Herriol, Sentha,
all the border systems, unless you resist.
Resist? With what?
We have no armies, Avon, no great battle fleets.
- Zukan does.
- But Zukan isn't here.
And why not?
Because he has his armies and his fleets,
and is probably attacking Tarl or Serrus even now,
while we all listen to a renegade,
who has more reason than us
to fear the Federation.
I may be a renegade, Boorva,
but you betray your people
if you do not fear the Federation.
- It's going badly.
- Hardly surprising.
Avon's idea of diplomacy is like
breaking someone's leg, then saying,
"Lean on me."
Resistance means armies, Avon, whatever you say.
And we haven't got them.
Well, neither has the Federation.
At least not sufficient to indulge
in widespread conventional conquest.
Why else have they embarked upon drug control?
Defeat the drug and you buy yourselves time.
I mention it in passing,
since none of you seem to have noticed,
but there are two craft registering
on the detectors.
SOOLIN: How near?
Orbit range in 17 minutes.
- Visual scanners?
- Locking on to automatic.
Originally the stuff was administered
by medical laser,
but now they have developed variants
that can be fed into your reservoirs
or even into the air that you breathe.
You're saying that we have no protection.
On the contrary, I'm offering you the best there is.
Total immunity.
I have the antitoxin.
What I do not have is the necessary equipment
to mass produce it,
or the raw material
from which to obtain the toxin extract.
Zukan has the raw material, and you, gentlemen,
you have the necessary equipment.
Any such alliance would be futile
as long as Zukan remained outside it.
- And he has the armies.
- And the war fleet.
He's a pirate. Zukan's a pirate and he's an outlaw.
- Who are they, Orac?
- Why not ask them?
This is Xenon base. Identify yourselves.
I repeat, identify yourselves.
- You have 10 seconds or I'll open fire.
- With what?
Xenon base,
this is Betafarl Commercial Freighter, Lodestar.
Who's with you?
I repeat, who's that with you, Lodestar?
This is Zukan, President of Betafarl,
come to attend the conference
of the non-aligned planets.
Gentlemen, the President of Betafarl, Zukan.
You are welcome, Zukan.
I apologise for my late arrival.
Boorva, perhaps now you may care
to revise your position?
Because Zukan has finally arrived?
That doesn't necessarily change anything.
Why can't you accept that Zukan
is here in good faith?
There is no history of trust between us, Avon.
True, we know Zukan to harbour
territorial ambitions against us all.
Does he renounce them?
And even if he says he does,
why should we believe him?
May I reply?
By all means.
In so far as we on Betafarl
have always sought to protect ourselves
and our borders,
there are some here who would not be unjustified
in regarding us as aggressors.
But if it is aggression to protect oneself
by ensuring that the others remain weak,
then we have been aggressors.
But no more.
Because now we face a true aggressor.
The Federation does not seek merely
to defend itself,
but to subjugate all peoples to its will.
And Betafarl is no more able to stand alone
against the Federation than any of you.
So if we cannot be friends,
for the sake of all our peoples,
let us be allies as from this day.
Well, he spares us the hypocrisy
of pretending that his motives
are anything other than self-interest.
Are our motives any different?
I welcome your words, Zukan.
But words are no more than words.
Zukan must forgive our mistrust,
but he himself has fuelled it
for far too long for words alone
to be sufficient here today.
Avon, show us your freight bay.
Now, those are my technicians.
The equipment is everything necessary
to produce an antitoxin.
This is Betafarl's first contribution
to our new alliance.
So doubt my words if you will,
but not the evidence of your own eyes.
The power inlets are on the far side.
I hope
they're not just