Okay, so you would like to see the larger docking cradles, where the bigger ships come in. I'll show you around the inner docking bays. The biggest liners have to wait outside, of course. And don't even think about going to docking bay 13, which is where Ambassador Kosh keeps his ship. That's strictly off limits. Later, if you want to go back to the landing pads for the shuttles, just follow the B5 signs.
Here's a long-haul transport, just entering the main dock. I think that's the Transport Dyson. They're much less comfortable than the Starliners, since they don't have any rotating section to simulate gravity. These transports get used by us and other races, both for passenger service and cargo; though from what I've heard, the ships' captains can't tell the difference, half the time!
Long-haul transports are about the largest ships we can fit inside the main docking bay, which is only 80 meters across and 51 meters high at the widest point. The transports are around 150 meters long, which is big; so we have to berth them in one of the larger docking bays, which are higher up in Blue Sector.
Well, this next bay isn't holding any ships at the moment. It's for Transfer Shuttles that service the Passenger Liners visiting the station. At the moment, we have a couple of big vessels parked outside the station.
You will be familiar with the ship on this monitor over here. It's the Starliner Asimov, a regular visitor to Babylon 5. She makes the run from the Io transfer point out to Grid Epsilon in just over two days. She's very comfortable, with that large rotating habitation sphere, so the business travellers use her a lot. We get plenty of commercial traffic from Earth and Mars these days.
Just leaving over here we have a Centauri Liner. I think it's the Couro Prido That's a general-purpose ship really; it can carry a mixture of passengers and cargo. I like the Centauri - they have such a sense of style, with that raked hull and peacock fantail! Though you could say it kinda looks like a louse from here!
Now, this next bay is about to receive a Transfer Shuttle from the EAS Cortez. If you move along to the monitor over here, you'll be able to see her.
There. Today you're very lucky. Parked alongside Babylon 5, we've got the EAS Cortez, an Explorer Class ship. You won't see a ship like that more than twice in your lifetime. She's huge, maybe four kilometers long. She will shortly be returning to sector 49, when she's been resupplied. There's a jumpgate out there that needs repairing.
This one's a small scout ship, a modified transfer shuttle, really. I happen to know that the pilot of this ship is a friend of the Commander's, by the name of Catherine Sakai. I think she does planetary surveys for Earth Corporations. You see, to build jumpgates, you need this rare mineral called Quantium-40. I heard that Ms Sakai made a big profit after her last discovery!
Over here, we have the main cargo loading and unloading bay. We get a lot of cargo transports in and out of Babylon 5. Some unload here, but many of them unload in the zero-g dock, which is up between the stabilizer arms in the non-rotating part of the station.
This is a standard Narn cargo freighter. She's the Tal'Quith, according to this manifest, and is carrying "perishable goods" for Ambassador G'Kar. Yeah, I wonder what it is that he's importing as well. Now, the ship bears a superficial resemblance to the Frazi Class Narn heavy fighter. I'll bet that this ship is armed, too...
Here's a standard Earth Alliance freighter design that you'll see everywhere. It's based around a skeleton core with six large cargo pods and a particle thrust engine bolted on at the back. The circular module at the front is the bridge. That can hold a crew of three.
There's a different design of freighter that's even simpler than this - it has a single core and carries a collection of wedge-shaped pods clamped on at the sides. We use the TugBots to unload those pods in the zero-g dock. You should visit there one day; it's in Yellow Sector.
So would you like to explore the docking bays further? Just follow the B5 station signs.
