Tomorrow Never Dies Page #9

POLICE WHISTLES BLOW! SIRENS! SOUND OF TIRES SCREECHING TO A HALT!

The entire party turns to see DiGIACOMO barging his way up the

gangplank - wearing a ludicrous military uniform, trailed by UZI-

TOTING CARBINIERI, along with his own VIDEO AND STILL CREWS.

DiGIACOMO

Elliot Harmsway:
Under the auspices

of the Italian government, I, Franco

DiGiacomo -

(pauses; smiles at a camera;

POP! A flash goes off)

Am arresting you for the illegal

possession of weapons grade enriched

uranium.

(to his underlings)

Seize the boat!

A set of frozen glances goes from Bond, to Paris, to Harmsway.

VALENTIN:

I think I suddenly remembered an

urgent meeting in Moscow.

To everyone's surprise, Harmsway guffaws.

HARMSWAY:

My friends, there's been a terrible mistake.

(putting his arm around DiGiacomo)

Come. Let me show you.

And he leads the procession off, through the bulkhead door. Bond is

left with Paris. She is white with fear. Bond moves to console her:

BOND:

Paris -

PARIS:

Leave me alone! He's going to kill me!!

BOND:

Why didn't you tell me? Why wasn't

it in our files?

PARIS:

(anguished)

He didn't want anyone to know. He

kept it out of the papers. He said a

third wife was bad for his image.

(beat)

You've got to protect me!

Bond wants to help her - and follow Harmsway. He pulls out a key:

BOND:

Go to my hotel room. I'll be there

in twenty minutes.

Paris looks up at him like a hurt child. She wants some contact; she

wants to hear him say 'I love you.'

PARIS:

Just - say it. Say it just once.

BOND:

(pauses, discomfited)

One thing at a time. I'll see you

in twenty minutes. Go.

She exits; he goes to the bulkhead door... And we pan up to see the

SURVEILLANCE CAMERA, following him.

INT. METALLURGY LAB - SEA DOLPHIN II -

Harmsway holds court near the red box. Bond squeezes in.

HARMSWAY:

I believe this is what you're looking

for, Colonel.

He opens the red box. Hoists out a canister.

HARMSWAY:

Is it uranium? Absolutely. But watch -

(runs the Geiger counter over it)

It's depleted uranium! Completely

safe! A child could sleep on it.

Bond can't believe what he's seeing. DiGiacomo is mortified.

HARMSWAY:

I received it from the Russian

government - a by-product of their

nuclear arms program - in the hopes

that I could create tools for

oceanographic research.

(beat)

It's what I was talking about:

'Swords into plowshares'! The Sprit

of International Cooperation!

DiGIACOMO

Signore Harmsway. A thousand apologies.

(snaps his fingers to a lackey:)

Give him the video tape.

HARMSWAY:

Please. No harm done, Don Franco. Go

upstairs, and enjoy the reception.

As the room empties, he calls -

HARMSWAY:

Oh - Mr. Bond. One minute.

Bond approaches him. They're the only people in the room.

HARMSWAY:

I hope you've enjoyed this little charade.

BOND:

Which part? The Colonel's? Or yours?

HARMSWAY:

(icily)

A piece of advice, Mr. Bond: Don't

screw with a man who buys ink by the

ton.

(beat)

It's deadlier than uranium.

BOND:

(staring him down)

We'll see about that.

Harmsway glances at his watch. Smiles coldly.

HARMSWAY:

Aren't you late for a meeting?

EXT. THE SEA DOLPHIN II/HARBOR - DAY

Bond rushes down the gangplank, along the dock. Jumps in a gondola.

BOND:

The Danielli. Presto!

RETURN ON THE METALLURGY LAB -

Harmsway closes the door. Yung is there.

YUNG:

That was too close.

HARMSWAY:

Don't worry. Mr. Bond will get the

message. So will his boss.

Harmsway presses a button - and suddenly the red box lifts, and a

second red box appears underneath it, like shuffling a deck of cards.

HARMSWAY:

I'm going to the plane. Tell the

captain to set sail at once.

EXT. THE DANIELLI HOTEL - DAY

Bond jumps out of the gondola, sprints into the lobby.

FOURTH FLOOR CORRIDOR -

Bond appears, rushing up a staircase. He comes to his doorway. It's

closed, but unlocked.

INT. BOND'S HOTEL ROOM -

Bond enters the room. Looks around, calling out -

BOND:

Paris? Paris?

He sees the French doors open onto the canal. The curtains billowing

outward. Bond rushes to the window and looks down:

EXT. GRAND CANAL - BOND'S POV

Paris Harmsway is dead, floating in the water.

RETURN ON BOND -

Crushed. Devastated. And to make matters worse:

DiGIACOMO'S VOICE

Signore Bond?

Bond turns. A flashbulb goes off, capturing Bond and DiGiacomo.

DiGIACOMO

You're under arrest.

CUT TO:

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA - DUSK

The HMS INDOMITABLE - a 3,300 ton British frigate, surges through the

water, heading toward the setting sun.

CLOSER -

BATTLE-DRESSED ROYAL MARINES patrol the deck; GUNNERY CREWS man the

weapons. Whatever is going on here, it's not business as usual.'

INT. BRIDGE - DUSK

Close on A VERTICAL GLASS MAP. An electronic panel display with a

BLINKING YELLOW DOT indicates -

NAVIGATOR:

We've cleared Hong Kong harbor, sir.

THE CAPTAIN nods. Turns to the GPS OFFICER:

CAPTAIN:

Position?

The GPS officer enters keyboard commands on console marked "GLOBAL

POSITIONING SATELLITE." He reads out the data:

GPS OFFICER:

Two-two, zed-three, one-five north; a

hundred fourteen degrees, five

minutes, ten seconds east.

CAPTAIN:

Mark.

GPS OFFICER:

Locked on satellite, sir.

CAPTAIN:

Set course, two-ten degrees, south

south east.

NAVIGATOR:

Coming about, sir.

The Captain is all business - clipped, sober terse. Turns to his

FIRST OFFICER, hands him a SLIP OF PAPER:

CAPTAIN:

Orders from London: For the next

ninety-six hours, we're to run on

full radio silence. Double watches,

full alert.

(beat)

We're to send one encrypted positioning

burst to London every six hours -

otherwise, zero electronic emissions.

The first officer nods.

CAPTAIN (cont'd)

Inform the men, then run a surprise

inspection. If someone paints us, I

don't want this ship showing up on their

radar screen like some god-damned

Harrod's Christmas tree.

FIRST OFFICER:

Yes, sir!

CAPTAIN:

I'll be in my cabin until oh-six-

hundred hours.

The Captain heads for the door.

SECOND OFFICER:

Captain leaving the bridge.

The officers salute as he exits. With a shrug, the FIRST OFFICER

picks up the INTERCOM MICROPHONE:

FIRST OFFICER:

Attention all hands. Now hear this...

INT. CREW'S MESS -

Crowded with CREW MEMBERS eating, waiting on line for food.

FIRST OFFICER (INTERCOM)

We will rig immediately for

electronic silence. All electronic

gear is to be shut down...

CLOSE ON COOK - KITCHEN -

At microwave. His finger hovers over button, then stops. He opens

the door of the microwave and takes out a bowl. Dumps the contents

on the stove.

INT. SHIP'S HEAD -

CREW MEMBER with an ELECTRIC SHAVER.

FIRST OFFICER (INTERCOM)

All personal radios, video devices

and computers will be stowed at once.

He stops shaving.

INT. ENGINE ROOM -

The ENGINEER shouts to his crew, over NOISE OF DIESEL ENGINES:

ENGINEER:

Check the engine baffles; rig the

generators for shielded operation.

RETURN ON THE BRIDGE -

The First Officer stands next to the Communications Officer.

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Communications set to receive only, sir.

The First Officer looks over the shoulder of RATING at radar screen.

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