Air Force One Page #7

MARSHALL:

I'll make it up to you, I promise.

ROSE:

I should trust that promise? Because

you know the voters are still waiting

for that middle class tax cut.

MARSHALL:

This promise isn't subject to

Congressional approval.

She smiles. The tension breaks.

ROSE:

How did your speech go?

MARSHALL:

Well, they aren't burning me in

effigy. That's always a good sign.

They kiss again, this time for real. But... a knock on the

door.

SHEPHERD (0.5.)

Mr. President.

Shepherd opens the door.

MARSHALL:

Look on the bright side, hon. Shep

here thinks I'll be a one termer.

ROSE:

Shall I ask the Chief of Staff to

schedule your daughter in?

SHEPHERD:

She is scheduled. Her school play's

Tuesday night.

Rose rolls her eyes.

MARSHALL:

The First Lady was making a joke,

Shep. I'll make some time, Rose. I

promise.

Marshall heads for his meeting.

EXT. COCKPIT - NIGHT

Col. Axelrod and his co-pilot LT. COL. ARTHUR INGRAHAMS are

at the wheel.

RUSSIAN AIR TRAFFIC (V.0)

(THICK ACCENT)

United States Air Force One, this is

tower. It's an honor to clear you

for immediate take-off on runway

three.

COL. AXELROD

Roger, Tower. And thank you for the

hospitality.

Axeirod eases up the throttle and the four GE-F103 Turbofan

engines spring to life.

EXT. RUNWAY - NIGHT

A picture perfect take-off as Air Force One slides through

the moonlight and skates upward on a sheet of air.

EXT. AIR FORCE ONE, FLYING - AN HOUR LATER

Airborne in the midnight sky.

INT. AIR FORCE ONE, GALLEY - NIGHT

Aircraft engines drone.

CLOSE ON - A coffee pot pouring piping joe into a mug

emblazoned with ubiguitou Presidential Seal. The mug is placed

on a tray with a half-dozen other mugs and passed to a STEW.

He carries the tray down the corridor past passenger cabins.

Drowsiness has overtaken the plane. Many of the passengers

and aides are asleep. CNN plays On T.V. sets, entertaining

the few night owls and news junkies.

CNN REPORTER (T.V.)

In an unusually aggressive speech,

the President characterized the

Stravanavitch regime as thugs whose

brutality will no longer be tolerated.

Meanwhile, in Turkmenistan,

Stravanavitch's ouster has sent the

country into turmoil. Tens of

thousands of refugees continue to

huddle in U.N. safe havens, as rival

Stravanavitch loyalists fight among

themselves for control. But at least

for the time being, the ethnic

cleansing has been stopped.

Toward the front of the plane, the steward enters the

conference room.

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT

As the steward closes the door behind him, all background

noise disappears. We are in a sound shielded room. Even the

engines' drone cannot be heard.

The lights in the room are dim as MAJOR CALDWELL, a military

advisor, projects satellite photos of Iraqi military bases

onto a screen.

The steward serves coffee as unobtrusively as he can while

the meeting continues.

MAJOR CALDWELL:

Our KH-ll's took this one at 0100

hours. What you see here is the

mobilization of two mechanized

brigades.

MARSHALL:

They've gotta be joking.

DOHERTY:

The Iraqi ambassador is claiming

it's just an exercise.

MARSHALL:

An exercise in futility. Send the

Nimitz back in.

MAJOR CALDWELL:

The northern border's gotten a bit

hairy. Their MiGs are playing tag

with our Tomcats and our boys are

just itching to engage.

MARSHALL:

Tell our boys to cool their jets. I

don't need `em creating policy for

me.

We follow the steward as he slips out of the conference room

and back into the...

INT. CORRIDOR - NIGHT

with a few coffees left on his tray. One of them is scooped

up by Gibbs as he passes, his nose is buried in a fax.

INT. SECRET SERVICE CABIN - NIGHT

Gibbs leans in the cabin.

GIBBS:

Hey Walters, you and Johnson come

here a second. Reykjavik just sent

the advance team report.

Special Agents Walters and JOHNSON rise and follow Gibbs

into an adjoining office.

INT. OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

Gibbs closes the door behind the two agents. As Walters and

Johnson take their seats, Gibbs WITHDRAWS HIS WEAPON and...

Rate this script:4.0 / 4 votes