“Meditations on the Abyss” is episode fourteen of season five of Babylon 5.
The episode begins at night. Sheridan is asleep but Delenn is awake. A crystal glows next to the bed and she gets up and slips out. Sheridan awakes and asks if Delenn is okay. She claims she needs something important from her quarters for the council meeting tomorrow, and couldn’t sleep anyway.
Hooded and cloaked, Delenn is definitely not in her quarters. She takes a seat at a table in a bar and a man comes over and asks if she’s waiting for him. No. She doesn’t want a drink either. The man is not taking no for an answer. Delenn tells him she will asks him politely to go away once. The man still isn’t taking no for an answer, and tells Delenn that, like it or not, his is the face she will wake up to in the morning. So Delenn breaks a finger. On his statement of the obvious, Delenn tells the man he has nine more. For the moment. As she leaves the man rushes at her, only to be taken down by another cloaked and hooded figure. This is revealed outside the bar to be Lennier. Whatever Delenn wants done, he will do no matter what the cost.
Delenn is meeting with Lennier in secret, so that no-one sees. She needs Lennier’s help, explaining how, when Garibaldi went to the Drazi homeworld in “The Ragged Edge”, he was attacked and took a button from an attacker that Londo revealed to be from the uniform of the Centauri royal guard. The matter is being kept secret from Londo as well. Though Londo is not believed to be involved, he would investigate, and G’Kar mentioned that there were two factions in the royal palace on Centauri Prime, and one of them wanted Londo dead, attacking him in “In the Kingdom of the Blind”.
There are compelling reasons to believe the Centauri are behind the attacks, but not proof. No Rangers have the experience with the Centauri that Delenn and Lennier do, so Lennier will be assigned to a White Star in the borders of Centauri space to see what he can find out. Delenn is not letting Sheridan know what is going on for, if he did, after what happened to Marcus, he would try to stop Lennier going as a friend to protect him, and as Delenn’s husband try to stop him to protect her if something should happen to Lennier. Lennier makes a comment about Sheridan not knowing Delenn, and Delenn replies that he does, but he also loves her, and one can get in the way of the other. Lennier imagines that could be so. Probably because it may be so for him. Lennier also tells Delenn about how, during the Brakiri Day of the Dead in “Day of the Dead”, Mr Morden came to him and told Lennier he would betray the Rangers.
Londo is in his quarters when Vir arrives with a huge pile of parcels. With Londo absent for so long, they were out of fresh food. Vir has been eating at McBari’s. The one with the golden head bones. London tells him they are not equipped to handle fast food. But it tastes so good going down. Not so much coming back up again. Londo things that should change, as it isn’t appropriate for someone in his position. Before Londo can explain Vir’s position, an alarm goes off. Using a sensor, Londo finds a bug in the lining of one of the bags, one Vir bought from a Drazi merchant. Before destroying the bug, Londo starts talking in such a way to wind up the Drazi ambassador. He tells Vir not to take being personally; it’s just politics. Oh, and Vir’s position? With Londo becoming emperor, Vir will be the new ambassador to Babylon 5. He’s not quite ready yet, but nearly.
Lennier is assigned to White Star 27, although its captain, Montoya, has named it the Maria. Finally, a not-totally-boring name for a White Star. He named it after his sister. When Lennier asks a question and finds out the sister is dead, he says to another Minbari, Findell, that he may have asked an indiscrete question. According to Findell, the captain believes the only way to get pertinent information is to ask impertinent questions.
G’Kar is meeting with Sheridan, Delenn and the Drazi ambassador – G’Kar is pleased because his new prosthetic eye has finally arrived, so he will finally have a matched set again. The Drazi ambassador mentions another attack on their shipping, and, not-so-subtlety, suggests that the Centauri might be involved. And what would Sheridan do if such an important ally was? If the Alliance had absolute proof, they would release it, no matter where it led. They just need to be patient. Londo arrives at this point and, after some more jabs at the Drazi ambassador, mentions the laughable, absurd and moronic attempt to bug his quarters. Just warning the others in case someone tries something equally stupid.
Dr Franklin, whilst fitting G’Kar’s new eye, mentions that he has read the Book of G’Kar. He found it rather good. G’Kar is embarrassed; it wasn’t supposed to come out until after he was dead. Franklin thinks it’s a good book with interesting ideas. He just has a question about why every copy has a circular stain on page 83. All Narn holy books are reproduced exactly as written, every flaw reproduced. The circular stain is a coffee stain left by Mr Garibaldi. The doctor is interested in the commonalities between belief systems. G’Kar is pleased with his new eye, and asks how he can thank Franklin. Well, Franklin would like to sit in when G’Kar talks about his book to his people.
Lennier and Findell are sent on a mission that results in them being abandoned with only an hour’s worth of air and the nearest planet three days away. It’s probably a test. Findell doesn’t handle it well. The Drazi merchant who tried to bug Londo calls Vir weak and foolish. Vir goes and borrows something from Londo to make a point. Time is running out to get proof about who is behind the attacks, especially as the Drazi already seem to have a strong idea. And Garibaldi seems to be climbing inside a bottle.