The Saint Page #24

TRETIAK:

Maybe you should take greater interest in politics, Ivan Gracha. Tretiak and Gracha turn to Major Scarpinin, listening...

ON THE TANK TURRET - TEMPLAR and FRANKIE are shoved by soldiers up next to Scarpinin. Templar and Frankie exchange a steely glance. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SQUARE - REMY and HARRY come through the crowd. Seeing Templar and Frankie atop the tank, they stop in their tracks and watch...

MAJOR SCARPININ:

This man, a known international thief, aided by this woman, a German operative, were arrested stealing a surveillance videotape from President Karpov's office. Scarpinin shows THE SEIZED TAPE to the crowd, then hands it to Romanov, who climbs atop the tank. TEMPLAR AND FRANKIE are pulled down from the turret and led away to TWO ARMY TRUCKS in the background.

ROMANOV:

One month ago I said I would prove that those who call themselves our leaders...

(points at KARPOV)

.. .are in league with those who we know to be thieves, traitors, rapists of our once-great country. Do you want to see this proof?

THE CROWD:

(out for blood)

YES!

Romanov hands the tape to Major Scarpinnin, who walks it over to an army communications TECHNICIAN standing by a portable V.C.R. linked to the HUGE SCREEN (seen in Romanov's earlier speech) above Romanov. ON THE TANK TURRET - ROMANOV points at the HUGE SCREEN. The crowd waits breathlessly. .:.

ON THE SCREEN - the tape begins playing, but we don't see Karpov's office. Shockingly, we see...Tretiak's. Simon Templar stashed the tape Frankie recorded of the Tretiak/Romanov meeting in Karpov's office. We see:

TRETIAK:

Hail Michael Romanov, Czar of the Fatherland. How will that sound to the average Russian?

ROMANOV:

The average Russian is a fool.

IN THE CROWD there is confusion, incredulity. ROMANOV'S eyes widen. TRETIAK and MEN stare in disbelief at the screen. IVAN GRACHA and his men slowly back away from Tretiak.

ROMANOV:

He exists to be dominated. To partnership in government.

TRETIAK:

No Romanov – to partnership in crime.

MICHAEL ROMANOV looks down at the crowd and... . ...500,000 RUSSIANS stare back at him in silence.

ROMANOV:

That.. . that it is a fraud...

(turns to General Radischev)

I can explain.

RADISCHEV:

(motions to MAJOR SCARPININ)

Arrest him.

Scarpinin and his Special Forces Men close in on Michael Romanov, the crusading reformer. ACROSS THE SQUARE - TRETIAK AND HIS MEN, huddled in a protective circle, stare into the angry faces of half a million Russian citizens. Total silence. A pin could drop. Tretiak and his men brandish their weapons. The intimidated crowd backs off. They move quickly toward their vehicles, the CROWD parting for them.

A DETACHMENT OF RUSSIAN MARINES comes through the crowd. They are heavily armed and ready for business. Tretiak aims and fires. A MARINE goes down. CIVILIANS SCREAM and dive away. pandemonium breaks out. TRETIAK'S MEN open fire. The MARINES return fire. A harrowing amount of ammunition is expended in seconds. Ten of Tretiak's men and many marines take hits. ZERO dies instantly. A brutal, close-quarters firefight. The outnumbered marines take the worst of it. Tretiak, Ilya, and Tretiak's surviving men run past the fallen marines to their vehicles. They pile into the first two cars and SQUEAL away, heading down the Nevsky Prospect.

ACROSS THE SQUARE - AT THE ARMY TRUCKS Panic and pandemonium. Soldiers running here and there amidst panicked civilians. A SPECIAL FORCES SERGEANT stands guard outside one of the trucks. A NAVAL PARAMEDIC, supporting a WOUNDED PARAMEDIC, staggers up. Harry Winston and Remy, of course.

HARRY WINSTON (Russian)

Sergeant, give me a hand.

The Sergeant gives Harry a hand. REMY stands up; whips the barrel of his gun across the Sergeant's head, who collapses onto Harry. Harry drags him off and –

REMY pulls the pin on the truck's doorlock. The door swings open. Templar hops down …

TEMPLAR:

Get Frankie.

Remy and Harry hurry off to the other army truck. TEMPLAR gets in the truck, sliding behind the wheel. He starts the ignition and throws it in drive. The truck rumbles forward, hopping the curb. THE ARMY TRUCK ROARS out of the square, pursuing Tretiak's vehicles down the Nevsky Prospect as, behind him --

- - the TANKS and ARMOURED VEHICLES also roar out of the square, followed by Russian Marines, Special Forces, and the enraged crowd. They too head down the Nevsky Prospect for the mafia headquarters...

CUT TO:

EXT. TRETIAK' S HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT

Tretiak's vehicles wheel into the circular drive. No guards are present. Tretiak and men exit the vehicles and race inside --

INT. TRETIAK'S HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT

Tretiak and his men hurry in. No guards here, either. Tretiak's on his cellular phone.

TRETIAK:

Get the plane running, we'll be there in five minutes.

(to his men)

Clean out the safe. Burn the records in my office.

Tretiak and Ilya go quickly to the basement stairs. Tretiak's men go for the upstairs staircase.

INT. TRETIAK' S HEADQUARTERS - ZUBOV' S LAB

A T.V. shows a newscast from the Ploschad. Dr. Singh and Zubov, having seen everything that just transpired, are frantically destroying their data and records. Zubov is burning the cold fusion hardcopies in a waste basket. Dr. Singh is deleting the computer files. Tretiak and Ilya come down the stairs. Zubov pops a 3 1/4 disk from the computer.

ZUBOV:

We reduced the fusion formula to one disk and destroyed everything else.

TRETIAK:

Good.

And Tretiak draws his gun. As does Ilya. Zubov and Dr. Singh stare at the guns.

DR. SINGH

What.. . what are you...?

Tretiak shoots Zubov. Ilya shoots Dr. Singh. The two scientists fall, dead. So much for honor among thieves. Then Tretiak wheels on Ilya, his gun coming up. Yes, so much for honor among thieves... Tretiak freezes, startled. Because Ilya has his gun leveled on Tretiak. Tretiak tries to speak. Words won't form. Ilya FIRES. Tretiak pitches over backward. Ilya walks past Tretiak's corpse, yanks the computer disk from Zubov's lifeless hand and turns --

TEMPLAR stands across the lab, gun in hand. Ilya's eyes dart around the room.

ILYA:

We can share this, Templar.

TEMPLAR:

We don't own it.

ILYA:

Who does?

TEMPLAR:

(eyes glinting)

The Jillian St. Thomas Foundation.

There is a sudden shrill WHISTLING SOUND. Templar and Ilya look around.

ILYA:

Don't be a fool.

TEMPLAR:

I'm a fool? You thought you could get away with murder. Used curare didn't you? Induces blood-clotting.

Templar clicks back the hammer...

ILYA:

What do you want?

The WHISTLING is louder. Anyone with military service knows the sound of incoming ordnance...

TEMPLAR:

What do I want? I want.. . revenge. Now give me the disk.

There's a massive EXPLOSION above. The laboratory is ROCKED. A SHELF OF CHEMICALS teeters over, falling on TEMPLAR, knocking the gun from his hand. The beakers of chemicals SMASH all around Templar Ilya sprints for the stairs. Templar grabs for his gun, lying in a puddle of CARBOLIC ACID. He grabs the gun; the acid burns his flesh. He drops it and races for the stairs.

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