28 Days of 2000 AD #14: Daily Star Dredd Pt. 2

Just for fun, here's week 2 of an unpublished Dredd story I wrote for the Daily Star newspaper strip. The story so far - actually, not much has happened, and Dredd's been conspicuous by his absence. But he's about to make his entrance, so let the exposition begin...

DAILY STAR DREDD: THE BLACKWOOD INCIDENT • Week Two

Day One

1. Dredd riding his Lawmaster through Mega-City One at night.

Jag:
CONTROL TO ALL JUDGES - EMERGENCY AT THE TEK-DIVISION BLACKWOOD RESEARCH FACILITY!

Dredd:
DREDD RESPONDING!


2. Dredd races his Lawmaster along an empty road. Beyond is darkness, burnt trees visible in the blackness.

Box:
THERE ARE MANY DARK SECRETS IN DREDD'S WORLD, PLACES WHERE EVEN THE JUDGES RARELY VENTURED.

Box:
BLACKWOOD WAS SUCH A PLACE.


3. Overhead view of the highway which leads directly to a large dome. Surrounding the dome is a vast expanse of black, scorched trees and earth.

Box:
IT HAD BEEN OFF LIMITS TO MOST JUDGES FOR YEARS. WHAT COULD BE SO BAD TO CHANGE THAT?


Day Two

1. The Control Room at Blackwood. In the foreground is COSTER, in her 30s, wearing a lab coat with her name and TEK visible on the pockets.

Coster:
JUDGE DREDD, WELCOME TO BLACKWOOD. I'M PROFESSOR PATRICIA COSTER OF TEK-DIVISION.


2. Dredd scowls at Coster, not interested in making pleasantries.

Dredd:
SAVE THE SMALL TALK. WHERE'S THIS EMERGENCY?

Coster:
THE QUESTION IS NOT SO MUCH WHERE, BUT WHEN...


3. Close on Coster's stern face.

Coster:
THE EMERGENCY IS RIGHT HERE, BUT IT'S HAPPENING 122 YEARS IN THE PAST!


Day Three

1. Coster points at a video monitor, gesturing for Dredd to watch it.

Coster:
THE BLACKWOOD RESEARCH FACILITY HAS SPENT YEARS EXAMINING THE DIMENSION-JUMP GLOBES TAKEN FROM THE DARK JUDGES.

Link:
WE TOOK PARTS FROM ONE AND COMBINED IT WITH ELEMENTS FROM THE PROTEUS TIME MACHINE...


2. Focus on the screen which shows an altered D-Jump device - a belt with a glowing black globe attached to it, plus a small digital display on one side.

Bln (off):
THE RESULT WAS THIS: A PERSONAL TELEPORTER.

Link:
IT COULD HAVE REVOLUTIONISED THE FUTURE...


3. Just Coster, her face underlit by the glowing video screen.

Coster:
...NOW IT COULD DESTROY MEGA-CITY ONE - FOREVER!


Day Four

1. Dredd is getting impatient.

Dredd:
I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR A HISTORY LESSON. WHY DID YOU CALL FOR ME, PROFESSOR COSTER?


2. Coster points to a man on the video screen, MORTIMER. He round-faced with receding hair and a thin moustache.

Coster:
TWENTY-EIGHT MINUTES AGO, THIS MAN TRIED TO STEAL THE TELEPORTATION PROTOTYPE.

Link:
WHEN I CAUGHT HIM IN THE ACT, HE ACTIVATED THE DEVICE AND ESCAPED 122 YEARS INTO THE PAST.


3. Dredd examines the face on the screen.

Dredd:
I KNOW THIS MAN, HE'S A CONVICTED INDUSTRIAL SPY. HOW DID HE GET INTO THIS TOP SECRET FACILITY?

Coster:
HIS NAME IS TODD COSTER AND HE'S MY BROTHER.


Day Five

1. Dredd uses a handheld lie detector on an unhappy Professor Coster.

Coster:
DREDD, YOU MUST BELIEVE MY BROTHER TRICKED ME. I DIDN'T KNOW HE WOULD STEAL THE TELEPORTER!

Dredd:
LIE DETECTOR SAYS YOU'RE TELLING THE TRUTH.


2. Coster lays out the final bombshell.

Coster:
I DON'T CARE! YOU'VE GOT TO STOP MY BROTHER - THE PROTOTYPE HE STOLE IS HIGHLY UNSTABLE.

Link:
UNLESS DISASSEMBLED SOON, IT WILL BLOW UP.


3. Dredd reacts in shock.

Bln (off):
THE IMPLOSION COULD TEAR APART TIME ITSELF!


Day Six

1. Professor Coster is giving Dredd a teleportation prototype as he sits on his Lawmaster. They are on the road outside the research centre.

Coster:
THIS PROTOTYPE IS SIMILAR TO THE STOLEN DEVICE, BUT IT'S FAR MORE STABLE.

Dredd:
GOOD. WE DON'T NEED TWO TIME BOMBS IN 1998!


2. Coster tries to give Dredd some last minute instructions.

Coster:
REMEMBER, DON'T TRY TO DESTROY THE STOLEN PROTOTYPE, - THAT WILL TRIGGER A TIME IMPLOSION.

Dredd:
TERRIF! HOW LONG HAVE I GOT TO BRING IT BACK?


3. Coster consults Dredd's teleporter, which has two clocks. The first shows the date, 7:7:20. The second shows the time left for Dredd's quest: 00:36.

Coster:
ONLY 36 MINUTES.

Dredd:
TIME TO GO!