[instrumental music]
[man on PA] 'Passengers transferring from Starliner Azimov'
'to outbound flights should take shuttle 1A to docking area 7.'
'Emissaries..'
Commander Sinclair!
It is good to see you again.
And you. It's been a while.
This is my first officer
Lieutenant Commander Susan Ivanova.
Susan, Dr. Stephen Franklin
'our new medical chief of staff.'
It's a pleasure, I followed your work
while I was stationed back home.
We're honored to have you aboard.
Well, thank you.
Ran into Dr. Kyle at the transfer point
on Io, he sends his regards.
He's really looking forward to working with the president.
It's a great opportunity.
Well, with so many aliens migrating to Earth
we need more people like him back home.
So when do I start?
- As soon as you'd like. - Sinclair.
[male #1] 'I'm getting a disturbance in the jump gate, commander.'
'Thought you'd wanna check it out.'
Alright. On my way.
If you'll see the good doctor the rest of the way
I'll catch up with you later.
- Always this busy around here? - Yes, we like it that way.
[male #2] 'Dr. 416, I'm about to..'
Okay. What have we got?
Unidentified ship coming through the jump gate.
Frequency, silhouette, star drive
doesn't match anything we've seen before.
How long before it comes out of hyperspace?
Right now.
[dramatic music]
Trajectory's wild. She's out of control.
It's on a collision course, heading straight for us!
[music continues]
[male narrator] It was the dawn of the third age of mankind
ten 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 peacefully.
It's a port of call, a home away from home
for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs and wanderers.
Humans and aliens, wrapped in 2500,000 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.
[theme music]
[music continues]
[instrumental music]
- 'Response yet?' - Negative.
I'm gonna try to link up with the ship.
If I can't make it, you'll have to blow that ship
before it hits.
Why not destroy it now?
First contact protocol, lieutenant commander.
...clear and present danger.
If this is a new technology, a new race
I want that ship intact.
This is not a clear and present danger?
I must read the rulebook again. Open defense grid.
[rumbling]
- Defense grid activated. - Checking incoming ship.
Five by five.
[rumbling]
[dramatic music]
[Susan] 'One minute, thirty seconds to impact.'
Coordinating vectors for grapple.
[music continues]
- One minute to impact. - 'Closing in.'
[Sinclair] Twenty feet. Ten, five.
Activating grapple.
- 'Negative contact on grapple.' - Forty seconds!
Activating grapple.
- I'm not getting it. - Ten seconds.
If I don't get it in the next pass, you'll have to destroy it.
Understood. Standby defense grid!
Prepare to fire! On my mark, by the second.
[music continues]
Got it.
'Heading for flight bay.'
Tell Dr. Franklin to have the Medbay standing by.
...we may have his first patient.
[indistinct chatter]
- Commander? - Ambassador Delenn.
I heard about the rescue. Is the pilot alive?
Barely. Just got him into the Isolab in time.
Ship was pretty banged up.
Carbon scoring all over the place.
You mean that someone attacked his ship?
One more hit and it would've cracked like an egg.
Can't tell from the damage
if it was Raiders or something else.
We were able to analyze the atmosphere in his ship
for the Isolab, but that's all.
We have no idea who he is or what he is
or where he came from.
I have seen many kinds of life, commander.
Perhaps I can help identify him.
We'll take all the help we can get.
Blood pressure is rising. Respiration up 12%.
So that's good, right?
For a human, yes.
In this case, it may be good
or he may be hyperventilating
before his heart explodes all over the Isolab.
Ask a silly question, get a silly answer.
- How's he doing? - Doc says it's 50-50.
Either way, I'd stay on this side of the glass
'if I were you. Trust me on this.'
Have you finished going over his ship?
Not yet. Parts of it is sealed.
'I don't wanna laser our way in'
'until we know what's inside.'
Shak Tot!
- Shak Tot! - What's that supposed to mean?
No! What are you doing?
What's the matter with you?
Kill it. You have to kill it, commander.
Put it back in the ship, shoot it into space
fire it into the sun!
But you have to kill it quickly!
You're not making any sense. Why? Why should we kill him?
You don't know?
You don't know what that thing is?
It is Shak Tot.
It is a Soul Hunter.
Get it off this station now
before it's too late.
Before...someone dies.
[dramatic music]
I apologize for my behavior, commander.
It's just..
...you do not know these things as I do.
Then educate me.
Delenn, I've known you almost two years
and I've never seen you react so violently before.
Training.
Even as children, every Minbari is taught to be careful
or the Soul Hunter will come in the night
and steal their souls.
They are immortal.
No one knows who they are or where they came from
but they can sense death, commander.
They are drawn to death like insects drawn to the light.
Why? What do they get out of it?
An object for their collection.
They have the power to steal your soul
at the very instant of death.
They are thieves, commander.
They steal your innermost thoughts
rip away from you that which is eternal.
'Not every soul.'
Only those they consider to be of sufficient value.
They have always taken particular interest
in certain classes of Minbari.
You must believe me, commander.
As long as the Soul Hunter remains here
everyone in this station is in terrible danger.
Send it away..
...while you still can.
[instrumental music]
[male #3] 'Watch it, people.'
[laughs] Hey, Hoster, how are you? Okay, step right up.
Here we go, here we go. Place your bets. Place your bets.
One red ball, three cups.
All you gotta do is find the little red ball.
Notice it's not here. It's not here.
Round and round she goes.
Where she stops, nobody knows. Alright, son. Go ahead.
Pick a winner! Be a winner! Be a winner! Win!
Double your money! Double your money!
Oh, I'm awfully sorry.
[male #4] 'Okay. Place your bets. Place your bets. Here we go.'
'On the red ball. Here we go.'
[indistinct chatter]
[instrumental music]
[Garibaldi] 'I just got back from the Alien Sector.'
'It's-it's kind of strange.'
The place is practically deserted.
It's as if they're hiding.
The place is shut down tighter than a drum. I'll link in later.
Interesting, we've had nearly a dozen ships
ask to leave the station immediately.
And some of them weren't due to leave for weeks.
The one thing they have in common is they're all aliens.
I think word's gotten out about our friend down in the Isolab.
[male #4] 'Alright, here we go. Now, remember, ball's right here..'
Place your bet. Place your bet. Place your bet. Place your bets.
You notice it's not here. It's not here, okay?
Get your money down. Money down. Here we go.
Round and round she goes. Where she stops, no one knows.
[chuckles]
Oh, I'm sorry, son. You're a loser..
It's not here either! Hey, hey, stop him!
Come back here!
[dramatic music]
Can you hear me?
Can you understand me?
This is Medlab One. I need a translation team, stat.
[mumbles]
No!
I have been to your world.
[music continues]
Can, can you feel it?
Feel what?
[music continues]
Low.
Quick.
Muffled.
Terrified.
[dramatic music]
[grunts]
[groans]
[heart beating]
It comes.
[music continues]
[groans]
It comes.
- What have we got? - 'A knifing.'
[male #5] 'We have the perp in custody.'
- What about the victim? - 'En route to Medlab.'
- I'll be there in one. - 'Roger.'
[intense music]
Quick flash.
The deep blue of pain.
But I need 20 CCs of myceotoxin now!
Critical heart wound, upper vena cava punctured, serrated artery.
Laser cauterization on the table.
Dull. Muffled.
Slower now.
[beeping]
I'm losing him.
[Soul Hunter] 'Closer.'
Over your shoulder.
It comes, the transition.
A shadow.
The long exhalation of the spirit.
Can you see it, healer? Can you see it?
Someone kill that speaker.
[beeping]
Activating full-torso stimulation. Ready? Now.
[beeping]
Again.
[female #1] 'Flat line.'
Gone.
Turn that speaker on.
Gone now.
'Gone.'
If you could only see..
[speaking in foreign language]
[Sinclair] 'I'm going to ask you again to identify yourself.'
Who are you?
[speaking in foreign language]
Where are you from? What happened to your ship?
We checked the Medlab records.
The stabbing took place at 11:02:13.
Your reactions at exactly that moment
show you knew he was dying. How?
[speaking in foreign language]
Did you come here for his soul?
'Well, we've heard, if that's what you're wondering.'
I've never met a Soul Hunter before.
Don't know if I should believe any of this or not.
[speaking in foreign language]
Well, I don't think he's going to cooperate.
I don't blame him.
Who wants to admit to being a thief
a stealer of souls?
We are not thieves!
We are preservers!
Thought that might get your attention.
We act only for the greater good!
The Minbari don't seem to think so.
Minbari, pale, bloodless.
'Look in their eyes, you see nothing but mirrors.'
Infinities of reflection.
Will not let us help them, no.
What exactly is a Soul Hunter?
Ask Commander Minbari friend.
We are drawn to the moment
'the moment of surrender'
the instant of loss between despair and ecstasy.
When the flesh fails on all that remains behind
the soul, we save.
'Not all.'
Only the special ones.
Leaders, thinkers, poets
dreamers, blessed lunatics.
And what do you do with these souls
after you've saved them?
We enshrine them.
Worship them.
We talk to them, listen.
We learn.
[chuckles]
Well, this is nonsense.
It's patent superstition. It can't be done.
With, with the right technology
'maybe you could encode the personality matrix'
'and produce a clone of someone's mind.'
But the idea of taking someone's soul?
Ridiculous, yes.
So let me go.
Not yet.
What is it between you and the Minbari?
Minbari..
Jealous.
Selfish. Private.
We have saved only a few.
Very rare.
Rarest of all, their leader, Dukhat, dying.
Your fault. Your war.
'The pinnacle of Minbari evolution.'
We came, I, others.
They made a wall of bodies to stop us.
He died..
'...and his dreams..'
'...his ideas.'
All that he was
all that he could ever be
gone, wasted.
Jealous.
Gone.
Can he leave here without a breather unit?
[Franklin] 'Well, it's hard to say. This is his natural atmosphere.'
But his lungs seem capable of processing oxygen as well.
Then you'll need a guard.
I'll have somebody from Security here within the hour.
Personally
I don't believe you can do what you say.
But your presence here is disrupting this station
and causing tension among the alien population.
They consider you to be a clear and present danger.
And I have no reason to question their judgment.
You can stay in the Isolab until your ship is repaired
and you're fit to travel.
As soon as that happens, I want you off this station.
Any questions?
[speaking in foreign language]
He's all yours, doctor.
[indistinct chatter]
I finished the autopsy of the stabbing victim.
We're clear to handle the burial.
Have the next of kin signed off
on the death certificate?
Yes, they can't afford
to send the body home. Here.
Shuttle 5, you're clear to proceed.
[male #6] 'Confirmed, Babylon Control.'
[instrumental music]
[beeping]
From the stars we came and to the stars we return
from now until the end of time.
We hereby commit this body to the deep.
[whooshing]
Something, doctor?
It's all so brief, isn't it?
Typical human lifespan
is almost 100 years.
It's barely a second compared to what's out there.
Wouldn't be so bad if life didn't take
so long to figure out.
Seems you just start to get it right
and then...it's over.
[Susan] 'It doesn't matter.'
If we lived 200 years, we'd still be human.
We'd still make the same mistakes.
You're a pessimist.
I am Russian, doctor.
We understand these things.
[dramatic music]
What do you want, Minbari?
Soul Hunters never travel without their collection.
Where is yours?
Safe. My children are safe.
We talk together of many things.
'They are many and wise'
'and rare.'
'The finest souls.'
Are any of them Minbari?
Understand this.
Before you leave, I will search your ship
rip every panel, tear up every floor!
I will gut it from end to end
until I find the souls you have stolen from us!
And what will you do then?
Free them.
- Release them. - You mean kill them.
They will join with the souls of all our people
melt one into another
until they're born into the next generation of Minbari.
Remove those souls, and the whole suffers.
We are diminished.
Each generation becomes less than the one before.
[Soul Hunter] 'A quaint lie.'
Pretty fantasy.
The soul ends with death
unless we act to preserve it.
We will help you..
...in spite of yourselves!
I know you.
You were there at the death of your leader, Dukhat.
We stopped you from taking
what which you have no right to take!
You stopped me from saving him.
That is where it began to go wrong.
The lost souls
one after another after another.
'Voices stilled.'
'I failed'
'because you stopped me.'
Failed.
The pattern began.
I remember.
They called you Satai Delenn of the Grey Council.
'Curious.'
Curious.
What is one of the great leaders of the Minbari
doing here playing ambassador?
[instrumental music]
[glass shattering]
Med alert! Isolab One!
Med alert!
[buzzing]
[dramatic music]
[instrumental music]
Be at peace, my children.
I now know what has brought us to this place.
At last I know
who we have come for.
How's the guard doing?
Doctor says he suffered a mild concussion
but he'll be alright.
Any idea where the hunter is now?
My boys are looking everywhere.
We know he got to his ship before we did.
We checked it out and found a cabinet
that wasn't there the first time we went over the place.
Did a good job of hiding it.
- Anything inside? - Negative.
Whatever was there, he's got it now.
My guess is he'll head toward the Alien Sector
assuming he hasn't already done so.
'He'd draw too much attention elsewhere.'
Agreed. Only thing I can't figure out is why.
Even if his ship were operational
he can't leave anyway.
'We've got security all over the docking bays.'
He's alone. What's he after?
Delenn says these hunters are drawn to death.
'The more important the person about to die'
'the more they're drawn to it.'
If that's the reason, all we have to do
is figure out who's about to die.
[dramatic music]
Part!
- You are N'grath? - Yes.
I sell
provide, fix.
Do you know what I am?
Yes. You wish to buy?
Yes.
I require a guide to this place.
All the secret ways
corners, tubes
places to hide, places to run
ways in and ways out.
Difficult.
Requires level-five security.
Earthers only.
Very expensive. You can afford?
I must.
I have a mission.
A soul will be lost if I do not act.
This I cannot allow.
[Susan] 'Confirmed Epsilon 3, you're cleared for jump.'
You may proceed to gate.
How many ships are still in holding?
Three more. Um, standby.
There's a ship coming through the gate.
Confirmed. Entry in five seconds.
- Nothing's scheduled. - Don't tell me, tell that.
[rumbling]
[instrumental music]
Two Soul Hunters.
Did somebody book a convention
without telling me?
Alright, patch me through.
[Sinclair] 'This is Commander Jeffrey Sinclair of Babylon 5.'
'Please identify yourself.'
You know who and what I am.
I must dock at once.
Someone is about to die.
And if we refuse access?
Then there will be more than one.
We'll clear you for docking, we'll link instructions
directly to your nav system.
'If I may ask, who are you here to see?'
I am here to see you, commander
and quickly, before it's too late.
[intense music]
[dramatic music]
...going to be like. I don't think you should meet this guy.
I don't like the look of this, I don't like the sound of this
hell, I don't like anything about it.
Ask me, that comment sounded like a threat.
I'm not so sure. There was something in his voice.
Not aggressive. Nervous.
Fine. Let him be nervous. Look, you wait here.
- Let my people deal with him. - Sorry.
I really hate it when you get heroic.
Cuts into my business. Man's gotta earn a living, you know?
[buzzing]
[instrumental music]
You are the commander?
Yes.
I have come for you to warn you.
One of my brothers is here, yes?
That's right. Why?
- You said you had to warn me. - About him.
I fear he is disturbed.
Deeply, deeply disturbed.
Every moment he remains here
places this station in terrible danger.
Someone is about to die, commander
and it will be at his hands.
In the hope that we can open trade relations
with their people..
[beeps]
Come.
[door whirring]
I have come for you, Satai Delenn
to save your soul..
...at any cost.
He was ordered to preserve the soul of the Minbari leader.
Each time he was prevented or arrived at the death too late
souls were lost, our order was disgraced.
He was always fragile.
Then he became obsessed with the fear of losing souls.
One day he said he found a solution to the problem
and vanished.
And this solution?
To stop waiting for death.
The fear, the danger of arriving too late
became too great for him.
Now when he finds someone worthy of preservation
he does not wait, does not risk.
He kills them to capture their souls.
Our order does not support this.
We've tracked him to a dozen worlds arriving too late
and others have paid the price.
We almost captured him two days ago
but he escaped, his ship damaged..
[device beeping]
- Garibaldi. Go! - 'Jackson in Green 2, chief.'
[Jackson] 'Just came on duty and found Henson. He's been stunned!'
Green 2, that's the ambassadorial wing.
Delenn.
[Soul Hunter] 'You and the others'
'you stopped me.'
Shamed me before my brothers.
I failed to preserve your leader.
His wisdom, knowledge
gone forever.
Wasted.
I failed.
There must be balance.
Your soul
'one of the Grey Council itself'
'will atone for my failure.'
I give you a great gift.
To live forever..
...in here.
I will be careful.
'You'll hardly feel it when your body dies.'
[intense music]
[crackling]
[Delenn] 'No! No!'
[dramatic music]
'Let me go!'
Let me go!
Shh.
Do not discomfort your soul!
I could just take it.
I could rip your soul from your body!
But this damages the soul.
A peaceful death.
A clean transfer.
[Delenn groaning]
I do not wish you any discomfort.
See, it goes through here
the artery.
And your heart beats
low, quick
muffled.
The blood pounding out
through here.
'And then it slows..'
'...and slows..'
'...and stops.'
You will feel as if you are falling.
Do not be afraid.
I will be here to catch you.
She's gone, alright.
As I told you, it's too late.
But he cannot escape this time.
We'll bring him back after the death.
There's not going to be a death. Not if I can help it.
I'm sorry. It's inevitable. A Soul Hunter is never wrong.
Here. You say you can sense death.
You're drawn toward death.
Here. Show me!
The moment comes.
It moves, calls, sings low.
Quickly, here! Here!
[dramatic music]
[Soul Hunter] 'Closer now.'
'It comes, the transition.'
[music continues]
- Anything? - Alright.
Search by quarters. Take the section below.
Garibaldi, you take this level. I'll go topside.
Lock and load.
[dripping]
[instrumental music]
Close now.
Enough for a glimpse into your soul.
You have planned such a thing?
You would do such a thing?
Incredible.
[intense music]
[Sinclair] 'Delenn?'
No. Not again!
Not again!
[zapping]
Leave us alone!
[groans]
[dramatic music]
Why do you fight for her?
Don't you understand?
She is Satai!
I have seen her soul!
They're using you.
They're using you!
What are you doing? You...
You don't know what you're doing.
My children!
My children. Listen. Listen.
I, I never meant any harm.
Listen, listen to me!
You listen to me!
'Children!'
[crackling]
[dramatic music]
[crackling]
[thuds]
Delenn?
'Delenn.'
[instrumental music]
- 'Commander.' - How's she doing?
Better. She has a strong constitution.
Amazingly strong, really.
I mean, losing that much blood would have killed a human.
Explains why they fought so well during the war.
They just kept going no matter
how great the injury or loss of blood.
So I hear you saw something.
Yes.
Something.
Uh, well, uh, do you think
you can be a little more specific?
I'm not sure.
I don't know if I'll ever be sure.
Well, I, I still don't believe it.
And I'd be careful if I were you, commander.
That sort of talk will get you sent off
on a very long vacation.
[beeping]
I knew you would come.
You should rest.
We were right...about you.
Who was right?
They..
[breathing heavily]
- Delenn? - No..
No, no, it's okay. She's just sleeping.
Whatever she had to say, we'll wait
until she's back on her feet.
Yeah, I'll bet you half a year's salary
she doesn't finish that sentence.
[instrumental music]
Computer.
[computer chiming]
Keyword search, Minbari language.
Designated keyword..
What was it?
Satai.
[computer] 'One reference. Satai, honorific.'
'Title applied to ruling body known as Grey Council.'
Why would a member of the ruling body
be assigned ambassadorial duties?
That's like assigning the vice president.
[computer] 'Unknown. Do you wish to make a further inquiry?'
No, not now.
It can wait.
There's always time.
[instrumental music]
Delenn lost a lot of blood.
But Dr. Franklin thinks he's got the situation under control.
Yes. If it were to go differently, I would feel it.
I have a message for you and your brothers.
Babylon 5 is off-limits to Soul Hunters.
I know you're doing what you think is best
but I can't allow it, not on my station.
I understand.
We are rarely welcomed. It is our lot.
Goodbye, commander.
If I may ask, what happened to my brother's collection?
Life's full of mysteries.
Consider this one of them.
[instrumental music]
[buzzing]
[wind chimes chiming]
[music continues]
[theme music]
[music continues]