XXX Page #14

EXT. SHIP - LATE AFTERNOON

Xander comes in for a perfect landing. He lands on the listing

deck and undoes his harness.

He sees several WOUNDED scattered on the deck.

XANDER:

Son of a b*tch!

He looks across the water, sees the smaller boat far away.

EXT. SMALLER BOAT - LATE AFTERNOON

Petra looks back one last time, catching sight of Xander on

the deck of the ship. She smiles, relieved.

Then she turns solemn as she heads below decks to pay the

price.

EXT. SHIP - LATE AFTERNOON

Xander gets to the wet well and sees the water flooding in.

With the ship listing like this, the water is pouring below

decks.

INT. SHIP - LATE AFTERNOON

Xander opens a hatch and lowers himself into the hold. Here

is where the entire Crew has been left to drown. They are

struggling to stay above water, their hands and feet bound.

As the far end of the room is another HATCH. Water pours in

from this one and Xander has to get it shut.

He swims through the struggling Crew, spots the CAPTAIN

holding his YOUNG SON above water. The water is rising

rapidly, filling up the compartment.

Xander braces his feet against the bulkhead and PUSHES, but

the force of the water is too much.

He surfaces. He's got to wait until the room floods before

he can close that door.

He watches as the Crew goes into a panic, the water rising

up to the ceiling. They are gasping in the last foot of air

that's available. He sees the Captain's Son, crying and

clutching at his father.

Xander takes a deep breath and dives down. He grabs the hatch

door, braces his feet and PULLS.

His muscles strain as the heavy metal door slowly swings

SHUT.

Xander surfaces and swims to the ladder. He CUTS the Captain's

plastic cuffs.

XANDER:

Is the boy alright?

CAPTAIN:

Yes. I will cut the others loose,

you must run the bilge pumps!

The Captain takes the knife and swims to free his men.

Xander takes the Captain's Son and climbs up the ladder.

EXT. SHIP'S BRIDGE - LATE AFTERNOON

Xander scans the controls but has no idea what he's looking

for. The Captain's Son shows him the right switch.

XANDER:

You sure?

The Son nods and Xander flips the switch. MOTORS start to

HUM.

EXT. SHIP - LATE AFTERNOON

The bilge pumps spew out water furiously. Crew members come

up from below decks. They are soaked and grateful. They go

about tending to the wounded as Xander slumps down next to

the exhausted Captain.

XANDER:

Captain, huh? You get a lot of broads

with that uniform?

They both laugh, relieved, as the ship slowly rights itself.

FADE TO:

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - THAT NIGHT

Xander is in a room with the SCIENTISTS from the ship. They

have blueprints of the torpedo spread out. The Captain's Son

is wrapped in BLANKETS, shivering.

Xander is talking to Gibbons on his communicator.

XANDER:

(into communicator)

They call it "Ahab", it's a solar

powered submersible. It can

circumnavigate the globe on it's

own. They use it to track and study

the migration patterns of whales.

INTERCUT WITH GIBBONS IN THE ULTIMATE INFORMATION ROOM

Gibbons jots down the information furiously.

GIBBONS:

You did say "Ahab"? You're sure about

that?

XANDER:

Yeah, I sent you pictures. Here's

what I'm thinking. If they take out

the cameras and sensors, they could

probably put a bomb in this thing.

You drop it in the water in the Red

Sea and three weeks later it's

swimming up the Potomac.

GIBBONS:

This is good work, X, damn fine work.

You need to press on at all costs,

find out what they have planned with

this "Ahab".

XANDER:

Hey, one miracle at a time. They're

on to me now, remember?

GIBBONS:

I'm gonna be en route with a team

shortly to relieve you. Just keep

the pressure on until the cavalry

arrives. And X? You done yourself

proud helping those people today.

Xander tussles the hair of the Captain's Son.

XANDER:

Thanks.

GIBBONS:

You're a grungy little phoenix, you

know that? Keep up the good work.

XANDER:

You ain't seen nothing yet.

CUT TO:

EXT. CZECH POLICE BUILDING - DAY

The GTO screeches into the lot. Shavers is on his way out

with his SUITCASE.

XANDER:

Get in. We've got work to do.

INT. POLICE BUILDING BASEMENT - DAY

PAN OVER WEAPONS - they're all laid out on the floor. 50

cal. MACHINE GUNS, MINES, ROCKETS, BELTS OF AMMO.

We finally arrive at Xander leaning on his GTO. He sparks a

BLOWTORCH and lights a CIGAR.

XANDER:

I want all that...

(he pats the GTO)

In there.

Shavers looks on in shock. He's got a crew of MECHANICS with

him. Xander hands him the blowtorch and walks away.

EXT. PRAGUE OPEN AIR MARKET - DAY

This is a beautiful open air market in a town square

surrounded by old buildings. The place is PACKED.

In the midst of it all, we make out Petra moving through the

crowd. She stops to look at some vegetables when Xander passes

by her.

XANDER:

Right behind you.

They keep talking, pretending to shop.

XANDER:

So what's the plan with this Ahab?

Are they selling it or what?

PETRA:

No, something worse. He says it's a

surprise, but I know him. This is

his masterpiece.

XANDER:

We've got to find out what it is.

Can you handle that?

PETRA:

(beat)

There's something I didn't have time

to tell you before.

XANDER:

What's that?

PETRA:

I'm a agent as well. KGB. I've been

undercover for over a year.

XANDER:

You're what? What the hell have you

been doing?

PETRA:

I don't know. Eight months ago I

stop hearing from my people. No

explanation, just silence. So I stay

and I wait like I was told. Soon I'm

in so far, they'd kill me if I left.

Now every day I get farther and

farther away from what I was. I'm

like you said, a criminal.

XANDER:

I'm busted up for you, but Jesus,

what the hell are you doing? Those

people almost drowned on that boat

and you didn't lift a finger.

This stings her. She knows well the price she paid.

PETRA:

No, I guess I've been no help at all

to you.

XANDER:

Get your head back in the game. There

are lives at stake here.

PETRA:

Of course. I'll do what I can. I

have to go, before they notice.

XANDER:

When can I see you again?

PETRA:

You can't, it's too risky. I'm not

much help anyway, remember?

Then she's off into the crowd.

EXT. MEDIEVAL MANOR - NIGHT

The craggy surface of the wall is swathed in shadows. Xander

approaches and flattens himself against it. He's all in BLACK,

packed with weapons and sporting a COMBAT VEST.

He grabs a toehold on the wall and ZOOM! He SPEED CLIMBS up

the side.

He reaches the top in seconds and scopes out the manor house.

VIDEO CAMERAS, PATROLLING GUARDS. It's not gonna be easy.

Xander slips over the wall down to the courtyard below.

EXT. MEDIEVAL MANOR - COURTYARD - NIGHT

Xander places an EXPLOSIVE on a CONTROL BOX.

He waits for a GUARD to stroll by and then slips through a

basement window.

INT. MEDIEVAL MANOR - DARKENED ROOMS - NIGHT

Xander makes his way through a series of rooms. Finally he

finds himself in a study with a window overlooking the

CAVERNOUS BASEMENT of the Manor.

Laid out below he can see the AHAB DEVICE, hanging from

chains. TECHIES are working with the Anarchy 99 crew to

RETROFIT the thing.

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