Phantom Page #6

(ALARM BELL CONTINUES, DISTANT)

SASHA:
Come on, come on!

Captain.

Captain.

Mr. Pavlov.

MAN (O VER RADIO):

The November's slowing.

- It's the K-123.

- DEMl:
That's Constantine Gubin's boat.

You should be flattered.

He's the most decorated

hunter-killer in the fleet.

(PING SOUNDING)

Con, sonar. November's

2,000 meters and closing.

The November's lining up to take a shot.

Appears our government

doesn't approve of your plan.

What you do not understand and what our

politicians don't want to accept or face

is that the Americans have acquired

a first-strike nuclear capability.

Well, even if that's the case,

what makes you think they'd use it?

We would.

(WHIMPERING)

- Hey... What?

- No.

I can't. (STUTTERING)

I- I can't go in there.

- It's too small.

- Oh, sh*t.

Jesus Christ, you're claustrophobic?

Can you talk me through it?

Twenty-five charges

that surround the core.

The timing of the detonation

has to be perfect

- to start a nuclear reaction.

- (PING ECHOING)

- (LOUD WHIMPERING)

- Whoa, it's OK, it's OK.

MAN (O VER RADIO): Con, sonar.

The November's closing.

- Two thousand meters.

- We have to do something, sir.

- You ever been in America?

- No. Have you?

Yeah, my wife was a dancer.

I was allowed to accompany her

to New York City in an arts exchange.

(PING SOUNDING)

MAN (O VER RADIO):

The November's opening her outer doors.

Unless you know some

naval combat tactics, Mr. Bruni,

this situation is gonna to get ugly.

All right, Captain.

You have the ship.

- Sound battle stations.

- (ALARM BELL RINGING)

Aft torpedoes, prepare countermeasures.

Load tube seven with a decoy.

This is the captain.

- (ALARM BELL CONTINUES)

- (OVERLAPPING CHATTER)

Start it up!

Move it, move it, move it!

Sonar, one active ping for range,

on my mark.

- MAN (O VER RADIO): Aye, Captain.

- What are you doing?

Letting them know

they're in for a fight.

- Helm, full right rudder.

- MAN:
Aye, sir.

DEMl:
Forward torpedo,

prepare tubes one and two.

- Arm for acoustic homing. Mark.

- MAN:
Aye, sir.

Two detonating wires

come into contact

with the timing board

through a two-piece connector.

You have to f-free the locking ring

without disconnecting it.

Go.

Take...

(GRUNTING)

(WHISPERING) Take that.

Twenty G's of acceleration

will turn that four-pound wrench

into an 80-pound sledge

that will rip the connectors apart

- once it's clear of the boat.

- Then what?

Then we get a shape-charge detonation

- and the missile falls into the sea.

- Good.

(GRUNTING)

- Flood tubes seven, eight and nine.

- BRUNl:
I'm curious, Captain.

What did you learn about the enemy

from their dancers and their clowns?

The Americans value individual life

above everything else.

They wouldn't tolerate the loss

of even one single city.

MAN (O VER RADIO): Con, sonar.

November's 1500 meters and closing.

Ten degrees down bubble.

Make our depth 300 meters.

- MAN:
Aye, Captain, 300 meters.

- That's below crush depth.

I know what our crush depth is, Pavlov.

- What are we doing?

- Lifting our skirt.

MAN (O VER RADIO): Con, sonar.

Two fish in the water, 1,000 meters.

- (WATCH TICKING)

- (PISTOL COCKING)

You can shoot me now

and I'll see you in hell...

...in about 90 seconds.

(PANTING)

It's gonna set off

an alert on the control panel.

There's nothing we can do about that.

You gotta understand...

...if the connector comes apart...

before ignition,

the fail-safe is gonna

detonate the missile in the tube.

Yeah.

(WATCH CONTINUES TICKING)

Open the door to tube seven

and stand by to fire the decoy.

(MACHINERY HISSING)

Maybe now would be

a good time for you to tell me

just what the hell

it is we're doing, Mr. Bruni.

Have you heard of an American

program called Dark Star?

It's a fully synchronized system

of endoatmospheric

antiballistic missiles,

guided by a highly accurate radar.

MAN (O VER RADIO):

Torpedo, 700 meters.

- Copy that.

- BRUNl:
If the Americans

launch a first strike,

all our land-based missiles

would be taken out

even before they can be fueled.

That's why we have

submarines and bombers.

That's why they developed Dark Star.

It's a radar array

that guides and detonates

atomic missiles in the ionosphere.

- An electromagnetic pulse weapon.

- BRUNl:
Yes.

It'll take down everything our surviving

submarines and aircraft can get up.

They've tested it

and it's fully operational.

Not a single American city would be hit.

If there's no consequences for attacking

us, what's their incentive for peace?

There is none.

Torpedoes, 500 meters!

- Release all countermeasures.

- MAN:
Aye, Captain.

- Fire the decoy.

- MAN:
Firing decoy.

Emergency dive. Full right rudder.

(LOCK CLATTERING)

Brace for impact!

(METAL CREAKING)

(MACHINERY HISSING)

Con, sonar. One of them got through,

bearing two-six-five.

It missed! It missed!

DEMl:
Helm, take us deeper.

Let me know when we have a temperature

differential of ten degrees.

MAN (O VER RADIO):

Approaching crush depth, Captain.

(METAL CLANGING)

(BOLTS CLATTERING)

It's breaking her up!

MAN (O VER RADIO):

Three hundred and sixty meters.

- Entering the thermocline.

- Do something, Captain!

- Captain!

- Pavlov!

DEMl:
Level bow plane.

Forward torpedo,

flood doors one and two.

- Stop all engines.

- MAN:
Stop all engines. Aye, sir.

Sonar, con. Where's the November?

MAN (O VER RADIO):

She's right on top of us, sir.

(METAL CREAKING)

Now what?

We wait.

(SHIP CREAKING)

The Americans do have

an incentive for peace.

- What would that be?

- Empathy. Humanity.

You'd wager the survival

of our country on that?

And what if you're wrong?

What if their intentions

are completely defensive?

Well, what if you're wrong

and they're not?

What's her depth now?

MAN (O VER RADIO): Two hundred

meters bearing two-seven-five.

All ahead, full.

Come left, two-seven-five.

MAN:
Aye, sir. All ahead, full.

Come left, two-seven-five.

(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)

Forward torpedo,

open doors one and two.

- MAN:
Aye, opening doors one and two.

- They'll hear us.

Not if we're behind them.

Five degree up bubble.

- Aye aye, sir. Five degree up bubble.

- But we'll be blind.

If she slows down,

we'll run right into her.

That's right.

Forward torpedo, set the torpedoes

for manual detonation.

- Why manual?

- I'm not gonna sink

a boat full of patriots if disabling her

will give us the same effect.

Forward torpedo, stand by to fire.

November, 1200 meters,

bearing two-seven-five.

- Do we have a firing solution?

- Yes, sir. Firing solution is loaded.

- Fire tube one.

- MAN:
Fire!

- Fire tube two.

- MAN:
Fire two!

MAN (O VER RADIO):

She's opening her doors.

Two fish in the water,

bearing zero-niner-five.

- (TICKING)

- DEMl:
Release all remaining

countermeasures. Blow ballast

and commence emergency ascent.

MAN:
Emergency ascent. Aye, sir.

(MACHINERY WHIRRING)

(ALARMS RINGING)

- MAN 1:
Move, move, move!

- MAN 2:
Go, go, go!

(OVERLAPPING SHOUTS)

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