[Scorpio takes off from Xenon]

[Flight deck]

TARRANT: All main drives and boosters running.
(explosions detonate throughout Xenon base)

[Scorpio leaves orbit]

[Flight deck]

SLAVE: All explosive devices have functioned correctly, Master. The base complex has been totally destroyed.
AVON: Thank you, Slave.
VILA: I never liked that place anyway.
SOOLIN: Especially not once the wine ran out.
DAYNA: You know, I still don't think Zukan told the Federation.
VILA: About the wine?
DAYNA: About the location of the base.
TARRANT: Why not? Wouldn't you expect someone who'd betray his own daughter to betray everything else?
AVON: And if he didn't, one of the others will, sooner or later.
SOOLIN: Sooner, definitely. Your anti-Federation alliance wasn't worth spit without Zukan.
AVON: A slight exaggeration.
SOOLIN: You think so?
AVON: Nobody is indispensable!
SOOLIN: You needed a figurehead. He was it, or am I wrong?
AVON: You are right, but then figureheads aren't too difficult to come by. Any idiot can be one.
DAYNA: Hey. On your feet, Vila. This could be your big moment.
AVON: Any idiot within reason, that is.
TARRANT: You going to tell us what we've got planned, Avon?
VILA: We know what we've got planned. Running away is what we've got planned.
DAYNA: A strategic withdrawal is what we've got planned.
VILA: There's a difference?
TARRANT: Oh, yes. A strategic withdrawal is running away ...but with dignity.
VILA: So lay in a course and let's get the dignified hell out of here.
TARRANT: That isn't the plan anymore, though, is it Avon?
AVON: I think we can do better.
VILA: Does that mean safer?
AVON: In the end, winning is the only safety.
VILA: It doesn't mean safer. I didn't think it would.
TARRANT: So what does it mean?
AVON: It means I think we can find ourselves another figurehead, someone we can use to unify and expand the Rebel Alliance.
SOOLIN: Just like that.
AVON: More or less. ...He is strongly identified with rebels, you see, and very popular with rabbles. They will follow him, and he will fight ...to the last drop of their blood. ...Idealism is a wonderful thing. All you really need is someone rational to put it to proper use.
DAYNA: Someone like you!
TARRANT: So where do we find this useable idealist?
AVON: According to Orac, he is on a frontier planet called Gauda Prime.
SOOLIN: Gauda Prime?
TARRANT: You know it?
SOOLIN: Yes, I know it. It's a bad place to be. No self-respecting idealist would be found dead there.
AVON: I imagine that is what he is trying to avoid, being found dead anywhere.
TARRANT: Look, are you going to stop playing games and tell us who it is, Avon?
VILA: ...It's Blake, isn't it? ...You think you've found Blake.

[Gauda Prime surface]

(Blake, unshaven and sitting by a campfire in forest, hears a twig snap. He turns his head which shows he has a large scar from the corner of his left eye down his cheek. He feeds the fire, turns the small animal he is cooking on a temporary spit and gets up and leans against a tree. He has a gun tucked in the front of his belt and a knife in a scabbard on the back of it)
BLAKE: Whoever you are, I'll share the food, ...so long as you stop skulking about out there.
(another twig snaps)
BLAKE: You're not exactly stealthy, are you. ...I've heard quieter troop transporters.
ARLEN [OC]: You're looking in the wrong direction.
BLAKE: I know, ...but at least you're out in the open now, aren't you?
(Arlen appears with a gun trained on Blake)
ARLEN: If this is a trap, you won't live to see it sprung.
BLAKE: Where'd you get that gun?
ARLEN: I won it in a lottery. What do you care?
BLAKE: I don't, ...so long as it wasn't issued to you.
ARLEN: It's Federation.
BLAKE: That's what I mean.
ARLEN: Do I look like one of theirs?
BLAKE: ...I can't really tell anymore. ...You hungry?
ARLEN: Yes.
BLAKE: So am I.
(she lowers the gun and joins him to share the meat which he cuts with his knife)

[Flight deck]

DAYNA: But Servalan told us he was dead.
AVON: And you believed her?
DAYNA: Well, she had no reason to lie.
AVON: She doesn't need one. It comes quite naturally to her, like breathing.
TARRANT: The last time you went after Blake, it was a trap. We were lucky to get out.
VILA: Cally didn't get out.
DAYNA: And Blake wasn't even there.
VILA: Never had been.
AVON: Do you take me for a fool?
SOOLIN: Only a fool would go to Gauda Prime without a very good reason.
(Avon plugs in Orac's activator)
AVON: Orac, what proof do we have that Blake is on Gauda Prime?
ORAC: That is where his trail ends.
TARRANT: What trail? Explain.
ORAC: The chain of cause and effect amounts to a trail, if you can follow it.
VILA: I can't even follow you.
ORAC: Everything has an effect on everything else around it. It is not easy to trace one line through the pattern of infinity, but in this case, I have. Blake is on Gauda Prime.
TARRANT: How long have you known?
AVON: ...Long enough.
DAYNA: Before Zukan.
AVON: Oh, yes, and the answer to your next question is, 'Yes', I would have left Blake where he was and said nothing if things had gone according to plan.
TARRANT: Oh, I must try and work that into the conversation when we meet him.
VILA: If we meet him.
SOOLIN: Still not convinced?
VILA: You tell me what a line through the pattern of infinity is...

[Scorpio in flight]

VILA [OC]: ...and I'll tell you whether I'm convinced or not.

[Gauda Prime surface]

BLAKE: You sure they were bounty hunters?
ARLEN: Well, it's not my irresistible charm that keeps them coming.
BLAKE: How long have they been tracking you?
ARLEN: Long enough. ...You ask a lot of questions.
BLAKE: Try answering one occasionally, maybe I'll stop.
ARLEN: I've got a better idea.
(she gets up and produces a handgun which she points at him)
ARLEN: ...Thanks for the food. You can keep the Federation gun as payment.
BLAKE: There's no charge.
ARLEN: Arlen pays her debts.
BLAKE: ...I'll keep the gun.
(Arlen backs away and as she turns to go a bounty hunter armed with a knife jumps down from a tree in front of her. She shoots him. Two more appear. She shoots one but the second shoots her in the leg. She falls to the ground and drops her gun. As she reaches out to retrieve it the bounty hunter approaches her. Blake shoots him with the gun Arlen left behind)
ARLEN: Give me my gun, and get down, quick. I think there were four of them tracking me.
BLAKE: There were, and then there was one.
ARLEN: You scum!
BLAKE: Don't bother calling me names, girl. Not after the killing you've done.
(she reaches for her gun again but Blake kicks it away)
BLAKE: There's a premium for bringing you back alive, ...but I'll kill you if I have to. ...The price for you dead isn't bad, ...but I'm not a greedy man.

[Flight deck]

VILA: I can't see Blake doing anything like that.
ORAC: My interpretation of the data leaves little room for error.
VILA: Hunting people for money? Not him.
TARRANT: Avon?
AVON: Why ask me?
DAYNA: Because you and Vila know him. We don't. Could he be a bounty hunter, do you think?
AVON: Does it matter?
TARRANT: It might, there's still a price on our heads from the old days.
SOOLIN: Not on GP, there isn't.
VILA: GP?
AVON: I imagine that is what the locals call Gauda Prime. (to Soolin) Your home planet.
SOOLIN: I grew up there, yes, but for a home you need a family and mine were murdered when the Federation declared Gauda Prime an 'Open Planet'.
AVON: A general suspension of the penal code.
SOOLIN: That's right.
DAYNA: You mean there's no law at all?
SOOLIN: It's the fast way to get resources exploited, in this case mineral resources.
DAYNA: I don't understand.
VILA: Neither do I. How does junking the law speed up mining?
SOOLIN: GP was an agricultural world. The settlers were sent there to grow crops, raise timber. They were farmers, my family among them. They were given title to the land.
AVON: And then somebody discovered there was more profit under the ground than there was on top of it, only the farmers were in the way, and the law was on their side. Hence the 'Open Planet' designation.
TARRANT: What, get rid of the law you get rid of the problem? (to Avon) You seem to know a lot about it.
AVON: Orac is an excellent research tool. Do you imagine I would take us in blind?
TARRANT: You've done it before.
DAYNA: What happened to your family?
SOOLIN: When the mining corporations moved in, the farmers moved out. Those that didn't were murdered.
VILA: And it wasn't even a crime.
SOOLIN: Oh yes, it was a crime all right. It just wasn't illegal.
VILA: That's what I meant.
SOOLIN: I hope so.
TARRANT: Planet must have been a draw for every crook and killer in the quadrant.
AVON: A lot of people made a lot of money.
SOOLIN: Some even lived to enjoy it.
AVON: I imagine they are the ones who now want the planet returned to normal legal status.
SOOLIN: You're not serious!
AVON: Orac?
ORAC: A formal application was laid before the High Council on Earth within the last thirty days. I could get you the exact date...
SLAVE: Er, I don't wish to interrupt, Master...
ORAC: Then kindly don't.
SLAVE: I wasn't talking to you.
ORAC: You were attempting to override a superior system. Be silent! ...the exact date, if you wish, but the importance of the application lies not in its exact date, but in its general requirements.
TARRANT: Which are?
ORAC: That the citizens of Gauda Prime put their house in order. Law must be established before the benefits of law can be restored.
AVON: It is the day of the bounty hunter. Thieves, ...killers, ...mercenaries, ...psychopaths, are as unwelcome now as the farmers once were.
(as Avon is saying this the faces of Vila, Dayna and Soolin, Tarrant and then Avon are shown. An alarm goes off)
TARRANT: Slave, what's wrong?!
SLAVE: Well, nothing is actually wrong, sir, ...yet.
AVON: Explain the alarm, Slave.
(the alarm stops)
SLAVE: I had to get your attention, Master, and I was forbidden to speak unless spoken to.
AVON: All right, you're spoken to. What is it?
SLAVE: I beg to advise you, Master, that we're approaching the planet Gauda Prime, ...and Scorpio is under attack!
(an explosion rocks Scorpio)

[Gauda Prime surface]

ARLEN: How much further to your flyer?
(her leg has a temporary bandage on it and she hobbles along with the aid of long stick)
ARLEN: ...I can't walk any further.
BLAKE: Yes, you can.
ARLEN: Why don't you just kill me?
BLAKE: I told you, you're worth more alive.
(Arlen turns and tries to hit Blake with the stick. He steps back and she falls to the ground and cries out)
BLAKE: Get up, girl.
ARLEN: Arlen. My name is Arlen.
BLAKE: That's the name they're paying for.
ARLEN: That's right. I made them pay for it, so use it, scum.
BLAKE: Blake. ...My name is Roj Blake.

[Flight deck]

(explosions continue to rock Scorpio which is out of control)
VILA: Who the hell are they?
DAYNA: Who the hell cares?
VILA: They could be making a mistake.
SOOLIN: It doesn't seem to affect their aim.

[Two alien single-manned gunships pursue Scorpio]

[Scorpio in flight]

[Flight deck]

(there are more explosions before Scorpio stabilises)
AVON: Burnout on drive two. ...Overall power loss is thirty-two percent.
TARRANT: Alignment on three and four is drifting.
AVON: ...This won't hold it for long.
TARRANT: Have we shaken any of them off?
SOOLIN: Not exactly.
VILA: Not remotely. There's four more coming on zero-two-three.
DAYNA: And two more on the reciprocal bearing.
SOOLIN: They'll have us in strike range in twenty-five seconds.
TARRANT: We're running out of options.
(Gauda Prime appears on the viewscreen)
AVON: Power dive the atmosphere! Fake it! Make it look as though we're out of control!
TARRANT: I may not have to fake that.
(another explosion rocks Scorpio)
AVON: Do it!
TARRANT: All right, everybody, stand by for a rather sudden visit to Gauda Prime.

[Scorpio in flight]

[Two alien single-manned gunships veer off]

[Flight deck]

SOOLIN: They're not following us down.
DAYNA: They're breaking away, all of them.
VILA: They're falling for it.
TARRANT: So are we!
AVON: It was a calculated risk.
DAYNA: What's wrong?
AVON: There isn't enough power to get us back out.
TARRANT: Or enough control to land.
VILA: You mean we're really gonna crash?!
SOOLIN: No wonder they were convinced!
VILA: There must be something we can do!
AVON: I'll accept suggestions!
VILA: How does 'Abandon ship!' grab you?
TARRANT: Well, it's a neat trick if you can do it!
VILA: We can use the teleport!
AVON: He's right!
DAYNA: What, at this speed?
AVON: Do you want to wait around until we hit something soft? Come on, you're wasting time.
SOOLIN: Another calculated risk?
DAYNA: Try and get the sums right this time!
AVON: Are you ready?
VILA: No, but do it anyway!
AVON: Good luck!

[Gauda Prime surface]

(Vila, Dayna and Soolin teleport in, hear Scorpio and start to run)

[Flight deck]

(On Scorpio, Avon prepares to move Orac)
AVON: Orac, on my order I want you to operate the teleport.
ORAC: Very well, but the previous coordinates can only be matched approximately.
(Avon picks up Orac)
AVON: Come on, Tarrant.
TARRANT: I can't.
AVON: What?!
TARRANT: ...If I leave the controls for a second, she'll flip over and break up.
AVON: ...Slave, take over the flight controls.
SLAVE: I am most humbly sorry, Master, but I can find ...no flight controls.
TARRANT: It dropped below his tolerance a couple of minutes ago. It's only a computer, Avon. It takes talent to fly a dead ship. Look, there's nothing you can do. You're not a good enough pilot.
AVON: I can see that.
TARRANT: So get the hell out of here, will you? There's no point in both of us dying.
(Avon picks up Orac again and makes his way to the teleport area)
AVON: Are you ready, Orac?
ORAC: Of course I am.
AVON: Then do it! ...Goodbye, Tarrant.

[Gauda Prime surface]

(Avon teleports in and shields Orac as he hears Scorpio)

[Flight deck]

TARRANT: Slave, any crash systems still functioning, put them online.
SLAVE: Yes sir. Am I to understand that you are going to try and ground the ship, sir?
TARRANT: I'm going to turn it first.

[Gauda Prime surface]

(Vila, Dayna and Soolin take cover)

[Scorpio approaches the treetops]

[Flight deck]

SLAVE: The ground is very close, sir.
TARRANT: I know that!

[Gauda Prime surface]

(Scorpio crash lands through the trees)
AVON: All right, Orac, where is the nearest settlement and how do I get to it?

[Gauda Prime control centre]

(Blake empties a pouch of jewels into his hand. Arlen is on a viewscreen)
DEVA: Checks are finished. She is who you say she is.
BLAKE: I wouldn't have brought her in if I hadn't made sure.
DEVA: Yes, you're good at this, aren't you.
BLAKE: I'm still alive.
DEVA: According to her ...three of your erstwhile colleagues no longer share that happy condition.
BLAKE: Happy condition?
DEVA: She says you killed one of them.
BLAKE: So?
(Deva turns off the viewscreen)
DEVA: Was it necessary?
BLAKE: Yes, Deva, it was necessary.
DEVA: One bounty hunter killing another?
BLAKE: It's a competitive profession.
DEVA: ...That isn't funny.
BLAKE: Neither was Tando.
DEVA: Tando?
BLAKE: Um hm.
DEVA: Oh. ...Oh, ...it was Tando you killed.
BLAKE: Does it make a difference?
DEVA: He's worse than the people he hunted.
BLAKE: He didn't have a price on him, though, did he?
DEVA: It was only a matter of time.
BLAKE: Isn't everything? Who's next on the list?
DEVA: Er...
(he hands him two perspex sheets)
BLAKE: Thank you.
(communicator bleeps)
DEVA: (into communicator) Deva.

[Gauda Prime tracking gallery]

KLYN: (into communicator) It's Klyn.
DEVA: (on communicator) Yes, Klyn?
KLYN: We've been tracking a ship that tried to run the blockade.
DEVA: Did it get through?
KLYN: There was a full squadron of gunships on its tail when it hit the atmosphere.
DEVA: It didn't, then.
KLYN: Bits of it, maybe.
DEVA: What was it? Do you know?
KLYN: A planet hopper from the scope reading. Might have been Wanderer-class. We estimate it must have crashed somewhere in Plantation Five.

[Gauda Prime control centre]

KLYN: (on communicator) Do you want a search patrol sent out?
DEVA: (into communicator) Er, no, just log it.
KLYN: Right.
BLAKE: Chalk up another one to law and order.
DEVA: Smuggler, do you think?
BLAKE: Something like that. ...Do you know it's getting so you can't make a dishonest living on this planet anymore?
DEVA: That is the object of the exercise.
BLAKE: Hm. I wonder if those gunships challenged him before they opened fire.
DEVA: I doubt it.
BLAKE: Um? ...Er, these two.
(hands him one of the perspex sheets. Deva keys some data into a computer)
BLAKE: Plantation Five, did she say?
DEVA: Yes.
BLAKE: I might just take a swing out in that direction, see if there's anything left.
DEVA: You'll be wasting time.
BLAKE: I'll bear that in mind.
(the computer bleeps and Deva hands the card that has come out to Blake)
DEVA: Last known locations and probable movements for both subjects, and official authorisation to hunt them.
BLAKE: Thank you.
(the computer bleeps again and another card comes out)
DEVA: Hm. You've been given a temporary appointment as a law enforcement officer.
BLAKE: That central computer doesn't care who it makes respectable, does it?
DEVA: It's an inferior model, I'm afraid.
BLAKE: I'll be in touch if I find that ship.
DEVA: Time really is getting short, you know. The representative from the Federation High Council could come at any moment. We can't afford mistakes.
BLAKE: I wasn't intending to make any.
DEVA: (into communicator) The bounty hunter is on his way up. Make sure his flyer is fuelled and ready to leave, will you?
HANGER CONTROL: (on communicator) Right. I'll check it.
(Deva turns the viewscreen back on)
DEVA: (to viewscreen) Arlen. Have you anything to say before I decide what to do with you?
ARLEN: (on viewscreen) I have information.
DEVA: What information?
ARLEN: For my life.
DEVA: What information?
ARLEN: It's about the man who brought me here.
DEVA: What about him?

[Gauda Prime tracking gallery]

(Blake comes in. There is an alarm ringing)
BLAKE: Problem?
KLYN: Someone's operating a distress beacon. It's on the official frequency.
BLAKE: Nothing in it for me, then. ...Outlaws tend not to use distress beacons.

[Gauda Prime surface]

ORAC: I assume you have given some thought to how you would explain your presence here, not to mention my impersonation of an official distress beacon.
AVON: Just keep sending, Orac. I don't particularly want to spend the night out here.
ORAC: You may have to. There is very little daylight left, and search parties are unlikely to operate in this terrain at night.
AVON: Stick to the distress beacon, Orac! When I want your impersonation of a pain, I'll let you know.
(Avon picks up Orac moves off through the forest, eventually breaking into a run)

[Hut in the forest]

(it's nighttime. Vila, Dayna and Soolin break in)
VILA: Oh, charming. Really charming.
DAYNA: Oh, stop moaning, Vila.
SOOLIN: It's better than spending a night in the open.
VILA: Are you serious? The state the roof's in, it's the same as spending a night in the open.
DAYNA: Well, if you'd prefer the trees, feel free to go. Don't let us stop you.
VILA: I'd prefer a city, but I'd accept a town. In fact, I'd settle for some indication that we weren't the only people left alive in this miserable tree sanctuary.
(Dayna takes the cover off an iron stove)
DAYNA: Look, why don't you go and collect some firewood, hm?
VILA: Because it's dark out there.
SOOLIN: Surely you're not afraid of the dark.
VILA: Only when it's unilluminated. What's that?
DAYNA: All right, Vila, you've made your point.
VILA: No, listen!
(they hear a high pitched whining)
DAYNA: What is it?
SOOLIN: Flyer, coming fast.
VILA: Flyer, as in transport?
SOOLIN: As in transport.
VILA: Well, let's get out there and attract their attention!
DAYNA: No...
SOOLIN: Wait a minute, Vila!
VILA: What do you mean, 'Wait'! That's the sound of civilisation!
SOOLIN: Not necessarily!
VILA: It's got to be better than this!
DAYNA: Vila!
SOOLIN: I wouldn't bet my life on it!
(they take cover either side of the door. The flyer pauses and then moves away)
VILA: They might have been friendly.
DAYNA: They might have come to apologise for shooting down Scorpio, but it doesn't seem likely, does it.
VILA: All right, so who do you think they were, Soolin?
SOOLIN: I've no idea, Vila, but one thing I do know, if you want to survive on this planet you have to assume that everyone is out to get you.
VILA: I always assume that wherever I go.
SOOLIN: The difference is, on Gauda Prime you'll be right!

[Flight deck]

(amid the wreckage Tarrant lays unconscious)
SLAVE: Sir? Are you still not awake, sir? I would be most grateful if you could try to stir yourself and listen to my report.
(Tarrant's head lolls to one side)
SLAVE: My emergency power cells are virtually ...exhausted, I'm afraid. ...There is a flying vehicle approaching, sir. I'm sorry, but I will have to close down now. Crash damage and power loss make it impossible for me to continue. May I express the humble hope ...that the same ...is not true ...for you, ...Tarrant.
(a flyer is heard approaching. Tarrant rouses and is blinded by a searchlight. There are several bursts of gunfire and Tarrant crawls to take cover)
BLAKE [OC]: Lie still!
TARRANT: Who's that?
BLAKE: Let them think you're dead. ...Plasma ammunition is scarce. ...You're lucky that you weren't hit. ...They won't want to waste any more.
TARRANT: Who are they?
BLAKE: Gunrunners.
TARRANT: Gunrunners? (to Blake) Why would gunrunners be shooting at me?
BLAKE: They're not. ...They're shooting at me.
(Blake fires three shots at the flyer. It crashes and bursts into flames)

[Hut in the forest]

(Vila is nodding off by the stove which is now alight. Dayna and Soolin are asleep. Vila wakes up and looks outside the hut. He goes back inside and puts his gun on the ground to feed some wood into the stove. He doesn't notice two bounty hunters come in. When he spots one he turns when he hears the other one behind him who punches him and lays him out. The two bounty hunters prepare to club the sleeping Dayna and Soolin with their gun butts)
AVON [OC]: I wouldn't do that, if I were you.
(as the bounty hunters turn Avon shoots one. The second one fires and misses and Avon shoots him as well)
DAYNA: What happened? ...Avon?!
AVON: The fire was stupid. Putting Vila on guard was suicidal. What's the matter, is staying alive too complicated for you?
SOOLIN: It's beginning to look that way. How did you get here?
AVON: I teleported and I walked, ...just like you did.
(Dayna turns Vila over)
SOOLIN: Is he dead?
(Vila moans)
DAYNA: No more than usual. He'll recover. ...What about them?
SOOLIN: They're dead, all right.
(Avon retrieves Orac from outside where he's hidden it)
VILA: What hit me?
DAYNA: Don't worry, Vila, they went for your least vulnerable spot.
VILA: Oh, my head.
DAYNA: Exactly.
(Vila gets up and sees Avon)
DAYNA: ...So who are they?
AVON: Bounty hunters. I did warn you there were a lot of them about.
DAYNA: You didn't say the woods were full of them.
SOOLIN: Do you know how they found us?
AVON: They have heat tracers in their flyer. At night the equipment is sensitive enough to pick up normal body heat within a radius of two miles. You can imagine what they made of that.
(he points to the stove)
ORAC: Their inboard computer almost rejected the data as too gross to be correct.
SOOLIN: Did you find out what they were doing in this area, Orac?
ORAC: They came to investigate my distress signals, ...naturally.
DAYNA: Naturally. You wouldn't have set us up, by any chance, would you, Avon?
SOOLIN: ...Now that is an unattractive idea. I really could be ...quite annoyed ...if I thought we'd been the bait in a trap you'd laid for them, Avon.
VILA: Where's Tarrant?
AVON: I had no idea it was you, and it shouldn't have been. As a matter of interest, you've been walking in the wrong direction if you want to get out of this forest.
VILA: I asked where Tarrant was.
AVON: Still, that's no longer a problem. ...We just inherited a flyer.
VILA: Avon, if you're here, and Orac's here, how did Tarrant get off the ship?

[Flight deck]

(Blake is examining a bracelet. Tarrant takes a drink and coughs)
BLAKE: You feeling better?
TARRANT: A little.
(Blake tries on a bracelet)
BLAKE: Whose ship is this?
TARRANT: Why? You thinking of making an offer for it?
(Blake discards the bracelet)
BLAKE: Want to tell me your name, then?
TARRANT: Not particularly.
BLAKE: Hm. I did just save your life.
TARRANT: You just saved your life. It was you they wanted, if you remember.
BLAKE: Actually, er, ...it was these they wanted.
(he tosses the pouch of gems to Tarrant)
BLAKE: They had some quaint idea I was going to pay for a consignment of arms in advance.
(Tarrant pours some gems out)
BLAKE: I had some quaint idea they were trying to cheat me.
(Tarrant puts the gems back in the pouch)
TARRANT: Yes, well, ...it's difficult to tell who you can trust these days, ...but as tests go, isn't that...
(indicating Blake's gun)
TARRANT: ...and this...
(holding up the pouch)
TARRANT: ...a bit obvious?
(he tosses the pouch back)
BLAKE: Maybe. ...It's getting light. Shall we go?

[Gauda Prime surface]

(in daylight. Avon, Vila, Dayna and Soolin head downhill along a forest track)
VILA: Why did they land it so far away?
SOOLIN: Presumably they thought the noise would alert someone.
AVON: In your case, they could have put it down on the roof without any trouble.
ORAC: Avon, the other flyer has just lifted off.
DAYNA: The other flyer? ...What other flyer, Avon?
AVON: Our guide. Come on, we don't want to lose him.

[Blake's flyer]

(Blake and Tarrant are flying over the forest)
TARRANT: So how far is this base of yours?
BLAKE: We'll be there soon enough.
TARRANT: We'd be there a lot sooner if your computer stuck to direct line of flight. Is the constant change of direction for my benefit?
BLAKE: No.

[Bounty hunter's flyer]

(Avon, Vila, Dayna, Soolin and Orac climb aboard)
ORAC: The other flyer appears to be manoeuvring to conceal its true course.
VILA: Because of us?
AVON: Not unless the pilot is clairvoyant.
DAYNA: Well, why, then?
ORAC: From the programming of the inboard computer, it is standard procedure.
AVON: Just keep monitoring!
(Avon launches the flyer)

[Blake's flyer]

TARRANT: A random program.
BLAKE: It's an old smuggler's trick.
TARRANT: Did you learn it from an old smuggler?
BLAKE: No, from a young one, actually. Her name was Jenna.
TARRANT: ...What happened to her?
BLAKE: She tried to run the blockade once too often. Happens to all of them eventually.
TARRANT: You made the capture?
BLAKE: Nobody made the capture. She hit the self-destruct, and when it blew, she took half a squadron of gunships with her. Brace yourself.

[Bounty hunter's flyer]

VILA: How does it feel to be home?
SOOLIN: I wouldn't know.
ORAC: The target flyer has entered an underground silo.
AVON: Can you pinpoint it, ...exactly?
ORAC: I can do better than that.
DAYNA: Aren't you always?
ORAC: My capacities are frequently under-utilised, it's true.
AVON: Just tell us what you're offering, Orac.
ORAC: When we reach the appropriate coordinates, I can simulate the necessary signals to open the silo and allow this flyer to enter.
DAYNA: Oh, that sounds good.
VILA: No it isn't. Sooner or later we're going to drop into one of these holes in the ground and never come out.
AVON: Sooner or later, everyone does that, Vila.

[Gauda Prime tracking gallery]

(Blake and Tarrant come in. Klyn is watching two traces on a monitor)
BLAKE: You still on watch?
KLYN: I decided to stay on. There's too much activity up there somehow.
BLAKE: Like what?
KLYN: I don't know. It's not something I can pin down precisely. One or two transports have crossed without clearance, some flyers that weren't planned for the area, that sort of thing. ...Could be the Federation's observer's finally arrived, of course.
BLAKE: Yes, that's probably it.

[Gauda Prime corridor]

TARRANT: Gauda Prime seems to give law and order a certain priority.
BLAKE: You could say that.
TARRANT: Is that the main Control Centre?
BLAKE: Deva can tell you more about that than I can.

[Gauda Prime control centre]

(Blake and Tarrant come in)
DEVA: Well, now, bounty hunter, that was a short trip even by your standards.
BLAKE: Short, but profitable,...
(he whips Tarrant's gun from its holster)
BLAKE: ...even by my standards.
TARRANT: Was it something I said?
DEVA: Who is he?
BLAKE: His name is Tarrant. (to Tarrant) Your flight computer mentioned it whilst you were unconscious.
DEVA: Tarrant?
BLAKE: No, I wouldn't run it through the computer just yet, Deva. ...You see, this one has a very high Federation price on his head.
DEVA: Are you sure?
TARRANT: Oh, give the man credit for knowing his trade, dirty though it is.
BLAKE: He also has several associates with Federation prices, and one of them is particularly valuable.
TARRANT: And all of them are particularly dead.
BLAKE: In which case, that other flyer was merely a coincidence. ...A coincidence, however, that might just have analysed a random flight program?
DEVA: And the significance of that is...?
BLAKE: A very useful device ...called Orac. ...Why don't you sit down, Tarrant? ...If it is ...Avon, we shouldn't have much longer to wait.
TARRANT: (to Deva) Doesn't it occur to you to wonder where he's got all this information from?
DEVA: Give the man credit for knowing his trade.
TARRANT: Oh, surely you're not that naive.
BLAKE: You're wasting your breath, Tarrant.
(communicator bleeps)
DEVA: (into communicator) Yes?
KLYN: (on communicator) There's a flyer just put down in the silo. It had all the right signals, but it isn't one of ours.
BLAKE: Let them through.
DEVA: Let them through.
(he switches off the communicator)
DEVA: Is that wise?
BLAKE: We don't want them damaged, do we? Get me one security guard. I'll deal with it.
DEVA: (into communicator) Send a security guard to my office, will you?
TARRANT: (to Blake) What on earth happened to you?
BLAKE: Oh, most of it wasn't on Earth, Tarrant. Not what happened to me.
(Arlen comes in and Blake turns to her. Tarrant kicks his gun out of Blake's hand and pushes him into Arlen. He runs out of the room knocking Deva out of the way. She draws a gun and points it at Deva)
ARLEN: Do you want him killed?!
BLAKE: No, of course not! ...When he knows as much about this as you do now, he'll join us, ...like you did.
ARLEN: He passed the test, then.
BLAKE: I'm satisfied.
DEVA: These stupid games you insist on playing, Blake, will get someone killed eventually.
BLAKE: I have to test each one myself.
DEVA: No, you don't have to! I set up systems for that. I broke the security codes on their central computer. I got us access to official channels, information, everything we could possibly need! You don't need to be involved at all!
BLAKE: All right, I find it difficult to trust. It's a failing, I admit...!
DEVA: And any one of our people could select the people you've collected. You don't need to do the bounty hunter routine, either!
BLAKE: Indulge me.
DEVA: Do I have a choice?
BLAKE: Oh, there's always a choice, Deva.
DEVA: Not for me, there isn't. I said I'd follow you, and I will, until the Federation's finally destroyed. But if you're killed, where does that leave us?!
BLAKE: With a base, the beginnings of an army!
DEVA: All of it useless if you're not there to lead it.
(Blake takes his gun from his belt and puts it down)
BLAKE: You worry too much, Deva.
DEVA: Somebody has to.
ARLEN: It might be an idea for somebody to start worrying about the one we just lost.
BLAKE: Why? He isn't armed.
ARLEN: I didn't notice that slowing him up.
BLAKE: That's true. Relax, Deva. Nobody's indispensable.
(Blake and Arlen leave)

[Gauda Prime tracking gallery]

(Tarrant comes in)
KLYN: Hey, you. Wait a minute!
(Tarrant chokes her to the floor. He is attacked by a technician who has just come in. The alarm sounds as the technician gets the better of Tarrant. Vila, Avon, Dayna and Soolin come in. Soolin shoots the technician.)
AVON: I'm glad you made it.
TARRANT: So am I. ...Avon, I think he's here.
KLYN: (into communicator) Security personnel to main tracking gallery. Security personnel to main tracking...
(Avon shoots her with the rifle he is carrying. Blake and Arlen come in. Avon trains the rifle on Blake. Arlen still has her gun in her hand)
TARRANT: Is it him?
VILA: It's him.
TARRANT: He sold us, Avon. ...All of us, ...even you.
(Avon lowers the rifle and approaches Blake)
AVON: It's true?
BLAKE: Avon, it's me, Blake.
AVON: Stand still! ...Have you betrayed us? ...Have you ...betrayed me?!
BLAKE: Tarrant doesn't understand!
AVON: Neither do I, Blake!
BLAKE: I set all this up!
AVON: Yes!
BLAKE: Avon, I was waiting for you!
(Blake approaches Avon who shoots him. Blake continues towards Avon who shoots him twice more. As Blake's knees buckle, he grabs Avon's arms)
BLAKE: Avon...
(he collapses. Deva rushes in)
DEVA: Blake! They've found us! The base is under... ...Arlen, what happened?
(Arlen looks at Avon)
ARLEN: He happened!
(Arlen shoots Deva)
ARLEN: Be so kind as to drop your guns. ...All of you!
(Vila, Dayna and Soolin comply. Avon stares at Blake's body. A distant explosion is heard)
ARLEN: You and this nest of rebels are now prisoners of the Federation. Your friend Blake said he couldn't tell anymore who was Federation and who wasn't. He was right. He couldn't.
TARRANT: You're a Federation agent?
ARLEN: I'm a Federation officer.
VILA: Oh, now, look, er, I've never been against the Federation.
(he moves towards Arlen)
VILA: I mean, I've only ever been along for the ride. I'm not even armed. You can't kill me. I'm completely harmless and armless.
(Dayna goes for a gun. Arlen shoots her. Vila knocks Arlen's gun from her hand and clubs her to the floor)
VILA: (to Arlen) Sorry.
(he picks up her gun. There are more explosions, nearer now. Vila is shot in the back by a Federation trooper. Soolin shoots a trooper, but is shot by another trooper. Tarrant shoots a trooper and runs toward Avon)
TARRANT: Avon!
(Tarrant is shot by yet another trooper. Many more troopers come in. The troopers encircle Avon. He stands astride Blake's body. The alarm stops. He slowly raises the rifle and smiles. Gunshots)