Excerpt from Blakes 7: The Program Guide by Tony Attwood

Having failed in his attempt to get Zukan and the other warlords to unite in combating the advance of Servalan, Avon decides to look for someone else to lead the dissidents against the Federation. At the same time, he is aware that Zukan has almost certainly told Servalan of the whereabouts of Scorpio's base. The crew of Scorpio therefore abandon the base and destroy it.

Once they are in flight, Avon reveals that Orac has tracked Blake down to Gauda Prime, the frontier planet on which Soolin lived as a child. Having been an "Open Planet" for some time, on which the rule of Law has been suspended, Gauda Prime is now attempting to re-instigate the law, and hence a group of bounty hunters are on the planet rounding up and killing the criminals who have previously been roaming free. Despite Vila's incredulity at the idea that Blake could have become a bounty hunter, hunting criminals for cash, Orac is adamant that he has found him. Avon is certain that Blake is the right person to unite the anti-Federation forces once again and Scorpio proceeds to the planet.

On Gauda Prime, Blake appears battered and scarred. He is seen to shoot another bounty hunter in the back. He then captures Arlen, a tough fighter, whom he takes back to camp.

Approaching the planet, Scorpio comes under attack and suffers serious damage. Everyone teleports except Tarrant, who stays at the controls and attempts to land the ship. Vila, Dayna and Soolin make their way to shelter and are caught up by Avon with Orac. Tarrant crashes the ship and is rescued by Blake, who takes him back to headquarters where he is handed over to Deva, presumably for a large reward. However it appears that this is only a test to discover Tarrant's suitability for Blake's cause.

Unfortunately Tarrant escapes before he can learn of this. He meets up with Avon and the others as they are entering the headquarters, having followed Blake in a stolen Flyer. As Tarrant tells Avon that Blake has betrayed them all, Blake appears and claims that he has been waiting on the planet for Avon to come. Avon is clearly unsure of the truth, and tells Blake to stand still. Despite this warning Blake continues to walk towards Avon, who shoots him.

Arlen reveals herself to be a Federation officer and is quickly knocked out by Vila, who then falls to the floor as a shot is heard. Federation guards appear and, in a brief shoot-out, Tarrant, Dayna and Soolin drop to the floor as time itself appears to slow down and the gun fire seems to echo endlessly. Avon has remained still throughout and no shots appear to be directed at him. As the dust settles and with no Federation guard moving against him he raises his gun, stands astride Blake and smiles . . . .

Review 07/09/2006 by ledlogic

One of the most interesting last episodes of all time. It brings back Blake, the original hero. It also leaves with every one getting killed off at the end. In a way it is like Seinfeld in that you come to realize everyone that Blakes 7 came in contact with died, so it is fitting that the team dies as well. Whether it was a lover, a friend, or an old member of the crew, they all died at some point.

If they made a mistake at the end, it is because they had become so used to a shoot-first policy as time went on. They were always being surprised, ambushed, or attacked. Eventually their psyche probably treated any stranger as a likely threat (though they often were).

(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 Micky DuPree and Betsy Ramsey.

Dramatis Personae

Uncredited:

Script

[Scorpio launches from the Xenon base.]

TARRANT: All main drives and boosters running.

[Explosions detonate the Xenon base. Scorpio leaves orbit.]

SLAVE: All explosive devices have functioned correctly, Master. The base complex has been totally destroyed.
AVON: Thank you, Slave.
VILA: I never liked that place anyway.
SOOLIN: Especially not once the wine ran out.
DAYNA: You know, I still don't think Zukan told the Federation.
VILA: About the wine?
DAYNA: About the location of the base.
TARRANT: Why not? Wouldn't you expect someone who'd betray his own daughter to betray everything else?
AVON: And if he didn't, one of the others will, sooner or later.
SOOLIN: Sooner, definitely. Your anti-Federation alliance wasn't worth spit without Zukan.
AVON: A slight exaggeration.
SOOLIN: You think so?
AVON: Nobody is indispensable.
SOOLIN: You needed a figurehead. He was it. Or am I wrong?
AVON: You are right. But then figureheads aren't too difficult to come by. Any idiot can be one.
DAYNA: Heh. On your feet, Vila. This could be your big moment.
AVON: Any idiot within reason, that is.
TARRANT: You going to tell us what we've got planned, Avon?
VILA: We know what we've got planned. Running away is what we've got planned.
DAYNA: A strategic withdrawal is what we've got planned.
VILA: There's a difference?
TARRANT: Oh, yes. A strategic withdrawal is running away -- but with dignity.
VILA: So lay in a course and let's get the dignified hell out of here.
TARRANT: That isn't the plan anymore, though, is it Avon?
AVON: I think we can do better.
VILA: Does that mean safer?
AVON: In the end, winning is the only safety.
VILA: It doesn't mean safer. I didn't think it would.
TARRANT: So what does it mean?
AVON: It means I think we can find ourselves another figurehead, someone we can use to unify and expand the Rebel Alliance.
SOOLIN: Just like that.
AVON: More or less. He is strongly identified with rebels, you see, and very popular with rabbles. They will follow him, and he will fight to the last drop of their blood. [smiles] Idealism is a wonderful thing. All you really need is someone rational to put it to proper use.
DAYNA: Someone like you.
TARRANT: So where do we find this useable idealist?
AVON: According to Orac, he is on a frontier planet called Gauda Prime.
SOOLIN: Gauda Prime?
TARRANT: You know it?
SOOLIN: Yes, I know it. It's a bad place to be. No self-respecting idealist would be found dead there.
AVON: I imagine that is what HE is trying to avoid: being found dead anywhere.
TARRANT: Look, are you going to stop playing games and tell us who it is, Avon?
VILA: It's Blake, isn't it? You think you've found Blake.

[Avon turns away and smiles.]

[Sitting beside his campfire, Blake hears a noise and looks up. He moves to lean against a tree.]

BLAKE: Whoever you are, I'll share the food. So long as you stop skulking about out there. [noise repeats] You're not exactly stealthy, are you. I've heard quieter troop transporters.
ARLEN: [O.O.V.] You're looking in the wrong direction.
BLAKE: I know. But at least you're out in the open now, aren't you.
[Arlen bounds into the clearing, pointing a gun at Blake.]
ARLEN: If this is a trap, you won't live to see it sprung.
BLAKE: Where did you get that gun?
ARLEN: I won it in a lottery. What do you care?
BLAKE: I don't, so long as it wasn't issued to you.
ARLEN: It's Federation.
BLAKE: That's what I mean.
ARLEN: Do I look like one of theirs?
BLAKE: [walking back to campfire] I can't really tell anymore. [looks back to Arlen] You hungry?
ARLEN: Yes.
BLAKE: So am I.

DAYNA: But Servalan told us he was dead.
AVON: And you believed her?
DAYNA: Well, she had no reason to lie.
AVON: She doesn't need one. It comes quite naturally to her, like breathing.
TARRANT: The last time you went after Blake, it was a trap. We were lucky to get out.
VILA: Cally didn't get out.
DAYNA: And Blake wasn't even there.
VILA: Never had been.
AVON: Do you take me for a fool?
SOOLIN: Only a fool would go to Gauda Prime without a very good reason.
AVON: [activating Orac] Orac, what proof do we have that Blake is on Gauda Prime?
ORAC: That is where his trail ends.
TARRANT: What trail? Explain.
ORAC: The chain of cause and effect amounts to a trail, if you can follow it.
VILA: I can't even follow you.
ORAC: Everything has an effect on everything else around it. It is not easy to trace one line through the pattern of infinity, but in this case, I have. Blake is on Gauda Prime.
TARRANT: How long have you known?
AVON: [smiles] Long enough.
DAYNA: Before Zukan.
AVON: Oh, yes. And the answer to your next question is, yes, I would have left Blake where he was and said nothing if things had gone according to plan.
TARRANT: Oh, I must try and work that into the conversation when we meet him.
VILA: If we meet him.
SOOLIN: Still not convinced?
VILA: You tell me what a line through the pattern of infinity is, and I'll tell you whether I'm convinced or not.

BLAKE: You sure they were bounty hunters?
ARLEN: Well, it's not my irresistible charm that keeps them coming.
BLAKE: How long have they been tracking you?
ARLEN: Long enough. You ask a lot of questions.
BLAKE: Try answering one occasionally, maybe I'll stop.
ARLEN: I've got a better idea. [rises] Thanks for the food. You can keep the Federation gun as payment.
BLAKE: There's no charge.
ARLEN: Arlen pays her debts.
BLAKE: I'll keep the gun.
[Arlen backs away from the campfire. She whirls. A bounty hunter jumps out in front of her with a knife and she shoots him. Two more bounty hunters move in. She shoots the first, but the second shoots her in the leg and she drops her gun. She tries to reach it as the bounty hunter approaches. Blake shoots the bounty hunter.]
ARLEN: Give me my gun, and get down, quick. I think there were four of them tracking me.
BLAKE: There were. And then there was one.
ARLEN: You scum!
BLAKE: Don't bother calling me names, girl. Not after the killing you've done. [She tries to reach her gun again but Blake kicks it away.] There's a premium for bringing you back alive, but I'll kill you if I have to. The price for you dead isn't bad, but I'm not a greedy man.

VILA: I can't see Blake doing anything like that.
ORAC: My interpretation of the data leaves little room for error.
VILA: Hunting people for money? Not him.
TARRANT: Avon?
AVON: Why ask me?
DAYNA: Because you and Vila know him. We don't. Could he be a bounty hunter, do you think?
AVON: Does it matter?
TARRANT: Well, it might. There's still a price on our heads from the old days.
SOOLIN: Not on G-P, there isn't.
VILA: G-P?
AVON: I imagine that is what the locals call Gauda Prime, [to Soolin] your home planet.
SOOLIN: I grew up there, yes. But for a home you need a family and mine were murdered when the Federation declared Gauda Prime an Open Planet.
AVON: A general suspension of the penal code.
SOOLIN: That's right.
DAYNA: You mean there's no law at all?
SOOLIN: It's the fast way to get resources exploited, in this case mineral resources.
DAYNA: I don't understand.
VILA: Neither do I. How does junking the law speed up mining?
SOOLIN: G-P was an agricultural world. The settlers were sent there to grow crops, raise timber. They were farmers, my family among them. They were given title to the land.
AVON: And then somebody discovered there was more profit under the ground than there was on top of it, only the farmers were in the way, and the law was on their side. Hence the Open Planet designation.
TARRANT: What, get rid of the law you get rid of the problem? [To Avon] You seem to know a lot about it.
AVON: Orac is an excellent research tool. Do you imagine I would take us in blind?
TARRANT: You've done it before.
DAYNA: What happened to your family?
SOOLIN: When the mining corporations moved in, the farmers moved out. Those that didn't were murdered.
VILA: And it wasn't even a crime.
SOOLIN: Oh yes, it was a crime all right. It just wasn't illegal.
VILA: That's what I meant.
SOOLIN: I hope so.
TARRANT: Planet must have been a draw for every crook and killer in the quadrant.
AVON: A lot of people made a lot of money.
SOOLIN: Some even lived to enjoy it.
AVON: I imagine they are the ones who now want the planet returned to normal legal status.
SOOLIN: You're not serious.
AVON: Orac?
ORAC: A formal application was laid before the High Council on Earth within the last thirty days. I could get you the exact date --
SLAVE: Uh, I don't wish to interrupt, Master --
ORAC: Then kindly don't.
SLAVE: I wasn't talking to you.
ORAC: You were attempting to override a superior system. Be silent. [continues] -- the exact date, if you wish. But the importance of the application lies not in its exact date, but in its general requirements.
TARRANT: Which are?
ORAC: That the citizens of Gauda Prime put their house in order. Law must be established before the benefits of law can be restored.
AVON: It is the day of the bounty hunter. [cut to close-up of Vila] Thieves, [cut to close-up of Dayna, pan to Soolin] killers,
[cut to close-up of Tarrant] mercenaries, [cut to close-up of Avon; he smiles] psychopaths, are as unwelcome now as the farmers once were.
[Scorpio's alarm goes off.]
TARRANT: Slave, what's wrong?!
SLAVE: Well, nothing is actually wrong, sir, yet.
AVON: Explain the alarm, Slave.
[Alarm cuts out.]
SLAVE: I had to get your attention, Master, and I was forbidden to speak unless spoken to.
AVON: All right, you're spoken to. What is it?
SLAVE: I beg to advise you, Master, that we're approaching the planet Gauda Prime. And Scorpio is under attack!
[An explosion rocks the flight deck.]

ARLEN: How much further to your flyer? [Blake gestures her on with a wave of his gun; after a few paces, she stops again] I can't walk any further.
BLAKE: Yes, you can.
ARLEN: Why don't you just kill me?
BLAKE: I told you. You're worth more alive.
[Arlen whirls, swinging the stick she is using as a cane at Blake. He sidesteps, and she falls and gives a yelp of pain.]
BLAKE: Get up, girl.
ARLEN: Arlen. My name is Arlen.
BLAKE: That's the name they're paying for.
ARLEN: That's right. I made them pay for it. So use it, scum.
BLAKE: Blake. My name is Roj Blake.

[Explosions are continuing to rock Scorpio.]

VILA: Who the hell are they?
DAYNA: Who the hell cares?
VILA: They could be making a mistake.
SOOLIN: It doesn't seem to affect their aim.

[Cut to shot of gunships pursuing and firing on Scorpio.]

AVON: Burnout on drive two. Overall power loss is thirty-two percent.
TARRANT: Alignment on three and four is drifting.
AVON: This won't hold it for long.
TARRANT: Have we shaken any of them off?
SOOLIN: [looking at monitor] Not exactly.
VILA: Not remotely. There's four more coming on zero two three.
DAYNA: And two more on the reciprocal bearing.
SOOLIN: They'll have us in strike range in twenty-five seconds.
TARRANT: We're running out of options.
[Gauda Prime appears on the main viewscreen.]
AVON: Powerdive the atmosphere. Fake it. Make it look as though we're out of control.
TARRANT: I may not have to fake that.
AVON: Do it!
TARRANT: All right, everybody, stand by for a rather sudden visit to Gauda Prime.
[The gunship pursuit falls off as Scorpio makes a run for the planet.]
SOOLIN: They're not following us down.
DAYNA: They're breaking away, all of them.
VILA: They're falling for it.
TARRANT: So are we.
AVON: It was a calculated risk.
DAYNA: What's wrong?
AVON: There isn't enough power to get us back out.
TARRANT: Or enough control to land.
VILA: You mean we really are going to crash?!
SOOLIN: No wonder they were convinced!
VILA: There must be something we can do!
AVON: I'll accept suggestions!
VILA: How does "Abandon ship!" grab you?
TARRANT: Well, it's a neat trick if you can do it!
VILA: We can use the teleport!
AVON: He's right.
DAYNA: What, at this speed?
AVON: Do you want to wait around until we hit something soft? Come on, you're wasting time.
SOOLIN: Another calculated risk?
DAYNA: Try and get the sums right this time.
AVON: Are you ready?
VILA: No, but do it anyway!
AVON: Good luck!
[Vila, Dayna and Soolin teleport to the planet surface and start to run. On Scorpio, Avon prepares to move Orac.]
AVON: Orac, on my order I want you to operate the teleport.
ORAC: Very well. But the previous coordinates can only be matched approximately.
AVON: [picking up Orac] Come on, Tarrant. [heads toward teleport]
TARRANT: I can't.
AVON: What?! [approaches Tarrant]
TARRANT: If I leave the controls for a second, she'll flip over and break up.
AVON: [puts Orac down] Slave, take over the flight controls.
SLAVE: I am most humbly sorry, Master, but I can find no flight controls.
TARRANT: It dropped below his tolerance a couple of minutes ago. It's only a computer, Avon. It takes talent to fly a dead ship. Look, there's nothing you can do. You're not a good enough pilot.
AVON: I can see that.
TARRANT: So get the hell out of here, will you? There's no point in both of us dying.
AVON: [picks up Orac again and makes his way to the teleport area] Are you ready, Orac?
ORAC: Of course I am.
AVON: Then do it! [dematerializes] Goodbye, Tarrant.
[Avon rematerializes on the planet, and kneels to shield Orac.]
TARRANT: Slave, any crash systems still functioning, put them online.
SLAVE: Yes, sir. Am I to understand that you are going to try and ground the ship, sir?
TARRANT: I'm going to turn it first.
[On the planet surface, Vila, Soolin and Dayna continue to run. Vila dives for cover.]
SLAVE: The ground is very close, sir.
TARRANT: I know that!
[Scorpio crash lands on Gauda Prime. Tarrant screams.]
[Avon stands and looks at the woods all around him. He picks up Orac.]
AVON: All right, Orac, where is the nearest settlement and how do I get to it?

[Blake empties a pouch of jewels into his hand, chuckling. Arlen can be seen on a large viewscreen behind him.]

DEVA: Checks are finished. She is who you say she is.
BLAKE: I wouldn't have brought her in if I hadn't made sure.
DEVA: Yes, you're good at this, aren't you.
BLAKE: I'm still alive.
DEVA: According to HER, three of your erstwhile colleagues no longer share that happy condition.
BLAKE: [puts the jewels back into the pouch] HAPPY condition?
DEVA: She says YOU killed one of them.
BLAKE: So?
DEVA: [deactivates viewscreen] Was it necessary?
BLAKE: Yes, Deva, it was necessary. [removes his gun, setting it on the console]
DEVA: One bounty hunter killing another?
BLAKE: It's a competitive profession.
DEVA: That isn't funny.
BLAKE: Neither was Tando.
DEVA: Tando?
BLAKE: Um hm.
DEVA: Ohhh. Oh, it was Tando you killed.
BLAKE: Does it make a difference?
DEVA: He's worse than the people he hunted.
BLAKE: He didn't have a price on him, though, did he?
DEVA: It was only a matter of time.
BLAKE: Isn't everything? Who's next on the list?
DEVA: Uh... [hands him some perspex squares]
BLAKE: Thank you.
[The intercom beeps.]
DEVA: [into intercom] Deva.
KLYN: It's Klyn.
DEVA: [V.O.] Yes, Klyn?
KLYN: We've been tracking a ship that tried to run the blockade.
DEVA: [V.O.] Did it get through?
KLYN: There was a full squadron of gunships on its tail when it hit the atmosphere.
DEVA: It didn't, then.
KLYN: Bits of it, maybe.
DEVA: What was it? Do you know?
KLYN: A planet hopper from the scope reading. Might have been Wanderer class. We estimate it must have crashed somewhere in Plantation Five. Do you want a search patrol sent out?
DEVA: Uh, no, just log it.
KLYN: [V.O.] Right. [intercom link breaks]
BLAKE: Chalk up another one to law and order.
DEVA: Smuggler, do you think?
BLAKE: Something like that. Do you know it's getting so you can't make a dishonest living on this planet anymore?
DEVA: That is the object of the exercise.
BLAKE: Hm. I wonder if those gunships challenged him before they opened fire.
DEVA: I doubt it.
BLAKE: Hm? Uh, these two. [hands him two of the perspex boards; Deva punches some buttons] Plantation Five, did she say?
[picks up his gun from the console]
DEVA: Yes.
BLAKE: I might just take a swing out in that direction, see if there's anything left.
DEVA: You'll be wasting time.
BLAKE: I'll bear that in mind. [puts his gun back in his belt]
[A card comes out of the computer. Deva reads it and hands it to Blake.]
DEVA: Last known locations and probable movements for both subjects, and official authorization to hunt them.
BLAKE: Thank you.
[Another card comes out; Deva takes it and reads it.]
DEVA: Hm. You've been given a temporary appointment as a law enforcement officer.
BLAKE: That central computer doesn't care who it makes respectable, does it?
DEVA: It's an inferior model, I'm afraid.
BLAKE: I'll be in touch if I find that ship.
DEVA: Time really is getting short, you know. The representative from the Federation High Council could come at any moment. We can't afford mistakes.
BLAKE: I wasn't intending to make any. [exits]
DEVA: [over the intercom] The bounty hunter is on his way up. Make sure his flyer is fueled and ready to leave, will you? VOICE: Right. I'll check it. [link breaks]
DEVA: [activates viewscreen] Arlen. Have you anything to say before I decide what to do with you?
ARLEN: I have information.
DEVA: What information?
ARLEN: For my life.
DEVA: What information?
ARLEN: It's about the man who brought me here.
DEVA: What about him?
[Blake enters the tracking gallery just as a console alarm goes off.]
BLAKE: Problem?
KLYN: Someone's operating a distress beacon. It's on the official frequency.
BLAKE: Nothing in it for me, then. Outlaws tend not to use distress beacons. [Klyn smiles; Blake chuckles.]
ORAC: I assume you have given some thought to how you will explain your presence here, not to mention my impersonation of an official distress beacon.
AVON: [sitting against a tree, gun in hand] Just keep sending, Orac. I don't particularly want to spend the night out here.
ORAC: You may have to. There is very little daylight left, and search parties are unlikely to operate in this terrain at night.
AVON: [rising] Stick to the distress beacon, Orac. When I want your impersonation of a pain, I'll let you know.
[Avon picks up Orac and heads through the woods, first walking, then running.]
[It's night. Dayna, Soolin and Vila break into a deserted, rundown shack in the woods.]
VILA: Oh, charming. Really charming.
DAYNA: Oh, stop moaning, Vila.
SOOLIN: It's better than spending a night in the open.
VILA: Are you serious? The state the roof's in, it's the same as spending a night in the open.
DAYNA: Well, if you'd prefer the trees, feel free to go. Don't let us stop you.
VILA: I'd prefer a city, but I'd accept a town. In fact, I'd settle for some indication that we weren't the only people left alive in this miserable tree sanctuary.
DAYNA: Look, why don't you go and collect some firewood, hm?
VILA: Because it's dark out there.
SOOLIN: Surely you're not afraid of the dark.
VILA: Only when it's unilluminated. What's that?
DAYNA: All right, Vila, you've made your point.
VILA: No, listen. [flyer becomes audible]
DAYNA: What is it?
SOOLIN: Flyer, coming fast.
VILA: Flyer, as in transport?
SOOLIN: As in transport.
VILA: Well, let's get out there and attract their attention.
DAYNA: No --
SOOLIN: Wait a minute, Vila.
VILA: What do you mean, wait! That's the sound of civilization.
SOOLIN: Not necessarily!
VILA: It's got to be better than this!
DAYNA: Vila!
SOOLIN: I wouldn't bet my life on it!
[They scramble for cover as the flyer approaches, seems to hover for a moment, then departs.]
VILA: They might have been friendly.
DAYNA: They might have come to apologize for shooting down Scorpio, but it doesn't seem likely, does it.
VILA: All right. So who do you think they were, Soolin?
SOOLIN: I've no idea, Vila. But one thing I do know: if you want to survive on this planet you have to assume that everyone is out to get you.
VILA: I always assume that wherever I go.
SOOLIN: The difference is, on Gauda Prime you'll be right.
[Meanwhile, Tarrant lies unconscious in Scorpio's wreckage.]
SLAVE: Sir? Are you still not awake, sir? I would be most grateful if you could try to stir yourself and listen to my report. My emergency power cells are virtually exhausted, I'm afraid. There is a flying vehicle approaching, sir. I'm sorry, but I will have to close down now. Crash damage and power loss make it impossible for me to continue. May I express the humble hope that the same is not true for you, Tarrant.
[A flyer approaches and fires into the wreckage. Tarrant crawls away from the blasts.]
BLAKE: [O.O.V.] Lie still.
TARRANT: Who's that?
BLAKE: Let them think you're dead. Plasma ammunition is scarce. You're lucky that you weren't hit. They won't want to waste any more.
TARRANT: Who are they?
BLAKE: Gun runners.
TARRANT: [to himself] Gun runners? [to Blake] Why would gun runners be shooting at me?
BLAKE: They're not. They're shooting at me.
[Blake fires at the flyer. It crashes and burns.]

[While Vila is feeding sticks into the stove, two gun-toting bounty hunters enter the shack. One attracts Vila's attention, and when he turns away, the other knocks him unconscious. The two bounty hunters prepare to club the sleeping Soolin and Dayna with their gun butts.]
AVON: [O.O.V.] I wouldn't do that, if I were you.
[From the doorway, Avon shoots one of the bounty hunters. The second one fires at him and misses. Avon shoots him.]
DAYNA: What happened? Avon?
AVON: The fire was stupid. Putting Vila on guard was suicidal. What's the matter, is staying alive too complicated for you?
SOOLIN: It's beginning to look that way. How did you get here?
AVON: I teleported and I walked, just like you did.
SOOLIN: Is he dead?
[Vila moans.]
DAYNA: No more than usual. He'll recover. What about them?
SOOLIN: They're dead, all right.
[Avon retrieves Orac from the brush where it's been hidden.]
VILA: What hit me?
DAYNA: Don't worry, Vila, they went for your least vulnerable spot.
VILA: Oh, my head.
DAYNA: Exactly. So who are they?
AVON: Bounty hunters. I did warn you there were a lot of them about.
DAYNA: You didn't say the woods were full of them.
SOOLIN: Do you know how they found us?
AVON: They have heat tracers in their flyer. At night the equipment is sensitive enough to pick up normal body heat within a radius of two miles. You can imagine what they made of that.
[indicates the stove]
ORAC: Their inboard computer almost rejected the data as too gross to be correct.
SOOLIN: Did you find out what they were doing in this area, Orac?
ORAC: They came to investigate my distress signals, naturally.
DAYNA: Naturally. You wouldn't have set us up, by any chance, would you, Avon?
SOOLIN: Now that is an unattractive idea. I really could be quite annoyed if I thought we'd been the bait in a trap you'd laid for them, Avon.
VILA: Where's Tarrant?
AVON: I had no idea it was you. And it shouldn't have been. As a matter of interest, you've been walking in the wrong direction if you want to get out of this forest.
VILA: I asked where Tarrant was.
AVON: Still, that's no longer a problem. [nudges one of the bounty hunters with his foot] We just inherited a flyer.
VILA: Avon, if you're here, and Orac's here, how did Tarrant get off the ship?
[Avon gives Vila a hard stare.]

[Blake examines a teleport bracelet. Tarrant drinks something and coughs.]
BLAKE: You feeling better?
TARRANT: A little.
BLAKE: [tries on the bracelet] Whose ship is this?
TARRANT: Why? You thinking of making an offer for it?
BLAKE: [discards the bracelet] Want to tell me your name, then?
TARRANT: Not particularly.
BLAKE: Hm. I did just save your life.
TARRANT: You just saved YOUR life. It was you they wanted, if you remember.
BLAKE: Actually, uh, [fishes out pouch] it was these they wanted.
[tosses the pouch; Tarrant catches it] They had some quaint idea I was going to pay for consignment of arms in advance.
[Tarrant pours some gems out and looks at them] I had some quaint idea they were trying to cheat me.
TARRANT: [replaces the gems in the pouch] Yes, well, it's difficult to tell who you can trust these days. But as tests go, isn't THAT [indicates Blake's gun, which is beside him] and THIS
[holds up pouch] a bit obvious? [tosses pouch back; Blake catches it]
BLAKE: Maybe. It's getting light. Shall we go?
[Blake extends his hand and Tarrant takes it. Blake pulls him up. Tarrant stumbles and grunts.]

[It's daylight. Avon, Dayna, Soolin and Vila head down a trail.]
VILA: Why did they land it so far away?
SOOLIN: Presumably they thought the noise would alert someone.
AVON: In your case, they could have put it down on the roof without any trouble.
ORAC: Avon, the other flyer has just lifted off.
DAYNA: The other flyer? What other flyer, Avon?
AVON: Our guide. Come on, we don't want to lose him.
[Tarrant and Blake are aboard Blake's flyer, in flight.]
TARRANT: So how far is this base of yours?
BLAKE: We'll be there soon enough.
TARRANT: We'd be there a lot sooner if your computer stuck to direct line of flight. Is the constant change of direction for my benefit?
BLAKE: No.

[Avon and company board the flyer.]
ORAC: The other flyer appears to be maneuvering to conceal its true course.
VILA: Because of us?
AVON: Not unless the pilot is clairvoyant.
DAYNA: Well, why, then?
ORAC: From the programming of the inboard computer, it is standard procedure.
AVON: Just keep monitoring.
[The flyer lifts off.]

TARRANT: A random program.
BLAKE: It's an old smuggler's trick.
TARRANT: Did you learn it from an old smuggler?
BLAKE: No, from a young one, actually. Her name was Jenna.
TARRANT: What happened to her?
BLAKE: She tried to run the blockade once too often. Happens to all of them eventually.
TARRANT: You made the capture?
BLAKE: Nobody made the capture. She hit the self-destruct. And when it blew, she took half a squadron of gunships with her. Brace yourself.
VILA: How does it feel to be home?
SOOLIN: I wouldn't know.
ORAC: The target flyer has entered an underground silo.
AVON: Can you pinpoint it? Exactly?
ORAC: I can do better than that.
DAYNA: Aren't you always?
ORAC: My capacities are frequently underutilized, it's true.
AVON: Just tell us what you're offering, Orac.
ORAC: When we reach the appropriate coordinates, I can simulate the necessary signals to open the silo and allow this flyer to enter.
DAYNA: Oh, sounds good.
VILA: No it isn't. Sooner or later we're going to drop into one of these holes in the ground and never come out.
AVON: Sooner or later, everyone does that, Vila.

[In the tracking gallery, Blake and Tarrant approach Klyn, who is watching a monitor.]
BLAKE: You still on watch?
KLYN: I decided to stay on. There's too much activity up there somehow.
BLAKE: Like what?
KLYN: I don't know. It's not something I can pin down precisely. One or two transports have crossed without clearance, some flyers that weren't planned for the area, that sort of thing. Could be the Federation's observer's finally arrived, of course.
BLAKE: Yes, that's probably it.
[Blake and Tarrant head down the corridor toward Deva's office.]
TARRANT: Gauda Prime seems to give law and order a certain priority.
BLAKE: You could say that.
TARRANT: Is that the main control center?
BLAKE: Deva can tell you more about that than I can.
[They enter Deva's office.]
DEVA: Well, now, bounty hunter, that was a short trip even by your standards.
BLAKE: Short, but profitable. [grabs Tarrant's gun] Even by my standards.
TARRANT: Was it something I said?
DEVA: Who is he?
BLAKE: His name is Tarrant. [to Tarrant] Your flight computer mentioned it whilst you were unconscious.
DEVA: Tarrant...
BLAKE: No, I wouldn't run it through the computer just yet, Deva. You see, this one has a very high Federation price on his head.
DEVA: Are you sure?
TARRANT: Oh, give the man credit for knowing his trade, dirty though it is.
BLAKE: He also has several associates with Federation prices, and one of them is particularly valuable.
TARRANT: And all of them are particularly dead.
BLAKE: In which case, that other flyer was merely a coincidence. A coincidence, however, that might just have analyzed a random flight program?
DEVA: And the significance of that is...?
BLAKE: A very useful device called Orac. Why don't you sit down, Tarrant? If it is Avon, we shouldn't have much longer to wait.
TARRANT: [to Deva] Doesn't it occur to you to wonder where he's got all this information from?
DEVA: Give the man credit for knowing his trade.
TARRANT: Oh, surely you're not that naive.
BLAKE: You're wasting your breath, Tarrant.
[The intercom beeps.]
DEVA: [into intercom] Yes?
KLYN: [V.O.] There's a flyer just put down in the silo. It had all the right signals, but it isn't one of ours.
BLAKE: Let them through.
DEVA: [into intercom] Let them through. [intercom link breaks] Is that wise?
BLAKE: We don't want them damaged, do we? Get me one security guard. I'll deal with it.
DEVA: [into intercom] Send a security guard to my office, will you?
TARRANT: [to Blake] What on earth happened to you?
BLAKE: Oh, most of it wasn't on Earth, Tarrant. Not what happened to me.
[Arlen enters, Blake turns, Tarrant kicks the gun out of Blake's hand, shoves him into Arlen, and bolts out of the room, strongarming Deva on the way.]
ARLEN: Do you want him killed?!
BLAKE: No, of course not! When he knows as much about this as you do now, he'll join us, like you did.
ARLEN: He passed the test, then.
BLAKE: I'm satisfied.
DEVA: These stupid games you insist on playing, Blake, will get someone killed eventually.
BLAKE: I have to test each one myself.
DEVA: No, you don't have to! I set up systems for that. I broke the security codes on their central computer. I got us access to official channels, information, everything we could possibly need! You don't need to be involved at all.
BLAKE: All right, I find it difficult to trust. It's a failing, I admit--!
DEVA: And any one of our people could select the people you've collected. You don't need to do the bounty hunter routine, either!
BLAKE: Indulge me.
DEVA: Do I have a choice?
BLAKE: Oh, there's always a choice, Deva.
DEVA: Not for me, there isn't. I said I'd follow you, and I will, until the Federation's finally destroyed. But if you're killed, where does that leave us?!
BLAKE: With a base, the beginnings of an army!
DEVA: All of it useless if you're not there to lead it.
BLAKE: [removes his gun, setting it on the console] You worry too much, Deva.
DEVA: Somebody has to.
ARLEN: It might be an idea for somebody to start worrying about the one we just lost.
BLAKE: Why? He isn't armed.
ARLEN: I didn't notice that slowing him up.
BLAKE: That's true. Relax, Deva. Nobody's indispensable.
[Blake and Arlen exit.]

[Tarrant enters the main tracking gallery.]

KLYN: Hey, you. Wait a minute!
[Tarrant chokes her into unconsciousness. He's attacked by a technician who has just entered. The alarm starts to go off. Avon, Soolin, Dayna and Vila enter, sans Orac. Avon is carrying a long-barrelled gun. Soolin shoots Tarrant's assailant. Dayna reaches Tarrant first. They all gather around him.]
AVON: I'm glad you made it.
TARRANT: So am I. Avon, I think he's here. [Avon and Vila look at each other]
KLYN: [into intercom] Security personnel to main tracking gallery. Security personnel to main tracking -- [Avon shoots her with his long gun. Blake and Arlen enter. Avon brings the rifle to bear on Blake. Arlen is armed; Blake is not.]
TARRANT: Is it him?
VILA: It's him.
TARRANT: He sold us, Avon. All of us. Even you. [Avon lowers the gun and approaches Blake.]
AVON: Is it true?
BLAKE: Avon, it's me, Blake. [starts to move forward]
AVON: Stand still! [Blake does] Have you betrayed us? Have you betrayed me?!
BLAKE: Tarrant doesn't understand!
AVON: Neither do I, Blake!
BLAKE: I set all this up!
AVON: Yes!
BLAKE: [starts forward again] Avon, I was waiting for YOU.
[Avon brings the gun around and fires. Blake is visibly hit. Avon fires again. Blake continues his approach, and Avon fires a third time. Blake stops, but is still standing. Avon swings the gun up to point at Blake's face. As his knees begin to buckle, Blake grabs Avon's arms.]
BLAKE: Avon... [He collapses; Avon lets him go. Blake falls at Avon's feet.]
DEVA: [rushing in] Blake! They've found us! The base is under --
[stops cold at the sight of Blake] Arlen, what happened?
ARLEN: HE happened. [camera indicates Avon; Arlen shoots Deva and he collapses] Be so kind as to drop your guns, all of you.
[Three Scorpio guns hit the floor in short order. Avon is still staring at Blake's lifeless body and takes no notice whatsoever. An explosion is heard in the distance.] You and this nest of rebels are now prisoners of the Federation. Your friend Blake said he couldn't tell anymore who was Federation and who wasn't. He was right. He couldn't.
TARRANT: [smiles] You're a Federation agent?
ARLEN: I'm a Federation officer.
VILA: Oh, now, look, I've never been against the Federation.
[crosses over to Arlen] I mean, I've only ever been along for the ride. I'm not even armed. You can't kill me. I'm completely harmless and armless.
[Dayna goes for a gun. Arlen shoots her. Dayna falls back into Tarrant's arms. He lays her down. Vila whacks Arlen and she falls unconscious. Vila picks up Arlen's gun.]
VILA: [to Arlen] Sorry.
[Shots or explosions are now heard nearby. Vila is shot in the back by a Federation trooper. Soolin shoots a trooper, but is shot herself. Tarrant also shoots a trooper, and heads toward Avon.]
TARRANT: Avon!
[Tarrant is shot by a trooper. Avon looks up from Blake's body as additional troopers enter the room. Avon watches as the troopers form a rough circle around him. He looks back down at Blake and then straddles Blake's body. He looks up. The alarm stops. Avon slowly raises his weapon. He smiles/ grimaces. Cut to credits as the first of several shots rings out.]