Transcript of ‘The Sevenfold Crown’

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[In the pyramid]

SOOLIN 

[running] Wait! Avon, wait!

AVON 

What is it?

SOOLIN 

Things are moving too fast for me. What’s going on?

TARRANT 

D’you expect us to run after you like a couple of school-kids?

AVON 

Don’t you understand? There’s no time to lose. That thing out there that looked like me isn’t a virtual image, or a construction of your minds. It’s as solid as you and me. It’s a robot, one of Servalan’s little games.

SOOLIN 

But why?

AVON 

Isn’t it obvious? And it means that she’s here already. But if we can get to the central chamber before she does, we’re still in with a chance.

TARRANT 

And the robot?

AVON 

It’ll follow us. And this time I’ll take enormous pleasure in blowing it to pieces.

[Scorpio]

SLAVE 

But surely we shall overload the circuit once more and they’ll be stuck down there.

VILA 

But if...but the...hang on. [he inserts Orac’s key] Orac. How do we stop the teleport packing up again?

ORAC 

Use the depleted primary cell for the teleport, and the full reserve cell for powering the ship, of course.

VILA 

Of course!

ORAC 

Really, you are almost as stupid as the one who calls himself Avon.

VILA 

That almost sounds like a compliment—I think.

ORAC 

That was one of the things I was trying to tell you.

VILA 

And the other?

ORAC 

It’s too late now. The damage is done.

VILA 

[alarmed] Damage?

ORAC 

There is no stupidity so crass as that of the arrogant.

VILA 

What damage! [he waits for an answer] Please tell me. [he sighs] Pretty please? Clever Mr Orac?

ORAC 

‘Pretty please’? What kind of construction is that?

VILA 

I was trying to flatter you. Like Soolin and Dayna.

ORAC 

Is that what they do? Thank you. I shall note the information.

VILA 

What damage? Are you gonna tell me or not?

ORAC 

Oh, very well. You understand how the teleport works of course?

VILA 

Of course! ... I haven’t got a clue.

ORAC 

In kindergarten language then. The teleport first scans and codifies all the information needed to describe the body, brain, and being of the traveller.

VILA 

The information?

ORAC 

Precisely.

VILA 

But ... we’re not bits of information. We’re ... lumps of meat.

ORAC 

I was coming to that. The material making up the body, the meat, is dissolved, and the energy derived therefrom is transmitted in a focussed beam to form the material of the new body which is restructured following the transmitted blueprint. You see?

VILA 

Ahh. Clever stuff.

ORAC 

There is of course an inevitable loss of energy in transmission. No technical process can be one hundred percent efficient, and so this is topped up with energy deriving, in this case, from the primary energy cell of the ship.

VILA 

Hang on. And because of the overload, the dissolution circuit cut out. I heard you say it.

ORAC 

Indeed. And so the first time, Avon was transmitted to the surface using most of the energy from the primary cell, leaving the original Avon undissolved up here. And then—

VILA 

Are you telling me there are two Avons down there?

ORAC 

There are.

VILA 

But ... which one is the real one?

ORAC 

Both. Biologically and philosophically, each one is as valid as the other. There is literally nothing to choose between them, until one of them kills his twin of course. By definition, they’re equally as ruthless.

[In the pyramid]

AVON 1 

Shh, gently. This must be the central chamber.

TARRANT 

Is Servalan here yet?

AVON 1 

Let’s have a look. [he peers in] All clear.

[they enter]

SOOLIN 

It’s...it’s like a cathedral, a cathedral made of jewels.

TARRANT 

It’s open to the sky. Look, there’s a hole right at the top of the vault. You can see the stars, even though it’s the middle of the day.

AVON 1 

Yes, at midnight of the summer solstice it points directly at the hub of the galaxy, where the Devarni are.

SOOLIN 

How do you know that?

AVON 1 

Now...how do I know that? I must have read it when I was wearing the diadem.

SOOLIN 

Ohh, and there’s the crown. On that pedestal, there. Have you ever seen anything so lovely?

AVON 1 

Shh, listen. Quick, behind that pillar.

[they hide as the other two arrive]

AVON 2 

Dayna, gently. This must be the central chamber.

DAYNA 

Are they here?

AVON 2 

Let’s have a look. [he peers in] Seems to be clear.

[they enter, the door slams shut]

AVON 2 

Keep back!

[gunfire]

DAYNA 

[calling out] Soolin! Tarrant! You are in great danger! Do you hear me? That isn’t Avon. It’s a fake, an android.

AVON 1 

You see? It’s even managed to fool her.

SOOLIN 

[calling out] No, Dayna, no! The thing with you is the robot, the android. Avon’s been with Tarrant and me all the time.

AVON 2 

As I thought—it’s managed to fool them both.

DAYNA 

So what do we do now?

AVON 2 

Nothing. Servalan will have programmed that thing to kill me at any cost. It’s bound to come out and stalk me. And I’ll be waiting.

[Scorpio]

VILA 

For God’s sake, Slave, make the jump out of hyperspace!

SLAVE 

I deeply regret that that is not yet possible, master.

VILA 

Orac, tell him. I can’t get through to them until we’re out.

ORAC 

Unless the ship is returned to the precise hyperspace and meta-time coordinates, it could be displaced by light-years on its return. You have no alternative but to be patient. [Vila groans] In any case, you are worrying unduly.

VILA 

Oh, am I?

ORAC 

One of the Avons will surely have slain the other by now. [Vila groans] My money—is that the idiom I have heard you use?—my money would be on the replicate Avon who descended first with Tarrant and Soolin. Taking into consideration the energy overload factor, he will be sharper, quicker, and more impatient to destroy his rival. I would—what was that expression?—I would lay odds.

VILA 

Mmm.

[The central chamber]

AVON 1 

You two stay here. I’m going after that thing.

SOOLIN 

No, Avon, it’s too dangerous.

TARRANT 

You’d do better to wait and pick him off when he comes out.

AVON 1 

I can’t wait any longer, what if Servalan arrives?

SOOLIN 

But surely she’ll be waiting too?

TARRANT 

In any case it’ll spot you as you go between the pillars.

AVON 1 

I’ll make my way along that gallery up there. Then I can come on it from above. Cover me.

TARRANT 

I’ve only got a stun clip. That’s no good against an android.

SOOLIN 

Me too.

AVON 1 

Stay out of sight then.

AVON 2 

Dayna.

DAYNA 

What?

AVON 2 

A movement—listen!

DAYNA 

You’re right.

AVON 2 

Gently...gently.

[he shoots]

AVON 1 

Aaugh!

AVON 2 

Got it!

DAYNA 

You only winged it. It’s stunned though.

AVON 2 

I’ll soon finish it off.

TARRANT 

No, you don’t!

[they struggle]

DAYNA 

Tarrant! No! That one’s the android!

[Scorpio]

VILA 

Slave! Communicator volume at maximum!

SOOLIN 

[over comms] Dayna, stop him!

AVON 2 

You asked for it, Tarrant. This thing has got to be eliminated for good.

SOOLIN 

Nooo!

VILA 

Stop! Stop! For God’s sake, stop!

[The central chamber]

VILA 

[over comms] You’re about to murder your own...twin, your...brother, your...oh God, I don’t know.

AVON 2 

It’s not murder. I am merely destroying an evil machine.

VILA 

No! Listen to me!

AVON 2 

[panting] Go on.

VILA 

Because of the faulty teleport, you’ve been transported twice.

AVON 2 

What?

VILA 

There are two of you down there. He’s as alive as you are. And if you don’t believe it, I’ll put Orac on and he can tell you himself.

AVON 1 

There’s no—

AVON 2 

There’s blood coming through his sleeve where I winged him.

AVON 1 

And if he were really an android, I’d have been dead by now.

SOOLIN 

You’re conscious! You heard what Vila was telling us?

AVON 1 

I did.

BOTH AVONS 

May I suggest—

AVON 1 

Go ahead.

AVON 2 

May I suggest that we continue this discussion in a less exposed position? In a word—

AVON 1 

—take cover. If Servalan were to turn up now—

AVON 2 

—we’d be at her mercy.

DAYNA 

Can you manage?

AVON 1 

I have a headache and I’m losing blood. I haven’t however lost the use of my legs or my faculties. Now move, all of you.

AVON 2 

[laughs] You’re my twin, right enough.

TARRANT 

Yes. As arrogant and as overbearing. You’re not the only one with a headache.

AVON 2 

It was necessary. You heard him, move! Vila?

VILA 

What?

AVON 2 

Any sign of Servalan’s ship? Has she arrived yet?

VILA 

Er...no. At least, don’t think so.

AVON 2 

Scan the surface and report back. Communication silence until you do.

VILA 

Er...yeah, all right.

AVON 1 

And do try to buck your ideas up, Vila.

[Scorpio]

VILA 

Scorpio out. Who does he think he is—they are? One of them’s bad enough, but two? Slave?

SLAVE 

Master?

VILA 

Visual and radar check of surface. See if you can spot a Federation craft.

SLAVE 

I’m sorry, master. I’ve already taken the liberty of instituting a broad scan sweep. It revealed nothing. Please forgive my presumption.

VILA 

Well, you’d better set up one of those grid thingummies then. And put it on the screen, so I can see what you’re doing.

SLAVE 

A narrow beam maximum-gain grid scan, master.

VILA 

And keep an eye open for any ships arriving.

SLAVE 

The detectors are on full alert, master.

VILA 

Right. Hmph. You’d think they’d at least say thank you. Thank you for saving my life, Vila. Thank you for stopping me from murdering myself. Good old Vila. Shall we buy him a drink, Avon? Good idea, Avon, why don’t we? Hah! Fat chance!

[The central chamber]

DAYNA 

This may hurt quite a lot, but it will stop the bleeding.

AVON 1 

Go ahead. Pain is an irrelevance.

AVON 2 

I trained myself to ignore pain many years ago.

AVON 1 

That’s right. You remember the time when I... [he laughs] But of course you do.

TARRANT 

Yes, all very touching, but um, could we concentrate on the job in hand? Servalan could turn up at any minute. If we spread ourselves out so that the chamber is covered from every angle, we can break cover the moment she arrives.

SOOLIN 

Yes. And take the diadem from her before she has the chance to put it onto the crown.

AVON 1 

As long as she has the diadem on her head or in her hand, she is invulnerable. There is only one moment.

AVON 2 

The moment when she places the diadem in its place on the sevenfold crown.

AVON 1 

And before she picks up the crown to put it on her head.

AVON 2 

Then she will be at our mercy.

AVON 1 

So take up your positions.

AVON 2 

Yes, but wait until I...we...give you the word. You understand? We do nothing until she’s replaced the diadem. At that moment, we move. Into position now.

SOOLIN 

Very well.

TARRANT 

[at the same time] Right.

[they move off]

DAYNA 

There. It’s not too tight?

AVON 1 

It’ll do. Now get into cover on the other side.

DAYNA 

OK. [she moves off]

AVON 2 

Look at the way it gleams.

AVON 1 

To be in sight of power—real power—at last.

AVON 2 

So many years. No pain, no feelings. And now this.

AVON 1 

Not to be alone... from the earliest memory...the emptiness of the desert...

AVON 2 

The emptiness. Was it joy or was it sadness?

AVON 1 

Was it pain or was it bliss?

AVON 2 

The emptiness.

AVON 1 

But now...to be...other. To know...

AVON 2 

How could I have known? How could I have known then? How could I have ever known?

AVON 1 

How? Listen...

[a ship is heard approaching]

VILA 

[over comms] Positive sighting. Ship at the jungle near the pyramid. And some sort of small chopper... Yes! A flivver-copter. And it’s making its way from the ship towards you!

AVON 2 

We copy.

AVON 1 

Stand by. She’s coming in through the roof.

[Scorpio]

VILA 

She’s going in! Slave?

SLAVE 

Yes, master.

VILA 

Keep the teleport channel open. I’ve got a feeling they’ll want to get out pretty fast.

[The central chamber]

AVON 2 

She’s carrying the diadem.

AVON 1 

The crown! It’s like a flame.

AVON 2 

Wait until she puts it on the crown.

BOTH AVONS 

NOW!

AVON 1 

Step back from the crown!

SERVALAN 

Nothing shall stop me now.

AVON 2 

No. [he fires] The next one’s through your heart.

AVON 1 

Hands above your head! You’ve lost, Servalan. This is the end.

SERVALAN 

Avon! ... Avon?

DEVARNI 

[in eerie whispers, growing louder, singly and severally] Who awakens us? Who would dare disturb the glorious ones in the death of their communion. Shall the divine countenance the profaning of the very heart of their creation? Have we not crushed them underfoot?

SERVALAN 

It is I who dare. I, Servalan. If I should don your crown, I become as one with you.

AVON 2 

No, no, that crown is mine! Nobody but Avon shall seat its power.

DEVARNI 

What? You’d choose your own destruction? No creature so contemptible and unique could bear the shining glory, the burning fire, the searing nothingness of our being. Go, go, this shall not be. This cannot be. This rock shall perish now in flames. [flames roar] And nevermore shall beings dare disturb our bliss.

DAYNA 

Aaaaaaugh!

SOOLIN 

Dayna! I—oh!

SERVALAN 

Avon. This time you win. It’s all yours.

AVON 2 

Vila! Take us up! Now!

VILA 

I’m trying already. It’s just not working.

SERVALAN 

[leaving] Goodbye. I hope it’s not too quick. I shall enjoy picturing you all in your last moments, screaming as the fire burns you up.

AVON 2 

Vila! For God’s sake!

VILA 

It’s no good. Orac says it’s the pyramid. It’s screening you. You’ll have to get outside.

AVON 2 

There’s no time.

AVON 1 

Yes, go, go. I’ll put on the crown. My will shall be strong enough to hold them until you get away.

DEVARNI 

...thou shalt not...thou shalt not....shalt not...no...noo...nooooo...

AVON 2 

All of you, run for it!

OTHERS 

[cry and shout]

[the Devarni continue to moan in protest]

AVON 1 

Run, run, I can protect you now. The sevenfold crown shall be your shield. [his voice gets stronger and louder] My will shall be their will, and they shall not prevail. Run, run, run!

[Scorpio; the crew teleport on board]

VILA 

Thank God!

TARRANT 

Slave. Back to base. Execute hyper-jump, maximum velocity.

AVON 2 

[over him] No! I must see it.

SOOLIN 

Oh, don’t be a fool, Avon. If the planet explodes, we don’t stand a chance.

AVON 2 

But it’s not exploding, is it. Look—it’s getting smaller.

DAYNA 

It’s...it’s imploding. But that’s impossible.

AVON 2  

A ball of fire, falling in on itself.

TARRANT 

It’s gone.

AVON 1 

Avon...Avon...

AVON 2 

I hear you.

AVON 1 

The emptiness...the emptiness...the emptinesssssss [dies away]

AVON 2 

Goodbye...brother.

SOOLIN 

Avon. Avon. Avon, are you all right?

AVON 

Yes, Soolin, I’m all right. In fact I don’t think I ever felt better in my whole life.

TARRANT 

So. Back to base?

DAYNA 

Or shall we...put it to the vote?

VILA 

Yeah, come on. I want my tea. Hey! Which one are you, anyway?

AVON 

Does it really matter? Come on. Let’s go home.