In Cygnus Alpha
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Gan was first seen unstrapping himself from his seat after the London
left Earth. He helped Vila in his attempts to distract the guards while
Blake gained access to the ship's service tunnels, and persuaded the guard to
open the exit door from the prisoners" quarters. He was the first of the
prisoners ferried on the London to walk out onto the surface of Cygnus
Alpha, which seemed to impress Kara. He played the part of the prisoner
chosen by Vargas" followers as a sacrifice in Blake's escape attempt. He was
first heard to be addressed by his full name by Zen in Time Squad.
| In Cygnus Alpha |
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Very few details of Gan's past were revealed. In Time Squad he told
Jenna that he had killed the security guard who had killed his "woman" and
was subsequently accused of murder: he seemed to resent this on the basis
that the guard had been armed whilst he himself had not. He later revealed
that he had been fitted with a limiter implant to prevent him killing. He
could threaten easily enough, however, as he showed whilst on the
London, and could handle a weapon with no problems. In Time
Squad he tried, but failed, to overcome the restraints imposed by the
limiter as one of the reawakened guardians attacked Jenna. All that is known
about the fitting of the limiter was that it occurred before he boarded the
London but presumably after his killing the guard. This killing was
probably, but may not have been, the reason why he was sentenced to Cygnus
Alpha.
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Known relatives: None, except for his unnamed partner. Bodycount: Unique amongst the crew, Gan never killed anyone, although he tried to overcome the limiter as noted above.
|  In Breakdown |
 In Breakdown |
Significant brawls: In hand-to-hand fighting he acquitted himself well,
sometimes against considerable odds. He forced a guard on the London
to open the door of the prison compartment, and later dealt with two more
guards single-handed; he threw down Vargas and Laran on Cygnus Alpha, but
might have been killed but for a warning from Kara; the android Avalon,
however, proved more than a match for his strength; he took on three
Scavengers in Deliverance, and three Space World guards in
Redemption. When his limiter malfunctioned in Breakdown he
attacked Jenna and needed to be restrained by Blake and Avon together. Later
in the episode he attacked Cally, then Avon.
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Places visited: Cygnus Alpha, Centero, UP-Duel (where he was the first to see Sinofar and Giroc), Cephlon, Space World, Space City, UP-Weapon, Horizon and Earth - a total of just 9 planets/space stations.
Significant injuries: He was injured by the programmed guardians in Time Squad, burnt his hand trying to repair the Liberator in Redemption, treated with the Alta's hand-held pain-inflicting device later in the episode, and rendered unconscious in Horizon, requiring two darts to knock him out. He was also the first person seen to use the first aid kit on the flight deck, treating Jenna after she was injured by one of the programmed guardians.
His immense strength came in useful in Cygnus Alpha, holding the church door shut against Vargas" followers as he, Blake and Vila tried to escape; in Seek-Locate-Destroy, when he ripped the cypher machine free of its housing; in subduing the android Avalon in Project Avalon (with the aid of Blake, Jenna and Vila); in escaping from the church cellar in Pressure Point, and opening the door to Control in the same episode.
In his own words, Gan followed Blake because "I need people I can rely on" (Time Squad), and his loyalty, whilst strong, was not unswerving: he was not prepared to die for Blake's cause, and with the others only agreed to go ahead with the attack on Control so long as there was a chance of success. He was less than happy with Blake's plan to enlist the help of the Terra Nostra, objecting on moral grounds. On two different occasions he was seen to place instant but misguided trust in young women, in Project Avalon and Pressure Point. In Horizon he was seen to have difficulties learning how to operate the teleport, and largely blamed himself, but he was not entirely without technical expertise. He was the most tolerant of Vila out of the rest of the crew, but still found him irritating at times.
 In Weapon |
His last words, as he held up a collapsing doorway in the bunker where
Control was supposedly housed, were: "I'm not worth dying for." Vila, in
Trial, described him as "straightforward".
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The public address system in the dome city on Earth was heard to refer to a shipment of protein culture arriving from Ganymede.
Ganymede is the largest of Jupiter's moons, about midway between Mercury and Mars in size. About half the surface consists of cratered rock, the rest relatively smooth. Much remains to be discovered about this satellite, but with a surface gravity probably not much less than half that of Earth, it could easily support a sealed colony. More likely the protein culture was shipped from a space station in orbit of Ganymede. That would be less expensive to construct than a sealed colony.
Sergeant-Major, mentioned by a trooper as the Security Commander of the detention block on UP-Project Avalon.
Vila dreamed of using his share of the kairopan harvest to retire "to the lakeside of Gardenos, and be waited on by those cute, little -", at which point he was thankfully interrupted. He later referred to three moons circling the planet. His suggestion that he and Cally settle down there and start a family was probably not terribly serious.
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A British order of knighthood, part of whose insignia Krantor allegedly
wore, as part of the costume allegedly patterned upon one worn by the
Prince Regent. He wore two items, the first being a silverish,
eight-pointed brooch, set with white stones, with a cross of red stones
covering a hole in its centre, on his left breast; the second was a white
riband worn over his right shoulder, and under his left arm, so that the
crossed ends rested on his left hip.
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The Most Noble Order of the Garter, to give the Order its full name, was
founded by King Edward III of England on 23 April 1349. It was intended to
be an imitation of the society of King Arthur's Round Table, an
international company of heroic knights which would increase its founder's
personal prestige. Edward's motives also included a desire to cement
relations with the knights of his kingdom and to reward loyal service.
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The Order was placed under the patronage of St. George; and 23 April, St. George's Day, is the Day of the Order. Its motto is _Honi soit qui mal y pense_ (Dishonoured be he who thinks evil of it). The banners and coat of arms of the Knights are hung in the Chapel of the Order, St. George's Chapel, at Windsor.
The Order gets its name from the most distinctive part of its insignia: the dark-blue velvet Garters, edged with gold and with the Order's motto in gold, worn by Knights of the Order on the left leg below the knee, and by Ladies on the left arm above the elbow.
Why Edward chose a garter is not known. The story that he picked up a garter that had been dropped by a lady of his court, and when some of those present laughed, said that he would hold it in the highest honour, is probably a scurrilous invention of the French court. A more plausible theory claims that the garter was at the time a part of male dress that had gone out of fashion; so Edward adopted it to give the Order a distinctive appearance. Also, the garter bore a strong resemblance to the device of the contemporary Castilian Order of the Band.
The two items Krantor wore are incorrect. The brooch is supposed to be the Star of the Order; yet the latter, while eight-pointed, is of chipped silver, not set with any stones; and it has a white enamelled medallion bearing the cross of St. George in red enamel and surrounded by a dark-blue enemelled Garter, edged with gold bearing the motto in gold letters.
The riband is, firstly, the wrong colour, and should be Saxon blue; secondly, it is worn without the Lesser George, which is of gold, consisting of St. George slaying the Dragon, surrounded by an oval band bearing the motto; and thirdly, it is worn the wrong way around. The riband of the Order of the Garter is supposed to be worn over the left shoulder and under the right arm, so that the Lesser George rests on the right hip.
Obviously, Krantor's designer got the Order's insignia wrong; and one would hope for his sake that Krantor never discovered this error.
See also JEWELLERY, PRINCE REGENT.
Also these links about the order:
Heraldic Sculptor,
Churchill Society,
mrffriends.
Sarkoff's antique collection included a 20th Century gas mask. The helmets of Federation troops had a cover over the face and a fitting which resembled a gas mask filter, although the exact purpose is conjectural.
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Originally settled as an agricultural world, with settlers sent there to grow
crops and timber, Gauda Prime was subsequently found to have rich mineral
resources. The world was declared an Open Planet to speed up exploitation of
these newly-discovered resources, and the farmers who refused to make way for
the miners were eliminated. Soolin's family was one such example. As
Tarrant observed, the planet "must have been a draw for every crook and
killer in the quadrant".
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At some time after the Intergalactic War, Blake established his new headquarters on Gauda Prime, and if what he told Tarrant is to be believed he brought Jenna with him. It is unclear whether he arrived as a bounty hunter, or exploited the opportunities offered by this role when they arose. The planet was later visited by the crew of Scorpio, all of whom apparently died there along with Blake. Scorpio itself was severely damaged in a crash landing. A blockade was in force around the planet, presumably under the control of whatever authorities had applied for Federation membership, and according to Blake this same blockade was responsible for Jenna's death.
Although the open planet designation had been introduced to displace farmers, timber production was still in evidence over large areas of the planet, Klyn noting that Scorpio had crashed in Plantation-5.
See also OPEN PLANET
Practor referred to Servalan as having been killed in the rear-guard action at Geddon, with no further details. Geddon may or may not have been a planet.
| A genetically engineered servant of the Lost, her aging processes being halted once she had grown to maturity. Like her "brother" Novara, she was under the constant control of Saymon's combined mental powers. She tortured Avon with a spear-like energy weapon, and "died" when the Decimas destroyed the power systems in the complex on UP-The Web. |  |
An instrument used to detect and measure the level of radioactivity, named after the physicist Hans Geiger (1882-1945 AD). Cally used a Geiger Counter, or an instrument performing its function, to establish that four of the Liberator's crew had 'absorbed heavy doses of radiation', the result of staying down too long on the surface of Cephlon.