Telekinetic powers ........

[Ross O'Gallagher]

I have to say that I was very surprised that they could scare up that many Minbari telepaths on that short notice. How many Minbari are on the station anyway? I'm not sure how many were in the room, but I think one for each member of the command staff.

There were four Minbari telepaths, one for every member of the command staff. Exactly how many Minbari are on the station is never stated as far as I know, however, important Minbari like Delenn will always have access to the services of at least one telepath. In addition, where there is a population of Minbari of any size such as on Babylon 5, there will be at least one telepath to serve that population. Few aliens who have telepaths among their people will employ human telepaths for commerce or any other reason. Given their general distrust of humans, Minbari are no exception. Also don't forget that Babylon 5 is an important waystation. When folks like Minbari ambassadors travel it is not unlikely they might have a telepath among their entourage. There could have been more telepaths than the four we saw that just happened to be on the station at that time which is what gave Delenn the idea in the first place. Even if Delenn could only lay hands on two or three telepaths it is a simple thing to slip a couple of regular Minbari into the old ugly telepath uniform. They didn't have to stop Bester from scanning people. As long as Bester thought they might be able to tell he was scanning them it wasn't likely he'd risk it. And if he had tried they probably would have known instantly. You don't need a telepath to block a telepath when Garibaldi has a PPG.

 

[lastbesthope]

They didn't have to stop Bester from scanning people. As long as Bester thought they might be able to tell he was scanning them it wasn't likely he'd risk it. And if he had tried they probably would have known instantly. You don't need a telepath to block a telepath when Garibaldi has a PPG.

But they did need Bester stopped rather than just detected. They couldn't risk him finding out anything. And firing a PPG in close quarters in a friendly rich space with a telepath possibly providing mental projections?! Not the best of solutions I think.

There's the other time Bester arrives on station and they send Ivanova in first because she'll know if she's being scanned. But at this point tin the game they've done everything they're pretty much going to and he has nothing to learn from them, buit they work on the assumption that he doesn't know that. So they send in Ivanova because it's safe for her to be scanned but it will let them know if Bester can be trusted.

Just my 2 credits.

LBH

 

[Anonymous]

I am confident in Delenn's ability to produce four Minbari telepaths as the episode in question suggests. However, my point was that even if the folks in the room lacked sufficient telepathic power to block Bester, he never would have left that room under his own power. If they didn't have Minbari telepaths enough for the job they would have made other arrangements. Additional security would be posted outside the door ready to help take Bester down if called upon. I'm sure everyone will agree this precaution would be taken regardless of the telepathic strength in the room. It is likely Kosh would have given permission for Delenn to "borrow" Lyta or that Draal would have been standing by, possibly both. The group had the resources to take out a lone psicop and the determination to use them to protect their secrets, with or without actual PPG fire. As soon as Bester walked into the room he knew these people were hiding something important and I'm quite sure he was dying to know what it was. But with them possessing the obvious means to detect his scans, if not block him outright, he had to ask himself one question: was it worth foregoing his planned mission and possibly risking his safety or freedom? Reckless and foolhardy are not words I would use to characterize Bester. I'm sure he used those few hours it took the drug to take effect, plus the one additional hour he suggested as a "precaution", to formulate a plan to monitor the situation on B5.

As I stated earlier, I found the case of the four telepaths to be plausible. And since we were not shown that there was any problem with the plan and no alternative arrangements were shown to have been made, it is logical to assume that what we were shown was the truth.

 

[Ross O'Gallagher]

That last post was mine, of course.

 

[frobisher]

However, my point was that even if the folks in the room lacked sufficient telepathic power to block Bester, he never would have left that room under his own power.

However at this point they hadn't broken away from Earth so the fallout from waxing Bester wouldn't have been nice

 

[Ross O'Gallagher]

However, my point was that even if the folks in the room lacked sufficient telepathic power to block Bester, he never would have left that room under his own power.

However at this point they hadn't broken away from Earth so the fallout from waxing Bester wouldn't have been nice

Quite, quite true. However, if Bester had found out anything they couldn't let him go or the fallout would have been far worse. When one is faced with such an undesirable set of circumstances there is usually only one thing to do: lie. If they couldn't fake Bester leaving the station with the Great Machine or something that was immediately available, I'm sure they could arrange an "accident" for Mr. Bester that would, say, keep him quarantined in the isolab. The inner circle had already seen changeling nets in operation on the station and I'm sure they could acquire one or something like it given a little time. Then "Bester" could disembark and be lost away from B5. Of course it would all sound rather suspicious and eventually something might be discovered. Eventually.

 

[PottsBr]

As scanning an individual without his/her permission was a crime, and against Psycorp rules, the threat was good enough. Even if the Minbari had not been powerful enough to block the scan, they would have detected it, and that would have been enough to arrest Bester.

Bester's mission was pressing, so there was no way he would have risked being kicked off the station, arrested, etc., so the threat to him was real.

If he did perform an unauthorized scan, I'm sure they could have kept any information he might gain quiet. The Minbari detect the scan. They arrest him. Franklin hits him with the sleepers to "make him easier to control." They throw him in the clink, charged with assaulting Earth Alliance Personnel.

After that, it's just a matter of keeping him isolated until any information he might have obtained was no longer useful.

Which raises a different question. In Season 5 we see a lot of telepath trouble, culminating in Lita's arrest. They isolate her in their deepest cell, away from people, and are terrified she might be able to find a way out. Why didn't they just inject her with the sleeper drug? After that, she could have been handled much more easily. Of course it's possible that being altered she could resist the drug, but I would have at least tried. Legally it seems to be a legitimate way to deal with telepaths who refuse to comply with the law.

 

[lastbesthope]

Which raises a different question. In Season 5 we see a lot of telepath trouble, culminating in Lita's arrest. They isolate her in their deepest cell, away from people, and are terrified she might be able to find a way out. Why didn't they just inject her with the sleeper drug? After that, she could have been handled much more easily. Of course it's possible that being altered she could resist the drug, but I would have at least tried. Legally it seems to be a legitimate way to deal with telepaths who refuse to comply with the law.

We already have anecdotal evidence that the sleeper drugs have bad side effects (Ivanova's tales of the effect of them on her mother). Now the chances are the more powerful the telepath, the stronger the dosage required. Perhaps they thought it'd be too much of a risk to dope Lyta up to the required level when they could just isolate her instead.

Just my 2 credits.

LBH

 

[El Cid]

More than likely, it just didn't work with the plot and was conviently forgotten.

How fast is a White Star?

Sidney

 

[redlaco]

Yeah, right... as fast as the plot needs it to be. :lol:

I think El Cid nailed it. Storytellers don't always go for consistancy; they choose what will give the greatest effect to convey the message.

I tend to do the same as far as rules are concerned in RPGs, but that's just me...

 

[lastbesthope]

Yeah, right... as fast as the plot needs it to be. :lol:

I think El Cid nailed it. Storytellers don't always go for consistancy; they choose what will give the greatest effect to convey the message.

I tend to do the same as far as rules are concerned in RPGs, but that's just me...

As the cry oft used to go up at my uni SF club:

"Mine's a pint of cheap plot device!"



LBH

 

[shalazar_bation]

PottsBr wrote:
Which raises a different question. In Season 5 we see a lot of telepath trouble, culminating in Lita's arrest. They isolate her in their deepest cell, away from people, and are terrified she might be able to find a way out. Why didn't they just inject her with the sleeper drug? After that, she could have been handled much more easily. Of course it's possible that being altered she could resist the drug, but I would have at least tried. Legally it seems to be a legitimate way to deal with telepaths who refuse to comply with the law.


We already have anecdotal evidence that the sleeper drugs have bad side effects (Ivanova's tales of the effect of them on her mother). Now the chances are the more powerful the telepath, the stronger the dosage required. Perhaps they thought it'd be too much of a risk to dope Lyta up to the required level when they could just isolate her instead.

Just my 2 credits.

LBH

Accualy, they can't give the drug with out the permission of the Teep. Thats why they had camps in the novels. If you notice, everytime a blip is caught, they were not given the drug. Yet if they are discovered as a teep, then they have a "choice", join the corp or take the drug. Now, you find out in the PsiCorp triligy that a when a blip is caught he is given the choices, join the corp, or take the drug if they refuse, then they are sent to the reabilataion camps.

Shalazar
All about burnin' synapsis

 

[El Cid]

Not entirly true. In the PSI Corps novels when they were trying to capture Bester, they had a needler with the drug.

Sidney

 

[shalazar_bation]

But if you remember, Bester was suprised as well when he was hit with it. Which leeds me to believe that it wasn't standard practice for them to use those on a blip. It could have been something that was changed after the Telepath war, when the Corp got a new "image" of sorts, while Bester was on the run. Either way that happened when bester was in his 80's(?I think?) so long after the time frame that we are talking about.


Shalazar
Bester- poster child for Birth Control