You have arrived at Blue 5 suite 8, the quarters of Jeffrey Sinclair. The doorchime warbles when you press it. You hear Sinclair's voice say: "Open!" over the intercom. The door opens automatically...
Jeffrey Sinclair is Babylon 5 Station Commander. Commander Sinclair served in the Battle of the Line, the terrifying last defence of Earth during the Earth-Minbari War, when everything seemed lost. He has a friendly, but serious demeanour.
Psi Scan: The Minbari said that there was a hole in my mind.
Hi, I'm Jeff Sinclair, please come in. It's OK, I'm off duty at the moment - not that I expect things to stay quiet here for very long! Yes, these quarters are a little larger than the standard set-up. They call it an executive suite, would you believe it? Actually, there is one big advantage, which is that the command staff get real, honest-to-goodness hot water showers. Everyone else just gets a sonic vibe shower unit. It's all to do with the scarcity of water and the need to recycle everything.
How did I get here? Well, I was born on Mars Colony, the son of a fighter pilot, and that was all I ever really wanted to be when I grew up. I should have been more careful what I wished for! I ended up leading a squadron on the Battle of the Line. I guess it runs in the family - actually, we Sinclairs go all the way back to the Battle of Britain, hence the old Spitfire models on the wall over there. Anyway, I enlisted in EarthForce in 2237, got promoted to fighter pilot in 2240 and made squadron leader by 2241.
As you know, the Earth-Minbari war broke out in 2245, after a first contact mission went horribly wrong. Captain Jankowski of the EAS Prometheus misinterpreted the Minbari's high-energy scans as a kind of attack, and so launched a strike which took the Minbari flagship by surprise. Their leader Dukhat was killed, after which the whole Minbari race swore a collective war of revenge upon humanity. We should have all died.
Quite why we survived is still a mystery to me. I was leading my wing of Starfuries, at the Battle of the Line, the last defence of Earth. Every ship we had was put up in orbit, as if we could block the Minbari advance by sheer weight of numbers. Well, they finally came. I saw my whole squadron splashed by the Minbari Warcrusiers - the sky was full of stars, every one an exploding ship. I was hit, and decided to ram the nearest cruiser at full velocity. If I was going out, I would at least take some of them with me...
Strange thing is, I don't remember what happened after that. They found me adrift in space, 24 hours later, in my damaged Starfury. I heard that the Minbari had surrendered, on the brink of victory. No-one knows why. I was passed over for promotion after that, since the EarthForce brass didn't really want to believe that I had blacked out. What were they thinking, that I would have turned traitor? Anyway, I was assigned to EarthForce base on Mars in 2248, which is where I first met Michael Garbaldi. We've been firm friends since then.
Then, in 2256 I was appointed first Commander of Babylon 5. That's another mystery - especially since all the ranking Generals were hoping to get this posting. I can only guess that it has something to do with the Minbari and those missing 24 hours.
So, you're on a visit to the station? What do you think of it so far? I guess it must be a bit of a surprise at first; it's like a living city in space. There's much more going on here in a day than you could ever imagine.
Over here, for example, I have a group painting that was commissioned when the station first went online in 2256. I could tell you a thing or two about some of these people! Everybody's got some kind of angle, including me, since I have to keep the whole diplomatic process working, while getting all the appropriations we need from the Earth Senate. I didn't figure that I'd end up my days as some kind of half-administrator and half-politician.
Well, it was nice to see you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit! Why not call in on Susan Ivanova, while you're here?
