Re: the commander and Ivanova going...remember, this is a First
Contact situation, and that requires the presence of at minimum one
command officer under EA regs. Two is preferred. You don't want junior
officers hanging around or taking hostile stances which might provoke
a fight. Remember that the last major First Contact situation was with
the Minbari, which went afoul and gave us the Earth/Minbari War. EA
would rather lose two replaceable officers than start another war via
misunderstanding or a fouled move. This is a part of their First Contact
Protocol, referenced in "Soul Hunter." (I should probably expand upon
this a bit in future episodes.)

jms