Narcotic gas, used by Sara to put the crew of the Ortega to sleep while she stole the neutrotope. Rafford had to be killed because he had switched off the air conditioning on the flight deck (contrary to flight procedure). Cally succumbed to its effects, and Blake nearly did too, but managed to clear the air by shutting off the circulation flow and removing the gas canister. Blake described the smell of sono vapour as sickly sweet.
Sona gas, presumably the same thing, was used by Veron to knock out Blake, Avon, Vila and Gan in the church cellar where they found her on Earth. She then took their teleport bracelets (but not their weapons) before locking the door. Blake et al succumbed very quickly, so perhaps the gas Veron used was an improved formula or more concentrated.
Scant information was given about Soolin's background. Her family were among the early settlers on Gauda Prime, but murdered when they refused to make way for the mining corporations that later moved in. By this time Gauda Prime was an open planet, so the killings were not technically illegal. Soolin told Zeeona that her father was murdered when she was eight years old, and the rest of her family presumably died at the same time. How Soolin came to survive was not mentioned. She later trained as a gunslinger under one of the men responsible, describing him in Rescue as "the second best" since she subsequently killed him and the rest of those who had murdered her relatives.
She first appeared as Dorian's companion on Xenon, but he clearly felt little for her, as he included her as Cally's replacement in his projected gestalt. She then vanished for up to 48 hours, but came back soon after Avon had made the teleport system workable. She claimed to give no allegiance to the rest of the crew but to "sell my skill". She remained with the crew until apparently dying on her home planet of Gauda Prime.
Known relatives: Only her father was specifically mentioned, in Warlord, but other relatives were alluded to.
Bodycount: Soolin shot four space rats on Caspar, a mutoid on Bucol-2, 3 guards on Zerok, another on the Space Princess, 5 or 6 troopers on Betafarl (one with a dagger-like energy weapon, four with a heavy rifle of some sort), a technician in Blake's base on Gauda Prime and a Federation trooper soon afterwards. She is unique among the crew in averaging more than one kill per episode she appeared in. Her skill was also useful in overcoming one of the game-like defence systems on Belkov's Orbiter ship, where a player had to outshoot her/himself.
Captured by: Dorian, who planned to use her in place of Cally as a component of his gestalt creature. She avoided capture on Betafarl by claiming to be Zukan's daughter.
Planets visited: She was seen to set foot on Xenon, Caspar, Bucol-2, Zerok, Betafarl and Gauda Prime. As far as is known, she is unique amongst the crew in never having visited Earth. It was never made clear whether her family settled on Gauda Prime before or after she was born.
Amongst her more notable achievements were her decoying Muller's android with Orac, realising that Piri was in fact Cancer, and suggesting the use of rain to neutralise the sand on Virn. Together with Tarrant she rescued Avon from Piri/Cancer, and alone rescued him again on Betafarl when he had been captured by Federation troopers.
Although she could and frequently did kill without any sign of compunction, there were indications that she did so within a strict personal code of conduct. She strongly disapproved of Keiller killing Slaten on the basis that the doctor was unarmed. She also seemed to be quick to form an opinion of people, rapidly growing tired of Piri, having little time for Zukan, but warming to Zeeona straight away and helping her slip back to Xenon Base to be with Tarrant.
It is unrecorded whether Soolin was her first name, surname, only name or a pseudonym.
Frontier world, one of those cited by Durkim as evidence of Star One's malfunction. Climate control had broken down, with temperatures rising by 20° (presumably Celsius?) with no rainfall for 60 days.
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An alien life form, silicon-based, that lived permanently on the dark side of
an unnamed planet. The planet was presumably tidally locked in its orbit or
something equivalent to have a permanent dark side. Sopron was collected by
Avon and Vila, who wore breathing apparatus but no pressure suits, so the
planet presumably had tolerable atmospheric pressure. Vila described the
surface as cold, but presumably not cold enough to warrant wearing a thermal
suit.
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 The Planet Sopron came from | Sopron looked like little more than a piece of rock, but appearance was obviously none too important on the dark side of a planet. The unique ability of Sopron was its defensive ability to project an image of itself as slightly more threatening than a potential adversary. Zen described it as a capacity charged brain, Orac as a highly sophisticated computer, and Cally had visions of her parents (suggesting Sopron functioned telepathically). Avon devised a computer analogue of Sopron in the abandoned landing module on Kairos, which led to Zen identifying the craft as a high technology space cruiser, with herculanium skin, a speed of Standard by 12.203 and better armament than Liberator, persuading Servalan to abandon the ship and hand control back over to the crew. |
Whilst waiting for Travis, Servalan was told that the Space Administrators were waiting for her in the conference hall. She ordered the conference cancelled.
Less than a hundred troops of the Space Assault Force constituted the Federation garrison on Albian, under the command of Space Major Provine. Avon described them as "crack troops".
| Tarrant told Avon that he had trained as a Federation Space Captain. Quite how this rank differs from an ordinary captain was not explained. As a Space Captain, Tarrant was apparently involved in flying space craft, and when he deserted he stole a pursuit ship, at least according to the Ultra. Vila claimed to have bought his "Grade-4 Ignorant" status to avoid any chance of becoming a Space Captain. |  |
Servalan told Joban that no spacecasts of Blake or Travis had been made, even though knowledge of their activities was becoming widespread. Spacecasts were probably interstellar broadcasts intended for the general public.
Small one-seater spacecraft. Tarrant referred to them being a teenagers" craze "two centuries back", whereupon the Federation outlawed them. The space rats on Caspar had at least two space choppers, fitted with Plaxton's photonic drive enabling them to reach high speeds. Orac stated that the speed of the chopper attacking a Federation patrol near the Altern system was Standard by 12.6, but Atlan on Caspar referred to TD (ie: Time Distort) 12. The improved Mark II version of the drive was too large to be fitted into a space chopper. Dayna and Vila found two space choppers in the space rats hideout on Caspar, though there may well have been more.
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Space station, not seen in orbit around any world, but according to Vila
"also known as the Satellite of Sin" so it may have been close to an unnamed
planet. That it was ran by the Terra Nostra was an open secret, according to
Blake. He went there to buy the aid of the Nostra, and was captured by
Largo. Visiting Space City was one of Vila's "all-time great ambitions", and
he also teleported over, with Orac's help. He reported back to Cally saying
"you should see the sights I'm seeing. Then again maybe you shouldn't".
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Space City sent a gunship against Liberator: it was destroyed when
Cally opened fire. The station was mentioned again in Gambit where Avon, talking of Freedom City, said "Space City pales in comparison". Space City also appeared on the "Galactic Monopoly" board: in Dawn of the Gods Dayna had a hotel on Space City, charging 5,000 credits a night. |