The Saint Page #3

INT. NIKKO HOTEL - INTERIOR CORRIDOR

Ilya stops short. His eyes spark. He sees Templar's cable and glider.

INT. NIKKO HOTEL - MYAKI CORPORATION OFFICES

Templar, wearing goggles, leans into the drill as THE BIT CHEWS into the tungsten lock. This is a violent exercise. SINEWS OF METAL spit out like shrapnel.

He's through the lock in seconds. Templar heaves the drill aside; it lands with a THUD on the beautiful mahogany table. He opens the safe. INSIDE THE SAFE is one object: A SMALL BOX, the size of a cufflink keeper. Templar grabs it and opens it.

INSIDE THE LITTLE BOX is a tiny MICRO-CHIP. Templar closes the box and pockets it.

ILYA (v.o.)

Don't move.

Templar freezes. His eyes twitch. This wasn't in the plan...

ILYA (v.o.)

Turn around. Slowly.

Templar faces Ilya. Ilya has a silenced handgun.

ILYA:

On your knees.

(Templar sinks to his knees)

Give me the box. Slowly.

Templar pulls out the box. Tosses it to Ilya. Ilya raises the handgun at Templar's head. Smiles. Try something: throw an extension cord on the ground. I guarantee it will land coiled in several places.

Ilya happens to be standing inside one of the coils of the drill's extension cord. And this is not lost on Templar. Templar, on his knees, grabs the cord and yanks it; the coil tightens around Ilya's ankles. His legs fly from under him and he goes down, the gun clattering across the floor. Ilya tries to get to his feet. Templar floors him with a right cross. Templar grabs the box and his backpack and sprints across the room. Ilya gains his feet and grabs his gun; sprints after Templar.

INT. NIKKO HOTEL - MEZZANINE

Templar runs to the balustrade and climbs atop it.

He jumps, clutching the ceiling girder above. He's going out the way he came in. Suddenly ILYA'S HANDS are around his ankles. Templar falls. He's going 12 stories to his death. No. His fingers clutch the outside of the balustrade. Templar dangles there, looking up at the sadistic face of Ilya. And suddenly below --

INT. NIKKO HOTEL - GRAND FOYER BALLROOM

-- A JAPANESE WOMAN, looking up, pointing at the man dangling from the balustrade above, SCREAMS. And now everybody looks up.

HIRO MYAKI:

Sound the alarm! Call the police!

INT. NIKKO HOTEL - MEZZANINE

Ilya and Templar. Ilya calmly compresses his foot against Templar's left knuckles.

ILYA:

The box please.

Templar, grimacing, reaches with his right hand and pulls the box from his pocket. Hands it slowly to Ilya, who reaches over the balustrade for it...

TEMPLAR stuffs the box in his teeth and grabs Ilya's hand, jerking him over the balustrade. Ilya falls 12 stories to his death. No he doesn't. He falls one story and miraculously catches the balustrade there. Templar clambers up again, atop the balustrade. He jumps to the ceiling girder. Hand over hand, swinging like an acrobat, Templar's across the girder in seconds.

He releases from the girder to the window frame. There's one further problem. BULLETS. Ricocheting all around him. Fired by --

ILYA, one floor down. Templar reaches over his shoulder. Pulls a GUN from his backpack. To return fire? No, it's the DART GUN. Templar aims the dart gun out the aperture he cut in the window and fires.

EXT. NIKKO HOTEL - 12TH FLOOR

A STEEL DART launches from the window, flies fifty yards, and imbeds in the STAIRCASE BULKHEAD OF THE BUILDING ADJACENT TO THE NIKKO.

INT. NIKKO HOTEL - CEILING SUPERSTRUCTURE

Templar ties the cable to the ceiling girder. He pulls out his black hood and drapes it over the taught cable. He grabs both ends of the hood. And he jumps.

EXT. NIKKO HOTEL/ADJACENT BUILDING

Templar flies through space, across the cable, the hood acting as a makeshift glider. He lands on the roof of the adjacent building. Templar looks around. SIRENS ARE WAILING. He runs across rooftops, disappearing into the St. Petersburg night.

INT . NIKKO HOTEL - GRAND FOYER BALLROOM

Total chaos. Women screaming, everybody running around. Ilya comes through the panicked crowd. Ten ST. PETERSBURG POLICEMEN enter.

ILYA:

I tried to stop him! He went out the window!

Five policemen go for the elevators. Five more exit quickly. Ilya follows.

EXT. NIKKO HOTEL - ENTRANCE

The befuddled police race off, looking skyward at the top floors of the building. Ilya curses silently. And peels away from the cops and commotion, off into the night.

CUT TO:

INT. A BRITISH-AIR 747 - MORNING

The First Class section. The plane is in flight. A STEWARDESS, young, perky, comes down the aisle pushing a magazine/newspaper cart.

STEWARDESS:

Newspaper sir?

SIMON TEMPLAR sits there, dressed as usual without much heed to fashion. Note this, reader: Templar is not a super-spy, super-hero, or super-rake. He is a thief.

He's examining several antique Russian BRACELETS and LOCKETS. He looks up at the stewardess.

STEWARDESS:

(Cockney)

Wow, are those gorgeous or what...

TEMPLAR:

You have an eye for beauty. Of course - you see it every time you look in the mirror.

She blushes, fidgets, as his eyes bore in on her.

STEWARDESS:

Why thank-you, Mr...

(reads seat assignment)

Templar.

She continues down the aisle, smiling to herself. Templar resumes with his lockets.

INT. BRITISH AIR 747 - FIVE HOURS LATER

The plane has landed. PASSENGERS are filing out past the Stewardess.

STEWARDESS:

Goodbye, goodbye, enjoy your stay in London, etc.

Templar moves past the Stewardess, carrying TWO CARRY-ON BAGS. He winks at her. She winks back, and fingers one of the RUSSIAN LOCKETS, now around her neck.

STEWARDESS:

Good-bye, Mr. Templar.

As Templar moves off, she smiles to herself and CUT TO:

INT. LONDON - HEATHROW AIRPORT

Templar walks briskly away from customs. A MAN IN TRENCHCOAT falls in behind Templar. TWO MEN appear in front of Templar, blocking his path; the man behind Templar comes to his side. They are Scotland Yard men BAKER, TEAL, and INSPECTOR MACDUFF.

INSPECTOR MACDUFF

How's the weather in St. Petersburg?

TEMPLAR:

Cold.

INSPECTOR MACDUFF

Let's warm things up for you.

Baker and Teal gruffly take Templar by the shoulder and walk him forward and CUT TO:

INT. HEATHROW CUSTOMS - INTERROGATION ROOM

A spartan room, a table and two chairs. MacDuff ransacks TEMPLAR'S BAGS while, across the room --

Templar kisses the wall, hands outstretched, as Baker finishes frisking him. Templar turns.

BAKER:

He's clean.

TEMPLAR:

(to MacDuff)

Careful with that. It's delicate equip...

MacDuff lifts Templar's 9MM PISTOL from the bag.

TEMPLAR:

. . . ment.

MACDUFF:

Yes. Very.

TEMPLAR:

It's for protection. I deal in antique....

MACDUFF:

(snaps)

I know what you deal in. And these? Your pajamas?

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