Sevencyclopaedia - D

DESTRUCTORS

Mentioned by Escon to Travis, presumably heavy weapons of some sort with a "wide firing spread".

DETECTORS

Sometimes referred to as sensors or scanners. Various detection instruments were carried by Liberator, operating at different ranges. The extra-range detector was said by Cally to put a heavy drain on the energy banks in The Keeper. Other references to detectors are:

• Duel: Travis used the body of UP-Duel as a screen against Liberator's detectors. Jenna also referred to this (not-unlikely) limitation on detectors in Killer.
• Volcano: the approaching Federation cruisers were picked up by the medium range detectors, despite Cally telling Vila to keep an eye on the long range detectors earlier in the episode. This suggests that detectors were by no means reliable (as one might expect). Zen later scanned the surface of Obsidian for signs of a weapon having been fired - this might indicate the sensitivity of on-board detectors, or simply be a case of Avon trying a long shot.
• Dawn of the Gods: visual detectors were stated as having a long-range intensifier. Scans were made at ranges of up to 20 million spacials, far further than anywhere else in the series.

Few details were given as to how the various detector systems worked, but Blake mentioned etheric detector beams in Cygnus Alpha. When the aft scanners were used to scrutinise Wanderer K47, Jenna noted that the "spectro says it's ferrous", indicating one capacity of the Liberator's detector systems. Spectro-analysis was mentioned again in Terminal.

In The Harvest of Kairos Tarrant ordered a parallax scan whilst in orbit over UP-Sopron. This revealed a fourth pursuit ship lying in wait for the Liberator.

The command for a "360 orbital scan" was given on a number of occasions, presumably to scan all around the ship in every direction.

Few references were made to Scorpio's detector systems. Main detectors were reduced to 50% operational capacity after an attack by pursuit ships in Animals.

Other ships had detectors as well, of course, and Liberator was first scanned by detector beams at the end of Cygnus Alpha. The pursuit ships changed course "towards this system". A mutoid on Servalan's star cruiser in Volcano reported detecting surface tremors on Obsidian with long-range sensors.

In Trial Blake intended to relocate the homing beacon he took with him down to the Host using a "hand detector". Other hand-held directional devices were seen in various episodes.

A Hand Detector

As for detector range, the course change of the pursuit ships in Cygnus Alpha suggests that detectors could operate over very long, possibly interstellar distances. In The Web it was mentioned that passing pursuit ships could detect the Liberator when they came within two million spacials, and this same range was cited again in Project Avalon. In Hostage, on the other hand, pursuit ship detector range was stated to be just 900 spacials (with the detector shield non-operational). The Federation ships in this episode had detector shields of their own and were first picked up when just 500 spacials away. Later in the episode, Servalan's approach (presumably at Time Distort 10) in C-26 was detected whilst 15 minutes away from landing on Exbar, and Zen stated that it would be 12 minutes before Liberator was in detector range of C-26 - a significant difference in range!

In Mission to Destiny it took Liberator 16.1 minutes to reach the Ortega at Standard by 4: if there was any indication as to how fast SB-4 might be, it would be possible to calculate a lower limit to maximum detector range. In Dawn of the Gods Tarrant commanded detector sweeps at ranges of up to 20 million spacials. The interceptors in The Harvest of Kairos were detected at a range of 8 million spacials. The Federation freighter headed for Horizon was operating minimum scan and could not detect the Liberator at 150 spacials.

DETECTOR SCREEN

The Federation had installed detector screens around the unnamed city on Helotrix. Avandir talked of Igin being picked up on the detector screen as soon as he entered the city, suggesting that what was referred to was a perimeter surveillance system rather than a screen against detectors.

DETECTOR SHIELD

Avon perfected a detector shield for Liberator soon after Gan's death. He modestly described it as "a highly sophisticated technological breakthrough", and claimed it could keep Liberator off everything but the Federation's close-range visual scanners. It enabled Blake to make a surprise attack on Servalan's HQ, and was still in operation in Killer.

In Trial

It was not working in Hostage, having broken down with some necessary parts unavailable, and the Federation at this time revealed that they too had developed such a device, using it to launch a surprise mass attack on Blake. This seemed to annoy Avon, who said he had been planning to sell them the details of his own version. The detector shield was functioning again by the time Blake journeyed to Star One, as mentioned by Jenna when Travis" ship arrived. No subsequent reference to it was made.

DEVA

Blake's assistant on Gauda Prime, co-ordinating Blake's bounty hunter activities. Although less than happy with Blake's methods, he never swerved in his loyalty. He broke the access codes to an unspecified central computer (Gauda Prime? Federation security?). Deva might thus have been an extremely competent hacker. He was shot by Arlen shortly after Avon killed Blake.

DEVOR

A name called out by Krell soon after boarding the Liberator and encountering the flight deck's defence system. Devor was thus someone important to Krell, probably a relative, but no further details were given.

DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSER

A piece of equipment in Liberator's medical facilities, used by Blake to confirm that Gan's violent behaviour was due to the limiter malfunctioning.

DICE

Dice were seen to be used in the Monopoly-like game played by the crew at the start of the episode.

DIME

A coin of the United States of America, valued at ten cents, or a tenth of a dollar, one of which was part of a ring worn by Jenna on the fourth finger of her left hand from The Way Back to Seek-Locate-Destroy. The coin was established as one of the denominations of the currency of the United States in a Coinage Act passed on 2 April 1792. Section 9 of the Act originally called such coins 'dismes', pronounced 'deem', an English word for tenth, taken from Old French.

The type of dime seen mounted onto the band of Jenna's ring was minted in the period 1916-45, and called the Winged Liberty Head dime. This was because the obverse of the coin, clearly seen in Cygnus Alpha, depicted Liberty wearing a winged cap, intended to symbolise freedom of thought. Because the Roman god Mercury also wore a winged cap, as well as wings on his feet, this type of dime was popularly called the Mercury dime. It was replaced by a new design, issued in 1946 with a portrait of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

See also JEWELLERY.

DIRECTIONAL INDICATOR

Self-explanatory. The directional indicator Avon was given on Terminal was spherical, programmed to check user identity by palm and voice print, and presumably tuned into a continuous, fixed position, homing signal.

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