Babylon 5 There Is A Hole In Your Mind

[Ortiz Ullery]

JeffreySinclair was born on Mars, 9:15AM EST on May 3, 2218, the son of a career military officer, David Sinclair, and a Professor of North American literature, Gemma Gildea Sinclair. Jeffrey also had a brother, Malcolm. His father flew for Earthforce during the Dilgar War and was eventually killed during the conflict, though not before being present at the liberation of Balos. According to Jeffery, his father never forgot what he saw there.[1][4][5]

Members of the Sinclair family had been fighter pilots dating all the way back to the Battle of Britain. He was close to his grandfather, whom he later credited with teaching him everything he knew about flying. His grandfather also explained to him the importance of ignoring propaganda and to "focus on what he can see."[6]

Following the death of his father, Jeffrey attended a Jesuit school, run by Father Raffelli and his wife, both of whom were priests. The couple would become lifelong friends of Jeff's until their deaths in 2252. While at the school, Sinclair learned to appreciate mornings, getting up at sunrise for Mass followed by an hour of meditation before class.[7]

Though he never intended to join the religious life, Sinclair maintained a faith in God throughout his life, though he once told Marcus Cole that he was "still working out the details". All he ever wanted was to be a fighter pilot, like his dad. Though he was 'Mars-Born', he spent as much time growing up on Earth as he did on Mars and held a deep fondness for both worlds and their peoples.[4]

Sinclair enlisted in Earthforce in 2237.[1] During his first year at Earthforce Academy, Sinclair met John Sheridan for the first time when he made the unfortunate mistake of getting his attention by spilling a tray of food on him. Since Sheridan was a dutiful upperclassman, he decided to spend as much time as possible making Sinclair's first year a living hell.[4]In 2240, Jeffrey was promoted to fighter pilot and less than a year later, was promoted to squadron leader; due to his rapid rise through the ranks it was rumored that Sinclair was on the fast track to making Admiral.[1]In 2243 Sinclair was serving as a flight instructor at the Academy when he met Cadet Catherine Sakai while she was in her second year. During her first instruction flight with Sinclair, he almost made her black out after he performed a hairpin backward loop followed by a spinning barrel roll. She would later admit to herself that it was love at first sight. This was the beginning of a 15-year on-again-off-again relationship where the two would often argue and go their separate ways for years at a time, only to get back together and begin the cycle anew. After the Earth-Minbari War ended in 2248, Sakai left Earthforce for a life as a professional planetary surveyor and independent contractor.

As squadron leader, Sinclair fought at the Battle of the Line, the last major battle in the Earth-Minbari War. During the course of the battle, his squadron was destroyed by the Minbari in mere minutes, resulting in the death of many friends (including Bill Mitchell). Sinclair's own fighter was badly damaged, rendering the weapons disabled and engines failing. In a last act of defiance, Sinclair attempted to ram one of the Minbari cruisers. Something passed in front of his eyes and he apparently blacked out. When he awoke 24 hours later the war was over; the Minbari had surrendered. The surviving Earth instruments showed his ship "missing" for a whole day, but it was officially ruled an instrument malfunction. Sinclair wondered what happened to him in those missing 24 hours for many years, though for nine years he did not seriously question the idea that he had blacked out due to acceleration.

In 2251, Lieutenant Commander Sinclair was stationed on Mars during the Martian Food Riots. In the midst of the violence, Sinclair was cut off from his unit and alone when he came upon a fellow Earthforce officer trying to fight off four rioters on his own in an alleyway, and came to his assistance. The two of them were able to drive off the rioters and it was only when the dust settled that the two recognised each other.The other officer was none other than Sinclair's old Academy nemesis Commander John Sheridan. Sheridan said he knew a bar that would be safe and they could call to check in with their respective bases. They did so and while taking shelter until the trouble outside subsided the pair got to talking, finally getting to know each other. Sinclair discovered that despite his initial dislike for Sheridan, he was a pretty decent man who even apologized (just a little) for his behavior at the Academy. Many years later, Sinclair would say that Sheridan was not the jarhead some made him out to be, and was pleased when he found out who had taken his position on Babylon 5, stating that Sheridan would not be the puppet that Clark would hope for.[4]

In 2253, Sinclair was sent to Mars to investigate reports of human-alien collusion. When he arrived, he first met Michael Garibaldi, a shuttle pilot at the time. Garibaldi flew Sinclair and two young officers, Sanchez and Foster, over the surface, searching for something. Following orders, Sinclair refused to tell Garibaldi what they were looking for, and even filed fake flight plans so nobody else would know where they were. On the fifth day of searching, the ship's navigational systems and inertial dampers suddenly went offline. Garibaldi managed to crash-land the ship: Sanchez's leg was broken and Foster did not survive.

With only five days of air and food, the wait was long and hard. Sinclair managed to maintain radio contact with Sanchez. Unknown to Sinclair, Michael had some alcohol with him, and after having a few drinks, wandered off. When Sinclair realized he was missing, he headed to the mouth of the cave to look for him, only to have the mouth of the cave collapse. He was knocked unconscious and left half buried by the rocks just outside the cave's entrance. Sanchez realized something had happened and linked Garibaldi, who came back and rescued Sinclair from the rubble. As soon as Sinclair came to, he wrestled Garibaldi to the ground, threatening to kill him if he ever did something as stupid as wandering off again.

Sinclair and Garibaldi noticed humanoid figures nearby, watching. Sinclair guessed that their communications could not work either, but they seemed to be communicating. Figuring they were telepaths, Sinclair had Garibaldi knock him out with a stun gun as a land vehicle drew near. When the two occupants got out to investigate the unconscious Sinclair, Garibaldi got the jump on them, knocking them both out. He then woke Sinclair, and they donned the uniforms of the two telepaths. Sinclair then explained his mission to Garibaldi. They drove the vehicle to a small camp set up by the telepaths and split up briefly. When they were discovered, Sinclair was forced to rescue Michael by driving the vehicle into one of the buildings where strange medical experiments were being conducted on human beings. Garibaldi ended their pursuit by throwing grenades as they rushed off.

When Babylon 5 went online in March 2256, Sinclair was chosen to be in charge of the station, even though several others were in line in front of him. Sinclair was surprised when they informed him, as he was comparatively low ranked compared to many of the other candidates. He would learn later that he was specifically chosen at the behest of the Minbari, who were the first to sign onto Babylon 5 but only on the condition they were allowed to choose the station commander.[13]

He brought onboard Laurel Takashima as his second in command, keeping his promotion promise to her. His friend Michael Garibaldi comes on board in January 2257 as his security chief, after completing his Mars security assignment. Their previous experience on Mars had left Sinclair with a deep trust in Michael.[14]

There was an uproar on the station as Sinclair flatly denied the charges, and he was temporarily relieved of command. Ambassador G'Kar of the Narn Regime assembled the Advisory Council and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, voting to have Sinclair handed over to the Vorlons for trial. G'Kar had managed to blackmail Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari to vote in favor of the motion. Lt. Cmdr. Laurel Takashima, acting in Sinclair's stead, voted against the resolution, and Delenn of the Minbari Federation abstained. G'Kar had contacted the Vorlons, however, and they voted in affirmation.[16]

Sinclair had been involved with Carolyn Sykes during this time, but they split up shortly after the incident with Kosh. Carolyn wanted Sinclair to resign and go into business with her, but that was not for him.[17]

On 25 February 2258, Lieutenant Commander Susan Ivanova replaced Lt. Cmdr. Laurel Takashima. The Chief Medical Officer, Benjamin Kyle, was also recalled to Earth Dome returning to his post as Head of Xenobiological Research to work with the President.

On the eve of the Earth Alliance elections, the Narn attacked and seized a small Centauri agricultural colony, Ragesh 3. Sinclair called for an emergency session of the B5 Council and the League, hoping to impose sanctions against the Narn. However, the Earth Alliance did not want to commit itself to possibly being involved in a conflict during the elections. Sinclair decided to personally lead a team of Starfuries to intercept a band of Raiders before they could attack a supply ship carrying colonists. He left Lt. Cmdr. Ivanova to act in his stead in the Council, and told her to act as though he had not been able to tell her his orders from Earth. Sinclair's squadron easily dispatched the raiders and discovered a command and control ship. Once they boarded the vessel, they discovered a Narn officer, as the Narn had been supplying weapons to the Raiders. The ship also intercepted transmissions from Ragesh 3 proving the attack was unprovoked, despite the claims of the Narn. Sinclair used this evidence to compel G'Kar to get the Regime to withdraw from the colony.[6]

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