Blake's 7 (1978) s02e06 Episode Script
Trial
Waste of time Shut up, Lye Ceremonial duty If you don't shut up, we won't be guarding a court martial, we'll be having one I joined up to see some action More foolyou You've been on campaigns, Par I have Done a lot of killing Enough More It should embarrass her at the very least Watch it Oh, I hope so, but, uh, she doesn't embarrass easily, especially not in her own headquarters Oh, I meant politically, of course Of course Any attempt to embarrass her personally is an exercise in totalfutility Oh, quite She has allthe sensitive delicacy of a plasma bolt Well? Sir, security area, sir Access is voiceprint linked, sir I am Secretary Rontane, personal representative of the President Senator Bercol Head of the Information Bureau Ex officio member of the High Council Thought he was going to run for it Pity he didn't You could have shot him A top politico? Don't worry about them Space Command runs the Federation Reckon so? Know so And we look after ourselves Tellthat to the prisoner Broke the rules, didn't he? Whose rules? Only ones that matter: ours Blazin' 'ell, look at this Samor, Fleet Warden General, appointed pro tem military arbiter Old Star Killer I neverthought I'd see him in the flesh Hasn't left his flagship in years Arbiter in a cruddy court martial Be by the book I told you, we look after ourselves Yes, Samor is a difficult man Most of the time I'm more than happy to see him stay with his beloved Galactic Eighth Fleet On his highly polished flagship He's well respected throughout the service ''Old Star Killer'' has earned that respect through a lifetime's devotion to his duty and to his men A rulebook officer of the old school Exactly With him as arbiter a guilty verdict will not be questioned and the matterwill be settled Assuming that is the verdict COMMUNICATOR CHIME Yes? The tribunal is assembling, Supreme Commander The arbiter is present Very well The evidence is straightforward I can see no reason why we shouldn't get the verdict we want, in the way that we want it No, neither can I, Supreme Commander And I expect no trouble from the defence None Prisoner and escort, reporting as ordered Quick march I report for judgment, sir Identify yourself Travis, Space Commander Alpha 1 5105 So recognised You may stand at ease Do you accept the authority of the Arbiter, the balance of the judgment program, and the competence of the defending officer? I do Specify the indictment Space Commander Travis, you are charged under Section Three of the War Crimes Statute Code,Jenkin One, with the murder of one thousand four hundred and seventeen unarmed civilians on the planet Serkasta, Date Code Beta 2001 How do you answerthe charge? I am not guilty Be seated Major Thania, does the defence have an opening declaration? We reserve our opening declaration, sir Very well Enter prosecution data Prosecution data begins Identities and death certifications of all victims are entered Objection Hold Holding Defence requests the names of the alleged victims and the cause of death in each case be specified All of them? If it pleases the arbiter Do you realise how long that willtake, Major? A man's life is at stake, sir I KNOW what is at stake My apologies, sir I meant no disrespect Since you have at your disposal instant recall of all prosecution data I failto see what purpose will be served by having the computer intone a catalogue of one thousand corpses I may wish to challenge elements of that catalogue before they are entered in the judgment program, sir Playing fortime? And playing for Servalan The computerwillfind Travis guilty, there's no doubt of that, but those three are responsible forthe sentence So? So, after hearing allthe blood spattered details, they'llvote forthe maximum penalty Motion sustained Victims names and causes of death will be specified Do you think that Travis knows what she's doing to him? A psychotic like Travis? Who can tellwhat he's thinking? Zen, give me stationary orbit, teleport range, somewhere in the temperate zone Confirmed Do you require detailed sensor readings? No I asked fortolerable conditions I assume that's what you've given me Confirmed The gravitational anomalies may affect movement And uninhabited The navigation computers list it as such That's good enough Really? It sounds a little casualto me I'm going down on my own, Avon It has nothing to do with you Nothing at all, but it occurs to me that if you should run into trouble, one of yourfollowers, one of yourthree remaining followers, might have to risk his neck to rescue you Then you must advise them against that, Avon Oh, I will They might even listen to you this time Why not? After all, I don't get them killed True Stationary orbit established Status is firm All systems are functioning normally All right, Zen, you know what to do Confirmed Blake? It's getting worse for him, isn't it? Guilt does that What would you know about guilt? Only what I've read Your move, I think Everything set, Cally? Yes You've forgotten your gun What? I won't need it There's no one down there There may be some kind of life form No, it doesn't matter I will get you a gun All right, thank you Orac Orac, give it five seconds, then operate the teleport LOCATOR BEACON What was allthat about? I think Orac altered the teleport coordinates You THINK? Well, there's no way of telling He zeroed the controls Our orbit's shifting Shifting? What do you mean shifting? Are we in trouble again? Zen? New orbit will be established in six minutes, as instructed Instructed? By whom? Blake He's making sure that we can't find him He could be running out on us Hearing will reconvene at 09:00 Return the prisonerto detention Prisoner, about turn Quick march One almost has to admire that woman What, Thania? Servalan Oh We know that she's sending Travis to his death in orderto keep his mouth shut, but she is doing it with such an impeccably honest and painstaking tribunal that her real motives can't even be hinted at Has a date been set forthe Blake inquiry? Does it matter? Without Travis' evidence, the mishandling of the Blake affair becomes a matter of conjecture The inquiry becomes a formality A Presidential stay of execution so that Travis can give evidence? Afterthis, he should be more than willing Afterthis he'll be a convicted mass murderer It could still damage Servalan "Slime sticks', as the old saying has it Yes, but the President can't be seen to throw it Servalan picked Travis The President picked Servalan So she's outmanoeuvred us once again Let's say she's outmanoeuvring us, but it's not over yet She could still make a mistake Which is presumably why we came I was beginning to wonder We came, Bercol, because Servalan's ambitions threaten us all And the President particularly dislikes being threatened Shallwe dine? I wish I'd known that this was going to drag on so I'd have brought my own chef As I recall, Space Command's cuisine is appalling Pathetic POWER DOWN Send her in Thania How was the first day? More or less as expected So? Travis is behaving oddly Three years ago, he committed a capital crime Justice has finally caught up with him How would you expect him to behave? I wouldn't expect him to sit staring straight ahead, not moving, not reacting Not even listening That's it That's exactly how he was, Supreme Commander Has someone else remarked on it? The Guard Commander's report mentioned something It's almost as though he were drugged No, of course not Risk a mistrial? Then what? You're representing him You'd betterfind out I don't want any doubts about the conduct of this tribunal Any doubts at all And Thania, try not to let Travis guess your motives He's probably mad, but he certainly isn't a fool If he was going to desert us, surely he'd have chosen somewhere special Right Paradise that is not Perhaps Blake knows something that we don't There aren't even any people down there So it has at least one aspect of paradise Would you maroon yourself on that planet? We don't know that he is marooned He could have a ship waiting Oh, come on, Avon You don't really believe that I wish Gan was here Oh, yes, of course He would be able to work out exactly what was going on Maybe he would Why do you say that, Vila? He was straightforward, wasn't always expecting to be cheated and double crossed, not like us He trusted people, he trusted Blake completely Much good it did him Welcome back to reality, Jenna You think he is double crossing us, Jenna? I don't know But you're right about one thing; I'm not like Gan I don't trust unless I'm trusted in return What do you think we should do then? Suggest something Well now I find the idea of being wealthy rather appealing Leave? I don't see much prospect of getting rich around here It certainly looks as though Blake's left us, doesn't it? That is the only reasonable assumption that we can make So we've got to look out for ourselves now Exactly Blake can't complain really Hardly, since he's not here No, I mean it's not as though we haven't done our share forfreedom and allthat More than our share You two make me sick Are we going to get out of here or aren't we? Orac, do you know what Blake is doing? Of course I do Then tell us Without the correct data recall code, that information is not available Data recall code, Avon? He's even put a secret classification code on what he's doing Yes, but why did he code it and how? Vila, if Gan was here, what would he have asked Orac? Something obvious: did Blake leave us any message? Thank you I must confess, I wasn't sure whether you'd trust me.
or even care enough to ask if there was a message In your place I'd probably have just said I don't give a damn and cleared off I think, well, that's just it, I need time to think We all do That's what all this is about I must apologise for the somewhat dramatic exit I had to stop myself coming back At least until we've made some decisions, you and I I took one hell of a risk with your lives when I went ahead with the attack on Central Control I thought it was justified, I thought we had a chance to win And I was wrong Completely, utterly, stupidly wrong I noticed that I almost killed you all I did kill Gan For nothing an empty room, a trick, an illusion Now I find myself wondering if that's what it's been all along just a dream I don't know any more I don't know whetherwe should go on, whether you would even supposing I could ask you to So, that is what we've got to decide, you and I where do we go from here? So that is what we have got to decide, is it? I'm taking a homing beacon down with me It will start to transmit in thirteen hours The detectors should be able to locate it and guide the ship to the rendezvous It's an automatic beacon I shall leave it on the ground when I land and make my way back to it with a hand detector It seems more fitting somehow Besides, if either of us chooses not to keep the rendezvous, then we needn't think too badly of each other Maybe the detectors failed He really cares about us, doesn't he? You swallowed that? You think he was faking it? Everything but the self pity That was real enough You're wrong Jenna? Which only leaves one question to be answered Is it that Blake has a genius for leadership, or merely that you have a genius for being led? HEY Who is it? Do you remember me, sir? Par What are you doing here, Trooper? I'm off duty, sir Well, I'm not I gather you're tired of yourfreedom I'm a twenty year man, sir I wouldn't recognise freedom if I fell over it There's a temporary fault on surveillance Guard's a friend of mine Stand to attention when you talk to me Sir I'm putting you and yourfriend on report Only trying to help, sir Help? And how do you think you can help me, Trooper? Brought you something, sir Open it That's good stuff, sir You won't go blind drinking that All right, Par What have I done to deserve this? Sir? Faithfultrooper, beloved officer, not quite how I see either of us You always looked after your men, sir Now you're gonna die We thought a drink was the least we could do, sir Stand at ease Have one with me Thank you, sir That is good stuff You can go now, Par Oh, sir? Par? The report, sir? No one would believe it Any more than I do Did you give it to him? Yes, Major I appreciate it With respect, Major, I didn't do it for you You served a fulltourwith Space Commander Travis, didn't you? Five years He was hard But fair No, not often, anyway But you could always rely on him not to get you killed unnecessarily He neverwasted troopers Oh, that's something, I suppose Major, when you're up to your neck in slime and lasers, that's everything All right, Par Major Trooper Par? Do you think he's guilty? No doubt about it, Major He gave the order We just did the shooting SPLASH SPLASH Come in, Thania I've been expecting you I thought you were asleep What is it you want to ask me? Is there anything you need? You lack subtlety, Major What are you suggesting, Travis? Get out Look GET OUT WHAT are you? ALIEN CHATTERING Well, if that's your only way of communicating I can't see us having much of a conversation Why did you stop? Why did you stop? Why did you run? Movement is life To stop is to lose yourself and be absorbed Is it that you are ready to be absorbed? Is Oneness already a burden? No, I don't understand what you mean You are newly hatched Zil saw you come to Oneness But your movement was slow Zil risked Oneness to waken you What are you? My Oneness is Zil What is yours? I'm called Blake Come, Blake Keep distant Zil and Blake must be alone to live No, wait Zil The Host stirs I have already programmed an automatic search pattern forthe homing beacon You don't mind if I check it? I'd be disappointed if you didn't What are you doing? It's a detector shield I've been working on it for some time Everyone should have a hobby What's it do? It should keep us off everything but the Federation's close range visual scanners You mean their long range detectors won't pick us up at all? But that's brilliant, Avon, absolutely brilliant It'll neverwork There's only one way to find out I'm sure Blake willfind us something suitable to attack I see You've decided to be led like the rest of us I shall continue to follow It's not quite the same thing I don't see the difference I didn't really think that you would Do you want to tell me why you've left most of the southern hemisphere off the search pattern? I don't believe that Blake can think and swim at the same time It's nothing but ocean down there Zil, where are you? You have stopped again Is Blake afraid to be alone? All must stay alone orwake the Host You took something from me, something that I need Now, Zil, what have you done with it? Blake will be lost to you unless Zil can explain But, but how? How to explain what Blake is? Well, tell me what Zil is Zil is my Oneness Alone Zil is my waking, as Blake is yourwaking You mean we live? Everything lives The Host lives To live is not enough for Blake and Zil Blake and Zilwoke The waking must not be feared or you will lose it and Blake will be absorbed To live is not enough? To be alone must not be feared The Host is slow to recognise one who is alone Though there are many, all stay alone Do you hunger? Do you hunger? What is it? Life RUMBLING The Host stirs again Now Blake, understand the need for swiftness Information Detectors indicate rapid changes now occurring on the planetary surface Changes? Specify Indications are that the land mass is sinking Projections of the rate at which the process is accelerating suggest that it will be entirely submerged beneath the oceans in two hours That's impossible Recheck the data Confirmed The climatic and gravitational changes would be catastrophic Well, perhaps they are The planet would be tearing itself to pieces Are we sure it isn't? Shouldn't we move away? How long before the homing beacon activates? One hour, fifteen minutes Data is confirmed Analysis continues Orac, have you got anything on this? The phenomenon is unknown to me I shall require an analysis of the chemical composition of the oceans Zen? Full range chemical analyses are being carried out What about Blake? Let's hope he's on high ground There The Host has not absorbed them What is the Host? And yet you fear it? Resist it Oneness must resist the Host But you don't know that it exists Perhaps you're imagining it How do you resist an illusion? Eat lightly; move quickly, so the Host is not aware of your Oneness Yes, I don't suppose you know how to speed up the timer on a homing beacon? Yeah Zil, what's wrong? Zil is lost The Host willtake Saliva? You mean that's an ocean of spit? No, of course not That was merely an analogy I was drawing All right, so it's digestive fluid What does it mean? Surely that's obvious This planet is alive Define alive All planets are, by some definition I am not referring to a complex ecosystem I refer to a single organism A planetary life form Fascinating, don't you think? I doubt if Blake does If it is a single organism, how does it function? That would require study At present I can only conjecture So conjecture To maintain life on that scale the organism must have achieved stasis, a perfect balance within itself Clearly something has upset that balance Blake? No The stimulus would be insufficient So, what, then? My conjecture would be parasites A life form living on the organism whose population has reached too high a level Well, what's that organism doing, Orac? Cleansing itself Killing them? Correct And replacing the energy thus expended by eating them There's stillforty five minutes before that homing beacon activates Blake hasn't got that long Blake must leave Zil No What's happened to the light? The waking time is over The Host absorbs all Not yet, it doesn't Avon, the flight program's laid in Close to the atmosphere? As close as we dare All right, stand by If this works the teleport should operate on a series of brief automatic pulses, each pulse covering a section of the area we are flying across If Blake is there, it will bring him up? Start to bring him up It will be up to you to hit the main switch and complete the process You'll have to concentrate He'll appear and disappear in one short flash And if I miss it? He's gone for good This place is fitting Zil, what? Oneness will return when the Host is quiet again ALIEN CHATTERING They're eggs The children of your people Their skin is strong They cannot be absorbed The teleport materialisation The field glows white You thought I was hatching from an egg You've been protecting a child This place is fitting Here Blake and Zilwill surrender Oneness Zil Zil Not me I am not ready to surrender ANYTHING All right, Jenna Let's get on with it Flight program running RUMBLING Flight program will be complete in two minutes The flight's almost over Is it working? Quiet, Vila Now Thank you Next time I want to think, I'll do it in my cabin I should stick to action, Blake That's what you're good at Jenna, we've got him back Avon adapted the teleport with his usual skill, probably ruined it You went to a lot of trouble One of these days they are going to leave you They were almost ready to do so this time Yes, I thought they might be You handle them very skilfully Do I? But one more death will do it Then you'd better be very careful It would be ironic if it were yours Prosecution data is now entered as complete Judgment program Jenkin 1 Oblique 3 holding Major Thania, is your defence data prepared and ready to be entered? If it pleases the arbiter, we would like to offer our opening declaration Very well Thank you, sir Gentlemen, it is with a very real sense of waste, perhaps even of tragedy NO Has the prisoner some objection? I request a consultation, with the Arbiter's permission Warden Samor, I have no wish to consult with my defence That's enough I will not have this tribunal reduced to the level of a common trooper's brawl You have already made formal acceptance of the competence of the defending officer? Yes, sir Defence may consult Thank you, sir What the hell do you think you're doing, Travis? You handled that badly, Thania The Supreme Commanderwill not be pleased Signs of life? Death throes, nothing more All right, what is it you want? The opening declaration You want to know what I am going to say? I'm going to say that you were a brilliant and dedicated soldierwho had a lapse of judgment, a momentary aberration Only a momentary aberration? I'm further going to say that you deeply regret what happened In otherwords, I am going to lay the basis of your defence I will make the opening declaration Look, don't be a fool Do you really think you're going to impress them sympathetically? I think the Supreme Commander wants me to go to my death quietly That is as close to quietly as I am going to get Look; I'm trying to save your life, Travis You'd be better occupied trying to save your own, Thania Majors can die quite anonymously And your involvement in this fiasco, makes your life expectancy only slightly longerthan my own We were getting a reputation for being invulnerable We were even beginning to believe it ourselves Some of us, anyway All right, yes, I admit it Gan's death woke me, made me realise that I'd come to accept our own legend But far more important than that, every Federation trooper, every kill happy bounty hunter now knows that we are fallible You're saying that it's time to stop That is what you're saying, I hope No, he's saying it's too late to stop, aren't you? We've come too far No, what I'm saying is there will be a bettertime When we have restored our legend Ah All right, what death defying feat must we undertake in orderto do that? Willthis detector shield work? Yes A high speed attack A single strike run We'll be on them before they know and away before they can respond Where? Servalan's headquarters You may begin A field officer, like myself, is frequently required to make fast, unconsidered decisions You were allfield officers; you know that's true Time to think is a luxury battle seldom affords you You react instinctively Your actions, your decisions, all instinct, nothing more But, an officer's instincts are the product of his training The more thorough the training, the more predictable the instinct, the betterthe officer And I am a good officer I have been in the service all my adult life I'm totally dedicated to my duty and highly trained in how to perform it On Serkasta, I reacted as I was trained to react I was an instrument of the service So if I'm guilty of murder, of mass murder, then so are all of you The prisonerwill be seated Is the defence data prepared? It is, sir Enter it Judgment program Jenkin 1 Oblique 3 running Defence data commences Speed? Standard by Eight Flight time to target? Six hours and four minutes at present speed Increase speed to Standard by Ten Standard by Ten Can we rely on it? I thought we were Detector contact, extreme range Grid Five Six ships Standard Federation patrol pattern Bearing One Nine Four Have they picked us up yet? Maintaining patrol pattern Holding One Nine Four Put them on the screen, Zen They missed us Avon's gadget works I never doubted it for a moment Is something wrong? It just occurred to me, that as the description of a highly sophisticated technological achievement, ""Avon's gadget works'', seems to lack a certain style The prisonerwill stand Run judgment Judgment program 1 oblique 3 Conclusion Space Commander Travis, you are guilty as charged The tribunalwill retire to consider sentence No surprise from the defence How did you know? How did you NOT know? I thought he'd given up I warned you not to underestimate Travis I don't think he's persuaded them I was watching Samor What Travis said bothered him You were watching? Secret session or not, did you seriously imagine I wouldn't have a spy camera in there? Travis knew, right from the beginning It really is a pity he's got to die He's so much better than anything I've got left Time to target? Fourteen minutes Attack run will commence in 9 minutes and 30 seconds How long before they see us? Nine minutes and twenty five seconds Space Commander, we have considered your sentence at some length Your contention that what happened on Serkasta was a direct result of yourtraining concerned us greatly We accept that you are trained to kill As are we all What we cannot accept is that this training leads inevitably to the murder of innocents Your behaviourwas not that of a Federation officer, but ratherthat of a savage, unthinking animal Target now registering on all detectors Three minutes to commencement of attack run We cannot find it in our hearts to absolve you in any way of the responsibility forthese murders The sentence of this tribunal is, therefore, that you should be stripped of all rank and privileges, that you be dishonourably dismissed the service, and that you then be executed forthe common criminalyou have shown yourself to be Have you anything to say? Five seconds to attack run threshold Commit We are now in their visual range Attack run commenced Stand by the main blasters Main blasters ready Do I take it you have nothing to say? The Federation is run by hypocrites and supported by fools I'm glad to be rid of you all PublicAddress: All personnel to battle stations Unidentified ship on attack run in quadrant six Fire the main blasters NEUTRON BLASTERS PublicAddress: Automatic airlock will trigger in three seconds GUNFIRE Don't make me killyou, Par What happened in there? Outerwall cracked, automatic airlock sealed the chamber They'll all be dead by now Drop the gun I can't do that, sir Don't be a fool I've got nothing to lose anymore I can't let you go, sir Some of us weren't hypocrites, were we, Par? Get us out of here, Jenna Speed Standard by Twelve Speed Standard by Twelve Battle computers, put force wall on standby Single attack run on Quadrant Six Damage is extensive but confined to that section as far as we can tell Damage controlteams? Moving in now What about casualties? High and rising allthe time No estimates yet, Supreme Commander Very well Keep me informed Well Savage, THINKING animals have a way of surviving, don't they? Who was it? We think it was Blake I must rememberto say thank you before I kill him What are you planning to do? I'm planning to leave You're going to give me a pursuit ship, oh, and the trigger circuit forthis You think so? And you'll hunt Blake While you hunt both of us Now give the orders Carefully Is Pursuit Four ready for immediate launch? Yes, ma'am And your crew is standing by Have the crew stand down I want them replaced by three mutoids Mutoids? Yes, mutoids And have them blanked I want their minds imprinted to receive orders only from the person who first uses the triggerword ""outlaw'' to them Yes, ma'am You'll need a crew you can rely on Still one step ahead? You're not going to use me any more Move The last patrol is off the detectors We have lost them all ""Resist the Host or your Oneness will be absorbed'' I would quite like to have met this Zil of yours It's not often that one comes across a philosophicalflea That's the stuff that legends are made of Then again, perhaps they are not that uncommon
or even care enough to ask if there was a message In your place I'd probably have just said I don't give a damn and cleared off I think, well, that's just it, I need time to think We all do That's what all this is about I must apologise for the somewhat dramatic exit I had to stop myself coming back At least until we've made some decisions, you and I I took one hell of a risk with your lives when I went ahead with the attack on Central Control I thought it was justified, I thought we had a chance to win And I was wrong Completely, utterly, stupidly wrong I noticed that I almost killed you all I did kill Gan For nothing an empty room, a trick, an illusion Now I find myself wondering if that's what it's been all along just a dream I don't know any more I don't know whetherwe should go on, whether you would even supposing I could ask you to So, that is what we've got to decide, you and I where do we go from here? So that is what we have got to decide, is it? I'm taking a homing beacon down with me It will start to transmit in thirteen hours The detectors should be able to locate it and guide the ship to the rendezvous It's an automatic beacon I shall leave it on the ground when I land and make my way back to it with a hand detector It seems more fitting somehow Besides, if either of us chooses not to keep the rendezvous, then we needn't think too badly of each other Maybe the detectors failed He really cares about us, doesn't he? You swallowed that? You think he was faking it? Everything but the self pity That was real enough You're wrong Jenna? Which only leaves one question to be answered Is it that Blake has a genius for leadership, or merely that you have a genius for being led? HEY Who is it? Do you remember me, sir? Par What are you doing here, Trooper? I'm off duty, sir Well, I'm not I gather you're tired of yourfreedom I'm a twenty year man, sir I wouldn't recognise freedom if I fell over it There's a temporary fault on surveillance Guard's a friend of mine Stand to attention when you talk to me Sir I'm putting you and yourfriend on report Only trying to help, sir Help? And how do you think you can help me, Trooper? Brought you something, sir Open it That's good stuff, sir You won't go blind drinking that All right, Par What have I done to deserve this? Sir? Faithfultrooper, beloved officer, not quite how I see either of us You always looked after your men, sir Now you're gonna die We thought a drink was the least we could do, sir Stand at ease Have one with me Thank you, sir That is good stuff You can go now, Par Oh, sir? Par? The report, sir? No one would believe it Any more than I do Did you give it to him? Yes, Major I appreciate it With respect, Major, I didn't do it for you You served a fulltourwith Space Commander Travis, didn't you? Five years He was hard But fair No, not often, anyway But you could always rely on him not to get you killed unnecessarily He neverwasted troopers Oh, that's something, I suppose Major, when you're up to your neck in slime and lasers, that's everything All right, Par Major Trooper Par? Do you think he's guilty? No doubt about it, Major He gave the order We just did the shooting SPLASH SPLASH Come in, Thania I've been expecting you I thought you were asleep What is it you want to ask me? Is there anything you need? You lack subtlety, Major What are you suggesting, Travis? Get out Look GET OUT WHAT are you? ALIEN CHATTERING Well, if that's your only way of communicating I can't see us having much of a conversation Why did you stop? Why did you stop? Why did you run? Movement is life To stop is to lose yourself and be absorbed Is it that you are ready to be absorbed? Is Oneness already a burden? No, I don't understand what you mean You are newly hatched Zil saw you come to Oneness But your movement was slow Zil risked Oneness to waken you What are you? My Oneness is Zil What is yours? I'm called Blake Come, Blake Keep distant Zil and Blake must be alone to live No, wait Zil The Host stirs I have already programmed an automatic search pattern forthe homing beacon You don't mind if I check it? I'd be disappointed if you didn't What are you doing? It's a detector shield I've been working on it for some time Everyone should have a hobby What's it do? It should keep us off everything but the Federation's close range visual scanners You mean their long range detectors won't pick us up at all? But that's brilliant, Avon, absolutely brilliant It'll neverwork There's only one way to find out I'm sure Blake willfind us something suitable to attack I see You've decided to be led like the rest of us I shall continue to follow It's not quite the same thing I don't see the difference I didn't really think that you would Do you want to tell me why you've left most of the southern hemisphere off the search pattern? I don't believe that Blake can think and swim at the same time It's nothing but ocean down there Zil, where are you? You have stopped again Is Blake afraid to be alone? All must stay alone orwake the Host You took something from me, something that I need Now, Zil, what have you done with it? Blake will be lost to you unless Zil can explain But, but how? How to explain what Blake is? Well, tell me what Zil is Zil is my Oneness Alone Zil is my waking, as Blake is yourwaking You mean we live? Everything lives The Host lives To live is not enough for Blake and Zil Blake and Zilwoke The waking must not be feared or you will lose it and Blake will be absorbed To live is not enough? To be alone must not be feared The Host is slow to recognise one who is alone Though there are many, all stay alone Do you hunger? Do you hunger? What is it? Life RUMBLING The Host stirs again Now Blake, understand the need for swiftness Information Detectors indicate rapid changes now occurring on the planetary surface Changes? Specify Indications are that the land mass is sinking Projections of the rate at which the process is accelerating suggest that it will be entirely submerged beneath the oceans in two hours That's impossible Recheck the data Confirmed The climatic and gravitational changes would be catastrophic Well, perhaps they are The planet would be tearing itself to pieces Are we sure it isn't? Shouldn't we move away? How long before the homing beacon activates? One hour, fifteen minutes Data is confirmed Analysis continues Orac, have you got anything on this? The phenomenon is unknown to me I shall require an analysis of the chemical composition of the oceans Zen? Full range chemical analyses are being carried out What about Blake? Let's hope he's on high ground There The Host has not absorbed them What is the Host? And yet you fear it? Resist it Oneness must resist the Host But you don't know that it exists Perhaps you're imagining it How do you resist an illusion? Eat lightly; move quickly, so the Host is not aware of your Oneness Yes, I don't suppose you know how to speed up the timer on a homing beacon? Yeah Zil, what's wrong? Zil is lost The Host willtake Saliva? You mean that's an ocean of spit? No, of course not That was merely an analogy I was drawing All right, so it's digestive fluid What does it mean? Surely that's obvious This planet is alive Define alive All planets are, by some definition I am not referring to a complex ecosystem I refer to a single organism A planetary life form Fascinating, don't you think? I doubt if Blake does If it is a single organism, how does it function? That would require study At present I can only conjecture So conjecture To maintain life on that scale the organism must have achieved stasis, a perfect balance within itself Clearly something has upset that balance Blake? No The stimulus would be insufficient So, what, then? My conjecture would be parasites A life form living on the organism whose population has reached too high a level Well, what's that organism doing, Orac? Cleansing itself Killing them? Correct And replacing the energy thus expended by eating them There's stillforty five minutes before that homing beacon activates Blake hasn't got that long Blake must leave Zil No What's happened to the light? The waking time is over The Host absorbs all Not yet, it doesn't Avon, the flight program's laid in Close to the atmosphere? As close as we dare All right, stand by If this works the teleport should operate on a series of brief automatic pulses, each pulse covering a section of the area we are flying across If Blake is there, it will bring him up? Start to bring him up It will be up to you to hit the main switch and complete the process You'll have to concentrate He'll appear and disappear in one short flash And if I miss it? He's gone for good This place is fitting Zil, what? Oneness will return when the Host is quiet again ALIEN CHATTERING They're eggs The children of your people Their skin is strong They cannot be absorbed The teleport materialisation The field glows white You thought I was hatching from an egg You've been protecting a child This place is fitting Here Blake and Zilwill surrender Oneness Zil Zil Not me I am not ready to surrender ANYTHING All right, Jenna Let's get on with it Flight program running RUMBLING Flight program will be complete in two minutes The flight's almost over Is it working? Quiet, Vila Now Thank you Next time I want to think, I'll do it in my cabin I should stick to action, Blake That's what you're good at Jenna, we've got him back Avon adapted the teleport with his usual skill, probably ruined it You went to a lot of trouble One of these days they are going to leave you They were almost ready to do so this time Yes, I thought they might be You handle them very skilfully Do I? But one more death will do it Then you'd better be very careful It would be ironic if it were yours Prosecution data is now entered as complete Judgment program Jenkin 1 Oblique 3 holding Major Thania, is your defence data prepared and ready to be entered? If it pleases the arbiter, we would like to offer our opening declaration Very well Thank you, sir Gentlemen, it is with a very real sense of waste, perhaps even of tragedy NO Has the prisoner some objection? I request a consultation, with the Arbiter's permission Warden Samor, I have no wish to consult with my defence That's enough I will not have this tribunal reduced to the level of a common trooper's brawl You have already made formal acceptance of the competence of the defending officer? Yes, sir Defence may consult Thank you, sir What the hell do you think you're doing, Travis? You handled that badly, Thania The Supreme Commanderwill not be pleased Signs of life? Death throes, nothing more All right, what is it you want? The opening declaration You want to know what I am going to say? I'm going to say that you were a brilliant and dedicated soldierwho had a lapse of judgment, a momentary aberration Only a momentary aberration? I'm further going to say that you deeply regret what happened In otherwords, I am going to lay the basis of your defence I will make the opening declaration Look, don't be a fool Do you really think you're going to impress them sympathetically? I think the Supreme Commander wants me to go to my death quietly That is as close to quietly as I am going to get Look; I'm trying to save your life, Travis You'd be better occupied trying to save your own, Thania Majors can die quite anonymously And your involvement in this fiasco, makes your life expectancy only slightly longerthan my own We were getting a reputation for being invulnerable We were even beginning to believe it ourselves Some of us, anyway All right, yes, I admit it Gan's death woke me, made me realise that I'd come to accept our own legend But far more important than that, every Federation trooper, every kill happy bounty hunter now knows that we are fallible You're saying that it's time to stop That is what you're saying, I hope No, he's saying it's too late to stop, aren't you? We've come too far No, what I'm saying is there will be a bettertime When we have restored our legend Ah All right, what death defying feat must we undertake in orderto do that? Willthis detector shield work? Yes A high speed attack A single strike run We'll be on them before they know and away before they can respond Where? Servalan's headquarters You may begin A field officer, like myself, is frequently required to make fast, unconsidered decisions You were allfield officers; you know that's true Time to think is a luxury battle seldom affords you You react instinctively Your actions, your decisions, all instinct, nothing more But, an officer's instincts are the product of his training The more thorough the training, the more predictable the instinct, the betterthe officer And I am a good officer I have been in the service all my adult life I'm totally dedicated to my duty and highly trained in how to perform it On Serkasta, I reacted as I was trained to react I was an instrument of the service So if I'm guilty of murder, of mass murder, then so are all of you The prisonerwill be seated Is the defence data prepared? It is, sir Enter it Judgment program Jenkin 1 Oblique 3 running Defence data commences Speed? Standard by Eight Flight time to target? Six hours and four minutes at present speed Increase speed to Standard by Ten Standard by Ten Can we rely on it? I thought we were Detector contact, extreme range Grid Five Six ships Standard Federation patrol pattern Bearing One Nine Four Have they picked us up yet? Maintaining patrol pattern Holding One Nine Four Put them on the screen, Zen They missed us Avon's gadget works I never doubted it for a moment Is something wrong? It just occurred to me, that as the description of a highly sophisticated technological achievement, ""Avon's gadget works'', seems to lack a certain style The prisonerwill stand Run judgment Judgment program 1 oblique 3 Conclusion Space Commander Travis, you are guilty as charged The tribunalwill retire to consider sentence No surprise from the defence How did you know? How did you NOT know? I thought he'd given up I warned you not to underestimate Travis I don't think he's persuaded them I was watching Samor What Travis said bothered him You were watching? Secret session or not, did you seriously imagine I wouldn't have a spy camera in there? Travis knew, right from the beginning It really is a pity he's got to die He's so much better than anything I've got left Time to target? Fourteen minutes Attack run will commence in 9 minutes and 30 seconds How long before they see us? Nine minutes and twenty five seconds Space Commander, we have considered your sentence at some length Your contention that what happened on Serkasta was a direct result of yourtraining concerned us greatly We accept that you are trained to kill As are we all What we cannot accept is that this training leads inevitably to the murder of innocents Your behaviourwas not that of a Federation officer, but ratherthat of a savage, unthinking animal Target now registering on all detectors Three minutes to commencement of attack run We cannot find it in our hearts to absolve you in any way of the responsibility forthese murders The sentence of this tribunal is, therefore, that you should be stripped of all rank and privileges, that you be dishonourably dismissed the service, and that you then be executed forthe common criminalyou have shown yourself to be Have you anything to say? Five seconds to attack run threshold Commit We are now in their visual range Attack run commenced Stand by the main blasters Main blasters ready Do I take it you have nothing to say? The Federation is run by hypocrites and supported by fools I'm glad to be rid of you all PublicAddress: All personnel to battle stations Unidentified ship on attack run in quadrant six Fire the main blasters NEUTRON BLASTERS PublicAddress: Automatic airlock will trigger in three seconds GUNFIRE Don't make me killyou, Par What happened in there? Outerwall cracked, automatic airlock sealed the chamber They'll all be dead by now Drop the gun I can't do that, sir Don't be a fool I've got nothing to lose anymore I can't let you go, sir Some of us weren't hypocrites, were we, Par? Get us out of here, Jenna Speed Standard by Twelve Speed Standard by Twelve Battle computers, put force wall on standby Single attack run on Quadrant Six Damage is extensive but confined to that section as far as we can tell Damage controlteams? Moving in now What about casualties? High and rising allthe time No estimates yet, Supreme Commander Very well Keep me informed Well Savage, THINKING animals have a way of surviving, don't they? Who was it? We think it was Blake I must rememberto say thank you before I kill him What are you planning to do? I'm planning to leave You're going to give me a pursuit ship, oh, and the trigger circuit forthis You think so? And you'll hunt Blake While you hunt both of us Now give the orders Carefully Is Pursuit Four ready for immediate launch? Yes, ma'am And your crew is standing by Have the crew stand down I want them replaced by three mutoids Mutoids? Yes, mutoids And have them blanked I want their minds imprinted to receive orders only from the person who first uses the triggerword ""outlaw'' to them Yes, ma'am You'll need a crew you can rely on Still one step ahead? You're not going to use me any more Move The last patrol is off the detectors We have lost them all ""Resist the Host or your Oneness will be absorbed'' I would quite like to have met this Zil of yours It's not often that one comes across a philosophicalflea That's the stuff that legends are made of Then again, perhaps they are not that uncommon