Babylon 5 s01e06 Episode Script

This is Earth Alliance Squadron Black Omega to stolen transport.
Surrender and prepare to be boarded.
If you attempt escape you will be fired upon and destroyed.
Do you understand? Repeat, surrender or There's a problem, commander.
- You missed a button.
- You're bright and cheerful.
Got an offer from Universal Terraform to survey and I'm seeing them today.
That's a big operation.
Sure you want to get involved? I've been around the block.
I can handle myself.
- You worry too much.
- You don't enough.
Perfect combination.
Gotta hurry.
See you at lunch? I'm meeting with the construction guild.
Have to make cuts.
- I'm not looking forward to it.
- It'll be fine.
It's been quiet, the place is on schedule.
What could go wrong? Confirm, Seven Tango Seven, you're clear.
Affirmative, Babylon Control.
I'm looking forward to my visit.
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.
I've wondered what it's like to be a telepath.
It's like staying in a hotel room where you can hear the people next door.
You can try and shut it out, but it's there.
Just don't listen unless you're invited.
Is it difficult to block out people's thoughts? Depends on the thoughts.
- Destination? - Blue 14.
Casual thoughts are easy to block, but strong emotions slip through whether you want them to or not.
Blue 14.
I think I'm in love.
Earth transport Spinosa is now embarking 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 more about the target? It's a class-four world, Sigma 957.
Not much atmosphere: mostly nitrogen and oxygen.
- And their sensor picked up diridium.
- Byproduct of Quantium-40.
We need that verified.
If so, we'll send out a probe so we're in accord with the regs on exploitation.
We can't afford that unless we know it's worth the effort.
How can it not be? There's a shortage of Q-40 on Earth.
- They're backed up on construction.
- We need absolute confidentiality.
I need your word you won't mention this to anyone, including the commander.
- My personal life has nothing to do - 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.
Commander? Some VIPs here to see you, sir.
Send them in.
No, it's a fine time 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 in my head.
I thought the Psi Corps had rules.
There are rules, and there are rules.
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 latitude in the interest of efficiency.
- Yes, I'm sure, Mr Bester.
This is my associate, Ms.
Kelsey.
We're looking for a rogue telepath.
We believe he's on this station.
We need to meet with your resident telepath and your security and command personnel.
We'll proceed I won't turn this station upside down because you're hunting a rogue.
Not just a rogue, commander.
This is a special and dangerous individual whose presence threatens the entire Earth Alliance structure.
This is our guest room.
A vibe shower's in the back and through there - Price? - 500 credits per week based on Earth standard cycles.
- Fine.
- Lf there's anything else you need - No.
No, thank you.
Welcome to Babylon 5.
We are at your disposal with onboard facilities perfectly suited to human and non-human travelers.
For your shopping convenience the Zocalo is His name is Jason Ironheart.
You know him, Miss Winters.
He was my instructor at the Psi Corps Academy.
His job is to work with telepaths level P-5 through P-10.
Jamming, long-range scanning, that sort of thing.
- What's his Psi rating? - He's a 10.
All instructors are rated P-10.
- And Psi Cops? What are you rated? - P-12.
Someone has to watch the rest.
Yes, but who watches the watchmen? One year ago, Jason Ironheart was reassigned to Earth Intelligence working on a covert operation.
- What kind of operation? That information is on a need-to-know basis.
You don't need to know.
Let's say that what's in his brain would compromise Earth defense and lead to the death of many operatives on other worlds.
We think he'll sell that information to other governments.
Nonsense! Jason would never do that.
Our job is to find him and bring him back.
Alive if possible.
Dead if necessary.
Have you had any contact with him since you left the academy? Letters, the last was a year ago.
You know we'll have to scan you to be sure.
Is that necessary? I'm telling you the truth.
Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
- Lf she doesn't want to be scanned - She's required to submit.
If she's seen or heard from him, his fingerprints will be in her thoughts.
The process is not pleasant.
You may stay or leave as you choose.
That's enough.
I said that's enough! She's telling the truth.
She hasn't seen him.
Surprising, given your prior involvement.
If Ironheart hasn't shown yet, he will.
We must be informed at once.
Do not attempt any contact with him.
Especially you, Miss Winters.
Do not approach him.
Do not speak to him.
Is that clear? Yes.
You can go now.
What 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.
Talia.
Talia, wait, please! - I can't see you.
The Psi Cops are here.
- I know.
Listen, Talia 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.
But it's okay.
We'll be safe for a while, at least.
I have to talk to you.
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, I'll have to kill them or they'll kill me.
But it's not just us.
There are thousands, millions of lives at stake.
Give me five minutes to explain, that's all.
Then, if you want me to leave, I will.
Please.
If you're trying to get at the commander No.
Whether you believe it or not, this is for your safety.
Sigma 957 is not a healthy place.
Strange things happen there.
There's no sentient life to threaten anyone.
Nonetheless, it is not safe.
I have passed through that sector.
- Look elsewhere.
- You want Sigma 957 for yourself.
The Narn government can't exploit a world that far away.
But you want to hold on to it anyway, out of sheer spite.
Considering what you were told about me, I'm sure you believe that.
Despite your long acquaintance with Sinclair, you're new here.
Let me pass on to 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 you.
I have contacts in the Narn Regime.
Then I fear the commander will miss you 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 P-5 into a P-10, and a P-10 into Into 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 who can block a 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 serotonin and acetylcholine to increase neural processing.
Five, 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 those years and then it blossomed.
I could cut through a block without 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 T-K tests you took just before you graduated? Yes.
I used a penny I've had since I was a girl.
I tried for days to make it move with my thoughts.
I couldn't.
Only one in every 1000 humans has telepathic abilities.
One in every 10,000 telepaths has telekinetic abilities and half of them are clinically insane.
That was the real purpose of 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 got a lead on Ironheart.
I checked the incoming ships and one was stolen.
- Where's it from? - Sector 15.
That's two jumps away.
That's where Ironheart was last seen.
If he hasn't booked passage out, he'll need a place to stay.
rented in the last 24 hours.
I want that guy found and out of here as fast as possible.
I don't like Psi Cops nosing around.
They're creepy.
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.
- Confirmed, Skydancer.
You're clear.
- Please log in sequence.
Primary gate to gates 141, 27 and 15B.
Confirmed.
Destination? Sigma 957.
- Open channel to Homeworld.
- Channel open.
Ambassador G'Kar requesting clear channel to Narn Military.
I require a Frazi-class heavy fighter for a mission.
Destination Sigma 957.
Make sure it's well-armed.
I thought they wanted telekinetics for big jobs.
Heavy construction or defense.
I mean, imagine: A telekinetic shield defending against weapons, for diplomats or presidents But they didn't want big.
No, they wanted mental control over small objects, the smaller the better.
- That doesn't make sense.
- No? Think about it.
You want to assassinate someone, so you get a telekinetic.
He reaches into a person's throat and 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 or poisons.
- Oh, my God.
- But they didn't understand, Talia.
- The power, how far it - Jason.
- What is it? - Get out.
Please, quickly.
I can't control this.
Get out! While you can.
What the hell? Mindquake.
- Have you got a fix on the disturbance? - Level 16, three sections down.
Just one problem.
Only way there is to go through that.
- What is it? - I don't know but it has Level 16 surrounded.
We can't get past it.
Bester said the threat this guy posed was on a need-to-know basis.
You ask me right now, we need to know.
Computer.
Projected ETA at Sigma 957? At maximum safe speed, project ETA at Sigma 957 at two hours, five minutes, All right.
Let's get this show on the road.
We had our orders.
I don't care if you had a message from God, complete with stone tablets.
You lied.
You withheld information.
Don't you think it might have helped to know? - We did what we thought was best.
- You were wrong.
And now I've got a half-dozen wounded on a section of Blue 16.
Every corridor and transport tube in to there is blocked.
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 experiment, he began showing signs of stress: Paranoia, psychoses.
One night, he slipped out of his room killed a researcher, and escaped.
Along the way, his telekinetic powers have grown stronger, more violent.
In his enhanced state, he's valuable.
Other governments might have tried to grab him.
We couldn't take that chance.
It was a calculated risk.
Good old Psi Corps.
You never cease to amaze me.
What do you do in your spare time? Juggle babies? There goes another calculated risk.
- You're not helping the situation.
- You are the situation.
We've seen how powerful he is.
How did you two plan to stop him? Ironheart was programmed with a fail-safe code to shut him down.
It has to be sent by a telepath directly into his brain.
- He must have defenses.
- We two are strong enough to burrow past his defenses and take him down.
But we have to be in the line of sight.
You have two 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 put you at risk everyone.
I never meant I never wanted I know.
I know.
We thought Psi Corps was run by the government but that's changing.
They're pulling strings behind the scene.
They're more powerful than you can begin to imagine.
Telepaths make the ultimate blackmailers.
I see it all.
And I see it all.
- Jason - There is no more Jason.
I am something else.
I am becoming - Becoming what? - Everything.
Computer, assume parking orbit around Sigma 957.
- Confirmed.
- Begin preliminary atmospheric survey.
Launch environmental probe on my mark.
Mark.
Receiving planetary data.
Logging in.
Good.
"Sigma 957 is not a healthy place.
Strange things happen there.
" Right.
- 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.
Jason's changing.
His powers are growing faster than he anticipated.
It's almost beyond control.
He doesn't want to endanger the station.
But what he's becoming leaves little choice.
He wants to see you alone and unarmed.
He'll drop his defenses only for you.
I know it's asking you to take a terrible chance, but it's our only one.
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 don't hear the voices.
He came to say goodbye, commander.
He came to say goodbye.
Computer, identify.
What the hell was that? Unknown.
- Computer - Ninety percent power loss.
Emergency power.
Negative emergency power.
Orbit deteriorating.
Estimate impact with Sigma 957 in two hours.
Computer, open tachyon channel to Babylon 5.
Insufficient energy reserves to establish communications.
- Scan for any nearby ships.
- Negative on scan.
Adjust orientation.
Maybe we can bounce off the atmosphere.
Negative.
Insufficient power.
Damn it, there's gotta be something I can do.
- Time to impact? - 1.
3 hours.
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 Psi Cops take him, they'll dissect him.
Find out what drugs release this power.
Can you imagine what they would do with it? What anyone would do with it? Which is why they say you shouldn't leave here alive.
Why should I trust you? I've already had six 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.
- Lf I'm distracted - 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.
You all right? - Condition green.
Garibaldi? - I'm here.
Have your security team clear Blue 16 to the docking bay.
I don't want anyone to know what's going on.
Is that clear? - Confirmed, commander.
What's up? - We're coming out.
Condition? Hull temperature to 700 degrees and climbing.
Entering atmosphere.
Two ships detected.
Now entering local space.
What? Where? Put it on the monitor.
Emergency.
This is Catherine Sakai of the Earth survey ship Sky - Of the Earth ship Skydancer.
We know.
- You what? Please identify yourself.
Captain Sh 'Drog of the Narn Regime.
We were dispatched to assist you.
Dispatched by whom? Ambassador G'Kar, 3rd Circle.
Stand by for grapple.
We will link up and escort you back to Babylon 5.
Sh 'Drog out.
Attention, please.
Will all nonessential personnel clear all corridors in sections Blue 16 through Red 4.
- What's going on? - Just a drill, sir.
- You're sure? - Yes, I'm Good.
Thank you.
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 Fail-safe code.
They're trying to shut him down.
Mindquakes.
They're distracting him.
He's losing control.
Let him go.
Do you hear me? Let him go.
- I won't go.
- Leave him alone.
You don't understand.
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! - We'll get a doctor.
- No.
No time.
Must get to the ship.
Hurry.
Hurry.
- What's he doing? - Nothing.
He's not moving.
He's just sitting there.
Picking up energy surge.
- How big? - Off the scale.
Talia? Jason? I have become.
In memory of love, I give you a gift.
The only gift I have to give.
Goodbye, commander.
I will see you again.
In a million years.
You realize my superiors will believe none of this? Yes, especially since, in about an hour we'll have a small accident that'll erase the file you just saw.
- What do you suggest? - Something close to the truth.
Ironheart's ship escaped, but exploded before the jump gate.
- Lf I refuse? - My report will mention how you endangered the station and through your interference caused the death of a Psi Cop.
- Not much of a choice.
- Your report will indicate that Talia Winters was not responsible for helping Ironheart.
She was under his control and should not be penalized.
- 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 telling the senator what Ironheart said about Psi Corps? 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 evidence, without Ironheart, it's his word against the Corps.
But I suggest we keep our eyes open just in case.
- Got that right.
How's Talia? - Better.
Resting.
Good.
I wonder what Ironheart meant when he said he gave her a gift? - Do you think she'd tell me? - No.
Ambassador G'Kar? Ms.
Sakai, I'm pleased to see that you have returned safely.
Yes, thanks to you.
Just one question.
Why? - Why not? - It's not an answer.
Yes, it is.
It's simply not an answer you like or expect.
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 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, I saw something.
What was it? What is this? - An ant.
- Ant? So much gets shipped from Earth, it's hard to keep them out.
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?", how would it explain? There are things in the universe billions of years older than our races.
They are vast, timeless, and if they're aware of us at all it is as little more than ants.
We have as much chance of communicating with them as an ant has with us.
We know, we've tried.
We've learned that we can either stay out from underfoot 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.
They must walk there alone.