Script for Shadow

by Chris Boucher

(c) 1978 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) 1992 by Susan Hill and Micky DuPree.

Dramatis Personae

Roj Blake
Kerr Avon
Jenna Stannis
Vila Restal
Cally
Oleg Gan
Zen
Orac
Bek
Hanna
Largo
The Enforcer
The Chairman

	[Space City. In Largo's quarters. Largo sits crosslegged on a platform. Bek and Hanna, dressed poorly, stand in front of him.]
LARGO	[Examining a pouch of gems] You did well.
BEK	The owner didn't think so.
LARGO	Did you kill him?
BEK	Were we supposed to?
LARGO	It's tidier.
BEK	Well, it's easy to be tidy from where you sit, Largo.
LARGO	Don't get clever, dream head.
HANNA	That wasn't the deal.
LARGO	The deal was whatever I say it was. [Removes clear cover of container, selects one of the small balls of golden liquid] I own you, dreamheads. [Hanna crawls reaches for the ball. Largo keeps it out of reach] Unhuhhhh. What do you say?
HANNA	Please, Largo.
LARGO	Awwww, come on, you need it more than that.
HANNA	Please, Largo.
LARGO	Pure shadow. You won't just die without it, you'll die in terrified agony.[Sets ball on platform. Hanna stretches for it]
HANNA	Please.
LARGO	Gooood. All right. [Shoves her roughly off platfom]
LARGO	I want your brother to ask for it. [Picks ball up.Bek extends his hand] One word from me, and your supply is gone -- forever.
BEK	You've been paid.
LARGO	Prove it.
BEK	I thought that honor was a big thing with the Terra Nostra.
LARGO	We own you, boy.
BEK	Please, Largo. Please.[Bek moves forward slowly]
LARGO	That's better. We owned you from your first tiny drop of shadow.
BEK	[Picks up Largo's gun] Use shadow? Do I look that stupid? [Largo moves] Oh, try it!
HANNA	There are the two he promised...
BEK	Hanna. Enough. The gems. [Hanna puts the gems in their bag]
LARGO	Nobody steals from the Terra Nostra.
BEK	We're innovators.
LARGO	You're dead.
BEK	Out, Hanna. Casual, don't run. [To Largo] Face down, Largo. Quickly. Quickly! Now close your eyes. [Largo complies.] Now stay like that. [As he leaves he drops a cylindar into a receptacle. After the door closes Largo starts to raise his leg. As he does a voice begins]
BEK	[V.O.] Go ahead and try it. Killing a Terra Nostra pusher will be the best fun I've had all day. You stupid murdering scumball. [Hallway of Space City. Bek comes panting to Hanna]
HANNA	They'll catch us.
BEK	Get Peety meet me at launch grid six in twenty minutes.
HANNA	Nobody gets away from them.
BEK	We will. Look, I can get a ship.
HANNA	Launch clearance, what about launch clearance?
BEK	The crew on grid six are for sale.
HANNA	It's too late for that.
BEK	Hanna, she told me to look after you and Peety. That's what I'm trying to do. Grid six, twenty minutes. Right? Right?
HANNA	Right. [They exit in different directions. Liberator comes into view through the port] [Flight deck of the Liberator]
JENNA	Approach completed.
GAN	All vectors are matched and holding
CALLY	Power down..now.
JENNA	Switching to automatics.
ZEN	Confirm. All systems functioning. Status is firm.
GAN	[Looking at the screen] Very pretty.
JENNA	I know. Piloting wasn't bad either.
BLAKE	So. That is Space City.
VILA	Also known as the satellite of sin.
AVON	By whom?
VILA	Me.
AVON	It had to be someone of limited imagination.
VILA	Pick a pleasure, any pleasure.
JENNA	And you'll find it for sale in Space City.
BLAKE	If you've got the money.
VILA	But we have, we have.
GAN	And if you can stomach doing business with the Terra Nostra.
BLAKE	We're going to use them, Gan, not do business with them.
AVON	A subtle distinction that escapes me for the moment.
BLAKE	Now don't tell me you have a moral objection to using their organization to infiltrate Earth?
AVON	Of course not.
GAN	Well, I have.
BLAKE	Think, Gan, think what they've got: men, material, information. Think what we could do with a fraction of the resources they control.
GAN	No, YOU think, Blake. Think what it is they control. Everything dirty, degrading, and cruel on just about every colonized world.
BLAKE	Earth is all I'm interested in.
VILA	The Terra Nostra aren't responsible for everything, Gan. I could go and murder somebody now and it wouldn't be their fault. Mind you, if I picked his pocket afterwards they'd want their cut.
AVON	It's largely academic anyway. I don't think we'll get within shouting distance of them.
VILA	The Terra Nostra run Space City.
CALLY	How can you be sure of that? You say they're a criminal organization who work in secret.
BLAKE	They work in secret on Earth and the Federated worlds.
GAN	Organizing crime.
BLAKE	Space City itself is neutral territory. Not officially owned by the Terra Nostra but it's an open secret.
CALLY	A neutral base for an outlawed organization?
BLAKE	Well, presumably it has its uses.
VILA	Entertainment, for example
JENNA	Why don't you take a cold shower or something?
VILA	And risk being left behind when we go and meet your friend?
JENNA	Largo's no friend of mine. When I met him on Callisto he forgot to mention he was a member of the organization. Just said he wanted me to run a cargo into Earth. He didn't tell me what it was at first.
GAN	Drugs?
JENNA	Shadow. I turned him down.
AVON	Very sensible. Possession carries a mandatory death sentence.
JENNA	That wasn't the reason.
ZEN	Navigation computers are receiving interrogation signal from Space City traffic approach control.
BLAKE	It's about time. Request standoff position. Cally, stand by on the teleport. Jenna, get on the communicator and see if you can contact your friend Largo. Gan, Avon, get ready as well.
ZEN	Vector coordinates received and laid in.
BLAKE	Execute.
VILA	Er, what about me?
BLAKE	You're staying here.
VILA	What?
BLAKE	Where I can find you if I need you.
VILA	But that's Space City, one of my all-time great ambitions.
BLAKE	You'd probably be disappointed.
VILA	I'll take that chance.
BLAKE	I would never forgive myself, Vila. [Compartment in Space City. Hanna is sitting next to a pile of silvery cloth, staring into space]
BEK	Hanna, twenty minutes I said. That launch crew goes off shift in an hour. Well we may not get another chance. Where is Peety? [Hanna turns her head toward the silvery cloth]
BEK	How? How? [Grabs one of the golden balls] That's how!
HANNA	He didn't take any more. He didn't need another dose for twelve hours, at least twelve hours. He just ... just died.
BEK	Just died. That's what shadow does. It kills you!
HANNA	Think I don't know that?
BEK	Well then why? Why so stupid, Hanna? Stupid. Stupid Peety. [Lifts cloth and looks at body] Look after you.
HANNA	Not your fault.
BEK	Largo. [starts to get up]
HANNA	Bek? [clutches Bek]
BEK	What?
HANNA	It won't help Peety.
BEK	It'll help me.
HANNA	What about me?
BEK	[Door behind them opens. Enforcer enters with a gun.] You? It's too late, remember. You're already dead, like Peety.
ENFORCER	[Stands in door pointing gun with both hands] Must run in the family. Shed the gun. Largo wants you two, very badly. [Flight deck of the Liberator]
VILA	Blake's wrong.
CALLY	I know how you feel, Vila
VILA	I don't mean about leaving me behind. I've wanted to visit Space City ever since I was old enough to read the graffiti in the Juvenile Detention Wards. But I'm not talking about that, I don't care about that.
CALLY	No, of course not.
VILA	I don't!
CALLY	Am I arguing?
VILA	I'm talking about his great plan to enlist the help of the Terra Nostra.
CALLY	He plans to buy their help.
VILA	All right, buy their help. It still won't work.
CALLY	Well, you should have spoken before.
VILA	Who listens to me, ever. Does anyone ever listen to me? I'm telling you, it'll be a disaster.
CALLY	Relax.
VILA	You don't know them.
CALLY	Well, I know Blake.
VILA	Thinks of himself as a hard man. Hard? He's strictly a fluffy-cheeked amateur compared to those boys.
CALLY	I think Blake can look after himself.
VILA	He's led a very sheltered life.
CALLY	What, Blake has led a sheltered life?
VILA	Look, he was an Alpha grade on Earth. A highly privileged group, the Alphas. Wouldn't last five minutes among the Delta service grades where I grew up. And it's the service grades where the Terra Nostra really operate. Without anesthetic, usually.
CALLY	No, Vila.
VILA	No what?
CALLY	No, I am not going to operate the teleport for you.
VILA	I don't understand.
CALLY	I do. You're about to suggest it would be a sensible idea if you went across and gave the others the benefit of your experience.
VILA	I hadn't thought of that. What a very good idea, Cally.
CALLY	No.
VILA	Cally?
CALLY	I'm going to get myself something to drink. Call me if anything happens. [Exits]
VILA	Miserable alien. I just want to see what it's like.
ZEN	Information. Main visual is available. [displays Space City on screen.]
VILA	So?
ZEN	You expressed a desire to see what it is like.
VILA	Very funny, Zen. Chuckle chuckle. If you were a decent computer you'd be able to operate the teleport system like Orac can. Like Orac can! Key, key, ah key. [Inserts Key] Orac? Orac? Are you in there, Orac?
ORAC	Am I in where? What precisely do you imagine I am? Some sort of tame rodent in a cage?
VILA	That's precisely what I imagine you are. A rat in a box.
ORAC	I see no point in continuing this conversation.
VILA	Now, don't start sulking again, or I shall switch you off and throw away the key.
ORAC	Soon, that will be no longer a problem.
VILA	Ay?
ORAC	Well? What do you want?
VILA	Orac, I've got a little job for you. [Hall of Space City. Gan has his bracelet raised, pressing the communicator button]
AVON	[V.O.] I don't think that at this stage you really need to know specific details of our plans, do you?
LARGO	[V.O.] As you say. [In Largo's quarters]
AVON	In effect, we want to buy cooperation and expertise from the Earth-based network.
LARGO	Oh. Why are you telling me all this?
JENNA	We don't know who rules the Terra Nostra. Possibly you don't either. But you do know how to get our proposition to them. [Jenna is keeping her finger on the communication button to keep the channel open]
LARGO	A go-between.
AVON	Naturally, we would be prepared to pay for your services.
LARGO	[Chuckles] Forgive me, Blake, but one of the reasons I made my home in a free city like this is because I adore eccentrics.
JENNA	Do we take it that you're not interested?
LARGO	Oh, I'm fascinated. But I'm just an independent businessman.
AVON	[Takes two gems from a bag, lays them on Largo's platform] Are you sure?
LARGO	Look, the Terra Nostra doesn't exist. Believe me, it's a..a..phantom.
JENNA	A shadow?
LARGO	A myth, a legend.
JENNA	It's a legend a lot of people believe in.
AVON	And yet you know it doesn't exist? Why are you so certain?
LARGO	I've got a contact in Federation Security. If the syndicate existed, then he'd know about it, wouldn't he?
JENNA	This contact, he wouldn't be the one who arrested me after I refused your cargo, would he?
LARGO	Oh, that was a mistake, Jenna. I was doing a favor for a friend. If I'd known what the cargo was I wouldn't have touched it myself.
AVON	You didn't answer the question.
LARGO	Why do I feel as if I'm on trial here, um?
AVON	Why do I feel as if you should be? [Scoops the gems back up]
LARGO	They're beautiful stones. I'm a bit of a collector, in a modest way. I could make you an offer.
AVON	They have a sentimental value for me.
LARGO	Oh, family heirlooms, eh?
AVON	No, I'm just sentimental about money. [Turns back to Blake] We're wasting our time with him.
BLAKE	Yes, I think so. [Rises. Snaps his fingers. Avon reluctantly hands over the gems.]
BLAKE	Shall we go? [to Largo] I'm sorry we couldn't do business.
LARGO	Let me at least offer you some refreshment.
JENNA	We didn't come for refreshment, Largo.
LARGO	Oh, but I insist. [Enforcer enters, points a gun at the group]
ENFORCER	He insists.
BLAKE	Maybe we should have listened to Gan.[Cut to Gan. A gun appears next to his head] Looks as though he was right after all.
LARGO	Communicators please. And those. Thank you. [Largo collects bracelets and guns. Jenna tries to keep her bracelet with the communication channel open. Largo strikes her on the shoulder,grabs her arm and takes bracelet from her.]
LARGO	Amateur! [Gan stumbles in] A pro keeps it simple. [Flight deck of the Liberator]
CALLY	Vila? Vila? Zen, where is he? I left him on watch.
ZEN	He is no longer on the ship.
CALLY	But he must be.
ZEN	He teleported into the city with the assistance of the one called Orac.
CALLY	I forgot about Orac.
ZEN	The one called Orac is not concerned for the safety of the Liberator.
CALLY	Well where is Orac then? He's not in the teleport section; I just came from there.
ZEN	In return for the remote activation of the teleport system, Vila conveyed the one called Orac to another part of the Liberator.
CALLY	Which part, where?
ORAC	Be silent. [Deck and Zen go dark for a moment, lights come back, but Zen does not]
CALLY	Orac? Zen? Zen! [Cally opens communication channel from the central console]
CALLY	Vila, this is Cally. Come in please. Vila!
VILA	[V.O., dreamily] What do you want, Cally?
CALLY	I want you back here. Get ready to teleport.
VILA	Wasting your time, Cally. I'm not wearing a bracelet. I'm not going to be snatched away in the middle of...in the middle of anything. Sightseeing. And you should see some of the sights I'm seeing. No. Perhaps you shouldn't.
CALLY	Where is Orac.
VILA	[V.O.] Promised not to tell. I never break a promise.
CALLY	Oh yes, you do.
VILA	[V.O.] Almost never. Orac's all right. He can't run away.
CALLY	Oh, you fool, Vila.
VILA	Stop worrying, Cally. I'll be back soon. Tell you what, I'll bring you back a present. What would you like, Cally? Name it and it's yours.
CALLY	A necklace, Vila, made from your teeth. [Cally looks for Orac in Liberator corridors]
ORAC	No.
CALLY	Orac?
ORAC	I will destroy the life support system if you attempt to find me.
CALLY	Why are you doing this? [Largo's lockup in Space City. Gan and Avon are examining the door. Bek and Hanna are on the floor]
GAN	I don't think even Vila could open that. I wonder what they'll do?
AVON	A pro keeps it simple. I imagine they'll kill us. You can't get much simpler than that.
GAN	Sorry, Avon.
AVON	That makes all the difference.
GAN	I don't know how they spotted me.
BEK	'I don't know how they spotted me.' [Hanna giggles]
AVON	[Kneels by Hanna] Something amuses you?
BEK	You were using him as a lookout? I mean, he'd really blend into the background, wouldn't he? What did you do, put up a sign?
AVON	Is that what you did or is Largo keeping you here as a favor?
HANNA	We made a fool of him.
AVON	Obviously.
HANNA	That's why we haven't been killed yet. He's making an example of us.
BEK	Oh, shut up Hanna, Its none of their business.
GAN	Isn't it? I mean if they're making an example of you...
BEK	It's not for outsiders. You don't know much about the Terra Nostra, do you?
AVON	Do you?
BEK	Leave her alone. We are an object lesson for their own people. Largo's on his way up in the organization. One sign of weakness and he'll be on his way down again, probably minus his head.
GAN	Now there's a happy thought.
AVON	It's a pity we won't live to see it.
GAN	We're not dead yet.
AVON	Largo hasn't got what he wants yet. [Flight deck of the Liberator]
BLAKE	[v.o.] Liberator, this is Blake. Come in please.
CALLY	Blake, this is Cally. We have a problem.
BLAKE	[v.o.] Later, Cally, this is more important. We've made a deal but we need the rest of the money as a demonstration of good faith. They don't entirely trust us yet. Have...Zen collect it and bring in across.
CALLY	All the money? [Largo's quarters. Largo holds bracelet for Blake]
BLAKE	Yes, Cally, all of it.
LARGO	Ah, it's a trick. Kill him.
BLAKE	Wait a minute. Why do you think it's a trick?
LARGO	You think I'm a fool. Zen can't leave your ship. Your shuttlecraft is here in the city.
BLAKE	We carry more than one shuttle.
LARGO	How many?
BLAKE	Four.
LARGO	Four. [Into bracelet] Cally, this is Largo.
CALLY	[v. o.] Yes.
LARGO	Shall we send your shuttle back or one of ours?
CALLY	[v.o.] Neither. It is not necessary.
LARGO	Why not?
CALLY	We have another shuttle.
LARGO	Another shuttle. Quite a ship. How many shuttles do you carry?
CALLY	He's testing me. Probably too far away.[Touches forehead. V.O.] Blake, Blake, I shall count. When I reach the right number, call my name. One, two, three, four.
BLAKE	Cally, are you still there?
CALLY	Sorry, what did you ask?
LARGO	I was just wondering how many shuttles you carry.
CALLY	Four. Does it matter?
LARGO	We'll be expecting your man, Zen.
CALLY	Right.
LARGO	[aside] And he won't be expecting us. We shan't be needing his other two friends after all. Kill 'em.
ENFORCER	What about her? [Points gun at Jenna]
LARGO	We'll..keep her till we're sure. [Flight deck of the Liberator]
CALLY	Orac, I need Zen. I will ask no questions. Zen, put the battle computers on line. [Zen's lights come on] Put up the force wall, activate the radiation flare shield, and clear the neutron blasters for firing.
ZEN	Completed. Neutron blasters are cleared for firing.
CALLY	Open up a voice channel to the city's central control.
ZEN	Confirmed.
VOICE	[v.o.] Central control, central control. Go ahead.
CALLY	This is the weaponry officer on the battle cruiser Liberator.
VOICE	[v.o.]Duty officer, your computer took a priority channel. Whatever you want had better be important.
CALLY	Four of my friends are being held prisoner in your city. Unless you release them immediately I shall open fire on you.
VOICE	[v.o.] Listen, lady. You shouldn't drink in those cheap dives. You go blind eventually.
CALLY	Zen, report battle computer status to central control.
ZEN	Confirmed.
VOICE	[v.o. ] All right. So you're at battle stations. You don't expect us to believe that you'd..
CALLY	A man called Largo is holding my friends. You have six minutes to release them.
VOICE	You can't be serious.
CALLY	I was never more so. You have five minutes and fifty- five seconds.
ZEN	Detectors report high speed approach.
CALLY	Scan.
ZEN	Gun ship. It is manoeuvering for attack position.
CALLY	Warn them off.
ZEN	Warning ignored.
CALLY	Compute coordinates, range blasters.
ZEN	Blasters ranged.
CALLY	Warn them again.
ZEN	Warning ignored. They are pressing their attack.
CALLY	I gave them a chance. [Fires. Ship explodes]
VOICE	[v.o.] Hold your fire!
CALLY	Central, the next shot will be right down your throats. You have three minutes and thirty seconds. [Largo's lockup]
ENFORCER	You two, out. [Waves gun at Avon and Gan]
AVON	Why?
ENFORCER	You'd prefer not to know.
AVON	Your professional simplicity is beginning to irritate me.
ENFORCER	Well think of it as a temporary problem. Move. [Bek and Hanna laugh, then move away, distracting the enforcer. Avon and Gan hit him over the head]
GAN	[To enforcer] Simple enough for you?
HANNA	Don't stand around. There's more where he came from. [Largo's quarters. Largo is holding a gun on Blake and Jenna. Gan and Avon burst in; Avon has the enforcer's gun. Blake kicks Largo and Gan gives him a chop to the neck. Gan hurries to Jenna. Avon goes to Blake, still holding the gun. One-handed he picks up the handcuff keys, unlocks Blake.]
BLAKE	Your sense of timing is as impeccable as ever.
AVON	I have always admired your patience. [Avon flips the handcuff keys to Gan.]
GAN	Are you all right Jenna?
JENNA	What does it look like? [Hanna and Bek enter. Bek starts to pick up Largo's gun.]
BLAKE	[To Bek] Leave it! [Avon holds a gun on Bek. Communicator chimes]
BLAKE	[into communicator] Largo.
VOICE	Central. You're holding prisoners. Release them.
BLAKE	What?
VOICE	There's a lunatic woman threatening to destroy the city. Get those people back to their ship.
BLAKE	Must I? [Smiles]
VOICE	Do it, Largo.
JENNA	I think we've outstayed our welcome.
BLAKE	[into bracelet] All right, Cally. We're ready to come across. [Gan and Avon join them for teleportation. Avon still holds a gun on Bek and Hanna]
BEK	We'll come with you.
BLAKE	I'm sorry.
BEK	Sorry? Polite but inadequate. [Raises gun] We can't stay here, so you're not going to leave without us. [Blake, Avon, Jenna and Gan teleport]
HANNA	I think they went without us.
BEK	There's gratitude for you.
HANNA	Gratitude. You point a gun at them and expect gratitude? Maybe we could use him as a hostage? [indicates Largo]
BEK	Him? After his foul-up you won't get a drink of water in exchange for him. [Bek aims gun at Largo on the floor. Blake materializes]
BLAKE	I changed my mind.
BEK	Why?
HANNA	Do we care?
BLAKE	Put these on. [Hands them bracelets]
BEK	What's in it for you?
BLAKE	You can help me with one of my crew. His name's Vila and he's suffering from a bad attack of alcoholic remorse. [Into bracelet] All right, Cally. [To them] He wants to make a necklace of his teeth. [Flight deck of the Liberator. Bek stands at pilot station with Jenna]
BLAKE	No effect on the flight systems.
JENNA	Everything seems normal enough. Maybe she imagined it.
BLAKE	That's not like Cally.
JENNA	Not like Orac either.
BLAKE	[As Gan and Avon enter] Any luck?
GAN	Can't find Orac. Even tried calling his name.
AVON	Oh, I'm sorry I missed that. It's the kind of natural stupidity no amount of training could ever hope to match.
BLAKE	You found Orac?
AVON	No, but then I never really expected to. It is one of Vila's more elaborate practical jokes.
BLAKE	Talking of Vila, how long before he comes round?
BEK	Oh, several hours. And he won't feel much like laughing when he does.
BLAKE	Oh, I'll guarantee that. All right, we've wasted enough time on it. Let's get back to the Terra Nostra.
GAN	Back? We only just managed to get away from them.
BLAKE	We chose the wrong approach, that's all.
GAN	Is that all? I thought maybe we'd chosen the wrong people to get involved with.
AVON	WE chose the wrong approach?
BLAKE	I chose the wrong approach. Does it matter?
AVON	Yes, it does.
BLAKE	All right, Avon. You were right and I was wrong. You said persuasion wouldn't work and it didn't. So now we use force.
AVON	Force? Yes, of course. Law makers, law breakers, let us fight them all. Why not?
BLAKE	The Terra Nostra's wealth comes from organizing and controlling all sorts of crime. But their biggest profits and a lot of their control comes from one area.
JENNA	Shadow.
BLAKE	That is the only one that matters. That is what we attack.
AVON	And how do you propose to go about it? Where would we get the information we would need?
BLAKE	Bek, would you ask your sister to join us. please?
CALLY	[V.O.] Blake.
BLAKE	Yes, Cally.
CALLY	Has anyone found Orac yet?
BLAKE	[V.O] No,I think we'll have to wait for Vila.
CALLY	Well, there may not be time for that.
BLAKE	[V.O.] Well, has something else happened?
CALLY	No, not exactly.
BLAKE	Well what exactly?
CALLY	A..a feeling I have.
BLAKE	Come back to the flight deck.
CALLY	[V.O] I should keep on searching.
BLAKE	Leave it, Cally.
CALLY	Yes. [Breaks link] Orac? [Turns into another corridor]
ORAC	I warned you not to look for me. [Cally is drawn mentally into Orac.] [Space City. Largo talks with Chairman over wall comm. Chairman is seen on screen, playing with a spider in a clear tank as he speaks]
LARGO	I know where to look for them, chairman.
CHAIRMAN	Only your stupidity makes it necessary to look for them.
LARGO	I had to ensure that they took my agent with them. When she is reporting on their movements I'll follow them and capture them.
CHAIRMAN	So.
LARGO	Chairman, the rewards will be threefold. The money they are carrying, which is substantial; the bounty from the authorities, which is also substantial, and more important of all, the demonstration that we can punish where the Federation itself can't even reach.
CHAIRMAN	Very well, Largo, a heavy cruiser will be at your disposal, but don't delay it too long or the rewards will be one-fold: the demonstration that we can punish.
LARGO	I thank you for your confidence, Chairman.
CHAIRMAN	Largo, that is too small a thing to thank me for. [he closes the communication connection]
LARGO	You'll pay for that.
ENFORCER	Before or after he finds out that you are lying.
LARGO	Was I lying?
ENFORCER	It would make me very unhappy to think that you tried to use me, like some fool.
LARGO	You're just an enforcer. You've a gun at your brain. Of course I was lying. Except about the girl.
ENFORCER	She's not your agent.
LARGO	Ohh, but she is. That dreamhead is going to tell us exactly where Blake and his friends decide to go. [Flight deck of the Liberator. A small ball of shadow is in Zen's analysis dome]
BLAKE	Don't worry.
HANNA	It's all I have
BLAKE	You'll get it back. Zen. Analyze. I want the derivation.
ZEN	The main constituent is an organic compound, probably derived from the xerophyte of the genus Korda.
AVON	A cactus.
ZEN	Confirmed. The species is alpha seven oblique five. Known as the moon disc, it was greatly prized for its partial telepathy and its ability to move short distances to avoid direct sunlight.
HANNA	It stayed in the shadows.
BLAKE	That's where the name comes from.
ZEN	Commercial collectors rendered the moon disc extinct on its native planet.
BLAKE	Which planet, Zen?
ZEN	Zondar. And when it proved impossible to grow in any other environment the total extinction of the species followed logically.
BLAKE	Only it didn't.
ZEN	There are traces of an element --
BLAKE	All right, Zen, we've got enough. Have the navigation computers set in a course for the planet Zondar.
ZEN	Confirmed.
AVON	Wait.
BLAKE	It has to be the source, the key to all the Terra Nostra's power. If we control that, we control them.
JENNA	Right.
GAN	[steps directly in front of Blake] The drug in return for their help? Blake, that would make us pushers.
BLAKE	Well, maybe we won't keep our end of the bargain.
GAN	And that would make us cheats.
BLAKE	That will make us winners, Gan. That's the only excuse for fighting.
JENNA	It's too good a chance to miss, Gan.
BEK	I'd like to see that, to see them grovel.
AVON	When the Federation introduced the death penalty for possession, the President described Shadow as the greatest single threat to the welfare of mankind.
BLAKE	Don't tell me you agree with Gan.
AVON	No, no, no, I'm just...interested. It seems to me that we have identified the source of that threat rather easily.
BLAKE	So why haven't they?
AVON	Exactly.
BLAKE	Maybe we're about to find out.
AVON	Maybe we already know. [Liberator corridor. Vila staggers, holding head]
VILA	Never again. I'm dying. [Cally is lying on floor, next to Orac] Cally, what's the matter? [Cally looks at him, eyes open but unseeing] Cally? Cally? It's only me. What's the matter with her? [Long mental scream from Cally.]
ORAC	Obviously, she's insane. [Liberator flight deck]
BLAKE	How is she?
AVON	The same. I left the girl with her.
BLAKE	Have you run the diagnostic checks again?
AVON	Still nothing. There is no physical explanation for her condition unless somehow it's locked up in here [indicates Orac] and I don't see how that can be.
BLAKE	She is an alien.
AVON	She is more human than I am.
VILA	That's not difficult.
AVON	Have you remembered anything yet?
VILA	It's a complete blank
BEK	With what you ..
VILA	From the time you left to meet Largo to when I woke up back on the ship.
BEK	With what you drank you're lucky to remember who you are.
AVON	I would hardly call that lucky.
BLAKE	This is not helping Cally.
VILA	Orac's told you what happened.
BLAKE	Nothing, according to him.
JENNA	I don't believe it.
AVON	Computers do not lie.
JENNA	Orac is not a computer.
AVON	That was its creator's vanity. Orac is a computer. It is a highly sophisticated tool, and that is all.
JENNA	Well, something frightened Cally.
GAN	Yes, and so badly she may never come back from wherever she's hiding.
AVON	It was not Orac.
BLAKE	Maybe it wasn't anything -- anything real.
ZEN	Information. Flight time remaining is now fourty-eight minutes. Visual and detector readouts are now available.
BLAKE	Let's see it, Zen. [Zondar is shown on the screen]
VILA	It's a pretty color.
BEK	Oh, considering what it is.
GAN	Let's hope they don't know we're coming.
BLAKE	There's no reason why they should. [Space City. Chairman is seen on communications screen]
ENFORCER	They'll be making planetfall anytime now.
CHAIRMAN	Excellent. Are all Largo's addicts so available?
ENFORCER	Yes, Chairman. It seems he's been adding it to all the shadow that we supplied.
CHAIRMAN	Radioactive, you say?
ENFORCER	Not exactly. Controlled particle emission. Detectible only with the right equipment, which Largo's got, of course.
CHAIRMAN	Surely it damages the addicts?
ENFORCER	Kills them a little sooner. But at least if you need one you always know where to look.
CHAIRMAN	What a clever idea. We must consider it for general use.
ENFORCER	What about Blake and his friends, chairman?
CHAIRMAN	You can leave all that to me.
ENFORCER	Yes, chairman.
CHAIRMAN	You've done well. Dispose of the body. His assets are now yours.
ENFORCER	Thank you, chairman. [Looks down at Largo's body] [Flight deck of the Liberator]
JENNA	Cally's still the same. Hanna's singing to her now.
BLAKE	What?
JENNA	I don't think she's going to come out of it, Blake.
BLAKE	She will.
JENNA	I don't think you care whether she does or she doesn't.
BLAKE	One thing at a time, Jenna!
VILA	I've been thinking. If it's that hot down there, why don't you try landing on the night side?
BLAKE	Why don't you try listening? The system has twin suns, there is no night side!
VILA	I wish you wouldn't shout.
BLAKE	Gan, have you got everything clear?
GAN	Yes.
BLAKE	Well?
GAN	Well, Zen's doing the flying. I'm just monitoring it.
JENNA	Well, monitoring what?
GAN	Maintaining a powered orbit on the edge of the atmosphere.
BLAKE	Why?
GAN	For maximum cover.
AVON	From defenses that should be there but aren't. Are you ready to go? There's nothing you can do for Cally. Even shouting at everybody else is not going to help her.
BLAKE	A powered orbit can be tricky, Gan. You need to stay alert.
GAN	[Leaning forward] All system are functioning normally. Status is firm.
BLAKE	Good, then lets go. Jenna Vila. [softly] Teleport. [Blake, Jenna and Avon exit]
BEK	I don't know why they're all so jumpy. Show me the planet.
GAN	Visual.
BEK	I mean, look at it. It's nothing. I mean why should anyone draw attention to it with heavy defenses. They don't expect it to be found. [On the desert-like surface of Zondar]
BLAKE	[Into bracelet] Down and safe. Stay by the teleport, Vila. [To Jenna and Avon] Cover me.
JENNA	It's enough to fry your eyeballs.
AVON	Daintily put.
JENNA	It must be the company I keep.
BLAKE	Zen's right. It looks to be about half a mile away.
AVON	That's far enough to walk in this heat.
BLAKE	Far enough to crawl. There's no cover.
JENNA	Blake, over here. Look.
AVON	Moon discs.[Avon moves one with gun] Prized by collectors.
BLAKE	People collect odd things.
JENNA	Look what you ended up with.
BLAKE	You process those, you'll get a liquid that'll kill you.
AVON	Only if you're stupid enough to use it.
JENNA	Listen. No, not over there. Its coming from them. It's a sort of whispering. They're supposed to be telepathic.
AVON	They're supposed to move.
BLAKE	So are we. Come on.
AVON	It could have been frying eyeballs you heard.
JENNA	Daintily put. [They leave. The disk Avon touched moves] [Flight deck of Liberator. Vila enters holding head]
GAN	Vila! Get back to the teleport.
VILA	Five minutes. I must get something for my head.
GAN	You can't leave the teleport now.
VILA	Five minutes.
GAN	Don't be stupid.
VILA	My head is killing me.
GAN	And you may be killing Blake and the others.
VILA	All right. [He inserts Orac's key] Orac, operate the teleport as instructed. Satisfied?
GAN	Well, not really.
VILA	I'll only be five minutes.
GAN	Orac, did you understand the instruction?
ORAC	It was quite explicit. [Mental conversation. Voice is not quite Orac's]
ORAC	Child of Auron. Listen to the voice of Orac. Remember the touch of hands at laughter and the warmth of open minds. Remember these things for they are gone. You are alone.
CALLY	No.
ORAC	You are alone. You are the last of the humankind.
CALLY	Orac, don't.
ORAC	I am the darkness. Orac brings my darkness. You are alone, in me. Run, last of the humans. Run, before my darkness engulfs you. Run, run run, run run. [Cally runs past Vila in corridor, is teleported to Zondar. She runs blindly and drops her bracelet] [Another part of Zondar, where moon disk gardens are under artificial shade of reflective mirrors.]
BLAKE	They probably collect them in deep desert and bring them here to boost their growth.
AVON	With surface water in the area there will be a whole network of these gardens.
JENNA	I almost feel sorry for them.
AVON	They're plants.
JENNA	These are singing.
AVON	You should have stayed in the cool.
BLAKE	The collection and processing plant should be somewhere over there.
AVON	Seems logical.
BLAKE	Yes, well don't get to close. All we've got to do is plant these sensors in some form of rough circle. The battle computers will put together a complete picture of what's there.
AVON	And then the ship's main blasters will pick off anything we care to nominate.
BLAKE	Yes. Back in an hour. [Jenna nods. They move off in different directions] [Cally runs, falls in gully. A moon disc comes to her, making small noises] [Flight deck of the Liberator]
HANNA	No, she didn't hit me, she ran straight over me. I was just in the way. I never saw anyone so scared.
VILA	You couldn't tell why?
GAN	You couldn't see what was driving her?
HANNA	I don't think I'd want to. You can't share someone's madness.
GAN	They can on Auron. Cally told me her people can share any experience. And telepathy means they never have to be alone. Makes them very strong
BEK	Well, when they're together. I mean, what happens when one's isolated?
GAN	I think that's what we're finding out.
VILA	I'm going back to the teleport. All right Orac, you can go back to sleep.. [touches key] Awwwwk! That key's electrified. [to Orac] Did you do that purposely?
ORAC	You will not disconnect.
VILA	Is that right? [tries to take the key again] Ow! That hurts!
ORAC	The bridge is almost complete. You will not disconnect. [Blake, Jenna and Avon plant sensors in various moon disk gardens. A guard sees Avon, Avon sees his reflection in the mirror umbrella, shoots him before the guard can draw. Avon runs up escarpment, another guard appears. Avon shoots and throws him down incline.]
AVON	Next, please. [Flight deck of the Liberator. Everyone is looking at Orac]
HANNA	This is silly. It's just a machine.
VILA	Of course it is. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd kick it to pieces.
BEK	Yes, if it didn't bite.
GAN	Avon'll fix it when he gets back.
VILA	Yes.
ORAC	The bridge is complete.
VILA	What? What did he say?
GAN	Something's wrong.
VILA	No, that wasn't it.
ZEN	Information. Liberator is losing power from all systems. Orbital maintenance is threatened.
GAN	Switch off all auxiliary systems.
ZEN	Power drain is increasing. Orbit is decaying.
VILA	What's happening?
GAN	Switch to main boosters. Zen!
ZEN	Automatic flight control is now aborted.
GAN	The manual controls won't respond.
VILA	Do something, Gan.
GAN	Something is draining off the power. [Lights dim]
VILA	Orac, it has to be Orac.
GAN	Disconnect him, Vila. [Vila hesitates] Do it! We're heading toward the atmosphere. We'll burn up, explode.
HANNA	Here, let me. [She rushes to Orac and grabs the key. She is thrown to the floor by an electrical charge]
BEK	Hanna! [Crouching over Hanna] She's dead. [He starts toward Orac] That thing killed her.
VILA	[Holding Bek back from Orac] Don't do it. It'll kill you too!
GAN	We're falling towards the atmosphere! [On Zondar, Blake sees two guards pass. He hides, then goes in the opposite direction.] [Liberator is still falling] [On Zondar, many moon discs cluster around Cally. Soft voices call her name.]
CALLY	[telepaths] Hello [Sits up mentally, while her physical body remains in the gully. Smiles and picks up moon disc]
ORAC	You cannot stop me, child of Auron.
CALLY	Then why do you threaten me?
ORAC	Orac is my bridge. You stand before it, puny telepath.
CALLY	Yes, I know you now. My powers are in your dimension, and Orac's carrier waves are your bridge.
ORAC	The energy is building. I am ready to cross. Hungry dark to absorb the blazing suns.
CALLY	I will deny you.
ORAC	You are alone.
CALLY	No. The warmth you mock me with is here. [holds out moon disk] I am not alone. You will stay in your universe of darkness.
ORAC	You will not disconnect. You will not dis... [Cally's hand pulls Orac's key and it appears in Cally's hand on Zondar. She sits up, spilling moon discs that have clustered around her.] [Flight deck of the Liberator]
GAN	We're getting power. The power's coming back.
VILA	Orac. The key's gone. [Blake and Avon throw guards into pond.]
JENNA	[Runs to them] There's two more over there.
BLAKE	Vila, bring us up now. [They teleport.] [Cally finds her bracelet on Zondar and puts it on]
CALLY	Liberator, come in Liberator.
VILA	[V.O. over bracelet] Cally, what're you doing down there?
CALLY	Waiting to come up, [looks at key] again. [Flight deck of the Liberator]
BEK	So it was an alien life form that killed her?
CALLY	Yes. It was trying to use Orac as a bridge to cross from it's own universe into ours.
JENNA	That's why it needed so much power.
BLAKE	But a quantum jump would need much more energy potential than Liberator could develop.
AVON	The explosion in the planet's atmosphere would have provided the rest.
BLAKE	Yes, I hadn't thought of that.
VILA	So you see, Bek, this thing tapped into Orac's channels, sucked up all his energy, so that it could come squirting out and swallow us all.
AVON	The plain man's guide to alien invasions.
VILA	But, where did Cally fit in? Why did it attack you, Cally?
CALLY	I was a threat to it. I knew it was there because of my telepathy. Orac uses special communication waves, which pass into another dimension. And it is the same dimension that allows thought transference.
JENNA	Orac's telepathic?
CALLY	No, telepathy is conscious. Orac has no consciousness in that dimension. He merely...drives a beam though it. Which is why he could be controlled by this force.
BLAKE	And why you couldn't, you fought it telepathically.
CALLY	Yes. Once the moon discs had broken through my isolation; as soon as I was no longer alone I could fight it. fight it.
VILA	But what about the key? How did you get Orac's key while he was up here and you were down there? Long arms?
BLAKE	Telekinesis.
VILA	Who?
AVON	The power to move objects by thought alone. That seems unlikely.
CALLY	Yes, it does. Even among my people such power is rare. Maybe.. the moon discs. Their telepathy gave me courage. Perhaps it gave me strength, too.
GAN	So. Either we all become telepathic, or we dump Orac.
JENNA	Destroy rather than dump, surely.
BEK	I'll do it. [Rises]
AVON	It isn't necessary.
BLAKE	Will it work?
AVON	Of course it will work. I have set a small disruption bomb to precise limits within Orac's energy range. Any variation above or below and there will be a rather satisfying little explosion. The slightest attempt to tamper with the communication channels will reduce Orac to a heap of spare parts.
BEK	So Hanna died for nothing. Just her. Even that machine survives.
BLAKE	I'm sorry, Bek.
AVON	She was dying anyway.
BEK	Oh I know that. Just another dreamhead. But what about the low-life scum that really killed her? What about the Terra Nostra?
BLAKE	That is who we're waiting for now.
GAN	We're what?
VILA	Why?
BLAKE	We want them to realize that we know who they are.
AVON	This is the ID of a guard I killed. He was a member of Federation security, a very special member. He was one of the President's personal security force.
BLAKE	The President of the Federation runs the shadow operation.
AVON	And since shadow is the basis of the Terra Nostra --
GAN	I don't believe it.
BLAKE	It's quite logical. To have total control, you must control totally. Both sides of the law. The Terra Nostra, the Federation: two sides of the same power. The same man of power.
AVON	Ironic, isn't it? We were hoping to use the Terra Nostra to attack the Federation only to discover that it is already being used to support it.
VILA	Where are all the good guys?
BLAKE	You could be looking at them.
AVON	What a very depressing thought. [Blake chuckles.]
AVON	Whose is this? [Picks up dish of sand containing one moon disc.]
CALLY	Mine.
JENNA	Is it alive?
CALLY	Yes.
JENNA	I thought they died if they left the planet.
CALLY	No, you have to talk to them. [Disk moves towards Cally's hand]
AVON	That's like talking to Vila, a complete waste of time.
BLAKE	[To Bek] When we've finished here, we'll get you back to Space City.
BEK	What for? There's nothing left there.
BLAKE	Well, it's your territory. At least you know who you're fighting now.
BEK	What have I got left to fight for?
BLAKE	I'll give you three years, then I'll come looking. I expect you to be able to help me.
ZEN	Information. Detectors report seven Federation pursuit ships approaching in attack formation.
BLAKE	Seven? One for each of us. How very generous of the President.
AVON	[Moves to weapons console] Blasters are cleared for firing, sensors are functioning, planetary targets are identified and ranged.
BLAKE	Wait a minute, Avon. Bek, that button burns the President's garden. It won't hurt him much, but it'll sting a bit. Stand by to take us out, Jenna, when it's done. [Bek leans to press the button.]

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