BLAKE'S 7 Aftermath. The compilation tape of episodes 27, 28 and 35: [c] 2009 by Ron Clarke Geddes. First two episodes written by Terry Nation and last episode by Tanith Lee, Series created by Terry Nation, [c] 1977 by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Episode 27: ''Aftermath'' Directed by Vere Lorrimer Format (c) 1994 by Susan Clerc, Amanda Rothman, Nicole Vifian and Micky DuPree Episode 28: ''Powerplay'' Format (c) 1993 by Micky DuPree. Transcription: Malcolm Mladenovic. Proofreading: Dave Owen. Episode 35: ''Sarcophagus'' Format (c) 1993 by Susan Schnitger, Micky DuPree and Didi Johnson. [Spaceship fly-bys and space battles] [Liberator flight deck] ZEN: Enemy strategy is now confirmed. Battle computers indicate full alien counterattack is underway. [Scene cuts between the battle and the apparently empty flight deck] COMMANDER: [V.O.] Battle Commander, squadron six, to flagship. Star One is destroyed. Do you copy? Repeat: aliens have destroyed Star One. Flagship, do you copy? CALLY: [V.O.] System malfunction on blocks two and three. AVON: [V.O.] Vila, go and check the life support capsules. VILA: [V.O.] On my way. AVON: [V.O.] Zen. Status report. ZEN: Damage to the navigation computers is beyond the present capacity of the auto-repair systems. The teleport malfunction is now total [Liberator life capsule corridor.] VILA: [Vila speaks into comm] Avon. The life capsules ARE operational. Let's get out while we still can. Avon. Avon! [Sarran surface, beach and sea. Three warriors on horseback watch explosions in the sky] CHEL: This is the day that was prophesied. The day our Law foretold. They will come from the sky to destroy us. They will burn the stars to light their way. We must be prepared. WARRIOR: Look! [Something arcs across the sky, crashes and explodes] CHEL: It begins. Hunt them down. Destroy the strangers. Hunt them down and kill them. Kill them! KILL THEM! [Warriors shout and gallop toward crash site] [Life capsule corridor. Avon and Cally enter the corridor with Orac and its carrying case] VILA: We've got to get out of here. [To Cally] Where have you been? Where have you been? CALLY: Blake didn't want to leave. VILA: Well, I do! AVON: I'm surprised you're still here. VILA: Where's Jenna? We haven't got to wait for her, have we? CALLY: Jenna's gone with Blake. AVON: So let's get on with it. [Explosion. Avon is unconscious] CALLY: He's out cold. We must get him into a capsule fast. And then you can put Orac in with him. Come on, quick! VILA: I've only got one pair of hands, you know. [Another explosion] ZEN: Confirmation is now accepted. Computers recommend immediate evacuation by life capsule. [Cally and Vila check on Avon in the capsule] CALLY: He should be all right. VILA: But Cally, he won't be able to operate the launch button. CALLY: We can do it on remote. Come on. [They withdraw from capsule, and its door closes. Capsule launch seen from outside LIBERATOR] [Avon's capsule hurtles through the outer planetary atmosphere. He regains consciousness. A red light pulses] AVON: Too fast. Too fast. Going to burn up.[Tries to reach the light, but can't quite] Orac, you'll have to handle it. Instruct the computer. Get us down. Get. Us. Down. [Passes out] [Planet surface. Two Federation troopers drop to rest] TROOPER 1: That was close. TROOPER 2: Are we the only ones who got out? TROOPER 1: Could well be, sir. Most of my section were dead before we hit. Have you any idea where we are, sir? TROOPER 2: Planet called Sarran, I think. I wasn't able to get a firm fix. Does it matter? TROOPER 1: No, sir, no. I'm very grateful to be out of the battle. And alive. [Light streaks toward the ground from the sky] TROOPER 1: Did you see what it was, sir? TROOPER 2: Life capsule, I think. TROOPER 1: Yeah, but was it one of ours? TROOPER 2: Couldn't tell. TROOPER 1: I'd be very careful if I were you, sir. There could be some alien survivors down. TROOPER 2: Oh, we're all right. We're our of the war, now! Come on. [Three Sarrans on horseback approach] Come On. [Sarran beach. The smoking life capsule door raises as the Sarrans approach] CHEL: Dismount. [Avon weakly crawls out, Liberator gun in hand. A warrior runs to attack him. Avon points the gun but nothing happens. The warrior kicks the gun from his hand, rolls Avon and straddles him, then pulls his short sword to deliver the death blow. He falls over dead with an arrow in his back. Dayna fires a second arrow into the sand at the feet of the other Sarrans and they run away. Dayna then runs to Avon, who is unconscious] [A small cave. Avon, unconscious, lays on hide covers. Dayna collects water in a bowl, dabs water on Avon's forehead. Avon opens his eyes and starts forward] DAYNA: Are you feeling better? AVON: Not really. But at least I'm still alive. If I was dead I don't think I'd have this blinding headache. [Dayna kisses him] AVON: What was that for? DAYNA: Curiosity. AVON: I'm all in favour of healthy curiosity. I hope yours isn't satisfied too easily. I think you've cured my headache. DAYNA: What's your name? AVON: Avon. DAYNA: You are very beautiful, Avon. AVON: So are you. DAYNA: Dayna. AVON: Are you a native of this planet? DAYNA: The ones who tried to kill you are the natives. Do I look like them? AVON: So where do you come from? DAYNA: I was born on Earth. My father brought me here when I was a baby. AVON: Are there many Earth people here? DAYNA: Just father and myself. AVON: Just the two of you? DAYNA: And Lauren. She's of this planet, but she's lived with us since she was a child. AVON: Three of you. How do you survive? The natives, what do you call them? DAYNA: The Sarrans. AVON: The Sarrans don't seem exactly friendly. DAYNA: They don't trouble us much. Father says they were a problem when we first arrived, now they leave us alone. They're afraid of us. They're afraid of me, particularly. AVON: Presumably, it's the bow and arrow. DAYNA: I like the ancient weapons -- the spear, the sword, the knife. They demand more skill. When you fight with them conflict becomes more personal. More exciting. AVON: More dangerous. DAYNA: Of course. Without danger there's no pleasure. AVON: That must limit your range of pleasures a bit. DAYNA: [laughs] You're feeling stronger. AVON: Yes, I am. DAYNA: I'll take you to our base. AVON: Is it far? DAYNA: No. You should manage it. AVON: Orac! DAYNA: What? AVON: When you found me, I had a box with me, about this size. DAYNA: There was nothing. AVON: Then it must still be in the life capsule. You have got to take me back to the place where you found me. Now. [On the beach. A Sarran looks inside capsule, removes Orac's case and throws it down. Dayna pulls Avon down. They descend a dune] AVON: It's all right. There it is. I'll get it. [Avon picks up and throws away gun, then moves toward the case] DAYNA: Avon! [The Sarran attacks, Avon fights and knocks him down, then picks up Orac] DAYNA: You fight well. [Another part of the beach. Servalan watches Sarran group pass] SERVALAN: Open transmission for immediate relay to Federation fleet command. Message begins. Escort group nine destroyed en route to main battle zone. President Servalan forced down on planet Sarran. Rescue is now your first priority. Repeat: rescue takes precedence over everything. Message ends. Acknowledge transmission. [White noise. She notices the dead troopers, gets to her feet holding a gun and walks away] [Avon and Dayna walk on the beach. They come upon a gruesome figure: the rotting corpse of a man tied by the wrists to a makeshift pillory.] AVON: Dayna! DAYNA: That's what Chel does to those he doesn't like. AVON: Chel? DAYNA: The leader of the Sarrans. [They go a little further and crouch behind a dune. Dayna points at the sea] There. AVON: I don't see anything. DAYNA: The sea! AVON: Oh, I can see the sea. DAYNA: That is our base. AVON: You live underneath it? DAYNA: In it. AVON: In it? Listen, I'm not very keen on water sports even at the best of times. DAYNA: Don't worry. AVON: This is not the best of times. DAYNA: You won't even get your feet wet. Wait here. I'll check it's safe to go on.[Leaves] [Sarran group passes corpse and pillory] [Muzzle of a gun touches Avon's cheek] SERVALAN: Stay quite still. AVON: Servalan. SERVALAN: You don't sound surprised. AVON: Why should I be? It has a perverse kind of logic to it. Our meeting is the most unlikely happening I could imagine. Therefore we meet. Surprise seems inappropriate somehow. SERVALAN: Stand up. Over there. Where are Blake and the others? AVON: I haven't the remotest idea. I'm not even sure that they're alive. I was unconscious. Somebody must have gotten me into a life capsule. SERVALAN: And Orac with you. I shall need Orac. AVON: Where's your ship? SERVALAN: Plastered over a large area of this miserable planet. AVON: You should've stayed at Space Command Headquarters. SERVALAN: The battle was virtually over. A personal appearance is always good politics. Especially for a new president. AVON: Congratulations. Why don't you put away the gun? SERVALAN: Why should I? AVON: Good politics? SERVALAN: I'd need a better reason. AVON: How about an arrow through the head? [Dayna walks behind Servalan, bow drawn] SERVALAN: If she fires, the chances are that I would still pull the trigger. Do you want to risk it? AVON: It's out of my hands. SERVALAN: Perhaps we can come to some arrangement. DAYNA: Then you'd better come to it quickly. I've no arrows left for them. [Sarrans approach on the beach] SERVALAN: In the circumstances, I suggest we forget our differences. AVON: Give me the gun. SERVALAN: [Tosses it to the ground] That won't stop them. It's empty. AVON: It's a great pity that you and I have always been on opposite sides, Servalan. DAYNA: You can talk later. Now we must hurry.[She runs on beach and opens the hatch, Avon runs up with her bow and arrow and Orac. The Sarrans are in pursuit] Hurry! [Dayna takes the bow and arrow and prepares to shoot. Avon and Servalan go into the hatch. One warrior falls with an arrow in his neck] CHEL: Leave him! [Dayna enters hatch, pulls down cover. Chel tugs futilely at hatch cover] [Main section of Mellanby's base. A soft background hum] AVON: A space vehicle grounded on the sea bed. DAYNA: It was designed as a fixed orbit station. My father landed it here more than twenty years ago. Putting it under the surface gave it the best possible camouflage. And it worked. They looked for us, but they never found us. SERVALAN: Until now. DAYNA: The Sarrans? They were never the real problem. SERVALAN: What's your father's name? DAYNA: Hal Mellanby. AVON: Mean anything to you? SERVALAN: No. DAYNA: I will tell my father you are here. AVON: Thank you. SERVALAN: I would like to clean up if I may. And perhaps you could find me something to wear? DAYNA: Of course. Come with me. [They exit, Avon examines a gun on a worktable that holds several weapons. Mellanby enters. He wears dark glasses, a gold starburst medallion, and a large disk with a glass bulb extending from it] MELLANBY: Welcome. You're Avon. Dayna told me you were here. I'm Hal Mellanby. AVON: Good to meet you. Thank you for your hospitality. MELLANBY: You've been involved in the war. AVON: You could say that. We were damaged, had to abandon our ship. MELLANBY: Come and sit down. AVON: Thank you. MELLANBY: You're not alone in losing your ship. The losses on both sides have been tremendous. I've been monitoring the status transmissions. AVON: Did we win? [Mellanby hands him a small listening device, which Avon puts to his ear] MELLANBY: Still very confused, but there's not much doubt the aliens were virtually wiped out. AVON: Well, the price was high enough, but at least we got what we paid for. MELLANBY: You almost didn't. It was a close-run thing. What's left of the Federation fleet, which isn't much, is scattered halfway across the galaxy. I'd say the Federation's in a lot of trouble. AVON: Yes, it's difficult to sustain a military dictatorship when you've lost most of the military. [Mellanby laughs] I only hope Blake survived long enough to realize that he was winning -- both wars. MELLANBY: Blake? You were with Blake? AVON: Yes, though it hardly seems to matter now. If it ever did. MELLANBY: If it mattered? Blake and the Liberator? I've been hearing reports for the last couple of years. You were magnificent. AVON: Not from where I was sitting. MELLANBY: You're doubly welcome here, Avon. We have something in common, too. We're both fugitives from the Federation. AVON: Dayna told me you had enemies. MELLANBY: I constituted a threat to them. AVON: Then I'm afraid by asking us to come here, you may have put yourself in danger. The woman who was with me is Supreme Commander Servalan. She may even be President Servalan by now. MELLANBY: Servalan? I've heard of her. Yes, she came into power some years after my defection. It's possible she doesn't remember my case. AVON: Don't count on it. Servalan has a long memory. [Dayna's room] DAYNA: Will this be all right? [Hold up a purple dress] I think it should fit you. SERVALAN: Oh, very attractive. A little old fashioned, and not my colour, but it'll do very nicely. DAYNA: Not too young for you? SERVALAN: Oh, I don't think so, do you? I find unsophisticated clothes quite amusing, like unsophisticated people. Obvious, but amusing. [Dayna laughs] SERVALAN: You say you've been here quite a long time? [Dayna moves behind a screen to change] DAYNA: Since I was a small child. SERVALAN: It must be very boring for you. DAYNA: Not at all. There never seems to be enough time. I have my tutorials with the computers. I like hunting and walking, and I work with my father. SERVALAN: Doing what? DAYNA: We design and develop defense systems. SERVALAN: Really? That must be fascinating. For whom do you develop these systems? Other exiles, like yourselves? DAYNA: We're not exiles. We chose to come here. SERVALAN: But I thought you said you were in hiding, that the Federation were searching for you. DAYNA: [Enters in new outfit] I didn't mention the Federation. SERVALAN: Oh, how pretty. Why else would you hide? A Federation citizen need fear nothing. DAYNA: You really believe that? SERVALAN: Of course. The Federation exists to protect its people. DAYNA: Even from themselves? SERVALAN: I don't understand. DAYNA: Is it a crime to be independent? Father wanted independence. The Federation refused him permission to leave Earth so he had to leave secretly. SERVALAN: And this burning desire for independence -- was this his only reason for leaving Earth? DAYNA: What do you mean? SERVALAN: Well, to hide away for twenty-odd years on some remote outer planet seems a trifle obsessive. Was there some other reason for his running away? DAYNA: No. SERVALAN: A Federation citizen who fails to register a change of location commits only a minor offense. Only a small fine is imposed. It must have been something more important than that to stop you returning home. DAYNA: There's nothing else. We just don't want to go back, that's all. We're not criminals; we're not hiding. We stay here because we want to. SERVALAN: You mustn't let me upset you. It's just that I'm fascinated by your life here. I'm so grateful to you. I don't know what I would have done without you up on the surface. You saved my life. And that's a debt I want to repay. So, [caresses Dayna's cheek] I hope we're going to be friends. DAYNA: I hope so, too. Is there anything else I can get for you? SERVALAN: Thank you, no. You've already been more than kind. DAYNA: Then you finish changing. I'll wait for you in the main section. SERVALAN: I'll be with you in just a few moments. [Thinks] [Main section] AVON: Forgive me asking, but that device you're wearing ... MELLANBY: [Indicates the glass bulb] This? It's an image amplifier. Before I left Earth, I was taken in for questioning by Federation Security. They suspected me of supplying weapons to resistance groups. And they were right. Anyway, in persuading me to talk they were slightly overzealous. They destroyed my optic nerves. This thing gives me partial vision. AVON: I'm sorry. MELLANBY: No need. It's an attitude of the mind. Most men see only what they want to see. The difference in my case is that I know that my vision is limited. [Loud, hollow gong sounds and repeats] AVON: What is it? MELLANBY: I don't know. [Lauren goes to a small screen and shows a series of views] LAUREN: That's the north shore. MELLANBY: Nothing there. Try the west shore. Nothing there either. DAYNA: [Enters] What's happening, father? MELLANBY: We don't know. We're checking. Lauren, try the south shore. [Sarrans are pounding on the hatch cover] DAYNA: Sarrans. LAUREN: That's the main entry lock. DAYNA: We'll go out through the other hatch. Get round behind them, then we'll have a clear field of fire. Wipe them out with one volley. MELLANBY: No, Dayna, no! Will you never understand? We take life only in the last extreme. DAYNA: They look fairly extreme to me. MELLANBY: We'll use vitashock weapons. The blasts will be painful enough to drive them off without causing any permanent injury. LAUREN: I'll get the guns from the armory.[Exits] MELLANBY: You see that Dayna and I don't agree on some issues. DAYNA: How can I agree? It contradicts everything I've done all my life. We've made the most sophisticated weapons ever known. They are designed to kill. MELLANBY: No, Dayna! DAYNA: They have no other purpose. Yet you tell me they should never be used? Does that make sense, Avon? AVON: I seldom comment on other people's ethics. LAUREN: [Enters and hands Dayna a weapon] Dayna. MELLANBY: You stay here, Avon. We can handle it. Come on, Dayna. [They all exit. Avon waits for them to leave, then picks up the case, opens it, and activates Orac] AVON: Orac, I want a status report on the Liberator. ORAC: The ship has sustained considerable damage, but is now operating at fifty-four percent of normal capacity. This is increasing rapidly as the auto- repair systems complete their functions. AVON: Can you give me a direct voice link with the Zen computer? ORAC: Wait. [Several seconds pass] AVON: Come on, Orac, come on! ORAC: Communicators have locked on to your voice-beam channel. Transmission may begin. AVON: Zen, this is Avon. Have you any information about the rest of the crew? ZEN: Direct instructions have been received from Blake. AVON: Where is he? Is he safe? ZEN: He reports he's uninjured. A locator malfunction at the time of transmission made it impossible to calculate his exact position. AVON: The others? [Servalan enters, then hides and listens] ZEN: Routine message interception indicates that Jenna is now on a hospital ship. Her injuries are superficial. AVON: What was the destination of the hospital ship? ZEN: That information was unclear. AVON: All right. What about Vila and Cally? ZEN: There has been no communication from either of them. AVON: Is the teleport in operation? ZEN: Repairs will be complete in two hours and thirty-four minutes. AVON: How soon can you bring the Liberator into teleport range? ZEN: Eight hours is the estimated time. AVON: Try and improve on that. Enter orbit with teleport facility set for random pickup. ZEN: Confirmed. AVON: Keep listening out for Vila or Cally. If either of them come in, give their pick up priority over mine. ZEN: Confirmed. AVON: That's about all. Keep feeding reports through Orac. ZEN: Information. A space vehicle has been registering on the detectors. Visual scan now indicates that it is approaching the Liberator. Present status suggests the vehicle will attempt docking beside port entry. AVON: Can you identify it? ZEN: Negative. AVON: Is there any voice contact? ZEN: Negative. AVON: Is it still coming? ZEN: Confirmed. Full function has been restored on Liberator weaponry systems. The vehicle can be destroyed on your order. AVON: Do it. No, wait. It could be Vila or Cally getting back. Let it dock. ZEN: Confirmed. [The ship attaches to Liberator. Static] AVON: Zen, report! Zen! Zen! [Static ceases] ORAC: Further communication with the Liberator is impossible. AVON: I must know if anyone boards the Liberator. That is vital. ORAC: The information is not available. AVON: Reestablish contact as soon as possible. ORAC: Well, of course I will.[Avon closes case] SERVALAN: [Emerges from hiding] Avon, you look worried. AVON: Do I? SERVALAN: And I thought you were the one who had conquered emotion, replaced feeling with logic. AVON: I don't really care what you thought. SERVALAN: Oh, you ARE worried, aren't you? AVON: Skip the psychology, Servalan, it is not your strong point. SERVALAN: You think not? You could be right. After all, we're very alike, you and I. AVON: I doubt that. [While Servalan speaks, Avon sets Orac's case down in front of a chair and then sits with his feet up on the case] SERVALAN: You are ambitious, ruthless ... you want power and you'd never let conscience stand in the way of achieving it. Well? AVON: You overestimate me. SERVALAN: You have one other quality I admire. Very much. AVON: Yes? SERVALAN: You are infinitely corruptible. You'd sell out anybody, wouldn't you? AVON: I don't know; I never really had an offer I felt was worthy of me. SERVALAN: Then why don't you see if you can find us a drink. We have things to talk about. [Bluff above the beach. Dayna, Lauren, and Mellanby watch as the Sarrans attack the hatch] MELLANBY: Set for minimum power. Dayna, set minimum. Continuous burst. Fire. Cease firing. Dayna, I said stop. DAYNA: They'll come back! MELLANBY: When they do, we'll give them another blast. Couple more times and they'll come to associate this area with pain. Then they'll leave it alone. LAUREN: They're starting to edge back. MELLANBY: Let them get close. [Main section. Servalan is now seated on a small couch. Avon pours green liquid into a glass] SERVALAN: I'm going to be honest with you. AVON: That should be mildly disconcerting. SERVALAN: I know the Liberator is on its way here to pick you up. AVON: What makes you think that? SERVALAN: I was hiding over there. I heard every word. AVON: I see. Go on. [Hands the glass to Servalan] SERVALAN: My only chance of getting off this planet is if I can make contact with a serviceable Federation ship. [Avon sits next to her on the couch] That possibility seems fairly remote. AVON: Surely not. Once they realize the President is marooned they will be coming in droves. SERVALAN: I don't think so. You see, there's something you probably don't know. Star One was destroyed. AVON: Are you sure? SERVALAN: Positive. An alien counterattack, it took us by surprise. They reduced the entire planet to so much space debris. Nothing survived. AVON: And Star One was the basis of Federation power. It controlled everything. SERVALAN: Exactly. And now it's gone, so is most of the Federation. From now on there will be chaos in the star systems. No central control, no unifying force. Over half the civilized planets left to their fate. AVON: So Blake's rabble finally get freedom of choice. He won after all.[They both stand] SERVALAN: Forget Blake. YOU have control of the Liberator now. There's no more powerful ship in the galaxy. You have Orac. Avon! Don't you see what that means? AVON: You tell me about it. SERVALAN: You could rebuild it all. All those worlds could be yours, Avon, they're there for the taking. You and I could build an empire greater and more powerful than the Federation ever was or ever could have been. Now, Avon. At this moment we can take history and shape it in our own image. Think of it: absolute power. There is nothing you can imagine that we couldn't do. AVON:[Takes her glass and sets it aside] I am thinking on it. SERVALAN: We can do it, Avon. AVON: I know we can. SERVALAN: We'll be answerable to no one. Ours will be the only voice. Imagination our only limit. [They kiss. Avon grabs her by the throat and pushes her to the ground] AVON: Imagination my only limit? I'd be dead in a week. [At the bluff] DAYNA: I think they've learned their lesson. MELLANBY: Good. Let's get back. Lauren? LAUREN: I'll stay a while longer, just in case. MELLANBY: They won't be back. LAUREN: It won't hurt to wait a while longer. Anyway, when I'm sure it's safe, I want to go and look at the entry lock, see if they've done any damage. DAYNA: I'll stay with you. LAUREN: There's no need. I can handle it, Dayna. MELLANBY: All right, but don't take any chances. LAUREN: I won't. DAYNA: Keep your head down. LAUREN: I always do. [On the beach] CHEL: The light that brings pain came from those rocks. I saw movement there. When night comes, we'll circle that place, and destroy them that would harm us. [Main section. Avon holds a teleport bracelet while Dayna probes it] AVON: So you have very little to fear from Servalan. There is no real Federation anymore. It's unlikely that anyone will come looking for you. You won't have to hide any longer. MELLANBY: It's odd. For the last twenty years that's all I've dreamed of, freedom to do what I want, go where I want. Now that I've got it, I'm not sure what to do with it. AVON: [To Dayna] Thank you. [Snaps the bracelet on his wrist] Will you leave this planet? MELLANBY: I don't know. I...I won't make any decision in a hurry. AVON: That's probably wise. MELLANBY: But no matter what I do, I think it would be good for Dayna to get away from here. She should experience other worlds, other people. AVON: She could have some surprises coming. MELLANBY: She's an intelligent girl. She'll adapt quickly. AVON: I'm sure she will. DAYNA: I'm going to bed, father. AVON: I could do with some rest, as well. It'll be a few hours before the Liberator gets here. MELLANBY: Is it still on its way? AVON: I haven't reestablished voice contact, but Orac is tracking it. It's right on course. MELLANBY: So you should be leaving us soon after dawn. AVON: That's the plan. MELLANBY: I'll be sure you're awake in plenty of time. AVON: Thank you. Good night. MELLANBY: Night. DAYNA: Aren't you going to bed? MELLANBY: I'll wait up for Lauren. She won't be long. Sleep well. DAYNA: Good night. MELLANBY: Night. [Avon and Dayna exit. Mellanby dims the lights and sits] [Dayna's room. Servalan searches drawers, then a cupboard, and finds a small green gun] AVON: [V.O.] Good night, Dayna. DAYNA: [V.O.] I hope you sleep well. AVON: [V.O.] I'll see you before I go. [Servalan lays down and pretends to be asleep. Dayna enters and begins to undress] [At the bluff in moonlight. Lauren starts to rise and sees Chel] CHEL: Welcome back to your people. [Main section, dimly lit and apparently empty] [Servalan quietly leaves Dayna's room, goes to the main section, and finds Orac] MELLANBY: [Turns on lights and aims gun] Move away from it. You're welcome to leave, but you're not taking Orac with you. Just what were you planning? SERVALAN: It's quite simple. If I have Orac, Avon will agree to whatever terms I offer him. He can't control the Liberator's teleport without it. It was a good idea, I hadn't counted on anyone being here. MELLANBY: We all make mistakes. SERVALAN: That's true. You did yourself, once, didn't you? You see, I finally remembered who you are. MELLANBY: That was all a long time ago. SERVALAN: But not forgotten. You led a revolt that took more than three weeks to suppress. It cost a lot of Federation lives. MELLANBY: And the lives of virtually everyone who followed me. SERVALAN: Still, it's all over now. The Federation is finished. You have nothing to fear anymore. MELLANBY: Nothing to fear.[Lowers his gun] SERVALAN: Mellanby. [Shoots his optical device] You don't win wars by running away and hiding. [Shoots him again, picks up Orac and mounts the stairs] MELLANBY: [Struggles to stand but falls] Dayna! Avon! [Dies] [Avon runs in, checks Mellanby's body for pulse] AVON: Servalan. Orac! DAYNA: [Enters] Father! [On the beach in daylight. Servalan walks, carrying Orac, and sees Lauren's corpse hanging on pillory] [Dayna, in hunting dress, hands Avon a gun. She wears her father's starburst medallion] DAYNA: Take this. Ready? AVON: Yes. DAYNA: Then let's find her. AVON: Wait a minute. Take this bracelet. Liberator is due here at anytime. If things go right it could be your only way out. DAYNA: I'm going nowhere until Servalan is dead. AVON: Unless we find Orac, neither am I. DAYNA: [Takes bracelet]Then we're agreed. Let's get started. [Avon and Dayna find Lauren's body] DAYNA: Lauren, too. What's left? AVON: Servalan. We must find her. Now. DAYNA: Lauren. [Weeps] AVON: Listen. Her tracks show that she came this way. There are Sarran tracks as well. They're following her. We must get to her before they do. [Dayna nods] [Servalan is caught by a Sarran, who drags her to their camp] [Avon and Dayna watch the camp] AVON: Let's try and get a bit closer. DAYNA: I can kill her from here. She's well within range. AVON: No, wait a minute. DAYNA: Why wait? AVON: Because I can't see Orac. DAYNA: What would the Sarrans want with Orac? It is of no value to them. AVON: Exactly. They may have left it where they captured her. Only Servalan knows. [Sarrans prepare a pillory. Servalan and Chel recline on the side of a dune] DAYNA: I'm going to kill her now while I've got the chance. AVON: No. Orac is our only hope. We have got to get her out of there. Give me a few minutes to get down there, then start firing. Cause as much panic and confusion as you can, but keep your fire away from Servalan. DAYNA: All right. AVON: I don't want you telling me afterwards that it was an accident. [A Sarran ties Servalan's wrists to the pillory, Avon hits him and cuts her free] SERVALAN: Thanks. AVON: You're welcome. CHEL: There they are, man. Get after them! [Shoves a Sarran in their general direction] [Avon, Dayna and Servalan run to Dayna's cave] AVON: We don't have too much time. Where is Orac? SERVALAN: Safe. AVON: Where? SERVALAN: Let's talk about what I get in return. AVON: You got your life, didn't you? SERVALAN: Naturally, I'm grateful. But it's not enough. DAYNA: You're in no position to bargain. SERVALAN: Oh, but I am. Without Orac you're helpless, and you know it, don't you Avon? AVON: What is it you want? SERVALAN: Passage off this planet. When the Liberator comes in, I want to teleport up -- with you. AVON: No. SERVALAN: Then we all stay here together. Be sensible, I'm not asking you to give me the Liberator. Just take me to the nearest civilized planet and put me down. You have nothing to lose. AVON: All right, I agree. Now where is Orac? SERVALAN: Oh, no, Avon. Oh, no, it's not that simple. We know each other far too well. There are conditions. AVON: Go on. SERVALAN: First of all, I want a gun. DAYNA: No. AVON: There is only one. SERVALAN: I only want one. AVON: Convince her. [Dayna doesn't budge] SERVALAN: A teleport bracelet. AVON: I'll give it to you when we have Orac. SERVALAN: You will give it to me now. [Avon removes his bracelet and hands it to her] You have another? AVON: Yes. SERVALAN: Good. Then I think I can say we're in business. AVON: You've got what you wanted, Servalan. Don't expect admiration as well. DAYNA: There is one thing, perhaps, you haven't accounted for. SERVALAN: I don't think so. DAYNA: I'm going to kill you. Sooner or later. AVON: Where is Orac? SERVALAN: I hid it near the entry lock. [On the beach by the hatch, now open. Dayna keeps the gun on Servalan] AVON: All right, where is it? SERVALAN: Buried over there. [Avon finds the case, opens it] AVON: Report! ORAC: Liberator's navigation systems are locked onto this location. I will operate the teleport the moment the ship moves into range. AVON: All right, we'll be standing by. [Servalan shoves at the gun, slaps Dayna down, and grabs the gun] SERVALAN: Stay where you are. A pity, Avon. I was willing to share with you. AVON: Killing us at this point was always part of your plan. That's why I gave you the faulty bracelet. SERVALAN: You're lying. AVON: Look at the casing. It's cracked right across. [Servalan checks, and is distracted by small explosion. Chel has fired the gun at her] AVON: [To Dayna] Get the bracelet! [Fetches Orac] [Dayna grabs the gun, gets the bracelet, pushes Servalan down] DAYNA: Bracelet. [Hands it to Avon, then aims the gun at Servalan, who is in the hatch entryway] Stop! Servalan, I made you a promise, and I'm going to keep it. Stop! [Avon and Dayna teleport, Servalan closes the hatch, and the beach is suddenly empty. Chel plunges his sword into the sand and yells in frustration] [Exterior shot of Liberator] [Liberator's teleport bay. Avon puts away the bracelets] AVON: Are you all right? DAYNA: Yes. AVON: When we first met, you said there was no pleasure without danger. Do you still feel that way? DAYNA: I think I can do without excitement for a little while. AVON: Good, then let's get to the flight deck. There's a lot to be done. I have to locate the others and pick them up. Come on. [They head out but Dayna stops] DAYNA: Wait! [Tarrant enters and points a gun at them] TARRANT: Summary execution is the usual punishment for boarding a Federation ship without authority. What are you doing on my ship? AVON: Your ship? TARRANT: That's right. [Klegg, Harmon and three other guards enter] KLEGG: You were supposed to have searched this ship. These two should have been found. Where were you hiding? DAYNA: We weren't hiding. We've... AVON: We've only just realized there was anyone else on board. We were in a civilian ship that got caught up in the battle. We managed to dock our life capsule alongside this ship and come aboard. KLEGG: Just the two of you? AVON: We were exhausted and settled into a cabin. We've been sleeping for hours. TARRANT: Have your men make another search and this time see they do it properly. KLEGG: Harmon, you heard the officer. [Harmon and the other guards leave] TARRANT: What's your name? AVON: My name is Chevron, this is my wife, Dayna. KLEGG: You have identification? AVON: We lost everyhting when our ship was hit. DAYNA: We were lucky to get out with our lives. TARRANT: We've all been lucky, not many of our people survived the battle. Captain Del Tarrant. KLEGG: Section leader Klegg. [scene - Liberator flight deck] AVON: [off-screen] Is this the way? TARRANT: [off-screen] Straight ahead. [Dayna, Avon, Tarrant and Klegg enter] KLEGG: When you came aboard was there anyone else on this ship? AVON: No. TARRANT: Does the name Blake mean anything to you? AVON: Blake, it seems to me I know the name. He was a political agitator, wasn't he? TARRANT: How about you? DAYNA: No, the name means nothing to me. KLEGG: Jenna Stannis, Kerr Avon, Vila Restal? AVON: Never heard of them. Are they important to you? TARRANT: Very. AVON: Why? TARRANT: Because this was their ship. DAYNA: I thought you said it was yours? TARRANT: Prize of war. AVON: What do you want now, a deed of transfer, perhaps? TARRANT: In a way, you see we can't navigate this ship. It's operating on computer programming and we can't get an override to manual control. DAYNA: You mean the ship is doing whatever it wants? TARRANT: That's right. Our guess is that before Blake and his crew abandoned the computer was instructed only to respond to recognised voice prints. If Blake or any of the others have survived they'll use a communicator link. The computer will identify the voice and then direct the navigation units to take the ship within teleport range of the transmission source. AVON: You need one of the original crew back on board to put the ship under your control. KLEGG: That's exactly right. DAYNA: Have you heard any transmission yet? TARRANT: Thousands of them. The communication channels are thick with distress calls. But there is one, one special one, keeps coming in every hour or so. It's a long way off, a very weak signal. But every time we hear it the computer registers a power surge as if it was reacting to the voice. AVON: If your theory is correct, it could be a member of the crew. TARRANT: We think so. The ship's gone into direct line flight now, it could be homing in on the signal. KLEGG: But just before it settled on this flight path the ship went through some very precise manoeuvres which took it close to a planet. AVON: A navigational check, presumably. KLEGG: Yes, maybe. But shortly after that you two appeared. AVON: Coincidence, pure coincidence. KLEGG: I do not believe in coincidence, pure or otherwise. AVON: I don't care what you believe in, why should you doubt me? TARRANT: You'll find Section Leader Klegg doubts everything. He even questions my superior rank. KLEGG: I accept that your rank places you in authority, sir; but my reports will show that my men and I boarded this ship before you. TARRANT: Oh, don't worry, you'll get all the credit you deserve. KLEGG: Thank you, sir. Now in the meantime and with your permission I suggest we confirm that neither of these two are members of Blake's crew. TARRANT: You have my permission to try. KLEGG: You will each speak a line into the computer's audio command circuit. If the computer does not recognise the voice it will not respond. TARRANT: Would you mind? AVON: As a matter of fact I would. I am getting a little tired of these insinuations. Loyal Federation citizens do have certain rights. We will not submit to being interrogated like common criminals. I warn you, I have a number of influential friends. KLEGG: [points gun at Avon] Over here. You will say "Indicate if my voice pattern is registered in the memory banks and confirm identity." [To Dayna] You say it. DAYNA: Indicate if my voice pattern is... KLEGG: Is regisistered in the memory banks... DAYNA: Is registered in the memory banks and confirm identity. KLEGG: You're clear. [to Avon] You.. say it.. [fight - Avon and Dayna are both knocked out by Tarrant] KLEGG: Why did you do that? TARRANT: He was reaching for a gun. KLEGG: She could've killed me. TARRANT: She wasn't exactly gentle with me. [Harmon and a guard enter] GUARD: What happened? TARRANT: He went for a gun. He wasn't going to chance taking the voice test. KLEGG: There are no weapons on him, he's unarmed. TARRANT: Are you sure? KLEGG: There's nothing! TARRANT: I must be getting jumpy. KLEGG: We've still got to check his voice print. TARRANT: Not yet, he's out cold. [To guards] Lock them up somewhere. [Harmon and guard drag out Avon and Dayna, still unconscious]] KLEGG: If you'd been a bit less sudden we'd have known the truth by now. TARRANT: Or you might have had the back of your head blown off. VILA: [on communicator] Zen, do you read me, Zen? Please respond if you are receiving. TARRANT: It's him, same distress call, same frequency. KLEGG: Still a long way off. VILA: [on communicator] Oh come on, Zen, say something will you? Look, I'm in bad trouble. I need help. KLEGG: Look TARRANT: The computer's responding. VILA: [On communicator] Help me will you, Zen. I'm in bad trouble. [Pause. A growl in the undergrowth] [to himself] Sounds big and bad tempered, I just hope it's vegetarian. [Notices Lom's spear next to his head] Aghh, Ahh, ohh, oh, oh. LOM: You are hurt? VILA: Yes, it's my arm. I think it's broken. LOM: It has affected your mind, I think. VILA: My mind? LOM: You were talking to yourself in different voices. VILA: Ah no. No, no, no, no. I was talking to my men. Communicator. My men are positioned all around here. I give them their orders through this and I can hear them answer. LOM: We've been watching you. You are alone; and you do not need to explain to me about communicators, I am quite familiar with them. VILA: Oh. Well that seems to cover everything. LOM: You were in a space accident? VILA: Accident? It was a full scale war. There was this alien battle fleet... LOM: [interrupting] I would like to hear more about it when you are rested and fed. Are you hungry? VILA: I’m Starving. LOM: [Whistles] Let me see your arm. My name is Lom. VILA: I'm Vila, pleased to meet you. Ooh. LOM: Yes, you are right, it is broken. It will have to be set. [Mall arrives] LOM: Vila, this is Mall. [to Mall] He's very hungry, give him something. I have to mend his arm. [to Villa] I think when this is done it would be safer if you come back with us to our camp. There are hunters in this area. VILA: Hunters, what are they after, big game? LOM: No. Us. [scene - a cabin on the Liberator] DAYNA: I'm sorry, I let you down. AVON: Let me down? DAYNA: There were only two, I should have been able to kill them both. AVON: We all have our off days. Anyway there were four other guards hanging around. DAYNA: I could have dealt with them. AVON: I'm sure you could, but it's not all bad. If I had spoken, Zen would have identified me. This way we've bought ourselves a little more time. DAYNA: And how do we use it? AVON: To start with we get out of here. DAYNA: And once we're out? AVON: This is my ship. [scene - guard outside cabin door, rises and nods to someone approaching] [scene - inside the cabin again, Avon is picking the lock] DAYNA: You want me to try it? AVON: Are you any good with locks? DAYNA: No, but then neither are you, by the look of it. AVON: You should never judge by appearances. DAYNA: I don't, I judge by results, and you're not getting any. AVON: Wrong again. [opens door - they find a dead guard outside with a knife in his back] AVON: That's a difficult way to commit suicide. DAYNA: Maybe he was cleaning it and it went off. [exeunt, Klegg and Tarrant arrive] TARRANT: He's dead - killed with his own knife. KLEGG: Do you still doubt that our friend is one of Blake's men? TARRANT: No. Let's find them, get your men. [scene - a passageway in the Liberator, Avon and Dayna enter, Avon opens an inspection hatch] AVON: Quickly. [they climb down through the hatch and put it back in place above them. Tarrant enters, sees hatch; it is clear he is suspicious] TARRANT: I want every inch of this ship checked. Right, move! [scene - Dayna and Avon in inspection channel] TARRANT: [off screen] Search everywhere, every possible place. DAYNA: What do we do now? AVON: These inspection channels link up all over the ship. A little narrow in places, but we can get almost anywhere we want. DAYNA: They're not going to give up on us. AVON: They might, with a little encouragement. We have to take the pressure off so that I can talk to Zen. DAYNA: Is it worth the risk? AVON: The way the ship is acting it's obvious we're on our way to pick up another one of the crew. DAYNA: And you need to know who and where. [scene - a fish-shaped hospital ship; Cally lying on a bed, a nurse enters] NURSE: Don't be alarmed, we're going to make a surface landing. CALLY: More survivors from the battle? NURSE: Just one, apparently. We picked up a voice signal a couple of hours ago. We're homing in on it now. It will be a quick touchdown and immediate lift-off. The local inhabitants are hostile, apparently. Ah, let's see how your burns are healing. CALLY: How many survivors have you picked up now? NURSE: This will make sixty-four. Feel any discomfort there? CALLY: No. NURSE: Yes, sixty-four. We're almost at capacity, we'll be on our way home after this pickup. Does that hurt? CALLY: A little tender. NURSE: I'm not surprised. When we pulled you out of your life capsule you were badly scorched. CALLY: It was lucky you found me. NURSE: Hm, that's what we're here for. You're doing fine. The new tissue's firming up. A few hours and you'll be able to take the regen mask off for good. [ship touches down in a barren, rocky landscape.] Absurd. No matter how many flights I make I'm always relieved when we touch down safely. Not very inviting is it? CALLY: Not very. I imagine that survivor must be quite pleased to see us. NURSE: Let's hope we were in time. Hm, we'll soon be on our way home. CALLY: Where is home? NURSE: Our planet, you mean. It's called Chenga. It was settled about two hundred years ago. CALLY: Was it aligned to the Federation? NURSE: No, neutral. We keep to ourselves. CALLY: Well then, why are you getting involved now, why are you picking up survivors? NURSE: That's quite enough talking. You still need to get plenty of rest. We're lifting off. CALLY: That was fast. NURSE: We had a very precise locator reading. I'll go and see what sort of state our new visitor is in. [The Nurse leaves, then returns with Servalan] NURSE: We have a new guest. [to Servalan] You can settle in there. SERVALAN: You're very kind. And now if you would be good enough to tell your Captain I would like to see him. I have a great deal to do and very little time. So please see to it, immediately. NURSE: I'll see he gets the message. SERVALAN: Good. That will be all for the moment. [scene - the forest on the planet's surface] LOM: We will rest. VILA: Much further to go? LOM: Not far. [to Mall] Scout the ground ahead. [To Vila] The hunters are out. VILA: Who are these hunters? LOM: They live to the north. They come to the forests to search for us. VILA: Yes, but why? LOM: Some treat it as a sport, most do it for the bounty. VILA: Bounty? LOM: Down! There. [ominous lights moving under the trees] [scene - inspection channel on the Liberator, Avon and Dayna. They move out of inspection tunnel and hurry off] [Harmon and a guard enter and spot handles left up on cover] HARMON: We've found them. Keep it covered - I'll get the others. [leaves, someone else arrives] GUARD 2: We've got them. [scene - AVON and DAYNA in escape capsule launch area] AVON: I was afraid it might have been used, but it's all right. [scene - the corridor with the hatch, Tarrant, Klegg, Harmon and a guard] TARRANT: Lift together. Now. [shot from Klegg's rifle down into the inspection hole] [scene - life capsule launch control area] AVON: All in perfect working order. DAYNA: How much longer are you going to be? AVON: If you were them where would be the last place you'd expect to find us? DAYNA: I don't know. AVON: What about the room they locked us up in, would you think of looking there? DAYNA: No, I don't think I would. AVON: When I give you the signal fire two shots. I don't want anyone to miss this. [scene - back to corridor] TARRANT: A little sudden, Klegg. KLEGG: It's not my fault, he was already dead. TARRANT: From the wound on his head he was probably just unconscious. KLEGG: I can't be held responsible. TARRANT: All right, Section Leader, you were too quick with your gun, but I'll see the report shows you were not to blame. KLEGG: I shall be writing my own report on this. [2 shots are heard] TARRANT: Stay here! [scene - Tarrant arrives at life capsule launch controls] TARRANT: They've launched a life capsule. [scene - surface of planet] LOM: They're moving away. VILA: Isn't that what we should be doing? LOM: Shh. [Mall arrives. To Mall] You saw them, are they just the two of them? [Mall holds up four fingers] VILA: Who are they? What are they? LOM: We call them hi-techs - we must go. [Lom is shot with a suction dart, Mall throws his spear] VILA: [to Mall] Is he dead? [Mall picks up Lom and hurries off, Vila gets lost following him] VILA: Where are you? Where are you? [Vila is caught] ZEE: He's not a primitive. BARR: He was with them. ZEE: Look at his clothes, he's not one of them. BARR: It's not important, anyhow. Oh, the poor thing's hurt. [To Vila] Here, let me help you. ZEE: Can you understand what we say? VILA: Oh yes. Yes, yes yes - every word. My ears're all right, it's my arm that's the trouble. BARR: [To Zee] He speaks our language. [To Villa] Are you hungry? VILA: Well now you mention it, my last meal was interrupted. BARR: I'll get you something. ZEE: What's the matter with your arm? VILA: Broken, nothing really. ZEE: Let me see if I can make it more comfortable for you. BARR: When you're ready we'll take you to the Centre. You'll get expert medical attention there. VILA: That's very kind of you. You know, I thought I was going to be killed. ZEE: We don't kill, our guns fire tranquilizing darts. We try to catch the primitives so they can be taken back to a more civilized way of life, so they can be of use to the whole community. VILA: Well, there's nothing wrong with that. [scene - on the hospital ship] CALLY: [telepathically] Vila, Vila, can you hear me? [scene - in the forest] ZEE: You'll hardly feel this. VILA: Ohh. [scene - on the hospital ship] CALLY: Oh. SERVALAN: Are you all right? CALLY: Yes. SERVALAN: Cally. What a delightful coincidence. [scene - cabin on the Liberator] DAYNA: Must you do that? AVON: It won't fit into any logical pattern. DAYNA: What won't? AVON: Who killed the guard and why? DAYNA: Whh, he's just one less to deal with, do we care why? [pause] But why leave him sitting there? AVON: To delay discovery and give the murderer a chance to get away. DAYNA: A personal grudge, one of the others has been waiting for a chance to settle an old score? AVON: That's a possibility. DAYNA: Can you think of another? AVON: Yes. Just one. There's someone else on this ship that neither they nor we know about. Stay here and stay quiet. DAYNA: I'll come with you. AVON: I can do it faster on my own. DAYNA: Do what? Avon, why do you keep everything to yourself? Why so secretive? AVON: Perhaps I'm shy. [Goes to leave] Anybody comes through this door, kill them. Anybody that isn't me, that is. [scene - Harmon coming from store room, seen by Avon] [scene - Liberator flight deck, Klegg, Tarrant and a guard] KLEGG: Any deviation in the flight path? TARRANT: Not for more than an hour. There's nothing on this heading except the planet Chenga. That's got to be where we're going. KLEGG: Chenga? Never heard of it. TARRANT: It's a neutral, small population. I'll check the references to see if there's anything especially significant. [Avon sees them and stays out of sight outside] KLEGG: I'm going to take another look at that teleport system. If anyone comes aboard, that's the way they'll arrive. [Klegg and guard leave, followed by Tarrant, Avon enters] AVON: Zen, I want a status check. Keep it down to basics, I don't have too much time. ZEN: All systems are fully operational. Computers are responding to a program of search, locate and recovery. AVON: Have you anything on Blake's whereabouts? ZEN: His last voice transmission reported that he is safe and well and en route for the planet Epheron. AVON: Epheron? ZEN: It is a planet of the system Lauritol. It has several primitive life forms. AVON: Don't give me the whole thing, I'll punch up the reference. What about the others? ZEN: Jenna received superficial injuries in a life capsule malfunction. AVON: Is she all right? ZEN: She reports she is well and aboard a neutral cargo carrier in transit to the planet Morphenniel. She advises that her situation requires no priority treatment. AVON: Cally? ZEN: No contact. AVON: Vila? ZEN: He is injured and according to his last transmission in grave peril. Accordingly his recovery has been given maximum priority. AVON: Where is he? ZEN: The planet Chenga. Teleport range will be achieved in precisely three hours and eight point five minutes. AVON: All right, continue recovery program. [Avon leaves the flight deck, an unconscious Dayna is dragged in by Klegg and a guard.] KLEGG: Bring her round. [scene - Chenga. Barr leaves a dome and meets Zee and Vila in the forest.] BARR: There, that's all done. I've checked you in and registered you. ZEE: The staff will look after you. You just ask for anything you want. You'll find they're most obliging. VILA: But I'll be seeing you and Barr again, won't I? ZEE: That's not allowed, I'm afraid. BARR: Zee and I have work to do. VILA: Oh, I'm really sorry I won't be seeing you both again and I want to thank you for everything you've done. Without you, I don't know what would have happened to me. ZEE: It was no trouble and remember we get a reward for bringing you here. BARR: Two thousand credits. VILA: You get paid for helping me? That's what the primitives meant when they said that you get a bounty. You see, they've got it all wrong, they just don't understand. BARR: You'd better go now, they're expecting you. [scene - Avon outside cabin on the LIberator] AVON: Dayna? [he enters] HARMON: Stand! Face that wall. Put your hands against it. [Harmon searches Avon for weapons] AVON: May I turn round now? HARMON: Carefully. TARRANT: You got him. Good. A very impressive performance, I didn't believe anyone could stay out of sight for so long, but then you did have the advantage of local knowledge, didn't you Avon? AVON: My name is... TARRANT: Your name is Avon. AVON: How did you know? TARRANT: When we first came face-to-face. I said "What are you doing on my ship?". There were a dozen ways you could have answered, but you said "Your ship?". An innocent stranger wouldn't question who was in command. AVON: I congratulate you, that's very nicely reasoned, a stupid lapse of concentration on my part. TARRANT: Oh, don't blame yourself too much. AVON: I'll try not to. TARRANT: I imagine you'de been under considerable stress. AVON: I had hoped for a more inspiring epitaph. TARRANT: So, after realizing you were one of Blake's people it was simple. You weren't Blake, I'd have recognized him. AVON: And too intelligent for Vila. TARRANT: It was an even bet. AVON: Quite. TARRANT: I still don't know who the girl is, though. AVON: Her name is Dayna, she's not one of us. Where is she, by the way? TARRANT: Do you care? AVON: She did save my life. HARMON: Shouldn't we take him to the flight deck, sir? Section Leader Klegg will want to question him. TARRANT: When I'm ready, Harmon. AVON: Klegg doesn't strike me as a subtle man. TARRANT: He isn't. AVON: So when I refuse to answer his questions we'll get into the dreary process of subjecting me to extreme pain and suffering. TARRANT: Barbaric, but frequently effective. AVON: Before we get into that there's something I think you should know. TARRANT: Go on. AVON: One of your men was murdered. HARMON: Two. Two of our men were murdered. AVON: Oh better than I thought. I wish I could say I was sorry. What I can say is: we didn't kill them. HARMON: He's lying. AVON: I think I know who it might have been. TARRANT: Yes? AVON: [indicating Harmon] Him. HARMON: Why, you ly... TARRANT: Easy Harmon. HARMON: They were my friends. TARRANT: Let him finish. AVON: I saw him coming out of one of the sections, he was nervous, uneasy. I couldn't make anything of it until I remebered what was housed in that section. This ship carries considerable sums of various currencies, rare metals, precious stones and the like. He was coming out of the strong room. HARMON: I was following orders, I was searching for you. AVON: Show him the bag you have in your pocket. [they fight, Tarrant shoots Harmon as he is about to kill Avon] AVON: The others must have known what he was up to. He didn't want to share with them. [Tarrant searches Harmon, finding and emptying a bag of gems.] TARRANT: You made a good case, Avon, there was only one thing wrong with it. AVON: What was that? TARRANT: He didn't kill those men. I did. [Gives Harmon's rifle to Avon] You'll need that if we're both to come out of this alive. [scene - inside the dome, Vila enters] VILA: Excuse me, er, Zee and Barr sent me. I think I'm expected. RECEP- TIONIST: And most welcome. VILA: You know, those two are really nice girls, really nice. RECEP- TIONIST: They've brought in over twenty primitives in the last two years. VILA: You don't surprise me, they're all heart those two. RECEP- TIONIST: Now, if you'd like to follow me. VILA: Lead on, lead on. Cally! CALLY: Vila! VILA: Oh, Cally, what a relief. I thought I'd never see you again. CALLY: It's good to see you. I knew you were still alive because I felt your pain. VILA: Oh, you've no idea what I've been through. CALLY: How is it? VILA: Well, it's all right if you don't count the agony. CALLY: I tried very hard to contact you. VILA: Things got a bit hectic. Are you all right? CALLY: Yes. VILA: The others? CALLY: I don't know. I think Avon's alive. VILA: He would be. RECEP- TIONIST: We have to move on to health reception. You can go together if you wish. VILA: Oh, thank you. CALLY: We'd like that, thank you. RECEP- TIONIST: This way. VILA: Thank you. SERVALAN: [Initially off-screen] You - come here. My name is Servalan. I want to see a senior official immediately. RECEP- TIONIST: I'm afraid that won't be possible. SERVALAN: I am President and Supreme Commander of the Terran Federation. I want to see a senior official. I want to see him here and I want to see him now. [scene - Guard approaches cabin, Avon and Tarrant are talking inside] AVON: [Through the door] Del Tarrant - who are you? [scene switches to inside] TARRANT: I've been on the Federation wanted list for quite a while. I had my own ship. I was running contraband, getting myself mixed up in other people's wars - you know the sort of thing. Naturally I heard something of what Blake and the rest of you were doing. AVON: We tried not to keep it a secret. How did you get here? TARRANT: Like you, I went in against the aliens, unlike you I barely survived the first salvo. I was picked up by a Federation ship - that's how I came by the uniform. When she was hit and we abandoned my life capsule homed in on the Liberator. She was still in bad shape but the repair circuits were beginning to make headway. AVON: Were Klegg and his men already here? TARRANT: Yes, so I had no choice but to bluff it out and pretend I was Federation. The man I got the uniform from outranked Klegg and I trained as a Federation Space Captain so it wasn't too difficult. AVON: You certainly convinced me, especially when you cracked me over the back of the head. TARRANT: Yes, sorry about that, but I knew if you spoke the computer would identify you. [scene switch to guard] AVON: Were you planning to kill all of them? [switch back] TARRANT: Yes, if necessary, it's not quite as callous as it might seem, almost but not quite. Klegg and his men are the Federation's death squad, they have a record of brutality hard to match. AVON: You don't have to apologise to me. TARRANT: I wasn't. [they hear the sound of movement from outside the room] AVON: Just one thing. When we launched the life capsule, why weren't you convinced we had gone? TARRANT: It convinced Klegg, but not me. AVON: I thought it was a good idea. TARRANT: It was, but that's how I knew you had faked it, it's the sort of idea I would have had myself. [Avon opens the door but the guard runs off] AVON: Pity - it would have been better if they still thought you were on their side, but there are only three of them now. TARRANT: It's not quite that straightforward, Klegg's holding your friend Dayna. [scene - Chenga medical facility] RECEP- TIONIST: If you'll swallow these - they're trace elements to help the instruments make a complete analysis. VILA: Of course, anything we can do to be helpful. CALLY: Thank you. RECEP- TIONIST: Now if you'd like to relax someone will come to see you shortly. VILA: You know, I think our luck has finally changed. CALLY: Yes, I'm not quite sure just which way. VILA: You're not serious. I tell you, given the choice between all this or sitting out there with a broken arm I know which I'd choose. CALLY: Well, there's something not quite right about all this. VILA: Not right - I've never known such hospitality. CALLY: I think I'm going to try and contact the Liberator. VILA: There's no rush is there? I mean, at least tell them not to hurry. Tell Zen to give the others priority. CALLY: Cally calling Liberator. Liberator, are you receiving me? [scene - teleport section, Avon and Tarrant are just outside it] AVON: Now is a good time to start getting ideas. TARRANT: Do you have grenades on board? AVON: We can't chance damaging the teleport. KLEGG: [offscreen] Do you hear me out there? AVON: We hear you. KLEGG: You come in here, unarmed, or I kill the girl. AVON: [offscreen] Not a chance. KLEGG: She will die slowly and very noisily. DAYNA: Don't count on it. KLEGG: Well? AVON: [offscreen] We'll think about it. KLEGG: You've got five minutes. TARRANT: You'd better come up with something fast. [scene - Chenga medical facility] SERVALAN: [off screen] Where's section area twenty-two? PERSONNEL: [off screen] Through there. VILA: Servalan. [Servalan enters] SERVALAN: Two of you now. Even better than I thought. I came to say goodbye. I shall be leaving shortly. CALLY: Goodbye? SERVALAN: I had to arrange for a considerable payment of goods and equipment to be made, but in return I am to be given transport back to Earth. VILA: Wonderful, we were worried about you. Your welfare really concerned us. SERVALAN: We won't meet again. VILA: Sounds good. I told you our luck had changed. SERVALAN: Ah, not for the better, I'm afraid. You see I know what this place is now. I know why they went to all the trouble patrolling the battle area, picking up survivors. CALLY: Why? SERVALAN: They need humans. I suppose you two just about qualify. VILA: Qualify for what? CALLY: Servalan, what are you talking about? SERVALAN: Unofficially the staff call this place the slaughterhouse. It's an organ bank. They store living tissue - all the vital organs for spare part surgery. [scene - Liberator teleport section] AVON: I am ready to talk. KLEGG: I talk - you listen. We take over the ship. You program the computer to respond to my voice commands, I want complete control. AVON: What do we get? KLEGG: You'll be teleported onto the surface of the nearest planet. You can build your security into the computer program. It won't respond to me until you are safely off the ship. DAYNA: Don't do it, Avon. AVON: Well, I wouldn't, Dayna, but I can't think of any alternative. KLEGG: There is no alternative. One more thing. Tarrant is not part of the deal, he stays. I have things to settle with him. AVON: He won't go along with that. KLEGG: Convince him. AVON: All right. Take the magazine out of your gun and give it to me. [to guard] When I give you the signal fire one shot, then get ready to take him when he comes in. DAYNA: No, Avon! KLEGG: Very neat. I don't think I'd like you as a friend, Avon. AVON: Let's get it over with. [shot] AVON: Tarrant! I've got them Tarrant! [Tarrant enters and is captured] AVON: There are so few people you can trust these days. [scene - the organ bank] OTHER NURSE: There'll be no pain, we ensure that all life is extingushed before surgery begins. [scene - Liberator teleport section] KLEGG: Where are you going? AVON: To reprogram the computer. KLEGG: Not alone, you're not. I'm coming with you. AVON: Now! [fight - a guard and Klegg are dealt with by Dayna] TARRANT: She's very good. AVON: Promising, quite promising. [scene - the organ bank] OTHER NURSE: They're ready for them in surgery - extinguish life. [The teleport operates just in time] DAYNA: She's alive. [scene - Liberator flight deck] AVON: Go ahead. DAYNA: My name is Dayna, Dayna Mellanby. AVON: Now you. TARRANT: I am Del Tarrant. AVON: Register the voices, Zen. From now on you will obey their requests and commands. ZEN: Confirmed. AVON: Welcome to the Liberator. [On the surface of a planet. Three figures clad in red approach a round, shining white building. Two are carrying burning torches, the third is carrying an object covered by a red veil.] [A circular chamber within that building. On the floor is a triangular pattern with rays extending from it. On a bier nearby lies a body completely hidden beneath a drape. Three more figures are there. Two, wearing gray, are also holding burning torches. The third is wearing black. The three figures in red enter the chamber. The one carrying the object sets it on the floor, and all make an obeisance to the one in black. All six figures gather about the triangle. A series of masked figures are conjured one by one in the center of the triangle. A female figure in green appears. She proffers a smoking bowl then disappears. A male figure in orange appears holding a tube and then vanishes. A female figure in aqua appears. She strums a few chords on a lyre-like harp and then disappears. A male figure in red appears. He postures threateningly and fires a gun and then vanishes. The assemblage starts to leave. A male Caucasian figure in black appears and simply stands there in a relaxed posture. The leader frowns, then banishes it with a gesture. She motions the others to leave, then uncovers the hands of the corpse. Removing a ring set with a large black stone from her own hand she slips it onto one of the body's fingers] [On the surface of the planet. The building is revealed to be a spaceship as it rises into the sky.] [In space. The alien spaceship drifts.] [A shot of a band of twisted gold metal. Then it serves as a frame to an extreme close up of Cally's eye.] [Inside Cally's cabin on the Liberator. She is sitting in a chair, holding a sheet of paper.] AVON: [V.O., O.O.S.] Cally. CALLY: What is it? AVON: [V.O., O.O.S.] Well, it looks like a door. And it's closed. [Cally lays the paper on a table then opens the door and he enters the shot.] Zen's fixed the orbit of the mineral asteroid that Tarrant was talking about. We have half an hour to decide if we go after it. CALLY: Why not? It's something else to chase. [Avon picks up the paper and looks at it.] A sketch of a place I used to know. AVON: Auron. CALLY: Yes, Auron. And it's pointless to think about it. I'll never see it again. AVON: That's why you've been shut in here for ten hours? Thinking about Auron and how you'll never see it again? CALLY: That's why. AVON: I wish I could promise you that the sparkling company on the flight deck would take you out of yourself. CALLY: [smiles ruefully] I'm all right. AVON: No, you're not. [He rests his hand on her arm.] But you will be. Regret is part of being alive. But keep it a small part. CALLY: As you do? AVON: [Smiles] Demonstrably. [Cally smiles, pats him on the chest, and exits. Avon lays the paper down and follows.] [The flight deck of the Liberator. Tarrant is working with a hand calculating device near one of the control positions. Dayna is seated in the pit, tuning a lyre-like string instrument. Vila is bending over a triangular game board, moving a playing piece. Cally and Avon enter.] VILA: I think I'm going to win this time, Avon. DAYNA: Congratulations. [Avon pauses by the board to remove three black pieces and shift one white piece.] VILA: You can't. Oh. Yes, you can. DAYNA: Vila didn't win again. VILA: It was your fault. You put me off. DAYNA: With pleasure. On the first planet we come to. TARRANT: [Approaches Avon and hands him the calculator.] Here, take a look at this. That asteroid's less than thirty- two hours away, but we'll still be cutting it fine. AVON: Let's get going then. There's nothing keeping us here. ZEN: Information. Detectors indicate a vessel is approaching. AVON: Identification? ZEN: Negative. AVON: What speed is it making? ZEN: There is no specific speed. The vehicle is apparently adrift. TARRANT: Damaged? ZEN: Negative. AVON: Put it on visual. ZEN: Confirmed. Scanners in operation. [It displays a blurry visual of the alien spaceship.] TARRANT: Doesn't maintain your usual standards, Zen. [The focus sharpens.] Some kind of alien. AVON: It's like nothing I've ever seen before. TARRANT: Zen, any idea where she comes from? ZEN: Negative. No comparative data is available. Primary analysis suggests the design is eccentric and may be decorative rather than functional. AVON: What about manpower, or whatever power it's got? ZEN: The ship registers no life signs. VILA: Well, if it really were alien it may not register as life. ZEN: Alien vessel is now stationary. AVON: Distance? ZEN: Two hundred spatials. AVON: That's a little too perfect for something that is registering as unmanned. TARRANT: We signal? AVON: Give me a reason. TARRANT: A reason? It's out there. AVON: In other words, you're bored. TARRANT: In other words, I don't believe in missing chances. AVON: Any chance this offers is purely hypothetical. On the other hand, any minerals we pull off that asteroid are unique and therefore conceivably useful. And once its orbit takes it back into the perimeter of its sun, we lose it for another three months. TARRANT: I still give this priority. DAYNA: We can't just ignore it. CALLY: No, Avon, we can't. AVON: Something else to chase? Very well, as you are all so eager -- Zen, signal the alien. ZEN: Confirmed. [There is an alien sound. Cally closes her eyes and winces slightly.] AVON: [to Cally] What is it? CALLY: What? AVON: You picked up on something. CALLY: No. How could I? I'm an Auron. The only message I can receive is from one of my own people. AVON: I know. DAYNA: But you're still psi-developed, Cally. You can read minds sometimes. Did you? CALLY: Not then. TARRANT: I don't believe her. AVON: Leave it, Tarrant. She just told you, only an Auron can communicate directly to another Auron. That thing out there is not an Auron ship. Zen, confirm negative response. ZEN: Negative response confirmed. AVON: Now, we have another decision to make. Somehow that ship has moored itself conveniently close. Do we teleport aboard? TARRANT: I suggest a party of three for maximum cover, and armed. AVON: Why do I get the feeling that you have been planning this for weeks? Very well. Vila, Cally, get three guns. Get to the teleport. TARRANT: And do what -- AVON: [To Tarrant] YOU will remain here as backup with Dayna. [Smiles slightly] You don't mind, do you? [Hands him a device] [The circular chamber in the alien spaceship. Everything is covered with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. Cally appears alone.] CALLY: [looks around] Avon? Vila? [Avon and Vila appear, Vila falling down immediately.] CALLY: Something went wrong? VILA: You can say that again. CALLY: You were both seconds behind me. AVON: [into bracelet] Dayna, what happened? [The teleport room on the Liberator. Dayna is at the controls, TARRANT is near by.] DAYNA: Nothing happened. AVON: [v.o.] I was late getting here and Vila arrived on his head. TARRANT: Nothing showed up as wrong. I'll get Zen to check everything out. AVON: Do that. VILA: We are going to be able to get back, aren't we? I shouldn't like to have to spend the rest of my life here. [An "alien" sound effect -- a static-y hum -- begins quietly, then build louder and louder as the scene continues] AVON: Don't worry. It wouldn't be a long one. VILA: Wonderful. What do you mean? AVON: Zen promised us an oxygen atmosphere but it's pretty thin on the ground. [He rests his hand on an object that crumbles beneath its weight, then picks up a disk.] Though it must have been denser at one time to cause so much of this. [He effortlessly crushes the disk into powder.] CALLY: You kept Tarrant out. Why? AVON: His enthusiasm can be distracting. VILA: [pulling at ribbons draped over the furnishings] What are all these colored ribbons? AVON: Perhaps they were having a party. According to Zen this ship has one single deck and this is it. Do you notice anything? [Vila looks about blankly.] CALLY: No instrument panels? AVON: No navigational or drive systems whatsoever. It's unlikely that they would corrode without trace. CALLY: [approaches the bier and uncovers the ring] Avon, look at this. AVON: [uncovers the face of the body] Whatever it was, it was humanoid. VILA: I don't think I want to see. CALLY: This isn't a ship, it's a tomb. They, whoever they are or were, sealed their dead up inside and set it adrift in space. This rubble -- it's the remains of artifacts buried with the corpse. VILA: That doesn't seem very hygienic. AVON: You worked it all out very fast. CALLY: Well, it's obvious. AVON: Yes. CALLY: These jewels must be priceless. VILA: Jewels? [He reaches toward the ring.] CALLY: [blocks his arm] Vila, don't. VILA: [Looks at the corpse] No. I don't think I will. [As he turns away he trips on an object on the floor, then kneels beside it.] What's this? [He tears the veil covering it, revealing a device shaped like an egg mounted on a pedestal with several buttons.] AVON: [crouches beside Vila] I take it that's a rhetorical question, or did you really think we knew? VILA: No. AVON: I'd like to take a look at it before you smash it to bits. [Cally has remained beside the corpse. Something appears to catch her eye. She draws her gun and fires. The alien sound stops.] AVON: [draws his gun and swivels to face in the same direction as Cally] What the hell?! CALLY: I saw something. I think it must have been my reflection. VILA: You can take modesty too far, you know. DAYNA: [v.o.] Avon! Avon, answer. AVON: What is it? [Teleport room] TARRANT: The detectors are registering some sort of energy build-up all 'round you on that ship. AVON: [v.o.] One of us just fired at something that wasn't there. Maybe we've triggered something else that is. [Alien ship] DAYNA: [v.o.] A trip-wire? VILA: [indicating the ribbons he had gone back to fiddling with] Avon? AVON: We may have tripped a few wires, yes. [Teleport room] DAYNA: That ship must have an anti-intruder device rigged. You've activated it. Avon, I think you're now inside a live bomb. [Alien ship] AVON: Then get us out of here fast and do it right this time. [A throbbing sound starts and gets louder, and the room lighting begins to flicker in intensity. Cally picks up the device and then vanishes.] [Cally appears in the teleport room.] TARRANT: Where are they? Cally, for heaven's sake! ZEN: Build-up of energy aboard alien ship increasing. TARRANT: Did they take off the bracelets? CALLY: Of course they didn't. DAYNA: [vainly works the controls again] Am I doing something wrong? CALLY: No. This happened going in. As if-- ZEN: Build-up of energy aboard alien ship increasing to critical point. DAYNA: Zen, malfunction of teleport system. ZEN: Shutdown may be implemented. Energy increase aboard alien ship computed as reaching critical point in thirty seconds. CALLY: [hurries into teleport area] Put me back on the alien ship. TARRANT: You heard Zen -- you can't go back into that. Besides which, the teleport could fail totally at any moment or go into automatic shutdown. CALLY: Try to put me back. [Aboard the alien ship. The beating sound is very loud.] AVON: [into bracelet] Answer me, will you? Answer me! [Cally appears and takes his hand.] Don't tell me, Zen has finally gone mad. CALLY: There's no time. Vila, give me your hand. [All three vanish.] [The alien ship explodes.] [The teleport room. All three appear.] TARRANT: Zen, damage report. ZEN: The Liberator has sustained no damage. The teleport is now functioning at full power. DAYNA: Better late than never. AVON: What the hell was going on over here? Afternoon tea? TARRANT: Ask Zen. I want to know what trick Cally pulled off that Zen couldn't. Or wouldn't. CALLY: Their teleport bracelets were affected by the energy build-up. Mine obviously wasn't. When I linked with Avon and Vila by touch, my bracelet boosted the others and brought the three of us through. TARRANT: Neat. And not remotely believable. VILA: Who cares, it worked. Thanks, Cally. [He looks at their still-linked hands.] I never realized you felt this way about me. [Cally drops his hand in exasperation.] [The flight deck. The alien device has been cleaned up and is revealed to be an egg-shaped object in a bright enamel blue mounted on a base of shiny worked metal with an inset control panel with strange markings and buttons of varying sizes. It is sitting on a table with Avon studying it.] TARRANT: Are you having any luck with that object, Avon? AVON: As you can see, no. TARRANT: Try ORAC with it. AVON: I already have. It has no more idea of its function than we do. DAYNA: Do any of the buttons respond? AVON: [pushes each of them] No. [Cally's cabin. She is holding the alien's ring in her cupped hands, looking at it.] [The flight deck.] VILA: I've got a headache. Cally had the right idea. I think I'll get some rest. [Starts to leave then pauses.] As if a storm were coming. TARRANT: Rather unlikely in here, don't you think? [Vila exits.] DAYNA: I hate to say this, but I think Vila's right. There is something. [She touches a control panel.] I thought so! Static electricity. AVON: [cautiously touches same panel] Nothing. It must be your naturally electric personality. CALLY: [enters] I've finished with the book screen, Dayna. You said you wanted it. TARRANT: Ah, Cally. I've been going over that theory of yours about the teleport bracelets boosting each other. As you're aware, it doesn't make sense. CALLY: You have a better one? TARRANT: There was some kind of power source on that alien ship that you were telepathically receptive to. When the teleport failed you were able to use that source to get yourself out and to get Avon and Vila out with you. CALLY: I seem to be more clever than I thought I was. TARRANT: What I really want to know is why you're being so bashful. What are you hiding and why? AVON: Shut up, Tarrant. TARRANT: Did you say something to me? AVON: I said, shut up. I apologize for not realizing you are deaf. TARRANT: [approaches Avon] There's something else you don't realize. I don't take any orders from you. AVON: Well, now that's a great pity, considering that your own ideas are so limited. TARRANT: Don't try and bluff your way with me, Avon. I know what's been needling you right from the start. With Blake gone, you thought you'd got it made, didn't you? Thought you'd got control of this ship and a crew of three who'd say, "Yes, Avon. Whatever you want, Avon." [Cally puts the bookscreen down.] But you reckoned without me. [Cally starts toward the artifact.] AVON: That wouldn't be too difficult. [Alien sound effect starts.] TARRANT: Oh, really? I don't think so. When you found me on the Liberator, it was quite a blow. [Cally starts pushing buttons on the artifact.] And every time you look at me, it hits you harder, doesn't it? I'm faster than you and I'm sharper. As far as it goes, I've made a success of my life. But you? The only big thing you ever tried to do you failed at. The greatest computer swindle of all time ... but you couldn't quite pull it off, could you? If it hadn't been for Blake, you'd be rotting on Cygnus Alpha right now. DAYNA: [Stepping between them] Oh, stop this. What are you doing? Warming up to cutting each other's throats? [Cally has already moved away from the alien device. She turns and heads for the exit. [In space. Views of the Liberator. The twisted gold band frames a view of the Liberator.] [Cally's cabin. She is lying on her bed. Sometimes her image is overlaid with a vision of her dressed in robes. The alien ring is on her finger.] Alien: [v.o.] Cally. Cally. Cally. [Vision of Cally as the woman in green, bearing the bowl.] [The flight deck. It is darker than normal. The egg-device is now glowing with a pulsing light. Dayna hurries in.] ZEN: Inboard sensors detect a build-up of energy on flight deck. This energy is of an electrical nature. VILA: [rushes in] Zen, what's the matter with the lights? ZEN: Life systems have regained full power. TARRANT: [enters] What's happening? VILA: Something funny is going on. DAYNA: [indicates egg device] That will take the smile off your face. VILA: Oh, no. [Cally's cabin. She is lying motionless on her bed. The alien sound effect is loud.] [The flight deck. Tarrant is examining the egg-device, which keeps blinking.] TARRANT: Maybe ORAC will be more obliging now that this thing has turned its light on. VILA: My head's killing me. TARRANT: You should learn self-defense. [Keys ORAC.] ORAC, I want another analysis. ORAC: I have already informed you that this structure is of an unfamiliar type. My deductions are necessarily limited by the facts available and the rationality of possible theories. Wild surmise is not a part of my function. VILA: Eh? TARRANT: Be more specific, ORAC. ORAC: The only deduction I have been able to make concerning this artifact is that its purpose is not only inimicable but also apparently unreasonable. It is active although the panel of keys appears to have been pre-programmed many centuries prior to this activation. Since the origin of the device is ambiguous it must belong to a world or even a galaxy as yet unfamiliar to the human race. DAYNA: What do you mean, the purpose of the artifact is unreasonable? Are you saying you do have some idea-- ORAC: I am not willing to speculate on so tenuous and oblique a basis. I should, however, warn you that a slight electrical imbalance appears to be--[electronic tone] VILA: What did you say? TARRANT: ORAC, what's the matter with you? ORAC: Disconnect me. TARRANT: Wait a minute, Orac-- ORAC: Disconnect. [The egg-device glares with a steady blue light.] TARRANT: Down! Get down! [They duck down behind some control panels. The egg-device turns dull, then self-destructs, collapsing and crumpling into dust. They raise their heads and look about cautiously.] DAYNA: ORAC! [rushes over to Orac. During the next couple of speeches she fiddles a bit with Orac, removing and replacing its key, etc.] TARRANT: Zen, check the radiation level in here. ZEN: Radiation level normal. There's been a second momentary increase of energy in the area of the flight deck. Not in itself dangerous. VILA: Well, it wouldn't be for you, would it? DAYNA: ORAC is damaged. I can't tell how badly. VILA: I've got pins and needles. ZEN: [Pitch and tone vary wildly through the rest of Zen's dialog]: Inboard ... inboard sensors indicate there is an intruder aboard. TARRANT: Well, that's impossible, Zen. Even if someone had teleport facility, there's nothing and nowhere they could have come from, is there? ZEN: There is an intruder aboard. DAYNA: Well, how? And where? Zen? ZEN: Sensors cannot determine.... VILA: Zen! ZEN: Computers indicate a sustained electrical disturbance. Inboard sensors affected. There is an energy loss from all systems, all systems.... DAYNA: Zen? ZEN: There is a..... VILA: What's happening? TARRANT: Somehow something is bleeding power out of this ship to use for itself. Zen's out of action. I'm going to shake Avon awake and get some guns. Dayna, you fetch Cally. I particularly want her with us. [Dayna starts to exit.] But Dayna, go carefully with her. [Dayna exits.] VILA: What's Cally supposed to have? TARRANT: No time for a discussion, Vila. You stay here. VILA: Stay here? Alone? [to himself] I hope. It's getting dark. [Cally's cabin. Cally is lying on the bed.] Voice: Cally? Cally, are you listening to me? I know you could hear me now, fully. You heard only a suggestion of my voice before, yet you responded. You obeyed me almost from the beginning, Cally. A telepath. Rare. A wonderful find, wonderfully vulnerable. [Vision of Cally in the green robes, kneeling.] Cally, you've been so long alone. Cut off from your people. You've been homesick for your own world, your own kind, haven't you? For someone to communicate with. True communication: one brain speaking to another. But you won't ever be alone again, Cally. Not now, not for as long as you live. [At corridor intersection. Dayna crouches and assumes a fighting stance when she hears someone approaching. She relaxes as Tarrant arrives, wearing one gun and carrying two more.] TARRANT: Avon's not in his cabin. Get to Cally. [Hands her a gun.] Here, you may need to keep her covered with your gun. Take her through to the flight deck. [Hands over a second gun.] Give Vila this gun and tell him, tell him to look after her. DAYNA: Will he do it? TARRANT: Make sure he does. You and I are going to comb this ship for Avon and for the intruder. Whatever it is. [They exit down different corridors. After they are gone, Avon steps into sight from a third.] [Cally's cabin. Cally is lying on the bed, unconscious. The ring is gone from Cally's hand.] DAYNA: [enters] Cally? Cally. [shakes her] There's trouble, Cally. [shakes her] Come on, wake up. Wake up. [Turns as if she's heard something outside the door.] Avon? Vila? [Draws her gun and approaches the door cautiously. There is a flare of light and she screams, then falls unconscious.] [Flight deck.] VILA: [limps to a seat.] Pins and needles. [Rubs his legs. The Alien sound begins, and a female hand, wearing the ring, touches him on the shoulder. He jumps up and looks behind him: nothing there. Then he sees the alien, who looks like Cally with red hair, off to the side. He approaches, she raises her hand, there's a flash of light from it, and Vila falls down.] [Cally's cabin. She is lying unconscious on her bed. Dayna is lying on the floor with Tarrant kneeling beside her.] DAYNA: [moans] Oooh. TARRANT: So you're alive, DAYNA: I shouldn't be. I don't deserve to be, I'm sorry. TARRANT: I'll bet you are. DAYNA: Cally! TARRANT: She's in some sort of coma. Describe what attacked you. DAYNA: Well, that's the point. It was Cally. But not Cally. TARRANT: Somehow something came off that alien ship and onto Liberator. To do it it used the device Cally brought with her and it used Cally. I don't understand how, if what was on the ship was dead, but there must have been something left, some kind of pure energy. DAYNA: It looks like her and it has a body. TARRANT: Then it's used her as a blueprint to make itself a brand new physical shape, only the whole thing sounds crazy. DAYNA: Oh, it's happening. And what hit me was real enough. It's feeding off the ship's energy and off Cally. It will kill her. TARRANT: I wonder what it's got planned for the rest of us. [Flight deck. Vila is lying unconscious on the floor. Tarrant enters, sees the alien and fires at her to no effect.] ALIEN: I'm afraid your rather temperamental weapons aren't stable anymore. TARRANT: What are you? ALIEN: Cally. Can't you see? TARRANT: Cally is dying. D'you want that? ALIEN: I have established a psychic link between us, she and I. If I let her go, she'll live. But I require her life energy to complete this shape. So she'll have to become a part of me. Not dead, absorbed. I'd never kill superfluously. To my people death is an interim state. But to humans death is death. That makes you very simple to deal with. TARRANT: Don't bet on that. ALIEN: But you can't fight me. Only the Auron girl could have done that, but she left it too late. Part of her welcomed me. You see, I could reach her mind. When she tried to close the door against me, it was emotionally impossible. Besides, how could she have true loyalties to any non-telepath, any human? VILA: [moans] TARRANT: Presumably you could kill us all. So why haven't you? ALIEN: I told you, I don't kill superfluously. When I was alive before, I was accustomed to being served by intelligent menials. I'm prepared to offer you all a choice. You can live as my-- TARRANT: Intelligent menials? ALIEN: Don't let a mere two words prevent you from staying alive. TARRANT: You underestimate your powers of expression. ALIEN: Come now. [Vision of the man in scarlet/Tarrant and the woman in aqua/Dayna and the man in orange/Vila gathered about her as the alien/Cally passes a white dove to the man in red/Tarrant.] Would it be so very horrible to serve me, to be my protector? It was predicted that I would find you. That I would live again because of each of you. And your roles in my new life, they were predicted too. [Tarrant attempts to strike the alien but she vanishes, leaving his arm to pass through empty air.] ALIEN: [from a new position] Or you CAN die. I like to be waited on but it isn't essential. As far as the computers are concerned, my voice print is the same as Cally's. I can soon learn how to control the ship. I've already learned how to cripple it. [Vila moves and moans.] I have a world, a planet, a home. I mean to get there. TARRANT: A planet? Where? ALIEN: A world that would take more than your lifetime to reach. A world more beautiful than any other. A world you'll never see even if I let you live. [Lifts glowing hand again.] You need instruction, human called Tarrant. [Tarrant cries out and falls down.] [Dayna, standing in the doorway, aims her gun.] Throw that away. Away, I said. [Dayna hesitates, then obeys. She crosses to kneel beside Tarrant.] TARRANT: [to Dayna] Cally? DAYNA: She's hardly even breathing. ALIEN: Cally, Tarrant, Dayna, Vila. One is missing. TARRANT: No. ALIEN: [laughs] Remember my mental link with Cally. Naturally I know who is here and who isn't, particularly if it's Avon. Where is he, Dayna? [silence] Very well, let me guess: he's outside in the corridor as you were before he failed to stop you rushing in here. AVON: [enters] As a matter of fact, I didn't try to stop her. I just got out of her way. ALIEN: I don't think you should look at me like that. AVON: Don't you? ALIEN: I might interpret it as insolence, which could be uncomfortable for you. AVON: Could it? ALIEN: Yes, it could, Avon. But you are always practical, aren't you? Have you decided to accept my terms? AVON: Have you offered some? ALIEN: [laughs] You will have heard me, I think, from the corridor, just as you watched me earlier from the other corridor. AVON: I didn't hear any terms, just something about "pets." ALIEN: Cally would want you to live, I know that. AVON: It must get tiresome for you, knowing so much. VILA: Avon! Say you'll do as she says. DAYNA: Vila! Be quiet! ALIEN: He has an unusually sharp intelligence, which can recognize when it's beaten. I might forgive him for wanting to steal my ring. AVON: Cally stole your ring. ALIEN: Cally was supposed to. I hope you made her a touching farewell. AVON: She's not dead ... yet. ALIEN: But she won't struggle, not against me. [Shot of Cally lying on her bed.] I'm waiting for your answer. [Avon starts to walk around the panel between them.] Stay where you are. [He continues to approach her. Shot of Cally on her bed, stirring.] Very well, now you can see me properly. [She "magically" shifts to a slightly different postion and Avon jerks his head to refocus on her.] I like you, Avon. You're stronger than the rest. Cally liked you. You can console yourself now I'm so very much in her image. I could even think and feel as she does. You and I can be friends. AVON: You surprise me. ALIEN: You know that I wouldn't wish to make a slave of you, don't you? Not you. AVON: It's a pity you couldn't get rid of me earlier, wasn't it, and Vila, when you jammed the teleport so that only Cally would get out of your coffin alive. ALIEN: I was mistaken. AVON: Yes, Cally wouldn't leave us to die, so you had to let the three of us through, very reluctantly. You knew where the danger would be right from the start. ALIEN: Avon-- AVON: You are taking this ship precisely nowhere. ALIEN: Don't be foolish. You spoil yourself. But I'll be patient with you. I've waited centuries. I can afford a few moments until you can bring yourself to consent to be obliging. AVON: And no one aboard this ship is going to accept or carry out a single demand of yours. ALIEN: You've seen what I can do. AVON: It would be a little difficult to miss. ALIEN: Don't try to play games with me. AVON: Nothing was further from my mind. [Alien sound effect begins.] You've given us your terms, now I will give you ours: no deal. ALIEN: [Her robes start blowing as if a breeze had sprung up] I thought you were the clever one. You're a fool, like Tarrant. The pain Tarrant is experiencing ... visualize that pain and much more. [Shot of Cally tossing her head back and forth.] You're as close to death as you have ever been. Think about human death, Avon. Irrevocable. AVON: I have thought about it. What's keeping you? ALIEN: What did you say? AVON: You claim you can kill me. You better get on with it. Make me die. There's nothing else you can make me do. [Steps right up to her.] ALIEN: [Electrical bolts flash from her face, exploding the control stations. Shot of Cally thrashing about in her bed.] One last chance. [She raises her arm threateningly.] AVON: [looks at her upraised hand and gives a slight, contemptuous smile] Save it. [More panels explode and burn. The alien screams in anger and frustration. Cally's voice shouts "NO". Shot of Cally sitting up in her bed.] It seems you made another mistake. Cally has loyalties after all. But you knew that right from the beginning, didn't you? [He reaches up and grasps her wrist, then pulls her arm behind her back, embracing her. The alien sound effect stops.] You look so beautiful when you're angry. [He kisses her. While she is distracted he slips the ring from her finger, then brings it around and holds it in front of her face.] Thank you. ALIEN: Give it to me. AVON: That would be a little foolish, when I just went to so much trouble to get it. ALIEN: You don't understand. AVON: Don't I? Psychic abilities boosted by high technology? This ring is the real source of your power, isn't it? [During a close-up shot of the ring you can see that the setting surrounding the stone is the same as the ring that framed earlier shots of Cally's eye and the Liberator.] This is how you formed your link with Cally and you cannot hold her or feed off this ship without it. ALIEN: Avon! Avon, give it back to me. [Vision of Avon as the man in black, holding the smoking bowl.] You must. You don't know. I HAVE to keep this body. I have to live. I've waited so long. Centuries. More time than you could comprehend. How can you imagine what it must be like to be dead, to exist in nothingness, in nowhere. Blind, deaf, dumb, and yet to be sentient, aware, waiting. Centuries of waiting. I have to find my world again, my people, my home. I want to breathe and see and feel. And know. Don't send me back into the dark, Avon, let me live. [Vision of Avon as the figure in black, with the smoking bowl. He turns the bowl over and spills white grains out onto the ground. Avon throws the ring into one of the burning consoles where it explodes.] ALIEN: [Her voice gradually dies away as the alien turns back into the dried-up corpse, then vanishes]: I want to live, to live. I want to live, to live, to live. I want to live, to live, to live. I want to...... [Avon looks over at Tarrant, Dayna and Vila kneeling on the floor, then over at the door where Cally is standing with tears on her face.] [Flight deck. Vila is seated on some of the lounges.] ZEN: All systems have been restored to maximum capacity. The Liberator is now fully operational. VILA: At least Zen's talking to us again. [Sound effect of ORAC working.] And even ORAC's back on his feet. DAYNA: What a revolting thought! VILA: You should be used to those. [Avon, Tarrant and Cally enter and move to their control stations. Dayna rises and moves to hers.] TARRANT: You sure you're up to this, Cally? AVON: Translated, that means how do you feel? CALLY: I feel all right. Thank you. TARRANT: [looking pointedly at Vila] And how about you, Vila? VILA: Oh, I'm ...[turns, sees Tarrant's expression.] Oh, I see. [Rises and moves to his control station.] TARRANT: Avon? AVON: [Turns to look at Cally. She returns his gaze. After a few seconds she smiles very slightly.] Zen, let's get out of here. [end credits]