Bickford was the Captain of the commercial trading ship Archimedes.[1]
On June 21st, 2243, the Archimedes was off Beta Durani when word was revived of an unknown alien ship that had headed badly off course in hyperspace before emerging from the local jumpgate and crashed on nearby Theta 49. Captain Bickford brought the Archimedes in to help, though in truth he was somewhat more interested in acquiring salvage than rendering aid. He did however agree to allow Dr. Stephen Franklin - a young hitch-hiker who had traded his medical services for passage - to go down with the team.
Though they found nothing useful they did recover and bring aboard seven badly wounded survivors, whom Franklin believed to be Minbari. Despite his best efforts, Franklin was unable to save any of the survivors and they all died from their wounds. Still eager to learn everything he could, Franklin talked Captain Bickford into allowing him to perform full autopsies, from which he gathered an extensive amount of medical data, making detailed notes on their DNA and biology.[2]
References[]
- ↑ The Official Babylon 5 Magazine: Issue #21 (March 2000) - Page 39 (transmission from 'The Great Machine' by Fiona Avery) NOTE: date given incorrectly as 2241 as on screen dialogue establishes he didn't start hitch-hiking until he was 22 (circa 2242.) Across Time and Space: The Chronologies of Babylon 5 conjectures the year as 2243
- ↑ In the Beginning