"You wanted to see me, Delenn?" "Yes." "I've just received a message from the other members of the Grey Council." "Now that we have a new leader in place, they wish to see me and discuss my status." "What is there to discuss?" "Whether I should be allowed to continue as a member of the Council or be removed." "I will be leaving shortly." "I do not know if I will return." "It's possible they could remove me from Babylon 5 as well." "Why would they do that?" "Look at me, Lennier." "Being asked to serve on the Council is a matter of soul, not of flesh." "The change you've gone through shouldn't matter." "But it does, Lennier." "I made a decision and now I must face the consequences." "I have left detailed instructions in the event someone else is assigned here and I updated all my diaries." "You will have everything you need in case..." "In case I never see you again." "Lennier, for the first time I feel very much alone." "No." "Never alone, Delenn." "Never alone." "The last two ships that came through Sector 92 both reported unusual sightings." " Description?" " Not much to go on." "A bright light, turbulence." "We've also had reports of at least one transport disappearing off screens in that area." "It may be unrelated, but you never know." "Can't be Raiders." "They're pretty much out of business." "I agree." "But something's going on." "Since it's in our jurisdiction, we should check it out." "Is Zeta Squadron available?" "Alpha and Zeta Squads are both on other missions." "Delta Leader's down sick." " I could assign it to his second..." " No." "I've got a better idea." "I'll go." " I don't think you should, sir." " This isn't a clear and present danger." "It's just a quick look around to see what the problem is." "I haven't felt space beneath me since I got here in January and I miss it." "Besides, if I don't put some flight time in soon, I'll lose my flight pay." "Very well, but you'll take a full escort." "All right, all right." "I'll be in and out in an hour." "What could go wrong?" "The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace." "A self-contained world, five miles long, located in neutral territory." "A place of commerce and diplomacy  for a quarter of a million humans and aliens." "A shining beacon in space, all alone in the night." "It was the dawn of the Third Age of mankind." "The year the Great War came upon us all." "This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations." "The year is 2259." "The name of the place is Babylon 5." "MAIN TITLE" "Your flyer is recharged and is ready for departure at any time." "Good." "Thank you." " As is mine." " Lennier, you do not have a flyer." "Correct." "I've arranged to borrow one from our courier." "You do not have to go with me." "That is also correct." "Nonetheless, I will accompany you." "Lennier, listen to me." "The Council holds me in disfavor right now." "I do not want that to spill over onto you." "I'm not worried about that." "Of course not." "You're young." "And youth is both foolish and vulnerable." "This is not a wise thing for you to do." "Probably not." "Have I mentioned recently how much I appreciate you, Lennier?" "Not really, but it will give us something to discuss on our trip." "Receive." "I've pulled together your escort, captain." "They'll meet you in Bay 9 in half an hour." " Good." "Anything else?" " Yes, sir." "We received word from General Hague's office that he'll be arriving early." "ETA 1800 hours." " And?" " That's all." "If a member of the Joint Chiefs is boarding, I should've been informed." " There's protocol to consider." " This is a cordial and unofficial visit." " Even so..." " Commander." "This is a private matter." "I was going to tell you about it, but as you said, he's arriving ahead of schedule." "I should be back by then." "Anything else?" " No, sir." " Good." "See you when I get back." "You're full of it." "The Dodgers will never make it to the World Series." "They'll be lucky to make it to the playoffs without embarrassing themselves." " Your diagnosis, doctor?" " Well, the patient is confused delusional, unable to separate his natural sense of loyalty for his home team from the reality that they stink and got in the playoffs on a technicality." " What technicality?" "The Mars team hit more home runs than any other team on the books." "Only because Martian gravity is 40 percent less than Earth normal." "The ball travels faster and further, skewing the results." "Once they hit Earth gravity, Helen Keller could bat better than any one of them." " Wanna put your money where your mouth is?" " Okay." "Okay. 30 credits says Mars gets swept, 4-0." "You're on." "Ramirez, go." "Lieutenant Ramirez, please report to Starfury Bay 9 for immediate launch." "Yeah, I'll be right there." "I'm gonna have a great dinner on your 30 credits, doc." "Yeah, dream on." "Helen Keller?" "Heat of the moment." "Your escort's in place, captain." "Thank you, commander." "Finishing systems check." "Ready for launch." "You're clear for drop." "Happy hunting." "Now, this is more like it." " Now, captain..." " Yes, commander?" "If you continue in this behavior, you'll make the other pilots feel inadequate." "Spoilsport." "What was that, captain?" "You're breaking up." "Nothing, commander." "You will have to wait out here until I'm finished inside." "Only members of the Council and a few acolytes are allowed beyond this point." "I understand." "I will wait and I will pray for you if you would not consider it presumptuous." "No." "Not at all." "Until later, Satai Delenn." "Survey 1 to Survey 2 and 4 you getting anything?" " Negative." "Spectral analysis radiation all looks normal." "No sign of debris." "You want us to make another pass, captain?" "No, I guess not." "Nothing much to see." "Well, at least it got us out of the house for a while." "All right, let's head on back to the barn." "Activate homing beacons." "What the hell?" "Evasive action." "Evasive action!" "Engines at critical!" "Ejecting!" "It's swinging around." "We gotta get out of here." "Not without the captain!" "Captain!" "Come on." "You can do this." "Come back to me." "Power supply at 10 percent." "Damage to stabilizers, rear and anterior thrusters." " Detecting leak in fusion reactor system." " Leak?" "How bad?" "Radiation levels 35 percent beyond safe limits." "Project increase of five percent every half hour." "How long until the radiation reaches terminal levels?" "Radiation leak already at terminal level." "Communications system?" "Not functioning." "Then we had to have..." "We have to head back." "Tell them what happened." "It's the captain's only chance." "Redirect maximum possible energy from life support to system controls." " Set for jumpgate sequence start." " Activating jumpgate sequence." " General, welcome to Babylon 5." " Commander." "I apologize for the lack of an honor guard, but your office gave us specific instructions." "Yes, well, I don't like to make a fuss." "Never did care much for all that show." "I was told Captain Sheridan would be here." "He went to look into a problem in an outer sector." "He should be back anytime." "This isn't like him." "He's never late." "He knew when I was arriving." "Hope it isn't serious." "C  C's trying to get a clear channel for a status report." "They've probably reached him by now." "Hey!" "Hey, anybody here?" "Anybody hear me?" "My name is John Sheridan, captain, Earthforce." "My name is John Sheridan, captain, Earthforce." "Summoned, I take the place that has been prepared for me." "I am Grey." "I stand between the candle and the star." "We are Grey." "We stand between the darkness and the light." "They will not come, Delenn." "But I was summoned." "To receive judgment, yes." "Not to appear as one of the Nine." "I am entitled to a hearing." "I am allowed to defend myself." "That was before you disobeyed us." "You were told to wait before taking action." "Before becoming alien to us." "You've been away from us for too long, Delenn." "Your contact with the humans has changed more than your appearance." "If you are no longer one of us, how can you be one of the Nine?" "My heart has not changed." "We no longer know your heart, Delenn." "The Council has voted to remove you from our presence." "From this day forth, you are no longer a member of the Grey Council." "No longer Satai." "I'm sorry, Delenn." "Wait." "What about my appointment to Babylon 5?" "My position as ambassador is separate from my role as Satai." "We are still debating this." "It is your right to make a statement before the Nine, if you wish." "It is." "Thank you." "May I ask who was chosen to replace me?" "I will convene the Nine." "When we are ready, you will be summoned." " Still no word from Captain Sheridan?" " We can't raise any of them..." "Jumpgate activated, one ship." " Is that one of the Survey ships?" " Yes." "She's been shot up badly." "Scanners indicate she's on autopilot, minimal life signs." "Ivanova to Medlab, this is a Priority One alert." "Why are you doing this?" "Why are you torturing me?" "You can at least tell me what you want." "That device." "Nu'shakarr!" "That's what's making you do this, isn't it?" "Fight it, fight it!" "Who are they?" "Why are they doing this?" "Dosh-vann?" "Kill me!" "That's what they want, isn't it?" "For us to kill each other." "What is it to them?" "Sport?" "Entertainment?" " Kill me!" " No." "He's still alive." "Still alive, you..." "Pump in another 50 cc's of morphozine." "I want those scanners online now." " How's he doing?" " He soaked up a lot of radiation." "We have to be careful or he'll contaminate the whole place." " Lf he sucked up that much..." " Don't tell me my business and I won't tell you yours." "Start a full-body transfusion." "I need more regen packs." "Line them up." "Doc..." "Ramirez, don't try to talk." "You're gonna be all right, okay?" "I guess I won't collect the 30 credits..." "Ramirez!" "Ramirez!" "Don't you do this to me, damn it." "You did all you could." "Come on, he..." "Ramirez." "I heard." "We finished going over the data record from his Starfury." "It looks like an alien ship took the captain." " Unknown configuration." " So we don't know where it came from or where it's going." "Great." "For 20 cycles, I stood beside you as one of the Nine." "I called many of you friends." "And now you call me outcast." "You know me." "You know I believe in the task that is before us." "The great war that is coming." "I have not turned my back on you." "In trying to help, I have sacrificed all that I was and all that I am." "We can no longer allow ourselves to be separated by names and borders." "Our two sides must unite or be destroyed." "Do not make my sacrifice a vain one." "Allow me to finish what I started." "In the name of our friendship and the future of our people let me remain with Babylon 5." "I am more than happy to have you remain with the humans." "You are the one chosen to replace me." "I do not know you." "I believe you do." "Neroon?" "I do not understand." "He is warrior caste, from the Star Riders clan." "What is happening here?" "What are you doing?" "When Valen called the Nine together, he chose three from the worker caste three from the religious caste and three from the warrior caste." "My replacement should have been from the religious caste!" "Four from the warrior caste gives them unprecedented power." "Why not?" "It was the warrior caste who died in the war against the Earthers." "Warrior caste who have defended our world for centuries while the Council floated among the stars, isolated from its own people." " This is wrong." " Is it?" "You say prophecy tells us a great war is coming." "Should not the warrior caste lead against it?" "The warrior caste cannot be allowed to set policy!" "Have you done any better?" "When I was inducted into this circle I was finally told the reason we were ordered to surrender." "I didn't know whether to laugh or weep!" "If we had been told the truth then, we never would have surrendered!" " You do not understand..." " I understand that before me is a creature I do not recognize." "One foot in two worlds." "You are an affront to the purity of our race and your belief that you are satisfying prophecy is presumption of the highest order." "Yet, it is true that you are now the perfect liaison between us and the Earthers." "You have no home with either of us." "So please, act out your fantasy." "Be our go-between." "Return to Babylon 5." "And stay there." "Hey." "Hey, try not to move too much." "It looks like I broke a couple of your ribs when I put you down." "I think one may have punctured your lung." "Yeah." "It's disabled." "On the chance it was self-repairing I took it apart pretty thoroughly when you were out." "No, no water." "So far they haven't given us anything to eat or drink." "I haven't seen anybody but you and one other." "Hey." "Hell, this whole place could be running on automatic for all I know." "Do you have any idea why we're here?" "What they want from us?" "Scout for invasion." "Experiment." "Evaluate potential targets." "Analyze." "Analyze us?" "So this is like some kind of a big research system picking up samples, deciding who's a good prospect for invasion?" "Yeah." "That explains this device then." "They want to push us, see how much pain we can stand, how well we'll fight." "Our ships probably give them a good idea of our level of technology." "I wonder what they're looking for now?" "Our resourcefulness?" "If we'll betray each other?" "Work together?" "Easy, easy." "Come on now." "We get out of here, we'll get you to a doctor." "First obligation of a prisoner is to escape." "Right?" "Right?" "Listen, before why did you ask me to kill you?" "There is no escape." " Better to die." "To die." " Oh, no, you don't." "Satai Delenn?" "Only Delenn from now on." "The Grey Council feels that I can best serve our people by staying on Babylon 5." "They feel very positively about it." " The Council is very wise." " Yes." "Of course." "You do not have to go back with me, Lennier." "You could go home." "You could be free of all this, return to your studies, to your family..." "Where you walk, I will walk." "I have sworn myself to your side." "You do not know..." "You cannot know what you're saying." "Yes, I do." "Come what may, Delenn, I will not leave you while I am still alive." "I remember when you first came to me." "You would not look up until I ordered you to do so." "But it did no good." "Even when you were looking up, you were looking down." "Look at me, Lennier." "Very soon now I will be going into darkness and fire." "I do not know if I am fated to walk out again." "If it is your choice to come with me then I could not wish for a better or braver companion." "There's been a sighting of the ship?" "It's popped out of hyperspace twice more to attack two different species." "It's like it's collecting specimens." "That helps." "Every time it stops, we gain more time to catch up to it before it can get back to its world." "We're no closer to finding out where that is than when we started." "Have you coordinated with the alien governments?" "With these attacks, they have an interest in stopping this." "I've given the ambassadors a description." "I've also placed all our fighters on standby." " They're ready to go when we hear anything." " Good." "On the theory that we may need added firepower, I've placed a few calls of my own." "Jumpgate activated." "The Agamemnon." "The captain's old ship." "Well, I thought they might be interested in lending a hand." "She's the fastest thing in the area." "If she can't catch that ship, nobody can." "We've got the power." "All we need now is the target." "Do you know who I am?" "The man in between is searching for you." "You are the hand." " Why are you here?" " We were never away." "For the first time, your mind is quiet enough to hear me." "Why am I here?" "You have always been here." "Give me a lever big enough and I will move the world." "Minbari flyer Zhalen to Babylon Control." "Confirmed, Minbari flyer." "We read you." "I have been trying for some time to make contact." "Is there a problem?" "Yes, ambassador." "Captain Sheridan is reported missing." "We're asking all ships in the region for help." " Send me the information, please." " Stand by." "I've got Ambassador Delenn on the line." "She has information on the alien ship." "Put her through." "Ambassador, what've you got?" "The ship which has taken Captain Sheridan is known to us." "They are called the Streibs." "Over the years, they've sent out ships to investigate defenses and acquire samples of any life forms they encountered." "Their last expedition was into Minbari space." "We tracked them to their homeworld and made sure they understood the depth of their mistake." " Can you give coordinates for their world?" " Of course." "It feels like we just jumped back into normal space." "Maybe it's just another quick stop, or they're approaching their homeworld." "Either way, there's not much time left." "Jump back to hyperspace?" "That was no jump." "All fighters fire at will." "But only acquire external targets." "Confirmed." "We've been hit." "They're probably redirecting power to the engines." "They'll also be distracted." "This is our chance, come on." "This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari." "If you remember our last confrontation, you will release your prisoners at once." "Come on." "Come on!" "We've gone this far." "You can't die on me now." " You go, leave me." " Like hell." "They know." "No, that sounds like a general alarm." "You wait here." "I thought I told you to wait for me." " What is that?" " Survival pod." "Survival?" "Hell, let's move!" "Come on!" "Oh, my God." "They've spaced the captives." "Killed them." "Those arrogant sons of..." "Take them down!" "Just a second, I'm picking up a signal." "One of them is making a break for it." "Moving in on attack vector." "Three dots, three dashes, three dots." "SOS." "Hold your fire!" "It's the captain." "How is he, doc?" "He lost a lot of blood, suffered four broken ribs and some bruising but he'll make it." "What about Ramirez?" "He made it back, but we lost him." "Radiation poisoning." "It doesn't make sense, does it?" "I mean, why am I still alive and he?" "He was just a kid." " It's not fair." " No, it's not." "Death never is." "You have always been here." "Come." "No, no." "After what you've been through, you deserve to sit for a while." "Sure." "I was hoping to board the Agamemnon before she left, but they had to get going." "There's always a crisis somewhere." "Now we can talk freely." "I don't know that the room is bugged, but I don't want to take any chances." "It is about time somebody showed up to debrief me, damn it." "I've been waiting here for six months." "Started feeling like I'd been abandoned." "I'm sorry, but with the death of President Santiago it's taken a while to sort things through." "What have you found out?" "They're all loyal to Earth, if that's what you mean." "Ivanova." "Garibaldi." "Franklin." "All the rest of them." "They're good people, general." " I don't like spying on them." " You're not a spy." "More like a trap-door spider." "Santiago understood the importance of Babylon 5." "He knew that if anything happened to him, President Clark would appoint some hard-nosed jarhead to run this place." "We both know you're not that." "But, from your record, you look like that." "If Clark thinks you're one, he'll leave you alone." "Which is what we need." "Why?" "Not everyone back home buys the party line that Santiago's death was an accident." "Lately I've been having some real second thoughts about this myself." "If Santiago's death was an assassination, we're talking about a military coup here." "Not entirely, though they probably had some support from within the military the intelligence community, Home Guard." "But they're not the ones calling the shots." "It's Psi Corps, isn't it?" "Probably." "The trick is proving it." "We have to proceed very carefully back home." "If we go too far too fast we'll be noticed." "Babylon 5, on the other hand, has military intelligence and civilian resources." "Since they think you're on their side, they won't pay as close attention." "You're making an awfully big assumption that I'm on your side." "What makes you think I won't turn you in the second you walk out?" "A soldier's record tells a lot about a person." "Not just what he's done, but how he's done it." "And why." "You have an uncommon failing for someone in your position, captain." "You're a patriot." "You believe that when we put on this uniform we took a solemn vow to protect Earth against threats from outside and from within." "Now, it's a difficult decision." "You risk losing your entire career if you say yes." "Worse still, now that you've had a chance to evaluate your staff you have to decide if you can trust them enough to bring them in on this knowing you're putting them in equal jeopardy." "It's not much reward for being trustworthy, is it?" "No." "No, it's not." "But it's time we stopped reacting and started acting." "Now, in 20 minutes, I'm getting on a ship and heading for Earth." "I'll try to feed you as much information as I can, when I can." "Your cooperation is essential if we're going to take back our government." "So I need your answer, captain, and I need it now." " Yes?" " What do you mean yes?" "It's me." "I see he rousted you two out of bed also." "What's going on?" "I think you better sit down, Susan." "Ever since the death of President Santiago something unpleasant's been going on back home." "You know it and I know it." "We've stood by too long." "That's going to change." "Quietly, discreetly, an inch at a time, and for now strictly within the rules." "But we have to do something or risk losing everything we hold dear." "We'll get some help from inside Earth Dome, but the bottom line:" "If anything goes wrong, we're on our own." "Anybody wants to leave now before you hear anything you'll have to report do so." "Nothing will be said." " I'm in." " Ditto." "Hey, I never did know when to butt out." "We're with you, captain." "Wherever this goes, however it ends, we're with you." "[ENGLISH]"