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Role Reversal by Louella Richardson and Neil Shearer
Having just returned from Goth, Blake, Jenna and Vila entered the flight deck accompanied by Cally. Avon stood at the central station and was in no mood for pleasantries.
“Another few seconds and I would have left you Blake,” Avon snapped while looking coldly straight ahead. Blake glanced at Avon but ignored the comment and brusquely addressed Zen.
“Course for evasion Zen?” Blake asked the ships computer.
“One eight nine, standard by ten,” responded Zen while Vila and Jenna moved to their usual stations, Avon moved towards the central seating area on the flight deck.
“Jenna!” Blake said tensely as Jenna operated the controls on her console.
“One eight nine, standard by ten - and on, with luck, to Star One,” Jenna announced.
Accelerating abruptly as it left Goth’s orbit, the Liberator lurched to the left, the crew bracing themselves in their seats and Avon, grimly staring at the viewscreen placing a hand on one of the central seats for support.
As the Liberator left orbit and quickly reached standard by ten, Avon abruptly walked over to Orac, activating the super computer.
“Orac, report on the location of the Class One Pursuit ship that recently left orbit,” Avon asked tersely.
“I fail to see how that takes precedence over my current analysis of the dark matter content of this unexplored sector of the galaxy, which is an unacceptable gap in my knowledge,” Orac replied equally tersely.
“Just do it, Orac!” Avon said through gritted teeth, his annoyance adding an edge to his voice.
“Oh, very well, current Federation reports state that the ship in question has been stolen and belonged to Supreme Commander Servalan,” Orac said before immediately shutting down.
“It has to be Travis; we saw him on Goth!” Vila interjected.
“Zen, plot the projected course for that ship!” Avon barked.
“The vessel is on a course for grid reference C-one-seven-three-two-zero in the eighth sector,” Zen stated in its usual booming voice.
“That’s a direct route to Star One, Travis has the coordinates, he’ll beat us there!” Jenna said pointedly staring at Blake.
“I’m aware of that, Jenna, all the more reason for us to reach Star One before he does; Zen, increase speed to standard by 12!” Blake shouted, eyes blazing with evident fury.
“Blake, that will drain the energy banks, we can’t enter uncharted space with the Liberator’s systems compromised, we’ll be helpless!” Cally’s voice shook with uncharacteristic urgency.
“Cally’s right Blake, it’s insanity to head out there with our defences down!” Jenna gripped Blakes’s arm as if to compel him to listen by sheer force of will.
“Well now it should be obvious even to someone as blinded by loyalty as you that it is futile to argue; you cannot reason with a fanatic!” Avon snarled back at Jenna.
“Our only option is to destroy Star One, that has not changed!” Blake responded as if willing the crew to believe as he did, while moving towards Avon confrontationally.
“We are not behind you this time Blake, even your faithful acolytes are not behind you. What you propose is dangerous and unnecessary. Eliminating Travis is the best way of achieving your aim unhindered, surely even you can see that. We have a track on the ship Travis has stolen, let’s go after him, take him out of the equation and not put us at risk with some absurd race against time,” Avon responded, obviously unthreatened by Blakes approach.
“Zen, can you plot a course to intercept Travis’s ship and what speed would it take to get to that vessel before it reaches its predicted destination?” Avon turned towards the ships computer pointedly ignoring Blake.
“The course has been plotted, the speed required to intercept the vessel 400 spatials away from its predicted destination is Standard by 8,” Zen advised and as he did so Avon turned to face Blake.
“That’s settled then, let’s finally swat Travis away like the irritating flea he is!”
“The last time you decided to go after Travis you nearly killed me, Jenna and Vila on Goth by leaving orbit when we needed you,” Blake countered, attempting to undermine Avon’s plan.
“I am sorry Blake; Avon is right and this is not the same. We’re all here, on board Liberator, no one is leaving anyone behind. Getting angry because we don’t agree with you is not going to achieve anything. You’re letting your obsession with Star One cloud your thinking,” Cally advised looking intently at Blake.
“We’ve always taken risks this is just one more to reach the end goal. Travis has nothing left to lose and is no longer constrained by Federation bureaucracy. He could be capable of anything, he’s probably insane,” Jenna remarked.
“Probably?” Avon questioned.
“Alright Avon, definitely, all the more reason why we need to get there before him!” Jenna replied in a raised tone.
“All the more reason why taking him out makes sense, any logical person can see that, well anyone not blinded by irrational devotion that is,” Avon replied.
Jenna’s face darkened, angered by the implication of the barb. Vila interrupted before Jenna could reply.
“Look, Travis is a maniac but putting the ship in danger seems foolish and not worth the risk. Blake has got us this far but this squabbling isn’t helping and meanwhile Travis is getting closer to Star One. Why don’t we ask Orac what threat Travis poses, even Orac wants to stay alive?” Vila asked.
“Even Vila thinks this is foolhardy Blake, so let’s ask Orac,” Avon sarcastically replied though inwardly surprised at Vila’s logic.
Avon moved to pick up Orac’s plastic activation key, as he did so Blake leapt up and slapped it away from his grasp and on to the floor, he then firmly gripped Avon’s arm.
“This isn’t a matter for cold computer logic,” Blake snarled furiously.
Seeing Avon tense up as Blake grabbed him, Jenna strode quickly to where the two men stood, placing her hand on Blake’s shoulder and standing so he was forced to look her in the eyes.
“Blake, as much as I don’t want to agree with Avon, he’s right. Travis is still a threat, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to reach Star One before he does! And Blake, we are responsible, we’ve let Travis go too many times before, we end this now, whatever Travis has planned, his actions are clearly those of a madman!” Jenna said grimly.
“And ours aren’t?” Avon said through a humourless laugh.
Jenna turned to glare at him, but Avon continued before she could interrupt.
“And WE did not spare Travis, that was all Blake’s doing, on Exbar, Freedom City, Blake has without fail shown mercy to Travis, his delicate sensibilities unable to do what needed to be done, if not for Blake’s misplaced clemency, Gan might still be alive, how many more of us have to die because of Blake’s dithering?” Avon spat out the last words contemptuously.
Blake angrily shrugged off Jenna’s grasp and moved over to where Cally stood.
“Cally, you of all people must see that going after Travis is an empty gesture of vengeance, we have to go to Star One, it’s our only choice!” Blake said, almost pleadingly.
“Vengeance Blake? All I see is your desire for retribution against the Federation, so strongly that it has blinded you to reason! As for conscience, yours seems to be far less troubled by the deaths of millions that will be caused by the destruction of Star One than eliminating a dangerous psychopath; stopping Travis gives us time, time we need to think about what we should do if we gain control of Star One,” Cally said quietly, moving over to where Jenna and Avon stood.
Vila stood slightly away from the others, watching them argue made him feel intensely uncomfortable. He hated big decisions like this, they made him anxious. Blake was now staring at Vila intently. Blake, who had trusted him from the start and had seen in him something more than a petty criminal; but Avon, he was the clever one wasn’t he? Cold, machine like and imminently logical; and Cally, he trusted Cally more than all of them, even Blake; Jenna, though, if even she was siding against Blake, didn’t that mean something? Sighing, Vila slowly moved over to where the others were and turned to face Blake.
“I’m sorry Blake but they’re right! Going after Travis makes sense, it buys us time to think this through, even if we get to Star One before Travis, there’s no telling what he has in store whenever he might arrive. Blake, it’s time to get rid of Travis,” Vila gave his verdict.
Blake stared in disbelief at the crew one by one, his crew, or so he had thought of them. He hadn’t come this far to be denied by those who perhaps didn’t share his vision, never yearned for mankind to be free as much as he did. He wondered should he ever have surrounded himself with a band of mercenaries, did they ever understand him, did they ever trust him? Blake walked up the steps towards the corridor that exited the flight deck, the rest of the crew watched him, had he given up they wondered? Blake turned at the top of the stairs.
“Nothing is settled. Zen continue course towards Star One so we keep Travis in range and still make progress. It’s up to you all if you wish to go your own way, to change direction and jeopardise all we have achieved up to now. It’s your choice, you were always free to leave at any time, I never kept you here, never demanded your loyalty. You gave it, freely!” Blake’s tone was one they had only heard once before, when he left them unannounced after Gan’s death; Blake appeared deflated and exhausted as he turned and headed towards his quarters.
The crew were stunned into silence by Blake’s parting words and looked at each other, none of them sure what to say or do next until Avon broke the silence.
“Once again Blake shows his talent for tugging at your heart strings, playing on emotions to manipulate you into doing his bidding. I am finished with all this. Whatever happens next, I need my freedom,” with that Avon also headed from the flight deck through the opposite corridor to that which Blake had used.
Vila looked at Cally, as if seeking reassurance from the sensitive Auron. Cally shrugged her shoulders in response to Vila’s questioning look, she could sense his unease but had no answers for him, her own mind troubled by the decision the crew still had to make and something else she could not place.
“I am going to get some rest and gather my thoughts for a short while,” Cally stated.
“Can I come with you?” Vila asked.
“I need to be alone, with no one else’s thoughts clouding mine, I suggest you do the same Vila," Cally replied before she too left the flight deck.
“But I am no good on my own, Jenna what are you going to do?” Vila asked.
Jenna gave Vila a stern glare, telling him all he needed to know.
“Fine, I will go and find some adrenalin and soma and wait for you lot to stop squabbling,” Vila had already turned his back and made his way up the stairs out of the flight deck before he finished speaking.
As the crew left, Jenna found herself alone on the flight deck, the decision still not made. Even Avon had left matters undecided, though he would never admit it, to himself or the others she thought, he needed them as much as they had at times needed him. Jenna looked at the flight console in front of her and paused. It seemed fate had left it to her to decide and above all else she wanted the group to stay together, to remain undivided. They needed to be united and with that she manually changed course, to one that would pursue Travis.
Resting in his quarters, Avon felt the Liberator lurch slightly to one side and away from its previous line of flight, indicating that the ship had changed course. He smiled impassively to himself, even Jenna had now realised the fallibility of Blake’s plan to rush to Star One. The rest of the crew probably would not register the deviation as anything other than some turbulence but he got up from his bed and made his way back to the flight deck, just in case things got interesting.
Jenna turned and seeing Avon enter the flight deck, slowly made her way to his console, she noticed he was smiling to himself.
“What are you smirking at Avon?” Jenna asked.
“The fact that you have taken it upon yourself to disobey Blake after all this time amuses me,” Avon professed, smiling at Jenna as he replied.
“I didn’t know we had to obey anyone and besides the crew were unanimous, I always thought we were a democracy, so I simply did what was right,” Jenna explained.
“True democracies don’t tend to have self-appointed dictators at the helm and I don’t remember any votes being cast,” Avon’s reply was tinged with obvious sarcasm.
“However, it is unlikely Blake is going to be very happy with your change of course and I am unsure how the others will react either,” Avon added sharply.
“You seem in favour Avon,” Jenna pointed out.
“Well, why wouldn’t I be in favour of a logical course of action? The others prefer to at least feel as if they are consulted on any change in tactic, they are less rational than I am,” Avon advised.
“I’ll watch my back then,” Jenna and Avon smiled at each other at her response.
“I’ll keep an eye on the detectors, we can’t be too careful in unknown space, you stick to ensuring we waste no time rendezvousing with Travis. Let’s at least make this trip as incident free as we can so the others can see the folly in Blakes plans,” Avon replied while looking at Jenna to see if there was any noticeable reaction to his statement; there wasn’t and silence again filled the flight deck.
The Liberator came to a halt in deep space. The change in atmospheric pressure and gravity, though slight when the ship stopped moving, made it apparent the Liberator had reached its destination. Alerted by the obvious stop in propulsion Blake, Cally and Vila all left their quarters and headed to the flight deck. Blake wasted no time in seeking an explanation.
“Where the hell are we Zen?” Blake demanded angrily.
“Liberator is 400 spatials from grid reference C-one-seven-three-two-zero in the eighth sector, the destination was reached via a manual change in course,” Zen replied factually.
“Jenna, did Avon change course?” Blake asked.
“Oh, it wasn’t me Blake, I’m not sure I could pilot the ship manually that precisely,” Avon advised.
“Then you must have brought us here Jenna, without our agreement, is that right?” Cally asked glaring with shock at Jenna.
“Yes, I did. The consensus seemed to be that we were to finally get rid of Travis,” Jenna flicked a switch on her console and the oval shaped main screen came to life showing a Class One Federation Pursuit Ship.
“And there he is, stationery, directly ahead,” Jenna announced with more than a hint of glee in her voice.
Cally felt a pounding in her head, was it the tension among the crew, the raw emotion and stress on show or was it something else, something more malignant nearby? Feeling threatened, Cally spun around and walked quickly to the weapons locker where she removed a gun then turned to face Jenna, her normally gentle features suddenly hardened.
“I see, you just decided for us Jenna? How could you, you had no right! We’ve always made these decisions as a crew, how dare you!”
Frozen by shock, the others watched as Cally advanced on Jenna, the look on her face reminding Avon, Blake and Vila of the angry freedom fighter they first met on Saurian Major, willing to kill all of them and die in the process for her cause.
Moving towards Jenna, gun aimed at her head, Cally spoke through gritted teeth.
“I should kill you for this! I have been betrayed before, too many times, but I trusted you, Jenna, I trusted all of you!” Cally said feverishly, whirling to face the others, never lowering her gun.
Vila got up from his station and walked slowly towards Cally, speaking calmly and deliberately.
“Cally, put the gun down, no one has betrayed you, we, no I wouldn’t do that”
“Betray me? Oh, I think betrayal is never too far away for any of us if we stood in the way of something one of us wanted!” said Cally, hurt mixing with anger in her eyes.
Vila put his hand out to Cally beckoning for her to relinquish the gun. Before anyone said anything further Cally shook her head from side to side and then clipped the weapon back into its holster, much to everyone’s relief.
“Know this, if any one of you ever deliberately takes me somewhere against my will again, I will kill you!” Cally stately coldly as she moved to the seating area and sat down. Blake sitting opposite Cally wondered to himself if he had lost his crew, resisting his natural instinct to intervene, he decided to stay quiet. The silence was broken by Avon.
“What the hell is Travis doing just sitting there? Zen is there any indication that vessel is ready to engage in combat with us?”
“The vessel shows no sign of engaging in combat with Liberator,” Zen informed the crew.
“Let’s just shoot him now and finish what we started,” Jenna pronounced looking at Blake who nodded.
“Easy pickings then, he’s a sitting duck! Zen put up the force wall and clear the neutron blasters for firing,” Avon instructed.
“Confirmed, force wall activated and neutron blasters are cleared for firing,” Avon moved to the weaponry console, set the target on the ship ahead and was about to fire when Zen interrupted him.
“Information, the targeted vessel has an unidentified shield surrounding it, the shield is not of any kind previously encountered,” Zen advised just in time as Avon lifted his finger away from the button that would fire the neutron blasters.
“Will the shield repel our fire and cause us any damage?” Blake asked, deciding to break his silence and reassert his authority.
“Energy readings indicate a high probability that the energy field will deflect any fire aimed at the vessel causing damage to the Liberator,” Zen stated ominously.
Silence befell the flight deck yet again. Blake and Avon stared at each other waiting for the other to act.
“If he’s stationary let’s teleport over there and kill him face to face,” Cally stated ruthlessly.
Avon looked over at Blake and smiled.
“Do you think you can you kill him, this time?” Avon asked patronisingly.
Blake glared at Avon but refused to take the bait.
“Zen, can we teleport through that shield?” Blake asked.
“That information is not available. However, as the Federation have not developed any shield against teleportation it seems logical to assume teleport may be possible,” Zen advised.
“May be possible doesn’t sound very reassuring, I’m not going over there,” Vila advised the others.
“You weren’t on my list of candidates, Vila. Jenna, Cally get kitted up and leave whatever disagreements you may have on board. Seeing as you two wanted this so much, let’s get over there! Vila come and operate the teleport,” Blake strapped a gun around his waist and headed towards the teleport room.
Avon smiled to himself, noting that Blake had deliberately left him out of this expedition.
Moments later Blake, Cally and Jenna found themselves on the flight deck aboard the high spec pursuit ship. Strangely, there was no sign of Travis and there were three Mutoid bodies strewn across the floor. Jenna walked over to each of the bodies and in turn checked their pulse.
“As far as I can tell they’re dead, if they have a heartbeat!” Jenna advised.
“Travis must have killed them but why and where the hell is he?” Blake asked no one in particular.
“Blake, look at this,” Cally had found a strange looking device attached to the weaponry control console of the pursuit ship. Blake tried to tear it away but to no avail and shook his head.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, something strange is going on here and I’m not sure I even want to find out what it is,” Blake stated.
“Do you think it could be what is emitting that force field Zen has picked up?” Jenna asked.
“Seems likely, it also seems Travis may have some friends we don’t know about,” Blake stated pressing the button on his wrist communicator to open a line to the Liberator.
“Avon this is Blake, put Orac on,” Blake demanded.
“Orac is waiting,” Avon advised after a short pause.
“Orac, scan this ship for any life forms apart from ours,” Blake instructed.
“I fail to see why you couldn’t conduct a search of such a small vessel yourselves. However, having made contact with the ships security systems there are only three life forms on board,” Orac stated irascibly. Blake took a deep intake of breath.
“Avon bring us back,” Blake angrily ordered.
The crew rejoined Vila on the flight deck but before anyone could speak Zen addressed them.
“Information, long-range detectors have detected a ship of unknown origin making its way to grid reference C-one-seven- three-two-zero in the Eleventh Sector. At its current speed we will need to travel at standard by eleven to arrive three hours before it.”
“Whoever it is, is on their way to Star One,” Vila advised.
Cally moved towards Jenna and placed a hesitant hand on her arm.
"I’m sorry Jenna, a mix of the feelings among us, something malevolent on that ship and the fact that I have been taken hostage too many times before during my life meant I reacted irrationally. The combination was badly affecting my sensitivities.”
“It’s ok Cally, none of us have been at our best lately and I don’t think you meant it or at least I hope you didn’t,” Jenna replied smiling reassuringly at Cally. Cally returned the smile.
Blake sat at the central flight console, as if not trusting anyone else to take the station. There was no escaping the fact that the crew had been under immense pressure recently but Blake knew now was his opportunity to regain his authority.
“That detour very nearly could have got us all killed and Travis is still out there so we have gained nothing,” Blake stated angrily while looking at each of the crew in turn.
“What happened on that ship?” Vila asked.
Ignoring Vila, Blake turned towards Zen.
“Zen set a course for Star One at maximum speed, give it all we have got!” after delivering the order Blake stormed off the flight deck again leaving the crew in silence.
The Liberator hurtled through unchartered space towards the coordinates they had extracted from the Charl’s Court Jester on Goth.
“Liberator is approaching the theoretical boundary of the galaxy leading to intergalactic space,” Zen announced to the crew.
Blake picked up a plastic star-map that was resting on the table in front of him.
“Avon, would you come look at this?” Blake asked.
Avon made his way from his station and stood behind Blake in the middle of the flight deck, Blake held the map in front of them both and circled an area on the map with his forefinger.
“So, if Lurgan's coordinates are correct Star One is somewhere in there,” Blake advised Avon.
“Which makes it about the only thing that is!” Avon replied sardonically.
“Role Reversal” is set between Blake's 7 Season 2 (B) episodes "The Keeper" and "Star One".