Mission: Impossible Page #10

BIBLE:

The computer replies:

126 ENTRIES FOUND, SPECIFY GROUP

ETHAN:

BOOK OF JOB:

The computer presents a multi-colored screen of religious

icons and artwork with an accompanying message:

WELCOME TO THE BOOK OF JOB DISCUSSION

GROUP. WHICH CHAPTER AND VERSE DO

YOU WISH TO POST YOUR ENTRY UNDER?

ETHAN types his answer "Job 3:14" and the screen presents a

"stickie" for him to write his message on. He does:

ETHAN:

Max -- Goods tainted. Consider extremely

hazardous. DO NOT USE. Fate will be

that of kings and counsellors who built

for themselves palaces now lying in

ruins. Must meet to discuss a.s.a.p.

ANGLE:

A rhythmic CRUNCHING sound and from the darkness on the other

side of the room, PHELPS staggers toward him, wet and muddy,

his middle a hopelessly bloody mess. He looks like he's

dying on his feet. ETHAN freezes, appalled.

PHELPS:

Ethan, what are you doing?

ETHAN tries to speak but nothing will come out.

PHELPS (CONT'D)

I needed you, Ethan. 1 needed you on the

bridge, and -- you weren't there. Ethan?

Ethan?

ETHAN reaches out to grab PHELPS but can't seem to touch him.

PHELPS suddenly vanishes into thin air, ETHAN awakens from

the dream and finds himself leaping to his feet, gun cocked

and pointed at --

ANGLE:

It's CLAIRE.

ETHAN:

What are you doing here?!

CLAIRE freezes, her hands half-raised.

CLAIRE:

(carefully)

Ethan -- Ethan, it's okay. It's Claire.

Ethan what's wrong with you?

ETHAN:

Don't move.

Her right hand has moved a fraction. She freezes again.

ETHAN:

You were in the car!

CLAIRE:

I wasn't. I heard that Jim was in

trouble on the radio. He said someone

was...

ETHAN:

Shut up! I saw you. You were in the

car.

CLAIRE:

No, I got out of the car and I ran to the

bridge.

ETHAN:

Don't give me that! I was on the bridge.

CLAIRE:

What happened to Jim?

ETHAN:

There was nobody on the bridge.

CLAIRE:

What happened to Jim?

Ethan grabs her wrists, shouting.

ETHAN:

Dead. Dead. Dead! Wake up, Claire!

Jim's dead, they're dead. They're all

dead!

ETHAN releases her wrists.

CLAIRE:

(mumbling)

They're dead. Jim's dead.

ETHAN:

Take off your coat.

CLAIRE:

What?

ETHAN:

Take off your God damn coat!

He grabs a sleeve and literally tears the coat off her, half-

spinning her around. The coat hits the floor like a dead

body. CLAIRE'S instinctive move is to cover her chest.

CLAIRE begins to shiver. ETHAN circles her, runs his hand

cursorily across her body. It accentuates CLAIRE'S

shivering.

ETHAN (CONT'D)

Where were you?

CLAIRE:

I walked away. He said abort. He was

gone so I walked away.

ETHAN:

That was four hours ago! Who sent you?

Did they send you here?

CLAIRE:

(slowly)

Who is "they?"

ETHAN:

Did they send you...Did they send you?

CLAIRE:

Who is they, who is they?

ETHAN grabs her by the wrists.

ETHAN:

Who sent you?! Who sent you?

CLAIRE:

(screaming)

No one sent me! We're supposed to be

back here at four o'clock, four o'clock,

if we abort, we don't return here until

four o'clock, 0-four hundred, four am,

four o'clock --!

She sags. A moment. Then the clock begins to chime -- BONG,

BONG, BONG, BONG. In the wake of the bells' reverb, ETHAN

releases his grip on her wrists.

INT. SAFE HOUSE - LATER THE SAME NIGHT

ETHAN sits in front of the computer, staring blankly at it,

still waiting for a response. CLAIRE sitting on the end of

the bed. Dawn approaches, it's very, very quiet.

CLAIRE:

Why haven't they brought us in yet?

ETHAN:

I've been disavowed. They think I killed

Jim and everyone else. Somehow a hundred

thousand dollars found its way into my

parents' bank account. Kittridge assumes

I'm a mole they've been tracing and I've

been in the employ of an arms dealer,

Max, for the last two years, to get him

our NOC list.

A long moment while she stares at ETHAN's back.

CLAIRE:

What are you going to do?

ETHAN:

I'm going to get it for him. Whoever the

mole is, I think goes by the name of Job,

at least part of the time. 1 can't find

him, but if he knows 1 have the NOC list,

he'll find me.

CLAIRE:

Ethan, you're not making sense. Let me

go in and talk to Kittridge. I'm going

to tell him you had nothing to do...

ETHAN:

Claire, Claire, Claire, if you're not

dead, he's going to assume you're with

me.

The computer blinks and makes a noise - ETHAN goes to it.

THE COMPUTER SCREEN

Blinking -- "MESSAGE WAITING." ETHAN hurries over and clicks

on the message box. The screen blinks and the message shows

up:

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