( Earth. Secretary Demwuhl stands in the main security post of Residence One. She is alone here, operating controls on the communicators. )

Demwuhl: (Into comms. ) Repeat, Pursuit One, come in. Acknowledge, Kommisar Tarrant.

( Faces appear on the screen in front of her. One is Tarrant, one is Kreel, the others are mutoids. They are on the Flight Deck of Pursuit One. )

Dev Tarrant: We are receiving you, Secretary Demwuhl, proceed.

Demwuhl: At last. I was starting to think you'd been destroyed.

Dev Tarrant: Your comments on our unresponsiveness are noted, Secretary, we accept the rebuke, now may I know what business you have?

Demwuhl: We have a confirmed sighting of the Liberator, Kommisar.

Dev Tarrant: ( Urgently. ) Where?

( Demwuhl starts punching controls on the communicators. )

Demwuhl: It's in the seventh sector, the Belquon system. I'm uploading co-ordinates to you now.

( Leans forward and shoots a meaningful look. ) No prisoners, Tarrant. And no mistakes.

( Tarrant and Kreel both salute. Demwuhl operates another control and the screen goes blank. Demwuhl operates yet another control and the screen lights up again. Servalan's cruel face appears on the screen. )

Demwuhl: It is done, my Empress. Kreel and Tarrant are heading your way.

Servalan: Good work, Secretary.

( Planet Craeus. Avon, Vila, Soolin and Nij Blake are on a hillside overlooking the burning ruin of a village. Chaesla is with them. )

Chaesla: You've got to take me with you! You can't leave me here, the soldiers'll kill me after what I did.

Avon: That's a shame. We haven't time to attend another funeral.

Chaesla: Funeral...?!

Avon: A ceremony commemorating the life of one who has died, you know the sort of thing. We've had one already this week. ( Into comms. ) Bring us up, Hailee.

( They teleport out, leaving Chaesla alone. )

Chaesla: Why, of all the...

( Avon, Vila, Soolin and Blake materialise on the Liberator. Hailee rises from behind the controls. )

Avon: Has Zen secured the data I requested?

Hailee: Waiting for you on the Flight Deck.

( Avon, Hailee, Soolin, Blake and Vila arrive on the Flight Deck. Hailee takes her place at the helm. Orac is on the table in the pit, switched off. )

Soolin: ( Urgently. ) Zen, readout on the main screen.

Zen: Confirmed.

( The main screen lights up with tactical diagrams, and energy graphs. )

Zen: No unidentified Hyperspace sub-beam frequency communications were detected during the specified phase in which Rak Kyben was on the planet's surface.

Soolin: Well all right, how about identified communications?

Zen: There were four such communications on the Hyperspace sub-beam band during the specified phase. One: Communication between Liberator and Liberator crew members on surface of planet Craeus, initiated by Kerr Avon from planet surface. Playback commences.

( Avons recorded voice fills the Flight Deck. The crew exchange irritated looks. )

Avon's voice: Down and safe. We'll call in again when....

Avon: Liberator communications notwithstanding, Zen.

Zen: Confirmed. Revised total number of identified sub-beam communications: Zero.

Vila: ( Looks bored. ) 'Scuse me.

( Vila heads for the exit. )

Soolin: Where are you going?

Vila: To get something to eat. I'm starving.

Hailee: ( Knowing look. ) Rough translation, "To get something to drink, I'm sober."

Vila: Well-ll-ll-ll... that too.

Soolin: Vila, Kyben's disappeared! How can you think about drinking at a time like this?

Vila: Oh it takes a special effort, believe me. Look, I'm not going to be much help while you're talking to Zen. So you sort out Kyben, while I sort out the refreshments. I'll be back soon.

Avon: Don't worry, Soolin, I'm sure we'll be able to manage without him.

( Vila steps over to Hailee and snakes an arm around her waist. )

Vila: What, all of you? Even you Hailee?

Hailee: ( Softly, like putty in his hands. ) Oh Vila, the lonely minutes 'till you return will seem like... minutes.

( Hailee elbows Vila in the tummy. )

Vila: ( Doubling up. ) Oof!

Hailee: Now clear out, germ culture.

( Vila, leaning forward all the way with his arm across his midrift, turns and heads out, blowing hard. )

( Deep Space Vehicle One, Medical Unit. Kyben is tied to one of the treatment couches, a pair of electrodes against his temples. Servalan and Norcris stand over him. Two other pirates are here, doing minute adjustments to the machinery around them. )

Servalan: Well now, Kyben. What can I say?

Kyben: (Weakly.) Servalan? How...? How are you here? How did you get aboard?

Servalan: ( Shakes her head. ) Oh Rak, you just weren't listening earlier were you? This isn't the Liberator.

Kyben: Not the Liber-...? ( Voice tails off into a painful cough. ) Uurrggh! I don't understand.

Servalan: Avon's been keeping secrets from you hasn't he? I must reprimand him for that.

Kyben: I'm sure he'll be very hurt.

Servalan: Oh he doesn't mind a little bossiness. He knows it's only little me.

Kyben: Oh good. So where am I?

Servalan: I call it the Subjugator, Rak. But you might know it as Deep Space Vehicle One. It's the Liberator's sister ship.

Kyben: Destroyed, as I understood it.

Servalan: And I understood that the Liberator was destroyed. I was on board just seconds before it blew up after all, but now look at it. My turn to surprise you.

Kyben: ( Shrugs. ) Okay, so this one has the same automatic repair system, that makes sense. How did you find it? I can't imagine Avon ever told you where to look for Spaceworld.

Servalan: He didn't. But then as you well know, I have a knack for finding out what other people don't want me to.

Kyben: Is that all it was? A knack?

Servalan: Call it foresight.

Kyben: Foresight? You had an entire Galaxy to look in and you just guessed?

Servalan: No. Blake gave me a few pointers.

Kyben: Blake? Roj Blake?

Servalan: Oh yes. He kept an occasional log of the Liberator's activities you see. And naturally he'd included a very detailed account of your predecessors' little misadventures with the System. He was hardly going to find out all that vital knowledge about his precious super weapon's creation and then just put it to one side, was he?

Kyben: The evidence of my own eye suggests that he wouldn't. Except...

Servalan: The account was at times amusing, at others highly informative. The highlights for me were those delicious instances of high torture when Blake was suffering continual electric shocks by the System's hand-weapons, and the glorious snippet of information when Blake revealed exactly where I could look for my ultimate weapon.

( Servalan reaches into a pocket inside her gown and pulls out a small playback device. )

Servalan: This little recorder hasn't been out of my reach in several years, Rak.

( Servalan presses a button on the playback device. Roj Blake's voice fills the room. )

Roj Blake: ( V.O. ) At this point it became obvious to us that none of our computers or systems were malfunctioning, they were being overridden. Avon made clear he believed that the course we were heading on was specifically plotted by external control. Infuriatingly, he was right once again.

( Kyben looks more and more troubled. )

Roj Blake: ( V.O. ) The Star System we eventually reached we were later to discover was Astro Point Seven-Eight-One, the very location in which Orac had predicted the Liberator would be destroyed, although of course it wouldn't be for some time that we would realise...

( Servalan switches off the recording and smiles at Kyben coldly. He looks back at her, brow creased. )

Kyben: How Servalan? How did you get that recording?

( Liberator Flight Deck. Avon, Soolin, Hailee and Blake are still present. )

Avon: Zen, give me the readout on all Liberator systems activity around the time of Kyben's disappearance.

Zen: Confirmed.

( An array of electrical graphs light the main screen. Each of them shows a steady pattern. )

Nij Blake: What are you doing now?

Avon: ( Tuts. ) No. All activity normal for holding fixed orbit. And not a wobble in the teleport status at any stage.

Nij Blake: What are you on about?

Avon: I'm trying to work out where Kyben disappeared to.

Nij Blake: What? You think he teleported up to here? Without Hailee even noticing?

Avon: It sounds irrational I know, but it is at least one explanation. There is a spare teleport bay on the hold level, and what Chaesla described was definitely a teleport field. Kyben might have materialised in the spare bay.

Hailee: Avon, the spare bay hasn't been active since the rebuild.

Soolin: ( Anxious. ) Orac might have activated it.

Hailee: He didn't. I've already asked him about it, and he said he hadn't activated any teleport controls at any time since we moved into orbit around Craeus. Anyway wouldn't Kyben have shown by now if he was aboard?

Avon: As I say, it was an unlikely possibility, but a possibility nonetheless.

Nij Blake: Well, you're supposed to be the clever one. Can you think of a better suggestion?

Avon: I'm afraid I can. Three others.

Soolin: What?

Avon: One, Chaesla was lying. That's always a possibility, but it doesn't quite fit the situation as I see it. A second is that the data Zen has given us is inaccurate, which is almost unheard of. Zen, recheck the data anyway, just to be sure.

Zen: Confirmed.

Avon: Seeing the general implausibility of the above explanations, that leaves only one other possibility that I can see.

Nij Blake: Which is?

Avon: That Kyben was teleported by someone else. Probably a different ship.

Nij Blake: That's a better suggestion? Another ship with teleport.

Avon: Think. Kyben clearly didn't teleport aboard this ship. The ship's teleport system was inactive at the time of his disappearance, and furthermore the transmitters were always set for ship-to-surface transfer. According to these readings, they were not at any stage redirected to any third location. Yet from Chaesla's description, Kyben was clearly teleported away. The only explanation that fits is that someone else teleported him someWHERE else.

Hailee: Oh come on. This is the only ship with a teleport...

Avon: There was a time when this ship was the only one that could go above Standard by six. That is clearly no longer the case. Why should the teleport be any different?

Nij Blake: Well then who? The Feds?

Avon: Probably. We left Scorpio's teleport back on Gauda Prime. Maybe they found the remains and they've devel-...

Hailee: I destroyed it. They couldn't have made sense of what was left.

Avon: That's the assumption...

Hailee: It's a FACT, Avon.

Avon: ( Looks at Hailee, briefly. ) All right.

Nij Blake: So who else? I mean what other ship could have a teleport?

( Avon looks stony and says nothing. Vila wanders in, carrying a large tray with two glasses and a crystal jug of wine on it. )

Vila: Drinks up!

( Vila sets the tray on the table in the pit, on top of Orac. )

Avon: Oh joy, that will put the world to rights.

( Vila pours himself a glass of wine. He then pours another. Blake holds out a hand hopefully. Vila picks up the two glasses, and downs the lot. Thin trickles of wine run down his chin from the corners of his mouth. He wipes his sleeve across his face. )

Hailee: ( Disgusted. ) Yeeuurrgghh!

Nij Blake: Did no one ever teach you about having a balanced diet, Vila?

Vila: That's what Im doing. One glass of wine in each hand.

( The others blink at each other. )

Avon: I wish I could rise to such giddy heights of logic and get away with it.

Hailee: In the land of the drunk, the man with two glasses of booze is King.

Avon: A fine summary.

Vila: You're just jealous.

Avon: Jealous?

Vila: ( Speech already beginning to slur. ) Yeah. You're a great rationalist, where I'm a great rationaliser. You wish you could think up the excuses I can.

Avon: Excuses for being a drunken cretin you mean? I haven't needed one of those since I was thrown out of the Iron School.

Vila: Yeah, I always meant to ask you about that.

Avon: About what?

Vila: You getting thrown out of the FSA. I mean what for? Drunk on duty?

Avon: No. For overzealous misconduct on a training exercise.

Vila: ( Expression of one who can't work out which nostril to listen through. ) Uh, what?

Avon: I killed a thief I caught stealing from the Kommisar's drinks cabinet.

( Vila looks thoughtful for a moment, then has some more wine. )

Vila: Well you stick to what you know, and I'll stick to what I know.

Avon: My pleasure. It reassures me to hear that you know anything at all. Well, Zen? We're waiting.

Zen: Listed data is checked and confirmed.

Avon: So that leaves one question.

Nij Blake: Just one?

Avon: Yes. Not IF it was a different teleport, but where it was when Kyben was captured. From there we should be able to trace him.

Soolin: ( Insistently. ) And bring him back.

Avon: ( With no great sincerity. ) Well, let's hope.

( Subjugator Medical Unit. Kyben is still tied to the treatment couch, Servalan and Norcris still stand over him. )

Servalan: You remember that business several years ago with Jarvik?

Kyben: Jarvik? Vaguely... Oh yes I remember, he was the one who... ( Sighs. ) I see. You found Blake's secret files while you were at Kairos. After Jarvik stole the Liberator.

Servalan: Exactly. I'd always been so eager to learn as much as I could about that ship, so I wasn't going to miss an opportunity like that, was I? Finding out about Spaceworld and how the Liberator was built was a fascinating discovery of course, but it never occurred to me that I could actually salvage a duplicate. Not until after I saw the Liberator itself orbiting Gauda Prime. Strange really, but I wouldnt have seen it at all if you and Hailee hadn't found it in the first place. In a way you tipped me off. I actually have to thank you for deserting the Federation, Kyben. Ironic, don't you think? You revealed to me where to find the Ultimate Weapon with which to reconquer the Federation. This ship.

Kyben: ( Looks ill. ) Yes. Ironic.

Servalan: Unfortunately when we got there we found that Spaceworld was not able to rebuild itself, it must be too big. A pity, it would have made an ideal battle station. But this... ( Spreads her arms and gestures all about her. ) ...This was the real prize anyway. And we found it drifting there, dark, inert, awaiting new masters and destiny. I am the one to provide both. It's the flagship of an army I am building to reshape an Empire.

Kyben: An army? These down-and-outs?

Servalan: I did say, "building." I've barely started.

Kyben: I was about to say. So, dearest Empress, where do I come in?

Servalan: You're just a standard hostage, Rak, nothing more.

Kyben: That'll make a nice epitaph. "Here lies Kyben, he was standard."

Servalan: You know how I like to make contingencies. You'll be a good human shield if Avon tries to intervene.

Kyben: You really think he'd care?

Servalan: Oh yes, I think so. He cares a lot more than you realise. He cares a lot more than HE realises.

Kyben: His affections are well-disguised.

Servalan: Not from me they aren't. Have you never noticed how defensive he is of his friends, Kyben? Even if it's only born of their usefulness to him, he still cares.

Kyben: You've known him a lot longer than I have, I suppose you must be right. Why did you choose me?

Servalan: I think you know the answer to that. I always had an affection for you unlike any other on that ship of yours. You know the sort of thing. You're soft, you're easily-dominated, weak, the ideal prisoner. So we tracked the Liberator down and whisked you up to the Subjugator.

Kyben: If those are the requirements, why not Vila?

Servalan: He'd be more awkward. He knows how to escape when he's locked up. So. That's a couple of your questions answered. Now why don't you do a girl a favour and answer a few of mine?

Kyben: Like what?

Servalan: Firstly, why is the Federation having so much trouble tracking the Liberator again? I thought the latest Pursuit Ships were almost as fast now?

Kyben: Ask them.

Servalan: Why should I bother? I'm sure you have the answer. And you're nearer.

Kyben: Why should I tell you?

Servalan: Perhaps you need reminding of something, Rak. It was only a few short weeks ago that I was the one strapped in one of these seats and it was your finger hovering over the controls. And when you started up that contraption of yours, you may have noticed I didn't really enjoy what happened to me.

Kyben: I had to help Soolin. It was the only way.

Servalan: Would it surprise you enormously if I revealed how little Soolin's well-being concerns me?

Kyben: All things are proportional, but I doubt it.

Servalan: The point is, although getting even with you is not a big priority of mine, it would cause me little distress. Not as much as once it would. And as long as you're in that chair and I'm the one with a finger on the button, it can happen. Forty thousand volts passing through your cranium won't add any years to your life.

Kyben: ( Sighs. ) All right, I'll tell you. I don't see how it can possibly help you. Avon found a cloaking device on Taurus III. He installed it after we escaped and since then weve been able to hide from Pursuit ships which are right next to us.

Servalan: Really? ( Rubs her jaw. ) How fascinating. This opens up possibilities. Next question. This one's very important to me by the way.

Kyben: Go on.

Servalan: On occasion I get to hear some very... strange rumours surrounding you and your estranged crew mates. There's one I'd be most obliged if you were to clear it up for me.

Kyben: Stop regurgitating dictionaries and ask your question, Servalan.

Servalan: All right. Why do I keep hearing nonsense about Blake still being aboard the Liberator seeing that he died months ago?

Kyben: ( Swallows. ) Rumours are rumours. If I had a credit for every time I heard a rumour that wasn't true...

Servalan: Answer the question. Is this one true?

Kyben: Servalan, what kind of question is that? Roj Blake was dead last I knew. I mean you saw his corpse, I didn't.

Servalan: I thought I saw his corpse cremated after Gevron, Kyben. A couple of years later Blake was on Gauda Prime looking remarkably dexterous for atomic powder. Is he really dead?

Kyben: ( Grits teeth. ) Yes, Servalan. Roj Blake is dead.

Servalan: So there's no truth in the rumour then? That Blake is aboard your ship?

Kyben: ( Hesitates. ) Roj Blake is dead.

Servalan: Why are you being so specific, Kyben?

Kyben: What?

Servalan: I keep saying Blake. You keep stressing Roj Blake.

Kyben: Do I?

( The expression on Servalan's face indicates that she clearly knows something about this. )

Servalan: It's almost as if you were trying to be evasive by answering directly. It's a clever art. But you seem to be forgetting how I was the one who taught it to you in the first place.

( Kyben looks concerned. )

Kyben: What are you trying to say?

Servalan: It's what youre trying to avoid saying that worries me.

Kyben: I've told you the truth.

Servalan: But shaped it in such a way that it seems more complete than it really is. Like I say, I know that skill better than anyone. It wouldn't work anyway, not if I already know what it is youre hiding.

Kyben: What do you mean?

Servalan: Kyben, I know that there is a member of the Liberator crew whom you are trying to protect. I want you to tell me about him.

Kyben: I don't know what you mean.

Servalan: Kyben, because of our past... friendship, I will take no pleasure in hurting you. But I will do it if I have to to get what I need from you.

Kyben: You'll throw the switch will you?

Servalan: Actually no. I'm not prepared to risk damaging any of the nerve endings in your brain. Not until after I've extracted what I need anyway.

Kyben: So how are you going to make me talk?

( Servalan snaps her fingers. Norcris produces a transparent flask filled with a green liquid. )

Servalan: Allow me to present the latest develpoment in Federation personnel control. Pylene-100.

Kyben: Pylene?

Servalan: Yes. The new formula. Pylene-50 was very effective as you know, but it had its weaknesses. Primarily a limited life span and a shapeless influence on the subjects brain. This is Pylene-100. Much the same stuff, but specialised preservatives drawn from the planet Virn have given the compound an unlimited life span, and with cells drawn from an individual added to the compound, the subject comes under the exclusive control of that individual. I stole a large consignment of this material from the Pacification Police on the rim of the Inner Planets.

Kyben: Exclusive control? You mean...?

Servalan: Yes. Some of my own blood cells have been solved into the compound. And once I inject it into you, you'll become just like these pirates all around us. You'll serve me and only me, from today until the day you die. Over first you, and then one day the Galaxy, I will have power untold.

( Kyben glances at the expressionless pirates who are all attending their duties like zombies. He knows she is telling the truth. )

Kyben: ( Very scared. ) Servalan, you can't.

Servalan: I don't want to. Not to you. So make it easy on both of us. Tell me about Blake.

( Norcris starts to fill a syringe with Pylene-100. )

Kyben: ( Shaking with fear. ) I-I... No! Blake is dead.

Servalan: Roj Blake is dead. Tell me about Blake. Tell me about... him. Who is he?

( Norcris finishes filling the syringe and puts the flask aside. )

Servalan: Tell me, Kyben. I must be sure. Tell me now.

Kyben: Please Servalan...

( Norcris brings the syringe forward. )

Kyben: Servalan, stop!

Servalan: Tell me what I want to know.

( Norcris rips open Kybens sleeve and holds the needle poised over his arm. )

Kyben: ( Tears. ) Servalan. Servalan, please, I'm begging you. Don't do this to me! You betrayed me before, don't betray me again! Pleeaaase!!

Servalan: Tell me what I want to know.

( In spite of his terror, Kyben cannot bring himself to reveal that Blake had a son. )

Kyben: I don't know anything. I don't! I don't know!

( Servalan nods to Norcris. )

Kyben: No!

( Norcris starts to push the needle into Kyben's arm. Zoom in on Kyben's eye. )

Kyben: No! Servalan! Servala-a-a-a-a-an!

( Liberator Flight Deck. All the available crew are present. On the main screen, a series of tactical diagrams show the Liberator's orbit around the planet Craeus. )

Avon: Wait a moment. Zen, we received no unidentified sub-beam transmissions during the specified time-period, correct?

Zen: That is correct.

Avon: What about other wave-bands?

Nij Blake: Oh for heaven's sake, Avon, now what are you on about? We've already gone through the communications, we got nothing.

Avon: Wrong. Taking the glories of computer logic into account, we can assume that Zen doesn't have enough initiative to adapt the orders we give him. We only asked him what sub-beam communications the Liberator received. There are a number of other forms of electronic communication.

Nij Blake: Oh.

Avon: Zen?

Zen: The Liberator received two direct sensory feed transmissions from an external source on the sub-etha band approximately four point three zero four minutes before the assumed time of Rak Kyben's disappearance.

( The crew all look up at Zen. )

Avon: Identify the source.

Zen: Rejected.

Avon: What?

Soolin: What do you mean, "Rejected"? Tell us the source of the transmissions now. That's an order!

Zen: Rejected.

Avon: ( Calmly. ) Explain the rejection of that command, Zen.

Zen: The information you have requested has been stored via a coded route. Transmission details were over-ridden by security protocols. Therefore unable to comply with command without necessary recall code.

Soolin: Coded route?

Nij Blake: Direct sensory link? ( Brings his fist down on Orac. ) It must be Orac, the little...!

Vila: ( Drunkenly. ) Waheeeey...! Go for it Blake, me ole' son! Beat the li'l junk pile to bits!

( Blake shapes to thump Orac again. Avon grabs his arm and spins him round. They eyeball each other. )

Avon: That wouldn't be a good move.

Nij Blake: Vila seems to think it would.

Avon: You'd take the advice of a drunken half-wit, would you? The Blake family tradition for sensible calculation rears its head once more.

( Blake shrugs Avon off. )

Nij Blake: Don't push me, Avon. If it weren't for you my father would still be alive. Don't talk to me about judgement...!

Avon: If it weren't for me, your father would have died any one of a dozen times before. ( Blake goes quiet. ) Spare me your mindless emotion. Let us concentrate on the matter at hand, not stupid recriminations. Orac may be our best chance of solving what happened.

Nij Blake: That junk heap? He's probably the one who...

Avon: It wasn't Orac.

Nij Blake: Oh? How do you know?

Avon: Zen said the source of the transmission was external. Presumably he meant external to the Liberator, not just the Liberator's systems. Confirm that, Zen.

Zen: Your clarification is confirmed as accurate.

Avon: Orac was on board the Liberator the whole time we were on Craeus. Therefore it could not have been Orac who operated the teleport. You see? It takes logical, rational thought to make an intelligent point, so from now on, you'd best say nothing.

( Blake is angry but remains silent. He looks humiliated as he realises what a fool he has made of himself. )

Hailee: Zen, repeat the local-range scan records for the designated time.

Zen: Confirmed.

Hailee: If there was another ship in the area there must have been some trace on the scanners.

Avon: Agreed.

( More tactical diagrams scroll down the main screen. More digital information appears with it. )

Hailee: Wait!

( The information stops scrolling. )

Soolin: What is it?

Hailee: Zen, wind back about... er, eight seconds.

Zen: Confirmed.

( The information scrolls back up. )

Hailee: No that's not it...

Soolin: What are you looking for?

Hailee: I saw something wrong.

Soolin: ( Increasingly anxious. ) Like what?

Hailee: Wind back another two seconds, Zen. Slowly.

( More information, diagrams and imaging data scroll up the screen. Suddenly a bright red mark appears in just one frame. )

Hailee: Stop! Stop there!

Zen: Information review ceased.

Hailee: Zen, come on, identify that new contact.

Zen: Specify contact.

Hailee: That one, you data trasher! The one that wasn't in the other frames. Identify.

Zen: Rejected.

( The crew all look at each other. )

Soolin: I think we have a suspect.

Avon: ( Slotting in Orac's key. ) Orac, we need you to override Zen's security programs.

Orac: What for?

Avon: The data we've requested from him has been barred and we don't know the appropriate access code. We need you to circumvent the code.

Orac: I was under the impression that you prided yourself on being able to control all of Zen's programming without hindrance or difficulty. That has always been your claim.

Avon: I could extract the information eventually, but I can't afford the likely delay.

Orac: I recommend that you attempt it. I refuse to belittle my own resources on such a task, showing the disrespect that it would entail to my fellow cybernetic intelligence.

Hailee: ( Suspicious. ) Disrespect? That's never stopped you before.

Orac: Any past overrides I have performed to Zen's data flow controls were entirely necessary due to the circumstances of the moment...

Hailee: You can't do it, can you?

Nij Blake: What do you mean? Orac overrides computers for fun.

Hailee: Come on, Orac, you over wired light bulb, own up. You can't do it.

Orac: ( Acidly. ) Of course I can do it.

Hailee: Well go on then.

Orac: There are... complications.

Avon: You mean you really can't do it?

Orac: No that is not what I mean. I am referring to the issue of Zen and the Liberators unearthly designs. Although I am still able to heavily-influence the computers and systems on this ship, the wholesale absence of tarial cells does cause certain limitations, which no amount of research has been able to remedy.

Avon: And you've encountered such a limitation here, I take it?

Orac: That is so.

Nij Blake: In other words, he can't do it.

Hailee: Him and his ego problems! Why can't he just come out and say it?

Avon: Because of his ego problems. Orac, what exactly is the problem?

Orac: The data you refer to is inaccessible to me. It has been encrypted in a format that appears readable only to Zen, and even my vast powers cannot calculate the correct protocol. No counter-program I use, even a total control bypass, will give me access to the information you require. You will simply have to find the correct security code and allow Zen to decrypt the data for you.

Avon: In short, you can't do it. Can you?

Orac: That is...

Avon: Can you?

Orac: ( Reluctantly. ) No.

( Avon pulls out Orac's key. )

Soolin: What could possibly be accessible to Zen, but not Orac?

Hailee: He did say that it was something unearthly in the Liberator's designs.

Soolin: An alien protocol?

Avon: ( Nodding. ) Zen, give me the energy signature of the unidentified contact.

Zen: Confirmed.

( Yet more information rolls across the screen. )

Nij Blake: ( Blows out his cheeks. ) At least he'll tell us that much.

Avon: Yes, we just have to shape our instructions in a way that doesnt make Zen answer our questions directly.

Vila: ( Hiccups. ) He gets more like Orac every day.

Hailee: I wish you'd follow his example.

Soolin: Yes, even a talking riddle box is better than a drunk with a breath problem.

Vila: I haven't got a breath problem.

Soolin: After what you've been drinking?

( Vila breathes on his hand, then sniffs. He pulls a face. )

Avon: ( Looking at the readouts with increasing alarm. ) Those readings... they're very familiar... ( Narrows eyes. ) Zen. I want you to give me a computer generated image of a ship. Make the projection the closest possible representation you can calculate, based on these figures.

Zen: Your instructions are confirmed. Calculations are in progress. Graphical image being drawn.

Soolin: What are you doing, Avon?

Avon: Outwitting a computer. I think I know what's happening now.

Soolin: What do you mean?

Avon: The picture that Zen gives us should be the confirmation I need. But let's just say that Zen has been over-ridden before and not just by Orac.

Soolin: Well?

Avon: Another ship with a teleport appears to have taken Kyben prisoner right under our noses. Our detectors appear to have picked up that ship, but Zen receives a communication overriding our controls and apparently ordering him to erase all data about its presence. Two questions. How does that ship come to have a teleport? How does it manage to override Zen?

Hailee: Do you have answers?

Avon: I have one answer. And it fits both of the questions very exactly. It is the ONLY answer that makes any sense to me.

Zen: The requested projection has been completed as instructed.

Avon: Transfer to main screen.

Zen: Confirmed.

( A schematic of a vast space cruiser appears on the screen. It is slightly different in shape and appears to have its weight distributed somewhat less evenly. But other than that, it looks all too familiar. )

Nij Blake: It's us.

( Pursuit One. Kreel is in the Command Chair, Kommisar Tarrant stands to his left. The mutoid pilots sit at the controls. The flotilla slows as it heads into the Belquon system. )

Kreel: Position? Answer.

Mutoid 1: We are entering the Belquon system precisely as scheduled, Commander.

Kreel: Speed? Tell me now.

Mutoid 1: Standard by two, and decelerating, Commander.

Kreel: Good. That is good. Precisely as ordered. Good. Give me overview again. You will do that now.

Mutoid 1: As you order, Commander. ( Punches a control. On screen the system overview lights up. It shows a planet, a star and an anomaly. ) The system has one planet, a dusty uninhabited world with little life on its surface. The star is a class four white dwarf. On the furthest rim of the system is a tiny Black Hole. Records estimate it at less less than one quarter of a kilometre in diameter...

Kreel: Enough. You will remain silent.

( The flotilla continues to plow its way into the system. Tarrant steps forward. )

Dev Tarrant: I don't like this.

Kreel: Orders are orders, Kommisar. I maintain, liking them is not a requirement.

Dev Tarrant: That's not what I meant.

Kreel: Interrogative: What did you mean?

Dev Tarrant: I'm talking about where we're headed. Battling a ship like the Liberator in range of a Black Hole? This is military suicide. It doesn't sit right with me.

Kreel: ( Looks at Tarrant sharply. ) I demand, what are you insinuating?

Dev Tarrant: Oh, no insinuation as such. I just feel there's more to this than we understand.

Kreel: ( Into comms. ) All crews will remain on constant visual alert. That is a command. I state in no uncertain terms, radiation interference from that Black Hole is extreme. I repeat, maximum prority to visual scanning. All ships, you will reduce to sub-light speeds.

( The flotilla slows down sharply. )

Dev Tarrant: What output do we have on the scanners?

Mutoid 1: Seventeen point oh-oh-five per cent, Kommisar.

Kreel: ( Into comms. ) All crews, you will begin naked eye scanning of the Belquon system immediately. Repeat, begin scanning immediately. You will set all electronic surveillance to passive scans until further notice to preserve power.

( The ships in the flotilla begin sweeping the local area of the system in a rotating patrol pattern. Hidden from Federation sensors, the Subjugator is maintaining an anti-orbital pattern to remain on the far side of the planet. )

Kreel: And you will all remember. I demand you remain on full alert at all times until we leave the system.

( Subjugator Flight Deck. Norcris and several pirates are at the controls. Servalan is draped lazily on a couch in the seating pit. Kyben stands to one side, an empty, almost sleepy expression on his face. )

Octon: Identity of approaching contacts positive. Federation Pursuit ships approaching.

Servalan: ( Smiles. ) Ah Dev Tarrant. Always so punctual, even for his own funeral. ( Stands. ) Tell me, Doctor, would you like a chance to get revenge as your first service to me?

Kyben: ( Distantly. ) I have no opinions or desires, my Empress.

Servalan: ( Walks over to Kyben. ) Really? None at all?

Kyben: Other than the need to serve you without question.

Servalan: How disappointing. ( Runs her hand along his arm. ) And yet how exhilarating. ( Servalan kisses Kyben. There is scarcely a flicker of response from Kyben, just the same hooded expression. Servalan looks somewhat put out by this. )

Servalan: More effective than I wanted perhaps.

( Servalan regathers herself, returns to the seating pit and reclines again. )

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