G.I. Jane Page #10

BALD SPOT (VOICE #2)

All I'm saying is that we won't be

integrating -- despite the rhetoric

coming off Capitol Hill, despite

what's happening in Coronado. And

you did not hear it from me.

NAVAL OFFICER (VOICE #1)

Hear what?

A conspiratorial handshake. The men split up.

INT. BEAU-ART HALL - WASHINGTON D.C. - NIGHT

Royce flashes down the stairs. Hitting main floor, he

looks around and then bumps into...

DIAL-A-DATE

There you are. Can we please dance

now?

Over her shoulder, Royce spies Bald Spot heading for the

cloak room. Royce commandeers the nearest J.O.

ROYCE:

Lieutenant!

J.O.

Yes sir?

ROYCE:

Take a dance!

INT. BEAU-ART HALL - WASHINGTON D.C. - NIGHT

Royce bobs and weaves through the crowd, trying to keep

sight of...

Bald Spot. Pushing through the exit doors.

Only steps behind, Royce shoulders through the doors...

EXT. BEAU-ART HALL - WASHINGTON D.C. - NIGHT

And blasts outside, intending to shake some answers out of

Bald Spot. But here Royce finds...

A dozen naval officers waiting for their cars. All of

them now wear caps.

Royce tries to check faces of the quickly departing men.

but it could have been anyone.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. OCEAN - DAY

A high-speed transport ("Seafox") is SLAMMING OVER SWELLS.

Lashed to one side is a rubber life boat.

EXT. SEAFOX - OCEAN - DAY

THE CHIEF:

Crew Six! Stand by!

ENGLAND:

Flea! 'Cool! O'Neil! Cortez!

Slutnik! In that order! Five-

second intervals! Let's go!

England's crew lines up for cast-and-recover drills: One

by one, they speed-roll off the transport...

... and drop into the life boat. After quickly

stabilizing, they roll off the life boat...

... and disappear underwater like human bullets. England

is last to cast off.

EXT. OCEAN - DAY

Jordan resurfaces. Treading water, she scans for...

Seafox. It makes a hard turn in the water and starts

back. The recovery rig -- a big flexible loop -- is

lowered into position.

Still hauling ass, Seafox picks up the trainees in reverse

order -- England, Slutnik, Cortez. They each stab an arm

through the passing loop...

EXT. SEAFOX - OCEAN - DAY

... and vault back aboard, slick as hell.

CORTEZ:

Hoo-yah! Better'n sex in a car

crash!

But now they're bearing down fast on...

EXT. OCEAN - DAY

Jordan. She braces as best she can. As SEAFOX THUNDERS

past, she stabs for the loop...

And snags it with her hand. But only her hand.

Hanging on grimly, Jordan drags face down in torrential

water. Her mouth gropes for clean air but can't find it.

If she doesn't let go soon, she'll drown.

EXT. SEAFOX - OCEAN - DAY

At the stern, the Chief spots Jordan bobbing up in the

boat's wake.

THE CHIEF:

(to pilot)

Next recovery! Keep goin', keep

goin'!

EXT. OCEAN - CORONADO NAVAL BASE - DAY

COUGHING up water, Jordan watches Seafox speed on toward

McCool and Flea. They make textbook recoveries. She's

the only one who couldn't cut it.

INT. WOMEN'S SHOWERS - CORONADO NAVAL BASE - NIGHT

Head hung, Jordan showers alone.

THE CHIEF (O.S.)

You know, the Israelis...

Jordan recoils. Christ, how long has he been there? Just

standing in the doorway?

THE CHIEF:

... they tried women in the 1967

War. Female soldiers.

With forced calm, Jordan squeaks off the water and finds a

towel.

JORDAN:

Permission to get dressed, sir?

THE CHIEF:

It seems the men couldn't get used

to the sight of women blown open and

their viscera hanging from tree

limbs. Israeli men would linger

over wounded females -- often to the

detriment of the mission, often

endangering their own lives. They

don't use women anymore.

JORDAN:

(moving closer)

Sir, someone mentioned you received

the Navy Cross. May I ask what you

got it for?

THE CHIEF:

For pulling a 210-pound man out of a

burning barrack in Saudi Arabia.

JORDAN:

I see. So when a man tries to

rescue another man, he's a hero.

But when he tries to rescue a woman,

he's gone soft.

THE CHIEF:

Could you have pulled that 210-pound

man clear, lieutenant?

She can't say yes. She wants to but can't.

THE CHIEF:

Females in combat situations impact

unit cohesion. Men fight better

without women around. And that is

an historical fact.

JORDAN:

It also seems like a problem with

the men's attitude, sir. So maybe

you should be sniffing around their

shower room instead.

She shoulders past. The Chief gives her a few steps

before dropping his bomb:

THE CHIEF:

England went out with a stress

fracture. That puts you in charge,

lieutenant.

JORDAN:

(off-balance)

McCool's that same rank. We're both

j.g.'s.

THE CHIEF:

You were commissioned one month

earlier, which makes you the senior

officer.

(passing her on his

way out)

Remember. There are no bad crews --

only bad leaders.

INT. ARTILLERY RANGE - CORONADO NAVAL BASE - DAY

Trainees are getting familiar with M-60 machine guns,

firing SHORT BURST at downfield targets.

CORTEZ:

(pissed)

No operational experience, and now

she's callin' the shots?

Unbelievable.

SLUTNIK:

Suppose she'll wanna eat with us

now...

Jordan overhears them BITCHING. She steps up to an open

slot -- and proceeds to WAIL AWAY with her M-60, tracer

rounds blazing. Her target vaporized, she keeps WAILING

madly, taking out Slutnik's target... then Cortez's...

then...

INSTRUCTOR JOHNS

O'Neil... O'Neil... O'NEIL!

Finally she stops.

INSTRUCTOR JOHNS

One burst, one body, O'Neil! What

the f*** you trying to do? Spell

your name?

(to class)

You are not infantry! Your

firepower is limited! Excessive

killing only risks compromise...

Reloading, Jordan tosses a look at Slutnik and Cortez.

Ain't nobody bitchin' now.

EXT. MESS HALL - CORONADO NAVAL BASE - NIGHT

BLONDELL (O.S.)

S.E.R.E. training coming up.

Eating at a table with other women, Jordan turns to see

Blondell setting down her tray.

BLONDELL:

They take you away to San Clemente

Island. Half the guys quit when

they come back. Supposed to be just

hell-and-a-half.

JORDAN:

That's what I hear.

BLONDELL:

Can I ask you somethin', lieutenant?

How come you're doing this? I mean,

we're kinda curious.

JORDAN:

Who's "we"?

BLONDELL:

Just some of the women.

EXT. QUARTERDECK - CORONADO NAVAL BASE - NIGHT

Walking across the base:

JORDAN:

I don't know if there's any single

reason. But my father was Navy.

And he had this old-time recruiting

poster in his den. It showed a girl

trying on a sailor's uniform while

saying, "Gee, I wish I were a man!

I'd join the Navy!" Was maybe 10

years old when I first saw it, and

even then it felt wrong. Made me

mad. And I don't think a month has

gone by that I haven't thought about

that poster. "Gee, I wish I were a

man."

BLONDELL:

I've been accused of that wish.

JORDAN:

The woman I saw you with...

BLONDELL:

Just a friend. We have friends,

too, you know.

JORDAN:

But are there... I mean, how many...

BLONDELL:

More than you'd guess. It's just

that we don't hold coffee klatches.

If more then three of us get

together at any one time, the guys

think it's some kind of uprising.

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