"(THEME MUSIC)" "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING)" "Now that's not fair." "I'm 20,000 credits down." " Come on, Vila, pay up." " Why don't I ever win?" "Being a born loser may have something to do with it." "And a bad one at that." "Rule 10." "A player may miss two turns while on a penal colony planet." "On his third turn... he must pay a 10,000 credit fine, and leave the colony." "Now's your chance to come out fighting, Vila." "Sure, on a miserable little space shuttle... while he's got an entire battle fleet waiting for me." "One cruiser, if you check." "I didn't consider you worth a battle fleet." "Even if I got past it, where could I go?" "(DAYNA) Come and stay at my hotel in Space City, Vila." "Only 5,000 credits per night, with all your favourite extras thrown in." " I might as well give up." " Don't you always?" "(ALARM BEEPING)" "What's the matter, Tarrant?" "I'm getting a 005 course deflection." "What about the game?" "What was the deviation the first time?" "(TARRANT) Very little. 002." "Even a deflection of 001 is significant if it hasn't been programmed... by the navigation computers, which it hasn't." "Auron is still the reference point according to this." "What about the game?" "Zen, why have we had three course deflections... that we have had to correct manually?" "Analysis of navigation and main drive control computers is proceeding." "Not very helpful." "But significant." "Usually, Zen can check all systems in milliseconds." "The fact that he is taking longer suggests... that tests are being carried out right down to component level." "Vila, Cally, Dayna." "A full manual check on all systems, weapons, force wall." "Information:" "Analysis at all function levels indicates... that all systems are functioning normally." "Wonderful." "There's nothing wrong with the Liberator." "Therefore, we must have imagined those alarms going off." "(ALARM BEEPING)" "Orac, a small problem for you." "What is the possibility of a directional control fault... arising on the Liberator without Zen knowing about it?" "The chances are that had the game continued as it should have done..." "I would have won control of the galaxy on a probability of 10,450-to-one." "Orac, it was only a game." "Orac with delusions of grandeur, Zen unable to control the ship." "I'd say we've a lot of little problems on our hands." "Course deflection is 005, speed standard by five and increasing." "I'd say we have one large problem on our hands." "According to this, Zen is correct." "There's nothing wrong with the ship." "I just don't understand it." "Orac, I'm waiting for an answer." "The ship is behaving normally, and I can offer a high-status prediction... that it will continue to behave normally." "(ALARM BEEPING)" "(WHOOSHING)" "Course deflection is 015, speed standard by seven." "Zen, put the asymmetric thrust computer online... and set to automatic course correction." "Confirmed." "(SUSPENSEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "Course now established." "So, who do we believe?" "Zen or Orac?" "We felt the ship veer off course." "Therefore, we must believe Zen." "Yet the Orac computer is infallible." "Orac has a weakness, a thirst for knowledge." "Infallibility depends upon your point of view." "How about testing his infallibility in the recycling machine?" "I have already made perfectly clear that the ship is behaving normally." "It is obeying Newton's First Law of Motion... and will continue to obey it." "Further discussion of the subject is now closed." "The law states that a moving body will continue to move... in a straight line and at a constant speed." "There's more." "A moving body will continue to move in a straight line... and at a constant speed unless it is acted upon by an outside force." "Someone or something has got a traction beam on us." "Cally, I want a telemetric bandsweep." "If you pick up any signals within ten million spacials, jam them." "Right." "Zen, report any unaccountable objects within 10 million spacials." "Detector analysis indicates no ship or unidentified object..." " within specified distance." " Double the distance." "There is no known power in the universe that can operate a traction beam... over that distance." "Detector analysis result:" "negative." "Just because you don't know how to build a high-energy traction beam... doesn't mean that nobody knows how to build one." "Information:" "Speed now standard by eight." "Course deviation 020." "Sustained asymmetric thrust draining energy banks at depletion rate nine." "We'll be in trouble if we have to activate the force wall." "I'm picking up absolutely nothing." "How close were we going to Auron, Cally?" "You know how close." "If the Aurons are responsible for this..." "I wonder what it is you did to upset them before you left." "I'll tell you sometime." "Anyway, Tarrant, this is not the doing of my people." "For one thing, they're not hostile... and for another, they haven't developed the traction beam." "Do they all have your telepathic powers, Cally?" "Some, to a degree, but our powers are limited." " I've never made any secret about..." " And telekinetic powers?" "The ability to exert a force at a distance?" "Maybe that's a secret you've kept." "There seems no point in blaming the Aurons for our troubles... when we are nowhere near Auron." "(DRAMATIC INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "(TARRANT) That's the spiral arm in Sector 12." "That means we're on the edge of the galaxy and into spiral space." "Hardly a healthy place." " Why?" " Sector 12 is uncharted." "When I was at the Federation Space Academy... survey ships sent to chart Sector 12... had a distressing habit of not returning." "Let's hope it's a habit we don't pick up." "Information:" "Speed increase to standard by nine." "It looks as if we already have." "(SUSPENSEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "Information:" "Speed standard by 10." "Asymmetric thrust no longer able to correct course deviation." "Why not turn the ship round and use the main drive... to slow down our acceleration?" "Use brute force in an attempt to counter a force we do not understand?" "Then what do you propose?" " Doing nothing." " Fine." "I may not be the bravest man in the galaxy." "Are you sure?" "But I'd rather fight than do nothing." "We will not counter the force acting upon the Liberator." "We plot the Liberator's course... on the main battle computer flight predictor... to see exactly how she is behaving." "Once we understand how the force is operating... we may be some way toward defeating it." "(OMINOUS INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "(COMPUTER BEEPING)" "(TARRANT) Strange." "The Liberator's following a curve." "Traction beams produce straight-line motion." "Zen, I want a prediction of the Liberator's course based on existing data." "Slingshot orbit." "Which means that the force acting upon... the Liberator is nothing more than gravity." "We are falling." "Towards what, I wonder?" "Zen, put forward coordinate 890 on visual." "Confirmed." "Requested coordinate on forward detector visual... in precise centre of screen." " But there's nothing there." " Zen, use long-range intensifier." "Three guesses, if you need them." "A black hole." "My God." "We're falling into a black hole." "(TENSE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "So what will happen when we skim round that thing?" "If it is a collapsed white dwarf star... gravitational distortion will tear the Liberator apart." "Our remains will spread out over the entire surface... adding a thickness of a few atoms to its diameter." "No one could accuse you of trying to hide things from us." "Why did Orac lie when he said the Liberator was behaving normally?" "I did not lie." "Considering the proximity of that fascinating black hole... the ship was and is behaving normally." "Orac, what is so fascinating about this particular black hole?" "All black holes are fascinating." "Their gravitational pull is so massive... that not even light can escape from them." "A cubic inch of black hole matter can weigh a million tonnes." "We know all that." "And so do you." "So why this particular black hole?" "The absence of x-ray emissions." "Normally colliding particles in the vicinity of a black hole emit x-rays." "So you decided you would like a closer look." "The absence of x-rays highlighted a gap in my knowledge of the universe... which cannot be tolerated." "So without telling us, you reprogrammed the navigation computers." "I have noticed that the occupants of this spacecraft... have a lamentable lack of interest... in the more fascinating aspects of the universe." "You must excuse me." "I have many observations to make." "Let's switch him off and put ourselves out of our misery." "I would advise against it." "Orac may gather information that could prove useful." "Useful!" "He's got us into this mess." "Information:" "Forward scan detectors indicate dust cloud density six in flight path." "Range: one million, two hundred thousand spacials." " Activate the force wall." " Confirmed." "We can't drain the energy banks." "At this acceleration rate, every dust particle... could strike the Liberator with the force of a meteoroid." "Confirmed." "(HIGH-PITCHED HUMMING)" "Information:" "Ship's velocity now in excess of design limitations." "Force wall collapse imminent." "(HIGH-PITCHED HUMMING CONTINUES)" "(ELECTRONIC BUZZING)" "No, Avon!" "We all go together." "You hear?" "Together!" "Fascinating." "We all go together." "There is a faint chance for one of us." "(HUMMING INTENSIFIES)" "(HUMMING FADES)" "Avon..." "Avon." "What happened?" "It looks as if we survived the slingshot orbit." "I would have said impossible." "Would have said." "(GROANING)" "Our hero lives." "At least he didn't try to get into a spacesuit." "I look upon self-interest as my great strength." "Vila." "One day, Avon, I may have to kill you." "It has been tried." "Vila, wake up." "I'm in hell, and it's full of Avons." "What's the good news?" "We survived the orbit." "(ORAC) Fascinating." "A thousand years here would be too short." "Zen, increase the lighting." "Zen, increase the light!" "Delay regretted." "All commands now require prior verification." "By what?" "By me." "It has been necessary for me to assume control of the ship." "Excuse me." "I have many observations to make." "We'll deal with Orac later." "Right now we have to get Cally into a resuscitation capsule." "(SUSPENSEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "Respiration, heartbeat, and blood pressure now normal." "But there's a lot a brain rhythm activity I don't understand." "(THAARN) You came, Cally." "I have waited for the time that light takes to cross a thousand galaxies." "I knew that someone would come." "Who are you?" "It's all right, Cally." "You'll be fine." "(THAARN) I am the Thaarn, Cally." "The Thaarn?" "Cally, it's me, Tarrant." "Can you hear me?" "(THAARN) Do you remember the stories they told you about me?" "When you were a little girl on Auron?" "Do you remember the children's rhymes?" "The songs you sang about the Thaarn?" "I remember." "Cally, it's me, Tarrant." "Can you hear me?" "I hear the Thaarn." "So near." "(THAARN) So alone, Cally." "So alone." "Soon we shall be together." "We shall rule the universe together." "But now, you must sleep." "Sleep." "Brain activity now normal." " What was it she said?" " I don't know, something about Thaarn?" "She'll be all right now." "We should leave her to sleep." "I've got some unfinished business with Orac to attend to." "(SUSPENSEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" " We will need that." " We'll manage without it." "We did not complete the slingshot orbit around the black hole as we supposed." " Then where the hell are we now?" " Wherever it is, we are not in space." "Zen, run through all the detectors on the main screen." "I want an identification of every constellation." "Confirmed." "There are no stars out there, Tarrant." "There is nothing." "All scanners now sequencing." "No stars or astral bodies present." "Therefore unable to comply with identification request." "An unlikely possibility is that we have fallen through the black hole... into the so-called negative universe of antimatter... where time and energy no longer exist." "That sounds like a way of saying that we're nowhere." "Orac, where the hell are we?" "A fascinating place." "Fascinating." "Space outside the ship has ceased to exist." "It is essential that we do nothing to contaminate this place... until it has been thoroughly investigated." "If space has ceased to exist, let's see how it reacts to our neutron blasters." "Dayna, two blasts at 10% power." "Zen, put up the radiation flare shields." "Confirmed." "Radiation flare shields in position." "Neutron blasters cleared for firing." "Two blasts, at 10% power, now." "(MACHINE BEEPS)" "(WHOOSHING)" "(MACHINE BEEPS)" "(WHOOSHING)" "(VILA) Someone is shooting back!" "They fired back at the same energy level." "You're shooting at yourselves... which is making my observations extremely difficult." "How can we be shooting at ourselves?" "Why not, if space is curved back on itself here?" "Cally!" "We were worried about you." "I feel perfectly all right now." " What's happened?" " You were delirious." "I can hardly believe that." "You were raving about the Thaarn or something." "Why would I talk about a mythical creature from children's stories?" " You tell us." " It seems absurd." "The Thaarn is as mythical to me... as dragons and unicorns are to the people of Earth." "More important than worrying about creatures that don't exist... is worrying about our situation, which most certainly does." " And what do you suggest we do?" " Examine the outside." "If you want to teleport into oblivion, go right ahead." "The outer teleport transducers were damaged when the force wall collapsed." "Someone is going to have to go out through the inspection hatch... in a spacesuit and replace them." "The time we've been in space without a refit... that hatch will be space-welded shut." "Anyway, who would risk it?" "Someone who has a talent for opening locked doors." "And has demonstrated a grasp of the problems involved." "Oh, no." "Not me." "Not a spacesuit." "It wasn't my idea." "One of you can go outside." "I never did trust those things." "Absolutely nothing in the whole galaxy can or will persuade me to wear one." "Not a chance." "I'm now in the inspection compartment." "I am now depressurising." "(AIR HISSING)" "I am now trying to open the hatch." "(TARRANT) Use your delicate skilful touch." "I used my delicate skilful boot." "(TENSE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "Can't see anything." "Nothing but darkness." "Vila, be careful." "(VILA SHOUTS)" "Vila, what happened?" "Hey, there's gravity here." "(AVON) Gravity?" " Are you sure?" " Of course I'm sure!" "So would you be if you were in the mess I'm in." "If I let go, God knows how far I'll fall." "(TARRANT) Drop something." "See how far it falls." "(TENSE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "We must be on the surface of a planet." "It's hard, and even, like it's artificial." "Gravity feels about normal." "Doesn't make sense." "Unless..." "Yes, that's it." "We're in a huge, underground cavern of some sort." "No wonder Orac's thinking we're shooting ourselves." "The walls must have reflected our blasts." "What do you want me to do now?" " Circle out from the ship." " But don't go too far." "I wasn't planning to." "I'll call in two minutes." "Out." "Does anyone have even a faint idea... of where we are and the sort of mess we're in?" "(THAARN) Cally, come to me." "Come to me, Cally." "I need you." " Need you." " No." " Need you." " No." "Need!" "What's the matter, Cally?" "There's something out there, a force... something all-powerful and evil." "(SUSPENSEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" " Avon." " Go ahead." "Someone's been here before us." "There are bits of what look like part of a spacecraft... scattered all over the place." "There are also lumps of rock, meteorites or something." "All right, Vila, pick up some samples and get back to the ship." "Avon." "Tarrant." "The ground's vibrating." "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING)" "There's something coming." "Vila, get back to the ship." "It's a beautiful light." "So beautiful." "Vila, run." "You must get back to the ship." "So beautiful." "Cally, make him run." "(TENSE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "Vila, listen to me." "Run, Vila." "It will kill you." "Run, run, run." "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING CONTINUES)" "(AIR HISSING)" "Tarrant!" "I've holed my spacesuit!" "I'm losing pressure!" "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING INTENSIFIES)" "Zen, activate the scanner and put it on the main screen." "Put up the radiation flare shields, and clear the neutron blasters for firing." "Neutron blasters are cleared for firing." "Dayna, stand by for a 50% blast from forward projector." "Zen, lock on to approaching target." "Confirmed." "What the hell was that?" "Whatever it was, it knocked out our scanner." "Backup scanners activated." "It didn't like its taste of our neutron blaster." "It had a sort of claw." "Designed to tear things apart." "Spacecraft, for example." "Bio-scanners indicate presence of humanoid life form... in the vicinity of the ship." "I'll go and fetch him." "We can deep freeze his body until we're back into space... where we can give him a decent star orbit burial." "Assuming we ever get back into space." "(SOMBRE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "Orac was absolutely right when he said... that space had ceased to exist outside the ship." "This place has a breathable atmosphere." "(MACHINE BUZZING)" "This item was once part of a main drive stabiliser on a Type-6 survey ship." "Atomic resonance analysis shows that all the herculaneum alloy... in the component has been drained away." "This accounts for the components' low tensile strength." "The piece of rock is a fragment from a beta-class asteroid." "All the naturally occurring minerals are present... with the exception of herculaneum which appears to have been removed... by a process which is not understood." "Herculaneum is the strongest known metal in the universe." "Correct." "The Liberator's outer skin is fabricated from it." "It is a contributing factor to this ship's invincibility." "So whoever or whatever runs this place hauled the Liberator in... to melt it down for scrap." "You may be right about that thing wanting to tear the ship apart." "We are dealing with a highly advanced technology... far more advanced than previously encountered." "They must require the herculaneum for a very special purpose." "Which means that thing will be back with its friends." "Which means that we'd better be ready for them." "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING)" "It's not the thing they sent before." "Stand by, Dayna." "Something nasty this way comes." "Tarrant, all the energy's draining from the banks." "The blasters are useless." "It would seem that this crude device is intended to frighten primitive people..." " from underdeveloped worlds." " It's doing a pretty good job on me." "Let's see if it thinks our neutron blaster primitive." "It's been neutralised." "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING INTENSIFIES)" "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING STOPS)" "Welcome to Krandor, my friends." "An artificial planet, which is the palace of the Lord Thaarn..." "Master of the Universe." "I am the Caliph of Krandor." "Amongst other things, it is my duty as the Lord Thaarn's chief executive... to negotiate a purchase price for your ship." "We usually use this for rounding up runaway slaves." "Quite inappropriate in this instance, but it was nearest at the time." " I do hope you understand." " We don't understand anything." "But of course." "Of course, my friends." "You will come with me, and all will be made clear." "No one moves." "Any explaining will be done here." "(NEURONIC WHIP HUMMING)" "A neuronic whip." "It can turn an aggressive man into a gibbering idiot... an uncooperative man into the most willing slave... temporally, or permanently." "But then, you've already had an effective demonstration... of the Lord Thaarn's powers while aboard your spacecraft... which to us is a thousand cubic cobars... of much-needed herculaneum alloy." "We must see that you get a fair price for it." "Double the normal slave rations until the debt is discharged." "Yes?" "You may keep your handguns and bangles if it makes you feel happier." "Only the technology of the Lord Thaarn prevails on Krandor." "Tarrant, Avon, answer please." "Where are you?" "Answer me." "Tarrant!" "They won't hear you, child." "Who are you?" "How did you get aboard?" "Are you the one that they call Cally?" "(NEURONIC WHIP HUMMING)" "(GROANING)" "In the presence of this, you can neither lie nor resist." "Are you the one that they call Cally?" "The Lord Thaarn is most anxious to meet you." "My name is Dayna." "Cally is with the others." "Very well, Dayna." "Come with me." "Come." "The Lord Thaarn sensed the presence of another aboard this ship... one called Orac." "Where is he or she?" "There is no person of that name aboard this ship... and never has been." " The technology of the Lord Thaarn." " The Thaarn is a myth." "He never existed outside children's stories and legends." "You think this cell is a myth?" "Tell us about the Thaarn, Cally." "It's the oldest story in the Book of Auron." "Let's hear it." "I like a good story myself." "The story goes back to the mists of time, to the dawn of the Gods." "There were seven gods who discovered the planet Auron... and on it left the first man and woman." "A million years went by." "The gods returned." "They were no older even though a million years had passed." "Not impossible if they had a spaceship... capable of travelling at near the speed of light." "I did say it was just a legend." "The gods returned and were pleased with what they saw... and they bestowed on the people of Auron great gifts... new types of crops, which ended hunger, constant peace." " And telepathy?" " And telepathy was promised." "But one of the gods was very jealous." "He didn't believe that the people of Auron deserved all this." "He was frightened they would one day become so powerful... they would challenge the supremacy of the gods themselves." "And in his rage, he killed another god." "The five remaining gods were so angry, they built a chariot for him... and sent him beyond the threshold of space and time." "The mad god swore a terrible vengeance." "He said that he would return again." "He said that he alone would discover the eternal secrets... and become the one great master of the universe." "You see?" "A legend." "He sounds the sort of character you should keep an eye on, not banish." "On Auron, the name of the Thaarn is a symbol of darkness and evil." "So, you're Cally." "What of it?" "You are honoured, child." "The Lord Thaarn wishes to see you." "(TARRANT) She stays with us." "(NEURONIC WHIP HUMMING)" "Take her." "She will come to no harm, provided that you cooperate, of course." "Groff is especially anxious that you should cooperate." "He is Krandor's senior technician... and has many, many targets that must be met." "There is a member of your crew we cannot find." "Orac." "Where is he?" "(NEURONIC WHIP HUMMING)" "The neuronic whip is on an automatic setting." "It has only to sense one lie and it will boil your brains in your skull." "Where is Orac?" "If he's not on the ship, I don't know where he is." "How tall is he?" " A dwarf?" " We never think of him as one." " What is the colour of his hair?" " He hasn't got any." "A bald dwarf shouldn't be too hard to find." "I will instruct the slave masters to organise search parties." "(ZEN) All energy banks recharged." "(ORAC) Excellent." "There is now little point in further communications between us... by audio channels." "In future, we will communicate by direct sensory link." "Confirmed." "(ORAC BEEPING)" "This is where you'll be working... provided you're as good at dynamic flux mathematics as you say you are." "It was one of my best subjects at the Federation Space Academy." "You went to the FSA?" "I'm surprised you've heard of it if you're from another galaxy." "What is this place?" "This is the very nerve centre of the Lord Thaarn's great plan." "The gravity generator control room." " And what is his great plan?" " To become master of the universe." "He has promised all of us our own planets." "There will be vast estates, and incalculable wealth for all of us." "You, too, if you cooperate." "There will be plenty for everyone." "We will be kings, and the Lord Thaarn will be supreme emperor." "Sit down." "There is no reason why we should not start work immediately." "Graphite writing stick?" "I've never seen these things outside museums." "Start work on what?" "On the calculations, of course." "You see, we have thousands of unsolved dynamic flux equations... simple enough but they take time." "Why not use calculators or computers?" "We couldn't do that." "Groff... what's that?" " A finger?" " A finger." "And as you can see, it is better designed... for pressing buttons than holding writing implements." "So why can't we use computers?" "The Lord Thaarn will not permit their development on Krandor." "He will allow no superior intellects to his." "(TARRANT) Why not?" "I don't know." "It is better not to ask such questions." "Perhaps he had an unfortunate experience with a computer." "Haven't we all?" "Groff, where does the Lord Thaarn come from?" "I don't know." "No one does." "No one has ever seen him except the Caliph." " Now you must do these equations..." " And where do you come from, Groff?" "Xaranar." "A Federation world that specialised in the building of survey ships... and providing them with crews." "Yes, all the best exploration missions went to you Xarin." "I am not a traitor." "One has to make a new life here, you have no choice." "Then how did you come to be here?" "The same way as you." "We lost control over our ship." "The gravity generator dragged us down." "Does it generate a beam or a total field?" "We will need to know that if we are to work on these equations." "Total field." "Clever." "It must require a great deal of energy." "And the new shields require a great deal of herculaneum... if the power is to be increased." "And the design of the shields requires the answers to many equations." "You had a family on Xaranar?" "A wife and two children." "I do not think of them anymore." "The work of the Lord Thaarn is more important." "Help us to escape, Groff, and we will return you to Xaranar, I promise." " How could you?" " Don't forget, we have our ship." "The Caliph has sent out a salvage team to slice it up." "Very soon your ship will be no more than a pile of scrap metal." "(SWORDS BUZZING)" "I would strongly advise against going too near that." "I must warn you that it is a defence mechanism... generated by the ship's computers." "Please, gentlemen, I must earnestly implore you not to come any closer." "It is extremely dangerous." "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING)" "(ORAC) Fascinating." "(ZEN) Confirmed." "(TENSE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "(THAARN) Cally." "Cally." "You came." "I needed you and you came." "I've been alone with my plans for so long, Cally." "Plans to build a new universe... with no one to share them with, until now." "The universe, Cally." "And the great universal force that controls the universe... is gravity." "The orbit of the planets, the slow turn of the galaxies." "I have built a machine that can generate gravity." "When it's complete... it will be powerful enough to move planets, and stars." "He who controls gravity... controls everything." " We will be rulers of the universe, Cally." " No." "(EERIE HUMMING)" "(SLOW INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "You will be the queen of a thousand worlds." "No!" "I want nothing from you, nothing." "If you don't understand that, you're not fit to rule anything." "Please, Cally." "Don't make me destroy you." "I'm so alone." "I need you." "So alone." "Sleep now, Cally." "Decide when you have slept." "Sleep." "(NEURONIC WHIP HUMMING)" "You tell me what it is you have aboard your ship... otherwise you'll be dead in three seconds." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Two men sent to smash the Liberator have been found dead." " The Liberator!" " Was it Orac that killed them?" "I don't know." "What manner of weapons does he have that can work... while the energy isolators are switched on?" "We don't know." "None of us knows what type of arms Orac has." "He keeps himself to himself." "I shall turn out every slave to search for him." "He will be found and destroyed." "Then it will be your turn." "All of you!" "The Liberator." " They said it was invincible." " Propaganda that we find useful." "Thanks to Orac, it sounds as if the Liberator is still intact." "A trip to Xaranar wouldn't take too long." "Escape is impossible." "While the energy isolators are on, your handguns won't work... and it is not possible to put the gravity generator into the negative field mode." "But putting the gravity generator into reverse would collapse the floor... beneath the Liberator, and allow her to fall out into free space." "It would weaken the atomic structure of the floor." "It's the same way you came in." "And putting the gravity generator into full reverse... would cause Krandor to disintegrate." "(GROFF) Worse than that." "It would blow up." "Gravity in reverse." "That is why only the Lord Thaarn has control over the energy isolators." "(THAARN) Cally, wake up." "Have you decided?" "Yes, Thaarn." "We will rule the universe together." " But there's something troubling me." " About your friends?" "They will come to no harm." "No." "Why should I care about them?" "You're using a field." "I can sense you are." "How can I be sure that I am making the decision of my own free will?" "It's only the energy isolators, Cally." "They have no effect on your free will." "I promise." "If you want me to trust you... switch off the energy isolators, then I can find out for myself." "It's too dangerous, Cally." "Then I will never be able to trust you." "Very well." "(ENERGY ISOLATORS SHUT OFF)" "You see... your feelings are no different." "(ALARM BLARING)" "The energy isolators have been switched off!" "Get to the others." "Get back to your ship quickly." " What about you?" " I'll be all right, get going." "But if you could tell my family, they were always in my thoughts." "We'll tell them, Groff." "Come on!" " What kept you?" " What about Cally?" " We'll have to leave without her." " Come on, move!" "(THAARN) Cally..." "Cally... you've hurt me." "Why?" "No, Cally!" "Stay away, I beg you." "You mustn't see me." "I have to see you if I am to kill you." "(DRAMATIC INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "I have even conquered time, Cally... but the price has been high... so very high." "(TENSE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "(ALARM BLARING)" "Groff?" "(ELECTRONIC HUMMING)" "Come on." "(TENSE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)" "Zen, stand by to activate main drive, if and when we enter free space." "Confirmed." "Main drive standing by." "The ship is now in free space." "Main drive activated." "Zen, standard by eight." "Put the rear scanner on the main screen." "Information." "Detectors indicate that a small spacecraft... has left object centred on main screen... and is flying on a reciprocal course." "That must be the Thaarn." "I should have killed him." " What did he look like?" " I never saw him." "(ALARM BLARING)" "(NEURONIC WHIP HUMMING)" " Zen, I want a course for Xaranar." " Xaranar?" "We promised to take a message there." "Didn't we?" " I suppose we owe Groff that much." " I'd say so." "So, the Lord Thaarn escaped." "I suspect we have made another enemy." " A pity." " A pity?" "A pity." "It is intolerable!" "There is insufficient room in the galaxy for his intellect and mine." "I don't know." "He did have one redeeming feature." " He didn't like computers." " Course for Xaranar laid in." "Thank you, Zen." "(THEME MUSIC)"