Conspiracy Theory Page #4

LIZA:

Motive?

JERRY:

He's cutting funding for NASA.

The milk cow of the aerospace

industry. We're talking billions.

Motive enough?

LIZA:

NASA is going to kill the

President of the United States

with an earthquake.

JERRY:

(nods)

Not exactly the kind of thing a

Secret Service Agent can throw

himself on top of.

Liza sighs. On another day, Jerry might have been

welcome comic relief. Not today. As she folds his

map...

JERRY:

You going to warn him?

LIZA:

I can't promise you anything.

JERRY:

You think I'm crazy.

LIZA:

I think you're different.

JERRY:

You know, to be 'normal' and live

in the 'real world,' to swallow

Coca cola and eat Kentucky Fried

Chicken, you have to be in a

conspiracy against yourself. I

can't lie to me, Liza. And the

more I strip through the sham, the

crazier I look to people like you.

Can't you see that's what they're

counting on?

(a beat)

You want to go out sometime?

LIZA:

No.

Jerry smiles, looks away, embarrassed in an appealingly

boyish way. If he wasn't crazy, the answer might be yes.

JERRY:

I better get going.

LIZA:

You don't have to burst in here

every time, Jerry. Just call and

make an appointment.

He nods, gathers his map. Halfway out, he looks back.

JERRY:

What was your horse's name?

LIZA:

Johnny Dancer.

(a beat)

You've been in my office ten

times. How come you never asked

me about that picture before?

JERRY:

Was waiting till I knew you

better. Johnny Dancer, huh?

Sounds like a racehorse.

Jerry heads out. Liza watches after him a beat as he

goes.

EXT. 40TH STREET AND 7TH AVENUE - DAY

Cordoned off with cops redirecting traffic. A lake. Big

diesel pumps gush water into the gutters, and the

sidewalks are sandbagged. All the same, water flows over

Jerry's sneakers as he flags down a passing PUBLIC WORKS

GUY.

JERRY:

Hey, don't water mains usually go

in the winter?

D.P.W. GUY

Summer, winter, all I know it it's

beaucoup overtime.

Something catches Jerry's eye -- a tan sedan parked

inside the cordon. Official U.S. Government plates. As

Jerry frowns, two suits, CLARKE and PIPER, exit the

subway kiosk, head to the sedan. Jerry watches, then

heads for his cab.

CUT TO:

EXT. FEDERAL BUILDING (MANHATTAN) - DAY

The sedan pulls up, double parks. As Piper and Clark

head inside, Jerry pulls up across the street.

INT. FEDERAL BUILDING - LOBBY - DAY

Jerry enters, watches Clark and Piper get on the elevator

for the 14th to 25th floors. As the door closes, Jerry

steps to a podium with a directory of the building's

occupants. He drops a finger onto a listing. Floors 18

to 22 are occupied by: the Central Intelligence Agency.

JERRY:

Spooks. I knew it.

LOBBY SURVEILLANCE CAMERA POV - JERRY

Grainy black and white as Jerry exits. Is he being

watched?

EXT. DINER - DAY

Jerry's cab is reflected against the glass. THROUGH the

window, we see Jerry at the counter. Standing, he throws

a few bills down and exits.

Jerry reappears in reflection, stops short as Piper is

reflected on one side, Clark on the other. They grab

Jerry. As he struggles Clark jams an air syringe against

his neck. Jerry's reflection goes slack.

As they drag him into his cab, a single OLD MAN at the

counter looks over, then back to his meatloaf as the

yellow of the cab streaks away.

INT. DECREPIT HOSPITAL ROOM (GERONIMO) - JERRY - DAY

Strapped to a chair in the middle of what looks like an

old hospital room. Jerry's groggy, starting to regain

consciousness. As he comes round, we hear FOOTSTEPS

APPROACHING from the hall.

CLOSE ON JERRY:

Two men enter. They may or may not be Piper and Clark,

but we only see their torsos as they move back and forth.

We hear a CLOSET OPEN, EQUIPMENT being DRAGGED. Jerry

knows he's righteously f***ed. But he also knows...

JERRY:

I was right. Wasn't I? I was

right.

(a beat)

What was I right about?

They don't seem to pay him any mind.

JERRY:

Are you guys from NASA?

Without warning, one of the figures grabs Jerry's head

from behind, straps it to a slat he attaches to the back

of the chair.

Jerry struggles, but his head is immobilized. The second

man goes about taping Jerry's eyes open.

JERRY:

I was wrong! I was wrong!

Finished, they leave. Jerry struggles, then finally

waits. A new set of FOOTSTEPS in the hall. Jerry's eyes

follow someone into the room and across from him. Jerry

frowns.

JERRY:

Do I know you?

JONAS (O.S.)

Yes you do, Jerry. Quite well.

WIDEN to include --

JONAS:

Standing opposite Jerry. Genteel looking, professorial.

There's something calm, oddly soothing about him.

JONAS:

Have you ever been in a place from

which hope has gone? All that's

left is patience. Everywhere.

Like a fog.

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