Blake's 7 (1978) s01e10 Episode Script
Breakdown
Attention.
|Liberator is entering meteorite storm zone.
Navigation computers propose immediate evasion course.
|Directive on manual override is now required.
Repeat:|Directive on manual override is now required.
Gan!|What are you doing? Manual out.
|Commit full automatics.
Navigation computer take emergency evasive action|and get us out of it.
Full automatics, confirm.
If you couldn't handle it, why didn't you|call one of us? You're not expected to cope yet.
[STRANGLED CRY.]
Gan, what is it? What's the matter? I'm sorry.
- Blake, get down to the flight deck.
It's Gan.
|- What's wrong with him, Jenna? I don't know, he seems to be in some sort of pain.
|He's obviously got Jenna? Jenna.
Jenna! Gan, it's me, Blake.
Gan, listen to me.
Cally, get the medical kit quickly! Tranquilisers, full strength.
- Are you all right?|- Yes, I think so.
I'll be back in a minute.
Pull his sleeve up.
Put another one on.
Let it get right through his system.
The tranquiliser pad should|keep him quiet for a while.
Two of them would flatten any|one of us for about 100 hours.
If he comes round,|hell flatten all of us for a good deal longer than that.
He ought to be put under restraint.
- Oh, my head What fell on me?|- He did.
It all happened so quickly.
One minute he was|crying with pain, then he went berserk.
I'm glad he's a friend.
|Could get very painful if he really didn't like you.
It must have something to do with|the limiter implant in his brain.
It's been bothering him for some time.
He tried to keep it secret,|but I'm sure he was in a lot of pain.
Let's get him to the surgical unit.
Avon, stay and check for damage.
|You three give me a hand.
All flight deck systems, full status checks.
|Standard priority listings.
- Confirm standard priority listing.
|- Begin.
Priority alpha one.
|Primary computer links are clear and functioning.
Anything?|There's some inflammation around the implant scar.
Look.
Yeah.
No other external sign.
Blake!|Look at his hand.
- Jenna, get the diagnostic analyser.
|- Right.
We'll run the usual checks.
What's the matter? I don't think it's going to show us much, though,|except that there's a malfunction in the limiter.
I hope for his sake you're wrong.
- What are you doing?|- I want him secure.
Surely that is unnecessary.
|He's a sick man; those are not going to help him.
The limiter is supposed to cut in when stress|drives him to the point where he might kill.
- So?|- So on the flight deck he tried to kill ME.
|The limiter didn't even slow him down.
Among my people such things|are considered barbarous.
All right, just make him comfortable,|but I want him secure.
[HUM.]
- Well?|- All systems clear and functioning.
|- That's something anyway.
- What about Gan?|- He's still out.
We've run the diagnostic checks,|it might show up something.
Yes.
And that something will tell you what|you already know.
Why don't you face it? Because I don't know what to do about it! And if it is the limiter,|I don't know how we can help him.
Unless neuro surgery is one|of your particular talents.
Unfortunately, no.
Suppose Zen gave us the necessary|information and detailed instructions.
Oh, come on, Blake!|This is not something you do by numbers, not even highly sophisticated ones.
This is an area that has remained|the exclusive province of specialists.
Yes, I know, I know.
There are quicker ways that you could kill him,|but there are none more certain.
Blake, Avon.
Do you want to come down?|Jenna's is running the tests now.
We're on our way.
- Well, are you coming?|- I'll be with you in a minute.
- Zen, reverse thrust and stop.
|- Confirmed.
I want a hard print on the following information: Funny, we're all standing here hoping there's|something wrong with him.
Something ordinary.
|A nice straightforward disease.
- Well?|- Nothing, so far.
- Here it is.
|- Readout.
Severe neurological disturbance centred|in the 03 zone, sub 4 section of the cerebrum Condition must be relieved if permanent brain damage|is to be avoided.
- Prognostication?|- Rapid deterioration to terminal condition.
- Recommendation.
|- Immediate investigative surgery.
So, if we don't get him treatment,|he'll be a vegetable.
- Or die.
|- Switch on the Voray Scan.
You two watch the screen.
|I'll do the probe.
Right.
|Bring it directly over the skull.
No, that won't do.
|You'll have to use the radio sensor.
Good, that's much better.
|Yes, there it is.
There's the limiter implant,|you can see it quite clearly.
Give me the side view.
Good.
|Yes, it's in the sub 4 section all right.
Now let's take a look at the limiter itself.
|Close focus, slowly.
Well, there's nothing wrong|with the connectors.
All right, deepen the focus.
More.
|That's it.
Look at the micro linkages, the fine lines.
- Is there a fault?|- I'm not sure.
That section seems to be burned out.
|That could cause a conductivity loss.
Would that account for whats happening to him? It's not my field, but if I'm right, then the limiter|is feeding scrambled impulses into his brain.
Can it be corrected? - You've got to get into this first.
|- We need a neurosurgeon.
- Which we haven't got.
|- Blake, we can't just let him die.
- If he needs a neurosurgeon, that's what we've got to get.
|- Yes, and quickly.
Look.
And that's all the navigation computers|could come up with? Confirmed.
|Your print is the full list within the parameters specified.
Blake, what about Kainnessos?|An independent Earth colony.
Population in excess of 7 million.
|They should have some medical expertise.
- What's the journey time?|- Six hundred hours.
Too long.
|You haven't anything like that much time.
- What about Overon?|- Three hundred and fifty hours.
|Only third level technology, though.
Which means that they won't have|the necessary medical expertise.
- Cassiona?|- That's a Federation stronghold.
|- We know they can do the surgery.
There's a price on our heads.
|We are all under sentence of death.
The difference is that Gan's sentence|is being carried out right now.
- Any others with the necessary level of technology?|- Only Epinal.
But the problem there is that|they're considered potentially hostile.
- To the Federation?|- To the species.
They don't like humanoids in general,|and homo sapiens in particular.
That puts their intelligence beyond doubt.
- How long would it take?|- Two hundred hours.
Two hundred hours?|That's our best alternative.
- There is another one even closer.
|- Not on the listings we've been given.
- Zen, why is XK72 not listed?|- XK72 is outside listed parameters - Specify.
|- Flight time from this position is in excess of 600 hours.
Conclusion is incorrect.
|Recompute distance and flight time.
- What is XK72?|- It's a space laboratory A permanent research facility financed|by a consortium of neutral planets.
Two specialist fields: Weaponry and space medicine.
|An interesting combination, don't you think? How do you know all this?|I looked it up in the data banks.
It was information|that I thought might prove useful to me.
A bolt hole?|Somewhere to run if things get too hot here? The thought had crossed my mind.
- Why haven't you told us about this station before?|- Presumably if he goes there with us he'll be identified.
- You can say goodbye to one bolt hole.
|- How far is it?|- One hundred and fifty hours.
Confirm! - Flight time is six hundred and forty three hours.
|- Direct flight.
Direct flight would necessitate crossing|a prohibited space zone.
- Prohibited?|- Specify.
The zone has been designated as|containing unacceptable danger.
- What sort of danger?|- Data is not available.
|- To you or just to us? - There is no data of any kind.
|- Just the "unacceptable risk" designation?|- Confirmed.
If the direct route to XK72 is 50 hours shorter|than our nearest alternative, then that can be the difference|between life and death for Gan.
- And for us.
|- Realistically, it's his only chance.
- I agree with Jenna.
|- You do? I have never taken things on trust.
I see no reason to make an exception|in the case of a mysterious warning of danger.
- Neither do I.
|- Right, let's get to it.
|- Don't I get asked? Zen.
Set navigation computers for direct route to|space laboratory XK72.
Speed Standard by Six.
Rejected.
You CANNOT reject a direct command!|Justify that rejection, please.
Your command reduces to an order to self destruct.
|This runs counter to Prime Directive.
Zen obviously believes there's|something nasty in that zone.
It has no data.
It is acting upon an instruction,|an order not to enter the zone.
- Then we'll go on manual.
Jenna?|- Ready.
Compute course and let's get started.
- Avon?|- Now, wait a minute.
If it's too difficult for Zen|to tackle, what chance have we got? - Gan is dying.
|- All right.
Well, let's get on with it.
We're approaching it now.
Attention.
|Liberator is entering prohibited zone.
All primaries and auxiliary computer|functions are now aborted.
- Zen!|- Blake, the screen's gone dead.
- Well, check it.
|- Definitely dead.
Switch to the secondary.
Thank heaven that works.
- Now we really are on our own.
|- Let's hope so.
- What do you suppose it is that's lurking out there?|- Maybe Zen's got it wrong.
- Zen hasn't got it at all.
|- All right then, whoever programmed him.
- One of these days I intend to find out who that is.
|- If you live that long.
- Anything on the detectors?|- Not a thing.
What you see on the screen is exactly what's there.
|Absolutely nothing.
Why should I find nothing terrifying? - How's Gan?|- No change.
Blake, what is the flight time across the zone? - Avon?|- Thirty hours.
|- Thirty hours.
- That gives it plenty of time to leap out on us then.
|- Must you keep on about it, Vila? - Sorry.
Just nervous.
|- We're all nervous.
|- I thought it was only me.
- What are your readings, Vila?|- Full range detector, nothing to report.
- Jenna?|- All flight systems normal.
- Avon?|Navigation coordinates set and firm.
Well, presumably Zen will come back|to us when we're out of danger.
Sounds like a good idea.
|Any chance of joining him? - Zero one surge on primary two.
Confirm?|- Confirmed.
- Compensating.
|- Stable.
- Blake, there's something we haven't thought of.
|- What? Systems instability.
We have never operated|without the auxiliary computers before.
You mean they've been compensating|for things like that power surge? They've made every minor adjustment|that the systems require.
And the chances are that they are now|going to require a lot.
- Computer control is part of the basic design concept.
|- Damn.
We're going to have to turn back.
|Jenna, stand by to reverse the course.
Look, we've set out to save Gan|and that's what we're going to do.
- But you don't understand.
|- Neither do you.
We're committed.
- I intend to go on flying this ship even|if all systems go into a flat spin.
|- But that's exactly what will happen! All right, Avon, that's enough! The signal to abort the auxiliary|computers came from Zen.
Can you override it, bypass Zen,|and get them working again? - Possibly.
|- Well, try.
All right.
|But I'm telling you, you should turn back.
- Not a chance.
|- What was all that about?|Everything is running smoothly.
That was because everything was balanced|before the computers went offline.
Adjust something, and you unbalance something else.
|Adjust that, you unbalance two more, and before you know what's happened,|the ship is out of control.
Blake, we're drifting off course! Lateral drift on coordinate four.
- Got it.
Compensating.
|- Stable.
I've just had a comforting thought.
We may all be|dead before we find out why this is a danger zone.
Have you done it, Avon? - Soon.
|- How soon? - I can talk or I can work, but I can't do both.
|- We're running out of time, Avon.
- Blake, we're picking something up on the detectors.
|- What is it?|- I dunno.
The signal's very weak.
- No telling what it is from here.
|- Our speed's increasing slightly.
- Reduce to standard by three, Jenna.
|- Standard by three.
- Can we squeeze any more range on the visuals?|- It's at the limit now.
- We may have to reverse thrust and run.
|- That would really throw our systems into chaos now.
- Hurry up, Avon.
|- We're moving off course again.
- Lateral drift, coordinate three.
|- Got it.
Blake? - What is it?|- Our speed's increasing again.
[ANIMAL SNARLING.]
- Blake, I can't do it.
|- You must turn back, before it's too late.
We're already too late.
|We're in an unstable magnetic field.
We can't turn back.
|Avon, we NEED those computers.
- Can you stop us, Jenna?|- Without computers, not a chance.
- Detectors?|- Same signal, getting closer.
|There's still no telling what it is.
- We're speeding up again.
|- Try and compensate.
- If we get up past Standard by 20 we'll be out of control.
|- I think she's holding.
We're levelling off.
Cally? How are you feeling? Tired.
Very tired.
|What's been happening? You were ill.
We're trying to get to a place|where you can receive medical treatment.
I'm all right.
|Just that I can't remember.
Why am I being held down like this? When the pain was too much for you,|you became violent, and we were frightened you might harm yourself.
I'm sorry, I just can't remember.
I'd like to sit up|Help me, will you, Cally? - I think you should stay where|you are until we can get help.
|- I'm all right.
But it's uncomfortable.
|I'd like to sit up.
There is some turbulence.
|You're safer where you are.
Please.
Is that better? [COUGHING.]
Blake, I have managed to bypass Zen.
|I am now going to see if I can override the command.
Blake? Blake! - There must be some way we can avoid it.
|- We can't.
We're already too close to pull away.
With computer backup,|we might have flown through it.
- So, without computers?|- We're dead.
Itll tear us to pieces.
- Are you two ready?|- Ready.
|- Vila? - What? Yes, ready.
|- Concentrate, Vila.
When I give the order to reverse thrust|you two have gotta stop us from spinning.
- I know.
|- Well, if you don't get it right,|it'll be the last thing you do know.
- Blake.
|- Cally! What happened? - Gan has just tried to kill me.
|- What?|- I thought he was normal again.
- You mean you RELEASED him?|- He's escaped.
Jenna, you take my place.
Brief Cally.
Gan, no! You'll break the computer links!|We'll never get them started.
Cally, reverse thrust in 5 seconds.
On my mark, 5-4-3-2-1 Thrust! - Are you all right?|- More or less.
- He got away from Cally.
|- Yes, well, I can see that! - What about the computers?|- What is going on? It's a gravitational vortex, biggest spiral|you've ever seen.
We're right on the edge of it.
- Auxiliary computers online and functioning.
|- Right.
Give me a hand with him, will you? We've slowed the rate of approach,|but we'll be drawn into it sooner or later.
- The way we're using power, it'll be sooner.
|- What will happen to the ship? The forces inside that will not merely destroy us,|they will annihilate us.
Now Avon's repaired the computers, what would be the difference if we went straight for|the centre of the vortex on maximum power? - Well, it'd be quick, whatever happens.
|- Let's take the quick way.
Take over, Jenna.
Right, everybody,|we're going through the centre of the vortex.
- Blake, in the unlikely event that we survive this.
|- Yes? I'm finished.
Staying with you requires a degree|of stupidity of which I no longer feel capable.
- Now you're just being modest.
|- On my mark, 5-4-3-2-1.
Standard by Twelve, still rising.
- The structural distort.
|- We'll never hold her, Blake.
- The automatics.
Hit the automatics.
|- Blake, I can't.
I must keep a straight heading.
Jenna, look Look at the screen.
There's nothing there but the stars.
|We've made it.
We are through! [COMMUNICATOR CHIME.]
- Yes, Avon.
|- We're coming in range of XK72.
Just had a message from the station administrator.
Very polite, but it boils down to|'who are we and 'what do we want'.
Tell him we're an experimental ship out of Earth|on a proving flight.
Then tell him what we'll need.
- You think he'll believe that?|- Convince him Use your charm.
- Why are you angry with Avon?|- I'm not.
|- You sound as if you are.
He has a decision to make.
If he wants to stay with us,|it's got to be for his reasons.
- You'll do nothing to persuade him?|- Nothing at all.
Reverse thrust, and stop.
Give me closer vision.
I only hope we're not too late.
Information|You're back, are you? Status is firm.
|All systems are functioning normally.
Where were you when we needed you?|What did they say? They've invited the commander to go across.
|I've got a voice fix "Commander".
- Why are we lying to them?|- Why not? No sense in looking for trouble.
|- They're neutral.
That's a term that covers a whole range|of attitudes, and some of them not very friendly.
|What did they say about a doctor? There's a neurosurgeon, a Professor Kayn.
|He'll be waiting for you.
- Blake, it's urgent.
|- What is it, Cally? Gan's life signs are getting very irregular.
|His time is running out.
I think he is beginning to die.
I'll be as quick as I can.
Teleport, Avon.
- I can't see them believing that Liberator|is a Federation ship, can you?|- Let's hope they don't even think about it.
I've never seen a ship remotely like it before.
|What do you think, Professor Kayn? I'm a surgeon.
|I'm not terribly interested in spaceship design.
You're one of our senior men.
You share|the responsibility for the safety of this station.
Farron, I realise there is a place for administrators,|but I'd be obliged if you'd remember where it is.
Please don't presume to lecture|me on my responsibilities.
So sorry, Professor.
Have a team of engineers standing by to examine the|shuttlecraft these people send across, will you? - Right.
|- Send the commander straight up.
|Make sure he's not armed.
Understood.
[TELEPORT WHINE.]
Don't worry, I'm not armed.
- How did you do that?|- I'm sorry to be so abrupt, but could I see|Professor Kayn now, please.
- I'm Kayn.
|- Ah.
One of my crewmen is dying.
|Could you come with me straight away? - I'm afraid there are a few formalities|we must sort out first.
You can't just appear.
|- Yes of course.
I'll come with you.
- Professor Kayn, I cannot allow this.
|- Send me a memorandum, Farron.
|Through the usual channels, of course.
- Would you put this on please?|- What is it?|- It's a teleport bracelet.
- I warn you, this is most inadvisable.
|- I shall need a few things.
Our surgical units are very well equipped, but I'll send|back somebody for anything else you might need.
- Farron, have Dr Renor standing by to|assist me, he'll know what I need.
|- I'll send someone back for him.
Are you ready? - I am ready.
|- Kayn, I cannot allow this, it is completely|against station policy.
- Bring us across.
|- This behaviour will have to be|noted down in the station log.
[TELEPORT WHINE.]
That is remarkable.
Avon, send someone across to collect Professor|Kayn's assistant, will you? Your bracelet, please.
- I thought the matter transmission|project had been abandoned.
|- A temporary setback.
- But with Federation resources it was|just a matter of time, I suppose.
|- This way, Professor.
- Truly remarkable.
|- Professor?|- Oh yes, sorry.
One thing I will say for the Federation,|when they decide to do a thing, they do it.
- I didn't like the sound of that much.
|- One of the many faces of neutrality.
Who's going across to get the assistant?|Shall I call Jenna? - No.
I'll go.
|- Oh, good Good idea, I mean.
- Why do you stay with Blake?|- I like him.
|- That isn't a good enough reason.
It is for me.
|That and the fact I've got nowhere else to go.
All right.
Put me across.
[TELEPORT WHINE.]
Just a minute.
|This is interesting.
What rank do you hold? - I'm a civilian.
|- Unusual.
|- We tend to be in the majority, even in the Federation.
I meant this is unusual.
What are you up to?|Proving flight on a military craft? It is a military craft? Excuse me, it's still experimental.
|It's classified.
Uh, this way.
- Why were you such a long time?|- Cally.
My fault, I'm afraid.
Needed time to adjust.
|Can't afford to be disconcerted with this kind of work.
Oh, yes, you are right, his condition is critical.
|Find out where my assistant is, will you please? - Of course.
|- What's your name?|- Cally.
All right, Cally, now you tell me why|this man has a limiter implant.
- Where's Kayn's assistant?|- He'll be arriving any moment.
|- For the time being, keep him here.
Right.
|- Vila, this is Avon.
Dr Renor is ready to come across.
|I won't be coming back with him, though.
- What do you mean, you won't be coming back with him?|- I'm staying for a look around I'll call you when I'm ready.
- Oh, fine I'll just hang around here and wait for you.
|- You do that.
|- Stand by.
[TELEPORT WHINE.]
Dr Renor? So anything you can get from him about|this Professor Kayn would be useful.
- Ill try I might not be his type, though.
|- Well just have to take the chance.
- Thanks.
|- Go on.
Zen, I want a series of projections|from the battle computers.
Nearest Federation bases, likely flight patterns,|flight times, and possibility of interception.
Confirmed.
- Hello.
|- Hello, hello, hello! Ah Jenna, this is Professor Kayn's assistant,|his name is Renor.
And I had a feeling this|was going to be a good day.
Yes, well, don't let your feelings run away with you.
Oh, a sense of humour, too.
|I love girls with a sense of humour.
Yes, I can see where that would be an advantage.
|This way, please.
- Do you believe in love at first sight, Jenna?|- Not yet.
I don't think you realise what you're suggesting.
I am offering you my services, and, among other things,|the secret of matter transmission.
You are offering me classified Federation material.
|This is an independent, neutral scientific foundation.
Suppose I tell you that the material|does not belong to the Federation, that we are not Federation personnel,|and that is not a Federation ship.
- Then who does it belong to?|- Us.
|- Who are you? Before I tell you that, I should like your guarantee|that the others will be allowed to leave unmolested.
Why should I give you that? You and your foundation stand to make a fortune.
I'm merely asking for your guarantee that you will|maintain your neutrality and protect your investment.
All right.
You have my personal guarantee.
|Now who are you? - At last.
|- Sorry, professor Hello! This place is full of pretty girls.
- Prepare for immediate surgery, please.
|- Right.
- I'll get out of your way.
|- Won't need you either, Cally - Would have been helpful to have had one of them here.
|- Do you know who these people are? - Federation research team?|- It's Blake and his crew.
- THE Blake? How do you know?|- They lie badly.
Stannis! That's who she is! Jenna Stannis.
|I've never met a celebrity before.
- Celebrity? These people are maniacs, killers.
|- Oh, come on.
- Mindless destroyers.
|- You don't know that.
They are destroying the greatest force|for order in the known universe.
Order?|Well, you've had a change of heart, haven't you? I'm sure poor old Farron would be delighted|with your new concern for the rules.
Farron is a bureaucratic fool I'm talking about stability,|Renor.
With no stability there is no progress.
Progress to what?|Brain implantation? A dangerous psychopath? Certainly.
|Or would you prefer he'd been executed? That's what you intend to do, isn't it? You're going to delay|the operation so that Blake and his crew can be captured.
- I haven't decided yet.
|- Well, delay much longer, and there won't|be any decision to make.
What are you doing? Not that it's any business of yours;|I'm going to contact the nearest Federation base.
Ill warn Blake.
And lose the chance of working with the|greatest surgeon you'll ever see? You're too ambitious for that.
|Besides, I'm the only one who can save him, if I choose to.
XK72? Pursuit leader to pursuit two and three: Executive order states that damage to|Research Station XK72 must be avoided if possible.
Priority concern is capture of Blake and his crew.
- He did what?|- Professor Kayn said you knew about it.
The communications section is well aware that|no one is allowed to send official messages|without clearing them first through channels.
Professor Kayn said it was a matter of life and death.
Ask our visitor to come and see me, will you? - I think he's looking around the computer section.
|His name is Avon.
|- Right.
- Do we know what the Federation's doing?|- The pursuit ships will be here in three hours.
|- Then find Avon quickly.
We must start the operation.
|Not yet.
The Federation ships need time.
But we're losing him I mean look at the life signs.
|He's practically dead now.
Not yet.
It's taking a very long time.
Well, at least while they're still working,|we know that Gan's got a chance.
Kayn is supposed to be a genius.
The trouble with a genius is|you're never too sure what he's up to.
Perhaps Zen can tell us how long|the operation would normally take.
Zen? There is insufficient data for an accurate projection.
Within the parameters you have described, the surgeon's|skill and operating procedures are unknown variables.
There you are.
|Thought not.
I can only apologise I'm afraid there's absolutely|nothing I can do for your friends now.
It was naïve of me to expect you to keep your word.
That is a little unfair.
|It's just that it's out of my hands.
Look, Avon, it is against all the rules, and it's a risk I really|shouldn't take, but I am prepared to let you stay here.
What about the pursuit ships? When your friends detect them|they will presumably run or fight.
They will have no other choice.
In which case, they may escape or|more probably they will be destroyed.
Either way, the Federation need never know|that you're here on the station.
You can work here in peace and safety.
Well?|What do you say? - I shall need to go back to the Liberator|to collect a few things.
|- Good.
You've made the right decision.
Pursuit leader to all crews:|Full standby.
Check all battle systems.
|Enemy contact estimated in one hour.
Thank you.
This is Avon, from XK72.
|All right Vila, bring me across.
Vila!|Wake up, Vila Vila! - I'm going to operate myself.
|- You'll kill him.
Well, at least I'll have tried!|You call yourself a doctor? - No, he calls himself a genius.
|- Ah.
All right genius, time's up.
- I wondered how long it would take you.
|- Well, you can stop wondering and start operating.
- Why didn't Blake come himself?|- Blake doesn't know anything about it.
|I thought it was better that way.
He's got a conscience.
|He might not be prepared to kill you.
- And you are?|- Yes.
If he isn't, I am.
How did you get here? He sold us out to the Federation.
|Pursuit ships are only 45 minutes away.
- You going to operate or not?|- Alright.
I have a feeling that was too easy.
Any attempt to move this ship while I'm operating|will certainly result in this man's death.
He's right.
Vibration, acceleration,|any movement at all, and it's all over.
Hold it, Blake.
|We can't leave yet.
Pursuit leader to all crews:|Battle stations 30 minutes to contact.
- How soon can you complete?|- Thirty five minutes.
|- Do it in twenty.
- Or you'll kill me.
|- Oh no, no.
- In twenty five minutes I'm returning you to|your station.
If you haven't completed your work.
|- Your threats don't bother me in the least, you know.
I shall destroy your hands.
|Twenty minutes.
- Animals! Stupid destructive animals!|- Twenty minutes is more than enough time to complete.
- Are you defending their behaviour?|- I can't defend ours! That's where the fault was, in the limiter, there.
|And there it is repaired.
If you survive, so should he.
- Is there any way we can thank you?|- You could try getting caught.
Ready? [TELEPORT WHINE.]
All right, Jenna, get us out of here.
- Zen, reverse thrust, Standard point zero one.
|- Confirmed.
- Lateral one eighty.
|- Lateral one eighty.
I'll handle this Jenna.
|You can help Gan.
- Theyll take no further action without orders from me!|- You pathetic feeble minded little bureaucrat!|Are you going to let them get away? You exceeded your authority, Professor Kayn.
|It was not your place to inform the Federation|of their presence here.
You violated the neutrality.
Damn your neutrality! Get me weaponry!|How dare you! I'm in command of this base.
- You have forfeited that command, Farron,|you gutless nothing.
|- Weaponry.
- Stop that, I tell you! Take no orders.
|- You struck my hand!|- Weaponry.
Battle computers project pursuit ships|directly in Liberator's flight path.
Down zero one.
Maintain heading and speed.
|Standard by eight.
- Plasma bolt launched.
|- Activate the force wall.
|- Activated.
[IMPACT EXPLOSION.]
Second bolt launched and running.
|Bearing directly.
[DEFLECTION RICOCHET.]
- Missed!|- It missed us, but it's still running.
Farron!|Plasma bolt bearing directly on XK72! It's going to hit us! Instructions, please.
|Farron? Farron! [EXPLOSION.]
Say goodbye to one bolt hole.
- That's not funny, Avon.
|- It wasn't meant to be.
Pursuit ships are turning.
- You know what to do.
|- Zen, increase speed to Standard by Eight.
How do you feel? I feel as if someone has been poking around|inside my head with their foot.
- We had to kick your brain|a couple of times to get it started.
|- Only twice? - They didn't remove the limiter.
|- It was not possible.
They've modified it, though.
|Your ears glow in the dark now.
- Let me know when you're ready for work.
|- Thanks.
Oh, by the way, welcome back.
|Liberator is entering meteorite storm zone.
Navigation computers propose immediate evasion course.
|Directive on manual override is now required.
Repeat:|Directive on manual override is now required.
Gan!|What are you doing? Manual out.
|Commit full automatics.
Navigation computer take emergency evasive action|and get us out of it.
Full automatics, confirm.
If you couldn't handle it, why didn't you|call one of us? You're not expected to cope yet.
[STRANGLED CRY.]
Gan, what is it? What's the matter? I'm sorry.
- Blake, get down to the flight deck.
It's Gan.
|- What's wrong with him, Jenna? I don't know, he seems to be in some sort of pain.
|He's obviously got Jenna? Jenna.
Jenna! Gan, it's me, Blake.
Gan, listen to me.
Cally, get the medical kit quickly! Tranquilisers, full strength.
- Are you all right?|- Yes, I think so.
I'll be back in a minute.
Pull his sleeve up.
Put another one on.
Let it get right through his system.
The tranquiliser pad should|keep him quiet for a while.
Two of them would flatten any|one of us for about 100 hours.
If he comes round,|hell flatten all of us for a good deal longer than that.
He ought to be put under restraint.
- Oh, my head What fell on me?|- He did.
It all happened so quickly.
One minute he was|crying with pain, then he went berserk.
I'm glad he's a friend.
|Could get very painful if he really didn't like you.
It must have something to do with|the limiter implant in his brain.
It's been bothering him for some time.
He tried to keep it secret,|but I'm sure he was in a lot of pain.
Let's get him to the surgical unit.
Avon, stay and check for damage.
|You three give me a hand.
All flight deck systems, full status checks.
|Standard priority listings.
- Confirm standard priority listing.
|- Begin.
Priority alpha one.
|Primary computer links are clear and functioning.
Anything?|There's some inflammation around the implant scar.
Look.
Yeah.
No other external sign.
Blake!|Look at his hand.
- Jenna, get the diagnostic analyser.
|- Right.
We'll run the usual checks.
What's the matter? I don't think it's going to show us much, though,|except that there's a malfunction in the limiter.
I hope for his sake you're wrong.
- What are you doing?|- I want him secure.
Surely that is unnecessary.
|He's a sick man; those are not going to help him.
The limiter is supposed to cut in when stress|drives him to the point where he might kill.
- So?|- So on the flight deck he tried to kill ME.
|The limiter didn't even slow him down.
Among my people such things|are considered barbarous.
All right, just make him comfortable,|but I want him secure.
[HUM.]
- Well?|- All systems clear and functioning.
|- That's something anyway.
- What about Gan?|- He's still out.
We've run the diagnostic checks,|it might show up something.
Yes.
And that something will tell you what|you already know.
Why don't you face it? Because I don't know what to do about it! And if it is the limiter,|I don't know how we can help him.
Unless neuro surgery is one|of your particular talents.
Unfortunately, no.
Suppose Zen gave us the necessary|information and detailed instructions.
Oh, come on, Blake!|This is not something you do by numbers, not even highly sophisticated ones.
This is an area that has remained|the exclusive province of specialists.
Yes, I know, I know.
There are quicker ways that you could kill him,|but there are none more certain.
Blake, Avon.
Do you want to come down?|Jenna's is running the tests now.
We're on our way.
- Well, are you coming?|- I'll be with you in a minute.
- Zen, reverse thrust and stop.
|- Confirmed.
I want a hard print on the following information: Funny, we're all standing here hoping there's|something wrong with him.
Something ordinary.
|A nice straightforward disease.
- Well?|- Nothing, so far.
- Here it is.
|- Readout.
Severe neurological disturbance centred|in the 03 zone, sub 4 section of the cerebrum Condition must be relieved if permanent brain damage|is to be avoided.
- Prognostication?|- Rapid deterioration to terminal condition.
- Recommendation.
|- Immediate investigative surgery.
So, if we don't get him treatment,|he'll be a vegetable.
- Or die.
|- Switch on the Voray Scan.
You two watch the screen.
|I'll do the probe.
Right.
|Bring it directly over the skull.
No, that won't do.
|You'll have to use the radio sensor.
Good, that's much better.
|Yes, there it is.
There's the limiter implant,|you can see it quite clearly.
Give me the side view.
Good.
|Yes, it's in the sub 4 section all right.
Now let's take a look at the limiter itself.
|Close focus, slowly.
Well, there's nothing wrong|with the connectors.
All right, deepen the focus.
More.
|That's it.
Look at the micro linkages, the fine lines.
- Is there a fault?|- I'm not sure.
That section seems to be burned out.
|That could cause a conductivity loss.
Would that account for whats happening to him? It's not my field, but if I'm right, then the limiter|is feeding scrambled impulses into his brain.
Can it be corrected? - You've got to get into this first.
|- We need a neurosurgeon.
- Which we haven't got.
|- Blake, we can't just let him die.
- If he needs a neurosurgeon, that's what we've got to get.
|- Yes, and quickly.
Look.
And that's all the navigation computers|could come up with? Confirmed.
|Your print is the full list within the parameters specified.
Blake, what about Kainnessos?|An independent Earth colony.
Population in excess of 7 million.
|They should have some medical expertise.
- What's the journey time?|- Six hundred hours.
Too long.
|You haven't anything like that much time.
- What about Overon?|- Three hundred and fifty hours.
|Only third level technology, though.
Which means that they won't have|the necessary medical expertise.
- Cassiona?|- That's a Federation stronghold.
|- We know they can do the surgery.
There's a price on our heads.
|We are all under sentence of death.
The difference is that Gan's sentence|is being carried out right now.
- Any others with the necessary level of technology?|- Only Epinal.
But the problem there is that|they're considered potentially hostile.
- To the Federation?|- To the species.
They don't like humanoids in general,|and homo sapiens in particular.
That puts their intelligence beyond doubt.
- How long would it take?|- Two hundred hours.
Two hundred hours?|That's our best alternative.
- There is another one even closer.
|- Not on the listings we've been given.
- Zen, why is XK72 not listed?|- XK72 is outside listed parameters - Specify.
|- Flight time from this position is in excess of 600 hours.
Conclusion is incorrect.
|Recompute distance and flight time.
- What is XK72?|- It's a space laboratory A permanent research facility financed|by a consortium of neutral planets.
Two specialist fields: Weaponry and space medicine.
|An interesting combination, don't you think? How do you know all this?|I looked it up in the data banks.
It was information|that I thought might prove useful to me.
A bolt hole?|Somewhere to run if things get too hot here? The thought had crossed my mind.
- Why haven't you told us about this station before?|- Presumably if he goes there with us he'll be identified.
- You can say goodbye to one bolt hole.
|- How far is it?|- One hundred and fifty hours.
Confirm! - Flight time is six hundred and forty three hours.
|- Direct flight.
Direct flight would necessitate crossing|a prohibited space zone.
- Prohibited?|- Specify.
The zone has been designated as|containing unacceptable danger.
- What sort of danger?|- Data is not available.
|- To you or just to us? - There is no data of any kind.
|- Just the "unacceptable risk" designation?|- Confirmed.
If the direct route to XK72 is 50 hours shorter|than our nearest alternative, then that can be the difference|between life and death for Gan.
- And for us.
|- Realistically, it's his only chance.
- I agree with Jenna.
|- You do? I have never taken things on trust.
I see no reason to make an exception|in the case of a mysterious warning of danger.
- Neither do I.
|- Right, let's get to it.
|- Don't I get asked? Zen.
Set navigation computers for direct route to|space laboratory XK72.
Speed Standard by Six.
Rejected.
You CANNOT reject a direct command!|Justify that rejection, please.
Your command reduces to an order to self destruct.
|This runs counter to Prime Directive.
Zen obviously believes there's|something nasty in that zone.
It has no data.
It is acting upon an instruction,|an order not to enter the zone.
- Then we'll go on manual.
Jenna?|- Ready.
Compute course and let's get started.
- Avon?|- Now, wait a minute.
If it's too difficult for Zen|to tackle, what chance have we got? - Gan is dying.
|- All right.
Well, let's get on with it.
We're approaching it now.
Attention.
|Liberator is entering prohibited zone.
All primaries and auxiliary computer|functions are now aborted.
- Zen!|- Blake, the screen's gone dead.
- Well, check it.
|- Definitely dead.
Switch to the secondary.
Thank heaven that works.
- Now we really are on our own.
|- Let's hope so.
- What do you suppose it is that's lurking out there?|- Maybe Zen's got it wrong.
- Zen hasn't got it at all.
|- All right then, whoever programmed him.
- One of these days I intend to find out who that is.
|- If you live that long.
- Anything on the detectors?|- Not a thing.
What you see on the screen is exactly what's there.
|Absolutely nothing.
Why should I find nothing terrifying? - How's Gan?|- No change.
Blake, what is the flight time across the zone? - Avon?|- Thirty hours.
|- Thirty hours.
- That gives it plenty of time to leap out on us then.
|- Must you keep on about it, Vila? - Sorry.
Just nervous.
|- We're all nervous.
|- I thought it was only me.
- What are your readings, Vila?|- Full range detector, nothing to report.
- Jenna?|- All flight systems normal.
- Avon?|Navigation coordinates set and firm.
Well, presumably Zen will come back|to us when we're out of danger.
Sounds like a good idea.
|Any chance of joining him? - Zero one surge on primary two.
Confirm?|- Confirmed.
- Compensating.
|- Stable.
- Blake, there's something we haven't thought of.
|- What? Systems instability.
We have never operated|without the auxiliary computers before.
You mean they've been compensating|for things like that power surge? They've made every minor adjustment|that the systems require.
And the chances are that they are now|going to require a lot.
- Computer control is part of the basic design concept.
|- Damn.
We're going to have to turn back.
|Jenna, stand by to reverse the course.
Look, we've set out to save Gan|and that's what we're going to do.
- But you don't understand.
|- Neither do you.
We're committed.
- I intend to go on flying this ship even|if all systems go into a flat spin.
|- But that's exactly what will happen! All right, Avon, that's enough! The signal to abort the auxiliary|computers came from Zen.
Can you override it, bypass Zen,|and get them working again? - Possibly.
|- Well, try.
All right.
|But I'm telling you, you should turn back.
- Not a chance.
|- What was all that about?|Everything is running smoothly.
That was because everything was balanced|before the computers went offline.
Adjust something, and you unbalance something else.
|Adjust that, you unbalance two more, and before you know what's happened,|the ship is out of control.
Blake, we're drifting off course! Lateral drift on coordinate four.
- Got it.
Compensating.
|- Stable.
I've just had a comforting thought.
We may all be|dead before we find out why this is a danger zone.
Have you done it, Avon? - Soon.
|- How soon? - I can talk or I can work, but I can't do both.
|- We're running out of time, Avon.
- Blake, we're picking something up on the detectors.
|- What is it?|- I dunno.
The signal's very weak.
- No telling what it is from here.
|- Our speed's increasing slightly.
- Reduce to standard by three, Jenna.
|- Standard by three.
- Can we squeeze any more range on the visuals?|- It's at the limit now.
- We may have to reverse thrust and run.
|- That would really throw our systems into chaos now.
- Hurry up, Avon.
|- We're moving off course again.
- Lateral drift, coordinate three.
|- Got it.
Blake? - What is it?|- Our speed's increasing again.
[ANIMAL SNARLING.]
- Blake, I can't do it.
|- You must turn back, before it's too late.
We're already too late.
|We're in an unstable magnetic field.
We can't turn back.
|Avon, we NEED those computers.
- Can you stop us, Jenna?|- Without computers, not a chance.
- Detectors?|- Same signal, getting closer.
|There's still no telling what it is.
- We're speeding up again.
|- Try and compensate.
- If we get up past Standard by 20 we'll be out of control.
|- I think she's holding.
We're levelling off.
Cally? How are you feeling? Tired.
Very tired.
|What's been happening? You were ill.
We're trying to get to a place|where you can receive medical treatment.
I'm all right.
|Just that I can't remember.
Why am I being held down like this? When the pain was too much for you,|you became violent, and we were frightened you might harm yourself.
I'm sorry, I just can't remember.
I'd like to sit up|Help me, will you, Cally? - I think you should stay where|you are until we can get help.
|- I'm all right.
But it's uncomfortable.
|I'd like to sit up.
There is some turbulence.
|You're safer where you are.
Please.
Is that better? [COUGHING.]
Blake, I have managed to bypass Zen.
|I am now going to see if I can override the command.
Blake? Blake! - There must be some way we can avoid it.
|- We can't.
We're already too close to pull away.
With computer backup,|we might have flown through it.
- So, without computers?|- We're dead.
Itll tear us to pieces.
- Are you two ready?|- Ready.
|- Vila? - What? Yes, ready.
|- Concentrate, Vila.
When I give the order to reverse thrust|you two have gotta stop us from spinning.
- I know.
|- Well, if you don't get it right,|it'll be the last thing you do know.
- Blake.
|- Cally! What happened? - Gan has just tried to kill me.
|- What?|- I thought he was normal again.
- You mean you RELEASED him?|- He's escaped.
Jenna, you take my place.
Brief Cally.
Gan, no! You'll break the computer links!|We'll never get them started.
Cally, reverse thrust in 5 seconds.
On my mark, 5-4-3-2-1 Thrust! - Are you all right?|- More or less.
- He got away from Cally.
|- Yes, well, I can see that! - What about the computers?|- What is going on? It's a gravitational vortex, biggest spiral|you've ever seen.
We're right on the edge of it.
- Auxiliary computers online and functioning.
|- Right.
Give me a hand with him, will you? We've slowed the rate of approach,|but we'll be drawn into it sooner or later.
- The way we're using power, it'll be sooner.
|- What will happen to the ship? The forces inside that will not merely destroy us,|they will annihilate us.
Now Avon's repaired the computers, what would be the difference if we went straight for|the centre of the vortex on maximum power? - Well, it'd be quick, whatever happens.
|- Let's take the quick way.
Take over, Jenna.
Right, everybody,|we're going through the centre of the vortex.
- Blake, in the unlikely event that we survive this.
|- Yes? I'm finished.
Staying with you requires a degree|of stupidity of which I no longer feel capable.
- Now you're just being modest.
|- On my mark, 5-4-3-2-1.
Standard by Twelve, still rising.
- The structural distort.
|- We'll never hold her, Blake.
- The automatics.
Hit the automatics.
|- Blake, I can't.
I must keep a straight heading.
Jenna, look Look at the screen.
There's nothing there but the stars.
|We've made it.
We are through! [COMMUNICATOR CHIME.]
- Yes, Avon.
|- We're coming in range of XK72.
Just had a message from the station administrator.
Very polite, but it boils down to|'who are we and 'what do we want'.
Tell him we're an experimental ship out of Earth|on a proving flight.
Then tell him what we'll need.
- You think he'll believe that?|- Convince him Use your charm.
- Why are you angry with Avon?|- I'm not.
|- You sound as if you are.
He has a decision to make.
If he wants to stay with us,|it's got to be for his reasons.
- You'll do nothing to persuade him?|- Nothing at all.
Reverse thrust, and stop.
Give me closer vision.
I only hope we're not too late.
Information|You're back, are you? Status is firm.
|All systems are functioning normally.
Where were you when we needed you?|What did they say? They've invited the commander to go across.
|I've got a voice fix "Commander".
- Why are we lying to them?|- Why not? No sense in looking for trouble.
|- They're neutral.
That's a term that covers a whole range|of attitudes, and some of them not very friendly.
|What did they say about a doctor? There's a neurosurgeon, a Professor Kayn.
|He'll be waiting for you.
- Blake, it's urgent.
|- What is it, Cally? Gan's life signs are getting very irregular.
|His time is running out.
I think he is beginning to die.
I'll be as quick as I can.
Teleport, Avon.
- I can't see them believing that Liberator|is a Federation ship, can you?|- Let's hope they don't even think about it.
I've never seen a ship remotely like it before.
|What do you think, Professor Kayn? I'm a surgeon.
|I'm not terribly interested in spaceship design.
You're one of our senior men.
You share|the responsibility for the safety of this station.
Farron, I realise there is a place for administrators,|but I'd be obliged if you'd remember where it is.
Please don't presume to lecture|me on my responsibilities.
So sorry, Professor.
Have a team of engineers standing by to examine the|shuttlecraft these people send across, will you? - Right.
|- Send the commander straight up.
|Make sure he's not armed.
Understood.
[TELEPORT WHINE.]
Don't worry, I'm not armed.
- How did you do that?|- I'm sorry to be so abrupt, but could I see|Professor Kayn now, please.
- I'm Kayn.
|- Ah.
One of my crewmen is dying.
|Could you come with me straight away? - I'm afraid there are a few formalities|we must sort out first.
You can't just appear.
|- Yes of course.
I'll come with you.
- Professor Kayn, I cannot allow this.
|- Send me a memorandum, Farron.
|Through the usual channels, of course.
- Would you put this on please?|- What is it?|- It's a teleport bracelet.
- I warn you, this is most inadvisable.
|- I shall need a few things.
Our surgical units are very well equipped, but I'll send|back somebody for anything else you might need.
- Farron, have Dr Renor standing by to|assist me, he'll know what I need.
|- I'll send someone back for him.
Are you ready? - I am ready.
|- Kayn, I cannot allow this, it is completely|against station policy.
- Bring us across.
|- This behaviour will have to be|noted down in the station log.
[TELEPORT WHINE.]
That is remarkable.
Avon, send someone across to collect Professor|Kayn's assistant, will you? Your bracelet, please.
- I thought the matter transmission|project had been abandoned.
|- A temporary setback.
- But with Federation resources it was|just a matter of time, I suppose.
|- This way, Professor.
- Truly remarkable.
|- Professor?|- Oh yes, sorry.
One thing I will say for the Federation,|when they decide to do a thing, they do it.
- I didn't like the sound of that much.
|- One of the many faces of neutrality.
Who's going across to get the assistant?|Shall I call Jenna? - No.
I'll go.
|- Oh, good Good idea, I mean.
- Why do you stay with Blake?|- I like him.
|- That isn't a good enough reason.
It is for me.
|That and the fact I've got nowhere else to go.
All right.
Put me across.
[TELEPORT WHINE.]
Just a minute.
|This is interesting.
What rank do you hold? - I'm a civilian.
|- Unusual.
|- We tend to be in the majority, even in the Federation.
I meant this is unusual.
What are you up to?|Proving flight on a military craft? It is a military craft? Excuse me, it's still experimental.
|It's classified.
Uh, this way.
- Why were you such a long time?|- Cally.
My fault, I'm afraid.
Needed time to adjust.
|Can't afford to be disconcerted with this kind of work.
Oh, yes, you are right, his condition is critical.
|Find out where my assistant is, will you please? - Of course.
|- What's your name?|- Cally.
All right, Cally, now you tell me why|this man has a limiter implant.
- Where's Kayn's assistant?|- He'll be arriving any moment.
|- For the time being, keep him here.
Right.
|- Vila, this is Avon.
Dr Renor is ready to come across.
|I won't be coming back with him, though.
- What do you mean, you won't be coming back with him?|- I'm staying for a look around I'll call you when I'm ready.
- Oh, fine I'll just hang around here and wait for you.
|- You do that.
|- Stand by.
[TELEPORT WHINE.]
Dr Renor? So anything you can get from him about|this Professor Kayn would be useful.
- Ill try I might not be his type, though.
|- Well just have to take the chance.
- Thanks.
|- Go on.
Zen, I want a series of projections|from the battle computers.
Nearest Federation bases, likely flight patterns,|flight times, and possibility of interception.
Confirmed.
- Hello.
|- Hello, hello, hello! Ah Jenna, this is Professor Kayn's assistant,|his name is Renor.
And I had a feeling this|was going to be a good day.
Yes, well, don't let your feelings run away with you.
Oh, a sense of humour, too.
|I love girls with a sense of humour.
Yes, I can see where that would be an advantage.
|This way, please.
- Do you believe in love at first sight, Jenna?|- Not yet.
I don't think you realise what you're suggesting.
I am offering you my services, and, among other things,|the secret of matter transmission.
You are offering me classified Federation material.
|This is an independent, neutral scientific foundation.
Suppose I tell you that the material|does not belong to the Federation, that we are not Federation personnel,|and that is not a Federation ship.
- Then who does it belong to?|- Us.
|- Who are you? Before I tell you that, I should like your guarantee|that the others will be allowed to leave unmolested.
Why should I give you that? You and your foundation stand to make a fortune.
I'm merely asking for your guarantee that you will|maintain your neutrality and protect your investment.
All right.
You have my personal guarantee.
|Now who are you? - At last.
|- Sorry, professor Hello! This place is full of pretty girls.
- Prepare for immediate surgery, please.
|- Right.
- I'll get out of your way.
|- Won't need you either, Cally - Would have been helpful to have had one of them here.
|- Do you know who these people are? - Federation research team?|- It's Blake and his crew.
- THE Blake? How do you know?|- They lie badly.
Stannis! That's who she is! Jenna Stannis.
|I've never met a celebrity before.
- Celebrity? These people are maniacs, killers.
|- Oh, come on.
- Mindless destroyers.
|- You don't know that.
They are destroying the greatest force|for order in the known universe.
Order?|Well, you've had a change of heart, haven't you? I'm sure poor old Farron would be delighted|with your new concern for the rules.
Farron is a bureaucratic fool I'm talking about stability,|Renor.
With no stability there is no progress.
Progress to what?|Brain implantation? A dangerous psychopath? Certainly.
|Or would you prefer he'd been executed? That's what you intend to do, isn't it? You're going to delay|the operation so that Blake and his crew can be captured.
- I haven't decided yet.
|- Well, delay much longer, and there won't|be any decision to make.
What are you doing? Not that it's any business of yours;|I'm going to contact the nearest Federation base.
Ill warn Blake.
And lose the chance of working with the|greatest surgeon you'll ever see? You're too ambitious for that.
|Besides, I'm the only one who can save him, if I choose to.
XK72? Pursuit leader to pursuit two and three: Executive order states that damage to|Research Station XK72 must be avoided if possible.
Priority concern is capture of Blake and his crew.
- He did what?|- Professor Kayn said you knew about it.
The communications section is well aware that|no one is allowed to send official messages|without clearing them first through channels.
Professor Kayn said it was a matter of life and death.
Ask our visitor to come and see me, will you? - I think he's looking around the computer section.
|His name is Avon.
|- Right.
- Do we know what the Federation's doing?|- The pursuit ships will be here in three hours.
|- Then find Avon quickly.
We must start the operation.
|Not yet.
The Federation ships need time.
But we're losing him I mean look at the life signs.
|He's practically dead now.
Not yet.
It's taking a very long time.
Well, at least while they're still working,|we know that Gan's got a chance.
Kayn is supposed to be a genius.
The trouble with a genius is|you're never too sure what he's up to.
Perhaps Zen can tell us how long|the operation would normally take.
Zen? There is insufficient data for an accurate projection.
Within the parameters you have described, the surgeon's|skill and operating procedures are unknown variables.
There you are.
|Thought not.
I can only apologise I'm afraid there's absolutely|nothing I can do for your friends now.
It was naïve of me to expect you to keep your word.
That is a little unfair.
|It's just that it's out of my hands.
Look, Avon, it is against all the rules, and it's a risk I really|shouldn't take, but I am prepared to let you stay here.
What about the pursuit ships? When your friends detect them|they will presumably run or fight.
They will have no other choice.
In which case, they may escape or|more probably they will be destroyed.
Either way, the Federation need never know|that you're here on the station.
You can work here in peace and safety.
Well?|What do you say? - I shall need to go back to the Liberator|to collect a few things.
|- Good.
You've made the right decision.
Pursuit leader to all crews:|Full standby.
Check all battle systems.
|Enemy contact estimated in one hour.
Thank you.
This is Avon, from XK72.
|All right Vila, bring me across.
Vila!|Wake up, Vila Vila! - I'm going to operate myself.
|- You'll kill him.
Well, at least I'll have tried!|You call yourself a doctor? - No, he calls himself a genius.
|- Ah.
All right genius, time's up.
- I wondered how long it would take you.
|- Well, you can stop wondering and start operating.
- Why didn't Blake come himself?|- Blake doesn't know anything about it.
|I thought it was better that way.
He's got a conscience.
|He might not be prepared to kill you.
- And you are?|- Yes.
If he isn't, I am.
How did you get here? He sold us out to the Federation.
|Pursuit ships are only 45 minutes away.
- You going to operate or not?|- Alright.
I have a feeling that was too easy.
Any attempt to move this ship while I'm operating|will certainly result in this man's death.
He's right.
Vibration, acceleration,|any movement at all, and it's all over.
Hold it, Blake.
|We can't leave yet.
Pursuit leader to all crews:|Battle stations 30 minutes to contact.
- How soon can you complete?|- Thirty five minutes.
|- Do it in twenty.
- Or you'll kill me.
|- Oh no, no.
- In twenty five minutes I'm returning you to|your station.
If you haven't completed your work.
|- Your threats don't bother me in the least, you know.
I shall destroy your hands.
|Twenty minutes.
- Animals! Stupid destructive animals!|- Twenty minutes is more than enough time to complete.
- Are you defending their behaviour?|- I can't defend ours! That's where the fault was, in the limiter, there.
|And there it is repaired.
If you survive, so should he.
- Is there any way we can thank you?|- You could try getting caught.
Ready? [TELEPORT WHINE.]
All right, Jenna, get us out of here.
- Zen, reverse thrust, Standard point zero one.
|- Confirmed.
- Lateral one eighty.
|- Lateral one eighty.
I'll handle this Jenna.
|You can help Gan.
- Theyll take no further action without orders from me!|- You pathetic feeble minded little bureaucrat!|Are you going to let them get away? You exceeded your authority, Professor Kayn.
|It was not your place to inform the Federation|of their presence here.
You violated the neutrality.
Damn your neutrality! Get me weaponry!|How dare you! I'm in command of this base.
- You have forfeited that command, Farron,|you gutless nothing.
|- Weaponry.
- Stop that, I tell you! Take no orders.
|- You struck my hand!|- Weaponry.
Battle computers project pursuit ships|directly in Liberator's flight path.
Down zero one.
Maintain heading and speed.
|Standard by eight.
- Plasma bolt launched.
|- Activate the force wall.
|- Activated.
[IMPACT EXPLOSION.]
Second bolt launched and running.
|Bearing directly.
[DEFLECTION RICOCHET.]
- Missed!|- It missed us, but it's still running.
Farron!|Plasma bolt bearing directly on XK72! It's going to hit us! Instructions, please.
|Farron? Farron! [EXPLOSION.]
Say goodbye to one bolt hole.
- That's not funny, Avon.
|- It wasn't meant to be.
Pursuit ships are turning.
- You know what to do.
|- Zen, increase speed to Standard by Eight.
How do you feel? I feel as if someone has been poking around|inside my head with their foot.
- We had to kick your brain|a couple of times to get it started.
|- Only twice? - They didn't remove the limiter.
|- It was not possible.
They've modified it, though.
|Your ears glow in the dark now.
- Let me know when you're ready for work.
|- Thanks.
Oh, by the way, welcome back.