Sevencyclopaedia - S

*SENTHA

A frontier system, mentioned by Avon as being threatened by the Pacification Programme.

SERUM

See BLOOD SERUM.

SERGEANT

Selson

Rank within the Federation. Selson was a sergeant. Among the rebels on Helotrix, Hask held the rank of sergeant.

SERGEANT-MAJOR

Rank within the Federation. Security Commander in the detection block on UP-Project Avalon was a Sergeant-Major Garbon.

*SERRUS

A frontier system, mentioned by Avon as being threatened by the Pacification Programme. Zukan had apparently made territorial claims on Serrus.

SERVALAN

Some hints of Servalan's past appear from time to time. At the age of 18 she had a love affair with Don Keller. Keller left her for unspecified reasons, after which Servalan pursued power as her primary goal, or as she put it: "Power became my lover - power is like a drug". In Pressure Point she was revealed to be the "bright cadet" who reported Kasabi for teaching treason. Kasabi herself had considered Servalan "unfit for command".

In Seek-Locate-Destroy

She was appointed to the post of Supreme Commander by the President, supported by Councillor Joban. She had clearly been involved with Egrorian at some point after her appointment, and assisted him in his disappearance from the Space Research Institute. She did not, however, appear to reciprocate Egrorian's feelings towards her.

At first she was seen to direct Travis from her headquarters, but soon became personally involved with the acquisition of Orac, promising without authority to pay 100 million credits for the computer. She then hired the services of the psychostrategist Carnell in securing IMIPAK, a plot that almost succeeded. Her interest in capturing Kasabi seemed to go beyond the purely professional, since she said she had waited "a long time" to get her hands on Kasabi and took a personal hand in interrogating her. She also took a personal part in the chase to stop Blake finding the location of Star One, although cannot be definitely ascribed with wanting to find its location for herself (although her visit to Freedom City was not in an official capacity and she went to Goth personally rather than send an assault force to recover Lurgen's brain print). As Star One began to malfunction she launched a coup against the President and the High Council, suggesting she may have considered the problems with Star One to have their origins in the Civil Administration, or to have felt that only the military could lead the way out of the crisis. Her rise to the Presidency during the Intergalactic War may therefore have been a product of circumstance rather than intent.

As President (she was first seen to be properly addressed as "Madam President" by Mori in Volcano, although Durkim had called her that before she formally seized power) she concentrated on capturing the Liberator, trying and failing no less than four times: on the last occasion she finally acquired it minutes before its destruction. She boarded the ship twice, in The Harvest of Kairos and Terminal.

In Volcano

In this period she also exterminated the population of Auron and nearly provoked war between Teal and Vandor. While on Auron she attempted to clone herself, but the clones died when the replication plant was fired upon. Servalan was telepathically aware of their deaths. Exactly how powerful she was is a matter for conjecture: Practor referred to her as "the Supreme Empress", Tarrant mentioned the rapid expansion of her empire in Ultraworld, but Grose said that her "reconstituted Federation" wasn't "worth a light".

At some point between Death-Watch and Traitor she was deposed, and according to Practor reported dead in the rearguard action on Geddon. She later told Tarrant that the Presidency had been stolen in her absence on Terminal. Surviving the destruction of the Liberator through a power surge in the teleport system, at least by her own account, she reappeared as Commissioner Sleer, responsible for the Pacification Programme on a number of worlds. Leitz was the 26th person she came to kill to protect her identity. She later killed Ardus for the same reason, and would probably have killed Reeve as well if Tarrant had not done so first. As Commissioner, she deliberately sought out the crew of Scorpio four times (in Assassin, Gold, Orbit and Warlord), other encounters being coincidental. As well as pursuing her official duties she also found time to embark on her own enterprises, as in Gold. She was last seen leaving Zukan's ship, having planted an explosive device in the airlock, and there is no evidence for her ever being present on Gauda Prime.

Bodycount: She was seen to personally kill Coser and later one of her own troopers with IMIPAK; Kasabi through drugs in interrogating her; a Sarran; Deral and Ginka; Hob; a number of Grose's men on Sardos; Practor, Forbus and Leitz on Helotrix; Ardus and Justin in Animals. She was also responsible for the deaths of Ensor Jr., Maryatt, Ardus, Zukan, Finn, possibly Gerren and probably Keiller. She knocked Avon to the floor in Terminal.

In Moloch

She told Travis in Project Avalon that she had been the subject of two recent assassination attempts, but no mention was made of who might have been responsible.

Captured by: Jenna in Pressure Point, where she was used as a hostage to release Blake, Avon, Vila and Gan from Travis in the Central Control bunker; the Sarrans, from whom she was rescued by Avon in order to find out where Orac was hidden; Sula and her rebels on Earth, where Avon again released her in return for Bartolomew's identity; and Grose on Sardos, where she effectively rescued herself with some help from Vila.

Places visited: UP-Project Avalon, Aristo, UP-Clonemaster, UP-Weapon, Earth (twice), Exbar, UP-Gambit (where she stayed at room 100 at the terminal), Goth, Sarran, Chenga, Obsidian, Auron, Sardos, UP-Death-Watch, Terminal, Helotrix, Bucol-2, Domo, Mecron II, Virn, Beta-5 and Malodar.

In Weapon

In Trial

She met various members of the crew on the following occasions: In Project Avalon she met Blake for the first time. On Aristo she met him again, and Cally, Avon and Vila for the first time. In Weapon she met Blake and Avon, and Gan for the first time, and in Pressure Point Jenna for the first time, and Blake, Avon, Vila and Gan again. On Goth she met Vila and Jenna again, but was gone by the time Blake arrived.

On Sarran she spoke to Avon for the first time (and kissed him into the bargain) and also earned Dayna's undying hatred by killing Hal Mellanby. In Powerplay she recognised Cally on the hospital ship and Vila on Chenga. In The Harvest of Kairos she boarded the Liberator and met all of the crew. On Auron she held Avon, Cally and Tarrant prisoner, and tried to negotiate with Vila. In Rumours of Death she met Avon, Cally and Tarrant whilst held prisoner by Sula's rebels. On Sardos she briefly teamed up with Vila. In Death-Watch she was confronted by Dayna, who reminded her of Hal Mellanby's death (Servalan appeared to have forgotten), and Avon again. In Terminal she met all of the crew again, though only very briefly in Vila's case.

In Terminal

She was recognised on Helotrix by Dayna and Tarrant, and in Animals captured Dayna, and used her to capture Justin. On Domo she purchased Avon for 2,000 vems, and narrowly missed being shot by Dayna. In Sand she was stranded on Virn with Tarrant for some hours. Finally, she met Avon, Tarrant, Dayna and - for the first and only time - Soolin on Beta-5 in Gold.

In all, she came face-to-face with Avon on 11 occasions, Dayna on 8, Vila and Tarrant on 7, Cally on 5, Blake on 3, Jenna and Gan twice, and Soolin only once.

She handled light weapons with apparent ease and familiarity, and may thus have had some training in their use. In Orbit she flew her L-type cruiser unaccompanied to Malodar, suggesting some ability as a pilot. It seems likely that she also piloted a ship from Sardos as she had three ships, but only two pilots.

Carnell described her as "the sexiest officer I have ever known", a rare compliment. Kasabi described her as "a credit to your background - spoilt, idle, vicious", and added "greedy", "sick" and "degenerate" before she died. She had also, when a Federation political officer, listed Servalan as "unfit for command". Sula called her "a tasteless megalomaniac" and alluded to her as "a grotesque anachronism". Krantor described her as "perfidious as a snake". Rontane said that "any attempt to embarrass her personally is an exercise in total futility", and Bercol agreed, adding "she has all the sensitive delicacy of a plasma bolt". Avon later likened her to a "greedy gangster".

For all her ruthless ambition and self-interested endeavours, she exhibited a firm belief in order and a horror of moral decadence, and had long sought a way to clean up Freedom City. By contrast, however, albeit much later as Commissioner Sleer, she expressed admiration for slave-dealer Verlis" work, saying that she was "obviously fulfilling a deeply felt need". In this case, as so often, it is difficult to gauge her sincerity in what she said.

See also SLEER

SESKA

"Not a tribe", according to Pella, the Seska may have been native to Xenon, but Pella did mention them coming to the planet because it was not unlike Earth. The Seska were all women, with telekinetic powers boosted by dynamon crystals. Removing the collar containing the crystal required specialised surgery, suggesting a direct link with the neural system of the wearer. Orac referred to the crystal as "ingrafted".

War between the Seska and the Hommiks had been waged for some time prior to the crew's arrival on Xenon. Records from the time of Maravik (predecessor of Gunn-Sar) include references to a nucleic burster being thrown in the procreation vault, contaminating the seminal stocks held there. Reports viewed by Dayna and Tarrant of the last battle mentioned 18 dead and 7 taken, leaving 94 remaining Seska including 52 infants.

The Seska described themselves as experts in tele-ergonomics and energy transference. They assisted Dorian in developing what he thought was a teleport system, but was in fact a tele-ergotron. Kate said that the Seska had worked on developing a teleport "for generations".

They were hunted by the Hommiks to "give them sons", and did their best to find and save daughters left exposed on the hillsides. A week prior to the crew's arrival there were five Seska, but this had dwindled to just three by the time Avon met them: Pella, Kate and Luxia. Luxia was captured and operated on by Nina, a former Seska, and Kate was killed by Pella who, last of the Seska by a matter of minutes, was shot dead by Avon as she tried to take control of Scorpio.

SHAD

Captain of the kairopan shuttle with command over at least seven guards. One was left behind on Kairos, four killed by Avon and two more boarded the Liberator with Shad. Shad's name was recognised by Jarvik, and the two had apparently worked together at some point. Shad addressed Jarvik as "Sir". He managed to gain control of the Liberator and invited Servalan aboard, but later left with her when Tarrant threatened the ship with a landing module.

SHADOW

Addictive drug, extracted from the xerophyte Alpha 7/5 (moon disc) on Zonda and peddled by the Terra Nostra. The President of the Federation described shadow as "the greatest single threat to the welfare of mankind", according to Avon, and possession carried a mandatory death penalty, despite the fact that the moon disc plantations were protected by the President's personal security force.

Shadow

Shadow in the globe, with Largo and his enforcer

Largo laced the shadow he supplied with a substance capable of controlled particle emission, allowing Largo to keep a track of any "dream heads" he supplied. Addiction resulted in death, either through withdrawal or continued intake. Two shadow users were shown: Hanna, and Petie (who died of taking the stuff). Largo also wrongfully believed Hanna's brother, Bek, to be a user.

SHAFT COVER

A shaft cover on the artificial planet Terminal protected the entrance to an underground base. It had an electrostatic lock which needed a sonal key. It opened automatically when Avon approached it, suggesting that it was either triggered by the directional indicator or else that Avon's approach was still being monitored by Reeval and Toron and that they (or someone else) triggered the cover to open. See also locks and Sonal key

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