Eye In The Sky Page #12

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JAMA, concentrating, sees a text message come up on his

screen:
“Explore the house.”

KHALID:

KHALID (CONT’D)

If it’s a shooting game...

Game kii leys tooganaayey

miyaa.

(Game kee leys too-ga-na-yay

mee-yah.)

JAMA JAMA (CONT’D)

It’s not. Sell the buckets. Ma'ahan gad Baakadaha.

(Ma-ahan gad kaa daa haa.)

Disappointed, KHALID turns away.

JAMA focuses on his “game.”

143 INT. AMADU’S HOUSE - AFTERNOON

143

The beetle leaves the living room and flies down a corridor.

144 INT. PJHQ - LONDON - AFTERNOON

144

POWELL closely observes the image from the beetle as it looks

into a bedroom.

The room has basic furniture. There is no one here.

145 INT. PJHQ - LONDON - AFTERNOON

145

POWELL watches as the beetle exits this room, goes back into

the corridor and enters a second bedroom.

AN OLDER SOMALI MAN is bent over the bed.

YELLOW SHOOTING SCRIPT 12 September 2014 61.

He is unpacking something from a suitcase and laying it out

carefully on the bedspread. As he steps back, we see:

Two garments neatly laid out on the bed.

POWELL watches as the beetle zooms in closer on the garments.

They are suicide vests. Packed with explosives.

COLONEL POWELL:

Sh*t...

She raises a hand to her mouth.

146 INT. SQUADRON OPERATIONS ROOM - NIGHT 146

COLONEL WALSH leans in, tense.

MATT:

F*** man! F***!

147 INT. GROUND CONTROL STATION - NIGHT 147

STEVE and CARRIE watch the Reaper image, concerned.

STEVE:

Matt, what’s going on?

MATT:

We’re seeing suicide vests and a

whole bunch of f***ing explosives,

right inside that house.

STEVE:

F***.

COLONEL WALSH:

Stay calm, Airman. Don’t wind up

the pilot.

MATT:

Yes, sir.

148 INT. BRIEFING ROOM A - WHITEHALL - AFTERNOON 148

BENSON and the politicians with him watch the image from the

beetle in shock.

BENSON:

(dry)

Well, this changes things...

YELLOW SHOOTING SCRIPT 12 September 2014 62.

Angela looks pale.

149 INT. PJHQ - LONDON - AFTERNOON 149

POWELL calls to Sergeant GLEESON.

COLONEL POWELL:

I want legal in here now!

SERGEANT GLEESON

Yes, Ma’am.

He types a message rapidly into a chat room.

POWELL watches as the beetle image shows the older Somali Man

cross the room to adjusts A CAMERA ON A TRIPOD. It faces A

BLACK Al-Shabaab BANNER hanging on a wall.

MUSHTAQ:

They’re gonna make a suicide video.

COLONEL POWELL:

Sick bastard.

SERGEANT GLEESON

Who is that, Ma’am?

COLONEL POWELL:

Looks like Osman Abade. He supplied

the explosives in the Lamu bombing.

We tried to capture him in Mombasa

last August and lost two men in the

process.

A149 INT. ROOM - HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE - NIGHT A149

Lucy scrolls quickly through a file on OSMAN ABADE.

ON HER SCREEN we see ABADE’S face as photographed by a

surveillance camera IN THE LOBBY OF A HOTEL. Beside this

footage we see images of the hotel AFTER A BOMBING ATTACK.

Lucy matches the hotel surveillance image with the image from

the BEETLE and then types into the mission chatroom:

“Confirm PID - Osman Abade.”

B149 INT. PJHQ - LONDON - AFTERNOON B149

POWELL stares at ABADE as he tests the video camera.

A secure phone rings on her desk. She answers it.

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150 INT. HALLWAY - CABINET OFFICES - AFTERNOON 150

BENSON is on his cell phone, trying to keep his voice down.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL BENSON

What’s the plan, Katherine?

151 INT. PJHQ - LONDON - AFTERNOON 151

POWELL, on the secure phone, hesitates, then speaks firmly.

COLONEL POWELL:

We need to put a Hellfire through

that roof - right now.

We cut between the two:

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL BENSON

I told you, they came to witness a

capture, not a kill. Give me a

capture option.

COLONEL POWELL:

I no longer have a capture option.

Any action on the ground will lead

to an armed confrontation we will

not be able to contain.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL BENSON

They’re watching. Even with the

vests, we will need their approval

for a strike.

COLONEL POWELL:

Tell them we have Danford in our

sights. That alone should be enough

to justify using the hellfire. The

vests are a bonus.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL BENSON

Danford is a British citizen. They

want her alive.

COLONEL POWELL:

They cannot have her alive. Six

years I’ve tracked her, Frank. We

need to expand our rules of

engagement right now if we want to

protect the civilian population. A

hellfire through that roof is our

most effective option.

A beat. BENSON paces.

YELLOW SHOOTING SCRIPT 12 September 2014 64.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL BENSON

We have to know that we are legally

in the clear.

POWELL hides her frustration.

COLONEL POWELL:

Of course. I’m getting into that

now.

152 INT. HALLWAY - CABINET OFFICES - AFTERNOON 152

BENSON turns and walks back into Cobra.

153 INT. PJHQ - LONDON - AFTERNOON 153

For a moment POWELL feels alone with her perilous decision.

HAROLD:

Colonel?

POWELL is jumped out of her private moment. She turns and

sees MAJOR HAROLD WEBB, military lawyer, aged about 40.

COLONEL POWELL:

Major, you’ve been following?

HAROLD:

Yes, Ma’am.

COLONEL POWELL:

The plan is to put a Hellfire

through the roof of this house. I

need legal clearance and I need it

now.

HAROLD:

A missile from the Reaper?

COLONEL POWELL:

Yes.

HAROLD:

So this is no longer a capture

situation?

COLONEL POWELL:

No. We have two suicide vests with

explosives inside that house. Can

you clear me a higher CDE?

HAROLD looks anxious and needs a moment to think.

YELLOW SHOOTING SCRIPT 12 September 2014 65.

COLONEL POWELL (CONT’D)

This is a time sensitive target. Do

I have authority to strike?

HAROLD:

The Rules of Engagement you are

operating under only allow for a

low CDE.

COLONEL POWELL:

Yes, and my weapons only invoke a

low CDE. It’s the explosives inside

the house that bring it to a

potentially high CDE.

HAROLD:

And since you know the explosives

are there, it is incumbent upon you

to take account of them. I can see

a potential legal objection.

COLONEL POWELL:

Jesus, we have two suicide bombers

and three very High Value

Individuals inside that house!

HAROLD:

And you want them off your list, I

understand that. But the Rules of

Engagement you are operating under

envisaged a capture not a kill

scenario... I think it would be

wise to refer up.

COLONEL POWELL:

Are you telling me that, or just

debating with me?

HAROLD:

To refer up? Yes. I am telling you

that. For your own protection. Just

to be on the safe side.

POWELL is angry. She picks up the secure telephone.

154 INT. BRIEFING ROOM A - WHITEHALL - AFTERNOON 154

ABADE has finished checking his video gear. He exits the

room. The beetle camera follows him as he heads down the

corridor to the living room.

BENSON answers a secure phone on his desk.

YELLOW SHOOTING SCRIPT 12 September 2014 66.

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