Thirteen Days Page #15

Bobby looks at his coffee, then up at Kenny. He gently

shakes his head. It's all a sham.

BOBBY:

Course that's for morale. The missiles

only take five minutes to get here.

INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - NIGHT

SUPER:
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24TH. DAY 9.

Kenny bolts upright from his couch. He rubs his face, sits

on the edge in the dark for a beat. He's not going back to

sleep. He grabs his trousers.

INT. WEST WING HALLS - CONTINUOUS

Kenny makes his way through the dim, deserted halls.

Somewhere in the distance a phone rings. He reaches a door.

EXT. WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT

Kenny, bundled in an overcoat, steps outside the North

Entrance. The cool air invigorates him. He eyes the fence,

Pennsylvania Avenue beyond it, seeming to isolate this world

from the living city beyond. He starts for the main gate.

EXT. MAIN GATE - CONTINUOUS

A WHITE HOUSE POLICE OFFICER jumps up as Kenny approaches.

POLICE OFFICER:

Would you like me to call a car, Mr.

O'Donnell.

Kenny checks his watch.

KENNY:

How long will it take to get someone up?

POLICE OFFICER:

Fifteen minutes, maybe. To your house,

sir?

Kenny considers, shakes his head. He wants to go home,

but...

KENNY:

No. No, I'll let her sleep. Let 'em

sleep.

Kenny says it with a certain finality. The Police Officer

nods, and Kenny wanders out through the gates, shouldering

the weight of the world.

EXT. CITY STREETS - NIGHT

Kenny makes his way down a sidewalk not far from the White

House. A 24-hour drug store's doors are open. He pauses.

Inside, a knot of PEOPLE - late-night deliverymen, a cop, the

store employees - talk in undertones at the counter. Behind

it, a T.V. is signing off with the national anthem. Sober

voices, sober looks. Kenny moves on.

EXT. NEWS STAND - NIGHT

A cluster of COLLEGE STUDENTS talk at a news stand. They're

waiting for the NEWSIE to cut the bands of the next day's

Washington Post, the bundles just being thrown to the

sidewalk from the delivery truck. Kenny approaches.

In their thing beards, counter-culture clothes, the kids seem

so young, Kenny so old. Kenny buys a newspaper, its dire

headlines, every story about the crisis.

EXT. CATHOLIC CHURCH - NIGHT

Kenny, newspaper under his arm, continues down the street.

Up ahead, the lights are on in a Catholic Church. Lines of

CHURCHGOERS are at the door. Kenny stops, surprised at the

sight this late. And then he sees the hand-painted banner:

CONFESSIONS 24 HOURS. PRAY FOR PEACE.

Kenny is moved. He glances over his shoulder, and then...

joins the line himself.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - SITUATION ROOM - DAY

Kenny's WATCH reads one minute til ten o'clock. PULL BACK TO

REVEAL:

Kenny, standing just inside the open doors to the White House

Situation Room, a state-of-the-art conference room. A long,

central table surrounded by leather chairs with phones and

screens built in. T.V. monitors hang from the ceilings in

the corners. There are no windows, just oppressive bunker

like walls. It's far underground.

Across the room the President paces, phone in hand. Half of

EXCOM is in their seats. The other half, along with a steady

stream of DUTY OFFICERS, are coming and going. Kenny steps

aside for a Duty Officer, listens to the President.

THE PRESIDENT:

Okay, Bob, I'm putting you on intercom.

Suddenly, McNamara's VOICE fills the room.

MCNAMARA (O.S.)

Hey, guys, can you hear me?

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. FLAG PLOT - THE PENTAGON - DAY

McNamara stands, phone in hand.

MCNAMARA:

I have one minute til ten here --

THE CAMERA TRACKS AROUND HIM, REVEALING:

A large, elaborate war room, like Mission Control. Big

screens, plexiglass tracking boards, tiered banks of

communications equipment. A massive LIGHT TABLE on the floor

at the center of the room projects a map of the Caribbean and

Atlantic. Arcing across it is a RED LINE: the blockade.

The map is covered with cryptic military notations; WATCH

OFFICERS on a platform which swings out over it update the

latest ship positions.

McNamara's in a booth overlooking the room. It's open to the

next tier below where Admiral Anderson is giving orders.

MCNAMARA (CONT'D)

-- and no sign of them stopping.

INT. SITUATION ROOM - DAY

Kenny and Bobby move to the President's end of the table, sit

down across from each other in mirror-image fashion. EXCOM

looks to the President. The second hand of the clock on the

wall wheels past 12. A hush falls over the room.

THE PRESIDENT:

Bob, the quarantine is now in effect.

INT. FLAG PLOT - DAY

McNamara is mute for a beat. He turns to view the big room.

MCNAMARA:

Then it looks like our first customers

are the Gagarin and Kimovsk.

He nods to Admiral Anderson, who calls an order down to a

Watch Officer on the floor, and on screens all around the

room, a sector of the map MAGNIFIES the unfolding encounter --

EXT. BRIDGE WING - U.S.S. PIERCE - DAY

-- between the destroyer, U.S.S. Pierce and the SOVIET

FREIGHTERS Gagarin and Kimovsk. The Pierce's bridge wings

are crammed with helmeted OFFICERS and LOOKOUTS. They peer

through binoculars at the distant ships, plowing ahead,

straight for them. The CAPTAIN lowers his binoculars,

determined.

CAPTAIN:

Helm, shape heading for intercept, zero

one zero. All ahead full --

OFFICER (O.S.)

-- new contact! New contact!

Everyone whirls to the bridge. The Captain steps forward.

INT. COMBAT INFORMATION CENTER - U.S.S. PIERCE - DAY

The Captain ducks into the CIC. The CHIEF SONARAN reports.

CHIEF SONARMAN:

Submerged contact, designation Sierra

one at 6000 yards bearing 030.

CAPTAIN:

A submarine...

INT. SITUATION ROOM - DAY

The President reacts. Kenny and Bobby react.

GENERAL TAYLOR:

It's protecting the freighters.

Consternation. The President picks up the phone.

THE PRESIDENT:

Bob, is there any way we can avoid

stopping a submarine first?

MCNAMARA (O.S.)

I'm afraid not, Mr. President. The sub

has positioned itself between the Pierce

and the Soviet ships. Admiral Anderson

insists it's too much of a risk to

proceed with stopping the freighters.

The Pierce would be a sitting duck for

the sub.

All around the room frustration. Bobby shakes his head.

Kenny sinks back in his chair. The President hesitates.

THE PRESIDENT:

Put me through to the Pierce.

INT. FLAG PLOT - DAY

Admiral Anderson nods to a COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER. The man

makes the connection on a switchboard.

McNamara casts an eye to the map. The two red MARKERS

labeled Gagarin and Kimovsk are joined by a third: the SUB.

They are ALMOST TOUCHING the blockade line. On the other

side, the single blue marker for the Pierce.

INT. BRIDGE - U.S.S. PIERCE - DAY

The Captain enters the bridge, takes the phone from the arm

of his chair.

CAPTAIN:

Mr. President?

INT. SITUATION ROOM - CONTINUOUS

The President holds the phone, agonized.

THE PRESIDENT:

Captain, can you force that submarine to

the surface for inspection without

damaging it yourself?

INT. BRIDGE, U.S.S. PIERCE - DAY

CAPTAIN:

I can bring it up, Mr. President. But

whether it's damaged or not is up to the

sub.

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