William Karges

William Karges
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Date of Death	October, 2160
Hair color	Black
Psi rating	Unknown
Affiliation	Earth Alliance Earthforce
Rank	Commander

“

"..because of what Mr. Karges did, President Robinson made Psi Corps, to reward us, so teeps would have a place they could be safe and productive."
"They taught you that in school?"
"Yessir. And we watch the movie every Birthday."
"Did they also teach you that Washington chopped down the cherry tree?"
"Sir?"

– A 6 year old Alfred Bester and future Director Johnston.

William Karges was an Earthforce Commander who served as the head of EA President Elizabeth Robinson's personal security staff, made famous for his self sacrifice is thwarting an assassination attempt and the revelation that he was secretly an unregistered telepath.

History

Early Life

Like most telepaths, William's psi ability first manifested during the onset of puberty when he was 13 years old. Rather than register with the MRA, he instead chose to hide his ability and managed to evade the tests. After graduating from grade school, Karges enlisted in Earthforce and began to secretly use his ability to his advantage. He excelled in hand-to-hand combat and transferred to Earthforce Security where he served with distinction, credited with foiling three separate terrorist incidents and decorated by President Robinson herself. Robinson was so impressed she assigned Karges as head of her personal security staff.

Sacrifice

In October of 2160, while escorting the President's motorcade en-route to a campaign rally, Karges p'heard the thoughts of a terrorist planning to bomb the motorcade. After zeroing in on the individual in the crowd, Karges confronted and scanned the suspect. Learning that the man's accomplice had the bomb's detonator, Karges managed to warn his team and provide a description before being shot in the back by the initial suspect.

The trigger man was successfully apprehended and the plot was averted, Karges was seriously injured and despite being evacuated to a hospital, later died of his wounds. Just before his death, he revealed to President Robinson his true nature and how he'd known about the bomb. What followed was a wave of positive public opinion that, among other factors allowed Robinson to finally realise what Senator Lee Crawford had been working towards for decades and institute universal registration for Earth Alliance telepaths and an independently chartered MRA, dubbed "Psi Corps". Though the Karges incident is often credited by Psi Corps propaganda as the deciding factor, more cynical students of history have compared it to George Washington chopping down a cherry tree.

Legacy

Nevertheless, William Karges was held as a hero and role model of the Corps with a statue to him (nicknamed "the grabber" by the Cadre children) was erected in Teeptown , Geneva .Every Psi Corps teep was taught the story of William Karges and the Vid was regularly played for children on Birthday. By the end of the Telepath War in 2265, the statue of Karges was all but destroyed by the various bombings, leaving only the pedestal and a stump of a leg. It remained that way for years as the Psi Corps was dismantled and Psionic Monitoring Commission picked up the pieces. In 2281 the last remnants were cleared away and a new statue was put in its place to embody the spirit of the new era of human telepaths. The statue featured Fiona and Matthew Dexter and their lost son Stephen Kevin Dexter. The statue and its dedication ceremony was within sight of the cell of the notorious war criminal Alfred Bester, who passed away that very night.

Notes

• The events of Karges' life as described in "The Psi Corps and You!" were essentially Psi Corp propaganda, though from mentions in "Dark Genesis - The Birth of the Psi Corps", "Deadly Relations - Bester Ascendant" and "Final Reckoning - The Fate of Bester", it can be deduced that while the basic facts of the incident are historically accurate, the idea that Karges alone inspired Robinson to charter Psi Corps would appear to be pure fiction.
• The booklet "The Psi Corps and You!" is introduced by a character named Diane Matthews, a commerical telepath on Babylon 5 and great-granddaughter of Karges. However, Matthews does not actually exist.