picked this up.
I have jammed them on these frequencies,
of course.
Oh, considerate.
- What exactly do you want?
- Rescue.
- From whom?
- Well, I've been placed under house arrest.
There are a number of faceless Federation guards
marching around my corridors.
I want you to get me off this planet safely
before things get worse.
What's in it for us?
Half the Feldon crystals in my ship Orbiter.
What guarantee do we have that
you'll give them to us?
Well, I imagine you'll kill me if I don't.
Well, we might kill you anyway and take them all.
Well, I'll just have to trust you, won't I?
- He doesn't usually trust anyone.
- So what makes us so appealing?
Well, I do have one or two good cards to play,
I suppose.
For instance?
You're on an approach which takes you
below the Mecron moons and Orbiter.
Yes.
As you probably know,
Orbiter is powered through Feldon crystals.
By using them and reflectors on the moon,
I could set up a series of force fields.
You'd find getting away from this planet
a lot harder than getting to it.
- Multiple traction beams.
- Exactly.
Powerful enough to stop a ship leaving orbit?
I don't believe it.
Your friend Avon does.
(Alarm beeping)
Oh, I have a visitor approaching.
Don't be too long.
Well, what do you think?
- I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.
- That wouldn't be far.
- As I see it, we don't have much choice.
- Which is exactly the way he wants you to see it.
Four of my men have been murdered.
Yes, I did try to warn you,
but you didn't give me much of an opportunity.
What do you mean?
Well, the locals do have some rather nasty habits.
Ritual murder is only one of them.
You never mentioned this in your reports.
You could have had backup forces.
I didn't need backup.
I managed things for myself.
I came to an agreement with the Mecronians.
Did this agreement include the killing of my men?
- Of course not!
- Of course not.
Look, do you realise the problems I had
setting up this entire mining operation?
Theirs is a very ancient civilisation, you know.
- I didn't come here for a history lesson.
- It is relevant.
The Mecronian high priests
use these as a symbol of their power.
Now there is a legend about the Feldon necklaces.
A chief once stole one,
the gods became angry and struck him down.
Of course, the Gods' anger
was merely an electrical storm
in which a hunk of polished Feldon crystals
that size would absorb enough energy
to blow holes in any number of recalcitrant chiefs.
How fascinating.
You see, the priests have been cashing in
on this piece of luck for generations.
So I decided to join them.
I said their Gods had sent me
to collect the crystals.
Well, not unnaturally,
they weren't particularly impressed.
Well, not at first anyway.
- I can imagine.
- So I borrowed a necklace.
All it needed then was a well-placed,
remote-controlled laser rifle
to ensure that only the chosen one could wear it.
After six of them had died in the attempt,
they found my survival quite miraculous.
Your survival is becoming more miraculous
by the moment.
Just what sort of swindle are you working?
I beg your pardon.
On your own original estimates, you've delivered
half the expected yield from this mine.
Where's the rest?
Either it never existed, which is fraud,
or you've stolen it.
It's a capital offence either way.
- You'd better lead the way. Are you up to it?
- I'll be all right.
- Have you been improving the guns again?
- Funny man.
- It's a Mecronian knife.
- VILA: Not too keen on visitors then.
Good shot though.
If he hadn't already been dead,
you'd have saved our lives for certain.
- Oh, do I get the prize?
- Sorry, disqualified on a technicality.
I'd still rather not meet the owner of this,
too soon.
How long can Gerren stay on his feet?
There's no telling. Until the drug wears off.
- Get ready to leave orbit.
- Leave orbit?
I don't mind playing games, but I do object
when the opposition makes