Friday, March 9, 2007

The Twin Dilemma VI

12. INT. TARDIS CONTROL ROOM (DAY)

Hugo is still unconscious on the floor. The time rotor slides to a halt and the console chimes. We hear the Doctor and Peri speaking before they enter through the door.

PERI
...so he voted the wrong way?

DOCTOR
Completely.

PERI
Why would he do that if it was so important?

DOCTOR
Oh, everyone has a theory. Maybe he was a saboteur, maybe he’d been dozing and hit the wrong control by mistake, a lot of people said he’d never actually learned to read and so pressed a button at random.

PERI
What happened? Did the other Time Lords kill him?

DOCTOR
Not exactly. They were very angry, but the vote ultimately cost Verne his life.

PERI
How?

The Doctor deliberately ignores the question.

DOCTOR
Well, one of them. His body was so badly injured he had to regenerate. And as you can imagine, his new body wasn’t a patch on his old one. It was rather plain if anything and for some reason his voice was incredibly high pitched, some kind of genetic malfunction from the regeneration. Now noone likes to be laughed at and Verne was so desperate to look good he did the only thing he could think of.

They have entered and cross to the console. The Doctor checks controls.

PERI
Plastic surgery?

DOCTOR
Sort of. He committed suicide. And so regenerated again. But the stress of changing twice in such a short space of time did terrible things. He became a twisted, deformed, bent figure with ancient features and no strength in his limbs. He was in agony, so he decided to kill himself again. This time properly.

PERI
Did it work?

DOCTOR
No. He regenerated again.

PERI
What he turn into this time?

DOCTOR
A sort of giant ameba. A blob that just sat there and gurgled. After a few years the other Time Lords decided to try and trigger another regeneration, in the hope they’d get Verne back. Didn’t work. Turned into something worse.

PERI
What was it?

DOCTOR
Psychotically violent and hideous in every sense of the word. Tried to kill everything it could lay its pseudopods on before the cells of his body gave up the ghost and he melted.

PERI
Ouch.

DOCTOR
Very nasty.

PERI
And what’s the moral of this story again?

DOCTOR
That regeneration crises are very obvious. I’m fine, you’re fine and together we are on the verdant planet of Joconda.

He twists the scanner control. The screen rises to show a desolate quarry, gloomy and blotted by drifting smoke. The Doctor’s face falls. Peri’s just confused.

PERI
Jaconda the Beautiful, huh?

DOCTOR
We must have materialized on the wrong planet.

He concentrates on the displays.

PERI
You mean, the other TARDIS wasn’t going to Jaconda?

DOCTOR
No, I’m saying our TARDIS might have malfunctioned.

PERI
The comparator?

DOCTOR
I doubt it. You see Peri, the TARDIS is not in total working order. Quite a few sub systems I’ve never got round to fixing. Those that I know how to fix.

Peri swallows, fear leading to annoyance.

PERI
You didn’t mention this when I signed up.

DOCTOR
I didn’t mention a lot of things.

He indicates his face.

PERI
Point taken. I mean, you do actually know how to work this thing don’t you?

DOCTOR
Of course I can. I’ve been operating this TARDIS for six centuries.

PERI
So where are we?

DOCTOR
Jaconda, according to all the readings. But that isn’t Jaconda. I’ve seen Jaconda, I’ve spent time on Jaconda and that my dear Peri, is no Jaconda. So desolate, so miserable, utterly comfortless... Of course! We’re on Titan 3! We’re in the furthermost corner of the Baxus Major colony, orbiting the star Maston Viva.

PERI
We are?

DOCTOR
Of course we are. Titan 3. There is a coincidence.

PERI
What do you mean?

DOCTOR
The story of Verne the Beautiful. It was one the planet that... Never mind. The point is Titan 3 is the most desolate place in the entire universe!

PERI
It is? Doesn’t look too bad.

DOCTOR
Ah, you haven’t been outside and tasted the air.

PERI
Oh?

DOCTOR
The atmosphere is filled with Titan Melancholia, a gas which causes intense depression in most humanoid life forms. Still, a good glass of Voxnic will cure that. Still, you don’t need to poisioned twice in one week. I’ll go.

He opens the doors.

PERI
Go outside, why?

DOCTOR
To check.

PERI
I thought you knew where we are!

DOCTOR
I do. But there is a difference between being certain and being right – it’s all a matter of opinion, and opinions have got quite enough people killed. You stay here and I’ll be back in two shakes of a speelsnape’s tail.

Peri points at Hugo’s slumped form.

PERI
What about him?

DOCTOR
Oh, leave him where he is, he’ll be fine when he wakes up.

PERI
That is kind of what I was worried about! He tried to kill us?

DOCTOR
Well, his gun’s in the wardrobe room, he can’t hurt us.

PERI
Ever heard of unarmed combat?

DOCTOR
It’ll just be a quick check. I’ll be back before he recovers.

PERI
What if he wakes up early?

DOCTOR
Treat him with the respect he deserves – knock him out again and tie him up.

The Doctor laughs and tapes a skipping rope from his pocket and hand it to Peri. Peri smiles too, then grows serious. As they talk, the Doctor fishes more and more of the rope from his pocket, which Peri gathers up.

PERI
You’re sure you’ll be all right?

DOCTOR
Of course. I’ve been there before.

With Peri now holding the skipping rope, the Doctor heads for the door.

PERI
Well traveled, aren’t ya?

The Doctor smiles warmly.

DOCTOR
He walked by himself and all places were alike to him.

PERI
All times, too.

With a wave, he walks out the doors. On the floor, Hugo’s eyes flutter open, then narrow. He’s conscious, and biding his time. Peri is unaware of this.


13. EXT. WASTELAND (DAY)

There is total silence. The TARDIS sits askew atop dark, cracked and baked soil. Blackened dead tree trunks are emerge from the ground, branches swaying in the bright light of the day – the bland sun illuminates an empty sky. A heap of machinery surrounded by scrap burns quietly near the TARDIS. Near a hillock the lifeless body of a JACONDAN lies. The Doctor emerges from the police box and blows out his cheeks.

DOCTOR
Not Titan 3, then. No TM content in the air.

He inhales deeply and then coughs. He approaches an overturned bench.

DOCTOR
The cause of the smoke. But this can’t be Jaconda, or I’m Henry Wadsworth Longfellow!

He turns around and spots the corpse. He rushes forward, lifts the arm and places his fingers near the armpit. Then he sighs and drops the arm. He gets to his feet, looking down at the corpse sadly. Then he turns and heads up the hill

DOCTOR
Oh well...
The shades of night were falling fast
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, mid snow and ice
A banner with the strange device
‘Excelsior!’

As he moves off, the dead Jacondan lifts his head to watch the Doctor go.


14. INT. TARDIS CONTROL ROOM (DAY)

Peri is trying to get the scanner to adjust its image. Hugo’s eyes open and he looks around cautiously. He reaches for his boot pistol and grimaces when he finds it isn’t there. He rolls over and rises into a crouch, shifting his shoulders as he notes he faint ache in his back. The Doctor’s voice continues:

DOCTOR (VO)
His brow was sad; his eye beneath,
Flashed like a falchion from its sheath,
And like a silver clarion rung
The accents of that unknown tongue,
Excelsior!

Peri looks up and jumps back in alarm as Hugo approaches her.

HUGO
Who are you? Where’s my gun?

Peri, calmer, finds her courage returning.

PERI
I’m Peri. I don’t know where you’re gun is and frankly I don’t care.

HUGO
Where am I? Answer! Or I'll kill you!

PERI
With what? You think I’m scared of you!

HUGO
You... you were one of the intruders in the compound! Where’s Roderick? Where’s the rest of my team?

PERI
Will you stop asking me where things are! I’m not a geography teacher. And before you do anything else, the Doctor and I saved your life after someone shot YOU in the back!

Hugo runs his hand over his back, feeling the hole in his shirt.

HUGO
Why’d you save my life?

PERI
Oh, the Doctor had some wild idea it was worth saving.

Hugo blinks and rubs his eyes.

HUGO
Well, why did your friends shoot me then?

PERI
They’re not our friends! They were Jacob-don bird people!

HUGO
Jocondans?

PERI
Yeah. Who are you anyway?

HUGO
Lieutenant Hugo Lang of the Special Incidents Taskforce and Interstellar Pursuit Squadron.

Peri blinks.

PERI
You’re a policeman?

HUGO
A what?

PERI
Never mind. We thought you were a homicidal maniac...

HUGO
And what were you doing in that area?!

PERI
I can explain or I can stand here while you shout yourself hoarse interrupting me.

Hugo sighs.


15. EXT. SHANTY TOWN (DAY)

It was once a reasonable-looking city. Garbage blows in the wind. Primitive tents have been set up around a crude market. In the distance is a polished dome, fogged up with a hint of green. A fire burns from what was once a flying car-like vehicle. The Doctor pauses by a wall. A bloody hand print is positioned uncomfortably where he casually placed his hand. He draws back his hand. He hums to himself.

DOCTOR
In happy homes he saw the light
Of household fires gleam warm and bright;
Above, the spectral glaciers shone,
And from his lips escaped a groan,
Excelsior...

He walks past a corner and then ducks back. He peers around it. A handful of JACONDANS are milling about, silently, their stiff limbs making them lumber around like zombies. They move with no apparent purpose, silently, seemingly oblivious to everything and everyone else. A town of the walking dead. Some move from tents to other tents, or simply stumble down the main street of the shanty town.

Another Jacondan wanders into view. Its clothes are rags and it is on the point of collapse. The Doctor takes a step forward but does not speak. The Jacondan’s blank, staring eyes look right through the Doctor and he shuffles off. We can see a small crowd’s worth of Jacondans walking around aimlessly. The Doctor says the poem loudly and clearly. In the silence it’s like he’s shouting. He grows angry with each word.

DOCTOR
"Try not the Pass!" the old man said;
"Dark lowers the tempest overhead,
The roaring torrent is deep and wide!"
And loud that clarion voice replied,

There is no reaction. It’s like he’s invisible. He finishes with a sigh.

DOCTOR
Excelsior!

A scrap of torn paper – a newspaper in alien text – blows past the Doctor, pressed to the window for a moment before fluttering to the ground. Behind the window stands a dead-eyed FEMALE JACONDAN, staring blankly out, not seeing the Doctor despite him standing directly in front of her. He studies her face for a moment, murmuring.

DOCTOR
"Oh stay," the maiden said, "and rest
Thy weary head upon this breast."
A tear stood in his bright blue eye,
But still he answered, with a sigh,
Excelsior!

He waves his hand slowly before the Jocondan woman. No reaction.

DOCTOR
Excelsior. By Longfellow. Poet. Seems appropriate for a badly-dressed madman arriving in a world of no hope. Well, I thought so, anyway.

No reaction. His face darkens and he turns and head back the way he came. She watches him go, and we see all the Jacondans nearby are watching him as well. Still no noise.

DOCTOR
"Beware the pine-tree's withered branch!
Beware the awful avalanche!"
This was the peasant's last good-night,
A voice replied, far up the height,
Excelsior!

As he wanders off into the bright sunlight, we see all the Jocondan have stopped milling around and are watching him. As they are as silent as before, and the Doctor is facing away from them, he does not realize he’s being observed.


16. INT. PALACE THRONE ROOM (DAY)

The fish-eye view is full of sunshine and the Doctor’s retreating back.

MASTER
Intriguing.

The image contracts and disperses, clearing to show Azmael and Noma are present, along with a few zombified guards. Azmael is furious.

AZMAEL
Are you even listening to me? Earth Sector is on full red alert – the intergalactic task force can be here by tomorrow and with human xenophobia at it’s height after their near-extinction, you’ve picked the worse possible time for this.

MASTER
You made the mistake, Azmael.

AZMAEL
Yes! I should have stayed here – or maybe it would be better for this planet and everything on it to be destroyed rather than slowly starve to death. And who’s fault is that?

MASTER
Jaconda will not be destroyed until I wish it.

Azmael snarls and turns to his companion.

AZMAEL
Noma, are you confident that our master’s pig-headed refusal to accept simple facts will repel a planetary assault?

Noma is calm.

NOMA
I have seen his power, been its conduit even. The humans will not reach us.

AZMAEL
More denial! They will have found Imon’s body, they will know we came from Joconda and they will be on their way here with guns and bombs and death. They will annihilate this planet – not that you’ve left much for them to destroy! How are you intending to hold back a volley of neutron blasts?

MASTER
This is all part of my design.

AZMAEL
You'll destroy yourself as well as us!

MASTER
You really think I am that stupid?

AZMAEL
Yes I do! I stayed here to help these people but now it looks like all that can be done is to wait and put them out of their misery – misery you caused!

MASTER
You tried to stop me. You failed.

AZMAEL
Yes, but I haven’t tried to escape yet. Don’t imagine you or any of your victims could stop me.

NOMA
You would abandon us, wouldn’t you?

AZMAEL
You’re willing to stay in the firing line, Noma, it’s not my problem!

MASTER
Then leave, Azmael. But where have you left to go to? Your people will not help you.

AZMAEL
There’s always Titan 3. You’ve made it look quite tempting.

MASTER
You will not leave. You will not abandon your adopted planet while there is a chance to save it. The Sylvest Twins will save it. You know that.

Azmael grimaces. He’s beaten. He knows it.

AZMAEL
We can’t improvise a time-curve generation matrix before the humans reach here.

MASTER
That will not be necessary. Continue with your work. Noma.

Noma takes out his gun and aims it at Azmael. Azmael smiles warmly and then lashes out. He kicks the gun from Noma’s hand, punches him in the face and snatches the Jocondan into a headlock. Noma squawks with pain. His voice is still totally calm.

AZMAEL
Remember, Mestor, I am my own Master. Play on my sympathy all you like but don’t for one moment assume that you control me.

He flings Noma to the floor and turns and storms out. Noma gets gingerly to his feet.

MASTER
He will stay. He has no choice.

NOMA
Master, if he does leave, the experiment cannot work.

MASTER
He is a Time Lord. They are not difficult to come by. If Azmael does rebel, he will die. And his replacement is already on Joconda.

Noma smiles and turns and walks out after Azmael.


17. INT. SPECIAL INCIDENTS ROOM (DAY)

The atmosphere is dangerous and on edge. Sirens and klaxons wail in the background, the lights are dim and red. SI PERSONNEL run back and forth barely ordered, snatching weapons, print-outs and helmets. Others stand around, keeping out of the way and watching the main screen on which the Minister appears. Behind him is a flag of the Earth Empire – like a cartoon atom, with other planets orbiting Earth. The Minister has been speaking for some time, with the same cold lack of emotion he showed earlier.

MINISTER
...and since Jocondans are by nature retiring, with few if any being seen off their home world, logic suggests that that is where they have returned to. All forensic reports, computer predictions and data analysis confirm this. A peace keeping force has already been prepared and will depart from the Solar System in the next few minutes. Earth Empire News will be informed with any and all updates as the Joconda Conflict unfolds.

The logo of the Empire fills the screen. Elena turns as Fabian reenters, now in full uniform and putting on a pair of gloves. He too carries a sidearm.

ELENA
This is happening too quickly. The Galactic Eighth Fleet has already been called off maneuvers – it’ll be in Jocondan orbit by tomorrow.

FABIAN
The President has already authorized the remaining flotillas to be directed there.

ELENA
That makes thirty pursuit ships alone for the first strike...

FABIAN
I can count, Elena.

ELENA
Joconda couldn’t put up that much of a fight.

FABIAN
As the Minister said, they managed to penetrate one of the most secure installations on Earth without once being detected. We don’t know what technology they’ll have.

ELENA
Even so, the Galactic Eighth Fleet isn’t needed.

FABIAN
Neither are the Martian Deep Space Fleet or the Draconian War Flagships, but the President has recruited them as well.

Elena is shocked and confused. Fabian explains.

FABIAN
The defense pact as laid down in 2198. I never thought it would be so easy to misuse. But then, we are on the brink of interplanetary war.

ELENA
But why all the firepower?

FABIAN
I don’t know. I’ve checked and rechecked all data we have on Joconda and its people. Nothing – absolutely nothing – to indicate they would ever be interested in the twins enough to kidnap them, and nothing to warrant this overreaction.

ELENA
I suppose they’re being extra cautious...

FABIAN
Extra cautious? 80 per cent of the Empire’s military might is heading for that planet! If caution IS warranted, then I doubt the survivors will be in any position to something about it! Now, I have to leave for the flag ship. You are given full deputy powers until and if we return. Keep running checks on Joconda. We may be going in half-cocked, but I don’t intend to go in blind. Any new data on the walking corpses in the gardens is to be hyper-linked to the battle computers immediately. Understand?

ELENA
Yes, General.

FABIAN
Good.

Fabian turns and mingles with the crowd about to leave. Elena calls after him.

ELENA
General, do you think they took Hugo as well? Do you think he’s still alive?

Fabian turns and looks back at her.

FABIAN
I don’t know, Elena. But if he is there, I’ll try to bring him back.

He turns and leaves. A fresh alarm goes off in the background.


18. MODEL SHOT

A large, sleek spaceship bristling with weapons hurtles away from Earth, slowly at first but with gathering speed. More ships follow – smaller but of the same design. The ships head off into the darkness of space.


19. EXT. WASTELANDS (DAY)

The Doctor moves down the hillock towards the TARDIS. The ‘corpse’ is slumped, apparently dead once more.

DOCTOR
...At break of day, as heavenward
The pious monks of Saint Bernard
Uttered the oft-repeated prayer,
A voice cried through the startled air,
Excelsior!

He pauses as he reaches the body.

DOCTOR
You weren’t lying like that when I left you. You’re not just a very good actor, are you?

He crouches by the body again and checks the pulse.

DOCTOR
Pity.

He pats it on the shoulder sadly, rises and continues towards the TARDIS. His recital is now darker and he casts fresh glances at the body on the ground.

DOCTOR
A traveller, by the faithful bound,
Half-buried in the snow was found,
Still grasping in his hand of ice
That banner with the strange device,
Excelsior!

He unlocks the TARDIS door with his key, still checking the body lies there.

DOCTOR
There in the twilight cold and gray,
Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay,
And from the sky, serene and far,

He enters the TARDIS and closes the door. He can still be heard, though.

DOCTOR (VO)
A voice fell like a falling star,
Excelsior!

The Jacondan sits up and stares down at the police box, face impassive.


20. INT. TARDIS CONTROL ROOM (DAY)

The doors open and the Doctor enters. Hugo and Peri are already talking. Well, arguing.

HUGO
If you are just lost tourists then what were you doing in that area?

PERI
Trying to get out. If you’d actually tried to talk to us instead of waving guns around we might have had a civilized conversation!

HUGO
And how did you get into the compound?

PERI
In this!

HUGO
Oh, not more of this nonsense...

The Doctor crosses to the console and closes the doors.

DOCTOR
The gun-happy maniac’s up and about I notice. Maybe we should have tied him up.

Peri and Hugo whirl around, noticing him for the first time.

PERI
Oh, hey, Doctor. This is Lieutenant Hugo Lang of the Special Incident Taskforce.

Peri pronounces Lieutenant as “loo-ten-nant” not “left-ten-nant”. Hugo corrects her.

HUGO
Lieutenant!

DOCTOR
Ah, the SIT, I should have guessed by the unfortunate colour of the uniform.

Hugo looks at the Doctor’s outfit in disbelief.

HUGO
You’re criticizing MY clothes?

The Doctor rolls his eyes.

DOCTOR
Since Peri has informed you what we were doing Earth, perhaps you can return the favor.

HUGO
There was a security breach in the maximum security compound on top of tower 6S/B. Weapons fire was detected...

DOCTOR
Yes, yes, we know. A team of Jocondans were in the gardens up to mischief. But what exactly were you trying to protect?

PERI
What the Jocondans were stealing, I guess.

DOCTOR
Not necessarily. Well, Corporal?

HUGO
Lieutenant! The complex is a safe house for the Sylvest twins.

PERI
What’s so special about them?

HUGO
They’re geniuses, apparently. Mathematically brilliant and potentially dangerous.

PERI
How can maths be dangerous?

DOCTOR
Block Transfer Computations.

Hugo and Peri turn to look at him.

HUGO & PERI
What?

DOCTOR
Dangerous maths, Peri, dangerous maths. And just the sort of thing a Time Lord would be interested in. Like the one aiding and abetting the kidnappers. Sylvest... where have I heard that name before.

HUGO
Oh, their father’s famous.

DOCTOR
Father? Wait, wait, wait... start of the 24th century, Earth... Not Archie Sylvest? Archie “Pure Mathematics and its Relationship with the Square Root of Minus Three” Sylvest? Archie Sylvest the Emperor of the Parellelogram?

HUGO
Yeah, that’s him, Professor Sylvest.

DOCTOR
They made him a professor?! Must a be purely honorary title.

PERI
Why?

DOCTOR
Archie Sylvest was a recovering Vraxoin addict when he published a comedic monologue calculating the square root of minus three within mathematical laws.

PERI
That’s impossible, though, right?

DOCTOR
Of course it is, that’s why it was so funny! No one could take it seriously!

Hugo steps forward, baffled.

HUGO
You mean, it isn’t true?

DOCTOR
Not a word! People honestly didn’t fall for it, did they?

HUGO
They call him the greatest mathematician since Albert Einstien.

DOCTOR
Oh.

The Doctor blinks, taken aback.

DOCTOR
Well, I suppose it just makes the joke funnier. Now, down to business.

He claps his hands together, focussing his thoughts.

DOCTOR
First we must consider the facts. The Jocondans are a peaceful and friendly people who, thanks to the benevolence of the climate of their home planet, rarely leave Joconda. Therefore, a mission to Earth would require some kind go catastrophe to occur, especially for them to resort to kidnapping. Now, the only way they managed to succeed was because they had access to a TARDIS and therefore a Time Lord sympathized with their cause enough to pilot it for them.

PERI
Maybe it was the Time Lord’s idea in the first place?

DOCTOR
Perhaps, but at the moment it’s irrelevant. Now, what sort of disaster would be enough for the Jocondans and this Time Lord to go to such lengths?

HUGO
You lost me somewhere around ‘TARDIS’. What are you saying?

The Doctor waves his hand in Hugo’s direction, irritated.

DOCTOR
Not now, Sergeant, you’re distracting my concentration.

HUGO
Lieutenant!

The Doctor’s eyes widen, and he grins.

DOCTOR
That’s it!

HUGO
What?

The Doctor opens the scanner again.

DOCTOR
That is the reason! Look! Joconda the Beautiful has gone downhill.

PERI
And they think the Twins can stop it.

HUGO
So where are they likely to be?

DOCTOR
Anywhere. They arrived somewhere nearby, but apart from that...

PERI
Look, if they want the Twins to save their environment, maybe we should let them.

HUGO
They could have asked instead of kidnapping.

PERI
Not if it was a real emergency.

DOCTOR
Peri, they were quite prepared to kill us. But still...

He turns and crosses to the doors, realizes they’re closed and returns to the console to open them. He heads for the doors.

DOCTOR
Come on.

PERI
What?

DOCTOR
Once having defined a problem, the first step towards a solution is the acquisition of information, surely?

HUGO
What problem?

DOCTOR
Joconda. We know what the Twins are capable of and if we understand the problem Joconda is suffering, we can make an informed decision about how to interfere.

PERI
You mean 'whether or not to interfere'.

DOCTOR
I’m not that optimistic. Besides, interfering can be incredibly satisfying.

PERI
Yeah, well, I’m off to change.

HUGO
Good advice.

DOCTOR
Oh, very witty, Colonel.

HUGO
Lieutenant!

DOCTOR
Get us some cloaks. The locals don’t appear to be hostile, but it’s best not to pay chances.

Peri nods and leaves for the wardrobe room. Hugo opens his mouth.

DOCTOR
Now, young man, are you going to help us or do you want to stay here?

HUGO
Better than facing a court martial.

DOCTOR
No doubt.

HUGO
But, er, how are we going to get to Joconda?

The Doctor sighs.

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