Original Airdate: January 26, 1994 Written by J. Michael Straczynski Directed by Richard Compton Episode #: 1 Production #: 103Guest stars: Paul Hampton as The Senator. Peter Trencher as Carn Mollari.
Centauri Agricultural Colony on Ragesh III
The Centauri planetary defenses pick up ships coming through the jumpgate. Before they can identify the ships, they jump into normal space and attack the planetary defense systems. A Centauri officer activates the defense mines, but too late.
Officer: "Tell homeworld we are under attack. Tell them it's the. . . "
Before the officer can complere his orders, the alien ships destroy the station. and continue toward the colony.
Babylon 5
Lt. Commander Ivanova finds Garibaldi and asks where Commander Sinclair is. Garibaldi tells her that he's in the Observation Dome. [also called C & C].
Ivanova: "How do you know?"
Garibaldi: "That's right, you're new here. The commander only turns off his link for 10 minutes a day, and when he does, that's where you can find him."
Satisfied, Ivanova leaves to find the commander. She informs him that there is a problem.
Londo catches up with Garibaldi in the Zocalo and wishes to speak with him.
Londo: "Mr. Garibaldi, all I'm asking is that you trust me."
Garibaldi: "Trust you? Londo, my brain will be 5 days dead before I trust any Centauri. The first time we met you, the first time we met any other civilization, you told us you virtually ran the entire galaxy. You said you had a huge empire. Then you gave us some line about how Earth was some long lost colony of yours."
Londo's new diplomatic atache, Vir Cotto, shows up. He informs Londo and Garibaldi that the Ragesh III colony is under attack. He says that no one knows who launched the attack on the colony.
Ragesh III
Alien ships continue to enter the system and attack the colony. . .
Londo meets with Commander Sinclair and demands information regarding the Ragesh III attack. Londo reports that Centauri Prime has not replied, and Sinclair says that the Earth Alliance knows nothing more than Londo does. G'kar and Delenn enter the meeting room and offer their condolences to Londo.
Londo: "You know nothing of these attacks G'kar?"
G'kar: "I am as astonished as you are"
Delenn asks about the colony. Londo tells her that Ragesh III is a strictly agricultural colony with 5,000 colonists and minimal defenses.
Garibaldi enters C & C and Ivanova tells him about a raider attack on an EarthForce ship. Garibaldi rushes off to assess the situation. As he leaves, Talia Winters, the new commercial telepath for Babylon 5, enters. She is required by Psi-Corps rules to report to the station's executive officer, but Ivanova is busy with the raider attack and brushes her off. Talia leaves, somewhat disgusted.
Ivanova: "I'm in the middle of 15 things, all of them annoying. Thank you for coming by."
Space
Garibaldi leads a wing of starfuries into the jumpgate to rescue the attacked EarthForce ship.
Babylon 5
Sinclair watches an ISN report regarding the upcoming presidential election in his office. Ivanova enters and asks if any info from Earth central has come back to B5 regarding the attack on Ragesh III.
Ivanova: "Who do you think did it? The Narns? The Minbari?"
Sinclair: "Not the Minbari. They're too honorable to do something like this."
Ivanova: "I'm surprised to hear you describe the Minbari that way. I mean, you fought them during the war."
Sinclair says that the best way to understand someone is to fight them. He says the Minbari are honorable, and would never pull a sneak attack on anyone. Ivanova brings up the election, and says that will vote against Luis Santiago. She doesn't trust Santiago or his vice-president, Morgan Clark.
Londo's quarters
Vir rushes in with a coded message from Centauri Prime. The message is a video of the Ragesh III attack.
Londo: "Great Maker. Who would do this? Why?"
Londo is suspicious of the ships in the video. He has the computer enhance one of the images.
Londo: "That is a Narn heavy fighter! That bastard G'kar!! He said he knew nothing of this!! G'kar!! G'kar!!"
Space
Garibaldi's starfury squadron inspects the damaged transport. He determines that the damage is too severe to have come from common raiders.
Garibaldi: "I don't like it. Alright, let's find the black box and head back to base."
Babylon 5
Londo approaches G'kar in the Zocalo.
G'kar: "Ah, Ambassador Mollari, please join me. Would you like some spoo? It's quite fresh this week."
Londo: "Fresh is it? You bastard, you won't get away with this. We'll strike back and we'll strike back hard!"
G'kar: "I assume you are referring to the attack by our forces. I just found out about it myself. I'm sure there must be some reasonable explanation."
Londo: "What reasonable explanation is there for the slaughter of unarmed civilians?"
G'kar: "Curious. We wondered the same thing when you invaded our world. The wheel turns, does it not?"
Londo: "We should have wiped you out when we had the chance."
G'kar: "What happened? Ran out of small children to butcher?"
Londo knocks over the table G'kar is at and grabs him at the throat. They fight until several security guards break them up.
G'kar: "Let him go! If he wants to die, let him! Listen to me, Ambassador. You're time is come and gone. It's our time now. One night you'll wake up and find our teeth at your throat. Sleep well, Ambassador, sleep lightly."
G'kar walks off, and Londo storms away.
Babylon 5
Londo meets with Sinclair to apologize for the fight.
Londo: "It was a mistake. I will not repeat it. I will kill him, though. Sooner or later, somewhere. My people, we have a way you see. We know how, and sometimes even when, we are going to die. It comes in a dream. In my dream, I am an old man, it's 20 years from now, and I am dying. My hands are wrapped around someone's throat, and his around mine. We have squeazed the life out out each other. The first time I saw G'kar, I recognized him as the one from my dream. It will happen. 20 years from now, we will die, with our hands around each other's throats."
Sinclair: "20 years is a long time. Long enough for your people to come to an understanding."
Londo: "Believe as you wish. 20 years from now, one of us will be wiser, and older. I need another drink."
Sinclair: "I think we can put together a coalition against the Narn attack."
Londo: "Good. The Narns have to be stopped, now. Carn would want me to. . .Carn is my nephew, he wanted to enter the Centauri military. I told him it was a waste of his skills. . . I personally arranged for him to be head researcher on Ragesh III. Tonight, I don't know if he's alive or dead."
Sinclair: "I'm sorry. Ambassador, I know this is hard for you to hear, but if there is war, you will give the Narns exactly what they want: the chance to divide us so they can move in. There are other ways. Babylon 5 is here to help keep the peace."
Londo: "Commander, on the issue of galactic peace, I am long
past innocence. It's all a game. Only one thing matters Commander: blood
calls out for blood. If Carn is dead, there will be war. If it's the last
thing I do, there will be war. This I swear to you, Commander. "
Zocalo
Ivanova finds Garibaldi eating at a restaurant.
Ivanova: "You eat like a starving man."
Garibaldi: "Seeing death has a way of doing that to me."
Garibaldi is astonished at the raider attacks and the Narn attack on Centauri colonies. He is confused as to where the raiders are getting such heavy weaponry. He is also surprised how the raiders know where the transports are, because EarthForce keeps the flight paths confidential.
Ivanova: "Sounds like there's a leak."
Garibaldi: "I'm checking into it now."
Right as Ivanova leaves, Talia Winters shows up and approaches Garibaldi.
Alien Sector
Sinclair enters and asks to see Kosh.
Sinclair enters Kosh's quarters and sees an empty encounter suit. Also, a bright point of light against the wall, which may be Kosh, speaks to Sinclair. Sinclair just wants to confirm that Kosh will attend the emergency session of the Babylon 5 ruling council to address the issue of the Narn attack. Kosh agrees to be there, to help the council press sanctions against the Narns. As Sinclair turns to leave, the bright light speeds to the encounter suit, and Kosh addresses Sinclair from his suit.
Kosh: "They are alone. They are a dying people. We should let them pass."
Sinclair: "Who? The Narn or the Centauri?"
Kosh: "Yes."
C & C
Ivanova finds Garibaldi at her station, using her equipment.
Ivanova: "Is there a reason for this, or to save time, should I just snap your hands off at the wrist?"
Garibaldi says he has found some leads as to how the raiders are getting their weapons. Ivanova's mood is improved.
Londo's quarters
Vir asks Londo if he is going to attend the emergency meeting of the station ruling council.
Londo: "The council. The council can go to hell. The emergency session can go to hell. And you, you can go to hell too. I wouldn't want you to feel left out."
Vir: "Why are you doing this?"
Londo: "Because we are a race of lunatics, and cowards. I finally received word from our glorious leaders. Do you know what that convention of genetic defectives have decided to do about the attack on Ragesh III? The Great Centauri Republic, the Lion of the Galaxy will do nothing, because Ragesh III is too small to risk a confrontation. Besides, by the time our ships got there, everyone will be dead anyway. "
Londo, very drunk, throws his glass at Vir. Vir wonders if they will go to the council meeting. Londo says that they will not tell the council of Centauri Prime's decision, in order to pressure the council into doing something to embarass the Centauri leaders.
Transport tube
Talia enters a tube with Garibaldi. She asks him why Ivanova hasn't allowed her a meeting. She can't imagine why Ivanova won't meet with her. Garibaldi says that it takes a while for Ivanova to warm up to people, especially when she's working.
Talia: "Alright. Thanks."
Garibaldi: "Afterwards, you can stop by my quarters and I'll show you my favorite thing in the whole universe. Well, my second favorite thing in the universe."
The Garden
G'kar enters the garden, where Sinclair is. G'kar mentions that Narn is replacing some forests on the homeworld. G'kar confesses that he is looking forward to the day when Narn cleanses the universe of the Centauri.
G'kar: "I would remind you that we were one of the few who provided you with weapons to fight the Minbari. We supported you. You owe us."
Sinclair: "Not a chance. You didn't support anyone. Narns will support anyone who has the credits. We are alike in one way. We both know a lot about sneak attacks. Pearl Harbor, San Diego, Dresden. . . You what we've learned? We've learned that the sneak attack is the one used by cowards. You didn't even have the decency to attack a military target. What's wrong, Ambassador, don't have the guts for a fair fight."
G'kar: "In another place, I would have you skinned alive for saying that."
Sinclair: "You want me? You know where to find me, Ambassador. See you in the council."
Sinclair leaves a very angry G'kar in his wake.
While Sinclair proceeds back to C & C, Garibaldi finds him and tells him that he knows how the raiders find the transports. The companies that support the transports buy jumpgate access in bulk, and one company sold the routes for the transports. Garibaldi says that the company crashed. He says that one transport on the schedule, carrying refugees instead of equipment is following one of the routes, and it has 6 hours until it comes out of hyperspace. If they can't get to the transport before the raiders, everyone on that ship will die.
Babylon 5
Commander Sinclair has a heated discussion with a senator in Earthdome. The Senator tells Sinclair that the station oversight committee has ordered him to vote against sanctions against the Narn government. Sinclair is enraged, but the senator isn't says he isn't concerned about civilians dying because an Earth election is taking place in less than 24 hours. Sinclair objects to the order, but the senator ends the transmission. Ivanova comes in and says that a starfury squadron is ready to go after the raiders. Sinclair orders Garibaldi to stand down. He will take Garibaldi's place.
Ivanova: "Should I postpone the meeting?"
Sinclair: "No. If I'm at that meeting, I'll do something I don't want to do, so let it go on without me. You can take my place on the council. Don't worry, it's all on the agenda. Just take the vote and see what everyone wants to do."
Ivanova: "Any other instructions?"
Sinclair: "Lots of them. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find you before I left, so you never heard of any orders from Earth Central. Last you heard, we were voting for sanctions. Clear?"
Ivanova: "Yes sir. Clear as crystal."
Sinclair joins the starfury delta squadron and takes the ships into hyperspace.
B5 council chambers
Ivanova calls the B5 council meeting to order to vote on actions to be taken against the Narn regime in the form of the imposition of planetary blockades.
G'kar interrupts and reminds the council that before the Centauri's 100 year occupation, Ragesh III was a Narn colony.
G'kar: "Now that we are free of the invaders, it is our right to reclaim it."
Delenn accuses G'kar of being vengeful. She says the cycle of hatred must end.
G'kar: "Justice!! Not hatred. We have no desire to start a war."
Space
Sinclair's squadron locates the Earthforce transport and confirms that it is under raider attack. He orders the squadron to fly in formation toward the raiders and then to engage once in range.
Babylon 5
G'kar makes his case against the B5 council, saying that the Narn forces came for the peaceful liberation of Ragesh III, and that Narn forces did not fire first. He directs the council's attention to the monitor, saying that the upcoming live broadcast will clarify the situation.
The monitor activates and a Centauri citizen makes a speech.
Centauri: "This is Carn Mollari. I am head researcher and project director for the Ragesh III colony."
G'kar: "The nephew, I would add, of our own esteemed ambassador, Londo Mollari."
Carn Mollari: "In the last 6 months, there have been violent outbreaks by divisions of our many colonists. We asked for help from Centauri Prime. There was no reply. Faced with chaos and anarchy, the Ragesh III administrative council asked for assistance from the neighboring Narn regime."
Londo: "That's not true."
Carn Mollari: "We have chosen, of our own free will, to ally ourselves with the Narn government. We will, of course, maintain social and economic ties to homeworld in the interests of continue peace. This is Carn Mollari, Ragesh III, signing off."
Londo: "Can't you see? Don't you understand? They forced him to read that statement. I'm sure they threatened to kill him if he did not cooperate."
G'kar accuses him of lying to the council because Londo is asking the council to carry out an order that the Centauri government deems inappropriate. G'kar calls for a vote to clear the Narn Regime of all responsibility.
Space
Sinclair orders the raiders to surrender. They give no response. Sinclair and several wingmen engage and destroy several raiders. After several losses, the raiders break off and retreat. The starfury squadron breaks up to protect the transport and pursue the command ship of the raiders. Sinclair locates the command ship and disables it.
Babylon 5
In his quarters, Londo takes small pieces from many objects to construct a Centauri type PPG weapon.
Londo: "Blood calls out for blood."
Londo bumps into Talia Winters on his way to G'kar. She feels his strong emotion and sees him firing at G'kar, killing him. She is overwhelmed by the sensation. Londo excuses himself and hurries away. Talia goes off to find Garibaldi.
Garibaldi intercepts Londo and stops him.
Garibaldi: "Londo."
Londo: "Not now, Mr. Garibaldi. Another time."
Garibaldi: "What's wrong with now?"
Londo tries to push past Garibaldi. Garibaldi orders him to return to his quarters. Garibaldi threatens to kill Londo if he pulls out a weapon. Londo is upset; Garibaldi knows that Londo is angry about Ragesh III. Londo calms down and decides to go back to his quarters.
Londo: "Well, it seems I'm still on target for my appointment 20 years from now."
Garibaldi: "What appointment?"
Londo: "It's a long story. Perhaps another time."
Londo goes off, Garibaldi says he will be by his quarters in one hour to conduct a weapons search.
Garibaldi: "Make sure I don't find anything."
Londo: "Would you really have killed me?"
Garibaldi: "Yes. I would have. But I'm glad I didn't have to. The paperwork's a pain in the butt."
G'kar enters Ivanova's office. Ivanova informs him there is a problem. Sinclair brings in a Narn captive. He tells G'kar that they disabled the raider command ship and found a Narn supervising the weapons. He knows that the Narns have been selling weapons to the raiders for the right price.
Sinclair orders the Narn forces to withdraw, or he'll bring confiscated evidence regarding the unprovoked Narn attack to the council. G'kar leaves, knowing he has been beaten.
Sinclair reminds Garibaldi that the polls are still open for the presidential election.
Garibaldi: "The polls. I almost forgot to vote. I gotta get going. Then, a quiet evening at my place with my second favorite thing in the universe, providing I can find someone to share it with."
Sinclair: "Garibaldi, I don't even wanna know."
Casino
Talia approaches Ivanova. She is finally able to have a discussion with her. Talia apologizes if she did anything to offend her.
Ivanova: "I feel I should explain my behavior earlier. I was rude."
Talia: "That's alright. I just wanted to know if it was something I did."
Ivanova: "It's what you represent. My mother was like you, a telepath. It was her secret since she was a girl."
Talia says she was raised by the corps; the corps helps to develop a telepath's mind.
Ivanova: "Then they never gave you the choice. When they discover who you are, they give you three choices. You can join the Psi-Corps, or go to prison. Or, agree to take drugs to suppress your telepathic powers for the rest of your life."
Ivanova says that the Corps discovered her mother's telepathy on her 35th birthday. She didn't want to join the corps or go to prison. She agreed to take the sleepers drugs. Every week for 10 years, she was required to take injections to suppress her telepathy. After 10 years, her mother finally took her own life. Ivanova doesn't blame Talia, but she despises what she represents.
Talia: "Perhaps tomorrow, we can have a better start."
Ivanova: "I very much doubt it. Goodnight."
Babylon 5
Garibaldi and Delenn watch Garibaldi's second favorite thing in the universe: Daffy Duck cartoons. Garibaldi is cracking up, but Delenn doesn't understand. They are eating popcorn, but Delenn doesn't seem to understand it. Seeing Garibaldi's laughter makes her feel awkward, but she is being a gracious guest.
Sinclair watches an ISN report describing Santiago's re election. Santiago's platform includes better relations with Mars and to protect Earth interests in the presence of non-Terran influences. Sinclair turns off the report and goes to bed.
Ivanova: "Commander, there's a problem. Commander??"
