Pitch Black Page #9

JOHNS:

Let's wait on the power cells.

FRY:

Wait for what? Until it's so dark we

can't even find our way back to --

JOHNS:

We're not sure when it happens, so let's

not --

FRY:

Get the f***ing cells over here, Johns.

What's the discussion?

A beat.

JOHNS:

Ever tell you how Riddick escaped?

INT. SKIFF - DAY

Alone inside the skiff, Johns and Fry continue with more privacy.

FRY:

(jarred)

He can pilot?

JOHNS:

Hijacked a prison transport, made a

helluva good run 'fore I tracked him down.

FRY:

(with faint hope)

Okay, maybe that's a good thing. Maybe I

can use him to help with --

JOHNS:

He also figured out how to kill the pilot,

Fry.

A mental shiver.

FRY:

You said we were going to trust him now.

You said there was a deal.

JOHNS:

That's what I said.

He challenges her to read his mind.

FRY:

Oh, this is a dangerous game you're

playing, Johns.

JOHNS:

May've noticed chains don't work on this

guy. Only way we're truly safe is if he

believes he's goin' free. But if he stops

believin' --

FRY:

You mean, if he learns that you're gonna

royally f*** him over.

JOHNS (CONT'D)

-- we need a fail-safe. Bring the cells

over at the last possible minute -- when

the wings are ready, when we know we're

ready to launch.

Fry looks at him with new eyes.

FRY:

You know, he hasn't harmed any of us.

Far as I can tell, he hasn't even lied

to us. Just stick to the deal, Johns.

Let him go if that's what it --

JOHNS:

He's a murderer. The law says he's gotta

do his bid.

Shaking her head, she looks off.

FRY:

Dancin' on razor blades here...

JOHNS:

I won't give him a chance to grab another

ship -- or to slash another pilot's throat.

EXT. SKIFF - SETTLEMENT - DAY

Johns descends the gangway -- and finds Riddick erecting a field

table in the shade of the skiff. He seems out of earshot. Now,

anyway. As they trade looks, another flu-like shiver runs

through Johns.

RIDDICK:

Bad sign. Shakin' like that in this heat.

Johns moves on. The Chrislams appear, shouldering a roll of

Vectran (wing-fabric material). They drop it on the table.

Ready to cut bindings, Imam pats his hip for the knife that was

just there.

RIDDICK:

(looking after Johns)

I'll cut.

He has the knife.

EXT. SETTLEMENT - DAY

As Shazza and Audrey repair the sand-cat.

EXT. SKIFF - DAY

CLOSE on the knife slicing through the Vectran.

Riddick hands the trim to Pilgrim #1. CAMERA FOLLOWS as he

scampers onto the skiff...balance-beams over wing-struts...and

delivers the piece to Imam, who stitches the fabric like an old

Berber rug-weaver. Pilgrim #1 pauses to check on...

The setting blue sun. Nothing unusual. Yet.

INT. SKIFF - DAY

The hatch closes, seals.

CLOSE on a monitor. A "HULL INTEGRITY TEST" is underway. Fry

scans rising pressure gauges.

RIDDICK (O.S.)

Looks like we're a few shy....

Fry whirls. Riddick is aboard, staring at the depleted battery

bay. And he has Imam's blade.

RIDDICK (CONT'D)

Power cells.

FRY:

They're coming.

RIDDICK:

Strange, not doin' a run-up on the main

drive yet.

(half-beat)

Strange unless he told you the particulars

of my escape.

FRY:

I got the quick-and-ugly version.

RIDDICK:

An' now you're worried about a repeat of

history?

FRY:

Entered our minds.

RIDDICK:

I asked what you thought.

FRY:

You scare me, Riddick. That's what you

wanna hear, isn't it? There, I admit it,

Can I get back to work now?

She finds the courage to turn her back on him. Riddick moves

closer -- and takes a beat to scan the controls. The cabin

pressure builds.

RIDDICK:

Think Johns is an do-right man? You

think I can trust him to cut me loose?

A beat. Does Riddick already know? Is he testing her?

FRY:

Why, what'd you hear?

RIDDICK:

Well, guess if it was trickeration he'd

just do me, huh? Then again...I am worth

twice as much alive.

(reading her face)

Didn't know? Johns ain't a cop. Oh, he's

got that shiny badge an' all, but nah --

he's just a merc and I'm just a payday.

That's why he won't kill me. The creed is

greed.

It knocks her off stride, but...

FRY:

Save it, Riddick. We aren't gonna turn on

each other -- no matter how hard you try.

Riddick moves right up behind her.

RIDDICK:

I don't truly know what's gonna happen

when the lights go out, Carolyn -- but I

do know that once the dyin' starts, this

little psycho family of ours is gonna rip

itself apart. So you better find out the

truth. Come nightfall, you better know

exactly who's standing behind you.

A monitor chirps the news: "HULL INTEGRITY --100%." EXHALING

GASSES, the hatch opens automatically.

RIDDICK:

Oh, ask him 'bout those shakes. And ask

why your crew-pal had to scream like that

'fore he died.

INT. PRIVATE ROOM - SETTLEMENT - DAY

CLOSEUPS:
Hands select a red-metal shotgun shell from a box...

pull the shell open...remove a glass ampule hidden inside...drop

the ampule into a injection syringe. The syringe touches an

eager arm vein.

FRY (O.S.)

Who are you? Really?

Shirt off, Johns looks up. She's in the doorway.

FRY (CONT'D)

You're not a real cop, are you? Just some

mercenary who goes around talkin' about

the law like --

JOHNS:

I never said I was.

FRY:

Never said you were a hype, either.

She moves closer. Rummages through his stuff brazenly. Finds a

shitload of red shells with the hidden ampules.

JOHNS:

You have a little caffeine in the morning,

I have a little morphine. So what?

FRY:

And here you got two mornings every day.

Wow, were you born lucky?

JOHNS:

Not a problem unless you're gonna make --

FRY:

(lashing)

You made it a problem when you let Owens

die like that. When you had enough drugs

to knock out a f***ing mule-team.

JOHNS:

Owens was already dead. His brain just

hadn't caught on to that fact.

FRY:

Anything else we should know about you,

Johns? Christ, here I am lettin' you play

games with our lives when --

He catches her hands -- and moves them around his body, forcing

her into an embrace. We understand why when we see a CLOSEUP

of her hands:
They find a jagged purple scar beside his spine.

JOHNS:

My first run-in with Riddick. Went for

the sweet-spot and missed. They had to

leave a piece of the shiv in there. I can

feel it, sometimes, pressing against the

cord.

(giving her hands back)

So maybe the care and feeding of my

nerve-endings is my business.

FRY:

You coulda helped. And you didn't.

O.S., we hear the Chrislams JABBERING ARABIC and calling for

"Captain, Captain...."

JOHNS:

Yeah, well, look to thine own ass first.

Right, "captain"?

It cuts deep.

EXT. SETTLEMENT - DAY

Fry and Johns move outside. The others have gathered, all eyes

gang-locked on...

An arch in the sky. Luminous, ominous, it grows from the horizon.

PARIS:

What do my eyes see?

FRY:

It's starting....

They watch hypnotically as the arch rises, inching toward the two

suns. Shazza shakes out of the trance first.

SHAZZA:

(to Fry)

If we need anything from the crash ship --

I suggest we kick on. That sand-cat's

solar.

EXT. SETTLEMENT - DAY

MULTIPLE SHOTS:
Shazza cranking the sand-cat...hands snatching

up lights, water, ropes...Chrislams piling aboard the sand-cat.

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