The Siege Page #6

HUB:

-- ask it if they've ever hit buses?

The techie types in a few commands: IMAGES of destroyed BUSES

file past. Tel Aviv. Jerusalem. Beirut. None a match.

WHITNEY:

-- not according to the mainframe.

TWO HOURS LATER --

The BOMB SCENE now resembles an archeological dig. Floodlights

on stanchions. Forensic EXPERTS, on their hands and knees,

use BLACK LIGHT and brushes to search for latent prints.

Different color STRING divides the site into a grid.

HUB:

-- with a Q-tip. Bone shards, hair,

fingernails --

Nearby, Danny and Mike observe Hub's intensity.

DANNY:

-- He's way over his head.

FRANK:

Shut the f*** up and go give somebody

a parking ticket.

TWO HOURS LATER --

In THE LAB. A FINGERPRINT EXPERT sifts through a plastic bag

of fingertips and teeth. Scans each into a computer.

FINGERPRINT EXPERT

Not yet.

Sequence omitted from original script.

TWO HOURS LATER --

Hub is STARING AT THE TV SETS which are all REPLAYING the

terrible incident, over and over again.

TV SOUND BITE:

"-- Today; Tel Aviv has come to

Brooklyn. The question... is why."

Finally, he turns away so no one will see. His eyes are hot

with the emotion.

WHITNEY:

You okay?

The Fingerprint techie races in, sparing Hub a response.

FINGERPRINT EXPERT

Got one!

TWO HOURS LATER --

Hub and Tina address twenty agents.

HUB:

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the late

Ali Waziri.

He projects a PHOTO of the dead Terrorist onto the wall.

HUB:

Tina talked to the Israelis and traced

this sucker to a group operating out

of Ramallah. That's the West Bank,

not the West Side for those of you

just joining us from Nebraska.

A few appreciative CHUCKLES. They're all exhausted. This is

the first good news in a b*tch of a day.

TINA:

Okay, we've pulled his landing card

and his I-94. So now we know he came

in three days ago, out of Frankfurt --

She points to where: A TIME-LINE has been created out of

colored strips beneath a bank of silent TV monitors.

TINA:

What we need now is to fill in the

time between his arrival and the

incident. All known associations,

and most of all, we need an address.

TWO HOURS LATER --

The TIME-LINE is progressing. PHONE TECHNICIANS add tie-lines,

dedicated fax lines, wats lines and scrambled lines. Cable

everywhere. Danny and Frank pore over Ali Waziri's I-94.

FRANK:

IAP66. What's IAP66?

DANNY:

Hold on, hold on, I'm looking it up --

FRANK:

-- Today, Danny...

DANNY:

Wait, wait -- Here we go. Student

Visa, J-1.

Hub has been pacing, nearby.

HUB:

Where's the original --?

DANNY:

In his passport.

FRANK:

Which is... vaporized.

HUB:

Where's the copy?

FRANK:

At the point of issuance. Could be

the American Consulate in Tel Aviv.

The American Consulate in Amman,

Cairo, Alexandria, Riyadh -- all an

easy drive from the West Bank --

Hub suddenly had to fight off a wave of nausea and dizziness.

HUB:

What time is it --?

DANNY:

Three-fifteen. P.M.

(off Hub's blank look)

When's the last time you ate?

Fred Darius, the young agent, appears.

FRED:

Sir. They want you in the lab.

THROUGH A POWERFUL ELECTRON MICROSCOPE

Hub peers through the eyepiece at a MAGNIFIED STRAND of fiber.

FIBER EXPERT (V.O.)

Pure, unadulterated, Egyptian cotton.

FRED:

You're saying they're Egyptian?

FIBER EXPERT:

No. No... I'm just saying -- See...

HUB:

-- It's what they use for funerals.

The guy was wearing a shroud.

He looks at Frank. It's just as Elise said. The real deal.

HUB:

Let's see if she's ready to talk.

A HOLDING CELL:

Elise sits quietly with the stillness of those who have been

there before. Hub enters.

HUB:

I thought one phone call and you

were out of here.

ELISE:

I didn't make the call.

HUB:

Why not?

She just looks at him, entirely neutral.

ELISE:

Are you alright --?

HUB:

Just some tinnitus in my left ear --

They look across the professional chasm that divides them.

HUB:

I need to know what I don't know.

ELISE:

Life's too short.

But there's a hint of some thawing in her tone.

HUB:

You hungry?

ELISE:

We ordering in --?

CUT TO:

Sequence omitted from original script.

IN A DOWNTOWN DELI

Hub and Elise sit, eating corned beef sandwiches.

ELISE:

-- The funeral shroud is the final

step in the ritual of self-

purification. First a fast, then --

HUB:

-- the washing of the body, then the

shroud. I saw it on Sixty Minutes.

Tell me something I don't know.

She pauses, always gauging how much to reveal. And when.

ELISE:

...Last March in Iraq, we identified

the man we believe responsible for

bombing the army barracks last year.

In August, he went to Lebanon. Where

he was... extracted.

HUB:

Extracted? Extracted by whom?

(she just looks at

him)

I see.

ELISE:

His name is Sheik Ahmed bin Talal.

He's Iraqi. And something of a

religious leader.

HUB:

With something of a devoted following?

(she nods)

...Okay, I can understand why we

might not want to publicize the fact

that our government's in the

kidnapping business, but why not

tell us?

ELISE:

He's still being... debriefed. They're

not ready to go public with charges.

HUB:

What else you got on his followers.

ELISE:

Clearly, they're committed.

HUB:

Meaning?

ELISE:

In this game, the most committed

wins.

HUB:

So they'll just keep coming until we

release him.

ELISE:

Unless we match their commitment

with our own.

HUB:

What about talking to this sheik?

ELISE:

You don't think they've got guys

talking to the sheik? Except the

sheik isn't talking.

HUB:

So who's giving the orders? How do

they coordinate, pick their targets?

ELISE:

Believe me, we've put every resource

we've got onto that very question.

(puts down her fork)

Otherwise... we wait.

HUB:

We wait.

She looks at him. For one brief moment the mask drops away.

ELISE:

If there's anybody on earth who knows

how you feel, it's me. But you've

got to let it go. Those people were

dead the minute they got on the bus.

Frank Haddad appears, making his way toward their table.

FRANK:

Sorry, boss. Hello, Elise. Mmmm, is

that pastrami?

(tastes it; then with

his mouth full)

Oh, yeah, we made the guy in the

picture.

Sequence omitted from original script.

CUT TO:

A CAFE:

Where Students sit inside and SMOKE, then SMOKE some more.

FRANK (V.O.)

My people. The last of the

unambivalent smokers.

(shakes his head)

Monsters. The toughest motherf***er

in Bed-Stuy is a muffin compared to

some of these guys.

They watch as SAMIR gets his bill from the waiter.

FRANK:

His name's Samir Nazhde. Teaches

Arab Studies at Brooklyn College. He

sponsored Ail Waziri's student visa.

And dig this -- his brother blew up

a movie theatre in Tel Aviv.

ELISE:

You might consider leaving him alone.

HUB:

Why would I consider doing that --?

In the cafe, Samir counts cash to leave on the table.

ELISE:

Play him like a cop and haul him in

now and get your arrest, or tag him

and let him lead you to the really

big fish.

FRANK:

(an arabic curse)

You're fishing and he's getting visas

for bombers.

ELISE:

You ever heard of catch and release?

FRANK:

Yes, and he's on the next plane for

Tunis.

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