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lurkers-guide


								<h3>Synopsis by Arturo Magidin (magidin@matem.unam.mx)</h3>


								<p>

								<i>"It was the middle of the Earth year 2260," recalls Sheridan. "The

								Year Between Wars, and the beginning of a new age. The Shadow War was

								over, but there was still a darkness waiting for us back

								home. President Santiago had been assassinated, and his successor,

								president Clark, was turning Earth into a prison camp. We'd broken

								away from Earth, and in retaliation they had quarantined us, trying to

								strangle our supply lines. We were desperate, and we couldn't afford

								to lose even a single supply ship. In the midst of all of this, we

								made contact with Thirdspace, and we almost didn't survive it... I

								only hope we never come across it again. Because the next time, no one

								is going to survive it."</i>


								<P>

								A supply ship is under attack by raiders, and the raiders are under

								attack by Starfuries, led by Ivanova. Ivanova tells the raider leader

								that their forces are too evenly matched, and it will be at best a

								stalemate. But the ship carries Quantium 40, too rich a prize for the

								raiders to ignore. So they call in their heavy cruiser, which

								functions as their base. And then, Ivanova springs her mouse trap:

								Sheridan, in command of several White Star ships, arrives and takes

								care of the cruiser. Hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, the

								raiders surrender. Sheridan takes the prisoners to a Drazi freeport,

								and Ivanova takes the wing of Starfuries back to B5. She'll spread the

								news; hopefully, if raiders believe any shipment could be a trap, they

								will think twice before attacking.

								<P>


								Back on B5, Lyta Alexander is mediating a private dispute, but she

								keeps getting flashes of a ship or artifact in hyperspace. It

								discomforts her greatly, and quickly excuses herself. Meanwhile, in

								hyperspace, Ivanova's wing detects something lost there,

								adrift. They make a lifeline of Starfuries to reach it before it drifts away

								and is lost (<a href="../guide/026.html">"A Distant Star"</a>).

								It is a huge construct, of unknown origin. Ivanova requests Babylon 5

								send White Stars and all available starfuries to tow the enormous find

								back to the station.

								<P>


								As the artifact passes through the gate, Lyta has a vision: the Zocalo

								in ruins, bodies everywhere, herself hurt and bleeding, and a strange

								shadow stalking her...

								<P>


								Later, Vir talks with Sheridan and Delenn. Londo is away on Centauri

								Prime, and the League has asked him to talk on their behalf. The

								League want access to the artifact, and the possible advanced

								technologies it represents. But Sheridan is wary of having everyone

								poking at the artifact, pulling in all directions at once. He promises

								they will share anything they find with the League. Vir does not think

								the League will be satisfied with promises, but agrees to relay

								Sheridan's answer to them.

								<P>


								But as Delenn points out, Babylon 5 is not equipped to handle

								research of such proportions. "So it will take us a little longer,"

								answers Sheridan possessively.

								<P>


								A maintenance bot is sent to take a surface sample from the artifact,

								but its energy is drained, and strange markings of some kind shine

								briefly on the artifact's surface. And in her quarters, Lyta is

								furiously scribbling on the walls "There is danger. Remember." over and

								over again...

								<P>


								Soon after, a ship from InterPlanetary Expeditions (IPX) arrives and

								requests a meeting with Sheridan. The leader of the expedition is

								Dr. Elizabeth Trent. Despite the Earth embargo on B5, IPX would like

								access to the artifact. Because of its line of work, IPX maintains

								contacts with other worlds and outside of Earth-controlled space, and

								Earthgov turns a blind eye towards them for business' sake. Dr. Trent

								points out that B5 is not set up to investigate the find, and it

								could even be dangerous to be poking around blindly. Sheridan agrees

								to given them access, provided IPX meets some conditions: they are to

								keep him and the station informed at all times, and give them full

								access to their finds; he also wants first shot at any new

								technologies found; and anything that could be used by Earth against

								the other races will not leave B5; Sheridan is willing to destroy the

								artifact if necessary to prevent such information from

								leaving. Finally, since IPX can come and go as they please, they will

								bring needed supplies and foodstuffs to the station. "If you're

								going to work here," explains Sheridan, "you are going to have to

								bring lunch. I just want to make sure you bring enough for everybody."

								<P>


								Dr. Trent wants to think about it, but just then Ivanova links in:

								their tests suggest the artifact is at least a million years old. This

								is more than enough for Trent, who agrees to the deal Sheridan

								proposed.

								<P>


								In her quarters, Lyta is dreaming of the artifact. In her dream, it is

								covered in some sort of writing. She wakes up and leaves. As she is

								going up on a lift, she is joined by Zack. She, however, is still lost

								in her visions, mouthing the words "there is danger, remember" over

								and over. The lift stops suddenly: the station has been

								experiencing power fluctuations for the past couple of hours. Zack,

								meanwhile, uses the pause to ask Lyta out; he is taken aback by her

								silence and detachment, thinking it is rejection. He eventually backs

								off, and requests that the whole conversation be forgotten.

								<P>


								Later, as more work continues around the artifact, dozens of maintbots

								accelerate towards it on a collision course. They are destroyed by

								starfuries before they impact, and when security breaks into

								Maintenance, they find Lyta standing over the unconscious bodies of

								the personnel. "We have to stop it, we have to stop it," she says, and

								falls to the ground unconscious. Later, she tells Dr. Franklin she

								cannot remember anything since the previous evening. Although

								Dr. Trent wants her in custody, Sheridan refuses. He will treat this

								as an isolated incident.

								<P>


								The preparations around the artifact are complete, and the IPX team

								begins deep magnetic scans on the artifact. They figure it is not a

								ship, but rather some sort of mechanism. Dr. Trent even has some ideas

								about what it is...

								<P>


								In the Zocalo, a man starts dreaming of a city in space, with a spire

								in the middle, and dark tentacles reaching for him. He awakes

								screaming. All over the station, similar events are occurring: fights

								are breaking out, people are locking themselves up in their rooms,

								screaming...

								<P>


								In Downbelow, Deuce (<a href="../guide/015.html">"Grail"</a>) is

								looking up; he is seeing the same city, and mutters to himself "It is

								beautiful." Ivanova also dreams of the city, and even sees Vir

								there. A dark tentacle reaches over from behind her, and she wakes up

								screaming.

								<P>


								In the morning, Bill Marishi, the second in command of the IPX group,

								is working over breakfast. Suddenly, he is surrounded by silent people

								who are staring at him intently. Among them is Deuce, who tells him

								IPX isn't moving fast enough. "You have to move faster," he tells

								Marishi. "You have to make it work."

								<P>


								Despite her progress, Dr. Trent has not shared her findings with

								Sheridan, and he is getting suspicious. Although he is not a

								xenoarchaelogist, from his years with Anna he knows they should be

								further along than Dr. Trent is letting on. But Dr. Trent claims the

								situation is unique and calls for slow progress. Sheridan then notices

								some of her notes, and recognizes that the writing on the surface of

								the artifact is Vorlon. Dr. Trent should know that, and moreover

								should have shared the information. Sheridan gives her 48 hours to get

								a report to him, otherwise he'll pull the plug.

								<P>


								Faced with the deadline, Trent tries to push up the schedule. She

								wants to crack the artifact's technology before anyone else takes it

								away from her. But Marishi disagrees, and since he is second in

								command his agreement is needed. So she reveals what she knows: the

								way Dr. Trent figures it, the artifact will open a gateway to another

								space, different from both normal and hyper; she calls it

								"thirdspace." As far as she can tell, it operates under a whole

								different set of rules: a ship traveling through thirdspace would be

								able to travel almost instantanously between points that would take

								days or weeks through hyperspace; the technological, and more

								importantly the military, potential is enormous. Although cautious,

								Marishi agrees to go ahead and try to turn the artifact on, and open a

								gateway to thirdspace.

								<P>


								In a lift, Ivanova meets Vir. Since it is considered good luck among

								Centauri, Vir mentions he saw her in his dreams last night. Soon,

								Ivanova realizes it was the same dream she had, and that this is

								connected to the strange happenings all around the station, and to the

								artifact itself. She rushes to tell Sheridan about it.

								<P>


								But Trent has put her plans in action. The work crew plugs in a power

								cell to the artifact, which springs to life.

								<P>


								People start converging on the observation dome, the Zocalo, and the

								cobra bays, entranced by the artifact. Some are trying to stop the

								starfuries from launching. When Zack tries to clear them out, fights

								erupt. The artifact is now draining power from the whole station. Zack

								links in to Sheridan: fights are breaking out everywhere, and people

								seem to be under some kind of telepathic influence or trance; he won't

								fire on them, which makes things that much harder. Some starfuries

								launch and start firing at the artifact from a distance, but the

								artifact seems to be protected by an energy shield now. Slowly, the

								artifact begins to open...

								<P>


								Sheridan goes to see Lyta, and is met by Delenn. They find Lyta

								taken over by a presence, an "echo of what was." The presence explains

								what the artifact is: thousands of years ago, the Vorlons, believing

								themselves to be just short of godhood, constructed the artifact as a

								gate to heaven. In their arrogance they didn't stop to consider the

								consequences and dangers. On the other side, they found a powerful

								race bent on the destruction of all other life in that universe. With

								the gate open, they came into our universe to do the same. Strong

								telepaths, they even managed to take over some Vorlons. The Vorlons

								managed to fight them back and close the gate, but before the artifact

								could be destroyed, those who had been taken over flung it into

								hyperspace. Now the door is opening again, and the artifact must be

								destroyed. For the aliens to come through, the door must be open on

								both sides, so this will suffice. The presence imparts to Sheridan the

								knowledge needed to destroy the artifact.

								<P>


								Outside, the gate is opening and small ships are coming through. They

								easily take care of the few starfuries that have launched...

								<P>


								Inside, Sheridan is ready to go ahead. Delenn will get some Minbari

								heavy cruisers, and Sheridan has a mission of his own. Ivanova goes to

								see Trent, and finds Bill Marishi dead, shot from the back: Dr. Trent

								has been taken over as well. Before she can strike again,

								Ivanova disarms her and knocks her unconscious. She then

								leaves to lead the arriving White Stars, as more alien fighters come

								through the gate.

								<P>


								The alien fighters are very powerful and tough, and even the White

								Stars and the Minbari cruisers are having trouble holding their

								own. Meanwhile, Sheridan goes to the armory and takes a tactical nuke,

								before going out on a powered spacesuit. The defending fleet

								concentrates its fire on the front of the artifact, opening up a hole

								in the defensive shield on the back. Sheridan slips through it to the

								inside of the artifact.

								<P>


								As the fights rage on outside and inside the station, Sheridan places

								the tactical nuke in the center of the artifact. He arms it, and on

								his way out he finds his way blocked by creatures which look like

								those in Ivanova's and Lyta's visions. He manages to escape them

								barely, as a giant alien ship starts coming through the gate. Before

								it can emerge, however, the bomb goes off, destroying the artifact and

								the alien ship.

								<P>


								The combined defenders slowly and painfully destroy the remaining

								alien fighters, as the people inside Babylon 5 slowly awaken from their

								telepathic takeover. The station, and the universe, have survived.

								<P>


								Later, Dr. Trent is apologizing for her behavior, not all of which

								was telepathically induced. She acknowledges she was wrong and will

								take a leave of absence to take stock of her life. "I didn't like the

								part of me that thing brought out," she tells Sheridan. She also gives

								him all the information she found about the artifact. It may prove

								useful, some day.

								<P>


								<i>"I was sure she didn't give me all the information," remembers

								Sheridan. "She just wanted out of there. And if a little lie got her

								out the door, that was fine with her. Fine with both of us,

								really. Because as Mr. Garibaldi has been known to say from time to

								time, `we all lie.' When the dust settled and people wanted

								explanations, we gave them one. We said that the device was a weapon,

								a mouse trap, which was true. We told them that it used a telepathic

								trigger and caused an outbreak of fighting, and we told them that it

								was finally destroyed. It's all true.

								<P>


								"And of course, it's all a lie. Because there are times we don't need

								the whole truth. The Vorlons made an error thousands of years ago, and

								we paid the price for it today. Why encourage any one else to do the

								same? No, we have more than enough troubles of our own, we don't need

								to inherit anyone else's mistakes. We got through it alive, and

								everyone's okay, and that's the important thing. And this isn't the

								kind of problem that's likely to ever happen again."</i><P>


								In the Observation Deck, Lyta is staring sadly at the stars, saying to

								herself: "One mistake. One mistake out of so many, so many others..."