Mission: Impossible Page #21

ETHAN:

I remember..

PHELPS smiles warmly, has to steady himself to maintain an

upright position. He opens a medicine bottle and takes the

pain killers.

ETHAN:

Jim, who do you think you're kidding? A

doctor's gotta look at that. You can't

sit up straight.

PHELPS:

I can sit up straight. I just can't..sit

up straight very well. It's not

important! I saw who shot me. Ethan, I

saw the mole. It was Kittridge.

(a fist into the table)

Kittridge!

PHELPS grips the sides of the table.

ETHAN:

Kitteridge. Oh my god! Kittridge is the

mole?

PHELPS:

Yeah.

ETHAN:

How did Kittridge do it?..

EXT. CHARLES BRIDGE - FLASHBACK - NIGHT

A reprise of PHELPS'S narrative only now ETHAN'S telling it

and camera is showing the events as ETHAN sees they actually

happened.

ETHAN VO:

- first he took care of Jack in the

elevator -

At the Embassy PHELPS sends the elevator to the top of the

building, watching it go and crush Kiefer.

ETHAN VO:

- he shot you on the bridge -

On the Charles bridge PHELPS using the Visco glasses aims the

gun toward them, fires, cants the glasses and tosses them

into the Vltava River.

ETHAN VO:

- he must have had back up take out

Golitsyn and Sarah at the fence..

There on the embankment, in the night and fog, it is KRIEGER

who takes out GOLITSYN and SARAH thru the fence..

ETHAN VO:

How did he do Hannah?

Here it is CLAIRE with back to camera who presses the

detonator and turns dreamily to face it, the explosion

brilliant behind her...

ETHAN VO:

No. No. He could've taken out Hannah

himself.

PHELPS presses the remote detonator and the car blows..

OVER SHOULDER - PHELPS (INT. RAILWAY CAFE)

ETHAN looking intently at him.

ETHAN:

Why, Jim? Why?

Awkward moment.

PHELPS:

..when you think about it, Ethan, it was

inevitable..no more Cold War. No more

secrets you keep from everyone but

yourself, operations you answer to no one

but yourself. Then one morning you wake

up and find out the President of the

United States is running the country -

without your permission. The son-of-a-

b*tch! How dare he? You realize itís

over, youíre an obsolete piece of

hardware not worth upgrading, youíve got

a lousy marriage and sixty-two grand a

year. Kittridge, weíll go after that no

good son-of-a-b*tch, big time!

ETHAN:

We donít have to, Jim. Heíll come after

us.

PHELPS:

Whatís going to make him do that?

ETHAN:

What he didnít get in Prague. The NOC

list.

PHELPS:

Jesus, Ethan. Good for you.

ETHAN:

A meeting tomorrow on the TGV, enroute to

Paris.

PHELPS:

Tight security. No guns. Real plus.

ETHAN:

If I supposedly deliver the NOC list to

Max, Max has agreed to deliver Job to me.

Iíll have Claire and Luther Stickell with

me on the train. Marcel Krieger will

have helicopter transport waiting in

Paris.

PHELPS looks away. Seems badly shaken.

ETHAN:

Jim...?

PHELPS:

I was sitting in a cafe waiting for you

and suddenly there she was, standing in

the rain just outside the safe

house..alive and beautiful..and thinking

Iím dead and gone. God knows what sheís

had to do forget about me to keep going

and get the job done, I..

PHELPS breaks off abruptly. Apparently some inner struggle

over this threatens to overwhelm him. Then, controlling it:

PHELPS:

- no. She canít know about me. No one

can. Not til this is over. Thereís too

much at stake, Ethan.

ETHAN:

Youíre probably right.

PHELPS:

I usually am.

ETHAN:

Once we leave the safehouse, get in there

and crash. Iíll call you from Paris.

PHELPS:

You got it.

ETHAN:

And get a doctor.

PHELPS:

Good luck.

INT. LONDON SAFE HOUSE - CLAIREíS ROOM - NIGHT

The door to CLAIRE'S room in the safe house opens, throwing a

shaft of light over her form. ETHAN creeps in and closes the

door behind him.

It is approximately one a.m. . CLAIRE is huddled in the

corner. ETHAN enters and stands looking at her.

CLAIRE:

What happened?

ETHAN:

(walks towards her)

I sent the message to Max. Weíre on for

tomorrow.

CLAIRE:

Okay...

ETHAN:

(he steps towards her, stops)

Is this the only way?

CLAIRE:

Yes.......come here....viens pres moi...

She draws him down by his hand to kiss her.

He kisses her again, more fully. She wraps an arm around him

and he holds onto the kiss. The room appears to revolve

around them.

CUT TO:

EXT. PRIVATE HELIPAD - DAY

Suddenly itís bright, broad daylight, so bright it hurts our

eyes.

KITTRIDGE and BARNES step off a military helicopter, blinking

at the sunlight and hurry down the steps.

TWO AGENTS immediately flank KITTRIDGE at the bottom and fall

into step alongside, ready to brief him. One of them holds

out a small package with "for Job" written on it.

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