Loop Of Death is wonderful sci-fi storytelling, with a good drop of horror in it too.
WRITTEN BY
No specific credit.
PLOT
After discovering that the Federation have upgraded their weaponry, the Scorpio crew seek a way to match them and travel to the long-abandoned Akandran space probe to loot vital technology. There, the crew are taken prisoner by the aging, insane scientists abandoned by Earth.
ANALYSIS
This one has a really strong Star Trek vibe, in a good way. The backstory of the spooky abandoned probe gives us some interesting insights into Earth's history in the Blake's 7 timeline, suggesting that it's only recently come out of a World War a few decades before the events of the series. Which would explain a great deal about the Federation's paranoid attitude. The probe represents something of the old NASA approach to space exploration, although of course this optimism is subverted and punished in this dystopian history.
I liked seeing the white dwarf star and hearing about its effects. It's a nice, subtle way of educating the readers whilst engaging them in a tense adventure. In fact, the whole story is full of strong concepts, like the use of a laser to melt the Scorpio's hull to patch a hole and Avon's ploy of using the focusing beam against the cannibals on the probe. It's always neat to see characters work their way out of situations in ways that we can relate to.
CHARACTERS
The main thing carried across here from the show is the crew's tension. Avon is extremely cutting, but dependable in a crisis and uses Tarrant as his main assistant. Vila is the sad sack, and clearly resentful of the others. Dayna's main attribute is wanting Vila to shut up. And Soolin is there. I can't really be mad at this, because it is pretty true to the characters' relationship in Series D.
The cannibals aren't given much characterisation beyond "evil witch" and "relatively nicer old guy", but they are pitiable for their very nature and it's interesting to imagine what kind of people they must've been prior to ending up where they were.
NOTES
*This story was published in the Blake's 7 Marvel Monthly issue 4.
*The Scorpio has a force wall, much like the Liberator.
*Unlike Stardrive, where Avon uses some kind of device to regenerate the hull, here he uses a laser to melt the metal around the hole to seal it shut.
*The life support system is described as an "air regenerator".
*The text specifically points out that Avon's quips hurt Vila's feelings every time, which is kind of sad to think about.
*In a possible display of Ensor's old personality, Orac snipes that he "hates spitting".
*Avon suggests that the Akandran probe was launched before the "Atomic Wars". The oldest of the crew is around seventy, meaning that these wars(and possibly the birth of the Federation) took place less than fifty years ago.
*Vila makes oddly contemporary references to crushed beer cans, and knows about the Marie Celeste, suggesting some kind of historical background. Or he reads books.
*Why is the space probe unable to send out a mayday?
*It's obvious that the crew resorted to cannibalism, but that wouldn't keep them alive for decades so what did they eat and drink? Or did their supplies only just run out?
*I'm not convinced that the neutron blasters from the Scorpio are powerful enough to turn the white dwarf supernova. Or that the ship could survive that.
INFORMATION!
*Selma recognises the Scorpio as Wanderer class.
BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE
"Before you have us all weeding your vineyard, Vila, I suggest we apply our minds to more realistic matters."
CONCLUSION
Quite well-weaved for a short story.
*Unlike Stardrive, where Avon uses some kind of device to regenerate the hull, here he uses a laser to melt the metal around the hole to seal it shut.
*The life support system is described as an "air regenerator".
*The text specifically points out that Avon's quips hurt Vila's feelings every time, which is kind of sad to think about.
*In a possible display of Ensor's old personality, Orac snipes that he "hates spitting".
*Avon suggests that the Akandran probe was launched before the "Atomic Wars". The oldest of the crew is around seventy, meaning that these wars(and possibly the birth of the Federation) took place less than fifty years ago.
*Vila makes oddly contemporary references to crushed beer cans, and knows about the Marie Celeste, suggesting some kind of historical background. Or he reads books.
*Why is the space probe unable to send out a mayday?
*It's obvious that the crew resorted to cannibalism, but that wouldn't keep them alive for decades so what did they eat and drink? Or did their supplies only just run out?
*I'm not convinced that the neutron blasters from the Scorpio are powerful enough to turn the white dwarf supernova. Or that the ship could survive that.
INFORMATION!
*Selma recognises the Scorpio as Wanderer class.
"Before you have us all weeding your vineyard, Vila, I suggest we apply our minds to more realistic matters."
CONCLUSION
Quite well-weaved for a short story.
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