Tomorrow Never Dies Page #20

He pushes through a door, into:

INT. HNN NEWS CENTER - LATE AFTERNOON -

A cavernous THREE STORY ROOM bristling with activity. At the center

is the main HNN ANCHOR DESK, (where a news broadcast is in progress,)

surrounded by scores of reporter's desks a la CNN.

Around the perimeter of the room are VARIOUS TV STUDIOS looking out

on Kuala Lumpur. All are broadcasting: A Larry King-type chat show;

MTV; SPORTS; a KITCHEN where a chef is preparing something flambeed.

With its walls of monitors, equipment, and control rooms, the effect

is overwhelming. Harmsway will walk Bond around the perimeter:

HARMSWAY:

Welcome to the new world order, Mr. Bond.

(starting to walk)

Churchill had his armies; Caesar had his

legions; I have my divisions:

(pointing)

News, sports, business, entertainment.

And these are my foot soldiers:

(a wave of his hand)

2000 people working on 14 floors to feed

300 newspapers, 4 cable news networks, 87

magazines, and 29 different cable TV

channels - in 35 languages.

BOND:

And still not a thing to watch.

He glances at the SATELLITE CONTROL ROOM, with a NASA-type WORLD MAP.

BOND:

...Although it must be fun to have

all those satellites.

HARMSWAY:

They're merely tools to disseminate

information.

BOND:

(wryly)

Or disinformation... If you wanted to,

say, beam down a signal to send a ship

off course? Maybe one degree a minute?

HARMSWAY:

(guffaws)

Fantastic idea Mr. Bond! Perhaps I

should buy it for a book! It's

totally preposterous, but -

(off Bond's reaction)

You amuse me. ...And now perhaps I

can amuse you.

He stops at a VIDEO TERMINAL. Begins to type.

HARMSWAY:

Let's see... First we have this

James Bond... I believe he's a field

adjuster for Lloyd's of London...

INSERT VIDEO SCREEN - BOND'S MI-6 COVER -

HARMSWAY:

Then we have this James Bond.

INSERT VIDEO SCREEN - BOND'S KGB FILE -

HARMSWAY:

(reading from the screen)

... Licensed to Kill...

(aside)

Not a bad title for that book...

(then)

Or perhaps you'd prefer this James Bond -

INSERT VIDEO SCREEN - BOND'S CHINESE FILE -

HARMSWAY:

Who I believe they call "007."

Bond is not amused. Harmsway is enjoying himself:

HARMSWAY:

You see, Mr. Bond, you and I are both

men of action. But your era is passing.

Words are the new weapons; satellites the

new artillery. And make no mistake about

it:
In the right hands, they can be as

deadly as your Walther PPK.

BOND:

...Words to live by?

HARMSWAY:

Your choice.

(glancing at his watch)

Look at the time! Come. There's

someone I want you meet - about a

story I'm thinking of publishing.

As they leave, Bond is frustrated by Harmsway's "I don't care what

you think you know - I can crush you" attitude... And now, Harmsway

plans (and the operative word here is plans,) to use Bond, to tie off

the one other loose thread in his perfect crime:

INT. HARMSWAY'S OFFICE -

The DOOR opens and Harmsway enters, followed by Bond. He calls to

someone we don't see:

HARMSWAY:

Hello, dear. I'm sorry I took so long -

REVEAL:
SIDNEY is sitting across from his desk.

SIDNEY:

That's okay, Uncle Ell -

She freezes in mid-sentence, seeing Bond. Bond is equally surprised.

SIDNEY:

What is HE doing here?

HARMSWAY:

I see you two have met.

BOND:

Briefly.

HARMSWAY:

(crossing to his desk)

Don't pout, Sidney. I invited him

here hoping he might shed some light

on your story. He's from 'Lloyd's of

London.'

(sly glance to Bond)

...Aren't you, Mr. Bond?

SIDNEY:

He's not going to tell the truth! He

was diving for the gold!

Harmsway sits, and addresses Bond, matter-of-factly:

HARMSWAY:

It seems - Mr. Bond - that Miss Winch

has told me the most incredible story: A

sunken British warship filled with gold;

a British cutter firing on her; billions

of dollars in bullion lying on the

bottom of the Strait.

Bond isn't enjoying this charade.

HARMSWAY:

Obviously, the British government

denies all of this -

SIDNEY:

- I told you! He was there! -

HARMSWAY:

- But as I've explained to Sidney,

without proof, there's just no story.

Don't you agree Mr. Bond?

Before Bond can answer -

SIDNEY:

But I have proof! You ran out of here

so fast, I didn't get to show you.

Bond and Harmsway react - with entirely different concerns: Harmsway

wasn't expecting her to have proof; Bond knows that if she shows him

the gold, (or worse, the uranium tooth,) Harmsway will probably kill

both of them to destroy the evidence, and witnesses.

HARMSWAY:

(forcing a smile)

...And what's that, my dear?

BOND:

Sidney, perhaps we should leave this to -

Sidney cuts Bond off, DROPPING THE GOLD BAR on Harmsway's desk.

SIDNEY:

He brought that up from the wreck.

HARMSWAY:

...I see.

Alarmed, Bond wants to stop Sidney from reaching into her bag again -

BOND:

Sidney, I wouldn't -

Too late. She drops the uranium tooth on his desk.

SIDNEY:

And what about this? Any idea what this is?

Silence. Harmsway and Bond exchange a sober look. Then:

HARMSWAY:

... I believe it's a depleted uranium

drill bit, my dear.

HE PRESSES AN ALARM UNDER HIS DESK. Bond reaches for the DRILL TOOTH.

BOND:

Why don't we just take these -

SIDNEY:

(blocking him)

No. I want Sir Elliot to keep them.

Harmsway stands, comes around the desk:

HARMSWAY:

...Well! I do believe this requires

further investigation!

SIDNEY:

Thank you, Uncle Elliot.

HARMSWAY:

No matter what the British government

says, I won't kill this story.

(his secretary appears in the doorway)

Miss Oxford will show both of you to

the elevator... And one of my people

will definitely be in touch sooner

than later.

BOND:

I'm sure they will.

HARMSWAY:

Good-bye, Mister Bond.

He reaches to kiss Sidney - and looks in her eyes a second too long.

HARMSWAY:

Good-bye, darling.

Watching them exit, his smile turns hard and bitter.

INT. ELEVATOR HALLWAY - DAY -

As the Executive Secretary escorts them to the elevator, Bond glances

out the PICTURE WINDOW, with its view of the other tower.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Thank you both for coming in...

BOND'S POV - EXT. HARMSWAY TOWERS -

Five floors directly down is the GLASS-ENCLOSED SKY BRIDGE; just

above him, he sees TWO WINDOW WASHERS being pulled up on a TWO MAN

SCAFFOLD.

BACK TO SCENE -

A CHIME SOUNDS; the elevator doors open. Bond and Sidney ad-lib

good-byes to the secretary and get in.

INT. ELEVATOR - DAY

Sidney presses the button for "1". Bond glances at the FLOOR INDI-

CATOR with reads "55" - clocks the SECURITY CAMERA - and starts

looking for an ESCAPE PANEL. Sidney watches out of the corner of her

eye, thinking he's nuts.

BOND:

(glancing at the security camera)

... Do you have a gun?

SIDNEY:

What?

BOND:

(yanking it down)

You heard me. A gun?

(disabling it)

I left mine in the car.

SIDNEY:

That's funny:
you struck me as the kind

of man who always carries protection.

BOND:

Listen to me! I'm a British secret

service agent. And we have about two

minutes before Harmsway kills both of us.

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