CAST LIST

SYNOPSIS

Outside a busy airport perimeter, two men are busy adjusting a video surveillance camera to give a false picture. Putting on Strate Air overalls, they open the perimeter fence and enter a refueling area. Two security guards watching from their control suite see one of the two lights a match and drop a lighted cigar in the area, a clear breach of regulations. Outside, one of the two men is opening a fuel pump whilst the other cuts and rejoins some vital electrical wiring. As they leave the security guard arrives: not seeing the "rewiring" he turns on the light switch and causes a massive electronic short, which quickly spreads. The flames catch the trail of aviation fuel, which acts as a massive fuse sending the flame back to the fuel storage tanks…which explode in a massive fireball.

Ros, Ed and Beckett watch an interview with Tyson Strate, the head of Strate Air, who blames the previous nights explosion not on employee negligence as his "rivals" are claiming but on sabotage. With them is Bixon, a member of the Committee for Global Economic Equilibrium, who is convinced that a cartel of Strate’s competitors is trying to push this new and rapidly expanding airline out of business. Bixon’s aim is economic freedom for all, preferring to work behind the scenes to ensure the survival of free market forces. He plays them the security tape from the previous evening and identifies one of the men as Hector Jerome, head of the cartel. Bixon believes that Jerome is planning something spectacular, and informs the team he’s been interested in obtaining a DCE device…developed by Mindscope. Bixon urges the team to ensure that Strafe Air is kept in business. At Mindscope Ros and Beckett discover that the company’s main business is education, and can’t work out a link. They’re met by Selina Ormand, the head of the Direct Cerebral Encoding programme who explains that DCE allows deep memory transfer of data via a specially designed device. Beckett is skeptical, so Selina suggests she demonstrate on him. Attaching a receiver to Beckett’s head, Selina sends a high vibration binary signal into Beckett’s memory centre: a test signal which gives Beckett the entire text of a trashy romance novel…which he is able to perfectly recall when prompted by her. Next door Ros is talking to Selina’s research assistant, trying to find a link to Jerome, but without success, whilst outside the building Jerome’s accomplice from the previous night is breaking in. Beckett is taken with Selina, and uses the trashy novel as a means of asking her to dinner. Suddenly an alarm sounds and Jerome breaks in, stealing a DCE and a box of disks…he escapes, tasering the research assistant and narrowly missing Beckett. As Jerome gets away Selina informs them that in the wrong hands the DCE could be extremely dangerous…

Ed is watching Jerome’s hideout: as Beckett and Ros arrive he tells them that Dieter Erhardt has arrived there, someone on Bixon’s list of possible associates. As Jerome begins him on a course of Speed Learning the machine blocks the team’s bug…prompting Beckett to suggest that Gizmos need a man on the inside. Ed is the man for the job, and he abseils across to the building, which has a delicate roof. Jerome is having difficulty with the machine: it is making Erhardt nauseous. Ed gets to the correct area of the building but needs a distraction to get to the machine: Ros provides him with one by sending him e-mail, under the guise of a Bookings Agency. It allows Ed to see that Erhardt is being loaded with a language course in Khazbek. Ros makes an error, and Erhardt spots Ed, shooting at him. Making his getaway Ed lures Erhardt onto the fragile roof, where he falls to his death, allowing him to escape. Meanwhile, in cell 1187-463, Jean-Daniel gets a visit from a Prison guard. Stopping his perusal of Strate Air stock on a recently installed computer, the guard presents him with another "privilege": a radio. The guard is not fooled by Jean-Daniel’s attitude, even if the Governor is…

Back at Gizmos neither Ros nor Ed can work out why Jerome needs Khazbek language tuition to overthrow Strate Air. Ed will soon be in a position to find out, as he re-writes Erhardt’s record to include him as co-pilot with Ed as pilot, plus a string of impressive decorations, some of which Ros forces him to delete. Beckett meets Bixon, who informs him that Strate is about to sign a string of Major Deals for trans-global routes, which will make him equal to the cartel. Whatever is going to happen may well do so in the next eight hours: Bixon is concerned however that Ed may have overdone it on the medals… Sure enough, Ed gets a call from Jerome and drives over to see him with a number of bugs, but quickly Ros and Beckett get into difficulty as Ed is forced to leave his coat and the camera inside it. Jerome shows him a simulator, and test’s Ed’s skill to see if it is deserving of his string of "impressive" decorations. He proves his ability, as Beckett mention’s Bixon’s concern about him to Ros, using the same words Ros used to Ed…as Beckett spots a fighter airplane through the camera on Ed’s jacket. Enhancing the image, they discover the plane is a Dervish, a Khazbekistan built copy of a Western design. Realising they need the DCE to give Ed the language he’ll need to fly the plane and that Selina is potentially in danger, Beckett rushes to Mindscope…leaving Ros wondering how Bixen knew about Ed’s love of medals…

Arriving at Mindscope, Beckett gets Selena to accompany him, but as they are leaving Jerome arrives and tasers them both…Bixon arrives at Gizmos and Ros confronts him with the bug he has placed in their office. Dismissing Ros’ protests, he tells her that the Dervish is deadly, as it is fitted with Stormburst missiles: missiles that will be used to shoot down a Strate Air passenger jet… Jean-Daniel has disassembled his radio, and is using it as a telephone to pass instructions to someone on the outside. Beckett and Selina are at Jerome’s, where he demands that she use her device to programme both Ed and himself in Khazbek. When she refuses at gunpoint Ed turns the gun on Beckett, which has the required effect. Jerome’s assistant Fisk is sent to reprogram an air positioning beacon as Selena programs the pair. Ed gets a chance to contact Ros, and gets her to track Fisk’s destination: moments later they are suited up and ready to go…leaving Selena and Beckett handcuffed together and strapped to a Stormburst missile, with a detonator ticking away the hour they have to escape.

Ros contacts Bixon, who is at Air Contingency Command and helps her by narrowing the search for which beacon Fisk is set to reprogram, whilst informing her that Tyson Strate is on the incoming plane Jerome will attack. He has been forced to send up fighters to intercept, giving Ros just 30 minutes to stop Fisk…who is already setting up his equipment. The falsified signal sends the Strate air jet off course, with the Dervish in pursuit. Beckett and Selina meanwhile are attempting to use the electrical leakage from the DCE to unlock their electronic handcuffs. Ed tries to fire the Stormburst to prevent Jerome’s plan, but he has locked out his fire control: meanwhile Ros arrives at the beacon station, and stimulates a power surge: sneaking into Fisk’s truck, she drives away and disconnects the phantom signal. But Fisk is right behind her, and climbs into the truck. By braking hard she send him through the windscreen and to the floor…allowing her a chance to reprogram the signal. Selina and Beckett get closer to releasing themselves, whilst Ed make some adjustments to the Dervish’s wiring…Finally activating the DCE one set of handcuffs is released, but the leakage also effects the bomb timer. Ros receives the final coordinates from Bixon, but doesn’t see Fisk coming to…and Jerome tries to fire his missile but finds Ed has rewired control back to him.

Finally getting the beacon back on course and narrowly avoiding another attack from Fisk (who drives into an electrical substation) the beacon reactivates in Strate’s aircraft, showing the flight crew they are dangerously off course. Realising they are running out of time, Beckett decides to use the DCE machine incorrectly in the hope it will explode, despite the effect on the timer. Ros is trying to contact Bixon to call off the fighters, but ACC is in fact a deserted warehouse…and Bixon is too busy to talk as he makes another call. Jerome holds a gun to Ed’s head to make him fire the missile, but instead he disables the launch control, arms the Stormburst and ejects himself, leaving Jerome to die in a fireball. With the DCE miswired and the timer jumping erratically, Beckett and Selina wait for an explosion: fortunately it is the DCE that explodes first, giving them seconds to escape the massive second explosion that follows…as Ed’s parachute brings him back to a safe landing.

Later, Beckett and Ed tease each other about their "learning" experiences. Ros however has discovered that not only were no fighters scrambled from ACC, but also no-one called Bixon ever worked there…no surprise, as it transpires that "Bixon" is Jean-Daniel’s cousin…