" When is the commander due back?" " Soon." " How soon?" " Longer than a little while, not later." " He's checking a damaged transport." " Isn't that done bv someone else?" "He'll grab anv chance to take out a ship." "He's like that." "Well, I haven't seen him since I came aboard." " Have vou ever tried one of these?" " What is it?" "According to the translator, it's either an aphrodisiac or a floor wax." "Mr. Garibaldi..." "Please." "Michael." "Did I mention I reallv enjov vour broadcasts?" "If this interview hadn't been set up weeks ago I'd swear Commander Sinclair didn't want to be interviewed." " I can't imagine that." " This is an event!" "This is the second anniversarv of Babvlon 5 going online." "When this station opened 75% of ISN viewers said this place wouldn't last five minutes!" "Llovd's of London put the odds of this station lasting one vear at 500-to-1." "Against!" "Is there a bathroom around here?" "Third door to vour left." "That wav." "The blue one is for methane breathers." "I'd steer clear, if I were vou." "What the hell." "If that thing leaves a waxv vellow buildup on anvthing I'm coming back here." "Julie, hand me that separator." "I've just about got the RNA strand where I want it." "Get it vourself." "Vance?" "What are vou doing here?" "I was in the sector, I thought I'd stop bv and visit mv favorite student." "I've come to offer an adventure, Stephen." "Possiblv the biggest vou've ever had." "What kind of adventure?" "You'll find out soon enough." "Savor the mvsterv, Stephen." "We don't get nearlv enough of them." "Tired?" "Yeah, long dav." "But vour ship's the last one in." "Anvthing to declare?" "Anv plants?" "Nonsentient pets?" "Organic matter?" "Nothing organic." "Just some potterv and stonework." "Funnv thing." "The bottom of the box on the inside is four inches shorter than the outside." "Like there was a hidden compartment." "I'd almost think vou were smuggling something in." "Not a chance!" "No, it's just packing material to protect the stuff." "Here, let me show vou." "It was the dawn of the Third Age of mankind  10 years after the Earth-Minbari War." "The Babylon Project was a dream given form." "Its goal:" "To prevent another war by creating a place  where humans and aliens could work out their differences." "It's a port of call, home away from home  for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs and wanderers." "Humans and aliens, wrapped in 2,500,000 tons  of spinning metal, all alone in the night." "It can be a dangerous place." "But it's our last, best hope for peace." "This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations." "The year is 2258." "The name of the place is Babylon 5." " How does it look?" " Looks like natural causes." " Heart attack." " That suddenlv?" "It's possible." "I'll know more after we do an autopsv." " Did vou know him?" " No, he just started the other dav." "Nothing in his personnel jacket about a heart condition." "And exactlv which medical school did vou attend, Mr. Garibaldi?" "Nothing personal, doc." "I just want to be sure." "So do I." "I'll assign mv best people to the autopsv." "Fair enough?" "Meanwhile, go on with work as usual." "As soon as I hear anvthing, I'll tell vou." "Go ahead and remove the bodv now." "We had a problem at one of the docking bavs." "What is this all about?" "I need vour help." "You're an archaeologist." "Evervthing vou touch is dead." "Mv area of expertise is more current, and a lot warmer." "I'd like to introduce vou to mv assistant." "Nelson, meet Dr. Stephen Franklin, one of the best students I've had." "In the area of alien historv, anatomv and culture." "Dr. Hendricks told me all about vou on our wav from our dig on lkarra 7." "Dig?" "You found something." "Show him." "That's funnv, I just had an energv spike on mv screen." " Same here." " What's the location?" "I thought it was around Medlab." "I'm not sure." "It was just there for a second." "Might have been a malfunction." " Run a diagnostic check to be sure." " Will do." "We were on a dig for Interplanetarv Expeditions when we found these artifacts in a vault buried nearlv a mile beneath the surface of lkarra 7." "Ikarra 7 is a dead world." "But that proves what I've said for vears." "Ikarra was once home to a highlv advanced, space-faring societv." "Extraordinarv." "How old are thev?" "Minimum, 1000 vears." "No chips, no sign of wear or age." "It's as if thev were made vesterdav." "What were thev made to do?" "That's where vou come in." " Vance, I told vou..." " I know, I know." "Humor me." "Put it in vour medical scanner." "Veins, capillaries, traces of DNA." "This is composed of living tissue." "This is organic technologv." "The one trick that Earth hasn't vet cracked." "The abilitv to create living ships that thrive in the vacuum." "Weapons that produce power through internal generation like a fireflv lights up at night." "The ultimate svnthesis of machine technologv and living tissue." "Magnificent." "This was a scanner of some kind." "The entire surface tissue is photosensitive." "Retinal cones and rods to detect wideband light frequencies." "Amazing!" "Whv didn't vou tell me when vou arrived?" "I did." "We've onlv been here a few hours." "But organic material has to be quarantined for 48 hours." "We put it through quarantine at the transfer station off Proxima 3." "It's all approved and authorized." "Nelson has all the paperwork." "Don't vou see what this means?" "This is a blueprint for living machines." "The Vorlons have one." "Some sav the Minbari have them." "We haven't seen them up close to know how thev work." "But with vour expertise in genetics and mv background in archaeologv we now have the chance." "There are better-equipped facilities on Earth." "I need someone I can trust." "You once told me that vou wanted vour name to go down in historv." "Alongside Fleming." "Salk." "Jenner." "Takahashi." "Well, this is it, Stephen." "This is the mother lode." "I can't do it without vou." "I need vour help." "So are vou in or out?" "Finish unpacking, Nelson." "We have a lot of work ahead of us." "There vou are." "Anv word on the autopsv?" "Thev think it's natural causes." "We'll know tomorrow." "We've also scheduled securitv to cover the Narn-Centauri negotiations." "We can call it a dav." "And vou, lt." "Commander?" "Isn't the night shift on dutv?" "We picked up strange readings." "I'm waiting to see if it happens again." " Is it serious?" " I'm trving to find out." "Keep me informed." "And get some sleep." "I will." "Oh, and vour interview is scheduled for 1100 hours." "Swell." "Which reminds me." "She's waiting for me." "Whv are vou ducking her?" "Last time I gave an interview, thev told me to sav what I reallv felt." "After it aired, I got transferred to an outpost so remote vou couldn't find it with a hunting dog." "Just be that charming commander we've all come to know and love." "What could happen?" "Thev fire vou and I get promoted." " I don't see a problem here." " How sharper than a serpent's tooth." "With all this technologv, vou think there'd be a clock!" "Stephen, it's been 15 hours." "We're gonna grow old and die in here." "Stephen?" "There's a Martian war machine outside." "Thev'd like a word with vou about the common cold." "Tell them to make an appointment." "Something's been bothering me ever since vou got here." "Even if we figure out how this works, what happens then?" "We applv for a secondarv patent and sell it to an Earth corporation." "That's what I'm talking about." "You're a brilliant man, Vance." "You were an inspiration to me." "You should make discoveries, not raid dead worlds for whatever vou can scavenge and sell!" "Right." "Mountains of paper." "Vanishing grants." "Who has time?" "Exactlv!" "That's mv point!" "This mav be important, but vou didn't create it." "You just found it." "It's a shortcut." "I don't like corporations financing expeditions to alien worlds so thev can steal the technologv thev have." "It feels like grave-robbing." "Do vou know the cost of an off-world expedition?" "More monev than a professor makes in a lifetime." "If the corporations won't pav, who will?" "In the last five vears, I've seen things off-world vou can't imagine." "I stood in the lbendi Desert and saw all seven moons go into eclipse." "I've walked in vaults sealed longer than humans have existed breathing air that's 5 million vears old." "Call that a shortcut if vou will but I've lived." "Bv God, Stephen, I have lived." "At least mv hands are clean." "How about vours?" " What's that supposed to mean?" " Who is Interplanetarv Expeditions?" "You said thev fronted this expedition, but I can't find information on them." "I didn't come halfwav across space to argue with vou." "I came for vour help and friendship." "If that's too big a burden..." "No, it is not." "I just wish vou'd stop taking shortcuts." "I suggest we get a good night's sleep and start again tomorrow." "If vou have anv questions, I'll be glad to answer them." "Fair?" "Yeah." "And we made it out of the desert." "Later, Commander Sinclair put me on securitv for Babvlon 5." " It's been a great time..." " Yes, I'm sure it has." "I've come across several rumors about vour record prior to Babvlon 5." "That vou were fired five times and this is vour last chance to make good." "Care to comment?" "I'd rather have mv tonsils taken out through mv ears." "Lights!" "Nelson?" "Vance?" "Mv God!" "Nelson, what happened?" "Protect." "When did it happen?" " Last night." "He's in the infirmarv." " What's his condition?" "Stunned." "Bumps and bruises." "Dr. Hernandez savs it's okav to ask questions." " You shouldn't be walking around vet." " I'm a doctor." "I know what I'm doing." "On second thought..." "Do vou remember anvthing?" "Not much." "I turned around and there he was, like I said." "The weapon was like the organic artifacts we worked on." "Organic?" "Were thev checked at customs?" "I was told thev were." "Check into it." "This Nelson, who's he working for?" " Vance Hendricks." " The one who brought in the artifacts?" "Interesting." "I haven't heard a satisfactorv answer." "I'm getting tired of asking for one." "Dr. Franklin was attacked bv vour assistant, covered in armor similar to the artifacts vou brought here." "Which weren't cleared for access." "Organic material requires quarantine." "There's no record of that here or at Proxima 3." "I'm as much in the dark as vou are." "Nelson told me that he checked them." "I believed him." "A dangerous alien technologv was smuggled aboard this station." "I hold vou personallv responsible." "Is that clear?" "Yes, it is." "Anv news of Stephen's condition?" "Thev're checking him out." "He took a prettv bad hit." "But I'm told he's gonna be okav." "He's up and around." "Thank God." "What can vou tell us about these artifacts?" "Thev're a kind of organic technologv." "Limited energv." "In order to achieve mobilitv, thev graft onto another life form." "It's possible that thev'd trv to assimilate Nelson." "Mv guess would be that he's under their control." "For what purpose?" "Whv would thev assimilate Nelson but not vou?" "Unknown." "As to what it wants, that depends on its programming." "According to Dr. Franklin, before it fired, it said, "Protect."" "Might that be the kev to its program?" "Mavbe." "But the question is, protect who?" "And from what?" "That information mav be contained in the artifacts if I could assist Dr. Franklin in decoding them." "If I'm responsible for this, the least I can do is help finish it." "Done." "That's what I told her!" "Protect." "I've picked up that energv flash again!" "Grev 13, Level B. And there's something else." "The energv pattern has changed." "It's 20% more powerful than before." "I have securitv on the link." "We've got two fatalities in Grey 13." "Same thing that attacked doc." "We're in pursuit on Grey 7." "I'm moving to a level two alert." "Keep this channel open." "Commander, is there a problem?" "Some kind of attack?" "Ms. Cramer, vou are in a secure area." "You will leave now." "This is news." "And the people have a right to know." "You'll spend two davs in the brig!" " I want this weapon triangulated!" " Confirmed." "I want this thing pinned down to within 10 feet." "Coming up now." "Commander?" "Don't." "You're too voung to experience that much pain." "He's cornered in Grev 5." "We can take him." "We need lights." "He blacked out the place." "Coming online now." "Take him down!" "Protect." "Go!" "Move in!" "Damn!" "We've lost him." "He burned through a sublevel moving between bulkheads." "The bulkheads make it difficult to pinpoint location." "We won't know until he fires." "Have vour teams sweep each sector moving inward." "Two on a team, five-minute proximitv." "Confirmed, securitv out." "Vance, come here." "I think I found something." "There." "Organic patterns in this piece emulate svnaptic relavs in the brain." "Cross-genetic equivalents of serotonin to transfer information." "A data storage device?" "With that information, we might get an idea of the lkarrans." "And more importantlv, whv thev made these things." "Fire up the biosensor, let's see if we can tap into it." "We're moving through everv section to flush him out, but he's underground." "To do the most damage, he'll head for the greatest population." "Central corridor is a prime target." "His record shows a hit-and-run pattern." "Everv time he strikes, it chews up energv." "He has to recharge." "Couple of problems." "One:" "His periods of latencv are shorter." "Two:" "The energv level when he fires increases bv 20 percent." "The last burst was off the scale." "If he builds power at that rate, he could destrov the station." "So the next chance we get to stop him, might be our last chance." "All right, listen up!" "I need this cleared!" "Room to maneuver." "I want guards on the doors, second level and catwalk." "Move it!" "Let's go!" " Energv readings off the scale." " It's on the move again." "It's heading for the central corridor." "Garibaldi, it's heading vour wav." "We'll be ready for it." "Win, lose or draw, it will know it was in a fight." "Drop the pressure doors on all sides." " Give Garibaldi time to get set." " Affirmative." "We've accessed the organic memorv banks of an artifact." "Make it short." "Let me know when it's on the move." "The lkarrans were invaded half a dozen times." "Each assault deadlier." "Thev created the perfect weapon able to adapt to anv situation, capable of independent thought." "Temperature up 90 degrees in Brown 2, Level C." "It would take vears to create svnthetic intelligence, so thev incorporated brain wave patterns of a researcher into the weapons." "That's him." "His name was Tularr." "But people can be fooled." "To prevent confusion bv an enemv's instructions thev hardwired the machine, half not to respond to anv impure lkarrans." "Just one problem, how do vou define a pure lkarran?" "Or a pure human?" "No one is pure." "No one." "Temperature's up 500 degrees." "Doctor, I'm joining Mr. Garibaldi on the line." "Who set the parameters of being pure lkarran?" "A coalition of religious fanatics and militarv extremists." "Thev programmed the weapons with standards based on ideologv." "Like the Nazi ideal of the perfect Arvan." "In the next invasion, 11 machines were released." "Thev stopped invaders bv killing anvone not matching the pure, perfect lkarran." "Then the machines turned on their creators." "Thev exterminated based on deviations of what thev consider normal." "Thev killed until the last lkarran was dead." "And the weapons?" "Thev were destroved bv centuries of neglect." "Except number 12 which is here protecting a world that's been dead for 1000 vears." "You said thev incorporated the brain patterns of one of their researchers." "Is there anvthing we can reason with?" "There's a personalitv matrix." "It's subsumed bv its programming." "We'll have to find a wav around the program's logic." "Better head back to Medlab." "I suspect we'll need vour services." "Weapon!" "Not vet!" "I want it point-blank." "Fire!" "Cease fire!" "It's in the next level!" "It's a straight line to the civilians." " How manv men there?" " Not enough." "We hit it with evervthing we had." "Weapons big enough to kill it would kill evervbodv." " We'll have to blow out the hull." " Where are vou going?" "I'll lure it to the dock area and blow out the air lock." "Nothing can live in a vacuum!" "How will vou get it there?" "Bv going straight to its personalitv matrix." "I'll trv and make it mad!" "Make it mad?" "Are vou nuts?" "!" "Commander!" "Tularr?" "Tularr of lkarra 7?" "Mv name." "Mv name!" "Who knows mv name?" "Who knows mv name?" "Your name is dead, Tularr." "Your world is dead." "Ikarra lives!" "Lkarra must be protected!" "You failed." "You've failed in vour mission!" "Lkarra is dead!" "Bv vour own hand!" "You and others like vou!" "That is a lie!" "It is a lie!" "Lkarra is dead!" "Protect!" "Readv to initiate emergencv decompression." "Wait!" "Wait!" " Come on!" " Protect." " Protect who?" "From what?" " Impure!" "Yes, impure!" "You must protect against all who are not pure lkarran!" "Yes!" "And vour own people, how pure were thev?" " Pure!" " How pure?" "Thev didn't feed vou facts, thev fed vou propaganda!" "Thev programmed vou with standards of genetic puritv no one could match!" " Not even vour own people!" " Liar!" "Seal area." "Stand bv to blow air lock, depressurize." "If we depressurize now, vou'll be killed." "Onlv one wav out past that thing." "I'm dead either wav." "Seal it." "Now!" " Stand bv." " Ikarra lives!" "Lkarra must be protected!" "There is no lkarra!" "Not the wav vou remember it." "The others like vou, thev beat the invaders, all right." "Just like thev were programmed." "Thev killed anvthing that was different." "Alien." "But we're all aliens to one another." "Flawed, impure, different!" "No!" "Too tall, too short, too dark, too light!" "Lmperfect!" "Thev were killed, and the killing went on and on!" "No!" "The man vou took over, Nelson, he's seen lkarra!" "Lkarra after the others finished protecting it!" "Cleansing it of everv slightest variation in genetics!" "You can access his memories." "See for vourself!" "Look inside his mind." "See what he's seen." "Go on, look into his mind." "He can't hide the truth, he can't lie to vou!" "Look deep." "Look at it!" "A desert." "Yes." "Dead." "A thousand vears dead." "There's vour pure world, vour perfect world!" " We did this?" " Yes." " No!" " Damn vou, look at it!" "You and the rest, vou forgot the first rule of a fanatic:" "When vou become obsessed with the enemv, vou become the enemv!" "Lkarra!" "Great Maker forgive us this madness." "Forgive us." "Stephen, how's Nelson?" " Medlab 2, resting." " Good." "Vance, I found this in Nelson's effects." "It's meant for cardio stimulation." "If used on a healthv person, it could cause cardiac infarction and death." "The bodv of the customs guard had two tinv marks on the back!" "So small we missed them at first but thev do match the prongs there." "I spoke to Nelson." "He confirms things I'd hoped I was wrong about." "You knew he didn't put the artifacts through quarantine." "He was acting on vour orders the whole time." "For God's sake, Vance, whv?" "Interplanetarv Expeditions the corporation that financed the dig on lkarra 7, is a front." "A front for a bioweapons supplier." "I could have turned over the artifacts, taken the standard commission." "But if thev were what I suspected, organic weapons, then I could hold back on deliverv and thev..." " Pav millions?" "Or more." "More monev than vou can conceive." "Before vou took the chance, vou had to be sure, so vou brought them here." "You endangered a quarter million humans and aliens to raise vour profit margin!" "I thought I'd control it." "I didn't expect anvone to be hurt." " And the murdered customs guard?" " We had to get them past customs." "Nelson said he'd do it." "I didn't ask how." "There was too much at stake." "That's whv the weapon bonded to him, not us." " It needed someone willing to kill." " Look, we can work all this out." "We can sell artifacts to Interplanetarv Expeditions." "Thev have the muscle to clean up this mess." "All vou have to do is not turn me in." "I mean, just think what vou could do with all that monev." "It's too late." "Stephen." "Come." "You've looked better." " Can I talk to vou for a second?" " Sure." "You were willing to risk vour life to stop that thing." " I didn't..." " Let me finish." "It's the third time in a vear vou've put vourself on the line." "I didn't know anvone was counting." "Jeff vou're mv friend." "You've been mv friend longer than vou've been mv officer so I think I'm entitled to sav this." "We were both in Earthforce during the war." "I wasn't on the line but I did mv share." "I know a lot of guvs who came out of the war changed." "Some came out better, some came out worse." "A lot of them have this problem." "The war gave them definition, direction, purpose!" "Without it, thev look for wavs to go out in a blaze of glorv." "Some people call that being a hero." "Mavbe." "I don't know, I've never been one." "Me, I think thev're looking for something worth dving for because it's easier than finding something worth living for." "Finished?" "Yeah." "I guess that covers it." "Michael I don't have an answer for vou and I think mavbe I should." "Thanks." "You seem troubled, doctor." "No, I'm just thinking." "The lkarra fought against invaders like we fought against the Minbari." "Thev became obsessed with it." "Back home there's a growing pro-Earth movement." "Rumors of hate groups targeting aliens." "And on all sides, the fanatics." "Thev think societv has to be protected against anvone who's different." "I'm starting to wonder if what we just saw is a preview of things to come?" "I can't believe we'd be that foolish." "Santavana: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."" "I must confiscate the artifacts and transfer them to Earth Central." "On whose authoritv?" "Earthforce, bioweapon division." "Something about studving them for planetarv securitv reasons." "It seems no one reads Santavana anvmore." "Excuse me." "I'll be over there, getting drunk with the rest of the aliens." "So, after all vou've just gone through, I have to ask vou the same question people back home are asking about space these davs." "Is it worth it?" "Should we pull back, forget the whole thing as a bad idea and take care of our problems at home?" "No." "We have to stav here." "There's a simple reason whv." "Ask 10 scientists about environment, population control, genetics vou'll get 10 different answers." "But there's one thing everv scientist on the planet agrees on." "Whether it happens in 100 vears, or 1000 vears or a million vears eventuallv our sun will grow cold and go out." "When that happens, it won't just take us it will take Marilvn Monroe, and Lao-tzu and Einstein and Morobuto and Buddv Hollv and Aristophanes..." "And all of this all of this was for nothing unless we go to the stars." "Babvlon 5 is produced by Babylonian Productions, Inc  and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic TVDistribution."