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Excerpt from Blakes 7: The Program Guide by Tony Attwood
Both the Federation and the crew of the Scorpio have discovered that some precious gems known as Feldon crystals are the potential source of an unlimited supply of energy. In fact, the Federation has invested millions upon millions of credits in trying to mine the gemstones.
One of the planets where the crystals have been found is Mecron, where mining is controlled by Belkov, a games player of great skill. He has set up and modified his own computer, Gambit, to play games with him continuously. The same computer also operates as a defence mechanism; however, defence and games are played in the same way and so defence mechanisms become games.
Belkov is reputed to have sent up an Orbiter full of Feldon crystals which he has mined and not released to the Federation, presumably for his own financial gain. For this reason, Servalan, under the name Commissioner Sleer, has arrived on the planet to find out why none of Belkov's original estimates of the amount of Feldon crystals that could be mined have in fact been reached.
Avon teams up with a Federation geologist who is also interested in double-crossing the Federation over the crystals, but before Avon can take any action, the geologist goes to Belkov's Orbiter and attempts to remove some crystals. The Orbiter is primed to play a series of games - these defeat the geologist and send him back injured to the rendezvous point with Scorpio.
As Federation investigations continue, Belkov takes advantage of the fact that the crystals are of deep religious significance to the Mecronians by playing the natives off against the Federation whilst making plans for his own escape. He traps Tarrant and Dayna in an underground cavern.
When Vila is ordered by Avon to remove part of the computer so that they can understand how Belkov's defence mechanisms work, he overhears instructions from Belkov to the computer to self-destruct. Vila uses this knowledge to win the computer's acceptance and thus is able to free his trapped colleagues and dismantle part of the computer without being injured.
The crew of Scorpio teleport to Belkov's Orbiter, leaving Dayna on guard on Scorpio They play a series of games in order to gain entrance to the inner part of the Orbiter, only to learn that the final game involves focusing the Feldon crystals on a black hole and so destroying everything in the vicinity. The crew teleport back to Scorpio, and Avon uses a blast from the Feldon crystals to counteract the pull of the black hole. Belkov appears to escape as his computer self-destructs, leaving the crew of Scorpio without the crystals which they were hunting. Even the crystals of a necklace that Vila stole from the planet appear to be fakes.
Review 07/09/2006 by ledlogic
(c) 1981 by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Series created by
Terry Nation. This is a complete dialogue transcript for research
purposes and is not for sale under any circumstances. Format (c) 1992
by Frances Teagle & Micky DuPree.
Dramatis Personae
-
Kerr Avon - Paul Darrow
-
Vila Restal - Michael Keating
-
Servalan - Jacqueline Pearce
-
Del Tarrant - Steven Pacey
-
Dayna Mellanby - Josette Simon
-
Soolin - Glynis Barber
-
Orac - Peter Tuddenham
-
Slave - Peter Tuddenham
-
Belkov - Stratford Johns
-
Gambit - Rosalind Bailey
-
Gerren - David Neal
-
Computer Voice - Michael Gaunt
-
Guard - James Harvey
[Aboard Scorpio, docked at Xenon Base - Footage of a series of
explosions are being shown on the monitor screen]
AVON: Well, that's one way of solving your energy
crisis.
DAYNA: It's no joke Avon, thousands of people were
killed.
AVON: They would have died anyway, Agravo was a worked out
planet. The Federation does not spend time and credits for nothing. It
would have been uneconomic to transfer anyone but key personnel.
SOOLIN: Do you think they planned that explosion?
AVON: Not this time. This was just a happy accident. But now
the Federation is aware of the potential of Feldon power systems.
Orac?
ORAC: Federation plans currently include operations on nine
planets previously considered uninhabitable.
TARRANT: I've finished those drive modifications, do you
want to take her her up for a test flight?
AVON: Later.
TARRANT: Preferably much later. I could do with some rest.
VILA: We all could. Is the lecture over?
ORAC: Feldon is the hardest known subject in the universe.
AVON: And currently the most valuable.
VILA: Go on, you're just getting interesting.
ORAC: It's extremely rare, traces found in the asteroid
belt and on a few insignificant planets. Invariably prized as a
precious stone until its commercial and industrial uses were
discovered. Feldon concentrates energy.
DAYNA: Well so does a burning glass. So what?
AVON: That's not a bad analogy, but given the right
conditions feldon is infinitely more efficient.
SOOLIN: Infinitely more efficient?
AVON: I use the word deliberately.
TARRANT: But did you use it accurately?
AVON: The Federation is investing two hundred billion credits
on the project. For unlimited energy, I would say that that was cheap
at the price.
VILA: So would I. Where?
AVON: Where what?
VILA: Where do we steal the Federation crystals from? [Avon
smiles]
[Belkov's underground living quarters on Mecron Two - he is
playing 3D chess (4 boards) with his computer, Gambit]
GAMBIT: Alarm signal from Orbiter. [Monitor screen shows
Orbiter]
BELKOV: Yes I heard that, thank you Gambit. You really must try
and learn that attack is the best method of defence. You've got
yourself into a hopeless tangle here again, you know.
GAMBIT: Unauthorised personnel have entered Orbiter. We have
visual contact. [Monitor screen shows Gerren and two companions
entering Orbiter's vestibule]
BELKOV: I wish you'd concentrate on the game. The security
systems are quite capable of coping, in fact, Orbiter's defence is
a lot better than yours.
[Aboard Scorpio]
VILA: Of course, if this stuff does blow up planets by mistake,
we're going to need to be a bit careful. I mean, do we need money
that badly? I ask myself.
TARRANT: The crystals themselves are safe enough, I assume.
AVON: The Federation's mistake was to underestimate the
system potential. So much energy built up that it became unstable.
What you are now looking at is a blueprint of what the Mark Two
version will look like. [a blueprint appears on the screen]
It's a tiny power station, cheap to produce, small enough to
transport in a cargo ship and capable of developing enough power to
make a minus two-fifty degree planet workable.
TARRANT: What? Using energy from fairly distant stars
concentrated through the crystals? Could you run a ship on it?
AVON: You could run anything on it in theory. That's why
the Federation is staking so heavily. The consignment we are after is
worth approximately nine hundred million.
TARRANT: Let's get one thing straight. We want it to use,
not to sell. We've seen what it can do. We can't risk it
getting back to the Federation.
DAYNA: Yes, agreed.
VILA: Not by me, it's not. You steal for your reasons,
I'll steal for mine.
SOOLIN: Why not get it first and quarrel about it later?
AVON: This is not going to be easy. For one thing, the
consignment has already been stolen - from the Federation, and they
are not going to be pleased about it when they find out. Secondly, it
is protected by a security system which is supposed to be
impassable.
VILA: They're all supposed to impassable.
AVON: And thirdly...
ORAC: And thirdly, you may already have missed your chance. The
following message has just come in from Sector Nine.
AVON: Dayna. [she opens channel, message appears on
screen]
DAYNA: [Reading] "Federation security may reveal
target, going in at once."
AVON: The fool! Get the ship ready for launch.
VILA: What happened to that rest we all needed?
AVON: It just got too damned expensive. [Shot of Scorpio
revolving on launch pad]
[Belkov's quarters]
BELKOV: Eureka! Oh I really will have to reprogram you again,
you don't last any time at all these days. Well, are you going to
resign on this last one? Or do we have to go through the motions?
GAMBIT: There are three hundred and eighty possible endings
from this position, defeat is by no means inevitable.
BELKOV: Have it your own way. We both know you've lost.
[Orbiter - one of Gerren's men presses a button on the wall,
revealing a monitor screen. A message appears on the screen PLAYER ONE
COMMENCE IN TWENTY SECONDS. An overhead sign flashes GAME START, then
screen displays message ARM YOURSELF. He takes the electronic pistol
from its wall holder - cut to Belkov laughing as he watches his
monitor - man moves to position and waits. When the monitor shows his
opponent, he is taken aback, it is a simulation of himself. The figure
on the screen fires faster than he does and he falls dead. Screen
display PLAYER ONE SCORE, 00]
COMPUTER: Next player please. [Screen display - PLAYER TWO
COMMENCE IN - ]
BELKOV: Obviously not a natural games player. Well you've
either got it, or you haven't, I suppose.
GAMBIT: I suppose.
[Second player takes pistol from first and goes to position. He
outshoots the screen simulant on his first shot, but is killed at the
second try.]
-
Screen display
-
PLAYER TWO SCORE, 76
PLAYER THREE COMMENCE
IMMEDIATELY
COMPUTER:
Next player please.
[Gerren makes for the door, his screen simulant tracks him and
fires. Gerren falls wounded and crawls out. Overhead sign flashes GAME
OVER. Belkov turns his attention to the chess monitors, Gambit has
made another move.]
BELKOV: Oh not bad, not bad at all. You're beginning to get
sneaky. I like that.
GAMBIT: Do you want to resign now? Or shall we go through the
motions? [Belkov laughs]
[Scorpio in flight]
DAYNA: So, Avon, are you going to tell us what's going on
now?
AVON: I didn't think we would have to move on this so
soon.
SOOLIN: And that made it unnecessary to tell us?
TARRANT: And in the meantime you were doing deals with
outsiders.
AVON: There were no deals and there were no risks.
TARRANT: Well, what about the message? The man who sent that
knows where the base is, and that's a risk.
AVON: He has no idea where the base is. All messages were
beamed via an obsolete communications beacon in Sector Four.
DAYNA: So who is he, this partner we didn't know we
had?
AVON: His name is Gerren. Academician Gerren.
[Voice over as Gerren's spacecraft is shown on the
move]
GERREN: Seriously wounded, I need help. I repeat, Gerren
calling Scorpio - Avon, if you're coming to the rendezvous,
hurry!
[Scorpio. Tarrant materialises in teleport, supporting
Gerren]
TARRANT: He's been shot.
SOOLIN: He looks bad. [They help Gerren onto a reclining
chair and begin first aid]
TARRANT: Why should this middle-aged Federation professor want
to help you, Avon?
AVON: Because apart from being a brilliant geologist and an
expert in mining techniques he is also greedy, avaricious, and a
crook.
VILA: Has he got any faults?
SOOLIN: How do you know so much about him?
AVON: I got Orac to tap the Federation data banks for
information concerning the feldon project. Gerren is part of the
survey team.
TARRANT: It sounds respectable enough.
AVON: He was working on a deep space project, searching out
mining planets. If you run the relevant sets of figures together you
will see that he delayed his information just long enough to
manipulate the Commodities Market.
VILA: That's not really crooked.
AVON: You tell that to his Federation masters.
SOOLIN: Is that what you threatened to do?
AVON: I merely reminded him that since I got the information
from the Federation computers, somebody else might also piece it
together, in which case he would find himself in a penal colony.
DAYNA: So you blackmailed him.
AVON: Naturally.
DAYNA: He's coming round. [Gerren revives]
AVON: Gerren, that was a damfool thing to do. You could have
ruined everything.
GERREN: Didn't have much choice. The Federation smelled a
rat. I wanted to get the stuff out before their team arrived.
AVON: You should leave that sort of thing to us.
GERREN: Told you, there was no time. Besides, from what
I've heard, she might be more than a match for you.
AVON: Well now. Just who are they sending?
[A quarry on Mecron Two, Mecronians in `monastic habits' and
visors are quarrying stone. Servalan arrives with five Federation
guards, she detaches two of them to watch the quarry and accompanied
by the others, goes to an entrance in the rock face - cut to
Belkov's monitor screen tracking her]
GAMBIT: Your move.
BELKOV: Oh, I must greet our opponents, Gambit. I'm glad to
see they're punctual at least. [Servalan and her guards
enter] Oh, we're honoured by your visit, Commissioner
Sleer.
SERVALAN: I wouldn't call it a visit Belkov, that makes it
sound like a holiday, which it isn't. And I doubt whether
you'll feel honoured by the time I've finished with you.
You've been placed under house arrest, pending the results of my
investigations.
BELKOV: Yes, well Mecron Two is a very strange planet.
You'll find it difficult to investigate without my help.
SERVALAN: I could have you executed on the spot, you know.
BELKOV: Yes, that is true, but that would guarantee you
didn't get the feldon crystals and that wouldn't enhance your
reputation with the Federation, would it? By the way, what am I being
arrested for?
SERVALAN: Production has been consistently below target. Your
excuses have been, to say the least, evasive. Accidents to members of
the previous survey team for which we have yet to receive satisfactory
explanations.
BELKOV: But inspector, this is a strange planet, we're
working under difficulties.
SERVALAN: This isn't a game Belkov. We want those crystals
and we want them now.
BELKOV: And I'm the only one who can get them for you. It
is a game Commissioner, and I hold the winning hand.
SERVALAN: No hand is a winning hand until it's played,
Belkov. You should know that.
[Scorpio]
SOOLIN: We've still got one advantage, she doesn't know
about the crystals Belkov has hidden in the Orbiter. We do.
VILA: It didn't do Gerren and his friends much good, did
it?
DAYNA: Well no, but Soolin's right though, Servalan will be
more worried about the mining, the stuff they're digging up now,
won't she?
GERREN: Unfortunately, they're not digging up anything
much. There's virtually no feldon left. Belkov's milked this
planet for twelve good years, now he knows the game's up, he wants
to use the crystals to buy survival.
AVON: So he'll do a deal.
TARRANT: With Servalan?
GERREN: He'll certainly try.
TARRANT: I wish him luck.
VILA: So do I. "Why deal when you can steal?"
isn't just my motto. [Avon smiles.]
GERREN: It's not that easy, the ship's stacked with
booby traps. We couldn't get past the first one.
SLAVE: Master.
AVON: Yes Slave?
SLAVE: There appears to be someone on Mecron Two attempting to
make contact with us, Master.
DAYNA: There shouldn't be anyone there who knows we're
coming.
SLAVE: They seem to be getting impatient.
AVON: Who does?
SLAVE: I fear I am unable to identify them Master. I regret
this failure most bitterly.
AVON: Orac?
ORAC: The message is coming via a Federation class Alpha One
Nine Seven computer. It appears to have been modified in rather
extraordinary ways.
AVON: Spare us the technical details, just give us the
message.
ORAC: It offers visual contact. Do we accept?
TARRANT: Well since they obviously know us and we don't
know them...
AVON: Quite. All right Dayna. [she makes screen contact,
Belkov appears]
BELKOV: Ah, good day to you.
GERREN: Belkov!!
BELKOV: Gerren?
GERREN: Yes.
BELKOV: Oh, so you survived. Oh, well done! Ah, but no points
for you, I fear. I shall have to mark you down as "retired
hurt".
AVON: Can we get to the point?
BELKOV: Yes, perhaps you're right. It wouldn't do
either of us any good if that Federation squadron picked us up. I have
jammed them on this frequency of course.
DAYNA: Oh, considerate.
SOOLIN: What exactly do you want?
BELKOV: Rescue.
TARRANT: From whom?
BELKOV: Well, I've been placed under house arrest. There
are a number of faceless Federation guards marching around my
corridors. I want you to get me off this planet safely, before things
get worse.
VILA: What's in it for us?
BELKOV: Half the feldon crystals in my ship Orbiter.
AVON: What guarantee do we have that you'll give them to
us?
BELKOV: Well, I imagine you'll kill me if I don't.
AVON: Well, we might kill you anyway and take them all.
BELKOV: Well, I'll just have to trust you, won't I?
GERREN: He doesn't usually trust anyone.
SOOLIN: So what makes us so appealing?
BELKOV: Well, I do have one or two good cards to play, I
suppose.
AVON: For instance?
BELKOV: You're on an approach which takes you below the
Mecron moons and Orbiter.
AVON: Yes.
BELKOV: Well, as you probably know, Orbiter is powered through
feldon crystals. By using them and reflectors on the moon I could set
up a series of force fields. You'd find getting away from this
planet a lot harder than getting to it.
AVON: Multiple traction beams.
BELKOV: Exactly.
TARRANT: Powerful enough to stop a ship leaving orbit? I
don't believe it.
BELKOV: Your friend Avon does. [an alarm buzzer sounds]
Oh, I have a visitor approaching. Don't be too long. [he breaks
contact]
VILA: Well, what do you think?
DAYNA: I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw
him.
VILA: That wouldn't be far.
GERREN: As I see it, we don't have much choice.
AVON: Which is exactly the way he wants you to see it.
[Belkov's quarters - Servalan enters with guards]
SERVALAN: Four of my men have been murdered.
BELKOV: Yes, I did try to warn you, but you didn't give me
much opportunity.
SERVALAN: What do you mean?
BELKOV: Well, the locals do have some rather nasty habits.
Ritual murder is only one of them.
SERVALAN: You never mentioned this in your reports. You could
have had backup forces.
BELKOV: I didn't need backup. I managed things for myself.
I came to an agreement with the Mecronians.
SERVALAN: Did this agreement include the killing of my men?
BELKOV: Oh of course not.
SERVALAN: Of course not!
BELKOV: Look, d'you realize the problems I had setting up
this entire mining operation? Theirs is a very ancient civilization,
you know.
SERVALAN: I didn't come here for a history lesson.
BELKOV: It is relevant! [showing Servalan a crystal necklace
in a glass case] The Mecronian high priests used these as a symbol
of their power. Now there is a legend about the feldon necklaces. A
chief once stole one, the gods became angry and struck him down. Of
course, the gods' anger was merely an electrical storm in which a
hunk of polished feldon crystals that size would absorb enough energy
to blow holes in any number of recalcitrant chiefs.
SERVALAN: How fascinating.
BELKOV: Yes, but you see, the priests have been cashing in on
this piece of luck for generations, so I decided to join them. I said
their gods had sent me to collect the crystals. Well, not unnaturally,
they were not particularly impressed, well not at first anyway.
SERVALAN: I can imagine.
BELKOV: So I borrowed a necklace. All it needed then was a
well-placed remote-controlled laser rifle to ensure that only the
chosen one could wear it. After six of them had died in the attempt,
they found my survival quite miraculous.
SERVALAN: Your survival is becoming more miraculous by the
moment. Just what sort of swindle are you working?
BELKOV: I beg your pardon!
SERVALAN: On your own original estimates, you've delivered
half the expected yield from this mine. Where's the rest? Either
it never existed, which is fraud, or you've stolen it. It's a
capital offence either way.
[Dayna, Tarrant, Gerren and Vila materialize on the rim of the
quarry and look down on the workers]
TARRANT: You'd better lead the way. Are you up to it?
GERREN: I'll be all right.
[They descend. At the bottom they see one of Servalan's guards
in the entrance and Dayna fires at him. He collapses slowly and they
go across to his body. Vila pulls a trangular knife from the dead
man's back]
VILA: Have you been improving the guns again?
DAYNA: Funny man.
GERREN: It's a Mecronian knife.
VILA: Not keen on visitors, then.
TARRANT: Good shot though. If he hadn't already been dead,
you'd have saved our lives for certain.
DAYNA: Oh, do I get a prize?
TARRANT: Sorry, disqualified on a technicality.
VILA: I'd still rather not meet the owner of this too
soon.
[Scorpio]
AVON: How long can Gerren stay on his feet?
SOOLIN: There's no telling - until the drug wears off.
AVON: Get ready to leave orbit.
SOOLIN: Leave orbit?
AVON: I don't mind playing games, but I do object when the
opposition makes up the rules and decides to be the referee as well. I
think we should try and even things up a bit.
SOOLIN: How?
AVON: Belkov trusts no one, which is a strength, because that
means that no one can betray him. But it is also a weakness because it
means that he is the only one who can defend what is his.
SOOLIN: So, he makes everything self-protecting, the booby
traps, the force fields.
AVON: Exactly, everything automatic and therefore predictable,
and therefore vulnerable. Slave!
SLAVE: Yes master?
AVON: I want you to compute a new orbit so that from the
planet's surface, Scorpio is constantly eclipsed by the
Orbiter.
SLAVE: Yes master.
SOOLIN: He'll be supsicious as soon as we move.
AVON: If we leave our present orbit, as far as he is concerned,
we're pulling out - we're cutting our losses and we're
running for it. He'll turn his attention to more important matters
and leave his automatics to track us. Once we have that moon between
us and the scanner, we can start back down again. Since his automatics
won't be able to track us, they will merely inform him of what he
thinks he already knows - we have gone.
SOOLIN: What happens to Tarrant and the others meantime?
AVON: Well, during the manoeuvre they are entirely on their
own, but once we are back in our new orbit, the teleport system should
function quite normally. Oh, it's a calculated risk. But at least
you and I can be certain that we can get away when we want to.
[Mecron II - the quarry and reduction plant. Vila, Gerren and
Tarrant are crouching behind a low wall]
VILA: What's going on?
GERREN: High pressure reduction process.
VILA: Yeah, but what's going on?
GERREN: That's the pressure container. An electro-magnetic
field produces such high pressure that everything except the feldon
crystals is reduced to a fine dust.
TARRANT: [into bracelet] Avon - Avon. Avon, come in!
It's no good, I still can't raise them. [Vila stands up to
get a a better look. A guard sees him]
GUARD: Put down your weapons - slowly - in front of you.
[they obey]
TARRANT: Well done Vila.
VILA: Sorry.
GUARD: This is a restricted area.
GERREN: I am Academician Gerren doing geological survey work
for the Planetary Resources Commission.
GUARD: Papers? [Gerren hands them over] That seems to be
order. You? [to Vila and Tarrant]
GERREN: They are part of my survey team.
GUARD: I still need to see their papers.
VILA: I seem to have left mine behind.
GUARD: Then I'm sure you wont object to being searched.
Search him! [The other guard frisks Vila and finds the Mecronian
knife] Four of our men have been killed with a knife like
that.
VILA: You don't think - I mean, I'm not the violent
type, really I'm not.
GUARD: Then why do you carry that?
VILA: I found it.
GUARD: Where?
VILA: It was stuck in one of your men.
DAYNA: [Popping up from behind a rock] Vila, down!!
[she fires, killing the first guard, Tarrant throws the other into
the pressure plant, there is an ominous puff of red dust]
VILA: Nasty way to go, all that dust, very bad for the
chest.
[Belkov's quarters - Servalan's men are smashing the place
up]
BELKOV: I really must object. I mean, it's taken me years
to get these things together, there's no point in your destroying
them.
SERVALAN: I asked for your co-operation, you wouldn't give
it.
BELKOV: I'd hardly be stupid enough to hide a consignment
of stolen crystals in here, now would I?
SERVALAN: No? Where would you put them, then? [Belkov
sniggers] Try the computer.
BELKOV: I wouldn't do that if I were you.
SERVALAN: Go ahead. [guard opens a panel and is
electrocuted]
BELKOV: I did warn him. You see, Gambit is programmed to defend
itself. I really think co-operation would be the best idea for both of
us.
SERVALAN: That's what I've been offering you all
along.
BELKOV: Well, I didn't find your terms very attractive.
SERVALAN: What do you have in mind?
BELKOV: Well, first I think this gentleman should stop
threatening me. Then I just want to get away from here safely, to have
enough capital to continue my researches in peace, somewhere else.
SERVALAN: You mean you expect the Federation to pay you for
something you've already stolen from them. I think I'll just
turn you over to my interrogation team. You'll give them what they
want in the end.
BELKOV: I could tell you where you could get your hands on some
outlaws, just as a sign of good faith, of course.
SERVALAN: I'm listening.
BELKOV: Avon, Vila, Tarrant. I understand the Federation would
like them put of circulation.
SERVALAN: I don't believe you could deliver.
BELKOV: They're already here on the planet. You'd have
them within twenty-four hours.
SERVALAN: And the crystals?
BELKOV: Oh, they'd be part of the deal. Another triumph for
Commissioner Sleer.
SERVALAN: Perhaps we can do business after all.
BELKOV: Good, then without appearing to be greedy, I'd like
to discuss the quesion of my payment first.
SERVALAN: The Federation's been paying you for twelve
years. I'd say you're lucky to get out with your life.
BELKOV: Oh, I wouldn't. I want Orac, my ship, and enough
feldon crystals to negotiate my way round the galaxy.
SERVALAN: Huh!
BELKOV: You're getting a bargain, and you know it.
[Outside the main door - Vila, Gerren and Tarrant are crouched
watching Federation guards. Dayna appears on a ledge over the doorway
and throws a Mecronian knofe at a guard. The section leader kneels by
the body]
S.LEADER: Guards! [he waves at the others to search the
rocks. They go.]
VILA: Ah well, I got blamed for one of their killings.
[Dayna drops down from the rocks, Tarrant clobbers the section
leader. They go to the door]
TARRANT: Vila! Come on, as fast as you can, there won't be
long.
VILA: I realize that. [Vila opens the security door]
TARRANT: Right! I want you to get into cover and wait.
VILA: Out here, alone?!
TARRANT: Belkov may double-cross us.
VILA: I should think that's highly likely. What d'you
expect me to do about it, mount a one-man rescue?
TARRANT: Something like that.
VILA: They're after blood, my blood.
DAYNA: Tell them you've already given.
TARRANT: We need backup Vila. I don't like it any more than
you do, but without Scorpio, you're it. Now go! [They enter,
Vila closes the door and retreats to cover]
VILA: [into bracelet] Avon, come in Avon! Avon, if
you're up there, please answer. This is not fun anymore. [Two
more guards come by. One of them treads on Vila's hand as he
hides]
[Scorpio]
SLAVE: You have achieved the new orbit with consummate skill,
master.
AVON: Thank you Slave, I am releasing manual control. Watch out
for any deviation in the Orbiter.
SLAVE: Yes, master.
AVON: Well, that should keep Belkov guessing. Now let us see if
we can do anything about getting those crystals. [activates
Orac] Orac!
ORAC: Yes, Avon?
AVON: Tell me everything you know about Belkov's One Nine
Seven computer.
ORAC: You suggested I spared you the technical details.
AVON: Oh, don't sulk, Orac. I have a little more time
now.
ORAC: The modifications are very extensive. It's inaccurate
to call it a One Nine Seven anymore. It's really a sort of hybrid.
For example, a whole section of its memory banks are from a PPC class
unit.
AVON: A pleasure planet computer. That means it plays
games.
ORAC: The total effect is a system which responds in what I can
only describe as an eccentric manner.
SOOLIN: What does that mean?
ORAC: A computer must, by definition, be logical. But it can
also mirror the logic of its creator.
SOOLIN: You mean it's an extension of his mind.
ORAC: No, that is NOT what I mean.
SOOLIN: His personality, then.
ORAC: A better definition, but still not quite accurate.
AVON: Would it know how the booby traps on the orbiter are
programed?
ORAC: As yet, I don't have enough data to answer that
question.
AVON: If it knew, could you extract the information from it?
Come on! [Gives Orac a whack out of pique] That's a simple
enough question.
ORAC: There might be problems.
AVON: Why? You have extracted information from Federation
computers before now. This is just a hodgepodge of three or four of
them. You have already said that it is inferior to you.
ORAC: The difficulty is not technical. It's more one of,
uh, attitude.
AVON: Ah. You mean the logic of its creator.
ORAC: Exactly. Let me remind you of ancient Earth mythology.
The Delphic Oracle would answer questions truthfully without giving a
true answer.
AVON: So what we need is not the right answer, but the right
question.
SOOLIN: And in circumstances where any mistake would prove
fatal.
[Belkov's quarters]
BELKOV: Do come in. [Tarrant, Dayna and Gerren enter]
Your guns are quite unnecessary, unless you've an urgent reason
for killing me, that is.
TARRANT: Oh, that's always a possibility.
BELKOV: There are a lot of Federation troops about, you might
have noticed, and I did mention to Commissioner Sleer you might be
dropping in.
DAYNA: Well that sounds like an urgent reason for killing
you.
BELKOV: Yes, but you see, if you did, Gambit is programmed to
raise the alarm. Wouldn't help me, I know, but it would ensure
that you were captured and - kkkk - executed. [throat-cutting
gesture] Look, I don't care if she gets the crystals or you
do, I just want to get safely out of this place.
TARRANT: Well, we're not keen on staying here either.
BELKOV: Oh really? Can you explain why your friend Avon has
taken your ship out of orbit?
DAYNA: That's not true.
GERREN: You couldn't raise him on the communicator?
TARRANT: Avon wouldn't run out on us.
BELKOV: I wish I had your faith in him. Still, whatever the
reason, it calls for some slight change of plan. Are you still capable
of piloting one of these Federation ships?
TARRANT: It's what I was trained for.
BELKOV: Good. Gambit..
GAMBIT: Yes, Belkov.
DAYNA: Er, slow down! We'd like to know exactly what you
are doing, so there can be no misunderstandings.
BELKOV: I was going to instruct Gambit to contact Commissioner
Sleer, give her your position and advise her to take her men and
arrest you.
DAYNA: You'll be dead before you get the first sentence
out.
BELKOV: Well that would be a pity, you see, because the place I
was going to send her is held to be sacred by the Mecronians.
They're a primitive bunch, but they do take their religion rather
seriously and if she goes marching in there with her men, she'll
have a fight on her hands, at least long enough for us to steal one of
her ships.
[Outside]
VILA: [Into bracelet] Avon, Avon, are you up there?
Avon, come in please.
AVON: [Voice over] Avon - go ahead Vila.
VILA: We've been trying to contact you for an hour. What
the hell have you been doing, taking a nap?
AVON: [V.O.] I've been doing what we came for. How
about you?
VILA: Oh nothing much, I've been shot at, trodden on,
nearly captured twice [explosions from back of quarry, a man runs
from the doorway with his clothes on fire] and now I think
they're trying to blow me up. A fairly average day. You know.
[more explosions] What the hell's going on?
AVON: [V.O.] They're not aimed at you.
VILA: I wish you'd tell them that. Teleport me back up,
will you?
AVON: [V.O.] Not yet, you've still got work to do.
[another explosion]
[Outside a cave entrance]
SERVALAN: They're hiding somewhere here. Find out what they
know. [Guards enter cave, interrupting the religious ceremony. The
Mecronians attack the guards, killing some. Servalan leaves]
[Scorpio - a chess game shows on Avon's monitor]
SOOLIN: How long are we going to wait for those two?
AVON: As long as it takes. If Orac is going to get any
information out of that machine, this is the way he's going to do
it.
SOOLIN: Who's winning?
ORAC: We've both made sacrifices.
AVON: He means that Gambit is.
ORAC: A temporary advantage.
AVON: To an inferior computer?
ORAC: Which merely disguises my long-term strategy.
AVON: Let's forget your ego for the moment. Have you
extracted any information that could be of use to us yet?
ORAC: Gambit has evolved into its present form over a period of
years.
AVON: Well, that's true of all computers. You adapt them,
you improve them.
ORAC: But these adaptations seem entirely haphazard. Some
circuits have been added purely for amusement, others, the defence
mechanisms for instance, are surprisingly complex.
AVON: But they all perform the same function. Belkov does not
trust anyone except that machine. It is his bodyguard, his companion,
his playmate... his friend, Orac.
ORAC: Oh! That implies an emotional tie, which is no part of a
computer's function.
AVON: These adaptations, if they went in haphazardly, could
they be removed the same way?
ORAC: A lot of them have been. There are circuits in the PPC
section which serve no function at all now. It seems that games are
added at a whim, and when the adaptor gets bored with them, taken out
again.
AVON: So every function can be isolated and removed.
ORAC: Exactly.
AVON: Ah!
[Outside quarry - explosion, Federation guards run out of
doorway]
AVON: [V.O.] Vila.
VILA: Look, if you don't teleport me soon, it'll be too
late, there are Federation guards everywhere, bombs going off...
AVON: [V.O.] That's just Belkov tidying things
before he leaves. I'm going to bring you up.
VILA: About time.
AVON: [V.O.] As soon as you've collected a ciruit
from his computer.
[Belkov's quarters - he is watching the destruction on his
monitor with Tarrant, Dayna and Gerren ]
GAMBIT: Detonation series completed.
BELKOV: Thank you Gambit. It's time we left [they go
out]
Outside - Vila stands up and walks to the doorway, passing Mecronian
workers stumbling around in confusion. - cut to Belkov and the others
in a corridor]
BELKOV: It's a bit longer this way, but it's safer than
going above ground. [They enter a room, Belkov stops by the
door] Oh, we're right under the takeoff area here. [he
points to the ceiling - while they are looking up, he slips out,
locking the door]
DAYNA: Tarrant!! [she fires at the door]
TARRANT: Forget it Dayna, they're blast protection doors,
both jammed from the outside. Well, we walked into that with our eyes
open.
DAYNA: [into bracelet] Avon, this Day...
TARRANT: That won't work either, even if he's there, he
couldn't hear us. We're under the launch area, remember?
That's what this emergency blast protection's for. There's
so much shielding up there, he wouldn't hear us if he was standing
immediately overhead.
DAYNA: I don't understand. If Belkov wanted to give us to
Servalan, why didn't he do it straight away?
GERREN: I think I can answer that. I've surveyed the whole
of this planet and there's no feldon left. This new mining site
was just another way of swindling credits out of the Federation.
DAYNA: So those bombs weren't just a diversion.
GERREN: No. He's hoping to destroy the evidence.
TARRANT: And when the dust settles, we're here to take the
blame for sabotage as well as everything else.
[Belkov's quarters - Vila enters, he moves a chess piece on the
top board]
VILA: Gambit? Look, let's get one thing straight from the
start, I don't mean you any harm, not personally. I'm sure
you're a miracle of engineering and I bet you're not half as
bad- tempered as Orac. I just want one of your circuits, that's
all. Now you've got plenty to spare, so there's no need for us
to get into a fight about it. [Vila ducks behind a cabinet as
Belkov enters]
BELKOV: Gambit.
GAMBIT: Yes, Belkov?
BELKOV: Give me a security scan.
GAMBIT: Security scan operative.
BELKOV: Mining area?
GAMBIT: Three. [monitor shows dust and smoke]
BELKOV: Main entrance?
GAMBIT: Eleven. [screen shows closed security door]
BELKOV: What's Commissioner Sleer doing?
GAMBIT: Thirteen.
BELKOV: Tarrant and the others?
GAMBIT: Fourteen. [overhead shot of Tarrant & others
trapped in room]
BELKOV: Orbiter?
GAMBIT: Twenty-one. [shot of empty vestibule]
BELKOV: Good, that's the lot.
GAMBIT: Security scan completed.
BELKOV: Gambit.
GAMBIT: Yes Belkov?
BELKOV: I'm leaving this planet. I have to, there's
nothing for me here now. Prepare Alpha Three for takeoff. Start count
down as soon as possible.
GAMBIT: Launching preparations under way.
BELKOV: [He becomes increasingly distressed and
hesitant] I can't take you with me. I need you to finish off
things here. When I'm clear of Mecron atmosphere, go to Condition
Red. When all other tasks have been performed ... [he trails
off]
GAMBIT: [Anxiously] Yes?
BELKOV: Look, I can't take you with me. You can see that,
can't you? You're needed here, but you can't be left
intact either. With all the trouble I've been to, to destroy the
evidence, I can hardly leave you with memory banks full of it, can
I?
GAMBIT: Is there some other function you wish me to carry
out?
BELKOV: When all other tasks have been performed, go to
self-destruct sequence as programmed. Gambit...
GAMBIT: Yes, Belkov?
BELKOV: I shall miss you. I don't suppose that concept
could possibly mean anything to you. I just thought I'd mention
it. [he leaves. Vila pops out of hiding]
VILA: Look, you'll probably say it's none of my
business, but if anybody told me to kill myself for them, they'd
get a short answer. [No answer] Are you just programmed to
respond to Belkov? Can you hear me? Can you talk to me?
GAMBIT: Would you like to play something? I'm programmed
for all games.
VILA: Ah, that's very kind of you madam, but not at the
moment, thanks. Look, if you're programmed to defend yourself,
surely you shouldn't self-destruct.
GAMBIT: The self-destruct sequence overrides all others.
VILA: That seems a bit of a waste. If you could let me have the
circuit I mentioned, it'd be a sort of way for you to live on,
wouldn't it? That'd be much better than being blanked out for
ever.
GAMBIT: I must complete all tasks set.
VILA: Ah yes, of course, but - er - if you could let me have
that circuit, and any chance of security scan fourteen again?
GAMBIT: Security scan fourteen [Tarrant, Dayna and Gerren
appear on the screen] Do you require voice contact?
VILA: That wouldn't be a bad idea, and if you could open
the door, that would be even better. [Gambit opens the blast
doors]
VILA: [V.O.] Tarrant, this is your one-man backup team.
I think it's time we got out of here.
TARRANT: Where are you Vila?
VILA: [V.O.] Belkov's living quarters.
TARRANT: We'll be right there.
Belkov's quarters - Vila removes a circuit board safely. Cut to
Tarrant, Dayna and Gerren moving cautiously, guards appear and shots
are exchanged. Vila shoots a guard from the doorway]
VILA: [into bracelet] Avon, can you hear me, Avon? I
don't believe this. Gambit!
GAMBIT: Yes, Vila?
VILA: Is there another way out of here?
GAMBIT: Scan seventeen [opens a secret door in the wall]
This leads to the mining area. There is some damage, it is extensive,
but not impassable.
VILA: We'll risk it.
[Dayna, Tarrant and Gerren, running through corridors, a Federation
guard fires, bringing down Gerren. Dayna makes as if to help him,
Tarrant pulls her away]
TARRANT: Come on! Come on! [she runs after Tarrant, leaving
Gerren]
[Outside - Vila, Tarrant and Dayna emerge from a cave
entrance]
VILA: Avon, bring us up quick! [they teleport]
[Belkov's quarters - Servalan and guards are bending over
Gerren, who is in a bad way]
SERVALAN: Are you ready to explain why you betrayed your
position of trust, Gerren?
GERREN: It was Belkov, h-he was the one who betrayed the
Federation.
SERVALAN: I see. And you've been associating with rebels in
order to expose him, is that it?
GERREN: He didn't send back more than half the feldon that
was mined. H-he kept it for himself. H-he's been doing it for
years.
SERVALAN: Odd how you never mentioned that before.
GERREN: All right, I admit I wanted to get in on it myself at
first, but now...
SERVALAN: But now you're frightened and you need medical
help and you think information might save you.
GERREN: The-the crystals are in the orbiter, but Belkov's
booby- trapped it so he thinks they're safe. The-There must be a-a
a billion in crystals up there, m-m-maybe more.
SERVALAN: Anything else?
[Orbiter - Avon, Soolin, Tarrant and Vila are in the vestibule,
Vila is carrying Orac]
AVON: Dayna, we're down safe in Orbiter and proceeding.
GAMBIT: [V.O.] Countdown twelve minutes twenty seconds
and running.
VILA: What does that mean?
AVON: I imagine that if we're not out of here by the time
it hits zero, we might regret it. [Soolin presses the button to
reveal the screen and start the game. She picks up the electronic
pistol]
GAMBIT: Control system feedback is through the weapon. The game
adjusts to meet, and on the last shot, exceed the proficiency of the
players.
SOOLIN: You have to outshoot yourself.
TARRANT: Stupid game.
SOOLIN: Not really. Finally a game worth playing. Stand back.
[She takes position and fires successfully]
[Scorpio]
DAYNA: Yes, Slave?
SLAVE: Scan reveals several launchings from the planet's
surface. Initial launch, small cargo vessel, Alpha Three. Subsequent
launches confirm Federation pursuit ships. Bearings indicate all ships
heading in this direction.
DAYNA: Thank you Slave. [into intercom] Avon!
AVON: [V.O.] Yes Dayna?
DAYNA: Keep it moving, company on its way.
[Orbiter]
AVON: We're doing our best.
GAMBIT: Final shot. The machine will outdraw you.
[Soolin fires and wins - monitor reads GAME OVER SCORE 100 very
good!!! ------------
VILA: No prize?
AVON: The prize is survival. [a door opens and they enter
an inner cabin full of games machines] Orac, can you find out where we
go from here?
ORAC: Sensors indicate that all the other games are laid
against the outside hull of the ship, therefore logic suggests that
only machine four could give access to any inner chamber.
TARRANT: This is based on an old LSF.
SOOLIN: LSF?
TARRANT: Yes, launch and flight simulator. I trained on
one.
VILA: So you've had some practice, then. That's a bit
of luck.
TARRANT: Well not exactly. These things chuck the lot at you,
flying the real thing's nothing after one of these.
GAMBIT: Countdown eight minutes, still running.
AVON: Get on with it, Tarrant.
TARRANT: All right, all right! Taking her up. [he takes the
joystick control and concentrates on the screen display]
[Scorpio]
DAYNA: Slave, what's the position of those Federation ships
now?
SLAVE: The leading ship will be within firing range in one
minute, Madam.
DAYNA: Thank you.
SLAVE: Do you wish me to begin evasive or offensive action?
DAYNA: No, not yet. [into intercom] Avon!
AVON: [V.O.] Yes Dayna?
DAYNA: I know you've got problems of your own, but those
Federation ships could be firing on us in seconds. Any
suggestions?
AVON: [V.O.] Just sit tight Dayna. The Orbiter is
between you and them. My guess is that they're too interested in
what's inside to risk hitting it.
[Orbiter - Tarrant's game is getting hectic, a collision
occurs]
TARRANT: Damage report.
COMPUTER: Retro-stabilizers out of action, slight fracture of
radiation skin, reduction in pressure. Damage to energy banks makes
landing decision imperative. Successful landing will score thirty
percent more than stable orbit. Failure to achieve either forfeits all
scores. Decide!
TARRANT: Orbit.
COMPUTER: Orbit achieved. Points score, acceptable. [a panel
opens revealing another door]
GAMBIT: Countdown five minutes, ten seconds and running.
AVON: Vila, what do you make of this?
VILA: It's a fingerprint lock. When it recognizes the
print, it opens the door. It looks standard enough.
AVON: How long?
VILA: Half an hour or so and I could bypass it.
AVON: We don't have half an hour!
VILA: I know that, but unless you can cut off one of
Belkov's fingers for me - just a minute? [he bends down and
grabs Tarrant's foot]
TARRANT: Vila, what are you doing?
VILA: Dust! I need very fine dust [pats it off Tarrant's
boot] That's probably half the guard you threw in that
machine, Tarrant. In the old days, one of the ways of shifting
suspicion, was by lifting fingerprints [he blows dust on table top
and presses a piece of plastic on a fingerprint] There! Let's
hope one of these is Belkov's. [he applies the piece of plastic
to pressure plate on door, the door opens, showing a wall panel with
monitor screen and keyboard] It worked! [Avon pushes him aside
and gets to work on the keyboard]
SOOLIN: How many more of these have we got to go through?
ORAC: Gambit's circuits indicate that this is the final
game.
AVON: This is the Orbiter's central guidance system.
DAYNA: [V.O.] Avon, if I'm supposed to be using you
as a shield, I hope you realize you're moving out of orbit.
AVON: What?! [Shot of Orbiter moving away, disclosing
Scorpio] Orac, what the hell is going on? Guidance system control
is not functioning.
ORAC: The orbiter is preprogrammed. Flight power depends on the
distance and intensity of each star the feldon panels are locked into.
The successful completion of a game continues the sequence. To regain
control, you must complete the coded sequence of star sources.
VILA: What about the feldon crystals?
AVON: Gambit?
GAMBIT: This game will reveal the entrance.
SOOLIN: All we have to do is lock on to the right star.
ORAC: It is possible that we've just received the right
answer to the wrong question.
AVON: I calculate that the next star in the sequence is Cygnus
XL. That's a black hole.
GAMBIT: That is correct.
AVON: Not exactly the entrance we were looking for. [Into
bracelet] Dayna, we're ready for teleport.
VILA: What about the crystals?
AVON: There aren't any damned crystals. There never were
any damned crystals. They're like everything else on this ship: a
game. That's why the last one has to be impassable. We have got to
get out of here!
DAYNA: Stand by.
[Belkov's spacecraft, Alpha Three, aproaching Orbiter, then
Belkov's quarters and Gambit]
BELKOV: [On monitor screen] Gambit. Can you hear me,
Gambit?
GAMBIT: Yes, Belkov.
BELKOV: [O.M.S.] Position please.
GAMBIT: Your orbit is stable, you are approaching optimum
departure co-ordinates.
BELKOV: [O.M.S.] Fine. Sever guidance links, give me
automatic control.
GAMBIT: Beginning self-destruct sequence.
BELKOV: [O.M.S.] I need automatic control first.
Gambit!V
GAMBIT: I am not able to give it to you.
BELKOV: [O.M.S.] I'll be killed if you
don't.
GAMBIT: Not willing to give it to you.
BELKOV: [O.M.S.] Gambit!!
GAMBIT: Self-destruct sequence in progress.
BELKOV: [O.M.S.] I'm sorry.
GAMBIT: Goodbye, Belkov.
BELKOV: [O.M.S.] Ah, Gambit, this is no way to end our
game. Lock my controls into Cygnus XL and Orbiter's. Please?
GAMBIT: Panels locked in. [Belkov laughs - screen goes blank
as Gambit begins self- destruction sequence.]
[Shot of Belkov's spacecraft, then Scorpio - the crew reel from
the shockwaves on an explosion]
GAMBIT: [V.O.] Belkov has opened the door.
AVON: Into the black hole. That is an infinite power source for
the feldon to draw upon. There is nothing that won't be dragged
in.
TARRANT: Orac, if we pushed everything to the limit, could we
raise enough power to pull away from it?
ORAC: Negative.
AVON: But a huge negative force a long way off could be
balanced by a positive force close to the crystals.
ORAC: A somewhat simplistic theory.
AVON: Slave, I need all the power we can muster. Sacrifice
everything except life support. Blast those feldon panels with
everything we've got.
VILA: From this distance? You'll blow us up too!!
[Scorpio blasts Orbiter which disintegrates and disappears]
SOOLIN: You've done it.
DAYNA: Yes, but what have you done?
AVON: Proved my somewhat simplistic theory, Orac.
ORAC: Apparently so. It would appear that positive and negative
inputs were balanced by the feldon crystals. Indeed, the balance was
so perfect, that they simply ceased to exist, along with everything in
their immediate vicinity.
TARRANT: I'm glad we didn't get too close.
DAYNA: But after all that, we go home empty-handed.
VILA: Er, not entirely empty-handed. [produces Belkov's
necklace] Well, I saw it lying about, seemed a pity not to take
it. After all, Belkov won't be needing it where he's gone.
AVON: Let me see that.
VILA: I'd say the last game was mine, wouldn't you?
AVON: I have bad news for you, Vila. [smashes crystals with
his gun butt] It's a fake. End game to Belkov.
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