The Doctor convinces the Megara to give Vivien Fay a truth test while playing for time so Romana can get back to Earth and find evidence against Vivien.
THE STONES OF BLOOD BY: DAVID FISHER Part Four Running time: 23:07 [SCENE_BREAK] VIVIEN: Ogri, come. MEGARA: Do not harm our prisoner. VIVIEN: Ogri, stop. The Megara. DOCTOR: Mmm. Are they friends of yours? [SCENE_BREAK] VIVIEN: Did you break the seals? DOCTOR: Well, yes, I'm afraid I did. MEGARA: Silence. He is ours. He is ours. Afterwards, you may have him. DOCTOR: Oh, no, no, please, don't rush on my account. I'm so sorry to disappoint you. MEGARA 2: The prisoner has been tried and sentenced in his absence. The sentence will now be carried out. DOCTOR: What sentence? MEGARA 2: The sentence is death. You are to be executed immediately. VIVIEN: Oh, may I watch? You don't mind, do you, Doctor? DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no. Please, be my guest. I wouldn't want you to miss my execution. MEGARA 2: Prepare for dissolution. DOCTOR: Objection! MEGARA 2: On what grounds? DOCTOR: How can there possibly be a sentence when there hasn't been a trial. MEGARA 2: There has been a trial. DOCTOR: There has been a trial. There has? MEGARA: I defended you. MEGARA 2: I was judge. You were found guilty. DOCTOR: But I wasn't there. MEGARA 2: Immaterial. Your counsel was. He was most eloquent on your behalf. DOCTOR: I demand the right to defend myself. MEGARA 2: Not permitted. DOCTOR: Why not? MEGARA: You are a humanoid and therefore quite incapable of appreciating the subtleties of the law. DOCTOR: Machine law. MEGARA 2: But of course. There is no other law. DOCTOR: Ah. I see. Just a minute. MEGARA: As your counsel, my advice to you is to submit to execution. So much easier in the end. DOCTOR: I wish to appeal against my sentence. MEGARA 2: There are no grounds. DOCTOR: How do you know? You haven't heard my case yet. VIVIEN: Your Honours, surely you're not going to allow yourselves to be persuaded by this criminal? MEGARA 2: Who are you? Identify yourself to the court. VIVIEN: Vivien Fay. ROMANA: She's the reason why we're here. MEGARA 2: Are you saying that Vivien Fay broke the seals? ROMANA: No, but what I'm saying MEGARA 2: Then your evidence is immaterial. MEGARA: And incompetent. MEGARA 2: Attempts to influence the bench are punishable by death. MEGARA: Article twenty three of the legal code, subsection seventeen. DOCTOR: Ahem. Could we get back to my appeal, please? MEGARA 2: In accordance with article fourteen of the legal code, subsection one three five, this humanoid's execution is stayed for two hours while we graciously consent to hear his appeal. Afterwards, the execution will take place as ordered. DOCTOR: Your Honours are too kind. VIVIEN: I demand that you execute him now. MEGARA 2: You are out of order. DOCTOR: Ha! [SCENE_BREAK] EMILIA: Oh, thank heavens. Are you better, dear? K9: Thank you, Professor Rumford. EMILIA: Can you move? K9: Mobility impaired, but databanks recharged. EMILIA: What are we going to do? Vivien smashed the machine. K9: Reconstruct it. With your help, it shouldn't be difficult. EMILIA: With my help? I'm an archaeologist, not an engineer. K9: You will work under my direction. EMILIA: Oh. [SCENE_BREAK] ROMANA: You must tell the Megara we're Time Lords. DOCTOR: I just don't ROMANA: Tell them! DOCTOR: I don't think, I don't think it would do any good. They're justice machines, remember? I knew a Galactic Federation once, lots of different lifeforms so they appointed a justice machine to administer the law. ROMANA: What happened? DOCTOR: They found the Federation in contempt of court and blew up the entire galaxy. MEGARA 2: The court has considered the request of the humanoid, hereinafter known as the Doctor. In order to speed up the process of law, it will graciously permit him to conduct his own appeal, prior to his execution. DOCTOR: Thank you, Your Honour. MEGARA 2: You may call your first witness. DOCTOR: I call as my first witness, Miss Romanadvoratrelundar. ROMANA: Me? DOCTOR: Hmm. ROMANA: But I'm not a witness. MEGARA 2: The witness will take the stand and be sworn in. The witness will repeat the oath. I swear to tell the truth. Repeat. ROMANA: I swear to tell the truth. MEGARA 2: As far as I, a mere humanoid ROMANA: As far as I. Look, I object to the wording. MEGARA 2: Contempt is punishable by death. DOCTOR: Your Honours, I'm sure that my witness wishes to withdraw that last remark, don't you. MEGARA 2: Do you? ROMANA: As far as I, a mere humanoid MEGARA 2: Am capable of knowing the truth. ROMANA: Am capable of knowing the truth. ROMANA: What's that? MEGARA: It assesses the level of truth. ROMANA: Oh. What happens if the level falls? MEGARA: That would be most regrettable, Miss Romanadvoratrelundar. DOCTOR: Miss Dvoratrelundar, when we opened the hyperspace capsules, what did we find inside? ROMANA: Dead things. DOCTOR: Dead things? ROMANA: Well, bodies of dead creatures. Dead travellers, I suppose. DOCTOR: And when we found the hyperspace capsule in which their Honours were travelling, could you see what was inside? ROMANA: No. DOCTOR: What did you think was inside? ROMANA: I didn't know. It could have been anything. DOCTOR: What, even creatures still alive? ROMANA: Yes. DOCTOR: No further questions. MEGARA 2: The witness is excused. [SCENE_BREAK] EMILIA: How's that, K9? K9: You have now linked the alpha circuit to the sine interphase. EMILIA: I have? Is that all right? K9: Affirmative. EMILIA: Oh, it's not so difficult after all. K9: Continue. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: Your Honours, I call as my second witness Miss Vivien Fay. VIVIEN: But I'm not a witness. DOCTOR: That's for their Honours to decide. I call Miss Fay. VIVIEN: But I'm not a witness. I didn't see anything. I don't know anything. DOCTOR: I call Miss Fay. VIVIEN: No! MEGARA 2: Once you have been called, you must appear. It is the law. DOCTOR: Ha! Ha! VIVIEN: But I know nothing, your Honour MEGARA 2: It is the law. VIVIEN: Ogri. ROMANA: I see what you mean about the galaxy. VIVIEN: I will take the oath. ROMANA: What are you up to, Doctor? DOCTOR: Trying to find out who she really is. ROMANA: Is that important? DOCTOR: Well, it might just save my life. MEGARA 2: Repeat. ROMANA: What do you mean? DOCTOR: Why else do you think the Megara are here? VIVIEN: I swear. ROMANA: You mean they're after Miss Fay? DOCTOR: Well, who else has been around for four thousand years? It's got to be Miss Fay. ROMANA: Why don't they just arrest her? DOCTOR: Because they're justices, not policemen. ROMANA: Ah. I suppose those poor creatures back there were the police. DOCTOR: Yes. It's a pity they're also dead. ROMANA: Well, if this is a police vessel, then surely they must have a description of her. An identification, voice print DOCTOR: Shush. All the Megara will have is a name on the charge sheet. ROMANA: There must be something incriminating in her cottage. I'll try and get back somehow. DOCTOR: Good girl. ROMANA: Can you keep it going here? DOCTOR: Yes, but not for long. MEGARA: Doctor, we are waiting. DOCTOR: I beg your pardon, your Honours. I was consulting with my associate. VIVIEN: Where's that girl going? She has no right leaving the court without the judge's permission. DOCTOR: Oh come, what does it matter where she goes. As we all know, no one can escape the Megara. Am I not right, your Honour? MEGARA 2: Proceed with the questioning, Doctor. Your execution is long overdue. DOCTOR: Yes, thank you. I request that this witness be attached to the truth assessor. MEGARA: Unnecessary. DOCTOR: What? But why? The previous witness was attached to the assessor. MEGARA: Because she was present when the seals to our compartment was broken. This witness was not. DOCTOR: I demand that this witness be treated in exactly the same way as the previous one. MEGARA 2: Demand? DOCTOR: Request, then. MEGARA 2: Request denied. Proceed, Doctor. [SCENE_BREAK] ROMANA: If only Vivien Fay hadn't broken that machine. [SCENE_BREAK] EMILIA: Perhaps I ought to check the wiring. I may have joined something up wrong. K9: I was superintending the work. EMILIA: Just the same. K9: Danger, danger. ROMANA: Run, Professor, run. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: I submit most respectfully that your Honours are in error. MEGARA 2: Error? Impossible. MEGARA: We are programmed against the possibility of error. DOCTOR: But you have ruled that this witness need not be attached to the assessor because she wasn't present when the seals of your capsule were broken. MEGARA: Correct. DOCTOR: How do you know that? MEGARA: Because we did not see her when we emerged. DOCTOR: That is not proof. MEGARA: Do you now say she was there? DOCTOR: No, no, I don't say that. I say that she will never tell us anything approaching the truth unless she is forced to. I don't think that she'd even tell us her real name, except from fear of the assessor. VIVIEN: Your Honours, may a mere humanoid offer a suggestion? MEGARA 2: If you must. VIVIEN: If it will facilitate the proceedings, may I say that I have no objection to the assessor. Attach me to it if you wish. Ask me if I broke the seals. I will answer truthfully. [SCENE_BREAK] ROMANA: K9, stay on guard. Now, Professor, you stayed here. You spent a lot of time in her company. Is there any part of the house where she didn't like you to go? Anywhere or anything she kept locked? [SCENE_BREAK] MEGARA 2: Are you ready, Miss Fay? VIVIEN: Ready, your Honours. MEGARA 2: You will answer my questions truthfully. Should you lie, the assessor will register the degree of untruth and react accordingly. You understand? VIVIEN: I understand, your Honours. MEGARA 2: The question is, did you or did you not remove the seals from the official compartment in which my colleague and I were travelling? VIVIEN: I did not. MEGARA: A reading of zero point six on the scale is registered. DOCTOR: What does that mean? MEGARA 2: An answer within the legal definition of truth. DOCTOR: Are you sure? MEGARA: We do not make mistakes. DOCTOR: How do you know? You've been locked in that capsule for four thousand years! Even the finest piece of machinery deteriorates after that time. Rust, dust, pieces of fluff. Think how you'd feel if you condemn an innocent humanoid to death just because you got a bit of fluff stuck in your sprocket wheel or whatever it is you've got in there. MEGARA: Living cells. A microcellular metallic organism. MEGARA 2: We are bio-machines. MEGARA: Incapable of error. DOCTOR: Very well. If you're so perfect, test yourselves, I dare you. Ask her her real name. MEGARA 2: Irrelevant. MEGARA: Irrational. MEGARA 2: You broke the seals without proper authorisation, the penalty for which offence is execution. DOCTOR: I thought you were on my side. MEGARA: I am. You are my client. DOCTOR: Great lawyer you've turned out to be. MEGARA: I have your interests at heart. I do not wish you to suffer unduly. I will plead with my colleague for a swift, painless death for you. MEGARA 2: Your plea is granted. MEGARA: You see, Doctor? Justice can be merciful. You may step down, Miss Fay. VIVIEN: Thank you, your Honours. MEGARA: Proceed with the execution immediately. DOCTOR: Objection! MEGARA 2: To what are you objecting this time? DOCTOR: I haven't finished presenting my case yet. I have another witness I wish to call. MEGARA: But there are no other witnesses here. DOCTOR: You're wrong, your Honour. There's one other witness I can call. MEGARA: Who? DOCTOR: You. [SCENE_BREAK] EMILIA: Oh, it's hopeless. We don't even know what we're looking for. Perhaps we've seen it without realising it. Perhaps it's at the hall. Found anything, K9? K9: Negative, Professor. ROMANA (OOV.): Citric acid! EMILIA: What? [SCENE_BREAK] ROMANA: Lemon juice. EMILIA: I know what citric acid is. ROMANA: Look at these cookery books. Some of the recipes are marked, and some are crossed out. EMILIA: Well, she crossed out things she didn't like. ROMANA: Like recipes containing citric acid. EMILIA: She was allergic to lemon juice. ROMANA: She said that? EMILIA: Yes. She wouldn't touch lemon tea or lager and lime ROMANA: Anything else? EMILIA: Er, grapefruit, oranges [SCENE_BREAK] EMILIA: Avocados, certain kinds of meat. Don't see what you're getting at. ROMANA: Have you ever wondered why the Ogri don't attack her? I mean, why should she be safe? EMILIA: Perhaps they don't fancy her blood. ROMANA: Precisely. Which means that Vivien Fay has a different metabolism to Earth-born humans. K9, with a metabolism like that, what kind of planet does she come from? K9: Referring to memory banks, mistress. ROMANA: Think, Professor, think. Any little thing could give us a clue. Is there anything you can remember? [SCENE_BREAK] MEGARA: We are justice machines. MEGARA 2: Judge. MEGARA: Jury. MEGARA 2: Executioner. MEGARA: We cannot be called to give evidence. DOCTOR: Why not? Why not? I only want to put my counsel on the stand. There's nothing in the law that says I can't do that, is there? Well, is there? MEGARA 2: According to our databanks, the law does not actually specify that the accused may not call his own counsel. DOCTOR: Very well, I call the Megara! MEGARA 2: But it is most unorthodox indeed. It may be grounds for a charge of contempt of court. DOCTOR: I shall of course, your Honour, dispense with the oath. MEGARA 2: You certainly will. The Megara cannot lie. DOCTOR: Well, that's handy. Why were you sealed in your capsule? MEGARA: Because we are justice machines travelling on judicial business. DOCTOR: Travelling to where? MEGARA: Diplos, a G class planet in Tau Ceti. DOCTOR: What was the nature of your business? MEGARA: To try a humanoid criminal. DOCTOR: Ah. A female humanoid criminal? [SCENE_BREAK] ROMANA: It has to be a G class planet in Tau Ceti. K9: There are two other possibilities, mistress. ROMANA: Both incapable of supporting any form of humanoid life. Besides, the planet Ogros, the home of the Ogri, is in the same star system. EMILIA: Talking of the Ogri, what happened to our friend? K9: Ogri approaching. ROMANA: How close, K9? ROMANA: Come on, let's get out of here! [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: Of what crime had the female humanoid been accused? MEGARA: Murder, and the removal and misuse of the Great Seal of Diplos. DOCTOR: Ah. And did the Great Seal of Diplos, by any chance, have any special powers? MEGARA: It has the powers of transmutation, transformation and the establishing of hyperspatial and temporal coordinates. DOCTOR: Ha. Exactly as I thought. MEGARA 2: Is this relevant? DOCTOR: Well it is to me, your Honour, yes. What is this female humanoid called? MEGARA: She is known as Cessair of Diplos. DOCTOR: And her description? MEGARA: We have none. DOCTOR: You have none. How do you expect to identify her, then? MEGARA: We do not. DOCTOR: You do not. MEGARA: An officer was to identify her when we reached our destination. DOCTOR: But all the officers are dead. MEGARA: Yes. DOCTOR: Then you have no way of knowing who she is. VIVIEN: All this is irrelevant, your Honours. The accused is merely trying to delay his long overdue execution. MEGARA 2: Agreed. DOCTOR: She is Cessair of Diplos! VIVIEN: Prove it. DOCTOR: Why else is she here in hyperspace? What's the ship doing here? MEGARA 2: That is not proof, that is supposition. VIVIEN: I am Vivien Fay of Rose Cottage, Boscawen. Ask anyone in Boscawen, they will identify me. MEGARA 2: These proceedings must now be terminated. Prepare to eliminate the accused. [SCENE_BREAK] ROMANA: Right. We can prove she's got a non-Terran metabolism, comes from a class G planet, and we even know the date of her arrival on Earth. EMILIA: We do? ROMANA: Well, how long's this circle been here? EMILIA: About two thousand BC. Nearly four thousand years. ROMANA: That's when she arrived. EMILIA: Of course. Ready, chaps. ROMANA: K9! [SCENE_BREAK] MEGARA: Prepare yourself to die, Doctor. DOCTOR: Do you usually execute your own clients? MEGARA: We are allowed to execute only prisoners who have been found guilty. DOCTOR: Mmm. Well, it certainly adds a new dimension to the role of defending counsel. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Aren't you supposed to be offering me a last toffee apple or something? A blindfold, a hearty breakfast, a free pardon? No? MEGARA: Too late, Doctor. Goodbye. DOCTOR: Ah. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. [SCENE_BREAK] K9: Mistress, speed imperative. I cannot hold him. ROMANA: Quickly, beam me through. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: Hello. Did I short-circuit? MEGARA: Why did you try to involve Miss Fay in your execution? DOCTOR: Is she all right? MEGARA: We have no legal authority to kill her. DOCTOR: Well, I know, I know, but can you reach her memory cells? MEGARA: Why should we do that? DOCTOR: Well, her brain might be damaged. MEGARA: We will check. MEGARA 2: I am reaching her memory cells. This humanoid is not Vivien Fay. She is Cessair of Diplos. Wait. She is guilty of the theft and misuse of the Great Seal of Diplos. Also of removing silicon based lifeforms from the planet Ogros in contravention of article seven five nine four of the Galactic Charter, and employing them for her own ends. DOCTOR: You see? All you had to do was read her memory cells. MEGARA 2: According to article three, subsection one three five of the legal code, we the Megara, are not permitted to read the memory cells of any beings, except when they are unable to present their evidence by reason of death, unconsciousness or natural stupidity. ROMANA: Stop! I have new evidence. DOCTOR: Too late. I've just been executed. ROMANA: What? DOCTOR: There's an Ogri behind you. ROMANA: No! The Professor must have let it through. MEGARA: Stop! We are the Megara. I command you to stop. VIVIEN: Ogri, what's happening? MEGARA: Ogri, you will be confined to a cell on this vessel until you can be returned to your home planet. VIVIEN: No! MEGARA 2: Cessair of Diplos, you have been tried and found guilty of the following charges. Impersonating a religious personage, to wit, a Celtic goddess, for which the penalty is imprisonment for one thousand five hundred years. Theft of the Great Seal of Diplos, for which the penalty is perpetual imprisonment. The sentences to run consecutively. Have you anything to say before sentence is passed? [SCENE_BREAK] EMILIA: Vivien, what are those things? DOCTOR: Those, Professor, are the Megara. Justice machines. They're about to carry out their sentence. I'd stand back if I were you. (to Vivien) Hello. VIVIEN: If you let them do this to me, Doctor, you'll never find what you're looking for. DOCTOR: Oh, I wouldn't go as far as that. Excuse me, gentlemen, I think this belongs to me. MEGARA 2: Sentence will be carried out. Perpetual imprisonment. DOCTOR: Well, that's your business completed. MEGARA: Not quite, Doctor. DOCTOR: What do you mean, not quite? MEGARA: There is still the matter of your delayed execution. DOCTOR: Delayed? Oh, I wouldn't bother about that, if I were you. DOCTOR: Bye, bye. Happy journey! ROMANA: Where are they going? DOCTOR: Back to Diplos. I took the liberty of fixing the controls on their ship before we popped back here. It should give us a couple of thousand years grace. Come on, we can't stand around here. We've got things to do. Come along. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: Come on, K9. EMILIA: Poor Vivien. I can't help feeling sorry for her, but she hasn't finished making trouble yet. ROMANA: What do you mean? EMILIA: The Nine Travellers. They'll have to be surveyed all over again. Oh, that'll put the cat amongst the pigeons, believe me. DOCTOR: Professor, you could write a monograph about it. EMILIA: Ah yes, and make Idwal Morgan look a fool. ROMANA: Will you write everything that happened? EMILIA: Certainly not. I do have my academic reputation to consider. Funny, I never noticed a police box there before. ROMANA: Goodbye, Professor, and thank you for everything. EMILIA: Goodbye? Where EMILIA: I do have my academic reputation to consider. [SCENE_BREAK] DOCTOR: The tracer. ROMANA: Doctor, is Earth always like that? DOCTOR: Sometimes it's even exciting. ROMANA: Oh. DOCTOR: Now.
The Stones of Blood - part 4