Script for Killer

by Robert Holmes

(c) 1979 by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Series created by Terry Nation. This is a dialogue transcript for research purposes and is not for sale under any circumstances. Format (c) 1992 by Frances Teagle and Micky DuPree.

NOTE: An attempt has been made to indicate the complex cutting between laboratories, offices and corridors via close circuit monitor screens and intercoms.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Roj Blake
Kerr Avon
Jenna Stannis
Vila Restal
Cally
Zen
Orac
Dr. Bellfriar
Gambrill
Tynus
Tak
Second Pathologist Wiler
Dr. Bax

	[Liberator teleport room]
AVON	Do you know where we want to be?
CALLY	Yes.
AVON	Let me see you locate it [she demonstrates] All right, make it quick. [Avon and Vila teleport. They materialize in marshland Q-Base dome is in the distance]
VILA	So that's it.
AVON	Uhuh.
VILA	Not like home. How are we going to get inside?
AVON	We'll find a way. Come on. [They set off towards dome] [Liberator's control room]
CALLY	[Entering] They're down.
JENNA	What?
CALLY	Avon and Vila, they're a mile from the Q-Base.
BLAKE	Just a minute. [concentrating on detector]
CALLY	What is it?
JENNA	We've picked somthing up.
BLAKE	We think.
JENNA	I'll swear it's moving.
BLAKE	Zen, give us optimum range on the aft scanners.
ZEN	Confirmed. [screen shows long distance moving object]
JENNA	There it is, look, the spectro says it's ferrous.
BLAKE	Could still be a meteor a long way off. Clear vision.
ZEN	Confirmed.
CALLY	It's certainly not a meteor. [space craft shown on screen]
BLAKE	Incredible!
JENNA	Well, what is it?
BLAKE	Probably the oldest ship you'll ever see, Wanderer class, the first Earth ships to reach deep space.
JENNA	So how old?
BLAKE	Six, seven hundred years. Close vision. [close-up of spacecraft]
JENNA	It's hardly moving.
BLAKE	They were slow, Jenna, infraluminal. Question is, how did it get here?
JENNA	Well, what do you mean?
BLAKE	Well, even travelling at maximum speed it would take - what - three thousand years for one of those things to get this far out.
CALLY	It must have been lifted here.
BLAKE	And then set adrift? Why?
JENNA	I think we should take a look.
CALLY	No.
JENNA	Oh Cally, there can hardly be any danger.
CALLY	I detect life.
BLAKE	Human life?
CALLY	Yes. Oh I don't know, there is something. I'm confused. [Surface - Avon and Vila crouch in grass as rocket is launched] [Liberator control room]
ZEN	Attention! Sensors indicate a surface launch.
JENNA	A missile?
BLAKE	No, it can't be. They can't have spotted Liberator. We've got the blind down. [launch appears on screen]
JENNA	There it is, look, just leaving the ionosphere.
BLAKE	They're sending up a salvager from Fosforon.
JENNA	Well, they'll get a surprise. Seven centuries. It just doesn't seen possible.
BLAKE	It isn't, and that is what is worrying me. [Cally puts her hand to her head in confusion]
JENNA	Are you all right Cally?
CALLY	They're ready. They're watching.
BLAKE	Who? What are you talking about? Cally, what are you picking up?
CALLY	I don't know, but Blake, there is something malignant on that ship. [Surface - Avon and Vila reconnoitre perimeter, ending up in front of sewer outlet]
AVON	We can get inside through here.
VILA	Must we? [Avon cuts through grill] [Tynus's outer office - he is sketching caged grasshoppers] [Tak enters]
TYNUS	Have you checked with Section Six?
TAK	Yes sir, there is something there. They're watching it sir, but it won't come nearer than two hundred thousand miles.
TYNUS	It will now Tak, Dr Bellfriar sent out a recovery team.
TAK	It's only a piece of junk. It's too small to be anything important.
TYNUS	Dr Bellfriar hasn't much to do, he should take up a hobby. Make sure he gets ground transportation and course co-ordination will you please? That's all.
TAK	What will Dr Bellfriar do with it, sir?
TYNUS	He'll bring it back to his laboratories and analyse it. Then he'll analyse what he's analysed. I could never understand why a scientist of his eminence should choose to bury himself here. [Avon and Vila climb out of sewer, run across open ground, enter a building and get into a lift]
AVON	This is where he'll be.
VILA	How do you know?
AVON	He's the base commander, this the command centre, it has a certain logic wouldn't you say?
VILA	Well - he might be on holiday. [They exit lift]
AVON	[At a rack of protective capes] Put this on.
VILA	What do you call this, then? [Liberator control room]
BLAKE	Orac, I want to tap Central Spacecraft Registry. Can you do that?
ORAC	Tap? What is that?
BLAKE	Obtain information from the records.
ORAC	That is possible, but it will take time.
BLAKE	I want the histories of every Wanderer Class One spacecraft ever registered.
ORAC	Very well. This information will be relayed as obtained through the auxiliary monitor.
JENNA	Still worried? It's not our concern, you know.
BLAKE	I don't like mysteries. Zen, range the aft scanners on that ship again. [Ship appears on screen] That salvager will be making hull contact within the hour. I think they should be warned.
JENNA	What about?
BLAKE	There's life aboard.
JENNA	Blake, that is a Federation base down there. The salvagers are manned by Federation personnel.
BLAKE	They're human.
JENNA	I need proof of that.
BLAKE	Cally is not often wrong. [Tynus's office. Avon kicks the door in. He and Vila rush in.]
TYNUS	What do you men want? [Vila closes the door.]
AVON	Hello Tynus.
TYNUS	Kerr Avon. [He shakes Avon's hand.] How the devil did you get here?
AVON	Something called a teleport system. It beats shuttles.
TYNUS	Come into my quarters. It's safer there. Did anyone see you?
AVON	Well if they did, they didn't look twice. [They enter inner room, Avon goes to wash basin]
AVON	Do you mind?
VILA	We've just been through a pipe.
TYNUS	Are you sure no-one saw you?
AVON	We didn't hear any alarms. That, by the way, is Vila.
TYNUS	Yes, yes, one of your colleagues from the Liberator.
AVON	I see they're keeping you in touch.
TYNUS	Well, amongst other things Q-Base is also a radio link station. Fosforon may be a hole in the middle of nowhere, but we still get Federation gossip.
AVON	That's why we're here.
TYNUS	I don't understand. What do you mean?
AVON	Tynus, you really didn't think that I dropped in to talk over old times?
TYNUS	No.
AVON	Blake sent us. The Federation have started transmitting A-line messages using a new pulse code. We need to break that code.
TYNUS	That's impossible.
AVON	Not impossible, Tynus. Remember, we trained together.
TYNUS	That code is unbreakable without a TP crystal tuned into that pulse.
AVON	Exactly. That's what we've come for.
TYNUS	No, I can't do it.
AVON	You can. And you will.
TYNUS	It's more than my life's worth, Avon.
AVON	We need that crystal, Tynus. You must have a spare. They always supply two.
TYNUS	It's not that easy. I'm only the commander technician here. Federation Security is in charge of all sensitive stores.
AVON	I see. All right, the TP crystal is part of the A-line converter, is that right?
TYNUS	Yes.
AVON	Then it will have to break down. You can arrange a little malfunction there, then apply for the replacement crystal, we'll take the old one. We don't mind second-hand goods, do we Vila?
VILA	No, we're not fussy.
TYNUS	I don't think you know what you're asking.
AVON	I know exactly what I'm asking. [Bleeper sounds]
TYNUS	I'm wanted.
AVON	What's your answer?
TYNUS	I'll have to think about it. I must go. [exits]
VILA	I hope you can trust him.
AVON	I told you, he's a friend of mine.
VILA	Yes, I always knew you had a friend. I used to say to people "I bet Avon's got a friend, somewhere in the galaxy".
AVON	And you were right. That must be a novel experience for you. [Tynus's office]
TYNUS	Where did this originate?
TAK	We don't know sir, the same message came in on all channels simultaneously.
TYNUS	Couldn't you trace the source? [writes a note]
TAK	We're trying sir, but the signal was so powerful that it knocked everything out, even the land lines.
TYNUS	Well, get this message to Dr. Bellfriar. I think it's intended for his department. [Follows Tak out of the door] Before you do that, make sure this message is A-lined to Federation Headquarters Command.
TAK	Right sir. [Inner room]
VILA	All the home comforts. [Pours himself a drink]
AVON	Leave that stuff alone.
VILA	You live your way, I'll live mine. Mm, must be all of two days old. [Tynus enters, Avon points his blaster at him]
TYNUS	Nervous?
AVON	Just careful.
TYNUS	We've just received this odd message. I think it's from your friends on the Liberator.
AVON	[Reads from paper] "Advise your recovery team to proceed with utmost caution, derelict spacecraft may contain hostile life." What does it mean?
TYNUS	A few hours ago our detectors picked up some space debris. We send a ship to investigate.
AVON	Well, I suppose it could be from Blake. He has these generous impulses.
TYNUS	By the way, why don't our detectors pick up the Liberator?
VILA	Anti-detection screen, one of Avon's gadgets. We're expecting it to break down any time.
AVON	Let's get back to the TP crystal, that's what we're here for.
TYNUS	You know you're asking me to commit suicide.
AVON	Is there something wrong with your memory, Tynus? You owe me, remember?
TYNUS	Not enough to put my head on the block.
AVON	[To Vila] We were in a fraud together. When I was arrested, I kept my mouth shut. [To Tynus] If I hadn't, old friend, you would be sweating out the rest of your life on a convict planet, and that could still happen if I were to let the authorities know.
TYNUS	So that's the way it is?
AVON	Well, let's just say I did you a favour and now I'm collecting.
VILA	Nice. When Avon holds out the hand of friendship, watch his other hand. That's the one with the hammer. [Dr. Bellfriar walks down corridor and enters his laboratory]
GAMBRILL	Ah sir, this came about the recovery team. [gives him note]
BELLFRIAR	"Derelict spacecraft may contain hostile life" This a joke?
GAMBRILL	That's the message.
BELLFRIAR	Who sent it?
GAMBRILL	Nobody seems to know.
BELLFRIAR	What's Tynus doing?
GAMBRILL	Painting, I imagine. That's how he spends most of his time.
BELLFRIAR	Oh, the man's space-happy, of course. This base is full of psychotics.
GAMBRILL	Do you think the signal is a hoax?
BELLFRIAR	No, this message was sent before anyone could have known what that recovery team would find and it does say quite categorically "derelict spacecraft".
GAMBRILL	You're going to take it seriously then?
BELLFRIAR	Well, I think it would be wise, Gambrill. Somebody out there seems to know more than we do. How's the recovery going?
GAMBRILL	In approach orbit, should be docking in about twenty minutes.
BELLFRIAR	Good. Alert the station. We want full quarantine around the landing bay, the whole operation to be remote videoed. Everything we practised.
GAMBRILL	All right sir. [into intercom] Chief medic instruction, all personnel. Landing alert, routine one, full quarantine restrictions at the landing bay. [to Bellfriar] If there's anything in this message sir, I suppose this could be a little piece of history.
BELLFRIAR	A high point in your scientific career, Gambrill. Just think of it, in less than twenty minutes you could be shaking hands with an exomorph.
GAMBRILL	Not if it's hostile sir, I've got my pension to think about. [Tynus's office]
TYNUS	No! No, I can't do it. Apart from anything else, it's practically impossible technically.
AVON	It isn't and you know it. The crystal runs the spectrum from bands L to Y up to thirty thousand megahertz. All you have to do is mess up the feedback from the converter and the effect will show a fault on the crystal.
TYNUS	I see you haven't forgotten your stuff.
AVON	I don't see any problem.
TYNUS	The problem is getting to the converter. I can't do it. I'm the commander, if I were to be seen to get my hands dirty, people would remember.
AVON	Is there any time that the section is unattended?
TYNUS	No, it's manned all the time, three operators night and day. The only chance I can see...
AVON	Yes?
TYNUS	No, no I can't do it.
AVON	Would you rather the convict planet, Tynus?
TYNUS	Fire is the greatest hazard here, oxygen-rich atmosphere. If I started a small electrical fire near the section, the men on duty would run to their fire-drill positions.
AVON	Good.
TYNUS	That would leave the converter unattended for about ten minutes, long enough to give you the change to get a malfunction organised.
AVON	What will you be doing?
TYNUS	Directing the fire-fighting.
AVON	I shall need to look the job over first.
TYNUS	That can be arranged.
VILA	Avon, this whole thing is stretching out. Blake won't want to wait.
AVON	Blake will have to wait. How long before we get our hands on the crystal, Tynus?
TYNUS	An hour to check the course of the fire, make sure the malfunction is working. Then, of course, I'd better get Security to release the spare crystal, oh, I'd say ten hours at least. [On Liberator}
BLAKE	Ten hours?
CALLY	[Over intercom] That is what Avon has reported.
BLAKE	That's a long time.
CALLY	Shall I call them back?
BLAKE	No. Without that crystal we'll never break the Federation pulse code. We need to read their messages if we're to stay ahead of Servalan.
JENNA	Sticking around here's no way to stay ahead.
BLAKE	Why? Zen's got the scanners at maximum range, the first sign of trouble, we pull out.
JENNA	If they come at us from behind Fosforon, they're going to be on us before we know it.
BLAKE	Well there's no chance of that, unless they already have our position plotted.
JENNA	Optimist! [Screen lights up] What's that?
BLAKE	We're tracking that Wanderer. I might go down there.
JENNA	To Fosforon?
BLAKE	As I said before, I don't like mysteries. Listen, Orac has done his stuff, the histories of every Wanderer Class One ever built. Orac, repeat the information you've just given me.
ORAC	The only ship not accounted for is K-Forty-Seven. That went missing seven hundred years ago in the vicinity of Sixty-One Cygnii. The names of the crew were Kemp, Wardin, and Tober. Furthermore...
BLAKE	[Disconnects] Thank you, Orac.
JENNA	Only three?
BLAKE	Well, those old ships couldn't take any more. Living in them was like living in a pickle barrel for thirty years.
JENNA	I don't know how they stood it.
BLAKE	Some of them didn't. Mind you, hibernation pills helped.
BLAKE	Does Sixty-One Cygnii mean anything to you?
JENNA	That's the Darkling Zone, isn't it?
BLAKE	Well, that's the poetic name for it, yes. No, it's the only region near Earth that's never been charted.
JENNA	Yes, I remember. A lot of ships have disappeared there. They think it's a centre of meteor storms.
BLAKE	That theory's running a little thin just now. If K-Forty- Seven hit the centre of a meteor storm, why would it suddenly reappear thousands of light years away?
JENNA	So what's your theory?
BLAKE	I'm not launching any theories till I've tested the water. I'm going to teleport down.
JENNA	What about Avon and Vila?
BLAKE	They've got enough to do.
JENNA	Yes, but what about Federation Security?
BLAKE	Well, at the first sign of trouble, I'll come back up.
JENNA	Look Blake, they know all about the teleport system. The first time they get your bracelet...
BLAKE	Jenna, I have been down before. I'm sorry. I will be very careful.
JENNA	All right. [Corridor of landing area, a recovery team of four in protective suiting is waiting]
INTERCOM	Remote recovery unit Red Zero, approach on Site 5, boarding teams stand by. [shot of landing spacecraft] Approach complete, boarding team proceed. [team moves through door] [Blake teleports into corridor, fumes billow through door, making him cough] [Laboratory]
GAMBRILL	Quarantine instructions have been carried out, boarding party are about to enter.
BELLFRIAR	Good. Gambrill, who's that fool in the evacuation tunnel?
GAMBRILL	I don't know sir.
BELLFRIAR	Well get him out of it! [monitor screen shows Blake in corridor, enveloped in fumes]
GAMBRILL	Come out of there you idiot. Come on, there's an access port right in front of you.
BELLFRIAR	Find out who it is.
GAMBRILL	Hurry man! [to Bellfriar] Yes sir. [exits]
BELLFRIAR	Vision Control, get me vision link to the boarding party. [In corridor]
GAMBRILL	What the hell do you think you're doing, don't you know enough to steer clear of the exhaust vents during a landing? You could have got yourself killed in there.
BLAKE	I thought the ship was down.
GAMBRILL	The engines aren't vented yet. You're not one of our men.
BLAKE	No, I'm looking for whoever's in charge. I've got some information concerning that ship you salvaged.
GAMBRILL	Information? What kind of information? Who are you?
BLAKE	Don't ask questions, just take me to whoever's in charge. [Laboratory - Bellfriar at desk in front of monitor screen]
VOICE 1	Nothing here, power deck's clear.
VOICE 2	Watch yourselves! Some of these fittings break off in your hands.
VOICE 1	Must be stinking centuries.
VOICE 2	Going up. Nothing in the forward compartment.
VOICE 1	Bring the second spot over, will you. Watch it! [monitor screen shows interior of spacecraft]
VOICE 2	Can't see a damn thing in this dust. Where are we?
VOICE 1	Looks like the control room. My God! We've found a body here sir. Human, I think. Things aren't too clear. He's in a compression suit. [monitor screen shows head of corpse]
BELLFRIAR	Any sign of life anywhere?
VOICE 1	Nothing sir. We've been over the whole ship now.
BELLFRIAR	All right. Put the remains in an anti-contamination bag. Bring them down to Dr. Wiler, will you?
GAMBRILL	[Arriving with Blake] This is the one I've just fished out of the evacuation tunnel, sir.
BELLFRIAR	Well?
GAMBRILL	Well, you said this base was full of psychotics, you wait till you hear this one.
BELLFRIAR	What exactly is that supposed to mean?
BLAKE	I told him I teleported here. He didn't believe me.
BELLFRIAR	Well, Gambrill's like that, I'm afraid. Lacks faith.
BLAKE	Defined as the capacity to believe what you know isn't true? Read this. [hands him note]
BELLFRIAR	What is it?
BLAKE	The service history of that ship you've got in the landing bay. I sent you a warning about it earlier.
BELLFRIAR	Where did this come from?
BLAKE	Central Registry.
BELLFRIAR	Seven hundred years old?
BLAKE	Mm hm.
BELLFRIAR	And just who are you?
BLAKE	Well, according to the Federation, I'm a political criminal. You may have heard of me. My name is Blake.
BELLFRIAR	Yes, but then we're absentminded scientists, you see. In fact, we've forgotten your name already. Haven't we, Gambrill?
GAMBRILL	Whose name, sir?
INTERCOM	Dr. Bellfriar, they're now bring out the body.
BLAKE	Body?
GAMBRILL	I'll get down there now. [exits - monitor screen shows recovery team carrying bodybag]
BELLFRIAR	That body doesn't look seven hundred years old. What made you think there was hostile life in that ship?
BLAKE	One of my crew comes from Auron.
BELLFRIAR	A telepath?
BLAKE	Yes, she sensed something malignant out there. Not necessarily human. I think you'd better be very very careful, Dr. Bellfriar.
BELLFRIAR	We're always very very careful. [Tynus, Avon and Vila wearing protective goggles enter the A-line room and look around. Avon deliberately knocks something off the front desk and gets down on floor to recover it, covertly inspecting circuitry. The technician stands up to see him]
TYNUS	Lacomb, message! [technician sits down, Avon returns object to desk and they leave room] [Back in Tynus's room]
TYNUS	How do you feel?
VILA	Thirsty.
TYNUS	Do you think you can handle that?
AVON	Maybe. It's a new model, since my time.
TYNUS	No, it's just the way the converter's packaged. The circuitry's the same.
AVON	I shall need more than ten minutes.
TYNUS	That's all the time you've got, Avon, and I can't even guarantee that.
AVON	[Grabs Tynus by the shoulder] Tynus, you will give us all the time we need. [Mortuary - body laid out on slab, pathologist is preparing to start autopsy. Gambrill enters viewing gallery and switches on monitor screen. Two technicians join him]
GAMBRILL	There's nothing to see yet. [Technicians sit down, pathologist continues preparations] [Laboratory - Bellfriar and Blake are watching screen]
BELLFRIAR	Oh come on Wiler! He's a good man this, but he's slow, like all pathologists.
BLAKE	What's happened?
BELLFRIAR	Well, it's standard drill with a space death. The autopsy's carried out in a sealed mortuary in case there are any alien micro-organisms around. Are you all set, Dr. Wiler?
WILER	I'll tell you when I'm ready, sir.
BELLFRIAR	Thank you, Dr. Wiler. [to Blake] Do you want to watch this?
BLAKE	Mm.
BELLFRIAR	So you really do teleport, do you?
BLAKE	Over short distances, yes.
BELLFRIAR	Well of course, the theory's as old as physics, but I didn't know it had been cracked yet.
BLAKE	Liberator's a very advanced ship. Of course, you have to know the surface conditions, otherwise teleporting's a bit like a jump in the dark. You're quite liable to surface in a fission reactor.
BELLFRIAR	Not a mistake you could learn by, really.
WILER	All ready, Dr. Bellfriar.
BELLFRIAR	Thank you Dr. Wiler, go ahead. [Mortuary - Wiler starts examination]
WILER	Second Pathologist Wiler, Q Base. Autopsy report coded one four niner niner zero six. The clinical presentation is of a well-nourished male Caucasian, aged between oh, thirty-five and forty-five. There are no surface wounds or lesions that would indicate death by violence. I am now examining the clothing on the torso and upper section of the body. It's extremely old, it disintegrates when touched. Ah, there is a neck chain with a metal disc, which I now examine. The disc is embossed with a number, six figures, possibly a service number. And a name: Wardin. W-A-R-D-I-N. [Laboratory]
BELLFRIAR	Are you ... are you quite sure about that, Dr. Wiler?
WILER	[over intercom] It's slightly corroded sir, but it's perfectly clear.
BLAKE	Kemp, Wardin, Tober, missing in the constellation of 61 Cygnii, seven hundred years ago.
WILER	May I continue?
BELLFRIAR	Sorry. [Mortuary]
WILER	There is an old surgical scar extending from behind the left ear in the region of the supra mastoid crest, up over the cranium. [on screen in viewing gallery] The eyeballs are soft and the tissue of the upper extremities is also soft, and there is extensive maceration of the skin over the neck. [Laboratory]
BELLFRIAR	That's a degree of biolysis you get after one or two weeks, not after hundreds of years. [Mortuary]
WILER	I now raise the left arm of the cadaver to examine the hand, the fingers are dehydrated and mummified and the nails are loose. [Laboratory]
BLAKE	Suppose the body's been frozen.
BELLFRIAR	What, cryogenically stored?
BLAKE	Yes.
BELLFRIAR	Who on earth'd want to do a thing like that?
BLAKE	I've no idea, but it's a possible explanation, isn't it? [Mortuary]
WILER	Before proceeding to examine the internal organs, I now, in accordance with the law. check the EEG reading to verify that life is extinct. Which it is. [Seen from viewing gallery]
WILER	I shall now mark the tissue and blood samples for laboratory analysis.
GAMBRILL	My God! Look! [EEG screen blips wildly] [Laboratory]
BELLFRIAR	Wiler! You've got brain life. [Mortuary]
WILER	That's quite impossible Dr. Bellfriar, may I suggest that you adjust your monitor. [noise of something falling over corpse grabs him by the throat, Gambrill kicks door in, technicians drag corpse away. Gambrill runs to outside intercom]
GAMBRILL	Dr. Bellfriar! Dr. Wiler's neck's broken. [Laboratory]
BELLFRIAR	I'm coming down.
BLAKE	Dr. Bellfriar! Look at the screen.
BELLFRIAR	What?
BLAKE	The EEG screen. [it shows a flat line, cut to corpse lying on floor] [Tynus's room. Avon is doing calculations at desk.]
VILA	Give us a smile. [tapping on insect cage] show us a leg. I wonder if these make good pets.
AVON	Vila!
VILA	What?
AVON	You're a fool.
VILA	Nerves getting a little frayed?
AVON	There are a quarter of a million volts running through that converter. I make one false move, I'll be so crisped up what's left of me won't fit into a sandwich.
VILA	I'm a vegetarian. Thanks for the offer, though. What did Cally say about Blake being here?
AVON	Something to do with that derelict spacecraft. As long as he doesn't mess up our job, I don't care what he does.
VILA	You don't have a lot of time for Blake, do you?
AVON	I could never stand heroes.
VILA	A quarter of a million volts and you're putting your hand in?
AVON	Ah, but that is self-interest. We need that crystal. Blake takes risks to help other people. Sometimes people he doesn't even know. One day that great big bleeding heart of his will get us all killed.
VILA	Unless somebody ditches him first. [Laboratory]
BELLFRIAR	Poor devil! His cervical vertebrae had been crushed as if they'd been in a vice. No ordinary human being could exert that sort of pressure.
BLAKE	It wasn't an ordinary human being.
BELLFRIAR	It was the body of one.
BLAKE	I think it had been adapted.
BELLFRIAR	What?
BLAKE	Well, when Cally detected life on that ship, at first she thought it was human, then she changed her mind and thought it was alien. I think she was picking up emmanations from a cybernetic implant.
BELLFRIAR	Virology's my field, I'm afraid. I'm not following you.
BLAKE	Wiler noticed a surgical scar on the head, didn't he? Now suppose some control device had been linked into the nervous system, that would explain the electrical activity in the brain.
BELLFRIAR	Yes, but it stopped and went dead, didn't it?
BLAKE	Well, perhaps its task had been done, the job it was programmed for.
BELLFRIAR	Killing Wyler? It doesn't make sense, why kill him?
BLAKE	That, I wish I knew.
BELLFRIAR	Oh well, I suppose now we've got have an autopsy on Wyler, as if we hadn't got enough to do. And what about the postmortem on Wardin?
GAMBRILL	[entering] I'm afraid we've got more trouble sir.
BELLFRIAR	What is it?
GAMBRILL	The two technicians who went in to rescue Wiler, they've been taken ill.
BELLFRIAR	They have? What's the matter with them?
GAMBRILL	They just started to act strangely, vague, wandering about, then they went into convulsions. They're in the sick bay now.
BELLFRIAR	That could be a space contamination, you'd better get me the sick bay at once.
GAMBRILL	[into intercom] Biolab, get me Dr. Bax.
BAX	[on intercom] Yes Doctor?
BELLFRIAR	Dr. Bax, those two boys you've just admitted, I want them isolated.
BAX	[on monitor screen] Too late, I'm afraid.
BELLFRIAR	What?
BAX	They died within minutes of admission. Poisoned, I'd say.
BELLFRIAR	Poison?
BAX	There's nothing else that fast. We've taken swabs, I'm running tests now. I'll let you have the results as soon as we get them.
GAMBRILL	Twelve to fifteen minutes.
BELLFRIAR	Well, if it's a poison, it must be diapedesistic, something they got on their skins when they were bailing Wiler out.
BELLFRIAR	Good God.
BLAKE	What about the four who went into the spaceship?
BELLFRIAR	They're all right, I checked.
BAX	[re-appearing on monitor] Dr. Bellfriar.
BELLFRIAR	Yes?
BAX	Three of my men are showing signs of infection.
BELLFRIAR	Good God! Well that knocks your poison theory on the head, doesn't it?
BAX	Maybe. I'm putting this whole sick bay into isolation as of now.
BELLFRIAR	Do you want any help Dr. Bax?
BAX	It's a medical problem. I think we can handle it.
BELLFRIAR	Very well. If there's anything you want, let me know.
GAMBRILL	I'll check in gnotobiotics, there might be more cases.
BELLFRIAR	Gambrill, I want this whole section sealed off from the rest of the base. Absolute isolation from now on, prophylaxis of contacts, sterilization screens in every department.
GAMBRILL	Right sir. [exits]
BELLFRIAR	Well, now might be a good time for you to leave.
BLAKE	No, I'm getting curious. [Bellfriar contacts Tynus on monitor]
TYNUS	Yes, Doctor?
BELLFRIAR	Commander Tynus, we have an infection alert. It's nothing to worry about, but the landing zone is quarantined until further notice. [Tynus's office]
TYNUS	What's happened?
BELLFRIAR	We've had a few casualties. There seems to be a link with that spaceship we landed. That's all I know at the moment, we're working on it.
TYNUS	I understand. Good luck. [to Avon] That could help us.
AVON	How?
TYNUS	Only our section to handle the fire. Bellfriar's team's out of action.
VILA	You sure there's going to be a fire?
TYNUS	The thermal pack I planted should be going off any minute now. [cut to series of explosions in corridors - Vila and Avon put on capes and goggles] It's up to you now. [Scenes of firefighting]
AVON	Come on. [they run down corridor and enter A-line room] Watch the door.
VILA	Avon!
AVON	What?
VILA	Why are we stringing along with Tynus? Look, we've come this far. Forget about setting up the malfunction. Grab the crystal and let's get back to the Liberator.
AVON	Use your head. If we take the crystal now, how long do you think it will take the Federation to figure out who's got it? Five seconds? They will merely issue a new pulse code and we'll be back where we started. Now get back to the door. [More scenes of firefighting - a guard collapses from smoke inhalation]
VILA	Nearly ten minutes Avon, get a move on.
AVON	All right, I think I've done it.
VILA	Hurry up. [Laboratory]
BELLFRIAR	Embalming fluid, as near as dammit.
BLAKE	Mm? What?
BELLFRIAR	The blood sample Wiler took, these are the lab results coming through.
GAMBRILL	[Entering laboratory] We've got eight cases in gnotobiotics and several more in the main lab.
BELLFRIAR	Well, have you traced the contacts?
GAMBRILL	That's the point sir, there doesn't seem to have been any.
BELLFRIAR	But there must have been, somebody's lying.
GAMBRILL	I don't think so sir.
BELLFRIAR	Well then, it must have spread from the sick bay. [presses keys] Dr. Bax... oh, come on man. [Bax appears on screen, he is dead, covered with blisters]
GAMBRILL	My God!
BELLFRIAR	Nothing we know could do that.
BLAKE	How's it spreading, through the air?
GAMBRILL	Not necessarily.
BLAKE	It must be airborne. That would explain why the four that went into the spaceship were not infected, they had their own air systems.
BELLFRIAR	Well, if it's a virus, its biotic potential must be incredible. I mean, to kill its host as quickly as that, it must multiply a thousand times faster than anything we know.
GAMBRILL	It seems to attach the nervous system, destroying the memory.
BELLFRIAR	The memory?
BLAKE	What, just the memory?
GAMBRILL	No, no, that's the first thing; then the motor centre. Then there's a rapid rise in temperature and fulminating blisters all over the body, then the heart packs up.
BELLFRIAR	Are the viral filters all activated?
GAMBRILL	We should be getting the first test results through any minute now.
BELLFRIAR	Well, nothing we can do then, is there? Just sit here and sweat it out.
GAMBRILL	That won't be so easy sir. The men are on the edge of panic, you can smell it.
BELLFRIAR	Yes, well we can't move towards an antiserum until we've identified the organism and typed its morphology.
GAMBRILL	There might not be that much time sir.
BLAKE	I presume the station is air-conditioned.
BELLFRIAR	Yes, why?
BLAKE	Shut it down. If you stop the air circulating you might at least slow the spread of infection.
BELLFRIAR	That's a good idea. [to Gambrill] Well go on man, get a move on.
GAMBRILL	Right sir. [exits]
BELLFRIAR	Well, we're really going to have to sweat it out. [Tynus's office - he is crumbling up charred material]
TYNUS	Have you fixed the converter?
AVON	I reckon so.
VILA	You did a good job with that fire.
TYNUS	Yes, it went better than I planned. It almost got out of control.
VILA	What's that?
TYNUS	All that's left of the incendiary mechanism, I don't want that found.
VILA	It wouldn't be recognised.
TYNUS	Maybe not, but there's no point in taking any chances. [drops pieces on table] Get rid of it. I'd better make my report to Security. Wait in my quarters will you, and I'll bring you back a food package.
AVON	Make it a big one. [Vila collects charred remains on a sheet of paper and slides them into bin, then looks at paper, spreads some ash on it and blows it off. He takes it into inner room]
VILA	Avon, come here!
AVON	What's the matter?
VILA	That old friend of yours should go a long way in the service, the further the better. Listen to this. [reading] "Servalan, Federation HQ, Urgent. Liberator in orbit, Fosforon. Detaining ten hours. Make speed. Tynus, Q-Base." [Avon crumples the paper.] [Laboratory]
BELLFRIAR	Well, I've worked in virology for twenty years. I've never come across anything like this before. If it does turn out to be a virus, it's going to make us change all our ideas.
BLAKE	Do you want to hear a theory?
BELLFRIAR	At the moment, I'd listen to anybody.
BLAKE	My idea that Wardin was adapted. "Why kill Wiler?" you asked, why go to such lengths to kill one man?
BELLFRIAR	I remember.
BLAKE	Wiler was killed to release the virus, to make people go into the sealed-off mortuary to help him.
BELLFRIAR	What, do you mean it was a deliberate plan? That's a bit far-fetched isn't it Blake?
BLAKE	Have you ever heard of Lord Jeffrey Ashley?
BELLFRIAR	Who?
BLAKE	Mm, pre space age, planet Earth. He was the commander of a British garrison in America, having trouble with hostile natives, redskins. Ashley ordered blankets from smallpox victims to be baled up and sent to the hostile tribes.
BELLFRIAR	Germ warfare.
BLAKE	Uhuh.
BELLFRIAR	You mean we've picked up a bale of blankets, do you?
BLAKE	Seems to make sense.
BELLFRIAR	Sent from where?
BLAKE	May I look at your star chart? [gets it out] Here. Sixty-one Cygnii. You notice the area's not charted. I think there's an alien civilization, highly advanced, deeply distrustful of mankind, avoiding all contact, so that if our ships go too near, they simply vanish. I think K-47 was returned to us, baited with a skilfully preserved human being and loaded with a virus biologically engineered to destroy the human species. It's a trap we fell into with both feet.
BELLFRIAR	Well you could be right, but the virus is an unreliable weapon.
BLAKE	This one seems effective enough. [bleeper]
GAMBRILL	[on intercom] Dr. Bellfriar, Dr. Bellfriar.
BELLFRIAR	Yes Gambrill?
GAMBRILL	I can't see us finding a vaccine sir. We've tried everything, but there's no way of processing these results.
BELLFRIAR	What about the online console?
GAMBRILL	Dead, sir. Probably the fire.
BLAKE	You mean you haven't got a computer here?
BELLFRIAR	Well, there are several of them on the base but they're not in the quarantine area. I can't get at them.
BLAKE	All right, give the tapes to me. Tell me what you want to know and I'll get the answer for you.
BELLFRIAR	How?
BLAKE	On board the Liberator, I have the most advanced computer ever designed. The way the infection's spreading here, you'll all be dead before you're half way to getting the answer.
BELLFRIAR	All right Blake. These data blocks contain lab tests on about five thousand micro-organisms. I need them scanned for known characteristics and the stranger, the paratype organism, picked out.
BLAKE	It shouldn't take Orac too long. Keep your receptor open, I'll set up a communications link.
BELLFRIAR	All right.
BLAKE	Good luck. Cally, this is Blake, bring me up. [teleports] [In corridor - men running in panic]
GAMBRILL	Where do you think... where d'you think you're going. Get back to your post. Tak! get back to your post!
TAK	I'm getting out while I've got a chance.
GAMBRILL	Orders are that nobody leaves this section.
TAK	To hell with orders! I'm not staying here to die.
GAMBRILL	Listen Cal... [staggers as Tak punches him] [into intercom] Dr. Bellfriar, Gambrill here. I'm in the observation room area. There's total panic down here. It's not just the technicians, the medics as well, they're all getting out, breaking quarantine.
BELLFRIAR	Damn fools! They'll spread the infection right through the base.
GAMBRILL	I tried to stop them. They're mad with fear, they wouldn't listen.
BELLFRIAR	Tell the guards on the main entrance, nobody leaves. They can shoot if necessary.
GAMBRILL	God! [staggers about] God! Tell the guards... [collapses and dies] [Tynus's room]
VILA	I wonder what plans he has for you?
AVON	What?
VILA	Tynus. He hopes to get a medal for catching us, but he won't want you picked up, not with what you've got on him. I think you're going to have an accident, Avon.
AVON	We shall see who has the accident.
VILA	A man who sketches insects must have an eye for detail. He's probably worked out an ingenious solution.
TYNUS	[Entering with food packages] I've got one for each of you. Hydrolyzed protein.
VILA	Thanks.
TYNUS	I've got to put it in the oven first.
AVON	Don't bother.
VILA	Lost our appetites suddenly.
AVON	It's all this hanging about. When do we get the crystal Tynus.
TYNUS	As soon as the fault in the A-line shows up, then I can send to Security for a replacement crystal, but it all takes time. Relax, [bleeper sounds] you've nothing to worry about. [goes into outer office]
VILA	And if you believe that, you'll believe anything.
TYNUS	[In office, speaking into intercom] Plague?! [Vila and Avon open door and listen]
VOICE	Yes sir, it seems so. The men are falling like flies. The rest are cutting out, getting off the base. It's reached the security section, they're dying.
TYNUS	[Into monitor] Bellfriar, we've an epidemic here. What're you doing about it?
BELLFRIAR	[Over intercom] There's nothing I can do. It's a new virus, we've got no defence against it.
TYNUS	That's ridiculous, you're the medical section. My men are dying, you must do something.
BELLFRIAR	All I can advise you is to turn off your air pumps and order your people to stay at their posts. The less they move around, the better their chances.
TYNUS	But I thought you were supposed to be the greatest living authority on viruses, Bellfriar.
BELLFRIAR	Apparently not.
TYNUS	I'm going to see that the Federation Medical Council hears of this.
BELLFRIAR	I don't think that's going to matter to me, Tynus, or to any of us. [Tynus goes out into corridor]
VILA	[In inner room] That does it! Let's go!
AVON	Not so fast. We came for that crystal.
VILA	Forget the crystal, they're dying like flies out there. Didn't you hear?
AVON	So there will be a lot of panic and confusion. Tynus will have his hands full. If we destroy the converter, destroy it completely, it will look like a result of the fire. When they come to rebuild it, they will not suspect that we have taken the crystal.
VILA	Well, you may be right.
AVON	Let's go. [exit] [Laboratory]
BLAKE	[Over intercom] I've got that result for you.
BELLFRIAR	Good man.
BLAKE	According to our scan, the paratype organism is number nine-two-six in your batch of samples.
BELLFRIAR	Now we're getting somewhere. Nine-two-six. [goes to microscope] [Liberator]
BLAKE	Dr. Bellfriar, anything else I can do to help?
JENNA	Obviously not.
BLAKE	I hope we got that through to him in time. [A-line room]
AVON	Keep an eye on the corridor.
INTERCOM	Attention! All personnel are instructed to remain at their posts. The situation is under control.
VILA	Under control? You know this could be another Casarus.
AVON	What?
VILA	You remember the Casarus swamp fever, killed millions.
AVON	Well there aren't millions here, so don't worry about it.
VILA	Well I'm here, and I do worry about it. I don't like bugs. You can't hear them, you can't see them and you can't feel them, then suddenly you're dead.
AVON	We'll be out of here in a few minutes. Get back to the corridor. [exit Vila] [Tynus enters his office, looks around for Vila and Avon and takes a gun from under desk]
BELLFRIAR	[In laboratory] Beautiful! And so simple. [Doorway of A-line room]
AVON	Detonator. [takes it from Vila and goes inside] [Tak crawls by. Vila is hit on head by Tynus]
TYNUS	I thought I'd find you here.
AVON	I got tired of waiting.
TYNUS	Raise your hands. Carefully. [Avon does so.] Come round here. [Vila groans.]
AVON	So you're going to kill me?
TYNUS	It's nothing personal.
AVON	[Smiles] I shall try not to hold it against you.
TYNUS	You know too much about me.
AVON	I should have turned you in when I had the chance. [Vila groans again and comes in the door. Tynus starts to turn, Avon jumps him. They struggle. Vila draws his gun but wavers. Avon slugs Tynus, who falls on the machinery and is electrocuted.]
AVON	Thanks for your help.
VILA	Never come between friends, that's my motto.
AVON	All right Cally, get us out of here fast! [They teleport. There is an explosion] [Liberator]
BLAKE	Well done.
AVON	I can't say that it was a pleasure. Now are we going to stand here and look at it, or are we going to move?
BLAKE	Why?
VILA	Tynus tried to trap us. He sent a message to Servalan.
AVON	There'll be a Federation fleet here at any time. [Bleeper]
CALLY	There's a transmission from Fosforon.
BLAKE	Jenna. [she throws switches] Go ahead.
BELLFRIAR	[In laboratory] Blake, I think I've found the answer. Too late, I'm afraid, for anybody here, but it's absolutely vital that you record the following information.
BLAKE	[On Liberator] Jenna. [she switches on recorder] you are being recorded doctor, go ahead. [Laboratory]
BELLFRIAR	Everyone who's been into deep space has had the Terran ague, or the three-day sweats as it's commonly known as. It's a sort of a mild infection, it slightly alters the body's nucleic structure, it seems to be a metabolic reaction to space travel. Well this new virus, Paratype 926, attacks those altered cells and acts as a catalyst, they burst and, well the effects are literally a series of explosions that race through the body's neural cell structure. The virus is easily cultured in human tissue or in nucleic acid solution. Now, here is the formula for the antiserum...
BLAKE	[On Liberator] Dr. Bellfriar, are you saying that this virus is only effective against human beings who've been in deep space?
BELLFRIAR	[In Laboratory] Precisely. It fits your theory. But I don't think that the virus was designed to destroy man, merely to confine him to his own planet. Now here is the formula.
BLAKE	Go ahead.
BELLFRIAR	H-N, H-N-O ... oh, My God!
BLAKE	Dr. Bellfriar! Dr. Bellfriar!!
BELLFRIAR	I've forgotten how to read. [looks at his hands, covered in blisters. He groans and covers his face]
BLAKE	[On Liberator] Transmission ends.
VILA	Fosforon ends.
CALLY	It's no joke Vila.
BLAKE	Cally, Jenna, get the ship moving. I'm going to put out a plague warning.
AVON	Are you crazy?
BLAKE	I've got to warn all traffic to stay away from Fosforon until that virus burns itself out.
AVON	Listen, Blake, Servalan is on her way here. She lands on Fosforon, she gets the plague, she's off our backs for good. You cannot put out a warning.
BLAKE	Suppose some of them don't die. Suppose some of them get off in a ship. That plague goes out to all the galaxies, millions will die because of it. THAT is the one responsibility that I will not take. Zen, I want to put a plague warning transmitter into orbit round Fosforon, then set a course for the constellation Sauros, speed standard by ten.
ZEN	Confirmed. [Liberator turns]
BLAKE	There has to be a warning Jenna. There has to be. [Liberator gets under way]

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