[Centero from space]

[Communications base - outer compound]

PUBLIC ADDRESS: Attention, please. This is planet Centero communications base control. Routine robot surveillance is now in operation.
(a robot is on patrol. Blake materialises and, as he hides from the robot, he knocks a hanging cable. The robot fires a flame-thrower at the swinging cable)
BLAKE: (into bracelet) I'm down and safe. I'm somewhere inside the main complex. Is Vila ready?

[Teleport room]

JENNA: (into communicator) Hold on, just checking. Are you ready?
VILA: Tell him I've just worked out a completely new strategy. It's called running away.
JENNA: He's ready.
BLAKE: (on communicator) Put him down.
JENNA: Standby.
GAN: Come on, Vila!
JENNA: Ready? I'm putting him down ...now.

[Communications base - outer compound]

BLAKE: Vila, over here.
VILA: Where are we?
BLAKE: Sh, no noise. There's a security robot patrolling the area. As far as I can tell we're in the outer compound. Top security section should be back that way. Now stay close to me and keep your head down.
VILA: Why don't I stay here and keep watch?
BLAKE: Come on, ...there it is. That must be the way in. Can you open those gates or are we going to have to climb them?
VILA: You won't get over it. That'll have every detector device you can imagine, and a few more besides. I'll have to get a closer look at the locking system.
BLAKE: All right, I'll keep watch.
(Vila tries some double doors before being motioned to the gates by Blake. He opens a panel by the gates, touches a contact and burns the end of a tool from his toolbox. A robot is heard approaching)
BLAKE: Vila, take cover.
(Vila continues to work on the panel)
BLAKE: Vila!
(when the robot has passed there is no sign of Vila. Blake runs to the gates)
BLAKE: Vila?
(Vila appears out of the double doors)
VILA: Has it gone?
BLAKE: How did you get in there?
VILA: There isn't a lock I can't open ...if I'm scared enough.
BLAKE: Are you scared enough for that one?
VILA: What do you think?
BLAKE: How does it work?
VILA: Anybody authorised to go through the gate has a physio-psycho pattern registered in the central computer. ...Hold this. When he wants to go through, this scans him and feeds the reading back to the computer. All you've got to do is intercept the feedback from the computer. Now, you stand in front and I'll press the scan button. (Blake's face is illuminated red) Retrieval system, ...no record. Refusal signal, ...now!
(a buzzer sounds as Blake's face is illuminated green. The gates open)
BLAKE [OC]: Nice going.
VILA: Any very talented person could have done it.
BLAKE [OC]: Come on.
(through the gates they just miss a patrol of Federation guards and Blake whispers to Vila who approaches two guards outside a large door)
VILA: Hello there. How are you? Excuse me wandering about your premises but I wonder if you can help me. I'm an escaped prisoner. I was a thief but recently I've become interested in sabotage, in a small way you understand, nothing too ambitious. I hate vulgarity, don't you? Anyway, I've come to blow something up. What do you think will be most suitable?
(Blake has come round behind one of the guards and as he knocks him out Vila clobbers the other one with his toolbox)
GUARDS: Ahrgh!
(Blake opens the door and goes in)
VILA: Blake, don't leave me!

[Corridor]

(drawing his gun Blake proceeds to a T-junction)

[Communications base - outer compound]

(Vila props up the two guards and follows Blake)

[Corridor]

BLAKE: Oy!
VILA: Oh, you gave me such a shock, you did...

[Liberator in orbit]

[Teleport room]

(Avon is loading demolition charges into a box)
AVON: All you've got to do with these is find a metal surface and they'll stick fast.
GAN: Right.
CALLY [OC]: They're taking too long.
AVON: That's the trouble with heroics, they seldom run to schedule.
JENNA: They'll find it. There's not going to be a sign up there saying 'This way to the cipher room'.
GAN: They may need help.
CALLY: I think so, too.
AVON: They would have called in.
JENNA [OC]: Avon's right.
AVON: I usually am.
JENNA: Blake says wait so we wait.

[Another corridor]

(as Blake and Vila arrive at a door, it opens. They hide and Prell wheels a bin out into the corridor and goes back inside. Blake nods to Vila and they burst in)

[Cipher room]

(a guard and three technicians are inside the room)
BLAKE: Stand still! Vila, get his gun.
VILA: All right, all of you, over there, against the wall. Quickly.
BLAKE: (into bracelet) Jenna, we found it. Standby.

[Teleport room]

BLAKE: (on communicator) Phase one is now complete. Get an absolute locator fix on my signal. As soon as you are set, put them down.
JENNA: Right.
AVON: It had better be right. A fraction out and you could put us down in the middle of the security barracks.
JENNA: Don't tempt me. (into communicator) Blake, can you give me a voice check?
BLAKE: Reading out. One, two, three, four. One, two...
JENNA: Right, that's it, got it. Locked on. Ready? ...Good luck. (into communicator) I'm putting them down ...now.

[Cipher room]

BLAKE: Do you know what you're looking for?
AVON: Yes.
BLAKE: All the equipment here?
GAN: All here.
BLAKE: (into communicator) Down and safe. Well done, Jenna.

[Teleport room]

(Jenna sits back, relieved)

[Cipher room]

BLAKE: Vila. Back down to the entrance. Keep the door covered. Cally, Gan, get the prisoners out of here, find somewhere to hold them. Cally, you stay with them. Gan, when you've started setting charges come back in here.
GAN: Right.
(Avon is working on a unit)
AVON: Blake! ...This is it.
BLAKE: You're sure?
AVON: It's been updated since the last one I saw, but it's still the same basic instrument.
BLAKE: You're absolutely positive?
AVON: Yes.
BLAKE: Good, disconnect it.

[Equipment store]

CALLY: Move on, move on. Stand facing those racks, ...and keep your hands up.
GAN: Can you handle it, Cally?
CALLY: Now then, ...don't move.

[Corridor]

(Gan sets a couple of demolition charges on the walls)

[Cipher room]

GAN: I've set the charges down the corridor.
BLAKE: All right, set a couple in here.
GAN: Two? One'd be sufficient.
BLAKE: I want total destruction so nothing can be recognised. If they sort through the debris and find the cipher machine is missing, all they'll do is change their code and we'll have wasted our time.

[Equipment store]

(as Cally checks out of the door Prell moves to pick up a canister on a rack but stops when Cally closes the door)

[Cipher room]

BLAKE: (indicating to Gan where to set a charge) Over there.
AVON: (handing Gan a tool) Gan.

[Communications base - outer compound]

(one of the guards has come to as Vila peeps out the double doors and hears a robot. As it passes the guard runs past and Vila follows him. Before Vila can stop him the guard sets off an alarm. Vila downs him and runs off)

[Cipher room]

(the alarm is sounding)
BLAKE: That's done it. Gan, watch the door. How are you doing?
AVON: Well, the main holders are released but I still can't get it free.
BLAKE: Here.
(Blake attempts to free the cipher unit)
AVON: It's secured by something that I can't quite fathom. Gan!
GAN: You'd better stand back.
(Gan reaches inside the unit and attempts to release the main holders)
BLAKE: Avon, keep an eye on the door.
BLAKE: Come on, Gan, hurry it up. Hurry up!

[Equipment store]

VILA: Cally.
CALLY: What?
VILA: I've just been spotted. The alarms are ringing. I thought you ought to know.
(Prell again moves to pick up the canister)
CALLY: I thought I told you not to move.

[Cipher room]

AVON: What are you doing here?
VILA: What do you think?
BLAKE: Lock the door!
(a guard appears outside the door)
BLAKE: Get down, both of you.
(Blake shoots him through the door. Blake, Avon and Vila block the door with a large equipment rack)
BLAKE: How are you doing?
GAN: I've broken two connections, just two to go.
BLAKE: You've got one minute left. (into communicator) Stand by, Jenna. We may have to get out of here very fast.

[Equipment store]

(footsteps are heard running outside. Prell throws the canister at Cally and rushes her)
PRELL: Come on, get her!
(as Prell grabs her a guard comes in and knocks her out)
PRELL: (to the guard) Right, you watch her. You three come with me.
(the guard puts Cally's gun and his helmet on a shelf. N.B. This is the first time we have seen a guard's face)
PUBLIC ADDRESS: Attention, please. This is base control. Red Alert! All security personnel to report to number one command post immediately.

[Communications base - outer compound]

(a patrol of guards is running along)

[Equipment store]

(Cally has come to and overcomes the guard. In the melee her bracelet comes off and she frantically searches for it)

[Cipher room]

GAN: Got it!
BLAKE: Right, everything into the bags. (into communicator) Jenna, stand by to bring us up in about ...twenty seconds.

[Equipment store]

(Cally still searches. A demolition charge can be heard ticking down)

[Cipher room]

BLAKE: (into communicator) Now!

[Equipment store]

(Cally still searches. The demolition charge is still ticking)

[Communications base - outer compound]

(the base is racked by explosions)

[Equipment store]

(amongst the devastation Cally lies face down, the bracelet nearby)

[Liberator in flight]

[Teleport room]

JENNA: So you got it.
BLAKE: It was close though.
AVON: Too close. Another few seconds we'd have all been blown up.
VILA: Well, it wasn't my fault.
AVON: Well, whose fault was it? I thought you were supposed to guard the corridor.
VILA: You were supposed to disconnect that thing, not rely on Gan tear to it loose with his teeth.
JENNA: All right, all right, now calm down. Are you sure this is it? It doesn't look like much.

[Flight deck]

BLAKE: Zen, retaliation status report.
ZEN: Detectors confirm massive launch of long-range interceptor rockets. They have locked on to Liberator's course and are in pursuit.
BLAKE: How long before we outrun them?
ZEN: Battle computers estimate seven hours to outrange interceptor tracking systems.
BLAKE: Maintain optimum evasive strategy.
ZEN: Battle computers confirm, optimum evasion strategy committed.

[Teleport room]

(Avon is explaining the cipher unit to Jenna, Vila and Gan)
AVON: ...so that all communication between Federation units is sent by hyperspace sub-beam. That originates here ...and here. All messages are converted into zeta three particles and then scrambled. They in their turn become an unbreakable code.
BLAKE: Unbreakable unless you have one of those.
AVON: As soon as I get this linked into our communications set up, we should be able to read every message that the Federation puts out.
JENNA: Any sign of the interceptors?
BLAKE: We picked up a whole flock of 'em, but we should outrun them in seven hours.
JENNA: It's almost too easy, isn't it?
BLAKE: A lot can happen in seven hours so I suggest we get back to business. Avon, I want you to make a start with that. Cally can help you. ...Where is Cally? Anybody see where she went? Has anybody seen her since she came back on board?
GAN: I haven't seen her.
VILA: Neither have I.
BLAKE: Then she's still down there. We've got to get back.
JENNA: We can't. The interceptors.
BLAKE: We can't just leave her there!
AVON: Blake, listen. If she didn't come back up, then she must have been in the building when the charges blew. She's dead.
VILA: And anyway, the place will be crawling with security forces by now. They'll be on full alert.
AVON: We'd never even get through their interceptors. Listen! ...If you turn this ship round, you will kill all of us.

[Space Headquarters exterior]

[Servalan's office]

(Rontane is speaking to Servalan)
RONTANE: ...which is why the President has asked me to come here personally to express his own very grave concern over this matter. The destruction of the communications centre has far-reaching political consequences. Controllers from some of the outer planets, whose loyalty to the Federation is, er, delicately balanced, have been openly critical of the Administration's defence system. There are even one or two radical voices that speak of withdrawal from the Federation.
BERCOL: My department has done all in its power to suppress information about Blake and his actions. There is a total blackout on all reports concerning him but, er, still the stories get out. They spread by word of mouth, by whispers, by rumour. Each time the story is told it is elaborated upon. Any damage to the Federation is attributed to Blake. The smallest incident is exaggerated out of all proportion until it becomes a major event. Blake is becoming a legend. His name is a rallying call for malcontents of all persuasions. He must be stopped.
SERVALAN: Gentlemen, I share the President's grave concern, and I am aware of the danger should Blake become a legend, but let us keep this matter in its correct perspective. It is true that Blake has command of a superb space vehicle, but ...he is just a man, backed by a handful of criminals, and that is all. He is not invulnerable, nor is he superhuman. He is just a man who has been extremely lucky to evade capture, ...so far.
RONTANE: With respect, Supreme Commander, we are aware of the facts. They are simply ...that with all the resources that the Federation can call upon, this one vulnerable, lucky man is still free to cause havoc.
SERVALAN: You have some criticism of my handling of this matter, Secretary Rontane?
RONTANE: Not at all, I hoped merely to convey the ...concern shown by the President when he briefed me for this visit.
BERCOL: It would be very helpful to all of us if we knew ...if you could indicate what action you will now be taking against Blake.
SERVALAN: Very well, Councillor Bercol. You may tell the President that I am appointing a Space Commander to take absolute control of this matter. He will be exclusively concerned to seek, locate, and destroy Blake.
BERCOL: Oh, excellent, excellent.
RONTANE: May we know the officer's name?
SERVALAN: Yes, you may. Space Commander Travis.
RONTANE: I understood that Travis had been suspended from duty pending an inquiry into the massacre of the civilians on the planet Auros.
SERVALAN: And I have satisfied myself that Travis acted correctly in this matter. The civilian deaths on Auros were unavoidable.
BERCOL: Er, there are other incidents on his record, um, unfortunate incidents.
RONTANE: He has caused the Administration some political embarrassment in the past. Er, in dealing with even minor insurrections, he has been, er, ...overzealous?
SERVALAN: Oh, don't be afraid of the word, Secretary. Ruthless. Committed. He does his duty as he sees it, and he sees it clearly. He has no time for the dirty grey areas of your politics.
RONTANE: I'm sure you're right, and of course the appointment is made on your judgement and, er, your responsibility.
SERVALAN: Responsibility is something I have never evaded, ...Secretary.
RONTANE: Ah. May I then tell the President that you are confident that the Blake problem will be solved, ...soon?
SERVALAN: You may tell him to prepare a statement announcing that Blake has been eliminated.
BERCOL: Thank you for your reassurances, Supreme Commander.
RONTANE: Goodbye.
SERVALAN: A safe journey back to Earth.
SERVALAN: (into communicator) Where is Space Commander Travis? He was due here one hour ago.
COMMUNICATIONS VOICE: His ship is locked into the station's flight grid. He will dock at precisely eighteen twenty-three.
SERVALAN: Good.
(a panel behind her desk slides open revealing a viewscreen with a shot of space)

[Liberator in flight]

SERVALAN [VO]: Your time is running out, Blake. Your time and your luck.

[Flight deck]

(Avon, Jenna and Gan are installing the cipher device. Blake is wandering around)
JENNA: There's nothing you could have done. It wasn't your fault.
BLAKE: And whose fault was it? I should have checked.
JENNA: Cally wasn't a child.
BLAKE: Wasn't she?
JENNA: She knew the risks. She accepted them. She even welcomed them.
BLAKE: She was ashamed to go back to her own people because she had survived when the rest of the freedom fighters were massacred.
JENNA: Well, that wasn't her fault.
BLAKE: Shame like hers is an emotion, Jenna. It isn't rational.
JENNA: Exactly, and so is guilt like yours. That's not rational, either.
BLAKE: It's ironic, isn't it? She was the only one of us who wasn't a convicted criminal.
JENNA: She convicted herself. You can't live like that. You've got to make peace with yourself, Blake, if you want to survive.
BLAKE: How are you coming with that?
AVON: The primaries are hooked into the main instrumentation, I just have to link up to a read-out.
ZEN: Attention. Liberator is now out of range of the interceptor's scanning systems. Detectors indicate the rockets have begun to self-destruct.
BLAKE: Have the navigation computers put in a course for the planet listing K-14.
ZEN: Course laid in.
JENNA: That's a Federation repair and supply base, isn't it?
AVON: Yes, for their deep space cruisers.
JENNA: Are we going to attack it?
BLAKE: One for Cally, ...because I want to survive.

[Space Headquarters exterior]

[Servalan's office]

SERVALAN: (into communicator) Yes?
COMMUNICATIONS VOICE: Space Commander Travis's ship has just docked.
SERVALAN: Have him report to me immediately. ...No, have him wait outside until I send for him.
(there is a knock at the door)
SERVALAN: Come in.
RAI: Central Intelligence transmitted the records you asked for, ma'am. I have the microtapes.
SERVALAN: Thank you, Rai. Leave them there.
RAI: I am told that Travis is docked.
SERVALAN: So I understand.
RAI: May I speak, Supreme Commander?
SERVALAN: Yes, of course, ...but why so formal, Rai? What can be so important that we can't discuss it in a more relaxed way? ...Oh, Rai, come here.
(they sit on a couch and Servalan strokes Rai's shoulder)
SERVALAN: Rai, I thought we were old friends.
RAI: I value our friendship a great deal.
SERVALAN: Yes. ...Well?
RAI: Senior echelon officers all know that Travis is coming.
SERVALAN: But I've made no secret of it.
RAI: Is it wise? They know that he has been stripped of his rank and authority. That he has no status now and that he stands a good chance of being dismissed the service.
SERVALAN: Rai, (touches his hair) Space Commander Travis is the subject of a military inquiry. He was ordered to suppress an attack on Auros.
RAI: The man is a butcher. He continued with his attack after the total surrender. The death toll was horrifying.
(Servalan stands up abruptly and goes behind her desk. Rai moves to stand in front of it)
SERVALAN: Travis is an advocate of total war. He carries out his orders with meticulous thoroughness. An enemy does not cease to be an enemy simply because it has surrendered.
RAI: That's the philosophy of an assassin, not a Federation officer. ...I must tell you that there are those among your officers who will not serve with Travis ...or take orders from him.
SERVALAN: And you may tell them, ...whoever they are, ...that Space Commander Travis's rank and authority have been fully restored by my order. I have also appointed him Senior Executive Officer of this station. Is that clear?
RAI: Yes, Supreme Commander.
SERVALAN: Let them know, too, that any lack of cooperation, any hesitation in responding to an order, will be treated as mutiny. Let them know I have said this. Dismissed!
(communicator bleeps twice)
SERVALAN: Yes?
COMMUNICATIONS VOICE: It's Commander Travis. I told him he was to wait but he just pushed past me. He's on his way up. I tried to stop him...
SERVALAN: Very well.
(Travis comes in and approaches Servalan's desk. We can see a gloved left hand)
SERVALAN: ...Space Commander, it is good to see you.
TRAVIS [OC]: Your aide said I was to wait. He was obviously mistaken. He doesn't realise the urgency of the matter.
(Servalan places a paper before him which he reads)
TRAVIS: These are your orders?
SERVALAN: Destroy Blake.
TRAVIS: Depend on it.

[Flight deck]

AVON: It's working.
JENNA: Well done.
AVON: Now let's see how well. Jenna, see if you can isolate the Federation's signal beam.
JENNA: ...That's it.
AVON: Now, feed that into the cipher control . . . and there it is.
(the viewscreen shows the decryption in progress)
BLAKE: Well done, Avon.
AVON: Under the circumstances, it would have been a great pity if it hadn't worked. Gan, basic unscrambler?
(Gan hands Avon and Jenna a pair of headphones with which they listen to the signal with an earpiece each)
BLAKE: What are you getting?
AVON: Just routine movement orders, statistical information. I'll rig a selective data link into their battle computers. It'll be useful background information.
(the headphones are being passed between Blake, Jenna and Avon)
JENNA: We should monitor what we're getting, we'll need a rota of some sort.
BLAKE: Yeah, good idea. ...We should know more about the Federation than the President. ...I presume there's a recall record?
AVON: It's all going onto microtape.
BLAKE: You've done a good job, Avon. Thank you.
AVON: At least I'll know what the Federation is planning.
(Avon has the headphones)
AVON: Just a minute.
BLAKE: Something?
AVON: A message beamed into Centero.
JENNA: But we've just destroyed their communications base.
AVON: They're using emergency frequencies.
BLAKE: What's the message?
AVON: Some flight clearance. Priority spaceway for a ship going in from Space Headquarters. The Supreme Commander requests that all personnel give maximum cooperation to the incoming officer.
JENNA: Does it give his name?
AVON: Space Commander Travis.
BLAKE: Travis!
JENNA: Do you know him?
BLAKE: I thought he was dead. I was sure I'd killed him.

[Cipher room]

(technicians are tidying up as Travis comes in)
TRAVIS: Stop! What are these men doing here?
PRELL: Well, I didn't think it would matter if we made a start on clearing up the worst of the damage.
TRAVIS: My orders were that nothing was to be touched in this room Nothing. Get out! ...Out! ...Go through the sequence of events.
PRELL: From the beginning, sir?
TRAVIS: Well, naturally.
PRELL: Well, two armed men came through the door. From the description you've given me, one of them was certainly Blake.
TRAVIS: Go on.
PRELL: Well, we were made to stand against the wall. Then a minute later, three more of them just appeared.
TRAVIS: Appeared?
PRELL: Well, materialised, sir. My men and I were taken out by a man and a girl. It was the girl who kept us prisoner in the equipment store. We overpowered her, the demolition charges went off, sir. Well, we were lucky to get out alive.
TRAVIS: How long were Blake and his men in here?
PRELL: Five, ten minutes, not more.
TRAVIS: Five or ten minutes? They could have set demolition charges in thirty seconds. What were they doing in that extra time?
PRELL: Perhaps they had trouble getting them to work, sir.
TRAVIS: And why did they take you and your men out of here?
PRELL: I suppose they thought it was safer with us out of the way.
TRAVIS: No. ...No. ...There's something missing. ...I'm missing something.
...Do you still have the original construction plans for this room?
PRELL: They'll be on record, sir.
TRAVIS: And detailed diagrams of all the circuits?
PRELL: Yes.
TRAVIS: Good. I'm sending in a forensic team. I want a full catalogue of every item in this room.
PRELL: But, sir...
TRAVIS: Everything must be accounted for.
PRELL: But, sir, ...well, that could take months, sir, if it's possible at all.
TRAVIS: Prell, if I were you I'd make it possible. I want that catalogue in twenty hours.
PRELL: Sir.
(there is a bleep. Prell takes a handheld communicator out his pocket)
PRELL: (into communicator) Yes? ...Right!
TRAVIS: What is it?
PRELL: They found something, under the rubble. I think you'd better come along.

[Equipment store]

(Eldon is examining the body of the dead guard)
PRELL: Where is it?
ELDON: It's over there, sir.
PRELL: It's the girl who was holding us prisoner, sir.
TRAVIS: Is she dead?
PRELL: I'll check, sir.
(Eldon passes Cally's gun to Travis)
ELDON: We found this, sir.
TRAVIS: Hm?
PRELL: Sir.
TRAVIS: Hm.
PRELL: She's alive.
TRAVIS: You. Get a medical squad. Move!
ELDON: Yes sir.
PRELL: She'll pull through all right sir, she's lucky.
TRAVIS: No, we are. Her luck ran out when she didn't die. The medics are to give her emergency treatment and put her into a life support capsule. I take off for the space station in one hour.
PRELL: Right sir.

[Space Headquarters exterior]

[Servalan's office]

(Travis, sitting at Servalan's desk, is looking through close-up images of Blake on the viewscreen)
SERVALAN [OC]: Shouldn't you rest now?
TRAVIS: Is this all the information we have on Blake?
SERVALAN: I checked with Intelligence personally. It's all there.
TRAVIS: Have you approved my requisitions for personnel and equipment?
SERVALAN: The ships you want, the Starburst-class, I'm not sure I can get them.
TRAVIS [OC]: What?
SERVALAN: There've only been three of them built so far, and they've already been assigned to the Galactic Eighth Fleet.
TRAVIS: Well, get them reassigned to you. Look, from what we already know about Blake's ship, it's vastly superior to anything we've got. If I'm to stand even a reasonable chance of taking him, I need those three high-range pursuit ships.
SERVALAN: You'll have them.
TRAVIS: What about my crew?
SERVALAN: Already assigned. ...Why Mutoids particularly?
TRAVIS: Why Mutoids? I've always thought that individuals with a high bionic rebuild were more reliable, less likely to let emotion interfere with judgement or duty. I ...give a Mutoid priority over a man every time, (pointing to his gloved left hand) ...or perhaps it's this that gives me a fellow feeling.
SERVALAN [OC]: Does it still trouble you?
TRAVIS: Well, not in the way you mean. The surgical mechanics did a perfect refit. I had the Weaponry Division make a few ...adaptations. They built in a laseron destroyer, more powerful than any sidearm. No, the hand is fine, better than the original. It only troubles me because it's a constant reminder that the man who caused it is still alive.
SERVALAN: Blake. That's why I choose you.
TRAVIS [OC]: Oh?
SERVALAN: I've read all the reports, of course. But none of them said what happened. None of them explained about your face.
TRAVIS: What about my face?
SERVALAN: It was patched up by a field medic.
TRAVIS: Man saved my life.
SERVALAN: But why did you never let the surgeons finish the job?
TRAVIS: What are you suggesting, cosmetic surgery? I'm a field officer, not one of your decorative staff men.
SERVALAN: You're certainly not decorative.
TRAVIS: You find it repulsive?
SERVALAN: I find it ...unpleasing.
TRAVIS: But memorable. You wouldn't mistake me for anyone else.
SERVALAN [OC]: Hardly.
TRAVIS: Mm, neither will Blake. Even after all this time, he'll know me, and remember what happened at our first meeting.
SERVALAN: Tell me.
TRAVIS: It was quite early on. Blake had only been involved with the dissidents for a short while, but he already had a following. He organised some attacks against some of our political rehabilitation centres, released some of the prisoners who were having indoctrination treatment. I was assigned to deal with the matter. We got information that Blake was planning another raid. We knew the location of the meeting point. I made my plans well in advance...
(image of Blake on the viewscreen)
BLAKE [VO]: ...The group had arranged to meet in a sub-basement. There were about thirty of us...

[Flight deck]

(Blake is relating the story to Jenna, Avon, Vila and Gan)
BLAKE: ...I was very particular about security. I had our people watch the entrances and exits for a full twenty-four hours before we were supposed to meet. No Federation forces came anywhere near the place. I was absolutely sure that we were safe. That night we were assembled and about to begin, and Travis and his men suddenly appeared from nowhere.
AVON: Didn't you post any guards?
BLAKE: Of course I did. Travis was already there. He'd been hiding in that basement for more than two days. We made no attempt to resist arrest. There was no point, we had no chance. I said to Travis, 'We will offer no resistance'. and he just stared at me, and then he ordered his men to open fire. Everybody was diving for cover that wasn't there. I, I ran. I found myself grappling with a guard, and I managed to get his gun away from him, and then I was hit in the leg, but as I went down, I saw Travis and I fired. I saw him fall. I was sure I'd killed him.
JENNA: What happened then?
BLAKE: Oh, they did a memory erase on me, set up a show trial, had me confess, made me explain that I had been misled, that my political ideas were mistaken. Enough people believed me. The whole resistance movement collapsed. After that the Federation kept me around as a, a reformed character, a, a sort of ideal model citizen exhibit. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. No, it's only ...since almost exactly the same thing has happened again, that the memory erase has begun to fade and I can remember.
AVON: Do you remember enough to recognise Travis again?
BLAKE: The man who killed twenty of my friends? Oh, yes. I'll recognise him.

[Medical laboratory]

TRAVIS: (on viewscreen) What is her condition?
DOCTOR: There's some superficial bruising, a slight respiratory problem, other than that she's virtually unharmed. There's really no need for her to remain in the life support capsule.
TRAVIS: (on viewscreen) No, she'll stay where she is for the moment. It'll make her more responsive to interrogation later.
DOCTOR: She's not yet well enough to submit to intensive questioning. She must have rest...
TRAVIS: (on viewscreen) Yes, thank you very much indeed, Doctor, you are relieved of your responsibility for the prisoner. She is now the property, ...the concern of the Interrogation Division. (to Cally) We'll want to know about Blake, the ship, his crew, his plans.
CALLY: Your words are meaningless to me. Who is Blake?
TRAVIS: (on viewscreen) I think you'll remember, quite soon. Oh, there may be a little pain, a little discomfort, but you will remember.
CALLY: I will tell you nothing.
TRAVIS: (on viewscreen) I'll come back later. By that time you may have answered my questions. You may begin.
(technicians begin to mix two liquids as Cally watches apprehensively)

[Cipher room]

ELDON: What do you make of this, sir?
PRELL: Where did you find it?
ELDON: It was embedded in the wall.
PRELL: Strange, it looks like part of the inner workings, and yet the surface scoring would suggest that it was exposed at the time of the explosion.
ELDON: Hm.
PRELL: Check its code number.
ELDON: Fourteen-twenty-nine.
PRELL: Fourteen-twenty-nine, relay boost. Prime link is to component fourteen-thirty. What have we salvaged for that classification?
ELDON: Nothing.
PRELL: Nothing?
ELDON: Not a fragment.
PRELL: Of course, ...it's obvious. Obvious!
ELDON: What is it?
PRELL: (into communicator) Priority message to Space Commander Travis. Delivery by Category One courier. Message begins...

[Servalan's office]

(Travis is listening to Prell's report)
PRELL [VO]: ...thorough check of salvaged material reveals no trace of parts used in manufacture of component fourteen-thirty. It is virtually certain therefore that the instrument was removed before the explosion. Component...
TRAVIS: Blake got the cipher machine.
SERVALAN: He's able to read everything we transmit. Forward planning movements, security, everything.
TRAVIS: That's right.
SERVALAN: I must advise Central Security. We'll have to introduce a new code system immediately.
TRAVIS: No, no. If the code system is changed Blake will know we are on to him.
SERVALAN: That's not important. What matters is that our security is wide open.
TRAVIS: Listen to me. We know that Blake is reading us. If we transmit a message in the normal routine way he'll intercept it, hm? Now what if that message was something he wanted to hear? Something that we know would bring him to a particular place.
SERVALAN: A place where we would be waiting for him.
TRAVIS: Exactly.

[Flight deck]

(Jenna is listening on the headphones as Federation communications traffic displays on the viewscreen)
JENNA: (into communicator) Blake, can you get down here fast?
(Blake comes in)
BLAKE: What is it?
JENNA: This just came through on the cipher.
BLAKE: Read it.
JENNA: 'Space headquarters priority. Injured female prisoner taken after attack on communications base, planet Centero. To be held for treatment and interrogation'.
BLAKE: She's alive.
VILA: I knew she wasn't dead.
AVON: No, you didn't.
VILA: No, I didn't. I'm going to tell Gan.
AVON: Treatment and interrogation, that doesn't sound too promising.
BLAKE: She's alive. That's all that matters. Zen, immediate course change. Direct route to Centero, speed standard by six.
ZEN: Confirmed.
BLAKE: I want a repeat readout of everything in the databanks concerning Centero. The whole lot again.
ZEN: Confirmed.
BLAKE: I want it now.
AVON: Blake, what are you planning? What exactly have you got in mind?
BLAKE: I'm not sure yet.
JENNA: We could make a really fast strike. They wouldn't be expecting anything.
AVON: Oh, I admire your confidence.
JENNA: Well, surprise is the only thing we've got on our side.
BLAKE: Yes, well, however we do it, one way or another, we are gonna to get Cally out of there.

[Liberator turning in space]

[Flight deck]

ZEN: The banks have collated the required information. Liberator is turning onto new course heading, now!
(as Liberator approaches the planet, guards move into position around the Centero base. Cally is being dragged through the base by her feet)

[Base office]

ESCON [OC]: Base Commander Escon reporting, sir.
TRAVIS: Yes, Base Commander?
ESCON [OC]: I've escorted the prisoner to the interrogation room and my men have been briefed to keep out of sight until you give the signal.
TRAVIS: Good. Blake is to get right inside the building before anybody makes a move.
ESCON [OC]: Understood, sir.
TRAVIS: Sit down, Base Commander.
ESCON [OC]: Thank you, sir.
TRAVIS: How are your units deployed?
ESCON: We have the whole area circled. Squads on every roof, destructors with wide firing spread around every wall. Once they're inside there's no way they're going to get out again.
TRAVIS: Good. Space Watch reports?
ESCON: An unidentified ship entered our upper atmosphere about an hour before you arrived.
TRAVIS: Blake's?
ESCON: We assume so.
TRAVIS: Why?
ESCON: Because it came in close and then raced back out again. Our guess is that it was doing a fast ground survey.
TRAVIS: Seems reasonable. Where is it now?
ESCON: In fixed orbit, about a quarter of a million out.
TRAVIS: Quarter of a million? They won't be able to use their teleport at that range. They'll have to come in closer and they can't do that without our knowing it, which leaves just one chance factor, exactly where they'll teleport down. The odds are against them being able to zero in on the interrogation room.
ESCON [OC]: I think we have that beaten, too, sir.

[Monitoring room]

TRAVIS [VO]: Oh?
ESCON: (on a monitor screen) My research people have rigged up the entire complex with an MSD.
TRAVIS [VO]: What?
ESCON: (on a monitor screen) A molecular shift detector, sir.

[Base office]

ESCON: Apparently there's an enormous kinetic potential set up by teleport communications. A rough analogy would be the, ...the static build-up during an electrical storm.
TRAVIS: Yes, well, I'm always grateful for a rough analogy. What does it do?
ESCON: It tells us exactly where and when they land.
TRAVIS: It's perfect.
ESCON [OC]: He still may not come.
TRAVIS: Oh, he'll come. He wouldn't abandon the girl. Not Blake. Right, it starts now. Get under cover.
ESCON [OC]: Sir.
TRAVIS: Oh, and Base Commander, remember, Blake is to get right inside the building. Let him find me and the girl before anybody makes a move. Is that clearly understood?
ESCON: Understood, sir.

[Interrogation room]

TRAVIS: I hope you're not too uncomfortable. It won't be long now.
CALLY: You're wasting your time. Blake will not risk his ship and his crew just for me.
TRAVIS: I've studied that man till I know him better than I know myself. He has one reliable flaw, loyalty. He'll come for you. I'll stake my life on it.
(communicator bleeps)
TRAVIS: (into communicator) Yes?
COMMUNICATIONS VOICE: No movement yet from Blake's ship. Still holding a fixed orbit.
TRAVIS [OC]: Let me know the minute it starts in.
COMMUNICATIONS VOICE: Yes sir.
TRAVIS: I'm sorry about this, but I don't want you doing anything foolish, like shouting out for help. Now this won't hurt.
(Travis operates a switch in the wall and Cally freezes in the interrogation chair with a moan. Travis goes outside of the building, looks at the security arrangements and then returns to find Cally no longer in the chair. Blake grabs him from behind)
BLAKE: A trick I learned from you, Travis. I got here first. Take his gun, Cally.
CALLY: Know this, your interrogators caused me much suffering. I should like a reason to kill you, one small movement will be enough.
BLAKE [OC]: (into communicator) I got her, Jenna. Bring the ship to teleport range.
JENNA: (on communicator) On our way.
CALLY: Now, Travis, your turn, you get in the chair.
(Travis sits, covering the laseron destroyer)
BLAKE: Don't feel too badly, Travis. After all, it was an ambush technique you devised.
TRAVIS: You're not out of this yet.
COMMUNICATIONS VOICE: Blake's ship is moving, coming in very fast.
BLAKE: We'll be leaving in about three minutes. I should use the time to think of an excuse for your failure.
TRAVIS: You'd better kill me, Blake. Until one of us is dead, there'll never be a time when I won't be right behind you.
BLAKE: If not you then somebody else. Killing you'll change nothing. You ...don't ...matter ...enough ...to kill, ...Travis.
(as Blake looks out of the door, Travis moves his thumb to activate the laseron destroyer. Cally spots him)
CALLY: Blake, get down!
(Blake ducks and smashes Travis' artificial hand)
TRAVIS: Ahrgh!
BLAKE: The door, Cally! They'll be coming.
BLAKE: (into communicator) How long, Jenna?
JENNA: (on communicator) Ninety seconds.
BLAKE: Make it faster.
CALLY: They're coming!
BLAKE: Get down.
(the door is blasted down)
TRAVIS: Take them!
JENNA: In teleport range now.
TRAVIS: It doesn't matter about me.
JENNA: We're bringing you up.
TRAVIS: I order you to take them!
(Blake and Cally dematerialise)
TRAVIS: Don't stand there, you idiots! Launch the interceptors.

[Teleport room]

VILA: Welcome back. We thought you'd decided to stay.
BLAKE: Bit close that time, Jenna.
VILA: Anyway, we're glad you are safe, aren't we? ...Aren't we?
AVON: Yes, I'm glad you're all right.
BLAKE: Those interceptors will be lifting off any minute now. Let's get on with it.
BLAKE: (into communicator) Gan, get the ship moving. Full interceptor evasion.

[Flight deck]

GAN: Check. Zen, battle computers to interceptor evasion.
(Jenna, Avon and Vila join Gan)
GAN: Then take us out, speed standard by six.
ZEN: Your instructions are confirmed. Speed is now standard by six.

[Teleport room]

CALLY: Blake, ...thank you.
BLAKE: Too many of my friends are already dead, Cally. I can't afford to lose another one. ...Travis's gun? I'll take that.

[Interrogation room]

(a technician working on Travis's mechanical hand causes him pain. Travis strikes him)
TRAVIS: Run, Blake.

[Liberator in flight]

TRAVIS [VO]: Run, as far and as fast as you like. I'll find you.

[Interrogation room]

TRAVIS: You can't hide from me. I am your death, ...Blake.