"Servalan told us it was an old ship." "It's what she didn't tell us that interests me." "(Croaking)" " There's something moving down there." " Where?" "By the main lock." "It's just a link." "It's going in." "Move." "Down!" "Cover your eyes." " So much for what Servalan didn't tell us." " It's quite a booby trap." "Half a booby trap to be exact." "Come on, let's go." "Half a booby trap?" "I don't imagine she would mine the ship and leave the living quarters intact." " We've got to warn the others." " Take it slowly, Dayna." "Slowly?" "It's going to be no help to them if we walk into something hungry on the way back." "I don't intend to walk into anything." " Don't be stupid." " Get out of my way, Avon." "I'll see you at the base." "I doubt it." "(Creature screeching)" " Thanks." " Are you ready to take it slowly now?" "Don't you ever get bored with being right?" "Just with the rest of you being wrong." "Try and keep a sharp lookout." "We can't afford to waste any more ammunition." "If you're right about the base..." "If I'm right about the base, the charges will already have been triggered." "What do you mean?" "Ultrasonic fuses keyed to pick up the explosion from that ship." " That's how I would have done it." " Well, then they're already dead." "Well, that's what we're going to find out." "Come on, you great oaf." "This is no time to take a nap." "If I've broken my back hauling a corpse about, I'll never forgive you, Tarrant." "(Voice echoing) Cally." "Cally!" " CALLY: (Voice echoing) Vila." " Cally." "Hang on, Cally." "I'm coming." "CALLY:" "Blake!" " Slave." " Yes, Master?" " How long before we make planet fall?" " One hour, Master." "That is Earth standard time, of course." "I hope that is satisfactory." "There's still no sign of the Liberator on our screen." "I fear not, Master." "I'm getting a heavy radiation shadow." "Focus looks to be 001 to our present heading." "Check it." "At once, Master." "It appears to be the residual of an explosion, Master." "Analysis of the radiation pattern suggests it could have happened near the planet of our destination." "And it generated a lot more power than the death of any normal ship would have done." " You are correct as always, Master." " Do you think it was the Liberator?" "Thought is beyond my humble capacities, Master." "True." "Vila rescued me?" "You were injured trying to rescue Cally." "He rescued you." " Suddenly I am hip deep in heroes." " Where is Cally?" " Cally is dead." " Are you sure?" " Yes, I'm sure." " He went back in." "He wanted to be a hero, too." "We needed Orac." "We still do." "Orac got a bit dented." "For which he blames me." "It seems I rescued the wrong one." "AVON:" "At first light, we'll make for the high ground to the south." "Where's Tarrant?" " He was right behind us." " I'll go back." " Stay here." " You wouldn't like to leave the gun?" "That's right, I wouldn't." " I'll come with you then, shall I?" " Stay here." "You were supposed to be keeping an eye on Tarrant." "I saved his life once." "Am I supposed to make a career of it?" " Where are you going?" " I want to see what's up ahead." " Avon said to stay here." " So stay here." "(Creature screeching)" "Dayna?" "Dayna?" "Dayna!" "Dayna!" "Dayna!" " Vila!" "Help me quickly." " Where are you?" " Over here." " Coming." "(Vila screaming)" "That's a big help, Vila." "(Creature screeching)" " Help." "Help!" " Stop it, Vila." " You'll have us both down there." " Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "This is all your fault, Dayna." "Help." "Help!" "Well, don't just hang there, do something." "Well, I'm open to suggestions." " That's what I like to hear." " VILA:" "Get us out of here!" "Hurry up." "Please." "Relax." "Your problems are over." "Pass out again and I'll leave you, Tarrant." " I'm surprised you came back this time." " We stand a better chance as a group." "What, while something's eating me, you can get away?" "Or vice versa." "I'll drink to that." "(Gun firing)" " You all right?" " How many more of you are there?" " Just one." " Stand still." "Drop the gun." "Now move away from it." "Slowly." "Name's Dorian." "And in case you hadn't noticed, I just saved your friends' lives." "You know what they say, no good deed goes unpunished." "See, I told you I was alone." "Oh, now will you stop pointing that gun at me?" "It's beginning to make my teeth itch." "What are you doing on this planet?" "I could ask you the same thing." "You could, but I have the gun." "I'm a salvage man." "Who are you working for?" "Oh, there's no profit in working for anybody except yourself." "It all looks standard enough, except for that." "You tell me." "I bought the ship second-hand." "That was part of the fixtures and fittings." "I've never been able to work out what the hell it was for." " You know what it looks like, Avon?" " Shut up, Vila." "Avon and Vila." " You've heard of us?" " Should I have done?" "Are you in the salvage game, too?" "Yes, that's right." "I thought I knew most of the independents working this sector." "Outer holds and drive section are clear." "There's no one on the ship except us." "And I've dogged the main hatches." "So if there is anyone else outside, that's where they're going to stay." "Any reason why we shouldn't just take off?" " Well..." " Yes." "I've come a long way to go back empty." " What did you expect to find?" " Well, same as you, friend." "And what was that?" "Look, saving your necks was obviously crazy, but I'm not basically stupid, right?" " I do know my business." " His business is salvage, Dayna." " Same as ours." " And I know this is Terminal." "I know it's an artificially modified planet." "I know that underneath the surface, there's a load of valuable gear waiting to be stripped out." "Not any more." "You mean you've got it already?" "Can you fly this ship?" "It's just a Wanderer class planet hopper." "Mark II by the look of it." "Obsolete, but functional." " I want it flown, not catalogued." " No problem." "One problem." "It happens to be my ship." "No problem." "It's all right." "On these old cargo ships, only the main deck is pressurised in flight." "That'll be cosy." "Would you rather be snuggling up to those snakes?" "Can I think about it and let you know?" "Anything special I should watch for?" "Do you want me to help you hijack my own ship?" "Listen, if I get it wrong, you'll be as dead as the rest of us." "You're the pilot." "You work it out." "(Rumbling)" " What was that?" " Tarrant?" "It was outside the ship." " Slave." " Yes, Master." " Analyse exterior disturbance." " It is an earthquake, Master." "Cause?" "Cause?" "Further subsurface explosions of great depth and power." "Magnitudes and positions are as follows..." "Skip that." "What do we expect to happen next?" "My poor abilities do not allow expectations, Master." "Readings do indicate an imminent earthquake, followed by severe volcanic activity in this entire region." "It'll be quicker and safer if I take her up." " Main gyros." " Check." "Clear." " Drives one and two." " Check." "Green." " Orbital booster." " Check." "Primed." "Thrust computer." "Check." "Running." "TARRANT:" "All pilot systems are green." "Count is two minutes and running." "Better strap down tight." "I haven't lifted these into orbit too often." " How often?" " Once." " When was that?" " In about one minute and 45 seconds." "If we last that long." "VILA:" "Get this thing off the ground, Tarrant." " Ten seconds." " Main drives running true." "All drives on." "Lift, you scruffy bag of bolts." "Lift." "Orbital booster fired!" "Primary orbit achieved." "As I said, no problem." "As he said, one problem." " What's going on?" " We are." "What have you done, Tarrant?" "I didn't save your life so you could keep risking mine." " Dorian has pre-programmed the flight computer." " To do what?" " Take him home, presumably." " To where his friends will be waiting, presumably." "And any friend of Dorian's is unlikely to be a friend of ours." "Given the way you pushed him around." "Can you override the programme?" "You heard how Slave reacted." "It's obviously keyed to Dorian's voice pattern." " Well, there must be a way round that." " There is." "If you want to disrupt every system aboard this ship, including life support." " Could Orac do it?" " If I had the necessary equipment to repair Orac." " Which I haven't." " So we're stuck." "I think it's time to start being very nice to Dorian." "What shall we do?" "Why don't you check the flight readouts?" "Run some calculations." " See if you can work out where we're going." " Yeah." "Dayna, see if you can find a gun locker anywhere around." " And then I want your professional opinion of that." " Right." " Vila." " Ready." "Just keep an eye on our host." " Vila." " What?" "Open this, will you?" "Looks like Dorian's a gun freak." "There's nothing freaky about these." "They're beautiful." "Look." " So?" " Look." "Each of these is a different mode." "You clip them into the basic handgun and you've got a weapon for every occasion." "Laser, plasma bullet, percussion shell, micro grenade, stun, drug." "They're all here." "I worked for nearly a year on a gun like this." "I never did get it right." "Just goes to prove what I've always said." "Stealing's quicker." "I thought Liberator was the only ship with teleport." "It was." "This was just someone's unsuccessful attempt to develop something similar." "Dorian's?" "It seems unlikely." "Did you run the calculations?" "Yeah, Xenon, mean anything to you?" "No." "Pity." "Doesn't mean anything to me, either." "It's in a planetary system outside Federation territory though." " Before the war?" " It was outside Federation borders even then." "It's well outside now their empire's contracted." "You could even say it was safe." "If we knew what the hell was waiting for us there." "The computer won't give me any data worth a damn." "I didn't think it would." "Isn't it rather a sophisticated piece of equipment for a salvage haulier?" "It's very sophisticated by any standard." "Someone spent a lot of time modifying a basic machine." "And someone else spent a lot of time developing these guns." "They're the best I've ever seen." "Well, now, it begins to look as though Dorian has got a lot of very bright associates." " And we've got a lot of trouble." " Cheer up, Vila." " You've got a lot of very bright associates, too." " Oh, yeah?" "Name six." "(Alarm bleeping)" "(Beeping)" "Scorpio." "Scorpio this is base." "Do you copy?" "Scorpio." "Scorpio this is base." "Do you copy?" "This is Xenon base calling Scorpio." "Do you copy?" "Come on, Dorian." "I had to wake up, I don't see why you shouldn't." "Wake up, Dorian." "AVON:" "Do as the lady says, Dorian." "Wake up now or sleep for good." "The choice is yours." "How did you know?" "That little tap on the head didn't put you out for more than 10 minutes." "Well, why did you wait till now?" "Because there wasn't anything you could do for me until now." "Dorian, I'm going to override that creepy flight computer of yours and leave you in orbit while I catch up on my sleep unless you answer me now." "Answer her." "You're going to kill me anyway sooner or later." "You would prefer it sooner?" "Xenon base, this is Scorpio." "Do you copy?" "About time, Dorian." "I have satellite visual confirmation." "Orbit and landing sequences are green." "Confirm." "DORIAN:" "Confirmed." "You'll never get away with it, you know." "We're approaching the atmosphere." "Better get strapped in again." "Are your automatics adequate?" " Slave can handle the landing." " Good." "Can't be any rougher than the takeoff." " Why call a computer Slave?" " Joke, I suppose." "Someone has a very expensive sense of humour." "Everything has its price, Avon." "You have to decide whether you want to pay it or not." "That's all." "Well, I don't believe in paying." "You mean you're here by choice?" "You can carry Orac." " This?" " That." "Now lead the way." "Carefully." "Avon, a security door." " How is it opened?" " It isn't." "Unless I choose to open it." " Stand still." " If you kill me, you'll never get back into that silo." "And that ship is the only way off this planet." "Terrific." "We're marooned again." "You expect us to believe that?" "You'd be surprised how little difference it makes to me whether you do or not." " The difference between life and death?" " Precisely." " Avon's quite capable of killing you, you know." " I never doubted it." "Beneath that cold exterior beats a heart of pure stone." "Shall we go?" "Why not?" " Are you all right?" " A little tired." "It took me longer than I expected." "May I present Soolin." "My companion." "Where are the others?" "There are no others." "I wouldn't poison a good wine, Avon." "If I wanted you dead, there are much more direct ways of achieving it." "I could snap my fingers." "And you're dead." "Fast, isn't she?" "Be so good as to pour my guests some wine, Soolin." "Surely now you can allow yourselves to trust me." "He who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken." "Cally once told me that that was a saying amongst her people." "Cally?" "Cally was murdered." "So were most of her people." " Seven glasses." " I'm sorry?" "You've laid out seven glasses." "One too many." "Not to worry." "I'll drink the extra one." "You know, if Cally had escaped with us, there wouldn't be an extra one." "It's just coincidence." "If you'll excuse me, I have things to attend to." "When you are ready, Soolin will show you to your quarters." "You'll find everything there you need, including fresh clothes." "We'll talk again when you are rested." "You really are most welcome here, my friend." "What do you think?" "I think his taste in wine and women is impeccable." "Are you there?" "I have them." "They're here." "That's close enough." "One of the group was killed before I got there." "But the group remains." "Bound together by time and pain and the need to survive." "The death of the telepath will make it more difficult, but they can still... be used." "Soon." "It must be soon." "(Groaning)" " Get on with it, Vila." " Will you keep your voice down?" " Can you get it open or not?" " Not." "I told Avon that." " Didn't I say there was no point in trying?" " You always say there's no point in trying." "But you usually manage to come up with something." "Not this time." "Not without a lot of equipment, peace and quiet, and cooperation." "And in case you haven't noticed, the lady with the gun is not particularly cooperative." "I don't think she'd be that happy about us borrowing her boyfriend's ship, especially without his permission." "Look, maybe there's another entrance." " It's worth a look." " No, it isn't." "Even if there was another entrance, it would still have the same security system as this." "You're probably right, so you stay here and keep working on that." " What?" " We'll let you know if we find an easier one." " What about Avon?" " Well, tell him where we've gone." " He won't like it." " It's a pity about that." "No, why should I?" "I don't have to justify my existence by going through the motions of trying to open a door which I know is impossible." "I'm the expert." "If I say it's impossible, then it's impossible." "To hell with it." "I wonder where they keep that wine." "I naturally took the opportunity to study all the systems on the Liberator." "A few, a very few, were of minor interest." "I would not, however, number the teleport system amongst these." " But you do know how it worked?" " Of course I know how it worked." "Well, then you will tell me." "Now." "There seems little point in wasting time on such an explanation since you would be incapable of understanding it." " Don't be insolent." " A statement of fact cannot be insolent." "Besides, insolence implies an emotional relationship, which does not and could not exist between us." "Orac must make a refreshing change from that flight computer of yours." "Come on in, Avon." "Neat job." "Thank you." "I thought you would probably have the necessary equipment somewhere around, but I didn't expect you to do the work as well." " Who designed it?" " His name was Ensor." "I should have known." "He was never a gracious man." " Orac reflects his personality." " Orac was the culmination of his life's work." "He bequeathed it to an associate of mine... who bequeathed it to me." "You must have been very young when you met Ensor." " Must I?" " He spent the last 20 years of his life in hiding." "Well, then I must have been very young." "Did you do the modifications to the flight computer?" " Yes, I created Slave." " What about these?" "Those as well." "And all this?" "I found the chambers and tunnels already here." "I merely had them adapted to my particular needs." "What did you do in your spare time?" "Maybe this wasn't such a bright idea after all." "Don't tell me you're tired already." "All right, I'll keep it a secret." "Look, we must be at least four levels below the landing silo by now." "At least." "Wherever this leads, it isn't to an under floor access tunnel." "Probably not." "But aren't you curious to find out where it does lead?" "In a word, no." " Well, I am." " I was afraid of that." "Look, you can always stay here." "Or I could carry you." "Listen, you'll be old yourself one day." "Then you'll be sorry." "I don't know what you're moaning about." "Vila's probably got the other door open by now." " There's an irritating thought." " Thought you'd like it." "You know, Avon could be right about getting out of here." "There's something very suspicious about a man who keeps his booze under lock and key." " Dead end." " It can't be." "I mean, why bother with all those stairs?" "Good point." "I seem to remember making it on the way down." "I hate people who say, "I told you so."" "Yeah, well I do, too." "But sometimes it's irresistible." " There must be something here." " Look, come on." "Let's get back." "If Avon gets to the ship and we're not there, I wouldn't put it past him to leave without us." "He needs you to fly it." " Only if Slave won't accept his orders." " Which he won't." "He will if Orac's working." "Now come on." "We're wasting time." "(Whirring)" "I knew it." "Tarrant." " Get a move on, Dayna." " I've found it." "Found what?" "(Growling)" "(Groaning)" "Tarrant." "Tarrant." "Dayna?" "What's wrong?" "I was hoping you might be able to help me with it." " It's not really my field." " No?" "No." "But for what it's worth, it looks to me as though you'll need to start again from scratch and try a different approach." "I've already tried four different approaches." " I mean go back to basic theoretical principle." " That's what I did." " Working alone?" " Of course." "At a conservative estimate, that sort of research and development would have taken you 20 years of uninterrupted effort." "Thirty years, actually." "All right, Dorian, let's stop playing games." "You disappoint me, Avon." "You of all people should know the intellect is a much more powerful weapon than the gun." "Particularly when the gun doesn't work." "Soolin removed the magazine and replaced it with a dummy." "While I was bathing." "Shall we go?" "Sit down." "Wine?" "It is necessary that you should understand what is to happen to you." "No, it isn't." "Just kill me and get it over with." "In case you're expecting help, I should warn you your friends' guns are also useless." "Naturally." "Deep in the rock below this base, there's a room." "I found it when I first came here." "As far as I can tell, it was carved from some mineral deposit, a pocket of some element which I still know very little about, despite nearly 200 years of study." "If at first you don't succeed." "You think I'm insane, don't you?" " It had occurred to me." " The room exists, Avon." "And since I found it I haven't aged one day." "It cleanses me of all the corruptions of time and appetite." "Appetite?" " I can do anything, Avon." " Most madmen can." "I can indulge any taste, any sensation, any vice I wish and the room..." "Cleanses you." "Exactly." "You really are insane, aren't you?" "By now, I probably would be." "If it wasn't for this mysterious room." "And what it contains." " And what might that be, Dorian?" " Ah, Soolin." "I was just about to summon you." "Not with a gun in your hand." "What does the room contain, Dorian?" "All the madness and rotting corruption which would have been mine." "It contains horror, Soolin." "And this horror... it shows itself to you, does it?" " It will show itself to all of us." " I think not." "You underestimate me, my dear." "The smallest movement is all it takes, Dorian." "She could do it, too." "Soolin was taught by the best." "The second best, actually." "Of course!" "You killed him, didn't you?" "He was one of the men responsible for the death of her family." "She killed all the others, too." "She's a formidable enemy." "But not without a gun." "That's right, Soolin." "You're right." "I did underestimate you, my dear." "From the tracer readings I was getting," "I think we'll find your friends are already waiting for us." "Now move." "Both of you." "DAYNA:" "Tarrant?" "Tarrant, there's something there!" "Something there in the dark." "It's all right." "It's all right." "You're not alone any more." "That's why I came for you." "You care for each other." "After what you've been through together, you couldn't fail to care for each other." "Even you, Avon." " Spare me the amateur psychology." " I wouldn't expect you to admit it." "But you belong to them, Avon, just as they belong to you." " That's why I rescued you." " I thought you wanted the teleport system." "Orac will give me that." "What you will give me, all of you, is life." "Killing us won't give you life." "Soolin is a stranger to you." "But one outsider can be absorbed in the gestalt." " Gestalt?" " Together you will become one creature." "A gestalt." "It will be a strong creature." "It will absorb much more than an individual could before it dies." "You see." "It will work." "It begins." "I knew it would." "The room accepts you." "It will make you one and give you my death." "What is it?" "Can you hear it?" " I underestimated you, too, didn't I?" " I knew you'd see it, Avon." "My creature will need to understand." "It must warn me of approaching death." " Yours will be its understanding." " What is it?" "That's what you're going to replace, my dear." "You and the others." "I imagine it was once a man." "One of a long line who died in his place." "They die quickly now." "My corruption has become too much for one man to bear." "Who was the first, Dorian?" "(Stammering)" "My partner." "We entered this place together." "Like you, he could never leave it." "And when he started to die, you had to replace him." "And you've had to go on replacing him." "You will last much longer than the others." "You're short one man, in case you hadn't noticed." "Vila will join you later." "Now make your goodbyes." "Your lives, your consciousness are over." "Avon." "No!" "DAYNA:" "Look." "I'm going to give up drinking, you know." "It'll be pink asteroids next."