Sevencyclopaedia - P

PACEMAKER

(B-5: PRESSURE POINT)

Vila said he needed a pacemaker for his heart after sprinting across the high intensity radiation grid in the Forbidden Zone.

PACIFICATION PROGRAMME

(D-3: TRAITOR)

Supervised by Commissioner Sleer, the Pacification Programme used the adrenalin-blocking drug pylene-50 to subdue whole planetary populations. Dayna referred to Luba and Porphyr Major being taken "in the past three weeks". The General on Helotrix said that without Sleer he would still be bogged down "five star systems back".

In Warlord Avon pointed out that the Federation had developed ways of introducing pylene-50 into air and water supplies.

Practor referred to Sleer's activities as the "Adaptation Programme". Colonel Quute mentioned the "pacification police", suggesting that the Programme was not in the hands of the military.

Hamer PAINTER

(A-1: THE WAY BACK)

Carl Deca, treated to believe he had been assaulted by Blake, was a patient of Dr Painter's.

PAIR BOND

(B-12: THE KEEPER)

Gola intended to pair bond with Jenna on Goth, and the term is either the Goth's phrase for marriage or something analogous.

PALMERO

(B-13: STAR ONE)

One of the frontier planets on which climate control broke down as Star One was sabotaged. Durkim described it as the Federation's main producer of tropical fruit, but not with snow falling on its equatorial zone.

*PAMPERANIAN FUNGI

(D-3: TRAITOR)

Source of tincture of pyrhennic, the poison used by Sleer on Forbus to keep him under her control in manufacturing pylene-50.

PAR

(B-6: TRIAL)

Federation trooper who had served a tour under Travis and been involved in the murder of 1,417 civilians on Zircaster. He was assigned to guard duty at Travis" court-martial, and complied with Thania in smuggling liquor into Travis" cell, though for his own reasons rather than hers. He was rendered unconscious by Travis after Blake's surprise attack on the station, and presumably survived. He described himself as "a twenty year man".

PARAFLAME 5

(D-12: WARLORD)

A coolant, but highly flammable. It was in use on Xenon base, and released during the explosions arranged by Finn. Tarrant recognised it, but nobody else seemed to have heard of it.

PARANEUTRONIC GENERATOR

(A-4: TIME SQUAD)

Essential component of the transceiver complex on Saurian Major. Avon disconnected the limiters, initiating an unstoppable chain reaction that destroyed the complex.

PARATYPE 926

(B-7: KILLER)

Identified by Orac as the paratype of the virus introduced to the Q-base on Fosforon by Wanderer K47.

See VIRUSES.

PARTON

(B-13: STAR ONE)

A male technician who volunteered to spend the rest of his natural life on Star One, but was replaced by an alien some time before Blake's arrival. "Parton" took the decision to kill Lurena, and was later killed by Avon.

PASCO

(A-7: MISSION TO DESTINY)

One of the crew of the Ortega. He voted in favour of giving Blake the neutrotope, along with Dr Kendall, Levett and Sara.

PASSENGER LINERS

(various episodes)

Several passenger liners were featured: the Nova Queen was destroyed above Keldon City in Star One, the Teal Star carried Deeta Tarrant to his duel with Vinni, and the Space Princess (a "pleasure cruiser") was used to ferry gold from Zerok to Earth. In Gambit Chenie mentioned that no passenger liners had called in for a month. The Bari was probably a passenger liner, possibly indicating how long Travis had been in Freedom City before Blake's arrival.
The Nova Queen

*PATAKI CAKE

(B-11: GAMBIT)

Distilled from the venom of a reptile on UP-Gambit, they produced an effect that Krantor described as "highly stimulating".

PATAR

(C-7: CHILDREN OF AURON)

Flight controller on Auron who contracted the disease introduced by Servalan. He was taken up to Liberator by Dayna and cured, then inadvertently revealed the presence of Servalan to Dayna and Vila. He helped keep Deral under guard, and remained on board as one of the only two Auronar to escape the planet (the other being Franton). Presumably he left the ship at Kahn.

PELAR

(A-9: PROJECT AVALON)

One of the prisoners kept in the same detention block as Avalon, in cell G1. Unlike others seen, such as Hend and Kalor, Pelar was female.

PELLA

(D-2: POWER)

One of the last three Seska, and apparently the leader. She infiltrated Xenon base by telekinesis and met Vila, explaining the nature of the nuclear compression charge. Captured by Hommiks, she was held in a cell with Avon and escaped with him. Her telekinetic power proved no match for Avon's physical strength, but it did allow her to kill Cato by firing a crossbow held by Avon, and to knock Avon unconscious by dropping a computer terminal on his head.
Together with Kate, she also assisted Dayna in killing Gunn-Sar. Dorian thought she was helping him to build a teleport system in return for hydroponics nutrients from Onus-2, but she was in fact building a tele-ergotron to boost her power and open the access hatch to Scorpio. Pella held Dayna hostage at gunpoint to force Avon to open the door for her, and killed Kate once the door was open before taking off in Scorpio. Avon then teleported aboard and killed her.

PENAL COLONIES

(various episodes)

Cygnus Alpha was a notorious penal colony, some 100-150 years old. It was home to Vargas, Kara and Laran and up to 500 others. Blake, Jenna, Avon, Vila, Gan, Arco, Selman, Nova and Porah were among those sent there on the London. In Weapon Servalan threatened to send Travis to the slave pits of Ursa Prime, which may or may not have been a penal colony. Exbar was also the destination of prisoners sent from Earth, but was reserved for "grade-4 offenders only" and those sent there were allowed visiting rights and other privileges: Blake visited Ushton there when he was a boy, and Inga might have been born there. Kalkos lay on the edge of the galaxy, near the Outer Darkness. Doran appears to have been sent there for life, and never saw daylight in all the fifteen years he spent there. He referred to being put in a cell, a feature not seen on Cygnus Alpha.

Penal colonies also featured in "Galactic Monopoly", as played by the crew in Dawn of the Gods: under Rule 10, a player sent to one could remain there for two turns, but on the third turn had to pay a 10,000 credit fine and leave.

PENCIL

(C-4: DAWN OF THE GODS) By Murray Smith

See GRAPHITE WRITING STICK.

PENSION

(B-7: KILLER) By Murray Smith

A regular payment made by a government or a private company, usually to its employees on their retirement. The only reference to a pension in Blake's 7 was in Killer, when Gambrill, Dr. Bellfriar's assistant, hoped that the recovered Wanderer Class One space craft did not contain any hostile life, joking that he had 'my pension to think about'.

PEOPLE'S COUNCIL

(C-8: RUMOURS OF DEATH)

The rebels led by Sula on Earth intended to depose Servalan and replace her rule with a People's Council. Sula's own level of commitment to this ideal is debatable.

*PERAPHIN

(D-6: HEADHUNTER)

Tarrant described the box containing the head for Muller's android as being made of what looked like peraphin. Presumably a common enough substance in Blake's era, smooth, hard and black if Muller's box was anything to go by.

PERKINS

(C-10: ULTRAWORLD)

Vila recited a limerick about a young lady named Perkins, indicating that the name was still extant in Blake's time.

*PETIE

(B-2: SHADOW)

A dreamhead on Space City, who died of taking too much shadow. Bek said to Hanna, "She told me to take care of you and Petie", suggesting that Petie might well have been a relative of Bek's. Who "she" might have been was never specified, but was presumably their mother.

PETROSCOPE

(D-2: POWER)

A device used by Avon in his search for dynamon crystals. It was recognised for what it was by Gunn-Sar.

PHAROS

(D-6: HEADHUNTER)

Planet on which the robot development cartel employing Muller was based. Tarrant teleported down whilst Vila remained on Scorpio. Pharos was not specifically stated to be a Federation world, and the interceptors launched against Scorpio may have been sent up by either the planet's government or the robot development cartel itself.

PHIBIANS

(A-13: ORAC)

As suggested by the name, probably the amphibian species - referred to by Zen - which had begun to develop in the oceans of Aristo. The members of the species were human-sized, grey, with claws, an ability to cling to surfaces, and emitted a roaring sound. Despite Ensor's belief that they would deal with Servalan and Travis, the species did not seem to be particularly dangerous; Servalan and Cally were attacked by individual phibians, but the latter were easily killed by Travis and Blake respectively. Presumably, members of the species relied on their roaring sounds to terrify their enemies.

See also ARISTO

PHOBON PLAGUE

(A-9: PROJECT AVALON)

Popular but incorrect name of virus delta 706. Mentioned by Zen. It may or may not have had its origins on a planet (or moon) called Phobos (Phobos is one of the two moons of Mars).

See Delta 706

PHOTOCELL LOCK

- see LOCKS

PHOTONIC DRIVE

(D-4: STARDRIVE)

Developed by Dr Plaxton on Caspar. Using light instead of plasma, it could allow ships to travel at previously unimaginable speeds "in real time". Atlan's space choppers could manage Time Distort 12.6 with the Mark I drive, and theoretically TD-15 with the Mark II (which was, however, too large to be installed in a space chopper, despite being readily portable). Scorpio was fitted with the Mark II drive and was reported to leave Bucol-2 at TD-12.

Plaxton spent three years on Caspar developing the drive, with an unspecified previous period working on it for the Federation. She referred to 3,000 hours of work on Caspar, and Atlan referred to his space rats combing a dozen worlds for the raw materials. Few details of its functioning were given, although a photon generator chamber was mentioned.

See also HYPERDRIVE, SPEED, TIME DISTORT, INTERGALACTIC DRIVE.

PHOTON SHIELD

(D-4: STARDRIVE)

Safety screen deployed when testing the photonic drive under laboratory conditions, wheeled around by two resentful space rats. It started to melt before the Mark II drive reached full power.

PHOTOPRINT RECORD

(D-5: ANIMALS)

Sleer requested Justin's photoprint record whilst on Bucol-2. Just how much information this contained was not disclosed.

PIERROTS

(B-11: GAMBIT)

Two of the people present around the Big Wheel were dressed as pierrots. Others included arabs, cavaliers, a toreador, a vampire and a nun.

PILOT FOUR ZERO

(C-7: CHILDREN OF AURON)

Pilot of an Auron C-type Patroller, returning to his home planet when his ship was hit by an ionic beam fired by Ginka. This crippled the ship's systems as well as neutralising his telepathic ability. Pilot 4-0 was brought aboard Servalan's cruiser and contaminated with the alien pathogen which eventually wiped out the population of Auron. The pilot was dead on docking back at Auron.

PINDER

(D-11: ORBIT)

A mathematical prodigy, who at the age of 18 accompanied Egrorian in his flight from the Space Research Institute. Exposed to Hofel's radiation, Pinder aged fifty years in as many seconds and thus appeared considerably older than 28 when encountered by Avon and Vila ten years later. By this time Pinder was virtually senile, a condition hardly helped by the sadistic way in which Egrorian treated him. Egrorian planned to leave Pinder on Malodar when he left with Servalan, but Pinder overheard and exposed both himself and Egrorian to a lethal dose of Hofel's radiation.

PIPES

(B-7: KILLER)

Avon and Vila crawlled through pipe to enter the Q base on Fosforon.

PIRATES

(A-4: TIME SQUAD)

Presumably not common, since they are very sparingly mentioned. In Time Squad Jenna warned Blake that space pirates sometimes used false distress signals to lure their victims. The pirates on Domo sold the prisoners they took as slaves: Soolin stated that the pirates began their operations on Domo ten years prior to Scorpio's visit.

PIRI

(D-7: ASSASSIN)

Name used by the professional killer Cancer in her attempt to eliminate the crew of Scorpio for Servalan. Nebrox told Avon that one of the entertainers for sale had been bought by the owner of a black ship (Cancer's). When Avon, Tarrant and Soolin teleported aboard they found a man, as well as a woman claiming to be a dancer: Cancer and purchased entertainer. In fact the man was an actor Servalan had bought to play this crucial role in their plan, and "Piri" persuaded him to work for her by making him believe that he and she would "go off together" when the job was finished. Feigning weakness and terror she won Tarrant's confidence, but got little more than a slap in the face from Soolin. She had to kill Nebrox when it seemed he might realise that she had never been held as a slave on Domo. She then killed the hired actor, and captured Avon.

Piri killed using a crab-like creature she wore as a brooch on her tunic. The creature may have been wholly or partly mechanical in nature. She died when Soolin brushed the creature off Avon onto Piri's arm, where it fatally bit her.

PLACE OF REBIRTH

(A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA)

Mentioned by Kara shortly after the London was seen approaching Cygnus Alpha. No further details given in the episode.

Kara may possibly have been referring to the holding cell/landing bay complex where the London touched down. This would be the point where the prisoners would leave to be 'reborn' into their new life on Cygnus.

PLACE OF THE NOVICES

(A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA)

Part of the building on Cygnus Alpha, where newly arrived convicts were held after contracting the Curse of Cygnus. Apparently underground, the Place of the Novices consisted of barred cells with at least one guard present.

PLACE OF SACRIFICE

(A-3: CYGNUS ALPHA)

Mentioned by Vargas, apparently referring to the main hall of his church. Gan was brought here to be sacrificed, until Blake, Selman, Vila and Arco revealed themselves.

PLANETS

(various episodes)

A large number of planets were visited or mentioned through the course of the series. All of the following have their own references elsewhere in this index:

Agrava, Albian, Altern, Arcos, Aristo, Atlay, Auron, Auros, Beta-5, Betafarl, Bucol-2, Califeron, Carthenis, Cassiona, Centero, Cephlon, Chenga, Cygnus Alpha, Cynra, Del-10, Destiny, Disentastra, Domo, Earth, Epheron, Epinal, Exbar, Exiton, Fosforon, Gardenos, Gauda Prime, Goth, Helotrix, Heeron, Herriol, Horizon, Jevron, K-14, Kainessos, Kairos, Kalkos, Kahn, Keezarn, Lindor, Lovus, Luba, Malodar, Mars, Mecron II, Morphenniel, Obsidian, Outer Gal, Overon, Palmero, Pharos, Porphyr Major, Sarran, Saurian Major, Sentha, Serrus, Sooni, Star One, Tarl, Tarsius, Ursa Prime, Vilker, Virn, Wanta, Xaranor, Xenon, Zircaster, Zerok, Zolat-4, Zonda, and Zondawl.

Geddon, Gesarus, Gourimpest and Prim may have been planets. Crandor, Ultraworld and Terminal were artificial planets. P-K118 was an asteroid, albeit a large one and Sardos a fixed meteoroid. The United Planets of Teal and Vandor Confederacy consisted of more than one planet. Possible other planets include Phobos and Ceros, and reference was also made to the Amagons, Skellerians and Trantinians who may have been named after planets.

Planets visited by a particular ship or individual are listed under the relevant heading.

Planetary populations were rarely alluded to. Kainessos was said to have a population of 7 million. Albion could claim a population of 6 million. The United Planets of Teal and the Vandor Confederacy each had populations of about 20 million. Such low figures might be typical of planetary populations in Blake's time, or they may reflect Liberator's tendency to avoid densely populated worlds. Other figures cited included a maximum of 500 people on Cygnus Alpha (a penal colony), and 200 Scavengers plus less then a hundred of Meegat's people on Cephlon. Only three Seska and an implicitly small number of Hommiks were seen on Xenon, though other relict populations might have been extant elsewhere on the planet. The same might apply to other primitive worlds such as Goth and Sarran, though this was implicitly not so. Both UP-Bounty and UP-Weapon appeared to have been abandoned despite previous colonisation.

Unnamed planets occurred in the following episodes: The Web, Duel, Project Avalon, Bounty, Weapon (two), Gambit, The Harvest of Kairos, Sarcophagus, Death-Watch. See UNNAMED PLANETS. See Also AMERSAT (Fanlore).

PLANET HOPPER

(B-11: GAMBIT / D-1: RESCUE)

Type of spaceship, probably a blanket term for a wide variety of makes and models. Chenie secured Docholli a place on a Trantinian planet hopper out of Freedom City, held in the docking cradles 50 yards from Loading Bay 10. The pilot, she said, owed her a favour.

Tarrant described Scorpio on first boarding her as "a Wanderer class planet hopper, Mark II by the look of her: obsolete but functional".

PLANETARY RESOURCES COMMISSION

(D-8: GAMES)

When stopped by an officer on Mecron II, Gerren claimed to be working for the PRC. It seems reasonable to assume that such a body existed and that Gerren was a bona fide employee.

PLANTATION FIVE

(D-13: BLAKE)

Mentioned by Klyn as the area in which Scorpio crash-landed after running the blockade above Gauda Prime.

PLASMA BOLTS

(various episodes)

The main armament of Federation pursuit ships. Many plasma bolts were launched at the Liberator through the series, most of them hitting. Once launched, a bolt took some time to reach its target (24 seconds was mentioned in Animals, suggesting something of the non-manoeuvrability of target craft). Plasma bolts were also responsible for the destruction of XK-72.


Scorpio nearly getting hit
In Horizon Blake said it would be "raining plasma bolts" if Liberator had been detected in orbit, possibly a figurative expression on his part but also an indication that plasma bolt launchers might be a feature of surface defence installations.

In The Harvest of Kairos reference was made to the Liberator using plasma bolts for launching surface strikes, rather than the neutron blasters. Zen noted that they struck 13 seconds after launch from an unspecified orbital distance. In Animals Servalan's captain noted that plasma bolts had slowed Scorpio up, suggesting that they were effective as proximity burst weapons even if they failed to land a direct hit.

Dayna noted that the clip guns developed by Dorian could fire plasma bullets. In Blake a lightweight plasma weapon was fired at Blake from an unseen airborne vehicle. Blake told Tarrant that plasma ammunition was "scarce".

Senator Bercol in Trial described Servalan as having "all the sensitive delicacy of a plasma bolt".

PLASMA RADIATION

(D-4: STARDRIVE)

Referred to by Avon when attempting to sneak into the shadow of the Altern system in the shadow of a large asteroid. He stated that the crew could not risk the Federation detecting plasma radiation from sustained thrust, suggesting that plasma was used for sublight ship manoeuvres.

PLAXTON

(D-4: STARDRIVE)

Top space drive designer with the Federation, she left at least three years before Scorpio's visit to Caspar to develop her photonic drive. Her assistant Napier joined her. She wanted no part in Atlan's plan to control the space trade routes, and welcomed the crew's arrival as a chance to escape. She started to install the new drive into Scorpio as pursuit ships moved in, and Avon cut in the drive before the last connection was made. She was therefore killed on completing the operation, but Scorpio escaped the plasma bolt bearing down on the ship.

PLEASURE MACHINES

(B-4: HORIZON)

Longingly mentioned by Vila in his brief eulogy on the delights of Federation rest centres, but no details were given.

PLEASURE PLANET COMPUTER

(D-8: GAMES)

Gambit was partly composed of units from a PPC unit, and from Avon's remarks it would seem that such computers were dedicated to games playing.

PN OVERRIDES

(A-5: THE WEB)

Tampered with by Cally whilst under the control of the Lost, leading to an increase in Liberator"s speed. No further details given.

POETRY

(D-9: SAND) By Murray Smith

Don Keller quoted a poem by Tanith Lee at the beginning of Sand:

I know a land beyond the heart of time.
The sun never comes there, no moon ever shines.
And man, a grain of sand, nameless and lost,
Blows with the dust.

See also LEE, TANITH.

POLICE

(D-3: TRAITOR / D-4: STARDRIVE)

Somewhat remarkably, explicit references to a police force are made in only two episodes. Quute mentioned the Pacification Police, and the General admitted that an investigation of Practor's death was "a police job". The investigation came under the jurisdiction of Commissioner Sleer, reflecting her civil rather than military position. Many of the personnel she was seen to associate with wore the same uniforms as military troopers, so either police and troops dressed essentially alike, or troops were seconded to her command.

In Stardrive Dayna "reminded" Dr Plaxton of how she had reported her ground car stolen to the police.

Investigator Reeve in Sand may have been a police officer, as his title strongly suggests. On Gauda Prime, Blake was seen to be appointed as a temporary law enforcement officer, presumably as a result of his "bounty hunter" activities.

POOLA

(C-11: MOLOCH)

A native of Sardos, who erased the recording of Liberator's entry through the energy barriers around the meteoroid. Moloch ordered her to be given to Grose's men as a result, and she was never seen again.

PORAH

(B-4: HORIZON)

Native of Horizon. Blake told Ro that Porah was one of the convicts on the London headed for Cygnus Alpha. He died on the journey and his body was dumped in space. Blake made no reference to him being involved in the attempt to take over the ship, but this might have been understandable reticence on his part. Ro thought Porah had been sent on a "training course". Porah referred to Horizon only by its former name of Silmareno, hence Blake not realising quite where he was when he first approached the planet.

PORPHYR MAJOR

(D-3: TRAITOR)

Noted by Dayna as one of the frontier systems the Federation had re-annexed within the past three weeks, presumably through Commissioner Sleer's Pacification Programme.

PORPHYRUS

(D-11: ORBIT)

A lunar satellite in the constellation adjacent to Malodar. Although 17 light years away, it was destroyed instantly by Egrorian's tachyon funnel.

POT PLANTS

(various episodes)

Potted plants were seen in Ensor's underground room on Aristo, in the conference centre of Atlay, in Residence-1, and in the lounge area of Xenon base. Now come on, be honest, you always wanted to know that, didn't you?

The POWER

(A-8: DUEL)

Sinofar described herself and Giroc as guardians of "the power of the race". This may have been the cataclysmic weapon Giroc described as ending the war on their planet. Such conclusions are circumspect but not entirely unavoidable.

PRACTOR

(D-3: TRAITOR)

President-elect of Helotrix, and a Helot by birth. Although he had been held prisoner for a while in the confusion following the Intergalactic War, he had been on the Federation's Civil List for years. He described himself to Leitz as "something of a pedant" through his long years in the civil service. He had known Servalan well in the past, and recognised her in a portrait, referring to her as "the Supreme Empress". Servalan used her security clearance as Commissioner Sleer to gain access to Practor's private lift, killing him in his living quarters and destroying the portrait. She then assumed command of the ensuing murder inquiry.

PRECISION GUIDANCE SUBSYSTEMS

(D-4: STARDRIVE)

A feature of Scorpio's sublight drive, used for fine manoeuvring. Such subsystems were doubtless fitted to many other ships as well. The precision guidance was brought online as Avon attempted to bring Scorpio within the radar shadow of a large asteroid to enter the Altern system undetected. It promptly blew up, at which point Slave informed the crew that they had just lost the back-up system with the main precision guidance having been inoperative from the start.

PRELL

(A-6: SEEK-LOCATE-DESTROY)

A technician at the Federation's communications centre on Centero, Prell was the first to realise that the cypher machine had been stolen by Blake.

PRESIDENT

(various episodes)

Ruler of the Federation. The President preceding Servalan was never named, and there may even have been more than one President through the course of the first two seasons. The post was probably held for life, although there is nothing said to confirm or deny this. References include:

Immediately prior to the Intergalactic War, Servalan overthrew the existing President and High Council and at some point during the War declared herself President. The only councillor of the preceding regime to have definitely acknowledged this was Chesku, although doubtless there were others. At some point around her absence on Terminal she was deposed, and her successor never named, or indeed mentioned. It is not impossible that the position of President disappeared at this point, though there is nothing to suggest this.

In Rumours of Death Tarrant related her full title as "President of the Terran Federation, Ruler of the High Council, Lord of the Inner and Outer Worlds, High Admiral of the Galactic Fleets, Lord General of the Six Armies and Defender of the Earth". This title may have been assumed by Servalan herself, but use of the word "Lord" suggests otherwise.

PRESIDENTIAL ORDER IN COUNCIL

(B-13: STAR ONE)

Written By Murray Smith

The form in which Durkim was summoned to appear before the High Council in 'Star One'. His remark, 'I have to go', suggests the considerable authority of such an order and the penalties for disobeying it. Presumably it was a decree or order made by the President with the consent of the High Council. Due to the scarcity of information in the series in the powers of the presidency and the High Council, and their positions in the Federation's power structure, it is difficult to judge if this consent was nominal or real.

The origin of the Presidental Order in Council is found in 'Order in Council', the name for a decree or order made by the British monarch by and with the advice of the Privy Council of Great Britain. The monarch had the power at common law to legislate by Order in Council, a legacy of the time when legislation was part of the royal prerogative; but this is now limited. Orders in Council are also used as a form of secondary legislation, giving effect to an Act of Parliament which authorized the issuing of Orders in Council.

It is therefore possible that a Presidential Order in Council may be some Federation equivilant of a British Order in Council; but this is speculative, as the series tells us very little about sources of law in the Federation.

See also FEDERATION, HIGH COUNCIL, PRESIDENT.

PRIM

(D-7: ASSASSIN)

Proxy bidder Tok on Domo took the opening bid for Avon from Valeria of Prim. Whoever she was, she dropped out at a fairly early stage. Prim may have been a planet, or a location on an unnamed planet.

PRIMITIVES

(C-2: POWERPLAY)

Name applied to descendants of the settlers on Chenga who had chosen to live a simple, technologically unsophisticated life. They were hunted for sport or bounty by the Hitechs who used them as a source of organs for transplant surgery. Vila met two Primitives on Chenga, Lom and Mall.

PRINCE REGENT

(B-11: GAMBIT)

Krantor dressed in a costume which he claimed was modelled on the Prince Regent, one of very few actual historical personages to be named in the series. When George III was declared insane in 1811, his son ruled Britain as Regent until assuming the throne as George IV in 1820.

PRO TEM

(B-6: TRIAL) by Murray Smith.

Abbreviation of the Latin phrase _pro tempore_, which means 'temporary' when used as an adjective. Samor used it in that context when he described himself as having been appointed 'pro tem military arbiter'.

PROBABILITY SQUARE

(D-9: SAND)

Used by Avon whilst in orbit around Virn because electrical interference had forced him to have Orac switched off. It was a method of analysing a problem by shuffling tokens representing elements of the problem until they took on an order which pointed to a solution. Avon claimed to have got 'very interesting results' from using it and deduced that the sand was feeding off human energy and that it required a breeding pair of humans.

PROBE

(A-7: MISSION TO DESTINY)

Tool requested by Avon whilst repairing the flight deck of the Ortega. Almost certainly a generic term for a wide variety of instruments.

PROBUS-4

(C-10: ULTRAWORLD)

World from which the menial Relf on Ultraworld came from. Tarrant was told this by the recording in Relf's memory tube.

PROGRAMMED GUARDIANS

(A-4: TIME SQUAD)

Aliens or modified humans carried in cryogenic suspension aboard a sublight vessel carrying gene stocks and brood units from an unspecified place of origin to an equally unspecified destination. The ship was brought aboard Liberator on approaching Cygnus Alpha and the surviving crew (one of the four was long dead) thawed out.
They were programmed to protect their cargo from any possible threat, which included Blake's crew, and they injured Jenna, overpowered Gan and drained energy from the Liberator. Jenna killed two of the three remaining guardians (the first people seen to be killed with a Liberator handgun), the third died when he was pushed against a live power cable by Blake and electrocuted.

PROHIBITED SPACE ZONE

(A-10: BREAKDOWN)

Area of space Zen stated as having an "unacceptable risk designation". The terminology suggests that there were several - if not many - such zones, officially recognised and classified. The one crossed by the Liberator on its way to XK-72 contained a massive gravitational vortex.

PROJECT AVALON

(A-9: PROJECT AVALON)

Travis' plan to plant an android replica of Avalon aboard the Liberator and release a deadly virus modified from the so-called Phobon Plague, enabling the ship to be captured intact. Travis referred to the plan by this title and Avalon was not amused.

A broadcast announcement of "project A6 security green now in operation" may be a reference to Project Avalon or to some other operation.

PROJECTILES

(C-7: CHILDREN OF AURON)

Weaponry available to the Federation, almost certainly a generic term. Projectiles were fired from Servalan's star cruiser into the city on Auron, causing extensive devastation. Mark V projectiles had a very small burst radius, and were launched against the crew as they raced to the bio-replication plant.

PROSTHETIC DEVICES

(various episodes)

A number of these were featured. Travis" left arm, complete with lazeron destroyer, was among the first to appear. The only other artificial limb referred to was Zee's leg, constructed by Docholli, a cybersurgeon.

Vision replacements were fitted to Hal Mellanby, who had an image amplifier, and Ardus, who was fitted with a sonoscope.

Ensor was kept alive by a mechanical heart, a transplant organ not being available when needed, and Vila mentioned a pacemaker in Pressure Point.

Gan was fitted with a limiter implant to prevent him killing, and the body of Wanderer K47 crewman Wardin was fitted with a brain implant to control his body when he attacked Dr Wiler. Deeta Tarrant had microsensors implanted in his brain and a conducting mesh etched into his skull, all part of the sensornet through which audiences could take vicarious part in the combats of the Teal-Vandor Convention. The dynamon crystals worn by the Seska were apparently ingrafted.

Mechanical life-support systems were integral to the Altas and Moloch. The Altas could also communicate with the System by contact with a console, suggesting a possible fingertip receptor implant. The mutoids on UP-Project Avalon responded to broadcast commands without any visible reception device.

This is all a long way from the nerve-splicing and datanet interfacing of William Gibson's "cyberpunks", but the technology certainly appears to have existed in Blake's era.

As well as humans fitted with mechanical devices, there was a case of a machine adopting part of a human body. Muller's android donned its creator's head to pose as Muller and be taken to Orac on Xenon Base. Quite how the android managed to effect lip movement and facial expression on the head was (perhaps wisely) left undiscussed.

PROVINE

(B-9: COUNTDOWN)

Federation officer with the rank of Space Major. He was stationed on Albian in command of the Space Assault Force garrison there, but had formerly served with Central Control, and Blake thought he knew where Control had been moved to. Provine attacked Ralli, killed the guards at the rocket silo, and almost killed Blake but was fatally shot by him in a struggle. Before he died he told Blake that Central Control had been moved to Star One and that Docholli alone knew of its location.
The Fight with Blake

PROXIMITY MINES

(B-3: WEAPON)

Travis had the planets to which Coser had most likely fled seeded with small proximity mines in random orbits. They were virtually undetectable until they exploded, and one detonated when the Liberator drew close to one above UP-Weapon. No significant damage was sustained, however.

PSYCHOINSTRUCTION

(D-5: ANIMALS)

The final stage of Justin's perfection of Og, never completed.

PSYCHOMANIPULATION

(B-13: STAR ONE)

Psychomanipulation teams conditioned the technicians left behind on Star One to ensure that they did not try to disrupt the systems or broadcast its location. The head of the team responsible died under interrogation when Star One began to malfunction. Psychomanipulation may have involved similar techniques to those employed by criminotherapists.

PSYCHOSTRATEGIST

(B-3: WEAPON)

An expert on predicting the behaviour of an individual in given circumstances, assuming sufficient data was available. Carnell described himself as an "official" psychostrategist, suggesting that the Federation (or perhaps some other organisation) employed him especially for psychostrategical work. He also mentioned exacting a fee, which might indicate that he was working privately for Servalan or that Space Command had to buy his services from elsewhere in the Federation: the former seems more likely. The accuracy of a prediction depended on the psychostrategist having all the pertinent information: in Carnell's case, he was not told until too late of Rashel being with Coser, invalidating his predictions.

Psychostrategists were colloquially known as "puppeteers": Carnell was called such by Servalan's aide and he replied: "Do they still call us that?". The aide regarded him with something akin to awe, reflecting the power, putative or actual, that a psychostrategist had over individuals.

PUBLIC RECORDS COMPUTER

(A-1: THE WAY BACK)

Visited by Tel Varon when collecting evidence for Blake having been mistried. It is not stated whether this computer held records for the dome city alone, all of Earth's population or even some wider area, but the first seems most likely. Varon had to use his Justice Department credentials in order to get access to information, suggesting that general public access was not permitted. Three command codes were used by the duty officer (spoken to the control console): Alpha 3375 accessed medical records, Alpha 3377 school attendance records, and Alpha 00288-alpha Central Clinic admissions on a particular date. This last was classified and unavailable to Varon's Priority 3 clearance.

PULSE CODE

(B-7: KILLER)

Means of scrambling messages. The pulse code could only be broken with the TP-crystal fitted in an A-line converter.

PUPPETEER

- see PSYCHOSTRATEGIST

PURSER

(D-10: GOLD) written by Murray Smith

Originally the officer on board a ship who kept the accounts, and who usually had charge of the provisions. Later, on board passenger ships, the purser had the general responsibility for the passengers and their welfare.

Keiller, as Purser of the Space Princess in Gold, appeared to carry out this responsibility. He gave the passengers their day's itinerary, described the sights they could see, and promised that he, the captain, and the crew would 'endeavour to ensure' that the passengers would 'gain maximum enjoyment and instruction' from the voyage. All this was, however, done via recordings, his actual job being that of head of security, responsible for the safe delivery of the gold on board.

PURSUIT SHIPS

(various episodes)

The type of Space Command vessel most often encountered by Blake and Avon. Pursuit ships were first mentioned in Cygnus Alpha when Zen reported a "fleet of ships" changing course towards Liberator: it identified these vessels as pursuit ships. They were additionally encountered as follows:


Pursuit Ship (28K)

See also STARBURST CLASS PURSUIT SHIPS.

In Redemption Zen referred to the second DSV launched by the System as a pursuit ship.

PYLENE-50

(D-3: TRAITOR)

Invented by Forbus on an unspecified world, pylene-50 was intended to be used homeopathically as a muscle relaxant. When administered at 100 times normal dosage, it induced total docility and obedience (by blocking the production of adrenalin, according to Leitz). Leitz also observed that the work ethic was often reinforced by those "adapted" by it and that the effects of pylene-50 were immediate with no side-effects.

Commissioner Sleer used pylene-50 in her Pacification Programme on Helotrix and other worlds. On Helotrix at least it was injected by chemical laser, but by Warlord it was being pumped into air and water supplies. The enzyme bonds in the drug broke up within a few days of production and so it had to be manufactured where it was needed. The secret of manufacture appeared to be held by Forbus, forced to work for Sleer, but his death did not hinder the Pacification Programme or use of the drug, at least in the long term. Forbus also developed an antidote, which could not cure those already "adapted" by pylene-50, but could offer immunity to those who later came into contact with it. Avon needed Zukan to produce this antidote from a plant ostensibly growing in abundance on Betafarl.

PYRHENNIC POISONING

(D-3: TRAITOR)

Forbus" description of his condition to Dayna and Tarrant, referring to Sleer's use of tincture of pyrhennic to ensure his obedience to her. The effects were kept at bay by a drug Forbus had to take regularly: Sleer threatened to cut off his supply for three days, explaining "that means you'll die another ten per cent".

PYROANS

(C-3: VOLCANO)

The name the inhabitants of Obsidian called themselves. First Citizen Hower, was not native to the planet and it is a matter of conjecture as to how many Pyroans were born there. Taught "peace from the cradle", their aggressive urges were curbed by tiny electric shocks and daily psychological propaganda. The result, said Hower, was "no wars, no lawlessness, no crime... our people devote themselves to creation and not destruction". They were all wiped out when Hower detonated the nuclear device in the volcano rather than see his planet annexed by the Federation. This was in accordance with their Vow, to destroy themselves rather than be colonised. They were all dying anyway, through fallout from the nuclear device.


Homer

Milus and Natin
One Pyroan who did not conform to the general ideal was Bershar, Hower's son, and he was executed with a lethal dose of anaesthetic for his nonconformity. Other Pyroans mentioned by name were Milus and Natin. No female Pyroans were named, although some were seen.

PYRRUS

(D-10: GOLD)

Supposedly passed by the Space Princess on its journey from Zerok to Earth. Keiller's recorded commentary described it as "the twelfth wonder of the..." (of the galaxy, presumably). Described only as a "ferocious power", with no indication as to whether it was a planet or a star, but the latter seems more likely.


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