Chapter Text
Location: the flight deck of the Liberator.
Zen: Orbit of the planet Saibb will be achieved in three minutes.
Blake: Orac has identified an island on the planet where we’ll have the best chance of finding this herb of yours, Cally.
Cally: I’m glad to hear it; we could do with an alternative to soma around here.
Vila: Could we? I don’t see the problem with it.
Jenna: You wouldn’t, Vila.
Vila: What’s that supposed to mean!?
Cally: You can drink kusk tea and still have a clear head afterwards. It will be far healthier for all of us.
Blake: We’ll be going down in pairs to cover a wider search area.
Gan: What, all of us?
Blake: It should be perfectly safe and Orac will operate the teleport.
Avon: You hope so.
Vila: I hope so too!
Blake: Alright, everybody, gear-up and meet me by the teleport.
-----
Location: a blooming meadow.
[Cally and Jenna materialise amongst the flowers. The bright colours of the petals stand out starkly against the overcast sky.]
[Jenna takes a deep breath in.]
Jenna: It smells wonderful here.
Cally: It’s almost like we’re stood in a painting.
[Jenna leans in to smell a particular flower. She looks shocked at the scent, then leans closer to smell it again more deeply.]
Cally: What is it? What’s the matter?
Jenna: This smells exactly like one of my mother’s perfumes…
[She looks sadly at the flower.]
Jenna: I almost wish that I could pick one to take with me, but… it would only end up dying.
[She has a hard time pulling her gaze away from the flower and after a moment she turns to Cally, almost hesitantly.]
Jenna: Maybe once we’ve found your herb we could come back here for a pic-
[A sudden downpour instantly soaks the two of them and they hurriedly raise their hoods to protect themselves.]
Cally: What was that you were saying?
Jenna: Never mind, it was nothing. Do you see any sign of the kusk here?
Cally: It would be almost impossible to spot it amongst all these other plants; I think we should look elsewhere.
Jenna: Alright, let’s go.
Cally: You go ahead, Jenna. I just want to check that I didn’t forget something; I’ll catch up to you.
-----
Location: a woodland blanketed by bluebells.
[Avon and Vila materialise.]
[They traipse through the woodland, occasionally stopping to compare plants against the drawings provided by Cally to help them identify the kusk herb.]
[Vila, bored, mimes shooting a bow; watching as his arrow flies through the air and finds its mark.]
Vila: Bullseye!
[Avon silently judges him nearby.]
Vila: I could see myself as Robin Hood walking through this forest.
Avon: You’re hardly the heroic type; even one of the Merry Men would be a stretch for you.
[Rather than be offended, Vila brightens with excitement.]
Vila: Oh! Have you read Robin Hood too?
Avon: Not as such, I listened to it as an audio when I was young.
Vila: Well, I read it. My grandma gave it to me as a book.
Avon: A book? A real one?
[Vila smirks.]
Vila: What’s the matter? Never seen a book before?
Avon: I’ve seen a book! But I never… You owned one?
Vila: It even had all the pages in it.
Avon: Vila, savour this moment; it is unlikely that I will ever say this again. That… is very impressive.
[Vila dutifully savours the moment. Then he runs to catch up to Avon who has moved on to scrutinise some plant-life further ahead.]
Vila: But isn’t this exactly how you imagined Sherwood Forest when you were young?
[Avon glances around the forest impassively.]
Avon: Perhaps.
[Avon gets up and walks on. Vila pouts.]
Vila: “Perhaps!” You’ve got no imagination, that’s your problem! Most people have opinions on things; they look around and say, “oh, what a lovely place for a pic-“
[Avon and Vila break through the treeline and come upon a fast-flowing stretch of river nestled between two waterfalls. A stepping-stone path of rocks sits across the width of the river.]
[Vila gulps.]
Vila: I suppose we’re crossing that then, are we?
Avon: We will if we want to search the forest on the other side.
-----
Location: a sandy beach.
[Blake and Gan materialise on the sand. A strong wind is blowing rain and salty water into a flurry.]
Blake: The bracing sea air! There really is nothing else quite like it. A shame that last time I was on a beach, I was about to be shot by Travis. Puts a bit of a dampener on things… as does this rain.
[Gan crouches down and runs his fingers through the wet sand.]
Gan: You know, this is the first time I’ve ever been on a beach.
[Gan digs up a seashell.]
Gan: Would you look at that! How beautiful!
Blake: A seashell; an impressively large one too.
Gan: I’m not sure what I was expecting, really, but sand looks much better in vis-tapes than it does in real life. This stuff is… unpleasant.
Blake: You’ve caught it on a bad day; it’s almost soft when it’s dry. I’d go so far as to say that if the sun was shining right now and we had a blanket and some food with us, this would be the perfect place for a pic-
[A wave crashes against the two of them, bowling Blake off his feet.]
Blake: Alright, never mind all that. Let’s get ourselves off this beach and start looking for that herb.
[They both stand, fruitlessly brushing wet sand from their clothes and gaze up and down the beach. It is bordered by cliffs as far as the eye can see.]
Gan: How’s your climbing?
-----
Location: quiet parkland.
[The two women are searching among the plants growing in the area for any sign of the kusk herb. Somewhere along the way they’ve managed to gain white feathers stuck haphazardly to their clothes and hair.]
[Jenna keeps glancing over her shoulder towards Cally, wanting to say something but unsure how to bring it up.]
Jenna: Cally?
Cally: What is it, have you found something?
Jenna: No, it’s not that. I- well- I’ve been meaning to speak with you, alone, for a while now…
Cally: Oh? What about?
Jenna: When you first got here – on the ship, I mean. I didn’t trust you.
Cally: I understand-
Jenna: No, let me speak. It was unwarranted - and unfair to you. I’m sorry.
Cally: Jenna, it isn’t easy for people like us to trust strangers. You had all been together since the London and I was, well, an alien. You had to look out for your own safety and I don’t hold that against you.
Jenna: I’m glad that you’re with us, Cally.
Cally: So am I. And I accept your apology.
[The two women smile at each other and embrace. At that moment, the sun breaks through a gap in the clouds and a shaft of light shines down to the ground between them. Cally opens her eyes and gasps.]
Cally: Jenna, look!
-----
Location: the opposite bank of the river.
[Avon and Vila wade their way onto the rocky shore at the other side of the river. They are both drenched to the bone and chilled.]
Vila: Well, this is miserable.
Avon: My sentiments exactly.
[Avon sneezes as they trudge their way through the rainy forest on the other side.]
Vila: Hope there’s nobody else in the forest with us. They’d be able to hear you for miles.
Avon: I can’t help being wet and cold!
Vila: You shouldn’t have thrown yourself into the river, then, should you?
Avon: As I recall, it was you who dragged us both in.
Vila: Me!? I’ll have you know that I jumped in to save you!
[Vila heads off into the forest while Avon glares after him.]
[About ten steps in, Vila sneezes himself.]
Vila: Yeah, alright. Don’t say anything.
[Avon smirks at him.]
Vila: It’s a shame really; this is may be the least-creepy forest I’ve ever been in. I’d go so far as to say that I’d willingly stop here for a pic-
[A particularly loud ‘snap’ emits from under Vila’s foot as he takes a step. Suddenly, a rope net springs up from the forest floor, encasing the two men and scooping them up among the tree branches.]
Avon: Oh, perfect, Vila. This is just what we needed.
Vila: How is this my fault?
Avon: Stop squirming, you’re jabbing your elbow into my ribs! Also, get off me!
Vila: I can’t. My foot’s stuck in the net! This is awful, look how high up we are! I’m getting vertigo!
Avon: Have you tried looking at something besides the ground?
Vila: I’ve got nowhere else to look! I’m calling Blake to rescue us-
Avon: Don’t even think about it! We are getting out of this situation with our dignity intact – and that does not involve calling Blake!
[The teleport bracelet chooses that moment to chirp to life.]
Blake: Avon.
[Avon brings his bracelet up to his face, only to remember that his other hand is trapped under Vila.]
Avon: Vila, hold the button down.
[They laboriously manoeuvre themselves into a position to try and answer the communication.]
Blake: Avon? Are you there? Vila?
[After much cursing, Avon is finally able to answer with his most innocent voice.]
Avon: Yes, Blake?
Blake: What are the two of you doing?
Avon: Well, we’re not exactly hanging around. What do you think we’re doing?
Blake: Have you found any sign of the herb yet?
Avon: Not yet, though we shall… widen the net, as it were, of our search area.
Blake: How’s that going, are you having any problems?
Avon: No, no problems. In fact, our spirits are… high.
Blake: …
Blake: Alright, well, report in if you find anything.
Vila: If he bought that then he’s a bigger fool than I am! I’m adding lying to the list of things I’m better than you at, by the way.
Avon: At this point, if might be quicker for you to write down what you’re worse at…
Vila: You’re being sarcastic, but name one thing you are good at, unrelated to computers.
Avon: I have very good aim.
Vila: I don’t see how that’s going to be useful; you dropped your gun down-
[A small nut bounces off Vila’s head.]
Vila: Ouch!
[He turns to see Avon reaching for another one with his free hand.]
Vila: You know, Avon, I’ve always said that you were a very talented man.
[Avon smirks and lets his hand fall away from the branch he was collecting nuts from.]
-----
Location: the slopes of a valley.
[Blake brings his teleport bracelet down from his face and frowns. He and Gan are inexplicably much dirtier than they were before.]
Blake: I didn’t like his tone of voice at all; those two are up to something.
Gan: Avon sounded perfectly pleasant to me.
Blake: Exactly!
Gan: … I see your point.
Blake: I’ll check in with Jenna and Cally next. I only wish we had something to show for ourselves after all this time out here, but…
[He stretches his arms out and gestures at the landscape around them.]
Blake: We’ve climbed five mountains-
Gan: I think they were hills.
Blake: Five mountains and still the nearest sign of any plant-life that isn’t grass is all the way over there in that valley. My legs are liable to fall off before we get there, and I am not calling Orac again!
Gan: If I was a cynical man, I’d say we might as well give up, sit down, admire the view, and maybe have a pic-
[Blake’s communicator chirps.]
Cally: Blake?
Blake: Cally, what is it? Have you found anything?
Cally: We have, and I’ve gathered some plants for us to cultivate on the Liberator. We’ll be well-supplied with kusk tea for as long as someone remembers to water them.
Blake: [Aside to Gan] At least a week, then.
Gan: Maybe two.
Blake: [Back into the communicator] Excellent news. I’ll call Orac and have him teleport everybody back onto the ship.
-----
Location: the teleport section.
[All of the crew materialise in the teleport bay. Without the support of the net, Avon and Vila immediately fall flat on the floor. The rest of the crewmembers jump back in surprise.]
Jenna: What happened to you two?
Avon: Absolutely nothing. Isn’t that right, Vila?
Vila: Yes, we’d just stopped for a rest actually.
Cally: Ahem. The kusk will need some preparation before it can be made into tea. With the Liberator’s facilities, it shouldn’t take more than an hour or two.
Blake: Right, of course. Thank you, Cally, let us know when it’s ready.
-----
Location: Liberator corridor, outside the sleeping quarters.
[Jenna turns a corner in the corridor, reaching the room that she had claimed as her own. She looks down to the object awaiting her outside her door and gasps in surprise.]
Jenna: Oh, Cally!
[with glossy eyes, she gently picks up the flower that she’d admired down on the planet which Cally has carefully dug up by the roots and re-planted for her to be able to keep.]
-----
Location: the planet Saibb.
[The crew of the Liberator are sitting on a blanket and enjoying their tea and other picnic nibbles. The mood is light-hearted and relaxed.]
Jenna: You never did say how the two of you ended up quite so dirty.
Gan: We fell down a hill.
[Blake sends a betrayed look towards Gan.]
Cally: You just… fell?
Gan: The incline was rather steep…
Blake: We didn’t just fall; it was Orac’s fault!
Jenna: Right, of course it was…
Blake: It was! He teleports with spite!
Gan: He was very annoyed with us…
Vila: He's always annoyed with us.
Blake: And you! You were clearly lying about how you got so wet!
Avon: [unconvincingly] What? Us?
Vila: Oh, we fell in a river.
Avon: Damn it, Vila!
Vila: Well, I say “us” but it was Avon who fell in…
Avon: Shut up, Vila!
Vila: I dove in heroically after hmf-
[Avon clamps a hand over Vila’s mouth.]
Avon: You’ve said enough – that is not how it happened!
Jenna: Heroically, you say?
Cally: [attempting to be diplomatic but fighting down a smirk] It sounds like you’ve all had quite the ordeal.
Vila: [having freed himself from Avon’s grasp] You two dragged enough feathers onto the Liberator to stuff a pillow with - what were you doing?
Jenna: We were attacked by a couple of vicious geese!
Cally: Vicious? I distinctly remember you calling them cowards!
Jenna: In the face of my ruthlessness, they had no choice but to retreat.
Cally: We so much as gave them a stern look and they ran away!
Avon: Friends of yours, Vila?
Gan: Ahem! Well, I think that we’ve all earned this cup of tea!
Jenna: Yes, I can’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed. Thank you, Cally.
Blake: Hear, hear! Let the Federation wait until tomorrow; this afternoon is for us.