Babylon 5 (1994–1998): Season 5, Episode 4 - A View from the Gallery - full transcript

A day in the life of 2 maintenance workers on Babylon 5. As crisis arises, they encounter the command staff, and the ambassadors each dealing with the crisis.

Lochley. Go.

We've got something on the long-range
hyperspace probes, captain.

- Is it them?
- It could be. They destroyed the probe...

... before we could get much information.

On my way.

- Anything else on the scanners?
- Not yet. They're at maximum range as it is.

Keep scanning. All right, people,
we don't have confirmation yet...

...but it may be the scout fleet
the Gaim warned us about.

They're the advanced wing
of a hostile alien force...

...that's scouting out this sector
for likely worlds to invade.

For "likely" read "soft and vulnerable."



Our task is to make sure
they either don't leave here...

...or they leave convinced
that we are neither soft nor vulnerable...

...and way too much trouble to invade.
We win this battle, they go away...

...we save ourselves a great deal
of trouble in the future.

We lose, this will get
a hell of a lot worse. Let's get ready.

I want all civilian traffic
moved out of the area.

- President Sheridan been notified yet?
- As soon as we got the signal.

I want a life pod for him and Delenn
in case things get out of control.

- He won't leave. Neither will Delenn.
- Leave that to me. I'll talk to them.

If I have to knock them out
and stick them in a pod, I'll do it.

- Just get it ready.
- Aye, captain.

Captain Lochley to Cobra Bays.

Launch defensive wing number one.
I confirm we are on standby for red alert.

Repeat, we are now
on standby for red alert.



Come on, let's go!
Let's go! Pick it up! Move it!

This is not a drill.
All station commanders report to C & C.

- Looks like another red alert.
- Yeah.

Third one this month.

Seems like every week
something goes wrong here.

And we have to clean it up.

- Never think about that part, now, do they?
- Probably never even crosses their minds.

You got that right.
Wonder what this one's about.

Don't know.
I guess we'll find out in a little bit.

And so it begins.

- There is a hole in your mind.
- What do you want?

No one here is exactly what he appears.

Nothing's the same anymore.

Commander Sinclair is being reassigned.

Why don't you eliminate
the entire Narn Homeworld?

I see a great hand
reaching out of the stars.

President Clark signed a decree
declaring martial law.

These orders have forced us
to declare independence.

Unless your people get off their
encounter-suited butts and do something...

- You are The One who was.
- lf you go to Z'Ha'Dum, you will die.

Why are you here?
Do you have anything worth living for?

I think of my beautiful city
in flames.

Get out of our galaxy!

We are here to place President Clark
under arrest.

- Mr. President, I insist...
- You can insist till your heart's content.

- I am not leaving. Neither is Delenn.
- We don't know what we're getting into.

We have no information
on the disposition of the enemy forces...

...their weapons, strength,
and all the White Stars are out.

- They won't get back...
- I understand.

No, sir, I don't think you do.

Now, my job is to protect you and
this station, not necessarily in that order.

- That part I understand.
- I can't do my job...

...protecting the station
if I have to worry about you.

Just give me a little peace of mind
on the one front, sir.

That'll give me the freedom
to take care of all the rest.

If our positions were reversed...

...what would you do?

The same.

So you'll link to the life pod,
and we'll know your whereabouts?

- I'll do what I can.
- Mr. President, it's vital...

- You hear that, Bo?
- Yeah.

That's why I like Sheridan. Always have.

A lot of these bigwigs, they're only worried
about protecting their own skin.

Sheridan, he's down in the trenches
with everybody else.

He is that. One day,
I was working Grey Sector...

...and he came running after a guy
who stabbed Delenn.

You could see it in his eyes.
He was ready to kill this guy.

Anybody else would have
let Security take care of it.

But Sheridan chased him down
and put him down so hard...

...the guy didn't get up for three days.

You've seen him and Delenn together, right?
Now, that's true love, my friend.

- You don't see that very often.
- Very true. He's a good man.

Yeah, a good man.

I heard he was dead once.

Yeah, well, nobody's perfect, Bo.

- Hey, Mack, can I ask you a question?
- Shoot.

- What the hell are these things for?
- What do you mean?

- I mean, what do they do?
- What do you mean, "What do they do?"

You run them along the floor like this.

Okay, so what does it do?
It's not any cleaner.

I don't know. Maybe it looks for cracks,
or it does something to the metal.

- Makes it stronger. I don't know.
- So you don't know what it does?

No.

Well...

...I guess it's time for lunch.
- Yep.

- What you got there?
- Hard salami.

Hard salami? How the hell
did you get hard salami up here?

- I know a guy.
- Yeah, well, introduce me sometime, okay?

I'm a little tired of the same old, same old.
I'm a little desperate here.

I can tell. What is that stuff?

Well, it's this spoo everybody's
talking about. The Centauri love it.

Ten credits an ounce,
if you can believe that.

What's it taste like?

It's hard to say, Bo.

Kind of spoo-ish, I guess.

No, you're supposed to say chicken.

Whenever you eat something strange...

...and someone asks, "What's it taste like?"
You're supposed to say "chicken."

It doesn't taste like chicken.

Okay.

- Okay, never mind.
- Want half?

- Trade you for the hard salami.
- I don't know.

Come on, Bo, be a guy.

Oh, man...

...this stuff is awful.

Ten credits an ounce,
if you can believe that.

- The Centauri love it?
- They go nuts for it.

No wonder their hair
stands straight up.

All sectors, enemy scout ship
is on vector to jumpgate.

Now entering full red alert.

Maintenance, we need someone in Medlab
and Observation Dome ASAP.

- How's the salami?
- It tastes like chicken.

All right, listen up, I want everyone that can
be moved cleared out of Medlabs 2 and 3.

We're going to need the space.
I want a prep for radiation burns...

...exposure to space,
trauma, lacerations and...

We got problems with the Isolab. It's only
giving us standard atmosphere options.

- We need to customize on the fly.
- System's probably locked up.

- Give me two minutes, and I'll get it online.
- Thanks.

All right, listen up,
check the protoblood stores.

See what we have on hand.
I want all synthetics on standby...

...ready to adapt to whatever comes in.
All right, let's go to work.

I just wish I knew what kind
of life forms we're in for.

- Makes it kind of hard to prepare.
- Why?

- Why what?
- Nothing. I didn't mean...

No, go ahead.
What were you saying?

It's just that, why bother?

Whoever they are, whatever they are,
they're coming here to kill us.

If I see one of them flopping on the deck,
gasping for air, I'm gonna let him buy it.

Well, that's your choice. I don't agree.

Why not?

Why not?

You know, some days,
I wonder the same thing, all right?

Sometimes it's like no one else
is playing by the rules, so why should we?

It does take it out of you
after a while, believe me.

Even so...

Now, see, the thing is,
I wasn't always going to be a doctor.

My father is career military,
just like his dad and his dad before him.

So it was just understood
that I would go the same way.

I even bought into it myself.
And then one day, l...

- You remember what happened to the lares?
- Yeah.

Yeah, that was right before
the Dilgar War.

We got caught in the middle of a civil war
between two midrange colonies.

Lares was shot down
and captured by enemy forces.

My father was first officer on the lares.

When that ship went down, there wasn't
much chance anybody would survive...

...or that any survivors would be
allowed to live by the enemy.

It took almost two months
for our forces to retake that base.

I remember watching ISN
when they opened up the enemy base...

...and three injured soldiers came out.
One of them was my father.

The base doctor kept him alive
over the objections of the CO...

...because he believed that life was sacred
and had to be preserved.

When I saw him walk out,
supported by the doctor...

...I knew right then that's what
I wanted to do with my life.

Of course, my father, he wasn't too happy
about it, but he always said...

...we had to go our own way.

So I did.

So when this is all over, I'll be out there
looking for anybody I can save...

...on our side or theirs,
because that's what I do.

That's what I would
want them to do for me...

...or for you.

So I need those atmospherics back online.

- You'll have it.
- All right.

- Hey, doc.
- Yeah?

So, what happened to the doctor
that helped your dad?

Shot and killed by his own men.

They said he was a traitor.

- What's the problem?
- I don't know.

It was working fine a moment ago
and then the wiring shorted out.

Let me take a look.

- Status?
- Working on secondary targeting console.

Primaries are online. We read three scout
vessels ahead of the main assault group.

We can't let any of them get back
to the main group. Make sure...

Here they come.

I can't get a lock.

They're coming around.
Delta Wing moving to intercept.

- Defense grid, prepare to fire.
- Defense grid, aye. Primaries locking on.

Fire.

- Splash bogey one.
- Target lock on bogey two.

Direct hit on bogey two.

They're trying to access
our defense information.

- Scramble the codes.
- Lf we scramble it, we can't use the system.

If they download our codes, the main fleet
can shut us down. Scramble it.

- Aye, captain.
- There's your problem.

- She's making a run for it.
- All fighters, I want that ship.

She's outrunning them. Out of range
of the primary weapons system.

- There you go!
- Secondaries back online.

Fire.

Yeah, that's your problem.

Had a bunch of these come in
on a food transport about a year ago.

Always getting in the wiring.

- Lieutenant, status?
- Defense grid fully operational, captain.

Good, because that was
only a taste of what's coming...

...just enough to soften us up
and scout out the area.

The rest of them won't be far behind.

We're in serious guano here, lieutenant.

Better alert the ambassadors
and go through emergency evac procedures.

Understood.

While you do that, I'm gonna go
have a little talk with Mr. Garibaldi.

- Hey, how'd it go?
- Another B1-5.

In C & C? Man, we're gonna
catch hell for that one.

Damned crawlers are all over the place.
Can you hand me that R-12?

Yeah.

So you get a chance
to see the new captain?

- Yeah.
- What do you think?

- Tastes like...
- Don't go there.

Okay. Hey, one thing's for sure...

...if I needed somebody to watch my back
in a fight, I'd pick her.

She's tough. She's smart.
I'm just glad she's on my side.

- Yeah, maybe.
- What do you mean?

- Nothing.
- No, no. Come on, you said it.

- You must have meant something.
- You just hear things. Rumors.

Like what?

Well, back when we were fighting Earth,
trying to get rid of President Clark...

...scuttlebutt is,
she was on the wrong side.

So were a lot of people. A lot of them
followed orders because they had to.

And some of them followed them
because they wanted to.

- So, what are you saying?
- I'm not saying anything.

You asked me what the rumor was,
and I told you.

You shouldn't listen to rumors, Bo.
This place is full of them.

When lvanova left, everywhere I turned,
somebody had an opinion on that one.

One guy said that she left because
she was heartbroken over that guy...

- Marcus.
- Marcus, right.

Then somebody else said
that she wanted a promotion.

Quit because she wasn't
getting paid enough money.

So which is it?

What difference does it make?
That's the military life.

People come, people go.
It's nobody else's business.

If I shouldn't listen to rumors...

...then why did you ask me
to tell you what they were?

I just like to stay informed, that's all.

Brown 9.

- Oh, man, we got Brown Sector again?
- I know, I know.

I thought Del Rey
was working Brown Sector.

Del Rey's down sick. He...

- Oh, damn it, captain.
- Blue 7. I need all the information.

How am I to know they could download
our tactical system?

You're supposed to be head
of Covert Intelligence.

Right now I'm not seeing a lot
of intelligence: Covert, overt or otherwise.

The Gaim didn't say anything about that.
When his people got hit...

- Did you ask him?
- No, I didn't ask him if they could scan us.

I also didn't ask them
if they could wax the hull.

Some of the questions I think about, and
some I don't. You can't think of everything.

That's the nature
of your job, Mr. Garibaldi.

If you can't handle it, I'll tell President
Sheridan to find someone who can.

Meanwhile, I suggest you
go back to the Gaim...

...and think up all those questions
you didn't think up before...

...because we have
an assault fleet on the way...

...and I'd like to have at least a fighting
chance of surviving the next 12 hours.

Well, trust me, the odds on that
are pretty damn small right about now.

- Pizza sounds good.
- No, can't get good pizza up here.

- I know a guy.
- Oh, here we go again.

I really hate it down here, Bo.

- The crawlers?
- Yeah, they've been in here too...

...but that ain't the problem.

It looks like we've had seepage
from the water reprocessing system again.

They keep tapping the pipes for fresh,
and they never close them up right again.

- Hand me those pliers.
- Sure.

You know, I was wondering...

...why don't they shut down the jumpgate
when this sort of thing happens?

- When what happens?
- Well, the captain was saying something...

...about an alien fleet.

Here you go.
They can't just shut down the gate.

The thing takes four, five days
to heat up and two days just to shut down.

Any faster and boom.

There's a lot of power
in those things, Mack, an awful lot.

And besides, if things get hot...

...you don't want to close off
your only route of escape out of here.

- This is Mack.
- You guys take care of that M- 17?

- Just finished, boss.
- Okay, get down to the sanctuary.

They need the place prepped
for some religious ceremony.

Heading out.

- They never give us a break around here.
- Amen.

We are strongly urging all residents
to stay in your quarters...

... until the current crisis has passed.

The first wing of the attack
is coming through.

I repeat, the first wing is coming through.

Maintenance, this is Mackie,
we're finished in here.

Going on break for a bit
unless you need us.

Negative. You're clear for now.

Almost pretty, isn't it?

Yeah, I suppose it is.

Sometimes it's easy to forget
those are our guys fighting out there.

All you see is the light, the color.

When you see red
that's one of ours going up.

- The green, that's the other guys.
- How can you tell?

You can't have an explosion unless
you have an atmosphere in the ship.

Our guys use oxygen. So when
the fuel core blows, it lights up red.

Those other guys use
some other atmosphere.

I don't know, carbon monoxide, something.

So when the thing blows
it's different. Green.

You figure this out
all by yourself, did you?

I asked one of the pilots the other day.
He told me all about it.

- Most of them act like we don't exist.
- Yeah, hotshots.

Yeah, but this one was okay.

Probably out there right now.

Hey, that was a red one.

- When did you get religious?
- I'm not. It's just respect, that's all.

Every time we get a little red star
born out there, somebody's life ends.

All they ever were gonna be,
all they were...

...all the people they knew,
all the people they loved...

...it's all gone.

They're fighting for us, Mack.
Don't ever forget that.

Take a look.

Yeah! Yeah.

One of the White Stars. Captain said
they wouldn't be back for a while.

This baby was closer to home
than the others.

- It sure looks pretty.
- You think?

Hell, yeah. What do you think?

I always thought they looked
like plucked chickens.

- What?
- Look, it's not my fault...

...they were designed that way.

Look, that's a breaching pod.

It looks like we're gonna
have us some guests.

Attention, all residents. You are advised
to move to the shelters at once.

We are being boarded.
I repeat, all personnel to the shelters.

You heard the man.

Computer, Blue 3.

- Come on, Blue 3.
- The system's shorted out.

- Oh, great.
- Let's just hope we're not between levels.

Manual override.

Get down! Get down!

- Close it up!
- I can't! Get out!

Holy...

Cover me! Cover me!

Zack, we need a medic here!

Watch your back! Watch your back!

Cover me!

What the hell are you guys doing here?!
Get out of here! We'll cover you! Go on!

Cover!

- Hey, Bo!
- Yeah?

- Next time, we walk, man!
- I'm with you.

You're safe.

I suggest you remain here
until the fighting stops.

- Yeah, but the fighting's right outside.
- Nonetheless, it is safe.

A fellow of infinite jest.

I knew him, Horatio.

It's Mack, actually. This is Bo.

- You knew this guy?
- After the fact.

He was killed just outside that door.

His helmet rolled in here
and stopped just where you're sitting.

At the moment of death,
there is a passing of energy...

...an explosion of consciousness.

It permeates everything in close proximity:

Your clothes, jewelry, anything.

We can still feel him.

What he was, what he did...

...his hopes and fears...

...and expectations.

It's still there for a few minutes.

Then it will disappear...

...joining him in silence.

Telepaths.

The telepaths we heard about,
the ones that Sheridan let live down here.

Well, we don't get assigned
to Brown Sector much anymore.

It's mainly the new guys
who get stuck with it.

I didn't mean anything by that.
It's just that we didn't...

Shouldn't you folks be in a shelter?
It's a lot less dangerous.

Though cruel and capricious, bringing us
into a world that fears us and hates us...

...nature did not leave us
entirely without protection.

Yeah.

- Yeah, maybe so. We should go.
- Yeah, we should go.

Oh, man, this close to the hull...

I mean, you really feel it
when we take a hit.

You know, this thing goes on much longer,
and we're gonna have a breach.

It's okay. Our guys will handle them.

- Do you think so?
- They're the best pilots in this sector.

I just wish I was
out there with them.

- Do you?
- Yeah.

- Sincerely?
- Bo.

Yeah, I sincerely do.

- Tell me that it matters to you.
- Bo, I don't...

Yes, it matters to me. Why?

What the hell?

Bo. Bo, you okay?

It's quiet outside.

The fighting seems to have
moved down the hall.

- I think we should be going, while we can.
- Yeah.

Goodbye.

My life here...

...absolutely intolerable,
completely inexcusable.

You would think we would be beyond
this sort of thing by now, wouldn't you?

And whose idea was it to send
the White Stars away at a time like this?

They are still returning from guarding
the Enfili Homeworld, as you well know.

I wasn't talking to you.

I was talking to the universe.

The universe...
The universe hates me, you know.

I don't know why. I have never done
anything to the universe to...

Well, all right, a few things...

...but after a while,
you would think it would be enough.

"Yes, we have had our little fun
with Londo Mollari for now.

Perhaps it is time to move on
and find someone else to play with."

You seem rather calm about all of this.

When I was a child, your people decided
that the rebellion by my people...

...needed to be discouraged.

So your people bombed seven
of our major cities...

...for six straight days, 31 hours a day.

You thought you could bomb us
into submission.

It didn't work then,
and it didn't work later.

We spent our days in shelters
we made ourselves.

We sang songs. We prayed.

We ate. We slept.

I spent my life in one such shelter
or another. I will tell you the truth, Mollari.

This is probably the closest thing
I have to a home.

Yes, well, don't start singing.
You'll frighten the children.

We have enough misery to deal with as it is.
We don't need to add more.

And where did you grow up, Mollari?

- What?
- It was a simple enough question.

While I was sitting in a bomb shelter
learning to hate your people...

...where did you spend
your time as a child?

Playing in the imperial gardens?
Learning Centauri table manners?

I was never a child.
I had responsibilities.

I've had responsibilities
for as long as I can remember:

Duty, honor, family.

- That explains a great deal.
- Really?

And what exactly
does it explain, G'Kar?

I spent my years in one shelter
after another, but sooner or later...

...I was able to leave the shelter
and walk out into the daylight.

You do not have that luxury.

You carry your shelter with you every day.

You did not grow up. You grew old.

I think I will see how things
are going out there.

I'll go too. Good idea.

What, are you afraid
I won't come back, G'Kar?

No, I'm afraid you will.

So how long you figure
they've been married?

Attention personnel, a second wave
is coming through the gate.

Repeat, a second wave
is coming through.

- Yeah?
- All hands are needed on Red 1.

We have fires on the deck burning
in from the hull.

On our way.

Let's go.

Yeah, all right. All right.

Where's that support?
Get it up here now!

- Delenn, listen to me.
- No.

- You have to get on the life pod.
- I refuse to leave.

That's what I said to Lochley,
and I was wrong.

Now, this isn't going well.
I need to know that you are safe.

- John, l...
- You two.

- Do you know where the life pods are?
- Yes, sir.

- Escort Ambassador Delenn there at once.
- But, sir, we were told...

Doesn't matter. I need everyone in Security
on the firing line. That leaves you.

See to it she gets there safely
and gets on the first available pod.

- Yes, sir.
- Now, go on.

With luck, the rest of the White Stars
will get here on time...

...and we won't even need the pods.
- What if we do? What if the station falls?

Then as you said to me once:

"I'll see you again in the place
where no shadows fall."

Go on.

Ma'am?

Ambassador.

The pods are this way.

- What is your name?
- Ma'am?

That was not a difficult question.

No, it's just...
Well, folks at your level...

I mean, we don't get asked that
a lot, ma'am. We just get orders.

My name is Mack, and this is Bo.
We're kind of a team.

Floaters, I guess you could say.

Guys in Maintenance have their own beat.
We get assigned to whatever needs doing.

We keep the place running
while the big boys are fighting...

...or making all the big decisions.

- Worker Caste.
- Yeah, I guess you could say that.

We're just about as Worker Caste
as you're ever gonna find up here.

If you don't mind,
the launch bays are this way.

- I was going to ask you a question.
- Ma'am?

If I'm launched in a life pod,
and let us say, shortly after the launch...

...the equipment is accidentally smashed
from the inside...

...what would happen to the pod?

- It'd crash into Epsilon 3.
- Or explode. It could explode.

Possible. It wouldn't be good
either way, ma'am.

I see.

Understand, that while I'm not a prophet,
I can tell you that...

...if I were going to be sent away
in a life pod...

...and forced to watch everything I love
and have fought for die before my eyes...

...without even a chance
to keep it together...

...the life pod would suffer
just such a terrible accident.

Now, time being circular,
if we know that this will happen...

...then we may as well assume
that it has happened already...

...and that the life pod
is not safe for me to enter.

The president is right, ma'am.
It's not safe here for either one of you.

I know, but it's home for both of us.

Ma'am.

You two really do love each other,
don't you?

Hey, did you see that smile?

I mean, it was like the sun coming out
from behind a cloud.

I did indeed. Suddenly, I think
I understand Sheridan a lot better.

- How so?
- Dead or alive, I'd claw my way out of hell...

...and straight through 10 miles
of solid rock to see that smile again.

- Yeah. What the hell was that, a hit?
- No, it didn't sound like one.

- Oh, yeah! All right!
- What? What is it?

The cavalry is here! Yeah!

Is that amazing or what?

I mean, they look like angels
swooping in out of the sky.

- You said they looked like plucked chickens.
- Not right now, they don't.

Hey, do you ever wish
you could be out there?

You know, riding fire
with the rest of them?

Sometimes, yeah.

Sometimes no, and sometimes
I wonder what the hell I'm doing here.

All of this is bigger than you.
It's bigger than me.

It's bigger than anyone
should ever have to deal with.

- Yeah, I know what you mean.
- Then I take a look at the rest of them:

Londo, G'Kar, Sheridan, Delenn.

And I think, "If they can handle it,
then I can handle it."

My mother used to tell me:

"God knows the age of every tree
and the color of every flower.

And he knows just how wide
your shoulders are.

And he'll never give you anything
to carry that's bigger than you can handle."

Then maybe that's what this
whole place is about.

That's what you have to do
to get by in a place like this.

- And what's that?
- Grow bigger shoulders.

- It looks like the fighting's stopped.
- Yeah.

- We best get back to work.
- I guess so.

- What a mess.
- I hear you. It's like this all over the place.

Hull needs work, we got air locks
shot out all over Brown Level...

...and you don't want to know what the
HAZMAT boys have waiting for them outside.

All that stuff: Body parts,
ship parts, fuel cores.

All of it has to be picked up
and taken away...

...or it'll float around
until it messes something up.

Yeah, typical. They call all the shots,
they get all the glory...

...we clean up all the mess.

Well...

...maybe not all the mess.

Cleanup detail is still working
on Bays 3 and 7.

They figure they'll have
the work done by 0900 hours.

Negative.
We have a transport due in at 8.

- They'll be done by then.
- Yes, captain.

So anything new
from the hyperspace probes?

Nothing. It looks like we got them all.

Not even one of them made it out to report
back on our weaknesses or situation.

Good, mission accomplished.
They'll move on to the next target.

Just hope it doesn't have
anything to do with us...

...or anybody else in this sector.

Roger that.

Ma'am? Captain? Captain Lochley!

Yes?

Well, captain...

I know you're new here and all,
and I just wanted to say...

...you're okay in my book, ma'am.

- Thank you.
- Yeah.

Medlab 4 reports a power loss.
Get a tech team on it.

Hello, Mack, Bo.

- Bo?
- Yeah?

- She remembered my name.
- Our names.

- I think I'm in love.
- She's married.

We could work something out.

- Will you come on?
- Yeah.

- So lunch?
- Sure, I'll treat. How about some spoo?

At 15 credits an ounce?
You're out of your...

[ENGLISH]