large...
- We know.
- I'm sorry, Master, but as asteroids go...
- Don't be sorry, be quiet.
If we want to keep
this heap of ironmongery operational,
we have to visit Altern Five in order to recover
selsium ore to make fuel crystals.
Hitching a ride into the Altern system
on that asteroid
is the only way we're going
to get past any Federation patrols
and within teleport distance of Altern Five.
Now, if anyone has a better idea,
I'd like to hear it.
- I wish I'd kept my mouth shut.
- Range 60,000.
Thirty seconds thrust at maximum power,
vectored at 370
will match our course and velocity
through the Altern system with the asteroid.
Thrust vector 6. Stand by and override monitor.
Standing by.
Just how close are you planning
to get to that thing, Avon?
Fifty yards.
Fifty yards? Come on, Avon...
Near enough to be in its radar shadow
without the risk of being damaged by its spin.
Slave, we shall need
the precision guidance subsystems on-line
for the final approach.
Yes, Master.
Precision guidance on-line and standby.
Main drive thrust condition green
for activation on your command.
Do we have to go that near? That spin won't
just damage us, it'll tear the ship apart.
Vila's right. We need a safer standoff distance...
The closer we get, the less risk there
is of our being detected by a Federation patrol.
- Range?
- Five thousand.
There won't be anything left of us to detect
unless we match velocity and course now.
Sit down! 30 seconds.
We can't risk leaving it that long.
Maximum thrust will wreck the main drive.
We can't risk a patrol
detecting plasma radiation from sustained thrust.
There are times
when even the most cynical must trust in luck.
Now!
Precision guidance lost.
Slave, initiate the backup system.
I'm very sorry about this,
but that was the backup system.
- Avon, I told you!
- The control panel's exploded.
TARRANT: The flight level redundancy programs
are blown, there's nothing left.
Slave, damage report.
Main drive lost.
We know that. What about the outer hull?
I know I suggested it, but I told you
it wouldn't work, not under these conditions...
No external or internal sensors
are functioning in the main drive plasma chamber
or the main thrust tube,
therefore, damage to the ship's stern
must be considerable.
- I'm sorry, Master.
- He's sorry!
Check the dark side.
Chances are
we've wrecked the main drive's focusing core.
- We carry a spare.
- What use will that be?
The main drive chamber can't be pressurised.
How do you carry out a delicate repair operation
wearing a spacesuit and gauntlets?
- I don't.
- Nobody does. It's impossible.
It's like using an asteroid
as cover to enter the Altern planetary system.
Maybe next time you'll listen to reason,
if there is a next time, which seems unlikely.
Slave, what is our life support capability?
One hundred and fifty-five hours, Master.
SOOLIN: Oh, by the time the oxygen runs out,
we'll be bored as well as dead.
- VILA: Look, Tarrant, I told him...
- Be quiet!
Let us check all the systems.
I would prefer to be sure
that dying is the best option we have.
Hello, there! Anyone for a party?
I'm afraid you'll have to bring your own booze
'cause I've nearly drunk mine.
Anyone got any booze? Huh?
And how about my cold, calculating Soolin?
I'd like to see you unbend just a little
before we're all, all...
Sometimes, Vila, you can be quite disgusting.
Not so, my lovely. I can be disgusting all the time.
It's easy.
Easy as colliding with an asteroid, eh, Avon?
You know,
they say all your life passes in front of you
when you're about to, about to, you know.
It's what's happening to me now.
All my past life.
That's one misfortune we don't have to share.
Fourteen, I was,
when I was first sent to a penal colony.
Ship was hit in the main drive
by a meteoroid. Bang!
You know what they did to repair it?
Activated the force wall,
and generated an atmosphere inside the force wall
so