Elements of Murder
Elements of Murder
A Short Project for Screenwriting Class
INT. -- CELL
KIRK, SPOCK, "BONES" MCCOY, NURSE CHAPEL and a red-shirted
SECURITY OFFICER are imprisoned in a large, sleek, windowless
metallic- grey cell. Above them, protruding from the high
ceiling, are a set of common household objects, seemingly
molded directly out of the same material as the rest of the
cell - a chair, a bathtub, a fireplace. The only other
decoration in the cell is a large image of Earth, with the
letters "htraE" set into the wall beside the image.
Kirk runs towards the bolted door at full tilt.
SPOCK
Inadvisable, Jim.
Kirk slams into the door.
KIRK
Owww!
SPOCK
Pure titanium, Jim. Expert
craftsmanship - quite fascinating.
MCCOY
Will you quit! Help us figure out
how to escape! You green-blooded
...
KIRK
Spock, Bones, stop it for goddsake!
Kirk rubs his shoulder, grimacing with pain.
KIRK (CONT'D)
Bones is right. We don't have much
time. They said they'd kill one of
us each minute we're in here, until
only one is left. It's a sick game,
but we don't have many options.
Kirk looks suddenly at the red-shirted security officer.
Spock, too, turns to stare at him.
SECURITY OFFICER
I know what you're thinking ...
KIRK
Mister, swap shirts. If somebody is
killed first, it should be me.
MCCOY
Jim ...
KIRK
Quick, Mister!
Kirk and the security officer swap shirts. Suddenly, Nurse
Chapel shrieks. Kirk swivels round to see Nurse Chapel
descending into a suddenly liquid section of the floor.
NURSE CHAPEL
Mr Spock! Help me!
Spock and Kirk crouch down next to the liquid floor and each
grabs an arm. It's no good. Nurse Chapel is pulled helplessly
under and Kirk and Spock have to let go of her. Instantly,
the ground solidifies, and only the top of Chapel's
impeccably coiffured platinum hair remains visible.
MCCOY
She's dead, Jim.
KIRK
I can see that, Bones. But why
Chapel? Why not me? I'm wearing the
red-shirt.
SPOCK
The writing on the wall, spelling
Earth backwards. The objects on the
ceiling. Logic is inverted in this
room, Captain. Inverted logic
suggests the man in the red-shirt
will now be the only survivor.
KIRK
Quick, Spock, swap shirts with me.
MCCOY
Gee, thanks Jim.
KIRK
Not now Bones. Come on Spock,
that's an order.
Kirk and Spock swap shirts.
KIRK
What about the objects on the
ceiling? Maybe there's something we
can use? Bones, you're the lightest
of us. Climb up on my shoulders,
and see if you can find anything.
Bones clambers on to Kirk's shoulders, and reaches up to
explore the ceiling. He starts with the bathtub.
MCCOY
Nothing here, Jim. It's solid. Part
of the ceiling. No plug hole.
KIRK
What about the fireplace?
Kirk staggers towards the wall so that McCoy can take a look
at the fireplace. A sheet of intense blue flame shoots out of
the fireplace and instantly incinerates the top half of
McCoy's body. For an instant, a stupified Kirk stands still
with McCoy's lifeless legs wrapped around his neck. Spock
pulls the legs off him, and the two men stare at each other.
SPOCK
My commiserations, Jim. I know how
much you cared for him.
KIRK
Cared for him? He was your friend
too, Spock. Don't you have any
feelings for him?
SPOCK
Captain, I'm endeavoring to
determine the mode and manner of
the two deaths. There is a logic
here. The image of the Earth on the
wall, what does that tell you?
KIRK
Help me out, here ...
SPOCK
Miss Chapel was killed by being
absorbed by the ground. The earth.
KIRK
Yes?
SPOCK
And Dr McCoy incinerated by fire.
KIRK
Way ahead of you! That means...?
SPOCK
The four elements, Captain. Earth,
fire, water and air.
KIRK
My thoughts exactly, Spock.
SPOCK
And their ordering. Interesting, I
believe that water will be the next
mode of death, Captain.
SECURITY OFFICER
Uh, why water, Sir?
SPOCK
The order in which the elements
first occurred on Earth, Ensign.
First there was the Earth.
SECURITY OFFICER
Then there was light!
SPOCK
Well, not exactly, Ensign. Then
there was Vulcanism.
KIRK
We're talking about my planet,
Spock, not yours!
SPOCK
I'm referring to volcanic
eruptions, Captain. Fire.
KIRK
Oh.
SPOCK
And before an atmosphere could
form, it was necessary for the
oceans to form - water.
Simultaneously, all three of them stare up at the ceiling,
looking at the bathtub molded into the ceiling. They shift to
the far corner of the cell, and crouch, staring across at the
bathtub. Suddenly, the security officer starts grabbing his
own face. Spock and Jim turn to stare at him. The officer now
longer has a mouth or nose, but just a flat, smooth surface
stretching from his eyes to his chin. His eyes, stare wildly
as his hands flail at his own face.
KIRK
Help him Spock
SPOCK
Fascinating. Air. Or the lack of
it. Again, inverted logic.
KIRK
Spock, now's not the time!
Spock attempts to force his finger through the skin of the
security officer's neck in order to make a hole through which
air can enter the windpipe. But it's too late. The officer
lies slumped back, lifeless.
Kirk stands up and stares at Spock.
KIRK
There's only you and me left.
SPOCK
Yes, and only water remaining as
the mode of death.
KIRK
It should be you, Spock.
SPOCK
Captain. Logic suggests that
yourself, as the commanding
officer, should survive.
KIRK
Spock, when I said it should be
you, that's what I was referring
to. In other words, you next.
Kirk starts to push Kirk towards the bathtub.
SPOCK
Jim. This is not like you. I can
only conclude that the aliens have
taken control of your mind.
KIRK
Nuh uh, Spock. It's logical. Let's
say I stand under the bathtub, then
I die, right?
SPOCK
Impeccable logic.
KIRK
But let's say, you die? Then I'm
left alive, and nobody else is left
alive to witness my behavior.
SPOCK
Again, I cannot fault your logic.
Spock stands patiently under the bathtub, staring without
emotion at Kirk, a few feet away. Suddenly, a transparent
container forms around Kirk, floor to ceiling, and water
gushes in from the ceiling. It takes two minutes for his
struggles to cease, while Spock explores the seams of the
cylinder. Finally, Kirks sinks to the bottom, dead.
SPOCK
Fascinating.
Spock looks around and notices that the body of the security
officer is gone. McCoy's legs and Chapels hairdo, too, have
vanished. Kirk's body is gone too.
Suddenly, the metal door of the cell opens, and a dazed
security officer enters, followed by Kirk, McCoy, and Chapel.
SPOCK (CONT'D)
I'm happy to see you well.
MCCOY
You, "happy", Spock?
SPOCK
Merely my logical concern that
Starfleet retains three officers.
MCCOY
Three? Did those aliens screw with
that mathematical brain of yours?
There are four of us!
SPOCK
Yes, but my concern does not
include the Captain. He attempted
to make me the next to die.
McCoy turns to face Kirk, doubt on his face.
MCCOY
Is that true, Jim?
KIRK
I can explain everything. You see,
I knew that the aliens had inverted
logic. Logic suggested that I would
sacrifice myself to save Spock. So
I inverted that and ... You're not
buying this, are you?
Four Starfleet heads shake side to side.