The crew brings a seemingly-imprisoned alien aboard the Excalibur. Although it is completely cut off from physical contact with anyone, Gideon discovers that it is able to communicate. It forces him to relive first his abandonment by his ship as it unsuccessfully fled a Shadow vessel, and then his winning of a strange box in a poker game from a man who seemed happy to lose it. Expecting the creature to use this information against him, he is surprised when it instead offers forgiveness. Matheson also receives forgiveness for an episode from his past – his inadverdent role in the destruction of a Psi Corps base during the Telepath War. Galen, however, accuses the creature of feeding off the others’ pain and refuses to accept that it values forgiveness. Seeking to discover why, the creature and Galen relive the slow death of his lover, betrayed by other technomages and stranded without any of their technology and equipment. In his grief, Galen denies the possibility of any plan or order to the universe, unable to believe that any design would include her death, and Isabell promises to prove him wrong. After the creature is returned to its home, for other travlers to find, Matheson offers Galen a hint that the promise has ben fulfilled…if he can believe in the impossible.
written by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Evan H. ChenCast: Gary Cole (Captain Matthew Gideon), Tracy Scoggins (Captain Elizabeth Lochley), Daniel Dae Kim (Lt. Matheson), Carrie Dobro (Dureena Nafeel), David Allen Brooks (Max Eilerson), Marjean Holden (Dr. Sarah Chambers), Peter Woodward (Galen), Mark Blankfield (Jenson), Gary Graham (Bruder), Sophie Ward (Isabelle), Dawn Stern (Allison), Daniel Guzman (XO), Kevin Major Howard (Officer), Matt O’Toole (First man), Patrick St. Esprit (Captain Ross)
LogBook entry by Dave Thomer
