Babylon 5: The River of Souls Page #5

Dismissed.

Captain!

How are you? I wanted to know if you had

time to consider your response to our suit.

- I don't have time for this, Mr. Riley.

- Well...

...unless you wanna concede the case,

I suggest a more constructive attitude.

We can discuss a settlement,

if you'd like.

If you hadn't noticed,

we're in the middle of a situation...

...so why don't you go chase an ambulance

and let me get back to my business.

I was hoping we could

work this out amicably...

...but apparently you prefer

a long, drawn-out court fight...

...which is fine with me, since you'll

be liable for all the court costs...

...in addition to statutory

and punitive damages.

See you.

Damages.

Damage him if he comes in here

one more time.

Absolutely.

I love you. I forgive you.

It's gonna be a long night.

Oh, honey, you look great.

After all those years

of working next door to you...

...I always wondered what it would be like.

Now I get to find out.

Honey?

Nataleena? Is it you?

Durfal, I would know you anywhere...

...no matter how you appeared

on the outside.

It's been so long, my husband...

...my life.

So long since I could touch you.

I'm still here.

And you shouldn't...

I didn't program in a threesome.

At least, I don't think I did.

That is, this isn't what I asked for

in my fantasy.

It was just supposed to be you.

Not to say that I'm opposed.

It's just, you know, not exactly what l...

My psychological profile, you know...

...did raise some questions.

And there was that one time at camp.

It was just that one time

and I didn't really think anything...

Well, I guess

I should leave you two alone.

- There's a problem with...

- Just a minute.

Right. I'll just wait right here.

Can I have one of those instead?

- Bab... Bab... BabCom. Please insert...

- Come on, you lousy piece of garbage!

- Use your Identicard...

- I already gave you my Identicard number!

- Thank... Thank you...

- Make the damn call!

Hey, what's the deal here?

Who the hell are you?

What do you want from me?

Just stay where you are.

No. Don't come near me.

I'm telling you, don't come near me.

It's just a lousy machine.

I didn't do anything! No! No!

Who let you in here?

No one.

They were taking me to a place

I did not wish to go...

...so I made them sleep.

I went off on my own

and my wandering brought me here.

- You made them sleep?

- Oh, they are not harmed.

Our order does not harm others

unless it is necessary.

It damages the soul.

Does your order consider

breaking and entering to be another virtue?

We are taught to go

wherever the spirit moves us.

Well, as long as you're here,

I hope you don't mind if I eat.

I haven't had a chance all day.

- You're welcome to have some.

- No, thank you.

Our ships provide

all the nutrition we need.

I can function for several days

before I have to return to my ship to feed.

You sure? It's barbecue.

There's this place in Downbelow that makes

the best barbecued beef burgers.

Not that I have the slightest delusion

that this is beef...

...but if it tastes great,

you learn not to ask questions.

None of the other command staff

even goes near it.

I think the area makes them nervous.

If you didn't wanna talk,

why did you come here?

Why did the spirit move you?

Curiosity, I suppose.

This is an opportunity to learn.

We have little contact with others.

In fact, we rarely speak to anyone...

...except, of course,

those we are called upon to save.

And what happens to them

after you've saved them?

Oh, they are placed in the great halls,

which have been provided for that purpose.

And then what?

And then...

...what, what?

Okay. Okay, putting aside

for the moment the question about...

...just what it is you're taking,

the memory or the soul...

...let's say you take the essence

of a great concert pianist...

...and you put him

in one of these great halls...

...then what happens?

- We preserve him against the ages.

We continue him.

And that's it?

He has no further contact

with anyone?

Oh, sometimes we talk with the souls,

and they will talk with each other.

I see.

Well, Mr. Garibaldi's feelings

about heaven notwithstanding...

...I think you've just described hell

as well as anything I've ever heard.

You don't understand

because you are trapped...

...in a prison of your own flesh.

The flesh has desires.

The flesh has needs.

But the soul is pure.

The soul needs only to continue.

- To be.

- Maybe.

And maybe for some souls,

it's not enough just being.

It's the doing that makes us what we are.

If these souls were valuable...

...it's because of what they did

or the way they saw the world.

What you describe is an existence

without the possibility of any change.

Unable to touch the world or affect it.

Unable to express

the slightest creative impulse.

Unable to touch or be touched in return.

If Mr. Garibaldi's wrong

and there is a heaven...

...you're committing a crime

beyond description by taking these souls...

...instead of allowing them to move on.

But if he and we are correct,

and there is nothing beyond...

...wouldn't you want to be continued?

No.

No, not like that. Not...

What the hell was that?

Lochley to C & C.

Lochley to C & C.

That doesn't make sense. The links

have their own independent com system.

Get behind me, now!

What is it?

Rage, unleashed.

I'm the one it wants. Go!

Get out quickly while you still can! Run!

We can both get out! We can...

Get down!

No!

No.

Beautiful, isn't it?

It's exactly as I remember it.

The reality now is quite different,

I imagine.

The towers long since gone to dust.

The cities fallen, destroyed.

But here, in our thoughts, it remains.

Because we remember it, it is.

- Stephen?

- No.

In here...

...in this thing, there is only

perception and memory.

The mind rejects the impossibility of it.

The horror of it.

So we see what we want to see.

We see the familiar.

You felt a need for a doctor and a friend.

So to you, I look like this.

To me, you look like my wife Shanalla...

...who died two seasons before...

Before the madness came.

I suppose in the long run, she is lucky.

I do not think

that she could have endured this.

- What happened? I was...

- You were caught in a power struggle.

Literally as well as figuratively.

The mad ones saw an opportunity

to take revenge on one of our captors.

Now, we tried to interfere,

but they got ahead of us.

When you jumped in front of the other,

we were able to adjust the power...

...in the nanoseconds between the time

it left the wall and struck you.

Just enough time to stop your heart

for a second so that we could talk.

This feels a lot longer than just a second.

In here, time has no meaning.

Out there, it can only be for a moment,

because if your body dies out there...

...while you are in here...

...your soul will be trapped in here

with us forever.

You said the..."The mad ones."

Yes. The result of 10,000 years

of captivity. Over there.

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