Earth fighter: This is Earth Alliance
fighter squadron Black Omega
to stolen transport.
You are ordered to surrender your vessel
and prepare to be boarded.
If you attempt to escape,
you will be fired upon and destroyed.
Do you understand?
Repeat. Surrender or--
Catherine: There's a problem, Commander.
You missed a button.
Mmm, you're bright and cheerful this morning.
Got an offer on the table
from universal terraform to do some surveying.
I'm seeing them in an hour to talk terms.
That's a big operation.
Sure you want to get involved
with a megacorp?
Jeff, I've been around the block a few times.
I can handle myself.
You worry too much.
You don't worry enough.
Perfect combination. Mmm...
Gotta hurry.
See you at lunch?
Can't. I have a budget meeting
with the construction guild.
I have to make some cuts.
Can't say I'm looking forward to it.
I'm sure it'll be fine.
It's been quiet for the last week.
The whole place is on schedule.
What could go wrong?
Ivanova: Confirmed, 7-tango-7.
You are clear to dock.
Affirmative, Babylon control.
I'm looking forward to my visit.
Sinclair: 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 peacefully.
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...
Captioning made possible by Warner Bros.
Man: You know, I've often wondered what it's like
to be a telepath.
It's like staying in a hotel room
where you can just hear the people
talking next door.
You can try and shut it out,
but it's always there.
The key is not to eavesdrop
unless you're invited.
So, is it difficult
to block out other people's thoughts?
Depends on the thoughts.
Computer voice: Destination?
Blue 14.
Talia: Casual thoughts are very easy to block,
but strong emotions
have a way of slipping through sometimes
whether you want them to or not.
[Punch]
Computer voice: Blue 14.
Ooh, I think I'm in love.
P.A. announcer: Earth transport Spinoza is now debarking
in dock area 9.
Yes?
No, sir. I just never met a psi-cop before.
Yes, sir.
I'll bring you there myself.
This way.
Would you tell me a little more
about the target?
It's a class-4 world designated sigma 9-5-7.
Not much of an atmosphere,
mostly nitrogen and oxygen,
and our fly-by sensor picked up traces of diridium.
By-product of quantium 40.
Usually. We need that verified.
If so, we'll send out a life-sciences probe,
make sure we're in accord with all the regs
on planetary exploitation.
But we can't afford that
unless we're certain it's worth the effort.
How can it not be worth it?
There's a shortage of q40 on Earth.
They're backed up 6 months on jumpgate construction.
Which is why we need absolute confidentiality.
I need your word that you won't mention this
to anyone...
Including the Commander.
My personal life has nothing to do--
I know. I know.
I was told to ask, so I'm asking.
We each have our marching orders, Ms. Sakai.
So, do I have your word?
She's telling the truth.
Well, then, we have a deal.
There is one other thing.
The target is in a...
Contested sector of space,
so we'll need the approval of one other party
before we can proceed with the survey.
Commander.
Some vips here to see you, sir.
[Sighs]
Send them in.
No, it's a fine time. I--
get out of my head.
You wanna talk to me, talk to me.
My apologies, Commander.
It saves considerable time.
I don't care.
I don't like people rummaging around
in my head. I thought the Psi-Corps
had rules about this sort of thing.
There are rules,
and there are rules, Commander.
When telepaths go rogue,
someone has to take them down.
Only psi-cops are qualified to do that.
Since we bear a greater responsibility,
we're afforded greater latitude
in the interests of efficiency.
Yes, I'm sure you are, Mr...
Bester.
This is my associate Ms. Kelsey.
We're looking for a rogue telepath.
We have reason to believe
he may be on this station.
We need to set up a meeting as soon as possible
with your resident telepath
as well as your security and command personnel.
Then we will pro--
I'm not turning this station upside down
because you're hunting down one rogue telepath.
Not just a rogue, Commander.
This is a special
and very dangerous individual
whose presence here threatens
the entire Earth Alliance military structure.
This is our basic guest quarters.
The vibe-shower's in the back,
and through that door--
price?
500 credits per week
based on Earth standard rotational cycles.
Fine. Fine.
And if there's anything else you need--
no. No, thank you.
Computer voice: Welcome to Babylon 5.
We are at your disposal
with a range of on-board facilities
perfectly suited to human
and nonhuman travelers.
For your shopping convenience, the Zocalo is...
[Vibrating tone]
Bester: His name is Jason Ironheart.
I believe you know him, miss Winters.
Yes, he was my instructor
at the Psi-Corps training academy.
Kelsey: His job is to work with telepaths
level p5 through p10--
high-level training,
jamming, long-range scanning,
the development of fringe skills,
that sort of thing.
What's his psi-rating?
He's a 10.
All instructors at the academy
are rated p10.
And psi-cops? What are you rated?
P12.
Someone has to keep an eye on the rest.
Yes, but who watches the watchmen?
One year ago,
Jason Ironheart was reassigned
to Earthforce military intelligence,
working on a covert operation.
What kind of covert operation?
That information is on a need-to-know basis,
Commander,
and you don't need to know.
Let's just say that what's in his brain
would compromise Earthforce defense
and lead to the death
of many of our covert operatives
on other worlds.
We think he intends to sell that information
to other governments.
That's nonsense.
Jason would never do anything like that.
Bester: Our job is to find him
and bring him back alive,
if possible.
Dead, if necessary.
Have you had any contact
with Jason Ironheart
since you left the academy?
Just letters.
The last one was about a year ago.
You understand we'll have to
scan you to be sure.
Is that necessary?
I'm telling you the truth.
Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
Look, if she doesn't want to be scanned--
she's required to submit.
If she's seen him or heard from him,
his mental fingerprints
will be in her thoughts.
Kelsey: The process is not pleasant.
You may stay or leave, as you choose.
Ohh!
[Gasps]
That's enough.
I said that's enough!
Ohh...
She's telling the truth.
She hasn't seen him.
Kelsey: Surprising, given your prior involvement.
If Ironheart hasn't shown up yet, he will.
We must be informed at once.
Do not attempt any contact with him.
Especially you, Ms. Winters.
Do not approach him.
Do not speak to him.
Is that clear?
Yes.
You can go now.
What level of physical threat
does he represent?
That's something else
you don't need to know.
Just find him.
We'll do the rest.
Hello, Talia.
I've been looking for you.
Ironheart: Talia...
Talia, wait, please.
I can't see you. The psi-cops are here.
I know.
Listen, Talia--
what did you do? Why are they after you?
Do you know what they did to me?
Yes. Yes, I do.
That's why I waited until after they scanned you
to make contact,
but it's ok.
We'll be safe for a while at least.
I have to talk to you.
I--i need a place,
a place where I can wait,
just for a little while.
Why? What's going on, Jason?
All I can say now is that I can't let them find me.
If they do, then I'll have to kill them,
or they'll have to kill me.
But it's not just us, Talia.
There are thousands.
Millions of lives are at stake.
Just give me 5 minutes
to explain. That's all.
Then, if you want me to leave,
I will.
Please?
Catherine: If this is your way
of getting at the Commander through me--
no. Whether you believe it or not,
I'm doing this for your own safety.
Sigma 957 is not a healthy place.
Strange things happen there.
It's uninhabited!
There's no sentient life to threaten anyone.
Nonetheless, it is not safe.
I have passed through that sector.
Take my word. Look elsewhere.
I think you want Sigma 957 for yourself.
The Narn government
doesn't have the resources
to exploit a world that far away.
But you want to hold onto it anyway,
out of sheer spite.
Considering what you were probably told about me,
I'm sure you do believe that.
Despite your long acquaintance with Sinclair,
you're new here, aren't you?
Let me pass onto you
the one thing I've learned about this place.
No one here...
Is exactly what he appears.
Not Mollari,
not Delenn...
Not Sinclair,
and not me.
My warning is Sincere.
Ignore it at your own peril.
Ambassador.
If I have to, I'll go over your head.
I have contacts of my own in the Narn regime.
Then I fear the Commander
will miss you greatly
when you fail to return from Sigma 957.
A year ago,
I volunteered for a Psi-Corps experiment.
It was an attempt
to make telepaths even stronger.
Turn a p5 into a p10
and a p10 into...
To god knows what.
Why?
Because in this business,
whoever has the strongest telepath wins.
The military wants to scan the enemy.
The enemy wants a telepath strong enough
to block the scan.
And we want someone
who can cut through the block.
They said it was necessary
to help protect Earth.
Anyway...
The experiments went on for months.
Genetic manipulation,
mutated strains of serotin and acetylcholine
to increase neural processing.
5, 10, sometimes 15 injections a day.
The pain was...
Then one day,
I woke up,
and I could see everything.
It was as if my mind had been a seed
for all of those years,
and then suddenly it blossomed.
I could cut through any block
without even trying.
All I had to do was to look at them
to see what was inside.
And that's when I discovered the truth.
Talia,
do you remember the tk tests that you took
just before you graduated from the academy?
Of course. I used an old penny I've had
since I was a girl.
I tried for days to make it move
with my thoughts,
and I couldn't do it.
Only one in every thousand humans
has telepathic abilities.
Only 1 in every 10,000 telepaths
has telekinetic abilities,
and half of them are clinically insane.
You see, that was the real purpose
behind the experiment,
to create a stable telekinetic.
And it worked, Talia.
It worked beyond everyone's wildest dreams.
That is why I cannot go back...
Even if it means letting them kill me.
Commander.
I just got a lead on Ironheart.
I ran a check on incoming ships,
and it turns out one of them
was a stolen transport.
Where's it from?
Sector 15.
That puts it 2 jumps away from the station.
I checked with Bester, and that matches
the last known location for Ironheart.
Assuming he hasn't booked passage
on another transport,
he'll need a place to stay.
I'm already on it.
50 guest quarters were rented
in the last 24 hours.
I'm having every one checked.
I want that guy found
and out of here as fast as possible.
I don't like psi-cops nosing around up here.
There's just something creepy about them.
The way they look at you
like you're some kind of bug.
Commander.
Just 50 quarters to search.
Good.
That should help narrow it down.
Anatomically impossible, Mr. Garibaldi...
But you're welcome to try,
anytime...
Anywhere.
Controller: Confirmed, skydancer.
You are clear for jump.
Please log in jumpgate sequence,
primary gate to gates 141, 27, and 15b.
Controller: Confirmed. Destination?
Sigma 957.
Open private channel to homeworld.
Computer voice: Channel open.
Ambassador G'Kar, third circle,
requesting clear channel
to Narn military headquarters.
I require a frazi-class heavy fighter for a mission.
Destination Sigma 957.
Make sure it's well-armed.
[Beep]
I thought they wanted telekinetics for big jobs,
heavy construction in zero gravity
or defense.
I mean, imagine a telekinetic shield
as a defense against beam weapons
for diplomats or Presidents.
But they didn't want big.
No, they wanted mental control
over small objects,
the smaller the better.
Jason, that doesn't make any sense.
No? Think about it.
You want to assassinate someone,
so you bring in a telekinetic.
He reaches into the person's throat,
and then gently,
quietly,
with a thought,
he pinches the carotid artery shut.
The blood stops,
the brain starves,
the target dies.
And then you just let go.
Murder without a trace.
No fingerprints, no poisons.
Oh, my god.
But they didn't understand, Talia,
the power, how far it--
[vibrating tone]
Jason! What is it?
Get out!
Please, quickly.
I...can't control this.
Get out...
While you...
Can.
Ohh...
What the hell?
Mindquake.
Sinclair: Have you got a fix
on the source of that disturbance?
Yeah, level 16,
about 3 sections further down.
Just one problem--
only way to get there is to go through that.
Sinclair: What is it?
I don't know, but it's got level 16
completely surrounded, 360 degrees.
We can't get past it.
When we asked Bester
what level of physical threat this guy represents,
he said it was on a need-to-know basis.
If you ask me right now,
we need to know.
Catherine: Computer, projected e.T.A. At Sigma 957?
Computer voice: At maximum safe speed,
project e.T.A. Sigma 957
at 2 hours, 5 minutes, 30 seconds
Earth standard time.
All right.
Let's get this show on the road.
Bester: We had our orders.
Mister, I don't care if you had
a personal message from god
complete with stone tablets!
You lied to me.
You withheld information
and put this station at risk.
Call me crazy, but don't you think
it might've helped for us
to know what we were facing?
We we were doing what we thought was best.
You were wrong, and because of that,
I've got a half-dozen wounded men
on a section of blue 16
that's turned into a no-man's land.
Every corridor and transport tube
into there is blocked by some kind of curtain.
Now I want the truth, and I want it now!
Mr. Ironheart is no longer
what you or I would consider...
Entirely human.
Then what is he?
We don't know.
Be...
Still.
Be still.
Be...
Still.
After the last phase of the experiment,
Ironheart began showing signs of stress.
Paranoia, psychoses.
One night, he slipped out of his room,
killed the head researcher,
and escaped.
At each step of the way,
his telekinetic abilities have grown stronger,
more violent.
In his enhanced state, he's a valuable commodity.
If word got out, other governments might try
to grab him first.
We couldn't take that chance.
It was a calculated risk.
Good old Psi-Corps.
You guys never cease to amaze me.
All the moral fiber of Jack the ripper.
What do you do in your spare time,
juggle babies over a fire pit?
Oops, there goes another calculated risk.
You're not helping the situation.
Lady, you are the situation.
Sinclair: We've seen how powerful he is.
How did just the two of you plan to stop him?
During the experiment,
Ironheart was programmed with a fail-safe code
that will shut him down, put him to sleep.
It has to be sent by a telepath
directly into his brain.
He's got to have defenses.
Between the two of us, we're strong enough
to burrow past his defenses
and take him down.
But we have to be in the line of sight
to do it.
You have 2 choices:
Let us take him down our way,
or you'll have to kill him
before he blows out this station
and everyone on it.
Jason?
If you can hear me,
this won't work.
I need to talk to you, Jason.
Please?
Jason?
Jason!
I thought that seeing you,
being with you again would be enough,
help me hold it together,
shut out the voices.
Just rest...
For a little while...
Before the end.
Before...
I shouldn't have come.
I--i put you at risk-- everyone.
I never meant--
i--i never wanted...
I know.
We all thought Psi-Corps was controlled
by the government,
but that's changing.
The corps is starting to pull the strings
behind the scene.
They're more powerful
than you can begin to imagine.
Telepaths make the ultimate blackmailers, Talia.
I--i see it all.
Jason--
there is no more Jason.
I am something else.
I...
Am becoming...
Becoming what?
Everything.
[Crying]
Catherine: Computer,
assume parking orbit around Sigma 957.
Computer voice: Confirmed.
Begin preliminary atmospheric survey.
Launch environmental probe on my Mark.
Mark.
Receiving planetary data.
Logging in.
Good.
[Imitating G'Kar] "Sigma 957 is not a healthy place.
Strange things happen there."
Right.
P.A. announcer: Level 16 is not accessible.
Commander, I need to talk to you.
I've seen Jason.
What? Where?
It's a long story,
and we don't have much time.
We need to talk privately and quickly.
Talia: Jason's changing.
His telekinetic abilities
are growing faster than he anticipated.
It's almost beyond his control.
He doesn't want to endanger the station,
doesn't want to hurt anyone,
but what he's becoming
doesn't leave him much choice.
He wants to see you
alone and unarmed.
He'll drop his defenses,
but only for you.
I know it's asking you
to take a terrible chance,
but it's the only one we've got.
All right.
Where and when?
Blue 12 in one hour.
Talia, what's between you and Jason?
Why did he come here?
To see me.
We were lovers.
He was everything to me...
The perfect model of what it meant
to be in the corps.
Do you know what it's like
when telepaths make love, Commander?
You drop every defense,
and it's all mirrors
reflecting each other's feelings...
Deeper and deeper...
Until somewhere along the line your...
Souls mix...
And it's a feeling so profound
it makes you hurt.
It's the only moment in a telepath's life
when you no longer hear the voices.
He came to say good-bye, Commander.
He came to say good-bye.
Computer, identify.
What the hell was that?
Unknown.
Computer!
90% power loss.
Emergency power.
Negative emergency power.
Orbit deteriorating.
Estimate impact with Sigma 957
in 2 hours.
Catherine: Computer, open emergency tachyon channel
to Babylon 5.
Insufficient energy reserves
to establish communications.
Scan for any nearby ships.
Negative on scan.
Adjust ship's orientation.
Maybe we can bounce off the atmosphere
instead of burning up when we hit.
Negative. Insufficient power.
Dammit!
There's gotta be something I can do.
Time to impact?
1.3 hours.
Ironheart: We need to speak.
The Psi-Corps is dedicated
to one thing, Commander:
Control.
Control over telepaths,
the economy, the courts,
over matter, over thought itself,
but there is something even more powerful,
something they didn't even know existed
until I crossed the line.
Not mind over matter,
mind over energy.
I was suddenly able to influence objects
that were smaller and smaller:
Molecules, atoms, neutrons.
I look at you, Commander,
and I see not a man,
but a galaxy of subatomic particles
which I can pull apart and rearrange
with a casual thought.
This is a power we were never meant to have.
We're not ready for it.
If the psi-cops take him back,
they'll dissect him,
take him apart to find out
what combination of drugs released this power.
Can you imagine, Commander,
what they would do with it?
What anyone would do with it?
Which is exactly why they say
you shouldn't be allowed to leave here alive.
Why should I trust you to not misuse this?
I've already had 6 people hurt.
An accident.
At each new level,
it takes me a while to adjust.
I have to fight every minute
to control the forces in my head.
If I'm distracted for even a second--
what about the researcher you killed?
I didn't want to,
but he was the only one
who could replicate the process.
There must never be any more like me.
I mean you no harm, Commander.
If I did, I could vaporize you right now
with a single thought.
Please, you must believe me.
Assuming I do,
what is it you want from me?
Your help...
And your trust.
I need to get away from here.
I need time to finish becoming,
and then I'll be gone.
Please.
Sinclair to c&c.
This is c&c.
Are you all right, Commander?
Sinclair: Condition green. Is Garibaldi there?
Right here.
Have your security team clear a path
from blue 16 to the docking bay.
I don't want to see anyone on the way,
and I don't want anyone outside security
to know what's going on. Is that clear?
Confirmed, Commander.
What's up?
We're coming out.
Catherine: Condition?
Hull temperature
to 700 degrees and climbing.
Entering atmosphere.
[Beep beep]
2 ships detected.
Now entering local space.
What?
Where?
Put it on monitor.
Catherine: This is an emergency request.
This is Catherine Sakai of the Earth survey ship--
Narn: Of the Earth ship skydancer.
Yes, we know.
You what? Please identify yourself.
Captain Sh'Drog of the Narn regime,
outer sector fighter unit.
We were dispatched some time ago
to assist you.
Dispatched by whom?
Ambassador G'Kar, third circle.
Please stand by for grapple.
We will link up
and escort you back to Babylon 5.
Sh'Drog out.
P.A. announcer: Attention, please.
Will all nonessential personnel
please clear all corridors
in sections blue 16 through red 4.
What's going on?
Just a drill, sir.
Nothing to be concerned about.
You're sure?
Yes, I'm--
good.
Thank you.
Uhh...
No.
No, I refuse!
I am not going back with you!
This man is under my protection.
You...don't...know
what...you're... Doing!
Commander!
We have to hurry.
There's not much--
the fail-safe code. They're trying to shut him down.
Talia: Mindquake! They're distracting him!
He's losing control!
Let him go!
You hear me? Let him go!
I won't go!
Leave him alone. You don't understand!
Ohh!
I won't go back!
Please, no.
Don't make me do this.
You cannot harm me.
You cannot harm one
who has dreamed a dream like mine.
Talia, look out!
Aah!
We'll get you to a doctor.
No! No time.
Must get to the ship.
Hurry.
Hurry!
What's he doing?
Nothing.
He's not moving to the jumpgate.
He's just sitting there.
Technician: Picking up energy surge.
How big?
Off the scale.
Ironheart: Talia.
Jason.
I have...
Become.
In memory of love,
I give you a gift,
the only gift I have to give.
Good-bye, Commander.
I will see you again
in a million years.
You realize, of course,
my superiors will believe none of this.
Yes.
Especially since in about an hour,
we'll have a small accident in data storage
that will erase the file you just saw.
So what do you suggest?
Something close to the truth--
that Ironheart's ship escaped Babylon 5,
but exploded before it could enter the jumpgate.
And if I refuse?
Then my report will mention
how you lied to us,
endangered the station,
and through your interference
caused the death of your fellow psi-cop.
Not much of a choice, is it?
It gets better.
Your report will indicate
that Talia Winters was not responsible
for her actions in helping Ironheart,
that she was under his mental control
and should not be penalized for her actions.
That's a lie.
Yes, it is.
What's your point?
There's a transport leaving for Earth
in 20 minutes, Mr. Bester.
Be on it.
Be seeing you, Commander.
You figure on telling the senator
what Ironheart said about the Psi-Corps
trying to control everything in sight?
I don't know.
I'm not sure what it would accomplish.
He was feverish, paranoid.
Maybe it's true. Maybe it isn't.
Without any evidence, without Ironheart,
it's just his word against the corps.
But I suggest we keep our eyes open,
just in case.
You got that right.
How's Talia?
Better. Resting.
Good.
I wonder what Ironheart meant
when he said he gave her a gift?
If I asked her, you think she'd tell me?
No.
Ambassador! Ambassador G'Kar!
Ah, Ms. Sakai,
I'm pleased to see
that you have returned safely
from your expedition.
Yes. Thanks to you.
Just one question. Why?
Why not?
That's not an answer.
[Laughs] Oh, yes, it is,
it's simply not an answer you like
or the answer you expected.
There's a difference.
Narns, humans, Centauri--
we all do what we do for the same reason.
Because it seemed like a good idea at the time.
There was no profit, no advantage
in letting you fall
to an untimely and most uncomfortable death.
It would distress the Commander
to no good effect.
So, once again, we return to...
Why not?
I told you before you left...
No one here...
Is entirely what they appear.
If I surprised you,
all the better.
Good day, Ms. Sakai.
Ambassador...
While I was out there, um,
I saw something.
What was it?
What is this?
An ant.
"Ant."
So much gets shipped up from Earth
on commercial transports,
it's hard to keep them out.
Yeah. I have just picked it up
on the tip of my glove.
If I put it down again,
and it asks another ant,
"what was that?"
[Laughs] How would it explain?
There are things in the universe
billions of years older than either of our races.
They are vast,
timeless.
And if they're aware of us at all,
it is as little more than ants,
and we have as much chance
of communicating with them
as an ant has with us.
We know.
We've tried.
And we've learned that we can either
stay out from under foot
or be stepped on.
That's it?
That's all you know?
Yes.
They are a mystery,
and I am both terrified and reassured
to know that there are still wonders
in the universe,
that we have not yet explained everything.
Whatever they are, Ms. Sakai,
they walk near Sigma 957,
and they must walk there alone.
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