Story Code '#9X15'
by Vince Gilligan,
John Shiban
and Frank Spotnitz
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'Jump the Shark' Story Code '#9X15' by Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz |
|
SCENE 1 - MORRIS FLETCHER'S OPENING MONOLOGUE
MORRIS FLETCHER V.O.:
Once upon a time, there were three... how should I put this?... geeks. Three more unlikely heroes there never were. It wasn't long before their naiveté nearly got them killed. So they hooked up with an FBI agent and began publishing a - what shall I call it? - ‘rag’ called ‘The Lone Gunmen’. From their cramped basement office, they pointed fingers at powerful, evil forces and some not so evil. In their own unique way, the three gunmen were patriots fighting the good fight. And provided expertise for their friends at the FBI. For a brief time it looked like they might actually make a difference in this cold, cruel world. They acquired an intern who believed in their cause and a powerful, beautiful nemesis who became an ally. But the world is not kind to idealists and those who fight the good fight don't always win.
(Voice over with clips from ‘The X-Files’ and ‘The Lone Gunmen’; these include clips showing FROHIKE, LANGLY and BYERS working together from ‘Kill Switch’, ‘Blood’, ‘Three Words’, ‘Memento Mori’, ‘Unusual Suspects, ‘Three of a Kind’ and the ‘Lone Gunmen’ pilot ‘First Person Shooter; the GUNMEN meeting with MULDER from’ Unusual Suspects and ‘EBE’; the GUNMEN's paper from the ‘Lone Gunmen’; clips from ‘Dreamland II’, ‘All About Yves’, with MORRIS FLETCHER, more clips from ‘EBE’, and several ‘Lone Gunmen’ episodes of FROHIKE and of the gang meeting JIMMY and YVES. We see a final shot of the GUNMEN together from the ‘Lone Gunmen’ pilot as we go into:)
OPENING TITLES
SCENE 2 - 20 MILES WEST OF HARBOR ISLAND, BAHAMAS
(A school of fish swim serenely through the water. A shark bursts through them and swims away. We move up to where a boat is sitting on the water. Two laptops are doing some kind of sonar work while a blonde haired woman walks, carrying two glasses)
BRITTANY:
Morris? Morris, it's going ‘ping’.
(BRITTANY moves over to MORRIS FLETCHER, the G-Man who we saw in ‘Dreamland’ I-II and ‘Three of a Kind’)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Oh... it most certainly is.
(MORRIS pulls BRITTANY down onto the chair)
BRITTANY:
You're going to make me spill.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Mmm...
BRITTANY:
Morris, what is all that stuff, anyway?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Oh, baby, don't make me talk shop. It is so boring.
BRITTANY:
But I want to know.
(MORRIS flirtingly starts rubbing suntan lotion on her back)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
All right. Well, where do I begin? You know we're in the Bermuda Triangle, right? That place where all those planes and ships have mysteriously disappeared? Who do you think named it the ‘Bermuda Triangle’?
BRITTANY:
Wait. You?
(BRITTANY turns and points a finger at MORRIS. He laughs back, and continues to rub her back)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Yeah, that was in my former life before I joined the private sector. There are a lot of things I can't talk about owing to matters of national security, but I will say this: There are powerful forces out here. Primal... other-worldly forces ...
BRITTANY:
Mmm...
MORRIS FLETCHER:
...hidden beneath the waves...
(MORRIS pulls one of the straps holding BRITTANY'S bikini top loose ..)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
...just waiting to be plucked by man.
(BRITTANY looks off into the distance, another boat is coming near. BRITTANY readjusts her bikini top as MORRIS puts his sunglasses on and waves to the boat)
BRITTANY:
Somebody's coming.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Hmm?
(Three men are in the approaching boat)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Hey, whatever you're selling we don't want any, okay? No ganja.
(The men board the boat, one of them points a gun at MORRIS' head while another grabs a screaming BRITTANY. MORRIS cries out for them to stop while one of the MEN pulls BRITTANY onto their boat)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Oh, you want the girl? Yeah, I can dig it. I'm down with that.
(The KIDNAPPER picks up a red gasoline container and begins to pour it all over the boat. )
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Uh... Oh, wait, wait, wait! Guys, this is a rental. There's a $15,000 deposit on this...
(Two of the men are now back on their own boat, with BRITTANY)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Oh, god...
FIRST MAN:
Your employer wanted me to tell you...
(The MEN presses the gun against MORRIS' head)
FIRST MAN:
...you're fired.
(But he doesn't pull the trigger, just jumps back on his own boat, which then moves off. MORRIS is still standing on his boat with his arms up in the air. One of the MEN lights a flare and throws it at the boat, which lights up in flames. MORRIS jumps off the side of the ship and it explodes. Bits and pieces of the boat float around in the water, one of which looks like part of a spaceship)
SCENE 3 - U.S. COAST GUARD BASE, MIAMI BEACH FLORIDA
(Day. MORRIS is in an interrogation room, a plaster on his right cheek. He is bored. DOGGETT and REYES enter and the GUARD closes the door behind them)
DOGGETT:
Morris Fletcher?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Finally. What took you so long?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
You must be Reyes. Enchanté.
(REYES doesn't appreciate this at all)
REYES:
Yeah. Mister Fletcher we've been told you requested us by name. We're very curious about that.
(Everyone sits down at the conference table)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Well, you two head the FBI'S X-Files unit, do you not? I thought you'd appreciate what I have to offer.
DOGGETT:
Which is?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
You have no idea who you're sitting here with, do you?
DOGGETT:
A guy who's up fudge creek for violating the federal secrets act. How's that for starters?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Look, I-I've got top security clearance. I'm supposed to check in every month with my former employer. So I skipped a few phone calls. Big deal. Let me give you a hint. I used to work at Groom Lake, Nevada.
(Neither of the agents respond)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Area 51.
(Still neither of them show any excitement at this)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
I was a man in black! THE men in black. What, you've never heard of us?
DOGGETT:
I saw the movie.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Yeah, well... there were a lot of technical inaccuracies in that thing. Anyway, I'm ready to make a deal.
(DOGGETT and REYES look at each other)
DOGGETT:
What deal would that be?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
The one that saves my furry pink ass.
(He stands and moves toward the window)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
People are trying to kill me. Did you hear about my boat?
REYES:
Yeah, your female companion told us what she witnessed.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
My female... ? Oh, you mean they didn't kill ...
(MORRIS can't remember her name. REYES is amused)
REYES:
... Brittany?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Brittany. Well, thank god she's still alive. Look, I need protection. I need to get out of here. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. I can give you guys the keys to the kingdom. UFOs, aliens the whole fifty-year cover-up. I was there for all of it.
(REYES interrupts MORRIS FLETCHER and reaches into her attaché to pull out a folded paper)
REYES:
Mister Fletcher... these documents of yours... are they indicative of the kind of secrets you could reveal to us?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Honey... they're just the tip of the iceberg.
(REYES shows him a picture of the spaceship parts)
REYES:
This is the Jupiter 2 from ‘Lost In Space’.
(MORRIS realises he has been busted)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Okay, yeah, th- those are B.S. But only those! See, I-I was freelancing for this foreign billionaire. I told him the air force lost a flying saucer in the Bermuda Triangle and that I could recover it for him. I just wanted to cruise the Bahamas. I never would've given him the real thing. That would be un-American.
(DOGGETT and REYES have heard enough and they stand up to go)
DOGGETT:
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Well, he found out about it. Now he wants to kill me. I need protection.
(MORRIS is desperate now. REYES leaves and DOGGETT is about to)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Supersoldiers!
(DOGGETT and REYES come back in, closing the door behind them)
DOGGETT:
What do you know about Supersoldiers?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
A bit. It may be... there's one I can help you lay your hands on.
DOGGETT:
This super soldier... he have a name?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Not ‘He’... ‘She’.
SCENE 4 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN, TAKOMA PARK, MARYLAND
(DOGGETT and REYES come to the door, their movements monitored on security camera. DOGGETT rings the bell and LANGLY, FROHIKE and BYERS all come towards the screen)
FROHIKE:
What in the hell do they want?
(DOGGETT is knocking. FROHIKE unlocks all four locks and opens the door, admitting the agents)
DOGGETT:
Gentlemen.
(Their office is almost empty. REYES notices this)
REYES:
What happened here? Did you get robbed?
LANGLY:
No.
FROHIKE:
Uh, we're upgrading everything.
LANGLY:
We gave away all our old crap to the salvation army. We're buying totally new stuff.
BYERS:
What can we do for you, agents?
DOGGETT:
Well, we were hoping you could help us out. You know that for months now we've been investigating this secret cadre - these, uh, so-called Supersoldiers.
BYERS:
Genetically-altered humans.
FROHIKE:
You mean the ones that want to kill Mulder?
REYES:
Exactly. We'd like your help tracking one down.
(DOGGETT pulls out a photograph)
DOGGETT:
This woman.
(It is YVES ADELE HARLOW, the GUNMEN's mysterious enemy-turned-ally. All three of them look at the photograph)
REYES:
You recognise her?
LANGLY:
She's, um... she's a fellow hacker. Damn fine one.
BYERS:
She calls herself Yves Adele Harlow. Uh, it's not her real name.
FROHIKE:
We never learned her real name. She disappeared a year ago, and nobody's seen her since.
DOGGETT:
Well, we have reason to believe that she's resurfaced. And that she's become one of these Supersoldiers.
(None of the GUNMEN buy this theory)
FROHIKE:
What in the hell are you talking about? She's no super soldier.
BYERS:
Absolutely not.
LANGLY:
Not a chance. Who told you that?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
This is pointless.
(Everyone turns at the sound of the familiar voice)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
These three monkeys couldn't find stink in an outhouse. Why are we even here?
FROHIKE:
You... son of a b -
(FROHIKE grabs a golf club but DOGGETT stops him from attacking MORRIS FLETCHER)
FROHIKE:
Hey, let me at him! I'll kill him!
(REYES stops LANGLY from attacking MORRIS)
LANGLY:
I'll hold him down!
REYES:
Whoa, fellas...
BYERS:
You've got a nerve coming here.
FROHIKE:
Miserable son of a bitch.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Told you they wouldn't help.
DOGGETT:
All right everybody just shut up.
BYERS:
This man is a professional liar. Every word out of his mouth.
LANGLY:
He's a scam artist. He used us to track Yves down a year ago.
FROHIKE:
And then he abducted her.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Which is why I know what happened to her.
(MORRIS FLETCHER now has everyone's complete attention)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
I facilitated a meeting, is all. And the man I was working for? I didn't know in advance what he was planning to do to her. Not my finest hour, I'll admit it.
BYERS:
Every word out of his mouth.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Agents I'm telling you, you don't want these three involved. And they don't even have their ridiculous Tinker Toy gizmos. This place is like ‘How The Grinch Stole Radio Shack’.
DOGGETT:
All right, you three know this woman. I want your help. I need to track down this Yves Adele Harlow.
(The LONE GUNMEN are unsure)
SCENE 5 - HARTWELL COLLEGE, KEARNEY, NEW JERSEY
(It is night time as a woman moves along a hallway, dressed as a college student. But it is YVES HARLOW. She enters the room of PROFESSOR HOUGHTON. He doesn't even look up)
PROFESSOR HOUGHTON:
Knock, please.
(YVES closes the door behind her and HOUGHTON looks up)
PROFESSOR HOUGHTON:
Oh.
PROFESSOR HOUGHTON:
My office hours are 3:00 to 5:00, Mondays and Fridays.
YVES HARLOW:
You'll make time for me, Professor.
(YVES pulls out a small gun-like weapon which she fires at the PROFESSOR. Outside in the hallway, JOHN GILLNITZ is in a hurry. He knocks on the door but gets no response)
GILLNITZ:
Douglas, you ready to go?
(GILLNITZ knocks again)
GILLNITZ:
Douglas?
(Trying the door, he finds it locked. He reaches for his key. Upon entering, he discovers an empty room, with the window open. Surprised, he runs to the window, and sees YVES is running away. She sees him looking at her but keeps going. GILLNITZ is not very surprised; looking around, he discovers the dead body of PROFESSOR HOUGHTON, lying with a hole in his chest, a pink fluid spilling from his chest area)
SCENE 6 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN
(LANGLY, BYERS and FROHIKE are at a computer screen)
LANGLY:
Airline Reservation Database. What name do we look under?
BYERS:
Try her old standby - different anagrams of Lee Harvey Oswald.
(MORRIS FLETCHER is going through an old edition of the newspaper, thoroughly enjoying it)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
‘Area 51 Exposé’- ooh! Where's your new issue? This one's a year old.
FROHIKE:
Back off, Skeezix.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
You'll never find her that way.
(The computer reports ‘NO MATCH FOUND’)
LANGLY:
He's right- no anagrams for Yves Adele Harlow.
(MORRIS nods his head, and at the same time spots LANGLY's T-Shirt - “Joey Lives”)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
So, who's Joey?
LANGLY:
What?
(MORRIS indicates LANGLY's T-shirt)
LANGLY:
Joey Ramone? Leader of the greatest punk rock band in human history? Now shut up.
(MORRIS walks away laughing)
LANGLY:
What?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
What are you, thirty-four, thirty-five? Why don't you cut your hair and grow up, huh?
LANGLY:
Need I remind you, Fletcher, that Doggett and Reyes aren't here to save you.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Yeah, well, get yourself a real hero, anyway not some dead teeny-bopper.
(LANGLY is getting angrier. He stands and approaches MORRIS)
LANGLY:
You want to know why Joey Ramone's my hero? 'Cause people like you never managed to grind him down. They never stole his spirit. He never gave in, never gave up, and never sold out. Right till his last breath.... and he's not dead. Guys like that, they live forever.
BYERS:
Langly just ignore him.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Look, if we have to work together, let's work together.
FROHIKE:
We don't have to work together.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Well, watching you three try and find your butts with both hands is not my idea of a fun time. Now, wouldn't it be easier tracking Yves if you knew her real name?
BYERS:
You know her real name?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Lois Runce.
BYERS:
Lois Runce? Aha.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
I'm telling you the truth, boys.
FROHIKE:
Well, if you were, it'd be a first.
(A light knocking on the door behind interrupts them. The Lone Gunmen turn around in surprise)
BYERS:
Nobody knows about that door. That's our secret door.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Does Lois know about it?
(LANGLY throws FLETCHER a quick glance)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Yves?
(The GUNMEN prepare to attack, but it is only JIMMY BOND)
BYERS:
Jimmy?
JIMMY BOND:
Guys ...
(JIMMY collapses)
SCENE 7 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN
(Later, JIMMY is lying on the sofa, a towel on his forehead)
LANGLY:
Jimmy? How you feeling, man?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Oh, right. The old errand boy. The guy used to intern for you losers, right? I wondered what happened to you.
JIMMY BOND:
Why is he here?
BYERS:
FBI business. It's a long story.
FROHIKE:
Where the hell you been, big guy?
JIMMY BOND:
Zurich... then Malta... then Yemen... and just now, New Jersey. It's been a real geology lesson. I ran out of money, so I hitchhiked here then snuck in the back 'cause I didn't know if the place was being watched. I just had to see you guys. It's about Lois.
(Everyone, except MORRIS, is surprised)
JIMMY BOND:
Lois Runce? That's Yves' real name.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
I told you so. Hey, wait a minute. You tracked her all over the world? You?
(JIMMY nods)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Mister Brainpower here is lucky to be alive. Why did you send him? Were you trying to get him killed?
LANGLY:
He sent himself to find Yves. We tried to talk him out of it.
JIMMY BOND:
Yeah, and now I almost wish you had.
(The GUNMEN notice that JIMMY isn't himself. He's depressed, even)
BYERS:
Jimmy, what is it? Are you all right ?
JIMMY BOND:
Last night I traced her to a little college in New Jersey. It's the closest I've been in a year of searching. I saw her. I actually laid my eyes on her. I called to her... but she ran. Later on, I found out... guys, I think she murdered somebody.
SCENE 8 - LOCATION UNKNOWN
(Somewhere, YVES HARLOW stands watching a fire. She puts on a gas mask and pulls out a bag with something which she took from the body of PROFESSOR HOUGHTON. She tosses the bag inside and then watches it burn, removing her gas mask)
YVES HARLOW:
(to herself) One down...
SCENE 9 - HARTWELL COLLEGE, KEARNY, NEW JERSEY
(REYES and DOGGETT enter a room where a fish tank is. Several small sharks swim in it. They walk down to where JOHN GILLNITZ is sitting)
REYES:
John Gillnitz?
(GILLNITZ acknowledges the agents)
REYES:
I'm Agent Reyes and this is Agent Doggett. Is this the woman you saw last night?
(DOGGETT gives GILLNITZ the photograph of YVES)
GILLNITZ:
It was dark. It could have been her. Do you have her in custody?
DOGGETT:
We're working on it. Sir, what can you tell us about your friend? Have any reason why he may have been targeted?
GILLNITZ:
Absolutely none. Douglas was a wonderful teacher and an even better researcher.
REYES:
What did he research?
GILLNITZ:
Elasmobranchii - sharks, rays and skates.
REYES:
He was a marine biologist?
GILLNITZ:
An immunologist. Sharks have a remarkable immune system. Toxins that would kill nearly any other vertebrate pass right through them.
DOGGETT:
So he did medical research?
GILLNITZ:
Douglas wanted to save the world.
(REYES and DOGGETT look at each other)
SCENE 10 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN
(MORRIS pats JIMMY on the back, he is looking through filing cabinets)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Cheer up, Gomer. Bringing the whole room down.
(FLETCHER walks pat where LANGLY, BYERS, FROHIKE and KIMMY THE GEEK are looking at a computer screen)
KIMMY THE GEEK:
This is a computer, Langly. Com-pu-ter. Step away before you embarrass yourself.
(LANGLY gets up from his chair)
LANGLY:
Always a pleasure, Kimmy.
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Yeah, yeah.
(KIMMY THE GEEK takes off his sweater and settles himself in the chair)
KIMMY THE GEEK:
So, then, how do you wish to partake of my hacking genius?
FROHIKE:
Thanks to Jimmy, we know Yves real name.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Hey, I told you before he did.
LANGLY:
Jimmy also told us what kind of car she's driving.
(LANGLY pushes KIMMY away and types in some stuff, letting a picture of a car appear on screen)
LANGLY:
Silver ‘X5’ with New York plates.
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Really? Way to go, special ed.
BYERS:
The New Jersey turnpike has video cameras at every tollbooth. Langly hacked the system and spotted her southbound at Newark.
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Somewhat creative.
(LANGLY again types into the computer)
LANGLY:
We spotted her again going through the Fort McHenry Tunnel. She passed through not 20 minutes ago.
BYERS:
We're betting she's headed for D.C. We're going to try to intercept her with your help.
FROHIKE:
Think you might find a military satellite you could piggyback- give us a bird's-eye view of the beltway?
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Intriguing.
(KIMMY THE GEEK rubs his palms together in anticipation of the challenge)
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Stand aside, ladies.
FROHIKE:
We'll be on the cell.
(The GUNMEN begin to move out, MORRIS following)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
I got shotgun.
LANGLY:
Dream on. You're staying here.
(FLETCHER stops. BYERS pulls JIMMY aside)
BYERS:
We need somebody we can trust keeping an eye on Fletcher.
JIMMY BOND:
I'm on it.
(The GUNMEN leave. JIMMY turns to MORRIS)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
So, how'd you like Malta?
SCENE 11 - MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY
(DOGGETT, REYES and a MEDICAL EXAMINER are walking along)
MEDICAL EXAMINER:
The only thing I can say for sure is what killed him. He was injected with some sort of tiny poison pellet but the wound in his chest was post-mortem.
(PROFESSOR HOUGHTON's body is lying on a table. His chest is filled with the pink fluid)
DOGGETT:
What is that?
MEDICAL EXAMINER:
That's what I said. My best guess is bioluminescence but I'm still waiting to hear back from our lab.
REYES:
Bioluminescence, as in the stuff that makes lightning bugs glow?
MEDICAL EXAMINER:
Lightning bugs, plankton, jellyfish but generally not dead college professors.
DOGGETT:
So, what? This stuff was put on post-mortem?
MEDICAL EXAMINER:
No, as near as I can tell, it bled out of him. It gets weirder still. When I opened him up I found adhesions that indicate past surgery so I'm figuring I'll find he had a bypass or a pacemaker. Instead, I find...
(The EXAMINER grabs a container and shows the agents what is inside)
MEDICAL EXAMINER:
…this.
REYES:
Looks like cartilage.
MEDICAL EXAMINER:
It is. It was living tissue grafted into him. I have absolutely no idea why.
(DOGGETT puts a glove on and picks up the piece)
DOGGETT:
It held something. Something that's now missing. Could that be the purpose of this wound? A little ad hoc surgery?
REYES:
Maybe that was the very purpose of the murder. Whatever was inside him, she removed it.
DOGGETT:
What the hell was inside him?
SCENE 12 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN
MORRIS FLETCHER:
I have no clue. Seriously, this is the first I'm hearing of it. Weird organs? I don't know what to tell you.
REYES:
You've never heard of the man - Professor Douglas Houghton?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
You're looking at me oddly.
DOGGETT:
Perhaps because you've been known to lie on occasion.
(JIMMY is there also, just glaring at MORRIS)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Yeah, well, I'm not lying now. I've said from the start I didn't know what she was up to.
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Damn it!
(They turn, KIMMY is bashing the computer keyboard)
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Crashed again! I cannot make magic with substandard equipment.
DOGGETT:
What's the problem?
KIMMY THE GEEK:
The problem is it's a freakin' piece of junk. I knew those guys were broke but this is pathetic.
(DOGGETT and REYES look at each other for a moment, worried)
REYES:
The guys are broke?
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Are you kidding? Look around this dump. They had to hock all their stuff just to pay the rent.
(MORRIS pulls up an issue of the paper)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
What about this?
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Oh, their paper? Deader than disco. They haven't published in months.
(The last ever Gunmen magazine has a heading about Cap'n Toby, the villain in the last episode of ‘Lone Gunmen’)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
So saving the world doesn't pay the bills. There's a hot news flash for you, huh? The chumps.
(JIMMY isn't going to listen to this)
JIMMY BOND:
They were getting by all right till you put 'em out of business.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Oh, and how exactly did I do that?
JIMMY BOND:
When you took Yves. They spent every last dime trying to find her. They're loyal to their friends. Hilarious, huh?
(The tension is broken by REYES' cell ringing)
REYES:
Reyes.
BYERS:
(over phone) You better get here quick.
REYES:
Where are you?
BYERS:
The Hotel Farragut. Hurry.
SCENE 13 - HOTTEL FARRAGUT
(BYERS hangs up. The GUNMEN are hiding near a hotel door. FROHIKE is using a mirror to see the hallway. YVES is crouched behind a housekeeper's cart, she looks up but doesn't see them. The elevator bell rings and a man walks out, entering his hotel room. YVES follows him inside, unnoticed. FROHIKE peers around the corner, LANGLY also pops his head around. BYERS does the same)
FROHIKE:
She's going to kill that guy.
BYERS:
Doggett and Reyes are on their way.
LANGLY:
By then it'll be too late.
(YVES slips inside the room. She's holding the gun. She notices the bathroom door open and just as she gets ready, the man comes out of the bathroom. She gets ready to shoot but the GUNMEN come crashing into the room)
FROHIKE:
Yves, don't do it!
(YVES turns, surprised to see the GUNMEN there. The MAN pushes the door into YVES, knocking her against the door, and runs out. The GUNMEN stay with an unconscious YVES)
SCENE 14 - HOTEL FARRAGUT, LATER
(YVES has a towel with ice inside on her forehead, and is sitting on the bed. JIMMY, BYERS, FROHIKE and LANGLY are there also)
JIMMY BOND:
Lois...? Should I call you that?
YVES HARLOW:
I prefer Yves.
LANGLY:
So, we take it you're not a super soldier.
YVES HARLOW:
Super what?
BYERS:
Long story. Never mind.
FROHIKE:
Yves, you weren't seriously going to smoke that guy, were you?
YVES HARLOW:
I know you three mean well but I can't begin to tell you how badly you've mucked things up.
(DOGGETT and REYES walk into the room)
DOGGETT:
So this guy just up and bolted.
LANGLY:
He hit her and then he took off.
REYES:
Nobody's seen him. The room is registered to one Leonard Southall of Darien, Connecticut.
YVES HARLOW:
It's an alias.
DOGGETT:
It's a stolen ID.
(DOGGETT moves to stand in front of YVES)
DOGGETT:
The real Leonard Southall died in 1996. You want to tell me who that was?
YVES HARLOW:
His real name - I have no idea.
DOGGETT:
This is your bag, isn't it?
(DOGGETT picks up the backpack and empties it out)
DOGGETT:
It's quite a party you've got planned for him. Respirator... surgical gloves... scalpel. Not to mention this little item here.
(DOGGETT shows YVES the gun)
REYES:
You were planning to cut him open, Ms. Runce, just like you did the professor. Why?
JIMMY BOND:
Yves, that can't be true. Tell them it's not.
YVES HARLOW:
It is, Jimmy. Time is running short. Unless you let me finish what I started, innocent people will die.
DOGGETT:
You want to elaborate on that?
YVES HARLOW:
First things first. Who was it that put you on to me?
SCENE 15 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN
(YVES is rather violently holding MORRIS FLETCHER down, she rips off his plaster)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Okay, guys, so she's not a super soldier. I made an honest mistake.
(YVES finds a small transmitting device on the plaster)
YVES HARLOW:
As I suspected - it's a tracking device. I'm sure he meant to activate it once he knew you had me.
DOGGETT:
You've been wearing that since Miami. You've been running a scam on us from the start.
REYES:
Blowing up the boat. The girl as your witness. You planned all that.
DOGGETT:
That and all the super soldier bull. All that was just to hook us.
BYERS:
So then you two would in turn hook us.
FROHIKE:
And we'd track down Yves for this slimeball all over again.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Well, what can I tell you. You three always get the job done for me.
DOGGETT:
Who do you work for, Fletcher?
YVES HARLOW:
An international arms dealer - a billionaire and scum of the earth.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
And... He's also ...
YVES HARLOW:
My father. My father is a murderer and a supporter of terrorism. I hate everything he stands for.
JIMMY BOND:
Yves... you're a murderer, too.
YVES HARLOW:
The man I killed was a terrorist, Jimmy. A zealot whose research was funded by my father for its potential as a weapons system.
REYES:
Houghton was an immunologist doing research on sharks.
YVES HARLOW:
Yes, and he used his knowledge of their immune system to devise a vessel of sorts - one that kept him safe from an engineered virus that he carried within him.
DOGGETT:
This man had living tissue implanted in his chest.
REYES:
Cartilage. Shark cartilage. It contains something which you removed.
DOGGETT:
That was this virus you were talking about.
YVES HARLOW:
I destroyed it, but it was only one of two.
LANGLY:
Oh, man, the bald dude at the hotel. The one that got away.
YVES HARLOW:
Think of him as a human time bomb. He can pass by any sniff dog, any metal detector and no one would ever suspect.
BYERS:
What triggers this time bomb?
YVES HARLOW:
Programmed cellular death - genetically altered to a high degree of precision. The way the vessel is decaying inside of him is virtually clock-like. It will lose integrity and rupture at 8:00 tonight.
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Five hours from now?
YVES HARLOW:
This virus, once it's airborne... its kill radius is five or six miles depending on the winds. Potentially, it could kill thousands... tens of thousands.
FROHIKE:
Fletcher... I know you're a dirtbag but still... how could you be a party to this?
YVES HARLOW:
Fletcher's a con man, not a killer. He didn't know about it.
DOGGETT:
Providing all this is true, how do we track this man down?
(Later, KIMMY works at the computer. LANGLY, JIMMY and YVES watch him)
LANGLY:
Kimmy, zoom in more. Zoom in.
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Back off, Kibitzer, I'm doing it.
(FROHIKE is lighting up a cigarette, while MORRIS goes through some issues of the paper)
KIMMY THE GEEK:
This thing is slower than stumpy, my one-legged granny. Where did you get this dinosaur-turd?
LANGLY:
Stop bellyaching and work.
(FROHIKE lets out a puff of smoke)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Those things will kill you, you know.
FROHIKE:
Yeah, that's why I quit twenty years ago. You want one?
(MORRIS goes over to FROHIKE and takes the cigarette. BYERS is there also)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
So you're too broke to publish, huh? Pencil neck told me. It's a shame. This little rag always was such a hoot. I'm going to miss it. But, hey, the world spins on, right? Maybe saving it is a younger man's game. Or a woman's.
FROHIKE:
(Quietly) Maybe it is. Got to admit, Byers, it hasn't exactly been our year. And to top it all off we screwed the pooch pretty good today. Maybe we should pack it in.
BYERS:
And do what instead? We never gave up. We never will. In the end if that's the best they can say about us, it'll do.
(FROHIKE is considering the idea, however)
LANGLY:
I got him!
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Hey! It's my hack, Langly. I got him.
LANGLY:
We got him, all right?
(The others go over to the computer)
LANGLY:
Our bad guy just rented a blue corolla under his alias, Leonard Southall. We just picked him up on Kimmy's satellite.
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Yeah, hauling north like a bat out of hell. New Jersey turnpike thirty miles south of Newark.
YVES HARLOW:
I think I know where he's headed.
SCENE 16 - HARTWELL COLLEGE
(LEONARD SOUTHALL enters a hallway. He suddenly finds himself blocked by two men in yellow suits, putting up a plastic sheet sealing off the corridor. As LEONARD backs up, he finds that every path is being blocked off. He has nowhere to run)
SCENE 17 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN
(Meanwhile, BYERS answers the phone. It is DOGGETT)
BYERS:
Lone Gunman Newspaper Group. Byers speaking.
DOGGETT V.O.:
(Over phone) Byers? John Doggett.
BYERS:
Agent Doggett, do you have him?
(We see that DOGGETT is calling from where LEONARD SOUTHALL is being contained)
DOGGETT:
Oh, yeah, we got him. Listen, how much do you trust this Yves Harlow .. Lois Runce... whatever name she's telling you?
BYERS:
Completely. Why?
DOGGETT:
Because the doctors here have run every kind of imaging on this guy Southall and come up snake eyes. No virus, no cartilage vessel in his chest, nothing.
(BYERS puts the phone down and turns to YVES)
BYERS:
They found nothing.
YVES HARLOW:
That doesn't make sense.
BYERS:
(To DOGGETT) They're absolutely certain?
DOGGETT:
One hundred percent. Agent Reyes and I are looking like a couple of fools on this one.
BYERS VO.:
(On phone) There must be something we missed.
DOGGETT:
All I can tell you is, we got the wrong guy.
(DOGGETT and LEONARD share a look)
SCENE 18 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN
(BYERS hangs up, YVES is confused)
YVES HARLOW:
There must be a second man. I know there is. It's basic terrorism 101.
LANGLY:
Except we don't know his name and we don't know his target.
JIMMY BOND:
And we've got one hour to find him.
(It is 6:58 pm)
SCENE 19 - INTERNATIONAL BIOETHICS FORUM
(JOHN GILLNITZ enters, walking past the guard who scans him using a metal detector)
GUARD:
Evening, sir.
GILLNITZ:
Good evening.
(The GUARD finishes and GILLNITZ enters the conference room)
SCENE 20 - OFFICE OF THE LONE GUNMEN
(YVES looks at the clock. It is 7:04 PM)
YVES HARLOW:
All my information pointed to that man Leonard Southall. He goes by an alias, he travelled to Washington on this very day.
BYERS:
Clearly, he's involved somehow.
JIMMY BOND:
He must be. He made a beeline right back to that biology department where the dead professor worked.
FROHIKE:
It's their base of operation.
LANGLY:
Yeah, so if Southall is involved and yet he doesn't have the virus inside of him ...
YVES HARLOW:
So how exactly does he fit into their plan?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
(Interrupting) ‘Three-Card Monte’. You ever played it? You have now.
FROHIKE:
What's that supposed to mean?
MORRIS FLETCHER:
It means these guys have you running after the ace when you should be chasing the queen.
YVES HARLOW:
Oh, my god. Southall is the decoy. That's all he is.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
They knew that you were hot on their trail so they gave you someone else to follow.
JIMMY BOND:
I thought you didn't know anything about terrorists.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
I don't. But, boy, do I know scams. I wasn't a man in black all those years for nothing. They made you work at finding Southall which tells me the real guy is hiding in plain sight, right out in the open.
FROHIKE:
A friend of the dead professor? A co-worker maybe.
YVES HARLOW:
The man who saw me through the professor's window. The one who identified me.
SCENE 21 - BANQUET HALL
(As a man speaks to the people at the conference, we see the time is 7:50 PM)
SPEAKER:
Ladies and gentlemen, scientists, academic leaders and government representatives coming together is our goal this evening coming together as one. Those words are easily spoken. But guiding our missile into that fugitive and imponderable target is hard indeed.
(JOHN GILLNITZ is sitting nervously at a table. Outside, JIMMY, YVES, BYERS, LANGLY AND FROHIKE are stopped by a guard)
GUARD:
Sorry, conference attendees only.
BYERS:
We're reporters.
GUARD:
What newspaper you work for?
(BYERS reaches into his pocket and shows the guard their I.D.)
BYERS:
‘The Lone Gunman’.
GUARD:
Never heard of it.
LANGLY:
We're legit, man.
FROHIKE:
C'mon. C'mon. Passes... Show him your press pass.
(LANGLY and FROHIKE show him their passes)
YVES HARLOW:
It's desperately important that we get in there.
JIMMY BOND:
Yeah, buddy, come on.
GUARD:
These expired last December.
YVES HARLOW:
We've got five minutes.
BYERS:
(To the GUARD) We believe there's a dangerous man in that room.
GUARD:
Folks, I need all of you to step away right now.
LANGLY:
Look, thousands of people may die.
(They are desperate, but the GUARD doesn't care)
GUARD:
(JIMMY decides to do something else, raising his head and calling out)
JIMMY BOND:
John Gillnitz!
(People turn, noticing this. GILLNITZ stands)
JIMMY BOND:
John Gillnitz!
(Knowing where this is heading, GILLNITZ takes the nearest exit)
GUARD:
(To JIMMY) Step back, sir.
(LANGLY slips pas the GUARD and runs after GILLNITZ. The GUARD notices)
JIMMY BOND:
(To the GUARD) I'm really sorry.
(JIMMY head butts the GUARD and the others follow LANGLY who has chased GILLNITZ out an exit. But soon, they have lost him)
BYERS:
Where'd he go?
YVES HARLOW:
Split up. Four minutes left.
YVES HARLOW:
Good luck.
FROHIKE:
Hey, wait! What do we do with this guy once we find him?
YVES HARLOW:
Hold him till I get there. I'll do the rest.
LANGLY:
You mean cut him open?
YVES HARLOW:
If that virus gets into the air stream, we'll have failed. People will die. Whatever it takes.
(YVES and JIMMY run off, we follow the GUNMEN as they enter a hallway)
BYERS:
Three minutes and counting.
(LANGLY hears pounding. GILLNITZ is frantically pounding at an exit, he looks at his watch. He needs to be near people to infect them. The GUNMEN block GILLNITZ off)
BYERS:
Don't try to run.
GILLNITZ:
I don't have to.
LANGLY:
Yves, Jimmy, we found him! Over here!
GILLNITZ:
What do you plan to do? By my watch, it's two minutes to 8:00. Not much time for surgery.
LANGLY:
Yves! Jimmy!
(GILLNITZ has three people to infect. He needs go no further)
GILLNITZ:
Now you have a minute forty.
(FROHIKE spots a fire alarm. The three GUNMEN look at each other, knowing what they must do)
FROHIKE:
Guys.
BYERS:
Whatever it takes.
(LANGLY nods. FROHIKE pulls the alarm, cutting off the men from the world in an airtight room. GILLNITZ has nowhere to run. JIMMY and YVES appear in the hallway, where they spot the guys through the window)
JIMMY BOND:
Byers! Frohike! Langly! Yves, come here.
(JIMMY bangs on the wall. The GUNMEN turn)
JIMMY BOND:
Guys!
(FROHIKE looks down as GILLNITZ starts having a seizure, liquid comes out of his mouth. JIMMY and YVES watch in horror. Inside the sealed space, we hear someone gasping for air. FROHIKE looks down
JIMMY BOND:
Oh, god. No.
(JIMMY tries to lift up the wall, but the GUNMEN and YVES stop him, knowing what has to be done)
BYERS:
Don't, Jimmy.
YVES HARLOW:
Jimmy, don't. It's airtight. They're already exposed.
JIMMY BOND:
No, guys.
(JIMMY places his hand on the glass. BYERS puts his up on the other side. YVES watches tearfully as LANGLY and FROHIKE do the same)
FROHIKE:
Buddy, fight the good fight.
LANGLY:
Both of you.
BYERS:
Never give up.
(The five of them stand there, knowing that it is now over. Fade to white)
SCENE 22 - ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
(We see the graves of heroes. KIMMY THE GEEK stands near the three white coffins of BYERS, FROHIKE and LANGLY)
KIMMY THE GEEK:
Vaya con dios, amigos.
(KIMMY touches each coffin and walks off. The remaining mourners are SKINNER, DOGGETT, REYES, SCULLY, JIMMY and YVES)
DOGGETT:
Arlington. You must've pulled some big strings to get those guys in here.
SKINNER:
It's the least I could do.
(SKINNER, DOGGETT and REYES are also going to leave)
REYES:
Are we ready?
DOGGETT:
Yeah.
(JIMMY, YVES and SCULLY stand together. JIMMY holds three folded flags)
SKINNER:
Dana ...
SCULLY:
I'll catch up.
(SKINNER, DOGGETT and REYES walk off)
SCULLY:
They meant so much to me. I'm not sure if they ever really knew.
JIMMY BOND:
Nobody knew... what heroes they were.
YVES HARLOW:
It's not right. It's not.
MORRIS FLETCHER:
No, it's not.
(MORRIS FLETCHER walks up to them, standing there at the coffins)
MORRIS FLETCHER:
Langly said to me the ones who never give up, they never die. I still don't know what that means.
SCULLY:
That means that like everyone buried here, the world is a better place for them having been in it. It means that they're gone, but they live on through us all.
(JIMMY puts his arm around YVES and we pan away from the cemetery…)
Gillian Anderson (Special Agent Dana Scully), Robert Patrick (Special Agent John Doggett), Mitch Pileggi (A.D Skinner), Annabeth Gish (Special Agent Monica Reyes),
Jim Fyfe (Kimmy the Geek), Marcus Giamatti (John Gillnitz), Robert Joseph (Big Security Guard), Timothy Landfield (Professor Douglas Houghton),Michael McKean (Morris Fletcher), Pamela Paulshock (Brittany), John Prosky (Medical Examiner), Zuleikha Robinson (Yves Adele Harlow), Thomas Schanuz (Speaker), Stephen Snedden (Jimmy Bond), Michael Edward Thomas (First Man), Leonard Southall (Michael Wells)
Directed by Cliff Bole
TX:
US TX - 21st April 2002
Notes:
*Featuring Special Special Agent Dana Scully, Special Agent John Doggett, Special Agent Monica Reyes, A.D. Walter Skinner, the Lone Gunmen, Jimmy Bond and Yves Adele Harlow
*The pop-culture phrase ‘Jump the Shark’ refers to the moment when a popular television show reaches its peak and then begins to go downhill. The phrase itself refers to an episode of ‘Happy Days’, when the Fonz jumps over a shark while water skiing