Sevencyclopaedia - S

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

SHERM

A none-too-intelligent henchman to Bayban who had a mutual rivalry with Kerril, and one of very few people to be killed by Cally.

SHEVRON

False name used by Avon on encountering Tarrant aboard the Liberator. He claimed that Dayna was his wife.

SHIVAN

A member of the Freedom Party, fate unknown. Travis posed as a severely injured Shivan to infiltrate LeGrand's planned coup. From what happened it can be deduced that Blake and Shivan had formerly known each other. Travis" imposture (which according to him was Servalan's idea) began with reports of Shivan being killed in a Federation trap, but surviving and being taken to therapists on LeGrand's planet of Outer Gal. LeGrand welcomed him there. From this it can be inferred that these events were relatively recent (Travis last having been seen on Exbar two episodes previously), indicating that Shivan's dissident activities were contemporary with Blake's. He was probably no minor rebel either, since LeGrand included him in her triumvirate with herself and Blake. Nagu called him "Defender of Truth".

It was never disclosed whether or not Shivan had actually been killed or captured, or if he remained free, but it is perhaps most likely that the reports of his death were true.

*SHOKOV

One of the technicians who elected to remain behind on Star One, later taken over by an alien infiltrator. Lurena shot "Shokov" and saw him revert to his true form, her first real intimation that her colleagues were not quite who - or what - she thought they were.

SHRINKER

Federation interrogator, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of prisoners, and by his own declaration "there wasn't one that died without telling me what I wanted to know". He also claimed to remember every one of his victims. In the chaos after the Intergalactic War, Shrinker changed sides and worked for the rebels, interrogating amongst other people a controller from Central Security. He later returned to the Federation, or at least that faction of it loyal to Servalan. He remembered who Avon was, though they had never previously met. It was Shrinker who informed Avon of the agent Bartolomew, but could supply only Chesku's name as a clue to his or her identity.

Avon went to Earth to execute Shrinker for killing Anna Grant, but it transpired that Shrinker and Anna had never crossed paths. He left Shrinker in a cave deep underground, with a loaded pistol as his only way out. Whether or not he took it is unknown. Tarrant described him as "an animal", and Shrinker did not deny taking pride in his work.

SHUTTLES

In Shadow Blake convinced Largo that he came to Space City on one of four shuttles aboard the Liberator. Since he made the number up it seems likely that there was only one shuttle on the ship, as Largo supposed, or none at all. Largo had shuttles of his own.

In Voice from the Past Blake, LeGrand, Jenna and Vila took a shuttle from the Liberator to Atlay.

In The Harvest of Kairos it took 45 minutes for the shuttle carrying the last load of kairopan from the surface to the unmanned transporter waiting in orbit.

The inside of the shuttle

In Orbit, Egrorian insisted that Avon and Vila travel to Malodar by shuttle, once Scorpio had been taken out of teleport distance of the planet. After the tachyon funnel had been exchanged for Orac, Egrorian planted a speck of neutron star material on the shuttle, intending to ensure that it would fail to reach the escape velocity of Mach 15 and crash into a swampy area beyond the biodome. This would have killed Avon and Vila but left the tachyon funnel intact and recoverable.

SILMARENO

The original name for Horizon, and the only name by which Porah referred to it when talking to Blake on the London. When Ro came to rule in his own right the original name was not restored, Ro explaining "We can't return to the past".

SINGLE FUNCTION ISOMORPHIC RESPONSE

Avon's comment on Liberator's refusal to let himself, Blake or Jenna take one more than one weapon from the gun locker on board. Trying to take a second weapon made it unbearably hot to the touch. The phenomenon was never witnessed again, perhaps because Zen was using the capability to acquire information about the new arrivals, or perhaps because someone deactivated it. Avon described this phenomenon mathematically as a "Single function isomorphic response".

In Redemption all the weapons became too hot to touch, preventing the crew from arming themselves against a boarding party from Space World.

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