Doctor Who - American Version - Serial

by RevolutionMan

Doctor Who - Presented as a re-imagining of the show Doctor Who for American audiences. It presumes NO connection to the continuity established by the long running British television series, but absolutely WILL borrow heavily from that awesome/amazing show. Some characters will be re-named. Some "laws" will be broken. A serial adaptation, in script form.

34. Chapter 34 - Mercenary Police

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – ZIRA CLINIC

In his bed, facing the window, the Doctor hears the door open.

DOCTOR
Rose, about before...

Apologetic, he turns over, but is surprised to see that it isn't Rose who has entered his room. Instead, nurse Bormi and the two MSRI technologists, pitbulls Chui and Redge, approach his bed.

DOCTOR
Oh, hello. Are there three of you or am I just seeing three of you?

BORMI
Doctor, these gentlemen are going to help me transfer you to a different room.

DOCTOR
Transfer me, why?

BORMI
We think you'll be more comfortable. Dr. Heeya would also like to run some more tests, different ones, and we don't have the equipment on this level of the clinic.

DOCTOR
Okay.

Chui and Redge prepare the Doctor's bed for transport and stand at either end.

DOCTOR
(to Bormi)
Wait, my companion, Rose...

BORMI
Yes, I spoke with her. She's meeting with Dr. Heeya to discuss the results of the MSRI. Don't worry. I'll let her know about the room change.

DOCTOR
Oh.

Chui and Redge wheel the Doctor into the hall.

INT. HALLWAY – LEVEL THIRTY-ONE – ZIRA CLINIC

In the hallway, nurses and doctors steer clear of the Doctor as he is wheeled to the nearest elevator. Despite the fact that the world is spinning around him, he notices their stares.

INT. ELEVATOR – ZIRA CLINIC

Chui and Redge stand on either side of the Doctor's bed in the elevator. Bormi stands in the corner. The three clinic employees stare straight ahead, nobody talking. The only sound is that of the elevator humming along. It makes the Doctor uncomfortable, suspicious.

DOCTOR
I was thinking about getting a dog.

He waits for a response.

DOCTOR
A happy... canine.

He waits.

DOCTOR
Only issue is the fur. There's so many nooks and crannies in the Tardis, it's difficult enough to get all of Rose's hair. I don't want fur on top of that.

He reaches out and briefly pets Chui's arm.

DOCTOR
Do you shed?

REDGE
Heh.

Chui steps just out of the Doctor's reach so as not to be pet again.

DOCTOR
I suppose I could get a robot one.

The elevator doors open on...

INT. HALLWAY – LEVEL THIRTEEN – ZIRA CLINIC

Sparsely populated by comparison to level thirty-one, level thirteen is also darker with more security. Bulldog security officers stand guard at every corner and every nurses' station. As the Doctor is wheeled down the hall, it also becomes apparent that the rooms are father apart from each other. Security camera domes are visible outside of each one.

The doors to each room are also sturdier and closed. The Doctor watches as a nurse prepares to enter one of the rooms by first entering a security code to unlock the door.

DOCTOR
Is there a bathroom close by?

BORMI
There's a waste receptacle in your room.

DOCTOR
Yeah, but I really have to... go. Oh, I have a splendid idea. Why don't you turn me around, wheel me outside, and we'll all have a go at a nice bush? How does that sound?

Nurse Bormi quickens her pace and steps out ahead of them. She enters a security code to unlock one of the rooms and waits there for them to catch up.

CHUI
We're not house pets. We don't go to the bathroom outside. That's disgusting.

The Doctor sees they're drawing closer to Bormi. He's running out of time. He readies himself.

DOCTOR
Oh, then, how do you do it?

CHUI
Do what?

DOCTOR
Lift your leg!

The Doctor lifts his leg and kicks Chui in the face. The unsuspecting tech falls backwards and knocks over a passing nurse.

Redge lunges for the Doctor, who rolls out of the way and off the bed. Remarkably, he lands on his feet. With both hands, he grabs the side of the bed and pushes as hard as he can, knocking Redge backwards and into a wall. The Doctor turns back toward the elevator.

DOCTOR'S POV: A security guard stands between him and the elevators. The Doctor sees two of the man and each is more than a bit blurry.

The Doctor throws his hands up over his head and charges the security guard. He screams like a crazed warrior, thirsting on the bloodlust of battle... until, too dizzy to run straight, he slams face first into a wall. He falls down hard.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM OBSERVATION – TONADES PRECINCT

Though the clear side of a one-way mirror, we see Rose pacing inside of a small and empty padded room. She keeps her eyes transfixed on the glass. When she talks, we hear her voice filtered through a speaker.

ROSE (V.O.)
You can't keep me here forever. This isn't fair. I haven't done anything wrong!

We pull back to reveal SERGEANT KALE, a Tonades officer, who watches Rose's every move with contempt in his eyes. He clears six feet hunched over, with broad shoulders and skin both the color and texture of firehouse bricks. A severe widow's peak culminates in the form of a blonde ponytail that reaches halfway down his back. Hints of a black spandex bodysuit can be seen around the edges of his loose-fitting forest green uniform. He wears a silver metal armband around his left forearm.

A door opens behind Kale. Yellow light seeps in from the doorway, revealing two additional Tonades officers already in the dimly-lit observation room with Kale. These men are the STENOGRAPHER and VIDEOGRAPHER, who monitor a series of recording devices setup at a desk to spy on Rose. Their uniforms and physical features are similar to those of Kale, but without the metal armband.

Kale squints a bit to shield his eyes from the light of the hallway as LIEUTENANT VALOR enters. He's slightly less in stature to the mighty Kale, but what he lacks in size he more than makes up for in presence. Valor is the kind of man who sees everything, but whose focus never wavers or falls onto anything not worth his time. He's charming when the situation calls for it, inexorable when it doesn't. The gold of his armband implies his command, as does the way the rest of the men straighten up when he enters the room.

Valor steps up to the glass and watches Rose.

VALOR
Has she said anything?

KALE
Nothing of substance.

Valor turns.

VALOR
I'll repeat the question. Has she said anything?

Kale sighs and motions to the stenographer. The stenographer hands him a transcript. Kale paraphrases from it, aloud.

KALE
She self-identifies as Rose Taylor. She demands to know who we are and why we have seized her. She questions our right and authority to do so. She demands legal representation. She claims her innocence, without admitting comprehension of the charges.

Kale hands the transcript to Valor, who skims it.

VALOR
What about this doctor she keeps mentioning? Is that one of the doctors at the clinic?

KALE
We don't believe so. From the context, we believe it to be her co-conspirator, the man she was traveling with. The nurse at the hospital indicated he refers to himself simply as "the Doctor". We believe it to be an alias.

VALOR
Where is he now?

KALE
Still at the clinic.

VALOR
Why?

KALE
He's been checked in and is currently under the supervision of a physician who is refusing to surrender him into our custody. Legally, as long as he's a patient there, we can't touch him.

VALOR
We'll see about that.

KALE
I left an officer to stand watch; Leegrall. He's not going anywhere without us knowing.

Valor grabs a glass and fills it with a clear liquid from a round dispenser in the corner, then opens the door that leads into the interrogation room. He carries the glass and transcript inside with him.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM – TONADES PRECINCT

Rose stops pacing as Valor enters.

ROSE
I want a lawyer.

VALOR
Table and two chairs.

The floor of the room bubbles up like a pot of boiling rubber. From the amalgam, a table with chairs on either side takes shape in the center of the room. Valor places the glass at one end of the table and motions for Rose to sit.

VALOR
Please. Sit.

Rose eyes the table, chair, glass, and Valor with suspicion.

ROSE
Who are you?

VALOR
Who do you think I am?

She looks at his uniform.

ROSE
You look like a cop. I want a lawyer. I know my rights.

VALOR
I am Lieutenant Valor, an officer of the Tonades Police Force, and it interests me that you don't know what that is.

Rose blinks when he says the word "Tonades". Valor notices.

VALOR
Or do you know what that is?

ROSE
You're a mercenary police.

She sits, eyes the glass. He sits across from her.

VALOR
The word "mercenary" carries with it a negative connotation, as does the word "cop". Your forehead is perspiring and your voice is cracking. You don't know who I am. You don't know who the Tonades are, but you're afraid of me.

ROSE
You kidnapped me. What do you expect?

VALOR
That's not it. You're using someone else's words. Perhaps, this Doctor you keep asking for? What can you tell me about him? Does he have reason to be afraid of us?

ROSE
No. The Doctor hasn't done anything wrong and neither have I. I don't understand why I'm here.

VALOR
Is he a human, too?

ROSE
No.

VALOR
But you are?

ROSE
Yes.

Valor twists in his chair, crosses one hand across his chest and uses the other to rub his chin. He stares at her for several seconds until she becomes so uncomfortable that she reaches for the glass of clear liquid and takes a sip. When the liquid touches her lips, she pulls it back and looks at it.

ROSE
This isn't water.

VALOR
I never said it was.

She puts the glass down and pushes it to the center of the table.

ROSE
This is ridiculous. Why am I here? What do you want from me?

VALOR
Are there more humans where you're from?

ROSE
Are there more humans on Earth? Only a few billion.

Valor bursts out of his chair.

ROSE
I want to see the Doctor.

VALOR
That'll be all, for now, thank you. Table and two chairs.

The table and chairs melt back into the ground. Rose falls with them, flat on her butt. The glass also hits the ground and tips over. Valor leaves.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM OBSERVATION – TONADES PRECINCT

Valor closes the door to the interrogation room behind him. Kale shakes his head.

KALE
She's lying. Her story is absurd.

VALOR
Convinced me. Did you see the way she readily admitted to being a human? As if it wasn't even worth hiding?

KALE
But she also claims to be from Earth. There hasn't been anything alive on that husk for centuries.

VALOR
And she doesn't know that. What does that tell you? I want you to pull up everything we know about Earth's history. She asked for a lawyer, said it was her right. I want to know how far back we have to go in human law for that to be true. Find out what language she's actually speaking, pre-translation. That might help narrow the search. How long until the transport arrives to take her to trial?

KALE
Three hours.

VALOR
That's not a lot of time. I'll be at the hospital. I mean to speak to this "Doctor". Send me the information as soon as you have it.

Valor moves for the door.

KALE
What do I do if the transport arrives before you get back?

Valor points at Rose through the glass.

VALOR
Do not let that thing off this planet.

Kale nods. Valor leaves. Inside the interrogation room, Rose picks up the glass from the floor and throws it at the one-way mirror. It bounces back at her and she ducks to avoid being hit by the ricochet. She screams in frustration.

INT. SECURED HOSPITAL ROOM – ZIRA CLINIC

In a sterile and mostly empty hospital room, the Doctor struggles against the straps that have his arms, legs, and waist secured to a rolling adjustable bed. An intravenous tube feeds him and provides fluids. There is an open, waterless, toilet in the corner. A camera on the ceiling, protected by a clear plastic dome, observes his thrashing about.

A knock. He stops, looks to the door. A latch behind the wall releases and the door opens. Dr. Heeya steps inside carrying a chair. Nurse Bormi also wheels in her cart.

DOCTOR
Where's Rose? What have you done with her?

HEEYA
How are you feeling?

DOCTOR
Positively belligerent.

Bormi wheels her cart over and scans the Doctor's forehead.

BORMI
You don't have a fever, sir.

DOCTOR
Check again, because I can tell you I'm burning up.

HEEYA
Still nauseous? Disoriented?

DOCTOR
Answer my question. Where is Rose?

Bormi removes a hypodermic injector from the cart and moves it near the Doctor's arm.

DOCTOR
What are you doing? What is that? Don't touch me!

Bormi stops, looks to Heeya. Dr. Heeya reaches her hand out and motions for Bormi to give her the injector. She does.

HEEYA
Nurse, why don't you give us a moment alone?

BORMI
Yes, doctor.

Bormi takes her cart and leaves. Heeya drags the chair over near the Doctor's bed and sits. She shows him the injector.

HEEYA
This is fifty units of tipinozan. It's a neural inhibitor. With your permission…

DOCTOR
Where. Is. Rose?

HEEYA
Doctor, I am trying to help you. You are sick. It is my job to treat you, but I cannot do that without your cooperation.

DOCTOR
You assaulted me, are holding me against my will, and refuse to answer any of my questions, and you want my cooperation? Blow it out your…

HEEYA
Your companion has been arrested.

DOCTOR
She's done nothing wrong.

HEEYA
Done nothing…? Doctor, she's a human.

DOCTOR
What does that have to do with anything?

HEEYA
After the genocides their empire committed? They tried to take over the universe. In pursuit of that goal, they annihilated entire races, purged entire planets of all life, even their own. They represent the single greatest evil in all of history. It is a crime to be born a human, one punishable by death.

DOCTOR
No. No, that's not right.

HEEYA
It is also a crime to harbor such a fugitive. To knowingly associate with one is an act of treason against all civilized races. If you had not been under my care, you would also have been arrested, but I have taken an oath to heal the sick and the dying, no matter who they are or what crimes they have committed. You will not be turned over to the Tonades until I am satisfied you are well.

DOCTOR
The Tonades?! You gave her over to those animals?

Heeya looks away.

DOCTOR
You've killed her. You've as good as murdered her.

HEEYA
I can only do what I can.

The Doctor, shocked by the news, tries to think.

DOCTOR
All right. All right. They won't kill her here. They'll have to export her to a trial world, first. That means there's still time. Where is she being held?

HEEYA
I don't have that information.

DOCTOR
Where are they holding her?!

HEEYA
I don't know!

Heeya stands abruptly. The chair tips over behind her. She takes a few breaths to calm down and paces the room until she's standing just under the surveillance dome.

HEEYA
I am not an officer of the Tonades. I am a doctor, sworn to serve and to heal. That is what I am. That is what I do, and right now I am the only one standing between you and them. So, you will cooperate with me and you will give me permission to treat you, or I will have to hand you over to them… like this.

The Doctor senses something in her inflection. She conspicuously looks up at the dome, but with just her eyes. Despite his impaired vision, he picks up on it.

He remembers the injector she holds in her hand.

DOCTOR
What did you say that was?

HEEYA
Tipinozan. It's a neural inhibitor. It's typically used to treat telepaths with Gehuret's Syndrome. That's when a telepath…

DOCTOR
It's a degenerative glandular disease where telepaths sense their own thoughts, like a kind of mental feedback. It typically results in rapid psychosis and, ultimately, death.

HEEYA
Early on, tipinozan can be highly effective at blocking the upper neural functions that control telepathy. In your case, I believe it will help mask the symptoms of-

DOCTOR
Do it.

HEEYA
I have your permission to-

DOCTOR
I said do it. I need to be better if I'm going to rescue Rose. Whatever it takes.

Heeya nods. She steps closer and injects him.

HEEYA
You should notice a change fairly quickly. Anything?

DOCTOR'S POV: The Doctor's blurred double vision of Heeya rapidly subsides to almost normalcy. Heeya's face appears just out of focus, almost as if she's vibrating, but it's a tremendous improvement.

DOCTOR
No. It didn't work.

Heeya senses his attempt at subterfuge and nods her understanding.

HEEYA
Well, let's just give it some time, shall we? You're not a telepath. I've never tried this on a member of your species. It might affect you differently. I'll return in a few minutes to check on you. Try and stay comfortable until I return.

The Doctor watches Heeya exit.

EXT. HALLWAY – LEVEL THIRTEEN – ZIRA CLINIC

Heeya exits the Doctor's room. Nurse Bormi stands outside with her cart, waiting for instruction. LEEGRALL, a Tonades officer, also guards the door.

HEEYA
Continue to monitor the patient's fluid and protein levels. I'm also going to put him on a steroid drip. We need to get his strength up so he can fight... whatever is wrong with him.

BORMI
Yes, doctor.

HEEYA
And Bormi...

Heeya steals a glance at Leegrall and turns so she can talk to Bormi without him overhearing.

HEEYA
… If you ever re-assign one of my patients to secured observation without consulting me again, I'll have you transferred to the vault.

Whatever that means, Bormi is terrified by the implication. She bows her head.

BORMI
Yes, doctor.

HEEYA
Go on.

Bormi wheels her cart back into the Doctor's room.

Leegrall makes eye contact with Heeya, who smiles to disarm any suspicions he might have of her. She leaves.

-To be Continued...-