51. "WARLORD"
by Simon Masters
(c) 1981 by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Series created by
Terry Nation. This is a partial dialogue transcript for research
purposes and is not for sale under any circumstances. Format (c) 1994
by Malcolm Mladenovic, Susan Beth Schnitger, Didi Johnson and Micky DuPree.
Dramatis Personae
Kerr Avon
Servalan:
Vila Restal
Del Tarrant
Dayna Mellanby
Soolin
Orac
Slave
Zukan
Zeeona
Finn
Boorva
Chalsa
Lod
Mida
Uncredited:
Voice, public address
[Scene of smoke and dust rising above a landscape, changes to a
large numeral 3. The view widens to reveal this is being shown on
a viewscreen in the Crew room of Scorpio base. Avon moves in
front of the screen.]
AVON: Finally, Zondor, latest victim of the Federation's
pacification and control program. [Quick shots of planetary
leaders watching him as he speaks.] The drug is still Pylene
Fifty. The concentration has been stepped up, however.
[Screen now shows a Federation guard watching from a
catwalk as extremely zombi-like people ride escalators up
and down and pass along walkways. An extremely slow,
soothing voice repeats continually "You are cared for. You
are loved." The people appear to be totally out of it,
focusing on nothing, heads lolling about, never speaking or
looking at each other. There are large red and black
alphanumeric codes on their foreheads. An inset picture
shows the guard miming shooting at them with his empty
hand. A second guard joins him, they talk for a few
seconds, then the second guard shoots two people,
apparently chosen at random. The first guard then shoots a
couple, then both guards continue shooting at people while
the others continue to walk, apparently not caring. A
closeup of one of the dead bodies is followed by shots of
two people dragging another dead person away, apparently
under the direction of a Federation guard. That guard seems
to notice the camera, pointing, approaching, then clubbing
at it with his gun as the picture goes black. Avon moves
back in front of the screen.]
AVON: That videocast was taken on Zondor six weeks ago. What
is happening there now will soon happen on Serrus,
Hirrial, Cyntha -- all the border systems. Unless you
resist.
MIDA: Resist? With what? We have no armies, Avon, no great
battle fleets.
LOD: Ah, Zukan does.
CHALSA: But Zukan isn't here.
BOORVA: And why not? Because he has his armies and his fleets,
and is probably attacking Tarl or Serrus even now
while we all listen to a renegade, who has more reason
than us to fear the Federation.
[Scorpio base Comm room. The scene from the Crewroom is being
watched on a small screen by Dayna, Vila and Soolin.]
AVON: [on screen] I may be a renegade, Boorva, but you betray
your people if you do not fear the Federation.
DAYNA: It's going badly.
VILA: Hardly surprising. Avon's idea of diplomacy is like
breaking someone's leg then saying, "Lean on me."
[Crew room]
MIDA: [approaches Avon] Resistance means armies, Avon,
whatever you say, and we haven't got them.
AVON: Well, neither has the Federation. At least not
sufficient to indulge in widespread conventional
conquest. Why else have they embarked upon drug
control? Defeat the drug, and you buy yourselves time.
[Comm room]
ORAC: I mention it in passing since none of you seem to have
noticed, but there are two craft registering on the
detectors
[Dayna works some controls. A screen shows two ships
in space.]
SOOLIN: [v.o.] How near?
ORAC: Orbit range in seventeen minutes.
SOOLIN: Visual scanners?
DAYNA: Locking on to automatic.
[Crew room]
AVON: Originally the stuff was administered by medical
laser, but now they have developed variants. It can be
fed into your reservoirs or even into the air that you
breathe.
MIDA: You're saying, then, that we have no protection.
AVON: On the contrary, I'm offering you the best there is,
total immunity. I have the antitoxin. What I do not
have is the necessary equipment to mass produce it. Or
the raw material from which to obtain the toxin
extract.
BOORVA: Ah.
AVON: Zukan has the raw material, and you, gentlemen, you
have the necessary equipment.
BOORVA: Any such alliance would be futile as long as Zukan
remained outside it.
LOD: And he has the armies.
CHALSA: And the war fleet.
BOORVA: He's a pirate. Zukan's a pirate, and [points at Avon]
he's an outlaw.
[Comm room. Tarrant enters.]
TARRANT: Who are they, Orac?
ORAC: Why not ask them?
TARRANT: [into comm] This is Xenon base, identify yourselves.
[static] I repeat, identify yourselves. [more static]
You have ten seconds or I'll open fire.
VILA: With what?
FREIGHTER: [on comm] Xenon base, this is Betafarl commercial
freighter Lodestar.
TARRANT: Who's with you? I repeat, who's that with you,
Lodestar?
[Zukan's space ship]
ZUKAN: This is Zukan, President of Betafarl, come to attend
the conference of the non-aligned planets.
[Corridor in Scorpio base. Zukan strides along.]
[Crew room.]
ANNOUNCER: Gentlemen, the president of Betafarl, Zukan.
[Zukan enters the room, performs a crossed forearm
salute to the others.]
AVON: [approaches him] You are welcome, Zukan.
ZUKAN: I apologize for my late arrival.
AVON: Boorva, perhaps now you may care to revise your position?
BOORVA: Because Zukan has finally arrived? That doesn't
necessarily change anything.
AVON: Why can't you accept that Zukan is here in good faith.
CHALSA: There is no history of trust between us, Avon.
BOORVA: True, we know Zukan to harbour territorial ambitions
against us all. Does he renounce them? And even if he
says he does, why should we believe him?
ZUKAN: May I reply?
BOORVA: By all means.
ZUKAN: Insofar as we on Betafarl have always sought to
protect ourselves and our borders, there are some here
who would not be unjustified in regarding us as
aggressors, but if it is aggression to protect oneself
by ensuring that the others remain weak, then we have
been aggressors.
BOORVA: Ah.
ZUKAN: But no more, because now we face a true aggressor. The
Federation does not seek merely to defend itself but
to subjugate all peoples to its will, and Betafarl is
no more able to stand alone against the Federation
than any of you. So if we cannot be friends, for the
sake of all our peoples let us be allies as from this
day.
BOORVA: Well, he spares us the hypocrisy of pretending that
his motives are anything other than self-interest.
MIDA: Are our motives any different? I welcome your words,
Zukan.
CHALSA: But words are no more than ... words.
BOORVA: Zukan must forgive our mistrust, but he himself has
fuelled it for far too long for words alone to be
sufficient here today.
ZUKAN: Avon, show us your freight bay.
[Avon pushes one of the buttons on a panel beside the
view screen. It shows two techs moving equipment about
in the bay.]
ZUKAN: Now those are my technicians. The equipment is
everything necessary to produce an antitoxin. [Another
shot of the techs at work while the next line is
delivered.] This is Betafarl's first contribution to
our new alliance. So doubt my words if you will, but
not the evidence of your own eyes.
[Freight bay. Tarrant and Soolin and one of the techs are
standing together while other techs continue working. Throughout
this scene techs shift equipment around and work on it.]
TARRANT: [to the tech] Power inlets are on the far side.
[The tech moves away from them. Soolin and Tarrant
stroll across the bay, looking around at the
equipment.]
SOOLIN: I hope they're not just going to dump it all and go.
[Tarrant grins.] Unless you want to be the one who
decides which bit fits where.
TARRANT: Oh, I thought we could leave that to Vila. You should
see the laboratories they've got on Betafarl. Zukan
gave Avon and me a tour when we were there trying to
persuade him to attend today. [Pause while he looks
off across the bay.] Zeeona.
SOOLIN: Someone you met while you were there?
[Shot of Zeeona]
TARRANT: Zukan's daughter. [Tarrant and Soolin move over to
her.] If all this is the result of your intercession,
we're grateful.
ZEEONA: My father required no intercession from me. Your own
case was so strong that in the end he knew he couldn't
afford not to respond.
SOOLIN: Some response.
ZEEONA: In war or friendship, my father is never less than
whole-hearted.
TARRANT: Zeeona, Soolin. [He makes introductory type gestures,
Zeeona nods to Soolin.] Maybe you'd like to take
Zeeona to the crew room.
SOOLIN: Er, thank you, but I think it might be
better if I stayed here to help.
SOOLIN: Zukan's daughter carrying boxes?
ZEEONA: I'm a biogenetic engineer, I work with this kind of
equipment all the time. I thought I could help to put
it together.
TARRANT: We're unlikely to be ready for that today, so why not
let Soolin show you to your father's quarters?
ZEEONA: He, uh, he doesn't know I'm here. I came aboard the
freighter out of curiosity I suppose. I, I hope to go
back the same way, without him knowing I've been here.
TARRANT: Would it matter if he did?
ZEEONA: I think he might be displeased.
SOOLIN: And no doubt he is as whole-hearted in his displeasure
as in everything else.
TARRANT: You can't stay here, there are video scanners that can be
switched through to the conference chamber.
SOOLIN: Better come with me. [She turns to go, and Zeeona
follows.] We don't want to upset our principal ally
and benefactor, now do we?
[Zeeona gives a small laugh. They pass by Finn, a
technician, who turns to look after Zeeona.]
[Crew room]
AVON: Well now, gentlemen, before we drink our toast, [hands
a goblet to Lod] are there any grievances that could
in the future threaten our accord?
CHALSA: Yes, shall we receive compensation for the crafts we
have lost to Zukan's warfleet?
ZUKAN: Any such craft were legitimate targets, being in the
Betafarl sector.
BOORVA: In that case Betafarl sector extends for as far as
your warfleets care to roam.
ZUKAN: Not so.
AVON: Sectors are a thing of the past. I thought you'd agreed.
ZUKAN: But Chalsa seems to want to make the agreement
retroactive. Just how far back do you want to go?
MIDA: We have lost craft, too, Chalsa. Shall Zukan
recompense us all? How could he? May we not wipe out
the past and start afresh.
AVON: I agree with Mida. When you talk of compensation,
Chalsa, remember: Zukan has already pledged more to
this alliance than anyone else.
CHALSA: All right, all right, I agree. I accept.
[Avon looks about at the others. Boorva nods. Avon
gives a sickeningly sweet smile.]
AVON: Then are we all friends here, with one common enemy?
BOORVA: Tarl affirms. Let's hope we're never given cause to
regret it.
MIDA: Lovis affirms.
LOD: [rises] Hirriel affirms.
CHALSA: Khom affirms.
ZUKAN: Betafarl affirms.
[All clink their goblets together. A sparkly, sort of
lightening-like effect is laid over the touching
goblets.]
[Another room in Scorpio base. Zeeona and Soolin have been
watching this scene on a viewscreen.]
ZEEONA: I don't think my father ever believed a day like this
could be possible. I'm glad I'm here to witness it.
SOOLIN: Why would he be so displeased if he found out you were
here?
ZEEONA: You know what fathers are like with their daughters.
SOOLIN: As it happens, I don't. Mine was murdered when I was
eight.
ZEEONA: I'm sorry.
SOOLIN: So were the men who did it, eventually. So tell me,
why doesn't he want you here?
ZEEONA: [Touches a control beside another, larger screen,
which shifts from a shot of a yellow flower to a
lakeside scene.] You may find it strange in view of my
father's reputation as a fighter, but for some time
now he's been trying to achieve a kind of
respectability, through me.
SOOLIN: Yes, it may be politically expedient to be allied with us,
but we're hardly respectable. [Musing to herself] It could
explain it, I suppose.
[Freight bay. Avon and Zukan enter and cross to where Tarrant is
standing beside a piece of equipment.]
AVON: Is everything all right?
TARRANT: Seems to be.
AVON: A neutron bombarder.
ZUKAN: As long as the organic source has a molecular
structure that's reasonably close to that of the
antitoxin, that'll do the rest.
TARRANT: Any danger of radiation?
ZUKAN: [shakes head] As long as the installation is right.
AVON: Well, the only problem now is: where do we find enough
raw material to keep this lot running? [He is moving
about, looking at various circuit boards and so
forth.]
ZUKAN: That's not such a problem, Avon. As I told you we have
a plant on Betafarl; it grows wild. In the outlying
areas it's prolific. The sap has a molecular structure
that's close to that you need. We started harvesting
it just before I came here.
AVON: How long before it can be shipped?
ZUKAN: That is up to you, my friend. We've brought the
equipment, we're harvesting the crop. The freighting
of it, we leave to you. Though don't take too long,
indications are it degenerates fast, even under
freezing.
AVON: [to Tarrant] Any reason why you can't take Scorpio and
leave tomorrow?
TARRANT: No, except...
ZUKAN: [interrupting] With Avon's permission I should myself
like to stay to supervise the installation.
AVON: Tomorrow, [snaps his fingers and points at Tarrant]
you go.
[Freight bay. Shot of tech working on Neutron bombarder.]
[Comm room]
TARRANT: Your father means to stay until the installation is
complete. I thought you should know.
ZEEONA: Thank you, but I did already. I was watching the
monitor.
TARRANT: You must also have heard that I'm going to Betafarl
tomorrow. Perhaps it would be sensible for me to take
you back.
ZEEONA: Perhaps it would, yes. Thank you.
TARRANT: Right. Good. Well, we'll sort out how to get you
aboard in the morning. [starts to leave.]
ZEEONA: Would you like to know why I really came? [Tarrant
turns back.] Oh it's true, I, I thought I could help
with installing the equipment, and it's true that I was
curious about all of you, the kind of people you are,
the way you live. But most of all... But most of all,
I ... [Turns her back to Tarrant.] So you see I shall
be very happy to be going back to Betafarl with you.
[Tarrant moves up close to her. She turns and looks up
at him.]
[Shot of planet in space]
[Freight bay. The lights are turned off. A man approaches the bombarder
using a handheld light. He puts a canister into a drawer in the bombarder,
then shines the light onto a nearby ventilator. The light then washes
across its bearer's face: Zukan. He watches and listens as someone else
creeps across the bay, then shines the light onto the newcomer, revealing
Finn. Finn approaches Zukan who hands him a carton of six cylinders, one of
which he shows separately to Finn.]
ZUKAN: One per exit.
FINN: Mmm. Got some news for you. There was somebody on
Lodestar you didn't reckon on. [pause] Your daughter.
[Corridor in Scorpio base. Zukan is striding along angrily,
followed by Avon.]
ZUKAN: She is here!
AVON: Not to my knowledge.
ZUKAN: She is here somewhere, and one of your people must
know where!
[Crew room. Vila, Dayna and Soolin are grouped around the table, playing a
game involving stacks of colored beads. Zukan and Avon enter, Zukan
continuing to speak without a break.]
ZUKAN: Where is my daughter?
DAYNA: I don't know.
VILA: Nor me.
ZUKAN: Where is the other one?
DAYNA: What other one?
ZUKAN: That came with you to Betafarl.
AVON: Tarrant.
ZUKAN: Search the base.
SOOLIN: If she is here, presumably she wants to be. She's not
a child. [Vila nods.]
ZUKAN: She is my daughter.
AVON: Where is she, Soolin?
[Another room in Scorpio base. Zeeona and Tarrant are lying
beside each other. Tarrant kisses her cheek while she speaks.]
ZEEONA: And then, after you'd gone, when you left Betafarl, I,
I felt as though I'd lost something. I never felt that
way about anyone before.
TARRANT: Zeeona.
ZEEONA: I'm sorry if all this is unwelcome to you.
TARRANT: No.
[Viewscreen shows Avon's face.]
AVON: [on viewscreen] Zeeona, your father wants to see you.
[pause] NOW, Tarrant.
[Crew room]
ZUKAN: Your man, Tarrant. Now, he is the reason why she
should not be here. I mean this as no disrespect to
you, Avon, or your group, but she is the daughter of
Zukan.
AVON: Let us give our guests some privacy.
[Dayna and Vila start to leave.]
VILA: Just when it was getting interesting, er, the game I
mean.
[They exit. Soolin rises and follows them a few second
later. Zeeona, followed by Tarrant, has just reached
the doorway.]
SOOLIN: [to Zeeona] I'm sorry, I don't know how he found out.
[exits]
AVON: [to Zeeona, as he passes her] Excuse me.
TARRANT: Now, let-- [broken off as Avon grabs his shoulders
and shoves him back away up the corridor.]
ZUKAN: How dare you?
ZEEONA: I'm sorry I went against your word, but I'm glad I came.
ZUKAN: You cannot be both.
ZEEONA: Truly.
ZUKAN: Then I wish for both our sakes it were not so. You
shall not stay.
ZEEONA: I didn't intend to. I go home tomorrow aboard their
freighter. Tarrant will take me.
[Corridor in Scorpio base. Zukan and Avon are walking along.]
ZUKAN: My daughter will be a passenger on your freighter
tomorrow. I would like you to change its captain.
AVON: Whom would you prefer?
ZUKAN: Yourself.
AVON: [short laugh] I shall be ... honored. Good night.
ZUKAN: Good night. [they part]
[Shot of Zeeona's weeping face laid over a star field.]
[Crew deck of Scorpio.]
AVON: What I care about is not antagonizing the most
powerful ally we have.
SOOLIN: At her expense.
AVON: She is not a child. You said so yourself.
SOOLIN: She deserves better than having just you for company.
Besides I'm surprised you're prepared to risk leaving
me alone with her father. I dislike him so much
there's no knowing what I might do.
AVON: All right, come along and hold her hand if you must,
but in the meantime you can make yourself useful,
there's a fault on the inner door alignment.
[Soolin heads toward the door.]
[Comm room]
DAYNA: [into comm] All launch checks complete.
AVON: [v.o.] Green on all systems.
VILA: [into comm] Betafarl has just confirmed full clearance
on your flight plan.
AVON: [v.o.] About time.
[Zukan exits. Zeeona, following him, pauses in the
doorway.]
ZEEONA: Goodbye.
DAYNA: Have a good trip.
VILA: [into comm] Your passenger's on her way.
AVON: [v.o.] Good.
[Dayna and Vila go to the door, look out into the
corridor.]
DAYNA: Where is Tarrant?
VILA: Drowning his sorrow?
[Shots of Scorpio on the turntable, rising on the lift.]
[Scorpio main deck]
AVON: Main drives, running up.
[Freight bay. The techs are clearing out, Tarrant watches.]
[Shot of Scorpio's launch]
[Scorpio main deck]
AVON: Thirty hours from now and you should be home.
SOOLIN: [rises and moves over to Avon] I'm a bit worried about
the inner door alignment still. Do you think you
should take a look at it?
AVON: I thought you had fixed it?
SOOLIN: I did, only I'm not sure it will hold. I just thought
while there's still pressure on the freight deck, you
might want to take a look.
[Avon stares at her for a long moment, then rises and
exits.]
SOOLIN: [to Zeeona] Tell me quickly: do you want to go back?
[Comm room. Tarrant enters.]
VILA: Where have you been? She was looking for you to say
goodbye.
TARRANT: Didn't see any point in saying goodbye, not when she's
coming back again.
DAYNA: Coming back?
TARRANT: Yes, so long as Soolin can work it before they're out
of range.
[Scorpio main deck]
SOOLIN: Yes or no?
ZEEONA: Yes.
SOOLIN: [pointing] Get a bracelet and stand in there. [into
comm] Scorpio to base, we're teleporting now.
[Zeeona vanishes.]
[Comm room. Zeeona appears in the teleport bay.]
DAYNA: Welcome back.
VILA: Come to stay this time?
[Tarrant approaches her, they hold hands, then turn to
go.]
ZEEONA: [pauses in the doorway, to Dayna and Vila] Thank you.
[Tarrant kisses her.]
[Scorpio main deck. Avon enters.]
AVON: I can't see anything to worry about back there.
SOOLIN: Oh, thanks for checking anyway.
AVON: Where is our passenger? [pause] You've sent her back,
haven't you?
SOOLIN: She wanted to go.
AVON: And you helped her.
SOOLIN: Zukan need never know. He saw her come aboard and as
far as he's concerned she still is. When he gets back
to Betafarl he'll think she's simply disappeared
again. We know nothing about it.
AVON: He'll never believe that.
SOOLIN: But you lie so well.
AVON: [pause] We're going back.
SOOLIN: If we do, Zukan will know for certain.
[Shot of Betafarlian techs working in Freight bay.]
[Comm room]
DAYNA: Almost there.
ZUKAN: Another day. The programming will take longer.
DAYNA: Will it be ready to test-run by the time Scorpio gets
back?
ZUKAN: I hope so. Has Avon arrived yet?
DAYNA: By this evening.
ZUKAN: Betafarl has perpetual day -- did you know?
DAYNA: No.
ZUKAN: It never sleeps. Perpetual light. All that energy.
There are times when I miss the darkness. It is hard
to live always in the light. I shall leave this
evening, there's little more I can contribute here.
DAYNA: Well, won't you stay for the test run?
ZUKAN: My people will, I have confidence enough in them.
[He exits. Dayna keys the comm.]
[Shot of Scorpio in space]
DAYNA: [v.o.] Base to Scorpio. Scorpio, do you read?
[Scorpio main base]
SOOLIN: Scorpio to base, we hear you, Dayna. Go ahead.
DAYNA: [v.o.] Zukan to depart base for Betafarl in three
hours. I say again, Zukan thirty-two hours behind you.
Do you understand?
AVON: Only too well.
DAYNA: [v.o.] Happy landings. Out.
AVON: He's going to get here and discover that his daughter
is nowhere to be found before we've even finished
loading.
SOOLIN: Unless we get a move on.
AVON: If it comes to a choice between the alliance and
Zukan's revenge, don't think that I won't sacrifice
you. [Soolin smiles.]
[Zukan's ship. He and Finn are seated at the control panel.]
FINN: Up to power.
VILA: [On comm] You're clear for liftoff, Zukan.
ZUKAN: I salute you all.
[The scene shakes, apparently to signify launch.]
[Comm room. Screen displays a rolling list of numbers {note: X = small block}:
77 X12X6
X3 935886
386635786
86379535
2X350X
7X58854
98XX11
5592886
94974865
4368765
758765
X73X39
4759755
8XX74444
336544 8
smeti wen
7886: :355
08: 87
{printout evidently continues but camera shifts away.} Tarrant
and Zeeona link hands. Vila and Dayna watch as they leave with
Tarrant's arm around her shoulders. Dayna looks at Vila who rolls
his eyes.]
[Zukan's ship]
FINN: Glad I won't be down there half an hour from now.
[Crew room. Vila pours a red drink and gives a glass to Dayna. Tarrant and
Zeeona enter.]
VILA: Ahh, you're just in time. [hands glasses to them]
ZEEONA: Thank you.
VILA: When your father finds out he'll probably incinerate
us all, do you realize that?
ORAC: Someone would seem to have anticipated him.
TARRANT: Orac?
ORAC: Scans indicate a foreign object in the teleport bay.
My calculations suggest that it is an explosive
device.
DAYNA: A bomb?
ORAC: Precisely. [they start to rush out of the room]
[Comm room. Tarrant and the others rush in, look around.]
TARRANT: I can't see anything. Where? Where, Orac?
ORAC: It's at floor level on the right-hand side.
[Tarrant enters the teleport bay and an explosion goes
off, knocking him backward.]
[Quick montage of shots: explosion at an exit, more explosions, Dayna
falling, a crack opening in the ceiling, more exits exploding, falling
debris, a beam landing on Orac, the faces of Tarrant and the others
reacting as this is happening. All this is overlaid with the sound of
an alarm going off.]
[Comm room. They are all on the floor.]
VILA: What's happening?
DAYNA: [Rises and starts to work with the controls] Channel
one dead. Two dead.
TARRANT: Kill that alarm, somebody. Vila, switch it off!
[Vila turns off the alarm.]
DAYNA: We've got channel five.
[The screen shows the Freight bay with the techs
running about, then other shots of static or fallen
rubble.]
TARRANT: Is that all?
DAYNA: It's all the entrances and exits.
TARRANT: We've been boxed in.
DAYNA: Yes, but....
TARRANT: Extent of damage, Orac? [pause, no response] Orac?
[Crew room. Tarrant enters and looks at Orac beneath the beam.]
[Shot of Zukan's ship in space, approaching another space ship.]
SERVALAN: [v.o.] Is it well met, Zukan?
[Zukan's ship]
ZUKAN: Well met it is, Commissioner.
[Finn opens the airlock and Servalan enters.]
ZUKAN: This is Finn. Without him I couldn't have done it.
SERVALAN: [completely ignoring Finn] If you had only told me the
whereabouts of their base you needn't have done
anything. Are they dead?
ZUKAN: Dying. Now.
[Corridor filled with rubble. Tarrant and Vila are working their
way along it.]
VILA: We don't know how far it goes.
TARRANT: We're about thirty yards from the mouth of the tunnel,
it can't go any further than that.
[They continue along, past more debris, hanging ducts,
etc.]
VILA: It could take us anything up to four days to dig that
far.
TARRANT: At least we've got enough air. The ventilation
system's still functioning.
VILA: Well, that doesn't make sense either. Why should
someone block us in but leave us air to breathe?
DAYNA: [on comm] Tarrant -- get back here.
TARRANT: [into comm] Why? [no reply, just static]
[Comm room]
DAYNA: [pointing at screen] Look! [Screen shows Freight bay,
with lightening effect as the techs scream and fall.]
ZEEONA: That was Jarder.
VILA: What the hell is doing that?
DAYNA: Whatever it is it's coming towards us, it's getting
nearer all the time.
VILA: What is it, Tarrant?
TARRANT: I don't know.
VILA: What's causing it?
ZEEONA: I don't know. The explosions, something--
TARRANT: [has been looking at the ventilation duct] The air.
It's in the air, that's why the ventilation system's
been left working. Whatever it is it's being carried
in the air.
VILA: The air?
ZEEONA: Oh.
TARRANT: Switch it off.
DAYNA: What?
TARRANT: All life support systems off. We've got to stop the
air circulating.
[Vila, Dayna and Tarrant frantically work controls.
The lights dim down. Tarrant checks the duct.]
ZEEONA: Are we safe?
TARRANT: How do I know?
VILA: How much oxygen have we got down here? How long can we
last without fresh air?
TARRANT: Eighteen, twenty hours.
DAYNA: And how long to dig our way out?
TARRANT: Anything up to four days.
VILA: Oh no.
DAYNA: Oh well, I was never very good at maths, but--
VILA: You don't have to be. We're dead.
[Zukan's ship. Servalan is looking at her own ship outside the
viewport.]
SERVALAN: You know the composition of the antitoxin. You didn't
leave without obtaining that. That's why you wouldn't
tell me the location of their base, so that you would
have a chance to get it.
ZUKAN: Perhaps.
SERVALAN: Then immunize your people if you do not trust me.
ZUKAN: And Khom, Hirrial, Tarl?
SERVALAN: [gestures expansively] And the rest. [approaches him]
Yours to take, yours to keep. [rubs his shoulder] I
gave you my word.
ZUKAN: Except I know how worthless words are.
SERVALAN: Too late. You can't undo what you've done, so you have
little choice but to trust me.
DAYNA: [On communicator] Base to Scorpio. Base to Scorpio.
Avon, come in please. Base to Scorpio, do you copy?
SERVALAN: Someone isn't dead.
ZUKAN: They soon will be. That base is sealed like a tomb.
SERVALAN: What if Avon heard?
ZUKAN: He's been on Betafarl for three hours. He'll have left
Scorpio by now.
[Sandpit on Betafarl. Nothing else is in sight.]
SOOLIN: Here?
AVON: According to Zukan's coordinates which were confirmed
by flight control.
SOOLIN: There's nothing here. No vegetation, no crop pickers,
no harvester. Nothing.
[Avon and Soolin look about for long moments]
AVON: We've been tricked.
SOOLIN: Mmm, but why?
[They walk off. Out of their sight, a Federation trooper
rises from where he was buried beneath the sand. He runs
after them, then shoots at Avon and Soolin, who run and
duck. Other troopers shoot from the lip of the pit. Troopers
flip and jump down into the pit. Avon and Soolin draw their
guns.]
AVON: Federation guards.
SOOLIN: You know what that makes Zukan, don't you?
AVON: I know what it it makes us.
[Avon fires and kills a trooper. Soolin shoots one,
Avon gets another. They run across the pit. Avon
shoots two more troopers. Soolin looks up to see four
more approaching, then turns her gun on Avon.]
SOOLIN: [to Avon] Drop your gun. Drop it.
[The approaching troopers fire another shot and Avon
drops his gun.]
SOOLIN: [to the troopers] Don't shoot. Don't shoot.
[One of the troopers pulls her gun from her hand and
tosses it away. He strikes Avon across the chest with
his rifle, knocking him down.]
SOOLIN: I am Zeeona, daughter of Zukan, and I give you Avon.
[Zukan's ship]
SERVALAN: It was a mistake to let Avon take your daughter. If he
escapes we've achieved nothing.
ZUKAN: You do not trust your own men, Commissioner?
SERVALAN: It isn't a matter of trust so much as matching
ability.
ZUKAN: Against one man?
SERVALAN: Against Avon.
ZUKAN: You make me wonder if I didn't choose badly. You fear
him. He and I, together we could have been invincible.
SERVALAN: Really?
CAPTAIN: [v.o., from comm] Commissioner.
SERVALAN: Yes, Captain?
CAPTAIN: [v.o.] Signal from Betafarl, Avon's been taken.
SERVALAN: [Smiles. After a pause] Send me his corpse.
CAPTAIN: [v.o.] What about Zukan's daughter?
SERVALAN: What about her?
CAPTAIN: [v.o.] There's a woman with him who claims that's who
she is.
SERVALAN: Tell them to let her go. [To Zukan, with a
shrug] She would have to know sometime. [She goes to
the airlock, which Finn opens for her.] Enjoy your new
territories. [She enters the airlock and Finn closes it.
Unnoticed, she attaches a small bomb to the wall.]
[Sandpit. One Federation trooper is carrying Avon across his
shoulders, escorted by another. Soolin stands watching a little
ways off, near a third trooper. The trooper drops Avon to the
sand, and they begin to stake his hands down. Soolin holds a
small device hidden against her leg and activates it.]
SOOLIN: How are they going to kill him?
[The trooper approaches her, she thrusts the device
into his belly, and he groans and doubles over. The
troopers with Avon look over at the noise, and Avon
flips over, pulling his hands free. He fights off the
troopers, knocking the gun from one of them. Soolin
uses the gun from the trooper she took out to kill
four more troopers nearby. Avon retrieves the gun he
knocked free and uses it to kill the last trooper.]
[Shot of Scorpio lifting off.]
[Rubble filled corridor. Tarrant and Vila are working at a
blockage with pry bars.]
VILA: Why don't we try blasting through?
TARRANT: The roof's already been weakened. Another blast could
bring the lot down.
VILA: [Throws down his pry bar in frustration.] We're never
going to make it like this!
TARRANT: Shut up!
VILA: We haven't got four days!
TARRANT: Maybe it'll only take four hours, or fourteen. Now
help me!
[Vila picks up his pry bar and goes back to work.]
[Comm room. Dayna is reading a screen. It reads out:
Damage Report on LIFE SUPPORT
L hn vdntdrl thnn NTT
REPEAT
Main Ventilation DAMAGED
Water System SLIGHT
AIR
Containing virus
AMOUNT OF AIR LEFT
IN SYSTEM 2000 L
COMPUTER PRINTOUT TO FOLLOW
553 :6887
new items
more numbers scroll by.]
DAYNA: [punching frantically at keys] Oh no! This machine is
suggesting an airborne virus.
ZEEONA: Sorry?
DAYNA: A radioactive airborne virus.
ZEEONA: Oh. Radioactive airborne virus. But if that's what it
is it'll get through to us eventually no matter what
we do. [pause] There was a research program, on
Betafarl. [pause] Radioactive airborne virus. But that
means there could be only one person responsible for
all this.
DAYNA: Look, there's little point in speculating about that
now--
ZEEONA: [interrupting] It's not speculation: my father!
[Zukan's ship]
FINN: Nothing for nearly three hours. [Zukan just looks at
him] From them.
ZUKAN: They're all dead. Eleven good Betafarlians. Do you
think you'll see them in your dreams, Finn?
FINN: Not me.
ZUKAN: I will, if my dreams aren't already overcrowded.
FINN: You should take dream suppressants.
ZUKAN: [shakes head] They don't help. I see my bad dreams in
other people's eyes. [waves his nearly empty glass at
Finn] Get me a drink.
[Finn goes to the dispenser, pushes a button and
removes a fresh drink. On the way back he passes the
airlock and looks inside.]
FINN: Zukan. [beckons him over]
ZUKAN: [looks into airlock] Get it off the wall!
[Finn opens the airlock and enters, takes the bomb
from the wall and turns back towards Zukan -- who is
shutting the door in his face. Zukan hurries over to
the control panel and pushes a control labeled "DANGER
OUTER DOOR."
FINN: [His head distorts] Aghhhhh!
[Shot from outside Zukan's ship showing debris blowing
away from the airlock. There is an explosion and the
ship is sent spinning in space.]
[Debris filled corridor. Vila and Tarrant are shifting a large
slab of concrete.]
VILA: [groaning] Oh, ah, oh. I can't keep this up.
TARRANT: Stop it then, shall we? Go back to the others and tell
them we've decided to die.
VILA: Well, why don't they come and do some?
TARRANT: When we need them, they will.
VILA: WHEN? I say we need them now.
TARRANT: When I say so. [They see a glowing pink vapor entering
through a gap in the rubble.]
VILA: What is it?
TARRANT: [Consults his bracelet] Paraflame Five. It's lethal,
get out!
[Comm room. Dayna and Zeeona watch as Tarrant checks around the
door frame with a handheld scanner.]
TARRANT: Well, we're safe so long as the air seal on the door
stays good.
DAYNA: What is Paraflame Five?
TARRANT: It's a coolant. There must have been a pipe running
along the tunnel and either the explosion or the roof
fall fractured it.
[They walk through into the crew room, where Vila is
lounging on the table, drinking.]
ZEEONA: Odd a coolant called Paraflame, it's a contradiction
in terms.
VILA: Yes, isn't it? I wonder why. Perhaps we should devote
our last few hours to fathoming that out.
TARRANT: Why don't you just go and crawl into that bottle, you
don't want to help, you don't want to think -- you're
useless.
VILA: Thinking. This is it. [Rises and goes over to Zeeona,
shoving her on the shoulder twice, making her cry out
slightly.] Thanks to you and your father we're all
dead.
TARRANT: [ramming into Vila, driving him back onto the table
where he holds him and cocks his fist] You little
runt.
[Dayna blocks Tarrant's arm, Zeeona also gets between
them.]
DAYNA: Don't, Tarrant.
ZEEONA: Why hurt him for speaking the truth? [tries to lead
him away] Come on.
AVON: [v.o.] Scorpio to base. Scorpio to base. Come in base.
[They all rush back to the comm room.]
[Note from transcriber: what follows is one long, continuous
scene, but the setting jumps between three locations: the Comm
room at Scorpio base, Scorpio itself, and Zukan's ship.]
[Comm room]
DAYNA: [into comm] Base to Scorpio, we're
receiving you, come in.
[Zukan's ship]
ZUKAN: Emergency, mayday, mayday, can anybody hear
me? [there are flames, another explosion, Zukan falls
to the ground then gets up again.] Emergency,
emergency, mayday, can anybody hear me?
DAYNA: [v.o.] ...enough oxygen for twelve more
hours, at the most thirteen. How soon can you get Scorpio
within teleport range?
AVON: [v.o.] Wait, Dayna.
[Scorpio]
SOOLIN: We can't do it.
AVON: Scorpio to base. It will be at least twenty hours
before we can lift you off, which means that you must
reduce your oxygen intake or we must think of
something else.
DAYNA: [v.o.] Well, the opinion here is we've exhausted all options.
ZUKAN: [v.o.] Zukan to Avon, [static] to Avon, do you read?
AVON: Wait, Dayna.
ZUKAN: [v.o.] Zukan to Avon, Zukan to Avon, do you read me,
[static] to Avon. Zukan [static]
AVON: [into comm] I read you, Zukan. What do you want?
ZUKAN: [v.o.] I can tell your people how to obtain fresh,
clean air.
[Comm room]
ZUKAN: [v.o.] But before I do you've got to help me.
[Zukan's ship]
AVON: [v.o.] Help you how?
ZUKAN: I'm out of control, drifting. Short on oxygen. Pick me
up and I'll tell you how to save your people.
[Scorpio]
AVON: Where are you, Zukan?
ZUKAN: [v.o.] I don't know, I've lost all computer function,
but my distress beacon's on two-two-one.
AVON: [snaps fingers and points at Slave] Find it Slave.
SLAVE: I think I have, Master. Of course, I could be wrong.
AVON: How near?
SLAVE: Er, fifteen hours.
AVON: Zukan, you are too far away, they will be dead before
we reach you.
[Zukan's ship]
AVON: [v.o.] Tell them how to get the fresh air and we will
rescue you. I give you my word.
ZUKAN: Your word? Your word is not good enough, Avon.
AVON: [v.o.] They will all be dead in fifteen hours.
ZUKAN: If two of them volunteer to die, [ship appears to
rotate 360 degrees] the oxygen they have left will
last the rest of them.
AVON: [v.o.] If just one of them dies, for any reason at
all, so do you, Zukan.
ZEEONA: [v.o.] Father, it's Zeeona, father. I'm here on the
base with the others.
ZUKAN: No. No, no, you're not there, you're not there.
[Comm room]
ZEEONA: Father, if you leave us no choice, I shall volunteer
to die. Tell us how to get fresh air, father.
[Zukan's ship]
ZUKAN: No, no, you're on Betafarl.
ZEEONA: [v.o.] I was teleported back to the base, father.
ZUKAN: No, no, you were seen on Betafarl.
AVON: [v.o.] That was Soolin. You are murdering your own
daughter, Zukan,
ZUKAN: You're trying to trick me, Avon.
ZEEONA: [v.o.] I watched Jarder die!
ZUKAN: No, you're on Scorpio. You're in league with Avon.
ZEEONA: [v.o.] I'm on the base, father, please!
ZUKAN: I don't believe you.
[Comm room. Zeeona grimaces in anguish.]
ZUKAN: [v.o.] I don't believe you!
[Scorpio]
AVON: [to Soolin] I think we can do it without him. [into
comm] Tarrant are you there? Tarrant?
TARRANT: [v.o.] I'm here.
AVON: Good. If it is possible to get fresh air, as Zukan
says, then not all the ventilators are contaminated,
so which way did the virus come at you?
[Comm room. Dayna pushes past Zeeona.]
DAYNA: [into comm] We think the first place affected was the
freight chamber.
[Scorpio]
AVON: Slave, show me the Xenon base ventilation system.
SLAVE: At once, Master. [displays crude schematic on screen]
AVON: Good. Now, what I would have done would have been to
connect the neutron bombarder to the the air
ventilators and reverse the flow. Instead of pushing
air, it is sucking air, and the virus, into the whole
system. Simple. [into comm] Tarrant, disconnect all
north side ventilators and reverse the air flow. That
way you will get fresh air coming in against the
contamination.
[Zukan's ship]
ZUKAN: You're wrong, Avon. If your man does what you've told
him, you've killed them all for sure.
ZEEONA: [v.o.] Father, father, please!
ZUKAN: No, no, you're not there!
[he sees vision of his daughter on the viewport]
[Comm room. A display screen shows the same schematic as Avon was
looking at before.]
AVON: [v.o.] Do it, Tarrant.
ZUKAN: [v.o.] You're wrong, Avon. I'm the only one
who can save them.
ZEEONA: Then tell, us, father, tell us!
[Scorpio]
AVON: Do it, Tarrant!
[Comm room]
VILA: Oh, get on with it. What difference does it make if he
is wrong?
[Tarrant draws a small box around one part of the
schematic with a light pen.]
TARRANT: Power on, Dayna.
[Dayna flips some switches. The lights come up, sound
of ventilator running.]
[Zukan's ship]
ZEEONA: [v.o.] I am on the base, father. We have
fresh air again now.
[Zukan sees a vision of Servalan on the viewport,
followed by one of Zeeona. There are more flames, he
screams, and his ship explodes.]
[Comm room. Zeeona screams.]
[Scorpio. Tarrant teleports in, Zeeona greets him and they kiss,
then move over to the others.]
AVON: All right, Zeeona, what's it like down there? Salvageable?
TARRANT: If we can get rid of the contamination.
VILA: Which is a pretty big if.
AVON: Perhaps we could reverse the process on the neutron
bombarder and use it as a neutralizing filter. Is that
feasible, do you think?
ZEEONA: Risky, though. It's not very stable, it could go
critical.
AVON: One person must go down. Volunteer? Or shall we draw lots?
ZEEONA: I'll go.
TARRANT: No! Why?
ZEEONA: Because I'm the only one who knows how to work it.
VILA: Seems reasonable.
TARRANT: Shut up, Vila.
ZEEONA: I want it to be me. It has to be me. [Turns her head to
look at Tarrant] Don't you understand?
TARRANT: Then I go with her.
AVON: No. She will go alone.
SOOLIN: Let her do it her own way, Tarrant. You'd demand the
same.
DAYNA: I'll get your suit. [exits]
ZEEONA: [to Tarrant] I shall be perfectly all right. [kisses
him, then exits.]
SOOLIN: I'll work the teleport.
[Freight bay. Zeeona looks at the body of one of the dead
Betafarlian techs, then walks over to the bombarder. She opens
the box she brought with her and starts to remove something from
it.]
[Scorpio. Tarrant is pacing about.]
TARRANT: It's been too long.
VILA: Could be a faulty communicator on the suit.
AVON: [Into comm] Zeeona? Zeeona?
TARRANT: I'm going down.
VILA: [blocks Tarrant's path] Nothing can have happened to her.
TARRANT: How do you know?
VILA: Because she's protected from everything by the suit.
Radiation, poison gas, fire, wind, rain--
AVON: Oh, let him go down.
[Avon rises. Tarrant moves over to him, stares at him
for a long moment, then bolts. Dayna follows. Avon
smiles slightly, edging into a grimace.]
[Freight bay. Zeeona's body is lying on the floor, with the
lightning effect playing on her face as her flesh vanishes to
leave just her bare skull and hair.]
[Another part of freight bay. Dayna and Tarrant enter. Dayna uses
a hand scanner.]
DAYNA: It's worked, the place is clear.
[They remove their helmets. Tarrant runs on into the
freight bay.]
TARRANT: [calling as he runs] Zeeona! Zeeona! [he sees her body
and turns aside.] Ohhh.
DAYNA: [passes by Tarrant and picks up a glove.] She took her
glove off. [She exits. Tarrant looks over at Zeeona's
body.]
[end credits]