The Salvager Landing
A record of the serviceability and disposition of all units in a legion, to be maintained by the senior officer present. Servalan asked Grose if he had kept such a log, at which he looked distinctly perplexed.
The Salvager Landing | Ship sent up from the Q-base on Fosforon to recover Wanderer K47. It looked very similar to the London, and may have been a modified version of the same model of ship. |
Fleet-Warden General, rarely seen away from the flagship of his "beloved Galactic 8th Fleet". Lye referred to him as "Old Starkiller" adding "I never thought I'd see him in the flesh". Thania described him as "a rulebook officer of the old school". Samor acted as pro tem (i.e., temporary) military arbiter at Travis" court-martial, and pronounced the death sentence upon him. He was probably killed after Blake's surprise attack on Servalan's HQ.
| Woman aboard the Ortega, who murdered first Rafford and then Dortmunn as part of her scheme to steal the neutrotope and sell it to an unspecified party. Mandrian discovered she was responsible and tried to persuade her to give herself up: she later killed him, although Sonheim was initially accused of the crime. She voted in favour of giving Blake the neutrotope to take to Destiny, and stole it when Dr Kendall sent her to collect it for Blake (suggesting that she may have been a member of his staff rather than one of the crew). |  |
 | Rafford scrawled her name with his own blood as he died, although it was at first interpreted as being 5(S),4(A),12(R),4(A) - Avon finally realised what it really said. Sara then locked herself in on the flight deck, until lured out by being fooled into thinking that the people she was dealing with had arrived and killed the rest of the crew. Avon disarmed her as she came out of hiding. Moments before teleporting onto Liberator she threw off her teleport bracelet and remained on the Ortega, presumably dying in the explosion that destroyed the ship. |
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Alien vessel of unknown origin found drifting by the crew. Initial views
afforded by the Liberator's visual detectors were of surprisingly poor
quality. The alien ship then stopped just 200 spacials away from
Liberator. Zen surmised that the exterior fittings were "decorative
rather than functional", and when Avon, Cally and Vila teleported aboard they
found a single deck with no controls or instrumentation. The atmosphere was
breathable but oxygen-thin, and what artefacts there were had been subjected
to a long period of decay. The remains of a humanoid corpse bedecked with
priceless jewels led Cally to realise that the "ship" was a tomb. Vila's
investigation of tinsel-like ribbons apparently activated an anti-intruder
device, and he and Avon were left behind after Cally teleported back with an
ovoid artefact and a ring secretly taken from the corpse. Cally then
returned to bring back Avon and Vila before the ship exploded.
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A large fixed meteoroid on the edge of the Outer Darkness, not far from Kalkos. Its presence was concealed by two energy fields surrounding the meteoroid, the inner impervious, the outer refractive to medium pulse energy (gamma radiation to radio waves). The latter required altering the frequency on which the teleport operated to omicron wavelengths, and this was carried out by Cally. Poola made reference to a desert region on the surface. Light was provided by the energy/mass transformation technology developed there.
The population consisted of 300 Sardoans, who avoided all genetic change and had projected the progress of their evolution two million years forward in time. Astrid, soon after he arrived, ran the computer projection through the energy/mass transformer to create a specimen of the creature into which the Sardoans would eventually evolve. His name was Moloch, and he effectively ruled the population.
Some time after the Intergalactic War a Federation T-16 transporter with the survivors of the 5th Legion, arrived on Sardos and took control. Colonel Astrid was later imprisoned by Moloch, and his second-in-command had "an accident", leaving Grose in command. Grose lured Servalan to Sardos, intending to use her cruiser as a model for a fleet of ships crewed by prisoners from Kalkos.
The only Sardoans mentioned by name were Poola and Chesil, the former being handed over to Grose's men, the latter killed by Moloch.
Formerly president of Lindor for five years, removed from office by elections rigged by the Federation. This was part of the Federation's "Lindor Strategy", to destabilise the planet and provide an excuse for moving in a "peace-keeping force" and reinstalling Sarkoff as their puppet. In the interim, Sarkoff, along with his self-pity, was accommodated on an unnamed planet under Federation guard. As President, he had resisted joining the Federation, and been contacted by Leeharn of Auron with a view to forming an alliance that never materialised.
His election defeat occurred seven years before meeting Blake, during which time he had apparently been seen by Cally, although he failed to recognise her when they met. Brought aboard the Liberator, he stood by and watched as Tarvin prepared to hand the crew over to the Federation, but eventually killed Tarvin as he threatened Tyce, who was only then revealed to be Sarkoff's daughter. Sarkoff then returned to Lindor to unite his people and prevent the Federation annexing his planet.
Sarkoff was a keen collector of ancient Earth artefacts, with a particular interest in the 20th Century. He described (inaccurately) his residence as "a replica of a typical residence of that period, set in an authentic Earth garden". Amongst his possessions were a revolver, a pair of flintlock pistols, a case of mounted butterflies (which he referred to as now being extinct), a stuffed thrush, a gas mask, a gramophone and several records, two of which he played whilst Blake was present. Blake smashed one, and threatened to destroy the entire collection unless Sarkoff returned with him to the Liberator.
See also Tommy STEELE and Kathleen FERRIER
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Described by Servalan as "a remote Outer Planet", it was the landing point
for several survivors of the Intergalactic War, including Avon and Servalan.
The local people, the Sarrans, regarded what they could see of the fighting
as a prophecy fulfilled, and under the orders of their leader, Chel, set out
to kill everyone they found (perhaps suggesting that the first Sarrans were
fugitive human colonists). Two troopers were seen to be slain as a
result.
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Also on the planet were Hal Mellanby and his daughter Dayna, who had arrived
twenty years earlier fleeing from the Federation. Their space craft was
mostly under the sea, but with several entry hatches on the beach. The Sarrans were technologically pre-industrial, possibly nomadic and, uniquely among native populations seen in the series, rode horses. Chel spoke with Servalan, and appeared to have a reasonable command of Terran. Hal Mellanby held a very low opinion of the Sarrans, discussing them as though they were little more than semi-intelligent creatures.
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On the way to Saurian Major, Jenna asked Blake if there were any artificial satellites on their course. The Pyroans had a satellite in orbit around Obsidian, with which they detected the Liberator without the ship detecting the satellite. In Terminal Avon received signals boosted and redirected through a communications satellite. A satellite was in orbit around Xenon, with visual and probably other information relayed to the control room in Xenon Base. Practor had a satellite communications link with all areas of Helotrix. Gerren's transmissions to Avon were relayed through an obsolete communications beacon in Sector 4.
Servalan several times referred to her headquarters as a "satellite station", and Vila called Space City the "Satellite of Sin". Neither was seen to orbit a planet, and it could be that "satellite" in Blake's time meant any fixed artificial body, regardless of size or purpose.
| Another name for Space City, in Vila's mind at least. |  |
Planet described by Blake as being in star sector "four six point two one". The atmosphere was tinted red, at least in the area Blake visited, and some of the native flora was carnivorous, some species even having an intelligence rating. It had a day length of 36 hours. Cally referred to the resistance fighters hiding in "the hills and jungles", giving some idea of the terrain.
An early self-governing colony, Saurian Major was at some point annexed by the Federation. The settlers redeclared their independence, and were promptly crushed, half the population being killed and the rest transported to frontier planets. The Federation built what Blake described as "a vast transceiver complex", through which all Federation signals were routed before being boosted and redirected to their destinations, "a vital nerve centre in the Federation space control system". Some resistance fighters remained, but were eventually wiped out (except for Cally) by "poison from the sky", presumably an allusion to chemical warfare. The transceiver complex was eventually destroyed by Blake.
Constellation for which Blake set a course on departing from Fosforon.
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One of the Lost, whose body came to house the minds not only of himself but
of five others as well. This collective identity was kept alive in a life
support system powered by flutonic cells; when the cells began to run out of
power, Saymon and the other minds used their combined power to force Cally
into bringing Liberator to their planet. Saymon and the others died
when the Decimas infiltrated the compound and destroyed everything they
found. Saymon described himself and the others as "from the Auronar, but not of them". |  |
 | Often synonymous with detectors, but aboard the London the term referred to the internal surveillance system. Avon turned off the scanners (black cameras with a winking red light) once he had overpowered the technician in the computer room. Similar scanners were seen in the dome city on Earth in The Way Back and again on Earth in the Forbidden Zone in Pressure Point. |
Survivors of the war which destroyed civilisation on Cephlon. They had undergone severe regression to the primitive state, a process probably aided by the high radiation levels on the planet. Meegat estimated their numbers at about two hundred. They held Jenna prisoner for a while. Avon killed one scavenger whilst on the planet, and others received a severe bruising.
Although several academic institutions were mentioned at various times (the Central Educational Complex, the Central Science Complex, Leedenbrank, Belhangria University), reference to schools was found in only one episode. The three children allegedly assaulted by Blake each attended different schools in the dome city on Earth. Renor Leesal went to school ZL 2 Level 716, Carl Deca to school ZL 14 Level 552, and Payter Fen to school ZL 3 Level 417. Interpretation of the medical records in The Way Back suggests that these children were 9 or 10 years old. The reference to "Levels" might indicate either some measure of academic performance, or the physical location of the school within the city - the latter seems more likely, but there is no hard evidence for this. Access to school attendance records from the Public Records Computer was through access code alpha 3377.
Described by Tarrant as "a Wanderer class planet hopper, Mark II by the look of it - obsolete but functional", Scorpio belonged to Dorian until acquired by Avon. Its speed at acquisition was unstated but once fitted with the photonic drive it could make at least Time Distort 12. The ship was generally under the control of the Slave computer, designed and installed by Dorian. It was also fitted with a teleport facility, installed by Dorian and perfected by Avon. Like most ships of this type, only the main deck was pressurised in flight.
Scorpio was taken by Avon and his crew to Helotrix, Caspar, Bucol-2, Pharos, Domo, Mecron II, Virn, Zerok, Beta 5, Malodar, Betafarl and Gauda Prime. Because of the teleport, landings were rarely made, and the ship was only seen to touch down on Terminal, Xenon, Caspar, and Betafarl. A landing was also made on Beta 5. Final touchdown was on Gauda Prime, where the ship broke in two on crash-landing.
Scorpio suffered damage in Stardrive, where it grazed an asteroid when trying to enter the Altern system, holing the main drive chamber as a result, and in Animals when attacked by pursuit ships above Bucol-2, suffering damage to the main detectors and anti-grav gyros. Control of the ship was lost in Power, when Pella briefly hijacked it, and Headhunter, where all systems came under the influence of Muller's android.
Orbital altitudes were mentioned twice: in Traitor the ship took up position 40 miles above Helotrix, and initial orbit over Malodar was 10 miles up.
Prior to installation of Dr Plaxton's photonic drive, the ship needed fuel crystals derived from selsium ore. Other fittings included an orbital booster, inertial guidance glycolene ballast channels, precision guidance subsystem, thrust computer, short burn boosters to aid lift-off with a full payload, and armament which Soolin described as insufficient to "tangle with Federation patrols". There was also a gun locker for six clip guns (Rescue), a medicapsule (Headhunter) and facilities for in-flight docking (Gold). In Orbit Tarrant stated that Scorpio needed to be stationary for a docking, but Gold apparently contradicts this.
In Gold the transfer tube from the Space Princess locked onto a hatchway marked "Bay 2", so the ship presumably had at least two and possibly more cargo bays. Bay 2 must have been pressurised when the gold was brought aboard, since the crew entered the ship through this bay whilst not wearing spacesuits.
| Safety device on certain ships, including the London. If the outer hull was holed, sealing gel would fill the space between the inner and outer bulkheads, setting solid in seconds. It was recognised by Jenna, and Nova died when asphyxiated by it. |  |
Rank within the Federation. Personnel noted as holding this rank included Klegg (Aftermath), Forres (Rumours of Death), and Grose (Moloch). Grose was superior to Unit Commander Lector, and Forres subordinate to Major Grenlee, suggesting that a Section Leader was a junior officer, possibly of similar rank to a lieutenant (a rank no trooper was noted as holding, though it apparently existed as a fleet rank). A section might thus be the Space Command equivalent of a platoon, with a typical strength of perhaps 30-40 troopers.
Sectors were referred to in a number of contexts. A sector could be part of a battle zone, as in The Harvest of Kairos where Tarrant defied computer predictions and took the Liberator through delta sector whilst all the pursuit ships were waiting in alpha sector. Cheney in Bounty referred to "intruders in Sector 3", a very local application of the term.
The galaxy, or at least some of it, was divided into sectors for mapping purposes. There were at least 12 sectors, possibly more, and the sector in which some planets were located was referred to on a number of occasions.
In Time Squad Blake defined Saurian Major's position as "star sector four six point two one", possibly a full definition of a 4th Sector location.
In Redemption Avon identified the location of Orac's predicted destruction of the Liberator as astro point 781 in the 12th Sector. In the same episode Blake ordered a course to "Earth sector", and it is tempting to think of this as being Sector 1.
In Hostage the mass attack on the Liberator took place in Sector 4, and Avon transmitted a message to Servalan from that same sector whilst en route to Exbar. Exbar may thus have been in Sector 4 as well, though this was not explicitly stated.
In The Keeper the Fool gave the location of Star One as "grid reference C-17320 in the 11th Sector". This was some way beyond the edge of the galaxy.
In Star One the Liberator, on its way to Star One, crossed from Sector 9 into Sector 11.
In Volcano Obsidian was said to be in the 6th Sector.
In Dawn of the Gods the Liberator was pulled off course into the 12th Sector, which Tarrant described as uncharted: he noted that Federation survey ships sent to Sector 12 "had a habit of not returning".
In Terminal Delta 716, the sun around which Terminal orbited, was on the edge of Sector 6. The journey from Terminal to Xenon appeared to be a short one, so Xenon may also have been in this sector.
In Traitor it was noted that the recent re-annexation of Luba, Porphry Major and Helotrix gave the Federation control over most of Sector 4.
In Games Mecron II was located in Sector 9, and Avon received transmissions from Gerren (who was on Mecron) via a communications beacon in Sector 4. This suggests that the two sectors were adjacent to each other, or that the reference in this case is to a local application of the term.
Co-ordinates for various planets, when given, were not terribly helpful. Zen mentioned use of "galactic centre co-ordinates" in Cygnus Alpha. Young Ensor gave Aristo's co-ordinates as 112 intersect 59, possibly a reference to the 11th Sector, but more than likely a course to Aristo from Cephlon.
A possible rank within the Federation, but more likely a position held by an officer of variable rank. Security Commander within the detention blocks on UP-Project Avalon was Sergeant-Major Garbon.
Vila suggested launching "a couple of seekers" at the pursuing Space World ships, with the aim of "throwing their attack run". The launch systems failed to function, since the attackers had crippled the Liberator's defence systems. Seekers were probably self-targeting missiles of some kind, possibly the ship's main (or only) rear armament. They may have been the "missile systems" whose launch codes Orac scrambled aboard the DSV that pursued Liberator from Spaceworld.
A patient admitted to the Central Clinic on the same day as the three children allegedly molested by Blake.
 | A native of Horizon, originally engaged to Ro but sent to the monopasium mines when she refused training by the Colonial Service. She had already been dismissed from earlier training for disobedience. When the Kommissar had her tortured, ostensibly to learn more about Blake and his crew, Ro came to a final decision and opted to reject the Federation. |
A prisoner on the London, put down on Cygnus Alpha. Selman, along with Vila, Gan and Arco, elected to try and escape from Vargas with Blake, but Vila reported him as being killed in the attempt.
| A sergeant in the Federation Space Assault Force detachment on Albian, he tried to dissuade Provine from arming the solium radiation device. Leaving for the rocket silo with Provine, he was killed when an explosion brought down the roof of the escape tunnel. His body was later found by Blake and Del Grant. |  |
Ore needed by the crew of Scorpio to make badly needed fuel crystals; an attempt to obtain selsium ore from the Altern system failed.
The name "selsium" suggests an element, but there is no known element of that name.
Bercol described himself as a senator, though in Seek-Locate-Destroy he had been addressed as Councillor Bercol. (His career may have progressed since his first appearance) The existence of senators implies a senate, though its relationship with the High Council was never made clear. Bercol was an ex officio member of the High Council, either through being head of the Information Bureau or through being a senator. The former is perhaps more likely.
| A feature of the high intensity radiation grid in the Forbidden Zone. The grid was weight and disturbance sensitive, and could detect the approach of intruders. The sensormesh performed at least one and probably both of these functions. |  |
Brain implant worn by the champions of Teal and Vandor, consisting of a series of microsensors linked to a conductive mesh etched into the bone of the skull. When this mesh was charged up, all of the champion's senses, and some thoughts and feelings, could be transmitted to tuned-in observers outside the combat zone.
A feature of Federation rest centres, briefly but enthusiastically mentioned by Vila.
A frontier system, mentioned by Avon as being threatened by the Pacification Programme.
See BLOOD SERUM.
 Selson | Rank within the Federation. Selson was a sergeant. Among the rebels on Helotrix, Hask held the rank of sergeant. |
Rank within the Federation. Security Commander in the detection block on UP-Project Avalon was a Sergeant-Major Garbon.
A frontier system, mentioned by Avon as being threatened by the Pacification Programme. Zukan had apparently made territorial claims on Serrus.
| Some hints of Servalan's past appear from time to time. At the age of 18 she had a love affair with Don Keller. Keller left her for unspecified reasons, after which Servalan pursued power as her primary goal, or as she put it: "Power became my lover - power is like a drug". In Pressure Point she was revealed to be the "bright cadet" who reported Kasabi for teaching treason. Kasabi herself had considered Servalan "unfit for command". |  In Seek-Locate-Destroy |
At first she was seen to direct Travis from her headquarters, but soon became personally involved with the acquisition of Orac, promising without authority to pay 100 million credits for the computer. She then hired the services of the psychostrategist Carnell in securing IMIPAK, a plot that almost succeeded. Her interest in capturing Kasabi seemed to go beyond the purely professional, since she said she had waited "a long time" to get her hands on Kasabi and took a personal hand in interrogating her. She also took a personal part in the chase to stop Blake finding the location of Star One, although cannot be definitely ascribed with wanting to find its location for herself (although her visit to Freedom City was not in an official capacity and she went to Goth personally rather than send an assault force to recover Lurgen's brain print). As Star One began to malfunction she launched a coup against the President and the High Council, suggesting she may have considered the problems with Star One to have their origins in the Civil Administration, or to have felt that only the military could lead the way out of the crisis. Her rise to the Presidency during the Intergalactic War may therefore have been a product of circumstance rather than intent.
| As President (she was first seen to be properly addressed as "Madam President" by Mori in Volcano, although Durkim had called her that before she formally seized power) she concentrated on capturing the Liberator, trying and failing no less than four times: on the last occasion she finally acquired it minutes before its destruction. She boarded the ship twice, in The Harvest of Kairos and Terminal. |  |
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In this
period she also exterminated the population of Auron and nearly provoked war
between Teal and Vandor. While on Auron she attempted to clone herself, but
the clones died when the replication plant was fired upon. Servalan was
telepathically aware of their deaths. Exactly how powerful she was is a
matter for conjecture: Practor referred to her as "the Supreme Empress",
Tarrant mentioned the rapid expansion of her empire in Ultraworld, but
Grose said that her "reconstituted Federation" wasn't "worth a light".
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Bodycount: She was seen to personally kill Coser and later one of her own
troopers with IMIPAK; Kasabi through drugs in interrogating her; a Sarran;
Deral and Ginka; Hob; a number of Grose's men on Sardos; Practor, Forbus and
Leitz on Helotrix; Ardus and Justin in Animals. She was also
responsible for the deaths of Ensor Jr., Maryatt, Ardus, Zukan, Finn,
possibly Gerren and probably Keiller. She knocked Avon to the floor in
Terminal.
|  In Moloch |
Captured by: Jenna in Pressure Point, where she was used as a hostage to release Blake, Avon, Vila and Gan from Travis in the Central Control bunker; the Sarrans, from whom she was rescued by Avon in order to find out where Orac was hidden; Sula and her rebels on Earth, where Avon again released her in return for Bartolomew's identity; and Grose on Sardos, where she effectively rescued herself with some help from Vila.
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Places visited: UP-Project Avalon, Aristo, UP-Clonemaster,
UP-Weapon, Earth (twice), Exbar, UP-Gambit (where she stayed at
room 100 at the terminal), Goth, Sarran, Chenga, Obsidian, Auron, Sardos,
UP-Death-Watch, Terminal, Helotrix, Bucol-2, Domo, Mecron II, Virn,
Beta-5 and Malodar.
|  In Weapon |
 In Trial |
She met various members of the crew on the following occasions: In Project Avalon she met Blake for the first time. On Aristo she met him again, and Cally, Avon and Vila for the first time. In Weapon she met Blake and Avon, and Gan for the first time, and in Pressure Point Jenna for the first time, and Blake, Avon, Vila and Gan again. On Goth she met Vila and Jenna again, but was gone by the time Blake arrived.
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On Sarran she spoke to Avon for the first time (and kissed him into the
bargain) and also earned Dayna's undying hatred by killing Hal Mellanby. In
Powerplay she recognised Cally on the hospital ship and Vila on
Chenga. In The Harvest of Kairos she boarded the Liberator and
met all of the crew. On Auron she held Avon, Cally and Tarrant prisoner, and
tried to negotiate with Vila. In Rumours of Death she met Avon, Cally
and Tarrant whilst held prisoner by Sula's rebels. On Sardos she briefly
teamed up with Vila. In Death-Watch she was confronted by Dayna, who
reminded her of Hal Mellanby's death (Servalan appeared to have forgotten),
and Avon again. In Terminal she met all of the crew again, though
only very briefly in Vila's case.
|  In Terminal |
In all, she came face-to-face with Avon on 11 occasions, Dayna on 8, Vila and Tarrant on 7, Cally on 5, Blake on 3, Jenna and Gan twice, and Soolin only once.
She handled light weapons with apparent ease and familiarity, and may thus have had some training in their use. In Orbit she flew her L-type cruiser unaccompanied to Malodar, suggesting some ability as a pilot. It seems likely that she also piloted a ship from Sardos as she had three ships, but only two pilots.
Carnell described her as "the sexiest officer I have ever known", a rare compliment. Kasabi described her as "a credit to your background - spoilt, idle, vicious", and added "greedy", "sick" and "degenerate" before she died. She had also, when a Federation political officer, listed Servalan as "unfit for command". Sula called her "a tasteless megalomaniac" and alluded to her as "a grotesque anachronism". Krantor described her as "perfidious as a snake". Rontane said that "any attempt to embarrass her personally is an exercise in total futility", and Bercol agreed, adding "she has all the sensitive delicacy of a plasma bolt". Avon later likened her to a "greedy gangster".
For all her ruthless ambition and self-interested endeavours, she exhibited a firm belief in order and a horror of moral decadence, and had long sought a way to clean up Freedom City. By contrast, however, albeit much later as Commissioner Sleer, she expressed admiration for slave-dealer Verlis" work, saying that she was "obviously fulfilling a deeply felt need". In this case, as so often, it is difficult to gauge her sincerity in what she said.
See also SLEER
"Not a tribe", according to Pella, the Seska may have been native to Xenon, but Pella did mention them coming to the planet because it was not unlike Earth. The Seska were all women, with telekinetic powers boosted by dynamon crystals. Removing the collar containing the crystal required specialised surgery, suggesting a direct link with the neural system of the wearer. Orac referred to the crystal as "ingrafted".
War between the Seska and the Hommiks had been waged for some time prior to the crew's arrival on Xenon. Records from the time of Maravik (predecessor of Gunn-Sar) include references to a nucleic burster being thrown in the procreation vault, contaminating the seminal stocks held there. Reports viewed by Dayna and Tarrant of the last battle mentioned 18 dead and 7 taken, leaving 94 remaining Seska including 52 infants.
The Seska described themselves as experts in tele-ergonomics and energy transference. They assisted Dorian in developing what he thought was a teleport system, but was in fact a tele-ergotron. Kate said that the Seska had worked on developing a teleport "for generations".
They were hunted by the Hommiks to "give them sons", and did their best to find and save daughters left exposed on the hillsides. A week prior to the crew's arrival there were five Seska, but this had dwindled to just three by the time Avon met them: Pella, Kate and Luxia. Luxia was captured and operated on by Nina, a former Seska, and Kate was killed by Pella who, last of the Seska by a matter of minutes, was shot dead by Avon as she tried to take control of Scorpio.
| Captain of the kairopan shuttle with command over at least seven guards. One was left behind on Kairos, four killed by Avon and two more boarded the Liberator with Shad. Shad's name was recognised by Jarvik, and the two had apparently worked together at some point. Shad addressed Jarvik as "Sir". He managed to gain control of the Liberator and invited Servalan aboard, but later left with her when Tarrant threatened the ship with a landing module. |  |
| Addictive drug, extracted from the xerophyte Alpha 7/5 (moon disc) on Zonda and peddled by the Terra Nostra. The President of the Federation described shadow as "the greatest single threat to the welfare of mankind", according to Avon, and possession carried a mandatory death penalty, despite the fact that the moon disc plantations were protected by the President's personal security force. |  Shadow |
 Shadow in the globe, with Largo and his enforcer | Largo laced the shadow he supplied with a substance capable of controlled particle emission, allowing Largo to keep a track of any "dream heads" he supplied. Addiction resulted in death, either through withdrawal or continued intake. Two shadow users were shown: Hanna, and Petie (who died of taking the stuff). Largo also wrongfully believed Hanna's brother, Bek, to be a user. |
| A shaft cover on the artificial planet Terminal protected the entrance to an underground base. It had an electrostatic lock which needed a sonal key. It opened automatically when Avon approached it, suggesting that it was either triggered by the directional indicator or else that Avon's approach was still being monitored by Reeval and Toron and that they (or someone else) triggered the cover to open. |  |
A none-too-intelligent henchman to Bayban who had a mutual rivalry with Kerril, and one of very few people to be killed by Cally.
| False name used by Avon on encountering Tarrant aboard the Liberator. He claimed that Dayna was his wife. |  |
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A member of the Freedom Party, fate unknown. Travis posed as a severely
injured Shivan to infiltrate LeGrand's planned coup. From what happened it
can be deduced that Blake and Shivan had formerly known each other. Travis"
imposture (which according to him was Servalan's idea) began with reports of
Shivan being killed in a Federation trap, but surviving and being taken to
therapists on LeGrand's planet of Outer Gal. LeGrand welcomed him there.
From this it can be inferred that these events were relatively recent (Travis
last having been seen on Exbar two episodes previously), indicating that
Shivan's dissident activities were contemporary with Blake's. He was
probably no minor rebel either, since LeGrand included him in her triumvirate
with herself and Blake. Nagu called him "Defender of Truth".
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One of the technicians who elected to remain behind on Star One, later taken over by an alien infiltrator. Lurena shot "Shokov" and saw him revert to his true form, her first real intimation that her colleagues were not quite who - or what - she thought they were.
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Federation interrogator, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of prisoners,
and by his own declaration "there wasn't one that died without telling me
what I wanted to know". He also claimed to remember every one of his
victims. In the chaos after the Intergalactic War, Shrinker changed sides
and worked for the rebels, interrogating amongst other people a controller
from Central Security. He later returned to the Federation, or at least that
faction of it loyal to Servalan. He remembered who Avon was, though they had
never previously met. It was Shrinker who informed Avon of the agent
Bartolomew, but could supply only Chesku's name as a clue to his or her
identity.
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In Shadow Blake convinced Largo that he came to Space City on one of four shuttles aboard the Liberator. Since he made the number up it seems likely that there was only one shuttle on the ship, as Largo supposed, or none at all. Largo had shuttles of his own.
In Voice from the Past Blake, LeGrand, Jenna and Vila took a shuttle from the Liberator to Atlay.
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In The Harvest of Kairos it took 45 minutes for the shuttle carrying
the last load of kairopan from the surface to the unmanned transporter
waiting in orbit.
|  The inside of the shuttle |
| The original name for Horizon, and the only name by which Porah referred to it when talking to Blake on the London. When Ro came to rule in his own right the original name was not restored, Ro explaining "We can't return to the past". |  |
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Avon's comment on Liberator's refusal to let himself, Blake or Jenna
take one more than one weapon from the gun locker on board. Trying to take a
second weapon made it unbearably hot to the touch. The phenomenon was never
witnessed again, perhaps because Zen was using the capability to acquire
information about the new arrivals, or perhaps because someone deactivated
it. Avon described this phenomenon mathematically as a "Single function
isomorphic response".
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| The Guardian of the Power on UP-Duel. Together with Giroc, the Keeper, she was the sole survivor of a race that had wiped itself out through a thousand years of war. Sinofar first appeared to Gan, then disappeared, but later summoned Blake and Travis down to the surface, preventing Liberator ramming Travis" ship. |  |
 |
She also brought Jenna and Keera
down. She later healed Keera of whatever injuries the mutoid had sustained,
recharged Liberator's energy banks and allowed Blake to leave ahead of
Travis. See Also AMERSAT (Fanlore).
|
 |
The General on Helotrix attributed Orac's research into space craft design to Skellerians, whom he described as "utter rogues" and "can't fight worth a damn, either". From what the General said, ship-building would appear to have been the Skellerians" speciality.
| Doctor aboard the Space Princess, and a replacement for the "drunken halfwit" Keiller was expecting on the voyage. Slaten diagnosed Dayna as suffering from Exobriddian addiction, symptoms she had originally intended to merely fake. During the transfer of the gold from the Space Princess to Scorpio, Slaten was killed by Keiller. |  |
As Servalan told Cally and Vila, the name used by the staff to refer to the organ bank on Chenga.
Flight computer, built and installed on Scorpio by Dorian. When Dorian picked up the survivors from Liberator on Terminal, Slave was programmed to respond only to Dorian's voice pattern. Orac later made contact and managed to override the security program, enabling anyone on the flight deck to give commands.
Slave was taken over by an external source once, in Headhunter when Muller's android used its ability to influence circuitry over a distance. Life support systems closed down, stranding Vila and Tarrant on Scorpio; they would have died if Avon had not countermanded Orac's suggestion to leave the teleport deactivated. Slave had to be taken off-line over Virn owing to atmospheric interference with its circuitry, and suffered severe damage during the crash-landing on Gauda Prime, briefly addressing Tarrant by name before closing down.
Tarrant pointed out in Headhunter that Scorpio could not land, at least in the silo on Xenon, whilst Slave was off-line. He also pointed out that Slave alone was not enough to handle the ship for an emergency landing on Gauda Prime - as he said to Avon, "It takes talent to fly a dead ship".
Apparently not uncommon in the galaxy, the Federation for one openly using slave labour. References as follows:
Federation Security Commissioner, in actuality Servalan who had adopted this new identity after her reported death in the rearguard action at Geddon. Sleer was in control of the Pacification Programme that subdued the planets of Tarsius, Luba, Porphyr Major, Helotrix and others, using pylene-50 manufactured by Forbus. She ruthlessly eliminated anyone who could identify her, Leitz being the twenty sixth person to suffer this fate. Ardus was later killed when he recognised her voice. Practor said that Sleer was highly thought of at Federation Headquarters, though Forbus preferred to describe her as a "vile sadist". She told Borr that she had written the standing orders for Central Intelligence Control herself, and so was probably a very senior figure within the Bureau.
The basis for a number of colloquial expressions possibly euphemistic. "Slime sticks, as the saying goes." said Senator Bercol in Trial, and Par referred to being "up to your neck in slime and lasers." Bayban called sherm a "son of a slime crawler", and Vila confessed to not giving a "scoop of slime" for Norl's people once Bayban realised that Norl was using him.
Bayban described Sherm as a "son of a slimecrawler", possibly a reference to an actual creature on some unspecified world.
Blake told Dr Bellfriar on Fosforon of how Lord Jeffrey Ashley supplied hostile Indians with the blankets of smallpox victims, an analogy with the use of Wanderer K47 to introduce a virulent pathogen into the personnel on Q-base.
A mixture of ammonium carbonate crystals and an agreeable scent, inhaled by smelling, used to stimulate recovery in cases of headache or faintness. Something similar was used to stimulate Cally's recovery from the trance-like state she went into when the deaths of her people by the Federation-induced epidemic were communicated to her. Its strength was indicated by Vila's exaggerated comment that it could 'snap an asteroid out of orbit'.
Dayna rescued Tarrant from the Ultra by detonating a mobile smoke bomb that resembled the remote-controlled, heat-seeking explosive device used by her in City at the Edge of the World.
See EXPLOSIVES.
In the course of 52 episodes only two characters were seen smoking. Gola had a hookah or something similar on Goth, and the General on Helotrix had a cigar over tea. It was lit for him by Quute.
The streams of ions and electrons which continuously emanate from the stars. In Cygnus Alpha, when Jenna wondered what would happen if someone was teleported beyond the Liberator's teleport's maximum range, Avon imagined that 'they would appear momentarily in space, and then that their atoms would be scattered to the solar winds'.
| Device located on one of the polar caps of Albian, at grid reference 11179 intersect 441, installed by the Federation to deter attempts to challenge Federation rule. Once in fission, the radiation it emitted could destroy all life on the planet but leave buildings intact. The radiation decayed rapidly and contaminated areas could be safely re-entered within a day. The device on Albian could be activated from a control bunker on the inhabited equatorial belt, where it was guarded by a detachment from the Federation's Space Assault Force. |  The Activator |
 The Counter |
A group of Albian rebels, led by the mercenary Del
Grant, attempted to call the Federation's bluff, or at least reach the bunker
before the device was activated, but Provine ordered it armed when the
computers predicted a 93% chance of the bunker being penetrated. Actual
activation was by Tronos. Vetnor attempted to stop the countdown by
isolating the rotornoid link, but this failed.
|
| The detonators, of which there were three, contained mercury. The device was deactivated by Avon and Grant with seconds to spare. Blake threatened to pull them out when the countdown went below 50, but they both removed their bracelets to ensure they finished the task. Provine, Selson and Tronos had an escape route: a short-range ship ready for launch, but only Provine ever reached it and even he failed to take off. |  The Detonator (with Del Grant) |
Used by Tarrant to open the door to the underground complex on Terminal. He found the key on Toron's body.
| Crewman aboard the Ortega, who shared quarters with Pasco. He set out to proposition Cally and instead joined her in finding Dortmunn's body. He was later found with Mandrian's body, but denied having killed him. He was teleported aboard the Liberator shortly before the ship was destroyed. He voted against giving Blake the neutrotope to take to Destiny. |  |
| Ardus was fitted with a sonoscope after he was blinded by a radiation flare. The head-mounted device presumably used ultrasonic echoes to locate the position of objects. |  |
Narcotic gas, used by Sara to put the crew of the Ortega to sleep while she stole the neutrotope. Rafford had to be killed because he had switched off the air conditioning on the flight deck (contrary to flight procedure). Cally succumbed to its effects, and Blake nearly did too, but managed to clear the air by shutting off the circulation flow and removing the gas canister. Blake described the smell of sono vapour as sickly sweet.
Sona gas, presumably the same thing, was used by Veron to knock out Blake, Avon, Vila and Gan in the church cellar where they found her on Earth. She then took their teleport bracelets (but not their weapons) before locking the door. Blake et al succumbed very quickly, so perhaps the gas Veron used was an improved formula or more concentrated.
Scant information was given about Soolin's background. Her family were among the early settlers on Gauda Prime, but murdered when they refused to make way for the mining corporations that later moved in. By this time Gauda Prime was an open planet, so the killings were not technically illegal. Soolin told Zeeona that her father was murdered when she was eight years old, and the rest of her family presumably died at the same time. How Soolin came to survive was not mentioned. She later trained as a gunslinger under one of the men responsible, describing him in Rescue as "the second best" since she subsequently killed him and the rest of those who had murdered her relatives.
She first appeared as Dorian's companion on Xenon, but he clearly felt little for her, as he included her as Cally's replacement in his projected gestalt. She then vanished for up to 48 hours, but came back soon after Avon had made the teleport system workable. She claimed to give no allegiance to the rest of the crew but to "sell my skill". She remained with the crew until apparently dying on her home planet of Gauda Prime.
Known relatives: Only her father was specifically mentioned, in Warlord, but other relatives were alluded to.
Bodycount: Soolin shot four space rats on Caspar, a mutoid on Bucol-2, 3 guards on Zerok, another on the Space Princess, 5 or 6 troopers on Betafarl (one with a dagger-like energy weapon, four with a heavy rifle of some sort), a technician in Blake's base on Gauda Prime and a Federation trooper soon afterwards. She is unique among the crew in averaging more than one kill per episode she appeared in. Her skill was also useful in overcoming one of the game-like defence systems on Belkov's Orbiter ship, where a player had to outshoot her/himself.
Captured by: Dorian, who planned to use her in place of Cally as a component of his gestalt creature. She avoided capture on Betafarl by claiming to be Zukan's daughter.
Planets visited: She was seen to set foot on Xenon, Caspar, Bucol-2, Zerok, Betafarl and Gauda Prime. As far as is known, she is unique amongst the crew in never having visited Earth. It was never made clear whether her family settled on Gauda Prime before or after she was born.
Amongst her more notable achievements were her decoying Muller's android with Orac, realising that Piri was in fact Cancer, and suggesting the use of rain to neutralise the sand on Virn. Together with Tarrant she rescued Avon from Piri/Cancer, and alone rescued him again on Betafarl when he had been captured by Federation troopers.
Although she could and frequently did kill without any sign of compunction, there were indications that she did so within a strict personal code of conduct. She strongly disapproved of Keiller killing Slaten on the basis that the doctor was unarmed. She also seemed to be quick to form an opinion of people, rapidly growing tired of Piri, having little time for Zukan, but warming to Zeeona straight away and helping her slip back to Xenon Base to be with Tarrant.
It is unrecorded whether Soolin was her first name, surname, only name or a pseudonym.
Frontier world, one of those cited by Durkim as evidence of Star One's malfunction. Climate control had broken down, with temperatures rising by 20° (presumably Celsius?) with no rainfall for 60 days.
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An alien life form, silicon-based, that lived permanently on the dark side of
an unnamed planet. The planet was presumably tidally locked in its orbit or
something equivalent to have a permanent dark side. Sopron was collected by
Avon and Vila, who wore breathing apparatus but no pressure suits, so the
planet presumably had tolerable atmospheric pressure. Vila described the
surface as cold, but presumably not cold enough to warrant wearing a thermal
suit.
|  |
 The Planet Sopron came from | Sopron looked like little more than a piece of rock, but appearance was obviously none too important on the dark side of a planet. The unique ability of Sopron was its defensive ability to project an image of itself as slightly more threatening than a potential adversary. Zen described it as a capacity charged brain, Orac as a highly sophisticated computer, and Cally had visions of her parents (suggesting Sopron functioned telepathically). Avon devised a computer analogue of Sopron in the abandoned landing module on Kairos, which led to Zen identifying the craft as a high technology space cruiser, with herculanium skin, a speed of Standard by 12.203 and better armament than Liberator, persuading Servalan to abandon the ship and hand control back over to the crew. |
Whilst waiting for Travis, Servalan was told that the Space Administrators were waiting for her in the conference hall. She ordered the conference cancelled.
Less than a hundred troops of the Space Assault Force constituted the Federation garrison on Albian, under the command of Space Major Provine. Avon described them as "crack troops".
| Tarrant told Avon that he had trained as a Federation Space Captain. Quite how this rank differs from an ordinary captain was not explained. As a Space Captain, Tarrant was apparently involved in flying space craft, and when he deserted he stole a pursuit ship, at least according to the Ultra. Vila claimed to have bought his "Grade-4 Ignorant" status to avoid any chance of becoming a Space Captain. |  |
Servalan told Joban that no spacecasts of Blake or Travis had been made, even though knowledge of their activities was becoming widespread. Spacecasts were probably interstellar broadcasts intended for the general public.
Small one-seater spacecraft. Tarrant referred to them being a teenagers" craze "two centuries back", whereupon the Federation outlawed them. The space rats on Caspar had at least two space choppers, fitted with Plaxton's photonic drive enabling them to reach high speeds. Orac stated that the speed of the chopper attacking a Federation patrol near the Altern system was Standard by 12.6, but Atlan on Caspar referred to TD (ie: Time Distort) 12. The improved Mark II version of the drive was too large to be fitted into a space chopper. Dayna and Vila found two space choppers in the space rats hideout on Caspar, though there may well have been more.
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Space station, not seen in orbit around any world, but according to Vila
"also known as the Satellite of Sin" so it may have been close to an unnamed
planet. That it was ran by the Terra Nostra was an open secret, according to
Blake. He went there to buy the aid of the Nostra, and was captured by
Largo. Visiting Space City was one of Vila's "all-time great ambitions", and
he also teleported over, with Orac's help. He reported back to Cally saying
"you should see the sights I'm seeing. Then again maybe you shouldn't".
| |
 |
Space City sent a gunship against Liberator: it was destroyed when
Cally opened fire. The station was mentioned again in Gambit where Avon, talking of Freedom City, said "Space City pales in comparison". Space City also appeared on the "Galactic Monopoly" board: in Dawn of the Gods Dayna had a hotel on Space City, charging 5,000 credits a night. |
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The military wing of the Terran Federation. According to Par in
Trial, "Space Command runs the Federation". The Supreme Commander
was, however, answerable to the President and the High Council: Servalan
lacked the authority to turn off the defences around Central Control on
Earth. Other references include:
| 
|
 Under attack from the Liberator in Trial | Deliverance: Blake noted that Maryatt's AA security clearance gave him access to any area of Space Command. This seems to be the first mention of Space Command in the series. |
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Rank within the Federation, relative seniority unspecified. Travis was a
Space Commander, and was seen to take orders from no-one but Servalan. He
described himself as "a field officer", and Par said of him "He didn't waste
troopers... when you're up to your neck in slime and lasers, that's
everything". Travis was thus engaged in surface combat, in command of
troops, and low enough in rank to be directly involved in the fighting,
though this may have been before his promotion to Space Commander.
|  |
 | Another, unnamed, Space Commander was seen in Hostage, in charge of the attack on the Liberator with 20+ pursuit ships - a very different type of command from that inferred for Travis. Servalan ordered him to put himself under arrest when the attack failed. |
Suggested by Avon as the possible reason for Blake's unusual behaviour en route to Del-10. Presumably common parlance for a clinically recognised psychological condition affecting long-term space travellers.
Bellfriar suggested that Tynus might be "space happy", a diagnosis not unconnected with Tynus" passion for drawing locusts. Possibly another, even more colloquial, term for space fatigue.
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Servalan's command station as first seen in Seek-Locate-Destroy. The
station was seen in apparent close proximity to Centero in that episode, not
far from UP-Clonemaster and UP-Weapon in Weapon, a few hours
flight away from the Host at Standard by 10 in Trial, little more than
hours away from Exbar at Time Distort 10 in Hostage, and in The
Harvest of Kairos was stationed in Lipterion and very close to Kairos.
This assumes that the station seen on each occasion was the same one, which
is not necessarily the case. The station was also seen in Deliverance
and Star One. In Hostage the designation "FEDSTAT 2" can be
seen marked on the outer rim.
|  |
Provine's escape rocket on Albian contained life-support for just 100 space hours, according to Blake, whereas the nearest planet was 500 space hours away. It is not impossible that a space hour is a measure of distance rather than time, with one space hour perhaps representing one hour of travel at TD-1, but this is pure conjecture.
| Rank within the Federation, held by Provine of the Space Assault Force on Albian. |  Provine |
The craft in which Ensor Jr. and Maryatt journeyed towards Aristo was described by Zen as a Space Master series V, with four neutron power units with a maximum thrust of "four by six". It appeared to be very small and cramped, but fitted with at least two impact life capsules. Cally described Liberator to young Ensor as "ten times faster" than the Space Master, although this might have been mere platitudes on her part.
Mentioned by Artix soon after the London left Earth. Space Met had reported that meteorite activity 18 hours ahead on the London's flight path would have cleared by the time the ship got there. "Met" is clearly an allusion to meteorology; "space met" might be a colloquial term for a space flight monitoring body with a more formal title.
As well as planets and space stations, a number of natural phenomena were encountered by the crew in their travels. They included meteorite storms, asteroid clusters, dustclouds, stardust blizzard field, turbulence and black holes, all of which are discussed under their respective headings.
 |
In Breakdown the Liberator crossed a Prohibited Space Zone and
encountered a powerful gravitation vortex which threatened to tear the ship
apart. In Trial Blake was put down on a planet which turned out to be
a single living organism, the Host. In Hostage the Liberator
was flown through a cloud of ionised particles in an attempt to disrupt the
detector systems of pursuing Federation craft. In Moloch Vila
mentioned asteroid clusters and ion clouds. Ionic reefs as residues from
ship-to-ship combat appeared to be a recognised hazard. In Headhunter
Dayna suggested that freak magnetic storms might be responsible for the
disruption of Scorpio's systems. The violent energy discharges were
in fact the work of Muller's android.
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| In Terminal Avon flew the ship through an energy-charged cloud of fluid particles, some of which adhered to the hull and began to literally consume the ship. Zen detected "enzyme activity" and "molecular metamorphosis", implying that this substance was in some way alive. It was certainly capable of self-reproduction, and ate its way through metal, plastics and fabric with equal ease. Ultimately it led to the Liberator's destruction. |  |
The only spaceport specifically cited was that on Zerok, but such installations must have been present on most if not all colonised worlds.
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A pleasure cruiser, implicitly owned and operated by persons or a company on
Zerok and probably by the gold mining company there. Although ostensibly
carrying passengers on a tour of various galactic sights, it actually made a
direct 12-day run to Earth carrying gold for the Federation. The itinerary
was pre-recorded and the passengers drugged to make them believe what they
were seeing. The gold was listed as a cargo of fruit.
|  |
Soolin noted that the ship was unarmoured and Avon that it was unarmed, neither of which is surprising. Since Avon and Soolin managed to board the ship via the conveyor tunnel from the processor on Zerok, it would seem that the Space Princess could make surface landings, despite its not overly-aerodynamic shape.
Delinquents of unexplained origins, they were described by Vila as living for "sex and violence, booze and speed - and the fellas are just as bad". He added that he had known two on an unnamed penal colony who "were always trying to frighten me". They had been imprisoned for breaking into transport museums to steal vehicles for personal transport, something that had been banned by the Federation. He then said that space rats were "speed crazy, and I mean crazy".
The space rats encountered by the crew of Scorpio were based on the planet Caspar, where they were sheltering the renegade Dr Plaxton whilst she developed her photonic drive for their space choppers. Atlan referred to them "scouring a dozen worlds" for raw materials for the drive. At least nine space rats were seen to be killed, including Atlan. Others, including several female rats, were apparently left alive on Caspar. Named space rats were Brig and Bomber, and they were led by Atlan, who admitted to Dr Plaxton that he was not really a space rat himself.
Egrorian worked at the Space Research Institute up to the point where he fled with Pinder and several million credits. Tarrant also trained there shortly after Egrorian disappeared.
Shortly after taking off from Earth, Leylan reminded Artix to identify the London to Space Security. No further mention of this was made, nor any indication as to whether it was a civil or military body.
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A wide variety of space craft, Federation and otherwise, appeared during the
course of the series. Named or described vessels included the London
(make and model unspecified - unless it was an ex-military T16 transporter);
Liberator (a Deep Space Vehicle used by the System); an ancient
cryogenic capsule (not unlike a Space Master in design); the Mark III Galaxy
class cruiser Ortega; Starburst class (and other) pursuit ships; the
civilian cruiser Star Queen in Bounty; a Series V Space Master;
a chemical rocket on Cephlon; two high speed craft despatched by the System
to intercept Liberator; an apparently faster sister ship to the
Liberator; the freighter Blake followed to Horizon (very similar to
the London); Wanderer K47; the Salvager on Q-base (also very
similar to the London); Provine's escape rocket (also like a Space
Master);
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The Bari; a Trantinian planet hopper on Freedom City; the passenger
liner Nova Queen; the unmanned ore carrier it collided with; an
unidentified and possibly alien craft bringing Travis to Star One; a Chengan
hospital ship; the remains of a Type 6 survey ship on Crandor; the unmanned
kairopan transporter; an Auron C-Type Patroller; Servalan's Mark II Star
Cruiser; an alien sarcophagus-craft; a T-16 troop transporter (also looking
very similar to the London); a Teal-Star liner; Scorpio, a Mark
II Wanderer class planet hopper; B-19 cruisers; single-seater space choppers;
Alpha-3 (a small cargo ship); Orbiter; the Space Princess (a
pleasure cruiser); and the commercial freighter Lodestar as well as
sundry interceptors, cruisers, shuttles etc.
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Commissioner Sleer used a number of craft. Her lenticular cruiser was first
seen in Animals, and also seen in Assassin and Warlord.
It had surface landing capability and could accommodate at least five people.
Other performance criteria were unspecified. In Sand, she went to
Virn on a totally different craft (fanlore: According to Martin Bower, who
made the model, it was an FT-7 freighter), and in Orbit mentioned
reaching Malodar in an L-type cruiser, which she told Egrorian could only
hold two people.
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When any form of drive system was mentioned it was usually the "neutron drive", but Orac noted that the photonic drive was innovatory in its use of "light instead of plasma". This suggests that plasma drives were also found on many ships. Little was said about different drive systems and type of travel (sublight, faster-than-light etc), except that hyperdrive appeared to be for faster than light travel, and Scorpio used plasma thrust to approach an asteroid near the Altern system, probably at sublight velocity. Plasma drives were fitted with a focussing coil, but no other drive components received a meaningful mention.
References to fuel and power were few, but the prisoners bound for Cygnus Alpha were held in a transit cell whilst the London was being refuelled. Scorpio also needed fuel, at least before the acquisition of the photonic drive, since a disastrous visit to the Altern system was made to obtain selsium ore for fuel crystals.
| Very few space suits were worn. In Voice from the Past Blake wore a suit when he teleported down to Asteroid P-K118: it was silver with a "teardrop"-style helmet and tinted visor. Vila and Tarrant wore a very different kind of suit in Dawn of the Gods, which had an open "fishbowl" helmet and visible oxygen tubes entering at the sides. At least one such suit was kept on the flight deck. |  |
 |
The pressure suits worn by the
crew and Vena in Headhunter were noticeably less bulky, and helmet
fittings appeared to leave the throat and neck area exposed, not recommended
in a low pressure environment. These suits were seen again in
Warlord, worn by Zeeona, Tarrant and Dayna. It was noted that the
suits provided protection from radiation.
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| Large space station at astro point 781 in the 12th Sector, under the control of the System. Space World was one of only two places in which the Liberator was seen to dock, the other being Ultraworld. It was the central control complex for three planets previously at war but now united by the System, and probably housed the System itself. Disruption to the System by Orac led to Space World suffering damage of unspecified extent on Liberator's departure, and the whole space station itself may have been destroyed. |  |
Unit of distance, never specified. Liberator's standard orbital distance from a planet's surface was 1000 spacials, from which the ship could be visible from the ground as in Cygnus Alpha. Many references were made, too many to list here (see DETECTORS), but some include Voice from the Past, where Asteroid P-K118 had a stated diameter of 0.102 spacials, and The Harvest of Kairos, in which Zen reported destroying an area of fifty square surface spacials (possibly a different unit altogether).
See also SUBSEC
Relf of Probus-4, as catalogued by the Ultra.
Any of the classes or types used in astronomy to classify the stellar spectrum (plural. spectra) - the pattern of emission from a star of light or other electromagnetic radiation, over any range of wavelengths.
These spectral classes are called, in descending order from the star's hottest surface temperature to the coolest, by the letters O, B, A, F, G, K, M, N, L, S, R, and T. The star's colours also differ, hotter stars being bluer, cooler stars redder. These classes are then divided into ten sub-classes, from 0 to 9, apart from class O which only runs from 3 to 9 - classes O0 to O2 are waiting the discovery of even hotter stars. Classes N, L, S, R and T overlap in their (relatively cool) temperatures, but are characterised by the prominence of different elements in their spectra.
In Duel, the Liberator's instruments identified the star of the unnamed planet inhabited by Sinofar and Giroc as 'G2' class, the same as that of Earth's sun.
The London was hit and damaged by a number of "spectrum shock waves" from the battle between unidentified ships that lay on its course to Cygnus Alpha. Some blasts registered as greater than "scale 9" and were powerful enough to puncture the outer and inner hulls.
Most ships measured speed on a Time Distort scale. The London left Earth at TD-5. Keera in Duel estimated Liberator's arrival speed at the unnamed planet as TD-6. The ship in which Servalan travelled to Exbar had a safety maximum of TD-9, but an emergency maximum of TD-10. Servalan ordered her cruiser to depart from Obsidian at TD-10.
The Liberator used a different scale, of multiples of an unspecified standard. Blake instructed Zen to plot a course to Cygnus Alpha at "standard speed" and the journey was completed in what appeared to be a very short space of time. Later journeys were made at SB-2, SB-3 etc but later SB-6 became the norm for long distance travel. SB-10 was frequently used to escape from places on departure, and Blake's attack run on Servalan's HQ in Trial was made at this speed. Maximum speed appeared to be SB-12: Zen identified the landing module from Kairos fitted with the Sopron analogue as capable of SB-12.203, presumably marginally faster than Liberator. Blake completed the journey to Star One at SB-12. The sister ship despatched by the System in Redemption was stated by Zen to be approaching at SB-14.
In Duel the Liberator tried to ram Travis at an implied speed of SB-2, and Keera stated this to be TD-3. This suggests a SB:TD ratio of 1.5:1. In Hostage the Liberator accelerated to SB-10 and then SB-12 when first attacked. On the second attack speed was again increased to SB-10 on Blake's order. The command ship's mutoid pilot determined Liberator's speed as TD-20 soon after. This suggests a 2:1 ratio, unless Blake accelerated again to SB-12, a ratio of 1.7:1 and closer to the value suggested in Duel.
In Breakdown Blake states that Standard by 20 will cause the crew to lose control of the Liberator.
In Project Avalon Terloc told Travis that the Liberator had entered the planet's system and was expected to rendezvous with Avalon within 50 hours. This is rather a long time for a ship that could easily travel between stars and might refer to intra-system travel at sublight speeds (as a basic comparison, to travel the distance from Pluto's mean orbital distance from the Sun to Earth's mean orbit - about 5.7 billion kilometres - in 50 hours would require travelling at a speed of about 0.1c).
Some confusion over speed arises in Stardrive: Scorpio approaches an asteroid at a converging speed of SB-1, and the photonic drive-fitted space chopper seen near the Altern system was said by Orac to have a speed of SB-12.6, but further references by Atlan were to TD-12 and, in the case of the Mark II drive, TD-15. Fitted with the photonic drive, Scorpio fled from Bucol-2 at a speed estimated at TD-12. This is somewhere between SB-6 and SB-8, making Scorpio at least as fast as Liberator's standard cruising speed.
Speeds were usually given as whole integers, but some fractional speed values include speed increasing to SB-8.65 in The Web, and Jenna pulling away from XK-72 at SB-0.01.
TD and SB speeds appear to refer to faster-than-light velocities, but were also cited to when manoeuvring around planets, something that might conceivably be better done at sublight speeds.
See also HYPERDRIVE, PHOTONIC DRIVE, TIME DISTORT, INTERGALACTIC DRIVE.
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Described by the croupier as "the only game in town", a win or draw against
the Klute at speed chess offered a prize of one million credits. The
challenger was offered the white pieces and the advantage of the first move -
all moves had to be made within five seconds or the player lost a pawn by
default. Those who lost were fixed in their chair and electrocuted to death,
a process described by Krantor as "the Klute's only reward".
|  Thrylce |
 |
Two games of speed chess were witnessed in the episode. A challenger,
described as "a trekker", called Thrylce was defeated in 28 moves. Vila was
persuaded to play to double his 5 million credit win on the Big Wheel, and
aided by Orac forced a draw after 21 moves.
See also Chess
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Spiders or spider-like creatures were referred to in one and seen in two episodes in the series. They were referred to in The Web by Jenna and Vila. The former compared the strands of the Lost's web to a spider's web; the latter prophetically pointed out that spiders' webs were used for 'trapping food'.
In Shadow, the Chairman of the Terra Nostra kept a large spider or spider-like creature as a pet; in The Harvest of Kairos, a species of spider-like creature inhabited Kairos. Like spiders, the latter were silk-producing creatures who, once they hatched out, needed Kairopan to produce their silk webs.
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As a result, they had a highly-developed sense of smell, being able to
detect if other creatures had even touched Kairopan, killing all who had in
order to obtain that crystal. They ensured that, with the exception of the
seven days following the vernal equinox, Kairos' environment was 'hostile
to human life'; because all humans on the planet could not resist the
temptation to pocket some Kairopan, due to its great value.
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See also KAIROPAN, KAIROS, BRIAN THE SPIDER (FAN LORE).
Name given by Servalan to Clinician Franton's cloning process.
Possible rank within the Federation. The squad leader despatched by Grenlee to investigate a surveillance fault around Residence-1 was one of five troopers, but Federation troops were more normally seen in groups of six, suggesting that this might be the typical strength of a squad.
| Orac's reply to Avon's query about the theory of molecular reduction. Avon (untruthfully) told Orac that it was impossible, prompting Orac to give a demonstration. The computer reduced its size to one eighth of normal for two hours and six minutes, allowing it to be taken down to Freedom City and assist Vila on the Big Wheel and later at Speed Chess. The duration of such miniaturisation was inversely related to the degree of atomic implosion - smaller size, less time. |  |
Technical component in relay systems, probably named after its inventor. The launch doors of the rocket silo on Albian contained a Stadler link in their control circuitry.
Requested by Travis when first assigned to hunt Blake. Servalan told him that only three had so far been built and they had all been assigned to the Galactic 8th Fleet. They were described as "high range" pursuit ships, which suggests they were not necessarily built for more speed or firepower than conventional pursuit ships.
| The ship Servalan used when President was a Mark II Star Cruiser, and was named as such in Moloch. In Volcano she gave an order to leave Obsidian at Time Distort 10, indicating the speed at which it could travel. Although large and ungainly-looking, it could make surface landings, and did so on Auron and Sardos. It was fitted with a scoop facility for picking up smaller ships, such as Pilot 4-0"s C-Type Patroller from Auron. |  |
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Referred to by Orac as another name for the photonic drive developed by Dr Plaxton.
A harmless electrical phenomenon in space, supposedly passed by the Space Princess on its journey from Zerok to Earth.
Nickname of Fleet-warden Samor, used by Lye and also Servalan.
Rank adopted by Hunda as leader of the 4th rebel column on Helotrix.
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First mentioned by a dying Provine as the new location of the Federation's
Control complex, the hunt for Star One involved Blake, Servalan and Travis
each with their own reasons for finding it. It turned out to be located on a
single planet circling a white dwarf well outside the galaxy proper, and thus
the first star to be encountered by anyone travelling between the Milky Way
and M31. The Fool on Goth gave its co-ordinates as "grid reference C17320 in
the 11th Sector", a position Jenna later described as imprecise. The planet
itself was cold, temperatures rising above freezing point only around the
equator during the day. The computer complex was underground, and shielded
by some unspecified means. The teleport could not work through this shield,
though this was probably coincidental. Orac was able to access Star One's
computers, since he mentioned making a cursory analysis of the systems
concerned with the antimatter minefield.
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 Many of the technicians |
Docholli operated on thirty technicians who had built Star One (other
cybersurgeons may have operated on additional personnel, but this is never
indicated). Those that chose to remain there were possibly different people
altogether. At least twelve people were present at the complex when Blake
arrived, although all but one was in fact an alien infiltrator. Named
technicians were Stot, Parton, Lurena, Marcol, Leeth and Shokov. Blake
killed "Stot", Avon killed "Parton" and one other, Lurena killed "Shokov" and
was herself killed along with four others by an explosive device planted by
Blake. At least three other aliens were unaccounted for.
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Star One was, from what Durkim said, responsible for climate control on many
frontier worlds (Sooni, Vilker, Palmero, Carthenis and Heeron were mentioned)
and for Computer Flight Co-ordination, sabotage of which caused the collision
of the Nova Queen with an unmanned ore carrier above Keldon City. It
also maintained and monitored the antimatter minefield sown by the Federation
to keep out the threat of an invasion from M31. Durkim referred to no rain
on Sooni and continual rainfall on Vilker for 60 days, suggesting that alien
interference in Star One's systems might have begun about this time. Travis
in The Keeper said that Star One "controls climate on more than two
hundred worlds, communications, security, food production... it is the key to
our very lives."
|  Avon on the surface |
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Travis acquired the location of Star One from the brainprint left on Goth by
Lurgen. Blake found the information hypnotically planted in the Charl's
Fool: by travelling at Standard by 12 he arrived hours, if that, ahead of
Travis, who may have acquired one of the aliens" ships along the way (it was
of a type Jenna could not recognise). Blake, Avon and Cally teleported
down.
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Blake abandoned his intention to destroy Star One when the alien threat
became apparent, and Liberator remained in the vicinity to hold off
the alien fleet until Federation reinforcements could arrive. Federation
Battle Commander Squadron 6 reported the aliens destroying Star One during a
surprise counterattack at some point during the war.
|  Liberator in front of Star One |
Suggested by Tarrant for Vila, after his apparent death on Crandor.
The civilian cruiser from which Tarvin and at least four Amagons boarded the Liberator, using a voice synthesizer to transmit a reassuring message from Gan after he teleported across. Although described as having no heavy armament, it might not have been a civilian cruiser at all, but a ship adapted for piratical purposes.
Sinofar told Blake and Travis that their ships were held in a stasis field and would remain so until the duel was complete. Jenna later mentioned the effect as being like that of a stasis beam, suggesting that "stasis technology" might not have been unknown in Blake's era.
Tommy Steele's recording of Singing the Blues was played by Sarkoff on his gramophone, and described as "echoes of a more civilised age".
Singing the Blues entered the UK singles chart on December 14th 1956 and spent one week at number one in its thirteen week chart run, alternating with Guy Mitchell's recording of the same song. Steele had no less than 17 chart hits, including seven top-tenners. They included Butterfingers, Nairobi and the unforgettable Little White Bull. If Sarkoff had that last in his collection he deserved to be exiled.
Control unit on Liberator, damaged during the attack by eight Federation cruisers above Obsidian.
Legislation that ensured that all races from Earth were represented whenever a new planet was colonised. It was only mentioned in reference to Helotrix, and Tarrant spoke of it in the past tense, implying that it had subsequently been abandoned. Almost all the people encountered by the crews of Liberator and Scorpio were caucasian, and other races were conspicuous when present. At least three of Ven Glynd's aides on Asteroid P-K118 and Atlay were black, as were Hal and Dayna Mellanby and one of the adapted Helots seen on the concourse when Hunda launched his attack. Of the warlords assembled by Avon for his anti-Federation alliance, Chalsa and Lod were also black. Ginka was clearly of oriental extraction, but he was very much an exception rather than the rule.
| One of the technicians remaining on Star One after its construction, effectively marooned for life with no hope of ever leaving. At some point he was replaced by an alien infiltrator. The substitute Stot acted as the senior technician present, so presumably the real Stot fulfilled this role. "Stot" welcomed Blake to Star One believing him to be Travis. He was later killed by Blake. |  |
Powerful grenade, thrown by Travis in what looked like desperation to try and stop Blake escaping from the Central Control complex on Earth. Servalan tried and failed to stop Travis using it. The ensuing explosion brought about severe structural damage, trapping Servalan, Travis and two mutoids deep within the complex. Gan was killed as a result of the explosion, although the rest of the crew escaped unharmed.
The doorway out of the dome city on Earth through which Blake went with Richie and Ravella to meet Foster. Later used by Varon and Maja, it was said to be on the north side of the city.
Part of the launch control system in Meegat's bunker on Cephlon, it enabled Avon to contact the Liberator.
In Weapon a sub-space communicator was one of the pieces of equipment taken by Coser when he fled the Federation's Weapons Development Base. It was used by Rashel to inform Blake that he and his crew were safe from IMIPAK. See also HYPERSPACE SUB-BEAM.
Rooms aboard the Liberator, whose presumed function, suggested by their titles and by what the crewmembers did there, was to allow greater access to the ship's main systems than was possible from the flight deck.
The only time we see and hear about these sub-control rooms is in Redemption. At the start of the episode, Gan and Vila are seen working in an unidentified sub-control room; after the attacks by the System and its (as yet unknown to the crew) takeover of the ship's systems, we see two, in particular one, identified sub-control rooms.
Gan is sent by Blake to Sub-Control Room One to check the 'power units', later reporting from there that 'Virtually all the control systems seem to be out'. This suggests that this sub-control room was an important one, dealing with the ship's power.
The sub-control room we see the most of is Four, which contains the controls for the auxiliary drive. When no isolation of it from the energy units was possible from the flight deck, Blake went to that room to perform the operation, but was attacked by a thick coiled cable.
In short, it can be assumed that the sub-control rooms performed an important function in the running of the Liberator. There were at least four, One dealing with the ship's power, Four with the auxiliary drive; but no further details were given about them. Also, no main control room was ever mentioned.
See LIBERATOR.
Communications device, and the means by which the solium radiation device was activated from the Federation bunker on Albian. From what Avon said, it had a range of about 10,000 miles.
A space craft drive that does not enable the ship to travel faster than light. The cryogenic capsule brought aboard Liberator was said by Avon to be fitted with a sublight drive. Wanderer K47 in Killer was described by Blake as being infraluminal, which essentially means the same thing.
The processed gold on Zerok was stated by Orac to have undergone a subneutronic overlap shift, and if subjected to the stress of teleporting would turn irrevocably to dust. The subneutronic overlap shift was probably a side-effect of the processing rather than a description of the process itself.
A measure of distance in deep space. Artix reported the battle between two unidentified fleets as "five subsecs" away "on the high-D grid". Leylan asked him to plot a course round, at least three subsecs away from the outer edge of the battle. Subsecs were never referred to again in the series: they may have been equivalent to spacials, or something else entirely (possibly subdivisions of a parsec - 3.262 light years - but this is pure conjecture). The London was an old ship and may have been fitted with antiquated detector equipment, using an obsolete scale.
| Means of underground transport on UP-Death-Watch. Deeta and Max travelled in a VIP shuttle. |  |
Inhabitants of the unnamed planet on which Avalon was working when captured by Travis. One died during a test of the virus with which Travis planned to eliminate Blake and his crew. About a dozen working with Avalon were wiped out by mutoids, including Terloc, who had informed Travis of the meeting place. The only survivor was Chevner, who acquitted himself well in helping Blake rescue "Avalon" but was killed aboard Liberator, probably because he might discover (or actually had discovered) that 'Avalon' was in fact an android.
Avon referred to the Subterrons as "humanoid creatures", but Travis requested "a human" to test the modified Delta 706 virus.
An article of the Teal-Vandor Convention, by which those who attempted to assassinate a Champion without right of blood feud or outside a period of declared hostilities had to justify their actions.
Travis referred to his arm being rebuilt and fitted with a lazeron destroyer by "surgical mechanics", possibly an alternative term for cybersurgeons.
Written By Murray Smith
A room aboard the Liberator where illnesses were diagnosed and sugrery carried out. It was seen only once, in Breakdown, after Gan was taken there to find out why he attacked Jenna and Blake; and it was later where surgery to repair his limiter was successfully carried out. Three items of equipment in the unit were both referred to and used: a diagnostic analyser, a voray scan, and a radio sensor.
The unit was mentioned twice in Orac, first by Vila, who called for himself and the others who had absorbed heavy doses of radiation on Cephlon to go there; and second by Blake, when he told Ensor that he and his crew had the facilities to perform the implant of the new energy cells in the latter's mechanical heart, because the _Liberator_ had 'one of the finest surgical units you've ever seen'. Due to the lack of information, nothing is known of any possible relationship the unit might have had with the 'medical unit' mentioned in Star One.
See also DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSER, MEDICAL UNIT, RADIO SENSOR, VOR-RAY SCAN.
Device by which Servalan monitored the destruction of young Ensor's Space Master in the vicinity of Cephlon.
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It is likely that a Civil Administration 'Survival Unit' consists of a white
one-piece suit, boots, helmet and two devices on a chest harness. In Space Fall,
Leylan gives the order to Wallace and Teague: - "Kit out with your survival
units. I'll be with you in a minute...", Teague appears dressed as shown in the
picture.
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When Raiker gets concerned as to the activities of Blake, aboard the
Liberator, he issues an order to be brought a survival unit, and subsequently is
seen in similar equipment to Teague. Blake, Jenna and Avon only have 2 devices
on their harness and no suits or helmets, but this is after Leylan has given the
order "Right. Get them equipped and bring 'em down here...". In this instance,
he does not refer to 'Survival Units'. As to the devices themselves, there are a few clues as to their function. The smaller of the two devices on the chest belt is a communication device. When Teague enters the transfer tunnel, he clicks the device, the red light comes on and he says, "Starting along the transfer tube now sir." He then clicks the device again and the red light goes out. Blake also uses his communication device when Leylan contacts him on board Liberator. The cylindrical object on the chest harness may possibly be an emergency air supply.
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| Name by which Chesku and later Hob referred to Anna Grant. No explanation was given as to why she was known to them as Sula. It may have been a new identity, or a name taken through marrying Chesku, although there is no evidence for that. Servalan, when they met, did not address her by any name at all. |  |
When Practor discovered Servalan's portrait in his private suite on Helotrix, he referred to her as "the Supreme Empress". Nobody, including Servalan herself, had previously been heard to address her as such, and Tarrant did not include it in his list of Federation titles in Rumours of Death. Servalan last called herself "President and Supreme Commander" as late as Moloch, but she may have subsequently declared herself Supreme Empress before being deposed.
| Described by the Altas as "the supreme power of Space World". Norm-1 told Blake how the System evolved from the computer of one of three warring planets which took over the weaponry computers of the other two. The System controlled the Altas, with whom it could link via fingertip-contact consoles. The System interrogated Blake through Alta Two. Orac was able to access the System and interfere with its operation, allowing the crew to escape. Grenades thrown into Alta Two's control room appeared to do some damage, but probably not enough to prompt the "Destruct" response she began to chant thereafter. It is quite possible the System was destroyed, and perhaps also Space World with it. |  |