The process of establishing themselves at their new base of operations is interrupted when the diplomat recieves a communication from the private detective (Romas Bondman) he had hired to locate Scrivener's niece, a possible link to the conspiracy. The PI reports sucess, but before he can reveal what he knows, he is attacked and the hyperspace link goes dead. Swiftly, the team rushes to Orion outpost, where the PI had been when attacked.

Arriving at the scene of the crime, the team discovers Bondman's office has been the scene of a fight, and written crudely in blood on the wall are the enigmatic words "After Before." The team begins their investegation, but they are somewhat hampered when another professional snoop tries to help. Fortunately, the new detective has important skills and contacts that becomes useful before the day is out.

The team gathers many clues, and they are finally able to deduce that the blood belongs to a wanted hitman, Terry Anthor, AKA the Assasin with 1,000 faces, master of disguise. Furthermore, checking shipping records they discover that Bondman has fled to Babylon 5. From the PI's computer records, they think they know which contact the PI learned the secret from, but that person is on the other side of human space. The team decides to follow Bondman to B5.

On B5, the team finds Bondman at the Zocalo and easily see through the rough disguise he had been using to try and hide from the assasin who may still be looking for him. As the team tries to bring Bondman to a safer place, the assasin opens fire and hits his target, but the alertness of the team, combined with quick thinking allows the team to save the now injured Bondman and pursue the killer. As they corner the assasin, he take a passerby hostage. It is a tense standoff as B5 security closes in on the scene. Then the team's telepath opens fire, killing the assasin and the hostage instantly. In the confusion, security opens fire and the telepath is seriously injured.

In Medlab, Bondman finally relveals to the team what he learned: That he believes Scrivener's niece was sold beyond human space as a slave! Finally, the team learns that Bondman had scrawled the message "After Before" in the assasin's blood after he had fought off the assasin's first attack as a clue for the team to meet him at Babylon 5. After B4, get it?

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