has come to ask G'Kar a question:

								"What do you want?"  Morden persists, asking the question again and again,

								until G'Kar nearly kicks him out of his quarters.  Finally, as if sensing

								the intent of the question, G'Kar tells Morden that what he really wants is

								to decimate the Centauri -- "to completely, utterly erase them."  "And

								then what?" asks Morden.  G'Kar, taken aback, answers, "I don't know.  As

								long as my homeworld's safety is guaranteed, I don't know that it matters."

								Morden thanks G'Kar and leaves; it appears that wasn't quite the answer

								he was looking for.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/morden.gif"> "What do you want?"

								<p>

								Meanwhile, Londo greets a Centauri noble, Lord Kiro, and Kiro's aunt,

								Lady Ladira, who is also the seer and prophetess of Kiro's house.  Ladira

								looks rather ill, initially ascribing it to the rigors of space travel.

								But it's soon clear that Babylon 5 itself is causing her distress; she

								pushes herself into a corner and begins ranting.  "Babylon will fall.

								This place will be destroyed!  Fire... death... pain..."  She faints.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/kiro.gif"> Londo greets Kiro and Ladira.

								<p>

								Later, Kiro and Londo are with Ladira in Kiro's quarters.  She's feeling

								better now, but the vision is still there: Babylon 5 will be destroyed.

								The ordeal has left her tired, and she excuses herself.  As she leaves,

								Londo questions her accuracy.  Kiro recalls with a derisive chuckle that

								when he was young, she predicted he would someday be killed by shadows.

								<p>

								He asks Londo if he can see the Eye, which originally belonged to his

								family, before he plays lowly messenger and brings it back to the Emperor.

								Londo agrees.  As they leave Kiro's quarters, they're followed by a

								shady character, who reports into a small device: "Six to one.  Have

								located target.  Commencing surveillance."

								<p>

								Morden visits Delenn in her quarters and asks her the same question he

								asked G'Kar.  With her back to Morden, she questions the purpose of his

								visit.  In midsentence, she stops as if she suddenly feels faint.  Her

								hand shoots to her forehead, covering it, and then away, to reveal a

								hollow silver triangle glowing in her skin.  (cf.

								<a href="008.html#recognize-delenn">"And the Sky Full of Stars"</a>)

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/delenn.gif"> Morden visits Delenn.

								<p>

								She covers her forehead again and spins around to face Morden.  He becomes

								darker and darker until he appears nothing more than a silhouette -- a

								shadow.  Delenn demands that he leave immediately; he does so, apparently

								unaware that she sensed anything odd about him.  After he's gone, Delenn's

								triangle fades away as she looks on, shocked.  "They're here," she says,

								a hint of fear in her voice.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/here.gif"> "They're here."

								<p>

								Kiro and Londo look at the Eye in Londo's quarters.  Kiro paces and speaks

								of conditions back home.  The people grow unhappy, disillusioned with the

								government; the Emperor has not been seen in public for over a year.  Finally,

								he comes out with what's on his mind: why should he give the Eye back to

								the Emperor when his family is its rightful owner?  Londo calms him down,

								reminding him that he could try to use the Eye to usurp the Emperor's power,

								but he would quickly be dead.  "These are not the good old days," Londo

								says wistfully.  "Yes," answers Kiro, "more's the pity."  Kiro leaves the

								Eye in Londo's care, wondering out loud where everything went wrong for

								the Centauri.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/eye.gif"> Kiro examines the Eye.

								<p>

								Ladira, asleep, dreams of her vision, or the sounds of it.  Voices shouting:

								"Evacuate!"  "They're heading for the docking

								bay!"  "Hit 'em with everything we've got!"  "Destruct!  Destruct!"  Then

								the sound of an explosion.  She awakens.

								<p>

								In space, the freighter Achilles is enroute to a jumpgate when its scanners

								pick up raider ships approaching.  They call for help; Sinclair, in C&C,

								orders Delta Wing to launch.  Ivanova, the wing commander, heads for the

								station's jumpgate at top speed.

								<p>

								Six, the man who watched Londo and Kiro earlier reports in again.  "They've

								taken the bait.  You keep them busy.  We'll take care of Babylon 5 from this

								end."

								<p>

								Kosh returns to the station in his ship.  As he disembarks and walks down the

								hall, Morden ducks behind a corner to avoid being seen.

								<p>

								Delta Wing arrives through the jumpgate nearest the Achilles.  Ivanova orders

								two ships to stay behind at the gate in case the raiders try to flee through

								it; the rest follow her at maximum burn toward the Achilles.

								<p>

								Kiro calls Londo and says he's ready to leave with the Eye.  Londo assures

								him that the Centauri military will have ships to ready protect Kiro every

								step of the way once he enters Babylon 5's gate.  Londo gathers up the Eye

								and leaves his quarters.

								<p>

								As he reaches the transport tube, he's intercepted by Morden, who asks his

								usual question and claims he's not allowed to leave until he gets an answer.

								Londo is irritated and says he just wants to be left alone.

								"Is that it, Ambassador?" asks Morden.  "Is that all you want?"

								<p>

								Irritated, Londo answers that no, that's not all he wants.  He wants the

								Centauri Republic to stretch forth across the galaxy, to regain its days of

								glory.  "I want to stop running around like a man late for an appointment,

								afraid to look forward or look back ... I want it all back, the way that

								it was."  He calms down.  "Does that answer your question?"

								<p>

								"Yes," Morden says to himself after Londo leaves.  "Yes, it does."

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/londo.gif"> "Do you really want to

								know what <em>I</em> want?"

								<p>

								Sinclair, troubled that the latest raider attack is taking place much farther

								from the station than other recent raids, asks for a cargo manifest for the

								Achilles.

								<p>

								Six and an accomplice intercept Londo, Kiro, and Ladira as they head for Kiro's

								ship.  He has his accomplice take the Eye ahead, while he takes the three

								Centauri hostage and orders them to continue to the ship.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/robbery.gif"> Taken hostage.

								<p>

								Sinclair learns that the Achilles is carrying farming equipment, hardly

								valuable enough to be worth raiding.  Deducing that it may be a diversion,

								he orders Ivanova to return to base.  He checks the list of arriving and

								departing ships and notices that Kiro's personal liner is scheduled to

								leave shortly.  He heads for the docking bay.

								<p>

								Sinclair arrives in the bay just as Six and his hostages do.  Kiro tries to

								fight Six off, but ends up with his arm twisted behind his back and a gun

								to his head.  Six warns Sinclair against trying to stop him from leaving,

								threatening to burn a hole through the station's hull.  Sinclair stands

								aside and says Six is free to go.

								<p>

								Once Six and Kiro have left, Sinclair tells Garibaldi to stand by with Alpha

								Wing and disable the liner as soon as it leaves the station.  Londo escorts

								Ladira out of the docking bay.  She is preoccupied.  "The shadows are coming

								for him."

								<p>

								As Garibaldi and the rest of Alpha Wing chase

								after the liner, a jump point forms near the station.

								A carrier flies through and releases a swarm of raider ships.  "So that's

								how they're doing it," says Sinclair.  "A ship that big would have to be

								capable of solo jumps."

								<p>

								The raider ships occupy Garibaldi's attention as the situation develops

								into a full-blown firefight.  While he and his men (with the help of the

								station's defensive grid) fight the raiders, the Centauri liner enters a

								small docking bay in the raider mothership and is sealed inside.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/dogfight.gif"> The battle is joined.

								<p>

								Meanwhile, amid sirens and a mob of people heading for

								safer parts of the station, Londo finds Ladira standing in the middle of

								a corridor.  He tries to get her to leave, but she is paying more attention

								to her vision.  "Fire.  Death and destruction.  The shadows have come for

								Lord Kiro.  The shadows have come for us all!"

								<p>

								Elsewhere on the station, Morden hurries down an empty corridor as if late for

								an appointment.  Kosh emerges

								from a doorway, blocking Morden's path.  "Leave this place," Kosh says.

								"They are not for you.  Go.  Leave.  Now."  Morden doesn't appear ready to

								obey.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/kosh.gif"> "Go.  Leave.  Now."

								<p>

								The battle grows more intense.  Sinclair tells Garibaldi to drive the raiders

								toward the back of the station, and tells one of the C&C techs to recalibrate

								the defense grid accordingly.  As the raiders are driven back, Ivanova and

								her team emerge from the jumpgate.  "Surprise."

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/chase.gif"> Chasing down the raiders.

								<p>

								Between Ivanova, the station's guns, and Garibaldi at their tails, the

								raiders don't last long.  Unfortunately, the mothership creates a jump

								point while its fighters are keeping everyone busy.  Ivanova tries to follow

								it into hyperspace, but Sinclair orders her not to.  The raider mothership

								gets away.

								<p>

								Garibaldi tells Sinclair that the station sustained minor damage, with a

								few injuries.  Ambassador Kosh has asked for tools to repair his encounter

								suit, but won't say what happened to it.  The station lost two ships in

								the battle; one pilot managed to eject in time.  Garibaldi speculates that

								they've hurt the raiders badly enough that they won't be back for a long

								time, if ever -- the mothership, after all, is just a big target without

								its fighters.

								<p>

								Ladira and Londo come into Sinclair's office.  Sinclair demands to know what

								was on the ship that was so valuable, and why it wasn't on the manifest.

								Ladira has another vision, this time of the raider mothership emerging from

								a jump point elsewhere in space.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/time.gif"> "My time is your time."

								<p>

								Inside the ship, Six has his men grab Kiro from behind.  He laughs at Kiro's

								objection that the two of them had a deal; the raiders intend to ransom the

								Eye to the Centauri, and then ransom Kiro as well.

								<p>

								Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a huge alien ship, black with spines and dark

								blue mottling, appears just next to the raider mothership.  Without warning

								or provocation, it slices into the mothership with an intense beam weapon,

								cutting the raider ship to ribbons within seconds.

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/shadow.gif"> The mystery ship.

								<p>

								Later, Londo and Ladira say farewell.  Londo is despondent; he feels he will

								be held responsible for the loss of the Eye.  "It would seem my career is

								finished," he says.  When Ladira offers to help, he replies, "I'm afraid I'm

								beyond anything short of a miracle."  She leaves.

								<p>

								Seconds after, Londo's door chimes.  It's Morden, and he's carrying a charred

								box.  "A gift," he says, "from friends you don't know you have."  Londo opens

								the box.  It's the Eye.  He turns to thank Morden, but the man seems to have

								vanished.  "Let me buy you a drink!" shouts Londo.  "Let me buy you a whole

								<em>fleet</em> of drinks!  How can I ever find you to thank you?"

								<p>

								"We will find you, Ambassador," a disembodied voice answers.  "We will find

								you."

								<p>

								<img align="middle" src="/lurk/gif/013/gift.gif"> "A gift, from friends you

								don't know you have."

								<p>

								In the lavatory, Garibaldi and Sinclair talk about the successful resolution

								of the situation.  On the way out, Garibaldi says he did some checking and

								found that Sinclair wasn't first on the list to run Babylon 5.  In fact, he

								was very far down the list.  The Minbari, it seems, made their support of

								the station contingent on being able to approve the commander, and rejected

								everyone right down the line until Sinclair.  "They wanted you, Jeff."

								<p>

								Sinclair meets Ladira in a departure lounge.  When she tells him of her

								vision, he replies that it didn't happen; the station came through the

								attack just fine.  Ladira replies that the station is safe for now -- but

								the vision is still there.  She offers to let him see

								her vision, not an easy thing, but possible.  He agrees.  He sees Babylon 5

								from space.  A shuttle flies from the docking bay as the station erupts in

								explosions, the hull rupturing as Babylon 5 is eaten from the inside by

								a firestorm.  Finally it detonates, blown into thousands of fiery fragments.

								<p>

								Sinclair is hoarse.  "This... is it a vision of what will be, or what might

								be?"

								<p>

								"The future is always changing.  We create the future, with our words,

								with our deeds, and with our beliefs.  This is a possible future, Commander.

								And it is my hope that you may yet avoid it."

								<p>

								Ladira bows and leaves Sinclair to ponder what he's just seen.

								<p>

								<h3>Synopsis by <a href="http://www.midwinter.com/~koreth/">Steven Grimm</a></h3>