Free Speech (audio story)

Free Speech was a special free release in the Short Trips audio range from Big Finish Productions. It was the winning entry in The Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip Opportunity.

Publisher's summary
On Skaz, speaking costs money.

Aymius Todd is trapped in a police interrogation. They want to know about his links to the Garrulous Liberation, and his encounter with a man called the Doctor. But, Aymius is running out of words, and if he can’t afford to finish his story, then he’ll never be able to speak again.

Plot
Aymius is trapped in a police interrogation. He can't talk much because he is running out of money, and in Skaz, you have to pay for every word you say.

He starts his story saying he needed money to buy a girl named Helena a ring. He met Helena while he was working as a gardener at her house. Aymius was poor, so his friend Marley Evans took him to a game where they both could earn some Droobles.

The Doctor was at that game, and he won almost every match. One of the competitors, Gavaritt, wasn't happy with with, so he tried to rob the Doctor by pointing a gun to his face, saying the he must have cheated. Marley and Aymius saved the Doctor's life by creating an opportunity for them to run away, so the Doctor thanked them both by giving them all the money he won.

The Doctor removed Marley's tongue chip with the sonic screwdriver, so she could speak for free. Gavaritt found them before he could remove Aymius's, so they all ran to the TARDIS, but only the Doctor could get in, saying he was coming back for Aymius.

Aymius bought the ring and proposed to Helena, who said yes. But due to the fact that Aymius finally had money to talk, they had several discussions about planning the wedding. One day, Marley appeared at TV making a speech about everyone having the right to speak whenever they want. Helena's family didn't think the poor needed it, so they shouldn't have it. When Aymius tried to say that Marley might be right, Helena gave him a sign to stop talking.

Then, when Aymius was telling this to Lockett, he heard the sound of the TARDIS and the Doctor freed him from the interrogation. The Doctor took him to make a speech that Marley wasn't going to be able to do. Then, he took Aymius and Marley to 20 years in the future, so they could see that they really made a difference, and in that time, everyone could speak for free.

Marley asks if they are ever seeing the Doctor again, and he answers that probably in a year, at the wedding. Aymius say that he doesn't see himself marrying Helena anymore. The Doctor implies that he might marry Marley, and then leaves.

Characters

 * Tenth Doctor
 * Aymius Todd
 * Lockett
 * Marley Evans
 * Gavaritt
 * Helena
 * Helena's father
 * Helena's mother

Worldbuilding

 * Tongue chips are used to monitor the amount of words used by each person, which cost them Droobles.

Continuity

 * The Doctor refers to his encounter with Benjamin Franklin, which he referred to when he was investigating events at the Royal Hope Hospital. (TV: Smith and Jones)