Career
Following in the footsteps of his father, General Richard Franklin, Franklin joined EarthForce in 2232 to become a physician. Shortly after graduating from medical school, he left EarthForce and spent the next three years "hitchhiking" aboard starships, trading his services as doctor for free passage to their destinations. In the course of his work, Franklin took detailed notes on the biology, physiology, and culture of many alien species. In his travels, he encountered a group of Minbari whose transport ship had crashed at Beta Durani. The Minbari were severely injured in the accident, and due to Franklin's lack of knowledge of Minbari biology, they all died. Franklin performed an autopsy on one of the Minbari, and gathered notes on their biology and genetics.
When the Earth-Minbari War started in 2243, Franklin rejoined EarthForce and was assigned to manage an advanced military hospital on Earth. During the war, all EarthForce doctors were ordered to turn over any notes they had on Minbari biology for use in the production of biological weapons. When EarthForce discovered that Dr. Franklin had detailed notes on Minbari anatomy and physiology, he was ordered to give his notes to EarthForce researchers. Franklin, believing that it was unethical for a doctor to aid in research to create weapons of mass destruction, refused, and he was arrested by EarthForce.
Franklin was released from prison shortly afterward to accompany Lieutenant Commander John Sheridan on a mission to the Epsilon solar system as part of an advance team to negotiate peace with the Minbari. They were ferried to the Epsilon system by a Narn warcruiser. The meeting with the Minbari was tragically cut short, however, by a sneak attack by the Centauri. They thought the meeting was for a weapons-shipment deal between the humans and the Narns. The Minbari delegate to the meeting was killed in the Centauri attack. Both Franklin and Sheridan (along with the Narn G'Kar), were captured by the Minbari. However, the Minbari surprisingly released them when Sheridan uttered a Minbari phrase that the Minbari delegate had told him before he died. After his release, Franklin returned to Earth; his activities for the remainder of the Earth-Minbari War are unknown.
Between this event and 2258, he met Jeffrey Sinclair, the future Commander of the Babylon 5 station. It was largely on Sinclair's recommendation that Franklin was named the chief medical officer on Babylon 5.
Read more about this topic: Stephen Franklin, Character Description
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