10. Xenon base

(VILA has rejoined the others and is seated at the table in the Crew Room. TARRANT lounges opposite with DAYNA and SOOLIN ranged alongside him.)

VILA: I think we should refuel Scorpio and return to Epsilon.

TARRANT: Since when has what you think carried any weight?

VILA: I’d like it to carry some weight now! Avon and I are all that is left of Blake’s original group!

TARRANT: Don’t tell me you’re getting sentimental about him?

SOOLIN: (to TARRANT) He means that, without Avon, he doesn’t feel safe. He’s afraid of you – perhaps of all of us? Avon is – was – his protection.

VILA: Something like that.

TARRANT: What do you want us to do? Chase all over Epsilon looking for a dead man while Algor’s robots take us out one by one?

DAYNA: (softly) Tarrant is right, Vila. There is nothing we can do. We’ll leave all channels open – if Avon contacts us, we’ll try to help him. If he doesn’t...

VILA: That’s not good enough!

TARRANT: (rising) I’m wasting my time listening to this.

(VILA produces a shotgun from beneath the table and levels it at the others.)

VILA: I’m going to have to ask you to waste a little more of your time.

TARRANT: (surprised) You won’t shoot me, Vila. You’re not even sure where the trigger is!

(VILA fires and there is an explosion close to TARRANT.)

VILA: I know where it is.

TARRANT: (smiles wryly) I surrender! When in doubt, say nothing!

(SOOLIN begins to edge out of VILA’s line of fire.)

SOOLIN: We’re not going to Epsilon, Vila...

VILA: I say we are! I say so – and so does this!

(VILA hefts the weapon. SOOLIN and THE OTHERS freeze. TARRANT smiles and shrugs.)

TARRANT: For once in your life, Vila, you’re on top. Make the most of it, this once is the only chance you’ll ever get.

(A pause. VILA doesn’t waver.)

TARRANT: Well, if we’re going, let’s go. I never like to argue with the man with the gun...

(TARRANT heads for the exit. VILA herds DAYNA and SOOLIN after him.)

11. Cell

(Night has fallen. AVON stands at the centre of a tiny cell. A HUMAN/ROBOT faces him. The ROBOT hits AVON in the stomach and he goes down. The ROBOT raises AVON to his feet, only to smash him down again. The ROBOT hurls the crumpling figure of AVON against a wall. He is taking quite a beating.)

12. Algor’s chamber

(This is being shown on the screen. ALGOR watches the beating og AVON for a moment, then switches off the screen. He turns to face SERVALAN once again.)

ALGOR: You promise me a protected home on Earth, wealth... anything I ask for?

SERVALAN: Anything.

ALGOR: What guarantee have I that, when you have your army of robots and you have re-established your Federation, you will not have me killed?

SERVALAN: Why should I?

ALGOR: You do not strike me as the kind of woman who would require a reason to kill.

SERVALAN: Perhaps I have reformed since you saw me last?

ALGOR: Don’t be flippant with me, Servalan. At the moment, I hold the power of life and death over you.

SERVALAN: I am aware of it.

ALGOR: And a little afraid?

SERVALAN: A little.

ALGOR: Good! Fear is something I understand very well. To an extent, I suppose I shall have to trust you.

(SERVALAN smiles and nods.)

ALGOR: To ensure that my trust is not misplaced, I shall keep the prototype Gabor at my side at all times.

SERVALAN: As you wish.

ALGOR: In the event that you should renege on your promise and attempt to eliminate me, I will have programmed Gabor to explode with the force of a neutron bomb. Vast areas of your stronghold, ‘Earth’, will be devastated.

SERVALAN: ...you are a cautious man.’

ALGOR: That is why I have remained alive during six years of exile. I am also a dangerous man. You would be foolish if you were to forget that.

(He turns and switches the screen on again, revealing AVON slumped in a chair, very bloody and beaten. SERVALAN winces. ALGOR notices and is amused.)

ALGOR: Squeamish, my dear? Never mind, in a little while I shall have to kill him. It will be no more than putting a sick animal out of its misery... That’s what he is – a sick animal.