“A Voice in the Wilderness: Part II” is episode nineteen of season one of Babylon 5.
In the previous episode, “A Voice in the Wilderness: Part 1”, the supposedly uninhabited planet that Babylon 5 is orbiting, Epsilon 3, showed signs of life – or, at least automated defences from previous life, An alien figure had also appeared to Sinclair and Londo, asking for help. With it being a potential first contact situation, Sinclair and Ivanova had gone down to the planet (having the commander and XO going down to a potentially dangerous situation is possibly not a good idea) and discovered massive machinery and the living person of the alien who had appeared to Sinclair. They had removed him from the machinery – he made a statement to them, saying that their people, all their people, will die. Which is not remotely worrying.
The episode opens with a ship coming through the jump gate, a big one – the Earth Alliance heavy cruiser, the Hyperion. Pierce, captain of the Hyperion, contacts Babylon 5 and says that he is assuming control over the situation. Sinclair is in the med lab with the alien they rescued from the planet. Dr. Franklin is caring for the alien, but the situation does not look good for him.
Captain Pierce tells Sinclair that that they were contacted and told to come to Epsilon 3 by the Office of Planetary Security. The technology in the planet holds immense military and civilian potential; Babylon 5 is in neutral territory, so the Hyperion is there to protect Earth’s interests with a show of force. Sinclair is not happy. He contacts Senator Hidoshi; the president had told him that he had exclusive authority in the sector. The senator says that the president is a bit busy, due to the reports on Mars Colony.
The Hyperion is sending fighters to the planet, and they are coming under even more intensive attack than the previous missions. Sinclair contacts Pierce and tells a few lies to get Pierce to pull his fighters back. There is also increased seismic activity on Epsilon 3. Ivanova says that it is near the planet’s core, and the activity is artificial, not natural. If it continues, the planet will break apart, and its destruction will take out the station too.
There’s a lot of stuff buried beneath the planet, including some very big fusion reactors. So there’s a lot of power, and it’s going to blow up in about 48 hours. It will take longer than that to evacuate the station. Ivanova says that the planet may well be booby trapped, and attempting to go down again could make things worse. She also, when Londo confronts her and asks what is going on on the planet, tells the truth to him – by saying boom a lot. Which is true, but sounds like she isn’t being helpful.
Draal also hears the alien speak to him, and heads to Medlab with Delenn. The alien seems to be suggesting that the planet needs a new person at its heart. Things are getting tense, then a ship crewed by the same race as the alien from the planet arrives, and says that it is their planet, and they have been looking for it for 500 years. And tell everyone to leave.
The planet is about to blow and Pierce and the new aliens are willing to start shooting at each other.