The Enemy Within XI

24. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

The Doctor is walking, hands in his pockets, face grim.

PERI
So... what do we do now?

DOCTOR
First thing is not to give into fear. Of course, it’s a healthy emotion – something to respect about forces that can do you harm. Being on guard for danger, that’s a reasonable fear. But the Master wants to destroy our minds with fear, make our judgment decay into irrationality. And I am never anything but rational.

PERI
Hoo boy.

DOCTOR
Oh, I might be disquieted every now and again, uncertain, even anxious, but never blind terror. Which is what the Master wants from us. To make us give into the disease.

PERI
How do we stop him?

DOCTOR
Think. Understand. What we normally do. When Daniel died, the Master needed a new supply of energy, psychic nourishment. He was absorbing our fear from his little sideshow. But now he found a reservoir of vast mental energy, a multi-layer type subconscious. Me.

PERI
You? He’s stealing energy from your brain?

DOCTOR
He STOLE energy. He’s self-sufficient. For the moment.

Peri looks up as a gentle knocking fills the air.

DOCTOR
Anything he tries now won’t be for his nourishment, just malice.

PERI
D-did you hear that?

The Doctor is still lost in thought.

DOCTOR
Hear what? Where did it come from?

Peri looks around as the knocking comes from a door nearby. The Doctor crosses to the door and listens to it. A click. The Doctor stays perfectly still – bar his hand that waves Peri to keep back. No sound now. The Doctor slowly eases up and reaches out to turn the door handle. The door suddenly whips back and a hand grabs the Doctor’s wrist as a horrible scream renders the air.

PERI
Doctor!

It’s Maurice lurching out of the shadows, bags under his eyes, moaning as he grabs the Doctor – to support himself as his knees buckle and he collapses.

MAURICE
He has risen, Doctor! Risen from the grave! And why not? What gravestone is heavy enough to hold him down? Oh, Doctor, I’ve seen him, his flesh blistering in the heat... and the birds! The dirty desert birds of oblivion! THEY’RE AFTER ME!

Maurice giggles happily. The Doctor gently lowers him to the ground.

DOCTOR
It’s all right, Maurice. You’re not alone any more.

MAURICE
The Angel of Death... he’s come for me. Come for all of us! But me first!

PERI
He looks like he’s been scared half to death!

DOCTOR
Massive phobic stimulus?

MAURICE
The shadows! They’re not real shadows, that’s where he hides! IN THE COLD!

DOCTOR
The Master... he’s stolen neural energy from Maurice.

PERI
He did that to you, you’re not like that!

DOCTOR
A Time Lord can endure the theft easily, poor Maurice is another matter. He’s lucky to have a mind left after that.

PERI
But why Maurice? Why go back for him and not the others?

DOCTOR
I don’t know.

MAURICE
I deserve this!

His sudden scream startles them both.

MAURICE
Old Theodore knew how much blood the old man had in him... Now voices of thunder pass judgement over the fools of the dead! Nowhere to run now. No grave deep enough. Doves have serpent tongues, you know. Strange but true.

He seems to lose consciousness.

PERI
Where did he come from? I checked that room, it was empty.

DOCTOR
The Master is manipulating time. Imagine how much damage an automobile can do in the wrong hands. A TARDIS can do much worse. He’s sliced up this house in time, and put the others beyond our reach. Now our TARDIS is smoothing down the plaster, repairing the damage, and we’re getting them back.

PERI
You’re sure it’s the TARDIS that made him appear, then. Not the Master?

DOCTOR
Why would the Master let us have Maurice back?

An obvious thought occurs and he looks gravely at Maurice who grins psychotically at them. He sits up with unnatural smoothness. The Doctor and Peri back away.

MAURICE
Heh. You think THIS pickle is a bad one. He hasn’t even started yet. Oh, the towers that we thought would stand forever, they are the ones that fall the hardest.


24. INT. HALLWAY (NIGHT)

Lit by the green glow, Pascoe is stuffed in the open cupboard, hugging himself against the cold. The Master stands before him, still and silent.

PASCOE
Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone! Leave me alone!

MASTER
I could... but I don't think that's what you really want.

Pascoe gnaws on his fist.

PASCOE
What do you want?

MASTER
Pascoe, you’re asking the wrong person the wrong question. What do you want? Or even, how much do you want it?

PASCOE
I want to be free.

MASTER
Free? Of what?

PASCOE
This house. Those miserable parasites I have to wait on, night and day!

MASTER
Then do something about it. Kill them. Kill them all. Now.

PASCOE
My soul would burn in hell if I did that.

MASTER
Then surrender your soul.

PASCOE
Surrender it? To whom?

MASTER
Me.

Pascoe stares at him.


25. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

Maurice rises to his feet, like a puppet pulled on invisible strings. The Doctor and Peri back away. Maurice advances on them. Peri looks behind her and bites down a cry... the green glow is filling the corridor.

MAURICE
You know what evil lurks in this house. The Symphony of Fear in E minor! Don’t let it see you. He’ll turn gorgon, Perpugillium! He’ll turn us all to stone and line his sepulchre with our bodies! Or pull your mind apart like a soft, wet cake... Good thing he didn’t do that to me, eh? AWAY!

Maurice jumps at them, pretending to be a wild dog. He laughs and runs past them into the blinding green glow, which renders him first a silhouette, then nothing at all.

PERI
Maurice! NO! Don’t go into the light!

DOCTOR
No, Peri!

PERI
Maurice, come back!

Ignoring him, Peri runs straight into the glow.

DOCTOR
PERI! Oh, you idiot!

At the end of the corridor stands the black spectre. It watches him.

DOCTOR
I agree with you on one thing you said, “my friend”. It ends tonight.

He rubs his cat badge and strides into the green glow. The light seems to alter the perspective of the corridor, which rolls and stretches. The Doctor narrows his eyes and moves through it, a string of visual echoes. His voice is distant, rooms away.

DOCTOR (DIST)
Peri? Peeeeeeriiiiiiiiiiii?

The effects start to fade and clear. The corridor is now normal, the green glow spilling out from under a closed door. Sitting on the floor by the door, head bowed, as if waiting for it to open is Theodore. He does not react as the Doctor approaches.

DOCTOR
Theodore? Theodore?

The Doctor crouches down and lifts Theodore’s head. His eyes are wide, red rimmed, his face is pale. He has dribbled slightly. We see the Doctor is speaking gently, but the words we hear (overdubbed) are cold, loud and unfriendly.

DOCTOR
Theodore! Theodore Fford-Jones!

There is no reaction from Theodore.


26. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

We zoom out rapidly from Theodore. His expression unchanged, he now stands before a desk at which sits the Doctor. The Ghosts stand beside Theodore as if guards. Peri and the rest of the family stand to one side like a jury. Pascoe sits in a chair beside the desk, dutifully noting things on a notepad.

DOCTOR
Thodore Fford-Jones, you have been found guilty of the most heinous of crimes, the ultimate sin against thy father. Has the accused anything to say before sentence is passed?

THEODORE
I did what was right. For everyone. This isn’t fair.

DOCTOR
Fair? Fairness? You lost your right to fairness when you undertook this abhorrent scheme.

THEODORE
It was not for my own benefit!

DOCTOR
But count the corpses and the ruined lives left in your wake!

THEODORE
I did not mean for this to happen!

DOCTOR
You thought it was best to carry out this outrage. And by an amazing coincidence you were also paid a fortune of diamonds from the family inheritance because you thought it was best. You murdered those closest to you for a handful of diamonds!

THEODORE
No! That’s not how it was!

The other start to mumble grimly, “Guilty! Guilty!” The Doctor delves into his pocket and takes out what would be the black cap used to pass death sentences. Except it’s just as patchwork as his coat. He puts it on reverently.

DOCTOR
This court passes a sentence more severe than that of death. You will not find paradise on the other side. Wherever you do, whatever you do, all will see you for what you truly are. The voices of your conscience will never leave you. Your soul is doomed, and your body is forfeit. Sentence will now be carried out.

THEODORE
You can’t do this!

DOCTOR
Order in the court!

THEODORE
I can’t bear it!

Angrily, the Doctor bangs the gavel.

DOCTOR
I will have order!

THEODORE
Everyone... Oh God!

The Doctor now sounds his normal self. He throws off the cap.

DOCTOR
Right, that’s it! I’m sorry, Theo, but I can’t waste any more time. I’ve to got to find Peri! Peri?

He rises and moves off. The Ghosts wrench Theodore around to see standing behind him is the Colonel, who with military precision unbreaks his rifle, aims at Theodore and pulls the trigger. A close up of Theodore’s horrified face.


27. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

We zoom out rapidly from Theodore. He is still in a heap outside the door. The Doctor shakes his head, reaches out and pushes at the door. It opens easily, allowing more green light to spill out.


28. INT. DRAWING ROOM (NIGHT)

The First Ghost steps around the door, looking for something. He seems almost suspicious. He looks around the room then stops. His eyes widen slightly. We pull back further. Dangerous music. Pull back further. The Second Ghost stands on a circular dais of metal and plastic, his hands manacled. He is lit by the dais which provides the sinister green glow. He wears black and appears to be on the edge of hysteria though his voice is controlled.

SECOND GHOST
Hello, old friend.

The First Ghost stares on in horror.

SECOND GHOST
I have a problem. Many problems. I am not perfect. But in every way, every day, I am improving myself. Mastering my powers. Learning to control... everything. I am not evil. Evil is malevolence, a desire to destroy. I don't wish to destroy anything. I want knowledge. Knowledge of the forbidden, of the secret, of the powerful, of dominion! Those who deserve to die, WILL be denied life! Life is wasted on the living! The weak must fall to the strong or follow the strong! And you know all bout the weak following the strong, don’t you? Are you all right?

The First Ghost is taken aback. He does not get a chance to reply.

SECOND GHOST
I’m all right. I’m fine. I am immutably... the master of myself. I walk alone. It is my right. My right to freedom. My right to pursue my dreams. My right to decide what I look like in the next life. My right to show the truth to the others, whatever that takes, no matter the cost, no matter the pain. Life is pain. Anyone who says different is selling you something. The universe is cluttered with fools who will not accept the truth no matter how plain it is. They must be taught the truth. Or suffer the consequences because I have my rights. I have a TARDIS. I am the future. I do not play at being God. I do not play at anything. I AM A LORD OF TIME! And more. Much more. I’m a contender. You will obey me. Obey me. You will, you will, you obey, you will obey me.

He’s starting to shake, gritting his teeth, trying not to let the fury out. He’s getting faster and faster.

SECOND GHOST
Obey, obey the master, be an honoured guest, a valued partner, or be worthless! Happiness and success come at a price but no one is willing to pay! Only I have paid! I HAVE PAID! You owe me! You ALL owe me! You all owe me and you will ALL obey me because I am the Lord of LIFE, Master of all Matter and YOU WILL OBEY ME!

He is almost panting with anger now. There is malice undisguised in his voice. But now he’s calm. Fanatically calm.

SECOND GHOST
The peoples of Gallifrey are citizens of the oldest civilization in existence, a nation under the Guardians of Light and Time, indivisible in liberty, with justice renowned throughout the universe, we have the right to take charge. We will be the most powerful empire in history itself! Evolution has passed the rest of them by, further progress is impossible, development is at a standstill but we can change it all! We have the technology! We have the will power! We have the power! We have the technology of the Ancients! We have Omega on our side! NOTHING CAN STOP US!

He giggles at the ridiculousness of it all. The First Ghost does not.

SECOND GHOST
A new age is here. I will see it through. I will control everything. The universe needs me to control it and I need to control everything in the universe. That’s who I am, that’s what I am, it’s what I need to be – and there’s only one thing that can stop me!

His hysteria fades to cold sobriety. He stares unblinkingly at the First Ghost.

SECOND GHOST
Go on, my friend. Look me in the eye.

The First Ghost stares at him in confusion. The Second Ghost stares back.

SECOND GHOST
Pull the switch.

The Sixth Doctor stares at the old-fashioned flip-switch on the wall. He takes hold. He looks back. It is the monster there, in chains. We catch only the briefest glimpse of it.

MASTER
End my life.

The First Ghost slams down the lever. A surge of power. The Sixth Doctor stares in horror. The Second Ghost shimmers into an incandescent bleached-out silhouette that explodes then implodes as the energy fades. The Sixth Doctor watches as the light and green glow vanish. Standing there in a burned, ragged cloak, face a skull-like mask is the barely recognizable shape of Daniel. His voice is a rasping whisper.

DANIEL
Why did you kill me?


29. INT. HALLWAY (NIGHT)

Peri runs down the stairs. Everything is unreal and lit with the green glow. Her voice is similarly distorted, as if underwater.

PERI (DIST)
Maurice? Maurice, where are you? HEY! MAURICE!

She runs past the wardrobe (which is empty) and down the corridor. Her shoes are now stepping on cobwebs. More and more, as it becomes a thick carpet, lit by a green glow. Peri looks down at the mass of deserted spider webs she is standing in, then up to realize it forms a barrier over the next open doorway. It is backlit brightly, silhouetting a shape against the cobwebs – something is standing on the other side of the doorway, perfectly still, staring straight at her. Peri looks at it curiously, then reaches out and touches the cobwebs. There is a spark as suddenly the cobwebs seem to ignite and burn away instantly, evaporating to show the Master standing there, his immaculate black suit dusty and webbed. He chuckles and smiles at Peri, who stares at him.

MASTER
I am the Master. And you will obey me.


30. INT. GOVERNOR’S OFFICE (DAY) B&W

The Third Doctor stands before the desk. The chair behind the desk revolves to reveal the Delgado Master. The Third Doctor doesn’t react.

DELGADO MASTER
You don’t seem at all surprised?

THIRD DOCTOR
Hardly.

The Master aims a handgun at the Doctor.

DELGADO MASTER
I’ll put a bullet through both your hearts!

The Third Doctor puts up his hands up in mock surrender.

THIRD DOCTOR
Why the delay? I take it that I’m to be killed eventually?

DELGADO MASTER
Oh, eventually, yes.


40. INT. BEDROOM (NIGHT)

Crossfade to show the Doctor and the Master in the same positions. The Doctor lowers his hands, speaking with mock worry. The Master grins at him.

DOCTOR
Oh dear. The Master’s back from the grave. Woe is us.

MASTER
You have no idea.

DOCTOR
I rarely do.

MASTER
Take a seat.

DOCTOR
I’ll stand. You know, all joking aside, I so hoped you were dead this time.

The Master loses some of his good humor.

MASTER
Sit down.

DOCTOR
No. I don’t suppose you remember that last time we bumped into each other on Sarn? When you were under the delusion you were able to hound me to the corners of the universe and make me die horribly? And then you started to burn. And you broke down and begged me to help you.

MASTER
And you let me die.

DOCTOR
So I did! Can you ever forgive me? Because I won’t forgive you. For what you did to Kamelion. And Tegan. And Nyssa. Oh, and a good chunk of the galactic neighborhood. And the incident with the radio telescope. No more chances.

MASTER
Why Doctor, are you eschewing the moral high ground?

DOCTOR
Just the start, Master. What I will do to you will make Cybermen weep.

The Master holds up the tissue compression eliminator. He aims it at the Doctor.

DOCTOR
Another game. You don’t have your compressor any more.

MASTER
A game, Doctor? Of course.

He rotates the TCE and offers the handle to the Doctor.

MASTER
Shall we play for keeps?

The Doctor takes the TCE, glances it at and aims at the Master’s head.

DOCTOR
You tell me.


30. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

Still green. Tracey is crying. She breaks down and sobs.

TRACEY
Please. Bring him back.

Summoned, the Master stands at the other end of the couch.

MASTER
There’s no point. He’d only die again, sooner or later.

TRACEY
Then leave me alone! I don’t want anything else!

MASTER
You only want him back because you think it will soothe your pain.

TRACEY
So?

MASTER
What if you’re wrong? He ended his life before. What can guarantee he won’t do it again once he’s back?

TRACEY
I will.

MASTER
No. You won’t. You know that. My dear Tracey. You don’t want to hurt any more. And it always best to treat the cause... not the symptoms.

TRACEY
What do you mean?

MASTER
You hurt because you love. If you do not love, you do not hurt.

TRACEY
What garbage are you rambling about now?

MASTER
I can end your pain. But you’d rather wallow in misery.

The Master shakes his head in disbelief and mutters to himself.

MASTER
What DOES he see in your pathetic little race?

Tracey finds some of her resolve.

TRACEY
You’re a liar.

MASTER
Am I?

TRACEY
I don’t believe you came back from the dead. No one can cheat death.

MASTER
It’s what they want you to think. Anything’s possible once you set your mind to it.

He walks over behind Tracey and places his hands on her shoulders.

MASTER
There is a price, of course.

TRACEY
What price?

MASTER
Your soul. For eternal life, lose your soul. Do you honestly think you need it? In this increasingly complicated day and age?

Tracey lowers her gaze. She shakes her head sadly.

TRACEY
No...

MASTER
Exactly.


31. INT. BEDROOM (NIGHT)

The room is smothered by cobwebs and lit by a green bulb. Peri sits at a table – it is covered with cobwebs. Some are on her, too. The Master sits opposite her. More cobwebs connect him to the chair.

MASTER
My little Perpuguilliam Brown. You’ve seen so much since we last met. The decline of the Spectrox Empire, the twilight of the Cybermen, Varos of all places... Such an impressive list of places and times. But still a short list. There are so many worlds out there. Has the Doctor taken you to the Primiddion Galaxy? It’s a fascinating place, well off the beaten track of the explored universe.

Peri doesn’t say anything, concentrating on not freaking out. In the seat opposite is the Second Ghost. The Master has vanished.

SECOND GHOST
What’s interesting about the Primiddion Galaxy is it is near totally devoid of any life. All the planets there are dead, lifeless rocks. All except one planet. One planet in an entire galaxy three times the size of the Milky Way. It was a world not too dissimilar to this one. It was still in the throes of inter-species conflict, and they had reached the technological level that meant to engage in full scale war would annihilate life on that world. Ultimately, there was an uneasy peace there.

The Second Ghost is amused at the memory.

SECOND GHOST
After all, the only thing any side could win would be the corpse of their planet. They might have reached the maturity not to use their nuclear weaponary. But they didn't. Not once I visited.

The humor is gone from his voice. Peri glances up at her companion – now Daniel.

DANIEL
It is curious, is it not, that the state of the universe has destruction so easy to accomplish. It is far easy to blow up a building that construct it. Easier to kill a child than give birth to it. One might almost detect a bias towards entropy. How many millions of years of geological, biological and sociological evolution formed that world? It took me two hours to trigger the end.

SECOND GHOST
To destroy a life requires more effort and imagination than simply ending it. That world did not vanish in a mercifully brief implosion, ending quickly and cleanly. Oh no. The status between the two superpowers was already strained. A misfiled data stream, a whisper in an ear, and a judicious assassination later, and one power attacked the other. There was a limited nuclear exchange. Nothing major.

MASTER
But it was worth it. To see the civilians and the peasants and conscientious objectors panic, stocking up with food to flee to the countryside which they assumed would not be targeted by either side - until roadblocks prevented them from leaving. Hospitals had their patients cleared, no matter how major or minor their ailments were. "Subversives" - and what a flexible word that is - were rounded up by the enforcers of law, using emergency legislation. People began to refuse to leave their houses, trying to create indoor shelters, hiding in their cellars. It was really rather disappointing to learn how poorly trained the emergency services were. Not that it mattered in the end.

DANIEL
The aggressor power bloc struck again, and the retaliation was swift. I was there in that city as the attack warnings sounded. It was wonderful. People were running around, looking for loved ones, looking for shelter, maybe just praying they would wake up in bed to find it was all a dream. Some could not understand the situation and looked around in wonder. Some understood it only too well, and were paralyzed with fear. Others simply fell to their knees and begged for some passing angel to save them. But no angel came.

SECOND GHOST
The people out in the open were burned in the heat. The glass of windows melted. Buildings crumpled. Every living thing screamed... and finally, when the screaming stopped, there was no living thing left. The same happened to the other side.

MASTER
But it didn't end there. That was the glorious aspect of it. Those who had hidden and ducked and covered were still alive. But in these situations, the living often envy the dead. For a start, hundreds of tons of dust were thrown up into the atmosphere, cutting out sunlight and heat. The city was rendered freezing and dark, its inhabitants scarred and shocked in every sense. Food was taken from those deemed to have fatal radiation poisoning, and to keep the food stocks secure, soldiers began to slaughter the crowds that tried to take it. The hospitals were no longer equipped to cope with everyday life, let alone the horrors of radioactive fallout. Corpses were dumped in the streets, in the range of about, what, ten million?

DANIEL
I was terribly amused to see one woman sitting on a street corner, cradling the corpse of a baby that must have died weeks before.

He looks at Peri’s controlled horror, slightly put out she isn’t sharing his glee.

DANIEL
Maybe you had to be there. Then the looters came, murdering more people. So the authorities executed any and every criminal they came across.

SECOND GHOST
More died from fallout, which hampered the reconstruction work no end. The detention camps rapidly emptied. So did the city. The few survivors fled to the countryside in search of food, and discovered that a harvest just wasn't possible.

MASTER
In the four weeks after the attack, between 17 and 38 million people had lost their lives. And more followed. When the sunlight finally broke though the clouds, it was unfiltered. Cancer was another risk. Civilization had regressed back to medieval levels. The adults were ageing prematurely, dying younger. Their children were simpletons, bodies and minds wrecked by contamination. They did not understand the world they had lost or the world they were now into.

DANIEL
Five months after the attack, none of the survivors were able to speak. They became wild animals, barely sentient, and those that were sentient killed them without remorse. A few more children were born - all dead and mutated beyond recognition.

SECOND GHOST
In two years, that world was totally barren of life. No, I tell a lie, a bacteria did form in the polar regions over thirteen years later. It died within the month. And that is why Creus is just another dead planet.

Peri sounds like she is going to be sick.

PERI
And you killed it. ALL of it.

MASTER
They were standing on a precipice that crumbled beneath their feet. There was a highly unlikely chance they might have moved out of danger. I just... cut to the chase.

PERI
Why?!

MASTER
Why not?

- to be continued...