brennen
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lurkers-guide



								<p> It is January 8, 2259.  The Earth Alliance ship Agamemnon jumps

								into hyperspace.  Its commanding officer, Captain John Sheridan,

								receives a gold channel message from General Hague of the joint chiefs

								of staff.  General Hague tells Captain Sheridan that a Minbari warship

								has appeared several times in Earth-controlled space, only a short

								distance from Babylon 5.  Hague believes that the ship may have hostile

								intent.  Sheridan doesn't understand until Hague tells him that the

								ship is a renegade warship, which Sheridan correctly guesses is called

								the <cite>Trigati</cite>.  The Earth Alliance is awaiting the arrival

								of a ship sent by the Minbari government to assist should the warship

								decide to attack.  Sheridan is ordered to make personal contact with

								that ship to help with the search.  Sheridan questions the wisdom of

								that action, remembering his previous encounter with the Minbari, when

								he destroyed one of their warships.  Hague understands Sheridan's

								reservations, but tells Sheridan to proceed to Babylon 5 to perform one

								additional duty.


								<p>

								<img align=middle src="/lurk/gif/023/agamemnon.gif"> The Agamemnon.


								<p> On Babylon 5, Ivanova, currently in command of the station, walks

								through the halls and is bothered by several aliens, whom she sets in

								their place during an elevator ride.  The action of the scene continues

								under her voice, a status report for the station: "It is now eight days

								since the death of Earth Alliance president Louis Santiago, and five

								days since Commander Sinclair was recalled to Earth without

								explanation--and the whole place has gone straight to Hell.  I can only

								conclude that I'm paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate.

								Security Chief Michael Garibaldi remains in critical condition in

								Medlab.  Dr. Franklin's done all he can, but we still don't know if

								he'll recover.  As for Ambassador Delenn, well, something's going on in

								her quarters.  That's for sure."


								<p> General Hague contacts Ivanova and tells her that Commander

								Sinclair will not be returning to Babylon 5 and that he has been

								permanently reassigned to the Minbari homeworld as the first human

								ambassador to the planet.  Hague informs her that Captain Sheridan is

								the new choice for the commander of Babylon 5, but Ivanova is unsure of

								the decision, claiming that it is "bound to be a controversial

								choice."  Hague understands, but tells her that the decision has

								already been made.  He ends the communication.


								<p> In Delenn's quarters, Lennier continues to maintain a vigil over

								the chrysalis in which Delenn is changing.  Another Minbari, Hedronn,

								enters and addresses Lennier directly.  "So...she's done it, hasn't

								she?  She's in there.  We told her to wait.  `The prophecy will attend

								to itself,' we told her.  Now we are committed to the path.  I've

								spoken with the other members of the council.  The Trigati has been

								seen in this sector.  If it should appear, you must go to the humans

								and tell them what we told you.  It's time they knew the truth."


								<p> An officer approaches Ivanova, and wants to talk to her about

								Sheridan's arrival.  She orders him to have a full honor guard in place

								when he arrives, but he tells her that Sheridan's transport has already

								docked; there was a miscommunication about the time.  She rushes off

								and meets Sheridan just as he comes aboard, and he officially takes

								command of the station.  While his luggage is delivered to his

								quarters, Ivanova takes him on a tour of the station.  He asks her what

								the status of the station is, and she recounts it for him.  After

								hearing about Garibaldi, G'Kar, Delenn, and the ever-mysterious Kosh,

								the only reply he can come up with is "Interesting place you have

								here..."


								<p> Elsewhere on the station, there is another arrival -- a Minbari who

								asks the computer to show him the station, but walks away after hearing

								the description of the green sector -- the ambassadorial quarters.


								<p> Ivanova and Sheridan complete their tour and arrive in the new

								commander's quarters.  She takes the opportunity to ask him about

								his appointment as head of the station.  He tells her that he was

								President Santiago's second choice to head the station, probably

								because he had worked with many races, including the Minbari.  This

								worries Ivanova, who reminds him that the Minbari still refer to him as

								"Starkiller," and guesses they won't be happy to learn he is in command

								of Babylon 5.  He hopes they have forgotten, but doesn't believe they

								have.  He asks her to help bring him up to speed.  They talk about the

								crew's reaction to the President's death.  Many of them are having a

								difficult time accepting the loss.  Ivanova and Sheridan are no

								exceptions.  Because of the recent turmoil around the station, Ivanova

								is especially glad to see Sheridan again; they had served together at the

								transport point near Io.  They make plans to go to C&C so that he

								can deliver a "good luck speech" to the crew.


								<p>

								<img align=middle src="/lurk/gif/023/sheridan.gif"> Sheridan describes his

								speech.


								<p>

								Elsewhere on the station, Hedronn notices someone he recognizes -- the

								Minbari who was on his way to the ambassadorial sector of Babylon 5 -- as

								Kalain.  Hedronn runs after Kalain, who grabs and threatens him,

								claiming that the Grey Council betrayed the Minbari.  Kalain explains

								that he has intercepted a message saying that Sheridan had been chosen

								to lead Babylon 5.  When Hedronn protests that the wishes of the Grey

								Council were ignored, Kalain asks if Delenn also ignored the

								Council.  Kalain says his people have supporters in the Grey

								Council, who have told them that Sinclair is on Minbar, though Kalain

								does not believe that Sinclair being an ambassador is the whole story.

								Kalain lets Hedronn go, warning him to leave while he still can.


								<p>

								<img align=middle src="/lurk/gif/023/kill.gif"> "Minbari do not kill other

								Minbari!"


								<p>

								After she goes to check on Garibaldi's condition, Ivanova finds

								Sheridan and tells him that the officers on C&C are ready for him.  He

								enters and begins his speech, talking about the visit he made when he

								was twenty-one to Tibet and the Dalai Lama.  After eating a very simple

								dinner, the Dalai Lama asked if he understood.  Sheridan didn't.  "Good

								beginning," the Dalai Lama said to him.  "It will be even better when

								you begin to understand what you do not understand."


								<p>

								During Sheridan's

								speech, a call from security says that a Minbari is demanding

								to speak to Sheridan.  Sheridan and Ivanova leave.  While they are on

								their way, Kalain attempts to enter the green sector, but is stopped by

								a security officer, whom he attacks.  Kalain steals the officer's weapon and

								proceeds into the green sector.


								<p>

								It turns out that the Minbari who wanted to speak with Sheridan was

								Hedronn, who has some important information regarding Kalain.  Hedronn

								tells Sheridan and Ivanova that Kalain was second in command of one of

								their flagships during the Earth-Minbari war and that he vanished when

								the war ended.  Ivanova asks why Hedronn believes Kalain is here to

								cause trouble, but Hedronn just answers that he has his reasons.


								<p>

								Sheridan suspects the ship Kalain was second in command of was the

								Trigati.  Ivanova has never heard of the ship, but Hedronn explains

								that at the end of the war, Sineval, one of their warship commanders,

								committed suicide rather than obey the Grey Council's order to

								surrender.  When that happened, Kalain took command of the ship, and it

								vanished.  Sheridan says that, while the ship had been seen over the

								years, it had never attacked.  Hedronn suspects that its recent

								reappearance suggests it might be "out of retirement."


								<p>

								Sheridan doesn't understand, however, why Hedronn, who claimed that he

								was from the Ministry of Culture, knew Kalain, a high-ranking member of

								the warrior caste after twelve years.  Hedronn doesn't respond, saying

								only that he would answer if he recognized Sheridan's authority, but he

								doesn't because the Minbari government was not consulted on Sheridan's

								appointment.  Sheridan tells Hedronn that the president decided on him

								because the Minbari had too much influence over an Earth outpost.


								<p>

								"And

								the day that a man such as yourself is given a position of this

								importance is a dark day indeed," Hedronn says.  "We lost many of our

								best warriors because of you.  And we do not soon forget such things.

								If there is a doom on this station, it is because you brought it

								here."  Hedronn then leaves abruptly.


								<p>

								Because of Hedronn's attitude, Sheridan believes that he is a member of

								the Grey Council, because no one else would know someone so high in the

								warrior caste so well.  Sheridan then admits that Ivanova was correct,

								that the Minbari don't want him in command of Babylon 5.  She

								points out that they are a prideful people, and that he did destroy

								their flagship, the Black Star.  She asks how he destroyed it.

								Sheridan explains that, because their weapons could not lock on to the

								ship, due to some sort of stealth technology, he mined the asteroid

								field between Jupiter and Mars with fusion bombs, which don't need

								direct targets.  It destroyed the Black Star and three other heavy

								cruisers.  "It was the only real victory we had in the whole damn war,

								and I am not about to apologize for it!"


								<p>

								Sheridan

								suddenly remembers Hedronn's statement that Kalain felt betrayed by

								the Minbari homeworld, and deduces that, in such a situation, it would be

								natural to attack the representative of that world.  Realizing they

								might not have much time, Sheridan and Ivanova rush to Delenn's quarters to

								find Kalain

								pointing a gun at Lennier.  They are able to easily apprehend Kalain,

								but when Sheridan attempts to get a close look at the chrysalis, Lennier

								stops him.

								Ambassador Delenn is indisposed, he says, and Sheridan should come back

								later...much later.


								<p>

								<img align=middle src="/lurk/gif/023/lennier.gif"> Lennier defends Delenn.


								<p>

								Sheridan and Ivanova interrogate Kalain, asking him about the Trigati

								and why he has suddenly appeared on Babylon 5.  Sheridan can't believe that

								Kalain's goal was to murder Lennier and Delenn; he had ample time to kill

								both of them.


								<p>

								"Everyone knows Minbari do not

								kill Minbari," Kalain says.  Sheridan doesn't accept that as an answer

								and again asks Kalain about his presence.  "Perhaps everyone is

								wrong."


								<p>

								Sheridan concludes that Kalain never intended to kill

								them, but that something else was going on.  "Perhaps you are the

								problem," Kalain replies.


								<p>

								Ivanova tries to intervene, claiming that

								they are getting nowhere, but Sheridan has one more question for

								Kalain.  "I'm told that after the death of your commanding officer, you

								took command of a Minbari war cruiser.  But if you're here, where's

								your ship?"


								<p>

								Sheridan and Ivanova leave.  Lennier catches up to the two of them

								outside and apologizes for his earlier behavior.  He says that he

								needs to speak to both of them.  "It concerns," he explains, "the

								reason you were sent here, the relocation of commander Sinclair, and

								the reason we surrendered at the Battle of the Line."  When they

								reach Sheridan's office, Lennier begins his story:


								<p>

								"After three years, the Holy War that began when our leader was killed

								by an Earth explorer division was almost over.  To avenge Dukhat's

								death, we had pursued your forces all the way back to your homeworld.

								The few surviving Earth ships that were ordered to defend your world at

								any cost... were not an obstacle.  The Grey Council had come to oversee

								the final victory of our forces."


								<p>

								The scene shifts, back to the

								inside of the Grey Council ship, where the Grey Council is in session

								surrounded by a display showing the battle raging outside.


								<p>

								<a href="/lurk/gif/023/bravely.jpg"><img src="/lurk/gif/023/bravely.gif"></a>


								<p>

								"They fight bravely.  They cannot harm our ships, but they continue to try,"

								says Delenn.


								<p>

								Hedronn dismisses her comment.

								"Whether they fight or not, they know they will die anyway.

								So really, is this bravery or simple desperation?"


								<p>

								"Perhaps they are the same thing.  We should bring one of them

								aboard for questioning.  If our next step is the final

								assault on their world, we must know their defenses."


								<p>

								"Very well, Delenn.  Choose, but quickly.  We are fast running out of

								candidates."


								<p>

								Delenn sees a Starfury making a suicide run at their ship.

								"That one," she says.  A beam immobilizes the Starfury, and it is

								brought aboard.


								<p>

								Lennier continues his story.  "This was the first time the Grey Council

								would have direct contact with a human, in this case Sinclair.  He was

								tortured, interrogated, scanned.  During the course of the scan, the

								Council discovered something terrible.  At first, they refused to

								believe it, so they took in other humans and had them scanned as well.

								But it was true."


								<p>

								"What was true?" asks Ivanova.


								<p>

								"It is our belief that every generation of Minbari is reborn in each

								following generation.  Remove those souls, and the whole suffers.  We

								are diminished.  Over the last two thousand years, there have been

								fewer Minbari born into each generation.  And those who are born do not

								seem equal to those who came before.  It almost as if our greater souls

								have been disappearing.  At the Battle of the Line, we discovered where

								our souls were going.  They were going to you.  Minbari souls are being

								reborn, in part or in full, in human bodies."


								<p>

								"So you stopped the war to avoid harming your own souls?"


								<p>

								Lennier confirms that, and continues.

								"But the Council knew that our people, and yours, were not ready for

								this information.  It could unravel our entire society.  So we could

								not tell our generals the reason for the surrender.  We had all memory

								of the examination erased from Sinclair's mind, and we let him go.  It

								has been our secret.  Now it is yours.  It must be kept."


								<p>

								"I don't understand.  If this is such a secret, why tell us?"


								<p>

								"Because

								changes are coming.  Commander Sinclair was the first.  There will be

								more."


								<p>

								The meeting is interrupted by a call from C&C--a Minbari cruiser, on an

								attack vector, is coming through the jumpgate.  Warren Keffer, the

								leader of Zeta Squadron, watches with the other people in his

								squad, but can't believe what he is seeing.  Sheridan arrives at C&C

								and orders a red alert.  He activates the defense grid and puts all

								squadrons on standby.  While this happens, Kalain, in his detention

								cell, removes a tooth from his mouth.  He opens it, revealing a blue

								liquid.  He puts the tooth in his mouth and swallows.


								<p>

								<img align=middle src="/lurk/gif/023/tooth.gif"> Kalain practices poor

								dental hygeine.


								<p>

								Captain Sheridan communicates with the warship, which the commander

								identifies as the Trigati.  She demands that Kalain be returned, since

								he did not kill or harm anyone aboard Babylon 5.  When Sheridan

								refuses, she launches her fighters.  Sheridan counters, launching the

								fighters aboard Babylon 5.  He informs her that an attack could be

								considered an act of war.


								<p>

								"The war has already

								begun, Captain.  All that remains now is honor and death."


								<p>

								This remark

								puzzles Sheridan, since no one has yet been killed.  He suddenly

								realizes what's going on: they are attempting to start a war, but since

								Kalain hasn't killed anyone and the Trigati hasn't attacked, they must

								be trying to frame Babylon 5.  This is confirmed when security reports

								that Kalain has killed himself.  Ivanova can't believe that Minbari

								would attack after learning they were sharing Minbari souls, but

								Sheridan reminds her that the Trigati was not informed of that.  The

								Minbari fighters close in on the station, and Sheridan orders his fighters to

								intercept and engage.


								<p>

								While the Babylon 5 fighters move to intercept, Sheridan looks at a

								display of both groups of fighters; somehow Babylon 5 is able to track

								the Minbari fighters, even though it's using the same kind of tracking

								system Earthforce used during the war.


								<p>

								Sheridan orders his

								fighters not to attack.  He gives a message to Ivanova, telling her to

								transmit it through the jumpgate without the Trigati intercepting it.

								She does so, but doesn't think it will work if it is a distress signal,

								as no one could arrive in time.


								<p>

								<a href="/lurk/ftp/Clips/laser.avi"><img src="/lurk/gif/movie.xbm" align=middle

								 alt="[Movie]"></a>

								A tight-beam transmission using the station laser.


								<p>

								The Trigati's fighters continue to

								advance, but Sheridan orders his fighters to maintain position.  When

								the Trigati's fighters reach the Earth ships, they do not

								attack -- they fly past and return to the Trigati.  Another Minbari

								ship suddenly comes through the jumpgate.  Ivanova is afraid that the

								Trigati fighters were waiting for reinforcements, but Sheridan tells

								her that, since he knew another Minbari ship was looking for the

								Trigati, he figured they must be waiting in hyperspace.


								<p>

								<img align=middle src="/lurk/gif/023/flyby.gif">

								<a href="/lurk/ftp/Clips/2away.avi"><img src="/lurk/gif/movie.xbm" align=middle

								 alt="[Movie]"></a>

								The Minbari fighters fly past.


								<p>

								The other cruiser orders the Trigati to surrender.  Sheridan continues

								to explain to Ivanova that, because they could track the Minbari

								fighters, that probably meant the Minbari wanted to be destroyed.  The Trigati

								was in exile for twelve years, and could not go home, fight without

								causing a war, or surrender without being dishonored.  If Babylon 5 was

								forced to attack, they would die at human hands, thereby becoming

								martyrs.


								<p>

								The Trigati attempts to back off and open up a jump

								point, but the war cruiser cuts off their

								engines with a beam.  They order the Trigati to surrender and be

								boarded, but the Trigati refuses, and replies with only one word:

								"honor."  The Trigati self-destructs in a ball of flame, apparently

								from their fusion reactors.  A signal comes in from the war cruiser;

								Sheridan greets the Minbari commander.


								<p>

								<img align=middle src="/lurk/gif/023/cut.gif">

								<a href="/lurk/ftp/Clips/shipcut.avi"><img src="/lurk/gif/movie.xbm" align=middle

								 alt="[Movie]"></a> The Trigati is attacked.


								<p>

								"Perhaps to you," the Minbari on the other end says to Sheridan, "this

								was a tactical problem to be solved.  For us, this has been a great

								sorrow.  The crew of the Trigati were heroes to many of our people.

								Their death will be mourned, and your name will be remembered."  The

								Minbari war cruiser cuts off the communication and vanishes into

								the jump gate.


								<p>

								Later, Sheridan is in his quarters, looking through his belongings, which

								have recently been delivered.  Ivanova arrives and asks Sheridan if something

								is wrong.  "When I got my orders," Sheridan explains, "I figured this

								place was a great opportunity.  And now I wonder if coming here was

								irresponsible.  This whole mess with the Trigati might not have

								happened if I hadn't been here.  I mean, my presence, my...actions in

								the war...I'm to blame for bringing all this trouble to Babylon 5.

								What was it our friend in the Grey Council said?  'If there is a doom

								on this station, it is because you brought it here.'  Well maybe he was

								right.  I spoke with the president.  He is the only other human who

								knows why the Minbari surrendered, and he doesn't believe this stuff

								about us sharing Minbari souls, and I can't say that I do either.  But

								they believe it.  That's why they chose Sinclair to run this place...

								that's why they've picked him to live on their world.  He was their

								first human contact.  Him they trust.  But me?  I don't know.  If

								Sinclair had been here instead, maybe they might not have attacked."


								<p>

								Ivanova tells Sheridan to give himself the benefit of the doubt.

								Before she leaves, she tells him that he can talk to her any time, if

								he needs to.


								<p>

								Lennier is busy preparing candles in Delenn's quarters, and setting

								them around her chrysalis.  "I told them, Delenn, as I was ordered.  I

								only wish I could have told them the rest -- about the great enemy that

								is returning and the prophecy that the two sides of our spirit must

								unite against the darkness or be destroyed.  They say it will take both

								of our races to stop the darkness.  I am told that the Earthers will

								discover all this, soon enough, on their own.  I hope they are right.

								Because if we are wrong, no one will survive our mistake."  He

								says good night, and leaves right before the chrysalis begins moving,

								and Delenn begins to emerge.


								<p>

								<img align=middle src="/lurk/gif/023/prophecy.gif"> "I only wish I could

								have told them the rest."


								<p>

								Ivanova, Dr. Franklin, and Keffer discuss the recent events in a

								nightclub on the station.  Keffer asks what they think of the new

								captain, and Dr. Franklin and Ivanova both believe that he will be

								okay.  He was supposed to meet them there for drinks, but Franklin says

								that when he last saw Sheridan, he was going to the C&C to deliver his

								good luck speech.


								<p>

								"It was an early earth president, Abraham Lincoln, who best described

								our situation.  'The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the

								stormy present.  The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we

								must rise to the occasion.  We cannot escape history.  We will be

								remembered in spite of ourselves.  The fiery trial through which we

								pass will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the last generation.

								We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, or last best hope of Earth.'"

								Though there is no one else on C&C, he has still delivered his speech

								in time.  He leaves C&C to begin the second day of his new

								command.


								<h3>Synopsis by Matthew Murray (i9717029@unicorn.it.wsu.edu)</h3>