Sevencyclopaedia - L

LANDING BEAM

(A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA)

As the London descended to the surface of Cygnus Alpha, Leylan noted that "landing beam alignment" was confirmed. Presumably a fitting of most if not all surface landing installations.

LANDING MODULE

(C-5: THE HARVEST OF KAIROS)

Described by Tarrant as "proto-space age", the landing module on Kairos was apparently left behind by early pioneers from Earth. Avon developed a computer analogue of Sopron which, when switched into the module's control systems, deceived Zen into seeing the craft as an advanced battle cruiser, capable of Standard by 12.203, with herculanium skin and armament slightly better than that of the Liberator. Jarvik was not fooled when Tarrant demanded that the Liberator be handed back to the crew, but Servalan accepted Zen's hypothesis that what she was looking at was a holographic projection. She then fled with Captain Shad and his two guards.


Inside the module
The "landing module" looked astonishingly like a lunar module of the US Apollo missions, although the landing legs which would normally have been left behind on the surface went into space along with the rest of the module.

LARAN

(A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA)

Follower of Vargas on Cygnus Alpha, and the first inhabitant of the planet Blake met when testing the teleport. Laran ordered Blake killed and almost succeeded. He voiced aspirations to the priesthood. He handed Vargas the knife with which Gan was to be sacrificed, and was soon afterwards knocked down and possibly killed by Gan.

LARGO

(B-2: SHADOW)

Important member of the Terra Nostra, position unspecified, but possibly in charge of Terra Nostra affairs on Space City. He had formerly tried to persuade Jenna to run a cargo of shadow to Earth from Callisto, not telling her what she would be carrying or who he was working with.


Largo with his enforcer
He employed Bek and Hanna for unspecified purposes, and held them for execution after they tried to escape from him. In dealing with Blake he denied all knowledge of the Terra Nostra, citing a friend in Federation security who "knew" the organisation was just a myth. He held Blake and Jenna prisoner whilst Gan and Avon were scheduled for execution, and described Blake's negotiations as the work of "amateurs", adding: "A pro keeps it simple". When Blake escaped, Largo persuaded the Chairman to loan him a battle cruiser to pursue Liberator, knowing that the shadow he supplied contained a substance enabling him to track the ship. He was killed by his own enforcer, who then acquired Largo's assets with the consent of the Chairman.

LASER CANNON

(C-6: CITY AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD)

Bayban possessed a tripod-mounted laser cannon, and used it in a last desperate attempt to open the vault door after Norl's people had passed through to their new world. The resulting energy feedback and heat reflection blew up the entire city, and presumably Bayban with it. Both Avon and Cally tried to dissuade Bayban from using it in a confined space, Cally describing it as "an open ground weapon".

LASER KNIFE

(A-7: MISSION TO DESTINY)

Cutting tool, mentioned by Avon as one of two possible instruments Sara would have had to use to cut through a power line in the Ortega's filtration plant. The other alternative was an insulated saw.

LASER LANCE

(B-9: COUNTDOWN and others)

A cutting tool, suggested by Del Grant as a fast means of accessing the detonator of the solium radiation device on Albian. Avon rejected the idea as "too risky on this kind of material." Earlier a "high temperature lance" had been used to get to the device itself, and this may well have been a laser device.

A similar but larger tool, described by Vila simply as a "lance", was used on the door to Scorpio's silo on Xenon base in Power. Avon and Grant wore visors on Albian when using a lance, but Vila either did not need to or (less likely) cared little for safety precautions.

LASER PROBE

(C-8: RUMOURS OF DEATH)

"Stot" was seen to use a laser probe on Star One, rectifying a supposed fault in a control circuit Lurena had recently checked.

Shrinker also used a laser probe, but as a torture instrument, threatening to burn out Avon's eyes with one, although this just might not have been its intended function. It was a small device, about the size of a fountain pen.

LASER PROJECTION

(A-4: TIME SQUAD)

Part of the manual flight guidance system on Liberator, manned by Gan as the vessel containing the programmed guardians was brought aboard. Manual pick-up was necessary since Zen refused to handle the manoeuvre and the teleport console had malfunctioned. Laser projection controls appeared to be placed in what was Vila's normal console position.

LASER RIFLE

(D-8: GAMES) (Written by Murray Smith)

A sidearm, a remote-controlled version of which was successfully used by Belkov to persuade the Mecronian high priests that their gods had sent him to mine the Feldon crystals on Mecron Two. This he did by using the rifle to kill six of them who challenged his claim to be the only person able to wear a necklace of the crystals. This exploited the death of a chief during an electrical storm while wearing such a necklace, interpreted as a sign of divine wrath.

LASER SCAN

(C-11: MOLOCH)

Avon requested a laser scan from Zen of Sardos after Liberator narrowly avoided crashing into the meteoroid. The results, such as they were, were displayed on the main screen.

LASER TRANSFER LINKAGE

(A-7: MISSION TO DESTINY)

Required by Avon when repairing the flight systems of the Ortega. No worthwhile explanation given. Cally went to the ship's stores in search of some linkage, and found Dortmunn's body instead.

LAUNCH AND FLIGHT SIMULATOR (LFS)

(D-8: GAMES)

Belkov had one of these in the game sequence inside his orbiter craft, and Tarrant recognised it instantly, having trained on them. He said of the LFS that "these things chuck the lot at you" and that "flying the real thing's nothing after one of these". Tarrant's "craft" suffered damage to the retrostabilisers whilst using Belkov's LFS, and he opted to "take up orbit" rather than "land": this still earned enough points to continue with the game sequence.

LAUNCH GRID

(B-2: SHADOW)

Spaceship docking system on Space City, and presumably elsewhere. Bek told Hanna that the crew on Launch Grid 6 were for hire, and he intended to buy an escape route from Space City for himself, Hanna and Petie from them.

LAUREN

(C-1: AFTERMATH)

A native of Sarran, but adopted as a child by Hal Mellanby and considered a sister by Dayna. Keeping watch over the entrance to Hal's refuge at dusk, she was captured by Chel and killed. Avon and Dayna later found her body; she had apparently been tortured, or mutilated after death.

LAWYERS

(various episodes) By Murray Smith

The only identifiable lawyers - those who acted in a manner familiar to those on Earth in the late twentieth century AD - were three Federation ones: two civil, Alta Morag and Tel Varon, representing the prosecution and the defence in Blake's trial (The Way Back); and one military, Major Thania, defending Travis (Trial).

The title of these three may have been 'advocate', as Varon was described as such by the arbiter in Blake's trial. Morag and Varon were similarly dressed when in court: a tunic with a V-shaped neckline, and a floor length cloak, all in burgundy, though Varon wore a lighter shade of that colour. In both cases, the tunic's neckline was trimmed with a dark purple stripe, bordered at both edges with a lighter shade of that colour, which met a similarly-coloured horizontal stripe across the front, at the same level as one across the back.

From the behaviour of these lawyers, their possible title, and the dress of the civil lawyers, it is reasonable to assume that a legal profession existed in the Terran Federation. The difference in the shades of burgundy worn by Morag and Varon may indicate a form of grading within that profession. Nothing was said regarding the education and training provided by that profession, and whether it varied depending on a person's desire to become a civil or military lawyer.

Orac was not a lawyer, although claimed by Avon to be his and Tarrant's 'legal advisor' to explain their knowledge of the Teal-Vandor Convention to Max. This claim reasonably implied that lawyers and legal professions also existed on non-Federation worlds.

It may be assumed that these various legal professions, including the Federation's, had codes of conduct for their members. Such codes, if like those of legal professions in the late twentieth century, presumably included: the duty of a lawyer to uphold a client's interests regardless of his own or the consequences to himself or another person; the duty to defend any accused person on whose behalf he has been instructed regardless of his belief or opinion regarding his guilt or innocence; the duty not to knowingly deceive or mislead the court; and the conducting, subject to the code, of a case by the lawyer in such a manner as in his discretion he feels will be most to the advantage of his client.

While Varon kept to these presumed principles in his representation of Blake, carrying out the latter's wish to offer no defence to the charges, Morag and Thania did not, behaving in a way that in the late twentieth century would have been regarded as professional misconduct. Morag's misconduct can be judged by the standards of that period by looking at the judgement in an English case, _Dallison v Caffrey_ [1964] 2 AER, 610 at 618, when Lord Denning MR held that:

The duty of a prosecuting counsel or solicitor, as I have always understood it, is this: if he knows of a credible witness who can speak to material facts which tend to show the prisoner to be innocent, he must either call that witness himself or make his statement available to the defence. It would be highly reprehensible to conceal from the court the evidence which such a witness can give. If the prosecuting counsel or solicitor knows, not of a credible witness, but a witness whom he does not accept as credible, he should tell the defence about him so that they can call him if they wish.

Thania's misconduct was obvious, colluding with Servalan to ensure that there was 'no trouble'.

LAZERON DESTROYER

(A-6: SEEK-LOCATE-DESTROY ff)

A powerful sidearm installed in the forefinger of Travis" left hand (the artificial one, naturally!). Travis described it as "more powerful than any sidearm". In Seek-Locate-Destroy it appeared to require a charging-up period before firing, although in later episodes it was used spontaneously without trouble. In Duel it was unable to function, as were all other weapons under the influence of Sinofar. In Orac, a shot from Avon destroyed the hand, but the lazeron destroyer was still fitted to the replacement. The trigger circuit was removed at the time of Travis" court-martial: Travis demanded its return from Servalan at gunpoint. In Hostage, Travis adjusted the yellow crystal on the ring of the lazeron finger, and also operated an unseen control in his palm. This may have been to activate the weapon, or perhaps indicated a bolt intensity modulator or similar function. In Gambit the arm was disconnected by Jarriere, leaving the weapon unusable (Travis used a Federation-issue pistol during this period) but reconnected by Docholli. Uses of the lazeron destroyer were as follows:


After Avon shot it
  • Seek-Locate-Destroy: one shot aimed at Blake, but missed due to Cally's warning shout.
  • Orac: A Phibian killed, and the door to Ensor's living quarters blasted down. Two shots aimed at Blake missed, and this was probably intentional in the case of the second. Avon destroyed the hand before a lethal shot could be fired.
  • Weapon: a clone of Blake was shot dead.

LECTOR

(C-11: MOLOCH)

Trooper of the Federation's Fifth Legion that landed on Sardos during the Intergalactic War. Although described as a "unit commander" he was subordinate to Section Leader Grose. He killed Servalan's mutoid aide, but was killed himself by Tarrant, shortly after torturing Avon.

LEEDENBRANK

(D-3: TRAITOR)

Before he joined the freedom fighters on Helotrix, Igin was director of geological studies at Leedenbrank. This suggests that Leedenbrank was a university or similar. However, Colonel Quute cited the destruction of Leedenbrank "along with 18,000 defenders". That implies either a very big campus or that Leedenbrank was the name of a university town. The latter seems more likely.

LEEHARN

(A-11: BOUNTY)

Auron ambassador, sent to Lindor to forge an alliance against the Federation. He met President Sarkoff during his last years of office, and Sarkoff told Cally that he also wanted this alliance, but nothing ever came of their meeting. Cally at least knew of Leeharn, and spoke of him as though they had met personally. As Sarkoff left the Liberator, Cally told him to inform Leeharn, should they ever meet, that he was free to return to Auron. This contradicts to some extent Auron's isolationist stance, and might indicate shifts in policy amongst the planet's government.

LEE, TANITH

(D-9: SAND) By Murray Smith

Author of the United Kingdom, Earth, of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries AD. Her prolific output mostly included childrens' books, science fiction, fantasy, and horror; but, out of all her works, Don Keller found an untitled poem to be most appropriate to his situation on Virn, and quoted it in Sand.

See POETRY.

Renor LEESAL

(A-1: THE WAY BACK)

Along with Carl Deca and Payter Fen, one of three children treated to believe he (or possibly she) had been assaulted by Blake. Leesal's date of birth was given as 42.1.5 and was thus probably the oldest of the three (a little over ten years old). S/he was a patient of Dr A.J. Globbs and attended school ZL2 Level 716.

LEETH

(B-13: STAR ONE)

One of the technicians who elected to remain on Star One for the rest of their natural lives. Later replaced by an alien. The substitute Leeth was seen leading a search for Lurena on the surface of Star One's planet.

LEGION

- see TROOPERS.

LEGRAND

(B-10: VOICE FROM THE PAST)

Governor of Outer Gal, described by Avon as "the only sane one amongst them" and renowned for her attention to detail. She harboured Travis, believing him to be Shivan, and worked with Ven Glynd after his defection in compiling evidence that would discredit the senior echelons of the Federation (she claimed to have been working with him "for years"). She boarded the Liberator on its way to Atlay, and insisted that Blake take a position of seniority over her, on the basis that "he who leads must be from Earth" (implying she was not born on Earth?). Her plot was known to Servalan, and she died on Atlay, killed by a shot from one of Servalan's troopers. She had her own security forces, who were heard battling with Servalan's troops but presumably to no avail.

LEITZ

(D-3: TRAITOR)

Federation officer, working for Commissioner Sleer on Helotrix. He was appointed to President-elect Practor's personal staff, and also worked as a double agent, winning the confidence of rebel units including Hunda's 4th column. He also claimed responsibility for the destruction of the rebels" 2nd column. He convinced Dayna and Tarrant of his defection by directing them to the pylene-50 production plant, but failed to tell them of all the security measures in force there. Forbus described Leitz as "almost as vile a sadist as Sleer", revealing his true nature to Tarrant and Dayna. Leitz escaped Hunda's attack on the magnetrix terminal, but learnt that Sleer was in fact Servalan. He told her this just after she killed Forbus, and tried to use this information to be given the Presidency of Helotrix. Instead he became the 26th person to die for knowing her true identity.

LEVETT

(A-7: MISSION TO DESTINY)

Crew-woman of the Ortega. She joined Dr Kendall, Pasco, Sonheim and Grovane in teleporting to Liberator to complete her journey home. Levett was one those who supported giving Blake the neutrotope to take to Destiny.

LEYLAN

(A-2: SPACE FALL / A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA)

Commander of the London on the voyage to Cygnus Alpha. After failing to talk Blake out of the computer room, he gave Raiker permission to take "any measures necessary" to force Blake's surrender. He remonstrated with Dainer for shooting an unarmed prisoner, and told Raiker he exceeded his authority in doing the same. He additionally pledged to make a full report concerning events on the voyage (although the report transmitted shortly before reaching Cygnus Alpha omitted many details).
He also agreed to Raiker's plan to send Blake, Avon and Jenna to the drifting Liberator after the disappearance of three of his crewmen. He later told Artix that he (Artix) could live down his part in events on the voyage on the grounds that he was young, implying that Leylan's own prospects were less rosy, and memory of the events on the voyage appeared to haunt him as he left Cygnus Alpha on the journey back to Earth.

LIBERATOR

(38 episodes from A-2: SPACE FALL)

Described by Tarrant as "the most powerful fighting ship in the galaxy", Liberator was a vessel of unknown origin found drifting parallel to the London after a battle between unknown protagonists. Leylan reckoned that the battle involved "two fleets, maybe more", and so the Liberator might not have been fighting alone, although this was never made clear.
Initial boarding was made by Wallace and Teague, who broke contact without explanation, as did a third man, Krell, sent afterwards to investigate. Blake, Avon and Jenna were then sent across, and Blake, through knowledge of his altered memories, was able to deactivate a defensive globe that lured intruders with an irresistible image plucked from their minds. Jenna then took the ship away, albeit very tentatively, whilst Blake closed the airlock, being injured by Raiker in the process.

First impressions of the ship were of a technology that Avon described as "not just advanced" and Blake as "conceptually alien", although Avon later (in The Web) described it to Gan as "a little more advanced" than what he was used to: this may have been ironic understatement on his part. The armoury, when found, initially allowed each person to take only one weapon each (what Avon called "single function isomorphic response"), although this problem was never encountered again. The gun locker could hold up to 35 weapons, although only 8 were seen present in Cygnus Alpha. Exploration of the controls by Jenna sent the ship hurtling forward at incredible speed, causing Avon to comment on "negative hyperspace", prompting Blake to mention "crossing the antimatter interface". Jenna then found her hand affixed to a control, and was swamped with a feeling she described as "being completely known": at this point the Zen computer announced itself, but ignored Blake's questions regarding the proper owners of the ship or their whereabouts. Avon found a control panel indicating that the previous crew, whoever they were, had abandoned ship in life capsules. Zen was the first to use the name Liberator, but Zen had apparently plucked this from Jenna's mind; Jenna said she thought the name was appropriate, and Zen replied that "your thought was accepted".

Over the course of time further information came to light regarding the ship's capabilities. It was fitted with a working teleport, had an advanced automatic repair system, could travel at a speed of up to Standard by 12 (see SPEED), was armed with neutron blasters, had ground attack capability (in The Harvest of Kairos an area of fifty square surface millispacials was instantly obliterated on Servalan's command) which apparently utilised plasma bolts, and Vila in Redemption tried but failed to launch "a couple of seekers".
In Killer
Liberator could regenerate lost energy (though it was noted in Redemption that running on full power drained the energy banks in about two hours). The ship also had an outer skin of herculanium (Dawn of the Gods), carried food concentrates to last 1,000 man-years (Horizon), had a well-equipped surgical unit, and a strongroom (containing "almost as much wealth as in the entire Federation banking system" according to Avon in Cygnus Alpha, which Jenna valued in Bounty at 300 million credits "give or take ten million"). Another room contained an apparently endless supply of costumes, all apparently tailored to fit humans. Why these were on board was never answered. The projectile brought aboard in Time Squad was transferred to "Inner Hold 5", implying at least four others. A "lower hold" was also referred to. Liberator could travel out beyond the edge of the galaxy at Standard by 12, and as the ship approached the Outer Darkness in Moloch Zen advised shifting from "linear progression" to "modular time shift", adding that the latter would cease to function after 159 years.

In Redemption further details of the Liberator were revealed, as its original owners reclaimed it and took the ship back to Space World in the 12th Sector. The ship had been built by the System, to whom it was known as Deep Space Vehicle 2.


At Kairos
Liberator was taken to the following planets/space stations: Cygnus Alpha, Saurian Major, UP-The Web, Centero, Destiny (probably), UP-Duel, UP-Project Avalon, XK-72, UP-Bounty, Lindor (probably), Cephlon, Aristo, Space World (docked), Space City, Zonda, UP-Weapon, Horizon, Earth (twice), the Host, Servalan's HQ, Fosforon, Exbar, Albian, Asteroid P-K118, Atlay, UP-Gambit, Goth, Star One, Sarran, Chenga, Obsidian, Crandor, Xaranor (probably), UP-Sopron, Kairos, Keezarn, Auron, Ultraworld (artificial planet, docked), Sardos, UP-Death-Watch, and Terminal. Others, unspecified, were undoubtedly visited "between episodes", but 38 were seen to be so.

Liberator was involved in a number of engagements besides the initial battle which had set it adrift beside the London. In Duel a total of nine hits were sustained from pursuit ships, four more from Travis" command ship never hitting; Blake attempted to ram Travis" ship and would have done so if Sinofar had not intervened. In Breakdown it was hit by one plasma bolt; a second salvo was avoided, but the bolts went on to destroy space station XK-72. In Redemption two ships sent by the System scored precision hits, then took over Zen, turned the ship's systems against the crew and took it to Space World on remote control. Attack from a sister ship (DSV-1?) was only foiled when Orac scrambled the missile launch systems on the pursuer.


Space Command under attack from the Liberator in Trial
In Shadow Cally destroyed a gunship launched from Space City after issuing two warnings. In Weapon the ship sustained damage from impact with one of the micro-mines seeded in orbit by Travis. In Horizon Blake lured three pursuit ships into the magnetic barrier around Horizon, destroying them. In Trial an attack was made on Servalan's HQ, causing a number of casualties, probably including Fleet Warden Samor, Senator Bercol, Secretary Rontane and Major Thania (Travis described the toll as "high, and rising all the time").
The Federation's most determined attack was featured in Hostage, involving 20-30 pursuit ships fitted with detector shields. At least twelve hits were made, draining half of the ship's energy reserves. In The Keeper Travis" personal ship was destroyed, although Travis was not on board, and Cally dissuaded Avon from pursuing Servalan's ship (with Travis on board, although neither of them knew that). In Star One the Liberator was the first human-crewed ship to engage the alien invaders, and during the course of the Intergalactic War the ship became so crippled that it had to be abandoned.


Under attack from the Mark Ten pursuit ships
In Volcano eight Federation cruisers landed just three hits, but these did considerable damage, and it was some time before Liberator could get underway again. In The Harvest of Kairos Tarrant's piloting experience outmanoeuvred three pursuit ships in an eclipse pattern, and later he destroyed three Mark Ten pursuit ships without realising that this was in accordance with Jarvik's plan to take the ship. Two hits were sustained in this engagement. No significant battles took place thereafter. It was mentioned in Volcano that the weaponry systems needed recalibrating, presumably at periodic intervals.
Liberator was boarded by (in sequence): Wallace and Teague; Krell; Blake, Jenna, Avon; Vila, Gan and Vargas; three humanoids in cryogenic suspension; Cally; Dr Kendall, Sonheim, Grovane, Pasco and Levett; an android replica of Avalon, Chevner; Avalon herself; Professor Kayn, Renor; Tarvin and four Amagons; Sarkoff and Tyce; Ensor Jr.; Alta 1 with Alta 2 and three guards from Space World; two more guards with grenades (immediately teleported back to Space World); Bek and Hanna; Molok; Del Grant; Ven Glynd, Travis (disguised as Shivan), Nagu and a number of aides (six were seen with Ven Glynd on Asteroid P-K118, but not on the Liberator); Governor LeGrand; Section leader Klegg and five troopers; Del Tarrant; Dayna; Mori and three troopers; the Caliph of Crandor; two underlings of the Thaarn; Captain Shad and two guards from the kairopan shuttle; Servalan; Jarvik; Patar; Deral; Franton; Shrinker; an undead alien of unknown origin; Moloch; and Servalan (again) with Kostos and two aides: a total of 74-80 people/beings.

The defence system was only activated twice: against those boarding from the London in Space Fall, when Blake disarmed it, and against the Thaarn's personnel in Dawn of the Gods. Control of the ship was partially or wholly lost in: The Web, when Cally, under the control of the Lost, destroyed the forward detector links and planted a bomb on the primary power channel, blinding the ship and rendering the drives dysfunctional; Duel when Sinofar took control of all systems on board; Orac, when Orac took control of all ship systems; Redemption, when the System asserted control of all systems, denying all repair attempts and in one case directly attacking Blake;
Shadow, when the Darkness assumed control of Orac, drained power from Liberator and tried to generate the energy needed to effect its entry from its own dimension by destroying the ship in atmospheric entry burn up; Dawn of the Gods, when the pull of the Thaarn's black hole was too powerful to resist; Sarcophagus, when the undead alien crippled the ship psionically to supply the energy she needed to take on physical form; and Ultraworld, when Liberator was brought into dock under the influence of the Core.


The Liberator flies either way up in space

About to enter the cloud of fluid particles in Terminal
Numerous features of the ship were mentioned, many of them only once. They include various detectors, asymmetric thrust computers, autorepair system, battle computers, navigational computers, autonavigator, directional probes, orbital drift compensators, outer teleport transducers, propulsion computers, recycling machine, remote visualisation unit, repair monitors, and steer control unit.

Liberator carried an unspecified number of life capsules. An unstated number were used by the original crew before Blake's arrival. Five would have been launched in Aftermath if, as seems likely, Blake and Jenna left in separate life capsules. Avon launched another in Powerplay, but he may simply have activated the jettison system on an empty launcher.


The digestion of the ship starts

More digestion
Flight could be manually controlled, but was usually governed by automatic back-up computers that kept the ship's complex systems in balance. Without the automatic systems, control could be lost very rapidly, as nearly happened in Breakdown.

Avon said in Deliverance that the ship could transmit and receive "sub-beam".

Equipment in the medical and/or surgical unit (references to each may mean the same place) included diagnostic analyser, resuscitation capsules, tranquilliser pads, and vor-ray scan.

On its final voyage, to Terminal, the Liberator flew through a cloud of fluid particles that began to digest the ship, weakening it to the point where it broke apart once the main drives were activated. Those aboard were killed in the resulting explosion, except for Servalan who escaped, by her own account via a freak power surge through the teleport system


First explosion as the Liberator breaks up

The final demise of the Liberator in Terminal
See also DETECTORS, ENERGY BANKS, FORCE WALL, LIFE CAPSULES, NEUTRON BLASTERS, SPEED, TELEPORT, ZEN etc

LIE DETECTOR

(A-1: THE WAY BACK / D-5: ANIMALS)

Varon told Blake that lie detectors had verified the statements made by the three children Blake had allegedly assaulted. In Animals Dayna was strapped into a chair aboard Servalan's ship that functioned as a lie detector. It could, if desired, deliver a painful shock to the subject when a lie was spoken.

The Caliph's neuronic whip, in Dawn of the Gods, could also function as a lie detector.

LIEUTENANT

(C-5: THE HARVEST OF KAIROS)

Rank within Space Command. Tarrant recalled that his first command was as a lieutenant on the previous kairopan harvest.

LIFE CAPSULES

(various episodes)

Emergency escape devices, generally short-ranged, fitted to a number of ships and referred to under various different names. References include:

LIFE SUPPORT

(various episodes) by Murray Smith

An abbreviation of 'life support system(s)', which in the B7 universe came in two main types. First was the equipment used to detect the presence of an environment capable of sustaining life, referred to in Space Fall, when Leylan asked Teague, after the latter had been put aboard the Liberator with Wallace, for a 'life support readout'. Teague, presumably using instruments on his survival unit, replied: 'Pressure normal...minimal radiation...breathable oxygen atmosphere'.

Second, and most common, was the equipment used to sustain life in a hostile environment, which came in two main sub-types. The first and most numerous were the life support systems aboard spaceships and bases, designed to sustain the lives of many; the second were personal life support systems, designed to sustain the life of one being.

Five spaceships had their life support systems mentioned: the projectile in Time Squad, Liberator (mentioned in three episodes), Travis' pursuit ship in Duel, Scorpio (also mentioned in three episodes), and Cancer's ship in Assassin:

Of particular interest is the extensive use of life support systems throughout the B7 universe, including where they would be unnecessary, such as in Xenon base, whose humanoid residents would not need that level of protection to survive in an Earth-type environment.

LIFE-SUPPORT CAPSULE

(A-6: SEEK-LOCATE-DESTROY)

Cally was placed in a life-support capsule on Travis" orders after she was found injured in the wreckage of the communications centre on Centero.

LIGHT BARRIER

(A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA)

When Blake surmised that Liberator could cross the antimatter interface, Jenna stated that that was impossible, to which Avon replied, "That's what they said about the light barrier".

LIMERICKS

(A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA / C-10: ULTRAWORLD)

Vila began a limerick in the holding bay on Cygnus Alpha with the line: There was a young lady from Cygnus, but Arco shut him up before he could continue. One of the illogical wave emissions Orac produced from Vila to destabilise the Core of Ultraworld was a limerick, as follows:

There was a young lady called Perkins,
Who was very fond of small gherkins,
One day at tea,
She ate forty three,
And pickled her internal workings.

Vila then began another limerick with: There was a young man from -, but couldn't remember any more of it.

LIMITED TACTICAL MISSILES

(C-3: VOLCANO)

One of the weapons in the Federations armoury (and probably many other peoples" too). They were about to be used against Obsidian (and apparently delivered from a pursuit ship) when Hower destroyed the planet.

LIMITER

(A-4: TIME SQUAD ff)

A brain-implanted control device fitted to Gan. It prevented him from killing, although it did not apparently prevent him engaging in violent activity (see GAN). Gan first revealed its presence to Jenna while parked in orbit around Saurian Major. He initially thought that his seeing Sinofar and Giroc on UP-Duel might have been caused by his limiter malfunctioning. It did suffer a burn out in one circuit, turning Gan into a violent maniac in Breakdown and repair was imperative to save his life: Professor Kayn was coerced into performing the necessary surgery.


In Breakdown his Limiter malfunctioned
Gan reminded Avon of his limiter when trying to rescue Jenna from the scavengers on Cephlon.

LINDOR

(A-11: BOUNTY)

Neutral planet outside the Federation. It was formerly ruled for five years by President Sarkoff, but disputes broke out over whether or not to join the Federation and he was voted out of office in elections rigged by Federation agents. He then went into exile for seven years. The Federation planned to annexe the planet through the Lindor Strategy, details of which Blake acquired through use of a Federation cypher machine. Lindor was in chaos and on the brink of civil war; with the outbreak of hostilities, the Federation would move in a "peace-keeping force", take over the government and return Sarkoff as a puppet ruler.

LINEAR PROGRESSION

(C-11: MOLOCH) By Murray Smith

Possible setting of Liberator's faster than light drive. In Moloch, Zen suggested that as the ship's present course - following Servalan's ship at standard by three for the past twenty-seven days - had 'no material end', leading into uncharted space, there should be a transfer from 'linear progression' to modular time shift. After this was rejected, Zen pointed out again that the present course had 'no material destination'.

LINK CLAMP

(B-9: COUNTDOWN)

Tool used by Avon when disarming the solium radiation device on Albian.

LINKS

(C-13: TERMINAL / D-1: RESCUE)

Predatory, presumably carnivorous creatures on the artificial planet Terminal, humanoid in shape but covered in thick black hair. They attacked Toron and Reeval outside the entrance to the underground bunker, killing both, and later attacked Cally and Tarrant who each shot one. Avon later watched a link enter the derelict ship left on Terminal by Servalan, an act which triggered the booby traps she had planted beforehand.

Servalan claimed that the links were what the human race was destined to evolve into.

LOADING BAYS

(B-11: GAMBIT)

Adjacent to the docking cradles in Freedom City. Docholli hid in loading bay 10 whilst waiting for passage off-planet.

LOCATOR

(C-6: CITY AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD)

A small, brown surveilance device, seen on Liberator in City at the Edge of the World. Connected by a lead to Orac, it was to be used by him to keep track of Vila's location on the planet Kezarn, via a tracer to be swallowed by him. This plan was rendered useless by a terrified Vila leaving the tracer aboard the Liberator.

See TRACER.

LOCKPICK

(A-1 The Way Back) By CJ

A device, to electronically pick locks and open doors, which is used with two circuit integrators (one shown above), placed one each side of a door, in order stop the action, of the door opening, registering on any monitoring computer. Cranking the handle to the right of the device, as shown, opens the door.

Varon when asked by Maja as to where he is going, after they discover the evidence against Blake has been falsified. They need to go outside, so he replies - "To talk to a thief and borrow a lockpick. I'll meet you in two hours at sub forty-three." The line spoken by Dal Richie when asked by Blake, at the beginning of the episode, "What are you doing?" supports this. Richie responds "Picking the lock." He then goes on to explain the circuit integrators and then uses the device as shown in your screen capture.

LOCKS

(various episodes)

Locks picked by Vila include:

LOD

(D-12: WARLORD)

Planetary leader brought into Avon's Alliance, along with Zukan, Chalsa, Boorva and Mida. Lod represented Herriol, one of the systems noted by Avon as threatened by the Federation's Pacification Programme.


Lod is on the left

LODESTAR

(D-12: WARLORD)

A commercial freighter from Betafarl, which accompanied Zukan to Xenon, carrying the equipment to manufacture the antidote to pylene-50. Unknown to Zukan, Zeeona was also on board. Lodestar presumably remained on Xenon after the crew were wiped out by a radioactive airborne virus, planted in the silo by Finn on Zukan's orders.

LOM

(C-2: POWERPLAY)

A Primitive of Chenga, who found Vila stranded on the planet with a broken arm. Lom set the arm, and then with Mall led Vila away from Hitech hunters. He was hit in the head by a tranquillising dart, and carried away by Mall, leaving Vila behind in the process. He was later seen to regain consciousness.

LONDON

(A-1: THE WAY BACK to A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA)

Full title Civil Administration Ship London, used for ferrying prisoners from Earth to Cygnus Alpha. On the voyage in which Blake escaped (flight authority number K701), it journeyed under the command of Leylan, with Raiker and Artix as additional officers and a crew including Dainer, Krell, Wallace, Teague and a number of other personnel. Cargo was at least 24 prisoners, eleven of which were killed during the flight (one, Nova, suffocated by sealing gel, seven during the take-over bid, including two by Dainer, and three more by Raiker to persuade Blake to surrender control of the computer). Ten or more disembarked on arrival at Cygnus Alpha (including Gan and Vila), with Blake, Jenna and Avon then aboard the Liberator. Named prisoners were Arco, Avon, Blake, Gan, Jenna, Nova, Porah, Selman and Vila.

The London could manage a speed of at least Time Distort 5, and made the journey from Earth to Cygnus Alpha in eight months ship time. Damage was sustained on the flight from debris caused by a battle in deep space between unknown protagonists, but no serious impairment of the ship's ability appears to have resulted from this. Buckling of the port deflector shield was mentioned. Artix described the ship as an "old tub", and Jenna recognised it as a converted deep-space freighter with an early mark hyperdrive that "needs restressing, by the feel of things".

A number of vessels externally similar to the London appeared in a number of episodes. The freighter Blake followed to Horizon was one such, as was the salvager sent up to K47 from Fosforon and the T-16 troop transport carrying convicts from Kalkos to Sardos in Moloch.

LONG COLD

(A-9: PROJECT AVALON)

The equivalent of winter on the northern hemisphere of UP-Project Avalon, which lasted eight and a half Earth years, temperatures sinking to at least -180° (Celsius?) on the surface. Travis said he found the planet "unnerving", probably referring to the weather.

LONG RANGE INTENSIFIER

(C-4: DAWN OF THE GODS)

A feature of the visual detectors on the Liberator.

LORITOL

(C-2: POWERPLAY)

System in which the planet Epheron was located, and reported by Zen as Blake's destination after abandoning the Liberator.

The LOST

(A-5: THE WEB)

Cally described the Lost as "the legend of my people", adding that they were "cast out" and "unfit to share the soul of Auron". They fled to an unnamed planet to continue their prohibited work on tissue creation and regeneration, aiming to halt the aging process in humans and create menial creatures. They succeeded in both respects, creating not only the Decimas but also Geela and Novara, who had not aged since growing to maturity. However, before their work reached this stage, the Lost had started to die but could preserve their own minds. Six minds (probably but not necessarily all of those who fled Auron) came to share the body of Saymon. They were also responsible for creating the Web, a line of research that went out of control.

LOST TIME

(B-12: THE KEEPER)

Tara, talking to Jenna, claimed to know something of the "mysteries handed down from the Lost Time" on Goth. No further information was given.

LOVUS

(D-12: WARLORD)

A border system, represented by Mida at the conference of warlords called by Avon.


Mida with Avon

L-TYPE CRUISER

(D-11: ORBIT)

Servalan travelled to Malodar in an L-type cruiser. She said the craft had a low fuel margin, and could only carry two people: she was intending to leave with Egrorian, but Pinder would have had to be left behind. Egrorian was aware of the ship's specifications, suggesting that it might have been ten or more years old. The ship was never seen, but could not have been the ellipsoid vessel Servalan was seen to use elsewhere in the 4th Season, since that could carry up to five people (as seen in Animals).

LUBA

(D-3: TRAITOR)

Mentioned by Dayna as one planets which had, along with Porphyr Major, recently been annexed by the Federation in a matter of three weeks, presumably by use of pylene-50.

LURENA

(B-13: STAR ONE)

One of the technicians who elected to remain on Star One for the rest of their natural lives. Like the others, she had been mentally conditioned never to tamper with the systems, attempt to leave or reveal Star One's location to anyone. Prior to her self-imposed exile she had been "more than an acquaintance" of Durkim's, at least according to Servalan. By the time of Blake's arrival, she was the only technician who had not been replaced by an alien infiltrator. She had begun to suspect her colleagues of tampering with the computer systems, and later discovered them dead whilst hiding from their alien substitutes. She then assisted Avon in defeating the aliens. She died after removing the last explosive charge planted by Blake, taking four aliens with her.

LURGEN

(B-11: GAMBIT / B-12: THE KEEPER)

Cybersurgeon who arranged with Docholli to have his memory erasure operation faked. He then fled with knowledge of Star One's location to the planet Goth, taking a copy of his brain print with him. On Goth he healed the Charl, Gola, and left the brain print containing Star One's co-ordinates on the amulet of a member of the royal family. Why or how this happened is unexplained. He left Goth before Blake arrived, to an unspecified fate. The member of the royal family with the brain print was the old Charl deposed by Gola and Rod.

LYE

(B-6: TRIAL)

A trooper, assigned to guard duty at Travis" court-martial. He enlisted, he said, "to see some action", to which Par replied: "More fool you".
Lye with Par

LYPTERION

(C-5: THE HARVEST OF KAIROS)

A constellation containing the star Xymines, the fourth planet of which was Kairos.


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