- [Blake whirls around and levels his gun at a lone Decima that has snuck up behind him]
- Blake: Keep back.
- Decima: Help us. Help us, please.
- Zen: Limited range forward vision is available should you require it.
- Vila Restal: Why couldn't you tell us that before?
- Blake: Put up forward vision.
- [repeated whispered chant]
- Saymon: They must come to us. They must come. They must. They must. They must come. They must. They must.
- Zen: Repair monitors report explosive device attached to primary power channel.
- Blake: Where?
- Zen: Hold three, access duct seven.
- Blake: Well can the automatics neutralize it?
- Zen: No.
- Blake: Why not?
- Zen: There is no damage.
- Avon: Computer logic. Until the bomb explodes there is nothing for the repair system to repair. Zen, can you reprogram the automatics?
- Zen: Preemptive interference in crew activity is forbidden.
- Blake: [running for passageway] Oh, he'll clear up after us, but he won't stop us making a mess.
- Avon: [moves to follow him] *You* made *this* mess.
- Jenna Stannis: We're all in it, Avon.
- Avon: [over his shoulder from the passageway] Yes, aren't we!
- Olag Gan: What are you trying to do?
- Avon: Bypass the detector comp and use another of the systems to receive the signal.
- Olag Gan: Can it be done?
- Avon: Some of this technology is a little more advance to that which I'm used. I'm having to guess at some of it.
- Olag Gan: What about the automatic repair system?
- Avon: Oh, it'll do the job. Eventually. It's very methodical. It starts at the beginning and it works its way through. It's slow. You should appreciate that problem.
- [Avon throws a switch. A whole panel shorts out and burns]
- Avon: No, that wasn't the one.
- Olag Gan: It'll take *days* to repair that.
- Avon: On any ordinary computer system. But this isn't any ordinary computer system. A malfunction of that size would have registered on the autorepair. It should cut in about five seconds. Watch. It will be cutting in about... now.
- [Autorepair restores the circuitry]
- Olag Gan: [in awe] That is fantastic.
- Avon: Yes, isn't it.
- [Avon disconnects his patch wire]
- Avon: As a matter of fact it is.
- Blake: Vila.
- Vila Restal: Yes.
- Blake: It's time to use the neutron blasters.
- Vila Restal: At last. I've been looking forward to this.
- Blake: Take it easy. It might blow us all up. See if you can blast a hole through that web. Fire!
- [Vila presses a button to fire. An alarm sounds]
- Zen: Neutron flare shield has not been activated.
- Vila Restal: Which one's that?
- Blake: [angrily to Zen:] *Activate* the neutron flare shield!
- [Alarm stops. A parallel hatch pattern overlays the main screen]
- Zen: Confirmed. Blasters are cleared for firing.
- Blake: Listen, there's a problem. If we let them have these, they'll use them to wipe out an entire race of creatures, people, here.
- Avon: If it concerns you, don't give them the cells.
- Blake: No, there's more. They've got a carrier beam that projects a fungicide which'll clear a way through the web for us. It doesn't work without this power.
- Avon: Ah, well, if it's between the creatures and us, there's no argument. Even your irrational conscience should be able to cope with that.
- [Beat then, resigned]
- Avon: What do you want to do?