TARRANT: Zen, set a course for the frontier, standard by six. I don't want to be in hostile territory any longer than I have to.
ZEN: Confirmed.
SOOLIN: There's no other space traffic in the system.
TARRANT: At the moment, there isn't. Pursuit ships are faster nowadays, so they can attack from further away.
KYBEN: But the truce should still hold, shouldn't it?
SOOLIN: That was when the universe was about to be destroyed.
TARRANT: Yes, now it's safe, there's nothing to stop the Federation reneging on the deal.
KYBEN: But Johnson gave us his word...
TARRANT: It's amazing how often people give their word when there's a gun at their head. It's whether or not they can keep their word when the gun is taken away that matters.
SOOLIN: And I thought I was cynical.
TARRANT: When was the last time you tricked your comrades into shooting unarmed prisoners?
SOOLIN: About the last time you did.

KYBEN: Vila? Where are you going?
VILA: I want to have a word with Blake.

GUARD: Lord Boorva, sire, we have Darnel.

BOORVA: And?
GUARD: He has a communication link direct to Serrus. He was using it when he was caught.
BOORVA: Has he spoken since then?
GUARD: No, sire.
BOORVA: Bring him closer.

BOORVA: Darnel? Darnel, can you hear me? [Darnel nods.] Who were you communicating with? The ruler of Serrus? Were you talking to Sorlai? Were you betraying us to him, Darnel? [Darnel is silent.] I sent you as an emissary to the Federation for one reason, Darnel. Not because you have a gift for diplomacy, or natural cunning but because you are loyal. And when they twisted your mind to obey them, I hoped that you of all people would be able to resist. Your loyalty is not stronger than the Federation. I misjudged you, Darnel. And I ask your forgiveness. I know they will have conditioned you not to confess, to die rather than reveal their plans, even under torture. But you might break beforehand and I must take that chance. [to the Guards] Take him away. Do whatever is necessary. He does not need to survive any longer than it takes him to reveal his secrets.
GUARD: Yes, sire. Come on, you scum, move.

BOORVA: It seems it is time for desperate measures to be taken.

VILA: Blake?
BLAKE: [V.O.] What is it?
VILA: It's Vila.
BLAKE: [V.O.] I can hear that, Vila. What's wrong?
VILA: I want to have a word.
BLAKE: [V.O.] You can have two. Go away.

VILA: Fine. That does it. The word I wanted to have, Nij, was 'goodbye'.

BLAKE: What? Vila! Hey, where are you going?
VILA: [doesn't look back] Away.
BLAKE: Very amusing, Vila, now let's be serious...

VILA: I am serious. I'm leaving.
BLAKE: Leaving the Liberator? Why?
VILA: If you don't know, Nij, then I better get going now.

BLAKE: Vila! VILA!

BLAKE: Vila!
SOOLIN: What's going on?
BLAKE: Vila's going to desert.
KYBEN: "Desert"? Vila, what are you doing?
VILA: I'm leaving, Kyben. It's what sane, ordinary people do when presented with fatal danger - they head in the opposite direction as fast as they can. It's not safe on the Liberator.
BLAKE: Is this more drunken paranoia? Zen, status of the Liberator?
ZEN: Liberator is on course for the Federation frontier at standard by six. Estimated time of arrival, five hours and twenty three minutes. All systems are functioning normally.
BLAKE: Satisfied?

VILA: No, that's why I'm leaving, Nij.
BLAKE: Why are you calling me Nij?
VILA: It's your name, isn't it? I'd rather call you that than Blake. After all, you don't exactly take after him, do you? Nij Servalan would be a better name. You take after her, all right. Your little booby-trap was just the sort of thing she'd think up.
BLAKE: That 'little booby-trap' saved your life, Vila, and everyone else here.
SOOLIN: He's right, Vila. Without that transmitter, Smith would have killed us all without a second thought.
VILA: Since when was that a good enough reason to kill people who are unarmed?
TARRANT: We didn't KNOW they were unarmed. [glares at Blake] Our fearless leader saw fit not to tell anyone about his 'little booby-trap'.
BLAKE: We had more important things to worry about at the time.
VILA: And what about now? You were going to execute all those troopers in the hold, just flush them out into space - even when they hadn't broken the deal.
BLAKE: Smith broke it first.
VILA: Oh yeah, that justifies all of it! If you're so superior, stop blaming other people. The fact is, Nij, you were going to slaughter hundreds of people even though you knew it was wrong!
BLAKE: I didn't.
TARRANT: You were going to!
BLAKE: I said I was going to. There’s a difference.
SOOLIN: It wouldn't be the first time you'd killed a former ally like that.

BLAKE: I'm being lectured to by a professional killer now, am I? I threatened to empty the hold, and as a result we now have an ally on the inside. Between that and saving the universe, I thought I'd done a good day’s work, made a proper account of myself.
TARRANT: But you haven't, have you? You're keeping us all in the dark and expecting us to blindly obey you. We are supposed to be trying to defeat a dictatorship, not live with a different one. And let's all be honest, if you had killed the troopers, not one of us would be surprised.

BLAKE: THAT is what made it convincing.
VILA: Well, I'm sick of these games, Nij. I've been on board the Liberator longer than any of the rest of you, even Orac. So, as the senior here I am asking you to tell us the truth from now on.
BLAKE: This is my ship.
VILA: Who says?
BLAKE: Avon left me in charge of it.
VILA: That's another thing. You know what happened to Avon. So tell us.

TARRANT: If you won't tell us the truth, why should we trust you?
BLAKE: Have I let you down so far?
VILA: [Thinks] Yes. Yes you have. Remember Jain? You let her down.
BLAKE: You think I wanted it to end like that?
VILA: You did leave her on that mudball bleeding to death once she got the crystal for you.
SOOLIN: He what?
VILA: Jain told me. He went back for her, but then I notice the next chance he got he let her get choked to death by some barbarians!
BLAKE: Shut up, Vila!
VILA: And then if he'd actually stuck to orders, hadn't followed us down when we were caught by the ESD, Jenna wouldn't got shot! And who was it who caused the wonderful new Federation laws that mean any time we do something, a passer by could be executed for not stopping us?
BLAKE: And just think, Vila, if you'd never been born, things could have been different! And they would have been - but they aren't. I'd have thought that after the last six years you would have understood that.
VILA: Since I met you, Nij, Roj Blake died. And Dayna. And Jenna. And Jain. And now Avon. AVON! Now, can anyone here imagine just what could have killed Avon? Actually killed him? And not destroyed the Liberator and most of the galaxy as well?
KYBEN: It wasn't poison, suffocation, electrocution or any kind of weapons fire.
VILA: You see? Somehow, something got onto the Liberator and killed Avon without leaving a mark on him. It could still be here, just waiting for us.
TARRANT: You're just winding us all up, Vila...
VILA: Am I? Go on then, Nij. [folds arms] Put me straight. Explain what really happened.
BLAKE: What do you want me to say, Vila? That we're all safe and sound on this ship? We're not. Not while every pursuit ship in the galaxy is after us. Not while the Federation exists. Not while we are mortal. Now, I have kept all of you alive, haven't I? But I can't make you invincible. I would do anything if it brought Jenna back, if somehow Jain could survive. And I miss Avon too, believe it or not. But he is dead. We have to accept it. And he left me in charge.
TARRANT: We only have your word for that.
BLAKE: Have I lied to you?
SOOLIN: You are a touch too secretive for our liking.
BLAKE: So was Avon.
TARRANT: And whenever he got secretive, it always ended badly.
BLAKE: Forgive me, but are we living in some kind of fantasy land? The world doesn't just stop because Avon's dead. Nothing can change that, even if I tell you what happened. Yes, I know what happened, and no, I'm not going to tell you. Now you four are going to obey without question.

VILA: No. We're not.
BLAKE: Try it, Vila.
VILA: And you'll kill me, too? That's why I'm leaving, Nij. I can't trust you.
BLAKE: You trusted Avon. You trusted Roj Blake.
VILA: And that says more about you than it does about me, doesn't it?
BLAKE: Where do you think you're going to go?
VILA: Why should I tell you?
TARRANT: He's right. You haven't been spectacular as leader and you're not exactly pleasant company to be around. I think I might take my leave as well.
SOOLIN: Tarrant, just calm down...
TARRANT: I am calm.
SOOLIN: You'd seriously abandon being pilot of the most powerful ship in the galaxy?
TARRANT: It's becoming more trouble than it’s worth.
BLAKE: You're not going to leave. Either of you.
TARRANT: Don't try and stop us, Blake.
BLAKE: You forget. Remember the Dream Master? I've seen inside your souls! You're not going to abandon the Liberator.
VILA: I am. Because I've seen into YOUR soul, Nij.
BLAKE: And?
VILA: There was nothing there.

KYBEN: What do you think you're doing? You'll get someone killed!

BLAKE: Whatever I've said, and whatever I've done, I've never betrayed you. Any of you. And if you can't accept that, if you can't believe I want us all to survive this and not just survive but win... well, maybe you should leave.

ORAC: If I might interrupt at this point, I have received a coded message for the immediate and exclusive attention of Avon.
KYBEN: But... Avon's dead.
ORAC: That is why I am informing the rest of you. Such a conclusion is so patently obvious I would have assumed it not to be worth mentioning, but yet again...
TARRANT: [Interrupts] Who's the message from, Orac?
ORAC: It originates from the planet Tarl and is set on the specific frequency that Avon gave to the Warlord Boorva for further discussion of the Rebel Alliance.

KREEL: Well done, all. Your scout party managed to take down a grand total of one aggressor before the entire force was wiped out.
SORLAI: This is a training ground, Space Commander. They are here to learn. If they knew it all already, training would not be needed.

KREEL: I don’t dispute that, Sorlai. But your warriors are a bunch of cutthroats. They are not soldiers. They have no discipline or eagerness to learn.
SORLAI: You lost one of your men in this session, Space Commander.
KREEL: Yes, it only took three days of training for you to aim the plasma rifles the right way round.

SORLAI: Your President chose you for this task, Space Commander. It would be best for all concerned if you completed it.
KREEL: Your army of violent savages barely numbers fifty. You cannot take over a whole planet with such a force, and that is a fact.
SORLAI: We do not need to take over Tarl, merely its major temple.
KREEL: Even that would be beyond your riff-raff.
SORLAI: At the moment. They are many things and they are not many others. But they are always eager to learn how to kill. And now the Federation lacks its vampires, and its "Ee-hess-dee" are gone with the missiles and your magic potions, we are all you have to work with.
KREEL: That IS a depressing concept.
SORLAI: It is true.
KREEL: Then the mighty HAVE fallen.
SORLAI: We need each other, Commander. The operation will continue.

KREEL: Maybe if ALL of your warriors turned up for training we might get somewhere.

SORLAI: I hadn’t thought of that. Where are you going?
KREEL: For some fresh air. There must be some on this planet!

KYBEN: [V.O.] So, let me just get this clear in my mind...

KYBEN: Avon convinced the five most powerful non-aligned planets to join forces into an Alliance against the Federation. And because the Federation use Pylene 50 rather than plasma rifles, if the border systems were all immune to Pylene 50, they'd be able to fight off the invasion?
VILA: That's right. [counts on fingers] Betafarl, Khom, Hirriel, Lovis and Tarl.
SOOLIN: All the leaders agreed at a cease-fire of hostilities and then focusing their attention against the Federation.
KYBEN: It can't have been easy.
VILA: It wasn't. Turned out the President of Betafarl wanted to take over the galaxy first, so he tricked us and nearly killed us all.
KYBEN: Did you kill him?
SOOLIN: No. His ship exploded before we could do anything.
KYBEN: Well, it must have worked, all the border systems are still free.
BLAKE: It only worked because Avon released the formula to the antitoxin. Pylene 50 is useless, which is why the Federation is changing tactics. The border systems are low priority at the moment.
TARRANT: The Alliance was made and it's still in effect!

TARRANT: It's only thanks to Zeeona that the whole thing didn't collapse - she contacted Betafarl and managed to sort the mess out before she... [calmer] before she died. Betafarl placed itself under the temporary control of Tarl and the Alliance held.
KYBEN: Who's Zeeona?
SOOLIN: [Carefully] Zukan's daughter. She was... she was a great help.
VILA: Tarrant's right, the Alliance only held itself together because she convinced Betafarl to participate without its warlord. Would be nice to assume the Rebel Alliance could cope without us, but obviously that's too much to expect. Nothing lasts any time at all nowadays.

BLAKE: Have you finished decoding the message, Orac?
ORAC: Of course I have. It is simply a request to go to Tarl and a series of specific ident signals to ensure the Alliance ships do not attack the Liberator. Once the signals are used, we will be escorted to Tarl directly and a meeting with His Lordship Chumran Boorva.
BLAKE: You're sure this isn't a trap?
TARRANT: It won't be.
BLAKE: How can you be so sure?
TARRANT: Never mind that, just take it from me. Boorva has nothing to gain by betraying us! Besides, the Liberator is more than a match for any of Betafarl raiding ships.
KYBEN: He’s right, Tarrant, there’s no reason to...
TARRANT: It is NOT a trap! We made something with that Alliance that lasted! It HAS lasted! Too many people died for it not to!
SOOLIN: [Quickly] Either way, what do you think of it, Orac?
ORAC: All relevant data confirms that there are no Federation ships within six million spacials of the border systems and the area has been clear of Federation involvement for the last three months.
BLAKE: So, if it is a trap, they’ve been lying in wait for weeks.
ORAC: Obviously.
TARRANT: Why trap us? They could have attacked the ship the moment we finished dropping off the troopers or any moment since then? It’s not a trap. Zen, set course for the planet Tarl, direct flight, speed standard by eight.

TARRANT: No countermands. [Sweetly] You can trust me, can’t you, Blake?
BLAKE: Of course. It’s not like you’ve ever jumped to the wrong conclusion and caused a bloodbath because you didn’t think things through, is it?

KYBEN: This is getting us nowhere! We’re all on this ship together, and it’s bad enough we’ve got the whole of the Federation against us without you all trying to kill each other in a bloodlust fever. We’re going to Tarl but if there’s the slightest sign of a pursuit ship when we get there, we turn back as fast as we can. All of us. Agreed? [Beat] Agreed?!

KYBEN: Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I stopped being on watch three hours ago, and I’d like a chance to rest for the first time since we saved the entire universe.

ZEN: Information. Course computed. New heading set for the planet Tarl. Estimated time of arrival, one hour thirty two minutes.

COMPUTER: ...dubbed Serrus by the surviving inhabitants who developed an immunity to the Phobon Plague. Their immunity has been unable to be reproduced by scientific investigation teams, leading to the Federation deciding to allow the plague warning beacon to continue to function. Recent data suggests further mutation in the natives but no further study has been carried out. Topographical notes: mercury swamps have been located at the equator, and unusual orbit has caused seasons lasting no less than twenty-five years with a mean temperature of 86 degrees during winter. Meteor showers are common due to the thinning of the atmosphere, particularly over the major continent...

BANKS: Welcome back, Space Commander. How did the training session go?
KREEL: Pointless! Like it always is! Whatever is happening to these primitives is clearly removing their brain power – half of them forgot to turn up for training!
BANKS: Lack of discipline, there.
KREEL: Discipline? Banks, this planet is supposed to be a dictatorship! They can’t even get that right! [Coughs] And the stench! This has to be the least appealing planet I’ve ever been to! None of the natives even understand what hygiene is, let alone practice it...
BANKS: Starting to wish you were back on Zircona, sir?
KREEL: Anywhere would be better than there! ANYWHERE! [Coughs] Banks. Has Space Command responded to the communique yet?
BANKS: Nothing on any channels, Commander. [indicates the board] Another game?
KREEL: Game?

KREEL: Three months we’ve been stuck here. Two of the men are already dead from the stench. Three of them are showing signs of plague.
BANKS: All atmospheric tests agree that the plague burned out sixty years ago, sir.
KREEL: Or it mutated. Like everything else on this miserable rock. And what are we doing? Playing Galactic Monopoly! We aren’t helping maintain the structure of the Federation by marinating in our own filth down here. [sighs] Whatever information the President had, it’s wrong. [pause] Get the game ready, man! I’m on a winning streak.

KREEL: We should be doing this for real. Out there, in the stars. Not forgotten and abandoned...
BANKS: We’re not abandoned here, sir. The Tarl strategy has the twin aims of destroying the Rebel Alliance and capturing the Liberator...
KREEL: The Liberator, Banks, hasn’t been sighted in the border systems! Ever!

KREEL: Get that, Banks. Probably more of the men have collapsed.

BANKS: Pursuit One receiving? Yes? Confirmed? Right. [lowers headset] The Liberator’s been sighted entering this border system.

KREEL: Banks?
BANKS: Sir?
KREEL: Mention this conversation again and I’ll have you shot as a deserter. [rises] Right, you know what to do, we’ve discussed it enough times. I’ll round up the men, you send the signal to Federation High Command.

KYBEN: Hello, Soolin. What can I do for you?
SOOLIN: We’ve entered the border systems. The reception committee is as friendly as promised and we’ll be in orbit in the next ten minutes. I thought you’d like to know.
KYBEN: You could have used the intercom for that.
SOOLIN: I had worse excuses to leave the flight deck.
KYBEN: They haven’t started arguing again, have they?
SOOLIN: No. Just glaring at each other a lot. I’m not sure if it’s an improvement.
KYBEN: You want me to shout at them again?
SOOLIN: No. But you were very good at it.
KYBEN: You get to be when you’re a mother of a family.
SOOLIN: I’ve heard it said.

SOOLIN: I know what it’s like, Kyben. To lose everything.
KYBEN: [Wipes eyes] I miss them so much, I... I should have... died with them.
SOOLIN: Avon thought otherwise. And he’s... he never was sentimental. You can do a lot more alive than you can dead.
KYBEN: Like you, you mean?
SOOLIN: Yes. Every single creature involved in the death of my family is dead. Every last one. And I killed them all.
KYBEN: Did it make it better? At all?
SOOLIN: I don’t know. I can’t remember much before my family was killed.
KYBEN: And if I do the same, kill the man who killed my family, what then?
SOOLIN: Worry about it after he’s dead. You’re a medic. You’ve got something else to focus on.
KYBEN: Saving lives rather than taking them.
SOOLIN: You think Space Commander Kreel deserves to live?
KYBEN: Does anyone deserve to die? Really?

SOOLIN: You tell me! Does Kreel deserve to live after what he’s done?
KYBEN: Suppose not. So, what are we going to do about Tarl?

BLAKE: Those escort ships are keeping their distance at the moment but there’s no guarantee they’ll stay that way. All the battle computers are online, the neutron blasters are ready for instant use, as is the force wall. If any of those ships does anything remotely threatening, bring us up immediately. Or get Orac to do it if necessary.
KYBEN: Do you all have to go down there?
SOOLIN: We came to an agreement.
VILA: Yeah, Kyben, we all trust you not to run out on us.
KYBEN: But you don’t trust Blake to maroon you down there?
BLAKE: It seems not.
VILA: Fair’s fair, Nij, you don’t trust us not to maroon you there either.
SOOLIN: Besides which, Boorva will be more reasonable if he’s talking to people he knows. Since Dayna and Avon are dead, it has to be Tarrant, Vila or me.
TARRANT: We decided to go all together. Strength in numbers.
KYBEN: Why not use the Sevener?
BLAKE: Boorva already knows about the teleport and will probably be expecting it. This way we have the Sevener as a back up plan. He might not know about us having access two spacecraft.
KYBEN: What actually does Boorva want? Do any of us know yet?
BLAKE: No idea. Whatever it is, it’s hampering an Alliance that’s run itself fine for the last year and doesn’t involve the Federation, at least not directly.
TARRANT: It’s best you let me do the talking down there.
BLAKE: And why, might I ask, is that?
TARRANT: Avon and I were the ones that contacted each Warlord. Out of the four of us, I’m the one he knows best and the one he’s most likely to trust. Right. Coordinates set according to Orac’s sums.

BLAKE: Meaning we will be exactly where they’re expecting us. Perfect if it’s a trap.
TARRANT: [Angry] Blake, try using your intelligence. It’s NOT a trap!
BLAKE: Then you won’t mind me using you as a human shield, since we’re all in such perfect safety?
KYBEN: Don’t start, you two!

KYBEN: Good luck.
BLAKE: We’ll probably need it.

KYBEN: Play nicely today.

GUARD: We mean you no harm, strangers. We are to take you to Lord Boorva.

BLAKE: Just a moment. [into bracelet] Kyben? Down and safe.
KYBEN: [V.O.] Not a trap then?
BLAKE: [Sighs] No. Not a trap. [to Tarrant] So far, it looks like I was wrong.
TARRANT: Must be a novel experience for you, then.
BLAKE: I try not to make a habit of them.
VILA: Haven’t done very well so far.
SOOLIN: Not in front of strangers, you three.
GUARD: Please. Accompany us.

ANDERS: The report on Avon is unsatisfactory. The head of forensic sciences should be able to give me more than the word ‘unknown’ eleven times. Have him replaced. And shot. I want a full analysis and the cause of death by tonight.
AIDE: Sir.

ANDERS: Since the universe is still in one piece I assume Quantum Force was successful.
AIDE: Sir. They’ve called in from Stardust.
ANDERS: Partially successful, then. Their secondary mission was to seize the Liberator, was it not?
AIDE: According to Captain Johnson’s report, Agent Smith and Section Leader Abel were killed in the fighting of YU8, sir. It seems none of the surviving force knew about the secondary mission, and were returned as arranged.
ANDERS: And no doubt this message was only received AFTER the Liberator left the system?
AIDE: [Shrugs helplessly] Sorry sir.
ANDERS: Yes, well, I suppose as there will be another tomorrow, we shall have to settle for stopping Blake then. It also means we’ll have to rely on Kreel and his ilk for the moment. Using the same tactics that have failed continually for last six years...
AIDE: Sir.
ANDERS: Nothing. Any further news?
AIDE: Another sixteen demonstrations on the inner worlds. Protests over the new legislation.
ANDERS: Fine. Give the demonstrators five standard time units to disband totally or they will be deemed rebel insurgents by that same legislation and executed immediately.
AIDE: If you’re certain, Mister President.
ANDERS: It worked on the outer worlds, didn’t it?
AIDE: More and more protests are being made every day, sir.
ANDERS: Then double the doses of suppressants in the planetary food rations.
AIDE: Supplies on the outer colonies are running low, sir, it won’t be anything more than a stopgap.
ANDERS: It will be enough.

ANDERS: What is it now, Rence?
AIDE 2: A new communication from Space Commander Kreel, Mister President.
ANDERS: Ignore it. He’s to remain out there until he breaks down the Alliance.
AIDE 2: Sir, he reports the Liberator is en route to Tarl.

ANDERS: Well, now. That IS interesting.

BOORVA: Back before the beginning of all calendars, when history was naught but a dream, the Gods fought the most terrible and bloody of wars, from which all conflict and violence is merely a dim echo. Their weapons tore holes in the fabric of what is, loosing onto creation a tide of total corruption. The Gods realized their war was not worth such damage, and immediately blocked the breaches they had made in the universe, forming whole worlds of the righteous to stand guard against the horror that lie beyond, waiting to be released. And Tarl, the most powerful and important of the God’s structures, will never sway to any power from this universe or any other.

BLAKE: Utter nonsense.

BOORVA: Indeed it is. One step from superstitions laid down before the New Calendar, kept only out of tradition and nostalgia for the good old days rather than any genuine belief. It is patently absurd. Just as your arrival here on this planet. I requested Avon and Avon alone.
BLAKE: Avon is unavailable.
BOORVA: Then leave.
TARRANT: Avon is unavailable, Lord Boorva, because he is dead.
BOORVA: And how exactly did the renegade die?

BLAKE: Fatally.
BOORVA: Really?
TARRANT: Yes.
BOORVA: I don’t believe you. The Avon I knew valued his own life above all else. That he died and any of you survived is a true paradox. Is he really dead? Or has he faked his death merely to escape the rest of you?
VILA: Why would he do that?
BOORVA: From what is heard, you have the Liberator, the most powerful craft in the universe. With your teleports and neutron blasters, cloaking devices and the most deadly missiles created by humanity, all you have done is dwindle your numbers since we last encountered each other.
BLAKE: You’ll notice that there is a sudden drought of Mutoids throughout the Federation.
BOORVA: And the deaths that have been caused because of that? Do you count that a success, outlaw?
BLAKE: My name is Blake.
BOORVA: I know who you are. The son of the great rebel, a boy who is clearly held in more respect by me than your own followers.
TARRANT: Lord Boorva, you requested Avon’s help. In the interests of the Alliance, we’re here to help in any way that we can. So what exactly can we do for you?
BOORVA: Tarrant, is it not?
TARRANT: Yes, Lord Boorva. Del Tarrant.
BOORVA: Well, Tarrant...

BOORVA: As you may or may not be aware, Tarl is the organizing principal of the Rebel Alliance. Hirrial, Khom and Lovis still maintain themselves but their space fleets are unified with that of Tarl and Betafarl.
BLAKE: You run Betafarl now?
BOORVA: My planet is the strongest one of the Alliance, and with Zukan dead its people were leaderless.
TARRANT: Zeeona authorized Boorva’s takeover. It was the first thing we got Orac to do once he was working again. [deep breath] The Alliance has gone well then, Lord Boorva?
BOORVA: It has. Avon’s decision to broadcast the antitoxin formula rendered the Federation’s pacification program useless. They have not the resources for full scale war and so their interests turned inwards to maintain their territory. With you and your comrades distracting them and reducing their forces further, there is a chance of freedom in the galaxy.
VILA: Nice to know it’s all been worth it.
BOORVA: [Ignores Vila] The Federation would require all their might to attack the border systems, and to do that would leave their own world unguarded. Thus, they have left us be. But if the Alliance was broken by a third party, they would be able to send the bare minimum of ships and troopers and seize control of the border systems.
BLAKE: Obviously. Have you done anything about it?
BOORVA: I have done enough. The warlords have all spoken with me. Told me their secrets. Should Khom or Lovis be attacked, I will know how to defend them, the best strategies and the codes necessary to take over the planet should the leaders perish.
SOOLIN: They trust YOU with that information?
BOORVA: Why should they not? Your ‘civilized’ society runs on mistrust. We ‘primitives’ stay true to our words. Besides, I have neither the means nor the inclination to take over the other worlds. Should I try, I know the other worlds would unite against me. However, it seems I have made a flaw.
VILA: You don’t say.
BOORVA: What’s the problem?
BLAKE: He is. [Boorva glares at him] You’ve made yourself, your planet, so important to the Alliance. If you fell there would be real anarchy.
BOORVA: It is a truth that no man can ever plan for his own death.
SOOLIN: So, who’s trying to kill you?
BOORVA: This is no mere assassination attempt. A full scale attack on Tarl is being prepared as we speak.
VILA: I thought the Alliance could fight off an attack?
BOORVA: From outside the border systems, yes. But this is a threat from within. One of the planets is being used as a base for an attack force. I have evidence that a small Federation force is present, using the native population as fighting force. They intend to destroy us if they cannot defeat us and that leaves the other planets in disarray, ripe for the Federation to attack individually.
TARRANT: Which planet is it?
BOORVA: Serrus.

KREEL: With respect, sir, this opportunity is slipping out of our fingers.
ANDERS: All that can be done is being done, Kreel, and I’d like you not to take that tone with me. The recent Quantum Force Operation took total priority over the run of the mill pursuit ship patrols. All flotillas have been directed to the border systems, but it will be at least two hours before any of them are in range.
KREEL: Well, unless you want us to attack the Liberator directly, there is nothing that can be done.
ANDERS: You have had three months to make an effective fighting force out of the natives, Space Commander – natives whose thirst for blood is apparently insatiable. If they are not yet prepared for combat, then your progress in this is frankly embarrassing.
KREEL: It doesn’t matter how effective or ineffective the troopers are, Mister President. They cannot leave this planet without space craft. My cruiser cannot hold even one battalion and as for the planet hopper...
ANDERS: Why haven’t you got those industrial factories working yet? You have the technicians and should have produced three pursuit ships by now.
KREEL: I cannot do that without the raw materials, sir, as I have already pointed out.
ANDERS: And as I pointed out, Serrus is rich in minerals and there is adequate mining machinery in the central city. If you had been thinking, Space Commander, you could have resolved this matter on your own.

BANKS: Mister President, with all due respect, the important fact is the Liberator could leave the system at any time. What are we to do?
ANDERS: Well, as you’ve managed to let our agent on Tarl be tortured to death, I don’t have enough information to propose an adequate strategy. Monitor any and all communications and if they use their courier ship, blast it out of the sky. I expect the Liberator to still be in the system by the time the first flotilla arrives. Do what is necessary to ensure that. And don’t fail me this time, Kreel. You don’t have much further to fall.

KREEL: You know, Banks, I never thought I’d start to miss Servalan.
BANKS: What are we going to do, sir?
KREEL: We’re going to use the one other working ship there is. We’re going to load Sorlai and his best and bravest, put it in that ship and program it to ram the Liberator.
BANKS: You really think that will destroy the craft?
KREEL: Yes. As far as we can tell, the Liberator’s force walls only work against energy. There’s a chance an object of the right mass could penetrate the field and, if aimed correctly should cripple the Liberator. Perhaps even destroy it.
BANKS: But it might still cause the ship to bounce off out of control!
KREEL: So? Either way, the Tarl Strategy collapses. Without Sorlai, these mutants won’t obey anyone. The Federation will have to change tactics and we can get out of here. The only question is whether the Liberator and all aboard survive this encounter.
BANKS: And then what, sir? We could be executed on the spot right now for treason. Or the latest definition of it anyway.
KREEL: Yes. How many have been executed for treason since the new legislation was passed?
BANKS: No idea, sir. Thousands.
KREEL: Yes. And sooner or later – probably sooner the way the Liberator is going – the President is going to run out of people he can afford to kill.
BANKS: You think he’ll reach that point before he gets to us?
KREEL: It would help. In the meantime, we’ll carry on as arranged. I’m going to have to talk to Sorlai. [Coughs] Maybe I should take a space suit this time...
BANKS: You really think we’ll be able to stop the Liberator?
KREEL: [Coldly] What I think, Duty Tracer, is that now we have a mission it is time to return to a more strict regime. Now get out.
BANKS: Sir. Would this be another conversation not to mention?

KREEL: Yes. Yes, it is.

BOORVA: Tarl’s twin world, sharing the same orbit. Serrus was the first planet of the border systems colonized by the Empire. It was then struck by an epidemic, the Phobon Plague, and the colonists fled to the other planets. Many were unable to leave and most of them died from the plague.
SOOLIN: "Most of them"? You mean, some survived?
BOORVA: Yes.
VILA: There’s no cure to the Phobon plague, everyone knows that.
SOOLIN: Everyone knows the Phobon plague has nothing whatsoever to do with Phobos but they still use the name.
BOORVA: The Serrunites have somehow developed total immunity to the virus. Later, some of the colonists returned to Serrus in the belief the plague had died out. It hadn’t, and they were the ones who died instead. By now, we strongly believe the plague to have died out, but the Serrunites have... changed. Mutated, adapted, whatever word you care to use. They are unpleasant company.
SOOLIN: Define unpleasant.
BOORVA: Their forms would frighten crimos in their sleep, their love of violence would be disturbing to Space Rats.
SOOLIN: [Shrugs] That’s unpleasant.
BOORVA: The plague had no effect on the technology on the planet, and that is how the Serrunites have managed to survive so long. They worked out how to use the communications relay and have been sending threats of death to anyone that picks their signal up. They are jealous of all our food and resources, and would happily slaughter anyone to get it.
BLAKE: But they’re still intelligent enough to realize that the Alliance would eat them for breakfast, so they are targeting Tarl.
BOORVA: Yes. They have been declaring war on us since before I was born, but they have no space craft with which to leave Serrus and the Serrunites acted as a natural deterrent to them getting access to one. No invader would be willing to risk the plague or those creatures to set up a base there. But I believe the Federation has somehow managed it. Too small a force to be detected by our orbital scans but a force nonetheless.
VILA: You’re jumping to conclusions, surely?
BOORVA: The Federation’s major spy on Tarl was caught communicating directly with Sorlai, the potentate of those hybrid creatures. I am certain the Federation intend to use the Serrunites to attack us and destroy the unity of the Alliance. The Serrunites will probably be all wiped out in the fighting, but I don’t need to tell any of you how much that matters to the Federation.

BLAKE: What exactly do you want us to do?
BOORVA: The Serrunites have focussed their excuse of civilization on Serrus’ single major continent. You have access to high-speed interplanetary missiles. Need I explain further.

VILA: Bomb the planet? From orbit?
BOORVA: Yes. The Federation must be working directly with Sorlai. Destroy Sorlai, and the Serrunites will be helpless. There will be no invasion.
TARRANT: Lord Boorva, you underestimate how powerful those missiles are...
SOOLIN: There’s a chance just one of them could crack Serrus apart.
BOORVA: You must be able to control the strength of the attack.
SOOLIN: Even so, it’d wipe out all life on the planet!
BOORVA: As long as Tarl survives intact, I am quite happy for that to occur.
VILA: You sure you haven’t mixed us up with the Federation? They’re the ones that blow up planets for political reasons, you know!
BOORVA: You CAN do it, though, can you not?
BLAKE: Yes. We can do it all right.

VILA: [Cautious] Blake, let’s not be hasty now...
TARRANT: Blake, you can’t be serious!
SOOLIN: Think of all the people that will die!
BOORVA: You have killed far more people than there could possibly be on Serrus. All of you outlaws, renegades. How many troopers have you murdered? Your destruction of the Modificiation factories would have killed millions alive and undead. And the new legislation has killed many, many more. Why should another twenty million lives matter? There are over six billion on Tarl alone.
BLAKE: He has a point.
TARRANT: Lord Boorva...

BOORVA: You understand the nature of war, do you not... Blake?
BLAKE: I’ve learned something of it.
BOORVA: Yes. The first rule of war is that there will be casualties. Try to save everyone, and you will LOSE everyone. Sacrifices must be made, in this case twenty million mutant cannibals and a Federation death squad. Either they die or the Alliance does.
BLAKE: It will take time to prepare a missile and ensure the aftershocks won’t damage Tarl.
BOORVA: [Smiles] I like you, Blake.
TARRANT: Lord Boorva!
BOORVA: Tarrant, if you are not interested in saving this Alliance then you may go. I was speaking to the man I understood to be your leader.
TARRANT: [Furious] He ISN’T my leader!
BOORVA: Yet you believe he will not obey you? If he is not your follower, you must be his.

BOORVA: I suggest you return to your ship. Contact me when this... internal dispute is resolved.
SOOLIN: Yes. We should.
BLAKE: [Into bracelet] Kyben? Teleport.

KYBEN: I take it, it wasn’t a trap?
BLAKE: [heads for exit] No. Not at all. If you’ll excuse me.
TARRANT: Blake, what are you doing?

TARRANT: Blake!
KYBEN: [Sighs] Now what’re the arguing about?
VILA: It’s Boorva, he wants us to...
SOOLIN: You can explain it to Kyben on the way, Vila.
VILA: But...
SOOLIN: Come on. Quick.

BLAKE: Orac...
ORAC: What is it now?
BLAKE: I need some information about the prototype missiles, specifically how to adapt individual missiles for planetary assault without triggering an earthshock level detonation.
ORAC: Such information can easily be ascertained from the schematics and blueprints already held by Zen and the other computer systems aboard the Liberator.
BLAKE: I don’t care if this is beneath your dignity, Orac, just do it. I am first authority aboard the Liberator now.
ORAC: That is of no concern to me, Blake.
BLAKE: [Rolls his eyes] Why is it with everyone on this ship so stubborn?
ORAC: There is a noted rebellious element aboard.

SORLAI: Your memory does not seem very good, Space Commander. You wanted our help to destroy the cultists of Tarl and overthrow their Alliance, did you not?
KREEL: Of course. That’s what I’m asking you to do.
SORLAI: Yet, in return you were to teach us the secrets of your army the better for us to succeed.
KREEL: It’s what I have been trying to do for the last seventy-eight days!
SORLAI: You were also to restore all the factories by the sea. The ones that would allow us to build our own spaceships so we can go to Tarl. Believe it or not, Space Commander, it is a very long way away from here. To attack Tarl on foot would be very difficult.
KREEL: I’m aware of that. My men have got one of your hulks working again, you can use that.
SORLAI: A planet hopper with no armaments? You really think we can take the Temples of Chumran with that? Boorva’s stronghold will not be undefended...
KREEL: I’m not asking you to attack Boorva’s temple!

SORLAI: Then what exactly ARE you asking us to do, Space Commander?
KREEL: Priorities have changed. Your new target is another space craft, currently in orbit above Tarl.
SORLAI: A space craft? Your own ship is better equipped for that.
KREEL: I don’t need you to destroy the ship. Merely board it and kill those aboard.
SORLAI: What is this "ship"?
KREEL: It’s called the Liberator.

SORLAI: Stupid name. Right. So we take over this "Leebrayta" for you. How does that help us conquer Tarl?
KREEL: It’s called the Odysseus Strategem...
SORLAI: You said it was called "Leebrayta".

KREEL: Right. Let me explain this in as fewer syllables as possible...

KYBEN: [Aghast] You are joking, aren’t you?
BLAKE: Do I look like I’m joking, Kyben?
SOOLIN: You’re seriously going to carpet bomb that planet?
BLAKE: I said we were capable of doing it – which we are.
VILA: But you’re going to go ahead, aren’t you?
BLAKE: I had Orac check out Boorva’s story... [Tarrant starts to speak] EVEN though I was sure he wasn’t lying to us. The population of Serrus is barely nineteen million, and those are all devolved psychotic cannibals. Whatever their biology did to adapt to Phobon Plague removed their sanity. They’re held in check more by pheromones than reason. Most of the native fauna have gone the same way. You really want to spare a planet of insane mutants?
KYBEN: Who’s to say they’re mutants? Maybe they’re just evolving like everything is supposed to!
TARRANT: That IS an unpleasant thought.
KYBEN: You can’t go round deciding who gets to live and who gets to die! We didn’t just save the universe so you could annihilate all the bits of it you don’t like!
BLAKE: We have the only source of missiles in the galaxy, Kyben. Did you really think we went to all that trouble with the crystal if we DIDN’T intend to use them?
KYBEN: If you start blowing up planets to solve problems, you’re no better than the Federation!.
BLAKE: As Boorva made quite clear, either we solve the problem or lose the Alliance. Do you want that?
KYBEN: It can’t be worse than outright slaughter!
BLAKE: What about you, Tarrant? You’re so desperate for the Alliance to succeed.
TARRANT: There must be some other way.
BLAKE: Boorva’s intelligent, if he could have handled this problem on his own, he wouldn’t have called for us. The choice is ours. Well?
KYBEN: Fine, Blake, do whatever you want. I’m with Vila.
VILA: [Brightens] Are you?
KYBEN: In leaving this ship at the earliest opportunity! You can’t be trusted with ANY of this technology!

BLAKE: I’ve asked Orac and he agrees with the strategy I suggested.
SOOLIN: This will be the same strategy you didn’t discuss with us? Again?
VILA: Come on, Nij, we don’t even know the Federation is even on Serrus! Blowing up a planet when it could just be some deserters, it’s a bit extreme.
TARRANT: Vila’s right. Desertion rate’s increased dramatically.
VILA: How dramatically?
TARRANT: There IS a desertion rate. Before the new legislation, there wasn’t one – at least not to speak of.
KYBEN: So there could be civilians down on Serrus as well?
BLAKE: If so, they’d be eaten by the Serrunites. They’re cannibals, aren’t they, Orac?
ORAC: Incorrect. A cannibal is defined as a living being who is capable of eating members of his or her own species through either cultural imperative, prolonged famine or mental instability. As the Serrunites have manifestly developed into a different humanoid form of life, their consumption of human beings is clearly simple carnivorous tendencies rather than outright cannibalism...

SOOLIN: The point is, we can’t do something this big without checking first.
BLAKE: I say we can.
SOOLIN: Say it louder and maybe someone will listen. I’m with the others on this. If you start the missile run without checking, then I’ll leave as well. What about you, Tarrant?
TARRANT: We can’t let the Alliance fall apart. People have died to keep it together.
KYBEN: And many more people have to die before the price becomes too high?

BLAKE: You’re all serious, I take it?
SOOLIN: Yes.
BLAKE: All right. And if I check Serrus? Find absolute proof of Federation presence which will destroy this Alliance? If I can prove that this is right thing to do? Will you stay?
VILA: You really need us, Nij? Don’t all those implanted skills make us all redundant?

BLAKE: If it did, surely I would have murdered each and every one of you in your beds by now! Yet I seem to be spending a lot of time keeping you all alive and safe AND fighting a war against the Federation without our resident computer genius and moral absolute! I ask you all to just trust me. And after all we’ve been through, you’re acting like I’m really Kreel in disguise!
VILA: You can’t ask us to trust you if you don’t trust us!
BLAKE: We cannot be split up now! The Federation is weaker than it has been for centuries. Its replacement central control is strained to breaking point, there is no more Mutoid modification, pylene fifty is useless and not even the great masses are prepared to put up with Anders’ rule! This is a time where unity and loyalty are absolutely paramount – because if we miss this chance, like you did when Star One was destroyed, then we will never win. Not in this life time, not in any other. And if I can’t convince you with that, then you simply can’t be convinced at all!

BLAKE: I swear to you, I give you my word: if we do not NEED to destroy Serrus, if there is another option, then I will take it. The question is, can YOU give me your word that if there is no other way, you will stay with me for the missile run? Soolin?
SOOLIN: All right.
BLAKE: Tarrant? [Tarrant nods] Kyben? [Kyben nods] Vila?
VILA: How exactly are we going to check Boorva’s story?
BLAKE: Simple. We’ll go to Serrus for ourselves.

BOORVA: You’re insane, Blake! You actually intend to go to that rathole! I forbid it!
TARRANT: I’m sorry, Lord Boorva, but you have no control over us or our actions.
BOORVA: If you were even remotely sensible you would not need me to tell you not to go. [to Tarrant and Vila] Surely your computers will have told you all about the plagues? About the Serrunites? How they treat humans as walking flesh to feed their hunger?
BLAKE: We’re not going to destroy a planet and its people on hearsay, Boorva.
BOORVA: My word should be enough.
VILA: I thought you said ‘words were nothing more than words’.
BOORVA: No, that was Chalsa. And even that mental defective would still be intelligent enough to stay away from Serrus. No expedition, not one person who has gone there has ever returned – or survived more than a few hours on its surface.
BLAKE: No expedition, not one person who has gone there had access to a teleport and the most advanced medical technology in the galaxy.
VILA: [Doubtful] Boorva DOES seem to know what he’s talking about...
TARRANT: Shut up, Vila. Lord Boorva, you have no evidence of Federation presence on Serrus...
BOORVA: Does it matter? No excuse is needed to destroy that hell-planet!
BLAKE: Wrong. An excuse is very much needed. Besides, it strikes me that Serrus, the planet of no return, is a very good defensive barrier for Tarl. You’d lose more than you gained.
BOORVA: If you are killed on the surface, I will lose everything. I have no doubt your ship will not function for any except your crew. I will not be able to destroy the Federation presence, or use the ship to defend the border systems when the Federation strike in force.
BLAKE: We’re not giving you access to the Liberator, Boorva.
BOORVA: You underestimate me to that extent, Blake? I do not wish control of your ship. But I demand you leave some of your crew here. When you die on the surface, the others will see your folly and do what is necessary.
VILA: As prisoners?
BOORVA: Of course not. Guests. On Tarl you have no enemies, only allies. It is in our best interests to keep you safe. And if you are right, Blake, then no harm will be done.

BLAKE: Well?
TARRANT: Lord Boorva won’t betray us.
BLAKE: All right. Vila?
VILA: He who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken. Old Auron saying.
BLAKE: Soolin will mind the Liberator, and Kyben can keep an eye on me. Satisfied?
VILA: You see how easy it is, Nij?
BLAKE: Must you call me that?
VILA: All the other names I can think of are rude.
BLAKE: [Sweetly] Has anyone told you you’re a charming gentlemen, Vila?
VILA: Yes, actually.
BLAKE: Then they were lying. [into bracelet] Soolin, Vila and Tarrant are going to be staying on Tarl for while I’m gone. Bring me up alone, please.
TARRANT: Good luck, Blake.
VILA: Hope the cannibals don’t bite.

BOORVA: Well. You now have the free run of this planet, my friends. I would advise, however, you not leave the Chumran temple – at least until I’ve arranged suitable clothes.
VILA: It does look a bit cold out there.
TARRANT: It’s because Tarl and Serrus are twin planets, they have extreme climates.
BOORVA: Yes. Summer and winter here last twenty five years here. But I’m sure you will glad to know that we have a few months before Spring occurs. Then Tarl will become a tropical paradise one more.
TARRANT: Sunshine for a quarter of a century. Not all planets are so lucky.
BOORVA: Not all planets are Tarl. You are welcome to stay here permanently, Tarrant.
TARRANT: Am I?
BOORVA: I apologize for my rudeness earlier, but my people must always be my priority.
VILA: You’d let us stay here? For free?
BOORVA: Of course. Your... companion will not return from Serrus.
VILA: So it IS a trap.
BOORVA: A trap? A trap where I almost begged him not to go into danger? Where I gave him every reason not to go? Where he went into danger of his own free will? Did I threaten him? Blackmail him? No, your companion’s stubborn lack of cautious will lead him to death with no help from me. However, it is plainly clear that his death would not greatly distress the two of you.
VILA: [Sighs] After a while you lose enough people that you just stop caring. But who said we cared about Nij? If he does die on Serrus, we’ll have full control of the Liberator.
BOORVA: Then perhaps I should try to convince the two of you of the necessity of destroying Serrus.
VILA: Knew there would be a price.
BOORVA: A small price. Of course, you can leave in your ship and never return. But that ship is a viable target for every Federation ship. The galaxy is becoming a smaller place as the Federation expands. There are fewer choices of where to hide. But if you were not on Liberator, but living in luxury on the seat of the Rebel Alliance...
TARRANT: The Federation will still attempt to attack.
BOORVA: And if the Liberator stays in the border systems, as part of the fleet? The Federation will abandon their plans and concentrate on controlling their own territories. Stability is what they desire. [Smiles] As do we all, to an extent. But I am wasting your valuable time. I shall arrange some attire for you, and then you may go where you wish and do what you want. Should you require anything, the guard will obey your every request.

VILA: I think he’s trying to sell us something.
TARRANT: Or maybe get us to sell something. Like our souls.
VILA: He did make it sound nice here.
TARRANT: "Fine words butter no parsnips".
VILA: What does that mean?
TARRANT: Not sure. Probably something about gardening. Just sounded cynical enough.
VILA: You? Cynical? You're more passionate about this Alliance than I am for soma.
TARRANT: The Alliance, yes. I’m just not sure I trust Boorva.
VILA: You’ve changed your tune.
TARRANT: I hadn’t seen him act like that. He’s being more generous to us than he has to be.
VILA: Wouldn’t be too bad settling down here. If it was warmer. And it soon will be. I was planning to go anyway. You could too. Eh? You could settle down on Betafarl like you were going to.
TARRANT: Not much point now.
VILA: None of us are getting younger, Tarrant. And it’s becoming a choice of spending our autumn years dodging plasma bolts or a grave on an artificial planet. [into bracelet] Soolin? Can you teleport me up, please?
SOOLIN: [V.O.] Is there a problem?
VILA: No. I’ve just decided to pack my things. You should come down here again, it seems like we might actually be welcome here for a change.
SOOLIN: [V.O.] Vila, be sensible about this...
VILA: I asked for teleport, Soolin! [to Tarrant] See you round, Tarrant.

ZEN: Cargo bay doors open. Sevener is now launched en route for Serrus.

SOOLIN: ... I thought we agreed not to do anything until after this was resolved?
VILA: Ah, but I didn’t agree, did I? Old trick I learned from Avon – he learned most of the good ones from me. Well, the ones I think are good.
SOOLIN: You really think Boorva will make you an honoured guest there for the next twenty five years?
VILA: He could do it if he wants to, and he wants to. The border systems are about the safest place there is in the galaxy now. He said we were all welcome to live on Tarl if we want.
SOOLIN: And presumably the price will be the Liberator joining the Alliance fleet?
VILA: Well, it is already, in a way, isn’t it?
SOOLIN: We’d be effectively giving Boorva control of the most powerful ship in space.
VILA: So?
SOOLIN: Vila, he’s a warlord!
VILA: You speak to him, then. He’s welcome to the thing if you ask me. More trouble that it’s been worth, all things considered. No offence, Zen.
ZEN: Confirmed.
VILA: Besides, he won’t have total control of the Liberator. There’ll be you and Tarrant running things. Unless Tarrant throws the towel in, too.
SOOLIN: This is a bit sudden, isn’t it, Vila? Blake isn’t even dead yet.
VILA: I don’t care if he survives. I’m still leaving. I thought you were, too?
SOOLIN: Well, like you said, Vila. You outlived all the others. Your opinion might be worth listening to this time. And I’m going to do what you said.
VILA: [Confused] What’s that?
SOOLIN: I’m going to speak to Boorva in person. You can work the teleport one last time.
VILA: Oh yes, teleport duty. How will my life go on without it?

KYBEN: Don’t you ever get tired of travelling in this ship?
BLAKE: It was my home for the best part of my life... my real life, anyway. I like it. Gan, commit full automatics and activate the cloaking device.
GAN: Automatic controls activated. Cloaking device engaged. Arrival at Serrus in eighteen minutes.
BLAKE: If there is any detectors still working down there, they’ll have picked up the Liberator but possibly not us – their technology would be decades behind ours. Let’s keep it that way.
KYBEN: If there is a Federation force on Serrus, what are we going to do?
BLAKE: It depends. It can only be a small force, so unless they’re trying to recruit the natives, it should be simple enough to deal with.
KYBEN: What if they are trying to recruit the natives?
BLAKE: Then there has to be some kind of training camp where the Federation are training the warriors. A few explosives there will remove the problem and the Federation presence as effectively as an orbital strike.
KYBEN: That sounds reasonable.
BLAKE: People will still be killed, Kyben.
KYBEN: I know. I should be disgusted by this. By us even talking about it.
BLAKE: Boorva was right, though. If you try to fight a war with no casualties you will lose.
KYBEN: That doesn’t make me feel any better about it.
BLAKE: It wasn’t supposed to. Gan, I want a surface scan over the main continent and report any functioning space craft detected.
KYBEN: What if they’re using a cloaking device as well?
BLAKE: Then we’ll know they’re doing it when Gan detects a blind spot large enough to cover a pursuit ship.
KYBEN: Vila was right, you really are better at this without us. You wouldn’t have to explain so much, for one thing.
BLAKE: If it weren’t for the rest of you, I’d have been killed any number of occasions by now. And even if you weren’t "useful", I wouldn’t get rid of you. Believe it or not, I am still a human being, Kyben. They’re my friends. And if they really don’t trust me, I’ve been doing something wrong.
KYBEN: You’ve changed so much, though, even since I’ve met you. It’s aged you.
BLAKE: [Quietly] You have to adapt or die in this universe. And I don’t intend to die any time soon.

GAN: Detectors registering two functional space craft on the surface of Serrus. One is a modified planet hopper, Wanderer Class Mk 1. The other is a high speed Federation Command pursuit ship. Both craft are located in the area designated central city.
KYBEN: Any blind spots on the detectors?
GAN: Negative.
BLAKE: Can we land inside the city without being detected?
GAN: Negative. Architectural layout allows only one suitable landing position...
KYBEN: And the Federation ship’s the one using it?
GAN: Acknowledged.
BLAKE: This isn’t going to be as easy as we’d like is it?
KYBEN: It never is.

SORLAI: When we inside Leebrayta, we KILL! All them, we KILL! STRIKE FAST! AND DEEP!

SORLAI: TO THE SHIP!

KREEL: Your battle tactics are refreshingly simple, Sorlai.
SORLAI: The plan is complicated enough.
KREEL: Should I explain it to you again?
SORLAI: Hah! You think that because I did not attend your "Eff-hess-say" that I am a fool?
KREEL: [Shrugs] Yes, actually, I do.
SORLAI: Our ship heads for Leebrayta. Your machine tells the computers of Leebrayta our ship is empty and make them let us dock. Then they open the hatches, we kill them all and use the Leebrayta to attack Tarl and Boorva, who thinks the Leebrayta is still on their side.
KREEL: Of course. I’m pleased you trusted me to program the flight computer.
SORLAI: Of course I trust you, Space Commander. Because you will come with us for the mission.
KREEL: I’d rather not. Our chats have given me something of a lung infection.
SORLAI: But, Space Commander, you are so much cleverer than us. Surely you should be on the ship. You will know how to deal with the Leebrayta and the renegades aboard. It would be... foolish for you to be left behind.
KREEL: I will be aboard my ship during the maneuver.
SORLAI: No. You will be aboard my ship. In case I forget anything about this ‘Odysseus Horse’ trick of yours.

BANKS: Commander, it’s the ship. Computer’s detected a sub-ether communication from low orbit. All scanners indicate they’re nothing up there.
KREEL: Then all scanners are wrong, Banks! Is the Liberator still in orbit over Tarl?
BANKS: Yes, sir.
KREEL: Then it’s their courier ship with its cloaking device. They must suspect we’re down here.
SORLAI: But how?
KREEL: Darnel’s been caught. Boorva must have contacted the Liberator to take us out. Obviously the rebels have decided to check the facts for themselves. [to Sorlai] Is there anywhere a ship could land in central city?
SORLAI: Only the grass lands – and your ship is already there, crushing the fire plants!
KREEL: Perfect. Do you know what that means?
SORLAI: The fire plant harvest is ruined and winter starts in the next few months?
KREEL: No, it means they must be using their teleport. Excellent.
SORLAI: How is this good if the enemy are going attack now?
KREEL: Because we can set a trap. Get your posse of cannibals out of the planet hopper and surround this building. Banks – I want the flight computer to relay a full scale status report.
BANKS: That will take fifteen minutes, sir, at least. There’s no other communications on this planet, we’ll stand out like a beacon if we transmit that long!
KREEL: Exactly. Get on with it!

BLAKE: Still no answer. [Into bracelet] Liberator, do you receive me? Soolin?
VILA: [V.O.] This is Vila. Soolin’s popped out for a moment.
KYBEN: [Into bracelet] Popped out? Where?
VILA: [V.O.] Down on Tarl. Seems to be a nice place to retire, all told.

BLAKE: [Into bracelet] We’ve detected a pursuit ship landed on the surface, so we’re leaving Sevener cloaked, in orbit, while we teleport down.

VILA: Not sensible, Nij. There’s no one there to teleport you up.
BLAKE: [V.O.] Switch on Orac. He can use the interface with Gan to activate the teleport.
VILA: I thought Orac couldn’t control Gan.
BLAKE: [V.O.] The interface overrides that.
VILA: Well, you could have told us all sooner, Nij.

BLAKE: [Into bracelet] Maybe I didn’t think you’d listen!
KYBEN: [firmly] Blake. Vila, just switch on Orac, please.
VILA: [V.O.] All right, I’m doing it. Say hello to the Serrunites for me.

BLAKE: To think. We used to be drinking buddies.
KYBEN: Back when they trusted you.
BLAKE: Yes, it HAS been mentioned, Kyben. I’ve treated them no worse than Avon ever did.
KYBEN: Maybe you should stop trying to be Avon and be yourself.
BLAKE: Maybe you’re right. How’s the bracelet?
KYBEN: Tighter than the ordinary ones. Why I have to use this one?
BLAKE: It’s coded specifically to your genetic body print. If anyone except you tries to use that bracelet, it will automatically teleport them into deep space and vaporize them.
KYBEN: That’s disgusting.
BLAKE: It means whoever is on teleport duty isn’t killed in a surprise attack. You ready?
KYBEN: As I’ll ever be.

BLAKE: [Winces] Oh, that stench!
KYBEN: Methane, sulphor and... something I’d rather not think about. Are we going to stay down here long?
BLAKE: Just a quick check. Gan detected a communication to this building. Some kind of status check with the pursuit ship. So obviously the officer in charge is here. Once we confirm that, we get out of here and have the Liberator fire a missile at this city.
KYBEN: You’re sure about this plan? If you’re wrong, there’ll be massive destruction! This whole city could be flattened...
BLAKE: I thought we’d agreed to trust me on this? I’ve worked out how to... wait.

BLAKE: Where’s your gun?
KYBEN: I didn’t bring one.
BLAKE: What?!
KYBEN: Hippocratic oath. I am a doctor, remember.
BLAKE: Oh, brilliant. Stay out here then.

COMPUTER: [V.O.] ...data suggests further mutation in the natives but no further study has been carried out. Topographical notes: mercury swamps have been located at the equator, and unusual orbit has caused seasons lasting no less than twenty-five years with a mean temperature...

BLAKE: Drop it! Or I kill you!

BLAKE: Space Commander Kreel. How the mighty have fallen.
KREEL: [Shrugs] The Federation is undergoing something of a difficult period, yes.
BLAKE: I was speaking more... specifically, Kreel. Look at you. [Tutts] One of the most senior officers in the empire. Reduced to deep cover in a swamp like this, abandoned and forgotten. I can’t imagine how low a priority this operation is to President Anders. Does he even remember starting it? Just what exactly happens to career soldiers when they have no careers left?

KREEL: I suppose you’re going to kill me in mindless revenge?
BLAKE: I’ve not decided yet. Someone else has request the honor of killing you.
KREEL: More cowardice. Still, what can I expect? Your father was deeply disappointing in that regard. He wept and begged for his life. It was embarrassing, frankly.

KREEL: Now!

SOOLIN: You’re not really planning to give up the Liberator, are you?
TARRANT: Vila’s right. We’ve got more reason to leave than stay.
SOOLIN: The Federation still exists. I thought we were going to destroy it.
TARRANT: Before it destroyed us? I wonder if it already has. How much do we have to lose before it gets too much? Avon’s dead. Blake’s dead. Jenna, Cally, Jain, Dayna... even Servalan. The fight goes on when we don’t. I really don’t think we’ll live long enough to destroy the Federation.
SOOLIN: I never thought you’d give in.
TARRANT: You think I crash landed Scorpio to prove something?

TARRANT: I didn’t intend to survive, Soolin. But staying alive was easier. Less trouble.
SOOLIN: Zeeona...
TARRANT: Zeeona wanted this Alliance to work. She made sure of that before she died.
SOOLIN: Tarrant, she killed herself.
TARRANT: We don’t know that.
SOOLIN: You think she removed her radiation suit by mistake?
TARRANT: Her father was dead, her honour ruined. She discharged her responsibilities and then ended it all cleanly. She was right. We should have spared ourselves all this. Maybe that’s how Avon died? He realized it was pointless and switched off the oxygen supply. Maybe we’re the unlucky ones, the ones who haven’t made sense of it.
SOOLIN: Zeeona was weak, Tarrant. I’m sorry to tell you this but she was. She ended her life when she didn’t have to, and no one gained by it. You loved her, I know you loved her. But if she loved you she wouldn’t have killed herself, would she? And if life is so pointless, why didn’t she let you go with her, die with her, in one grand gesture?

SOOLIN: And if Zeeona thought it was all pointless, what about Dayna? She died fighting. She wanted to stay alive, to change things. So did Jenna. And did Cally just give up? If you had died on GP, would you have wanted us all to just give up? Forget the whole thing and hide away. We make a difference, Tarrant. Just the few of us. You know things are changing. And if we give up now... Blake’s right, we’ll have wasted the last few years of our lives for nothing.
TARRANT: I’ve almost run out of people to lose, Soolin. My parents. My brother. You know, you and Vila are all I have left now.
SOOLIN: If I matter that much to you, listen to me...
TARRANT: And what? Put up with Blake’s secrecy? Get used as canon fodder so the Federation can become even harsher and more dangerous? Count the days till I join the glorious ranks of the dead followers of Roj Blake?
SOOLIN: It’s your choice, Tarrant. It doesn’t have to be like that.
TARRANT: And that’s why I want to leave.
SOOLIN: Then why aren’t you packing your bags like Vila?

BANKS: We’re running out of trainees, Commander.
KREEL: We can afford to.

KREEL: Well done, Blake. Now surrender, or your pitiful companion dies.

KREEL: Of course, you can replace a medic on your crew easily. Very well, keep fighting. Banks...
BLAKE: [cutting across him] I surrender.
KREEL: Take off your bracelet.

KREEL: How many of the others are here on Serrus?
BLAKE: It’s just us.
KREEL: I don’t believe him. Banks...
BLAKE: It’s just us! Vila is on the Liberator, Soolin and Tarrant are on Tarl!
KREEL: And what about Avon?
KYBEN: Avon’s dead!
BLAKE: She’s telling the truth.
KREEL: You can do better than that.
BLAKE: He is. I swear. He is dead.

KREEL: Then you will soon be joining him, won’t you, Blake?

ORAC/GAN: [V.O.] Alert signal detected. Activating teleport.

ORAC: Attention. Blake has used his emergency communication signal, but teleport is not possible as his bracelet and the one coded for Rela Kyben are not operable.
VILA: So they’re not wearing them?
ORAC: Exactly.
VILA: What’s happened to them, can you tell?
ORAC: There is a high probability they have been attacked by a hostile agency. In order to defeat Blake, they would have to be talented in combat and many in number.
VILA: Chances of survival?
ORAC: Federation presence on the planet indicates there is a one in three chance of them being taken alive for public execution.
VILA: But a two in three chance of them being hacked to pieces by mutant madmen, right?
ORAC: It would seem so.
VILA: Fine. Nij’s not going to get the moral high ground on me. Zen, set a course for the planet Serrus, speed standard by twelve. Get us going on my order.
ZEN: Confirmed. Course laid in.

BOORVA: Ah, my friends, there you are.
TARRANT: Lord Boorva...
SOOLIN: Tarrant, don’t!
TARRANT: It’s about your offer to stay on Tarl.
BOORVA: Yes?
TARRANT: I...

VILA: [V.O.] Sorry about this.

VILA: Are they aboard?
ORAC: Of course they are!
VILA: Zen, get us moving. And contact Gan and the Sevener, make sure we don’t crash into them.
ZEN: Confirmed. Moving onto new course now.
VILA: How long to arrival time?
ZEN: Two minutes and counting.

TARRANT: Vila, what the hell are you up to?
VILA: Blake’s in trouble. So’s Kyben. One last rescue mission, for old time’s sake?
SOOLIN: How long ago were they captured?
VILA: Er, dunno. Orac?
ORAC: Blake triggered the emergency pulse one minute and seven seconds ago.
VILA: Well, normally this is when Avon would tell us what to do. [Beat.] All right. Who wants to be leader now?

KREEL: I first went up against the Liberator before the Intergalactic War, under the command of Supreme Commander Servalan. After that fiasco, I was unjustly demoted, arrested and imprisoned. It was the war that saved me. I was released and helped the battle against the aliens. When Servalan made her coup, I kept my head down and survived the civil wars. But I’ve worked my way back to Space Commander, only for Blake and the Liberator to return.
BLAKE: And what a wonderful job you’ve done. No wonder you’ve been left to rot here.
KREEL: Perhaps I have been abandoned. But this assignment, if it succeeds, if the Rebel Alliance is destroyed, then the Federation will have expanded its outer limits for the first time since the New Calendar began.
BLAKE: You won’t succeed. You never do. You’re incompetent. How many ships did you lose at Freedom City? Then you let us escape with all the missiles from Agro 34. And IMIPAK, you made a real mess of that. The ultimate weapon destroyed, the ESD wiped out. You were given the perfect opportunity to stop us on Demos V and you not only missed us, you showed the planet you couldn’t stop us from saving our allies from under your very noses. Servalan achieved more in a week than you ever have. No wonder the President sent you out here. A situation that could only be improved – either you succeeded or you got eaten. You’re nothing Kreel.
KREEL: Oh, I’m not nothing Blake. I’m incredibly important. To you.
BLAKE: You flatter yourself.
KREEL: Do I? I’ve achieved quite a lot in a sense. Your father, the late lamented clone. That mutoid you somehow brainwashed. And thanks to me your friend Jenna is now a severed head at Residence One. It was your petty blood vendettas, your useless emotions about a soldier simply following his orders, that let me set up this trap.
BLAKE: Yes. And thanks to you, I went and destroyed the Mutoid Factories. Thanks to you, the new legislation is tugging the Federation apart from within. Thanks to you I have every intention of destroying you and everything you ever stood for.

KREEL: But you won’t, Blake. Instead, your capture has allowed me to take control of the Liberator. With that, and your missiles, I can destroy Tarl. The Liberator crew prisoner, access to the Liberator, to Orac, and the border systems defenseless. All in one day’s work. President Anders will realize his mistake in underestimating me.
BLAKE: If you were that efficient, you’d be a danger. You’d be killed before the rest of us.
KREEL: That, Blake, remains to be seen.
SORLAI: Enough of this talk! You have him! Don’t waste words. Take this Leebrayta, and let me feast on this creature that has dared killed my best brood!
KREEL: Out of the mouths of barbarians. Very well, Sorlai. Put on the woman’s bracelet.
SORLAI: Why?
KREEL: Just do it, you stinking mutant! And you can feast on the rest of this criminal’s gang!

SORLAI: I might do the same to you, Space Commander.
KREEL: You and what army? The one this single criminal just wiped out? Shut up, Sorlai. Blake.

KREEL: Unless you want Miss Kyben to be shot here, you will contact your ship and tell them to teleport you both up to the Liberator. No tricks or she will lose her other eye.

KREEL: Sensible.

BLAKE: I need teleport now!

VILA: Blake, where’s Kyben?
BLAKE: Zen!
SOOLIN: Blake!
BLAKE: Are the missiles prepared?
ZEN: [V.O.] Confirmed. Missiles are ready for immediate launch.
SOOLIN: Blake, where is Kyben?
BLAKE: Zen, I want a scan made of the planet’s surface...
VILA: He’s left her to die! [Angry] Hasn’t he?

BLAKE: What?! Of course I haven’t!
SOOLIN: Vila, what are you doing?
VILA: Orac, teleport!
BLAKE: VILA!

BLAKE: Vila...

KYBEN: If any of you... ANY of you... move. He dies.
KREEL: Stay back. All of you.
KYBEN: Thought so. You’re not going to die for the Federation, are you?
KREEL: Not like this.
KYBEN: You’re better than this, I suppose? You deserve to live?
KREEL: I think so.
KYBEN: And what about Poul?
KREEL: Who?
KYBEN: My son. He would have been seven by now.
KREEL: I didn’t kill him.
KYBEN: No, you just had your men kill him! And Renna... and Senna... and Rak. My Rak. They didn’t harm anyone. They didn’t threaten the Federation, they didn’t threaten anything. But you decided they had to die. So, why EXACTLY do YOU deserve to live, after all the lives you’ve ruined? If you hadn’t killed that mutoid, Blake wouldn’t have destroyed them, and those laws wouldn’t have been introduced. You’re the one who caused all this. All of it. So why do you deserve to live when they didn’t?
KREEL: Because unlike you, Rela Kyben, I matter. You, your career, your alliterative family, are nothing. Kill me and you die here and now. Release me, you’ll be executed as an example to traitors everywhere. No matter what you do, you aren’t important. I am. And I don’t care at all about your shattered life. Unlike you, I have a purpose that can’t be stripped away by a simple death squad.

KYBEN: You sad little soldier. You’ve got two eyes, and you can’t see anything, can you? You don’t have anything at all. The Federation couldn’t care less about you. You’re nothing to it. And I’m nothing to it either. But I had a family. I had a life. You don’t. You’ve got nothing.
KREEL: Shut up.
KYBEN: [Not listening] Nothing at all.
KREEL: Shut up! Just shut up!
KYBEN: Is there anything even inside that body?
KREEL: Shut up, you stupid little bitch!
KYBEN: If I cut you, do you bleed?

KREEL: [Terrified] KILL HER!

KYBEN: Vila!

KREEL: Restal. Fine. It doesn’t matter if I have to get all of you down here by rota. The Liberator is mine. Banks?
BANKS: [Weak] Sir?
KREEL: Keep an eye on them. Execute them if you think it necessary.

KREEL: Liberator. This is Space Commander Kreel. Can you hear me, Blake?

BLAKE: I hear you, Kreel.

KREEL: Then you will be pleased to know that I am in a no-lose situation. Even if I don’t get you, the Liberator and the Alliance, I can reduce your manpower by two.
BLAKE: [V.O.] You might already have done so. Prove they’re still alive.
KREEL: How? Kill them now over the audio link?

BLAKE: That won’t be necessary. Let them speak. I want to be sure.

KREEL: Go on then, Restal. Talk?
VILA: [Dazed] Oh. Help. Someone. Please. Oh God... I think I’m going to faint...
KREEL: And our friend Kyben.
KYBEN: [rubs head] Blake, Vila’s injured. Very badly...
KREEL: And he’ll get worse. Now, Blake, I want you to land both your ships on Serrus and then have Orac teleport all three of you to my location.

BLAKE: That would require us to have a precise locator fix on your signal.

KREEL: Then get one!

BLAKE: I have one already, Kreel. I know precisely where you are. Vila? Kyben?

KYBEN: Yes, Blake?
BLAKE: [V.O.] I’m sorry.

BLAKE: Zen, fire the missiles!
SOOLIN: No, Blake, you can’t!
ZEN: Missiles launched.

KREEL: You’re bluffing, Blake!
BLAKE: [V.O.] Am I? Ask them about Jain.
KREEL: Who?
VILA: He’s doing it. My god. He’s going to kill us. Actually going to kill us!

TARRANT: Zen! Abort the missiles!
ZEN: Modification of missiles means the abort function is no longer available.

SOOLIN: Blake, what have you done?
BLAKE: What I have to!

KREEL: I don’t believe you!

BLAKE: You won’t have long to find out. Zen? Time to impact?
ZEN: Twenty three seconds. Twenty two. Twenty-one.

BLAKE: [V.O.] Goodbye, Kreel.

KREEL: Blake? ... BLAKE!
BANKS: Sir?
KREEL: RUN!

KYBEN: Blake!

BLAKE: [V.O.] Kyben? Has he run yet?
KYBEN: I think so!

BLAKE: Prepare for teleport!

KYBEN: We’ve got to get him to the medical unit, quickly.

BLAKE: Fine. Gan’s bringing the Sevener on board the Liberator, then we can be on our way.
TARRANT: What the hell did you think you were doing, Blake?
BLAKE: I said if I found another way, I’d take it. I said we had a locator fix on Kreel’s position and I fired the missiles. I never said I was aiming them at the locator fix. Vila and Kyben weren’t in any real danger, from the missiles, anyway. Serrus is still in one piece – even most of the central city is intact.
TARRANT: Why didn’t you tell us?
BLAKE: Oddly enough, you didn’t give me a chance. Besides, your reactions convinced Kreel. If you lot refuse to trust me, I can at least make that something useful. [Sighs] I saved the Alliance, the planet and these two. Are any of you satisfied yet?
SOOLIN: Not quite. We should have words with Boorva.

BANKS: Is this something else I shouldn’t mention, sir?
KREEL: Shut up, Banks.

BOORVA: [V.O.] But I understood these missiles were all-powerful...

BOORVA: ...surely two of them should have flattened the entire continent!
TARRANT: That’s what I’d like explained, too.
BLAKE: Simple. I removed the warheads from several of the missiles. I had Zen target two of them to destroy Kreel’s ship and the planet hopper. Anyone on Serrus isn’t going anywhere now.
SOOLIN: But the missiles would be useless!
BLAKE: At the speed they were going, the kinetic energy did the job of the warhead. Both ships are gone, so Serrus is no longer a threat, and we didn’t slaughter innocents, so we’re happy.
BOORVA: Those monsters are not innocents.
SOOLIN: They’re wild animals, Boorva. Until they develop their own civilization again, they should be left alone. Kyben was right. And this way we’re both satisfied.
BLAKE: Well, not both satisfied. Your plan didn’t work out exactly as you expected.
BOORVA: What plan would that be?
SOOLIN: I worked it out. You could have struck Serrus on your own. Certainly you could have found out what we did with a simple reconnaissance mission. Instead you called us in to do it for you. And if we had destroyed Serrus, you would have demonstrated that the Alliance has access to the most powerful weapons there are.
TARRANT: But you decided to go one better. Offer us all retirement here, so we’d allow you continued access to the Liberator. Or maybe you’d just hand us over to the Federation, and get them to forget about the border systems for the meantime.
BOORVA: The other planets have given me full authority to do whatever is necessary to protect the Alliance. And you have done that. I win in any eventuality. Because, unlike you Blake, I am no dictator. The Federation is destroying itself by making one man more important than its people. If the President dies, the Federation will go on. If I die, however, the Alliance ends. They are all dependant on me, and the beauty is, they don’t even notice. I am like oxygen. Or electricity.

SOOLIN: Oxygen can run out. As can electricity.
TARRANT: Lord Boorva, I reject your offer to live on Tarl.
BOORVA: It’s your loss, Tarrant.
TARRANT: I don’t think so. [into bracelet] Teleport, please, Orac.
BLAKE: Bring me up as well. I think Soolin can take care of this.

SOOLIN: I can pull the trigger before you call for help.
BOORVA: Go ahead, then.

BOORVA: I’m safe. No one in the border systems would even consider an assassination attempt on me, any more than they would kill themselves. I am indispensable. That is why I am still alive. Not Mida, not Chalsa, not Lod or even you can kill me. Not without destroying everything you came here to save.
SOOLIN: Who said I was going to kill you?

KYBEN: You set fire to his beard?
SOOLIN: And his hair. He won’t be needing it when Tarl’s summer starts, though he won’t be making any personal appearances before the burns heal. Considering what he put us through, he got off rather lightly.
KYBEN: At least we made some kind of moral victory.
SOOLIN: Blake let you in on the plan, then?
BLAKE: I told her about what I did to the missiles. Then I had to adapt the plan.
KYBEN: I guessed something like that.
SOOLIN: [to Blake] So you really would have told us, given the chance?
BLAKE: Yes. There you go, Kyben.

BLAKE: Kreel’s stuck on that planet for the foreseeable future. And we have at least ten minutes before the Federation arrives. Enough time for us to find him and kill him.
KYBEN: I though you wanted to do that.
BLAKE: I do. But at the end of the day, it’d probably give him too much satisfaction. He’s yours.

KYBEN: Let him go. We’ve got better things to do than worry about revenge.
SOOLIN: You’re not going to forgive him for what he’s done?
KYBEN: Oh, Soolin. I never said that. I might not kill him, but I’m not going to let him get away with what he’s done.
BLAKE: I’ll settle for anything left after you’ve finished with him.
KYBEN: [Smiles] Assuming you don’t get him first.
BLAKE: Naturally. Zen, set a course for the United Planets of Teal, standard by four.
ZEN: Confirmed. Course computed. Speed at standard by four.

TARRANT: Sevener’s docked successfully. Are you going to tell us why we’re heading for Teal?
BLAKE: Why not? It’s as good a place as any for us to part company. I assume you still want to?
ORAC: Attention.
SOOLIN: What is it, Orac?
ORAC: I have pre-programmed instructions to carry out in a scenario such as this. Therefore, all the crew members should be present for necessary instructions to be carried out.
BLAKE: Instructions? From whom?
ORAC: Kerr Avon.
KYBEN: But he’s dead. Did he instruct you before that?
ORAC: It is obvious that he did! How could a dead human being instruct me?
KYBEN: I’ll go and get Vila.

SOOLIN: He should be recovered by now.
BLAKE: I can’t believe he was so reckless. He was lucky to survive.
TARRANT: Like I said. We’ve all lost people. Maybe now Avon’s gone, Vila’s going to stand up for himself from now on.
SOOLIN: If we hadn’t just saved the universe, I’m sure that would be a sign it was about to end.

VILA: What’s wrong? Why can’t I just die in peace?
TARRANT: Orac wants to talk to us.
VILA: He can talk to me separately, can’t he? Or are you planning to ditch me in the next crisis?
BLAKE: I didn’t ditch Kyben. She was about to be attacked by the Serrunite leader who was wearing her teleport bracelet.
KYBEN: I did tell him.
VILA: You should have gone back for her, Nij.
BLAKE: I intended to...
ORAC: If I might be allowed to interrupt this truly pointless bickering and recrimination, I do have a task to perform.

BLAKE: Go ahead, Orac.
ORAC: Avon gave me instructions to be carried out in the event of his death and various other facts of no immediate concern. However, the lack of trust and cooperation with the Liberator crew, combined with the imminent disintegration of said crew were predicted. Thus I shall replay a viscast recorded by Avon on the main screen. Please remain silent until the viscast is concluded.

AVON: If this recording is being replayed by Orac, then I am now dead. I have just seen the rest of you off in Sevener to collect the guidance crystal we need for the missiles – a malfunction so perfect I am wondering if it might be some kind of trap. In either case, if you are watching this it means you survived the trip to Bartoc 4, if not succeeded in getting the crystal. The reason you have used Sevener is that for my mission I need the Liberator, I need Zen and I need Orac. It is a dangerous mission with a fifty per cent chance of survival. Equal odds to live or die. I do not intend this to be a suicide mission, but I’m not so stupid as to miss the dangers. [We pan across the crew’s faces as they watch.] The Federation boasts the finest interrogation techniques known. If any of you are captured, you will tell them everything. It’s a fact. They will make you talk and you will not be able to stop them. Normally, this would be an acceptable risk, as so I would ensure you all knew what I am attempting to do. But not this time. If the Federation so much as suspects what I am doing, the consequences will be catastrophic. I use the word with precision. Catastrophic. That is why I have made Blake give me his word that he will not allow any of you to know what my mission is... [Smiles] Was. I trust Blake will keep his word, as I keep mine. However, I can imagine his sudden reticence may, when coupled with his total lack of subtlety, lead to friction on the crew. Tarrant, you I’m sure can be relied upon to complain. Perhaps Blake will already have convinced you of the reasons for his silence. But if not, I am leaving this message in case I am not alive to do so in person. [Avon pauses, thinking.] Vila, you and I were there at the very beginning. Tarrant and Soolin, we have been together for several years. I was designated the leader of this group and with a few notable mistakes, I believe I was a good one. Certainly good enough to command loyalty from the three of you. It is because of that loyalty I make one final order – stay with the Liberator, trust Blake, and if necessary obey without question. Because by doing so, we might actually win this once and for all. I won’t be there to see it, of course. But after seven years living on the run, with all the others dead... even Servalan at the end. Perhaps it is time. If this message is playing, I trust that Blake will have at least confirmed if I succeeded in my mission. And perhaps, that will be enough. I may never see any of you ever again, and that will certainly be one compensation. For what it’s worth, I hope you survive what is to come. And I trust you Vila, and you, Soolin, and you Tarrant, not to let me down. [Beat] Good luck.

TARRANT: Well. That’s it then. I’m going to remove the cloaking device from Sevener and reinstall it into the Liberator.

SOOLIN: I’ll help you carry it.
TARRANT: Thanks.

KYBEN: Vila ought to get back to the medical unit.
VILA: All right. I’m coming.

BLAKE: Do you need any help?
KYBEN: I’ll manage.

BLAKE: Vila? I hope you feel better soon.
VILA: [Nods] Thanks, Blake.