Blake's 7 · Season 1
[after taking a flask of liquor Par has brought him] All right, Par. What have I done to deserve this?
Sir?
Faithful trooper, beloved officer -- not quite how I see either of us.
You always looked after your men, sir. Now you're gonna die. We thought a drink was the least we could do, sir.
[meeting with Par after he's left Travis' cell] Trooper Par...do you think he's guilty?
No doubt about it, Major. He gave the order. We just did the shooting.
I see. So you've decided to be led like the rest of us?
I shall continue to follow. It's not quite the same thing.
I don't see the difference.
Well, I didn't really think that you would.
I will make the opening declaration.
Look, don't be a fool. You really think you're going to impress them sympathetically?
I think the Supreme Commander wants me to go to my death quietly. This is as close to quietly as I am going to get.
Look, I'm trying to save your life, Travis--
You'd be better occupied trying to save your own, Thania. Majors can die quite anonymously. And your involvement in this fiasco makes your life expectancy only slightly longer than my own.
A field officer, like myself, is frequently required to make fast, unconsidered decisions. You were all field officers, you know that's true. Time to think is a luxury battle seldom affords you. You react instinctively. Your actions, your decisions, all instinct, nothing more. But, an officer's instincts are the product of his training. The more thorough the training, the more predictable the instinct, the better the officer. And I am a good officer. I have been in the service all my adult life. I'm totally dedicated to my duty and highly trained in how to perform it. On Serkasta I, I reacted as I was trained to react. I was an instrument of the service. So if I'm guilty of murder, of mass murder, then so are all of you!
It really is a pity he's got to die. He's so much better than anything I've got left.
Space Commander, we have considered your sentence at some length. Your contention that what happened on Serkasta was a direct result of your training concerned us greatly. We accept that you are trained to kill. As are we all. What we cannot accept is that this training leads inevitably to the murder of innocents. Your behavior was not that of a Federation officer, but rather that of a savage, unthinking, animal.
Do you want to tell me why you've left most of the southern hemisphere off the search pattern?
I don't believe that Blake can think and swim at the same time. It's nothing but ocean down there.
I'm going down on my own, Avon. It has nothing to do with you.
Nothing at all! But it occurs to me that if you should run into trouble, one of your followers--one of your three remaining followers--might have to risk his neck to rescue you.
Then you must advise them against that, Avon.
Oh, I will.
They might even listen to you this time.
Why not? After all, I don't get them killed.
[Pause]
[Quietly, to Avon] True.
One of these days they are going to leave you. They were almost ready to do so this time.
Yes, I thought they might be.
You handle them very skilfully.
Do I?
But one more death will do it.
Then you'd better be very careful. It would be ironic if it were yours.
They missed us! Avon's gadget works!
I never doubted it for a moment. (Avon frowns.) Is something wrong?
It just occurred to me that, as the description of a highly sophisticated technological achievement, "Avon's gadget works" seems to lack a certain style.
Avon (To Blake): I would quite like to have met this Zil of yours. It's not often that one comes across a philosophical flea.
That's the stuff that legends are made of!
…then again, perhaps they are not so uncommon.
I hope you can trust him.
I told you, he's a friend of mine.
Yes, I always knew you had a friend. I used to say to people, "I bet Avon's got a friend...somewhere in the galaxy."
And you were right. That must be a novel experience for you.
When Avon holds out the hand of friendship, watch his other hand. That's the one with the hammer.
Vila?
What?
You're a fool.
Nerves getting to you?
There are a quarter of a million volts running through that converter. I make one false move, I'll be so crisped up what's left of me won't fit into a sandwich.
I'm a vegetarian. Thanks for the offer, though.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Blake's 7 pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
