BLAKE'S 7

26.  "Star One"
by Chris Boucher

(c) 1977 by the British Broadcasting Corporation.  Series created
by Terry Nation.  This is a complete dialogue transcript for
research purposes and is not for sale under any circumstances
Format (c) 1993 by Micky DuPree.
Transcription:  Malcolm Mladenovic.
Proofreading:  Dave Owen.

Dramatis Personae:

Blake  Gareth Thomas
Jenna  Sally Knyvette
Avon  Paul Darrow
Cally  Jan Chappell
Vila  Michael Keating
Zen  Peter Tuddenham
Servalan Jacqueline Pearce
Travis  Brian Croucher
Lurena  Jenny Twigge
Stott  David Webb
Parton  Gareth Armstrong
Durkim  John Bown
Marcol  Paul Toothill
Leeth  Michael Maynard

[scene - shots of approaching space ships]

NOVA QN PILOT:  Keldan Control, Keldan Control, this is Nova
                Queen on primary approach zero-four-zero. Request
                orbital entry clearance. [beep]
    K CONTROL:  Nova Queen, Nova Queen, this is Keldan control.
                Maintain zero-four-zero. Orbital entry is clear.
                [beep]
NOVA QN PILOT:  Keldan Control, this is Nova Queen. I have an
                unidentified trace on zero-four-zero. [beep]
    K CONTROL:  Nova Queen, this is Keldan Control. Maintain
                zero-four-zero and switch to Computer Flight
                Coordination. [beep]
NOVA QN PILOT:  Switching to CFC, maintaining zero-four-zero.
                [beep] [pause] That ship is still coming at us.
                [beep]
    K CONTROL:  Nova Queen, this is Keldan Control. The ship is
                an unmanned ore carier on Computer Flight
                Coordination. [beep]
NOVA QN PILOT:  I hope you're sure about that, Keldan, it's still
                on zero-four-zero. [beep]
    K CONTROL:  Nova Queen, computer control is confirmed. No
                problem. [beep]
NOVA QN PILOT:  You know that and I know that, but does the
                computer know that? [beep]
    K CONTROL:  It'll switch vectors any time now. Relax. [beep]
NOVA QN PILOT:  I'll relax when it gets that ship off zero-four-
                zero. [beep]
    K CONTROL:  It will. [beep]
NOVA QN PILOT:  Keldan control, I have four thousand passengers
                on this ship and that ore carrier is still on
                zero-four-zero. [beep]
    K CONTROL:  Computer flight coordination doesn't make errors.
                [beep]
NOVA QN PILOT:  To hell with that! Do something, Keldan. That
                thing is coming straight at us. [beep] Keldan
                Control! [beep]
    K CONTROL:  Nova Queen, switch to manual control, engage
                emergency boosters and abort zero-four-zero.
                Confirm please. [beep]
NOVA QN PILOT:  I can see it! My God, it's too late!
    K CONTROL:  Nova Queen, Nova Queen, this is Keldan Control,
                do you copy? [beep] Nova Queen, Nova Queen, come
                in please.  [beep]

[scene - Servalan's office in Space Command]
SERVALAN:  Unfortunate.
  DURKIM:  You do have a way with words, Supreme Commander. I'm
           sorry, that was unneccessary. Everyone on the Nova
           Queen died instantly of course, but it didn't end
           there. The ship's neutron drive unit broke free,
           survived the fall through the atmosphere.  It went
           critical just about the time it hit the surface.
           Ground zero was slap in the middle of Keldan City.
           Half the population was killed outright.
SERVALAN:  It was a computer malfunction, presumably.
  DURKIM:  Yes.
SERVALAN:  These things happen, Durkim.
  DURKIM:  They're happening far too often, Supreme Commander.
           Computer Flight Coordination is breaking down on
           twenty different worlds and the problem is spreading.
SERVALAN:  Are you saying it's a basic design fault?
  DURKIM:  No, that's not what I'm saying. Look. That's the
           equatorial zone on Palmero.
SERVALAN:  Palmero?
  DURKIM:  Yes, and that is snow you're looking at, Supreme
           Commander. It'll be some time before they re-establish
           themselves as the Federation's main producer of
           tropical fruit. And this, the plains of Suni. Mean
           temperature has gone up by twenty degrees. It hasn't
           rained anywhere on that planet in sixty days.  When it
           does, the effect will be something like this... The
           planet Vilka, where it hasn't stopped raining for
           sixty days. The planet Herom... Carthenis.... [1]
           Climate control has gone disastrously wrong on all the
           frontier worlds.
SERVALAN:  And it's spreading?
  DURKIM:  Rapidly.
SERVALAN:  Anything else?
  DURKIM:  Isn't that enough?
SERVALAN:  No, it's impossible, Durkim.
  DURKIM:  You mean unthinkable, don't you? Look, everything
           you've just seen has one common denominator.
SERVALAN:  Computers.
  DURKIM:  Not computers. Computer. Singular. Very singular
           indeed. Our unbeatable control and coordination
           centre.
SERVALAN:  No!
  DURKIM:  Servalan, by design or accident Star One is failing.
SERVALAN:  There has to be another explanation.
  DURKIM:  There isn't.
SERVALAN:  And if you want to keep your job you'll find it.
  DURKIM:  Why won't you face the facts?
SERVALAN:  Because I'm not convinced. And even if I were, there
           would be nothing I could do about it.
  DURKIM:  Well, surely under the circumstances you could get
           clearance to put a team in.
SERVALAN:  Star One is the most secure installation in the
           Federation.
  DURKIM:  I know that.
SERVALAN:  Do you know why it's so thoroughly secure?
  DURKIM:  Well, presumably because knowledge of its location is
           severely restricted.
SERVALAN:  No! Knowledge of it's location is non-existent.
           Durkim, no one knows where Star One is! No-one at all!

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
   BLAKE:  So, if Lurgan's coordinates are correct Star One is
           somewhere in there.
    AVON:  Which makes it about the only thing that is.
    VILA:  At least we'll recognize it when we see it, even if we
           don't recognize it when we see it, if it's the only
           thing that's there, if you see what I mean.
   CALLY:  Oh, shut up, Vila.
    VILA:  I'm just trying to help.
   BLAKE:  What do you think, Jenna?
   JENNA:  It's riskier than it looks. These coordinates are not
           precise enough. And however they built Star One it's
           not going to be so big that we can't miss it.
   BLAKE:  We'll probably have to search.
   JENNA:  It's a long way out, Blake - a long way from the edge
           of the galaxy.
   CALLY:  It's infinity. You're asking us to plunge out into
           infinity.
   BLAKE:  Now come on, Cally, that's a slight exaggeration.
   CALLY:  Is it? What, the space between the island galaxies.
           It's the nearest we'll come to infinity before we die.
   JENNA:  If anything goes wrong out there we won't have a
           prayer, because nothing and nobody goes out that far.
    VILA:  I hadn't thought of it like that.
   BLAKE:  The Federation went out there.
    VILA:  We've only got Lurgan's word for that. And we didn't even
           get it first hand.
    AVON:  There is only Lurgan's word. Everybody else who knew
           is either dead or amnesiac. One clue. Just one, and we
           have got it. Why are you listening to this drivel,
           Blake? We can take Star One, let's get on with it.
   JENNA:  Very stirring. When did you become a believer?
    AVON:  Are you just going to sit there? You have led them by the
           nose before.
   BLAKE:  'Scuse me, are you going to answer her question?
    AVON:  Show me someone who believes in anything and I will show
           you a fool.
   BLAKE:  I meant what I said on Goth, Avon. We are not going to
           use Star One to rule the Federation, we are going to
           destroy it.
    AVON:  I never doubted that. I never doubted your fanaticism.
           As far as I am concerned you can destroy whatever you
           like. You can stir up a thousand revolutions, you can
           wade in blood up to your armpits. Oh, and you can lead
           the rabble to victory, whatever that might mean. Just
           so long as there is an end to it.  When Star One is
           gone it is finished, Blake. And I want it finished. I
           want it over and done with. I want to be free.
   CALLY:  But you are free now, Avon.
    AVON:  I want to be free of him.
   BLAKE:  I never realized. You really do hate me, don't you?
    AVON:  When we have dealt with Star One, I will take you back to
           Earth and then the Liberator is mine, agreed?
   BLAKE:  Agreed. Assuming the others go along with it.
   JENNA:  Why should we?
    VILA:  Yes, why should we? It's all a bit high-handed if you ask
           me.
     ZEN:  Liberator is approaching sector nine. Navigation
           computers now require further instructions.
   BLAKE:  Well, do we look for Star One?
   JENNA:  We'll finish what we set out to do. Nothing else is
           settled.
   CALLY:  Are we fanatics?
   BLAKE:  Does it matter?
   CALLY:  Many, many people will die without Star One.
   BLAKE:  I know.
   CALLY:  Are you sure that what we're going to do is justified?
   BLAKE:  It has to be. Don't you see, Cally? If we stop now
           then all we have done is senseless killing and
           destruction.  Without purpose, without reason. We have
           to win. It's the only way I can be sure that I was
           right.
   CALLY:  That you were right?
   JENNA:  Course for sector eleven is laid in.
    AVON:  Detectors on full range. All readings are clear.
    VILA:  Weaponry system on standby.
   BLAKE:  Standard by six, Jenna.
   JENNA:  Run course program, standard by six.
   BLAKE:  Confirm boundary.
     ZEN:  Confirm Liberator is now crossing the theoretical
           boundary of the galaxy and is entering intergalactic
           space.
   BLAKE:  Increase speed to standard by twelve.

[scene - Servalan's office]
SERVALAN:  There's no doubt in your mind that he was telling the
           truth?
INTER-
 ROGATOR:  None, Supreme Commander. We didn't rush him. He was
           telling the truth all right.
SERVALAN:  Very well, interrogate the rest of his team just to
           make sure, and try not to kill them. [Durkim enters]
           Yes, Durkim, what is it?
  DURKIM:  I find that just a little distracting, Supreme
           Commander. What's all this about?
SERVALAN:  Time to defend ourselves.
  DURKIM:  Against whom?
SERVALAN:  Each other. Now what is it you want? Quickly, you're
           wasting time.
  DURKIM:  There's an emergency meeting of the High Council.
SERVALAN:  I am aware of that.
  DURKIM:  I've been summoned to appear before it. You put
           Headquarters on full security restriction. I can't get
           off this satelite without your direct clearance.
SERVALAN:  No.
  DURKIM:  Well, 'no' you agree with what I'm saying or 'no' you
           refuse my clearance.
SERVALAN:  Both. Now get back to your work. I am still waiting
           for your theories about where Star One may be located.
  DURKIM:  That summons is a Presidential Order in Council. I
           have to go.
SERVALAN:  Space Command no longer recognises the authority of
           the President or of the Council.
  DURKIM:  I don't think I understand.
SERVALAN:  We are the only force capable of handling the present
           emergency.
  DURKIM:  I doubt if even we can do that.
SERVALAN:  The President and those members of the Council who are
           unable to accept the realities of the situation are
           even now being arrested, as are those of our own
           people whose loyalties may be divided. At a time like
           this complete unity is an absolute essential.
  DURKIM:  There isn't enough data. I can't even guess where Star
           One is.
SERVALAN:  Then I suggest you try harder. Or I might think you're part
           of the plot.
  DURKIM:  Plot?
SERVALAN:  Obviously, someone is trying to destroy the Federation, now
           perhaps it's you.
  DURKIM:  Why would I want to do that?
SERVALAN:  'Why' is always the most difficult question. At the
           moment I am more concerned with 'how'.
  DURKIM:  Is she involved?
SERVALAN:  You know her?
  DURKIM:  Her name's Lurena, I think. Isn't it. Er, we were
           acquainted.
SERVALAN:  You were more than just acquaintances.
  DURKIM:  That's a long time ago. She emigrated to one of the
           frontier worlds.
SERVALAN:  She's on Star One.
  DURKIM:  She can't be, it's unmanned. The systems are automatic.
SERVALAN:  A group of scientists and technicians elected to spend
           the rest of their lives refining, checking and
           guarding the systems.
  DURKIM:  Knowing they could never leave, never come home.
           That's appalling.
SERVALAN:  Inspiring, surely. In the best tradition of selfless
           devotion to the Federation.
  DURKIM:  That's your answer then. Some or all of them have
           changed their minds.
SERVALAN:  Uh-uh. They were all screened and conditioned very
           carefully by our best psycho-manipulation teams. None
           of the group could attempt to damage the systems,
           identify the location or contact anyone outside Star
           One without going obviously insane.
  DURKIM:  How can you be certain of that?
SERVALAN:  The head of the psycho-manipulation team has just
           finished... reassuring my interrogators. So whatever
           is happening on Star One is happening against her
           will.
  DURKIM:  There's nothing I can do.
SERVALAN:  You get back to work, Durkim. She may still have a
           chance. If we can find her in time.
  DURKIM:  May I offer you my personal congratulations, and
           loyalty, Madame President?
INTERCOM
   VOICE:  Supreme Commander.
SERVALAN:  What is it?
INTERCOM
   VOICE:  Blake and his crew. The strategy programs have
           all come up blank on the possible courses they took.
SERVALAN:  Run them again.
INTERCOM
   VOICE:  But, Supreme Commander.
SERVALAN:  Run them again! [intercom off] I will not be President
           of a ruined empire.

[scene - Star One]
  LURENA:  What are you doing? _What are you doing?_
   STOTT:  Just a routine check, Lurena.
  LURENA:  Is that why you're using a laser probe? I've been
           watching you, Stott.
   STOTT:  I know.
  LURENA:  Your behaviour has been very suspicious for some time
           now.
   STOTT:  Forgive me, Lurena, but, well, we've all noticed that
           you seem to be under some kind of stress.
  LURENA:  There was nothing wrong with that control circuit, I
           checked it myself an hour ago.
   STOTT:  That's why I was checking it again.
  LURENA:  You think I don't know what I'm doing?
   STOTT:  I'm afraid that's what we all think. Someone's been
           tampering with the systems, it can only be you. Your
           conditioning, a reaction to it. You're not to blame.
           You're ill, that's all.
  LURENA:  Stay where you are, or I'll kill him.
  PARTON:  We only want to help you, Lurena. Please, put down the
           gun.
  LURENA:  Yes, you'd like that wouldn't you. Stay where you are.
   STOTT:  Do as she says, Parton.
  LURENA:  I see it now, you're all in this together.
  PARTON:  That's impossible, you know that's impossible, look
           Lurena.
  LURENA:  You're all against me. All of you. Whispering, plotting
           behind my back. You want to kill me.
  PARTON:  We want to help you.
  LURENA:  Don't move!
  PARTON:  Please, Lurena. [she runs off] [to the others] Get
           after her. Find her before she does any more damage.
           And don't bother to bring her back. Just kill her. I
           was right, we should have done it as soon as we knew.
   STOTT:  I didn't realise how far she'd got.
  PARTON:  Now she's running around loose.
   STOTT:  Well at least we know what to expect, anyway. And
           after all, what can she do, alone? She is the last one.

[chase scene]
VOICE:  [off stage] This way.

[chase scene]

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
   BLAKE:  Anything on the detectors?
    AVON:  No.
   BLAKE:  Jenna, how long before we reach Lurgan's coordiates?
   JENNA:  Eight minutes. If there's anything there it should be
           showing by now.
   CALLY:  Perhaps Star One doesn't come within detector range until
           we reach the coordinates.
    VILA:  Our detectors are better than anything the Federation have
           got. We should be able to see it by now.
    AVON:  I think we can. There, you see, at the extreme edge of
           the range.
   JENNA:  What is it?
    AVON:  The readings say that it is a star, small, pale and very
           dense.
   BLAKE:  A white dwarf by the look of it.
    VILA:  You couldn't put a computer complex on that. Could you?
    AVON:  Hardly.
   CALLY:  Does it have a planetary system?
    AVON:  Probably not a system, more likely a single planet.
   BLAKE:  A single planet orbiting an isolated, dying star.
    VILA:  Star One.
   BLAKE:  Seems reasonable.

[scene]

   STOTT:  Have they found her?
  PARTON:  We've been through all the control sectors, searched the
           storage rooms, living quarters.
   STOTT:  Maybe she went out onto the surface?
  PARTON:  She won't last long if she has, there's nothing out
           there for her.
   STOTT:  Better send a search party anyway.
  PARTON:  We can't waste any more time on her.
   STOTT:  Do it!
  PARTON:  Shall I call off the search down here?
   STOTT:  Leave three to continue, send a party out onto the
           surface, put the rest back to work. Don't be insolent.
  PARTON:  Maintenance takes effort. If we could revert to
           ourselves...
   STOTT:  No, not while she's free. If she realized, her
           conditioning might break down completely.

[scene]
  LURENA:  Zhokov, I'm sorry, I...
     [body turns into alien]

[scene]
   BLAKE:  Put the planet on visual.
     ZEN:  Confirmed.
    VILA:  Looks like yet another garden paradise.
   BLAKE:  Surface conditions?
     ZEN:  The atmosphere is breathable. Surface temperatures are
           low. Calculations suggest that they rise above
           freezing point only during daylight hours at the
           equator.
   BLAKE:  Good.
    VILA:  It is? You like dead planets with dying suns?
   BLAKE:  I do when I'm looking for a complex underground
           installation. Jenna, program a course to orbit the
           planet's equator.
    VILA:  You don't have to explain it to me, I only came for the
           ride.
    AVON:  With surface conditions like that where would you build
           the main installation?
   JENNA:  Course program laid in.
   BLAKE:  Maximum scan, Cally. Look for anything unusual or out
           of place, sudden temperature variation, anything.
           They're bound to have left some clue as to where they
           put that installation. A door would be nice if you
           could manage it.
   CALLY:  I'll do my best.
   BLAKE:  Preferably one marked 'Entrance'.
   CALLY:  Ready on the scan, Jenna.
   JENNA:  Run course program.
     ZEN:  Confirmed. Course program running.

[later]
    AVON:  I have been doing some calculations, if this is Star
           One...
   BLAKE:  If it is?
    AVON:  First catch your computer, but all right it probably
           is, and that being the case the choice of location is
           fascinating.
   BLAKE:  I'm glad you're enjoying it.
    AVON:  The nearest large galaxy to our own is Andromeda.
   BLAKE:  So?
    AVON:  So, this is the nearest point to Andromeda. If anyone
           could cross intergalactic space in less than a
           lifetime we are now precisely upon the route that they
           would take.
   BLAKE:  What are you trying to say, Avon?
    AVON:  I directed the detectors toward the Andromeda galaxy.
           There are thousands of satellite generators out there,
           beyond Star One.
   BLAKE:  What?
    AVON:  Even with the Federation's resources it must have taken
           them years.
   BLAKE:  That must be the biggest antimatter minefield ever put
           together.
   VILLA:  Minefield, what minefield?
    AVON:  Perhaps the intergalactic drive has been developed.
           Question is, by whom.
   BLAKE:  A defence zone to keep mankind in, or something else out.

[scene - Star One]
           [Lurena opens outer door, then hides inside]

[scene - searching outside on the surface of Star One]
  MARKOV:  Leeth. Leeth!
   LEETH:  What is it, Markov?
  MARKOV:  The main entrance is open. She must have come out
           after we did. She followed us out.
   LEETH:  She can't have got far then. Spread out, all of you.
           Keep searching.

[Lurena hides, finds dead crew, collapses in shock]

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
    VILA:  I don't like explosives, very crude. Difficult to reason
           with a bomb.
   CALLY:  Blake?
    AVON:  They won't explode until they are primed.
    VILA:  And if it was faulty? bit late to complain to the
           manufacturer.
   CALLY:  Scanners are showing a temperature variation. From the
           pattern it could almost be the door you were talking about.

[scene - surface of Star One]
   LEETH:  I think it was a trick.
  MARKOV:  What was?
   LEETH:  The open door. I think she doubled back. I don't think
           she's out here at all.
  MARKOV:  No, she wouldn't've been thinking clearly enough for
           that.
   LEETH:  I hope you're right, but we're not really sure how
           they function under heavy stress. [faintly] Come on.

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
   JENNA:  Stationary orbit is established and confirmed.
   BLAKE:  Teleport, Vila. [exeunt Blake, Vila and Cally]
   JENNA:  Avon?
    AVON:  Yes.
   JENNA:  Watch yourselves, Blake's rushing things. I get the
           feeling he's not giving himself time to think.
    AVON:  Blake is an idealist, Jenna. He cannot afford to think.

[scene - surface of Star One]
   BLAKE:  [into communicator] Down and safe. [to Cally and Avon]
           Defences?
    AVON:  They've relied on secrecy, I don't think they've tricked
           the place out, but it won't do any harm to be careful.
   BLAKE:  Let's look for that entrance.
   CALLY:  I thought this place was unmanned.
    AVON:  More idealists.
   BLAKE:  They must have volunteered to be marooned for life.
    AVON:  Yes, it makes you proud to be human, doesn't it?
   CALLY:  What are they doing here?
   BLAKE:  Making sure everything works, presumably.
    AVON:  What now?
   BLAKE:  Follow them.

[they follow the aliens to the base]
   BLAKE:  One door.
   CALLY:  As requested.
   BLAKE:  Well done, Cally.
    AVON:  It isn't marked 'Entrance'.
   CALLY:  Nobody's perfect.

[Blake and Cally enter, and are captured]
   CALLY:  [telepathically] Avon, it's a trap. [outside Avon
           retreats and hides]
   BLAKE:  Not a very friendly welcome. Shall we go? I'm sure
           whoever is in charge would wish to speak with us.

[scene - Avon, outside]
    AVON:  Vila, teleport Cally and Blake, quickly.
    VILA:  [on communicator] Right.
    AVON:  Come on, come on.
    VILA:  [on communicator] Avon.
    AVON:  Well?
    VILA:  [on communicator] There's no response. What's going on,
           where are they?
    AVON:  Inside. It must be shielded.
    VILA:  [on communicator] Do you want to come up?
    AVON:  No.
   JENNA:  [on communicator] Avon.
[scene switches to Liberator]
    AVON:  [on communicator] What is it, Jenna?
   JENNA:  There's a ship, its coming in for a surface landing.
    AVON:  [on communicator] Have they spotted you?
   JENNA:  I've got the detector shield up.
    AVON:  [on communicator] What sort of a ship is it?
   JENNA:  I don't know, it's a new type to me. Looks like it's
           coming down somewhere near you, though.
[scene switches to planet]
    VILA:  [on communicator] Do you want to come up now?
    AVON:  No, let's see who else knows about this place.
    VILA:  [on communicator] Are you going to tell us what's
           going on down there? Avon... Avon!

[scene - Liberator flight deck]

   JENNA:  Vila, I need you in here to stand by the weaponry system.
    VILA:  [on communicator] What about the teleport?
   JENNA:  I'll put Orac on it.
    VILA:  [on communicator] He's not as quick as we are.
   JENNA:  We'll have to live with that.
    VILA:  [on communicator] You mean they will.
   JENNA:  Just get on with it. Orac, operate the teleport as
           instructed.
    ORAC:  Oh, very well.
   JENNA:  And check that intergalactic defence zone. I want
           everything you can find out about it, including why it's
           there.

[scene - Star One control room - section 4]
   STOTT:  You're here, then.
   BLAKE:  Apparently.
   STOTT:  I was told you would be alone.
   BLAKE:  Obviously you were misinformed.
   STOTT:  Who is this woman?
   BLAKE:  She is my mother.
   STOTT:  May I see your identification?
   BLAKE:  What for? After all, who else knows about this place?
   STOTT:  I was told you could be difficult.
   BLAKE:  You seem to have been told rather a lot about me.
   STOTT:  I was interested. I am not unfamiliar with traitors,
           but the scale of your treachery is unusual. And your
           insistence on carrying out the final act personally
           must make you unique.
   BLAKE:  Your disapproval would carry more conviction if you
           wre not going to benefit from my treachery. Now when
           do I get to perform the final act?
   STOTT:  Which of your hands is artificial?
   BLAKE:  [raises left hand] This one. Rather good, don't you think?
   STOTT:  And the eye patch, what happened to that?

[scene - outside the base entrance]
    AVON:  Hold it, touch that and I'll drop you where you stand.
           Well, now. Travis. Fancy meeting you here.
  TRAVIS:  Put the gun down, Avon, it's too late to stop it now.
    AVON:  Convince me.
  TRAVIS:  Be polite and I may let you live.
    AVON:  Be informative and I may let you die. You'll want that
           after I've shot off an arm and a leg or two.
  TRAVIS:  I thought you were supposed to be the one with brains?
    AVON:  Brains but no heart. Now talk or scream, Travis, the
           choice is yours.

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
    ORAC:  My preliminary examination of the defence zone indicates
           that it is made up of a network of satellite
           generators.
    VILA:  We could have told you that.
    ORAC:  Each of which performs a dual function; namely, to
           indicate the approach of an intruder and then to
           destroy that intruder by a powerful anti-matter
           implosion.
   JENNA:  So it's a combined alarm system and minefield.
    ORAC:  Correct. If I may continue.
    VILA:  He always makes me feel as if I should be taking notes.
    ORAC:  _If_ I may continue. The defence zone is controlled and
           monitored from the computer complex known as Star One.
    VILA:  Ahh.
    ORAC:  A cursory examination of the relevant Star One systems
           indicates that this defence zone is one of a number of
           such zones located at strategic points on the rim of
           that section of the galaxy colonized by mankind.
    VILA:  Then they are expecting an invasion? A hoard of hairy
           aliens.
    ORAC:  There is no logical reason why aliens should be hairy.
    VILA:  There is no logical reason why people should be hairy.
           I don't like this Jenna, we could be sitting in the
           front line.
    ORAC:  I see no cause for alarm. From the design and
           construction patterns it would appear that the defence
           zones have been built up very gradually over a long
           period of time. My conclusion is that they are merely
           precautionary rather than a response to some specific
           threat.
   JENNA:  Well if there's no threat why bother with precautions?
    ORAC:  If the resources are available to eliminate even the
           vaguest threat, it would seem logical to do so.
    VILA:  I'd agree with that. What do you call a vague threat?
    ORAC:  A contact, er, sometime in the past, either a
           communication or a physical contact.
    VILA:  A physical contact?
    ORAC:  A scoutship, perhaps.
    VILA:  A scoutship, perhaps! Like that one down on the surface
           now, perhaps!
   JENNA:  Zen, put the battle computers online.
     ZEN:  Confirmed, battle computers are online.
   JENNA:  Give me maximum available range on the detectors.

[scene - inside Star One]
   CALLY:  What do you think is going on?
   BLAKE:  Well, they were waiting for Travis, so obviously he's
           expected to take over.
   CALLY:  Except there's more to it than that.
   BLAKE:  Yes, the final act. Well, whatever that is we've got a
           final act of our own to arrange. You work your way
           through the other control rooms. If anyone questions
           you be arrogant, you're with Travis, and he's about to
           become Emperor of the galaxy.
   CALLY:  What about you?
   BLAKE:  I'll wait for Stott. As long as he thinks I am Travis
           we'll have no problems. Huh, besides I might find even
           out the rest of it. I'm going to set this timer for
           one hour.

[Cally leaves, Blake sets charge, Stott returns]
   STOTT:  Most of the systems have been modified already. The chaos
           and destruction should already be sufficient to ensure
           that resistance is slight.
   BLAKE:  When will you be ready for the ultimatum?
   STOTT:  Ultimatum?
   BLAKE:  Laying out of our terms for the restoration of order.
   STOTT:  Policy is not our concern, Travis. It is sufficient to serve.

[shots of Cally placing bombs]

[scene - Avon and Travis outside base entrance]
    AVON:  I hope these people will really do as you tell them, Travis.
  TRAVIS:  They will.
    AVON:  The first one who doesn't will cost you your head.

[They enter the base]
    AVON:  [To Travis] Don't move.
           [Avon struggles with Lurena - Travis escapes]
    AVON:  Damn!
  LURENA:  They're all dead.
    AVON:  Yes, I can see that. Did you kill them?
  LURENA:  No. They are trying to kill me.
    AVON:  They have a novel approach to the job.
  LURENA:  You don't understand. In here they're dead, but out
           there, out there they're still alive, walking about.
    AVON:  Trying to kill you?
  LURENA:  Yes.
    AVON:  Yes.
  LURENA:  Look out!
           [Avon shoots alien]
  LURENA:  What are they?
    AVON:  Unfriendly. Which is fortunate, really. They'd be
           difficult to love. Come on.

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
    VILA:  Nothing. There's nothing there. I knew we were panicking
           unneccessarily. Alien hordes, I mean to say.
   JENNA:  There they are.
    VILA:  Where? Where?
   JENNA:  Just coming into detector range.
    VILA:  They're too far off to be sure. They could be meteors.
   JENNA:  They're ships.
    VILA:  No, they couldn't be, there's too many of them. That's
           a cloud of meteors. Well, come on Jenna, you can see
           that, admit it. That's a cloud of ... big meteors.
           Very big meteors. And it's slowing down.
   JENNA:  They know about the defence zone.
    VILA:  Jenna, let's run for it.

[scene - central Star One control room]

   STOTT:  Is it nearly complete?
  PARTON:  As you see.
   STOTT:  Constructing the circuits required to deactivate the
           defence zone was difficult, but we were able to keep
           the technicians alive long enough to duplicate their
           entire brain patterns as well as their physical shape.
   BLAKE:  Their physical shape?
   STOTT:  Why do we still retain it? The woman Lurena has
           escaped. It's just a precaution. May I ask you an
           impertinent question?
   BLAKE:  If you don't mind an impertinent answer.
   STOTT:  I have taken on the shape of your species. I use your
           words, and yet I cannot understand you. The woman
           Lurena and the other technicians that were here, these
           I could understand. But you. Why have you betrayed
           your own kind? Why have you given us the means to
           eradicate your species?
   BLAKE:  Eradicate humanity?
   STOTT:  Virtually.
   BLAKE:  Well maybe I just don't like crowds.
           [Travis enters and shoots Blake]
   BLAKE:  Travis.
   STOTT:  You are Travis?
  TRAVIS:  I am Travis.
   STOTT:  Then who is this?
  TRAVIS:  His name is Blake. Hm. His name was Blake.

[scene - Star One control room - section 4]
    AVON:  Where's Blake?
   CALLY:  Well I left him in here. What's that?
    AVON:  We seem to have stumbled over an alien invasion. [to
           Lurena] Which of these control sections handles the
           defence zone?
  LURENA:  I can't tell you that.
    AVON:  You must know. Now think, woman.
  LURENA:  I can't tell you because you haven't been cleared by security.
    AVON:  Well, neither had that!
   CALLY:  She's been conditioned, Avon. She wants to tell you
           but she can't.
    AVON:  Come on.

[scene - central Star One control room]
  TRAVIS:  Your people are well trained.
   STOTT:  They serve, as do we all.
  TRAVIS:  How much longer?
  PARTON:  Each of these keys will close down one sector of the
           defence zone. When I've connected this last one, you
           can begin.
  TRAVIS:  My one regret is that they'll never know who really
           killed them.

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
    VILA:  Why are they just sitting there?
   JENNA:  They're waiting for someone to clear that defence zone.
    VILA:  Do you think Blake knows what's happening? Why hasn't he
           come back yet? What are we supposed to do, Jenna?
   JENNA:  Give the alarm.
    VILA:  Terrific idea, who do you suggest we tell?
   JENNA:  Servalan.
    VILA:  Oh now, wait a minute.
   JENNA:  I just hope Blake understands why we betrayed him.
           Orac, I want you to punch through a message to the
           strategy computer in Space Command headquarters. I
           want you to tell it that there's an alien battlefleet
           estimated at six hundred ships about to enter
           Federation space. Give it these coordinates. Tell it
           that the information comes from Blake on the
           Liberator. Can you do that, Orac?
    ORAC:  I would remind you that I am not a communicator.
   JENNA:  Your carrier beam is the fastest way to contact Servalan.
    ORAC:  That is not the purpose for which it was developed.
    VILA:  Do it, you useless bunch of junk. You got us into this
           mess, "No cause for alarm" you said, or have you
           forgotten?
    ORAC:  I have passed the message, as you requested. The Space
           Command strategy computer is now registering the data.

[scene - Star One central control room]
  PARTON:  It is finished. Now you can open the way for our fleet
           to enter.
  TRAVIS:  The final act.

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
     ZEN:  Information. One sector of the defence zone has now
           been deactivated.

[scene - Star One control room - Travis and Stott are shot by
Blake, then Avon enters and shoots Parton]
   CALLY:  Avon!
    AVON:  How bad is he?
   CALLY:  Bad enough.
   BLAKE:  Is he dead, Avon? Is Travis dead?
           [Avon shoots Travis again, Travis falls into central
           well]
    AVON:  He is now. Are you?
   BLAKE:  I've had better days.
   CALLY:  We must get him back to the ship.
   BLAKE:  No, the aliens were closing down the defence zone.
           There must be a fleet out there. We must warn the
           Federation.
   CALLY:  From the ship.
   BLAKE:  The charges, Cally. We cannot blow this place up.
           Humanity is going to need all the resources it can
           get.
   CALLY:  All the charges are set, Blake, they'll blow in ten
           minutes. We can't stop them now they're primed, it's
           too late.
   BLAKE:  Well get them out onto the surface.
    AVON:  In ten minutes?
   BLAKE:  Try, Cally. Help her, Avon.
    AVON:  [to Lurena] You. Do what you can for him.

[scene - Servalan's office]
SERVALAN:  When did this come in?
  DURKIM:  It showed up on the strategy readout.
SERVALAN:  All right, Durkim. Red One mobilization.
  DURKIM:  You believe it?
SERVALAN:  All fighting ships to make maximum speed. Patch this
           office into the fleet coordination suite. Well, get on
           with it!

[scene - inside Star One]
    AVON:  How many more?
   CALLY:  Three. How long have we got?
    AVON:  Two-and-a-half minutes.

[scene - the Star One control room]
   BLAKE:  I forgot.
  LURENA:  Try not to move about.
   BLAKE:  No, you don't understand. There's another explosive
           charge.
  LURENA:  Look, lie still. You'll kill yourself.
   BLAKE:  They don't know about it. I've got to get it out.
  LURENA:  I'll get it. Tell me where it is.
   BLAKE:  I put it in section four on one of the panels.
  LURENA:  All right. Now lie still.
   BLAKE:  You'll have to hurry.

[scene - elsewhere in Star One]
    AVON:  Come on, come on. We've got a minute and fifteen seconds.
   CALLY:  That's the last.
    AVON:  Move!

[Cally runs outside and throws the bombs over the brow of a rise.
Lurena finds the bomb in section four, but is surrounded by
aliens. Hiding the bomb behind her back she walks towards them so
that it explodes in the midst of them]

[scene - Servalan's office]
CONTROLLER 1:  Flagship Galileo reports galactic eigth fleet
               under way. estimate achieve coordinates in four
               hours.
CONTROLLER 2:  Cruiser Beagle now estimating rendezvous in three
               hours and seventeen minutes.
CONTROLLER 3:  Flotillas fourteen and sixteen confirm four hours
               and eight minutes.
      DURKIM:  But what happens in the meantime?

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
    AVON:  I gave him my word.
    VILA:  To fight off that fleet until the Federation get here?
    AVON:  That is what I promised.
   JENNA:  Why, Avon?
    AVON:  Why not?
   CALLY:  They are under way, they're moving towards the gap in the
           defence zone.
    AVON:  Zen, put it on visual.
     ZEN:  Confirmed.
    AVON:  Well?
   JENNA:  Zen, battle computers to calculate intercept course and
           strike ranges.
     ZEN:  Confirmed.
    VILA:  Put up the radiation flare shield, clear the neutron
           blasters for firing.
     ZEN:  Neutron blasters are cleared for firing.
    AVON:  Zen, put up the force wall.
     ZEN:  Confirmed.
           [Blake enters]
    AVON:  [to Blake] Why didn't you stay in the medical unit?
           Couldn't you bring yourself to trust me just this
           once?
   BLAKE:  I thought I might be able to help.
    AVON:  In that condition?
   BLAKE:  All right I'll go back.
    AVON:  Can you manage, alone?
   BLAKE:  Yes. Avon, for what it is worth, I have always trusted
           you, from the very beginning.

[scenes of alien fleet]

CONTROLLER 4:  Flotilla seventeen estimates two hours and six
               minutes.
CONTROLLER 5:  Battle cruiser Newton reports coordinates
               achievable in one hour and seven minutes.

[scene - Liberator flight deck]
   CALLY:  One minute to strike range.
    VILA:  We can't hold all of them.
   JENNA:  They can't all come through that gap at once.

[Liberator approaches alien fleet]
    AVON:  Stand by to fire.
    VILA:  Avon, this is stupid!
    AVON:  When did that ever stop us? [pause] Fire!

[end titles]

Notes:

[1] Pronounced "Carthenis" on screen, but listed as
    "Carthanos" in the Blake's 7 Programme Guide.

** the end**