Airdate: June 9, 1997
Episode # : 83
Production # : 417
Guest stars: Richard Gant as Captain MacDougan, Denise Gentile as Lise, Walter Koenig as Bester, Marjorie Monaghan as Number One, Diana Morgan as Alison Higgins, David Purdham as Captain James, Ricco Ross as Captain Frank, Mark Scheidner as Wade, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as William Edgars and Harlan Ellison as Psi-Cop.
TEASER
Space
The Resistance fleet battles Earthforce ships. Earthforce vessels are fighting more desperately as the fleet gets closer to Earth. Sheridan is confused: the Earthforce destroyers won't surrender or stand down. They're outnumbered, but they still continue to fight.
Mars
Dr. Franklin and Lyta arrive on Mars. They ride through a transport tube.
Garibaldi tells Edgars that Sheridan's father is in custody on Mars. Edgars assures Mr. Garibaldi that he has done the right thing, but Garibaldi isn't so sure.
Edgars: "Once he's out of the picture, President Clark will lower his guard. The truth will be revealed in a couple of days. How many people can say that?"
Garibaldi: "I don't know, but I think the last guy got paid thirty pieces of silver for the same job."
Space
The Resistance fleet continues its battle against Earthforce. Sheridan's forces are winning, although several of his ships are disabled. Sheridan is still confused as to why the Earthforce ships won't surrender.
Sheridan: "I say again. You are ordered to stand down and surrender your vessels. We have no desire to destroy your ships, but if you continue to fight, we'll have no choice."
Captain Frank: "What does it matter? We're dead either way!"
Sheridan: "What are you talking about?"
Captain Frank: "We've been briefed on your campaign. As soon as our forces surrender, our crews are taken out, executed, and then replaced by Minbari crews."
Captain MacDougan of the Vesta contacts Frank and explains that Clark's been lying to them about Sheridan. MacDougan tells Frank to stand down. The Earthforce ships stand down and surrender. Immediately after, a jump point opens and the Agamemnon, Sheridan's former command, comes through. Sheridan contacts the Agamemnon and goes aboard. The Agamemnon wants to join Sheridan's fleet.
Mars
Franklin introduces Lyta to Number One. Number One learns that Lyta is a telepath, and is quickly angered. Franklin also tells her about the frozen teeps, and Number One is outraged.
Number One: "Mister, you've got a lot of explaining to do!!!"
EAS Agamemnon
Sheridan comes aboard the Agamemnon and greets the crew. He is warmly welcomed by the ship. The crew trusts Sheridan, although they believe he is a "pain in the ass." Marcus contacts Sheridan on the Agamemnon, tells him that Mr. Garibaldi wishes to speak to Sheridan.
Garibaldi: "Captain, I just thought you should know. I know we haven't been on the best of terms right now, but they've got your dad John. "
Sheridan and Garibaldi have a brief discussion. Garibaldi has some people "who can help" break his dad out, but since no one trusts Sheridan, it's got to be just Sheridan and Garibaldi. Sheridan agrees, but first has to verify Garibaldi's information through his own people.
EAS Agamemnon
Ivanova strongly opposes Sheridan's decision to go to Mars. Sheridan agrees that it sounds like a setup, but he says that Garibaldi has never given him a reason to believe that he would want to harm him. Sheridan orders Ivanova to take command of the fleet as soon as possible.
Ivanova: "Shouldn't Delenn. . .?"
Sheridan: "She's not back yet. We need to keep this a clean fight. That means human commanding officers only. Last time an assault fleet came to Earth, it was under Minbari command. We don't want folks back home thinking that the Minbari War is happening all over again."
Ivanova finally agrees, and the captain of the Agamemnon tells Sheridan that he can get him into the Mars colony without setting off the early-warning systems. Sheridan takes a Thunderbolt starfury to Mars.
Mars
Number One, Lyta and Dr. Franklin eat dinner. Someone brings Lyta a plate of food and slams it down on the table.
Lyta: "Maybe I should just go."
Franklin wants to know why Number One is so hostile toward telepaths. She won't tell him, but says that Lyta should know. She leaves, complaining that "Someone just dumped several dozen cryogenic freezers on me and I have to find room for them."
Lyta explains to Franklin that Number One was referring to the Psi-Corps "Bloodhound" units whose job is to randomly scan people. Also, anyone suspected of siding with the Resistance is deeply scanned. The trouble with deep scans is that they can cause heart attacks, strokes, etc., and several people have died from the scans. She also says that this has happened before. While she intered with the Psi-Cops, she helped with an investigation to find out who had been murdering commercial telepaths. Since the mundanes didn't care, the Psi-Cops took matters into their own hands. When they finally caught the perpetrator, they put images into his head that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Lyta: "Somewhere on Beta colony there is an institution. In one room of that institution there is a man who spends his days and nights screaming as things only he can see. Things we planted in his mind. They have to keep him in a straightjacket 24 hours a day or he'd claw his own eyes out just to make it stop. "
Lyta tells Franklin that after the investigation was over, she wanted out. She transferred to commercial work. Also, she says that one day, there will be a war between telepaths and mundanes, and she only hopes she's not alive to see it.
Franklin: "After the Captain takes care of President Clark, we're going to work on this, ok?"
Number One enters, gives Franklin a report from Babylon 5. She says that they are going to be on their own for a while. . .
Babylon 5
Delenn and Lennier arrive at the station. Ivanova meets them and asks them to keep an eye on the station while she's out commanding the fleet.
Lennier: "Do you think Sheridan will be alright?"
Delenn: "He knows what he's doing, he'll be find. Assuming Mr. Garibaldi can still be trusted."
Mars
Sheridan's thunderbolt starfury enters Mars atmosphere.
Bar
Sheridan enters a bar, meets Mr. Garibaldi.
Sheridan: "Have you heard anything else about my father?"
Garibaldi: "No, just that he's being held on a facility here on Mars. He's not being heavily guarded because Clark hasn't announced that he's got him yet. "
Sheridan: "So we need to move before that happens."
Garibaldi: "Yeah."
Sheridan: "Alright, what do you want me to do?"
Garibaldi: "You've already done it."
Garibaldi slaps a tranquilizer patch onto Sheridan's hand. Sheridan slowly loses control of himself, but manages to fight off several thugs before he loses consciousness.
White Star
Ivanova comes aboard the White Star flagship, is solemnly greeted by Marcus, who reports that something just came over ISN. Ivanova watches. The ISN reporter explains that Sheridan has just been captured. An Earthforce security guard beats Sheridan.
Babylon 5
Delenn wakes up in her quarters, knows that something has happened. Lennier enters.
Lennier: "Something's happened. . . "
Mars
Edgars tells Garibaldi that President Clark is excited over Sheridan's capture. Clark now believes the Resistance will die and now, Edgars can move in on Clark. Garibaldi angrily demans the whole truth from Edgars. Edgars and Wade explain that Clark is trivial, that he'll be gone in a few years, one way or another. Edgars explains that the telepaths and Psi-Corps are the real threats. Edgars introduces Garibaldi to the cure for the telepathic virus. He then introduces the virus itself. It took 3 years to develop both of them, and now that Sheridan is out of the picture, Edgars can release the virus. The virus is coded to attack the gene that activates a telepath. It's airborn, 100% contagious and harmless to normals. All telepaths must take the cure for the virus every two weeks or die. With the virus in all telepaths, and Edgars controlling the antidote, telepaths will become a slave race to the normals.
Garibaldi agrees with Edgars' reasoning: thinks that normals must take over the telepaths. Edgars and Wade leave. The camera pans to the adjoining hall. Lise listened to the whole conversation. She runs off. Garibaldi reaches inside his mouth, pulls a molar out, pops it open.
Garibaldi enters a transport tube and Lise follows him.
Lise: "I don't know what he's doing. But I'm scared, and what he's doing is wrong. Michael, what am I going to do?"
Garibaldi: "Go home."
Lise shakes her head, gets out of the tube. Bester enters.
Bester: "Hello Mr. Garibaldi. I got your message. Now, tell me what you know. All of it."
Mars
Bester telepathically sees, in Garibaldi's mind, Edgars' plan to control the telepaths. Garibaldi sits quietly and motionless as Bester observes.
Bester: Well, thank you. Not that you had much choice. I knew there were forces out there who had plans for my telepaths. I had no idea. Well, we'll stop it now, of course, in our own way. I can feel you, you know. The real you beating inside your skull, trying to get out. For a long time I've been debating about what to do when this day came. Do I tell you what happened, or do I leave you like this? I've decided to be magnanimous, Mr. Garibaldi. Not that you'll appreciate it. The murder and enslavement of millions of telepaths. Though I doubt very much you'll appreciate that either. Go back, Mr. Garibaldi, go back and remember."
Garibaldi sees flashbacks from "Z'ha'dum".
Bester: "The Shadows had come to Babylon 5. Sheridan had gone to Z'ha'dum. They knew there were three people who could replace him. Delenn, Ivanova and you. Given your checkered background, they thought that you would be the easiest to turn to their side. Once Sheridan was dead, Ivanova and Delenn would be eliminated. Babylon 5 was spared an attack because they figured that Babylon 5 could be used for their purposes. They took you back with them, to 'adjust' you. By this time I knew that they had infiltrated the Corps, so when they took some of my people for your adjustmen, I was able to intervene. Not so much for your behalf as for my own. The virus that kills only telepaths: I'd bet good money that it's Shadow technology. They probably got it to him through 3rd parties. Helped his people work out the details. We both know that telepaths were a threat to the Shadows. One they wouldn't mind eliminating. It's ingenius really: they used Clark's draw to power on one side and fear of telepaths on the other, leaving us in the middle. Controlled, or dead. But, let's get back to you. "
Garibaldi has more flashbacks.
Bester: "I arranged to have you rerouted to our research facility here on Mars."
In the flashback:
Bester: "Alright, I want a complete neural workup. I want to know all the points where we can go in without disturbing the neural landscape. We can't leave any fingerprints. No sign of a scan."
Psi-Cop: "You don't want us to do a full reprogram?"
Bester: Unnecessary. By nature, Mr. Garibaldi is stubborn, rebellious and suspicious. A natural distrust of authority figures. And he's very good at figuring out when a conspiracy is taking place and tracking it to its source. We need that part of him. We don't want to risk tampering with it. We won't have to reprogram him, just accentuate his natural instincts: more rebellious, more stubborn, more suspicious of his fellow officers. All we have to do is nudge him in the right direction from time to time, and let nature run its course."
Bester: (back in present) "After we finished we had to make sure that you didn't remember anything that we had done to you. We were, shall we say, less than gentle. Once we felt it was safe, we put enough information out there for your people to find you. All we could do was wait and hope for the best. It was better than I could have imagined. You resigned your position, something I hadn't expected. Leaving you in the perfect position to be recruited by William Edgars. Leaving people who cared about you, who might try and help you. From time to time we updated yoru programming, until the old Garibaldi was gone and the new one worked only for us. You'd do anything to find what we wanted you to find. Even sell out Sheridan. And you would report back when you had all the information you need. Now the question becomes, what do I do with you? I could kill you, I suppose. It might be a mercy. By now, your friends know you betrayed Sheridan. "
Bester pulls out a PPG and aims at Garibaldi. . .
Bester: "As the saying goes, you can't go home again. And your current employer, isn't going to be around much longer."
Bester lowers the gun
Bester: "Or, I could leave you just like thiis. Whatever you think of me, Mr. Garibaldi, I'm not capricious or cruel. I used you because I had no other choice. I have what I want. My interest in you is over. We'll be docking in a moment. I've just sent the 'all-clear' signal telepathically. After I'm gone you'll be able to move again. You'll remember it all. You'll be yourself again. You can try to tell the others what happened, but under the circumstances I doubt that anyone will believe you. Be seeing you, Mr. Garibaldi."
Bester exits the transport tube. Garibaldi is flooded with memories. He screams.
White Star
Marcus informs Ivanova that Garibaldi is trying to contact Babylon 5.
Ivanova: "Tell Corwin to refuse his signal. If he shows up on the station, I want that son of a bitch shot on sight."
Marcus: "Susan!"
Ivanova: "I mean it."Ivanova tells Marcus that despite Sheridan's absence, the mission must continue. The person is expendable, but the job is not. They have to keep going.
Mars
Garibaldi runs through Edgars' home, looking for Lise. Edgars is dead, Wade is dying. Garibaldi asks Wade what happened to Lise, but he dies before he can answer Garibaldi. Also, the packages containing the telepathic drug and antidote are both missing.
ISN reports that because of Sheridan's capture, President Clark has declared a day of celebration. The reporter says that Sheridan has reportedly been regretting his actions against Earth. Also, unlike his "prisoners," Sheridan is being well fed and well treated. The reporter says that there are rumors that Michael Garibaldi, former B5 head of security, turned in Sheridan to Earth. ISN extends their personal thanks to Garibaldi, a "true hero of the people."