Babylon 5: A Call to Arms

Meanwhile, on Earth and Minbar, preparations continue...

...for next month's celebration marking the fifth anniversary of the Interstellar Alliance.

Aside from one brief conflict with the Centauri Republic early in its first year...

...ISA President John Sheridan has delivered on his promise...

...to maintain peace among all its member worlds.

Although ISA Vice President Delenn continues to make appearances...

...during these preparations, Sheridan himself has not been seen for several days.

Speculations on his absence ranged from the flu to a goodwill mission to Narn.

In other news, ground was broken today in Earth Dome for a monument...

...dedicated to the many who died in the recent telepath crisis, including...

That's him.

All right, move us away as soon as he's onboard.

Tell them to have some dinner ready. He's probably hungry. And if he's not, I am.

I appreciate you getting into this, Michael. I haven't been able to be as involved...

...in the construction of the new ships as I'd have liked.

You got a galactic empire to run. Leave the nuts and bolts to the other guys.

Kicking butt is what I do for a living.

Speaking of which, how are things going on Mars?

Couldn't be better.

You know, I never figured myself for the corporate type.

I mean, think about it, me... Me, running Edgars Industries...

...one of the 10 biggest corporations on Mars. I mean...

But I, you know, I love it.

But you know me...

...if there's something I can do to help, I'm here.

Good.

I take it you have talked to the head of construction.

- What's his name, Drake? - Drake.

I've talked, I've yelled, I've screamed. He's a bright guy...

...but he has to get everything just perfect before he'll sign off on it.

Since nothing's ever perfect, nothing gets finished.

I understand his caution. A job like this...

...reverse-engineering Minbari and Vorlon technology so it'll work with human tech?

I mean, it's never been done before.

Yeah, but once we're done, you are gonna have the leanest and meanest...

...fleet on the block.

Of course, once the other races find out about it, they are gonna go nuts.

I know. So far, though, we've been able to hide the funding...

...and Delenn's kept everyone's attention back on Minbar...

...getting ready for the anniversary. Nobody knows we're even here.

Yeah, we hope.

- Excuse me, Mr. President? - Yeah?

We've cleared all the shipping lines. We're ready to jump.

Good. Proceed.

One thing's for sure, even if anybody does know we're here...

...no one's gonna be able to follow us from here on out.

I haven't seen anything yet that could keep up with a White Star on full burn.

Galen.

Galen!

- The circle requires your presence. - I'm busy.

They know of your activities.

You will come to them...

...or they will come to you.

Either way, you will be called to account.

We are all called to account sooner or later.

And to whom am I supposed to explain my behavior this time?

To everyone involved.

Everyone?

Must be a very large room.

- Galen. - All right. All right.

Show me the way.

The long road.

But then, it always is a long road, isn't it?

And you...

You may be called to account even sooner than you imagined.

Mr. President. We've arrived at the rendezvous point, sir.

Good. Lock in coordinates, prepare to jump to normal space.

Ready to jump at your command.

Jump.

Should be coming into visual range any time now.

I hope this was worth it.

I haven't seen anything on these ships since the initial designs came across my desk.

If it's anything like what I saw here a week ago...

...I think you're gonna like this. Yeah, I think you're gonna like this a lot.

There she blows.

Our first two prototype destroyers.

Mr. President, Samuel Drake. It's an honor to meet you, sir.

- Mr. Garibaldi, it's good to see you again. - I can tell.

So let's begin the tour, shall we?

So far, we've only been able to get the gravitetic propulsion system...

...to provide a workable gravity of slightly less than 1 G.

After three months of trying...

...Mr. Garibaldi suggested that we declare victory and move on.

I figured less than a full G was better for everybody anyway.

I kind of like the idea that every time I come onboard I weigh 5 pounds less.

Incidentally, sir, I wanted to thank you for bringing me aboard.

It's not easy for Mars-born citizens to get work on major Earth contracts.

Well, I don't have much patience for that kind of politics.

Under the terms of the Alliance...

...Mars-born and Earth naturals are entitled to equal opportunities.

Besides, you were highly recommended.

We decided on a non-standard bridge configuration...

...based on the submarine model. Linear instead of circular.

From the captain's chair, it's a straight throw back and across...

...to the other compartments.

Map room.

Conference room.

Navigation and helm controls. Com system. Weapons.

We designed the controls along Earthforce lines...

...to make them easier for us to deal with. The system's very intuitive.

You can run it like almost any other ship.

It's what's inside that sets her apart from anything else that's out there.

How does she handle?

We don't actually know.

Well, we wanted to wait until you got here and she was completely fitted out.

Don't you think you should find out whether or not this thing...

...will actually go anywhere before you spend a lot of time polishing the chrome?

What if this new propulsion system doesn't work?

All the tests have indicated that...

Yes?

Message for President Sheridan on Stellarcom. It's Delenn.

You can take it in the conference room, Mr. President.

Attention. Reactor is back online.

Repeat, reactor is back online.

Drake...

...did I or did I not tell you to take her out before I got back here?

Did I not introduce you to the theory that it doesn't have to be perfect...

...let's just see if it works? - Yes, but...

Well, then, let me introduce you to a new theory:

Shut up and do exactly what I say.

- Now, ease her out of space dock. - Yes, sir.

Cast off ties, prepare to ease away from space dock.

- Engines are good to go. - Ready to engage at your command.

- Power up. - I'm sure there won't be any problems.

Engage main engines.

- Drake... - Tracking power loss.

...was that a problem? - So it would seem, sir.

Message received. Ready to display.

Okay, let me see it.

Mr. President?

Mr. President?

You okay?

You were in here almost half an hour.

Oh, no, I just got here.

The message was scrambled, gibberish. Must've hit some kind of interference.

You were looking at gibberish for 20 minutes.

You wanna do that, swing by my place some time...

...I'll show you some 20th century television.

Look, Drake has a few bugs to work out.

It's nothing serious, but it's gonna take a little while.

So why don't you get some rest and we'll finish up the tour later.

Fine. Fine.

Good idea. I guess I'm more tired than I thought.

And now, we're gonna figure out how to get this thing moving.

Or you're gonna go outside and push.

Things were so much easier on Babylon 5.

Weapons violation. Weapons violation.

Ma'am?

Ma'am!

Can I see you over here?

I guess you didn't read the postings outside.

Babylon 5 has a strict weapons policy. Now, either you give me...

...whatever you're carrying or I'll have to ask you to leave the station.

All of it.

You can pick it up when you leave.

Thanks.

Where do the lost people go?

- Who? - The forgotten, the castoffs, the neglected.

The lost people.

Downbelow. Brown Sector.

Do you hear that?

- Hear what? - Listen.

- I don't hear anything. - Exactly.

No birds, no animals...

...no voices, no machines...

...no insects, starships...

...or music.

You are hearing the sounds of a dead world.

A murdered world.

- An attack? - A test.

Can you imagine?

All this, just for a test.

- This is a dream. - No, not a dream. A nightmare.

And if sometimes dreams come true...

...then what of our nightmares?

- Who are you? - A friend.

My name is Galen. I called to you earlier.

The message from Delenn. That was me.

I apologize for the deception.

A connection was necessary for the electron incantation.

- I thought you said this world was dead. - It is.

The killers have returned to check on their handiwork.

We should go.

I doubt they can pick up on my probe, but there's no point risking it.

Remember what you have seen.

They must have got it fixed.

Well, it ain't pretty, but at least it'll get us out to the firing range.

- You get to live another 10 minutes, Drake. - Yes, sir.

Thank you, sir.

Good night!

No.

No, I can't be back.

- I can't. - Can't you?

- Aren't you? - You.

This is not your world, Dureena Nafeel.

But it shares the same fate as your world.

When the time comes to choose your target, be sure to pick the right one.

Because you will only get one shot.

You were having a bad dream.

And have awakened to another.