Directed by: Michael Briant
(c) 1977 by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Series created by Terry Nation. This is a complete dialogue transcript for research purposes and is not for sale under any circumstances Format (c) 1993 by Micky DuPree.
Transcription: Malcolm Mladenovic.
Proofreading: Dave Owen and Sue Clerc.
Dramatis Personae:
| Blake | Gareth Thomas |
| Jenna | Sally Knyvette |
| Avon | Paul Darrow |
| Cally | Jan Chappell |
| Vila | Michael Keating |
| Gan | David Jackson |
| Zen | Peter Tuddenham |
| Travis | Stephen Greif |
| Servalan | Jacqueline Pearce |
| Avalon | Julia Vidler |
| Chevner | David Bailie |
| Mutoid | Glynis Barber |
| Scientist | John Baker |
| Terloc | John Rolfe |
| Guards | David Sterne, Mark Holmes |
| Walk ons: | |
| Chris Homes | Michael de Wilde |
| Christina Halstead | Roberta Kingsley |
| Kelly Varney | Kavid Ianson |
| Bruce Guest | John Cannon |
| John Jensen | Doug Roe |
| Peter Dukes | Bunty Garland |
| Gaye Hopkin | David Charles |
| Monique Briant | Jay Dyer |
|
[Scene: Near blizzard conditions on a planet. Travis and a mutoid enter a
cave mouth.]
| |
| TRAVIS | The temperature's dropping quickly.
|
| MUTOID | It'll be dark soon. Then it'll freeze.
|
| TRAVIS | The Long Cold. I find this planet...unnerving. Come.
[They go in and down. A man is crouching hidden in rocks above
the passage.]
|
| TERLOC | [softly] Travis.
|
| TRAVIS | Where are you?
|
| TERLOC | Shhh! Softer. The sound travels in the caves.
|
| TRAVIS | You're late.
|
| TERLOC | They would've missed me had I come sooner.
|
| TRAVIS | What have you got for me?
|
| TERLOC | Avalon is moving to Winter quarters, in the ice caves.
I've drawn a map. [He throws a paper down to Travis]
|
| TRAVIS | But contact -- has Blake made contact with Avalon?
|
| TERLOC | Yes. She's asked for transportation to a safer planet.
|
| TRAVIS | And Blake has agreed?
|
| TERLOC | His ship has already entered out star system. The
rendezvous is expected within fifty hours.
|
| TRAVIS | Good. Go back and join Avalon. Now. You understand what
you have to do?
|
| TERLOC | I understand. [He crawls away.]
|
| TRAVIS | [To Mutoid] It's working; just as I predicted. [To himself]
This time we'll be ready for you, Blake. [Scene: Liberator flight deck. A planet appears on the viewscreen.]
|
| BLAKE | Zen, can you get an estimated surface temperature
from this range?
[The viewscreen shows wintry scenes on the surface.]
|
| ZEN | Sensors indicate a temperature of minus one hundred and
twenty degrees and still falling.
|
| VILA | That's on the cool side, you'll need thermal suits. [Exits]
|
| BLAKE | Cally, are you still getting Avalon's signal?
|
| CALLY | It changed position by about eight miles but it's
stationary now and switched to automatic.
|
| BLAKE | Well, lock onto it and get a precise fix. Jenna, when
Cally's got a fix, let her take us into orbit. You're the only
one who's ever seen Avalon, I need you down there with me. Go
and get kitted up.
|
| JENNA | Right.
|
| BLAKE | Cally, we want an orbit just inside teleport range.
[Avon enters the flight deck, standing just inside.]
|
| GAN | Blake, there are four...five interceptors orbiting the
atmosphere now. They're all below the horizon at the moment.
|
| BLAKE | Track them.
|
| GAN | Right.
|
| AVON | [Simultaneously] And don't imagine they will maintain the
same orbit. [Moves onto deck and hands data to Blake.] I've
summarized the relevant data.
|
| BLAKE | And?
|
| AVON | We've come at the worst time, of course. The northern
hemisphere is just entering its winter cycle. They call it the
Long Cold. Something of an understatement, it lasts the
equivalent of eight-and-a-half Earth years.
|
| BLAKE | Does it support any intelligent life?
|
| AVON | Does the Liberator? [Blake and Jenna exchange looks.] There
are humanoid creatures called subterrons. They live in caves.
Quite what that says for their intelligence, I really wouldn't
know.
|
| BLAKE | Why are the Federation there?
|
| AVON | Minerals. About thirty years ago it was discovered that
deposits were seeping down into the ice and forming gem stones
of outstanding purity and hardness. They are called 'Ice
Crystals'. The Federation uses them in heavy duty lasers. They
are mined by the subterrons as a slave labour force.
|
| BLAKE | Ahh, that is why Avalon is here.
|
| AVON | Perhaps, but the ice crystals are unique and as such
quite valuable.
|
| BLAKE | No, Avalon has started resistance movements on a dozen
Federation planets.
|
| AVON | Another idealist, poor but honest. I shall look forward
to our meeting with eager anticipation.
|
| BLAKE | Is your anticipation eager enough to come down there
with me?
|
| AVON | [Avon looks at the screen] Not quite. I think I shall
contain my enthusiasm here in the warm. [Scene: A mutoid watches a guard below her position, then jumps him and after a brief struggle strangles him. Then she signals to various groups of mutoids with a morse-code like sender. The groups move through caves. A number of mutoids surround a group of people in a cavern. Travis is in the background.]
|
| MUTOID | Stay where you are.
[Travis moves forwards]
|
| TRAVIS | Which of you is Avalon? [He holds a nearby man and
places his gun to the man's head.] I want Avalon -- now.
[A figure moves forward. Another puts out a hand to stop
her, but she continues forwards. Travis hits the man he was
threatening, knocking him over.]
|
| AVALON | Who betrayed us?
|
| TRAVIS | [To mutoids] Take her.
|
| MUTOID | [Indicating homing beacon] Shall I smash it?
|
| TRAVIS | No. Give Blake his homing beacon -- make it easier for him.
Finish it.
|
| TERLOC | No, no, please wait. It's me, Terloc, I helped you. I
gave you Avalon. I gave you Avalon. [The mutoid pushes him over
with her foot] Ughh. Uh, ah. They're going to kill us.
[Mutoids systematically shoot everyone amid lots of screams
and shouts, then leave.] [Scene: Blake and Jenna enter the flight deck.]
|
| CALLY | ...and holding. Orbital drift compensators?
|
| GAN | Activated.
|
| JENNA | Confirm position and status.
|
| ZEN | All systems confirm instrument readings. Orbit is
established, status is firm.
|
| JENNA | [To Cally] Very impressive. I think I might have taught you
too well.
|
| ZEN | Navigation computers register positional error -- point
zero zero zero one zero one. Automatics are compensating.
|
| JENNA | Thank you, Zen, for that small compensation.
|
| BLAKE | Hm. Are you ready, Jenna?
|
| JENNA | Yes.
|
| BLAKE | [to Avon] Have you got the teleport co-ordinates?
|
| AVON | All computed.
|
| BLAKE | All right, let's go.
|
| JENNA | Keep sensors on full alert. Those pursuit ships are still
around.
|
| GAN | Don't worry -- we're watching.
|
| JENNA | Good luck.
|
| CALLY | You, too. [Scene: Teleport section, Vila is at the controls when Blake, Jenna and Avon enter.]
|
| VILA | Surface temperatures are down to minus one eighty, better
wrap up warmly.
|
| BLAKE | [To Jenna] Set your suit to seventy-five percent.
[They adjust their suit controls] Right, stay at the controls.
If all goes well we'll be back in fifteen minutes.
|
| AVON | We'll be ready. [They put on bracelets and Blake takes
a number of spares.]
|
| BLAKE | Right. [to Jenna] Is your suit fully heated?
|
| JENNA | About ready to burst into flames.
|
| BLAKE | Put us down. [Scene: Blake and Jenna materialize in a tunnel and find the guard's body.] [Scene: In the cavern where the massacre occurred, Chevner reaches for a rifle and hides. Jenna and Blake enter and see the bodies and the homing beacon.]
|
| BLAKE | Federation security must have found them -- looks like their
handiwork.
|
| JENNA | None of them are armed.
|
| BLAKE | That's what I mean.
|
| JENNA | Weapons are still in the racks.
|
| BLAKE | They probably tried to surrender.
|
| JENNA | Let's get out of here, Blake.
|
| BLAKE | No, we must find out if Avalon's one of them. No, we must
know for certain. This homing beacon's still transmitting. Once
Federation security found that they wouldn't have any trouble
getting onto this place.
[Chevner collapses and drops the rifle.]
|
| JENNA | Blake!
[They move over to him.]
|
| BLAKE | He's still alive. [He and Jenna help Chevner sit up.]
|
| JENNA | Careful, he's been hit in the shoulder.
|
| BLAKE | It's all right, it's all right, we're friends.
|
| CHEVNER | The others, what about the others?
|
| BLAKE | I'm afraid they're dead.
|
| JENNA | What about Avalon? Was she with you? Can you remember
whether she was with you when you were attacked?
|
| CHEVNER | Terloc betrayed us -- it was Terloc.
|
| BLAKE | Where is Avalon?
|
| CHEVNER | She was with us, she... They took her out, before the
firing started. [Scene: A large laboratory inside the Centre.]
|
| COMPUTER | Project A-six security green now in operation. Stand by
yellow release to project A-eight. Doctor Ellisdee to area
blue-six basement main control area. [Travis is working on a
hand computer -- a mutoid enters.]
|
| MUTOID | The Supreme Commander's ship has landed, they've already
disembarked.
|
| TRAVIS | Good. I think we're about ready. Oh, I'll need a human
to assist in a test. Check with the detention block, see if
they can give you someone.
|
| MUTOID | Any special characteristics?
|
| TRAVIS | No -- an ordinary unskilled labour grade will do -- an expendable.
|
| MUTOID | If there isn't one in detention?
|
| TRAVIS | Then detain one!
|
| MUTOID | Yes, Commander.
[Travis goes to an adjoining area -- Avalon is restrained in an
interrogation machine.]
|
| TRAVIS | [To scientist] Any problems?
|
| SCIENTIST | Not that I can see. A good healthy specimen. No deformities
or unusual features. The standard triple omega should provide a
perfect basis.
|
| TRAVIS | Good. Can you complete quickly?
|
| SCIENTIST | I think so. We have an experienced team standing by, everything's
ready.
|
| TRAVIS | Good, good. Remember if you need any further equipment you have
an absolute priority rating. Demand whatever you want -- on my
authority.
|
| SCIENTIST | Thank you, Commander.
|
| TRAVIS | [To Avalon] You should be flattered by all this special attention.
|
| AVALON | Anyone who opposes the Federation knows what to expect
if they get captured. It's a risk we're all prepared to take.
|
| TRAVIS | Obviously; but whatever the risks, no one really ever expects
to get caught, do they, hmm? Still, I wish I could find the
same urge to sacrifice among my subordinates.
|
| AVALON | They have no cause.
|
| TRAVIS | True.
|
| AVALON | Every year more people defy the Federation, thirty planets
in this sector alone, and others will follow -- many others.
|
| TRAVIS | Yes. Well, you'll tell us about those, won't you? Their
leaders, locations, their plans. I'm sure we'll be able
to convince them that loyalty to the Federation is after
all in their best interests.
|
| AVALON | I know enough about these machines to realize that I will
tell you everything. You will murder hundreds of people,
maybe thousands. But you won't end the opposition, you'll
never end it.
|
| TRAVIS | Perhaps not. However, we shall persevere. You're right, of
course, you will tell us everything. But first we need
you for a far more important venture. We've codenamed it
Project Avalon.
|
| AVALON | I won't help you. You can't force me to help you.
|
| TRAVIS | Don't be naive. I can force you to do anything. It isn't
necessary, though. You're already helping me. Just by
being here you've set in motion a chain of events that's
been absolutely predetermined.
|
| AVALON | I don't understand.
|
| TRAVIS | No? Do you think your capture at this particular point
was a matter of chance? It was a carefully calculated
strategy. You're worth a great deal to me. You're
going to give me Blake, his crew, and his undamaged ship.
The Federation wants the Liberator -- you and I are going
to give it to them. [Scene: The cavern. Blake and Jenna are tending to Chevner's wound.]
|
| BLAKE | There, how does that feel?
|
| CHEVNER | Not too bad, thanks.
|
| JENNA | Are you sure that they took her to the Centre?
|
| CHEVNER | They abandon the outer complex when the Long Cold sets in.
Anyway, the main interrogation units are in the Centre.
|
| BLAKE | That's where she'll be all right. Have you ever been inside
the Centre?
|
| CHEVNER | No. I helped build the outer complex, but the labour gangs
were restricted in their movements. I don't exactly know
my way around.
|
| JENNA | Could you get us in there?
|
| CHEVNER | To the Centre?
|
| JENNA | Mmm hmm.
|
| CHEVNER | No. Can't be done.
|
| BLAKE | Listen, Avalon knows all the resistance movements in this
star sector. Places, names, everything.
|
| CHEVNER | She'd die before she told anybody anything.
|
| BLAKE | Not a choice she'll be given. In a couple of days they'll know
everything she knows. It'll be disaster for the resistance.
|
| JENNA | And a lot of people will die.
|
| BLAKE | So we have to get her before that happens.
|
| CHEVNER | Well, you'd never make it through any of the normal entrances.
They're computer-linked and manned by mutoid guards.
|
| BLAKE | What about ventilation shafts?
|
| CHEVNER | No, they're closed off during the Long Cold. The atmosphere
is recycled. The regeneration plant. It's outside the
Centre and linked by inlet and outlet channels. We might
just make it through there.
|
| BLAKE | All right, we'll have to give it a try.
|
| CHEVNER | There's no guarantee it'll succeed. They're bound to have
all sorts of security devices linked into it.
|
| BLAKE | We have our own specialist in that area. [Into communicator]
Blake, do you read?
[The scene cuts between the cavern and flight deck.]
|
| CALLY | Cally, we hear you.
|
| BLAKE | [in the cavern] Vila, get on a thermal suit and come down
here fast.
|
| VILA | Me? Oh, now wait a minute, it's cold out there, and I'm very
susceptible to low temperatures. I've got a weak chest.
|
| AVON | The rest of you's not very impressive.
|
| BLAKE | You're wasting time. Come down here and bring your bag of
tricks.
|
| VILA | I don't know why it always has to be me. I'm tired
of being indispensable.
|
| BLAKE | Gan. [V.O.] Any space activity?
|
| GAN | Yes, a ship came in and docked about half an hour ago.
|
| BLAKE | [V.O.] Can you identify it?
|
| GAN | Well, the detectors read it as a military command cruiser
and the trajectory suggested it could have come from
Federation space headquarters.
|
| BLAKE | It could be something to do with Avalon's capture. Maybe
they're going to try and ship her out of here.
|
| JENNA | We'd better get moving quickly. [Scene: Teleport section. Avon enters and then Cally.]
|
| CALLY | [Hands over data.] The teleport co-ordinates based on the
voice fix.
[Vila enters wearing a thermal suit and puts on a teleport
bracelet.]
|
| AVON | Ready?
|
| VILA | Just a minute, I want to set this to maximum. [Turns up
temperature on his suit -- it is obviously too high.] Ah, ah!
|
| CALLY | Turn it down, Vila!
|
| VILA | Not a hope, I'd rather fry than freeze.
[Cally and Avon watch Vila putting on extra clothing and
exchange smiles after Avon teleports him.] [Scene: The cavern.]
|
| BLAKE | Vila! This is Chevner. [To Chevner] Come on, you lead,
we'll follow.
|
| VILA | [To Jenna] What's the, er, problem?
|
| JENNA | Avalon's been taken prisoner, we've got to get her out.
|
| VILA | Oh no. [Scene: The Centre laboratory. Travis is watching Avalon and the scientist on a monitor screen, the latter comes over to the camera.]
|
| SCIENTIST | We're finished -- we've everything we need.
|
| TRAVIS | Good. Prepare to take her down to transfer. They're standing
by.
|
| SCIENTIST | Right.
[mutoid enters with man]
|
| MUTOID | Will he do?
|
| TRAVIS | [Examines the man and hits him in the stomach.] Yeah, he
seems healthy enough -- he'll do.
[Servalan enters with mutoid guards.]
|
| TRAVIS | Supreme Commander, it's good to see you. A safe journey
I trust.
|
| SERVALAN | Nothing is safe any more. You've heard, of course, that
there have been two attempts on my life.
|
| TRAVIS | I have. I was very concerned.
|
| SERVALAN | I consider Blake to be responsible. [Slides fur coat off
and drops it on the floor.] Oh, not personally, of course;
but stories of his exploits are still circulating. They
excite people. The fact that he is still free gives them
hope. And that is dangerous, Travis. Hope is very dangerous.
|
| TRAVIS | The loss of it can be fatal, and the source of it all
is about to be wiped out.
|
| SERVALAN | I think you should know that there's been considerable
criticism of your handling of the Blake affair.
|
| TRAVIS | What?
|
| SERVALAN | Well, so far your operation has been very costly and there
have been no worthwhile results.
|
| TRAVIS | That's not entirely just. There have been two occasions
where I could have destroyed Blake. It was only the
Administration's insistence that the Liberator be captured
undamaged that stopped me.
|
| SERVALAN | I have made that point in your defence but I can't go on
making excuses. I've been under considerable pressure to
replace you.
|
| TRAVIS | Ohh?
|
| SERVALAN | Oh, so far I have resisted that pressure. But now, I need
your reassurance that my confidence has not been misplaced.
|
| TRAVIS | I think Project Avalon will silence the critics.
|
| SERVALAN | It does seem an excellent plan. It should have every
chance of success.
|
| TRAVIS | I'm glad you approve.
|
| SERVALAN | Oh, Travis, you know better than that. In my position one
never approves anything until it is an undisputed success.
|
| TRAVIS | Yeh.
|
| SERVALAN | However you have my full support, unofficially, of course.
|
| TRAVIS | Of course.
|
| SERVALAN | Officially, you have my presence and my attention.
[They move over to the viewscreen which shows Avalon.]
|
| SERVALAN | So, this is the famous Avalon is it? I'd expected something
more impressive.
|
| TRAVIS | All the checks have been made. They're ready to take her
down to transfer.
|
| SERVALAN | Well, don't let me delay you.
|
| TRAVIS | Take her down.
SCIENTIST{?}: [Off screen -- very faint] Right.
|
| SERVALAN | Travis, I think the labs have come up with what you wanted.
It's totally new -- and very costly.
[Travis takes a spherical phial out of a box held by a
mutoid.]
|
| TRAVIS | This is the only element that was missing.
|
| SERVALAN | When will you test it?
|
| TRAVIS | Now. Everything's prepared.
|
| SERVALAN | Excellent -- I'm curious to see it work myself.
[They move over to a screen showing an inner chamber in which
the 'expendable' is restrained in a seat. Travis introduces
the phial into the chamber.]
|
| TRAVIS | Check door seals.
|
| MUTOID | Door solid -- seals are firm.
|
| TRAVIS | We're ready.
|
| SERVALAN | Proceed.
|
| TRAVIS | Activate.
[The phial is smashed by remote control. A fungus appears
to grow over the man's head and body. Another screen
indicates the passage of time.]
|
| TRAVIS | Twenty-three seconds. It's fascinating. How long before it
neutralizes?
[The screen indicates that it has neutralized.]
|
| SERVALAN | It'll be clear now.
[They move from the screen to a window. The man's body
is now a skeleton.] Satisfied?
|
| TRAVIS | Completely. [Scene: A security robot enters a tunnel.] [Scene: A tunnel: Blake, Jenna, Chevner and Vila approach a door at the end of a short side tunnel.]
|
| BLAKE | Vila.
[Vila starts working on the lock.]
|
| CHEVNER | If he sets that alarm off...
|
| BLAKE | He knows his job.
[The security robot approaches.]
|
| JENNA | Security robot.
[They crouch down against the side of the tunnel as
the robot crosses the entrance from the main tunnel.]
|
| BLAKE | Vila! [Scene: Flight deck.]
|
| ZEN | Sensors report spacecraft approaching.
|
| AVON | Identify.
|
| ZEN | Analysis indicates they are Mark Four Federation
interceptors.
|
| CALLY | Compute course, speed and range.
|
| ZEN | Interceptors are bearing directly on this position.
Speed standard by two. Range two million spacials.
|
| CALLY | Have they seen us?
|
| ZEN | Hull sensors register scanning beams.
|
| AVON | So they know we're here. [He checks a console.] We'll
be within their attack range in minutes.
|
| CALLY | We must tell Blake. [Scene: The tunnel. The robot moves past and away.]
|
| BLAKE | All right, Vila. [Vila sets to work again. Blake spots
the robot again.] He's coming back.
[They flatten themselves against the wall again. Blake's
communicator beeps and he muffles the sound.] [Scene: Flight deck. Cally is pushing buttons on the force wall console communicator.]
|
| CALLY | He's not answering.
|
| GAN | They're coming in very fast. What do we do now?
|
| AVON | Run for it -- we daren't risk a fight now.
|
| CALLY | But that'll leave them trapped down there if they need to
get out quickly.
|
| AVON | If we stay here there might not be anything to get out
to. Our only hope is to make a fast orbit, lose those
interceptors, then come back onto station. Well, have you
got any better ideas? [Gan and Cally don't reply.] All right,
then let's get the hell out of here! Cally, take her on manual. [Scene: The tunnel. The robot moves away again.]
|
| BLAKE | OK, Vila. [Into communicator] Avon. Cally.
|
| JENNA | Problem?
|
| BLAKE | There's no response.
|
| JENNA | [Into communicator] Avon. Cally. [To Blake] Jammed.
|
| BLAKE | No. Well, let's hope they're back on station by the time we
need them. Come on, Vila.
|
| CHEVNER | Here we go.
|
| BLAKE | Right. [They clamber through as Vila packs up his tools.]
Vila, move it! [Scene: The Centre laboratory. Servalan and Travis are seated in a sort of waiting area.]
|
| MUTOID | [Into communicator] Yes. Understood. [She moves over
in front of Travis and Servalan.]
|
| TRAVIS | Well?
|
| MUTOID | Space security report. Our interceptors have detected
an alien ship.
|
| TRAVIS | Has it been identified?
|
| MUTOID | Available data suggests it could be the Liberator.
|
| TRAVIS | Suggests? Suggests? Of course it's the Liberator.
What action's been taken?
|
| MUTOID | Our ships are in pursuit.
|
| SERVALAN | Shouldn't you call them off?
|
| TRAVIS | Not really. I know they can't match the Liberator's
speed but it would look suspicious if they took no action.
|
| SERVALAN | True.
|
| TRAVIS | Hmm. If I read my man correctly we can expect him to
penetrate the Centre within the next twelve hours. [Scene: Another tunnel. They reach another door.]
|
| BLAKE | [To Chevner] Try this one or move on to another?
|
| CHEVNER | Well, I think we should be well inside the main Centre
now. Let's give it a go.
|
| BLAKE | Vila, you're in business again.
|
| VILA | That has Klyber fastenings on the other side. You need
a lot of explosives or a genius to open that.
|
| BLAKE | Can you do it?
|
| VILA | Of course.
|
| BLAKE | All right, we'll applaud you later. For now just get on
with it. [Scene: The Centre detention block, the scientist is putting Avalon in cell F2.]
|
| TRAVIS | Ah, are you finished with her?
|
| SCIENTIST | Yes, we've just put her in her cell.
|
| SERVALAN | Was everything satisfactory?
|
| SCIENTIST | Perfectly.
|
| COMPUTER | Interrogation team one report to duty control. Repeat.
Interrogation team one report to duty control.
[Travis manipulates a control panel to show cell F2.]
|
| COMPUTER | F-two. Avalon.
|
| TRAVIS | [To guard] You've drawn your new weapon from the armoury,
I see.
|
| GUARD | Sir.
|
| TRAVIS | Good. Stay alert.
|
| COMPUTER | Stand by medic unit and report to area control. [Pause]
[Chevner looks into the centre through a doorway]
Doctor Ellisdee to area blue six basement main [(fades out).] [Scene: Chevner backs through the door into the tunnel where the others wait.]
|
| CHEVNER | [To Blake] It's clear.
|
| BLAKE | Recognize the area?
|
| CHEVNER | No -- it must be one of the sublevels, but I don't
know which one.
|
| BLAKE | All right, let's find out.
[The group moves into the Centre.]
|
| COMPUTER | Yellow release now on project A-eight. Stand by blue control...
Interrogation team one report to duty control. Repeat.
Interrogation team one report to duty control.
[Blake, Jenna, Vila and Chevner advance.]
|
| COMPUTER | Attention block seven, report to duty control.
Project A-six security green now in operation.
|
| BLAKE | [Very quietly] There's a guard coming. [He stands in the
hallway and claps his hands.]
|
| VILA | [Whispering] What are you doing?
|
| BLAKE | Getting us a guided tour! [Loudly] You, there! What are
you doing in this section?
|
| GUARD | I was posted here by the security commander.
|
| BLAKE | My orders were that no one should enter this area. What is your
security commander's name?
|
| GUARD | Sergeant-Major Garven, may I have your name and authority, sir?
|
| VILA | [Prodding him with gun.] His name is Blake, and this is his
authority.
|
| BLAKE | You have a woman prisoner here called Avalon. Where is she being
kept?
|
| GUARD | All prisoners are being held in the main detention block.
[Chevner scouts ahead to the nearest corridor junction.]
|
| BLAKE | Right, take us there, now.
|
| VILA | He said "now". [Scene: Flight deck.]
|
| ZEN | Sensors indicate that Liberator is no longer being scanned.
|
| CALLY | I'll make a fast turn so that they do not pick us up again,
then we must return to position.
|
| GAN | How long will that take?
|
| ZEN | Minimum possible transit time is thirty-seven point zero
one minutes.
|
| GAN | That's a long time to hold on if you're in trouble.
|
| AVON | Then let's get on with it. Speculation and fast turns
aren't going to make it any shorter. [Scene: Detention block. Blake, Jenna, and Vila are around the guard.]
|
| BLAKE | [To the guard] Right, remember to do exactly as I told you.
And remember there are two guns right behind you. [To the
others] All right, let's go.
[Jenna holds both men's' guns on the guard as he marches Blake
and Vila down the hall as if they were prisoners. They approach
the guard at the entrance to the cells.]
|
| COMMANDER | Halt.
|
| GUARD | I have two prisoners to be confined in detention unit four.
|
| COMMANDER | This area is under maximum security and totally off limits.
|
| GUARD | Down, it's Blake! [He shoves Blake and Vila into the other
guard and takes off down the hall.]
|
| BLAKE | Chevner! [A fight ensues.] Jenna!
|
| COMPUTER | Detention block seven -- condition red. [Alarm starts.]
|
| BLAKE | Get after him, Jenna.
[Blake manipulates the control panel -- various detainees
appear on the monitors as he does so.]
|
| COMPUTER | A-twelve Istar. S-eight Hend. N-fifteen Raiker. T-five Kalor.
G-one Pelar. F-two Avalon.
|
| BLAKE | I hope she's all right.
|
| JENNA | [Returning from chasing the runaway guard.] I lost him, he must
have got down a transit shaft.
|
| BLAKE | Right, cover this end.
[Giving him a teleport bracelet] Chevner, put this on. Get down
and cover the other corridor.
|
| BLAKE | Come on, Vila. [He and Vila go into an inner corridor.] F-two --
there, open that. [Into communicator] Liberator, come in
Liberator, stand by to teleport. Liberator, do you read me?
[Jenna, Chevner, and the guards engage in a gun battle
as Vila opens the door and during the ensuing conversation
and escape.]
|
| BLAKE | Avalon -- I'm Blake. We had hoped to get you out sooner,
we've had a bit of trouble.
|
| VILA | [Noting the brief tunic Avalon wears] She'll freeze to
death dressed like that.
|
| BLAKE | [To Vila, giving him his utility belt and gun] Take this,
and this.
|
| VILA | Right.
|
| BLAKE | [To Avalon, giving her his outer top] Put this on. Right.
Let's move it...Right Vila, fall back...Go...Jenna. [To Avalon]
Right, go!
[They make their way out of the Centre, exchanging fire
with the guards.]
|
| CHEVNER | [To Vila] Come on.
[Blake is hit in the shoulder.]
|
| JENNA | Ahh!
|
| BLAKE | I'm all right -- go on.
[The chase continues until they exit the original outer door.
Avalon is shot in the leg and must be helped out by the others.]
|
| BLAKE | Chevner, the security robot. [Into communicator] Avon! Cally!
Bring us up! [Scene: Cuts between the Liberator and the tunnel.]
|
| ZEN | Liberator has resumed original position and status.
|
| AVON | You'd better switch on the communication channel.
[Gan crosses flight deck and switches it on.]
|
| BLAKE | [V.O.] Liberator, we need teleport now. Come in, Liberator,
Liberator, do you read me? We need teleport now! [End V.O.]
Do you hear me? Bring us up! Avon! Cally!
[Avon rushes into the teleport section. The teleport
activates just in time to save them.]
|
| AVON | Welcome back.
|
| BLAKE | Vila, Jenna, get the ship moving. Gan, take care of Avalon --
put her down in a cabin. If the Federation find out where we are,
they'll send up everything they've got after us.
|
| AVON | What went wrong?
|
| BLAKE | I was about to ask you that. [Scene: The Centre. Travis and Servalan are standing at a communication screen.]
|
| GUARD | [On screen] We have a firm location reading and an
accurate track.
|
| TRAVIS | Have the pursuit ships been launched?
|
| GUARD | Yes, sir.
|
| TRAVIS | Good. Keep me informed. Couple of hours and it should be all over. [Scene: A room on the Liberator. Chevner, Cally, and Avalon -- now changed out of her tunic -- are sitting round. Jenna enters.]
|
| JENNA | [To Avalon] How are you feeling?
|
| AVALON | I'm fine. I'm perfectly all right. But my tunic -- it is
very important, my tunic.
|
| JENNA | It's all right, relax, I'll go and get it for you.
|
| CALLY | You just rest for a while. Perhaps we could talk later.
I've admired your work for the resistance for a long time.
[Chevner looks strangely at Avalon.] [Scene: Flight deck. Blake is examining a Federation gun. Avon and Gan are looking at a control console. Jenna enters.]
|
| JENNA | Avalon seems to have recovered.
|
| BLAKE | Jenna, there's something wrong. There's something about
our escape that bothers me.
|
| JENNA | Well, like what for instance?
|
| BLAKE | Like the fact that we did escape. Federation troops are
very efficient, they're highly trained and they totally
outnumbered us and yet we still managed to escape.
|
| JENNA | Well, we were lucky.
|
| BLAKE | Yes, we were. One of those guards got a clear shot at me.
The impact knocked me over, that's all.
|
| JENNA | That should have ripped your shoulder off.
|
| BLAKE | Yes, and Avalon was hit in the leg. [Shoots at a tumbler
on a table. It falls over. He picks it up and inspects
it] A nasty kick, that's all. Avon, what do you make of
this? [Tosses the weapon to Avon.]
|
| AVON | It's not standard issue. Low energy bolt discharge. This
could bruise or stun, but it couldn't cause any serious injury.
|
| GAN | A dud gun doesn't make sense.
|
| BLAKE | Exactly. I think they wanted us to escape.
|
| AVON | That's an interesting idea but I don't see the logic.
|
| BLAKE | Neither do I.
|
| AVON | The Federation chases you all over the galaxy with the
highly understandable desire to destroy you, then when
they've got you pinned down they let you go. Why?
|
| JENNA | They could have got all of us, but there were still three
of you left on the Liberator.
|
| BLAKE | The Liberator! That's it! They must want the Liberator.
The only way they could do that is to put somebody here
on board. The whole thing has been set up and we have fallen
for it beautifully.
|
| GAN | Not Avalon. I mean, we are sure that woman is Avalon,
aren't we?
|
| JENNA | Well, yes, I've only met her once, but, yes, that's her.
|
| AVON | Then it must be Chevner.
|
| GAN | Chevner. How do you think he'll do it?
|
| BLAKE | I don't know. We've got to find out. Gan, you stay
here. [To Avon and Jenna] You two come with me. [Scene: They hurry to the room and discover Cally unconscious. Avon goes in to check on her.]
|
| AVON | She's alive.
|
| BLAKE | [To Jenna] Warn the others. Start searching. He's got
to be found. [to Avon] You stay and look after her. [Scene: Blake and Vila meet in a corridor.]
|
| BLAKE | Jenna tell you?
|
| VILA | Yes, but there's no sign of him in any of the cabins.
|
| BLAKE | Right, let's try the hold. [Scene: Avalon enters the flight deck and finds Gan alone there.]
|
| GAN | Avalon.
|
| AVALON | Hello.
|
| GAN | Come and sit down. Here, let me help you. Are you
feeling better now?
|
| AVALON | I'm fine, thank you.
|
| GAN | Ah, good. There. [He helps her to the couch.]
|
| AVALON | Where's Blake?
|
| GAN | He's gone to look for Chevner. Wait a minute, wasn't...
wasn't Chevner with you?
|
| AVALON | Yes, but he attacked Cally and then he dragged me out.
I thought he was going to use me as a hostage, but then he
just went off somewhere.
|
| GAN | So Blake was right. Well, they'll find him -- don't you
worry. Is there anything you want?
|
| AVALON | Oh, yes, my tunic. There is something I need.
|
| GAN | Ah well, I...I'll go and find it for you. [Scene: Jenna returns to the room and finds Cally alone, slumped in a chair. As she is tending to her, a very badly injured Chevner staggers towards them.]
|
| JENNA | Ahhhh!
[Chevner collapses, Jenna goes over to him, he mouths something
that is indistinct over the background noise.] [Scene: Teleport section. Gan and Avalon enter.]
|
| GAN | Jenna had your tunic in here. She must have left it around
somewhere. Ah yes, here it is. [He retrieves it from behind
the console and gives it to her.]
|
| AVALON | Thank you.
|
| GAN | There.
[Avalon takes the phial out of the tunic and holds it up,
dropping the tunic]
|
| JENNA | [Entering from the corridor] Gan, that's not Avalon.
[Avalon drops the phial and it lands on her tunic. She
struggles with Jenna and Gan, but is obviously stronger than
they are. Blake and Vila arrive and the four of them overpower
her.]
|
| BLAKE | [To Jenna] Get something to tie her up with! [Scene: Flight deck. The phial is under the dome in front of Zen.]]
|
| ZEN | Preliminary analysis suggests the phial contains a
virus artificially mutated from the delta seven-zero-six
classification subset two-zero-five originally known
incorrectly as the Phobon plague. This mutation appears
to have a short life cycle and be self-eliminating.
|
| GAN | If she'd managed to crush that we'd have been wiped out
and the Liberator left totally unharmed.
|
| AVON | [Examining Avalon's head, from which he has removed a
portion of plastic and hair.] It very nearly worked, too.
They've made a perfect replica. This is the best robotic
engineering I've ever seen.
|
| JENNA | I never had a moments' doubt that it was Avalon.
|
| CALLY | I talked with her, about her work. Not details, but her
reasons and beliefs. I still find it hard to believe.
|
| AVON | Brilliant programming. They transferred complete key areas
of Avalon's personality. It's really quite impressive.
|
| BLAKE | And the only one it didn't completely fool was Chevner.
|
| JENNA | Ah, but he'd known the real Avalon for quite some time.
He must have been suspicious of this one.
|
| AVON | That's why it killed him.
|
| VILA | He shouldn't have tried to tackle it alone.
|
| AVON | He probably didn't. Just being suspicious would have been
enough. A machine of this type would have recognised that
easily, more easily than we would.
|
| BLAKE | Can you make it safe?
|
| AVON | I can deprogram it, scramble its brain.
|
| BLAKE | Can you reprogram it?
|
| AVON | No. A few minor functions, perhaps, not much else.
|
| BLAKE | That's enough. Jenna, take us back into the precise
orbit we were in. Cally, I want an exact locator fix on
that laboratory. We still have to get Avalon out of there. [Scene: The Centre. Servalan and Travis come through a door into a corridor, followed by a group of mutoids and guards.]
|
| SERVALAN | I think I'll stay on during Avalon's interrogation.
I have the feeling she's going to tell us a great deal.
|
| TRAVIS | There's no doubt of that.
|
| SERVALAN | When will you begin?
|
| TRAVIS | I want to finish with the Liberator first. As soon as
it's confirmed they've put a boarding party on her we'll
get started. [An intercom beeps and Travis answers it.]
Travis. What!? Are you sure of that? Keep checking,
I'm coming up. I don't understand. Space track control
say the Liberator's moved back into orbit.
|
| SERVALAN | It must be another ship.
|
| TRAVIS | No, no, no, they seem very certain.
[Alarms start to sound and a Mutoid enters]
|
| COMPUTER | Detention block one zero...
|
| MUTOID | Blake is here, sir, in the main laboratory.
|
| TRAVIS | Blake?
|
| MUTOID | He is demanding to see you.
|
| SERVALAN | He is demanding?
|
| MUTOID | I report only what I have been told, Commander. He also
says you are to bring Avalon with you.
|
| TRAVIS | How many of them are there?
|
| MUTOID | Just Blake, sir.
|
| TRAVIS | Right, I'll deal with this. Bring the prisoner. [Scene: The Centre laboratory. Blake, with the Avalon robot beside him, holds several scientists and guards at gunpoint. Travis and Servalan enter.]
|
| BLAKE | Ahh, Travis. Didn't work. It was very clever but it
didn't work.
|
| TRAVIS | How did you stop it?
|
| BLAKE | Does it matter? All I want to do is finish what I started.
I'm going to take Avalon out of here.
|
| TRAVIS | [Raising his artificial arm] I don't think so.
|
| BLAKE | [Taking out the phial] That would not be very clever.
|
| TRAVIS | You wouldn't do it.
|
| BLAKE | What have I got to lose?
|
| TRAVIS | It's not a pleasant death, Blake.
|
| BLAKE | So I gather, but it would have its compensations: I'd share
it with you -- and the Supreme Commander. Are you quite
sure I wouldn't do it?
|
| SERVALAN | Bring the prisoner in. [Travis grabs Avalon as she walks
past him.] Let her go. [He doesn't.] I said, let her go.
|
| TRAVIS | You still have to get her out of here, Blake. Are you sure
your teleport's fast enough to stop me killing you both?
|
| BLAKE | [Takes bracelet from the robot and gives it to Avalon.]
Put this bracelet on your wrist. [To Travis] I'm afraid
we've had to reprogram your machine slightly. It's nowhere
near as sophisticated as it was but it will perform a few
basic functions. [To the robot] Raise your arm. Enough.
Open your thumb and forefinger. [He holds the phial between
her finger and thumb.] Close the thumb and forefinger.
Enough. [To Travis and Servalan] The robot will crush the
phial in response to one of three triggers. A particular
word, a specific sound or a certain movement. You had all
better be very, very careful about what you say and do.
[Into communicator] Bring us up. [Blake and Avalon teleport
out.]
[Travis edges forwards and manages to catch the phial when the
robot drops it.]
|
| SERVALAN | [To Travis] Project Avalon has failed totally. There
will be a full inquiry. Until that time you are relieved
of your command.
|
| TRAVIS | [To himself] If it takes all my life, I will destroy you,
Blake. I will destroy you. I will destroy you.
|
| SERVALAN | Launch the pursuit ships.
|