The Choice (Blake's 7 story by Sondra Sweigman)

Fanfiction
Title:	The Choice
Author(s):	Sondra Sweigman
Date(s):	1993
Length:	short
Genre:	gen
Fandom:	Blake's 7
External Links:	The Choice
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The Choice is a gen Blake's 7 story by Sondra Sweigman.

It was printed in Dark Between the Stars #5 () and The Way Forward: Crusades of Blake (2001) and is online.

Summary

"The crew are Servalan's prisoners. Blake is to be executed, but is given the choice of dying by firing squad or torture. The catch is that the death he *doesn't* choose will be inflicted on Avon..."

Author's Comments in 1995

Okay, your comments on "The Choice": First let me say, in light of all the time you spend addressing Servalan's character and psyche, that while we can debate that another time (and probably more appropriately in another forum), it's not all that germane here because my story isn't about Servalan. It's about Blake and Avon and how they respond to the threat they're facing. But, for the record: Yes, I do see her as a psychopath, and yes, she was seeking a psychopath's high in my story. It doesn't matter to her what Blake chooses—but not because she's decided she will torture him regardless of what he says. What she's decided is that she will do the opposite of what he says! That way he will end up (or so she thinks) with the outcome he doesn't want. And yes, Blake realizes that Servalan will cheat, and he does outmaneuver her—I don't agree with you that it's simplistic to believe that he could. Whether or not the reader is meant to see what's happening from the beginning or to be lulled into one scenario only to discover that it's the reverse depends entirely on the reader. (I've seen the story have both effects—usually it depends on the reader's prior view of Blake's character.)

I'm not interested in torture for fun either (but that doesn't mean I can't write a character who is). I write about torture in the B7 universe because it's an integral part of that universe and because it's a subject I know a lot about and care a lot about. (In the "real world", I've been involved much of my adult life in the struggle to combat torture--so the last thing I'm aiming to do is appeal to that segment of fandom which gets a sexual thrill from the subject.) I also write about it because I think it provides a good context for exploring character (as do all extreme situations). Basically, I wrote this story to celebrate the human capacity for triumph in the face of torture. Because I do call the outcome a victory for Blake. (So, no, you didn't miss any "deep psychological implication"—you missed a moral one.) On a more prosaic level, I wrote this story because Curt Hoffman dreamt a similar scenario in which he and Blake and Avon were captured by Servalan, and in his dream Blake also seemingly chose the better fate for himself, but Curt woke up before Blake's motive could be clarified, and I felt impelled to come up with an honorable one!

I think I need to state here that in some of my other writing—in particular, in my novels--my depiction of torture is far more graphic than in "The Choice." (In fact, it's not "depicted" in "The Choice" at all—what little there is of actual torture occurs offstage, so to speak.) I'm saying this in the same spirit in which it's considered a fandom courtesy to warn potential readers that a given story contains graphic sex. I really do think you might want to avoid my novels, Ros.

Reactions and Reviews

This is a knockout story with a corkscrew backhand; the Blake in ambivalence is well-captured here. The set-up; Servalan has the crew and Liberator, all is lost but she does have one last game to play with Blake, he can choose a swift, merciful death by firing squad or a slow, agonizing death from her best interrogators. The catch is, whichever death Blake chooses, Avon gets the other.