| Paradox Part Three |
|
25. Int the warehouse PETER: Must keep calm…must stay focussed. (JAUNTING FX) PETER: My powers are back! (HEALING FX) PETER: (TP) Timus wake up… you must wake up and help me stop the bomb. TIMUS: (GROANS) What… how… PETER: (TP) There's no time. There's a bomb… we must project a telekinetic shield. Let me help you up… (TIMUS STANDS AND WE HEAR AN EXPLOSION OVERLAYED BY THROBBING SOUND AS TIMUS AND PETER DEFLECT THE BLAST WITH A TK SHIELD) TIMUS: Jedikiah? Where did he go? PETER: He escaped into the time lanes… He shot You, John and Paul and left a bomb. TIMUS: So how…(HEALING FX FOLLOWED BY GROANS FROM JOHN AND PAUL) PETER: When my powers suddenly came back, I jaunted clear of the gravity trap and revived you. I can only guess that Stephen and Elena have managed to switch off the Kulthan psi-dampener. PAUL: God I feel awful… Hey what happened? It looks like a bomb went off! PETER: It did! WE HEAR SIRENS APPROACHING JOHN: If your powers are back now would be a good time to use them to get us out of this trap… before we have some very difficult explaining to do to the authorities. INTO THEME PAUL: (JAUNTING FX) Woo hoo … that was spectacular. You reckon we'll be able to do that sort of thing once we get our powers back? TIMUS: Yes. And lots more. (PAUSE) Peter? PETER: I know. I was thinking that too… JOHN: Thinking what? PETER: That it's strange why this time line is continuing. If the psi-dampener has stopped working why are we still here? JOHN: Maybe there's a second device, one that affects us more than you? PETER: (WITH URGENCY) I must return to the Hall of the Time Guardians and report the situation at once. At least we know that the time rift has been contained to only affect the evolution of the Tomorrow People. It's very lucky that I have my powers back and can activate my sub-dermal retrieval mechanism. Please excuse me your Excellency I will be back shortly. (FX AS PETER DISAPPEARS) PAUL: A sub-dermal what? Oh never mind… What're we supposed to do in the mean time? JOHN: Coffee anyone? A GONG SOUNDS AS THE PRIEST ENTERS HIGH PRIEST: You again. Why have you returned? JEDIKIAH: (LYING) I have come to prepare the Kulthan for their great victory over the Galactic Federation and the Tomorrow People. HIGH PRIEST: If, as you say, these events are taking place in the distant future why have you come to tell me? The Kulthan of your own time will be prepared for the changes in the time line and will be acting accordingly. JEDIKIAH: I do have one slight hiccup in my plan. The device that you sent me to repair has malfunctioned again. Centuries of continued use has unfortunately worn out its components. If I return with the original it will be far more reliable. I can then successfully complete my mission on behalf of the Great Kulthan. HIGH PRIEST: The psi-dampener, to which you refer, must remain here in order to subdue the boy king Tutenkamun. JEDIKIAH: In that case, you must supply me with another. HIGH PRIEST: What makes you think I have another? JEDIKIAH: If you don't then I insist that you request one from the Kulthan themselves… HIGH PRIEST: (ANGERED) Insist! You have no right to insist… Guards! Hold him while I seek council with the gods. (WE HEAR THE PRIEST WALK FROM THE ROOM AND INTO ANOTHER CHAMBER. GONG SOUNDS) HIGH PRIEST: Oh mighty Kulthan. Bringer of peace, life and wisdom. I seek spiritual guidance on this matter. The Stranger has returned with a difficult request. He also claims to do your bidding. If he succeeds in this undertaking your future reign over the Galaxy is assured. VOICE OF THE GODS: You have done well to come to us with this request, for we have seen the treachery in this mans heart. He is not to be trusted… He is planning to bring down the Kulthan and make them bow at the feet of the Federation. HIGH PRIEST: I give thanks to your wisdom for showing me the way. I
will have him executed at once. VOICE OF THE GODS: No! He must not know that we suspect him. It is vital that he return to his own time. Once there, we will dispense the punishment he deserves…Return now and grant his request. Send him back along the time lanes to his own time where his true destiny lies… and heed our warning. If he, or any other strangers, appear from nowhere they are to be brought to the place of sacrifice and disposed of at once. Once their bodies have burnt their souls will serve as our slaves for all eternity. (FADE UP TO SOUNDS OF SIZZLING FOOD) JOHN: I'm not sure how you managed to talk me into this. Georgie will have a fit when she gets back and sees the state of her kitchen. PAUL: Paul Prior's fry-ups are famous throughout London. Anyway, once we correct the time line there'll be no mess! JOHN: I suppose so… Timus, do you have any ideas for what we do until Peter gets back? TIMUS: I have been giving it serious thought and my deliberations have come to one possibility. Jedikiah's second device was used in the past to prevent your breakout but is, at present, not switched on. PAUL: Run that by me again? If it was working in the past shouldn't it still be working now? JOHN: I'd give up on trying to figure things out it I were you… Timus, any suggestions where this second device could be? TIMUS: We know that Jedikiah used the device left behind by the Kulthan; Elena and Stephen have deactivated it. A second device must have been supplied to him directly by the Kulthan themselves. If that is so he must have it in storage somewhere… PAUL: The museum! Where better to hide an ancient Egyptian artifact
in plain sight. FX OF TK AND THE SOUND OF A DOOR OPENING ON NOISY HINGES PAUL: Those telekinetic tricks of yours would be very useful if you ever turned to a life of crime. JOHN: His Excellency, Timus Irnock Mosta, is one of the most respected statesmen in the Galaxy; I hardly think that a life of crime is an appropriate suggestion. PAUL: OK, keep your hair on. I was only kidding. (PAUSE) Anyone have any idea what a Kulthan psi-dampener actually looks like? TIMUS: I suggest, young man, that we make our way to the third floor gallery to carry out a thorough search of the Egyptian artifact stored there. (FADE DOWN) (WE HEAR FOOTSTEPS ACROSS THE ROOM.) JOHN: Well, this is the storage room. Paul, you go look over there while TIMUS and I lift this sarcophagus. PAUL: (MUMBLES UNDER BREATH) There you go again, giving orders. You're not the leader around here you know, even if you think you are. (BEAT) PAUL: (WE HEAR PAUL WALK AWAY MUMBLING TO HIMSELF) I wish I knew what the hell I'm supposed to be looking for… Now that looks interesting, a carved stone tablet with a strange bulge in the top… (SHOUTING TO OTHERS) Could this be it? JOHN: Paul, look out… JEDIKIAH: Step away from that boy… right now! (PAUSE) JEDIKIAH: (SHOUTING TO OTHERS) Don't come any closer or I'll kill the boy. And it wont be for the first time today! I must say that you are more resourceful than I thought. When I returned to the ruins of the warehouse I was sure that it was the end of your meddling in my affairs. But that time line is of no consequence… I still have the means to prevent your very existence. All I need to do is to pull this device into the time lanes behind me…Stand back or I'll shoot! (STRANGE FX AS JEDIKIAH REACTIVATES THE TIME DISC. FOLLOWED BY TK EFFECT) JEDIKIAH: No, not my gun… PAUL: Thanks Timus, I always knew those powers of yours would come in handy… Hands up Jedikiah, you're under arrest! I've always wanted to say that too! JEDIKIAH: Fools. You think you can stop me! (FX STOPS ABRUPTLY) PAUL: Damn slippery character, he's got away again! What do we do now? PETER: (TP) Timus, where are you? I'm back at John's house. TIMUS: (TP) We are at the mus… (JAUNTING FX) …eum PETER: I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. The Guardians of Time, and the 'One Mind', sent me back with instructions to stop Jedikiah at any cost. JOHN: He was here. PETER: Jedikiah? JOHN: Yes. And he escaped with a second Kulthan device. PAUL: Just what does he think he's playing at? I mean where could he go with that thing? He's already prevented us from becoming Tomorrow People. PETER: Not necessarily. Events in the past could still be changed. He could have gone back to ensure that Stephen and Elena do not switch off the device in the great pyramid at Giza. Or, perhaps, to the warehouse, to prevent Peter from using his powers to help us escape from the bomb… We can only be sure of the time line that we exist within at this moment. Everything else, past and future, is open to flux. PAUL: I understand that, but we're still here and I can remember exactly what happened in the past few hours. So he couldn't have altered anything without changing things for us. (UNCERTAIN) Could he? PETER: I wouldn't even try to understand it Paul. As Time Guardians we undergo centuries of rigorous training before we can sort out different time effects, their antecedents and consequences. (PAUSE) I was instructed to stop Jedikiah in any way I deemed necessary and, as far as I can, see that means breaking a few of the fundamental time codes ourselves. To beat him we have to play him at his own game.
PETER: It doesn't matter where he's gone, because we know where he's been! JOHN: Here we are again. I get the weirdest feeling like PAUL: Isn't it meant to be a bad thing to meet yourself? I mean, they're always mentioning it on TV. Two versions of the same person can't exist in the same time period without causing a catastrophic effect on the time line. JOHN: You don't believe everything you see on TV do you? PETER: Shhhh. We're coming. (WE HEAR FOOTSTEPS ACROSS THE ROOM AND THE REPEAT OF PREVIOUS DIALOGUE) JOHN: Well this is the storage room. Paul, you go look over there while Timus and I lift this sarcophagus. PAUL: (WE HEAR PAUL WALK AWAY MUMBLING TO HIMSELF) I wish I knew what the hell I'm supposed to be looking for…Now that looks interesting, a carved stone tablet with a strange bulge in the top… (SHOUTING TO OTHERS) Could this be it? JOHN: Paul, look out… JEDIKIAH: Step away from that boy…right now! (PAUSE) JEDIKIAH: (SHOUTING TO OTHERS) Don't come any closer or I'll kill the boy, and it wont be for the first time today! I must say that you are more resourceful than I thought. When I returned to the ruins of the warehouse I was sure that it was the end of your meddling in my affairs. But that time line is of no consequence… I still have the means to prevent your very existence. All I need to do is to pull this device into the time lanes behind me…Stand back or I'll shoot! (TK EFFECT) JEDIKIAH: No, not my gun… PAUL: Thanks Timus. I always knew those powers of yours would come in handy… Hands up Jedikiah, you're under arrest! I've always wanted to say that too! JEDIKIAH: Fools. You think you can stop me! (BEAT) JEDIKIAH: What the! PAUL: Paul, shoot the damn machine. He's about to reactivate his time disc and take it with him. PAUL: But you're me… which one of us is… PAUL: Don't think about, it just do it! JEDIKIAH: No… Not again! Give me that gun boy! (WE HEAR A STRUGGLE FOLLOWED BY GUNSHOT FOLLOWED BY EFFECT AS PSI-DAMPENER DISINTEGRATES.) PAUL: Give it up Jedikiah. You machine's useless to you now! (FX AS JEDIKIAH REACTIVATES THE TIME DISC) PETER: It's all right let him go. We managed to change this time line by destroying the device. JOHN: Peter, what are you doing here? I thought you'd gone back to the Hall of the… Oh my god where did they come form? PETER: I can't explain it to you. We came back to ensure that Jedikiah doesn't get away with the psi-dampener like he did last time. JOHN: Last time? PETER: I don't have time John. If my calculations are correct either you or your duplicate will vanish any moment. (FX AS DUPLICATES DISAPPEAR.) JOHN: So far so good. They've disappeared leaving us. So should the time line be correct now? TIMUS: I am afraid, John that it does not seem to be. If our actions had eradicated the time rift, created by Jedikiah's interference in the natural time line, then our presence here would also have been completely wiped out. You would be back in the Lab oblivious to the events of the past few days.
JOHN: What is? PETER: John, when and where did you break out? JOHN: How do I know? As you keep reminding us we're not the same people, as you knew. We're not Tomorrow People at all. PETER: (DISGRUNTLED) Of course, sorry. I was just hoping that… maybe if… JOHN: What? PETER: Well maybe there are no Tomorrow People not because they didn't break out but because they didn't survive the break out. We know that you were the first modern Tomorrow Person and that after you came Carol, Kenny and Stephen. PAUL: I wonder how he and Elena are doing? They must be half way through their return flight by now. TIMUS: (COUGHS) Could we try not to get distracted by irrelevancies. PAUL: Oh yeah, sorry… PETER: From my recollection John broke out sometime in the early 1970's. We never spoke directly about it. He had been the Tomorrow People's leader for many years before I met him. It is due to John's help that all subsequent Tomorrow People survived their respective breakouts. PAUL: Hold on a minute. If you're saying that we didn't survive then what are we doing here? TIMUS: You two are obviously here but we have no idea whether any of the others are alive in this time line. JOHN: But Stephen is alive… we saw him and Elena leave for Cairo three days ago… Didn't we? PETER: It is far too complex a situation for us to discuss right now. (PAUSE) John, this morning, when we came here to look at the Roman vase, you mentioned that you visited this very museum when you were a boy. JOHN: Yes, as part of a school trip… and you think? PETER: It's as good a place as any to start looking for your breakout. 31. Ext Outside Egyptian temple WE HEAR A PROCESSION APPROACH ACCOMPANIED BY CHANTING. HIGH PRIEST: Tie them up, it is almost sunrise. STEPHEN: Let go of me… let go! HIGH PRIEST: (SPITTING IN ANGER) Silence! (BEAT) HIGH PRIEST: By the light of the gods, with the turning of the heavens, we offer up these two for sacrifice. Let the Great Kulthan accept our offering as appeasement for their treachery. ELENA: (ALMOST HYSTERICALLY) Stephen, they're going to burn us alive. I don't believe this is happening. (WE HEAR THE FLAMES TAKE HOLD) STEPHEN: I know, I never dreamt that it would end like this…(COUGHS) HIGH PRIEST: Let the flame of the gods purify your souls and prepare them for an eternity of service to the Great Kulthan. ELENA: (COUGHING FROM THE SMOKE) The heat…my shoes they're starting to melt… Oh god no… please someone help us… (THE FIRE GROWS IN INTENSITY. ELENA AND STEPHEN SCREAM IN PAIN) WE HEAR THE HUSHED TONES OF THE MUSEUM BUT THIS TIME THERE ARE EXCITED VOICES OF A GROUP OF YOUNG BOYS. GRAHAME: Look John, it's your Mummy? BEN: Looks more like his Daddy… (LAUGHS) YOUNG JOHN: (IRRITATED) That artifact is not, in fact, a mummy but a replica of a sarcophagus found in the Valley of the Kings. A mummy is a human or animal body that has undergone a complicated embalming procedure. GRAHAME: Ohh errr… I think we've rattled his cage. What ever it is, it's an ugly so and so… Did they really cover their dead bodies in all that gold? Seems like a complete waste. BEN: Doesn't look like gold to me. I think its copper… Maybe their Daddies and Mummies were coppers too! (BOYS LAUGH) Get it copper… as in police… YOUNG JOHN: Yes, very funny. Are you asking me a serious question about Egyptian history or just trying to rile me with your pathetic jokes? GRAHAME: This place is as boring as you are John. I'm off to buy meself an ice cream. Coming Ben? Or d'you wanna hang around with the dead all day? (WE HEAR THE BOYS MOVE OFF LAUGHING) YOUNG JOHN: Stupid fools wouldn't appreciate a work of art if it hit them in the face. (BEAT) PAUL: Is that you? Looks like those louts are giving you a hard time. JOHN: It was nothing I couldn't handle. (PAUSE) We're not here to discuss my social life… Peter, what exactly do you expect to see? PETER: To be honest, I'm not really sure. Some sign that tells us whether your break out has happened yet, you using telekinesis, something like that. JOHN: Funny thing is that I remember all this. Is this the real me? TIMUS: Of course John, this is as much a part of your life as it is of John the Tomorrow Person. PETER: You will recall all the details of your boyhood. It'll be events that came after your break out that will be different. TIMUS: If we are successful you will only recall your life as John the Tomorrow Person. JOHN: What about Georgie and the kids? TIMUS: (CONVEYING GREAT SYMPATHY) Sadly no. In our time line Georgie is dead and you had no children. I know this is hard for you John, but loosing them is a sacrifice you will have to make. Once the time line is corrected you wont remember that you were ever married. PAUL: Look there, I recognise that face in the crowd. PETER: Jedikiah! So he's come here too. Probably had the same idea we had. Well we're ready for him. Paul, you circle back around that cabinet and cut off his escape. We'll confront him head on. JOHN: Look at him…me… I've collapsed on the floor. PETER: I guess we picked the right moment after all. TIMUS: Peter, what do you intend to do? PETER: Something I should have done a long time ago. (WE HEAR MUMBLED ECHOEY TELEPATHIC VOICES ALL OVERLAYED WITH ONE ANOTHER AS JOHN STARTS TO BREAK OUT) YOUNG JOHN: What's happening to me? Help me someone, please, help me. The pain…the voices… images… I can't think…
JEDIKIAH: Get away from the boy! Or I'll shoot him! PAUL: Oh no you don't. You'll have to get past me first. (WE HEAR A STRUGGLE BETWEEN PAUL AND JEDIKIAH. THE GUN FIRES AND JEDIKIAH SHRIEKS IN PAIN) JEDIKIAH: My leg… you shot my leg… help me, before I bleed to death… PAUL: Oh shut up! I've just about had enough of you for one day… Don't move a muscle or I'll have the greatest pleasure in using this gun to do far more damage than that flesh wound. JOHN: There's no need to be quite so melodramatic. Simply subduing him would suffice. PAUL: (EXASPERATED) Speak for yourself. How many times do I have to fight him before he gives up? JOHN: You've got him now. I don't think he'll be going anywhere in a hurry. I'm off to help Peter and Timus deal with his… my… break out! JEDIKIAH: That is the first and last mistake you will ever make John. (FX AS THE INJURED JEDIKIAH DISAPPEARS) PAUL: I don't believe it! I don't know about déjà vu but this is getting ridiculous. PETER: (CALLING FROM OTHER SIDE OF ROOM) Don't worry, I've seen to
it that wherever he's gone, this time, he'll not be receiving the warm
welcome he's expecting. (WE HEAR THE FAINT GARBLED THOUGHTS OF THE YOUNG JOHN) PETER: (TP) Think of a fist… link your mind with mine… JOHN: (TP) What's going on? Who are you people? PETER: (TP) I am Peter and this is…(FADE DOWN) (FADE UP JAUNTING FX) JOHN: Timus! What brings the Chair Person of the Galactic Federation to the Lab unannounced? (JAUNTING FX) JOHN: Peter you too! There must be something seriously wrong for both of you to come to Earth. TIMUS: In truth nothing is wrong at all. We are simply checking that everything is just as it should be. JOHN: From that cryptic comment I suspect that something has happened that we were not party to? TIMUS: Your suspicions are quite true. There is no need for you to worry. Where are Elena, Paul and Stephen? PAUL: (WALKING INTO LAB) I'm here, if anybody is interested. Typical of John not to introduce me to important guests. JOHN: Sorry Paul. I believe you have already met Timus. This is Peter one of the Guardians of Time. PAUL: Did you say time? He's a Time Lord sort of like in Dr. Who? (JAUNTING FX) ELENA: Hi all, we're back! All that sight seeing has got me quite hot and thirsty. TIM, can I have a long cool drink please? TIM: Certainly Elena. (FX AS DRINK APPEARS) JOHN: Where exactly have you two been all afternoon? ELENA: (SIPPING AT HER DRINK) Stephen took me to Egypt, to see the Kulthan pyramids… STEPHEN: Hello Timus what are you and Peter doing here? And why are
you looking at us like that? TIMUS: As I was just about to explain to Paul, The Tomorrow People have had the honor of traveling with one of the Guardians of Time before. To the era of the Roman occupation of Britain, I believe. All that I can say is that a similar situation has arisen recently, but thankfully it has been corrected. PETER: Actually, it's about time I was leaving. STEPHEN: Hold on just a minute. You can't go leaving us dangling like that. Can't you explain what you're doing here? PETER: There really is no need; the situation was resolved. As you all have no knowledge of it, our mission must have been a success. ELENA: I don't get it. Why does our not remembering anything mean that everything is OK? Am I missing something here? TIMUS: No Elena. But the very nature of a time rift is that once it is corrected those involved have no memory of the events because, from their perspective, nothing actually happened. ELENA: I still don't understand? PETER: (THOUGHTFULLY) Perhaps I could explain just a little… Stephen, John. How many times have we met? STEPHEN: I first saw you when Rebovski was stealing the crown jewels at the Tower of London. Then you sent us a message, after escaping with Carol from the ship up in hyperspace. And again when we travelled back to ancient Rome. That's the first time you met John and Elizabeth too. JOHN: No it wasn't. I vaguely remember… It was you… You were there…you were all there. Even Paul, and that was well before he was born. But how? PETER: Don't try to figure it out John. You memory is correct. Recent events have caused us to create a slightly new time line. We were all there at your breakout. JOHN: But why? How? PETER: It's a Paradox. It cannot be explained. Just accept it was the way things were meant to be… INTO THEME |
