Special Correspondents Page #5

---

- I'm not sure about this.

- We can't stay in the apartment all day.

We need some fresh air,

some exercise.

I know, but what if we're spotted?

Game over, isn't it?

Oh, wow. Look. Oh.

[gasps]

Amazing Spider-Man 14.

I collect comics,

so I know that's a good one.

Yeah, we really should get back.

Come on.

[cell phone buzzing]

- It's Mallard.

- Sh*t. Don't answer it.

I've gotta answer it. Hi.

It's Finch. He's in the toilet. Yeah.

I don't know where we are, exactly.

It's all written in Spanish, obviously.

- So... That's the subway.

- [subway rumbling]

That's what we call the trucks

that drive the tanks.

Yeah, because it sounds like the subway.

Okay, yeah, I'll let him know.

[groans]

- He wants you to do a report at 1:00.

- Sh*t.

- He's onto us, man.

- He's...

[cell phone buzzes]

Hi. Yeah, he's out. Okay, hold on.

- Hello?

- I just need a 60-second update, Frank,

and then, uh,

we'll trail something bigger.

- Here?

- What do you mean, "Here"?

- I mean, now?

- Yes, yes. We're transferring you.

[man] Now we go live

to Frank Bonneville in Ecuador.

A cloud of dust rises into the horizon.

The silence is broken by the

caterpillar tracks of two rogue tanks...

[mimicking tank engines]

...whose tracks are biting

into the dust on the remote road.

A helicopter hovers overhead.

[mimicking helicopter whirring]

- Is this Dr. Schmalzstein's office?

- No. Shh.

In the bombed-out remains

of what was once his home,

a young boy watches television.

- [man] Blow it out your ass!

- [horn honking]

American television.

Shells are incoming.

[whistling, mimicking explosion]

My technician is hit by shrapnel.

Oh, no, he's fine.

But we gotta get out of here. Fast.

[grunting over phone]

- [mimicking explosions and gunfire]

- [siren wails in distance]

- [mock gunfire continues]

- [footsteps]

It's quiet. Too quiet, if anything.

[soundscape begins]

In the sky, a combat helicopter stops.

An explosion rings out.

My own technician

has another near miss.

A bullet flies inches above his head.

Luckily for him, he's so short,

or he'd most certainly be dead by now.

This is Frank Bonneville, Q365 News.

[man]Coming up at 7:00,

we will have another exclusive

from Frank Bonneville.

That was too close for comfort.

We can't get caught out like this again.

We've gotta plan this, be in control.

And we need something new.

When Mallard first asked you to go

to Ecuador, what did he say, exactly?

Just that the rebel forces

were amassing arms, weapons.

- What else?

- Conjecture, rumors.

[sighs] That's enough for you, though,

isn't it? Anything that sells news.

- Well, if people weren't so gullible...

- That's it.

- What?

- We start a rumor.

One that can't be proved wrong. We invent

someone, someone behind all this.

And when people say,

"Oh, we can't find this guy, who is he?"

"Well, no, of course you can't find him.

He's elusive. He's an evil genius.

He's protected by a loyal army.

He can work for anyone.

Be funded by anyone."

They'll just deny it, though, won't they?

So, the headline would read

"So-and-so denies funding terrorists."

- Great.

- That's unethical, though.

Yeah, but it's news.

What's a popular Spanish name?

Alvarez. Santiago. Emilio.

[Frank]

The man is Emilio Santiago Alvarez,

the instigator of the attacks against

government forces in Ecuador.

A small man, with no profile,

no international presence.

But here, in the jungles and towns

of southern Ecuador,

he's become a folk hero...

a man unafraid to stand up

and be counted.

But on the street, rumors persist

that Alvarez may not be working alone.

His rebel forces are too well equipped,

too well trained, too well fed.

It's said, and I must stress at this

point, these rumors are uncorroborated...

that maybe Alvarez

has friends in high places.

Perhaps a little too close to home.

Jesus, is he saying that the rebel forces

are being funded by the U.S.?

[Frank]

This is Frank Bonneville, Q365 News.

[Mallard] That's huge.

Good one.

Couldn't have done better myself.

- We can keep this going for ages.

- Yeah, let's see if they buy it first.

- They will.

- [gunfire on video game]

They will.

[Secretary of State] Does Bonneville

realize the mess he's made

by allowing speculation that this Alvarez

is working for the Americans?

Most probably, Madam Secretary.

Goddamn it. Why have we not heard of this

man before? Where's your intelligence?

Our agents in Ecuador are tracing him now.

It's a good chance they know him

by another name. A nickname.

And if they don't find him,

government forces will.

They're now looking for Bonneville

to make him confess his sources.

And Alvarez's men are after him

because he revealed too much.

He and his technician

are in serious danger.

I do not wanna end up with two dead

citizens nor the wrath of their families.

You are going to tell Finch and Bonneville

to get to the American embassy in Quito

as soon as possible.

We need to know they're safe.

Once they're safe, we will extract them.

That is something we know how to do.

Little is known about the mastermind

behind the uprising,

rebel fighter Emilio Alvarez.

The charismatic leader

of the Ecuadorian Liberation Front

is believed to come

from humble beginnings.

The son of an unemployed,

left-wing atheist father and an unmarried

mother with Communist sympathies.

So, in your view, Alvarez has been quietly

amassing a force for some time now.

What I'm hearing from my sources

is that Alvarez has risen

to a position of power in the Ecuadorian

Liberation Front for some years.

I always knew he made up

most of the sh*t he reported.

So, why haven't we heard of him before?

- Well, it makes perfect sense.

- How is he keeping a straight face?

...less chance for the opposition

of targeting you.

Successful revolution is all about

protecting your leaders.

So, Frank Bonneville has gone where

no other news reporter has gone before

in bringing this man

to the public's attention.

- I wouldn't say that.

- [cackling]

I've known about Alvarez myself

for a while now.

I just didn't think it was appropriate

to unmask him yet.

[Finch] Oh, come on.

- Oh.

- [glasses clink]

[Finch chuckles]

[cell phone rings]

Hello? Yeah.

Right.

Uh-huh.

[Finch] What?

Okay. Yeah, sure.

Yeah, I'll call you

as soon as we get to Quito.

Okay, thanks.

- We're screwed.

- Why?

- Everyone's looking for us, apparently.

- They won't find us.

Of course they won't,

that's not the point.

- What is?

- Mallard wants us to get to

the U.S. embassy in Quito immediately.

For our own safety.

The ambassador's waiting for us, okay?

It's probably a few hours' drive

from Machala to Quito.

I promised I'd call him

as soon as we got there.

- As in, a few hours from now.

- Right.

- What are you gonna do?

- Nothing.

- Because I'm not gonna call him.

- Why not?

Because if I call him, he'll call the

embassy to arrange us to be flown home,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes