In the end the resistance had not been as great as they had feared. The base was old and the secrecy of the operation had meant that external defences had been kept to a minimum. Getting to the base had been straightforward; Orac had hidden their presence from the automated systems, and the forests had hidden them from any human viewer, until the last moment. Surprise was on their side, that and the fact that Orac had shut down the base lighting and door circuits and locked the armoury just as they began their attack.

Grant’s people had launched the frontal assault at dawn, just as the security shifts were changing. Blake and the others could hear the exchange of fire around the silo doors as they made their way down the valley and towards the rear evacuation shaft built into the hill. On this side there were no security personnel to be seen, though several monitors watched their approach, but, provided Orac did his job, the information from them would never reach the central communications systems. As Blake had told Grant Orac always did his job, however much he might complain about it.

Finding the outer access door presented little problem, it was exactly where Orac’s map of the base had told them it would be, and Blake and Tarrant took up defensive positions to provide covering fire as the others approached the door. There were no sign of any locks, only a smooth recessed panel on the right hand edge of the door panel, and even that was almost obscured by the vegetation that was partially hiding the door. Cally looked questioningly at Vila who simply grinned nervously back then opened his tool box.

It only took him a couple of seconds to make a choice from the contents then he moved confidently towards the door and set to work. The sooner he was inside the better as far as he was concerned. Even with Blake and Tarrant on guard, and Grant’s people drawing fire at the front, he would be a lot happier where there was less opportunity for guards to sneak up on him. He might even persuade Blake to let him go back to Liberator once the door was open. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to find Avon, but the others could do that without him. As he bent to the lock it ran through his mind that he wasn’t sure that they would find Avon in any state he would want to see. He wasn’t quite sure why but the thought made him feel sick, he pushed it away and concentrated on the lock. Not that he really needed to concentrate, this lock didn’t offer much in the way of a challenge, and almost immediately the door slid open. Vila stood back to allow Cally, Dayna and Till, weapons drawn, through into the passage beyond.

Vila packed his tools back into the box then looked at Blake
"Do you need me any longer? Wouldn’t I be better back on Liberator? Jenna needs to keep a watch for patrols and though Orac can operate the teleport he doesn't do it as quickly as I can."
‘And I could keep an eye on Lille’ he added to himself. Somehow the feeling that she was about to do something decisive had grown on him in the last few days, he would be happier if someone was there to watch her. Illyan was on board too, but Vila still wasn’t sure what Illyan was up to either.

Tarrant spun round to face him,
"Vila, you'll go back when we are ready!" he spat.
Blake turned and looked at the pilot impassively, eyebrows slightly raised. Tarrant, much to his own annoyance, felt the blood rush to his face and swallowed any further hasty words. After a second, and without a word, Blake turned back to face Vila,
"We don’t know if Avon will be held in a cell Vila if he is then we'll need you to open the door. None of the cell doors are on the automatic system, you know that."
He paused slightly before going on, his voice quiet and even,
"It might need to be done quickly, after all we don’t know what is happening to him".
Vila swallowed hard, sneaking a quick look at Blake's face before dropping his eyes to his tool box again,
"I know" he said and handed the door activator to Tarrant.
The pilot opened his mouth to speak, but Blake got in first.
"Yes I know you do," then he turned to Tarrant
"We'd better get moving, there’s no sign of any security presence here but there may be inside, the more of us there are the better. Signal the others will you and follow us as soon as they arrive."
With that he turned and pushed Vila ahead of him into passage beyond the door.

Tarrant swore under his breath, and he had thought Avon overbearing and dictatorial! Not for the first time he wondered how Avon and Blake had managed to occupy the same ship for more than three years without killing each other, and more to the point how he was going to occupy that same ship with both of them without serious bloodshed. He raised his communicator,
"Jenna, send the others down as soon as they are ready",
Jenna's voice came back almost immediately
"On their way".

The seconds stretched unbearably as he waited, no sound came from behind the open door but the sounds of fighting from the other side of the hill still reached him making him more nervous than he had expected to be. He hoped Avon was here, the whole situation gave him the creeps and he wanted it resolved one way or another.

Tarrant looked around him, at the scrubby bushes dusted with snow, at the backdrop of razor peaked mountains shrouded in trees and topped by heavy cloud, at the plantations lurking beyond the hill. There was nothing obvious to bring Servalan here so it had to be something obscure, something hidden, because it was pretty clear, even to him, that she had been here. If it had been Avon then she had to be pretty desperate, or maybe it was just that she was a gambler and that she didn’t know Avon very well. But then who did? Tarrant might have though that he did once but Terminal had put an end to that delusion.

The sky was lightening and the stars were fading, the wind was beginning to rise and there was the taste of snow in the air. Tarrant shivered and wondered why Blake hadn’t let them teleport right here, after all surprise was hardly an issue any more. Finally the sounds of running feet and slithering boots told him that Kearne and his party were here. They slid to a halt and, drawing their weapons, they rapidly scanned the area around them. Tarrant nodded to them,
"There's no sign of any security presence this side of the base, possibly most of them don’t know of its’ existence. It would be like Servalan to have a private escape route. The others have already gone ahead and Blake says to follow them".
Kearne nodded and without a word crossed to the door. After peering cautiously inside for a moment he jerked his head to indicate for his people to follow him and disappeared into the shadows. One by one they followed cautiously, hesitating at the door for a second before they disappeared into the base.

Tarrant raised his gun and took a last look around before following them in and closing the door behind him.

***

The ship seemed strangely quiet with the others gone. Zen handled the piloting while Jenna kept her eyes on the detectors, leaving Illyan to man the weapons console. One of Ro’s people sat on the forward couch and watched the viewer just in case something managed to sneak past Zen’s defences. Laski was a big, slow spoken, man with silver hair who reminded Jenna of Gan, and who she found herself strangely at ease with; at the moment she was almost unaware of his presence.

For the last five minutes the flight deck had been almost silent as their attention was directed to matters outside the ship. Everyone’s spare thoughts were on the events taking place on the ground. Jenna could feel the tension in her neck and shoulders growing by the second, and a faint pain stirred between her eyebrows as her narrowed eyes swept the display, backwards and forwards over and over again, looking for the slightest hint of a signal.
“Is Lille in the teleport?” Illyan’s voice cut unexpectedly through the tension.
“No, Orac is handling that.” Laski’s voice carried a faint hint of an accent of some kind but no other expression.
“Hmmm, maybe that isn’t wise.” Illyan mused.
“Why?” Jenna let her eyes wander across to the weapons console, straightening her neck with some relief.

Illyan smiled lazily at her,
“Orac’s priorities are not always what one would wish they were, particularly if one is in urgent need of teleport.”
Jenna felt her mouth twitch,
“True, sometimes you’d think he couldn’t do more than one thing at once.”
Illyan’s smile set his eyes dancing,
“It appears to me that Orac needs to be reminded of that constantly, has any one done so today?”
Jenna shook her head, her own smile widening;
“I think most people have other things on their minds. In which case you are right, Orac might well be sulking and that can make him a little slow to co-operate if he’s engaged in something he sees as more interesting. Maybe one of us should take over; nothing seems to be happening here.”
Illyan nodded and slid from behind the console,
“Laski will you take over here? I will go and give Orac a little pep talk.”

Laski grinned and surged to his feet,
“Willingly. I’d like a chance to be able to tell my grandchildren that I fired the Liberators neutron blasters in anger. Vila is usually rather protective where they are concerned.”
“Forgive me if I don’t wish the same for you.”
Jenna sounded amused but she turned her eyes back to the detectors, anxiety pulling at her brows.
Illyan left them to it and headed for the teleport.

Orac silently sat by the bracelet rack, lights chasing, apparently absorbed in monitoring the base below them. Other than that the teleport was deserted.

Illyan crossed to the console and checked the co-ordinates. Nothing amiss there. Then he killed the comms. link between the teleport and the rest of the ship. Finally he took a small detector from his pocket and scanned the room and the corridor beyond it. Only then did he move to stand beside the computer making sure that he was facing the door.
“Orac,” He kept his voice low. “Do you have any more information on that other matter?”
“No,” Orac sounded almost co-operative. “There has been no communication of any kind that might be relevant.”
Illyan thought for a moment;
“Has any approach been made to you?”
“Only the one that you are aware of. However some of the recent activity suggests that matters are coming to a conclusion.”
“In what way.”
“Activity within the labs is suggestive.”
“Of what?”
“Hostile intentions. I have not prevented it, in accordance with your instructions. Further attempts have been made to gain control of the Zen computer. They were unsuccessful.” Orac’s voice sounded almost conspiratorial.
“Good.” Illyan, however, sounded distracted.
“Certain materials have been obtained, components extracted from the standby stores and from the autorepair systems.” Orac seemed concerned to regain his attention.
Illyan nodded,
“Transmit the details to my quarters, secured as usual. In the meantime monitor the ship as previously instructed.”
“Very well.”

Illyan crossed to the steps, he turned to look back,
“And Orac make sure that teleport calls get top priority. Even milliseconds could matter in the current situation.”
“I am aware of that.” The computer sounded mildly annoyed,
“I know, just don’t let anyone convince you differently.”
“Of course not.”
Illyan smiled, he could almost hear a raised eyebrow in the computer voice. Orac seemed to enjoy the plotting, revelling in yet another insight into the strange world of organic beings perhaps. When he had time Illyan would ask about that, but he’d other things to think about for the moment, some precautions that he needed to take. Time might be running out for more people than just Avon. The smile died and he turned quickly and headed for his own quarters.

***

Blake and Vila moved quickly down the passageway, somewhere ahead they could hear weapon fire so the others must have met resistance. Vila drew his own gun and Blake saw the tremor in his hand as he did so. A twinge of a new guilt stirred from somewhere. He put his hand out and grasped Vila's arm,
"Stay behind me Vila, and listen out for Tarrant and the others".
Vila cast him a grateful glance before nodding.

The corridor in front of them was still quiet and empty but the noise of weapon fire was getting louder, and they could hear raised voices though they couldn’t make out the words. Blake stood for a moment listening, Vila just pressed himself against the wall and wished he was anywhere but where he was.

Eventually Blake indicated him to follow and began to move forward again, but now he edged forward more slowly as if he expected to meet guards at any moment. Vila took a deep breath and followed behind him, trying to stay in the other man's shadow as they inched their way down the passage in silence. It seemed to Vila that it went on forever. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt Blake's hand against his chest stopping him in his tracks. Vila could see the end of the passage several meters ahead of them
"Wait here for Tarrant and the others" Blake murmured before inching forward again.

Vila was about to protest about being left alone when he heard another burst of weapon fire somewhere ahead of them, he pressed himself back into the wall closing his eyes and gripping his gun tighter. When the firing was over, and he opened his eyes, he was alone.

***

Blake edged down the remaining passage and peered around the edge of the wall. The corridor opened out into a wide, high, space with launch doors set into the centre of the roof; they were open and he could see a clear sided shaft rising the full height of the hill. A small shuttle stood unattended on a hydraulic platform beneath them. Blake looked at it critically, small maybe but it looked fast and probably had more firepower than its appearance would suggest. Servalan's private get away vessel no doubt.

The fact that it was here suggested that either she was still on the base or that she had left openly before they had arrived. Blake tended to suspect the latter, it would account for why the rear access was undefended. He wasn’t particularly surprised, presumably the president couldn’t spend all of her time on this out of the way planet. Her absence might mean that the base would be less heavily manned than would be the case if she were here. Blake doubted that she would have taken Avon wherever she had gone, and if she had then it was probably already too late.

The thought of what that would mean for them all caused the bile to rise in his throat. The thought of what it might mean, have meant, for Avon was firmly suppressed. However the surge of anger it produced carried him forward a step or two before he halted again, reminding himself that his own death through anger fuelled carelessness would benefit no one. Blake shook himself, this was not the time to let the past cloud his judgement.

For a moment he stood and listened, he could still hear the sound of gunfire and raised voices but none of them in the immediate vicinity. He moved forward again, cautiously skirting the shuttle, until he was crouching under the belly of the craft. Then he paused, here he could see more of the hanger. Obviously there had been action of some kind before he arrived because on the far side of the launch area he could see a couple of troopers sprawled on the floor, dead or stunned he couldn't be sure which, but both looked to be well out of the action. He edged further forward until he was under the shuttle fins; he scanned the rest of the hanger rapidly, there was no one in sight. For a moment he wondered who had attacked these troopers, somehow it seemed unlikely to have been their people. He pushed the speculation to the back of his mind, this wasn’t the time for such complications.

Staying crouched despite the protests of his back muscles he ran across the open space to the far passageway and flattened himself against the wall. He peered carefully round the corner, ahead of him he could see Cally, also pressed against the passage wall. As he watched she leaned around the next corner, firing as she did so. Answering fire came back and she drew her head in quickly pushing her shoulders harder against the wall. After a moment she leaned forward again then darted across to the far side of the corridor firing at some unseen target as she moved. This time there was less return fire, and it was drowned out by the sound of a small explosion. Blake smiled to himself at the sound, he had heard that particular type of bang rather a lot recently; Dayna did like her toys. Very useful they were too he had to admit as he watched Cally lean forward then start to edge out in to the corridor.

Looking round she caught sight of Blake and waved him to her. Crouching and keeping his head low he ran to join her, standing at her shoulder, breathing hard. After a seconds pause he looked back for some sign of activity in the hanger but there was none. He turned back as he heard Cally's voice in his head
"Dayna and Till have advanced along the left hand corridor I suggest we explore the right one".
He nodded silently and followed.

Another corner, and after a moments reconnoitre Cally moved forward, stepping carefully over the bodies of several black clad troopers who were sprawled like discarded rag dolls at varying intervals. There was no sign of life from any of them. At the next junction they turned to the right moving slowly down yet another of the featureless passages that seemed to make up the outer sector of this base. There was no sign of any security staff, in fact there was nothing at all until they reached the end. This corridor didn’t branch but ended in a locked steel door.
"We need Vila for this" Blake muttered.
Cally shook her head
"We don’t have time to wait for him Blake, we can't delay here any longer Grant’s people may need our help. We need to find another way through.”
After a moments thought Blake nodded
"I agree, anyway its unlikely to be anything important in so poorly defended a part of the complex".

They turned and retraced their steps, crossing the now silent junction to follow Dayna and Till. Ahead of them they could hear weapon fire and the occasional explosion as one of Dayna's recent developments made its’ contribution to the fight. Inwardly Blake smiled again, she really was very talented and she had worked tirelessly to put together a portable arsenal that could have been used to fight a small war, let alone take a single out of the way base complex. He wondered briefly if she would make such an effort for anyone else. Avon seemed to hold a special status in Dayna's world much to the amusement of Grant and Jenna, and the annoyance of several of Grant's male comrades. Blake had never allowed himself to speculate on the nature of that status but when he had more time he decided that he might do just that. If only for the amusement value. Tarrant's reaction to Dayna's considerable concern for Avon he wasn’t sure of, but he suspected it spanned the range from disbelief to outrage. Something else for consideration when he had more time.

Supposing that he lived so long, somehow he didn’t think they were going to hand this base over easily. A moment’s sadness touched him; he doubted that most of them knew what they were fighting for.

Cally touched his arm breaking his chain of thought. He followed her down the passageway. There was no sign of any remaining security resistance and they moved quickly until they came to another locked door. Dayna and Till stood, one each side of it, weapons pointed to the ceiling waiting for them. Dayna spoke first
"We need Vila". Blake nodded and raised his communicator
"Vila, are you there?" there was a slight pause before the answer came back
"Of course I'm here, where else would I be?” Vila sounded as querulous as Orac at his worst. “You said to stay with Tarrant so I have."
"Well get here quickly will you? There is a lock that needs your expert attention" he smiled as he heard Vila groan before breaking the link.
"Where are they?" Till asked, he sounded as if he had done nothing more unusual than take a gentle stroll.
"Not far behind me, they should be here soon." Blake hoped he sounded as insouciant.

"What do you think is behind it?" Dayna asked taking the chance to check the remaining explosive devices in her kit belt.
"Probably an access into the main part of the base, I get the feeling that so far all we have seen is Servalan's private escape hatch".
Cally nodded
"That would explain why it was so poorly defended, particularly if she isn't here"
Dayna looked up quickly,
"Oh I hope you're wrong, I really want her to be here."
There was a quiet venom in her voice that Blake had not heard before and he looked at her closely. Despite her fascination with weaponry, and her youthful taste for exciting mayhem, Blake had seen no obvious sign that she was more than usually homicidal, at least not given the world they lived in. But the tone of her voice now spoke almost of obsession. There was more than her concern for Avon was behind it, and he made a mental note to ask some questions of Cally when he got the chance. He looked up to see Cally's eyes on him, watching and understanding, she spoke into his mind,
"Later Blake, Dayna will not endanger us despite her desire to destroy Servalan."
Blake nodded to her slightly.

A sound behind them announced the arrival of Kearne and his people, quickly followed by Tarrant and Vila. They all stood aside to allow Vila access to the door, he set to quietly and it was only seconds before it slid open to reveal a wider thoroughfare than the ones they had so far encountered. At several intervals doors and junctions opened into the main hall but other than that there was nothing in the way of cover. Blake swallowed hard on his sudden fear and carefully followed Kearne as he led the way into the hallway. Ahead of them they could hear the unmistakable sounds of combat, Blake felt a shudder and swore at himself, this was not the time to let the past control him.

Kearne inched forward then jumped back raising his gun and firing quickly as security guards rounded a corner. Behind him Blake and Cally also fired and the advancing troopers fell. Those following them turned and took up defensive positions further up the hallway.

Dayna touched Blake's shoulder and indicated with a jerk of her head they should pull back, he nodded and waved Kearne and the others behind her. Reaching into her kit belt she took out a small dart like object, checked the setting then mimed covering her ears with her hands. They all reached into their belts and took out the small earplugs she had provided for them. Dayna watched until she was sure they had all pushed them into their ears then she keyed the tiny drive on the dart and launched it forward up the hall way. Raising her arm so that she could see her chronometer she counted carefully before beginning to advance slowly up the thoroughfare, the others followed cautiously.

Their caution was unnecessary, the pressure bomb had done its job and heavily stunned guards sprawled in tangled heaps on either side of the corridor, their weapons lying where they had fallen. More could be seen in the adjoining corridors.
"How soon before they wake up" Blake asked.
"Hours" came Dayna's terse reply "we chose the frequency carefully, it produces a deep stun effect but leave no neural damage.” She grinned for a second, “ they are going to have headaches to write home about for several days but you will be able to question them and get sensible answers”
"How come I can hear you? " asked Vila.
"The plugs only screen the bomb’s frequencies" she replied casually " leave them in just in case I need to use more"
"Are Grant’s people equipped with them?" asked Kearne.
Dayna shot him a withering look,
“Of course they are, I told them to put them in as soon as they made it inside the complex just in case".
Kearne grimaced
"Yes of course" his voice was apologetic.
Blake grinned at him; it was hard sometimes, even for him, to reconcile Dayna's youth with her technical ability and experience. Harder still for some who had never met Avon and so had no way of knowing the kind of cold, objective scrutiny she was used to being under. Blake shot her an amused look as she turned away, someday he must talk to her about her father, judging by recent events she must have had an unusual childhood.

Stepping over the fallen troopers they began to move down the corridor. As they progressed deeper into the base the sounds of the battle Grant’s people were fighting were audible. First explosions, then exchanges of fire, and finally, as they drew closer, the shouted instructions of commanders and section leaders. Blake looked at Dayna eyebrows raised, she nodded and took two further darts from her belt. Kearne took up a covering position slightly in front of her while Blake and Cally positioned themselves to either side and together they inched forward.

Vila watched them go his heart hammering. In all the time with Blake and Avon he had never before had to experience a full-scale ground assault, and he sincerely hoped he never had to do so again. He didn’t like battles fought from the comparative safety of Liberator surrounded by all the sensors and deflectors and force walls that the ship could provide, but this was something else entirely. Watching Blake covering Dayna’s flank as they inched forward he wondered if this was how the rebellion had been fought on Earth, creeping along corridors in the dark corners of the sprawling Domes of Earth. He shivered; this was how those friends Blake had told them about had died. Ambushed by Travis in some isolated rat hole somewhere in the depths of the city. Their lives had been snuffed out in featureless corridors like these. Vila wanted to find Avon, but at this moment he really wished he were somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Dayna and the others reached a vantage point twenty or so meters in front of them; the noise of fighting came from both sides. Vila watched as she sent the tiny darts to both left and right and wondered again about Dayna’s father. As far as they were aware sound was not a weapon often used by the Federation, mainly because of the technical difficulties, but Hal Mellanby had been perfecting it in his years on Sarran. Dayna had brought that knowledge with her. With Orac’s help she had ironed out the difficulties to produce a potent, though not fatal, weapon. The troopers armoured helmets protected them against most air borne weapons but not against the pressure waves produced by these bombs. That situation would not last of course but for the moment it gave them an edge they desperately needed.

Seconds after she dispatched the second dart the sounds of firing stopped and Blake waived them up the corridor. Silently he and the others disappeared round another corner. Kearne’s unit moved swiftly after them, and after a muttered prayer Vila hurried to join them.

***